`Wish the Old Man would let me trail along with yu,' Larry said wistfully. `I know the country, an' yu don't; I reckon I'd be useful.'
`Shore yu would, an' if I want any help I'll ask for yu,' Green said. `In the meantime, keep yore eyes an' ears open; it wouldn't surprise me none if the bunkhouse was a good place to look.'
Chapter IV
On the following morning Green saddled the roan and made his way to the spot where he had found the dead cow, intending to take up the trail from there. To his astonishment, he found that the carcass had disappeared, and the original tracks were hopelessly blurred by a number of others leading in all directions.
`They have certainly got quick news of my appointment,' he muttered.
As he sat there surveying the scene in puzzled cogitation, an arrow transfixed his sombrero, snatching it from his head. Instantly he rode straight for the clump of brush from which it seemed to come. He was too late; a crackling in the undergrowth, a shrill whoop, and then the thud of galloping hoofs told him that the hidden assassin had escaped. He returned for his hat and carefully examined the missile.
`Apache, all right, an' a war-shaft at that,' he commented. `But a brave on his first scout wouldn't have missed such an easy mark at that range. No, gents, I ain't right convinced o' that redskin theory even now.'
Behind the bush from which the arrow had come he found the grass trodden down and several cigarette ends; the bushwhacker had clearly waited some time, and had been careless too. The marks of his flight were apparent, and also told a story.
`No, sir, braves don't wear boots in this neck o' the woods,' the cowboy soliloquized.
Leading his horse, he followed the trail for a few hundred yards; then it ceased, and hoof-prints told that the unknown had there mounted and continued his flight over a stretch of hard, rocky ground, which showed no tell-tale tracks. For an hour Green searched painstakingly, bun without success. Then he headed straight across the baffling barrier in the direction of the frowning slopes of the Big Chief Range.
Midday found him traversing some of the wildest country he had ever seen, and he began to realize the magnitude of the task before him. Deep, thickly-wooded valleys, brush-tangled gullies, pine-covered rocky ridges succeeded one another in bewildering confusion, and over all the sullen peaks of the Big Chief towered in solemn majesty.
`It's a man's job, all right,' he said. `I reckon yu could lose an army here, an' not be too awful careless at that.' He plodded on for another hour, and presently emerged on the bank of a little stream beside which stood a rude log shack with a sodded roof from which a trickle of smoke ascended. He had come upon the place so unexpectedly that he could not hope to have escaped observation, so he adopted a bold policy and rode up to the door.
`Hello, the house!' he called.
A man instantly appeared in the doorway, rifle in hand. He was a tough-looking customer, with black beady eyes which scanned the visitor with suspicious care.
`Howdy,' he said, and waited.
`I'm from the Y Z,' Green said, knowing that the brand on his mount had told this already.
`I got eyes,' came the retort. `New hand, I s'pose. Ain't yu strayed off yore range quite a piece?'
`Oh, I reckon I'm lost all right,' laughed Green.
'Light an' eat,' said the other.
The interior of the cabin was as primitive as the outside. A rude, home-made table, two or three stools, and a pallet bed comprised the furniture. A pick, shovel and a gold-digger's pan stood in one corner.
Washin', eh?' Green asked, with a glance at the implements. `Gettin' much?'
`Well, it ain't nothin' to advertise,' the man replied, `but it pays better'n punchin' cows.'
`It don't have to be a bonanza to do that,' laughed the cowboy. `Don't see much company, I reckon.'
'Yo're the first in two weeks,' was the answer.
The meal dispatched, the two men smoked in silence for a while. Then Green remarked casually:
`Redskins bother yu any?'
The man's eyes narrowed for a moment, and there was the barest hesitation before he said, `Naw, I treat 'em right an' mind my own business. Don't see much of 'em: two or three braves now an' then--aimin' to borry a few o' yore steers, I guess; but that's yore lookout.'
