At that moment Pancho was concluding a very satisfactory sale of La Bolsa, the ranchito of Elena’s uncle, to “A. B.” Meyers for a sum satisfactory to both parties, and terms that were most agreeable. The ancient uncle and aunt were to continue to live there the remainder of their lives, and Esquibal was to work the place for “A. B.” on shares. La Bolsa was what the name implied, a pocket of land lying in a tiny valley that ran down to the Daniels range and was entirely surrounded by Los Ranchos property, except on the northwest corner. CHAPTER V DOWN FROM THE MOUNTAINS A cold spell had come, and Russell, Jami and Raquel had ridden up to the Reservation range to bring down the cattle. A large part of the herd were always left up on the mountain ranges as long as possible in order to take advantage of the fine grass, and spare the lower slopes. They were brought down before the winter grew too cold, or there was danger of blizzards and snow, and had been left overlong this year. Russell did not want Raquel to ride so far, since she had not been in the saddle for three months. “But I have been riding, Russell, two or three times a week anyway.” Russell wouldn’t allow that there could be any real riding back there. But Raquel was going. They had left Los Ranchos at six in the morning and it was now noon. By ten o’clock they had reached the foothills and, striking off from the mesas, had ridden steadily upward ever since. Through a rocky canyon, the steep sides of which were covered with stunted piñon, cedar, and oak rubble, they picked their way, following a trail which led up and over a great rounded slope--an upland meadow, sparsely wooded with pine. It was sharply cold in the mountains, and as they mounted higher and higher the wind became keener. Raquel buttoned her sheepskin jacket tighter about her throat and was glad she had worn “woolies,” the sheepskin chaps with fleece turned out. Some of the cattle had been put on fenced ranges early in the summer by her father. He usually divided the herd into several lots and put them on different fenced ranges in order to make it easier to bring them down, as a few men could easily handle a hundred at a time. “Oughtn’t take us more’n a hour now,” Russell, riding ahead, called back. “Guess we’ll have to put up to Peevey’s tonight after we locate them fellers. Then we c’n round ’em up and herd ’em down to the pastures on the lee side of yon peak.” Peevey was a mountaineer who managed to eke out a living for himself and his family by trapping. He had also a few cattle. He lived with his wife, a sixteen-year-old girl and a ten-year-old son in a log cabin at an altitude of more than eight thousand feet. Old Man Daniels had allowed him to “squat” on land adjoining a rented range, because the old fellow had lived there for twenty years, without bothering any one or paying anything.