accompanying the words. 'Mister Baudry wanted to find Mister Dutt. I expect he thought there was no danger of Indians stealing' me again just now.'
'Sometimes I 'most wish they would,' Sandy told her. Not daring to ask the obvious question, she changed the subject. 'Are we nearing the end of the drive?'
'I dunno, but I'm hopin' there's quite a ways to go yet.' Once more she felt she was on dangerous ground, but her eyebrows rose. Sandy's explanation was glib enough: 'When the herd is sold, I figure we won't be wanted, an' I'll be out of a job.'
Her face was turned away ; truth to tell, she was afraid to look at him lest he should see her fear. For his words had brought a sudden realization of what parting with him would mean, and with it all -thought of Baudry vanished like smoke before a puff of wind. Her voice shook a little when at length she spoke :
'Dad will need you all at the ranch. He won't let any of you go--unless you want to.'
'Then here's one he can't lose--I'll stick closer to him than his own skin,' the young man replied gaily.
'And Mister Baudry is starting a ranch near the S E.' Sandy whistled softly. 'Is that so?' he said, and then, 'I wouldn't ride for him.'
There was no rancour in the remark and she knew that she herself had nothing to do with his decision ; the gambler--as a man--had been weighed and found wanting, in the cowboy's estimation.
Chapter XXI
THE man was sitting, his back against a tree, his eyes closed. By his side lay a rifle and a saddle, while round his middle was slung a heavy revolver. His thin, harsh face, from which jutted a beak of a nose, gave him a predatory expression, and a straggling, uncared-for beard lent an appearance of age which his wiry frame belied. It was Jed, riding point, who discovered him.
'Hey, stranger, yu have shorely picked a port place for a nap,' he called.
The man opened his eyes. 'Hell!' he said weakly, 'I was beginnin' to think I was the last fella left in the world. Ain't got a shot o' licker, 1 s'pose? I'm about all in.'
'Friend,' the cowboy grinned, 'I've helped hustle these yere long-horns from near San Antonio. If yu think a Texan would carry painkiller all that way yu don't know the breed. I figure yu lost yore bronc?' The stranger nodded. 'The chuck-wagon an' remuda'll be along presently ; they'll fix yu up.'
In camp that night the stranger told his story. His name, he said, was 'Rollitt,' and he was horse-wrangler to the trail outfit they had followed. One morning he had missed several horses, set out to track them, and had been surprised and chased by Indians.
'Kiowas, they were, I guessed, but I didn't wait to make shore' he said. 'I've got used to my hair bein' where it is an' didn't nohow fancy it as a decoration for a brave's bridle, so I scratched gravel plenty eager. By bad luck they was between me an' the camp, so I had to run west. Well, I lost them war-whoops, but I killed my hoss doin' it--just dropped under me--an' then I discovered I'd lost myself. That musta bin near a coupla weeks ago, though I lost count o' time too--I'm a good loser, yu see. Wanderin' around, totin' a saddle ain't so funny, 'specially when yo're outa grub. I was afraid to shoot, case them red devils was about, so I lived mainly on berries an' nuts. Once I knocked a sage hen over with a rock, an' I got a rattler--after he come close to getting me an' skinned an' et him.'
Aunt Judy uttered a grunt of disgust. 'Lawry me, man, yu must 'a' bin hard put to it,' she said.
'Shore was, ma'am,' Rollitt replied. 'But that rattler was good--nice white meat like a chicken ; I've had wuss eatin'.'
Listening to the story, Sudden had studied the man closely but could call up no recollection of him. A whispered question to Sandy brought only a shake of the head. Rollitt's explanation seemed likely enough and yet Sudden had a feeling that something was wrong. Eden, however, seemed satisfied.
'yu've had a tough time, stranger, an' I reckon there's small hope o' joinin' yore own outfit yet awhile,' he said. 'We lost our wrangler back on the trail ; one o' the boys has been deputizin', but I guess he'd be pleased to hand over the job. What do yu say?'
