Jimmy Hayes and Muriel by O. Henry

Supper was over, and there had fallen upon the camp the silence that accompanies the rolling of cornhusk cigarettes. The water hole shone from the dark earth like a patch of fallen sky. Coyotes yelped. Dull thumps indicated the rocking-horse movements of the hobbled ponies as they moved to fresh grass. A half-troop of the Frontier Battalion of Texas Rangers were distributed about the fire.

A well-known sound -- the fluttering and scraping of chaparral against wooden stirrups -- came from the thick brush above the camp. The rangers listened cautiously. They heard a loud and cheerful voice call out reassuringly: