"Do somethin'!" exclaimed the Sheriff. "Well, I like that! What can I do? I can't be in forty places at once. Yuh talk like I knowed just where the rustlers hang out." "Yuh probably do," said Loudon, eyes watchful, his right hand ready. "Keep out of this, Tom," ordered Mr. Saltoun, turning on Loudon with sharp authority. "I'll say what's to be said." "Show me the rustlers," said the sheriff, electing to disregard Loudon's outburst. "Show me the rustlers, an' I'll do the rest." At which remark the seething Loudon could control himself no longer. "You'll do the rest!" he rapped out in a harsh and grating voice. "I guess yuh will! If yuh was worth a ---- yuh'd get 'em without bein' shown! How much do they pay yuh for leavin' 'em alone?" The sheriff did not remove his hands from the saddle-horn. For Loudon had jerked out his six-shooter, and the long barrel was in line with the third button of the officer's shirt. "Yuh got the drop," grunted the sheriff, his little eyes venomous, "an' I ain't goin' up agin a sure thing." "You can gamble yuh ain't. I'd shore admire to blow yuh apart. You git, an' git now." The sheriff hesitated. Loudon's finger dragged on the trigger. Slowly the sheriff picked up his reins, wheeled his horse, and loped away. "What did yuh do that for?" demanded Mr. Saltoun, disturbed and angry. Loudon, his eye-corners puckered, stared at the owner of the Bar S. The cowboy's gaze was curious, speculative, and it greatly lacked respect. Instead of replying to Mr. Saltoun's question, Loudon sheathed his six-shooter, squatted down on his heels and began to roll a cigarette. "I asked yuh what yuh did that for?" reiterated blundering Mr. Saltoun. Again Loudon favoured his employer with that curious and speculative stare. "I'll tell yuh," Loudon said, gently. "I talked to Block because it's about time someone did. He's in with the rustlers--Blakely an' that bunch. If you wasn't blinder'n a flock of bats you'd see it, too." "You can't talk to me this way!" cried the furious Mr. Saltoun. "I'm doin' it," observed Loudon, placidly. "Yo're fired!" "Not by a jugful I ain't. I quit ten minutes ago." "You----" began Mr. Saltoun. "Don't," advised Loudon, his lips parting in a mirthless smile. Mr. Saltoun didn't. He withdrew to a little distance and sat down. After a time he took out his pocket-knife and began to play mumblety-peg. Mr. Saltoun's emotions had been violently churned. He required time to readjust himself. But with his customary stubbornness he held to the belief that Blakely and the 88 were innocent of evil-doing. Until Chuck Morgan and the wagon arrived early in the morning, Loudon and his former employer did not exchange a word. CHAPTER V THEIR OWN DECEIVINGS