"One mornin’, about a week after th’ campers left, Buck looked out of th’ bunkhouse door an’ cautions me an’ Hoppy to ride prepared for cold weather. I can see he ’s worried, an’ to please him we straps a blanket an’ a buffalo robe behind our saddles, cussin’ th’ size of ’em under our breath. I ’ve got th’ short ride that day, an’ Buck says he ’ll wait for me to come back, after which we ’ll scout around Medicine Bend. He ’s still worried about them campers. In th’ Valley th’ cows are thicker ’n th’ other parts of th’ range, an’ it would n’t take no time to get a big herd together. He ’s got a few things to mend, so he says he ’ll do th’ work before I get back. "Down on Section Two things is happenin’ fast, like they mostly do out here. Twelve rustlers can do a lot if they have things planned, an’ ’most any fair plan will work once. They only wanted one day—after that it would be a runnin’ fight, with eight or nine of ’em layin’ back to hold us off while th’ others drove th’ cows hard. Why, Slippery Trendley an’ Tamale Jose was th’ only ones that ever slid across our lines with that many men. "Three rustlers slipped up to Number Two at night an’ waited. When Skinny opened th’ door in th’ mornin’ he was drove back with a hole in his shoulder. Then there was h—l a-poppin’ in that li’l mud shack. But it did n’t do no good, for neither of ’em could get out alive until after dark. They learned that with sorrow, an’ pain. An’ they shore was het up about it. Ace Fisher, ridin’ along th’ west line from Number One, was dropped from ambush. Two more rustlers lay back of Medicine Bend lookin’ for any of us that might ride down from the bunkhouse. An’ they sent two more over to Li’l Timber to lay under that ledge of rock that sticks out of th’ south side of th’ bluff like a porch roof. Either me or Hoppy would be ridin’ that way. They stacked th’ deck clever; but Providence cut it square. "Th’ first miss-cue comes when a pert gray wolf lopes past ahead of Hoppy when he ’s quite some distance above Li’l Timber. This gray wolf was a whopper, an’ Hoppy was all set to get him. He wanted that sassy devil more ’n he wanted money just then, so he starts after it. Mr. Gray Wolf leads him a long chase over th’ middle of th’ range an’ then suddenly disappears. Hoppy hunts around quite a spell, an’ then heads back for th’ line. While he’s huntin’ for th’ wolf it gets cold, an’ it keeps on gettin’ colder fast. "Me, I leaves later ’n usual that mornin’. An’ I don’t get to Cowan’s until late. I ’m there when I notices how cussed cold it’s got all of a sudden. Cowan looks at his thermometer, which Jimmy later busts, an’ says she has gone down thirty degrees since daylight. He gives me a bottle of liquor Buck wanted, an’ I ride west along th’ north line, hopin’ to meet Jimmy or Ace for a short talk.