"Wall," commented Lawton, after a pause, "that is a good drink. Reckon I must be goin'."
"Stay t' grub!" urged Old Mizzou heartily.
"Folks waitin'. Remember!"
They looked at Bennington and chuckled a little, to that young man's discomfort.
"Lawton's a damn fine fella'," said Old Mizzou with emphasis. Bennington thought, with a shudder, of the loose-skinned, turkey-red neck, and was silent.
After supper Bennington and Old Mizzou played cribbage by the light of a kerosene lamp.
"While I was hunting claims this afternoon," said the Easterner suddenly, "I ran across a mighty pretty girl."
"Yas?" observed Old Mizzou with indifference. "What fer a gal was it?"
"She didn't look as if she belonged around here. She was a slender girl, very pretty, with a pink dress on."
"Ain't no female strangers yar-abouts. Blue eyes?"