Page:Bob Chester's Grit.djvu/183



ranchman watched this scene, his face was a study, but he soon forgot it in listening to the conversation between Thomas and Bob.

"Do you think it was quite fair to run away while I was trying to find a pony for you?" asked the agent.

"Don't scold, Hal," returned Bob. "I suppose it wasn't quite fair. But I wanted to surprise you by getting a job myself, without anybody's help."

Smiling at the boy's independence, Thomas asked:

"Have you got it?"

Before Bob could answer, the ranchman interposed:

"Looks like it, don't it? First he won my—I mean his—dog, and then he won me. Yes, Hal, Bob's landed and you can tell Ned Higgins from me that if he tries to put up any more jokes on Bob, I'll fix him so he can't speak for a year."