‘Take it easy, Kid. You got ’em here—right here in Nogales! You brought ’em through—days ago. Listen, Kid, you don’t need to drive no more!’ That voice always straightened things out.
‘But Mamie—’ he finally broke out.
‘She’s waitin’ for you. We brought her up—fine—’
Elbert felt himself moving softly after that, into an altogether different zone of sleep. ‘But where?’ He locked his lips. He mustn’t ask anything more.
Cal came again, and finally with Slim, but it was a dreary time before they let him ask questions. Mamie was right here in Nogales. ‘Mexicali’ Burton’s party had held out until morning at San Pasquali, when General Cordano had come, driving Vallejo away.
‘Did he lose any men?’ Elbert mumbled.
‘Who?’
‘Vall—I mean Cordano—or Mr. Burton?’
‘Some,’ said Slim, suspicious of delirium again.