As the riding of bronks progressed, the accidents that go with such work increased. Almost every morning saw its loose horse racing across the flats, and the number of receptive candidates for the job of day-herding was swelled by the battle-scarred victims. Then fate stepped in, the scene was changed, and Bowles found himself a man again. "Bowles," said Henry Lee, as he lingered by the fire, "can you drive a team?" Visions of a flunky's job driving the bed-wagon rose instantly in his mind; but Bowles had been trained to truth-telling and he admitted that he could. "Ever drive a wild team?" continued Lee, with a touch of severity. "Well--no," answered Bowles. "I've driven spirited horses, such as we have in the East, but----" "Think you could drive the grays to Chula Vista and back?" "Oh, the grays!" cried Bowles, a sudden smile wreathing his countenance as he thought of that spirited pair. "Why, yes; I'm sure I could!" "Oh," commented Henry Lee, as if he had his doubts; but after a quick glance at the self-sufficient youth he seemed to make up his mind. "Well," he said, "I'll get Hardy to hook 'em up--Mrs. Lee wants you to take her to town." "Certainly," responded Bowles, turning suddenly sober. "I'll be very careful indeed." "Yes," said the cattleman; "and if you can't drive, I want you to say so now." "I've driven in the horse shows, Mr. Lee," answered Bowles. "You can judge for yourself." "Oh, you have, have you?" And the keen gray eyes of Henry Lee seemed to add: "Then what are you doing out here?" But all he said was: "Very well." Half an hour later, with his gloved hands well out to the front, and the whip in his right for emergencies, Bowles went racing southward behind the grays; while Mrs. Lee, her face muffled against the wind, was wondering at his skill. As a cowboy, Mr. Bowles had been a laughing-stock, but now he displayed all the courage and control of a Western stage-driver, with some of the style of a coachman thrown in. "How well you drive, Mr. Bowles!" she ventured, after the grays had had their first dash. "I was afraid I shouldn't be able to go to town until after the round-up--Mr. Atkins is so busy, you know." Bowles bowed and smiled grimly. It had been Hardy Atkins' boast that he alone was capable of handling the grays, and as he was harnessing them up that gentleman had seen fit to criticize the arrangements, only to be rebuked by Henry Lee. "You know Mr. Lee depends so much on Hardy," continued Mrs. Lee, "and he needs him so on the circle that I disliked very much to ask for him--but something you said the other night about stage-coaching made me think that perhaps you could drive. Of course, any of the boys _could_ drive, but--well, for some reason or other, I can never get them to talk to me; and to ride forty miles with a man who is too embarrassed to talk, and who hates you because he can't chew tobacco--that isn't so pleasant--now, is it?"