'
"What Texas Thompson says makes an impression; which it's about the
first thoughtful remark he ever makes, an' tharfore we're prone to
give it more'n usual attention.
"We imbibes on it an' talks it up an' down, mebby it's half an hour;
an' the more we drinks an' the harder we thinks, the cl'arer it
keeps gettin' that mighty likely this yere Texas has struck the
trail. At last Jack Moore, who's, as I often says, prompt an'
vig'lant that a-way, lines out to hunt this yere Pinon Bill.
"Whyever do they call him Pinon Bill? Nothin' much; only once he
comes into camp drunk an' locoed; an' bein' in the dark an' him
hawg-hungry, he b'iles a kettle of pinon-nuts, a-holdin' of 'em
erroneous to be beans, an' as sech aimin' to get some food outen 'em
a whole lot. He goes to sleep while he's pesterin' with 'em, an'
when the others tumbles to his game in the mornin', he's branded as
'Pinon Bill' ever more.
"When Jack hops out to round-up Pinon Bill, all he does is go into
the street. The first thing he notes is this yere Pinon Bill's pony
standin' saddled over by the O. K. House, like he plans to pull his
freight.
"'Which that bronco standin' thar,' says Jack to Enright, 'makes it
look like Texas calls the turn with them surmises.
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