The most distant herd had been driven in by Snake and Yellin'
Kid--the herd on which the raid had been made. Like black specks
on the green floor of the valley were the cattle, dotted here and
there.

"If we have luck this season we ought to round up a good bunch
this fall," observed Bud, as he rode with his cousins.

"Yes," agreed Nort. "The water can't be shut off now, and we have
nothing to worry about."

"Except rustlers," put in Dick.

"And the fellow who broke the bottle for us," added Bud. "I'd
like to know who he was."

"It was a bit queer," Nort admitted. "But I believe it was some
passing cow puncher playing a joke on us. This cattle stealing is
no joke, though, and it's got to stop!"

"You let loose an earful that time," spoke Bud, in picturesque,
western slang. "We'll have to let the bottle-breaker wait for a
spell, until we size up this rustler question. We may have to get
up a sheriff's posse and clean out the rascals."

"If we can find 'em," grimly added Dick.

It was some distance to the place where Yellin' Kid and Snake
Purdee had seen evidences of the raid, and it was long past noon
when the boys reached it. They had stopped for "grub" on the way,