for him.”
“Wal, so Wils's spread-eaglin' into a real rancher!” ejaculated Lem Billings. “Mighty glad to hear it. Thet boy shore will git rich.”
Wade's remark incited no further expressions of interest. But it was Jack Belllounds's secret mind that Wade wished to pierce. He saw the leaping of a thought that was neither interest nor indifference nor contempt, but a creative thing which lent a fleeting flash to the face, a slight shock to the body. Then Jack Belllounds bent his head, lounged there for a little while longer, lost in absorption, and presently he strolled away.
Whatever that mounting thought of Jack Belllounds's was it brought instant decision to Wade. He went to the ranch-house and knocked upon the living-room door. There was a light within, sending rays out through the windows into the semi-darkness. Columbine opened the door and admitted Wade. A bright fire crackled in the hearth. Wade flashed a reassuring look at Columbine.
“Evenin', Miss Collie. Is your dad in?”
“Oh, it's you, Ben!” she replied, after her start. “Yes, dad's here.”
The old rancher looked up from his reading. “Howdy, Wade! What can I do fer you?”
“Belllounds, I've cleaned out the cats an' most of the varmints on your range. An' my work, lately, has been all sorts, not leavin' me any time for little jobs of my own. An' I want to quit.”
“Wade, you've clashed with Jack!” exclaimed the rancher, jerking erect.
“Nothin' of the kind. Jack an' me haven't had words a good while. I'm not denyin' we might, an' probably would clash sooner or later. But that's not my reason for quittin'.”
Manifestly this put an entirely different complexion upon the matter. Belllounds appeared immensely relieved.
“Wal, all right. I'll pay you at the end of the month. Let's see, thet's not long now. You can lay off to- morrow.”
Wade thanked him and waited for further remarks. Columbine had fixed big, questioning eyes upon Wade, which he found hard to endure. Again he tried to flash her a message of reassurance. But Columbine did not lose her look of blank wonder and gravity.
“Ben! Oh, you're not going to leave White Slides?” she asked.
“Reckon I'll hang around yet awhile,” he replied.
Belllounds was wagging his head regretfully and ponderingly.
“Wal, I remember the day when no man quit me. Wal, wal!—times change. I'm an old man now. Mebbe, mebbe I'm testy. An' then thar's thet boy!”
With a shrug of his broad shoulders he dismissed what seemed an encroachment of pessimistic thought.
“Wade, you're packin' off, then, on the trail? Always on the go, eh?”
“No, I'm not hurryin' off,” replied Wade.
“Wal, might I ask what you're figgerin' on?”
“Sure. I'm considerin' a cattle deal with Moore. He's a pretty keen boy an' his father has big ranchin' interests. I've saved a little money an' I'm no spring chicken any more. Wils has begun to buy an' sell stock, so I reckon I'll go in with him.”
“Ahuh!” Belllounds gave a grunt of comprehension. He frowned, and his big eyes set seriously upon the blazing fire. He grasped complications in this information.
“Wal, it's a free country,” he said at length, and evidently his personal anxieties were subjected to his sense of justice. “Owin' to the peculiar circumstances hyar at my range, I'd prefer thet Moore an' you began somewhar else. Thet's natural. But you've my good will to start on an' I hope I've yours.”
“Belllounds, you've every man's good will,” replied Wade. “I hope you won't take offense at my leavin'. You see I'm on Wils Moore's side in—in what you called these peculiar circumstances. He's got nobody else. An' I reckon you can look back an' remember how you've taken sides with some poor devil an' stuck to him. Can't you?”
“Wal, I reckon I can. An' I'm not thinkin' less of you fer speakin' out like thet.”
“All right. Now about the dogs. I turn the pack over to you, an' it's a good one. I'd like to buy Fox.”
“Buy nothin', man. You can have Fox, an' welcome.”
“Much obliged,” returned the hunter, as he turned to go. “Fox will sure be help for me. Belllounds, I'm goin' to round up this outfit that's rustlin' your cattle. They're gettin' sort of bold.”
“Wade, you'll do thet on your own hook?” asked the rancher, in surprise.
“Sure. I like huntin' men more than other varmints. Then I've a personal interest. You know the hint about homesteaders hereabouts reflects some on Wils Moore.”
“Stuff!” exploded the rancher, heartily. “Do you think any cattleman in these hills would believe Wils Moore a rustler?”
“The hunch has been whispered,” said Wade. “An' you know how all ranchers say they rustled a little on the start.”
“Aw, hell! Thet's different. Every new rancher drives in a few unbranded calves an' keeps them. But stealin' stock—thet's different. An' I'd as soon suspect my own son of rustlin' as Wils Moore.”
Belllounds spoke with a sincere and frank ardor of defense for a young man once employed by him and known to be honest. The significance of the comparison he used had not struck him. His was the epitome of a successful rancher, sure in his opinions, speaking proudly and unreflectingly of his own son, and being just to another man.
