Browning chief., 1945-10-26
CHAPTER XIV

would be guarded, cherished,
watched over like the crown prince.
Ken could hardly believe it. "Do
you mean you'll keep him in this
winter, dad? And-and-feed him
oats-and hay?"
with my own fair hands! What's
more I'll ride him and continue his
training whenever I have time.
That's the least I can do if he's
going to put wooden fences on the
ranch and buy a furnace for US!
What do you think, Nell?"
He had seen her sitting there,
silent and white, after the hard look
he had given her.
She looked up as he spoke to her.
His face was genial and smiling.
First the blow-then the smile
But she didn't answer for mo-
ment and Ken was impatient.
"Mother!" he exclaimed.
eyes," she said. "By all means!
Keep him in."
When Nell asked Rob, she made
1t very casual. She was brushing
her hair for the night. "By the way,
Rob-did you see Bellamy?"
eyes"
"What about the sheep?"
"It's OK"
"Thank Heaven! Will he be able
to pay us the first half before How
ard leaves?"
''No, he can't do that. He has to
wait until he sells his lambs"
"What'll we do? We have to have
that eight hundred by September
tenth"
Rob had his back to her, standing
before his chiffonier. There was
something very rigid about his body
the legs braced apart little, head
back.
''I'll take some horses down to the
Denver auction this next week."
Nell made no comment. She cal
culated rapidly. Every summer he
had half a dozen or so scrubs" to
sell at any price he could get
horses who were too small, or poorly
developed, or with some defect.
Sometimes he sold them to Will
liams, a horse buyer who went
around to ranches with his own
truck; or at one of the nearby auc-
tions. Wherever he sold them, he
would be lucky to get fifty dollars
apiece for them. There were also
the two old brood mares to be sold.
Altogether, that would make, per-
haps, four hundred dollars. What
else would he sell to make up the
difference?
There had been many arguments
between herself and Rob on the SUBJ
ject of providing for their current
needs by sales of horses-no mat
ter at what sacrifice. He always
refused to do it. "What? Sell
horse that's worth fifteen hundred
dollars for fifty? Not if was starv-
ing"
"But Rob-how many sales of that
sort do you get?"
1--WE had some-We've lived,
haven't we?"
"Yes-four horses four years ago
at seven hundred dollars a piece.
Then, none the next year. Then
one for two thousand-I admit that
was a good sale-But you must have
thirty or forty horses just waiting
for one of those sales-and they
only come once in blue moon
When we need the money, you might
as well sell half a dozen for any,
thing-you would still have enough
fine horses for any sort of deal that
came along"
"I'd rather sell one for two thou
sand than twenty horses at hum
dred dollars head, or forty horses
at fifty"
Such remarks as these were un-
answerable.
But he wasn't talking like that
now. Nell glanced at him. Did he
mean that he would take some of
his fine stuff down to the Denver
auction and let it 60 cheap?
As he turned she saw his face,
weary and harassed. He went into
the small adjoining bedroom where
he kept his boots and clothes.
They talked back and forth
through the open door while she
washed her face in oil and carefully
dried It.
"Wasn't It exciting about Thun-
derhead?" she asked.
"Yep."
"You didn't see the best of it."
she said. Il wish you had"
She could hear him polishing his
shoes before he put them away.
"Oh, he can run!" he said. "He's
fast, if he ever gets the kinks ironed
out of him-Don't wait for me-I'm
going to smoke pipe before I turn
in."
"You don't seem to take much
stock IN him, Rob-"
sNo don'tO