'Well, it amounted to that, an' the 01' Man is hoppin' mad --didn't like Merry's outfit gettin' ahead of us. I heard him give Steve his opinion, an' he made hisself plain.'
'He's hard to please. yu got the natural increase, too.'
'Yu bet. Why, in that short while the herd had more'n doubled, an' the curious thing was, the calves had all been born branded an' grooved to full size. Ain't Nature wonderful?'
'Shore is,' Sudden agreed gravely. 'How would the Double K like to give Mister Satan a jolt?'
'Try us,' Frosty urged, adding slyly, 'Anyways, it's our turn, ain't it?'
'Smart lad, huh?' the other grinned.
'Pickles! I know that Twin Diamond bunch--blind as bats. S'pose yu had to use 'ein, but don't tell me--'
'I won't, yore mouth opens easy as a saloon door. Now listen.' He told what he had learned of the bank robbery.
'It will have to be a private play, just yu an' Lazy--they won't know there's on'y two o' yu. Say yo're goin' to Dugout. I'd take a hand but I gotta be where I can be seen. I'm guessin' them jaspers will arrive this evenin' an' use the west gate. If I'm wrong, yu'll be outa luck.'
'Shore will, with the nights cold as they is,' his friend said feelingly. 'But if they do show up?'
'Short o' Hell City there's a split in the trail, with plenty cover; yu can stand 'em up there. One o' yu can heave their hardware into the brush, collect the cash--it'll be in a leather bag--an' stampede the hosses, while the other keeps 'em covered. By the time they've hoofed it into town, yu'll be past pursuit. Take the plunder to Merry an' tell him to send it by a shore hand to the Bosville sheriff. Yu sabe?'
'Sounds simple,' Frosty lied cheerfully, and then, 'Thirty thousand is a wad o' money. Yu could swipe it yore-self, head for California, an'--'
'Be the skunk the world tried to make me,' Sudden finished. 'No, yu snow-topped calamity, I'm workin' for somethin' more than easy money.'
'It's devilish risky,' Frosty offered. 'If Satan learns he's been sold out by a man in his pay
'Back up,' Sudden broke in. 'Get this into the knob yu put yore hat on: I've never had a nickel from him an' ain't goin' to. Now, so long, an' good luck for to-night.'
With puzzled eyes the Double K rider watched him disappear into a near-by ravine. 'He shore has got me guessin',' he ruminated. 'Passes up a chance to hive thirty thousand bucks, won't take no pay, an'--hell, it gives me a headache. I hope them bank-busters drift in.' He smote his pony a flat-handed smack on the rump and sat easily rocking in the saddle while the outraged animal expressed disapproval in a mild bout of bucking. 'G'wan, yu son of a wall-eyed mule, we got a li'l jape to put over an' it's goin' to be fun.'
That the 'li'l jape' had been duly 'put over' Sudden got news in the morning, when Silver arrived at the saloon with an urgent summons from the Chief.
'He's wantin' you immediate,' he objected, when the puncher casually promised to come along. 'I gotta take you back, or he'll skin me. All het up, he is--never seed him so rathy.'
'What's the trouble?' Sudden enquired.
'Guess he'll tell you hisself,' was the cautious reply. 'Best watch yore step, an' keep yore han's still.'
Sudden thought little of the warning, but later he was to remember it. The bandit chief was pacing savagely up and down. At the sight of the puncher he stopped and snapped:
'Where did you spend last night?'
Sudden looked surprised. 'In Dirk's,' he said. 'Takin' the wool off some o' yore lambs who fancied they could play poker; it cost them near a hundred good dollars to learn different. Easy pickin's, I'm tellin' yu.'
'How long were you there?'
'All the evenin'. Cashed in after midnight--got tired o' slaughterin' the innocents--an' hit the hay. What's bitin' yu?'
Through the slits in the mask, the fierce eyes bored into the puncher's impassive face.
'I've been robbed,' Satan said vehemently. 'You alone knew those men were due from Bosville.'
