"I caught her, 'cause I wanted to," the Ramblin' Kid answered, "but that
ain't no sign I intend to keep her. Hell, what's the use?" he finished
indifferently.

"If you want to sell her," Old Heck said, "I'll buy her."

"She ain't for sale," the Ramblin' Kid answered shortly, "not to
anybody."

"She would be a thunderin' sight better off if she was used."

"Would she?" the Ramblin' Kid questioned dully. "I ain't so sure about
that."

"Of course she would," Old Heck insisted, "she'd be fed regular and--"

"An' be mauled around by some darned human!" the Ramblin' Kid
interrupted with sudden vehemence. "If I was a horse," he continued,
speaking passionately while his black eyes burned with the spirit of
rebellion, "I'd rather be a short-grass cay-use nippin' th' scatterin'
feed on th' north hills an' be free to snort an' raise hell when I
blamed please than have my belly stuffed with alfalfa hay three times a
day an' have to gnaw th' iron of some damned man's bit in my mouth or
carry his saddle on my back!"

Silence followed the outburst.

Old Heck and the cowboys knew the Ramblin' Kid was in one of his
"moods," and experience had taught them that at such times argument was
neither discreet nor safe. The thing they did not know was that his
heart was torn by memory of the agony of Old Blue in the quicksand and
his mind tortured by the picture of dumb suffering a bullet from his own
gun had, that morning, mercifully ended.

After a time he spoke again, more quietly and with a note of weariness
in his voice:

"Oh, well, I reckon I'll keep th' filly. In a day of two, when she gets
rested up a little, I'll ride her,"

"You ought to break her for Carolyn June," Skinny suggested.

"Had I?" the Ramblin' Kid said with a queer laugh--it was just the
thought that was in his mind and against which he was struggling.
"That's a bright idea! Maybe I'll study about it an' take a notion to do
it. If I do she can ride th' maverick When you an' her go on your
honeymoon--"

"What's a honeymoon?" Skinny queried innocently.

"It's what two people take when they first get married; go off somewhere
by themselves--like they was locoed--to find out how bad they got
stung!" the Ramblin' Kid laughingly answered.

"We'd better all go to bed," Old Heck said; "it's late and we have to
get up early in the morning. Parker, you and some of the boys will have
to go skin them dead steers--we've got to save the hides at least."

"Old