“We ain’t got no references from bank nor stage-lines,” says I.
“But,” says Dirty, “we’re honest. We’ll split three ways, mister.”
He thinks it over for a while, and then says—
“Well, I feel that I’ve struck what I’ve been looking for.”
“That’s what ‘Mighty’ Jones said when he fell off into Hellgate Cañon and dislodged a hunk of galena ore, fifty feet from the bottom,” says Dirty.
“A feller never knows his luck till the wheel stops.”
“You two are going with me,” says he.
“Us two ain’t goin’ to do no such a thing,” says I. “You don’t know Piperock like we do.”
“That’s why you’re going with me.”
“You’re a danged poor fortune-teller,” observes Dirty. “Me and Ike would last about as long as a snowball in Yuma and you’d be alone. They’d put us in a nice little jail and then you’d get lost, strayed or stolen.