His
duty was to keep his cattle where they belonged and his men out of
trouble. And because he was known as level-headed and capable he held
the position of actual manager of the Concho--owned by an Eastern
syndicate--but he was too modest and sensible to assume any such title,
realizing that as foreman he was in closer touch with his men. They
told him things, as foreman, that as manager he would have heard
indirectly through a foreman--qualified or elaborated as that official
might choose.
As he jogged along across the levels Bailey thought it all over. He
would have a talk with Young Pete when he returned and try to show him
that his recent attitude toward Gary militated against the Concho's
unprinted motto: "The fewer quarrels the more beef."
Halfway across the mesa there was what was known as "The Pit "; a
circular hole in the plain; rock-walled, some forty or fifty yards in
diameter and as many yards deep. Its bottom was covered with fine,
loose sand, a strange circumstance in a country composed of tufa and
volcanic rock. Legend had it that the Pit was an old Hopi tank, or
water-hole--a huge cistern where that prehistoric tribe conserved the
rain.
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