"I clean forgot," he confessed impulsively.

"This meeting you here unexpectedly, like this, has kinda got me rattled, I guess.

But--I never saw yuh before in my life," he declared emphatically.

"I don't know a darn thing about--anything that ever happened in an alley in the city of--oh, come on, old-timer; let's talk about the weather, or something safe!" After that the boys of the Flying U behaved very much as do children who have quarreled foolishly and are trying shamefacedly to re-establish friendly relations without the preliminary indignity of open repentance.
They avoided meeting the velvet-eyed glances of Miguel, and at the same time they were plainly anxious to include him in their talk as if that had been their habit from the first.

A difficult situation to meet, even with the fine aplomb of the Happy Family to ease the awkwardness.
Later Miguel went unobtrusively down to the creek after his chaps; he did not get them, just then, but he stood for a long time hidden behind the willow-fringe, watching Pink and Irish feverishly combing out certain corkscrew ringlets, and dampening their combs in the creek to facilitate the process of straightening certain patches of rebellious frizzes.