d toward the man called Pete, and
recognized the leisurely rider of the afternoon. The man who had
conducted him in laughed, and Purdy was surprised that the sound held a
note of genuine amusement:

"An' is that why you cussed me an' Bill when we was keepin' cases on you
comin' down the coulee, an' wound up by cussin' the whole world, an'
invitin' us to string you up?"

Purdy was at loss for words. He felt the blood mounting to his face, and
he cleared his throat uncertainly.

"D'you know who I am?" The squat man questioned.

Purdy shook his head.

"Grimshaw's my name--Cass Grimshaw."

"Cass Grimshaw! The--" Purdy stopped abruptly in confusion.

The other laughed shortly: "Go ahead an' say it. It won't hurt my
feelin's none. I'm the party--Cass Grimshaw, the horse-thief."

Purdy stared open-mouthed, for the man had uttered a name that in the
cattle country was a name to conjure with. Cass Grimshaw, and the
Grimshaw gang were notorious for their depredations throughout Montana
and half of Wyoming. For two years they had defied the law and resisted
all efforts to break them up. One or two of their number had been killed
in fights with posses, but the gang remained intact, a thorn in the side
of the Stock Association, and the sheriffs of many counties. Purdy
continued to stare and again Grimshaw broke the silence: "Total rewards
on all of us is thirty-two hundred. On me, personal, takin' Association,
State, an' County, it's two thousan' even money. Figurin' on
collectin'?"

Purdy gasped. What kind of a man was this? As a matter of fact, he had
been thinking of those rewards. He had forgotten his own crimes and was
picturing himself riding into Wolf River with a squat, bow-legged body
dangling across the front of his saddle.

"Hell--no!" he managed to blurt out, "I'm--I'm a horse-thief, myself!"

CHAPTER XIV

THE INSURGENT

And so Purdy had joined the Grimshaw gang, and had prospered. Raids were
planned and, under the leadership of the crafty Cass Grimshaw whole
bands of horses were run across the line and disposed of, and always the
gang returned to the bad lands unbroken. For nearly a year things went
well, and then came a change. Where absolute unity of purpose, and
unswerving loyalty to their leader were essential, dissension crept
in--and Purdy was at the bottom of it.

The first intimation of discord came to Cass Grimshaw one night in the
hang-out where the six sat smoking. Purdy casually men