It was not unlikely that, having been beaten off, some of them might take the means of revenging themselves by stealing a portion of the herd.
Budd and Weber dismounted after reaching the foothills, and, without removing the saddles from their horses, turned them loose to graze for themselves.

No fear of their wandering beyond recall.

A signal would bring them back the moment needed.
The hardy ranchers seated themselves with their backs against a broad, flat rock, which rose several feet above their heads.

The bits were slipped from the mouths of their horses, so as to allow them to crop the succulent grass more freely, while the men gave them no attention, even when they gradually wandered beyond sight in the gloom.
"Times are getting lively in these parts," remarked Weber, as he filled his brierwood and lit it; "this thing can't go on forever; the rustlers or cowmen have got to come out on top, and I'm shot if one can tell just now which it will be." "There can only be one ending," quietly replied his companion, whose pipe, being already lit, was puffed with the deliberate enjoyment of a veteran; "the rustlers may stir things up, and I s'pose they've got to get worse before they get better, but what's the use?
It's like a mob or a riot; the scamps have things their own way at first, but they knuckle under in the end." "I guess you're right; that was bad business yesterday; I shouldn't wonder if it ended in the young folks moving East again with their mother, whose heart is broke by the death of her husband." "The younker is too plucky a chap to light out 'cause the governor has been sent under; he's had better luck than most tenderfeet who come out here and start in the cattle bus'ness; he done well last year, and if the rustlers let him alone, he'll do a good deal better this year; he may move, but he ain't agoin' to let them chaps hurry him, you can make up your mind to that." The couple smoked a minute or two in silence.

Then Weber, without removing his pipe from between his lips, uttered the words: "Budd, something's going to happen powerful soon." Hankinson, also keeping his pipe between his lips, turned his head and looked wonderingly at his friend.