He had many practical ideas, had Mr.
Stoner, as, for instance, the use to be made of a stick with a crook in it or a lath with a nail in the end.

Armed thus, he declared, it was possible for a man on the roof of a sleeping car to pick up a completely new wardrobe in the course of a night's ride, provided the upper berths were occupied and the ventilators were open.

Mr.Stoner deeply regretted the lack of such a simple aid, but agreed that it was better to leave well enough alone.
McWade warmed to his traveling companion, and they talked of many things, such as money and finance, sudden riches, and ways and means.
This led them back naturally to a discussion of Stoner's latest promotion; he called it the Lost Bull well, and the circumstances connected therewith he related with a subtlety of humor rare in a man of his sorts.

The nature of the story appealed keenly to McWade, and it ran like this: Stoner had been working in the Louisiana gas fields near the scene of a railroad accident--three bulls had strayed upon the right of way with results disastrous to a freight train and fatal to themselves.

After the wreckage had been cleared away, the claim agent settled with the owner of the bulls and the carcasses were buried in an adjoining field.