It was dark, and the three of them were huddled around the fire, about to turn in for the night, when they heard brush rustling and footsteps coming up the hill. They scrambled up and over to their saddles, where their rifles were scabbarded. They stood armed and ready as the footsteps got closer.

“Hello,” a voice called. “Just a friend, coming through.” The voice was weak and quavery. But the speaker was coming from Rattlesnake Canyon, where he would have just made the steep, difficult climb out of the canyon. “Is that you, Mr. Bowman?” Jeff asked.

“Yes. Yes, it's me. I mean no harm.”

He stepped into the light. It was Bowman and, right behind him, Ranger Kirby. “Is it the Power boys?” Bowman asked.

“It is.”

“We're coming down from the mine. Just coming down from the mine,” Bowman said.

“You're welcome to sit by the fire for a bit,” Jeff said.

“No. We're heading on, trying to make as much progress as we can.”

“Not a lot of moon tonight. It's a hard walk in the dark.”

“We're going to Klondyke. It's not far. We know the way.” This was Ranger Kirby. “You boys are camped out pretty close to home.”

“We set up camp when the light began to fail. That was here,” Jeff said.

“Well, we're going on. You boys pass a pleasant evening.”

“What do you figure that was all about?” Tom asked.

“Bowman likes to take a deer every now and again. Maybe he just got himself arrested by Kirby there. That's the reason they were walking in the dark and didn't want to stop for some rest. Bowman was being marched off to the jailhouse in Klondyke. I'll tell you, that's for sure what that's all about.”

“Don't see how Bowman got himself arrested,” Tom said.

“The way people do.”

“No. I mean Bowman's got money. Ranger Kirby's got more interest in money than in arresting people. I'd think it would be hard to get yourself arrested by Kirby if you had money.”

“Maybe he's too tight to get hisself off,” John said.

“Maybe. It don't add up good, though.”

On their way to Willcox they came on a group of riders also heading south. Rube Wootan, a justice of the peace, was at the head of the group.

“Where are you boys headed?” Jeff asked. “Rodeo in town?”

“Better than that,” Wootan offered. “This here's a coroner's jury headed to Willcox for a swearing in.”

“Coroner's jury? You don't say. Who got hisself killed?”

“C. P. Tucker. Got hisself shot by Ranger Kirby yesterday.”

“Ranger Kirby? We saw him last night, heading out of the canyon.”

“Probably on his way to report the killing. He did that last night in Klondyke. They're holding him and Bowman in jail in Willcox this morning until we can get this jury here to sit and hear the evidence.”

“Why the hell did he kill Tucker? Why would anyone kill Tucker?”