Their messenger had gone thither to deliver it.

Young Whitney had slain one of their number, and though the law-breakers themselves had suffered the most, they felt bitter resentment toward the family.
If Sterry remained with them they would have trouble.

He was satisfied that Larch Cadmus recognized him, as he sat in front of the rancher's house, and would not forget to tell it to his comrades, who would speedily make the place a visit.

He believed they were likely to do it before the rise of the morrow's sun.
If the Whitneys were attacked, his presence would add to the defensive strength, but such an attack would not be made if he was not there.
Desperate and defiant as the rustlers had been, it would be an injustice to represent them as capable of such wantonness.
He felt, therefore, that it was his duty to leave the ranch without delay, thus removing an element of grave danger.

It would have been hardly wise to make this explanation to them, though he believed Fred suspected it.
Turning his back, therefore, upon the dearest spot in all the West to him, he set his mare Queenie on an easy, swift gallop, heading southward toward the ranges where the cattle of the Whitneys were grazing.
Sterry, in one sense, was without a home as long as he remained in Wyoming or Montana, while in another sense he was the owner of numberless dwelling-places or "headquarters." He may be likened to a commercial traveller in a vast and sparsely-settled region, where he is well known and welcomed by the inhabitants.
The ranchmen who knew him--and there were few who did not--were his friends, for he was working in their interests.