They mounted double on two of the horses, and Rex watched them spur away from the ranch. He washed his face in cold water and went through the house, looking for Nan. He didn’t understand why she should leave the ranch, but she was not there.
He looked at himself in a cracked mirror, and the reflection was somewhat of a shock. He saw a pair of swollen lips, a discolored eye and numerous scratches across a face which was badly in need of a shave.
‘I prefer civilization,’ he said, quoting the ticket agent. ‘With a face like that and a head all bandaged, I doubt if civilization would accept me. Still, I am alive; and that is something to be thankful for. I have been in a runaway over a dangerous grade, thrown from a wrecked stage, beaten over the head, helped dispose of a murdered man, dived through a window, been shot at, and knocked down. What next, I wonder? Perhaps I had better search for a razor and at least put up an appearance of civilization, even if it might be out of place in this country.’
CHAPTER IX: ‘KIND OF A MISFIT’
Hashknife and Sleepy were standing in front of the hotel when Nan Lane rode in to Cañonville. Her horse was lathered to the ears, and almost fell with her in front of them, but she yanked him up and headed for the sheriff’s office.
‘Little Miss Somebody’s in a hell of a hurry,’ observed Sleepy.
‘Y’betcha,’ agreed Hashknife. ‘Come to visit the sheriff, too. Let’s see what’s all the hurry about.’
They strode down to the office, where they found Nan telling Lem and Noah what had happened at the ranch.
‘But what was it all about?’ asked Lem. ‘Doggone it, Nan, don’tcha know what they wanted?’
Nan clung to the back of a chair, weary from her wild ride over the Coyote Cañon grades.