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RUTH FIELDING AT SILVER RANCH

toway, only there was so much to do. Such simple medicines as there were in the house were packed to take to Tintacker. Old Bill determined to go over himself, but he would not allow any of the young folks to go.

"And you kin bet," he added, "that you'll see Jane Ann come back here a-whizzin'!"

The unfortunate Jib had enough to do to answer questions. The girls would not let him go until he had told every particular of the finding of the man at Tintacker.

"Was he just crazy?" queried Heavy.

"I don't know whether he's been loony all the time he's been hanging around the mines, or not," growled the Indian. "But I'm mighty sure he's loco now."

"If that was him who shot the bear up in the canon that day, he didn't appear to be crazy enough to hurt," said Helen.

"But is this the same man?" queried Mary Cox, and had they not all been so busy pumping Jib of the last particular regarding the adventure, they might have noticed that The Fox was very pale.

When Jib first rode up, however, and told his tale, Bashful Ike Stedman had set to work to run the big touring car out of the shed in which it was kept. During the time the young folk had been at Silver Ranch from the East, the foreman had