"I came here to find out who directed the murder of those Texas Rangers who were killed in the Gap. You probably have heard that someone wearing moccasins attended to their burial." The other nodded. "You've probably guessed by this time that the man who buried them was that same Indian. Well, that's the truth. Those men I locked in the basement of this house, of course, had a hand in the massacre, but there was someone who gave them their instructions."
"Might have been Mort or Vince," suggested Wallie.
"It might have been, yes, but I doubt it. They wouldn't run things in such a high-handed way without being told to do so by the boss of the outfit."
"He's the owner of this ranch, and all the different brands that are used here are recorded in his name. I understand that he isn't the type to let someone else boss anything he owns."
Wallie mused for a moment. "But Bryant ain't--" He didn't finish his remark.
"Wasn't it Bryant himself who helped your brother escape from jail last night in Red Oak?"
"Why should he?" argued the other. "He's the one that turned Mort over to the law."
"He turned him over to the law, because Mort was a murderer and Yuma knew it. That act on Bryant's part would remove him from suspicion. Yet someone helped Mort escape!"
Wallie said, "All this is sure surprisin' news to me, stranger. I don't know just what to think about it."
"I'm telling you," continued the Lone Ranger, "so you can be ready to tell anything you know when the law men come."
"Yuma is bringing them. He's also bringing a warrant for the arrest of Bryant Cavendish."
"Arrest? He can't be arrested on suspicions like yours! No law man would jail an old man on anything as flimsy as that!"
"I didn't explain," said the masked man slowly. "Yuma is charging Bryant with attempted murder! That will be enough to jail him! In the meantime, you'll do well to get your own story straight!"
"B-but, stranger," faltered Wallie, "I--I don't know anything about the things that go on around here. I'm hardly ever here myself. I don't like the place. I spend as much time in Red Oak as I can."
The masked man gripped the other's upper arm. He was a little bit surprised to find the muscles beneath the fine shirt hard and firm, not flabby as Wallie's disposition and habits indicated. "Just remember this," he said: "the mere fact that men like Sawtell, Lonergan, Rangoon, and Lombard are working here is going to call for a lot of explanation. Every one of those four has a substantial reward on his head. You'd better be ready to tell all you know. It will take a lot from you to convince the law men you aren't associated with this gang."