“Oh, we’d love to come!” one of the girls said, she whom Mr. Manley had introduced as Nell Willis. Then she looked at Roy. “You know, I’ve always wanted to come West. I think it’s so--so weird, don’t you?” “Weird?” Roy repeated, as though to himself. “You mean--weird? Oh, yes! Sure! Awfully weird! Yep! Sure is!” “And do you ride just all the time?” the other, Ethel Carew, asked Teddy. “Who, me? Nope! Sit down to eat,” and Teddy grinned. Nice eyes the girl had. “How’s your mother?” Mr. Manley interrupted. “Fine,” Roy answered, turning to his father. “She’ll be glad to see you again. She’s been a little lonesome.” “No trouble?” his father asked quickly. “I heard something about rustlers getting away with some of the 8 X 8 stock. Man on the train told me. They haven’t been around our place, have they?” “Not that I know of,” Roy replied. “I guess mother’s been a bit upset ever since--er--” He glanced over at Teddy, who was explaining to Ethel Carew why they called a cowboy a puncher. “Ever since you had that fuss with Gilly Froud,” Roy went on. “She’s always sort of afraid he’ll come back and do some damage.” Mr. Manley scowled and removed his pipe from his mouth. “He better not let me catch him around the X Bar X,” he said sternly. “And if he’s wise, he’ll steer clear of Teddy, too. Froud may be big, but I wouldn’t bet a plugged nickel on him if Teddy ever saw him kick Flash again.” “Oh, Mr. Manley, did I hear some one say something about rustlers?” exclaimed Nell Willis. “I’d just _love_ to see a real, live rustler. Did you ever shoot one, Mr. Manley?” “Who, me? Shoot a rustler?” Roy’s father demanded. Then he saw that Nell was looking at Roy. “Oh, you mean him. I thought you were talkin’ to me. That’s Roy, there.” The girl reddened slightly. “Roy, then! And you call me Nell. But tell me--did you ever shoot a rustler--Roy?” “No, I can’t say that I did,” Roy answered, with a laugh. “But if you’d like it, I’ll try to arrange to do it for you,” and he laughed again. “Oh, no!” Nell replied with a pretended shiver. “I don’t want you to do it. I just wondered if you _had_.” “Roy’s only joking,” Mr. Manley stated. “People back East think we’ve got nothing to do but chase Indians and string up hoss-thieves. Why, even if there were Indians runnin’ around loose, we wouldn’t have time to chase ’em. We have plenty to do on a ranch without lookin’ for trouble,” he declared. “That reminds me, Teddy--who’s doin’ most of the outridin’ these days?” Outriding was the process of investigating the condition of the stock on the range. “Nat Raymond and Jim Casey, mostly,” Teddy answered. “Then, I thought maybe it would be a good idea to have Nick Looker take a hand, too. Since the rustlers started raiding the 8 X 8, I’ve been kind of worried about our own cattle.”