He did not follow out this train of thought, for it frightened him; but it was easy enough to tell what he looked forward to.
As Arthur approached, the smooth-faced young fellow bowed to him very civilly; and that was more respect than any other person about the ranch had yet shown him.
All those to whom he and his father had been introduced seemed to look upon them as interlopers, and would not even shake hands with them; but this man was polite, if he was a desperado.
“Are you Sam?” asked Arthur.
“That’s what they call me, when they tell me that dinner is ready,” was the simple reply.
“You are one of the men who raided Dixon Springs a while ago, I believe?” continued Arthur, who saw that Sam was waiting to hear what he had to say next.
The man replied that he was, and he did not appear to be at all ashamed of it either. On the contrary, one would have thought, from the way he answered the question, that he was rather proud of his exploit.
“What did you do it for?” Arthur wanted to know.
“Oh, just to see what we could make out of it. A fellow needs some sort of excitement to stir up his blood once in a while, you know.”
Arthur walked toward the farther end of the porch, and Sam who showed himself to be quite willing to continue the conversation, turned away from the door and went with him.