"Well, do you imagine any person will dare to interfere with him?" was the arrogant answer.
Meanwhile, the reprieved man was wondering whether he ought to be glad or sorry. Tough as he was, the strain of the ordeal had tried him to the utmost. His head smarted but he knew it was, as yet, the merest graze. Tomorrow, unless he gave in--and he had no intention of doing so--the lead would bite a little more shrewdly, and the next day ... But it was no use thinking that way. He tried to move his stiffened limbs, but Silver had done a good job, and he soon realized that there was no hope in that direction. So he watched the shadows deepen, the stars come out, and the denizens of this criminal community slinking from hole to hole like a colony of predatory vermin. From the saloon came the jingle of a piano and the shouted chorus of a song.
All the passers-by, he noticed, gave the whipping-post a wide berth, but presently, a stumble and muffled curse from just behind him announced an exception. Unable to turn, he could only wait. Then came a whispered word.
"Jim!"
"Frosty? What th'--?"
"That'll keep. Wait till I cut these blame' hobbles, an' we'll flit. I guess this ain't a healthy place for us."
"Yu'll never guess better. How'd yu get in?"
"Down the hole yu showed me. There was a jigger on guard at the bottom, but I rapped him on the head with my gun an' he let me pass."
"He let--say, will he let yu go back?"
There was a subdued chuckle in Frosty's whisper. He won't care--a rap."
By this time the captive was free. Fortunately the post was near the cliff and in darkness. Sudden stretched his cramped limbs and drew a long breath.
"Beat it," he said. "I'll join yu at the Twin Diamond. I gotta get Nigger."
"Risk yore life for a hoss?"
"Just that; there's been times when but for him I wouldn't have one to risk. Don't worry, I got it all planned." Frosty knew it was useless to argue. "Well, it's yore life," he grumbled, "but a fella can push his luck too hard."
The gloom swallowed him and Sudden turned in the direction of the saloon. He had almost reached it when the door was flung back and a man wearing two gun-belts staggered out; it was Roden--alone. The fugitive crouched behind a corner of the building and as the half-tipsy ruffian passed, struck upwards, rising with the blow. The granite fist, moving like a released spring, landed full on the point of the jaw and Scar dropped as though hit by a thunderbolt. Sudden dragged the inert form back from the road, and with a sigh of content, buckled on his own belt and guns.Climbing to his bedroom window, he got his saddle, and ran to the corral. The familiar whistle brought the black, and soon the pair were heading for the west gate. As they approached, Sudden quickened pace, and they arrived with a rush. The man in charge was new to him.
"Got a pass?" he queried. " 'Less you have "
"Pass be damned!" Sudden said angrily. "Open up, yu idjut. Scar Roden had a run in with the Chief an' creased him --pretty bad. I'm for the Red Rock doctor."
The fellow stared. "Scar, huh?" he said. "Must 'a' found some sand. What happened to him?"
"The Chief got him--good, an' he's liable to get yu if..."
But the bars were already being removed, and ten seconds later, Nigger was through and racing down the trail. His rider indulged in a mild whoop and leaned over to pat the satiny neck of the friend he had dared so much to recover.
"Yu come mighty near to changin' owners, of hoss," he said. "Lyin' is like drink, it gets a hold on a fella, but I gotta admit there's a heap o' satisfaction in puttin' over a good one. I gambled on that gate-man bein', like me, tied to his post this afternoon, an' my luck was shorely in."
He laughed at his little joke, and swinging off the beaten track, plunged into the brush towards the Twin Diamond. By the time he reached the ranch-house, a pale grey light behind the distant peaks told the dawn of another day. Turning his horse into the corral, he carried his saddle to the house, and finding the door unlocked, stepped into the living-room, slumped into a big armchair, and went to sleep. A little later, Frosty arrived and did precisely the same. Chang, the Chinese cook, first astir, surveyed the pair of snoring cowboys with a grih and went about his work of preparing the morning meal. The voice of the rancher awakened them.
"Well, damn me, if some folk ain't got a nerve," he said. "Hello, Mart," Frosty greeted. "We just dropped in."
"Off, yu mean," Merry corrected. "I hope yu found all yu wanted."
"Not a spot," the Double K rider told him. "Take the bottle to bed with yu?"
"No, sir, on'y the contents," his host laughed. "C'mon: eat first an' talk after is my motto. Mornin', Jeff."
young Keith entered, greeted the guests, and sat down to the excellent breakfast provided. Not until they had done full justice to it, and lighted up, did Merry open the conversation with the customary question.
"Well, boys, what's the news?"
"S'pose yu ain't heard o' the 01' Man accidentally shootin' hisself?" Frosty began.
Sudden saw Keith's face become paler, but no word came from his lips. It was the rancher who spoke.
Ken hurt?" he cried. "How bad?"
"The Red Rock pill-roller reckons he's got a fightin' chance."
"Then he'll make it--Ken's a fighter, shore enough," Merry said. "But how did it happen?"
Frosty told the story as he knew it, but the fat man shook his head.
"It don't sound right to me."
"It ain't right," Sudden put in quietly. "Satan rode into Dugout, with six others, yestiddy mornin'. He met the Colonel in Black Sam's an' shot him; claims he went for a weapon."
Keith sprang up, his lips working, and made for the door. But the puncher was there first and had his back to it. "Where yu goin'?" he asked.
"Hell City, to blow that skunk to bits," was the passionate reply.
"Fine, yu'll look like a million bucks to him," Sudden said sarcastically. "Best let it ride, for now." Sullenly the young man returned to his seat. Frosty spoke.
"Jansen an' them who fetched the 01' Man home all had the same tale. Why would they lie?"
"Mebbe he told them to," Sudden suggested. "He's a proud man an' wouldn't want it knowed that--"
"His own son had done such a dastard deed," the boy burst in. "Yes, that's the sort of thing he would do. But he believed it himself," he finished bitterly.
"Yu can't blame him, Jeff," Merry pointed out. "That damned imposter has been too clever for all of us." His eye caught something. "How long yu been an Imp, Frosty?"
The cowboy grinned as he slipped the badge into a pocket. "Forgot that, but she was useful las' night," he said. "Soon as I got into Hell City I went straight to the saloon--"
"Yu would," his friend interrupted.
"Knowed it was the likeliest place to find yu," Frosty retaliated. "yu wasn't there, but I heard how the Chief--as they call him--had soured on yu, an'
"The rest don't signify," Sudden said hurriedly. "I guess it does," the rancher decided.
So Frosty had to tell of the battle with Roden and the subsequent ordeal, both of which had been graphically described to him by eye-witnesses. He concluded with, "An' here he is, hoss an' guns complete. How in hell d'yu manage it, Jim?"
"If I'd on'y practised steady as a kid, I'd be a good liar," Sudden smiled, and related the ruse by which he had escaped. "I was lucky."
"Lucky?" Frosty echoed whimsically. "Yu said it. I'll bet if yu pitched head first into the Glue-pot yu'd come up with a bag o' gold in each paw."
Merry laughed. "Yu can put a `p' in front o' that luck, Frosty," he said. "What was it this brigand wanted to know, Jim?"
"The whereabouts o' Keith here. As I told yu, he's the winnin' card. Holdin' him, Satan takes the pot; lackin' him, he's liable to lose out."