an' I never have.
Here's whar you can serve the law, an' so get out of yer own trouble if
yer so minded. It don't make a hell ov a lot o' difference to me
whether yer speak up or not, but it's liable to ter you. What do yer
say?"

"Fire away; I reckon I'm up against it anyhow."

"What's the valley like, an' how do you get into it?"

"Well, I'd say it was just a sort o' sink in the desert, a kinder
freak. Anyhow, I never saw nuthin' like it afore. You'd never know it
was thar a hundred yards away; it kinder scares me sometimes when I
come up to it thro' all this sand. The walls is solid rock, almost
straight up an' down, but thar's a considerable stream flowin' down
thar that just bursts out a hole in the rock, an' plenty o' grass fer
quite a bunch of steers."

"How do they get down into it?"

"'Long a windin' trail on the west side. It used to be mighty rough, I
reckon, an' only good fer hikers, but they fixed it up so they can
drive cattle down, an' even a wagon if yer take it easy."

"Mendez fixed it?"

"No; I heerd that Bill Lacy sorter handled that job. The Mex can't do
nuthin' but steal."

"Then Lacy is the go-between? He sells the cattle?"

"Sure; I s'posed yer knew that. He ships them east from Bolton
Junction, an' pretends they come from his ranch over on Clear Water.
The Mexicans drive 'em in that way, an' they're all branded 'fore they
leave the valley. It's a cinch."

The marshal's eyes brightened; he was gaining the information he most
desired.

"And there is no other way to the bottom except along this trail?"

"That's 'bout all."

"Well, could Jim and I make it--say after dark?"

Moore laughed, the reckless boy in him again uppermost.

"Mebbe so; but I reckon ye'd be dead when yer got thar. Thar's allers
two Mexes on guard when Mendez is in the valley. He ain't takin' no
chances o' gettin' caught that way."

"Where are they?"

"Just below the top, whar they kin see out over the desert. Hell, yer
couldn't get within half a mile an' not be spotted. It's bull luck yer
run inter me."

Brennan and Westcott looked at each other, both uncertain as to the
next step. What were they to do with their prisoner? And how could
they proceed toward effecting the rescue of the helpless girl? It was
a problem not easy to solve, if what Moore told them was true. The
latter shuffled his feet in the sand, lifted his eyes shrewdly, and
studied the faces of his captors. He was figuring