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diff --git a/16589.txt b/16589.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..17fade8 --- /dev/null +++ b/16589.txt @@ -0,0 +1,10464 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Killer, by Stewart Edward White + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Killer + +Author: Stewart Edward White + +Release Date: August 24, 2005 [EBook #16589] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE KILLER *** + + + + +Produced by Kathryn Lybarger, Gene Smethers and the Online +Distributed Processing Team + + + + + +[TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE: In many older texts, the character combination "oe" +was tied together with a ligature. Such instances are represented in +this ASCII text by enclosing them in brackets. Hence in words +such as Oedipus, for example, when the 'O' and the 'e' are connected with a +ligature, they will be shown as [Oe]dipus. In addition, the text contains +a ranch brand consisting of the characters J and H connected (no space +between). This brand is shown in the text as [JH].] + + + + +[Illustration: He had been shot through the body and was dead. His +rifle lay across a rock trained carefully on the trail.] + + + + +THE KILLER + +BY + +STEWART EDWARD WHITE + +AUTHOR OF +THE BLAZED TRAIL, +THE RIVERMAN, +ARIZONA NIGHTS, ETC. + + + +GROSSET & DUNLAP +PUBLISHERS NEW YORK + + + +COPYRIGHT, 1919, 1920, BY +DOUBLEDAY, PAGE & COMPANY +ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, INCLUDING THAT OF +TRANSLATION INTO FOREIGN LANGUAGES, +INCLUDING THE SCANDINAVIAN + + + +PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES +AT +THE COUNTRY LIFE PRESS, GARDEN CITY, N.Y. + +COPYRIGHT 1919, 1920, BY THE RED BOOK CORPORATION + + + + +CONTENTS + + + PAGE + +THE KILLER 3 + +THE ROAD AGENT 135 + +THE TIDE 157 + +CLIMBING FOR GOATS 189 + +MOISTURE, A TRACE 211 + +THE RANCH 229 + + + + + +THE KILLER + + + + +CHAPTER I + + +I want to state right at the start that I am writing this story twenty +years after it happened solely because my wife and Senor Buck Johnson +insist on it. Myself, I don't think it a good yarn. It hasn't any love +story in it; and there isn't any plot. Things just happened, one thing +after the other. There ought to be a yarn in it somehow, and I suppose +if a fellow wanted to lie a little he could make a tail-twister out of +it. Anyway, here goes; and if you don't like it, you know you can quit +at any stage of the game. + +It happened when I was a kid and didn't know any better than to do such +things. They dared me to go up to Hooper's ranch and stay all night; and +as I had no information on either the ranch or its owner, I saddled up +and went. It was only twelve miles from our Box Springs ranch--a nice +easy ride. I should explain that heretofore I had ridden the Gila end of +our range, which is so far away that only vague rumours of Hooper had +ever reached me at all. He was reputed a tough old devil with horrid +habits; but that meant little to me. The tougher and horrider they came, +the better they suited me--so I thought. Just to make everything +entirely clear I will add that this was in the year of 1897 and the Soda +Springs valley in Arizona. + +By these two facts you old timers will gather the setting of my tale. +Indian days over; "nester" days with frame houses and vegetable patches +not yet here. Still a few guns packed for business purposes; Mexican +border handy; no railroad in to Tombstone yet; cattle rustlers lingering +in the Galiuros; train hold-ups and homicide yet prevalent but frowned +upon; favourite tipple whiskey toddy with sugar; but the old fortified +ranches all gone; longhorns crowded out by shorthorn blaze-head +Herefords or near-Herefords; some indignation against Alfred Henry +Lewis's _Wolfville_ as a base libel; and, also but, no gasoline wagons +or pumps, no white collars, no tourists pervading the desert, and the +Injins still wearing blankets and overalls at their reservations instead +of bead work on the railway platforms when the Overland goes through. In +other words, we were wild and wooly, but sincerely didn't know it. + +While I was saddling up to go take my dare, old Jed Parker came and +leaned himself up against the snubbing post of the corral. He watched me +for a while, and I kept quiet, knowing well enough that he had something +to say. + +"Know Hooper?" he asked. + +"I've seen him driving by," said I. + +I had: a little humped, insignificant figure with close-cropped white +hair beneath a huge hat. He drove all hunched up. His buckboard was a +rattletrap, old, insulting challenge to every little stone in the road; +but there was nothing the matter with the horses or their harness. We +never held much with grooming in Arizona, but these beasts shone like +bronze. Good sizeable horses, clean built--well, I better not get +started talking horse! They're the reason I had never really sized up +the old man the few times I'd passed him. + +"Well, he's a tough bird," said Jed. + +"Looks like a harmless old cuss--but mean," says I. + +"About this trip," said Jed, after I'd saddled and coiled my +rope--"don't, and say you did." + +I didn't answer this, but led my horse to the gate. + +"Well, don't say as how I didn't tell you all about it," said Jed, going +back to the bunk house. + +Miserable old coot! I suppose he thought he _had_ told me all about it! +Jed was always too loquacious! + +But I hadn't racked along more than two miles before a man cantered up +who was perfectly able to express himself. He was one of our outfit and +was known as Windy Bill. Nuff said! + +"Hear you're goin' up to stay the night at Hooper's," said he. "Know +Hooper?" + +"No, I don't," said I, "are you another of these Sunbirds with glad +news?" + +"Know about Hooper's boomerang?" + +"Boomerang!" I replied, "what's that?" + +"That's what they call it. You know how of course we all let each +other's strays water at our troughs in this country, and send 'em back +to their own range at round up." + +"Brother, you interest me," said I, "and would you mind informing me +further how you tell the dear little cows apart?" + +"Well, old Hooper don't, that's all," went on Windy, without paying me +any attention. "He built him a chute leading to the water corrals, and +half way down the chute he built a gate that would swing across it and +open a hole into a dry corral. And he had a high platform with a handle +that ran the gate. When any cattle but those of his own brands came +along, he had a man swing the gate and they landed up into the dry +corral. By and by he let them out on the range again." + +"Without water?" + +"Sure! And of course back they came into the chute. And so on. Till they +died, or we came along and drove them back home." + +"Windy," said I, "you're stuffing me full of tacks." + +"I've seen little calves lyin' in heaps against the fence like drifts of +tumbleweed," said Windy, soberly; and then added, without apparent +passion, "The old----!" + +Looking at Windy's face, I knew these words for truth. + +"He's a bad _hombre_," resumed Windy Bill after a moment. "He never does +no actual killing himself, but he's got a bad lot of oilers[A] there, +especially an old one named Andreas and another one called Ramon, and +all he has to do is to lift one eye at a man he don't like and that man +is as good as dead--one time or another." + +This was going it pretty strong, and I grinned at Windy Bill. + +"All right," said Windy, "I'm just telling you." + +"Well, what's the matter with you fellows down here?" I challenged. "How +is it he's lasted so long? Why hasn't someone shot him? Are you all +afraid of him or his Mexicans?" + +"No, it ain't that, exactly. I don't know. He drives by all alone, and +he don't pack no gun ever, and he's sort of runty--and--I do'no _why_ he +ain't been shot, but he ain't. And if I was you, I'd stick home." + +Windy amused but did not greatly persuade me. By this time I was fairly +conversant with the cowboy's sense of humour. Nothing would have tickled +them more than to bluff me out of a harmless excursion by means of +scareful tales. Shortly Windy Bill turned off to examine a distant bunch +of cattle; and so I rode on alone. + +It was coming on toward evening. Against the eastern mountains were +floating tinted mists; and the canons were a deep purple. The cattle +were moving slowly so that here and there a nimbus of dust caught and +reflected the late sunlight into gamboge yellows and mauves. The magic +time was near when the fierce, implacable day-genius of the desert would +fall asleep and the soft, gentle, beautiful star-eyed night-genius of +the desert would arise and move softly. My pony racked along in the +desert. The mass that represented Hooper's ranch drew imperceptibly +nearer. I made out the green of trees and the white of walls and +building. + + + + +CHAPTER II + + +Hooper's ranch proved to be entirely enclosed by a wall of adobe ten +feet high and whitewashed. To the outside it presented a blank face. +Only corrals and an alfalfa patch were not included. A wide, high +gateway, that could be closed by massive doors, let into a stable yard, +and seemed to be the only entrance. The buildings within were all +immaculate also: evidently Old Man Hooper loved whitewash. Cottonwood +trees showed their green heads; and to the right I saw the sloped +shingled roof of a larger building. Not a living creature was in sight. +I shook myself, saying that the undoubted sinister feeling of utter +silence and lifelessness was compounded of my expectations and the time +of day. But that did not satisfy me. My aroused mind, casting about, +soon struck it: I was missing the swarms of blackbirds, linnets, purple +finches, and doves that made our own ranch trees vocal. Here were no +birds. Laughing at this simple explanation of my eerie feeling, I passed +under the gate and entered the courtyard. + +It, too, seemed empty. A stable occupied all one side; the other three +were formed by bunk houses and necessary out-buildings. Here, too, dwelt +absolute solitude and absolute silence. It was uncanny, as though one +walked in a vacuum. Everything was neat and shut up and whitewashed and +apparently dead. There were no sounds or signs of occupancy. I was as +much alone as though I had been in the middle of an ocean. My mind, by +now abnormally sensitive and alert, leaped on this idea. For the same +reason, it insisted--lack of life: there were no birds here, not even +_flies_! Of course, said I, gone to bed in the cool of evening: why +should there be? I laughed aloud and hushed suddenly; and then nearly +jumped out of my skin. The thin blue curl of smoke had caught my eye; +and I became aware of the figure of a man seated on the ground, in the +shadow, leaning against the building. The curl of smoke was from his +cigarette. He was wrapped in a _serape_ which blended well with the cool +colour of shadow. My eyes were dazzled with the whitewash--natural +enough--yet the impression of solitude had been so complete. It was +uncanny, as though he had materialized out of the shadow itself. Silly +idea! I ranged my eye along the row of houses, and I saw three other +figures I had missed before, all broodingly immobile, all merged in +shadow, all watching me, all with the insubstantial air of having as I +looked taken body from thin air. + +This was too foolish! I dismounted, dropped my horse's reins over his +head, and sauntered to the nearest figure. He was lost in the dusk of +the building and of his Mexican hat. I saw only the gleam of eyes. + +"Where will I find Mr. Hooper?" I asked. + +The figure waved a long, slim hand toward a wicket gate in one side of +the enclosure. He said no word, nor made another motion; and the other +figures sat as though graved from stone. + +After a moment's hesitation I pushed open the wicket gate, and so found +myself in a smaller intimate courtyard of most surprising character. Its +centre was green grass, and about its border grew tall, bright flowers. +A wide verandah ran about three sides. I could see that in the numerous +windows hung white lace curtains. Mind you, this was in Arizona of the +'nineties! + +I knocked at the nearest door, and after an interval it opened and I +stood face to face with Old Man Hooper himself. + +He proved to be as small as I had thought, not taller than my own +shoulder, with a bent little figure dressed in wrinkled and baggy store +clothes of a snuff brown. His bullet head had been cropped so that his +hair stood up like a short-bristled white brush. His rather round face +was brown and lined. His hands, which grasped the doorposts +uncompromisingly to bar the way, were lean and veined and old. But all +that I found in my recollections afterward to be utterly unimportant. +His eyes were his predominant, his formidable, his compelling +characteristic. They were round, the pupils very small, the irises large +and of a light flecked blue. From the pupils radiated fine lines. The +blank, cold, inscrutable stare of them bored me through to the back of +the neck. I suppose the man winked occasionally, but I never got that +impression. I've noticed that owls have this same intent, unwinking +stare--and wildcats. + +"Mr. Hooper," said I, "can you keep me over night?" + +It was a usual request in the old cattle country. He continued to stare +at me for some moments. + +"Where are you from?" he asked at length. His voice was soft and low; +rather purring. + +I mentioned our headquarters on the Gila: it did not seem worth while +to say anything about Box Springs only a dozen miles away. He stared at +me for some time more. + +"Come in," he said, abruptly; and stood aside. + +This was a disconcerting surprise. All I had expected was permission to +stop, and a direction as to how to find the bunk house. Then a more or +less dull evening, and a return the following day to collect on my +"dare." I stepped into the dimness of the hallway; and immediately after +into a room beyond. + +Again I must remind you that this was the Arizona of the 'nineties. All +the ranch houses with which I was acquainted, and I knew about all of +them, were very crudely done. They comprised generally a half dozen +rooms with adobe walls and rough board floors, with only such +furnishings as deal tables, benches, homemade chairs, perhaps a battered +old washstand or so, and bunks filled with straw. We had no such things +as tablecloths and sheets, of course. Everything was on a like scale of +simple utility. + +All right, get that in your mind. The interior into which I now stepped, +with my clanking spurs, my rattling _chaps_, the dust of my +sweat-stained garments, was a low-ceilinged, dim abode with faint, musty +aromas. Carpets covered the floors; an old-fashioned hat rack flanked +the door on one side, a tall clock on the other. I saw in passing framed +steel engravings. The room beyond contained easy chairs, a sofa +upholstered with hair cloth, an upright piano, a marble fireplace with a +mantel, in a corner a triangular what-not filled with objects. It, too, +was dim and curtained and faintly aromatic as had been the house of an +old maiden aunt of my childhood, who used to give me cookies on the +Sabbath. I felt now too large, and too noisy, and altogether mis-dressed +and blundering and dirty. The little old man moved without a sound, and +the grandfather's clock outside ticked deliberately in a hollow silence. + +I sat down, rather gingerly, in the chair he indicated for me. + +"I shall be very glad to offer you hospitality for the night," he said, +as though there had been no interim. "I feel honoured at the +opportunity." + +I murmured my thanks, and a suggestion that I should look after my +horse. + +"Your horse, sir, has been attended to, and your _cantinas_[B] are +undoubtedly by now in your room, where, I am sure, you are anxious to +repair." + +He gave no signal, nor uttered any command, but at his last words a +grave, elderly Mexican appeared noiselessly at my elbow. As a matter of +fact, he came through an unnoticed door at the back, but he might as +well have materialized from the thin air for the start that he gave me. +Hooper instantly arose. + +"I trust, sir, you will find all to your liking. If anything is lacking, +I trust you will at once indicate the fact. We shall dine in a half +hour----" + +He seized a small implement consisting of a bit of wire screen attached +to the end of a short stick, darted across the room with the most +extraordinary agility, thwacked a lone house fly, and returned. + +"--and you will undoubtedly be ready for it," he finished his speech, +calmly, as though he had not moved from his tracks. + +I murmured my acknowledgments. My last impression as I left the room was +of the baleful, dead, challenging stare of the man's wildcat eyes. + +The Mexican glided before me. We emerged into the court, walked along +the verandah, and entered a bedroom. My guide slipped by me and +disappeared before I had the chance of a word with him. He may have been +dumb for all I know. I sat down and tried to take stock. + + + + +CHAPTER III + + +The room was small, but it was papered, it was rugged, its floor was +painted and waxed, its window--opening into the court, by the way--was +hung with chintz and net curtains, its bed was garnished with sheets and +counterpane, its chairs were upholstered and in perfect repair and +polish. It was not Arizona, emphatically not, but rather the sweet and +garnished and lavendered respectability of a Connecticut village. My +dirty old _cantinas_ lay stacked against the washstand. At sight of them +I had to grin. Of course I travelled cowboy fashion. They contained a +toothbrush, a comb, and a change of underwear. The latter item was +sheer, rank pride of caste. + +It was all most incongruous and strange. But the strangest part, of +course, was the fact that I found myself where I was at that moment. Why +was I thus received? Why was I, an ordinary and rather dirty cowpuncher, +not sent as usual to the men's bunk house? It could not be possible that +Old Man Hooper extended this sort of hospitality to every chance +wayfarer. Arizona is a democratic country, Lord knows: none more so! But +owners are not likely to invite in strange cowboys unless they +themselves mess with their own men. I gave it up, and tried +unsuccessfully to shrug it off my mind, and sought distraction in +looking about me. There was not much to see. The one door and one +window opened into the court. The other side was blank except that near +the ceiling ran a curious, long, narrow opening closed by a transom-like +sash. I had never seen anything quite like it, but concluded that it +must be a sort of loop hole for musketry in the old days. Probably they +had some kind of scaffold to stand on. + +I pulled off my shirt and took a good wash: shook the dust out of my +clothes as well as I could; removed my spurs and _chaps_; knotted my +silk handkerchief necktie fashion; slicked down my wet hair, and tried +to imagine myself decently turned out for company. I took off my gun +belt also; but after some hesitation thrust the revolver inside the +waistband of my drawers. Had no reason; simply the border instinct to +stick to one's weapon. + +Then I sat down to wait. The friendly little noises of my own movements +left me. I give you my word, never before nor since have I experienced +such stillness. In vain I told myself that with adobe walls two feet +thick, a windless evening, and an hour after sunset, stillness was to be +expected. That did not satisfy. Silence is made up of a thousand little +noises so accustomed that they pass over the consciousness. Somehow +these little noises seemed to lack. I sat in an aural vacuum. This +analysis has come to me since. At that time I only knew that most +uneasily I missed something, and that my ears ached from vain listening. + +At the end of the half hour I returned to the parlour. Old Man Hooper +was there waiting. A hanging lamp had been lighted. Out of the shadows +cast from it a slender figure rose and came forward. + +"My daughter, Mr.----" he paused. + +"Sanborn," I supplied. + +"My dear, Mr. Sanborn has most kindly dropped in to relieve the tedium +of our evening with his company--his distinguished company." He +pronounced the words suavely, without a trace of sarcastic emphasis, yet +somehow I felt my face flush. And all the time he was staring at me +blankly with his wide, unblinking, wildcat eyes. + +The girl was very pale, with black hair and wide eyes under a fair, wide +brow. She was simply dressed in some sort of white stuff. I thought she +drooped a little. She did not look at me, nor speak to me; only bowed +slightly. + +We went at once into a dining room at the end of the little dark hall. +It was lighted by a suspended lamp that threw the illumination straight +down on a table perfect in its appointments of napery, silver, and +glass. I felt very awkward and dusty in my cowboy rig; and rather too +large. The same Mexican served us, deftly. We had delightful food, well +cooked. I do not remember what it was. My attention was divided between +the old man and his daughter. He talked, urbanely, of a wide range of +topics, displaying a cosmopolitan taste, employing a choice of words and +phrases that was astonishing. The girl, who turned out to be very pretty +in a dark, pale, sad way, never raised her eyes from her plate. + +It was the cool of the evening, and a light breeze from the open window +swung the curtains. From the blackness outside a single frog began to +chirp. My host's flow of words eddied, ceased. He raised his head +uneasily; then, without apology, slipped from his chair and glided from +the room. The Mexican remained, standing bolt upright in the dimness. + +For the first time the girl spoke. Her voice was low and sweet, but +either I or my aroused imagination detected a strained under quality. + +"Ramon," she said in Spanish, "I am chilly. Close the window." + +The servant turned his back to obey. With a movement rapid as a snake's +dart the girl's hand came from beneath the table, reached across, and +thrust into mine a small, folded paper. The next instant she was back in +her place, staring down as before in apparent apathy. So amazed was I +that I recovered barely soon enough to conceal the paper before Ramon +turned back from his errand. + +The next five minutes were to me hours of strained and bewildered +waiting. I addressed one or two remarks to my companion, but received +always monosyllabic answers. Twice I caught the flash of lanterns beyond +the darkened window; and a subdued, confused murmur as though several +people were walking about stealthily. Except for this the night had +again fallen deathly still. Even the cheerful frog had hushed. + +At the end of a period my host returned, and without apology or +explanation resumed his seat and took up his remarks where he had left +them. + +The girl disappeared somewhere between the table and the sitting room. +Old Man Hooper offered me a cigar, and sat down deliberately to +entertain me. I had an uncomfortable feeling that he was also amusing +himself, as though I were being played with and covertly sneered at. +Hooper's politeness and suavity concealed, and well concealed, a bitter +irony. His manner was detached and a little precise. Every few moments +he burst into a flurry of activity with the fly whacker, darting here +and there as his eyes fell upon one of the insects; but returning always +calmly to his discourse with an air of never having moved from his +chair. He talked to me of Praxiteles, among other things. What should an +Arizona cowboy know of Praxiteles? and why should any one talk to him of +that worthy Greek save as a subtle and hidden expression of contempt? +That was my feeling. My senses and mental apperceptions were by now a +little on the raw. + +That, possibly, is why I noticed the very first chirp of another frog +outside. It continued, and I found myself watching my host covertly. +Sure enough, after a few repetitions I saw subtle signs of uneasiness, +of divided attention; and soon, again without apology or explanation, he +glided from the room. And at the same instant the old Mexican servitor +came and pretended to fuss with the lamps. + +My curiosity was now thoroughly aroused, but I could guess no means of +satisfying it. Like the bedroom, this parlour gave out only on the +interior court. The flash of lanterns against the ceiling above reached +me. All I could do was to wander about looking at the objects in the +cabinet and the pictures on the walls. There was, I remember, a set of +carved ivory chessmen and an engraving of the legal trial of some +English worthy of the seventeenth century. But my hearing was alert, and +I thought to hear footsteps outside. At any rate, the chirp of the frog +came to an abrupt end. + +Shortly my host returned and took up his monologue. It amounted to +that. He seemed to delight in choosing unusual subjects and then backing +me into a corner with an array of well-considered phrases that allowed +me no opening for reply nor even comment. In one of my desperate +attempts to gain even a momentary initiative I asked him, apropos of the +piano, whether his daughter played. + +"Do you like music?" he added, and without waiting for a reply seated +himself at the instrument. + +He played to me for half an hour. I do not know much about music; but I +know he played well and that he played good things. Also that, for the +first time, he came out of himself, abandoned himself to feeling. His +close-cropped head swayed from side to side; his staring, wildcat eyes +half closed---- + +He slammed shut the piano and arose, more drily precise than ever. + +"I imagine all that is rather beyond your apperceptions," he remarked, +"and that you are ready for your bed. Here is a short document I would +have you take to your room for perusal. Good-night." + +He tendered me a small, folded paper which I thrust into the breast +pocket of my shirt along with the note handed me earlier in the evening +by the girl. Thus dismissed I was only too delighted to repair to my +bedroom. + +There I first carefully drew together the curtains; then examined the +first of the papers I drew from my pocket. It proved to be the one from +the girl, and read as follows: + + I am here against my will. I am not this man's daughter. For God's + sake if you can help me, do so. But be careful for he is a + dangerous man. My room is the last one on the left wing of the + court. I am constantly guarded. I do not know what you can do. The + case is hopeless. I cannot write more. I am watched. + +I unfolded the paper Hooper himself had given me. It was similar in +appearance to the other, and read: + + I am held a prisoner. This man Hooper is not my father but he is + vindictive and cruel and dangerous. Beware for yourself. I live in + the last room in the left wing. I am watched, so cannot write more. + +The handwriting of the two documents was the same. I stared at one paper +and then at the other, and for a half hour I thought all the thoughts +appropriate to the occasion. They led me nowhere, and would not interest +you. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + + +After a time I went to bed, but not to sleep. I placed my gun under my +pillow, locked and bolted the door, and arranged a string cunningly +across the open window so that an intruder--unless he had extraordinary +luck--could not have failed to kick up a devil of a clatter. I was +young, bold, without nerves; so that I think I can truthfully say I was +not in the least frightened. But I cannot deny I was nervous--or rather +the whole situation was on my nerves. I lay on my back staring straight +at the ceiling. I caught myself gripping the sheets and listening. Only +there was nothing to listen to. The night was absolutely still. There +were no frogs, no owls, no crickets even. The firm old adobe walls gave +off no creak nor snap of timbers. The world was muffled--I almost said +smothered. The psychological effect was that of blank darkness, the +black darkness of far underground, although the moon was sailing the +heavens. + +How long that lasted I could not tell you. But at last the silence was +broken by the cheerful chirp of a frog. Never was sound more grateful to +the ear! I lay drinking it in as thirstily as water after a day on the +desert. It seemed that the world breathed again, was coming alive after +syncope. And then beneath that loud and cheerful singing I became aware +of duller half-heard movements; and a moment or so later yellow lights +began to flicker through the transom high at the blank wall of the +room, and to reflect in wavering patches on the ceiling. Evidently +somebody was afoot outside with a lantern. + +I crept from the bed, moved the table beneath the transom, and climbed +atop. The opening was still a foot or so above my head. Being young, +strong, and active, I drew myself up by the strength of my arms so I +could look--until my muscles gave out! + +I saw four men with lanterns moving here and there among some willows +that bordered what seemed to be an irrigating ditch with water. They +were armed with long clubs. Old Man Hooper, in an overcoat, stood in a +commanding position. They seemed to be searching. Suddenly from a clump +of bushes one of the men uttered an exclamation of triumph. I saw his +long club rise and fall. At that instant my tired fingers slipped from +the ledge and I had to let myself drop to the table. When a moment later +I regained my vantage point, I found that the whole crew had +disappeared. + +Nothing more happened that night. At times I dozed in a broken sort of +fashion, but never actually fell into sound sleep. The nearest I came to +slumber was just at dawn. I really lost all consciousness of my +surroundings and circumstances, and was only slowly brought to myself by +the sweet singing of innumerable birds in the willows outside the blank +wall. I lay in a half stupor enjoying them. Abruptly their music ceased. +I heard the soft, flat _spat_ of a miniature rifle. The sound was +repeated. I climbed back on my table and drew myself again to a position +of observation. + +Old Man Hooper, armed with a .22 calibre rifle, was prowling along the +willows in which fluttered a small band of migratory birds. He was just +drawing bead on a robin. At the report the bird fell. The old man darted +forward with the impetuosity of a boy, although the bird was dead. An +impulse of contempt curled my lips. The old man was childish! Why should +he find pleasure in hunting such harmless creatures? and why should he +take on triumph over retrieving such petty game? But when he reached the +fallen bird he did not pick it up for a possible pot-pie as I thought he +would do. He ground it into the soft earth with the heel of his boot, +stamping on the poor thing again and again. And never have I seen on +human countenance such an expression of satisfied malignity! + +I went to my door and looked out. You may be sure that the message I had +received from the unfortunate young lady had not been forgotten; but Old +Man Hooper's cynical delivery of the second paper had rendered me too +cautious to undertake anything without proper reconnaissance. The left +wing about the courtyard seemed to contain two apartments--at least +there were two doors, each with its accompanying window. The window +farthest out was heavily barred. My thrill at this discovery was, +however, slightly dashed by the further observation that also all the +other windows into the courtyard were barred. Still, that was peculiar +in itself, and not attributable--as were the walls and remarkable +transoms--to former necessities of defence. My first thought was to +stroll idly around the courtyard, thus obtaining a closer inspection. +But the moment I stepped into the open a Mexican sauntered into view +and began to water the flowers. I can say no more than that in his hands +that watering pot looked fairly silly. So I turned to the right and +passed through the wicket gate and into the stable yard. It was natural +enough that I should go to look after my own horse. + +The stable yard was for the moment empty; but as I walked across it one +of its doors opened and a very little, wizened old man emerged leading a +horse. He tied the animal to a ring in the wall and proceeded at once to +currying. + +I had been in Arizona for ten years. During that time I had seen a great +many very fine native horses, for the stock of that country is directly +descended from the barbs of the _conquistadores_. But, though often well +formed and as tough and useful as horseflesh is made, they were small. +And no man thought of refinements in caring for any one of his numerous +mounts. They went shaggy or smooth according to the season; and not one +of them could have called a curry comb or brush out of its name. + +The beast from which the wizened old man stripped a _bona fide_ horse +blanket was none of these. He stood a good sixteen hands; his head was +small and clean cut with large, intelligent eyes and little, well-set +ears; his long, muscular shoulders sloped forward as shoulders should; +his barrel was long and deep and well ribbed up; his back was flat and +straight; his legs were clean and--what was rarely seen in the cow +country--well proportioned--the cannon bone shorter than the leg bone, +the ankle sloping and long and elastic--in short, a magnificent creature +whose points of excellence appeared one by one under close scrutiny. +And the high lights of his glossy coat flashed in the sun like water. + +I walked from one side to the other of him marvelling. Not a defect, not +even a blemish could I discover. The animal was fairly a perfect +specimen of horseflesh. And I could not help speculating as to its use. +Old Man Hooper had certainly never appeared with it in public; the fame +of such a beast would have spread the breadth of the country. + +During my inspection the wizened little man continued his work without +even a glance in my direction. He had on riding breeches and leather +gaiters, a plaid waistcoat and a peaked cap; which, when you think of +it, was to Arizona about as incongruous as the horse. I made several +conventional remarks of admiration, to which he paid not the slightest +attention. But I know a bait. + +"I suppose you claim him as a Morgan," said I. + +"Claim, is it!" grunted the little man, contemptuously. + +"Well, the Morgan is not a real breed, anyway," I persisted. "A +sixty-fourth blood will get one registered. What does that amount to?" + +The little man grunted again. + +"Besides, though your animal is a good one, he is too short and straight +in the pasterns," said I, uttering sheer, rank, wild heresy. + +After that we talked; at first heatedly, then argumentatively, then with +entire, enthusiastic agreement. I saw to that. Allowing yourself to be +converted from an absurd opinion is always a sure way to favour. We +ended with antiphonies of praise for this descendant of Justin Morgan. + +"You're the only man in all this God-forsaken country that has the +sense of a Shanghai rooster!" cried the little man in a glow. "They ride +horses and they know naught of them; and they laugh at a horseman! Your +hand, sir!" He shook it. "And is that your horse in number four? I +wondered! He's the first animal I've seen here properly shod. They use +the rasp, sir, on the outside the hoof, and on the clinches, sir; and +they burn a seat for the shoe; and they pare out the sole and trim the +frog--bah! You shoe your own horse, I take it. That's right and proper! +Your hand again, sir. Your horse has been fed this hour agone." + +"I'll water him, then," said I. + +But when I led him forth I could find no trough or other facilities +until the little man led me to a corner of the corral and showed me a +contraption with a close-fitting lid to be lifted. + +"It's along of the flies," he explained to me. "They must drink, and we +starve them for water here, and they go greedy for their poison yonder." +He indicated flat dishes full of liquid set on shelves here and about. +"We keep them pretty clear." + +I walked over, curiously, to examine. About and in the dishes were +literally quarts of dead insects, not only flies, but bees, hornets, and +other sorts as well. I now understood the deadly silence that had so +impressed me the evening before. This was certainly most ingenious; and +I said so. + +But at my first remark the old man became obstinately silent, and fell +again to grooming the Morgan horse. Then I became aware that he was +addressing me in low tones out of the corner of his mouth. + +"Go on; look at the horse; say something," he muttered, busily +polishing down the animal's hind legs. "You're a man who _saveys_ a +horse--the only man I've seen here who does. _Get out_! Don't ask why. +You're safe now. You're not safe here another day. Water your horse; eat +your breakfast; then _get out_!" + +And not another word did I extract. I watered my horse at the covered +trough, and rather thoughtfully returned to the courtyard. + +I found there Old Man Hooper waiting. He looked as bland and innocent +and harmless as the sunlight on his own flagstones--until he gazed up at +me, and then I was as usual disconcerted by the blank, veiled, unwinking +stare of his eyes. + +"Remarkably fine Morgan stallion you have, sir," I greeted him. "I +didn't know such a creature existed in this part of the world." + +But the little man displayed no gratification. + +"He's well enough. I have him more to keep Tim happy than anything else. +We'll go in to breakfast." + +I cast a cautious eye at the barred window in the left wing. The +curtains were still down. At the table I ventured to ask after Miss +Hooper. The old man stared at me up to the point of embarrassment, then +replied drily that she always breakfasted in her room. The rest of our +conversation was on general topics. I am bound to say it was +unexpectedly easy. The old man was a good talker, and possessed social +ease and a certain charm, which he seemed to be trying to exert. Among +other things, I remember, he told me of the Indian councils he used to +hold in the old days. + +"They were held on the willow flat, outside the east wall," he said. "I +never allowed any of them inside the walls." The suavity of his manner +broke fiercely and suddenly. "Everything inside the walls is mine!" he +declared with heat. "Mine! mine! mine! Understand? I will not tolerate +in here anything that is not mine; that does not obey my will; that does +not come when I say come; go when I say go; and fall silent when I say +be still!" + +A wild and fantastic idea suddenly illuminated my understanding. + +"Even the crickets, the flies, the frogs, the birds," I said, +audaciously. + +He fixed his wildcat eyes upon me without answering. + +"And," I went on, deliberately, "who could deny your perfect right to do +what you will with your own? And if they did deny that right what more +natural than that they should be made to perish--or take their +breakfasts in their rooms?" + +I was never more aware of the absolute stillness of the house than when +I uttered these foolish words. My hand was on the gun in my +trouser-band; but even as I spoke a sickening realization came over me +that if the old man opposite so willed, I would have no slightest chance +to use it. The air behind me seemed full of menace, and the hair crawled +on the back of my neck. Hooper stared at me without sign for ten +seconds; his right hand hovered above the polished table. Then he let it +fall without giving what I am convinced would have been a signal. + +"Will you have more coffee--my guest?" he inquired. And he stressed +subtly the last word in a manner that somehow made me just a trifle +ashamed. + +At the close of the meal the Mexican familiar glided into the room. +Hooper seemed to understand the man's presence, for he arose at once. + +"Your horse is saddled and ready," he told me, briskly. "You will be +wishing to start before the heat of the day. Your _cantinas_ are ready +on the saddle." + +He clapped on his hat and we walked together to the corral. There +awaited us not only my own horse, but another. The equipment of the +latter was magnificently reminiscent of the old California +days--gaily-coloured braided hair bridle and reins; silver _conchas_; +stock saddle of carved leather with silver horn and cantle; silvered bit +bars; gay Navajo blanket as corona; silver corners to skirts, silver +_conchas_ on the long _tapaderos_. Old Man Hooper, strangely incongruous +in his wrinkled "store clothes," swung aboard. + +"I will ride with you for a distance," he said. + +We jogged forth side by side at the slow Spanish trot. Hooper called my +attention to the buildings of Fort Shafter glimmering part way up the +slopes of the distant mountains, and talked entertainingly of the Indian +days, and how the young officers used to ride down to his ranch for +music. + +After a half hour thus we came to the long string of wire and the huge, +awkward gate that marked the limit of Hooper's "pasture." Of course the +open range was his real pasture; but every ranch enclosed a thousand +acres or so somewhere near the home station to be used for horses in +active service. Before I could anticipate him, he had sidled his horse +skillfully alongside the gate and was holding it open for me to pass. I +rode through the opening murmuring thanks and an apology. The old man +followed me through, and halted me by placing his horse square across +the path of mine. + +"You are now, sir, outside my land and therefore no longer my guest," he +said, and the snap in his voice was like the crackling of electricity. +"Don't let me ever see you here again. You are keen and intelligent. You +spoke the truth a short time since. You were right. I tolerate nothing +in my place that is not my own--no man, no animal, no bird, no insect +nor reptile even--that will not obey my lightest order. And these +creatures, great or small, who will not--_or even cannot_--obey my +orders must go--or die. Understand me clearly? + +"You have come here, actuated, I believe, by idle curiosity, but without +knowledge. You made yourself--ignorantly--my guest; and a guest is +sacred. But now you know my customs and ideas. I am telling you. Never +again can you come here in ignorance; therefore never again can you come +here as a guest; and never again will you pass freely." + +He delivered this drily, precisely, with frost in his tones, staring +balefully into my eyes. So taken aback was I by this unleashed hostility +that for a moment I had nothing to say. + +"Now, if you please, I will take both notes from that poor idiot: the +one I handed you and the one she handed you." + +I realized suddenly that the two lay together in the breast pocket of my +shirt; that though alike in tenor, they differed in phrasing; and that I +had no means of telling one from the other. + +"The paper you gave me I read and threw away," I stated, boldly. "It +meant nothing to me. As to any other, I do not know what you are talking +about." + +"You are lying," he said, calmly, as merely stating a fact. "It does not +matter. It is my fancy to collect them. I should have liked to add +yours. Now get out of this, and don't let me see your face again!" + +"Mr. Hooper," said I, "I thank you for your hospitality, which has been +complete and generous. You have pointed out the fact that I am no longer +your guest. I can, therefore, with propriety, tell you that your ideas +and prejudices are noted with interest; your wishes are placed on file +for future reference; I don't give a damn for your orders; and you can +go to hell!" + +"Fine flow of language. Educated cowpuncher," said the old man, drily. +"You are warned. Keep off. Don't meddle with what does not concern you. +And if the rumour gets back to me that you've been speculating or +talking or criticizing----" + +"Well?" I challenged. + +"I'll have you killed," he said, simply; so simply that I knew he meant +it. + +"You are foolish to make threats," I rejoined. "Two can play at that +game. You drive much alone." + +"I do not work alone," he hinted, darkly. "The day my body is found dead +of violence, that day marks the doom of a long list of men whom I +consider inimical to me--like, perhaps, yourself." He stared me down +with his unwinking gaze. + + + + +CHAPTER V + + +I returned to Box Springs at a slow jog trot, thinking things over. Old +Man Hooper's warning sobered, but did not act as a deterrent of my +intention to continue with the adventure. But how? I could hardly storm +the fort single handed and carry off the damsel in distress. On the +evidence I possessed I could not even get together a storming party. The +cowboy is chivalrous enough, but human. He would not uprise +spontaneously to the point of war on the mere statement of incarcerated +beauty--especially as ill-treatment was not apparent. I would hardly +last long enough to carry out the necessary proselyting campaign. It +never occurred to me to doubt that Hooper would fulfill his threat of +having me killed, or his ability to do so. + +So when the men drifted in two by two at dusk, I said nothing of my real +adventures, and answered their chaff in kind. + +"He played the piano for me," I told them the literal truth, "and had me +in to the parlour and dining room. He gave me a room to myself with a +bed and sheets; and he rode out to his pasture gate with me to say +good-bye," and thereby I was branded a delicious liar. + +"They took me into the bunk house and fed me, all right," said Windy +Bill, "and fed my horse. And next morning that old Mexican Joe of his +just nat'rally up and kicked me off the premises." + +"Wonder you didn't shoot him," I exclaimed. + +"Oh, he didn't use his foot. But he sort of let me know that the place +was unhealthy to visit more'n once. And somehow I seen he meant it; and +I ain't never had no call to go back." + +I mulled over the situation all day, and then could stand it no longer. +On the dark of the evening I rode to within a couple of miles of +Hooper's ranch, tied my horse, and scouted carefully forward afoot. For +one thing I wanted to find out whether the system of high transoms +extended to all the rooms, including that in the left wing: for another +I wanted to determine the "lay of the land" on that blank side of the +house. I found my surmise correct as to the transoms. As to the blank +side of the house, that looked down on a wide, green, moist patch and +the irrigating ditch with its stunted willows. Then painstakingly I went +over every inch of the terrain about the ranch; and might just as well +have investigated the external economy of a mud turtle. Realizing that +nothing was to be gained in this manner, I withdrew to my strategic base +where I rolled down and slept until daylight. Then I saddled and +returned toward the ranch. + +I had not ridden two miles, however, before in the boulder-strewn wash +of Arroyo Seco I met Jim Starr, one of our men. + +"Look here," he said to me. "Jed sent me up to look at the Elder +Springs, but my hoss has done cast a shoe. Cain't you ride up there?" + +"I cannot," said I, promptly. "I've been out all night and had no +breakfast. But you can have my horse." + +So we traded horses and separated, each our own way. They sent me out by +Coyote Wells with two other men, and we did not get back until the +following evening. + +The ranch was buzzing with excitement. Jim Starr had not returned, +although the ride to Elder Springs was only a two-hour affair. After a +night had elapsed, and still he did not return, two men had been sent. +They found him half way to Elder Springs with a bullet hole in his back. +The bullet was that of a rifle. Being plainsmen they had done good +detective work of its kind, and had determined--by the direction of the +bullet's flight as evidenced by the wound--that it had been fired from a +point above. The only point above was the low "rim" that ran for miles +down the Soda Springs Valley. It was of black lava and showed no tracks. +The men, with a true sense of values, had contented themselves with +covering Jim Starr with a blanket, and then had ridden the rim for some +miles in both directions looking for a trail. None could be discovered. +By this they deduced that the murder was not the result of chance +encounter, but had been so carefully planned that no trace would be left +of the murderer or murderers. + +No theory could be imagined save the rather vague one of personal +enmity. Jim Starr was comparatively a newcomer with us. Nobody knew +anything much about him or his relations. Nobody questioned the only man +who could have told anything; and that man did not volunteer to tell +what he knew. + +I refer to myself. The thing was sickeningly clear to me. Jim Starr had +nothing to do with it. I was the man for whom that bullet from the rim +had been intended. I was the unthinking, shortsighted fool who had done +Jim Starr to his death. It had never occurred to me that my midnight +reconnoitring would leave tracks, that Old Man Hooper's suspicious +vigilance would even look for tracks. But given that vigilance, the rest +followed plainly enough. A skillful trailer would have found his way to +where I had mounted; he would have followed my horse to Arroyo Seco +where I had met with Jim Starr. There he would have visualized a rider +on a horse without one shoe coming as far as the Arroyo, meeting me, and +returning whence he had come; and me at once turning off at right +angles. His natural conclusion would be that a messenger had brought me +orders and had returned. The fact that we had shifted mounts he could +not have read, for the reason--as I only too distinctly remembered--that +we had made the change in the boulder and rock stream bed which would +show no clear traces. + +The thought that poor Jim Starr, whom I had well liked, had been +sacrificed for me, rendered my ride home with the convoy more deeply +thoughtful than even the tragic circumstances warranted. We laid his +body in the small office, pending Buck Johnson's return from town, and +ate our belated meal in silence. Then we gathered around the corner +fireplace in the bunk house, lit our smokes, and talked it over. Jed +Parker joined us. Usually he sat with our owner in the office. + +Hardly had we settled ourselves to discussion when the door opened and +Buck Johnson came in. We had been so absorbed that no one had heard him +ride up. He leaned his forearm against the doorway at the height of his +head and surveyed the silenced group rather ironically. + +"Lucky I'm not nervous and jumpy by nature," he observed. "I've seen +dead men before. Still, next time you want to leave one in my office +after dark, I wish you'd put a light with him, or tack up a sign, or +even leave somebody to tell me about it. I'm sorry it's Starr and not +that thoughtful old horned toad in the corner." + +Jed looked foolish, but said nothing. Buck came in, closed the door, and +took a chair square in front of the fireplace. The glow of the leaping +flames was full upon him. His strong face and bulky figure were +revealed, while the other men sat in half shadow. He at once took charge +of the discussion. + +"How was he killed?" he inquired, "bucked off?" + +"Shot," replied Jed Parker. + +Buck's eyebrows came together. + +"Who?" he asked. + +He was told the circumstances as far as they were known, but declined to +listen to any of the various deductions and surmises. + +"Deliberate murder and not a chance quarrel," he concluded. "He wasn't +even within hollering distance of that rim-rock. Anybody know anything +about Starr?" + +"He's been with us about five weeks," proffered Jed, as foreman. "Said +he came from Texas." + +"He was a Texican," corroborated one of the other men. "I rode with him +considerable." + +"What enemies did he have?" asked Buck. + +But it developed that, as far as these men knew, Jim Starr had had no +enemies. He was a quiet sort of a fellow. He had been to town once or +twice. Of course he might have made an enemy, but it was not likely; he +had always behaved himself. Somebody would have known of any trouble---- + +"Maybe somebody followed him from Texas." + +"More likely the usual local work," Buck interrupted. "This man Starr +ever met up with Old Man Hooper or Hooper's men?" + +But here was another impasse. Starr had been over on the Slick Rock ever +since his arrival. I could have thrown some light on the matter, +perhaps, but new thoughts were coming to me and I kept silence. + +Shortly Buck Johnson went out. His departure loosened tongues, among +them mine. + +"I don't see why you stand for this old _hombre_ if he's as bad as you +say," I broke in. "Why don't some of you brave young warriors just +naturally pot him?" + +And that started a new line of discussion that left me even more +thoughtful than before. I knew these men intimately. There was not a +coward among them. They had been tried and hardened and tempered in the +fierceness of the desert. Any one of them would have twisted the tail of +the devil himself; but they were off Old Man Hooper. They did not make +that admission in so many words; far from it. And I valued my hide +enough to refrain from pointing the fact. But that fact remained: they +were off Old Man Hooper. Furthermore, by the time they had finished +recounting in intimate detail some scores of anecdotes dealing with what +happened when Old Man Hooper winked his wildcat eye, I began in spite +of myself to share some of their sentiments. For no matter how flagrant +the killing, nor how certain morally the origin, never had the most +brilliant nor the most painstaking effort been able to connect with the +slayers nor their instigator. He worked in the dark by hidden hands; but +the death from the hands was as certain as the rattlesnake's. Certain of +his victims, by luck or cleverness, seemed to have escaped sometimes as +many as three or four attempts but in the end the old man's Killers got +them. + +A Jew drummer who had grossly insulted Hooper in the Lone Star Emporium +had, on learning the enormity of his crime, fled to San Francisco. Three +months later Soda Springs awoke to find pasted by an unknown hand on the +window of the Emporium a newspaper account of that Jew drummer's taking +off. The newspaper could offer no theory and merely recited the fact +that the man suffered from a heavy-calibred bullet. But always the talk +turned back at last to that crowning atrocity, the Boomerang, with its +windrows of little calves, starved for water, lying against the fence. + +"Yes," someone unexpectedly answered my first question at last, "someone +could just naturally pot him easy enough. But I got a hunch that he +couldn't get fur enough away to feel safe afterward. The fellow with a +hankering for a good _useful_ kind of suicide could get it right there. +Any candidates? You-all been looking kinda mournful lately, Windy; +s'pose you be the human benefactor and rid the world of this yere +reptile." + +"Me?" said Windy with vast surprise, "me mournful? Why, I sing at my +work like a little dicky bird. I'm so plumb cheerful bull frogs ain't +in it. You ain't talking to me!" + +But I wanted one more point of information before the conversation +veered. + +"Does his daughter ever ride out?" I asked. + +"Daughter?" they echoed in surprise. + +"Or niece, or whoever she is," I supplemented impatiently. + +"There's no woman there; not even a Mex," said one, and "Did you see any +sign of any woman?" keenly from Windy Bill. + +But I was not minded to be drawn. + +"Somebody told me about a daughter, or niece, or something," I said, +vaguely. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + + +I lay in my bunk and cast things up in my mind. The patch of moonlight +from the window moved slowly across the floor. One of the men was +snoring, but with regularity, so he did not annoy me. The outside +silence was softly musical with all the little voices that at Hooper's +had so disconcertingly lacked. There were crickets--I had forgotten +about them--and frogs, and a hoot owl, and various such matters, beneath +whose influence customarily my consciousness merged into sleep so +sweetly that I never knew when I had lost them. But I was never wider +awake than now, and never had I done more concentrated thinking. + +For the moment, and for the moment, only, I was safe. Old Man Hooper +thought he had put me out of the way. How long would he continue to +think so? How long before his men would bring true word of the mistake +that had been made? Perhaps the following day would inform him that Jim +Starr and not myself had been reached by his killer's bullet. Then, I +had no doubt, a second attempt would be made on my life. Therefore, +whatever I was going to do must be done quickly. + +I had the choice of war or retreat. Would it do me any good to retreat? +There was the Jew drummer who was killed in San Francisco; and others +whose fates I have not detailed. But why should he particularly desire +my extinction? What had I done or what knowledge did I possess that had +not been equally done and known by any chance visitor to the ranch? I +remembered the notes in my shirt pocket; and, at the risk of awakening +some of my comrades, I lit a candle and studied them. They were +undoubtedly written by the same hand. To whom had the other been +smuggled? and by what means had it come into Old Man Hooper's +possession? The answer hit me so suddenly, and seemed intrinsically so +absurd, that I blew out the candle and lay again on my back to study it. + +And the more I studied it, the less absurd it seemed, not by the light +of reason, but by the feeling of pure intuition. I knew it as sanely as +I knew that the moon made that patch of light through the window. The +man to whom that other note had been surreptitiously conveyed by the +sad-eyed, beautiful girl of the iron-barred chamber was dead; and he was +dead because Old Man Hooper had so willed. And the former owners of the +other notes of the "Collection" concerning which the old man had spoken +were dead, too--dead for the same reason and by the same hidden hands. + +Why? Because they knew about the girl? Unlikely. Without doubt Hooper +had, as in my case, himself made possible that knowledge. But I +remembered many things; and I knew that my flash of intuition, absurd as +it might seem at first sight, was true. I recalled the swift, darting +onslaughts with the fly whackers, the fierce, vindictive slaughter of +the frogs, his early-morning pursuit of the flock of migrating birds. +Especially came clear to my recollection the words spoken at breakfast: + +"Everything inside the walls is mine! Mine! Mine! Understand? I will +not tolerate anything that is not mine; that does not obey my will; that +does not come when I say come; go when I say go; and fall silent when I +say be still!" + +My crime, the crime of these men from whose dead hands the girl's +appeals had been taken for the "Collection," was that of curiosity! The +old man would within his own domain reign supreme, in the mental as in +the physical world. The chance cowboy, genuinely desirous only of a +resting place for the night, rode away unscathed; but he whom the old +man convicted of a prying spirit committed a lese-majesty that could not +be forgiven. And I had made many tracks during my night reconnaissance. + +And the same flash of insight showed me that I would be followed +wherever I went; and the thing that convinced my intuitions--not my +reason--of this was the recollection of the old man stamping the remains +of the poor little bird into the mud by the willows. I saw again the +insane rage of his face; and I felt cold fingers touching my spine. + +On this I went abruptly and unexpectedly to sleep, after the fashion of +youth, and did not stir until Sing, the cook, routed us out before dawn. +We were not to ride the range that day because of Jim Starr, but Sing +was a person of fixed habits. I plunged my head into the face of the +dawn with a new and light-hearted confidence. It was one of those clear, +nile-green sunrises whose lucent depths go back a million miles or so; +and my spirit followed on wings. Gone were at once my fine-spun theories +and my forebodings of the night. Life was clean and clear and simple. +Jim Starr had probably some personal enemy. Old Man Hooper was +undoubtedly a mean old lunatic, and dangerous; very likely he would +attempt to do me harm, as he said, if I bothered him again, but as for +following me to the ends of the earth---- + +The girl was a different matter. She required thought. So, as I was +hungry and the day sparkling, I postponed her and went in to breakfast. