'Masters was tellin' me that Stevens' death was an absolute mystery,' he said, speaking to the table generally.
'Mystery nothin',' said a lanky rider whose name was Bailey, but who was known as 'Bones' because he consisted of little else. 'The White Masks done it, I'll betcha.'
'Yu advertise that idea an' yu'll be able to ask Stevens yore-self,' Devint warned.
'Who are these White Masks?' queried Severn. 'That's a new one on me.'
'Funny the Old Man didn't tell yu,' Devint said, and his tone implied that the omission was in some way not complimentary to the new foreman. Severn ignored the innuendo and looked a question at Bailey.
'They're a gang o' bandits operatin' all round an' nobody knows who they is,' replied that worthy. 'It's said they got a hide-out which they call The Cavern somewhere in the Pinnacles. A fella in Hope claimed to have bin there an' offered to lead a posse to it, but Tyler, the sheriff, laughed an' told him to go sleep it off. Well, he's doin' that now--in the graveyard.'
'How come?' asked the foreman.
'Oh, he got into a knife-throwin' contest with a stranger in the `Come Again'--an' he lost,' was the grim explanation. 'They holdin' anythin' against Stevens?' Severn asked. 'Reckon not, but he may have drifted too near their hideout,' Bailey suggested. 'White Masks is shore enough bad medicine, an' I reckon even Black Bart ain't anxious to offend 'em.'
'Huh, Bart'll go up there an' eat 'em one o' these days when he's got time,' sneered Devint, and Severn made a mental note of the remark. It was probable that he had found one of the men who had been wished on the Lazy M by the local autocrat. 'He's quite a while findin' time,' put in Rayton, a sober, elderly man. 'I reckon if Sudden, who cleaned up the Hatchett's Folly gang, was around, yu'd see them coyotes point for the skyline imrnediate.'
'They say he was quick,' Linley contributed.
'Quick?' echoed Rayton scornfully. 'Well, I s'pose yu might call lightnin' that.'
'Huh, I'm bettin' he ain't so fast now; gettin' tied slows a man up, T've heard,' Devint said cynically.
'Mebbe, but if I bumped into him he should have the road,' the other smiled.
Sitting at the head of the table, Severn listened to this conversation with inward amusement. So Sudden was not forgotten. He wondered if Rayton had met him before, but could find no sign of recognition in the puncher's face. He did not think that 'getting tied' had slowed his gunplay, but time would show. Anyway, it was good to be in the game again.
He remained for a while chatting with the men after the meal was over, and then retired to his own shack, followed by asatisfied Quirt--the cook had seen to that. For an hour he sat, smoking and turning things over in his mind. That Masters was a badly-scared man was obvious, though why, and how he proposed to evade the threatened loss of his ranch, Severn could form no conjecture. The only clear thing seemed to be that he had picked a rough trail to follow. Well, he had guessed as much when his old friend, Judge Embley, had first appealed to him, but he had his own reasons for accepting.
Chapter III
IMMEDIATELY after breakfast on the following morning Severn found the men assembled near the corral awaiting orders for the day's work. Devint, a man named Darby, and a Mexican he had heard called Ignacio, were standing in a little group apart, and the new foreman scented trouble. He walked straight up to them.
'I'm told yu been actin' straw-boss since Stevens passed out,' he said to Devint, and when the man nodded sulkily, he added, 'Yu can go on doin' it.'
In the bully's eyes came a gleam of malicious triumph; if this new fellow wasn't afraid of him, he at least didn't want trouble. He squared his shoulders and thrust his chest out aggressively.
'Yu got the job that oughta come to one of us,' he began. 'I reckon the Old Man has played it low down on the outfit, bringin' in a stranger thisaway.'
The other men stood round watching. Plainly Devint had been talking, and they had known that he intended to test the new foreman. Severn's mind worked quickly. He did not want an open rupture with any of them just yet, but he recognised that he rnust show the men he had to handle that he was capable of doing it. He looked at Devint and there was a glint of amusement in the glance.
