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diff --git a/17477.txt b/17477.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..dcf79b4 --- /dev/null +++ b/17477.txt @@ -0,0 +1,10520 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Trail Horde, by Charles Alden Seltzer, +Illustrated by P. V. E. Ivory + + +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 Trail Horde + + +Author: Charles Alden Seltzer + + + +Release Date: January 7, 2006 [eBook #17477] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE TRAIL HORDE*** + + +E-text prepared by Graeme Mackreth, Suzanne Shell, and the Project +Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team (https://www.pgdp.net/) + + + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustration. + See 17477-h.htm or 17477-h.zip: + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/7/4/7/17477/17477-h/17477-h.htm) + or + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/7/4/7/17477/17477-h.zip) + + + + + +THE TRAIL HORDE + +by + +CHARLES ALDEN SELTZER + +Author of "The Ranchman," "'Firebrand' Trevison," "The Range Boss," "The +Vengeance of Jefferson Gawne," "The Boss of the Lazy Y," Etc. + +Frontispiece by P. V. E. Ivory + + + + + + + +[Illustration: "Warden, if you move a quarter of an inch I'll blow you +to hell!"] + + + + +Chicago A.C. McClurg & Co. 1920 Copyright A. C. McClurg & Co. 1920 +Published September, 1920 +Copyrighted in Great Britain +M. A. Donohue & Co., Printers and Binders, Chicago + + + + +CONTENTS + +CHAPTER PAGE + I Concerning Morals 1 + II Driving a Bargain 11 + III A Woman's Eyes 19 + IV Rebellion 24 + V A Man's Word 40 + VI The Invisible Power 52 + VII The Coalition 57 + VIII A Woman's Mercy 64 + IX The Arm of Power 80 + X The Second Obstacle 99 + XI The Long Trail 109 + XII The Night Wind's Mystery 114 + XIII The Invisible Menace 120 + XIV Lawler's "Nerve" 127 + XV Concerning an Outlaw 142 + XVI A "Norther" 148 + XVII The Line Cabin 158 + XVIII Storm-Driven 165 + XIX Death at a Door 172 + XX The "Killing" 183 + XXI Chance--and a Man 186 + XXII The White Waste 191 + XXIII A Woman's Wiles 196 + XXIV Della's Handkerchief 208 + XXV In Which a Man Plots 215 + XXVI A Menace Appears 225 + XXVII Evidence 229 + XXVIII The Trail Horde 234 + XXIX Antrim Strikes 246 + XXX A Woman Lies 253 + XXXI "Jail's Empty, Kane!" 257 + XXXII Red King Runs 263 + XXXIII The Fight at the Cabin 270 + XXXIV "Good Old Shorty!" 283 + XXXV Haunting Memories 288 + XXXVI A Man Meditates Vengeance 298 + XXXVII The Trap 303 +XXXVIII The Governor's Guns 310 + XXXIX Slade's Prisoner 314 + XL Primitive Instincts 318 + XLI The Clean-up 323 + XLII Going East 331 + XLIII The Majesty of Peace 341 + + + + +THE TRAIL HORDE + + + * * * * * + + + + +CHAPTER I + +CONCERNING MORALS + + +There were fifty thousand acres within view of the ranchhouse--virgin +grass land dotted with sage, running over a wide level, into little +hills, and so on to an upland whose rise was so gradual that it could be +seen only from a distance, best from the gallery of the ranchhouse. + +The first tang of autumn was in the sage-scented breeze that swept the +county, and the tawny valley, basking in the warm sunlight that came +down from a cloudless sky, showed its rugged beauty to advantage. + +Kane Lawler paused at the edge of the gallery and filled his lungs from +the sage-laden breeze, and then wheeled to face his mother. + +She smiled at him. + +"Have you seen Ruth Hamlin lately, Kane?" + +Lawler's lips opened, then closed again, tightly. And by that token Mrs. +Lawler knew that something Kane had been on the point of saying never +would be said. For she knew her son as no other person in the country +knew him. + +Kane Lawler was big. From the broad shoulders that bulged the gray +flannel shirt, down the yellow corduroy trousers that encased his legs +to the tops of the boots with their high heels and dull-roweled spurs, +Lawler looked what he was, a man who asked no favors of his kind. + +Mrs. Lawler had followed him out of the house, and she now stood near +him, watching him. + +There was in Lawler's lean face as he turned from his mother and peered +steadily out into the valley, a hint of volcanic force, of resistless +energy held in leash by a contrary power. That power might have been +grim humor--for his keen gray eyes were now gleaming with something akin +to humor--it might have been cynical tolerance--for his lips were +twisted into a curious, mirthless half-smile; it might have been the +stern repression that had governed him all his days. + +Whatever it was it seemed to be no secret from his mother, for she +smiled understandingly, and with pride that must have been visible to +anyone who watched her. + +Massed in the big valley--at a distance of two or three miles from the +big ranchhouse, was a herd of cattle. Circling them were a number of +cowboys on horses. In the huge corral that spanned a shallow, narrow +river, were other cattle. These were the result of the fall--or +beef--round-up. For a month there had been intense activity in the +section. Half the cattlemen in the county had participated in the +round-up that had centered upon Lawler's range, the Circle L: and the +cattle had been herded down in the valley because of its natural +advantages. + +There the herd had been held while the neighboring cattlemen engaged in +the tedious task of "cutting out"--which meant that each cattle owner +took from the herd the steers that bore his "brand," with the addition +of a proportionate number of unbranded steers, and calves, designated as +"mavericks." Then the neighboring outfit had driven their stock home. + +"It was a big round-up, Kane," said Mrs. Lawler, watching the herd. + +"Eight thousand head," Lawler replied. "We're starting a thousand toward +Willets today." + +"Have you seen Gary Warden? I mean, have you arranged with Warden to +have him take the cattle?" + +Lawler smiled. "I had an agreement with Jim Lefingwell. We made it early +last spring." + +"A written agreement?" + +"Shucks--no. I never had a written agreement with Lefingwell. Never had +to. Jim's word was all I ever wanted from him--all I ever asked for." + +"But perhaps Gary Warden's business methods are different?" + +"I talked that over with Lefingwell when he sold out to Warden. Jim said +he'd already mentioned our agreement to Warden and that Warden had +agreed to carry it out." + +"But suppose Warden has changed his mind?" + +Lawler spoke seriously. "No man goes back on his word in this country. +But from what I've heard of Warden, he's likely to. If he does, we'll +drive the stock to Keppler, at Red Rock. Keppler isn't buying for the +same concern, but he'll pay what Lefingwell agreed to pay. We'll ship +them, don't worry." + +"Red Rock means a five hundred mile drive, Kane." + +Lawler replied, "You're anticipating, Mother. Warden will take them." + +Lawler grinned and stepped off the gallery. A few minutes later he +emerged from the stable carrying a saddle, which he flung over one of +the top rails of the corral fence. He roped a big, red bay, smooth, with +a glossy coat that shone like a flame in the clear white light of the +morning sun. + +The bay was built on heroic lines. He was tall and rangy, and the spirit +of a long line of thoroughbred ancestors was in him. It showed in the +clear white of his gleaming, indomitable eyes, in his thin, sensitive +nostrils and long, shapely muzzle; in the contour of his head and chest, +and in his slender, sinewy legs. + +Man and horse were big, capable, strong-willed. They were equipped for +life in the grim, wild country that surrounded them. From the slender, +powerful limbs of the big bay, to the cartridge-studded belt that +encircled the man's middle, with a heavy pistol at the right hip, they +seemed to typify the ruggedness of the country, seemed to embody the +spirit of the Wild. + +Lawler mounted, and the big bay whistled as he pranced across the +ranchhouse yard to the big corral where the cattle were confined. Lawler +brought the bay to a halt at a corner of the corral fence, where his +foreman, Blackburn, who had been breakfasting in the messhouse, advanced +to meet him, having seen Lawler step down from the gallery. + +Blackburn was of medium height, swarthy, with heavy brows under which +were keen, deep-set eyes. His mouth was big, expressive, with a +slightly cynical set in repose. + +"We're hittin' the trail in about an hour," said Blackburn. "Are you +wantin' me to put 'em through, or are we takin' two days to it, as +usual?" + +"Two days," advised Lawler. "There's no hurry. It's a bad trail in +spots, and they'll want to feed. They'll stand the trip on the cars +better if they've had plenty of grass." + +"Gary Warden is keeping Lefingwell's agreement with you, I reckon?" +asked Blackburn. He eyed Lawler intently. + +"Of course." Lawler caught the expression of his foreman's eyes, and his +brows drew together. He added: "Why do you ask?" + +"Just wonderin'," hesitated Blackburn; "just wonderin'. You seen this +here man, Warden?" + +Lawler had not met Warden; he had not even seen the man from a distance. +That was because he had not visited Willets since Warden had bought +Lefingwell's ranch and assumed Lefingwell's position as resident buyer +for a big eastern live-stock company. Lawler had heard, though, that +Warden seemed to be capable enough; that he had entered upon the duties +of his position smoothly without appreciable commotion; he had heard +that Warden, was quiet and "easy-going," and that as a cattle buyer he +seemed to "know his business." + +This information had reached Lawler's ears through the medium of +neighboring cattle owners, and he was willing to accept it as accurate, +though he was not prepared to form an estimate of Warden until he had +an opportunity to talk with him personally. + +"Well," went on Blackburn; "them that's looked him over don't hesitate +to say he don't measure up to Jim Lefingwell's size." + +"Jim was a mighty big man--in size and principles," said Lawler. + +"Now you're shoutin'! There wasn't no man bigger'n Jim, sideways, +edgeways, or up an' down. I reckon any man would have a hard time +measurin' up to Jim Lefingwell. Mebbe that's what's wrong with Warden. +Folks has got Jim Lefingwell on their minds, an' they're not givin' +Warden what's comin' to him, them bein' biased." He squinted at Lawler. +"Folks is hintin' that Warden don't own Jim Lefingwell's ranch a-tall; +that some eastern guys bought it, an' that Warden's just managin' it. +Seems like they's a woman at the Lefingwell's old place, keepin' Warden +company. She's eastern, too, they say. Got a old maid with her to keep +her company--a chapper-own, they say--which ain't in no ways +illuminatin' my think-tank none. Which is a chapper-own?" + +"A kind of a moral monitor, Blackburn," grinned Lawler. "Some folks need +them. If you're thinking of getting one----" + +"Bah!" Blackburn's eyes were vitriolic with disgust. "I sabe what you +are hintin' at when you gas of morals--which I'm a heap acquainted with +because I ain't got none to speak of. But I'm plumb flabbergasted when +you go to connectin' a battleship with anything that's got a whole lot +to do with morals. Accordin' to my schoolin', a monitor is a thing +which blows the stuffin' out of----" + +"A monitor of morals could do that," gravely said Lawler. "In fact, +according to the best authorities, there have been many monitors who +have blown the stuffing out of the reputations of their charges." + +Blackburn gulped. He was puzzled, and his eyes were glazed with the +incomprehension which had seized him. Twice again as he watched Lawler's +grave face he gulped. And then he eyed Lawler belligerently. + +"I reckon them monitors is eastern. I've never seen one galivantin' +around these parts." + +"They're a lot eastern," assented Lawler. "I've never seen one, but I've +read about them in books. And once my mother saw one--she tells me the +East raises them by the hundred." + +"That accounts for it," declared Blackburn; "anything which comes from +the East is likely to be a heap shy on hoss sense." + +He now squinted at Lawler, watching him keenly. + +"Accordin' to report Joe Hamlin ought to go around draggin' one of them +monitors." + +Blackburn shrewdly noted the quickening of Lawler's eyes, and the dull +red that stole into his face. + +"What do you mean, Blackburn?" + +"Davies an' Harris hit town ag'in last night; an' comin' back they run +plumb into Joe Hamlin. He was in the upper end of the box arroyo. He'd +roped an' hog-tied a Circle L cow an' was blottin' our brand out." + +"What happened?" Lawler's lips were set in grim lines. + +"Nothin'--followin' your orders regardin' the cuss. Davies an' Harris +let him go--after warnin' him. Somethin' ought to be done. It ain't +addin' a heap to the morals of the outfit for the men to know a man can +rustle cattle that promiscuous--an' the boss not battin' an eyewinker. +This is the fourth time he's been caught with the goods--to say nothin' +of the times he's done it without nobody gittin' wise--an' the boys is +beginnin' to ask questions, bein' a heap puzzled because somethin' don't +happen to Joe." + +Lawler's face was expressionless. Except for the flush in his cheeks he +seemed to be unaffected by Blackburn's words. His voice was a trifle +cold when he spoke: + +"I'll attend to Hamlin. I'll stop at the Two Bar on my way to Willets. +By the time you reach town with the cattle I'll have the deal with +Warden clinched." + +Blackburn nodded, and Lawler wheeled the bay, heading him northward. + +As he rode, Lawler's face changed expression. He frowned, and his lips +set stiffly. + +What he had been almost on the point of telling his mother was that he +knew why Ruth Hamlin had refused him. It was pride, nothing less. Lawler +suspected that Ruth knew her father was a rustler. In fact, there had +been times when he had seen that knowledge lying naked in her eyes when +she looked at her parent. Accusation and disgust had been there, but +mingling with them was the persistent loyalty that had always governed +the girl; the protective instinct, and a hope of reformation. + +The pride that Mrs. Lawler had exhibited was not less strong in the +girl's heart. By various signs Lawler knew the girl loved him; he knew +it as positively as he knew she would not marry him while the stigma of +guilt rested upon her parent. And he was convinced that she was ignorant +of the fact that Lawler shared her secret. That was why Lawler had +permitted Hamlin to escape; it was why he had issued orders to his men +to suffer Hamlin's misdeeds without exacting the expiation that custom +provided. Lawler did not want Ruth to know that he knew. + +He sent the big bay forward at a steady, even pace, and in an hour he +had crossed the sweep of upland and was riding a narrow trail that +veered gradually from the trail to Willets. The character of the land +had changed, and Lawler was now riding over a great level, thickly +dotted with bunch grass, with stretches of bars, hard sand, clumps of +cactus and greasewood. + +He held to the narrow trail. It took him through a section of dead, +crumbling lava and rotting rock; through a little stretch of timber, and +finally along the bank of a shallow river--the Wolf--which ran after +doubling many times, through the Circle L valley. + +In time he reached a little grass level that lay close to the river. A +small cabin squatted near the center of the clearing, surrounded by +several outbuildings in a semi-dilapidated condition, and a corral, in +which there were several horses. + +Lawler sent Red King straight toward the cabin. When he reached the +cabin he swung off and walked toward the door, his lips set in straight +lines, his manner decisive. + +He had taken only several steps when a voice greeted him, coming from +the interior of the cabin--a man's voice, snarling, venomous: + +"You come another step, Kane Lawler, an' I'll bore you!" + +Lawler halted, facing the door. The door was closed, but a little slide +in the upper part of it was open. Through the aperture projected the +muzzle of a rifle, and behind the rifle appeared a man's face--dark, +bearded, with eyes that gleamed with ferocious malignancy. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +DRIVING A BARGAIN + + +Lawler stiffened. There was no mistaking the deadly threat of the rifle +and the man's menacing manner. Lawler's face was pale, but his eyes were +unwavering as they looked into those that glared out at him through the +aperture in the door. + +Guilt and fear were the emotions that had driven Hamlin to this rather +hysterical threat. Lawler resisted an impulse to laugh, though he felt a +pulse of grim humor shoot through him. + +To his knowledge--excepting Hamlin's predilection to rustle cattle--the +man was harmless. He never had been known to draw a gun, even in +self-defense, and Lawler was convinced that there was not sufficient +provocation for him to break one of the rules that had governed him +until now. Hamlin might be goaded, or frightened, into using the rifle, +but Lawler had no intention of goading or frightening him. In fact, +being aware of the reason for Hamlin's belligerence, he had no intention +of acquainting the man with the knowledge of what had happened the night +before. At least, not at this instant. + +Lawler's lips wore a shadowy smile. + +"I reckon you don't know me, Hamlin?" he said. + +"I know you mighty well, Lawler," snapped Hamlin; "you heard me mention +your name!" + +"Then you've got a new way of greeting your friends, eh--with a rifle. +Well, put it down and open the door. There's some things I want to say +to you." + +"What about?" asked Hamlin, suspiciously. Overwhelming every other +thought in his mind was the conviction that Davies and Harris had +apprised Lawler of what had happened the night before, and that Lawler +had come to capture him, single-handed. + +"About Ruth." + +The wild gleam in Hamlin's eyes began to dull. However, he was still +suspicious. + +"You seen any of your men this mornin'--Davies or Harris?" he asked. + +"Davies and Harris went to town last night. I reckon they didn't get +back yet. What's Davies and Harris got to do with me visiting you?" + +"Nothin'." There was relief in Hamlin's voice. The muzzle of the rifle +wavered; the weapon was withdrawn and the slide closed. Then the door +slowly opened, and Hamlin appeared in it, a six-shooter in hand. + +"If you're foolin' me, Kane Lawler, I'll sure bore you a-plenty!" he +threatened. + +"Shucks!" Lawler advanced to the door, ignoring the heavy pistol, which +was shoved close to his body as he walked into the cabin, Hamlin +retreating before him. + +"Hamlin, you're losing whatever sense you had," said Lawler as he halted +near the center of the big room. There were three rooms, their doors +opening from the one in which Lawler and Hamlin stood. + +"Meanin' what?" demanded Hamlin, nervously fingering the six-shooter. + +It was clear that Hamlin was impressed with the repressed force that he +could see in Lawler; with the slumbering energy that Lawler's lithe, +sinewy body suggested; with the man's complete lack of fear and with the +cold confidence that swam in his steady eyes. + +Hamlin did not know at this minute whether or not he had meant to shoot +Lawler. He believed that if Lawler had told him he had come to take him +for blotting out the Circle L brand in the arroyo the preceding night he +would have killed Lawler. But he was not sure. Something about Lawler +made the thought of shooting him seem ridiculous. It would take a lot of +provocation for _any_ man to kill Lawler, for something about Lawler +seemed to hint that it couldn't be done. + +"Meaning that you are old enough to know that you can't keep on rustling +my cattle without getting in trouble." + +"Ah!" exclaimed Hamlin, his breath hissing through his teeth as he +sucked it in with a gasp; "you sneaked on me, damn you!" + +He threw the muzzle of the pistol up, his body stiffening, his eyes +glittering with the malignance that had been in them when he had been +looking out at Lawler through the aperture in the door. + +"You know about that deal, an' you've come for me. You tried to fool me, +eh--tellin' me that you didn't see Davies an' Harris. Well, damn your +hide you ain't goin' to take me; I'll blow you to hell first!" + +Lawler's eyes were steady and unblinking as he watched Hamlin; they +bored into Hamlin's with a compelling intensity, that brought a +conviction of futility into Hamlin's soul. They were cold eyes--cold as +icebergs, Hamlin thought as he watched them; but they seemed to flame +also, to flame with a fire that was cold as the ice in them. + +The terrible power of them, and the promise of volcanic action back in +them; the awful confidence that shone in them; the threat compelling +Hamlin against his will, deadening his muscles, jumbling his +thoughts--brought chaos into the man's brain, and he stood, his mouth +agape with wonder over the thing that was happening to him, as Lawler +walked steadily to him. He made no resistance as Lawler deliberately +wrenched the pistol from his hand and as deliberately walked to a side +wall and placed it upon a shelf. + +Hamlin stood, nerveless and pallid, for an instant, watching Lawler's +movements--until Lawler turned and faced him again. Then he staggered to +a chair and dropped into it, lowering his head dejectedly, sitting with +his hands folded, completely subjected. + +Lawler would hang him, now. Lawler would take him to the Circle L and +turn him over to Blackburn and the other men of the outfit. And +Blackburn would hang him, for Blackburn had told him he would. Or, if +Lawler didn't take him to Blackburn he would take him to the sheriff. He +would be hanged then, but he would go to the new prison at the capital, +and Ruth would have to stay on here to do the real suffering for his +misdeeds. + +"You damned fool!" came Lawler's voice into the vacuumlike stillness of +the cabin. "You haven't got nerve enough to shoot a coyote!" + +Hamlin knew it; he knew, now, at least, that he hadn't had nerve enough +to shoot Lawler. He cringed under Lawler's contemptuous tone. And then +he became aware that Lawler was speaking again. + +"I'm giving you another chance. I'm letting you off, clean. For Ruth's +sake. + +"Look here, Hamlin!" + +Hamlin's chin was caught in an iron grasp and he found himself looking +into the terrible eyes. He saw grim pity in the eyes and he shuddered. + +"Ruth knows you're stealing cattle. Everybody knows it, now. Who is +buying them?" + +"Singleton." + +"Singleton!" Lawler's voice snapped with astonishment. "Dave Singleton, +Lefingwell's old range boss?" + +Hamlin nodded. And then the grip of Lawler's fingers on his chin +relaxed. He heard Lawler step back, but he did not lift his head for a +few minutes, during which a strained silence descended upon the room. +Then he covertly raised his head, to see Lawler standing with his arms +folded over his chest, watching him. + +Lawler had not suspected Singleton. Between himself and Singleton there +had always been a lack of ordinary cordiality, a constraint closely +approaching dislike; but Lawler had never entertained a suspicion that +Lefingwell's range boss was dishonest. + +Hamlin was a moral weakling, he knew. Everybody in the Wolf River +section knew it. Hamlin was lazy and shiftless, seemingly contented to +drift along in an aimless way, regardless of what happened to him. There +was at Hamlin's feet some of the wealth that other cattlemen of the +district were gaining. He had proved on a quarter-section of good grass +land amid plenty of water, and yet he chose to steal cattle rather than +raise them. + +Lawler's pity for the man was stronger than the resentment he felt. +Hamlin was Ruth's father, though looking at him as he sat dejectedly in +the chair, Lawler found it hard to discern the relationship. + +"How long has Singleton been buying cattle from you?" + +"About a year. I sold him what stock I had, before--before I got to +runnin' my brand on other folks' stock, an' he hinted he wasn't +particular whose cattle I got, long as he could get 'em under the market +price." + +"Does Singleton come here?" + +"Sometimes--mostly nights." + +Lawler's quick conclusion was that Ruth must have seen Singleton at the +cabin, must have noted that the visits seemed surreptitious. Perhaps she +had watched, convincing herself of her father's guilt. Lawler had +wondered how she had gained the knowledge she seemed to have, and +Singleton's visits must be the explanation. + +Hamlin had bowed his head again after a swift glance at Lawler. He +stiffened when he felt Lawler at his side again, for there had come into +the atmosphere of the cabin a premonitory chill which warned him that +Lawler was on the verge of action. + +But he was not prepared for what happened. + +Lawler's sinewy hands fell on his shoulders. The fingers bit deeply into +the flesh, drawing a groan of pain from Hamlin. He was lifted to his +feet--off his feet, so that he dangled in the air like a pendulum. He +was suspended by the shoulders, Lawler's fingers gripping him like iron +hooks; he was shaken until his feet, powerless to retard the movement, +were flopping back and forth wildly, and his teeth rattled despite his +efforts to clench them. It seemed to him that Lawler would snap his head +from his shoulders, so viciously did Lawler shake him. Then suddenly the +terrible fingers relaxed, and Hamlin reeled and swayed, dizzy and weak +from the violence of movement. He was trying to keep his feet solidly on +the floor when he felt Lawler's fingers at his throat. + +To his astonishment, the fingers did not sink into the flesh. They +touched his throat lightly, and he dazedly met Lawler's eyes, burning, +with a passion he never had seen in them before. And Lawler's voice was +dry and light, but steady--so steady and cold that Hamlin realized that +only the man's complete mastery of himself had kept him from committing +murder. + +"Hamlin, I ought to kill you. I'm letting you off on one condition--that +you break off with Singleton, and that you keep silent about the things +we both know. If you confess to Ruth that you've been rustling cattle, +or if you tell her--or hint of it--that I know you've been +rustling--I'll tear you apart! + +"You're like a lot of other damned, weak-kneed polecats. You've got a +girl who is good as gold, and you're making a regular hell for her. +She's wise to what you've been doing--she suspects you. And from now on +you're going to show her that she was wrong--that you're straight and +square. + +"There's a job for you over at the Circle L--if you want it. I'll throw +things in your way; I'll put you on your feet again--give you stock and +tools, and pretend I've sold them to you. I'll do anything to keep you +square. But if you tell Ruth, I'll kill you as sure as my name is +Lawler!" + +"I'm agreein'," said Hamlin, thickly. "I ain't wanted to do the things +I've been doin'. But things didn't go right, an' Singleton--damn it, +Lawler; I never liked the man, an' I don't know _why_ I've been doin' what +I have been doin'. But I've wanted to do somethin' for Ruth--so's she +could quit teachin' an' live like a lady. I thought if I could get a +bunch of coin together that mebbe she'd have----" + +"She'd see you dead before she'd touch it," scoffed Lawler. + +"Mebbe I'd be better off if I was dead," said Hamlin, glumly. + +"You'll die, right enough, if you don't keep your word to me," grimly +declared Lawler. + +He strode to the door, leaped upon Red King and rode away. + +Inside the cabin, Hamlin got to his feet and swayed toward the door, +reaching it and looking out, to see Lawler riding rapidly toward +Willets. