killed my men an' my sheep? Who did it?" he shouted, taking a short step forward, while an endorsing growl ran along the line of sheepmen at his side.
"Cowpunchers—they did it! They killed 'em—an' why? Because we tried to use th' grass that we had as much right to as they had—that 's why!"
"Th' cows was here first," replied Youbet, keenly alert, but not one whit abashed by the odds, long as they were. "It was theirs because they was there first."
"It was not theirs, no more 'n th' sun was!" cried Towne, unable to allow his chief to do all the talking.
"You said you knowed Waffles," continued Clayton loudly. "Well, he 's another of you old-time cowmen! He killed MacKay—murdered him—because we was usin' a hill range a day's ride from his own grass! He had twenty men like hisself to back him up. If we 'd been as many as them, they would n't 'a' tried it—an' you know it!"
