Reber, still weak from his wound, sat down in a chair and swore impotently.
“Just for that I’ll wipe Buck Priest and Jack Silver off the map,” he declared bitterly. “You say you met Priest and his men? They circled back to see if you got help at the Half-Wheel. Oh, I know Buck Priest!”
“Only one of ’em looked in at the body,” said Nelson.
“They knew it was there. Oh, I’ll make Priest pay. It was either Priest or Silver—perhaps both. They work together. Nelson, go to the Tomahawk and see if any of my men are in from the ranches. Bring them here to me. Wait! Send them here. You get a horse and ride for the Half-Wheel. Don’t spare the horse. Tell Slim Patterson what happened. Then you go to the Circle S and tell Jim Carlin to bring his outfit to the Half-Wheel and to send a man to the Lightnin’ for Jackson and his crew. We’ll all meet at the Half-Wheel.”
Nelson ran from the house, and the old doctor turned to Reber.
“You’ll not ride tonight,” he said firmly.
“You try to stop me, Doc.”
“Hm-m-m-m! You’re a fool, Park. That wound isn’t healed up. You’ll wreck your health, I tell you.”
“Bah! Wreck my health! I’m goin’ out to find that girl and to whip all this scum out of the valley. I’ve stood all I’ll ever stand from Priest and Silver.”
“It was a foolish thing, that sending of a woman,” said the old doctor. He had known Park Reber for years, and felt privileged to speak his mind.