You see, Kitty herself has in a way been getting them used
to the idea that Williamson Valley isn't much of a place, and that the
cow business doesn't rank very high among the best people. So Jim is
going to sell out, and move away somewhere, where Kitty can have her
career, and the boys can grow up to be something better than low-down
cow-punchers like you and me. Jim is able to retire anyway."
"Thanks, Phil," said Patches quietly.
"What for?"
"Why, for including me in your class. I consider it a compliment,
and"--he added, with a touch of his old self-mocking humor--"I think I
know what I am saying--better, perhaps, than the he-ghost knows what he
talks about."
"It may be that you do," returned Phil wearily, "but you can see where
it all puts me. The professor has sure got me down and hog-tied so tight
that I can't even think."
"Perhaps, and again, perhaps not," returned Patches. "Reid hasn't found
a buyer for the outfit yet, has he?"
"Not yet, but they'll come along fast enough. The Pot-Hook-S Ranch is
too well known for the sale to hang fire long."
The next day Phil seemed to slip back again, in his attitude toward
Patches, to the temper of those last weeks of the rodeo.
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