“Had a falling out?”
“No; scarcely that; but we couldn’t agree exactly upon some things, so I struck out for myself when I came home from college.”
“No future for you in this sleuthing business,” commented the old man tersely. “Why didn’t you go into cattle with your dad?”
“That’s where we disagreed, sir. I wanted to buy sheep, and he goes straight into the air at the very word.”
The Colonel laughed.
“I can believe that.”
“Over there the range is going fast, and it’s fight and scrap and quarrel all the time to keep the sheep off what little there is left; and then you ship and bottom drops out of the market as soon as your cattle are loaded. There’s nothing in it; and while I don’t like sheep any better than the Governor, there’s no use in hanging on and going broke in cattle because of a prejudice.”
“Dick’s stubborn,”—the Colonel nodded knowingly—“and I don’t believe he’ll ever give in.”
“No; I don’t think he will, and I’m sorry for his sake, because he’s getting too old to worry.”
“Worry? Cattle’s nothing but worry!—which reminds me of what you are here for.”