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +A WOMAN'S EYES + + +There had been a day when Willets was but a name, designating a water +tank and a railroad siding where panting locomotives, hot and dry from a +long run through an arid, sandy desert that stretched westward from the +shores of civilization, rested, while begrimed, overalled men adjusted a +metal spout which poured refreshing water into gaping reservoirs. + +In that day Willets sat in the center of a dead, dry section, swathed in +isolation so profound that passengers in the coaches turned to one +another with awe in their voices and spoke of God and the insignificance +of life. + +But there was a small river near the water tank--the headwaters of the +Wolf--or there had been no tank. And a prophet of Business, noting +certain natural advantages, had influenced the railroad company to build +a corral and a station. + +From that day Willets became assured of a future. Cattlemen in the Wolf +River section began to ship stock from the new station, rather than +drive to Red Rock--another shipping point five hundred miles east. + +From the first it became evident that Willets would not be a boom town. +It grew slowly and steadily until its fame began to trickle through to +the outside world--though it was a cattle town in the beginning, and a +cattle town it would remain all its days. + +Therefore, because of its slow growth, there were old buildings in +Willets. The frame station had an ancient appearance. Its roof sagged in +the center, its walls were bulging with weakness. But it stood defiantly +flaunting its crimson paint above the wooden platform, a hardy pioneer +among the moderns. + +Business had strayed from the railroad track; it had left the station, +the freighthouse, the company corral, and some open sheds, to establish +its enterprises one block southward. There, fringing a wide, unpaved +street that ran east and west, parallel with the gleaming steel rails, +Business reared its citadels. + +Willets buildings were not imposing. One-story frames predominated, with +here and there a two-storied structure, or a brick aristocrat seeming to +call attention to its substantial solidity. + +Willets had plenty of space in which to grow, and the location of the +buildings on their sites, seemed to indicate that their builders +appreciated the fact that there was no need for crowding. Between each +building was space, suggestive of the unending plains that surrounded +the town. Willets sat, serene in its space and solitude, unhurried, +uncramped, sprawling over a stretch of grass level--a dingy, dirty, +inglorious Willets, shamed by its fringe of tin cans, empty bottles, and +other refuse--and by the clean sweep of sand and sage and grass that +stretched to its very doors. For Willets was man-made. + +From the second story of a brick building that stood on the southern +side of the street, facing the station, Gary Warden could look past the +red station into the empty corrals beside the railroad track. Jim +Lefingwell, Warden's predecessor, had usually smiled when he saw the +corral comfortably filled with steers. But Gary Warden smiled because +the corral was empty. + +Warden was standing beside a flat-topped desk at one of his office +windows. Warden was big, though not massive. He seemed to have the frame +of a tall, slender man, and had he stayed slender he might have carried +his flesh gracefully. But Warden had lived well, denying himself +nothing, and the flesh which had been added had formed in flabby +bunches, drooping his shoulders, sagging his jaws, swelling the back of +his neck. + +And yet Warden was not old; he had told some new-made friends in Willets +that he was thirty-five. But he looked older, for a certain blase +sophistication that shone from his eyes and sat on the curves of his +lips, did much to create the impression of past maturity. + +Warden dressed well. He was coatless, but he wore a shirt of some soft, +striped material, with a loose, comfortable-looking collar and a neat +bow tie. His hair was short, with bristles in the roll of fat at the +back of his neck; while at his forehead it was punctiliously parted, and +plastered down with precision. + +Warden was not alone. At another window, her elbows on the sill, her +hands crossed, her chin resting on the knuckles of the upper one, sat a +woman. + +She was young, slender, lissom. There was grace in every line of her, +and witchery in the eyes that watched Warden with a steady gaze. She +too, was hatless, seemingly conscious of the beauty of her hair, which +was looped and twisted into glistening strands that fell over her +temples and the back of her neck. + +As she watched Warden, who was smiling at the empty corral, she withdrew +her elbows from the window-sill, twisted around, so that she faced +Warden, and idly twirled the felt hat that she took from her lap. + +"Does something please you, Gary?" she asked with slight, bantering +emphasis. + +Warden's smile broadened. "Well, I'm not exactly displeased." + +"With Willets--and the rest of it?" + +"With that corral--over there." He pointed. + +"Why, it's empty!" + +"That's why." + +"Why you are pleased! That is odd. As a buyer, I should think you would +be more pleased if the corral were full--had cows in it. That is what +you are here for, isn't it?" + +"Yes," grinned Warden; "to keep it empty until it is filled with steers +at my price." + +"Oh, bother!" The woman yawned. "I am glad it is you and not I who is to +deal with these clod-hoppers. I should turn sour--or laugh myself to +death." + +"Getting tired of it already, Della?" + +"Dreadfully tired, Gary. If I could see one interesting person, or a +good-looking man with whom I could flirt----" + +"Don't forget our engagement, Della," warned Warden. + +She laughed, shooting a mischievous glance at him. "Oh, it would be +harmless, I assure you--mere moral exercise. Do you imagine I could lose +my heart to one of these sagebrush denizens?" + +"Not you, Della," grinned Warden; "that isn't your style." + +The girl yawned again, and got to her feet, smoothing her ruffled +skirts. Then she walked to a mirror on a wall near the door, and spent +some time placing the felt hat on her head at a precise angle, making +certain that the coils of hair under it were arranged in the most +effective manner. She tucked a stray wisp into the mass at the nape of +her neck, patted the glistening coils so that they bulged a little +more--smiling with smooth serenity at the reflection in the glass. + +"Well, good-bye, Gary. I left Aunt Hannah at Corwin's store. She'll be +afraid I've eloped with you. No," she added, as Warden advanced toward +her; "no kisses now. I'll look in again before we leave town." + +She opened the door, and as it closed she flashed a smile at Warden. +Then he heard her descending the stairs. He watched the closed door for +an instant, frowning disappointedly; then he strode again to one of the +front windows, grinning as his gaze rested on the empty corral. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +REBELLION + + +Accident or design had placed the schoolhouse at the eastern edge of +town. The invisible power which creates the schoolhouse seemingly takes +no account of time or place. It comes, unheralded, unsung, and squats in +the place where the invisible power has placed it, and instantly becomes +as indispensable as the ungainly youth that occupies it. + +All youth is not ungainly. Ruth Hamlin was considering the negative +proposition as she stood on the little platform in front of the +blackboard just before noon, calmly scrutinizing the faces of the score +of pupils who composed her "class." + +About half of her pupils, she decided, were worthy of the affection she +had bestowed upon them. The remainder were ungrateful, incorrigible +hoodlums. There had been times when Ruth wondered if the task of +teaching was worth while. + +A good teacher must not be vindictive; and Ruth was trying her best to +keep alive the spark of mercy and compassion that threatened to burn +itself out. + +Despite her apparent calm--the outward sign of cold self-control--Ruth's +face revealed indications of the terrific struggle that was going on +within her. Her face was pale, and though her eyes seemed to smile, +there was a gleam far back in them that suggested thoughts of force, +instant, vicious. Also there was wrath in them--wrath that threatened to +break with volcanic fury. + +The girl was of medium height, and yet she seemed to be almost tall as +she stood on the platform. She was erect, her head was held high. She +was slender, with a gracefully rounded figure, but as she stood there, +her muscles straining, her chest swelling with the passion she was +trying to suppress, she must have appeared Amazonic to the culprits +whose crimes had goaded her to thoughts of corporal punishment. + +It was not difficult to single out the culprits. There were two, and +they sat defiantly in their seats, sneering their contempt of the +teacher's wrath, advertising their entire disregard for the restraining +influence of rules. + +Both were boys. The larger, freckle-faced, with an uptilted nose and +belligerent eyes, was fully as tall as Ruth. He was broad and muscular, +and it was evident that consideration for his size was one influence +that had thus far delayed the punishment he no doubt merited. + +It was evident, too, that the culprit suspected this, for as Ruth's +hesitation continued he grew bolder and more contemptuous. And now, +having divined that Ruth would not attempt to inflict the punishment she +meditated, the young man guffawed loudly. + +"Shucks," he sneered, winking piratically at his brother-culprit; "she's +tryin' to run a whizzer in on us. She ain't goin' to do _nuthin'_!" + +"Jimmy Singleton; you advance to the platform!" Ruth's voice came +sharply, quavering with the passion she had been suppressing until now. + +She stood rigid until "Jimmy" got out of his seat with elephantine +deliberation, and shuffled to the edge of the platform, where he stood, +grinning defiantly. + +Ruth raised the lid of her desk and took out a formidable willow branch, +which she had cut only the day before from a tree that grew beside the +Wolf near her cabin, in anticipation of the present incident. + +She had known for many days that she would have to punish Jimmy +Singleton, for Jimmy had been growing daily less amenable to discipline. +But she had hoped that she would not be compelled to punish him--she had +escaped that disagreeable task so far. + +But there was no alternative, and though she grew deadly white and her +legs grew weak as she drew out the willow switch, she advanced on Jimmy, +her eyes flaming with desperate resolution. + +As she reached Jimmy's side, he lunged toward her. He struck viciously +at her with his fist, the blow landing on her shoulder near the neck. It +had been aimed at her face, but she had somehow dodged it. The force of +the blow brought Jimmy against her, and he seized her around the waist +and attempted to throw her. She brought the switch down sharply on +Jimmy's legs as they struggled, and the sting of the blow enraged the +boy. He deliberately wrenched himself loose; then leaped forward, +swinging his arms viciously. + +He had not struck the girl fairly, but she was in a daze from the rapid +movement, and she was not aware of what was going on around her, +centering all her energy in an attempt to keep the boy from striking +her face. + +But she suddenly became conscious that a big form had loomed close to +her; she heard a deep, angry voice saying: + +"I'll attend to you--you young pirate!" + +And then Jimmy was jerked backward, away from her; and she saw Kane +Lawler standing not more than two or three paces from her. His right +hand was twisted in Jimmy's collar; and there was an expression of cold +rage on his face--despite the smile he gave her when she looked at +him--that chilled her. + +But she made no objection when Lawler walked to a chair that stood on +the platform, dragging the now protesting Jimmy after him by the scruff +of the neck. There was something of majestic deliberation in Lawler's +movements, she thought, as he seated himself in the chair and placed the +struggling Jimmy across his knees. + +Ruth had never entertained a bloodthirsty thought, but her passions were +very near that point when she saw Lawler's large, capable right hand +begin to descend upon Jimmy's anatomy. She gasped at first, at Lawler's +temerity; and then she stepped back and watched him, her heart singing +with approval. + +Lawler's capable right hand descended many times with a force that +brought dismal howls from the unlucky culprit--so many times and with +such force that the girl began to fear that Jimmy would be fatally +injured. Jimmy likewise entertained that fear, for his howls grew more +shrill, laden with mingled terror and pain, until the piercing appeal +of them sent the other pupils out of their seats and into the open +shouting that Jimmy was being "killed." + +Then, just when Ruth decided to protest, Lawler swung Jimmy around and +placed him upright upon the platform. What Lawler said to Jimmy, Ruth +did not hear, so low was his voice. But she heard Jimmy's reply, as did +some of the children who still lingered outside the door: + +"You've walloped me, damn you; you've walloped me!" + +Jimmy ran frenziedly to the door, plainly in fear that he would be +"walloped" again if he did not make his escape; and when he reached the +door he shrieked through unmanly tears: + +"My paw will wallop you; you locoed maverick--you see if he don't!" + +Jimmy vanished. There was no doubt in Lawler's mind, nor in Ruth's, that +he had gone to relate his trouble to his "paw;" and that "paw" would +presently appear to exact the lurid punishment Jimmy desired. + +But thoughts of imminent punishment were not in Lawler's mind as he +faced Ruth. There was nothing but humorous concern in his eyes and +voice. + +"Did he hurt you, Ruth?" + +"I--I think not," she smiled; "but I have no doubt that he would have +thrashed me soundly if you hadn't come when you did. I am sorry it +happened, but I just _had_ to discipline him. He was setting a bad +example for the other pupils." + +"Teaching school isn't the best job in the world, is it?" + +"Decidedly not!" She looked quickly at Lawler, for something in his +voice hinted of subtlety; and when she saw his eyes agleam with the +whimsical humor that was always in them when he spoke of his hope of +winning her, she knew that he had attacked her obliquely. + +Her cheeks flushed, and she drooped her shining eyes from his, murmuring +low: + +"But I am going to keep at it for the present, Kane." + +"I was hoping--" he began. But he paused when she shook her head. + +"Is that what you rode to town for?" she asked. + +"That's the big reason," he returned. "The other is that I'm here to +sell Gary Warden my cattle." + +"I don't like Gary Warden!" she declared. + +His eyes twinkled. "I've heard that before--two or three times. By the +time I see him I'll be disliking, him, myself." + +The class, Ruth now noted, had departed--undoubtedly to follow Jimmy +Singleton; or perhaps seizing the opportunity so suddenly presented to +play truant. At all events the school was deserted except for +themselves. + +But Ruth did not seem to mind, nor did Lawler express any regret for the +absence of an audience. He grinned widely at Ruth. + +"You'll not get them back today, I reckon. If you're riding back home +I'd be pleased to----" + +"But you have business with Gary Warden!" she reminded him. + +"That can wait. Blackburn won't have the herd here until tomorrow." + +Her eyes were glowing with pleasure, and the faint flush on her face +betrayed her still more. But she looked at him resolutely. + +"I shall stay the day out, whether the children come back or not," she +said. "And you must not permit me to interfere with business." + +It cost her something to tell him that, for the lure of him had seized +her long ago--during the first days of their acquaintance, in fact--and +she was deliberately refusing the happiness that was offered +her--because she could not confess her father's crimes to this man, and +because she would not marry him unless he knew. + +And not even then, perhaps. For she knew something of Lawler's high +ideals, the rugged honesty of him, his straightforwardness and his +hatred for the thieves who stole cattle--thieves like her father. She +couldn't marry him, feeling that each time he looked at her she must +feel that he would be thinking of the misdeeds of her parent. That would +be unbearable. + +He took a step, and stood beside her, looking down at her gravely. He +took one of her hands, she permitting it, lifting her eyes to his as he +drew the hand toward him. The hand lay inertly in his left; he covered +it with his right and held it thus in a warm, firm grip. Then he met her +eyes, his own swimming with a gentleness that made her draw a slow, deep +breath of wonder. + +This minute had been anticipated by both of them; for many months, when +they had stood close together, they had felt the imminence of surrender +to the longing that dwelt in both of them. + +But the girl resisted, as she had resisted many times. Her breath came +rapidly, and the captive hand trembled as she tried to withdraw it. + +"No; not now, Kane!" she protested; "not now--please!" + +Lawler laughed lowly, and held the hand for an instant longer, while he +compelled the girl's eyes to meet his. + +"All right," he said; "not now. But the time will come. Something is +worrying you, Ruth. But you don't trust me enough to tell me what it is. +Some day--when you discover that nothing but your love means anything to +me; when you realize that I love you enough to take you in spite of the +thing that worries you--you'll tell me. And then we'll forget it." + +He stepped back, releasing her hand, for he had heard a commotion +outside--Jimmy's voice, high-pitched, carrying a note of savage triumph; +and the voices of the other pupils in a shrill murmur, coming closer. + +Ruth started, clenched her hands and backed to the desk, where she +stood, her eyes wide, her breath coming fast, a picture of apprehension +and dismay. + +Her big eyes went to Lawler, who grinned faintly at her. + +"I reckon Jimmy's coming with his 'paw,'" he said. + +A big man, massive, muscular, with heavy shoulders that seemed to droop +with the weight of his great, long arms, stepped into the room. + +The man's head was big, like the rest of him, and covered with shaggy, +tawny hair which seemed to bristle with truculence. His chin was huge, +square, and sagging a little, his lips were in a hideous pout; and his +eyes, small, black, with heavy brows that made them seem deep-set, were +glittering with passion. + +He paused just inside the door, seemingly to accustom his eyes to the +subdued light of the room. His long arms were hanging at his sides, the +fingers clenching and unclenching close to the heavy pistols he +wore--one at each hip. As he stood there, blinking his eyes at Ruth and +Lawler, Lawler spoke. + +"Come in, Singleton," he said. + +Ruth was still standing at the desk. Her arms were now outstretched +along it, her hands gripping its edge. She started at the sound of +Lawler's voice, amazed at the change that had come in it--wondering +how--when it had been so gentle a few minutes before--it could now have +in it a quality that made her shudder. + +She saw the big man's eyes widen, noted that his shoulders sagged a +little when he heard Lawler's voice; observed that there seemed to come +an appreciable lessening of the tension of his taut muscles. She +marveled that the sound of one man's voice could have so calming an +effect upon another--that it could, at a stroke, seemingly, cool the +white-hot rage that had seized the man. + +But there was no doubt that a change had come over the big man. His +shoulders sagged further. A suggestion of a mirthless smile began to tug +at the corners of his mouth; he unclenched the fingers of his hands. + +"It's you, eh?" he said, gruffly. "My kid was sayin' someone in the +schoolhouse had walloped him, an' I was aimin' to find out who it was. I +reckon he's gone." + +"I walloped him, Singleton." + +Lawler's voice was gentle. In it was still a trace of that quality that +Ruth had sensed, softened now slightly by the knowledge that Singleton's +rage had slightly cooled. + +"There isn't a heap to be said, I reckon," Lawler resumed as Singleton +stood rigid again. "Your boy was trying to 'wallop' his teacher. I +happened to look in, and I had to take a hand in it, just to keep things +even. He had it coming to him, Singleton." + +Lawler's manner was conciliatory, even mildly placative. "I figured on +saving you a job, Singleton." + +Singleton's face reddened. + +"Lawler, I figger to lick my own kid." + +"Singleton, I reckon it can't be undone, and you'll have to make the +best of it. You and I have never got along well, but I want you to know +I didn't know it was your boy I punished." + +"Hell's fire!" snarled Singleton; "what you interferin' in the +schoolhouse for? What business you got buttin' in?" It was dear that +Singleton's rage was again rising. He must have noticed that the pupils +had crowded around the door, and that Jimmy was watching him, no doubt +disappointed that the salutary punishment for which he had hoped had +been unnecessarily delayed. + +Undoubtedly the presence of the children contributed to Singleton's +anger; but at bottom was his old dislike of Lawler--a dislike that the +incident of the whipping had increased to hatred. + +It was plain that Singleton meditated violence. Yet it was equally plain +that he feared Lawler. He never had seen Lawler draw a gun, but he had +heard tales of the man's ability with the weapon. There lingered in his +mind at this minute--as it had dwelt during all the days he had known +Lawler--the knowledge that Lawler's father had been a gunman of wide +reputation, and that he had taught his son the precision and swiftness +that had made him famous in the deadly art. + +That knowledge had always exerted a deterring influence upon Singleton; +there had been times when he would have drawn a gun on Lawler had it not +been that he feared the son might be as swift as the father. + +So Singleton had assured himself; he was not afraid of Lawler, he was +afraid of the reputation of Lawler's father. Singleton was reluctant to +admit that it was not Lawler's gun that he was afraid of, but something +that was in the man himself--in his confident manner, in the level +glance of his eyes; in the way he looked at Singleton--seeming to hint +that he knew the man's thoughts, and that when the time came--if it ever +came--he would convince Singleton that his fears were well founded. + +And, singularly, Singleton knew it; he knew that if he drew his gun on +Lawler, Lawler would anticipate the movement; Singleton had become +convinced of it--the conviction had become an obsession. That was why +his rage had cooled so suddenly when he had entered the schoolroom. + +But he knew, too, that Lawler never sought trouble; that within the past +few years--or since Singleton had known him--he had never drawn the gun +that reposed at his hip. And that knowledge brought the rage surging +back into Singleton's veins. He knew he could _talk_ to Lawler; that he +could say some of the things that were in his mind--that had been in his +mind all along; and that he would be safe so long as he kept his hands +away from his guns. + +As he snarled his questions at Lawler he took a step toward him. His +eyes were truculent again, his lips in the pout that had been on them +when he had entered. If Lawler didn't go for his gun he need have no +fear of him. For he was bigger than Lawler, stronger. And if he could +goad Lawler into using his fists instead of the dreaded gun he had no +doubt of the outcome. + +"Singleton," replied Lawler, answering the questions that had been +hurled at him; "what I am here for is my business. I don't feel a heap +like explaining it." + +"Business--bah!" sneered Singleton. "I reckon the business that brought +you here could be carried on better with no kids around." + +Singleton saw a pin point of fire glow in Lawler's eyes. But he noted +with venomous satisfaction that Lawler's hand did not move upward the +slightest fraction of an inch toward his gun, and he laughed +discordantly, taking another step toward Lawler, so that he would be +close enough to strike when the time came. + +"Lawler," he said, sticking his face close to the other's, his eyes +glittering with the malignant triumph that had seized him over the +conviction that Lawler would not try to draw his gun; "I'm figgerin' on +wallopin' you like you walloped my kid. Understand? I'm aimin' to make +you fight--with your fists. I'm goin' to knock hell out of you!". + +Lawler had not moved. Had Singleton not been so obsessed with thoughts +of an easy victory he might have noted that the pin point of fire that +had glowed in Lawler's eyes had grown larger, and that his muscles had +stiffened. Also, had Singleton been observant at this minute he must +have seen a faint grin on Lawler's lips. + +"Hell's fire!" snarled Singleton; "won't anything make you fight! +There's that girl there--Ruth Hamlin. You think she's got a right to be +proud as she is. Lawler, you don't know her; you don't know what's goin' +on over there at the Two Bar--Hamlin's ranch. This here school teachin' +of hers is only a blind--a blind, I tell you! A blind for other things +that her an'----" + +Ruth's sharp, protesting cry was drowned in a sodden swish as Lawler +struck. His fist had shot upward with the weight of his body behind it, +landing fairly on the point of Singleton's chin, snapping his teeth shut +with a clack. + +Singleton's head went back, his body rose from the floor. He came down +with his knees unjointed, his head sagging on his chest; came down in a +heap and tumbled forward upon his face, his arms limp, the fingers +slowly spreading. + +For an instant Lawler stood over him, pale, his eyes agleam. Then when +Singleton did not move he turned to Ruth, smiling faintly. + +"Go home, now, Ruth, before this beast comes to life. Go out and send +the children away. I've got something to say to Singleton." + +Ruth looked intently at him, saw there would be no use of pleading with +him, and walked to the door, dragging the children away from it, telling +them to go home. + +Jimmy Singleton, terrorized by the thing that had happened to his +father, needed no urging. He ran, whimpering, toward town, the other +children following. + +Ruth went to the shed where she kept her pony, threw saddle and bridle +on him and led him to the step, where she usually mounted. + +The door of the schoolhouse was closed. Trailing the reins over the +pony's head, she ran to one of the windows--a small one in the center of +the side wall, dust-begrimed, with one pane of glass missing. + +Peering within, she saw Singleton sitting up, staring dazedly around, +supporting himself with his hands, an expression of almost laughable, +bewilderment on his face. + +Lawler was standing near him--big, stern, seeming to wait for Singleton +to rise before he spoke to him. + +And while Ruth watched, Singleton staggered to his feet. He swayed +uncertainly as he faced Lawler; and when Lawler advanced toward him he +cringed and staggered back, raising one arm as though to ward off an +expected blow. + +Ruth heard his voice; it was a whine, tremulous with fear. + +"Don't hit me again, Lawler; I wasn't meanin' anything!" + +And then Ruth saw that Singleton must have been struck a second time, +for high up on his left cheek was a huge gash that had suffused his chin +and neck with blood. She remembered that while saddling and bridling her +pony she had heard a sound from within the schoolhouse, but she had +thought then that it must have been Lawler moving a chair. Plainly, +Singleton had recovered from the first blow, and had received another. + +Lawler's voice again reached her. It was low, vibrant with passion. + +"Singleton, I ought to kill you. I will kill you if you ever tell that +girl that you know her father is a rustler. Damn your hide, she knows it +now--and it's breaking her heart! + +"I'm warning you. Don't you ever go near the Two Bar again. Don't you +ever buy another steer from Hamlin. Don't even speak to him. I'll kill +you sure as hell if you do!" + +Ruth reeled away from the window. She got on her pony somehow, taking +care to make no sound, for she did not want Lawler to know that she had +heard. Once on the pony she sent the little animal rapidly away, toward +the Two Bar--away from Lawler and from that happiness for which she had +hoped despite the hideous knowledge which for months had tortured her. + +Inside the schoolhouse Singleton was standing, beaten by the man over +whom he had thought to triumph easily; by a man whose pallid face and +blazing eyes conveyed to Singleton something of the terrible power and +energy of him when aroused. + +Singleton did not think of his guns, now; he was aware of nothing but +the great awe that had seized him. And as Lawler watched, saying nothing +more, Singleton turned from him and slunk out through the door. