Without answering, Norris led the way out and stopped only when his arm rested on the fence of the corral.
“Nobody can hear us now,” he said brusquely, and the ranger got a whiff of his hot whisky breath. “You’ve put it up to me to make good. All right, I’ll do it. That little girl in there, as you call her, is the bad man who held up the Fort Allison stage.”
The officer laughed tolerantly as he lit a cigarette.
“I hear you say it, Norris.” 159
“I didn’t expect you to believe it right away, but it’s a fact just the same.”
Flatray climbed to the fence and rested his feet on a rail. “Fire ahead. I’m listenin’.”
“The first men on the ground after that hold-up were me and Lee. We covered the situation thorough and got hold of some points right away.”
“That’s right funny too. When I asked you if you’d been down there you both denied it,” commented the officer.
“We were protecting the girl. Mind you, we didn’t know who had done it then, but we had reasons to think the person had just come from this ranch.”
“What reasons?” briefly demanded Flatray.