Eileen laughed.

"Well,--good-bye, Jim! Good-bye, Phil! And jolly good luck!"

With a whirl and a jump she turned and made off. But the cheery sunshine of her presence and her hearty greeting kept radiating over the two, leaving a warmth and a cheerfulness around them, where a few moments before had been cold and grumpiness.

They reached their destination at last, unhitched and turned the horses into a large barn in the rear of the dwelling house.

There was no doubting the splendidness of the ranch proper, with its acres of young fruit trees set out in rows with mathematical exact.i.tude, and its pasturage which was now blanketed with snow.

Neither, alas! was there any doubting the miserableness of the broken-down two-storied, log-built barn of a place that was meant for their future home.

Jim and Phil shook the icy water from their clothes, stamped their feet and went inside.

The house was damp and cheerless, and evidently had not been subjected to heating of any kind for months.

They unloaded their bedding and other effects, then set about to light a fire in the fairly business-like stove that stood in a corner of the kitchen. They were busy at it, when the smooth, greasy, grinning face of a fat Chinaman showed round the door-post.

"Hullo, John,--come on in!" greeted Jim.

The oriental obeyed, with just a little show of diffidence, although diffidence of any degree did not sit too well on the general sleek confidence of his appearance.

"Hullo!" said Phil, looking him over.

"Hullo!" said the Chinaman, familiarly. "You new bossy-man,--eh?"

"You bet! Where you come from, John?"

"Where me come? Me live here. Me stop little house way down orchard.

Me work allee time nicee day;--live here allee time winter.

"You let me stop,--eh?"

The Chinaman was quick in getting to business.

"What do you say, Jim?" asked Phil.

"Sure thing,--just what we want!

"Say, John!--what your name?"

"Me,--my name? My name, Ah Sing."

"Ah Sing!" exclaimed Jim, looking upward in expectancy.

"Ya,--Ah Sing!" repeated the other with a set, Chinese grin.

"Ah Sing!"

"Ya,--Ah Sing!"

"Then, why in heaven's name, don't you? I've asked you twice," laughed Jim, showing his large teeth.

The Chinaman showed his own in return.

"Sing,--you know me?"

"Ya,--I know you. You bossy-man, Big Jim. I see you Court House plenty time."

"Well!--you catchem heap firewood, cleanem up, sweepee floor--just little bit--cookem one time every day;--and you stop. No do it;--you go away;--no get stop here,--see!"

"Me stop here long time," remonstrated Sing fearfully, "one--two--three--four bossy-man come, Sing stop allee time."

"No matter,--you work little bit, or no stop here,--see!"

The idea of winter work did not appeal to the wily Sing, but as it was "work" or "get out," he relented.

"All lite!" he agreed. "Me stop. You pay me spling-time?"

"Yes!--that's a go, Sing. I pay you all time you work outside on ranch. No pay winter time: not muchee work: just little bit."

"Me savvy! Me go catchem dly wood."

"So he is an old pal of yours, Jim?"

"Yes!--and he's a pretty wise guy at that.

"He was up before Thompson, the Government Agent, one time I was there. Thompson was trying to get him to take an oath over something.

He asked Sing how he would like to swear, whether by kissing the Bible or in the Chinese way.

"Me no care," said Sing, "burnem paper, smellum book--allee same Ah Sing."

"Thompson saw how much the Chinaman cared about oaths in general, so he got busy and pretty nearly scared the daylights out of Sing."

"What did he do?" asked Phil, as both continued unpacking their gear.

"Oh,--he made Sing swear by the live chicken. You see, a Chinaman will always tell the truth when he has to cut a live chicken's head off over it. If he happens to be guilty of anything and says he isn't and cuts the fowl's koko off,--he is sure to die for his prevarication. We all die, anyway, of course," commented Jim, "but not so suddenly, evidently. Then, if John is accused by someone of doing something he didn't do and he pleads innocent and cuts the infernal bird's headpiece off--the other fellow cops off."

Phil laughed, and worked on his fingers as if endeavouring to figure the thing out.

"It's quite easy;--simple as A.B.C.," commented Jim, "only you're too darned thick skulled to savvy,--that's all."

"And I guess the c.h.i.n.ks think we are pretty dense not to understand,"

put in Phil.

"Just so!"

Sing put an end to the conversation by reappearing with a big armful of wood.

A respectable fire was soon blazing in the stove and a sense of increasing comfort began to pervade the place. Eileen's eatables--meat pie and some baked fruits--were put into the oven to heat, while Jim and Phil changed into dry clothes.