"That’s th’ Kid, all right," laughed Buck. "Lord, how I wish he was up here!"
"Red, he’s th’ same grouch as ever but he’s all right if Johnny ’d let him get set. As soon as Red calms down th’ Kid calls his attention to somethin’ excitin’ an’ th’ trouble begins again. They all wanted to come up here an’ give you a hand till you got things runnin’ right. I told ’em I could get a better crowd in two days, so they stayed home to spite me. From what I ’ve heard I wish I ’d told ’em they could come—things ’d run smoother for you with them wild men buckjumpin’ ’round lookin’ for trouble. Like to turn Red an’ Johnny loose up here with a good grudge to work off. Th’ railroad would report that Montana was jumpin’ east fast."
"What was that your wife called you?" asked Buck, curiously.
"Billy-Red," laughed Hopalong. "That ’s her own name for me."
"Billy-h—l!" snorted Buck. "Billy-goat would suit you better."
"Say, Buck, Pete saw som’ers there was lots o’ money in raisin’ chickens, so he borrows all our money, gets about a hundred head from th’ East, an’ starts in. For a week there was lots of excitement ’round our place—coyotes got so they ’d get under our feet an’ th’ nights was plumb full o’ hungry animals with a taste for chicken. We put up a bomb-proof coop but they tunnelled it th’ first night an’ got all that was left o’ th’ herd ’cept about a dozen what was roostin’ high. Pete, he was broken-hearted an’ give up. He makes Mary a present o’ what was left of his stock, an’ what do you think she give him for ’em? Two day’s work diggin’. He dug a ditch, four-sided, for th’ foundations of a new coop. Then he has to sink posts in it in th’ ground an’ fill th’ ditch with stones. Johnny got th’ stones in th’ chuck wagon from th’ creek, so as to square hisself with Mary, an’ she give him a whole apricot pie for it. He ’s been a nuisance ever since. Well, th’ posts rose four feet above th’ ground an’ when that hen-corral was roofed over, you could see, any moonlight night, plenty o’ coyotes trottin’ ’round it, prayin’ for somethin’ to happen. We got some fine shootin’ for a while. But I got other things to talk about, Buck—Texas can wait."
"Kind of a dry job, Hoppy," replied Buck, going to a cupboard and returning with a bottle.