“There!” he said, standing back to view his handiwork. “You’re pretty well trussed up. I ain’t trusting you any more than you’d trust me, an’ I don’t figure on you raising any hue an’ cry before I can get along on my way.”
The eyes of the justice were rolling as he struggled in vain to speak.
“Never mind,” said Rathburn. “I reckon I know what you want to say. Under the circumstances, the same being so much on my side, you’d say you believed me an’ all that. But I took a chance in coming here to tell you what I did an’ I never aim to take more’n one chance in a day. So long.”
CHAPTER IV
“I KNEW HE LIED!”
Rathburn extinguished the light in the lamp, walked swiftly to the front door, and outside. Closing the door softly he turned back up the street. He sauntered along slowly, debating his next move. Evidently the town was the last for many miles in the mountainous country east and north. Westward he would come upon many towns as the country became more and more densely populated toward the coast. Northwestward he would be able to keep within the arm of the mountains and still be in touch with civilization. But he would have to make some changes in his attire and fix that brand on his horse.
Instinctively his course brought him to the big resort he had noticed upon his arrival. The entrance doors had been closed against the chill of the night, but he could see the interior of the place through one of the windows despite the coating of dust upon the glass.