"You're Tully Pettigrew?"
" 'At's my name a'right." Tully beamed proudly, "Named after my great, granpa who came from the old country. And an uncle who was named after him. My uncle was a war-hero."
"First or second world-war?" Moffitt grilled. Tully scratched his tousled head.
"A big un, I know that. Say, Mister Jack, why'd ya bring your sui'case?"
"It's called a valise, Tully, and I don't want it to walk away while I'm gone."
"Ya mean ya don't it want stole? Heck, mister Jack, it would'na been stole."
"Just the same, I feel better knowing where it is." A flash of fur darted across the road into the trees on the other side.
The huge dog, who had been walking complacently beside his small master, gave a deep bark and took off after it.
"Don't worry about Tut, mister Jack," Tully rushed to soothe any fears Jack might have, "he'll meet up with us pretty soon."
"Your dog's name is 'Tut'?"
"Yessir. His full name is 'King Tut', but my Aunt Beatrice says 'king' is too preten-, pretet-, pre-"
"Pretentious?"
"That's the one! Too per-ten-shus for a hound dog like him. So we calls him Tut."
"Who named him?" Moffitt asked.
"One o' my uncles. He says Tut and the real fella 'll be bout the same age when they've died." Moffitt nodded.
"True enough… What are you doing?"
Tully had veered of the rutted road and into the lush trees at the wayside.
"Gotta leave the road to reach this waterhole," he spoke as if it was only common-sense, "and this is where we leave the road." He pushed on into the thicket.
Moffitt sighed, adjusted his loads, and followed.
"Tell me, uh, Tully, how far-" a tree root caught the toe of his shoe and sent him stumbling to the ground.
Spitting dirt, he grunted "Oh, blasted trees! Never had this trouble in the desert," he finished in a low grumble.
"My uncle says that all the time, too." Moffitt dusted his newly, grass-stained coat.
"Says what? The bit about the desert?"
"No, he says 'blasted'. My mama doesn't like it, she says-"
"Not Christian english, I know." Moffitt cut in. Tully nodded.
"But my pa says, she should fight in a war and see how Christian her english is at the end."
"Eh, well, yes. Anyway, I was asking how far it is to this waterhole."
Tut came bounding up, nearly bowling over Tully, but he didn't seem to take much notice.
"T'ain't too much of a piece, mister Jack."