Ike hadn’t the slightest idea of mixing into any trouble. He went out, rattling his spurs, as he hurried down to tell Cleve and Musical that they were going to Pinnacle that night.
Hashknife smiled softly at Big Medicine. They had become fast friends during Hashknife’s short stay at the Tumbling H.
“The boys are worth having at your back,” said Big Medicine.
“Thank yuh,” said Hashknife. “It kinda looks like there ain’t nothin’ in my hunch this time. The bunch from the K-10 seem as friendly as anyone could be to me. Lookin’ at it from the outside, all is serene.
“I’ve wanted to tell yuh for quite a while that me and Sleepy knew Sam Blair up in the Northwest. We rounded him up in a raid on a horse-thief gang, in which Blair was the only survivor. He escaped later, after shootin’ a deputy sheriff, and nobody up there knowed where he went.
“I can’t quite figure out what he was doin’ out here that night. I don’t think he knew that we were in this country. It is hardly possible that he recognized Sleepy, but started shootin’ because he knowed he was caught.”
“I wondered if you didn’t know him,” said Big Medicine. “Sleepy did not ask questions after the killing, and it seemed to me that he knew the man. But you have a poker face, Hartley. When you heard who had been killed, you did not change expression.”
“Mebbe I wasn’t quite right in the head,” grinned Hashknife. “I got quite a tunk that night. I reckon we’ll stick around till the last of the week, and if nothin’ happens we’ll drift.”
“Stay as long as you wish,” said Big Medicine quickly. “The Tumbling H is your home, Hartley, and it will be mighty lonesome when you leave. The boys like you and Sleepy, and I know how Lucy and Wanna feel toward both of you. Wanna isn’t the kind to say things, but I can tell. And let me tell you something”—Big Medicine smiled broadly—“Lucy says to me, ‘We must get more cattle.’ I asked her why we should get more cattle, and she said, ‘Hire two more cowboys.’”
Hashknife laughed softly over his cigarette.