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + + +By the time the coroner's inquest and the funeral in town were over it +was three o'clock of the afternoon. As I only occasionally managed Soda +Springs I felt no inclination to hurry on the return journey. My +intention was to watch the Overland through, to make some small +purchases at the Lone Star Emporium, to hoist one or two at McGrue's, +and to dine sumptuously at the best--and only--hotel. A programme simple +in theme but susceptible to variations. + +The latter began early. After posing kiddishly as a rough, woolly, +romantic cowboy before the passengers of the Overland, I found myself +chaperoning a visitor to our midst. By sheer accident the visitor had +singled me out for an inquiry. + +"Can you tell me how to get to Hooper's ranch?" he asked. + +So I annexed him promptly in hope of developments. + +He was certainly no prize package, for he was small, pale, nervous, +shifty, and rat-like; and neither his hands nor his eyes were still for +an instant. Further to set him apart he wore a hard-boiled hat, a +flaming tie, a checked vest, a coat cut too tight for even his emaciated +little figure, and long toothpick shoes of patent leather. A fairer mark +for cowboy humour would be difficult to find; but I had a personal +interest and a determined character so the gang took a look at me and +bided their time. + +But immediately I discovered I was going to have my hands full. It +seemed that the little, shifty, rat-faced man had been possessed of a +small handbag which the negro porter had failed to put off the train; +and which was of tremendous importance. At the discovery it was lacking +my new friend went into hysterics. He ran a few feet after the +disappearing train; he called upon high heaven to destroy utterly the +race of negro porters; he threatened terrible reprisals against a +delinquent railroad company; he seized upon a bewildered station agent +over whom he poured his troubles in one gush; and he lifted up his voice +and wept--literally wept! This to the vast enjoyment of my friends. + +"What ails the small party?" asked Windy Bill coming up. + +"He's lost the family jewels!" "The papers are missing." "Sandy here +(meaning me) won't give him his bottle and it's past feeding time." +"Sandy's took away his stick of candy and won't give it back." "The +little son-of-a-gun's just remembered that he give the nigger porter two +bits," were some of the replies he got. + +On the general principle of "never start anything you can't finish," I +managed to quell the disturbance; I got a description of the bag, and +arranged to have it wired for at the next station. On receiving the news +that it could not possibly be returned before the following morning, my +protege showed signs of another outburst. To prevent it I took him +firmly by the arm and led him across to McGrue's. He was shivering as +though from a violent chill. + +The multitude trailed interestedly after; but I took my man into one of +McGrue's private rooms and firmly closed the door. + +"Put that under your belt," I invited, pouring him a half tumbler of +McGrue's best, "and pull yourself together." + +He smelled it. + +"It's only whiskey," he observed, mournfully. "That won't help much." + +"You don't know this stuff," I encouraged. + +He took off the half tumbler without a blink, shook his head, and poured +himself another. In spite of his scepticism I thought his nervousness +became less marked. + +"Now," said I, "if you don't mind, why do you descend on a peaceful +community and stir it all up because of the derelictions of an absent +coon? And why do you set such store by your travelling bag? And why do +you weep in the face of high heaven and outraged manhood? And why do you +want to find Hooper's ranch? And why are you and your vaudeville make +up?" + +But he proved singularly embarrassed and nervous and uncommunicative, +darting his glance here and there about him, twisting his hands, never +by any chance meeting my eye. I leaned back and surveyed him in +considerable disgust. + +"Look here, brother," I pointed out to him. "You don't seem to realize. +A man like you can't get away with himself in this country except behind +footlights--and there ain't any footlights. All I got to do is to throw +open yonder door and withdraw my beneficent protection and you will be +set upon by a pack of ravening wolves with their own ideas of humour, +among whom I especially mention one Windy Bill. I'm about the only thing +that looks like a friend you've got." + +He caught at the last sentence only. + +"You my friend?" he said, breathlessly, "then tell me: is there a +doctor around here?" + +"No," said I, looking at him closely, "not this side of Tucson. Are you +sick?" + +"Is there a drug store in town, then?" + +"Nary drug store." + +He jumped to his feet, knocking over his chair as he did so. + +"My God!" he cried in uncontrollable excitement, "I've got to get my +bag! How far is it to the next station where they're going to put it +off? Ain't there some way of getting there? I got to get to my bag." + +"It's near to forty miles," I replied, leaning back. + +"And there's no drug store here? What kind of a bum tank town is this, +anyhow?" + +"They keep a few patent medicines and such over at the Lone Star +Emporium----" I started to tell him. I never had a chance to finish my +sentence. He darted around the table, grabbed me by the arm, and urged +me to my feet. + +"Show me!" he panted. + +We sailed through the bar room under full head of steam, leaving the +gang staring after us open-mouthed. I could feel we were exciting +considerable public interest. At the Lone Star Emporium the little freak +looked wildly about him until his eyes fell on the bottle shelves. Then +he rushed right in behind the counter and began to paw them over. I +headed off Sol Levi, who was coming front making war medicine. + +"_Loco_," says I to him. "If there's any damage, I'll settle." + +It looked like there was going to be damage all right, the way he +snatched up one bottle after the other, read the labels, and thrust +them one side. At last he uttered a crow of delight, just like a kid. + +"How many you got of these?" he demanded, holding up a bottle of +soothing syrup. + +"You only take a tablespoon of that stuff----" began Sol. + +"How many you got--how much are they?" interrupted the stranger. + +"Six--three dollars a bottle," says Sol, boosting the price. + +The little man peeled a twenty off a roll of bills and threw it down. + +"Keep the other five bottles for me!" he cried in a shaky voice, and ran +out, with me after him, forgetting his change and to shut the door +behind us. + +Back through McGrue's bar we trailed like one of these moving-picture +chases and into the back room. + +"Well, here we are home again," said I. + +The stranger grabbed a glass and filled it half full of soothing syrup. + +"Here, you aren't going to drink that!" I yelled at him. "Didn't you +hear Sol tell you the dose is a spoonful?" + +But he didn't pay me any attention. His hand was shaking so he could +hardly connect with his own mouth, and he was panting as though he'd run +a race. + +"Well, no accounting for tastes," I said. "Where do you want me to ship +your remains?" + +He drank her down, shut his eyes a few minutes, and held still. He had +quit his shaking, and he looked me square in the face. + +"What's it _to_ you?" he demanded. "Huh? Ain't you never seen a guy hit +the hop before?" + +He stared at me so truculently that I was moved to righteous wrath; and +I answered him back. I told him what I thought of him and his clothes +and his conduct at quite some length. When I had finished he seemed to +have gained a new attitude of aggravating wise superiority. + +"That's all right, kid; that's all right," he assured me; "keep your +hair on. I ain't such a bad scout; but you gotta get used to me. Give me +my hop and I'm all right. Now about this Hooper; you say you know him?" + +"None better," I rejoined. "But what's that to you? That's a fair +question." + +He bored me with his beady rat eyes for several seconds. + +"Friend of yours?" he asked, briefly. + +Something in the intonations of his voice induced me to frankness. + +"I have good cause to think he's trying to kill me," I replied. + +He produced a pocketbook, fumbled in it for a moment, and laid before me +a clipping. It was from the Want column of a newspaper, and read as +follows: + + A.A.B.--Will deal with you on your terms. H.H. + +"A.A.B. that's me--Artie Brower. And H.H.--that's him--Henry Hooper," he +explained. "And that lil' piece of paper means that's he's caved, come +off, war's over. Means I'm rich, that I can have my own ponies if I want +to, 'stead of touting somebody else's old dogs. It means that I got old +H.H.--Henry Hooper--where the hair is short, and he's got to come my +way!" + +His eyes were glittering restlessly, and the pupils seemed to be unduly +dilated. The whiskey and opium together--probably an unaccustomed +combination--were too much for his ill-balanced control. Every +indication of his face and his narrow eyes was for secrecy and craft; +yet for the moment he was opening up to me, a stranger, like an oyster. +Even my inexperience could see that much, and I eagerly took advantage +of my chance. + +"You are a horseman, then?" I suggested. + +"Me a horseman? Say, kid, you didn't get my name. Brower--Artie Brower. +Why, I've ridden more winning races than any other man on the Pacific +Coast. That's how I got onto old H.H. I rode for him. He knows a good +horse all right--the old skunk. Used to have a pretty string." + +"He's got at least one good Morgan stallion now," said I. "I've seen him +at Hooper's ranch." + +"I know the old crock--trotter," scorned the true riding jockey. +"Probably old Tim Westmore is hanging around, too. He's in love with +that horse." + +"Is he in love with Hooper, too?" I asked. + +"Just like I am," said the jockey with a leer. + +"So you're going to be rich," said I. "How's that?" + +He leered at me again, going foxy. + +"Don't you wish you knew! But I'll tell you this: old H.H. is going to +give me all I want--just because I ask him to." + +I took another tack, affecting incredulity. + +"The hell he is! He'll hand you over to Ramon and that will be the last +of a certain jockey." + +"No, he won't do no such trick. I've fixed that; and he knows it. If he +kills me, he'll lose _all_ he's got 'stead of only part." + +"You're drunk or dreaming," said I. "If you bother him, he'll just plain +have you killed. That's a little way of his." + +"And if he does a friend of mine will just go to a certain place and get +certain papers and give 'em to a certain lawyer--and then where's old +H.H.? And he knows it, damn well. And he's going to be good to Artie and +give him what he wants. We'll get along fine. Took him a long time to +come to it; but I didn't take no chances while he was making up his +mind; you can bet on that." + +"Blackmail, eh?" I said, with just enough of a sneer to fire him. + +"Blackmail nothing!" he shouted. "It ain't blackmail to take away what +don't belong to a man at all!" + +"What don't belong to him?" + +"Nothing. Not a damn thing except his money. This ranch. The oil wells +in California. The cattle. Not a damn thing. That was the agreement with +his pardner when they split. And I've got the agreement! Now what you +got to say?" + +"Say? Why its _loco_! Why doesn't the pardner raise a row?" + +"He's dead." + +"His heirs then?" + +"He hasn't got but one heir--his daughter." My heart skipped a beat in +the amazement of a half idea. "And she knew nothing about the agreement. +Nobody knows but old H.H.--and me." He sat back, visibly gloating over +me. But his mood was passing. His earlier exhilaration had died, and +with it was dying the expansiveness of his confidence. The triumph of +his last speech savoured he slipped again into his normal self. He +looked at me suspiciously, and raised his whiskey to cover his +confusion. + +"What's it to yuh, anyway?" he muttered into his glass darkly. His eyes +were again shifting here and there; and his lips were snarled back +malevolently to show his teeth. + +At this precise moment the lords of chance willed Windy Bill and others +to intrude on our privacy by opening the door and hurling several +whiskey-flavoured sarcasms at the pair of us. The jockey seemed to +explode after the fashion of an over-inflated ball. He squeaked like a +rat, leaped to his feet, hurled the chair on which he had been sitting +crash against the door from which Windy Bill _et al_ had withdrawn +hastily, and ended by producing a small wicked-looking automatic--then a +new and strange weapon--and rushing out into the main saloon. There he +announced that he was known to the cognoscenti as Art the Blood and was +a city gunman in comparison with which these plain, so-called bad men +were as sucking doves to the untamed eagle. Thence he glanced briefly at +their ancestry as far as known; and ended by rushing forth in the +general direction of McCloud's hotel. + +"Suffering giraffes!" gasped Windy Bill after the whirlwind had passed. +"Was that the scared little rabbit that wept all them salt tears over at +the depot? What brand of licker did you feed him, Sandy?" + +I silently handed him the bottle. + +"Soothing syrup--my God!" said Windy in hushed tones. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + + +At that epoch I prided myself on being a man of resource; and I +proceeded to prove it in a fashion that even now fills me with +satisfaction. I annexed the remainder of that bottle of soothing syrup; +I went to Sol Levi and easily procured delivery of the other five. Then +I strolled peacefully to supper over at McCloud's hotel. Pathological +knowledge of dope fiends was outside my ken--I could not guess how soon +my man would need another dose of his "hop," but I was positively sure +that another would be needed. Inquiry of McCloud elicited the fact that +the ex-jockey had swallowed a hasty meal and had immediately retired to +Room 4. I found Room 4 unlocked, and Brower lying fully clothed sound +asleep across the bed. I did not disturb him, except that I robbed him +of his pistol. All looked safe for awhile; but just to be certain I took +Room 6, across the narrow hall, and left both doors open. McCloud's +hotel never did much of a room business. By midnight the cowboys would +be on their way for the ranches. Brower and myself were the only +occupants of the second floor. + +For two hours I smoked and read. The ex-jockey did not move a muscle. +Then I went to bed and to a sound sleep; but I set my mind like an alarm +clock, so that the slightest move from the other room would have fetched +me broad awake. City-bred people may not know that this can be done by +most outdoor men. I have listened subconsciously to horsebells for so +many nights, for example, that even on stormy nights the cessation of +that faint twinkle will awaken me, while the crash of the elements or +even the fall of a tree would not in the slightest disturb my tired +slumbers. So now, although the songs and stamping and racket of the +revellers below stairs in McCloud's bar did not for one second prevent +my falling into deep and dreamless sleep, Brower's softest tread would +have reached my consciousness. + +However, he slept right through the night, and was still dead to the +world when I slipped out at six o'clock to meet the east-bound train. +The bag--a small black Gladstone--was aboard in charge of the +baggageman. I had no great difficulty in getting it from my friend, the +station agent. Had he not seen me herding the locoed stranger? I +secreted the black bag with the five full bottles of soothing syrup, +slipped the half-emptied bottle in my pocket, and returned to the hotel. +There I ate breakfast, and sat down for a comfortable chat with McCloud +while awaiting results. + +Got them very promptly. About eight o'clock Brower came downstairs. He +passed through the office, nodding curtly to McCloud and me, and into +the dining room where he drank several cups of coffee. Thence he passed +down the street toward Sol Levi's. He emerged rather hurriedly and +slanted across to the station. + +"In about two minutes," I observed to McCloud, "you're going to observe +yon butterfly turn into a stinging lizard. He's going to head in this +direction; and he'll probably aim to climb my hump. Such being the case, +and the affair being private, you'll do me a favour by supervising +something in some remote corner of the premises." + +"Sure," said McCloud, "I'll go twist that Chink washee-man. Been +intending to for a week." And he stumped out on his wooden foot. + +The comet hit at precisely 7:42 by McCloud's big clock. Its head was +Brower at high speed and tension; and its tail was the light alkali dust +of Arizona mingled with the station agent. No irresistible force and +immovable body proposition in mine; I gave to the impact. + +"Why, sure, I got 'em for you," I answered. "You left your dope lying +around loose so I took care of it for you. As for your bag; you seemed +to set such store by it that I got that for you, too." + +Which deflated that particular enterprise for the moment, anyway. The +station agent, too mad to spit, departed before he should be tempted +beyond his strength to resist homicide. + +"I suppose you're taking care of my gun for me, too," said Brower; but +his irony was weak. He was evidently off the boil. + +"Your gun?" I echoed. "Have you lost your gun?" + +He passed his hand across his eyes. His super-excitement had passed, +leaving him weak and nervous. Now was the time for my counter-attack. + +"Here's your gun," said I, "didn't want to collect any lead while you +were excited, and I've got your dope," I repeated, "in a safe place." I +added, "and you'll not see any of it again until you answer me a few +questions, and answer them straight." + +"If you think you can roll me for blackmail," he came back with some +decision, "you're left a mile." + +"I don't want a cent; but I do want a talk." + +"Shoot," said he. + +"How often do you have to have this dope--for the best results; and how +much of it at a shot?" + +He stared at me for a moment, then laughed. + +"What's it to yuh?" he repeated his formula. + +"I want to know." + +"I get to needing it about once a day. Three grains will carry me by." + +"All right; that's what I want to know. Now listen to me. I'm custodian +of this dope, and you'll get your regular ration as long as you stick +with me." + +"I can always hop a train. This ain't the only hamlet on the map," he +reminded me. + +"That's always what you can do if you find we can't work together. +That's where you've got me if my proposition doesn't sound good." + +"What is your proposition?" he asked after a moment. + +"Before I tell you, I'm going to give you a few pointers on what you're +up against. I don't know how much you know about Old Man Hooper, but +I'll bet there's plenty you _don't_ know about." + +I proceeded to tell him something of the old man's methods, from the +"boomerang" to vicarious murder. + +"And he gets away with it?" asked Brower when I had finished. + +"He certainly does," said I. "Now," I continued, "you may be solid as a +brick church, and your plans may be water-tight, and old Hooper may +kill the fatted four-year-old, for all I know. But if I were you, I +wouldn't go sasshaying all alone out to Hooper's ranch. It's altogether +_too_ blame confiding and innocent." + +"If anything happens to me, I've left directions for those contracts to +be recorded," he pointed out. "Old Hooper knows that." + +"Oh, sure!" I replied, "just like that! But one day your trustworthy +friend back yonder will get a letter in your well-known hand-write that +will say that all is well and the goose hangs high, that the old man is +a prince and has come through, and that in accordance with the nice, +friendly agreement you have reached he--your friend--will hand over the +contract to a very respectable lawyer herein named, and so forth and so +on, ending with your equally well-known John Hancock." + +"Well, that's all right." + +"I hadn't finished the picture. In the meantime, you will be getting out +of it just one good swift kick, and that is all." + +"I shouldn't write any such letter. Not 'till I felt the feel of the +dough." + +"Not at first you wouldn't," I said, softly. "Certainly not at first. +But after a while you would. These renegade Mexicans--like Hooper's +Ramon, for example--know a lot of rotten little tricks. They drive +pitch-pine splinters into your legs and set fire to them, for one thing. +Or make small cuts in you with a knife, and load them up with powder +squibs in oiled paper--so the blood won't wet them--and touch them off. +And so on. When you've been shown about ten per cent, of what old Ramon +knows about such things, you'll write most any kind of a letter." + +"My God!" he muttered, thrusting the ridiculous derby to the back of his +head. + +"So you see you'd look sweet walking trustfully into Hooper's claws. +That's what that newspaper ad was meant for. And when the respectable +lawyer wrote that the contract had been delivered, do you know what +would happen to you?" + +The ex-jockey shuddered. + +"But you've only told me part of what I want to know," I pursued. "You +got me side-tracked. This daughter of the dead pardner--this girl, what +about her? Where is she now?" + +"Europe, I believe." + +"When did she go?" + +"About three months ago." + +"Any other relatives?" + +"Not that I know of." + +"H'm," I pondered. "What does she look like?" + +"She's about medium height, dark, good figure, good-looking all right. +She's got eyes wide apart and a wide forehead. That's the best I can do. +Why?" + +"Anybody heard from her since she went to Europe?" + +"How should I know?" rejoined Brower, impatiently. "What you driving +at?" + +"I think I've seen her. I believe she's not in Europe at all. I believe +she's a prisoner at the ranch." + +"My aunt!" ejaculated Brower. His nervousness was increasing--the +symptoms I was to recognize so well. "Why the hell don't you just shoot +him from behind a bush? I'll do it, if you won't." + +"He's too smooth for that." And I told him what Hooper had told me. "His +hold on these Mexicans is remarkable. I don't doubt that fifty of the +best killers in the southwest have lists of the men Old Man Hooper +thinks might lay him out. And every man on that list would get his +within a year--without any doubt. I don't doubt that partner's daughter +would go first of all. You, too, of course." + +"My aunt!" groaned the jockey again. + +"He's a killer," I went on, "by nature, and by interest--a bad +combination. He ought to be tramped out like a rattlesnake. But this is +a new country, and it's near the border. I expect he's got me marked. If +I have to I'll kill him just like I would a rattlesnake; but that +wouldn't do me a whole lot of good and would probably get a bunch +assassinated. I'd like to figure something different. So you see you'd +better come on in while the coming is good." + +"I see," said the ex-jockey, very much subdued. "What's your idea? What +do you want me to do?" + +That stumped me. To tell the truth I had no idea at all what to do. + +"I don't want you to go out to Hooper's ranch alone," said I. + +"Trust me!" he rejoined, fervently. + +"I reckon the first best thing is to get along out of town," I +suggested. "That black bag all the plunder you got?" + +"That's it." + +"Then we'll go out a-horseback." + +We had lunch and a smoke and settled up with McCloud. About +mid-afternoon we went on down to the livery corral. I knew the keeper +pretty well, of course, so I borrowed a horse and saddle for Brower. The +latter looked with extreme disfavour on both. + +"This is no race meet," I reminded him. "This is a means of +transportation." + +"Sorry I ain't got nothing better," apologized Meigs, to whom I had +confided my companion's profession--I had to account for such a figure +somehow. "All my saddle hosses went off with a mine outfit yesterday." + +"What's the matter with that chestnut in the shed?" + +"He's all right; fine beast. Only it ain't mine. It belongs to Ramon." + +"Ramon from Hooper's?" + +"Yeah." + +"I'd let you ride my horse and take Meigs's old skate myself," I said to +Brower, "but when you first get on him this bronc of mine is a +rip-humming tail twister. Ain't he, Meigs?" + +"He's a bad _caballo_," corroborated Meigs. + +"Does he buck?" queried Brower, indifferently. + +"Every known fashion. Bites, scratches, gouges, and paws. Want to try +him?" + +"I got a headache," replied Brower, grouchily. "Bring out your old dog." + +When I came back from roping and blindfolding the twisted dynamite I was +engaged in "gentling," I found that Brower was saddling the mournful +creature with my saddle. My expostulation found him very snappy and +very arbitrary. His opium-irritated nerves were beginning to react. I +realized that he was not far short of explosive obstinacy. So I conceded +the point; although, as every rider knows, a cowboy's saddle and a +cowboy's gun are like unto a toothbrush when it comes to lending. Also +it involved changing the stirrup length on the livery saddle. I needed +things just right to ride Tiger through the first five minutes. + +When I had completed this latter operation, Brower had just finished +drawing tight the cinch. His horse stood dejectedly. When Brower had +made fast the latigo, the horse--as such dispirited animals often +do--heaved a deep sigh. Something snapped beneath the slight strain of +the indrawn breath. + +"Dogged if your cinch ain't busted!" cried Meigs with a loud laugh. +"Lucky for you your friend did borrow your saddle! If you'd clumb Tiger +with that outfit you could just naturally have begun pickin' out the +likely-looking she-angels." + +I dropped the stirrup and went over to examine the damage. Both of the +quarter straps on the off side had given way. I found that they had been +cut nearly through with a sharp knife. My eye strayed to Ramon's +chestnut horse standing under the shed. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + + +We jogged out to Box Springs by way of the lower alkali flats. It is +about three miles farther that way; but one can see for miles in every +direction. I did not one bit fancy the canons, the mesquite patches, and +the open ground of the usual route. + +I beguiled the distance watching Brower. The animal he rode was a +hammer-headed, ewe-necked beast with a disconsolate eye and a half-shed +winter coat. The ex-jockey was not accustomed to a stock saddle. He had +shortened his stirrups beyond all reason so that his knees and his +pointed shoes and his elbows stuck out at all angles. He had thrust his +derby hat far down over his ears, and buttoned his inadequate coat +tightly. In addition, he was nourishing a very considerable grouch, +attributable, I suppose, to the fact that his customary dose was just +about due. Tiger could not be blamed for dancing wide. Evening was +falling, the evening of the desert when mysterious things seem to swell +and draw imminent out of unguessed distances. I could not help wondering +what these gods of the desert could be thinking of us. + +However, as we drew imperceptibly nearer the tiny patch of cottonwoods +that marked Box Springs, I began to realize that it would be more to the +point to wonder what that gang of hoodlums in the bunk house was going +to think of us. The matter had been fairly well carried off up to that +moment, but I could not hope for a successful repetition. No man could +continue to lug around with him so delicious a vaudeville sketch without +some concession to curiosity. Nor could any mortal for long wear such +clothes in the face of Arizona without being required to show cause. He +had got away with it last night, by surprise; but that would be about +all. + +At my fiftieth attempt to enter into conversation with him, I +unexpectedly succeeded. I believe I was indicating the points of +interest. You can see farther in Arizona than any place I know, so there +was no difficulty about that. I'd pointed out the range of the +Chiracahuas, and Cochise's Stronghold, and the peaks of the Galiuros and +other natural sceneries; I had showed him mesquite and yucca, and mescal +and soapweed, and sage, and sacatone and niggerheads and all the other +known vegetables of the region. Also I'd indicated prairie dogs and +squinch owls and Gambel's quail and road runners and a couple of coyotes +and lizards and other miscellaneous fauna. Not to speak of naming +painstakingly the ranches indicated by the clumps of trees that you +could just make out as little spots in the distance--Box Springs, the +O.T., the Double H, Fort Shafter, and Hooper's. He waked up and paid a +little attention at this; and I thought I might get a little friendly +talk out of him. A cowboy rides around alone so much he sort of likes to +josh when he has anybody with him. This "strong silent" stuff doesn't go +until you've used around with a man quite some time. + +I got the talk, all right, but it didn't have a thing to do with +topography or natural history. Unless you call the skate he was riding +natural history. That was the burden of his song. He didn't like that +horse, and he didn't care who knew it. It was an uncomfortable horse to +ride on, it required exertion to keep in motion, and it hurt his +feelings. Especially the last. He was a horseman, a jockey, he'd ridden +the best blood in the equine world; and here he was condemned through no +fault of his own to straddle a cross between a llama and a woolly toy +sheep. It hurt his pride. He felt bitterly about it. Indeed, he fairly +harped on the subject. + +"Is that horse of yours through bucking for the day?" he asked at last. + +"Certain thing. Tiger never pitches but the once." + +"Let me ride him a ways. I'd like to feel a real horse to get the taste +of this kangaroo out of my system." + +I could see he was jumpy, so I thought I'd humour him. + +"Swing on all at once and you're all right," I advised him. "Tiger don't +like fumbling in getting aboard." + +He grunted scornfully. + +"Those stirrups are longer than the ones you've been using. Want to +shorten them?" + +He did not bother to answer, but mounted in a decisive manner that +proved he was indeed a horseman, and a good one. I climbed old crow bait +and let my legs hang. + +The jockey gathered the reins and touched Tiger with his heels. I kicked +my animal with my stock spurs and managed to extract a lumbering sort of +gallop. + +"Hey, slow up!" I called after a few moments. "I can't keep up with +you." + +Brower did not turn his head, nor did Tiger slow up. After twenty +seconds I realized that he intended to do neither. I ceased urging on my +animal, there was no use tiring us both; evidently the jockey was +enjoying to the full the exhilaration of a good horse, and we would +catch up at Box Springs. I only hoped the boys wouldn't do anything +drastic to him before my arrival. + +So I jogged along at the little running walk possessed by even the most +humble cattle horse, and enjoyed the evening. It was going on toward +dusk and pools of twilight were in the bottomlands. For the moment the +world had grown smaller, more intimate, as the skies expanded. The dust +from Brower's going did not so much recede as grow littler, more +toy-like. I watched idly his progress. + +At a point perhaps a mile this side the Box Springs ranch the road +divides: the right-hand fork leading to the ranch house, the left on up +the valley. After a moment I noticed that the dust was on the left-hand +fork. I swore aloud. + +"The damn fool has taken the wrong road!" and then after a moment, with +dismay: "He's headed straight for Hooper's ranch!" + +I envisaged the full joy and rapture of this thought for perhaps half a +minute. It sure complicated matters, what with old Hooper gunning on my +trail, and this partner's daughter shut up behind bars. Me, I expected +to last about two days unless I did something mighty sudden. Brower I +expected might last approximately half that time, depending on how soon +Ramon _et al_ got busy. The girl I didn't know anything about, nor did I +want to at that moment. I was plenty worried about my own precious hide +just then. And if you think you are going to get a love story out of +this, I warn you again to quit right now; you are not. + +Brower was going to walk into that gray old spider's web like a nice fat +fly. And he was going to land without even the aid and comfort of his +own particular brand of Dutch courage. For safety's sake, and because of +Tiger's playful tendencies when first mounted, we had tied the famous +black bag--which now for convenience contained also the soothing +syrup--behind the cantle of Meigs's old nag. Which said nag I now +possessed together with all appurtenances and attachments thereunto +appertaining I tried to speculate on the reactions of Old Man Hooper, +Ramon, Brower and no dope, but it was too much for me. My head was +getting tired thinking about all these complicated things, anyhow. I was +accustomed to nice, simple jobs with my head, like figuring on the +shrinkage of beef cattle, or the inner running of a two-card draw. All +this annoyed me. I began to get mad. When I got mad enough I cussed and +came to a decision: which was to go after Old Man Hooper and all his +works that very night. Next day wouldn't do; I wanted action right off +quick. Naturally I had no plans, nor even a glimmering of what I was +going to do about it; but you bet you I was going to do something! As +soon as it was dark I was going right on up there. Frontal attack, you +understand. As to details, those would take care of themselves as the +affair developed. Having come to which sapient decision I shoved the +whole irritating mess over the edge of my mind and rode on quite happy. +I told you at the start of this yarn that I was a kid. + +My mind being now quite easy as to my future actions, I gave thought to +the first step. That was supper. There seemed to me no adequate reason, +with a fine, long night before me, why I shouldn't use a little of the +shank end of it to stoke up for the rest. So I turned at the right-hand +fork and jogged slowly toward our own ranch. + +Of course I had the rotten luck to find most of the boys still at the +water corral. When they saw who was the lone horseman approaching +through the dusk of the spring twilight, and got a good fair look at the +ensemble, they dropped everything and came over to see about it, headed +naturally by those mournful blights, Windy Bill and Wooden. In solemn +silence they examined my outfit, paying not the slightest attention to +me. At the end of a full minute they looked at each other. + +"What do you think, Sam?" asked Windy. + +"My opinion is not quite formed, suh," replied Wooden, who was a +Texican. "But my first examination inclines me to the belief that it is +a hoss." + +"Yo're wrong, Sam," denied Windy, sadly; "yo're judgment is confused by +the fact that the critter carries a saddle. Look at the animile itself." + +"I have done it," continued Sam Wooden; "at first glance I should agree +with you. Look carefully, Windy. Examine the details; never mind the +_toot enscramble_. It's got hoofs." + +"So's a cow, a goat, a burro, a camel, a hippypottamus, and the devil," +pointed out Windy. + +"Of course I may be wrong," acknowledged Wooden. "On second examination +I probably am wrong. But if it ain't a hoss, then what is it? Do you +know?" + +"It's a genuine royal gyasticutus," esserted Windy Bill, positively. "I +seen one once. It has one peculiarity that you can't never fail to +identify it by." + +"What's that?" + +"It invariably travels around with a congenital idiot." + +Wooden promptly conceded that, but claimed the identification not +complete as he doubted whether, strictly speaking, I could be classified +as a congenital idiot. Windy pointed out that evidently I had traded +Tiger for the gyasticutus. Wooden admitted that this proved me an idiot, +but not necessarily a congenital idiot. + +This colloquy--and more like it--went on with entire gravity. The other +men were hanging about relishing the situation, but without a symptom of +mirth. I was unsaddling methodically, paying no attention to anybody, +and apparently deaf to all that was being said. If the two old fools had +succeeded in eliciting a word from me they would have been entirely +happy; but I knew that fact, and shut my lips. + +I hung my saddle on the rack and was just about to lead the old skate to +water when we all heard the sound of a horse galloping on the road. + +"It's a light boss," said somebody after a moment, meaning a horse +without a burden. + +We nodded and resumed our occupation. A stray horse coming in to water +was nothing strange or unusual. But an instant later, stirrups swinging, +reins flapping, up dashed my own horse, Tiger. + + + + +CHAPTER X + + +All this being beyond me, and then some, I proceeded methodically to +carry out my complicated plan; which was, it will be remembered, to eat +supper and then to go and see about it in person. I performed the first +part of this to my entire satisfaction but not to that of the rest. They +accused me of unbecoming secrecy; only they expressed it differently. +That did not worry me, and in due time I made my escape. At the corral I +picked out a good horse, one that I had brought from the Gila, that +would stay tied indefinitely without impatience. Then I lighted me a +cigarette and jogged up the road. I carried with me a little grub, my +six-gun, the famous black bag, and an entirely empty head. + +The night was only moderately dark, for while there was no moon there +were plenty of those candle-like desert stars. The little twinkling +lights of the Box Springs dropped astern like lamps on a shore. By and +by I turned off the road and made a wide detour down the sacatone +bottoms, for I had still some sense; and roads were a little too +obvious. The reception committee that had taken charge of my little +friend might be expecting another visitor--me. This brought my approach +to the blank side of the ranch where were the willow trees and the +irrigating ditch. I rode up as close as I thought I ought to. Then I +tied my horse to a prominent lone Joshua-tree that would be easy to +find, unstrapped the black bag, and started off. The black bag, however, +bothered me; so after some thought I broke the lock with a stone and +investigated the contents, mainly by feel. There were a lot of clothes +and toilet articles and such junk, and a number of undetermined hard +things like round wooden boxes. Finally I withdrew to the shelter of a +_barranca_ where I could light matches. Then I had no difficulty in +identifying a nice compact little hypodermic outfit, which I slipped +into a pocket. I then deposited the bag in a safe place where I could +find it easily. + +Leaving my horse I approached the ranch under cover of the willows. Yes, +I remembered this time that I left tracks, but I did not care. My idea +was to get some sort of decisive action before morning. Once through the +willows I crept up close to the walls. They were twelve or fifteen feet +high, absolutely smooth; and with one exception broken only by the long, +narrow loopholes or transoms I have mentioned before. The one exception +was a small wicket gate or door. I remembered the various sorties with +torches after the chirping frogs, and knew that by this opening the +hunting party had emerged. This and the big main gate were the only +entrances to the enclosure. + +I retired to the vicinity of the willows and uttered the cry of the +barred owl. After ten seconds I repeated it, and so continued. My only +regret was that I could not chirp convincingly like a frog. I saw a +shadow shift suddenly through one of the transoms, and at once glided to +the wall near the little door. After a moment or so it opened to emit +Old Man Hooper and another bulkier figure which I imagined to be that +of Ramon. Both were armed with shotguns. Suddenly it came to me that I +was lucky not to have been able to chirp convincingly like a frog. They +hunted frogs with torches and in a crowd. Those two carried no light and +they were so intent on making a sneak on the willows and the +supposititious owl that I, flattened in the shadow of the wall, easily +escaped their notice. I slipped inside the doorway. + +This brought me into a narrow passage between two buildings. The other +end looked into the interior court. A careful reconnaissance showed no +one in sight, so I walked boldly along the verandah in the direction of +the girl's room. Her note had said she was constantly guarded; but I +could see no one in sight, and I had to take a chance somewhere. Two +seconds' talk would do me: I wanted to know in which of the numerous +rooms the old man slept. I had a hunch it would be a good idea to share +that room with him. What to do then I left to the hunch. + +But when I was half way down the verandah I heard the wicket door +slammed shut. The owl hunters had returned more quickly than I had +anticipated. Running as lightly as possible I darted down the verandah +and around the corner of the left wing. This brought me into a narrow +little garden strip between the main house and the wall dividing the +court from the corrals and stable yards. Footsteps followed me but +stopped. A hand tried the door knob to the corner room. + +"Nothing," I heard Hooper's voice replying to a question. "Nothing at +all. Go to sleep." + +The fragrant smell of Mexican tobacco reached my nostrils. After a +moment Ramon--it was he--resumed a conversation in Spanish: + +"I do not know, senor, who the man was. I could but listen; it was not +well to inquire nor to show too much interest. His name, yes; Jim Starr, +but who he is----" I could imagine the shrug. "It is of no importance." + +"It is of importance that the other man still lives," broke in Hooper's +harsher voice. "I will not have it, I say! Are you sure of it?" + +"I saw him. And I saw his horse at the Senor Meigs. It was the brown +that bucks badly, so I cut the quarter straps of his saddle. It might be +that we have luck; I do not count on it. But rest your mind easy, senor, +it shall be arranged." + +"It better be." + +"But there is more, senor. The senor will remember a man who rode in +races for him many years ago, one named Artie----" + +"Brower!" broke in Hooper. "What about him?" + +"He is in town. He arrived yesterday afternoon." + +Hooper ejaculated something. + +"And more, he is all day and all night with this Sanborn." + +Hooper swore fluently in English. + +"Look, Ramon!" he ordered, vehemently. "It is necessary to finish this +Sanborn at once, without delay." + +"_Bueno_, senor." + +"It must not go over a single day." + +"Haste makes risk, senor." + +"The risk must be run." + +"_Bueno_, senor. And also this Artie?" + +"No! no! no!" hastened Hooper. "Guard him as your life! But send a +trusty man for him to-morrow with the buckboard. He comes to see me, in +answer to my invitation." + +"And if he will not come, senor?" inquired Ramon's quiet voice. + +"Why should he not come?" + +"He has been much with Sanborn." + +"It's necessary that he come," replied Hooper, emphasizing each word. + +"_Bueno_, senor." + +"Who is to be on guard?" + +"Cortinez, senor." + +"I will send him at once. Do me the kindness to watch for a moment until +I send him. Here is the key; give it to him. It shall be but a moment." + +"_Bueno_, senor," replied Ramon. + +He leaned against the corner of the house. I could see the half of his +figure against the sky and the dim white of the walls. + +The night was very still, as always at this ranch. There was not even a +breeze to create a rustle in the leaves. I was obliged to hold rigidly +motionless, almost to hush my breathing, while the figure bulked large +against the whitewashed wall. But my eyes, wide to the dimness, took in +every detail of my surroundings. Near me stood a water barrel. If I +could get a spring from that water barrel I could catch one of the heavy +projecting beams of the roof. + +After an apparently interminable interval the sound of footsteps became +audible, and a moment later Ramon moved to meet his relief. I seized the +opportunity of their conversation and ascended to the roof. It proved +to be easy, although the dried-out old beam to which for a moment I +swung creaked outrageously. Probably it sounded louder to me than the +actual fact. I took off my boots and moved cautiously to where I could +look down into the court. Ramon and his companion were still talking +under the verandah, so I could not see them; but I waited until I heard +one of them move away. Then I went to seat myself on the low parapet and +think things over. + +The man below me had the key to the girl's room. If I could get the key +I could accomplish the first step of my plan--indeed the only step I had +determined upon. The exact method of getting the key would have to +develop. In the meantime, I gave passing wonder to the fact, as +developed by the conversation between Hooper and Ramon, that Brower was +not at the ranch and had not been heard of at the ranch. Where had Tiger +dumped him, and where now was he lying? I keenly regretted the loss of a +possible ally; and, much to my astonishment, I found within myself a +little regret for the man himself. + +The thought of the transom occurred to me. I tiptoed over to that side +and looked down. The opening was about five feet below the parapet. +After a moment's thought I tied a bit of stone from the coping in the +end of my silk bandana and lowered it at arm's length. By swinging it +gently back and forth I determined that the transom was open. With the +stub of the pencil every cowboy carried to tally with I scribbled a few +words on an envelope which I wrapped about the bit of coping. Something +to the effect that I was there, and expected to gain entrance to her +room later, and to be prepared. Then I lowered my contraption, caused +it to tap gently a dozen times on the edge of the transom, and finally +swung it with a rather nice accuracy to fly, bandana and all, through +the opening. After a short interval of suspense I saw the reflection of +a light and so knew my message had been received. + +There was nothing to do now but return to a point of observation. On my +way I stubbed my stockinged foot against a stone _metate_ or mortar in +which Indians and Mexicans make their flour. The heavy pestle was there. +I annexed it. Dropped accurately from the height of the roof it would +make a very pretty weapon. The trouble, of course, lay in that word +"accurately." + +But I soon found the fates playing into my hands. At the end of a +quarter hour the sentry emerged from under the verandah, looked up at +the sky, yawned, stretched, and finally sat down with his back against +the wall of the building opposite. Inside of ten minutes he was sound +asleep and snoring gently. + +I wanted nothing better than that. The descent was a little difficult to +accomplish noiselessly, as I had to drop some feet, but I managed it. +After crouching for a moment to see if the slight sounds had aroused +him, I crept along the wall to where he sat. The stone pestle of the +_metate_ I had been forced to leave behind me, but I had the heavy +barrel of my gun, and I was going to take no chances. I had no +compunctions as to what I did to any one of this pack of mad dogs. +Cautiously I drew it from its holster and poised it to strike. At that +instant I was seized and pinioned from behind. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + + +I did not struggle. I would have done so if I had been able, but I was +caught in a grip so skillful that the smallest move gave me the most +exquisite pain. At that time I had not even heard the words _jiu jitsu_, +but I have looked them up since. Cortinez, the sleepy sentry, without +changing his position, had opened his eyes and was grinning at me. + +I was forced to my feet and marched to the open door of the corner room. +There I was released, and turned around to face Hooper himself. The old +man's face was twisted in a sardonic half-snarl that might pass for a +grin; but there was no smile in his unblinking wildcat eyes. There +seemed to be trace neither of the girl nor the girl's occupation. + +"Thank you for your warning of your intended visit," said Hooper in +silky tones, indicating my bandana which lay on the table. "And now may +I inquire to what I owe the honour of this call? Or it may be that the +visit was not intended for me at all. Mistake in the rooms, perhaps. I +often shift and change my quarters, and those of my household; +especially if I suspect I have some reason for doing so. It adds +interest to an otherwise uneventful life." + +He was eying me sardonically, evidently gloating over the situation as +he found it. + +"How did you get on that roof? Who let you inside the walls?" he +demanded, abruptly. + +I merely smiled at him. + +"That we can determine later," he observed, resuming command of himself. + +I measured my chances, and found them at present a minus quantity. The +old man was separated from me by a table, and he held my own revolver +ready for instant use. So I stood tight and waited. + +The room was an almost exact replica of the one in which I had spent the +night so short a time before; the same long narrow transom near the +ceiling, the same barred windows opening on the court, the same closet +against the blank wall. Hooper had evidently inhabited it for some days, +for it was filled with his personal belongings. Indeed he must have +moved in _en bloc_ when his ward had been moved out, for none of the +furnishings showed the feminine touch, and several articles could have +belonged only to the old man personally. Of such was a small iron safe +in one corner and a tall old-fashioned desk crammed with papers. + +But if I decided overt action unwise at this moment, I decidedly went +into action the next. Hooper whistled and four Mexicans appeared with +ropes. Somehow I knew if they once hog-tied me I would never get another +chance. Better dead now than helpless in the morning, for what that old +buzzard might want of me. + +One of them tossed a loop at me. I struck it aside and sailed in. + +It had always been my profound and contemptuous belief that I could lick +any four Mexicans. Now I had to take that back. I could not. But I gave +the man argument, and by the time they had my elbows lashed behind me +and my legs tied to the legs of one of those big solid chairs they like +to name as "Mission style," I had marked them up and torn their pretty +clothes and smashed a lot of junk around the place and generally got +them so mad they would have knifed me in a holy second if it had not +been for Old Man Hooper. The latter held up the lamp where it wouldn't +get smashed and admonished them in no uncertain terms that he wanted me +alive and comparatively undamaged. Oh, sure! they mussed me up, too. I +wasn't very pretty, either. + +The bravos withdrew muttering curses, as the story books say; and after +Hooper had righted the table and stuck the lamp on it, and taken a good +look at my bonds, he withdrew also. + +Most of my time until the next thing occurred was occupied in figuring +on all the things that might happen to me. One thing I acknowledged to +myself right off the reel: the Mexicans had sure trussed me up for +further orders! I could move my hands, but I knew enough of ropes and +ties to realize that my chances of getting free were exactly nothing. My +plans had gone perfectly up to this moment. I had schemed to get inside +the ranch and into Old Man Hooper's room; and here I was! What more +could a man ask? + +The next thing occurred so soon, however, that I hadn't had time to +think of more than ten per cent. of the things that might happen to me. +The outside door opened to admit Hooper, followed by the girl. He stood +aside in the most courtly fashion. + +"My dear," he said, "here is Mr. Sanborn, who has come to call on you. +You remember Mr. Sanborn, I am sure. You met him at dinner; and besides, +I believe you had some correspondence with him, did you not? He has +taken so much trouble, so very much trouble to see you that I think it a +great pity his wish should not be fulfilled. Won't you sit down here, my +dear?" + +She was staring at me, her eyes gone wide with wonder and horror. Half +thinking she took her seat as indicated. Instantly the old man had bound +her elbows at the back and had lashed her to the chair. After the first +start of surprise she made no resistance. + +"There," said Hooper, straightening up after the accomplishment of this +task; "now I'm going to leave you to your visit. You can talk it all +over. Tell him all you please, my dear. And you, sir, tell her all you +know. I think I can arrange so your confidences will go no further." + +For the first time I heard him laugh, a high, uncertain cackle. The girl +said nothing, but she stared at him with level, blazing eyes. Also for +the first time I began to take an interest in her. + +"Do you object to smoking?" I asked her, suddenly. + +She blinked and recovered. + +"Not at all," she answered. + +"Well then, old man, be a sport. Give me the makings. I can get my hands +to my mouth." + +The old man transferred his baleful eyes on me. Then without saying a +word he placed in my hands a box of tailor-made cigarettes and a dozen +matches. + +"Until morning," he observed, his hand on the door knob. He inclined in +a most courteous fashion, first to the one of us, then to the other, +and went out. He did not lock the door after him, and I could hear him +addressing Cortinez outside. The girl started to speak, but I waved my +shackled hand at her for silence. By straining my ears I could just make +out what was said. + +"I am going to bed," Hooper said. "It is not necessary to stand guard. +You may get your blankets and sleep on the verandah." + +After the old man's footsteps had died, I turned back to the girl +opposite me and looked her over carefully. My first impression of +meekness I revised. She did not look to be one bit meek. Her lips were +compressed, her nostrils wide, her level eyes unsubdued. A person of +sense, I said to myself, well balanced, who has learned when it is +useless to kick against the pricks, but who has not necessarily on that +account forever renounced all kicking. It occurred to me that she must +have had to be pretty thoroughly convinced before she had come to this +frame of mind. When she saw that I had heard all I wanted of the +movements outside, she spoke hurriedly in her low, sweet voice: + +"Oh, I am so distressed! This is all my doing! I should have known +better----" + +"Now," I interrupted her, decisively, "let's get down to cases. You had +nothing to do with this; nothing whatever. I visited this ranch the +first time out of curiosity, and to-night because I knew that I'd have +to hit first to save my own life. You had no influence on me in either +case." + +"You thought this was my room--I wrote you it was," she countered, +swiftly. + +"I wanted to see you solely and simply that I might find out how to get +at Hooper. This is all my fault; and we're going to cut out the +self-accusations and get down to cases." + +I afterward realized that all this was somewhat inconsiderate and +ungallant and slightly humiliating; I should have taken the part of the +knight-errant rescuing the damsel in distress, but at that moment only +the direct essentials entered my mind. + +"Very well," she assented in her repressed tones. + +"Do you think he is listening to what we say; or has somebody +listening?" + +"I am positive not." + +"Why?" + +"I lived in this room for two months, and I know every inch of it." + +"He might have some sort of a concealed listening hole somewhere, just +the same." + +"I am certain he has not. The walls are two feet thick." + +"All right; let it go at that. Now let's see where we stand. In the +first place, how do you dope this out?" + +"What do you mean?" + +"What does he intend to do with us?" + +She looked at me straight, eye to eye. + +"In the morning he will kill you--unless you can contrive something." + +"Cheering thought." + +"There is no sense in not facing situations squarely. If there is a way +out, that is the only method by which it may be found." + +"True," I agreed, my admiration growing. "And yourself; will he kill +you, too?" + +"He will not. He does not dare!" she cried, proudly, with a flash of +the eyes. + +I was not so sure of that, but there was no object in saying so. + +"Why has he tied you in that chair, then, along with the condemned?" I +asked. + +"You will understand better if I tell you who I am." + +"You are his deceased partner's daughter; and everybody thinks you are +in Europe," I stated. + +"How in the world did you know that? But no matter; it is true. I +embarked three months ago on the Limited for New York intending, as you +say, to go on a long trip to Europe. My father and I had been alone in +the world. We were very fond of each other. I took no companion, nor did +I intend to. I felt quite independent and able to take care of myself. +At the last moment Mr. Hooper boarded the train. That was quite +unexpected. He was on his way to the ranch. He persuaded me to stop over +for a few days to decide some matters. You know, since my father's death +I am half owner." + +"Whole owner," I murmured. + +"What did you say?" + +"Nothing. Go ahead. Sure you don't mind my smoking?" I lit one of the +tailor-mades and settled back. Even my inexperienced youth recognized +the necessity of relief this long-continued stubborn repression must +feel. My companion had as yet told me nothing I did not already know or +guess; but I knew it would do her good to talk, and I might learn +something valuable. + +"We came out to the ranch, and talked matters over quite normally; but +when it came time for my departure, I was not permitted to leave. For +some unexplained reason I was a prisoner, confined absolutely to the +four walls of this enclosure. I was guarded night and day; and I soon +found I was to be permitted conversation with two men only, Mexicans +named Ramon and Andreas." + +"They are his right and left hand," I commented. + +"So I found. You may imagine I did not submit to this until I found I +had to. Then I made up my mind that the only possible thing to do was to +acquiesce, to observe, and to wait my chance." + +"You were right enough there. Why do you figure he did this?" + +"I don't know!" she cried with a flash of thwarted despair. "I have +racked my brains, but I can find no motive. He has not asked me for a +thing; he has not even asked me a question. Unless he's stark crazy, I +cannot make it out!" + +"He may be that," I suggested. + +"He may be; and yet I doubt it somehow. I don't know why; but I _feel_ +that he is sane enough. He is inconceivably cruel and domineering. He +will not tolerate a living thing about the place that will not or cannot +take orders from him. He kills the flies, the bees, the birds, the +frogs, because they are not his. I believe he would kill a man as +quickly who stood out even for a second against him here. To that extent +I believe he is crazy: a sort of monomania. But not otherwise. That is +why I say he will kill you; I really believe he would do it." + +"So do I," I agreed, grimly. "However, let's drop that for right now. +Do you know a man named Brower, Artie Brower?" + +"I don't think I ever heard of him. Why?" + +"Never mind for a minute. I've just had a great thought strike me. Just +let me alone a few moments while I work it out." + +I lighted a second cigarette from the butt of the first and fell into a +study. Cortinez breathed heavily outside. Otherwise the silence was as +dead as the blackness of the night. The smoke from my cigarettes floated +lazily until it reached the influence of the hot air from the lamp; then +it shot upward toward the ceiling. The girl watched me from under her +level brows, always with that air of controlled restraint I found so +admirable. + +"I've got it," I said at last, "--or at least I think I have. Now listen +to me, and believe what I've got to say. Here are the facts: first, your +father and Hooper split partnership a while back. Hooper took his share +entirely in cash; your father took his probably part in cash, but +certainly all of the ranch and cattle. Get that clear? Hooper owns no +part of the ranch and cattle. All right. Your father dies before the +papers relating to this agreement are recorded. Nobody knew of those +papers except your father and Hooper. So if Hooper were to destroy those +papers, he'd still have the cash that had been paid him, and an equal +share in the property. That plain?" + +"Perfectly," she replied, composedly. "Why didn't he destroy them?" + +"Because they had been stolen by this man Brower I asked you about--an +ex-jockey of Hooper's. Brower held them for blackmail. Unless Hooper +came through Brower would record the papers." + +"Where do I come in?" + +"Easy. I'm coming to that. But answer me this: who would be your heir in +case you died?" + +"Why--I don't know!" + +"Have you any kin?" + +"Not a soul!" + +"Did you ever make a will?" + +"I never thought of such a thing!" + +"Well, I'll tell you. If you were to die your interest in this property +would go to Hooper." + +"What makes you think so? I thought it would go to the state." + +"I'm guessing," I acknowledged, "but I believe I'm guessing straight. A +lot of these old Arizona partnerships were made just that way. Life was +uncertain out here. I'll bet the old original partnership between your +father and Hooper provides that in case of the extinction of one line, +the other will inherit. It's a very common form of partnership in a new +country like this. You can see for yourself it's a sensible thing to +provide." + +"You may be right," she commented. "Go on." + +"You told me a while ago it was best to face any situation squarely. Now +brace up and face this. You said a while ago that Hooper would not dare +kill you. That is true for the moment. But there is no doubt in my mind +that he has intended from the first to kill you, because by that he +would get possession of the whole property." + +"I cannot believe it!" she cried. + +"Isn't the incentive enough? Think carefully, and answer honestly: +don't you think him capable of it?" + +"Yes--I suppose so," she admitted, reluctantly, after a moment. She +gathered herself as after a shock. "Why hasn't he done so? Why has he +waited?" + +I told her of the situation as it concerned Brower. While the +dissolution of partnership papers still existed and might still be +recorded, such a murder would be useless. For naturally the dissolution +abrogated the old partnership agreement. The girl's share of the +property would, at her demise intestate, go to the state. That is, +provided the new papers were ever recorded. + +"Then I am safe until----?" she began. + +"Until he negotiates or otherwise settles with Brower. Until he has +destroyed all evidence." + +"Then everything seems to depend on this Brower," she said, knitting her +brows anxiously. "Where is he?" + +I did not answer this last question. My eyes were riveted on the door +knob which was slowly, almost imperceptibly, turning. Cortinez continued +to breathe heavily in sleep outside. The intruder was evidently at great +pains not to awaken the guard. A fraction of an inch at a time the door +opened. A wild-haired, wild-eyed head inserted itself cautiously through +the crack. The girl's eyes widened in surprise and, I imagine, a little +in fear. I began to laugh, silently, so as not to disturb Cortinez. +Mirth overcame me; the tears ran down my cheeks. + +"It's so darn complete!" I gasped, answering the girl's horrified look +of inquiry. "Miss Emory, allow me to present Mr. Artie Brower!" + + + + +CHAPTER XII + + +Brower entered the room quickly but very quietly, and at once came to +me. His eyes were staring, his eyelids twitched, his hands shook. I +recognized the symptoms. + +"Have you got it? Have you got it with you?" he whispered, feverishly. + +"It's all right. I can fix you up. Untie me first," I replied. + +He began to fumble with the knots of my bonds too hastily and +impatiently for effectiveness. I was trying to stoop over far enough to +see what he was doing when my eye caught the shadow of a moving figure +outside. An instant later Tim Westmore, the English groom attached to +the Morgan stallion, came cautiously through the door, which he closed +behind him. I attempted unobtrusively to warn Brower, but he only looked +up, nodded vaguely, and continued his fumbling efforts to free me. +Westmore glanced at us all curiously, but went at once to the big +windows, which he proceeded to swing shut. Then he came over to us, +pushed Brower one side, and most expeditiously untied the knots. I stood +up stretching in the luxury of freedom, then turned to perform a like +office for Miss Emory. But Brower was by now frantic. He seized my arm +and fairly shook me, big as I was, in the urgence of his desire. He was +rapidly losing all control and caution. + +"Let him have it, sir," urged Westmore in a whisper. "I'll free the +young lady." + +I gave Brower the hypodermic case. He ran to the wash bowl for water. +During the process of preparation he uttered little animal sounds under +his breath. When the needle had sunk home he lay back in a chair and +closed his eyes. + +In the meantime, I had been holding a whispered colloquy with Westmore. + +"He sneaked in on me at dark, sir," he told me, "on foot. I don't know +how he got in without being