Coulee City dispatch. [volume] (Coulee City, Wash.) 19??-19??, 1924-02-01
The Dude
Wrangler
Caroline Lockhart
c..r,.ht no,,hlad.v pa~e e. Co
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.
TWELFTH INSTALLMENT
Continued from prrvIous issue)
Copyright. Doubleday. Page & Co.

Pinkey needed no second invita-
ton.
II like spuds cooked with the
clothes on" he observed as he
skinned a potato.
81 trust everything is going to be
to your liking" Wallie declared, cor
daily, as he drew the prairfe-dogs
from the oven and laid them on an
agateware platter.
Busy with his potato, Pinkey did
not see them until they were before
him. Then he stopped and stared
hard as they lay on their backs grin
ming up at him with the 'forcemeat"
oozing through the stitching.
What are they?" His emphasis
was not flattering.
II shan't tell you yet" declared
Wallie.
Pinkey continued to eye them sus-
piciously
''They kinda remind me of num-
my seen in side-show; then again,
they look like incubator Children
roasted. Them teeth are what git
me. / can't quite place 'em. 'Tain't
wood-pussy or nothin', Wallie? 'Tain't
no notorious animal like pole-kitty?"
Wallie looked offended.
81 intend to eat some myself" he
replied with dignity.
no tbou Soma linH of var
mint?" obviously.
"Varmint?"
"Pack-rat or weasel?"
Scarcely"
Wallie looked so injured that Pink
ey said alphabetically:
81 was jest curious" But inquired
further: "Is that stuffin' or in'ards
comm through the SEWN down the
front of 'em?"
"Forcemeat made it according
to recipe
"Indeed?" Politely. "Eon't go shy
yourself jest because I'm here" he
protested, as Wallie attempted to cut
one in two with a butcher knife. 81
amt feelin' so hungry-somethin' has
took my appetite"
AS the table swayed under Wal
lies efforts to carve prairie-dog,
he suggested:
perhaps if you took hold of a
leg"
yeah" said Pinkey, humorously,
toIy hoI of hn
put your foot on my chest so you
kin git purchase, then we'll both
pull and sometimes bound to hap
PEN"
IF could only find joint"
Worry one of them legs off and
we'll see how we like it before you
play yourself out on it,"
Wallie acted upon the suggestion
and presented the severed member.
''Try it," he urged, persuasively.
Pinkey sunk his grinders into the
leg and laid back on it.
Does it seem tough?" Wallie ask
ed, watching him anxiously.
Tough! I'm scairt it's goin' to
snap back and knock me over. Wait
till 1 git fresh holt on it,"
do you get the flavor at all?"
81 can't pull enough off to taste
it," Pinkey replied, plaintively.
TRY the dressing and tell me what
you think of it." Wallie scooped out
generous spoonful and placed it on
his plate, waiting confidently for the
verdict.
Pinkey conveyed his knife to his
mouth while Wallie stood regarding
him with an expression of pleased
expectancy as he tasted.
A startled look was succeeded by
one that was Enthusiastically horror.
Pinkey knocked over the box upon
which he was sitting as he jumped
from the table and tore the kitchen
door open.
Wallie watched him wonderingly:
"Tell you what think of it,"
Pinkey declared, returning. II amt
got words-they amt none In the
dictionary. My Gawd! what is 1t
made OFF,"
Gust biscuit crumbs and onions"
said Wallie, coloring.
Where did you keep emf"
Wallie pointed to the box on the
floor in the corner.
Pinkey made a hideous grimace.
Gimme a drink Of water! Gimme
chew of tobacco! Gimme anything
to take the taste of mouse out'n my
mouth. Wallie,' solemnly, "men have
died fer less'n that in this country.
If 1 thought you'd done that on pur-
pose I'd slit your throat from ear to
ear and leave you"
81 thought l was very particular
and cut off everything that looked
suspicious" said Wallie, meekly, Il
must have missed something"
"You shore did! And" Pinkey de-
manded, what might them horrors
be on the platter? Them teeth are
mighty familiar"
Wallie quavered:
"Prairie-dog-I was experimenting
to see if they were edible"
Leave me out in the air again!"