Believe me, I can be some
persuasive when I try." With that he swung a leg over Montrosa's
back and rode away.
Law found it good to feel a horse between his knees. He had not
realized until now how long Montrosa's saddle had been empty. The
sun was hot and friendly, the breeze was sweet in his nostrils as
he swept past the smiling fields and out into the mesquite
country. Heat waves danced above the patches of bare ground;
insects sang noisily from every side; far ahead the road ran a
wavering course through a deceitful mirage of rippling ponds. It
was all familiar, pleasant; it was home; black moods were
impossible amid such surroundings. The chemistry of air and earth
and sunshine were at work dissolving away the poisons of his
imagination. Of course Dave's trouble did not wholly vanish; it
still lurked in the back of his mind and rode with him; but from
some magic source he was deriving a power to combat it. With every
mile he covered his strength and courage increased.
Such changes had come into his life since his last visit to Las
Palmas that it gave him a feeling of unreality to discover no
alteration in the ranch. He had somehow felt that the buildings
would look older, that the trees would have grown taller, and so
when he finally came in sight of his destination he reined in to
look.
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