'Well, I'm shorely a maverick an' I'm thankin' yu,' the newcomer replied, and, as the cattleman put a question, 'This country is new to me but I figure yu should be north o' the Wichita. We kept a straighter line, but we got held up an' had to hand over cash or cattle. I'd say the longer trip'll pay yu in the end.'
So it was arranged. Rollitt took over the remuda and appeared to know the work. He did not mix much with the men but was frequently seen in converse with Dutt, who explained that both of them hailed from Missouri. Sudden saw little of the man, but, as he confided to Sandy, that little was enough.
'What's the poor devil done to yu?' the young man asked. 'Nothin'--yet,' was the reply. 'yu didn't see all Rogue's men, did yu?'
'Less'n half, I'd say ; he had a biggish crowd--scattered too. yu ain' thinkin' this jigger was planted there to wait for us? His tale seemed straight enough.'
But Sudden was serious. 'I've a hunch he's here to make trouble--mebbe for us.'
'Well, 0I-timer, man is born to trouble, as the sparks fly upward,' Sandy quoted. 'We've met the gent afore an' we're still here, ain't we?'
He was in a gay humour these days. His lady smiled upon and permitted him to ride with her again, for Baudry--though he accompanied her now and then--deliberately absented himself in the hope that she might miss him.
It was nearly a week later that Sudden's forebodings were justified. The foreman, distress signals flying in his face, strode over to where the men were breakfasting and called Sudden aside.
'The 01' Man wants yu an' Sandy, pronto,' he said.
The cattleman was sitting with his back to a wagon wheel. Carol, Baudry, and Dutt were seated near, and standing by was the new hand, Rollitt. Eden's brows bent in a heavy frown when he saw the men he had sent for. He wasted no time.
'Green, how long yu been one o' Rogue's riders?' he rasped.
'I ain't,' the cowboy said coolly.
'Don't lie,' the old man roared. 'Rollitt here saw yu in Rogue's hide-out just before yu come to the S E.'
Sudden looked at the wrangler. 'So yu are one o' his men?'
'Nope, I happened to drift in,' the fellow said sullenly. 'He made me an offer an' I refused it.'
'My own case exactly,' Sudden said dryly.
'Yu were seen workin' with the outlaws, brandin' stolen cattle,' Eden went on.
'Those men were feedin' me ; I gave a hand,' Sudden explained. 'I was told the cows were mavericks.'
'yu were mighty friendly with Rogue, an' after yu'd gone he gave out that yu were on an errand for him.' 'Sudden's eyes sought the informer again. 'For a casual stranger yu seem to have been pretty deep in Rogue's confidence,' he said acidly.
Eden ignored the comment. 'An' yore `errand' was to get into my outfit an' help wreck the drive,' he said bitterly.
'I 'pear to have failed down on that,' the accused replied.
'yeah, for yore own reasons,' Eden sneered. 'No wonder yu could round up them stampeded steers. Easy, warn't it, when yore boss--gettin' a better idea--told yu to do it. An' then, for some devil's purpose, he lets yu fetch my daughter back.'
'Make a job of it,' Sudden urged with savage sarcasm. 'Say. 1 was in cahoots with the Comanches too.'
'Yu went after yore fellow-thief--I'll give yu that much credit,' the cattleman snapped.
'I'm obliged,' the cowboy countered.
Baudry drew a paper from his pocket, unfolded, and held it up. 'Isn't this your description?' he asked.
Sudden did not need to read it--every word had been branded on his brain as by a hot iron. Nevertheless, he leant forward and scanned it leisurely.
'Them particulars might apply to a hundred others,' he evaded. 'An' my hoss ain't got a white face.'
'Hasn't it?' the gambler rapped out. 'I'd like to be sure of that. Rollitt, fetch that black.'
Sudden's face hardened to stone. 'Don't yu--unless yu want to die,' he warned. 'Sometime, when he was a colt, I reckon, that hoss had an adventure with a skunk, an' he hates 'em.'
'Never seen the bronc I couldn't handle,' Rollitt growled. 'Go ahead,' Sudden said. 'I'm givin' yu permission,
