"He was interested in our conversation, an' now he follows us. What d'yu make o' that, Dan?"
"I'm no good at riddles, Jim. You tell me."
"Those coyotes back on the trail missed the beef, but if they knowed when to expect us, they might try for the dollars."
"Likely enough, an' that hombre would have plenty time to get here ahead o' us," Dover admitted. "What's our best plan?"
"With that fella trailin' us we got no hope o' trickin' 'em. I vote we catch some sleep an' start in the mornin'," was Sudden's suggestion. "If they waylay us, we'll stand a better chance in the daylight."
The others agreed that this was the wisest course, and being already short of one night's rest, they gave the attractions of the town the go-by, and turned in early.
There was no sign of the bearded man when they set off soon after daybreak, but none of them doubted his being in the vicinity. Sudden only grinned when Tiny mentioned it. One precaution was taken: Dover called Sudden aside and slipped a packet into his hand; it was the money received for the cattle.
"You got the fastest hoss in the bunch," he said. "If things get tight, make a dash for it."
"Unless they're watchin' the trail, we'll have no trouble."
"They may be, or it's possible that jasper has gone on a'ready to tell 'em we're comin'."
"He ain't," Sudden chuckled. "Over-keen, Mister Whiskers. He took the room next to mine, an' when I found my key would open his door, I slipped in, hawg-tied an' gagged him, in' told the landlord my neighbour wanted to sleep late."
Dover laughed. "Gosh, Jim, you don't miss any bets," he complimented. "I'm damn glad you didn't go over to Trenton."
"Well, that settles Whiskers, but we still gotta remember that the others may be the patient kind."
The three cowboys had to be told, and they looked at Sudden with added respect. Blister's tribute amused them all.
"Jim," he said gravely. "One o' these days you an me won't have a game o' poker."
"Blister," was the solemn reply. "When it comes to cards. yu wouldn't believe how dumb I am."
"Yo're dead right, I wouldn't," Blister agreed.
Having no herd to hamper them, a good pace could be maintained. Sudden led the party, and Dan brought up the rear, each man riding a little behind the next so that all of them could not be covered at once. The first score of miles were negotiated without incident, and then they drew near to where the stampede had happened. The sun was climbing the sky, and in the growing heat they did not hasten; it was necessary to spare the horses in case speed should be urgently needed.
East of the plateau, as Sudden remembered, the trail traversed a shallow gully, both walls of which were hedged by thick brush. Immediately on entering this, he slackened pace still more, eyes alert. Half-way through the sun glinted on something in the depths of a bush; it was the barrel of a rifle, and directly opposite was another.
"Shove 'em up," barked a voice. "We got you set--both sides."
Sudden's reins were already twisted round the saddle-hornhis knees told the horse what to do. When, in apparent obedience to the order, his hands rose, a gun was in each, spouting flame and lead. Left and right, the shots crashed, the rifle-barrels disappeared--one exploding harmlessly--and there was a sound of breaking twigs and violent movement in the veil of vegetation. At the same instant, the black sprang onward, a few mighty bounds carrying it clear of the gully. The rest of the party followed, bending low and raking the brush with their revolvers. Scattered, ill-aimed replies came from the ambushers. When he had ridden about a mile, Sudden waited for his companions.
"Anybody hurt?" he wanted to know. "What's the matter with yu, Noisy?"
"Ain't nothin'," the silent one replied. "Just a graze."
"We'll tie it up," the puncher said. "I figure them fellas have had a full meal."
The "graze" proved to be a nasty flesh-wound in the forearm, and when this had been attended to they went on their way. Blister and Tiny, riding together, discussed the occurrence.
"I never see his han's move, but both guns was out an' workin'. I'll bet he got both them smarties," the big cowboy remarked.
"Smart nothin'--a pair o' bunglers," said a quiet voice behind. "Lemme give yu a tip, Tiny; next time yu go bushwhackin', don't show yore gun; the slant o' the barrel tells the other fella where to aim."
"Speakin' from experience, Jim?" Tiny came back. "Shore," Sudden grinned. "I was a road-agent afore I came down in the world an' had to take to punchin'."
In due course they reached the Circle Dot, and once more the bunkhouse had a story to hear. Blister told it, finishing in characteristic fashion:
"An' after the ruckus, the on'y trouble we had was listenin' to Noisy yowlin' like a sick cat over that triflin' scratch he got."
"Turn anythin' Blister sez the other way round an' yo're liable to git the truth," the wounded man replied, a statement which evoked a general chorus of "Yo're tellin' us."
Chapter XIV
Miss Maitland and Malachi had walked as far as the cemetery. It was, as he had told Miss Trenton, a pretty place, though the oblong mounds of stones--several with staggering, homemade wooden crosses--did not add to its beauty. The customary bitter expression was absent from the man's clever face.
"They all seem to be nameless," the girl commented.
"Rainbow has no monumental mason yet," he told her, and pointed to the most recent heap. "That is the resting-place of Dave Dover, who was kind to every living thing--except an enemy." A touch of his old sarcastic humour returned. "Yet, if any other citizen had brought you here, the grave he would have shown with pride would have been that of a scoundrel who killed seven people--and he wasn't a doctor. The town hanged him, most justly; he was a fool--he should have taken a degree before indulging his appetite for blood."
She did not smile. "I don't like to hear you' joke about. your profession," she said. "Great soldiers, who use their lives to take life, are honoured, but a doctor, who devotes himself to saving life receives--what?"
"All that every human being wins in the end--that," he said flippantly, and pointed to the nearest grave.
"You are not yourself to-day," she reproved.
"That's the trouble--I am," he replied cynically. "Forgive me, Miss Maitland; I sometimes talk, and act, like an idiot. What I really wanted to tell you was that I am going away."
The colour came into her cheeks and receded; she had suddenly realized what this man's absence would mean. It had begun in pity on her part for one who, still young and talented, was leading an aimless, sordid existence. A bed in a shabby hotel, meals at an eating-house, and many hours of every day in saloons; the tragedy of it shocked her. And now ... She tried to speak casually:
"Are you going for good?"
"For my own good, I hope," he smiled. "Would it matter?"
"I have not so many friends," she told him, and there was a note in her voice which brought a gleam into his eyes.
"I expect to be away only some two or three weeks," he said. "Where, when, and why, I am not at liberty to tell even you. The town--if it troubles to ask--will be informed that I have gone East, and supply its own reason--a debauch."
"But--you have been--"
"Abstemious lately? Precisely, and therefore the wiseacres will argue that a breaking-out was inevitable." He saw the fear in her glance. "No, it isn't that; if it were, I would stay here and be damned to them."
She smiled again; this was the old Malachi, reckless, contemptuous, but likeable. They spoke only of trivialities on the way to Rainbow, but when parting, Malachi said, "You will be glad when I return, Kate?"
"Yes--Philip," she replied.