'Yu didn't tell me when or which way they'd come. Ain't they arrived?'
'Yes, on foot, with a tale of being held up, money and weapons taken, and horses driven off.'
Sudden whistled. 'Sounds a bit lame, but mebbe they're feelin' thataway, having walked,' he grinned, and got a glare which did not disturb him. 'S'pose they've cached the stuff--'
'Then why come back at all?' Satan interjected.
'If they can make their story stick, they'd have nothin' to fear from yu.'
The masked man shook his head; conceit would not permit the thought that any of his underlings would dare so far.
'Another thing, I reckon yu ain't the on'y subscriber to that Bosville paper. Some fellas may've seen it, an' guessed right.'
'I doubt if there is another copy within twenty miles. You seem very anxlous to pin the blame on someone.'
Sudden's reply was a question, 'Did the hold-up happen before midnight?' and when the other nodded, he went on, 'What more do yu want? There's on'y one o' me, an' twenty of yore own men can tell yu where I was. Have some sense.'
With an air of disgust, he reached for his 'makings' and stepped back just as a gun roared and a bullet chipped the stone wall behind the spot where he had been standing. In a flash his own weapons were out, one covering the bandit, the other the picture, wreathing smoke from which showed whence the shot had come.
'What the hell's the meanin' o' that?' he grated.
The masked man stood motionless. 'I don't know,' he said calmly. 'Silver!'
The uncouth attendant slid into view, a smoking pistol in one shaking hand. 'I was just cleanin' her an' she done went off,' he stammered. 'I warn't meanin' no harm.'
'You might have killed one of us; I'll deal with you later,' his master said threateningly. 'Quite an accident, you see, Sudden. The lout knows nothing of firearms, but will carry one.'
'Yeah,' Sudden replied, and stepped nearer the painting. 'Why, if yu ain't lucky; the bullet came right through the muzzle o' the gun so the picture ain't hurt none; can't see the hole less yu look close.'
Satan could detect no raillery in the voice and again found himself debating whether he was dealing with a clever man or a fool. He expressed his surprise at the remarkable coincidence.
'Comin' back to cases, I'm reckoned pretty useful at readin' sign,' Sudden said. 'The scene o' the holdup might tell me somethin'--if I can find it.'
'The men said it took place where the road from the west gate divides,' Satan replied.
'Ain't been so far in that direction,' the puncher said easily. 'I'll let yu know if I hit on anythin'.' On his way out, he slapped Silver on the shoulder and cried, 'Cheer up, Beautiful, a miss is as good as a mile, yu know.'
Which boisterous exit left the bandit deeper in doubt than ever, and did not improve his temper. With a bitter oath, he vented his spleen on the one object available.
'Come here, you clumsy clown,' he called. 'What possessed you to fire without the signal?'
Silver lumbered forward, his ungainly form trembling. 'Guessed he was goin' for his gun,' he quavered. 'Was scared he'd git you.'
'Get me?' was the retort. 'Did you think I was asleep? He's fast, but I could beat him. You have made me ridiculous --he was laughing at me, damn him. Another break like that and Muley shall take the flesh from your ugly, misshapen carcase and feed what is left to the coyotes. Get out of my sight, you freak.'
Long ago he had learned that reference to his deformities cut the poor brute to the heart, and he delighted in the use of the knowledge. Turning his back contemptuously, he failed to see a look which would have made him thoughtful.
Chapter XVII
Satisfaction at the Double K over the rebuff to the rustlers was not as great as might have been expected. There had always been a friendly rivalry between the two ranches, and the fact that the Twin Diamond had undoubtedly scored, though it was to the Double K's advantage, rankled with both owner and outfit. Some of the latter had another reason for not exulting unduly, and of these the foreman was the most disgruntled.
'Can't figure it nohow,' he said to Turvey. 'Somebody must 'a' put them lunkheads wise. Jeff'll be mad.'
'No blame to us anyway,' the little man replied. 'Our boys didn't find 'em. If there's bin a leak it's from Hell
