“Is it the fair hermit you distrust, or her cowboys?”
“It is the king of the cowboys I have no faith in, and his men will do as he tells them, as my dying friend said.”
“I do not doubt that.”
“He is bitter over our coming here, as all of them are, and he will seek to do you harm in some way, I am sure.”
“My dear Jack, that is just why I want you and the boys along.”
“Ah!”
“You are to follow my trail, you know, and, stopping at the Otega ranch later in the afternoon, some time after my departure from there, he will give you a couple of men to accompany you, guiding you to the hacienda of the fair hermit.
“You can then go as near as you dare, meet me upon my departure, and on the return, instead of having one man to waylay, as they will expect, they will find half a dozen, and I will not fall into the trap.”
“I see.”