n' he
wus drivin' it. I didn't see the others so es to be sure. Yer see us
help sleep over the kitchen, an' 'bout one o'clock I woke up--here
comes Timmons; he mustn't see me talkin' ter yer."

She flicked her napkin over the table, picked up an emptied dish and
vanished through the swinging-doors. Timmons, however, merely came in
searching for the Chinaman, and not finding the latter immediately,
retired again to the office, without even addressing his guest, who was
busily eating. Sadie peered in once more and, seeing all was clear,
crossed over beside Westcott.

"Well, as I was sayin'," she resumed, "I thought I heard a noise
outside, an' got up an' went to the winder. I couldn't see much, not
'nough so I could swear to nuthin'; but there was three or four men out
there just across that little gully, you know, an' they had a woman
with 'em. She didn't scream none, but she was tryin' ter git away;
wunst she run, but they caught her. I didn't see no wagon then, it was
behind the ridge, I reckon. After a while it drove off down the south
trail, an' a little later three men come up them outside stairs back
into the hotel. They was mighty still 'bout it, too."

"You couldn't tell who they were?"

"They wa'n't like nuthin' but shadders; it was a purty dark night."

"So it was, Sadie. Do you imagine Timmons had anything to do with the
affair?"

"Timmons? Not him. There wa'n't no figure like his in that bunch; I'd
know him in the dark."

"But the woman might not have been Miss Donovan; isn't there another
young lady here from the East?"

Sadie tossed her head, but with her eyes cautiously fixed on the office
door.

"Humph; you mean the peroxid blonde! She ain't no _lady_. Well, it
wa'n't her, that's a cinch; she was down yere to breakfast, a laughin'
an' gigglin' with them two men 'bout an hour ago. They seemed ter feel
mighty good over something but I couldn't quite make out just what the
joke was. Say, did yer ever hear tell of a Mexican named Mendez?"

"Well, rather; he's a cattle thief, or worse. Arizona has a big reward
out for him, dead or alive."

"That's the gink, I bet yer; has he got a hang-out anywhar 'round this
country?"

"Not so far as I know; in fact, I haven't heard the fellow's name
mentioned for six months, or more. What makes you suspect this?"

Sadie leaned even closer, her voice trembling with excitement,
evidently convinced that her information was of the utmost import