sudden snatch he had the drawer open, clutched the pistol and pulled the trigger. He did not attempt to aim, his only thought being to give the alarm. The man whose attention had been distracted whirled upon him.
'Damn yu for a sneakin' hound,' he cried, and fired pointblank.
With a hollow groan Rapson slipped to the floor, and the bandits jumped for the exit. At the sound of the shots the man outside had promptly drawn his rifle, and when an inquisitive citizen stuck his head out of a window some fifty yards up the street, a bullet which burned his cheek effectually checked his curiosity. The succession of shots roused the town, but men reached the open only in time to see two men emerge from the bank on the run, one carrying a bulging satchel. They jumped into their saddles, wheeled their horses and spurred across the bridge on the eastern trail before the spectators had grasped what was happening.
'An' yu can bet yore Sunday shirt that Hope is 'bout the maddest town this side o' the Rockies,' Linley concluded. 'No, Rapson ain't cashed but he's hurt oad--how bad they dunno till the doc comes from Desert Edge.'
'Was Bartholomew in town?' asked Severn.
'He rode in 'bout half an hour later, an' he went on the prod immediate--bawled Tyler out for not roundin' up the White Masks till Hen almost blubbered. Bart claims they got five thousand o' his money, paid in yestiddy. He was organisin' a posse when I left an' threatenin' to flay them bandits alive when he catches 'em.'
Amid the chatter and excitement the foreman sat silent, seeking some clue as to the identity of his mysterious correspondent. Clearly the unknown was aware that the robbery was to take place. Who could it be? He went to his own quarters, and was wrestling with the problem when Barton entered.
'The boys have bin indulgin' in a chin-wag,' he began, 'an' I'm here to say that if the loss o' the herd-money cramps yu any they all are willin' to wait for their wages till yu can pay 'em.'
The foreman smiled, but his expression showed that he was touched. 'They are shore white,' he said. 'But I drew that mazuma out this mornin'.'
'Yu drew it out?' repeated Larry in amaze. 'Well, of all the lucky old--'
'No, it warn't luck,' Severn chipped in. 'Look at these.'
He produced the two warnings he had received, and explained how they had come to him. Larry gave vent to a whistle.
'Odd number, ain't it?' he queried. 'Yu must have a guardian angel somewheres, Jim, an' Gawd knows, yu need one. Any idea who it may be?'
The foreman mentioned his suspicions of Darby, but his friend did not agree.
'S'pose he is pryin' for Bart, that don't connect him up with the White Masks,' he pointed out. 'An' it was Darby first suggested the boys should wait for their pay.'
'Well, I shore owe him somethin', whoever it is,' Severn admitted. 'An' I like to pay my debts.'
'Mebbe yu'll get a chance,' said the other. 'Meantime, don't push yore luck too hard--this guardian angel may be human an' want a nap now an' again.'
'I gotta play the hands what's dealt me--win or lose,' the foreman told him. 'Yu can say to the boys that I'm shore obliged an' that I ain't forgettin' it.'
Chapter IX
ON the following morning Bartholomew, riding a weary horse, made his appearance at the Lazy M. The posse, of which he was the virtual leader, had gone back to town. As Darby had surmised, they had lost the trail on the Stony River bed, and after hours of search, had failed to pick it up again. The big man looked tired, untidy and sullen. As he walked towards the ranch-house he met Darby and stopped.
'Ain't seen yu at the Bar B lately,' he said. 'There's some dollars due yu.'
'I don't aim to collect 'em, Bart,' was the reply.
The Bar B owner raised his eyebrows. 'How come?' he asked sharply.'I ain't proposin' to earn 'em,' Darby explained.
'Goin' to renig, huh? Roundin' on me, are yu?' sneered the rancher.
'No, that was never my way--what I know I'll keep under my hat,' the cowboy said quietly. 'I'm just droppin' a job I never liked, an' from now on I'm playin' square with the man who pays me.'
