Soon after sunrise on the following morning, a ragged, hatless Mexican limped wearily through the western entrance to Hell City, staggered into the saloon, and demanded drink. He gulped a stiff dose of the fiery spirit, poured another, his hand shaking with fatigue, and sat down with a sigh of relief. Sudden, who had been chatting with the proprietor, surveyed him with interest.
"Yu 'pear to be all in, amigo," he remarked. "Come far?" The traveller shook his head. "A short way is a long way sometime, senor," he replied. "My hoss, she break de leg."
"Tough luck," the puncher commiserated.
At that moment Roden entered, and his eyes went wide when he saw the stranger. "Hello, Benito, what you doin' here?" he asked.
The Mexican drew him aside and spoke in a sibilant whisper. Sudden heard the muttered "Damnation!" and read the look of dismay and disappointment Benito's news evoked. He needed no second guess; the Twin Diamond had hit back, and, anxious to see how Satan would receive the reverse, he went out.
"Mebbe that fairy godmother o' his has told him all about it," was his whimsical reflection.
Evidently this was not the case, for he found the bandit leader in a good humour. He was reading a newspaper--one of those crude journalistic products of the pioneer days of which a settlement of any size boasted at least one example. The perusal seemed to afford him satisfaction.
"Hark to this, Sudden," he greeted. " `Another of those infamous outrages which blot the fair page of Western history.' That is how the Bosville Bugle refers to the looting of the local bank. It appears to have been very simple. Four strangers rode in and two of them entered the building. A shot was heard, the men emerged carrying a leathern satchel, mounted, and the whole party galloped away before the good citizens began to think. The cashier dead, with an undischarged pistol in his hand--he was clearly a fool--a rifled safe, and thirty thousand in cash and bills missing. As easy as that."
There was a pronounced sneer on his lips. He tapped the paper on his knee. "The nit-wit who conducts this mangy sheet adds, `This is an addition to the many similar daylight robberies which have disturbed the country during the past twelve months. What is the Governor going to do about it?' I can tell him: the Governor will do just--nothing. The sheriff and his blundering posse will lose the trail, as usual, and we shall turn the trick again elsewhere. My plans are well laid; I never fail."
The last three words moved the puncher to inward mirth; a contradiction was coming.
"Thirty thousand is a sizeable stake," he remarked. "S'pose them fellas decide to glom on to it?"
The stony eyes gleamed. "No man ever double-crossed me an got away with it," Satan said. "One who tried reached Montana; another, Kansas City; a third, Tucson--under the Governor's nose, but they all died--swiftly. These men know that I possess the power to find them, and fear will make them honest--to me."
"They're takin' their time; Bosville ain't so far, is it?"
"About fifty miles, but certain enquiries would necessitate a roundabout route, and possibly, delay."
Sudden would have liked more definite information, but his hope of obtaining it vanished when Silver ushered in Benito.
"Said he'd gotta see you right away," the dwarf rumbled.
The Mexican did not wait to be questioned, blurting out his news in short, spasmodic sentences, as though anxious to get the ordeal over. The herd had gone--a dozen Twin Diamond riders had raided the valley, and, after shooting his companion, had rounded up and driven away the cattle. He was distant from the camp, had seen them arrive, and escaped by hiding in the rocks. Trembling with fright, the man ceased his mumble and waited for the storm to break.
He was not kept long. 1 he Chief's face, schooled so carefully to stoic indifference, became insensate with fury. Snatching out a gun, he levelled it at the shivering wretch.
"You have lost my cows and made me a figure of fun," he hissed. "Well, for that you--die."
He was on the point of pulling the trigger when Sudden spoke.
"That's a mighty poor remedy. What d'yu expect a couple o' men to do against the Twin Diamond outfit? This fella had the guts to come an' tell yu; he could 'a' travelled the other way just as easy."
The sarcastic tone brought the bandit to his senses; he realized that he had betrayed himself. Replacing his weapon he said sternly, "This time I spare you, but speak so much as one word ..." He tapped the butt of his gun suggestively, and added, "Get out."
With a furtive glance of gratitude to the man who had saved him, Benito departed hurriedly. Satan turned to his companion.
"I should not have killed the cur, but I had to frighten him," he lied. "It is maddening to have been outplayed by that overfed hog, Merry. Someone must have betrayed me."
"Then yu oughta know--bein' a kind o' medicine man," was the ironical reply.
"True," Satan said, and putting one hand to his brow, sat in silence. Then he looked up. "Why did you do it, Sudden?"
The puncher grinned. "That's a bad miss," he replied. "Keith havin' tried to string me up, I'd naturally be eager to give him back his property, wouldn't I? An' yu can add to that I didn't know where to look for it. No, sir, I'd say one o' Merry's men happened on the tracks by accident; cows ain't got wings, yu savvy."
"You may be right, but I shall know," Satan said. "Well, the fat fool wins--this time, but he'll live to be sorry."
Sudden came away with a mischievous gleam in his eyes. Ile had a plan, but to put it into operation he must have help, and promptly went in search of it. This took him to the northern extremity of the Double K range.
Frosty, perspiring and lurid-tongued, was engaged in an endeavour to drive a steer out of a patch of cactus scrub which it seemed loth to leave when a derisive voice from behind advised him to pick up the beast and carry it out. He whirled his pony to find Sudden enjoying his efforts.
"Any idjut can look on an' laff," he greeted. "Why don't yu do somethin', yu perishin'--ornament?"
"The Double K has dispensed with my services," Sudden reminded. "Anybody out here with yu?"
"Nope. Steve don't think it matters if I'm bumped off. Did yu hear we got our cows back?"
His friend's eyes twinkled. "I was told the Twin Diamond made yu a present of'em."
"Well, it amounted to that, an' the 01' Man is hoppin' mad --didn't like Merry's outfit gettin' ahead of us. I heard him give Steve his opinion, an' he made hisself plain."
"He's hard to please. yu got the natural increase, too."
"Yu bet. Why, in that short while the herd had more'n doubled, an' the curious thing was, the calves had all been born branded an' grooved to full size. Ain't Nature wonderful?"
"Shore is," Sudden agreed gravely. "How would the Double K like to give Mister Satan a jolt?"
"Try us," Frosty urged, adding slyly, "Anyways, it's our turn, ain't it?"
"Smart lad, huh?" the other grinned.
"Pickles! I know that Twin Diamond bunch--blind as bats. S'pose yu had to use 'ein, but don't tell me--"
"I won't, yore mouth opens easy as a saloon door. Now listen." He told what he had learned of the bank robbery.
"It will have to be a private play, just yu an' Lazy--they won't know there's on'y two o' yu. Say yo're goin' to Dugout. I'd take a hand but I gotta be where I can be seen. I'm guessin' them jaspers will arrive this evenin' an' use the west gate. If I'm wrong, yu'll be outa luck."
"Shore will, with the nights cold as they is," his friend said feelingly. "But if they do show up?"
"Short o' Hell City there's a split in the trail, with plenty cover; yu can stand 'em up there. One o' yu can heave their hardware into the brush, collect the cash--it'll be in a leather bag--an' stampede the hosses, while the other keeps 'em covered. By the time they've hoofed it into town, yu'll be past pursuit. Take the plunder to Merry an' tell him to send it by a shore hand to the Bosville sheriff. Yu sabe?"