“Aw, he gives me a itch,” growled Lonnie.
“Go scratch yourself,” advised Uncle Hozie.
Kelsey brought no news of Joe Rich. He said that Ralston and Merrick had ridden through to Kelo, but found no trace of the fugitive. Ralston had come back to Pinnacle City at midnight.
“Yuh didn’t expect to catch him, didja?” asked Nebrasky.
“Sure we’ll get him,” confidently. “May take a little while.”
“Aw, ⸺!” snorted Lonnie. “You and Jack Ralston couldn’t foller a load of hay through a fresh snow.”
“Lonnie, I told yuh—” began Uncle Hozie.
“Yeah, I heard yuh,” interrupted Lonnie. “I’m not ridin’ him.”
Len smiled thinly.
“Thasall right, Hozie. You folks have kinda got the wrong idea of all this. I’m not an enemy of Joe Rich. My ⸺, I worked with him, didn’t I? In my business yuh don’t have to hate a man to arrest him. There ain’t nothin’ personal about me huntin’ for Joe. If he’s innocent, he ought to stay and prove it. Yuh can’t jist sneeze a couple of times and forget that five thousand dollars are missin’, can yuh?”