"If he stops in there I ’ll miss him," said Tex. "But he ’s bound to go on to Twin from there. If we come together in the trail, it’s no harm done: Dave will never suspect me until he looks into my gun. Bet a hat he thinks I ’m a pretty good friend of his." He chuckled, recalling the arguments for and against Gerken on the night of the shooting. The consensus of opinion seemed to be that Dave had been within his rights but "some hasty." This was not Tex’s opinion. He chuckled again as he recalled the lurid out-spokenness of Sandy McQueen’s opinion which had turned the perfunctory trial into a farce and had kept Twin River on the grin for two days. "And all is gay when Sandy comes marching home," he hummed. "I ’m glad they found the gun on Dutch. Peck of trouble if he had n’t been heeled. There ’s me, just naturally obliged to pull out Dave. If he goes under I lose touch with the old thief who stops at home. Funny they don’t get at it. There ’s enough material in Twin River alone to wipe three Double Y’s off the map, good as Buck is. Give him six months more and half Montana could n’t do it—because the other half would be fighting _for_ him, Lordy! The old-times! Folks have grown most surprising slow these days." He had left the foot of the farm road half a mile in the rear when he heard the sound of a horse coming up behind him. The darkness hid Tex until the other was nearly abreast, when he hailed. "He did turn off to see Rose," reflected Tex, as he returned the greeting and Dave rode up. "That you, Comin’?" said Dave. "I been wantin’ to see you. Goin’ anywhere particular?" "No," drawled Tex. "I was just considerin’ which of them shanties in Twin ’d have th’ most loose money." "Bah!" scornfully exclaimed Dave, drawing alongside him. "There ain’t no money in Twin River. You an’ me could make a good haul over in Wayback but I got somethin’ better ’n that. Let’s go into Ike’s. Ike never hears nothin’ an’ all th’ rest is deaf, too. I want to talk to you."