"That disease is ketchin'," said Billy Dime.
"I know it. I been sleepin' next to you," retorted Bud.
Brand Williams glanced across the fire at Overland, who smiled
inscrutably. The undercurrent was unfathomable to Williams, though he
guessed its main drift.
Suddenly Pars Long glanced at the foreman. "Brand," he said quietly, "we
expect you didn't read all of that letter from your friend here. You
said Collie was shot. You didn't say how, which ain't natural. We been
talkin' about it. Where was he hit?"
Overland saw his chance and grasped it with both hands. "In the back,"
he said slowly, and with great intensity.
Followed a silence in which the stamping of the tethered horses and the
whisper of the fire were the only sounds.
Presently Miguel ran his fingers through his glossy black hair. "In the
back!" he exclaimed. "And you needn't to tell that he was run away,
neither."
"In the back?" echoed Billy Dime.
Overland and Williams exchanged glances. "You done it now," said
Williams.
"'Cordin' to agreement," said Overland.
"Make it a wireless," said Billy Dime. "We ain't listenin', anyhow."
"Only thirty miles. What do you say, Brand?"
"Nothin'."
"_As_ usual," ejaculated Dime.
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