Yorky returned to his hiding-place, saw Cullin come out, but still waited. Presently his patience was rewarded; Lukor emerged and slouched towards the nearest saloon. The watcher noted the pair of revolvers, the deeply-bronzed right hand, the ever-alert glances.
Satisfied he could glean no more he started for home, arriving there as dusk was falling. Outside the house, he met Mary.
`Why, Yorky, we were becoming anxious,' she cried. `Where on earth have you been?'
Naturally he did not want to tell, and the only plausible pretext he could think of would put the laugh on himself, but it had to be.
`All over it--the earth, I mean, ma'am,' he replied dolefully. `Guessed I could find a shorter way back an' got proper lost. Wandered about for hours--got mighty near Noo York, I reckon--an' there I was in Midway again. So I come th' old road.'
At the bunkhouse Sturm gave him a sour look. `Where the blazes you bin all day?' he enquired. `The Boss'll want an explanation.'
`She's had one,' Yorky said, and closed up like a clam.
His problem now was to get his news to Sudden; he could not ask for time to ride to the Valley. His luck was in--the puncher arrived during the next afternoon.
`Nick's so full o' the change yu've made that I just had to
come,' was his excuse to the lady of the house, whereupon she smiled delightedly and invited him in.
His eyes travelled about the room. `Shore is great,' was his verdict. `Thought Nick might be romancin' but that ain't so, an' with some flower-beds in front o' the veranda....'
`But what a splendid idea,' she cried. `Thank you.'
He shook his head. `It was Nick's notion; I'm on'y passin' it on.'
`Then you must pass on my gratitude,' she replied warmly.
He enquired aoout Yorky, and listened to the tale of his misadventure with a gravity he was far from feeling.
`He's new to these parts; might happen to anybody,' he said. As he rode away in search of the boy he spoke to the black : `Nig, a fella who can't lie for a friend, ain't much; I must remember to wise up Nick 'bout them flower-beds. Wonder what that li'l devil was doin'?'
He found the `li'l devil' forcing steers from a thorny thicket, and exuding moisture and expletives with equal frequency. He was nearing the end of his vocabulary when a low, amused voice remarked : `Mind yu don't get lost in there.'
Yorky smote an obstreperous steer on the flank with the end of his rope, and came piling out of the bush.
'Yo're th' very fella I wanted to see,' he cried, and then, as the significance of his friend's words dawned, `You didn't think I lost myself, did you, Jim?'
`Well, no, I figured mebbe there was a reason,' Sudden admitted.
`Shore is,' the boy said, and told his discovery.
`Yu done fine,' Sudden complimented. `I'm glad I fetched yu along.'
Praise from this quarter was priceless to Yorky, and having watched the black race out of sight, he murmured, `You ol pirut,' and returned to his labours quite happily.
On reaching the Valley, Sudden sought out the nester and warned him about the flower-beds. Drait regarded him curiously.
`I'm obliged, Jim; oughta thought o' that myself.'
It was not until several days later that Nick announced his intention of going to Midway; stores had to be purchased. `I was aimin' to visit town my own self,' Sudden said.
`Mebbe I can do yore errand?'
`I guess not; some things a fella's gotta do for hisself an' gettin' a hair-cut is one. But gimme a list an' I'll order yore goods.'
`Why o' course. Where's my head?'
So Sudden solved a problem which had been worrying him.For the trip he selected a mount from the corral, leaving Nigger behind. Exactly why, he could not have explained; the thought came and he acted upon it. Pilch, the storekeeper, welcomed him joyfully, and business being soon concluded, Sudden perched himself on the counter, swiped a handful of raisins from a nearby tub, and prepared to chat.
`Nick all right?' Pilch began, and when the customer nodded, "Bout time he got his rope on that gal at the S P an' won hisself a fine ranch.'
Sudden took some more fruit. `Good, these. Add a dozen pounds to our list, ol'-timer, Nick must 'a' forgot 'em; the boys like plum duff.'
`You seem partial to the plum part yoreself,' Pilch retorted, with a meaning glance at the puncher's not too small paws. `Now stop side-steppin'--you heard what I said.'
`I don't know a thing 'cept Nick ain't lost his appetite, which I'm told is a sign. Anythin' new in town?'
`A hard-lookin' stranger, mean-mouthed, carries a couple o' sixes, an' claims to be waitin' for someone.'
`An' he doesn't deal with yu.'
`How d'you--? Well, yo're right. I don't sell liquor, an' that's all he buys. Been around 'bout three-four days, an' the quicker he leaves the sooner we shan't miss him.'
Sudden laughed, purchased some tobacco, and went in search of a barber and a meal. These matters attended to, he proceeded to Merker's, failing to notice that a pedestrian had stopped as he passed, turned, and followed him. Lukor had seen the N D brand, and the somewhat sketchy description he had received seemed to fit the rider. But he had to be sure. He entered, and saw his quarry at the bar, talking to the proprietor. Strolling to an adjacent table he sat down. Merker was speaking.
`I'm tellin' you, Nick'--he dropped his voice to little more than a whisper--'is in danger; somebody's out to get him.' `Sound reasonin', but where's the proof?'
`We'll get it, but in the meantime, don't run risks.'
`Shore, they cool the blood an' hamper digestion,' Sudden smiled. `Know the genial-lookin' gent at the table?' He had noted the man's entrance in the mirror behind the bar, and recognised him from Yorky's description.
`A newcomer--been hangin' about recent.'
Lukor who had heard--as he believed--the saloon-keeper address the puncher as `Nick,' was satisfied that he had found his man. An evil grin twisted his lips as he reflected that soon he would shake the dust of this `prairie-dog settlement' from his feet, easy in mind and rich in pocket. The victim was a big fellow, but he expected that; Cullin had warned him. The two
guns brought a sneer, they were the sort of bluff a nester might put up. The low-drawn hat-brim concealed most of the face. He stepped to the bar and spun a dollar. Picking up his change plainly revealed that the little finger of his left hand was missing. Sudden's eyes narrowed. Lukor sampled his drink--a moderate one--and facing round on the company, said:
`Nesters is rank pizen.'
His raucous voice rang through the room, the buzz of conversation ceased, and every eye was turned upon him. The speaker went on:
`They digs their selves in among the ranges, which gives 'em plenty chances to steal cattle.'
This produced no result, the least interested man in the place being the one who should have resented it. Leaning against the bar, with one heel hooked over the foot-rail, he was rolling a smoke, and taking unusual care.
The gunman went on with greater confidence; it was going to be easy money.
`Sneakin' coward an' coyote--that's yore nester,' he rasped. `Any self-respectin' c'munity'd string 'em up on sight.' The savage gibe evoked no response, and he stabbed a finger at Sudden. `You agreein' with me?'
The puncher was lighting his cigarette. His mind recalled `Whitey,' a killer of the same type whom he had been forced to slay during those hectic weeks at Windy. A cold rage possessed him. This man had come to butcher, in cold blood, someone he had never seen, and for mere gain. Well, he would not act, unless he must.
`Did yu say somethin'?' he asked indifferently.
`On'y that nesters is cowardly thieves an' oughta be wiped out,' Lukor snapped.
`Mebbe yu know best,' came the mild answer. `I ain't lost any nesters.'