`You done noble,' he replied gruffly. `There's warmth an' food waitin'.'
`I need sleep--that only. Where is my--prison?'
He conducted her to a small room, with a floor of bare boards, and an unglazed window only a cat could get through. The candle he lighted brought to view a pile of blankets on a pallet bed, a chair, pail of water, and a torn but clean towel. On one of the log walls a cracked mirror was hanging.
`Rough quarters, ma'am, but we'd little time,' the man said. `I ain't tyin' you up, but remember that the Quake lies between here an' the S P. The key o' the door will be in my pocket, so you can sleep easy.'
`Why have I been brought here?' she demanded.
`I dunno,' he lied. `All I can say is that if you make no trouble, you'll meet no trouble.'
The key grated in the lock. She bathed her face, removed hat and coat, spread her blankets, and lay down. Despite her determination to remain awake, she slept.
Bardoe returned to the big room, where, at a long table, the men who had accompanied him were eating, and washing the food down with generous doses of spirit. Four others were smoking round the log fire. One was Gilman, who looked up with a leer.
`So you got her?' he said. `I hear she was dressed ready, too. Yo're allus lucky.'
`Lucky?' chimed in Lamond from the table. `An' Bull all fixed to play the part o' lady's maid.'
Some of them laughed, but their leader's face was mirthless. `Beau, I hate to tell a man he's a damn fool twice in one night,' he said, and looked at Gilman. `The girl's got grit; that ride would 'a' taxed a man some, but she never let out a squeak.'
`Hell, Bull, whatsa use gittin' sore over the dame? Drait's no saint, an' it wouldn't surprise me if she's feelin' lonely.'
Bardoe whirled on him, ferocity in every feature. `Listen to me,' he barked. `If I catch anyone near the gal's door I'm shootin' first an' enquirin' after. Get me?' His threatening gaze swept the room. `A complaint from her an' Cullin'll go back on his bargain, an' we'll have a battle with the Big C on our hands.'
`Bull's right, boys, as usual,' Lanty put in. `It ain't worth the risk; me for the dollars, every time.'
The muttered agreement appeared to guarantee that the prisoner would be undisturbed, but the leader was taking no chances, and when retired to his own room, he did not sleep. His followers piled fuel on the fire, got their blankets, and made themselves comfortable.
Bardoe, in the darkness, sat listening to the snores which mingled with the crackling of the logs. Presently he caught another sound--stealthy footsteps in the passage. They paused, waited, and then went on. He slipped off his boots, drew his gun, and noiselessly followed. He could hear someone fumbling at the girl's door, seemingly searching for the keyhole. The rustler raised his gun. The report, deafening in the confined space, brought the sleepers from the big room, one of them carrying a blazing brand from the fire.
`Hell, what's broke loose?' Lanty cried.
`Somebody after the girl,' Bardoe replied.
By the unsteady light of the improvised torch they surveyed the crumpled, supine form of Lamond; a key was gripped in his right hand.
`Well, I warned him,' the killer said dispassionately.
`Where'd he git that key?' Lanty asked.
`One o' the other doors, I guess; thought it'd fit, which it might've,' Bull said. `Take him away--she's stirrin'.' He called out : `It's awright, ma'am; a gun went off accidental-like.'
Two of the men carried the limp body into an empty room. `He allus was a fool 'bout females,' one of them said, as they dumped it on the floor.
Chapter XX
Breakfast was over in Shadow Valley, and the nester, with Sudden, had ridden down to the gate, where Quilt was on duty. The foreman seemed worried.
`Hope you ain't keepin' them S P steers long, Nick,' he said. `Our feed is limited, an' they make me uneasy, anyway.'
`They'll be gone soon,' was the reply. `Who in blazes is this acomin'?'
Sudden studied the approaching bunch of riders, ten in all. `It's the sheriff, an' seein' he's fetched along plenty assistance, it spells trouble,' he remarked.
`Get the other boys, Quilt,' Drait said. `It may come to a scrap, but we'll hear what he has to say first.'
Emboldened by his superior force, Camort rode right up to the barrier. Drait, standing in his stirrups, asked, `What might you want?'
`You,' was the blunt answer. `I got a warrant.'
`
Again?' Nick said, with a shrug. `Don't you ever get tired o' doin' the same things?'
`This'll be the last time. Open up, we're comin' in.'
`You don't say?' The rest of the outfit had arrived. `There's on'y six of us, but we're good, an' this wall ain't easy to climb. Let's have a look at yore authority.'
The sheriff handed up the document, and Drait read it. `The old charge--stealin' cows from the S P. Dug up some fresh evidence, Stinker?'
`Yeah, an' we're here to see it don't run away.'
Nick was studying the visitors. `Half o' you from the Big C. So Cullin's in this, huh?'
`Quit foolin' an' let us in,' the officer said. `I want them cows.'
`To put in as witnesses?' Drait asked. `Now, I'll give you a choice; the herd stays where it is until the Judge makes an order, an' I give myself up, or--you can let yore wolf loose.'
Camort considered the proposition. His main purpose was to secure the person named in his warrant. He had talked boldly to Cullin, but faced with danger, he had no stomach for it. His followers showed no enthusiasm for the task of scaling that wall in the face of six skilled gun-wielders. In a battle his office would not protect him. Sudden's sardonic eye settled the matter; he seemed to be deciding where to plant his bullet.
`Well, that's fair enough,' the sheriff said.
Drait turned to his companions. `Take notice I'm goin' willin'ly. If I'm shot in the back....'
`I'm comin' with yu, Nick,' Sudden put in. `Any dirty work an' Midway will be shy a sheriff.'
Camort scowled; he did not like the arrangement, but was powerless to prevent it. Drait unbuckled his belt and tossed it to his foreman.
`Take care o' that, an' hold the Valley against all comers,' he said.
`Shore will,' Quilt said dourly. 'Yo're playin' the hand, Nick; me, I'd sooner argued with 'em.'
With a gloomy face, he saw them depart, Drait and the puncher riding together, the posse--split into two groups--in front and oehind, a disposition which evoked the nester's contempt.
`Cautious man, Stinker,' he commented. `Well, Jim, once more yo're right--I was a bonehead to cache the cattle in the Valley. Wonder how that worm got on to it?'
`Somebody saw you fetch 'em in,' Sudden surmised. `It's serious this time.'
`I'm believin' you. Rustlin' is bad, but robbin' a woman, my--friend, is damned bad. An' the truth ain't worth tellin'.' Their arrival in town was witnessed by many. Looking at the faces, Drait soon realised that public feeling was not in his favour; men he knew well avoided his eye. Pilch was not of these; the size of the posse gave him an opening.
`On'y ten to bring in a desp'rit character like Nick?' he said loudly. 'Yo're takin' chances, Stinker. Think what a loss you'd be; we'd have nobody to laugh at.'
Having seen his friend safely installed in the calaboose and made a mental plan of the place, Sudden returned to the Valley in the late afternoon and found another problem awaiting him. Yorky had come racing in with the news that the mistress of the S P had vanished. At first it was assumed that she had gone for an early morning ride, as her saddle and pony were missing, but when, after some hours she did not appear, it was discovered that her bed had not been used. Then the saddled pony drifted in, and the outfit spread out to scour the range. Yorky came for help. No, the foreman didn't send him.
Sudden nodded. `How does he figure this out?'
`Well, her hat an' coat is gone, an' the door to the veranda unbolted. Sturm suggests she went to sleep over th' fire an' wakin' in daylight, took a tide to freshen up an' met with an accident. Brownie was a pet an' would come
