“I dunno. She never said anythin’. Laura give me ⸺. Sometimes I think that girl don’t care for the truth. Oh, if she wants lies, I reckon I can supply her.”
Uncle Hozie and Aunt Emma were going to ride out to the HJ to see the girls. Curt Bellew and Ed Merrick were at the Pinnacle. They shook hands with Honey, who introduced Hashknife and Sleepy.
“What do yuh think of Joe Rich now?” asked Curt, after he had invited them to share his hospitality.
“Jist the same as I always did,” declared Honey. “Somethin’ has gone wrong with the boy. How’s the Circle M, Merrick?”
“All right, Honey. I’ll bet yore old ranch-house leaked last night.”
“Did it? My gosh, I’ll betcha it did. Ask Hartley and Stevens; they showed up in the rain. Yuh see, they was on that stalled cow-train, and Stevens had a toothache; so they tried to find their way to the wagon-bridge in order to get to town. But I reckon they got kinda lost, and ended up at the HJ.”
Merrick laughed.
“I don’t believe I could have found my way either—as well as I know the country. Whew! It sure was dark and wet. My place didn’t leak, but it got damp. Are you boys goin’ to be with us a while?”
“I dunno,” Hashknife leaned an elbow on the bar and began rolling a cigaret. “It looks as though Fate kinda dropped us off here for some reason or other.”
“Too bad it’s the slack season. I’m short two men of my regular crew, but there ain’t enough work for me and Ben Collins and ‘Dutch’ Seibert. Later on I might use yuh.”