bed and went stiffly to
answer the 'phone. Reluctantly as well, for he had not yet succeeded in
formulating an excuse for his absence that he dared try on old Sudden
Selmer. Excuses had seemed so much less important when temptation was
plucking at his sleeve that almost any reason had seemed good enough. But
now when the bell was jingling at him, no excuse seemed worth the breath
to utter it. So Johnny's face was doleful, and Johnny's red-rimmed eyes
were big and solemn.

And then, when he had braced himself for the news that he was jobless,
all he heard was this:

"Hello! How's everything?"

"All right," he answered dully to that. So far as he knew, everything was
all right--save himself.

"Feed holding out all right in the pasture?" came next. And when Johnny
said that it was: "Well, say! If you get time, you might ride up and
get one or two of these half-broke bronks and ride 'em a little. The boys
have got a few here now that's pretty well gentled, and they're workin'
on a fresh bunch. The quieter they are, the better price they'll bring,
and they won't have time to ride 'em all. You can handle one or two all
right, can't yuh?"

"Yes, I guess I can," said Johnny, still waiting for the blow to fall.

"Well, how many will the pasture feed, do yuh think? You can turn out one
of the couple you've got."

"Oh, there's food enough for three, all right, I guess--"

"Well, all right--there's a couple of good ones I'd like to have gentled
down. Cold's better, ay?"

"I--why, I guess so." Johnny just said that from force of habit. His mind
refused to react to a question which to him was meaningless. Johnny could
not remember when he had last had a cold.

"Well, all right--to-morrow or next day, maybe. I'll have the boys keep
up the two I want rode regular. If everything's running along smooth, you
better come up and get 'em. And when they're bridlewise and all, you can
bring 'em in and get more. These boys won't have time to get more 'n the
rough edge off...."

When he had hung up the receiver, Johnny sat down on a box, took his jaws
between his two capable palms and thought, staring fixedly at the floor
while he did so.

It took him a full twenty minutes to settle two obvious facts comfortably
in his brain, but he did it at last and crawled into his bed with a long
sigh of thankfulness, though his conscience hovered dubiously over those
facts like a hen that has hatched out goslings and doesn't know what to
do