"Did n't I tell you Ed Curtis saw the same woman?" said Todd, now growing assertive. "And she was going out there alone. And if there was anybody else around would n't they be eating supper with them? And if a horse was dragging a stake-rope would n't Tuck Reedy know it?"
To make the matter unquestionable he now started at the very beginning and told it all, going into details and pointing out how one witness corroborated another.
"You say she wore a felt hat? And was light-haired?"
"Yes. It was black. It was turned up at the side."
"Hell! I know who that is!" exclaimed Sloan.
"Why, that's a woman that was up here at Preston. Said she was an actress. She came along with a fellow and started a saloon over on the other side of the tracks near the loading-pen. After a while the women folks got to talking about the place and making objections; so then the rent was raised. I heard just the other day that she left town on a horse and was looking around the country. She fastened the side of it up with a big pin."
"A big breastpin," said Al Todd.
"That's her."
Here was a sufficient subject. Recollection failed to bring up a parallel. It was something new in sheep-herding.
"Well," said Sloan, finally, "a man's liable to end almost anywhere if he takes it into his head to herd sheep. They can raise all of them they want, but I 'll stick to cattle; 'specially in spring. One thing about a cow or a mare is that you don't ever have to teach her the mamma business."