Top Hand Means: One of the Best
To look at Charlie Hatch he didn't appear to be a top hand. But he was. It was his character to see that everything ran right on the Broken T ranch, and if something came up to get it quickly settled. The problem was, Montana was a big country where a man could hide from his past, or even his recent untoward activities, if he chose to do so. The fact the Broken T covered 35 sections and three counties didn't help matters. The ranch had hands scattered over the entire area, and for one man to keep track of all of them, and their activities was really more than one man could handle. But Charlie Hatch would try.... Wade Everett is a non-de-plume of Will Cook, and also Giles Lutz.
