“I’ll be glad to come and you can depend on me for one,” Mason answered, turning to look at Tex who was in earnest conversation with Lem and Waneda. “I’ll go among the boys and get them all to turn out for this occasion, and we will make the party such a success that your sister won’t have any kick coming.” “Another reason why we came over here this morning was to warn you to watch out for the friends of Ricker,” Bruce continued, lowering his voice. Tex had started on a slow walk to the ranch with Lem and Waneda. “You know the town of Smoky Point below Trader’s Post at the railroad junction?” Mason nodded his head, becoming deeply interested. “Well,” Bruce resumed, “Lem and I happened to have some business to transact in that town yesterday, and we dropped into the Duke hotel: it is a saloon and dance hall run by Duke Williams, a notorious gambler. He got his nickname, Duke, from his highly polished manners and cool indifference to danger. He is said to be a man who never gets rattled or shows any signs of nervousness, no matter what the provocation. We were seated at a table and had just ordered a round of drinks when two cowboys came in and took seats near us. They were from the ranch that joins our boundary line, and from their talk they had been drinking heavily and were in an ugly mood. One of the men was Nick Cover’s cousin and goes by the name of Spot Wells. They didn’t appear to realize they were talking loud, and during their conversation I caught Tex’s name mentioned, followed by an oath, and then they began to plan how they could get Tex and then finish you off. For some reason or other they seemed to think that you were directly responsible for the Ricker raid. We took our leave shortly after that, and I made it my business to let you know the kind of deal you are up against. Lem will put Tex wise, and you can bank on me to keep you posted if I hear anything else. What I am most concerned about just now, is to make sure that you will come to our dance.” Mason grasped his hand and shook it heartily. “You can depend on me, Bruce, I wouldn’t miss it for the world, and I want to thank you for going to all this trouble on my account,” he said sincerely. “Why, you almost made me forget about your party while I was listening to your description of these men.” His eyes lighted up with a curious gleam and he looked hard at Bruce. “Say, I’ve got an idea,” he burst out suddenly; “get your brother to stay here and have breakfast with us, and then you and I will quietly get this old machine out and take a spin down to Smoky Point. There is a bare chance that we will find those cowboys there, and I want to get a good look at them. We won’t say a word to anybody about going, and you can patch it up with your brother afterwards. Are you game?”