'Look at it this way,' Sudden said quietly. 'Him an' his gang are plinderin' the country, killin' , stealin' cast, n' cattle, an' yo're gettin' the blame. If things get too hot, all he has to do is peel off that mask an' slide out, leavin' yu to face the music. Until now, yu alone have knowed who he is, an' yore dead body, with that strip o' velvet on it, would wipe the slate clean for him. He called yu his `ace in the hole'; it was a true word.'
The boy breathed hard and looked round helplessly. 'It ounds incredible but the facts fit,' he admitted. 'Lafe would never let me leave that cursed vault--said it was too dangerous, one of his people might give me away.'
Another thought came. 'Why didn't you take me to Red Rock? It would have been worth your while.'
'The sheriff would like to see yu, shore enough, but he ain't offerin' to pay a thousand for the privilege,' Sudden said drily. 'That was just another lie.'
'Then why did you come?'
'Yore father hired me to make war on Hell City. He :hanged his mind, but I didn't.'
'He paid a gunman to get his own son,' the boy said bitterly.
'No to prevent him getting deeper in the mire,' was the sharp reply. 'Yu were not to be harmed.'
The sneer was too much for Merry; he jumped up. 'Get his straight, Jeff,' he cried. 'Yu've been a damned young fool, but I've allus stood by yu, an' I'm thunderin' glad matters ain't as bad as we feared, but yore father is a fine man, my friend, an' I won't hear a word against him.' His anger went as quickly as it had come, and his customary smile was back as he finished, 'Except from myself.'
'I'm sorry, Mart,' Keith replied. 'My mind's in such a muddle ... Hell! I know you're all trying to help me, and I'll do anything you say, on one condition, that no news of this reaches the Double K. Possibly my father was justified, butuntil this tango: is straight out and I can go to him with clean hands ...'
'I guess that's the right play,' the rancher agreed. 'Ken is a proud man, sorely hurt, an' we gotta have absolute proof. Point is; what are we to do with yu?'
'He can stay here, but he'll have to lie close,' Sudden said. 'If that devil gets hold of him again, we're sunk. Now, I must be on my way.'
Keith held out a hand. 'I'd like to thank you,' he said. 'Do you have to go back?'
'Nothin' else for it,' Sudden replied. 'If they haven't busted in that bedroom door, I'll be sittin' pretty. Frosty will look after yore bronc, Mart.'
As they raced through the night the Double K rider put a question.
'Did yu know it was Jeff yu were goin' after, Jim?'
'No, but I suspected Satan might not be the fella he was pretendin' to be; clever as he is, he slipped up once or twice. It ain't goin' to be easy to prove.'
'But if Jeff shows hisself ...'
'Dealtry will gather him in, an' the other man will vanish. No, ol'-timer, that wouldn't work nohow; we gotta wait.' Streaks of light were showing in the eastern sky when,they reached the secret entrance, and Sudden wasted no time in making the descent. He found the tied sentry and released him.
'If the Chief finds out 'bout this he'll crucify yu,' he warned. 'I'm sayin' nothin', an' recommendin' yu to do the same.'
Confident that the advice would be taken, he made his way to the saloon, climbed to his room, and was asleep in five minutes.
Chapter XX
Sudden was aroused by a loud, insistent hammering. He had lain down fully clothed, even to his spurs, and when he stumbled across the room to fling wide the door, his tousled appearance and sleep-laden eyes were what might have been expected after the night before. The saloon-keeper was outside.
'What th' hell?' the puncher said in a surly tone. 'Can't a fella have any rest in this shebang?'
The man chuckled. 'Which I'm right distressed to cut short yore slumbers thisaway,' he said. ''Specially as you ain't had but a measly fourteen hours, but the Chief wants you--urgent.'
'Say I'll come when I'm good an' ready,' was the truculent answer.
Dirk looked concerned. 'Best mosey along, friend,' he advised. 'Dunno what's amiss, but Scar brought the message, an' he sez the Chief is murder-mad.'
Sudden slapped on his hat, jerked his gun-belt into position, and grumbling, followed his host to the bar. Roden was waiting for them, and his beady eyes gleamed maliciously as they took in the cowboy's slovenly attire and disgruntled demeanour.
'Ain't feelin' so good, huh?' he said. 'you certainly did git a skillful.'
Sudden blinked at him. 'With that load yu'd be dead to the world for another twenty-four hours,' he retorted. 'Where's Silver?'
l left him with the Chief, an' he's the scaredest man in the south-west--if he's still alive,' Scar replied.
'Bah! Silver is the on'y man he trusts,' Dirk stated.
'You don't know him; he wouldn't trust his own mother,'' Roden scoffed. 'Let's be movin'.'
Outside the entrance to the Chief's quarters several of the band were loafing, among them Squint.
'no an' take yore medicine, Sudden,' he gibed.
The puncher paused. 'Come an' get yores--now,' he offered, and when the invitation was not accepted, laughed and went in.
Somewhat of a shock awaited him; erect before the masked man, her face deathly pale, stood Anita. A few feet away, eyes fearful, and his great body shaking on his short legs, was Silver. The presence of the woman warned Sudden that matters had gone amiss; he would need all his wits. Satan turned his basilisk gaze on the newcomers.
'Well?' he barked at Roden.
'He was carried to bed 'bout eight las' night, blind, an' I had to wait while Dirk waked him just' now,' that worthy replied. 'His hoss was in the corral at daybreak--it ain't bin rode recent.'
Satan nodded. 'That appears to absolve you, Sudden.'
'If I knowed what th' hell yo're talkin' about, mebbe I'd thank yu,' was the dry answer.
The bandit's cold eyes drilled into him. 'A guest of importance to me has been kidnapped,' he said. 'That he was here was known only to myself and that half-wit'--he pointed to the dwarf--'until he has to get drunk and babble to this slut.'
'Might 'a' walked out on yu.'
'Impossible; he was lodged in a room some thirty feet below this, and would have had to come through here, or use the opening for air and light.'
Sudden moved to the window and looked out. 'Yu ain't accusin' a gal o' climbin' this cliff, are yu?'
'No, but none the less, that's how it was done; there are tracks of three horses beneath. Silver was here with me all the time.'
'That lets him out,' the puncher agreed.
Inwardly, he was cursing the cowardly brute who, in the hope of saving his own skin, had betrayed the girl. That he himself would be at once suspected he had foreseen, hence the elaborate alibi. Covertly studying the masked man anew, he was amazed at his resemblance in build, manner, and voice to young Keith. Satan put another question.
'I have told you all,' Anita protested. 'This--ape'--her contempt was real enough--'threatened to make trouble for me unless I gave him whisky; he took too much, and mumbled something about a solitary prisoner; it did not interest me.'
The bandit bent forward, hls gaze intent. 'That is a lie,' he hissed. 'Fool, to try to trick one who can read your brain. It was an opportunity to avenge the loss of your lover. Tell me the name of your accomplice, or ...'
Though the accuracy of his deduction must have startled her, the woman's eyes, calm, unwavering, met his. 'I know nothing of it,' she said.
With the snarl of a beast, the bandit stepped forward as though about to strike, but instead, twisted her round, ripped open the flimsy shirt-waist she was wearing, and called, 'Muley.'
From the shadows near the door, the one-time teamster emerged, his pig-eyes glittering bestially as they rested on the victim's bared shoulders.
'Can you write?' Satan asked, and when the fellow shook his head, went on, with a horrible laugh, 'Then you must make your mark, a cross, Muley, so.' He gestured with onehand. 'Six strokes, and we will repeat the dose
