"S'pose he is pryin' for Bart, that don't connect him up with the White Masks," he pointed out. "An' it was Darby first suggested the boys should wait for their pay."
"Well, I shore owe him somethin', whoever it is," Severn admitted. "An' I like to pay my debts."
"Mebbe yu'll get a chance," said the other. "Meantime, don't push yore luck too hard--this guardian angel may be human an' want a nap now an' again."
"I gotta play the hands what's dealt me--win or lose," the foreman told him. "Yu can say to the boys that I'm shore obliged an' that I ain't forgettin' it."
Chapter IX
ON the following morning Bartholomew, riding a weary horse, made his appearance at the Lazy M. The posse, of which he was the virtual leader, had gone back to town. As Darby had surmised, they had lost the trail on the Stony River bed, and after hours of search, had failed to pick it up again. The big man looked tired, untidy and sullen. As he walked towards the ranch-house he met Darby and stopped.
"Ain't seen yu at the Bar B lately," he said. "There's some dollars due yu."
"I don't aim to collect 'em, Bart," was the reply.
The Bar B owner raised his eyebrows. "How come?" he asked sharply."I ain't proposin' to earn 'em," Darby explained.
"Goin' to renig, huh? Roundin' on me, are yu?" sneered the rancher.
"No, that was never my way--what I know I'll keep under my hat," the cowboy said quietly. "I'm just droppin' a job I never liked, an' from now on I'm playin' square with the man who pays me."
"Meanin' Severn?"
Darby nodded. His face was pale and his lips set. He knew perfectly well that he was risking his life in thus defying his late employer, but he had no hesitation, and Black Bart, though he did not want to lose the man, realised that he could not persuade him. His face settled into a savage sneer.
"All right, Darby," he said. "It's a free country, but freeze on to this--fellas as ain't for me are agin me, an' take their chances."
"Anythin' yu put over lets me out an' I talk, Bart," the man retorted.
With a laugh at the threat the rancher went on to the house. Phil met him on the veranda and her big eyes softened when she saw how jaded he looked. With a grunt of satisfaction he dropped into one of the roomy chairs, and then turned to her with a grin.
"Phil, I'm about all in, an' it's a long way to the `Come Again'," he suggested.
The girl laughed, vanished inside, and reappeared bearing a bottle and glass. The man's eyes took in the daintiness of her, the desirableness of her surroundings--mentally comparing the place to his own--and his jaw firmed with decision : he would have her, come hell or high water, was his unspoken vow. He poured himself a drink, raising the glass in salutation.
"Here's how," he said, and then : "Gosh ! I wanted that. Huntin' needles in a haystack's easy compared with findin' thieves in this man's country. Yu heard about the bank hold-up, o' course?"
"Yes, it was the White Masks, I suppose?"
"Well, I reckon it was, but the question is, who are the White Masks? There's somethin' queer about this robbery; two or three fellas drew all their money out just before it happened an' Severn was one of 'em. O' course, it might be it just happened so, an' then again, it might not."
"Is Rapson much hurt?"
"He looked pretty desperate. He was just able to say what I told yu, an' that the fellas' faces were too muffled for him to know 'em again, an' then he fainted. Yu got any news, Phil?"
She told him of the finding of her father's gun and Severn's explanation; Bartholomew's lips twisted into an incredulous sneer as he listened. At once he saw how the story could be used for his own advantage.
"Yu ain't swallowin' that, are yu, Phil?" he asked sardonically. "Shucks, T gave the fella credit for more savvy. He'll have to produce the Greaser's body to make that tale stick, an' that's somethin' I'm bettin' high he can't do, for I happen to know Ignacio has left the country. Now see here, don't tell no one else about this; we'll lay low an' let him run his own silly head into the noose."
"Yu think he killed daddy?" the girl asked, a break in her voice.
"I ain't any doubt myself, but we gotta get more proof," he returned. "An' we gotta find out if I'm right about Embley bein' in with him. Then there's this White Mask business. Was Severn about the ranch when the bank was cleaned?"
