run-in with the damnedest freak of a man that it’s ever been my misfortune to see,” he exploded at last. The ranch owner breathed a sigh of relief. He couldn’t see why that reason should call for a cowboy to run his horse to death and told Buck as much in plain words. “Must have been some man to get you riled up that way,” Scotty cut in, smiling broadly. Buck silenced him with a withering glance. “Wait until I tell you how I come to meet up with this nut,” Buck retorted, addressing the ranch owner. “And see if you wouldn’t have got all het up same as I did.” The boys gathered around him and at a nod from the ranch owner he continued. “After Mr. Mason and Scotty left in the machine, I figured I would go into the hotel, have a few drinks and play a game of pool. “I had the drinks all right and had lit a cigar and was waiting for some one to turn up that could play pool, when the door opened and the freshest duck in loud clothes I had ever set eyes on came strolling in, walked up to me, calmly took my cigar out of my mouth, lit a cheap stogie with it, and in a voice like a girl, said: “‘Lovely morning, isn’t it?’ “I don’t know why I didn’t kill him on the spot. He plumb took my breath away. When I got my wind back I pulled my gun and covered him. “‘Stranger,’ I said in a hard voice, ‘I’ve killed men for less than that.’ “‘Oh, but these are not worth it, you know. I buy them in thousand lots,’ he said in his woman’s voice, referring to his stogie and smiling at me sweetly. “Then, before I could answer, he asked me if I knew where the Bar X ranch was located, said he was coming out to Mr. Walters’ ranch for a long stay as his health was bad. “I answered him by saying his health wouldn’t survive his nerve if I had anything to do with it. He wanted me to show him the way out here, and I told him to find his own way. “As I left, he called after me that I could expect him out here as soon as he could find a horse. “He’s crazy, or I’m a fool,” growled Buck in conclusion, wiping the sweat from his forehead.
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