Spike was hammering Rex on the back and trying to shake hands with him at the same time, while the bewildered Rex was trying to puzzle out what it was all about.
‘Put on a blanket and come out, Nan,’ advised Hashknife. ‘This gang won’t take no for an answer.’
Nan wrapped herself in a gaudy blanket and came timidly out. She looked like a very little and very tired Indian.
‘You tell ’em, Hashknife,’ said Spike.
‘It’s too long a tale to tell now,’ said Hashknife, ‘but it amounts to this, Nan: yore father will be turned loose to-morrow. Dave Morgan killed Pete Morgan, who was the father of Rex. We’ve cleared that all up. Dave Morgan is dead, and I found the will that gives Rex the 6X6.’
‘You mean—my dad is free?’ asked Nan.
‘Jist as soon as they can unlock the jail, Nan.’
She stood there in front of them, the blanket tucked up around her chin, crying. There was no effort to hide the tears. The cowboys turned away.
‘Hell!’ snorted Spike.
‘What are you kickin’ about?’ growled Bert.