“You think that gang of hoss thieves did this job, boss?” Nick broke in.
“Sure seems so, Nick! An’ I’ll lay money that they did, too! They have it in for me. An’ I heard they have two or three gunmen from the East with ’em. Yep, that’s who we’ve got to look for, men—this guy Reltsur.”
There was silence for a moment, then a voice asked:
“You say some geezer drove up last Satiday an’ took three girls away from the 8 X 8, boss?”
All turned to the speaker. He was one of the men who had ridden over with Bug Eye, a new hand, Bug Eye explained later.
“That’s what,” Mr. Manley answered sharply. “You know anything about it?”
“Wall, I’ll tell you what I see,” the man drawled. “I was ridin’ in toward the 8 X 8 about sundown on Satiday. You see, I don’t know this country so well, an’ I was sort of huggin’ the road, so I wouldn’t—”
“Never mind that, man. Spill it—explain later!” Mr. Ball interrupted.
“Right. Well, as I was sayin’, I was pretty close to the road. All of a sudden I hears a car comin’ an’ I thinks I’ll just hang around an’ see who it is. So I jumps my bronco behind a tree an’ waits.”
In the pause that followed, the forced breathing of the men could be plainly heard. All eyes were glued on the puncher, who went calmly on: