and the Rolling R.

They refused to take him seriously, which hurt Johnny's self-esteem
terribly. Were he older, were he a property owner, Sudden Selmer would
not so lightly wave aside that debt. He would pay Johnny the respect
of fighting for his just rights. But no--just because he was barely of
age, just because he was Johnny Jewel, they all acted as though--why,
darn 'em, they acted as though he was a kid offering to earn money to
pay for a broken plate! And Mary V--

Well, Mary V was a great little girl, but she would have to learn some
day that Johnny was master. He considered this as good a day as any
for the lesson. Better, because he was really upholding his principles
by not going to the ranch meekly submissive, because Mary V had
announced that she would be looking for him. Johnny winced from the
thought of Mary V, out on the porch, watching the sky toward Tucson for
the black speck that would be his airplane; listening for the high,
strident drone that would herald his coming. She would cry herself to
sleep.

But she had deliberately sentenced herself to tears and disappointment,
he told himself sternly. She must have known he was in earnest about
not coming. She had no right to think she could kid him out of
something big and vital to his honor. She ought to know him by this
time.

Briefly he considered returning to the hotel and calling up the ranch,
just to tell her not to look for him because he was not coming. But
the small matter of paying the toll deterred him. It was humiliating
to admit, even to himself, that he could not afford another