As their eyes met, both started back as though some terrible thing had come between them.
“Bud! My Heavens!” cried Skidmore, turning pale under his tan.
“Lester!” was all that Larkin said as he stared with starting eyes and sagging jaw at the man before him. Then, as one in a dream, he put out his hand, and the other, with a cry of joy, seized and wrung it violently.
For a moment the two stood thus looking amazedly at each other, while the sheepmen, suddenly stricken into silence, gazed curiously at the 247 episode. Then, one by one, they turned and walked away, leaving the two together.
It was Bud who found his voice first.
“What under heaven are you doing out here, Lester?” he asked at last.
“Earning a living making pictures,” returned the other with a short laugh. “It must be quite a shock to you to see me actually working.”
“I can’t deny it,” said Bud as he smiled a bit. “But when did you come out?”
“Six months after you did.”
“But why on earth didn’t you let me know? I would have given you a job on the ranch.”