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WARNING - This is a long piece and is something I decided to write while reading the original book the prepare for my English exam. It will be long and if you get bored you don't have to read all of it, I just thought of it because of a reference made to this book a while ago. I didn't originally write the book, obviously, so anything that sounds insulting or is disrespectful, I didn't write it, i'm just writing and changing from the original book. If you do want to read it, then hope you enjoy

One
A few miles south of Soledad, the Salinas river drops in close to the hillside bank and runs deep and green. The water is warm too, for it has slipped twinkling over the yellow sands in the sunlight before reaching the narrow pool. On one side of the river the golden foothill slopes curve up to the strong and rocky Gabilan mountains, but on the valley side the water is lined with trees - willows fresh and green every spring, carrying in their lower leaf junctures the debris of the winter's flooding; and sycamores with mottled, whit, recumbent limbs and branches that arch over the pool. On the sandy bank under the trees the leaves lie deep and so crisp that a lizard makes a great skittering if he runs among them. Rabbits come out of the brush to sit on the sand in the evening and the damp flats are covered with the night tracks of 'coons, and with the spread pads of dogs from the ranches, and with the split-wedge tracks of deer that come to drink in the dark.
   There is a path through the willows and among the sycamores, a path beaten hard by boys coming down form the ranches to swim in the deep pool, and beaten hard by the tramps who come wearily down from the highway in the evening to jungle-up near water. In front of the low horizontal limb of the giant sycamore there is an ash pile made by many fires; the limb is worn smooth by men who have sat on it.
Evening of a hot day started the little wind to moving among the leaves. The shade climbed up the hills toward the top. On the sand bunks the rabbits sat as quietly as little grey, sculptured stones. And then from the direction of the state highway came the sound of footsteps on crisp sycamore leaves. The rabbits hurried noiselessly for cover. A stilted heron labored up into the air and pounded down river. For a moment the place was lifeless, and then two men emerged from the path and came into the opening by the green pool.
   They had walked in single file down the path, an even in the open one stayed behind the other. Both were dressed in denim trousers and in denim coats with brass buttons. Both wore black, shapeless hats and both carried tight blanket rolls slung over their shoulders. The first man was lanky and fast, pale of face, with restless blue eyes and sharp, strong features. Every part of him was defined: Tall, strong hands, slander arms, a thin and bony body. Behind him walked his opposite, a huge man, shapeless of face, with large grey eyes, with wide, sloping shoulders and red stubble; and he walked heavily, dragging his feet a little, the way a bear drags his paws. His arms did not swing at his sides, but hung loosely.
   The first man stopped short in the clearing, and the follower nearly ran over him. He took off his hat and wiped the sweat-band with his forefinger and snapped the moisture off. His huge companion dropped his blankets and flung himself down and drank from the surface of the green pool; drank with long gulps, snorting into the water like a horse. The smaller man stepped nervously beside him.
   "Honeydew!" he said sharply. "Honeydew, for God' sake don't drink so much." Honeydew continued to snort into the pool. The small man leaned and shook him by the shoulder. "Honeydew. You gonna be sick like you was the last night."
   Honeydew dipped his whole head under, hat and all, and then sat up on the bank and his hat dripped down on his blue coat and ran down his back. "Tha's good," he said. "You drink some, Xeph. You take a good big drink." he smiled happily.
   Xeph unslung his bindle and dropped it gently on the bank. "I ain't sure it's good water," he said. "Looks kinda scummy."
   Honeydew dabbled his big paw in the water and wiggled his fingers so the water arose in little splashes; rings widened across the pool to the other side and came back again. Honeydew watched them go. "Look, Xeph. Look what I done."
   Xeph knelt beside the pool and drank from his hand with quick scoops. "Tastes all right," he admitted. "Don't really seem to be running, though. You never oughta drink water when it ain't running, Honeydew," he said hopelessly. "You'd drink out of a gutter if you was thirsty." He threw a scoop of water into his face and rubbed it about with his hand, under his chin and around the back of his neck. Then he replaced his hat, pushed himself back from the river, drew up his knees and embraced them. Honeydew, who had been watching, imitated Xeph exactly. He pushed himself back, drew up his knees, embraced them, looked over to Xeph to see whether he had it just right. He pulled his hat down a little more over his eyes, the way Xeph's hat was.
   Xeph stared morosely at the water. The rims of his blue eyes were red with sun glare. He said angrily, "We could just as well of rode clear to the ranch if that basterd bus driver knew what he was talkin' about. ''Jes' a little stretch down the highway,' he says. ''Jes' a little stretch.' God damn near four miles, that's what it was! Didn't wanta stop at the ranch gate, that's what. Too God damn lazy to pull up. Wonder he isn't too damn good to stop in Soledad at all. Kicks us out and says, ''Jes' a little stretch down the road.' I bet it was more than four miles. Damn hot day."
   Honeydew looked timidly over to him. "Xeph?"
   "Yeah, what ya want?"
   "Where we goin', Xeph?"
   The thin man jerked down the brim of his hat and scowled over to Honeydew. "So you forgot that awready, did you? I gotta tell you again, do I? Jesus Christ, you're a crazy basterd!"
   "I forgot," Honeydew said softly. "I tried not to forget. Honest to God I did, Xeph."
   "OK - OK. I'll tell ya again. I ain't got nothing to do. Might jus' as well spen' all my time tellin' you things and then you forget 'em, and I tell you again."
   "Tried and tried," said Honeydew, "but it didn't do no good. I remember about the rabbits Xeph."
   "The hell with the rabbits. That's all you ever can remember is them rabbits. OK! Now you listen and this time you got to remember so we don't get in no trouble. You remember settin' in that gutter on Howard street and watchin' that blackboard?"
   Honeydew's face broke into a delighted smile. "Why sure, Xeph. I remember that ... but ... what'd we do then? I remember some girls come by and you says ... you say ..."
   "The hell with what I says. You remember about us goin' into Zoeya and Teep's, and they give us work cards and bus tickets?"
   "Oh, sure, Xeph. I remember that now." His hands went quickly into his side coat pockets. He said gently, "Xeph ... I ain't got mine. I musta lost it." He looked down at the ground in despair.
   "You never had none, you crazy bastard. I got both of 'em here. Think I'd let you carry your own work card?"
   Honeydew grinned with relief. "I ... I thought I put it in my side pocket." His hand went into the pocket again.
   Xeph looked sharply at him. "What'd you take outa that pocket?"
   "Ain't a thing in my pocket," Honeydew said cleverly.
   "I know there ain't. You got it in your hand. What you got in your hand - hidin' it?"
   "I ain't got nothin', Xeph. Honest."
   "Come on, give it here."
   Honeydew held his closed hand away from Xeph's direction. "It's on'y a mouse, Xeph."
   "A mouse? A live mouse?"
   "Uh-uh. Jus' a dead mouse, Xeph. I didn' kill it. Honest! I found it. I found it dead."
   "Give it here!" said Xeph.
   "Aw, leave me have it, Xeph."
   "Give it here!"
   Honeydews closed hand slowly obeyed. Xeph took the mouse and threw it across the pool to the other side, among the brush. "What you want of a dead mouse, anyways?"
   "I could pet it with my thumb wile we walked along," said Honeydew.
   "Well, you ain't petting no mice while you walk with me. You remember where we're goin' now?"
   Honeydew looked startled and then in embarrassment hid his face against his knees. "I forgot again."
   "Jesus Christ," Xeph said resignedly. "Well - look, we're gonna work on a ranch like the one we came from up north."
   "Up north?"
   "In Weed."
   "Oh, sure. I remember. In Weed."
   "That ranch we're goin' to is right down there about a quarter mile. We're gonna go in an' see the boss. Now, look - I'll give him the work tickets, but you ain't gonna say a word. You jus' stand there and don't say nothing. If he finds out what a crazy bastard you are, we won't get no job, but if he sees ya work before he hears ya talk, we're set. Ya got that?"
   "Sure, Xeph. Sure I got it."
   "Ok. Now when we go in to see the boss, what you gonna do?"
   "I ... I," Honeydew thought. His face grew tight with thought. "I ... ain't gonna say nothin'. Jus' gonna stan' there."
   "Good boy. That's swell. You say that over two, three times so you sure won't forget it."
   Honeydew droned to himself softly, "I ain't gonna say nothin' ... I ain't gonna say nothin' ... I ain't gonna say nothin'."
   "Ok," said Xeph. "An' you ain't gonna do no bad things like you done in Weed, neither."
   Honeydew looked puzzled. "Like I done in Weed?"
   "Oh, so ya forgot that too, did ya? Well, I ain't gonna remind ya, fear ya do it again."
   A light of understanding broke on Honeydew's face. "They run us outta Weed," he exploded triumphantly.
   "Ran us out, hell," said Xeph disgustedly. "We run. They was lookin' for us, but they didn't catch us."
   Honeydew giggled happily. "I didn't forget that, you bet."
   Xeph lay back on the sand and crossed his hands under his head, and Honeydew imitated him, raising his head to see whether he were doing it right. "God, you're a lot of trouble," said Xeph. "I could get along so easy and so nice if I didn't have you on my tail. I could live so easy and maybe have a girl."
   For a moment Honeydew lay quiet, and then he said hopefully, "We gonna work on a ranch, Xeph."
   "Awright. You got that. But we're gonna sleep here because I got a reason."
   The day was going fast now. Only the tips of the Gabilan mountains flamed with the light of the sun that had gone from the valley. A water snake slipped along on the pool, its head held up like a little periscope. The reeds jerked slightly in the current. Far off towards the highway a man shouted something, and another man shouted back. The sycamore limbs rustled under the little wind that died immediately.
   "Xeph - why ain't we goin' on to the ranch and get some supper? They got supper at the ranch."
   Xeph rolled on his side. "No reason at all for you. I like it here. Tomorra we're gonna go to work. I seen thrashin' machines on the way down. That means we'll be bucking grain bags, bustin' a gut. Tonight i'm gonna lay right here and look up at the stars. I like it."
   Honeydew got up on his knees and looked down at Xeph. "Ain't we gonna have no supper?"
   "Sure we are, if you gather up some dead willow sticks. I got three cans of beans in my bindle. You get a fire ready. I'll give you a match when you get the sticks together. Then we'll heat the beans and have supper."
   Honeydew said "I like beans with ketchup."
   "Well, we ain't got no ketchup. You go get wood. An' don't you fool around. It'll be dark before long."
   Honeydew lumbered to his feet and disappeared in the brush. Xeph lay where he was and whistled softly to himself. There were sounds of splashing down the river in the direction Honeydew had taken. Xeph stopped whistling and listened.
   "Poor bastard," he said softly, and then went on whistling again.
   In a moment Honeydew came crashing back through the brush. He carried one small willow stick in his hand. Xeph sat up. "Awright," he said brusquely. "Gi'me that mouse!"
   But Honeydew made an elaborate pantomime of innocence. "What mouse, Xeph? I ain't got no mouse."
   Xeph held out his hand. "Come on. Give it to me. You ain't puttin' nothing over."
   Honeydew hesitated, backed away, looking wildly at the brush line as though he contemplated running for his freedom. Xeph said coldly, "You gonna give me that mouse or do I have to sock you?"
   "Give you what, Xeph?
   "You know God damn well what. I want that mouse."
   Honeydew reluctantly reached into his pocket. His voice broke a little. "I don't know why I can't keep it. It ain't nobody's mouse. I didn't steal it. I found it lyin' right beside the road."
   Xeph's hand remained outstretched imperiously. Slowly, like a terrior who didn't want to bring a ball to its master, Honeydew approached, drew back, approached again. Xeph snapped his fingers sharply, and at the sound Honeydew laid the mouse in his hand.
   "I wasn't doin' nothing bad with it, Xeph. Ju's stroking it."
   Xeph stood up and threw the mouse as far as he could into the darkening brush, and then he stepped to the pool and washed his hands. "You crazy fool. Don't you think I could see your feet was wet where you went across the river to get it?" he heard Honeydew's whimpering cry and wheeled about. "Blubberin' like a baby? Jesus Christ! A big guy like you." Honeydew's lip quivered and tears started in his grey eyes. "Aw, Honeydew!" Xeph put his hand on Honeydew's shoulder. "I ain't taking' it away jus' for meanness. That mouse ain't fresh, Honeydew; and besides, you've broke it pettin' it. You get another mouse that's fresh and I'll let you keep it a while."
   Honeydew sat down on the ground and hung his head dejectedly. "I don't know where there is no other mouse. I remember a lady used to give 'em to me - ever' one she got. But that lady ain't here."
   Xeph scoffed. "Lady, huh? Don't even remember who that lady was. That was your own Aunt 'Madia. An' she stopped givin' 'em to ya. You always killed 'em."
   Honeydew looked sadly up at him. "They was so little," he said, apologetically. "I'd pet 'em, and pretty soon they bit my fingers and I pinched their heads a little and they was dead - because they was so little.
