'So that's how the Chief knew,' Scar remarked.
Squint bristled.
'If yo're meanin' I told him--'
'I ain't--you wouldn't be so dumb. Satan don't trust nobody, damn him, an' Silver was watchin'.'
'Good for him--I'd never 'a' made it,' Squint said. 'All I want now is a peek at that Green hombre over the hind-sight of a gun.'
'An' all you'll want arter that will be a wooden box to rot in,' Scar told him. 'The Chief has put the bars up on the gent.'
'Sufferin' serpents ! why?'
'He didn't say--must 'a' forgot to, mebbe,' was the ironical reply.
'Bars or no bars, I'm gettin' even for this,' the wounded man growled, tapping his bandaged thigh.
Scar laughed harshly. 'We shall shorely miss you, Squint.'
* When the two punchers returned to the Double K they found its owner in conversation with his foreman. Sudden fancied that the latter's brow darkened a little when they rode up, but he could not be sure. Frosty told the tale of the day's doings, merely giving the facts.
'They were putting Merry's brand on my cows?' Keith asked, when the cowboy concluded. 'Why should they do that?'
'Jim figured it was to get yu in bad with the Twin Diamond.'
'Pretty far-fetched reason, that,' the foreman commented.
'Can you think of a better one?' his employer snapped. 'What was Merry's view?'
'He agreed it was like enough, an' said for me to tell yu he's buyin' the cows,' Frosty replied. 'The brandin' was mighty careless.'
'Did you know the men?'
'The two at the fire was Greasers, three more was in the ruckus at Sam's, Jim sez; we didn't see the other.'
The rancher pondered for a moment. 'If it didn't seem impossible, one might think they were waiting for you.'
'Shore looked thataway,' Frosty said bluntly. 'The fire was bound to be seen if anybody rode within miles.'
Lagley's laugh was scornful. 'They claim Satan is a wizard, but I reckon he can't guess as good as that,' he said. 'Ain't but once in a while we ride that line.'
He regretted the words as soon as they were spoken. Keith whirled on him. 'Is--that--so?' he said slowly. 'No wonder I'm losing stock when you leave the door wide open for rustlers. Why don't you put up a board with `Welcome' on it?'
The foreman's hard face flushed beneath the tan at this savage sarcasm. 'We ain't strong enough to fight Hell City,' he said sullenly. 'Though I'm bettin' we'll have to now.' This with a baleful glare at the two punchers.
'If you are blaming these two men for to-day's work you can forget it,' the Colonel said brusquely. 'I am only sorry they couldn't exterminate them all. Green, I've something to say to you.' He waited until the others had gone, and then, 'What's your opinion of Lagley?'
'Ain't got one--yet,' was the non-committal reply. 'Some of the men don't like him.'
'A popular foreman is either mighty good or mighty poor,' Sudden stated, and changed the subject. 'How many men does this Hell City jasper have?'
'Rumour says anything from thirty to fifty.'
'Split the difference an' call it two score. Ain't it odd that out of all them, three at least should be the ones I tangled with?'
'True,' Keith agreed. 'I think you were expected. Well, probably Lagley is right, it means war.' His face became set with a swift resolve. 'Have you been told that this masked miscreant is my--son?'
'Yeah, by folk who don't believe it.'
'The evidence leaves little doubt,' the rancher replied, with icy calmness. 'Even if it be so, the welfare of the community demands that he be brought to justice.' The stern voice did not falter, but the gaunt, white face told what an effort the word had cost. It was some moments before he spoke again. 'What do you propose to do?'
'It's his turn to move,' the puncher pointed out. 'Me an' Frosty will scout around like we did to-day; I want to get wise to the country.'
When he returned to the bunkhouse, he found it in a state of excitement over the defeat of the rustlers.
'Sorta levels up for poor ol' Tim,' one said.
'Huh!' Lanky snorted. 'A dozen Greasers wouldn't do that.'
The jubilation was not quite universal, several of the older men taking a pessimistic view of the matter. Turvey spoke plainly.
'Askin' for trouble, I'd say,' was how he put it. 'What's a few steers compared with a man's life?'
'How about that time yu shot a fella for tryin' to cheat yu out'n a measly ten dollars?' Frosty asked, recalling a story Turvey was fond of telling.
'That was different,' the other defended.
'Yeah, the dollars was yourn, the steers is the 01' Man's,' was the pointed reply.
'Yu kids think yu know it all, an' then some. When yu git yore growth ...'
Lazy headed off the impending quarrel. 'What d'yu reckon Mister Satan will do?' he enquired of the company at large.
'Tuck his tail into his rump an' punch the breeze, pronto, o' course,' Turvey sneered. 'Me, I'd be scared to death to know Frosty was after my scalp.'
That young man shared in the laugh. 'Yu ain't got no scalp, yu bald-headed ol' buzzard,' he said genially.
Lagley had listened to the discussion in frowning silence. Now he spoke. 'Green, yu'll ride the north line for a spell. I figure, after the fright yu've given 'em'--the sarcasm was pronounced--'one man'll be enough.'
Frosty started to open his mouth, but closed it again when he caught his friend's warning glance. Later, Sudden contrived to find the foreman alone.
'Oh, Lagley, I didn't say nothin' before the others, but the Colonel said for me an' Frosty to double-team it,' he explained.
The foreman's eyes flashed. 'O' course, if yo're afeard to go it alone--' he began.
Sudden laughed. 'I'm shakin' in my shoes, but when the owner--Keith is that, I s'pose?--gives orders ...'
'They gotta be obeyed, huh, even if the foreman don't agree?'
'I wasn't sayin' that, but the hand the orders is given to has to carry 'em out. The foreman can argue--'
'Me argue with that bull-headed ol' fool?' Lagley savagely interrupted. 'I got somethin' better to do. If he wants to run his damned ranch to hellangone ...'
He stalked angrily away, leaving the cowboy in a thoughtful mood.
Chapter VIII
The following morning found the friends on the scene of the previous day's encounter, which, Sudden now learned, was known as Coyote Canyon. The bodies had gone, but not far, as two newly made mounds of stones testified. The ashes of the fire had been covered with sand.
'Someone has tidied up,' was Sudden's comment. 'How far to Hell City from here?'
' 'Bout eight mile, straight along the canyon,' Frosty told him. 'Thinkin' o' payin' a visit?'
'Not till I get an invite,' was the smiling reply, and the other grinned too, never dreaming that the remark was meant.
Since their task was ostensibly the driving of strays from the stretches of scrub which clothed the foothills, they decided to separate. Two quick shots would be the signal for rejoining with the utmost speed. Frosty having departed eastwards, Sudden turned his horse's head in the opposite direction. For a mile or so, he threaded a way through clumps of thorny brush, forcing the few cattle he unearthed out on to the plain, and then turned abruptly to the north. A steady, devious climb along rocky, cactus-strewn defiles brought him at length to a lofty ledge of level ground, bare save for patches of grass, a sprinkling of gay flowers, and scattered groups of spruce and pine trees. On the far side of this expanse were more hills, with a break in the middle of them masked by forest growth. He
