If the question was sharp and to the point, as was Captain Atkinson’s wont, so was Baldy’s answer. Rangers are not men who are in the habit of wasting words.
“He’s went.”
“What?”
“I mean what I say, boss. The kid’s vamoosed, gone, skidooed.”
“No nonsense, Baldy. Explain yourself.”
“There ain’t much to explain, boss.”
“If Jack Merrill has gone, I should say that there was a good deal to explain on your part.”
Baldy shifted uneasily.
“It warn’t no fault of mine, boss,” he protested.
“I’ll be the judge of that. What’s your story?”