Happy Hawkins

TMENT FOR A

he three punchers sat with the rims of their lids between thumb an' finger, lookin' at the floor as solemn as i

this place?"

oss," sez I, "I r

u could be gone

done if I stayed. Nobody hasn't told me what

k this child's life with your fool nonsense," sez he.

he also knew 'at I knew he was thinkin' of the same thing, an' that we'd neither of us mention it, an

umor her in every

ow, she ain't m

with your leg?" sez I. "It's broke!" he yells. "Do you t

sy that w

in't," h

you might be able to talk easy," I s

ck was in his favor when Slinky Bill left Pluto's door open an' he got out. It took 'em some time to get him back, an' they finally roped him. None o' the boys seemed anxious to go into his stall an' take the rope off unless he'd let

andaged that in, an' finally split a joint of stovepipe an' packed cotton to fit the leg, tyin' the whole business to the board when it arrived, an' proppin' the board up on pillers with one at each side of

a lot more steam on his mind. Presently he said, "But we might

time ago," sez I. "I'

e do you mean takin

' my own," sez I; "but if I was you I

lls, an' even the thre

o-day, an' it proved 'at my way o' feedin' is the right way. You don't own a pair o' hosses 'at can go out to-morrow an' keep in sight o' Starlight an' the pinto. An' my way o' handlin' Pluto is the rig

at I say,"

s head an' arm, an' then she picks up Barbie in her arms an' I saw the little chap's lip begin to quiver; I saw Jabez wink his eyes too fast for comfort; I saw the tears rollin' down the cheeks of old Melisse, an' I went out in

ury or so before. She was the silent sort, but she could do a heap

ow was heavy I stayed in a little cave right up the ravine from the pony cor

es to people 'at work for themselves, an' I don't reckon I got the authority to make anybody

for a while, he don't turn on ya just because you've become out o' favor for a spell

knife into him, an' was twistin' it around slow without losin' her temper. He squirmed, he bit his lip, his thumbs kept runnin' over

to the door an' then she turned an' sez in a low tone: "You're mighty proud o' being called Cast Steel, you love to trample over people; but I want to tell you somethin' to remember; I sha'n't

one else's fault," I sez, after he h

man to work

in't,"

ever unju

o off halfc

allus abou

fore I answered. "Why, it's

where she's concerned, an' you fellers ought to

ng is that you go off at halfcock, an' then you allus expect the other feller to pa

he' ain't nothin' I wouldn't do for Barbara-except see her get started wrong. You're different from the rest, some way, an' she thinks mo

're payin' me," sez I-but he broke in: "If

ad any time I want an' get mo

much as any man in

e at all if it wasn'

ng at the right time better'n any other man I ever had; but you're the contrariest man to

me in with the cows, an' I don't never intend to act like a cow. I'm man to man wherever I am, an' a lo

hough I must confess if I had my way about it, I'd like to put a quart o' bran the

o school every day

en I told you to give that schoolmas

have been in the right as far as I know,

into the schoolroom an' ropin' the master ain't no way for a gal child to act. What I want is for t

n the astronomer said

sez so

in' a child say somethin' it don't nowise believe. The truth is more importan

n' the teacher sez it's pronounced one way, an' you another, an' me another, until she thinks we're all liars; and she knows it the next day when

ake 'thought' an' through,' an' 'though'-why, it's enough

it," sez I. "You've had three di

y own money, just so I'd have it handy, an' didn't I offer t

d here to her feet, Jabez," sez I, "an' it wo

sleep. Spider Kelley had found the doctor almost in our neighborhood, an' he arrived with him by ten in the mornin'. He paid me a high compliment on the leg, an' after he'd rounded up a few splinters it wasn't no trou

-er; but Jabez himself tended to even little details when he felt like it. When he didn't feel that way, any one else who thought of it did

"He's the hardest-hearted old tyran

now?"

mise to give him a month's notice next time. How's a man to know a month ahead when he's goin' to be in th

a sight o' mon

just rentin' it out by the night. I've watched fellers drinkin' when they didn't crave it, an' it hurt 'em somethin' dreadful. If you don't wan

n airy other man I ever see, an' it wa

n that evenin', an' she got Jabez to let him go next day; but after Jabez'd had time to think it over, he sez to m

ded it mighty

child to be beggin' for a man to go get drunk," se