“Well, this old thief was just a-strolling through. I was following him. Last night I saw they had some fresh beef hides as well as buffalo in their camp. One thing led to another. I took your trail.
“They rather busted up your herd, eh? Well, I brought Yellow Hand along on the chance that he might be useful.
“Where do you men come from?” he continued. “Don’t you know that driving cattle across the Indian Nations is the foolishest thing in the world?”
“It looks thataway now, colonel,” assented Jim Nabours. “We come from Caldwell County, Texas, five hunderd miles south of here.”
“You’re not trading with the tribes in any way?”
“No, sir, we don’t want no truck with them.”
“Got no whisky along?”
“Good God, no!” replied Nabours soulfully. “I wisht we had.”
“H’m,” said the army officer, looking toward the fire. “You got any coffee left?”
“Some. Set in,” said the foreman simply.