"Jim Laramie!" echoed Belle, catching her breath and poking Kate with her elbow. "Wonder he didn't hold us up."
Bradley scowled but said nothing.
"Bradley doesn't like that," murmured Belle to Kate, as soon as the creaking of the wheels gave her a chance to speak without his hearing. "He's a friend of Jim's."
"Where did he come from?" continued Belle, raising her voice toward Bradley.
Bradley took his time to answer: "Claimed he was goin' home," he said laconically.
"How could he get across the creek with the bridges out?" persisted Belle.
Bradley's eyes were on his horses. He was weary of question: "High water wouldn't bother him much."
"Well, I want to know! I should think it would bother anybody the way it was sweeping down last night."
"Hell!" ejaculated Bradley, parting with his manners and his patience together: "Jim could swim the Crazy Woman with his horse's feet tied."
"Who is 'Jim'?" Kate demanded of her companion in an undertone.