“Well, I hope this is the last we will see of that crowd,” the ranch owner said with a sigh of relief. “Mason, you sure did beat up Ricker some.” “I don’t know if Josephine has told you the story or not,” he answered, “but there had been bitter enmity between Ricker and my dad for years, and he came over here mainly to pick a quarrel with me.” “Josephine did tell me something of the kind,” the ranch owner admitted wonderingly, “but I didn’t pay much attention to her at the moment and it clean slipped my mind.” That evening, Mason with Bud and the ranch owner’s family were talking over the events of the day and were wondering how far Ricker would go with his threat when they heard a commotion down near the corral. Loud voices reached their ears causing Bud and Mason to spring to their feet. Both rushed out on the porch and at a glance they saw that a tragedy had occurred. Two cowboys were assisting one of their comrades out of his saddle. A third cowboy started on a run for the ranch house. Bud recognized him as Buck Miller. “What’s the trouble down there, Miller?” Bud called to him. “One of the Ricker crowd shot up Tex down at the Post!” came the startling answer. Bud swore softly. “It’s war to the knife from now on between Ricker and me”; he said the words in the manner of a man registering a vow. CHAPTER XII THE RAID Most of the Bar X riders had been recalled from the range before daybreak. Bud Anderson had them lined up and was explaining the reason of their sudden recall when Mason appeared on the scene. After a few more terse words to his men, Bud signaled to Mason and they drew off to one side, leaving the cowboys muttering sullen threats against the Ricker faction. “The men sure are in an ugly frame of mind and want to get at the Ricker crowd,” Bud began in an undertone to Mason. “Tex is a favorite among my cowboys, and I’m going to raid Ricker’s ranch and get the man who did the shooting. Tex got a bullet through his shoulder and close to his lungs, the doctor says. One of our boys was once a surgeon and has been taking care of Tex all right.” Mason was puzzled over one point; he remembered he had seen Tex just before Ricker’s men rode up. “How did Tex come to be at the Post when I saw him here when the men lined up behind you?” he queried, “and how did he get in a fight with Ricker’s bunch?” “There wasn’t any fight,” Bud answered with deadly emphasis to his words. “You remember I had to call Tex down a bit yesterday as I knew he was likely to start something. Well, after that I didn’t pay any more attention to him, and as he is a sensitive cuss, he took a fool notion to wander off down to the Post by himself.