coach rocking and rolling on its great
springs, in front of the bank.

"Hi, there," he yelled mightily. "Git a move on, will you? I'm half a
day late now."

Mr. Templeton himself appeared on the instant at the door, a small
strong box in his hands. He tossed it up into the ready hands of the
bull-necked, round-shouldered guard who sat at Hap Smith's side with a
rifle between his knees, the two passengers craned their necks with much
interest, the guard bestowed the box under the seat, the driver loosened
his reins, threw off his brake, and the stage rocked and rumbled down
the street, spattering mud on either hand, racing away upon the last leg
of its two hundred and fifty mile trip to the last town upon the far
border of the great state.

"And Templeton called me a fool!" mused the tall cattle man, a look of
vast contempt in his stern eyes.

He stood a little behind the other men, looking over their heads. For
only a fleeting second had his glance rested upon the stage at the bank.
Then he looked swiftly at the man in front of him. It was Blackie, the
bartender. When Blackie turned abruptly Thornton looked squarely into
the black eyes, seeing there an unusually beady brightness, something
of the hint of a quick frown upon the thin slick line of the eyebrows.

"Driver and guard will both be needing their shooting irons before they
see the border, Blackie," Thornton said quietly.

And then with a short, insolent laugh he returned for the hat he had
left hanging upon a nail. Blackie, making no answer, followed, going
behind his bar. A little dusky red had crept up into his shallow face,
his eyes burned hard into Thornton's as the man from the Poison Hole
came by him.

"When you goin' back to the range, Buck?" he asked sharply.

"I'm going to start as soon as I can roll a smoke and saddle a horse,"
Thornton answered him, a little smile in his eyes. And then, as an after
thought, "I follow the stage road for about ten miles before I turn off
on the trail. Wish I could stick with them clean through."

"What for?" demanded Blackie in the same sharp tone.

"Oh, just to see the fun," Thornton told him lightly. "So long,
Blackie."

"You seem to be mighty sure something's goin' to be pulled off this
trip."

Thornton hung upon his heel, turning slowly.

"I am, Blackie," he said carelessly. And then, "Say, did you notice the
two passengers in the stage?"

"No." He put a great deal of emphasis into the denial. "Wh