“Just about. Don’t you suppose you could place it with the bank in Broad Arrow?”
“No, John; not a chance. I owe this bank twenty thousand dollars, which I might pay, if I sold every head of stock I own. But I’d be flat broke and nothin’ to start on. Beef ain’t worth anythin’ now.”
“Sam Hawker was in yesterday.”
“Tryin’ to renew?”
“Yes. I had to tell him the same thing. Jim, it’s like slapping an old friend in the face; but what can I do? I’d give any of you the last shirt I owned. But shirts won’t save ranches.”
Jim Kelton hobbled out of the place, downhearted, although he knew what would happen. He had had plenty of warning. Jane met him down at the post office. She still limped a little and the back of her right hand was scratched. It was the second day after the trouble at the Triangle X, but she still felt the effects of that fall.
Her father shook his head at her, indicating that he had failed.
“I’m goin’ into the post office,” he told her.
“All right, dad. I’ve got a few things more to buy, and I’ll meet you at the buckboard.”
“Sure; that’s fine.”