he exclaimed. "Me! And mebby a tame cow
and chickens and things,--eh, Chance!" But Chance, he immediately
realized, was not with him. He would have a windmill and shade-trees
and a border of roses along the roadway to the house--like the Loring
rancho. But the senorita to be wooed and won--that was a different
matter. "'T ain't no woman's country nohow--this here Arizona. She's
fine! But she's a man's country every time! Only sech as me and Jack
Corliss and Bud and them kind is fit to take the risks of makin' good
in this here State. But we're makin' good, you calico-hoss! Listen:--

"Oh, there's sunshine on the Concho where the little owls are cryin',
And red across the 'dobe strings of chiles are a-dryin';
And if Arizona's heaven, tell me what's the use of dyin'?
Yes, it's good enough down here, just breathin' air;

"For the posies are a-bloomin' and the mockin'-birds are matin',
And somewhere in Arizona there's a Chola girl a-waitin'
For to cook them enchiladas while I do the irrigatin'
On me little desert homestead over there.

"While I'm ridin' slow and easy . . ."

"Whoa! Wonder what that is? Never seen one of them things before. 'T
ain't a lizard, but he looks like his pa was a lizard. Mebby his ma
was a toad. Kind of a Mormon, I guess."

He leaned forward and gravely inspected the horned toad that blinked at
him from the edge of the grass. The pinto realized that his rider's
attention was otherwise and thoroughly occupied. With that
unforgettable drop of head and arch of spine the horse bucked. Sundown
did an unpremeditated evolution that would have won him much applause
and gold had he been connected with a circus. He landed in a clump of
brush and watched his hat sail gently down. The pinto whirled and took
the homeward road, snorting and bounding from side to side as the dust
swirled behind him. Sundown scratched his head. "Lemme see. 'We was
ridin', slow and easy . . .' Huh! Well, I ain't cussin' because I
don' know how. Lemme see . . . I was facin' east when I started. Now
I'm lit, and I'm facin' south. Me hat's there, and that there
toad-lizard oughter be over there, if he ain't scared to death. Reckon
I'll quit writin' po'try jest at present and finish gettin' acquainted
with that there toad-lizard. Wonder how far I got to walk? Anyhow, I
was gettin' tired of ridin'. By gum! me eats is tied to the saddle!
It's mighty queer how a fella gets se