   "I wish't we'd get the rabbits pretty soon, Xeph. They ain't so little."
   "The hell with the rabbits. An' you ain't to be trusted with no live mice. Your Aunt 'Madia give you a rubber mouse and you wouldn't have nothing to do with it."
   "It wasn't no good to pet," said Honeydew.
   The flame of the sunset lifted from the mountaintops and dusk came into the valley, and a half darkness came in among the willows and the sycamores. A big carp rose to the surface of the pool, gulped air and then sank mysteriously into the dark water again, leaving widening rings on the water. Overhead the leaves whisked again and the little puffs of the willow cotton blew down and landed on the pool's surface.
   "You gonna get that wood?" Xeph demanded. "There's plenty right up against the back of that sycamore. Flood-water wood. Now you get it."
   Honeydew went behind the tree and brought out a litter of dried leaves and twigs. He threw them in a heap on the old ah pile and went back for more and more. It was almost night now. A dove's wings whistled over the water. Xeph walked to the fire pile and lighted the dry leaves. The flame crackled up among the twigs and fell to work. Xeph undid his bindle and brought out three cans of beans. He stood them about the fir, close in against the blaze, but not quiet touching the flame.
   "There's enough beans for four men," Xeph said.
   Honeydew watched him from over the fire. He said patiently, "I like 'em with ketchup."
   "Well, we ain't got any," Xeph exploded. "Whatever we ain't got, that's what you want. God a'mighty, if I was alone I could live so easy. I could get a job an' work, an' no trouble. No mess at all, and when the end of the month come I could take my fifty bucks and go into town and get whatever I want. Why, I could stay in a cat house all night. I could eat any place I want, hotel or any place, and order any damn thing I could think of. An' I could do all that every damn month. Get a gallon of whiskey, or set in a pool room and play cards or shoot pool." Honeydew knelt and looked over the fire at the angry Xeph. And Honeydew's face was drawn with terror. "An' whatta I got," Xeph went on furiously. "I got you! You can't keep a job and you lose me ever' job I get. Jus' keep me shovin' all over the country all the time. An' that ain't the worst. You get in trouble. You do bad things and I got to get you out." His voice rose nearly to a shout. "You crazy son-of-a-bitch. You keep me in hot water all the time." He took on the elaborate manner of little girls when they were mimicking one another. "Jus' wanted to feel that girl's dress - jus' wanted to pet it like it was a mouse ... Well, how the hell did she know you jus' wanted to feel her dress? She jerks back and you hold on like it was a mouse. She yells and we got to hide in a irrigation ditch all day with guys lookin' for us, and we got to sneak out in the dark and get outta the country. All the time somethin' like that - all the time. I wish't I could put you in a cage with about a million mice an' let you have fun." His anger left him suddenly. He looked across the fire at Honeydew's anguished face, and then he looked ashamedly at the flames.
   It was quiet dark now, but the fire lighted the trunks of the trees and the curving branches over head. Honeydew crawled slowly and cautiously around the fire until he was close to Xeph. He sat back on his heels. Xeph turned the bean cans so that another side faced the fire. He pretended to be unaware of Honeydew so close beside him.
   "Xeph," very softly. No answer. "Xeph!"
   "Watta you want?"
   "I was only foolin', Xeph. I don't want no ketchup. I wouldn't eat no ketchup if it was right here beside me."
   "If it was her, you could have some."
   "But I wouldn't eat none, Xeph. I'd leave it all for you. You could cover your beans with it and I wouldn't touch none of it."
   Xeph stared morosely at the fire. "When I think of the swell time I could have without you, I go nuts. I never get no peace."
   Honeydew still knelt. He looked off into the darkness across the river. "Xeph, you want I should go away and leave you alone?"
   "Where the hell could you go?"
   "Well I could. I could go off in the hills there. Some place I'd find a cave."
   "Yeah? How'd you eat? You ain't got sense enough to find nothing to eat."
   "I'd find things, Xeph. I don't need nice food with ketchup. I'd lay out in the sun and nobody'd hurt me. An' if I foun' a mouse, I could keep it. Nobody'd take it away from me."
   Xeph looked quickly and searchingly at him. "I been mean, ain't I?"
   "If you don' want me I can go off in the hills an' find a cave. I can go away any time."
   "No - Look! I was jus' foolin', Honeydew. 'Cause I want you to stay with me. Trouble with mice is you always kill 'em." He paused. "Tell you what I'll do, Honeydew. First chance I get I'll give you a pup. Maybe you wouldn't kill it. That'd be better than mice. And you could pet it harder."
   Honeydew avoided the bait. He had sensed his advantage. "If you don't want me, you only jus' got to say, and I'll go off in those hills right there - right up in those hills and live by myself. An' I won't get no mice stole from me."
   Xeph said, "I want you to stay with me, Honeydew. Jesus Christ, somebody'd shoot you for a coyote if you was by yourself. No, you stay with me. Your Aunt 'Maida wouldn't lie you running off by yourself, even if she is dead."
   Honeydew spoke craftily, "Tell me - like you done before."
   "Tell you what?"
    "About the rabbits."
   Xeph snapped, "You ain't gonna put nothing over on me."
   Honeydew pleaded, "Come on, Xeph. Tell me. Please, Xeph. Like you done before."
   "You get a kick outta that, don't you. Awright, I'll tell you, and then we'll eat our supper ..."
   Xeph's voice became deeper. He repeated his words rhythmically as though he had said them many times before. "Guys like us, that work on ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world. They got no family. They don't belong no place. They come to a ranch an' work up a stake and then they go inta town and blow their stake, and the first thing you know they're poundin' their tail on some other ranch. They ain't got nothing to look ahead to."
   Honeydew was delighted. "That's it - that's it. Now tell how it is with us."
   Xeph went on. "With us it ain't like that. We got a future. We got somebody to talk to that gives a damn about us. We don't have to sit in no bar room blowin' in our jack jus' because we got no place else to go. If them other guys gets in jail they can rot for all anybody gives a damn. But not us."
   Honeydew broke in. "But not us! An' why? Because ... because I got you to look after me, and you got me to look after you, and that's why." He laughed delightedly. "Go on now, Xeph!"
   "You got it by heart. You can do it yourself."
   "No, you. I forget some a' the things. Tell about how it's gonna be."
   "OK. Some day - we're gonna get a jack together and we're gonna have a little house and a couple of acres an' a cow and some pigs and ..."
   "An' live off the fatta the lan'," Honeydew shouted. "An' have rabbits. Go on, Xeph! Tell about what we're gonna have in the garden and about the rabbits in cages and about the rain in the winter and the stove, and how thick the cream is on the milk like you can hardly cut it. Tell about that, Xeph."
   "Why'n't you do it yourself? You know all of it."
   "No ... you tell it. It ain't the same if I tell it. Go on ... Xeph. How I get to tend the rabbits."
   "Well," said Xeph, "We'll have a big vegetable patch and a rabbit hutch and chickens. And when it rains in the winter, we'll just say the hell with goin' to work, and we'll build up a fire in the stove and set around it an' listen to the rain comin' down on the roof - Nuts!" He took out his pocket knife. "I ain't got time for no more." He drove his knife through the top of one of the bean cans, sawed out the top and passed the can to Honeydew. Then he opened a second can. From his side pocket he brought out two spoons and passed one of them to Honeydew.
   They sat by the fire and filled their mouths with beans and chewed mightily. A few beans slipped out of the side of Honeydew's mouth. Xeph gestured with his spoon. "What you gonna say tomorrow when the boss asks you questions?"
   Honeydew stopped chewing and swallowed. His face was concentrated. "I ... I ain't gonna ... say a word."
   "Good boy! That's fine Honeydew! Maybe you're gettin' better. When we get a coupla acres I can let you tend the rabbits all right. 'Specially if you remember as good as that."
   Honeydew choked with pride. "I can remember," he said.
   Xeph motioned with his spoon again. "Look, Honeydew. I want you to look around here. You can remember this place, can't you? The ranch is about a quarter mile up that way. Just follow the river?"
   "Sure," said Honeydew. "I can remember this. Di'n't I remember about not gonna say a word?"
   "'Course you did. Well, look. Honeydew - if you jus' happen to get in trouble like you always done before, I want you to come right here an' hide in the brush."
   "Hide in the brush," said Honeydew slowly.
   "Hide in the brush till I come for you. Can you remember that?"
   "Sure I can, Xeph. Hide in the brush till you come."
   "But you ain't gonna get in no trouble, because if you do, I won't let you tend the rabbits." He threw his empty bean can off into the brush."
   "I won't get in no trouble, Xeph. I ain't gonna say a word."
   "OK. Bring your bindle over here by the fire. It's gonna be nice sleepin' here. Lookin' up, and the leaves. Don't build up no more fire. We'll let her die down."
   They made their beds on the sand, and as the blaze dropped from the fire the sphere of light grew smaller; the curling branches disappeared and only a faint glimmer showed where the tree trunks were. From the darkness Honeydew called, "Xeph - you asleep?"
   "No. Whatta you want?"
   "Let's have different colour rabbits, Xeph."
   "Sure we will," Xeph said sleepily. "Red and blue and green rabbits, Honeydew. Millions of 'em."
   "Fluffy ones, Xeph, like I seen in the fair in Sacramento."
   "Sure, furry ones."
   "Cause I can jus' as well go away, Xeph, an' live in a cave."
   "You can jus' as well go to hell," said Xeph. "Shut up now."
   The red light dimmed on the coals. Up the hill from the river a coyote yammered, and a dog answered from the other side of the stream. The sycamore leaves whispered in a little night breeze.

Two
The bunk house was a long, rectangular building. Inside, the walls whitewashed and the floor unpainted. In three walls there were small, square windows, and, in the fourth, a solid door with a wooden latch. Against the walls were eight bunks, five of them made up with blankets and the other three showing their burlap ticking. Over each bunk there was nailed an apple box with the opening forward so that it made two shelves for the personal belongings of the occupied bunks. And these shelves were loaded with little articles, soap and talcum powder, razors and those western magazines ranch men love to read and scoff at and secretly believe. And there were medicines on the shelves, and little vials, combs; and from nails on the box sides, a few neckties. Near one wall there was a black cast-iron stove, its stove-pipe going straight up through the ceiling. In the middle of the room stood a big square table littered with playing cards, and around it were grouped boxes for the players to sit on.
   At about ten o'clock in the morning the sun threw a bright dust-laden bar through one of the side windows, and in and out of the beam flies shot like rushing stars.
   The wooden latch raised. The door opened and a tall, stood-shouldered old man came in. He was dressed in blue jeans and he carried a big push-broom in his left hand. Behind him came Xeph, and behind Xeph, Honeydew.
   "The boss was expectin' you last night." the old man said. "He was sore as hell when you wasn't here to go out this morning." He pointed with his right arm, and out of the sleeve came a round stick-like wrist, but no hand. "You can have them two beds there," he said, indicating two bunks near the stove.
   Xeph stepped over and threw his blankets down on the burlap sack of straw that was a mattress. He looked into the box shelf and then picked a small yellow can from it. "Say. What the hell's this?"
   "I don't know." said the old man.
   "Says 'positively kills lice, roaches, and other scourges'. What the hell kind of bed you giving us, anyways. We don't want no pants rabbits."
   The old scienter shifted his broom and held it between his elbow and his side while he held out his hand for the can. He studied the label carefully. "Tell you what ..." he said finally, "last guy that had this bed was a black-smith - hell of a nice fella and as clean a guy as you want to meet. Used to wash his hands even after he ate."
   "Then how come he got graybacks?" Xeph was working up a slow anger. Honeydew put his bindle on the neighbouring bunk and sat down. He watched Xeph with open mouth.
   "Tell you what," said the old scienter. "This here blacksmith - name of Sjiny - was the kind of guy that would put that stuff around even if there wasn't no bugs - just to make sure, see? Tell you what he used to ... At meals he'd peel his boiled potatoes, an' he'd take out ever' little spot, no matter what kind, before he'd eat it. And if there was a red splotch on an egg, he'd scrape it off. Finally quit about the food. That's the kinda guy he was - clean. Used ta dress up Sundays even when he wasn't going no place, put on a necktie even, and then set in the bunk house."
   "I ain't so sure," said Xeph sceptically. "What did you say he quit for?"
   The old man put the yellow can in his pocket, and he rubbed his bristly blonde goatee whiskers with his knuckles. "Why ... he ... just quit, the way a guy will. Says it was the food. Just wanted to move. Didn't give no other reason but the food. Just says 'gimme my time' one night, the way any guy would."
