Transcriber's Notes: Italic text is denoted by _underscores_ and bold text by =equal signs=. Small uppercase have been replaced with regular uppercase. Blank pages have been eliminated. Variations in spelling and hyphenation have been left as in the original. [Illustration: Ackerman's gun had him covered as soon as his head showed [_Page 153_]] The MAN From BAR 20 A Story of the Cow Country By CLARENCE E. MULFORD AUTHOR OF "Bar 20," "Bar 20 Days," "Hopalong Cassidy," Etc. [Illustration] With Frontispiece By FRANK E. SCHOONOVER A. L. BURT COMPANY Publishers New York Published by arrangement with A. C. MCCLURG & COMPANY Copyright A. C. McClurg & Co. 1918 Published, May, 1918 _Copyrighted in Great Britain_ Affectionately Dedicated to E. V. A. CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I. A Stranger Comes to Hastings 1 II. A Question of Identity 14 III. The Wisdom of the Frogs 25 IV. A Feint 35 V. Preparations 51 VI. A Moonlight Reconnaissance 59 VII. A Council of War 72 VIII. Fleming Is Shown 84 IX. A Skirmish in the Night 97 X. A Change of Base 121 XI. Nocturnal Activities 128 XII. Yeasty Suspicion 139 XIII. An Observant Observer 148 XIV. The End of a Trail 166 XV. Blindman's Buff 187 XVI. The Science of Sombreros 198 XVII. Treed 215 XVIII. At Bay 226 XIX. An Unwelcome Visitor 252 XX. A Past Master Draws Cards 269 XXI. Scouting as a Fine Art 290 XXII. "Two Ijuts" 299 XXIII. "All but th' Cows" 312 The Man From Bar-20 CHAPTER I A STRANGER COMES TO HASTINGS A horseman rode slowly out of a draw and up a steep, lava-covered ridge, singing "The Cowboy's Lament," to the disgust of his horse, which suddenly arched its back and stopped the song in the twenty-ninth verse.