he felt the stirrup strap drag,
turning half around to see what was wrong. He smiled broadly at Rope.

"You reckon them saddles are acquainted?" he said.

Rope deftly untangled them. "I ain't thinkin' they're relations," he
returned, grinning up at Ferguson. "Leastways I never knowed a 'double
cinch' an' a 'center fire' to git real chummy."

"I reckon you're right," returned Ferguson, his eyes gleaming
cordially; "an' I've knowed men to lose their tempers discussin'
whether a center fire or a double cinch was the most satisfyin'."

"Some men is plum fools," returned Rope, surveying Ferguson with
narrow, pleased eyes. "You didn't observe that the saddles rode any
easier after the argument than before?"

"I didn't observe. But mebbe the men was more satisfied. Let a man
argue that somethin' he's got is better'n somethin' that another
fellow's got an' he falls right in love with his own--an' goes right on
fallin' in love with it. Nothin' c'n ever change his mind after an
argument."

"I know a man who's been studyin' human nature," observed Rope,
grinning.

"An' not wastin' his time arguin' fool questions," added Ferguson.

"You sure ain't plum greenhorn," declared Rope admiringly.

"Thank yu'," smiled Ferguson; "I wasn't lookin' to see whether you'd
cut your eye-teeth either."

"Well, now," remarked Rope, rising and shouldering his saddle, "you've
almost convinced me that a double cinch ain't a bad saddle. Seems to
make a man plum good humored."

"When a man's hungry an' right close to the place where he's goin' to
feed," said Ferguson gravely, "he hadn't ought to bother his head about
nothin'."

"You're settin' at my right hand at the table," remarked Rope,
delighted with his new friend.

Several of the men were already at the washtrough when Rope and
Ferguson reached there. The method by which they performed their
ablutions was not delicate, but it was thorough. And when the dust had
been removed their faces shone with the dusky health-bloom that told of
their hard, healthy method of living. Men of various ages were
there--grizzled riders who saw the world through the introspective eye
of experience; young men with their enthusiasms, their impulses;
middle-aged men who had seen much of life--enough to be able to face
the future with unshaken complacence; but all bronzed, clear-eyed,
self-reliant, unafraid.

When Ferguson and Rope entered the bunkhouse many of the men were
already seated. Fe