let out a whoop that brought the sheriff from Rattlesnake at full speed,
and could be heard (so they say) all the way across the river to Wild
Goose Flat, six miles away.

Even Lizzie, accustomed as she was to Charlie's mannerisms, was frankly
startled and meekly allowed herself to be caught. She did not like to
plow. She was a saddler and a pair of tugs and a collar bored her. With
a cinch one could puff out in true wild-horse fashion while the latigo
strap was being pulled, and afterward be fairly comfortable, but a
slipping collar was neither off nor on. She shook herself impatiently
and the collar slid down her neck to her ears.

"Hey!" bellowed Charlie, "you don't vear it so! You - " The mare stamped
at a fly, bringing her hoof down on the old Dutchman's foot. His
blood-curdling whoops and yells brought the sheriff in on a brilliant
finale to a record-breaking run.

"What's the matter? Are you being murdered?"

"Who, I'm?" asked Charlie, absent-mindedly. He was nursing the injured
member, wondering whether to kick at Lizzie with it, knowing full well
that he stood a good chance of her kicking back again' but when she
snapped viciously at the puffing sheriff he decided against it.

"You com' to see me?" he asked, in a bland, so-glad-you've-called tone.

"To see you! Why, I've come to save your life!"

"So? Dot's goot, but Lizzie undt me, ve ain't got so much time today.
It's vegetables I sell in Rattlesnake undt ve go to plow, now."