Out of Town on a Macaroni Hunt

This is the first strip that I've come across that got split in the book reprint. Only the first two panels were in the book. Curiously, the word balloon in the first panel was revised in the book, or was it revised for the newspaper and then printed correctly in the book?

But why? It says essentially the same thing, reworded only slightly. In the paper L.A. sez "ol buddies"; in the book he sez "ol' hoss". Why was it worth changing that?

Only the first two panels, shown above, were printed in the book.