when Bundy, with a shout of exultation, dashed in, he was met with a tempest of blows which drove him back, foot by foot, until, with every bone in his body aching, and both eyes nearly closed, he dropped his arms. Only for a second, but like a flash, Sudden's right came over and sent him, spent and apparently helpless, to the ground. There he lay, breathing heavily, and making no effort to rise.
'I reckon he's through,' Tiny remarked. All of them had watched the combat in silence. 'There ain't a kick left in him.'
Tiny was wrong; no sooner had he voiced the thought than Bundy's head lifted.
'yo're a damn liar,' he mumbled through puffed lips. 'I'm goin' to show you.'
Incredible as it seemed, after the punishment he had taken, he heaved himself upright, shook as a dog might after rolling, and stood, long arms swinging. Then he bent and plunged forward. Sudden waited, wondering; there could be no more fight in the fellow, and yet ... The menacing figure was on him, fists raised, before he realized the fell design--he had but a second to act; the ruffian's right foot was sweeping up to deliver a savage kick in the stomach which might kill, or disable a man for life. Quick as thought, Sudden jumped aside, seized the ascending limb behind the ankle and forced it upwards. The foreman, thrown completely off his balance, struck the ground violently with the back of his head; this time, there was no movement. The victor cold, inscrutable, stood over him.
'Ain't bruk his neck, have you, Jim?' Tiny asked.
'No, that still remains for a rope,' Sudden replied. 'Put Yorky's saddle an' bridle on this brute's hoss.'
Bundy heard the order, and had sufficient life left in him to understand what it meant. 'You settin' me afoot--after this?' he snarled.
'Yo're gettin' a taste o' what yu cooked up for the boy, an' lucky at that--we oughta be plantin' yu.'
The foreman knew it, and said no more. Not until they had melted into the growing dusk did he struggle, with many groans and curses, to his feet, and, carrying his riding-gear, set out on the nightmare journey to the Wagon- wheel. For to one who spent nearly the whole of his waking hours in the saddle, and whose body was one big bruise, the long march over rough ground could only be unspeakable torture.
Something of this was in the puncher's mind when Tiny reproached him for not settling the affair straight- away after Bundy's cowardly attempt had failed.
'I wanted him to suffer, an' I'll bet right now he's near wishin' I'd downed him,' Sudden replied harshly. 'After what he fixed up for Yorky ...' He turned to the youth. 'Mebbe yu oughta go away for a spell.'
'I'm stayin',' Yorky said stoutly. 'Me an' that foreman feller ain't finished yet.'
The puncher smiled into the darkness, glad of this fresh proof that his protege was game. 'Well, keep clear o' the Wagon-wheel, though it bothers me how they got hep. Anybody see yu there?'
'I met Miss Trenton on th' way back,' the boy admitted.
'She may've mentioned it, an' if my hoss was spotted in the Bend, that'd be enough,' Sudden decided.--- The whoop of welcome which went up when the rest of the outfit saw that the missing one was of the party, broughta warmth into the waif's heart; these were his friends. In that moment the big city lost him for ever.
Chapter XII
Trenton and Garstone stared in undisguised astonishment when, in response to a summons from the former, Bundy came to the ranch-house in the afternoon. He had reached the Wagon-wheel about sunrise, almost dead on his feet, and dropping on the pallet-bed--he had his own quarters--slept like a log from sheer exhaustion. Despite his attempt to do so, he could not remove all traces of the terrible treatment he had undergone; the blackened, swollen eyes, gashed lips, missing teeth, and battered face told an eloquent tale.
'What in hell's happened to you?' Zeb enquired. 'Been trampled on by a herd?'
The foreman had his version ready. 'I was ridin' back last evenin' when I run into Green an' two o' the Circle Dot fellas. They come on me unawares, roped an' threw me, an' got my gun. Then they set about me--I'd no chance agin three, an' one of 'em that big chap they call Tiny. When I was all in, they went off with my hoss. I had to hoof it home, an' I warn't in any good shape for that neither.'
