equally shabby: a rag of carpet, a table upon which were law-books, a filing cabinet, an old-style safe, and two hard chairs comprised the rest of the furniture.
`Temporary premises, gentlemen, just temporary premises,' the lawyer excused, and it was evident that the words and the gesture accompanying them had become automatic. `Find seats and let me know what I can do for you.'
Sudden leaned forward; he had taken his man's measure. `To begin,' he said, `I want yu to savvy I ain't here to waste yore time, which, to a legal gent, is the same as money.'
Seale's beady eyes lighted up a little. `It is true my profession requires that certain charges be made,' he replied. `Strictly in accordance with the service I am able to render, Mister--'
`My name wouldn't mean a thing to yu,' Sudden said. `I'm from down South, near the Border, on a kind o' vacation. Yes, sir, I was shorely tired o' lookin' at cows' hind-ends. When Eli Dean--fella I was ridin' for--heard I was headin' for these parts, he sez would I do him a service? Well, I agreed, for Eli is one white man, an' here I am, yu see.'
`Quite, but you haven't told me why.'
Sudden slapped his leg. `If I ain't the chucklehead. It's this-away: Eli wanted me to search out an old friend, man he'd punched cantle with from hell to anywhere an' back again in the days when they was both a deal younger. The name was Pavitt --Sam Pavitt, an' I hear he's been under the turf for 'bout a year.'
`That is true, I am sorry to say.'
`We all gotta go, an' I reckon Eli was expectin' that--Pavitt bein' older'n him, an' he ain't no yearlin'--for he said there was a daughter he'd welcome news of; it was when I asked 'bout her, I got sent to yu.'
`Naturally, since the estate is in my hands,' the lawyer said importantly. `As regards the daughter, I am afraid I cannot help you. She ran away, more than twenty years ago, to marry a man her father disapproved of, and I am still trying to discover her whereabouts; she owns the S P ranch now. You see, I've no information; neither the name of the husband, nor that of the place where they lived. The old man never spoke of her.'
`No letters?'
`One only, with the address missing, saying that her husband had died, and mentioning a child, 'Frankie'. It was signed, 'Mary'. I have advertised, and have a man out now, making enquiries, all to no purpose. It is very discouraging and expensive. The property is a good one, but is losing value, and I've written to the Governor of the State suggesting he authorise me to sell it and hold the proceeds on trust for the missing heir.'
'Pears to be a sound idea,' Sudden said.
`I think so,' Seale said complacently. `I've had a generous offer and am only waiting for permission to close the deal. I fear that is all I can tell you, and as I have a conference ...'
This was dismissal, but Yorky had been whispering. `My friend suggests yu might let us look at that letter yu spoke of,' Sudden said. `We fellas are used to followin' trails, an' might spot a pointer.'
`Why, certainly,' the lawyer agreed. After all, he must make some sort of a show for the `easy money' these greenhorns would pay him. Taking out a bunch of keys, he opened the safe,selected a paper from several others, and, with satirical smile, watched them study it.
`Nothin' there,' Sudden declared, as he handed it back. `It was just a chance; I wouldn't like Eli to think I'd overlooked a bet.' He laid a bill on the desk, and stood up. 'Talkin' allus makes me dry; mebbe yu'll join us?'
This was an invitation Seale never refused, especially from one who had paid handsomely for nothing. He locked the safe, then the door, and preceded them down the stairway. Yorky followed, and they were nearly at the oottom when the boy slipped, clutched at the lawyer to save himself, and they finished in a heap on nhe floor. No damage resulted, and the culprit was profuse in his apologies.
`These damned high heels ain't made for steps,' he lamented, and when they reached the street, `Jim, I ain't much on liquor, an' I want smokin' an' feed for my gun. You goin' across th' road? Right, I'll be along.'
Sudden nodded, and followed the lawyer into the saloon. `A good kid, but kind o' young,' he excused.
`Plenty of us would like to suffer from his complaint,' the man of law smirked, and raised his glass. `Here's how, and I'm sorry your errand has ended in failure.'
The puncher shrugged. `Fella can't allus score, specially with long shots,' he said. `I expect yu've lost cases yoreself.'
`A few--long shots,' Seale admitted. `Staying in town?'
`I guess we'll mosey along,' Sudden replied, as he called for a second round. `That boy should show up soon.'
`He'll be all right--the place is quiet at this time of the day. Why, there he is, at the door.'
Yorky was outside, with the horses, and having parted from the lawyer, they mounted and rode out of the town. Sudden asked no questions until they were clear, and then: `What's the hurry, son?' For Yorky was casting an anxious eye to the rear from time to time.
`That fella was lyin', Jim.'
`Yo're tellin' me. Why did yu wanta see that fool letter?'
`I didn't, but I wanted to know where he kept his keys,' was the surprising answer.
Sudden looked at him severely. `Yu been drinkin'?'
`No--thinkin',' Yorky replied. `You see, Jim, I had a hunch there was somethin' in th' safe he wouldn't show us, an' I figured if I could get at th' right pocket....'
He paused, furtively scanning his companion's face, but it told him nothing. Sudden was remembering that slip on the stairs, the long, slim fingers of this waif from the underworld of a big city--fingers which could manipulate cards with the dexterity of a magician. But he was not one to probe into the murky past of a friend; there had been episodes in his own....
`I was a pretty good 'dip' but I give it up after I run into Clancy,' the boy went on, rather shamedly. `I could 'a' cleaned him, but honest, Jim, I on'y borried th' keys.' He was obviously scared that the man he most admired in all the world would not approve.
Sudden's slow smile was back again. `Shucks, I ain't blamin' yu. Anythin' goes, when yo're fightin' a rogue. What did yu find?'
`A letter from a woman livin' at Deepridge, offerin' information 'bout Mary Pavitt; 'peared to be in answer to an advertisement. In was signed 'Sarah Wilson'.'
`Thought he warn't exactly emptyin' his bag,' was Sudden's comment. `Yu left the letter?'
`Figured it was wiser. But here's one I fetched away.'
The document was brief and to the point. Sudden whistled softly as he read it:
`Dear Seale,
Confirming our conversation this morning, I am prepared to pay five thousand dollars for the S P ranch, and to take the stock at eight dollars per head. If you can arrange this your fee will be one thousand, cash. This is my final offer.
Gregory Cullin.'
The puncher folded the letter and stowed it away. `Great work, son,' he complimented. `I'd give somethin' to see Seale's face when he discovers his keys is missin'. What you do with 'em?'
`Left 'em on th' stairs where we tumbled; he may think they just dropped out'n his pocket.'
`Mebbe, if he don't search his safe too careful. Anyway, the sooner we get this in a good hiding-place, the better. I've a notion it'll come in mighty useful, but for the present we'll keep it under our hats; it's sound policy sometimes to let the other fella move first.'
`I saw somebody we know in Rideout, an' he didn't wanta be seen,' Yorky said. `Beau Lamond.'
The devil yu did?' `Yeah, just after I left Seale's place; he was comin' towards it an' a'most jumped into a store when he catched sight o' me.' `Didn't strike me as sufferin' from modesty,' Sudden said. `If he don't mention it, we won't neither.'
Chapter VII
THE Big C ranch was the most important of those in the neighbourhood of Midway. This was due, not to its size, but to the forceful personality of its owner. Gregory Cullin, not yet forty, and unmarried, possessed a profound contempt for humanity, and an equally deep belief that everything comes to he who takes. His tall, compactly-built, powerful frame, frowning brows and thick, pouting lips gave him an aggressive appearance. He was subject to violent fits of rage, but few suspected he used them as a weapon to gain an end, and that beneath the wildest was
