But Reid was not to give possession of the property until after the fall rodeo.
As the men sat under the walnut trees with the Dean that evening, discussing the incidents of the Granite Basin work, and speculating about the new owner of the neighboring ranch, Phil sat with Little Billy apart from the circle, and contributed to the conversation only now and then a word or a brief answer to some question.

When Mrs.Baldwin persuaded the child that it was bedtime, Phil slipped quietly away in the darkness, and they did not see him again until breakfast the next morning.

When breakfast was over, the foreman gave a few directions to his men, and rode away alone.
The Dean, understanding the lad, whom he loved as one of his own sons, watched him go without a word or a question.

To Mrs.Baldwin he said, "Just let him alone, Stella.

The boy is all right.