“They could prove I wounded Cullison. That was enough for them. They set out to hang me. Later they changed their minds.”
“How come you here? Did you escape?”
“Nope. Friends dug up bail.”
Cranston did not ask what friends. He thought he knew. Alec Flandrau, an uncle of Curly, owned a half interest in the Map of Texas ranch. No doubt he had come to the aid of the young scapegoat.
“I’ll bet the old man was sore at having to ante,” was Big Bill’s comment.
“Say, Soapy has been telling me that the Cullison kid is up here. I reckon we better not say anything about my mixup with his folks. I’m not looking for any trouble with him.”
“All right, Curly. That goes with me. How about you, Blackwell?”
“Sure. What Sam don’t know won’t hurt him.”
Curly sat down on the porch and told an edited story of his adventures to them. Before he had finished a young fellow rode up and dismounted. He had a bag of quail with him which he handed over to the Mexican cook. After he had unsaddled and turned his pony into a corral he joined the card players on the porch.
By unanimous consent the game was changed to poker. Young Cullison had the chair next to Flandrau. He had, so Curly thought, a strong family resemblance to his father and sister. “His eye jumps straight at you and asks its questions right off the reel,” the newcomer thought. Still a boy in his ways, he might any day receive the jolt that would transform him into a man.