It was a waste of
strength, a needless risk for you to save him, pack him back here.
But, damn the whole Greaser outfit generally, I'm glad you did!"
Gale remembered then to speak of his concern for Ladd.
"Laddy didn't go out to meet you," replied Belding. "I knew you
were due in any day, and, as there's been trouble between here
and Casita, I sent him that way. Since you've been out our friend
Carter lost a bunch of horses and a few steers. Did you get a good
look at the horses those raiders had at Papago Well?"
Dick had learned, since he had become a ranger, to see everything
with keen, sure, photographic eye; and, being put to the test so
often required of him, he described the horses as a dark-colored
drove, mostly bays and blacks, with one spotted sorrel.
"Some of Carter's--sure as you're born!" exclaimed Belding. "His
bunch has been split up, divided among several bands of raiders.
He has a grass ranch up here in Three Mile Arroyo. It's a good
long ride in U. S. territory from the border."
"Those horses I saw will go home, don't you think?" asked Dick.
"Sure. They can't be caught or stopped."
"Well, what shall I do now?"
"Stay here and rest," bluntly replied Belding. "You need it. Let
the women fuss over you--doctor you a little. When Jim gets back
from Sonoyta I'll know more about what we ought to do. By Lord!
it seems our job now isn't keeping Japs and Chinks out of the U. S.
It's keeping our property from going into Mexico.
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