"No, he came in just before supper," she replied. "I chanced to see him."
"Huh, an' he left town in plenty time to meet his pals an' circle back," Bartholomew said. "Far as I can gather, the fella that downed Rapson was about Severn's build. But that's all guess-work, an' we gotta be shore before we move." He stood up and patted her shoulder. "Don't yu trouble, Phil," he added. "Once things is straightened out I'll have something to say that I hope yu'll be glad to hear."
The gesture and the look which accompanied it made the girl flush; she knew what he meant, but she was aware that there was no answering thrill in her heart. Somehow, though she could not account for it, Bartholomew seemed to have lost in attractiveness. She was not sorry when her visitor went, and she put it down to worry. Bart himself divined nothing of this; he rode away from the Lazy M in a pleasanter frame of mind than he had been in for weeks. Things were looking brighter for him.
Severn did not see the Bar B owner, having left early in the morning with several of the outfit for the southern part of the range, where a miniature round-up was taking\place, the foreman being desirous of getting an approximate idea of the number of cattle the ranch was running. It was late in the afternoon when he returned to his hut, and his sharp eye immediately told him he had had a visitor. Little displacements of various articles showed that the room had been subjected to a search, and in several spots small holes had been m de in the earthen floor, as though someone had thrust in a rod or stick. Nothing had been taken, and the foreman grinned as he looked around. Then he went down to the bunk-house.
"Anybody been a-visitin' to-day, Jonah?" he inquired. "Yessah, dat no 'count punchah, Geevor, come pesterin'roun' dis afternoon," replied the grinning darky. "Went up to yo shack an' was an almighty long time findin' I done tole him de trufe when I say yu wasn't to home."
The foreman went back to his quarters in a thoughtful mood. At first his suspicions had suggested Phil, searching for further evidence of her father, though it was difficult to believe her guilty of so mean an action.
The evening passed without incident, and though Geevor's appearance was discussed and speculated upon, Severn did not tell the others of the man's real object. Bones, who had met an XT rider on the range, brought the news that the doctor gave Rapson one chance in ten to recover. He was too ill to make any statement, and the search for the hold-ups had been abandoned as hopeless.
The foreman did not join in the "kid's poker", which was the outfit's name for the ten cent limit game they played among themselves. On the step of his shack, his back against the side of the open door and a cigarette between his lips, he squatted, gazing at the diamond-dusted sky.
"Mister `Friend' is the joker in the pack," he mused. "If I could locate him it would shore be helpful."
But though he stayed there for more than an hour thrashing the matter out, he was no nearer a solution at the end of it, and at last gave it up in disgust and turned in.
It must have been near to midnight when a warning growl from the dog aroused him. Slipping from his bed, he crept noiselessly to the window and peered out. The night was dark but the stars provided a little light, and he had an impression of a blurred, shadowy form slinking in the direction of the ranch-house. Hurriedly he got into his clothes, and not waiting to buckle on his belt, seized one of his guns and stepped outside; he did not take the dog. Softly but swiftly he made his way to the house, watching warily for any movement.
The place was in darkness, and there was no sign of a marauder, but Severn was not satisfied; he was almost sure he had seen someone. A careful examination of the front of the house showed nothing suspicious, and the foreman went round to the back. Here he
found an open window, and climbing through, realised that he was in the kitchen. The door of this opened upon a large hall, from which a flight of stairs led to the upper floor. At the foot of these Severn paused in doubt. The window could have been overlooked, and his eyes might have deceived him. What would Miss Masters think if he were discovered wandering about the house at midnight? He could vision her scornful disbelief of his story, and was on the point of beating a retreat when a low, harsh voice pulled him up. He could not distinguish the words, but it was a man speaking, and he was upstairs. Noiselessly Severn mounted and halted at the top of the flight, listening to locate the room.
Phil Masters, awakened out of a deep sleep, stared in terrified amazement at the dark, slouch-hatted figure standing by her bedside. Before she could speak the intruder said :
"Keep quiet an' yu won't be hurt."
