of the case, and I'm a stranger here. I don't want to be accused
of being too fresh, so I've sent for some of the natives. They'll
know, better than just what to advise here. It won't take 'em
long to get here."

Tom wound up this last statement with a cheerful smile.

"So Jim Ferrers is over in your camp, is he?" demanded the leader
of the four men.

"Yes," Tom assented affably. "Do you know him?"

"Maybe."

"Jim is a fine fellow," Reade went on warmly. "He knows all about
Nevada, too, and he's a man of good judgment. He'll be a lot of
use to us in getting at the rights of this case."

"There's only one right side," insisted the leader of the quartette.

"So my friend here has informed me," answered Reade, nodding in
the direction of the stout man in black. "Yet there seems to
be a good deal of difference in opinion as to which is really
the right side. But just wait until Jim and his friends get here.
They'll be able to set us all straight and there won't be any
need for doing any rough work like shooting."

"Dolph, we'd better shoot up the whole crowd, including the cheeky
young one, before Jim Ferrers and his crowd gits here," propose
one of the quartette.