“Some round-up,” the Marshal observed to Bud as they parted. “I wanted to take Ricker alive, but he was trying to get me, so it was his life or mine.” “Yes, and I had to pin Spot Wells just as he was drawing a bead on Scotty,” Bud replied regretfully. CHAPTER XX SILVER SKIES The trip to the Ricker ranch was uneventful, the girls maintaining a tired silence. They had passed through an ordeal that would have tried the nerves of strong men. At the ranch, Mason hastily got the Marshal’s car ready and they started for the ride home. Bud insisted on remaining at the Ricker ranch to look after the men and prisoners when they came in. Mason drove at a moderate speed, and gradually the girls came out of their listless mood. “Cheer up,” Mason said gaily, “I’ll soon have you home right side up with care, and you will get a grand welcome, I can assure you. Roy, the aviator, flew home with the good news as soon as he found out that we had made your rescue, and it would be just like him to come sailing back this way any minute.” “You’re very good to us,” Josephine murmured, leaning back in the seat with a tired sigh. He glanced at them quizzically. “What you girls need is a good rest to-night and you will be all right in the morning,” he said, compassionately. Halfway to the ranch they saw the daring aviator heading towards them. The birdman was flying at a dizzy height and when directly over them he went into a series of loops after which he banked the airplane sharply and continued along with them to the ranch. It would be useless to try to describe the joy of the girls’ anxious parents when they found them safe in their arms. In the evening, Bud came in with Percy Vanderpool and the cowboys. Jean Barry the deputy had come with them to run the Marshal’s car back to the Ricker ranch. The Marshal was to remain at the ranch until the wounded prisoners could be moved. He would then lodge them in jail and return East to an important criminal case. He sent hearty congratulations to the girls on their timely escape from the outlaws, and promised to visit Bar X again in the near future. The next day Mason was kept busy about the ranch until noon. Roy had just returned from a flight to Trader’s Post and brought back a message for Mason. It was from his father, saying he was coming to take his mother and sister home. The news that his father was coming to Bar X ranch pleased him immensely, and he hastened to break the news to his mother and sister. His mother seemed glad, but Ethel’s face clouded when she heard her father was coming. “What’s the matter, sis?” he cried in wonder. “Don’t you want to go home?” “Of course not,” she answered in a vexed tone. “Why, I have been here scarcely a month, and it is much more pleasant out here this time of the year than in a stuffy city.”