"Geevor ! " she cried, recognising the voice. "What are you doing here? How dare--"
"Shucks, war-talk won't get yu nowhere," the man returned easily. "Tell me where the money is an' I'll go." Then seeing the look of bewilderment on her face, he added, "I mean the two thousand bucks Severn got for the XT herd. He drew it out just before the bank was gutted, though how he got wise beats me."
I know nothing about it," the girl told him, her courage beginning to assert itself. "If Severn drew it out I suppose he must have it."
"It ain't in his shack, for I've searched, an' he wouldn't tote that amount around with him, so it must be here somewheres," Geevor returned doggedly.
"You cur," she said. "I don't know where the money is, and if I did I would not tell you."
"We'll see about that," he growled.
A sudden dart of the long arms and his fingers, claw-like, gripped her shoulders, tearing the frail fabric of her night attire, and exposing the white flesh beneath; the man's eyes gleamed bestially at the sight.
Frantically she beat him with her fists, but in that iron grip she was almost helpless, and the leering face with its lustful lips came nearer and nearer as he dragged her towards him. His liquor-laden breath told her he had been drinking heavily.'
"Bartholomew will hang yu for this," she panted, and with a last despairing effort her nails scored the evil face now so near her own. With an oath of pain and rage he drew back.
"Yu cursed cat ! " he snarled. "I'll close yore mouth for good an' The man was mad with passion, beyond all control; his lust was now for blood. His right hand flew to his belt and shot into the air, gripping a knife. The girl's terrified eyes wavered between the gleaming blade and the murderous mask of the ruffian who held it. Another second and it would have been buried in the round white throat, but Severn's gun barked from the doorway, and Geevor, a look of wide surprise on his face, buckled at the knees and fell prone. The girl, half-fainting, gave an inarticulate cry, and sank back upon the bed. Striding into the room, Severn did not pay any attention to her, but seizing the dead man by the ankles, hauled him on to the landing outside. When he returned, Phil had utilised the opportunity he had given her to don a dressing-gown.
"Ain't hurt yu, has he?" he asked, and when she shook her head, "Yu needn't to worry any more. I reckon he was playin' a lone hand, but I'll have the house watched."
On the floor lay the knife, winking wickedly in the faint light. Severn picked it up and went out of the room without waiting for any reply. At the top of the stairs he found Dinah, staring aghast at the corpse. She had heard the shot and come up from her room beside the kitchen.
"Foh de deah Lawd's sake--" she began, but the foreman cut her short.
"Yore mistress has had a shock; go an' stay with her," he said, and slinging the body over his shoulder, carried it out of the house by the way he had come in.
Early on the following morning when he returned from breakfast at the bunkhouse, he found Phil waiting outside his door. She was looking pale and drawn, but her eyes had lost the frostiness hitherto always there when they met.
"I want to thank you for coming to my aid last night," she began.
The foreman flushed and looked uncomfortable. "It don't need speakin' of," he replied, and added something about it being part of his job.
"I cannot understand how you came to be there," she said.
"I caught sight o' someone sneakin' up to the house, an' followed," Severn explained, and then as Quirt came trotting up and thrust a cold nose into the girl's hand, he added, "There's the fella yu gotta thank. If he hadn't roused me--"
"Then I ought to be very glad you--bought him," she said shyly.
The foreman smiled, and there was a warmth and boyishness utterly foreign to his customary rather stern expression when with her.
"We both got reason to be glad, I reckon," he returned whimsically. "This ain't the first good turn he's been guilty of."
He went on to tell of the rattlesnake incident, and the girl's gaze widened in horror as she listened.
"Hideous," she cried. "The man who could conceive such a thing is not fit to live. Did you find out who it was?"
"Yeah," he said, "Mister Ignacio played that prank."
Phil's eyebrows rose, and with a touch of her old manner towards him she said, "Someone told me just lately that he had left the country."
"That's true, but an understatement; as I told yu--he's dead," Severn said.
"But you can't prove it," she protested.
"No," he agreed gravely. "I can't prove it, but it's so."