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +A MAN'S WORD + + +When Lawler finally emerged from the schoolhouse door there was no one +about. Far down the street, in front of a building, he saw a group of +children. Lawler recognized the building as the Wolf Saloon--so named +because of the river that ran through the town. He had no doubt that +Singleton had entered the building--that would explain the presence of +the children in front of it. + +But Lawler merely glanced toward town; he turned instantly and gazed +long into the great stretch of plain that ran eastward. He caught sight +of a dot on his right, so far away that it was dim in the haze of +distance, and he knew Ruth had followed his advice. + +Lawler watched the dot until it vanished, and when he turned again--to +mount Red King--his color had returned, though something of the mighty +passion that had gripped him was still swimming in his eyes. + +He sent Red King into town at a slow lope, not even looking toward the +Wolf as he passed it, but hearing subdued voices that seemed to die away +as he drew close. + +He brought Red King to a halt in front of the brick building in which +Gary Warden had his office, dismounted, tied the horse to a hitching +rail and strode to an open doorway from which ran the stairs that led +to the second floor. A gilt sign on the open door advised him of the +location of Warden's office. + +With one foot on the stairs, ready to ascend, Lawler heard a woman's +voice, floating downward, coming from the landing above: + +"Well, good-bye Gary," said the voice; "I'll see you tonight." + +Lawler heard a man's voice answering, the words unintelligible to him; +then the woman laughed, banteringly. + +Then came the sound of a door closing, and the light tread of a woman's +foot on the stairs. + +Lawler had halted when he heard the woman's voice; he now stepped back +in the narrow hallway, against the open door, to give the woman room to +pass him. + +Turning his back to the stairs, unconcernedly waiting, subconsciously +realizing that the woman was descending, he gazed past the station +building to see the empty corrals on the other side of the railroad +track. His eyes narrowed with satisfaction--for there would be room for +the thousand head of cattle that Blackburn and the other men of the +Circle L outfit would bring to Willets in the morning. There would be no +delay, and no camp on the edge of town, awaiting the emptying of the +corral. + +When he heard the woman's step on the bottom of the stairs he turned and +faced her. She was looking straight at him, and as their eyes met he saw +hers widen eloquently. She half paused as she started to pass him, and +it seemed to him that she was about to speak. He smiled gravely, +puzzled, hesitant, for her manner indicated that she knew him, or was +mistaking him for another. He paused also, and both stood for a fleeting +instant face to face, silent. + +Lawler noted that the woman was beautiful, well dressed, with a manner +unmistakably eastern. He decided that she had mistaken him for someone +of her acquaintance, for he felt assured he never had seen her before. +He bowed, saying lowly: + +"I beg your pardon, ma'am; I reckon it's a case of mistaken identity." + +"Why," she returned, laughing; "I thought sure I knew you. Are you quite +certain that I don't?" + +There was guile in her eyes; so far back that he could not see it, or so +cleverly veiled with something else that he was not aware of it. It +seemed to him that the eyes were merely engaging, and frankly curious. +He did not see the admiration in them, the elation, and the demure +coquetry. + +"I reckon you'll have to be the judge of that, ma'am. You certainly have +the advantage of me." + +"You are--" Her pause was eloquent. + +"I am Kane Lawler, ma'am." + +He looked into her eyes for the disappointment he expected to find +there, and saw only eager interrogation. + +"Oh, then I don't know you. I beg your pardon." + +"I reckon there's no harm done," smiled Lawler. + +He bowed again, noting that she looked intently at him, her eyes still +wide and filled with something he could not fathom. And when halfway up +the stairs he looked back, curious, subtly attracted to the woman, he +saw her standing in the doorway, ready to go out, watching him over her +shoulder. He laughed and opened the door of Gary Warden's office. + +Warden was sitting at his desk. He turned at the sound of the door +opening, and faced Lawler inquiringly. + +Perhaps in Lawler's eyes there still remained a trace of the cold +passion that had seized him in the schoolhouse; it may have been that +what Lawler had heard of Gary Warden was reflected in his gaze--a doubt +of Warden's honorableness. Or perhaps in Lawler's face he observed signs +which told him that before him stood a man of uncommon character. + +At any rate, Warden was conscious of a subtle pulse of antagonism; a +quick dislike--and jealousy. + +Warden could not have told what had aroused the latter emotion, though +he was subconsciously aware that it had come when he had noted the +rugged, manly strength of Lawler's face; that the man was attractive, +and that he admired him despite his dislike. + +That knowledge aroused a dull rage in him. His cheeks flushed, his eyes +glowed with it. + +But Warden's smile contradicted his thoughts. He managed that so +cleverly that many men, watching him, might have been deceived. + +In Lawler's keen eyes, however, glowed understanding--a knowledge of +Warden's character that vindicated the things he had heard about the +man--the tentative suggestions that Warden was not a worthy successor to +Lefingwell. + +That knowledge, though, would not have bothered him, had he not seen in +Warden's eyes something that seemed to offer him a personal affront. As +quickly as Warden had veiled his eyes from Lawler, the latter had seen +the dislike in them, the antagonism, and the rage that had stained his +cheeks. + +He had come to Warden's office with an open mind; now he looked at the +man with a saturnine smile in which there was amused contempt. Assuredly +the new buyer did not "measure up" to Jim Lefingwell's "size," as +Blackburn had suggested. + +Therefore, aware that he could not meet this man on the basis of +friendliness that had distinguished all his relations with Jim +Lefingwell, Lawler's voice was crisp and businesslike: + +"You're Gary Warden?" + +At the latter's short, affirmative nod, Lawler continued: + +"I'm Kane Lawler, of the Circle L. I've come to make arrangements with +you about buying my cattle. I've got eight thousand head--good clean +stock. They're above the average, but I'm keeping my word with Jim +Lefingwell, and turning them in at the market price." + +"That's twenty-five dollars, delivered at the railroad company's corral, +in town here." + +He looked straight at Lawler, his face expressionless except for the +slight smile that tugged at the corners of his mouth--which might have +been indicative of vindictiveness or triumph. + +"Thirty," smiled Lawler. "That was the price Lefingwell agreed to pay." + +Warden appeared to be blandly amused. + +"Lefingwell agreed to pay thirty, you say? Well, Lefingwell always was a +little reckless. That's why my company asked for his resignation. But if +you have a written contract with Lefingwell--in which it appears that +Lefingwell acted for the company, why, of course we'll have to take your +stock at the contract price. Let me see it, if you please." + +"There was no written contract; I had Jim Lefingwell's word--which was +all I ever needed." + +"Lefingwell's word," smiled Warden. "Unfortunately, a man's word is not +conclusive proof." + +"Meaning that Jim Lefingwell was lying when he told you he'd agreed to +pay thirty dollars for my stock this fall?" + +"Oh, no. I don't insinuate against Lefingwell's veracity. But the +company requires a written agreement in a case like this--where the +former representative----" + +"We won't argue that," interrupted Lawler. "Jim Lefingwell told me he'd +had a talk with you about my agreement with him, and Jim said you'd +carry it out." + +"Mr. Lefingwell did not mention the matter to me." + +"I'd hate to think Jim Lefingwell lied to me," said Lawler, slowly. + +Warden's face grew crimson. "Meaning that I'm a liar, I suppose," he +said, his voice quavering with sudden passion. + +Lawler's level gaze made him stiffen in his chair. Lawler's smile, cold +and mirthless, brought a pulse of apprehension through him, and Lawler's +voice, slow, clear, and distinct, forced the blood from his face, +leaving it pale: + +"I don't let any man twist my words so that they mean something I don't +intend them to mean, Mister Man. If I intended to call you a liar, I'd +have said it to you mighty plain, so there'd be no doubt in your mind +about it. So far as I know, you are not a liar. I'm telling you this, +though: A man's word in this country has got to be backed by his +performances--and he's got to have memory enough to know when he gives +his word. + +"I reckon that where you come from men give their word without knowing +it. Maybe that's what happened to you when Jim Lefingwell spoke to you +about his agreement with me. Anyway, I feel that charitable enough +toward you to advance that explanation. You can take that for what it +seems worth to you. And I won't be bothered any, no matter which way you +take it." + +Lawler turned toward the door. On the threshold he paused, for Warden's +voice reached him. + +"You'd better sell at twenty-five, Mr. Lawler." + +Warden's voice was low and smooth; he seemed to have decided to accept +the "charity" offered him by Lawler. But there was mockery in his voice, +and his eyes were alight with cunning. In the atmosphere about him was +complacency which suggested that Warden knew exactly what he was doing; +that he had knowledge unsuspected by Lawler, and that he had no doubt +that, ultimately, Lawler would accept his offer. + +"Not a steer at twenty-five," returned Lawler. + +"That price means immediate shipment," pursued Warden. "The railroads +are having some trouble with their rolling stock--it is hard to get +cars. Some shippers are not getting them at all. And the shortage will +grow." + +"Perhaps it will. I don't blame you for buying as low as you can. That's +business, Warden. I heard through Lew Brainard, of the Two Diamond, that +owners in the South Basin, over at Shotwell, were offered forty just +before the round-up. I was kicking myself for making that agreement with +Lefingwell at thirty. But I intended to keep my word with him. But I +feel mighty free, now, to sell where I can get the market price." + +"Twenty-five is the market price," said Warden. "Just before the +round-up there was some nervousness, it is true; and some buyers were +offering forty--and they contracted for some at that price. But that was +before we made--" He hesitated, reddened, and then went on quickly, +plainly embarrassed, endeavoring to conceal his embarrassment by +lighting a cigar. + +"It was before the market broke," he went on. "The market is glutted. +The West raised more cattle this season than ever before. There is no +demand and the price had to tumble. A good many cattle owners will be +glad to take twenty, and even fifteen, before long." + +"But if there are no cars?" smiled Lawler. + +Again he saw Warden's face redden. + +"A shortage of cars would mean a shortage of cattle in the East, I +reckon," went on Lawler. "And a shortage of cattle would mean higher +prices for those that got through. But I'm not arguing--nor am I +accepting twenty-five for my cattle. I reckon I'll have to ship my stock +East." + +"Well, I wish you luck," said Warden. + +He turned his back to Lawler, bending over his desk. + +Something in his voice--a hint of mockery tempered with rage--brought +Lawler to a pause as he crossed the threshold of the doorway. He turned +and looked back at Warden, puzzled, for it seemed to him that Warden was +defying him; and he seemed to feel the atmosphere of complacence that +surrounded the man. His manner hinted of secret knowledge--strongly; it +gave Lawler an impression of something stealthy, clandestine. Warden's +business methods were not like Lefingwell's. Lefingwell had been bluff, +frank, and sincere; there was something in Warden's manner that seemed +to exude craft and guile. The contrast between the two men was sharp, +acute, startling; and Lawler descended the stairs feeling that he had +just been in contact with something that crept instead of walking +upright like a man. + +A recollection of the woman he had met at the foot of the stairs came to +Lawler as he descended, and thought of her did much to erase the +impression he had gained of Warden. He grinned, thinking of how he had +caught her watching him as he had mounted the stairs. And then he +reddened as he realized that he would not have known she was watching +him had he not turned to look back at her. + +He found himself wondering about her--why she had been in Warden's +office, and who she could be. And then he remembered his conversation +with Blackburn, about "chapper-owns," and he decided she must be that +woman to whom Blackburn had referred as "a woman at Lefingwell's old +place, keepin' Warden company." He frowned, and crossed the street, +going toward the railroad station building, in which he would find the +freight agent. + +And as he walked he was considering another contrast--that afforded by +his glimpse of the strange woman and Ruth Hamlin. And presently he found +himself smiling with pleasure, with a mental picture of Ruth's face +before him--her clear, direct-looking, honest eyes, with no guile in +them like that which had glowed in the eyes that had gazed into his at +the foot of the stairs. + +Over in Corwin's store, where "Aunt Hannah," had gone to make some small +purchases, the woman who had encountered Lawler in the hall was talking +with the proprietor. Aunt Hannah was watching a clerk. + +"Della," she called; "do you want anything?" + +"Nothing, Aunty," returned the woman. Then she lowered her voice, +speaking to Corwin: + +"So he owns the Circle L? Is that a large ranch?" + +"One of the biggest in the Wolf River section," declared Corwin. + +"Then Lawler must be wealthy." + +"I reckon he's got wads of dust, ma'am." + +The woman's eyes glowed with satisfaction. + +"Well," she said; "I was just curious about him. He is a remarkably +striking-looking man, isn't he?" + +"You've hit it, ma'am," grinned Corwin. "I've been years tryin' to think +up a word that would fit him. You've hit it. He's different. Looks like +one of them statesmen with cowpuncher duds on--like a governor or +somethin', which is out of place here." + +The woman smiled affirmation. "So he does," she said, reflectively. "He +is big, and imposing, and strikingly handsome. And he is educated, too, +isn't he?" + +"I reckon he is," said Corwin. "Privately, that is. His maw was a +scholar of some kind back East, before she married Luke Lawler an' come +out here to live with him. Luke's dead, now--died five years ago. Luke +was a wolf, ma'am, with a gun. He could shoot the buttons off your coat +with his eyes shut. An' he was so allfired fast with his gun that he'd +make a streak of lightnin' look like it was loafin'. Luke had a heap of +man in him, ma'am, an' Kane is just as much of a man as his dad was, I +reckon. Luke was----" + +"About Kane Lawler," interrupted the woman. "You say he is well +educated?" + +"That's about the only thing I've got ag'in' him, ma'am. I hold that no +cattleman has got a right to know so durned much. It's mighty +dangerous--to his folks--if he ever gets any. Now take Kane Lawler. If +he was to marry a girl that wasn't educated like him, an' he'd begin to +get fool notions about hisself--why, it'd make it pretty hard for the +girl to get along with him." He grinned. "But accordin' to what I hear, +Kane ain't goin' to marry no ignoramus exactly, for he's took a shine to +Ruth Hamlin, Willets' school teacher. She's got a heap of brains, that +girl, an' I reckon she'd lope alongside of Kane, wherever he went." + +The woman frowned. "Is Mr. Lawler going to marry Ruth Hamlin?" + +Corwin looked sharply at her. "What do you suppose he's fannin' up to +her for?" he demanded. "Neither of them is a heap flighty, I reckon. An' +Kane will marry her if she'll have him--accordin' to the way things +generally go." + +The woman smiled as she left Corwin and joined the older woman at the +front of the store. She smiled as she talked with the other woman, and +she smiled as they both walked out of the store and climbed into a +buckboard. The smile was one that would have puzzled Corwin, for it was +inscrutable, baffling. Only one thing Corwin might have seen in +it--determination. And that might have puzzled him, also. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +THE INVISIBLE POWER + + +Jay Simmons, the freight agent, was tilted comfortably in a chair near a +window looking out upon the railroad platform when Lawler stepped into +the office. The office was on the second floor, and from a side window +the agent had seen Lawler coming toward the station from Warden's +office. He had been sitting near the side window, but when he saw Lawler +approaching the station he had drawn his chair to one of the front +windows. And now, apparently, he was surprised to see Lawler, for when +the latter opened the door of the office Simmons exclaimed, with assumed +heartiness: + +"Well, if it ain't Kane Lawler!" + +Simmons was a rotund man, bald, with red hair that had a faded, +washed-out appearance. His eyes were large, pale blue in color, with a +singularly ingratiating expression which was made almost yearning by +light, colorless lashes. + +Simmons' eyes, however, were unreliable as an index to his character. +One could not examine very far into them. They seemed to be shallow, +baffling. Simmons did not permit his eyes to betray his thoughts. He +used them as masks to hide from prying eyes the things that he did not +wish others to see. + +"Come a-visitin', Lawler?" asked Simmons as Lawler halted midway in the +room and smiled faintly at the greeting he received. + +"Not exactly, Simmons." + +"Not exactly, eh? I reckon that means you've got some business. I'll be +glad to help you out--if I can." + +"I'm going to ship my stock East, Simmons, and I'm wanting cars for +them--eight thousand head." + +Simmons still sat in the chair beside the window. He now pursed his +lips, drew his brows together and surveyed Lawler attentively. + +"Eight thousand head, eh? Sort of whooped 'em up this season, didn't +you. I reckon Gary Warden took 'em all?" + +"Warden and I couldn't get together. I'm shipping them East, myself." + +"Consignin' 'em to who?" + +"They'll go to Legget and Mellert." + +"H'm; they're an independent concern, ain't they?" + +"Yes; that's the firm my father shipped to before Jim Lefingwell opened +an office here." + +Simmons locked his fingers together and squinted his eyes at Lawler. + +"H'm," he said. Then he was silent, seemingly meditating. Then he shook +his head slowly from side to side. Apparently he was gravely considering +a problem and could find no solution for it. + +He cleared his throat, looked at Lawler, then away from him. + +"I reckon it's goin' to be a lot bothersome to ship that bunch of stock, +Lawler--a heap bothersome. There's been half a dozen other owners in to +see me within the last week or so, an' I couldn't give them no +encouragement. There ain't an empty car in the state." + +Lawler was watching him intently, and the expression in his eyes +embarrassed Simmons. He flushed, cleared his throat again, and then shot +a belligerent glance at Lawler. + +"It ain't my fault--not a bit of it, Lawler. I've been losin' sleep over +this thing--losin' sleep, I tell you! I've telegraphed every damned +point on the line. This road is swept clean as a whistle. 'No cars' they +wire back to me--'no cars!' I've read that answer until there ain't no +room for anything else in my brain. + +"The worst of it is, I'm gettin' blamed for it. You'd think I was +runnin' the damned railroad--that I was givin' orders to the president. +Lem Caldwell, of the Star, over to Keegles, was in here yesterday, +threatenin' to herd ride me if I didn't have a hundred cars here this +day, week. He'd been to see Gary Warden--the same as you have--an' he +was figgerin' on playin' her independent. An' some more owners have been +in. I don't know what in hell the company is thinkin' of--no cars, an' +the round-up just over." + +Simmons had worked himself into a near frenzy. His face had become +bloated with passion, he was breathing fast. But Lawler noted that his +eyes were shifty, that he turned them everywhere except upon Lawler. + +Simmons now paused, seemingly having exhausted his breath. + +"I've just left Gary Warden," said Lawler, slowly. "He offered his price +for my stock. He told me if I accepted, it meant there would be no +delay, that they would be shipped immediately. Warden seems to know +where he can get cars." + +Simmons' face reddened deeply, the flush suffusing his neck and ears. He +shot one swift glance at Lawler, and then looked down. In that swift +glance, however, Lawler had seen a fleeting gleam of guilt, of +insincerity. + +Lawler laughed shortly--a sound that made Simmons shoot another swift +glance at him. + +"How is it that Gary Warden figures on getting cars, Simmons?" said +Lawler. + +Simmons got up, his face flaming with rage. + +"You're accusin' me of holdin' somethin' back, eh? You're callin' me a +liar! You're thinkin' I'm----" + +"Easy, there, Simmons." + +There was a chill in Lawler's voice that brought Simmons rigid with a +snap--as though he had suddenly been drenched with cold water. The flush +left his face; he drew a deep, quick breath; then stood with open mouth, +watching Lawler. + +"Simmons," said the latter; "it has been my experience that whenever a +man is touchy about his veracity, he will bear watching. You and Gary +Warden have both flared up from the same spark. I don't know whether +this thing has been framed up or not. But it looks mighty suspicious. It +is the first time there has been a lack of cars after a round-up. +Curiously, the lack of cars is coincident with Gary Warden's first +season as a buyer of cattle. + +"I don't say that you've got anything to do with it, but it's mighty +plain you know something about it. I'm not asking you to tell what you +know, because if there is a frame-up, it's a mighty big thing, and you +are about as important a figure in it as a yellow coyote in a desert. I +reckon that's all, Simmons. You can tell your boss that Kane Lawler says +he can go to hell." + +He wheeled, crossed the floor, went out of the room and left the door +open behind him. Simmons could hear his step on the stairs. Then Simmons +sat down again, drew a big red bandanna handkerchief from a hip pocket +and wiped some big beads of perspiration from his forehead. He was +breathing fast, and his face was mottled with purple spots. He got up, +ran to a side window, and watched Lawler until the latter vanished +behind a building opposite Gary Warden's office. + +Again Simmons mopped his brow. And now he drew a breath of relief. + +"Whew!" he said, aloud; "I'm glad that's over. I've been dreadin' it. +He's the only one in the whole bunch that I was afraid of. An' he's +wise. There'll be hell in this section, now--pure, unadulterated hell, +an' no mistake!" + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +THE COALITION + + +When Lawler reached Willets' one street he saw a buckboard drawn by two +gray horses. The vehicle was headed west, away from him, and the horses +were walking. The distance between himself and the buckboard was not +great, and he saw that it was occupied by two women--one of them the +woman whom he had met at the foot of the stairs leading to Warden's +office. The other was elderly, and was looking straight ahead, but the +young woman's head was turned toward Lawler at the instant Lawler caught +sight of the buckboard. It seemed to him that the young woman must have +been watching him, before he became aware of the buckboard, for there +was a smile on her face as she looked at him; and when she seemed sure +that he was looking she gayly waved a white handkerchief. + +Lawler did not answer the signal. He looked around, thinking that +perhaps the woman might have waved the handkerchief at some friend she +had just left, and when he turned she had her back to him. + +Lawler was conscious of a pulse of amusement over the woman's action, +though he experienced no fatuous thrill. The woman was frivolous, and +had made no appeal to his imagination. + +Besides, Lawler was in no mood for frivolous thought. He was having his +first experience with the invisible and subtle power that ruled the +commerce of the nation, and his thoughts were serious--almost vicious. + +Somewhere a mighty hand had halted activity in the Wolf River section; a +power, stealthy, sinister, had interfered with the business in which he +was vitally interested, interrupting it, disturbing it. + +Lawler had kept himself well informed. In the big library at the Circle +L were various volumes relating to economics that had been well thumbed +by him. He had been privately educated, by his mother. And among the +books that lined the shelves of the library were the philosophers, +ancient and modern; the masters of art, science, and letters, and a +miscellany of authorities on kindred subjects. + +When his father had insisted that he be educated he had studied the +political history of his state; he had kept a serious eye upon the +activities of all the politicians of note; he had kept his mind open and +free from party prejudice. He knew that the present governor of the +state was incapable, or swayed by invisible and malign influences. He +was aware that the state railroad commissioner lacked aggressiveness, or +that he had been directed to keep in the background. And he was also +aware that for a year or more the people of the state had regretted +electing the present governor; the dissatisfaction manifesting itself in +various ways, though chiefly in the tone of the editorials published by +the newspapers in the towns. + +As the average newspaper editor endeavors to anticipate public opinion +he invariably keeps himself well informed concerning the activities of +an office-holder, that he may be prepared to campaign against him at the +instant he detects dissatisfaction among his subscribers. And the +present governor was being scathingly arraigned by the newspapers of the +state, while he sat in smug complacence in his office at the capital. He +had made no effort to correct some of the evils of government about +which he had raged just before the election. + +Lawler smiled with grim amusement as he walked toward the Willets +Hotel--where he meant to stay overnight. For he was convinced that the +car shortage could not exist if the state officials--especially the +railroad commissioner--would exert authority to end it. It seemed to +Lawler that there must exist a secret understanding between the railroad +commissioner and the invisible power represented by Gary Warden. And he +wondered at the temerity of the governor--the sheer, brazen disregard +for the public welfare that permitted him to become leagued with the +invisible power in an effort to rob the cattle owners of the state. He +must certainly know that he had been elected by the cattle owners--that +their votes and the votes of their employees had made it possible for +him to gain the office he had sought. + +But perhaps--and Lawler's lips curved with bitterness--the governor +wanted only one term. For two years of complete and absolute control of +the cattle industry of the state would make him wealthy enough to hold +public opinion in contempt. + +From a window of his office Gary Warden had watched Lawler go into the +station building. And from the same window Warden saw Lawler emerge. He +watched Lawler, noting the gravity of his face, exulting, smiling +mockingly. Warden also noted the little drama of the fluttering +handkerchief, and the smile went out and a black, jealous rage seized +him. + +However, Gary Warden and Jay Simmons were not the only persons in town +who watched Lawler. When he had entered town the school children who had +preceded him had watched him from in front of the Wolf; and half a dozen +lean-faced, rugged, and prosperous-looking men had watched him from the +lounging-room of the Willets Hotel. + +The men in the lounging-room were watching Lawler now, as he walked +toward the building, for they seemed to divine that he would enter. + +When Lawler stepped over the threshold his lips were set in stern, +serious lines and his brows were drawn together in a frown. For his +thoughts were dwelling upon the sinister power that threatened to create +confusion in the section. + +He did not see the men in the lounging-room until he had taken several +steps toward the desk; and then he glanced carelessly toward them. +Instantly his eyes glowed with recognition; he walked toward them. + +"Howdy, Lawler," greeted one, extending a hand. And, "howdy," was the +word that passed the lips of the others as Lawler shook hands with them. +He called them all by name; but it was to the first man that he spoke, +after the amenities had been concluded. + +"I heard you were in town, Caldwell," he said. + +Caldwell--a big man with a black beard, probing, intelligent eyes, and +an aggressive chin, grinned grimly. + +"Gary Warden tell you?" he asked. + +"No. Warden didn't mention you." + +"Then it was Jay Simmons. You ain't been anywhere else." + +"How do you know?" + +Caldwell exchanged glances with his companions. "I reckon we've been +watchin' you, Lawler. We seen you ride into town on Red King, an' we +seen you go over to the station from Warden's office." + +"Watching me?" queried Lawler; "what for?" + +"Wall, I reckon we wanted to see how you took it." + +"Took what?" + +"What Warden an' Simmons had to say to you. We got ours--me yesterday; +Barthman an' Littlefield this mornin'; an' Corts, Sigmund, an' Lester +the day before yesterday. I reckon the whole section will get it before +long. Looks like they're tryin' to squeeze us. How many steers did you +sell to Warden at twenty-five?" + +Lawler grinned. + +"An' Simmons?" said Caldwell, gleefully. + +"No cars." + +"Seems Simmons ain't makin' no exceptions. We've all heard the same +story. We knowed you'd be in, an' we sort of waited around, wonderin' +what you'd do about it. We didn't bring no cattle over, for we hadn't +made no arrangement with Jim Lefingwell--like you done--an' we didn't +want to stampede Warden." + +Lawler told them what had occurred in his interview with Warden. + +"I reckon Warden's the liar, all right," declared Caldwell; "Jim +Lefingwell's word was the only contract anyone ever needed with him." He +looked keenly at Lawler. "What you aimin' to do?" he questioned. + +"I've been thinking it over," said Lawler. + +"You ain't figgerin' to lay down to the cusses?" Caldwell's voice was +low and cold. + +Lawler looked straight at him, smiling. Caldwell laughed, and the others +grinned. + +"Lawler, we knowed you wouldn't," declared Caldwell; "but a man's got a +right to ask. Right here an' now somethin' has got to be done. Looks to +me as if we've got to play this game to a showdown, an' we might as well +start right now. They're ain't none of us men goin' to let Gary Warden +an' the railroad company run our business; but there's a few owners +around here that ain't got no stomach for a fight, an' they'd sell to +Warden for ten dollars rather than have any trouble. Them's the guys +we've got to talk mighty plain to. For if they go to sellin' for what +they can get, they'll make it allfired uncomfortable for us." + +"This is a free country, Caldwell. So far as I'm concerned every man +runs his own ranch and sells for what he thinks is a fair price. If we +go to interfering with them, we'd be as bad as Warden and the railroad +company." + +"Lawler, you're right," agreed Caldwell, after reflecting a moment. "I +didn't realize that, at first. A man don't think, when he's mad clear +through. But it's mighty plain--we've got to stand on our own feet, if +we stand at all." + +Barthman, a tall, lean-faced man, cleared his throat. + +"Lawler, you're the man to handle this thing. You've got the most money, +the most brains, an' you're known all over the state--on account of them +slick Herefords you've been raisin', an' on account of headin' the +delegation to the state convention last fall, from this county. You can +talk, for you mighty near stampeded that convention last fall. If you'd +said the word you'd have been governor today instead of that dumb coyote +which is holdin' down the office now. You've got the reputation an' the +backbone--an' they've got to listen to you. I've heard that cattle +owners all over the state are gettin' the same deal." Barthman's eyes +gleamed with passion. "I propose that you be elected chairman of this +meetin', an' that you be instructed to hop on the mornin' train an' go +to the railroad commissioner at the capital an' tell him that if he +don't give orders to bust up this thievin' combination the cattle owners +of this county will come down there an' yank off his hide!" + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +A WOMAN'S MERCY + + +Gary Warden did not stand at the office window many minutes after he saw +Lawler on the street. He drew on his coat, took his hat from a hook, on +the wall and descended the stairs. At the street door he glanced swiftly +around, saw Red King standing at the hitching rail in front of the +building, and several other horses farther up the street. There were +several men on the sidewalks, but he did not see Lawler. + +Grinning crookedly, Warden crossed the street and made his way to the +station