Joe gave the riding orders for the day to the other punchers. Then with Slim he rode north toward the Double O. After a time he spoke.
“Do you think it was someone on the ranch who waylaid you last night and rode away on Chuck’s horse?”
Slim picked his words carefully as he replied for even though he had absolute faith in the integrity of the foreman, he did not intend to reveal that he was in the employ of the Mountain States Cattlemen’s Association and working under Old Bill Needham until the showdown.
“I’m inclined to believe someone on the ranch is tipping the rustlers off to every move. That’s the only way the gang could have learned the boss was carrying money with him the night they shot him and it’s the only way they could have learned about the nick in the horseshoe. Whoever is doing the thinking for this gang is clever and dangerous.”
“He’s all of that, but he’ll never match the power of the cattlemen if we line up Hack Cook.”
Nels Anderson and Al Bass were waiting for them and they swung into their saddles as the Box B men approached.
“Anything happen last night?” asked Nels. Slim related what had occurred at the Box B corral.
“That’s no good,” he said. “It means there’s a traitor in your outfit.”
“Don’t say that until we’ve got the proof,” Joe warned him, for although he was privately convinced that Nels was right, he wasn’t going to let any outsider cast any reflections on his riders until he had ample proof.
With Nels and Joe ahead, they rode toward the Diamond Dot. Slim found Al Bass a pleasant companion and they discussed the range war at length.