"yu got Miss Eden back?" Sudden queried, and when his friend nodded, he drew his own guns, handing them, butts first, to the outlaw leader. "Ante up, Sandy," he went on. "Rogue has kept his part o' the bargain an' we gotta keep our'n." He smiled sardonically across the flames. "We're yore prisoners, Rogue, but I'm givin' yu warnin' that we'll light out if we get a chance."
"Then I'll have to tie yu," Rogue rapped.
"I don't blame yu," Sudden smiled, and at a nod from him, Sandy relinquished his revolver.
Later, three shapeless, blanket-covered forms lay round the smaller fire. The only difference between them was that two of them were tied hand and foot and appeared to be fast asleep. The third was wide awake, wrestling with the problem of what to do with his prisoners. The disarming and binding had been merely a bluff, for he did not want them ; they could only be a burden. The girl had been a different proposition--a weapon --but he could not credit the rancher with great solicitude for two of his hands. Their detention would mean two less to defend the herd, but be dismissed this aspect ; his own force was strong enough. A gleam of steel in the flickering firelight caught his eye ; it was a knife, used in the binding and forgotten. It helped him to a decision.
He glanced at the sky, where clouds had now blotted out the moon, flinging a pall of darkness over the camp. Soundlessly he edged over until he was close to Sudden, and able to reach the knife. The cowboy was breathing stertorously. Carefully raising the blanket, Rogue severed the bonds which confined the sleeper's wrists, and dropping the blade, rolled back to his former position. Fora time nothing happened and then he saw Sudden stretch and lie still again. Rogue knew he had discovered that his arms were free.
Presently the dark blotch of the cowboy's blanket stirred as he slowly sat up. He saw the knife, reached for it, and freed his ankles. With a whispered warning, he did the same for his fellow-prisoner. Then, on hands and knees, Sudden crept to the outlaw, whose heavy breathing suggested deep slumber. The confiscated weapons were beside him. Leaving their blankets rolled in some semblance of human forms, the captives crawled away from the fire, and reached the edge of the glade.
"The hosses are on the far side," Sudden whispered. "We'll have to pass Sligh. While I deal with him, yu slip around an' get the broncs."
Skirting the edge of the encampment, they moved swiftly and silently over the floor of matted pine-needles and presently saw the sentinel leaning against a pine, his rifle beside him. Like a shadow Sudden darted from tree to tree, and then. dropping on his belly, wormed his way forward. All that the unsuspecting watcher knew was that out of the murk a figure rose at his very feet and fingers of steel clutched his throat, prisoning any sound he might have uttered. Savagely he fought back, twisting, striking, kicking, but the relentless pressure of that vice-like grip was paralysing ; he could not breathe, his throat throbbed with pain, and the world went black before his bulging eyes. A few moments and the man was a limp and senseless weight. Sudden let him fall and hurried after Sandy. That young man had not been idle ; he had found the horses. and saddles. Soon the outlaw camp was behind them. For a while they rode in silence and then Sandy could restrain his curiosity no longer.
"How in hell did yu manage it, Jim?" he asked.
"I didn't," Sudden smiled. "Some kind gent cut my paws loose an' left the knife handy."
"Cripes, I'll bet it wasn't Sligh."
"yu'd win. It was another fella, an' when he came creepin' up on me with that sticker in his fist, well, I've knowed happier moments. I played I was asleep-snored real hearty."
"yu can too," Sandy complimented. "Did yu recognize him?"
"It was Rogue hisself."
"Oh, yeah," came the sarcastic reply. "Havin' tied us up he would turn us loose, wouldn't he?"
"Them bonds was just eyewash for the gang. Rogue didn't .rant us--we gotta be watched allatime, an' he knows Eden tin't goin' to part with a single steer on our account, so he gets rid of us--his own way. That was Sligh's knife--I saw him drop it ; he'll get the blame an' we'll get the credit. Rogue 's one smart hombre."
A smudge of grey in the eastern sky had turned to a golden glow and the red rim of the sun was pushing above the horizon when they rode down the valley and sighted the S E wagon. Peg-leg, busy preparing the morning meal, let out a yell which brought men leaping from their blankets and grabbing for guns. When they saw that it was not an Indian raid they laughed and swore at the cook. The foreman, his wrinkled :ace one smile, surveyed the pair delightedly.
"Nice damn couple, ain't yu?" he said. "Holdin' the drive up thisaway. The 0I' Man oughta give yu yore time."
"An' yore chin would hit yore toes if he did, yu holy fraud," Sudden retorted. "Now, Sandy an' me ain't had no sleep for 'bout a year. Who's got spare blankets? We had to leave our'n behind."
For a couple of hours they slept like dead men and then Jeff aroused them. "Sam's askin' for yu," he said.
They found the cattleman sitting at the end of the wagon. He was recovering rapidly ; the tonic air of the prairies, aided by his tough constitution, had worked wonders. Baudry and Carol were with him, and several of the outfit lingered near.
"Here's the truants, boss," the foreman grinned. "I was tellin' Jim yu oughta give 'em their time."
Eden had smothered his doubts and his rugged face softened as he surveyed the men to whom he owed so much. "I reckon they oughta have anythin' they ask for, but I'm hopin' it won't be that," he said. "Green, Sandy tells me I gotta thank yu for gettin' my girl back."
"Sandy's modesty'll be the ruin of him," Sudden smiled.
"I ain't forgettin' his part," Eden replied. "I'm curious to learn how yu persuaded that ruffian to let her go ; he had me thrown an' tied."
"yeah, he knowed that," the cowboy agreed. "I gambled on two cards--his past an' his pride. I figured that, sunk as he is, some respect for a good woman might remain, an' I was right. For the rest, his message to yu explains it--just the natural vanity o' the man. These were his weak spots, an' I hit 'em good an' hard."
"Then we'll hear more of him?"
"Shorely. He'll strike when he's ready, but I'm guessin' that won't be till we're nearer a market. He's got nigh a score o' men."
Baudry looked at the cattleman and nodded ; he had expressed the same view of the rustler's intentions. With a half-sneer he turned to Sudden.
"yu seem pretty well acquainted with this cattle-thief," he said. "Perhaps he turned you loose too?"
"Now I wonder who told yu?" Sudden debated. "He did that very thing."
Sam Eden's keen eyes widened at this and there was suspicion in them.
"D'yu mean that, Green?" the rancher asked sharply, and when the other nodded, "Why should he do that?" The cowboy related the manner of their escape.
Sudden sensed the hostility in the tone. "His men had none of his finer feelin's."
"Fine feelings--in an outlaw?" gibed the gambler savagely. "That's more than I can swallow."
"He let her go," the cowboy reminded.
"Yes, at your request," came the sneer. "Were you ever one of his gang?"
"No, were yu?" Sudden asked.
Pebbles, who was one of the listening riders, chuckled audibly, and the visitor's face flushed with anger.
"Damn your impudence," he shouted. "What do you mean by that?"
Sudden bent forward, his eyes bleak. "Just what I said," he replied. "Listen to me, Mister Man. On'y two fellas here can talk down to me with safety--my boss an' his foreman. yo're speakin' outa turn."
For a moment the gambler's narrow eyes clashed with those of the speaker and then turned in mute appeal to his host. Sam Eden was nonplussed. Torn between gratitude and friendship, he did not know how to deal with the tiny tempest which had so swiftly arisen. Carol came to his aid.