herokee, riflin' the deck
an' snappin' it into the box plenty vicious, 'to go 'round objectin'
after Nellie yere's done put 'em in nom'nation for this trust.'

"'Not that they'd reeject it haughty,' explains Moore; 'but, as Texas
himse'f says, who's to know, they bein' mighty modest people, that
they'll regyard themselves as comp'tent? The Frenches ain't had no
practice, an' thar's nothin' easier than a misdeal about a youngone.
Thar's a brainless mother saws her baby off on me over in Prescott one
day, while she goes cavortin' into a store to buy a frock, an' you-all
can go put a bet on it I'm raisin' the he'pless long yell inside of
the first minute. This takin' charge of babies ain't no sech pushover
as it looks. It's certainly no work for amatoors.'

"'Thar's nothin' in them doubts, Jack,' Boggs chips in confidently.
'Even if them Frenches ain't had no practice, an' the nurses should
fall down, thar's dozens of us who'll be ever at the elbow of that
household; an' if in their ignorance they takes to bunglin' the play
we'll be down on 'em in the cockin' of a winchester to give 'em the
proper steer.'

"'I reckon, Nellie,' says Texas, lookin' wistful across at Nell,
'that if some of the boys yere'll stand your watch as lookout,
you'd put in a day layin' in a outfit of duds? You could be doin'
it, you know, while I'm down in Laredo, treating with them hostiles
for possession.'

"'Shore,' an' Nellie smiles at the prospect. 'Which I'll jest go
stampedin' over to Tucson for 'em, too. How old is Annalinda?'

"Texas gives Annalinda's age as three.

"'She'll be four next fall,' says he; 'I remembers Ed writes me she's
born durin' the beef round-up.'

"'In that case,' comments Enright, 'she ought to stand about eight
hands high. In clawin' together said raiment, Nellie, that'll give you
some impression of size.'

"'An', Nellie,' continyoos Texas, 'my idee is you'll want to change
in say a thousand dollars?'

"'Why, Texas, you talk like you're locoed. One hundred'll win out all
the clothes she could sp'ile, w'ar or t'ar to pieces in a year.'

"'Shore,' coincides Tutt; 'take little Enright Peets. One hundred
_pesos_ leaves him lookin' like a circus.'

"'But Annalinda,' objects Texas doubtfully, 'is a She. It costs more
for girls. That Laredo wife of mine'd blow in the price of sixty head
of cattle, an' then allow she ain't half dressed.'

"'One hundred'll turn the trick,' Nell insists.

"All that night we sets u