“Yes—two worse scamps never went unhanged; I was afraid you were going forward to talk with them, and stood ready to stop you, if you made the start.”
“Why, that’s exactly what I would have done, if Nick had been with them,” said the surprised Herbert; “would they have harmed me?”
“You would have found out mighty sudden; they are the kind that shoot first, and inquire afterward whether there was any reason for their haste.”
While the brief conversation was going on, Strubell remounted his horse and the lad did the same. Lattin had been in the saddle from the first.
“You had a fight with them last night?”
“How did you know that?” asked Lattin.
“I heard the sounds of your guns as well as theirs.”
“I guess not,” replied the Texan, “we didn’t have any scrimmage with them.”
“But there was plenty of firing.”