"Hullo, Bill, old boy," said the young man in his quiet voice.
Billy answered deeply.
Silver had only come to Putnam's the night before for the first time, but he and Billy Bluff were friends already. Boy Woodburn noticed it with swift appreciation. In her young and entirely fallacious judgment there were few shrewder judges of character than Big Dog Billy.
She paused a moment, pretending to shift the rug on her arm.
The group of three before her held her eye and pleased her mind. Her face was full of beauty as she watched, the spirit peeping shyly forth.
That horse, that man, that dog, so physically remote from each other, yet spiritually akin, filled her young heart with the same sense of satisfaction as did her familiar and well-beloved Downs. She felt the goodness of them and rejoiced in it. All three were sound in body and in spirit, honest, healthy, and therefore happy as the good red earth from which they came.
CHAPTER IV
The Gypsy's Mare
Monkey Brand in a long drab coat came limping toward them, his saddle over his arm.