felt dull and sleepy. When he came to a little juniper bush which spread
its bit of shadow beside the road, he dismounted, pulled the saddle off
his sweating mare, and sat down in the shade to eat his lunch. When he had
finished he wished for a drink of water and philosophically took a smoke
instead. Then he lay down, using his saddle for a pillow, puffing
luxuriously at his cigarette. It was cool in his bit of shadow, though all
the world about him swam in waves of heat.{~HORIZONTAL ELLIPSIS~} Cool and very quiet. He felt
drowsily content. This sunny desolation was to him neither lonely nor
beautiful; it was just his own country, the soil from which he had
sprung.{~HORIZONTAL ELLIPSIS~} Colours and outlines blurred as his eyelids grew heavy. Sleep
conquered him in a sudden black rush.

It was late afternoon when he awakened. He had meant to shoot doves, but
it was too late now to do any hunting if he was to reach Archulera's place
before dark. He saddled his mare hurriedly and went forward at a hard
gallop.

Archulera's place was typical of the little Mexican ranches that dot the
Southwest wherever there is water enough to irrigate a few acres. The
brown block of _adobe_ house stood on an arid, rocky hillside, and looked
like a part of it, save for the white door, and a few bright scarlet
strings of _chile_ hung over the rafter ends to dry. Down in the _arroyo_
was the little fenced patch where corn and _chile_ and beans were raised,
and behind the house was a round goat corral of wattled brush. The skyward
rocky waste of the mountain lifted behind the house, and the empty reach
of the _mesa_ lay before--an immense and arid loneliness, now softened and
beautified by many shadows.

Ramon could see old man Archulera far up the mountainside, rounding up his
goats for evening milking, and he could faintly hear the bleating of the
animals and the old man's shouts and imprecations. He whistled loudly
through his fingers and waved his hat.

_"__Como lo va primo!__"_ he shouted, and he saw Archulera stop and look,
and heard faintly his answering, _"__Como la va!__"_

Soon Archulera had his goats penned, and Ramon joined him while he milked
half a dozen ewes.

"I'm glad you came," Archulera told him, "I haven't seen a man in a month
except one gringo that said he was a prospector and stole a kid from me.{~HORIZONTAL ELLIPSIS~}
How was the fair?"

When the milking was over, the old man selected a fat kid, caught it by
th