“You there, in the grass!  Stand up before I count five or I’ll——­”

But Larry had no occasion to complete his command.

Unconscious that there was another soul within miles of him, the person addressed raised his head cautiously to see who had accosted him.

“Stand up straight, I said!” ordered the boy.

As the fellow obeyed, Mr. Wilder, Pete and the others, who had been almost as surprised at hearing Larry’s words as the prisoner himself, dashed up, quickly followed by the cowboys.

Intuitively each man felt they had captured one of the raiders, and without waiting for instructions, closed in on him in a circle, completely cutting off any chance for escape.

“Who are you and what are you doing, sneaking along in the grass ?” demanded Mr. Wilder sternly.

“I’m Bobby Lawrence, and I was hunting for my tobacco pouch,” returned the fellow, undaunted by the angry faces gazing at him.

“That’s the name of one of Megget’s right-hand men,” declared Nails.  “I found that out at Tolopah.”

With no gentle hands half a dozen of the cowboys searched Lawrence, taking from him his pistols and a long knife.

When their prisoner was harmless Mr. Wilder resumed his questions.

“Who set the fire last night?”

“If I play fair with you, will you treat me square?” demanded Lawrence.

“That depends,” temporized the ranch owner.  “You belong to the gang that has been raiding my herds and last night tried to destroy us by fire.  You can’t expect much leniency from us under the circumstances.  Still, if you give us any assistance in founding up Megget, we’ll not forget it.”

“Well, I’ll do all I can, honest I will, Mr. Wilder.”

“Don’t trust him, Wilder,” interposed the owner of the Three Stars, “When a man is so willing to turn on his pals, there’s something wrong.”

“See here, Jim Snider, you keep out of this.  I’m talking to Mr. Wilder, not to you.  He’s square.  If it was only you, all your ponies couldn’t drag a word out of me!” snapped Lawrence.

This retort angered the owner of the Three Stars, but before he could say anything the proprietor of the Half-Moon exclaimed: 

“If you can give me any reason why I should believe you, Lawrence, do so.”

“That’s easy,” returned the captive, and without wasting words, he related the incidents of the pursuit of the three boys, Megget’s signals, the order to set the fire and his own action that alone had saved the herd at the pool from destruction.

In silence, now looking at one another in amazement and then at the speaker, the cowboys listened.

“That’s a likely story, throwing your tobacco away,” sneered Snider.

“I believe it,” announced Larry calmly.  “The only way I knew it was a man I’d discovered was because I heard him say twice I’ve found it.’”

This confirmation of his words from the very one who had captured him gave Lawrence heart, and quick to see the advantage it gave him, he pressed it, saying: