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Updated: May 19, 2025
But the Dean did not permit himself to be long annoyed by the thoughts provoked by Tailholt Mountain. Philosophically he turned his broad back to the intruding scene, and went back to the corral, and to the more pleasing occupation of looking at the horses.
The Cross-Triangle foreman's tone was curt. "I reckon I'll have to trouble you to vent your brand on that Cross-Triangle calf, Nick." The Tailholt Mountain man made no shallow pretense that he did not understand. "Not by a damn sight," he returned roughly. "I ain't raisin' calves for Bill Baldwin, an' I happen to know what I'm talkin' about this trip.
"I ain't tellin' nothin' to nobody," said Joe sullenly, as he came slowly toward the Dean's cowboy. "No?" said Patches. "No, I ain't," asserted the Tailholt Mountain man stoutly. "That there calf is a Four-Bar-M calf, all right." "I see it is," returned the Cross-Triangle rider calmly. "But I'll just wait until Nick gets back, and ask him what it was before he worked over the iron."
"I told him to be sure and be back by night," he chuckled, as he explained Patches' absence at dinner to the other members of the household. "That was downright mean of you, Will Baldwin," chided Stella, with her usual motherly interest in the comfort of her boys. "You know the poor fellow will lose himself, sure, out in that wild Tailholt Mountain country." The boys laughed.
"You boys just hold your horses, an' ride easy," said Curly. "My money's still on Honorable Patches." And Bob added his loyal support with his cheerful "Me, too!" "It all looked straight enough," Jim Reid admitted to the Dean that evening, "but I can't get away from the notion that there was some sort of an understanding between your man an' that damned Tailholt Mountain thief.
During the time that intervened before the trial of the Tailholt Mountain man, Phil and Patches re-established that intimate friendship of those first months of their work together. Then came the evening when Phil went across the meadow to ask Jim Reid for his daughter. The big cattleman looked at his young neighbor with frowning disapproval. "It won't do, Phil," he said at last.
Nick Cambert was a large man, big-bodied and heavy, with sandy hair, and those peculiar light blue eyes which do not beget confidence. But, as the Tailholt Mountain men halted to greet Phil, Patches gave to Nick little more than a passing glance, so interested was he in the big man's companion.
It looks like he had been busy over in the Tailholt Mountain neighborhood." The two men shook hands silently. Mrs. Reid greeted the officer cordially, while Mrs. Baldwin, to the Dean's great delight, demonstrated her welcome in the good old-fashioned mother way. "Will Baldwin, I could shake you," she cried, as Patches stood, a little confused by her impulsive greeting.
"Well, I'll tell you," said Billy, proud of his superior knowledge. "That there's Tailholt Mountain." "Indeed!" "Yes, and Nick Cambert and Yavapai Joe lives over there. Do you know about them?" The tall man shook his head. "No, I don't believe that I do." Little Billy lowered his voice to a mysterious whisper. "Well, I'll tell you. Only you mus'n't ever say anything 'bout it out loud.
"It's Nick Cambert and that poor, lost dog of a Yavapai Joe," Phil answered. "The Tailholt Mountain outfit," murmured Patches, watching the riders on the ridge with quickened interest. "Do you know, Phil, I believe I have seen those fellows before." "You have!" exclaimed Phil. "Where? When?" "I don't know how to tell you where," Patches replied, "but it was the day I rode the drift fence.
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