Free Some More Horse Tradin' by Ben K. Green

the story of the sales of these mares.
    â€œWhile you are trying to gather your wild mares, the young Collin will be in Del Rio or San Antonio spending the part payment you have made on these horses. Perhaps, after many months, he will return half of your money to buy the mares back from you. Then again, he may say that since you have not taken the mares, you no longer own them.”
    I didn’t doubt a word this gentleman said. I listened carefully. He could tell that I was worried, and I could tell that he was concerned. He offered no sudden advice, and he offered no criticism. He did say, “You are not well enough mounted to outcourse the Shield mares, to hold them in herd or to drive them to the outside gate. How much money did you leave with young Collin?”
    â€œI paid him three hundred and fifty dollars.”
    â€œThat is much more than others have paid him. However, the mares are worth more than twice this amount if you can get them off the Shield Ranch and to the public road.”
    I said, “I’ll need to hire some other riders. Would you go with me and help gather the mares? We’ll get some more cowboys.”
    â€œI doubt that you can hire local men. They know of this trade. They will not risk offending the young Collin by driving these mares.”
    I realized that this old gentleman knew much about the customs of the country and the men that inhabited it, but I didn’t yet care to question him as to how come he knew all these things.
    I heard a noise over toward the mercantile. The old merchant was opening up for a while on Sunday afternoon. When he opened up the back door I said, “I’ll go to the store and buy some more feed and water for our horses.”
    My friend—we’d gotten that far, he’d called me friend—didn’t comment or make any sort of answer, and I walked on over to the store to pay for some more alfalfa hay and another tubful of water. From the back door, I went over tothe corral and pulled down the drawbars for my friend’s horse to drink. He got up and stepped with considerable haste over to take care of his horse. He made no comment about my turning his horse out to drink, but you could tell he appreciated it and didn’t want the horse to be any bother to me. He stepped between my horse and his and stood there by his horse’s neck while they drank. The water was still gushing out of the pipe. It was cool even though it wasn’t the best of water, but it was the best that could be had around there for horses.
    Both horses seemed to enjoy their fill. He patted his on the shoulder, and the horse walked back into the corral. I led my horse back and took his bridle off. Both went to munching what little hay they had left. I know I must have been wearing a worried look on my face because my friend turned to me and said, “I have decided that this time the Shield mares will be delivered to the purchaser.”
    â€œDo you mean that you are gonna help me?”
    â€œYes.”
    â€œHow many more men will we need?” I asked.
    â€œNone. You and I shall receive them.”
    This was the first time he had phrased me into a sentence with himself, and I took note of that. He said, “We shall need several hundred feet of small rope. You should purchase it now in order that I may fashion it to our purpose.”
    I didn’t question him. I said, “Well, let’s go into the mercantile store and you pick out the rope that we’ll need.”
    In those days, rope was laid out in coils under the counter. The end of the rope ran through a hole bored in the front of the counter; so you pulled the rope through the hole and unwound whatever amount that you wanted from those big coils. And there were many sizes and kinds of rope; so you walked along the front side of the counter and looked at these rope ends that were sticking out of the holes in the front of the counter. He picked out a very small, tightly