“He can’t keep her––she’s mine.”
“That’s so. But––if he notions to keep her?”
Scipio was silent for some moments. His pale eyes were staring straight ahead of him out into the growing darkness.
“Maybe, I’ll have to shoot him,” he said at last, as though there could be no question about the matter.
The man nodded.
“Got useful guns?” he inquired casually.
“Got one.”
“Ah, what is it? Magazine?”
Scipio pulled his antique possession out of his pocket and handed it over for the man’s inspection.
“It’s all right,” he said. “Guess the sights ain’t good over a distance, but at close range it’ll make a nasty hole.”