Alec never acted without first planning, and the action he took depended on whatever his plan called for. Right now, he decided, he'd have to move swiftly if he hoped to catch Cindy before she was out of sight. He bridled Pete's sorrel pony, whose name was Carrots, and leaped astride him. Then he shouted his intentions to his mother and whirled Carrots toward Oklahoma.

At once, though it had taken less than a minute to reach and bridle the pony, he knew that he was too late. He'd noticed the running men and depended upon them to delay Cindy. But he had not counted on his sister's skill as a rider. Cindy was nowhere to be seen.

Immediately Alec formed another plan. As soon as he did so, he put it into effect. Riding cautiously so as to hit none of the running men, he crossed the border into Oklahoma. After he'd passed most of the men, he let Carrots canter and drew farther ahead. Safely in advance of the crowd, Alec slowed his mount.

It would be exciting to fly over the grasslands as fast as Carrots could run. But it would not be sensible, and it would not help find Cindy. The situation, in Alec's opinion, called for clear thinking.

He knew that Pete Brent had in mind definite claims to which he was taking Mr. Simpson. But Alec hadn't the faintest idea how to find those claims. However, there was certain logic which could not fail to guide him correctly.

North lay the Cherokee Strip, in which no lands were open, so surely Pete would not go north. It stood to reason that, knowing of claims he wanted to stake, Pete would have camped as near to them as possible. However, it did not necessarily follow that the claims lay due south. Pete might travel southeast or southwest. But since time was so important, he would not go very far to the east or west.

Alec decided that, if he rode an estimated quarter of a mile east, then turned Carrots and rode the same distance west, and kept working south, he would be sure to find Cindy. And find her he would if it took him six months and he had to cover all of Oklahoma.

He did not hurry, for the time for hurrying was past. Carrots might have a very long trip ahead of him, and it was well to save his strength. Letting the pony choose his own pace, Alec tried to see everything.

He passed a wagon with a broken wheel. There were no horses or mules hitched to it and nobody around. Evidently, when the wagon broke down, whoever owned it had cut his team loose and ridden on into Oklahoma. Alec guided Carrots around a homesteader who had marked his claim with a huge white sheet. The homesteader was looking frantically for the corners.

Most of Oklahoma seemed to be very good land. But Alec had a farmer's eye, and he was glad his father had gone on. In a year of abundant rainfall, any fertile land would grow good crops. In a year of drought, water would be necessary. Alec hoped his father would find a claim near a stream.

As soon as he had traveled what he thought was a sufficient distance, Alec turned Carrots and started in the other direction. Carrots flicked his ears forward and snorted softly. Alec looked with interest at a little grove of trees that rose above the grass. He swung Carrots toward them. As soon as he was near, he heard two men arguing.

One, stripped to the waist and sweating, had been digging in a huge hole. Over the hole, Alec understood, he would build a dugout to serve as a dwelling place until he could erect a house. The other man, mounted on a sweating horse, must have started from the border and ridden in the Run.

"You got out here and dug that big a hole since noon?" asked the man who was astride the horse.

"You dug that big a hole since noon?" asked the man on the horse

"Yup," said the other man.

"You couldn't have!" the horseman flared. "You're a Sooner!"

"Prove it," the other said.

"I'll do better than that!" the horseman exclaimed. "I'll bring soldiers and let them see what you've done! If they think you're a Sooner, then you're out and this is my claim!"

The horseman wheeled and rode back toward the border to find soldiers. The man who had been digging the hole looked worriedly after him.

Wanting no part of this or any other trouble, Alec rode on. But he saw why the disputed claim was valuable, for the trees surrounded a sparkling water hole. In a dry year, when wells might fail, whoever owned such a water hole could easily have every neighbor at his mercy.

