Warden glanced at the other, understandingly.

"Looks a whole lot like it, Singleton. And we can be more comfortable at
the Two Diamond than in town."

"Right," grinned Singleton. "An' we'd better hit the breeze right now,
for she's comin' fast."

As they mounted their horses in front of the building that contained
Warden's office, the latter looked sharply at Singleton.

"Givens and Link ought to be busy by now. You say your men reported that
the Circle L men stocked Number One line camp yesterday?"

"She's stocked!" laughed Singleton; "Tulerosa an' Denver brought word.
An' the herd was on the big level north of the camp. They'll head
straight for that break because they'll hit it before they hit the
basin. An' Givens an' Link will send 'em through, to hell--an' then
some. An' them damn fools, Davies an' Harris, is layin' in the back
room of the Wolf, paralyzed by that forty-rod that Big Jim Lafflin has
been slippin' over the bar to 'em. They won't know they're alive until
this time tomorrow, an' then they'll be so scared that they'll just keep
right on hittin' the forty-rod for fair! I reckon we've got Lawler
goin', now, the damn maverick!"

Warden and Singleton rode fast, but the storm caught them. Midway on the
ten-mile stretch of plain between Willets and the Two Diamond they
turned their backs to the white smother and sent their horses racing
headlong away from the storm.

"She's a humdinger!" yelled Singleton to Warden as the wind shrieked and
howled about them. "If Givens an' Link git them cattle started they'll
drift clear into Mexico. Three thousand! I reckon that'll set the damn
fool back some!"

The two men had only five miles to ride when the storm struck, and
Singleton was experienced. And yet when they rode into the Two Diamond
stable and dismounted, both men were breathless and tired; their legs
and arms stiff with cold and their faces raw and blue from the bitter
wind that had swirled around them.

"Another five miles of that an' we wouldn't be as active as we are now!"
said Singleton, grimly. "She's got a worse bite than any wind I ever
seen!"

Warden's hands were so cold he could not remove the saddle from his
horse. A Two Diamond man performed that service for him, and for
Singleton. While Warden and Singleton were stamping their feet in an
effort to restore circulation, the Two Diamond man called to them from
the far end of the stable:

"You run into Miss Della?"

Warden wheeled