Mr. Manley frowned. “I know,” he said softly. “We’ve been a little worried. The thing came so quick—say, had grub?”
“Not hungry,” Roy stated. “We ate a big meal before we left and Mrs. Ball put us up a snack to eat on the way home. We’ll wait for supper. It’s four o’clock now.”
“All right.” He almost sighed the words. “Well, you might as well sit. Everything all right at the 8 X 8?”
“Yea, everything’s all right, except—”
“Except what?”
“Well, Teddy and I were riding yesterday, trying to catch a runaway, and we heard a yell then a shot. We found a miner, fellow by name of Decker, with a bullet through his neck. Brought him back to the ranch and got a doctor. Don’t know whether he’ll pull through or not. He was robbed.”
“Robbed! What of?” Mr. Manley leaned forward.
“Of some nuggets,” Teddy said casually. “Worth quite a bit of money, from all indications. He was mining at Nugget Camp.”
“Mining at—” Mr. Manley’s face took on a tinge of red. “So that’s it,” he muttered thickly. “Listen, boys. I have something to tell you.”
“I think, Dad, we know it already,” Roy said gently. “You mean about Nat and Gus and Jim pulling stakes?”