The kitchen was forbidden ground at the ranch, hence the rush to chop and bring in the wood; but this stranger had shown himself adept indeed at invading the sanctum sanctorum. He had met Mrs. Scarborough's niece, and filled her bucket and whisked it back into the house, in about the time it would take a Texan to spit out his chew of tobacco. But that dropping of the bucket—was Miss Allifair so flustered, or had it been done with a purpose? He listened gravely to Miz Zoolah as she asked him questions and then guessed at the answers herself, but all the while his keen eyes were on Hall and his mind was seeking out the cause. For there is a reason for everything, if one can piece facts together or even jump at the facts, and Meshackatee was by nature a casuist. But something of the furor that was going on in his mind seemed to be communicated to the vigilant Miz Zoolah, for she stopped in the middle of a spiteful tirade and turned her pale eyes on the stranger.
"Who is that man?" she demanded suddenly, and then she advanced and faced him.
"Haven't I seen you before somewhere?" she questioned sharply, and Hall seemed to rouse from some dream.
"No, ma'am," he replied in soft, reassuring tones, "or at least, ma'am, not to my knowledge. I am a stranger in these parts and——"
"Where'd you come from?" she put in, and he hesitated a moment before he made an answer.
"I am sorry," he said, "but I can't answer that question. I am just passing through and——"
"Who is this man?" she demanded of Meshackatee; and as she repeated the question a swift look passed between them and the two men joined forces against her.
"I don't know," returned Meshackatee, "but he's a stranger in this country—the boys picked him up at Cold Spring. Isham told me to bring him up here, but there's nothing against him. It was jest to protect him from the Bassetts."
"Yes, the Bassetts!" she snapped. "He must be a weakling if he needs any protection from them."
"Well, he's my prisoner, then," spoke up Meshackatee bluffly. "Anything else you'd like to know?"