With them were Harran, the Emporium owner who ran a few cattle on the Collins range, and Dan Taggart, Mclnnis's foreman. All were grim and hard-faced, and all carried guns. 'Miller's comin',' Taggart stated. 'He's been on the range all day!'
'Find anything?' Harran asked.
'Some tracks,' Taggart said, 'mighty big hoss tracks. He thinks they were the tracks o' that stallion o' Mahone's!'
Dowd pushed away from the wall, his thumbs hooked in his belt. 'Find 'em close to the body of either man? Or close to the fire?'
'Well, no,' Taggart admitted. 'Not right close't. They was under some trees, maybe fifty yards away. The horse could've been tied there, though.'
'It could have,' Dowd admitted, 'or he could have come up there and looked around and rode off, either before then, or later.'
'If it was later, why didn't he report it?' Taggart demanded.
'Well,' Collins interrupted, 'if you recall, he's scarcely been welcomed around Laird. Probably didn't figure it was any of his business! Or maybe he didn't know what was goin' on.'
'You defendin' him?' Taggart demanded. 'You want t' remember my boss is a-lyin' home durned near dead!'
'I do not want any accusations without proof!' Judge Collins said sharply. 'Just because one man's hurt and another's dead, that doesn't make Mahone guilty if he's innocent!'
'Well,' Taggart said dryly, 'if I see Finn Mahone on that place again, I'm goin' to shoot first and ask questions after!'
Dowd smiled without humor. 'Better make sure it's first,' he said, 'or you won't live long. Finn Mahone's no man to drag iron on unless you intend to kill him.'
'You sound like you know him,' Brewster suggested.
Footsteps sounded on the porch, and the door opened. Alcorn was standing there, and with him Ike Hibby, Montana Kerr, and Ringer Cobb, all of Rawhide.
'I do,' Dowd said, staring at the newcomers. 'I know he's a man you hadn't better accuse of rustlin' unless you're ready to fill your hand.'
Ringer Cobb was narrow-hipped and wide-shouldered; a build typical of the western rider. His guns were slung low and tied down. He glanced across at Dowd. 'If you're talkin' about Mahone,' he said casu; ally, 'I'll accuse him! All this talk of his bein' fast with a gun doesn't faze me none. I think he's rustlin'. He or his boys.'
Judge Collins studied Cobb and pulled at his mustache. 'What do you mean ... his boys?' he asked. 'I've understood Mahone played a lone hand.'
'So have we all,' Harran agreed, 'but how do we know?'
That was it, Remy admitted, how did they know? How about that cup on the table, and the still-warm fire? Where had Mahone gone when he rode off that morning?
'How would he get cattle back into that country?' she asked. 'Any of you ever tried to go through that Notch?'
'He does it,' Cobb said. He looked at the girl, his eyes speculative. 'An' for all we know, there may be another route. Nobody ever gets back into that wild country below the Rimrock.'
'Nobody but the hombre that killed Tony,' Taggart said grimly. 'He was in there.'
'All this is getting' us nowhere,' Brewster put in. 'I've lost stock. It's been taken off my range without me ever guessin' until recent. I can't stand to lose no more.'
'I think it's time we organized and did something,' Alcorn spoke up.
'What?' Kastelle asked. He had been sitting back, idly shuffling cards and watching their faces as the men talked. His eyes returned several times to Pierce Logan. 'What do you think, Logan?'
'I agree,' Pierce said. He was immaculate today, perfectly groomed, and now his voice carried with a tone of decision, almost of command. 'I think we should hire someone to handle this problem.' He paused. 'A range detective, and one who is good with a gun.'
'That suits me!' Ike Hibby said emphatically. 'That suits me right down t' the ground. If Mahone an' his boys are goin' t' work our cows, we got t' take steps!'
'You've said again that he has some men,' Collins said. 'Does anyone actually know that?'
'I do,' Alcorn replied. 'I seen him an' three others back in the Highbinders, two, three weeks ago. Strangers,' he added.
Harran nodded. 'He buys a powerful lot of ammunition. More than one man would use.'
'Maybe,' Kastelle suggested, smiling a little, 'he's heard some of this kind of talk and has been getting ready for trouble.'
'It's more than one man would use,' Harran insisted.
'What about this range detective?' Brewster asked. 'Who could we get?'
'Why not Byrn Sonntag?' Hibby suggested. 'He's in the country, and he's not busy runnin' cows like the rest of us.'
'Sonntag?' Collins burst out. 'Why, the man's a notorious killer!'
'What do you want?' Cobb said. 'A preacher?'
'It takes a man like that!' Brewster stated dogmatically. 'If he finds a man rustlin', why bother with a trial?'
Pierce Logan said nothing, but inside he was glowing. This couldn't be going better ...
'You're bein' quiet, Logan,' Brewster said. 'What do you think?'
'Well,' Logan said, shrugging, 'it's up to you boys, but if Miller can't cope with it, then perhaps Sonntag could.'
'Mahone's supposed t' be a bad man with a gun,' Cobb said, 'or so Dowd tells us. Well, Sonntag can handle him.'
Kastelle looked up. 'By the way,' he said, 'has anyone ever seen Mahone rustling? Has he been caught with any stolen stock? Has he been seen riding on anybody's range? What evidence is there?'
'Well,' Brewster said, uneasily, 'not any, rightly, but we know '
'We know nothing!' Collins said sharply. 'Nothing at all! This suspicion stems from a lot of rumors. Nothing more.'
'Where there's smoke there's fire!' Alcorn said. 'I think Sonntag would be a good bet, myself.'
'He could gather evidence,' Logan admitted carefully. 'We would then know what to do.'
'You've not said what you think, ma'am.' Taggart looked over at Remy. 'Abe sets powerful store by what you think about stock. How do you figger this?'
'I don't believe Finn Mahone is a rustler,' Remy said. 'I think we should have plenty of evidence before we make any accusations. All we know is that we've missed stock and that Mahone keeps to himself.'
Logan looked up, surprised. The feeling in Remy's voice aroused him, and he looked at her with new eyes. In the past few months he had taken his time with Remy, feeling he was the only man on the range at whom a girl of her type could look twice. Now, something in her voice made him suddenly alert.
'Well,' Brewster said irritably, 'what's it to be? Are we goin' to do something or just ride home no better off than when we came?'
'I'm for hirin' Sonntag,' Alcorn said seriously.
'Me, too,' Cobb said.
'Count me in on that,' Ike Hibby said. He lighted his pipe. 'I'm only running a few cattle, but I've lost too much stock!'
'Put it to a vote,' Logan suggested. 'That's the democratic way.'
Judge Gardner Collins, Kastelle, Remy, and Texas Dowd voted against it. Alcorn, Hibby, Cobb, Brewster, and Taggart voted for Sonntag.
'How about it, Logan?' Collins said. 'Where do you stand?'
'Well,' he said with evident reluctance, 'if it comes to a vote, I'm with the boys on Sonntag. That looks like action.'
'Then it's settled!' Brewster said. He got to his feet. 'I'm a-git ting home.' , 'Mahone said something to me once,' Remy said, in a puzzled tone. 'He said the way to look for rustlers was with a pen and ink.'