'Meanin' Severn?'
Darby nodded. His face was pale and his lips set. He knew perfectly well that he was risking his life in thus defying his late employer, but he had no hesitation, and Black Bart, though he did not want to lose the man, realised that he could not persuade him. His face settled into a savage sneer.
'All right, Darby,' he said. 'It's a free country, but freeze on to this--fellas as ain't for me are agin me, an' take their chances.'
'Anythin' yu put over lets me out an' I talk, Bart,' the man retorted.
With a laugh at the threat the rancher went on to the house. Phil met him on the veranda and her big eyes softened when she saw how jaded he looked. With a grunt of satisfaction he dropped into one of the roomy chairs, and then turned to her with a grin.
'Phil, I'm about all in, an' it's a long way to the `Come Again',' he suggested.
The girl laughed, vanished inside, and reappeared bearing a bottle and glass. The man's eyes took in the daintiness of her, the desirableness of her surroundings--mentally comparing the place to his own--and his jaw firmed with decision : he would have her, come hell or high water, was his unspoken vow. He poured himself a drink, raising the glass in salutation.
'Here's how,' he said, and then : 'Gosh ! I wanted that. Huntin' needles in a haystack's easy compared with findin' thieves in this man's country. Yu heard about the bank hold-up, o' course?'
'Yes, it was the White Masks, I suppose?'
'Well, I reckon it was, but the question is, who are the White Masks? There's somethin' queer about this robbery; two or three fellas drew all their money out just before it happened an' Severn was one of 'em. O' course, it might be it just happened so, an' then again, it might not.'
'Is Rapson much hurt?'
'He looked pretty desperate. He was just able to say what I told yu, an' that the fellas' faces were too muffled for him to know 'em again, an' then he fainted. Yu got any news, Phil?'
She told him of the finding of her father's gun and Severn's explanation; Bartholomew's lips twisted into an incredulous sneer as he listened. At once he saw how the story could be used for his own advantage.
'Yu ain't swallowin' that, are yu, Phil?' he asked sardonically. 'Shucks, T gave the fella credit for more savvy. He'll have to produce the Greaser's body to make that tale stick, an' that's somethin' I'm bettin' high he can't do, for I happen to know Ignacio has left the country. Now see here, don't tell no one else about this; we'll lay low an' let him run his own silly head into the noose.'
'Yu think he killed daddy?' the girl asked, a break in her voice.
'I ain't any doubt myself, but we gotta get more proof,' he returned. 'An' we gotta find out if I'm right about Embley bein' in with him. Then there's this White Mask business. Was Severn about the ranch when the bank was cleaned?'
'No, he came in just before supper,' she replied. 'I chanced to see him.'
'Huh, an' he left town in plenty time to meet his pals an' circle back,' Bartholomew said. 'Far as I can gather, the fella that downed Rapson was about Severn's build. But that's all guess-work, an' we gotta be shore before we move.' He stood up and patted her shoulder. 'Don't yu trouble, Phil,' he added. 'Once things is straightened out I'll have something to say that I hope yu'll be glad to hear.'
The gesture and the look which accompanied it made the girl flush; she knew what he meant, but she was aware that there was no answering thrill in her heart. Somehow, though she could not account for it, Bartholomew seemed to have lost in attractiveness. She was not sorry when her visitor went, and she put it down to worry. Bart himself divined nothing of this; he rode away from the Lazy M in a pleasanter frame of mind than he had been in for weeks. Things were looking brighter for him.
Severn did not see the Bar B owner, having left early in the morning with several of the outfit for the southern part of the range, where a miniature round-up was taking\place, the foreman being desirous of getting an approximate idea of the number of cattle the ranch was running. It was late in the afternoon when he returned to his hut, and his sharp eye immediately told him he had had a visitor. Little displacements of various articles showed that the room had been subjected to a search, and in several spots small holes had been m de in the earthen floor,
