`Mebbe there is,' Drait replied. `I'd like you to tell me, man to man, how you feel about Shadow Valley bein' occupied?'
`This is thirsty weather,' the rancher said. `Let's irrigate.'
In the cool of the front room, they sampled their drinks, and rolled smokes. Then Vasco resumed the conversation:
`yores is a fair question. Rawlin was just a nester, knowin' little about cattle, an' ownin' none to speak of. It seemed likely he'd help hisself to some of ourn, so I throwed in with the other ranchers. I suggested he be bought out, we puttin' up the coin an' holdin' the valley as our joint property. That warn't popular, and anyway, he wouldn't sell, so they tried somethin' else, as they did on you. I'm askin' you to believe that I knew nothin' o' the killin's until after; it's God's truth.'
`I'm takin' yore word,' Nick said quietly.
Vasco looked relieved. `You ain't a Rawlin,' he went on. `If you aim to raise cattle in the valley an' outside, well, it's free range, with plenty room. Yore beasts'll get mixed with Big C an' mine, but that's no reason for not bein' good neighbours.'
'I'll shake with you on that,' Drait said, and did so. When he spoke again, his voice was harder. `That don't go for Bardoe an' Cullin, you understand.'
`Bardoe is a rustler,' Vasco replied sternly. `Yeah, we found the Double X crinters you spoke of'--this to Sudden--`But I wanta catch him in the act o' blottin' the brands.'`It'll save argument,' Sudden agreed.
`Shore thing,' Vasco replied. `As for Greg, he's got some big ideas but I don't like his methods, an' I've told him so.' `He's bein' friendly just now,' Nick smiled. `Offered to buy the Valley, at my figure.'
Vasco whistled. `The devil he did. Then keep yore eyes peeled, an' remember you got friends at the Double V.'
`Which is worth ridin' a long way to hear,' the nester said heartily. `An' it goes both ways, you savvy.'
Draft's too-frequently saturnine features wore a smile of satisfaction as he and his companion headed for home. `It was a lucky day when you found them rustled steers an' put Vasco wise,' he remarked. The odds against me were five to one, an' now they're three to two, leavin' out the S P.'
`Gilman got away, an' Lamond hasn't skipped.'
`That's so, but they dasn't show theirselves, an' can't do much alone.'
Just as the nester spoke, a flash of fire darted from the brush about a hundred yards ahead and something tugged at his hat. Then the crack of the exploding cartridge came to them.
`C'mon,' Sudden cried, and swinging his horse, dashed for the nearest bank, forced the animal up the incline and vanished amid the foliage. Drait followed, but not before another slug whined past his ear.
`That came from fifty feet further along,' the puncher informed. 'Pears there's a pair of 'em. Gotta hide the hosses first.'
A jutting outcrop of rock provided the necessary shelter, and having securely tied the animals, they grabbed their rifles and crawled to a spot which afforded a clear view of the depression. A wisp of smoke hanging in the still air, showed whence the second shot had been despatched. The nester was examining his headgear ruefully.
`She was a perfectly good lid,' he said.
`Still is--what's a coupla ventilation holes, anyway,' his friend consoled. `Good thing you ducked though.'
Draft stared, saw the grin and joined in. `Ducked? Shore, I allus do when I see lead comin'.'
Prone on the ground, cheeks cuddling rifle-stocks, they watched; nothing happened.
`Think they've dusted?' Nick asked.
Waitin' for us to move,' the puncher said. `We'll give 'em a mark to aim at. If they bite, shoot twice, right and left o' the smoke; s'pos'n the fella dodges yu may nail him thataway.'
He found a rock and lobbed it into a bush some six yards to their right. Instantly, from across the hollow, guns blazed, three of them, the bullets shredding the shrub to which the missile had given movement. The ambushed pair returned the fire, and lay close. More shots followed, this time whistling a foot or so above their heads, and bringing down twigs and leaves. Sudden noted, with a grim smile, that only two of the unknown were now shooting.
