“Did you get all the sheep you wanted?” the proprietor continued.
“Poor luck,” said the Virginian.
“Think there's a friend of yours in town this afternoon,” said the proprietor.
“Did he mention he was my friend?”
The proprietor laughed. The Virginian watched another nickel click down among the pegs.
Honey Wiggin now made the bridegroom a straight offer. “We'll take this thing off your hands,” said he.
“Any or all of us,” said Lin.
But Scipio held his peace. His loyalty went every inch as far as theirs, but his understanding of his friend went deeper. “Don't change your clothes,” was the first and the last help he would be likely to give in this matter. The rest must be as such matters must always be, between man and man. To the other two friends, however, this seemed a very special case, falling outside established precedent. Therefore they ventured offers of interference.
“A man don't get married every day,” apologized McLean. “We'll just run him out of town for yu'.”
“Save yu' the trouble,” urged Wiggin. “Say the word.”