"
"My father was not a party to that--oh, Mr. Conway, surely you do not
suspect for a moment--"
"Tish! Tush! Of course not. That's why Miguel wanted it given out
that his horse had policed him. Wanted to save you the resultant
embarrassment."
"The poor dear! And this wretch from La Questa shot him?"
"Almost."
"What became of the assassin?"
Bill Conway pursed his tobacco-stained lips and whistled a few bars of
"Listen to the Mocking Bird." Subconsciously the words of the song
came to Kay's mind.
She's sleeping in the valley,
In the valley,
She's sleeping in the valley,
And the mocking bird is singing where she lies.
"I'm afraid I don't want to discuss that boy and his future movements,
Miss Parker," he sighed presently. "I might compromise a third party.
In the event of a show-down I do not wish to be forced under oath to
tell what I know--or suspect. However, I am in a position to assure
you that Oriental activities on this ranch have absolutely ceased. Mr.
Okada has been solemnly assured that, in dealing with certain white
men, they will insist upon an eye for an optic and a tusk for a tooth;
he knows that if he starts anything further he will go straight to that
undiscovered country where the woodbine twineth and the whangdoodle
mourneth for its mate."
"What has become of Okada?"
"He has dragged it out of here--drifted and went hence--for keeps.
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