‘You heard what the sheriff said, didn’t you?’
‘He said they’d hang him. That hardly seems fair to me. This country is rather elemental, I fear. The ticket agent told me that he preferred civilization when I asked him if he had ever been at Mesa City—and I’m beginning to realize what he meant.’
Nan smiled wearily and shook her head.
‘I’m afraid you won’t do—in this country, Mr. Morgan. It is too big for a man who has been raised on books.’
‘Still, I like it,’ he said slowly. ‘Perhaps I won’t do, as you say. And I have been raised on books. I am what Bunty Smith would probably call an educated damn fool. Oh, I heard that expression a long time ago, but I didn’t know until a few days ago just what it meant.’
Nan laughed softly. ‘Perhaps you might be able to forget some of the things you learned out of books.’
‘I can try. A few more blows on the head, and I probably won’t have to work hard to forget.’
‘Do you intend to stay in this country?’
‘I didn’t—at first,’ he said thoughtfully. ‘But now I rather think I may.’
‘But what will you do for a living?’