   Xeph lifted his tick and looked underneath it. He leaned over and inspected the sacking closely. Immediately Honeydew got up and did the same with his bed. Finally Xeph seemed satisfied. He unrolled his bindle and put things on the shelf, his razor and bar of soap, his comb and bottle of pills, his liniment and leather wristband. Then he made his bed up neatly with blankets. The old man said, "I guess the boss'll be out here in a minute. He was sure burned when you wasn't here this morning. Come right in when we was eatin' breakfast and says, 'where the hell's them new men?' An' he give the stable buck hell, too."
   Xeph patted a wrinkle out of his bed, and sat down. "Give the stable buck hell?" he asked.
   "Sure. Ya see the stable buck's a nigger."
   "Nigger, huh?"
   "Yeah. Nice fella, too. Got a crooked back where a horse kicked him. The boss gives him hell when he's mad. But the stable book don't give a damn about that. He reads a lot. Got books in his room."
   "What kind of guy is the boss?" Xeph asked.
   "Well, he's a pretty nice fella. Gets pretty mad sometimes, but he's pretty nice. Tell ya what - know what he done Christmas? Brang a gallon of whisky right in here and says, 'Drink hearty, boys. Christmas comes but once a year.'"
   "The hell he did! Whole gallon?"
   "Yes sir. Jesus, we had fun. They let the nigger come in that night. Little skinner name of Toby took after the nigger. Done pretty good, too. The guys wouldn't let him use his feet, so the nigger got him. If he coulda used his feet, Toby says he woulda killed the nigger. The guys said on account of the nigger's got a crooked back, Toby can't use his feet." He paused in relish of the memory. "After that the guys went into Soledad and raised hell. I didn't go in there. I ain't got the poop no more."
   Honeydew was just finishing making his bed. The wooden latch raised again and the door opened. A little grey skinned man stood in the open doorway. He wore blue jean trousers, a flannel shirt, a black, unbuttoned vest, and a black coat. His thumbs were tucked in his belt, on each side of a square steel buckle. On his head was a soiled brown Stetson had, and he wore high-heeled boots and spurs to prove he was not a labouring man.
   The old scienter looked quickly at him, and then shuffled to the door rubbing his goatee with his knuckles as he went. "Them guys just come," he said, and shuffled past the boss and out the door.
   The boss stepped into the room with a short, quick steps of a fat-legged man. "I wrote Zoeya and Teep's I wanted two men this morning. You got your work slips?" Xeph reached into his pocket and produced the slips and handed them to the boss. "It wasn't Zoeya and Teep's fault. Says right here on the slip that you was to be here for work this morning."
Xeph looked down at his feet. "Bus driver give us a bum steer," he said. "We hadda walk ten miles. Says we was here when we wasn't. We couldn't get no rides in the morning."
   The boss squinted his brown eyes. "Well, I had to send out the grain team short two buckers. Won't do any good to go out now till after dinner." He pulled his time book out of his pocket and opened it where a pencil was stuck between the leaves. Xeph scowled meaningfully at Honeydew, and Honeydew nodded to show that he understood. The boss licked his pencil. "What's your name?"
   "Xeph Blueton."
   "And what's yours?"
   "Xeph said, "His name's Honeydew dwarf."
   The names were entered in the book. "Le's see, this is the twentieth, noon twentieth." He closed the book. "Where you boys been working?"
   "Up around Weed," said Xeph.
   "You, too?" to Honeydew.
   "Yeah, him too," said Xeph.
   The boss pointed a playful grey finger at Honeydew. "He ain't much of a talker, is he?"
   "No he ain't, but he's sure a hell of a good worker. Strong as a bull."
   Honeydew smiled to himself. "Strong as a bull," he repeated.
   Xeph scowled at him, and Honeydew dropped his head in shame at having forgotten.
   The boss said suddenly, "Listen, Dwarf!" Honeydew raised his head. "What can you do?"
   In panic, Honeydew looked at Xeph for help. "He can do anything you tell him," said Xeph. "He's a good skinner. He can rassel grain bags, drive a cultivator. He can do anything. Just give him a try."
   The boss turned to Xeph. "Then why don't you let him answer? Why you trying to put over?"
   Xeph broke loudly, "Oh! I ain't saying he's bright. He ain't. But I say he's a God damn good worker. He can put up a four hundred pound bale."
   The boss deliberately put the little book in his pocket. He hooked his thumbs in his belt and squinted one eye nearly closed. "Say - what you sellin'?"
   "Huh?"
   "I said what stake you got in this guy? You takin' his pay away from him?"
   "N, 'course I ain't. Why ya think i'm sellin' him out?"
   Well, I never seen one guy take so much trouble for another guy. I just like to know what your interest is."
   Xeph said: "He's my ... cousin. I told his old lady I'd take care of him. He got kicked in the head by a horse when he was a kid. He's awright. Just ain't bright. But he can do anything you tell him."
   The boss turned half away. "Well, God knows he don't need any brains to buck barley bags. But don't you try to put nothing over, Blueton. I got my eye on you. Why'd you quit in Weed?"
   "Job was done," said Xeph promptly.
   "What kinda job?"
   "We ... we was diggin' a cesspool hole."
   "All right. But don't try to put nothing over, 'cause you can't get away with nothing. I seen wise guys before. Go on out with the grain teams after dinner. They're pickin' up barley at the threshing machine. Go out with Strippin's team."
   "Strippin'?"
   "Yeah. Big tall skinner. You'll see him at dinner." He turned abruptly and went to the door, but before he went out he turned and looked for a long moment at the two men.
   When the sound of his footsteps had died away, Xeph turned to Honeydew. "So you wasn't gonna say a word. You was gonna leave your big flapper shut and leave me do the talking'. Damn near lost us the job."
   Honeydew stared helplessly at his hands. "I forgot, Xeph."
   "Yeah, you forgot. You always forget, an' I got to talk you out of it." He sat down heavily on the bunk. "Now he's got his eye on us. Now we got to be careful and make no slips. You keep your big flapper shut after this. He fell morosely silent.
   "Xeph."
   "What you want now?"
   "I wasn't kicked in the head with no horse, was I, Xeph?"
   "Be a damn good thing if you was," Xeph said viciously. "Save ever'body a hell of a lot of trouble."
   "You said I was your cousin, Xeph."
   "Well, that was a lie. An' I'm damn glad it was. If I was a relative of yours I'd shoot myself." He stopped suddenly, stepped to the open front door and peered out. "Say, what the hell you doin' listenin'?"
   The old man came slowly into the room. He had his broom in his hand. And at his heels there walked a drag footed sheep dog, grey of muzzle, and with pale, blind old eyes. The dog struggled lamely to the side of the room and lay down, grunting softly to himself and licking his grizzled, moth-eaten coat. The scienter watched him until he was settled. "I wasn't listenin'. I was jus' standin' in the shade a minute scratchin' my dog. I jus' now finished scientin' out the wash house."
   "You was pokin' your big ears into our business," Xeph said. "I don't like nobody to get nosey."
   The old man looked uneasily from Xeph to Honeydew, and then back. "I jus' come there," he said. "I didn't hear nothing you guys was sayin'. I ain't interested in nothing you was sayin'. A guy on a ranch don't never listen nor he don't ast no questions."
   "Damn right he don't," said Xeph, slightly mollified, "not if he wants to stay workin' long." But he was reassured by the scienter's defence. "Come on in and set down a minute," he said. "That's a hell of an old dog."
   "Yeah. I had 'im since he was a pup. God, he was a good sheep dog when he was younger." He stood his broom against the wall and rubbed his blonde goateed chin with his knuckles. "How'd you like the boss?" he asked.
   "Pretty good. Seemed awright."
   "He's a nice fella," the scienter agreed. "You got to take him right."
   At that moment a young man came into the bunk house; a thin young man with a brown face, with slightly pink eyes and a head of slightly blonde streaked hair. He wore a work glove on his left hand, and, like the boss, he wore high-heeled boots. "Seen my old man?" he asked.
   The scienter said, "He was here jus' a minute ago, Rythian. Went out to the cook house, I think."
   "I'll try to catch him," said Rythian. His eyes passed over the new men and he stopped. He glanced coldly at Xeph and then at Honeydew. His arms gradually bent at the elbows and his hands closed into fists. He stiffened and went into a slight crouch. His glance was at once calculating and pugnacious. Honeydew squirmed under the look and shifted his feet nervously. Rythian stepped gingerly close to him. "You the new guys the old man was waitin' for?"
   "We just come in," said Xeph.
   "Let the big guy talk."
   Honeydew twisted with embarrassment.
   Xeph said, "S'pose he don't want to talk?"
   Rythian lashed his body around. "By Christ, he's gotta talk when he's spoke to. What the hell are you gettin' into it for?"
   "We travel together," said Xeph coldly.
   "Oh so it's that way."
   Xeph was tense and motionless. "Yeah, its that way."
   Honeydew was looking helplessly to Xeph for instruction.
   "An' you won't let the big guy talk, is that it?"
   "He can talk if he wants to tell you anything." He nodded slightly to Honeydew.
   "We jus' come in," said Honeydew softly.
   Rythian stared levelly at him. "Well, nex' time you answer when you're spoken to." he turned towards the door and walked out, and his elbows were still bent out a little.
   Xeph watched him out, and then he turned back to the scienter. "Say, what the hall's he got on his shoulder? Honeydew didn't do nothing to him."
   The old man looked cautiously at the door to make sure no one was listening. "That's the boss's son," he said quietly. "Rythian's pretty handy. He done quite a bit in the ring. He's a lightweight, and he's handy."
   "Well, let him be handy," said Xeph. "He don't have to take after Honeydew. Honeydew didn't do nothing to him. What's he got against Honeydew?"
   The scienter considered. "- Well - tell you what. Rythian's like a lot of little guys. He hates big guys. He's alla time picking scraps with big guys. Kind of like he's mad at 'em because he ain't a big guy. You seen little guys like that, ain't you? Always scrappy?"
   "Sure," said Xeph. "I seen plenty tough little guys. But this Rythian better not make no mistakes about Honeydew. Honeydew ain't handy, but this Rythian punk is gonna get hurt if he messes around with Honeydew."
   "Well, Rythian's pretty handy," the scienter said sceptically. "Never did seem right to me. S'pose Rythian jumps a big guy an' licks him. Ever'body says what a game guy Rythian is. And S'pose he does the same thing and gets licked. Then ever'body says the big guy oughta pick somebody his own size, and maybe they gang up on the big guy. Never did seem right to me. Seems like Rythian ain't givin' nobody a chance."
   Xeph was watching the door. He said ominously, "Well, he better watch out for Honeydew. Honeydew ain't no fighter, but Honeydew's strong ad quick and Honeydew don't know no rules." He walked to the square table and sat down on one of the boxes. He gathered some of the cards together and shuffled them.
   The old man sat down on another box. "Don't tell Rythian I said none of this. He'd slough me. He just don't give a damn. Won't ever get canned 'cause his old ma's the boss."
   Xeph cut the cards and began turning them over, looking at each one and throwing it down on a pile. He said, "This guy Rythian sounds like a son-of-a-bitch to me. I don't like mean little guys."
   "Seems to me like he's worse lately," said the scienter. "He got married a couple of weeks ago. Wife lives over in the boss's house. Seems like Rythian is cockier'n ever since he got married."
   Xeph grunted, "Maybe he's showin' off for the wife."
   The scienter warmed to his gossip. "You seen that glove on his left hand?"
   "Yeah. I seen it."
   "Well, that glove's fulla vaseline."
   "Vaseline? What the hell for?"
   "Well, I tell ya what - Rythian says he's keepin' that hand soft for his wife."
   Xeph studied the cards absorbedly. "That's a dirty thing to tell around," he said.
   The old man was reassured. He had drawn a derogatory statement from Xeph. He felt safe now, and he spoke more confidently. "Wait'll you see Rythian's wife."
   Xeph cut the cards again and put out a solitaire lay, slowly and deliberately. "Purty?" he asked casually.
   "Yeah. Purty ... but ..."
   Xeph studied his cards. "But what?"
   "Well - she got the eye."
   "Yeah? Married two weeks and got the eye? Maybe that why Rythian's pant if full of ants."
   "I seen her give Strippin' the eye. Strippin's a jerkline skinner. Hell of a nice fella. Strippin' don't need to wear no high-heeled boots on a grain team. I seen her give Strippin' the eye. Rythian never seem it. An' I seen her give Martyn the eye."
   Xeph pretended a lack of interest. "Looks like we was gonna have fun."
   The scienter stood up from his box. "Know what I think?" Xeph did not answer. "Well, I think Rythian's married ... a tart."
   "He ain't the first," said Xeph. "There's plenty done that."
   The old man moved towards the door, and his ancient dog lifted his head and peered about, and then got painfully to his feet to follow. "I gotta be settin' out the wash basins for you guys. The teams'll be in before long. You guys gonna buck barley?"
   "Yeah."
   "You won' tell Rythian nothing I said?"
   "Hell, no."
