Despite his bound wrists, he managed to find the 'makings' and construct a cigarette. He had but just lighted it when a faint chink of metal against metal and a muttered oath came from outside. His first thought was that some of the citizens had grown impatient, but the lack of noise argued against that ; lynchers would be in force and would care little if they were heard. A slight creak followed, and the darkness was less deep where the door had been. A shadow slipped into the hut, paused on the threshold, and chuckled as the prisoner became dimly visible.
'Yo're a nervy cuss,' the visitor said gruffly, 'but I guess yu ain't anxious to figure in a necktie-party?'
'yu don't need to guess again,' was the reply. 'It's an interestin' sight but lookin' at it through the loop of a rope don't improve it any.'
'My sentiments exactly,' the unknown agreed. He cut the captive's bonds. 'Here's yore guns--the sheriff thinks he's got 'em.' He laughed quietly. 'yore hogs is outside--saddled ; yu'd better stretch him. I'm tellin' yu plenty serious this burg has on'y one use for yu.'
In the faint grey light outside, Jim studied his liberator but could make little of him. A square, stocky figure of medium height, dressed in range rig, with hat-brim pulled down and a bandana covering the lower part of his face. His low, husky voice had a curious metallic timbre.
'I like to pay my debts, an' I shorely owe yu a lot,' the young man said.
'Nothin' to that,' came the quick reply. 'I'm payin' one my own self--yu done me a good turn to-night. Mebbe we'll meet again.'
It was plain that he wished to remain unknown, and Jim swung into the saddle. 'If we do yu can count on me to the limit,' he said simply.
'Get agoin',' the stranger replied. 'Adios--Sudden,' and the chuckle was once more in-evidence.
At a walking pace the fugitive passed through the silent town, the deep dust of the street muffling the horse's footsteps. Once clear of the buildings, he patted the sleek neck and Nigger settled down to a steady lope which would devour distance and leave the animal still fresh.
The rider, greedily drinking in the cool air, was conscious of a fierce elation in his freedom. For Jim knew that he had escaped an ignominious death only by the good offices of a stranger. Who was this man, and why had he intervened? What was the 'good turn' to which he had referred?
'Mebbe he was thankin' me for cripplin' the sheriff,' Jim reflected. 'I'd say Mallick ain't liked overmuch.'
It came into his mind that his deliverer had called him 'Sudden,' and the mystery seemed to be solved.
'Took me for some other fella, shore enough,' he concluded. 'Wonder who this `Sudden' person is, anyways?'
He was to learn, ere many days, and get no joy of the knowledge.
Chapter III
SEVERAL days of wandering in the wilds--for he had avoided the regular trails--brought the man from Crawling Creek to San Antonio, at that time the Mecca of the cattleman, and the happy-hunting ground of the gambler and desperado. Though Jim still mourned the loss of his only.friend, change of scene had dulled the ache. A young and vigorous man, with a good horse between his knees, and all his life before him, cannot long remain a prey to melancholy. But his determination to find and punish Evesham's enemies had not lessened.
Since his hurried departure from Fourways he had not seen a human being, sleeping with his saddle for a pillow, and living upon the game his gun had procured. His first thought now was for a square meal for himself and his mount. These were soon found, and leaving the animal in the livery stable, he set out to 'take in the town.'
Though there were many people about, most of whom seemed to have something to do, no one hurried. Huge wagons, drawn by sleepy-eyed oxen, plodded through the street, the great creaking wheels revolving slowly ; the caballeros, picturesquely attired and mounted on magnificent steeds, paced by to dismount gracefully but without exertion at a store or saloon. The manana spirit of Old Mexico was all-pervading.
About to enter the Buckhorn Saloon, that famous rendezvous, the Texan paused abruptly, his eye caught by a single word on a square of paper affixed to the wall.
'Sudden!'
