"

Madeline was silent. She remained so during the ride around the rim of
the mesa and down the steep trail. This time Alfred and Florence failed
to tempt her into a race. She had been awe-struck; she had been exalted
she had been confounded; and she recovered slowly without divining
exactly what had come to her.

She reached the ranch-house far behind her companions, and at
supper-time was unusually thoughtful. Later, when they assembled on the
porch to watch the sunset, Stillwell's humorous complainings inspired
the inception of an idea which flashed up in her mind swift as
lightning. And then by listening sympathetically she encouraged him to
recite the troubles of a poor cattleman. They were many and long and
interesting, and rather numbing to the life of her inspired idea.

"Mr. Stillwell, could ranching here on a large scale, with up-to-date
methods, be made--well, not profitable, exactly, but to pay--to run
without loss?" she asked, determined to kill her new-born idea at birth
or else give it breath and hope of life.

"Wal, I reckon it could," he replied, with a short laugh. "It'd sure be
a money-maker. Why, with all my bad luck an' poor equipment I've lived
pretty well an' paid my debts an' haven't really lost any money except
the original outlay. I reckon thet's sunk fer good."

"Would you sell--if some one would pay your price?"

"Miss Majesty, I'd jump at the chance. Yet somehow I'd hate to leave
hyar. I'd jest be fool enough to go sink the money in another ranch."

"Would Don Carlos and these other Mexicans sell?"

"They sure would. The Don has been after me fer years, wantin' to sell
thet old rancho of his; an' these herders in the valley with their stray
cattle, they'd fall daid at sight of a little money."

"Please tell me, Mr. Stillwell, exactly what you would do here if you
had unlimited means?" went on Madeline.

"Good Lud!" ejaculated the rancher, and started so he dropped his pipe.
Then with his clumsy huge fingers he refilled it, relighted it, took a
few long pulls, puffed great clouds of smoke, and, squaring round, hands
on his knees, he looked at Madeline with piercing intentness. His hard
face began to relax and soften and wrinkle into a smile.

"Wal, Miss Majesty, it jest makes my old heart warm up to think of sich
a thing. I dreamed a lot when I first come hyar. What would I do if I
hed unlimited money? Listen. I'd buy out Don Carlos an' the Greasers.
I'd give a job to every good c