“The quicker the sooner, I expect.”

“And by night you’ll have Mr. Hold-up roped and hog-tied?” 102

“Not so you could notice it. Are you a sheep-herder these days, Mr. Norris?”

The gentle irony of this was not lost on its object, for in the West a herder of sheep is the next remove from a dumb animal.

“No, I’m riding for the Quarter Circle K Bar outfit. This is the first time I ever took the dust of a sheep in my life. I did it to oblige Mr. Lee.”

“Oh! To oblige Mr. Lee?”

“He wanted to water them, and his herder wasn’t here.”

“Must ’a’ been wanting water mighty bad, I reckon,” commented Jack amiably.

“You bet! Lee feels better satisfied now he’s watered them.”

“I don’t doubt it.”