building, where a few minutes later he was talking with Simmons. +Simmons was visibly excited. There was curiosity in Warden's gaze. + +"He's wise," said Simmons. He was still wiping perspiration from his +forehead, and he mechanically repeated to Warden the words he had +uttered to himself immediately after Lawler left his office: "I'm glad +it's over. I've been dreadin' it. He's the only one in the whole bunch +that I was afraid of. There'll be hell to pay in this section, +now--pure, unadulterated hell, an' no mistake!" And then he added +something that had occurred to him afterward: "If the big guys back of +this thing knowed Kane Lawler as well as I know him, they'd have thought +a heap before they started this thing!" + +"Bah!" sneered Warden; "you're raving! We know what we are doing. You +do as you're told--that's all. And keep your mouth shut. Just keep on +telling them there are no cars. That's the truth, isn't it?" He grinned +gleefully at Simmons. + +"So he's wise, eh?" he added. "Well, I'm damned glad of it--the +sagebrush rummie! We'll make him hump before we get through with him!" + +Hatred of Lawler had seized Warden--a passion that ran through his veins +with the virulence of a strong poison. It had been the incident of the +fluttering handkerchief that had aroused him. Until then he had merely +disliked Lawler, aware of the latent strength of him, his rugged +manliness, and his quiet confidence. All those evidences of character +had irritated him, for they had brought an inevitable contrast between +himself and the man, and he knew he lacked those things which would have +made him Lawler's equal. He felt inferior, and the malevolence that +accompanied the conviction was reflected in his face as he faced +Simmons. + +"No cars, now--damn them! Not a single car! Understand, Simmons? No +cars--you can't get them! No matter what happens, you can't get +cars--for anybody!" + +He left Simmons and descended to the street. As he passed the front of +the Willets Hotel he saw Lawler and his friends inside; but Lawler had +his back turned, and the others were interestedly watching him, +gesturing and talking. + +Warden entered the front door of the Wolf. He stopped at the bar for a +drink, and the barkeeper told him, in reply to his question, that +Singleton was in a rear room. + +Singleton was alone. He was sitting in a chair at a table, with a glass +in front of him, and he was staring abstractedly at the floor when +Warden entered, closing the door behind him. + +Warden drew a chair up to the table and dropped into it. And then for +the first time he looked closely at Singleton's face and saw the gash on +his left cheek. The wound had been treated, but beneath the cloth at one +end Warden could see the open flesh. + +"What in blazes has happened to you?" inquired Warden. + +"Lawler," growled Singleton; "he walloped my kid down at the +schoolhouse, an' when I went down there to take the kid's part, he +walloped me, too." He grinned lugubriously. "I didn't know the cuss +could hit so hard," he muttered. "Warden, he salivated me--hit me so +durned hard I thought the roof had dropped on me." + +Warden stiffened; then leaned forward, his lips loose, his eyes +malignant. "What do you carry those two guns for, Singleton? I thought +you knew how to use them. Men have told me you know." + +"Bah!" exclaimed Singleton. His gaze met Warden's, his eyes gleaming +with resentment. "What do you know about Kane Lawler?" + +"I hate him, Singleton." + +"Well, I reckon you ain't the only one. I ain't exactly in love with the +cuss, myself. I was thinkin' of my guns when I was with him in the +schoolhouse, but somehow I didn't feel like takin' a chance on slingin' +'em. I ain't tryin' to explain nothin'--I just couldn't make my hands go +for 'em, that's all. Hell! I reckon the man who can draw a gun on Kane +Lawler when he's lookin' at him ain't been born yet. But I'm gettin' +square with him for wallopin' me--I'm lettin' you know that, right +enough!" + +"You'll have your chance, Singleton. Lawler will have to trail his +cattle--as far as Red Rock, anyway." + +Singleton's eyes glowed with venomous satisfaction. He grinned evilly at +Warden. + +"So he wouldn't do business with you, eh? I knowed it, an' I've been +gettin' ready. Ha, ha! He'll wish he had. Blondy Antrim rode in as far +as Kinney's canon last night. I met him an' had a long talk with him. +He's keen for it--says he admires any guy which can plan a thing that +big. Grinned like a hyena when I told him the big guys back of it +wouldn't let any law interfere. He's got seventy men, he +says--dare-devil gun-fighters from down south a piece which will do +anything he tells 'em an' howl for more." + +Warden moistened his lips as he grinned his satisfaction. + +"There's only one trail, Singleton--you are sure of that?" + +"One trail--the Tom Long trail. The devil himself couldn't find another +through that country." + +Warden leaned back in his chair, laughing lowly. Into his manner as he +sat there came a confidence that had not been there before--bold, +arrogant. His laugh had a sinister quality in it; in his eyes was the +light of greed. + +And as he watched Singleton something else came into his eyes--something +abysmal, causing them to narrow and glow with a bestial light. + +"Singleton," he said, his voice thick and throaty; "when I stepped into +Jim Lefingwell's boots the county board of education appointed me to +succeed Lefingwell as school commissioner for Willets. It strikes me +that something ought to be done about the teacher punishing your boy. I +think I had better have a talk with her." + +"Shucks," growled Singleton; "I reckon the kid deserved what he got. He +was tryin' to wallop her when Lawler come in. I ain't admirin' Ruth +Hamlin none, but I reckon she wasn't to blame for that. If you was +figgerin' to see Lawler, now, why that would be more to the point." He +grinned crookedly at Warden, slight mockery in his gaze. + +Warden scowled. "That's your job, Singleton. If he tries to 'wallop' me +as he walloped you, I'll have something to say to him." + +"It's safer to telegraph to the cuss," grinned Singleton, sourly. + +Warden apparently did not hear Singleton's last words, for he was gazing +meditatively past him. He took leave of Singleton and walked to the +front of the saloon, where he stood for many minutes leaning on the bar, +thoughtfully looking out into the street. + +The shadows of the buildings across the street from him had grown long, +and the light from the sun was mellowing when Warden walked to the +front door and stood for an instant on the threshold. + +Down the street in front of his office stood Red King. Other horses were +hitched here and there, but there was no human being in sight. The quiet +peace of the waning afternoon had settled over town; it was the period +when human activity slackens. + +Warden stepped down upon the sidewalk. There was a furtive gleam in his +eyes, his face was flushed; he was in the grip of a passion that +thoughts of Ruth Hamlin had brought to him. He had seen the girl a +number of times; he had talked with her twice. Each time when he had +talked with her he had felt the heat of a great desire seize him. And +during his talk with Singleton he had yielded to the impulse that was +now driving him. + +Just why the impulse had come to him at that instant he could not have +told. He knew Kane Lawler's name had been mentioned in connection with +the girl's; and it might have been that his hatred of Lawler, and the +sudden jealousy that had developed in him over the incident of the +fluttering handkerchief, had gripped him. But he was aware that just at +this time he was risking much--risking his life and jeopardizing the +business venture in which he was engaged. Yet the impulse which was +driving him had made him reckless; it had dulled his sense of +responsibility; had swept away all considerations of caution. When he +saw there was no one on the street he walked eastward to the livery +stable where he kept his horse, saddled and bridled it, mounted and rode +away. + +His ranch, the Two Diamond, was fifteen miles southwestward. Warden rode +directly east, bearing a little south after he had traveled some +distance from town, striking a narrow trail that wound a sinuous course +over the plains. + +The passion that had seized Warden still held him. He told himself that +he really intended merely to call upon Ruth professionally, in his role +of school commissioner; he assured himself that she must be made to +understand that the forcible disciplining of her pupils would not be +tolerated. Yet as he rode he kept glancing backward apprehensively, +though he knew that if he made his visit merely official he need have +nothing to fear from anyone. + +Twice, as Warden rode, he halted his horse and debated the wisdom of +returning. And twice he rode on again telling himself he had a right to +visit the girl, and that he meant no harm. + +At most he desired merely to see the girl again, to experience the +thrills that he had felt upon the other occasions he had talked with +her. And when at dusk he came in sight of the Hamlin cabin he felt that +he had really come on an official visit. + +He saw Ruth's pony saddled and bridled, standing at a corner of the +corral, where she had left him when she had returned from the +schoolhouse some hours before. + +She had found the house unoccupied when she arrived; there was evidence +that her father had left shortly after breakfast--for the dishes were +unwashed and the floor unswept--two duties that he always had +performed, knowing that in the morning she had a ten-mile ride before +her. + +Table and floor had been attended to by the girl. But she had done +little else. For hours she had sat in a chair near the front door, +thinking of what had happened in the schoolhouse--of what she had +heard--the evidence that Kane Lawler knew what her father had been +doing, and that he was trying to protect her. + +She believed it was the latter knowledge that made her feel so small, so +insignificant, so utterly miserable. For while she was convinced that he +would think no less of her, no matter what her father had done, the fact +that Lawler was trying to keep the knowledge of her father's guilt from +her told her that he appreciated the keen disgrace that threatened her. + +When Warden dismounted near the cabin door she thought it was her father +returning, and she got up and went to the stove, where she stood, +lifting the iron lids, preparatory to starting a fire. + +She felt that she could not look at her father, after what had happened; +and so she laid some wood in the stove, deliberately keeping her back to +the door, trying to think of something to say to her father--for she had +determined to tell him about the incident of the morning. + +She was forced to go to a shelf for matches, however, and when she +turned, her eyes flashing with accusation, she saw Warden standing in +the open doorway, watching her. She stood very still, and spoke no word. + +When Warden noted the swift change of expression that came over her +face--the astonishment that instantly dominated all else, he grinned +smoothly. + +"Surprised to see me, Miss Hamlin? You shouldn't be, after what happened +at the schoolhouse today. I have called to have a talk with you about +it." + +The girl's quick smile was cold and indifferent. What happened to her +now was of little importance. She supposed Warden had come to tell her +she had been discharged; but that made little difference to her. She +felt that she had done right in attempting to chastize Jimmy Singleton; +and she would do it again under the same circumstances. + +"Is it necessary to talk?" she questioned, coldly. "I am not sorry for +what I did. I suppose you have come to notify me of my dismissal." + +"On the contrary, I have come to assure you that you did what was +right--exactly what I would have done," smiled Warden. "The only +criticism I have is that you should not have dismissed school; you +should have stayed right there and had it out." + +Warden stepped inside and walked close to Ruth. + +"I want to shake hands with you, Miss Hamlin; you have the necessary +spirit." + +Some color surged into Ruth's face. She realized now, that she did not +want to lose the position--that it meant much to her. It meant at least +her independence from her father, that she could support herself without +depending upon the money he gained from his guilty practices. It meant, +too, that the additional disgrace of being summarily dismissed would not +descend upon her. + +Impulsively, she took Warden's hand. She looked inquiringly at him +though, when he gripped it tightly, and the color that had come into her +face fled, leaving it pale, when Warden continued to hold the hand, +gripping it so hard that she could not withdraw it. She looked intently +at him, over the few feet of space that was between them, noting the +queer light in his eyes--a glow of passion; watching the crimson tide +that rose above his collar, staining his face darkly. + +For the driving desire that had seized Warden had conquered him. +Physical contact with the girl had brought his passions to life again. +They had overwhelmed him, had sent his grain skittering back into those +dead and gone periods when man's desires surmounted laws. + +Warden no longer considered the risks whose ghosts had haunted him on +his ride to the Hamlin cabin; his fears had been swallowed by the +oblivion of mental irresponsibility. He had only the vivid knowledge +that he was alone in the cabin with the girl. + +"But there are people in Willets who are determined that you shall go," +he said. "I can keep you on the job in spite of them, my dear--and I'll +do it. But there are certain conditions--certain----" + +She struck him, then, bringing her free hand around with a wide, full +sweep. The open hand landed on the side of his face with a smack that +resounded through the cabin, staggering him, causing him to release the +other hand. + +A great, red welt appeared on his cheek where the hand had struck; and +he felt of his cheek with his fingers, amazed, incredulous. For an +instant only, however, he stood, trying to wipe the sting of the blow +away. Then he laughed throatily and started after her--she having +retreated behind the table, where she stood, watching him, her eyes +wide, her face dead white. + +Warden, leaning far over the table, saw her eyes close as she stood +there; saw her fingers grip the edge of the table; noted that her chin +had dropped and that she seemed to be on the point of fainting. + +Warden's back was toward the front door; he had to slip sideways to get +around the table, and as he did so his profile was brought toward the +door. He saw a shadow at his feet--a shadow cast by the last effulgent +glow of the setting sun--a shadow made by a man standing in the doorway. + +Warden halted and held hard to the table edge. Reason, cold, remorseless +reason surged back into his brain, accompanied by a paralyzing fear. +Some prescience told him that the man in the doorway was Kane Lawler. +And though he was convinced of it, he was a long time lifting his head +and in turning it the merest trifle toward the door. And when he saw +that the dread apparition was indeed Lawler, and that Lawler's heavy +pistol was extending from his side, the hand and arm behind it rigid, he +stiffened, flung himself around and faced Lawler, his mouth open, his +eyes bulging with the terrible dread of death and the awful certainty +that death was imminent. + +For an instant there was a silence--breathless, strained, pregnant with +the promise of tragedy. Then the silence was rent by Lawler's voice, +dry, light, and vibrant: + +"Warden, if you move a quarter of an inch I'll blow you to hell!" + +Lawler walked slowly to Ruth, took her by the shoulders and steadied +her. + +"It's Lawler, Ruth," he said reassuringly. "I want you to tell me what's +wrong here." He shook her, gently, and she opened her eyes and looked at +him dazedly. Then, as she seemed to recognize him, to become convinced +that it was really Lawler whom she had seen in the doorway, she smiled +and rested her head on his shoulder, her hands patting his arms and his +back as though to convince herself beyond doubt. + +For an instant she stood there, holding tightly to him; and then she +released herself, stepping back with flushed cheeks and shamed eyes. + +"Kane, I am so glad you came!" she said. "Why, Kane! that man--" She +shuddered and covered her face with her hands. + +"I reckon that's all!" said Lawler. There was a cold, bitter grin on his +lips as he stepped around the table and stood in front of Warden. + +"Warden, I'm going back to town with you. We're going right now. Go out +and get on your horse!" + +Lawler's voice, the cold flame in his eyes and his icy deliberation, +told Ruth of a thing that, plainly, Warden had already seen--that though +both men would begin the ride to "town," only Lawler would reach there. + +Ruth watched, fascinated, her senses dulled by what she saw in Lawler's +manner and in the ghastly white of Warden's face. Warden understood. He +understood, and his breath was labored, his flesh palsied--and still he +was going to obey. For Ruth saw him move; saw him sway toward the door; +saw Lawler watching him as though he was fighting to hold his passions +in check, fighting back a lust to kill the man where he stood. + +Warden had reached the door; he was crossing the threshold--his head +bowed, his shoulders sagging, his legs bending at the knees--when Ruth +moved. She ran around the table and got between Lawler and Warden, +stretching her arms in the open doorway, barring Lawler's way. Her eyes +were wild with terror. + +"Don't, Kane!" she begged; "don't do that! Oh, I know what you mean to +do. Please, Kane; let him go--alone. He didn't do--what--what--" She +paused, shuddering. + +Lawler's eyes softened as he looked at her; he smiled faintly, and she +knew she had won. She did not resist when he drew her gently away from +the door. Standing just inside, she saw him go out to where Warden +stood, pale and shaking, looking at both of them. Then she heard +Lawler's voice as he spoke to Warden: + +"Warden, I'm letting you off. Miss Ruth is going to teach school where +she's been teaching it. The schoolhouse is your deadline--the same as +this cabin. Whenever you step into one or the other, your friends are +going to mourn for you. Get going!" + +It was a long time before Lawler moved. And when he did re-enter the +cabin Ruth was nowhere to be seen. + +Lawler paused near the center of the big room and gazed about him. The +door leading to one of the rooms that ran from the big room was open. +The other was closed. He walked to the closed door and stood before it, +his lips set in grim lines, his eyes somber. + +"Ruth!" he called, lowly. + +There was no answer; and again he called. This time a smothered voice +reached him, quavering, tearful: + +"Please go away, Kane; I don't want to see you. I'm so upset." + +"I reckon I'll go, Ruth." But still he lingered, watching the door, now +smiling faintly, understandingly. Beyond the door were the sounds of +sobbing. + +Lawler folded his arms over his chest and with the fingers of one hand +caressing his chin, watched the door. + +"Ruth," he said, finally; "where is your father?" + +"I--I d-don't know. And I don't c-care." + +Lawler started, and his eyes narrowed with suspicion as he looked at the +door--it seemed that he was trying to peer through it. + +"Ruth," he said slowly; "I saw you looking into the schoolhouse through +the broken window, after I hit Singleton the second time, and while I +was talking to him. What did you hear?" + +"Everything, Kane--everything." The sobs were furious, now. + +Lawler frowned through a silence during which his eyes glowed savagely. +Then, after a while, he spoke again. + +"I've known it for a long time, Ruth." + +"Oh!" she sobbed. + +"It was Singleton's fault. He won't do it any more." + +There was no answer; a brooding silence came from beyond the door. + +Then Lawler said gently: "Ruth, I'm asking you again: Will you marry +me?" + +"I'll never marry you, now, Kane--never, never, never!" + +The sobs had ceased now; but the voice was choked with emotion. + +"All right, Ruth," said Lawler; "I'll ask you again, sometime. And the +next time you won't refuse." + +He crossed the floor and stepped outside. Leaping into the saddle he +sent Red King thundering away from the cabin into the dusk that swathed +the southern distance. + +A yellow moon was rising above the peaks of the hills at the far edge of +the Wolf River valley when Lawler dismounted from Red King and strode to +the big Circle L bunkhouse. Inside a kerosene lamp burned on a table +around which were several men. + +The men looked up in astonishment as Lawler entered; then got to their +feet, looking at Lawler wonderingly, for on his face was an expression +that none of them ever had seen there before. + +"Have any of you seen Joe Hamlin?" said Lawler. + +A yellow-haired giant among them grinned widely and pointed eloquently +toward a bunk, where a man's body, swathed in blankets, could be seen. + +"That's him," said the yellow-haired giant. "He hit here this mornin', +sayin' you'd hired him, an' that he was standin' straight up on his legs +like a man, hereafter. We took him on under them conditions." + +Lawler strode to the bunk. He deliberately unrolled the blankets, seized +Hamlin by the middle and lifted him, setting him down on the floor +ungently. + +By the time Lawler released him, Hamlin had his eyes open, and he +blinked in bewilderment at the faces of the men, opening his mouth with +a snap when he saw Lawler. + +"Lawler, what in blazes is the matter--I ain't done nothin'!" + +"You're going to do something!" declared Lawler. He waited until Hamlin +dressed, then he led him outside. At an end of the corral fence, where +no one could hear, Lawler talked long and earnestly to Hamlin. And when +Hamlin left, riding a Circle L horse, he was grinning. + +"It's a straight trail, Hamlin," said Lawler gravely, as Hamlin rode +away; "a straight trail, and not a word to Ruth!" + +"Straight it is, Lawler," answered Hamlin. "I'm testifyin' to that!" + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +THE ARM OF POWER + + +Lawler stayed long enough at the Circle L to speak a word with his +mother. His sister Mary had gone to bed when he stepped into the front +door of the ranchhouse, to be greeted by Mrs. Lawler, who had heard him +cross the porch, recognized his step and had come to meet him. + +He smiled at her, but there was a stiffness about his lips, and a cold, +whimsical light in his eyes, that told her much. + +She drew a deep breath, and smiled faintly. + +"You have disagreed with Gary Warden," she said. "He will not keep +Lefingwell's agreement." + +"Said he never heard of any agreement," said Lawler. "I rode in to tell +the boys to hold the herd here until I got back from the capital. I'm +going to see the railroad commissioner--about cars. Simmons says there +isn't a car in the state. If we can't get cars, we'll drive to Red +Rock." He took her face in his hands and patted her cheeks gently. +"Blackburn will probably bed the trail herd down on the Rabbit Ear. I'm +joining him there, and then I'm going to the capital in the morning." + +Mrs. Lawler was standing on the porch when he mounted Red King; she was +still standing there when Lawler looked back after he had ridden half a +mile. + +Lawler found Blackburn and the herd on the Rabbit Ear, as he had +anticipated. The Rabbit Ear was an insignificant creek that intersected +the Wolf at a distance of about fifteen miles from the Circle L; and the +outfit had selected for a camp a section of plain that ran to the +water's edge. It was a spot that had been used before by the men of the +outfit, and when Lawler rode up the men were stretched out in their +blankets around a small fire. + +Blackburn grinned wickedly when informed of Gary Warden's refusal to +keep Lefingwell's agreement. + +"Didn't I hit him right," he sneered. "I aim to be able to tell a coyote +first pop, whether he's sneakin' in the sagebrush or settin' in a +office. They ain't no difference. No cars, eh? Bah! If you say the word, +me an' the boys'll hit the breeze to town an' run Warden and Simmons +out! + +"You're wastin' your time, goin' to see Morgan Hatfield, the +commissioner. Don't I know him? He tin-horned over at Laskar for two or +three years before he got into politics; an' now he's tin-hornin' the +cattle owners of the state. He'll grin that chessie-cat grin of his an' +tell you he can't do nothin'. An' he'll do it! Bah! This country is +goin' plumb to hell. Any country will, when there's too much law hangin' +around loose!" + +He scowled and looked hard at Lawler. "We'll hold 'em at Willets, all +right an' regular, until you give us the word to hit the Tom Long trail. +But while you're gone I'm gettin' ready to travel--for there won't be +any cars, Lawler, an' don't you forget it!" + +Lawler said nothing in reply to Blackburn's vitriolic speech. So +unperturbed did he seem that Blackburn remarked to one of the men--after +Lawler wrapped himself in a blanket and stretched out near the +fire--that, "the more Lawler's got on his mind the less he talks." + +Long before dawn Lawler saddled up and departed. When Blackburn awoke +and rubbed his eyes, he cast an eloquent glance at the spot where Lawler +had lain, grinned crookedly and remarked to the world at large: "Anyway, +we're backin' his play to the limit--an' don't you forget it!" + +Lawler left Red King at the stable from which, the day before, Gary +Warden had ridden on his way to the Hamlin cabin; and when the +west-bound train steamed in he got aboard, waving a hand to the friends +who, the day before in the Willets Hotel had selected him as their +spokesman. + +It was afternoon when Lawler stepped from the train in the capital. He +strode across the paved floor of the train shed, through a wide iron +gate and into a barber-shop that adjoined the waiting-room. + +There he gave himself to the care of a barber who addressed him as Mr. +Lawler in a voice of respect. + +"I've shaved you before, Mr. Lawler," said the man. "I think it was when +you was down here last year, to the convention. I heard the speech you +made that time, nominating York Falkner for governor. Too bad you didn't +run yourself. You'd have made it, saving the state from the tree-toad +which is hanging to it now." + +During his short stay at the Circle L the night before, Lawler had +changed from his cowboy rigging to a black suit of civilian cut, with +tight trousers that were stuffed into the tops of soft boots of dull +leather. The coat was long, after the fashion of the period, cut square +at the bottom, and the silk lapels matched the flowing tie that was +carelessly bowed at the collar of a shirt of some soft, white material. +He wore a black, felt hat; and out of consideration for the custom and +laws of the capital, he had shoved his six-shooter around so that it was +out of sight on his right hip. However, the cartridge-studded belt was +around his waist; he kept the black coat buttoned over it, hiding it. + +He had been in the capital often, and had no difficulty in finding his +way to the capitol building. It was at the intersection of two wide +streets--a broad, spacious structure of white stone, standing in the +center of a well-kept grass plot. It was imposing, hinting of the +greatness of the state that had erected it, suggesting broadness of +vision and simple majesty. + +The state was not at fault, Lawler reflected as he mounted the broad +stone stairs that led upward to the interior of the building; the state +was founded upon principles that were fundamentally just; and the wisdom +of the people, their resources, their lives, were back of it all. This +building was an expression of the desire of the people; it represented +them; it was the citadel of government from which came the laws to which +they bowed; it was the visible arm of power. + +Lawler crossed the big rotunda, where the light was subdued; and walked +down a wide corridor, pausing before a door on which was the legend: +"State Railroad Commissioner." A few minutes later, after having given +his name to an attendant, he was standing in a big, well-lighted and +luxuriously furnished room--hat in hand, looking at a tall, slender man +who was seated in a swivel chair at a big, flat-top desk. + +The man was older than Lawler, much older. The hair at his temples was +almost white, but heavy and coarse. An iron-gray wisp straggled over his +brow, where he had run a hand through it, apparently; his eyes were +gray, keen, with a light in them that hinted of a cold composure equal +to that which gleamed in Lawler's. The long, hooked nose, though, gave +the eyes an appearance of craftiness, and the slightly downward droop at +the corners of his mouth suggested cynicism. + +He smiled, veiling an ironic flash in his eyes by drooping the lids, as +he spoke to his visitor. + +"Hello, Lawler," he said, smiling faintly, "take a chair." He waved a +hand toward one, on the side of the desk opposite him. "It's been a long +time since you struck town, hasn't it--since the last state +convention--eh?" + +There was a hint of laughter in his voice, a suggestion of mockery in +the unspoken inference that he remembered the defeat of Lawler's +candidate. + +Lawler smiled. "Well, you did beat us, that's a fact, Hatfield. There's +no use denying that. But we took our medicine, Hatfield." + +"You had to," grinned the other. "Whenever the people of a state----" + +"Hatfield," interrupted Lawler, gravely, "it seems to me that the people +of this state are always taking medicine--political medicine. That's +what I have come to talk with you about." + +Hatfield's smile faded. His eyes gleamed coldly. + +"What's wrong, Lawler?" + +"It's cars, Hatfield--or rather no cars," he added, grimly. "Usually, at +this season of the year, there will be a hundred or two empty cars on +the siding at Willets--with other hundreds on the way. This year the +siding is empty, and Jay Simmons says there are no cars to be had. He +tells me there isn't an empty car in the state. Caldwell, of the