never heard of a sweet-lime before."

"It's the only one of its kind in this country, Miss Parker, and it is
very old. Just before it came into bearing for the first time, my
grandmother, while walking along the porch with a pan of sugar in her
hands, stubbed her toe and fell off the porch, spilling her pan of
sugar at the base of the tree. The result of this accident is
noticeable in the fruit to this very day."

She glanced up at him suspiciously, but not even the shadow of a smile
hovered on his grave features. He opened the rear gate for her and
they passed out into the compound.

"That open fireplace in the adobe wall under the shed yonder was where
the cowboys used to sit and dry themselves after a rainy day on the
range," he informed her. "In fact, this compound was reserved for the
help. Here they held their bailies in the old days."

"What is that little building yonder--that lean-to against the main
adobe wall?" Kay demanded.

"That was the settlement-room. You must know that the possessors of
dark blood seldom settle a dispute by argument, Miss Parker. In days
gone by, whenever a couple of peons quarreled (and they quarreled
frequently), the majordomo, or foreman of the ranch, would cause these
men to be stripped naked and placed in this room to settle their row
with nature's weapons. When honor was satisfied, the victor came to
this grating and announced it. Not infrequently, peons have emerged
from this room minus an ear or a nose, but, as a general thing, this
method of settlement was to be preferred to knife or pistol."