“Jim, how long has Jean Barry been with us?” Ricker demanded of his foreman. Tall and muscular, with deep cruel lines written on his face, Jim Haley the foreman turned and looked at the man in question. “Oh, about a month, I reckon,” he replied, glancing quizzically at his chief. The answer set Ricker’s brows to knitting. “Jim, I want you to watch Jean Barry,” he said sharply, as though coming to a sudden decision. “He’s the last man we took on and hasn’t been with us long enough to be trusted too far. As for this man MacNutt, keep your eye on him also. He claimed to the guard that he isn’t friendly with the Bar X outfit and has a grievance against them. I can’t just make him out, and I want you to trail him after he leaves here and find out just what his standing is at Bar X. Jean took up with him mighty sudden, and I don’t like the looks of it. Look sharp now, and make your report to me in the morning.” At the curt dismissal Jim Haley moved off while his chief mingled with the men and directed the rules of the target practice. MacNutt was ignorant of what had taken place and was calmly looking his guns over. Jean Barry pressed close to him at this moment. “Watch out for Jim Haley, the man that Ricker was just talking to,” he hissed in his ear. MacNutt made no answer to his friend’s warning as the shoot had now commenced. The first contestants were leading off with revolver practice. The targets were set at seventy-five yards and each man was to fire six shots apiece. The men fired in turn, each scoring fair hits, until Ricker and Jim Haley’s turn came. When they had fired six shots apiece it was seen that they had each scored bull’s-eyes, and both had one shot on the extreme edge of the bull’s-eye. Ricker looked at his foreman. “Guess we’ve got to shoot this one over, Jim,” he called, a trifle nettled. He was conceded the best shot on the ranch, and it bothered his vanity to have his mark equalled. The marker was closely examining the targets. “A tie,” he finally announced. “Put up fresh targets, Jim, and I will shoot off the tie,” Ricker ordered briskly, “and put up another one; we’ll have our friend MacNutt here try his skill with us.” Ricker and Jim shot their tie off, the former winning this time by a large margin. Ricker smiled sarcastically at MacNutt as the latter stepped up in his awkward way to take a position. A titter ran through the group of cowboys as they watched his odd movements. He was likely to prove a source of amusement for them after all. Ricker suddenly stepped forward. “Come on, Jim, you and I will set a high record for him. We’ll show him some shooting that will make him go some,” he boasted. Jim Haley led off, scoring almost the same hits as before. “You must have your shooting eye with you today, Jim,” Ricker remarked as he took his position. Then he put six bullets in the bull’s-eye, firing with a precision that was perfect.