Broderick was close
enough to him in size and form to make the scheme eminently practicable.
It was easy for Broderick to dress himself as Thornton dressed, boots,
chaps old and worn, big black hat and grey neck handkerchief. It was
simple enough for Broderick, here in this land of cattle and horses, to
find a horse that would be a fair match for any horse which Thornton
rode. He would allow himself to be seen only at a distance, as upon the
day Winifred Waverly had seen him, or indistinctly at night, and when
the time came and the arrest was made there would rise up many men to
swear to Buck Thornton.... Broderick himself had already said that he
had been robbed of a can of gold dust. He would be ready to swear that
Thornton had robbed him. Pollard would add his word....
One by one he remembered episodes which until now had meant nothing.
Cattle had been stolen from the ranges all about him; no single cow was
missing from the Poison Hole. He had thought that this had been because
of his own great vigilance, his night-riding over his herds. But what
would a jury say? He remembered that the last time he had seen old man
King, just a few days ago, when King had remarked drily upon the fact
that no cattle were missing from Thornton's range, there had been a
swift look of suspicion in the old cattle man's shrewd eyes.
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