The Greatest Westerns of Ernest Haycox. Ernest Haycox

porch. Bonnet went inside.

      "It looks to me," he remarked, "as if you was goin' to get both ears chawed off in a minute."

      Denver grinned wryly. "Well, I had to say somethin' to take the edge off this reunion, didn't I? I suppose he'll give me fits, and I suppose I've got to grin and bear it."

      A weird honking sound came from the porch. "What's that?" demanded Bonnet, starting out.

      Denver checked him. "No, stay here. Steve's just blowin' his nose. Sentiment seems to affect his breathin'. Where'd you find him?"

      "Comin' out of the prairie, lookin' like Israel's last child, like the sole survivor of the flood, like the fella who'd forgot his name. What I mean, he was sorta that way, if yuh gather me."

      "In parts and by slow stages," grunted Denver. "Stick with me and don't let him strike a cripple. Here he comes."

      Steve stood in the doorway, thumbs hooked in his belt. His face was drawn together in an enormous scowl.

      "So yuh come back, Mister Denver?" he stated coldly. "They didn't have no wings in heaven yore size, and hell wouldn't let yuh in. Just a big overgrown practical joker, that's what. My, my, I thought I'd die of laughin' when I heard you'd kicked the bucket. Listen, Denver, you got no title to have any friends. In so far as I'm concerned yuh might just as well climb back in the grave. Imagine a man—"

      "It's his voice," opined Denver, nodding to Bonnet. "But that face ain't familiar."

      "Never mind my face," snapped Steve. "Yores won't bear much daylight, Mister Denver."

      "Think of that, Bonnet," grieved Dave. "Think of that kind of talk from a man I practically raised from poverty."

      Steve yelled, "What in the name o' Jupiter did yuh go and do it for?"

      Denver smiled—a rare and warming smile that drew the resentment out of Steve like a poultice. "I know it hurts. But somebody had to be hurt. I wanted it thoroughly advertised around this country I was dead. And I think you made a pretty good advertisement."

      "So I wasn't to be trusted?" Steve grumbled. "You had a part to play, Steve."

      "Never do that again," warned the puncher.

      "You hear? Never do that again."

      "All right," agreed Denver. "I'm lucky to get off like that. But what's this foolishness I hear about you?"

      "That's more of the part I was to play," retorted Steve.

      "Well, don't go gunning for Dann," admonished Denver. "When we take him into camp it will be along with the rest."

      "You won't never take him to camp, Dave," said Steve gently.

      Bonnet and Denver looked more closely at Steve. Bonnet said, "Say, was that why yuh come up from the prairie lookin' like yu'd swallowed a lemon?"

      "You met him?" challenged Denver.

      "Yeah," muttered Steve. "At Ysabel Junction. He laid a trap, and I walked into it like a fool kid. He took twelve shots. I got him with one. And laughed in his face when he died."

      Quiet came to the room. Denver tapped his cane on the floor, lips compressing. "You took a whale of a chance, Steve," he said finally.

      "Consider that next time you play dead on me," replied Steve. Then his puckered face was swept up in a grin. He walked forward and struck Denver on the chest. "Yuh wildcat, they got to use dynamite to remove yuh from this mortal map! Well, here I am—and what's next?"

      Denver smiled again. "Bonnet, here's our Stevie back home again."

      "Listen," added Steve, "I got somethin' to say. Dann died thinkin' Redmain had framed him. So he squealed, and you can take it for what it may be worth. He said Redmain was plannin' to hit Sundown and burn it to the sills."

      "When?" demanded Denver and Bonnet in unison.

      "He died on me and didn't tell."

      Denver limped around the room. "I wish I knew where Redmain was hiding. None of the boys are able to pick up a smell. We've got to find out. We've got to do it, in a hurry. Burn Sundown? If that's in his head, he'll never stop short of fillin' his promise. Not Lou Redmain. He'll destroy right and left."

      Steve put a hand in his coat pocket and pulled out the station agent's telegram. For a moment he puzzled over it. "Oh, yeah," he murmured. "I've got to drag into town with this. Agent said it was somethin' for Ed Storm. Money comin' in for the pay days."

      Denver stopped in his tracks. "When?"

      "This is code, but the agent seemed to know. He said Saturday."

      Denver drew a deep breath. "All right. If we can't find Redmain's date of attack, we'll make one. We'll make it worth his while to come in on Saturday—after the money arrives. You go give the message to Ed. Then go get a few drinks—"

      Steve lifted a protesting hand. "I never want to see liquor any more."

      "—Get a few drinks and let your tongue waggle. Mention about the money in Grogan's. Mention the date. The news will get to Redmain. Never worry about that. And it'll be all the bait he needs to set off his raid."

      "Then what?" insisted Steve.

      "Then you go back to Nightingale's and mind your business until I send you word to come. When I do, waste no time."

      "What'm I goin' to tell Ed Storm? He won't like it."

      "Al Niland knows Storm. Have Al explain."

      "Explain what?" Steve wanted to know. "And do yuh put the job of tellin' Al yore still alive on me? Ain't I had trouble aplenty?"

      "Tell Al the whole story. But get him off in a private place to do it. Then, when he stops swearin', you tell him this: He is to go to Storm, explain that the news of the shipment has leaked. He is to ask Storm to take absolutely no step toward extra defense of the bank, nor to take any measure that would draw suspicion. Everything is to go on as before. But when Redmain comes to town that day, I will be there—with men."

      Bonnet broke in. "That's drawin' things down to a fine point, Dave. Supposin' Redmain don't wait for the money to get to the bank. Supposin' he holds up the stage out in the hills?"

      "If he has set his mind to destroy Sundown," said Denver, "he will do it. And it's my belief he'd wait until the money was in the bank and so be able to kill two birds with one stone."

      "Burnin' Sundown sounds to me like the dream of a wild man," said Bonnet. "I don't see how he figures to have the chance of a one-armed Chinaman."

      "He will ride into town with more than thirty men," Denver answered. "Who would try to stop him?"

      Steve agreed. "An organized party always has got the bulge. People in town will sit tight and say nothin'—hopin' the trouble will blow over."

      "That's it," said Denver. "They will be covered in a hurry. Redmain will hit the bank, drop a half dozen matches and be on his way. And when a substantial fire starts through those buildings Sundown is gone."

      "I still think yore drawin' things too fine," objected Bonnet. "A single leak—and blooey for us."

      "It will be a gamble," said Denver, eyes narrowing. "But that's the best we can do. If we don't do it I'm afraid of the consequences. Better ride, Steve. It's gettin' late. And try to look sad."

      "That ain't hard," opined Steve, "considerin' I got to tell Niland yore alive."

      Bonnet still doubted.

      "And how you goin' to get near Sundown on Saturday without bein' seen?"

      "That's the gamble," replied Denver.

      "I know a bigger one," reflected Bonnet. "Which is you tryin' to fight in your present shape. Foolish."

      "Forty-eight hours from now I'll be a well man," stated Denver.

      "And mebbe stone dead on the forty-ninth," said Bonnet moodily. "This fella Redmain never answers to reason.