Well-nigh blinded by the incessant glare, his flesh blistered,and his whole frame crying for water, he lay, supine, listless.
A tiny bite, followed by another, aroused him. Twisting his head, he could just see his right hand; several insects were crawling upon it, and more were coming. Ants ! The significance of Jake's last words was clear enough now. They had found him, these terrible little scavengers, who in tens of thousands would invade every inch of his carcase, and leave it only when nothing remained save bones to bleach in the burning sun. In that one bitter moment of realization Jake had his revenge, and then Dave steeled himself to meet the agony to come.
Chapter XVIII
WHEN the marshal set out to search for his assistant, he rode straight to the Dumb-bell ranch-house. Sark, he argued, would be the first to fall under Dave's suspicion, and he hoped to pick up the missing man's trail there. To his surprise, he found the place deserted, but for the black cook, who eyed his badge of office with evident trepidation.
'Where's yore master?' Sudden inquired.
'I dunno, sah,' was the reply. 'He's out--deys all out.' The marshal took out a coin, spun it in the air; and caught it; the darkie's eyes gleamed at the glint of the gold. 'It usually pays to tell the truth, Juba--that's yore name, ain't it?' he said, and when the negro nodded, 'Right. Mebbe yu can help. Sark had a visitor yestiddy, a young fella named Masters. What happened?' Juba hesitated, glancing right and left fearfully. The coin flashed into the air again, and seemed to act as a spur.
'Neber see him come,' he began. 'I hear high voices in de front room. Dey's fightin' wid dere han's. Dey slam one anoder all ober de place, an' den de young one t'row de boss clean ober his shoulder an' he lit 'mong de brekfuss t'ings; I neber did see a table cleared so quick. De boss is out, lyin' pow'ful still on de flo'. De young fella takes one look at him, grabs his gun, an' goes off whistlin' a chune.'
'He'd walk into hell doin' that,' Sudden smiled. 'Where'd he head for?'
'I neber see, sah; de boss come to life right after.' Sudden flipped the coin into the air again, this time towards Juba. 'Put that some place yore boss can't steal it,' he said. 'An' yu needn't to mention I called.' Cutting short the cook's protestation of gratitude and obedience with a wave of the hand, he rode away. What would be Dave's next move? Obviously, he would seek Mullins. Cutting across the straight line between that and the hills, he presently came upon hoof-marks, and, at intervals, traces of some white substance.
For a while the white 'sign' was plentiful, enabling him to travel quickly, but then it became infrequent-- evidently the supply was running out in more than one sense. However, it led him across an area of hard ground where a horse would leave no tracks, and so to the fringe of the black mantle of timber masking the mountain-side, and a cleverly-concealed opening in what appeared to be an impenetrable wall of undergrowth. This was the other approach Dave had guessed at, and was much more direct than the one he had been at such pains to discover.
Leaving the sunlight behind, Sudden paced steadily along a path which swung right and left to lessen the gradient. For an hour the climb continued, and then came the scrape of a slipping hoof, followed by an oath. Sudden swerved behind a convenient bush, got down, and drew a gun. Round a bend, sitting his horse slackly, a rider appeared.
'Git 'em up, friend.' The unexpected command made the fellow start, but he did not hesitate to obey. The marshal stepped out of the shadow, his own weapon levelled. 'Hand her over, buttfirst,' he said, and when this had been done, 'Now talk, straight an' fast. Where's Mullins' hang-out?'
'Never heard ' He halted abruptly as the menacing gun lifted an inch.
'One more crack like that an' I'll be diggin' a hole for yu,' was the harsh reminder.
'It's up the trail a piece,' the other said sullenly.
'Seen anythin' of a fella named Masters?'
'He was locked up all night, an' this mornin' Jake an' four others took him away; they come back with a spare hoss--his'n. What happened, I dunno.' Sudden got into his saddle and gestured meaningly with his gun. 'Yu an' me is goin' to look for him,' he announced. 'An' if we don't find him yu'll be outa luck. Lead on.'
