“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 honor,” 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.
They had heard about the train robbery. It seemed to be the general opinion that Joe Rich had done it.
“I knowed him a long time,” said Uncle Hozie. “He never struck me as bein’ a bad boy in any way. I don’t sabe him. Why he jist went all to ⸺ in a week!”
“Does Peggy know about it?” asked Aunt Emma.
“Yeah,” Honey nodded solemnly. “Yeah, she knows. But I’ve told her the last bad news I’ll ever tell.”
“Took it hard, did she, Honey?”