seen. They'd have found his tracks anyway in +the morning. I don't think he knew quite what he wanted to do. Him and +me were old pals, and he wanted to ask me about things. He didn't expect +to stay, I fancy. He told me he had left his horse tied a mile or so +down the road. Then a while back orders came to close down, air tight. +We're used to such orders. Nobody can go out or come in, you understand. +And there are guards placed. That made him uneasy. He told me then he +was a hop fiend. I've seen them before, and I got uneasy, too. If he +came to the worst I might have to tie and gag him. I know how they are." + +"Go ahead," I urged. He had stopped to listen. + +"I don't like that Cortinez being so handy like out there," he +confessed. + +"Hooper told him he could sleep. He's not likely to pay attention to us. +Miss Emory and I have been talking aloud." + +"I hope not. Well, then, Ramon came by and stopped to talk to me for a +minute. I had to hide Artie in a box-stall and hope to God he kept +quiet. He wasn't as bad as he is now. Ramon told me about you being +caught, and went on. After that nothing must do but find you. He thought +you might have his dope. He'd have gone into the jaws of hell after it. +So I came along to keep him out of mischief." + +"What are you going to do now?" asked the girl, who had kicked off her +slippers and had been walking a few paces to and fro. + +"I don't know, ma'am. We've got to get away." + +"We?" + +"You mean me, too? Yes, ma'am! I have stood with the doings of this +place as long as I can stand them. Artie has told me some other things. +Are you here of your free will, ma'am?" he asked, abruptly. + +"No," she replied. + +"I suspected as much. I'm through with the whole lot of them." + +Brower opened his eyes. He was now quite calm. + +"Hooper sold the Morgan stallion," he whispered, smiled sardonically, +and closed his eyes again. + +"Without telling me a word of it!" added Tim with heat. "He ain't +delivered him yet." + +"Well, I don't blame you. Now you'd better quietly sneak back to your +quarters. There is likely to be trouble before we get through. You, too, +Brower. Nobody knows you are here." + +Brower opened his eyes again. + +"I can get out of this place now I've had me hop," said he, decidedly. +"Come on, let's go." + +"We'll all go," I agreed; "but let's see what we can find here first. +There may be some paper--or something----" + +"What do you mean? What sort of papers? Hadn't we better go at once?" + +"It is supposed to be well known that the reason Hooper isn't +assassinated from behind a bush is because in that case his killers are +in turn to assassinate a long list of his enemies. Only nobody is sure: +just as nobody is really sure that he has killers at all. You can't get +action on an uncertainty." + +She nodded. "I can understand that." + +"If we could get proof positive it would be no trick at all to raise the +country." + +"What sort of proof?" + +"Well, I mentioned a list. I don't doubt his head man--Ramon, I suppose, +the one he'd trust with carrying out such a job--must have a list of +some sort. He wouldn't trust to memory." + +"And he wouldn't trust it to Ramon until after he was dead!" said the +girl with sudden intuition. "If it exists we'll find it here." + +She started toward the paper-stuffed desk, but I stopped her. + +"More likely the safe," said I. + +Tim, who was standing near it, tried the handle. + +"It's locked," he whispered. + +I fell on my knees and began to fiddle with the dial, of course in vain. +Miss Emory, with more practical decision of character, began to run +through the innumerable bundles and loose papers in the desk, tossing +them aside as they proved unimportant or not germane to the issue. I had +not the slightest knowledge of the constructions of safes but whirled +the knob hopelessly in one direction or another trying to listen for +clicks, as somewhere I had read was the thing to do. As may be imagined, +I arrived nowhere. Nor did the girl. We looked at each other in chagrin +at last. + +"There is nothing here but ranch bills and accounts and business +letters," she confessed. + +I merely shook my head. + +At this moment Brower, whom I had supposed to be sound asleep, opened +his eyes. + +"Want that safe open?" he asked, drowsily. + +He arose, stretched, and took his place beside me on the floor. His head +cocked one side, he slowly turned the dials with the tips of fingers I +for the first time noticed were long and slim and sensitive. Twice after +extended, delicate manipulations he whirled the knob impatiently and +took a fresh start. On the proverbial third trial he turned the handle +and the door swung open. He arose rather stiffly from his knees, resumed +his place in the armchair, and again closed his eyes. + +It was a small safe, with few pigeon holes. A number of blue-covered +contracts took small time for examination. There were the usual number +of mine certificates not valuable enough for a safe deposit, some +confidential memoranda and accounts having to do with the ranch. + +"Ah, here is something!" I breathed to the eager audience over my +shoulder. I held in my hands a heavy manila envelope, sealed, inscribed +"Ramon. (To be destroyed unopened.)" + +"Evidently we were right: Ramon has the combination and is to be +executor," I commented. + +I tore open the envelope and extracted from it another of the +blue-covered documents. + +"It's a copy, unsigned, of that last agreement with your father," I +said, after a disappointed glance. "It's worth keeping," and I thrust it +inside my shirt. + +But this particular pigeon hole proved to be a mine. In it were several +more of the same sort of envelope, all sealed, all addressed to Ramon. +One was labelled as the Last Will, one as Inventory, and one simply as +Directions. This last had a further warning that it was to be opened +only by the one addressed. I determined by hasty examination that the +first two were only what they purported to be, and turned hopefully to a +perusal of the last. It was in Spanish, and dealt at great length with +the disposition and management of Hooper's extensive interests. I append +a translation of the portion of this remarkable document, having to do +with our case. + +"These are my directions," it began, "as to the matter of which we have +many times spoken together. I have many enemies, and many who think they +have cause to wish my death. They are cowards and soft and I do not +think they will ever be sure enough to do me harm. I do not fear them. +But it may be that one or some of them will find it in their souls to do +a deed against me. In that case I shall be content, for neither do I +fear the devil. But I shall be content only if you follow my orders. I +add here a list of my enemies and of those who have cause to wish me +ill. If I am killed, it is probable that some one of these will have +done the deed. Therefore they must all die. You must see to it, +following them if necessary to the ends of the earth. You will know +how; and what means to employ. When all these are gone, then go you to +the highest rock on the southerly pinnacle of Cochise's Stronghold. Ten +paces northwest is a gray, flat slab. If you lift this slab there will +be found a copper box. In the box is the name of a man. You will go to +this man and give him the copper box and in return he will give to you +one hundred thousand dollars. I know well, my Ramon, that your honesty +would not permit you to seek the copper box before the last of my +enemies is dead. Nevertheless, that you may admire my recourse, I have +made an arrangement. If the gray slab on Cochise's Stronghold is ever +disturbed before the whole toll is paid, you will die very suddenly and +unpleasantly. I know well that you, my Ramon, would not disturb it; and +I hope for your sake that nobody else will do so. It is not likely. No +one is fool enough to climb Cochise's Stronghold for pleasure; and this +gray slab is one among many." + +At this time I did not read carefully the above cheerful document. My +Spanish was good enough, but took time in the translating. I dipped into +it enough to determine that it was what we wanted, and flipped the pages +to come to the list of prospective victims. It covered two sheets, and a +glance down the columns showed me that about every permanent inhabitant +of the Soda Springs Valley was included. I found my own name in quite +fresh ink toward the last. + +"This is what we want," I said in satisfaction, rising to my feet. I +sketched in a few words the purport of the document. + +"Let me see it," said the girl. + +I handed it to her. She began to examine carefully the list of names, +her face turning paler as she read. Tim Westmore looked anxiously over +her shoulder. Suddenly I saw his face congest and his eyes bulge. + +"Why! why!" he gasped, "I'm there! What've I ever done, I ask you that? +The old----" he choked, at a loss and groping. Then his anger flared up. +"I've always served him faithful and done what I was told," he muttered, +fiercely. "I'll do him in for this!" + +"I am here," observed Miss Emory. + +"Yes, and that sot in the chair!" whispered Tim, fiercely. + +Again Brower proved he was not asleep by opening one eye. + +"Thanks for them kind words," said he. + +"We've got to get out of here," stated Tim with conviction. + +"That idea just got through your thick British skull?" queried Artie, +rousing again. + +"I wish we had some way to carry the young lady--she can't walk," said +Westmore, paying no attention. + +"I have my horse tied out by the lone Joshua-tree," I answered him. + +"I'm going to take a look at that Cortinez," said the little Englishman, +nodding his satisfaction at my news as to the horse. "I'm not easy about +him." + +"He'll sleep like a log until morning," Miss Emory reassured me. "I've +often stepped right over him where he has been on guard and walked all +around the garden." + +"Just the same I'm going to take a look," persisted Westmore. + +He tiptoed to the door, softly turned the knob and opened it. He found +himself face to face with Cortinez. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + + +I had not thought of the English groom as a man of resource, but his +action in this emergency proved him. He cast a fleeting glance over his +shoulder. Artie Brower was huddled down in his armchair practically out +of sight; Miss Emory and I had reseated ourselves in the only other two +chairs in the room, so that we were in the same relative positions as +when we had been bound and left. Only the confusion of the papers on the +floor and the open safe would have struck an observant eye. + +"It is well that you come," said Tim to Cortinez in Spanish. "The senor +sent me to conduct these two to the East Room and I like not the job +alone. Enter." + +He held the door with one hand and fairly dragged Cortinez through with +the other. Instantly he closed the door and cast himself on Cortinez's +back. I had already launched myself at the Mexican's throat. + +The struggle was violent but brief. Fortunately I had not missed my +spring at our enemy's windpipe, so he had been unable to shout. The +noise of our scuffle sounded loud enough within the walls of the room; +but those walls were two feet thick, and the door and windows closed. + +"Get something to gag him with, and the cords," panted Tim to the girl. + +Brower opened his eyes again. + +"I can beat that," he announced. + +He produced his hypodermic and proceeded to mix a gunful of the dope. + +"This'll fix him," he observed, turning back the Mexican's sleeve. "You +can lay him outside and if anybody comes along they'll think he's +asleep--as usual." + +This we did when the dope had worked. + +It was now high time to think of our next move. For weapons we had the +gun and knife taken from Cortinez and the miserable little automatic +belonging to Brower. That was all. It was perfectly evident that we +could not get out through the regular doorways, as, by Tim's statement, +they were all closed and guarded. On my representation it was decided to +try the roof. + +We therefore knotted together the cord that had bound me and two sheets +from the bed, and sneaked cautiously out on the verandah, around the +corner to the water barrel, and so to the vantage point of the roof. + +The chill of the night was come, and the stars hung cold in the sky. It +seemed that the air would snap and crackle were some little resolving +element to be dropped into its suspended hush. Not a sound was to be +heard except a slow drip of water from somewhere in the courtyard. + +It was agreed that I, as the heaviest, should descend first. I landed +easily enough and steadied the rope for Miss Emory who came next. While +I was waiting I distinctly heard, from the direction of the willows, the +hooting of an owl. Furthermore, it was a great horned owl, and he seemed +to have a lot to say. You remember what I told you about setting your +mind so that only one sort of noise will arouse it, but that one +instantly? I knew perfectly well that Old Man Hooper's mind was set to +all these smaller harmless noises that most people never notice at all, +waking or sleeping--frogs, crickets, owls. And therefore I was convinced +that sooner or later that old man and his foolish ideas and his shotgun +would come projecting right across our well-planned getaway. Which was +just what happened, and almost at once. Probably that great horned owl +had been hooting for some time, but we had been too busy to notice. I +heard the wicket door turning on its hinges, and ventured a warning hiss +to Brower and Tim Westmore, who had not yet descended. An instant later +I could make out shadowy forms stealing toward the willows. Evidently +those who served Old Man Hooper were accustomed to broken rest. + +We kept very quiet, straining our eyes at the willows. After an interval +a long stab of light pierced the dusk and the round detonation of +old-fashioned black powder shook the silence. There came to us the +babbling of voices released. At the same instant the newly risen moon +plastered us against that whitewashed wall like insects pinned in a +cork-lined case. The moonlight must have been visibly creeping down to +us for some few minutes, but so absorbed had I been in the doings of the +party in the willows, and so chuckleheaded were the two on the roof, +that actually none of us had noticed! + +I dropped flat and dragged the girl down with me. But there remained +that ridiculous, plainly visible rope; and anyway a shout relieved me of +any doubt as to whether we had been seen. Brower came tumbling down on +us, and with one accord we three doubled to the right around the walls +of the ranch. A revolver shot sang by us, but we were not immediately +pursued. Our antagonists were too few and too uncertain of our numbers +and arms. + +It was up to us to utilize the few minutes before the ranch should be +aroused. We doubled back through the willows and across the mesquite +flat toward the lone Joshua-tree where I had left my horse. I held the +girl's hand to help her when she stumbled, while Brower scuttled along +with surprising endurance for a dope wreck. Nobody said anything, but +saved their wind. + +"Where's Tim?" I asked at a check when we had to scramble across a +_barranca_. + +"He went back into the ranch the way we came," replied Artie with some +bitterness. + +It was, nevertheless, the wisest thing he could have done. He had not +been identified with this outfit except by Cortinez, and Cortinez was +safe for twelve hours. + +We found the Joshua-tree without difficulty. + +"Now," said I, "here is the plan. You are to take these papers to Senor +Buck Johnson, at the Box Springs ranch. That's the next ranch on the +fork of the road. Do you remember it?" + +"Yes," said Brower, who had waked up and seemed quite sober and +responsible. "I can get to it." + +"Wake him up. Show him these papers. Make him read them. Tell him that +Miss Emory and I are in the Bat-eye Tunnel. Remember that?" + +"The Bat-eye Tunnel," repeated Artie. + +"Why don't _you_ go?" inquired the girl, anxiously. + +"I ride too heavy; and I know where the tunnel is," I replied. "If +anybody else was to go, it would be you. But Artie rides light and sure, +and he'll have to ride like hell. Here, put these papers inside your +shirt. Be off!" + +Lights were flickering at the ranch as men ran to and fro with lanterns. +It would not take these skilled _vaqueros_ long to catch their horses +and saddle up. At any moment I expected to see the massive doors swing +open to let loose the wolf pack. + +Brower ran to my horse--a fool proceeding, especially for an experienced +horseman--and jerked loose the tie rope. Badger is a good reliable cow +horse, but he's not a million years old, and he's got some natural +equine suspicions. I kind of lay a good deal of it to that fool +hard-boiled hat. At any rate, he snorted and sagged back on the rope, +hit a yucca point, whirled and made off. Artie was game. He hung on +until he was drug into a bunch of _chollas_, and then he had to let go. +Badger departed into the distance, tail up and snorting. + +"Well, you've done it now!" I observed to Brower, who, crying with +nervous rage and chagrin, and undoubtedly considerably stuck up with +_cholla_ spines, was crawling to his feet. + +"Can't we catch him? Won't he stop?" asked Miss Emory. "If he gets to +the ranch, won't they look for you?" + +"He's one of my range ponies: he won't stop short of the Gila." + +I cast over the chances in my mind, weighing my knowledge of the country +against the probabilities of search. The proportion was small. Most of +my riding experience had been farther north and to the west. Such +obvious hole-ups as the one I had suggested--the Bat-eye Tunnel--were of +course familiar to our pursuers. My indecision must have seemed long, +for the girl broke in anxiously on my meditations. + +"Oughtn't we to be moving?" + +"As well here as anywhere," I replied. "We are under good cover; and +afoot we could not much better ourselves as against mounted men. We must +hide." + +"But they may find the trampled ground where your horse has been tied." + +"I hope they do." + +"You hope they do!" + +"Sure. They'll figure that we must sure have moved away. They'll never +guess we'd hide near at hand. At least that's what I hope." + +"How about tracks?" + +"Not at night. By daylight maybe." + +"But then to-morrow morning they can----" + +"To-morrow morning is a long way off." + +"Look!" cried Brower. + +The big gates of the ranch had been thrown open. The glare of a +light--probably a locomotive headlight--poured out. Mounted figures +galloped forth and swerved to right or left, spreading in a circle about +the enclosure. The horsemen reined to a trot and began methodically to +quarter the ground, weaving back and forth. Four detached themselves and +rode off at a swift gallop to the points of the compass. The mounted men +were working fast for fear, I suppose, that we may have possessed +horses. Another contingent, afoot and with lanterns, followed more +slowly, going over the ground for indications. I could not but admire +the skill and thoroughness of the plan. + +"Our only chance is in the shadow from the moon," I told my companions. +"If we can slip through the riders, and get in their rear, we may be +able to follow the _barranca_ down. Any of those big rocks will do. Lay +low, and after a rider has gone over a spot, try to get to that spot +without being seen." + +We were not to be kept long in suspense. Out of all the three hundred +and sixty degrees of the circle one of the swift outriders selected +precisely our direction! Straight as an arrow he came for us, at full +gallop. I could see the toss of his horse's mane against the light from +the opened door. There was no time to move. All we could do was to cower +beneath our rock, muscles tense, and hope to be able to glide around the +shadow as he passed. + +But he did not pass. Down into the shallow _barranca_ he slid with a +tinkle of shale, and drew rein within ten feet of our lurking place. + +We could hear the soft snorting of his mount above the thumping of our +hearts. I managed to get into a position to steal a glimpse. It was +difficult, but at length I made out the statuesque lines of the horse, +and the rider himself, standing in his stirrups and leaning slightly +forward, peering intently about him. The figures were in silhouette +against the sky, but nobody ever fooled me as to a horse. It was the +Morgan stallion, and the rider was Tim Westmore. Just as the realization +came to me, Tim uttered a low, impatient whistle. + +It's always a good idea to take a chance. I arose into view--but I kept +my gun handy. + +"Thank God!" cried Tim, fervently, under his breath. "I remembered you'd +left your horse by this Joshua: it's the only landmark in the dark. +Saints!" he ejaculated in dismay as he saw us all. "Where's your horse?" + +"Gone." + +"We can't all ride this stallion----" + +"Listen," I cut in, and I gave him the same directions I had previously +given Brower. He heard me attentively. + +"I can beat that," he cut me off. He dismounted. "Get on here, Artie. +Ride down the _barranca_ two hundred yards and you'll come to an alkali +flat. Get out on that flat and ride like hell for Box Springs." + +"Why don't you do it?" + +"I'm going back and tell 'em how I was slugged and robbed of my horse." + +"They'll kill you if they suspect; dare you go back?" + +"I've been back once," he pointed out. He was helping Brower aboard. + +"Where did you get that bag?" he asked. + +"Found it by the rock where we were hiding: it's mine," replied Brower. + +Westmore tried to get him to leave it, but the little jockey was +obstinate. He kicked his horse and, bending low, rode away. + +"You're right: I beg your pardon," I answered Westmore's remark to me. +"You don't look slugged." + +"That's easy fixed," said Tim, calmly. He removed his hat and hit his +forehead a very solid blow against a projection of the conglomerate +boulder. The girl screamed slightly. + +"Hush!" warned Tim in a fierce whisper. He raised his hand toward the +approaching horsemen, who were now very near. Without attention to the +blood streaming from his brow he bent his head to listen to the faint +clinking of steel against rock that marked the stallion's progress +toward the alkali flat. The searchers were by now dangerously close, and +Tim uttered a smothered oath of impatience. But at last we distinctly +heard the faint, soft thud of galloping hoofs. + +The searchers heard it, too, and reined up to listen. Tim thrust into my +hand the 30-30 Winchester he was carrying together with a box of +cartridges. Then with a leap like a tiger he gained the rim of the +_barranca_. Once there, however, his forces seemed to desert him. He +staggered forward calling in a weak voice. I could hear the volley of +rapid questions shot at him by the men who immediately surrounded him; +and his replies. Then somebody fired a revolver thrice in rapid +succession and the whole cavalcade swept away with a mighty crackling of +brush. Immediately after Tim rejoined us. I had not expected this. + +Relieved for the moment we hurried Miss Emory rapidly up the bed of the +shallow wash. The tunnel mentioned was part of an old mine operation, +undertaken at some remote period before the cattle days. It entered the +base of one of those isolated conical hills, lying like islands in the +plain, so common in Arizona. From where we had hidden it lay about three +miles to the northeast. It was a natural and obvious hide out, and I +had no expectation of remaining unmolested. My hope lay in rescue. + +We picked our way under cover of the ravine as long as we could, then +struck boldly across the plain. Nobody seemed to be following us. A wild +hope entered my heart that perhaps they might believe we had all made +our escape to Box Springs. + +As we proceeded the conviction was borne in on me that the stratagem had +at least saved us from immediate capture. Like most men who ride I had +very sketchy ideas of what three miles afoot is like--at night--in high +heels. The latter affliction was common to both Miss Emory and myself. +She had on a sort of bedroom slipper, and I wore the usual cowboy boots. +We began to go footsore about the same time, and the little rolling +volcanic rocks among the bunches of _sacatone_ did not help us a bit. +Tim made good time, curse him. Or rather, bless him; for as I just said, +if he had not tolled away our mounted pursuit we would have been caught +as sure as God made little green apples. He seemed as lively as a +cricket, in spite of the dried blood across his face. + +The moon was now sailing well above the horizon, throwing the world into +silver and black velvet. When we moved in the open we showed up like a +train of cars; but, on the other hand, the shadow was a cloak. It was by +now nearly one o'clock in the morning. + +Miss Emory's nerve did not belie the clear, steadfast look of her eye; +but she was about all in when we reached the foot of Bat-eye Butte. Tim +and I had discussed the procedure as we walked. I was for lying in wait +outside; but Tim pointed out that the tunnel entrance was well down in +the boulders, that even the sharpest outlook could not be sure of +detecting an approach through the shadows, and that from the shelter of +the roof props and against the light we should be able to hold off a +large force almost indefinitely. In any case, we would have to gamble on +Brewer's winning through, and having sense enough in his opium-saturated +mind to make a convincing yarn of it. So after a drink at the _tenaja_ +below the mine we entered the black square of the tunnel. + +The work was old, but it had been well done. They must have dragged the +timbers down from the White Mountains. Indeed a number of unused beams, +both trunks of trees and squared, still lay around outside. From time to +time, since the original operations, some locoed prospector comes +projecting along and does a little work in hopes he may find something +the other fellow had missed. So the passage was crazy with props and +supports, new and old, placed to brace the ageing overhead timbers. +Going in they were a confounded nuisance against the bumped head; but +looking back toward the square of light they made fine protections +behind which to crouch. In this part of the country any tunnel would be +dry. It ran straight for about a hundred and fifty feet. + +We groped our way about seventy-five feet, which was as far as we could +make out the opening distinctly, and sat down to wait. I still had the +rest of the tailor-made cigarettes, which I shared with Tim. We did not +talk, for we wished to listen for sounds outside. To judge by her +breathing, I think Miss Emory dozed, or even went to sleep. + +About an hour later I thought to hear a single tinkle of shale. Tim +heard it, too, for he nudged me. Our straining ears caught nothing +further, however; and I, for one, had relaxed from my tension when the +square of light was darkened by a figure. I was nearest, so I raised +Cortinez's gun and fired. The girl uttered a scream, and the figure +disappeared. I don't know yet whether I hit him or not; we never found +any blood. + +We made Miss Emory lie down behind a little slide of rock, and disposed +ourselves under shelter. + +"We can take them as fast as they come," exulted Tim. + +"I don't believe there are more than two or three of them," I observed. +"It would be only a scouting party. They will go for help." + +As there was no longer reason for concealment, we talked aloud and +freely. + +Now ensued a long waiting interim. We could hear various sounds outside +as of moving to and fro. The enemy had likewise no reason for further +concealment. + + +"Look!" suddenly cried Tim. "Something crawling." + +He raised the 30-30 and fired. Before the flash and the fumes had +blinded me I, too, had seen indistinctly something low and prone gliding +around the corner of the entrance. That was all we could make out of it, +for as you can imagine the light was almost non-existent. The thing +glided steadily, untouched or unmindful of the shots we threw at it. +When it came to the first of the crazy uprights supporting the roof +timbers it seemed to hesitate gropingly. Then it drew slowly back a foot +or so, and darted forward. The ensuing thud enlightened us. The thing +was one of the long, squared timbers we had noted outside; and it was +being used as a battering ram. + +"They'll bring the whole mountain down on us!" cried Tim, springing +forward. + +But even as he spoke, and before he had moved two feet, that catastrophe +seemed at least to have begun. The prop gave way: the light at the +entrance was at once blotted out; the air was filled with terrifying +roaring echoes. There followed a succession of crashes, the rolling of +rocks over each other, the grinding slide of avalanches great and small. +We could scarcely breathe for the dust. Our danger was that now the +thing was started it would not stop: that the antique and inadequate +supports would all give way, one bringing down the other in succession +until we were buried. Would the forces of equilibrium establish +themselves through the successive slight resistances of these rotted, +worm-eaten old timbers before the constricted space in which we crouched +should be entirely eaten away? + +After the first great crash there ensued a moment's hesitation. Then a +second span succumbed. There followed a series of minor chutes with +short intervening silences. At last so long an interval of calm ensued +that we plucked up courage to believe it all over. A single stone rolled +a few feet and hit the rock floor with a bang. Then, immediately after, +the first-deafening thunder was repeated as evidently another span gave +way. It sounded as though the whole mountain had moved. I was almost +afraid to stretch out my hand for fear it would encounter the wall of +debris. The roar ceased as abruptly as it had begun. Followed then a +long silence. Then a little cascading tinkle of shale. And another dead +silence. + +"I believe it's over," ventured Miss Emory, after a long time. + +"I'm going to find out how bad it is," I asserted. + +I moved forward cautiously, my arms extended before me, feeling my way +with my feet. Foot after foot I went, encountering nothing but the +props. Expecting as I did to meet an obstruction within a few paces at +most, I soon lost my sense of distance; after a few moments it seemed to +me that I must have gone much farther than the original length of the +tunnel. At last I stumbled over a fragment, and so found my fingers +against a rough mass of debris. + +"Why, this is fine!" I cried to the others, "I don't believe more than a +span or so has gone!" + +I struck one of my few remaining matches to make sure. While of course I +had no very accurate mental image of the original state of things, still +it seemed to me there was an awful lot of tunnel left. As the whole +significance of our situation came to me, I laughed aloud. + +"Well," said I, cheerfully, "they couldn't have done us a better favour! +It's a half hour's job to dig us out, and in the meantime we are safe as +a covered bridge. We don't even have to keep watch." + +"Provided Brower gets through," the girl reminded us. + +"He'll get through," assented Tim, positively. "There's nothing on four +legs can catch that Morgan stallion." + +I opened my watch crystal and felt of the hands. Half-past two. + +"Four or five hours before they can get here," I announced. + +"We'd better go to sleep, I think," said Miss Emory. + +"Good idea," I approved. "Just pick your rocks and go to it." + +I sat down and leaned against one of the uprights, expecting fully to +wait with what patience I might the march of events. Sleep was the +farthest thing from my thoughts. When I came to I found myself doubled +on my side with a short piece of ore sticking in my ribs and eighteen or +twenty assorted cramp-pains in various parts of me. This was all my +consciousness had room to attend to for a few moments. Then I became +dully aware of faint tinkling sounds and muffled shoutings from the +outer end of the tunnel. I shouted in return and made my way as rapidly +as possible toward the late entrance. + +A half hour later we crawled cautiously through a precarious opening and +stood blinking at the sunlight. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + + +A group of about twenty men greeted our appearance with a wild cowboy +yell. Some of the men of our outfit were there, but not all; and I +recognized others from as far south as the Chiracahuas. Windy Bill was +there with Jed Parker; but Senor Johnson's bulky figure was nowhere to +be seen. The other men were all riders--nobody of any particular +standing or authority. The sun made it about three o'clock of the +afternoon. Our adventures had certainly brought us a good sleep! + +After we had satisfied our thirst from a canteen we began to ask and +answer questions. Artie Brower had made the ranch without mishap, had +told his story, and had promptly fallen asleep. Buck Johnson, in his +usual deliberate manner, read all the papers through twice; pondered for +some time while the more excited Jed and Windy fidgeted impatiently; and +then, his mind made up, acted with his customary decision. Three men he +sent to reconnoitre in the direction of the Bat-eye Tunnel with +instructions to keep out of trouble and to report promptly. His other +riders he dispatched with an insistent summons to all the leading +cattlemen as far south as the Chiracahua Range, as far east as Grant's +Pass, as far west as Madrona. Such was Buck Johnson's reputation for +level-headedness that without hesitation these men saddled and rode at +their best speed. By noon the weightiest of the Soda Spring Valley had +gathered in conclave. + +"That's where we faded out," said Jed Parker. "They sent us up to see +about you-all. The scouts from up here come back with their little Wild +West story about knocking down this yere mountain on top of you. We had +to believe them because they brought back a little proof with them. Mex +guns and spurs and such plunder looted off'n the deceased on the field +of battle. Bill here can tell you." + +"They was only two of them," said Windy Bill, diffident for the first +time in his life, "and we managed to catch one of 'em foul. We been +digging here for too long. We ain't no prairie dogs to go delving into +the bosom of the earth. We thought you must be plumb deceased anyhow: we +couldn't get a peep out of you. I was in favour of leavin' you lay +myself. This yere butte seemed like a first-rate imposing tomb; and I +was willing myself to carve a few choice sentiments on some selected +rock. Sure I can carve! But Jed here allowed that you owed him ten +dollars and maybe had some money in your pocket----" + +"Shut up, Windy," I broke in. "Can't you see the young lady----" + +Windy whirled all contrition and apologies. + +"Don't you mind me, ma'am," he begged. "They call me Windy Bill, and I +reckon that's about right. I don't mean nothing. And we'd have dug all +through this butte before----" + +"I know that. It isn't your talk," interrupted Miss Emory, "but the sun +is hot--and--haven't you anything at all to eat?" + +"Suffering giraffes!" cried Windy above the chorus of dismay. +"Lunkheads! chumps! Of all the idiot plays ever made in this territory!" +He turned to the dismayed group. "Ain't any one of you boys had sense +enough to bring any grub?" + +But nobody had. The old-fashioned Arizona cowboy ate only twice a day. +It would never occur to him to carry a lunch for noon. Still, they might +have considered a rescue party's probable needs. + +We mounted and started for the Box Springs ranch. They had at least +known enough to bring extra horses. + +"Old Hooper knows the cat is out of the bag now," I suggested as we rode +along. + +"He sure does." + +"Do you think he'll stick: or will he get out?" + +"He'll stick." + +"I don't know----" I argued, doubtfully. + +"I do," with great positiveness. + +"Why are you so sure?" + +"There are men in the brush all around his ranch to see that he does." + +"For heaven's sake how many have you got together?" I cried, astonished. + +"About three hundred," said Jed. + +"What's the plan?" + +"I don't know. They were chewing over it when I left. But I'll bet +something's going to pop. There's a bunch of 'em on that sweet little +list you-all dug up." + +We rode slowly. It was near five o'clock when we pulled down the lane +toward the big corrals. The latter were full of riding horses, and the +fences were topped with neatly arranged saddles. Men were everywhere, +seated in rows on top rails, gathered in groups, leaning idly against +the ranch buildings. There was a feeling of waiting. + +We were discovered and acclaimed with a wild yell that brought everybody +running. Immediately we were surrounded. Escorted by a clamouring +multitude we moved slowly down the lane and into the enclosure. + +There awaited us a dozen men headed by Buck Johnson. They emerged from +the office as we drew up. At sight of them the cowboys stopped, and we +moved forward alone. For here were the substantial men of this part of +the territory, the old timers, who had come in the early days and who +had persisted through the Indian wars, the border forays, the cattle +rustlings, through drought and enmity and bad years. A grim, elderly, +four-square, unsmiling little band of granite-faced pioneers, their very +appearance carried a conviction of direct and, if necessary, ruthless +action. At sight of them my heart leaped. Twenty-four hours previous my +case had seemed none too joyful. Now, mainly by my own efforts, after +all, I was no longer alone. + +They did not waste time in vain congratulations or query. The occasion +was too grave for such side issues. Buck Johnson said something very +brief to the effect that he was glad to see us safe. + +"If this young lady will come in first," he suggested. + +But I was emboldened to speak up. + +"This young lady has not had a bite to eat since last night," I +interposed. + +The senor bent on me his grave look. + +"Thank you," said he. "Sing!" he roared, and then to the Chinaman who +showed up in a nervous hover: "Give this lady grub, savvy? If you'll go +with him, ma'am, he'll get you up something. Then we'd like to see you." + +"I can perfectly well wait----" she began. + +"I'd rather not, ma'am," said Buck with such grave finality that she +merely bowed and followed the cook. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + + +They had no tender feelings about me, however. Nobody cared whether I +ever ate or not. I was led into the little ranch office and catechized +to a fare-ye-well. They sat and roosted and squatted about, emitting +solemn puffs of smoke and speaking never a word; and the sun went down +in shafts of light through the murk, and the old shadows of former days +crept from the corners. When I had finished my story it was dusk. + +And on the heels of my recital came the sound of hoofs in a hurry; and +presently loomed in the doorway the gigantic figure of Tom Thorne, the +sheriff. He peered, seeing nothing through the smoke and the twilight; +and the old timers sat tight and smoked. + +"Buck Johnson here?" asked Thorne in his big voice. + +"Here," replied the senor. + +"I am told," said Thorne, directly, "that there is here an assembly for +unlawful purposes. If so, I call on you in the name of the law to keep +the peace." + +"Tom," rejoined Buck Johnson, "I want you to make me your deputy." + +"For what purpose?" + +"There is a dispossession notice to be served hereabouts; a trespasser +who must be put off from property that is not his." + +"You men are after Hooper, and I know it. Now you can't run your +neighbours' quarrels with a gun, not anymore. This is a country of law +now." + +"Tom," repeated Buck in a reasoning tone, "come in. Strike a light if +you want to: and take a look around. There's a lot of your friends here. +There's Jim Carson over in the corner, and Donald Macomber, and Marcus +Malley, and Dan Watkins." + +At this slow telling of the most prominent names in the southwest cattle +industry Tom Thorne took a step into the room and lighted a match. The +little flame, held high above his head, burned down to his fingers while +he stared at the impassive faces surrounding him. Probably he had +thought to interfere dutifully in a local affair of considerable +seriousness; and there is no doubt that Tom Thorne was never afraid of +his duty. But here was Arizona itself gathered for purposes of its own. +He hardly noticed when the flame scorched his fingers. + +"Tom," said Buck Johnson after a moment, "I heerd tell of a desperate +criminal headed for Grant's Pass, and I figure you can just about catch +up with him if you start right now and keep on riding. Only you'd better +make me your deputy first. It'll sort of leave things in good legal +responsible hands, as you can always easy point out if asked." + +Tom gulped. + +"Raise your right hand," he commanded, curtly, and administered the +oath. "Now I leave it in your hands to preserve the peace," he +concluded. "I call you all to witness." + +"That's all right, Tom," said Buck, still in his crooning tones, taking +the big sheriff by the elbow and gently propelling him toward the door, +"now as to this yere criminal over toward Grant's Pass, he was a little +bit of a runt about six foot three tall; heavy set, weight about a +hundred and ten; light complected with black hair and eyes. You can't +help but find him. Tom's a good sort," he observed, coming back, "but +he's young. He don't realize yet that when things get real serious this +sheriff foolishness just nat'rally bogs down. Now I reckon we'd better +talk to the girl." + +I made a beeline for the cook house while they did that and filled up +for three. By the time I had finished, the conference was raised, and +men were catching and saddling their mounts. I did not intend to get +left out, you may be sure, so I rustled around and borrowed me a saddle +and a horse, and was ready to start with the rest. + +We jogged up the road in a rough sort of column, the old timers riding +ahead in a group of their own. No injunction had been laid as to keeping +quiet; nevertheless, conversation was sparse and low voiced. The men +mostly rode in silence smoking their cigarettes. About half way the +leaders summoned me, and I trotted up to join them. + +They wanted to know about the situation of the ranch as I had observed +it. I could not encourage them much. My recollection made of the place a +thoroughly protected walled fortress, capable of resisting a +considerable assault. + +"Of course with this gang we could sail right over them," observed Buck, +thoughtfully, "but we'd lose a considerable of men doing it." + +"Ain't no chance of sneaking somebody inside?" suggested Watkins. + +"Got to give Old Man Hooper credit for some sense," replied the senor, +shortly. + +"We can starve 'em out," suggested somebody. + +"Unless I miss the old man a mile he's already got a messenger headed +for the troops at Fort Huachuca," interposed Macomber. "He ain't fool +enough to take chances on a local sheriff." + +"You're tooting he ain't," approved Buck Johnson. "It's got to be quick +work." + +"Burn him out," said Watkins. + +"It's the young lady's property," hesitated my boss. "I kind of hate to +destroy it unless we have to." + +At this moment the Morgan stallion, which I had not noticed before, was +reined back to join our little group. Atop him rode the diminutive form +of Artie Brower whom I had thought down and out. He had evidently had +his evening's dose of hop and under the excitation of the first effect +had joined the party. His derby hat was flattened down to his ears. +Somehow it exasperated me. + +"For heaven's sake why don't you get you a decent hat!" I muttered, but +to myself. He was carrying that precious black bag. + +"Blow a hole in his old walls!" he suggested, cheerfully. "That old fort +was built against Injins. A man could sneak up in the shadow and set her +off. It wouldn't take but a dash of soup to stick a hole you could ride +through a-horseback." + +"Soup?" echoed Buck. + +"Nitroglycerine," explained Watkins, who had once been a miner. + +"Oh, sure!" agreed Buck, sarcastically. "And where'd we get it?" + +"I always carry a little with me just for emergencies," asserted Brower, +calmly, and patted his black bag. + +There was a sudden and unanimous edging away. + +"For the love of Pete!" I cried. "Was there some of that stuff in there +all the time I've been carrying it around?" + +"It's packed good: it can't go off," Artie reassured us. "I know my +biz." + +"What in God's name do you want such stuff for!" cried Judson. + +"Oh, just emergencies," answered Brower, vaguely, but I remembered his +uncanny skill in opening the combination of the safe. Possibly that +contract between Emory and Hooper had come into his hands through +professional activities. However, that did not matter. + +"I can make a drop of soup go farther than other men a pint," boasted +Artie. "I'll show you: and I'll show that old----" + +"You'll probably get shot," observed Buck, watching him closely. + +"W'at t'hell," observed Artie with an airy gesture. + +"It's the dope he takes," I told Johnson aside. "It only lasts about so +long. Get him going before it dies on him." + +"I see. Trot right along," Buck commanded. + +Taking this as permission Brower clapped heels to the stallion and shot +away like an arrow. + +"Hold on! Stop! Oh, damn!" ejaculated the senor. "He'll gum the whole +game!" He spurred forward in pursuit, realized the hopelessness of +trying to catch the Morgan, and reined down again to a brisk travelling +canter. We surmounted the long, slow rise this side of Hooper's in time +to see a man stand out in the brush, evidently for the purpose of +challenging the horseman. Artie paid him not the slightest attention, +but swept by magnificently, the great stallion leaping high in his +restrained vitality. The outpost promptly levelled his rifle. We saw the +vivid flash in the half light. Brower reeled in his saddle, half fell, +caught himself by the stallion's mane and clung, swinging to and fro. +The horse, freed of control, tossed his head, laid back his ears, and +ran straight as an arrow for the great doors of the ranch. + +We uttered a simultaneous groan of dismay. Then with one accord we +struck spurs and charged at full speed, grimly and silently. Against the +gathering hush of evening rose only the drum-roll of our horses' hoofs +and the dust cloud of their going. Except that Buck Johnson, rising in +his stirrups, let off three shots in the air; and at the signal from all +points around the beleagured ranch men arose from the brush and mounted +concealed horses, and rode out into the open with rifles poised. + +The stallion thundered on; and the little jockey managed to cling to the +saddle, though how he did it none of us could tell. In the bottomland +near the ranch he ran out of the deeper dusk into a band of the strange, +luminous after-glow that follows erratically sunset in wide spaces. Then +we could see that he was not only holding his seat, but was trying to do +something, just what we could not make out. The reins were flying free, +so there was no question of regaining control. + +A shot flashed at him from the ranch; then a second; after which, as +though at command, the firing ceased. Probably the condition of affairs +had been recognized. + +All this we saw from a distance. The immensity of the Arizona country, +especially at dusk when the mountains withdraw behind their veils and +mystery flows into the bottomlands, has always a panoramic quality that +throws small any human-sized activities. The ranch houses and their +attendant trees look like toys; the bands of cattle and the men working +them are as though viewed through the reverse lenses of a glass; and the +very details of mesquite or _sacatone_ flats, of alkali shallow or of +oak grove are blended into broad washes of tone. But now the distant, +galloping horse with its swaying mannikin charging on the ranch seemed +to fill our world. The great forces of portent that hover aloof in the +dusk of the desert stooped as with a rush of wings. The peaceful, wide +spaces and the veiled hills and the brooding skies were swept clear. +Crisis filled our souls: crisis laid her hand on every living moving +thing in the world, stopping it in its tracks so that the very +infinities for a brief, weird period seemed poised over the running +horse and the swaying, fumbling man. + +At least that is the way it affected me; and subsequent talk leads me to +believe that that it is how it affected every man jack of us. We all had +different ways of expressing it. Windy Bill subsequently remarked: "I +felt like some old Injun He-God had just told me to crawl in my hole and +give them that knew how a chanct." + +But I know we all stopped short, frozen in our tracks, and stared, and I +don't believe man, _or_ horse, drew a deep breath. + +Nearer and nearer the stallion drew to the ranch. Now he was within a +few yards. In another moment he would crash head on, at tremendous +speed, into the closed massive doors. The rider seemed to have regained +somewhat of his strength. He was sitting straight in the saddle, was no +longer clinging. But apparently he was making no effort to regain +control. His head was bent and he was still fumbling at something. The +distance was too great for us to make out what, but that much we could +see. + +On flew the stallion at undiminished speed. He was running blind; and +seemingly nothing could save him from a crash. But at almost the last +moment the great doors swung back. Those within had indeed realized the +situation and were meeting it. At the same instant Brower rose in his +stirrups and brought his arm forward in a wide, free swing. A blinding +glare flashed across the world. We felt the thud and heave of a +tremendous explosion. Dust obliterated everything. + +"Charge, you coyotes! Charge!" shrieked Buck Johnson. + +And at full speed, shrieking like fiends, we swept across flats. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + + +There was no general resistance. We tumbled pell mell through the breach +into the courtyard, encountering only terror-stricken wretches who +cowered still dazed by the unexpectedness and force of the explosion. In +the excitement order and command were temporarily lost. The men swarmed +through the ranch buildings like locusts. Senor Buck Johnson and the +other old timers let them go; but I noticed they themselves scattered +here and there keeping a restraining eye on activities. There was to be +no looting: and that was early made plain. + +But before matters had a chance to go very far we were brought up all +standing by the sound of shots outside. A rush started in that +direction: but immediately Buck Johnson asserted his authority and took +command. He did not intend to have his men shot unnecessarily. + +By now it was pitch dark. A reconnaissance disclosed a little battle +going on down toward the water corrals. Two of our men, straying in that +direction, had been fired upon. They had promptly gone down on their +bellies and were shooting back. + +"I think they've got down behind the water troughs," one of these men +told me as I crawled up alongside. "Cain't say how many there is. They +shore do spit fire considerable. I'm just cuttin' loose where I see the +flash. When I shoot, you prepare to move and move lively. One of those +horned toads can sure shoot some; and it ain't healthy to linger none +behind your own flash." + +The boys, when I crawled back with my report, were eager to pile in and +rush the enemy. + +"Just put us a hoss-back, senor," pleaded Windy Bill, "and we'll run +right over them like a Shanghai rooster over a little green snake. They +can't hit nothing moving fast in the dark." + +"You'll do just what I say," rejoined Buck Johnson, fiercely. "Cow hands +are scarce, and I don't aim to lose one except in the line of business. +If any man gets shot to-night, he's out of luck. He'd better get shot +good and dead; or he'll wish he had been. That goes! There can't be but +a few of those renegades out there, and we'll tend to them in due order. +Watkins," he addressed that old timer, "you tend to this. Feel around +cautious. Fill up the place full of lead. Work your men around through +the brush until you get them surrounded, and then just squat and shoot +and wait for morning." + +Watkins sent out a dozen of the nearest men to circle the water troughs +in order to cut off further retreat, if that were projected. Then he +went about methodically selecting others to whom he assigned various +stations. + +"Now you get a-plenty of catteridges," he told them, "and you lay low +and shoot 'em off. And if any of you gets shot I'll sure skin him +alive!" + +In the meantime, the locomotive lantern had been lit so that the +interior of the courtyard was thrown into brilliant light. Needless to +say the opening blown in the walls did _not_ face toward the water +corrals. Of Artie Brower and the Morgan stallion we found hardly a +trace. They had been literally blown to pieces. Not one of us who had +known him but felt in his heart a kindly sorrow for the strange little +man. The sentry who had fired at him and who had thus, indirectly, +precipitated the catastrophe, was especially downcast. + +"I told him to stop, and he kep' right on a-going, so I shot at him," he +explained. "What else was I to do? How was I to know he didn't belong to +that gang? He acted like it." + +But when you think of it how could it have come out better? Poor, weak, +vice-ridden, likeable little beggar, what could the future have held for +him? And it is probable that his death saved many lives. + +The prisoners were brought in--some forty of them, for Old Man Hooper +maintained only the home ranch and all his cow hands as well as his +personal bravos were gathered here. Buck Johnson separated apart seven +of them, and ordered the others into the stables under guard. + +"Bad _hombres_, all of them," he observed to Jed Parker. "We'll just +nat'rally ship them across the line very _pronto_. But these seven are +worse than bad _hombres_. We'll have to see about them." + +But neither Andreas, Ramon, nor Old Man Hooper himself were among those +present. + +"Maybe they slipped out through our guards; but I doubt it," said Buck. +"I believe we've identified that peevish lot by the water troughs." + +The firing went on quite briskly for a while; then slackened, and +finally died to an occasioned burst, mainly from our own side. Under our +leader's direction the men fed their horses and made themselves +comfortable. I was summoned to the living quarters to explain on the +spot the events that had gone before. Here we examined more carefully +and in detail the various documents--the extraordinary directions to +Ramon; the list of prospective victims to be offered at the tomb, so to +speak, of Old Man Hooper; and the copy of the agreement between Emory +and Hooper. The latter, as I had surmised, stated in so many words that +it superceded and nullified an old partnership agreement. This started +us on a further search which was at last rewarded by the discovery of +that original partnership. It contained, again as I had surmised, the +not-uncommon clause that in case of the death of one or the other of the +partners without direct heirs the common property should revert to the +other. I felt very stuck on myself for a good guesser. The only trouble +was that the original of the second agreement was lacking: we had only a +copy, and of course without signatures. It will be remembered that +Brower said he had deposited it with a third party, and that third party +was to us unknown. We could not even guess in what city he lived. Of +course we could advertise. But Windy Bill who--leaning his long figure +against the wall--had been listening in silence--a pretty fair young +miracle in itself--had a good idea, which was the real miracle, in my +estimation. + +"Look here," he broke in, "if I've been following the plot of this yere +dime novel correctly, it's plumb easy. Just catch Jud--Jud--you know, +the editor of the _Cochise Branding Iron_, and get him to telegraph a +piece to the other papers that Artie Brower, celebrated jockey et +ceterer, has met a violent death at Hooper's ranch, details as yet +unknown. That's the catch-word, as I _savey_ it. When this yere third +party sees that, he goes and records the paper, and there you are!" + +Windy leaned back dramatically and looked exceedingly pleased with +himself. + +"Yes, that's it," approved Buck, briefly, which disappointed Windy, who +was looking for high encomium. + +At this moment a messenger came in from the firing party to report that +apparently all opposition had ceased. At least there had been for some +time no shooting from the direction of the water troughs; a fact +concealed from us by the thickness of the ranch walls. Buck Johnson +immediately went out to confer with Watkins. + +"I kind of think we've got 'em all," was the latter's opinion. "We +haven't had a sound out of 'em for a half hour. It may be a trick, of +course." + +"Sure they haven't slipped by you?" suggested the senor. + +"Pretty certain. We've got a close circle." + +"Well, I wouldn't take chances in the dark. Just lay low 'till morning." + +We returned to the ranch house where, after a little further discussion, +I bedded down and immediately fell into a deep sleep. This was more and +longer continued excitement than I was used to. + +I was afoot with the first stirrings of dawn, you may be sure, and out +to join the party that moved with infinite precaution on the water +troughs as soon as it was light enough to see clearly. We found them +riddled with bullets and the water all run out. Gleaming brass +cartridges scattered, catching the first rays of the sun, attested the +vigour of the defence. Four bodies lay huddled on the ground under the +partial shelter of the troughs. I saw Ramon, his face frowning and +sinister even in death, his right hand still grasping tenaciously the +stock of his Winchester; and Andreas flat on his face; and two others +whom I did not recognize. Ramon had been hit at least four times. But of +Hooper himself was no hide nor hair! So certain had we been that he had +escaped to this spot with his familiars that we were completely taken +aback at his absence. + +"We got just about as much sense as a bunch of sheepmen!" cried Buck +Johnson, exasperated. "He's probably been hiding out somewhere about the +place. God knows where he is by now!" + +But just as we were about to return to the ranch house we were arrested +by a shout from one of the cowboys who had been projecting around the +neighbourhood. He came running to us. In his hand he held a blade of +_sacatone_ on which he pointed out a single dark spot about the size of +the head of a pin. Buck seized it and examined it closely. + +"Blood, all right," he said at last. "Where did you get this, son?" + +The man, a Chiracahua hand named Curley something-or-other, indicated a +_sacatone_ bottom a hundred yards to the west. + +"You got good eyes, son," Buck complimented him. "Think you can make out +the trail?" + +"Do'no," said Curley. "Used to do a considerable of tracking." + +"Horses!" commanded Buck. + +We followed Curley afoot while several men went to saddle up. On the +edge of the two-foot jump-off we grouped ourselves waiting while Curley, +his brows knit tensely, quartered here and there like a setter dog. He +was a good trailer, you could see that in a minute. He went at it right. +After quite a spell he picked up a rock and came back to show it. I +should never have noticed anything--merely another tiny black spot among +other spots--but Buck nodded instantly he saw it. + +"It's about ten rods west of whar I found the grass," said Curley. +"Looks like he's headed for that water in Cockeye Basin. From thar he +could easy make Cochise when he got rested." + +"Looks likely," agreed Buck. "Can't you find no footprints?" + +"Too much tramped up by cowboys and other jackasses," said Curley. +"It'll come easier when we get outside this yere battlefield." + +He stood erect, sizing up the situation through half-squinted eyes. + +"You-all wait here," he decided. "Chances are he kept right on up the +broad wash." + +He mounted one of the horses that had now arrived and rode at a lope to +a point nearly half a mile west. There he dismounted and tied his horse +to the ground. After rather a prolonged search he raised his hand over +his head and described several small horizontal circles in the air. + +"Been in the army, have you?" muttered Buck; "well, I will say you're a +handy sort of leather-leg to have around. He gave the soldier signal for +'assemble'," he answered Jed Parker's question. + +We rode over to join Curley. + +"It's all right; he came this way," said the latter; but he did not +trouble to show us indications. I am a pretty fair game trailer myself, +but I could make out nothing. + +We proceeded slowly, Curley afoot leading his horse. The direction +continued to be toward Cockeye. Sometimes we could all see plain +footprints; again the trail was, at least as far as I was concerned, a +total loss. Three times we found blood, once in quite a splash. +Occasionally even Curley was at fault for a few moments; but in general +he moved forward at a rapid walk. + +"This Curley person is all right," observed Windy Bill after a while, "I +was brung up to find my way about, and I can puzzle out most anywhere a +critter has gone and left a sign; but this yere Curley can track a +humming bird acrost a granite boulder!" + +After a little while Curley stopped for us to catch up. + +"Seems to me no manner of doubt but what he's headed for Cockeye," he +said. "There ain't no other place for him to go out this way. I reckon I +can pick up enough of this trail just riding along. If we don't find no +sign at Cockeye, we can just naturally back track and pick up where he +turned off. We'll save time that-away, and he's had plenty of time to +get thar and back again." + +So Curley mounted and we rode on at a walk on the horse trail that led +up the broad, shallow wash that came out of Cockeye. + +Curley led, of course. Then rode Buck Johnson and Watkins and myself. I +had horned in on general principles, and nobody kicked. I suppose they +thought my general entanglement with this extraordinary series of events +entitled me to more than was coming to me as ordinary cow hand. For a +long time we proceeded in silence. Then, as we neared the hills, Buck +began to lay out his plan. + +"When we come up on Cockeye," he was explaining, "I want you to take a +half dozen men or so and throw around the other side on the Cochise +trail----" + +His speech was cut short by the sound of a rifle shot. The country was +still flat, unsuited for concealment or defence. We were riding +carelessly. A shivering shock ran through my frame and my horse plunged +wildly. For an instant I thought I must be hit, then I saw that the +bullet had cut off cleanly the horn of my saddle--within two inches of +my stomach! + +Surprise paralyzed us for the fraction of a second. Then we charged the +rock pile from which the shot had come. + +We found there Old Man Hooper seated in a pool of his own blood. He had +been shot through the body and was dead. His rifle lay across a rock, +trained carefully on the trail. How long he had sat there nursing the +vindictive spark of his vitality nobody will ever know--certainly for +some hours. And the shot delivered had taken from him the last flicker +of life. + +"By God, he was sure game!" Buck Johnson pronounced his epitaph. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + + +We cleaned up at the ranch and herded our prisoners together and rode +back to Box Springs. The seven men who had been segregated from the rest +by Buck Johnson were not among them. I never found out what had become +of them nor who had executed whatever decrees had been pronounced +against them. There at the home ranch we found Miss Emory very anxious, +excited, and interested. Buck and the others in authority left me to +inform her of what had taken place. + +I told you some time back that this is no love story; but I may as well +let you in on the whole sequel to it, and get it off my chest. Windy's +scheme brought immediate results. The partnership agreement was +recorded, and after the usual legal red-tape Miss Emory came into the +property. She had to have a foreman for the ranch, and hanged if she +didn't pick on me! Think of that; me an ordinary, forty-dollar cow +puncher! I tried to tell her that it was all plumb foolishness, that +running a big cattle ranch was a man-sized job and took experience, but +she wouldn't listen. Women are like that. She'd seen me blunder in and +out of a series of adventures and she thought that settled it, that I +was a great man. After arguing with her quite some time about it, I had +to give in; so I spit on my hands and sailed in to do my little +darndest. I expected the men who realized fully how little I knew about +it all would call me a brash damn fool or anyway give me the horse +laugh; but I fooled myself. They were mightily decent. Jed Parker or Sam +Wooden or Windy Bill were always just happening by and roosting on the +corral rails. Then if I listened to them--and I always did--I learned a +heap about what I ought to do. Why, even Buck Johnson himself came and +stayed at the ranch with me for more than a week at the time of the fall +round-up: and he never went near the riding, but just projected around +here and there looking over my works and ways. And in the evenings he +would smoke and utter grave words of executive wisdom which I treasured +and profited by. + +If a man gives his whole mind to it, he learns practical things fast. +Even a dumb-head Wop gets his English rapidly when he's where he has to +talk that or nothing. Inside of three years I had that ranch paying, and +paying big. It was due to my friends whom I had been afraid of, and I'm +not ashamed to say so. There's Herefords on our range now instead of +that lot of heady long-horns Old Man Hooper used to run; and we're +growing alfalfa and hay in quantity for fattening when they come in off +the ranges. Got considerable hogs, too, and hogs are high--nothing but +pure blood Poland. I figure I've added fully fifty per cent., if not +more, to the value of the ranch as it came to me. No, I'm not bragging; +I'm explaining how came it I married my wife and figured to keep my +self-respect. I'd have married her anyhow. We've been together now +fifteen years, and I'm here to say that she's a humdinger of a girl, +game as a badger, better looking every day, knows cattle and alfalfa +and sunsets and sonatas and Poland hogs--but I said this was no love +story, and it isn't! + +The day following the taking of the ranch and the death of Old Man +Hooper we put our prisoners on horses and started along with them toward +the Mexican border. Just outside of Soda Springs whom should we meet up +with but big Tom Thorne, the sheriff. + +"Evenin', Buck," said he. + +"Evenin'," replied the senor. + +"What you got here?" + +"This is a little band of religious devotees fleein' persecution," said +Buck. + +"And what are you up to with them?" asked Thorne. + +"We're protecting them out of Christian charity from the dangers of the +road until they reach the Promised Land." + +"I see," said Thorne, reflectively. "Whereabouts lays this Promised +Land?" + +"About sixty mile due south." + +"You sure to get them all there safe and sound--I suppose you'd be +willing to guarantee that nothing's going to happen to them, Buck?" + +"I give my word on that, Tom." + +"All right," said Thorne, evidently relieved. He threw his leg over the +horn of his saddle. "How about that little dispossession matter, deputy? +You ain't reported on that." + +"It's all done and finished." + +"Have any trouble?" + +"Nary trouble," said Senor Buck Johnson, blandly, "all went off quiet +and serene." + + + + +THE ROAD AGENT + + + + +CHAPTER I + + +The Sierra Nevadas of California are very wide and very high. Kingdoms +could be lost among the defiles of their ranges. Kingdoms have been +found there. One of them was Bright's Cove. + +It happened back in the seventies. Old Man Bright was prospecting. He +had come up from the foothills accompanied by a new but stolid Indian +wife. After he had grubbed around a while on old Italian bar and had +succeeded in washing out a little colour, she woke up and took a slight +interest in the proceedings. + +"You like catch dat?" she grunted, contemptuously. "Heap much over +dere!" + +She waved an arm. Old Man Bright girded his loins and packed his +jackass. After incredible scramblings the two succeeded in surmounting +the ranges and in dropping sheer to the mile-wide round valley through +which flowed the river--the broad, swift mountain river, with the +snow-white rapids and the swirling translucent green of very thick +grass. They were very glad to reach the grass at the bottom, but a +little doubtful on how to get out. The big mountains took root at the +very edge of the tiny round valley; the river flowed out of a gorge at +one end and into a gorge at the other. + +"Guess the sun don't rise here 'til next morning," commented Old Man +Bright. The squaw was too busy even to grunt. + +In six years Old Man Bright was worth six million dollars, all taken +from the ledges of Bright's Cove. Of this amount he had been forced to +let go of a small proportion for mill machinery and labour. He had also +invested twenty-five thousand dollars in a road. It was a steep road, +and a picturesque. It wound in and out and around, by loops, lacets, and +hairpins, dropping down the face of the mountain in unheard-of grades +and turns. Nothing was ever hauled up it, save yellow bars of +bullion--so that did not matter. Down it, with a shriek of brakes, a +cloud of dust, a clank of harness and a rumble of oaths, came divers +matters, such as machinery, glassware, whiskey, mirrors, ammunition, and +pianos. From any one of a dozen bold points on this road one could see +far down and far up its entire white, thread-like length. The tiny +crawling teams each with its puff of dust crawling with it; the great +tumbled peaks of the Sierras; the river so far below as to resemble a +little stream, the round Cove with its toy houses and its distant +ant-like industry--all these were plainly to be seized by a glance of +whatever eye cared to look. + +As time went on a great many teams and pack trains and saddle animals +climbed up and down that road. Bright's Cove became quite a town. Old +Man Bright made six millions; other men aggregated nearly four millions +more; still others acquired deep holes and a deficit. It might be +remarked in passing that the squaw acquired experience, a calico dress +or so, and a final honourable discharge. Being an Indian she quite +cheerfully went back to pounding acorns in a _metate_. + +In the fifth year of prosperity there drifted into camp two men, +possessed of innocence, three mules, and a thousand dollars. They +retained the mules; and, it is to be presumed, at least a portion of the +innocence. + +The thousand dollars went to the purchase of the Lost Dog from Barney +Fallan. The Lost Dog consisted quite simply of a hole in the ground +guarded by an excellent five stamp-mill. The latter's existence could +only be explained by the incurable optimism of Barney Fallan--certainly +not by the contents of the hole in the ground. To the older men of the +camp it seemed a shame, for the newcomers were nice, fresh-cheeked, +clear-eyed lads to whom everything was new and strange and wonderful, +their enthusiasm was contagious, and their cheerful command of +vernacular exceedingly heart-warming. California John, then a man in his +forties, tried to head off the deal. + +"Look here, son," said he to Gaynes. "Don't do it. There's nothin' in +it. Take my word." + +"But Fallan's got a good stamp-mill all ready for business, and the +ledge----" + +"Son," said California John, "every once in a while the Lord gets to +experimentin' makin' brains for a new species of jackass, and when he +runs out of donkeys to put 'em in----" + +"Meaning me?" demanded Gaynes, his fair skin turning a deep red. + +"Not at all. Meanin' Barney Fallan." + +Nevertheless the Babes, as the Gaynes brothers were speedily nicknamed, +paid over their good thousand for Barney's worthless prospect with the +imposing but ridiculous stamp-mill. There they set cheerfully to work. +After a week's desperate and clanking experiment they got the machinery +under way and began to run rock through the crushers. + +"It ain't even ore!" expostulated California John. "Why, son, it's only +country rock. Go down on your shaft until you strike a pan test, anyway! +You're wasting time and fuel and--Oh, hell!" he broke off hopelessly at +the sight of the two cherubic faces upturned respectful but unconvinced. + +"But you never can tell where you will find gold," broke in Jimmy, +eagerly. "That's been proved over and over again. I heard one fellow say +once that they thought they'd never find gold in hornblende. But they +did." + +California John stumped home in indignant disgust. + +"Damn little ijits!" he exploded. "Pigheaded! Stubborn as a pair of +mules!" The recollection of the scrubbed red cheeks, the clear, +puppy-dog, frank brown eyes, the close-curling brown hair, forced his +lips to a wry grin. "Just like I was at that age," he admitted. He +sighed. "Well, they'll drop their little pile, of course. The only ray +of hope's the experience that old Bible fellow had with them turkey +buzzards--or was it ravens?" + +The Babes pecked away for about a month, full of tribulation and +questions. They seemed to depend almost equally on optimism and chance, +in both of which they had supreme faith. A huge horseshoe was tacked +over the door of the stamp-mill. Jimmy Gaynes always spat over his right +shoulder before doing a day's work. They never walked under the short +ladders leading to the hoppers. Neither would they permit visitors to +their shafts. To California John and his friend Tibbetts they interposed +scandalized objections. + +"It's bad luck to let another man in your shaft!" cried George. "I'm no +high-brow on this mining proposition, but I know enough for that." + +"Bad as playing opposite a cross-eyed man," said Jimmy. + +"Or holding Jacks full on Eights," supplemented George, conclusively. + +"You're about as wise as a treeful of owls," said California John, +sarcastically. "But, Lord love you, I ain't cherishin' any very burnin' +ambition to crawl down your snake hole." + +The Babes used up their provisions; they went about as far as they could +on credit; they harrowed the feelings of the community--and then, in a +very mild way, they struck it. Together they drifted down the single +street of the camp, arm in arm, an elaborate nonchalance steadying their +steps. Near the horse trough they paused. + +"Gold," said Jimmy, oracularly, to George, "is where you find it." + +"Likewise horse sense," quoth George. + +Whereupon they whooped wildly and descended on the astonished group. To +it they exhibited yellow dust to the value of an hundred dollars. "And +more where that came from," said they. + +"What kind of rock did you find it in?" demanded Tibbetts, after he had +recovered his breath from the youngsters' enthusiastic man-handling. + +"Oh, a kind of red, pasty-looking rock," said they. + +"Show us," demanded the miners. + +"What?" cried Jimmy, astounded, "and give Old Man Luck the backhand slap +just when he's decided to buy a corner lot in the Gaynes Addition? Not +on your saccharine existence!" + +"But we'll show you some more of this to-morrow Q.M.," said George. + +They bought drinks all round, and paid their various bills, and departed +again feverishly to the Lost Dog whence rose smoke and clankings. And +next day, sure enough, they left their work just long enough to exhibit +another respectable little clean-up of fifty dollars or so. + +"And we're just getting into it!" said George, triumphantly. + +California John and all the rest of his good friends rejoiced +exceedingly and genuinely. They liked the Babes. The little strike of +the Lost Dog quite overshadowed in importance the fact that old man +Bright's "Clarice" had run into a fabulously rich pocket. + +The end of the month drew near. The Lost Dog had produced nearly eight +hundred dollars. The Babes waxed important and talked largely of their +moneyed interests. + +"I think," said Jimmy, importantly, "that we will decide to keep three +hundred dollars to boost the game; and nail down the rest where moths +won't corrupt. Where do you fellows salt your surplus, anyway?" + +"There's an express goes out pretty soon," someone explained, "with the +clean-up of the Clarice. We send our dust out with that; and I reckon +you can fix it with Bright." + +They saw Bright, but ran up against an unexpected difficulty. Old Man +Bright received them with considerable surliness. He considered himself +as the originator, discoverer, inventor, and almost the proprietor of +Bright's Cove and all it contained. Therefore, when he first heard of +the new strike, he walked up to the Lost Dog to see what it looked like. +The Babes, panic stricken at the intended affront to "Old Man Luck," +headed him off. Bright had not the least belief in the reason given. He +surveyed them with disfavour. + +"I can't take your package," he told them. "Send it out yourself." + +"And that old skunk has cleaned up a hundred thousand this month!" +complained Jimmy, pathetically, to the group around the horse trough. +"And he won't even take a pore little five hundred package of dust out +to some suffering bank! I suppose I'll have to cache it in a tomato can +for Johnson's old billy goat to chew up." + +"Bring it over and I'll shove it in with mine," suggested California +John. + +So it was done. The express, carrying nearly four hundred pounds of gold +dust, set forth over the steep road. In two hours the driver and +messenger sailed in, bung-eyed with excitement. They had been held up by +a single road agent. + +"He come out right on that point of rocks where you can see the whole +valley," said the driver in answer to many questions, "right where the +heavy grade is and the thick chaparral. We was busy climbing; and he had +us before we could wink. Made us drop off the dust and 'bout face. He +was a big, tall feller; and had a sawed-off Winchester. Once, when we +stopped, he dropped a bullet right behind us. He must have watched us +all the way to camp." + +The camp turned out. As the men passed the Lost Dog someone yelled to +the Babes. George, covered with mud, came to the door of the mill. + +"Gee!" said he. "Lucky we saved out that three hundred. I'm powerful +sorry for that suffering bank. I'll join you as soon as I can get Jimmy +up out of the shaft." Before the party had gone a mile they were joined +by the brothers boyishly eager over this new excitement. + +The men toiled up the road to where the robbery had taken place. Plainly +to be seen were the marks of the man's boots. The tracks of a single +horse, walking, followed the man. + +"He packed off the dust, and he had an almighty big horse to carry it," +pronounced someone. + +They followed the trail. It led a half mile to a broad sheet of rock. +There it disappeared. On one side the bank rose twenty or thirty feet. +On the other it fell away nearly a hundred. On the other side of the +sheet of rock stretched the dusty road unbroken by anything more recent +than the wheel-tracks of the day before. It was as though man and horse +had taken unto themselves wings. + +Immediately Bright took active charge of the posse. + +"Stand here, on this rock," he commanded. "This road's been tracked up +too much already. You, John, and Tibbetts and Simmins, there, come 'long +with me to see what you can make out." + +The old mountaineers retraced their steps, examining carefully every +inch of the ground. They returned vastly puzzled. + +"No sabe," California John summed up their investigations. "There's the +man's track leadin' his hoss. The hoss had on new shoes, and the robber +did his own shoeing. So we ain't got any blacksmiths to help us." + +"How do you know he shod the horse himself?" asked Jimmy Gaynes. + +"Shoes just alike on front and back feet. Shows he must just have tacked +on ready-made shoes. A blacksmith shapes 'em different. Those tracks +leads right up to this rock: and here they quit. If you can figger how a +horse, a man, and nigh four hundredweight of gold dust got off this +rock, I'll be obleeged." + +The men looked up at the perpendicular cliff to their right; over the +sheer precipice at their left; and upon the untracked deep, white dust +ahead. + +"Furthermore," California John went on, impressively, after a moment, +"where did that man and that hoss come from in the beginning? Not from +up this way. They's no fresh tracks comin' down the road no more than +they's fresh tracks goin' up. Not from camp. They's no tracks +whatsomever on the road below, except our'n and the stage outfit's." + +"Are you sure of that?" asked Jimmy, his eyes shining with interest. + +"Sartin sure," replied California John, positively. "We didn't take no +chances on that." + +"Then he must have come into the road from up the mountain or down the +mountain." + +"Where?" demanded California John. "A man afoot might scramble down in +one or two places; but not a hoss. They ain't no tracks either side the +muss-up where the express was stopped. And at that p'int the mountain is +straight up and down, like it is here." + +They talked it over, and argued it, and reexamined the evidence, but +without avail. The stubborn facts remained: Between the hold-up and the +sheet of rock was one set of tracks going one way; elsewhere, nothing. + + + + +CHAPTER II + + +Nearly a year passed. If it had not been for the very tangible loss of a +hundred and fifty thousand dollars, the little community at Bright's +Cove might almost have come to doubt the evidence of their senses and +the accuracy of their memories, so fantastic on sober reflection did all +the circumstances become. Even the indisputable four hundred pounds of +gold could not quite avert an unconfessed suspicion of the uncanny. +Miners are superstitious folk. Old Man Bright remembered the parting and +involved curses of his squaw before she went back to her acorns and pine +nuts. To Tibbetts alone he imparted a vague hint of the imaginings into +which he had fallen. But he brooded much, seeking a plausible theory +that would not force him back on the powers of darkness. This he did not +find. + +Nor did any other man. It remained a mystery, a single bizarre anomaly +in the life of the camp. For some time thereafter the express went +heavily guarded. The road was patrolled. Jimmy or George Gaynes in +person accompanied each shipment of dust. Their pay streak held out, +increased steadily in value. They would hire no assistance for the +actual mining in the shaft, although they had several hands to work at +the mill. One month they cleaned up twelve thousand dollars. + +"You bet I'm going," said Jimmy, "I don't care if it is only a little +compared to what Bright and you fellows are sending. It's a heap sight +to us, and I'm going to see it safe to the city. No more spooks in mine. +I got my fingers crossed. Allah skazallalum! I don't know what a ghost +would want with cash assets, but they seemed to use George's and my +little old five hundred, all right." + +Twelve months went by. Two expresses a month toiled up the road. Nothing +happened. Finally Jimmy decided that four good working days a month were +a good deal to pay for apparently useless supervision. Three men +comprised the shot-gun guard. They, with the driver, were considered +ample. + +"You'll have to get on without me," said Jimmy to them in farewell. "Be +good boys. We've got the biggest clean-up yet aboard you." + +They started on the twenty-fifth trip since the hold-up. After a time, +far up the mountain was heard a single shot. Inside of two hours the +express drew sorrowfully into camp. The driver appeared to be alone. In +the bottom of the wagon were the three guards weak and sick. The gold +sacks were very much absent. + +"Done it again," said the driver. "Ain't more than got started afore the +whole outfit's down with the belly-ache. Too much of that cursed salmon. +Told 'em so. I didn't eat none. That road agent hit her lucky this trip +sure. He was all organized for business. Never showed himself at all. +Just opened fire. Sent a bullet through the top of my hat. He's either a +damn good shot or a damn poor one. I hung up both hands and yelled we +was down and out. What could I do? This outfit couldn't a fit a bumble +bee. And I couldn't git away, or git hold of no gun, or see anything to +shoot, if I did. He was behind that big rock." + +The men nodded. They were many of them hard hit, but they had lived too +long in the West not to recognize the justice of the driver's implied +contention that he had done his best. + +"He told me to throw out them sacks, and to be damn quick about it," +went on the driver. "Then I drove home." + +"What sort of a lookin' fellow was he?" asked someone. "Same one as last +year?" + +"I never seen him," said the driver. "He hung behind his rock. He was +organized for shoot, and if the messengers hadn't happened to' a' been +out of it, I believe he could have killed us all." + +"What did his hoss look like?" inquired California John. + +"He didn't have no horse," stated the driver. "Leastways, not near him. +There was no cover. He might have been around a p'int. And I can sw'ar +to this: there weren't no tracks of no kind from there to camp." + +They caught up horses and started out. When they came to the Lost Dog, +they stopped and looked at each other. + +"Poor old Babes," said Simmins. "Biggest clean-up yet; and first time +one of 'em didn't go 'long." + +"I'm glad they didn't," said Tibbetts. "That agent would have killed 'em +shore!" + +They called out the Gaynes brothers and broke the news. For once the +jovial youngsters had no joke to make. + +"This is getting serious," said Jimmy, seriously. "We can't afford to +lose that much." + +George whistled dolefully, and went into the corral for the mules. + +The party toiled up the mountain. Plainly in the dust could be made out +the trail of the express ascending and descending. Plain also were the +signs where the driver had dumped out the gold bags and turned around. +From that point the tracks of a man and a horse led to the sheet of +rock. Beyond that, nothing. + +The men stared at each other a little frightened. Somebody swore softly. + +"Boys," said Bright in a strained voice, "do you know how much was in +that express? A half million! There's nary earthly hoss can carry over +half a ton! And this one treads as light as a saddler." + +They looked at each other blankly. Several even glanced in apprehension +at the sky. + +In a perfunctory manner, for the sake of doing something, those skilled +in trail-reading went back over the ground. Nothing was added to the +first experience. At the point of robbery magically had appeared a man +and--if the stage driver's solemn assertion that at the time of the +hold-up no animal was in sight could be believed--subsequently, when +needed, a large horse. Whence had they come? Not along the road in +either direction: the unbroken, deep dust assured that. Not down the +mountain from above, for the cliff rose sheer for at least three hundred +feet. Jimmy Gaynes, following unconsciously the general train of +conjecture, craned his neck over the edge of the road. The broken jagged +rock and shale dropped off an hundred feet to a tangle of manzanita and +snowbrush. + +California John looked over, too. + +"Couldn't even get sheep up that," said he, "let alone a sixteen-hand +horse." + +Old Man Bright was sunk in a superstitious torpor. He had lost hundreds +of thousands where he would have hated to spend pennies; yet the +financial part of the loss hardly touched him. He mumbled fearfully to +himself, and took not the slightest interest in the half-hearted +attempts to read the mystery. When the others moved, he moved with them, +because he was afraid to be left alone. + +After the men had assured themselves again and again that the horse and +the man had apparently materialized from thin air exactly at the point +of robbery, they again followed the tracks to the broad sheet of rock. +Whither had the robber gone? Back into the thin air whence he had come. +There was no other solution. No tracks ahead; an absolute and physical +impossibility of anything without wings getting up or down the flanking +precipices--these were the incontestable facts. + +After this second robbery a gloom descended on Bright's Cove which +lasted through many months. Old Man Bright hunted out the squaw with +whom he had first discovered the diggings, and set her up in an +establishment with gay curtains, glass danglers and red doileys. Each +month he paid for her provisions and sent to her a sum of money. In this +manner, at least, the phantom road agent had furthered the ends of +justice. The sop to the powers of darkness appeared to be effective in +this respect: no more hold-ups occurred; no more mysterious tracks +appeared in the dust; gradually men's minds swung back to the balanced +and normal, and the life of the camp went forward on its appointed way. + +Nevertheless, certain effects remained. Each express went out heavily +guarded, and preceded and followed by men on horseback. Strangely enough +the gamblers left camp. In a little more than a year Old Man Bright fell +into a settled melancholia from which his millions never helped him to +the very day of his death a little more than a year later. + +In the meantime, however varied the fortunes of the other mines and +prospects, the Lost Dog continued to work toward a steadily increasing +paying basis. It never reached the proportions of the Clarice, but +turned out an increasing value of dust at each clean-up. The Gaynes boys +two years before had been in debt for their groceries. Now they were +said to have shipped out something like three or four hundred thousand +dollars' worth of gold. Their friends used to wander down for the +regular clean-up, just to rejoice over the youngsters' deserved good +luck. The little five stamp-mill crunched away steadily; the water +flowed; and in the riffles the heavy gold dust accumulated. + +"Why don't you-all put up a big mill, throw in a crew of men, and get +busy?" they were asked. + +"I'll tell you," replied George, "it's because we know a heap sight more +about mining than we did when we came here. We have just one claim, and +from all indications it's only a pocket. The Clarice is on a genuine +lode; but we're likely to run into a 'horse' or pinch out most any +minute. When we do, it's all over but a few faint cries of fraud. And we +can empty that pocket just as well with a little jerkwater outfit like +this as we could with a big crew and a real mill. It'll take a little +longer; but we're pulling it and quick enough." + +"Those Babes have more sense than we gave 'em credit for," commented +California John. "Their heads are level. They're dead right about it's +bein' a pocket. The stuff they run through there is the darndest mixture +_I_ ever see gold in." + +Two months after this conversation the Babes drifted into camp to +announce that the expected pinch had come. + +"We're going," said Jimmy. "We have a heap plenty dust salted away; and +there's not a colour left in the Lost Dog. The mill machinery is for +sale cheap. Any one can have the Lost Dog who wants it. We're going out +to see what makes the wheels go 'round. You boys have a first claim on +us wherever you find us. You've sure been good to us. If you catch that +spook, send us one of his tail feathers. It would be worth just twelve +thousand five hundred to us." + +They sold the stamp-mill for almost nothing; packed eight animals with +heavy things they had accumulated; and departed up the steep white road, +over the rim to the outer world whence came no word of them more. The +camp went on prospering. Old Man Bright died. The heavily guarded +express continued to drag out yellow gold by the hundredweight. + +About six weeks after the departure of the Babes, California John +saddled up his best horse, put on his best overalls, strapped about him +his shiny worn Colt's .45 and departed for his semi-annual visit to the +valleys and the towns. A week later he returned. It was about dusk. At +the water trough he dismounted. + +"Boys," said he, quietly, "I've been held up." He eyed them quizzically. +"Up by the slide rock," he continued, "and by the spook." + +"Who was he?" "What was it?" they cried, starting to their feet. + +"It was Jimmy Gaynes," replied California John. + +"The Babe?" someone broke the stunned silence at last. + +"Precisely." + +"Well, I'll be damned!" cried Tibbetts. + +"Did he get much off you?" asked a miner after another pause. + +"He never took a thing." + +And on that, being much besieged, California John sat him down and told +of his experience. + + + + +CHAPTER III + + +California John was discursive and interested and disinclined to be +hurried. He crossed one leg over the other and lit his pipe. + +"I was driftin' down the road busy with my own idees--which ain't many," +he began, "when I was woke up all to once by someone givin' me advice. I +took the advice. Wasn't nothin' else to do. All I could see was a rock +and a gun barrel. That was enough. So I histed my hands as per commands +and waited for the next move." He chuckled. "I wasn't worryin'. Had to +squeeze my dust bag to pay my hotel bill when I left the city." + +"'Drop yore gun in the road,' says the agent. + +"I done so. + +"'Now dismount.' + +"I climbed down. And then Jimmy Gaynes rose up from behind that rock and +laughed at me. + +"'The joke's on me!' said I, and reached down for my gun. + +"'Better leave that!' said Jimmy pretty sharp. I know that tone of +voice, so I straightened up again. + +"'Well, Jimmy,' said I, 'she lays if you say so. But where'd you come +from: and what for do you turn road agent and hold up your old friends?' + +"'I'm holdin' you up,' Jimmy answered, 'because I want to talk to you +for ten minutes. As for where I come from, that's neither here nor +there.' + +"'Of course,' said I, 'I'm one of these exclusive guys that needs a gun +throwed on him before he'll talk with the plain people like you.' + +"'Now don't get mad,' says Jimmy. 'But light yore pipe, and set down on +that rock, and you'll see in a minute why I _pre_ferred to corner the +gatling market.' + +"Well, I set down and lit up, and Jimmy done likewise, about ten feet +away. + +"'I've come back a long ways to talk to one of you boys, and I've shore +hung around this road some few hours waitin' for some of you terrapins +to come along. Ever found out who done those two hold-ups?' + +"'Nope,' said I, 'and don't expect to.' + +"'Well, I done it,' says he. + +"I looked him in the eye mighty severe. + +"'You're one of the funniest little jokers ever hit this trail,' I told +him. 'If that's your general line of talkee-talkee I don't wonder you +don't want me to have no gun.' + +"'Never_the_less,' he insists, 'I done it. And I'll tell you just how it +was done. Here's yore old express crawlin' up the road. Here I am behind +this little old rock. You know what happened next I reckon--from +experience.' + +"'I reckon I know that,' says I, 'but how did you get behind that rock +without leavin' no tracks?' + +"I climbed up the cliff out of the canon, and I just walked up the canon +from the Lost Dog through the brush.' + +"'Yes,' says I, 'that might be: a man could make out to shinny up. But +how----' + +"'One thing to a time. Then I ordered them dust sacks throwed out, and +the driver to 'bout-face and retreat.' + +"'Sure,' says I, 'simple as a wart on a kid's nose. There was you with a +half ton of gold to fly off with! Come again.' + +"'I then dropped them sacks off the edge of the cliff where they rolled +into the brush. After a while I climbed down after them, and was on hand +when your posse started out. Then I carried them home at leisure.' + +"'What did you do with your hoss?' I asked him, mighty sarcastic. 'Seems +to me you overlook a few bets.' + +"'I didn't have no hoss,' says he. + +"'But the real hold-up---- + +"'You mean them tracks. Well, just to amuse you fellows, I walked in the +dust up to that flat rock. Then I clamped a big pair of horseshoes on +hind-side before and walked back again.'" + +California John's audience had been listening intently. Now it could no +longer contain itself, but broke forth into exclamations indicative of +various emotions. + +"That's why them front and back tracks was the same size!" someone +cried. + +"Gee, you're bright!" said California John. "That's what I told him. I +also told him he was a wonder, but how did he manage to slip out near a +ton of dust up that road without our knowing it? + +"'You did know it,' says he. 'Did you fellows really think there was any +gold-bearing ore in the Lost Dog? We just run that dust through the mill +along with a lot of worthless rock, and shipped it out open and above +board as our own mill run. There never was an ounce of dust come out of +the Lost Dog, and there never will.' Then he give me back my +gun--emptied--we shook hands, and here I be." + +After the next burst of astonishment had ebbed, and had been succeeded +by a rather general feeling of admiration, somebody asked California +John if Jimmy had come back solely for the purpose of clearing up the +mystery. California John had evidently been waiting for this question. +He arose and knocked the ashes from his pipe. + +"Bring a candle," he requested the storekeeper, and led the way to the +abandoned Lost Dog. Into the tunnel he led them, to the very end. There +he paused, holding aloft his light. At his feet was a canvas which, +being removed, was found to cover neatly a number of heavy sacks. + +"Here's our dust," said California John, "every ounce of it, he said. He +kept about six hundred thousand or so that belonged to Bright: but he +didn't take none of ours. He come back to tell me so." + +The men crowded around for closer inspection. + +"I wonder why he done that?" Tibbetts marvelled. + +"I asked him that," replied California John, grimly, "He said his +conscience never would rest easy if he robbed us babes." + +Tibbetts broke the ensuing silence. + +"Was 'babes' the word he used?" he asked, softly. + +"'Babes' was the word," said California John. + + + + +THE TIDE + + +A short story, say the writers of text books and the teachers of +sophomores, should deal with but a single episode. That dictum is +probably true; but it admits of wider interpretation than is generally +given it. The teller of tales, anxious to escape from restriction but +not avid of being cast into the outer darkness of the taboo, can in +self-justification become as technical as any lawyer. The phrase "a +single episode" is loosely worded. The rule does not specify an episode +in one man's life; it might be in the life of a family, or a state, or +even of a whole people. In that case the action might cover many lives. +It is a way out for those who have a story to tell, a limit to tell it +within, but who do not wish to embroil themselves too seriously with the +august Makers of the Rules. + + + + +CHAPTER I + + +The time was 1850, the place that long, soft, hot dry stretch of blasted +desolation known as the Humboldt Sink. The sun stared, the heat rose in +waves, the mirage shimmered, the dust devils of choking alkali whirled +aloft or sank in suffocation on the hot earth. Thus it had been since in +remote ages the last drop of the inland sea had risen into a brazen sky. +But this year had brought something new. A track now led across the +desert. It had sunk deep into the alkali, and the soft edges had closed +over it like snow, so that the wheel marks and the hoof marks and the +prints of men's feet looked old. Almost in a straight line it led to the +west. Its perspective, dwindling to nothingness, corrected the deceit of +the clear air. Without it the cool, tall mountains looked very near. But +when the eye followed the trail to its vanishing, then, as though by +magic, the Ranges drew back, and before them denied dreadful forces of +toil, thirst, exhaustion, and despair. For the trail was marked. If the +wheel ruts had been obliterated, it could still have been easily +followed. Abandoned goods, furniture, stores, broken-down wagons, +bloated carcasses of oxen or horses, bones bleached white, rattling +mummies of dried skin, and an almost unbroken line of marked and +unmarked graves--like the rout of an army, like the spent wash of a wave +that had rolled westward--these in double rank defined the road. + +The buzzards sailing aloft looked down on the Humboldt Sink as we would +look upon a relief map. Near the centre of the map a tiny cloud of white +dust crawled slowly forward. The buzzards stooped to poise above it. + +Two ox wagons plodded along. A squirrel--were such a creature +possible--would have stirred disproportionately the light alkali dust; +the two heavy wagons and the shuffling feet of the beasts raised a +cloud. The fitful furnace draught carried this along at the slow pace of +the caravan, which could be seen only dimly, as through a dense fog. + +The oxen were in distress. Evidently weakened by starvation, they were +proceeding only with the greatest difficulty. Their tongues were out, +their legs spread, spasmodically their eyes rolled back to show the +whites, from time to time one or another of them uttered a strangled, +moaning bellow. They were white with the powdery dust, as were their +yokes, the wagons, and the men who plodded doggedly alongside. Finally, +they stopped. The dust eddied by; and the blasting sun fell upon them. + +The driver of the leading team motioned to the other. They huddled in +the scanty shade alongside the first wagon. Both men were so powdered +and caked with alkali that their features were indistinguishable. Their +red-rimmed, inflamed eyes looked out as though from masks. + +The one who had been bringing up the rear looked despairingly toward the +mountains. + +"We'll never get there!" he cried. + +"Not the way we are now," replied the other. "But I intend to get +there." + +"How?" + +"Leave your wagon, Jim; it's the heaviest. Put your team on here." + +"But my wagon is all I've got in the world!" cried the other, "and we've +got near a keg of water yet! We can make it! The oxen are pulling all +right!" + +His companion turned away with a shrug, then thought better of it and +turned back. + +"We've thrown out all we owned except bare necessities," he explained, +patiently. "Your wagon is too heavy. The time to change is while the +beasts can still pull." + +"But I refuse!" cried the other. "I won't do it. Go ahead with your +wagon. I'll get mine in, John Gates, you can't bulldoze me." + +Gates stared him in the eye. + +"Get the pail," he requested, mildly. + +He drew water from one of the kegs slung underneath the wagon's body. +The oxen, smelling it, strained weakly, bellowing. Gates slowly and +carefully swabbed out their mouths, permitted them each a few swallows, +rubbed them pityingly between the horns. Then he proceeded to unyoke the +four beasts from the other man's wagon and yoked them to his own. Jim +started to say something. Gates faced him. Nothing was said. + +"Get your kit," Gates commanded, briefly, after a few moments. He parted +the hanging canvas and looked into the wagon. Built to transport much +freight it was nearly empty. A young woman lay on a bed spread along the +wagon bottom. She seemed very weak. + +"All right, honey?" asked Gates, gently. + +She stirred, and achieved a faint smile. + +"It's terribly hot. The sun strikes through," she replied. "Can't we let +some air in?" + +"The dust would smother you." + +"Are we nearly there?" + +"Getting on farther every minute," he replied, cheerfully. + +Again the smothering alkali rose and the dust cloud crawled. + +Four hours later the traveller called Jim collapsed face downward. The +oxen stopped. Gates lifted the man by the shoulders. So exhausted was he +that he had not the strength nor energy to spit forth the alkali with +which his fall had caked his open mouth. Gates had recourse to the +water keg. After a little he hoisted his companion to the front seat. + +At intervals thereafter the lone human figure spoke the single word that +brought his team to an instantaneous dead stop. His first care was then +the woman, next the man clinging to the front seat, then the oxen. +Before starting he clambered to the top of the wagon and cast a long, +calculating look across the desolation ahead. Twice he even further +reduced the meagre contents of the wagon, appraising each article long +and doubtfully before discarding it. About mid-afternoon he said +abruptly: + +"Jim, you've got to walk." + +The man demurred weakly, with a touch of panic. + +"Every ounce counts. It's going to be a close shave. You can hang on to +the tail of the wagon." + +Yet an hour later Jim, for the fourth time, fell face downward, but now +did not rise. Gates, going to him, laid his hand on his head, pushed +back one of his eyelids, then knelt for a full half minute, staring +straight ahead. Once he made a tentative motion toward the nearly empty +water keg, once he started to raise the man's shoulders. The movements +were inhibited. A brief agony cracked the mask of alkali on his +countenance. Then stolidly, wearily, he arose. The wagon lurched +forward. After it had gone a hundred yards and was well under way in its +painful forward crawl, Gates, his red-rimmed, bloodshot eyes fixed and +glazed, drew the revolver from its holster and went back. + +At sundown he began to use the gad. The oxen were trying to lie down. +If one of them succeeded, it would never again arise. Gates knew this. +He plied the long, heavy whip in both hands. Where the lash fell it bit +out strips of hide. It was characteristic of the man that though +heretofore he had not in all this day inflicted a single blow on the +suffering animals, though his nostrils widened and his terrible red eyes +looked for pity toward the skies, yet now he swung mercilessly with all +his strength. + +Dusk fell, but the hot earth still radiated, the powder dust rose and +choked. The desert dragged at their feet; and in the twilight John Gates +thought to hear mutterings and the soft sound of wings overhead as the +dread spirits of the wastes stooped low. He had not stopped for nearly +two hours. This was the last push; he must go straight through or fail. + +And when the gleam of the river answered the gleam of the starlight he +had again to rouse his drained energies. By the brake, by directing the +wagon into an obstruction, by voice and whip he fought the frantic +beasts back to a moaning standstill. Then pail by pail he fed them the +water until the danger of overdrinking was past. He parted the curtains. +In spite of the noise outside the woman, soothed by the breath of cooler +air, had fallen asleep. + +Some time later he again parted the curtains. + +"We're here, honey," he said, "good water, good grass, shade. The desert +is past. Wake up and take a little coffee." + +She smiled at him. + +"I'm so tired." + +"We're going to rest here a spell." + +She drank the coffee, ate some of the food he brought her, thrust back +her hair, breathed deep of the cooling night. + +"Where's Jim?" she asked at last. + +"Jim got very tired," he said, "Jim's asleep." + + * * * * * + +Three months later. The western slant of the Sierras just where the +canon clefts begin to spread into foothills. On a flat near--too +near--the stream-bed was a typical placer-mining camp of the day. That +is, three or four large, rough buildings in a row, twenty or thirty log +cabins scattered without order, and as many tents. + +The whole population was gathered interestedly in the largest structure, +which was primarily a dance hall. Ninety-five per cent. were men, of +whom the majority were young men. A year ago the percentage would have +been nearer one hundred, but now a certain small coterie of women had +drifted in, most of them with a keen eye for prosperity. The red or blue +shirt, the nondescript hat, and the high, mud-caked boots of the miner +preponderated. Here and there in the crowd, however, stood a man dressed +in the height of fashion. There seemed no middle ground. These latter +were either the professional gamblers, the lawyers, or the promoters. + +A trial was in progress, to which all paid deep attention. Two men +disputed the ownership of a certain claim. Their causes were represented +by ornate individuals whose evident zest in the legal battle was not +measured by prospective fees. Nowhere in the domain and at no time in +the history of the law has technicality been so valued, has the game of +the courts possessed such intellectual interest, has substantial +justice been so uncertain as in the California of the early 'fifties. +The lawyer could spread himself unhampered; and these were so doing. + +In the height of the proceedings a man entered from outside and took his +position leaning against the rail of the jury box. That he was a +stranger was evident from the glances of curiosity, cast in his +direction. He was tall, strong, young, bearded, with a roving, humorous +bold eye. + +The last word was spoken. A rather bewildered-looking jury filed out. +Ensued a wait. The jury came back. It could not agree; it wanted +information. Both lawyers supplied it in abundance. The foreman, who +happened to be next the rail against which the newcomer was leaning, +cast on him a quizzical eye. + +"Stranger," said he, "mout you be able to make head er tail of all that +air?" + +The other shook his head. + +"I'm plumb distracted to know what to do; and dear knows we all want to +git shet of this job. Thar's a badger fight----" + +"Where is this claim, anyway?" + +"Right adown the road. Location notice is on the first white oak you +come to. Cain't miss her." + +"If I were you," said the stranger after a pause, "I'd just declare the +claim vacant. Then neither side would win." + +At this moment the jury rose to retire again. The stranger unobtrusively +gained the attention of the clerk and from him begged a sheet of paper. +On this he wrote rapidly, then folded it, and moved to the outer door, +against the jamb of which he took his position. After another and +shorter wait, the jury returned. + +"Have you agreed on your verdict, gentlemen?" inquired the judge. + +"We have," replied the lank foreman. "We award that the claim belongs to +neither and be declared vacant." + +At the words the stranger in the doorway disappeared. Two minutes later +the advance guard of the rush that had comprehended the true meaning of +the verdict found the white oak tree in possession of a competent +individual with a Colt's revolving pistol and a humorous eye. + +"My location notice, gentlemen," he said, calling attention to a paper +freshly attached by wooden pegs. + +"Honey-bug claim'," they read, "'John Gates'," and the usual +phraseology. + +"But this is a swindle, an outrage!" cried one of the erstwhile owners. + +"If so it was perpetrated by your own courts," said Gates, crisply. "I +am within my rights, and I propose to defend them." + +Thus John Gates and his wife, now strong and hearty, became members of +this community. His intention had been to proceed to Sacramento. An +incident stopped him here. + +The Honey-bug claim might or might not be a good placer mine--time would +show--but it was certainly a wonderful location. Below the sloping bench +on which it stood the country fell away into the brown heat haze of the +lowlands, a curtain that could lift before a north wind to reveal a +landscape magnificent as a kingdom. Spreading white oaks gave shade, a +spring sang from the side hill on which grew lofty pines, and back to +the east rose the dark or glittering Sierras. The meadow at the back was +gay with mariposa lilies, melodious with bees and birds, aromatic with +the mingled essences of tarweed, lads-love, and the pines. At this happy +elevation the sun lay warm and caressing, but the air tasted cool. + +"I could love this," said the woman. + +"You'll have a chance," said John Gates, "for when we've made our pile, +we'll always keep this to come back to." + +At first they lived in the wagon, which they drew up under one of the +trees, while the oxen recuperated and grew fat on the abundant grasses. +Then in spare moments John Gates began the construction of a house. He +was a man of tremendous energy, but also of many activities. The days +were not long enough for him. In him was the true ferment of +constructive civilization. Instinctively he reached out to modify his +surroundings. A house, then a picket fence, split from the living trees; +an irrigation ditch; a garden spot; fruit trees; vines over the porch; +better stables; more fences; the gradual shaping from the wilderness of +a home--these absorbed his surplus. As a matter of business he worked +with pick and shovel until he had proved the Honey-bug hopeless, then he +started a store on credit. Therein he sold everything from hats to 42 +calibre whiskey. To it he brought the same overflowing play-spirit that +had fashioned his home. + +"I'm making a very good living," he answered a question; "that is, if +I'm not particular on how well I live," and he laughed his huge laugh. + +He was very popular. Shortly they elected him sheriff. He gained this +high office fundamentally, of course, by reason of his courage and +decision of character; but the immediate and visible causes were the +Episode of the Frazzled Mule, and the Episode of the Frying Pan. The one +inspired respect; the other amusement. + +The freight company used many pack and draught animals. One day one of +its mules died. The _mozo_ in charge of the corrals dragged the carcass +to the superintendent's office. That individual cursed twice; once at +the mule for dying, and once at the _mozo_ for being a fool. At +nightfall another mule died. This time the _mozo_, mindful of his +berating, did not deliver the body, but conducted the superintendent to +see the sad remains. + +"Bury it," ordered the superintendent, disgustedly. Two mules at +$350--quite a loss. + +But next morning another had died; fairly an epidemic among mules. This +carcass also was ordered buried. And at noon a fourth. The +superintendent, on his way to view the defunct, ran across John Gates. + +"Look here, John," queried he, "do you know anything about mules?" + +"Considerable," admitted Gates. + +"Well, come see if you can tell me what's killing ours off." + +They contemplated the latest victim of the epidemic. + +"Seems to be something that swells them up," ventured the superintendent +after a while. + +John Gates said nothing for some time. Then suddenly he snatched his +pistol and levelled it at the shrinking _mozo_. + +"Produce those three mules!" he roared, "_mucho pronto_, too!" To the +bewildered superintendent he explained. "Don't you see? this is the same +old original mule. He ain't never been buried at all. They've been +stealing your animals pretending they died, and using this one over and +over as proof!" + +This proved to be the case; but John Gates was clever enough never to +tell how he surmised the truth. + +"That mule looked to me pretty frazzled," was all he would say. + +The frying-pan episode was the sequence of a quarrel. Gates was bringing +home a new frying pan. At the proper point in the discussion he used his +great strength to smash the implement over his opponent's head so +vigorously that it came down around his neck like a jagged collar! Gates +clung to the handle, however, and by it led his man all around camp, to +the huge delight of the populace. + +As sheriff he was effective, but at times peculiar in his +administration. No man could have been more zealous in performing his +duty; yet he never would mix in the affairs of foreigners. Invariably in +such cases he made out the warrants in blank, swore in the complaining +parties themselves as deputies, and told them blandly to do their own +arresting! Nor at times did he fail to temper his duty with a little +substantial justice of his own. Thus he was once called upon to execute +a judgment for $30 against a poor family. Gates went down to the +premises, looked over the situation, talked to the man--a +poverty-stricken, discouraged, ague-shaken creature--and marched back to +the offices of the plaintiffs in the case. + +"Here," said he, calmly, laying a paper and a small bag of gold dust on +their table, "is $30 and a receipt in full." + +The complainant reached for the sack. Gates placed his hand over it. + +"Sign the receipt," he commanded. "Now," he went on after the ink had +been sanded, "there's your $30. It's yours legally; and you can take it +if you want to. But I want to warn you that a thousand-dollar licking +goes with it!" + +The money--from Gates's own pocket--eventually found its way to the poor +family! + +They had three children, two boys and a girl of which one boy died. + +In five years the placers began to play out. One by one the more +energetic of the miners dropped away. The nature of the community +changed. Small hill ranches or fruit farms took the place of the mines. +The camp became a country village. Old time excitement calmed, the pace +of life slowed, the horizon narrowed. + +John Gates, clear-eyed, energetic, keen brained, saw this tendency +before it became a fact. + +"This camp is busted," he told himself. + +It was the hour to fulfill the purpose of the long, terrible journey +across the plains, to carry out the original intention to descend from +the Sierras to the golden valleys, to follow the struggle. + +"Reckon it's time to be moving," he told his wife. + +But now his own great labours asserted their claim. He had put four +years of his life into making this farm out of nothing, four years of +incredible toil, energy, and young enthusiasm. He had a good dwelling +and spacious corrals, an orchard started, a truck garden, a barley +field, a pasture, cattle, sheep, chickens, his horses--all his creation +from nothing. One evening at sundown he found his wife in the garden +weeping softly. + +"What is it, honey?" he asked. + +"I was just thinking how we'd miss the garden," she replied. + +He looked about at the bright, cheerful flowers, the vine-hung picket +fence, the cool verandah, the shady fig tree already of some size. +Everything was neat and trim, just as he liked it. And the tinkle of +pleasant waters, the song of a meadow lark, the distant mellow lowing of +cows came to his ears; the smell of tarweed and of pines mingled in his +nostrils. + +"It's a good place for children," he said, vaguely. + +Neither knew it, but that little speech marked the ebb of the wave that +had lifted him from his eastern home, had urged him across the plains, +had flung him in the almost insolent triumph of his youth high toward +the sun. Now the wash receded. + + + + +CHAPTER II + + +It was indeed a good place for children. Charley and Alice Gates grew +tall and strong, big boned, magnificent, typical California products. +They went to the district school, rode in the mountains, helped handle +the wild cattle. At the age of twelve Charley began to accompany the +summer incursions into the High Sierras in search of feed. At the age of +sixteen he was entrusted with a bunch of cattle. In these summers he +learned the wonder of the high, glittering peaks, the blueness of the +skies in high altitudes, the multitude of the stars, the flower-gemmed +secret meadows, the dark, murmuring forests. He fished in the streams, +and hunted on the ridges. His camp was pitched within a corral of heavy +logs. It was very simple. Utensils depending from trees, beds beneath +canvas tarpaulins on pine needles, saddlery, riatas, branding irons +scattered about. No shelter but the sky. A wonderful roving life. + +It developed taciturnity and individualism. Charley Gates felt no +necessity for expression as yet; and as his work required little +cooeperation from his fellow creatures he acknowledged as little +responsibility toward them. Thus far he was the typical mountaineer. + +But other influences came to him; as, indeed, they come to all. But +young Charley was more susceptible than most, and this--on the impulse +of the next tide resurgent--saved him from his type. He liked to read; +he did not scorn utterly and boisterously the unfortunate young man who +taught the school; and, better than all, he possessed just the +questioning mind that refuses to accept on their own asseveration only +the conventions of life or the opinions of neighbours. If he were to +drink, it would be because he wanted to; not because his companions +considered it manly. If he were to enter the sheep war, it would be +because he really considered sheep harmful to the range; not because of +the overwhelming--and contagious--prejudice. + +In one thing only did he follow blindly his sense of loyalty: He hated +the Hydraulic Company. + +Years after the placers failed someone discovered that the wholesale use +of hydraulic "giants" produced gold in paying quantities. Huge streams +of water under high pressure were directed against the hills, which +melted like snow under the spring sun. The earth in suspension was run +over artificial riffles against which the heavier gold collected. One +such stream could accomplish in a few hours what would have cost hand +miners the better part of a season. + +But the debris must go somewhere. A rushing mud and boulder-filled +torrent tore down stream beds adapted to a tenth of their volume. It +wrecked much of the country below, ripping out the good soil, covering +the bottomlands many feet deep with coarse rubble, clay, mud, and even +big rocks and boulders. The farmers situated below such operations +suffered cruelly. Even to this day the devastating results may be seen +above Colfax or Sacramento. + +John Gates suffered with the rest. His was not the nature to submit +tamely, nor to compromise. He had made his farm with his own hands, and +he did not propose to see it destroyed. Much money he expended through +the courts; indeed the profits of his business were eaten by a +never-ending, inconclusive suit. The Hydraulic Company, securely +entrenched behind the barriers of especial privilege, could laugh at his +frontal attacks. It was useless to think of force. The feud degenerated +into a bitter legal battle and much petty guerrilla warfare on both +sides. + +To this quarrel Charley had been bred up in a consuming hate of the +Hydraulic Company, all its works, officers, bosses, and employees. Every +human being in any way connected with it wore horns, hoofs, and a tail. +In company with the wild youths of the neighbourhood he perpetrated many +a raid on the Company's property. Beginning with boyish openings of +corrals to permit stock to stray, these raids progressed with the years +until they had nearly arrived at the dignity of armed deputies and bench +warrants. + +The next day of significance to our story was October 15, 1872. On that +date fire started near Flour Gold and swept upward. October is always a +bad time of year for fires in foothill California--between the rains, +the heat of the year, everything crisp and brown and brittle. This +threatened the whole valley and water shed. The Gateses turned out, and +all their neighbours, with hoe, mattock, axe, and sacking, trying to +beat, cut, or scrape a "break" wide enough to check the flames. It was +cruel work. The sun blazed overhead and the earth underfoot. The air +quivered as from a furnace. Men gasped at it with straining lungs. The +sweat pouring from their bodies combined with the parching of the +superheated air induced a raging thirst. No water was to be had save +what was brought to them. Young boys and women rode along the line +carrying canteens, water bottles, and food. The fire fighters snatched +hastily at these, for the attack of the fire permitted no respite. Twice +they cut the wide swath across country; but twice before it was +completed the fire crept through and roared into triumph behind them. +The third time the line held, and this was well into the second day. + +Charley Gates had fought doggedly. He had summoned the splendid +resources of youth and heritage, and they had responded. Next in line to +his right had been a stranger. This latter was a slender, clean-cut +youth, at first glance seemingly of delicate physique. Charley had +looked upon him with the pitying contempt of strong youth for weak +youth. He considered that the stranger's hands were soft and effeminate, +he disliked his little trimmed moustache, and especially the cool, +mocking, appraising glance of his eyes. But as the day, and the night, +and the day following wore away, Charley raised his opinion. The slender +body possessed unexpected reserve, the long, lean hands plied the tools +unweariedly, the sensitive face had become drawn and tired, but the +spirit behind the mocking eyes had not lost the flash of its defiance. +In the heat of the struggle was opportunity for only the briefest +exchanges. Once, when Charley despairingly shook his empty canteen, the +stranger offered him a swallow from his own. Next time exigency crowded +them together, Charley croaked: + +"Reckon we'll hold her." + +Toward evening of the second day the westerly breeze died, and shortly +there breathed a gentle air from the mountains. The danger was past. + +Charley and the stranger took long pulls from their recently replenished +canteens. Then they sank down where they were, and fell instantly +asleep. The projecting root of a buckthorn stuck squarely into Charley's +ribs, but he did not know it; a column of marching ants, led by a +non-adaptable commander, climbed up and over the recumbent form of the +stranger, but he did not care. + +They came to life