"Fine and dandy," Buck assured her. "Thanks to you, and Bud, I'm perfectly whole again." She greeted Jessup, who came up smiling, and then Sheriff Hardenberg was presented. "Very glad to meet you, Miss Thorne," he said. There was a faint twinkle in his eyes as he glanced toward Stratton for an instant, his belief confirmed as to the principal reason for Buck's desire to keep the secret of the Shoe-Bar ownership. Then he became businesslike. "Where's Lynch and the rest of 'em?" he asked briskly. The girl's face grew suddenly serious. "I don't know," she answered quickly. "They were all working about the barns until a strange cow-boy rode in about two hours ago. I saw him pass the window but didn't think much about it. About half an hour or so later I went out to give some orders to Pedro; he's the cook, you know. But he wasn't there and neither was Maria, and when I went out to the barns the men were gone. Of course something urgent might easily have taken them out on the range, but neither Maria nor Pedro has been off the place for weeks. Besides, when I peeped into the bunk-house everything was tossed about in confusion, as if--Well, I was afraid something--had happened." "Something has," stated the sheriff grimly. "The truth is, that scoundrel Lynch has got to the end of his rope, and we're after him." The girl's face paled, then flushed deeply. "What--what is it?" she asked in a low, troubled voice. "What has he--" "It's rather a long story, and I'm afraid there isn't time to stop and tell you now," explained the sheriff as she paused. "We've got to make every minute count. You have no idea which way they went?" "It must have been west or south," the girl answered promptly. "If they'd gone any other way I should have seen them." "Fine," said Hardenberg, wheeling his horse. "Don't you worry about anything," he added over one shoulder. "We'll be back in a jiffy." As he and his men spurred down the slope toward the entrance to middle pasture, the girl's eyes sought Stratton's. "You--" "I must." He quickly answered her unspoken question. "They'll need us to show them the way. We'll be back, though, as soon as we possibly can. You're not nervous, are you? You're perfectly safe, of course, with--" "Of course," she assured him promptly. "Lynch has gone. There'll be nothing for us to worry about here. Good-by, then, for a while. And do be careful--both of you." Her face was a trifle pale, and about her mouth and chin were traced a few faint lines which hinted vaguely of forced composure. As Buck hastened to overtake the posse, he recalled her expression, and wondered with a troubled qualm whether she wasn't really more nervous than she let herself appear. Perhaps she might have been more comfortable if he or Bud had remained at the ranch-house.