"Hold fast!" remarks Gloomy Gus. "It's rough country here and this
horse is about to do a piece of runnin'!" He takes off his belt and
whales that equine over what would a been the back on a regular horse.
"Step along!" he asks it.

Well, if they had that ride at Coney Island, they'd have made a fortune
with it in one summer, because as soon as Old Dobbin realized he'd been
hit, he started for South Africa and tried to make it in six jumps! He
folded his long skinny ears back of his neck somewheres and just simply
give himself over to runnin'. We went up hills and down vales that
would have broke an automobile's heart, we took corners on one leg and
creeks in a jump and when I seen the Pacific Ocean loomin' up in the
offing I begin to pray that the thing couldn't swim! Gloomy Gus leans
over and yells in my ear, "Some horse, eh?"

"Is that what it is?" I hollers back.

"Well, he's tryin' all right. He's what you could call a runnin'
fool!" We shot past somethin' that was just a black blur for a minute
and then disappeared back in the dust. "What was that?" I yells.

"Montana!" screams Gloomy Gus, "and--"

"Ha! Ha!" roars the Kid, openin' his mouth for the first time.
"That's goin' a few! Let me know when we pass Oregon, I got a friend
there!"

"Montana Bill!" explains Gloomy Gus, frownin' at the Kid. "That's the
only place you can get licker within five miles of Film City!" He
looks at the Kid again and mutters half to himself, "Champion, eh!"

Then he yanks in the reins and we slow down to about a runaway's pace
right near what looks to be a World's Fair with a big wall around it
and an iron gate in the middle. We shot up to the entrance and the
horse calls it a day and stops, puffin' and blowin' like a fat
piano-mover.

"Film City!" hollers Gloomy Gus. "Git out here and walk in. Mr.
Genaro's office is right back of the African Desert!"

I thanked him for bringin' us in alive. He didn't say nothin' to me,
but as he was passin' in the gates I seen him lookin' after the Kid and
shakin' his head. "Champion, hey!" he mumbles.

This Film City place would have made delerium tremens lay down and
quit. There was Indians, cowboys, cannibals, chorus girls, Japs,
sheriffs, train robbers, and--well, it looked like the place where they
assemble dime novels. A guy goes racin' past us on a horse with a lot
of maniacs, yellin' and shootin', tearin' after him and on the other
side a gang of laborers in