human
She's goin' to storm, shore's you live, Applehead predicted, sniffing into the wind like a dog confronted by a strange scent. A little later he looked up from his full plate with a worried air.
gpt
How's a storm goin' to hit ye, Luck? he asked.
human
Kinda put a stop to the pitcher business, won't it?
gpt
Not if it snows, it won't, Luck answered calmly, helping himself to the brown beans boiled with bacon.
human
We'll round up a bunch of cattle, and I'll shoot my blizzard stuff. I'll need more negative, though, for that. If I knew for sure it's going to storm--
gpt
I'm tellin' yuh it is, ain't I? Applehead blew into his saucer of coffee,--his table manners not being the nicest in the world.
human
I kin smell snow two days off, and that there wind comin' up the canyon has got snow behind it, now I'm tellin' ye. 'Nother thing, I kin tell by the way Compadre walks, liftin' his feet high and bushin' up what's left of his tail. That there cat's smarter'n some humans, and he shore kin smell snow comin', same's I do. He hates snow worse'n pizen. Applehead drank his coffee in great gulps.
gpt
I'll bet he's huntin' a warm corner somewheres, right now.
human
No, he ain't, by cripes! Big Medicine corrected him.
gpt
That there Come-Paddy cat of yourn has got worse troubles than snow! Dog's got him treed up the windmill. I seen--
human
I wish it would hold off till that raw stock gets here, Luck observed anxiously.
gpt
I wired the order in, but at that I'm afraid it won't get here before the end of the week. I'll have one of you boys pack me some water into the dark room so I can develop negatives right after dinner. I want to see how she's coming out before I take any more.
human
I thought Andy'd fixed a hose fer that dark room,
gpt
I turned that hose over to the missus for a colander, Andy explained soberly.
human
By gracious, I couldn't figure out anything else it could be used for.
gpt
Did you get the barrels fixed like I said?
human
I sure did. Applehead must have had a Dutch picnic or two out here, from the number of beer kegs scattered all over the place. And a couple of big whisky--
gpt
Them there whisky bar'ls I bought and used fer water bar'ls till I got my well bored. Luck kin mind the time when we hauled water on a sled outa the arroyo down below.
human
You bet I can. Do you remember the time we hitched that big bronk up with old Wall-eye, to haul water? Got back here a little ways beyond the stable with two barrels sloshing over the top, and the cat--not this one, but a black-and-white cat, that was--the cat jumped out from behind a buck brush. _Hot dog!_ That bronk went straight in the air! Remember that time?
gpt
I shore do, Applehead chuckled.
human
Luck, here, he was walkin' behind the sled and drivin',--and he wasn't as big as he is now, even. That was soon after he come out here to fatten up like. Little bit of a peaked--why, I bet he didn't weigh over a hundred pounds after a full meal! He was ridin' the lines an' steadyin' the bar'ls, busy as a dog at a badger hole, when the cat jumped out, an' that there bronk r'ared back and swung off short and hit fur the mesa; and Luck here a-hangin' and hollerin', an' me a-leggin' it to ketch up, and bar'ls teeterin' and--Mind how you was bound you'd kill that cat uh mine? he asked Luck, tears of laughter dimming his eyes.
gpt
That was ole Leather Lungs. He tuk sick an' died, year after that. Luck shore was mad enough to eat that thar cat, now I'm tellin' yuh!