. His lip even twitched with indulgent
amusement as he watched Woolly and Punk solicitously binding up each
other's wounds, each with a studiously exaggerated commiseration of the
other's disfiguration.

"Gawd! Woolly, but yuh shore was playin' in luck when my haid hit yuh
beak 'stead o' my fist!" Punk said, comfortingly, wiping that
ensanguined member with a bit of wet burlap. Woolly grinned
acquiescently:

"Thet's so, Punk, thet's so! It were shore consid'rit o' yuh to jab me
with the softest thing yuh had. Ef yuh'll put a leetle skunk-oil on thet
chawed year o' yourn I guess it'll grow out again', er I kin eat off thu
otheh one to match it. Honest, son, I didn't aim to chaw off more'n a
foot, but my jaw slipped."

"Thet must hev been when I swatted yuh against thu table laig," said
Punk, regretfully. "Yuh know Ken has giv ordahs to kill everything with
thu lumpy jaw, an' yuh mug is shore a heap outer place. Does yuh teeths
track all right, old man?" The anxiety in his voice was very touching.

"They've kissed an' made up," explained Holy to Douglass, with
blood-curdling expletiveness. "Ain't they jest thu two mos' lovin'
waddies yuh eveh see?"

"When you two fellows get done monkeying with each other," said
Douglass, impatiently, "I have something to tell you." Something in his
tone enlisted their immediate attention. Red looked at him
inquisitively.

"It was only a bit of harmless hoss-play," he mumbled, apologetically.
"They didn't mean nuthin'." Douglass nodded indifferently. He had
already forgotten the incident in the consideration of more serious
things.

He took out of his pocket the letter he had that day received from
Denver. "It's from the brand Registrar's office," he said, shortly. "I
guess it clears up the mystery about that O Bar O brand." He read it
with slow deliberation and at the mention of Coogan's name they
exchanged meaning glances. Red whistled significantly. "Big Bart, eh!"
The others said never a word.

Douglass meditatively took out of his vest pocket a broad-leaded
indelible pencil with which he traced upon the margin of a newspaper the
characters which composed the Carter brand: "C--." As the others watched
him in silence he retraced them, closing up the ends of the first
character and adding another after the second. As amended the brand was
"O-O." There was no need of comment, for every man knew what his action
implied.

In the midst of an impressive silence he rolled and lig