"What you doing here?" he demanded, with a suspicious frown.
"Nothing," said Bart, with a grin.
"Where do you come from?"
"Me—nowhere!" chuckled Bart, winking deliberately and then, walking over to the horse, he fondled his long ears, with the remark: "If I had a dandy rig like you've got here, I bet I'd go somewheres, though!"
"Where would you go?" inquired Buck Tolliver curiously.
"I'd go to California—that's the place to do something, and make a name, and amount to something."
Bart's off-handed ingenuousness had completely disarmed the men. He pretended to be busy petting the horse, but saw Buck Tolliver slip back to his brother, and a few quick questions and answers passed between them. Then Buck came up to him again.
"See here, kid, are you acquainted around here at all?"
"Did you ever see me around here before?" chaffed Bart audaciously.
"Don't get fresh! This is business."