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To The Last Man Zane Grey 8060K 2023-09-02

The gobbling of wild turkeys awakened Jean, "Chuga-lug, chug-a-lug, chug-a-lug-chug" There was not a great difference between the gobble of a wild turkey and that of a taray obscurity of dawn to try to locate the turkeys But it was too dark, and finally when daylight caone Thebreakfast and packing, Jean did notjourney he had slowed down He eary of hurrying; the change fro sun and dust-laden wind to this sweet coot darkly green and brown forest was very welco the shaded trail This day he made sure would see him reach the Rim By and by he lost the trail It had just worn out from lack of use Every now and then Jean would cross an old trail, and as he penetrated deeper into the forest every damp or dusty spot showed tracks of turkey, deer, and bear The an surprised him Presently his keen nostrils were assailed by a smell of sheep, and soon he rode into a broad sheep, trail From the tracks Jean calculated that the sheep had passed there the day before

An unreasonable antipathy seemed born in him To be sure he had been prepared to dislike sheep, and that hy he was unreasonable But on the other hand this band of sheep had left a broad bare swath, weedless, grassless, flowerless, in their wake Where sheep grazed they destroyed That hat Jean had against the parklike slope, where new green grass was sprouting and flowers peeped everywhere The pines appeared far apart; gnarled oak trees showed rugged and gray against the green wall of woods A white strip of snow glea stream away down in the woods

Jean heard the musical tinkle of bells and the baa-baa of sheep and the faint, sweet bleating of la ran out from an oak thicket and barked at hiht of a curling blue column of smoke, and then a small peaked tent Beyond the clu a carbine The boy had a swarthy, pleasant face, and to Jean's greeting he replied, "BUENAS DIAS" Jean understood little Spanish, and about all he gathered by his simple queries was that the lad was not alone--and that it was "la time"