Hank did, and slipped out without him seeing me, and didn't go nigh the shop a-tall. Fur now I've licked Hank oncet I fi

and watches me. I throwed an acorn at him, and he scooted up a tree quicker'n scatt. And then I wisht I hadn't scared him away, fur it looked like he knowed I was in trouble. Purty soon I takes a swim, and comes out and lays there some more, s

uble with Hank, and I jest lays there. I hearn two men coming through the underbrush. I riz up on my elbow

ain't seen me. So nacherally I listened to what they was jawing about. They was both kind o' mad a

justice of the peace over in Iowa fined me five dollars for being on the street without a muzzle. Said it was a city ordinance. Talk

ault," says Looe

en filled up with Sykes's Magic Remedy only two weeks ago? I may have been a spiritualist

rses and wagon now if you'd only stuck to business and not got us into that poker game. Talk about suckers

hull creation and says he is so disgusted with life he guesses he'll go and be a p

ll right. We all know that. The question is how are we g

always done a drummer or a stranger that come along to that town and was fool enough to play poker with them. They wasn't a chancet fur an outsider. If the drummer lost, they would take his money and that would be all they was to it. But if the drummer got to winning good, some one would slip out'n the hotel and tell Si Emery, which was the city marshal.

besides. Squire Matthews and Jake Smith and Windy Goodell and Mart Watson, which the two last was lawyers, was always playing that there game on drummers that was fool enough to play poker. Hank, he s

l-nigh perfect thing. If you lose

world so fur as he knows, and he won't pay it. But, the squire, he says the time has come to teach them travelling fakirs as is always running around the country with shows and electric belts and things that they got to stop dreening that town of hard-earned money, and he has decided to make an example of 'em. The only two lawyers in town is Windy and Mart, which has been in the poker game theirselves, the same as always. The doctor says th

property. And I felt kind o' shamed of belonging to such a town, too. And I thinks to myself, I'd like to help 'em out of that scrap

Kirby, I go

oks at me startled. Then the d

the young b

looking at me ha

scheme are you

"to get that ou

s that never laughed much nor talked much. Looey, he never made fun of nobody, which

heral I listened to you, as any one else would of done. And mebby I

ad in under an iron bridge. That's about a half a mile east. Jest after the road crosses the bridge it forks. Take the right fork and walk another half a mile and you'll see a little yaller-painted schoolhou

me, and then they go off a little piece a

n us that hasn't been worked already. We've got nothing mo

otel, chawing and spitting tobacco, with his feet agin the railing like he

, "where's tha

s long, scraggly moustache careful, and he squinched his

anny," he s

r to get that wagon and them hoss

re till the law lets her loose." I figgered to myself Jake could use that team and wagon in his busine

in't been no trouble of no kind tha

e trouble. But it's about over, now, I guess.

hen I seen them men last night it looked to me

ion they is mighty bad customers. But they has got on the wrong side

I, "Hank wi

at?" as

ey come along to our place about sundown yesterday, and we nailed a shoe on one hoss. They was a coupl

standing by the hind wheel the night befo

at Injun medicine. Elmira has been ailing lately, and he wanted

"So the job is all

t myself. But now I guess I'll go fishing i

ting mebby to buy that rig off the town myself when the law lets l

ike, "I don't want to do it witho

is'n no longe

on't look to me like it's no harm to beat a couple of fellers like th

'd try to skin a hoss twicet if it died

Then," says Jake, squinching up his eyes, "people trusts you and you get a good chancet to make money. Look at this here hotel and livery stable, Danny. Twenty years

that way about it. Jest give me a chaw of toba

But Ralph Scott wasn't around. Si didn't wake up till we had hitched

ck purty soon." Which Si was wore out with being up so la

rt trot. Elmira, she come onto the porch and I waved my hand at her. She put her hand up to her forehead to shut out the sun and jest stared. She didn't know I was waving her farewell. Hank, he yelled