“Was there a dance? I was over in Alameda,” replied Thirsty shortly.
“Ya-as, there was a dance, an' yu can shoot purty durn far if yu was in Alameda,” responded Hopalong, his voice low and monotonous.
Thirsty shifted his feet and glanced around. Buck and Red were still lounging against their bowlders and apparently were not paying any attention to the proceedings. His fickle nerve came back again, for he knew he would receive fair play. So he faced Hopalong once more and regarded him with a cynical smile.
“Yu seems to worry a whole lot about me. Is it because yu has a tender feelin', or because it's none of yore blame business?” He asked aggressively.
Hopalong paled with sudden anger, but controlled himself.
“It's because yu murdered Harris,” he replied.
“Shoo! An' how does yu figger it out?” Asked Thirsty, jauntily.
“He was huntin' yu hard an' yu thought yu'd stop it, so yu came in to lay for him. When yu saw me an' him together yu saw di' chance to wipe out another score. That's how I figger it out,” replied Hopalong quietly.
“Yore a reg'lar 'tective, ain't yu?” Thirsty asked ironically.
“I've got common sense,” responded Hopalong.