a hog, all right, but you suit me too blamed well!" asserted Bud,
grabbing at Silent's pie.

"Gimme some of that," demanded Jim, trying for the cake. And when the
disturbance had ceased there were no signs of either pie or cake.

"It's the travois for you, Humble dear!" softly hummed Charley Bailey.
"And to the ranch, by the way of town!"

"And Bill will be pleased to explore the Limping Water on the bottom,"
amended Jim. "One of us can drive the women home!"

CHAPTER XXI

THE ANNOUNCEMENT

About thirty people sat in a circle on the grass in the grove on the A-Y,
engaged in taking viands from the well-filled plates which made the
rounds. Keen humor from all sides kept them in roars of laughter, Humble
and Bill provoking the greater part of it. Humble sat next to Miss
Ritchie, while The Orphan and Bill flanked Helen, the sheriff next to his
new foreman. Humble's face had a look of benign condescension when he
allowed himself to bestow perfunctory attentions on the members of
his outfit, whom he graciously called "purty fair punchers in a way."

Crawford, the former owner of the A-Y, sat next to Shields, and when the
lunch had reached the cigar stage he arose and cleared his throat.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, Bill and Humble," he began amid laughter. "I
have been regarded as the host of this picnic, and the false position
embarrasses me. But any such momentary feeling is compensated by the
importance of what I have to tell you.

"When I took up the A-Y it was with a determination to keep it and to
spend the rest of my days on it in peace. This I have found to be
impossible, and in consequence I have turned it over to a better man. The
energy which I have seen applied in the right way for the last few weeks
has assured me that the A-Y will soon be second in importance and
wealth to no ranch in this country. I have seen order, system, emerge
from chaos; I have seen five thousand cattle re-branded and taken care
of in such dispatch as to astonish me and be almost beyond my belief.
The sheriff has been as economical in the use of his energy as he can
be in the use of his words. By that I don't mean in the way that is
causing you to smile, but simply that he knows how to accomplish the
most work with the least possible expenditure of effort and time, as
witnessed by the condition of this ranch to-day. But while he has been
the guiding spirit in the work of putting the ranch on its proper
footing, he has had as g