with a rattle.

"Slim!" he called at length.

Slim raised his little freckled face which was supported by a neck of
uncanny length, and he blinked unconcernedly at his bunkie. He and
Shorty were inseparable companions.

"Take the saddle off my horse and put 'er up," groaned Shorty. "I'm dead
beat!"

"Maybe you been chasing Perris on foot," observed Lew Hervey. Direct
questions were still not in order, but often a man could be taunted into
speech.

"Damn Perris and damn him black," retorted Shorty, opening his eyes with
a snap and letting a glance blaze into space. "Of all the
leather-skinned, mule-muscled, wrong-headed gents I ever seen he's the
outlastingest."

"You sure got your vocabulary all warmed up," observed Little Joe,
so-called because of two hundred pounds of iron-hard sinew and muscle.
Slim was wandering towards the door to execute his mission, but he kept
his head cocked towards his prostrated friend to learn as much as
possible before he left. "Which I disremember," went on Little Joe
thoughtfully, "of you ever putting so many words together without
cussing. Perris must of give you some Bible study down to Glosterville."

It brought Shorty up on one bulging elbow and he glared at Little Joe.