Clay's fires were going well, and the steer and sheep were being roasted
for the noontime feast.
Ben had gone on a still-hunt among the tents belonging to the showman,
and, while he found three small dogs, there was no sign of a monkey, and
by adroit questioning he learned that they had had a monkey, but that
it had died at Leadville, because the air in that altitude was too cold
and rare for it.
These facts he communicated to Ted, and seemed to explode the
monkey-thief theory.
During the morning there was a baseball game between the cowboys and the
clerks from the stores in Soldier Butte and Strongburg, in which the
score was forty-one to three in favor of the clerks. The cowboys
couldn't play ball any more than a rabbit, encumbered as they were by
their chaps, high-heeled boots, and spurs. It took a home-run hit to get
one of them to first base.
After dinner the cowboy sports were to come off.
When Ted could get away from his duties as host for a few minutes he
sauntered through the crowd, extending greetings to all whom he knew,
but at the same time keeping a close watch over everything.
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