“Idiot! Don’t be a fool! Lige, can’t you see that Gringo Pete’s yarn may have been faked up? Why, Lige, that tramp of the plains may have been sent here by the scout himself--sent here to keep track of what we’re doing! And look what he’s found out, Lige! He’s learned all about the game we’re planning to play on Dunbar, and Red Steve’s giving him the facts about that other scheme the White Caps are mixed up in! If Gringo Pete gets away from us, we lose out. Can’t you see that, Lige?” The wrath and apprehension of the hunchback was something terrible to witness. He hopped around the room like a huge toad, talking to himself and throwing his long arms all around him. Suddenly Lige grabbed his brother and shook him. “Pass up that foolishness, Jerry!” he ordered. “If Gringo Pete is a spy, we’ll capture him and keep him right here. The game at Hackamore will go on. I’m willing to bet against long odds that the game wins out. Get ready to go to Hackamore. I’ll see that Gringo Pete is taken care of.” “Go on, Lige, go on!” breathed the hunchback, waving a skinny hand toward the door. “Hurry, Lige, hurry--or you’ll be too late.” Lige Benner ran out of the house and down the slope toward the small grove at the edge of the river. From the open door the hunchback watched him. CHAPTER XV. A “FLASH IN THE PAN.” Wild Bill Hickok was due for a “flash in the pan”--something very unusual with him. As he followed Red Steve down the hill, the Laramie man was congratulating himself on the fact that he was to meet the other White Caps in the same grove where his horse had been secured and the riding gear left. He was casting about in his mind for some excuse that would enable him to get the trappings on Beeswax and fare away, all without exciting the suspicions of Red Steve and the other four men in his detachment. Wild Bill was also thinking that he would like to learn more of the plot against Buffalo Bill and Perry, but he did not want to delay his departure too long and so run the risk of not being able to get away at all. “That thar Jerry feller is as savage as a Feejee,” said Wild Bill to Red Steve, when they were close to the grove. “He’s ther brains o’ this hyer ranch when thar’s any schemin’ goin’ on,” returned Red Steve. “It was him as hatched up this hyer plot about the stakes an’ the stampede. That’s purty vi’lent, but when ye’re dealin’ with fellers like Buffler Bill an’ Perry, no halfway measures ain’t a-goin’ ter pass muster.” “I reckon that’s so! Whar is this hyer Crowder’s corral?” “Between this ranch an’ the Star-A. Thar’s them boys o’ mine,” Red Steve added, pointing. “They’re sizin’ up that ’ar hoss o’ yourn.” The two men entered the grove and came front to front with four men whose faces were as villainous as that of Red Steve. They were looking Beeswax over with critical eyes.