lso Jakie, with the eyes of a snake and the
toothy grin of a wild animal and with a knife which Happy Jack had
never seen before; a knife which caught the sunlight and glittered
horridly.

Happy Jack backed out as if he had inadvertently stirred a nest of
hornets. Jakie almost caught him before he took to his heels. Happy
never waited to discover what the new cook was saying, or whether he
was following or remaining at the tent. He headed straight for the
protection of the horse-wrangler, who watched his cavvy not far away,
and his face was the color of stale putty.

The horse-wrangler saw him coming and came loping up to meet him.
"What's eating yuh, Happy?" he inquired inelegantly.

"Jakie--he's gone nutty! He come at me with a knife, and he'd uh
killed me if I'd stayed!" Happy Jack pantingly recovered himself. "I
didn't have no time ta git my gun," he added in a more natural tone,
"or I'd uh settled him pretty blame quick. So I come out to borrow
yourn. I betche _I'll_ have the next move."

The horse-wrangler grinned heartlessly. "I reckon he's about half
shot," he said, sliding over in the saddle and getting out the
inevitable tobacco sack and papers. "Old Pete Williams rode past while
you were gone, loaded to the guards and with a bottle uh whisky in
each saddle-pocket and two in his coat. He gave me a drink, and then
he went on and stopped at camp. He was hung up there for quite a
spell, I noticed. I didn't _see_ him pass any uh the vile liquor to
little Jakie, but--" he twirled a blackened match stub in his fingers
and then tossed it from him.

"Aw, gwan! Jakie wouldn't touch nothing when he was in town," Happy
Jack objected. "I betche he's gone crazy, or else--"

"Well," interrupted the horse-wrangler, "I've told yuh what I know and
all I know. Take it or leave it." He rode back to turn the lead-horse
from climbing a ridge where he did not want the herd to follow. He did
not lend Happy Jack his gun, and for that reason--perhaps--Jakie
remained alive and unpunctured until the first of the riders came
loping in to camp.

The first riders happened to be Pink and Big Medicine. They were met
by a tearful, contrite Jakie--a Jakie who seemed much inclined to
weeping upon their shirt-fronts and to confessing all his sins,
particularly the sin of trying to carve Happy Jack. That perturbed
gentleman made his irate appearance as soon as he found that
reinforcements had arrived.

Big Medicine disengaged himself f