"Not at all," replied the deputy heartily. "An' there's no law against drivin' automobiles or trucks. But there's a law against stoppin' 'em with a gun." "So," said Rathburn. "You stopped because you saw my gun? An' I'm to blame, for it? If I'd known you were touchy about guns down here I'd have worn mine in my shirt." One of the other men from the car had joined the deputy. He was looking at Rathburn keenly. Mannix turned to him. "Look like him?" he asked. The man nodded. "About the same size and height." "This man was drivin' a truck up here that was stopped this morning," said the deputy sternly to Rathburn. "He says you size up to one of the men that turned the trick--one of them that wore a black slicker like yours." Rathburn nodded pleasantly. "Exactly," he said with a smile. "I happen to be in the country an' I've got a black slicker. There you are; everything all proved up. An' yet there was somebody once told me it took brains to be a sheriff!" There was a glint in Rathburn's eyes as he uttered the last sentence. Instead of flying into a rage, Mannix laughed. "Don't kid yourself," he said grimly. "You're not the man who held up this truck driver." He gave Rathburn back his gun, to the latter's surprise. Then he waved toward Rathburn's horse. "Go ahead," he said, smiling. "General eastern direction, wasn't it? This road will take you clean to the desert, if you want to go that far. So long." He led the others back to the car which started off with a roar. It passed the truck and continued on up the road. Rathburn sat his horse and watched the automobile out of sight. His expression was one of deep perplexity. "By all the rules of the game that fellow should have held me as a suspect," he soliloquized. "Now he don't know me from a hoss thief--or does he?" He frowned and rode thoughtfully down the road in the direction from which the automobile had come. CHAPTER XV THE WELCOME The afternoon wore on as Rathburn followed the road at an easy jog. He quickened his pace somewhat when he passed through aisles in thick timber, and, despite his careless attitude in the saddle, he kept a sharp lookout at all times. For Rathburn was carrying some gold and bills in a belt under his shirt--which had been examined and returned to him at the order of the deputy--and he had no intention of being waylaid. Moreover, the man's natural bearing was one of constant alertness. He rode for more than two hours without seeing any one. "Strange," he observed aloud. "This road is used a lot, too. Maybe the morning's ceremonies has scared all the travelers into the brush." But, as he turned the next bend in the road, he saw a small cabin in a little clearing to the right. Spurred by a desire to obtain some much-needed information, he turned from the road into the clearing and rode up to the cabin. He doffed his broad-brimmed hat in haste as he saw a girl.