With an uneasy jerk Tex tore open the envelope the major handed him. He was not used to getting letters and this one was postmarked at the state prison. He fished out a single sheet of paper and stared at it. The major had read the postmark and stood waiting for Tex to speak.  
There was a brief line at the beginning of the letter. The message was from Sam and the warden had written the letter for him. Tex turned away from the major and walked down to the horse corral before he read any further. He wanted to be alone. Leaning over the pole gate he finished the letter. The message was brief, very much like Sam. Tex’s lips moved as he repeated the words to himself.
 
“I put off writin’ figurin’ to see you. Reckon I won’t, so the warden is writin’ this to you. They got a buryin’ spot down here they call Woodpecker Hill. It’s good enough fer an old gopher miner but I still got a hankerin’ to get back to the top of the world. If it won’t put you out too much, Tex, I’d like to be planted near the ledge trail at the foot of the castle rocks. Jest lift the rock under the right front leg of the stove and you’ll find a poke of dust I cached. There’ll be enough in it to do the job.148 I want you should keep what’s left over. Figure I’ll hang on till I get a letter back from you. The doc says no, but I’ve fooled ’em before. Sam.”
 
Tex folded the sheet into a wad and shoved it into the pocket of his chaps. He stared for a long time through the white sunlight. His bay gelding came over to the fence and nudged his arm. Tex turned around.
 
“We shore let old Sam down,” he said grimly. “But this time we’ll not flop on him.”
 
He reached over and caught the horn of his saddle which was tossed across the top pole of the corral. As he was jerking the cinch tight around the belly of the bay a few minutes later, the major’s shadow appeared near the gate. Tex did not turn around. He did not feel like telling the major anything. The last time he had tried to talk to him about getting Sam freed his boss had been irritated and short in his refusal. Tex had a feeling the major even believed he had invented the story about the black stud, with the help of Shorty, in order to get his sympathy. The major watched in silence until Tex faced the gate, then he spoke.
 
“I want to have a look at the new stock. You can ride into the aspen range with me and show me around.”
 
Tex nodded. There was no use in writing to Sam now. The mail would not be picked up until the next day. He could take a couple of days off and ride in, but he didn’t feel equal to facing the old man after the way he had let him down.
 
By midafternoon the pair were high in the aspen country and close to the spruce belt. Tex had taken the major to the meadows where the new stock grazed. They had halted on a ridge as the major had a way of doing and were gazing over the vast country below. The major always got a thrill out of looking over his vast domain.149 He never tired of the rolling foothills a............