MEADOWLARK BASIN BY B. M. BOWER AUTHOR OF CHIP OF THE FLYING U, THE EAGLE'S WING, DESERT BREW, Etc. WITH FRONTISPIECE BY GEORGE W. GAGE GROSSET & DUNLAP PUBLISHERS NEW YORK _Copyright, 1925_, BY LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY. _All rights reserved_ Published August, 1925 Reprinted November, 1925 PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA [Illustration: Smoky Ford had never seen anything like it.] CONTENTS I LARK RUSTLES A BOY II SMALLPOX HAS ITS USES III LARK DOES A LITTLE BRANDING IV BUD V THE SIGN OF THE GOLDEN ARROW VI BUD DOES A LITTLE RUSTLING VII WAYS AND MEANS VIII BUD HOLDS COUNCIL WITH HIMSELF IX BUTCH CASSIDY GIVES ADVICE X THE FRYING PAN XI BUD TAKES A TRAIL OF HIS OWN XII THE MEADOWLARK BOYS HAVE A PLAN XIII BUD FINDS THE STOLEN MONEY XIV "SOMETHING'S ABOUT DUE TO POP!" XV "JELLY" GETS IN ACTION XVI "WHO SHOT BAT AND ED WHITE" XVII "BUD AND JELLY; ONE OR BOTH" XVIII BUD GOES AFTER BUTCH XIX "NEXT TIME, REMEMBER--BUTCH PACKS TWO GUNS!" XX "THINGS KINDA SLIPPED UP" XXI LARK WOULD HAVE DONE THINGS DIFFERENTLY XXII EAVESDROPPER XXIII "DISARM THE PRISONER!" XXIV SNOWBALL TESTIFIES MEADOWLARK BASIN CHAPTER ONE LARK RUSTLES A BOY On the brow of the hill the horse Lark was riding stepped aside from the trail, walked to the very edge of the rim and stood there, gravely looking down into the valley. Where he stood the young grass was cut and crushed into the loose soil with shod hoofprints closely intermingled, proof that the slight detour was a matter of habit born of many pausings there at gaze. Except on pitch-black nights or when he rode in haste, Lark never failed to stop and drink his fill of the wide valley below,--in his opinion the most beautiful spot on earth.