Which the old hold-up is on the
mule an' goin' hell-bent when I curls him up. Well, that ends things
with me. I turns on my heels an' goes down to the Red Light an' gets
drunk plumb through. You recalls it; the time I'm drunk a month, an'
Cherokee Hall bars me at faro-bank, allowin' I'm onconscious of my
surroundin's.'
"Billy goes on livin' at their old camp, an' 'Doby an' Manuela at
the new one 'Doby built. This last is mebby four hundred yards more
up the draw. Durin' the day 'Doby an' Billy turns in an' works an'
digs an' drills an' blasts together as of yore. The main change is
that at evenin' Billy gets drunk alone; an' as 'Doby ain't along to
he'p Billy home an' need Billy's he'p to get home, lots of times
Billy falls by the trail an' puts in the night among the mesquite-
bushes an' the coyotes impartial.
"This yere goes on for plumb a year, an' while things is cooler an'
more distant between 'em, same as it's bound to be when two gents
sleeps in different camps, still 'Doby an' Billy is trackin' along
all right. One mornin', however, Billy goes down to the holes they's
projectin' over, but no 'Doby shows up. It goes on ontil mighty
likely fifth-drink time that forenoon, an' as Billy don't see no
trace, sign, nor signal-smoke of his pard, he gets oneasy.
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