Roy then remembered that he had felt his pony wince, and the boy dismounted to learn the extent of the bronco’s hurt. It was merely superficial, Roy noted with relief, and while the horse would have to travel slowly, there was no danger from the wound. He had been hit in the right flank. The sun was high above the horizon when Roy rode into the yard of the X Bar X. He was tired and thirsty. His face was bloody from the wound in his ear. His horse was limping painfully. As Roy looked up, he saw his father running toward him. “All right, Dad,” the boy called cheerfully. “I’ve quite a story to tell! No, I’m not hurt. Just got a nick in the ear. Did you find the flivver?” “Roy!” Mr. Manley exclaimed. “Son, I’m glad you’re back! Your mother’s been awful worried--an’ so have I! What happened?” “Well, I found Froud, for one thing. But wait till I get a drink and some food in me, and I’ll tell you all about it.” CHAPTER XX THE DECISION Roy’s breakfast was flavored with the tale of his moonlight ride to Harver’s Gully. Between bites he told the story of his meeting with Froud and of the rustler’s strange insistence that he did not know Checkered Shirt. “You say Froud wasn’t riding one of our horses?” Teddy asked. “No. He was sitting on a bronc I never saw before. One of his own, or maybe one he rustled from another outfit. Somehow, he seemed puzzled after he had me covered, as if he didn’t know what to do with me. Took him a mighty long time to decide to bring me to Harver’s Gully.” Neither Mr. Manley nor Teddy had yet taken to their beds, having reached the X Bar X but an hour before Roy. All night they had spent in looking for the missing youth, and at last they had decided he might have returned home. They were about to start on another search when Roy rode into the yard. “Say, Dad, did you find that flivver?” Roy asked, leaning back in his chair with a satisfied sigh. A strip of adhesive tape marked the spot where the bullet had torn his ear. “We did,” the ranchman stated. “Teddy marked it in a ditch. Wasn’t hardly worth sweepin’ up. They’d stripped it clean and smashed the motor to pieces with a wrench. Bug Eye was seein’ red. He could hardly talk. By golly, if the same gang is doin’ all this dirty work, they’ve got an awful lot to settle for!” “I’ll tell a maverick they have!” Roy declared hotly. “And they’ll settle, too! Froud made a mistake when he brought me over to Harver’s Gully. I’ve got an idea that the gang’s headquarters is around there some place. Teddy, you and I will have to take a ride over there soon. It’s right on a deep part of the river, you know, and we might get a few fish--though the kind of fish I’d like to get can’t be caught with a hook and line.”