There was bitterness in Jack Hartwell’s voice, which he did not try to conceal.
A flash of triumph came into the woman’s eyes, and she turned back to her contemplation of the hills. Her husband looked down at her, shaking his head slowly.
“Molly, it’s goin’ to mean —— in these hills.”
“Is it?”
She did not seem to mind.
“They’ve drawn a dead-line now,” he said slowly, “and there has been some shootin’. They’ve sent for the outfits down in the south end, and they’ll be here tonight.”
“Well, we won’t be in it,” she said flatly. “It means nothing to us.”
“Don’t it?”
Jack squinted hard at her, but she did not look up.
“No. The law has decided that a sheep has the same right as a cow. The cattlemen of the Lo Lo do not legally own all this valley.”