"He's broke—and reformed," he said. "Absolutely."
The sheriff drew Carson aside.
"If you're wanting a job I'll stake you to an outfit and feed you through till spring. Forty a month from then on. I'll need a parcel of deputies, likely, after that."
"You've got one," Carson stated. "I'll sign now."
The storekeeper, the sheriff and the new deputy stood at one end of the bar.
"It's queer that folks don't see the real object of this rumor," Brill observed.
"Its object is to clean out the hardest citizens in the country," Carson said. "That's why they're named. Why else?"
"The object is to clean up the rest of the country first," Brill said.
Carson grunted his disbelief.
"If Harris only wanted to wipe out those on the list he wouldn't go to all this fuss," Brill explained. "He'd just put on an extra bunch of hands and raid the Breaks himself. Swear he caught them running off a bunch of Three Bar cows. Simpler and considerable less expense."