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But after all, it was none of his affair. He had had no hand in stealing the cattle. He would do well enough to keep his own hide whole. Let the cattlemen who lived under the law take care of their own stock and themselves. And curiously enough, Pete for the first time wondered what had become of Malvey if the posse had actually shot him, or if they had simply taken the horse and let Malvey go.
I don't aim to travel where they make 'em reg'lar, but you sure get that present after I settle with Malvey." "That is the way with men," pouted Boca. "They think only of the quarrel." "You got me wrong, señorita. I don't want to kill nobody. The big idee is to keep from gittin' bumped off myself. Now you'd think a whole lot of me if I was to ride off and forgit all about what Malvey done?"
And Malvey, whose intent was plainly to get drunk, boasted of his doings on either side of the line. He hinted that he had put more than one Mexican out of the way and he slapped Flores on the back and Flores laughed.
"Who may say?" he half-whined. "Well, I can, for one," asserted Pete. "You was drunk and Malvey was drunk, and the two of you dam' near fixed me. But that don't count now. Where's my hoss?" "Quien sabe?" "You make me sick," said Pete in English. Flores caught the word "sick" and thought Pete was complaining of his physical condition. "The señor is welcome to rest and get well.
And Pete who had never gone out of his way to make a friend decided to be as careful of what he said as Malvey was careless. Pete had never lacked nerve, but he was endowed with considerable caution a fact that The Spider had realized and so had considered him worth the trouble of hiding as an experiment.
As the journey thinned the possibilities of Pete's capture, it became monotonous, even to Malvey, who set about planning how he could steal Pete's horse with the least risk to himself. Aside from The Spider's instructions Malvey coveted the pony a far better horse than his own and he was of two minds as to whether he should not keep the pony for his own use.
The Spider turned and gazed across the morning desert. Far out rode a group of men. One of them led a riderless horse. The Spider's thin lips twisted in a smile. Malvey, loafing at the ranch of Mescalero, received The Spider's message about the posse with affected indifference. He had Pete's horse in his possession, which in itself would make trouble should he be seen.
Kind of second-sight, I reckon. Wonder why she didn't put me wise to Malvey when I lit in here with him? It would 'a' saved a heap of trouble." "It is the dream," said Boca. "These things she has seen in a dream." "I ain't got nothin' against your ole your mother, Boca, but by the way I'm feelin', she's sure due to have a bad one, right soon." "You do not believe?" queried Boca quite seriously.
The Concho was a long cry from Showdown while the horse Malvey rode had been stolen from a more immediate neighborhood. As for setting this young stranger afoot in the desert, that did not bother Malvey in the least.
She quickly cautioned him to say nothing to her father about the real reason for his being there. Rather Pete was to say, if questioned, that he had stolen a horse about which Malvey and he had quarreled. Pete scowled. "I'm no low-down hoss-thief!" he flared. Boca smiled. "Now it is that I know you have killed a man!" Pete was surprised that the idea seemed to please her.
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