“Uh-huh,” Hashknife rubbed his chin with the fork. “Was it goin’ to take five thousand dollars for to ship that girl back East?”
“Probably not.”
“What kind of a feller is Ed Merrick?”
“Good cow-man. He’s one of the county commissioners. Owned the Circle M about five years, and is kind of a big man in the county. Mostly horse outfit.”
“Yuh say they made a sheriff out of the deputy?”
“Yeah; Len Kelsey.”
Honey described the trouble on the street between Kelsey and Rich, in which Kelsey was wounded. He also told them how the cowboys hid out to keep from being sworn in to follow the fugitive. This interested Sleepy.
“Sounds like there was some reg’lar boys around here,” he said.
“Oh, the boys like Joe,” grinned Honey. “You’d like him.”
“I dunno. Any man that ain’t got no more sense than to get drunk and miss a chance of a wife like that dark-haired girl ain’t very much of a feller. Or the blonde one.”