“Well, kid, did you find those strays?” asked the girl.
“Yes—a dozen of ’em. That old breechy bunch with them calves. They’d wandered down the mountainside and was makin’ it for Caldron Cañon. Ask me why? I dunno. No grass down there like’s up on top. Cows don’t know nothin’.”
“Your speech is artistic, mi hermano. Say ‘Cows don’t know anything.’”
“‘Cows don’t know anything,’” repeated Mart dutifully. “Has pa got back from Opaco?”
“Quién sabe! Hadn’t when I left home. I don’t expect him before to-night.”
“What’d he go for, anyway? Said he wanted to see ‘Flip’ Globe. What’d he wanta see Flip for?”
“I haven’t the remotest idea, Martie.”
“I have,” Mart declared. “Not what he wanted to see Flip about, but what took ’im to Opaco. I met ‘Splicer’ Kurtz this afternoon. He was comin’ down from the mountains for somethin’—I forget what. Said he heard yer friend Mangan had got into Opaco with his outfit. If that’s so, pa went to see Mangan. What’ll ye bet?”
“Nothing. I’m positive he rode in for the sole purpose of seeing Mr. Mangan and that the Flip Globe story was—well, just a story.”
“Pa Squawtooth sure took to that Mangan, didn’t he, Nita?”