Half a mile farther on he rounded a bend and saw that the perpendicular sides of the gorge closed in ; apparently there was no outlet. He had pulled up, and was studying the grey, weather-stained walls when a man stepped abruptly from behind a big boulder and strolled nonchalantly towards him. lie was carrying a rifle, and though he did not raise the weapon, his finger was on the trigger.
He was young, about his own age, Jim figured--though he lad never known precisely what that was ; his hair and moustache were very red, his blue eyes very pale, and the grin on his good-looking face very impudent. In a land where ittle attention was paid to such matters, the cleanliness and neatness of his attire drew the eye. He was obviously surprised to find the visitor armed.
'Meet a gent called Ropey back there?' he asked bluntly, pointing to the entrance of the gorge.
'I guess, but he didn't mention his name,' Jim replied.
'An' he let yu pass with that ars'nal?' the young man went on 'Yu musta showed him a good reason.'
'I'm showin' yu the same,' was the grim reply.
The youth looked at the levelled Colt which, having somehow got into its owner's hand, was now covering him, and laughed with affected dismay.
'Put her back in her li'l bed,' he said. 'I ain't arguin' with yu none whatever. Do we have to plant Ropey?'
'I reckon it would be premature--he was a healthy corpse when I left him,' the visitor replied gravely, but there was a twinkle in his eyes, and the menacing gun had vanished.
'Glad yu didn't hurt Ropey, I hate diggin',' red-head remarked. 'I figure yo're here to see our revered chief an' that yore name is mebbe--Sudden?'
'I've been called that,' Jim admitted.
'Good enough,' the other said, and pointed to the end of the gorge. 'There's an opening under the cliff, an' on the other side yu'll see the select but not pop'lar hamlet o' Rogueville, consistin' of a few undesirable villas tenanted by still more undesirable villains, of whom I am one. The man yu wanta see ain't the biggest rogue but he has the name an' the say-so. Savvy?'
Having delivered this satirical address, he leaned his rifle against a rock and began to fashion a cigarette.
'Ain't s'posed to smoke on this job but I never could obey orders, which explains me,' he grinned. 'See yu again, I hope.
The visitor expressed the same desire and went on his way. He found the opening--cleverly concealed by an outflung buttress of rock--and rode through. Before him lay a beautiful little oval-shaped basin, the grass-covered floor of which sloped up on every side to an enclosing rampart of rock. In the centre, a tiny circular lake, fringed with willows, gleamed amid the surrounding green like a huge silver coin. Cattle and horses were grazing near and on the far side of the valley were several log shacks.
By the time he reached them some half-dozen men had appeared ; there had been no one in sight when he entered the valley. A brief glance told the visitor that red-head had probably described them correctly.
'An' what th' hell might yu be wantin'?' asked one, a coarse-faced, broken-nosed fellow.
. 'Civility first, from yu,' Jim snapped. 'An' then--to see yore boss.'
The reply produced a scowl and a sneer. 'We don't go much on bosses here. If yu want Rogue, he's there.'
Following the direction of the jerked thumb, Jim walked his horse to a shack some twenty yards away, in the doorway of which a man was standing watching the proceedings with- out apparent interest. The bandit leader did not look formidable. Over forty, shortish but heavily built, with greying hair and beard, he might have passed for a prosperous rancher. He greeted his guest with a grin.
'Light an' rest yore saddle,' he said, and the low, husky voice seemed familiar.
Jim got down and trailed the reins. 'Best tell yore men to leave this hoss alone--he don't like strangers,' he warned.
'They won't interfere with him,' Rogue replied. His gaze dwelt on the animal. 'Shore is a beauty, an' yu trained him right. Like a woman, a hoss any man can handle ain't no good.'
They entered the shack. It consisted of one room only, furnished with a pallet-bed on which blankets were spread, a rough, home-made table, and chairs with rawhide seats. Pegs driven into the log walls supported guns, bridles, ropes and other paraphernalia of the range. Rogue pointed to a chair and produced a bottle and glassest
'Well, yu got here-Sudden,' he said.
This time there could be no mistake. 'So it was yu?' Jim said, and smiled. 'I guess that sheriff man was peeved.'
'Peeved?' repeated the other. 'He was madder'n a teased rattler an' twice as 'poisonous. He'd 'a' stretched yu.'
'So Judson--died?'
'yeah, durin' the night; never opened an eye again.' There was silence for a few moments and then Jim said, 'I'm still wonderin' why yu--interfered?'
Rogue laughed. 'I don't like sheriffs nohow an' yu put up a pretty fight,' he explained. ''Sides, yu done me a service.'
'I'm still in the dark,' the visitor persisted.
The outlaw hesitated for a space, his hard grey eyes studying the boy before him ; but he learned nothing.
'I'm playin' straight with yu, Sudden,' he said, and the husky voice had a harsh note in it. 'If yu hadn't been therethey'd have picked on me an' I had Judson's money-belt round my middle.'
Jim sat up. 'yu did it?' he cried, jolted out of his impassivity.
'Yeah, but I didn't wanta kill the fool,' Rogue said. 'I got the drop on him an' I'm steppin' in to take his gun when he jumps his hoss at me. I try to wing him but he's movin' yu see, an' .' He shrugged his shoulderst There was no regret in his voice ; rather there was blame for a murdered man who had not played the game properly, and paid the penalty. 'I was a plain fool to come into town but I figured him finished. I had to have the coin ; things have been quiet lately an' the boys was gettin' restive.'
The latter remark sounded like an excuse, but Jim knew it was not so intended ; Rogue was simply giving him all the facts. To Jim, the important point was that this man who had coolly confessed to the crime had not been content to let another suffer for it, and he, Jim, owed his life to him ; he could not condemn, and in his present rebellious attitude to his own kind, had no wish to.
'What made yu think I'd come here?' he asked.
'I saw them bills an' knew Mallick would close the towns to yu,' Rogue explained. 'Reckoned yu'd make for San Antonio an' sent one o' my men to watch for yu. Didn't he find yu?'
'Shore, but it wasn't him sent me,' Jim said, and told of the attempted arrest and chase.
If the outlaw smiled it was behind his beard ; he guessed the part his envoy had played. His comment contained more than a touch of admiration :
'Three fellas, with their guns out, an' then yu busted up the posse! Yu ain't losin' any time justifyin' yore label. Sudden.'
'My name's Jim--I'd liefer yu called me that.'
'Mine's Roger, but everybody calls me Rogue an' I dunno as I care. Allasame, Jim goes with me. Now, yu better stick around awhile, yo're safe here. Later on, yu can decide 'bout stayin' ; I'm hopin' yu will ; I want a fella I can trust.'
'I'm obliged to yu,' the visitor said.
'Shucks, it's shore up to me to watch out for yu,' Rogue rejoined. 'yu can double up with Sandy, an' we all feed together in the big cabin. Now, there's another thing : yore face wouldn't look no worse without hair on it.'
He rummaged on a shelf and produced a bottle. 'This dye'll wipe out them markin's. I'll show yu yore quarters.'
He led the way to a little hut standing rather apart from the others, built of unbarked logs, clinked with clay. As they approached a cheerful but unmelodious voice within announced that it was 'his night to howl.'
'An' he's shorely doin' it,' Rogue said, with a saturnine smile. 'Hey, Sandy, I've brung yu a bunkie.'
