"At Garnett? Of course not. I was sore at him for being so bull-headed about his horse; but of course he was right to hang on to his suspicions until they were proved wrong. He was there this morning in court. He saw Mason last night, too, and learned the whole story about this horse deal. Yes, Garnett's a good fellow. It's fellows like him and old Dan Brannan that show a fellow what the West really is—the place where the man himself counts every time."
He got up and stretched himself. "I think I'll drive over to Soldier to-morrow and get a load of lumber. It's too dry to plow, and it won't be long before I'll be going haying and harvesting. If I get the lumber in now, we'll be ready to start building the house early in September."
"Where shall we put the house? I wish we could have it farther up the glen, near the trees."
"Let's go look round," suggested Rob.
As they walked up the slope, Harry said suddenly, "Oh, yes, I've meant to ask you a dozen times: how did Garnett's horse happen to be in that bunch of colts? I never told you how Garnett came here one day to look for his horse." She went on to relate what had happened, and why she had always put off telling him of it.
"Isn't that queer, the way a little incident can twist everything!" Rob exclaimed. "If I'd known that, I'd probably never have ridden the horse; never have got pinched anyhow, for refusing to tell where he came from. The way Jones happened to have him was this: You remember Garnett said he'd lost him? Well, a half-breed up in the reserve had stolen him, along with another, and was on his way to Boise when he met Jones coming this way, and got him to give him a colt in exchange for the two saddle horses."
"Goodness me! What a tangle, and yet how simple when once you know what caused it all! And where is Jones now? They didn't keep him a prisoner in Shoshone——"
"Oh, no, he's at liberty, but he had to stay and see how the matter was coming out. He said that after he pays his debts he's going into Oregon again to buy more colts."
They had been walking up the slope at a leisurely gait, and had just stopped beside a big rock to look round when the thud! thud! of a horse's hoofs came up from the trail, and they saw a buggy and team approaching. Rob shouted, and as the answering call came back, Harry giggled excitedly.
"It's Garnett! I'd know that voice anywhere."