"I'll get Johnny right away." "No, to-morrow 'll do. There's somethin' I want Johnny to do first. I'd like him to ride over to the Bar S an' tell Chuck Morgan that if he feels like makin' a change there's a job waitin' for him at the Flyin' M. I hate to take one of his men away from Old Salt, but it's root hog or die. I need another man, an' Chuck'll just fill the bill." "Lemme fix it up. I can borrow Chuck for yuh. Old Salt'll listen to me. No, I won't have to tell him nothin' about yore business. Leave it to me." "All right. That's better'n takin' Chuck away from him. Yuh needn't mention no name, but yuh can guarantee to Old Salt that Chuck's wages will be paid while he's off, o' course. Yuh can tell Chuck on the side that Scotty Mackenzie will do the payin'." "Scotty, huh? I did hear how he lost a bunch o' hosses. How many--two hundred, wasn't it?" "One hundred. But that's enough." "Yuh don't suspect the 88, do yuh? Why, the Flyin' M is two hundred mile north." "What's two hundred mile to the 88? An' didn't Scotty ride it just to find out whether I was straight or a murderer?" "He shore did," laughed Richie. "Yuh couldn't blame the old jigger, though. That 88 brand on yore hoss was misleadin' some." "That hoss o' mine's been stole. Yep, lifted right in the street in Paradise Bend. Rufe Cutting done it." "I don't remember him. Is he anybody special besides a hoss thief?" "Friend o' Blakely's. Block says Rufe's drifted south--him an' the hoss. But Block may be lyin'. Yuh can't tell." "Did the sheriff give yuh that information free of charge?" "Not so yuh could notice it. I got it out of him with a quirt, an' I had to drill both his ears, he was that stubborn." "Drilled both his ears. Well! Well! Yuh'd ought to have killed him." "I know it. He went an' got Shorty Simms to kill the Sheriff o' Sunset." "What?" "Shore. It was thisaway." Loudon related the circumstances of the sheriff's murder. "An'," he said in conclusion, "Sunset ain't a-goin' to take it kindly." "Which I should say not! His friends'll paint for war, that's a cinch. This country's gettin' worse an' worse!" "No, only the people are, an' maybe we can get some of 'em to change. But I been here too long already. We're ridin' to Marysville, Jack, an' we aim to stay there a couple o' days. Tell Johnny an' Chuck to meet us there, an' tell 'em not to bawl out my name when they see me. It'd be just like the two of 'em to yell her out so yuh could hear it over in the next county. An' I've got plenty of reasons for wishin' to be private." "Don't worry none. They'll keep their mouths shut. I'll fix that up. I wish yuh luck, Tom. I shore hope yuh get the 88 an' get 'em good. I ain't lost no more cows lately, but I don't like 'em any better for that." "I wish I could make Old Salt see the light," Loudon grumbled.