"How ken I tell jest wot we're goin' to do," he cried. "Wot we want to do is to kind o' help that pore crittur Zip out first. Ther' he is wi' two kids to see to, which is sure more than one man's work, an' at the same time he's got to dig up that mudbank claim of his. He don't see the thing's impossible, 'cos he's that big in mind he can't see small things like that. But I ain't big that aways, an' I ken see. If he goes on diggin' wot's his kids goin' to do, an' if he don't dig wot's they goin' to do anyways. We'll hev to form a committee--" "Sort o' trust," grinned Toby. But Sunny passed over his levity and seized upon his suggestion. "I 'lows your fool head's tho't somethin' wiser than it guessed," he said. "That's just wot we need. Ther' should be a trust to see after him. An' after it's got his kids fixed right--" Sunny broke off as the tall figure of Wild Bill threw its shadow across the window of the store. The next moment the man himself entered the room. He nodded silently, and was about to fling himself into one of the chairs, when Toby, in jocular anticipation, threw Sunny's proposition at him. "Say, Sunny's woke up an' bin thinkin'," he cried. "I allow his brain is shockin' wonderful. Guess he's got sick o' restin' an' reckons he got a notion for makin' a trust lay-out." "The Zip Trust," added Sandy, with a laugh, in which Toby joined heartily. "Yes. He guesses Zip needs lookin' after," declared the remittance man in the midst of his mirth, glancing round for appreciation of the joke. But the encouragement he received fell short of his expectations, and his laugh died out quite abruptly. There was no responsive smile on Minky's face. Sunny was glowering sulkily; while Bill's fierce brows were drawn together in an angry frown, and his gimlet eyes seemed to bore their way into the speaker's face. "Wal?" he demanded coldly. "Wal, I think he's--" But Bill cut him short in his coldest manner. "Do you?" he observed icily. "Wal, I'd say you best think ag'in. An' when you done thinkin' jest start right over ag'in. An' mebbe some day you'll get wise--if you don't get took meanwhiles." Bill flung himself into the chair and crossed his long legs. "Sunny's on the right lay," he went on. "Ther' ain't many men on Sufferin' Creek, but Zip's one of 'em. Say, Toby, would you ride out to James' outfit to call him all you think of the feller whose stole your wife?" "Not by a sight," replied Toby seriously. "Wal, Zip did. He's big," went on Bill in cold, harsh tones. Then he paused in thought. But he went on almost immediately. "We got to help him. I'm sure with Sunny." He turned on the loafer with a wintry smile. "You best organize right away, an'--count me in."