“Yes, sir,” answered Oren, looking a little surprised.
“You see,” explained Dick Ranney, “I want to make the professor a call, and I can perhaps tell from the outside whether he is in or not. He will avoid meeting me if he can. Now, do you think you can find out for me what I require?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Then go at once.”
“Shall I find you here when I get back?” asked Oren, cautiously.
“Yes.”
“I wouldn't like to take all that trouble for nothing.”
“You won't. Here is a quarter in advance, and I will give you the fifty cents besides if you find out what I wish.”
“Good for you! You're a gentleman!” said Oren, with an expression of satisfaction on his honest country face.
Two hours later Walter and the cattle dealer returned from a walk they had taken together. Walter found his new acquaintance, though not an educated man, an agreeable companion, and by no means deficient in shrewdness, though he had allowed himself to be robbed by Dick Ranney.