horsemen approached, these disintegrated into winged portions which took flight; the scavengers of the desert had discovered the dead horses. No other living thing was to be seen, and Job Leeming, in his disappointment, rose to heights which astonished even his own men.
`Ain't he a ring-tailed wonder?' whispered one of them to Dirty. `I reckon he oughtta be President o' the U- nited States.' `He shore can express himself awful easy,' admitted the other `I guess I'd sooner shoot than talk a thing out with him.'
`Don't yu go makin' any mistakes about his shootin' either,' said the Frying Pan man. `He's a dead game sport.'
By this time Leeming had let off steam, and with one of his astonishing changes was prepared to accept defeat more or less philosophically.
`Well, boys, we seem to have had our trouble for nothin' they've been too clever for us,' he said. `I reckon they must have had some hosses yu didn't see, Green, or else some more o' the damn thieves happened along to shift the herd.'
The Y Z man nodded agreement, though in reality neither of the solutions satisfied him. Laban's sudden departure recurred to his mind but he could find nothing to connect an apparent stranger with the rustlers. Even if it had been done as a matter of spine against himself, it seemed inconceivable that Laban would know where to send the warning.
`Guess we'd better have a look round, now we're here,' he said. `Sorry we missed the cows, Leeming.'
`Ain't nobody's fault--just bad luck,' returned the Frying Pan boss. `Mebbe we'll pick up the trail.'
Spreading out, they combed the sides of the valley thoroughly, and found one steer only in the thick underbrush, where it had evidently been overlooked by the rustlers when the herd was gathered for a getaway. Job studied the altered brand with interest.
`Never heard of it,' he commented. `They made a good job of in. Wonder where they're sellin'em?'
At the far end there was a break in the saucer-like rim which shut the valley in, and this seemed to promise another outlet, but when nhey reached it they found that it was closed by a perpendicular ledge of rock eight feet above the grass level of the valley. From the ledge a strip of sand led through a narrow opening in the cliff to the country beyond. The stream entered at a deep gully not a yard wide, a passage impracticable even for a horse. There appeared to be no way of reaching the ledge save by climbing and the sand above it showed no tracks.
`Must have took 'em out at the other end again,' said Job. `An' that leaves us just where we was before. No good losin' time here, ooys; we'd better head for home.'
Chapter XIII
ON the following morning the foreman of the Y Z appeared at breakfast with a grin on his face, which broadened considerably when his eyes rested on Green.
`I hear yu didn't catch many rustlers,' he began.
`Yu heard correct,' the puncher said quietly.
`Yu was lookin' for 'em in the wrong place,' went on the foreman. `While you an' Job was pirootin' round that blind canyon, they was busy at the Frying Pan, liftin' another hundred head. S'pose that's news to yu?'
Green looked at the maliciously triumphant speaker in blank amazement; it certainly was news and of the very worst kind. What he liked still less was the meaning sneer conveyed in the question.
`Yu suggestin' it might not be news to me?' he asked.
The foreman hesitated. He had, only a little while before, plainly stated to his employer his belief that this man was working with the rustlers, and than the trip to the blind canyon was merely a ruse to leave the Frying Pan open for another raid. `A damn good exchange too, a hundred cows for a couple o' cayuses,' he had sneered. `If he was playin' straight, why didn't he drop the men 'stead o' the hosses? Accordin' to his story, they was shootin' at him.' Now, he would have given all he possessed to shout `Yes' and go for his gun, but he could not do it; the narrowed, grim eyes of the cowpuncher seemed to hypnotise him. The other men watched in silence.
Then Green spoke: `Take off yore belt, Blaynes,' he said, and at the same moment he unbuckled his own and laid it on the table. The foreman made no move.
`Take it off, yu white-livered skunk,' rasped the other.
The epithet cun like a lash, and with an oath, the foreman's right hand went to his belt, not to take it off, but to snatch the gun from its holster. In an instant Green divined his purpose and covered the space between them in one leap; his hands shot out and gripped the foreman's wrists just as the pistol cleared the scabbard. Madly Blaynes strove to loosen the clutch and aim the weapon, but he was powerless; he felt that he was held by steel vices which were being slowly tightened and were crushing the bones of his wrists. The pain was atrocious and the sweat showed in beads upon his forehead.
`Drop that gun, yu cur!'
The harsh order was hardly necessary, for already the weapon was falling from the numbed, lifeless fingers. As soon as he heard it thud upon the floor, Green released his grip and step
ping back, swung his right first, and sent in a crashing blow which caught Blaynes on the point of the jaw, dashing him, stunned and senseless, into a corner of the room. Then he picked up his belt, buckled it on, and without a word left the bunkhouse.
`Gosh!' said Durran, as he helped to lift the stricken man inno his bunk and tried to revive him. `I'd sooner be kicked by an army mule.'
`Served him right for tryin' to pull a gun on an unarmed man,' snorted Dirty.
`Well, mebbe it warn't the right play,' Durran had to admit; `but a foreman can't allow his outfit to rough- ride him.'
`An' he can't rough-ride them neither, which is one o' the things Rattler's gotta learn,' retorted Dirty.
On leaving the bunkhouse, Green went in search of Simon. He found him in his office, and the worried look on his face did not lighten when he saw the visitor. Green stated his business bluntly: `There's somenhin' yu have to know. Yore foreman accused me of runnin' with the gang that's rustlin' yore cows, tried to pull a gun on me, an' I knocked him cold. Reckon yu better give me my time.'
Old Simon studied the puncher for a moment. He had had dealings with many men during an eventful life and could usually size one up to his own satisfaction at least, but this one puzzled him. He did not believe that Green was crooked, and that odd feeling of attraction which he had experienced before again assailed him. He became surprisedly aware that he was loth to let the puncher go.
`What yu aimin' to do?' he asked.
`Stay around,' replied the other. `I ain't double-crossin' yu an' I'm agoin' to prove it in time, but this ranch ain't big enough for me an' Blaynes. The next play he makes will be the finish--for him.'
It was a plain statement of fact, with no trace of boast about it, and the cattle-owner knew that the speaker meant just what he said. He had to choose between the two men. For a while he was silent, trying to find a way out. Presently he hit upon one.
`I ain't accusin' yu, an' Blaynes has been with me for some time,' he began slowly. `Supposin' yu stay on the pay-roll an' let on yu have quit. I reckon that would give yu more of a free hand.'
The cowpuncher considered the proposition for a few moments and saw that it possessed advantages. As a mere loafer in town, attached to no ranch, he could not be regarded as a danger by the rustlers, and apart from the personal enmities he had acquired, which troubled him not at all, could expect to oerelieved of their attentions. Another possibility also presented itself.
`I'll take yu,' he said, `but don't yu forget that I came to ask for my time, an' yu give it me.'
`That's whatever,' Simon agreed. `We've had a hell of a row over yu beatin' up my foreman, an' we ain't on speakin' terms.' He produced a roll of bills and peeled off a number of them. `Here's what's due to yu, an' a month's pay in advance; yu want to be well heeled to hang about town. Where do yu aim to put up?'
`The hotel--I'll hear all the news there. Yu had any offers for the range?'
`Why, no,' said Simon in surprise, and then, `Well, Tarman did mention a figure, but in was so low that I took it he was jokin' an' laughed it off. What yu askin' that for?'
`Just a notion I had,' replied Green. `Well, I'll be gettin' my war-bags an' hosses; I'm takin' Blue Devil with me.'
`Shore, I gave yu the hoss,' Simon said.
The cowpuncher returned to the bunkhouse and began to pack his few belongings. The place was empty save