"O Bobby!" she could not go on. She leaned against the end of the stall and stared after him as he poured oats into the mangers for the horses. No matter what went wrong, he always found a way out and pulled her out, too. "If it weren't for you," she began. "Of course, I know. It's an endless tug of war between us to see which one can get along without the other." "Say!" cried Garnett, coming across the stable yard toward them. "Can't you folks sandwich those argyments in between the supper food? Little lady up at the house says she has boiled water enough to scald a hog and yet supper ain't real ready neither. Says she's waitin' on the boss for orders." "Never mind. When I went off yesterday I left things so that five minutes with a frying pan would finish them." It was a very little more than that before the food was sizzling. The two girls were busy setting the table, when heavy steps thumped across the porch, and some one knocked sharply. "Come in!" Rob called and moved toward the door, while the three others watched. Every one gave a start of surprise as it was shoved open from without and Ludlum faced them. Red-faced and scowling with fatigue and annoyance, with his eyes gleaming maliciously upon the cheery scene before him, he stood against the blackness of the night like a messenger of evil. "Come in, won't you?" Harry said politely. "Sit down." With a mutter the stockman dropped heavily into the nearest chair, took off his hat and mopped his face. "Dusty riding round here now," said Rob. "Yep. We need rain." "I hope it holds off until we've pulled out of here." "What's that? You're not wintering here? Haven't sold out, have you?" Chagrin was in Ludlum's face and voice as he glanced from Rob to Harry. "Oh, no," Rob replied, with a smile. "We couldn't get hay enough up here to carry us through, that's all." "It'll be different next year," Harry said with a note of triumph in her tone. "Different, eh?" Ludlum sneered. "Because you've got the herd law through, you think you're fixed. I daresay that's the argyment you used to push the thing; told the rest of these rim-rock squatters that, if it wasn't for that confounded 'millionaire cattle trust' that was stealin' the grazing, you'd all get to be millionaires yourselves in no time." "We told 'em it was the only thing to do to keep from being busted up and driven out entirely by fellows like you and Joyce," said Rob. "And you think that because you ain't gettin' all you want it gives you the right to drive us out; hog all the free range yourselves. You're kinda mean, too, ain't you?" "If you hadn't been so grasping in the first place," said Harry, "we shouldn't have had to fight you. We've taken only what we deserve to have."