w, look here--"

"You're a funny sort o' a feller, Cap," said Curly, "but if you're
goin' to tan that hide you'd better finish peggin' it out, an' git to
work on it."

CHAPTER XIII

PIE AND ETHICS

One morning Battersleigh was at work at his little table, engaged, as he
later explained, upon the composition of a letter to the London Times,
descriptive of the Agrarian Situation in the United States of America,
when he was interrupted by a knock at his door.

"Come in, come in, Ned, me boy," he exclaimed, as he threw open the door
and recognised his visitor. "What's the news this mornin'?"

"News?" said Franklin gaily, holding his hands behind his back. "I've
news that you can't guess--good news."

"You don't mean to tell me they've moved the land office into Ellisville,
do you, Ned?"

"Oh, no, better than that."

"You've not discovered gold on your quarter section, perchance?"

"Guess again--it's better than that."

"I'll give it up. But leave me a look at your hands."

"Yes," said Franklin, "I'll give you a look, and one more guess." He
held up a small bag before Battersleigh's face.

"It's not potatoes, Ned?" said Battersleigh in an awed tone of voice.
Franklin laughed.

"No; better than that," he said.

"Ned," said Battersleigh, "do ye mind if I have a bit smell of that bag?"

"Certainly," said Franklin, "you may have a smell, if you'll promise to
keep your hands off."

Battersleigh approached his face to the bag and snuffed at it once,
twice, thrice, as though his senses needed confirmation. He straightened
up and looked Franklin in the face.

"Ned," said he, his voice sinking almost to a whisper, "it's--it's
apples!"

"Right," said Franklin. "And isn't that news?"

"The best that could be, and the hardest to believe," said Battersleigh.
"Where'd you get thim, and how?"

"By diplomacy," said Franklin. "Morrison, one of the transit men of the
engineers, was home in Missouri for a visit, and yesterday he came back
and brought a sack of apples with him. He was so careless that he let
the secret out, and in less than half an hour he had lost two thirds of
his sack of apples--the boys wheedled them out of him, or stole them. At
last he put the bag, with what was left of the apples, in the safe at the
hotel, and left orders that no one should have even a look at them. I
went out and sent a man in to tell the clerk that he was wanted at the
depot, and while he was away I looted th