CHAPTER XVIII.
BUFFALO BILL’S SUMMONS.
Sim Pierce had left the Star-A ranch, on the occasion of his first visit, immediately after dinner. While Mrs. Dunbar, happy as a lark, was clearing away the dishes and singing about her work, the scout and Dick Perry sat in front of the cabin.
Perry was an educated man—altogether of too fine a grain, the scout thought, to be “pioneering it” in the cattle country.
“Thanks to you and your pards, Buffalo Bill,” said Perry, “the worst of the Star-A troubles are over. Hear that girl singing away in the kitchen!” An affectionate smile crept over Perry’s face as he listened. “Just to be near happiness like hers, fills me with the joy of life and living.”
The scout nodded.
“You have a whole lot to be glad about, Perry,” said he.
“If anybody continues to stir up trouble on the Brazos, amigo, it will be the Benners.”
“Is there more than one Benner, then?”
“Haven’t you heard about Lige’s hunchback brother, Jerry?”
“Come to think of it, I believe I did hear something about a hunchback.”