belt and guns.Climbing to his bedroom window, he got his saddle, and ran to the corral. The familiar whistle brought the black, and soon the pair were heading for the west gate. As they approached, Sudden quickened pace, and they arrived with a rush. The man in charge was new to him.
'Got a pass?' he queried. ' 'Less you have '
'Pass be damned!' Sudden said angrily. 'Open up, yu idjut. Scar Roden had a run in with the Chief an' creased him --pretty bad. I'm for the Red Rock doctor.'
The fellow stared. 'Scar, huh?' he said. 'Must 'a' found some sand. What happened to him?'
'The Chief got him--good, an' he's liable to get yu if...'
But the bars were already being removed, and ten seconds later, Nigger was through and racing down the trail. His rider indulged in a mild whoop and leaned over to pat the satiny neck of the friend he had dared so much to recover.
'Yu come mighty near to changin' owners, of hoss,' he said. 'Lyin' is like drink, it gets a hold on a fella, but I gotta admit there's a heap o' satisfaction in puttin' over a good one. I gambled on that gate-man bein', like me, tied to his post this afternoon, an' my luck was shorely in.'
He laughed at his little joke, and swinging off the beaten track, plunged into the brush towards the Twin Diamond. By the time he reached the ranch-house, a pale grey light behind the distant peaks told the dawn of another day. Turning his horse into the corral, he carried his saddle to the house, and finding the door unlocked, stepped into the living-room, slumped into a big armchair, and went to sleep. A little later, Frosty arrived and did precisely the same. Chang, the Chinese cook, first astir, surveyed the pair of snoring cowboys with a grih and went about his work of preparing the morning meal. The voice of the rancher awakened them.
'Well, damn me, if some folk ain't got a nerve,' he said. 'Hello, Mart,' Frosty greeted. 'We just dropped in.'
'Off, yu mean,' Merry corrected. 'I hope yu found all yu wanted.'
'Not a spot,' the Double K rider told him. 'Take the bottle to bed with yu?'
'No, sir, on'y the contents,' his host laughed. 'C'mon: eat first an' talk after is my motto. Mornin', Jeff.'
young Keith entered, greeted the guests, and sat down to the excellent breakfast provided. Not until they had done full justice to it, and lighted up, did Merry open the conversation with the customary question.
'Well, boys, what's the news?'
'S'pose yu ain't heard o' the 01' Man accidentally shootin' hisself?' Frosty began.
Sudden saw Keith's face become paler, but no word came from his lips. It was the rancher who spoke.
Ken hurt?' he cried. 'How bad?'
'The Red Rock pill-roller reckons he's got a fightin' chance.'
'Then he'll make it--Ken's a fighter, shore enough,' Merry said. 'But how did it happen?'
Frosty told the story as he knew it, but the fat man shook his head.
'It don't sound right to me.'
'It ain't right,' Sudden put in quietly. 'Satan rode into Dugout, with six others, yestiddy mornin'. He met the Colonel in Black Sam's an' shot him; claims he went for a weapon.'
Keith sprang up, his lips working, and made for the door. But the puncher was there first and had his back to it. 'Where yu goin'?' he asked.
'Hell City, to blow that skunk to bits,' was the passionate reply.
'Fine, yu'll look like a million bucks to him,' Sudden said sarcastically. 'Best let it ride, for now.' Sullenly the young man returned to his seat. Frosty spoke.
'Jansen an' them who fetched the 01' Man home all had the same tale. Why would they lie?'
'Mebbe he told them to,' Sudden suggested. 'He's a proud man an' wouldn't want it knowed that--'
'His own son had done such a dastard deed,' the boy burst in. 'Yes, that's the sort of thing he would do. But he believed it himself,' he finished bitterly.
'Yu can't blame him, Jeff,' Merry pointed out. 'That damned imposter has been too clever for all of us.' His eye caught something. 'How long yu been an Imp, Frosty?'
