d?" asked Jessamie.

Just then Jim an' Barbie came around the corner o' the house, an' I
sez: "Mr. an' Mrs. Bill Hammersly, allow me to make you introduced to
the Earl o' Clarenden an' his bride."

They was totally devoid of remarks for some time. Jim was the first to
speak, an' he seemed a trifle put out. "What do you mean by such
nonsense, Happy?" sez he. Then they all looked at him on account of him
usin' the tone he had. I turned to Barbie an' sez easily: "I was
tellin' Bill down at Frisco about a month ago that I rather doubted if
Jim here would take the job; but if so be that he wants it, it's open
for him. If not, that Hawthorn thing has the next chance."

I stepped back a few paces after this an' let 'em talk it out. Jim was
the most flabbergasted of any, Barbie looked a little bit frightened;
but Jessamie sez: "If Happy Hawkins sez 'at you're the Earl of
Clarenden, why you might as well give up. He has inside information on
every given subject, an' things don't never happen until he's had his
finger in it somewhere." Jessamie allus was a good feller.

An' that's the way it turned out. Jim an' Barbie went back to Clarenden
on their honeymoon, an' Barbie's taken the lead over there the same as
she'd do anywhere. I stayed right at the Diamond Dot 'cause Jabez
didn't seem able to get along without me; an' I hit work harder than
ever. Now I oversee the Diamond Dot, Jim's place down in the Pan
Handle, which is full stocked an' runnin' easy with the ex-governor's
backin', an' also the ol' Colonel Scott ranch which Bill and Jessamie
fell heir to.

Jim an' Barbie an' the children come back every summer; Bill an'
Jessamie an' their outfit hop in on me most any time, Ches an' his
bunch drop in for a week or so now an' again, an' if I ever do get
lonesome I just sneak my full-dress uniform out o' the hay an' go down
to Frisco for a little easin' off o' the guy-ropes. Oh, I haven't had
to petition to congress to have my name changed; I'm Happy. I'm happier
than any human ever had a right to be, an' life never drags none--at
least not in the daytimes. The' 's dozens o' boys named after me, an'
only the recordin' angel knows how many dogs an' ponies. Take it as a
big gatherin', an' if any one yells, "Happy, you rascal, get out o'
here," Why the' 's a general stampede.

Barbie's allus extra kind to me, as if she still felt that the' was
somethin' left for me to forgive her; but my goodness, the' ain't a
thing. It wasn't