human
You made good time,
gpt
Reckon so, replied Red, riding toward him.
human
I only got two canteens an' not much grub. Th' Kid'll be ready for us tomorrow. What about yore cayuse?
gpt
Don't worry, chuckled Hopalong.
human
It's th' cayuses that's been botherin' me most. They're all right now. I found a little hole with cold, sweeet water, an' there's grass around it for th' cayuses. There ain't much, but enough for these two goats. Th' water-hole ain't more'n three feet across an' a foot deep, but it fills up good an' has wet quite a spot around it. An' Red, I found somethin' else!
gpt
Good; what is it?
human
There's clay around it an' a thin layer of sand over th' clay, replied Hopalong.
gpt
I found th' prints of a cayuse an' a man, an' they was fresh not more'n twenty-four hours old if I'm any judge. I cast around on widenin' circles, but couldn't pick up th' trail any distance from th' hole. Th' wind that's been blowin' all day wiped 'em out; but it didn't wipe out much at th' edge of th' water. I could even make it out where he knelt to drink. There you are: a dead cow, with th' brand skinned off; tracks of a man an' a cayuse at that water-hole; no herd tracks, no other cayuse tracks--just them two, an' our suspicions. What you think?
human
I think we're gettin' somewhere, cussed slow an' I don't know where; but I'm playin' up that skinned cow. If it was all skinned I'd say a hide hunter might 'a' done it, an' that he made th' tracks you saw; but it wasn't. You should 'a' looked better near th' carcass instead of huntin' up th' water-hole. You might 'a' seen th' tracks of a herd, or what th' wind left of 'em, 'though I reckon they drove that cow off quite a ways before they dropped it.
gpt
Did you cross any herd tracks after you left me?
human
No; why?
gpt
An' we didn't cross any before you left, said Hopalong.
human
If there's been any to see runnin' east an' west we'd 'a' found 'em. That was all hard ground; an' there was th' wind. There wasn't none to find.
gpt
Huh! snorted Red, and after a moment's thought he looked up.
human
Mebby that feller found th' cow all swelled up with snakebite, away off from water as he thought, an' just put an end to its misery?
gpt
Then why did he cut out th' brand?
human
What are you askin' _me_ for? demanded Red, truculently.
gpt
How'd _I_ know? You shore can ask some d--n fool questions!
human
Yo're half-baked, growled his companion.
gpt
I will be, too, before I get any answer to what I'm askin' myself. I'm aimin' to squat behind a rise north of that water-hole an' wait for my answer if it takes a month. I can get a good view from up there.
human
You've picked out a fine job for us! he retorted.
gpt
If yo're right an' they did drive a herd across to th' other side it'll shore be a wait. Be more'n a week, an' mebby two.
human
They've got to drive hard between waters, replied Hopalong.
gpt
They'll waste no time; an' they won't waste time comin' back again, when they won't have th' cows to hold 'em down. There's one thing shore: They won't be back tomorrow or th' next day, an' we both can ride down an' see th' Kid, an' mebby McCullough. It's too good a lead to throw away. But before we meet Johnny we're goin' to have a better look around, 'specially south an' east.
human
All right, agreed Red.
gpt
How'd you come to find th' hole?
human
Rode up on a ridge an' saw somethin' green, an' knowin' it wasn't you I went for it, answered his friend.
gpt
If it had been made for us it couldn't be better. With water, an' grass enough for night grazin', an a good ridge to look from, it's a fine place for us. We'll take turns at it, for it won't feed two cayuses steady. Th' off man can ride west to grass, mebby back to our camp, an' by takin' shifts at it we can mebby save most of th' grass at th' hole.
human
An' mebby get spotted while we're ridin' back an' forth?
gpt
Th' ridge will take care of that, an' I reckon when it peters out there'll be others to hide us. I'm dead set on this: I'm so set that I'll stick it out all alone rather than pass it by. I tell you I got a _feelin'_.
human
I ain't quittin', growled Red;
gpt
I ain't got sense enough to quit. Desert or _no_ desert I'm aimin' to do my little gilt-edged damndest; but I'm admittin' I'll be plumb happy when it's my time off. We'll get supplies an' more canteens from th' Kid tomorrow, an' be fixed so we can foller any other lead that sticks up its head. I shore can stand more than ridin' over a desert if it'll give us anythin' on them fellers.
human
Here we are, grunted his companion, swinging from the saddle.
gpt
Finest, coldest water you ever drunk. I'm puttin' double hobbles on my cayuse tonight, just to make shore.
human
Me, too,