Under the scrutiny of those staring eyes the foreman shifted uncomfortably; he had the feeling that his inmost thoughts were being dragged out.
'I got nothin' agin him,' he protested.
'He may come to see me--if he has the nerve.'
Lagley essayed a grin. 'That'll fetch him, but he's gotta be handled with gloves--he ain't no common roughneck.'
'I shall deal with him as I think fit,' came the snub. 'By the way, I want more three-year-olds; arrange that some are --available.' He threw some bills on the table. 'There's your pay; see that you continue to earn it.'
The foreman picked up the money and would have given something for the courage to fling it in the face of the master who treated him so cavalierly, but self-interest and a desire to we both forbade it. Silver, with a smirk which uncovered his usks, showed him out, and then returned with his great shoulders shaking.
'What's amusing you, Silver?' the masked man asked. 'They's all the same, Chief,' rumbled the deep voice. 'Come in, steppin' high, with their heads up, an' slinks out ails tucked in. Never seen the fella could out-face you. Dunno how you do it.'
The thin lips curved in a gratified smile. 'The ability to rule is born in a man,' Satan said. 'I have the gift. Tomorrow, you shall see me tame this gunfighter.'
But the morrow brought no Sudden to Hell City. The foreman delivered the message, not quite in the condescending form in which it had been given--'He'll be glad to meetcha,' was how he put it--and Sudden had received it omewhat nonchalantly.
'I'll chew it over. Mebbe drop in one day.'
'Don't leave it too long,' Lagley warned. 'He ain't the patient kind.'
He got a look he could not put a meaning to. 'I'm a bit short on patience myself,' the puncher replied. 'Also, I ain't kow-towin' to any road-agent who's afeard to show his face.'
'Wait till yu see him; yu'll talk different.'
'P'raps, but first he's gotta wait till he sees me,' Sudden retorted. 'I'll choose my own time.'
So it came about that several days passed before the black horse carried him along the narrow causeway which wound through the foothills, and, rising with increasing steepness, led to the ponderous portal of Hell City. Approaching it, one could not help being struck by the natural strength of its position. Many centuries back, the place must have been a pass through the crest of a high plateau, but some mighty convulsion had torn away the cliff on the right, leaving a mereshell of rock with a precipitous face mounting abruptly from the valley. This shell formed one side of the bandit stronghold.
Pacing slowly along, Sudden's eyes were busy, but he did not halt until he reached the gate. It opened at once, to disclose a burly-looking ruffian, holding a rifle levelled from the hip. The visitor knew that his approach must have been observed; he had already decided upon his attitude.
'Are you Sudden?' the man asked.
'Folks have found me all that,' was the reply.
'I've had word to let you pass, but yo're after yore time; the Chief don't like to be kept waitin'.'
'Is that so? Well, I don't like it neither, an' yo're keepin' both of us waitin',' Sudden reminded, adding sharply, 'I'll have to tell him....'
With a look of alarm, the custodian fell back, his bluster gone. 'No call to do that, stranger.'
His eyes followed the black as it stepped unhurriedly along the street; the rider appeared to have forgotten his haste. 'A killer, shore enough,' he muttered. 'Had me covered, too, damn him.' He slammed the gate and then chuckled. 'The Chief'll take the starch out'n him, good an' plenty.'
The puncher paced on until he reached the point where he had seen Lagley vanish, and then pulled up beside a group of three men, slouch-hatted, unshaven, heavily armed, who surveyed him with insolent hostility.
'Where's yore boss hang out?' he asked brusquely.
All three scowled, but one jerked a thumb over his shoulder. They watched him dismount and trail the reins, their greedy eyes on the horse. He spoke again.
'Keep away from him or he'll kill yu, an' if he don't, I will.'
The faces of the men he warned grew darker, and one of them growled, 'Who the devil are you to give us orders?'
'My name is `Sudden,' ' the puncher rasped. 'Put yore paws up, all o' vu, pronto !'
As he spat out the last word his own hands came up, a gun in each. Utterly taken by surprise, the ruffians dared not disobey; the jutting jaw and icy narrowed eyes were not those of a bluffer.
'Run, yu rats,' came the harsh command, and a bullet tore the heel from the boot of the last to start.
The gunman waited until they had dived, like the vermin to which he had compared them, into one of the openings, and then hammered loudly on the door with the butt of a gun. It was opened immediately by Silver, who beckoned him in. The masked man was lolling in a big chair, reading, and took no notice when they entered. The puncher seated himself, pushed his hat back, and began to roll a cigarette. Presently the book was thrown aside.
'You are `Sudden'?'
'Men call me that,' the cowboy replied. 'I s'pose yo're `Satan'?'
'That's what I call myself. you have taken your time.'
'Why should I come a-runnin' when yu whistle?' Sudden said rudely. 'I ain't nobody's dawg.'
The expressionless eyes did not alter, but he saw the mouth harden; the blow had gone home.
'I heard a shot outside. What happened?'
'Three o' yore scum got impudent; I had to educate 'em some.'
'Was it to find me you came to Arizona?'
'Never heard o' yu till I got to Dugout--robber bands ain't no novelty in the West,' Sudden said carelessly. 'I was just travellin'--for my health.'
A flash of anger shone in the dull eyes but was gone in an instant. This truculent bully must be given a lesson, the masked man decided.
'I have something to show you,' he announced. 'When you have seen it, we will continued our conversation.'
At a sign, Silver dragged aside a rug and raised a trapdoor, disclosing a ladder. He went down, and Satan motioned his guest to follow. Little as he appreciated the courtesy, the puncher--conscious that he was between the two fires--could not but comply. A moment, and the third man had joined them. The chamber they were now in was a counterpart of the one they had left, save that it was unfurnished. Daylight, entering by a hole on one side, revealed only what Sudden took to be a pile of rags, until a deep groan apprised him that they covered a human form.
'Still alive,' the masked man said, and there was a horrible satisfaction in his tone. 'Good!'
'What's he done?' the visitor asked.
'you don't know the Governor of Arizona, I expect?' Satan replied, watching him keenly.
Sudden laughed. 'Sheriffs is my limit thataway, so far.'
'The Governor is good enough to take an interest in me,' the hard voice went on. 'He has already sent two spies. The first went back ready for burial, and this one will be returned in the same way when I have finished with him. Lagley said you could shoot. I am about to test your skill. Lift him, Silver.'
The dwarf raised the supine form as though it had been that of an infant, and the puncher needed all his iron control to suppress a cry of horror. Never had he seen a more dreadful sight. Through the tattered fragments of clothing the shrivelled frame of the poor wretch gleamed like the bleached bones of a skeleton, the limbs swinging loosely, as if tied on with string. Long, matted white hair and beard draped a pallid, blood-drained face, with sunken cheeks, glazed eyes, and drooling lips.
Sudden schooled his features to an expression of callous indifference; he had found Dolver--too late; the man was dying; he might live for days, enduring unspeakable agony, but there was no hope. He fought an impulse to shoot down the devil who now stood, gloating over his handiwork, but it was Keith's son, and to slay the leader only would but make way for another. Even if he got out of Hell City alive--which was doubtful--his work would be still to do. In a voice he hardly recognized, he asked:
'What's wrong with his arms an' legs?'
'Broken at the knees and elbows--it saves the trouble of bonds,' the monster explained. 'How I wish the
