Mary turned to meet her. "No, dear. That was the--the sheriff and some of his men."
"The sheriff!" An expression of anxiety came into Mrs. Archer's pretty, faded face. "But what has happened? What--?"
"I'm not quite sure; they had no time to explain." The girl put an arm reassuringly around the older woman's shoulder. "But they're after Tex and the other hands. They've done something--"
"Ha!" In any other person the sound would have seemed suspiciously like a crow of undisguised satisfaction. "Well, I'm thankful that at last somebody's shown some common sense."
"Why, auntie!" Astonished, the girl held her off at arm's length and stared into her face. "You don't mean to say you've suspected--?"
Mrs. Archer sniffed. "Suspected! Why, for weeks and weeks I've been perfectly certain the creature was up to no good. You know I never trusted him."
"The last straw was his bringing that ridiculous charge against Buck Green," Mrs. Archer interrupted with unexpected spirit. "That stamped him for what he was; because a nicer, cleaner, better-mannered young man I've seldom seen. He could no more have stolen cattle than--than I could."
A mental picture of her tiny, delicate, fragile-looking aunt engaged in that strenuous and illicit operation brought a momentary smile to Mary Thorne's lips. Then her face grew serious.
"But you know I didn't believe it--really," she protested. "I offered to keep him on if he'd only assure me he wasn't here for any--any secret reason. But he wouldn't, and at the time there seemed nothing to do but let him go."
"I suppose he might have had some other private reason than stealing cattle," commented Mrs. Archer.
"He had," returned Mary, suppressing a momentary sense of annoyance that her aunt had shown the greater faith. "As nearly as I can make out, he was here to shadow Tex. As a matter of fact he really wanted to leave the ranch and work from a different direction, so it turned out all right in the end. He thinks it was Tex himself who secretly instigated the cattle-stealing."
"The villain!" ejaculated Mrs. Archer energetically. "But where has--er--Buck been all this time? Where is he now?"
The girl smiled faintly. "He was here a little while ago. He and Bud are both with the sheriff's posse. They believe the men are heading for the mountains and have gone after them."