in the shiver of gray dawn, wearied, stiffened, their +eyes swelled, their mouths dry. + +"You're a sweet sight, stranger," observed Charley. + +"Same to you and more of 'em," rejoined the other. + +Charley arose painfully. + +"There's a little water in my canteen yet," he proffered. "What might +you call yourself? I don't seem to know you in these parts." + +"Thanks," replied the other. "My name's Cathcart; I'm from just above." + +He drank, and lowered the canteen to look into the flaming, bloodshot +eyes of his companion. + +"Are you the low-lived skunk that's running the Hydraulic Company?" +demanded Charley Gates. + +The stranger laid down the canteen and scrambled painfully to his feet. + +"I am employed by the Company," he replied, curtly, "but please to +understand I don't permit you to call me names." + +"Permit!" sneered Charley. + +"Permit," repeated Cathcart. + +So, not having had enough exercise in the past two days, these young +game cocks went at each other. Charley was much the stronger +rough-and-tumble fighter; but Cathcart possessed some boxing skill. +Result was that, in their weakened condition, they speedily fought +themselves to a standstill without serious damage to either side. + +"Now perhaps you'll tell me who the hell you think you are!" panted +Cathcart, fiercely. + +At just beyond arm's length they discussed the situation, at first +belligerently with much recrimination, then more calmly, at last with a +modicum of mutual understanding. Neither seceded from his basic opinion. +Charley Gates maintained that the Company had no earthly business +ruining his property, but admitted that with all that good gold lying +there it was a pity not to get it out. Cathcart stoutly defended a man's +perfect right to do as he pleased with his own belongings, but conceded +that something really ought to be done about overflow waters. + +"What are you doing down here fighting fire, anyway?" demanded Charley, +suddenly. "It couldn't hurt your property. You could turn the 'giants' +on it, if it ever came up your way." + +"I don't know. I just thought I ought to help out a little," said +Cathcart, simply. + +For three years more Charley ran his father's cattle in the hills. Then +he announced his intention of going away. John Gates was thunderstruck. +By now he was stranded high and dry above the tide, fitting perfectly +his surroundings. Vaguely he had felt that his son would stay with him +always. But the wave was again surging upward. Charley had talked with +Cathcart. + +"This is no country to draw a salary in," the latter had told him, "nor +to play with farming or cows. It's too big, too new, there are too many +opportunities. I'll resign, and you leave; and we'll make our fortunes." + +"How?" asked Charley. + +"Timber," said Cathcart. + +They conferred on this point. Cathcart had the experience of business +ways; Charley Gates the intimate knowledge of the country; there only +needed a third member to furnish some money. Charley broke the news to +his family, packed his few belongings, and the two of them went to San +Francisco. + +Charley had never seen a big city. He was very funny about it, but not +overwhelmed. While willing, even avid, to go the rounds and meet the +sporting element, he declined to drink. When pressed and badgered by his +new acquaintances, he grinned amiably. + +"I never play the other fellows' game," he said. "When it gets to be my +game, I'll join you." + +The new partners had difficulty in getting even a hearing. + +"It's a small business," said capitalists, "and will be. The demand for +lumber here is limited, and it is well taken care of by small concerns +near at hand." + +"The state will grow and I am counting on the outside market," argued +Cathcart. + +But this was too absurd! The forests of Michigan, Wisconsin, and +Minnesota were inexhaustible! As for the state growing to that extent; +of course we all believe it, but when it comes to investing good money +in the belief---- + +At length they came upon one of the new millionaires created by the +bonanzas of Virginia City. + +"I don't know a damn thing about your timber, byes," said he, "but I +like your looks. I'll go in wid ye. Have a seegar; they cost me a dollar +apiece." + +The sum invested was absurdly, inadequately small. + +"It'll have to spread as thin as it can," said Cathcart. + +They spent the entire season camping in the mountains. By the end of the +summer they knew what they wanted; and immediately took steps to acquire +it. Under the homestead laws each was entitled to but a small tract of +Government land. However, they hired men to exercise their privileges in +this respect, to take up each his allotted portion, and then to convey +his rights to Cathcart and Gates. It was slow business, for the show of +compliance with Government regulations had to be made. But in this +manner the sum of money at their disposal was indeed spread out very +thin. + +For many years the small, nibbling lumbering operations their limited +capital permitted supplied only a little more than a bare living and the +taxes. But every available cent went back into the business. It grew. +Band saws replaced the old circulars; the new mills delivered their +product into flumes that carried it forty miles to the railroad. The +construction of this flume was a tremendous undertaking, but by now the +firm could borrow on its timber. To get the water necessary to keep the +flume in operation the partners--again by means of "dummies"--filed on +the water rights of certain streams. To take up the water directly was +without the law; but a show of mineral stain was held to justify a +"mineral claim," so patents were obtained under that ruling. Then +Charley had a bright idea. + +"Look here, Cliff," he said to Cathcart. "I know something about +farming; I was brought up on a farm. This country will grow anything +anywhere if it has water. That lower country they call a desert, but +that's only because it hasn't any rainfall. We're going to have a lot of +water at the end of that flume----" + +They bought the desert land at fifty cents an acre; scraped ditches and +checks; planted a model orchard, and went into the real estate business. +In time a community grew up. When hydro-electric power came into its own +Cathcart & Gates from their various water rights furnished light for +themselves, and gradually for the towns and villages round-about. Thus +their affairs spread and became complicated. Before they knew it they +were wealthy, very wealthy. Their wives--for in due course each had his +romance--began to talk of San Francisco. + +All this had not come about easily. At first they had to fight tooth and +nail. The conditions of the times were crude, the code merciless. As +soon as the firm showed its head above the financial horizon, it was +swooped upon. Business was predatory. They had to fight for what they +got; had to fight harder to hold it. Cathcart was involved continually +in a maze of intricate banking transactions; Gates resisted aggression +within and without, often with his own two fists. They learned to trust +no man, but they learned also to hate no man. It was all part of the +game. More sensitive temperaments would have failed; these succeeded. +Cathcart became shrewd, incisive, direct, cold, a little hard; Charley +Gates was burly, hearty, a trifle bullying. Both were in all +circumstances quite unruffled; and in some circumstances ruthless. + +About 1900 the entire holdings of the Company were capitalized, and a +stock company was formed. The actual management of the lumbering, the +conduct of the farms and ranches, the running of the hydro-electric +systems of light and transportation, were placed in the hands of active +young men. Charley Gates and his partner exercised over these activities +only the slightest supervision; auditing accounts, making an occasional +trip of inspection. Affairs would quite well have gone on without them; +though they would have disbelieved and resented that statement. + +The great central offices in San Francisco were very busy--all but the +inner rooms where stood the partners' desks. One day Cathcart lit a +fresh cigar, and slowly wheeled his chair. + +"Look here, Charley," he proposed, "we've got a big surplus. There's no +reason why we shouldn't make a killing on the side." + +"As how?" asked Gates. + +Cathcart outlined his plan. It was simply stock manipulation on a big +scale; although the naked import was somewhat obscured by the +complications of the scheme. After he had finished Gates smoked for some +time in silence. + +"All right, Cliff," said he, "let's do it." + +And so by a sentence, as his father before him, he marked the farthest +throw of the wave that had borne him blindly toward the shore. In the +next ten years Cathcart and Gates made forty million dollars. Charley +seemed to himself to be doing a tremendous business, but his real work, +his contribution to the episode in the life of the commonwealth, ceased +there. Again the wave receded. + + + + +CHAPTER III + + +The third generation of the Gates family consisted of two girls and a +boy. They were brought up as to their early childhood in what may be +called moderate circumstances. A small home near the little mill town, a +single Chinese servant, a setter dog, and plenty of horses formed their +entourage. When Charles, Jr., was eleven, and his sisters six and eight, +however, the family moved to a pretentious "mansion" on Nob Hill in San +Francisco. The environment of childhood became a memory: the reality of +life was comprised in the super-luxurious existence on Nob Hill. + +It was not a particularly wise existence. Whims were too easily +realized, consequences too lightly avoided, discipline too capricious. +The children were sent to private schools where they met only their own +kind; they were specifically forbidden to mingle with the "hoodlums" in +the next street; they became accustomed to being sent here and there in +carriages with two servants, or later, in motor cars; they had always +spending money for the asking. + +"I know what it is like to scrimp and save, and my children are going to +be spared that!" was Mrs. Gates's creed in the matter. + +The little girls were always dressed alike in elaborately simple +clothes, with frilly, starched underpinnies, silk stockings, high boots +buttoned up slim legs; and across their shoulders, from beneath +wonderful lingerie hats, hung shining curls. The latter were not +natural, but had each day to be elaborately constructed. They made a +dainty and charming picture. + +"Did you ever see anything so sweet in all your life!" was the +invariable feminine exclamation. + +Clara and Ethel-May always heard these remarks. They conducted +themselves with the poise and _savoir faire_ of grown women. Before they +were twelve they could "handle" servants, conduct polite conversations +in a correctly artificial accent, and adapt their manners to another's +station in life. + +Charley Junior's development was sharply divided into two periods, with +the second of which alone we have to do. The first, briefly, was +repressive. He was not allowed to play with certain boys, he was not +permitted to stray beyond certain bounds, he was kept clean and +dressed-up, he was taught his manners. In short, Mrs. Gates +tried--without knowing what she was doing--to use the same formula on +him as she had on Ethel-May and Clara. + +In the second period, he was a grief to his family. Roughly speaking, +this period commenced about the time he began to be known as "Chuck" +instead of Charley. + +There was no real harm in the boy. He was high spirited, full of life, +strong as a horse, and curious. Possessed of the patrician haughty good +looks we breed so easily from shirtsleeves, free with his money, known +as the son of his powerful father, a good boxer, knowing no fear, he +speedily became a familiar popular figure around town. It delighted him +to play the prince, either incognito or in person; to "blow off the +crowd," to battle joyously with longshoremen; to "rough house" the +semi-respectable restaurants. The Barbary Coast knew him, Taits, +Zinkands, the Poodle Dog, the Cliff House, Franks, and many other +resorts not to be spoken of so openly. He even got into the police +courts once or twice; and nonchalantly paid a fine, with a joke at the +judge and a tip to the policeman who had arrested him. There was too +much drinking, too much gambling, too loose a companionship, altogether +too much spending; but in this case the life was redeemed from its usual +significance by a fantastic spirit of play, a generosity of soul, a +regard for the unfortunate, a courtliness toward all the world, a +refusal to believe in meanness or sordidness or cruelty. Chuck Gates was +inbred with the spirit of _noblesse oblige_. + +As soon as motor cars came in Chuck had the raciest possible. With it he +managed to frighten a good many people half out of their wits. He had no +accidents, partly because he was a very good heady driver, and partly +because those whom he encountered were quick witted. One day while +touring in the south he came down grade around a bend squarely upon a +car ascending. Chuck's car was going too fast to be stopped. He tried +desperately to wrench it from the road, but perceived at once that this +was impossible without a fatal skid. Fortunately the only turnout for a +half mile happened to be just at that spot. The other man managed to +jump his car out on this little side ledge and to jam on his brakes at +the very brink, just as Chuck flashed by. His mud guards slipped under +those at the rear of the other car. + +"Close," observed Chuck to Joe Merrill his companion, "I was going a +little too fast," and thought no more of it. + +But the other man, being angry, turned around and followed him into +town. At the garage he sought Chuck out. + +"Didn't you pass me on the grade five miles back?" he inquired. + +"I may have done so," replied Chuck, courteously. + +"Don't you realize that you were going altogether too fast for a +mountain grade? that you were completely out of control?" + +"I'm afraid I'll have to admit that that is so." + +"Well," said the other man, with difficulty suppressing his anger. "What +do you suppose would have happened if I hadn't just been able to pull +out?" + +"Why," replied Chuck, blandly, "I suppose I'd have had to pay heavily; +that's all." + +"Pay!" cried the man, then checked himself with an effort, "so you +imagine you are privileged to the road, do whatever damage you +please--and _pay!_ I'll just take your number." + +"That is unnecessary. My name is Charles Gates," replied Chuck, "of San +Francisco." + +The man appeared never to have heard of this potent cognomen. A month +later the trial came off. It was most inconvenient. Chuck was in Oregon, +hunting. He had to travel many hundreds of miles, to pay an expensive +lawyer. In the end he was fined. The whole affair disgusted him, but he +went through with it well, testified without attempt at evasion. It was +a pity; but evidently the other man was no gentleman. + +"I acknowledged I was wrong," he told Joe Merrill. He honestly felt that +this would have been sufficient had the cases been reversed. In answer +to a question as to whether he considered it fair to place the burden of +safety on the other man, he replied: + +"Among motorists it is customary to exchange the courtesies of the +road--and sometimes the discourtesies," he added with a faint scorn. + +The earthquake and fire of 1906 caught him in town. During three days +and nights he ran his car for the benefit of the sufferers; going +practically without food or sleep, exercising the utmost audacity and +ingenuity in getting supplies, running fearlessly many dangers. + +For the rest he played polo well, shot excellently at the traps, was +good at tennis, golf, bridge. Naturally he belonged to the best clubs +both city and country. He sailed a yacht expertly, was a keen fisherman, +hunted. Also he played poker a good deal and was noted for his accurate +taste in dress. + +His mother firmly believed that he caused her much sorrow; his sisters +looked up to him with a little awe; his father down on him with a +fiercely tolerant contempt. + +For Chuck had had his turn in the offices. His mind was a good one; his +education both formal and informal, had trained it fairly well; yet he +could not quite make good. Energetic, ambitious, keen young men, +clambering upward from the ruck, gave him points at the game and then +beat him. It was humiliating to the old man. He could not see the +perfectly normal reason. These young men were striving keenly for what +they had never had. Chuck was asked merely to add to what he already had +more than enough of by means of a game that itself did not interest him. + +Late one evening Chuck and some friends were dining at the Cliff House. +They had been cruising up toward Tomales Bay, and had had themselves put +ashore here. No one knew of their whereabouts. Thus it was that Chuck +first learned of his father's death from apoplexy in the scareheads of +an evening paper handed him by the majordomo. He read the article +through carefully, then went alone to the beach below. It had been the +usual sensational article; and but two sentences clung to Chuck's +memory: "This fortunate young man's income will actually amount to about +ten dollars a minute. What a significance have now his days--and +nights!" + +He looked out to sea whence the waves, in ordered rank, cast themselves +on the shore, seethed upward along the sands, poised, and receded. His +thoughts were many, but they always returned to the same point. Ten +dollars a minute--roughly speaking, seven thousand a day! What would he +do with it? "What a significance have now his days--and nights!" + +His best friend, Joe Merrill, came down the path to him, and stood +silently by his side. + +"I'm sorry about your governor, old man," he ventured; and then, after a +long time: + +"You're the richest man in the West." + +Chuck Gates arose. A wave larger than the rest thundered and ran hissing +up to their feet. + +"I wonder if the tide is coming in or going out," said Chuck, vaguely. + + + + +CLIMBING FOR GOATS + + + + +CHAPTER I + + +Near the point at which the great Continental Divide of the Rocky +Mountains crosses the Canadian border another range edges in toward it +from the south. Between these ranges lies a space of from twenty to +forty miles; and midway between them flows a clear, wonderful river +through dense forests. Into the river empty other, tributary, rivers +rising in the bleak and lofty fastnesses of the mountains to right and +left. Between them, in turn, run spur systems of mountains only a little +less lofty than the parent ranges. Thus the ground plan of the whole +country is a good deal like that of a leaf: the main stem representing +the big river, the lateral veins its affluents; the tiny veins its +torrents pouring from the sides of its mountains and glaciers; and the +edges of the leaf and all spaces standing for mountains rising very +sheer and abrupt from the floor of the densely forested stream valleys. +In this country of forty miles by five hundred, then, are hundreds of +distinct ranges, thousands of peaks, and innumerable valleys, pockets, +and "parks." A wilder, lonelier, grander country would be hard to find. +Save for the Forest Service and a handful of fur trappers, it is +uninhabited. Its streams abound in trout; its dense forests with elk +and white-tailed deer; its balder hills with blacktail deer; its upper +basins with grizzly bears; its higher country with sheep and that dizzy +climber the Rocky Mountain goat. + +He who would enter this region descends at a little station on the Great +Northern, and thence proceeds by pack train at least four days, +preferably more, out into the wilderness. The going is through forests, +the tree trunks straight and very close together, so that he will see +very little of the open sky and less of the landscape. By way of +compensation the forest itself is remarkably beautiful. Its undergrowth, +though dense, is very low and even, not more than a foot or so off the +ground; and in the Hunting Moon the leaves of this undergrowth have +turned to purest yellow, without touch or trace of red, so that the +sombre forest is carpeted with gold. Here and there shows a birch or +aspen, also bright, pure light yellow, as though a brilliant sun were +striking down through painted windows. Groups of yellow-leafed larches +add to the splendour. And close to the ground grow little flat plants +decked out with red or blue or white wax berries, Christmas fashion. + +In this green-and-gold room one journeys for days. Occasionally a chance +opening affords a momentary glimpse of hills or of the river sweeping +below; but not for long. It is a chilly room. The frost has hardened the +mud in the trail. One's feet and hands ache cruelly. At night camp is +made near the banks of the river, whence always one may in a few moments +catch as many trout as are needed, fine, big, fighting trout. + +By the end of three or four days the prospect opens out. Tremendous +cliffs rise sheer from the bottom of the valley; up tributary canons one +can see a dozen miles to distant snow ranges glittering and wonderful. +Nearer at hand the mountains rise above timber line to great buttes and +precipices. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE FIRST CLIMB + + +Fisher, Frank, and I had been hunting for elk in the dense forests along +the foot of one of these mountains; and for a half day, drenched with +sweat, had toiled continuously up and down steep slopes, trying to go +quietly, trying to keep our wind, trying to pierce the secrets of the +leafy screen always about us. We were tired of it. + +"Let's go to the top and look for goats," suggested Frank. "There are +some goat cliffs on the other side of her. It isn't very far." + +It was not very far, as measured by the main ranges, but it was a two +hours' steady climb nearly straight up. We would toil doggedly for a +hundred feet, or until our wind gave out and our hearts began to pound +distressingly; then we would rest a moment. After doing this a few +hundred times we would venture a look upward, confidently expecting the +summit to be close at hand. It seemed as far as ever. We suffered a +dozen or so of these disappointments, and then learned not to look up. +This was only after we had risen above timber line to the smooth, +rounded rock-and-grass shoulder of the mountain. Then three times we +made what we thought was a last spurt, only to find ourselves on a +"false summit." After a while we grew resigned, we realized that we were +never going to get anywhere, but were to go on forever, without +ultimate purpose and without hope, pushing with tired legs, gasping with +inadequate lungs. When we had fully made up our minds to that, we +arrived. This is typical of all high-mountain climbing--the dogged, +hard, hopeless work that can never reach an accomplishment; and then at +last the sudden, unexpected culmination. + +We topped a gently rounding summit; took several deep breaths into the +uttermost cells of our distressed lungs; walked forward a dozen +steps--and found ourselves looking over the sheer brink of a precipice. +So startlingly unforeseen was the swoop into blue space that I recoiled +hastily, feeling a little dizzy. Then I recovered and stepped forward +cautiously for another look. As with all sheer precipices, the lip on +which we stood seemed slightly to overhang, so that in order to see one +had apparently to crane away over, quite off balance. Only by the +strongest effort of the will is one able to rid oneself of the notion +that the centre of gravity is about to plunge one off head first into +blue space. For it was fairly blue space below our precipice. We could +see birds wheeling below us; and then below them again, very tiny, the +fall away of talus, and the tops of trees in the basin below. And +opposite, and all around, even down over the horizon, were other +majestic peaks, peers of our own, naked and rugged. From camp the great +forests had seemed to us the most important, most dominant, most +pervading feature of the wilderness. Now in the high sisterhood of the +peaks we saw they were as mantles that had been dropped about the feet. + +Across the face of the cliff below us ran irregular tiny ledges; +buttresses ended in narrow peaks; "chimneys" ran down irregularly to the +talus. Here were supposed to dwell the goats. + +We proceeded along the crest, spying eagerly. We saw tracks; but no +animals. By now it was four o'clock, and past time to turn campward. We +struck down the mountain on a diagonal that should take us home. For +some distance all went well enough. To be sure, it was very steep, and +we had to pay due attention to balance and sliding. Then a rock wall +barred our way. It was not a very large rock wall. We went below it. +After a hundred yards we struck another. By now the first had risen +until it towered far above us, a sheer, gray cliff behind which the sky +was very blue. We skirted the base of the second and lower cliff. It led +us to another; and to still another. Each of these we passed on the +talus beneath it; but with increasing difficulty, owing to the fact that +the wide ledges were pinching out. At last we found ourselves cut off +from farther progress. To our right rose tier after tier of great +cliffs, serenely and loftily unconscious of any little insects like +ourselves that might be puttering around their feet. Straight ahead the +ledge ceased to exist. To our left was a hundred-foot drop to the talus +that sloped down to the canon. The canon did not look so very far away, +and we desired mightily to reach it. The only alternative to getting +straight down was to climb back the weary way we had come; and that +meant all night without food, warm clothing, or shelter on a +snow-and-ice mountain. + +Therefore, we scouted that hundred-foot drop to our left very +carefully. It seemed hopeless; but at last I found a place where a point +of the talus ran up to a level not much below our own. The only +difficulty was that between ourselves and that point of talus extended a +piece of sheer wall. I slung my rifle over my back, and gave myself to a +serious consideration of that wall. Then I began to work out across its +face. + +The principle of safe climbing is to maintain always three points of +suspension: that it to say, one should keep either both footholds and +one handhold, or both handholds and one foothold. Failing that, one is +taking long chances. With this firmly in mind, I spidered out across the +wall, testing every projection and cranny before I trusted any weight to +it. One apparently solid projection as big as my head came away at the +first touch, and went bouncing off into space. Finally I stood, or +rather sprawled, almost within arm's length of a tiny scrub pine growing +solidly in a crevice just over the talus. Once there, our troubles were +over; but there seemed no way of crossing. For the moment it actually +looked as though four feet only would be sufficient to turn us back. + +At last, however, I found a toehold half way across. It was a very +slight crevice, and not more than two inches deep. The toe of a boot +would just hold there without slipping. Unfortunately, there were no +handholds above it. After thinking the matter over, however, I made up +my mind to violate, for this occasion only, the rules for climbing. I +inserted the toe, gathered myself, and with one smooth swoop swung +myself across and grabbed that tiny pine! + +Fisher now worked his way out and crossed in the same manner. But Frank +was too heavy for such gymnastics. Fisher therefore took a firm grip on +the pine, inserted his toe in the crevice, and hung on with all his +strength while Frank crossed on his shoulders! + + + + +CHAPTER III + +THE SECOND AND THIRD CLIMBS + + +Once more, lured by the promise of the tracks we had seen, we climbed +this same mountain, but again without results. By now, you may be sure, +we had found an easier way home! This was a very hard day's work, but +uneventful. + +Now, four days later, I crossed the river and set off above to explore +in the direction of the Continental Divide. Of course I had no intention +of climbing for goats, or, indeed, of hunting very hard for anything. My +object was an idle go-look-see. Equally, of course, after I had rammed +around most happily for a while up the wooded stream-bed of that canon, +I turned sharp to the right and began to climb the slope of the spur, +running out at right angles to the main ranges that constituted one wall +of my canon. It was fifteen hundred nearly perpendicular feet of hard +scrambling through windfalls. Then when I had gained the ridge, I +thought I might as well keep along it a little distance. And then, +naturally, I saw the main peaks not so _very_ far away; and was in for +it! + +On either side of me the mountain dropped away abruptly. I walked on a +knife edge, steeply rising. Great canons yawned close at either hand, +and over across were leagues of snow mountains. + +In the canon from which I had emerged a fine rain had been falling. +Here it had turned to wet sleet. As I mounted, the slush underfoot grew +firmer, froze, then changed to dry, powdery snow. This change was +interesting and beautiful, but rather uncomfortable, for my boots, +soaked through by the slush, now froze solid and scraped various patches +of skin from my feet. It was interesting, too, to trace the change in +bird life as the altitude increased. At snow line the species had +narrowed down to a few ravens, a Canada jay, a blue grouse or so, +nuthatches, and brown creepers. I saw one fresh elk track, innumerable +marten, and the pad of a very large grizzly. + +The ridge mounted steadily. After I had gained to 2,300 feet above the +canon I found that the ridge dipped to a saddle 600 feet lower. It +really grieved me to give up that hard-earned six hundred, and then to +buy it back again by another hard, slow, toilsome climb. Again I found +my way barred by some unsuspected cliffs about sixty feet in height. +Fortunately, they were well broken; and I worked my way to the top by +means of ledges. + +Atop this the snow suddenly grew deeper and the ascent more precipitous. +I fairly wallowed along. The timber line fell below me. All animal life +disappeared. My only companions were now at spaced-out and mighty +intervals the big bare peaks that had lifted themselves mysteriously +from among their lesser neighbours, with which heretofore they had been +confused. In spite of very heavy exertions, I began to feel the cold; so +I unslung my rucksack and put on my buckskin shirt. The snow had become +very light and feathery. The high, still buttes and crags of the main +divide were right before me. Light fog wreaths drifted and eddied +slowly, now concealing, now revealing the solemn crags and buttresses. +Over everything--the rocks, the few stunted and twisted small trees, the +very surface of the snow itself--lay a heavy rime of frost. This rime +stood out in long, slender needles an inch to an inch and a half in +length, sparkling and fragile and beautiful. It seemed that a breath of +wind or even a loud sound would precipitate the glittering panoply to +ruin; but in all the really awesome silence and hushed breathlessness of +that strange upper world there was nothing to disturb them. The only +motion was that of the idly-drifting fog wreaths; the only sound was +that made by the singing of the blood in my ears! I felt as though I +were in a world holding its breath. + +It was piercing cold. I ate a biscuit and a few prunes, tramping +energetically back and forth to keep warm. I could see in all directions +now: an infinity of bare peaks, with hardly a glimpse of forests or +streams or places where things might live. Goats are certainly either +fools or great poets. + +After a half hour of fruitless examination of the cliffs I perforce had +to descend. The trip back was long. It had the added interest in that it +was bringing me nearer water. No thirst is quite so torturing as that +which afflicts one who climbs hard in cold, high altitudes. The throat +and mouth seem to shrivel and parch. Psychologically, it is even worse +than the desert thirst because in cold air it is unreasonable. Finally +it became so unendurable that I turned down from the spur-ridge long +before I should otherwise have done so, and did a good deal of extra +work merely to reach a little sooner the stream at the bottom of the +canon. When I reached it, I found that here it flowed underground. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +OTHER CLIMBS + + +For ten days we hunted and fished. When the opportunity offered, we made +a goat-survey of a new place. Finally, as time grew short, we realized +that we must concentrate our energies in one effort if we were to get +specimens of this most desirable of all American big game. Therefore +Fisher, Frank, Harry, and I, leaving our other two companions and the +majority of the horses at the base camp, packed a few days' provisions +and started in for the highest peaks of all. + +We journeyed up an unknown canon eighteen miles long, heavily wooded in +the bottoms, with great mountains overhanging, and with a beautiful +clear trout stream singing down its bed. The first day we travelled ten +hours. One man was always in front cutting out windfalls or other +obstructions. I should be afraid to guess how many trees we chopped +through that day. Another man scouted ahead for the best route amid +difficulties. The other two performed the soul-destroying task of +getting the horses to follow the appointed way. After three o'clock we +began to hope for horse feed. At dark we reluctantly gave it up. The +forest remained unbroken. We had to tie the poor, unfed horses to trees, +while we ourselves searched diligently and with only partial success for +tiny spots level enough and clear enough for our beds. It was very cold +that night; and nobody was comfortable; the horses least of all. + +Next morning we were out and away by daylight. If we could not find +horse feed inside of four hours, we would be forced to retreat. Three +hours of the four went by. Then Harry and I held the horses while our +companions scouted ahead rapidly. We nearly froze, for in that deep +valley the sun did not rise until nearly noon. Through an opening we +could see back to a tremendous sheer butte rising more than three +thousand feet[C] by a series of very narrow terraced ledges. We named it +the Citadel, so like was it to an ancient proud fortress. + +Fisher reported first. He had climbed a tree, but had seen no feed. Ten +minutes later Frank returned. He had found the track of an ancient +avalanche close under the mountain, and in that track grew coarse +grasses. We pushed on, and there made camp. + +It was a queer enough camp. Our beds we spread in the various little +spots among the roots and hummocks we imagined to look the most even. +The fire we had to build in quite another place. All around us the +lodge-pole pines, firs, and larches grew close and dark and damp. Only +to the west the snow ranges showed among the treetops like great, +looming white clouds. + +For two days we lived high among the glaciers and snow crags, taking +tremendous tramps, seeing wonderful peaks, frozen lakes, sheer cliffs, +the tracks of grizzlies in numbers, the tiny sources of great streams, +and the infinity of upper spaces. But no goats; and no tracks of goats. +Little by little we eliminated the possibilities of the country +accessible to us. Leagues in all directions, as far as the eye could +reach, was plenty of other country, all equally good for goats; but it +was not within reach of us from this canon; and our time was up. +Finally, we dropped back and made camp at the last feed; a mile or so +below the Citadel. Two ranges at right angles here converged, and the +Citadel rose like a tower at the corner. Here was our last chance. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +GOATS + + +As we were finishing breakfast my eye was attracted to a snow speck on +the mountainside some two thousand feet above us and slightly westward +that somehow looked to me different from other snow specks. For nearly a +minute I stared at it through my glasses. At last the speck moved. The +game was in sight! + +We drew straws for the shot, and Fisher won. Then we began our climb. It +was the same old story of pumping lungs and pounding hearts; but with +the incentive before us we made excellent time. A shallow ravine and a +fringe of woods afforded us the cover we needed. At the end of an hour +and a half we crawled out of our ravine and to the edge of the trees. +There across a steep canon and perhaps four hundred yards away were the +goats, two of them, lying on the edge of small cliffs. We could see them +very plainly, but they were too far for a sure shot. After examining +them to our satisfaction we wormed our way back. + +"The only sure way," I insisted, "is to climb clear to the top of the +ridge, go along it on the other side until we are above and beyond the +goats, and then to stalk them down hill." + +That meant a lot more hard work; but in the end the plan was adopted. +We resumed our interminable and toilsome climbing. + +The ridge proved to be of the knife-edge variety, and covered with snow. +From a deep, wide, walled-in basin on the other side rose the howling of +two brush wolves. We descended a few feet to gain safe concealment; +walked as rapidly as possible to the point above the goats; and then +with the utmost caution began our descent. + +In the last two hundred yards is the essence of big-game stalking. The +hunter must move noiselessly, he must keep concealed; he must determine +_at each step_ just what the effect of that step has been in the matters +of noise and of altering the point of view. It is necessary to spy +sharply, not only from the normal elevation of a man's shoulders, but +also stooping to the waist line, and even down to the knees. An animal +is just as suspicious of legs as of heads; and much more likely to see +them. + +The shoulder of the mountain here consisted of a series of steep grass +curves ending in short cliff jump-offs. Scattered and stunted trees and +tree groups grew here and there. In thirty minutes we had made our +distance and recognized the fact that our goats must be lying at the +base of the next ledge. Motioning Harry to the left and Fisher to the +front, I myself moved to the right to cut off the game should it run in +that direction. Ten seconds later I heard Fisher shoot; then Harry +opened up; and in a moment a goat ran across the ledge fifty yards below +me. With a thrill of the greatest satisfaction I dropped the gold bead +of my front sight on his shoulder! + +The bullet knocked him off the edge of the cliff. He fell, struck the +steep grass slope, and began to roll. Over and over and over he went, +gathering speed like a snowball, getting smaller and smaller until he +disappeared in the brush far below, a tiny spot of white. + +No one can appreciate the feeling of relaxed relief that filled me. Hard +and dangerous climbs, killing work, considerable hardship and discomfort +had at length their reward. I could now take a rest. The day was young, +and I contemplated with something like rapture a return to camp, and a +good puttery day skinning out that goat. In addition I was suffering now +from a splitting headache, the effects of incipient snow-blindness, and +was generally pretty wobbly. + +And then my eye wandered to the left, whence that goat had come. I saw a +large splash of blood; at a spot _before_ I had fired! It was too +evident that the goat had already been wounded by Fisher; and therefore, +by hunter's law, belonged to him! + +I set my teeth and turned up the mountain to regain the descent we had +just made. At the knife-edge top I stopped for a moment to get my breath +and to survey the country. Diagonally across the basin where the wolves +were howling, half way down the ridge running at right angles to my own, +I made out two goats. They were two miles away from me on an air line. +My course was obvious. I must proceed along my ridge to the Citadel, +keeping always out of sight; surmount that fortress; descend to the +second ridge; walk along the other side of it until I was above those +goats, and then sneak down on them. + +I accomplished the first two stages of my journey all right, though +with considerably more difficulty in spots than I should have +anticipated. The knife edge was so sharp and the sides so treacherous +that at times it was almost impossible to travel anywhere but right on +top. This would not do. By a little planning, however, I managed to +reach the central "keep" of the Citadel: a high, bleak, broken pile, +flat on top, with snow in all the crevices, and small cliffs on all +sides. From this advantage I could cautiously spy out the lay of the +land. + +Below me fifty feet dipped the second ridge, running nearly at right +angles. It sloped abruptly to the wolf basin, but fell sheer on the +other side to depths I could not at that time guess.[D] A very few +scattered, stunted, and twisted trees huddled close down to the rock and +snow. This saddle was about fifty feet in width and perhaps five hundred +yards in length. It ended in another craggy butte very much like the +Citadel. + +My first glance determined that my original plan would not do. The goats +had climbed from where I had first seen them, and were now leisurely +topping the saddle. To attempt to descend would be to reveal myself. I +was forced to huddle just where I was. My hope was that the goats would +wander along the saddle toward me, and not climb the other butte +opposite. Also I wanted them to hurry, please, as the snow in which I +sat was cold, and the wind piercing. + +This apparently they were not inclined to do. They paused, they nibbled +at some scanty moss, they gazed at the scenery, they scratched their +ears. I shifted my position cautiously--and saw below me,[E] lying on +the snow at the very edge of the cliff, a tremendous billy! He had been +there all the time; and I had been looking over him! + +At the crack of the Springfield he lurched forward and toppled slowly +out of sight over the edge of the cliff. The two I had been stalking +instantly disappeared. But on the very top of the butte opposite +appeared another. It was a very long shot,[F] but I had to take chances, +for I could not tell whether or not the one I had just shot was +accessible or not. On a guess I held six inches over his back. The goat +gave one leap forward into space. For twenty feet he fell spread-eagled +and right side up as though flying. Then he began to turn and whirl. As +far as my personal testimony could go, he is falling yet through that +dizzy blue abyss. + +"Good-bye, billy," said I, sadly. It looked then as though I had lost +both. + +I worked my way down the face of the Citadel until I was just above the +steep snow fields. Here was a drop of six feet. If the snow was soft, +all right. If it was frozen underneath, I would be very likely to +toboggan off into space. I pried loose a small rock and dropped it, +watching with great interest how it lit. It sunk with a dull plunk. +Therefore I made my leap, and found myself waist deep in feathery snow. + +With what anxiety I peered over the edge of that precipice the reader +can guess. Thirty feet below was a four-foot ledge. On the edge of that +ledge grew two stunted pines about three feet in height--and only two. +Against those pines my goat had lodged! In my exultation I straightened +up and uttered a whoop. To my surprise it was answered from behind me. +Frank had followed my trail. He had killed a nanny and was carrying the +head. Everybody had goats! + +After a great deal of man[oe]uvring we worked our way down to the ledge +by means of a crevice and a ten-foot pole. Then we tied the goat to the +little trees, and set to work. I held Frank while he skinned; and then +he held me while I skinned. It was very awkward. The tiny landscape +almost directly beneath us was blue with the atmosphere of distance. A +solitary raven discovered us, and began to circle and croak and flop. + +"You'll get your meal later," we told him. + +Far below us, like suspended leaves swirling in a wind, a dense flock of +snowbirds fluttered. + +We got on well enough until it became necessary to sever the backbone. +Then, try as we would, we could not in the general awkwardness reach a +joint with a knife. At last we had a bright idea. I held the head back +while Frank shot the vertebrae in two with his rifle! + +Then we loosed the cords that held the body. It fell six hundred feet, +hit a ledge, bounded out, and so disappeared toward the hazy blue map +below. The raven folded his wings and dropped like a plummet, with a +strange rushing sound. We watched him until the increasing speed of his +swoop turned us a little dizzy, and we drew back. When we looked a +moment later he had disappeared into the distance--straight down! + +Now we had to win our way out. The trophy we tied with a rope. I +climbed up the pole, and along the crevice as far as the rope would let +me, hauled up the trophy, jammed my feet and back against both sides of +the "chimney." Frank then clambered past me; and so repeat. + +But once in the saddle we found we could not return the way we had come. +The drop-off into the feather snow settled that. A short reconnaissance +made it very evident that we would have to go completely around the +outside of the Citadel, at the level of the saddle, until we had gained +the other ridge. This meant about three quarters of a mile against the +tremendous cliff. + +We found a ledge and started. Our packs weighed about sixty pounds +apiece, and we were forced to carry them rather high. The ledge proved +to be from six to ten feet wide, with a gentle slope outward. We could +not afford the false steps, nor the little slips, nor the overbalancings +so unimportant on level ground. Progress was slow and cautious. We could +not but remember the heart-stopping drop of that goat after we had cut +the rope; and the swoop of the raven. Especially at the corners did we +hug close to the wall, for the wind there snatched at us eagerly. + +The ledge held out bravely. It had to; for there was no possible way to +get up or down from it. We rounded the shoulder of the pile. Below us +now was another landscape into which to fall--the valley of the stream, +with its forests and its high cliffs over the way. But already we could +see our ridge. Another quarter mile would land us in safety. + +Without warning the ledge pinched out. A narrow tongue of shale, on so +steep a slope that it barely clung to the mountain, ran twenty feet to a +precipice. A touch sent its surface rattling merrily down and into +space. It was only about eight feet across; and then the ledge began +again. + +We eyed it. Three steps would take us across. Alternative: return along +the ledge to attack the problem _ab initio_. + +"That shale is going to start," said Frank. "If you stop, she'll sure +carry you over the ledge. But if you keep right on going, _fast_, I +believe your weight will carry you through." + +We readjusted our packs so they could not slip and overbalance us; we +measured and re-measured with our eyes just where those steps would +fall; we took a deep breath--and we _hustled_. Behind us the fine shale +slid sullenly in a miniature avalanche that cascaded over the edge. Our +"weight had carried us through!" + +In camp, we found that Harry's shooting had landed a kid, so that we had +a goat apiece. + +We rejoined the main camp next day just ahead of a big snowstorm that +must have made travel all but impossible. Then for five days we rode +out, in snow, sleet, and hail. But we were entirely happy, and +indifferent to what the weather could do to us now. + + + + +MOISTURE, A TRACE + + +Last fall I revisited Arizona for the first time in many years. My +ultimate destination lay one hundred and twenty-eight miles south of the +railroad. As I stepped off the Pullman I drew deep the crisp, thin air; +I looked across immeasurable distance to tiny, brittle, gilded buttes; I +glanced up and down a ramshackle row of wooden buildings with crazy +wooden awnings, and I sighed contentedly. Same good old Arizona. + +The Overland pulled out, flirting its tail at me contemptuously. A +small, battered-looking car, grayed and caked with white alkali dust, +glided alongside, and from under its swaying and disreputable top +emerged someone I knew. Not individually. But by many campfires of the +past I had foregathered with him and his kind. Same old Arizona, I +repeated to myself. + +This person bore down upon me and gently extracted my bag from my grasp. +He stood about six feet three; his face was long and brown and grave; +his figure was spare and strong. Atop his head he wore the sacred +Arizona high-crowned hat, around his neck a bright bandana; no coat, but +an unbuttoned vest; skinny trousers, and boots. Save for lack of spurs +and _chaps_ and revolver he might have been a moving-picture cowboy. +The spurs alone were lacking from the picture of a real one. + +He deposited my bag in the tonneau, urged me into a front seat, and +crowded himself behind the wheel. The effect was that of a grown-up in a +go-cart. This particular brand of tin car had not been built for this +particular size of man. His knees were hunched up either side the +steering column; his huge, strong brown hands grasped most competently +that toy-like wheel. The peak of his sombrero missed the wrinkled top +only because he sat on his spine. I reflected that he must have been +drafted into this job, and I admired his courage in undertaking to +double up like that even for a short journey. + +"Roads good?" I asked the usual question as I slammed shut the door. + +"Fair, suh," he replied, soberly. + +"What time should we get in?" I inquired. + +"Long 'bout six o'clock, suh," he informed me. + +It was then eight in the morning--one hundred and twenty-eight +miles--ten hours--roads good, eh?--hum. + +He touched the starter. The motor exploded with a bang. We moved. + +I looked her over. On the running board were strapped two big galvanized +tanks of water. It was almost distressingly evident that the muffler had +either been lost or thrown away. But she was hitting on all four. I +glanced at the speedometer dial. It registered the astonishing total of +29,250 miles. + +We swung out the end of the main street and sailed down a road that +vanished in the endless gentle slope of a "sink." Beyond the sink the +bank rose again, gently, to gain the height of the eyes at some _mesas_. +Well I know that sort of country. One journeyed for the whole day, and +the _mesas_ stayed where they were; and in between were successively +vast stretches of mesquite, or alkali, or lava outcrops, or _sacatone_ +bottoms, each seeming, while one was in it, to fill all the world +forever, without end; and the day's changes were of mirage and the +shifting colours of distant hills. + +It was soon evident that my friend's ideas of driving probably coincided +with his ideas of going up a mountain. When a mounted cowboy climbs a +hill he does not believe in fussing with such nonsense as grades; he +goes straight up. Similarly, this man evidently considered that, as +roads were made for travel and distance for annihilation, one should +turn on full speed and get there. Not one hair's breadth did he deign to +swerve for chuck-hole or stone; not one fractional mile per hour did he +check for gully or ditch. We struck them head-on, bang! did they happen +in our way. Then my head hit the disreputable top. In the mysterious +fashion of those who drive freight wagons my companion remained +imperturbably glued to his seat. I had neither breath nor leisure for +the country or conversation. + +Thus one half hour. The speedometer dial showed the figures 29,260. I +allowed myself to think of a possible late lunch at my friend's ranch. + +We slowed down. The driver advanced the hand throttle the full sweep of +the quadrant, steered with his knees, and produced the "makings." The +faithful little motor continued to hit on all four, but in slow and +painful succession, each explosion sounding like a pistol shot. We had +passed already the lowest point of the "sink," and were climbing the +slope on the other side. The country, as usual, looked perfectly level, +but the motor knew different. + +"I like to hear her shoot," said the driver, after his first cigarette. +"That's why I chucked the muffler. Its plumb lonesome out yere all by +yourself. A hoss is different." + +"Who you riding for?" + +"Me? I'm riding for me. This outfit is mine." + +It didn't sound reasonable; but that's what I heard. + +"You mean you drive this car--as a living----" + +"Correct." + +"I should think you'd get cramped!" I burst out. + +"Me? I'm used to it. I bet I ain't missed three days since I got +her--and that's about a year ago." + +He answered my questions briefly, volunteering nothing. He had never had +any trouble with the car; he had never broken a spring; he'd overhauled +her once or twice; he averaged sixteen actual miles to the gallon. If I +were to name the car I should have to write advt. after this article to +keep within the law. I resolved to get one. We chugged persistently +along on high gear; though I believe second would have been better. + +Presently we stopped and gave her a drink. She was boiling like a little +tea kettle, and she was pretty thirsty. + +"They all do it," said Bill. Of course his name was Bill. "Especially +the big he-ones. High altitude. Going slow with your throttle wide open. +You're all right if you got plenty water. If not, why then ketch a cow +and use the milk. Only go slow or you'll git all clogged up with +butter." + +We clambered aboard and proceeded. That distant dreamful _mesa_ had +drawn very near. It was scandalous. The aloof desert whose terror, whose +beauty, whose wonder, whose allure was the awe of infinite space that +could be traversed only in toil and humbleness, had been contracted by a +thing that now said 29,265. + +"At this rate we'll get there before six o'clock," I remarked, +hopefully. + +"Oh, this is County Highway!" said Bill. + +As we crawled along, still on high gear--that tin car certainly pulled +strongly--a horseman emerged from a fold in the hills. He was riding a +sweat-covered, mettlesome black with a rolling eye. His own eye was +bitter, and likewise the other features of his face. After trying in +vain to get the frantic animal within twenty feet of our _mitrailleuse,_ +he gave it up. + +"Got anything for me?" he shrieked at Bill. + +Bill leisurely turned off the switch, draped his long legs over the side +of the car, and produced his makings. + +"Nothing, Jim. Expaicting of anything?" + +"Sent for a new grass rope. How's feed down Mogallon way?" + +"Fair. That a bronco you're riding?" + +"Just backed him three days ago." + +"Amount to anything?" + +"That," said Jim, with an extraordinary bitterness, "is already a gaited +hoss. He has fo' gaits now." + +"Four gaits," repeated Bill, incredulously. "I'm in the stink wagon +business. I ain't aiming to buy no hosses. What four gaits you claim +he's got?" + +"Start, stumble, fall down _and_ git up," said Jim. + +Shortly after this joyous _rencontre_ we topped the rise, and, looking +back, could realize the grade we had been ascending. + +The road led white and straight as an arrow to dwindle in perspective to +a mere thread. The little car leaped forward on the invisible down +grade. Again I anchored myself to one of the top supports. A long, rangy +fowl happened into the road just ahead of us, but immediately flopped +clumsily, half afoot, half a-wing, to one side in the brush, like a +stampeded hen. + +"Road runner," said Bill, with a short laugh. "Remember how they used to +rack along in front of a hoss for miles, keeping just ahead, lettin' out +a link when you spurred up? Aggravatin' fowl! They got over tryin' to +keep ahead of gasoline." + +In the white alkaline road lay one lone, pyramidal rock. It was about +the size of one's two fists and all its edges and corners were sharp. +Probably twenty miles of clear space lay on either flank of that rock. +Nevertheless, our right front wheel hit it square in the middle. The car +leaped straight up, the rock popped sidewise, and the tire went off with +a mighty bang. Bill put on the brakes, deliberately uncoiled himself, +and descended. + +"Seems like tires don't last no time at all in this country," he +remarked, sadly. He walked around the car and began to examine the four +wrecks he carried as spares. After some inspection of their respective +merits, he selected one. "I just somehow kain't git over the notion she +ought to sidestep them little rocks and holes of her own accord," he +exclaimed. "A hoss is a plumb, narrow-minded critter, but he knows +enough for that." + +While he changed the tire--which incidentally involved patching one of +half a dozen over-worn tubes--I looked her over more in detail. The +customary frame, strut rods, and torsion rods had been supplemented by +the most extraordinary criss-cross of angle-iron braces it has ever been +my fortune to behold. They ran from anywhere to everywhere beneath that +car. I began to comprehend her cohesiveness. + +"Jim Coles, blacksmith at the O T, puts them braces in all our cars," +explained Bill. "He's got her down to a system." + +The repair finished and the radiator refilled we resumed the journey. It +was now just eleven o'clock. The odometer reading was 29,276. The +temperature was well up toward 100 degrees. But beneath the disreputable +top, and while in motion, the heat was not noticeable. Nevertheless, the +brief stop had brought back poignantly certain old days--choking dust, +thirst, the heat of a heavy sun, the long day that led one nowhere---- + +The noon mirages were taking shape, throwing stately and slow their vast +illusions across the horizon. Lakes glimmered; distant ranges took on +the forms of phantasm, rising higher, flattening, reaching across space +the arches of their spans, rendering unreal a world of beauty and dread. +That in the old days was the deliberate fashion the desert had of +searing men's souls with her majesty. Slowly, slowly, the changes +melted one into the other; massively, deliberately the face of the world +was altered; so that at last the poor plodding human being, hot, dry, +blinded, thirsty, felt himself a nothing in the presence of eternities. +Well I knew that old spell of the desert. But now! Honestly, after a few +minutes I began to feel sorry for the poor old desert! Its spells didn't +work for the simple reason that _we didn't give it time!