   "Well, you look over, mister. You see if she ain't a tart." he stepped out the door into the brilliant sunshine.
   Xeph laid down his cards thoughtfully, turned his piles of three. He built four clubs on his ace pile. The sun square was on the floor now, and the flies whipped through it like sparks. A sound of jingling harness and the croak of heavy-laden axles sounded from outside. From the distance came a clear call. "Stable Buck - ohh, sta-able Buck!" and then, "Where the hell is that God damn nigger?"
   Xeph stared at his solitaire lay, and then he flounced the cards together and turned around to Honeydew. Honeydew was lying down on the bunk watching him.
   "Look, Honeydew! This here ain't no set up. I'm scared. You gonna have trouble with that Rythian guy. I seen that kind before. He was kinda feelin' you out. He figures he's got you scared and he's gonna take a sock at you the first chance he gets."
   Honeydew's eyes were frightened. "I don't want no trouble," he said plaintively. "Don't let him sock me, Xeph."
   Xeph got up and went over to Honeydew's bunk and sat down on it. "I hate that kinda bastard," he said. "I seen plenty of 'em. Like the old guy says, Rythian don't take no chances. He always wins." He thought for a moment. "If he tangles with you, Honeydew, we're gonna get the can. Don't make no mistake about that. He's the boss's son. Look, Honeydew. You try to keep away from him, will you? Don't never speak to him. If he comes in here you move clear to the other side of the room. Will you do that, Honeydew?"
   "I don't want no trouble," Honeydew mourned. "I never done nothing to him."
   "Well, that wont do no good if Rythian wants to plug himself up for a fighter. Just don't have nothing to do with him. Will you remember?"
   "Sure, Xeph, I ain't gonna say a word."
   The sound of the approaching grain teams was louder, thud of big hooves on hard ground, drag of brakes, and the jingle of trace chains. Men were calling back and forth from the teams. Xeph, sitting on the bunk beside Honeydew, frowned as he thought. Honeydew asked timidly, "You ain't mad, Xeph?"
   "I ain't mad at you. I'm mad at this here Rythian bastard. I hoped we was gonna get a little stake together - maybe a hundred Yog-dollars." His tone grew decisively. "You keep away from Rythian, Honeydew."
   "Sure I will, Xeph. I wont say a word."
   "Don't let him pull you in - but - if the son-of-a-bitch socks you - let 'im have it."
   "Let 'im have what, Xeph?"
   "Never mind, never mind. Ill tell you when. I hate that kind of guy. Look, Honeydew, if you get in any kind of trouble, you remember what I told you to do?"
   Honeydew raised his elbow. His face contorted with thought. Then his eyes moved sadly on Xeph's face. "If I get in any trouble, you ain't gonna let me tend the rabbits."
   "That's not what I meant. You remember where we slep' last night? Down by the river?"
   "Yeah. I remember. Oh, sure I remember! I go there an' hide in the brush."
   "Hide till I come for you. Don't let nobody see you. Hide in the brush by the river. Say that over."
   "Hide in the brush by the river, down in the brush by the river."
   "If you get in trouble."
   "If I get in trouble."
   A brake screeched outside. A call came, "Stable - Buck. Oh! Sta-able Buck."
   Xeph said, "Say it over to yourself, Honeydew, so you wont forget it."
   Both men glanced up, for the rectangle of sunshine in the doorway was cut off. A girl was standing there looking in. She had full, roughed lips and wide-spaced eyes, heavily made up. Her fingernails were red. Her red hair hung in little rolled clusters, like sausages. She wore a cotton house dress and red mules, on the instep of which were little bouquets of red ostrich feathers. "I'm lookin' for Rythian," he said. He voice had a nasal, brittle quality.
Xeph looked away from her and then back. "He was in here a minute ago, but he went."
   "Oh!" she put her hands behind her back and leaned against the door frame so that he body was thrown forward. "You're the new fellas that just come, ain't ya?"
   "Yeah."
   Honeydew's eyes moved down over her body, and though she did not seem to be looking at Honeydew she bridled a little. She looked at her fingernails. "Sometimes Rythian's in here," she explained.
   Xeph said brusquely, "Well, he ain't now."
   "If he ain't, I guess I better look some place else," she said playfully.
   Honeydew watched her, fascinated. Xeph said, "If I see him, I'll pass the word you was looking for him."
   She smiled archly and twitched her body. "Nobody cant blame a person for lookin'," she said. There were footsteps behind her, going by. She turned her head. "Hi, Strippin'." she said.
   Strippin's voice came through the door. "Hi, Good-lookin'."
   "Im tryin' to find Rythian, Strippin'."
   "Well, you ain't tryin' very hard. I seen him goin' in your house."
   She was suddenly apprehensive. "Bye, boys," she called into the bunk house, and she hurried away.
   Xeph looked around at Honeydew. "Jesus, what a tramp," he said. "So that's what Rythian picks for a wife."
   "She's purty," said Honeydew defensively.
   "Yeah, and she's sure hidin' it. Rythian got his work ahead of him. Bet she'd clear out for twenty bucks."
   Honeydew still stared at the doorway where she had been. "Gosh, she was purty." He smiled admiringly. Xeph looked quickly down at him and then he took him by an ear and shook him.
   "Listen to me, you crazy bastard," he said fiercely. "Don't you even take a look at that bitch. I don't care what she says and what she does. I seen 'em poison before, but I never seen no piece of jail bait worse than her. You leave her be."
   Honeydew tried to disengage his ear. "I never done noting, Xeph."
   "No, you never. But when she was standin' in the doorway showin' her legs, you wasn't lookin' the other way, neither."
   "I never meant no harm, Xeph. Honest I never."
   "Well, you keep away from her, 'cause she's a rat trap if I ever seen one. You let Rythian take the trap. He let himself in for it. Glove fulla vaseline," Xeph said disgustedly. "An' I bet he's eatin' raw eggs and writin' to the patent medicine houses."
   Honeydew cried out suddenly- "I don't like this place. Xeph. This ain't no good place. I wanna get outa here."
   "We gotta keep it till we get a stake. We can't help it, Honeydew. We'll get out jus' as soon as we can. I don't like it no better than you do." He went back to the table and set out a new solitaire hand. "No, I don't like it," he said. "For two bits I'd shove out of here. If we can get jus' a few dollars in the poke we'll shove off and go up the Tektopian River and pan gold. We can make maybe a couple of dollars a day there, and we might hit a pocket."
   Honeydew leaned eagerly towards him. "Le's go, Xeph. Le's get outa here. It's mean here."
   "We gotta stay," Xeph said shortly. "Shut up now. The guys'll be comin' in."
   From the washroom nearby came the sound of running water and rattling basins. Xeph studied the cards. "Maybe we oughta wash up," he said. "But we ain't done nothing to get dirty."
   A tall man stood in the doorway. He had a crushed Stetson hat under his arm while he combed his short, black, damp hair straight back, his fringe falling over his face. Like the others he wore blue jeans and a short denim jacket. When he had finished combing his hair he moved into the room, and he moved with a majesty only achieved by royalty and master craftsmen. He was a jerkline skinner, the prince of the ranch, capable of driving ten, sixteen, even twenty mules with a single line to the leaders. He was capable of killing a fly on the wheelers butt with a bull whip without touching the mule. There was a gravity in his manner and a quiet so profound that all talk stopped when he spoke. His authority was so great that his word was taken on and subject, be politics or love. This was Strippin', the jerkline skinner. His hatchet face was ageless. He might have been thirty-five or fifty. His ear heard more than was said to him, and his slow speech had overtones not of thought, but of understanding beyond thought. His hands, large and lean, were as delicate in their action as those of a temple dancer.
   He smoothed out his crushed hat, creasing it in the middle and put it on. He looked kindly at the two in the bunk house. "It's brighter'n a bitch outside," he said gently. "Can't hardly see nothing in here. You the new guys?"
   "Just come," said Xeph.
   "Gonna buck barley?"
   "That's what the boss says."
   Strippin' sat down on a box across the table form Xeph. He studied the solitaire hand that was upside down to him. "Hope you get on my team," he said. His voice was very gentle. "I gotta pair of punks on my team that don't know a barley bag from a blue ball. You guys ever bucked any barley?"
   "Hell, yes," said Xeph. "I ain't nothing to scream about, but that big bastard there can put up more grain alone than most pars can."
   Honeydew, who had been following the conversation back and forth with his eyes, smiled complacently at the compliment. Strippin' leaned over the table and snapped the corner of the loose card. "You guys travel around together?" His tone was friendly. It invited confidence without demanding it.
   "Sure," said Xeph. "We kinda look after each other." He indicated Honeydew with his thumb. "He ain't bright. Hell of a good worker, though. Hell of a nice fella, but he ain't bright. I've knew him for a long time."
   Strippin looked through Xeph and beyond him. "Ain't many guys travel around together," he mused. "I don't know why. Maybe ever'body in the whole damn world is scared of each other."
   "It's a lot nicer to go around with a guy you know," said Xeph.
   A powerful, blonde-haired man came into the bunk house. His head still dripped water from scrubbing and dousing. "Hi, Strippin'," he said, and then stopped and stared at Xeph and Honeydew.
   "These guys jus' come," said Strippin' by way of introduction.
   "Glad to meet ya," the blonde man said. "My name's Martyn."
   "I'm Xeph Blueton. This here's Honeydew Dwarf."
   "Glad to meet ya," Martyn said again. "He ain't very dwarfy." He chuckled softly at his joke. "Ain't small at all," he repeated. "Meant to ask you, Strippin' - how's your bitch? I seen she wasn't under your wagon this morning."
   "She slang her pups last night," said Strippin'. "Nine of 'em. I drowned four of 'em right off. She couldn't feed that many."
   "Got five left, huh?"
   "Yeah, five. I kept the biggest."
   "What kinda dogs you think they're gonna be?"
   "I dunno," said Strippin'. "Some kind of shepherds, I guess. That's the most kind I seen around here when she was in heat."
   Martyn went on, "Got five pups, huh. Gonna keep all of 'em?"
   "I dunno. Have to keep 'em a while so they can drink Kim's milk."
   Martyn said thoughtfully, "Well, looka here, Strippin'. I been thinkin'. That dog of Lalna's is so God damn old he can't hardly walk. Stinks like hell, too." Ever' time he comes into the bunk house I can smell him for two, three days. Why'n't you get Lalna to shoot his old dog and give him one of the pups to raise up? I can smell that dog a mile away. Got no teeth, damn near blind, can't eat. Lalna feeds him milk. He can't chew nothing else."
   Xeph had been staring intently at Strippin'. Suddenly a triangle began to ring outside, slowly at first, and then faster and faster until the beat of it disappeared into one ringing sound. It stopped as suddenly as it had started.
   "There she goes," sais Martyn.
   Outside, there was a burst of voices as a group of men went by.
   Strippin' stood up slowly and with dignity. "You guys better come on while they's still something to eat. Won't be nothing left in a couple of minutes."
   Martyn stepped back to let Strippin' precede him, and then the two of them went out the door.
   Honeydew was watching Xeph excitedly. Xeph rumpled his cards into a messy pile. "Yeah!" Xeph said, "I heard him, Honeydew. I'll ask him."
   "A brown and white one," Honeydew cried excitedly.
   "Come on. Le's get dinner. I don't know whether he got a brown and white one."
   Honeydew didn't move from his bunk. "You ask him right away, Xeph, so he won't kill no more of 'em"
   "Sure. Coe on now, get up on your feet."
   Honeydew rolled off his bunk and stoop up, and the two of them started for the door. Just as they reached it, Rythian bounced in.
   "You seen a girl around here?" he demanded angrily.
   Xeph said coldly, "'Bout half an hour ago maybe."
   "Well, what the hell was she doin'?"
   Xeph stood still, watching the angry little man. He said insultingly, "She said - she was lookin' for you."
   Rythian seemed really to see Xeph for the first time. His eyes flashed over Xeph, took in his height, measured his reach, looked at his trim middle. "Well, which way'd she go?" he demanded at last.
   "I dunno," said Xeph. "I didn' watch her go."
   Rythian scowled at him, and turning, hurried out of the door.
   Xeph said, "Ya know, Honeydew, I'm scared i'm gonna tangle with that bastard myself. I hate his guts. Jesus Christ! Come on. They won't be a damn thing left to eat."
   They went out the door. The sunshine lay in a thin line under the window. From the distance there could be heard a rattle of dishes.
   After a moment the ancient dog walked lamely in through the open door. He gazed about with mild, half-blind eyes. He sniffed, and then lay down and put his head between his paws. Rythian popped into the doorway again and stood looking around the room. The dog raised his head, but when Rythian jerked out, the grizzled head sank to the floor again.

That's it for the first two chapters, I did try to write it all in one piece, but I exceeded the limit... i'm not surprised.
If you enjoyed this I'll be uploading the next part straight away.

