THE RANCHERS 



285 



somebody shot the four - footed divil 

 that's laying waste the country." 



Having had several exciting runs 

 with Appleby's bull, I felt disposed to 

 agree with Charlie, and when we left 

 him proceeded circumspectly. The bush, 

 however, was peaceful, and we reached 

 the homestead unmolested, and ten min- 

 utes later were sound asleep. 



I was presently awakened by a shake, 

 and rising, followed Jack, who had a 

 rifle, to the doorway. The night was 

 dark and still, but I could see dimly 

 something large and shadowy apparent- 

 ly pawing among our melons, against 

 the dusky stretch of orchard. There 

 was a crackle that suggested a young 

 tree had been pushed over or torn up. 



"There is," said Jack, with a sigh, "a 

 limit to any man's patience. I've had 

 my tomatoes made hay of, melons 

 kicked to pieces, and on the last occa- 

 sion nothing would content the con- 

 demned beast but eating up my Mus- 

 koka vines. Oh, yes, he's a sporting 

 animal, but I'm going to fix him this 

 time." 



He pitched the rifle up, and having 

 few kindly feelings towards Appleby's 

 bull, I wished that the light was better. 

 Still, the muzzle tilted, there was a spit- 

 ting of red flame and while the thin 

 smoke drifted past us I heard a dull 

 thud almost simultaneously with the 

 concussion. It was, however, not the 

 sound a bullet makes when it burrows 

 into flesh and blood. Then there was a 

 rush and a crash and something went 

 straight through the split-fence, hurling 

 the rails about it. 



"Missed!" said Jack mournfully. 

 "We'll go over and see Appleby when 

 we've figured up the ruin to-morrow." 



We went, and before we did so not 

 only washed ourselves, but tried to 

 mend our clothes — which needed it — be- 

 cause of Miranda Appleby. Miranda 

 was very pretty, and, we understood, 

 had attracted attention in society. While 

 we sometimes wondered what made 

 the grim old Major bring her out to 

 that wilderness, Appleby did not en- 

 lighten us. He owned two thousand 



acres of it, and a pedigree bull, and he 

 was, as we read, occasionally an hon- 

 ored guest at Esquimault. 



It was, however, unfortunate that his 

 daughter was present when he received 

 us in the great cedar-paneled hall, be- 

 cause this naturally restrained Jack's 

 eloquence, and I found it convenient to 

 stand sideways for reasons connected 

 with an accident to my overalls. It was 

 under the circumstances difficult to do 

 justice to the occasion, and Appleby did 

 not ask us to sit down. 



"I have come as a neighbor to ask 

 you to mitigate the nuisance, sir," said 

 Jack, who did not always talk in that 

 fashion, when he had recounted our 

 grievances. "In fact, the depredations 

 of your bull render the raising of fruit, 

 or anything, almost impossible." 



"The remedy," said Major Appleby, 

 "is good fences." 



"Fences," said Jack, who seemed to 

 gulp down something, and pause at the 

 adjective, "the unmitigated beast gal- 

 lops straight through them." 



"Wire," said the Major, "would pre- 

 vent that effectually." 



"Wire," said I, "is remarkably dear, 

 and there isn't another beast in the 

 country that renders it necessary. Now, 

 sir, I don't mind admitting that last 

 night we fired at your bull." 



"You missed, presumably," said the 

 Major, with a sardonic smile, while the 

 twinkle I had already noticed there 

 grew a trifle plainer in Miss Appleby's 

 eyes. 



"We did ; but we may be more fortu- 

 nate next time," said I. 



"Then," said the Major, "you will be 

 held responsible for the value of the 

 bull, which must be almost equal to that 

 of your ranch. In ' the meanwhile J 

 have the pleasure of wishing you good- 

 morning." 



I saw the red flush under Jack's tan, 

 and don't know how he got out without 

 an explosion. I went backwards my- 

 self, and almost fell down the veranda 

 stairway, which I did not see, when 

 Miranda overtook us at the head of it. 

 She seemed amused at something. 