_ We charged +down on its phantom lakes and disproved them and forgot them. We broke +right in on the dignified and deliberate scene shifting of mountains and +_mesas_, showed them up for the brittle, dry hills they were, and left +them behind. It was pitiful! It was as though a revered tragedian should +overnight find that his vogue had departed; that he was no longer +getting over; that an irreverent upstart, breaking in on his most +sonorous periods, was getting laughs with slang. We had lots of water; +the dust we left behind; it wasn't even hot in the wind of our going! + +In the shallow crease of hills a shimmer of white soon changed to +evident houses. We drew into a straggling desert town. + +It was typical--thirty miles from the railroad, a distributing point for +the cattle country. Four broad buildings with peeled, sunburned faces, a +wooden house or so, and a dozen flat-roofed adobe huts hung pleasingly +with long strips of red peppers. Of course one of the wooden buildings +was labelled General Store; and another, smaller, contained a barber +shop and postoffice combined. The third was barred and unoccupied. The +fourth had been a livery stable but was now a garage. Six saddle horses +and six Fords stood outside the General Store, which was a fair +division. + +Bill slowed down. + +"Have a drink," I observed, hospitably. + +"Arizona's a dry state," Bill reminded me; but nevertheless stopped and +uncoiled. That unbelievable phenomenon had escaped my memory. In the old +days I used to shut my eyes and project my soul into what I imagined was +the future. I saw Arizona, embottled, dying in the last-wet ditch, while +all the rest of the world, even including Milwaukee, bore down on her +carrying the banners of Prohibition. So much for prophecy. I voiced a +thought. + +"There must be an awful lot of old timers died this spring. You can't +cut them off short and hope to save them." + +Bill grunted. + +We entered the store. It smelled good, as such stores always do--soap, +leather, ground coffee, bacon, cheese--all sorts of things. On the right +ran a counter and shelves of dry goods and clothing; on the left +groceries, cigars, and provisions generally. Down the middle saddles, +ropes, spurs, pack outfits, harness, hardware. In the rear a glass +cubby-hole with a desk inside. All that was customary, right and proper. +But I noticed also a glass case with spark plugs and accessories; a rack +full of tires; and a barrel of lubricating oil. I did not notice any +body polish. By the front door stood a paper-basket whose purport I +understood not at all. + +Bill led me at once past two or three lounging cow persons to the +cubbyhole, where arose a typical old timer. + +"Mr. White, meet Mr. Billings," he said. + +The old timer grasped me firmly by the right hand and held tight while +he demanded, as usual, "What name?" We informed him together. He allowed +he was pleased. I allowed the same. + +"I want to buy a yard of calico," said Bill. + +The old timer reached beneath the counter and produced a strip of cloth. +It was already cut, and looked to be about a yard long. Also it showed +the marks of loving but brutal and soiled hands. + +"Wrap it up?" inquired Mr. Billings. + +"Nope," said Bill, and handed out three silver dollars. Evidently calico +was high in these parts. We turned away. + +"By the way, Bill," Mr. Billings called after us, "I got a little +present here for you. Some friends sent her in to me the other day. Let +me know what you think of it." + +We turned. Mr. Billings held in his hand a sealed quart bottle with a +familiar and famous label. + +"Why, that's kind of you," said Bill, gravely. He took the proffered +bottle, turned it upside down, glanced at the bottom, and handed it +back. "But I don't believe I'd wish for none of that particular breed. +It never did agree with my stummick." + +Without a flicker of the eye the storekeeper produced a second sealed +bottle, identical in appearance and label with the first. + +"Try it," he urged. "Here's one from a different case. Some of these +yere vintages is better than others." + +"So I've noticed," replied Bill, dryly. He glanced at the bottom and +slipped it into his pocket. + +We went out. As we passed the door Bill, unobserved, dropped into the +heretofore unexplained waste-basket the yard of calico he had just +purchased. + +"Don't believe I like the pattern for my boudoir," he told me, gravely. + +We clambered aboard and shot our derisive exhaust at the diminishing +town. + +"Thought Arizona was a dry state," I suggested. + +"She is. You cain't sell a drop. But you can keep stuff for personal +use. There ain't nothing more personal than givin' it away to your +friends." + +"The price of calico is high down here." + +"And goin' up," agreed Bill, gloomily. He drove ten miles in silence +while I, knowing my type, waited. + +"That old Billings ought to be drug out and buried," he remarked at +last. "We rode together on the Chiracahua range. He ought to know better +than to try to put it onto me." + +"???" said I. + +"You saw that first bottle? Just plain forty-rod dog poison--and me +payin' three good round dollars!" + +"For calico," I reminded. + +"Shore. That's why he done it. He had me--if I hadn't called him." + +"But that first bottle was identically the same as the one you have in +your pocket," I stated. + +"Shore?" + +"Why, yes--at least--that is, the bottle and label were the same, and I +particularly noticed the cork seal looked intact." + +"It was," agreed Bill. "That cap hasn't never been disturbed. You're +right." + +"Then what objection----" + +"It's one of them wonders of modern science that spoils the simple life +next to Nature's heart," said Bill, unexpectedly. "You hitch a big +hollow needle onto an electric light current. When she gets hot enough +you punch a hole with her in the bottom of the bottle. Then you throw +the switch and let the needle cool off. When she's cool you pour out the +real thing for your own use--mebbe. Then you stick in your +forty-cent-a-gallon squirrel poison. Heat up your needle again. Draw her +out very slow so the glass will close up behind her. Simple, neat, +effective, honest enough for down here. Cork still there, seal still +there, label still there. Bottle still there, except for a little bit of +a wart-lookin' bubble in the bottom." + +It was now in the noon hour. Knowing cowboys of old I expected no lunch. +We racketed along, and our dust tried to catch us, and sleepy, +accustomed jack rabbits made two perfunctory hops as we turned on them +the battery of our exhaust. + +We dipped down into a carved bottomland, several miles wide, filled with +minarets, peaks, vermilion towers, and strange striped labyrinths of +many colours above which the sky showed an unbelievable blue. The trunks +of colossal trees lay about in numbers. Apparently they had all been +cross-cut in sections like those sawed for shake bolts, for each was +many times clearly divided. The sections, however, lay all in place; so +the trunks of the trees were as they had fallen. About the ground were +scattered fragments of rock of all sizes, like lava, but of all the +colours of the giddiest parrots. The tiniest piece had at least all the +tints of the spectrum; and the biggest seemed to go the littlest several +better. They looked to me like beautiful jewels. Bill cast at them a +contemptuous glance. + +"Every towerist I take in yere makes me stop while he sags down the car +with this junk," he said. Whenever I say "Bill said" or "I said," I +imply that we shrieked, for always through that great, still country we +hustled enveloped in a profanity of explosions, creaks, rattles, and +hums. Just now though, on a level, we travelled at a low gear. +"Petrified wood," Bill added. + +I swallowed guiltily the request I was about to proffer. + +The malpais defined itself. We came to a wide, dry wash filled with +white sand. Bill brought the little car to a stop. + +Well I know that sort of sand! You plunge rashly into it on low gear; +you buzz bravely for possibly fifty feet; you slow down, slow down; your +driving wheels begin to spin--that finishes you. Every revolution digs a +deeper hole. It is useless to apply power. If you are wise you throw out +your clutch the instant she stalls, and thus save digging yourself in +unnecessarily. But if you are really wise you don't get in that fix at +all. The next stage is that wherein you thrust beneath the hind wheels +certain expedients such as robes, coats, and so forth. The wheels, when +set in motion, hurl these trivialities yards to the rear. The car then +settles down with a shrug. About the time the axle is actually resting +on the sand you proceed to serious digging, cutting brush, and laying +causeways. Some sand you can get out of by these methods, but not dry, +stream-bed sand in the Southwest. Finally you reach; the state of true +wisdom. Either you sit peacefully in the tonneau and smoke until someone +comes along; or, if you are doubtful of that miracle, you walk to the +nearest team and rope. And never, never, never are you caught again! A +detour of fifty miles is nothing after that! + +While Bill manipulated the makings, I examined the prospects. This was +that kind of a wash; no doubt of it! + +"How far is the nearest crossing?" I asked, returning. + +"About eight feet," said he. + +My mind, panic-stricken, flew to several things--that bottle (I regret +that I failed to record that by test its contents had proved genuine), +the cornered rock we had so blithely charged, other evidences of Bill's +casual nature. My heart sank. + +"You ain't going to tackle that wash!" I cried. + +"I shore am," said Bill. + +I examined Bill. He meant it. + +"How far to the nearest ranch?" + +"'Bout ten mile." + +I went and sat on a rock. It was one of those rainbow remnants of a +bygone past; but my interest in curios had waned. + +Bill dove into the grimy mysteries of under the back seat and produced +two blocks of wood six or eight inches square and two strong straps with +buckles. He inserted a block between the frame of the car and the rear +axle; then he ran a strap around the rear spring and cinched on it until +the car body, the block, and the axle made one solid mass. In other +words, the spring action was entirely eliminated. He did the same thing +on the other side. + +"Climb in," said he. + +We went into low and slid down the steep clay bank into the waiting +sand. To me it was like a plunge into ice water. Bill stepped on her. We +ploughed out into trouble. The steering wheel bucked and jerked vainly +against Bill's huge hands; we swayed like a moving-picture comic; but we +forged steadily ahead. Not once did we falter. Our wheels gripped +continuously. When we pulled out on the other bank I exhaled as though +I, too, had lost my muffler. I believe I had held my breath the whole +way across. Bill removed the blocks and gave her more water. Still in +low we climbed out of the malpais. + +It was now after two o'clock. We registered 29,328. I was getting humble +minded. Six o'clock looked good enough to me now. + +One thing was greatly encouraging. As we rose again to the main level of +the country I recognized over the horizon a certain humped mountain. +Often in the "good old days" I had approached this mountain from the +south. Beneath its flanks lay my friend's ranch, our destination. Five +hours earlier in my experience its distance would have appalled me; but +my standards had changed. Nevertheless, it seemed far enough away. I was +getting physically tired. There is a heap of exercise in many +occupations, such as digging sewers and chopping wood and shopping with +a woman; but driving in small Arizona motor cars need give none of these +occupations any odds. And of late years I have been accustoming myself +to three meals a day. + +For this reason there seems no excuse for detailing the next three +hours. From three o'clock until sunset the mirages slowly fade away into +the many-tinted veils of evening. I know that because I've seen it; but +never would I know it whilst an inmate of a gasoline madhouse. We +carried our own egg-shaped aura constantly with us, on the invisible +walls of which the subtle and austere influences of the desert beat in +vain. That aura was composed of speed, bumps, dust, profane noise, and +an extreme and exotic busyness. It might be that in a docile, tame, +expensive automobile, garnished with a sane and biddable driver, one +might see the desert as it is. I don't know whether such a combination +exists. But me--I couldn't get into the Officers' Training Camp because +of my advanced years: I may be an old fogy, but I cherish a sneaking +idea that perhaps you have to buy some of these things at the cost of +the aforementioned thirst, heat, weariness, and the slow passing of long +days. Still, an Assyrian brick in the British Museum is inscribed by a +father to his son away at school with a lament over the passing of the +"good old days!" + +At any rate, we drew into Spring Creek at five o'clock, shooting at +every jump. My friend's ranch was only six miles farther. This was home +for Bill, and we were soon surrounded by many acquaintances. He had +letters and packages for many of them; and detailed many items of local +news. To us shortly came a cowboy who had evidently bought all the +calico he could carry. This person was also long and lean and brown; +hard bitten; bedecked with worn brown leather _chaps_, and wearing a +gun. The latter he unbuckled and cast from him with great scorn. + +"And I don't need no gun to do it, neither!" he stated, as though +concluding a long conversation. + +"Shore not, Slim," agreed one of the group, promptly annexing the +artillery. "What is it?" + +"Kill that ---- ---- ---- Beck," said Slim, owlishly. "I can do it; and +I can do it with my bare hands, b' God!" + +He walked sturdily enough in the direction of the General Store across +the dusty square. No one paid any further attention to his movements. +The man who had picked up the gun belt buckled it around his own waist. +Bill refilled the ever-thirsty radiator, peered at his gasoline gauge, +leisurely turned down a few grease cups. Ten minutes passed. We were +about ready to start. + +Back across the square drifted a strange figure. With difficulty we +recognized it as the erstwhile Slim. He had no hat. His hair stuck out +in all directions. One eye was puffing shut, blood oozed from a cut in +his forehead and dripped from his damaged nose. One shirt sleeve had +been half torn from its parent at the shoulder. But, most curious of +all, Slim's face was evenly marked by a perpendicular series of long, +red scratches as though he had been dragged from stem to stern along a +particularly abrasive gravel walk. Slim seemed quite calm. + +His approach was made in a somewhat strained silence. At length there +spoke a dry, sardonic voice. + +"Well," said it, "did you kill Beck?" + +"Naw!" replied Slim's remains disgustedly, "the son of a gun wouldn't +fight!" + +We reached my friend's ranch just about dusk. He met me at the yard +gate. + +"Well!" he said, heartily. "I'm glad you're here! Not much like the old +days, is it?" + +I agreed with him. + +"Journey out is dull and uninteresting now. But compared to the way we +used to do it, it is a cinch. Just sit still and roll along." + +I disagreed with him--mentally. + +"The old order has changed," said he. + +"Yes," I agreed, "now it's one yard of calico." + + + + +THE RANCH + + + + +CHAPTER I + +THE NEW AND THE OLD + + +The old ranching days of California are to all intents and purposes past +and gone. To be sure there remain many large tracts supporting a single +group of ranch buildings, and over which the cattle wander "on a +thousand hills." There are even a few, a very few--like the ranch of +which I am going to write--that are still undivided, still game haunted, +still hospitable, still delightful. But in spite of these apparent +exceptions, my first statement must stand. About the large tracts swarm +real estate men, eager for the chance to subdivide into small farms--and +the small farmers pour in from the East at the rate of a thousand a +month. No matter how sternly the old land-lords set their faces against +the new order of things, the new order of things will prevail; for +sooner or late old land-lords must die, and the heirs have not in them +the spirit of the ancient tradition. This is, of course, best for the +country and for progress; but something passes, and is no more. So the +Chino ranch and more recently Lucky Baldwin's broad acres have yielded. + +And even in the case of those that still remain intact, whose wide +hills and plains graze thousands of head of cattle; whose pastures breed +their own cowhorses; whose cowmen, wearing still with a twist of pride +the all-but-vanished regalia of their all-but-vanished calling, refuse +to drop back to the humdrum status of "farm hands on a cow ranch"; even +here has entered a single element powerful enough to change the old to +something new. The new may be better--it is certainly more +convenient--and perhaps when all is said and done we would not want to +go back to the old. But the old is gone. One single modern institution +has been sufficient to render it completely of the past. That +institution is the automobile. + +In the old days--and they are but yesterdays, after all--the ranch was +perforce an isolated community. The journey to town was not to be +lightly undertaken; indeed, as far as might be, it was obviated +altogether. Blacksmithing, carpentry, shoe cobbling, repairing, +barbering, and even mild doctoring were all to be done on the premises. +Nearly every item of food was raised at home, including vegetables, +fruit, meat, eggs, fowl, butter, and honey. Above all, the inhabitants +of that ranch settled down comfortably into the realization that their +only available community was that immediately about them; and so they +both made and were influenced by the individual atmosphere of the place. + +In the latter years they have all purchased touring cars, and now they +run to town casually, on almost any excuse. They make shopping lists as +does the city dweller; they go back for things forgotten; and they +return to the ranch as one returns to his home on the side streets of a +great city. In place of the old wonderful and impressive expeditions to +visit in state the nearest neighbour (twelve miles distant), they drop +over of an afternoon for a ten-minutes' chat. The ranch is no longer an +environment in which one finds the whole activity of his existence, but +a dwelling place from which one goes forth. + +I will admit that this is probably a distinct gain; but the fact is +indubitable that, even in these cases where the ranch life has not been +materially changed otherwise, the automobile has brought about a +condition entirely new. And as the automobile has fortunately come to +stay, the old will never return. It is of the old, and its charm and +leisure, that I wish to write. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE OLD WEST + + +I went to the ranch many years ago, stepping from the train somewhere +near midnight into a cold, crisp air full of stars. My knowledge of +California was at that time confined to several seasons spent on the +coast, where the straw hat retires only in deference to a tradition +which none of the flowers seem bound to respect. As my dress accorded +with this experience, I was very glad to be conducted across the street +to a little hotel. My guide was an elderly, very brown man, with a white +moustache, and the bearing of an army regular. This latter surmise later +proved correct. Manning was one of the numerous old soldiers who had +fought through the General's Apache campaigns, and who now in his age +had drifted back to be near his old commander. He left me, after many +solicitations as to my comfort, and a promise to be back with the team +at seven o'clock sharp. + +Promptly at that hour he drew up by the curb. My kit bag was piled +aboard, and I clambered in beside the driver. Manning touched his team. +We were off. + +The rig was of the sort usual to the better California ranches of the +day, and so, perhaps, worth description. It might best be defined as a +rather wide, stiff buckboard set on springs, and supported by stout +running gear. The single seat was set well forward, while the body of +the rig extended back to receive the light freight an errand to town +was sure to accumulate. An ample hood top of gray canvas could be raised +for protection against either sun, wind, or rain. Most powerful brakes +could be manipulated by a thrust of the driver's foot. You may be sure +they were outside brakes. Inside brakes were then considered the weak +expedients of a tourist driving mercenary. Generally the tongue and +moving gear were painted cream; and the body of the vehicle dark green. + +This substantial, practical, and business-like vehicle was drawn by a +pair of mighty good bright bay horses, straight backed, square rumped, +deep shouldered, with fine heads, small ears, and alert yet gentle eyes +of high-bred stock. When the word was given, they fell into a steady, +swinging trot. One felt instinctively the power of it, and knew that +they were capable of keeping up this same gait all day. And that would +mean many miles. Their harness was of plain russet leather, neat and +well oiled. + +Concerning them I made some remark, trivial yet enough to start Manning. +He told me of them, and of their peculiarities and virtues. He descanted +at length on their breeding, and whence came they and their fathers and +their fathers' fathers even unto the sixth generation. He left me at +last with the impression that this was probably the best team in the +valley, bar none. It was a good team, strong, spirited, gentle, and +enduring. + +We swung out from the little town into a straight road. If it has seemed +that I have occupied you too exclusively with objects near at hand, the +matter could not be helped. There was nothing more to occupy you. A fog +held all the land. + +It was a dense fog, and a very cold. Twenty feet ahead of the horses +showed only a wall of white. To right and left dim, ghostly bushes or +fence posts trooped by us at the ordered pace of our trot. An occasional +lone poplar tree developed in the mist as an object on a dry plate +develops. We splashed into puddles, crossed culverts, went through all +the business of proceeding along a road--and apparently got nowhere. The +mists opened grudgingly before us, and closed in behind. As far as +knowing what the country was like I might as well have been blindfolded. + +From Manning I elicited piecemeal some few and vague ideas. This +meagreness was not due to a disinclination on Manning's part, but only +to the fact that he never quite grasped my interest in mere +surroundings. Yes, said he, it was a pretty flat country, and some +brush. Yes, there were mountains, some ways off, though. Not many trees, +but some--what you might call a few. And so on, until I gave it up. +Mountains, trees, brush, and flat land! One could construct any and all +landscapes with such building blocks as those. + +Now, as has been hinted, I was dressed for southern California; and the +fog was very damp and chill. The light overcoat I wore failed utterly to +exclude it. At first I had been comfortable enough, but as mile +succeeded mile the cold of that winter land fog penetrated to the bone. +In answer to my comment Manning replied cheerfully in the words of an +old saw: + + "_A winter's fog + Will freeze a dog_," + +said he. + +I agreed with him. We continued to jog on. Manning detailed what I then +thought were hunting lies as to the abundance of game; but which I +afterward discovered were only sober truths. When too far gone in the +miseries of abject cold I remembered his former calling, and glancing +sideways at his bronzed, soldierly face, wished I had gumption enough +left to start him going on some of his Indian campaigns. It was too +late; I had not the gumption; I was too cold. + +Now I believe I am fairly well qualified to know when I really feel +cold. I have slept out with the thermometer out of sight somewhere down +near the bulb; I once snowshoed nine miles; and then overheated from +that exertion, drove thirty-five without additional clothing. On various +other occasions I have had experiences that might be called frigid. But +never have I been quite so deadly cold as on that winter morning's drive +through the land fog of semi-tropical California. It struck through to +the very heart. + +I subsequently discovered that it takes two hours and three quarters to +drive to the ranch. That is a long time when one has nothing to look at, +and when one is cold. In fact, it is so long that one loses track of +time at all, and gradually relapses into that queer condition of passive +endurance whereto is no end and no beginning. Therefore the end always +comes suddenly, and as a surprise. + +So it was in this case. Out of the mists sprang suddenly two tall fan +palms, and then two others, and still others. I realized dimly that we +were in an avenue of palms. The wheels grated strangely on gravel. We +swung sharply to the left between hedges. The mass of a building loomed +indistinctly. Manning applied the brakes. We stopped, the steam from +the horses' shining backs rising straight up to mingle with the fog. + +"Well, here we are!" said Manning. + +So we were! I hadn't thought of that. We must be here. After an +appreciable moment it occurred to me that perhaps I'd better climb down. +I did so, very slowly and stiffly, making the sad mistake of jumping +down from the height of the step. How that did injure my feelings! The +only catastrophe I can remember comparable to it was when a teacher +rapped my knuckles with a ruler after I had been making snowballs bare +handed. My benumbed faculties next swung around to the proposition of +proceeding up an interminable gravel walk--(it is twenty-five feet +long!) to a forbidding flight of stairs--(porch steps--five of them!) I +put this idea into execution. I reached the steps. And then---- + +The door was flung open from within, I could see the sparkle and leap of +a fine big grate fire. The Captain stood in the doorway, a broad smile +on his face; my hostess smiled another welcome behind him; the General +roared still another from somewhere behind her. + +Now I had never met the Captain. He held out both hands in greeting. One +of those hands was for me to shake. The other held a huge glass of hot +scotch. The hot scotch was in the right hand! + + + + +CHAPTER III + +THE PEOPLE AND THE PLACE + + +They warmed me through, and then another old soldier named Redmond took +me up to show me where I lived. We clambered up narrow boxed stairs that +turned three ways; we walked down a narrow passage; turned to the right; +walked down another narrow passage, climbed three steps to open a door; +promptly climbed three steps down again; crossed a screened-in bridge to +another wing; ducked through a passageway, and so arrived. The ranch +house was like that. Parts of it were built out on stilts. Five or six +big cottonwood trees grew right up through the verandahs, and spread out +over the roof of the house. There are all sorts of places where you hang +coats, or stack guns, or store shells, or find unexpected books; +passageways leading to outdoor upstairs screened porches, cubby holes +and the like. And whenever you imagine the house must be quite full of +guests, they can always discover to you yet another bedroom. It may, at +the last, be a very tiny bedroom, with space enough only for a single +bed and not much else; and you may get to it only by way of out of +doors; and it may be already fairly well occupied by wooden decoys and +shotgun shells, but there it is, guests and guests after you thought the +house must be full. + +Belonging and appertaining unto the house were several fixtures. One of +these was old Charley, the Chinese cook. He had been there twenty-five +years. In that time he had learned perfect English, acquired our kind of +a sense of humour, come to a complete theoretical understanding of how +to run a ranch and all the people on it, and taught Pollymckittrick what +she knew. + +Pollymckittrick was the bereaved widow of the noble pair of yellow and +green parrots Noah selected for his ark. At least I think she was that +old. She was certainly very wise in both Oriental and Occidental wisdom. +Her chief accomplishments, other than those customary to parrots, were +the ability to spell, and to sing English songs. "After the Ball" and +"Daisy Bell" were her favourites, rendered with occasional jungle +variations. She considered Charley her only real friend, though she +tolerated some others. Pollymckittrick was a product of artificial +civilization. No call of the wild in hers! She preferred her cage, +gilded or otherwise. Each afternoon the cage was placed out on the lawn +so Pollymckittrick could have her sun bath. One day a big redtail hawk +sailed by. Pollymckittrick fell backward off her perch, flat on her +back. The sorrowing family gathered to observe this extraordinary case +of heart failure. After an interval Pollymckittrick unfilmed one yellow +eye. + +"Po--o--or Pollymckittrick!" she remarked. + +At the sight of that hawk Pollymckittrick had fainted! + +The third institution having to do with the house was undoubtedly +Redmond. Redmond was another of the old soldiers who had in their age +sought out their beloved General. Redmond was a sort of all-round man. +He built the fires very early in the morning; and he did your boots and +hunting clothes, got out the decoys, plucked the ducks, saw to the +shells, fed the dogs, and was always on hand at arrival and departure to +lend a helping hand. He dwelt in a square room in the windmill tower +together with a black cat and all the newspapers in the world. The cat +he alternately allowed the most extraordinary liberties or disciplined +rigorously. On the latter occasions he invariably seized the animal and +hurled it bodily through the open window. The cat took the long fall +quite calmly, and immediately clambered back up the outside stairway +that led to the room. The newspapers he read, and clipped therefrom +items of the most diverse nature to which he deprecatingly invited +attention. Once in so often a strange martial fervour would obsess him. +Then the family, awakened in the early dawn, would groan and turn over, +realizing that its rest was for that morning permanently shattered. The +old man had hoisted his colours over the windmill tower, and now in a +frenzy of fervour was marching around and around the tower beating the +long roll on his drum. After one such outbreak he would be his ordinary, +humble, quiet, obliging, almost deprecating self for another month or +so. The ranch people took it philosophically. + +The fourth institution was Nobo. Nobo was a Japanese woman who bossed +the General. She was a square-built person of forty or so who had also +been with the family unknown years. Her capabilities were undoubted; as +also her faith in them. The hostess depended on her a good deal; and at +the same time chafed mildly under her calm assumption that she knew +perfectly what the situation demanded. The General took her domination +amusedly. To be sure nobody was likely to fool much with the General. +His vast good nature had way down beneath it something that on occasion +could be stern. Nobo could and would tell the General what clothes to +wear, and when to change them, and such matters; but she never ventured +to inhibit the General's ideas as to going forth in rains, or driving +where he everlastingly dod-blistered pleased, or words to that effect, +across country in his magnificently rattletrap surrey, although she +often looked very anxious. For she adored the General. But we all did +that. + +As though the heavy curtain of fog had been laid upon the land expressly +that I might get my first impressions of the ranch in due order, about +noon the weather cleared. Even while we ate lunch, the sun came out. +After the meal we went forth to see what we could see. + +The ranch was situated in the middle of a vast plain around three sides +of which rose a grand amphitheatre of mountains. The nearest of them was +some thirty miles away, yet ordinarily, in this clear, dry, Western +atmosphere they were always imminent. Over their eastern ramparts the +sun rose to look upon a chill and frosty world; behind their western +barriers the sun withdrew, leaving soft air, purple shadows, and the +flight of dim, far wildfowl across a saffron sky. To the north was only +distance and the fading of the blue of the heavens to the pearl gray of +the horizon. + +So much if one stepped immediately beyond the ranch itself. The plains +were broad. Here and there the flatness broke in a long, low line of +cottonwoods marking the winding course of a slough or trace of subsoil +water. Mesquite lay in dark patches; sagebrush; the green of +pasture-land periodically overflowed by the irrigation water. Nearer at +home were occasional great white oaks, or haystacks bigger than a house, +and shaped like one. + +To the distant eye the ranch was a grove of trees. Cottonwoods and +eucalyptus had been planted and had thriven mightily on the abundant +artesian water. We have already noticed the six or eight great trees +growing fairly up through the house. On the outskirts lay also a fruit +orchard of several hundred acres. Opposite the house, and separated from +it by a cedar hedge, was a commodious and attractive bungalow for the +foreman. Beyond him were the bunk house, cook houses, blacksmith shops, +and the like. + +We started our tour of inspection by examining and commenting gravely +upon the dormant rose garden and equally dormant grape arbour. Through +this we came to the big wire corrals in which were kept the dogs. Here I +met old Ben. + +Old Ben was not very old; but he was different from young Ben. He was a +pointer of the old-fashioned, stocky-built, enduring type common--and +serviceable--before our bench-show experts began to breed for speed, +fineness, small size--and lack of stamina. Ben proved in the event to be +a good all-round dog. He combined the attributes of pointer, cocker +spaniel, and retriever. In other words, he would hunt quail in the +orthodox fashion; or he would rustle into the mesquite thorns for the +purpose of flushing them out to us; or he would swim anywhere any number +of times to bring out ducks. To be sure he occasionally got a little +mixed. At times he might try to flush quail in the open, instead of +standing them; or would attempt to retrieve some perfectly lively +specimens. Then Ben needed a licking; and generally got it. He lacked in +his work some of the finish and style of the dogs we used after grouse +in Michigan, but he was a good all-round dog for the work. Furthermore, +he was most pleasant personally. + +Next door to him lived the dachshunds. + +The dachshunds were a marvel, a nuisance, a bone of contention, an +anomaly, an accident, and a farce. They happened because somebody had +once given the hostess a pair of them. I do not believe she cared +particularly for them; but she is good natured, and the ranch is large, +and they are rather amusing. At the time of my first visit the original +pair had multiplied. Gazing on that yardful of imbecile-looking canines, +my admiration for Noah's wisdom increased; he certainly needed no more +than a pair to restock the earth. Redmond claimed there were twenty-two +of them, though nobody else pretended to have been able to disentangle +them enough for a census. They were all light brown in colour; and the +aggregation reminded me of a rather disentangled bunch of angle-worms. +They lived in a large enclosure; and emerged therefrom only under +supervision, for they considered chickens and young pigs their especial +prey. The Captain looked upon them with exasperated tolerance; Redmond +with affection; the hostess, I think, with a good deal of the +partisanship inspired not so much by liking as by the necessity of +defending them against ridicule; and the rest of the world with amused +expectation as to what they would do next. The Captain was continually +uttering half-serious threats as to the different kinds of sudden death +he was going to inflict on the whole useless, bandylegged, snipe-nosed, +waggle-eared---- + +The best comment was offered last year by the chauffeur of the +automobile. After gazing on the phenomenon of their extraordinary build +for some moments he remarked thoughtfully: + +"Those dogs have a mighty long wheel base!" + +For some reason unknown two of the dachshunds have been elevated from +the ranks, and have house privileges. Their names are respectively Pete +and Pup. They hate each other, and have sensitive dispositions. It took +me just four years to learn to tell them apart. I believe Pete has a +slightly projecting short rib on his left side--or is it Pup? It was +fatal to mistake. + +"Hullo, Pup!" I would cry to one jovially. + +"G--r--r--r--!" would remark the dog, retiring under the sofa. Thus I +would know it was Pete. The worst of it was that said Pete's feelings +were thereby lacerated so deeply that I was not forgiven all the rest of +that day. + +Beyond the dogs lay a noble enclosure so large that it would have been +subdivided into building lots had it been anywhere else. It was +inhabited by all sorts of fowl, hundreds of them, of all varieties. +There were chickens, turkeys, geese, and a flock of ducks. The Captain +pointed out the Rouen ducks, almost exactly like the wild mallards. + +"Those are my live decoys," said he. + +For the accommodation of this multitude were cities of nest houses, +roost houses, and the like. Huge structures elevated on poles swarmed +with doves. A duck pond even had been provided for its proper denizens. + +Thus we reached the southernmost outpost of our quadrangle, and turned +to the west, where an ancient Chinaman and an assistant cultivated +minutely and painstakingly a beautiful vegetable garden. Tiny irrigation +streams ran here and there, fitted with miniature water locks. Strange +and foreign bamboo mattings, withes, and poles performed strange and +foreign functions. The gardener, brown and old and wrinkled, his cue +wound neatly beneath his tremendous, woven-straw umbrella of a hat, +possessing no English, no emotion, no single ray of the sort of +intelligence required to penetrate into our Occidental world, bent over +his work. When we passed, he did not look up. He dwelt in a shed. At +least, such it proved to be, when examined with the cold eye of +analysis. In impression it was ancient, exotic, Mongolian, the abode of +one of a mysterious and venerable race, a bit of foreign country. By +what precise means this was accomplished it would be difficult to say. +It is a fact well known to all Californians that a Chinaman can with no +more extensive properties than a few pieces of red paper, a partition, a +dingy curtain, and a varnished duck transform utterly an American +tenement into a Chinese pagoda. + +Thence we passed through a wicket and came to the abode of hogs. They +dotted the landscape into the far distance, rooting about to find what +they could; they lay in wallows; they heaped themselves along fences; +they snorted and splashed in sundry shallow pools; a good half mile of +maternal hogs occupied a row of kennels from which the various progeny +issued forth between the bars. I cannot say I am much interested in +hogs, but even I could dimly comprehend the Captain's attitude of +swollen pride. They were clean, and black, and more nearly approximated +the absurd hog advertisements than I had believed possible. You know the +kind I mean; an almost exact rectangle on four short legs. + +In the middle distance stood a long, narrow, thatched roof supported on +poles. Beneath this, the Captain told me, were the beehives. They proved +later to be in charge of a mild-eyed religious fanatic who believed the +world to be flat. + +We took a cursory glance at a barn filled to the brim with prunes; and +the gushing, beautiful artesian well; at the men's quarters; the +blacksmith shop, and all the rest. So we rounded the circle and came to +the most important single feature of the ranch--the quarters for the +horses. + +A very long, deep shed, open on all sides, contained a double row of +mangers facing each other, and divided into stalls. Here stood and were +fed the working horses. By that I mean not only the mule and horse +teams, but also the utility driving teams and the saddle horses used by +the cowboys. Between each two stalls was a heavy pillar supporting the +roof, and well supplied with facilities for hanging up the harness and +equipments. As is usual in California, the sides and ends were open to +the air; and the floor was simply the earth well bedded. + +But over against this shed stood a big barn of the Eastern type. Here +were the private equipments. + +The Captain is a horseman. He breeds polo ponies after a formula of his +own; and so successfully that many of them cross the Atlantic. On the +ranch are always several hundred head of beautiful animals; and of +these the best are kept up for the use of the Captain and his friends. +We looked at them in their clean, commodious stalls; we inspected the +harness and saddle room, glistening and satiny with polished metal and +well-oiled leather; we examined the half dozen or so of vehicles of all +descriptions. The hostess told with relish of her one attempt to be +stylish. + +"We had such beautiful horses," said she, "that I thought we ought to +have something to go with them, so I sent up to the city for my +brougham. It made a very neat turnout; and Tom was as proud of it as I +was, but when it came to a question of proper garb for Tom I ran up +against a deadlock. Tom refused point blank to wear a livery or anything +approaching a livery. He was perfectly respectful about it; but he +refused. Well, I drove around all that winter, when the weather was bad, +in a well-appointed brougham drawn by a good team in a proper harness; +and on the box sat a lean-faced cow puncher in sombrero, red +handkerchief, and blue jeans!" + +Tom led forth the horses one after the other--Kingmaker, the Fiddler, +Pittapat, and the others. We spent a delightful two hours. The sun +dropped; the shadows lengthened. From the fields the men began to come +in. They drove the wagons and hay ricks into the spacious enclosure, and +set leisurely about the task of caring for their animals. Chinese and +Japanese drifted from the orchards, and began to manipulate the +grindstone on their pruning knives. Presently a cowboy jogged in, his +spurs and bit jingling. From the cook house a bell began to clang. + +We turned back to the house. Before going in I faced the west. The sky +had turned a light green full of lucence. The minor sounds of the ranch +near by seemed to be surrounded by a sea of silence outside. Single +sounds came very clearly across it. And behind everything, after a few +moments, I made out a queer, monotonous background of half-croaking +calling. For some time this puzzled me. Then at last my groping +recollection came to my assistance. I was hearing the calling of myriads +of snow geese. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE EARLY BIRD + + +I was awakened rather early by Redmond, who silently entered the room, +lit a kerosene stove, closed the windows, and departed. As I was now +beneath two blankets and an eiderdown quilt, and my nose was cold, I was +duly grateful. Mistaking the rite for a signal to arise, I did so; and +shortly descended. The three fireplaces were crackling away merrily, but +they had done little to mitigate the atmosphere as yet. Maids were +dusting and sweeping. The table was not yet set. Inquiry telling that +breakfast was more than an hour later, I took a gun from the rack, +pocketed the only five shells in sight, and departed to see what I could +see. + +The outer world was crisp with frost. I clambered over the corral fence, +made my way through a hundred acres or so of slumbering pigs, and so +emerged into the open country. + +In the middle distance and perhaps a mile away was a low fringe of +brush; to the left an equal distance a group of willows; and almost +behind me a clump of cottonwoods. I resolved to walk over to the brush, +swing around to the willows, turn to the cottonwoods, and so back to the +ranch. It looked like about four miles or so. Perhaps with my five +shells I might get something. At any rate, I would have a good walk. + +The mountains were turning from the rose pink of early morning. I could +hear again the bickering cries of the snow geese and sandhill cranes +away in an unknown distance, the homelier calls of barnyard fowl nearer +at hand. Cattle trotted before me and to right and left, their heads +high, their gait swinging with the freedom of the half-wild animals of +the ranges. After a few steps they turned to stare at me, eyes and +nostrils wide, before making up their minds whether or not it would be +wise to put a greater distance between me and them. The close sod was +green and strong. It covered the slightly rounding irrigation "checks" +that followed in many a curve and double the lines of contours on the +flat plain. + +The fringe of brush did not amount to anything; it was merely a +convenient turning mark for my little walk. Arrived there, I executed a +sharp "column left----" + +Seven ducks leaped into the air apparently from the bare, open, and dry +ground! + +Every sportsman knows the scattering effect on the wits of the +absolutely unexpected appearance of game. Every sportsman knows also the +instinctive reactions that long habit will bring about. Thus, +figuratively, I stood with open mouth, heart beating slightly faster, +and mind making to itself such imbecile remarks as: "Well, _what_ do you +think of that! Who in blazes would have expected ducks here?" and other +futile remarks. In the meantime, the trained part of me had jerked the +gun off my shoulder, pushed forward the safety catch, and prepared for +one hasty long shot at the last and slowest of the ducks. Now the +instinctive part of one can do the preparations, but the actual +shooting requires a more ordered frame of mind. By this time my wits +had snapped back into place. I had the satisfaction of seeing the duck's +outstretched neck wilt; of hearing him hit the ground with a thud +somewhere beyond. + +Marking the line of his fall, I stepped confidently forward, and without +any warning whatever found myself standing on the bank of an irrigation +ditch. It was filled to the brim with placid water on which floated a +few downy feathers. On this side was dry sod; and on the other was dry +sod. Nothing indicated the presence of that straight band of silvery +water until one stood fairly at its brink. To the right I could see its +sides narrow to the point of a remote perspective. To the left it ran +for a few hundred yards, then apparently came to an abrupt stop where it +turned at an angle. + +In the meantime, my duck was on the other side; I was in my citizen's +clothes. + +No solution offered in sight, so I made my way to the left where I could +look around the bend. Nearing the bend I was seized with a bright idea. +I dropped back below the line of sight, sneaked quietly to the bank, +and, my eye almost level with the water, peered down the new vista. Sure +enough, not a hundred and fifty yards away floated another band of +ducks. + +I watched them for a moment until I was sure, by various small +landmarks, of their exact location. Then I dropped back far enough so +that, even standing erect, I would be below the line of vision of those +ducks; strolled along until opposite my landmarks; then, bolt upright, +walked directly forward, the gun at ready. When within twenty yards the +ducks arose. It was, of course, easy shooting. Both fell across the +ditch. That did not worry me; if worst came to worst I could strip and +wade. + +This seemed to be an exceedingly unique and interesting way to shoot +ducks. To be sure, I had only two shells left; but then, it must be +almost breakfast time. I repeated the feat a half mile farther on, +discovered a flood gate over which I could get to the other side, +collected my five ducks, and cut across country to the ranch. The sun +was just getting in its work on the frost. Long files of wagons and men +could be seen disappearing in the distance. I entered proudly, only ten +minutes late. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +QUAIL + + +The family assembled took my statement with extraordinary calm, +contenting themselves with a general inquiry as to the species. I was +just a trifle crestfallen at this indifference. You see at this time I +was not accustomed to the casual duck. My shooting heretofore had been a +very strenuous matter. It had involved arising many hours before sun-up, +and venturing forth miles into wild marshes; and much endurance of cold +and discomfort. To make a bag of any sort we were in the field before +the folk knew the night had passed. Upland shooting meant driving long +distances, and walking through the heavy hardwood swamps and slashes +from dusk to dusk. Therefore I had considered myself in great luck to +have blundered upon my ducks so casually; and, furthermore, from the +family's general air of leisure and unpreparedness, jumped to the +conclusion that no field sport was projected for that day. + +Mrs. Kitty presided beside a copper coffee pot with a bell-shaped glass +top. As this was also an institution, it merits attention. A small +alcohol lamp beneath was lighted. For a long time nothing happened. Then +all at once the glass dome clouded, was filled with frantic brown and +racing bubbling. Thereupon the hostess turned over a sand glass. When +the last grains had run through, the alcohol lamp was turned off. +Immediately the glass dome was empty again. From a spigot one drew off +coffee. + +But if perchance the Captain and I wished to get up before anybody else +could be hired to get up, the Dingbat could be so loaded as to give down +an automatic breakfast. The evening before the maid charged the affair +as usual, and at the last popped four eggs into the glass dome. After +the mysterious alchemical perturbations had ceased, we fished out those +eggs soft boiled to the second! One day the maid mistook the gasoline +bottle for the alcohol bottle. That is a sad tale having to do with +running flames, and burned table pieces, not to speak of a melted-down +connection or so on the Dingbat. We did not know what was the matter; +and our attitude was not so much that of alarm, as of grief and +indignation that our good old tried and trained Dingbat should in his +old age cut up any such didoes. Especially as there were new guests +present. + +After breakfast we wandered out on the verandah. Nobody seemed to be in +any hurry to start anything. The hostess made remarks to +Pollymckittrick; the General read a newspaper; the Captain sauntered +about enjoying the sun. After fifteen minutes, as though the notion had +just occurred, somebody suggested that we go shooting. + +"How about it?" the Captain asked me. + +"Surely," I agreed, and added with some surprise out of my other +experience, "Isn't it a little late?" + +But the Captain misunderstood me. + +"I don't mean blind shooting," said he, "just ram around." + +He seized a megaphone and bellowed through it at the stables. + +"Better get on your war paint," he suggested to me. + +I changed hastily into my shooting clothes, and returned to the +verandah. After some few moments the Captain joined me. After some few +moments more a tremendous rattling came from the stable. A fine bay team +swung into the driveway, rounded the circle, and halted. It drew the +source of the tremendous rattling. + +Thus I became acquainted with the Liver Invigorator. The Invigorator was +a buckboard high, wide, and long. It had one wide seat. Aft of that seat +was a cage with bars, in which old Ben rode. Astern was a deep box +wherein one carried rubber boots, shells, decoys, lunch, game, and the +like. The Invigorator was very old, very noisy, and very able. With it +we drove cheerfully anywhere we pleased--over plowed land, irrigation +checks, through brush thick enough to lift our wheels right off the +ground, and down into and out of water ditches so steep that we +alternately stood the affair on its head and its tail, and so deep that +we had to hold all our belongings in our arms, while old Ben stuck his +nose out the top bars of his cage for a breath of air. It could not be +tipped over; at least we never upset it. To offset these virtues it +rattled like a runaway milk wagon; and it certainly hit the high spots +and hit them _hard_. Nevertheless, in a long and strenuous sporting +career the Invigorator became endeared through association to many +friends. When the Captain proposed a new vehicle with easier springs and +less noise, a wail of protest arose from many and distant places. The +Invigorator still fulfills its function. + +Now there are three major topics on the Ranch: namely, ducks, quail, and +ponies. In addition to these are five of minor interest: the mail, +cattle, jackrabbits, coons, and wildcats. + +I was already familiar with the valley quail, for I had hunted him since +I was a small boy with the first sixteen-gauge gun ever brought to the +coast. I knew him for a very speedy bird, much faster than our bob +white, dwelling in the rounded sagebrush hills, travelling in flocks of +from twenty to several thousand, exceedingly given to rapid leg work. We +had to climb hard after him, and shoot like lightning from insecure +footing. His idiosyncrasies were as strongly impressed on me as the fact +that human beings walk upright. Here, however, I had to revise my ideas. + +We drove down the avenue of palms, pursued by four or five yapping +dachshunds, and so out into a long, narrow lane between pasture fences. +Herds of ponies, fuzzy in their long winter coats, came gently to look +at us. The sun was high now, so the fur of their backs lay flat. Later, +in the chill of evening, the hair would stand out like the nap of +velvet, thus providing for additional warmth by the extra air space +between the outside of the coat and the skin. It must be very handy to +carry this invisible overcoat, ready for the moment's need. Here, too, +were cattle standing about. On many of them I recognized the familiar +J-I brand of many of my Arizona experiences. Arizona bred and raised +them; California fattened them for market. We met a cowboy jingling by +at his fox trot; then came to the country road. + +Along this we drove for some miles. The country was perfectly flat, but +variegated by patches of greasewood, of sagebrush, of Egyptian-corn +fields, and occasionally by a long, narrow fringe of trees. Here, too, +were many examples of that phenomenon so vigorously doubted by most +Easterners: the long rows of trees grown from original cotton wood or +poplar fence posts. In the distance always were the mountains. Overhead +the sky was very blue. A number of buzzards circled. + +After a time we turned off the road and into a country covered over with +tumbleweed, a fine umber red growth six or eight inches high, and +scattered sagebrush. Inlets, bays, and estuaries of bare ground ran +everywhere. The Captain stood up to drive, watching for the game to +cross these bare places. + +I stood up, too. It is no idle feat to ride the Invigorator thus over +hummocky ground. It lurched and bumped and dropped into and out of +trouble; and in correspondence I alternately rose up and sat down again, +hard. The Captain rode the storm without difficulty. He was accustomed +to the Invigorator; and, too, he had the reins to hang on by. + +"There they go!" said he, suddenly, bringing the team to a halt. + +I looked ahead. Across a ten-foot barren ran the quail, their crests +cocked forward, their trim figures held close as a sprinter goes, rank +after rank, their heads high in the alert manner of quail. + +The Captain sat down, jerked off the brake, and spoke to his horses. I +sat down, too; mainly because I had to. The Invigorator leaped from hump +to hump. Before those quail knew it we were among them. Right, left, all +around us they roared into the air. Some doubled back; some buzzed low +to right or left; others rose straight ahead to fly a quarter mile, and +then, wings set, to sail another quarter until finally they pitched down +into some bit of inviting cover. + +The Captain brought his horses to a stand with great satisfaction. We +congratulated each other gleefully; and even old Ben, somewhat shaken up +in his cage astern, wagged his tail in appreciation of the situation. + +For, you see, we had scattered the covey, and now they would lie. If the +band had flushed, flown, and lighted as one body, immediately on hitting +the ground they would have put their exceedingly competent little legs +into action, and would have run so well and so far that, by the time we +had arrived on the spot, they would have been a good half mile away. But +now that the covey was broken, the individuals and small bands would +stay put. If they ran at all, it would be for but a short distance. On +this preliminary scattering depends the success of a chase after +California quail. I have seen six or eight men empty both barrels of +their guns at a range of more than a hundred yards. They were not insane +enough to think they would get anything. Merely they hoped that the +racket and the dropping of the spent shot would break the distant covey. + +We hitched the horses to a tree, released old Ben, and started forth. + +For a half hour we had the most glorious sport, beating back and forth +over the ground again and again. The birds lay well in the low cover, +and the shooting was clean and open. I soon found that the edges of the +bare ground were the most likely places. Apparently the birds worked +slowly through the cover ahead of us, but hesitated to cross the open +spots, and so bunched at the edge. By walking in a zigzag along some of +these borders, we gathered in many scattered birds and small bunches. +Why the zigzag? Naturally it covers a trifle more ground than a straight +course, but principally it seems to confuse the game. If you walk in a +straight line, so the quail can foretell your course, it is very apt +either to flush wild or to hide so close that you pass it by. The zigzag +fools it. + +Thus, with varying luck, we made a slow circle back to the wagon. Here +we found Mrs. Kitty and Carrie and the lunch awaiting us with the +ponies. + +These robust little animals were not miniature horses, but genuine +ponies, with all the deviltry, endurance, and speed of their kind. They +were jet-black, about waist high, and of great intelligence. They drew a +neat little rig, capable of accommodating two, at a persistent rapid +patter that somehow got over the road at a great gait. And they could +keep it up all day. Although perfectly gentle, they were as alert as +gamins for mischief, and delighted hugely in adding to the general row +and confusion if anything happened to go wrong. Mrs. Kitty drove them +everywhere. One day she attempted to cross an irrigation ditch that +proved to be deeper than she had thought it. The ponies disappeared +utterly, leaving Mrs. Kitty very much astonished. Horses would have +drowned in like circumstances, but the ponies, nothing daunted, dug in +their hoofs and scrambled out like a pair of dogs, incidentally dipping +their mistress on the way. + +In the shade of a high greasewood we unpacked the pony carriage. This +was before the days of thermos bottles, so we had a most elaborate +wicker basket whose sides let down to form a wind shield protecting an +alcohol burner and a kettle. When the water boiled, we made hot tea, and +so came to lunch. + +Strangely enough this was my first experience at having lunch brought +out to the field. Ordinarily we had been accustomed to carry a sandwich +or so in the side pockets of our shooting coats, which same we ate at +any odd moment that offered. Now was disclosed an astonishing variety. +There were sandwiches, of course, and a salad, and the tea, but +wonderful to contemplate was a deep dish of potted quail, row after row +of them, with delicious white sauce. In place of the frugal bite or so +that would have left us alert and fit for an afternoon's work, we ate +until nothing remained. Then we lit pipes and lay on our backs, and +contemplated a cloudless sky. It was the warm time of day. The horses +snoozed, a hind leg tucked up; old Ben lay outstretched in doggy +content; Mrs. Kitty knit or crocheted or something of that sort; and +Carrie and the Captain and I took cat naps. At length, the sun's rays no +longer striking warm from overhead, the Captain aroused us sternly. + +"You're a nice, energetic, able lot of sportsmen!" he cried with +indignation. "Have I got to wait until sunset for you lazy chumps to get +a full night's rest?" + +"Don't mind him," Mrs. Kitty told me, placidly; "he was sound asleep +himself; and the only reason he waked is because he snored and I +_punched_ him." + +She folded up her fancy work, shook out her skirts, and turned to the +ponies. + +It was now late in the afternoon. We had disgracefully wasted our time, +and enjoyed doing it. The Captain decided it to be too late to hunt up a +new covey, so we reversed to pick up some of those that had originally +doubled back. We flushed forty or fifty of them at the edge of the road. +They scattered ahead of us in a forty-acre plowed field. + +Until twilight, then, we walked leisurely back and forth, which is the +only way to walk in a plowed field, after all. The birds had pitched +down into the old furrows, and whenever a tuft of grass, a piece of +tumbleweed, or a shallow grassy ditch offered a handful of cover, there +the game was to be found. Mrs. Kitty followed at the Captain's elbow, +and Carrie at mine. Carrie made a first-rate dog, marking down the birds +unerringly. The quail flew low and hard, offering in the gathering +twilight and against the neutral-coloured earth marks worthy of good +shooting. At last we turned back to our waiting team. The dusk was +coming over the land, and the "shadow of the earth" was marking its +strange blue arc in the east. As usual the covey was now securely +scattered. Of a thousand or so birds we had bagged forty-odd; and yet of +the remainder we would have had difficulty in flushing another dozen. It +is the mystery of the quail, and one that the sportsman can never +completely comprehend. As we clambered into the Invigorator we could +hear from all directions the birds signalling each other. Near, far, to +right, to left, the call sounded, repeating over and over again a +parting, defiant denial that the victory was ours. + +"You _can't_ shoot! You _can't_ shoot! You _can't_ shoot!" + +And nearer at hand the contented chirping twitter as the covey found +itself. