daily until she unlocks her lips.'
Though there was stark terror in her eyes, Anita uttered no sound, but the grip on the torn raiment with Which she strove to cover her bosom tightened, and she shivered. Muley was toying with his whip and feeding his unsated lust for revenge upon the frail flesh he soon would mar for ever. This was better than Pedro. He was squaring his shoulders to begin his task when Sudden spoke.
'Thrashin' her won't get yu no place, Satan; she can't tell what she don't know. I'm the fella yo're after.'
He had no sooner said the words than a gun was rammed into his ribs and Scar warned, 'No funny stuff, Sudden, or...'
His frame rigid, the puncher continued his confession. 'Yeah, I took yore `guest'--the woman had nothin' to do with it. A few nights ago, passin' one o' these rat-holes, I heard Silver's voice, an' bein' curious, slipped in an' listened. He was chuckin' a chest, tryin' to impress the gal with his own importance, an' was plenty drunk. It was me crawled up the rock, an' I was hidden in the window-hangin's when yu paid yore visit last night.'
The masked man's face had lost its immobility; doubt was swiftly followed by certainty and an insensate rage as he realized that this enigmatical stranger had surprised his secret and now defied him. His usually glassy eyes flamed, and for the moment, he was mad.
'By God !' he swore. 'I'll have your hide off for this,' and motioned to Muley.
'Yo're forgettin' somethin', Satan,' came the icy reminder. 'I ain't a mongrel, like Pedro, nor a woman; whippin' won't wring a word from me, an' if I should chance to cash in, yu won't see yore friend Lander again.'
The mention of the name brought a quick look from the * bandit. He hesitated, and then said abruptly 'Roden, you and Muley can go. Take the woman with you, but she is not to leave the town.'
They filed out, Anita leading; she did not speak, or even glance at the puncher as she passed, listless, and apparently indifferent. Her companions, dumbfounded by this unexpected development, were also silent. When they had gone, the Chief looked at Silver, who was awaiting his turn with obvious trepidation.
'It seems you have been merely indiscreet,' he said. 'Get to your post, or ...'
He tapped the butt of one of his revolvers and Sudden wondered was it a signal? He heard the door open and shut, but it did not deceive him--Silver's 'post' would be behind the picture; that the stunted man knew nothing of firearms he had never credited for an instant. The Chief appeared to have regained his temper.
'This is a most unfortunate occurnence, Sudden,' he began, 'The fellow you released was here for his own good. Dealtry is seeking him for the shooting of his son. Now I did that killing--you see, I am frank with you--but I knew that Lander would be fastened upon because there was bad blood between them. So he had to be hidden--I could not let him suffer for my own act.'
'It would 'a' cleared yu.' The callous comment was made with deliberation.
'True, but he was a friend.'
'Makes a difference, o' course,' Sudden conceded. 'Well, I 'pear to 'a' gone to a lot o' trouble to make the wrong play, but that's me--get a notion an' rush at it like an angry steer, without stoppin' to think. Oughta seed he was contented where he was.'
'His conversation with me should have told you that.'
'Couldn't hear much, an' I just hated the idea o' sweatin' up that cliff tor nothin' ; I guess I didn't give him any choice.' 'Who helped you?'
Sudden shook his head. 'I ain't tellin'. He warn't one o' yore folk, don't know anythin', an' all he did was fetch the hosses.'
To his surprise, the bandit did not press the point. 'Where is Lander now?'
'Dunno--I just turned him loose,' the puncher replied, and his eyes creased at the corners. 'I had to get back.'
'I can't imagine why you meddled,' Satan said peevishly.
'Beats me, too, lookin' it over, but prisons is pizen to me, an' that rock seemed a sort o' challenge. Sounds loco, but there it is. Say, s'pos'n I can round up Mister Lander an' bring him in again?'
'That's an idea,' Satan said. 'I'll admit I'm anxious about him; it would be awkward if he fell into the sheriff's hands.'
'Shore would--for him,' Sudden grinned. 'Leave it to me.'
He went out and breathed deeply when he reached the open air, it had been a near thing. How far he had succeeded in deceiving the masked man he could not tell, but he had saved the woman, and was himself still at liberty. No doubt he would be watched, so when presently he passed Anita, it was with a face of stone; she too showed no sign of recognition.
'She's got savvy,' he murmured, as he entered the store in search of tobacco.
Almost on his heels, Silver came in, purchased six boxes of cartridges, and with a sheepish look at the puncher, departed.
'What's he want with all that gun-fodder?'
'They's for his boss,' the tradesman said. 'He's my on'y customer for thirty-eights, but he uses a hell of a lot of 'em--practises every darned day, Silver sez.'
Which provided Sudden with fresh food for thought, and a question for Dealtry when he next encountered him. Meanwhile, the man he had left was sitting deep in doubt. Once more the puncher had him puzzled. Had he really blundered blindly into the affair as he had stated, or ...? He dismissed the alternative with an oath and a shrug--the overweening vanity of his nature made any stupidity in a fellow-being possible. The all-important secret of his identity was still safe, but Keith's freedom was a danger.
'He would not dare to show his face at the Double K, Twin Diamond, or Red Rock,' he mused. 'He must be in hiding, and if Sudden knows where, he will lead me to him.' He called Silver. 'Arrange for that cowboy to be shadowed,' he ordered. 'If he is lost sight of, I will have your ears torn off, which would make you still more ugly.'
The dwarf nodded and hurried away, but when the door was between them he shook a menacing fist at it. Incapable as his brutish senses were of finer feelings, he remembered Anita's gleaming shoulders and hated the man who would have made them hideous.
His exit was followed by the entrance of Belle Dalroy. Throwing her gloves and quirt on the table, she dropped into a chair and crossed her legs, fully conscious that her short riding-skirt displayed her shapely limbs to advantage.
'Heavens, but it's hot outside,' she said, and then, 'What's the matter, Jeff? You look as though you'd lost a dollar and picked up a dime.'
The unwinking gaze travelled over her from head to foot. She was a pretty woman, even more than that, in her own style, but the man was comparing her with another and found her lacking.
'So you have been to Dugout?' he remarked, ignoring her question.
She started. 'Who--?' she began, and laughed. 'Of course, it would be reported to you.'
'You might have turned off the trail,' he pointed out, and bent his head, thinking. 'It comes dimly to me; you met someone from the Double K ranch.'
This time he certainly scored. 'It is true,' she admitted. 'I saw the Keith girl, in the store, and she sailed past as though I wasn't there.'
Satan smiled. 'She probably knows of our--friendship,' he said. 'And if she still cares for me ...' He noted the tiny crease between her brows. 'I haven't seen her for some time,' he lied. 'She should be quite pretty.'
The girl guessed his game--he had played it before; cruelty in any form was an amusement to him.
'She is beautiful,' Belle said with studied indifference. 'Now that you have disinherited yourself the ranch will go to her, I suppose? Is it a good one?'
'You could ride for two days in any direction and find none to equal it.'
'And you threw it away rather than marry her.'
'I prefer to choose my own wife.' His lips curled maliciously. 'It was a mistake, no doubt, but mistakes can be rectified.'
His meaning was plain enough, and despite her effort to control herself, a flush of anger stained her cheeks.
'You don't exactly despise yourself, do you, Jeff?' she said. 'You think, with your record, that she would take you?'
