Sudden realized that the warning was well-meant. "I'm obliged, friend," he smiled. "Right now, bed goes for me."
Lying on his blankets in the darkness he turned over the day's doings. He had put two people under an obligation, and had made another enemy; the latter troubled him not at all. His examination of the place had only convinced him of its strength. As for its ruler ... It seemed incredible that Kenneth Keith could be father to such a son.
"He's a throw-back," Sudden mused. "The 01' Man musta had a pirut ancestor, one o' the bloodthirsty kind that made prisoners walk the plank just to amuse hisself, though that would be too tame for this fella."
Satisfied with this solution, he went to sleep. In the morning he idled about, studying the life in this human warren. Itwas a peaceful enough scene. Men, and a few women, sunning themselves in the open, or chatting in groups outside the store or the saloon; it might have been any one of a hundred frontier settlements he had seen. Once, a hard-eyed rider galloped in, scattering dust and dogs in all directions, to disappear into the Chief's abode. He encountered the woman, Anita, but she went by without a glance. Then he ran into Holt, and saw that something was troubling him.
"Head bad?" he asked.
"Feels like it had been split open with an axe an' joined wrong," the boy said ruefully. "But that ain't anythin'." He hesitated a moment and then blurted out, "I tried to git away this mornin', but the fella at the gate said I had to have a permit."
The puncher shook his head. "It ain't that easy. Better stay an' lay for a chance. Mebbe I'll be able to help yu."
In the afternoon he went to see the Chief. He found Miss Dalroy there, and would have retired, but the masked man stayed him.
"Come in," he said. "You know Belle, I believe."
"We met at a very fortunate moment--for me," the girl smiled, her fine eyes dwelling on the lithe, athletic form of the visitor. "I owe you a great deal, Mister Sudden."
"My name is Green, ma'am," he corrected stiffly, "an' yu don't owe me nothin'."
"Well, I give in about the name," she replied. "For the rest, I shall--"
"I take the debt upon myself, Belle," Satan interrupted, and to the cowboy, "So you didn't avail yourself of Silver's hospital?"
"I like to sleep near my hoss," Sudden replied curtly. "And you occupied your time antagonizing another of your comrades," the cold voice continued. "Was that wise?"
"He was tryin' to run a blazer on me, an' I don't stand for that--from anyone."
The belligerent tone and very obvious challenge brought the merest ghost of a smile to the straight lips beneath the mask, an effect the speaker did not expect.
"I'm goin' back to the Double K to-night," he announced.
Sudden saw the man's fists tighten, but, furious as the bandit was at this slighting of his authority, he showed no other sign.
"The great gunman is already weary of us," he said mockingly to the girl. "We can only hope that he will return soon--and stay longer."
Though the cowboy sensed the threat his expression was blank. "Shore I'll be back," he said, and added a clumsy compliment, "Hell City ain't so much, but if it's good enough for Miss Dalroy ..."
He bowed to the lady, nodded to the man, and swaggered out. For a space there was silence, and then Satan remarked, "That fellow has much to learn."
The woman shivered; the words were commonplace, but the tone in which they were spoken made them sound like a death sentence. With what seemed uncanny power, he read her thought.
"Feeling sorry for him, Belle?"
The start of surprise told him he had guessed correctly, but her reply was contradictory. With a disdainful shrug she said: "Not very, but naturally, I'm grateful."
Dusk was falling when Sudden set out for the Double K. As he neared the gate of the town, a hooded figure stopped him; it was Belle Dalroy.
"I've been waiting to tell you just one thing," she whispered hurriedly. "Don't come back--ever."
"Why, ma'am, it's right kind o' yu, but I'm afraid that ain't possible," Sudden told her. "Yu see--"
"That you are one of those self-satisfied folk on whom a warning is wasted, yes," she finished cuttingly. "Very well, I can do no more."
She turned swiftly and was lost in the growing darkness. The puncher rode slowly on, wondering.
Chapter XIV
When he reached the Double K, Sudden rode straight to the ranch-house. Through the french windows of the living-room he could see that Keith had visitors--Martin Merry and Lagley. The girl was not present. The eyes of the men opened wide when the cowboy tapped on the window and walked in. Instantly three guns covered him.
