“Offered a reward, did he?” said Jule. “This will be news to Paul! How much is the reward?”
“Five thousand.”
“Gee!” shouted the boy. “I’d like to get my hands on that sum myself.”
“I think I’ve got all the parties in this story sized up now but I’d like to know if you ever had a ranch?”
“Now look here, kid,” Rube answered, “don’t get too personal in your remarks! Why, of course I’ve got a ranch! The only lie I told you boys was about that brindle steer! I’ve got a brindle steer, but I didn’t lose him that rainy night.”
“You’re a fraud!” exclaimed Jule. “I infer, then, that Buck and yourself are officers of the law!”
Buck turned the lapel of his coat and showed the badge of a United States marshal.
“There you are!” he said “If you want any papers served, you have come to the right shop!”
“Now I see,” remarked Alex, “how the Esmeralda came to be so handy! I never suspected it at the time.”
“You are a pair of frauds! Just as Jule said,” ventured Alex, speaking after a pause. “How long have you known each other?”