Alex seemed to be a long time getting “full to the neck,” and Buck and Clay finally left for the town, leaving Case to watch the boat.
When they reached the tavern there seemed to be nothing unusual going on. There were no people standing about, and everything appeared normal and in place.
“Now, I wonder where the boys and Rube are?” Clay said. “They ought to be here, making a noise!”
The two found no one in the front of the house, so they made bold to invade the kitchen. Before they reached that apartment, however, they heard Alex’s voice. They stopped and listened.
“And you take a fat ’possum and fix it up for the pan,” he was saying, “and when you’ve done that, take strips of fat pork and lay them lengthwise through the dressing. Oh, yes, about the dressing! I didn’t tell you how to fix that, did I?”
Clay was so full of laugh that he exploded right there.
“Tell the cook about the sweet potatoes!” he reared, half choking with laughter. “Perhaps you’ll make a pretty good cook of him before we have to leave the town.”
Alex opened the kitchen door and looked out.
“Oh, you!” he said with a broad grin.
Then he caught sight of the new suit worn by Clay and looked toward Jule with a wrinkling of the nose.