“He was a wise man,” said Lee Yung. “Knowing that the odds were against him, he fell down. And we, like fools, accepted what he gave us.”
“We’ve got to get out of here,” said Meline nervously.
“We sure have,” agreed Baldy. “Tie that damn fool tight and somebody bring his horse. Get plenty of ropes. For God’s sake, move fast, can’tcha? This is no time to gawp.”
And while the K-10 moved swiftly, Sleepy Stevens left a screen of dust behind him, as he pounded along the road. He had felt the sting of Baldy’s bullet, which had burned his neck, and had dropped flat, feeling that his complete collapse would stop further shooting.
As soon as Baum had gone inside the house, Sleepy had run to his horse, mounted, and headed for town. It was not cowardice on his part. He knew that it would be impossible for him to fight that outfit singlehanded, especially as they were protected by the walls of the ranch-house, so he went for help.
Owing to the fact that he had escaped, he did not think they would kill Hashknife. It might have been a different story if they had caught both of them. Knowing that he would report against them, they might be afraid to do anything rash.
He raced in to Pinnacle and found the Tumbling H men in the Greenback Saloon. Without exciting too much suspicion he drew them aside and hurriedly told them what had happened. The sheriff and deputy were in a poker game, but they did not bother to enlist their services.
They mounted and rode swiftly out of town toward the K-10, while Sleepy gave the details of what had happened.
“Mebbe I’ll git me a white man,” gritted Musical. “Gimme one li’l chance to notch a sight on any of that bunch. If one of them sons of guns busted that record, I’ll borry his ears.”
Regardless of the fact that there might be desperate men inside the K-10 buildings, the five riders spurred their horses almost to the front steps, dismounted hurriedly, and smashed in the front door.