“Well, outside of lettin’ our Durhams wander over on Jake Trummer’s land and makin’ him come over here fit to be tied, I guess nothin’. But we all have our own ideas, an’ mine, strange as it may seem, is that when a man’s set to ridin’ cattle, he’s supposed to ride ’em, and not let ’em mess up a neighbor’s grazin’ ground.”
“Me? I let ’em loose? Why, boss, I didn’t have nothin’ to do with it!”
“Weren’t you ridin’ herd?”
“Me? Why, no, boss.”
Mr. Manley turned to Teddy.
“How about that, son? Didn’t you tell me Nick was on herd?”
Teddy looked at Nick, then averted his glance.
“I guess I—” he began.
“Wait!” Nick interrupted. “Teddy did set me out about a week ago! But the way I understood it, he shifted plans, an’ I’ve been workin’ fence fer six days! I ain’t been near the cattle!”
“What do you mean?” Teddy asked sharply.