“You’re not the only one who won’t believe it, Sim,” came a quiet voice behind Pierce, and he turned to meet the indignant, boyish face of Jordan, the sky pilot. “We’ll wait till Bloom and his posse get back, though, before we express ourselves too strongly. I’ve a notion”--he dropped his voice to a whisper--“that this may be a part of Lige Benner’s plot. We’ll see, Sim, we’ll see.” It was two hours later that the “possey come-and-git-us” loped back to town. They brought Nate Dunbar with them, and Nate’s hands were in manacles. They had found the missing diamonds in his saddlebags. Nate didn’t know how they had got there, but he did know that the first he saw of them was when the sheriff pulled them out of the bags. Although burning with indignation, Jordan, the sky pilot, kept in the background. “Sim,” said he to Pierce, “get a fresh horse and ride for the Star-A ranch as fast as you can go. Don’t tell Hattie anything about this, but tell Buffalo Bill and his pards. I’ll do nothing here until I can have a talk with the scout. He’s the one to handle this, and the only one!” So, while Sim Pierce raced through the night, and Jerry Benner rode slowly and exultantly in the direction of the Circle-B ranch, Nate Dunbar sat helpless in the shanty which served for the Hackamore jail. The young rancher was so dazed by recent events that he could not think. CHAPTER XVIII. BUFFALO BILL’S SUMMONS. Sim Pierce had left the Star-A ranch, on the occasion of his first visit, immediately after dinner. While Mrs. Dunbar, happy as a lark, was clearing away the dishes and singing about her work, the scout and Dick Perry sat in front of the cabin. Perry was an educated man--altogether of too fine a grain, the scout thought, to be “pioneering it” in the cattle country. “Thanks to you and your pards, Buffalo Bill,” said Perry, “the worst of the Star-A troubles are over. Hear that girl singing away in the kitchen!” An affectionate smile crept over Perry’s face as he listened. “Just to be near happiness like hers, fills me with the joy of life and living.” The scout nodded. “You have a whole lot to be glad about, Perry,” said he. “If anybody continues to stir up trouble on the Brazos, amigo, it will be the Benners.” “Is there more than one Benner, then?” “Haven’t you heard about Lige’s hunchback brother, Jerry?” “Come to think of it, I believe I did hear something about a hunchback.” “Jerry,” went on the rancher, “is a regular demon. He hasn’t any more heart in him than a stone, and his wits are as keen as a razor. Jerry is twice as sharp as Lige and twice as savage.” The scout laughed. “I thought Lige was savage enough,” he remarked, “but if Jerry is any worse, I’d like to see him, just out of curiosity.” “Jerry’s a schemer,” pursued Perry, “and I’ve heard it said that Lige is half afraid of him.”