On the second day, four of the hired cowboys rode in at sundown, and with them came Al. Their horses were fagged. They themselves were dirty, hungry, tired. Their faces were glum--and the glumness remained even after they had washed and eaten ravenously. Al did not come to the house at all, but stayed down in the bunk house, whither Tom presently went. Lance did not follow. Belle looked worried and asked Lance constrainedly if he knew why Duke had not come with the others. Lance laughed. "Duke? Oh--he's on the trail of another dollar. By heck, Belle, I'm afraid you've raised one son to be a shirk. I don't seem to need all of that dollar chasing to make me happy." Tom came in then, glanced swiftly from one to the other, said something unimportant, rolled a cigarette with elaborate care, and observed that Duke would find it hot, riding all the way to Shoshone, and that he'd be darned if he'd go that far for any girl. He sat down and disposed himself comfortably, got up, muttered something about forgetting to turn Coaley out, and left the house. Belle turned and looked at Lance. "Honey, it's that kind of thing--" "I used to think, Belle, that you had the bluest eyes in the whole world," Lance drawled quizzically. "They're blue enough, in all conscience--by heck, Belle! Does a Lorrigan always love blue eyes?" "I was going to say that--" "You were going to say that you were not going to say a darned thing, madam. You need a vacation, a trip somewhere. Why don't you beat it, and get your nerves smoothed down a little?" "Lance, you don't believe Duke--" "Belle, your boys are old enough to think of girls a little bit, now and then. Even your baby thinks of girls--a little bit. Now and then. I'm going fishing, Belle. I'm going to fish where there are fish. And if I'm not back by the clock, for heck's sake don't get yourself excited and call _me_ a mystery." She called after him. "Lance, come back here and tell me the truth! You don't believe--" "Belle, I'll tell you the truth. Sure, I'll tell you the truth. I tell you to cut out this worrying over nothing. Why, don't you know the world is plumb full of real things to worry about?" He came close, patting her on the shoulder as one pats a child who feels abused for slight cause. "This notion of yours--it's all damned nonsense. Cut it out." He went off whistling, and Belle gazed after him dubiously, yet reassured in spite of herself. After all, there was nothing. CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR WHEN A LORRIGAN LOVES Followed a day of sweltering heat, when the horses in the corral switched flies and sweated doing nothing; when all of the chickens crawled under the coolest shelter they could find, and panted with their wings spread away from their bodies; when the wind was like a blast from an open furnace, and no man of his own choice remained in the sun.