Chapter XI: Joe Hawkins's Visit

"Can you beat that!" Nort ejaculated when Bud finished reading. "Nerve--that Delton certainly has his share of it!"

The feeling which the note aroused was not just one of disappointment. The Kid seemed highly amused at the turn events had taken. Billee Dobb assumed an "I-told-you-so" expression which sat comically on his grizzled features. The rest looked slightly bewildered.

"Got away, didn't he?" Dick asked in a flat tone of voice. "Through the window, I guess. Yep. Slid down the rain water leader. Well----"

"An' he took with him your wireless and your new bunch of cattle," the Kid remarked sardonically. "Never count the chickens before they scratch. Mr. Delton is a slicker article than we figgered on."

"Let's see the note a minute, Bud," Nort said. "Huh--'bed too hard--couldn't sleep!' Wise sort of a bird; isn't he? Say, he must have written this as soon as we left the room."

"Why?"

"Because if he waited too long he couldn't have seen to write--too dark. That means he's far away by this time. He probably----"

"The horses! Ten to one he grabbed one of them an' beat it!" Yellin' Kid cried.

Without further parley the boys and men filed from the room and made for the corral. The horses had been tied to a pole nearest the house, and they were not long in reaching them. They could be easily seen in the moonlight which now flooded the prairie.

"Mine's there!" Bud yelled as he came within view of the animals. "Guess you're wrong, Kid. Seems like there's--no there isn't, either! Only four! Whose mount is missing?"

"You might know it," the Kid said disgustedly. "The coot took mine--out of all that bunch to pick from, he had to rustle my new bronc! By golly, if ever I set eyes on you again, you old----"

"Take it easy!" laughed Bud. "Could be a lot worse. He might have turned the rest of 'em loose, too."

"No use beefin' about it," said Billee Dobb. "All over now. He's gone--an' so's the Kid's bronc. Talk about it in the morning. Me, I'm tired!"

The night passed uneventfully. At sun-up the Kid appeared at the door of Bud's room and grinned in at him.

"Ready for work?" he cried.

"You mean trailin' your horse, Kid?" Bud asked mischievously.

The grin left Yellin' Kid's face and his eyes flashed.

"No," he said shortly. "I'll leave that for later. When I got some time on my hands that I want to use up in enjoyment. Then I'll go after your friend Delton."

"He's no friend of mine," retorted Bud. "But let's not chop about it until after breakfast, anyway. Think that Mexican cook is on the job?"

"Heard him movin' around a while ago, Bud. Let's go down an' see. Billee is downstairs, and I guess Nort an' Dick are too."

When they reached the dining room they found the others waiting for them.

"Sleep good, boys?" Dick asked.

"Sure did. Felt like I'd never wake up. Say, steak this morning!" Nort cried as he saw the table loaded with food. "We got _some_ cook here!"

"Don't it strike you all kind 'a funny that the Mex has got so much stuff on hand?" Billee Dobb wanted to know. "Course it _might_ be that this Delton feller had just stocked up before we came. Hey, Mex!" he yelled into the kitchen. "_Aqui_! _Pronto_!"

The Mexican strolled calmly to where the five sat waiting.

"Where you get all this?" Billee pointed to the plates of meat.

The Mexican shrugged his shoulders and motioned toward the kitchen.

"Boss leave it here?"

Another shrug.

"Now listen, Mex. You know what I mean. You nod or shake your head when I ask you questions." Yellin' Kid walked over and stood before the Mexican.

"First, did you work for this guy Delton?"

A nod.

"Then when he beat it, you stayed here, hey?"

A nod.

"Why?"

"He can't answer that with his head, Kid," Nort broke in.

"I know it, but maybe he can tell us by motions. Hey? Why you no go with Delton?"

The Mexican pointed toward himself, then to the kitchen. His hands simulated the job of peeling potatoes. Then he flung both arms wide, and moved his head in a semi-circle, eyes opened as though he were looking for something.

"So he went when you were in the kitchen, hey, an' didn't say nothin' about it. Well, that sounds logical."

"Kid, for Pete's sake, let's eat!" Bud interrupted. "You did fine--give you a badge as a special detective. All right, Mex, outside. Gee, you certainly are curious, Kid!"

"I just want to know a few things, that's all," Yellin' Kid protested. "I don't want to get poisoned. Can't tell who that Mex is--for all we know he may be one of Delton's men left here to watch us."

"Say, I was thinking the same thing," Dick put in. "But his graphic explanation as to why he's here seems to be at least plausible. If, as Billee suggested, Delton cut out when he found there was a price on his head it doesn't seem reasonable that he'd bother taking the cook along. How about it, Billee?"

"Ain't makin' no statements," the veteran rancher replied slowly. "Want to think things out a few minutes first."

"Billee's going to solve the great mystery for us!" Nort laughed. "Never you mind, ole horse, you knew your stuff when you grabbed that bill-head from Hawkins's office. The trouble with us was, we were too slow."

The conversation hit on the topics of the night before as the ranchers made a healthy breakfast. When they had satisfied their hunger Bud leaned back in his chair and said:

"Well, what's on the program this morning, Kid? Beckon you better take charge for a while. Then Dick can be head boss, and so on--'til we get the sheep in. O. K.?"

"All right with me, Bud," the Kid agreed. "One of us wants to take a ride into town and see about gettin' hold of a sheep-man. I got to get me a pony, too."

"I'll go," offered Nort. "Think I'll look up Hawkins. He might like to know what happened."

The five walked slowly into the yard. The meal seemed to change their ideas, and set them quietly to thinking. Bud was leaning against the side of the ranch house. The Kid strolled over to the corral and looked longingly at the four horses tethered there. Billee Dobb was seated on the steps smoking his pipe, when he noticed a cloud of dust in the distance.

"Rider," he said, more to himself than to the others. "Got a hunch who it is."

The dust cloud grew quickly nearer, and from it emerged the figure of a man on horseback.

"Someone coming," Dick called.

"Who is it?" Bud asked. From where he stood he was unable to see.

"Don't know yet. Looks familiar, though. Here he comes."

"It's Joe Hawkins!" exclaimed Bud, as the horseman rode into view. "Hi, Joe--Mr. Hawkins, I mean."

"Joe'll do, son," the deputy said with a smile as he dismounted. "Looks like you was havin' a convention here."

"Just thinking things over," the Kid, who had walked up, explained. "Glad you came, Mr. Hawkins."

"Thought that was you," Billee Dobb said, rising to his feet and removing the pipe from his mouth. "Seen you way off, and says to myself, bet that's Joe Hawkins."

"You got good eyes," laughed the deputy.

"Oh, it wasn't exactly my eyes. I had a hunch."

"Billee Dobb is our official detective," Bud said with a grin. "Tell him about the hand-bill you copped, Billee."

Explanations were in order, and with continuous interruptions the deputy finally heard the story of the cyclone and what followed. He questioned the boys as to the appearance and talk of Delton, and at last confessed that he must be the man wanted.

"Though I didn't think they knew just who he was," Hawkins added. "All I knew was that the reward of two thousand was for the head of the smuggling system. So they got him spotted, have they? That means we won't have to work in the dark. It's a wonder the central office wouldn't give a man the whole story when they're about it, instead of lettin' it trickle through. Well, boys, it's time you knew what this smuggling is all about, hey?"