just got in this
morning, and I haven't had time to look around much yet. I thought I'd
go out and meet my friend, and perhaps then we could talk over such
things together."

"Shore," said Curly. "Why didn't you tell me? Say, ole Batty, he's
crazy to ketch a whole lot o' hosses out'n a band o' wild hosses down to
the Beaver Creek. He always a-wantin' me to help him ketch them hosses.
Say, he's got a lot o' sassafiddity, somethin' like that, an' he says
he's goin' to soak some corn in that stuff an' set it out fer hosses.
Says it'll make 'em _loco_, so'st you kin go right up an' rope 'em. Now,
ain't that the d----dest fool thing yet? Say, some o' these pilgrims
that comes out here ain't got sense enough to last over night."

"Battersleigh is fond of horses," said Franklin, "and he's a rider, too."

"That's so," admitted Curly. "He kin ride. You orter see him when he
gits his full outfit on, sword _an_' pistol by his side, uh-huh!"

"He has a horse, then?"

"Has a boss? Has a hoss--has--what? Why, o' course he has a boss. Is
there anybody that ain't got a hoss?"

"Well, I haven't," said Franklin.

"You got this one," said Curly.

"How?" said Frank, puzzled.

"Why, you won him."

"Oh, pshaw!" said Franklin. "Nonsense! I wasn't wrestling for your
horse, only for a ride. Besides, I didn't have any horse put up against
yours. I couldn't lose anything."

"That's so," said Curly. "I hadn't thought of that. Say, you seem like
a white sort o' feller. Tell you what I'll just do with you. O' course,
I was thinkin' you'd win the whole outfit, saddle an' all. I think a
heap o' my saddle, an' long's you ain't got no saddle yet that you have
got used to, like, it don't make much difference to you if you get
another saddle. But you just take this here hoss along. No, that's all
right. I kin git me another back to the corral, just as good as this
one. Jim Parsons, feller on the big bunch o' cows that come up from the
San Marcos this spring, why, he got killed night before last. I'll just
take one o' his hosses, I reckon. I kin fix it so'st you kin git his
saddle, if you take a notion to it."

Franklin looked twice to see if there was affectation in this calm
statement, but was forced, with a certain horror, to believe that his new
acquaintance spoke of this as a matter of fact, and as nothing startling.
He had made no comment, when he was prevented from doing so by the
exclamation of the cowboy, w