Bug Eye drank in great gulps, grunting with satisfaction. When he had finished he leaned back in his chair and looked at the ring of anxious faces. Even the orchestra had deserted its post and stood with the others, eagerly waiting for the story of the robbery.
“Are you hurt at all, Bug Eye?� Mr. Manley asked. “Anything we can get you?�
“No, I’m O. K. now, thanks,� the man answered. “I was just thirsty and winded. Why, those double-distilled, knock-kneed, ornery bunch of tin mule-stealers, drat their hides, made me walk all the way from Sanborn’s Point!�
“He’s all right,� Teddy said to Roy, with a grin. “The same old Bug Eye! Listen to him rave!�
Having gotten some of the accumulated feeling out of his system, the puncher ended with a vigorous “whoosh!� and started his story.
“Well, when the boss got your message,� he said, nodding toward Nell and Ethel, “he told me to get set for a trip to the X Bar X. So I filled the ole puddle-jumper up with oil, gas, an’ water. Long about four o’clock the boss gives me two boxes an’ tells me to treat ’em careful. Roy, hand me that pitcher again, will you?� The young fellow complied, and after another drink Bug Eye went on:
“So I throws ’em in the back. I means I puts ’em in the back. Then Mrs. Ball comes out an’ gives me another box, a small one, which she tells me to be very careful of. Says it’s a present for Miss Belle here.â€� And Bug Eye nodded once more. “So I puts that with the dresses—Mrs. Ball tells me what was in the other boxes, so I wouldn’t sit on ’em by mistake,â€� he apologized.
“Then I starts out. Got along fine till I reached Sanborn’s Point—you know where that is, hey Teddy? Well, I shoots her the gas, so’s I can make the hill on high. But nothin’ doin’. ’Bout half way up she stalls, an’ I shoves her in low gear. Just as I do that, I hear a yell, an’ three men with masks jumps from the bushes, guns out, business ends toward me, an’ tells me to stop!â€�
There was a buzz of excited comment, and questions were shot at Bug Eye with machine-gun rapidity. He simply shook his head and went on.
“Now, boys, give me time! I’m tellin’ it as fast as I know how. As I said, they tells me to stop. So I stops, not bein’ crazy. They pulls me from the front seat an’ pushes me into the bushes. Then they hop in, one of ’em behind the wheel, one of ’em keepin’ me covered. The other watches out the side.