"This here calf had a brand new V—hadn't healed yet," Skinny remarked, lighting his pipe. "An' it didn't—puff—have no—puff—mother," he added, significantly.
"Huh, weaned, you chump—but that fresh V is shore funny."
"Go on, Skinny," ordered Hopalong, eagerly.
"I found its mother an hour later—hobble-burned an' limping; an' it wasn't no H2 cow, neither; it was one of ourn."
"Rustling!" cried Hopalong.
"Th' H2 is doing it," contradicted Red, quickly.
"They wouldn't take a chance like that," replied Hopalong.
"There ain't no rule for taking chances," Red rejoined. "Some men'll gamble with h—l itself—you, for instance, in gun-play."
"What else?" demanded Hopalong of Skinny.
"That Big Coulee herd ain't up there, an' hain't been near th' water hole for so long th' mud's smooth around the edges of th' pond; kin savvy?"