Then a cynical, biting laugh stung him.

He wheeled, to see Shorty leaning against a tree, a sneering leer on his flushed face.

Shorty's right hand was suspended above his holster, hooked to his belt by the thumb--a favorite position of his when expecting trouble.
"One of yore reg'lar habits ?" he drawled.
Jimmy began to dust himself in silence, but his lips were compressed to a thin white line.
"Does they hurt yu ?" pursued the onlooker.
Jimmy looked up.

"I heard tell that they make glue outen cayuses, sometimes," he remarked.
Shorty's eyes flashed.

The loss of the horse had been rankling in his heart all day.
"Does they git yu frequent ?" he asked.