he pony did not appear to have more than the ordinary
amount of cussedness. He waved his hand, and Johnny and Red bandaged the
animal's eyes, which quieted him at once, and then they untangled
the rope from around his legs and saw that the cinches were secure.
Motioning to By-and-by that all was ready, they jerked the bandage off
as the Indian settled himself in the saddle.

Had By-and-by been really sober he would have taken the conceit out of
that pony in chunks, and as it was he experienced no great difficulty in
holding his seat; but in his addled state of mind he grasped the end of
the cinch strap in such a way that when the pony jumped forward in
its last desperate effort the buckle slipped and the cinch became
unfastened; and By-and-by, still seated in the saddle, flew head
foremost into the horse trough, where he spilled much water.

As this happened Cowan turned the corner, and when he saw the wasted
water (which he had to carry, bucketful at a time, from the wells a good
quarter of a mile away) his anger blazed forth, and yelling, he ran
for the drenched Sioux, who was just crawling out of his bath. When the
unfortunate saw the irate man bearing down on him he sputtered in rage
and fear, and, turning, he ran down the street, with Cowan thundering
flatfootedly behind on a fat man's gallop, to the hysterical cheers of
the delighted outfit, who saw in it nothing but a good joke.

When Cowan returned from his hopeless task, blowing and wheezing, he
heard sundry remarks, sotto voce, which were not calculated to increase
his opinion of his physical condition.

"Seems to me," remarked the irrepressible Hopalong, "that one of those
cayuses has got th' heaves."

"It shore sounds like it," acquiesced Johnny, red in the face from
holding in his laughter, "an' say, somebody interferes."

"All knock-kneed animals do, yu heathen," supplied Red.

"Hey, yu, let up on that and have a drink on th' house," invited
Cowan. "If I gits that durn war whoop I'll make yu think there's been
a cyclone. I'll see how long that bum hangs around this here burg, I
will."

Red's eyes narrowed and his temper got the upper hand. "He ain't no bum
when yu gives him rotgut at a quarter of a dollar a glass, is he? Any
time that 'bum' gits razzled out for nothin' more'n this, why, I goes
too; an' I ain't sayin' nothin' about goin' peaceable--like, neither."

"I knowed somethin' like this 'ud happen," dolefully sang out Billy
Williams, stron