“Two wrongs never made a right, Nate.”
“Right! Who talks of right on the Brazos? These barons are jumping on right and justice rough shod, and what they need is a taste of their own medicine.”
“They’ll get it, Nate, but they’ll get it in my way. There’ll be no parlor tactics, and when we hit it will be straight from the shoulder. But this talk of cold steel begs the whole question. Sit down and be sensible.”
Dunbar, with an effort, got the whip hand of himself.
“Isn’t there any one living in the cabin but Perry and his daughter?” went on the scout.
“No. I’ve been putting up here along with Dick and Hattie.”
“Where are the cowboys?”
“All gone—but me. They were scared off by the barons—scared off or bought off, I don’t know which. When I failed to get back yesterday, maybe Dick and Hattie thought I’d been bought off, too.”
“No, they didn’t. I’ve only known you for a few hours, Dunbar, but even that short acquaintance has convinced me that you’ve no yellow streak in your make-up. Perry and his daughter have known you a good deal longer than I have, and they’d never think you had turned traitor to their interests. How many cattle have you and Perry?”
“Perry came in here with a thousand head, but there’s no telling how many of our brand we could round up now. The herd has been rustled right and left.”