“But, then, we always get out of them again,” struck in Walt Phelps quite seriously, at which both Captain Atkinson and Mr. Reeves and the boys themselves had to laugh. “Do we start right away?” asked Walt anxiously. “No; not until to–morrow morning. Mr. Reeves, however, will go on ahead. I will give full instructions as to the road to take and there will be no chance of your being lost.” “As if we couldn’t find the road,” whispered Ralph indignantly to Walt. “That would be a fine thing for full–fledged Rangers to do, wouldn’t it?” Soon after, Mr. Reeves said good–bye, as he had a long ride ahead of him and could not expect to arrive home much before midnight. The rest of that day the boys spent in getting their outfits ready. Baldy showed them how to do up their kits in real Ranger fashion. In the town the boys also procured for themselves Ranger hats and gauntlets, so that when the time came for their departure the next morning they were three as doughty looking Rangers as could have been found along the Rio Grande. “Good–bye, boys,” were Captain Atkinson’s parting words. “Keep out of danger and remember that you are going on Rangers’ work as Texas Rangers.” “We won’t forget,” called back Jack, with a hearty ring in his voice. “So–long! Yip–ye–e–e–ee!” yelled the Rangers. “Yip! Yip!” shouted the boys. Their three ponies bounded forward, and in a cloud of dust they clattered through the town and out upon the plains upon the trail for Lagunitas Rancho. As they had a long trip before them, they did not ride fast after they had passed the town limits, but allowed their ponies to adopt that easy, single–footed gait known all over the west as the “cow trot.” At noon they halted by some giant cottonwood trees to eat the lunch they had brought with them. Large clumps of bright green grass grew in great profusion all about, and the boys decided to let the ponies graze while they ate. They made a hearty meal, washing it down with water from their canteens. These canteens were covered with felt, which had been well soaked with water before leaving camp. The evaporation from the wet felt as the hot sun struck it kept the fluid within the canteens fairly cool. “Gee whiz! I just hate to go out into the hot sun again,” declared Walt Phelps, throwing himself down on the ground and luxuriating in the shade. “Same here, but we’ve got to be pressing forward if we are to go on duty to–night,” declared Jack. “Thunderation!” fairly shouted Ralph, “do we have to go on duty to–night?” “Why, yes. You didn’t think we were going to Lagunitas for a vacation, did you?” inquired Jack with a smile. “N–n–no,” stammered Ralph, looking rather shamefaced, “but I thought we’d have a rest before we started in.” “I reckon Rangers do their work first and rest afterward. Isn’t that the way, Jack?” asked Walt. “I guess that’s it,” was the reply. “But let’s go and get the cayuses and saddle up.”