He glanced at Johnny, his eyes dancing. "Yo're comin' nearer th' candle all th' time, little moth," he laughed. "I'll singe them wings of yourn—you see! My flush takes this game. Deal 'em up, Dailey," he grunted, raking in chips and cards.
"Come on, Nelson," said Fanning. "Better get in this. Th' old hoss thief is stackin' 'em up for you."
"Huh!" Johnny remarked. "It ain't as big a pile as I was hopin'. Oh, well," he sighed, "I'm like th' SV round-up: I take 'em as they come."
"How'd they come to start that so early?" asked Fanning. "It's plumb warm for workin' hard."
"Wanted to know how many head they had," answered Johnny. "An' what do you know about workin' hard?"
"He's seen me lots of times," cut in Dailey. "Did they find out?"
"Shore. They've got twelve hundred an' twenty, which would be fourteen hundred an' fifty-five, if Arnold hadn't sold two hundred an' thirty-five head."
"That's good, considerin' how things has been let slide over there," remarked Fraser.
"Th' old figgers of three years ago," said Johnny, "when Arnold took possession, were sixteen hundred an' eighty-five, in th' fall. Now, lemme see—do I need two or three?" he mused. "Reckon there ain't no use of throwin' away a nice, high card, so I'll take two. I'm plumb fond of holdin' up a sider." He glanced at the two cards, slipped them into his hand and looked around. "Now, I was askin' th' Double X what factor they used to figger natural increase—an' they says one to five. That right?"