"You oughtn't to have given him that envelope," Billy admonished the strayman. "It has the confession in it. You got to be more careful."
"I will," said the strayman humbly, and tucked the envelope into his pocket.
Simon stirred uneasily on his saddle. Confession! Whose confession? He recalled that there had been several folded sheets of paper in the envelope. Of course, Simon could not know that these sheets were white,—innocent of either handwriting or printing. But Simon's conscience was a helpful little thing. And Simon's mind was prone to jump at conclusions.
"I'll just take your gun, Simon," murmured Billy. "I don't think you'd do anything reckless, but you might. Slide off easy. That's it. You look kind of bewildered, Simon. Don't know how I got here, do you? Easy, like eatin' pie. While you were hard at work with your pencil, Guerilla and I were tippytoeing out of that stand of timber behind us a ways. You shouldn't be so trusting of strangers, feller. Keep your paws up! Just because I've felt you all over and haven't found an extra gun or knife doesn't signify you can do as you please. You stand right still and steady. Johnny, let's have that envelope. My friend will watch you, Simon, while I glance over this."
Billy took the envelope, fingered out the sheets of paper and unfolded them. His lip moved as he solemnly looked them over. It was apparent to Reelfoot that he was refreshing his memory.
"Simon," Billy said, glancing up suddenly, "why did Conley go South?"
Simon's leathery face assumed a richly jaundiced hue. "I—I dunno!"
"Yes, you do," Billy insisted, striking the sheets of paper with his fist. "We found Conley. He was working for the TU when he died."
Simon's face went even yellower. "I told him not to go," muttered Simon Reelfoot.
"Conley talked before he died," said Billy. "He told me some interesting things about himself—and you. We've got you dead to rights, Simon." Here Billy stuffed the sheets of paper into his trousers pocket and gripped Simon by the throat. "You damned murderer, what did you kill him for?"