human
Try to tell us as clearly as you can what happened,
gpt
Well, said the stranger,
human
The boys took it quietly?
gpt
Yes, said the stranger.
human
That's what they did. You see, the folks in Victoria had moved on Eshelby, and the new man was doing what he could for us within reason. Anyway, we hadn't heard from you, and the boys weren't going to make trouble for nothing when Slavin was there.
gpt
Nobody would expect it of them, he said.
human
Get on.
gpt
Well, said the stranger,
human
We kept 'most a league behind Slavin, and we had to get a move on at that, continued the speaker.
gpt
He wasn't wasting time. Then when we'd got through the range he broke off to the north, and we figured that was the way the trooper came. We let him go, and came right on by the trail Sewell told us of.
human
How many are there of you?
gpt
Eight. They're 'most as cleaned out of grub and money as I am. We'd have sent you a hundred if you'd wanted them soon after Sewell came.
human
Our hand's played out. The contract was too big for us, said one of them.
gpt
What d'you figure on doing--now--Mr. Sewell?