than usual.

At first the boy ranchers thought it might be Old Billee Dobb
who, with Buck Tooth, had been out to a distant part of the
valley to see if he could get on the track of a mountain lion which
had been killing cattle. But a glance showed the approaching
singer, who was also a rider, to be a stranger. He sat astride a big,
black horse, much larger than the ordinary cow pony, and as he
approached the camp the sun glinted in curious fashion on his face.

"Four eyes!" exclaimed Snake, meaning, thereby, that the stranger
wore glasses. The rising sun had reflected on their lens. On came
"Four Eyes," singing as he advanced, until, when he came within
hailing distance, he drew rein, saluted the assembled company
with a half-military gesture and called out:

"Any chance of a job here?"




CHAPTER VIII

THROWING THE ROPE


Silence followed this greeting and question, and then the two boy
ranchers, and their cowboy friends, waited for Bud to speak, he
being, in a sense, the head of the new organization. Though Dick
and Nort held equal shares, purchased for them by their father,