"Patches," said Phil abruptly, "what's this talk of the professor's
about you and Yavapai Joe?"
"I don't know what the professor is talking," Patches replied coldly, as
though he did not exactly like the tone of Phil's question.
"He says that Joe was sneaking about in the brush over on the ridge
wanting to see you about something," returned Phil.
"Joe was certainly over there on the ridge, and he may have wanted to
see me; at any rate, I saw him."
"Well, I've got to ask you what sort of business you have with that
Tailholt Mountain thief that makes it necessary for him to sneak around
in the brush for a meeting with you. If he wants to see you, why doesn't
he come to the ranch, like a man?"
Honorable Patches looked the Dean's foreman straight in the eyes, as he
answered in a tone that he had never used before in speaking to Phil:
"And I have to answer, sir, that my business with Yavapai Joe is
entirely personal; that it has no relation whatever to your business as
the foreman of this ranch. As to why Joe didn't come to the house, you
must ask him; I don't know."
"You refuse to explain?" demanded Phil.
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