“A salty gent,” decided Silent, “and worth watchin’!”
Silent had hoped to find Brick and Harp in town, but had been informed that they had ridden away with Barney Devine. Soapy Caswell was still unconscious, but the doctor was optimistic.
Slim and Banty finished their game and Silent joined them.
“Yore fussy friend decided to sleep off his jag, I reckon,” opined Slim.
“Mebbe.” Silent wasn’t so sure. “How does it come that Ike ain’t drivin’ stage today?”
“He quit the job,” laughed Slim. “It was prob’bly too much for his brain. The strain must ’a’ been awful.”
They walked outside and stood on the porch. Ike’s gun was not in the street and they all noticed this.
“Sneaked back and got it,” said Silent seriously. “It’ll take him quite a while to clean the dust out of it, I’ll bet.”
Brick and Harp were riding into town and the three men crossed to the office to meet them.
“Hyah, pleecemen,” greeted Silent. “What do yuh know that’s worth the wear and tear on our ear-drums?”