"An' he took with him your wireless and your new bunch of cattle," the Kid remarked sardonically. "Never count the chickens before they scratch. Mr. Delton is a slicker article than we figgered on." "Let's see the note a minute, Bud," Nort said. "Huh--'bed too hard--couldn't sleep!' Wise sort of a bird; isn't he? Say, he must have written this as soon as we left the room." "Why?" "Because if he waited too long he couldn't have seen to write--too dark. That means he's far away by this time. He probably----" "The horses! Ten to one he grabbed one of them an' beat it!" Yellin' Kid cried. Without further parley the boys and men filed from the room and made for the corral. The horses had been tied to a pole nearest the house, and they were not long in reaching them. They could be easily seen in the moonlight which now flooded the prairie. "Mine's there!" Bud yelled as he came within view of the animals. "Guess you're wrong, Kid. Seems like there's--no there isn't, either! Only four! Whose mount is missing?" "You might know it," the Kid said disgustedly. "The coot took mine--out of all that bunch to pick from, he had to rustle my new bronc! By golly, if ever I set eyes on you again, you old----" "Take it easy!" laughed Bud. "Could be a lot worse. He might have turned the rest of 'em loose, too." "No use beefin' about it," said Billee Dobb. "All over now. He's gone--an' so's the Kid's bronc. Talk about it in the morning. Me, I'm tired!" The night passed uneventfully. At sun-up the Kid appeared at the door of Bud's room and grinned in at him. "Ready for work?" he cried. "You mean trailin' your horse, Kid?" Bud asked mischievously. The grin left Yellin' Kid's face and his eyes flashed. "No," he said shortly. "I'll leave that for later. When I got some time on my hands that I want to use up in enjoyment. Then I'll go after your friend Delton." "He's no friend of mine," retorted Bud. "But let's not chop about it until after breakfast, anyway. Think that Mexican cook is on the job?" "Heard him movin' around a while ago, Bud. Let's go down an' see. Billee is downstairs, and I guess Nort an' Dick are too." When they reached the dining room they found the others waiting for them. "Sleep good, boys?" Dick asked. "Sure did. Felt like I'd never wake up. Say, steak this morning!" Nort cried as he saw the table loaded with food. "We got _some_ cook here!" "Don't it strike you all kind 'a funny that the Mex has got so much stuff on hand?" Billee Dobb wanted to know. "Course it _might_ be that this Delton feller had just stocked up before we came. Hey, Mex!" he yelled into the kitchen. "_Aqui_! _Pronto_!" The Mexican strolled calmly to where the five sat waiting. "Where you get all this?" Billee pointed to the plates of meat. The Mexican shrugged his shoulders and motioned toward the kitchen. "Boss leave it here?" Another shrug.