“What are you talking about, Mr. Gilbert?” asked the boy, slowly raising himself on his elbow, and gazing steadily into the face of his friend.
“Why, I refer to something that happened this afternoon in Ned’s wheat field, when Ned and that Yankee friend of his shot down Cook’s cattle,” answered Mr. Gilbert.
“What!” exclaimed George, jumping to his feet in great excitement. “Do you mean to tell me that Ned has been shooting stock?”
“That’s just what he has done, and that is what I was talking about. Cook caught him in the very act.”
“Worse and worse!” said George, sinking back on the lounge again. “Tell me all about it. I want to hear the whole story so that I may know just how to act.”
“That is all there is to tell,” was Mr. Gilbert’s reply. “Ned and his friend found Cook’s cattle in the wheat field, and shot two of them, killing one and severely wounding the other.”
“He did it with his eyes open,” said George. “He has often threatened it, and I told him just what would happen.”
“You said something about a horse,” remarked Mr. Gilbert, when the boy paused.
“Yes. Ned met a stranger somewhere and traded horses with him; and when the owner came to our rancho that night, Ned wouldn’t give the horse up.”
“That is something I hadn’t heard of,” said Mr. Gilbert, while an expression of surprise and anxiety settled on his face. “Now, tell me your story from beginning to end. If you want my advice I must know everything.”