Wink/Razz — Description
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WARNING - This is a long piece and is something I decided to write while reading the original book the prepare for my English exam. It will be long and if you get bored you don't have to read all of it, I just thought of it because of a reference made to this book a while ago. I didn't originally write the book, obviously, so anything that sounds insulting or is disrespectful, I didn't write it, i'm just writing and changing from the original book. If you do want to read it, then hope you enjoy

One
A few miles south of Soledad, the Salinas river drops in close to the hillside bank and runs deep and green. The water is warm too, for it has slipped twinkling over the yellow sands in the sunlight before reaching the narrow pool. On one side of the river the golden foothill slopes curve up to the strong and rocky Gabilan mountains, but on the valley side the water is lined with trees - willows fresh and green every spring, carrying in their lower leaf junctures the debris of the winter's flooding; and sycamores with mottled, whit, recumbent limbs and branches that arch over the pool. On the sandy bank under the trees the leaves lie deep and so crisp that a lizard makes a great skittering if he runs among them. Rabbits come out of the brush to sit on the sand in the evening and the damp flats are covered with the night tracks of 'coons, and with the spread pads of dogs from the ranches, and with the split-wedge tracks of deer that come to drink in the dark.
   There is a path through the willows and among the sycamores, a path beaten hard by boys coming down form the ranches to swim in the deep pool, and beaten hard by the tramps who come wearily down from the highway in the evening to jungle-up near water. In front of the low horizontal limb of the giant sycamore there is an ash pile made by many fires; the limb is worn smooth by men who have sat on it.
Evening of a hot day started the little wind to moving among the leaves. The shade climbed up the hills toward the top. On the sand bunks the rabbits sat as quietly as little grey, sculptured stones. And then from the direction of the state highway came the sound of footsteps on crisp sycamore leaves. The rabbits hurried noiselessly for cover. A stilted heron labored up into the air and pounded down river. For a moment the place was lifeless, and then two men emerged from the path and came into the opening by the green pool.
   They had walked in single file down the path, an even in the open one stayed behind the other. Both were dressed in denim trousers and in denim coats with brass buttons. Both wore black, shapeless hats and both carried tight blanket rolls slung over their shoulders. The first man was lanky and fast, pale of face, with restless blue eyes and sharp, strong features. Every part of him was defined: Tall, strong hands, slander arms, a thin and bony body. Behind him walked his opposite, a huge man, shapeless of face, with large grey eyes, with wide, sloping shoulders and red stubble; and he walked heavily, dragging his feet a little, the way a bear drags his paws. His arms did not swing at his sides, but hung loosely.
   The first man stopped short in the clearing, and the follower nearly ran over him. He took off his hat and wiped the sweat-band with his forefinger and snapped the moisture off. His huge companion dropped his blankets and flung himself down and drank from the surface of the green pool; drank with long gulps, snorting into the water like a horse. The smaller man stepped nervously beside him.
   "Honeydew!" he said sharply. "Honeydew, for God' sake don't drink so much." Honeydew continued to snort into the pool. The small man leaned and shook him by the shoulder. "Honeydew. You gonna be sick like you was the last night."
   Honeydew dipped his whole head under, hat and all, and then sat up on the bank and his hat dripped down on his blue coat and ran down his back. "Tha's good," he said. "You drink some, Xeph. You take a good big drink." he smiled happily.
   Xeph unslung his bindle and dropped it gently on the bank. "I ain't sure it's good water," he said. "Looks kinda scummy."
   Honeydew dabbled his big paw in the water and wiggled his fingers so the water arose in little splashes; rings widened across the pool to the other side and came back again. Honeydew watched them go. "Look, Xeph. Look what I done."
   Xeph knelt beside the pool and drank from his hand with quick scoops. "Tastes all right," he admitted. "Don't really seem to be running, though. You never oughta drink water when it ain't running, Honeydew," he said hopelessly. "You'd drink out of a gutter if you was thirsty." He threw a scoop of water into his face and rubbed it about with his hand, under his chin and around the back of his neck. Then he replaced his hat, pushed himself back from the river, drew up his knees and embraced them. Honeydew, who had been watching, imitated Xeph exactly. He pushed himself back, drew up his knees, embraced them, looked over to Xeph to see whether he had it just right. He pulled his hat down a little more over his eyes, the way Xeph's hat was.
   Xeph stared morosely at the water. The rims of his blue eyes were red with sun glare. He said angrily, "We could just as well of rode clear to the ranch if that basterd bus driver knew what he was talkin' about. ''Jes' a little stretch down the highway,' he says. ''Jes' a little stretch.' God damn near four miles, that's what it was! Didn't wanta stop at the ranch gate, that's what. Too God damn lazy to pull up. Wonder he isn't too damn good to stop in Soledad at all. Kicks us out and says, ''Jes' a little stretch down the road.' I bet it was more than four miles. Damn hot day."
   Honeydew looked timidly over to him. "Xeph?"
   "Yeah, what ya want?"
   "Where we goin', Xeph?"
   The thin man jerked down the brim of his hat and scowled over to Honeydew. "So you forgot that awready, did you? I gotta tell you again, do I? Jesus Christ, you're a crazy basterd!"
   "I forgot," Honeydew said softly. "I tried not to forget. Honest to God I did, Xeph."
   "OK - OK. I'll tell ya again. I ain't got nothing to do. Might jus' as well spen' all my time tellin' you things and then you forget 'em, and I tell you again."
   "Tried and tried," said Honeydew, "but it didn't do no good. I remember about the rabbits Xeph."
   "The hell with the rabbits. That's all you ever can remember is them rabbits. OK! Now you listen and this time you got to remember so we don't get in no trouble. You remember settin' in that gutter on Howard street and watchin' that blackboard?"
   Honeydew's face broke into a delighted smile. "Why sure, Xeph. I remember that ... but ... what'd we do then? I remember some girls come by and you says ... you say ..."
   "The hell with what I says. You remember about us goin' into Zoeya and Teep's, and they give us work cards and bus tickets?"
   "Oh, sure, Xeph. I remember that now." His hands went quickly into his side coat pockets. He said gently, "Xeph ... I ain't got mine. I musta lost it." He looked down at the ground in despair.
   "You never had none, you crazy bastard. I got both of 'em here. Think I'd let you carry your own work card?"
   Honeydew grinned with relief. "I ... I thought I put it in my side pocket." His hand went into the pocket again.
   Xeph looked sharply at him. "What'd you take outa that pocket?"
   "Ain't a thing in my pocket," Honeydew said cleverly.
   "I know there ain't. You got it in your hand. What you got in your hand - hidin' it?"
   "I ain't got nothin', Xeph. Honest."
   "Come on, give it here."
   Honeydew held his closed hand away from Xeph's direction. "It's on'y a mouse, Xeph."
   "A mouse? A live mouse?"
   "Uh-uh. Jus' a dead mouse, Xeph. I didn' kill it. Honest! I found it. I found it dead."
   "Give it here!" said Xeph.
   "Aw, leave me have it, Xeph."
   "Give it here!"
   Honeydews closed hand slowly obeyed. Xeph took the mouse and threw it across the pool to the other side, among the brush. "What you want of a dead mouse, anyways?"
   "I could pet it with my thumb wile we walked along," said Honeydew.
   "Well, you ain't petting no mice while you walk with me. You remember where we're goin' now?"
   Honeydew looked startled and then in embarrassment hid his face against his knees. "I forgot again."
   "Jesus Christ," Xeph said resignedly. "Well - look, we're gonna work on a ranch like the one we came from up north."
   "Up north?"
   "In Weed."
   "Oh, sure. I remember. In Weed."
   "That ranch we're goin' to is right down there about a quarter mile. We're gonna go in an' see the boss. Now, look - I'll give him the work tickets, but you ain't gonna say a word. You jus' stand there and don't say nothing. If he finds out what a crazy bastard you are, we won't get no job, but if he sees ya work before he hears ya talk, we're set. Ya got that?"
   "Sure, Xeph. Sure I got it."
   "Ok. Now when we go in to see the boss, what you gonna do?"
   "I ... I," Honeydew thought. His face grew tight with thought. "I ... ain't gonna say nothin'. Jus' gonna stan' there."
   "Good boy. That's swell. You say that over two, three times so you sure won't forget it."
   Honeydew droned to himself softly, "I ain't gonna say nothin' ... I ain't gonna say nothin' ... I ain't gonna say nothin'."
   "Ok," said Xeph. "An' you ain't gonna do no bad things like you done in Weed, neither."
   Honeydew looked puzzled. "Like I done in Weed?"
   "Oh, so ya forgot that too, did ya? Well, I ain't gonna remind ya, fear ya do it again."
   A light of understanding broke on Honeydew's face. "They run us outta Weed," he exploded triumphantly.
   "Ran us out, hell," said Xeph disgustedly. "We run. They was lookin' for us, but they didn't catch us."
   Honeydew giggled happily. "I didn't forget that, you bet."
   Xeph lay back on the sand and crossed his hands under his head, and Honeydew imitated him, raising his head to see whether he were doing it right. "God, you're a lot of trouble," said Xeph. "I could get along so easy and so nice if I didn't have you on my tail. I could live so easy and maybe have a girl."
   For a moment Honeydew lay quiet, and then he said hopefully, "We gonna work on a ranch, Xeph."
   "Awright. You got that. But we're gonna sleep here because I got a reason."
   The day was going fast now. Only the tips of the Gabilan mountains flamed with the light of the sun that had gone from the valley. A water snake slipped along on the pool, its head held up like a little periscope. The reeds jerked slightly in the current. Far off towards the highway a man shouted something, and another man shouted back. The sycamore limbs rustled under the little wind that died immediately.
   "Xeph - why ain't we goin' on to the ranch and get some supper? They got supper at the ranch."
   Xeph rolled on his side. "No reason at all for you. I like it here. Tomorra we're gonna go to work. I seen thrashin' machines on the way down. That means we'll be bucking grain bags, bustin' a gut. Tonight i'm gonna lay right here and look up at the stars. I like it."
   Honeydew got up on his knees and looked down at Xeph. "Ain't we gonna have no supper?"
   "Sure we are, if you gather up some dead willow sticks. I got three cans of beans in my bindle. You get a fire ready. I'll give you a match when you get the sticks together. Then we'll heat the beans and have supper."
   Honeydew said "I like beans with ketchup."
   "Well, we ain't got no ketchup. You go get wood. An' don't you fool around. It'll be dark before long."
   Honeydew lumbered to his feet and disappeared in the brush. Xeph lay where he was and whistled softly to himself. There were sounds of splashing down the river in the direction Honeydew had taken. Xeph stopped whistling and listened.
   "Poor bastard," he said softly, and then went on whistling again.
   In a moment Honeydew came crashing back through the brush. He carried one small willow stick in his hand. Xeph sat up. "Awright," he said brusquely. "Gi'me that mouse!"
   But Honeydew made an elaborate pantomime of innocence. "What mouse, Xeph? I ain't got no mouse."
   Xeph held out his hand. "Come on. Give it to me. You ain't puttin' nothing over."
   Honeydew hesitated, backed away, looking wildly at the brush line as though he contemplated running for his freedom. Xeph said coldly, "You gonna give me that mouse or do I have to sock you?"
   "Give you what, Xeph?
   "You know God damn well what. I want that mouse."
   Honeydew reluctantly reached into his pocket. His voice broke a little. "I don't know why I can't keep it. It ain't nobody's mouse. I didn't steal it. I found it lyin' right beside the road."
   Xeph's hand remained outstretched imperiously. Slowly, like a terrior who didn't want to bring a ball to its master, Honeydew approached, drew back, approached again. Xeph snapped his fingers sharply, and at the sound Honeydew laid the mouse in his hand.
   "I wasn't doin' nothing bad with it, Xeph. Ju's stroking it."
   Xeph stood up and threw the mouse as far as he could into the darkening brush, and then he stepped to the pool and washed his hands. "You crazy fool. Don't you think I could see your feet was wet where you went across the river to get it?" he heard Honeydew's whimpering cry and wheeled about. "Blubberin' like a baby? Jesus Christ! A big guy like you." Honeydew's lip quivered and tears started in his grey eyes. "Aw, Honeydew!" Xeph put his hand on Honeydew's shoulder. "I ain't taking' it away jus' for meanness. That mouse ain't fresh, Honeydew; and besides, you've broke it pettin' it. You get another mouse that's fresh and I'll let you keep it a while."
   Honeydew sat down on the ground and hung his head dejectedly. "I don't know where there is no other mouse. I remember a lady used to give 'em to me - ever' one she got. But that lady ain't here."
   Xeph scoffed. "Lady, huh? Don't even remember who that lady was. That was your own Aunt 'Madia. An' she stopped givin' 'em to ya. You always killed 'em."
