t, and restored it
to his pocket. He had a pensive face, with an expression which in a man
of wider culture we should discriminate as denoting sensibility. He had
long yellow hair that hung down to his shoulders, and a tangled yellow
beard. There was something at once wistful and searching in his gray
eyes, dull enough, too, at times. He lifted them heavily, and they had
a drooping lid and lash. There seemed an odd incongruity between this
sensitive, weary face and his stalwart physique. He was tall and well
proportioned. A leather belt girded his brown jeans coat. His great
cowhide boots, were drawn to the knee over his trousers. His pose, as he
leaned on the rock, had a muscular picturesque-ness.

"Who be ye a-talkin' about?" he drawled.

Peters relished his opportunity. He laughed in a distorted fashion, his
pipe-stem held between his teeth.

"_You-uns_ ain't wantin' ter swop lies 'bout sech ez him, Luke! We war
a-talkin' 'bout Tobe Gryce."

The color flared into the new-comer's face. A sudden animation fired his
eye.

"Tobe Gryce air jes the man I'm always wantin' ter hear a word about.
Jes perceed with yer rat-killin'. I'm with ye." And Luke Todd placed his
elbows on his knees and leaned forward with an air of attention.

Peters looked at him, hardly comprehending this ebullition. It was not
what he had expected to elicit. No one laughed. His fleer was wide of
the mark.

"Wa'al"--he made another effort--"Tobe, we war jes sayin', ain't fitten
fur ter be ranger o' the county. He be ez peart in gittin' ter own other
folkses' stray cattle ez he war in courtin' other folkses' sweetheart,
an', ef the truth mus' be knowed, in marryin' her." He suddenly twisted
round, in some danger of falling from his perch. "I want ter ax one o'
them thar big-headed lawyers a question on a p'int o' law," he broke
off, abruptly.

"What be Tobe Gryce a-doin' of now?" asked Luke Todd, with eager
interest in the subject.

"Wa'al," resumed Peters, nowise loath to return to the gossip, "Tobe, ye
see, air the ranger o' this hyar county, an' by law all the stray horses
ez air tuk up by folks hev ter be reported ter him, an' appraised by two
householders, an' swore to afore the magistrate an' be advertised by the
ranger, an' ef they ain't claimed 'fore twelve months, the taker-up kin
pay into the county treasury one-haffen the appraisement an' hev the
critter fur his'n. An' the owner can't prove it away arter that."

"Thanky," said L