d to Blenham though he must
admit in each case that anything in the vaguest way approaching a proof
was lacking. Just before he closed the deal with the lumber company
that had taken over his timber tract a forest fire had broken out.
Luck and a fortuitous shifting of the wind had saved him from a heavy
loss.

Incidents, these and others of their kind, to fill Steve Packard with
rage; but Blenham's supreme blows--Blenham's and old man
Packard's--were reserved for late in the dry season when they fell
hardest.

A growing shortage of feed and the necessity for cash for the
forthcoming substantial sum to be paid on the mortgage held by his
grandfather, combined with the fact that his lean acres were
overstocked, drove Steve in search of a market late in the summer.
Bill Royce shook his head and raised his objections.

"Everybody else is doin' the same thing an' at the same time," he said
lugubriously. "Which'll mean the market all glutted up so's you won't
get no kind of figger. If you could only hold on till next spring."

But Steve merely said--

"Oh, well, Bill, it's all in a lifetime," and shaped his plans for a
sale.

And within ten days there came an offer which startled him. It was
from the big buyers, Doan, Rockwell, and Haight, who, their
communication said, knew his line of stock thoroughly and were prepared
to pay the top prices for all he had. He estimated swiftly and sent a
man hurrying into town with a message to go by wire; he would round up
between a hundred and fifty and two hundred head and would have them in
San Juan when desired.

"Old Doan's a sport and a wise boy, both," announced Steve triumphantly
when he made the news known to Bill Royce. "He knows high-grade stuff
and he's willing to pay the price." He narrowed his eyes
speculatively. "We'll scare up close to two hundred head, William.
And they'll bring us just about twenty thousand. Maybe a thousand or
so above that. And, Bill, did you ever know the time when twenty
thousand dollars would look more like twenty thousand full moons just
showing up over the skyline?"

Bill's grin reflected Steve's lively satisfaction. Now there would be
the money for old Hell-Fire Packard's next payment, there would be a
long respite from him, there would be ample feed for the rest of the
cattle. Steve might even spend a part of the money for a herd of
calves to be had dirt-cheap just now from the Biddle Morris dairy
outfit, down near San Jua