The cowboy grinned as he slipped the badge into a pocket. 'Forgot that, but she was useful las' night,' he said. 'Soon as I got into Hell City I went straight to the saloon--'
'Yu would,' his friend interrupted.
'Knowed it was the likeliest place to find yu,' Frosty retaliated. 'yu wasn't there, but I heard how the Chief--as they call him--had soured on yu, an'
'The rest don't signify,' Sudden said hurriedly. 'I guess it does,' the rancher decided.
So Frosty had to tell of the battle with Roden and the subsequent ordeal, both of which had been graphically described to him by eye-witnesses. He concluded with, 'An' here he is, hoss an' guns complete. How in hell d'yu manage it, Jim?'
'If I'd on'y practised steady as a kid, I'd be a good liar,' Sudden smiled, and related the ruse by which he had escaped. 'I was lucky.'
'Lucky?' Frosty echoed whimsically. 'Yu said it. I'll bet if yu pitched head first into the Glue-pot yu'd come up with a bag o' gold in each paw.'
Merry laughed. 'Yu can put a `p' in front o' that luck, Frosty,' he said. 'What was it this brigand wanted to know, Jim?'
'The whereabouts o' Keith here. As I told yu, he's the winnin' card. Holdin' him, Satan takes the pot; lackin' him, he's liable to lose out.'
Jeff Keith had been listening with bent head. Now he looked up. 'You went through that rather than betray me?'
'Shucks, I was allus a bad loser,' the puncher replied. 'Besides, tellin' him wouldn't 'a' helped me.'
'No wonder you stopped me just now,' the young man said. 'It seems I'm just the headstrong blunderer I've always been. I owe you a lot, Mister Green.'
'My friends use my first name,' Sudden told him, holding out a hand.
Keith grasped it eagerly. 'Thank you--Jim,' he replied, and then, 'What are we going to do?'
'Smash up Hell City. Will yore fellas take a hand, Merry?'
'Will they?' the rancher cried. 'All I'm worth wouldn't keep 'em out of it, an' that goes for yore crowd, eh, Frosty?' The Double K man hesitated a moment and Sudden answered for him. 'Shore, an' I'm bettin' we can count on help from Dugout, 'specially when it's knowed who downed the Colonel. I'm wonderin' whether the sheriff o' Red Rock would sit in?'
He was watching Keith's face as he spoke, but if the boy felt alarm at the suggestion he did not show it. On the contrary, he was the first to approve.
'Dealtry's a good man to have at your back,' he said, adding with a ghost of a smile, 'that is, unless he's wanting you.'
'He struck me as square,' the puncher went on. 'I'll ride over an' have a talk with him. Meantime, we gotta keep mighty silent, an' Jeff, yu must stay holed-up--they won't look for yu here.'
The young man's face fell; he had been hoping to meet Joan again, but he made no demur. The others sensed a change in him; the bitter, rebellious attitude had disappeared, leaving a quiet determination. They put it down to the infamous attempt upon his father's life, never guessing at a still more potent factor.
'We're takin' on a man-sized job an' can't afford to overlook bets,' was Sudden's final warning.
Chapter XXIII
Satan's fury, when he learned that his victim had escaped sent Silver, who brought the news, cowering to a corner, whence he watched, terrified. Never before had he seen his dreaded master so completely lose control of himself. Striding to and fro, uttering fearful blasphemies, he poured vitriolic curses upon the unknown person who had robbed him of revenge, and promised punishment which turned the timorous listener's blood to ice.
Presently, at the end of another wild tirade, he snatched out his revolvers and Silver thought his last moment had come. But the madman fired at the picture of the gunman, bullet after bullet, until the face was no more than tattered fragments of canvas. Only when the weapons were empty did he fling them to the floor and sink, panting with passion, into a seat. Silence ensued, and this, to the solitary spectator of the wierd scene, seemed even more dreadful. Fascinated, he could not look away from the blood-red mask, out of which the rage-glazed eyes stared into space. Suddenly bandit stood up; the paroxysm had passed.
