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“You ladies want to give me a hand?” he called to Lorna and Mary “Those boys is wet and tired They’ll be wantin’ coffee and soet it”
“I’ll get a fire going,” Lorna volunteered, and hopped down froon seat
“There’s some dry wood and chips in the cooney,” Rusty told her
The coffee was boiling good when the first riders approached the new ca from the horses’ wet hides One of the riders spurred his horse to reach ca out of the saddle, staggering a bit with tiredness
“They’re bringin’ Woolie in Broke his leg,” he infored himself to the fire to pour a cup
Lorna caught the flicker of relief in Rusty’s face, but he growled cantankerously, “And just what am I supposed to be usin’ for splints in this treeless hell?” He quickly bobbed his head at Mary and Lorna “Beggin’ your pardon”
“That’s your probleon, I guess” His horse was still standing where the cowboy had dropped the reins, its head hanging low “Sure hope Yates gets his remuda rounded up,” Vince remarked “These horses are about to drop”
“What about Spanish and Dollarhide?” Rusty asked
There was a long pause while Vince poured another shot of the black coffee into his cup “They won’t be needing your help”
For an instant, it didn’t sink in Lorna hadn’t been aware the two riders were nificance of Vince’s reply initiallyin
“They’re dead” She had to say it aloud, even then she didn’t believe it “What happened?”
Vince glanced at her, then looked at Rusty and shrugged a nonanswer The riders entered camp and dismounted, all except one The injured coas hunched over the saddle, his face sickly pale Benteen was around His hat tu blond hair that had given hith of his left leg
“This ought to rate runted the words in his effort to keep in the pain The cook was the guardian of the sole bottle of alcohol brought on the drive—for snakebite purposes
“You got a broke leg, not a snakebite,” Rusty gruht help ’fore I set this leg”
When he went to the chuck box to fetch it, he motioned Mary and Lorna to co Joe Dollarhide’s death, and the Mexican-Indian Spanish Bill