es, the whole pack of you. I want to talk with
Tom alone. Yes, you too--you've said too much already. Run along out."

As they filed out, I noticed Uncle Lance pick up my saddle and throw it
across his shoulder, while Theodore gathered up the rancid blankets and
my fancy bridle, taking everything with them to the house. Waiting until
she saw that her orders were obeyed, Miss Jean came over and sat down
beside me on the bed. Anita stood like a fawn near the door, likewise
fearing banishment, but on a sign from her mistress she spread a
goatskin on the floor and sat down at our feet. Between two languages
and two women, I was as helpless as an ironed prisoner. Not that Anita
had any influence over me, but the mistress of the ranch had. In her
hands I was as helpless as a baby. I had come to the ranch a stranger
only a little over a year before, but had I been born there her interest
could have been no stronger. Jean Lovelace relinquished no one, any more
than a mother would one of her boys. I wanted to escape, to get away
from observation; I even plead for a month's leave of absence. But my
reasons were of no avail, and after arguing pro and con for over an
hour, I went with her to the house. If the Almighty ever made a good
woman and placed her among men for their betterment, then the presence
of Jean Lovelace at Las Palomas savored of divine appointment.

On reaching the yard, we rested a long time on a settee under a group
of china trees. The boys had dispersed, and after quite a friendly chat
together, we saw Uncle Lance sauntering out of the house, smiling as he
approached. "Tom's going to stay," said Miss Jean to her brother, as
the latter seated himself beside us; "but this abuse and blame you're
heaping on him must stop. He did what he thought was best under the
circumstances, and you don't know what they were. He has given me his
promise to stay, and I have given him mine that talk about this matter
will be dropped. Now that your anger has cooled, and I have you both
together, I want your word."

"Tom," said my employer, throwing his long bony arm around me, "I was
disappointed, terribly put out, and I showed it in freeing my mind. But
I feel better now--towards you, at least. I understand just how you felt
when your plans were thwarted by an unforeseen incident. If I don't know
everything, then, since the milk is spilt, I'm not asking for
further particulars. If you did what you thought was best under the
circ