LITMIR.BIZ

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they were grunting, Hank.”

      “Wait a minute, hold it. They were grunting?”

      “Yeah, they sure were. Does that mean anything?”

      “Possibly so, Drover, but before we jump to any hasty conclusions, I have one last question. It is possible that they released a type of odor from their musk glands that smelled exactly like diesel fuel?”

      He rolled his eyes. “I think maybe they did, Hank, I’m almost a hundred percent sure they did.”

      “Well, there we are, Drover. Now that I’ve managed to drag the testimony out of you, what we have here is the Case of the Wild Hogs.”

      “Wild hogs! Oh my gosh!”

      “Yes indeed. They’re armed with enormous tusks and extremely dangerous. You ever go one-on-one against a wild hog?”

      “Heck no.”

      “Well, let me tell you, they’re bad mocus. They can rip your guts out with one slash. They can chew your ears off with one bite. They’re fast, they’re quick, they’re utterly heartless.”

      “Oh!”

      “Our first objective is to find out what they’re doing on this ranch without permission. Our second objective is to run ’em off the ranch without getting ourselves cut up into a dozen pieces.”

      “What are we gonna do?”

      “I just happen to have a plan.”

      “Thank goodness!”

      “If you’ll shut your little yap and let me finish.”

      “Okay.”

      I drew out the battle plan in the snow. “We’re here at Point Abel. Over here we have Point Baker and over here Point Charlie. As you can see, the three points form a triangle.”

      “Oh.”

      “I’ll proceed to Point Baker, over here, and then sneak over to Point Charlie, right here. We’d best hold you in reserve here at Point Abel.”

      “You mean . . . I have to stay here and guard the gunnysacks? You won’t let me get out in the snow?”

      “That’s correct. When it comes to tracking wild hogs, we use only the first string.”

      “Oh drat.”

      “If you see anything suspicious, sound the alarm. You got all that?” He nodded. “All right, that covers it. Good luck. I’ll be in communication.”

      At that moment, I spotted Pete the Barncat up by the yard fence. He rubbed up against the corner post and he was purring like a little motor-boat.

      How do you suppose a cat does that? I’ve tried it a hundred times and I’ve never been able to purr.

      I loped up the hill to check him out.

      “Morning, Hankie. Did you find any monsters in the night?”

      “Funny you should ask. As a matter of fact, yes, and I’ve got some questions for you.”

      “Oh good. I just love to answer questions.”

      “Number one, did you see any wild hogs around here in the early morning hours?”

      “Hmmm, wild hogs. How many?”

      “I don’t know, four, five, six?”

      “No. I didn’t see four, five, or six.”

      “How many did you see?”

      “Seven.”

      “Why didn’t you say so?”

      “Well, you asked if I saw . . .”

      “Never mind what I asked! What we’re after is right answers, not right questions. It doesn’t take any brains to ask the right question, but I wouldn’t expect a cat to know that. Which way were they going?”

      “Who?”

      “The wild hogs, you dunce.”

      “Oh.” He licked one of his paws. “Which way do you think they were going?”

      “East.”

      “That’s right, Hankie. You’re pretty sharp.”

      “You may have been crazy when you got here, cat, but you’re talking sense now. That’s all for the moment, but don’t leave the ranch. I may have some more questions for you.”

      He grinned. “Any time, Hankie. Good luck with the wild hogs.” Off he went, twitching the end of his tail back and forth.

      I never did like that twitching business. Really gets under my skin, makes me mad.

      I headed east and made a patrol. Didn’t turn up any clues, no tracks, nothing. An hour later I arrived back at the command post. I found Drover asleep on my bed. I gave him a rude awakening.

      “Wake up, get out of my bed, and listen, in that order.”

      “Okay, Hank, what did you find?”

      “We had seven head of wild hogs go through here sometime after midnight.”

      Drover gasped. “Did you find ’em?”

      “Not exactly. Wild hogs are very clever. They managed to hide their tracks, but you’ll notice that they left their scent behind. Smell.”

      Drover sniffed the air. “Diesel fuel?”

      “That’s what they wanted us to think, but we’re one step ahead of them, aren’t we? The bottom line, Drover, is that they passed through the ranch in a big hurry, probably in fear of their lives. As far as I’m concerned, we’ve solved the case.”

      “Whew! Boy, I was scared there for a while.”

      “Even I had a few tense moments, Drover. Wild hogs are nothing to sneeze at.”

      Drover sneezed. “Oh, I’m so cold!”

      I studied the runt for a long time, trying to decide if he was trying to be funny or if this was a clue that might open up a new conspiracy. After much deliberation, I decided that he had merely sneezed.

      Case closed.

      Chapter Two: How Was I Supposed to Know She Didn’t Want Me to Go?

      Solving a major case in an hour was nothing out of the ordinary for me. I mean, when you get into your higher echelon of cowdogs, brains and breeding and dashing good looks are standard equipment.

      Your common unpapered ranch mutt might have one quality out of the three, but not all three at once. Where I solved the Wild Hog Case in an hour’s time, your ordinary mutt would spend a day and a half on it.

      Your sub-ordinary mutt, such as Drover, might take a month and a half to crack the case.

      Well, I had cracked the case and felt that warm glow of satisfaction that comes when a dog knows he’s done his job, yet the investigation had taken its toll and I was ready to throw up a long line of Z’s.

      I kicked Drover out of my bed, fluffed it up, and was in the process of turning around in a tight circle, looking for the perfect spot to land, when I heard the sound of a motor.

      I froze. My ears shot up. A snarl came to my lips. I looked to the left. I looked to the right. And then I saw it. A pickup was pulling into the gravel drive behind the house, and the gravel was popping under the weight of the tires.

      The intruder parked beside Sally May’s car, which may

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