The crudely printed bill offered a reward of five hundred dollars for the apprehension of one 'Sudden,' wanted for robbery and murder. A description was given: 'young, dark hair and moustache, grey-blue eyes, dressed as a cowboy, wears two guns, and rides a black horse with a white blaze on face and white stocking on off fore-leg.' The notice bore the name of the sheriff of Fourways.
For a moment the young man stared at it in blank amazement, and then, as the full significance came home, anger surged within him. Not only was he to be hounded down for a crime of which he knew nothing, but he had been given a name which would follow him wherever he went. In a word,he was outlawed ; the hand of everyman would be against him, and he was liable to be shot like a mad dog. Impulsively he made a gesture to tear away the placard.
'I wouldn't,' a warning voice said. 'If yo're honin' for one as a sooveneer there's others in less prominent places ; the town is fair spotted with 'em.'
He turned and found the speaker at his elbow, a tall, spare fellow in the thirties, with a lean, angular face, close-set eyes, and thin lips wearing a smile intended to be friendly but which only succeeded in being malicious.
'If yore hoss tallies, that description would fit yu pretty good,' the stranger went on.
Jim's jaw hardened. 'If yu had a black hoss an' moustache yu might qualify yore own self,' he retorted.
'But I don't have neither o' them things,' the other grinned. 'Both of 'em can be got rid of,' Jim pointed out. 'See here, I'll match a dollar with yu to settle which of us takes the other in an' claims the cash.'
The stranger laughed outright. 'yo're a cool card,' he said. 'No, sir, they might glom on to the pair of us. I got a better proposition. I know a fella who'd be glad to meet yu.'
'If he's wearin' a star ...'
'He ain't, an' he's got no use for them as do,' the unknown replied. 'Hook up with him an' yu needn't let that'--he spat contemptuously at the notice--'scare yu.'
'Did I mention I was scared?' Jim asked frostily. 'Alla-same, I ain't huntin' trouble.'
The man nodded. 'Ever hear o' Rogue's Riders?' he asked. Jim had. Under the leadership of a man named Roger, but more generally known as 'Rogue,' they were perhaps the most notorious of the bands of desperadoes who raided and robbed over a wide area of south-west Texas.
'Pleased to meet yu, Mister Roger,' he said dryly.
'Oh, I ain't Rogue,' the stranger laughed. 'He's the fella I was speakin' of, an' I can fetch yu to him.'
'Much obliged, but I figure I can take care o' li'l Mister Me,' the cowboy grinned.
'Well, she's a free country. If yu should find yoreself crowded, head west till yu come to the Split Rock--yu can't mistake her--foller the left trail an' yu'll be looked after. Sabe?'
Jim nodded his thanks and turned away in the direction of the livery stable. Though he had displayed indifference to the man who had warned him, he had no illusions regarding the danger of his position and knew that he must get away from San Antonio without delay. At any moment he might be linked up with that damning description. The gaze of the man he had left followed him for a moment, a sneer of chagrin on his slit of a mouth.
'Can take care o' yoreself, huh? Well, that wouldn't surprise me.' he muttered. `But when the deck is stacked, my friend....' He lifted his shoulders. 'Rogue wants yu, an' a fella as won't be persuaded must be drove.'
Striding down the street, he pushed open the door of one of the smaller saloons and peeped in. Apparently what he saw satisfied him. for he entered. It was a mere dive, dark, dirty, and ill-kept. Three men sitting at a battered table with empty glasses before them, and the Mexican lolling behind the bar, comprised the company. The newcomer called for a drink and remarked aloud, with seeming irrelevance:
'Shore is a sorry sight.'
One of the trio at the table, a craggy-faced fellow with greedy little eyes, looked up hopefully. 'Yu said it, friend,' he grunted. 'But when gents is down to bed-rock. .
The stranger laughed. 'Oh, that's soon remedied,' he said, and signed to the bartender.
While the glasses were being replenished he studied the thirsty ones with an appraising expression of disdain. He did not know them, but he knew their kind. Though they were drinking to him now, he was well aware that they would rob him if opportunity offered.
