"Yes, for I know this man personally. He has been in my employ before, and I was satisfied with his work."
The fellow turned away, growing threateningly and the party went inside the store, and there held a consultation.
Tom and Fred and Terry went over to the house, where the ladies were, and Evelyn, as soon as she saw him, recognized him, and exclaimed:
"Why, there's Tom Hecker."
Tom instantly doffed his hat and stood, bowing and smiling, as if highly pleased at her recognition of him.
"Tom," said she, advancing out on the piazza, "come here; I want to shake hands with you, for you were of great service to me on several occasions up in Colorado."
Tom advanced, too, and she extended her hand to him.
He appeared to be supremely happy. She didn't, of course, introduce him to the two young ladies, for she resented their social positions. But she did remark to them, in his hearing, that he was one of her brother's most faithful cowboys on the old Colorado ranch, and that he was as brave as he was faithful.
She asked Tom when he had seen Wicklow and his wife, and he replied that he hadn't seen them for over a month, that the old force had been pretty well scattered, and that the old ranch had been divided up into three ranches, as three different individuals had bought it.
He said, though, that when last he saw the Wicklow family they were all well.