That night, Mac lay awake thinking of what he was about to do. He also thought of Stella. He would send her a telegram to let her know what he was about to do…but he would tone it down a little so that she would not be so worried. He did not want her to know how much danger he would really be in but he certainly wanted her to know that he loved her and was thinking about her.

Mac tossed and turned all night, unable to stop thinking about his mission. He knew the sheriff did not agree with him, but he knew the sheriff was wrong. When he found those stolen cattle over there or found someone who knew they had been there, he would have his proof and he would arrest Joshua Withers. He did not need the sheriff's approval for that.

As Mac was lying half awake, he heard something in the hallway. He opened his eyes slightly and listened. He only heard a whisper of sound like someone trying to be quiet in the hall but they were wearing boots. He saw a shadow move under the door. He pulled his gun from the holster and moved over to the other side of the bed and slid off on that side. He saw the door knob turn slowly and he waited to see what would happen.

The door opened slowly and he saw the barrel of a gun come through the crack in the door and suddenly, two shots were fired at the bed. As soon as the shots were fired, Mac heard running feet. He grabbed his boots on and ran out the door. He was not sure which way the person had gone, but there were other people in the hall. "Did you hear someone running this way?" he asked.

"A man just nearly knocked me down running this way," someone said pointing down the hall toward the back of the hotel.

Mac ran that way and rounded the corner at the end of the hall. There was another short hall there and a doorway that led out the back way. He hurried to the door and realized whoever went out that door could be waiting. He opened the door slowly, but he heard someone running and saw a man running out through the trees behind the hotel. He went out the door and down the steps from the outside balcony. By the time he got down, he heard horse hooves and he got through the trees in time to see a horse leaving in a hurry. He took aim and fired twice but the person was gone.

Just then, Roy came around to where he was. "What's going on?" Roy asked.

"Someone tried to kill me," Mac said. He looked at Roy. "Now, do you think I'm on the right track?"

"I never said I thought you were on the wrong track. I just don't want to jump to any conclusions."

"That's the second time something like this happened."

"And nobody sees anything." Roy shook his head. "Surely someone saw that guy running out of here."

"One man up there saw him. He said he almost knocked him down."

"Let's get in there and see if he can give us a description."

They went back into the hotel and found the man who told Mac the other man had nearly knocked him down. "Did you see his face?" Mac asked.

"No," the man said. "He was moving too fast and he had a bandana around his face."

Mac frowned and looked at Roy. "Well, that is that," Roy said. "Unless we can find some tracks out there that lead somewhere, we'll never know who did it."

"First thing in the morning, we're going to go out there and look," Mac declared. He was getting just a little angry now. No one could keep getting away with these crimes.

Roy looked at the people still standing out in the hall. "Okay, everybody, go on back to bed," he said. "The excitement is over."

The crowd finally dispersed back to their rooms. Mac put his gun back in the holster. "I guess I'll go back to bed too," he said. "See you in the morning."

"Sorry about this," Roy replied. "We're going to get them. We won't let someone keep doing stuff like this in this town."

"Good night."

Mac went back into his room. He figured whoever that was would not try it again tonight, but he would sleep with his gun close anyway, like he always did. He looked at the two holes in the bed. If he had been lying there, he would be dead right now. He was glad he had not been able to sleep now, but he was tired. He lay down on the bed and sighed as he tried to relax. Tomorrow would be a long day no matter what he decided to do.

When the first light of day came, Mac got out of bed and got into his blue shirt. He got on his hat and boots and made sure his guns were loaded and then went down the back stairs from the hotel. He would see if he could find any prints out there. Whoever rode out on that horse did not have time to think about making tracks. He moved out into the area where the horse had been. The soil here was dry and packed, but a horse still could make prints and he found some. He followed them until he got out into a pine thicket. Mac slapped the side of his leg with his hat in frustration. Whoever it was knew that pine straw was a sure way to keep tracks off the trail. Mac pushed some of the pine straw aside but there was nothing that looked like a print. The straw was very thick. The horse might as well have been walking through water.

