“That’s just the point,” said Melton.  “It’s mighty hard to put a bullet in the right place.  If you’re on horseback, your horse is so mortally scared at sight of the brute that he won’t let you get a steady aim.  There’s nothing on earth that a mustang fears so much as a bear.  And, if you’re on foot, he moves so swiftly and dodges so cleverly, that it’s hard to pick out the right spot to plunk him.  And all the time, you know that, if you miss, it’s probably all up with you.  Even if you get him in the heart, his strength and vitality are such that he may get to you in time enough to take you along with him over the great divide.  And it isn’t a pleasant way of dying.  He just hugs you up in those front paws of his, lifts up his hind paw with claws six inches long, and with one great sweep rips you to pieces.  There’s no need of a post-mortem to find out how a man has died when a grizzly has got through with him.  I’ve come across such sights at times, and I didn’t have any appetite for a day or two afterward.

“But there’s no use warning you young rascals, I suppose,” he grinned.  “You’re the kind that looks for trouble as naturally as a bee hunts for clover.  I’ll bet at this very minute you’re honing to get after a silver-tip.  Own up, now, ain’t you?”

The boys laughed and flushed a little self-consciously.

“Hardly that, perhaps,” answered Bert.  “But if you should happen by any chance to come across one, I wouldn’t mind being along.”

“Righto,” said Dick emphatically.

“Same here,” echoed Tom.

“Hopeless cases,” said Mr. Melton quizzically, shaking his head.  “I suppose there’s no use arguing with you.  I was that way once myself, but I’ve learned now to keep out of trouble as much as I can.”

“Just as you did down in Mexico,” suggested Dick slyly.

The boys roared and Melton looked a little sheepish.

“You scored on me that time,” he laughed.  “But come along now down to the bunk house and meet some of the boys.  A good many are away riding herd, but the foreman is here and two or three of the others, and a lot more will come in when it’s time for grub.”

“How many men do you need to run the ranch?” asked Dick.

“Oh, about twenty, more or less,” answered Melton.  “In the busiest season I usually take on a few more to help out, especially when I’m getting ready to ship the stock.

“Pretty good set of fellows I have now,” he went on as he led the way toward the men’s quarters.  “Not a trouble maker in the bunch, except a half breed that I’m not particularly stuck on, and that I’m going to get rid of as soon as work gets slack.  But take them all together I haven’t got any kick coming.