"By G-d, yo're right! Yo're th' brains of this ranch," he cried, his eyes squinting to hide his elation. He paced back and forth, thinking deeply. Five minutes passed, then ten, and he suddenly turned and faced her, to unfold the plan he had worked out the day before. He had been leading up to it and now he knew how to propose it. "I've got it. I've got it! Not a shot, not a single shot!" "Tell me," she said smiling. He slowly unfolded it, telling her of the herds waiting to be driven across the line to draw the Bar-20 men from the Peak, and of the part she was to play. She listened quietly, a troubled frown on her face, and when he had finished and asked her what she thought of it she looked at him earnestly and slowly replied: "Do you think that's fair? Do you want _me_ to do that?" "What's unfair about it? They're yore enemies as much as they are mine, ain't they? Ain't everything fair in love an' war, as th' books say?" "In war, perhaps; but not in love," she replied in a low voice, thinking of the man who wore her flower. "Now look here!" he cried, leaning forward. "Don't you go an' get soft on any of that crowd! Do you hear?" "We won't mix love an' war, Daddy," she said, decisively. "You take care of yore end, that's war; an' let me run my part. I'll do what I want to when it comes to falling in love; an' I'll help you to-morrow. I don't want to do it, but I will; you've got to have th' line house, an' without getting between two fires. I'll do it, Daddy." "Good girl! Yo're just like yore mother--all grit!" he cried, going towards the door. "An' I reckon I won't have to take no hand in _yore_ courting," he said, grabbing his sombrero. "Yo're shore able to run yore own." "But _promise_ me you won't interfere," she said, calmly, hiding her triumph. "It's a go. I'll keep away from th' sparking game," he promised. "I'm going out to see th' boys for a minute," and the door slammed, inciting the clamor of the kennels again, which he again hushed. "D--n 'em!" he muttered, exultantly. "They tried to hog th' range, an' then they want my girl! But they _won't_ hog th' range no more, an' I'll put a stop to th' courting when she plays her cards to-morrow, an' without having any hand in it. Lord, I win, every trick!" he laughed. CHAPTER XV ANTONIO MEETS FRIENDS