"You women," he said, "don't want to get scared over nothing. It's my belief that you might rake this country over with a fine-tooth comb and not find another man that would act as mean as that Davis did. You've both of you got good pluck, and have shown it, and I want you to keep on showing it now. All the same, if I were you I wouldn't let any strangers come into the house. People that you know, of course, are all right, but strangers you had best keep off. If they ask what's the matter, tell them you were badly treated once by some strangers, and that you won't risk it again. You, Bess, had better wear your six-shooter all the time, unless you see somebody coming that you know; then I expect you would want to shed it. Somebody will be coming in from the round-up every two or three days; and in the course of a day or two, when this scare you've had wears off, things will go on just as they've always gone on, and you'll have a real good time. Now," he added, as he pushed back his chair, "Jack and me'll go down and pack them animals, and then we'll roll." The saddling and packing of the horses took but a short time, and after the animals had been turned out, and were feeding on the flat in front of the house, the men went up to say good-bye. The women clung to Powell, and seemed loath to let him go, and they shook hands with Jack in an earnest, cordial fashion that greatly pleased him. "I don't know what we'd have done, Jack Danvers, if it hadn't been for you," Mrs. Powell said. "We folks will never forget how you helped us out." Powell waved his hand, and Jack lifted his hat, and they rode off. CHAPTER IV OLD FRIENDS