CHAPTER 6DAN HARPER had hired several new riders this spring. This was quite a usual practice with the ranchmen, since the cattle were shipped away in the fall and only a small number of men remained at the ranch during the winter to take care of the saddle horses. During the spring and summer months more men were needed. On Dan’s ranch he and Charley and Bob and Web were the only ones who stayed all winter.
Among the new cowhands there was a man known simply as Tex. He had proved skillful in handling the cattle and the range horses, and Dan had asked no further questions.
Tex was a slim, wiry fellow under average height, with coal-black eyes. He had very heavy black hair and kept his face smoothly shaven. When he first came to the ranch, he rode with the large-wheeled spurs that the cat
