"Plain no-good murder! Gunmen! Shucks! Yuh wait until they hears the Wolf howl." "The Wolf?" Toothpick remembered his dead friend, Dutchy's, warning about some day digging his own grave with his tongue, so he resolutely stopped it by cramming his mouth full of beefsteak. CHAPTER XXIV THE WOLF CALL Dot Reed, Treadwell, and McAllister headed toward old Miser Jimpson's tumble-down house. "Yuh mean to say that I may lose my ranch?" she asked anxiously. "No, I didn't say quite that," Spur hastened to explain. "But things are in a mess, and while I, bein' your guardian, perhaps have the right to decide without your consent, I thought it better to have it all explained to yuh an' then have both of us decide what's best." Bill McAllister shook his head. He was floundering in deep waters. He distrusted Spur, yet apparently everything the man did was aboveboard. He could not see how Spur could be blamed for the present tangled mess of the financial affairs of the Double R Ranch. He had seemingly done what he could to straighten them out. The three turned into the gateless fence that surrounded old Miser Jimpson's house and passed into a dingy, shabby room where they found three men--Jimpson, One-wing McCann, and a small, dapper man, named W. A. Raine, waiting for them. "Miss Reed, this is Mr. Raine, who represents the Wilton County Bank. Yuh know the other two gents. The Double R Ranch owes them all money," Spur said to the girl. Dot Reed smiled at One-wing and old Miser and shook hands with Raine. He was forty-five, with quick, nervous movements. He had keen blue eyes. After studying him, Bill McAllister decided that he was not only clever, but honest as well. "Miss Reed, I may as well try to explain to you briefly the bank's position," Raine said briskly, as soon as Dot had seated herself. "The bank holds a mortgage of twenty thousand dollars on the Double R. We are not pressing you for money at this time, but a sight note of twelve thousand dollars has been handed us for collection. Now, we also understand that you are indebted to Mr. McCann for ten thousand more, making a total of forty-two thousand dollars." "But surely the buildings, the water rights, and the Double R cattle are worth that!" Dot protested. "If you had asked me that six months ago, I would have replied that they were worth three times that, without question. But, Miss Reed, you must remember that a bank loans other people's money, so they have to take every care to protect it. And it has come to our ears that you have severely suffered from rustlers, so if the man who holds the sight note for twelve thousand insists on immediate payment, and unless you can prove that you have sufficient cattle to satisfy all claims, the bank, which has the first claim, will be forced to start foreclosure proceedings," Raine explained. "Then what am I goin' to do?" Dot asked, bewildered.