Her brother laughed a little. "You shouldn't let that sort of talk disturb you. We know Ludlum is out for himself, same as we are, though our methods are a little different. But I don't believe he can break up the herd law. The other ranchers round here know him a lot better than we do, and his bluff about the sheep isn't going to scare them." Just to make sure that Ludlum had not turned any of the farmers against the herd law, Rob took time to ride out and talk with them--especially with those who, too busy or too indifferent to go into the matter thoroughly, had not given it very enthusiastic support. It was a discouraging ride; though most of the ranchers were still with Rob, Ludlum had won over enough men to defeat the chance of sending the petition through. "The farmers up here aren't strong enough yet, or maybe they haven't suffered enough from the outside stockmen to carry any concerted move like the herd law through," he said gloomily to Harry on his return. "They're working so hard to make a living that they don't take time to think how much more easily they could make it. As for us, if I can buy enough hay to take us through the winter, I'll be well enough satisfied." "Well, I won't!" was Harry's vehement and unexpected reply. "The idea of our all standing weakly aside and letting Ludlum or any one like him come in here next spring with perhaps twice as many scrubs! It's too humiliating. We might as well get out of the cattle business at once. What's the use of buying hay, of getting in any deeper, if we're not sure of our grazing every year? Don't you see? We've got to get it, and we're going to talk to every rancher in these hills once more and make them see what they're up against. Aren't we?" Rob, in his favorite attitude on the porch floor, with his legs stretched out, his hands behind his head, was silent for a long moment. Then he gave Harry a reflective, questioning look. "Do we dare?" he asked. "Dare! What do you mean, Rob Holliday? Dare!" "Exactly what I say," replied Rob. "We sailed into this cattle proposition pretty bumptiously at first, but it looks to me as if we'd got another think coming. We've locked horns with Ludlum already and a false move on our part may finish us. Still, it's your land that's mortgaged. Do you dare?" Harry stiffened up defiantly. "This isn't a childish 'stunt,'" she answered with dignity. "I've reasoned this all out as coolly as you have. A dozen steers will be enough to pay the principal and interest due December first." "Will they! Four hundred and twenty-two dollars! And the chances are that beef will go down as feed goes up. And you don't reckon on what the other fellow may do. Ludlum is after your land; never-failing water like ours is a gold mine to a stockman. If we put that herd law through, he'll be so mad he'll move heaven and earth to ruin us. He's got a lot of power in this country and he's hard as nails."