"The Viligantes were--going to--hang him." The last two words were cut short off with the click of his jaws coming together.
Manuel thereupon swore more sincerely and spilled beans from his tortilla scoop.

He knew the ways of the Committee.

Four months ago--when the Committee was newer and more just--they had hanged the third cousin of his half-sister's husband.

It is true, the man had killed a woman with a knife; yet Manuel's black beard bristled when he thought of the affront to his hypothetical kinship.
"I had to take the two together," Dade explained, trying with better success to speak lightly.

"And now, if I turn the buckskin loose, he may go back--and he may not.