after they had eaten,
the two youths chatted and smoked while Montoya listened and gazed out
across the evening mesa. He understood. Pete was tired of the sheep
and would sooner or later take up with the cattle. That was natural
enough. He liked Pete; really felt as a father toward him. And the
old Mexican, who was skilled in working leather, thought of the
hand-carved holster and belt that he had been working on during his
spare time--a present that he had intended giving Pete when it was
completed. There was still a little work to do on the holster; the
flower pattern in the center was not quite finished. To-morrow he
would finish it--for he wanted to have it ready. If Pete stayed with
him, he would have it--and if Pete left he should have something by
which to remember Jose de la Crux Montoya--something to remember him
by, and something useful--for even then Montoya realized that if Young
Pete survived the present hazards that challenged youth and an
adventurous heart, some day, as a man grown, Pete would thoroughly
appreciate the gift. A good holster, built on the right lines and one
from which a gun came easily, would be very useful to a man of Pete's
inclinations. And when it came to the fit and hang of a holster,
Montoya knew his business.

Three weeks later, almost to a day, the sheep were grazing below the
town of Concho, near the camp where Pete had first visited Montoya and
elected to work for him. On the higher levels several miles to the
east was the great cattle outfit of the Concho; the home-buildings,
corrals, and stables. Pete had seen some of the Concho boys--chance
visitors at the homestead on the Blue--and he had been thinking of
these as the sheep drifted toward Concho. After all, he was not
equipped to ride, as he had no saddle, bridle, chaps, boots, and not
even a first-class rope. Pete had too much pride to acknowledge his
lack of riding-gear or the wherewithal to purchase it, even should he
tie up with the Concho boys. So when Andy White, again visiting the
sheep-camp, told Pete that the Concho foreman had offered no
encouragement in regard to an extra hand, Pete nodded as though the
matter were of slight consequence, which had the effect of stirring
Andy to renewed eloquence anent the subject--as Pete had hoped. The
boys discussed ways and means. There was much discussion, but no
visible ways and means. Andy's entire wealth was invested in his own
gay trappings. Pete possess