rvoir site he drew rein and inspected the ruined
dirt-and-rock dam. Fresh dirt, brush, and rock had already been dumped
into the aperture, and over on the hillside a group of men was busy
loading wagons. He let himself into the ranch enclosure, rode past the
bunk-house and on toward the big house that sat well back from the
other buildings in the centre of a grove of trees. A horse stood
saddled beside the porch, and through the open door Tex could hear a
man's voice raised in anger: "Why in hell ain't it ready? You might of
knowed I'd want it early today, havin' to git out at daylight! You
wouldn't give a damn if I never got nothin' to eat!" The door banged
viciously cutting off a reply in a woman's voice, and a man strode
across the porch, and snatched up the reins of the waiting horse.

"What's the matter, Johnson, your suspenders galdin' you this mornin'?"

The man scowled into the face of the cow-puncher who sat regarding him
with an irritating grin.

"What do you want around here? If you want a job go turn your horse
into the corral an' git out there an' git to work on that resevoy."

"No, Johnson, I don't want a job. I done had one experience with this
outfit, an' I fired you for a boss for keeps."

"Get offen this ranch!" roared the man, shaking a fist, and advancing
one threatening step, "or I'll have you throw'd off!"

Tex laughed: "I don't aim to stick around no great while. Fact is, I'm
in somethin' of a hurry myself. I just stopped in to give you a chanct
to do me a good turn. I happened to be down this way an': 'there's
Johnson,' I says to myself, 'he's so free an' open-handed, a man's
welcome to anything he's got,' so I stopped in."

The ranchman regarded him with an intent scowl: "'Sth' matter with you,
you drunk?"

"Not yet. But I got a friend out here in the hills which he's lost his
slippers, an' tore his pants, an' got his shirt all dirty, an' mislaid
his hat; an' knowin' you'd be glad to stake him to an outfit I come
over, him bein' about your size an' build."

The ranchman's face flushed with anger: "What the hell do I care about
you an' your friends. Git offen this ranch, I tell you!"

"Oh, yes, an' while you're gettin' the outfit together just you slip in
a cinch, an' a quart or two of _hooch_, case we might get snake-bit."

Beside himself with rage, the man raised his foot to the stirrup. As
if suddenly remembering something he paused, lowered his foot, and
regarded the