"So I hits out for the Double R, 'cause ol' John Reed is a friend of mine, an' I figgers he'll tell me what to do. When I gets to the Double R, I finds Spur Treadwell an' Dot settin' on the front porch, an' they tells me ol' John ain't home. Dot sees I'm plumb worried, so she sorta hints to Spur he ain't wanted. Spur gets up an' grins at me an' says: 'Every dog has his day.'" "An' because he said that yuh figger he knows what's comin'?" Allen interrupted. "Yep, that an' one other thing. Every puncher was away from the ranch that day, an' Spur turned all the hosses out of the corral, so when I see the stranglers comin', I has to light out on a tired horse, an' they damn near catch me." Slivers ended his story and rolled a cigarette. "So on the night of the killin' yuh ain't got no alibi whatsoever, 'cause yuh was ridin' about the range all by your lonesome all night?" "An' the next day, when John Reed looks for Squint, they tells him Squint left town a week afore, an' One-wing McCann says he got a letter from Squint postmarked up in Utah, so everybody figgers I never seen Squint an' am lyin'. An' that darn hoss Squint trades to me was the one Iky Small was ridin' that night, an' they finds it in my corral. An' my hoss is found lame on the range, so they figgers after I kills Iky I trades hosses. If yuh can see a way out of that mess for me, I'll say yuh ain't only a wolf, but a whole pack of 'em." Slivers spoke gloomily. "An' they say yuh first fired him an' then killed him to close his mouth." "Of course, Spur would spread that aroun'--he's so darn complete," Slivers answered. "Yeh, it's so darn complete that there's sure a hole in it somewhere," Allen said paradoxically. "Yuh got a real good friend in town?" "Yeh, Doc Hollis--he'd swear I was innocent if I was guilty as hell. He's courtin' my ma," Slivers ended with a faint smile. "Well, I'm goin'. Yuh sit tight an' don't go off half cocked," Allen warned. He saddled Honeyboy and left Princess behind. He knew there was a risk in changing mounts, but this had to be taken, as Princess had been ridden far that day, and it would be necessary to ride fast if he wished to return to the ranch before daylight. He had just finished rubbing the sweat marks off Honeyboy on his return to the ranch, and had just slipped into the bunk house, when the ranch began to waken. As Allen stepped out of the cookhouse after breakfast that morning, his face was swathed in a flannel bandage. He saw that both the twins were watching him. He slipped through the bar of the corral and headed toward Bill McAllister, who was preparing to rope his mount for that day. "Say, mister, can I have another cayuse to ride to-day?" Allen asked. He did not want the twins to see him mounted on a gray horse. "Yeh, fork that roan mare," McAllister said shortly, as he glanced shrewdly from beneath his shaggy eyebrows at the boy.