"At th' end of a rope? Why, Dave, he wanted to know where th' this, that, an' th' other thing I was last night. Reckoned, mebby, I'd got full of berries an' hibernated. What was you doin' in th' SV valley?" "What did you tell him?" asked Johnny, grinning. "Told him that I was rustlin' a passel of cows an' that they went so fast I had to run to Juniper before I could head 'em off. You must 'a' had one h--l of a time gettin' out. Shore Pepper ain't hurt?" "It ain't th' first bath she's had--she's a good swimmer, 'though for much of it I'd ruther have a cayuse with a bigger barrel. She won't shrink." "Why in h--l don't Dave set out th' bottle, like he used to?" growled Two-Spot. "There ain't no sense in totin' it by th' glass to a crowd of blotters. They'll hold more liquor than a gopher hole--an' I've broke my back carryin' water to drown them fellers out when I was a kid. How long is your rope?" "Dave's a friend of mine, that's why," answered Johnny. "My capacity is so limited that ol' Dailey could clean me out after my fourth drink. Them leather-bellies can drink me into a heap on th' floor, an' never know they'd been drinkin'." "Shore," said Two-Spot, chuckling; "yo're a teethin' infant, a reg'lar suckin' calf--I've seen you put away a dozen an' not bat an eye. An' it's bad medicine; look at me. How long's that rope?" "Eighty feet." "Yo're another. There ain't a man livin' can throw such a rope an' ketch anythin'. I've seen some good uns, but I've never seen even a sixty-foot rope. Who fastened to you?" "Yo're loco--plumb loco," said Johnny. "You want to forget them hallucernations--somebody might believe 'em." "'Hallerlucinations'--humph! I'll have to remember that an' throw it at Dave. Where was you today?" "Mindin' my own business," retorted Johnny. "What ever put you hangin' 'round a saloon, emptyin' boxes?" "Whiskey," said Two-Spot "I was smart, like you, an' liked to hold up my end, drink for drink. Here's some more of that water you swum in--looks familiar." "I'm goin' to drag you out to a ranch some of these days," threatened Johnny, "an' give you a job--an' whale th' skin from yore bones th' first time I see you takin' a drink. You got brains an' that ranch needs 'em." "You can't learn an old dog new tricks," grunted Two-Spot, and then burst out laughing; "but you can change a wolf inter a skunk if you goes about it right. He! He! He!" In a few minutes he threw down the brush and went to the door. "Seein' as how yo're playin' fresh-water clam, do it yoreself!" he snorted and, dodging the other brush, he scurried around to Dave's. * * * * *