“Have uh little sense!” growled Zeb. “Listen. I seems to remember readin’ uh few weeks ago about trouble brewin’ between th’ sheep and cattle men some place—believe I reads it in th’ Breeder’s magazine.”
“Uh course this would have to be th’ place,” replied Ricky sarcastically. “Yuh don’t remember where it was, Zeb, but this shore must be it. Trouble jist simply stalks in yore footsteps—curses!”
“Well, anyway,” stated Zeb, “Watts will be back here in uh couple uh weeks with fresh grub and then I’ll have uh li’l heart-to-heart talk with him.”
“Yes, and jist about git into an argument with him and lose us our jobs. Let’s haze them burr catchers back to camp and git some grub.”
The hazing part was easier said than done. It had been easy to let the herd wander away from the bed ground in the cool of the morning but it was a different task to round up three thousand sheep in the evening without the aid of dogs and herd them back to the shelter of the little valley. Ricky and Zeb were cow-punchers by nature, and this walking and running after sheep was not by any means delightful. It was dark when they got back to camp and both were fagged out.
“Now, I reckon you’ll remark that uh hundred uh month is too much pay, eh?” exploded Ricky, as he threw himself down on a blanket inside the tent and nursed a sore hip where an excited ram had hit him on the run. “Touch off that fire and let’s git something to eat.”
The fire had been laid since morning. Zeb, knowing that in all probabilities they would both be tired when night came, had thoughtfully laid a fire in the sheet-iron stove before leaving.
“Take that bucket and git some water from th’ spring,” ordered Zeb. “And don’t forget to strain th’ wool out of it before yuh comes back.”
“I don’t know where it is,” wailed Ricky. “I never saw any spring. Watts showed you where it was but I was up here all th’ time watchin’ that greaser. Come on and show me where it is, Zeb. I’d shore admire uh nice cool drink from th’ wool-covered bucket that hung in th’ well.”
Zeb grumbled while he lit the fire and then picked up the bucket.