"Dance on th' quicksands, I hope," grunted Two-Spot, savagely. Then he listened, and said: "Here comes Nelson on that fine little hoss." Under his breath he muttered, "I bet he'll be surprised to find out he was in here at nine-thirty, last night." He straightened up. "Huh! Mebby he won't. Mebby he fixed it with Dave. Well, if he's wise, he'll tip me off next time--I might tell th' truth, an' make a lot of trouble, if I didn't know." Johnny walked in. "Hello, Ol' Timer!" he said, jabbing Two-Spot in the ribs. Two-Spot grasped the broom handle firmly. "Hello, yoreself! An' you lookout who yo're punchin'," he grinned. "Squint's dead," he said, mournfully. "What?" "Oh, well; he's missin', anyhow," amended Two-Spot. "Missin' what?" asked Johnny. "Missin' himself!" "Then he's drunker than I thought," replied Johnny. "I never heard of nobody bein' so far gone in liquor that they missed themselves." "Oh, you go to th' devil!" snorted Two-Spot, turning around so he could snicker in safety. Johnny glanced casually at the Doc, walked up to the bar and bought a cigar, which he lit with scrupulous care. "Meet th' Doc, Nelson," said Dave. Johnny turned. "Glad to meet you, Doctor. I've heard of you, an' passed yore place." "Saw you," replied the Doc, "and I coveted that black mare." "Nice little cayuse," admitted Johnny. "The Doc was kidnapped," said Dave, watching closely. "That so?" replied Johnny, politely. "An' how old was you, Doctor?" "What do you mean?" "Why, when you was kidnapped," Johnny explained. "I was kidnapped last night," replied the Doc. "You--last night?" demanded Johnny, incredulously. "Well, I'm d--d! What did they get?" "They got me." "I mean, what did they get that was valuable?" persisted Johnny. Two-Spot turned away again and missed the floor twice. "They stole th' Doc," explained Dave. "They was takin' him away just about th' time you looked in at me. They took him over to th' SV, to set Ol' Arnold's busted laig." "What you talkin' about?" snorted Johnny, seating himself across from the Doc. "I never heard of a doctor bein' kidnapped to set a busted laig. What am I supposed to say? I'll bite, if it does cost me th' drinks." "No, Nelson, that's the truth," earnestly asserted the Doc, and he told the story over again. "You say he was on Squint's cayuse, wearin' Squint's slicker, an' usin' Squint's gun?" asked Johnny. "Then where was Squint? A man don't just drop things like that without knowin' it. What was that Two-Spot was tryin' to tell me?" The Doc explained the matter and finished by saying that he felt sure that it had not been the missing puncher who had visited him. "I don't think so, neither," asserted Johnny. "He'd be a fool to go like that. No, sir, I'll bet it wasn't Squint--but, wait a minute! If he counted on leavin' th' country right after, why, he might a' done it, at that. If it wasn't Squint, then where was he?"