Leeming leapt from his seat. `What?' he exploded. `Yu shore o' that?'
`Had it from one of his own men,' was the reply. `But I got no proof, an' Simon laughed at me when I told him; said the feller is goin' to buy into the Y Z an' marry Miss Norry, an' asked me was it likely he'd rustle his own cows. Well, it don't seem so, but as I pointed out, there's others in the gang as want pickin's, an' Tarman ain't put down any cash yet.'
Job stamped up and down the room. `Bah!' he said. `Simon's an old fool. What, give his girl an' his ranch to a feller like that, a stranger? I've a notion to go an' call Mr. Tarman's bluff right now.'
Green shook his head. `That wouldn't help any; he's got most o' the fools in Hatchett's eatin'--or rather, drinkin' oun of his hand. We gotta let him run on the rope a bit longer. What I want to know is, will yu an' yore boys come a-runnin' if I send the word?'
`What yu aimin' to do?' asked Job.
`Me an' Larry'll take to the woods an' snoop around. If we can catch Tarman at the Crossed Dumb-bell I reckon that'll be proof a-plenty, but before I ask yu to tie to me there's somethin' yu oughtta know.' Green paused for a space and the musclesaround his lips grew tense. `There's a feller known as "Sudden" who's bein' pretty eagerly looked for. Yu will oe told that I'm him, an'--it's true.'
The calm announcement jarred the ranch-owner into a state of petrification; with mouth and eyes wide open he stared at the man who had made it, wondering if his ears had deceived him. Then, as the full significance of the statement seeped into his bewildered brain, he snatched at his gun, only to find that Green's was already levelled at his heart, though he had seen no movement. The outlaw's left hand was in the air, palm outwards, the peace sign.
`Easy, Leeming, I ain't lookin' for trouble, but I'm ready for it,' Green said quietly. `As I just told yu, I am Sudden, but yu can take it from me I ain't guilty o' all the crimes that's been pinned to him. Why, 'bout three weeks ago he was reported to have robbed the bank at Lilyville, four hundred miles from here, an' I was on the Y Z ranch. But that don't matter; what I want yu to get into yore head is that I'm playin' straight with yu in this rustlin' game.'
`What brought yu into these parts?' asked Leeming.
`I didn't come to steal cows,' replied the outlaw. `I ain't a cattle-thief nor a hold-up, an' I never pull a gun until I have to. My business here was to look for two men--I've been all over the country in the last few years, hopin' to strike their trails. That's my job, findin' them two fellers, but I gotta live too, so I took on at the Y Z. Now that's the straight goods. I'd like to have yore help, but whether or no, I'm agoin' to clean up around here.'
`An' he won't have to go it alone, Leeming,' interposed Larry. `Me, Snap, Dirty, Simple, an' Ginger are back of him.'
The ranchman considered the pair in silence. He had been watching Green closely and believed that he was speaking the truth. On the other hand, the man was a self-confessed outlaw, and a notorious one at that. The support of the Y Z boys, whom he knew to be good fellows, carried a lot of weight; they were not the kind to take sides against their own ranch without good reason, and he never had liked Blaynes. As for Tarman--impulsively he stood up and held out his hand.
`I'll go yu, boys,' he said. `Now, what do yu want me to do?'
`Outfit us with grub an' ammunition an' be ready to come a-bilin' when yu get the call,' Green replied. `Meantime, o' course, yu ain't seen hide nor hair of us.'
`That's easy,' said their host, and led the way to his storeroom. Here they made up a parcel of bacon, beans, coffee, salt, and flour, borrowing also a coffee-pot, skillet, and two tin cups. A plentiful supply of cartridges completed their preparations,
and Leeming slid to the door to make sure that the coast was clear.
`One more point,' Green said. `We may be so fixed that we can't send a message. Well, we'll be over Big Chief way; look out for a smoke signal, balled three, two, three. If yu don't hear nothin' of us for a week or two it'll mean we're both rubbed out, an' yu might pay the Crossed Dumb-bell a visit; I've told yu how to find it. An' keep an eye on Tarman--he's the king-pin. So long.'
Leaving the ranch by the back door they faded into the darkness, found their horses, and departed without any of the men in the bunkhouse knowing of their visit. Leeming returned to his chair and loaded a pipe thoughtfully.
`Sudden, eh?' he muttered. `Damned if he don't look it too. Wouldn't care to be either o' those fellers he's after. Durn it, I believe he's straight, an' I reckon I done right; them Y Z friends o' his are the best o' the bunch. Guess I'd better mosey over an' see Simon to-morrow.'
Leeming reached the Y Z during the morning and found it, as he expected, in a fine state of commotion. Simon's attitude puzzled him; the old man was in a savage temper, but behind it all his friend sensed a kind of fear. Norry, of course, was in deep disgrace and Job shook an admonishing finger at her. Her father, he learned, had gone to visit the prisoner that morning only to find the cage open and the bird missing. He had at once assumed that some of Green's sympathisers in the outfit were guilty, and returned to the house vowing threats of vengeance, to be confronted by his daughter who calmly confessed to being the culprit. For a moment the old man fairly goggled at her.
`Yu--let--him--out?' he gasped. `Yu! What in hell for?'
The girl faced him bravely. `I paid a debt; twice he came to my help,' she said, and went on to tell of the second occasion. Simon listened and scowled. He knew that she had done right, that she had acted as he would like a daughter of his to act, but in the special circumstances it was the last thing he had wanted to happen, and man-like, he elected to see only his own side of the matter.
`Yu must be mad,' he said savagely. The feller's a thief an' a cold-blooded killer, an' yu gotta turn him loose. Whatever he did for yu was done for his own purposes--to throw dust in yore eyes an' mine, an', by heaven, he did it. Now, yu get to yore room an' keep out o' this. I'm agoin' to hunt Mister Sudden down an' hang him.'
`Simon, yu been associatin' too much with me--yu've lost yore temper,' said a satirical voice, and they looked up to findthe owner of the Frying Pan regarding them quizzically. `What yu been doin', Norry, to get him all riled up like this?' It was the old man who answered, explaining the situation in a few explosive sentences. Leeming adopted a philosophic attitude which, had his friend been less perturbed, would have aroused his suspicion; it was utterly unlike the Frying Pan man to take things quietly.
`Well, Simon, what's the use o' makin' a fuss?' he said. `The beans is spilled. O' course, Norry hadn't oughtta loosed him, but she figured it was the proper caper, an', damn me, 1 like her for it. Mebbe the feller ain't as bad as his reputation after all.'
Petter turned on the other in amazement. `Well, I'll be hanged,' he said. `I never thought to hear Job Leeming makin' excuses for a rustler.'
`I don't know yet that Green is one,' replied Job quietly. `Then yu must be devilish hard to convince, Mr. Leeming,' chimed in another voice.
It was Tarman; he had ridden up, trailed his reins, and approached the group on the verandah unnoticed. Turning to Simon, after sweeping off his hat to Noreen, he added, `I hope yu have him safe, Petter.'
`I had him fast enough, but Norry slipped down in the night an' turned him loose,' replied the rancher disgustedly. `She reckoned she owed him somethin'.'
`What? Yu turned him loose?' cried Tarman, whirling on the culprit, and before the sudden fury in his face she recoiled. `Are yu mad? Why, yu oughtta be...'
He pulled up sharply, realising that he was losing all control and on the verge of making a fool of himself. Noreen, after the first instinctive shrinking from those eyes blazing with anger, faced him coolly enough.