“That’s nothing more than fair, Aleck,” said one of the cowboys. “He has as good a right to see him as anybody.”
So that was Clifford Henderson, was it? Mr. Chisholm turned and gave him a good looking over, and Tom Mason and I did the same; and I was forced to make the confession that, as far as resemblance went, Bob was a long way off. Henderson was the very picture of the dead and gone Mr. Davenport. He was a man of rather large size, dressed like the Texans that stood around him; and, if he had allowed his whiskers to grow into a goatee, instead of that flowing beard, he could easily have passed himself off for his brother. I am free to say that I didn’t know enough about law to know which way the property would turn, but then what did these men care about law? Bob’s father’s signature, backed up by the names of all of us, and witnessed by Bob himself, would bring him the legal right to everything he owned. But there was one thing against Henderson: He got mad when he was told that he could not see his brother. Mr. Chisholm evidently noticed this and resolved to profit by it.
“Well, sir, you are as like your brother as two peas,” said Mr. Chisholm, at length.
“I know I am,” said Henderson, taking off his hat and turning around so that everybody could see him. “I haven’t seen him in a long time, and I demand the right to see him now.”
“All right! You shall have it,” said Mr. Chisholm, and riding up close to the wagon he called out: “Bob, have you got that pocket-book?”
“Hold on!” exclaimed Henderson. “That pocket-book is just what I want. There are some papers in it that relate to me.”
“Hand it out here,” said Mr. Chisholm, as Elam answered in the affirmative from the wagon; and when his hands closed upon the pocket-book, he put it into his inside coat.
“Now you can see your brother as soon as you please.”
“But I want that thing you put inside of your coat,” said Mr. Henderson, and I didn’t blame him for showing anger. “All my future depends on what you have there.”
“We’ll have some supper first; after that you can all come here and we’ll listen to the different tales this book has got to tell.”