`Chatter? Me?' yelled the indignant youth. `I'm numb as a clam compared to yu. Why, yu make more noise for yore size than a tin pail full o' stones rollin' down a mountain, yu--hurdy-gurdy.'
Which criticism called for and received only one answer. After the dust had settled, they arose and set about the proposed meal.
Chapter XIX
SOME days later the Crossed Dumb-bell ranch had two visitors but only the foreman was aware of it. Well after dark, Tarman and Poker Pete had ridden up and leaving their horses tied in the brush, had slipped unseen into Jeffs' quarters, where the big man related the happenings at Big Rock.
`Don't it beat all, the luck he has?' commented Pete, with an oath. `We had him at the Y Z an' that fool-girl butts in, an' now them Big Rock idjuts have made a mess of it. I shore thought Scaife had sense.'
`It ain't luck, an' it's no good reckonin' on luck when yu play against him,' Tarman said. `Yu got to outguess him. Any idea where he is, Jeffs?'
The foreman shook his head. `We ain't seen hide nor hair of him,' he said. `But I'm bettin' he's not far off.'
`He's gotta be located; turn California loose an' tell him to comb the country between here an' the Y Z. If he finds Green's camp, he's to show up casual like, an' make the play that yu were all expectin' him back here, an' that that crack on the head was a bit o' private spite on the part o' Gorilla. Then, an' this is the important bit, he's to let on that it's come out that Old Simon, owner o' the Y Z, has been usin' a fancy name ever since he hit these parts an' that his real name is Peterson. If that don't fetch Mr. Green to the Y Z pronto, I'm a bonehead, an' yu can bet yore lasn nickel he'll come painted for war. He's been lookin' for Peterson these three years.'
`Why for?' asked both the listeners at once.
`He claims that Peterson did the dirty on the feller who befriended him. Funny he should have gone to work for the very man he come here to kill.'
`But if he's sweet on the girl, an' I reckon he is, he won't wipe out her dad,' objected Poker.
`There's a reason why that sentiment won't work,' grinned Tarman, who did not believe in telling more than he must. `Anyways, if he comes to see the old man he'll shoot him, shore enough.' He smiled as he saw understanding dawn on them. `Then we nail him, some of us havin' business at the Y Z about that time, an' we're shut o' the pair of 'em.'
`An' him havin' killed her dear daddy, the girl won't be anxious to turn him loose again,' Poker Pete said. `My word, I gotta hand it to yu, Joe; when it comes to schemin' yo're there with the goods, but I figure yu may have trouble with Blaynes over the skirt.'
Tarman laughed harshly. `Yu mean he may have trouble with me, don't yu?' he said. `Blaynes will get what's comin' to him.' `What about the Frying Pan?' asked the foreman.
`Owner seems a bin obstinate at present,' replied the big man. `We'll have to lower the value of his property some yet, but there's plenty o' time for that; we'll put this other job over first. Yu prime West an' don't tell him more than enough--he may have got friendly with Green.
He added a few more general directions, and then he and the gambler slid silently out, regained their horses, and took the back trail to Hatchett's Folly.
When Jeffs had hazarded the opinion that the outlaw was not far from the Crossed Dumb-bell ranch-house, his guess was a good one, for Green and Larry were within a couple of miles of him when he spoke. Since their return from Big Rock they had haunted the locality in the hope of finding out what was being done with the stolen cattle. At last their patience was rewarded, for four of the rustlers, one of whom was Gorilla, rounded up a small herd one morning and headed for the valley where Green himself had done some rebranding.
Surmising their destination, Green and the Y Z puncher made a leisurely detour which took them to the spot by a longer route. When they arrived, the work of changing brands was almost completed. Securely hidden among the brush which clothed the sides of the valley, they waited for the next move. This was not long in coming, for as soon as the last bellowing steer had rushed from the little corral in which the branding was done, the herd was collected again and driven towards the end of the valley. Keeping well under cover the watchers followed.
Passing through a break in the wall of the valley, the herd climbed a long slope to a big, tree-covered plateau. Here the trailers, having had further to go, lost sight of it, but evidence of its passage was plain enough, and indeed, the trail was a broad, well-trodden one, and had already been used on many occasions. After winding in and out among the trees for some miles, it suddenly took a sharp dip, and save for some scattered clumps of brush the foliage ended.
`Jee-rusalem!' ejaculated Green, reigning in, a proceeding Larry promptly followed. `What a hide-out.'
The dip, which after the start, was a long and gradual one, ended at a narrow entrance to another valley, larger than any they had yet seen, for it appeared to extend for several miles, and to be, in places, nearly a mile in width. The floor was covered with rich grass and groups of willow and cottonwood indicated the presence of water. Unlike the other valley, this one had no sloping sides, being, so far as they could determine, enclosed by perpendicular walls of rock. At the foot of the slope, they now saw the rustlers and their charge pass through the great stones which formed a natural gateway, while spread about the floor of the valley were many other herds. The two friends looked at each other, the same thought in both minds. It was Larry who voiced it: `The blame country's just made for rustlin',' he said. `What are they keepin' 'em for--there must be over a thousand head there?'
`That's the gang's part o' the plunder, I reckon,' Green replied. `When Tarman has got hold o' the Y Z an' Frying Pan range he'll buy back these herds, or his men's share of 'em! It's the ranches he wants, an' he's only stealin' the cattle to get the land cheap an' pay his hands. He's playin' a big game, is Mr. Tarman, an' it's a safe bet he's double-crossin' his own friends.'
`What we goin' to do now?' asked Larry.
Put 'em up; I got yu covered,' came a hoarse command from the surrounding bushes.
A touch of the spurred heel sent Larry's horse into the air and at the same instant came a shot which scorched Green's neck. Like lightning, the puncher sent three bullets into the bush from which the smoke was spiralling, and a grunt, followed by the crash of a falling body showed they had not been fired in vain. For some moments the two men waited tensely, guns ready, for any further demonstration, but nothing happened. Dismounting, they forced their way into the bush. Sprawled before them, a neat hole between his sightless eyes and a distorted sneer on his misshappen lips, was Gorilla.
`We're gettin' careless, Larry,' Green said. `We oughtta noticed that there was only three with the herd when they struck the valley an' then we'd have known that one of 'em was watchin' the trail. We gotta get rid o' this'--he pointed to the body--'it tells too much.'
A deep crevice between two rocks, winh more stones on top to protect it from wild creatures, formed the dwarf's last resning-place. His horse they found tied to a tree not far away and turned it loose. A glance at the valley showed a thin wisp of smoke; apparently the rustlers had not heard the firing and were about to feed before making the return trip.
`Well, I owed that jigger somethin' but I didn't know I was payin' a debt,' Green mused. `Odd how things work out. I never did nothin' to him an' yet he hated me at sight. We'd better be movin'.'
`Where for?' asked Larry.
`Frying Pan. We gotta put Leeming wise to this place in case we both get rubbed out.'
`Yu allus do see the bright side, don't yu? Awright, awright, we'll go to Job; he'll give us somethin' better to eat than pig's belly, anyway.'
Green grinned. `Yu certainly do make a Gawd o' yore innards, don't yu?' he said. `We'll have a look at my claim on our way.'