Star, +and Barthman, Littlefield, Corts, Sigmund, and Lester--who are ranch +owners near Willets--told me to come down here and ask you what can be +done. I'm asking you." + +Hatfield eyed Lawler steadily as the latter talked; his gaze did not +waver as Lawler concluded. But a slight stain appeared in his cheeks, +which instantly receded, leaving them normal again. But that slight +flush betrayed Hatfield to Lawler; it told Lawler that Hatfield knew why +there were no cars. And Lawler's eyes chilled as his gaze met +Hatfield's. + +"I've talked that matter over with the railroad people several times," +said Hatfield, in an impersonal, snapping voice. "They tell me that you +cattle owners are to blame. You seem to think that it is the business of +the railroad company to guess how many cars you will want. You wait +until the round-up is over before you begin to think about cars, and +then you want them all in a bunch." + +"You are mistaken, Hatfield. Along about the middle of the season every +prudent cattle owner arranges with a buyer or with the railroad company +for the necessary cars. In my case, I made arrangements with Jim +Lefingwell, the buyer at Willets, as long ago as last spring. But +Lefingwell isn't buyer any more, and Gary Warden, the present buyer, +refuses to recognize my agreement with Lefingwell." + +"A written agreement?" + +"Unfortunately not. Lefingwell's word was always good." + +Hatfield's smile was very near a sneer. "If you neglect the rudiments of +business it seems to me that you have only yourselves to blame. In your +case, Lawler, it is rather astonishing. You have quite a reputation for +intelligence; you own one of the biggest ranches in the state; you are +wealthy; and last year you tried to tell the people of the state how to +run it. You even went so far as to make a speech in the convention, +naming the man you preferred for governor." + +Lawler smiled, though his gaze was level. + +"Don't be unpleasant, Hatfield. You understand I am not here as a +politician, but as a mere citizen petitioning you to act in this +railroad case. What I have done or said has no bearing on the matter at +all. The railroad company will not provide cars in which to ship our +stock East, and I am here to ask you to do something about it." + +Hatfield appeared to meditate. + +"Warden offered to buy your cattle, you say?" + +Lawler nodded. But he had not mentioned to Hatfield that Warden had +offered to buy the cattle--Hatfield had either surmised that, or had +received information through other sources. Lawler suspected that the +railroad commissioner had been informed through the various mediums at +his command, and this was evidence of collusion. + +"And Simmons says there are no cars," mused Hatfield. "Well, that seems +to leave you shippers in a bad predicament, doesn't it? Can't you drive +to some other point--where you can arrange to get cars?" + +"Five hundred miles, to Red Rock, over the Tom Long trail--the worst +trail in the country." + +"What price could you get at Red Rock?" + +"The market price--about thirty dollars." + +"And what did Warden offer?" + +"Twenty-five." + +"H'm. It seems to me, considering the inconvenience of driving over the +Tom Long trail, you'd be better off taking Warden's offer. It's +remarkable to what lengths you cattle owners will go for a few dollars." + +"Five dollars a head on a herd of eight thousand amounts to forty +thousand dollars, Hatfield," Lawler reminded him. + +"Hatfield, this isn't a question of dollars, it's a question of +principle. This situation is a result of a scheme to hold up the cattle +owners of the state. It's mighty plain. The railroad company refuses +cars to the cattle owners, but will supply them to buyers like Warden. +The buyers must have some assurance of getting cars, or they wouldn't +buy a single hoof. What we want is to force the railroad to supply +cattle owners with cars." + +"Why not hold your stock over the winter?" suggested Hatfield, with a +faint, half-smile. + +"Hatfield, you know that can't be done. There isn't a cattle owner in +the country who is prepared to winter his stock. Had we known this +situation was to develop we might have laid in some feed--though that is +an expensive method. Nothing has been done, for we expected to ship by +rail as usual. Almost every owner has a stock of feed on hand, but that +is for breeders, and for other stock that doesn't grade up. If we are +forced to winter our stock on the ranges half of them would die of +starvation and exposure before spring." + +Hatfield narrowed his eyes and studied Lawler's face. He half pursed his +lips for a smile, but something in the grave, level eyes that looked +into his dissuaded him, and he frowned and cleared his throat. + +"It looks mighty bad, for a fact," he said. "The buyers seem to have you +owners in something of a pocket. The worst of it is, that the thing is +general. I have complaints from all over the state. The railroad people +say there is nothing they can do. I've taken it up with them. The +explanation they offer is that during the summer they sent most of their +rolling stock East, to take care of an unprecedented demand there. For +some reason or other--which they don't attempt to explain--the cars +haven't been coming back as they should. It looks to me, Lawler, like +you owners are in for a bad winter." + +"What about the law, Hatfield; can't we force them to supply cars?" + +Hatfield's smile came out--it was sarcastic. + +"The wise law-makers of the state, who gave the railroad company a +franchise, neglected to provide a punitive clause. There isn't a tooth +in the law--I've looked it over from one end to the other, and so has +the attorney-general. This office is helpless, Lawler. I would advise +you to accept the offer of your resident buyer. It may be that those +fellows have an agreement with the railroad company, but we haven't any +evidence, and without evidence we couldn't do anything, even if there +were teeth in the law." + +Lawler smiled and went out. As the door closed behind him Hatfield sank +back into his chair and chuckled gleefully. + +"Swallowed it!" he said in an undertone; "swallowed it whole. And that's +the guy I was most afraid of!" + +Lawler walked down the big corridor, across the rotunda, and into +another corridor to the door of the governor's office. As he passed +through the rotunda he was aware that several persons congregated there +watched him curiously; and he heard one of them say, guardedly: + +"That's Kane Lawler, of Wolf River. He'd have been governor, right now, +if he'd said the word last fall. Biggest man in the state!" + +There was truth in the man's words, though Lawler reddened when he heard +them. Three times in the days preceding the convention which had +nominated Perry Haughton, the present governor, delegations from +various sections of the state had visited Lawler at the Circle L, +endeavoring to prevail upon him to accept the nomination; and one day +the editor of the most important newspaper in the capital had journeyed +to the Circle L, to add his voice to the argument advanced by the +delegations. + +But Lawler had refused, because previously to their visits he had given +his word to York Falkner. And he had championed Falkner's candidacy with +such energy and enthusiasm that in the end--on the day of the +convention--his name was better known than that of his candidate. And at +the last minute the convention was in danger of stampeding to him, +threatening to nominate him despite his protests. He had been forced to +tell them plainly that he would not serve, if nominated and elected, +because he had pledged his support to Falkner. And Falkner, at home in a +distant county while the convention was in session, remained silent, +refusing to answer the frantic requests that he withdraw in favor of +Lawler. That attitude had defeated Falkner, as his loyalty to his friend +had increased his popularity. + +Now, pausing before the door of the governor's office, Lawler was aware +of the completeness of the sacrifice he had made for Falkner. His face +paled, his eyes glowed, and a thrill ran over him. At this moment--if he +had not made the sacrifice--he might have been sitting in the governor's +office, listening to Caldwell, or Sigmund, or others from his own +section,--perhaps from other sections of the state--advising them, +seeking to help them. For one thing, Morgan Hatfield would not have been +his railroad commissioner! + +As it was, he was going to enter the governor's office as a mere +petitioner, not sure of his reception--for Perry Haughton had beaten +Falkner, and owed Lawler nothing. Indeed, after his election, Haughton +had referred sarcastically to Lawler. + +When Lawler found himself in the presence of the governor he was in a +grimly humorous mood. For despite the sarcastic flings he had directed +at Lawler, the governor ponderously arose from a big chair at his desk +and advanced to meet him, a hand outstretched. + +"Hello, Lawler!" he said; "glad to see you. Where have you been keeping +yourself?" + +Lawler shook the governor's hand, not replying to the effusive greeting. +Lawler smiled, though, and perhaps the governor saw in the smile an +answer to his question. He led Lawler to a chair, and returned to his +own, where he sat, leaning back, watching his visitor with a speculative +gaze. + +Perry Haughton was a big, florid man with sleek, smooth manners, a bland +smile and an engaging eye, which held a deep gleam of insincerity. The +governor posed as a genial, generous, broad-minded public official--and +it had been upon that reputation that he had been nominated and +elected--but the geniality had been adopted for political reasons. The +real man was an arrogant autocrat, lusting for power and wealth. + +He disliked Lawler--feared him. Also, since the convention he had felt +vindictive toward Lawler, for Lawler had offended him by his tenacious +championship of Falkner. He had almost lost the nomination through +Lawler's efforts. + +"Been in town long?" he queried. + +"Just long enough to have a talk with Hatfield." + +The governor smiled wanly. "Hatfield has been having his troubles, +Lawler. An unprecedented situation has developed in the state. The +railroad company seems to be unable to supply cars for cattle shipments. +We have investigated, and so far we have been unable to discover whether +the shortage is intentional or accidental. Whatever the cause, it is a +bad situation--very bad. We've got to take some action!" + +"Whatever action you take ought to be immediate, Governor," said Lawler. +"The round-up is over and cattle must move. That is why I am here--to +ask you what can be done." + +"I have taken the matter up with the attorney-general, Lawler. The law +is vague and indefinite. We can't proceed under it. However, we are +going to pass new laws at the next session of the legislature." + +"That will be in January," said Lawler. "Half the cattle in the state +will starve before that time." + +The governor flushed. "That's the best we can do, Lawler." + +"Why not call a special session, Governor?" + +Haughton laughed. "Do you keep yourself informed, Lawler?" he said, a +suspicion of mockery in his voice. "If you do, you will remember that +the legislature has just adjourned, after acting upon some important +matters." + +"This matter is important enough to demand another session immediately!" +declared Lawler. + +The governor cleared his throat and gazed steadily at Lawler, his eyes +gleaming with a vindictive light that he tried to make judicial. + +"As a matter of fact, Lawler, this question of shipping cattle is not as +important as you might think--to the state at large, that is. If you +take all the packing out of the case you will find at the bottom that it +is merely a disagreement between cattle owners and cattle buyers. It +seems to me that it is not a matter for state interference. As I +understand, the cattle buyers have offered a certain price. The owners +ask another; and the owners want the state to force the buyers to pay +their price. I can't see that the state has any business to meddle with +the affair at all. The state can't become a clearing-house for the +cattle industry!" + +"We are not asking the state to act in that capacity, Haughton. We want +the state to force the railroad company to provide cars." + +"It can't be done, Lawler! There is no provision in the law under which +we can force the railroad company to provide cars." + +Lawler laughed mirthlessly and got to his feet, crossing his arms over +his chest and looking down at the governor. For a time there was silence +in the big room, during which the governor changed color several times, +and drooped his eyes under Lawler's grimly humorous gaze. Then Lawler +spoke: + +"All right, Haughton," he said; "I'll carry your message back to my +friends at Willets. I'll also carry it to Lafe Renwick, of the _News_, +here in the capital. We'll make it all plain enough, so that your +position won't be misunderstood. The railroad company is not even a +resident corporation, and yet you, as governor, refuse to act in the +interests of the state cattle owners, against it--merely to force it to +play fair. This will all make interesting conversation--and more +interesting reading. My visit here has proved very interesting, and +instructive. Good-day, sir." + +He strode out, leaving Haughton to glare after him. Ten minutes later he +was in the editorial office of the _News_, detailing his conversation +with Hatfield and the governor to a keen-eyed man of thirty-five, named +Metcalf, who watched him intently as he spoke. At the conclusion of the +visit the keen-eyed man grinned. + +"You've started something, Lawler," he said. "We've heard something of +this, but we've been waiting to see just how general it was. You'll +understand, now, why I was so eager to have you run last fall. You'll +not escape so easily next time!" + +Late that night Lawler got off the train at Willets; and a few minutes +later he was talking with Caldwell and the others in the Willets Hotel. + +"It's a frame-up, men," he told them. "Hatfield and the governor both +subscribe to the same sentiments, which are to the effect that this is a +free country--meaning that if you don't care to accept what the buyers +offer you can drive your cattle out of the state or let them starve to +death on the open range." + +The big hanging-lamp swinging from the ceiling of the lounging-room +flickered a dull light into the faces of the men, revealing lines that +had not been in them some hours before. Somehow, it had seemed to them, +Lawler would straighten things out for them; they had faith in Lawler; +they had trusted in his energy and in his mental keenness. And when they +had sent him to the capital they had thought that the governor would not +dare to refuse his request. He was too great a man to be trifled with. + +It was plain to them, now, that the invisible power which they had +challenged was a gigantic thing--for it had not been impressed by their +champion. + +Their faces betrayed their disappointment; in their downcast eyes and in +their furtive glances at one another--and at Lawler--one might have read +evidence of doubt and uncertainty. They might fight the powerful forces +opposed to them--and there was no doubt that futile rage against the +power surged in the veins of every man in the group about Lawler. But +there seemed to be no way to fight; there seemed to be nothing tangible +upon which to build a hope, and no way to attack the secret, subtle +force which had so arrogantly thwarted them. + +There was an uneasy light in Caldwell's eyes when he finally looked up +at Lawler. He frowned, reddened, and spoke haltingly, as though ashamed: + +"Lawler, I reckon they've got us foul. It's late--today's the +twenty-eighth of October. Not anticipatin' this deal, we delayed the +round-up too long. It's a month's drive to Red Rock, over the worst +trail in the country. We all know that. If we'd happen to run into a +storm on the Tom Long trail we wouldn't get no cattle to Red Rock at +all. An' if we winter them on the open range there wouldn't be a sound +hoof left by spring, for we've got no feed put by. It's too certain, +men; an' a bad year would bust me wide open. I reckon I'll sell my stock +to Gary Warden. I hate it like poison, but I reckon it's the only thing +we can do." + +The others nodded, plainly having determined to follow Caldwell's +example. But they kept their eyes lowered, not looking at Lawler, for +they felt that this surrender was not relished by him. Caldwell almost +jumped with astonishment when he felt Lawler's hands on his shoulders; +and he looked hard at the other, wondering, vastly relieved when Lawler +laughed. + +"I reckon I don't blame you," said Lawler. "It's a mighty blue outlook. +Winter is close, and they've got things pretty well blocked. They +figured on the late round-up, I reckon. Sell to Warden and wind the +thing up--that's the easiest way." + +Caldwell grasped Lawler's hand and shook it vigorously. + +"I thought you'd show right disappointed over us givin' in, after what +you tried to do, Lawler. You're sure a square man." He laughed. "You'll +be the first to sell to Warden, though," he added, with a faint attempt +at humor; "for I seen Blackburn an' some more of your outfit trailin' +about a thousand head in tonight. They've got them bedded down about a +mile from town. I reckon you'll be runnin' them into the company corral +in the mornin'." + +"Not a hoof goes into the company corral, Caldwell," smiled Lawler. + +"No?" Caldwell's amazement bulged his eyes. "What then? What you aimin' +to do with them?" + +"They're going to Red Rock, Caldwell," declared Lawler, quietly. "The +thousand Blackburn drove over, and the seven thousand the other boys are +holding at the Circle L. I wouldn't sell them to Warden if he offered +fifty dollars a head." + +It was late when Caldwell and the others rode out of town, heading into +the darkness toward their ranches to prepare their herds for the drive +to the company corral at Willets. But before they left, Caldwell visited +Warden's office, in which, all evening, a light had glowed. Warden's +expression indicated he had expected the cattlemen to surrender. + +With shamed face Caldwell carried to Warden the news of the surrender; +speaking gruffly to Simmons, whom he found in the office with Warden. + +"I reckon there'll be cars--now?" he said. + +Simmons smiled smoothly. "Them that contracted for cars last spring will +probably get them," he said. "I reckon the cause of all this mix-up was +that the company wasn't aimin' to play no hit-an'-miss game." + +"There'll be a day comin' when the cattlemen in this country will jump +on you guys with both feet!" threatened Caldwell. "It's a mighty rotten +deal, an' you know it!" + +"Is Lawler accepting my price, Caldwell?" interrupted Warden, quietly; +"I saw a Circle L trail herd headed toward town this evening." + +"Hell!" declared Caldwell; "Lawler ain't so weak-kneed as the rest of us +critters. He just got through tellin' me that he wouldn't sell a hoof +to you at fifty! He's drivin' to Red Rock--eight thousand head!" + +When Caldwell went out, breathing fast, Warden smiled broadly at +Simmons. + +"Wire for cars tonight, Simmons," he said. "But don't get them to coming +too fast. We'll make them hold their cattle here, we'll keep them +guessing as to whether you were telling them the truth about cars. Cars +and fools are plentiful, eh, Simmons?" + +He got up, donned coat and hat and put out the light. At the foot of the +stairs he parted from Simmons, walked down the street to the Wolf and +entered. + +He found Singleton in the barroom and drew him into a corner. + +"He's driving his cattle to Red Rock, Singleton. And he's the only one. +The others are selling to me. We've got him now, damn him! We've got +him!" he said, his eyes glowing with malignant triumph. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +THE SECOND OBSTACLE + + +Lawler went outside with Caldwell and the others--after Caldwell +returned from his visit to Gary Warden--and, standing in the flickering +glare of light from inside the hotel, he watched the men ride away. + +There was a smile on his lips as he saw them fade into the yawning gulf +of moonlit distance,--going in different directions toward their +ranches--an ironic smile, softened by understanding and friendship. + +For he bore the men no ill will because their decision had not agreed +with his. He had not expected them to do as he was determined to do. And +he had not asked them. + +Had it not been for the agreement he had made with Jim Lefingwell the +previous spring, Lawler might also have accepted Gary Warden's price +rather than face the hazards of the long drive to Red Rock. + +Warden's attitude, however, his arrogance, and the hostile dislike in +his eyes, had aroused in Lawler a cold contempt for the man. Added to +that was disgust over the knowledge that Warden, and not Jim Lefingwell, +was a liar--that Warden had no respect for the sacredness of his word, +given to Lefingwell. The man's honor must be wrapped in a bond or a +written contract. + +The incident in the Hamlin cabin had contributed hatred to the other +passions that contact with Warden had aroused in Lawler; but it had been +his visit to Simmons and his talks with Hatfield and the governor that +had aroused in him the fighting lust that gripped him now. + +The ironic smile had faded when he reached the stable where he had left +Red King. It had set in serious lines and his chin had taken on a +pronounced thrust when he mounted the big horse and sent him +southeastward into the glowing moonlight. + +He brought Red King to a halt at a spot on the plains where the herd of +Circle L cattle were being held for the night, with some cowboys riding +monotonous circles around them. + +Blackburn had seen him coming, and recognizing him, met him near the +camp fire. + +The range boss listened, his lips grimming, then silently nodded. + +It was past midnight when Lawler reached the Circle L. He let himself +into the house noiselessly, changed his clothes, donning the corduroy, +the woolen shirt, and the spurred boots that he had worn before +beginning his trip to the capital. Then, penning a note to his mother, +informing her that he was going to Red Rock with his men, he went out +and rode down into the valley, where the other men of the outfit were +guarding the main herd, which had been held in the valley at his orders. + +Long before dawn the big herd was on the move, heading northward, toward +Willets, the twenty men of the outfit flanking them, heading them up +the great slope that led out of the valley. + +The progress of the herd was slow, for there was good grazing and the +cattle moved reluctantly, requiring the continued efforts of the men to +keep them moving at all. And yet when darkness came that night they had +reached the Rabbit Ear--where two nights before Blackburn had held the +first herd. + +It was late in the afternoon of the second day when Lawler and his men +came within sight of Willets. They drove the second herd to where +Blackburn and his men were holding the first. Leaving Blackburn to make +arrangements for camp, Lawler rode on into Willets. From a distance he +saw that the company corral was well filled with cattle; and when he saw +Lem Caldwell talking with some other men in front of the hotel, he knew +the cattle in the corral bore Caldwell's brand. + +He waved a hand to Caldwell and the others as he rode past the hotel; +but he kept on until he reached the station, where he dismounted, +hitched Red King to a rail and crossed the railroad track. + +A frame building, small, with a flat shedlike roof, stood near the +corral fence--between the tracks and the big gates--and Lawler entered +the open door, to find a portly, bald-headed man sitting at a rough, +flat-top desk. The man was busy with a pencil and a pad of papers when +Lawler entered, and he continued to labor with them, not seeming to +notice his visitor. + +Lawler halted just inside the door, to await the man's leisure. And then +he saw Gary Warden lounging in a chair in a far corner. Warden did not +appear to see Lawler, either; he was facing the back of the chair, +straddling it, his elbows crossed on the back, his chin resting on his +arms, his gaze on the rough board floor. + +Lawler noted, his lips straightening a little, that in the movements of +the man at the desk was a deliberation that was almost extravagant. The +man was writing, and the pencil in his hand seemed to lag. He studied +long over what he wrote, pursing his lips and scratching his head. But +not once did he look up at Lawler. + +"Wrestling with a mighty problem, Jordan?" finally asked Lawler, his +patience strained, his voice in a slow drawl. + +The bald man started and glanced up. Instantly, he reddened and looked +down again, leaving Lawler to wonder how it was that every official with +whom he had conversed within the past few days had exhibited +embarrassment. + +"Excuse me, Lawler," said Jordan; "I didn't know you was here. I'll be +with you in a second--just as soon as I check up this tally. Caldwell +drove in here not more'n two hours ago, an' I ain't got his tally +straightened up yet." + +Lawler turned his back to Warden and gazed out through the open doorway. +On the siding was a long string of empty box cars, plainly awaiting +Caldwell's cattle. + +After a glance at the cars, Lawler wheeled and faced Warden, who was +still gazing meditatively downward. + +"I see that cars came quickly enough when you ordered them, Warden," he +said. + +Warden raised his head slowly and gazed straight at Lawler, his eyes +gleaming challengingly. + +"Yes," he said: "Simmons finally unearthed enough to take care of +Caldwell's cattle. There'll be more, as soon as Simmons can find them. +And he'll have to find them pretty soon or his company will face a +lawsuit. You see, Lawler, I ordered these cars months ago--got a written +contract with the railroad company for them. They've got to take care of +me." + +"I reckon you knew they'd take care of you, Warden. You were as certain +of that as you were that they _wouldn't_ take care of any owner who +wouldn't sell to you." + +"What do you mean, Lawler?" demanded Warden, his face flushing. + +"What I said, Warden. It takes gall to do what you and your friends are +doing. But, given the power, any bunch of cheap crooks could do it. You +understand that I'm not complimenting you any." + +It was apparent to Warden, as it was apparent to Jordan--who poised his +pencil over the pad of papers and did not move a muscle--that Lawler's +wrath was struggling mightily within him. It was also apparent that +Lawler's was a cold wrath, held in check by a sanity that forbade +surrender to it--a sanity that sternly governed him. + +It was the icy rage that awes with its intensity; the deliberate +bringing to the verge of deadly action the nerves and muscles that yearn +for violent expression--and then holding them there, straining tensely, +awaiting further provocation. + +Both men knew what impended; both saw in the steady, unwavering gleam of +Lawler's eyes the threat, the promise of violence, should they elect to +force it. + +Jordan was chastened, nerveless. The pencil dropped from his fingers and +he slacked in his chair, watching Lawler with open mouth. + +Warden's face had grown dead white. The hatred he bore for this man +glared forth from his eyes, but the hatred was tempered by a fear that +gripped him. + +However, Warden was instinctively aware that Lawler would not force that +trouble for which he plainly yearned; that he would not use the gun that +swung from the leather at his hip unless he or Jordan provoked him to +it. + +And Warden wore no gun. He felt secure, as he sat for an interval after +considering the situation, and yet he did not speak at once. Then, with +the urge of his hatred driving him, he said, sneeringly: + +"Cheap crooks, eh? Well, let me tell you something, Lawler. You can't +intimidate anybody. My business is perfectly legitimate. I am not +violating any law. If I have the foresight to contract for cars in time +to get them for shipment, that is my business. And if I offer you--or +any man--a price, and it doesn't suit you, you don't have to accept it." + +He saw a glint of humor in Lawler's eyes--a sign that the man's passions +were not to be permitted to break the leash in which he held them--and +he grew bolder, his voice taking on a vindictive note. + +"And I want to tell you another thing, Lawler. As long as I am resident +buyer at Willets you'll never ship a hoof through me. Understand that! +You can drive to Red Rock and be damned! If you'd been halfway decent +about this thing; if you hadn't come swaggering into my office trying to +dictate to me, and calling me a liar, I'd have kept Lefingwell's +agreement with you!" + +"Then Lefingwell wasn't the liar," smiled Lawler; "you're admitting it." + +Warden's face grew poisonously malevolent. He laughed, hoarsely. + +"Bah!" he jeered. "We'll say I lied. What of it! I didn't want to +antagonize you, then. Only a fool is truthful at all times." He laughed +again, mockingly. "I'm truthful when I want to be." + +He saw the frank disgust in Lawler's eyes, and the desire to drive it +out, to make the man betray some sign of the perturbation that must be +in him, drove Warden to an indiscretion. + +"You're a wise guy, Lawler," he jeered. "A minute ago you hinted that +this thing was being engineered by a bunch of cheap crooks. Call them +what you like. They're out to break you--understand? You suspect it, and +I'm telling you. You went around last fall with a chip on your shoulder, +making trouble far Haughton and his friends. And now they're going to +bust you wide open and scatter your remains all over the country. +They're going to fix you so that you'll never shoot off your gab about +conditions in the state again. Governor--hell! you'll be a bum before +that gang gets through with you!" + +He paused, breathing rapidly, his face pale with passion; his eyes +glowing with hatred, naked and bitter. + +He heard Lawler's short, mirthless laugh; he saw Lawler's eyes narrow +and gleam with a cold flame as he took a step forward and stood over +him. + +"Get up, Warden," came Lawler's voice, low and vibrant. "You'll +understand what I'm going to say a whole lot better if you're on your +feet, like a man." + +Warden got up, defiantly, and for an instant the two men stood looking +into each other's eyes, both understanding the enmity that was between +them, and both seemingly exulting in it. + +"I'm thanking you, Warden, for telling me. But I've known, since I +talked with Simmons about the cars, just what it all meant. My talks +with Hatfield and Governor Haughton convinced me beyond all reasonable +doubt. I'm the man they are after, of course. But incidentally, they're +going to mulct every other cattle owner in the state. It's a mighty big +scheme--a stupendous robbery. The man who conceived it should have been +a pirate--he has all the instincts of one. + +"But get this straight. You've got to fight me. Understand? You'll drag +no woman into it. You went to the Hamlin ranch the other day. God's +grace and a woman's mercy permitted you to get away, alive. Don't let it +happen again. Just as sure as you molest a woman in this section, just +so sure will I kill you no matter who your friends are! Do you +understand that, Warden?" + +Warden did not move a muscle. He tried to look steadily into Lawler's +eyes, found that he could not endure the terrible intensity of them--and +drooped his own, cursing himself for the surrender. + +He heard Lawler laugh again, a sound that sent a cold shiver over him; +and then he saw Lawler standing beside the desk at which Jordan sat. + +"Jordan," said Lawler, shortly; "I want you to vent my cattle. There's +eight thousand head, approximately. They're being held just out of +town--about a mile. I'd like to have you give me a certificate of +ownership tonight, so we can start to drive before daylight." + +Jordan's face whitened, and then grew crimson. He essayed to look up, to +meet Lawler's eyes, raising his head and then lowering it again without +achieving his desire. He cleared his throat, shifted his body and +scuffed his feet on the floor. At last, after clearing his throat again, +he spoke, huskily: + +"We ain't ventin' any trail herds this fall, Lawler." + +Lawler stiffened, looked from Jordan to Warden, and then back again at +Jordan, who had taken up the pencil again and was nervously tapping with +it upon the desk top. + +"Not venting trail herds, eh?" said Lawler. "Whose orders?" + +"The state inspector--headquarters," replied Jordan, hesitatingly. + +"Would you mind letting me see the order, Jordan?" asked Lawler, calmly. + +Jordan succeeded in looking up at Lawler now, and there was rage in his +eyes--rage and offended dignity. + +Both were artificial--Lawler knew it. And his smile as he looked into +Jordan's eyes told the other of the knowledge. + +Jordan got up, stung by the mockery in Lawler's eyes. + +"Hell's fire, Lawler!" cursed Jordan; "can't you take a man's word?" He +stepped back, viciously pulled open a drawer in the desk, drew out a +paper--a yellow telegraph form, and slapped it venomously down on the +desk in front of Lawler. + +"It's ag'in' orders, but I'm lettin' you see it. Mebbe you'll take a +man's word after this!" he sneered. + +Lawler read the order. Then he calmly placed it on the desk. He looked +at Jordan, whose gaze fell from his; he turned to Warden, who smiled +jeeringly. + +"There is nothing like thoroughness, whenever you do anything on a big +scale, Warden," he said. "This order forces cattle owners in this +section to drive cattle over a trail without proof of ownership. We +fought for that vent law for a good many years, as a weapon against +rustlers. This order leaves a cattle owner without protection against +the horde of rustlers who infest the state. And the order is dated +yesterday. This thing begins to look interesting." + +He turned and walked out, not glancing back at the two men inside, who +stood for a long time looking at each other, smiling. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +THE LONG TRAIL + + +After leaving Jordan and Warden, Lawler walked across the railroad +tracks and entered the station, where he sent a telegram to Keppler, the +buyer at Red Rock. Then he drew a chair over near the door and sat down +to await an answer. At the end of an hour the agent walked over to +Lawler and gave him the reply. It was from Keppler, saying that he would +be glad to buy all of the Circle L cattle at thirty dollars a head. + +Lawler stuck the telegram in a pocket and went out, mounting Red King +and riding through Willets. Darkness had come, and there were few +persons on the street, and Lawler did not stop. A little later he was +talking with Blackburn at the camp fire, his voice low and earnest. + +Blackburn's face was seamed with wrath over the news Lawler had +communicated. + +"So that's the polecat scheme they're runnin'!" he said, hoarsely. "I +reckon they know that between here an' Red Rock there's a dozen big +gangs of buzzards which make a business of grabbin' cattle from every +herd that hits the Tom Long trail!" + +"Blackburn," said Lawler gravely; "do you know of any other trail?" + +"No; nor you don't neither!" declared the range boss. "What you +meanin'?" he added, peering intently at Lawler. + +"It's mighty plain," said Lawler; "if we travel at all, we'll have to +take the Tom Long trail. It's been used before, Blackburn, by all the +cattle owners in the section--before the railroad came. It hasn't been +used much lately, though, and so I reckon it isn't worn out." + +"You're startin' at daybreak, I reckon?" + +"Yes." Lawler looked straight at the range boss. "Some of the boys who +are with us don't know the Tom Long trail, Blackburn. You'd better tell +them there are prospects for trouble. No man goes on that trail with my +cattle under regular working orders. It's volunteer work. But you might +mention to them that if we get through the difference between what +Warden offered me and what I get from Keppler, will be divided among the +men of the outfit. That will be in addition to regular trail herd +wages." + +"That's mighty white of you, Boss. But I reckon there'd be no +back-slidin'. The boys ain't admirin' the deal you're gettin'. I'm +tellin' them." + +He took a step away from Lawler, and then halted, uncertainly. + +"Lawler," he said; "you've been over the Tom Long trail--you know what +it is. There's places where we'll find eight thousand head to be a +mighty big herd. A herd that big will be powerful hard to handle in some +of them long passes. An' if they'd get in some of that timber we'd never +get them out. We've got twenty-eight men. If we'd have an open winter +we'd likely be able to take care of about three thousand head by +watchin' them close. Now, if we'd leave about three thousand head at the +Circle L--with four or five of the boys to keep an eye on them, that +would leave us about twenty-three or twenty-four men for trail herd +work. That won't be any too many for five thousand head of cattle on the +Tom Long trail. Unless you're figgerin' to hire some hands from another +outfit?" + +"We're asking no favors," said Lawler. "We're driving five thousand, as +you suggest. I'm leaving the selecting of the trail crew to you--you +know your men." + +At dawn the following morning the big herd was divided into about the +proportions suggested by Blackburn. The smaller section, escorted by +five disgruntled Circle L cowboys, moved slowly southward, while the +main herd headed eastward, flanked at the sides by grim-faced Circle L +riders; at the rear by a number of others and by Lawler, Blackburn; the +"chuck-wagon" driven by the cook--a portly, solemn-visaged man of forty +with a thin, complaining voice; the "hoodlum" wagon, equipped with +bedding and a meager stock of medicines and supplies for +emergencies--driven by a slender, fiercely mustached man jocosely +referred to as "Doc;" and a dozen horses of the _remuda_, in charge of +the horse-wrangler and an assistant. + +It was the first trail herd that had been started eastward since the +coming of the railroad. To some of the Circle L men it was a novel +experience--for they had begun range work since the railroad had +appeared. There were several others, rugged, hardy range riders of the +days when the driving of a trail herd was an annual experience, it was a +harking back to the elemental and the crude, with the attendant +hardships and ceaseless, trying work. The younger men were exultant, +betraying their exuberance in various ways--shouting, laughing, singing, +gayly bantering one another as they capered beside the cattle; but the +older men rode grimly on, grinning tolerantly, knowing that the time +would come when the faces of the younger men would grow stern and set +from the ceaseless activity, the long night watches, the deadly monotony +and the thousand inconveniences of the long drive. + +Many of Willets' men were watching the departure of the herd. They stood +on the street, in doorways; and in some windows were women. For rumor +had been whispering during the past few days, and it was known that Kane +Lawler had defied the powerful forces which were attempting to control +the mediums of trade in the section; and there were many of the watchers +who sent silent applause after the departing herd. They were aware of +the hazards that confronted Lawler and his men--hazards enough without +the additional menace of the invisible power, of which most of the +inhabitants of Willets knew nothing. + +However, Caldwell knew. He was standing in the doorway of the Willets +Hotel; and his face was drawn and seamed with gravity as he watched. + +Gary Warden knew. For he stood in the street in front of the Wolf, +watching, his eyes glowing with malice. + +Singleton knew. He was standing near Warden, in the grip of a malign +anticipation. His lips were bestially pouted. + +"Showed yellow at the last minute," he whispered to Warden; "only +drivin' about half of them. Well, we'll take care of them he's leavin' +before the winter's over." + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +THE NIGHT WIND'S MYSTERY + + +After the departure of Lawler on the night of Gary Warden's visit to the +Hamlin cabin, silence, vast and deep reigned inside. The last golden +shadows from the sinking sun were turning somber shades of twilight as +Ruth came to the door and peered outward, to see Lawler riding away. + +For a long time the girl watched Lawler, her face burning with shame +over what had happened, her senses revolting from the realization of the +things Lawler knew concerning her father. Then she seated herself on the +threshold of the doorway, watching the long shadows steal over the +plains. + +She loved Lawler; she never had attempted to deny it, not even to +herself. And she had found it hard to restrain herself when he had stood +outside the door of her room gravely pleading with her. Only pride had +kept her from yielding--the humiliating conviction that she was not good +enough for him--or rather that her father's crimes had made it +impossible for her to accept him upon a basis of equality. + +She felt that Lawler would take her upon any terms--indeed, his manner +while in the cabin shortly before convinced her of that; but she did not +want to go to him under those conditions. She would have felt, always, +as though pity for her had influenced him. She felt that she would +always be searching his eyes, looking for signs which would indicate +that he was thinking of her father. And he was certain to think of +him--those thoughts would come in spite of his efforts to forget; they +would be back of every glance he threw at her; they would be lurking +always near, to humiliate her. The conviction sent a shudder over her. + +The girl's mental processes were not involved; they went directly, +unwaveringly, to the truth--the truth as her heart revealed it, as she +knew it must be. If there was any subconscious emotion in her heart or +mind from which might spring chaotic impulses that would cloud her +mental vision, she was not aware of it. Her thoughts ran straight and +true to the one outstanding, vivid, and overwhelming fact that she could +not marry Kane Lawler because to marry him would mean added humiliation. + +Greatness, Ruth knew, was hedged about by simplicity. Lawler was as +direct in his attitude toward life--and to herself--as she. There was +about him no wavering, no indecision, no mulling over in his mind the +tangled threads of thought that would bring confusion. The steel fiber +of his being was unelastic. He met the big questions of life with an +eagerness to solve them instantly. + +He wanted her--she knew. But she assured herself that she could not +bring upon him the shame and ignominy of a relationship with a cattle +thief, no matter how intensely he wanted her. That would be doing him an +injustice, and she would never agree to it. + +But it hurt, this knowledge that she could not marry Lawler; that she +must put away from her the happiness that might be hers for the taking; +that she must crush the eager impulses that surged through her; that she +must repulse the one man who could make her heart beat faster; the man +for whom she longed with an intensity that sometimes appalled her. + +She got up after a while and lighted an oil-lamp, placing it upon the +table in the big room. She closed the door and then dropped listlessly +into a chair beside the table, her eyes glistening, her lips quivering. + +The future was somber in aspect, almost hopeless, it seemed. And yet +into her mind as she sat there crept a determination--a resolution to +tell her father what she knew; to tell him that she could no longer +endure the disgrace of his crimes. + +That meant of course that she would have to leave him, for she knew he +was weak, and that he had been drawn into crime and had not the moral +strength to redeem himself. + +When about midnight she heard the beating of hoofs near the cabin she +sat very quiet, rigid, still determined, her eyes flashing with +resolution. + +She was standing near the door of her room when her father entered, and +as he stood for an instant blinking at the light, trying to accustom his +eyes to it after riding for some time through the darkness; she watched +him, noting--as she had noted many times before--the weakness of his +mouth and the furtive gleam of his eyes. + +He had not always been like that. Before the death of her mother she had +always admired him, aware of the sturdiness of his character, of his +rugged manliness, and of his devotion to her mother. + +Adversity had changed him, had weakened him. And now, watching him, +noting the glow in his eyes when he saw her--the pathetic worship in +them--her heart protested the decision that her cold judgment had made, +and she ran to him with a little, quavering, pitying cry and buried her +face on his shoulder, shuddering, murmuring sobbingly: + +"O Daddy; O Daddy, what have you done!" + +He stood rigid, his eyes wide with astonishment, looking down at her as +she clung to him as though wondering over a sudden miracle. For he knew +she was not an emotional girl, and this evidence of emotion almost +stunned him. + +"Why, Honey!" He patted her hair and her cheeks and hugged her tightly +to him. And presently he gently disengaged himself and held her at arm's +length, peering into her face. + +And then, when her clear eyes met his--her gaze direct and searching +even though her cheeks had paled, his eyes drooped, and his arms fell to +his sides. + +"I've done enough, Ruth," he said, soberly. + +"Why, Daddy--why did you do it? Oh, you have made it so hard for me!" + +"There, there, Honey," he consoled, reaching out and patting her +shoulders again. "I've been a heap ornery, but it ain't goin' to happen +again." His eyes shone through a mist that had come into them. + +"I've been talkin' with Kane Lawler, an' he opened my eyes. I've been +blind, Ruth--blind to what it all meant to you. An' from now on I'm +goin' straight--straight as a die!" + +"Ruth," he went on, when he saw incredulity in her gaze; "I wasn't to +tell you. I reckon Lawler would half kill me if he know'd I was tellin' +you. But there ain't no use, I've got----" + +"Did you give your word to Lawler, Daddy?" + +"I sure did. But I've got to tell you, Ruth. Mebbe you knowin' will sort +of help me to go through with it. + +"Kane Lawler was here this mornin'--he come here to see me about a +Circle L cow that I was runnin' my brand on the night before. He talked +mighty plain to me--an' earnest. He offered me a job over to the Circle +L, an' I took it. I rode over there this afternoon an' Lawler's straw +boss put me to work. Then tonight Lawler rode in an' took me out by the +corral. He gave it to me straight there. He's goin' to restock my place +an' give me a chance to get on my feet. He's goin' to put his shoulder +behind me, he says, an' make me run a straight trail--takin' a mortgage +on the place to secure him. He give me a letter to his mother, sayin' I +was to have what stock I wanted. An' I'm to repay him when I get around +to it. Honey, I've got a chance, an' I'm never goin' to slip again!" + +Ruth walked to the door and threw it open, standing on the threshold and +gazing out into the dull moonlight, across the vast sweep of plain from +which came the low moaning of the night wind, laden with mystery. + +For a long time, as she stood there, pride fought a savage battle with +duty. Her face was pallid, her lips tight-clenched, and shame +unutterable gripped her. To be sure, Lawler had enjoined her father to +silence, and it was evident that she was not to know. Still, she did +know; and Lawler had added an obligation, a debt, to the already high +barrier that was between them. Yet she dared not evade the obligation, +for that would be robbing her father of a chance over which he seemed to +exult, a chance which promised the reformation, for which she had +prayed. + +Her heart was like lead within her--a dull weight that threatened to +drag her down. And yet she felt a pulse of thankfulness. For if her +father really meant to try--if he should succeed in redeeming himself in +Lawler's eyes and in her own, she might one day be able to go to Lawler +with no shame in her eyes, with the comforting assurance that her father +had earned the right to hold his head up among men. To be sure, there +always would be the shadow of the past mistake lurking behind; but it +would be the shadow of a mistake corrected, of a black gulf bridged. + +Her father was waiting when she finally turned to him--waiting, his chin +on his chest, his face crimson with shame. + +"Ruth, girl--you ain't goin' to judge me too harsh, are you?" he begged. +Once more she yielded to the pathetic appeal in his eyes. She ran to him +again, holding him tightly to her. A cool gust swept in through the open +doorway--the night wind, laden with mystery. But the girl laughed and +snuggled closer to the man; and the man laughed hoarsely, vibrantly, in +a voice that threatened to break. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +THE INVISIBLE MENACE + + +At the close of the second day the big trail herd halted at the edge of +the vast level over which it had come. The herd had been driven forty +miles. Cattle, men, and horses had passed through a country which was +familiar to them; a country featured by long grama grass, greasewood, +and cactus plants. + +There was no timber on the plains. The gray of the grama grass and the +bare stretches of alkali shone white in the glare of a sun that swam in +a cloudless sky of deepest azure. Except for the men, the cattle, the +horses, and the two slow-moving, awkward-looking canvas-covered wagons, +there had been no evidence of life on the great plain. In a silence +unbroken save by the clashing of horns, the bleating and bawling of the +cattle, the ceaseless creaking of the wagons, and the low voices of the +men, the cavalcade moved eastward. + +The wind that swept over the plains was chill. It carried a tang that +penetrated; that caused the men, especially in the early morning, to +turn up the collars of their woolen shirts as they rode; a chill that +brought a profane protest from the tawny-haired giant who had disclosed +to Lawler the whereabouts of Joe Hamlin that night in the Circle L +bunkhouse. + +The first camp had been made on the Wolf--at a shallow about five miles +north of the Two Bar, Hamlin's ranch. And with the clear, sparkling, +icy water of the river on his face, and glistening beads of it on his +colorless eyelashes, the giant had growled to several of his brother +cowboys, who were likewise performing their ablutions at the river: + +"This damn wind is worse'n a Kansas regular. You lean ag'in' it an' it +freezes you; you turn your back to it an' you've got to go to clawin' +icicles out of your back. Why in hell can't they have a wind that's got +some sense to it?" + +"It ain't c-cold, Shorty," jibed a slender puncher with a saturnine eye +and a large, mobile mouth. + +"Kells," grinned the giant; "your voice is froze, right now!" + +And yet the men enjoyed the cold air. It had a tonic effect upon them; +they were energetic, eager, and always ravenously hungry. The cook +offered testimony on that subject, unsolicited. + +"I never seen a bunch of mavericks that gobbled more grub than this here +outfit!" he stated on the second morning. "Or that swilled more coffee," +he added. "Seems like all they come on this drive for is to eat!" + +Toward the close of the second day corrugations began to appear in the +level. Little ridges and valleys broke the monotony of travel; rocks +began to dot the earth; the gray grass disappeared, the barren stretches +grew larger and more frequent, and the yucca and the lancelike octilla +began to appear here and there. The trend of the trail had been upward +all afternoon--gradual at first, hardly noticeable. But as the day drew +to a close the cattle mounted a slope, progressing more slowly, and the +horses hitched to the wagons began to strain in the harness. + +The rise seemed to be endless--to have no visible terminus. For it went +up and up until it melted into the horizon; like the brow of a hill +against the sky. But when, after hours of difficult travel, herd and men +gained the summit, a broad, green-brown mesa lay before them. + +The mesa was miles wide, and ran an interminable distance eastward. +Looking back over the way they had come, the men could see that the +level over which they had ridden for the past two days was in reality +the floor of a mighty valley. Far away into the west they could see a +break in the mesa--where it sloped down to merge into the plains near +Willets. The men knew that beyond that break ran the steel rails that +connected the town with Red Rock, their destination. But it was plain to +them that the rails must make a gigantic curve somewhere in the +invisible distance, or that they ran straight into a range of low +mountains that fringed the northern edge of the mesa. + +Lawler enlightened the men at the camp fire that night. + +"The railroad runs almost straight from Willets," he said. "There's a +tunnel through one of the mountains, and other tunnels east of it. And +there's a mountain gorge with plenty of water in it, where the railroad +runs on a shelving level blasted out of the wall. The mountains form a +barrier that keeps Willets and the Wolf River section blocked in that +direction. It's the same south of here, the only difference being that +in the south there is no railroad until you strike the Southern Pacific. +And that's a long distance to drive cattle." + +When the herd began to move the following morning, Blackburn sent them +over the mesa for several miles, and then began to head them down a +gradual slope, leaving the mesa behind. There was a faint trail, narrow, +over which in other days cattle had been driven. For the grass had been +trampled and cut to pieces; and in some places there were still prints +of hoofs in the baked soil. + +The slope grew sharper, narrowing as it descended, and the cattle moved +down it in a sinuous, living line, until the leaders were out of sight +far around a bend at least a mile distant. + +Blackburn was at the head of the herd with three men, riding some little +distance in front of the cattle, inspecting the trail. Lawler and the +others were holding the stragglers at the top of the mesa, endeavoring +to prevent the crowding and confusion which always results when massed +cattle are being held at an outlet. It was like a crowd of eager humans +attempting to gain entrance through a doorway at the same instant. The +cattle were plunging, jostling. The concerted impulse brought the +inevitable confusion--a jam that threatened frenzy. + +By Lawler's orders the men drew off, and the cattle, relieved of the +menace which always drives them to panic in such a situation, began to +filter through and to follow their leaders down the narrow trail. + +Down, always down, the trail led, growing narrower gradually, until at +last cattle and men were moving slowly on a rocky floor with the sheer +wall of the mesa on one side and towering mountains on the other. + +The clatter of hoofs, the clashing of horns, the bellowing, the rumble +of the wagons over the rocks and the ring of iron-shod hoofs, created a +bedlam of sound, which echoed and re-echoed from the towering walls +until the uproar was deafening. + +Shorty, the tawny-haired giant, was riding close to Lawler. + +He never had ridden the trail, though he had heard of it. He leaned over +and shouted to Lawler: + +"Kinney's canon, ain't it?" + +Lawler nodded. + +"Well," shouted Shorty; "it's a lulu, ain't it?" + +For a short time the trail led downward. Then there came a level +stretch, smooth, damp. The day was hours old, and the sun was directly +overhead. But down in the depths of the canon it was cool; and a strong +wind blew into the faces of the men. + +The herd was perhaps an hour passing through the canon; and when Lawler +and Shorty, riding side by side, emerged from the cool gloom, they saw +the cattle descending a shallow gorge, going toward a wide slope which +dipped into a basin of mammoth size. + +Lawler knew the place; he had ridden this trail many times in the years +before the coming of the railroad; and when he reached the crest of the +slope and looked out into the hazy, slumbering distance, he was not +surprised, though his eyes quickened with appreciation for its beauty. + +Thirty miles of virgin land lay before him, basking in the white +sunlight--a green-brown bowl through which flowed a river that shimmered +like silver. The dark bases of mountains loomed above the basin at the +eastern edge--a serrated range with lofty peaks that glowed white in the +blue of the sky. South and north were other mountains--somber, purple +giants with pine-clad slopes and gleaming peaks--majestic, immutable. + +Looking down from where he sat on Red King, Lawler could see the head of +the herd far down the ever-broadening trail. The leaders were so far +away that they seemed to be mere dots--black dots moving in an emerald +lake. + +The cattle, too, had glimpsed the alluring green that spread before +them; and at a little distance from Lawler and several of the other men +they were running, eager for the descent. + +"She's a whopper, ain't she?" said Shorty's voice at Lawler's side. +"I've seen a heap of this man's country, but never nothin' like that. I +reckon if the Lord had spread her out a little mite further she'd have +took in mighty near the whole earth. It's mighty plain he wasn't +skimpin' things none, anyway, when he made this here little hollow." + +He grinned as he rode, and then waved a sarcastic hand toward the +cattle. + +"Look at 'em runnin'! You'd think, havin' projected around this here +country for a year or so, they'd be better judges. They're thinkin' +they'll be buryin' their mugs in that right pretty grass in about +fifteen seconds, judgin' from the way they're hittin' the breeze toward +it. An' it'll take them half a day to get down there." + +Shorty was a better judge of distance than the cattle. For it was +afternoon when the last of the herd reached the level floor of the +basin. They spread out, to graze industriously; the men not caring, +knowing they would not stray far from such a wealth of grass. + +By the time the chuck-wagon had come to a halt and the cook had +clambered stiffly from his seat to prepare the noonday meal, Lawler and +the others saw the horse-wrangler and his assistant descending the long +slope with the _remuda_. The horses had fallen far behind, and Lawler +rode to meet them, curious to know what had happened. + +When he rode up, the horse-wrangler, a man named Garvin--a stocky +individual with keen, inquiring eyes--advanced to meet him. + +"Boss," he said, shortly; "there's somethin' mighty wrong goin' on +behind us. Me an' Ed--my helper--has been kind of hangin' back, bein' +sort of curious. They's a bunch of ornery-lookin' guys trailin' us. I +first saw 'em after we'd struck the bottom of that canon. They was just +comin' around that big bend, an' I saw 'em. They lit out, turnin' +tail--mebbe figurin' I hadn't seen 'em; but pretty soon I seen 'em +again, sort of sneakin' behind us. I reckon if they was square guys they +wouldn't be sneakin' like that--eh?" + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +LAWLER'S "NERVE" + + +When Lawler spoke to Blackburn regarding the news that had been +communicated to him by the horse-wrangler, Blackburn suggested that +himself and several of the Circle L men ride back to ascertain the +object of the trailers. + +"We'll ride back an' make 'em talk!" he declared, heatedly. + +Lawler, however, would not agree, telling Blackburn that the trail was +free, and that, until the men made some hostile move, there was no +reason why they should be approached. + +So the men ate, selected new mounts from their "strings" in the +_remuda_, and again started the big herd forward. + +Lawler rode for a time with Garvin, keeping an alert eye on the back +trail. But though he could see far up the canon, where the trail--white +with dust from the passing of the herd--wound its sinuous way upward +into the dark recesses between the towering mesa walls, he could see no +sign of life or movement. + +The nonappearance of the mysterious riders was