“How is it yore ridin' the calico?” Asked the foreman. “I thought yu was dead stuck on that piebald.”
“That piebald's a goat; he's beein livin' off my pants lately,” responded Hopalong. “Every time I looks th' other way he ambles over and takes a bite at me. Yu just wait 'til this rustler business is roped, an' branded, an' yu'll see me eddicate that blessed scrapheap into eatin' grass again.” He swiped Billy's shirt th' other day—took it right off th' corral wall, where Billy's left it to dry. Then, seeing Buck raise his eyebrows, he explained: “Shore, he washed it again. That makes three times since last fall.”
The proprietor laughed and pushed out the ever-ready bottle, but Hopalong shoved it aside and told the reason: “Ever since I was up to K. C. I've been spoiled. I'm drinkin' water an' slush.”
“For Pete's sake, has any more of yu fellers been up to K. C.?” queried the proprietor in alarm.
“Shore: Red an' Billy was up there, too.” responded Hopalong. “Red's got a few remarks to shout to yu about yore pain-killer. Yu better send for some decent stuff afore he comes to town,” he warned.
Buck swung away from the bar and looked at his dead cigar. Then he turned to Hopalong. “What did you find?” He asked.
“Same old story: nice wide trail up to th' Staked Plain—then nothin'.”
“It shore beats me,” soliloquized the foreman. “It shore beats me.”
“Think it was Tamale Jose's old gang?” Asked Hopalong.
“If it was they took th' wrong trail home—that ain't th' way to Mexico.”