"Why, Stover hired a fellow a couple of months ago as a horse-
wrangler. The man said he was hungry, and made a good impression,
so we put him on."
Here Stover slowly raised one booted foot and kicked his other
calf. "The boys nicknamed him Humpy Joe--"
"Why, poor thing! Was he humpbacked?" inquired Helen.
"No," answered Still Bill. "Humpback is lucky. We called him
Humpy Joe because when it came to running he could sure get up
and hump himself."
"Soon after Joseph went to work," Jean continued, "the Centipede
outfit hired a new cook. You know the Centipede Ranch--the one
you see over yonder by the foot-hills."
"It wasn't 'soon after,' it was simuletaneous," said Stover,
darkly. "We're beginnin' to see plain at last." He went on as if
to air the injury that was gnawing him. "One day we hear that
this grub-slinger over yonder thinks he can run, which same is as
welcome to us as the smell of flowers on a spring breeze, for
Humpy Joe had amused us in his idle hours by running jack-rabbits
to earth--"
"Not really?" said Miss Blake.
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