Casey had meant to accuse them to their faces of shooting Barney and
the burros from the rim-rock. It had occurred to him that if they
believed Barney dead, they might reveal something of their purpose in
the attack. Concealment, he felt vaguely, would serve merely to
sharpen their suspicion of him. It had seemed very important to Casey
that these three should not know that Barney was probably well on his
way to Barstow by now.

Barney in Barstow would mean Barney bearing news that Casey Ryan was
undoubtedly murdered by outlaws in the Panamints; which would mean a
few officers on the trail, with Barney to guide them to the spot. Paw
and Hank and Joe--outlaws all, he would have sworn would get what Casey
called their needin's. His jaw muscles tightened when he thought of
that, and the prospect held him quiet under Joe's injustice.

"I can prove anything I'm asked to prove when the time comes," he said
sourly, and began to roll himself a cigarette, since his pipe had gone
out. "But I ain't in any courtroom yet, an' you fellers ain't any
judge an' jury."

"We got to hold ye," Paw spoke up unctiously, as if the decision had
been his. "Ef a crime's been committed, like you say it has, we got to
do our duty an' hold ye. The boss'll know what to do with ye--like I
said all along; when I hauled ye down outa that tree, for instance.

"Aw, shut up, Paw, you ol' fool, you," Hank commanded again with filial
gentleness. "He had yore tongue hangin' out a foot when I come along
an' captured 'im. Don't go takin' no credit to yourself--you ain't got
none comin'. Mart'll know what to do with 'im, all right. But yuh
needn't go an' try to let on to Mart that you was the one that caught
'im. He had you caught. An' he'd a killed yuh if I hadn't showed up
an' pulled 'im off'n yuh."

"Well now, when it comes to KILLIN'," Casey interjected spitefully, "I
guess I coulda put the two of yuh away if I'd a wanted to right bad.
Casey Ryan ain't no killer, because he don't have to be. G'wan an'
hold me if yuh feel that way. Grub ain't none too good, but I can
stand it till your boss comes. I want a man-to-man talk with him,
anyway."

CHAPTER FIVE

That night Casey slept soundly in a bunk built above Joe's bed in the
dugout, with Hank and Paw on the opposite side of the room with their
guns handy. In the morning he thought well enough of his stomach to
get up and start breakfast when Hank had built the fire. He was aware