“Not much.”
“In kinda early, ain’t you?”
“Yeah.”
Ben made a few marks in the sand with a lean forefinger.
“Had a reason t’ come in early, Buck. Some of the boys said it wouldn’t do no good, but I thought I’d tell you how it was. ’Long about an hour from now Bud Hickman will ride in. He’ll have his gang with him and they’ll imbibe real freely. Mebbe ’long about that same time Pete Asher’ll ride in with his gang. They’ll also imbibe freely, and some of ’em will likely get kinda drunk. The boys are all thirsty, you know. I expect it’ll be kinda wooly around here t’night, Buck.”
“Uh-huh.”
Buck cut a particularly long shaving, looked at it critically and nodded with satisfaction.
“You shore rode in early to explain all this to me,” he said. “If you’re all through, you might tell me the rest.”
“It’s thisaway,” explained Ben seriously. “You know what a feud is, Buck?”
“Yea-a-ah.”