He rocked on his heels, trying to roll a cigarette.
‘You ought to go and clean up,’ said Nan wearily.
‘Thasso? Huh! Shay!’ He grinned crookedly at the sheriff. ‘I’ll betcha there’s one of that damn 6X6 outfit that won’t nav’gate f’r a while. Whooee! I shore fixed him.’
‘Walter, you haven’t been fighting, have you?’ asked Nan anxiously.
‘Have I?’ He winked at Lem drunkenly. ‘Lemme tell yuh somethin’. Lemme tell yuh——’
He shifted his feet and frowned at the sheriff.
‘What do you want here?’ he demanded.
‘We just dropped in,’ smiled Lem.
‘Isthasso? Well, as far as I’m concerned, yuh can jist drop out ag’in. You’re a friend of Pete Morgan, ain’t yuh? Oh, yeah, yuh are. He swings all the votes in this end of the county, and if you wasn’t his friend, you wouldn’t be sheriff. And no friend of——’
‘Walter, will you stop that?’ demanded Nan nervously. ‘These gentlemen merely stopped——’