“Hello, Spiers,” said Jack.
“G’d afternoon, folks. Hotter’n ——, ain’t it.”
“Crawl off and rest your feet,” invited Jack.
“No, thank yuh. I jist rode down this-away to tell yuh that there’s a meetin’ at the Arrow t’night. The boys from the other end of the range’ll be there by evenin’.”
“Did my dad send yuh after me, Spiers?”
“No-o-o, he didn’t,” Spiers shifted in his saddle nervously. “But I’ve always liked yuh, Jack; and I kinda thought yuh might want t’ come. It’s a cattlemen’s meetin’, yuh know.”
“And he’s a cattleman,” said Molly dryly.
Spiers flushed slightly and picked up his reins.
“Well, I’ll be ridin’ on. S’long, folks.”
He swung his horse around and rode on into the hills, without looking back.