"Well, it'll save trouble in a way, if you recognize the fact that we are here to stop you," said Billee. "An' we're goin' to! _Sabe_?" "But for why?" asked the other, speaking English much better than his appearance seemed to indicate he might be able to. "It is land open to all who come, and I have come----" "Then you may as well go back where you came from!" interrupted Yellin' Kid, "'cause there's going to be no onery sheep pastured here, an' you can roll that in your cigaret an' smoke it!" he added, as the stranger calmly made himself a "smoke" from a wisp of paper and some tobacco he shook into it from a small cloth bag. There was no answer to this implied challenge on the part of Yellin' Kid, hardly even the flicker of an eyelash to show that the stranger heard and understood. Yet he must have heard. Yellin' Kid was not one to leave a matter of that sort in doubt. His tones were always above the average. And that he has made himself plain was evident to all--even to the stranger it would appear. For there was that in his air--something about him--which seemed to say that he had absorbed what the cowboy had intimated. Whether he would profit by the remarks--well, that was another matter--something for the future. But if he was at all apprehensive it was not manifested by any tremor of his hands; for not a grain of tobacco was spilled. CHAPTER VIII SUSPICIONS For several moments the situation remained thus; the boy ranchers and their friends were on one side of Spur Creek, determined to repulse any attempt on the part of the strange horseman, who was on the opposite shore, to cross and make a landing. In this case it might be considered a legal taking possession of disputed land, and open the way for a band of sheep men to enter. On the other side was the lone horseman calmly puffing at his cigaret, as if literally taking the advice of Yellin' Kid. The three boys, and the older cowboys also, had their guns in readiness for action, but it was easy to guess that the lone horseman, unless he was extremely foolhardy, would not attempt to do anything in the face of such odds. More than two minutes passed, and if you want to know how long this is in a tense situation take out your watch and count the seconds. Then the stranger on the Mexican side of Spur Creek tossed away his smouldering cigaret stub, took a deep breath and exhaled the smoke. Next he spoke softly. "You will have no sheep, _senors_?" he asked. "Nary a sheep!" declared Billee Dobb, "an' you can tell them that sent you!" A half smile--a contemptuous smirk of the lips--seamed for a moment the bronzed, weather-beaten and wrinkled face of the lone horseman. He tightened the reins and his steed made ready to gallop off. "I shall see you again, _senors_. _Adios!_" he cried, and, with a graceful wave of his hand he wheeled and rode off as fast as he had approached.