Strong," the colonel broke in, "I suppose I was somewhat
hasty last night in talking with you, especially as you had arrived on
time. I wish you'd turn back, and let us have those cattle."
"Like to if you'd said so a little earlier, but since morning, and the
expiration of the contract, beef has gone up."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean that you haven't money enough to buy these cattle. What's the
matter? Want a few head to feed to the Indians?"
"We want the whole herd, but as you have guessed the truth, we must have
a few head to keep those crazy Indians from making trouble. They have
heard that the cattle are gone, and I'm afraid that they will break
loose and murder a lot of settlers to get even with Uncle Sam."
"What are the troops for?"
"We wouldn't dare go after them without orders from Washington."
"Well, you started it, and I would advise you to go on to the finish."
"If we don't get enough cattle to feed the Indians the post is ruined."
"You should have thought of that contingency when you sent your amiable
young assistant out to me." He looked at Barrows.
"Well, I apologize for him. He was dead wrong, but so was I."
"Nothing doing! You would have given me the worst of it if I had been
chump enough not to know the cow business as I do. But these cattle are
due on the high range in a few days, and we must be moving on.
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