his demand for a second piece with
the statement that he knew there was another uncut pie in the kitchen,
because Aunt Jane had said maybe his dad would eat half a one, and then
ask for more.

This gentle insinuation brought forth a sharp reprimand from Uncle
Frank. But Jimmy had looked before he leaped.

"Well, Aunt Jane said so. Didn't you, Aunt Jane?"

Whereat every one laughed, including the gentle Aunt Jane. And Jimmy got
his second piece of pie.

After the company had found itself, Uncle Frank, Cheyenne, and Bartley
forgathered out on the veranda and talked about the missing horses.
Little Jim sat silently on the steps, hoping that the talk would swing
round to where he could have his say. If he had not discovered the
missing horses, how would his father know where they were? It did not
seem exactly fair to Little Jim that he should be ignored in the matter.

"I'd just ride over and talk with Sneed," suggested Uncle Frank.

"Oh, I'll do that, all right," asserted Cheyenne.

"But I'd go slow. You might talk like your stock had strayed and you
were looking for them. Sneed and Panhandle Sears are pretty thick. I'd
start easy, if I was in your boots."

This from the cautious Uncle Frank.

"But you'd go get 'em, if they happened to be your hosses," said
Cheyenne. "You're always tellin' me to step light and go slow. I reckon
you expect me to sing and laugh and josh and take all the grief that's
comin' and forget it."

"No," said Uncle Frank deliberately. "If they was my hosses, I'd ride
over and get 'em. But I can't step into your tangle. If I did, Sneed
would just nacherally burn us out, some night. There's only two ways to
handle a man like Clubfoot Sneed: one is to kill him, and the other is
to leave him alone. And it's got to be one or the other when you live as
close to the hills as we do. I aim to leave him alone, unless he tries
to ride me."

"Which means that you kind of think I ought to let the hosses go, for
fear of gettin' you in bad."

Uncle Frank shook his head, but said nothing. Bartley smoked a cigar and
listened to the conversation that followed. Called upon by Uncle Frank
for his opinion, Bartley hesitated, and then said that, if the horses
were his, he would be tempted to go and get them, regardless of
consequences. Bartley's stock went up, with Little Jim, right there.

Cheyenne turned to Uncle Frank. "I'm ridin' over to Clubfoot's wikiup
to-morrow mornin'. I'll git my hosses, or git