"
"Yu better come with me," coaxed Hopalong, not liking what his
friend had said about being afraid of the trail past the ca on and
wishing to have some one with whom to talk on his trip. "I'm goin' to
have a nice long swim to-morrow night," he added, trying bribery.
"An' I'm goin' to try to keep from hittin' my blisters," responded
Red. "I don't want to go swimmin' in no creek full of moccasins-I'd
rather sleep with rattlers or copperheads. Every time I sees a cotton-
mouth I feels like I had just sit down on one.
"I'll flip a coin to see whether yu comes or not," proposed
Hopalong.
"If yu wants to gamble so bad I'll flip yu to see who draws our pay
next month, but not for what you said," responded Red, choking down
the desire to try his luck.
Hopalong grinned and turned toward the south. "If I sees Buck afore
yu do, I'll tell him yu an' Frenchy are growin' watermelons up near
Last Stand Rock an' are waitin' for rain. Well, so long," he said.
"Yu tell Buck we're obeyin' orders!" shouted Red, sorry that he was
not going with his bunkie.
Frenchy and Red rode on in silence, the latter feeling strangely
lonesome, for he and the departed man had seldom been separated when
journeys like this were to be taken. And when in search of pleasure
they were nearly always together. Frenchy, while being very friendly
with Hopalong, a friendship that would have placed them side by side
against any odds, was not accustomed to his company and did not notice
his absence.
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