While the girl was wrestling wint her problem, her husband returned to the parlour, dropped into a chair, and looked enquiringly at his companion.
`It's as certain as the Day o' Judgment,' the puncher told him, adding meditatively, `It busts up Cullin's game--yu won't need to consider that offer now.'
`I never intended to,' Drait said.
`If she decides to keep the ranch, she'll want a good man to run it; Gilman would steal the floor from under her feet.' `Yeah, it'll be a jolt for him, too. Bardoe won't like it, an' the sheriff'll be peeved. Take it all round, Jim, you ain't goin' to be the best-liked man hereabouts.'
`That's happened before,' Sudden replied, a twinkle in his eyes. `I never let it lose me any sleep. If some o' the folks I've met up with in this world o' sin had liked me, I'd 'a' hated myself.'
`I got fifty more critters from the S P while you were away. Yeah, I took the numbers o' the bills. What you meanin' to do about Seale?'
`Invite him to come over, mentionin' why. I'll bet he will too, a-runnin', an' I'll double the bet that from here he'll head straight for the Big C, in the hope o' still bein' able to corral that thousand bucks.'
`Well, I'm mightly glad you've turned the trick, Jim, both for the gal's sake an' yore own. With the job practically finished, I s'pose you'll be hittin' the trail soon?' Drait said moodily.
Sudden shook his head. `There's a lot to be done yet.'
`Good,' was the hearty reply, but as he returned to the bunkhouse the puncher had a feeling that his latest exploit had not quite pleased nhe nester, and he wondered why.
Chapter IX
THE letter announcing the bare fact that an heir to the S P had been brought to light produced a galvanic effect upon the Weasel. Though he tried to persuade himself that it must be a spurious claim which could be easily disproved, he lost no time in looking into the matter. The weekly coach carried him to Midway, and there he hired a buckboard to complete the journey, consoling himself with the reflection that the estate would pay his expenses.
He was conversant with the sinister history of Shadow Valley, and knew it was at present in the possession of an undesirable named Drait. But the letter he had received was signed `James Green' and this told him nothing. So, when ushered by Lindy into the parlour, it was quite a surprise to find a familiar face--that of the cowboy from the Border, who had visited him in Rideout.
`So it's you?' he said.
`Li'l of me,' the other smiled. `Couldn't go back to pore Eli empty-handed, yu know. Help yoreself to a seat.' He turned to the young girl, who, sitting rather in the shadow was the only other occupant of the room. `This is Luke Seale, ma'am; he's been tryin' to find yu for a goodish bit.'
`My search was for a much older woman or a youth called "Frank,"' the lawyer said sharply. `If this is a joke....' `Do I look that sort o' fool?' Sudden demanded. `Now, pay close attention to what I'm goin' to tell yu. My enquiries started at Deepridge, where your'n left off.' The Weasel blinked at this, and then listened in glum silence while Sudden, step by step, related the tale of his investigation.
`Sounds all right,' he said sourly, when the puncher ended, `but it's no more than hearsay, so to speak; the Law demands documentary evidence.' At the back of his mind, however, a four-figure sum of money was receding into the distance.
`We aim to please,' Sudden smiled, and dived into a pocket. `I got on the trail o' the preacher who married Mary Pavitt an' Francis Darrell--fella named "Josiah Jones." ' Neither of the men noticed the girl's start of surprise. `He ain't at Deepridge no more, but I can tell yu where to locate him. He dug up an old register an' here's a copy o' the entry in it.'
Seale studied the slip of paper. `It could be forged,' he said, and looked into eyes of chilled steel. `I'm not saying it is `The same fella baptised the child, an' there's people in Deepridge who remember she was called "Frankie" by her parents,' the puncher went on. `Here is another document, which is genuine--I wrote it my own self.' His grin was not of the pleasant variety. `It's the address o' the orphanage, where they'll show yu the record of Miss Darrell's stay there, an' give yu a pretty near description of her. Well, what d'yu think?'
All that the lawyer could think at the moment was that a substantial commission, together with the opportunity of vastly increasing it, were disappearing like a dream. He flogged his brain to discover some flaw in the evidence which would restore a glimmer of hope.
`Your facts about Miss Darrell may be correct, but you have not proved, as yet, that your claimant is that person,' Seale said.
The girl spoke for the first time : `Did you ever see Mary Pavitt before she left home, Mister Seale?'
`Many times,' he replied absently.
She rose and moved forward into a better light. `Would you say that I resemble her?'
He raised his head, and his mean little eyes opened to their fullest extent. `God! You're her living image,' he cried, shocked into speaking the truth.
`I have been told so,' she said quietly. `Are you satisfied?'
He was, but would not admit it; even now, there might be some way out. `You certainly have a case,' he said. `It will take time to examine it thoroughly.'
`Don't worry if yu lose that certificate,' Sudden said sardonically. `The original an' the man who wrote it can be produced. Yu will inform the Governor, o' course?'
`No need--at present,' Seale said hurriedly. `The matter is in my hands. As soon as I have come to a decision, I will take the necessary steps to put Miss Darrell in possession of the property.'
With which pompous statement he took his leave. The puncher accompanied him to the door. `Speed is what we want, ol'-timer,' he said in a low voice. `The lady has been without her inheritance long enough. Remember, yu can pay too high a price even for a thousand bucks.'
His face a pasty yellow, the man scuttled out of the house, scrambled into his conveyance, and grabbed the whip. Sudden's amused gaze followed him.
`Hell ! I oughta mentioned the nearest way to the Big C,' he soliloquised.
Sudden's prediction as to the lawyer's destination was correct, and he proceeded there as quickly as the raw-boned beast he was driving could take him. Only when the buckboard was within sight of the Big C ranch-house did he slacken pace; he was not looking forward to the interview; the rancher's tongue was two-edged, and he never troubled to conceal his contempt for those he used.
`Well, what foul wind has blown you here?' was his greeting.
`I've news--bad news, Greg,' the lawyer replied.
`You shore look it. Bad for you, or for me?'
`For both of us--we've lost the S P.'
Cullin's frown deepened. `Which means you've made a mess of things, I s'pose. How come?'
The missing heir has turned up.'
`Well, with yore knowledge of how to evade the Law you oughta oe able to upset the claim.'
Seale shook his head. `It's as straight as a string--they have the proofs. I haven't said so--yet, but there isn't a doubt.' `Who are they?'
The claimant and the chap who found her--a cowpuncher from the Mexican Border.'
`Found her?' Cullin repeated. `You told me the Pavitt woman had cashed, an' nhat it was her son you were lookin' for. You better spill the beans.'
The lawyer was ready enough; he knew that if there should be a means of evasion, the cattleman, with his acute, unscrupulous brain would find it. Cullin, poker-faced, listened without comment until he finished.