old Sure-Shot," he ruminated
aloud. "Got to quit hellin' around an' raisin' Cain. Leastways I have.
You never did do any o' that. Yes, sir, I got to be a responsible
citizen."

The partner of the responsible citizen leaned back in a reclining chair
which he had made from a plank sawed into five parts that were nailed
together at angles.

"You'll be raisin' little towheads right soon," he said through a cloud
of smoke.

"No, sir. Not me. Not Dud Hollister. I can boss my own se'f for a spell
yet," the fair-haired youth protested vehemently. "When I said we got to
adopt ourselves, I was thinkin' of barb-wire fences an' timothy hay. 'S
all right to let the dogies rough through the winter an' hunt the gulches
when the storms come. But it won't do with stock that's bred up. Harshaw
lost close to forty per cent of his cattle three years ago. It sure put
some crimp in him. He was hit hard again last winter. You know that. Say
he'd had valuable stock. Why, it would put him outa business. Sure
would."

"Yes," admitted Bob. "There's a schoolmarm down at Meeker was askin' me
about you. You know her--that snappin'-eyed brunette. Wanted to know all
about yore claim, an' was it a good one, an' didn't I think Mr. Hollister
a perfect gentleman, an'--"

Dud snatched a blanket from the bunk and smothered the red head. They
clinched, rolled on the floor, and kicked over the chair and stool.
Presently they emerged from battle feeling happier.

"No, we got to feed. Tha's the new law an' the gospel of the range," Dud
continued. "Got to keep our cattle under fence in winter an' look after
'em right. Cattle-raisin' as a gamble will be a losing bet right soon.
It's a business now. Am I right?"

"Sounds reasonable to me, Dud."

Bob's face was grave, but he smiled inwardly. The doctrine that his
friend had just been expounding was not new to him. He had urged it on
Dud during many a ride and at more than one night camp, had pointed to
the examples of Larson, Harshaw, and the other old-timers. Hollister was
a happy-go-lucky youth. The old hard-riding cattle days suited him
better. But he, too, had been forced at last to see the logic of the
situation. Now, with all the ardor of a convert, he was urging his view
on a partner who did not need to be convinced.

Dillon knew that stock-raising was entering upon a new phase, that the
old loose range system must give way to better care, attention to
breeding, and close business judgment. The c