"Nothin' but stubbornness an' a grouch like a she bear with cubs," answered Johnny. "I reckon he stays on th' prod purty much when there ain't no strangers around. He must make life excitin' for his family. Now that he's gettin' ambitious, he'll be worse." "Well, I'll go prepared for anything, anyhow. If you are riding down this way tonight drop in and I'll tell you how I found him. It was a clean break and everything was in his favor." "I reckon I'll be too busy in town tonight," replied Johnny. "I got a job to do. If you ain't got nothin' special to keep you here an' feel like seein' th' boys, ride up an' spend th' evenin' with us. We'll be glad to see you." The Doc listened intently. "Who's that riding up the trail?" he asked. Johnny looked deep into his eyes, smiled cynically, banished his suspicions, and glanced out of the window. "I reckoned so," he muttered. "That's Fraser, goin' back to look for somethin' he's lost. He'll mebby find it tonight up in Dave's, if he looks hard enough. Times are shore changin' down here." The Doc stepped forward and passed out. "When you leave, close the door behind you. The dust gets on my nerves and there will be plenty of it flying with this wind," and he walked briskly to the little corral. Johnny watched him bridle and saddle the horse, mount, and canter away straight for the rough going east of the trail. Pulling the door shut behind him, he walked to the brush-filled hollow where he had left his horse, mounted, and set off at a lope for Gunsight. "Mebby he means it," he soliloquized. "If he does, all right. I gave him a chance to go for that shoulder holster when I looked out to see who was ridin' up th' trail, but that don't mean much, for he might have figgered it was too risky. Mebby he's aimin' to set on th' fence waitin' to see how things'll settle down. That's all right, too--it's his natural play--but I'm keepin' cases on him just th' same. He's had his warnin'"--he shrugged his shoulders expressively and looked up the trail where he thought he could distinguish Fraser's horse in front of the Palace. "An' _that's_ all right, too," he growled, "he's where he'll be handy." After a moment he slapped Pepper's shoulder. "Sorry, little hoss," he growled, "but mebby you'll have to play pack animal for a while if I'm goin' to watch them mavericks until after McCullough gets that Bar H herd. Didn't I tell you we'd likely be popular, an' unpopular? Well, it's shore comin' true." CHAPTER XXI THE MESSAGE Dailey, seated at a table, the everlasting pack of cards in front of him, beamed upon Fanning and Johnny as they entered. "Thought mebby nobody was goin' to show up tonight," he said. "Dave's scared of me." "I never did care much for wild animals," retorted Dave. "An' I says that you shore go wild when you sees a deck of cards. If you'd only win somethin' once in a while, I wouldn't have a word to say."