re branded, it quits brandin', an' it don't hold that open
range means cattle range an' not sheep range. Any fair-minded man can
take the Y Bar an' run it like I've run it, an' make money, an' let the
other fellow make money, too. There's plenty of range for all of us if
we keep our head. If you're afraid of buyin' into a war--don't buy. I
can sell any day to parties I know are just layin' to get the Y Bar, an'
the minute they got it, trouble would start an' there'd be hell
a-poppin' all along the Mizoo. Somewhere there must be a man that'll buy
that is fair-minded, an' not afraid to take holt an' run the outfit like
I've run it."

Endicott flushed slightly: "I am not afraid of it. I only wanted to
know----"

"An' you've got a right to know. If we deal, I'll stay with you long
enough to wise you up to the whole layout. That would be no more than
right. I'm considerable used to judgin' men, an' I think you can handle
it. Let 'em know right off the reel that you ain't afraid of any of
'em--an' get this before you start out: A man ain't God A'mighty because
he happens to run cattle, an' he ain't the Devil because he runs sheep,
neither. There's cattlemen on this range I wouldn't trust as far as I
could throw a bull by the tail, an' there's sheep-men can have anything
I've got just on their say-so--mind you, that ain't the general
run--pickin' 'em in the dark, I'd tie to a cow-man every time--but
there's exceptions, as the fellow says, to every rule. If that
confounded Tex hadn't quit----"

"_Tex!_" cried Alice, and Endicott smiled at the glad eagerness of the
tone.

The old cattleman glanced at her in surprise: "Yes, my foreman. Best man
on the range--handled men the easiest you ever saw. Never had any
trouble with the sheep outfits--but just the same, there ain't a
sheep-man south of the river that would care to try to put anything over
on him--nor no one else, neither. There ain't any bluff an' bluster
about him, he's the quietest hand you ever saw. But, somehow, lookin'
into them eyes of his--a man just naturally stops to think--that's all."

"Oh, what is he like? Tell me about him! What is his name?"

"Name's Tex. That's all I know, an' that's all----"

"Tex Benton?" interrupted the girl.

The man regarded her curiously. "Maybe, or, Tex Smith, or Tex Jones, or
Tex somethin else."

"I--we knew a Tex, once----"

Colston laughed: "There's lots of Texes here in the cow-country. Tryin'
to find one that you didn