In Cowboy Land 253 



aroused the other to the memory of a wrong 

 which still rankled, and he began (I alter one 

 or two of the proper names) : 



"Why, that was the pony that got stole. 

 I had been workin' him on rough ground 

 when I was out with the Three Bar outfit and 

 he went tender forward, so I turned him loose 

 by the Lazy B ranch, and when I came back 

 to git him there wasn't anybody at the ranch 

 and I couldn't find him. The sheep-man who 

 lives about two miles west, under Red Clay 

 butte, told me he seen a fellow in a wolfskin 

 coat, ridin' a pinto bronco, with white eyes, 

 leadin' that pony of mine just two days be- 

 fore; and I hunted round till I hit his trail 

 and then I followed to where I'd reckoned he 

 was headin' for the Short Pine Hills. When 

 I got there a rancher told me he had seen the 

 man pass on towards Cedartown, and sure 

 enough when I struck Cedartown I found he 

 lived there in a 'dobe house, just outside the 

 town. There was a boom on the town and 

 it looked pretty slick. There was two hotels 

 and I went into the first, and I says, Where's 

 the justice of the peace?' says I to the bar- 

 tender. 



" There ain't no justice of the peace,' 

 says he, 'the justice of the peace got shot.' 



