one feel that maybe after all things are
as they ought to be when a man like he succeeds. Wonder what his plans
are?"

Then as she sat down in the shade and began a little very necessary
mending:

"I do wish he'd come over--and tell me some more about cotton
crops--and himself."

CHAPTER XX

It is a good thing the wind does not blow from the same direction all
the time. Things would never grow straight if it did. And if one
emotion persists too long the human mind becomes even worse twisted
than a tree. For that reason, if we are normal, buoyance and
depression, ecstasy and pain follow each other as regularly as ripples
on a stream. It is good they do, but it is hard to believe it when we
are down in the trough of the wave.

As Bob started away with the promise of Jim Crill to lend him the money
for the Red Butte Ranch, his blood was pumping faster than the running
engine of his car. But directly enthusiasm began to slow down.

Suppose he lost--what an appalling debt for a man working at a hundred
and fifty a month! It never figured in Bob's calculation to settle his
debts in red ink. And there were chances to lose. The lawyer was
waiting for him at the hotel when he returned.

"I saw Jenkins," he reported. "Says they paid $20,000 for the Red
Butte lease last spring. Half of it for bonus on the lease, and half
for the equipment. He claims the mules and equipment are easily worth
$10,000; and he offers to sell lease and all for that, but won't
consider a dollar less. I heard on the street this evening that a
Chinaman had offered them $7,500. I have an option on it until eleven
o'clock in the morning at $10,000."

"Thanks, T. J." Bob was figuring in his mind the basis of this price.
"I'll let you know before that time." He went up to his room to think
it out. He could hardly see any chance for loss, yet of course there
was. If this was such a sure thing, why had not some of the more
experienced cotton growers in the valley jumped at it? But Bob
dismissed that line of reasoning with a positive jerk of his head.
That was a weak man's reason--the excuse of failures, sheep philosophy.
Every day of the year some new man came into a community and picked up
a profitable opportunity that other people had stumbled over for years.

The lease was certainly a bargain; the land was in excellent condition,
and there would be no difficulty about labour with plenty of Chinese
and Mexicans. The price