“No use your divin’ for that candy,” says Edmund; “it’s all melted by now.”
But Jake didn’t know about the candy and he had somethin’ on his mind. His old innocent blue eyes was troubled.
“Decided where Washington, D.C., is?” says Edmund, walkin’ ahead of him into the store.
But that didn’t faze Jake; he’d come to say somethin’. I thought Washington, D.C., was a thing of the past. As a matter of fact it hadn’t scarcely begun; it was bidin’ its time for all of us, though none of us could ever suspect that.
“Well, where’s your partner this afternoon?” says Edmund.
Kultus Jake he walks around the store blinkin’ at the various goods, and he touches a trap here and a blanket there and after a while he answers:—
“Oh, he’s over to Pipestone Cañon.” And he walks around and touches some more goods.
“Figure you’ll get into the mountains this season?” says Edmund.
“Yes,” says Jake. “Next week.” Then he walks up close to Edmund. “Baldy’s over to Pipestone Cañon,” says he. “We’re goin’ to start next week. Don’t want the snow to get ahead of us. Mink and marten reported plentiful up Robinson Creek. One man seen a silver-gray fox. Guess we’ll do pretty well this winter. Live in Robinson Cabin—it ain’t fallen down like they claimed.” And he took another turn around by the door. Well, all this wasn’t much to tell people. We knowed all that ourselves—but Jake just then made up his mind quick to say what he’d come to say.
“Don’t you josh Baldy,” says he, comin’ back close up to Edmund. “Don’t you do it any more. I don’t mind joshin’, but Baldy—he’s old.”