He
remembered--and it hurt him to recall it--how his wounded pride had
lashed out in resentment of the patronage of these New Yorkers. The
younger man had insulted him, but he knew in his heart now that the
girl's father had meant nothing of the kind. Of course the girl had
forgotten him long since. If he ever came to her mind as a fugitive
memory it would be in the guise of a churlish boor as impossible as his
own hill cattle.
"Question is, could you land a job in New York if you wanted one,"
explained Stace to the dreamer.
"If it's neck meat or nothin' a fellow can 'most always get somethin'
to do," said Lindsay in the gentle voice he used. The vague impulses
of many days crystallized suddenly into a resolution. "Anyhow I'm
goin' to try. Soon as the _rodeo_ is over I'm goin' to hit the trail
for the big town."
"Tucson?" interpreted Johnnie dubiously.
"New York."
The bow-legged little puncher looked at his friend and gasped. Denver
was the limit of Johnnie's imagination. New York was _terra
incognita_, inhabited by a species who were as foreign to him as if
they had dwelt in Mars.
"You ain't really aimin' to go to New York sure enough?" he asked.
Clay flashed on him the warm smile that endeared him to all his
friends. "I'm goin' to ride down Broadway and shoot up the town,
Johnnie. Want to come along?"
CHAPTER II
CLAY APPOINTS HIMSELF CHAPERON
As he traveled east Clay began to slough the outward marks of his
calling.
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