disappeared into a building, on the door of which was the name, 'S. Lyman.' The marshal came away, and proceeded to try out a plan he had conceived. Entering a saloon, he ordered a drink, and reaching out the brass box--which now contained tobacco--began to construct a cigarette. None of the other customers evinced any interest, and leaving, he repeated the process at a number of places, but without meeting any success.
'There's nothin' to it,' he decided. 'It was a long shot, at the best.' Night was coming on when at length he paid a visit to the Square Deal. It was large, and vulgarly ornate, the planed log walls garishly decorated with gaudy, gilt-framed mirrors, and pictures which owed nothing to art or decency. The shining mahogany bar, with its resplendent array of bottles, was an inmposing feature. To the right were the various games of chance provided by the establishment, and to the left a portion of the boarded floor was devoted to dancing; the space between contained tables and chairs.
117 The women present, for the most part, were employed by the house to dance and drink with the customers; their painted faces and tawdry attire proclaimed the fact.
The saloon was filling up, and the jangle of the ill-treated piano mingled with the medley of voices. No sooner had the marshal entered than a golden-haired girl in a crumpled muslin frock which displayed her figure somewhat freely, minced up and caught his arm.
'Buy me a drink,' she invited. 'I like cowboys.' Sudden slipped a bill into her hand.
'Get yoreself one,' he said. 'I'm playin' another game tonight.' She shrugged her bare shoulders. 'Dame Fortune is hard to woo,' she said. 'You would find me less difficult.' She thrust the money into the breast of her dress, and her bold eyes softened. 'Good luck, friend, but--don't buck the wheel --for much.' The last words were a mere whisper, spoken as she skipped away to be instantly caught in the arms of another man and dragged to the dancing floor. The marshal joined the crowd round the roulette board, and soon saw that the girl's warning had been well-meant; the wheel was under the control of the operator, who allowed small bets to win; worth-while wagers almost always lost. He collected a few dollars and drifted to the bar. A frowsy, half-tipsy fellow of about forty was arguing with the man behind it.
'You know me, Len,' he said. 'I've spent a lot o' coin here, an' now, when I'm cleaned, you won't stake me to a drink.'
'You know the rule, Lumpy,' Len replied, and jerked a thumb at a big notice behind him which read, 'No trust.'
'Have one with me,' Sudden suggested, laying down a dollar.
'Why, that's mighty gen'rous o' you, stranger,' Lumpy said, and grabbed the glass eagerly.
'Shucks ! ' was the smiling reply. 'I've been thirsty my own self.'
'I dunno nothin' wuss,' Lumpy said. 'I once went three year without a man's drink, an' ' He stopped, staring amazedly at his benefactor, who was rolling a smoke. 'You ain't him, but you got his baccy-box, or the twin of it,' he muttered.
'Know a fella who carries one o' these?' the marshal asked carelessly.
'Useter, but ain't seen him for a long whiles.'
'This atmosphere would poison a dawg. I'm for fresh air. Comin'?' The other finished his liquor and followed. In the dark of the street, lessened only by the glow of an occasional lighted window, Sudden spoke again:
'I'd give twenty bucks to find the owner o' that box.' The drunkard's eyes gleamed; he would have parted with his soul for that amount. His story was brief. He had known the man, who called himself 'Ezra Kent,' some two years earlier, in Bentley, but could not say what had become of him.
Sudden thought this over. The name fitted the initials, of which his informant had no knowledge. Bentley was about a hundred miles north, and possessed a prison; he remembered the enforced abstinence, smiled, and asked what Kent was doing there?
'Time,' was the laconic answer. 'He was in with his buddy--fellow Ezra called `Jesse'--but I didn't know him. What were they like? Well, now you got me--men look pretty much the same in the pen. Both was biggish built, an' favoured each other some. No, I ain't set eyes on neither of 'em since.' Satisfied that the fellow could tell him no more, Sudden handed over the promised reward, and returned to the hotel.
