Glenna made a head and face on the pillowcase and they sewed an old hat on it. Carter built the hangman’s noose and that was applied to the dummy’s neck and stitched on too so it didn’t pull the head off when they hung the whole thing up. Slocum punched holes in rusty tin cans with a punch and hammer in the blacksmith shop they had. The others tied them on long strings, separated so they’d make lots of noise when the horses started off from the hitch rack. Each chain was placed in an individual gunnysack so they didn’t get tangled up. Then Jon, Carter, and Slocum sharpened their jackknives so they would be sharp enough to cut through the cinches on the horses. Before dark the three men rode into Buttercup and hitched their horses out back. It was no trouble staying hidden in the darkness out front of the noisy saloon. Hitching the strings to the ponies’ tails proved harder than expected, so they tied part of them to the back girths.
