“Thy sins have found thee out,” grins Hashknife. “I hope mine never find
me in.”
“Now,” says I, “you Egyptian Spinks, speak up and tell your little
bunkie the secret. How did you know they rustled them cows?”
Hashknife rolls a smoke and leans back.
“McKee. As soon as I seen that pelican I says to myself, ‘Brands is the
answer.’ I got to wondering why they changed the old Bar 80 to JHE.”
Hashknife takes a stick and makes a Cross L in the dust. Then he makes a
Lazy U.
“See them two brands, Sleepy? Now watch.”
He makes an E out of the L, and draws a J ahead of it. Then he grins at
me.
“See how they made a JHE out of Cross L without any trouble? Now, all
you have to do is to finish up that Lazy U into an E, and add the J Bar
to make it JHE. _Sabe?_
“Now if these pelicans had made any yelps about making good I was going
to rebrand everything on the range with the O Cross B, the same of which
fits right over the top of the JHE. _Sabe?_”
CROSS L ..... [L brand] ........ [JHE brand]
LAZY U ...... [U brand] ........ [JE brand]
J H E ....... [JE brand] ....... [JHE brand]
O CROSS B ...................... [O+B brand]
“Hashknife,” says I, “don’t teach me any more. That’s penitentiary
bait.”
“Uh-huh. I suppose I ought to ’a’ sent Spooner and Ells to the pen, but
what’s the use of doing that? I wouldn’t pen up a coyote.”
Just then a wagon comes rattling around the curve, and in it is
Older, Crosby and Molly. They stares at the dead bronc and then at
us. Hashknife grins and hands them the bill of sale, and they sure
gets interested.
“Wh-what does it mean?” stutters Crosby. “Everything on the JHE?”
“Uh-huh. That ain’t all either. I’ve got a confession that will bring
Shorty Blewett out of the pen--whiter than snow.”
Molly sort of sways in her seat and stares at him.
“Absolutely, ma’am,” grins Hashknife. “Soon as I can find a judge.”
“Oh!” says she, and that’s all.