'Seen him visitin' the sheriff in Sweetwater to-day,' Pardoe went on. 'Yu send him there?'
'No,' snapped the other. 'But I'm goin' to send him to visit the Devil one day.'
The gambler grinned. 'Odd that. I had the same idea--waited for him on the back trail, but I missed him. He's shore lucky.'
'Lucky? You musta been drunk,' Raven said angrily. And then, as another phase of the incident struck him, 'What yu wanta plug him for?'
'Don't like the jigger, for one thing, an' yu can add to that he's holdin' down a job I could fill pretty comfortable my own self,' Pardoe explained.
'It ain't one for folk as miss,' the half-breed sneered. 'An' seein' yu did, there's no vacancy.'
The biting tone left the other unmoved; he was sure of his triumph. 'There will be soon,' he said quietly. 'See here, Seth; the whole blame' country will have the laugh on Lawless when what I've found out in Sweetwater to-day gets around; the marshal has shore run a raw blazer on yu an' this township. Do I git his job if I wise yu up?' Raven nodded, and the gambler went on: 'Do yu know what they call yore marshal over to Texas?'
'How the hell should I?' Raven enquired.
Pardoe laughed maliciously. 'Yu wouldn't, o' course. Well, he's known there as 'Sudden,' the outlaw.'
The half-breed sprang to his feet. 'What?' he cried, and, with an incredulous shrug, 'Yu been feedin' on loco-weed, ain't yu?'
'It's true enough,' Pardoe assured him, and told how he had come by the information.
'Mebbe she's mistook,' Raven doubted, but his eyes glistened with satisfaction.
The gambler shook his head. 'She ain't; I remember him myself now. Knowed I'd seen him afore, but couldn't fix him. No, sir, he's the one an' only original Sudden, an' yu may lay to it.'
The phrase brought a half-grin to Raven's face, and a point to decide. Pardoe did not know that since the marshal was undoubtedly in Lawless when the stage was robbed there must be a second 'Sudden' in the field. This was the reason for his enmity--he believed Green had stolen his money, and it suited the saloon-keeper that he should go on thinking so.
'We've got him--cold,' the saloon-keeper exulted. 'Thisyer town will stand up on its hindlegs an' howl when it learns how he's razzle-dazzled it, an' it'll howl for blood too.'
'One thing, he couldn't 'a' done the bank job,' Pardoe said.
Raven laughed aloud. 'He could, an', by God! I believe he did,' he cried. 'If not, why didn't he stay with the rest of 'em at the Box B that night?'
'It'll be a shock for Strade.'
'Yo're shoutin'--an' for some others. I reckon Lawless will take notice when I speak, after this.'
'Yu'll be a big man, Seth,' the gambler offered, a shade of envy in his tone.
'Yu betcha,' the saloon-keeper agreed. 'Things is comin' my way, Pardoe, an' I shan't forget anyone what helped me. Now yu keep this strictly behind yore teeth for now. We're holdin' a winnin' hand; I gotta think out the best way to play it.'
'I reckon yo're just as pleased I missed him, Seth?'
'Pleased, Parson?' Raven repeated. 'If yu'd wiped him out I'd never 'a' forgiven yu. Death thataway ain't nothin'. It's when yo're young an' strong, full o' the lust of life, an' yu have to wait for the moment yu know it'll be taken from you... An' that ain't no dream--now,' Seth returned. 'But keep yore face closed. Sabe?'
The Parson nodded and went out. When the door had closed behind him the saloon-keeper gave free rein to his exultation.
'Yu were the one card I wanted to fill my hand, Mister Sudden, or Green, or whatever yore damn name is,' he cried.
'With yu cinched, I've got the rest of 'em like this.' He spread out his hand, closing the talon-like fingers slowly. 'Gotta get busy,' he went on. 'To start with, we'll sent for Strade; I'll enjoy givin' him a jolt.' He scribbled a note to the sheriff and went in search of a messenger.
* * *
In the middle of the night the marshal and his deputy suddenly awakened to find the room full of men. By the light of a lantern someone was holding aloft, they could see that the intruders were Raven, The Parson, and a number of the 'hardest' denizens of the town. Every man of them, save the saloonkeeper, had his gun out, and the expressions on the scowling faces showed that the threat was no vain one. Green sat up, making no attempt to reach his weapons.
'What's the trouble, Raven? Yu wantin' me?' he asked coolly.
'Not now--we got yu,' the half-breed jeered. 'Reach for the roof, both o' yu, an' keep on doin' it.'
Realizing that they had no option, the two men obeyed. The marshal had no idea what it all meant, but he saw that, for the moment, he was powerless; Seth Raven held the cards. 'If this is a joke--' he began.
The harsh merriment of the other stopped him. 'Yu got it,' Raven said. 'Just a little joke to square off for the one yu plastered on this town; on'y the last laugh is the best, an' we're goin' to have that. Git their guns an' search out that damn redskin.' This to his followers.
'That's no way to speak o' yore relations,' Pete put in.
For an instant Raven's eyes glared murder, and then, with a tremendous effort of will, he regained control of himself.
'An' hang him when yu find him,' he ordered.
Two of the men searched the place and returned with the news that the Indian was not to be found. Raven turned savagely on Pete.
'Where is he?'
The plump little puncher grinned cheerfully as he replied, 'Yore guess is as good as mine, brother; he was in the shack when we turned in, so he musta lit out when yu come. P'r'aps he don't like mongrels any more'n we do.'
This second reminder of his ignoble origin brought the fury back into the half-breed's face, and his voice was pregnant with it:
'Yu'll pay for that to-morrow--pay in full. I'll make yu wish yu'd never been born.'
'Shucks! that's somethin' you can't do,' the deputy returned easily. 'Whatever happens to-morrow, I've had a middlin' good time up to now.'
Raven stalked to the door.
'Watch the place all round, an' if they try to git out shoot 'em down,' he ordered.
When they were alone again, Pete rolled and lighted a smoke. 'What's at the back o' this caper, Jim?' he asked.
'Haven't a notion,' the marshal replied. 'Whyfor must yu go baitin' him an' get yoreself in bad? It's my hair he's after.'
'Hell, I ain't takin' no backwash from trash like him,' the little man responded. 'An' when I throw in with a fella it's to the finish.'
'Yo're several sorts o' a damn fool, but--I'm thankin' yu,' Green told him.
'Yu reckon they're goin' to hang us?' the deputy asked.
'Well, Raven's natural instincts would suggest somethin' more lingerin', but I doubt if even the roughnecks o' Lawless would stand for torture, so he'll string us up the stupidest way,' Green said, and added: 'Well, I'm a-goin' to hit the hay; looks like we're in for a busy day.'
In a little while his steady breathing showed that he was asleep. Pete was not so fortunate; for an hour he lay staring into the darkness, thinking of what was to come.
'He's the coolest cuss I ever met up with,' he muttered. 'Wonder where than damn Injun slid to? Bet he's workin' sixty minits to the hour; he don't like Raven neither.'
He stole to the window and peered out. In the faint, diffused light of the stars he could see the blurred form of a man, carrying a rifle, pacing slowly to and fro. Presently another joined him.
Pete knew the men: toughs, both of them, belonging to that mysterious portion of the community the members of which never appeared to work but always had money for drink and cards.
'Pete,' came a whisper.
The deputy spun round to find Green sitting up, and standing near was the familiar form of Black Feather. The Indian, it appeared, divining that Raven and his men spelt trouble, had slipped out of the window of. the kitchen,