"What the devil are you doing here?" his employer rapped out. "Talk fast, and keep your hands still."
It was Sudden's turn to look astonished. "I'm here to report, seh," he said simply.
"And you brought your nerve with you," the Colonel retorted. "Having got the herd hidden I suppose you could be spared?"
"I'm in the dark, seh," the puncher said patiently.
"Really? So it will be news that our northern range was raided last night and over one hundred head driven off, together with as many Twin Diamond steers?"
"It certainly is."
"Yu an' Frosty have bin roustin' out an' bunchin' cattle on that boundary," Lagley remarked.
"At yore orders."
"So yu knowed where to find 'em."
Sudden's eyes narrowed. "Yu tryin' to tell me I stole the stock?" he asked.
"Just that," the foreman replied. "Lyin' about it won't buy yu nothin'. Yu were seen--that white blaze on yore black is plenty unusual."
"Who saw me?"
"Several o' the boys--yore side-kick, Frosty, among 'em."
"Their sight must be good, me bein' in--"
"Red Rock, was yu about to say?" Lagley sneered. "We happen to know yu never went near there."
"That was a stall," Sudden explained. "I told the Colonel I was goin' to Hell City."
"On my business, but it seems to have been on his own," Keith said acridly. "He deceived me."
"I'll say he did," the foreman cried exultantly. "Gives him a chance to pull off the rustlin' an' if he's seen there, yu can't chirp--he's workin' for yu. Damned smart, I gotta hand it to yu, Sudden; the on'y mistake yu made was usin' yore own hoss. I guess that fixes yu, good an' proper."
He looked expectantly at his companions. Merry slowly shook his head. "It looks like yu might be right, Lagley, but I hate to find myself mistaken in a man," he said. "What yu goin' to do, Ken?"
"Hang him at sunrise," was the stern reply. "A rope's the only remedy for rustling. Take his guns, Steve, and shoot if he makes a move."
Sudden's brain was busy. The rancher's threat was no empty one, and to allow himself to be taken meant a shameful death; there would be no mercy for a man who had helped to rob his own range. Only a single chance remained, desperate, but he must take it. Three of them would be firing at him, but...
Silent, with arms hanging loosely from drooping shoulders as though overwhelmed by the catastrophe which had overtaken him, he waited until the foreman moved to do his master's hidding. Then his left hand flashed to his belt and a bullet shattered the hanging light, plunging the room into darkness. Three spits of flame followed, but the fugitive had instantly dropped to hands and knees, dived for the window, and disappeared amid a shower of broken glass. When the three reached the verandah, the diminishing drum of pounding hooves apprised them that they were too late. An excited group of half-clad men came surging from the bunkhouse, and Lagley was yelling to them to get their guns and horses when Keith stopped him.
"Don't be seven sorts of a damned fool," he said savagely. "you had him covered, in the light, and he got away. Fine chance you'd have in the dark. Tell the men to turn in, and do the same."
When the foreman had gone, Merry turned to his host. "I'm just as pleased he made it. It's true things looked bad, but I can size up a fella with most, an' I'm bettin' there's an explanation."
"There
is always that for the lunatic willing to believe it. Better put him on your pay-roll."
"I will, if he shows up," Martin grinned. "He's worth three o' yore foreman."
"Steve's stupid, but he's honest," Keith replied.
"Mebbe, but he ain't the man he used to be, an' I'd have no opening for him at the Twin Diamond," Martin said. "Hullo, here's Miss Joan come to see which of us she's gotta weep over."
The girl, wrapped in a great-coat, and carrying a candle, was standing in the wrecked window. Keith explained what had happened.
"I don't believe that Green would steal cattle," she said. Merry burst out laughing and slapped his friend on the shoulder. "Two to one against yu, ol'-timer; yo're outvoted," he cried.
"Which ought to convince me, I suppose?" Keith replied stiffly. "Well, it doesn't. If I lay hands on the scoundrel again, he swings, even if he's riding for you, Martin."
'Satisfied that he would not be pursued ln the dark, Sudden eased his mount after covering a few miles. He saw clearly enough what had occurred: Satan and Lagley had "framed" him, and his absence from the Double K had provided the opportunity. A daub of white paint and the bandit's black would convincingly resemble Nigger in the starlight. Satan's reference to his early return to Hell City recurred to him and he now understood the sly smile which had then puzzled him. The reason for the plot was not so obvious. Either the bandit wished to force the cowboy to join him openly, or to get rid of him altogether. Sudden did not think the latter likely, though it might well have suited Lagley.
