The storekeeper stares at us, and kinda grumbles to himself, but goes back inside. Them other three hombres gawps at us considerable but don’t say nothing.
Bassett leads us to the end of the little board sidewalk, and we all sets down.
“What are you fellers doin’ here?” asks Bassett.
“Waitin’ for you to think up a lie to tell us about that killin’,” says Hashknife. “Yuh might as well tell us the truth. Who was the feller what got hit?”
“Eph Sillman.”
“Jim Sillman’s son?”
“Uh-huh—Glory’s brother. He done busted all our laws. Yuh see, he married an outlander about seven year ago.”
“You’re doin’ most of the talkin,” reminds Hashknife.
“Eph brought that woman here, but nobody’s ever had anything’ to do with her. They got a kid about seven year old. On ’count of Jim Sillman we had suffered ’em to live here and trade the same as the rest of us, but not havin’ much truck with him and his. He gets drunk the other day and he talks too much. The council takes action on him and decides to outlaw him. They says he can’t buy nor sell here. He knowed he couldn’t buy that medicine, but he was hard-headed.”
“His woman couldn’t associate with other women?” asks Hashknife.