“That’s the idea, exactly,” I went on. “He would shoot me down as soon as he would look at me, and then report to Mr. Davenport that I had insulted him; then what could anybody do about it? You fellows would have to shoot him, and that would end the matter. I promised I wouldn’t say anything to Bob or his father about it, but I had a mental reservation in my mind when it came to you. Now I want to know what I shall do about it.”
“Tell us the whole thing, and then perhaps we can pass judgment upon it,” whispered Tom. “I don’t know that I understand you.”
With that I began, and gave the boys a full history of my short interview with Johnson. It didn’t take long, for I did not hold a very long conversation with ’Rastus; and when I came to tell how readily he had included me in his plans I saw Elam wink and nod his head in a very peculiar manner. Then I knew that I had hit the nail squarely on the head when I made up my mind what ’Rastus would do to me if things didn’t work as he thought they ought to. I tiptoed to the end of the porch to see if I could discover any signs of him, and then I came back.
“You see he knows that I have had bad luck with my cattle, and he takes it for granted that I am down on everybody who has been fortunate with theirs,” I said, in conclusion. “He thinks I want to steal enough to make up for my lost herd.”
“The idea is ridiculous,” said Tom. “How in the world does he suppose Mr. Davenport had anything to do with your loss?”
“That aint neither here nor there,” said Elam. “That feller has stolen more than one herd of cattle, an’ I’ll bet on it. I shouldn’t wonder if he was one of them desperate fellows—what do you call them——”
“Desperadoes,” suggested Tom.
“I know he is,” said I. “And he is a man of education. He doesn’t talk as the Texans do at all, and I told him that a person of his learning could make a living easier than he did.”
“What did he say to that?”
“He said he didn’t agree to make a confidant of me in everything. He might do it after a while. He acknowledged that he had been in at the stealing of more than one herd that was all ready to be driven to market. Now, fellows, what shall I do about it?”