“I made a getaway from the police patrol taking me down to Calford penitentiary for five years.”

“For cattle?” The question came backed by a fierce light in the black eyes.

The stranger shook his head.

“No. My brother killed a man who’d robbed him of a wife and seduced her. I held up the police while he made his getaway.”

“Is that the truth?”

“God’s truth.”

“And the patrol?”

“Guess he’s hunting me right now.”

“He—wasn’t hurt?”

“Not a hair of his head.”