Old Mayne looked at Tex and told him he could consider himself on the payroll forthwith. Later, he asked Robin in an aside:
“Reckon we better put Tex wise to Shinin’ Mark or leave him find out for himself?”
“I’ll wise him up,” Robin volunteered. “I have a hunch he don’t need much tellin’.”
Nor did he. When Robin discreetly broached the subject and related what lay behind Mark Steele’s venom, Tex merely grinned.
“I figured it somethin’ like that,” he observed. “It’s a tough proposition. Mark’s smooth and aggressive. He’s got a big swing. Sutherland has confidence in him, trusts him to the limit. That’s the way old Adam is. If he’s with you he’s with you all the way. Still—Mark has made a fatal mistake.”
“What?” Robin inquired.
“Hidin’ behind another man’s ownership of a brand,” Tex knitted his brows. “If he’d said to Sutherland: ‘I’m goin’ to have a few cows of my own an’ make a start,’ Sutherland would have done one of two things. Either told him straight he couldn’t own cattle an’ run the Block S at the same time, or he would have said it was a good scheme an’ for him to go right to it, save his money an’ get somewhere. But Mark has played it too foxy. If he’s rustlin’ under the T Bar S brand he owns it, or the biggest share in it. If Sutherland ever finds out his range boss has a silent ownership in a brand on his own range, right there Mark’ll come to the end of his rope. Old Adam’d get him an’ get him right. Barrin’ that, Mark’s got all the best of it just now. He’s put you in wrong. He’ll get you if he can. You know too much. He can always bluff Dan Mayne. If he wasn’t afraid, old Dan would have bellowed it all out loud long ago. There’s nothin’ but your word against Mark yet. But as a matter of fact, kid, I——”
Tex broke off. He grinned.
“I won’t talk, right now,” said he. “From now on I’m a Bar M Bar rider. Two heads are better’n one. I can’t tell you all I may know or think, Robin, old boy. But I’ll say this: If you go up against Shinin’ Mark too soon an’ do kill him, you’ll have to go on the dodge, because Sutherland’ll sure try to put you in the pen. So you keep clear of a fight with Mark Steele if you can. Maybe by spring you won’t have to throw lead with him. Maybe a deputy with a warrant’ll save you the trouble.”
They slept on that.