When he was strong enough to ride again, Kitty would come with Midnight,
and together they would roam about the ranch and the country near by. So
it happened that Sunday afternoon. Mr. and Mrs. Reid, with the three
boys, were making a neighborly call on the Baldwins, and Phil and Kitty
were riding in the vicinity of the spot where Kitty had first met
Patches.
They were seated in the shade of a cedar on the ridge not far from the
drift fence gate, when Phil saw three horsemen approaching from the
further side of the fence. By the time the horsemen had reached the
gate, Phil knew them to be Yavapai Joe, Nick Cambert and Honorable
Patches. Kitty, too, had, by this time, recognized the riders, and with
an exclamation started to rise to her feet.
But Phil said quietly, "Wait, Kitty; there's something about that outfit
that looks mighty queer to me."
The men were riding in single file, with Yavapai Joe in the lead and
Patches last, and their positions were not changed when they halted
while Joe, without dismounting, unlatched the gate. They came through
the opening, still in the same order, and as they halted again, while
Patches closed the gate, Phil saw what it was that caused them to move
with such apparent lack of freedom in their relative positions, and why
Nick Cambert's attitude in the saddle was so stiff and unnatural.
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