Had By-and-by been really sober he would have taken the conceit out
of that pony in chunks, and as it was he experienced no great
difficulty in holding his seat; but in his addled state of mind he
grasped the end of the cinch strap in such a way that when the pony
jumped forward in its last desperate effort the buckle slipped and the
cinch became unfastened; and By-and-by, still seated in the saddle,
flew head foremost into the horse trough, where he spilled much water.
As this happened Cowan turned the corner, and when he saw the wasted
water (which he had to carry, bucketful at a time, from the wells a
good quarter of a mile away) his anger blazed forth, and yelling, he
ran for the drenched Sioux, who was just crawling out of his bath.
When the unfortunate saw the irate man bearing down on him he
sputtered in rage and fear, and, turning, he ran down the street, with
Cowan thundering flatfootedly behind on a fat man's gallop, to the
hysterical cheers of the delighted outfit, who saw in it nothing but a
good joke.
When Cowan returned from his hopeless task, blowing and wheezing, he
heard sundry remarks, sotto voce, which were not calculated to
increase his opinion of his physical condition.
"Seems to me," remarked the irrepressible Hopalong, "that one of
those cayuses has got th' heaves."
"It shore sounds like it," acquiesced Johnny, red in the face from
holding in his laughter, "an' say, somebody interferes.
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