"Double X, says Buffalo. Mebby. First we'll accuse everybody else in town. Dave?" he laughed sneeringly at the thought. "Dailey? Fanning? Jerry? George? Why them? They ain't th' kind to stack up ag'in' such a risk for th' fun of it; an' they ain't none of 'em got any other reason. Dailey an' Fanning was in Dave's all evenin'--they never left th' table. Jerry was snoring in his shop when I went around th' buildin's, an' he wouldn't dare try to kidnap a blind pup. George is another without nerve, an' he was snorin' worse than Jerry. Nelson? He was with th' others. Mebby he did it, but I'm thinkin' there was more'n one man mixed up in that. If my senses hadn't been knocked out of me I'd know more about it. We'll put him aside as a possibility. "Them Double X coyotes ain't lovin' me, 'specially since I've been ridin' sign along their line. There was four of 'em, an' they was all primed for a good time; an' from what I heard 'em say about th' Doc an' Squint an' me an' th' rest of our outfit, they wasn't needin' much urgin' to tackle a job like that. But they was in Dave's too; still, they left before I did. "That leaves my own gang of practical jokers. They knowed that I was in town, but they didn't know I was goin' to ride home that night because I didn't know it myself. They might 'a' done it, but I'll find that out cussed quick when I get back. "Who else was there? Dailey, Fanning, Jerry, Dave, Nelson--_Two-Spot!_ He wasn't in sight at all. Dave was raisin' th' roof about him not bein' around. But h--l! Twenty Two-Spots wouldn't 'a' tackled a play like that; an' he couldn't sling a rope, nor carry a man as heavy as me _that_ distance. Slim can rope--he's the best down here. I don't remember much about it till I was put down near th' waggin; but I'm shore that th' man that throwed that rope was an expert. "Two-Spot? I don't see how he could fit in--_cuss him!_ I got it! Somebody must 'a' seen me movin' 'round or else nobody would 'a' knowed I was in town. None of them fellers could 'a' seen me; but Two-Spot could have. Whoever did that job had to be told I was there; an' I'm sayin' they _was_ told. That bum hates me; he'll never forget my kickin' him off'n th' tie-rail an' makin' him dance th' tenderfoot's fandango. I'm goin' to see Two-Spot after I stop at th' ranch--an' if he don't talk fast and straight, he'll dance to h--l this time!" It was not yet noon when Wolf swept up to his bunkhouse and rode in through the door, leaning forward in the saddle to clear the rafters, his gun freezing Big Tom and Dick Carson as stiff as statues. "Don't you move till I says so!" he snarled. "Who was in town th' night Buffalo stopped there on his way home? Think quick; an' talk straight!" "What are you doin'? Goin' _loco_?" demanded the foreman. He stopped in his tracks when he saw the look on his puncher's face. "I'm askin' th' questions!" snapped Wolf, his rage climbing anew. "You answer 'em, an' _pronto_! Who was there that night?"