Part 26 (1/2)

Ferguson did not visit Miss Radford the next morning--he had seen Leviatt and Tucson depart from the ranchhouse, had observed the direction they took, and had followed them. For twenty miles he had kept them in sight, watching them with a stern patience that had brought its reward.

They had ridden twenty miles straight down the river, when Ferguson, concealed behind a ridge, saw them suddenly disappear into a little basin. Then he rode around the ridge, circled the rim of hills that surrounded the basin, and dismounting from his pony, crept through a scrub oak thicket to a point where he could look directly down upon them.

He was surprised into a subdued whistle. Below him in the basin was an adobe hut. He had been through this section of the country several times but had never before stumbled upon the hut. This was not remarkable, for situated as it was, in this little basin, hidden from sight by a serried line of hills and ridges among which no cowpuncher thought to travel--nor cared to--, the cabin was as safe from prying eyes as it was possible for a human habitation to be.

There was a small corral near the cabin, in which there were several steers, half a dozen cows, and perhaps twenty calves. As Ferguson's eyes took in the latter detail, they glittered with triumph. Not even the wildest stretch of the imagination could produce twenty calves from half a dozen cows.

But Ferguson did not need this evidence to convince him that the men who occupied the cabin were rustlers. Honest men did not find it necessary to live in a basin in the hills where they were shut in from sight of the open country. Cattle thieves did not always find it necessary to do so--unless they were men like these, who had no herds of their own among which to conceal their ill-gotten beasts. He was convinced that these men were migratory thieves, who operated upon the herds nearest them, remained until they had acc.u.mulated a considerable number of cattle, and then drove the entire lot to some favored friend who was not averse to running the risk of detection if through that risk he came into possession of easily earned money.

There were two of the men, beside Leviatt and Tucson--tall, rangy--looking their part. Ferguson watched them for half an hour, and then, convinced that he would gain nothing more by remaining there, he stealthily backed down the hillside to where his pony stood, mounted, and rode toward the river.

Late in the afternoon he entered Bear Flat, urged his pony at a brisk pace across it, and just before sundown drew rein in front of the Radford cabin. He dismounted and stepped to the edge of the porch, a smile of antic.i.p.ation on his lips. The noise of his arrival brought Mary Radford to the door. She came out upon the porch, and he saw that her face was pale and her lips firmly set. Apparently something had gone amiss with her and he halted, looking at her questioningly.

”What's up?” he asked.

”You ought to know,” she returned quietly.

”I ain't good at guessin' riddles,” he returned, grinning at her.

”There is no riddle,” she answered, still quietly. She came forward until she stood within two paces of him, her eyes meeting his squarely.

”When you left here last night did you meet Ben on the trail?” she continued steadily.

He started, reddening a little. ”Why, yes,” he returned, wondering if Ben had told her what had been said at that meeting; ”was he tellin'

you about it?”

”Yes,” she returned evenly, ”he has been telling me about it. That should be sufficient for you. I am sorry that I ever met you. You should know why. If I were you I should not lose any time in getting away from here.”

Her voice was listless, even flat, but there was a grim note in it that told that she was keeping her composure with difficulty. He laughed, thinking that since he had made the new agreement with the Two Diamond manager he had nothing to fear. ”I reckon I ought to be scared,” he returned, ”but I ain't. An' I don't consider that I'm losin' any time.”

Her lips curved sarcastically. ”You have said something like that before,” she told him, her eyes glittering scornfully. ”You have a great deal of faith in your ability to fool people. But you have miscalculated this time.

”I know why you have come to the Two Diamond. I know what made you come over here so much. Of course I am partly to blame. You have fooled me as you have fooled everyone.” She stood suddenly erect, her eyes flas.h.i.+ng. ”If you planned to kill my brother, why did you not have the manhood to meet him face to face?”

Ferguson flushed. Would it help his case to deny that he had thought of fooling her, that he never had any intention of shooting Ben? He thought not. Leviatt had poisoned her mind against him. He smiled grimly.

”Someone's been talkin',” he said quietly. ”You'd be helpin' to make this case clear if you'd tell who it was.”

”Someone has talked,” she replied; ”someone who knows. Why didn't you tell me that you came here to kill Ben? That you were hired by Stafford to do it?”

”Why, I didn't, ma'am,” he protested, his face paling.

”You did!” She stamped one foot vehemently.

Ferguson's eyes drooped. ”I came here to see if Ben was rustlin'

cattle, ma'am,” he confessed frankly. ”But I wasn't intendin' to shoot him. Why, I've had lots of chances, an' I didn't do it. Ain't that proof enough?”

”No,” she returned, her voice thrilling with a sudden, bitter irony, ”you didn't shoot him. That is, you didn't shoot him while he was looking at you--when there was a chance that he might have given you as good as you sent. No, you didn't shoot him then--you waited until his back was turned. You--you coward!”

Ferguson's lips whitened. ”You're talkin' extravagant, ma'am,” he said coldly. ”Somethin' is all mixed up. Has someone been shootin' Ben?”