“I’m danged sorry,” said Sudden. “I didn’t know, yuh see.”
Hashknife turned to Jack.
“The men will help yuh search the ranch, Jack. Yore wife must be around here somewhere.”
“She’s in the loft of the barn,” said Larrimer weakly. “It’s no use makin’ any more trouble. We didn’t harm her any.”
“We got Jack Noonan, Hashknife,” said Sleepy, pointing at the man on the horse, who was trussed up tightly with ropes. “He was the only one worth bringin’ back. Yuh see, the rest of ’em stuck to the ship. Dang yuh, why did yuh run away from me?”
Sleepy looked at the bodies of Curt and Steil and at Ed Larrimer, who was sitting up, holding to his right shoulder.
“Well, I’ll be danged if it ain’t Ed Larrimer, the Texas Daisy!”
“Oh, go to ——!” groaned Larrimer. “I should have turned the gang loose to kill you two and let the cows go to ——”
“You came danged near gettin’ us the first night we showed up here,” laughed Hashknife.
“I know it. If we’d have known that it was you two, you’d never got out of Jack Hartwell’s place alive, I’ll tell yuh that, Hartley.”