Breckenridge twisted in his seat, and looked at him. “Pshaw!” he said. “It would be a good deal less risky than meeting the Sheriff at the bridge. You are not going to do anything senseless, Larry?”
“No; only what seems necessary.”
Breckenridge considered. “Now,” he said slowly, “I can guess what you’re thinking, and, of course, it’s commendable; but one has to be reasonable. Is there anything that could excite the least suspicion that Miss Torrance warned you?”
“There are two or three little facts that only need putting together.”
“Still, if we called at Muller’s and drove home by the other trail it wouldn’t astonish anybody.”
“It would appear a little too much of a coincidence in connection with the fact that Miss Torrance and I were known to be good friends, and the time she left Cedar. As the cattle-men have evidently found out, I have crossed the bridge at about the same time every Wednesday; and two of the cow-boys saw us near Harper’s.”
“Larry,” said Breckenridge, “if you were merely one of the rest your intentions would no doubt become you, but the point is that every homesteader round here is dependent on you. If you went down, the opposition to the cattle-men would collapse, or there would be general anarchy, and that is precisely why Torrance and the Sheriff are anxious to get their hands on you. Now, doesn’t it strike you that it’s your plain duty to keep clear of any unnecessary peril?”
Grant shook his head. “No,” he said. “It seems to me that argument has quite frequently accounted for a good deal of meanness. It is tolerably presumptuous for any man to consider himself indispensable.”
“Well,” said Breckenridge, divided between anger and approval, “I have found out already that it’s seldom any use trying to convince you, but each time you made this round I’ve driven with you, and it’s quite obvious that if one of us crossed the bridge it would suit the purpose. Now, I don’t think the Sheriff could rake up very much against me.”
Grant laid his hand on the lad’s shoulder. “I’m going to cross the bridge, but I don’t purpose that either of us should fall into the Sheriff’s clutches,” he said. “You saw what Jardine’s glass had gone down to?”