Max Brand

“ Haw-Haw Langley followed example reluctantly. He complained: "I ain't never heard before of a man leavin' his hoss behind him! It ain't right and it ain't policy."
His leader, however, paid no attention to this grumbling. He skirted back behind the barns, walking with a speed which extended even the long legs of Haw-Haw Langley. Most of the stock was turned out in the corrals. Now and then a horse stamped, or a bull snorted from the fenced enclosures, but from the barns they heard not a sound. Now Mac Strann paused. They had reached the largest of the barns, a long, low structure. ”

“ It was far too mysterious for his comprehension.
"What you goin' to do?" he asked again.
"Would you know that black hoss agin if you seen him?" asked Mac Strann.
"In a thousand."
"That hoss has had a long ride; and Barry has put him in one of them barns, they ain't no doubt. Most like, the dog is with the hoss."
"It looks a considerable lot like a wolf," muttered Langley. "I wouldn't choose meetin' up with that dog in the dark. Besides, what good is it goin' to do you to find the dog?"
"If you hurt a man's dog," explained Mac Strann calmly, "you're hurting the man, ain't you? ”

“ He dropped the second match to his feet, where it ignited a wisp of straw that sent up a puff of light.
"Ah-h!" drawled Mac Strann. "The wolf ain't here, but we'll soon have him here. And the thing that brings him here will get rid of the black hoss."
"Are you goin' to steal the hoss?"
"Steal him? He couldn't carry me two mile, a skinny hoss like that. But if Barry ever gets away agin on that hoss I ain't never goin' to catch him. That hoss has got to die."
Haw-Haw Langley caught his breath with a harsh gurgle. ”