“Stage fright,” opines Magpie.
“Safety first,” says I. “Animals have instincts, and hers is to get below the line of fire.”
Me and Dirty meets the Cross J quartet, and they’re getting cheerful.
“No,” says Muley, “we ain’t goin’ to no celebrashun. They have done us dirt and we sickens to our soul at their per-fid-i-tee.”
“Sheveral per-fid-i-tees,” nods Telescope. “Group aroun’ me while we shing a shong of gladness over the merry Chris’mas time. All together now:
“Oh, the coyote said, I’m better than a puncher,
With a gun that goes blam, blam!
He may die and go up to heaven,
But his skin ain’t worth a ——”
“You sure does get into the Christmas spirit,” opines Dirty. “That’s one of the sweetest things I ever heard.”