“You’re hiding something from me, Uncle Mac. I won’t have it. You tell me the truth—the whole truth.”
In three sentences he sketched it for her, and when he had finished he knew by the sound of her voice that she was greatly frightened.
“Something has happened to him. I’m coming to town.”
“If you feel you’d rather. Take the stage in to-morrow.”
“No. I’m coming to-night. I’ll bring Bob. Save us two rooms at the hotel.”
“Better wait till to-morrow. Forty miles is a long ride, lass.”
“No, I can’t wait. Have Curly Flandrau come to the Del Mar if he’s in town—and Dick Maloney, too. That’s all. Good-by.”
She turned to her cousin, who was standing big-eyed at her elbow.
“What is it, Kate? Has anything happened to Uncle Luck?”
She swallowed a lump in her throat. “Dad’s gone, Bob. Nobody knows where. They say—the liars—that he robbed the W. & S. Express Company.”