Page:Morley roberts--Painted Rock.djvu/261

 And George Higginson went in.

"I'm right glad to see you," he said; "and I've all sorts o' news for Bill. Bless me, I ain't bin hyar for nigh on to a year, and how Amandy rises up, and I dew reckon the cowboys kems araound after her some, don't they, Mary? Oh yep, you bet. And Bill, is he as dead sot on standin' of 'em off with a Winchester or a double-pronged scatter gun as he was? Waal, to be sure, to be sure. Gawd bless you, Amandy. You're a good gal to look arter your old uncle's boss, and as spry and pretty a gal as I've set eyes on in Texas thess year payst. And if you say 'eat,' Mary, I'm with you, for I'm as hungry as a buzzard and could eat onything."

By all this it may be judged that George was very full of himself, and had a tongue balanced in the middle which was easy to set clacking. He certainly loved to talk, and as he talked he couldn't help congratulating himself on the sad news he had for Bill. He watched Amandy like a cat.

"Sly pussy-cat she ez, to bee sure," he said. "To look et her you'd never suspicion