THE COUNTRY BOY 125 



his more thoughtful partner. One day when 

 we were at the Spooner place, Jake kept 

 yelling at Ai's dog. Every moment or two 

 Jake would yell in a clear voice, that echoed 

 in Drift Creek Canon, "Here, come back!" 

 then turning to his partner, he'd say, "Ai, why 

 don't you make that dog come back?" Ai 

 rode along, never paying the slightest atten- 

 tion. Strangely enough, each dog would 

 obey Ms master, but wouldn't pay any atten- 

 tion to the orders of the other. Finally Ai's 

 dog chased a steer for ten minutes and Jake 

 cursed and called, but the dog kept on. 

 Finally JNIcClaine turned to Ai, demanded 

 that he make his dog mind; whereupon, with 

 a twinkle in his eye, Coolidge said, "I'll give 

 him to you, you make him mind." Coolidge 's 

 dog had been caught in a steel trap when he 

 was a small pup and had one toe missing on a 

 forefoot. The dog would travel all day on 

 three legs and did, all the balance of his life, 

 except when he saw a squirrel, then he seemed 

 to forget all about his once sore foot and ran 

 like any other dog, and this was an opportunity 

 for Jake INIcClaine, as he would argue with 

 his silent partner for fifteen minutes at a time 



