Page:Frederick Faust--Free Range Lanning.djvu/35

Rh me good to see him mosey that piece of iron off'n his hip. And you looked sick, Gus, when he had you covered. What was it you said about my boy and nerve to-day? Maybe you've forgot. Well, I'll promise you I won't never tell him. Neat, wasn't it? Clean get-away. See him take that saddle? Where was you with your gat, Joe? Nowhere! Looked to me like"

The voice of Bill Dozier broke in: "I want a posse. Who'll ride with Bill Dozier to-night?"

It sobered Jasper Lanning. "What d'you mean by that?" he asked. "Didn't the boy fight clean?"

"Maybe," admitted Dozier. "But Buck may kick out. And if he dies they's got to be a judge talk to your boy. Come on. I want volunteers."

"Dozier, what's all this fool talk?"

"Don't bother me, Lanning. I got a duty to perform, ain't I? Think I'm going to let 'em say later on that anybody done this and then got away from Bill Dozier? Not me!"

"Bill," said Jasper, "I read in your mind. You're lookin' for action, and you want to get it out of Andy."

"I want nothin' but to get him back."

"Think he'll let you come close enough to talk? He'll think you want him for murder, that's what. Keep off of this boy, Bill. Let him hear the news; then he'll come back well enough."

"You waste my time," said Bill, "and all the while a man that the law wants is puttin' ground between him and Martindale. Now, boys, you hear me talk. Who's with Bill Dozier to bring back this milk-fed kid?"

It brought a snarl from Jasper Lanning. "Why don't you go after him by yourself, Dozier? I had your job once and I didn't ask no helpers on it."

But Bill Dozier apparently had no liking for a lonely