The movement had the effect of recalling the man from his memories, and gazing at the lad’s eager face, his own broke into a smile, as he said: 

“I suppose you’d like to know how it happened?”

“Indeed I should.”

“I was punching cows for an old fellow called Sam Ford; a man so mean you could pull the pith out of a horse-hair and then put his soul inside, and it would rattle.

“But this story don’t concern old Sam, except in so far as I was working for him.  He’d got together a fine bunch of cattle.  Where he got ’em, no one ever knew exactly, and in them days it wasn’t what you’d call healthy to ask questions.  Indeed, I’ve seen many a perfectly healthy man took off sudden, just because he got inquisitive about su’thin’, that wasn’t none of his business in the first place.  But that’s neither here nor there.  Sam had the cattle, and I was punchin’ for him.

“One day Sam come to me and said he wanted me to ride over to a creek near what is now the town of Fairfax, and watch a bunch of about thirty head he told me he just bought.  There was a pack of Crow Injuns that we knew was somewhere around there.  But in them days it was the same with working for a man as it was about asking questions.  If he told you to do anything, it was up to you to do it, or stand the consequences.  So I saddled a flea-bitten pinto and set out, though I must say I wasn’t particularly keen on going.  It had been rumored that Sam had got some of his cattle from the Injuns, and we’d always expected that if Sam ever did die—­of which we had our doubts, because he was so mean—­that it would be at the hand of a redskin.

“After riding about thirty mile, I come to the cattle all right, and they was sure a fine bunch.  The place where Sam had left them was filled with fine grazing grass, and there was a ‘drink’ near-by, so’s I got to feeling a little better, for I’d been afraid I was going to have some trouble in locating water.  Sam had said he’d come up in three or four days, and we’d drive ’em back to where we had the main herd.

“The grass was so rich that a baby could have looked after them cattle; they stayed so close, and I was taking things easy most of the time, lying on my back and smoking.

“On the second night it was cloudy, and I had built a little fire, before which I curled up and went to sleep.

“How long I’d been asleep, I don’t know.  But I do know that I was suddenly wakened by feeling something sharp drawn across my forehead.

“Opening my eyes, I saw a face, hideous in white and yellow paint, peering into mine.

“Fortunately, I still had my six-shooters on me, and being pretty handy with them, it didn’t take me long to put an end to Mr. Injun.

“Whether there was more than one buck ’round, I didn’t know.  But I’d no sooner got to my feet than I found out, for on all sides of me the air was split with their awful yells.