`Third hombre seems to have got into the game a bit late,' he remarked.
`Yeah, an' by the look of it one of 'em has got out early,' Drait replied.
They lay there, lynx-eyed, but the peace of the place remained unbroken. Then came the hoot of an owl, followed by another.
Sudden laughed. `A signal, an' the jasper who gave it is goin' to be worried at on'y gettin' one answer.'
`Yo're right, Jim. There he goes to investigate.'
At the spot whence the furthest marksman had been shooting, a branch shook, and a little to the left tall grasses swayed; since there was not a breath of wind this meant someone or something was on the move. The keen eyes of the plainsmen tracked the tell-tale signs along the face of the slope to where a second gunman had been hidden. Then Drait's rifle barked viciously, twice, and the movement became more violent, taking an upward direction towards the rim where there was thicker cover. The cattlemen caught fleeting glimpses of darting forms and pumped lead persistently. A savage curse floated back, and stillness came again.
`Any luck, d'you think?' the nester asked.
`No sayin',' Sudden replied. `Better stay put for a space, it may be a dodge to draw us out.'
They smoked and waited. Presently, at the far end of the bowl, two riders burst from the brush and spurred their mounts madly in the direction of Midway. One of them had his head swathed in a bandage and was rocking in his saddle. Nick swore.
'Hell'4 bells, that's Beau--I'd know his hors anywhere. An' the other is Gilman. Where's the third?'
`We'll go find him, guess we needn't to hurry though,' the puncher said sardonically.
They got their horses, crossed the hollow, and soon found what they sought. Sudden had guessed correctly; there was no need for haste. Behind a bullet-riddled bush lay the figure of Tomini, face downwards, his rifle beside him. Apparently he was dead, but when Sudden turned the body over, to reveal a spreading crimson stain above the heart, the eyes opened, and the pallid lips framed two whispered words, `Steenker--Cullin.' Then the head rolled sideways.`So now we know,' Drait said.
`Yeah, but what we say he said don't prove a thing.'
`That's so. Well, I was goin' to leave him here, but I got a better idea. We'll tote him in for the sheriff.'
They found the dead man's mount nearby, slung the limp form across nhe saddle, and secured it with his own rope. A search of the pockets produced nothing but a few coins and the `makings.' They started out, the half- breed's horse tugging back on its lead.
It was a long, tiresome journey, and night was spreading its blanket over the town when they arrived. Naturally, their gruesome burden aroused interest, and a crowd followed them to the sheriff's office, the lighted window of which only served to deepen the darkness. Drait rapped with the butt of a gun and reined back, leaving the led horse well to the fore. Camort opened the door, and gave one look, and with evident satisfaction, cried :
`So you got him, huh?' Noticing the two riders, he added, `Where Tomini?'
`Right under yore nose,' Drait replied sternly. `Whose corpse were you hopin' for?'
The officer's eyes having adjusted themselves to the gloom, he now became aware of the onlookers. He had to think fast, and that was not one of the things he did best. However, inspiration came.
`I figured my boys had fetched in Gilman--they bin out lookin' for him half the day.'
A sneering laugh from one of the crowd greeted this explanation. `Yore boys come into Merker's this arternoon, too tight to talk, an' are there yet, sleepin' it off.'
Camort had the hide of a horse; a mere insinuation that he was lying could not penetrate. Flattering himself that he had redeemed his bad break, he remembered he had a duty to do.
`I wanta know how this come about,' he said, pointing to the corpse.
`Yo're goin' to,' Drait assured him. `Tomini an' two others waylaid me an' Jim in Little Basin. They missed-- there's a coupla holes in my hat to prove it warn't by much--an' we had an argument. The Greaser got the worst of it, an' his friends 'peared to lose their enthusiasm. One of 'em was Beau Lamond.' `I ain't seen him for a week or more,' Camort said.
`Then you musta bin blind drunk night afore last, for you were drinkin' with him in Pinto Pete's,' an onlooker
