The Crystal City Page 0,113

money you lose at it," said Abe.

And so it went all the way from Springfield to the Mizzippy.

They left the cornfields behind them after a couple of hours and forded Noisy River itself, and then passed along an ever-narrowing track through prairie land dotted with trees, where nobody was farming except here and there. A reminder that this was the frontier after all. And also that farmers tended to prefer not to locate near the foggy Mizzippy.

They reached a tree-covered bluff overlooking the great river just before dark. There wasn't much to see. A lot of trees below them, and beyond the trees, a glimpse of the river reflected scattered moonlight. And then the fog that obscured all vision of the land on the other side.

"Here's where we spend the night," said Lincoln.

"And eat supper, I hope," said Coz.

"Supper?" said Verily.

Abe looked at him sharply. "I said we'd need provisions."

"You didn't say we'd need food," said Verily.

"Well I'm blamed if provisions don't mean food!" said Abe, sounding a little cross.

"If you meant food," said Verily, "you should have said food."

"If you think I'm going to hunt for rabbit this time of night on an empty stomach, you're looney," said Coz.

"Myself," said Abe, "I'm thinking of maybe turning cannibal."

Verily grinned. "Now I know why you brought Coz along."

Coz put his hands on his hips and glared at them both by turns. "Now see here, there ain't nobody going to eat nobody, least of all me. I may look stout, but I assure you it's all fat, every bit of it, not a scrap of muscle on me, so if you tried to fry me up like bacon you'd end up gagging on account of there being no lean in it."

Verily sighed. "It's hard to play a joke on men who refuse to notice the jest."

"We were joking back," said Coz. "We knowed you had food all along."

"Oh, no, I don't have food," said Verily. "The joke was the part about eating you."

They both uttered disgusted noises and then Verily laughed. "All right, then, I suppose I might have something left over from my journey here in my saddlebags."

He was getting the waybread and corned beef out of the saddlebag when Abe said, "You know, I'm a mite uncomfortable that the campfire that was going down by the river when we got here has since been put right out."

"Maybe they got done eating," said Coz.

"I didn't see a campfire," said Verily.

"Maybe they don't want a fire 'cause it's a hot night," said Coz.

"Or maybe they took note of some travelers on horseback coming out of the wood at the crown of this bluff and decided that we looked like easy folk to rob."

A powerful voice came from the brush off behind the horses. "Fine time to think of that, sir." And out from the bushes stepped a big man, who looked like he'd been in a lot of fights but hadn't lost any of them. And he had pistols and knives all over him, it seemed, with a cocked musket in his hands.

It was the first time Verily had seen Abe Lincoln look scared. "If you were hoping to rob somebody easy," said Abe, "you're half right. We'll be easy, only we ain't got nothing to steal."

"Speak for yourself, Abe," said Coz. "I bet Mr. Cooper's got everything he owns on that horse."

Abe gave Coz a shove. "Well, ain't that a fine thing, drawing this man's attention to our friend Mr. Cooper!"

"Well Mr. Cooper was planning to fry me up like bacon!" said Coz, shoving Abe back.

"That was a joke, Coz," said Abe, shoving him harder.

"He says now," said Coz, shoving Abe back, even harder.

But when Abe flung himself forward to shove again, it wasn't Coz he shoved. He took a flying leap at the stranger and down they tumbled into the bushes.

"Don't you worry, none, Mr. Cooper," said Coz. "Abe's a pretty bad fighter, but he puts his whole self into it and he don't give up early."

"Verily!" called the big man from the bushes. His voice sounded like somebody was pounding on his chest.

"He knows your name?" said Coz.

"Verily, are you going to say something, or am I going to have to kill your big ugly friend!"

"He oughtn't to call Abe ugly like that," said Coz.

"Abe," said Verily, "this man is not here to rob us."

The fight quieted down. "You know each other," said Abe.

"Abe Lincoln, meet Mike Fink. Mike Fink, vice versa."

"Leave off that legal talk, Mr. Cooper," said