of speech; 'and should like to consult
you professionally.'

"'All right, sir!' says I. 'I'm one of the easiest men to consult west
of any place east. Can't you stay now and get the load off your mind?'

"'Well--_no_,' he says to me very confidentially. 'You see, that dog
is a great pet of my wife's, and I'm also afraid she will be a little
worried by my long absence, so----'

"'I see, sir--I see,' I answered him. 'Well, come around again and
we'll talk sheep.'

"'Thank you--thank you _so_ much,' says he, and pops up on his horse.
Then again, without any warning, he broke into a haw-haw-haw! as he
threw a glance at the family, who sat around eyeing him. 'You were
quite right about that _cat_, you know,' says he. 'Capital! Capital!
But a _little_ rough on the dog.' And off he goes, bobbity-bob,
bobbity-bob.

"'Where'd you tag that critter, Red?' says Wind-River. 'My mind's
wanderin'.'

"'He comes down the draw much the graceful way he's going up it,' says
I. 'From where, and why how, I dunno. But I kind of like him against
my better instincts, Windy.'

"Windy spit thoughtfully at a fly fifteen foot away. 'I shouldn't have
time to hate him much myself,' says he.

"And there you are. That's how I met Brother Sett, and the Big Bend
Ranch stuck her head out of the shell."

Oscar's Chance, per Charley

"Bhooooooorrr! Bhooooooooooooooorrrrr!" It was the hollow,
melancholy, wild beast-howl of a fog-horn. We were drifting upon a
tragic coast, where the great waves slipped up the cliffs noiselessly,
to disappear upon the other side. At the time, I was talking to a
person who had just been a sort of composite of several of my friends,
but was now a gaunt bay mule. "Isn't it co-o-ld?" I said to him, and
shivered. He looked me sternly in the eye. "Get up!" said he. The
vessel struck a rock and trembled violently. "Get up!" repeated the
mule, and there was a menace in his voice now. "Bhooooooooooorrrrr!"
moaned the fog-horn. This was dreadful. But worse followed. The
waters gathered themselves and rose into a peak, the mule sliding
swiftly to the apex, still holding me with his uncanny eyes. There
came a shock, and Oscar said, "For the Lord's sake, kid! They've been
braying away on that breakfast horn for the last five minutes. Hustle!"

I found myself upon my hands and knees; in a cabin, all right, but the
cabin was on the prairie. I looked around, stupid with sleep. The
familiar