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But I reckon when he sees the gal he wants he'll saddle up and ride out and take her." And Bud chuckled. Bondsman rapped the floor with his tail. Bondsman never failed to express a sympathetic mood when his master chuckled. "Now, look at that," said Shoop, grinning. "He knows I'm goin' over to Stacey. He heard me say it. And he says I got to take him along, 'cause he knows I ain't goin' on a hoss.
Chances are that when the cattle stampede a band or two of sheep, he'll turn his men on us. That's your time to ride down and take possession of the ranch. Most likely you won't have to draw a gun." Shoop reined close to Corliss and held out his hand. "Mebby not, Jack. But if we do so-long." Then the genial Bud loped to the outriders, picking them up one by one.
Shoop offered the opinion that possibly Andy Brewster, the youngest of the brothers, was not directly implicated in the murder, only taking sides with his brother Bob when he learned that he was a fugitive. In such a premise it was not unnatural that his bitterness toward Waring should take the angle that it did.
"Did you think in this note to tell him to give me a hoss that only travels one way to onct?" queried Sundown. Corliss laughed. "Yes, I told him. Don't forget you're a citizen and a homesteader. We're depending on you." "You bet! And I'll be there with the bells!" Shoop and Corliss watched Sundown top a distant rise and disappear in a cloud of dust. Then they walked back to the station.
I ain't sayin' he ever got to be president or superintendent of a Sunday School, for this ain't no story-book yarn; but he always held a good job when he wanted it, and he worked for a good boss which was hisself." Lorry grinned as he turned to Shoop. "That ole Demijohn never got close enough to me to get busted on the head." "Them hosses is strayin' down the creek," said Shoop, rising.
You're south of your county. If you can get me across the line, I'll go on to Stacey." Bud Shoop mopped his face with a bandanna. He was not overhot, but he wanted to hide the grin that spread over his broad countenance. He imagined he could see the deputy just about the time they arrived at the county line, and the mental picture seemed to amuse him.
Shoop became silent. He, in turn, stared straight ahead. "What do you think of it?" queried Corliss. "Nothin'. 'Cept I wouldn't mind havin' a little ole homestead myself." Corliss laughed. "You're not cut out for it, Bud. You mean you'd like the chance to make the water-hole a base for operations against Loring. And the place isn't worth seed, Bud."
The men gazed at each other, nodded, and the words "Loring" and "sheep," punctuated their mutterings. Shoop and Corliss talked together. Then the foreman called to Hi Wingle, asking him how the "chuck" was holding out. "Runnin' short on flour and beans, Bud. Corliss and his foreman came to the fire. "Boss says we're goin' to bush here the rest of this week," and Corliss nodded.
"I don't know," he said, as if in answer to a silent questioning. Then he told Shoop to look for tracks. "The rain's fixed the tracks," said Shoop, turning in the doorway. "But it ain't drowned out my guess on this proposition." "Well, keep guessing, Bud, till I talk to Sundown." And Corliss walked slowly to the bunkhouse. He sat on the edge of the bunk and laid his hand on Sundown's sleeve.
Shoop labored at the piano with nervous care. When he turned to Lorry his face was beaded with sweat. "I rode her clean through to the fence," he said, with a kind of apologetic grin. "How did you like that piece?" "I always did like them old tunes," replied Lorry. "Give us another." Shoop's face beamed. "I only got one more that I can get my rope on. But if you can stand it, I can.
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