Dismissing the matter from his mind, he began to seek a place to spend the night, for he had no intention of returning to Hell City until daylight. It did not take him long; at a spot where the trail to Dugout dipped between brush-covered slopes, he found a grassy hollow from which he could see without being seen. He picketed his horse, but did not remove the saddle, rolled himself in his blanket, and, back against a sapling, was soon asleep.
The sun was climbing the eastern sky when a merry but unmelodious voice awoke him; it seemed familiar. Creeping forward, he parted the bushes; Frosty was riding leisurely towards him. Sudden grinned, thrust out a gun, and called hoarsely: "Push 'em up, yu yowlin' he-cat."
The rider's start of surprise nearly threw him out of the saddle, but the protruding weapon admitted no argument; he raised his hands. The hidden voice went on grumblingly: "Oughta blow yore light out, spoilin' my sleep an' pizenin' the atmosphere thataway. Explain yoreself."
Try as he might, he could not keep the mirth out of his tone. Frosty detected it; he lowered his hands.
"Shoot an' be damned," he said.
Instead of a bullet, came an order. "The sheriff o' Dugout will get off that bone-bag he calls a hoss an' step up here, fetchin' said bone-bag along."
The cowboy did as directed and found himself facing the smiling owner of the voice. "Knowed it was yu allatime," he said hastily. "Just had to let yu play yore kid game. No, there ain't nobody followin' me; I slipped off."
"To find me?"
"I was hopin'--figured yu might go to town. Jim, I don't savvy--thought mebbe yu could wise me up."
"I ain't very clear my own self," Sudden admitted. "Yu were there when the herd was run off?"
"Yeah, four of us was watchin' them steers yu an' me bin collectin'--Steve had a hunch somethin' was goin' to happen," Frosty said.
Sudden's grin was ironical. "He would have," he commented. "An' he wanted plenty witnesses."
"Over a dozen of 'ern closed in onus from all sides, firin'," Frosty continued. "They got Denver in the leg, crippled two hosses, an' swept the cows off before we'd got our breath; it was the neatest gather. The leader's mount was the spit o' Nigger."
"Was he masked?"
"I didn't get that close an' the light was poor, but I'd say he had a bandanna round his chops. He shorely looked liked yu, Jim."
"It warn't me nor Nigger--both of us was in Hell City."
"Yu didn't go to Red Rock?"
"Never meant to, an' Keith knowed it," Sudden said. "I've been framed, cowboy. Mister Satan wants me to throw in with him."
"I'll bet yu'd not do that, Jim."
"Then yu'd lose, for that is pre-cisely what I'm goin' to do," was the sardonic answer. "Are yu suggestin' I should let the Double K string me up?""There's other places," Frosty pointed out.
"I know it," Sudden retorted harshly. "I'm to go on the dodge for somethin' I didn't do, huh? That's happened before, an' I'm through. This time I'll hit back, an' hit hard."
The bitter vehemence of this declaration told that further argument would be useless. Frosty was silent for a while, and then : "If yu need help, Jim, yu on'y gotta mention it--that's what I really came to say, an' I reckon it goes for some o' the others, too."
"I'm obliged, but there's no call for my friends to put their necks in a noose because I do," Sudden replied.
"Pickles !" Frosty laughed. "Friends oughta hang together, anyways. We're backin' yu--the limit."
"Which is mighty good hearin'," Sudden said soberly. "I got a sorta ambition to abolish Hell City, but yu needn't mention it yet awhile."
Frosty stared at him incredulously. "Is that all?" he asked. "What yu goin' to do in yore spare time?"
"I'll have to think up somethin'," Sudden grinned. "Listen: I happened on a private way o' gettin' into the place." He described the spot. "Find, but don't use it till yu have a word from me. Still got that badge? Good, yu may need it."
"Jim, d'yu reckon Steve is Toxin'?"
"He was powerful eager to see me dance on nothin'."
"No foreman likes to have his cattle stole."
