doubtfully.

"Along th' Canadian an' th' edges, yas; in th' middle, no," explained
Hopalong. "They hang close together on account of th' war-whoops, an'
they like th' trails purty well because of there allus bein' somebody
passin'."

"Buck ought to send some of th' Panhandle boys up there," suggested Red.
"There's Pie Willis an' th' Jordans--they knows th' Panhandle like yu
knows poker."

Frenchy had paid no apparent attention to the conversation up to this
point, but now he declared himself. "Yu heard what Buck said, didn't
yu?" He asked. "We were told to search th' Staked Plains from one end to
th' other an' I'm goin' to do it if I can hold out long enough. I ain't
goin' to palaver with yu because what yu say can't be denied as far as
wisdom is concerned. Yu may have hit it plumb center, but I knows what
I was ordered to do, an' yu can't get me to go over there if you shouts
all night. When Buck says anything, she goes. He wants to know where th'
cards are stacked an' why he can't holler 'Keno,' an' I'm goin' to find
out if I can. Yu can go to Patagonia if yu wants to, but yu go alone as
far as I am concerned."

"Well, it's better if yu don't go with us," replied Hopalong, taking it
for granted that Red would accompany him. "Yu can prospect this end of
th' game an' we'll be takin' care of th' other. It's two chances now
where we only had one afore."

"Yu go east an' I'll hunt around as ordered," responded Frenchy.

"East nothin'," replied Hopalong. "Yu don't get me to wallow in hot
alkali an' lose time ridin' in ankle-deep sand when I can hit th' south
trail, skirt th' White Sand Hills an' be in God's country again. I ain't
goin' to wrastle with no ca on this here trip, none whatever. I'm goin'
to travel in style, get to Big Spring by ridin' two miles to where I
could only make one on this stove. Then I'll head north along Sulpher
Spring Creek an' have water an' grass all th' way, barrin' a few
stretches. While you are bein' fricasseed I'll be streakin' through
cottonwood groves an' ridin' in the creek."

"Yu'll have to go alone, then," said Red, resolutely. "Frenchy ain't
a-goin' to die of lonesomeness on this desert if I knows what I'm about,
an' I reckon I do, some. Me an' him'll follow out what Buck said, hunt
around for a while an' then Frenchy can go back to th' ranch to tell
Buck what's up an' I'll take th' trail yu are a-scared of an' meet yu at
th' east end of Cunningham Lake three days from now."