"Come on, yu pie-eatin' doodle-bug; I'll beat yu to th' gate!" The two ponies sent showers of sand all over Billy, who eyed them in pugnacious disgust.

"Of all th' locoed imps that ever made life miserable fer a man, them's th' worst! Is there any piece of fool nonsense they hain't harnessed me with ?" He beseeched of Buck.

"Is there anything they hain't done to me?
They hides my liquor; they stuffs th' sweat band of my hat with rope; they ties up my pants; they puts water in.

My boots an' toads in my bunk--ain't they never goin' to get sane ?" "Oh, they're only kids--they can't help it," offered Buck.

"Didn't they hobble my cayuse when I was on him an' near bust my neck ?" Hopalong interrupted the conversation by driving up another calf, and Buck, glancing at his watch, declared the contest at an end.
"Yu wins," he remarked to the newcomer.