"I—I'm the one that got her kilt."
Penny waited, knowing that when he enlarged on the amazing statement it would be vastly modified.
"I couldn't o' helped it, though. I dunno where Becky learned that a pack o' killers from all parts o' the state was bein' brought tuh jobs here, so's they c'd hide while they stole hosses an' cattle from outside the Basin. She knowed it though, an' sent me with a note intuh Captain Blythe in Red Oak. I gave him the note an' left, like she tol' me tuh do. I dunno how the crooks here learned about it, but they sure as hell was ready when the Texas Rangers rid through the Gap. They wiped 'em out aplenty."
"But there'll be other Rangers coming to see what happened to them," said Penny.
"An' alibis an' lies aplenty waitin' fer them same. By the time the next Rangers git here, there won't be a damn thing fer 'em tuh see. The stolen cattle'll have new brands an' the crooks that's hidin' here will be hidin' where they cain't be found. No one'll know nothin' about nothin'."
Penny nodded slowly, realizing the truth in what old Gimlet said.
"If it's knowed by the crooks that you know what's goin' on, they'll do tuh you the same as they done tuh Becky. As fer me, I'm expectin' tuh git kilt most any time."
"You said there wasn't anything you could put your finger on, Gimlet. It seems to me you know just about all there is to know."
"Can't prove nothin' though; 'sides that, I dunno where Bryant stands."