"yu've had a tough time, stranger, an' I reckon there's small hope o' joinin' yore own outfit yet awhile," he said. "We lost our wrangler back on the trail ; one o' the boys has been deputizin', but I guess he'd be pleased to hand over the job. What do yu say?"
"Well, I'm shorely a maverick an' I'm thankin' yu," the newcomer replied, and, as the cattleman put a question, "This country is new to me but I figure yu should be north o' the Wichita. We kept a straighter line, but we got held up an' had to hand over cash or cattle. I'd say the longer trip'll pay yu in the end."
So it was arranged. Rollitt took over the remuda and appeared to know the work. He did not mix much with the men but was frequently seen in converse with Dutt, who explained that both of them hailed from Missouri. Sudden saw little of the man, but, as he confided to Sandy, that little was enough.
"What's the poor devil done to yu?" the young man asked. "Nothin'--yet," was the reply. "yu didn't see all Rogue's men, did yu?"
"Less'n half, I'd say ; he had a biggish crowd--scattered too. yu ain' thinkin' this jigger was planted there to wait for us? His tale seemed straight enough."
But Sudden was serious. "I've a hunch he's here to make trouble--mebbe for us."
"Well, 0I-timer, man is born to trouble, as the sparks fly upward," Sandy quoted. "We've met the gent afore an' we're still here, ain't we?"
He was in a gay humour these days. His lady smiled upon and permitted him to ride with her again, for Baudry--though he accompanied her now and then--deliberately absented himself in the hope that she might miss him.
It was nearly a week later that Sudden's forebodings were justified. The foreman, distress signals flying in his face, strode over to where the men were breakfasting and called Sudden aside.
"The 01' Man wants yu an' Sandy, pronto," he said.
The cattleman was sitting with his back to a wagon wheel. Carol, Baudry, and Dutt were seated near, and standing by was the new hand, Rollitt. Eden's brows bent in a heavy frown when he saw the men he had sent for. He wasted no time.
"Green, how long yu been one o' Rogue's riders?" he rasped.
"I ain't," the cowboy said coolly.
"Don't lie," the old man roared. "Rollitt here saw yu in Rogue's hide-out just before yu come to the S E."
Sudden looked at the wrangler. "So yu are one o' his men?"
"Nope, I happened to drift in," the fellow said sullenly. "He made me an offer an' I refused it."
"My own case exactly," Sudden said dryly.
"Yu were seen workin' with the outlaws, brandin' stolen cattle," Eden went on.
"Those men were feedin' me ; I gave a hand," Sudden explained. "I was told the cows were mavericks."
"yu were mighty friendly with Rogue, an' after yu'd gone he gave out that yu were on an errand for him." 'Sudden's eyes sought the informer again. "For a casual stranger yu seem to have been pretty deep in Rogue's confidence," he said acidly.
Eden ignored the comment. "An' yore `errand' was to get into my outfit an' help wreck the drive," he said bitterly.
"I 'pear to have failed down on that," the accused replied.
"yeah, for yore own reasons," Eden sneered. "No wonder yu could round up them stampeded steers. Easy, warn't it, when yore boss--gettin' a better idea--told yu to do it. An' then, for some devil's purpose, he lets yu fetch my daughter back."
"Make a job of it," Sudden urged with savage sarcasm. "Say. 1 was in cahoots with the Comanches too."
"Yu went after yore fellow-thief--I'll give yu that much credit," the cattleman snapped.
"I'm obliged," the cowboy countered.
Baudry drew a paper from his pocket, unfolded, and held it up. "Isn't this your description?" he asked.
Sudden did not need to read it--every word had been branded on his brain as by a hot iron. Nevertheless, he leant forward and scanned it leisurely.
"Them particulars might apply to a hundred others," he evaded. "An' my hoss ain't got a white face."
"Hasn't it?" the gambler rapped out. "I'd like to be sure of that. Rollitt, fetch that black."
Sudden's face hardened to stone. "Don't yu--unless yu want to die," he warned. "Sometime, when he was a colt, I reckon, that hoss had an adventure with a skunk, an' he hates 'em."
"Never seen the bronc I couldn't handle," Rollitt growled. "Go ahead," Sudden said. "I'm givin' yu permission, but I won't promise to bury yu ; I don't like skunks neither." The wrangler hesitated, and was obviously relieved when the cattleman broke in angrily: "To hell with the hoss. Where's the need o' that when Rollitt heard yu referred to as 'Sudden' by the outlaws? yu denyin' it?"
"I'm not denyin' anythin'," Sudden said tersely. "An' now --what?"
"I oughta tell my men to string the pair o' yu up to the nearest tree."
The unjust threat stirred the cowboy to anger. "Come alive, Eden," he said roughly. "What sort of an outfit would yu have left?"
"Showin' your true colours now--gunman stuff, eh?" Baudry said scornfully.
"Lettin' myself be hanged wouldn't prove my innocence," the other retorted. He looked at the rancher. "Eden, yo're followin' a false trail," he said quietly. "One o' these days yu'll find that out. For now--I'm goin'."
The old man did not reply at once ; doubts were disturbing him. He could not forget that Sudden had saved Carol from the Indians, but--as Baudry had been at pains to point outthe worst outlaw in the wilds would have done no less in like circumstances. His troubled gaze travelled to Sandy. The youth forestalled him.
"Jim's my friend ; if he goes, I do," he said.
The defiant tone roused the rancher's quick temper again. "yo're damn right there," he rasped. "But first yu'll answer a question. What took yu outa camp the night I got this?" He tapped his wounded chest.
The boy's face flamed at the accusation--for it amounted to that. "yu think I creased yu?" he cried indignantly, and then, "Hell! what's the good ... ?"
"I don't think--I know," came the passionate assertion. "yore boss, Rogue, put yu up to bump me off, an' when yu failed, Lasker had to try."
"He'd have got yu too, with a second shot, if Jim here hadn't stopped him," Sandy savagely reminded. "yu explainin' that?"
"Simple," Eden sneered. "Lasker had bungled it an' might 'a' talked. It was a safe play to silence him an' get solid with me."
Sandy had no more to say. His world had come crashing about his ears and he could see nothing but the set, pale face of a girl, who, with downcast eyes, had been a witness of his degradation. Baudry, seated next to her, was watching him with an expression of contemptuous amusement. Little did the gambler suspect how near he was to death at that moment. Eden made a violent gesture.
"Punch the breeze, the pair o' yu," he said hoarsely. "Jeff, yu go along an' see they don't take nothin' but what belongs to 'em."
At this gratuitous insult, Sudden, his thumbs hooked in his belt, shot a scornful look at the speaker. "Don't overplay yore hand, Eden," he warned. "As for yore threats, there ain't a man in yore outfit would pull a gun on me, 'cept that cardsharp an' his two friends, an' they haven't the guts." His cold, appraising gaze travelled from Baudry to Dutt and Rollitt. "Like I said," he added, as they made no move. "Threeyeller--dawgs. Adios!"
As he turned away, the gambler's hand went to his pistol, but the rancher spoke sharply: "None o' that, Jethro. Call him back if yu want, but yu should 'a' took .him up when he offered."
The other shrugged his shoulders indifferently, but there was a frozen fury in his voice as he replied, "you're too squeamish, Sam ; you don't give a rattler an even break--if you're wise."
In the rope corral which held the night-horses Sudden and Sandy found their mounts. The foreman watched in silence as they rolled their blankets, and then burst out: