Part 31 (1/2)
”How in h---- did he get there?”
”Search me. But he's there, all right, an' from all appearance he's going to stay, for a while at least, until I show me hand.”
”What can you do? It seems to me that you've had enough of that place already.”
”So I have, but not of the girl. My, she's worth riskin' one's neck for. But, say, Dan, what are you doing out here?”
”Prospectin', of course. What else would I be doin'?”
”Strike anything?”
”Not yet, though I've good prospects in sight, 'specially since you've arrived.”
Seeing the look of surprise in Curly's eyes, Dan laughed.
”Yes,” he continued, ”I'm prospectin' in the same way that you are.
I'm after Jim Weston's gal.”
”You are!” Curly's face brightened. ”How long have you been at it?”
”Oh, fer about a week. Ye see, I got into the same sc.r.a.pe that you did, an' was pitched this side of Golden Crest, with strict orders to head fer Big Draw at once.”
”An' did ye?”
”Sure. I did as I was told. But I returned, built a shack in the hills, an' have been prowlin' around ever since waitin' me chance. Jim Weston's daughter sometimes rides alone on this side of the Crest, but so far I've missed meetin' her. But I'll get her one of these days, an' then her devil of a father will know that Dan Hivers has some of the Old Nick in him as well as he has. It's a mighty poor game, to my way of thinkin', at which two can't play.”
”Yes, and more than two,” Curly eagerly replied. ”You're just the man I need. Let's work together, Dan, an' we'll be company fer each other.
Have you any grub?”
”Lots of it in me shack. I brought a good supply from Big Draw, an'
fresh meat is plentiful in the hills. I've an extra rifle, too, if ye need it.”
”What's your plan?” Curly asked. ”You know this region better'n I do.”
Dan did not at once reply, but sat looking thoughtfully into the fire.
”An' ye say that guy's got the cinch on the gal?” he at length queried.
”Seems so. He was with her when I was led past, an' they seemed mighty happy together.”
”Is that so? An' I suppose he'll be with her wherever she goes.”
”Most likely. But we can fix him, can't we?”
”We'll have to find some way, but the question is, how?”
”The gun-route might be the best,” and Curly motioned significantly toward the rifle. ”Accidents sometimes happen, ye know.”