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +PONIES + + +Next morning the Captain decided that he had various affairs to attend +to, so we put on our riding clothes and went down to the stables. + +The Captain had always forty or fifty polo ponies in the course of +education, and he was delighted to have them ridden, once he was +convinced of your seat and hands. They were beautiful ponies, generally +iron gray in colour, very friendly, very eager, and very lively. Riding +them was like flying through the air, for they sailed over rough ground, +irrigation checks, and the like without a break in their stride, and +without a jar. By the same token it was necessary to ride them. At odd +moments they were quite likely to give a wide sidewise bound or a +stiff-legged buck from sheer joy of life. One got genuine "horse +exercise" out of them. + +The Captain, as perhaps I have said, invented these ponies himself. From +Chihuahua he brought in some of the best mustang mares he could find; +and, in case you have Frederick Remington's pictures of starved +winter-range animals in mind, let me tell you a good mustang is a very +handsome animal indeed. These he bred to a thoroughbred. The resulting +half-breeds grew to the proper age. Then he started to have them broken +to the saddle. A start was as far as he ever got, for nobody could ride +them. They combined the intelligence and vice of the mustang with the +endurance and nervous instability of the thoroughbred. The Captain tried +all sorts of men, even sending at last to Arizona for a good bronco +buster on the J-I. Only one or two of the many could back the animals at +all, though many aspirants made a try at it. After a long series of +experiments, the Captain came to the reluctant conclusion that the cross +was no good. It seemed a pity, for they were beautiful animals, up to +full polo size, deep chested, strong shouldered, close coupled, and +speedy. + +Then, by way of idleness, he bred some of the half-bred mares. The +three-quarter cross proved to be ideal. They were gentle, easily broken, +and to the eye differed in no particular from their pure-blooded +brothers. So, ever since, the Captain has been raising these most +excellent polo ponies to his great honour and profit and the incidental +pleasure of his friends who like riding. + +One of these ponies was known as the Merry Jest. He had a terrifying but +harmless trick. The moment the saddle was cinched, down went his head +and he began to buck in the most vicious style. This he would keep up +until further orders. In order to put an end to the performance all one +had to do was to haul in on the rope, thrust one's foot in the stirrup, +and clamber aboard. For, mark you this, Merry Jest in the course of a +long and useful life never failed to buck under the empty saddle--and +_never_ bucked under a rider! + +This, of course, constituted the Merry Jest. Its beauty was that it was +so safe. + +"Want to ride?" asked the Captain. + +"Surely," replied the unsuspecting stranger. + +The Merry Jest was saddled, brought forth, and exhibited in action. + +"There's your horse," remarked the Captain in a matter-of-course tone. + +We rode out the corral gate and directly into the open country. The +animals chafed to be away; and when we loosened the reins, leaped +forward in long bounds. Over the rough country they skimmed like +swallows, their hoofs hardly seeming to touch the ground, the powerful +muscles playing smoothly beneath us like engines. After a mile of this +we pulled up, and set about the serious business of the day. + +One after another we oversaw all the major activities of such a ranch; +outside, I mean, of the ranch enclosure proper where were the fowls, the +vegetable gardens, and the like. Here an immense hay rick was being +driven slowly along while two men pitched off the hay to right and left. +After it followed a long line of cattle. This manner of feeding obviated +the crowding that would have taken place had the hay not been thus +scattered. The more aggressive followed close after the rick, snatching +mouthfuls of the hay as it fell. The more peaceful, or subdued, or +philosophical strung out in a long, thin line, eating steadily at one +spot. They got more hay with less trouble, but the other fellows had to +maintain reputations for letting nobody get ahead of _them_! + +At another point an exceedingly rackety engine ran a hay press, where +the constituents of one of the enormous house-like haystacks were fed +into a hopper and came out neatly baled. A dozen or so men oversaw the +activities of this noisy and dusty machine. + +Down by the northerly cottonwoods two miles away we found other men with +scrapers throwing up the irrigation checks along the predetermined +contour lines. By means of these irregular meandering earthworks the +water, admitted from the ditch to the upper end of the field, would work +its way slowly from level to level instead of running off or making +channels for itself. This job, too, was a dusty one. We could see the +smoke of it rising from a long distance; and the horses and men were +brown with it. + +And again we rode softly for miles over greensward through the cattle, +at a gentle fox trot, so as not to disturb them. At several points stood +great blue herons, like sentinels, decorative as a Japanese screen, +absolutely motionless. The Captain explained that they were "fishing" +for gophers; and blessed them deeply. Sometimes our mounts splashed for +a long distance through water five or six inches shallow. Underneath the +surface we could see the short green grass of the turf that thus +received its refreshment. Then somewhere near, silhouetted against the +sky or distant mountains, on the slight elevation of the irrigation +ditch bank, we were sure to see some of the irrigation Chinamen. They +were strange, exotic figures, their skins sunburned and dark, their +queues wound around their heads; wearing always the same uniform of blue +jeans cut China-fashion, rubber boots, and the wide, inverted bowl +Chinese sun hat of straw. By means of shovels wherewith to dig, and iron +bars wherewith to raise and lower flood gates, they controlled the +artificial rainfall of the region. So accustomed did the ducks become +to these amphibious people that they hardly troubled themselves to get +out of the way, and were utterly careless of how near they flew. Uncle +Jim once disguised himself as an irrigation Chinaman and got all kinds +of shooting--until the ducks found him out. Now they seem able to +distinguish accurately between a Chinaman with a long shovel and a white +man with a shotgun, no matter how the latter is dressed. Ducks, tame and +wild, have a lot of sense. It must bore the former to be forced to +associate with chickens. + +Over in the orchard, of a thousand acres or so, were many more +Orientals, and hundreds of wild doves. These Chinese were all of the +lower coolie orders, and primitive, not to say drastic in their medical +ideas. One evening the Captain heard a fine caterwauling and drum +beating over in the quarters, and sallied forth to investigate. In one +of the huts he found four men sitting on the outspread legs and arms of +a fifth. The latter had been stripped stark naked. A sixth was engaged +in placing live coals on the patient's belly, while assorted assistants +furnished appropriate music and lamentation. The Captain put a stop to +the proceedings and bundled the victim to a hospital where he promptly +died. It was considered among Chinese circles that the Captain had +killed him by ill-timed interference! + +Everywhere we went, and wherever a small clump of trees or even large +brush offered space, hung the carcasses of coyotes, wildcats, and lynx. +Some were quite new, while others had completely mummified in the dry +air of these interior plains. These were the trophies of the +professional "varmint killer," a man hired by the month. Of course it +would be only too easy for such an official to loaf on his job, so this +one had adopted the unique method of proving his activity. Everywhere +the Captain rode he could see that his man had been busy. + +All this time we had been working steadily away from the ranch. Long +zigzags and side trips carried us little forward, and a constant +leftward tendency swung us always around, until we had completed a half +circle of which the ranch itself was the centre. The irrigated fields +had given place to open country of a semi-desert character grown high +with patches of greasewood, sagebrush, thorn-bush; with wide patches of +scattered bunch grass; and stretches of alkali waste. Here, unexpectedly +to me, we stumbled on a strange but necessary industry incidental to so +large an estate. Our nostrils were assailed by a mighty stink. We came +around the corner of some high brush directly on a small two-story +affair with a factory smokestack. It was fenced in, and the fence was +covered with drying hides. I will spare you details, but the function of +the place was to make glue, soap, and the like of those cattle whose +term of life was marked by misfortune rather than by the butcher's +knife. The sole workman at this economical and useful occupation did not +seem to mind it. The Captain claimed he was as good as a buzzard at +locating the newly demised. + +Our ponies did not like the place either. They snorted violently, and +pricked their ears back and forth, and were especially relieved and +eager to obey when we turned their heads away. + +We rode on out into the desert, our ponies skipping expertly through +the low brush and gingerly over the alkali crust of the open spaces +beneath which might be holes. Jackrabbits by the thousand, literally, +hopped away in front of us, spreading in all directions as along the +sticks of a fan. They were not particularly afraid, so they loped easily +in high-bounding leaps, their ears erect. Many of them sat bolt upright, +looking at least two feet high. Occasionally we managed really to scare +one, and then it was a grand sight to see him open the throttle and scud +away, his ears flat back, in the classical and correct attitude of the +constantly recurring phrase of the ancients: "belly to earth he flew!" + +Jackrabbits are a great nuisance. The Captain had to enclose his +precious alfalfa fields with rabbit-proof wire to prevent utter +destruction. There was a good deal of fence, naturally, and occasionally +the inquiring rabbit would find a hole and crawl through. Then he was in +alfalfa, which is, as every Californian knows, much better than being in +clover. He ate at first greedily, then more daintily, wandering always +farther afield in search of dessert. Never, however, did he forget the +precise location of the opening by which he had entered, as was wise of +him. For now, behold, enter the dogs. Ordinarily these dogs, who were +also wise beasts, passed by the jackrabbit in his abundance with only +inhibited longing. Their experience had taught them that to chase +jackrabbits in the open with any motive ulterior to that of healthful +exercise and the joy of seeing the blame things run was as vain and as +puppish as chasing one's tail. But in the alfalfa fields was a chance, +for it must be remembered that such fields were surrounded by the +rabbit-proof wire in which but a single opening was known to the jack in +question. Therefore, with huge delight, the dogs gave chase. Mr. Rabbit +bolted back for his opening, his enemies fairly at his heels. Now comes +the curious part of the episode. The dogs knew perfectly well that if +the rabbit hit the hole in the fence he was safe for all of them; and +they had learned, further, that if the rabbit missed his plunge for +safety he would collide strongly with that tight-strung wire. When +within twenty feet or so of the fence they stopped short in expectation. +Probably three times out of five the game made his plunge in safety and +scudded away over the open plain outside. Then the dogs turned and +trotted philosophically back to the ranch. But the other two times the +rabbit would miss. At full speed he would hit the tight-strung mesh, +only to be hurled back by its resiliency fairly into the jaws of his +waiting pursuers. Though thousands may consider this another +nature-fake, I shall always have the comfort of thinking that the +Captain and the dogs know it for the truth. + +At times jackrabbits get some sort of a plague and die in great numbers. +Indeed some years at the ranch they seemed almost to have disappeared. +Their carcasses are destroyed almost immediately by the carrion +creatures, and their delicate bones, scattered by the ravens, buzzards, +and coyotes, soon disintegrate and pass into the soil. One does not find +many evidences of the destruction that has been at work; yet he will see +tens instead of myriads. I have been at the ranch when one was never out +of sight of jackrabbits, in droves, and again I have been there when +one would not see a half dozen in a morning's ride. They recover their +numbers fast enough, and the chances are that this "narrow-gauge mule" +will be always with us. The ranchman would like nothing better than to +bid him a last fond but genuine farewell; but I should certainly miss +him. + +The greasewood and thorn-bush grew in long, narrow patches. The ragweed +grew everywhere it pleased, affording grand cover for the quail. The +sagebrush occurred singly at spaced intervals, with tiny bare spaces +between across which the plumed little rascals scurried hurriedly. The +tumbleweed banked high wherever, in the mysterious dispensations of +Providence, a call for tumbleweed had made itself heard. + +The tumbleweed is a curious vegetable. It grows and flourishes amain, +and becomes great even as a sagebrush, and puts forth its blossoms and +seeds, and finally turns brown and brittle. Just about as you would +conclude it has reached a respectable old age and should settle down by +its chimney corner, it decides to go travelling. The first breath of +wind that comes along snaps it off close to the ground. The next turns +it over. And then, inasmuch as the tumbleweed is roughly globular in +shape, some three or four feet in diameter, and exceedingly light in +structure, over and over it rolls across the plain! If the wind happens +to increase, the whole flock migrates, bounding merrily along at a good +rate of speed. Nothing more terrifying to the unaccustomed equine can be +imagined than thirty or forty of these formidable-looking monsters +charging down upon him, bouncing several feet from the surface of the +earth. The experienced horse treats them with the contempt such +light-minded senility deserves, and wades through their phantom attack +indifferent. After the breeze has died the debauched old tumbleweeds are +everywhere to be seen, piled up against brush, choking the ditches, +filling the roads. Their beautiful spherical shapes have been frayed out +so that they look sodden and weary and done up. But their seeds have +been scattered abroad over the land. + +Wherever we found water, there we found ducks. The irrigating ditches +contained many bands of a dozen or fifteen; the overflow ponds had each +its little flock. The sky, too, was rarely empty of them; and the cries +of the snow geese and the calls of sandhill cranes were rarely still. I +remarked on this abundance. + +"Ducks!" replied the Captain, wonderingly. "Why, you haven't _begun_ to +see ducks! Come with me." + +Thereupon we turned sharp to the left. After ten minutes I made out from +a slight rise above the plain a black patch lying across the distance. +It seemed to cover a hundred acres or so, and to represent a sort of +growth we had not before encountered. + +"That," said the Captain, indicating, "is a pond covered with ducks." + +I did not believe it. We dropped below the line of sight and rode +steadily forward. + +All at once a mighty roar burst on our ears, like the rush of a heavy +train over a high trestle; and immediately the air ahead of us was +filled with ducks towering. They mounted, and wheeled, and circled back +or darted away. The sky became fairly obscured with them in the sense +that it seemed inconceivable that hither space could contain another +bird. Before the retina of the eye they swarmed exactly as a nearer +cloud of mosquitoes would appear. + +Hardly had the shock of this first stupendous rise of wildfowl spent +itself before another and larger flight roared up. It seemed that all +the ducks in the world must be a-wing; and yet, even after that, a third +body arose, its rush sounding like the abrupt, overwhelming noise of a +cataract in a sudden shift of wind. I should be afraid to guess how many +ducks had been on that lake. Its surface was literally covered, so that +nowhere did a glint of water show. I suppose it would be a simple matter +to compute within a few thousand how many ducks would occupy so much +space; but of what avail? Mere numbers would convey no impression of the +effect. Rather fill the cup of heaven with myriads thick as a swarm of +gnats against the sun. They swung and circled back and forth before +making up their minds to be off, crossing and recrossing the various +lines of flight. The first thrice-repeated roar of rising had given +place to the clear, sustained whistling of wings, low, penetrating, +inspiring. In the last flight had been a band of several hundred snow +geese; and against the whiteness of their plumage the sun shone. + +"That," observed the Captain with conviction, "is what you might call +ducks." + +By now it was the middle of the afternoon. We had not thought of lunch. +At the ranch lunch was either a major or a minor consideration; there +was no middle ground. If possible, we ate largely of many most delicious +things. If, on the other hand, we happened to be out somewhere at noon, +we cheerfully omitted lunch. So, when we returned to the ranch, the +Captain, after glancing at his watch and remarking that it was rather +late to eat, proposed that we try out two other ponies with the polo +mallets. + +This we proceeded to do. After an hour's pleasant exercise on the flat +in the "Enclosure," we jogged contentedly back into the corral. + +Around the corner of the barn sailed a distracted and utterly stampeded +hen. After her, yapping eagerly, came five dachshunds. + +Pause and consider the various elements of outrage the situation +presented. (A) Dachshunds are, as before quoted, a bunch of useless, +bandylegged, snip-nosed, waggle-eared----, anyway, and represent an +amiable good-natured weakness on the part of Mrs. Kitty. (B) Dachshunds +in general are _not_ supposed to run wild all over the place, but to +remain in their perfectly good, sufficiently large, entirely comfortable +corral, Pete and Pup excepted. (C) Chickens are valuable. (D) Confound +'em! This sort of a performance will be a bad example for Young Ben. +First thing we'll know, he'll be chasing chickens, too! + +The Captain dropped from his pony and joined the procession. The hen +could run just a trifle faster than the dachshunds; and the dachshunds +just a trifle faster than the Captain. I always claimed they circled the +barn three times, in the order named. The Captain insists with dignity +that I exaggerate three hundred per cent. At any rate, the hen finally +blundered, the dachshunds fell upon her--and the Captain swung his polo +mallet. + +Five typical "sickening thuds" were heard; five dachshunds literally +sailed through the air to fall in quivering heaps. The Captain, his +anger cooled, came back, shaking his head. + +"I wouldn't have killed those dogs for anything in the world!" he +muttered half to me, half to himself as we took the path to the house. +"I don't know what Mrs. Kitty will say to this! I certainly am sorry +about it!" and so on, at length. + +We turned the corner of the hedge. There in a row on the top step of the +verandah sat five dachshunds, their mouths open in a happy smile, six +inches of pink tongue hanging, their eyes half closed in good-humoured +appreciation. + +The Captain approached softly and looked them over with great care. He +felt of their ribs. He stared up at me incredulously. + +"Is this the same outfit?" he whispered. + +"It is," said I, "I know the blaze-face brute." + +"But--but----" + +"They played 'possum on you, Captain." + +The Captain arose and his wrath exploded. + +"You miserable hounds!" he roared. + +With a wise premonition they decamped. + +"I'm going to clean out the whole bandylegged tribe!" threatened the +Captain for the fiftieth time in the month. "I won't have them on the +ranch!" + +That was seven years ago. They are still there--they and numerous +descendants.[G] + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +DINNER + + +We washed up and came down stairs. All at once it proved to be drowsy +time. The dark had fallen and the lamps were lit. A new fire crackled in +the fireplace, anticipating the chill that was already descending. +Carrie played the piano in the other room. The General snorted over +something in his city paper. Mrs. Kitty had disappeared on household +business. Pete and Pup, having been mistaken one for the other by some +innocent bystander, gloomed and glowered under chairs. + +Both the Captain and myself made some sort of a pretence of reading the +papers. It was only a pretence. The grateful warmth, the soothing +crackling of the fire, the distant music--and, possibly, our state of +starvation--lulled us to a half doze. From this we were aroused by an +announcement of dinner. + +We had soup and various affairs of that sort; and there was brought on a +huge and baronial roast, from which the Captain promptly proceeded to +slice generous allowances. With it came vegetables. They were all cooked +in cream; not milk, but rich top cream thick enough to cut with a knife. +I began to see why all the house servants were plump. Also there were +jellies, and little fat hot rolls, and strange pickled products of the +soil. I was good and hungry; and I ate thereof. + +The plates were removed. I settled back with a sigh of repletion---- + +The door opened to admit the waitress bearing a huge platter on which +reposed, side by side, five ducks. That meant a whole one apiece! To my +feeble protest the family turned indignantly. + +"Of course you must eat your duck!" Mrs. Kitty settled the whole +question at last. + +So I ate my duck. It was a very good duck; as indeed it should have +been, for it was fattened on Egyptian corn, hung the exact number of +days, and cooked by Charley. It had a little spout of celery down which +I could pour the abundant juice from its inside; and it was flanked +right and left respectively by a piece of lemon liberally sprinkled with +red pepper and sundry crisp slabs of fried hominy. Every night of the +shooting season each member of the household had "his duck." Later I was +shown the screened room wherein hung the game, each dated by a little +tag. + +After I had made way with most of my duck, and other things, and had had +my coffee, and had lighted a cigar, I was entirely willing to sink back +to disgraceful ease. But the Captain suddenly developed an inexcusable +and fiendish energy. + +"No, you don't," said he. "You come with me and Redmond and get out the +decoys." + +"What for?" I temporized, feebly. + +"To keep the moths out of them, of course," replied the Captain with +fine sarcasm. "Do you mean to tell me that you can sit still and do +nothing after seeing all those ducks this afternoon? You're a fine +sportsman! Brace up!" + +"Let me finish this excellent cigar," I pleaded. "You gave it to me." + +To this he assented. Carrie went back to the piano. The lights were dim. +Mrs. Kitty went on finishing her crochet work or whatever it was. Nobody +said anything for a long time. The Captain was busy in the gun room with +one of the ranch foremen. + +But this could not last, and at length I was haled forth to work. + +The crisp, sharp air beneath the frosty stars, after the tepid air +within, awakened me like the shock of cold water. Redmond was awaiting +us with a lantern. By the horse block lay the mass of something +indeterminate which I presently saw to be sacks full of something +knobby. + +"I have six sacks of wooden decoys," said Redmond, "with weights all on +them." + +The Captain nodded and passed on. We made our way down past the grape +arbour, opened the high door leading into chickenville, and stopped at +the border of the little pond. On its surface floated a hundred or so +tame ducks of all descriptions. By means of clods of earth we woke them +up. They came ashore and waddled without objection to a little +inclosure. We followed them and shut the gate. + +One after another the Captain indicated those he wished to take with him +on the morrow. Redmond caught them, inserted them in gunny sacks, two to +the sack. They made no great objection to being caught. One or two +youngsters flopped and flapped about, and had to be chased into a +corner. In general, however, they accepted the situation +philosophically, and snuggled down contentedly in their sacks. + +"They are used to it," the Captain explained. "Most of these Rouen ducks +are old hands at the business; they know what to expect." + +He was very particular as to the colouring of the individuals he +selected. A single white feather was sufficient to cause the rejection +of a female; and even when the colour scheme was otherwise perfect, too +light a shade proved undesired. + +"I don't know just why it is," said he, "but the wild ducks are a lot +more particular about the live decoys than about the wooden. A wooden +decoy can be all knocked to pieces, faded and generally disreputable, +but it does well enough; but a live decoy must look the part absolutely. +That gives us six apiece; I think it will be enough." + +Redmond took charge of our capture. We left him with the lantern, +stowing away the decoys, live and inanimate, in the Invigorator. Within +fifteen minutes thereafter I was sleeping the sleep of the moderately +tired and the fully fed. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +DUCKS + + +The Captain rapped on my door. It was pitch dark, and the wind, which +had arisen during the night, was sweeping through the open windows, +blowing the light curtains about. Also it was very cold. + +"All right," I answered, took my resolution in my hands, and stepped +forth. + +Ten minutes later, by the light of a single candle, we were manipulating +the coffee-and-egg machine, and devouring the tall pile of +bread-and-butter sandwiches that had been left for us over night. Then, +stepping as softly as we could in our clumping rubber boots, our arms +burdened with guns and wraps, we stole into the outer darkness. + +It was almost black, but we could dimly make out the treetops whipped +about by the wind. Over by the stable we caught the intermittent flashes +of many lanterns where the teamsters were feeding their stock. Presently +a merry and vigorous _rattle_--_rattle_--_rattle_ arose and came nearer. +The Invigorator was ready and under way. + +We put on all the coats and sweaters, and climbed aboard. The Captain +spoke to his horses, and we were off. + +That morning I had my first experience of a phenomenon I have never +ceased admiring--and wondering at. I refer to the Captain's driving in +the dark. + +The night was absolutely black, so that I could hardly make out the +horses. In all the world were only two elements, the sky full of stars +and the mass of the earth. The value of this latter, as a means of +showing us where we were, was nullified by the fact that the skyline +consisted, not of recognizable and serviceable landmarks, but of the +distant mountains. We went a certain length of time, and bumped over a +certain number of things. Then the Captain pulled his team sharp around +to the left. Why he did so I could not tell you. We drove an hour over a +meandering course. + +"Hang tight," remarked the Captain. + +I did so. The front end of the Invigorator immediately fell away from +under me, so that if I had not been obeying orders by hanging tight I +should most certainly have plunged forward against the horses. We seemed +to slide and slither down a steep declivity, then hit water with a +splash, and began to flounder forward. The water rose high enough to +cover the floor of the Invigorator, causing the Captain to speculate on +whether Redmond had packed in the shells properly. Then the bow rose +with a mighty jerk and we scrambled out the other side. + +"That's the upper ford on the Slough," observed the Captain, calmly. + +Everywhere else along the Slough, as I subsequently discovered, the +banks fell off perpendicular, the water was deep, and the bottom soft. +The approach was down no fenced lane, but across the open, with no other +landmarks even in daylight than the break of low willows and +cottonwoods exactly like a hundred others. Ten minutes later the +Captain drew rein. + +"Here you are," said he, cautiously. "You can dump your stuff off right +here. I can't get through the fence with the team; but it's only a short +distance to carry." + +Accordingly, in entire faith, I descended and unloaded my three sacks of +wooden decoys and my three sacks of live ducks and my gun and shells. + +"I'll drive on to another hole," said the Captain. "Good luck!" + +"Would you mind," I suggested, meekly, "telling me in which direction +this mythical fence is situated; what kind of a fence it is; and where I +carry to when I get through it?" + +The Captain chuckled. + +"Why," he explained, "the fence is straight ahead of you; and it's +barbed wire; and as for where you're headed, you'll find the pond where +we saw all those ducks last night about a hundred yards or so west." + +Where we saw all those ducks! My blood increased its pace through my +veins. Now that I was afoot, I could begin to make out things in the +starlight--the silhouettes of bushes or brush, and even three or four +posts of the fence. + +The Invigorator rattled into the distance. I got my stuff the other side +of the wires, and, shouldering a sack, plodded away due west. + +But now I made out the pond gleaming; and by this and by the dim +grayness of the earth immediately about me knew that dawn was at last +under way. The night had not yet begun to withdraw, but its first +strength was going. Objects in the world about became, not visible, but +existent. By the time I had carried my last load the rather liberal +hundred yards to the shores of the pond the eastern sky had banished its +stars. + +My movements had, of course, alarmed the ducks. There were not many of +them, as I could judge by the whistling of their departing wings and by +the silvery furrows where they had left the water. It is curious how +strong the daylight must become before the eye can distinguish a duck in +flight. The comparative paucity of numbers, I reflected, was probably +due to the fact that the ducks used this pond merely as a loafing place +during the day. Therefore I should anticipate a good flight as soon as +feeding time should be over; especially as one end of the pond proved to +be fairly well sheltered from the high wind. + +At once I set to work to build me a blind. This I constructed of +tumbleweed and willow shoots, with a lucky sagebrush as a good basis. I +made it thick below and thin on top, so I could crouch hidden, and rise +easily to shoot. Also I made it hastily, working away with a +concentration that would prove very valuable could it be brought to a +useful line of work. There can nothing equal the busyness of a man +hastening to perfect his arrangements before a flight of ducks is due to +start. Every few moments I would look anxiously up to see how things +were going with the morning. The light was indubitably increasing. That +is to say, I could make out the whole width of the pond, for example, +although the farther banks were still in silhouette, and the sky was +almost free of stars. Also the perpendicular plane of the mountains to +the west, in some subtle manner, was beginning to break. It was not yet +daylight; but the dawn was here. + +I reached cautiously into one of the sacks and brought forth one of the +decoy ducks. Around his neck I buckled a little leather collar to a ring +in which had been attached a cord and weight. Then I cautiously waded +out and anchored him. + +He was delighted, and proceeded immediately to take a bath, ducking his +head under and out again, ruffling his wings, and wagging his absurd +little tail. Apparently the whole experience was a matter of course to +him; but he was willing to show pleasure that this phase of it was over. +I anchored out his five companions, and then proceeded to arrange the +wooden decoys artistically around the outskirts. By now it was quite +genuinely early daylight. Three times the overhead whistle of wings had +warned me to hurry; and twice small flocks of ducks had actually swung +down within range only to discover me at the last moment and tower away +again. When younger, I used, at such junctures, to rush for my gun. That +is a puppy stage, for by the time you get your gun those ducks are gone; +and by the time you have regained your abandoned task more ducks are in. +Therefore one early learns that when he goes out from his blind to pick +up ducks, or catch cripples, or arrange decoys, he would better do so, +paying no attention whatever to the game that will immediately appear. +So now the whistle of wings merely caused me to work the faster. At +length I was able to wade ashore and sink into my blind. + +Immediately, as usual, the flights ceased for the time being. I had +nothing to do but sit tight and wait. + +This was no unpleasant task. The mountains to the west had become +lucent, and glowed pink in the dawn; those to the east looked like +silhouettes of very thin slate-coloured cardboard stuck up on edge, +across which a pearl wash had been laid. The flatter world of the plains +all about me lay half revealed in an unearthly gray light. The wind +swooped and tore away at the brush, sending its fan-shaped cat's-paws +across the surface of the pond. My ducks, having finished their +ablutions, now gave a leisurely attention to smoothing out their plumes +ruffled by the night in the gunnysack. They ran each feather separately +through their bills, preening and smoothing. All the time they conversed +together in low tones of voice. Whenever one made a rather clever +remark, or smoothed to glossiness a particularly rumpled feather, he +wagged his short tail vigorously from side to side in satisfaction. + +Suddenly the one farthest out in the pond stilled to attention and +craned forward his neck. + +"_Mark_!" quoth he, loudly, and then again: "_Mark_! +_quok_--_quok_--_quok_!" + +The other five looked in the same direction, and then they, too, lifted +up their voices. Cautiously I turned my head. Low against the growing +splendour of the sunrise, wings rigidly set, came a flock of mallards. +My ducks fairly stood up on their tails the better to hurl invitations +and inducements at their wild brethren. The chorus praising this +particular spot was vociferous and unanimous, I wonder what the mallards +thought of the other fifty or sixty in my flock, the wooden ones, that +sat placidly aloof. Did they consider these remarkably exclusive; or did +they perhaps look upon the live ones as the "boosters" committee for +this particular piece of duck real estate? At any rate, they dropped in +without the slightest hesitation, which shows the value of live decoys. +The mallard is ordinarily a wily bird and circles your pond a number of +times before deciding to come in to wooden decoys. At the proper moment +I got to my feet, and, by good fortune, knocked down two fat +green-heads. + +They fell with a splash right among my ducks. Did the latter exhibit +alarm over either the double concussion of the gun or this fall of +defunct game from above? Not at all! they were tickled to death. Each +swam vigorously around and around at the limit of his tether, ruffling +his plumage and waggling his tail with the utmost vigour. + +"Well, I rather think we fooled that bunch!" said they, one to another. +"Did you ever see an easier lot? Came right down without a look! If the +Captain had been here he'd have killed a half dozen of the chumps before +they got out of range!" and so on. For your experienced decoy always +seems to enjoy the game hugely, and to enter into it with much +enthusiasm and intelligence. And all the while the flock of wooden +decoys headed unanimously up wind, and bobbed in the wavelets; and the +sun went on gilding the mountains to the west. + +Next a flock of teal whirled down wind, stooped, and were gone like a +flash. I got in both barrels; and missed both. The dissatisfaction of +this was almost immediately mitigated by a fine smash at a flock of +sprig that went by overhead at extreme long range, but from which I +managed to bring down a fine drake. When the shot hit him he faltered, +then, still flying, left the ranks at an acute angle, sloping ever the +quicker downward, until he fell on a long slant, his wings set, his neck +still outstretched. I marked the direction as well as I could, and +immediately went in search of him. Fortunately he lay in the open, quite +dead. Looking back, I could see another good flock fairly hovering over +the decoys. + +The sun came up, and grew warm. The wind died. I took off my sweater. +Between flights I basked deliciously. The affair was outside of all +precedent and reason. A duck shooter ought to be out in a storm, a good +cold storm. He ought to break the scum ice when he puts out his decoys. +He ought to sit half frozen in a wintry blast, his fingers numb, his +nose blue, his body shivering. That sort of discomfort goes with duck +shooting. Yet here I was sitting out in a warm, summerlike day in my +shirt sleeves, waiting comfortably--and the ducks were coming in, too! + +After a time I heard the mighty rattle of the Invigorator, and the +Captain's voice shouting. Reluctantly I disentangled myself from my +blind and went over to see what all the row was about. + +"Had enough?" he demanded, cheerily. + +I saw that I was supposed to say yes; so I said it. The ducks were still +coming in fast. You see, I was not yet free from the traditions to which +I had been brought up. Back in Michigan, when a man went for a day's +shoot, he stayed with it all day. It was serious business. I was not +yet accustomed to being so close to the game that the casual expedition +was after all the most fun. + +So I pulled up my rubber boots, and waded out, gathering in the game. To +my immense surprise I found that I had thirty-seven ducks down. It had +not occurred to me that I had shot half that number, which is perhaps +commentary on how fast ducks had been coming in. It was then only about +eight o'clock. After gathering them in, next we performed the slow and +very moist task of lifting the wooden decoys and winding their anchor +cords around their placid necks. Lastly we gathered in the live ducks. +They came, towed at the end of their tethers, with manifest reluctance; +hanging back at their strings, flapping their wings, and hissing at us +indignantly. I do not think they were frightened, for once we had our +hands on them, they resumed their dignified calm. Only they enjoyed the +fun outside; and they did not fancy the bags inside; a choice eminently +creditable to their sense. + +So back we drove to the ranch. The Captain, too, had had good shooting. +Redmond appeared with an immense open hamper into which he dumped the +birds two by two, keeping tally in a loud voice. Redmond thoroughly +enjoyed all the small details. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +UNCLE JIM + + +Each morning, while we still sat at breakfast, Uncle Jim drove up from +the General's in his two-wheeled cart to see if there might be anything +doing. Uncle Jim was a solidly built elderly man, with the brown +complexion and the quizzical, good-humoured eye of the habitual +sportsman. He wore invariably an old shooting coat and a cap that had +seen younger, but perhaps not better, days. His vehicle was a battered +but serviceable two-wheeled cart drawn by a placid though adequate +horse. His weapon for all purposes was a rather ponderous twelve-gauge. + +If we projected some sporting expedition Uncle Jim was our man; but if +there proved to be nothing in the wind, he disappeared promptly. He +conducted various trapping ventures for "varmints," at which he seemed +to have moderate success, for he often brought in a wildcat or coyote. +In fact, he maintained one of the former in a cage, to what end nobody +knew, for it was a harsh and unsociable character. Uncle Jim began to +show signs of life about July fifteenth when the dove season opened; he +came into his own from the middle of October until the first of +February, during which period one can shoot both ducks and quail; he +died down to the bare earth when the game season was over, and only sent +up a few green shoots of interest in the matter of supplying his +wildcat with that innumerable agricultural pest, the blackbird. + +Sometimes I accompanied Uncle Jim, occupying the other side of the +two-wheeled cart. We never had any definite object in view; we just went +forth for adventure. The old horse jogged along very steadily, +considering the fact that he was as likely to be put at cross country as +a road. We humped up side by side in sociable silence, spying keenly for +what we could see. A covey of quail disappearing in the brush caused us +to pull up. We hunted them leisurely for a half hour and gathered in a +dozen birds. Always we tried to sneak ducks, no matter how hopeless the +situation might seem. Once I went on one hand and my knees through three +inches of water for three hundred yards, stalking a flock of sprig +loafing in an irrigation puddle. There was absolutely no cover; I was in +plain sight; from a serious hunting standpoint the affair was quixotic, +not to say imbecile. If I had been out with the Captain we should +probably not have looked twice at those sprig. Nevertheless, as the +general atmosphere of Uncle Jim's expeditions was always one of +adventure and forlorn hopes and try-it-anyway, I tried it on. Uncle Jim +sat in the cart and chuckled. Every moment I expected the flock to take +wing, but they lingered. Finally, when still sixty yards distant, the +leaders rose. I cut loose with both barrels for general results. To my +vast surprise three came down, one dead, the other two wing-tipped. The +two latter led me a merry chase, wherein I managed to splatter the rest +of myself. Then I returned in triumph to the cart. The forlorn hope had +planted its banner on the walls of achievement. Uncle Jim laughed at me +for my idiocy in crawling through water after such a fool chance. I +laughed at Uncle Jim because I had three ducks. We drove on, and the +warm sun dried me off. + +In this manner we made some astonishing bags; astonishing not by their +size, but by the manner of their accomplishment. + +We were entirely open minded. Anything that came along interested us. We +investigated all the holes in all the trees, in hopes of 'coons or honey +or something or other. We drove gloriously through every patch of brush. +Sometimes an unseen hummock would all but upset us; so we had to +scramble hastily to windward to restore our equilibrium. + +The country was gridironed with irrigation ditches. They were eight to +ten feet deep, twenty or thirty feet wide, and with elevated, +precipitous banks. One could cross them almost anywhere--except when +they were brimful, of course. The banks were so steep that, once +started, the vehicle had to go, but so short that it must soon reach +bottom. On the other side the horse could attain the top by a rush; +after which, having gained at least a front footing over the bank, he +could draw the light vehicle by dead weight the rest of the distance. +Naturally, the driver had to take the course at exactly right angles, or +he capsized ingloriously. + +One day Uncle Jim and I started to cross one of these ditches that had +long been permitted to remain dry. Its bottom was covered by weeds six +inches high, and looked to be about six feet down. We committed +ourselves to the slope. Then, when too late to reconsider, we discovered +that the apparent six-inch growth of weeds was in reality one of four +or five feet. The horse discovered it at the same time. With true +presence of mind, he immediately determined that it was up to him to +leap that ditch. Only the fact that he was hitched to the cart prevented +him from doing so; but he made a praiseworthy effort. + +The jerk threw me backward, and had I not grabbed Uncle Jim I would most +certainly have fallen out behind. As for Uncle Jim, he would most +certainly have fallen out behind, too, if he had not clung like grim +death to the reins. And as for the horse, alarmed by the check and +consequent scramble, he just plain bolted, fortunately straight ahead. +We hit the opposite bank with a crash, sailed over it, and headed across +country. + +Consider us as we went. Feet in air, I was poised on the end of my +backbone in a state of exact equilibrium. A touch would tumble me out +behind; an extra ounce would tip me safely into the cart; my only +salvation was my hold on Uncle Jim. I could not apply that extra ounce +for the simple reason that Uncle Jim also, feet in air, was poised +exactly on the end of his backbone. If the reins slackened an inch, over +he went; if he could manage to pull up the least bit in the world, in he +came! So we tore across country for several hundred yards, unable to +recover and most decidedly unwilling to fall off on the back of our +heads. It must have been a grand sight; and it seemed to endure an hour. +Finally, imperceptibly we overcame the opposing forces. We were saved! + +Uncle Jim cursed out "Henry" with great vigour. Henry was the mare we +drove. Uncle Jim, in his naming of animals, always showed a stern +disregard for the female sex. Then, as usual, we looked about to see +what we could see. + +Over to the left grew a small white oak. About ten or twelve feet from +the ground was a hole. That was enough; we drove over to investigate +that hole. It was not an easy matter, for we were too lazy to climb the +tree unless we had to. Finally we drove close enough so that, by +standing on extreme tip-toe atop the seat of the cart, I could get a +sort of sidewise, one-eyed squint at that hole. + +"If," I warned Uncle Jim, "Henry leaves me suspended in mid-air I'll +bash her fool head in!" + +"No, you won't," chuckled Uncle Jim, "it's too far home." + +It was a very dark hole, and for a moment I could see nothing. Then, all +at once, I made out two dull balls of fire glowing steadily out of the +blackness. That was as long as I could stand stretching out my entire +anatomy to look down any hole. + +On hearing my report, Uncle Jim phlegmatically thrust the flexible whip +down the hole. + +"'Coon," he pronounced, after listening to the resultant remarks from +within. + +And then the same bright idea struck us both. + +"Mrs. Kitty here makes good with those angleworms," Uncle Jim voiced the +inspiration. + +We blocked up the hole securely; and made rapid time back to the ranch. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +THE MEDIUM-SIZE GAME + + +Against many attacks and accusations of uselessness cast at her +dachshunds, Mrs. Kitty had always stoutly opposed the legend of +"medium-size game." The dachshunds may look like bologna sausages on +legs, ran the gist of her argument; and they may progress like rather +lively measuring worms; and the usefulness of their structure may seem +to limit itself to a facility for getting under furniture without +stooping, _but_--Mrs. Kitty's eloquence always ended by convincing +herself, and she became very serious--but that is not the dogs' fault. +Rather it is the fault of their environment to which they have been +transplanted. Back in their own native vaterland they were always used +for medium-sized game. And what is more they are _good_ at it! Come +here, Pete, they shan't abuse you! + +Coyotes and bobcats are medium-size game, someone ventured to point out. + +Not at all, medium-size game should live in holes, like badgers. +Dachshunds are evidently built for holes. They are long and low, and +they have spatulate feet for digging, and their bandy legs enable them +to throw the dirt out behind them. Their long, sharp noses are like +tweezers to seize upon the medium-size game. In short, by much +repetition, a legend had grown up around the dachshunds, a legend of +fierceness inhibited only by circumstances, of pathetic deprivation of +the sports of their native land. If only we could have a badger, we +could almost hear them say to each other in dog language, a strong, +morose, savage badger! Alas! we are wasting our days in idleness, our +talents rust from disuse! Finally, Uncle Jim remained the only frankly +skeptical member. + +At this time there visited the ranch two keen sportsmen whom we shall +call Charley and Tommy; as also several girls. We burst on the assembled +multitude with our news. Immediately a council of war was called. After +the praetors and tribunes of the people had uttered their opinions, +Uncle Jim arose and spoke as follows: + +"Here is your chance to make good," said he, addressing Mrs. Kitty. +"Those badger hounds of yours, according to you, have just been fretting +for medium-size game. Well, here's some. Bring out the whole flock, and +let's see them get busy." + +The proposition was received with a shout of rapture Uncle Jim smiled +grimly. + +"Well, they'll do it!" cried Mrs. Kitty, with spirit. + +Preparations were immediately under way. In half an hour the army +debouched from the ranch and strung out single file across the plain. + +First came Uncle Jim and myself in the two-wheeled cart as scouts and +guides. + +Followed the General in his surrey. The surrey had originally been +intended for idle dalliance along country lanes. In the days of its +glory it had been upholstered right merrily, and around its flat top had +dangled a blithesome fringe. Both the upholstery and fringe were still +somewhat there. Of the glory that was past no other reminder had +persisted. The General sat squarely in the middle of the front seat, +very large, erect, and imposing, driving with a fine military disregard +of hummocks or the laws of equilibrium. In or near the back seat hovered +a tiny Japanese boy to whom the General occasionally issued short, +sharp, military comments or commands. + +Then came Mrs. Kitty and the ponies with Carrie beside her. Immediately +astern of the pony cart followed a three-seated carry-all with assorted +guests. This was flanked by the Captain and Charley as outriders. The +rear was closed by the Invigorator rilled with dachshunds. Their pointed +noses poked busily through the slats of the cage, and sniffed up over +the edge of the wagon box. + +The rear, did I say? I had forgotten Mithradates Antikamia Briggs. The +latter polysyllabic person was a despised, apologetic, rangy, +black-and-white mongrel hound said to have belonged somewhere to a man +named Briggs. I think the rest of his name was intended as an insult. +Ordinarily Mithradates hung around the men's quarters where he was +liked. Never had he dared seek either solace or sympathy at the doors of +the great house; and never, never had he remotely dreamed of following +any of the numerous hunting expeditions. That would have been +lese-majesty, high treason, sublime impudence, and intolerable nuisance +to be punished by banishment or death. Mithradates realized this +perfectly; and never did he presume to raise his eyes to such high and +shining affairs. + +But to-day he followed. Nobody was subsequently able to explain why +Mithradates Antikamia should on this one occasion so have plucked up +heart. My private opinion is that he saw the dachshunds being taken, +and, in his uncultivated manner, communed with himself as follows: + +"Well, will you gaze on that! I don't pretend to be in the same class +with Old Ben or Young Ben, or even of the fox terriers; but if I'm not +more of a dog than that lot of splay-footed freaks, I'll go bite myself! +If they're _that_ hard up for dogs, I'll be cornswizzled if I don't go +myself!" + +Which he did. We did not want him; this was distinctly the dachshunds' +party, and we did not care to have any one messing in. The Captain tried +to drive him back. Mithradates Antikamia would not go. The Captain +dismounted and tried force. Mithradates shut both eyes, crouched to the +ground, and immediately weighed a half ton. When punished he rolled over +and held all four paws in the air. The minute the Captain turned his +back, after stern admonitions to "go home!" and "down, charge!" and the +like, Mithradates crawled slowly forward to the waiting line, ducking +his head, wrinkling his upper lips ingratiatingly, and sneezing in the +most apologetic tones. Finally we gave it up. + +"But," we "saved our face," "you'll have to behave when we get there!" + +So, as has been said, Mithradates Antikamia Briggs brought up the rear. + +Arrived at the tree the whole procession drew into a half circle. We +unblocked the opening, and the Invigorator was driven to a spot beneath +it so each person could take his turn at standing on the seat and +peering down the hole. The eyes still glowed like balls of fire. + +Next the dachshunds were lifted up one by one and given a chance to +smell at the game. This was to make them keen. Held up by means of a +hand held either side their chests, they curled up their hind legs and +tails and seemed to endure. Mrs. Kitty explained that they had never +been so far off the ground in their lives, and so were naturally +preoccupied by the new sensation. This sounded reasonable, so we placed +them on the ground. There they sat in a circle looking up at our +performances, a solemn and mild interest expressing itself in their +lugubrious countenances. A dachshund has absolutely no sense of humour +or lightness of spirits. He never cavorts. + +By sounding carefully with a carriage whip we determined the depth of +the hole, and proceeded to cut through to the bottom. This was quite a +job, for the oak was tough, and the position difficult. Tommy had +ascended the tree, and proclaimed loudly the first signs of daylight as +the axe bit through. Mine happened to be the axe work; so when I had +finished a neat little orifice, I swung up beside Tommy, and the +Invigorator drove out of the way. + +My elevated position was a good one; and as Tommy was peering eagerly +down the hole, I had nothing to do but survey the scene. + +The rigs were drawn up in a semi-circle twenty yards away. Next the +horses' heads stood the drivers of the various vehicles, anxious to miss +none of the fun. The dachshunds sat on their haunches, looking up, and +probably wondering why their friend, Tommy, insisted on roosting up a +tree. The Captain and Charley were immediately below, engaged in an +earnest effort to poke the 'coon into ascending the hole. Tommy was +reporting the result of these efforts from above. The General, his feet +firmly planted, had unlimbered a huge ten-bore shotgun, so as to be +ready for anything. Uncle Jim stood by, smoking his pipe. Mithradates +Antikamia Briggs sat sadly apart. + +The poking efforts accomplished little. Occasionally the 'coon made a +little dash or scramble, but never went far. There was a great deal of +talking, shouting, and advice. + +At last Uncle Jim, knocking the ashes from his pipe, moved into action. +He plucked a double handful of the tall, dry grass, touched a match to +it, and thrust it in the nick. + +Without the slightest hesitation the 'coon shot out at the top! + +Now just at that moment Tommy happened to be leaning over for a right +_good_ look down the hole. He received thirty pounds or so of agitated +'coon square in the chest. Thereupon he fell out of the tree +incontinently, with the 'coon on top of him. + +We caught our breath in horror. Although we could plainly see that Tommy +was in no degree injured by his short fall, yet we all realized that it +was going to be serious to be mixed up with a raging, snarling beast +fight of twenty-two members. When the dachshunds should pounce on their +natural prey, the medium-size game, poor Tommy would be at the bottom of +the heap. Several even started forward to restrain the dogs, but stopped +as they realized the impossibilities. + +Tommy and the 'coon hit with a thump. The dachshunds took one horrified +look; then with the precision of a drilled man[oe]uvre they unanimously +turned tail and plunged into the tall grass. From my elevated perch I +could see it waving agitatedly as they made their way through it in the +direction of the distant ranch. + +For a moment there was astounded silence. Then there arose a shriek of +delight. The Captain rolled over and over and clutched handfuls of turf +in his joy. The General roared great salvos of laughter. Tommy, still +seated where he had fallen, leaned weakly against the tree, the tears +coursing down his cheeks. The rest of the populace lifted up their +voices and howled. Even Uncle Jim, who rarely laughed aloud, although +his eyes always smiled, emitted great Ho! ho!'s. Only Mrs. Kitty, dumb +with indignation, stared speechless after that wriggling mess of +fugitives. + +The occasion was too marvellous. We enjoyed it to the full. Whenever the +rapture sank somewhat, someone would gasp out a half-remembered bit of +Mrs. Kitty's former defences. + +"Their long, sharp noses are like tweezers to seize the game!" declaimed +Charley, weakly. [Spasm by the audience.] + +"Their spatulate feet are meant for digging," the Captain took up the +tale. [Another spasm.] + +"Their bandy legs enabled them to throw the dirt out behind them--as +they ran," suggested Tommy. + +"If _only_ they could have had a badger they'd have beaten all records!" +we chorused. + +And then finally we wiped our eyes and remembered that there used to be +a 'coon. At the same time we became conscious of a most unholy row in +the offing: the voice of Mithradates Antikamia. + +"If you people want your 'coon," he was remarking in a staccato and +exasperated voice, "you'd better come and lend a hand. _I_ can't manage +him alone! The blame thing has bitten me in three places already. Of +course, I like to see people have a good time, and I hope you won't +curtail your enjoyment on my account; but if you've had _quite_ enough +of those made-in-Germany imitations, perhaps you'll just stroll over and +see what one good American-built DOG can do!" + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +IN SEARCH OF ADVENTURE + + +Uncle Jim had friends everywhere. Continually we were pulling up by one +of the tiny two-roomed shacks wherein dwelt the small settlers. The +houses were always of new boards, unpainted, perched on four-by-fours, +in the middle of bare ground, perhaps surrounded by young poplars or +cottonwoods, but more likely fully exposed to the sun. A trifling open +shed protected a battered buggy on the thills and wheels of which +perched numerous chickens. A rough corral and windmill completed the +arrangements. Near the house was usually a small patch of alfalfa. +Farther out the owner was engaged in the strenuous occupation of +brushing and breaking a virgin country. + +To greet us rushed forth a half-dozen mongrel dogs, and appeared a swarm +of children, followed by the woman of the place. Uncle Jim knew them all +by name, including even the dogs. He carefully wound the reins around +the whip, leaned forward comfortably, and talked. Henry dozed; and I +listened with interest. Uncle Jim had the natural gift of popularity. By +either instinct or a wide experience he knew just what problems and +triumphs, disappointments and perplexities these people were +encountering; and he plunged promptly into the discussion of them. Also, +I was never able to make out whether Uncle Jim was a conscious or +unconscious diplomat; but certainly he knew how judiciously to make use +of the subtle principle, so well illustrated by Moliere, that it pleases +people to confer small favours. Thus occasionally he gravely "borrowed" +a trifle of axle grease, which we immediately applied, or a cup of milk, +or a piece of string to mend something. When finally our leisurely +roadside call was at an end, we rolled away from unanimously hearty +signals of farewell. + +In accordance with our settled feeling of taking things as they came, +and trying for everything, we blundered into varied experiences, none of +which arrange themselves in recollection with any pretence of logical +order. Perhaps it might not be a bad idea to copy our method, to set +forth and see where we land. + +One of the most amusing happened when we were out with my younger, but +not smaller, brother. This youth was at that time about eighteen years +old, and six feet two in height. His age _plus_ his stature _equalled_ a +certain lankiness. As we drove peacefully along the highway we observed +in the adjacent field a coyote. The animal was some three or four +hundred yards away, lying down, his head between his paws, for all the +world like a collie dog. Immediately the lad was all excitement. We +pointed out the well-known facts that the coyote is no fool and is +difficult to stalk at best; that while he is apparently tame as long as +the wagon keeps moving, he decamps when convinced that his existence is +receiving undue attention; that in the present instance the short grass +would not conceal a snake; and that, finally, a 16-gauge gun loaded with +number-six shot was not an encouraging coyote weapon. He brushed them +aside as mere details. So we let him out. + +He dropped into the grass and commenced his stalk. This he accomplished +on his elbows and knees. A short review of the possibilities will +convince you that the sight was unique. Although the boy's head and +shoulders were thus admirably close to the ground, there followed an +extremely abrupt apex. Add the fact that the canvas shooting coat soon +fell forward over his shoulders. + +The coyote at first paid no attention. As this strange object worked +nearer, he raised his head to take a look. Then he sat up on his +haunches to take a better look. At this point we expected him to lope +away instead of which he trotted forward a few feet and stopped, his +ears pricked forward. There he sat, his shrewd brain alive with +conjecture until, at thirty-five yards, the kid emptied both barrels. +Thereupon he died, his curiosity as to what a movable brown pyramid +might be still unsatisfied. + +Uncle Jim, the kid, and I had great fun cruising for jackrabbits. Uncle +Jim sat in the middle and drove while the kid and I hung our feet over +the sides and constituted ourselves the port and starboard batteries. +Bumping and banging along at full speed over the uneven country, we +jumped the rabbits, and opened fire as they made off. Each had to stick +to his own side of the ship, of course. Uncle Jim's bird dog, his head +between our feet, his body under the seat, watched the proceedings, +whining. It looked like good fun to him, but it was forbidden. A +jackrabbit arrested in full flight by a charge of shot turns a very +spectacular somersault. The dog would stand about five rabbits. As the +sixth turned over, he executed a mad struggle, accomplished a flying +leap over the front wheel, was rolled over and over by the forward +momentum of the moving vehicle, scrambled to his feet, pounced on that +rabbit, and most everlastingly and savagely shook it up! Then Uncle Jim +descended and methodically and dispassionately licked the dog. + +Jackrabbits were good small-rifle game. They started away on a slow +lope, but generally stopped and sat up if not too seriously alarmed. A +whistle sometimes helped bring them to a stand. After a moment's +inspection they went away, rapidly. With a .22 automatic one could turn +loose at all sorts of ranges at all speeds. It was a good deal of fun, +too, sneaking about afoot through the low brush, making believe that the +sage was a jungle, the tiny pellets express bullets, the rabbits +magnified--I am sorry for the fellow who cannot have fun sometimes +"pretending!" In the brush, too, dwelt little cottontails, very good to +eat. The jackrabbit was a pest, but the cottontail was worth getting. We +caught sight of him first in the bare open spaces between the bushes, +whereupon he proceeded rapidly to cover. It was necessary to shoot +rather quickly. The inexperienced would be apt to run forward eagerly, +hoping to catch a glimpse of the cottontail on the other side; but +always it would be in vain. That would be owing to the fact that the +little rabbit has a trick of apparently running through a brush at full +speed, but in reality of stopping abruptly and squatting at the roots. +Often it is possible to get a shot by scrutinizing carefully the last +place he was seen. He can stop as suddenly as a cow pony. + +Often and often, like good strategic generals, we were induced by +circumstances to change our plans or our method of attack at the last +moment. On several occasions, while shooting in the fields of Egyptian +corn, I have killed a quail with my right barrel and a duck with my +left! Continually one was crouching in hopes, when some unexpected flock +stooped toward him as he walked across country. These hasty concealments +were in general quite futile, for it is a fairly accurate generalization +that, in the open, game will see you before you see it. This is not +always true. I have on several occasions stood stock still in the open +plain until a low-flying mallard came within easy range. Invariably the +bird was flying toward the setting sun, so I do not doubt his vision was +more or less blinded. + +The most ridiculous effort of this sort was put into execution by the +Captain and myself. + +Be it premised that while, in the season, the wildfowl myriads were +always present, it by no means followed that the sportsman was always +sure of a bag. The ducks followed the irrigation water. One week they +might be here in countless hordes; the next week might see only a few +coots and hell divers left, while the game was reported twenty miles +away. Furthermore, although fair shooting--of the pleasantest sort, in +my opinion--was always to be had by jumping small bands and singles from +the "holes" and ditches, the big flocks were quite apt to feed and loaf +in the wide spaces discouragingly free of cover. Irrigation was done on +a large scale. A section of land might be submerged from three inches to +a foot in depth. In the middle of this temporary pond and a half dozen +others like it fed the huge bands of ducks. What could you do? There +was no cover by which to sneak them. You might build a blind, but before +the ducks could get used to its strange presence in a flat and +featureless landscape the water would be withdrawn from that piece of +land. Only occasionally, when a high wind drove them from the open, or +when the irrigation water happened to be turned in to a brushy country, +did the sportsman get a chance at the great swarms. Since a man could +get all the ducks he could reasonably require, there was no real reason +why he should look with longing on these inaccessible packs, but we all +did. It was not that we wanted more ducks; for we held strictly within +limits, but we wanted to get in the thick of it. + +On the occasion of which I started to tell, the Captain and I were +returning from somewhere. Near the Lakeside ranch we came across a big +tract of land overflowed by not deeper than two or three inches of +water. The ducks were everywhere on it. They sat around fat and solemn +in flocks; they swirled and stooped and lit and rose again; they fed +busily; they streamed in from all points of the compass, cleaving the +air with a whistling of wings. + +Cover there was none. It was exactly like a big, flat cow pasture +without any fences. We pulled up the Invigorator and eyed the scene with +speculative eyes. Finally, we did as follows: + +Into the middle of that field waded we. The ducks, of course, arose with +a roar, circled once out of range, and departed. We knew that in less +than a minute the boldest would return to see if, perchance, we might +have been mere passers-by. Finding us still there, they would, in the +natural course of events, circle once or twice and then depart for +good. + +Now we had noticed this: ducks will approach to within two or three +hundred yards of a man standing upright, but they will come within one +hundred--or almost in range--if he squats and holds quite still. This, +we figured, is because he is that much more difficult to recognize as a +man, even though he is in plain sight. We had to remain in plain sight; +but could we not make ourselves more difficult to recognize? + +After pulling up our rubber boots carefully, we knelt in the two inches +of water, placed our chests across two wooden shell boxes we had brought +for the purpose, ducked our heads, and waited. After a few moments +overhead came the peculiar swift whistle of wings. We waited, rigid. +When that whistle sounded very loud indeed, we jerked ourselves upright +and looked up. Immediately above us, already towering frantically, was a +flock of sprig. They were out of range, but we were convinced that this +was only because we had mistakenly looked up too soon. + +It was fascinating work, for we had to depend entirely on the sense of +hearing. The moment we stirred in the slightest degree away went the +ducks. As it took an appreciable time to rise to our feet, locate the +flock, and get into action, we had to guess very accurately. We fired a +great many times, and killed a very few; but each duck was an +achievement. + +Though the bag could not be guaranteed, the sight of ducks could. When +my brother went with me to the ranch, the duck shooting was very poor. +This was owing to the fact that sudden melting of the snows in the +Sierras had overflowed an immense tract of country to form a lake eight +or nine miles across. On this lake the ducks were safe, and thither they +resorted in vast numbers. As a consequence, the customary resorts were +deserted. We could see the ducks, and that was about all. Realizing the +hopelessness of the situation we had been confining ourselves so +strictly to quail that my brother had begun to be a little sceptical of +our wildfowl tales. Therefore, one day, I took him out and showed him +ducks. + +They were loafing in an angle of the lake formed by the banks of two +submerged irrigating ditches, so we were enabled to measure them +accurately. After they had flown we paced off their bulk. They had +occupied a space on the bank and in the water three hundred yards long +by fifty yards wide; and they were packed in there just about as thick +as ducks could crowd together. An able statistician might figure out how +many there were. At any rate, my brother agreed that he had seen some +ducks. + +There was one thing about Uncle Jim's expeditions: they were cast in no +rigid lines. Their direction, scope, or purpose could be changed at the +last moment should circumstances warrant. + +One day Uncle Jim came after me afoot, with the quiet assurance that he +knew where there were "some ducks." + +"Tommy is down there now," said he, "in a blind. We'll make a couple +more blinds across the pond, and in that way one or the other of us is +sure to get a shot at everything that comes in. And the way they're +coming in is scand'lous!" + +Therefore I filled my pockets with duck shells, seized my close-choked +12-bore, and followed Uncle Jim. We walked across three fields. + +"Those ducks are acting mighty queer," proffered Uncle Jim in puzzled +tones. + +We stopped a moment to watch. Flock after flock stooped toward the +little pond, setting their wings and dropping with the extraordinary +confidence wildfowl sometimes exhibit. At a certain point, however, and +while still at a good elevation, they towered swiftly and excitedly. + +"Doesn't seem like they'd act so scared even if Tommy wasn't well hid," +puzzled Uncle Jim. + +We proceeded cautiously, keeping out of sight behind some greasewood, +until we could see the surface of the pond. There were Tommy's decoys, +and there was Tommy's blind. We could not see but that it was a +well-made blind. Even as we looked another flock of sprig sailed down +wind, stopped short at a good two hundred yards, towered with every +appearance of lively dismay, and departed. Tommy's head came above the +blind, gazing after them. + +"They couldn't act worse if Tommy was out waving his hat at 'em," said +Uncle Jim. + +We climbed a fence. This brought us to a slight elevation, but +sufficient to enable us to see abroad over the flat landscape. + +Immediately beyond Tommy was a long, low irrigation check grown with +soft green sod. On the farther slope thereof were the girls. They had +brought magazines and fancy work, and evidently intended to spend the +afternoon in the open, enjoying the fresh air and the glad sunshine and +the cheerful voices of God's creatures. They were, of course, quite +unconscious of Tommy's sporting venture not a hundred feet away. Their +parasols were green, red, blue, and other explosive tints. + +Uncle Jim and I sat for a few moments on the top of that fence enjoying +the view. Then we climbed softly down and went away. We decided tacitly +not to shoot ducks. The nature of the expedition immediately changed. We +spent the rest of the afternoon on quail. To be sure number-five shot in +a close-choked twelve is not an ideal load for the purpose; but by care +in letting our birds get far enough away we managed to have a very good +afternoon's sport. And whenever we would make a bad miss we had ready +consolation: the thought of Tommy waiting and wondering and puzzling in +his blind. