tality:

"Come right in; I'll get you something."

"First rate!" declared Mr. Reed with disheartening enthusiasm as Wallie
placed the biscuit, butter, and molasses before him and his helpers.

Wallie hoped never again to see food--his, at least--disappear with such
rapidity and in such quantities. When they had finished there was not a
crumb left in the pan to tell what had been, and Rufus added to Wallie's
feeling of apprehension by declaring gaily as he polished his mouth on
the bandanna which he drew from his hip pocket with a flourish:

"Us Reeds are all hearty eaters. We can eat a sheep at a settin' when
we're all together."

Biscuit-making was Wallie's special antipathy, and he now solaced
himself with the thought that since they had eaten so many, they would
eat less for dinner and he would have plenty of the fresh ones left for
supper.

But disappointment was again his portion. Any hope that he might have
cherished that once they were well filled up their appetites would
diminish was dissipated by their performance at supper which surpassed
that of dinner. The manner in which the biscuits vanished was nothing
less than appalling. In addition to which, he fried ham twice for them
when they hinted that they were still hungry after devouring everything
before them.

He thought grimly that if their capacity for work was commensurate with
their appetites, the well would be dug in twenty-four hours. But after
observing them in "action" through the window he had a notion that he
would have considerable more than that of their society.

As they all sprawled on his bunk in a torpor while he washed their
supper dishes, he felt not only consternation but a dislike for the Reed
family growing within him. Long after they were snoring in their
blankets, he lay awake calculating how long his provisions would last at
such a rate of depletion.

It did not sound so much of a "sporting proposition" as when Rufus had
made his proposal, and Wallie sighed in the darkness as he thought that
there seemed a million ways of making mistakes in Wyoming and this
already had the earmarks of being one of them.

If they found water at the depth indicated by the divining rod, it might
not so much matter, but there was the other contingency confronting
him--feeding the Reeds indefinitely! There was nothing to do in the
circumstances but await developments, so Wallie slept finally to dream
that he had discarded the table for a trough