   Honeydew looked sadly up at him. "They was so little," he said, apologetically. "I'd pet 'em, and pretty soon they bit my fingers and I pinched their heads a little and they was dead - because they was so little.
   "I wish't we'd get the rabbits pretty soon, Xeph. They ain't so little."
   "The hell with the rabbits. An' you ain't to be trusted with no live mice. Your Aunt 'Madia give you a rubber mouse and you wouldn't have nothing to do with it."
   "It wasn't no good to pet," said Honeydew.
   The flame of the sunset lifted from the mountaintops and dusk came into the valley, and a half darkness came in among the willows and the sycamores. A big carp rose to the surface of the pool, gulped air and then sank mysteriously into the dark water again, leaving widening rings on the water. Overhead the leaves whisked again and the little puffs of the willow cotton blew down and landed on the pool's surface.
   "You gonna get that wood?" Xeph demanded. "There's plenty right up against the back of that sycamore. Flood-water wood. Now you get it."
   Honeydew went behind the tree and brought out a litter of dried leaves and twigs. He threw them in a heap on the old ah pile and went back for more and more. It was almost night now. A dove's wings whistled over the water. Xeph walked to the fire pile and lighted the dry leaves. The flame crackled up among the twigs and fell to work. Xeph undid his bindle and brought out three cans of beans. He stood them about the fir, close in against the blaze, but not quiet touching the flame.
   "There's enough beans for four men," Xeph said.
   Honeydew watched him from over the fire. He said patiently, "I like 'em with ketchup."
   "Well, we ain't got any," Xeph exploded. "Whatever we ain't got, that's what you want. God a'mighty, if I was alone I could live so easy. I could get a job an' work, an' no trouble. No mess at all, and when the end of the month come I could take my fifty bucks and go into town and get whatever I want. Why, I could stay in a cat house all night. I could eat any place I want, hotel or any place, and order any damn thing I could think of. An' I could do all that every damn month. Get a gallon of whiskey, or set in a pool room and play cards or shoot pool." Honeydew knelt and looked over the fire at the angry Xeph. And Honeydew's face was drawn with terror. "An' whatta I got," Xeph went on furiously. "I got you! You can't keep a job and you lose me ever' job I get. Jus' keep me shovin' all over the country all the time. An' that ain't the worst. You get in trouble. You do bad things and I got to get you out." His voice rose nearly to a shout. "You crazy son-of-a-bitch. You keep me in hot water all the time." He took on the elaborate manner of little girls when they were mimicking one another. "Jus' wanted to feel that girl's dress - jus' wanted to pet it like it was a mouse ... Well, how the hell did she know you jus' wanted to feel her dress? She jerks back and you hold on like it was a mouse. She yells and we got to hide in a irrigation ditch all day with guys lookin' for us, and we got to sneak out in the dark and get outta the country. All the time somethin' like that - all the time. I wish't I could put you in a cage with about a million mice an' let you have fun." His anger left him suddenly. He looked across the fire at Honeydew's anguished face, and then he looked ashamedly at the flames.
   It was quiet dark now, but the fire lighted the trunks of the trees and the curving branches over head. Honeydew crawled slowly and cautiously around the fire until he was close to Xeph. He sat back on his heels. Xeph turned the bean cans so that another side faced the fire. He pretended to be unaware of Honeydew so close beside him.
   "Xeph," very softly. No answer. "Xeph!"
   "Watta you want?"
   "I was only foolin', Xeph. I don't want no ketchup. I wouldn't eat no ketchup if it was right here beside me."
   "If it was her, you could have some."
   "But I wouldn't eat none, Xeph. I'd leave it all for you. You could cover your beans with it and I wouldn't touch none of it."
   Xeph stared morosely at the fire. "When I think of the swell time I could have without you, I go nuts. I never get no peace."
   Honeydew still knelt. He looked off into the darkness across the river. "Xeph, you want I should go away and leave you alone?"
   "Where the hell could you go?"
   "Well I could. I could go off in the hills there. Some place I'd find a cave."
   "Yeah? How'd you eat? You ain't got sense enough to find nothing to eat."
   "I'd find things, Xeph. I don't need nice food with ketchup. I'd lay out in the sun and nobody'd hurt me. An' if I foun' a mouse, I could keep it. Nobody'd take it away from me."
   Xeph looked quickly and searchingly at him. "I been mean, ain't I?"
   "If you don' want me I can go off in the hills an' find a cave. I can go away any time."
   "No - Look! I was jus' foolin', Honeydew. 'Cause I want you to stay with me. Trouble with mice is you always kill 'em." He paused. "Tell you what I'll do, Honeydew. First chance I get I'll give you a pup. Maybe you wouldn't kill it. That'd be better than mice. And you could pet it harder."
   Honeydew avoided the bait. He had sensed his advantage. "If you don't want me, you only jus' got to say, and I'll go off in those hills right there - right up in those hills and live by myself. An' I won't get no mice stole from me."
   Xeph said, "I want you to stay with me, Honeydew. Jesus Christ, somebody'd shoot you for a coyote if you was by yourself. No, you stay with me. Your Aunt 'Maida wouldn't lie you running off by yourself, even if she is dead."
   Honeydew spoke craftily, "Tell me - like you done before."
   "Tell you what?"
    "About the rabbits."
   Xeph snapped, "You ain't gonna put nothing over on me."
   Honeydew pleaded, "Come on, Xeph. Tell me. Please, Xeph. Like you done before."
   "You get a kick outta that, don't you. Awright, I'll tell you, and then we'll eat our supper ..."
   Xeph's voice became deeper. He repeated his words rhythmically as though he had said them many times before. "Guys like us, that work on ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world. They got no family. They don't belong no place. They come to a ranch an' work up a stake and then they go inta town and blow their stake, and the first thing you know they're poundin' their tail on some other ranch. They ain't got nothing to look ahead to."
   Honeydew was delighted. "That's it - that's it. Now tell how it is with us."
   Xeph went on. "With us it ain't like that. We got a future. We got somebody to talk to that gives a damn about us. We don't have to sit in no bar room blowin' in our jack jus' because we got no place else to go. If them other guys gets in jail they can rot for all anybody gives a damn. But not us."
   Honeydew broke in. "But not us! An' why? Because ... because I got you to look after me, and you got me to look after you, and that's why." He laughed delightedly. "Go on now, Xeph!"
   "You got it by heart. You can do it yourself."
   "No, you. I forget some a' the things. Tell about how it's gonna be."
   "OK. Some day - we're gonna get a jack together and we're gonna have a little house and a couple of acres an' a cow and some pigs and ..."
   "An' live off the fatta the lan'," Honeydew shouted. "An' have rabbits. Go on, Xeph! Tell about what we're gonna have in the garden and about the rabbits in cages and about the rain in the winter and the stove, and how thick the cream is on the milk like you can hardly cut it. Tell about that, Xeph."
   "Why'n't you do it yourself? You know all of it."
   "No ... you tell it. It ain't the same if I tell it. Go on ... Xeph. How I get to tend the rabbits."
   "Well," said Xeph, "We'll have a big vegetable patch and a rabbit hutch and chickens. And when it rains in the winter, we'll just say the hell with goin' to work, and we'll build up a fire in the stove and set around it an' listen to the rain comin' down on the roof - Nuts!" He took out his pocket knife. "I ain't got time for no more." He drove his knife through the top of one of the bean cans, sawed out the top and passed the can to Honeydew. Then he opened a second can. From his side pocket he brought out two spoons and passed one of them to Honeydew.
   They sat by the fire and filled their mouths with beans and chewed mightily. A few beans slipped out of the side of Honeydew's mouth. Xeph gestured with his spoon. "What you gonna say tomorrow when the boss asks you questions?"
   Honeydew stopped chewing and swallowed. His face was concentrated. "I ... I ain't gonna ... say a word."
   "Good boy! That's fine Honeydew! Maybe you're gettin' better. When we get a coupla acres I can let you tend the rabbits all right. 'Specially if you remember as good as that."
   Honeydew choked with pride. "I can remember," he said.
   Xeph motioned with his spoon again. "Look, Honeydew. I want you to look around here. You can remember this place, can't you? The ranch is about a quarter mile up that way. Just follow the river?"
   "Sure," said Honeydew. "I can remember this. Di'n't I remember about not gonna say a word?"
   "'Course you did. Well, look. Honeydew - if you jus' happen to get in trouble like you always done before, I want you to come right here an' hide in the brush."
   "Hide in the brush," said Honeydew slowly.
   "Hide in the brush till I come for you. Can you remember that?"
   "Sure I can, Xeph. Hide in the brush till you come."
   "But you ain't gonna get in no trouble, because if you do, I won't let you tend the rabbits." He threw his empty bean can off into the brush."
   "I won't get in no trouble, Xeph. I ain't gonna say a word."
   "OK. Bring your bindle over here by the fire. It's gonna be nice sleepin' here. Lookin' up, and the leaves. Don't build up no more fire. We'll let her die down."
   They made their beds on the sand, and as the blaze dropped from the fire the sphere of light grew smaller; the curling branches disappeared and only a faint glimmer showed where the tree trunks were. From the darkness Honeydew called, "Xeph - you asleep?"
   "No. Whatta you want?"
   "Let's have different colour rabbits, Xeph."
   "Sure we will," Xeph said sleepily. "Red and blue and green rabbits, Honeydew. Millions of 'em."
   "Fluffy ones, Xeph, like I seen in the fair in Sacramento."
   "Sure, furry ones."
   "Cause I can jus' as well go away, Xeph, an' live in a cave."
   "You can jus' as well go to hell," said Xeph. "Shut up now."
   The red light dimmed on the coals. Up the hill from the river a coyote yammered, and a dog answered from the other side of the stream. The sycamore leaves whispered in a little night breeze.

Two
The bunk house was a long, rectangular building. Inside, the walls whitewashed and the floor unpainted. In three walls there were small, square windows, and, in the fourth, a solid door with a wooden latch. Against the walls were eight bunks, five of them made up with blankets and the other three showing their burlap ticking. Over each bunk there was nailed an apple box with the opening forward so that it made two shelves for the personal belongings of the occupied bunks. And these shelves were loaded with little articles, soap and talcum powder, razors and those western magazines ranch men love to read and scoff at and secretly believe. And there were medicines on the shelves, and little vials, combs; and from nails on the box sides, a few neckties. Near one wall there was a black cast-iron stove, its stove-pipe going straight up through the ceiling. In the middle of the room stood a big square table littered with playing cards, and around it were grouped boxes for the players to sit on.
   At about ten o'clock in the morning the sun threw a bright dust-laden bar through one of the side windows, and in and out of the beam flies shot like rushing stars.
   The wooden latch raised. The door opened and a tall, stood-shouldered old man came in. He was dressed in blue jeans and he carried a big push-broom in his left hand. Behind him came Xeph, and behind Xeph, Honeydew.
   "The boss was expectin' you last night." the old man said. "He was sore as hell when you wasn't here to go out this morning." He pointed with his right arm, and out of the sleeve came a round stick-like wrist, but no hand. "You can have them two beds there," he said, indicating two bunks near the stove.
   Xeph stepped over and threw his blankets down on the burlap sack of straw that was a mattress. He looked into the box shelf and then picked a small yellow can from it. "Say. What the hell's this?"
   "I don't know." said the old man.
   "Says 'positively kills lice, roaches, and other scourges'. What the hell kind of bed you giving us, anyways. We don't want no pants rabbits."
   The old scienter shifted his broom and held it between his elbow and his side while he held out his hand for the can. He studied the label carefully. "Tell you what ..." he said finally, "last guy that had this bed was a black-smith - hell of a nice fella and as clean a guy as you want to meet. Used to wash his hands even after he ate."
   "Then how come he got graybacks?" Xeph was working up a slow anger. Honeydew put his bindle on the neighbouring bunk and sat down. He watched Xeph with open mouth.
   "Tell you what," said the old scienter. "This here blacksmith - name of Sjiny - was the kind of guy that would put that stuff around even if there wasn't no bugs - just to make sure, see? Tell you what he used to ... At meals he'd peel his boiled potatoes, an' he'd take out ever' little spot, no matter what kind, before he'd eat it. And if there was a red splotch on an egg, he'd scrape it off. Finally quit about the food. That's the kinda guy he was - clean. Used ta dress up Sundays even when he wasn't going no place, put on a necktie even, and then set in the bunk house."
   "I ain't so sure," said Xeph sceptically. "What did you say he quit for?"
   The old man put the yellow can in his pocket, and he rubbed his bristly blonde goatee whiskers with his knuckles. "Why ... he ... just quit, the way a guy will. Says it was the food. Just wanted to move. Didn't give no other reason but the food. Just says 'gimme my time' one night, the way any guy would."
