PAINTED ROCK
"And I'll buy you out, stock and all, Jeff," said old Keats, "at a price that all here will say is fair."
"Hear, hear!" said the crowd.
"And, what's more, I'll go with you to Fort Worth," said Keats. "Come along, sonny. There's no time to lose."
They walked towards the railroad depôt.
"One of us'll go to the City Marshal and say Windy's gone up the flume," said Sam the bar-tender. "And we'll drop a hint the boy had rode back to his ranch."
And as they walked, Jeff held Bill Davies' hand and trembled violently.
"Mr. Keats, I'd like to give Bill my dog Bob, and my old pinto pony," he said. "Will you take them, Bill?"
"To bee sure," said Bill.
"The pinto's tied to a mesquite t'other side of the Wolf Crick," said Jeff. "He's a mighty good pony for slow work."
"I'll not hurry him," said Bill. And they reached the depôt just as the East-bound express came in.
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