there grittin' his teeth. "What are you ridin' that old skin for?"
sez he.

"'Cause it's the only pony I got," sez I.

"You leave it here an' take your pick out o' the five-year-olds,"
sez he.

"All I want out o' this ranch is what I have earned," sez I.

"If you don't get something 'at your pride'll earn some day, I'm the
biggest fool this side o' the big ditch. Here's your pay. You've
been a fair hand, but don't forget that I never hire a man twice,
an' I've hired you once already."

"Now look here, Jabez," sez I, "I ain't so old as I'll get if I live
as long as I may, but I'm old enough to know that it's just as easy,
to find a good boss as it is to find a good man. I've done my work
without fussin', an' you've seen me in a pinch or two; an' yet this
very mornin' you intimated than I 'd risk Barbie on a pony she
couldn't ride. The' ain't nothin' I wouldn't do for that child, but
you don't understand her, an' if you go on in your high-handed way
with her you 're in for the sorrow o' your life--mark my words."

"Here's your money. You ain't got sense enough to know your place
an' I 'm glad to be shut of you." Jabez handed me my pay an' stamped
over to the ranch house, while I kept on down the valley trail.

When I reached the turn I twisted about in my saddle an' looked at
the cluster o' buildings. They looked soft an' gray with old Mount