o
hours talkin' about the weather; but at the end o' that time, he knew
more about a man's outfit than the owner himself. Then he ordered out a
lot of stock papers, an' the first thing we knew, we was askin' him
questions about things 'at we'd allus supposed we savvied from tail to
muzzle. He seemed to like me more'n the rest, an' chose me out to be
his ridin' pal an' what he called an A. D. Kong, which was simply the
French for messenger boy; but Dick never unloaded a lot of talk about
himself. You wouldn't notice it, but he allus managed to have the other
feller do most o' the talkin'.

When winter came he took a trainload o' cattle clear to Chicago an'
brought back twenty bulls--dandies! Big white-faced fellers with
pool-table backs an' stocky legs, an' they sure made the other stuff
look like the champion scrubs of creation. No one in our parts had ever
seen such cattle, an' for the rest of the winter we helt a fair an'
booked enough orders for calves to make a man nervous. Jabez had gone
along, an' it must have ganted him consid'able to heave out the wampum
for that bunch; but you should have seen him swell up when folks got to
talkin' about 'em. He was game though, an' gave Dick the credit. He
thought Dick was the whole manuver by this time.

Barbie an' Dick had got over givin' antelope starts every time they
met; but they wasn't what you would call friendly by a long ways. Dick
had worn a rough lookin' beard when he first arrived; but afterward he
had trimmed it to a point, an' it made him look some like a doctor. His
ears were set tight to his head, an' he had a proud nose; but it was
his hands an' his eyes that set him apart. His hands were fair size but
white, an' they stayed white. They had a nervous way of fussin' around
with things whenever he got to thinkin'; but after all, the thing that
was the final call was his eyes. They were bright an' set in under
heavy brows; but they never seemed tryin' to bend you, like some eyes
do, they just seemed so completely sure of what they saw, an' they
seemed to have seen so much beforehand, that a feller was tempted to
stick to the truth in front of 'em--even when it wasn't altogether
convenient. Dick was the first cold-blooded man I ever liked, an' he
was sure cold-blooded at this period.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

HAPPY MAKES A DISCOVERY

Now dogs an' Barbie was allus exceedin' intimate. Dogs just doted on
her, an she recipercated full measure; but she had on