on his side, paid obvious
inattention, "this hyeh delay, yu' see, may unsettle our plans some.
But it'll be one of two ways,--we're all goin' to Rawhide, or we're all
goin' to Billings. We're all one party, yu' see."

Trampas laughed audibly inside the door as he rejoined his men. "Let him
keep up appearances," I heard him tell them. "It don't hurt us what he
says to strangers."

"But I'm goin' to eat hearty either way," continued the Virginian. "And
I ain' goin' to be robbed. I've been kind o' promisin' myself a treat if
we stopped hyeh."

"Town's eat clean out," said the man.

"So yu' tell me. But all you folks has forgot one source of revenue that
yu' have right close by, mighty handy. If you have got a gunny sack,
I'll show you how to make some money."

"Bet your life!" said the man.

"Mr. Le Moyne," said the Virginian, "the outfit's cookin' stuff is
aboard, and if you'll get the fire ready, we'll try how frawgs' laigs go
fried." He walked off at once, the man following like a dog. Inside the
caboose rose a gust of laughter.

"Frogs!" muttered Scipio. And then turning a blank face to me, "Frogs?"

"Colonel Cyrus Jones had them on his bill of fare," I said. "'FROGS'
LEGS A LA DELMONICO.'"

"Shoo! I didn't get up that thing. They had it when I came. Never looked
at it. Frogs?" He went down the steps very slowly, with a long frown.
Reaching the ground, he shook his head. "That man's trail is surely
hard to anticipate," he said. "But I must hurry up that fire. For his
appearance has given me encouragement," Scipio concluded, and became
brisk. Shorty helped him, and I brought wood. Trampas and the other
people strolled off to the station, a compact band.

Our little fire was built beside the caboose, so the cooking things
might be easily reached and put back. You would scarcely think such
operations held any interest, even for the hungry, when there seemed
to be nothing to cook. A few sticks blazing tamely in the dust, a
frying-pan, half a tin bucket of lard, some water, and barren plates and
knives and forks, and three silent men attending to them--that was all.
But the travellers came to see. These waifs drew near us, and stood, a
sad, lone, shifting fringe of audience; four to begin with; and then two
wandered away; and presently one of these came back, finding it worse
elsewhere. "Supper, boys?" said he. "Breakfast," said Scipio, crossly.
And no more of them addressed us. I heard them joylessly mention W