They jolted along over the rough road. Honey turned to Hashknife, a grin on his lips.
“I ain’t no gentleman,” he said.
“Ain’t yuh?” asked Hashknife.
“Nossir,” Honey shook his head violently. “Can’t lie good enough. Laura said I ought to be crowned with an axe-handle for comin’ in and tellin’ Peggy that Joe Rich robbed the train. She said I should have lied about it.”
“Mebbe yuh should.”
“Cinch! Giddap! I always think of a lie too late. Some day I’m goin’ to be hung for tellin’ the truth.”
“You’ll be the first puncher that ever had that honour,” said Sleepy. “There’s that bridge we was huntin’ for, Hashknife. If we’d ’a’ found it last night, we’d be on our way East right now.”
“Glad yuh didn’t,” grinned Honey, as they rattled over the loose floor-planks of the bridge. “It’s only a little ways out here to where Jim Wheeler was killed. I’ll show yuh the place.”
He drove off the bridge and around to the spot where Joe had found Jim Wheeler. Honey knew the exact spot and drew just off the road. Hashknife walked up and down the road while Honey explained things to him. The rain of the night before had laid the dust, and the road was almost as smooth as asphalt.
After looking the place over they rode on to Pinnacle City, where they met Uncle Hozie Wheeler and Aunt Emma. Honey introduced them to Hashknife and Sleepy, and told how they happened to be in the Tumbling River country.