'What's it gotta do with me?' he asked. 'Yu ain't expectin' me to tell Masters he's appointed the wrong man, are yu?'
Several of the onlookers sniggered, and the bully glared at them; he did not at all relish being made game of, and he also realised that in a warfare of words with this man he would have no chance.
'I can tell Masters all I want to tell him myself,' he said, the scowl on his face deepening.
'All yu gotta tell him is that I've fired you,' Severn saideasily, and then, as Devint made a threatening movement, 'Take yore hand off that gun--yu haven't the pluck to pull it.' For a few seconds the two men stood, less than a couple of yards apart, half-crouched, their eyes watching alertly for the first sign of action. Then the bully's gaze wavered and fell. The forernan had forced the issue and found him unprepared.
'Like I said--yellow,' Severn sneered, and half turned away.
'Damn yu,' yelled Devint. 'I'll--'
But ere he could get the snatched-at gun from its holster Severn's expectant eye had caught the movement, and his left hand darted out, gripping the wrist with a clutch of steel, while his right seized the would-be slayer's throat.
He shook the powerless man savagely, sinking his fingers still more deeply in the flesh of his neck. Devint, his eyeballs bulging and his face a dark purple, was on the point of suffocation when, with a sudden thrust, Severn flung him headlong into the dust, where he lay gasping, his labouring lungs sucking in the air in great gulps. It was some moments before he could get on his feet, and then the foreman said shortly :
'Go up to the house, get yore time, an' hit the trail.'
With an evil look and a muttered threat the beaten man slouched away. Severn turned to the others; the anger had gone from his face but there was still an acid touch in his voice.
'Anyone else got notions?' he asked.
'I go wiz Meester Devint,' the Mexican said.
Severn nodded, and looked at Darby, who answered the unspoken question with a grin.
'I'm stayin' put,' he said.
'Good enough,' replied the foreman, and proceeded to detail the duties for the day.
'My Gawd ! ' said Linley, as he rode away with Darby. 'Did yu see? He was actually laughin' when he guzzled Bull.'
'Laughin'?' retorted Darby. 'Yes, laughin' like a wolf does when it's pullin' down a calf. I reckon hangin' won't be no surprise to Bull now.'
Having sent the men off, Severn went up to the ranch-house. He found Masters and his daughter in the front room. The girl was dressed for riding and her forehead creased in a little frown when he entered.
'Lo, Severn, started weedin' a'ready, I hear,' the cattleman greeted.
'I had to part with two o' the outfit,' the new foreman smiled. 'They didn't seem comfortable.'
'They've been comfortable enough till now,' the girl interjected. 'Both reliable men, recommended by Mr. Bartholomew.'
The bitterness of this attack surprised Severn but his voice was cool and easy when he replied :
'I shore didn't know they were friends o' yores, Miss Masters.'
'I don't make friends with cowboys or Mexicans,' the girl retorted coldly. 'I suppose you followed your usual method and provoked them in the hope of a gunplay?'
Severn grinned. 'An' two more notches, eh? Well, the only provocation I gave Devint was to offer him the job of straw-boss, which he declined--without thanks. When he tried to shoot me in the back I just naturally had to reason with him. The Greaser took up his end of it.'
'Mr. Bartholomew won't like it,' the girl said.
'Damn Bartholomew,' her father exploded. 'This is my ranch an' I'm runnin' it. When I put a man in charge I back his play; yu can fire the whole bunch if yu need to, Severn. Any-thin' else yu wantin' to see me about?'
'No, I'm just goin' to have a look over the range,' Severn replied, and then an imp of mischief prompted him to add, 'I thought if Miss Masters was thinkin' o' ridin' she might show me around.'
The girl's eyes met his in contemptuous astonishment. 'I've something else to do,' she said shortly.
