and that his fall would be great. Still, he sported
the habiliments of a full-fledged buckaroo, and he would have to live
up to them. A man who could not sit the hurricane-deck of a pitching
horse was of little use to the ranch. In the busy season each man
caught up his string of ponies and rode them as he needed them. There
was neither time nor disposition to choose.

Pete wished that Blue Smoke had a little more of Rowdy's equable
disposition. It was typical of Pete, however, that he absolutely hated
to leave an unpleasant task to an indefinite future. Moreover, he
rather liked the Concho boys and the foreman. He wanted to ride with
them. That was the main thing. Any hesitancy he had in regard to
riding the outlaw was the outcome of discretion rather than of fear.
Bailey had said there was no work for him. Pete felt that he had
rather risk his neck a dozen times than to return to the town of Concho
and tell Roth that he had been unsuccessful in getting work. Yet Pete
did not forget his shrewdness. He would bargain with the foreman.

"How long kin a fella stick on that there Blue Smoke hoss?" he queried
presently.

"Depends on the man," said Bailey, grinning.

"Bailey here stayed with him fifteen seconds onct," said a cowboy.

Pete pushed hack his hat. "Well, I ain't no bronco-twister, but I
reckon I could ride him a couple o' jumps. Who's keepin' time on the
dog-gone cayuse?"

"Anybody that's got a watch," replied Bailey.

Pete hitched up his chaps. "I got a watch and I'd hate to bust her.
If you'll hold her till I git through"--and he handed the watch to the
nearest cowboy. "If you'll throw my saddle on 'im, I reckon I'll walk
him round a little and see what kind of action he's got."

"Shucks!" exclaimed Bailey; "that hoss would jest nacherally pitch you
so high you wouldn't git back in time for the fall round-up, kid. He's
bad."

"Well, you said they wa'n't no job till fall, anyhow," said Pete.
"Mebby I'd git back in time for a job."

Bailey shook his head. "I was joshin'--this mornin'."

"'Bout my ridin' that hoss? Well, I ain't. I'm kind of a stranger up
here, and I reckon you fellas think, because that doggone ole soap-foot
fell down with me, that I can't ride 'em."

"Oh, mebby some of 'em," laughed Bailey.

Pete's black eyes flashed. To him the matter was anything but a joke.
"You give me a job if I stick on that hoss for fifteen seconds? Why,
I'm game to crawl him and see w