"But surely we should do something to protect the birds--and ourselves!" Harry protested. "I think it's our duty to fight the poachers. Indeed, I do!" The old spirit rang in her voice, shone in her eyes, still dim from crying. The comers of Mrs. Robinson's mouth twitched in fellow feeling. She saw that Harry had come to the place every one comes to in the splendid morning ride of youth; the place where the fight is waging between right and wrong, and into which every one in his turn wants to plunge with a shout and a hailstorm of blows. "You can't never save the birds with bullets," she said, "not if you was to plug every game hog in the land full of lead." "But what are we to do?" cried Harry. "They laugh at mere words." "There's one they won't laugh at more than twice: law." "Law! Isn't there a law against trespassing now, and against shooting out of season?" "That's right; but once all the folks stand together and show they mean to have sure-enough law, there'll be an end to poachin' and game hogs and all the rest of the pizen-mean lawlessness that makes the rancher's life a burden." "Just as the herd law would rid us of the big stockmen," added Harry. "With their herds gone off these hills, there would be plenty of feed for all our cattle." "That's what! It's got to come same's the spring break-up. It'll be some satisfaction to know we give her the first shove, too." As Mrs. Robinson in her droll way made everything clear to the girl, Harry felt her soul being smoothed out like a piece of crumpled paper. When Mrs. Robinson said good night, she reached out impulsively, put her arms round her and exclaimed, "You're so good to me!" Her mind was still tranquil when she rode home the next day. It made her feel that, in spite of Ludlum's methods she was going to come out ahead in the end. Unfortunately, her confidence received a setback the moment she reached home. Rob was just unsaddling and looked as if he had been up all night. "What's happened?" she inquired quickly. "Aren't you going over to help Robinson?" "I've got to get things straightened out here first. I don't know what happened last night but something scared the critters up in the hills. They sure were stampeded--such a bellowing and pounding of hoofs when they went down the lane and through the fence you never heard. There wasn't any use getting up. Nothing short of a rifle bullet in each one of their crazy heads would have stopped them. Somebody else must have thought as I did, though, for I heard a shot." "But Rob! What would any one start shooting up a herd at night for? Could it have been hunters camping up above?" "More likely somebody with orders to get our critters on the run, and they made a mess of it and scared the other fellow's." "But there's no one round us that we know of; except Ludlum."