ride to-day,
an' it proved 'at my way o' feedin' is the right way. You don't own a
pair o' hosses 'at can go out to-morrow an' keep in sight o' Starlight
an' the pinto. An' my way o' handlin' Pluto is the right way too, but
if you don't like my way o' workin' for myself on your ranch--why, the'
's plenty of other ranches. The' ain't no use o' your makin' us both
miserable, quarrellin' like a pair o' children."

"That's what I say," sez Barbie.

"You wait till you're spoke to," sez Jabez; but at that moment the
buckboard came in with old Melisse, an' the very first thing she did
was to chase the three punchers out o' the house, fix up a mess of her
own to put on Jabez's head an' arm, an' then she picks up Barbie in her
arms an' I saw the little chap's lip begin to quiver; I saw Jabez wink
his eyes too fast for comfort; I saw the tears rollin' down the cheeks
of old Melisse, an' I went out into the starlight to look up toward
Mount Savage where Monody was sleepin'. It's a funny thing, life. After
a while I went back inside an' they were purty cozy again. "You been
away purt nigh a year," sez Jabez, "where you been?"

Melisse grinned; she was a Mexican an' had been good lookin' a century
or so before. She was the silent sort, but she could do a heap sight
keener thinkin' 'an lots of 'em 'at kicks up more dust at it.

"Part o' the time I been right here at the ranch," she sez, "but when
the snow was heavy I stayed in a little cave right up the ravine from
the pony corral. You don't reckon 'at I'd leave this child just on your
account, do ya?"

It was some comical to see Jabez's face. "Lord, no!" sez he. "I'm in
the habit o' payin' wages to people 'at work for themselves, an' I
don't reckon I got the authority to make anybody get off my ranch. If
you've been foolin' around here, how come the dogs never barked at ya?"

"Dogs ain't apt to forget the hand that feeds 'em. After a dog has
thought well of ya for a while, he don't turn on ya just because you've
become out o' favor for a spell; the friendship of a dog works both
ways--dogs ain't like human beings, Jabez Judson."

Melisse had a low, musical voice; but I kind o' felt my hair raisin' in
pity for the man on the sofey. It seemed like she had stuck a knife
into him, an' was twistin' it around slow without losin' her temper. He
squirmed, he bit his lip, his thumbs kept runnin' over the inside of
his fingers. It was some time before he spoke, an' then he said, "How