guests were performing a scalp-dance about the table when he
entered the room. For a tom-tom, Parenthesis was beating a bucket with
a gourd, and emitting strange cries with each thump. The noise and
shouts confused the minister. As he was blundering among the dancers,
they fell upon him with war-whoops, slapping him on the back and
crushing his straw hat over his ears.

Slim was the first to recognize the minister. He dashed into the
group, and, swinging several aside, cried to the others to desist.

"Pardon me, but do I intrude upon a scalp-dance?" smilingly asked the
parson.

"You sure have, Mr. Price," laughed Slim. "We hain't got to the
scalpin'-part yet, but we're fixin' to dance off Payson's scalp
to-night."

Peering at him with near-sighted eyes, Mr. Price extended his hand,
saying: "Ah, Mr. Hoover, our sheriff, is it not?"

Slim wrung the parson's hand until the preacher winced. Hiding his
discomfort, he slowly straightened out his fingers with a painful grin.
Slim had not noticed that he had hurt the parson by the heartiness of
his greeting. With a gesture he lined up the cowboys for introduction.

"Yes, sir, the boys call me Slim because I ain't." Pointing to the
first one in the group, he exclaimed: "This is Parenthesis."

Mr. Price looked at the awkwardly bowing cowboy in amazement. The name
was a puzzle to him. He could not grasp the application. "The editor
of the Kicker," explained Slim, "called him that because of his legs
bein' built that way." Mr. Price was forced to smile in spite of his
efforts to be polite. The editor had grasped the most striking feature
of the puncher's physical characteristics for a label.

Parenthesis beamed on the minister. "I was born on horseback," he
replied.

"That fellow there with a front tooth is Show Low," began Slim,
speaking like a lecturer in a freak-show. "The one without a front
tooth is Fresno, a California product. This yere chap with the
water-dob hair is Sage-brush Charley. It makes him sore when you call
him plain Charley."

"Charley bein' a Chink name," supplemented its owner.

Silence fell over the group, for they did not know what was the proper
thing to do next. A minister was to be respected, and not to be made
one of them. He must take the lead in the conversation. Mr. Price was
at a loss how to begin. He had not recovered fully from the roughness
of his welcome, so Slim took the lead again.

"I heard you preach once u