But he did not--perhaps because Bud had
unwrapped his own six-shooter and was looking it over with the
muzzle slanting a wicked eye in Dirk's direction.
Late that afternoon, when the boys were loafing around the
cabin waiting for their early supper, Bud packed his worldly
goods on Sunfish and departed from the Muleshoe--"by special
request", he admitted to himself ruefully--with his wages in
gold and silver in his pocket and no definite idea of what he
would do next.
He wished he knew exactly why Bart had fired him. He did not
believe that it was for fighting, as Bart had declared. He
thought that perhaps Dirk Tracy had some hold on the Muleshoe
not apparent to the outsider, and that he had lied about him
to Bart as a sneaking kind of revenge for being whipped. But
that explanation did not altogether satisfy him, either.
In his month at the Muleshoe he had gained a very fair
general idea of the extent and resources of Burroback Valley,
but he had not made any acquaintances and he did not know
just where to go for his next job. So for want of something
better, he rode down to the little stream which he now knew
was called One Creek, and prepared to spend the night there.
In the morning he would make a fresh start--and because of
the streak of stubbornness he had, he meant to make it in
Burroback Valley, under the very nose of the Muleshoe outfit.
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