"Him!" "Yore on.

An' between yu an' me an' th' Devil, I wouldn't be a heap surprised if Deacon Rankin is with him, neither." Pie whistled: "Are him an' th' Deacon pals ?" "Shore," replied Hopalong, buttoning up his vest and rolling a cigarette.

"Didn't they allus hang out together! One watched that th' other didn't get plugged from behind.

It was a sort of yu-scratch-my-back-an'-I'll-scratch-yourn arrangement." "Well, if they still hangs out together, I know where to hunt for our cows," responded Pie.

"Th' Deacon used to range along th' headwaters of th' Colorado--it ain't far from Cunningham Lake.