" Mason was regarding Ford's scarred face with some
solicitude.
"Just got tangled up a little with my fellow-citizens, in Sunset," Ford
explained drily. "I tried to see how much of the real stuff I could get
outside of, and then how many I could lick." He shrugged his shoulders a
little. "I did quite a lot of both," he added, as an afterthought.
Mason was rubbing his jaw reflectively and staring hard at Ford. "The
wife's strong on the temperance dope," he said hesitatingly. "I reckon
you'll want to bunk down with the boys till you grow some hide on your
face--there's lady company up at the house, and--"
"The bunk-house for mine, then," Ford cut in hastily. "No lady can get
within gunshot of me; not if I see her coming in time!" Though he smiled
when he said it, there was meaning behind the mirth.
Mason pulled a splinter from a corral rail and began to snap off little
bits with his fingers. "Kate will go straight up in the air with me if
she knows you're here and won't come to the house, though," he
considered uneasily. "She's kept a big package of gratitude tucked away
with your name on it, ever since that Alaska deal.
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