hen it comes
to savin' labor, but like all labor-savin' fixin's, it's liable to git
rattled some, an' then ther' ain't no calc'latin' what's goin' to
bust."

Arizona's manner was very hopeless, but presently he cheered up
visibly and renewed his wad of chewing.

"T'other wus kind o' slower in comin' along," he went on, in his
reflective drawl. "But when it got around it wus good an' strong,
sure. Y' see, ther' wus a deal 'tween us like to make us friendly. She
made hash fer the round-up, which I 'lows, when the lady's young,
she's most gener'ly an objec' of 'fection fer the boys. Guess she wus
most every kind of a gal, wi' her ha'r the color of a field of wheat
ready fer the binder, an' her figger as del'cate as one o' them crazy
egg-bilers, an' her pretty face all sparklin' wi' smiles an'
hoss-soap, an' her eye! Gee! but she had an eye. Guess she would 'a'
made a prairie-rose hate itself. But that wus 'fore we hooked up in a
team. I 'lows marryin's a mighty bad finish to courtin'."

"You were married?"

"Am."

A silence fell. The horses ambled on in the fresh noonday air.
Arizona's look was forbidding. Suddenly he turned and gazed fiercely
into his friend's face.

"Yes, sirree. An' it's my 'pinion, in spite of wot some folks sez,
gettin' married's most like makin' butter. Courtin's the cream, good
an' thick an' juicy, an' you ken lay it on thick, an' you kind o'
wonder how them buzzocky old cows got the savee to perduce sech a
daisy liquid. But after the turnin'-point, which is marryin', it's
diff'rent some. 'Tain't cream no longer. It's butter, an' you need to
use it sort o' mean. That's how I found, I guess."

"I suppose you settled down, and things went all right, though?"
suggested Tresler.

"Wal, maybe that's so. Guess if anythin' wus wrong it wus me. Yer see,
ther' ain't a heap o' fellers rightly understands females. I'm most
gener'ly patient. Knowin' their weakness, I sez, 'Arizona, you're mud
when wimmin gits around. You bein' married, it's your dooty to boost
the gal along.' So I jest let her set around an' shovel orders as
though I wus the hired man. Say, guess you never had a gal shovelin'
orders. It's real sweet to hear 'em, an' I figger they knows their
bizness mostly. It makes you feel as though you'd ha'f a dozen hands
an' they wus all gropin' to git to work. That's how I felt, anyways.
Every mornin' she'd per-suade me gentle out o' bed 'fore daylight, an'
I'd feel like a hog fer sleepin' lat