“I guess he didn’t know much about her before you left. I never heard him mention her until about a year ago. Seems that her father died and her mother married again, or something like that. I think he wrote to Harmony before he died and told him about the girl.”
“Uh-huh. Well, it’ll seem funny to have a woman boss, Amos.”
“A woman boss? You ain’t goin’ to stay out there, are you, Ayres?”
“Probably. She’ll need more help than she’s got out there.”
“But—but she can hire plenty⸺”
“I don’t cost any more than the rest of ’em, Amos.”
“I know that, but—well, that will be up to her, of course.”
“And after you tell her what you know about me, she’ll want somebody else, eh?”
“I didn’t say that, Ayres.”
“No, but you meant it. Let me tell you something, pardner: If that young lady tells me that she don’t want me on that ranch, I’ll know who advised her. For five years I’ve wanted a chance to whittle off your damn ears, Amos Baggs. A while ago we agreed to be friends, didn’t we? Well, you play the game on the square or there’ll be whittlin’ done.”