chuck and mike

 When  i was cowboy boss at the section 2 yard at AZL  we found that early in december we were short handed.  one day the office manager called and said there was a couple cowboys at the office lookin for work.  i loped up there and as i arrived the section 1 boss arrived  at the same time. he needed a man also.  after going into the office we found that one of these cowboys the section 1 boss already knew. bottom line was section one  took mike and i took chuck. we set them up with a trailer house  and put away their horse at section 2. they were from wyoming, had a one horses trailer with a good looking sorrel, bald faced horse in it.  that horse had i brand i was familar with, that of roy gill in sheridon wyoming. roy and the tovera family were good friends and often wintered in pheonix.  when asked about this good looking sorrel chuck explained they got him from their previous employer who got him from gills as a 2 year old. this sorrel pony was a top notch rope horse as it turned out. chuck rode the horse and roped real well.
    chuck turned out to be a top hand.  he knew cattle inside out. he was  a dependable, complete caring cowboy who took it to heart if he lost a sick steer.  he was also a top knotch horses shoer and could ride anything with hair on its it back. he had worked the miles city bucking horse sale for a few years and was plumb forked.
    these two cowboys would drink a beer at the house but didnt  hang out in the bars. they would go to a jackpot roping but wernt showy or loud. it was just pleasant to be around them.
        these fellas worked  4 months through the winter, and we were trying to figgure a way to keep them on full time.    
        one morning about9 chuck came loping up with a strained look on his face. when asked what was wrong he simply said he had to leave and wanted his final check. i talked until i was blue in the face but couldnt talk him out of quitting. he went to pack and i went to the office for his check. there i run into the section 1 boss who was getting mikes check, same story from mike.
    we walked out side with these boys checks and they were sitting in their pick up with the trailer hooked and loaded with that good horse.  i had tried to buy that horse a time  or two and i tried again as i handed chuck his check. he shook his head, shook my hand and drove off!!
    the section 1 boss who was older than me and been around a little said as we watched them boys drive off, they got some kind of trouble , good riddance.
        the next morning i was called to the office. there i met the section 1 boss at the supers office. inside we found a brand inspecter, a sherrif deputy and a brand inspecter from wyoming.  it seems our two boys had  a disagreement  with their former employer. the employer claimed that the boys stole that sorrel horse when they left. in all fairness the brand inspecter from wyoming said the employer had a bad habit of shorting peoples pay check, and he figgured the boys evened the score.  but the law didnt see it that way.  i sure was glad i didnt buy that horse!!
       i heard later that old pony showd up in that ole boys pasture with no explaination. i never saw chuck again, but i was around mike some in later years.  and the subject didnt come up, i didnt ask and he didnt volunteer.