Who Wants to Live Forever?

'It might,' Hal agreed. 'If there are any Circle X hides there, I could probably tell if the brands had been altered recently. The fellow who changes the brand is up against a difficulty. To make it look the same on the surface, he has to burn the hair off the new part of the brand and touch the hide itself quite lightly. Otherwise the more recent burn will look angry. While the animal is on the hoof, that is fine for the thief, but after the steer has been slaughtered, an examination of the hide could show the added scars were different from the original one.'

'We would have to get into the Gibson warehouse to check up on this,' Arnold said.

'Yes. If the manager of the company isn't in on the steal, all we would have to do would be to ask his permission. If he is sharing in the profits of the rustling, we'd have to get in without his knowledge.'

'Assuming that some of the hides were taken from Seven Up and Down steers.'

'First, we ought to find out who owns this Circle X brand. It may be a legitimate outfit nowhere near the Soledad Valley. In that case we can find out from the owner if he recently sold a bunch to the Gibson packers.'

'How can you locate the owner?' Arnold asked.

'All brands have to be recorded at the State House. I'll phone to Phoenix and find who claims this one.'

Within the hour they knew that the Circle X had been recorded by Edward Mullins of the Rabbit Ear Gorge range. Hal chuckled. Some more of Tick Black's smooth work. The brand was in the name of a stooge. He would reap the profits, and if by unlucky chance there was trouble, he would slide out and let Mullins take the punishment.

They were still in the dark as to the Gibson Company's share, if any, in the theft. It might be an entirely innocent buyer. The manager and principal owner of the packing house was Jubal L. Gibson. There had been litigation between him and the widow of his brother, also one of the owners of the company. She was suing him on the ground that he had defrauded her. Hal did not know the right of the case. He had met Jubal L. only once and had not liked him. The head of the packing house was a plump, soft-handed man with a superficial heartiness that failed to give warmth to his cold eyes. But the lack of an engaging personality was not prima facie evidence of a conspiracy to rob ranchers of their stock.

Hal went to the leading banker in Casa Rita for information. James Hunter had been an Arizona ranger in his youth. From that he had drifted into mining and had made a small fortune in copper. Since Hal had been a small boy, he had known Hunter as a blunt, upright citizen, a wise man with a kindly sense of tolerance.

He greeted Hal and his friend warmly, took them into his private office, and offered cigars.

'No see you for a long time, son,' he told Stevens. A smile lit his face. 'The last time I was fronting for you to keep you out of jail.'

'I raised a lot of hell when I was a kid,' Hal admitted. 'You'll be glad to know I'm a responsible citizen now.'

'Then I won't have to go bail for you this time?'

'It may come to that,' Hal said blithely. 'Ranny and I are probably going in for burglary.'

The banker glanced at Arnold. 'As a career?' he asked.

Hal shook his head. 'No. Arnold is a Government bureaucrat. We'll try it only once, if at all. But first we would like your advice.'

'My advice is — don't.'

'You can't give it wisely without knowing the circumstances. The reasons—'

'I know,' interrupted Hunter. 'A starving wife and seven children at home.' He put a silver half-dollar on the table and pushed it toward Hal. 'Take that and buy them some oatmeal.'

The cattleman threw up his hands. 'All right. If you won't become an accomplice in crime, will you give me some perfectly lawful information?'

'No promises.' Hunter looked at him suspiciously. 'What do you want to know?'

'If you were going into a business enterprise, would you pick Jubal L. Gibson as a partner?'

That question wiped the smile from the banker's face. When he spoke, after a few moments of consideration, it was to say, 'I would accept Mr. Gibson's check with no misgivings.'

'Not what I asked you, Mr. Hunter.' Hal grinned at Arnold. 'I think it's time to take Wall Street into our confidence.'

'Go slow, boy, if this is going to be as bad as it sounds,' the banker warned.

Hal told briefly the whole story, coming back in the end to the question of Gibson's integrity.

Hunter blew some fat smoke wreaths before he said anything. 'Mr. Gibson puts a high value on a dollar,' was his comment. 'Maybe too high a value.' He presently continued, cautiously: 'There have been some ugly stories told about him. I have never seen any of them entirely confirmed. He takes considerable interest in public affairs. On the whole, he is an influential citizen.'

'But you wouldn't trust him any farther than you could throw a bull by the tail,' Hal said bluntly.

The banker opened up. 'That's my position exactly,' he replied. 'Jubal L. is at heart a scoundrel.'

'You think he might be in a deal with Black?'

'Not unless he felt it was quite safe. For instance, I think he might be satisfied in his mind that some of the stock coming in from Black was stolen, but he would be sure to go through the proper formalities to protect himself.'

'The point is, we wouldn't get anywhere if we went to him and asked permission to look the hides over,' Hal said.

'Not if he is in with these thieves. You would only be warning him to get rid of the evidence.'

'That's what we are afraid of,' Arnold agreed.

'So we'll hold everything and tell you nothing more, Mr. Hunter,' Hal contributed. 'We wouldn't want a leading citizen in jail with us as an accessory before the fact.'

They rose to leave. Hunter had one last word of advice. 'I don't know what you boys mean to do, but I suggest you be very careful. If what you suspect is true, these criminals are not going to stop at murder to save themselves.'

Hal nodded lightly. 'Important and true.'

As they walked back to the hotel where they were stopping, Hal caught sight of Cash Polk dodging into a cigar shop. When they reached it, they dropped in, too.

Cash said, with bright excitement, 'Think of you boys being here! I came up on a little business. Starting home pretty soon. You staying long?'

Hal was not sure how long they would stay, but he said it certainly was nice to meet old friends by chance, though he would not give Cash the name of the hotel where they were staying because it was expensive to buy new doors when the boys from home called.

CHAPTER 25

Shep Rogers Makes Ten Dollars

TICK BLACK was not himself with the party that drove to Fair Play for the jail break. He liked to spin the web of his schemes, but he preferred to stay back at the ranch while others executed them. This had several advantages. He avoided the immediate personal danger. In case the plan failed, he could lay the blame on his subordinates. And if there should be trouble with the law, he could be shocked and distressed about what his wild young friends had done.

Since Cash Polk was at Casa Rita watching Arnold, Frawley at the ranch sulkily nursing a wound practically healed, and Brick Fenwick fretting in a cell, Black selected a young man named Bill Nuney to head the rescuers. Nuney was a lank, happy-go-lucky young fellow who had gone bad because in following the line of least resistance it had chanced to take him down the wrong turn. Without an ounce of wickedness in him, the weak strain might in the end bring him to the same destination as much worse men.