Beagle Law West of the Pecos.

Being unsure of the grade level at which beagles read, I read the sign for the Beagle Posse. "No Diving From Bridge." They instantly wanted to argue about that.

"It's a free country," declared Tommy. "They can't just order us not to dive."

Checking my iPhone quickly, I said, "The water at the bottom of this canyon is the Pecos River. It is about 4 feet deep, and this bridge is 275 feet above it."

"Yeah," sniffed Tuppence, "Well, how much is that in dog feet?"

"There's no such thing as 'dog feet'."

Tommy was right on it. "If there's dog years, then there must be dog feet. And, what if we see a squirrel down there?  We are duty bound to dive in.  That's Beagle Code #1."

"NO DIVING."

Tuppence says, "Let's ask Terry, he's smart."

Old friend, and Best Man at our wedding, Terry had come along on this trip. He's recently "semi" retired, and a fellow aficionado of Judge Roy Bean--"The Law West of the Pecos."  (There may have to be a blog entry about his and Julie's dog "Beano.")

"I don't think Terry will advise you to dive."

"Well, we'll ask, at least on this trip, we have someone smart with us."

I tried to calm the Posse. "I'm not sure Terry can hear you speak, but..............WAIT, what do you mean THIS trip, and when did dogs learn to use italics?"

Tuppence quickly changed the topic. "This Bean fellow we're going to see, does he have any dogs?"

"Well, he's long gone, we're just going to see his old saloon and courthouse, he must have had dogs. He did have a bear."

"BEAR? You're taking us to see a bear?"

"No, HAD, as in gone. History tells us the bear died of cirrhosis of the liver due to all the beer people gave him in the saloon."

"I heard the ranger at the park (Seminole Canyon State park where the camper was) warn people about bears, coyotes, and other animals in the canyons," said Tommy. "And even the ranger was too scared to warn us about the Chupacabra."

I sighed. "There is no such thing as a Chupacabra."

Tommy would not be swayed, "Is too, and since we're camped less than a mile from the border to Mexico, they can easily sneak in."

Tuppence joined, "And that doesn't even count the illegal Beagle Traffickers who will try to snatch us, put blue duct tape on our muzzles, and whisk us off."

I growled, "I'm tempted to put duct tape on your muzzles sometimes."

The Posse looked at each other, shrugged, and trotted over to mark a Creosote bush and a Prickly Pear."

"Come on, dogs. We need to get to the Jersey Lil."

Tommy: "Will they give us beer?  Or, is that only for bears."

"No beer guys.  The saloon is not a saloon anymore, it is a state historic landmark."

Tuppy was musing, "Beer for Beagles. I like the sound of that. It could be a TV show. 'Stay tuned for Beer for Beagles, starring Jerry Mathers as the Beagle."

Tommy was staring into the canyon. "OK, but if a drunk bear comes running across the bridge at us, THEN can we dive off?"

"I may throw you off."