He stopped. His eyes sought the picture.
"By the ghost of my aunt Lizzy's cat!" he exclaimed. "If it ain't our friend Delton!"
Bud reached over and slowly took the paper from the Kid's nerveless hand.
"Delton!" he cried, as he saw the picture. "Just as sure as I'm living, that's who it is!"
"But why didn't Hawkins arrest him, then?" Nort asked in a puzzled tone of voice. "He knew where he was. He could have come out any time and put the bracelets on him and he'd have his man."
"Now, boys, if you'll give me a little time, I'll—" started Billee Dobb in a calm voice.
"Go ahead!"
"We're listenin'!"
"Well, in the first place, I don't think Joe Hawkins ever saw this Delton. You know what a hard job we had gettin' to the ranch—I bet if we had had Hawkins with us we would have had to fight our way in. That's what that guard was out for—the one that tried to stop us. He knew we weren't deputies, so he let us go through.
"Also, that bill was just printed and sent to Hawkins. Perhaps he didn't have time to look at it. And say—that accounts for Delton's quick get-away, too. One of his men rode in an' told him that there was a price on him, and he got, fast. He must have made this ranch his headquarters. No wonder he didn't have no sheep around! Boys, we can expect some right excitin' things to happen, in the next few weeks!"