"That's true; but I wouldn't trust him. Now, I gotta be on the move. So long."
"When yu want us we'll come a-runnin'," were Frosty's parting words. "Yu goin' to town?"
"Yeah, I couldn't stay for supper las' night an' my insides is remindin' me; fresh air's good, but it ain't fillin'."
Frosty watched the black till it disappeared round a curve and then climbed his own mount. "Just can't figure him, Cactus," he mused, "but I'm bettin' high he's--straight."
Sudden's demeanour when he reached Dugout was anything but that of a fugitive. He procured the needed meal at Black Sam's, and learned that though the raid on the ranches was the one subject of conversation, his own supposed share in it was not known. This was fortunate, the town being indignant at the spoliation of its two best customers.
"Couple o' hundred head at one lick," Jansen said. "Real money, that is. I'll wager Keith is some difficult to live with."
"He's takin' it hard," the puncher admitted.
"Beats me why him an' Merry don't team up an' drive them rats out'n their hole," Naylor remarked. "Some of us would give a hand."
"Ever bin in Hell City?" Birt asked. "I have---on business," he added hastily. " 'Less yo're a bird, there's but two ways in, an' four men with rifles would hold the pair of 'em agin ten times their number."
Sudden left them arguing, and rode in the direction of the place he had been warned to avoid. He was less than half-way when he met Miss Dalroy, riding a horse he recognized. At the sight of him she pulled up, anger and scorn in her eyes.
"You are going back?" she cried.
"Shore looks thataway," he replied, and then, "So he lets yu ride his hoss? He's a beauty--the hoss, I mean."
He leant over and stroked the shiny muzzle, his hand straying upwards, pushing the short hair aside to find traces of white paint at the roots.
"I tried to see the Chief night afore last," he said casually. "Silver said he warn't there."
She looked sharply at him. "What are you trying to find out?"
He shrugged. "Just whether it was an excuse or not. There can't be any mystery 'bout his movements, anyway, an'yo're forgettin'--this." He pointed to the badge he had donned after leaving Dugout.
"He was abroad," she admitted. "If you had any sense at all you'd throw that thing away and--ride."
"Why not take yore own advice?" he smiled. "What keeps yu i
n Hell City?"
"The reason we all have--necessity," she replied, and in a burst of bitterness, "I killed a brute, and because I was a woman, they called it murder and would have hanged me; at the best, it meant a life sentence. Jeff contrived my escape, and brought me here."
"One good deed to his credit."
"Don't think it. Many of his men owe him the same debt, and that gives him absolute power over them."
"Ever seen him without the mask?" Sudden asked casually.
"No, but once he showed me a photograph; it was signed `Jefferson Keith.' "
"Odd that a fella should hide his face from the woman he cares for," the puncher murmured. "Shucks, I shouldn't 'a' said that; musta been thinkin' aloud."
Her laugh did not ring true. "If you're meaning me, you'd better think again," she said scornfully. "I'm just his property, to pet or punish at his pleasure. He is incapable of any passion, save hate, and to satisfy that will stoop to the vilest deeds, and yet ..." she broke off with an impatient gesture, and then, "In some way you have offended him." She saw his little smile of tolerance, and touched her horse with the spur. "Oh, well, a wilful man must learn his lesson."
"I'm shore grateful, ma'am," he said gravely, and resumed his journey.
Apart from proof that Satan was in the plot to discredit him at the Double K he had discovened nothing. Belle Dalroy he had already classed as a fugitive from the law. Wayward, im petuous, and quick-tempered, she was not to be trusted. He smiled thinly at the thought that in this place to which he was going there was not one person on whom he could rely. The woman, Anita, perhaps, but promises made in the stress of emotion were not wont to be lasting. He consoled himself with a philosophical reflection:
"Playin' a lone hand has one good point--yu on'y got yoreself to worry about."
Chapter XV
Satan welcomed the puncher with a satirical smile. "Back so soon?" he cried.
"Yeah. Don't tell me yo're surprised."
"I said yesterday that you would be. I take it they were not pleased to see you at the Double K?"
"Pleased don't express it; I was a dream come true. I had to tear myself away," Sudden told him. "Why, Steve wanted to waste a new rope on me."
Sudden Rides Again (1938) s-4 Page 11
