"That's what makes him wild," chuckled Fanning. "Ben, how much has Nelson taken away from you?" "Not very much, an' I more than got it back from th' others," retorted Dailey. "If I only had his luck with my skill--but what's th' use?" he asked, shrugging his shoulders. "You shore has got to have plenty of luck with _yore_ skill," jibed Dave, "or you wouldn't even have a shirt left." "Lemme ask you somethin' seein' that you know so much about poker," said Fanning. "How far should a man back two pairs?" "Them assassins? You get up to this table, you scoffin' innocent, an' I'll show you when you ought to let loose of two pair," chuckled Dailey. "Who's this comin'? Fraser! Come over here, Bill, an' help me rope a couple of tenderfeet into a little game of draw. They're shy tonight." "Who's th' other, besides me?" inquired Fraser, leaning against the bar. "Huh!" snorted Dailey. "All right, then; help me rope in th' other two." "If I'm goin' to be yore come-on, what do I get out of it?" laughed Fraser. "Every cussed thing you can get an' hold onto, but you'd better sand yore hands. Here's another sheep: Hello, Gurley! Yo're just in time to get a seat--I allus did like a five-handed game. Come on! Come on! Don't be afraid of th' iron!" "Make it four-handed for a little while," said Johnny. "That'll give Dailey a chance to stack it up in front of him all ready for me. I ain't as good at draw as some down here, but I can allus take it away from Ben, somehow. How's things on th' Triangle, Gurley?" "Slowin' fast since them Double X fellers moved off. They made me wear out four cayuses a day. When will they finish up?" "Purty soon, I reckon," answered Johnny, turning to Fraser. "You fellers are lucky. You don't get many strays over th' mountain, or through that canyon, I reckon." "Not any that I've noticed," replied Fraser. "But we've been plumb lazy in our round-ups. We got an awful sight of brandin' to do next time." "That so?" asked Johnny. "Been takin' life easy an' lettin' 'em go?" "Shore; that northwest section is so rough an' full of brush that it's near impossible to get 'em out. There must be an awful lot of unmarked animals over there. We're goin' to have our hands full with 'em." "Aimin' to tackle it this fall?" asked Johnny, carelessly. "Mebby; mebby not. McCullough will save us from goin' up th' trail this year, so we might run a special combin' up out there." "I'm runnin' one right here!" exclaimed Dailey, banging his fist on the table. "I'll run a brand on you fellers that'll smart so you can't sleep. Come on, let's get a-goin'. Hot iron! Hot iron! Ropers up!" "I'll just take a bite out of you," said Fraser. "Anybody else hungry?" "I just ain't never had enough to eat," chuckled Fanning, dragging up a chair, "not since I was a growin' kid--an' I ain't nowise shore that I had enough then."