nor prudent to probe into it.
The foreman having agreed to call it a day, camp was made near a thicket of oak and mesquite, while the cattle were bunched on the flat top of a swell not far away. There was no water but the animals had had a sufficiency the night before, and the long-horn could travel forty-eight hours without drinking. Nevertheless, the lack of it made the herd restive and Jeff anxious. Sudden, giving the cook a hand with his team, offered a word of advice:
'I'd hobble them critters an' keep 'em handy, Peg-leg. This is Injun territory an' them red devils would ruther eat mule-meat than prime beef.'
'All a matter o' taste, I reckon,' the cook replied.
'More a matter o' teeth, I'd say,' the cowboy grinned, as he swung into his saddle and went to help with the herd. Some hours later Sandy came to relieve him and even in the darkness Sudden could see that the young man was not his usual bright self ; slouched in his saddle, head down, he appeared moody and depressed.
'yu look as happy as a wet hen,' was the greeting he received. 'What's bitin' yu?'
'I dunno, Jim, an' that's a fact, but I got a feelin' trouble is comin'.'
'Trouble allus is comin' an' worryin' won't stop it. Get such fool notions outa the thing that holds yore hat up, an' keep a close eye on them durned cows ; half of 'em ain't even dozin' yet.'
Riding back to the camp he heard the mournful, weird howl of a coyote and a moment later came an answering cry. He pulled up in doubt ; to his trained ear they did not sound just right. Smiling sardonically at the reflection that Sandy had made him nervy, he nevertheless circled to approach the rear of the timber behind the camp, whence the cries had seemed to come. This took some time, for the thicket was larger than he had thought and it was incumbent to move cautiously. Reaching the trees, he sat listening the indistinct mutter of a voice came to him. Slipping from his saddle, he crept into the undergrowth. It was nervous work ; once he put a hand on a clammy, writhing form and heard a sharp hiss as the reptile slithered away. Sudden shivered.
'Fools for luck,' he murmured. 'If rattlers didn't have to coil afore they can strike....'
He did not pursue the unpleasant reflection, but pulled a gun and felt ahead with it before making a move. The voice was nearer now, only a few yards distant, but he could see nothing of the owner.
'Make a good job of it an' the two-fifty is yourn. yu'll have a clear field when the cows start runnin'--which'll be soon now. Them hombres will have suthin' else to occupy 'em.' The eavesdropper stiffened ; he knew that voice. Navajo ! He could not hear the mumbled reply, but a cracking twig told him that the men were moving--away from him. As silently as speed would permit he retraced his steps, his brain busy with the problem so abruptly presented. Rogue's men were to stampede the herd and something was to be tried. It was not difficult to guess what this was. He hurried to his horse, leapt into the saddle, and raced for the camp.
The sight there drew an oath from his lips. Seated round the cook's fire were Sam Eden, Jeff, and the two women ; blanketed forms at the other fire were preparing for their turn of night-riding ; they were doomed to have their rest rudely interrupted. Sudden strode up to the foreman.
'Jeff, I've just got wind of a plot to run off the cows--right now,' he cried. 'Get busy--no time to talk.' He turned to his employer. 'Yu didn't oughta be here, seh,' he went on. 'Yu. .
An outburst of gun-fire and wild yells from over the plain, with the drumming thunder of thudding hooves cut him short. 'God! they've done it!' he exclaimed.
Stooping swiftly, he seized the seated cattleman by the shoulder and thrust him sideways to the ground. Almost at the same instant, a jet of yellow flame punctured the gloom surrounding the camp and a bullet buried itself in the log against which the invalid had been leaning. Sudden's gun barked viciously, twice, and the reports were followed by the breaking of dead wood, as of a body falling among the bushes and then--silence. Half- crouched, his smoking weapon poised, the cowboy waited for one tense moment.
'Guess I got him,' he said quietly. 'Saw the glint o' the fire on his gun-barrel--just in time.'
'What th' hell?' Eden began, as he struggled back to an upright position.
