'A pity,' the Colonel said. 'What are you going to do about it--throw up your job?'
This astounding suggestion, made in acid tones, completed the man's discomfiture. Inwardly seething with a rage he dared not show, he was quick to recognize his danger; there were others in the outfit who could take his place, and this cynical old tyrant might even ... He writhed at the thought of being 'given his time' by the saturnine stranger.
'Yu know I warn't thinkin' no such thing, boss,' he protested. 'I was on'y figurin' that when Satan learns we've hired that fella, he'll take action, that's all.'
'Which is another reason for hiring him,' Keith returned.'Do I need to ask that scoundrel's permission before I engage a hand?'
'I guess not,' Lagley agreed. 'It's yore ranch, but don't say I didn't warn yu. Why, this hombre might be one o' Satan's gang for all yu know.'
A deep crease furrowed the rancher's brow. 'And so might you--for all I know,' he said curtly. 'I'm backing my judgment.'
He turned to go into the house and so missed the malignant glare of resentment which followed him.
The foreman's abrupt departure from the table spoiled no one's appetite, and the plump, red-faced cook was kept busy. Sudden paid him a compliment.
'Don't flatter him, Jim,' Frosty begged. 'He's improvin', but he's a long ways behind Black Sam yet.'
'Which yu can't wonder, seem' I never had his experience,' the cook said plaintively.
'What experience?' Frosty incautiously asked.
'Sam used to feed hawgs afore he come here,' the man of pots and pans chuckled, and beat a hurried retreat into his own domain amid a storm of merriment and abuse.
The meal over, Frosty led the way outside, declining Lazy's invitation to play cards.
'Yo're ail broke an' two-cent poker ain't no game for a man,' was how he put it.
'Which was why I asked yu,' the other shot back.
Seated on the long bench in front of the bunkhouse the two cowboys smoked in silence for a while. Frosty commenced the conversation.
'What yu think o' the outfit?'
'Good bunch to get along with, I'd say.'
'Shore, but--as I told yu--there's one or two--drawbacks.'
'Bound to be,' Sudden agreed, and his eyes crinkled a little at the corners. 'The foreman's anxiety 'bout yu to-day warn't entirely due to affection.'
'No, he don't like me--which is certainly amazin',' the young man grinned. 'The amount o' sleep I've lost over that yu wouldn't believe.'
'Yo're right, I wouldn't,' Sudden said. 'He concealed his joy at the sight o' me pretty well, too.'
'Yeah, didn't like the 01' Man not consultin' him, I guess.'
'Mebbe, but it's odd, seem' he promised me a job.'
Frosty's look of blank astonishment cried out for an explanation. When it had been given, the Double K man whistled, and remarked:
'Well, if yu ain't a tight-mouth. So yu got the drop, set him afoot, an' yo're surprised he ain't glad to see yu. What did yu expect--thanks?' His expression sobered. 'Jokin' on one side, Jim, it was a bad break; he ain't the forgivin' sort.'
'Yo're ruinin' my night's rest,' was the facetious rejoinder. 'What we doin' to-morrow?'
'Dunno, but I'll lay we have the rottenest an' riskiest work he can find.'
Chapter VI
Breakfast at the Double K was a serious business, and there was little of the gaiety which enlivened the evening meal. Its place was taken by the rattle of knives and forks and picturesque appeals to the badgered cook for the replenishment of quickly-emptied platters. A long day in the saddle had to be prepared for, and--as one jocularly expressed it, 'Starvation is a horrible death, Cookie darlin'.'
The perspiring purveyor promptly countered with, 'How many weeks d'yu expect to be away?'
Going to the corral for his horse, Sudden encountered Lagley.
'I wanted a word with yu,' the foreman said. 'So far, the cyards have come yore way; don't overplay 'em. I ain't the fella to nurse a grudge; an' if yu do yore work an' don't chatter, yu an' me'll git along fine.'
'Suits me,' the new hand replied.
Frosty, red-faced and profane, emerged from the corral leading a wiry, wicked-eyed dun pony. 'C'mon, Cactus, ain't yu ever goin' to git any sense?' he panted. 'One o' these bright mornin's I'll take an' bust yore slats in.' He looked at Lagley. 'What yu want me to do?'
'Yu an' Green ride the northern line. I was along there yestiddy an' it struck me cows was missin'.'
'Right, git yore bronc, Jim,' Frosty said, and as Sudden stepped forward, added, 'Don't yu want yore rope?'
The reply was a low whistle, and instantly the big black separated itself from the milling band of horses. Sudden lifted down the top bar of the entrance, Nigger leapt lightly over the others and stood, thrusting a velvety muzzle forward for the customary biscuit.
'Trick horse, huh?' the foreman sneered.
'Yeah,' its owner replied. 'One of 'em is pretendin' to lose his footin' on a slope; yu did oughta see him do that.'
He cinched his saddle, got up, and sat watching the battle between Cactus and its master. 'Want any help?' he asked solicitously.
Frosty did not, and said so, with emphasis. 'This chunk o' mischief has gotta learn I'm boss,' he gritted.
Presently he was ready and they loped away. The look Lagley sent after them was the reverse of pleasant. 'An' I shore hope them fellas got my message,' he muttered.
Turvey strolled up. 'They make a fine pair, ridin' side by side, don't they?' he queried, his eyes full of malice.
'They'd be just as fine lyin' side by side,' Lagley retorted.
Turvey's bent shoulders went up. 'I don't give a damn either way, but I would like to find that black hess.'
'An' be pitched into hell the first time yu straddled him.'
'Don't think it, Steve; I ain't so easy got rid of,' was the meaning reply.
The foreman scowled, saddled his own beast, and rode to the ranch-house to report the day's work he had set in motion.
'What have you done with the new man?' Keith enquired. 'Sent him an' Homer to look at the northern boundary. We've bin losin' cattle there lately.'
'Lately?' repeated the rancher scornfully. 'You speak as if it were something new.'
'That's the roughest part o' the range,' Lagley reminded. 'Steers are bound to stray.'
'Especially with riders behind them--riders who are allowed a free hand.'
'We lost one man an' had two others crippled out there,' the foreman protested. 'Yu ain't forgettin' that?'
'I am not likely to, with the bill still unpaid,' Keith said bitterly.
Meanwhile, the two cowboys were heading steadily northwards. The first few miles, over the open, rolling grassland, were covered in silence. Then Frosty spoke.
'Didn't I tell yu we'd git the worst job?'
'What's the matter with it? Routin' out strays ain't so much.'
'It is when there's a chance o' runnin' into hot lead any minute.'
'How come?' Sudden demanded. 'We'll be on our own range.'
'yeah, but that scum in Hell City figure it belongs to them, an' act accordin'.'
'Meanin'?'
'One of our boys--Tim Jellis--was wiped out an' two more wounded less'n three months back doin' the very thing we've bin sent to do,' Frosty explained. 'Rustlers? Yeah, an' wearin' the devil's own brand.'
'Why not build a line-house an' have a coupla men stay out there allatime?'
'We tried it, but the durned place catched fire an' burned down--green wood at that.'
