nd piloted by the talkative Lem Hunt. For once he had attentive
listeners. There was no fellow ranchmen to ridicule his oft-told tales,
but eager ears to which they were new; and eyes as eager to behold the
scenes of these same marvellous stories.

All began and ended with "The Boss, he." Evidently, for old Lem, there
existed but one man worth knowing and that was the "Boss, he."

"I s'pose, Ma'am, you know how the Boss, he come to buy S' Leon. No? You
don't? By the Great Horned Spoon! Ain't that great? Just like him. The
Boss, he never brags of his doin's, that's why I have to do it for him.
Well, Ma'am, I can't help sayin' 'twas a deed o' charity. Just a clean,
simon-pure piece of charity. Yes, Ma'am, that's what it was, and you can
bite that off an' chew it."

Mrs. Ford smiled. She was always delighted to hear of her husband's
generous deeds but rarely heard of them from himself. Also, she had
supposed that the purchase of San Leon had been a recent one and was
amazed now to learn it had been owned by Mr. Ford for several years. Not
as it then was, for no improvements had been made to the home-piece till
after he had found her that last winter in San Diego. Then, at once,
preparations had been made for this home-coming, with the result of all
the beauty that now greeted her eyes.

"Tell us, Lemuel. I'm anxious to hear."

Lem switched some hay from a wagon seat, that stood upon the ground, and
motioned the lady to be seated. The youngsters grouped about her, Lem
cut off a fresh "chaw," rubbed his hands and began. He stood with legs
far apart, arms folded, an old sombrero pushed back on his head, a
riding crop in hand, and an air of a king. Was he not a free-born
American citizen, as good as could be found in all the country? Lemuel
adored his "Boss" but he had not learned the manners which that "Boss"
would have approved in the presence of the Gray Lady; who, by the way,
was never more truly the "Lady" than in her intercourse then, and
always, with the toilers at San Leon.

"Well, sir, Ma'am, I mean--'twas really a deed o' gift. There was
another railroader, rich once, done somethin' he hadn't ought to. I
don't rightly know what that was. The Boss never told, course, and it
never leaked out otherwise. That's no more here nor there. But he, the
other feller, had his bottom dollar into S' Leon, and some dollars 't
wasn't his 'n. He was countin' on this range bein' chock full o' silver
an' he'd wheedled the rest to