CHAPTER XXII: BARTER AND DOUBLE-CROSS“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Butch.”
Kendall Marsh had been drinking rather heavily, but now he shoved the bottle aside and looked quizzically at Butch Van Deen. There was only one lamp lighted in the Triangle X ranch-house. Hank North humped in an old rocker, while Mac Rawls sprawled on the old horsehair sofa, smoking a cigarette. Butch Van Deen leaned against the side of the fireplace, his thumbs hooked over his cartridge belt.
“Yuh don’t know what I’m talkin’ about, eh?” he queried. “You heard what I said, didn’t yuh?”
“You asked me if Cultus Collins is working for me. I don’t even know him; so that’s your answer. Now, what’s the idea of the question?”
“That’s kinda funny, Marsh. This afternoon Collins had a talk with Della in the sal
