claim-in' he'd been chousin' after broom-tails. He'd planted Foy's
horse, I reckon. But it can't be proved, so I let him go. He'll have
to walk in; that's one good thing."

"But Foy--where do you figure Foy's gone?"

"Maybe he simply was not," suggested Pringle, "like Enoch when he was
translated into all European languages, including the Scandinavian."

"Pringle, if you say another word I'll have you gagged!" said the
exasperated sheriff. "Don't you reckon, Nueces, that Cowan brought Foy
a barefooted horse? He can't have gone on afoot or you'd have seen his
tracks."

"Sheriff, you certainly are an easy mark!" returned Nueces, in great
disgust. "Foy didn't go on afoot or horseback, because he was never
there. I've told you twice: Cowan left that calico horse on purpose
for us to find. Vorhis is Foy's friend. Can't you see, if Foy had
tried to get away by hard riding he would have had a fresh horse, not
the one he rode from Las Uvas, and you wouldn't have found a penful of
fresh horses to chase him with? Not in a thousand years! That was to
make it nice and easy for you to ride on--a six-year-old kid could see
through it! It's a wonder you didn't all fall for it and chase away.
No, sir! Foy either stopped down on the river and sent his horse on to
fool us--or, more likely, he's up in the Buttes. Did you look there?"

"I sent the boys round to out sign. I didn't feel justified in hunting
out the rough places till we had more men. Too much cover for him."

"And none for you, I s'pose? Mamma! but you're a fine sheriff! Look