'I'm obliged,' he said simply. 'When I joined this outfit my mind was all twisty-ways an' I didn't know what I was goin' to do. Now, I've got things straightened out ; I'm on Sam Eden's pay-roll.'
'That goes for me too,' Sandy rejoined. 'We'll beat that gang o' chaparral thieves yet.'
Immediately after breakfast, the foreman called a meeting of all the men in camp to discuss what should be done. Lasker was the first to speak :
'Nothin' for it but to turn back, fur as I c'n see.'
'Then yore eyesight ain't what it oughta be,' Sudden put in. 'I'm for goin' on ; the 01' Man'll want. that, I'm bettin'.' Other opinions, for and against, were expressed and in the middle of the argument a hail from the cook apprised Jeff that his employer wanted him. From his bed in the wagon the rancher glared at his foreman.
'What's all the chatter about?' he asked in a weak but angry voice. 'Why ain't yu startin' the herd?'
'We was sorta settlin' which way to go,' the foreman excused.
'There's on'y one, yu ol' fool--north'ards,' Eden snapped, and then, as comprehension came to him, 'Yu wasn't thinkin' o' goin' back?'
Jeff looked uneasy. 'Well, yu see, Sam, we figured yu oughta have proper medical attention,' he explained.
The patient's pale face grew red with rage. 'Medical attention, huh?' he sneered. 'yu talk like a perfessor, an' a damn silly one at that. D'yu reckon I've never been shot afore? Pretty fine outfit I got if yo're goin' to turn tail an' run at the first bit o' trouble.'
'That's not fair, Dad,' Carol reproved. 'They are thinking of you.'
'yo're right, honey,' Eden said. 'I didn't mean that, Jeff, but yu can cut out the doctor-talk--I don't need no help to die. An' let me hear no more o' goin' back ; we'll take this herd through come hell or high water. Now, git them cows movin', or I'll be up an' see to it my own self.'
'An', by Christmas, he'd 'a' tried it,' Jeff said, when he reported the conversation to the others. 'Stubborn as two mules, ol' Sam is, an' tough as rawhide. They say he once rode fifty miles with a busted leg--tied hisself to the saddle, knowin' if he fell off he'd never git on again.'
The only man who did not seem pleased was Lasker. 'It's a fool play,' he said sullenly. 'He'll never make the trip--we'll have to plant him.'
'Awright, we won't ask yu to dig the hole,' Jeff retorted. 'Take care o' yor hosses--we're shorely goin' to need 'em.' Sudden had a small investigation to make. In a patch of bare earth in the brush from whence the shot had come he found clear prints of a pair of moccasins, and scorched shrivelled leaves showed where the weapon had been fired through the foliage. With a strip of rawhide he measured the marks, making knots to indicate the width and length. His search for further footprints proved fruitless.
'Either made his getaway over grass or wanted them tracks to be seen,' was his muttered conclusion.
Dismissing the matter for the moment he rode to the river, where preparations for crossing were in full swing. Conditions were favourable, shelving banks, and not much current. Already the cattle, grazed and watered, were being strung out and headed for the stream. Jeff, bawling orders right and left, was watching the operation.
The riders who had to guide the herd across the stream had stripped to the middle, also removing boots and saddles, and were shivering in the keen morning air. One of them had already made the trip, returning with the tidings that the bed of the river seemed fairly firm and the deep water not too extensive.
'Don't rush 'em, boys,' the foreman instructed. 'Haze 'em along gradual-like but keep 'em movin'. We want to be over before the sun gits too high, an' these damn streams is liable to rise mighty sudden.'
There was little trouble ; the leading steers, when they felt the cold water sweeping beneath their bellies, tried to retreat, but the watchful riders, with quirts and the ends of their ropes kept them from turning and soon they took the plunge and swam steadily for the opposite bank.
The crossing took time but went without a hitch, and Jeff breathed a sigh of relief when the last steers climbed the far bank, shook themselves, and went to peacefully grazing. The remuda followed, and then the wagon came lumbering up, a sizable, trimmed tree-trunk lashed along each side. Drawn by its full team of six mules, it rocked and slithered down the slope to the stream. The leaders baulked at the water but the biting lash of the long whip stung their flanks and threw them into the collars again.
