"Then if he had heard Weston's name it might not mean anything to Leslie," Ross concluded. He wondered why Lon had not made himself known that evening and wondered how he came to know the McKenzies. In fact, he sat on the side of his bed wondering about a dozen things until midnight, and then went to bed undecided what to do now that he had Quinn's address in his possession. His resentment kindled against Leslie whenever he thought of the latter's deception about his name. And the probabilities were that a letter from him, Ross, would not move the father to clemency. In this undecided state of mind, Ross strolled into the lobby the following morning, considering how he could best kill time until the stage started for Meeteetse that evening. As he was standing in front of a window, his hands deep in his pockets, the sheriff and Sandy rode past, followed by Waymart. Neither the sheriff nor Waymart looked his way. But Sandy did, and, grinning, raised his hand in a graceful salute. Ross, nodding, felt his anger at Sandy dying. Distrust him as he must, Ross could not dislike him. In this strange state of mind, however, the boy was by no means alone throughout the length and breadth of Big Horn County. "They're going now after the right chap," thought Ross, and a wave of sympathy for Leslie began to wash away his resentment. In the end, he spent the greater part of the day composing a letter to old man Quinn, wherein he set forth Leslie's position, prospects and altered feelings in bald statements containing but few adjectives. In explaining who the writer was he gave a brief account of his connection with the sheriff. Between the acts of composing, tearing up, and rewriting the composition, he searched Cody for Lon Weston, but could not find him. When, that evening, he climbed into the stage behind Andy, he had sent the letter to Leslie's father and had not caught a glimpse of Weston. At the stage camp he was the butt of much congratulation and derision from the hilarious Hank. "Say, you made the sheriff mad as a hornet, but he had t' own up ye cheated 'im out of a year's growth. Sandy set the hull thing out in good shape. But why didn't ye stick t' yer job instid of layin' down 'n' kickin' up yer heels before the time?" "Because I'm no good, Hank, this side of the Mississippi River," returned Ross in humility of spirit. "Don't knock me--you can't get ahead of me in that respect! I've kicked myself all over Cody to-day." The following morning, at Meeteetse, he joined Bill Travers and the Miners' Camp stage and started on the all day's journey into the mountains. At noon, he began looking for the sheriff and Leslie. He had calculated that they would meet the stage at the half-way ranch and there he would tell Leslie what he had written his father. But no Leslie appeared. All the afternoon during the stage's progress into the mountains, Ross looked for the sheriff and his prisoner, but he looked in vain.