The two men who appeared before her did so so unexpectedly that it was as though they had sprouted from the earth itself. Twenty feet apart, they stretched a rope between them. Almost certainly, they wanted to stop her and take Sparkle. [Illustration] Cindy measured the shoulder-high rope with her eye as she rushed toward it. Coming near, she drew Sparkle up, and the roan pony cleared the rope with inches to spare. "Stop, you!" one of the men roared. No longer worried, Cindy flew on. While Sparkle was in the air, she had seen what she'd been unable to see before. There were very few horsemen ahead of her, but one of the horses had a tail that flashed pure white. It had to be Sunshine. Cindy let Sparkle run as fast as he could. She mounted a little rise and discovered she had not made a mistake. Very plainly she saw her father and Pete. The only rider leading them was the lean man with the race horse, and he was in trouble. The horse had run a gallant race but had already given his best. Now he was faltering, and the lean man was beating him savagely with a quirt. The horse stopped and stood with heaving sides and hanging head. The rider leaped off, threw his coat down, drew a gun, and turned to face Jed Simpson and Pete Brent. Cindy let Sparkle run until he was very near, then drew him to a walk. The thick grass muffled Sparkle's hoofbeats. Fully occupied with Jed and Pete, the man did not take his eyes from them. "Go back!" Cindy heard him say. "Go back or I shoot! This is my claim! I staked it with my coat!" "We don't want it," Pete said. "We're going farther on." "I know your kind!" said the bearded man. "You're claim jumpers! Go back or I shoot!" [Illustration: _"Go back or I shoot!" he said_] Cindy halted Sparkle. She drew her father's big revolver from its holster, steadied it across the saddle horn, and pointed it at the bearded man. "You won't shoot anybody!" she said. "Drop your gun, or I'll shoot you!" The bearded man looked startled. Then, very unwillingly, he let his gun fall. Mr. Simpson whirled. "Cindy!" he gasped. "You forgot your gun," Cindy called. "I brought it to you." Pete slid his own gun from its holster and covered the bearded man. "You can give your father his gun, Cindy," he said grimly. "This yahoo won't move." "Oh, good!" Cindy breathed. "I don't know how to shoot anyhow." She rode up to her father, handed him his gun, and Mr. Simpson buckled it about his waist. Pete Brent spoke sternly to the bearded man. "We don't want your claim, but if you feel like fighting, pick up your gun and go to it!" "I thought you was claim jumpers!" the man said tremulously. "I rode a long an' hard piece to get me some land in Oklahoma." "So did a lot of other people, and many of them will ride for nothing. Be careful who you're pulling a gun on after this!" "I'm sorry," the bearded man said humbly. "Cindy!" her father said. "You _can't_ be here!" "But I am here," Cindy pointed out. "I'll have to take you back."