The others were loud in their oaths and threats of vengeance; Buck was silent--and somehow, Whitey could not help feeling that Buck was the most dangerous enemy the sheepmen would have to deal with.
This round-up lasted a full week.

During it Walt Lampson had found time to consider his course of action against the stampeders of his herd.

So when Whitey and Injun returned, they found that the Star Circle was to be involved in one of the scourges of the time--a range war.
If you had been there would you have wanted to stay and see the thing out?
The answer is so simple that you know what Whitey and Injun wanted to do.

But Whitey knew that hardened as Walt Lampson was, he would not allow the boys to accompany the coming expedition against the sheepmen, so Injun and Whitey did what you probably would have done, and what Br'er Rabbit did--they lay low.

And Walt either forgot to send them home, or thought that they would stay at the Star Circle while the war was on.
For two days after the round-up nothing was done at the ranch, beyond the oiling of guns, and consultations among the men.