“But what is it like?”

“Oh, it’s black, an’ I hear they strip it off close ter ther ground.  We don’t get no shade like it in this part o’ ther country.  Ther only place what hez it is ther West, whar it’s needed most.”

“But how about the Pecos?”

“Sho!  I almost fergot it, didn’t I, while teachin’ yer something erbout ther way they do things in Arizony an’ her sister-in-law, Noo Mexico?  Now I’m off, shore.

“Ping-pong Martin wuz in ther outfit thet year.  Mebbe yer knows him?” Bud looked at the small boy inquiringly, much to his embarrassment.

“No, sir, I never heard of him before.”

“Well, no matter, but this Ping-pong cuss, he had a personal friend, a goat, what couldn’t no more be shook than a sore thumb, and had follered Ping off ter ther wars, so to speak.

“Ping run off from home on ther quiet ter join our outfit, leavin’ ther goat to home, locked up in ther barn.  Ping thought he hed ther goat faded, but one day, when we wuz half asleep in our saddles, a feller over on ther other side come a-runnin’ in.

“‘What’s ther matter?’ sez I.

“Thar’s a funny animile over here.  He shore is ther devil, fer he wears horns, an’ hez a face exactly like thet o’ ole man Pillsbury.  I ain’t bettin’ none it ain’t him.  But if it is Pillsbury, he better not go home lookin’ like thet ‘thout lettin’ his wife know first.’

“Ping an’ me rode over ter ther other side, an’ thar stood a goat, lookin’ so nice an’ socierble.

“‘Great hevings!’ shouted Ping, makin’ a rush fer ther goat, ’thet’s my goat Ezra, ain’t you?’”

“Did the goat understand him?”

“Did he understand him?  Well, I should whisper sweetly.  Why, thet goat jest jumped all over Ping, a-runnin’ his whiskers inter his eyes, an’ laughin’, he wuz so glad ter see him.  He’d traced Ping plumb ercross ther desert ter get ter us, an’, o’ course, we couldn’t sic him home after that.

“We all got ter love Ezra fer his lovely ways; that is, all except ‘Boney Bill’ Henderson.”

“Why?  Didn’t the goat like him?”

“Well, it wuz this way:  Boney Bill had a habit o’ beggin’ ther grease from ther fryin’ pan every night ter ile his boots.  This made ’em good an’ strong, ez well ez easy ter chew on.  One night, Ezra bein’ fond o’ boots, finds ’em an’ chews ther tops off’n ’em.  They wuz ther only boots Bill hed, an’ we wuz two hundred mile ter another pair, so Bill hed ter go through ther season barefoot, an’ ther sun jest nacherly warped his feet out o’ all shape.

“But thet wuzn’t what I wuz goin’ ter tell yer erbout.  That fall ther Utes went on ther warpath, an’ wuz headin’ our way, an’ I want ter tell yer we wuz some scared.  We hed several brushes with ther Injuns, an’ ther courier we sent ter ther fort fer help wuz killed an’ scalped.

“Thar we wuz, in a little valley entirely surrounded by Injuns thirstin’ fer our gore.  How long we could hold out agin’ ’em wuz ther problem.  But whenever one o’ ’em showed his head we took a pop at it, an’ they returned ther compliment.  We wuz prayin’ fer ther comin’ o’ ther soldiers, which wuz ther only thing what could save us from a horrible death.