"Absolutely none," replied Dave evenly.

"Cut that out, Dan," ordered Rutherford curtly.

The ex-convict mumbled something into his beard, but subsided.

Two hours had slipped away before Dingwell commented on the fact that
the sheriff had not arrived. He did not voice his suspicion that the
Mexican had been intercepted by the Rutherfords.

"Looks like Sweeney didn't get my message," he said lazily. "You never
can tell when a Mexican is going to get too tired to travel farther."

"Better hook up with me on that gold-mine proposition, Dave," Hal
Rutherford suggested again.

"No, I reckon not, Hal. Much obliged, just the same."

Dave began to watch the game more closely. There were points about it
worth noticing. For one thing, the two strangers had a habit of
getting the others into a pot and cross-raising them exasperatingly.
If Dave had kept even, it was only because he refused to be drawn into
inviting pots when either of the strangers was dealing. He observed
that though they claimed not to have met each other before there was
team work in their play. Moreover, the yellow and blue chips were
mostly piled up in front of them, while Meldrum, Rutherford, and the
curio dealer had all bought several times. Dave waited until his
doubts of crooked work became certainty before he moved.

"The game's framed. Blair has rung in a cold deck on us. He and Smith