page 27 of DEVIL MAKE A THIRD:

Buck spoke first. "Mr. Green," he said, "you got a heifer."

Green dropped his head to one side and stared at Buck. He opened his mouth but didn't say anything. Buck pointed at the heifer tied outside.

"I traded for it," he said, "I swapped seeds to plant one acre o' peas and threw in a couple plugs o' tobacco."

"Who in hell are you," he said, "come a'bustin' in my store, swappin' right and left?"

Buck ducked his head and swallowed. The swallow came hard.

"My name's Buck Bannon," he said, "an' I want a job tradin' for you. You needed help right bad this mornin'."

Mr. Green frowned and looked at his seed bin.

"Godamighty," he yelled suddenly. "Them seed coulda sold for two dollars."

Buck stood up quickly.

"I'll give you two dollars for the heifer." He reached in his pocket.

Mr. Green chewed emptily and looked down at Buck's copper-toed shoes for a minute. He looked back up at Buck and kept chewing. Then, suddenly, he smiled a little. He shook his head.

"Calf's worth four." he motioned with his head back towards the meat block. "Cut meat?"

Buck grinned. Swallowing came easier. He shook his head.

"I'm a trader," he said, "that's about all I do."

Mr. Green nodded and chewed some more.

"Well," he said, and shrugged his shoulders, "I c'n cut meat."

Buck stuck out his hand. "And I can swap."

They shook hands, then, and Buck breathed deep and looked around the store to see what there was to swap.