AT THE CIRCLE DIAMOND
ROWAN’S decision to sell the ranch was on the face of it a wise one. Ruth recognized this. She knew nothing of cattle, nothing of farming.
But she told herself she could learn. Her interest was very greatly engaged in saving the Circle Diamond for Rowan. Other women had done well homesteading. She knew one widow who raised cattle, another who made money on sheep. Why should she not do the same? It was all very well to say that she had no business experience, but she had as much as other people had when they began. If she did not succeed, the failure would hurt her rather than Rowan.
She talked it all over with Flanders, a long-headed business man who knew cattle from hoof to horn.
“The cattleman sure has his troubles aplenty,” he told her. “Short summers, long winters, deep snows, blizzards, bad roads, heavy railroad rates, a packers’ trust to buck, drought, and now sheep. A cowman has got to bet before the draw; he can’t ever tell whether he’s going to finish with a hand all blue or a busted flush.”
“Yes, but I’ve heard you say yourself that cattle-raising used to be a gamble and that from now on it’s going to be a business instead,” she reminded him.
He took off his big white hat and rubbed a polka-dot handkerchief over his bald head.
“Tha’s right, too. Government reports show there’s several million fewer cattle in the country than there was five years ago. That spells good prices. There’s a good side to this forest-reserve business, too. It keeps the range from being overcrowded, and it settles the sheep and cattle war. I’ve got a hunch there would be money in leasing the range and putting cattle to run on it.”
“Well, then?” she demanded triumphantly.
“That ain’t saying you could make money. Jennings is a good foreman, but it takes a boss to run any shebang right.”