failed to see the look of desire in the animal eyes.
The Chief was standing at one of the deep, curtained openings which did duty as windows, from which could be seen a considerable portion of the great basin. Less than a dozen miles distant, to the east, lay the settlement of Dugout. From the windows themselves, the cliff face fell, almost vertically, to the tree-tops a hundred feet below.
'Did you have a nice ride, Belle?' he asked.
'yes, and no,' she replied. 'I wish you wouldn't wear that hideous disguise when I come to visit you.'
Her petulance appeared to amuse him. 'Hideous?' he repeated. 'I think it rather intriguing, and--as I am tired' of telling you--I have made a vow. And it is useful to me; the unknown fascinates the ignorant and keeps them interested; you know, one can weary of even the most lovely things, and it is a theory of mine that if married couples wore masks there would be fewer unhappy unions.'
The quaint suggestion made her smile. 'If I thought you were serious, Jeff, I would get one,' she replied.
Instantly his humour changed. 'I think I referred to married couples,' he retorted crushingly, and laughed at the furious look the reminder evoked. 'Ah, now you are angry--a beautiful wild-cat, who would use her claws--if she dared.'
The pale blue eyes challenged her; they had, at times, the curious quality of appearing to be dead, expressionless, as though made of stone. The girl was silent, held by the un-winking gaze of those lifeless orbs.
'Where did you ride?' he asked.
'South, through the gorges, to a high, flat-topped hill. I don't know the name.'
'Battle Mesa,' he told her. 'Many years ago, the Hopi Indian tribe which dwelt in these commodious but somewhat incomplete apartments was almost exterminated there by Apaches--hence the name. Foolish of them to fight in the open--this rock stronghold is impregnable.'
'You are very sure of yourself, Jeff, but one day the Governor will move,' she said.
'When he does I shall know of it, and all his plans,' he boasted. 'You do not believe me. Listen: didn't I warn you that the mountain lion could be dangerous? Well, you know now that it is so. But for the advent of a stranger the coyotes would be wrangling over your broken bones at the foot of the Mesa cliff.'
'You saw?' she cried in amazement.
'I have not been out of this place,' he replied. 'Yet I watched your pony, crazy with fear, carrying you to destruction. Luckily, a tall, dark cowboy, on a black horse, arrived in time to rope your mount and shoot the beast pursuing you. A capable fellow, that Mister Green, of the Double K.'
The completeness of his information struck her dumb. She did not doubt him, for she knew how seldom he went abroad. It was incredible--and disturbing.
'I trust you did not tell him anything about yourself?' he continued.
'You should know,' she answered.
'I do,' he said quietly. 'You even refused his escort, which was wise. I only asked--'
'To see if I would lie to you,' she cut in passionately. 'Precisely,' he confessed. 'I have faith in none, save, perhaps, Silver, who would die rather than betray me.'
'A mere brute.'
'True, but one who, at a word from me, would tear you to shreds,' he replied. 'Now, I must find a way to thank this man who has put me in his debt.' The sneering smile expressed anything but gratitude. 'In future, you must not ride alone--it is too dangerous.'
'Life here is so damned dull, Jeff,' she urged. 'One might as well be--'
'In a penitentiary, were you about to say?' he enquired icily.
The blood left her cheeks and she said no more.
Chapter IX
A week passed and life on the Double K ranch pursued the even tenor of its way. The two punchers continued to patrol the northern boundary, but encountered no further sign of rustlers. Twice Sudden climbed again to Battle Mesa. His explanation to his companion--received with profane disbelief--was that the lady might give information of use when it came to an open clash with Hell City.
'Just wastin' yore time,' Frosty said. 'If she's Satan's woman, she'll be talkin' on his side; yu'll on'y get lies.'
'Dessay yo're right, for once,' the other conceded. 'Allasame, she could let slip a pointer, unmeanin'.'
A small discovery puzzled Sudden. Rummaging in his. war-bag one evening, he found that something was missing. This was a roughly printed notice offering the sum of five hundred dollars for the capture of--himself, wanted for robbery and murder. Though it had been issued some years earlier, the descriptions both of man and horse were sufficiently near to make recognition almost inevitable. It bore the name of the sheriff of Fourways, Texas. Sudden had brought it for a definite purpose, and he wished to use it in his own way. He went at once to the ranch-house.
'Well, Green, what's the trouble?' his employer asked. 'None a-tall, seh--yet,' Sudden replied, adding, 'Yu hired me in the dark.'
'I backed my judgment.'
'Yeah, an' I'm askin' yu to keep on doin' that, no matter what tale comes to yu. Mebbe yu'll be shown what 'pears to be, an' is, certain proof, but I want yu to remember I'm playin' straight with yu, right to the end o' the game.'
The rancher sat silent, considering the maker of this odd request, but he could read nothing in the lean, tanned, immobile face. From the first he had taken to this competent-looking stranger, instinct with youth yet moulded by experience into a man. Had his own son been of this type ..
He dismissed the thought with a gesture of impatience.
'This is all very mysterious, Green,' he said.
'I'm askin' a whole lot, seh,' the puncher admitted.
'Very well,' Keith said. 'After all, a person's past is no concern of other folks, except perhaps--a sheriff's.'
Sudden was not to be drawn. 'I'm thankin' yu, seh.'
From his seat on the verandah the Colonel watched his visitor return to the bunkhouse, moving with a long swinging stride which told of supple joints and perfectly coordinating muscles.
'He moves like a cougar,' he murmured. 'Wonder what he's done? Doesn't look a desperate character, but ...' The gravel crunched as the foreman came hurrying up. 'Anything to report, Steve?'
'Betcha life,' Lagley replied triumphantly. 'That fella vu took on, who calls hisself Green, dropped this. Might interest yu.'
The rancher read the damning document slowly. 'The descriptions arc certainly similar, but that may be just a coincidence,' he said.
'What's he totin' it around for, then?'
'As a curiosity, perhaps. If it really concerned himself, I imagine he would have destroyed it.'
'Oh, these killers have their pride,' Lagley fleered. 'As for it bein' him, there ain't no doubt; Turvey was in Texas 'bout the time this hombre was raisin' hell there, an' had to skip 'cause things got too lively. No, he never seen him, but afriend o' his was rubbed out tryin' to stop this Sudden when he made a getaway from San Antonio, with a sheriff's posse behind him.'
Keith deliberated. This was the tale he had been warned might come to him. The new hand had discovered his loss and acted promptly; that was the kind of man he wanted. 'What do you suppose brought him here?' was his question.
'Headed for Hell City, I'd say,' the foreman replied. 'Then he runs into trouble with Roden an' figures it ain't goin' to make him over-welcome there, so when yu push a job at him he naturally jumps at it.'
'Admirably reasoned.'
'An' yu can add that Mister Satan would be damn glad to put on his pay-roll a fella already on yourn.'
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