“Teddy, believe me, there’s not a chance in the world of that,” Roy said earnestly. He sat up straighter, and twisted around so he could see his brother. “You know how I feel about those things. In fact, I guess you’ve laughed at me plenty for being an old maid. But in this instance, I’m not worried. There are five men left to take care of the place. I told Nick to let the work ride till we came back, and to stick close to the ranch house. I told him if Belle or Ethel or Nell go riding, to be sure to have a man or two trail along. There’s to be a guard awake through the night, wandering around the place. He’ll sleep in the day time. Didn’t know all that, did you?” and Roy laughed. “Well, to tell the truth,” he went on, “I didn’t want to be kidded about it, so I kept it quiet. But now that I see you’ve got the fever yourself,” and Roy grinned again, “I’ll relieve your mind.” “And believe me, you have!” Teddy exclaimed fervently. “Roy, if ever I kid you again about being too careful, just remind me of this! Baby! You know, as I was paddling along there, it struck me all of a sudden. Like a cold shower! I started to think, what if The Pup comes back and all the boys are out of reach? And golly, I began to get the fidgets! I didn’t want to tell you, because I know when you start to worry you sure do a good job of it. But, by jingo, you did your worrying ahead of time, which is the right way. Woosh! I feel better. Funny how you get nervous all of a sudden like that, isn’t it? All right, Pop, let’s go! Now we can consider the cattle--and we’ll have plenty to think about there, let me tell you! Come on, Pop! Hit it up! _One_, two, three, four! _One_, two, three, four! Yay! Look at her travel!” The shore slid by rapidly, and the water started to boil under the bow of the canoe. Pop, in the stern, wrinkled his face into a grin. Did this youngster think he could turn the boat on him? The old puncher dug his paddle deep into the water, and his shoulders moved rhythmically. Teddy was hard pushed to keep up with the old man, so powerful were the veteran’s strokes, and as the current was swifter here, the boat seemed fairly to skim over the water, heavy as it was. “All right, men!” Roy called out. “You’re doing fine! We’re creeping up. Another mile to go now. We’ve left Yale behind, and we’re passing Harvard.” He began to sway his body back and forward, in the manner of a coxswain of a racing shell. “Yo, yo, yo, yo--” Suddenly he stopped. He had been facing the shore, and now he reached forward and seized Teddy’s right arm. The boy yelled, floundered, and the boat swung around. “Roy, you big--” he began, then hesitated as he saw his brother’s face. Roy’s eyes had narrowed to two hazel slits. His forehead was creased with a frown. His underjaw shot forward ever so slightly. He pointed silently. His grip on Teddy’s arm tightened.