With a couple of riders on either side steadying it with their ropes, the wagon proceeded slowly but majestically across, to be greeted with a cheer when the dripping team hauled it safely up the bank.
The foreman, who had followed the vehicle over, poked his head through the flaps at the back. 'How d she go, Sam?' he asked anxiously.
'Fine--never jarred me none,' the invalid lied stoutly. 'Get agoin' soon as yu like ; it does me good to feel we're movin'.' Jeff was not deceived ; he knew quite well that the orossing must have caused intense pain to the wounded man, but he also knew Sam Eden. As he turned away, Carol jumped down lightly from the wagon.
'Jeff, you're a dear,' she said impulsively. 'Of course it hurt him terribly although we did all we could to spare him the jolts, but he bore it without a murmur. We must push on ; he'll fret himself into a fever if we delay.'
The foreman made unintelligible noises in his throat and was obviously glad when Sandy rode up leading Carol's pony. 'Thought yu'd mebbe like a ride after the boat-trip, ma'am,' he grinned.
She thanked him, swung into the saddle, and loped along the trail. The cowboy's eyes followed her, until a slight cough from his companion recalled his wandering thoughts.
'She shore can ride,' he remarked hastily, and then, 'How's the 01' Man makin' it?'
'Pretty good, considerin',' the foreman told him, 'an' liable to raise Cain if that wagon ain't on the move pronto.' Sandy took the hint and found himself a job.
Chapter IX
THE long straggling line of men and beasts moved like a sluggish stream over the apparently unending area of brown, sun-dried earth, cracked and fissured by the fierce heat, and covered, for the most part, by short curly grass which, the colour of hay, needed only rain to transform it into a carpet of brilliant green. No tree, save an occasional thicket of stunted mesquite or live-oak, was to be seen.
Uneventful days had slid by since they crossed the Colorado, and the outfit was making the most of an easy time. Lolling in their saddles, the riders had little to do save check the ambition of any steer who seemed disposed to stray too far. Even the foreman's lined, leathery countenance wore an un wonted smile as he rode to Sudden's side and nodded at the surrounding scene.
'All like this an' it'd be easy, but it ain't goin' to be,' he remarked. 'We got most of our troubles ahead of us.'
'Yu can say that any time, any place,' the cowboy grinned. 'How's the 01' Man?'
'He's a flamin' merricle,' the foreman replied. 'It's a wonder that bullet didn't bounce off'n him.' Then his voice sobered. 'I'd like to know who done it. Got any ideas?'
Sudden told of the moccasin marks and mentioned the Indian who had escaped when he rescued Carol. Jeff shook his head.
'Might be, o' course, redskins is vindictive devils, but I don't think it an' neither do yu,' he said shrewdly.
To this the other made no reply. He was studying the broad, trampled track they were following.
'Yu figure this is Chisholm's trail?' he asked.
'I'm hopin' so. Anyways, she's good goin' an' pointin' north, which is all we want,' Jeff told him. His gaze travelled forward along the line of cattle to where Sandy and Carol were riding together, and his eyes twinkled. 'Yore friend is cuttin' yu out.'
Sudden looked at him amusedly. 'That was a mighty poor throw, ol'-timer,' he said. 'I've got somethin' to do before I think o' wedded bliss. Ever hear o' fellas called Webb an' Peterson?'
'No, but names ain't nothin' in these parts,' Jeff replied. 'yu wantin' 'em special, Jim?'
'I'm hopin' to run across 'em,' Sudden said, and though there was no threat in the words, the cold, passionless tone sent a chill down even the hardened spine of the foreman.
That evening, before supper, Sudden drew Sandy apart.
'If yu can get yore mind off that lean, hatchet-faced female yu been ridin' with all day' he commenced.
'Jim, she's an--angel,' Sandy interrupted.
'Shore she is,' his friend agreed dryly. 'Likewise, she's the daughter of a big rancher, an' yo're just an--
