he high places for town. Might as well
take yuh back, I guess, and save time running after the Kid."

"We've got to hold down our claims," Weary minded him regretfully. In
three weeks, he could see a difference the Old Man, and the change hurt
him.

Lines were deeper drawn, and the kind old eyes were a shade more sunken.

"What's that amount to?" grumbled the Old Man, looking from one to the
other under his graying eye brows. "You can't stop them dry-farmers from
taking the country. Yuh might as well try to dip the Missouri dry with a
bucket. They'll flood the country with stock--"

"No, they won't," put in Big Medicine, impatient for the real meat of
their errand. "By cripes, we got a scheme to beat that--you tell 'im,
Weary."

"We want to buy a bunch of cattle from you," Weary said obediently. "We
want to graze our claims, instead of trying to crop the land. We haven't
any fence up, so we'll have to range-herd our stock, of course. I--don't
hardly think any nester stock will get by us, J. G. And seeing our land
runs straight through from Meeker's line fence to yours, we kinda think
we've got the nesters pretty well corralled. They're welcome to the
range between Antelope coulee and Dry Lake, far as we're concerned. Soon
as we can afford it," he added tranquilly, "we'll stretch a fence along
our west line that'll hold all the darn milkcows they've a mind to ship
out here."

"Huh!" The Old Man studied them quizzically, his chin on his chest.

"How many yuh want?" he asked abruptly.

"All you'll sell us. We want to give mortgages, with the stock for
security."

"Oh, yuh do, ay? What if I have to foreclose on yuh?" The pucker of his
lips grew more pronounced. "Where do you git off at, then?"

"Well, we kinda thought we could fix it up to save part of the increase
outa the wreck, anyway."

"Oh. That's it ay?" He studied them another minute. "You'll want all my
best cows, too, I reckon--all that grade stock I shipped in last spring.
Ay?"

"We wouldn't mind," grinned Weary, glancing at the others roosting at
ease along the edge of the porch.

"Think you could handle five-hundred head--the pick uh the bunch?"

"Sure, we could! We'd rather split 'em up amongst us, though--let every
fellow buy so many. We can throw in together on the herding."

"Think you can keep the milk-cows between you and Dry Lake, ay?" The Old
Man chuckled--the first little chuckle since the Happy Family left him
so unceremoniously thre