“The--the poor thing was scared!” Roy spluttered, as soon as he got his breath. “He tried--oh, golly--he tried to commit suicide! Baby! I never expect to see a sight like that again! Teddy, if you had only seen him--seen the expression on his face when the gun went off! He grabbed the barrel, pointed it at his chest, and pulled the trigger! Honestly! Then he looked so gosh-blamed surprised and disappointed, and--and--Hold me, Teddy, or I’ll bust!” “I saw most of it,” Teddy declared, wiping tears of laughter from his eyes. “The best part of it all was to see those two hopping down the mountain like a couple of silly cows--or like rocking horses out on a spree! Man, that was one sweet show! Say, I’ll bet the one who shot himself won’t sleep to-night. Or, if he does, he’ll have bad dreams. Imagine a bear shooting himself! Won’t Pop Burns like to hear about this!” “Yes, but will he believe it?” Roy asked dubiously. “Pop likes to tell ’em, but when it comes to listening--that’s another thing.” “Well, anyway, this beats his story about the bear eating Nick’s pants.” “I’ll tell a maverick it does! And we know this is true, while that other--well, I have me ‘doots.’ Come on, we’d better go now. We’ve got to find your gun before we start home. Here--you slide down first then grab me. I’ll bet Star and Flash are getting restless by now. Neither one has been ridden much lately. All right--over you go. There’ll be no bear to welcome you with open arms, either, thank goodness. The party is over!” Still chuckling, the two boys, after finding the two guns where they had been dropped, made their way down the mountain toward the ponies. Star and Flash whinnied as they came up and pranced about ecstatically the moment the boys were in the saddle. The love Teddy and Roy had for their broncos was not unreciprocated. Talking of their adventure with the bears, the boys rode slowly home. Teddy was anxious to tell Pop Burns about it, to see what he would say. But as they neared the ranch yard of the X Bar X, they heard something that drove these topics from their minds. From around the corner of the bunk-house came voices, loud in anger. They listened. One of the speakers was their father! CHAPTER III An Angry Visitor “What do you reckon is up, Teddy?” asked Roy Manley. “Haven’t the least idea, but we’ll soon find out!” The two urged their mounts forward anxiously. Digressing here, for a moment, it will be recalled that these two youths were first introduced in a book called “The X Bar X Boys on the Ranch,” the opening volume of this series. Therein was told of the long and dangerous hunt they, in company with their father and other members of the outfit, had undertaken to round-up a gang of rustlers who had stolen Flash, Star, and General, the ponies of Teddy, Roy, and Mr. Manley.