Page:The Trail Rider (1924).pdf/315

 cut the string and let him go when we put that up to him, Texas."

"Well, it's done; he owed the money, and it's paid—I reckon it's paid."

Fannie rolled over on the grass, stretched herself on her stomach, propping herself on her elbows. She chewed a joint of bluestem, and took her hat off to let the wind have its way, saying nothing for a long time. Then:

"Texas?"

"Yes, Fannie."

"Don't you think you ought to take the train out of here to-day?"

"I'm not runnin' away from any man, or set of men, Fannie. I'm not ready to leave just now."

"Stott won't tell the cattlemen you're square, Texas, and they'll get you. They'll be in here fifty to one, and you'll never have a show for your money at all."

"If Stott don't clear me, I'll have to do it myself, Fannie. I've got an appointment with a man that's undertaken to settle it in his own way for the rest of them. That's one reason why I can't leave till he comes."

Fannie got up, looking at him with a question in her frightened eyes.

"What man, Texas?"