“That’s correc’,” concurred Sundown.  “Now, take Gentle Annie, for instance—­”

“You mean Mrs.—­er—­Sundown?”

“Nope!  Me tame cow.  ‘Annie’ is American for ‘Anita,’ so I called her that.  Now, that there Gentle Annie’s just a regular cow.  She ain’t purty—­but she sure gives plenty milk.  Neeter got me to seein’ that Gentle Annie’s eyes was purty and mournful-like and that she was a right handsome cow.  If your wife’s pettin’ and feedin’ somethin’, and callin’ it them there smooth Spanish names, a fella’s wise to do the same.  It helps things along.”

“Little Billy, for instance,” suggested Corliss.

“Leetle Billy is right!  But he couldn’t help bein’ good-lookin’, I guess.  He’s different.  Fust thing your wife said wuz he took after his pa.”

“You haven’t changed much,” said Corliss, smiling.

“Me?  Mebby not—­outside; but say, inside things is different.  I got feelin’s now what I never knowed I had before.  Why, sometimes, when Neeter is rockin’ leetle Bill, and singing and me settin’ in the door, towards evenin’, and everything fed up and happy, why, do you know, I feel jest like cryin’.  Plumb foolish, ain’t it?”

“I don’t know about that, Sun.”

“Well, you will some day,” asserted Sundown, taking him literally. “’T ain’t gettin’ married what makes a man, but it’s a dum’ poor one what don’t make the best of things if he is hitched up to a good girl.  Only one thing—­it sure don’t give a fella time to write much po’try.”

Corliss did not smile.  “You’re living the poetry,” he said with simple sincerity.

“Which is correc’, Billy.  And speakin’ of po’try, I reckon I got to go feed them pigs.  They’s gruntin’ somethin’ scand’lous for havin’ comp’ny to our house—­and anyhow, they’s like to wake up leetle Bill.”

And Sundown departed to feed his pigs.

CHAPTER XXIX

A MAN’S COUNTRY

“As for that,” said John Corliss, gazing out across the mesa, “Loring and I shook hands—­over the line fence.  That’s settled.”

Sundown had just dismounted.  He stood holding the reins of his old saddle-horse “Pill.”  He had ridden to the Concho to get his monthly pay.  “And pore leetle ole Fernando—­he’s gone,” said Sundown.  “That’s jest the difference between one fella doin’ what he thinks is right and a bunch of fellas shootin’ up themselves.  The one fella gets it every time.  The bunch, bein’ so many of ’em, gets off.  Mebby that’s law, but it ain’t fair.”

“There’s a difference, Sun.  A fight in the open and downing a man from ambush—­two mighty different things.”

“Well, mebby.  But I’m feelin’ sad for that leetle Fernando jest the same.—­That Billy’s new house?”

“Yes.  They expect to get settled this month.”

“Gee Gosh!  I been so busy I missed a bunch of days.  Reckon I got to rustle up somethin’ for a weddin’ present.  I know, be Gosh!  I’ll send ’em me picture.  Billy was kind of stuck on it.”