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“Youdon’tsay!“theyexclaimed，takenaback。“Toobad。“
Theysatstillintheirsaddles，andupontheirreckless，kindlyfacesthoughtpausedforamoment。“Hergone!“theymurmured。“Hardtogetusedtotheidea。What’sanybodydoingaboutthecoffin？“
“Mr。Lusk，“answeredSlaghammer，“doubtless——“
“Lusk!He’llnotknowanythingthisforenoon。He’soutthereinthegrass。Shedidn’tthinknothingofhim。TellBill——notDollarBill，JerkyBill，yu’know；he’soverthebridge——tofixupahearse，andwe’llbeback。“Thetwodrovetheirspursinwithvigorousheels，andinstantlyweregonerushinguptheroadtothegraveyard。
Thefiddlehadlatelyceased，andnodancersstayedanylongerinthehall。Eastwardtheroseandgoldbegantoflowdownupontheplainoverthetopsofthedistanthills。Oftherevellers，manyhadnevergonetobed，andmanynowwerealreadyrisenfromtheirexcessestoreviveinthecoolgloryofthemorning。Someweredrinkingtostaytheirhungeruntilbreakfast；somesplashedandsportedintheriver，callingandjoking；
andacrosstheriversomewereholdinghorse-racesuponthelevelbeyondthehog-ranch。Dryboneairrangwiththem。Theirlusty，wanderingshoutsbrokeoutingustsofhilarity。Theirpistols，aimedatcansorprairiedogsoranything，crackedastheygallopedatlarge。Theirspeeding，clear-cutformswouldshineuponthebluffs，and，descending，mergeinthedusttheirhorseshadraised。Yetallthiswasnothinginthevastnessofthegrowingday。
Beyondtheirvoicestherimofthesunmovedabovetheviolethills，andDrybone，amidthequiet，long，newfieldsofradiance，stoodaugustandstrange。
Downalongthetall，bareslantfromthegraveyardthetwohorsemenwereridingback。Theycouldbeseenacrosstheriver，andthehorse-racersgrewcurious。Asmoreandmorewatched，thecrowdbegantospeak。Itwasacalfthetwowerebringing。Itwastoosmallforacalf。Itwasdead。
Itwasacoyotetheyhadroped。Seeitswing!Seeitfallontheroad!
“It’sacoffin，boys!“saidone，shrewdatguessing。
Atthattheeventoflastnightdriftedacrosstheirmemories，andtheywheeledandspurredtheirponies。Theircrowdinghoofsonthebridgebroughttheswimmersfromthewatersbelowand，dressing，theyclimbedquicklytotheplainandfollowedthegathering。BythedooralreadywereJerkyBillandLimberJimandtheDoughieandalwaysmore，dashingupwiththeirponies；haltingwithasharpscatterofgraveltohearandcomment。Barkerwasgone，buttheimportantcoronertoldhisnews。Anditamazedeachcomer，andsethimspeakingandrememberingpastthingswiththeothers。“Dead!“eachonebegan。“Her，doeshesay？“
“Why，pshaw!“
“Why，FrenchysaidDochadhercured!“
JackSaundersclaimedshehadrodetoBoxElderwithLinMcLean。
“Dead？Why，pshaw!“
“SeemsDoccouldn’tswimherout。“
“Couldn’tswimherout？“
“That’sit。Doccouldn’tswimherout。“
“Well——there’sonelessofus。“
“Sure!Shewasoneoftheboys。“
“Shegrub-stakedmewhenIwentbrokein’84。“
“ShegavemefiftydollarsoncedatLander，tobuyasaddle。“
“Irunaginherwhenshewasabiscuit-shooter。“
“Sidney，Nebraska。Irunagainherthere，too。“
“IknowedheratLaramie。“
“Where’sLin？HeknowedherallthewayfromBearCreektoCheyenne。“
Theylaughedloudlyatthis。
“That’salonesomecoffin，“saidtheDoughie。“Thatthebestyoucoulddo？“
“You’dsayso!“saidToothpickKid。
“Choicesaregettingscarceupthere，“saidChalkeye。“Welookedthelotover。“
Theywerearrivingfromtheirsearchamongtheolddug-upgravesonthehill。Nowtheydescendedfromtheirponies，withtheboxropedandrattlingbetweenthem。“Where’syourhearse，Jerky？“askedChalkeye。
“Haveherroundinaminute，“saidthecowboy，andgallopedawaywiththreeorfourothers“Turrublelonesomecoffin，allthesame，“repeatedtheDoughie。Andtheysurveyedtheboxthathadonceheldsomesoldier。
“Shedidlikefixin’s，“saidLimberJim。
“Fixin’s!“saidToothpickKid。“That’seasy。“
Whilesomesixofthem，withChalkeye，borethelight，half-rottedcoffinintotheroom，manyfollowedToothpickKidtothepost-trader’sstore。
Breakinginhere，theyfoundmensleepingonthecounters。ThesehadbeenabletofindnootherbedsinDrybone，andlayastheyhadstretchedthemselvesonentering。Theysprawledinheavyslumber，somewithnoteventheirhatstakenoffandsomewiththeirbootsagainsttheroughhairofthenextone。Theywerequicklypushedtogether，fewwaking，andsotherewasspaceforspreadingclothandchintz。Stuffswereunrolledandflungasidetillmanyfoldsandcolorsdrapedthemotionlesssleepers，andatlengthachoicewasmade。Unmeasuredyardsofthisdrabchintzwererippedoff，moneytrebleitsworthwasthumpeduponthecounter，andtheyreturned，bearingitlikeastreamertothecoffin。
Whilethenoiseoftheirhammersfilledtheroom，thehearsecametotteringtothedoor，pulledandpushedbytwentymen。I
