"Mebbe I did," he said; "sometimes I'm mighty careless in handlin' the truth.

Mebbe I thought then that I'd come over to see your brother.

But we have different thoughts at different times.

You say your brother ain't here now ?" "He left early this morning to go down the river," she informed him.
"He said he would be back before sun-down." His eyes narrowed perceptibly.

"Down" the river meant that Radford's trail led in the general direction of the spot where he had seen the fleeing horseman and the dead Two Diamond cow with her orphaned calf.
Yet this proved nothing.