“Sure I did! Do they ramble in their talk?”
“Oh, get out! The whole bunch is on their way to Circle T Ranch.”
“Well, there isn’t anything to hinder them that I know of.”
Cranny glanced at him curiously. He had frankly confessed to his father that he couldn’t understand the lad. Willie didn’t resemble any of the boys he had known. Jollity and life were certainly missing from his composition, and without any compensating qualities of earnestness or ambition.
The big lad thought of these things as Willie, taking two steps to his one, trudged by his side up a hilly street. An idea which seemed to please him immensely entered his head. The good-natured curve of his lips became more pronounced.
“Just the thing,” he reflected. “Bully idea—great! It ought to cinch it. Whoop!”
“Are you talking in your sleep?” demanded Willie.
“If I did, don’t mind it,” grinned the other, indulgently.
“As long as you don’t call me a cheeky little lad, I’ll forgive you. Say, I couldn’t help thinking I lost that——”
Cranny clapped his hand over Willie’s mouth.