suspicious, for if their +intentions were friendly they would have come boldly on. In fact, if +they were abroad upon an honest errand, they must have found the +slowness of the herd ahead of them irksome; and they would have passed +it as soon as possible, merely to escape the dust cloud raised by the +cattle. + +When the afternoon began to wane the herd was far out in the basin, +traveling steadily toward a point where the little river doubled, where +Blackburn intended to camp for the night. And though both Blackburn and +Lawler scanned the back trail intently at intervals, there was still no +sign of the riders Garvin had mentioned. + +Nor did the riders pass the herd in the night. Blackburn threw an extra +guard around the cattle, making the shifts shorter and more frequent; +and when daylight came a short conference among the Circle L men +disclosed the news that no riders had passed. If any riders had passed +the cowboys must have seen them, for there had been a moon, and the +basin afforded in the vicinity of the herd, was clear and unobstructed. + +Enraged at the suspicious nature of the incident, Blackburn took half a +dozen cowboys and rode back, while the remainder of the trail crew sent +the herd eastward. It was late in the afternoon when Blackburn returned, +disappointed, grim, and wrathful. + +"There's a bunch trailin' us, all right," he told Lawler; "about a +dozen. We seen where they'd stopped back in the canon a ways--where +Garvin said he'd seen 'em sneakin' back. We lost their tracks there, for +they merged with ours an' we couldn't make nothin' of 'em. But at the +foot of the slope we picked 'em up again. Looks like they separated. +Some of them went north an' some went south. I reckon that durin' the +night they sneaked around the edge of the basin. It's likely they're +hidin' in the timber somewhere, watchin' us. If you say the word I'll +take some of the boys an' rout 'em out. We'll find what they're up to, +damn 'em!" + +"As long as they don't bother us we won't bother them," said Lawler. +"It's likely they won't bother us." + +Again that night the men worked in extra shifts; and the following +morning the herd climbed out of the basin and straggled up a narrow +trail through some foothills. At noon they passed through a defile +between two mighty mountains; and when twilight came they had descended +some low hills on the other side and went to camp for the night on a big +grass level near the river they had followed for three days. + +The level upon which they camped was much lower than the floor of the +big basin, for the water from the river came tumbling out of a narrow +gorge between the hills through which the herd had passed. + +They were in a wild section, picturesque, rugged. There was plenty of +water; and Blackburn and Lawler both knew that there would be water +enough for the herd all the way to Red Rock. There was a section of +desert before them, which they would strike before many days; but they +would cross the desert in one day, barring delay; and there seemed to be +no reason why the long drive should not prove successful despite the +mountain trails--most of them hazardous--through which they must still +pass. + +And yet the men were restless. The continued presence of an invisible +menace near them, disturbed the men. They had not seen the mysterious +riders again, but there was not a man in the outfit who did not feel +them--not a man but was convinced that the riders were still trailing +them, watching them. + +Long ago the younger men had ceased to laugh and joke. During the day +they kept gazing steadily into the gulf of space that surrounded them, +carefully scrutinizing the timber and the virgin brush which might form +a covert; and at night they were sullen, expectant; every man wearing +his gun when he rolled himself in his blanket. + +It was not fear that had seized them. They were rugged, hardy, +courageous men who had looked death in the face many times, defying it, +mocking it; and no visible danger could have disturbed them. + +But this danger was not visible; it was stealthy, secret, lurking near +them, always threatening, always expected. It might stalk behind them; +it might be flanking them as they rode; or it might creep upon them in +the night. + +Blackburn had fallen into a vicious mood. His eyes glowed with the +terrible, futile rage that surged in his veins, it was a reflection of a +wrath that grew more and more intolerant as the days passed and the +danger that portended did not materialize. + +"Boss," he said to Lawler on the tenth day following that on which +Garvin had reported the presence of the riders behind them; "the boys is +gettin' jumpy. They're givin' one another short answers, an' they're +growlin' about things they never noticed before. + +"I'm gettin' fed up on this thing, too. It's a cinch them riders is +following us. I seen 'em dustin' north of us this mornin'. I ain't said +anything to the boys, but it's likely they've seen 'em, too--for they've +got their eyes peeled. It's gettin' under my skin, an' if they don't +come out into the open pretty soon and give us an idee of what game +they're playin', me an' some of the boys is goin' to drag 'em out!" + +Yet Blackburn did not carry out his threat. He knew pursuit of the +riders would be futile, for there were no further signs of them for +several days, and Blackburn knew the riders would have no trouble in +eluding them in the vast wilderness through which the herd had been +passing for a week. They went on, continuing to watch, though there were +no further signs of the men. + +They had been on the trail twenty days when at dusk one day they moved +slowly down a wide, gradual slope toward a desert. At the foot of the +slope was a water hole filled with a dark, brackish fluid, with a green +scum fringing its edges. The slope merged gently into the floor of the +desert, like an ocean beach stretching out into the water, and for a +distance out into the floor of the desert there was bunch grass, +mesquite, and greasewood, where the cattle might find grazing for the +night. Beyond the stretch of grass spread the dead, gray dust, of the +desert, desolate in the filmy, mystic haze that was slowly descending. + +The cattle came down eagerly, for they had grazed little during the day +in the mountainous region through which they had passed. They were +showing the effects of the drive. They had been sleek and fat when they +started from the Circle L; they were growing lean, wild, and they were +always ravenously hungry. + +But where they could feed they required little attention; and the +cowboys, after halting them, helped Garvin establish the lines of a rope +corral into which they drove the _remuda_. Then they built a fire and +squatted wearily around it--at a respectful distance--to watch the +cook--and to listen to him as he complainingly prepared supper. + +The men had finished, and the long shadows of the dusk were stealing out +over the desert, when Lawler--sitting on the chuck-box--heard Blackburn +exclaim sharply: + +"_Hell's fire! Here they come!_" + +Blackburn had sprung to his feet, his eyes blazing with the pent-up +wrath that had been in them for many days. He was tense, his muscles +straining; and his fingers were moving restlessly near the butt of the +huge pistol that swung at his hip. The fingers were closing and +unclosing, betraying the man's passion. + +Lawler got to his feet. Following the direction of Blackburn's flaming +eyes, he saw, perhaps a mile away, a large body of horsemen. They were +descending the long slope over which the herd had been driven. + +Lawler counted them--thirty-nine. But the menace was no longer +invisible; it was now a material thing which could be met on such terms +as might be, with the law of chance to govern the outcome. + +Lawler did not doubt that the on-coming riders were hostile. He had felt +that when he first had been made aware of their presence behind the +herd. He saw, too, that the men of his outfit felt as he did; for they +were all on their feet, their faces grim, their eyes glowing with the +rage that had gripped them over the presence of the unseen menace; their +muscles were tensed and their lips were in the sullen pout which +presages the imminence of action. + +Shorty, the tawny giant, was a terrible figure. He seemed to be +outwardly cool, and there was not a sign of passion in his manner. His +hands swung limply at his sides, not a muscle in his body seeming to +move. Unlike the other men, he was calm, seemingly unperturbed. So +striking was the contrast between him and the other men that Lawler +looked twice at him. And the second time he saw Shorty's eyes--they were +gleaming pools of passion, cold, repressed. + +"Easy, boys!" Lawler called to the men. "Don't let them suspect you know +they've been trailing us. They've got us two to one, almost--if they +mean trouble we'll have to work easy!" + +He saw the men relax; and several of them resumed their former positions +at the fire. + +The strange riders were coming steadily onward; they were not more than +a hundred yards distant when Blackburn exclaimed, hoarsely: + +"Lawler; it's Blondy Antrim an' his gang! Damn his hide! We're in for +it!" + +For the first time since Garvin had told him of the presence of the men +on the trail behind the herd, Lawler's face betrayed passion--the glow +in his eyes rivaled that in the giant's. + +During the past year or so word had reached him--rumor unfounded, but +insistent--that more than once Singleton and Blondy Antrim, the outlaw, +had been seen together. He had placed no credence in the rumors, +ascribing them to the imaginations of mischievous brains, prejudiced +against Singleton because of his bluff, dominant manner. He first had +suspected there might be truth in them when Joe Hamlin had told him that +he had rustled cattle for Singleton. He now believed that Singleton had +disposed of the stolen cattle through Antrim and the conviction that +Singleton was behind the action of the outlaw in trailing the herd +through the country seized him. + +In an instant--following Blackburn's exclamation--he was aroused to the +danger that confronted himself and his men. As though by previous +arrangement, the men looked at him, noted the tenseness that had come +over him, listened attentively when he spoke. + +"Boys; don't offer to throw a gun. I know Antrim. He's a killer, and his +men are like him. Take it easy--keep cool. The man who loses his temper +will be guilty of the wholesale murder that will follow. When Antrim +rides up, send him after me!" + +He had not unsaddled Red King. He strode to the horse, swung into the +saddle, and rode eastward, away from the advancing riders. + +Blank astonishment, puzzled bewilderment shone in the eyes of the Circle +L men as they watched him, and into the hearts of some of them crept the +conviction that Lawler had deserted them; that he was afraid of the +outlaw chief. + +Blackburn saw what they thought, and his burning eyes bored into them +with sarcasm unutterable. He laughed, hoarsely, with a grim mirth that +startled them. + +"Don't you worry about Lawler's nerve, boys; he's got more of it than +the bunch of us put together! He's got some scheme in mind. You guys +just set tight until you find out what it is. Do as he told you. Don't +let that scurvy gang know that you're flabbergasted!" + +When Lawler rode away there was a noticeable commotion in the group of +advancing horsemen. One of them left the group, spurring his horse in +the direction taken by Lawler. He must have been called back, for he +wheeled his horse after he had ridden a dozen paces or so, and rejoined +the group, which came on as before. + +When the horsemen came to a halt near the fire, they were spread in a +semi-circle about the Circle L men, and in their bronzed immobile faces +was no answer to the question that agitated Blackburn and the other men. +They had halted at a little distance from the fire, and one of them, a +tall, slender, keen-eyed, thin-lipped man, urged his horse out of the +circle and insolently inspected Blackburn and his cowboys. He lounged +loosely in the saddle. + +There was a sinister light in his eyes, a lurking threat in his manner. + +"What outfit is this?" he demanded. + +"Circle L, from Wolf River," answered Blackburn. + +"Where you headin'?" + +"To Red Rock." + +"Railroad out of business?" jeered the outlaw. + +"Far as the Circle L is concerned, it is, Antrim," smiled Blackburn. "We +had a fuss, an' quit 'em." + +The outlaw peered intently at the other. Then he grinned. + +"It's Andy Blackburn!" he said. "Glad to meet you, Blackburn. This seems +like old times--before the railroad went through; when old Luke Lawler +used to jam 'em to Red Rock--sometimes--when he didn't pick up too many +strays on the way." He laughed as though pleased over the recollection. +"Got this stock vented, Blackburn?" + +"Nary a vent, Antrim; the inspector wasn't feelin' in the humor." + +"Ha!" exclaimed Antrim; "so you didn't get no vent. Well, we're aimin' +to look through your herd. We've been missin' cattle all summer--from my +ranch, the Circle Bar. About three thousand head. We've traced 'em as +far as Kinney's canon, an' lost 'em. But we've been thinkin', Blackburn, +that it ain't no hard job to make a passable Circle L out of a Circle +Bar. That's why we aim to look your cattle over." + +He grinned slightly at Blackburn's scowl, aware of the impotent rage the +latter felt over the worst insult that could be offered an honest +cattleman. For an instant he watched Blackburn keenly, his lips +sneering; and then when he saw that Blackburn had mastered his rage, he +said, sharply: + +"Who was that guy that rode away as we come up?" + +"Lawler," said Blackburn. "He's figurin' on seein' you alone, looks +like. He left word that when you come I was to tell you he wanted to see +you." + +The outlaw's eyes glowed with swift suspicion. + +"He knowed me, eh?" he said. He glanced keenly over the level floor of +the desert. Dimly, in the dusk, he could see Lawler riding near the +herd. For an instant Antrim hesitated, plainly debating the wisdom of +leaving his men; then he smiled with whimsical recklessness. And his +movements became rapid, jerky. + +"Slade," he said, addressing a rider near him; "you're runnin' things +till I get back." + +He wheeled his horse and sent him into the dusk toward the herd, riding +cautiously, evidently not entirely convinced of the peaceableness of +Lawler's intentions. + +He rode a quarter of a mile before he came upon Lawler; and though the +light was fading he could plainly see Lawler's face, set, +expressionless. + +The outlaw brought his horse to a halt within three or four paces of Red +King. Antrim's manner exuded the insolent tolerance of the master, who +has the confidence that comes from thoughts of an overwhelming +advantage. + +He knew Lawler; knew him as perhaps no other man in the section knew +him. For he had seen Lawler using his gun. It had been some years +before, when Lawler had been proving himself--proving that he had a +right to the respect and consideration of his fellow-men; proving that +no man could trifle with him. + +Antrim had been a witness to the shooting. He had marked Lawler's +coolness, the evenness of his temper; and had noted the deadly swiftness +and precision of his movements when he had drawn his pistol. Lawler had +not been the aggressor--a dozen other men had testified to that. + +Antrim had not seen Lawler since, until now. And as he looked at him he +saw that the years had brought a change in the man. He had been a tall, +bold, reckless-looking youth then, with a certain wild waywardness in +his manner that might have destroyed him, had he yielded to it. Now he +was cold, calm, deliberate, imperturbable. The recklessness had +disappeared from his eyes; they were now aglow with quiet determination. +The waywardness had gone--ironlike resolution marked his manner. + +And yet behind it all, Antrim could see the threat of those youthful +passions; the lurking eagerness for violent action; the hint of +preparedness, of readiness. + +Antrim was startled, uneasy. He saw now that he should not have left his +men; that he had made a mistake in coming alone to meet Lawler. + +He was certain of it now, when he heard Lawler's voice, saw the cold, +smiling light in his eyes. + +"You're wanting my cattle, Antrim. Your men have been trailing me for +two weeks. You don't get them. You've got thirty-nine men, and there are +only twenty-three Circle L men over there. I'm not getting any of them +killed. This thing is between you and myself. Get your hand away from +your gun or I'll bore you!" + +He moved his hand--where it had been--seemingly--lying on Red King's +neck, under the mane; and Antrim saw the dark muzzle of a pistol showing +in the hand. + +"I'm not taking any chances, Antrim--you can see that. I'm not going to +take any. If you do anything to attract the attention of your men, I'll +kill you. Drop your guns, using your thumbs and forefingers." He +waited, watching keenly, until the outlaw had complied with the demand, +the two big pistols thudding dully into the sand beside his horse. + +Then Lawler resumed, his voice low and even, as before: + +"Now we're riding back to the fire, Antrim. Listen hard, for this means +life or death to you. + +"We're going back to the fire. You're going to act as though nothing had +happened; and you are to tell your men that you have changed your mind +about the cattle--you are to tell them that you are going with me to Red +Rock; and you are sending them back to where you came from, to wait for +you." + +Antrim stiffened, and his face bloated poisonously. But he did not +answer, for there was that in Lawler's eyes that convinced him of the +futility of attempting resistance. + +"You're going to Red Rock with me," went on Lawler. "I'm going to be +personally responsible for you. I'm going to watch you; you're going to +ride ahead of me. If you talk, or make any motion that brings any of +your men back, you'll die so quick you won't know it happened! Do you +understand?" + +"Damn you, Lawler; you'll pay for this!" muttered the outlaw. "I'll go +on your trail and I'll never let up till I get you!" + +Lawler laughed, lowly. "Just be careful not to get any of that poison in +your voice when you tell your men what I told you, Antrim, or you'll +never go on anybody's trail. Get going, now; and be careful." + +Antrim wheeled his horse, and Lawler spurred Red King beside him. + +"I'll be watching you, Antrim," he warned. "If your men show they +suspect anything wrong you go down, mighty rapid. You don't get off your +horse until your men go. And there is to be no playing for time. You +talk fast and earnest, and carefully. Go ahead." + +Riding slightly in Antrim's rear, Lawler followed the outlaw to the +fire. There had come no change in the positions of the outlaws or of the +Circle L men. And when Antrim and Lawler rode up there was a silence +during which the men of both factions looked interrogatively at their +leaders. + +Antrim's face was pale, and his voice was vibrant with emotion. But he +did not hesitate. + +"Slade," he said to the man he had left in charge; "I've changed my mind +about those cattle. Lawler has given me proof that none of our stock is +with them. I'm hittin' the trail to Red Rock with Lawler. You take the +boys back to the ranch an' wait for me." + +Slade's eyes widened; he flushed and peered keenly at Antrim. "You--why, +hell's fire, Antrim; we----" + +"Slade, do as I tell you!" said Antrim, coldly. "Are you runnin' my +affairs? You hit the breeze, right now--you hear me!" + +Slade grinned venomously, and waved a violent hand around the circle. +"You hear your boss, boys!" he said; "Slope!" + +The men hesitated an instant, sending sharp, incredulous glances at +their leader. But Antrim, pale, knowing that if he betrayed the +slightest sign of insincerity his men would suspect, met their looks +steadily. The men wheeled their horses, muttering profanely, and rode +slowly westward into the growing darkness. + +When they had disappeared, Lawler smiled faintly at the outlaw chief. + +"You can get down, now, Antrim." He drew the pistol from Red King's +mane, where it had been concealed during Antrim's talk with his men, and +sheathed it. And then Blackburn, who had been a silent, amazed witness +to what had occurred, whistled softly, covertly poking Shorty in the +ribs. + +"There's one thing that's as good as a vent, ain't there, Shorty?" he +said. "That's a gun in the hand of a man who's got plenty of nerve!" + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +CONCERNING AN OUTLAW + + +Early in the afternoon of the first day of December the sky darkened, +and a cold, raw wind began to shriek through Willets. The company corral +was empty; and again, as on the day before Kane Lawler had visited him, +Gary Warden stood at one of the windows of his office smiling. Warden +was almost satisfied. + +Only one disturbing thought persistently recurred; Lawler had got his +cattle through to Red Rock. + +A crimson stain appeared in Warden's cheeks as his thoughts reverted to +Lawler's return to Willets, after disposing of his cattle to the Red +Rock buyer. And Warden's shoulders sagged a little, the smile faded and +he glared malignantly at the bleak, gray clouds that sailed over town on +the chill, bitter wind. + +Oddly, at the instant Warden's memory was dwelling upon the incident of +Lawler's return to Willets, Lafe Corwin, the storekeeper, was mentally +reviewing the incident. + +Willets was a cow-town, and for the winter its activity was over. All +the beef cattle in the section, with the exception of three thousand +head still held by Lawler, at the Circle L, had been shipped eastward, +and Willets would now descend to supine indifference to considerations +of gain. + +Lafe Corwin was tilted back in a big wooden chair near the big, +roaring-hot stove in the lounging-room of the Willets Hotel. His clerk +could attend to the store. Until spring came, Corwin would spend much of +his leisure near the big stove in the hotel, talking politics and +cattle--two subjects of paramount importance. + +But just at this instant Corwin was thinking of Lawler's return to +Willets. Little wrinkles gathered around his eyes--which were twinkling; +and he chuckled lowly as his gaze roved from one to the other of the men +who, like himself, were enjoying the warmth of the stove and listening, +between words, to the howling and moaning of the wind. + +Three or four times, during silences, Corwin chuckled. And when at last +he saw Dave Rankin, the blacksmith, watching him curiously, he guffawed +aloud, rubbing his hands gleefully. + +"I don't reckon I ever seen no mournfuller sight than that!" he +declared. + +"Meanin' which?" asked the blacksmith, his eyes alight with truculent +inquiry. The others sat erect, attentive. + +"Meanin' that mornin' when Kane Lawler hopped off the train with his +bunch of cowhands--an' Blondy Antrim," snickered Corwin. "Dave Singleton +an' Gary Warden an' Jordan an' Simmons an' that pony-built girl which is +stayin' over to the Two Diamond with that ossified woman she calls 'Aunt +Hannah,' was on the platform waitin' for the six o'clock train from the +east. It appears that pony-built--Della Wharton, her name is--was +expectin' some gimcracks, an' Warden an' her was waitin' for them. +Anyways, they was there. It sure was medium mournful!" declared Corwin. + +He appeared to hesitate; and Rankin grinned. + +"We've heard it before; but I reckon we can stand listenin' ag'in. Tell +it, Corwin." + +"As I was sayin' when you interrupted me--it was medium mournful," +resumed Corwin. "Shorty--who was with Lawler on the drive--has told me +since; but at that time I didn't know--that Jordan had refused to vent +Lawler's cattle. + +"Well, I'd come down to see the train come in, too. We was all standin' +there when she come a-steamin' up, an' stopped. An' who clumb off but +Lawler an' his trail crew--twenty-three of 'em. An' Blondy Antrim in the +midst of 'em, lookin' like a sheep-killin' dog. + +"Well, gentlemen, they was a scene. Warden got his face all screwed up +an' couldn't get it unscrewed ag'in. He looked like he'd swallered a hot +brandin' iron an' it didn't lay easy on his stummick. Singleton was +a-standin' there with his mouth open an' his eyes a-poppin' out; an' +Jordan was plumb flabbergasted. Simmons was leanin' ag'in' the side of +the station buildin', lookin' like he was expectin' to be shot the next +minute. + +"That Della Wharton girl was the only one that seemed to have any wits +a-tall. I seen her grin eloquent at Lawler, an' look him straight in the +eye like she was tellin' him somethin' intimate. + +"Well, as I was sayin', Lawler an' his boys got off with Blondy Antrim. +Antrim looks wild an' flighty--like you've seen a locoed steer on the +prod. His eyes was a-glarin' an' he was mutterin' cusses by the +mouthful. All of which didn't seem to faze Lawler none. + +"Lawler was as cool as an iceberg which had just arrove from the North +Pole--an' then some. An' he got a mean, mild grin on his face when he +saw the reception committee that had come to meet him. They was a +twinkle in his eyes when he looked at Della Wharton; but when Warden +blows into his line of vision he looked mighty wicked. + +"Lawler an' his gang had brought their hosses from Red Rock in two +cars--they'd sold some of the _remuda_ in Red Rock, not carin' to ship +'em home. Anyways, the gang didn't appear in no hurry to unload the +hosses; an' a trainman yells to them, sayin' they'd have to hurry. + +"But the boys was too interested just then. 'Unload 'em yourself, you +sufferin' yap!' yells Shorty. 'If you pull out of here with them hosses +I'll blow your damned railroad over into the next county!' Shorty sure +does love the railroad! + +"As I was sayin' when you interrupted me: Lawler looked mighty wicked. +But he's cold an' polite--an' ca'm. An' he escorts Antrim over to where +Warden was standin', an' says, quiet an' low: + +"Warden, I have brought back my vent. He sure was a heap of trouble, an' +he got himself attached to us right close. But as we haven't got no +further use for him we're turnin' him over to you. I reckon he's lookin' +to you an' Singleton to pay him for the trouble of trailin' us for two +weeks, an' for keepin' me company as far as Red Rock, to see that my +herd got there right an' proper. 'Antrim,' he says; 'go to your boss!' +And he gives him a little shove toward Warden. + +"Warden didn't say nothin'--he'd lost his voice, I reckon. But Antrim +goes off the handle complete. + +"'The damned sneak lifted my guns!' he yells. + +"'You wantin' a gun?' says Lawler, cold an' ca'm. He backs up an' lifts +one of Shorty's. Then he walks close to Antrim an' shoves it into his +right hand. + +"'There's a gun, you polecat,' he says. 'Fan it. I'd admire to blow the +gizzard outen you!' + +"But Antrim didn't seem to be none tickled, now that he'd got the gun. +He stood, lookin' at it, like it was somethin' strange an' unusual, an' +he was wonderin' whether he ought to hang onto it or drop it. Finally he +grins sorta sheepishlike, an' hands it back to Lawler, butt first. + +"'I ain't aimin' to fight you today, Lawler,' he says, his face bloomin' +like a cactus. + +"Lawler laughs, an' gives Shorty his gun back. Shorty grins like a +tiger. 