this to treat anybody? To ride into a valley like this and drive a
man's cows away from his door without notice or papers? Is your name
Smith?"

"My name is Smith; yours is Du Sang. Yes, I'll tell you, Du Sang. I
carry an inspector's card from the Mountain Stock Association--do you
want to see it? When we get these cattle to the Door, any man in the
Cache may come forward and prove his property. I shall leave
instructions to that effect when we go, for I want you to go to
Medicine Bend with me, Du Sang, as soon as convenient, and the men
that are with me will finish the round-up."

"What do you want me for? There's no papers out against me, is
there?"

"No, but I'm an officer, Du Sang. I'll see to the papers; I want you
for murder."

"So they tell me. Well, you're after the wrong man. But I'll go with
you; I don't care about that."

"Neither do I, Du Sang; and as you have some friends along, I won't
break up the party. They may come, too."

"What for?"

"For stopping a train at Tower W Saturday night."

The three men looked at one another and laughed.

Du Sang with an oath spoke again: "The men you want are in Canada by
this time. I can't speak for my friends; I don't know whether they
want to go or not. As far as I am concerned, I haven't killed anybody
that I know of. I suppose you'll pay my expenses back?"

"Why, yes, Du Sang, if you were coming back I would pay your expenses;
but you are not coming back. You are riding down Williams Cache for
the last time; you've ridden down it too many times already. This
round-up is especially for you. Don't deceive yourself; when you ride
with me this time out of the Cache, you won't come back."

Du Sang laughed, but his blinking eyes were as steady as a cat's. It
did not escape Whispering Smith's notice that the mettlesome horses
ridden by the outlaws were continually working around to the right of
his party. He spoke amiably to Karg: "If you can't manage that horse,
Karg, I can. Play fair. It looks to me as if you and Du Sang were
getting ready to run for it, and leave George Seagrue to shoot his way
through alone."

Du Sang, with some annoyance, intervened: "That's all right; I'll go
with you. I'd rather see your papers, but if you're Whispering Smith
it's all right. I'm due to shoot out a little game sometime with you
at Medicine Bend, anyway."

"Any time, Du Sang; only don't let your hand wabble next time. It's
too close to your gun now to pull right."