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +THE GRAND TOUR + + +Almost always our sporting expeditions were of this casual character, +sandwiched in among other occupations. Guns were handy, as was the game. +To seize the one and pursue the other on the whim of the moment was the +normal and usual thing. Thus one day Mrs. Kitty drove me over to look at +a horse I was thinking of buying. On the way home, in a corner of brush, +I hopped out and bagged twelve quail; and a little farther on, by a +lucky sneak, I managed to gather in five ducks from an irrigation pond. +On another occasion, having a spare hour before lunch, I started out +afoot from the ranch house at five minutes past eleven, found my quail +within a quarter mile, had luck in scattering them, secured my limit of +twenty-five, and was back at the house at twelve twenty-five! Before +this I had been to drive with Mrs. Kitty; and after lunch we drove +twelve miles to call on a neighbour. Although I had enjoyed a full day's +quail shoot, it had been, as it were, merely an interpolation. + +Occasionally, however, it was elected to make a grand and formal raid on +the game. This could be either a get-up-early-in-the-morning session in +the blinds, a formal quail hunt, or the Grand Tour. + +To take the Grand Tour we got out the Liver Invigorator and as many +saddle horses as might be needed to accommodate the shooters. On +reaching the hog field it was proper to disembark, and to line up for an +advance on the corner of the irrigation ditch where I had so +unexpectedly jumped the ducks my first morning on the ranch. In extended +order we approached. If ducks were there, they got a great hammering. +Everybody shot joyously--whether in sure range or not, it must be +confessed. The birds went into a common bag, for it would be impossible +to say who had killed what. After congratulations and reproaches, both +of which might be looked upon as sacrifices to the great god Josh, we +swung to the left and tramped a half mile to the artesian well. The +Invigorator and saddle horses followed at a respectful distance. When we +had investigated the chances at the well, we climbed aboard again and +rattlety-banged across country to the Slough. + +The Slough comprised a wide and varied country. In proper application it +was a little winding ravine sunk eight or ten feet below the flat plain, +and filled with water. This water had been grown thick with trees, but +occasionally, for some reason to me unknown, the growth gave space for +tiny open ponds or channels. These were further screened by occasional +willows or greasewood growing on the banks. They were famous loafing +places for mallards. + +It was great fun to slip from bend to bend of the Slough, peering +keenly, moving softly, trying to spy through the thick growth to a +glimpse of the clear water. The ducks were very wary. It was necessary +to know the exact location of each piece of open water, its +surroundings, and how best it was to be approached. Only too often, peer +as cautiously as we might, the wily old mallards would catch a glimpse +of some slight motion. At once they would begin to swim back and forth +uneasily. Always then we would withdraw cautiously, hoping against hope +that suspicion would die. It never did. Our stalk would disclose to us +only a troubled surface of water on which floated lightly a half dozen +feathers. + +But when things went right we had a beautiful shot. The ducks towered +straight up, trying to get above the level of the brush, affording a +shot at twenty-five or thirty yards' range. We always tried to avoid +shooting at the same bird, but did not always succeed. Old Ben delighted +in this work, for now he had a chance to plunge in after the fallen. As +a matter of fact, it would have been quite useless to shoot ducks in +these circumstances had we not possessed a good retriever like Old Ben. + +The Slough proper was about two miles long, and had probably eight or +ten "holes" in which ducks might be expected. The region of the Slough +was, however, a different matter. + +It was a fascinating stretch of country, partly marshy, partly dry, but +all of it overgrown with tall and rustling tules. These reeds were +sometimes so dense that one could not force his way through them; at +others so low and thin that they barely made good quail cover. Almost +everywhere a team could be driven; and yet there were soft places and +water channels and pond holes in which a horse would bog down +hopelessly. From a point on the main north-and-south ditch a man afoot +left the bank to plunge directly into a jungle of reeds ten feet tall. +Through them narrow passages led him winding and twisting and doubting +in a labyrinth. He waded in knee-deep water, but confidently, for he +knew the bottom to be solid beneath his feet. On either side, fairly +touching his elbows, the reeds stood tall and dense, so that it seemed +to him that he walked down a narrow and winding hallway. And every once +in a while the hallway debouched into a secret shallow pond lying in the +middle of the tule jungle in which might or might not be ducks. If there +were ducks, it behooved him to shoot very, very quickly, for those that +fell in the tules were probably not to be recovered. Then more narrow +passages led to other ponds. + +Always the footing was good, so that a man could strike forward +confidently. But again there are other places in the Slough region where +one has to walk for half a mile to pass a miserable little trickle only +just too wide to step across. The watercress grows thick against either +oozy bank, leaving a clear of only a foot. Yet it is bottomless. + +The Captain knew this region thoroughly, and drove in it by landmarks of +his own. After many visits I myself got to know the leading "points of +interest" and how to get to them by a set route; but their relations one +to another have always remained a little vague. + +For instance, there was an earthen reservoir comprising two circular +connecting ponds, elevated slightly above the surrounding flats, so that +a man ascended an incline to stand on its banks. One half of this +reservoir is bordered thickly by tules; but the other half is without +growth. We left the Invigorator at some hundreds of yards distance; and, +single file, followed the Captain. We stopped when he did, crawled when +he did, watched to see what dry and rustling footing he avoided, every +sense alert to play accurately this unique game of "follow my leader." +He alone kept watch of the cover, the game, and the plan of attack. We +were like the tail of a snake, merely following where the head directed. +This was not because the Captain was so much more expert than ourselves, +but so as to concentrate the chances of remaining undiscovered. If each +of us had worked out his own stalk we should have multiplied the chances +of alarming the game; we should have created the necessity for signals; +and we should have had the greatest difficulty in synchronizing our +arrival at the shooting point. We moved a step at a time, feeling +circumspectly before resting our weight. At the last moment the Captain +motioned with his hand. Wriggling forward, we came into line. Then, very +cautiously, we crawled up the bank of the reservoir and peered over! +That was the supreme moment! The wildfowl might arise in countless +numbers; in which case we shot as carefully and as quickly as possible, +reloading and squatting motionless in the almost certain hope of a +long-range shot or so at a straggler as the main body swung back over +us. Or, again, our eager eyes were quite likely to rest upon nothing but +a family party of mud-hens gossiping sociably. + +Just beyond the reservoir on the other side was an overflowed small +flat. It was simply hummocky solid ground with a little green grass and +some water. Behind the hummocks, even after a cannonade at the +reservoir, we were almost certain to jump two or three single spoonbills +or teal. Why they stayed there, I could not tell you; but stay they +did. We walked them up one at a time, as we would quail. The range was +long. Sometimes we got them; and sometimes we did not. + +From the reservoir we drove out into the illimitable tules. The horses +went forward steadily, breasting the rustling growth. Behind them the +Invigorator rocked and swayed like a small boat in a tide rip. We stayed +in as best we could, our guns bristling up in all directions. The +Captain drove from a knowledge of his own. After some time, across the +yellow, waving expanse of the rushes, we made out a small dead willow +stub slanted rakishly. At sight of this we came to a halt. Just beyond +that stub lay a denser thicket of tules, and in the middle of them was +known to be a patch of open water about twenty feet across. There was +not much to it; but invariably a small bunch of fat old greenheads were +loafing in the sun. + +It now became, not a question of game, for it was always there, but a +question of getting near enough to shoot. To be sure, the tiny pond was +so well covered that a stranger to the country would actually be unaware +of its existence until he broke through the last barrier of tules; but, +by the same token, that cover was the noisiest cover invented for the +protection of ducks. Often and often, when still sixty or seventy yards +distant, we heard the derisive _quack_, _quack_, _quack_, with which a +mallard always takes wing, and, a moment later, would see those wily +birds rising above the horizon. A false step meant a crackle; a stumble +meant a crash. We fairly wormed our way in by inches. Each yard gained +was a triumph. When, finally, after a half hour of Indian work, we had +managed to line up ready for the shot, we felt that we had really a few +congratulations coming. We knew that within fifteen or twenty feet +floated the wariest of feathered game; and _absolutely unconscious of +our presence_. + +"Now!" the Captain remarked, aloud, in conversational tones. + +We stood up, guns at present. The Captain's command was answered by the +instant beat of wings and the confused quicker calling of alarm. In the +briefest fraction of a second the ducks appeared above the tules. They +had to tower straight up, for the pond was too small and the reeds too +high to permit of any sneaking away. So close were they that we could +see the markings of every feather--the iridescence of the heads, the +delicate, wave-marked cinnamons and grays and browns, even the absurd +little curled plumes over the tails. The guns cracked merrily, the +shooters aiming at the up-stretched necks. Down came the quarry with +mighty splashes that threw the water high. The remnant of the flock +swung away. We stood upright and laughed and joked and exulted after the +long strain of our stalk. Ben plunged in again and again, bringing out +the game. + +Of these tule holes there were three. When we had visited them each in +turn we swung back toward the west. There, after much driving, we came +to the land of irrigation ditches again. At each new angle one of us +would descend, sneak cautiously to the bank and, bending low, peer down +the length of the ditch. If ducks were in sight, he located them +carefully and then we made our sneak. If not, we drove on to the next +bend. Once we all lay behind an embankment like a lot of soldiers +behind a breastwork while one of us made a long detour around a big +flock resting in an overflow across the ditch. The ruse was successful. +The ducks, rising at sight of the scout, flew high directly over the +ambuscade. A battery of six or eight guns thereupon opened up. I believe +we killed three or four ducks among us; but if we had not brought down a +feather we should have been satisfied with the fact that our stratagem +succeeded. + +So at the last, just as the sun was setting, we completed the circle and +landed at the ranch. We had been out all day in the warm California sun +and the breezes that blow from the great mountains across the plains; we +had worked hard enough to deserve an appetite; we had in a dozen +instances exercised our wit or our skill against the keen senses of wild +game; we had used our ingenuity in meeting unexpected conditions; we had +had a heap of companionship and good-natured fun one with another; we +had seen a lot of country. This was much better than sitting solitary +anchored in a blind. To be sure a man could kill more ducks from a +blind; but what of that? + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +RANCH ACTIVITIES + + +Big as it was, the ranch was only a feeder for the open range. Way down +in southeastern Arizona its cattle had their birth and grew to their +half-wild maturity. They won their living where they could, fiercely +from the fierce desert. On the broad plains they grazed during the fat +season; and as the feed shortened and withered, they retired slowly to +the barren mountains. In long lines they plodded to the watering places; +and in long, patient lines they plodded their way back again, until deep +and indelible troughs had been worn in the face of the earth. Other +living creatures they saw few, save the coyotes that hung on their +flanks, the jackrabbits, the prairie dogs, the birds strangely cheerful +in the face of the mysterious and solemn desert. Once in a while a pair +of mounted men jog-trotted slowly here and there among them. They gave +way to right and left, swinging in the free trot of untamed creatures, +their heads high, their eyes wild. Probably they remembered the terror +and ignominy and temporary pain of the branding. The men examined them +with critical eye, and commented technically and passed on. + +This was when the animals were alive with the fat grasses. But as the +drought lengthened, they pushed farther into the hills until the boldest +or hardiest of them stood on the summits, and the weakest merely stared +dully as the mounted men jingled by. The desert, kind in her bounty, was +terrible in her wrath. She took her toll freely and the dried bones of +her victims rattled in the wind. The fittest survived. Durham died, +Hereford lived through, and turned up after the first rains wiry, lean, +and active. + +Then came the round-up. From the hidden defiles, the buttes and ranges, +the hills and plains, the cowboys drew their net to the centre. Each +"drive" brought together on some alkali flat thousands of the restless, +milling, bawling cattle. The white dust rose in a cloud against the very +blue sky. Then, while some of the cowboys sat their horses as sentinels, +turning the herd back on itself, others threaded a way through the +multitude, edging always toward the border of the herd some animal +uneasy in the consciousness that it was being followed. Surrounding the +main herd, and at some distance from it, other smaller herds rapidly +formed from the "cut." Thus there was one composed entirely of cows and +unbranded calves; another of strays from neighbouring ranges; and a +third of the steers considered worthy of being made into beef cattle. + +In due time the main herd was turned back on the range; the strays had +been cut out and driven home by the cowboys of their several owners; the +calves had been duly branded and sent out on the desert to grow up. But +there remained still compact the beef herd. When all the excitement of +the round-up had died, it showed as the tangible profit of the year. + +Its troubles began. Driven to the railroad and into the corrals, it next +had to be urged to its first experience of sidedoor Pullmans. There the +powerful beasts went frantic. Pike poles urged them up the chute into +the cars. They rushed, and hesitated, and stopped and turned back in a +panic. At times it seemed impossible to get them started into the narrow +chute. On the occasion of one after-dark loading old J.B., the foreman, +discovered that the excited steers would charge a lantern light. +Therefore he posted himself, with a lantern, in the middle of the chute. +Promply the maddened animals rushed at him. He skipped nimbly one side, +scaled the fence of the chute. "Now keep 'em coming, boys!" he urged. + +The boys did their best, and half filled the car. Then some other +impulse seized the bewildered rudimentary brains; the cattle balked. +J.B. did it again, and yet again, until the cars were filled. + +You have seen the cattle trains, rumbling slowly along, the crowded +animals staring stupidly through the bars. They are not having a +particularly hard time, considering the fact that they are undergoing +their first experience in travelling. Nowadays they are not allowed to +become thirsty; and they are too car sick to care about eating. Car +sick? Certainly; just as you or I are car sick, no worse; only we do not +need to travel unless we want to. At the end of the journey, often, they +are too wobbly to stand up. This is not weakness, but dizziness from the +unwonted motion. Once a fool S.P.C.A. officer ordered a number of the +Captain's steers shot on the ground that they were too weak to live. +That greenhorn got into fifty-seven varieties of trouble. + +Arrived at their journey's end the steers were permitted to get their +sea legs off; and then were driven slowly to a cattle paradise--the +ranch. + +For there was flowing water always near to the thirsty nose; and rich +grazing; and wonderful wagons from which the fodder was thrown +abundantly; and pleasant shade from a mild and beneficent sun. The thin, +wiry beasts of the desert lost their angles; they became fat, and curly +of hair, and sleek of coat, and much inclined to kink up their tails and +cavort off in clumsy buck jumps just from the sheer joy of living. For +now they were, in good truth, beef cattle, the aristocracy of fifty +thousand, the pick of wide ranges, the total tangible wealth of a great +principality. To see them would come red-faced men with broad hats and +linen dusters; and their transfer meant dollars and dollars. + +I have told you these things lest you might have concluded that the +Captain did nothing but shoot ducks and quail and ride the polo ponies +around the enclosure. As a matter of fact, the Captain was always going +to Arizona, or coming back, or riding here or driving there. When we +went to the ranch, he looked upon our visit as a vacation, but even then +he could not shoot with us as often as we all would have liked. On the +Arizona range were the [JH] ranch, and the Circle I, and the Bar O, and +the Double R, and the Box Springs, and others whose picturesque names I +have forgotten. To manage them were cowpunchers; and appertaining +thereunto were Chinese cooks, and horses, and pump mules, and grub +lists, and many other things. The ranch itself was even more complicated +an affair; for, as I have indicated, it meant many activities besides +cattle. And then there was the buying and selling and shipping. The +Captain was a busy man. + +And the ranch was a busy place. Its population swung through the +nations. Always the aristocracy was the cowboy. There were not many of +him, for the cattle here were fenced and fattened; but a few were +necessary to ride abroad in order that none of the precious beef be +mired down or tangled in barbed wire; and that all of it be moved hither +and yon as the pasture varied. And of course the driving, the loading +and unloading of fresh shipments in and out demanded expert handling. + +Some of them came from the desert, lean, bronzed, steady-eyed men +addicted to "double-barrelled" (two cinch) saddles, ox-bow stirrups, +straight-shanked spurs, tall-crowned hats, and grass ropes. They were +plain "cowpunchers." Between them and the California "vaqueros," or +"buckeroos", was always much slow and drawling argument. For the latter +had been "raised different" in about every particular. They used the +single-cinch saddle; long _tapaderos_; or stirrup hoods; curve-shanked +spurs with jingling chains; low, wide-brimmed sombreros and rawhide +ropes. And you who have gauged the earnestness of what might be called +"equipment arguments" among those of a gentler calling, can well +appreciate that never did bunk-house conversation lack. + +Next to these cow riders and horse riders came probably the mule +drivers. There were many teams of mules, and they were used for many +things: such as plowing, cultivating, harvesting, haying, the building +of irrigation checks and ditches, freighting, and the like. A team +comprised from six to twelve individuals. The man in charge had to know +mules--which is no slight degree of special wisdom; had to know loads; +had to understand conditioning. His lantern was the first to twinkle in +the morning as he doled out corn to his charges. + +Then came the ruck of field hands of all types. The average field hand +in California is a cross between a hobo and a labourer. He works +probably about half the year. The other half he spends on the road, +tramping it from place to place. Like the common hobo, he begs his way +when he can; catches freight train rides; consorts in thickets with his +kind. Unlike the common hobo, however, he generally has money in his +pocket and always carries a bed-roll. The latter consists of a blanket +or so, or quilt, and a canvas strapped around the whole. You can see him +at any time plodding along the highways and railroads, the roll slung +across his back. He much appreciates a lift in your rig; and sometimes +proves worth the trouble. His labour raises him above the level +degradation of the ordinary tramp; the independence of his spirit gives +his point of view an originality; the nomadic stirring of his blood +keeps him going. In the course of years he has crossed the length and +breadth of the state a half dozen times. He has harvested apples in +Siskiyou and oranges in Riverside; he has chopped sugar pine in the +snows of the Sierras and manzanita on the blazing hillsides of San +Bernardino; he has garnered the wheat of the great Santa Clara Valley +and the alfalfa of San Fernando. And whenever the need for change or the +desire for a drink has struck him, he has drawn his pay, strapped his +bed roll, and cheerfully hiked away down the long and dusty trail. + +That is his chief defect as a field hand--his unreliability. He seems +to have no great pride in finishing out a job, although he is a good +worker while he is at it. The Captain used to send in the wagon to bring +men out, but refused absolutely to let any man ride in anything going +the other way. Nevertheless the hand, when the wanderlust hit him, +trudged cheerfully the long distance to town. I am not sure that a new +type is not thus developing, a type as distinct in its way as the +riverman or the cowboy. It is not as high a type, of course, for it has +not the strength either of sustained and earnest purpose nor of class +loyalty; but still it makes for new species. The California field hand +has mother-wit, independence, a certain reckless, you-be-damned courage, +a wandering instinct. He quits work not because he wants to loaf, but +because he wants to go somewhere else. He is always on the road +travelling, travelling, travelling. It is not hope of gain that takes +him, for in the scarcity of labour wages are as high here as there. It +is not desire for dissipation that lures him from labour; he drinks hard +enough, but the liquor is as potent here as two hundred miles away. He +looks you steadily enough in the eye; and he begs his bread and commits +his depredations half humorously, as though all this were fooling that +both you and he understood. What his impelling motive is, I cannot say; +nor whether he himself understands it, this restlessness that turns his +feet ever to the pleasant California highways, an Ishmael of the road. + +But this very unreliability forces the ranchman to the next element in +our consideration of the ranch's people--the Orientals. They are good +workers, these little brown and yellow men, and unobtrusive and +skilled. They do not quit until the job is done; they live frugally; +they are efficient. The only thing we have against them is that we are +afraid of them. They crowd our people out. Into a community they edge +themselves little by little. At the end of two years they have saved +enough capital to begin to buy land. At the end of ten years they have +taken up all the small farms from the whites who cannot or will not live +in competition with Oriental frugality. The valley, or cove, or flat has +become Japanese. They do not amalgamate. Their progeny are Japanese +unchanged; and their progeny born here are American citizens. In the +face of public sentiment, restriction, savage resentment they have made +head. They are continuing to make head. The effects are as yet small in +relation to the whole of the body politic; but more and more of the +fertile, beautiful little farm centres of California are becoming the +breeding grounds of Japanese colonies. As the pressure of population on +the other side increases, it is not difficult to foresee a result. We +are afraid of them. + +The ranchmen know this. "We would use white labour," say they, "if we +could get it, and rely on it. But we cannot; and we _must_ have labour!" +The debt of California to the Orientals can hardly be computed. The +citrus crop is almost entirely moved by them; and all other produce +depends so largely on them that it would hardly be an exaggeration to +say that without them a large part of the state's produce would rot in +fields. We do not want the Oriental; and yet we must have him, must have +more of him if we are to reach our fullest development. It is a dilemma; +a paradox. + +And yet, it seems to me, the paradox only exists because we will not +face facts in a commonsense manner. As I remember it, the original +anti-Oriental howl out here made much of the fact that the Chinaman and +Japanese saved his money and took it home with him. In the peculiar +circumstances we should not object to that. We cannot get our work done +by our own people; we are forced to hire in outsiders to do it; we +should expect, as a country, to pay a fair price for what we get. It is +undoubtedly more desirable to get our work done at home; but if we +cannot find the help, what more reasonable than that we should get it +outside, and pay for it? If we insist that the Oriental is a detriment +as a permanent resident, and if at the same time we need his labour, +what else is there to do but pay him and let him go when he has done his +job? + +And he will go _if pay is all he gets_. Only when he is permitted to +settle down to his favourite agriculture in a fertile country does he +stay permanently. To be sure a certain number of him engages in various +other commercial callings, but that number bears always a very definite +proportion to the Oriental population in general. And it is harmless. It +is not absolute restriction of immigration we want--although I believe +immigration should be numerically restricted, but absolute prohibition +of the right to hold real estate. To many minds this may seem a denial +of the "equal rights of man." I doubt whether in some respects men have +equal rights. Certainly Brown has not an equal right with Jones to spank +Jones's small boy; nor do I believe the rights of any foreign nation +paramount to our own right to safeguard ourselves by proper legislation. + +These economics have taken us a long distance from the ranch and its +Orientals. The Japanese contingent were mainly occupied with the fruit, +possessing a peculiar deftness in pruning and caring for the prunes and +apricots. The Chinese had to do with irrigation and with the vegetables. +Their broad, woven-straw hats and light denim clothes lent the +particular landscape they happened for the moment to adorn a peculiarly +foreign and picturesque air. + +And outside of these were various special callings represented by one or +two men: such as the stable men, the bee keeper, the blacksmith and +wagon-wright, the various cooks and cookees, the gardeners, the "varmint +catcher," and the like. + +Nor must be forgotten the animals, both wild and tame. Old Ben and Young +Ben and Linn, the bird dogs; the dachshunds; the mongrels of the men's +quarters; all the domestic fowls; the innumerable and blue-blooded hogs; +the polo ponies and brood mares, the stud horses and driving horses and +cow horses, colts, yearlings, the young and those enjoying a peaceful +and honourable old age; Pollymckittrick; Redmond's cat and fifty others, +half-wild creatures; vireos and orioles in the trees around the house; +thousands and thousands of blackbirds rising in huge swarms like gnats; +full-voiced meadowlarks on the fence posts; herons stalking solemnly, or +waiting like so many Japanese bronzes for a chance at a gopher; +red-tailed hawks circling slowly; pigeon hawks passing with their falcon +dart; little gaudy sparrow hawks on top the telephone poles; buzzards, +stately and wonderful in flight, repulsive when at rest; barn-owls +dwelling in the haystacks, and horned owls in the hollow trees; the +game in countless numbers; all the smaller animals and tiny birds in +species too numerous to catalogue, all these drew their full sustenance +of life from the ranch's smiling abundance. + +And the mules; I must not forget them. I have the greatest respect for a +mule. He knows more than the horse; just as the goose or the duck knows +more than the chicken. Six days the mules on the ranch laboured; but on +the seventh they were turned out into the pastures to rest and roll and +stand around gossiping sociably, rubbing their long, ridiculous Roman +noses together, or switching the flies off one another with their +tasselled tails. Each evening at sunset all the various teams came in +from different directions, converging at the lane, and plodding dustily +up its length to the sheds and their night's rest. Five evenings thus +they come in silence. But on the sixth each and every mule lifted up his +voice in rejoicing over the morrow. The distant wayfarer--familiar with +ranch ways--hearing this strident, discordant, thankful chorus far +across the evening peace of the wide country, would thus have known this +was Saturday night, and that to-morrow was the Sabbath, the day of rest! + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +THE HEATHEN + + +This must be mainly discursive and anecdotal, for no one really knows +much more than externals concerning the Chinese. Some men there are, +generally reporters on the big dailies, who have been admitted to the +tongs; who can take you into the exclusive Chinese clubs; who are +everywhere in Chinatown greeted cordially, treated gratis to strange +food and drink, and patted on the back with every appearance of +affection. They can tell you of all sorts of queer, unknown customs and +facts, and can show you all sorts of strange and unusual things. Yet at +the last analysis these are also discursions and anecdotes. We gather +empirical knowledge: only rarely do we think we get a glimpse of how the +delicate machinery moves behind those twinkling eyes. + +I am led to these remarks by the contemplation of Chinese Charley at the +ranch. He has been with Mrs. Kitty twenty-five years; he wears American +clothes; he speaks English with hardly a trace of either accent or +idiom; he has long since dropped the deceiving Oriental stolidity and +weeps out his violent Chinese rages unashamed. Yet even now Mrs. Kitty's +summing up is that Charley is a "queer old thing." + +If you start out with a good Chinaman, you will always have good +Chinamen; if you draw a poor one, you will probably be cursed with a +succession of mediocrities. They pass you along from one to another of +the same "family"; and, short of the adoption of false whiskers and a +change of name, you can find no expedient to break the charm. When one +leaves of his own accord, he sends you another boy to take his place. +When he is discharged, he does identically that, although you may not +know it. Down through the list of Gins or Sings or Ungs you slide +comfortably or bump disagreeably according to your good fortune or +deserts. + +Another feature to which you must become accustomed is that of the +Unexpected Departure. Everything is going smoothly, and you are engaged +in congratulating yourself. To you appears Ah Sing. + +"I go San Flancisco two o'clock tlain," he remarks. And he does. + +In vain do you point to the inconvenience of guests, the injustice thus +of leaving you in the lurch; in vain do you threaten detention of wages +due unless he gives you what your servant experience has taught you is a +customary "week's warning." He repeats his remark: and goes. At +two-fifteen another bland and smiling heathen appears at your door. He +may or may not tell you that Ah Sing sent him. Dinner is ready on time. +The household work goes on without a hitch or a tiniest jar. + +"Ah Sing say you pay me his money," announces this new heathen. + +If you are wise, you abandon your thoughts of fighting the outrage. You +pay over Ah Sing's arrears. + +"By the way," you inquire of your new retainer, "what's your name?" + +"My name Lum Sing," the newcomer replies. + +That is about the way such changes happen. If by chance you are in the +good graces of heathendom, you will be given an involved and fancy +reason for the departure. These generally have to do with the mysterious +movements of relatives. + +"My second-uncle, he come on ship to San Flancisco. I got to show him +what to do," explains Ah Sing. + +If they like you very much, they tell you they will come back at the end +of a month. They never do, and by the end of the month the new man has +so endeared himself to you that Ah Sing is only a pleasant memory. + +The reasons for these sudden departures are two-fold as near as I can +make out. Ah Sing may not entirely like the place; or he may have +received orders from his tong to move on--probably the latter. If both +Ah Sing and his tong approve of you and the situation, he will stay with +you for many years. Our present man once remained but two days at a +place. The situation is an easy one; Toy did his work well; the +relations were absolutely friendly. After we had become intimate with +Toy, he confided to us his reasons: + +"I don' like stay at place where nobody laugh," said he. + +As servants the Chinese are inconceivably quick, deft, and clean. One +good man will do the work of two white servants, and do it better. Toy +takes care of us absolutely. He cooks, serves, does the housework, and +with it all manages to get off the latter part of the afternoon and +nearly every evening. At first, with recollections of the rigidly +defined "days off" of the East, I was a little inclined to look into +this. I did look into it; but when I found all the work done, without +skimping, I concluded that if the man were clever enough to save his +time, he had certainly earned it for himself. Systematizing and no false +moves proved to be his method. + +Since this is so, it follows, quite logically and justly, that the +Chinese servant resents the minute and detailed supervision some +housewives delight in. Show him what you want done; let him do it; +criticize the result--but do not stand around and make suggestions and +offer amendments. Some housekeepers, trained to make of housekeeping an +end rather than a means, can never keep Chinese. This does not mean that +you must let them go at their own sweet will: only that you must try as +far as possible to do your criticizing and suggesting before or after +the actual performance. + +I remember once Billy came home from some afternoon tea where she had +been talking to a number of "conscientious" housekeepers of the old +school until she had been stricken with a guilty feeling that she had +been loafing on the job. To be sure the meals were good, and on time; +the house was clean; the beds were made; and the comforts of life seemed +to be always neatly on hand; but what of that? The fact remained that +Billy had time to go horseback riding, to go swimming, to see her +friends, and to shoot at a mark. Every other housekeeper was busy from +morning until night; and then complained that somehow or other she never +could get finished up! It was evident that somehow Billy was not doing +her full duty by the sphere to which woman was called, etc. + +So home she came, resolved to do better. Toy was placidly finishing up +for the afternoon. Billy followed him around for a while, being a +housekeeper. Toy watched her with round, astonished eyes. Finally he +turned on her with vast indignation. + +"Look here, Mis' White," said he. "What a matter with you? You talk just +like one old woman!" + +Billy paused in her mad career and considered. That was just what she +was talking like. She laughed. Toy laughed. Billy went shooting. + +After your Chinaman becomes well acquainted with you, he develops human +traits that are astonishing only in contrast to his former mask of +absolute stolidity. To the stranger the Oriental is as impassive and +inscrutable as a stone Buddha, so that at last we come to read his +attitude into his inner life, and to conclude him without emotion. This +is also largely true of the Indian. As a matter of fact, your heathen is +rather vividly alive inside. His enjoyment is keen, his curiosity +lively, his emotions near the surface. If you have or expect to have +visitors, you must tell Ah Sing all about them--their station in life, +their importance, and the like. He will listen, keenly interested, +gravely nodding his pig-tailed, shaven head. Then, if your visitors are +from the East, you inform them of what every Californian knows--that +each and every member of a household must say "good morning" +ceremoniously to Ah Sing. And Ah Sing will smile blandly and duck his +pig-tailed, shaven head, and wish each member "good morning" back +again. It is sometimes very funny to hear the matin chorus of a dozen +people crying out their volley of salute to ceremony; and to hear again +the Chinaman's conscientious reply to each in turn down the long +table--"_Good_ mo'ning, Mr. White; _good_ mo'ning, Mis' White; _good_ +mo'ning, Mr. Lewis----" and so on, until each has been remembered. There +are some families that, either from ignorance or pride, omit this and +kindred little human ceremonials. The omission is accepted; but that +family is never "my family" to the servant within its gates. + +For your Chinaman is absolutely faithful and loyal and trustworthy. He +can be allowed to handle any amount of money for you. We ourselves are +away from home a great deal. When we get ready to go, we simply pack our +trunks and depart. Toy then puts away the silver and valuables and +places them in the bank vaults, closes the house, and puts all in order. +A week or so before our return we write him. Thereupon he cleans things +up, reclaims the valuables, rearranges everything. His wonderful Chinese +memory enables him to replace every smallest item exactly as it was. If +I happen to have left seven cents and an empty .38 cartridge on the +southwestern corner of the bureau, there they will be. It is difficult +to believe that affairs have been at all disturbed. Yet probably, if our +stay away has been of any length, everything in the house has been moved +or laid away. + +Furthermore, Toy reads and writes English, and enjoys greatly sending us +wonderful and involved reports. One of them ended as follows: "The +weather is doing nicely, the place is safely well, and the dogs are +happy all the while." It brings to mind a peculiarly cheerful picture. + +One of the familiar and persistent beliefs as to Chinese traits is that +they are a race of automatons. "Tell your Chinaman exactly what you want +done, and how you want it done," say your advisors, "for you will never +be able to change them once they get started." And then they will adduce +a great many amusing and true incidents to illustrate the point. + +The facts of the case are undoubted, but the conclusions as to the +invariability of the Chinese mind are, in my opinion, somewhat +exaggerated. + +It must be remembered that almost all Chinese customs and manners of +thought are the direct inverse of our own. When announcing or receiving +a piece of bad news, for example, it is with them considered polite to +laugh; while intense enjoyment is apt to be expressed by tears. The +antithesis can be extended almost indefinitely by the student of +Oriental manners. Contemplate, now, the condition of the young Chinese +but recently arrived. He is engaged by some family to do its housework; +and, as he is well paid and conscientious, he desires to do his best. +But in this he is not permitted to follow his education. Each, move he +makes in initiative is stopped and corrected. To his mind there seems no +earthly sense or logic in nine tenths of what we want; but he is willing +to do his best. + +"Oh, well," says he to himself, "these people do things crazily; and no +well-regulated Chinese mind could possibly either anticipate how they +desire things done, or figure out why they want them that way. I give +it up! I'll just follow things out exactly as I am told"--and he does +so! + +This condition of affairs used to be more common than it is now. Under +the present exclusion law no fresh immigration is supposed to be +possible. Most of the Chinese servants are old timers, who have learned +white people's ways, and--what is more important--understand them. They +are quite capable of initiative; and much more intelligent than the +average white servant. + +But a green Chinaman is certainly funny. He does things forever-after +just as you show him the first time; and a cataclysm of nature is +required to shake his purpose. Back in the middle 'eighties my father, +moving into a new house, dumped the ashes beside the kitchen steps +pending the completion of a suitable ash bin. When the latter had been +built, he had Gin Gwee move the ashes from the kitchen steps to the bin. +This happened to be of a Friday. Ever after Gin Gwee deposited the ashes +by the kitchen steps every day; and on Friday solemnly transferred them +to the ash bin! Nor could anything persuade him to desist. + +Again he was given pail, soap, and brush, shown the front steps and walk +leading to the gate, and set to work. Gin Gwee disappeared. When we went +to hunt him up, we found him half way down the block, still scrubbing +away. I was in favour of letting him alone to see how far he would go, +but mother had other ideas as to his activities. + +These stories could be multiplied indefinitely; and are detailed by the +dozen as proof of the "stupidity" of the Chinese. The Chinese are +anything but stupid; and, as I have said before, when once they have +grasped the logic of the situation, can figure out a case with the best +of them. + +They are, however, great sticklers for formalism; and disapprove of any +short cuts in ceremony. As soon leave with the silver as without waiting +for the finger bowls. A friend of mine, training a new man by example, +as new men of this nationality are always trained, was showing him how +to receive a caller. Therefore she rang her own doorbell, presented a +card; in short, went through the whole performance. Tom understood +perfectly. That same afternoon Mrs. G----, a next-door neighbour and +intimate friend, ran over for a chat. She rang the bell. Tom appeared. + +"Is Mrs. B---- at home?" inquired the friend. + +Tom planted himself square in the doorway. He surveyed her with a cold +and glittering eye. + +"You got ticket?" he demanded. "You no got ticket, you no come in!" + +On another occasion two ladies came to call on Mrs. B---- but by mistake +blundered to the kitchen door. Mrs. B----'s house is a bungalow and on a +corner. Tom appeared. + +"Is Mrs. B---- at home?" they asked. + +"This kitchen door; you go front door," requested Tom, politely. + +The callers walked around the house to the proper door, rang, and +waited. After a suitable interval Tom appeared again. + +"Is Mrs. B---- at home?" repeated the visitors. + +"No, Mrs. B---- she gone out," Tom informed them. The proper +ceremonials had been fulfilled. + +To one who appreciates what he can do, and how well he does it; who can +value absolute faithfulness and honesty; who confesses a sneaking +fondness for the picturesque as nobly exemplified in a clean and +starched or brocaded heathen; who understands how to balance the +difficult poise, supervision, and interference, the Chinese servant is +the best on the continent. But to one who enjoys supervising every step +or who likes well-trained ceremony, "good form" in minutiae, and the +deference of our kind of good training the heathen is likely to prove +disappointing. When you ring your friend's door-bell, you are quite apt +to be greeted by a cheerful and smiling "hullo!" I think most +Californians rather like the entirely respectful but freshly +unconventional relationship that exists between the master and his +Chinese servant. I do.[H] + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +THE LAST HUNT + + +Of all ranch visits the last day neared. Always we forgot it until the +latest possible moment; for we did not like to think of it. Then, when +the realization could be no longer denied, we planned a grand day just +to finish up on. The telephone's tiny, thin voice returned acceptances +from distant neighbours; so bright and early we waited at the +cross-roads rendezvous. + +And from the four directions they came, jogging along in carts or +spring-wagons, swaying swiftly in automobiles whose brass flashed back +the early sun. As each vehicle drew up, the greetings flew, charged +electrically with the dry, chaffing humour of the out of doors. When we +finally climbed the fence into the old cornfield we were almost a dozen. +There were the Captain, Uncle Jim, and myself from the ranch; and T and +his three sons and two guests from Stockdale ranch; the sporting parson +of the entire neighbourhood, and Dodge and his three beautiful dogs. + +Spread out in a rough line we tramped away through the dried and +straggling ranks of the Egyptian corn. Quail buzzed all around us like +angry hornets. We did not fire a shot. Each had his limit of twenty-five +still before him, and each wanted to have all the fun he could out of +getting them. Shooting quail in Egyptian corn is, comparatively +speaking, not much fun. We joked each other, and whistled and sang, and +trudged manfully along, gun over shoulder. The pale sun was +strengthening; the mountains were turning darker as they threw aside the +filmy rose of early day; in treetops a row of buzzards sat, their wings +outspread like the heraldic devices of a foreign nation. Thousands of +doves whistled away; thousands of smaller birds rustled and darted +before our advancing lines; tens of thousands of blackbirds sprinkled +the bare branches of single trees, uttering the many-throated multitude +call; underneath all this light and joyous life the business-like little +quail darted away in their bullet flight. + +Always they bore across our front to the left; for on that side, +paralleling our course, ran a long ravine or "dry slough." It was about +ten feet deep on the average, probably thirty feet wide, and was densely +grown with a tangle of willows, berry vines, creepers, wild grape, and +the like. Into this the quail pitched. + +By the time we had covered the mile length of that cornfield we had +dumped an unguessable number of quail into that slough. + +Then we walked back the entire distance--still with our guns over our +shoulders--but this time along the edge of the ravine. We shouted and +threw clods, and kicked on the trees, and rattled things, urging the +hidden quail once more to flight. The thicket seemed alive with them. We +caught glimpses as they ran before us, pacing away at a great rate, +their feathers sleek and trim; they buzzed away at bewildering pitches +and angles; they sprang into the tops of bushes, cocking their head +plumes forward. Their various clicking undercalls, chatterings, and +chirrings filled the thicket as full of sound as of motion. And in the +middle distance before and behind us they mocked us with their calls. + +"You _can't_ shoot! You _can't_ shoot!" + +Some of them flew ever ahead, some of them doubled-back and dropped into +the slough behind us; but a proportion broke through the thicket and +settled in the wide fields on the other side. After them we went, and +for the first time opened our guns and slipped the yellow shells into +the barrels. + +For this field on the other side was the wide, open plain; and it was +grown over by tiny, half-knee high thickets of tumbleweed with here and +there a trifle of sagebrush. Between these miniature thickets wound +narrow strips of sandy soil, like streams and bays and estuaries in +shape. We knew that the quail would lie well here, for they hate to +cross bare openings. + +Therefore, we threw out our skirmish line, and the real advance in force +began. + +Every man retrieved his own birds, a matter of some difficulty in the +tumbleweed. While one was searching, the rest would get ahead of him. +The line became disorganized, broke into groups, finally disintegrated +entirely. Each man hunted for himself, circling the tumbleweed patches, +combing carefully their edges for the quail that sometimes burst into +the air fairly at his feet. When he had killed one, he walked directly +to the spot. On the way he would flush two or three more. They were +tempting; but we were old hands at the sport, and we knew only too well +that if we yielded so far as to shoot a second before we had picked up +the first, the probabilities were strong that the first would never be +found. In this respect such shooting requires good judgment. It is +generally useless to try to shoot a double, even though a dozen easy +shots are in the air at once; and yet, occasionally, on a day when +Koos-ey-oonek is busy elsewhere, it may happen that the birds flush +across a wide, bare space. It is well to keep a weather eye open for +such chances. + +With a green crowd and in different cover such shooting might have been +dangerous; but with an abundance of birds, in this wide, open prairie, +cool heads knew enough to keep wide apart and to look before they shot. +The fun grew fast and furious; and the guns popped away like +firecrackers. In fact, the fun grew a little too fast and furious to +suit Dodge. + +Dodge had beautiful and well-trained dogs. Ordinarily any one of us +would have esteemed it a high privilege to shoot over them. In fact, I +have often declared myself to the effect that of the three elements of +pleasure comprehended in field shooting that of working the dogs was the +chief. Just as it is better to catch one yellowtail on a nine-ounce rod +than twenty on a hand line, so it is better to kill one quail over a +well-trained dog than a half dozen "Walking 'em up." But this particular +case was different. We were out for a high old time; and part of a high +old time was a wild and reckless disregard of inhibitive sporting +conventions. The birds were here literally in thousands. Not a third had +left the slough for this open country; we could not shoot at a tenth of +those flushed, yet the guns were popping continuously. Everybody was +shooting and laughing and running about. The game was to pelt away, +retrieve your bird as quickly as you could, and pelt away again. The +dogs, working up to their points carefully and stylishly, as good dogs +should, were being constantly left in the rear. They drew down to their +points--and behold nobody but their devoted master would pay any +attention to their bird! Everybody else was engaged busily in popping +away at any one of the dozen-odd other birds to be had for the +selection! + +Poor Dodge, being somewhat biased by the accident of ownership, looked +on us as a lot of barbarians--as, for the time being, we were; nice, +happy barbarians having a good time. He worked his dogs conscientiously, +and muttered in his beard. The climax came when, in the joyous +excitement of the occasion, someone threw out a chance remark on "those +---- dogs" being in the way. Then Dodge withdrew with dignity. Having a +fellow-feeling as a dog-handler I went over to console him. He was +inconsolable; and so remained until after lunch. + +In this manner we made our way slowly down the length of the slough, and +then slowly back again. Of the birds originally flushed from the +Egyptian corn into the thicket but a small proportion had left that +thicket for the open country of the tumbleweed and sage; and of the +latter we had been able to shoot at a very, very small percentage. +Nevertheless, when we emptied our pockets, we found that each had made +his bag. We counted them out, throwing them into one pile. + +"Twenty-four," counted the Captain. + +"Twenty-four," Tom enumerated. + +"Twenty-four," Uncle Jim followed him. + +We each had twenty-four. And then it developed that every man had saved +just one bird of his limit until after lunch. No one wanted to be left +out of _all_ the shooting while the rest filled their bags; and no one +had believed that anybody but himself had come so close to the limit. + +So we laughed, and shouldered our guns, and trudged across country to +the clump of cottonwood where already the girls had spread lunch. + +That was a good lunch. We sat under shady trees, and the sunlit plains +stretched away and away to distant calm mountains. Near at hand the +sparse gray sagebrush reared its bonneted heads; far away it blurred +into a monochrome where the plains lifted and flowed molten into the +canons and crevices of the foothills. Numberless crows, blackbirds, and +wildfowl crossed and recrossed the very blue sky. A gray jackrabbit, +thinking himself concealed by a very creditable imitation of a +_sacatone_ hummock, sat motionless not seventy yards away. + +After lunch we moved out leisurely to get our one bird apiece. Some of +the girls followed us. We were now epicures of shooting, and each let +many birds pass before deciding to fire. Some waited for cross shots, +some for very easy shots, some for the most difficult shots possible. +Each suited his fancy. + +"I'm all in," remarked each, as he pocketed his bird; and followed to +see the others finish. + + * * * * * + +Next day, our baggage piled in most anywhere, our farewells all said, we +bowled away toward town in the brand-new machine. Redmond sat in the +front seat with the chauffeur. It was his first experience in an +automobile, and he sat very rigidly upright, eyes front, his moustaches +bristling. + +Now at a certain point on the road lived a large black dog--just plain +ranch dog--who was accustomed to come bounding out to the road to run +alongside and bark for an appropriate interval. This was an unvarying +ceremony. He was a large and prancing dog; and, I suppose from his +appearance, must have been named Carlo. In the course of our many visits +to the ranch we grew quite fond of the dog, and always looked as hard +for him to come out as he did for us to come along. + +This day also the dog came forth; but now he had no steady-trotting +ranch team to greet. The road was smooth and straight, and the car was +hitting thirty-five miles an hour. The dog bounded confidently down the +front walk, leaping playfully in the air, opened his mouth to bark--and, +behold! the vehicle was not within range any more, but thirty yards away +and rapidly departing. So Carlo shut his mouth and got down to business. +For three hundred yards he managed to keep pace alongside; but the +effort required all his forces; not once did he manage to gather wind +for even a single bark. + +Redmond in the front seat sat straighter than ever. From his lordly +elevation he waved a lordly hand at the poor dog. + +"Useless! Useless!" said he, loftily. + +And looking back at the dog seated panting in a rapidly disappearing +distance, we saw that he also knew that the Old Order had changed. + +THE END + + + + +FOOTNOTES: + + [Footnote A: Oiler = Greaser = Mexican.] + + [Footnote B: Saddle pockets that fit on the pommel.] + + [Footnote C: 3,350, to be exact. We later measured it.] + + [Footnote D: 3,350 feet--later measurement.] + + [Footnote E: 355 paces.] + + [Footnote F: Somewhere between 500 and 700 yards. I am very practised at pacing and guessing such distances.] + + [Footnote G: Ten years later sentence of death was passed and + carried out after they had killed _one wheelbarrow_ load of + broilers!] + + [Footnote H: This chapter was written in the--alas--vanished past!] + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Killer, by Stewart Edward White + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE KILLER *** + +***** This file should be named 16589.txt or 16589.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/6/5/8/16589/ + +Produced by Kathryn Lybarger, Gene Smethers and the Online +Distributed Processing Team + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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