Produced by Steven desJardins and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net THE BOY RANCHERS OF PUGET SOUND [Illustration: "'DESERTED!' JAKE SAID SHORTLY"--Page 282] THE BOY RANCHERS OF PUGET SOUND BY HAROLD BINDLOSS Author of "Alton of Somasco," "Winston of the Prairie," "Lorimer of the Northwest," "Thurston of Orchard Valley," etc. [Illustration] NEW YORK FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY PUBLISHERS Copyright, 1910, By FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY _All rights reserved_ _September, 1910_ CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I. FRANK GOES WEST 1 II. THE BUSH 14 III. THE RANCH 28 IV. TARGET PRACTICE 39 V. THE MYSTERIOUS SCHOONER 51 VI. AT THE HELM 62 VII. A WARNING 71 VIII. SALMON SPEARING 82 IX. A PLAIN HINT 93 X. A BREEZE OF WIND 106 XI. MR. BARCLAY JOINS THE PARTY 118 XII. THE STRANGER 127 XIII. THE SCHOONER REAPPEARS 137 XIV. A TEST OF ENDURANCE 148 XV. A MIDNIGHT VISITOR 157 XVI. FRANK KILLS A DEER 166 XVII. MR. WEBSTER'S GUNS 174 XVIII. RUNNING A CARGO 184 XIX. THE CACHÉ 195 XX. MR. WEBSTER'S SLASHING 206 XXI. A NIGHT ON THE SANDS 216 XXII. THE ULTIMATUM 228 XXIII. MR. OLIVER OUTWITS HIS WATCHERS 237 XXIV. A FAST RUN 249 XXV. THE UNITED STATES MAIL 259 XXVI. MR. BARCLAY LAYS HIS PLANS 268 XXVII. THE DERELICT 277 XXVIII. A GRIM DISCOVERY 285 XXIX. THE RAID 294 XXX. THE RELIEF OF THE RANCH 305 XXXI. FRANK BECOMES A RANCH OWNER 315 THE BOY RANCHERS OF PUGET SOUND CHAPTER I FRANK GOES WEST