e Star C and sought out the foreman, whom he finally found engaged in
freeing a cow that had become mired in a quicksand. As the terror-stricken
animal galloped wildly away from the scene of torture and indignities to
its person Blake mopped his face and began to scrape the quicksand from
him.

"Playing life-saver, eh?" laughed the sheriff.

The foreman looked up and smiled sheepishly: "Yes," he replied as he shook
hands with the sheriff. "One cow more or less won't make nor break no
ranch, but I just can't see 'em suffer. The boys and I were passing, so
we stopped and got to work. But cows ain't got no gratitude, not nohow!
That ornery beast will be all ready to charge me the first time he sees
me afoot. Did you see him try to horn me when I let go?"

His friend laughed, and when they had ridden some distance from the others
he turned in his saddle:

"Well, The Orphan is working like a horse, and he likes it, too," he
said. "You ought to hear him giving orders--he just asks a man to do a
thing, don't order it done. When he talks it sounds like the puncher
would be doing him the greatest possible favor to do the work he is paid
to do, but there is a suggestion that if any nastiness develops, hell
will be a peaceful place compared to the near vicinity of the foreman
of the A-Y. He sizes up a thing with one look, and then tells how it
should be done. Everything has gone off so fine that I'm going to ask
you to lose a good man, and real soon, too. What do you say, Tom?"

Blake laughed: "Why, we were a-plenty before he came and we'll be a-plenty
after he goes. That's for your asking me to turn him over to you. The
boys will be both sorry and glad to have him leave, because they like
him a whole lot. But of course they want to see him land everything
that he can, so they'll give him a good send-off. That reminds me to
say that I know they will want to be on hand when you break the news to
him. It'll be a circus for your Eastern friend, Miss Ritchie."

"Now you're talking!" enthused the sheriff. "I want to have as many
fireworks at the ceremony as I can possibly get. Oh, it'll be a great
day, all right. We are all going out and take a bang-up lunch, just
like we're going on that picnic that Bill's been so worried about, and
Bill is going to drive the women over in his coach. The first surprise
will be the announcement of the new ownership of the A-Y, and right on
top of it I'm going to fire the second gun. I hope none of