Edgar rode off to drive the animals up to the herd. George, he
thought, was painfully practical; only such a man could break off the
discussion of a girl like Miss Grant to interest himself in the
movements of a wandering steer. For all that, the beasts must be
turned, and they gave Edgar a hard gallop through willow scrub and tall
grass before he could head them off and afterward overtake the drove.




CHAPTER IX

GEORGE TURNS REFORMER

George was working in the summer fallow a few days after his return
from Grant's homestead, when a man rode across the plowing and pulled
up his horse beside him. He was on the whole a handsome fellow, well
mounted and smartly dressed, but there was a hint of hardness in his
expression. George recognized him as the landlord of a hotel at the
settlement.

"Your crop's not looking too good," the stranger greeted him.

"No," returned George. "It was badly put in, and we've had unusually
dry weather."

"I forgot," the other rejoined. "You're the fellow Jake Gillet had the
trouble with. Beat him down on the price, didn't you? He's a bad man
to bluff."