"Then let's git some proof, and dam' quick."
"Si, Senores," agreed Carara, who had been an interested listener.
"I agree with you, but we got to be careful—"
Willie grunted with disgust.
"—we can't go at it like we was killin' snakes. Mr. Speed is a guest here."
Again the little gun man expressed his opinion, this time in violet-tinted profanity, and the other cowboys joined in.
"All the same he is a guest, and no rough work goes. I'm in charge while Mr. Chapin is away, and I'm responsible."
"Senor Bill," Carara ventured, "the fat vaquero, he is no guest.
He is one of us."
"That's right," seconded Willie. "He's told us all along that Mr. Speed was a Merc'ry-footed wonder, and if the young feller can't run he had ought to have told us."
Mr. Cloudy showed his understanding of the discussion by nodding silently.