'Explanations'll have to wait,' Sudden told him. 'yu'd be better in the wagon, seh. That whelp over there had friends.' Though the foreman was at first stunned by the abruptness of the calamity his natural sturdiness soon reasserted itself. The awakened sleepers were sent to the rope corral for mounts, the cattleman, vehemently cursing his helplessness, was lifted back into the wagon, and the women ordered to stay in it also.
'We'll have to leave yu in charge o' Peg-leg, Sam,' the foreman pointed out. 'Mebbe we can git back some o' the cows.'
'Damn the cows,' the old man exploded. 'Let daylight into the dirty thieves what rustled 'em. Now, gimme a gun an' get agoin'.'
Sending the others on, Jeff and Sudden turned towards the spot whence the bushwhacker had fired. Sprawling in the undergrowth was the body of a man. Sudden turned it over and struck a match.
'Lasker!' the foreman breathed. 'Well, I'm damned.'
Leaving the corpse in the bushes, they rode to the bedding-ground. Jeff was puzzling over this latest development.
'Lasker, huh? Never did cotton to him, somehow,' he mused. 'Likely he was planted on us, an' mebbe we've binfollered right along.' He looked curiously at the man beside him. 'How did yu git on to it, Jim?'
Sudden told of the coyote calls and the fragment of conversation he had overheard, but did not reveal that he recognized one of the voices. He had just finished when a limping figure, carrying a saddle, loomed up out of the gloom. It proved to be Sandy.
'Yu hurt?' Sudden asked, observing that the boy staggered. 'Bullet burned my ribs--nothin' broke,' was the reply. 'What happened?' This from the foreman.
'yu can search me. First we knowed was the fireworks an' the shoutin'----they musta crept up on us. An', believe me, them steers didn't wait to ask questions none whatever. I tried to head 'em off an' some jasper started slingin' lead--got my hoss too, blast his soul.'
'Which way was the herd travellin'?' Jeff asked. 'West--must be damn near the Pacific Slope by now,' was the bitter retort. 'Gawd, what a mess! '
'How many of 'em?'
'Couldn't say. It was as dark as the inside of a cow. I on'y saw the fella who creased me. Fancy I nicked him--heard him cuss.'
Sandy having assured them he could make the camp unaided the other two rode on. Mile after mile was covered without a trace of the missing herd save the hoofprints which showed that they were following at least a portion of it. At length, in the dim, grey light of the dawn, they saw two riders, driving a bunch of about a hundred steers. They were less than half a mile distant and not hurrying, apparently deeming themselves safe from pursuit. Sudden pulled his rifle from the sheath.
'Hold on, Jim, they may be our fellas,' Jeff warned. 'They wouldn't be headed west,' Sudden pointed out. 'That's so,' the foreman admitted, 'but I'd ruther be shore than sorry. I'll give 'em a hail our boys would reckernize. They can't outrun us with the cows.'
His voice rang out in a shrill cowboy call, familiar on many ranges, but with variations Sudden had not heard before. The result dispelled their doubt effectively. The riders' heads jerked round and then their right arms rose and fell as they vigorously plied the quirt. Sudden's face was grim as he levelled his weapon.
Of *
'Steady, boy,' he said to his horse, and pulled the trigger.
They saw the pony on the right stumble and fall, throwing its rider headlong. The other man, with no more than a glance at his companion, spurred his mount furiously and soon left the herd behind. Sudden sent an unavailing shot which only served to hurry his movements. A few moments brought them to the fallen man and one look at the oddly-twisted, huddled form told them what had happened.
'Kruk his neck,' Jeff said. 'yu got the hoss. Damn good shootin' too, at that range an' from the saddle. yu don't know the gent, I s'pose, Jim?'
The reply in the negative was not all the truth, for Sudden had seen the fellow during his sojourn with Rogue.
'Well, let's git after them cows,' the foreman said, adding harshly, 'This ain't my day for buryin' cattlethieves.'
The stolen steers had not run far and the S E men soon had them rounded up and pointed east again. The foreman's expression as he regarded the recovered remnant of his charge was savagely morose. Sudden too was
