e.

Ace had not been able to get any of his poems into the _Kicker_. He
had submitted some of them to Potter, but the printer had assured him
that he did not care to assume the responsibility of publishing them.
Thereupon Ace had importuned Norton to intercede with Hollis on his
behalf. On his visit this morning Norton had brought the matter to
Hollis's attention. The latter had assured the range boss that he
appreciated the puncher's interest and would be glad to go over some of
his poems. Therefore Hollis was not surprised when in the afternoon he
saw Ace loping his pony down the Coyote trail toward the Hazelton cabin.

Ace's approach was diffident, though ambition urged him on. He rode up
to the edge of the porch, dismounted, and greeted his boss with an
earnestness that contrasted oddly with his embarrassment. He took the
chair that Hollis motioned him to, sitting on the edge of it and
shifting nervously under Hollis's direct gaze.

"I reckon Norton told you about my poems," he began. He caught Hollis's
nod and continued: "Well, I got a bunch of 'em here which I brung over
to show you. Folks back home used to say that I was a genyus. But I
reckon mebbe they was hittin' her up a little bit strong," he admitted,
modestly; "folks is that way--they like to spread it on a bit. But"--and
the eyes of the genius flashed proudly--"I reckon I've got a little
talyunt, the evidence of which is right here!" With rather more
composure than had marked his approach he now drew out a prodigious
number of sheets of paper, which he proceeded to spread out on his knee,
smoothing them lovingly.

"Mebbe I ain't much on spellin' an' grammar an' all that sort of thing,"
he offered, "but there's a heap of sense to be got out of the stuff I've
wrote. Take this one, for instance. She's a little oday to 'Night,'
which I composed while the boys was poundin' their ears one night--not
bein' affected in their feelin's like I was. If you ain't got no
objections I'll read her." And then, not waiting to hear any objections,
he began:

The stars are bright to-night;
They surely are a sight,
Sendin' their flickerin' light
From an awful, unknown height.

Why do they shine so bright?
I'm most o'ercome with fright----

"Of course I reely wasn't scared," he offered with a deprecatory smile,
"but there wasn't any other word that I could think of just then an' so
I shoved her in. It rhymes anyhow an' just about says what I w