Page 276 of 439

It was his cue to know as much as he could of every man that came

into the valley. Wherefore he had run down the record of Struve

from the reward placard which a detective agency furnished him of

hundreds of criminals who were wanted. What could be more simple

than to stir up the convict, in order to save himself, to destroy

the ranger who had run him down before? There would be a demand

so insistent for the punishment of the murderer that it could not

be ignored. He would find some pretext to lure Struve from the

valley for a day or two, and would arrange it so that he would be

arrested while he was away. Thus he would be rid of both these

troublesome intruders without making a move that could be seen.

It was all as simple as A B C. Already Struve had walked into the

trap. As Jed sat down to take a hand in the poker game that was

in progress, he chuckled quietly to himself. He was quite sure

that he was already practically master of the situation.

CHAPTER VII -- THE ROUND-UP