it. It's the way it is with Ronny and me. All that he is not, I am.
I haven't one of his better features. Say, Bud, I'm a pretty cold sort
of man. I'd have made a fair sort of Puritan if I'd been on earth a
century or so ago. I've little enough humor. I don't care for play.
I don't care for half the fun most folks see in life. I'd sooner work
than eat. And Ronny--well, Ronny isn't just any of those things. He's
just a boy, full of every sort of human notion that's opposite to mine.
And I'm crazy for him. Say, Bud, I love him better than anything in
life. If anything happened to that boy, why, I guess all that's worth
while in me would die plumb out."

He paused. Bud's shrewd eyes remained studying the emotion-lit
features of this usually unemotional man. He felt he was being
admitted to a peep at a soul that was rarely, if ever, bared, and he
wondered at the reason. Was it a calculated display, or was it the
outlet for an emotion altogether too strong for the man's restraint?
He inclined to the former belief.

"Nothin' _has_ happened?" he enquired presently, in his direct fashion.

Jeff laughed without any visible sign of lightness.

"No," he said. Then with a deep sigh. "Thank God nothing has
happened. But----"

"Then the trouble----?"

"The trouble? Say, Bud, try to get it all as I see it. It's
difficult. The boy's away up trapping and shooting--for a
living--somewhere in the Cathills. He's away there living on hard pan,
while I'm here steadily traipsing on with you to a big pile. Remember
he's my other--half. Do you know how I feel? No, you can't. Say,
he's as merry as I am--dour. He's as fond of life, and play, and the
good things of the world as I'm indifferent to 'em. He's
reckless--he's _weak_." Suddenly Jeff's eyes lit. A great passion
seemed to surge through his whole body. "Bud, I want him here. I want
to be always around to help him when he gets bumping into potholes.
It's that weakness that sets me crazy when I think. He ain't made for
the dreary grind of the life we live. That's why he cut it out when I
came here. Well there's no grind for him now, and I want to have him
come along and share in with me. That's why I'm talking now. From
this moment on we're a great proposition in the ranching world, and I
want Ronny to share in with me."

Bud nodded.

"I get it," he said. Then he added: "You're a great feller."

"Great! Cut it out, Bud," Jeff cried sharply. "