ld not be said, however, that he sought to drive hard
bargains. Bostil would pay any price asked for a horse.

Across the Colorado, in a high, red-walled canyon opening upon the
river, lived a poor sheep-herder and horse-trader named Creech. This
man owned a number of thoroughbreds, two of which he would not part
with for all the gold in the uplands. These racers, Blue Roan and Peg,
had been captured wild on the ranges by Ute Indians and broken to
racing. They were still young and getting faster every year. Bostil
wanted them because he coveted them and because he feared them. It
would have been a terrible blow to him if any horse ever beat the gray.
But Creech laughed at all offers and taunted Bostil with a boast that
in another summer he would see a horse out in front of the King.

To complicate matters and lead rivalry into hatred young Joel Creech, a
great horseman, but worthless in the eyes of all save his father, had
been heard to say that some day he would force a race between the King
and Blue Roan. And that threat had been taken in various ways. It
alienated Bostil beyond all hope of reconciliation. It made Lucy Bostil
laugh and look sweetly mysterious. She had no enemies and she liked
everybody. It was even gossiped by the women of Bostil's Ford that she
had more than liking for the idle Joel. But the husbands of these
gossips said Lucy was only tender-hearted. Among the riders, when they
sat around their lonely camp-fires, or lounged at the corrals of the
Ford, there was speculation in regard to this race hinted by Joel
Creech. There never had been a race between the King and Blue Roan, and
there never would be, unless Joel were to ride off with Lucy. In that
case there would be the grandest race ever run on the uplands, with the
odds against Blue Roan only if he carried double. If Joel put Lucy up
on the Roan and he rode Peg there would be another story. Lucy Bostil
was a slip of a girl, born on a horse, as strong and supple as an
Indian, and she could ride like a burr sticking in a horse's mane. With
Blue Roan carrying her light weight she might run away from any one up
on the King--which for Bostil would be a double tragedy, equally in the
loss of his daughter and the beating of his best-beloved racer. But
with Joel on Peg, such a race would end in heartbreak for all
concerned, for the King would outrun Peg, and that would bring riders
within gunshot.

It had always been a fascinating subject, this long-