They went down, fetched their horses, and rounded up the steers, on four of which the brand had already been changed.
Frosty surveyed them with lifted eyebrows. Diamond," he said. "That's odd."
"Shore is," Sudden agreed gravely. "But why?"
His friend laughed. "We fit so well together that I keep forgettin' yo're a stranger," he explained. "Yu see, there is a Twin Diamond range, an' part of it runs cheek by jowl with our'n south-west o' here. The odd thing is that the owner, Martin Merry, is mighty fond o' Keith, an' the least likely to rustle his cattle."
"It could be an attempt to make trouble atween 'em," Sudden surmised, and pointed to one of the altered brands. "Pretty raw work; even when it's healed up, a kid could see it had been tampered with."
"I reckon yu got it," Frosty assented. "Merry's cows never stray this far--the feed is poor--an' his men would have to do some explainin'. What's our move?"
"Drive these four to the Twin Diamond an' let 'em see we ain't romancin'. That'll put a crimp in the game."
The idea seemed sound, and having bunched the four animals which had been operated upon, and sent the others scampering into the open, they set out. To a question about burying the dead rustlers, Sudden replied harshly, "D'yu reckon they'd 'a' done that for us? Besides, buzzards has to live."
One look at the stern face and Frosty said no more. Brief as was their acquaintance, he had already divined that here was a man who, though not much older than himself in years, was immeasurably so in experience. Hazing their little herd ahead of them they rode in silence for a while. Then Sudden spoke:
"Them three skunks who skedaddled were Scar an' two o' the fellas I flung outa Black Sam's. How did they know I was comin' here?"
"They couldn't have--it just happened so," the other replied. "Though it is claimed that Satan hombre is a wizard."
Sudden grinned in derision. "Yu ain't believin' it, are yu?"
"Mebbe not, but it's amazin' the things he finds out," was the dubious answer, and then, "Why, damn it, nobody 'mowed till we started out this mornin'."
"On'y the man who sent us," came the sardonic reminder. Frosty's eyes widened. "Oh, hell, Jim. I don't like Steve, but he wouldn't ..."
"Mebbe not, an' then again, lie might. Worth rememberin', anyways. What's Merry like?"
"Short, fat, an' got the easiest laugh I ever heard--might 'a' been made to fit his name. He's 'bout the on'y fella around here who can talk back to the Colonel, but when he scores yu he does it with a smile that takes the sting out. His outfit swears by him."
"That tells me plenty," Sudden said.
Two hours later they halted their charges in front of a long, squat timber edifice which was sadly in need of repair. Cracked, even broken, curtainless windows gaped at them, and in several places the roof quite evidently was a poor protection from the elements. The bunk-house, barns, and corrals were in little better shape. Frosty noted his companion's surprise.
"One o' these days the scrap-heap will tumble in an' Merry will crawl out'n the ruins an' just tell the boys to build another," he said. "No, there ain't a female on the premises, as yu might guess; he's got a Chink cook." He raised his voice in a cry of "Hello, the house!"
In response, a man nearly as broad as he was high, with a huge sombrero tilted back from his round, red face, came waddling out. His mouth split into a wide grin when he saw the visitors.
"Why, Frosty, what's fetched yu here?" he bellowed. "Light an' rest yore saddles."
They got down and seated themselves on a bench by the ranch-house door. The cattle, tired by the long tramp, were contentedly cropping the sparse brown herbage. Frosty duly presented his companion. The rancher studied the young man in silence for a moment, and then, with twinlding eyes, remarked:
"Pleased to know yu, Green. Yu got the second best boss in the country; if he don't treat yu right, come an' see the best."
The Double K puncher chuckled. "I told yu he was a modest fella, Jim," he remarked.
"Well, boys, spill the beans, or mebbe yore throats need irrigatin'," Merry said, and when Frosty promptly retorted that they did, he shouted, "Hi, Chang, there's a couple o' thirsty gents here; fetch a jug o' water."
For a moment the cowboy's face fell, but resumed its grin when he saw that the water was accompanied by a bottle. They sampled the contents, and then Frosty told his story. Merry spoke only when it was ended.
"Good notion o' yores to bring 'em here. I'm obliged."
"Warn't mine--Jim thought o' that. He figured that if the rustlers were aimin' to put yu in wrong with Keith, that would crab the deal."
The fat man nodded. "I'm obliged to both o' yu. If Green could rope an' throw one o' them cows ..."
He watched narrowly as the puncher stepped into his saddle and walked the horse towards the grazing brutes. At the moment they began to move, the black leapt forward, the rope circled through the air, the loop dropping neatly over the horns of the nearest steer. A flip of the lariat to the right and a swerve to the left by the horse threw the captive on its side and a turn of the rider's wrist sent a couple of coils along the rope which effectually snared the kicking hind legs. "Knows his job," the rancher remarked to his companion, as they stepped to where the victim of the cowboy's dexterity awaited them. "It ain't every wrastler can throw an' hobble from the saddle."
One glance at the altered brand and Merry's laugh rang out. "Clever work," he said. "Even a tenderfoot could see that cow ain't wearin' its proper monogram, an' that's what they wanted. Tell Ken I'm buyin' these beasts--that'll save yu the trouble o' drivin' 'em back, an' put things straight."
Leaving Sudden to release his prisoner, they returned to the ranch-house, for a thrown steer is apt to be resentful and has no fear of a man on foot.
"Hear about the stranger rough-housin' four o' them Hell City outlaws at Black Sam's?" Merry asked, and without waiting for an answer, "I sent word I'd like to see him, but he'd went, cuss it."
"Allasame, yu've got yore wish," Frosty grinned, his eyes on Sudden, who, having deftly freed and coiled his rope, smacked the outraged beast on the rump, and swung round to rejoin them.
"Yu tellin' me that's the fella?" the rancher demanded. "Well, I'll be tee-totally damned. So Ken got ahead o' me? What was his idea takin' on a stranger?"
"First off, he wanted to thank him, I expect," the other replied, and told how the trouble at Black Sam's had started.
Merry nodded, and when Sudden returned, said, "Green, it 'pears I'm more obliged to yu than I guessed. Miss Joan is a particular friend o' mine, an' if I hadn't been born so darned early, I'd be ha'ntin' the Double K pretty persistent. I ain't forgettin' what yu did for her, an' I'll be pleased to see yu here any time, which, o' course, goes for yu, too, Frosty.
Tell Ken to keep me posted. I'll bet that hell-hound in the hills is plannin' some devilment right now."
On the way back to the Double K, Frosty was inquisitive. "What d'yu think of him?"
"He keeps good whisky," was all the answer.
Chapter VII
Hell City was difficult of access. A rough, narrow wagon-way, winding serpent-like among the foothills, ever climbing, and walled in by rock on one side and--towards the end --a precipice on the other, formed the only approach from the direction of Dugout. It terminated in a heavy gate of timber which was always guarded. Within was a kind of street running between vertical cliffs which bulged out and then curved in again, almost meeting. Here was another gate--the western entrance. In the stone walls of this oval an ancient people had fashioned a place to live. The present inhabitants had, in fact, adopted and adapted a Hopi Indian cliff-settlement. There were a few wooden buildings scattered about, among them a store and a saloon, but most of the newcomers were content with the caves they had found there, which required no more than the provision of door or window to make them habitable.