to extract a little more speed from that lethargic but easy-going quadruped.
'Yer got four legs, pal--I've counted 'em--use every damn one,' he urged. 'If we'd met up with a Wagon- wheeler 'stead o' her ...'
He reached the ranch without further interruption, and was unsaddling at the corral when Tiny and Blister rode up.
' 'Lo, kid, Noo York glad to see you?' the former asked.
'I didn't git as fur, but Rainbow is warmin' up fer th' weddin'.'
The big man swallowed the bait. 'What weddin'?'
'Yourn an' th' school-marm's,' Yorky cackled, and dodging Tiny's grab, made for the ranch-house. Blister's bellow of laughter followed him.
He entered by the back door, and the cook--noting the flushed, excited face--was moved to comment. 'Phwat hey ye been up to, ye young divil, an' how much grub has passed yer lips the day?'
'Oh, hell, Paddy. Where's Jim?'
'In th' front room with Dan an'--Saints, he's gone.'
The impetuosity which took him from the kitchen caused him to burst unceremoniously upon the three men. They stared at him in silence for a moment, and then the rancher said quietly:
'I didn't hear you knock, Yorky.'
'I'm sorry, Boss, but 1 got noos, an' it won't keep.'
'Take a seat an' tell us,' Dan replied.
It came out with a rush. Ten minutes later they had heard the story of his adventure, minus the meeting with Miss Trenton, and were regarding the narrator with stunned astonishment. Sudden read the minds of his companions.
'Is this the truth, Yorky, or one o' those fine tales yu sometimes invent to amuse the boys?' he wanted to know.
'Cross me heart, it's true, Jim,' came the instant reply.
'An' there is a ten-fifteen--I've travelled by it a good few times--a little train, made up like he said,' Dan stated.
'Well, it shore beats the band,' Burke said. 'Garstone an' Bundy double-crossin' Trenton; that's a laugh I'll enjoy.'
'I guess not, Bill,' Dan said. 'We've gotta stop it. With that cash they can make a deal with Maitland, an' we're ditched. They wouldn't buy till the hold-up was stale news, or Garstone would claim to have raised funds East. Oh, it's smart, an' I never suspected Bundy o' brains.'
'There's more to him than folks aroun' here savvy,' the foreman replied. 'Have you noticed that he never wears a glove on his right hand?'
'Gunman, huh?' Sudden said. 'An' advertises it. Shucks!'
Dover, remembering the shooting in Sandy Bend, understood the puncher's disdain, and smiled, but his face was soon sober again.
'Question is, what are we to do?' he asked. 'If we tell the sheriff, he'll just laugh at us, an' that's all; so would Trenton. We don't know who is sendin' the money so a warnin' ain't possible neither.'
'Take some o' the boys an' catch 'em in the act,' Burke suggested.
'One of 'em might get away with the booty, an' Foxy would turn 'em loose anyway. What's the joke, Jim?'
For Sudden's eyes were twinkling like those of a, mischievous boy. 'Just an idea,' he said, and went on to tell them what it was; in a few moments they were laughing too. 'Gee! it'd be a great play to make,' Dan chuckled. 'But could we pull it off?'
'I'm sayin' we can,' Sudden replied confidently. 'Why not have a shot at it--just the three of us.'
'Say, ain't I in on this, Jim?' Yorky ventured to ask. 'I could hold th' hosses.'
Sudden's shake of the head was definite. 'No, yu've done yore share, an' we're all mighty obliged, but there'll be a lot o' hard an' fast ridin' to-morrow mornin'. Time'll come when yu can keep up with the best of us; just now, patience is yore strong suit. An' mind, not a word.'
'I get yer, Jim,' the boy replied. 'I'm a clam.'
Chapter X
Early next morning the three conspirators devoured a substantial breakfast, saddled their mounts and, in the grey light of the dawn, disappeared in the direction of Sandy Bend. They did not follow the regular trail, having no desire to be observed, or to visit the town itself. This meant a loss of time and speed, but was necessary, since to run into the Wagon-wheel men would be fatal to the success of their plan.
Leaving the Circle Dot range at the eastern limit, they plunged into an almost trackless waste of broken country, the natural difficulties of which made anything in the nature of a direct course impossible, but all three were expert in the art of breaking a trail, and having started in good time there was no need to force the pace.
The foreman led the way, and though they were often driven wide of their line, his sense of direction brought them back to it. Nature was awake, birds whistled and called, and in the undergrowth they could hear the stealthy movements of unseen denizens of the woods. Riding in single file, they spoke seldom; each of them was dwelling on the part he had to play; a slip might result in unpleasant consequences. The morning air felt chill on their faces, but the slowly-mounting sun would soon bring more heat than was comfortable.
At the end of several hours, the leader called a halt and got down. Pointing to a sharp ridge on their right, he said:
'Oughta be able to git a glimp o' the Bend from up there. I'll take a peep--better he shore than sorry.'
He trudged away, and they presently saw him come into view on the peak of the height. He was soon back, a grin of satisfaction on his face. He waved a hand to the right.
'The Bend is over there, so we're pointin' slap on the target,' he said, and with a glance at his watch, 'Time a-plenty, too.'
'An' it's a good place for the purpose, is it, Bill?' Dover queried.
'Couldn't 'a' found a better if I'd bin Jesse James hisself,' Burke assured him.
Another five miles brought them to a small forest of pines, and threading their way through the slim, straight trunks they came to a strip of thick bush, on the other side of which ran a single line of railroad. They pulled up where the matted foliage of the trees afforded deep shadow.
'Here she is,' the foreman said, unstrapping a small axe from behind his saddle.
'No need for that, Bill,' Dan said. 'That windfall will serve our purpose.'
A rope was tied to the prostrate tree, and one of the horses dragged it to the side of the line. The three men then lifted and laid it across the rails.
'They'll have to get down to shift her,' Sudden said. 'Yu'll take charge o' them, Bill, while I deal with the passengers, an' Dan attends to the baggage-car. We'll spread along, keepin' in the bushes till the train stops. No shootin', 'less yu have to, an' then--miss.'
The horses were concealed in a group behind the brush, and tied, in case the noise of the locomotive should startle them. Burke consulted his watch again.
'She's liable to be here any time now,' he said. 'Better pull down the blinds an' git to our stations.'
With faces masked by bandanas in which eye-holes had been cut, and hat-brims drawn low down, they looked at one another and laughed.
'Shore does make a difference,' Sudden admitted. 'I wouldn't trust either o' yu with ten cents.'
'Funny what a sense o' security that bit o' rag gives you,' Dover reflected aloud. 'I was feelin' a mite nervous about the job, but it's all gone.'
'Me, I'll be glad when it's over,' the foreman confessed. 'Our intentions is good, but we're bustin' the law all to bits.'
A puff of smoke down the line sent them under cover; the train was coming. Laboriously it approached, rumbling along the rails, belching white clouds, and then, with a screeching of brakes, slowed and stopped. The driver thrust his head out of the cab and stared at the obstruction.
'Hey, Luke, there's a blame' tree in the road,' he called. 'We'll hey to git down an' shift her.'
Clumsily the two men clambered out and moved to the front of the engine. At the same moment, a masked
