a flivver that bore two men, came crawling down the slope of the desert-rim in the early morning. near the approach to morongo valley, it halted. the two men alighted to inspect a heap in the sand, from which a carrion bird flapped heavily away. they looked at the body, glanced at each other, then silently got into the car and continued their journey.
"rattler, i judge," observed sandy mackintavers. "and a good job."
the car crept up the valley to the shack, stopped, coughed, and became silent. murray was awaiting it, pale and weak but walking; beside him was claire, and joining them was tom lee, his right arm in a sling.
murray's face lighted up, and his hand shot out.
"willyum!" he cried delightedly. "we thought we must be dreaming when we saw you! and sandy too—but i thought you were behind the bars!"
across the earnest features of bill hobbs broke a rippling light of gleeful mirth.
"say!" he exclaimed, while he pumped murray's hand. "say, i gotta hand it to that sheriff for bein' a prize boob! i was wanted all right—three years ago! since then, i done the time an' got out again, see? when the answer come to his wire, that was the sickest guy you ever seen! but say, doc, how are you?"
"fine! coming around all right." murray's gaze went to sandy mackintavers. "what stroke of luck turned you loose, sandy?"
the voice of tom lee interposed, with a chuckle.
"that was my doing, gentlemen," he said blandly. "the contractor, hennesy, preferred to withdraw all charges against mr. mackintavers, to losing my contract. and, mr. mackintavers! i wish you'd come up the hill here. there's something i want to show you."
sandy nodded and joined him, and the two men ascended toward the seepage where murray had lain.
bill hobbs looked from the face of the girl, alight with a strange happiness, to the incisive, quizzical eyes of murray. he seemed to sense a constraint, flushed slightly, and was turning away when murray's hand halted him.
"hold on there, willyum! i'm glad, old man, very glad, that everything's clear for you! by the way, i've an item of news for your paper. you know what i told you about the sanitarium? well, mr. lee is going ahead with his plans, and i'm to be in charge——"
"say!" broke out hobbs with sudden remembrance. "what happened to scudder? we seen him out yonder, and mac laid it to a rattler."
"mac was right, i suppose," said murray, thoughtfully. "although i'm not so sure that it wasn't the hand of providence, willyum. but lay it to the rattler and play safe. he shot tom lee through the arm before the rattler got him; he sure had panic, blind panic! and, by the way, i have another item of news for you——"
murray glanced at claire, who smiled happily. "miss lee," he pursued, "has decided to chance being the wife of a country doctor."
a shout from the hillside drew their attention. tom lee was standing beside claire's camp, and out of the seepage of water near by, shouting and waving his hands, was sandy—dirty, streaked with sand and water, adrip with perspiration and exultancy.
"aiblins, now, will ye look at this!" he pointed to the seepage, a blaze of excitement lighting his face.
"we see it," answered murray, laughing. "what's the matter with it?"
"matter with it?" shouted sandy, waving his arm at the brow of the hill. "free gold, that's what! it'll take us smack into rotten quartz, that's what!"
a little later, bill hobbs, standing by his automobile, rolled a cigarette.
"aw!" he muttered to himself. "aw, gee! and now i gotta go back to the printshop and work all alone with that old derelict—and sandy's gotta work all alone at the mine—aw, gee! ain't it hell how a woman busts up everything! i wisht i was a poor man again!"
