“The same as I did?” echoed Henderson, his surprise increasing. “What do you mean by that?”
“Why, you got into some trouble up there with the police and had to skip, that’s what I mean. A man of your education does not come down to this country of his own free will.”
“Well, that’s a fact,” said Henderson, breathing easy again. A desperate scheme had occurred to him, suggested by the outlaw’s last words. He was wishing for Scanlan all the time, thinking that he would be likely to propose something by which he could possess himself of his brother’s wealth, and right here was the man who, by a little management, could be induced to act Scanlan’s part. He would try him at any rate, but he wanted first to see how much Coyote Bill knew about him.
“Are these all the men you have in your band?” asked Henderson, at length.
“No,” laughed Bill, as if the very idea amused him. “I’ve got one or two more scattered around on the plains somewhere.”
“That means that you have thirty or forty more,” said Henderson.
“Well, I’ve got some in Austin, and that’s where they have seen you. Although I had never seen you before, I knew you the moment you hove in sight.”
Again Henderson breathed easy. He knew he hadn’t said anything about his kidnapping scheme in Austin, or anywhere else, that Coyote Bill could have got hold of it, and consequently Bill was just guessing at his reason for being in Texas.
“Who are those men? What did I say in their presence that led them to guess why I had come down here?”
“Oh, you said enough! I aint going to tell you just what you said, for fear that you would know those men when you get back. Is the man around here that you have got anything against?”