I then noticed two fellers a hoss back. "Do you belong to this
outfit?" sez I.

"Yes, we're the night riders," answered one o' 'em stickin' up his
hands, which plan seemed good to the other one also.

"What are you doin' here this time o' the evenin'?" I asked 'em.

"We heard the racket an' we--we thought something was wrong, an' we-
-we came in to see--"

"That's all right," sez I, "I'm the new foreman. You don't need to
put your hands up every time we meet, but I want you to understand
right now that I don't want those cows pestered any more. This
outfit is going to run smoother from this on, an' as soon as the
cook feels better he is going to cook my supper. I'll see that there
is plenty o' coffee for your midnight lunch, an' I want you to enjoy
yourselves--but I don't stand for no nonsense."

I made a motion with my eye an' they rode back to the herd, an' by
that time the lantern had arrived, an' I poked around in the cook's
belongings an' confiscated two shootin' irons an' a wicked Mexican
knife. Then I threw a bucket o' water in his face an' he came out of
it.

"How do you feel?" I asked him.

"Oh, hell," he moaned, an' he meant every word of it, an' more.