“Runnin’ a dude ranch out there, are they?” Tex did not offer his hand to Jimmy, who did not offer his.
Marion explained how she had lost her horse, and of how she and Jimmy had met in the hills. But Tex could not see any humor in the situation. It was too much of a coincidence to suit him.
“Outside of that,” he said dryly, “I’ve got some bad news for you, Marion. Your father, Buck and Peeler are in jail at Blue Wells.”
“In jail?” Marion stared at Tex. “Why, what for, Tex?”
Tex shrugged his shoulders.
“Robbin’ that train, it seems.”
“But they never robbed that train, Tex!”
“Quien sabe. They’re in jail. Between the sheriff and that railroad detective they cooked up some sort of a case against ’em. I didn’t get all of it, but it seems that Olson, Porter and the detective, a man named Wade, came out here to the ranch. During the conversation the detective kicked the dog. Buck bawled him out for it, and the detective asked Buck if it was his dog.
“Buck said it was, it seems. The sheriff asked Buck how long he had owned the dog, and Buck said he raised it. They’ve got the dog in jail, too, holding him until they can get the engineer, fireman and the express messenger here to identify it. From what I can hear, the dog belonged to the bandits.”
Jimmy Legg stared across the patio, his eyes smarting in the bright sunlight.