There was nothing soft about Houck. He was a hard and callous citizen, and he lived largely outside the law and other people’s standards of conduct. But he knew when he had run up against a brick wall. Mrs. Larson had only to lift her voice and half a dozen men would come running. He was in the country of the enemy, so to say.
“Am I pesterin’ her?” he demanded. “Can’t I talk to a girl I knew when she was a baby? Have I got to get an O.K. from you before I say ‘Good-mawnin’ to her?”
“Her father left June in my charge. I’m intendin’ to see you let her alone. Get that straight.”
Houck gave up with a shrug of his big shoulders. He sat down and attacked the steak on his plate.
CHAPTER XXIX
“INJUNS”
Bob swung down from the saddle in front of the bunkhouse.
Reeves came to the door and waved a hand. “’Lo, Sure-Shot! What’s new in Bear Cat?”