The scout was thoughtful for a few moments.
“What sort of a man is Perry?” he asked finally.
“The clear quill and as straight as a die.”
“Fighter?”
“As game a fighter as you can find. If he hadn’t been he’d have left the Brazos a month ago. But he’s too honest, too finely strung to handle a gang like the cattle barons, even if he had a large enough force behind him. Perry is an educated man, Buffalo Bill.”
“So I imagined. He hasn’t made the other cattlemen think that he’s better than they are, has he?”
“Not on your life! That ain’t Perry’s style. He’d be neighborly, if they’d let him.”
“I don’t believe,” said the scout, “that Perry was here when his daughter was taken away. There’d have been shooting, wouldn’t there?”
“Right off the reel,” answered Dunbar promptly. “Perry would have gone any length to defend himself.”
“There are no signs to indicate that revolvers were used. I suppose Perry kept his guns handy?”