"Yes," responded Frank. "Anyway, I'd have stayed until I could have got hold of something I liked better." Mr. Oliver nodded in a way which suggested that he was pleased with the answer. "Well," he said, "that brings us to the question why you came out here. Was it because you had heard that it was a good country for hunting and fishing?" Frank's face flushed. "No, sir," he replied, "I wanted to earn a living, and I understood that a"--he was going to say a live man, but thought better of it--"any one who wasn't too particular could generally come across something to do quickest in the West. In fact, I'd like to begin at once. After buying my ticket and getting odd meals I've only two or three dollars left." "Two-fifty, to be precise. My sister took your clothes away to mend. Now, it's possible that I might manage to get you into the office of some lumber or general trading company in one of the cities. How would that do?" "I'd rather go on to the land. I'd like to be a rancher." "How much do you know about ranching?" "Very little, but I could soon learn." It was Frank's first blunder, and he realized it as he saw the gleam of amusement in Mr. Oliver's eyes. "It's by no means certain," commented the latter. "There are men who can't learn to use the ax in a lifetime. We'll let it go at that, and say you're willing to learn. Have you any idea of making money by ranching?" Frank thought a moment. "Well," he said finally, "I'd naturally wish to make some, but I don't think that counts for most with me. I'd rather have the kind of life I like." "The trouble with a good many men is that when they get it they find out they like something else. Quite sure that hunting and fishing aren't taking too prominent a place in your mind? If they are, I'd better tell you that the favorite amusement in this country is chopping down big trees. There's another fact that you must consider. It takes a good deal of money to buy a ranch and, unless it's already cleared, you have to wait a long while before you get any of the money back. This place cost me about nine thousand dollars, one way or another, and in all probability there's not a business on the Pacific Slope in which I wouldn't get twice as much as I'm getting here for the money, though I've been here a good many years. Now what do you expect to do with two dollars and a half?" What he had heard had been somewhat of a shock to Frank, and the question was difficult to answer. "I might earn a little more by degrees, sir," he said hopefully. Mr. Oliver smiled at him encouragingly. "It's possible; and there's cheaper land than mine, while a smart man used to the country can often get hold of a small contract of some kind. Now I'll tell you what we'll do. Wait a month, and then if you find that you like the life I'll hire you for what anybody else would give you."