he body was that of a man a few years older than Red Morton, and the
features, though set and twisted, were the same. A rope had been tied
to one wrist and fastened to one wall; another rope had been knotted
about his other wrist and secured to the opposite side of the hut. The
legs had been served the same way at the ankles. On the body of the
suspended figure rocks had been piled. They were of many sizes,
varying from a few pounds to several hundred. It was easy to see how
the unhappy man had met his end--by slow torture. One by one, the
rocks had been placed on his chest and middle, the combined weight of
them first slowly pulling his limbs from their sockets and then
crushing out the life that remained.

Red, after his first outcry of agony, took it bravely. The Kid threw
his arm sympathetically around the youth's shoulders and drew him away,
while the others cut the ropes that held the victim of the rustler
gang's cruelty. In a few minutes, Red got a grip on himself and could
talk in a steady voice.

"Reckon I'm alone now, Kid," he blurted. "Joe was all I had--and they
got him! I swear I'll bring those hounds to justice, or die a-tryin'!"

"Yo're not alone, Red," said the Texan grimly. "I'm takin' a hand in
this game."

Near the body they found a piece of paper--a significant document, for
it explained the motive for the crime. Kid Wolf read it and
understood. It was written in straggling handwriting:

I, Joe Morton, do hereby sell and turn over all interest in the Diamond
D Ranch property, for value received. My signature is below, and
testifies that I have sold said ranch to Gentleman John, of Skull, New
Mexico.

There was, however, no signature at the space left at the bottom of the
paper. Joe Morton had died game!

"He refused to sign," said The Kid quietly, "and that means that yo're
the lawful heir to the Diamond D. Yo' have a man's job to do now, Red."

"But I don't savvy this," burst out the red-haired youth. "Surely this
Gentleman John isn't----"

"He's the man behind it all, mah boy," the Texan told him. And in a
few words, he related how he had been approached by the self-styled
cattle king, and something of his shady dealings. "He wanted to buy
me," he concluded, "not knowin' that I had nevah abused the powah of
the Colt fo' mah own gain. Blacksnake is his chief gunman, actin' by
Gentleman John's ordahs."

"Where's the other men--the two riders on duty with Joe?" Left