aimin' to make that 'some day' a long way off.'
'Can't say I'm blamin' you for that. Whereabouts did you leave th' herd?'
'Where nobody but me an' my friends, on this side of th' fence, knows about,' answered Hopalong. 'I'll tell you when I see you! again—ain't got time now.' He nodded to the others, went out the way he had come in and walked off with Johnny, who carried the innocent canteen instead of putting it into the stable.
As they started for the place where Hopalong had left his horse, not daring to ride it into town, they chose a short-cut and after a few minutes' brisk walking Hopalong pointed to a bunch of horses tied to some bushes.
'Th' fellers that owned them played safer than I did,' he said, 'leavin' 'em out here. I reckon they're all Question-Mark.'
Johnny put a hand on his friend's arm and stopped him. 'I got a better guess,' he said. 'I know where all their cayuses are. Hoppy, that rustlin' drive crew must 'a' come in this way. What you bet?'
'I ain't bettin',' grunted his companion, starting toward the little herd, 'I'm lookin'. I don't hanker to lose that cayuse of mine, an' they'll mebby get th' hoss I ride after I start for their buildin' tonight. He's so mean I sort of cotton to him. An' he's got some thoroughbred blood in his carcass, judgin' from what Arch said. In a case like this it's only fair to use theirs. Besides, they're fresh; mine ain't.'
Johnny pushed ahead, stopped at the tethered group and laughed. 'Good thing you didn't bet,' he called over his shoulder.
Hopalong untied a wicked-looking animal. 'He looks like he'd burn th' ground over a short distance, an' that's what I'm interested in. I'm goin' down an' turn mine loose. If things break like I figger they will there's no tellin' when I'll see him again, an' I don't want him to starve tied up to a tree. He's so thirsty about now that he'll head for McCullough's crick on a bee line.'
Johnny nodded, considered a moment and went toward the tie ropes. 'Shore, an' not stray far from that grass, neither.' He released the horses except the one he mounted and then rode up so close to his friend that their knees rubbed. 'No tellin' when anybody will be comin' this way or when they'll get a drink. You look like you been hit by an idea. That's so rare, suppose you uncork it?'
'It's one I've been turnin' over,' replied his friend, 'an' it looks th' same on both sides, too.'
'Turn it over for me an' lemme look.'
'Kid, I'm lookin' for somethin' to happen that shore will bother Mr. McCullough a whole lot if he happens to think of it. When that buildin' starts burnin' it's shore goin' to burn fast. They can't fight th' fire like they should with them punchers pourin' lead into them lighted loopholes. Once it starts nothin' can stop it; an' I'm tellin' you it's shore goin' to start right. Th' south side is goin' first. They know there's only a few men watchin' th' north side, an' them few are layin' too far back. It won't take a man like Kane very long to learn that he's got to jump, an' jump quick; an' when he does he'll jump right. Right for him an' right for us. He can't do nothin' else. You said they got their cayuses in there with 'em?'
Johnny nodded. 'So I was told. I'm seein' yore drift, Hoppy; an' when Kane an' his friends jump me an' Red shore will have jammed guns an' not be able to shoot at 'em.'
'Marriage ain't spoiled yore head,' chuckled his companion. 'Kane havin' us jailed that way riled me; an' McCullough tryin' to slip out of payin' them rewards has riled me some more. I'm washin' one hand with th' other. Do you think you an' Red could get yore cayuses an' an extra one for me, in case they get this one, around west somewhere back of where yo're goin'?'
'How'll this one do for you?' asked his companion, slapping the horse he was on.
'Plenty good enough.'
'Then he'll be there, ready to foller th' jumpers,' laughed Johnny.
'Good for you, Kid. You shore have got th' drift. Now, seein' that I may get into trouble an' be too late to go after 'em when they jump, you listen close while I tell you where to ride, an' all about it,' and the description of the desert trail and the valley was as meaty as it was terse. He told his friend where to take the horses and where to look for him before the night's work began, and then went back to Kane and his men. 'They're bound to head for that valley. There ain't no place else for 'em to go. I'll bet they've had that figgered for a refuge ever since they learned about it.'
Johnny laughed contentedly. 'An' Mac tellin' me that he's got 'em all tied up an' ain't aimin' to pay no rewards! But,' he said, becoming instantly grave, 'there's one thin' I don't like. I'm admittin' it's yore scheme, but we ought to draw lots to see who's goin' to use that kerosene. After all, yo're down here to help me out of a hole. Dig up some more cartridges, you maverick!'
'Don't you reckon I got brains enough to run it off?' demanded his friend.
'An' some to spare,' replied Johnny; 'but I ain't no idjut, myself. Here; call yore choice,' and he reached for his belt.
'Yo're slow, Kid,' chuckled Hopalong, holding out his hand. 'Call it yourself.'
Johnny hesitated, pushed back the cartridges and placed his hand on those of his friend. 'You went at that like you was pullin' a gun: an' I can't say nothin' that means anythin' faster. Why th' hurry?'
'Habit, I reckon,' gravely replied his friend. 'Savin' time, mebby;
'It's a good habit; an' I'm shore you saved considerable time, which same I'm aimin' to waste,' replied Johnny. He thought swiftly. Last time he had called 'even,' and lost. He was certain that Hopalong wanted the task. How would his friend figure? The natural impulse of a slow-witted man would be to change the number. Hopalong was not slow-witted; on the contrary so far from slow-witted that he very likely would be suspicious of the next step in reasoning and go a step further, which would take him back to the act of the slow-witted, for he knew that the cogitating man in front of him was no simpleton. Odd or even: a simple choice; but in this instance it was a battle of keen wits. Johnny raised his own hand and looked down at his friend's, the upper one clasping and covering the lower; and then into the night-hidden eyes, which were squinting between narrowed lids to make their reading hopeless. Being something of a gambler Johnny had the gambler's way of figuring, and this endorsed the other line of reasoning: he believed the chances were not in favor of a repetition.
'Cuss yore grinnin' face,' he growled. 'I said 'even' last time, an' was wrong. Now I'm sayin' 'odd.' Open up!'
Hopalong opened the closed hands and his squinting eyes at the same instant and laughed heartily. 'Kid, I cussed near raised you, an' I know yore ways. Mebby it ain't fair, but you was tryin' hard to outguess me. There they are—pair of aces. Count 'em, sonny; count 'em.'
'Count 'em yourself,' growled Johnny; 'if you can count that far!' He peered into the laughing eyes and thrust out his jaw. 'You know my ways, do you? Well, when we get back to th' SV, me an' you are goin' in to Dave's, get a big stack of two-bit pieces an' go at it. I'll cussed soon show you how much you know my ways! G'wan! Get out of here before I get rough!'
'He's too old to spank,' mused Hopalong, kneeing the horse, 'an' too young to fight with—reckon I'll have to pull my stakes an' move along.' Chuckling, he looked around. 'Ain't forgot nothin' about tonight, have you, child?'
'No!' thundered Johnny. 'But for two-bits I
His departing friend grinned at the horse. 'Bronch,' he said, confidently, 'he shore had me again. I'm gettin' so cheatin's second nature; an' worse'n that, I'm cheatin' my best friends, an' likin' it. Yessir,
JOHNNY rode up to the hotel, got a Winchester and ammunition for it from the stack of guns in the kitchen and then went to the stable for Red's horse and Pepper. As he led them out he stopped to answer a pertinent question from the upper window of the hotel and rode off again, leading the extra mounts.
