"He roped me a couple of miles back and fetched me along," said the forest ranger, pretending as usual that he was there only through necessity. "Told me you were going to have beef stew and dumplings, and he was afeared he couldn't eat it all himself." He had dropped from his saddle and come up beside her, stepping stiffly on his high-heeled boots as he looked fixedly down at her. "Beef stew?" She made an effort at a lively reply. "I guess there are some critters in that bunch that won't be good for much else." "What did you really expect?" Rob inquired mildly. "I hoped they'd develop enough beef to pay us to ship them for stew," she retorted. "Of course I knew scrubs weren't like blooded stock, but Ludlum said he'd pick mine out." "The word scrubs," Rob reminded her as they began to work the calves inside the gate, "is like charity: it covers a multitude of sins. And when you're dealing with the Ludlums--well, what fat there might be in the herd is generally in the fire; as at present." "What _is_ he talking about?" Harry asked. "Aw! Nothin' much. Some of the critters that were over the other side of the river have been driven in here on the range and----" "Those wild, starved things from outside? But they can't! This range belongs to us ranchers." The significance of the thing was coming to her. "What right have outsiders to ship stock in here? We'll drive them into the river! They shan't clean up the grazing." "I guess you wouldn't want to run 'em into the river," Garnett said reflectively, "not if you're buying cattle from Ludlum on time." "Ludlum? What has he to do with it?" "Nothing much," answered Garnett, slowly, "except that about five hundred of the scrubs are his, and if he knew that you were running 'em off he might take it kind of bad." CHAPTER XV "Guess I'd better lend a hand," Rob said to himself. He had been repairing an irrigation ditch on the west side of the ranch and for some time had been watching a cloud of dust to the east; it seemed to indicate fresh trouble from Ludlum's hungry horde. Although scarcely ten days had passed since those scrub cattle had appeared in the hills, the famished animals had already broken fences, trampled growing wheat, horned last season's stacks and broken down banks of the irrigation ditches. And what was worse, if possible, than all that mischief, they were taking a great deal of Rob's time, every moment of which was worth money. "We're helpless to prevent it, too, I guess!" Rob muttered as he started toward the scene of trouble; "helpless because there's no herd law in these hills. Ludlum's got just as good right to the free range as we have, and, with his mortgage on Harry's land, he can make it mighty bad for us if he finds us dogging his stock off. I'll get even with him for his meanness, though."