'Cripes, I'll bet it wasn't Sligh.'
'yu'd win. It was another fella, an' when he came creepin' up on me with that sticker in his fist, well, I've knowed happier moments. I played I was asleep-snored real hearty.'
'yu can too,' Sandy complimented. 'Did yu recognize him?'
'It was Rogue hisself.'
'Oh, yeah,' came the sarcastic reply. 'Havin' tied us up he would turn us loose, wouldn't he?'
'Them bonds was just eyewash for the gang. Rogue didn't .rant us--we gotta be watched allatime, an' he knows Eden tin't goin' to part with a single steer on our account, so he gets rid of us--his own way. That was Sligh's knife--I saw him drop it ; he'll get the blame an' we'll get the credit. Rogue 's one smart hombre.'
A smudge of grey in the eastern sky had turned to a golden glow and the red rim of the sun was pushing above the horizon when they rode down the valley and sighted the S E wagon. Peg-leg, busy preparing the morning meal, let out a yell which brought men leaping from their blankets and grabbing for guns. When they saw that it was not an Indian raid they laughed and swore at the cook. The foreman, his wrinkled :ace one smile, surveyed the pair delightedly.
'Nice damn couple, ain't yu?' he said. 'Holdin' the drive up thisaway. The 0I' Man oughta give yu yore time.'
'An' yore chin would hit yore toes if he did, yu holy fraud,' Sudden retorted. 'Now, Sandy an' me ain't had no sleep for 'bout a year. Who's got spare blankets? We had to leave our'n behind.'
For a couple of hours they slept like dead men and then Jeff aroused them. 'Sam's askin' for yu,' he said.
They found the cattleman sitting at the end of the wagon. He was recovering rapidly ; the tonic air of the prairies, aided by his tough constitution, had worked wonders. Baudry and Carol were with him, and several of the outfit lingered near.
'Here's the truants, boss,' the foreman grinned. 'I was tellin' Jim yu oughta give 'em their time.'
Eden had smothered his doubts and his rugged face softened as he surveyed the men to whom he owed so much. 'I reckon they oughta have anythin' they ask for, but I'm hopin' it won't be that,' he said. 'Green, Sandy tells me I gotta thank yu for gettin' my girl back.'
'Sandy's modesty'll be the ruin of him,' Sudden smiled.
'I ain't forgettin' his part,' Eden replied. 'I'm curious to learn how yu persuaded that ruffian to let her go ; he had me thrown an' tied.'
'yeah, he knowed that,' the cowboy agreed. 'I gambled on two cards--his past an' his pride. I figured that, sunk as he is, some respect for a good woman might remain, an' I was right. For the rest, his message to yu explains it--just the natural vanity o' the man. These were his weak spots, an' I hit 'em good an' hard.'
'Then we'll hear more of him?'
'Shorely. He'll strike when he's ready, but I'm guessin' that won't be till we're nearer a market. He's got nigh a score o' men.'
Baudry looked at the cattleman and nodded ; he had expressed the same view of the rustler's intentions. With a half-sneer he turned to Sudden.
'yu seem pretty well acquainted with this cattle-thief,' he said. 'Perhaps he turned you loose too?'
'Now I wonder who told yu?' Sudden debated. 'He did that very thing.'
Sam Eden's keen eyes widened at this and there was suspicion in them.
'D'yu mean that, Green?' the rancher asked sharply, and when the other nodded, 'Why should he do that?' The cowboy related the manner of their escape.
Sudden sensed the hostility in the tone. 'His men had none of his finer feelin's.'
'Fine feelings--in an outlaw?' gibed the gambler savagely. 'That's more than I can swallow.'
'He let her go,' the cowboy reminded.
'Yes, at your request,' came the sneer. 'Were you ever one of his gang?'
'No, were yu?' Sudden asked.
Pebbles, who was one of the listening riders, chuckled audibly, and the visitor's face flushed with anger.
'Damn your impudence,' he shouted. 'What do you mean by that?'
Sudden bent forward, his eyes bleak. 'Just what I said,' he replied. 'Listen to me, Mister Man. On'y two fellas here can talk down to me with safety--my boss an' his foreman. yo're speakin' outa turn.'
For a moment the gambler's narrow eyes clashed with those of the speaker and then turned in mute appeal to his host. Sam Eden was nonplussed. Torn between gratitude and friendship, he did not know how to deal with the tiny tempest which had so swiftly arisen. Carol came to his aid.
'Mister Baudry appears to be forgetting that these two men risked their lives to save me, first from Indians, and thenfrom outlaws,' she said. 'To my mind, that alone matters.'
Like a dash of cold water the words brought Baudry to his senses ; his ill-humour vanished and he achieved some sort of a smile.
'you're right, Miss Eden,' he said heartily. 'Nothing else ounts. I'm sorry, Sam, but I let my ideas run away with me. If that Rogue fellow happened to be here, I'd thank him, whatever his motive may have been.'
This ended the discussion, but as Sudden and the foreman went to get their horses, the cowboy asked casually: 'yu known friend Baudry long?'
'Nope, an' yu needn't name him my friend neither,' Jeff said bluntly. 'Don't fancy the ,fella nohow, an' I'll bet if he had a tail there'd be rattles on it.'
'Sandy an' me ain't popular in that quarter,' Sudden reflected aloud.
'Aw, yu should worry,' Jeff told him. 'So yu don't think Rogue will try again yet?'
'I ain't worryin', not that yu'd notice,' was the reply, and then, 'No, barrin' Injuns, flooded rivers, stampedes, storms an' dry stretches, I figure we'll have an easy trip for a while.'
Jeff's expression was one of mock disgust. 'Yo're a cheerful cuss, I don't believe,' he said.
Later, Sudden had a word with Sandy. That young man was still puzzling over the outlaw's complicity in their escape, and said so.
'Shake yore head an' start that stuff yu think with workin',' was the smiling advice he received. 'Without us, the S E would be short-handed an' Rogue wants the herd to go through yet awhile.'
'Then why did he stampede it?'
'I figure his idea then was to sell the cows to the jasper who was payin' him to break the drive. Now, he's aimin' to handle 'em himself an' clean up a packet.'
'Then he's double-crossin' the other man.'
'It don't follow. Rogue is a pretty ornery proposition, but he's got points. He told me that this fella was willin' to take the S E cows, but he didn't say he's promised to let him have 'em.'
'Glad yu put brother Baudry back a bit. What yu think of him?'
'I don't,' Sudden grinned. 'But--I'm goin' to.'
Chapter XX
THE cattle, rested by the stay in the valley, made good progress, and the tally of the miles covered grew as the peaceful days passed. The members of the outfit, living in their saddles through the long, lazy hours, became jubilant at the thought that their tremendous task might soon be accomplished. Jed, .true to his nature, was pessimistic. /
'It's too easy,' he complained. 'Like slidin' down a steep hill, yu gotta watch out for the bump at the bottom.'
Sandy too was not of the cheerful ones, but for a different reason. Baudry's monopoly of Carol was so complete that the young man rarely had an opportunity of riding with her. Moreover, the gambler, as a guest, ate with the women and Eden, a circumstance which did not lessen Sandy's resentment.
'Cuss it, he's got all the chances,' he grumbled.
'Too bad,' Sudden commiserated. 'Now if yu could show her that red head o' yores ...'
The boy had to laugh. 'yu misbegotten son o' misfortune. Some day I'll tell her all about yu,' he threatened.
Sudden's hands went up. 'Keno!' he cried. 'Wait till I'm outa the country.'
Sandy's soreness over the situation would have been diminished had he known that Carol was beginning to
