Suddenly the stranger collapses. Simon, one of the ranch hands, jumps up, knocking over his pint of whiskey, rushes to him and feels his skin.
"Hyperpyrexia", he mutters, then more loudly, "Gimme a hand, boys."
A few more men get up from behind their glass. Together they lift him and carry him outside where a few horses are lazily drinking
water. One of them pushes the horses aside, and with a loud splash they heave the stranger into the basin.
Next door, Uncle Bill is coming out of his store to see what all the disturbance is about. In his hand he holds a withered bonsai tree; with his other hand, he is almost thoughtlessly applying a patch to it. The tree is covered in at least a dozen patches of all sizes, shapes and colours.
- Peter
[ April 07, 2003: Message edited by: Peter den Haan ]