th' crowd showed up--that makes
fo'teen."

"Now th' cavalry'll be huntin' yu," croaked Billy.

"Hunt nothin'! They was in war-paint-think I was a target?--Think I was
goin' to call off their shots for 'em?"

They relayed at the Barred-Horseshoe and went on their way at the same
pace. Shortly after leaving the last-named ranch Buck turned to Frenchy
and asked, "Any of that outfit think they can play poker?"

"Shore. Waffles."

"Does th' reverend Mr. Waffles think so very hard?"

"He shore does."

"Do th' rest of them mavericks think so too?"

"They'd bet their shirts on him."

At this juncture all were startled by a sudden eruption from Billy.
"Haw! Haw! Haw!" he roared as the drift of Buck's intentions struck him.
"Haw! Haw! Haw!"

"Here, yu long-winded coyote," yelled Red, banging him over the head
with his quirt, "If yu don't 'Haw! Haw!' away from my ear I'll make it
a Wow! Wow! What d'yu mean? Think I am a echo cliff? Yu slabsided
doodle-bug, yu!"

"G'way, yu crimson topknot, think my head's a hunk of quartz? Fer a
plugged peso I'd strew yu all over th' scenery!" shouted Billy, feigning
anger and rubbing his head.

"There ain't no scenery around here," interposed Lanky. "This here
be-utiful prospect is a sublime conception of th' devil."

"Easy, boy! Them highfalutin' words'il give yu a cramp some day. Yu talk
like a newly-made sergeant," remarked Skinny.

"He learned them words from the sky-pilot over at El Paso," volunteered
Hopalong, winking at Red. "He used to amble down th' aisle afore the
lights was lit so's he could get a front seat. That was all hunky for
a while, but every time he'd go out to irrigate, that female
organ-wrastler would seem to call th' music off for his special benefit.
So in a month he'd sneak in an' freeze to a chair by th' door, an' after
a while he'd shy like blazes every time he got within eye range of th'
church."

"Shore. But do yu know what made him get religion all of a sudden? He
used to hang around on di' outside after th' joint let out an' trail
along behind di' music-slinger, lookin' like he didn't know what to do
with his hands. Then when he got woozy one time she up an' told him that
she had got a nice long letter from her hubby. Then Mr. Lanky hit th'
trail for Santa Fe so hard that there wasn't hardly none of it left. I
didn't see him for a whole month," supplied Red innocently.

"Yore shore funny, ain't yu?" sarcastically grunted Lanky. "Why, I can
tell