g an' pushed a shootin'-iron into your map, an' said you'll handle
Zip's kiddies--wal, I ask you, wot 'ud you ha' done?"

"Told him to git his head cooled some," retorted Sandy promptly.

"Ah, guess you bin saved a heap o' trouble," murmured Sunny. "But if
you hadn't said that--which you said you would ha' said--an' you'd
got busy as he suggested--wal, what then?"

Sandy cleared his throat, and, in his sudden interest, Toby deferred
the rest of his meal.

"Wal, I'd ha' gone right up to the shack an' looked into things."

Sandy's first effort seemed to please him, and, hitching his moleskin
trousers up deliberately, he proceeded with some unction--

"Y'see, ther' ain't nothin' like gettin' a look around. Then you kind
o' know wher' you are. You sure need to know wher' you are 'fore you
get busy proper. It's most like everything else. If you get on the
wrong trail at the start, it's li'ble to lead you wher' you don't want
to go. What I says is, hit the right trail at the start, then you got
a chance o' gettin' thro' right, which, I take it, is an elegant way
o' doin' most things. Wal, havin' located the right trail--"

"We're talkin' o' Zip's twins," murmured Sunny gently.

"Sure, that's where I'm gettin' to--"

"By trail?" inquired Toby seriously.

"Say, you make me tired," retorted Sandy angrily.

"Best quit the trail, then," said Sunny.

"Go to blazes!" cried Sandy, and promptly relapsed into moody
silence.

At that moment Bill turned from his contemplation of the house beyond
the dumps and fixed his fierce eyes on Sunny's grinning face.

"Here, you miser'ble hoboe," he cried, "get right up out of that, and
hump across to Zip's shack. You're doin' enough gassin' fer a female
tattin' bee. Your hot air makes me want to sweat. Now, them kiddies'll
need supper. You'll jest ast Minky fer all you need, an' I pay. An'
you'll see things is fixed right for 'em."

Sunny lurched reluctantly to his feet. He knew the gambler far too
well to debate the point further. He had made his protest, which had
been utterly ineffective, so there was nothing left him but to obey
the fiercely uttered mandate.

But Sandy Joyce felt that somehow his first effort on behalf of the
children had missed fire, and it was his duty not to allow himself to
be ousted from the council. So he stayed the loafer with a word.

"Say, you'll be knowin' how to feed 'em?" he inquired gravely.

Sunny's eyes twinkled.

"Wal, mebbe you ken give