"Lookd idt breddy, blease," he grinned, "a picdgure I take idt."
And there the whole crew were transferred to a picture for future development.
"I guess we won't be very proud of that picture," laughed Nat, turning to his ablutions once more.
"No, we must answer in the negative," punned Joe. But the next minute he paid the penalty as Cal leaped upon him and bore him struggling to the earth. Over and over they rolled, Cal attempting to stuff a handful of soapsuds in the punning youth's mouth.
"Not me," grinned Nat, enjoying the rough sport, "you deserve your fate."
Soon after order was restored and they sat down to a meal to which they were fully prepared to do ample justice.
"Say," remarked Cal suddenly, with his mouth full of canned plum pudding, "this stream and those sheep back yonder put me in mind of a story I once heard."
"Wall, children, sit right quiet an' I'll tell yer. Oncet upon a time thar was a sheepman in these hills----"
"Sing ho, the sheepman in the hills!" hummed Joe.
"Thar was a sheepman in these hills," went on Cal, disdaining the interruption, "who got in trouble with some cattlemen, the same way as this one will if they git him. Wall, this sheepman had a pal and the two of them decided one day that ef they didn't want ter act as reliable imitations of porous plasters they'd better be gitting. So they gabbled and got. Wall, the cattlemen behind 'em pressed em pretty dern close, an' one night they come ter a creek purty much like this one.
"Wall, they was in a hurry ter git across as you may suppose, but the problem was ter git ther sheep over. You see they didn't want ter leave 'em as they was about all the worldly goods they had. But the sheep was inclined to mutiny."
"Muttony, you mean, don't you?" grinned Joe, dodging to safe distance. When quiet was restored, Cal resumed.
"As I said, the sheep was inclined ter argify"--this with a baleful glance at Joe--"and so they decided that they'd pick up each sheep in ther arms and carry them over till they got the hull three thousand sheep across ther crick. You see it wuz ther only thing ter do."
"Wall, one of ther fellows he picks up a sheep and takes it across and comes back fer another, and then ther other feller he does the same and in the meantime ther first feller had got his other across and come back fer more and ther second was on his way over and----"