“What the hell’s goin’ on here?”
Casy said, “I knocked out your man there.”
One of the armed men went to the deputy. He was conscious now, trying weakly to sit up.
“Now what happened here?”
“Well,” Casy said, “he got tough an’ I hit ’im, and he started shootin’—hit a woman down the line. So I hit ’im again.”
“Well, what’d you do in the first place?”
“I talked back,” said Casy.
“Get in that car.”
“Sure,” said Casy, and he climbed into the back seat and sat down. Two men helped the hurt deputy to his feet. He felt his neck gingerly. Casy said, “They’s a woman down the row like to bleed to death from his bad shootin’.”
“We’ll see about that later. Joe, is this the fella that hit you?”