"Gents," said Marvin, "this sport is a rustler. There ain't no two ways about it. Day before yest'day, just before sundown, over near the Sink, the three of us seen Loudon workin' round a hog-tied cow an' calf. We was three, maybe four miles away. We seen him through field glasses. We hit the ground for the Sink, but when we got there all we found was the cow an' calf, branded as yuh see 'em now. Loudon had sloped." "Near the Sink," observed Loudon. "In the middle of it?" "I've quit talkin'," replied Marvin. Richie stepped past Mr. Saltoun and stood in front of Marvin and Rudd. "You've done made a right serious charge agin one o' my men," remarked Richie, addressing Marvin. "If he did brand them cattle, he'll be stretched. But it ain't all clear to me yet. This here Crossed Dumbbell brand now--see it on any other cattle besides these two, Marvin?" "No," said Marvin, shaking his head. "Well," continued Richie, "why didn't yuh come here right off instead o' waitin' two days?" "We was busy." "Didn't go back to the 88 ranch house before comin' here, did yuh?" "No." "Or stop at any o' yore line-camps?" "No, we didn't. We come here soon as we could make it." "What part o' the Sink was Loudon workin' in?" "The north side." "Near the edge, o' course?" "No, he was nearer the middle." "Nearer the middle, was he? An' yuh seen him at a distance o' three or four miles. Yuh must have good eyesight, because if you seen Loudon workin' in the middle o' the Sink an' you was standin' where yuh say yuh was, yuh looked through about two miles an' a half o' solid earth. The middle o' the Sink is two hundred feet below the level o' the surrounding country, an' there ain't no high land anywhere near it. Unless yo're standin' right on the edge yuh can't see nothin' in the bottom, an' the Sink is only about a mile from rim to rim. I guess now yo're mistaken, Marvin." "I ain't none shore he was plumb in the middle," grudgingly admitted Marvin. "Maybe he was kind o' near the north rim. But what's the difference?" he added, brazenly. "We seen him." "Where are the field glasses?" astutely questioned Richie. "Left 'em at our Lazy River line-camp," promptly replied Marvin. "Now ain't that funny, Marvin. Yuh told me not three minutes ago yuh didn't stop at any o' yore line-camps." "I mean we--I gave 'em to Shorty Simms. He's at the Lazy River line-camp, an' he took 'em there." "Why did yuh give 'em to Shorty?" persisted Richie. "Look here, Richie!" blazed Marvin, "this ain't no court, an' I don't have to answer yore questions." "Yuh'll have to answer plenty of questions," retorted Richie, "before I'll see Loudon stretched." "I tell yuh he's a rustler!" shouted the mulish Marvin. "He's startin' a herd o' his own, an' he's usin' the Dumbbell brand. We seen him brandin' that stock! That's enough for you or any one else to know, an' I tell yuh flat the 88 is out to stretch Tom Loudon the first chance it gets!"