Page:BM Bower - Her Prairie Knight.djvu/73

 yellow curls and white collar, they gave no sign, and the two rode on, always seeking hopefully.

A snake buzzed sharply on a gravelly slope, and Keith, sending Beatrice back a safe distance, took down his rope and gave battle, beating the sinister, gray-spotted coil with the loop until it straightened and was still. He dismounted then, and pinched off the rattles—nine, there were, and a "button"—and gave them to Beatrice, who handled them gingerly, and begged Keith to carry them for her. He slipped them into his pocket, and they went on, saying little.

Back near the ranch they met Dick and Sir Redmond. They exchanged sharp looks, and Dick shook his head.

"We haven't found him—yet. The boys are riding circle around the ranch; they're bound to find him, some of them, if we don't."

"You had better go home," Sir Redmond told her, with a note of authority in his voice which set Keith's teeth on edge. "You look done to death; this is men's work."

Beatrice bit her lip, and barely glanced at him. "I'll go—when Dorman is found. What shall we do now, Dick?" 71