"Get those riders outa the canon--they're in the scene!" Applehead promptly appeared, glaring up at luck.

"Well, now, if I've got to haul this here dang jackass up this dang gulch, I cal'clate that'll be about job enough for one man," he yelled.

"How yuh expect me t' go two ways 't once?
Hey?
Yuh figured that out yit ?" He turned then for a look at the interrupting strangers, and immediately they saw his manner change.

He straightened up, and his right hand crept back significantly toward his hip.

Applehead, I may here explain, was an ex-sheriff, and what range men call a "go-getter." He had notches on the ivory handle of his gun--three of them.