"Pete, git that rifle an' lay along the trail! An' if anyone comes a-foggin' along towards town shoot his horse out from in under him! Never mind chawin'--you git! Shoot his horse, an' I'll pay the bill. Any skunk that would try fer to beat a lady out of her claim ain't a-goin' to expect nothin' but what he gits around this outfit. An' say, Pete--if it should be Monk Bethune--an' you happen to shoot a leetle high fer to hit the horse--don't worry none--git, now! "You come right along of me, an' git a snack from Miz T. while Mike's a-saddlin' up. It's a long drag to town, even on Lightnin', an' you ain't et yet. If the coffee ain't hot, you can wait a couple o' minutes--that there Pete--he won't let nothin' git by--he kin cut a sage hen's head off twenty rod with that rifle!" Patty had made several unsuccessful attempts to speak--attempts to which Thompson paid no attention whatever. At last, she managed to make him understand. "No, no! It isn't the claim, Mr. Thompson--but, let him saddle the horse just the same. Mr. Samuelson is worse and I'm riding for the doctor." "You!" exclaimed the astonished Thompson. "What's the matter with Bill or some of Samuelson's riders?" "They're after the horse-thieves. They ran off a lot of Mr. Samuelson's horses last night, and they're after them. And they caught them, and had a battle, and I was in it, and there is a dead man lying back there beside the trail." Patty talked rapidly, and Thompson stared open-mouthed. "Run off Samuelson's horses--battle--dead man--you was in it!" he repeated, in bewilderment. "Who run 'em off? Where's Vil Holland? Who's dead?" "I don't know who's dead. A horse-thief, I guess. And Vil Holland's with them--with the Samuelson cowboys and that horrid Pierce, and that's why I had to ride for the doctor--because the cowboys were with Vil Holland, and Pierce thought I was one of the horse-thieves." "If you know what you're talkin' about it's more'n what I do," sighed Thompson, resignedly, as the girl concluded the somewhat muddled explanation. "If the raid's come off, why wasn't I in on it--an' me keepin' Lightnin' up an' ready fer it's goin' on three months? They's a thing or two I do know, though. For one, you've rode fer enough." He called to Pete, who, rifle in hand, was making for the trail. "Hey, Pete, come back here with that gun, an' quick as Mike gits the hull cinched onto Lightnin', you fork him an' hightail fer town an' fetch Doc Mallory out to Samuelson's. Tell him the Old Man's worse. Better fetch Len Christie along, too. If there's a dead man, even if he's a horse-thief, it's better he was buried accordin' to the book. Take Miss Sinclair's horse to the stable an' tell Mike to onsaddle him an' give him a feed." He turned to Patty: "You come along in an' rest up 'til Miz T. gits breakfast ready. Then when you've et, you kin begin at the beginnin' an' tell what's be'n a-goin' on in the hills."