human
We'll never see hide nor hair of him again, quoth he.
gpt
He won't stop running till daybreak. I guess you'd better wait about ten minutes, Jake, and then fire a few shots. That'll put new life into him. Course, a lot of blamed fools will cuss the daylights out of me for letting him get away right under my nose, and all that, but let 'em talk. He's gone for good, you can bet on that,--and the county's lucky to get rid of him so cheaply.
human
I guess you're right, Sheriff, agreed one of his companions.
gpt
From all I hear, Mrs. Gwyn would have a hard time provin' it was him as stole her--
human
Supposin' she did prove it, what then? broke in the high sheriff of the bailiwick.
gpt
The county would have to feed him for a couple of months or so and then turn him loose again to go right back to stealing, same as before. The best way to punish a thief, accordin' to my notion, is to keep him everlastingly on the jump, scared to death to show his face anywheres and always hatin' to go to sleep for fear he'll wake up and find somebody pointin' a pistol at him and sayin,' 'Well, I got you at last, dang ye.' Besides, lockin' Mart up isn't going to bring back Mrs. Gwyn's sheep, is it?
human
When that gal of his tells her story in court to-morrow, advanced the third member of the group,
gpt
Anyhow, said the sheriff,
human
I didn't want to have the blamed skunk on my mind while we're organizin' the company. It's bad enough havin' to go out and fight Indians without worryin' all the time I'm away about whether anybody back here has had sense enough to keep Martin from starvin' to death. I guess we'd better mosey along up to the drill ground, boys. Martin's got into the bushes by this time, and if I'm any kind of a guesser he ain't dawdlin' along smellin' every spring flower he comes across.
gpt
Don't you think you'd better go over an' take a look around the jail first?
human
What for? There ain't anybody in it.
gpt
No, but like as not the dog-gasted whelp run off with that padlock, an' we'd ought to know it before he gets too big a start. Padlocks cost money,
human
So do prisoners,