THE LOST PACKHORSE
CHAPTER IX THE BRONCHOSIt was late in the afternoon of the next day when the boys, following a well-defined cattle trail which led over range after range of hills and through broad valleys, came in sight of a collection of white buildings—the ranch-house and barns of Cattle King Irwin.
Eagerly they pushed ahead, watching with a satisfaction born of fatigue and hunger the outlines of the grim old structure slowly expanding before their eyes. It was a picturesque, time-stained building, L-shaped, two-storied, with a little tower rising from the center, rows of windows on all sides, and surrounded by a broad veranda.
The ranch-house wore a sleepy, deserted look, although a thin column of brownish smoke issuing from a chimney at the rear told of life within.
"Only hope h
