“Come here, Jeff,” called Al, to one of his men.
A short, bow-legged horseman with dusty garb and sun-bleached face hobbled forth from the group. He was not young, but he had a boyish grin and bright little eyes. Awkwardly he doffed his slouch sombrero.
“Jeff, shake hands with my nieces,” said Al. “This 's Helen, an' your boss from now on. An' this 's Bo, fer short. Her name was Nancy, but when she lay a baby in her cradle I called her Bo-Peep, an' the name's stuck.... Girls, this here's my foreman, Jeff Mulvey, who's been with me twenty years.”
The introduction caused embarrassment to all three principals, particularly to Jeff.
“Jeff, throw the packs an' saddles fer a rest,” was Al's order to his foreman.
“Nell, reckon you'll have fun bossin' thet outfit,” chuckled Al. “None of 'em's got a wife. Lot of scalawags they are; no women would have them!”
“Uncle, I hope I'll never have to be their boss,” replied Helen.
“Wal, you're goin' to be, right off,” declared Al. “They ain't a bad lot, after all. An' I got a likely new man.”
With that he turned to Bo, and, after studying her pretty face, he asked, in apparently severe tone, “Did you send a cowboy named Carmichael to ask me for a job?”
“Carmichael! Why, Uncle, I never heard that name before,” replied Bo, bewilderedly.
“A-huh! Reckoned the young rascal was lyin',” said Auchincloss. “But I liked the fellar's looks an' so let him stay.”
Then the rancher turned to the group of lounging riders.
“Las Vegas, come here,” he ordered, in a loud voice.
Helen thrilled at sight of a tall, superbly built cowboy reluctantly detaching himself from the group. He had a red-bronze face, young like a boy's. Helen recognized it, and the flowing red scarf, and the swinging gun, and the slow, spur-clinking gait. No other than Bo's Las Vegas cowboy admirer!
Then Helen flashed a look at Bo, which look gave her a delicious, almost irresistible desire to laugh. That young lady also recognized the reluctant individual approaching with flushed and downcast face. Helen recorded her first experience of Bo's utter discomfiture. Bo turned white then red as a rose.
“Say, my niece said she never heard of the name Carmichael,” declared Al, severely, as the cowboy halted before him. Helen knew her uncle had the repute of dealing hard with his men, but here she was reassured and pleased at the twinkle in his eye.