"Oh, what is he like? Tell me about him! What is his name?"
"Name's Tex. That's all I know, an' that's all——"
"Tex Benton?" interrupted the girl.
The man regarded her curiously. "Maybe, or, Tex Smith, or Tex Jones, or Tex somethin else."
"I—we knew a Tex, once——"
Colston laughed: "There's lots of Texes here in the cow-country. Tryin' to find one that you didn't know no more about than that would be like me goin' East an' sayin' I knew a man by the name of John."
"How long has he worked for you?"
"He quit last evenin'. If he'd of stayed till day after tomorrow, it would have been just a year." The old man's voice had softened, and his gaze strayed to the far hills. "I made him foreman when he'd b'en with me a month," he continued after a short pause. "I can pick men." Another pause. "He—he called me 'Dad'."
"Did he know you were going to sell?" asked Endicott.
The old man shook his head.