l he gits ready to pull out."

"Well, I am sure disappointed about that burro thing," said Davy
regretfully. "I wanted to ride that saddle over there and maybe they
could see that the saddle, the hoss, and the midget ought not be
separated."

"Don't worry. We'll lengthen the girths, en I'll put ye on ole Frosty.
When they see ye, way up thar', they'll know by every law of
mathematics en justice, that the boy and the saddle belong on the
colt."

A roar reverberated out of the canyon. "Well, that's that," said
Landy, "en now the next big job is to git Welborn out of the coulee
fer dinner. If you leave him alone, he'd stay right thar messin'
around till dark. I git provoked at his ways, but after I heard them
decorators tell how he beat the gunman to the draw and busted him on
the jaw en kicked him till he squawked like an ole hen, then I grew
more tolerant. Welborn's all right, but he works too hard."

Presently Welborn and Jim came up from the coulee. The auto was
started and headed for the Gillis place. The original Gillis cabin had
been augmented by the addition of two rooms on the south, a porch on
the west, and another and better cabin on the north. It was sufficient
for the family needs. The farm was fenced for the most part, and the
neighboring range was alloted by the grazing master to Gillis, Landy,
and their co-homesteaders at the far limits of the tract. Except for a
small forty-acre tract, the Gillis land was dry farmed. The forty was
irrigated from a spring developed on the premises. It was in alfalfa.
Other meadows raised timothy mixed with alsike. Even in unfavorable
years, the ranch yielded more than a hundred and fifty tons of hay.
Besides hay, a lot of oats and barley was produced.

"But thar's Jim's patent," Landy was showing Davy over the premises.
"Jim keeps everything offen that big medder, en the grass comes on,
en cures itse'f. Then hit snows, and the grass lays down like a
carpet. Then hit blows the snow off en around, en stock can graze thar
until near Christmas. Hit's a great savin' on hay. En a great saving
on the hay feeder," Landy added with a grin.

Besides three score cows with their calves, a dozen horses and colts,
turkeys, chickens, ducks, and geese galore, the Gillis ranch had three
dogs, two collies, and a short-tailed sheep dog. The dogs followed
Davy around like they had found a friend.

"They think I am a kid," Davy said. "Dogs sure like children."

After another sumptuous