That settles it; the Colonel's an invalid immediate. I
shorely has a time with him that night.
"The next day he can't walk, an' he can't ride in the wagon 'cause
of the jolts. It all touches my heart, an' at last I ups an' make a
hammock outen a Navajo blanket, which is good an' strong, an' swings
the Colonel to the reach of the trail wagon.
"It's mostly a good scheme. Where the ground's level the Colonel
comes on all right; but now an' then, when a wheel slumps into a
rut, the Colonel can't he'p none but smite the ground where he's the
lowest, an' it all draws groans an' laments from him a heap.
"One time, when the Colonel's agony makes him groan speshul strong,
I sees Jerry bat his eyes like he enjoys it; an' then Jerry mentions
somethin' to his mate over the chain. We're trottin' along the trail
at the time, an', bein' he's the nigh-wheeler--which is the saddle-
mule of a team--I'm ridin' Jerry's compadre, an' when I notes how
Jerry is that joyous about it I reaches across an' belts him some
abrupt between the y'ears with the butt of a shot-filled black-
snake. It rather lets the whey outen Jerry's glee, an' he don't get
so much bliss from that tenderfoot's misfortunes as he did.
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