Bill McAllister's jaws worked rhythmically for a minute as he studied Allen. He touched his pony with his spurs and dashed forward to head off several horses that were breaking away from the bunch. When the horses were again bunched, he dropped back to the outlaw's side. He skillfully hit a distant stone with tobacco juice and then took up the conversation where he had left it. "I've heard tell of yuh. What's your game?" Allen briefly told him how he had met Slivers and of his belief that the boy had been framed by Spur Treadwell. Bill McAllister listened in silence. "Always thought there was something funny about that killin'. So Slivers figgers Spur framed him. I ain't sayin' Slivers wasn't jobbed, but yuh an' he is plumb mistook if yuh figgers Spur done it. He ain't that kind of a feller--he ain't enough of a fool to do anythin' raw." "I ain't sayin' he's a fool an' I don't figger he done anythin' raw, 'cause the job was planned by a gent with a head on him," Allen grinned. Bill McAllister chewed reflectively for a moment and then nodded his head. "An' don't be forgettin' that Spur turned the hosses out of the corral when he sees the posse comin', an' Slivers says he acted like he expected 'em," Allen argued. "Mebbe so. But, son, yuh're runnin' agin' somethin' that's big an' hard when yuh tackle Spur," Bill warned. "Sure--but a wolf can drag down a bull moose," Allen replied and smiled. After they had turned the horses into the big pasture, he added: "This bein' Saturday, the bunch will be headin' for town. I'm goin' to have Doc pull a tooth for me. Yuh want to meet me there?" "So that's why yuh got a toothache so suddenlike?" the old-timer asked. "Them twins is darn suspicious, so I figgered it would cover my face likewise." "Yuh watch them twins. Arizona says yuh is quick like a snake, but there is two of 'em," the old man warned. "Arizona--he knows me?" "Not him, but his brother down in Cannondale knows yuh plenty. He wrote how yuh had yourself tossed through the window and cleaned out a bunch of woman stealers across the border. If half what he wrote's the truth, I'm sayin' yuh've got nerve aplenty," Bill McAllister said admiringly. "Shucks! Yuh're too ol' to talk such loose language," Allen answered irritably. CHAPTER XXII ON SQUINT'S TRAIL Doc Hollis' house was at the far end of town. It was small and set quite a way back from the street. Shortly after dark that night, Allen pushed open the gate and walked up the path. On the porch he stood and listened for a moment. He had no reason to fear a trap, but his life had taught him the cautiousness of a wolf. He waited for a moment and then knocked on the door. Doc Hollis opened it, and Allen entered the small living room where he found Bill McAllister before him. "Doc, this is the gent I tol' yuh about," the old horse wrangler said bluntly.