Rowdy and Pink looked at one another, but said nothing.

"Old Bill, he follered your back trail and found out some things he wanted
t' know. Conroy got wind of it, though, and he left the agency kind-a
suddint. No use yuh lookin' for him."

"Then we're ready to hit the grit, I guess." Rowdy glanced again at Pink who
nodded.

"Well, I ain't stoppin' yuh," Eagle Creek drawled laconically. "S'-long, and
good luck t' yuh."

He waited while Pink and the Silent One swung the point back down the hill,
with Rowdy helping them, quite unmoved by his sudden promotion. When the
herd was fairly started on the backward march, Eagle Creek nodded
satisfaction the while he pried off a corner of plug-tobacco.

"He's all right," he asserted emphatically. "That boy suits me, from the
ground up. If he don't put that deal through in good shape, it'll be becaus'
it can't be did."

Wooden Shoes, with whom Rowdy had always been a prime favorite, agreed with
Dutch heartiness. Then, leaving the herd to its new guardian they rode
swiftly to overtake and turn back the wagons.

"Three hundred miles! And part of it across howling desert!" Rowdy drew his
brows together. "It's a big thing for me, all right, Pink; but it's sure a
big contract to take this herd through, if anybody should happen to ask
yuh."