"Well--I can't go into details," said Bud gravely. "All I can say is it's the range sign of the golden arrow." (He thought she must surely see through that; she must certainly have read about that terrible young god, Cupid, who shot arrows of gold for love and arrows tipped with lead for hate. Surely she would remember that!) But she didn't. "The Golden Arrow? I don't--did you ever hear of that secret order, Lawrie?" "No," said Lawrie indifferently, "not that I remember. But Mr. Larkin and I were going over to see if that posse has caught those bandits, Marge. If the bank doesn't get that money back, and has to close its doors, we're in a fix!" "I know--but I want to find out about this secret society among the cowboys, Lawrie. It's important that I study cowboys when I get the chance, or how can I write about them realistically? And this Golden Arrow stuff is something no author of Western stories has ever mentioned. Can't you tell me a tiny bit more about it, Mr. Larkin?" "Well, I know it's about the oldest society on earth," Bud elucidated gravely. "I believe the very first savage--" "Why, of course! How stupid of me not to see at once that the Golden Arrow must be pure Indian!" "Well, I dunno how pure it is, but I guess--" "And you're a member! But what I can't understand, Mr. Larkin, is why that cameo pin should be an emblem of the Golden Arrow." "Why," said Bud, looking at her with soft, dark eyes that simply couldn't lie, "the cameo pin is recognized everywhere as the paleface sign." "Of course!" cried Marge, and wrote it down in her book. Bud went out, holding his lips carefully rigid and unsmiling, though he made strange gulping sounds in his throat all the way down town. CHAPTER SIX BUD DOES A LITTLE BUSTLING The volunteer man hunters had returned much soberer though no wiser than they had set out, and with them came Bat Johnson, who declared that his trip could be postponed until after the inquest, which would be held as soon as the sheriff and coroner arrived from the county seat. In the meantime Delkin had sent frantic word by telephone to the nearest points, and men were riding into town on sweaty horses, curious to see the corpse of the cashier and eager to join in the chase.