Shoe-Bar Stratton - Chapter 5

Supper, which was served in the ranch ¹-house kitchen by Pedro, the Mexican cook, was not enlivened by much conversation. The food was plentiful ² and of good quality, and the punchers addressed themselves to its consumption with the single-hearted purpose of hungry men whose appetites have been sharpened by a long day in the saddle. Now and then someone mumbled ³ a request to "pass the sugar," or desired more steak or coffee from the shuffling ⁴ Pedro; but for the most part the serious business of eating occupied them exclusively., ,There was no sign of Miss Thorne. Buck ⁵ decided ⁶ that she took her meals elsewhere and approved the isolation ⁷. It must be pretty hard, he thought, for a girl like that to be living her young life in this out-of-the-way corner of the world with no women companions to keep her company. Then he remembered that for all he knew she might not be the only one of her sex on the Shoe-Bar, and when the meal was over and the men were straggling back toward the bunk ⁸-house, he put the question to Bud Jessup, who walked beside him., ,"Huh?" grunted ⁹ the youngster, with a sharp, inquiring glance at his face. "What d'yuh want to know that for?", , ,Bud continued to eye him intently. "Well, she ain't alone," he said briefly ¹². "Mrs. Archer ¹³ lives with her; an' uh course there's Pedro's Maria.", ,"Who's Mrs. Archer?", ,The ranch is in the middle of a large plateau.该牧场位于一个辽阔高原的中部 。,Their family has a plentiful harvest this year.他们家今年又丰收了
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