"Sounds simple," Frosty lied cheerfully, and then, "Thirty thousand is a wad o' money. Yu could swipe it yore-self, head for California, an'--"
"Be the skunk the world tried to make me," Sudden finished. "No, yu snow-topped calamity, I'm workin' for somethin' more than easy money."
"It's devilish risky," Frosty offered. "If Satan learns he's been sold out by a man in his pay
"Back up," Sudden broke in. "Get this into the knob yu put yore hat on: I've never had a nickel from him an' ain't goin' to. Now, so long, an' good luck for to-night."
With puzzled eyes the Double K rider watched him disappear into a near-by ravine. "He shore has got me guessin'," he ruminated. "Passes up a chance to hive thirty thousand bucks, won't take no pay, an'--hell, it gives me a headache. I hope them bank-busters drift in." He smote his pony a flat-handed smack on the rump and sat easily rocking in the saddle while the outraged animal expressed disapproval in a mild bout of bucking. "G'wan, yu son of a wall-eyed mule, we got a li'l jape to put over an' it's goin' to be fun."
That the "li'l jape" had been duly "put over" Sudden got news in the morning, when Silver arrived at the saloon with an urgent summons from the Chief.
"He's wantin' you immediate," he objected, when the puncher casually promised to come along. "I gotta take you back, or he'll skin me. All het up, he is--never seed him so rathy."
"What's the trouble?" Sudden enquired.
"Guess he'll tell you hisself," was the cautious reply. "Best watch yore step, an' keep yore han's still."
Sudden thought little of the warning, but later he was to remember it. The bandit chief was pacing savagely up and down. At the sight of the puncher he stopped and snapped:
"Where did you spend last night?"
Sudden looked surprised. "In Dirk's," he said. "Takin' the wool off some o' yore lambs who fancied they could play poker; it cost them near a hundred good dollars to learn different. Easy pickin's, I'm tellin' yu."
"How long were you there?"
"All the evenin'. Cashed in after midnight--got tired o' slaughterin' the innocents--an' hit the hay. What's bitin' yu?"
Through the slits in the mask, the fierce eyes bored into the puncher's impassive face.
"I've been robbed," Satan said vehemently. "You alone knew those men were due from Bosville."
"Yu didn't tell me when or which way they'd come. Ain't they arrived?"
"Yes, on foot, with a tale of being held up, money and weapons taken, and horses driven off."
Sudden whistled. "Sounds a bit lame, but mebbe they're feelin' thataway, having walked," he grinned, and got a glare which did not disturb him. "S'pose they've cached the stuff--"
"Then why come back at all?" Satan interjected.
"If they can make their story stick, they'd have nothin' to fear from yu."
The masked man shook his head; conceit would not permit the thought that any of his underlings would dare so far.
"Another thing, I reckon yu ain't the on'y subscriber to that Bosville paper. Some fellas may've seen it, an' guessed right."
"I doubt if there is another copy within twenty miles. You seem very anxlous to pin the blame on someone."
Sudden's reply was a question, "Did the hold-up happen before midnight?" and when the other nodded, he went on, "What more do yu want? There's on'y one o' me, an' twenty of yore own men can tell yu where I was. Have some sense."
With an air of disgust, he reached for his "makings" and stepped back just as a gun roared and a bullet chipped the stone wall behind the spot where he had been standing. In a flash his own weapons were out, one covering the bandit, the other the picture, wreathing smoke from which showed whence the shot had come.
"What the hell's the meanin' o' that?" he grated.
The masked man stood motionless. "I don't know," he said calmly. "Silver!"
The uncouth attendant slid into view, a smoking pistol in one shaking hand. "I was just cleanin' her an' she done went off," he stammered. "I warn't meanin' no harm."
"You might have killed one of us; I'll deal with you later," his master said threateningly. "Quite an accident, you see, Sudden. The lout knows nothing of firearms, but will carry one."
"Yeah," Sudden replied, and stepped nearer the painting. "Why, if yu ain't lucky; the bullet came right through the muzzle o' the gun so the picture ain't hurt none; can't see the hole less yu look close."
Satan could detect no raillery in the voice and again found himself debating whether he was dealing with a clever man or a fool. He expressed his surprise at the remarkable coincidence.
"Comin' back to cases, I'm reckoned pretty useful at readin' sign," Sudden said. "The scene o' the holdup might tell me somethin'--if I can find it."
"The men said it took place where the road from the west gate divides," Satan replied.
"Ain't been so far in that direction," the puncher said easily. "I'll let yu know if I hit on anythin'." On his way out, he slapped Silver on the shoulder and cried, "Cheer up, Beautiful, a miss is as good as a mile, yu know."
Which boisterous exit left the bandit deeper in doubt than ever, and did not improve his temper. With a bitter oath, he vented his spleen on the one object available.
"Come here, you clumsy clown," he called. "What possessed you to fire without the signal?"
Silver lumbered forward, his ungainly form trembling. "Guessed he was goin' for his gun," he quavered. "Was scared he'd git you."
"Get me?" was the retort. "Did you think I was asleep? He's fast, but I could beat him. You have made me ridiculous --he was laughing at me, damn him. Another break like that and Muley shall take the flesh from your ugly, misshapen carcase and feed what is left to the coyotes. Get out of my sight, you freak."
Long ago he had learned that reference to his deformities cut the poor brute to the heart, and he delighted in the use of the knowledge. Turning his back contemptuously, he failed to see a look which would have made him thoughtful.
Chapter XVII
Satisfaction at the Double K over the rebuff to the rustlers was not as great as might have been expected. There had always been a friendly rivalry between the two ranches, and the fact that the Twin Diamond had undoubtedly scored, though it was to the Double K's advantage, rankled with both owner and outfit. Some of the latter had another reason for not exulting unduly, and of these the foreman was the most disgruntled.
"Can't figure it nohow," he said to Turvey. "Somebody must 'a' put them lunkheads wise. Jeff'll be mad."
"No blame to us anyway," the little man replied. "Our boys didn't find 'em. If there's bin a leak it's from Hell City. Reckon Green could 'a' had anythin' to do with it?"
"He dasn't show his face at the Twin Diamond, an' after helpin' to steal the herd he wouldn't be likely to hand 'em back to us."
"That's so," Turvey agreed. He did not know of the frame-up. "He's in Hell City, I s'pose, an' cherishin' no feelin' of affection for us. Me, I'd ruttier he was danglin' from a tree. How in blazes he got away from three o' yu "
"Oh, can the chatter," Steve said angrily. "That trick o' shootin' out the light gave him a chance an' he took it. He's Jeff's man now an' that makes us safe from him."
"Does it work both ways?" Turvey leered.
"I didn't say that," was the reply.
The subject of their conversation cropped up again at supper. With the object of stirring up Frosty, one man asked his neighbour if he had seen any more of Green?
"No, nor I don't hanker to," came the answer. "Last timewas the night o' the raid an' he was pumpin' lead at me plenty eager."
Frosty surveyed the rotund form of the speaker disdainfully. "Couldn't 'a' bin him, he'd not miss a mark like yu with eyes shut," he said.