"'Is this a hold-up game?' sez he.
And then her pa laughed wickedly.
"'This ain't no hold-up!' loud he cried,
As he stood beside the fair maiden's side.
"'But this here gal of mine ain't heard
What you Boes call the saddest word.'
"'The Bo, who onct had been a gent,
Took off his lid and low he bent.
"He saw the maiden was fed up good,
So her father's wink he understood.
"'The saddest word,' the Bo he spoke,
'Is the dinner-bell, when you are broke.'"
And Sundown paused, gazing ceilingward, that the moral might seep through.
"You're ridin' right to home!" laughed the cow-boy. "You just light down and we'll trail over to Chola Charley's and prospect a tub of frijoles. The dinner-bell when you are broke is plumb correct. Got any more of that po'try broke to ride gentle?"
"Uhuh. Say, how far is it to the next town?"
"Comin' or goin'?"