nnes replied that he didn't know. He was worried, for he
feared that his captor didn't have a secure hold on the hammer of the
ubiquitous Colt's.

"Where's my cayuse?" Persisted Mr. Cassidy.

"I don't know, but I wants to ask yu how yu got mine," replied Mr.
Travennes.

"Yu tell me how mine got out an' I'll tell yu how yourn got in,"
countered Mr. Cassidy.

Mr. Connors added another to his collection before the captain replied.

"Out in this country people get in trouble when they're found with other
folks' cayuses," Mr. Travennes suggested.

Mr. Cassidy looked interested and replied: "Yu shore ought to borrow
some experience, an' there's lots floating around. More than one man has
smoked in a powder mill, an' th' number of them planted who looked in
th' muzzle of a empty gun is scandalous. If my remarks don't perculate
right smart I'll explain."

Mr. Travennes looked down the street again, saw number five added to the
line-up, and coughed up chunks of broken profanity, grieving his host by
his lack of courtesy.

"Time," announced Mr. Cassidy, interrupting the round. "I wants them
cayuses an' I wants 'em right now. Yu an' me will amble off an' get
'em. I won't bore yu with tellin' yu what'll happen if yu gets skittish.
Slope along an' don't be scared; I'm with yu," assured Mr. Cassidy as he
looked over at Mr. Connors, whose ascetic soul pined for the flapjacks
of which his olfactories caught intermittent whiffs.

"Well, Red, I reckons yu has got plenty of room out here for all yu may
corral; anyhow there ain't a whole lot more. My friend Slim an' I are
shore going to have a devil of a time if we can t find them cussed
bronchs. Whew, them flapjacks smell like a plain trail to payday. Just
think of th' nice maple juice we used to get up to Cheyenne on them
frosty mornings."

"Get out of here an' lemme alone! 'What do yu allus want to go an' make
a feller unhappy for? Can't yu keep still about grub when yu knows I
ain't had my morning's feed yet?" Asked Mr. Connors, much aggrieved.

"Well, I'll be back directly an' I'll have them cayuses or a scalp. Yu
tend to business an' watch th' herd. That shorthorn yearling at th'
end of th' line"--pointing to a young man who looked capable of taking
risks--"he looks like he might take a chance an' gamble with yu,"
remarked Mr. Cassidy, placing Mr. Travennes in front of him and
pushing back his own sombrero. "Don't put too much maple juice on them
flapjacks, Red," he war