'He didn't; I fixed that with Morley,' the marshal explained, and told of the arrangement the banker had made.
'First-rate,' Nippert agreed, and then, 'Jim, havin' found yore friend, you ain't thinkin' o' goin' back to Pine- town?'
'Where they wanted to hang me?' The saloon-keeper had a sense of humour. 'But we damn' near did it,' he grinned ruefully.
Sudden laughed too. 'Allasame, I'm stayin' put; the trees is too handy in Pinetown.'
'An' Masters?' The marshal's face sobered. 'I dunno. Mebbe he'll get a job with the Bar O; Owen seemed to like him.'
'I've bin thinkin' you need a deputy.'
'It's mighty good o' yu, Ned, but it would be just charity.'
'I forgot to mention when you took hold that we'd had a couple o' marshals bumped off in twelve months.'
'I knew--Gowdy's girl told me.'
'You certainly fetched yore nerve along,' Nippert said. 'Well, you may figure you got this town tamed, an' mebbe that goes for two-thirds of it, but the rest is a craggy lot; they'll fear you, but bein' scared of a man don't make you love him, none whatever. Mullins has gone, with some o' the worst, but he's left friends behind, an' he ain't forgettin'. Nor will Sark, an' he's got poison 'stead o' blood in his veins.' Sudden gave in. 'Awright, Ned,' he replied. 'yu know the people an' yo're the doc. O' course, I'll be tickled to death to have Dave workin' with me.' At that moment the man himself came up. 'Yu both look as solenn as owls,' he grinned. 'Must be discussin' some- thin' serious.'
'No, we were talkin' 'bout yu,' his friend countered. 'Fact is, Ned thinks I oughta have a deputy, an' he's suggestin' yu.'
'If Mister Masters will take it,' the saloon-keeper put in politely.
'Mister Masters won't, but Dave will, with both han's,' was the smiling reply. 'But not till after to-morrow; I've somethin' to do.'
'What fool-play yu got in mind now?' Sudden wanted to know.'
'Me an' Sloppy is goin' to make a yaller dawg's kennel into a fit place for a lady to live in,' Dave replied lightly.
Two weeks went by, and Welcome--the principal disturber of its calm having departed--had returned to everyday routine-existence.
The first whisper of unrest came when Reddy rode in one morning. He was the only Bar O man to visit town since the dash to the marshal's rescue, and was therefore ignorant of subsequent events.
'Yu'll feed with us at Jake's,' Sudden invited.
'I eat at the Widow's,' Reddy replied.
'That's what I said,' was the enigmatical retort.
He got the story as they walked up the street. Arrived at the restaurant, he surveyed approvingly the newly- painted sign, clean curtains, and absence of rusty airtights littering the ground. The interior with its scrubbed floor, neatly-laid tables, and sound chairs, opened his eyes wider, but he said nothing until the proprietress came to take the order.
'There ain't such a swell joint inside a day's ride,' he told her. 'Reckon Jake would bite hisself if he could see it.'
'I had some kind helpers,' she said, her eyes on Dave.
'They did the work; I'm afraid I was only in the way.'
'That's somethin' yu couldn't be, ma'am,' was the gallant reply.
The meal duty despatched, they lit up. Reddy's gaze roved round the room.
'Amazin' what a difference a woman can make,' he remarked. 'She owes a lot to yu, Jim.'
'She owes me just--nothin'; Sloppy's been her good fairy.'
'An' yu've bin his, which proves my point,' Reddy retorted triumphantly.
Sudden shook his head and got up. Back in his own quarters, he put a question :
'What's yore trouble, cowboy?'
'yu've certainly got the seem' eye, Jim; I didn't guess it showed that plain. Just--want o' sleep.' It seemed an absurd statement from one who was the picture of health, but the marshal understood. 'Nightridin', huh?'
'yu said it, an' day as well; the boys is all wore out. Yu see, we're losin' cattle, an' it's gettin' serious.'
'Been goin' on long?'
'Couple o' weeks, so far as we know. A steady leak, six or seven a day, picked beasts, an' there ain't a sign to show who's takin' 'em or where. It's got me dizzy.'
'Well, there's nothin' doin' here---- '
'Yo're forgettin' that hold-up we promised to look into,' Dave interrupted.
The marshal grinned. 'Don't pay any attention to him,' he went on. 'We ain't a thing to do--the town's peaceful as a prayer-meetin'. We'll go for a li'l ride to-morrow; mebbe we can light on somethin'.' When the foreman had departed, Dave looked at his chief. 'Jake went about two weeks ago,' he said.
'Yo're readin' my thoughts,' Sudden accused. 'If it's Jake, he must have a hide-out. We gotta find it.'
'We might be away all day. What 'bout gettin' Mrs. Gray to put us up a bite to take along?'
'Just now my mind ain't on food.'
'Then it must be drink. C'mon.' When they got outside, Masters naturally turned in the direction of the Red Light, but his companion shook his head. 'We'll pay a visit to Dirty Dick,' he said.
'Enemy country,' Dave laughed, and loosened his gun in the holster.
'Shucks ! At this' time o' the day there won't be a soul in the place--mebbe.' He was almost right, for as they pushed back the door of the dive, they saw that it was empty save for the owner and a man who, at the instant of their entry, slid round the bar and disappeared into the rear part of the premises.
'Whisky--yore best,' the marshal said. 'Wasn't that Dutch who went out?' For a moment Dirty Dick hesitated, his furtive eyes scanning the questioner's face. Then he nodded.
'What's he back for--to stay?'
'Nope, just a visit, to pay some coin he owed me.'
'Why didn't he do that before he left?'
'He forgot,' came the reply, after a pause.
'Yo're lucky to get it.'
'Oh, Dutch is square,' the man said easily.
'Possibly, but he keeps bad company,' the marshal replied. 'What's he doin', anyway?'
'I dunno, but he ain't got a woman workin' for him,' was the insolent answer.
A subdued chuckle came from somewhere; the deputy stiffened, put his glass on the bar, and said truculently, 'The company he keeps ain't near as bad as the liquor yu sell; if this is yore best, the worst must be rank pizen.'
'You ain't forced to drink it.' Sudden interposed. 'Easy, boy,' he soothed, and to the dive-owner, 'Watch that lyin' tongue o' yores, an' run this place decent or I'll run yu--outa town.' Dirty Dick gazed into the hard, slitted eyes of the speaker and decided that silence was the safe card to play, but his expression, as they went out, was not pretty.
As they stalked down the street, Sudden regarded his fuming companion quizzically. 'Marshals are appointed to keep the peace,' he remarked casually. 'An' the same applies t `Didn't yu hear what he said, an' the laugh?' Dave broke in.
'Shore, but why lose yore wool because a cur yaps? Besides, he was tellin' us things. We know now that Dutch was broke when he left an' has made money since; also that Jake ain't far away, an' is keepin' touch with friends here, which needs rememberin'. Good value for the price of a couple o' drinks.' The sun was no more than faintly gilding the eastern sky when they set out the next morning. The Bar O trail lay towards it, but the marshal headed his horse in the opposite direction.
'Where are we turnin' off?' Dave asked presently. 'Yu, ain't expectin' to find them stolen steers at the Dumb-bell, are yu?'
'It wouldn't surprise me--much, but we gotta know more before we snoop aroun' there; welcomes can be too
