d-timer. I let you
fellows down easy, last time. I don't reckon Foxy objected much to
those few I turned back to him, and I don't reckon you did any kicking
when you found I'd cut the rope so it wouldn't hold your rotten
carcass. You can't let well enough alone, though. You thought you'd
raise me, did you? You thought you'd come back and try another whack
at me behind my back. You knew damned well I wasn't the kind of man
that would jump the country. You knew you'd find me right here,
attending to my business like I've always done.

"But you've overplayed your hand. This time I'm going to get you--and
Foxy and the breed along with you. It was a damned, rotten trick,
running Y6es over Seabeck's brand. If I hadn't caught you in the act,
you'd have planted them cattle where all hell couldn't have saved me
when they were found. If I hadn't caught you at it and run MK
monograms over the whole cheese, I'd have been up against it for fair.
So now you're going to get what's coming to yuh. I won't take any
chances on your not trying it again. I'm going to protect myself right.

"You throw that gun on the bed." (Billy Louise did so, her eyes still
upon Ward's flushed face.) "Now, get down that tablet from the shelf.
Here's a pencil." He drew one from under his pillow and tossed it
toward her. "Now you write the truth about all this rustling. It's a
bigger thing than shows right in this neighborhood. I know that. And
I know too that Foxy has been pulling down some on the side. He never
paid for all the stock that's running around vented and rebranded MK.
I've got that sized up. Pretty smooth trick, too; a heap better than
working brands. He ought to have been satisfied with that--but a crook
never is satisfied. I knew he wasn't the tenderfoot he tried to make
out, and when I saw some of his stock and that gate fixed to ring a
bell when it was opened, I knew he was a crook. But he made a big
mistake when he threw in with you, you--

"I want you to write down the truth about that Hardup deal; who was in
with you. I know, all right, but I want it down on paper. And I want
to know how long Foxy's been in with you, and who's working the game on
the outside. Get busy; write it all down. I'll give you all the time
you need; don't leave out anything. Dates and all, I want the whole
graft. Don't try to get away. I've got this gun loaded to the guards,
and you know I'm aching for an excuse--" He stopped an