“Lassiter, might not this trick be done by Oldring's men?” asked Jane, ever grasping at straws.
“It might be, but it ain't,” replied Lassiter. “Oldring's an honest thief. He don't skulk behind ridges to scatter your cattle to the four winds. He rides down on you, an' if you don't like it you can throw a gun.”
Jane bit her tongue to refrain from championing men who at the very moment were proving to her that they were little and mean compared even with rustlers.
“Look!... Jane, them leadin' steers have bolted. They're drawin' the stragglers, an' that'll pull the whole herd.”
Jane was not quick enough to catch the details called out by Lassiter, but she saw the line of cattle lengthening. Then, like a stream of white bees pouring from a huge swarm, the steers stretched out from the main
