Meanin' that you shet up
about them cattle an' I'll shet up about seein' you."
"That way, it wouldn't cost you nothin' would it, Johnson? Well, it's
a trade, if you throw in the aforementioned articles of outfit I
specified, to boot."
"Not by a damn sight! You got the best end of it the way it is.
Lynchin' is murder!"
"So it is," agreed the Texan. "An' likewise, maintainin' weak
reservoirs that lets go an' drowns other folks' cattle is a public
nuisance, an' a jury's liable to figger up them damages kind of
high--'specially again' you, Johnson, bein' ornery an' rotten-hearted,
an' tight-fisted, that way, folks don't like you."
"It means hangin' fer you!"
"Yes. But it means catchin' first. I can be a thousan' miles away
from here, in a week, but you're different. All they got to do is grab
the ranch, it's good for five or six thousan' in damages, all right.
Still if you don't want to trade, I'll be goin'." He gathered up his
reins.
"Hold on! It's a damned hold-up, but what was it you wanted?"
The Texan checked off the items on his gloved fingers: "One pair of
pants, one shirt, one hat, one pair of boots, same size as yourn, one
pair of spurs, one silk muffler, that one you've got on'll do, one
cinch, half a dozen packages of tobacco, an' one bottle of whiskey.
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