"How'n thunder did ye make it, then?"
"Pecos Jones robbed me—cut the ropes that tied me to the cot so he could get at my pockets. You had left my feet unbound, and I managed to juggle a bit with a knife that lay on the floor."
"Waal, it won't do ye no good. Ye're in thar, an' I'm out hyer, ye've got a rifle an' I've got a brace o' Colts, an' on top o' that ye've got the use o' yer hands, but that don't mean that ye're goin' ter git away. I ain't wantin' ter harm ye—ye heerd what Murg said when he left—so ye might as well open the door an' let me in."
"I'll not do that," answered Matt firmly.
"Why won't ye?"
"Because, now that I'm free, I'm going to stay that way."
"Ye ain't free! All the freedom you got is ter run eround that two-by-twice hole in the ground an' dodge bullets. Whar's that coyote? I got a bone ter pick with him."
"He's not here."
"I know that, kase I seen that his hoss wa'n't down by the spring whar he picketed him. Whar'd he go?"
"I don't know."