"Even if there was anything I could do around the ranch any longer, with the cattle all gone and nobody left to cut the fence, I wouldn't be any use, dodging in for every blizzard that came along, as the doctor says I must."
"I've come to depend on you as I never depended on anybody in my life."
"And I couldn't do that, you know, any more than I'd be content to lie around doing nothing."
"You've been square with me on everything, from the biggest to the least. I never knew before what it was to lie down in security and get up in peace. You've fought and suffered for me here in a measure far in excess of anything that common loyalty demanded of you, and I've given you nothing in return. It will be like losing my right hand, Duke, to see you go."
"Taterleg's going to Wyoming to marry a girl he used to know back in Kansas. We can travel together part of the way."
"If it hadn't been for you they'd have robbed me of everything by now—killed me, maybe—for I couldn't have fought them alone, and there was no other help."
"I thought maybe in California an old half-invalid might pick up and get some blood put into him again."
"You came out of the desert, as if God sent you, when my load was heavier than I could bear. It will be like losing my right eye, Duke, to see you go."
"A man that's a fool for only a little while, even, is bound to leave false impressions and misunderstandings of himself, no matter how wide his own eyes have been opened, or how long. So I've resigned my job on the ranch here with you, Vesta, and I'm going away."
"There's no misunderstanding, Duke—it's all clear to me now. When I look in your eyes and hear you speak I know you better than you know yourself. It will be like losing the whole world to have you go!"