The trapper blushed behind his whiskers and the grime of perspiration and alkali dust. But he recovered quickly.
“Thet thar is er surpriser. I planned ter creep up on this side ther rock an’ throw ther ketchumnappin’ ercross on t’other side, so’s ther vilyuns c’d hyar et. I reckoned they’d fire at ther fust thing they heard move in the dark, an’ then, ’fore they had er chanst ter think er git their ears open, I jes’ cal’lated ter jump round ther corner an’ nab um.”
“How did it work?”
“Didn’t work,” grunted the trapper disgustedly.
“Did you throw it?”
“Uh-huh.”
“What did they do?”
“They throwed some consarned ball o’ powder, an’ ha’r, an’ stuff thet flared up an’ showed my ketchumnappin’ sound ersleep. An’ me’n Cayuse hed ter hedgehog back inter ther darkness right lively, whilst they wuz poppin’ erway at us some cautious.”
“You didn’t try it again?”
“None whatever wuth mentionin’.”