Page:Morley roberts--Painted Rock.djvu/142

 If he was older than I, I gave him some good advice.

"If you rake up Sage against him, and he hears of it, Colonel, he'll not be put off shooting because you've no right hand."

"That's so," said Webb, "that's so. But there are times when a man hez to do his duty. Bob's young, and I never tole you that I look on him as a kind of relation. I would have married his grandmother if she hadn't married another man before I sot eyes on her. That was her mistake, pore thing; and ez a result I've run around the West ever sence. I'll ride over to Red River ter-morrer, sure."

I paid little attention to what he said, and went about my own business. But two nights afterwards he came into Hamilton's, where I was boarding, and called me out. We sat down in a couple of rocking-chairs, and he spoke low.

"I went to Red River, Charlie."

"Did you see 'Sage-brush'?"

"To bee sure," said the Colonel, as he lit a ten-cent cigar.