d Phil at once and strutted over. He shook hands with
vigour and set himself down opposite.

"By gad! old chap,--but this is quite refreshing. I've often thought
about you and your good advice not to be in too big a hurry to buy a
blooming rawnch."

"Why?" inquired Phil. "I'm glad you took it and it did you good."

"But I didn't take it;--worse bally luck. Don't you know, I thought
you might be trying to put me off the chawnce of getting into
something good. Everybody warned me when I came out here that I wasn't
to take everything I heard for gospel. The beastly trouble seems to be
to distinguish between the gospel and the tommyrot."

Phil laughed, and it made him forget his own troubles.

DeRue Hannington ordered dinner also, and, as he refreshed himself he
became reminiscent.

"So you did buy a ranch?" started Phil.

"I paid for one," said Hannington, "and, if that isn't jolly-well
buying one, you've got to search me, as the Johnnies out here say.

"You see, when you toddled off that day, I was in the saloon asking
three fellows if they knew of anyone who had a rawnch for sale.

"One Johnnie said he had a good one I could have cheap, for cash."

"What was the man's name?" asked Phil.

"Barney, Barney something-or-other; oh, yes! cawn't forget it;--Barney
Douthem. He _did me_, the rotter.

"Do you know him, Mister--Mister Phil?"

"I have heard of him. He left here some time ago for the other side of
the Line."

"I fawncied so," said Hannington. "I'm looking for that miserable
thieving josser.

"Well, I hired a horse and went out with the Barney fellow to see the
rawnch, right away. A jolly nice place it was, too--just ten miles
out. The Barney chap lived there with a Chinaman who did his
housework. It was a twenty-acre place on the side of a hill, with a
decent sort of a house and stables. There was a beautiful view of the
lake and the Valley, and a fine fishing stream running right through
the property. One could fish out of his window, lying in bed. A
positive duck of a place!"

"Yes!" remarked Phil, "but a rancher can't live on scenery and by
fishing in bed. What kind of fruit trees did the place have?"

"Deuced good trees, Phil! At least, they seemed all-right. Of course,
I'm not a bally expert on fruit trees.

"The Douthem chap said he could recommend it and I could have it for
five thousand dollars cash. I gave him a cheque right off the reel. He
gave me his receipt for the money, and the d