the aggregate they had gathered in a pretty good sum
during the season, and they decided that they were pretty well paid for
their return to Wall Street; so they finally decided to go back down
into Texas to look after their new ranch and try to add another thousand
head of cattle to their herd.

They wrote Jack that they were going to return south, and as soon as
Jack received their letter he promptly wired back to them to stay there
until he joined them, as he intended to come up after his mother and to
marry Katy Malone, who was still working in the office with Louise
Crane.

"Great Scott, Terry!" said Fred. "Jack has finished his house by this
time, and now he is in a hurry to get his mother and sweetheart down
there with him."

"Well, I don't blame him, Fred. Katy is a sweet girl and dead in love
with him, while his mother wants her along as a companion."

"Very true; but, Terry, I fear that he is making a mistake."

"Don't say anything about that, Fred," advised Terry, "for it would hurt
both his and her feelings, and probably his mother's. I don't see how it
is possible that his house can be finished ready for occupancy in such a
short time."

"Neither do I, and I'm going to wire to him and ask him if the house is
finished, and if it isn't I'll just advise him to postpone his trip
North until it is." So he wired to Crabtree, and the dispatch was sent
down the road by the operator to him.

Jack promptly answered the question by saying that the house was not yet
finished, and would not be for several months yet, but that his mother
and Katy could find comfortable quarters in one of the other houses.

Fred immediately wired back:

"Take my advice, Jack, and wait until the house is finished and
furnished."

The next morning he received a reply from Jack, saying:

"All right, sir, I'll wait."

"Terry, that boy is no fool," Fred remarked, as he showed him the
dispatch.

"Now, Terry," said Fred, "let's see if we can't persuade Evelyn and Mary
to go back with us down there. We can keep them at the hotel in
Crabtree, supply them with a carriage and a pair of horses, and you know
it is not absolutely necessary for us to live out on the ranch entirely
yet. Then, too, we are well enough supplied with money now to entertain
them in good style, as well as to add another thousand head of cattle to
our herd."

"Fred, that would suit you all right, for I have no doubt but that
Evelyn would be glad to go, but I