The ranchers made their way over to where the horses had been tied. "O. K.!" Dick yelled as he came up. "They're all there. Not a hair on 'em touched. Bet they thought it was the end of the world, though!" "Sure!" assented Nort. "Now, now, old hoss!" Dick said soothingly as he stroked the nose of his pony. "Scared, eh? Well, I don't blame you a bit. Look at this one shake! Take it easy, boy--it's all over. Easy, there! Feel better now? That's the stuff--walk around a bit. Do you good. Steady! Steady!" The horses were quickly calmed. Assured by the presence of their masters that they were safe, they soon stopped quivering, and breathed easier. A good horse trusts implicitly in his rider. "I'll take 'em over nearer the house," declared the Kid. "They'll feel better when they get movin'. By the way--wonder what happened to our cook? Last time I saw him he was fryin' bacon. Take a run to the kitchen, Dick, and look, will you?" "Sure. Say, there's one shack down," Dick said as he pointed to the wreck of a small building. "Probably was a bunk house. We won't need one of those for a while, anyway. Well, will you look at that roof!" The Kid indicated another out-house. Its roof was turned directly around, so that the back was where the front should be. Not a board on it was broken. "Looks like a crazy-house down at Coney Island!" laughed Nort. "Dick, I thought you were going to see about eats? I'm starved." Dick walked toward the kitchen. Before he got there the aroma of cooking bacon told the waiting cowboys that the Mexican was still on the job. "Must have the whole place full of food by this time," Bud commented. "Think I'll take another look around, Kid. Billee, you want to come along? I just want to make sure we haven't missed anything." The two set off on a tour of inspection. It was growing dark now, and it would soon be too late to repair that night anything that was damaged. "Guess we haven't lost much," Bud said to the veteran rancher. "We're pretty lucky, eh, Billee?" "Sure are! We'll just look around the corner of this building, however, and then go back. I'm sort of hungry myself." "Me too. Hope that Mex has--" Bud broke off suddenly. He peered hard at the earth in the shadow of the shack. Then he walked swiftly over. On the ground lay the body of a man, face down. Bud grasped him gently by the arm and turned him over. On his forehead was a long cut, from which blood was flowing. Bud looked sharply at his face, then started back in surprise. "Well, I'll be jiggered!" he said slowly. "It's Delton!" CHAPTER X BUD FINDS A NOTE Billee Dobb approached deliberately and gazed long and earnestly into the face of the recumbent man.