‘Didn’t you load it, Rex?’ asked Nan.
‘No. You see, I didn’t know——’
‘And there yuh are!’ snorted Lem. ‘Hell’s bells! We’ve got to get to town and find out about this. Noah, you stay here and help hold down the ranch. We can’t leave Nan alone with that damn idiot.’
‘Suppose you stay here, too, Sleepy,’ suggested Hashknife.
‘Suits me.’
‘I thought it would,’ meaningly.
Lem and Hashknife mounted and headed for Mesa City, riding knee-to-knee.
‘What was it about that gun in the corral?’ queried Hashknife, as they swung back on the main road.
‘I dunno, Hartley. Gad, it looks bad for Lane. Of course, we’ll have to get the details before we can figure on anythin’. I feel awful sorry for that girl. But she’s plumb game, she is. Imagine a girl actin’ like her, when her father and brother are both accused of murder, and both hidin’ in the hills.’
‘She’s shore cool, sheriff. It takes cool folks to live in this kind of a country.’