Johnny got to his feet in a daze, leaving it to Kelsey to close the dead man’s eyes. The boy had easily grasped Gale’s dramatic story, but his brain was so busily engaged in separating the many details into their proper sequence that it was impossible for him to think clearly.
Out of the jumble of confused facts one thing came to overwhelm him. Molly was not Kent’s daughter! That was his big surprise.
In a way, Gale’s story explained things about as Johnny had fancied them. Beyond question Gallup had been the actual murderer. Kent was almost equally guilty, though. Johnny realized how impossible it was going to be to keep the cattleman from spending the rest of his days in jail.
“Thank God, he ain’t her father!” he said to himself. “He’s guilty, and he’ll have to pay for it.”
The other
