the corrals. He was strong, big, docile as a cow, and he lived within
a few hundred yards of the ranch-house.

Johnnie was provided with a spade and a wheelbarrow, and led to a
gaping hole beneath the barn. I explained that the rain had washed
away the soil and made the hole, which must be filled up before more
rain should fall.

"Wheer shall I git the dirt from?" Johnnie demanded.

"From the most convenient place," said I. Ajax and I returned to the
barn an hour later. The hole was filled; but another hole, from which
Johnnie had taken the dirt, as large as the first, seriously
threatened the under-pinning of the building.

Ajax swore. Johnnie looked at me, as he drawled out:

"The boss told me to git the dirt wheer 'twas mos' handy."

Ajax grinned.

"I see. It was the boss' fault, not yours. Now then, Johnnie, the work
must be done all over again."

"If you say so, boys, I'll do it."

As we moved away Ajax pointed out the propriety of giving explicit
directions. At dinner time we came back to the barn. Johnnie had taken
the earth out of the first hole and put it back again into the second!