t now!"

Charley Hood spoke for the first time, and his bestial face with
distorted with rage.

"Bear Claw son of Great Chief Yellow Skull! Yellow Skull get Keed Wolf
if he have to follow him across world! And when he get him----"

Charley Hood, the half-breed, laughed insanely.

"I never thought of that," said Garvey. "Maybe we'd be doin' Mr. Wolf
from Texas a favor by puttin' lead through him. Bear Claw was Yellow
Skull's favorite. The old chief is an expert at torture. I'd like to
be on hand to see it. But I've got an idea. Shank, have Jose dig a
grave on Boot Hill--make it two of 'em. We've got to get that express
money."

"And the silver," chuckled the desperado, as he took a farewell drink
at the bar.

CHAPTER XXIII

TWO OPEN GRAVES

It was some time before the overturned stagecoach could be righted. It
took longer to provide a team for it. When the bodies of the
unfortunate white men had been loaded into the vehicle and the ponies
lined out it was late in the afternoon.

Kid Wolf had examined the contents of the express box and found that it
contained a small fortune in money. He decided to take charge of it
and see that it reached proper hands. Twenty miles west of Lost
Springs, he learned, were an express-company station and agent. The
Texan planned to guard the money at Lost Springs overnight and then
take it on to the express post, located at Mexican Tanks.

The two Robbinses, both father and son, were overcome with gratitude
toward the man who had saved them. They at once agreed to stay with
Kid Wolf.

The posse members that the Texan had drafted at revolver point were not
so willing. Although most of them were honest men, they feared
Garvey's gang and the consequences of their act. All of them suspected
that Garvey had a hand in the plot to rob the stagecoach. Most of them
made excuses and rode away in different directions.

"We beat the Apaches," explained one, "so I reckon I'll go back to the
ranch. Adios, and good luck!"

Kid Wolf smiled. He knew that the men were leaving him for other
reasons. Perhaps a man with less courage would have avoided Lost
Springs, or even abandoned the money. The young Texan, however, was
not to be swerved from what he believed to be the right.

"Look out for Garvey, Kid," begged Dave Robbins. "He hates yuh for
what yuh done."

"I've heard of him," the elder Robbins added. "If helpin' us has got
you into trouble, I'm sorry. H