h an' maybe I
can pick up some bargains."

"More horses!"

"Ain't I got two teams haulin' lumber for the new winery? An' Barney's
got a bad shoulder-sprain. He'll have to lay off a long time if he's to
get it in shape. An' Bridget ain't ever goin' to do a tap of work again.
I can see that stickin' out. I've doctored her an' doctored her. She's
fooled the vet, too. An' some of the other horses has gotta take a rest.
That span of grays is showin' the hard work. An' the big roan's goin'
loco. Everybody thought it was his teeth, but it ain't. It's straight
loco. It's money in pocket to take care of your animals, an' horses is
the delicatest things on four legs. Some time, if I can ever see my way
to it, I 'm goin' to ship a carload of mules from Colusa County--big,
heavy ones, you know. They'd sell like hot cakes in the valley
here--them I didn't want for myself."

Or, in lighter vein, Billy: "By the way, Saxon, talkin' of accounts,
what d'you think Hazel an' Hattie is worth?--fair market price?"

"Why?"

"I 'm askin' you."

"Well, say, what you paid for them--three hundred dollars."

"Hum." Billy considered deeply. "They're worth a whole lot more, but let
it go at that. An' now, gettin' back to accounts, suppose you write me a
check for three hundred dollars."

"Oh! Robber!"

"You can't show me. Why, Saxon, when I let you have grain an' hay from
my carloads, don't you give me a check for it? An' you know how you're
stuck on keepin' your accounts down to the penny," he teased. "If you're
any kind of a business woman you just gotta charge your business with
them two horses. I ain't had the use of 'em since I don't know when."

"But the colts will be yours," she argued. "Besides, I can't afford
brood mares in my business. In almost no time, now, Hazel and Hattie
will have to be taken off from the wagon--they're too good for it
anyway. And you keep your eyes open for a pair to take their place. I'll
give you a check for THAT pair, but no commission."

"All right," Billy conceded. "Hazel an' Hattie come back to me; but you
can pay me rent for the time you did use 'em."

"If you make me, I'll charge you board," she threatened.

"An' if you charge me board, I'll charge you interest for the money I've
stuck into this shebang."

"You can't," Saxon laughed. "It's community property."

He grunted spasmodically, as if the breath had been knocked out of him.

"Straight on the solar plexus," he said, "an' me down for