Hall leaned back from the table and replied, keenly watching the inquisitor, "Because he don't give a d—n."
"You——!" shouted the Mexican, half arising, but the others interfered and he sank back again, content to let it pass. But not so Hall, whose Colt was half drawn.
"I'll kill you some day, you whelp," he gritted, but before anything could come of it Shaw and his companions entered the room and the trouble was quelled.
Soon the group was deep in discussion over the merits of a scheme which Antonio unfolded to them, and the more it was weighed the better it appeared. Finally Shaw leaned back and filled his pipe. "You've got th' brains of th' devil, 'Tony."
"Eet ees not'ing," replied Antonio.
"Oh, drop that lingo an' talk straight—you ain't on th' H2 now," growled Hall.
"Benito, you know this country like a book," Shaw continued. "Where's a good place for us to work from, or ain't there no choice?"
"Thunder Mesa."
"Well, what of it?"
"On de edge of de desert, high, beeg. De walls are stone, an' so ver' smooth. Nobody can get up."