e said in an aggrieved manner, "askin' me to go
on record so plumb sudden. I'm no mind-reader."

There was a pause, but the Ranger quietly waited.

"It's embarrassin'," said Bob-Cat, "to try an' trot out a verdic' on
snap-jedgment. I don't know."

Rifle-Eye, quite unperturbed, looked at him steadily and inquiringly.

"You know what you think," he said.

"He's sure green," replied the cowboy, shrugging his shoulders in
protest, "an' he ain't much more humble-minded than a hen that's jest
laid an egg of unusooal size, but I reckon he's got the makin's."

"It's a good thing to be green," said the old Ranger thoughtfully,
"nothin' grows much after it's dry, Bob-Cat. The heart's got to be green
anyway. Ye git hard to bend an' easy to break when ye're gettin' old."

"Then it's a cinch you'll never get old," promptly responded the other.

But the mountaineer continued talking, half to himself:

"An' he's too sure of himself! Wa'al, he's young yet. I've seen a pile
o' sickness in my day, Bob-Cat, but that's about the easiest one to cure
there is."

"What is?"

"Bein' young. Well, son, ye'd better turn the pony in."

The boy dismounted, and, half in pique at the dubious character given
him by Bob-Cat and half in thanks for the meeting at the station and the
ride, he turned to the cowboy, and said:

"I'm glad I've 'got the makings' anyway, and I'm much obliged, Bob-Cat,
for all the yarns you told me on the trail. But, next time I come to the
ranch I'll try not to be as green, and I know I'll not be as young."

The cowboy laughed.

"It's no use tryin' to dodge Rifle-Eye," he said. "You stand about as
good a chance as if you was tryin' to sidestep a blizzard or parryin'
the charge from a Gatlin' gun. If he asks a question you can gamble
every chip in your pile that you're elected, and you've got to ante up
with the answer whether it suits your hand or no."

Wilbur, following the suggestion of the Ranger, unsaddled his pony,
turned him into the corral, and hung his saddle on the fence. Then
together they went up to the house, where Wilbur met the boss, and after
a few moments' chat they returned to the corral.

As the lad had come to the ranch especially for the purpose of buying a
couple of ponies, he was anxious to transact the business as quickly as
possible, and together with Bob-Cat and Rifle-Eye he scanned the horses
in the enclosure, endeavoring to display, as he did so, what little
knowledge of horseflesh