Mac kept going until he came out of the pine thicket, but then there was a trail with several sets of tracks on it. He frowned. He could not tell which tracks were the ones he had seen before the pine thicket. There were tracks in the trail going in both directions and none of them had any distinctions except there was one that looked like the horse had a rock in its hoof. That was not the horse he was after though because the one he was after had no distinctions.

Mac went back to town and headed over to the diner. He was hungry this morning. When he walked in, Roy Coffee was at a table. "Marshall, have a seat," he said.

Mac went to the table and sat down. "Morning, Sheriff," he said.

"Morning."

"I found tracks back there, but they went through a pine thicket and then into that trail out on the other side. Impossible to know which were which."

"Well, you would have to expect as much with this gang. They are well prepared to get away when they try something."

"I just wonder if there's a horse out there at the Withers ranch that has been hard ridden."

Roy looked at Mac a moment. "I'm sure there was," he said. "I've been studying over this thing all night just about and I can't figure why a man like Joshua Withers would do something like this, so I sent a telegram to that sheriff in Carson City again and I got an answer back this morning."

Mac absorbed that while he waited for Roy go on. "And?" he asked.

"That wasn't the first time Joshua Withers has lost big in a poker game. He is a big time gambler, but it seems that in the last year, he has lost big in three card games and he owes a certain man a lot of money, and that guy means to collect one way or the other."

"And who is that man?"

"Ever heard of Ed Crumbacker?"

Mac thought a moment. "Seems like I have but why don't you refresh my memory?" he asked.

The waitress came and poured Mac some coffee. "What will you have?" she asked.

"The morning special," Mac replied.

"Coming right up."

Mac looked back at Roy as he sipped his coffee. "So, who is this Ed Crumbacker?" he asked.

"He's a big time rancher over there in California. He owns half that valley over there. Probably as big a spread as the Ponderosa and he uses it too. He's one of the richest men in the West."

"And he loaned money to Joshua Withers?"

"Withers' ranch is neighbor to Crumbacker. They share water out there and I guess there must have been high stakes in that game and he staked Withers thinking that he might win."

"And things backfired on him." Mac considered that. "So, Crumbacker must have called his loan and probably gave him an ultimatum: pay up or I'll take it out of your hide."

"That Crumbacker is a big man over there in those parts. You go over there after him, and I don't think you're going to get a very friendly welcome."

"You think he is the one who has Withers stealing all those cattle?"

Roy considered that. "I don't know the man," he said. "But Withers may have been so desperate that he has commenced stealing trying to get the money. He must be selling those cattle over there where the beef brings a high price. It's so dry over there in places, they can't raise cattle there so they will pay a good price for them."

"Makes a good motive for Withers but I want to know if Crumbacker is in this too."

"If he is, you may never connect him with it, but it seems that it would take a very talented mind to plan all this and be able to get away with it the way Withers is doing."

"Nobody gets away with a crime while they're in my jurisdiction. I don't care who they are."

Just then, Adam Cartwright walked in. He came to their table and sat down. "I heard about what happened during the night," he said.

"I'm alright," Mac replied. "But there are no tracks to follow as usual. We do have some new information though."

"I'm ready to hear it."

Mac told him what Roy had just told. Adam thought about that a moment. "Looks like we're going to be going over to California after all," he said.

"I agree," Mac replied. "I think all our answers are over there and we'll be able to solve this mystery and stop the violence that's going on around here."

"He would really stoop to murder over trying to pay back a loan on a poker game?"

"This was a big loan and it wasn't just one. He may have been doing it to try and save his own life and the men who committed the murders might not be his men. Maybe they work for Crumbacker over there."

"That could be too. Withers might not condone murder."

"He's in on it though if he has been in on any of this. He's definitely in on the cattle rustling."

"So when do we leave?" Adam asked.

"We really need to be here for the trial tomorrow," Mac said.

"Pa, Hoss and Little Jo can help the sheriff with that situation. No one has tried anything else so I think they are accepting that this is going to be done by law."

"I suppose you're right and we need proof …before all that proof has been eliminated."

