stic
soul to me."

Red, grinning and happy, rapidly visited door after door, shouted, "Hey,
Billy!" and proceeded to the next one. He was getting pugnacious at
his lack of success when he espied Mr. Billy Williams tacking along the
accidental street as if he owned it. Mr. Williams was executing fancy
steps and was trying to sing many songs at once.

Red stopped and grabbed his bibulous friend as that person veered to
starboard: "Yore a peach of a life-preserver, yu are!" he exclaimed.

Billy balanced himself, swayed back and forth and frowned his
displeasure at this unwarranted action: "I ain't no wife-deserter!" he
shouted. "Unrope me an' give me th' trail! No tenderfoot can ride me!"
Then he recognized his friend and grinned joyously: "Shore I will, but
only one. Jus' one more, jus' one more. Yu see, m'friend, it was all
Jimmy's fault. He--"

Red secured a chancery hold and dragged his wailing and remonstrating
friend to Buck, who frowned with displeasure.

"This yere," said Red in belligerent disgust, "is th' dod-blasted hero
what's a-goin' to save Hopalong from a mournful future. What are we
a-goin' to do?"

Buck slipped the Colt's from Billy's holster and yanked the erring one
to his feet: "Fill him full of sweet oil, source him in th' trough, walk
him around for awhile an' see what it does," he ordered.

Two hours later Billy walked up to his foreman and weakly asked what was
wanted. He looked as though he had just been released from a six-months'
stay in a hospital.

"Yu go over to th' hotel an' find Hopalong," said the foreman sternly.
"Stay with him all th' time, for there is a plot on foot to wing him on
th' sly. If yu ain't mighty spry he'll be dead by night."

Having delivered the above instructions and prevarications, Buck
throttled the laugh which threatened to injure him and scowled at Red,
who again fled into the saloon for fear of spoiling it all with revealed
mirth.

The convalescent stared in open-mouthed astonishment:

"What's he doin' in th' hotel, an' who's goin' to plug him?" He asked.

"Yu leave that to me," replied Buck, "All yu has to do is to get on th'
job with yore gun," handing the weapon to him, "an' freeze to him like
a flea on a cow. Mebby there'll be a woman in th' game, but that ain't
none of yore funeral--yu do what I said."

"Blast th' women!" exploded Billy, moving off. When he had entered the
hotel Buck went in to Red.

"For Pete's sake!" moaned that person in sen