And: "Hello," said the other, who was young and wore
a bright blue coat, such as young Mexicans affect.
"Hello, folks," cried the Happy Family genially, and lifted their hats to the
good-looking young squaw in the wagon-bed, who tittered in bashful
appreciation of the attention.
"Mama! They sure are wild and warlike," Weary commented drily as he turned to
stare after the wagon.
"Us little deputies had better run home," Pink added with mock alarm.
"By cripes, I know now what went with Applehead's hair!" bawled Big Medicine.
"Chances is, it's weaved into that red blanket the old buck is wearin'--
Haw-haw-haw!"
"Laff, dang ye, laff!" Applehead cried furiously. "But do your laffing where I
can't hear ye, fer I'm tellin' ye right now I've had enough of yore dang
foolishness. And the next feller that makes a crack is goin' to wisht he
hadn't now I'm tellin' ye!"
This was not so much an ultimatum as a declaration of war--and the Happy
Family suddenly found themselves all out of the notion of laughing at anything
at all.
CHAPTER XII. THE WILD-GOOSE CHASE
Because they had no human means of knowing anything about the black
automobile that bad whirled across the mesa to the southeast and left its
mysterious passengers in one of the arroyos that leads into the Sandias
Mountains near Coyote Springs, nine cowpuncher deputy-sheriffs bored their way
steadily through sun and wind and thirst, traveling due northwest, keeping
always on the trail of the six horses that traveled steadily before them
Always a day's march behind, always watching hopefully for some sign of delay-
-for an encouraging freshness in the tracks that would show a lessening
distance between the two parties, Luck and his Happy Family rode -from dawn
till dusk, from another dawn to another dusk.
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