'I'll do my best, but--knowin' Jake--I figure it's a waste o' time,' the man said. He swerved off to the east, forcing a way through a jumble of vegetation, to pull up after a while where a tiny rill from the heights above spread to form a moist patch. 'There's tracks here, but o' course ...'
'Yu say Masters was on his own pony?' The guide nodded. Sudden examined the hoof-prints. 'We've struck it,' he said, pointing to one of them. 'Dave allus had a cross cut in one shoe for luck.' They rode on, came to a deeper pool in a rock hollow which broke the passage of a larger stream, and paused to drink. Jake's party had evidently done the same, for there were more prints. A few hundred yards brought them to the clearing, and the prostrate form of the man they sought.
'Gawd-a-mighty ! ' the rustler breathed. 'Ants ! He's a goner.' But Sudden had seen a slight movement of the puffed lips, and sprang down, crying, 'Cut the ropes, an' lift him up.' A moment sufficed for this. 'Run him to the pool we just passed.' Half dragging, half carrying, they got their burden to the water, leaving the horses to follow, but before they reached it, the rescuers also were having a taste of what Dave had suffered; in scores of places at once their skins were sharply punctured by the voracious little pests, with whom Dave's body was still alive.
'Hell ! ' the guide swore. 'The beggars must be damn' near all teeth.'
'We'll see if they can swim,' Sudden replied. 'Get right under.' Pushing his friend ahead of him, he waded into the pool, and their companion lost no time in following. The cool water was a heaven-sent anodyne for their smarting bodies and speedily relieved them of the unwelcome visitors. Not until they were sure of this did they emerge and spread their saturated garments, and themselves, in the sun to dry. By this time, Dave had regained his wits.
'Jim, yo're a wonder,' he said. 'I owe yu '
'Nothin',' Sudden told him brusquely. 'There's a tree just outa Welcome . . .' Knowing his friend, Dave said no more, and turned his attention to the other man. 'Hello, Beautiful, I never expected to see yu again. How come?'
'Rowley's the name,' the rustler returned uncomfortably. 'I'm right glad we was in time.'
'It was him fetched me here,' Sudden said.
Dave nodded; he had a pretty clear idea of what had taken place. 'Mister, I'd thank Satan hisself for gettin' me out'n that fix,' he confessed. 'I'm mighty grateful, even if yu are on the other side.' He held out a badly-swollen hand; Rowley grasped it gingerly. 'I ain't,' he replied. 'I quit soon as I saw you spread out there. Bumpin' off a fella you don't like is one thing, but my skin's white, an' I got no use for torture.'
'I'm goin' to like yu,' the deputy said. He regarded himself ruefully. 'I must 'a' lost a lot o' weight.'
'Yu've put some on, by the look o' yu,' Sudden corrected.
He had just finished drying and reloading his guns and that of the rustler, and now he passed the latter's over tohim, and went to see how their clothes were progressing. The man's eyes widened at this proof of confidence. Dave's face was distorted into what was intended to be a grin.
'That's means yo're adopted, Beautiful,' he said.
'He was takin' a hell of a chance.'
'Jim's used to that, but he don't often guess wrong.'
'I'll bet high he can fight.'
'Ask Jake Mullins.'
'I ain't honin' to see that fella no more.'
'Allasame, I'm afraid yu gotta.' This from Sudden, who had rejoined them in time to overhear the remark. 'As yu know, Rowley, there's a li'l woman in Jake's han's who badly needs a friend. Mc an' Dave can't go back, but yu can, without bein' suspicioned. It won't be long afore we return an' smoke out that swarm o' hornets. Will you do this?'
'Glad to,' Rowley replied readily, and turned to Dave. 'Say, you ain't got a gun; take mine.'
'That's right kind o' yu, but he won't need any,' Sudden put in. 'What he must have is a mount.'
'I can hoof it in. My bronc havin' broke a leg, I just naturally has to shoot it.'
'0' course, but yu gotta tote in yore gear, or it'll look phoney. Can yu ride if the hoss don't have a saddle, Dave?'
