"I've cut his trail five different places, Bow Bells, Gunsight, Dragoon, Shadyside, and the Rafter L. I figured he'd come here after leavin' the Rafter L—it's only thirty miles. But I guess he didn't. Leastwise nobody seems to have noticed anybody of his description."
"You haven't described him to me yet," pointed out Dawson.
Billy began. "—and maybe a black beard by now," he concluded.
"Bow Bells, Gunsight, Dragoon, Shadyside and the Rafter L," repeated Dawson, rasping a hand across his stubbly chin.
"South, y'understand, till he reached Shadyside, and then he headed northeast to the Rafter L. What I'd like to know is what made him change direction thataway?"
"He ain't in any hurry to leave the territory, that's a cinch."
"Not after he left Shadyside, anyway."
"Something happened there to head him."
"Sure. But whatever it was it wasn't visible to the naked eye. Rafter L, the same way. He stopped there for dinner and rode away without spending the night."
"He may have gone to Marquis."