All about were men who had staked claims, and they were busy hunting the corners or building up those they had found. One white-haired man had a little mountain of rock and was feverishly making it higher. Alec formed his own opinions. Some of the people who had staked here thought that all they had to do to be well settled was to claim a homestead. They knew nothing of better lands farther on. Others, who did know, had been unable to keep up with the Run. Instead of getting what they wanted, they were taking what they could get. There were some choice claims, such as the one with the water hole.

"Boy! Hey, boy!"

Alec stopped Carrots. He waited for a lanky, excited man who was shaking his fist and talking to himself.

"Do you know what I aim to do, boy?" the man called.

"No," said Alec.

"Goin' to law," the man said. "Goin' to law soon's I can find me a lawyer. Claim jumpers run me off my claim!"

Still shaking his fist and talking to himself, the man walked on. Alec slacked Carrots' reins. He shivered. Gramps had said that the settlement of Oklahoma was a fine and wonderful thing, and it was. But it had already given rise to quarrels. Alec rode on. He wondered what other ways would be used to settle the question when two or more people staked a claim. Already he had seen a man who intended to challenge a Sooner, and another who was going to court. Alec thought that some of the arguments might not be settled for months, or even years.

He reined Carrots toward someone he knew. It was the old man with the sorry-looking mule, which now stood with drooping head and switching tail. The old man looked up.

"Hello, boy," he said happily.

"Hello," Alec replied.

The old man said proudly, "Got me a claim."

"I'm glad," said Alec. "Have you seen my sister?"

"Sister?" the old man asked. Then, "Oh! That purty leetle gal what used 'ter walk with ye on the border? Nope. Haven't seen hide nor hair of her."

"Thanks," said Alec.

His hopes dashed, but without even a thought of giving up, Alec rode grimly on. It would be nice to find someone who had seen and recognized Cindy, and who could tell him the direction in which she had gone. But even if nobody could tell him about his sister, Alec would find her. It was his job.

Alec saw a man with a cocked rifle in his hands. He was pointing the weapon at the mid-section of another man, and both were still as statues. Then the threatened man turned angrily and started walking away. The man with the rifle called, "Next time, I pull the trigger! I'll shoot you or any other claim jumper!"

Farther on Alec found a big man and a lean one with linked arms. Each man had two black eyes. Both were spattered with blood. Their shirts were in ribbons, and bruised flesh showed through. They were the same men Cindy had passed; the lean one had thrown his pack away and challenged the big one for his claim.

The lean man said admiringly, "Nothin' like a little fight to clear the air, Jud boy!"

"Nothin' like a little fight to clear the air, Jud boy!"

"Sure ain't, Al boy!" the big man said. "Sure glad we met!"

"Me too!" the lean man said. "You'n me, we'll make this the best darn' farm in Oklahoma, Jud boy!"

"Al boy, you're sure 'nough right!" the big man said.

Carrots broke into a trot, and Alec let him go. He hadn't the least idea of where he would sleep tonight or what he would eat, but he was not going back to the wagon without finding Cindy. His mother would worry if he did not return. But she would worry just as much if Cindy stayed lost. Working southward, Alec swung back and forth.

Evening shadows were long when he saw someone else he knew. It was the bearded man with the race horse. Alec rode straight toward him. The bearded man was always unfriendly. But if he had news of Cindy, Alec must have it. However, now that he had his land and no longer had to worry about getting some, the man was not unfriendly any more.

"Hello," he said.

"Hello," Alec replied. "Have you seen my sister?"

"Sure have!" the bearded man said cheerfully. "She caught up with your dad an' the man from the wagon next to yours right here on my claim. She was ridin' a roan pony, an' so was t'other man. Your dad had his palomino mare. They said they was goin' on."

"You're sure?" Alec inquired.

"Dead sure. Saw 'em with my own eyes," the bearded man said.

"Thanks," said Alec.

Even as he spoke, he was turning Carrots and galloping full speed back to the Simpson wagon. When he reached it, not taking time to dismount, he shouted his happy news from the pony's back. "It's all right, Mother! Cindy's with Dad!"