n for the gun. The heavy stock was humming through the air in a
swish of death!

_Smash!_ Blacksnake rocked on his feet. His teeth had come together
with a click. He wabbled, swayed. His whip fell from his relaxed
fingers. The Kid's footwork had been as swift and cunning as a
mountain cat's! He had stepped aside, rocked his body in a pivot from
the hips and landed a knock-out punch full on the point of the
big-chested outlaw's jaw! With a grunt, Blacksnake went down, first to
his knees, and then face thudding the ground. He landed with such
force that he plowed the sand with his nose like a rooting hog.

Taking a deep breath, Kid Wolf walked over and picked up Blacksnake's
.45. Then he turned the outlaw face up, none too gently, by jerking
his tangled hair. "All right. Snap out of it," he drawled.

Blacksnake was out for a full two minutes. Gradually consciousness
began to show on his ugly, bruised face. He stared at the Texan,
blinking his eyes in bewilderment.

"Blast yuh!" he said thickly, when he could speak. "Guess yuh got me,
Cotton-picker. I don't know yet how yuh done it."

He tried to seize the gun, but The Kid was too quick for him.

"None o' that," he drawled. "Get up! Yo're takin' me to the othahs.
Move pronto to the Yellow Houses!"

A cunning look mingled with the hate in Blacksnake's swollen eyes.

"They'll kill yuh," he sneered. "Yuh ain't out o' this yet, blast yuh!
My men will pull yuh to pieces."

"I'm thinkin' they won't." The Texan smiled. "If they do, it won't be
very healthy fo' yo'. Now listen to what I say."

Half an hour later, Kid Wolf strolled up the hill to the Yellow Houses,
arm in arm with his enemy--Blacksnake McCoy!

The outlaw was swearing under his breath. Kid Wolf was chuckling. For
he had his hand under Blacksnake's vest, and that hand held a .45! In
his left hand, the outlaw carried his whip. The other, wounded, was in
his trousers pocket. The Texan had ordered him to keep it there, out
of sight.

The two adobes, crumbling to ruins, dated from the Spaniards. For many
years they had been used only as occasional stopping places for passing
riders. It was here that Blacksnake had ordered Red Morton and Lefty
Warren taken.

Kid Wolf was free now, and had he wished, he could have made his
escape. That thought, however, did not enter the Texan's mind. He
must rescue his friends if possible.

"Walk with me as if nothing had happened," he tol