`That's so,' agreed Green, joining in the laugh that followed. `Means a job for chaps like me, eh?'
`Shore; puttin' it thataway, the Injun's some good, which I never did expect to think,' grinned the other.
`Preachers say everythin' was made for a purpose, even rattlesnakes, but I'm blamed if I can find any use for them,' Green remarked, and then added casually, `I'm told there's another ranch up here somewhere, the Double X.'
A look of alertness illumined the not-too-clean features of his host for a brief moment, and then he said slowly: `I've heard of it, but I ain't been there; it's way back in the hills, an' I ain't nohow interested in cattle at present.'
The conversation languished, and after a while the visitor rose and said, `Well, I got to be driftin'. Which way do I go for the Y Z?'
`Cross the stream and head due south--there ain't no depth o' water just now. Less'n half an hour yu'll strike the trail to Hatchett's.'
With a word of thanks, Green mounted his animal and forded the creek. As he vanished among the trees he looked round, saw the miner watching him, and waved his hand.
`An' that ain't a good-bye, old-timer,' he muttered. `Yu an' me is goin' to meet again, or I miss my guess. That minin' outfit was considerable rusty for recent use, an' I'm bettin' high yu couldn't produce an ounce o' dust nohow.' He found the trail, and giving Blue the rein, headed for the ranch. It proved a longish ride, and darkness was coming on when he unsaddled, turned the horse into the corral, and made his way to the bunkhouse. The men were at supper, and Green caught what he was looking for an expression of surprise on the faces of the foreman, Durran, and several of the older men.
`Hello, Green!' greeted Larry. `Rattler was sayin' yu was shore lost, or Blue had 'piled' yu, or
`I'd been snatched to glory by a blue-eyed angel with white wings,' suggested the late-comer with a smile. `Well, as a matter o' fact, I did get lost; this is shore a discouragin' country for strangers.'
`Them as don't mind their own business are liable to find it so,' put in Blaynes. `Get any rustlers?'
Green laughed easily. `Nary one; those interestin' animiles seem to be amazin' shy in these parts. I found a miner, though.'
A look of quick suspicion came into the foreman's eyes, and then he said carelessly: `Old Nugget, I s'pose. He's loco. Hope yu searched him to see if he'd got any steers hidden in his clothes.'
The men laughed gaily at the joke, and Green joined in; he did not want any open breach with Blaynes. Later, he got a chance to question Larry about the prospector.
`Oh, he's a harmless old piker,' replied the cowboy, with a touch of contempt in his tone. `Been pannin' the streams around here for years, an' if he gets 'color' now an' then, he's happy. Never seen him at the ranch; but he goes into town for supplies. An' now I come to think of it, I've seen him powwowin' with Poker Pete, but we've all done that.' Green considered for a moment and, having determined that Larry was to be trusted, told the story of the missing cow and the ambush. The boy's eyes widened as he listened.
`Don't that beat hell?' was his astonished comment. `An' smart too. Say, this ain't no one man job. Why not tell Old Simon, an' ask for me as a side-partner?'
Green shook his head. `I'm layin' low for a bit. Yu keep all I've told yu behind yore face,' he said. `I'm relyin' on yu now; but we got work both ends. 'Nother thing. Don't let on that we're too friendly; we don't want 'em to get suspicious o' yu.'
`Rattler don't love me none as it is,' Larry said. `I'd have asked for my time months ago but for...'
`Shore; but don't tell me--I might be surprised,' interrupted his friend, with a grin. `Well, don't yu care. A fellow can't tell what's in the pack till the cards is turned.'
`Some fellers can't; yu seem to be able to,''Larry retorted.
`Easy enough with tinhorns like Poker Pete, but when Mother Fate is a-dealin' it's a hoss of a different color. Know anythin' about Old Simon?'
`Mighty little,' was the reply. `He settled here with his girl soon after the gold-diggin's petered out, but I never heard where he come from. That must be about eighteen years ago.'
