We did it 'cause we didn't want our children to go through
with what we had to go through, or do some of the things that we had to
do. An' now you're all thinkin' that you can cut me out of this. You
think you can sneak out here before I'm out of my bed in the mornin',
an' hang one of my own cowboys--as good a man as ever throwed a rope,
too. Without sayin' a word to me, you come crawlin' right into my own
corral, an' start to raisin' hell. I'm here to tell you that you can't
do it. You can't do it because I won't let you."
The men, with downcast eyes, sat on their horses, ashamed. Two or three
muttered approval. Jim Reid said earnestly, "That's all right, Will. We
knew how you would feel, an' we were just aimin' to save you any more
trouble. Them Tailholt Mountain thieves have gone too far this time. We
can't let you turn that man loose."
"I ain't goin' to try to turn him loose," retorted the Dean.
The men looked at each other.
"What are you goin' to do, then?" asked the spokesman.
"I'm goin' to make you turn him loose," came the startling answer. "You
fellows took him; you've got to let him go."
In spite of the grave situation several of the men grinned at the Dean's
answer--it was so like him.
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