one," said another deputy.

"Comin' and goin'! One of The Spider's bunch, and a hoss-thief right!
I reckon we done a good job."

"He went for his gun," said the chief.

"We had him covered from the start," asserted a deputy. "He sure won't
steal no more hosses."

"Catch up his cayuse," commanded the chief deputy.

Two of them, after a hard ride, finally put Blue Smoke within reach of
a rope. He was led back to where Malvey lay.

"Concho brand!" exclaimed the chief.

"Young Pete's horse," asserted another.

"There'll be hell to pay if Showdown gets wise to what happened to Bull
Malvey," said the deputy, who recognized the dead outlaw.

Dawn was just breaking when the chief deputy, disgusted with what he
termed their "luck," finally evolved a plan out of the many discussed
by his companions. "We got the cayuse--which will look good to the
T-Bar-T boys. We ain't down here for our health and we been up against
it from start to finish--and so far as I care, this is the finish. Get
it right afore we start. Young Pete is dead. We got his horse." He
paused and glanced sharply at Blue Smoke. "He's got the Concho brand!"
he exclaimed.

"Young Pete's horse was a blue roan," said a deputy. "I guess this is
him--blue roan with a white blaze on his nose--so Cotton told me."

"Looks like it!" said the chief deputy. "Well, say we got his horse,
then. We're in luck for once."

"Now it's easy diggin' down there in the draw. And it's gettin'
daylight fast. I reckon that's Malvey's saddle and bridle on the blue
roan. We'll just cover up all evidence of who was ridin' this hoss,
drift into Showdown and eat, and then ride along up north and collect
that reward. We'll split her even--and who's goin' to say we didn't
earn it?"

"Suits me," said a deputy. His companions nodded.

"Then let's get busy. The sand's loose here. We can drag a blanket
over this--and leave the rest to the coyotes."

They scraped a long, shallow hole in the arroyo-bed and buried Malvey
along with his saddle and bridle.

The Spider smiled as he saw them coming. He was still smiling as he
watched them ride up the street and tie their tired ponies to the
hitching-rail. He identified the led horse as the one Malvey had
stolen from Pete.

"I see you got him," he said in his high-pitched voice.

The chief deputy nodded. "He's planted--out there."

"I meant the horse," said The Spider.

Ordinarily, The Spider was a strange man