Mac sat and sipped his coffee until his order arrived and he ate in silence. He knew they had to go to California to get more evidence but he also knew it would be a dangerous trek because the ones they were after would not want them to make it over there to find the evidence of their crimes. "I think we should leave as soon as possible so that maybe no one is watching us," he decided. He finished his breakfast. "If you'll excuse me, I have some things to do before I go off to California."

"I'll be ready," Adam replied.

Mac went to the livery stable first and fed Avalanche some corn so that he would be ready to go. "I'll be back to get you soon, boy," Mac said as he rubbed the horse's neck.

Next, Mac went over to the telegraph office and sent a telegram to Stella. He wanted her to know where he was going. After that, he went to the General Store to get some things for his trip which would be a long, dry one. He got some food stuffs and even bought himself a new shirt. His other one was starting to get threadbare so he needed a new one. He got some bandages to take along as well. He hoped there would be no use for them but he wanted them along in case.

As Stella was standing in the kitchen of her diner, she heard someone come barging through the front door. "Miss Stella!"

Stella could not mistake that panicky voice. It was Adam. She thought he must have…she almost gasped as she realized Adam would not be in a panic like that if he had not gotten an important telegram. She hurried from the kitchen. "Adam, what is it?" she asked.

"I got a telegram for you!" Adam said. "It's from Marshall Taylor!"

Stella grabbed the telegram and opened it. She was relieved to see that he was just telling her where he was going. She was always afraid that one day she would get a telegram telling her that he had been killed. She smiled a bright smile. "Thank you, Adam," she said and turned back toward the kitchen.

"Well, with that smile, she could have at least let us know what it was about," Don Flack said. He was sitting at a table.

Stella turned around as she got to the kitchen door. "He's doing fine," she said. "He's on his way to California now on the trail of those outlaws."

Stella went on into the kitchen and Don looked at Adam. "Well, I guess that is good news," Don said.

"Sure is," Adam agreed. "What would we do if he got killed over there? I mean, who would come here to take his place?"

"I don't know. I'm sure they would have someone."

"Yeah, but he could be mean or rude or maybe he wouldn't like us."

Don looked at Adam. "You're a worry wart," he said.

They heard the bell on the door jingle and a pretty brunette walked in. Don almost knocked his chair over as he got up too fast. Jessica Angell had walked in. "Good morning," she said as she walked over to the table.

"Morning," Don said holding his hat in his hand. He had noticed Jessica the first time she came into town. She ran the newspaper office.

"I need some help over there if you're not too busy sitting here doing nothing."

Don grabbed his hat. "I'd be delighted to help you," he said.

"Come on then."

Don followed Jessica out the door. Adam walked on back to the telegraph office. He was glad that was a good telegram. He hated delivering depressing telegrams, and he had delivered plenty of those since he had been in this work. He waved to Danny Messer who was standing outside the Marshall's office. He was the law in town since Mac was gone off on a case.

Danny looked up and down the street. He hoped Mac was okay and that he would be back soon. He often wondered what he would do if something drastic happened here while Mac was gone. Even though he was a deputy Marshall, he did not see himself in the same light as he saw Mac. He did not like Lindsey being out there at the ranch all alone all day either. Now that the baby had come, she could not go everywhere with him when he came into town and he had to be here most of the day now. He thought he might just go over there and ask Stella about that telegram. He knew it must have been about Mac since Adam took it to her.

Mac was preparing Avalanche for their long ride across that desert and they would have to go even further this time. Adam knew some water holes that never dried up although they got mighty low. As Mac took Avalanche outside, Adam and Hoss rode up. "He insists he's going with us," Adam announced.

"Pa and Little Jo will help the sheriff," Hoss said. "That should be enough and there are some more good men around here."

Mac mounted his horse. "Well, if you're determined to go, I can see as I could stop you," he said with a twinkle of wit in his eye.

"Nathan Simpson will meet us outside town," Adam informed him. "He wants to go along and help."

"We can use all the help but we don't need to have too many. It draws too much attention."

"He's the only one going. He's leaving his hands there to take care of the ranch while he's gone."

"Wise."

They headed out and met Simpson on the outside of town right where he said he would be. "Well, here we go," Mac said and the others followed him into the unknown.