Grunting and straining, Teddy succeeded in forcing the two loose strands together and fastening them securely. When the task was finished he mopped the sweat from his face and the two boys remounted. “Your turn to take the next break,” Teddy asserted, as they rode on. “Hope it’s a good one.” “There won’t be any next,” Roy answered. “We’ll have to ride in now and let someone else start from here to-morrow. We’re supposed to be at the ranch this evening to talk to those two birds from Iowa--the Lefton brothers. Me, I don’t like ’em! But dad seems to think that they’ll take at least twelve hundred head, so we’ll have to dicker with ’em, I guess. Hope we get a good price.” “Why don’t you like ’em?” Teddy asked curiously. Roy glanced over at his brother in surprise. “Teddy, that’s the first remark of mine to-day that you’ve taken seriously! So you, too, think there’s something funny about them, do you?” “I didn’t say so,” Teddy responded. “You don’t have to say so. Well, spill it! What do you know about ’em?” “Nothing much,” Teddy answered evasively. “Only they sure asked Nick a lot of queer questions.” “Did they?” Roy looked eagerly at his brother. “What sort of questions? About cattle?” “Yes, about cattle--our cattle. Nick said that both of them cornered him down by the bunkhouse, offered him cigarettes, and tried to pump him. Nick told ’em that we had fifty head of shorthorns that were being shipped to the King of Siam, in trade for a herd of elephants. He said that we were going to start an elephant farm out here and grow ivory for our own pool balls.” “He did? What did they say then?” “Nothing. Guess they looked at him as if they wondered whether he was crazy, and wandered off. I heard next they got Gus Tripp, and asked him a lot of questions, too.” “Mighty inquisitive pair of boys,” Roy commented dryly. “Must want to know all about the cattle they buy. Well, you can’t exactly blame them for that, I suppose.” “They weren’t asking about the kind of cattle they were, but where we grazed ’em. How many head here, how many there, and so forth.” “You don’t say! Nick tell you that?” “Gus did. But he didn’t give them any satisfaction. Gus is too wise for that.” Roy, his tall body straight in the saddle, his head held rigid, remained silent. After a moment Teddy glanced at him and grinned. “Six times six is thirty-six and six is forty-two! Come out of it!” “I was just thinking,” Roy said deliberately, “of the Lefton brothers.” “You don’t tell me! Why, I thought you were trying to do mental arithmetic. So you were thinking of the Lefton boys! Well, well! Now what could have been the cause of that, do you suppose?” “I was wondering if they really intend to buy cattle,” Roy went on, refusing to reply to Teddy’s sarcasm. “They’ve been hanging around two days now, and never once made an offer. To me, that seems mighty funny. Of course, you, with your superior brain, may think of it differently.”