The H2 foreman believed he was right, and he was too obstinate to admit that there was any side but his which should be considered. He wanted water and better grass, and both were close at hand. Where he had been raised there had been no boundaries, for it had been free grass and water, and he would not and could not see that it was any different on his new range. He had made no agreement, and if one had been made it did not concern him; it concerned only those who had made it. He did not buy the ranch from the old owners, but from a syndicate, and there had been nothing said about lines or restrictions. When he made any agreements he lived up to them, but he did not propose to observe those made by others. "How'dy, Meeker," said Buck, nodding. "How'dy, Peters; come in?" "I reckon it ain't worth while. I won't stay long," Buck replied. "I came down to tell you that some of yore cows are crossing our line. They're gettin' worse every day." "That so?" asked Meeker, carelessly. "Yes." "Um; well, what's th' reason they shouldn't? An' what is that 'line,' that we shouldn't go over it?" "Dawson, th' old foreman of th' Three Triangle, told you all about that," Buck replied, his whole mind given to the task of reading what sort of a man he had to deal with. "It's our boundary; an' yourn." "Yes? But I don't recognize no boundary. What have they got to do with me?" "It has this much, whether you recognize it or not: It marks th' north limit of yore grazin'. _We_ don't cross it." "Huh! You don't have to, while you've got that crick." "We won't have th' crick, nor th' grass, either, if you drive yore cows on us. That valley is our best grazing, an' it ain't in th' agreement that you can eat it all off." "What agreement?" "I didn't come down here to tell you what you know," Buck replied, slowly. "I came to tell you to keep yore Greasers an' yore cows on yore own side, that's whatever." "How do you know my cows are over there?" "How do I know th' sun is shining?" "What do you want me to do?" Meeker asked, leaning against the house and grinning. "Hold yore herds where they belong. Of course some are shore to stray over, but strays don't count--I ain't talkin' about them." "Well, I've punched a lot of cows in my day," replied Meeker, "an' over a lot of range, but I never seen no boundary lines afore. An' nobody ever told me to keep on one range, if they knowed me. I've run up against a wire fence or two in th' last few years, but they didn't last long when I hit 'em." "If you want to know what a boundary line looks like I can show you. There's a plain trail along it where my men have rode for years." "So you say; but I've got to have water." "You've got it; twenty miles of river. An' if you'll put down a well or two th' Jumping Bear won't go dry." "I don't know nothing about wells," Meeker replied. "Natural water's good enough for me without fooling with wet holes in th' ground."