Darkness was only beginning to give way to daylight when an urgent rap on the door awakened him. It proved to be the bar-tender.
'There's a man for breakfast this mornin', friend, an' if I was you I wouldn't wait for none,' he said. 'We've a back way to the stables, an' by keepin' behind the buildin's you can git clear o' the town without bein' seen.'
'A killin', huh?' the marshal asked. 'What I gotta do with that?'
'Nothin', I reckon, which is why I'm warnin' you, but he was last seen alive in yore comp'ny, when you took him out'n the Square Deal. Where'd you go after?'
'That fella? Why, we talked a bit outside an' then I came along here. He told me somethin' I wanted to know an' I gave him twenty dollars.'
'He was found, stabbed in the back with his own knife, an' pockets empty. They're routin' out the sheriff now, an' knowin' his methods, you ain't got a chance.'
'Runnin' away will pin the crime on me,' Sudden objected.
'Mebbe, but it'll make it possible for you to go on breath- in',' the barman said drily. 'I know this burg.' The marshal saw the argument was sound. So, with a word of thanks to this friend in need, he hurried to the stable, saddled his horse, and slipped away unobserved.
He covered the first few miles at full speed, and then, satisfied that he was safe from pursuit, since they could not know which way he had taken, slowed down, his brain busy with what he had discovered. He shook his head in despair.
'Nig, I'm gettin' my rope all snarled up,' he confided. 'Stretch yore legs, yu black rascal, an' head for breakfast; I never could think on an empty belly.'
Chapter XIV
'WHERE'S the body?' was the greeting the marshal received from Dave on his return.
'I left it behind,' he replied, truthfully enough.
Not another word could be got out of him until he had dealt fully with the food Sloppy hastened to prepare for him.
'Havin' fortified yore system against famine for the next twenty-four hours, is there anythin' else yu need?' Dave inquired, with elaborate sarcasm.
'Yeah, a smoke,' Sudden smiled, and got out his makings. As he rolled the little tube, he added casually, 'Ever heard of a jasper named Ezra Kent?' Both shook their heads, but into the elder man's eyes crept the apprehensive look which the marshal had seen before.
'We gotta find him--he owns that box. Also, Mister Lyman--who is shorely one o' Nature's mistakes--has Sark hawg-tied, which requires lookin' into.' Dave was gazing out of the window. 'yu got yore chance right now,' he remarked. 'There's Jesse, agoin' into the Red Light.'
'Good,' the marshal said, getting up. 'No, yu two stay put--we don't want a crowd.' He found Nippert and the rancher alone; the latter accosted him genially.
' 'Lo, marshal, glad you come in. I've just bin backin' down to Ned, an' that goes for you too. Reckon I was all wrong 'bout Jake--he's crooked, that fella, an' I'm through with him; he's made trouble enough for me a'ready.' Sudden exchanged glances with the saloon-keeper, noted the slight nod, and replied fatuously, 'Why, that's good hearin', Mister Sark. Me, I never was one to nurse a grudge.'
'Fine,' the Dumb-bell man said, with a great show of heartiness. 'Set 'em up, Ned.' He laughed ruefully as he raised his glass. 'It won't be pleasant to eat crow to John Owen, but I'll have to, I guess.'
'Here's to a better understandin',' the marshal toasted.
They drank, and Nippert's grin told that he had grasped the inner meaning of the last word. When the visitor called for cigars, Sudden decided in favour of a cigarette. The appearance of the brass box made Sark start violently, and when he spoke, his voice was not quite the same.
'That's an unusual thing for a cowpunch to carry,' he said hoarsely. 'Where'd you git it?'
'Picked it up--recent,' was the offhand reply.
'Dessay there's hundreds aroun', but it's the first I've seen. What'll you take for it?' The marshal made a negative gesture. 'I've got fond o' the durned contraption, an' it keeps my baccy moist.' He lighted his cigarette and put the box away. 'I hear Dry-wash is gettin' to be quite a town; I must look it over one day.'
