For years White Fang had preyed upon the ranchmen, exacting a heavy toll
in cattle and sheep. Every huntsman in the country had taken to the
chase for him, but the cunning old rascal had outwitted or out-footed
them all.
The following afternoon the broncho boys, led by Ted Strong, marched up
the main street of Rodeo to the jail with a score of desperadoes bound
to their horses.
When they appeared a great many of the townspeople, friends of the
prisoners, gathered and made a demonstration to take them away from the
boys.
Ted immediately formed the boys in a circle about the prisoners.
With rifles trained upon the crowd the broncho boys held them off while
Ted spoke to them quietly, but with a force that carried conviction. He
told the people just what the prisoners had done, and what he expected
to prove against them, hinting that there were other men in the town who
would join them in jail if what he suspected proved to be true. Later in
the day a strange thing happened: Several men in high office disappeared
from the town, and were never seen there more.
Having turned his prisoners over to the sheriff, the boys rode back to
the Bubbly Well Ranch, feeling safe from further depredations for a time
at least.
On the lower part of the ranch the wolves had been playing havoc with
the calves and the yearlings, and the major's cowboys were continually
bringing in news of the depredations of the pack.
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