arcely move: and the more he
tried the more painful became Pink's diabolical hold of him. He
blinked and puzzled over the mystery.

"Of all the bone-headed, feeble-minded sons-uh-guns it's ever been my
duty and pleasure to reconstruct," announced Pink melodiously, "you
sure take the sour-dough biscuit. You're a song that's been tried on
the cattle and failed t' connect. You're the last wail of a coyote
dying in the dim distance. For a man that's been lynched and cut down
and waiting for another yank, you certainly--are--mild! You're the
tamest thing that ever happened. A lady could handle yuh with safety
and ease. You're a children's playmate. For a deep-dyed desperado
that's wanted for manslaughter in Texas, perjury in South Dakota, and
bigamy in Utah, you're the last feeble whisper of a summer breeze.
_You_ cuff my ears proper? Oh, my! and oh, fudge! It is to laugh!"

Cat, battered as to features and bewildered as to mind, blinked again
and grinned feebly.

"Yuh try an old gag that I wore out on humans of your ilk in Wyoming,"
went on Pink, warming to the subject. "Yuh load me with stuff that
would bring the heehaw from a sheep-herder. Yuh can't even lie
consistent to a pilgrim. You're a story that's been told and
forgotten, a canto that won't rhyme, blank verse with club feet.
You're the last, horrible example of a declining race. You're extinct."

"Say"--Pink's fists kneaded energetically Cal's suffering
diaphragm.--"are yuh--all--ba-a-d?"

"Oh, Lord! No. I'm dead gentle. Lemme up."

"D'yuh think that critter will quit the bunch ag'in to-night?"

"He ain't liable to," Cal assured him meekly. "Say, who the devil are
yuh anyhow?"

"I'm Percival Cadwallader Perkins. Do yuh like that name? Do yuh
think it drips sweetness and poetry, like a card uh honey?"

"_Ouch_! It--it's _swell_!"

"You're a dam' liar," declared Pink, getting up. "Furthermore, yuh old
chuckle-head, yuh ought t' know better than try t' run any ranikaboos
on me. I've got your pedigree, right back to the Flood; and it's safe
betting yuh got mine, and don't know it. Your best girl happens to be
my cousin."

Cal scrambled slowly and painfully to his feet. "Then you're Milk
River Pink. I might uh guessed it," he sighed.

"I cannot tell a lie," Pink averred. "Only, plain Pink'll do for me.
Where d'yuh suppose the bunch is by this time?"

They mounted and rode back together. Cal was deeply thoughtful.

"Say," he