“That two hundred seems to worry you a good deal,” Luck muttered, crimson to his collar.

“Now don’t interrupt, because I shall keep right on talking just the same.  I’ve a lot more to say.  Do you realize that the donations these boys have made already amounts to over fifteen hundred dollars?  And that does not include Happy Jack or Miguel, because they haven’t—­”

“Aw, gwan!  I never had a chanct to git a word in edgeways,” Happy hurriedly defended his seeming parsimony.  “I’m willin’ to chip in.”

“Well, the point is this:  Why not all put in what you can, and just go out where there are cattle, and make your Big Picture, Luck Lindsay?  We could live in the country cheaper than we can here:  and there wouldn’t be anything to buy but grub,—­just a bag of beans and some flour and coffee.  I’d be willing to starve for the sake of making that Big Picture!”

“By gracious, there’s our transportation money, too!” Andy broke another short silence.  “Three hundred and fifty, right there in a lump.”

“Let it stay transportation money, too!” Rosemary advised quickly.  “It can transport you fellows to where Luck wants to make his picture.”

They waited then for Luck to speak, but he was too busy thinking.  On his shoulders would rest the responsibility of the outfit.  On his word they would rely absolutely and without question.  It was no light matter to lead these men into a venture which would take their time, more hard, heart-breaking work than they could possibly foresee, and the last dollar they possessed.  He was sorely tempted to try it, but for their sakes he knew he must not let their enthusiasm sweep away his sober judgment.  Had they owned but half his experience it would be different; but their very ignorance of the game hampered his decision.

“Well, boss, how about it?” Andy urged.  “Are yuh game to try her a whirl?  We haven’t got much, but what we’ve got is yours if you want to tackle it.  We’ll be right with you—­till hell’s no bigger than a bullet ladle.”

“That’s just what holds me back.  I’d certainly hate to lead you up against a losing proposition, boys.  And if I went into it, I’d go in over my eyebrows; if I didn’t make good I wouldn’t have the price of a tag on a ten-cent sack of Bull Durham when I quit; so I couldn’t pay you back—­”

“Aw, thunder!  Think we never set into a poker game in our lives?  Think we’re in the habit of hollerin’ for our chips back when we lose?  What’s the matter with yuh, anyway?” cried Big Medicine wrathfully.

“Why, of course we share the risk of losing!” Rosemary scowled at him indignantly.  “We’ll go in over our eyebrows, too,—­and stand on our toes long as we can, to keep our scalp locks showing above water!” Her brown eyes twinkled a swift glance around the table.  “If you think these boys are quitters, Luck Lindsay, you just ought to have been around when they were hanging on to their homesteads!  I could tell you things—­”