runks-full." Then they hopped on the wagon an' left us alone in
our glory.

I reckon, take it all in all, that was about the most florid winter I
ever put in, an' it purt' nigh spoilt me for hard work. I did the
cookin', the innocents did the chores, an' we got along as bully as a
fat bear for a while, livin' in the hotel. The' was a hundred rooms,
but we didn't use 'em all. Locals, he wrote most of the time, when he
wasn't lookin' at the ceiling an' tryin' to think. Hammy, he walked
barefoot in the snow, on' hollered at the snow-capped mountains. I read
nickle libraries, an' we didn't care a dang for the Czar of Russia,
until along toward Christmas a spark lit in my pile of litachure, an'
doggone near burned the hotel down. Then we began to feel snowed-in.
Locals had writ himself dry, Hammy was tired of listenin' to himself,
besides havin' chilblains up to his knees, an' I was half crazy, 'count
of havin' nothing to read. We didn't have a nickle between us, so we
couldn't gamble, an' I resigned my mind that when spring climbed up the
trail the 'd be two corpses an' one maniac in that cussed hotel.

One day Hammy came stalkin' in to where me an' Locals was playin'
guess. Guess ain't never apt to be a popular pastime 'cause it has to
be played without any kind o' cheatin' whatever. The one who is it,
guesses what the other one is thinkin' of, an' if he guesses before he
falls asleep, he wins. Well, Hammy, he breaks in on our game just the
same as if we hadn't been doin' anything at all, an' I knew by his
action that the' was somethin' afoot. Whenever Hammy was ready to speak
something, he always walked like a hoss 'at was string-haltered in all
four legs. Well, he paraded up to us that day, hip action, knee action,
and instep action all workin', stopped in front of us, folded his arms,
an' sez, "Good sirs, I have conceived a fitting fete."

"The only fate I expect is to go mad an' cut my own throat," sez
Locals; but Hammy frowned an' went on in a scoldy, indignant voice.
"When Wisdom speaks, Folly replies with jest; yet, having little choice
of company, I needs must make the best of what I have."

Well, those two had what they called a war of wits until finally Locals
hit Hammy with a chair, which was the way most o' their discussions
ended; but it turned out that what Hammy was tryin' to say was that we
should open the trunks, dress ourselves in the clothes, an' give a
show. He said he knew parts to fit any make-ups