"Huh! I could 'a' told you that long ago," observed Purdy. "You just catchin' on?"
"I saw somethin' move," retorted Gates. "It slid past that crack an' th' sun caught it purty fair, so I let drive. How th' devil do you suppose I knowed it was a ki-yote? Think I'm one of them mejums an' has second sight?"
"Never!" chuckled Fleming. "People make mistakes, but th' man don't live, free an' unrestrained, that would think you had second sight. He might even be doubtful about th' first sight. You want to practice second look. Look twice, pray, an' then count ten, Dan'l, old trapper."
"He oughta be penned up nights," growled Sanford. "He's a cussed sight more dangerous than a plague."
Another rider joined them from the south. "Dan'l Boone at it again?" he asked, grinning.
"He is!" snapped Purdy.
Harrison quieted his horse. "You fellers take him home with you, an' keep him there. He shoots at anythin' that moves! I'm goin' to take root right here till he gets down below. Mebby he might take me for somethin' suspicious."
"If I'd 'a' got that chicken-thief," placidly remarked Gates, "I'd 'a' slipped it into Cookie's coop tonight, cussed if I wouldn't!"
"You keep away from his coop," warned Fleming, with a solemn shake of his head. "He's another that shoots at anythin' that moves."
Holbrook looked at Harrison. "You takin' th' north end tonight?"