"Not on your life! I give him all the room he wanted."
"Did you know Fernando—-one of Loring's herders?"
"I seen him onct. He saved me life from bein' killed by a steer. Did he say I done it?" parried Sundown.
The sheriff's opinion of Sundown's acumen was disturbed. Evidently this queer individual posing as a cowboy was not such a fool, after all.
"No. Have you seen him lately?"
"Nope. Chance and me was over to his camp, but he was gone. We kind o' tracked back there from the place where we found Fadeaway."
"That so?"
"Uhuh. It was like this." And Sundown gave a detailed account of his explorations.
When he had finished, the sheriff made a note on the edge of a newspaper. Then he turned to Sundown. "You're either the deepest hand I've tackled yet, or you're just a plain fool. You don't act like a killer."
"Killer! Say, mister, I wouldn't kill a bug that was bitin' me 'less'n he wouldn't let go. Why, ask Chance there!"