“Pshaw!” grunts Magpie. “I just got started, gents.”
“You ain’t got no use for it, Magpie,” says Jay-Bird. “Me and Hassayampa can afford a circus better than you and Ike. We’ll pay you back in the same checks you paid us, eh? Is that a go?”
“As you said, we can’t afford it,” nods Magpie. “We’ll trade.”
Magpie puts the checks in his pocket. We take another round of good cheer and ride on.
“See you at the celebration,” yells Jay-Bird.
“If you’ve got second sight,” nods Magpie, and we pilgrimed straight for Silver Bend.
We ain’t done nothing wrong in selling out. Believe me, that money sure looked good. I wondered if Hassayampa and Jay-Bird had gone crazy, but Magpie said if they hadn’t they soon would.
We got into Silver Bend after dark and hived up in a hotel. We’re so sore and tired that we don’t wake up until noon. Magpie opines that we better draw our money and go over to Powder River for a spell, so we pilgrimed down to the bank.
The curtains are down tight, and on the door hangs a card printed in big letters:
TO TRUST IS TO BUST.