Therefore Wallie, whose notion of a stock sale was of the vaguest, was much surprised when after riding in the direction his visitor had indicated and spending hours hunting for gates in wire fences, had come upon an assembly of a size he would not have believed possible in that sparsely populated district. Unless they denned in the rocks, the question as to where they lived might have puzzled a person more familiar with this Western phenomenon than Wallie. There were Ford cars which might have been duplicates of Henry's first model--with trailers containing the overflow of children--together with the larger cars of the more prosperous or more extravagant, as happened. Top buggies were in evidence, relics of the Victorian period, shipped out from Iowa and Nebraska--serviceable vehicles that had done duty when their owners were "keeping company." Lumber wagons were plentiful, with straw and quilts in the bottom to serve as shock-absorbers, while saddle horses were tied to every hitching post and cottonwood. When Wallie arrived in his riding boots and breeches he immediately shared attention with a large, venerable-looking Durham that was being auctioned. The Durham, however, returned the stare of the crowd with blase eyes which said that he had seen all of life he wanted to and did not care what further happened, while Wallie felt distinctly uncomfortable at the attention he attracted, and wished he might find Canby. As he stood speculating as to whether the folds of skin around the Durham's neck might be an indication of his age--a year for a fold, after the manner of snake-rattles--his attention was diverted to a group that was interested in the efforts of one of its members to pry a horse's mouth open. It seemed to Wallie an excellent opportunity to learn something which might be of future use to him, so he joined it. A man who looked capable of selling a runaway horse to his grandmother was saying emphatically: "Eight, next spring, I tell you. We raised her a pet on the ranch, so I ought to know what I'm talkin' about." The person who had managed to separate the horse's jaws laughed uproariously: "If she ever sees sixteen again----" "She ain't over eight, and I'll take my oath on it," interrupted the owner, with a fine show of indignation. "If I could believe you, I'd buy her." A piping voice from the group interjected itself into the conversation. It came from under the limp brim of a hat that dropped to the speaker's shoulders.