Harris was classifying the men by their views, and when the argument
lagged the lean man grinned and gave it fresh impetus.

"It's a settled fact that the outfits that have put in hay are better
off," he said. "But there's a dozen localities like this, a dozen
little civil wars going on right now where the inhabitants are so
mulish that they lay their ears and fight their own interests by
upholding a flea-bit prejudice that was good for twenty years ago but
is a dead issue to-day."

"And why is it dead to-day?" Morrow demanded. "And not as good as it
always was?"

"Only a hundred or so different reasons," Evans returned indifferently.
"Then beef-tops brought ten dollars a head and they're worth three
times that now; then you bought a brand on the hoof, come as they run,
for round five dollars straight through, exclusive of calves; now it's
based at ten on the round-up tally. In those days a man could better
afford to let part of his cows winter-kill than to raise feed to winter
the whole of them through--among other things. These days he can't."

"And have your water holes fenced," Morrow said. "As soon as you let
the first squatter light."

"The government has prohibited fencing water holes necessary to the
adjacent range," Harris cut in. "If that valley was mine I'd have put
it in hay this long time back."

"But it wasn't yours," Morrow pointed out.

"No; but it is now, or at least a part of it is," Harris said. "I
picked up that school section that lays across the valley and filed on
a home quarter that butts up against the rims." He sat gazing
indifferently out the door as if unconscious of the dead silence that
followed his remark. More men had drifted in till nearly a dozen were
gathered in the room.

"That's never been done out here--buying school sections and filing
squatter's rights," Morrow said at last. "This is cow country and will
never be anything else."

"Good cow country," Harris agreed. "And it stands to reason it could
be made better with a little help."

"Whenever you start helping a country with fence and plow you ruin it
for cows," Morrow stated. "I know!"

"It always loomed up in the light of a good move to me," the newcomer
returned. "One of us has likely read his signs wrong."

"There's some signs round here you better read," Morrow said. "They
were posted for such as you."

"It appears like I'd maybe made a bad selection then. I'm sorry about
that," Harris deprec