“And that is exactly what I am going to find out. But I did not tell you the worst of this cañon business.”
Scott felt the horror of that awful sight coming over him again as he told the story and Baxter listened with open mouth.
“The poor fools,” Baxter exclaimed sympathetically. “It’s just like them though; one go, all go. You say there were about three thousand of them? Well, they ought not to be so hard to count now.”
The cold-blooded remark made Scott realize how well he had guessed what Jed’s attitude would be. If it did not affect Baxter any more than that it would roll off Jed like water off a duck’s back.
“Well, Dugan said Dawson was going to ’phone Jed to-night where he would meet him and I am going to listen in and see if I can find out where that meeting is going to be. If I succeed, I propose to be there and see what happens.”
“Where do I come in?” Baxter asked curiously.
“I wanted to see if you would watch those sheep over there in that cañon and see if you can overhear any more of the conversation between those two herders. We’ll need all the evidence we can get and besides I want to be sure that those sheep will be there when I come down to show them up to-morrow after the recount.”
“Sounds interesting,” Baxter grumbled. “Well, it can’t be any worse than watching this line. I’ll go get some blankets and hike down there.”
“I certainly shall appreciate your help,” Scott said. He knew that it was not the kind of a job that Baxter would most like but he felt confident that he would do it.
“Oh well,” Baxter replied cheerfully, “I’m just as anxious to see Jed Clark cleaned up as you are and I’m glad enough to do anything to help. I only hope they try to take them out of there. There might be some excitement then. I’ll see you to-morrow when you come down to prove up. Luck to you on your mission to-night.”
There was nothing to do now but to hurry back to the cabin and see if he could intercept that telephone message. It did not seem to be essential to his case to know what happened at that meeting. As Baxter had said Dawson must have approved Heth’s appointment and it would be easy enough to prove that he knew who Heth really was. Nevertheless, Scott wanted to sift the thing to the bottom now that he had started on it and he felt that his own success in the service would depend on cleaning up the whole situation. He was getting a little nervous. Dugan had said that Dawson would call in the evening but that was a vague term, and he might be too late to catch the message. It was never any trouble to get speed out of Jed. He loosened the rein a little and the big horse fairly flew. He seemed to delight in those wild runs over the mountain trails.