"Now you must get off to bed," said Nat's uncle. "We'll have more time for swapping yarns to-morrow." At that moment a man poked his had in at the door. "What is it?" asked Mr. Kent "That party we brought in a while ago, him as is shot in the foot, seems to want something." "What is it?" "He says as how he's got to speak to that lad with the strange ring, calls him Roberts." "He means me!" exclaimed Jack. CHAPTER XXV THE COWBOY'S TRICK "I thought you said your name was Ranger," said Morris Kent. "It always has been," Jack replied. "But my father has been going by the name of Roberts. He was known as that to his associates, because of the necessity for keeping him in exile. So I'll have to consider myself as the son of Mr. Roberts and Mr. Ranger, until we get this cleared up. I am trying to find my father, and I think this old man can aid me. He seems to have a secret." "Then you had better go and see what he has to say," Mr. Kent advised. Jack found the aged man propped up in bed. Though he was still pale, he was evidently a little better. "Let me see that ring again," he said, and Jack, who had taken to wearing the emblem on his finger, held out his hand. "Yes, yes; it is the same," he murmured. "I would know it among ten thousand, though I have never seen it before." "Who are you, and what do you know about this ring?" asked Jack. He had been left all alone with the old man, the cowboy who had summoned him, and Mr. Kent, having left the room. "I am Peter Lantry," the wounded man replied. "Until a month ago I lived with a man named Roberts, though his real name was Robert Ranger. He took his first name for his last one because of some scheming men. But that you know as well as I do. He told me all about his son, and how, if he or I ever saw him he could be identified by a peculiar ring, which he described. As soon as I saw the ring I knew you must be the boy, and I have a message for you." "What is it? Tell me quickly," said Jack. "If I was only sure," murmured the old man. "Roberts warned me to be careful about what I said. If I was only sure. I thought I was,--but now I remember--he told me to be careful." "Careful about what?" asked Jack. "How do I know you are Robert Ranger's son?" asked the sufferer. "I remember now, he said a stranger might get the ring. I wish I had kept still," and he seemed quite worried. A flush came into his pale cheeks, and it seemed as if he was in a fever. "If you doubt me, I can easily prove that I am Robert Ranger's son," spoke Jack. "You probably know the story of Orion Tevis, and the Indian, Smith. His son is here now, and he has a ring just like this. Wait, I will call him." "No! No! Don't!" exclaimed Mr. Lantry. "I must tell you alone. Come closer. I am weak, and I must whisper to you what I have to say. No one else must hear." Jack sat down in a chair beside the bed, and the old man, looking carefully around the room, as though he feared some one would hear his secret, began: