game,
but one of these sneaking, under-dealing, top-and-bottom-business
pimps, I do despise. You can find them in every honest calling, same as
vultures hover round when cattle are dying. Honest, fellows, I'd just
dearly love to pull on a rope and watch one of the varmints make his
last kick."

Several days of showery weather followed. Crossing the Cimarron, we
followed up its north slope to within thirty miles of the regular
western trail. Not wishing to intercept it until necessity compelled us,
when near the Kansas line we made our last tack for Dodge. The rains had
freshened the country and flushed the creeks, making our work easy, and
early in the month of June we reached the Mulberry. Traveling at random,
we struck that creek about twenty miles below the trail, and moved up
the stream to within a short distance of the old crossing. The presence
of a dozen other herds holding along it forced us into a permanent camp
a short half-day's ride from the town. The horse-wrangler was pressed
into service in making up the first guard that night, and taking Morg
Tussler with me, I struck out for Dodge in the falling darkness.
On reaching the first divide, we halted long enough to locate the
camp-fires along the Mulberry to our rear, while above and below and
beyond the river, fires flickered like an Indian encampment. The lights
of Dodge were inviting us, and after making a rough estimate of the
camps in sight, we rode for town, arriving there between ten and eleven
o'clock. The Dodge House was a popular hostelry for trail men and cattle
buyers, and on our making inquiry of the night clerk if a Mr. Siringo
was stopping there, we were informed that he was, but had retired. I put
up a trivial excuse for seeing him, the clerk gave me the number of his
room, and Tussler and I were soon closeted with him. The detective was
a medium-sized, ordinary man, badly pock-marked, with a soft, musical
voice, and apparently as innocent as a boy. In a brief preliminary
conversation, he proved to be a Texan, knowing every in and out of
cattle, having been bred to the occupation. Our relations to each other
were easily established. Reviewing the situation thoroughly, he informed
me that he had cultivated the acquaintance of the parties holding the
assignment of the Buford award. He had represented to them that he was
the fiscal agent of some six herds on the trail that year, three of
which were heavy beeves, and they had agreed to look them o