“Tell me about that, will you!” said Jerry, feebly waving his hands.

“Did you ever hear of such luck?” ejaculated Will.

“Beats a story all hollow.  Here’s the prodigal son found at last, eating his dinner with the—­” began Bluff, when Jerry pounced on him.

“Don’t you dare finish that, on your life!  Of course, you can call yourself swine, if you please, but I object.  But is it really true, Reddy?  Are you Hank’s long lost brother?” he asked, turning to the other.

“I certainly am, although I ought to be ashamed of the way I’ve treated my folks.  All for a measly little matter, too.  My eyes have been openin’ lately, and I was mighty near headin’ Eastways before you came,” said the cowboy, hanging his head.

“Then perhaps you’ll go back with us, and surprise the folks?” suggested Frank eagerly.

“Well, now, I’d like to do that same, if so be you fellows mean it.  You see, my folks ain’t always lived in Centerville.  I thought that lots of things you talked about seemed kinder familiar to me, for I was brought up in that part of the State.  Yes, I’ll go home, and try and make up for what I done to hurt the old folks.  Somehow, just the idea of it makes me feel better.”

He eagerly questioned the boys about his people.  Of course, they did not have much news to tell him.  Hank was only a year or so older than his brother, and the absent one was very much interested in hearing how they had met him, and what awakened Hank to a consciousness of the terrible mistake he was making in associating with unscrupulous men.

After that Reddy assumed a new place with the boys.  He seemed to be closer to them than ever, and Frank no longer wondered why the other’s sunburned face had seemed partly familiar to him when he first met him.

“You and Hank are very much alike,” he said, later on, to Reddy.

“They used to say that at home.  I was just big enough to be accused of many of Hank’s tricks, and once I got a lickin’ he deserved.”

“And another thing,” laughed Frank, “I know now what he was about to tell me at the time I was dragged away by my folks.  I was asking him how I could ever recognize you, in case we met, and he put up his hand to his head, but I never heard the rest of it.”

“Why, of course, he was going to tell you that I had a mop of beautiful red hair, and that Teddy went with Reddy.  I guess you’d have known me if you’d heard that,” was the good-natured remark of the found one.

On the following day the four outdoor chums determined to set out in a bunch to have a grand hunt, following the dense woods far down the valley.  The last words of the old stockman were a caution in connection with the dry grass.

“Be careful about a fire, lads.  If you make one, be sure the last spark is out before you leave it.  A forest fire would play the mischief just now, with everything so dry.  But somehow, I’ve got hopes that the rain is coming soon,” and he looked into the west, as though the few low-down clouds gave him encouragement.