“I stay here. Just cart some water for me, and you’ll find some bread an’ meat in a closet in back. An’ you might hand me down a rifle, just in case. I’ll be all right. I’ll rest up, an’ you can bring a doc when you come back. Then when I feel better, I’ll be ridin’ on. Snap to it now. You ain’t got much time.” For a moment Roy hesitated. Gently he unwound the tourniquet. The bleeding had stopped, and the cut seemed to be closing. If the fellow who called himself Brand kept quiet for a while, there was every chance that the injury would soon mend. Teddy fetched the water and food and laid them by the side of the man, together with a rifle and a box of cartridges. Then he jerked a blanket off the couch and threw it over the figure on the floor. This done, the boys prepared to leave. “So long, boys! Remember me to Froud--with an ounce of lead! Ride’ em, buckers! Go get ’em!” Teddy and Roy made for the door. In a moment they were on their ponies. A cold wind cut their faces as they raced across the range. Night was fast approaching. The prairie lay like a sodden blanket beneath a gray sky. In the cabin they had just left, a man pulled himself across the floor and into the next room. His hand reached out toward a pile of branding irons, and his fingers closed over the one without a handle. Clutching this, he struggled back to the fire, and held it to catch the glow of the dying embers. His fingers passed gently over the raised surface. Then with a sigh of satisfaction he sank back and watched the last sparks fade into blackness. CHAPTER XXV THE ROUND-UP The first stars were peeping from a cloud-strewn sky when Roy and Teddy rode into the yards of the X Bar X. Without waiting to tie up their horses, they rushed into the house. Mrs. Manley was talking to Norine in the living room. “Mother!” Teddy exclaimed, “where’s dad? Is he in?” “Just went toward the corral, Teddy,” Mrs. Manley answered. Then, as she saw Teddy’s face, she asked: “What happened? Is Belle all right? She didn’t--” “Nothing like that at all, Mom!” Roy cried, giving her a quick hug. “We’ve got good news. We know where our horses are!” “Do you, now?” Norine broke in, her eyes alight. “Then I’m glad! I missed those ponies, so I did!” “You’d better hurry after your father,” Mrs. Manley admonished. “He’s riding again tonight after the rustlers. I do wish this were over!” “It will be soon, Mom!” declared Teddy, “Don’t worry now--we’ll have that gang before morning!” “But, boys, you’re all wet! You really must get some dry clothes on!” “When we find dad, Mom! Want to reach him before he leaves! Come on, Teddy!” The boys rushed from the room. Mrs. Manley turned to Norine with something very much akin to pride in her eyes. Her boys were already men! Teddy reached his father just as the ranchman was throwing a saddle on a bronco. The boys told their story quickly.