Had they been indeed rustlers it would have been a risky thing to do, as they would have had to dispose of me in some way or other.

By my horse brand they at once knew what "outfit" I belonged to.

Their brands, however, were strange to me.

They asked me to eat, of course; and I soon found out that their party was headed by one Pete----, whose reputation I had often heard of as being of the worst.

He said he had been grazing these cattle in some outlying park, and was now taking them home to his ranches somewhere in New Mexico.