nor did
his face change much as the news was cautiously conveyed to him. When
Van Horn announced he would ride out with Stone to examine the road
hole, Doubleday, whose expression had grown colder and colder, broke in:

"Needn't waste any time on that," he said with a snap of his jaw.

Stone snorted: "Maybe _you_ think he wasn't hit."

"Hit!" exclaimed Barb. "Hit!" he repeated, raising a long forefinger
with deep-drawn disgust. "He's sittin' in that room across the hall
right now----"

"What's he doin'?"

"Playin' poker," muttered the old cattleman grimly, "with Doc. Carpy
and Harry Tenison."

CHAPTER XXIII

KATE RIDES

In strict point of fact, Laramie had left the room across the hall and
at that particular moment was sitting down for a late supper at Belle
Shockley's whither Sawdy and Lefever had dragged him from the hotel.
Carpy had come with them.

At the table--after Laramie had told part of his story--the talk,
genial to cheerfulness, was largely professional criticism of the shot
across the Crazy Woman. The technical disadvantages of shooting
uphill, the tendency to over-elevate for such shots, the difficulty of
catching the pace and speed of a horse, all supplied judicial
observations for Lefever and Sawdy, while Laramie--so nearly the
victim--leaving the topic to these Sleepy Cat gun pundits, conferred
with Carpy about the care of gunshot wounds; and protested against Flat
Nose George and the Museum of Horrors in the Doctor's office.

"But I want to tell you, boys," remarked the doctor, when the talk
turned on the discomfiture of the enemy group, "what Barb asked me
tonight--this is on the dead." The doctor looked around to include
Belle--who was standing with folded arms, her back against the
sideboard and listening to the conversation--in his injunction of
secrecy. "He came to me at the hotel. 'Doc,' says Barb, 'I want to
ask you a question. There's stories circulating around about Laramie's
getting shot this morning, on his way into town. Has Laramie been to
you to get fixed up, at all?'

"'Well, Barb,' I says, 'that's not really a fair question for me to
answer--you know that. But since you spoke about it, Jim was in awhile
ago----'

"'Was in, eh?'

"'For a few minutes----'

"'Hit?'

"'That I couldn't say. What he asked for, Barb, was a bottle of Perry
Davis' painkiller--said the rheumatiz was getting him to beat the
band.'"

Carpy paused: "'Rheumatiz!' says Barb.