“You’re under arrest,” snapped Bissell. “Give me your gun!” and he covered Bud with a single swift motion of his hand.
The younger man did as commanded and rose.
“Now go into that room; you’re a prisoner,” ordered Bissell.
CHAPTER XII
JULIET ASSERTS HERSELF
Now that the owner of the Bar T ranch had succeeded again in a match of wits with Larkin, he put sheep out of his mind and turned his attention to the more-immediate danger of rustlers. It had been a matter of a couple of years since the last determined attempt of the cowmen to oust these poachers by force of arms, and Bissell thought that the time was ripe for another and, if possible, final expedition.
With Larkin in his power, he had no doubt that the necessary information could be procured from him in one way or another, and, after talking matters over with Stelton, dispatched cowboys at top speed to the ranches in his district, asking that the owners and as many men as they could spare should come at once to a conference at the Bar T.
Having got them there, it was his intention to sweat Larkin for names and descriptions, and then let him go. Should the sheepman refuse all information, 137 then his case could be acted upon by the members of the association without any further delay.