“I’d give something to know when this thing was put up.”

“Let’s see; it was about four o’clock when you turned in, wasn’t it?”

“Just about.”

“And just about that time Song gets up to cook for the boys in the bunk house who get out to relieve the night watch in the big pasture.  Doesn’t he?”

“Those are the orders.”

“Then have Song in, and we’ll ask him if he saw a strange man around the place when he got up.  He might have seen him and thought nothing of it, and would never think of reporting it.”

“Good idea.  Wait here and I will call him.”

In a few minutes the Chinaman came shuffling in from the garden.”

“See here, Song,” said Ted.  “Did you see a strange man here early this morning?”

“Stlange man!” said Song meditatively, with a smile of innocence on his broad, yellow face.  “No savvy stlange man.”

“Man no b’long here,” said Stella,

“Oh, yes, I savvy.  No see stlange man.”

“What time you get up?”

“Me gettee up fo’ clock.”

“Did you go outside?”

“Yes, me go out an’ call cowbloy.  Tell gettee up, P. D. Q. No gettee up, no bleakfast.”

“What did you see outside that you don’t see every morning?”

“Evely moling?  No savvy.”

“Yesterday morning, day before that, day before that, all mornings.”

“Lesterday moling, evely moling?”

“Oh, the deuce!  You try him, Stella.”

“Say, Song, you see something makee you flaid this moling?” said Stella, imitating Song’s pidgin English.

“Oh, yes, me lookee out, plenty jump in.”

“What you see?”

“Plenty wolf.  He sneakee lound side house.  I lun like devil.”

“What wolf look like?”

“Plenty big wolf.  When he see me he lise up on hind legee, and lun likee man.”

“Ah ha!  There’s your clew,” said Stella, turning to Ted.  “The fellow who posted this notice was disguised in a wolfskin so that he could sneak up to the house unnoticed by the Chinaman, or, if seen, he would make a bluff at scaring Song.”

“Stella, you’re a wonder.”

“Say, Song, you no likee wolf?”

“No, me plenty flaid wolf,” answered the Chinaman, shaking his head violently.

“All right, Song.  I givee you shotgun.  Next time you see wolf, plenty shoot.  Savvy?”

“All light.  You givee me gun, I shootee wolf plenty.  Makee go ‘ki-yi’ and lun belly fast.”

Song went away with a grin on his face like a crack in a piece of stale cheese.

“Stella, you’ve solved it.  I believe whoever put that message there heard our conversation, and at least they’ll hate us a bit worse than before, if that is possible.”

“Let them bark, the wolves.  I never was afraid of a wolf, anyhow.  If you want to throw me into spasms show me a bobcat.  That’s the fighting animal.”