could
pretend to be somewhat surprised, and declare that he had reformed.
Bad horses do reform, sometimes, as Andy and every other man in the
crowd knew. Then there would be no more foolish speculation about the
cayuse, and Andy could keep him in peace and have a mighty good
cow-pony, as he had schemed. He smoked a cigarette while Chip was
having the horses corralled, and then led the way willingly, with
twenty-five men following expectantly at his heels. Unlike Andy, they
fully expected an impromptu exhibition of fancy riding. Not all of
them had seen Andy atop a bad horse, and the Diamond G men, in
particular, were eager to witness a sample of his skill.

The blue roan submitted to the rope, and there was nothing spectacular
in the saddling. Andy kept his cigarette between his lips and smiled
to himself when he saw the saddle bunch hazed out through the gate and
the big corral left empty of every animal but the blue roan, as was
customary when a man tackled a horse with the record which he had
given the poor beast. Also, the sight of twenty-five men roosting
high, their boot-heels hooked under a corral rail to steady them,
their faces writ large with expectancy, amused him inwardly. He
pictured their disappointment when the roan trotted around the corral
once or twice at his bidding, and smiled again.

"If you can't top him, Green, we'll send for Billy Roberts. _He'll_
take off the rough edge and gentle him down for yuh," taunted a
Diamond G man.

"Don't get excited till the show starts," Andy advised, holding the
cigarette in his fingers while he emptied his lungs of smoke. Just to
make a pretence of caution, he shook the saddle tentatively by the
horn, and wished the roan would make a little show of resistance,
instead of standing there like an old cow, lacking only the cud, as he
complained to himself, to make the resemblance complete. The roan,
however, did lay back an ear when Andy, the cigarette again in his
lips, put his toe in the stirrup.

"Go after it, you weatherbeaten old saw-buck," he yelled, just to make
the play strong, before he was fairly in the saddle.

Then it was that the Happy Family, heart and soul and pocket all for
Andy Green and his wonderful skill in the saddle; with many dollars
backing their belief in him and with voices ever ready to sing his
praises; with the golden light of early sunset all about them and the
tang of coming night-frost in the air, received a shock that made them