“Then ye got an eye-opener comin’ ter you. Ye come hyer, didn’t ye, bekase the sky pilot sent a warnin’ from Hackamore?”
“That’s a bull’s-eye hit, anyhow.”
“Did ye hyer how the sky pilot got tipped off ter the trouble a-brewin’ at the Circle-B?”
“I heard that a friend of his, from the Circle-B outfit, gave him the news.”
“Which is kerrect. I’m thet thar friend.”
“You? One of Red Steve’s White Caps! Say, Hawkins, you’re piling it on pretty thick.”
“I ain’t so tough as what ye reckon, Wild Bill. Jordan, the sky pilot, has showed me the error o’ my ways, he has, an’ I’m tryin’ ter be white. I useter be bad enough, but I’m differ’nt now.”
“How are you different? Haven’t you tangled up with Red Steve’s White Caps? Is that the way you’re trying to be ‘white?’ Don’t take any more falls out of the truth, Hawkins. If you’re here to do me up, go ahead.”
A muffled exclamation broke from Hawkins’ lips.
“I j’ined the White Caps so’st I could keep track of ’em an’ of Red Steve,” he averred. “I wanted ter git a chanst ter back-cap ’em, same as what I’m doin’ now. I’m ready ter prove it, Wild Bill. Wait!”