The rancher's face grew purple as he listened; he took the affair as a personal insult. 'Three to one?' he cried. 'It's a fine thing if my men have to ask the Circle Dot's permission to ride the range. I've a mind to call the boys an' have it out with Dover an' his bullies right away.'
'What would that get you?' Garstone asked.
'Somethin' I've sworn to have--the Circle Dot,' Trenton replied.
'No, only a forty thousand dollar mortgage which you couldn't meet,' the other returned coolly. 'I don't suppose Maitland would be any more generous to you.'
Trenton's bluster collapsed like a punctured balloon. 'Yo're right,' he said moodily.
'I usually am,' Garstone agreed serenely. Modesty was not one of his weaknesses.
'If yo're worryin' over payin' my score you needn't to,' Bundy growled. 'I'll 'tend to that my own self--int'rest an' all.'
'Touching the acquisition of the Circle Dot, we don't seem to be getting any nearer,' the Easterner remarked sarcastically. 'Have you made any progress?'
'Very little. Maitland might renew on the security of the two ranches, though we owe him quite a lot already, but that would only mean gettin' deeper in. No, we'll have to fall back on the plan I had in mind--to find Red Rufe's Cache.'
'A tale for a tenderfoot?' the foreman fleered. 'If that's our on'y hope, we can wish the Circle Dot a fond fare-youwell as' no error.'
The rancher's face stiffened. 'The thrashin' seems to have destroyed yore manners as well as beauty, Bundy,' he said coldly. 'You can go.'
Like a scolded dog the man came to heel instantly. 'Sorry, Boss, I was disappointed,' he pleaded. 'If there'd bin any-thin' in that yarn, the Cache would 'a' come to light by this; plenty has searched for it.'
'True, but the Cloudy country is large and terribly difficult; unless one knew just where to look, findin' the proverbial needle in a haystack would be child's play in comparison.'
'And you have this information?' Garstone asked eagerly. 'Not quite, or I should have made use of it before now,' Trenton replied. 'This is how the matter stands: Red Rufe was Dave Dover's elder brother. He left Rainbow, went further West, an' made a fortune and reputation as a gambler. Report has it that he sent a letter to Dave, statin' that he had hidden his wealth, an' givin' the approximate location--said to be in the Cloudy Hills. A second message was to follow with instructions for findin' the exact spot. This one miscarried, an', quite by chance, came into my hands.'
'So that's why Flint and Rattray visited the Circle Dot?' Garstone said.
'Certainly. I hoped they would find the first letter. Flint was on the track of it when he made a fool of himself an' got fired.'
'Then you are not sure it is concealed in the Cloudy Hills?'
'No, but the fellow who fetched the first letter said Rufe handed it to him there; that's all anyone knows except--Dover.'
Garstone made a gesture of impatience. 'That means our knowledge is useless,' he said irritably.
'yore wits don't seem to be workin' this afternoon, Ches,' Trenton returned equably. 'Listen: the Circle Dot needs money even more than we do; what do you suppose they will do?'
'Try to find the Cache, possibly.'
'Certainly, 1 should say, an' in doin' so will give us the information we now lack,' the rancher said triumphantly. 'I'm havin' a watch kept on their movements, an' when they start, we'll follow. Once we know the locality, we have the advantage of being able to go straight to the hidin'-place while they are gropin' in the dark.'
'That's a great scheme, Boss,' Bundy complimented, his damaged features contorted in a painful grin. 'If we can collect the pot, we'll have Dover an' his crowd yappin' for mercy--an' not gettin' it.'
'It's undoubtedly a fine chance,' Garstone admitted, and he was looking at the foreman when he spoke. 'Any idea what the Cache consists of?'
'No one knows,' Trenton replied. 'Gold, in coin or dust, possibly paper too.'
'What became of this Rufe person?'
'Vanished after the second message. Went back to his cardsharpin', I expect, an' got wiped out. He was a
