It was a
strained smile which twisted the rather too perfect
mouth of The Oskaloosa Kid, an appellation which we
must, perforce, accept since the youth did not deny it.
Columbus Blackie, The General, and Dirty Eddie
were formally presented. As Dirty Eddie was, physi-
cally, the cleanest member of the band the youth won-
dered how he had come by his sobriquet--that is, he
wondered until he heard Dirty Eddie speak, after which
he was no longer in doubt. The Oskaloosa Kid, self-con-
fessed 'tramp' and burglar, flushed at the lurid obscenity
of Dirty Eddie's remarks.
"Sit down, bo," invited Soup Face. "I guess you're a
regular all right. Here, have a snifter?" and he pulled
a flask from his side pocket, holding it toward The Os-
kaloosa Kid.
"Thank you, but;--er--I'm on the wagon, you know,"
declined the youth.
"Have a smoke?" suggested Columbus Blackie. "Here's
the makin's."
The change in the attitude of the men toward him
pleased The Oskaloosa Kid immensely. They were treat-
ing him as one of them, and after the lonely walk through
the dark and desolate farm lands human companionship
of any kind was to him as the proverbial straw to the
man who rocked the boat once too often.
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