"'Ace-in-the-hole, varmint, dogie, and tenderfoot!'" The Eastern city-slicker put down his "Handbook of the West" and pushed up his spectacles. He grinned at the two men seated near him on the train. "I'm learning the vocabulary, indeed I am!"
Heyes and Curry swallowed their smiles.
Curry nodded. "Real good, I reckon."
Heyes' dark eyes sparkled. "Ah, but can you use each in a sentence? Or are you still a 'vocabulary tenderfoot?'"
"Well, I daresay I have farther to go, but I'm learning." The bespectacled man smiled. "Now I'm hoping to meet some real, live outlaws!"
Heyes and Curry exchanged looks.
The man paged through the book, not noticing their uneasiness. "Like Hannibal Heyes and Kid Curry. I read their descriptions right here…"
Two ex-outlaws rose to find a new seat. "If you'll excuse us." Heyes tipped his hat. "We remembered something we have to do."
"Real sudden-like," suggested Kid.
"Ah! You're leaving…?"
Heyes bent to shake the man's hand. "We wish you luck, but we do our best to stay away from outlaws."
"They spoil our digestion," suggested Curry, tilting his hat.
They left, quickly. "Nosy tenderfoot!" Curry muttered.
Heyes grinned. "Now, Thaddeus, he just wanted to meet some outlaws…"