The thin lips under the mask parted slightly. ' `In the midst of life ...' ' he quoted. 'He may--meet with--an accident.'
There was no mistaking the sinister insinuation and the girl's face blanched. 'Your own father!' she exclaimed, horror-struck.
'My own father,' he repeated mockingly, 'who told me I was no son of his, and desires nothing so much as my death.'
'I do not believe it.'
'It is true; I have a means of knowing.'
'You trust your spies?' she asked scornfully.
'I trust no one,' he told her. 'My knowledge comes from myself; ignorant folk call it witchcraft, black magic, or the like; actually it is a gift of divination. It enabled me to be sure of your presence here this morning.'
'Impossible ! I did not decide to come this way until after I had set out.'
'Nevertheless, I knew, and so came to meet you. I wanted to see you because, changed as I am in many ways, one thing remains unaltered--my feeling for you. There has never been anyone else.'
'Rumour tells a different tale,' she said coldly.
'And rumour--as usual--lies. I saved a woman from imprisonment, but she is nothing to me. I cared for you, Joan, and if that domineering old autocrat--'
'You shall not speak of him so,'' she cried heatedly.
'Incredible!' he murmured. 'Why, you are not even of his blood.'
'He has been a father to me, and I love him as a daughter,' she said warmly, and then, 'Jeff, I think I hate you.'
For a long moment the man gazed at her, noting the tanned, flushed cheeks, the firm, ripe lips, and the curling tendrils of golden hair trembling in the light breeze. Desire glowed for an instant in his stony eyes.
'You think so, but it is not the case,' he replied. 'When Keith gave me the air, you had an affection for me.'
'Which, if indeed it ever existed, you have effectually slain,' she said passionately.
'No, it is dormant maybe, but one kiss from me will bring it to life.'
His effrontery infuriated her. 'Never,' she stormed. 'You, a would-be parricide ...'
She turned to go, but he was too quick. Ere she could guess his intention, a touch of the spurs sent his horse close to her own and he had gripped her by the wrist and waist.
'Don't struggle, Joan,' he panted, his voice thick with passion. 'You are mine. One day we will reign together at the Double K, my lovely queen.'
Frantically she strove to free herself but without avail. The red mask was before her eyes, the avid lips beneath it seeking her own. She wrenched her head aside and struck with her loose hand. The blow drew an oath from her assailant.
'Damn you,' he gritted. 'I'll--'
'Let the lady go, right now, if yu wanta live,' a steely voice finished.
With a start of surprise, the masked man released his captive and swung round to face the speaker, a cowboy on a black horse. He was spinning a gun by the trigger-guard and appeared to be deeply interested in the operation.
'Who the hell told you to interfere?' Satan exploded.
The cowboy looked at him. 'I don't need tellin' to protect a woman from insult,' he said.
'There was no question of that,' the other snapped. 'We are old friends, aren't we, Joan?'
The girl ignored him. 'I was very pleased to see you, Green,' she said, in a still shaky voice.
'Better head for the ranch, ma'am; I'll take care this hombre don't pester yu no more,' Sudden advised. 'Yu didn't oughta use this part o' the range--too many varmints about.'
'Yes,' she agreed, and without a glance at the masked man, rode away.
No sooner was she out of hearing than Satan turned furiously upon the interloper, who was still playing with his pistol.
'What's the meaning of this?' he asked. 'Are you working for me or not?'
'Shore I am,' the puncher returned easily. 'I've just done yu a service. See here, I'm ridin' for Keith. How long d'yu s'pose I'd be doin' that if I stood by when his daughter was needin' help?'
'She didn't see you.'
'She did; I was right close before I recognized yu.'
'I don't allow people I pay to correct me, even if I'm wrong.'
'Then yu can call the deal off--I ain't riskin' my neck for a fool,' Sudden said bluntly. 'Yu were tryin' to do somethin' no decent girl would ever forgive. Miss Keith is a lady, not a dance-hall dame.' He returned the glare in the sated eyes. 'If yu an' me are to tread the same trail there's one thing yu gotta keep in mind, that I ain't one o' the gaol-sweepin's yu got herded up in Hell City.'
The bandit did not reply at once. He knew that the cowboy was right--he had behaved unwisely, to say the least of it.
The girl's loveliness had shattered the shield of icy indifference behind which he was wont to hide. This saturnine gunman had saved him from committing an irretrievable blunder, and though he felt no gratitude, he did not wish to lose him. So, when he spoke again, the anger had gone.
'It is true. I acted like a half-wit, but I had not seen Joan for a long time and her beauty swept me off my feet. I am sorry.' He laughed shortly. 'Rescuing damsels in distress seems to be a habit of yours. Miss Dalroy--'
'She told yu?'
'There was no need; I saw it all, though I was in Hell City at the time.' He read the other's expression, and added, 'You don't believe there are men who see things their fellows cannot?'
'I've met 'em; it was allus a case of too much tangle-foot.'
Satan shrugged. 'I can't convince you, of course, but I venture to predict that Joan will beg you not to mention her meeting with me. Adios, my friend; it may be I have misjudged you; we shall yet do things to our mutual advantage.'
He waved a hand, spurred his mount, and was soon lost in the vegetation which clothed the lower slopes of the hills. The cowboy spat in disgust.
'Play-actor, but a damn dangerous one,' he muttered. 'Friend, huh? I'd sooner tie up with a rattlesnake. Oughta rubbed him out, but I'm bettin' the girl still thinks of him as he used to be, which ain't goin' to help me any.'
Confirmation of this view came as he approached the ranch that evening and saw Joan herself riding towards him. She turned her horse when they met.
'I want to thank you for--this morning,' she began. 'What happened?'
Sudden saw her anxiety, and smiled. 'Why, just nothin'a-tall,' he replied. 'I told that hombre he'd find the hills more healthy, an' he drifted.'
Her relief was obvious. 'This is the second service you have done me,' she said, 'and I am going to ask a third: will you please keep silent about this unfortunate affair? Knowledge of it would only embitter my father still more, and might drive him to some desperate reprisal.'
'Anythin' yu say, goes, ma'am,' the cowboy said quietly. 'If I hadn't guessed who he was ...'
She smiled her gratitude. 'I can't understand,' she confided. 'He was always wild, impetuous, but never mean or dishonourable. He seemed older too, and almost--inhuman.'
'Broodin' over an injustice ages an' sours a man plenty fast,' he told her, and--not knowing his own story-- she was surprised at the venom in his voice. Then he added something he did not in the least believe, 'Mebbe he ain't so bad as folks figure--I've knowed such cases.'
The words made her think. Was he himself one of the cases he had 'knowed'? She could not decide, but it seemed difficult to credit that this grave young man, whose rare smile transformed his face into that of a boy, could be a notorious killer. Perhaps he had only said it to comfort her. Impulsively she held out her hand.
'Thank you again,' she said, and spurred her pony.
Sudden's eyes followed her. 'Nig, there's fools yu couldn't drag into heaven at the end of a rope,' he told his horse.
