ened then?" he asked.

"What happened then?" cried Thomas, his eyes burning. "Well, _you_
ought to know--I was sheeped out."

"Sheeped out? Why, how could that happen? You were a sheepman
yourself!"

The boss herder contemplated him with an amused and cynical smile.
"You ask Jim Swope," he suggested.

For a minute Hardy sat staring at him, bewildered. "Well," he said,
"_I_ can't figure it out--maybe you wouldn't mind telling me how it
happened."

"Why hell, man," burst out the sheepman, "it's as plain as the nose on
your face--I didn't belong to the Association. All these big sheepmen
that drive north and south belong to the Sheepmen's Protective
Association, and they stand in with each other, but we little fellows
up in 'Pache County was nobody. It's about ten years ago now that the
Swope outfit first came in through our country; and, bein' in the
sheep business ourselves, we was always friendly, and never made no
trouble, and naturally supposed that they'd respect our range. And so
they did, until I found one of Jim's herders in on my ranch last
Summer.

"Well, I thought there was some misunderstandin', but when I told him
and his _compadres_ to move it was a bad case of 'No savvy' from the
start; and while I was monkeyin' around with them a couple of more
bands sneaked in behind, and first thing I knew my whole lower range
was skinned clean. Well, sir, I worked over one of them _paisanos_
until he was a total wreck, and I took a shot at another _hombre_,
too--the one that couldn't savvy; but there was no use cavin' round
about it--I was jest naturally sheeped out.

"It looked like I was busted, but I wouldn't admit it, and while I was
studyin' on the matter along comes Jim himself and offers me five
thousand dollars for my sheep. They was worth ten if they was worth a
cent, all fine and fat; but my winter feed was gone and of course I
was up against it. I see somethin' would have to be done, and dam'
quick, too; so I chased down to St. John and tried to git a higher
bid. But these sheepmen stand in with each other on a proposition like
that, and I couldn't git nawthin'.

"'All right,' I says to Jim, 'take 'em, and be dam'ed to you.'

"'The price has gone down,' says Jim. 'I'll give you four thousand.'

"'_What!_' I says.

"'Three thousand,' says Jim.

"'You'll give me _five_ thousand,' says I, crowdin' my gun against his
short ribs, 'or I'll let the light in on you,' and after that Jim and
me underst