human
Yes, I thought of that--strange as it may seem. Charlie's voice was unoffended. On the contrary, he seemed glad that she took so keen an interest in his affairs.
gpt
It has been a week, you know, since they flew the coop. I did hunt every foot of that Cove, twice over. I drove every hoof of stock up and corraled them, and made sure these four were not in the herd. Then I hunted through every inch of that willow jungle and all along the bluff and the river; Miss Louise, I put in three days at it, from sunrise till it was too dark to see. Then I began riding outside. There isn't a trace of them anywhere. I had just bought them from Seabeck, you know. I drove them home, and because they were tired, and so was I, I just left them in that upper meadow as I came down the gorge. I hadn't branded them yet. I--I know I've made an awful botch of the thing, Miss Louise, he confessed, turning toward her with an honest distress and a self-flaying humility in his eyes that wiped from Billy Louise's mind any incipient tendency toward contempt.
human
But you see I'm green at this ranch game. And I never dreamed those calves weren't perfectly safe in there. The fence was new and strong; I built it new this fall, you know. And the bars are absolutely bars to any stock larger than a rabbit. Of course, he added, with a deprecating note,
gpt
I hate to bother you with this, and I don't want you to think I have come whining for sympathy, he said, after a minute of moody silence.
human
But seeing they were not branded yet--with our brand--I thought perhaps you had run across them and paid no attention, thinking they belonged to Seabeck.