The challenge met with sullen silence. At a word from his friend, Yorky slid from his saddle, released the girl's wrists, andperformed a like office for the accused. Then the two of them collected the weapons of the four, Drait taking his own and his money from Lanty. Standing in front of him, he said: `You hit me after I was tied up. Well, a blow for a blow is my motto, an' I'm actin' up to it.' Measuring his distance, he drove a fist into the scowling face, with a force that lifned its owner from his feet and dropped him on the back of his neck several yards away. Spitting a tooth and a torrent of oaths from his gashed mouth, the prostrate ruffian gasped:
`I'll git you for that, Drait.'
`Try, an' I'll send you to hell so quick they won't be ready for you,' was the reply. He went to the S P horses, slung the saddles to the ground, and knotted the bridles together. `I'm takin' 'em back to the S P--mebbe,' he said.
The prospect of being set afoot brought immediate protest from the victims; a cowboy would almost rather ride in a hearse than walk. Their leader appealed to Sudden.
`Them horses was loaned us,' he explained. `Our'n was played out an' we left 'em in exchange.'
`Comin' so late, an' on top o' yore other claim, that's a pore tale,' Sudden told him. `Toddlin' home'll give yu a chance to think up a better one. Yo're lucky; I've seen men swing for
less.'
Driving the tied animals ahead, the nester and his party turned back into the trail, Sudden and Drait in the lead, with Yorky and the girl behind. `I'm shorely obliged,' the rescued man said. `It was curtains for me if you hadn't shown up.'
`Forget it,' Sudden replied. `One look at that Lanty fella's face told me yu were gettin' a raw deal. So yo're a nester?'
`Sort of. I'd like fine for you to see my place, Mister.'
`Green is the name; it ain't a long word, but "Jim" is shorter,' the other smiled. `My side-kick is called "Yorky" an' he's a good kid; we're just takin' a look at the country.'
`She's worth it, but reptiles is mighty prevalent,' was the sardonic answer.
Meanwhile, Yorky was endeavouring to thaw the human iceberg riding beside him, and meeting with little success. Hard-eyed, she stared at the trail before them, and replied to his remarks in words of one syllable. At length, he fell oack on his favourite topic--his friend. So she learned of the coming of the cowboy to the Circle Dot, the restoration of his own health, and the amazing adventures which followed. Despite herself, she was interested, and her gaze went from the trail to the broad back of the man she was hearing about.
`Why are you called Yorky!' she asked.
`Just a name th' boys give me. You see, I was born in li'l old Noo York.'
`I never would have taken you for an Easterner.'
That made a friend of him; for many months he had been striving to eradicane all trace of the East from his speech, and only in moments of high excitement did he now relapse.
`Don't you ever want to go back?'
`No, ma'am. Look !' He swept a hand towards the distant mountains. `Me for th' West, every time.'
`It's a cruel country, and its men are like it,' she said bitterly.
`Fella has to be tough, but that don't mean bad,' the boy defended. `Now yore--friend, Drait,'--he did not notice her shiver--'he's tough, but I'd trust him; he has a straight eye. An' wasn't that the gran' daddy of a wallop he give that Lanty jasper?'
`Is brutality the only remedy for evil?'
`I guess so, in a land where there ain't no law.'
`Oh, I might have known,' she said. `You men always hang together.'
Yorky grinned delightedly. `If hangin' together keeps us from hangin' separate it gets my vote.'
She did not smile, and if she had intended to reply, the distant report of a rifle, followed by several more, drove in from her mind. Drait straightened up in his saddle, and swore.
`Damnation ! That's Shadow Valley way; somethin' wrong. We gotta hurry.'
The big Mexican spurs rasped the ribs of his mount, quickening its pace. Very soon he swung off the main trail to the left, plunging into thick scrub with only a few hoofprints to point the way.
`This'll save some miles, but it's tricky travellin',' he explained. `Them hosses is goin' to hamper us.'
`Easy settled,' Sudden replied, and beckoned to Yorky. Put yore loop over one o' the broncs an' lead 'em behind us.' He watched approvingly as the boy made the throw and held the captives until the two men had passed.
`Ain't forgot all I taught yu,' he smiled.
`Not any, an' learned a lot more,' Yorky retorted, as he resumed his place by the again silent girl.
They descended a long slope by means of a series of wooded shelves, and as Drait had warned, care was essential and speed out of the question. No more firing was heard, but a column of black smoke staining the sky some miles off brought another curse to the lips of their leader.`If that's my place some o' the cattlemen round here are goin' to need new ranch-houses afore long,' he gritted.
Presently they reached a level expanse of short grass, on the far side of which was what appeared to be the mouth of a gorge. Barely forty yards apart, rock walls rose abruptly on either side, curving inwards as though to meet at the top to form a gigantic natural arch. Huge boulders lying near supported the theory that once it had existed, but now only the pillars remained.
They passed through this gateway, and Sudden was surprised to find, instead of the stony gully he had expected, an open oval valley, shut in by miniature cliffs. A bend prevented him from seeing the full extent of the valley, but it appeared to be about a quarter of a mile in width, and the floor was carpeted with good grass. An imprecation from the nester stopped further observation.
On the fringe of the brush the charred remains of a log hut were still smoking. Only when they were close did they see, hanging from a tree-branch, the horror awaiting them. A little while earlier it had been a man, but now, the sagging head, with its bloated features, outthrust blackened tongue and goggling eyes presented only a hideous travesty of God's handiwork. The girl screamed, Yorky's face whitened, but the two men stared at the thing in hard-lipped silence; they had seen the like before. Drait rode forward, and standing in his stirrups, slashed through the rope and lowered the body gently to the ground. Then it was he saw the paper pinned to the shirt. Printed in crude capitals, it read : `Get out, Drait. Yo're next.'
He folded and put it in a pocket. Then came the hammer of hurrying hooves, as four riders raced up and slid to a stop. At the sight of the dead man they removed their hats.
`So they got Eddie,' commented one of them, a small, grizzled bowlegged cowboy, older than the others. `We didn't know that.'
`What do you know, Quilt?' Drait asked.
`Mighty little. We was up at the other end, blockin' the outlet like you said. We saw smoke an' come a'bilin'. O' course, they spotted us an' ran, the damn cowards. We see it was on'y the cabin an' took after 'em, loosin' lead, but havin' no luck. They'd got too big a start, an' when they split in the brush we lost 'em.'
`How many?'
`Nine, I reckoned. No, couldn't pin a name to any--we on'y saw their tails. There was a biggish chap who might 'a' bin Cullin, but I wouldn't swear to him.'
Drait's eyes went again to the limp, pitiful figure, over the contorted face of which he had put his own hat. `Think of it,' he said bitterly. `He was crippled for life--his hoss rolled on him--an' the bastards had to hang him, for no reason 'cept he worked for me. By God! Eddie, they shall pay, in full.'
`Haven't yu got a sheriff?' Sudden asked.
`I ain't, but the cattlemen have,' was the ironic reply. `They appointed him an' he wants to keep his job; figure it out for yoreself.' He got back into his saddle. `Quilt, you an' the boys take care o' Eddie--next that Palo verde he used to sit under. Where's Beau?'