Chapter III
“Rainin’. B’Gosh! Rainin’ barrers an’ pitchforks.”
Tod pulled the blankets over his head with a sleepy mutter, and another blue roll three men off said something vivid and very distinct. Buck sprang upright, his goggle eyes staring.
“Rainin’. Who said rainin’?” He stuck a leg under the tent-flap and drew it back with a yell. “My daisy; it’s torrantin’! And them hosses in the yard. We can’t leave them hosses in the yard.”
Buck loved horses better than himself or any other man. According to popular superstition he had been one at the beginning of things. There are certain men whom the animals take into fellowship; and these are the only men who do not attempt to explain why.
“Shut yer head,” growled Scott, reaching a boot, and loosing it with insufficient aim. “Jes’ yer lie down an’ see ef we can’t leave ’em.”
It was Moody who caught the boot, and returned it emphatically; but Buck’s speech over-rode all complaint.
43
