l.

"Gentlemen, I thank you," protested Lefever, raising one hand in
deprecation, the other resting lightly on his holster. "We still have
some _little_ reputation to maintain along the Sinks. Don't let us
make it a _posse_ for _Sassoon_." No one opposed him further, and he
rode away alone.

"It won't be any trouble for John to bring Sassoon in," murmured
Scott, who spoke with a smile and in the low tone and deliberate
manner of the Indian, "if he can find him."

With de Spain, Scott remained in front of the barn, saddled horses in
hand. They could see nothing of the scene of action, and de Spain was
forced in idleness to curb his impatience. Lefever rode down to the
inn without seeing a living thing anywhere about it. When he
dismounted in front he thought he heard sounds within the barroom,
but, pushing open the door and looking circumspectly into the room
before entering, he was surprised to find it empty.

There was something, under the circumstances and in the stimulus of
danger, almost uncanny in the silence, the absence of any life
whatever about the place. Lefever walked cautiously inside; there
seemed no need of caution. No one was there to confront or oppose him.
Surveying the interior with a rapid glance, he walked to the left end
of the bar and, gun in readiness, looked apprehensively behind it. Not
so much as a strainer was to be seen underneath. He noticed, however,
that the sash of the low window on his left, which looked into the
patio, was open, and two heel-marks in the hard clay suggested that a
man might have jumped through. Whether these were Sassoon's heels or
another's, Lefever decided they constituted his clew, and, running out
of the front door, he sprang into his saddle and rode to where he
could signal de Spain and Scott to come up.

He told his story as they joined him, and the three returned to the
inn. Scott rode directly to the rear. Lefever took de Spain in to the
bar, showed him the open sash, and pointed to the heel-prints. De
Spain stepped through the window, Lefever following. An examination
showed the slide of a spur-rowel behind one heel-mark and indications
of a hasty jump.

While they bent over the signs that seemed to connect their quarry
with the place, a door opened across the courtyard, and Pedro
appeared. He was curiously dense to all inquiries, and Lefever,
convinced that Sassoon was somewhere at hand, revenged himself by
searching the place.

In the dark kitchen a