   Xeph lifted his tick and looked underneath it. He leaned over and inspected the sacking closely. Immediately Honeydew got up and did the same with his bed. Finally Xeph seemed satisfied. He unrolled his bindle and put things on the shelf, his razor and bar of soap, his comb and bottle of pills, his liniment and leather wristband. Then he made his bed up neatly with blankets. The old man said, "I guess the boss'll be out here in a minute. He was sure burned when you wasn't here this morning. Come right in when we was eatin' breakfast and says, 'where the hell's them new men?' An' he give the stable buck hell, too."
   Xeph patted a wrinkle out of his bed, and sat down. "Give the stable buck hell?" he asked.
   "Sure. Ya see the stable buck's a nigger."
   "Nigger, huh?"
   "Yeah. Nice fella, too. Got a crooked back where a horse kicked him. The boss gives him hell when he's mad. But the stable book don't give a damn about that. He reads a lot. Got books in his room."
   "What kind of guy is the boss?" Xeph asked.
   "Well, he's a pretty nice fella. Gets pretty mad sometimes, but he's pretty nice. Tell ya what - know what he done Christmas? Brang a gallon of whisky right in here and says, 'Drink hearty, boys. Christmas comes but once a year.'"
   "The hell he did! Whole gallon?"
   "Yes sir. Jesus, we had fun. They let the nigger come in that night. Little skinner name of Toby took after the nigger. Done pretty good, too. The guys wouldn't let him use his feet, so the nigger got him. If he coulda used his feet, Toby says he woulda killed the nigger. The guys said on account of the nigger's got a crooked back, Toby can't use his feet." He paused in relish of the memory. "After that the guys went into Soledad and raised hell. I didn't go in there. I ain't got the poop no more."
   Honeydew was just finishing making his bed. The wooden latch raised again and the door opened. A little grey skinned man stood in the open doorway. He wore blue jean trousers, a flannel shirt, a black, unbuttoned vest, and a black coat. His thumbs were tucked in his belt, on each side of a square steel buckle. On his head was a soiled brown Stetson had, and he wore high-heeled boots and spurs to prove he was not a labouring man.
   The old scienter looked quickly at him, and then shuffled to the door rubbing his goatee with his knuckles as he went. "Them guys just come," he said, and shuffled past the boss and out the door.
   The boss stepped into the room with a short, quick steps of a fat-legged man. "I wrote Zoeya and Teep's I wanted two men this morning. You got your work slips?" Xeph reached into his pocket and produced the slips and handed them to the boss. "It wasn't Zoeya and Teep's fault. Says right here on the slip that you was to be here for work this morning."
Xeph looked down at his feet. "Bus driver give us a bum steer," he said. "We hadda walk ten miles. Says we was here when we wasn't. We couldn't get no rides in the morning."
   The boss squinted his brown eyes. "Well, I had to send out the grain team short two buckers. Won't do any good to go out now till after dinner." He pulled his time book out of his pocket and opened it where a pencil was stuck between the leaves. Xeph scowled meaningfully at Honeydew, and Honeydew nodded to show that he understood. The boss licked his pencil. "What's your name?"
   "Xeph Blueton."
   "And what's yours?"
   "Xeph said, "His name's Honeydew dwarf."
   The names were entered in the book. "Le's see, this is the twentieth, noon twentieth." He closed the book. "Where you boys been working?"
   "Up around Weed," said Xeph.
   "You, too?" to Honeydew.
   "Yeah, him too," said Xeph.
   The boss pointed a playful grey finger at Honeydew. "He ain't much of a talker, is he?"
   "No he ain't, but he's sure a hell of a good worker. Strong as a bull."
   Honeydew smiled to himself. "Strong as a bull," he repeated.
   Xeph scowled at him, and Honeydew dropped his head in shame at having forgotten.
   The boss said suddenly, "Listen, Dwarf!" Honeydew raised his head. "What can you do?"
   In panic, Honeydew looked at Xeph for help. "He can do anything you tell him," said Xeph. "He's a good skinner. He can rassel grain bags, drive a cultivator. He can do anything. Just give him a try."
   The boss turned to Xeph. "Then why don't you let him answer? Why you trying to put over?"
   Xeph broke loudly, "Oh! I ain't saying he's bright. He ain't. But I say he's a God damn good worker. He can put up a four hundred pound bale."
   The boss deliberately put the little book in his pocket. He hooked his thumbs in his belt and squinted one eye nearly closed. "Say - what you sellin'?"
   "Huh?"
   "I said what stake you got in this guy? You takin' his pay away from him?"
   "N, 'course I ain't. Why ya think i'm sellin' him out?"
   Well, I never seen one guy take so much trouble for another guy. I just like to know what your interest is."
   Xeph said: "He's my ... cousin. I told his old lady I'd take care of him. He got kicked in the head by a horse when he was a kid. He's awright. Just ain't bright. But he can do anything you tell him."
   The boss turned half away. "Well, God knows he don't need any brains to buck barley bags. But don't you try to put nothing over, Blueton. I got my eye on you. Why'd you quit in Weed?"
   "Job was done," said Xeph promptly.
   "What kinda job?"
   "We ... we was diggin' a cesspool hole."
   "All right. But don't try to put nothing over, 'cause you can't get away with nothing. I seen wise guys before. Go on out with the grain teams after dinner. They're pickin' up barley at the threshing machine. Go out with Strippin's team."
   "Strippin'?"
   "Yeah. Big tall skinner. You'll see him at dinner." He turned abruptly and went to the door, but before he went out he turned and looked for a long moment at the two men.
   When the sound of his footsteps had died away, Xeph turned to Honeydew. "So you wasn't gonna say a word. You was gonna leave your big flapper shut and leave me do the talking'. Damn near lost us the job."
   Honeydew stared helplessly at his hands. "I forgot, Xeph."
   "Yeah, you forgot. You always forget, an' I got to talk you out of it." He sat down heavily on the bunk. "Now he's got his eye on us. Now we got to be careful and make no slips. You keep your big flapper shut after this. He fell morosely silent.
   "Xeph."
   "What you want now?"
   "I wasn't kicked in the head with no horse, was I, Xeph?"
   "Be a damn good thing if you was," Xeph said viciously. "Save ever'body a hell of a lot of trouble."
   "You said I was your cousin, Xeph."
   "Well, that was a lie. An' I'm damn glad it was. If I was a relative of yours I'd shoot myself." He stopped suddenly, stepped to the open front door and peered out. "Say, what the hell you doin' listenin'?"
   The old man came slowly into the room. He had his broom in his hand. And at his heels there walked a drag footed sheep dog, grey of muzzle, and with pale, blind old eyes. The dog struggled lamely to the side of the room and lay down, grunting softly to himself and licking his grizzled, moth-eaten coat. The scienter watched him until he was settled. "I wasn't listenin'. I was jus' standin' in the shade a minute scratchin' my dog. I jus' now finished scientin' out the wash house."
   "You was pokin' your big ears into our business," Xeph said. "I don't like nobody to get nosey."
   The old man looked uneasily from Xeph to Honeydew, and then back. "I jus' come there," he said. "I didn't hear nothing you guys was sayin'. I ain't interested in nothing you was sayin'. A guy on a ranch don't never listen nor he don't ast no questions."
   "Damn right he don't," said Xeph, slightly mollified, "not if he wants to stay workin' long." But he was reassured by the scienter's defence. "Come on in and set down a minute," he said. "That's a hell of an old dog."
   "Yeah. I had 'im since he was a pup. God, he was a good sheep dog when he was younger." He stood his broom against the wall and rubbed his blonde goateed chin with his knuckles. "How'd you like the boss?" he asked.
   "Pretty good. Seemed awright."
   "He's a nice fella," the scienter agreed. "You got to take him right."
   At that moment a young man came into the bunk house; a thin young man with a brown face, with slightly pink eyes and a head of slightly blonde streaked hair. He wore a work glove on his left hand, and, like the boss, he wore high-heeled boots. "Seen my old man?" he asked.
   The scienter said, "He was here jus' a minute ago, Rythian. Went out to the cook house, I think."
   "I'll try to catch him," said Rythian. His eyes passed over the new men and he stopped. He glanced coldly at Xeph and then at Honeydew. His arms gradually bent at the elbows and his hands closed into fists. He stiffened and went into a slight crouch. His glance was at once calculating and pugnacious. Honeydew squirmed under the look and shifted his feet nervously. Rythian stepped gingerly close to him. "You the new guys the old man was waitin' for?"
   "We just come in," said Xeph.
   "Let the big guy talk."
   Honeydew twisted with embarrassment.
   Xeph said, "S'pose he don't want to talk?"
   Rythian lashed his body around. "By Christ, he's gotta talk when he's spoke to. What the hell are you gettin' into it for?"
   "We travel together," said Xeph coldly.
   "Oh so it's that way."
   Xeph was tense and motionless. "Yeah, its that way."
   Honeydew was looking helplessly to Xeph for instruction.
   "An' you won't let the big guy talk, is that it?"
   "He can talk if he wants to tell you anything." He nodded slightly to Honeydew.
   "We jus' come in," said Honeydew softly.
   Rythian stared levelly at him. "Well, nex' time you answer when you're spoken to." he turned towards the door and walked out, and his elbows were still bent out a little.
   Xeph watched him out, and then he turned back to the scienter. "Say, what the hall's he got on his shoulder? Honeydew didn't do nothing to him."
   The old man looked cautiously at the door to make sure no one was listening. "That's the boss's son," he said quietly. "Rythian's pretty handy. He done quite a bit in the ring. He's a lightweight, and he's handy."
   "Well, let him be handy," said Xeph. "He don't have to take after Honeydew. Honeydew didn't do nothing to him. What's he got against Honeydew?"
   The scienter considered. "- Well - tell you what. Rythian's like a lot of little guys. He hates big guys. He's alla time picking scraps with big guys. Kind of like he's mad at 'em because he ain't a big guy. You seen little guys like that, ain't you? Always scrappy?"
   "Sure," said Xeph. "I seen plenty tough little guys. But this Rythian better not make no mistakes about Honeydew. Honeydew ain't handy, but this Rythian punk is gonna get hurt if he messes around with Honeydew."
   "Well, Rythian's pretty handy," the scienter said sceptically. "Never did seem right to me. S'pose Rythian jumps a big guy an' licks him. Ever'body says what a game guy Rythian is. And S'pose he does the same thing and gets licked. Then ever'body says the big guy oughta pick somebody his own size, and maybe they gang up on the big guy. Never did seem right to me. Seems like Rythian ain't givin' nobody a chance."
   Xeph was watching the door. He said ominously, "Well, he better watch out for Honeydew. Honeydew ain't no fighter, but Honeydew's strong ad quick and Honeydew don't know no rules." He walked to the square table and sat down on one of the boxes. He gathered some of the cards together and shuffled them.
   The old man sat down on another box. "Don't tell Rythian I said none of this. He'd slough me. He just don't give a damn. Won't ever get canned 'cause his old ma's the boss."
   Xeph cut the cards and began turning them over, looking at each one and throwing it down on a pile. He said, "This guy Rythian sounds like a son-of-a-bitch to me. I don't like mean little guys."
   "Seems to me like he's worse lately," said the scienter. "He got married a couple of weeks ago. Wife lives over in the boss's house. Seems like Rythian is cockier'n ever since he got married."
   Xeph grunted, "Maybe he's showin' off for the wife."
   The scienter warmed to his gossip. "You seen that glove on his left hand?"
   "Yeah. I seen it."
   "Well, that glove's fulla vaseline."
   "Vaseline? What the hell for?"
   "Well, I tell ya what - Rythian says he's keepin' that hand soft for his wife."
   Xeph studied the cards absorbedly. "That's a dirty thing to tell around," he said.
   The old man was reassured. He had drawn a derogatory statement from Xeph. He felt safe now, and he spoke more confidently. "Wait'll you see Rythian's wife."
   Xeph cut the cards again and put out a solitaire lay, slowly and deliberately. "Purty?" he asked casually.
   "Yeah. Purty ... but ..."
   Xeph studied his cards. "But what?"
   "Well - she got the eye."
   "Yeah? Married two weeks and got the eye? Maybe that why Rythian's pant if full of ants."
   "I seen her give Strippin' the eye. Strippin's a jerkline skinner. Hell of a nice fella. Strippin' don't need to wear no high-heeled boots on a grain team. I seen her give Strippin' the eye. Rythian never seem it. An' I seen her give Martyn the eye."
   Xeph pretended a lack of interest. "Looks like we was gonna have fun."
   The scienter stood up from his box. "Know what I think?" Xeph did not answer. "Well, I think Rythian's married ... a tart."
   "He ain't the first," said Xeph. "There's plenty done that."
   The old man moved towards the door, and his ancient dog lifted his head and peered about, and then got painfully to his feet to follow. "I gotta be settin' out the wash basins for you guys. The teams'll be in before long. You guys gonna buck barley?"
   "Yeah."
   "You won' tell Rythian nothing I said?"
   "Hell, no."
