‘Well, I’ll tell yuh it all depends on the point of view. To me, a nester is jist another settler, tryin’ to git along. To the cowman, whose range this settler settles on, he’s somethin’ to git rid of damn quick. Most of ’em are fence-builders. We don’t like fences in this country. When a nester squats on a piece of land, he puts bob-wire all the way around it, and inside that fence is usually a good spring. And if yuh git enough nesters—good-bye cow country.’
‘It is all Greek to me,’ said Rex honestly. ‘But I suppose I’ll understand it all after I’ve lived in this country for a while.’
‘Oh, shore. You stay around here twenty-five years like I have, and you’ll be answerin’ fool questions, just the same as I have to now. Had yore dinner? No. Well, she’s a hard trip to Mesa City, pardner; so me and you better upholster the old insides with some ham and aigs.’
‘This air surely does give one an appetite.’
‘Mm-m-m-m. If you’re jist speakin’ for yourself, you better include me, and make it appetites for two.’
After they finished their meal, Rex was introduced to the first four-horse stage he had ever seen. In fact, he had never seen four horses hitched to a vehicle before, and he marveled at the way Bunty Smith handled them. Rex was the only passenger, and he perched on the seat with Bunty, while between them reposed a sawed-off shotgun. Bunty had showed him how to operate the gun.
‘If anythin’ goes wrong—grab her and start throwin’ lead. There’s ten buckshot in every shell, and that old sheep-laig Winchester holds six shells. Didja ever do any drivin’?’
‘Well,’ Rex colored slightly, ‘I—I have driven. You see, I got this discolored eye while driving a delivery wagon.’
‘Runaway team?’
‘Something like that. You see, I was trying to get away from a fire department, and I had to stop quickly, because a truck had blocked me; so I—I threw out the anchor.’