half
enough capital, was not looking forward with any enthusiasm to another
such ordeal. He did not believe, when all was said and done, that the
Flying U boys would be so terribly eager to repeat the performance.
He did believe--or he made himself think he believed--that the only
sensible thing to do right then was to take the boys and go out and
start a roundup of his own. It wouldn't take long--his cattle weren't so
badly scattered this year.

"Where's Andy at?" he asked Pink, who happened to be leaning boredly
over the gate when he rode up to the corral. Andy Green, having been
left in nominal charge of the outfit when Luck left, must be consulted,
Applehead supposed.

"Andy? I dunno. He saddled up and rode off somewhere, a while ago," Pink
answered glumly. "That's more than he'll let any of us fellows do; the
way he's close-herding us makes me tired! Any news?"

"Ain't ary word from Luck--no word of NO kind. I've about made up my
mind to take the chuck-wagon to town and stock it with grub, and hit
out on roundup t'morrer or next day. I don't see as there's any sense
in setting around here waitin' on Luck and lettin' my own work slide.
Chavez boys, they started out yest'day, I heard in town. And if I don't
git right out close onto their heels, I'll likely find myself with
a purty light crop uh calves, now I'm tellin' yuh!" Applehead, so
completely had he come under the spell of the soft spring air and the
lure of the mesa, actually forgot that he had long been in the habit of
attending to his calf crop by proxy.

Pink's face brightened briefly. Then he remembered why they were being
kept so close to the ranch, and he grew bored again.

"What if Luck pulled in before we got back, and wanted us to start work
on another picture?" he asked, discouraging the idea reluctantly. Pink
had himself been listening to the call of the wide spaces, and the mere
mention of roundup had a thrill for him.

"Well, now, I calc'late my prope'ty is might' nigh as important as
Luck's pitcher-making," Applehead contended with a selfishness born of
his newly awakened hunger for the far distances. "And he ain't sent ary
word that he's coming, or will need you boys immediate. The chances is
we could go and git back agin before Luck shows up. And if we don't," he
argued speciously, "he can't blame nobody for not wantin' to set around
on their haunches all spring waiting for 'im. I'd do a lot fer luck;
I've DONE a lot fer 'im. But it ain'