h; but when you come to boil it down
the' ain't nothin' in that theory. Why, I'd seen the ol' man hunt
Barbie all forenoon just to pick a quarrel with her; an' they would
fuss an' stew an' revile each other an' keep it up all through dinner;
an' then go off in the afternoon an' scrap from wire to wire; but they
was enjoyin' themselves fine, an' addin' to their stock of what is
called mutual respect. Every time one of 'em would land it would cheer
him up an' put the other one on his mettle; an' they certainly did get
more comfort an' brotherly love out of it than most folks does out of a
prayer-meetin'; but after Dick went away the' wasn't no more quarrels.
No, they was as differential as a pair of Japanese ambassadors; an' she
never called him Dad again--never once! an' I could see him
a-hunngerin' for it with the look in his eyes a young cow has when she
is huntin' for the little wet calf the coyotes has beat her to. It was
allus, "Yes, sir," or "No, sir," until I could almost hear the ol'
man's heart a-breakin' in his breast.

She never complained none, Barbie didn't. She plowed through her work
as though it was goin' to bring him back to her; an' when she couldn't
think of anything else to do she would tramp off to the hills or ride
like the wind over the roughest roads she could find. Time an' again
she wouldn't be able to sleep, but would steal out o' the house, an' we
could hear her guitar sobbin' an' wailin of in the night; but if Barbie
herself ever shed a tear it never left a mark on her cheek nor put a
glaze to her eye.

The' was one knoll not far from the house which commanded the view a
long way toward Danders in one direction, an' a long way toward Webb
Station in another, an' she spent about ten minutes each evenin' on
this knoll. Oh, it used to hurt, it used to hurt, to see that purty
little light-hearted creature makin' her fight all alone, an' never
lettin' another livin' bein' come within hailin' distance. At times it
was all I could do to keep from goin' gunnin' for Dick myself.

Once she sez to me, "Happy, if any mail comes to me I want to get it
myself, an' I want you to see that I do get it."

"Barbie," sez I, "as far as my feeble power goes you'll get your mail;
an' if it happens to involve any other male--why, from this on, I'm
under your orders." She was grateful all right, an' tried to smile, but
it was a purty successful failure.

Soon the winter settled down an' the snow blotted out the