Part 17 (1/2)
”Do you reckon he'd sell it?”
”He'd sell the hair off his head,” sez Spider.
”Well, you go back there an'-But say, has Pete got any others?”
”He had ten when I left, an' no knowin' how many he's got by this time. Pete sez 'at guinea-pigs is the prolificest things the' is,” sez Spider.
”You buy three of 'em, Spider,” sez I; ”a male one an' a female one, an' this here freak.”
”What do I want with 'em?” sez Spider.
”I'll pay half, an' show you how to make money out of 'em,” sez I.
”I don't want to tinker with no such cattle as them,” sez Spider.
”You get a fresh pony, an' it won't take you no time at all,” sez I.
So Spider got the pony an' went off grumblin'. When he brought 'em back he had 'em in a small box an' they certainly was curious lookin'
insects. ”I paid four bits apiece for the male an' the female,” sez Spider, ”an' twenty-five real dollars for the freak.”
”If that's the way prices run,” sez I, ”it ain't no wonder that guinea-pigs what are ambitious to be popular, are willin' to give up the luxury o' tails.”
”Now then, what in thunder are we goin' to do with 'em?” sez Spider.
”Get a fresh pony,” sez I, ”an' we'll go on over to Boggs.”
”You go to the equator!” yells Spider. ”I ain't had no sleep for a week.”
”Sleep,” sez I, ”what's the use o' botherin' about sleep? You keep on losin' your strength this way, an' in about a year they'll be trundlin' you around in a baby cart. All right then, you stay home an'
be company for the freak. We'll hide him up in the attic so the rats can't get him.”
”Oh I could stand it to go without sleep, if I saw any sense in it,”
sez Spider; ”but hanged if I'm goin' to ride my bones through my skin just to please you.”
”Suit yourself,” sez I. ”We'll put the freak in the tin cake-box an'
punch a few holes in it to give him air. I'll do that while you're makin' up your mind about goin' along to Boggs.”
”What you goin' to do with the male an' the female?” sez Spider as I started away.
”I'm goin' to sell 'em to Eugene,” I calls back over my shoulder, an'
then I knew I'd have company.
”I thought you was goin' to Boggs,” sez Spider as soon as we had settled into a travelin' trot. I allus find that I get along easier with people if I just leave 'em one or two items to puzzle over.
”Webb Station is closer,” sez I; ”an' if this deal causes any hard feelin' it will be just as well not to be mixed up in it ourselves.”
”I thought you was goin' to sell these to Eugene?” sez Spider.
”If you'd just go to sleep, Spider,” sez I, ”it would save your brain the trouble o' thinkin' up a lot o' thoughts which ain't no use anyhow. I'm goin' to let Shorty take 'em over this evenin' an' sell 'em to Eugene.”