“Well, you go back there an’—But say, has Pete got any others?”
“He had ten when I left, an’ no knowin’ how many he’s got by this time. Pete sez ’at guinea-pigs is the prolificest things the’ is,” sez Spider.
“You buy three of ’em, Spider,” sez I; “a male one an’ a female one, an’ this here freak.”
“What do I want with ’em?” sez Spider.
“I’ll pay half, an’ show you how to make money out of ’em,” sez I.
“I don’t want to tinker with no such cattle as them,” sez Spider.
“You get a fresh pony, an’ it won’t take you no time at all,” sez I.
So Spider got the pony an’ went off grumblin’. When he brought ’em back he had ’em in a small box an’ they certainly was curious lookin’ insects. “I paid four bits apiece for the male an’ the female,” sez Spider, “an’ twenty-five real dollars for the freak.”
“If that’s the way prices run,” sez I, “it ain’t no wonder that guinea-pigs what are ambitious to be popular, are willin’ to give up the luxury o’ tails.”
“Now then, what in thunder are we goin’ to do with ’em?” sez Spider.