“No reason why she shouldn’t.”
Nevertheless, the tone caused Bull to duck behind Lee’s horse to hide a chuckle. “Jealous! green-cheese jealous. Mary—” he paused, reddening, for never before in his thought had he used her given name. He repeated it with lingering delight. “Mary—was right. We’ve sure stirred ’em up. On’y we’ll have to ’tend to Felicia at once.”
His mind thus made up, he proceeded to Felicia’s solution with the characteristic directness he gave to any problem. When, after supper that evening, Gordon went straight to the bunk-house, Bull herded Jake and Sliver into the stable to deliberate by lantern-light.
“You-all never orter ha’ taken him there,” he charged Sliver. “Here we go an’ import this young fellow at no end of trouble an’ expense, then you herd him right into the arms of another girl.”
“Aw! she don’t count.” Sliver excused himself. “She’s Mex an’ wild girl.” He sagely added: “You see, I was that anxious to make sure he didn’t drink. We kain’t have no young soaks ’round Lady-girl.”
His solicitude drew Jake’s satirical grin. “You wasn’t looking for a drink yourself, heigh? As for her being Mex an’ wild—you damn fool, don’t you know that at his age wild girls draws like wild honey. He’s be’n there once an’ he’ll go again.”
“If he ain’t stopped,” Bull qualified.
“If he ain’t stopped,” Jake nodded. “An’ it’s up to you to do it.”
“But how?” Sliver’s broad, round face struggled like a full moon in clouds of helplessness. “How in the ’tarnal kin I stop him?”
“By ’quiring vested rights in the premises,” Jake nodded sagely. “If you marry her he kain’t come ’round.”