now. On the contrary, the glass badly needed washing. No
decorative advertisement, no bouquet above the mirror, or festal juniper
thrust between the oak bows and the canvas. A pile of market reports and
_Sheep Growers' Journals_ replaced the fashion magazines, while the
shelves that had contained romances and histories were filled with books
on wool-growing.

The floor space and side benches were occupied by new horse shoes, a can
of paint, sheep shears, a lard bucket filled with nails and staples,
boxes of rifle ammunition, riding boots and arctics, a halter and a
broken bridle.

It all said plainly that the wagon represented only a place for sleep
and shelter, yet, since she had no other, it was home to the sheep
woman.

Kate raised herself higher on her elbow and called sharply:

"Bowers?"

A sleepy response came from somewhere.

"It's daylight--hurry!"

Bowers's voice, plaintive but stronger, answered:

"I'd be ten pounds heavier if it wasn't for that word 'hurry.'"

Kate smiled faintly. Complaining and threatening to mutiny was to Bowers
merely a form of recreation and Kate knew that nothing short of a charge
of dynamite could blast Bowers loose from his beloved wagon. He spoke
invariably of the ranch as "Our Outfit" and he could not have been more
faithful if their interests had been identical, though he missed no
occasion to declare that it robbed a man of his self-respect to work for
a woman.

The chief complaint of Kate's herders was against her brusque imperious
manner and her exactions, which took no account of their physical
limitations. Fatigue, weather, long hours without food or sleep under
trying conditions, were never excuses to satisfy her for the slightest
neglect of duty, or any error of judgment which worked to her
disadvantage. She seemed to regard them as human machines and they felt
it. All save Bowers obeyed without liking her.

"Headquarters" were still on the original homestead, but they had grown
since they had consisted of Kate's sheep wagon, Mormon Joe's tepee and a
ten-by-twelve cook tent. Now it looked like a canvas village when first
seen through the willows, for there was a dining tent connected with the
cook tent by a fly, and near it a commissary tent where were heaped
supplies, saddles, harness and all that it was needful to keep under
shelter, while around the tents was a semicircle of sheep wagons. There
was a substantial horse corral, and across the creek the sheep-