   "Well, you look over, mister. You see if she ain't a tart." he stepped out the door into the brilliant sunshine.
   Xeph laid down his cards thoughtfully, turned his piles of three. He built four clubs on his ace pile. The sun square was on the floor now, and the flies whipped through it like sparks. A sound of jingling harness and the croak of heavy-laden axles sounded from outside. From the distance came a clear call. "Stable Buck - ohh, sta-able Buck!" and then, "Where the hell is that God damn nigger?"
   Xeph stared at his solitaire lay, and then he flounced the cards together and turned around to Honeydew. Honeydew was lying down on the bunk watching him.
   "Look, Honeydew! This here ain't no set up. I'm scared. You gonna have trouble with that Rythian guy. I seen that kind before. He was kinda feelin' you out. He figures he's got you scared and he's gonna take a sock at you the first chance he gets."
   Honeydew's eyes were frightened. "I don't want no trouble," he said plaintively. "Don't let him sock me, Xeph."
   Xeph got up and went over to Honeydew's bunk and sat down on it. "I hate that kinda bastard," he said. "I seen plenty of 'em. Like the old guy says, Rythian don't take no chances. He always wins." He thought for a moment. "If he tangles with you, Honeydew, we're gonna get the can. Don't make no mistake about that. He's the boss's son. Look, Honeydew. You try to keep away from him, will you? Don't never speak to him. If he comes in here you move clear to the other side of the room. Will you do that, Honeydew?"
   "I don't want no trouble," Honeydew mourned. "I never done nothing to him."
   "Well, that wont do no good if Rythian wants to plug himself up for a fighter. Just don't have nothing to do with him. Will you remember?"
   "Sure, Xeph, I ain't gonna say a word."
   The sound of the approaching grain teams was louder, thud of big hooves on hard ground, drag of brakes, and the jingle of trace chains. Men were calling back and forth from the teams. Xeph, sitting on the bunk beside Honeydew, frowned as he thought. Honeydew asked timidly, "You ain't mad, Xeph?"
   "I ain't mad at you. I'm mad at this here Rythian bastard. I hoped we was gonna get a little stake together - maybe a hundred Yog-dollars." His tone grew decisively. "You keep away from Rythian, Honeydew."
   "Sure I will, Xeph. I wont say a word."
   "Don't let him pull you in - but - if the son-of-a-bitch socks you - let 'im have it."
   "Let 'im have what, Xeph?"
   "Never mind, never mind. Ill tell you when. I hate that kind of guy. Look, Honeydew, if you get in any kind of trouble, you remember what I told you to do?"
   Honeydew raised his elbow. His face contorted with thought. Then his eyes moved sadly on Xeph's face. "If I get in any trouble, you ain't gonna let me tend the rabbits."
   "That's not what I meant. You remember where we slep' last night? Down by the river?"
   "Yeah. I remember. Oh, sure I remember! I go there an' hide in the brush."
   "Hide till I come for you. Don't let nobody see you. Hide in the brush by the river. Say that over."
   "Hide in the brush by the river, down in the brush by the river."
   "If you get in trouble."
   "If I get in trouble."
   A brake screeched outside. A call came, "Stable - Buck. Oh! Sta-able Buck."
   Xeph said, "Say it over to yourself, Honeydew, so you wont forget it."
   Both men glanced up, for the rectangle of sunshine in the doorway was cut off. A girl was standing there looking in. She had full, roughed lips and wide-spaced eyes, heavily made up. Her fingernails were red. Her red hair hung in little rolled clusters, like sausages. She wore a cotton house dress and red mules, on the instep of which were little bouquets of red ostrich feathers. "I'm lookin' for Rythian," he said. He voice had a nasal, brittle quality.
Xeph looked away from her and then back. "He was in here a minute ago, but he went."
   "Oh!" she put her hands behind her back and leaned against the door frame so that he body was thrown forward. "You're the new fellas that just come, ain't ya?"
   "Yeah."
   Honeydew's eyes moved down over her body, and though she did not seem to be looking at Honeydew she bridled a little. She looked at her fingernails. "Sometimes Rythian's in here," she explained.
   Xeph said brusquely, "Well, he ain't now."
   "If he ain't, I guess I better look some place else," she said playfully.
   Honeydew watched her, fascinated. Xeph said, "If I see him, I'll pass the word you was looking for him."
   She smiled archly and twitched her body. "Nobody cant blame a person for lookin'," she said. There were footsteps behind her, going by. She turned her head. "Hi, Strippin'." she said.
   Strippin's voice came through the door. "Hi, Good-lookin'."
   "Im tryin' to find Rythian, Strippin'."
   "Well, you ain't tryin' very hard. I seen him goin' in your house."
   She was suddenly apprehensive. "Bye, boys," she called into the bunk house, and she hurried away.
   Xeph looked around at Honeydew. "Jesus, what a tramp," he said. "So that's what Rythian picks for a wife."
   "She's purty," said Honeydew defensively.
   "Yeah, and she's sure hidin' it. Rythian got his work ahead of him. Bet she'd clear out for twenty bucks."
   Honeydew still stared at the doorway where she had been. "Gosh, she was purty." He smiled admiringly. Xeph looked quickly down at him and then he took him by an ear and shook him.
   "Listen to me, you crazy bastard," he said fiercely. "Don't you even take a look at that bitch. I don't care what she says and what she does. I seen 'em poison before, but I never seen no piece of jail bait worse than her. You leave her be."
   Honeydew tried to disengage his ear. "I never done noting, Xeph."
   "No, you never. But when she was standin' in the doorway showin' her legs, you wasn't lookin' the other way, neither."
   "I never meant no harm, Xeph. Honest I never."
   "Well, you keep away from her, 'cause she's a rat trap if I ever seen one. You let Rythian take the trap. He let himself in for it. Glove fulla vaseline," Xeph said disgustedly. "An' I bet he's eatin' raw eggs and writin' to the patent medicine houses."
   Honeydew cried out suddenly- "I don't like this place. Xeph. This ain't no good place. I wanna get outa here."
   "We gotta keep it till we get a stake. We can't help it, Honeydew. We'll get out jus' as soon as we can. I don't like it no better than you do." He went back to the table and set out a new solitaire hand. "No, I don't like it," he said. "For two bits I'd shove out of here. If we can get jus' a few dollars in the poke we'll shove off and go up the Tektopian River and pan gold. We can make maybe a couple of dollars a day there, and we might hit a pocket."
   Honeydew leaned eagerly towards him. "Le's go, Xeph. Le's get outa here. It's mean here."
   "We gotta stay," Xeph said shortly. "Shut up now. The guys'll be comin' in."
   From the washroom nearby came the sound of running water and rattling basins. Xeph studied the cards. "Maybe we oughta wash up," he said. "But we ain't done nothing to get dirty."
   A tall man stood in the doorway. He had a crushed Stetson hat under his arm while he combed his short, black, damp hair straight back, his fringe falling over his face. Like the others he wore blue jeans and a short denim jacket. When he had finished combing his hair he moved into the room, and he moved with a majesty only achieved by royalty and master craftsmen. He was a jerkline skinner, the prince of the ranch, capable of driving ten, sixteen, even twenty mules with a single line to the leaders. He was capable of killing a fly on the wheelers butt with a bull whip without touching the mule. There was a gravity in his manner and a quiet so profound that all talk stopped when he spoke. His authority was so great that his word was taken on and subject, be politics or love. This was Strippin', the jerkline skinner. His hatchet face was ageless. He might have been thirty-five or fifty. His ear heard more than was said to him, and his slow speech had overtones not of thought, but of understanding beyond thought. His hands, large and lean, were as delicate in their action as those of a temple dancer.
   He smoothed out his crushed hat, creasing it in the middle and put it on. He looked kindly at the two in the bunk house. "It's brighter'n a bitch outside," he said gently. "Can't hardly see nothing in here. You the new guys?"
   "Just come," said Xeph.
   "Gonna buck barley?"
   "That's what the boss says."
   Strippin' sat down on a box across the table form Xeph. He studied the solitaire hand that was upside down to him. "Hope you get on my team," he said. His voice was very gentle. "I gotta pair of punks on my team that don't know a barley bag from a blue ball. You guys ever bucked any barley?"
   "Hell, yes," said Xeph. "I ain't nothing to scream about, but that big bastard there can put up more grain alone than most pars can."
   Honeydew, who had been following the conversation back and forth with his eyes, smiled complacently at the compliment. Strippin' leaned over the table and snapped the corner of the loose card. "You guys travel around together?" His tone was friendly. It invited confidence without demanding it.
   "Sure," said Xeph. "We kinda look after each other." He indicated Honeydew with his thumb. "He ain't bright. Hell of a good worker, though. Hell of a nice fella, but he ain't bright. I've knew him for a long time."
   Strippin looked through Xeph and beyond him. "Ain't many guys travel around together," he mused. "I don't know why. Maybe ever'body in the whole damn world is scared of each other."
   "It's a lot nicer to go around with a guy you know," said Xeph.
   A powerful, blonde-haired man came into the bunk house. His head still dripped water from scrubbing and dousing. "Hi, Strippin'," he said, and then stopped and stared at Xeph and Honeydew.
   "These guys jus' come," said Strippin' by way of introduction.
   "Glad to meet ya," the blonde man said. "My name's Martyn."
   "I'm Xeph Blueton. This here's Honeydew Dwarf."
   "Glad to meet ya," Martyn said again. "He ain't very dwarfy." He chuckled softly at his joke. "Ain't small at all," he repeated. "Meant to ask you, Strippin' - how's your bitch? I seen she wasn't under your wagon this morning."
   "She slang her pups last night," said Strippin'. "Nine of 'em. I drowned four of 'em right off. She couldn't feed that many."
   "Got five left, huh?"
   "Yeah, five. I kept the biggest."
   "What kinda dogs you think they're gonna be?"
   "I dunno," said Strippin'. "Some kind of shepherds, I guess. That's the most kind I seen around here when she was in heat."
   Martyn went on, "Got five pups, huh. Gonna keep all of 'em?"
   "I dunno. Have to keep 'em a while so they can drink Kim's milk."
   Martyn said thoughtfully, "Well, looka here, Strippin'. I been thinkin'. That dog of Lalna's is so God damn old he can't hardly walk. Stinks like hell, too." Ever' time he comes into the bunk house I can smell him for two, three days. Why'n't you get Lalna to shoot his old dog and give him one of the pups to raise up? I can smell that dog a mile away. Got no teeth, damn near blind, can't eat. Lalna feeds him milk. He can't chew nothing else."
   Xeph had been staring intently at Strippin'. Suddenly a triangle began to ring outside, slowly at first, and then faster and faster until the beat of it disappeared into one ringing sound. It stopped as suddenly as it had started.
   "There she goes," sais Martyn.
   Outside, there was a burst of voices as a group of men went by.
   Strippin' stood up slowly and with dignity. "You guys better come on while they's still something to eat. Won't be nothing left in a couple of minutes."
   Martyn stepped back to let Strippin' precede him, and then the two of them went out the door.
   Honeydew was watching Xeph excitedly. Xeph rumpled his cards into a messy pile. "Yeah!" Xeph said, "I heard him, Honeydew. I'll ask him."
   "A brown and white one," Honeydew cried excitedly.
   "Come on. Le's get dinner. I don't know whether he got a brown and white one."
   Honeydew didn't move from his bunk. "You ask him right away, Xeph, so he won't kill no more of 'em"
   "Sure. Coe on now, get up on your feet."
   Honeydew rolled off his bunk and stoop up, and the two of them started for the door. Just as they reached it, Rythian bounced in.
   "You seen a girl around here?" he demanded angrily.
   Xeph said coldly, "'Bout half an hour ago maybe."
   "Well, what the hell was she doin'?"
   Xeph stood still, watching the angry little man. He said insultingly, "She said - she was lookin' for you."
   Rythian seemed really to see Xeph for the first time. His eyes flashed over Xeph, took in his height, measured his reach, looked at his trim middle. "Well, which way'd she go?" he demanded at last.
   "I dunno," said Xeph. "I didn' watch her go."
   Rythian scowled at him, and turning, hurried out of the door.
   Xeph said, "Ya know, Honeydew, I'm scared i'm gonna tangle with that bastard myself. I hate his guts. Jesus Christ! Come on. They won't be a damn thing left to eat."
   They went out the door. The sunshine lay in a thin line under the window. From the distance there could be heard a rattle of dishes.
   After a moment the ancient dog walked lamely in through the open door. He gazed about with mild, half-blind eyes. He sniffed, and then lay down and put his head between his paws. Rythian popped into the doorway again and stood looking around the room. The dog raised his head, but when Rythian jerked out, the grizzled head sank to the floor again.

That's it for the first two chapters, I did try to write it all in one piece, but I exceeded the limit... i'm not surprised.
If you enjoyed this I'll be uploading the next part straight away.