For a moment there was an awkward silence. The foreman knew her suspicions were returning, and the little oasis of kinder feeling produced by the events of the previous night was being engulfed by a desert of doubt. Deliberately he changed the subject.
"Yu oughtn't to stay alone in that house," he remarked.
"I have Dinah," she said. "And her husband usually sleeps there, though last night he stayed in his kitchen at the bunkhouse."
"I'd let yu have Quirt, but I'm afraid he wouldn't stay put," he smiled.
She was about to reply when she saw his face change; the old Severn was back, the mouth hard and cynical, the eyes cold. She followed their gaze. Bartholomew was dismounting in front of the ranch-house.
"Again, thank you--and Quirt," she said, and walked away.
Chapter X
THOUGH she had resented the foreman's suggestion to be accompanied on her rides, Phil soon discovered that the escort added to her enjoyment. On the first morning Larry, rifle across his knees, had loped at a deconous distance behind her, until she smilingly told him to sheathe the weapon and ride by her side. The cowboy needed no second invitation. These excursions were the most wonderful thing that had ever happened to him, and his glance, whenever it dared to rest upon her, was full of adoration. The trim figure, poised so buoyantly in the saddle, the proud little head, and the firm but wilful lips had got him, in his own phraseology, "thrown an' tied". And she--well, she liked his merry eyes, his boyishness and the shyness which she could dissipate with a smile. It was youth calling to youth.
He did not talk much of himself, but by questioning she learned that he had "no folks" and had been "in cattle" since he was big enough to "straddle a hoss". Also that he had "drifted a bit", which, on investigation, turned out to mean that he had travelled and -worked-Over several thousand miles of the country. It amused her to note that when they got down to rest or admire a view he always took his rifle from its scabbard.
"I don't believe there is any danger," she said, when the third ride had passed without incident. "I should be quite safe alone and it is a waste of your time."
"Do yu want that I shouldn't come?" he asked.
The warmth in his tone and gaze sent the hot blood to her cheeks and she was conscious of a thrill of pleasure. She was considering how best to put this daring young man in his place when he leaned forward and grabbed the bridle of her horse. Instantly she saw why. Round a curve in the gully, less than a mile away, six horsemen had trotted. They had white blotches where their faces should have been, and at the sight of the girl and her companion
they quickened their pace.
"The White Masks," Phil gasped.
"Looks like," Larry agreed. "Mebbe they don't want us, but I ain't takin' chances. We gotta punch the breeze."
Whirling their horses, they headed for the ranch at full speed. A savage whoop came from behind and, turning, Larry saw that the unknown riders were spurring hard in pursuit. For a while the fugitives held their own, and then it became evident that the pursuers were gaining, slowly but surely.
"We'll never make it--they got better horses," the cowboy concluded, but he kept it to himself.
Side by side they raced on, the wiry little cow-ponies at full stretch, willing to run till they dropped; the girl rode magnificently, as though part of the animal beneath her and coaxing every foot of speed out of it. Larry looked back and stifled a curse when he saw that the pursuers had gained. Then a bullet whined past and they heard the crash of the report.
He had no doubt it was the girl they wanted. Another shot " came, his horse stumbled, and the cowboy jumped clear just as the animal pitched headlong, quivered and lay still. The girl pulled up with a cry of dismay.
"Go ahead--ride for the ranch," he cried. "I can hold 'em for a piece."
"But they'll get you, Larry," she protested. "Jump up behind me."
"We couldn't make it ridin' double; they don't want me--it's yu they're after," he urged. "Ride like hell for the boys. Tell Severn I did my best."
"I'll remember, Larry--I'll always remember," she said softly, and he saw that her eyes were misted.
Without another word she raced off and the cowboy dragged his rifle from under the saddle and stretched himself behind the dead horse. The bandits had halted and were bunched together about six hundred yards away, but a bullet from Larry which dropped a horse sent them out on a half circle. A couple of shots came in reply but they went wide. To his surprise the men made no effort to follow the fleeing girl. Certainly the two on the extreme right and left began a detour, but they rode slowly and presently vanished. The others remained, standing near the horses, and well out of range.
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