He was aware that the subject of his thoughts had gone out without replying to his last remark; aware too that he had lost prestige with the men present. Most of them had resumed their amusements, but there were nods and muttered comments. Even the marshal--his creature--was regarding him doubtfully. Burdette turned a frosty eye upon him.
"Wonderin' why I didn't take that fella up, Sam?" he asked. "Well, I ain't mixin' it with every stray gun-fighter who comes glory-huntin', an' there's other reasons to that." He spoke loud enough for the room to hear, and then dropped his voice. "I wanta find out what fetched him to Windy--he didn't drift in just by chance, I'll bet a stack. Hello, what's come o' Lu?"
The bar-tender, to whom he put a question, informed him that Mrs. Lavigne had retired to her room, on the plea of a headache. King swore under his breath and turned again to hear the marshal saying.
"Funny 'bout that of dirt-washer."
"Ain't heard," Burdette said indifferently. "Which of 'em?"
"California," Slype told him. "No one's seen hide nor hair of him for a coupla days."
"Sick, mebbe, or out on a prospect."
"No, he ain't at his shack, an' his tools an' burro is; Goldy Evans went to see."
"Oh, he'll show up. Anyways, I ain't lost any prospectors."
"That goes for me too, but his friends is clamourin' for a search-party," the marshal grunted. "Them damn' gophers act like they owned the town."
"Let 'em look for him themselves," the Circle B man said contemptuously. "They're full-growed, ain't they?"
"That's an idea," the marshal said. "I'll tell 'em to fly at it."
He went out grinning, and King, seeing that Lu Lavigne did not reappear, followed soon after. Though his lean, sneering features did not show it, he was amused at the commotion caused by the disappearance of the hoary-headed old gold-seeker. One thing was certain : the mining element--which was fairly strong in the town--must not learn the truth. Loping leisurely along the trail to the Circle B, he suddenly startled his horse by emitting a throaty chuckle.
"Got it," he exclaimed. "That'll explain things an' mebbe put a crimp in yu, Mister Green."
He ripped out an oath as he recalled the humiliation the puncher had inflicted upon him in "The Plaza." It was the first time any man had outfaced him and got away with it, and he was still trying to explain his own attitude to himself. He had been glad the marshal had interfered, but now he cursed him, and yet--in the same circumstances he knew he would be glad again. And Lu Lavigne?...
"Damn them both," he cried aloud, and raking the spurs along the ribs of his mount, sent it headlong through the gloom.
Chapter XVI
THE foreman of the C P arose on the following morning with an uneasy feeling that all was not well with the missing prospector, whose absence was the chief topic of conversation in the town. He confided his fears to Yago, adding that he intended riding to the old man's shack. Bill promptly announced that he was coming too. Sudden surveyed him disgustedly.
"Yu talk like I was a kid," he said.
"Yu act like yu was," Bill retorted bluntly. "From what I know o' this Burdette fella, `Percy Vere' are his middle names, an' he'll try again. Yu've had the luck of a fat priest up to now, an' it's due to turn."
"Cheery li'l fella, ain't yu?" his friend smiled. "Don't this allus lookin' on the bright side hurt yore eyes?" When they reached the shack the owner's burro pushed its head between the corral bars and brayed a loud welcome. "Say `Howdy' to your relative, Bill," the foreman smiled. Yago's face was a picture of commiseration. "An' yu kickin' at bein' called a kid," he said witheringly.
Having forked some hay into the corral and filled the rude drinking-trough, they entered the hut. A skillet containing half-cooked bacon by the dead fire, and a pot of cold coffee beside it, showed that the occupant had left in the midst of preparing a meal. The pile of blankets which did duty as a bed had been pulled aside, disclosing a small cavity in the packed earth floor.
"That'll be where he cached his dust, an' it's went," Yago observed. "Looks like he didn't leave willin'."
"Somethin' else has gone too," Sudden said, and told of the piece of rich "float."
Bill's eyes widened. "Somebody got wise."
The foreman nodded and went outside. He found plenty of tracks in the soft soil, for Evans and his friends had been there, but presently, casting a wider circle, he came upon a fresh lot, those of half a dozen riders, headed away from Windy. He studied them closely for a while, and then returned to the shack in a thoughtful mood. Yago, who had been searching for another possible hiding-place, looked up expectantly.
"Looks thisaway to me," Sudden said. "Someone followed me that mornin', overheard the conversation here--the ol' man warn't exactly whisperin', an' there's boot-tracks an' cigarette ends side o' the shack--pushes me into the Sluice, an' six of 'em come back later an' collect Cal. Reckon they got him holed up somewheres, aimin' to make him talk."
"Mebbe they took him to the Circle B?" Bill suggested.
"Mebbe they didn't do nothin' so foolish," his foreman replied. "We gotta try an' trail 'em."
"Ain't yu goin' swimmin' this time?" Bill innocently inquired, and was given an order he declined to obey.
"It's hot enough here," he said. "Betcha a dollar them jaspers has blinded their trail."
For a few miles they had no difficulty in following the horsemen, and then, on a wide stretch of arid, stony ground to the north of the town, all traces ended. After an hour's fruitless search, they gave it up.
"These hombres knowed where to come; yu could march a regiment across here an' a Injun couldn't follow it," Sudden said. "Seem to be headin' away from the Circlue B, too, but that don't mean nothin'. We'll have to try an' pick up a pointer in Windy."
"I'll keep my ears open," Yago offered.
His friend grinned. "We shan't miss anythin' then, even if it's whispered," he said, with a sly glance at his companion's hearing appendages.
Bill's reply was sadly devoid of the deference due to his superior; their friendship was not of yesterday. Other work claimed their attention, and it was not until the approach of dusk that they got back to the ranch. On the way to the bunkhouse, Purdie called his foreman. He had just returned from town, where he had heard about the missing miner.
"What d'yu suppose has happened to the old chap?" he asked. "Shouldn't 'a' thought he was worth robbin' even, let alone makin' away with."
Whereupon the foreman told what he knew of the matter, including his own perilous part in it. Purdie's eyes grew big.
"Yu got out the Sluice?" he cried.
"With the help o' Bill Yago," Sudden reminded.
"Yeah. But them currents an' whirlpools! Why, I wouldn't tackle it for a million dollars," the rancher said, and meant it. "Yu must be half a fish."
"I swim pretty good," the puncher admitted, and, with a whimsical smile, "I didn't have no choice, yu know."
"Got any notion who shoved yu in?"
"Nope. But King Burdette knowed about it. He looked like I was a ghost when he saw me in `The Plaza.' Yu think that ol' skeezicks really has struck it rich?"
"Shouldn't wonder--there's allus been a tale of a lost mine up on Stormy. Never took no stock in it myself, but if Cal or anybody else finds it they're welcome, far as I'm concerned."
"Even the Circle B gang?" Sudden suggested.
The rancher's head snapped back. "No, by God! " he cried. "Yo're right, Jim; anybody but them thieves an' murderers." His brow grew dark and furrowed. "I mis-doubt I should 'a' dragged yu into this," he finished gloomily.
"Shucks!" the foreman laughed. "Blame that little fella in Juniper. I'm wonderin' what the next move will be?"