'Mebbe Singleton wouldn't mind acceptin' your kind offer, Boss?' +he says. + +"But Singleton don't break his neck reachin' for _his_ gun, neither. He +stands there, lookin' like a calf that's lost its mother. An' then +Lawler laughs again, an' says: + +"'Well, boys, seein' that the reception committee has received us, an' +the honors has all been done, I reckon we'd better get the hosses off +the cars an' hit the breeze for home!' + +"An' they done so. But before they went they smoked up the town +considerable--as you all seen. Them boys had divided twenty-five +thousand dollars between them, which Lawler give 'em for makin' the +drive. An' they sure did celebrate. Except Lawler. He went right home, +an' I ain't seen him since. But I reckon Warden an' the rest of them +ain't had no regrets. I ain't never seen no mournfuller sight than them +folks sneakin' away from the station. All but Della Wharton. She was +a-grinnin' sorta slylike, as though somethin' pleased her." + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +A "NORTHER" + + +When Lawler returned to the Circle L ranchhouse he found that Mary had +gone East, to school. She had left for Willets on the second day +following Lawler's departure; and Mrs. Lawler had already received two +letters from her. Mrs. Lawler watched her son keenly when she told him +that Joe Hamlin had brought a letter stating that Hamlin was to be +permitted to take a number of mixed cattle from the Circle L--and that +he had driven away one hundred. She smiled gently when she told Lawler +that on the day before her departure Mary had visited Ruth Hamlin--had +spent the whole day with her, and had come home, mysteriously delighted. +Ruth had given up the school. + +"Mary loves her, Kane," said Mrs. Lawler. And she smiled again when she +saw a flush reach Lawler's face. + +Lawler intended to ride to the Hamlin cabin this morning. It was the +third day following his arrival at the ranch; and until now he had had +no time for anything except to attend to the many details of work that +had been neglected during his absence. + +There were still three thousand head of cattle on the Circle L +range--the men had held them in the valley for a time during his absence +on the trail, but the grass had grown sparse, and the herd was now +grazing on the big plain beyond the northern slope of the valley. + +During the time he had been home the outfit had been busy. The Circle L +had a dozen line camps--little adobe cabins scattered over the range, +occupied during the winter by Circle L cowboys whose duty it was to +guard the cattle against the aggressions of timber wolves, rustlers, +cold, and starvation. + +For two days the chuck-wagon had been sent rattling to the various line +camps, stocking them with supplies against the winter. As the weather +was threatening the hoodlum wagon had been pressed into service this +morning; and all the men, with the exception of the blacksmith--who was +working diligently in his shop near the corral; and two punchers--Davies +and Harris, who had been assigned to Number One camp--were away with the +two wagons. + +Davies and Harris had not been able to resist the lure of "town." The +prosperity that had descended upon them had made them restless, and the +night before they had importuned Lawler to permit them to spend "one +more night in town before holin' up for the winter." + +Lawler had consented; and now he was wishing that he hadn't. For when he +emerged from the ranchhouse this morning he saw a dark cloud bank far in +the north, moving southward on the chill wind. + +The herd, he knew, was somewhere on the big level beyond the slope of +the valley, in the vicinity of Number One line camp. It was an isolated +section, off the trail that led to town--a section of featureless level +near a big break in the valley. The break opened upon another big level +that stretched southward for a hundred miles. In other days Luke Lawler +had lost many cattle here; they had drifted through the break by +hundreds, with a blizzard behind them; and had been swallowed by the +great waste. + +Two years before--aware of the previous losses--Lawler had erected a +wire fence across the big break, extending from a craggy mountain wall +on the western end, to a sheer butte that marked the end of the break, +eastward. + +Lawler had sent Red King to the crest of the valley on his way to the +Hamlin cabin, when he noted that the cloud bank in the north had grown +denser, nearer. The wind had increased in velocity, and he had to lean +against it as he rode; and it was so cold and raw that he drew his heavy +cap down over his eyes to shield them, and drew over his mouth the heavy +woolen scarf he wore around his neck. + +He rode on a short distance, casting troubled glances into the north. He +found himself wondering if Davies and Harris had gone to the line camp. +If they hadn't, and a storm broke, the herd on the big level was in +danger. + +He brought Red King to a halt. The big horse pranced, whistling eagerly. +He champed on the bit, tossed his head, raising it finally and staring +straight into the north. + +"You see it too, eh, King?" said Lawler. "Well, we can't take that +chance; we'll have to go to the camp." + +He headed Red King down into the valley again, where the bitter wind did +not strike them, riding westward rapidly. + +It was noon before Lawler and Red King had traveled half the distance to +the line camp. A dull, gray haze was sweeping southward. It mingled with +the southern light and threw a ghostly glare into the valley, making +distance deceptive, giving a strange appearance to the landmarks with +which Lawler and the horse were familiar. + +Lawler increased Red King's pace. He saw that the storm was nearer than +he had thought, and he would have to work fast to get the cattle headed +into the valley before it broke. + +The distance from the Circle L ranchhouse to the big plain near the line +cabin was about fifteen miles, and the trail led upward in a long, +tiresome rise. Yet Red King struck the level with a reserve strength +that was betrayed by the way he fought for his head as he saw the level +stretch before him. He was warmed up--he wanted to run. + +But Lawler drew him down in an effort to locate the herd before he +started toward it. + +Man and horse made a mere blot on the yawning expanse of land that +stretched away from them in all directions. A lone eagle in the sky or a +mariner adrift on a deserted sea could not have seemed more isolated +than Lawler and Red King. In this limitless expanse of waste land horse +and rider were dwarfed to the proportion of atoms. The yawning, aching, +stretching miles of level seemed to have no end. + +Several miles into the north Lawler saw the herd. Directly westward, at +a distance of about a mile, he saw the line cabin. No smoke was issuing +from the chimney; and so far as he could discern, there were no men with +the cattle. + +Harris and Davies had overstayed. That knowledge might have been +responsible for the grim humor in Lawler's eyes; but the rigidness of +his body and the aggressive thrust to his chin were caused by knowledge +of a different character. The storm was about to break. + +The sun was casting a dull red glow through the gray haze. It was +blotted out as he looked. Southward from the horizon ends extended a +broad sea of shimmering, glittering sky that contrasted brilliantly to +the black, wind-whipped clouds that had gathered in the north. Fleecy +gray wisps, detached from the heavy, spreading mass northward, were +scurrying southward, streaking the shimmering brilliance and telling of +the force of the wind that drove them. + +A wailing note came from the north, a sighing vague with a portent of +force; a whisper of unrest, a promise of fury. Far in the north, its +blackness deepening with distance, stretched the menace, arousing awe +with its magnitude. + +Nature seemed to know what impended, for on the vast level where the +storm would have a clear sweep the dried grass, bronzed by the searing +autumn sun, was rustling as it bent far southward; the hardy sage bowed +reluctantly to the fitful blasts, and the scraggly, ugly yucca +resentfully yielded to the unseen force. + +A wide, shallow gully ran northwestward from a point near Red King, +almost in a straight line toward the herd. Lawler urged the big horse +into the gully and rode hard. The distance was several miles, but when +Red King came to the gully end he flashed out of it like a streak of red +flame. He was drawn down, instantly, however, snorting and pawing +impatiently, while Lawler shielded his eyes with his hands and again +scanned the country. + +He saw the herd; and as he watched it began to move. There were no men +near the cattle. + +They started slowly, seemingly reluctant to leave the level. They moved +sullenly, closely massed, their heads lowered, their tails drooping. The +wind, now beginning to carry a vicious note with its whine, drove a +heavy dust cloud against them, warning them. The wind was icy, giving +the cattle a foretaste of what was to come. And mingling with the dust +were fine, flinty snow particles that came almost horizontally against +their rumps, stinging them, worrying them. They increased their pace, +and soon were running with a swinging, awkward stride, straight toward +the wire fence, several miles distant. + +If they saw Lawler they gave no sign, for they went lumbering on, +snorting and bawling their apprehension. + +Lawler was about to start Red King toward them, when he noted movement +on the level a little northwestward from the cattle. Peering intently, +he saw two horsemen racing southward, a little distance ahead of the +cattle, parallel with them. + +At first Lawler was certain the men were Davies and Harris, and he +smiled, appreciating their devotion to duty. But when he saw them race +past the cattle, not even halting to head them in the right +direction--which would have been slightly eastward, so that they would +enter the valley before reaching the fence--he frowned, wheeled Red King +sharply, and sent him back into the gully from which he had emerged. + +"They're strangers, King," he said, shortly to the horse as the latter +fled headlong down the gully toward the point from which he had started; +"Davies and Harris wouldn't leave the herd with that norther coming on." + +The big horse made fast time down the gully. He brought Lawler to a +point near the fence where it crossed the gully at about the instant the +two riders were dismounting some distance away. + +Lawler rode out of the gully and brought Red King to a halt. There was +no danger that the two men would discover him, for all objects in the +vicinity were rapidly being blotted out by the dancing smother of dust +that was riding the north wind. Lawler was to the north of the men, +slightly eastward, and they could not have faced the smother of dust to +look toward him. + +Lawler could dimly see the herd moving toward the fence; he could see +the men plainly; and as he watched them his eyes narrowed. The big horse +leaped with the word he caught from his rider's lips, racing lightly +with the wind toward the fence where the men were working. + +Lawler's approach was noiseless, for all sound was engulfed in the +steady, roaring whine of the storm. Neither of the two men, working at +the fence, heard Lawler as he brought the big horse to a halt within +half a dozen paces of them. + +The taller of the two, plying a pair of wire-nippers, completed his work +at a fence post and turned to leap toward another. The movement brought +him against the muzzle of Lawler's horse. He halted jerkily, retreated a +step, and looked up, to see Lawler looking at him from behind the muzzle +of the big pistol that had leaped into his hand. + +There was no word spoken--none could be heard at the moment. What +followed was grim pantomime, with tragedy lurking near. + +The tall man held his position. He had tentatively extended his right +hand, the fingers spread, clawlike. Now the hand was going upward, +accompanied by the other. When the man had stepped backward to escape a +collision with Lawler's horse, the wind had whipped his hat from his +head. He now stood there, his hair waving to the vicious whims of the +gale, veiling his eyes and he not daring to lower his hands to brush it +away. + +The shorter man, too, had assumed a statuesque pose. He had turned when +he had noted his companion's startled movement, and he, too, had seen an +apparition that had sent his hands swiftly upward. + +The big horse stood motionless, his back to the wind. He did not move as +Lawler leaped from his back--smoothly, quickly, his eyes alert, his +muscles tensed for violent action. + +The men stood rigid while Lawler jerked their pistols from their +holsters and tossed them into the dust waves that danced and swirled +around them. The short man was catapulted against the tall one with a +viciousness that staggered both; and then they heard Lawler's voice, +sharp and penetrating, above the shrieking of the wind: + +"Those cattle will be here in five minutes! If you don't have that fence +repaired before then, you drift with them, hoofing it!" + +In the allotted time they repaired the fence, working with breathless +energy, while Lawler stood near, the menacing gun in hand, a saturnine +smile wreathing his face. + +When the herd reached the fence there was no break in it. More--where +the break had been were three men on horses who took instant charge, +easing the cattle down along the fence, heading them eastward toward the +shelter they were sure to find if they kept going. + +The three men followed the cattle for a mile--until they were going +straight and fast toward the home ranch. Then Lawler, smiling with +bitter humor, motioned the men toward the back trail. + +They seemed to know what was demanded of them. They wheeled their +horses, sending them into the billowy white smother that was now coming +in a gigantic wave toward them. + +The southern light had gone. A dense blackness, out of which roared a +gale that robbed them of their breath, struck them. The snow was hurled +against them like a sand blast, biting deep, blinding them. + +It took them more than an hour to travel the distance that lay between +the point at which they had cut the fence, and the line cabin. And when +they reached a windbreak near the structure the two men rode behind it, +silent, thankful. + +Lawler had ridden forth, prepared for bad weather. His face was now +muffled in a huge scarf that encircled his neck, and his eyes were +shielded by the peak of the fur cap he wore. He dismounted, waved the +men toward a dugout, and watched them as they dismounted and led their +horses through a narrow door. When the men emerged Lawler led the big +red horse in, leaving the men to stand in the white gale that enveloped +them. + +The wind was now roaring steadily, and with such force that no man could +have faced it with uncovered face. It came over the vast emptiness of +the northern spaces with a fury that sent into one the consciousness +that here was an element with which man could not cope. + +Lawler emerged from the dugout and closed the door behind him. He barred +it, turned and motioned the two men toward the cabin. He followed them +as they opened the door and entered. Then, after closing the door and +barring it, he lifted the peak of his cap, removed the scarf from his +neck, glanced around the interior of the cabin and looked coldly at the +men. + +"Well," he said; "there's a heap of explaining to be done. You can begin +now--one at a time!" + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +THE LINE CABIN + + +The two men had walked to a point near the big fireplace that occupied +the greater part of one end of the cabin. The hatless one, big, +assertive, belligerent, grinned defiantly, saying nothing in answer to +Lawler's words. + +The other man, slighter, and plainly apprehensive, glanced swiftly at +his companion; then dropped his gaze to the floor. + +"You skunks bunked here last night!" charged Lawler, sharply. "When I +was here, yesterday, these bunks were made up. Look at them now! Talk +fast. Were you here last night?" + +The smaller man nodded. + +"Why didn't you cut the fence last night?" + +The smaller man grinned. "We wasn't aimin' to get caught." + +"Expected there'd be line riders here, eh?" + +The other did not answer. Lawler watched both men derisively. + +"Then, when you saw no one was here, and that it was likely the norther +would keep anyone from coming, you cut the fence. That's it, eh?" + +The two men did not answer, regarding him sullenly. + +Lawler smiled. This time there was a cold mirth in his smile that caused +the two men to look quickly at each other. They paled and scowled at +what they saw in Lawler's eyes. + +Half a dozen bunks ranged the side walls of the cabin, four on one side, +two on the other, arranged in tiers, upper and lower. A rough, square +table stood near the center of the room, with a low bench on one side of +it and several low chairs on the other. A big chuck-box stood in a +corner near the fireplace, its top half open, revealing the supplies +with which the receptacle was filled; some shelves on the other side of +the fireplace were piled high with canned foods and bulging packages. +The bunks were filled with bedclothing; and an oil-lamp stood on a +triangular shelf in a corner near the door. The walls were bare with the +exception of some highly colored lithographs that, evidently, had been +placed there by someone in whom the love of art still flourished. + +It was cold in the cabin. A window in the north wall, with four small +panes of glass in it, was slowly whitening with the frost that was +stealing over it. In the corners of the mullions were fine snow drifts; +and through a small crevice in the roof a white spray filtered, +ballooning around the room. The temperature was rapidly falling. + +During the silence which followed Lawler's words, and while the two +fence cutters watched each other, and Lawler, all caught the voice of +the storm, raging, furious, incessant. + +With his free hand Lawler unbuttoned his coat, tossed his cap into a +bunk and ran a hand through his hair, shoving it back from his forehead. +His movements were deliberate. It was as though catching fence cutters +was an everyday occurrence. + +Yet something in his eyes--the thing the two men had seen--gave the lie +to the atmosphere of deliberate ease that radiated from him. In his eyes +was something that warned, that hinted of passion. + +As the men watched him, noting his muscular neck and shoulders; the slim +waist of him, the set of his head--which had that hint of conscious +strength, mental and physical, which marks the intelligent fighter--they +shrank a little, glowering sullenly. + +Lawler stood close to the door, the pistol dangling from his right hand. +He had hooked the thumb of the left hand into his cartridge belt, and +his eyes were gleaming with feline humor. + +"There's a heap to be told," he said. "I'm listening." + +A silence followed his words. Both men moistened their lips; neither +spoke. + +"Get going!" commanded Lawler. + +"We was headin' south," said the small man. "We cut the fence to git +through." + +Lawler's eyelids flickered slightly. The heavy pistol swung upward until +the dark tube gaped somberly into the small man's eyes. + +"I've got loads of time, but I don't feel like wasting it," said Lawler. +"You've got one minute to come clean. Keep your traps shut for that time +and I bore you--both--and chuck you outside!" + +His smile might have misled some men, but the small man had correctly +valued Lawler. + +"Gary Warden hired us to cut the fence." + +The man's voice was a placative whine. His furtive eyes swept Lawler's +face for signs of emotion. + +There were no signs. Lawler's face might have been an expressionless +mask. Not a muscle of his body moved. The offense was a monstrous one in +the ethics of the country, and the fence cutter had a right to expect +Lawler to exhibit passion of some kind. + +"Gary Warden, eh?" Lawler laughed quietly. "If you're lying----" + +The man protested that he was telling the truth. + +At this point the tall man sneered. + +"Hell," he said; "quit your damn blabbin'!" + +"Yes," grinned Lawler, speaking to the small man. "You're quitting your +talk. From now on your friend is going to do it. I'm asking questions a +heap rapid, and the answers are going to jump right onto the tails of +the questions. If they don't, I'm going to see how near I can come to +boring a hole in the place where he has his brains cached." + +The man glared malignantly at Lawler; but when the first question came +it was answered instantly: + +"How much did Warden pay you?" + +"A hundred dollars." + +"When were you to cut the fence?" + +"When the norther struck." + +"You saw us cache grub in the cabin?" + +The man nodded. + +"What if you had found a couple of line riders here? What were you told +to do if you found line riders here? I'm wanting the truth--all of it!" + +The man hesitated. Lawler's pistol roared, the concussion rocking the +air of the cabin. The man staggered back, clapping a hand to his head, +where, it seemed to him, the bullet from the pistol had been aimed. + +The man brought up against the rear wall of the cabin, beside the +fireplace; and he leaned against it, his face ghastly with fright, his +lips working soundlessly. The little man cowered, plainly expecting +Lawler would shoot him, too. And Lawler's gun did swing up again, but +the voice of the tall man came, blurtingly: + +"Warden told us to knife any men we found here." + +Lawler's lips straightened, and his eyes glowed with a passion so +intense that the men shrank, gibbering, in the grip of a mighty +paralysis. + +Lawler walked to the table and sat beside it, placing the gun near his +right hand. The men watched him, fascinated; noting his swift movements +as he plunged a hand into a pocket and drew out a small pad of paper and +a pencil. He wrote rapidly upon a leaf of the pad; then got up, stepped +back and ordered the tall man to approach the table. + +"Write your name below what I have written--and date it." + +When both men had signed the paper, Lawler folded it, stuck it between +some leaves of the pad, and replaced pad and pencil in his pocket. + +"That's all," he said. "You'll hang out here until the norther blows +itself out; then you'll hit the trail to town and tell your story to the +sheriff. I'll be doing the honors." + +He sheathed his gun and flung open the door, stepping back as a white +avalanche rushed in; grinning broadly as he saw the men shrink from it. +He divined that the men thought he was going to force them out into the +storm immediately, and he grinned coldly. + +"You can be tickled that I'm not sending you out into it, to drift with +the cattle you tried to kill," he said. "You'd deserve that, plenty. +You'll find wood beside the dugout. Get some of it in here and start a +fire. Move; and don't try any monkey business!" + +He closed the door as the men went out. He had no fear that they would +try to escape--even a threat of death could not have forced them to +leave the cabin. + +When they came in they kindled a fire in the big fireplace, hovering +close to it after the blaze sprang up, enjoying its warmth, for the +interior of the cabin had become frigid. + +Lawler, however, did not permit the men to enjoy the fire. He sent them +out for more wood, and when they had piled a goodly supply in a corner, +and had filled a tin water pail from a water hole situated about a +hundred feet straight out from the door of the cabin, he sent them again +to the dugout after their ropes. With the ropes, despite the sullen +objections of the men, he bound their hands and feet tightly, afterward +picking the men up and tossing them ungently into upper bunks on +opposite sides of the room. + +He stood, after watching them for a time, his face expressionless. + +"That's just so you won't get to thinking you are company," he said. +"We're holed up for a long time, maybe, and I don't want you to bother +me, a heap. If you get to bothering me--disturbing my sleep trying to +untangle yourselves from those ropes, why----" + +He significantly tapped his pistol. Then he pulled a chair close to the +fire, dropped into it, rolled a cigarette, and calmly smoked, watching +the white fleece trail up the chimney. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +STORM-DRIVEN + + +For an hour there was no sound in the cabin. Lawler smoked several +cigarettes. Once he got up and threw more wood upon the fire, standing +in front of the blaze for several minutes stretching his long legs, +watching the licking tongues as they were sucked up the chimney by the +shrieking wind. + +Then, for a time, he lounged in the chair, gazing meditatively at the +north window, noting how the fine, frozen snow meal clung to the glass; +watching the light fade, listening to the howling white terror that had +seized the world in its icy grip. + +At the end of an hour it grew dark in the cabin. Lawler got up, lighted +the kerosene lamp, placed it on the table, seated himself on a bench and +again meditatively watched the leaping flames in the fireplace. + +Satisfaction glowed in his eyes as he thought of what would have +happened had he not decided to substitute for Davies and Harris. +Undoubtedly by this time the two men were on their way to the camp. They +would certainly have noticed the warning bleak northern sky and other +indications of the coming storm. And undoubtedly, if they had started +toward the camp, they were by this time being punished for their +dereliction. They would make the camp, though, he was sure, for they had +the wind at their backs, and they knew the trail. He expected, any +minute, to hear them at the door. He grinned, his face a trifle grim as +he anticipated their astonishment at finding him there, with the two +fence cutters occupying the bunks. + +He had not followed the herd to the Circle L shelters because he had had +small hope of keeping close to the fence cutters in the storm. And he +had brought them back to the cabin to make sure of them. As he sat at +the table he drew out the paper the men had signed and read their names: + +"_Lay Givens._" + +"_Ben Link._" + +Their confession would convict Gary Warden of a crime that--if it did +not open the doors of the penitentiary to him--would bring upon him the +condemnation of every honest man in the state. In his anxiety to inflict +damage upon Lawler, Warden had overstepped himself. + +Lawler had betrayed no passion that day when he had got off the train at +Willets with his men and Blondy Antrim. He had not permitted any of them +to suspect that the incident of the attempted theft of a portion of the +trail herd had affected him. But it had affected him. It had aroused him +as he never had been aroused before; it had filled him with a passionate +hatred of Gary Warden so intense that when his thoughts dwelt upon the +man he felt a lust to destroy him. Not even Lafe Corwin, watching him +that day at Willets, knew how he had fought to overcome the driving +desire to kill Warden, Singleton, and Antrim, as they had stood there on +the platform. + +His eyes chilled now, as he thought of Warden and the others. He got up, +his blood pulsing heavily, and started toward the fire. He had reached +it, and was standing before it, when he heard a sound at the door--a +faint knocking, and a voice. + +Davies and Harris were coming now. They were cold, he supposed, had seen +the light in the window--perhaps had tried the door; the wind drowning +the noise so that he had not heard it before. They were in a hurry to +get in, to the warmth the cabin afforded. + +He was in no hurry to let them in, and he walked deliberately to the +table and stood beside it, his back to the fire, smiling ironically. + +He heard no further sound, and he supposed the men had gone to the +dugout to turn their horses into its shelter before again trying the +door. + +He was in a grimly humorous mood now, and he stooped, blew out the light +and stepped toward the door, standing back of it, where it would swing +against him when the men opened it. + +He loosened the fastenings, stealthily. He wanted them to come in and +find the two fence cutters there. + +He stood for a long time at the door, listening, waiting. No sound +reached his ears, and he scowled, puzzled. Then, above the wailing voice +of the storm, came the shrill, piercing neigh of a horse. + +Several times in his life had Lawler heard that sound--once when a +cow-pony which had been bogged down in quicksand had neighed when he had +been drawn under; and again when a horse which he had been riding had +stepped into a gopher hole and had broken a leg. He had been forced to +shoot the animal, for which he had formed a sincere attachment; and it +had seemed to him that when he drew the pistol the horse knew what +impended--for its shrill neigh had been almost human in its terrible +appeal. + +It was such a sound that now reached his ears above the roar of the +storm. + +Davies and Harris were in trouble. + +With a bound Lawler tore the door open and stood, leaning against the +terrific wind, trying to peer out into the white smother that shrieked +around him. When he made out the outlines of a horse not more than half +a dozen feet from the open doorway--the animal so encrusted with snow +that he looked like a pallid ghost--and a shapeless bundle on his back +that seemingly was ready to pitch into a huge drift that had formed in +front of the cabin--he leaped outward, a groan of sympathy breaking from +him. + +In an instant he was inside again, carrying the shapeless bundle, his +lips stiff and white as he peered close at it as he tenderly laid it on +the floor of the cabin. + +With swift movements he lighted the lamp again, and then returning to +the bundle, leaned over it, pulling away a scarf that covered its head +and disclosing a white, drawn face--the face of the woman he had met, in +Willets, at the foot of the stairs leading to Gary Warden's office! + +Lawler wheeled swiftly, leaping to first one and then to the other of +the bunks where the fence cutters lay, tearing the ropes from them. + +The tall man tumbled out first, urged by what he had seen and by the +low tense voice of his captor. He seized a tin pan and dove out of the +open doorway, returning instantly, the pan heaped high with snow. The +other man, following the first quickly, dove through the snow drifts to +the dugout where he fumbled in the slicker on Lawler's saddle until he +found a flask. + +By the time the little man returned the woman was in one of the lower +bunks. A pair of bare feet, small and shapely, were sticking out over +the edge of the bunk, and the tall fence cutter was vigorously rubbing +snow upon them. A pair of small, high-top riding boots of soft, pliable +leather, was lying beside the bunk near some pitiably thin stockings. + +At the other end of the bunk Lawler was bathing, with ineffable +tenderness and care, a face that had been swathed in the scarf he had +previously removed. The long, glistening, black hair had been brushed +back from its owner's forehead by Lawler; and a corner of a blanket had +been modestly folded over a patch of white breast, exposed when Lawler +had ruthlessly torn away the flimsy, fluffy waist. + +"It was the scarf that saved her face," said Lawler, after he had worked +over the unconscious form for a quarter of an hour. The face was +flushed, now--which was a good sign; and the feet and ankles were +beginning to show signs of restored circulation also--though more +reluctantly. + +"How she ever got through it I'm not pretending to say," declared +Lawler, grimly. "But she did it, and the frost didn't get her, much. +She'll be fresh as a daisy in a couple of hours." + +The tall man--Link--had ceased his labors with the woman, and was +standing near Lawler. He grinned at Lawler's words. + +His face was flushed, his eyes were glowing with passion as he watched +the inert form on the bunk. + +"She's a peach," he said, thickly. Lawler was not looking at him; he was +giving all his attention to the woman. + +"Della Wharton," continued Link. "I've seen her at the Two +Diamond--runnin' around with Warden. Warden's took a shine to her. Don't +blame him." He muttered something else that Lawler did not hear, for +Lawler was paying no attention to him. + +Lawler held the flask to the woman's half-open mouth, and smiled when +several drops of the strong spirits trickled over her tongue. Then he +walked to the wood pile and replenished the fire. Returning, he saw Link +standing close to the bunk, smiling bestially at the upturned face. When +Lawler caught sight of him he was fingering the disordered hair, lifting +it and letting it filter through his fingers. + +Without a word, Lawler leaped and struck with bitter malignance. Not a +sound escaped Link as he fell. Lawler lifted him bodily, threw him upon +the pile of wood in the corner, where he lay huddled up, unconscious. + +Wheeling swiftly, his eyes ablaze with the terrible passion that had +seized him, Lawler faced the bunk. The woman's head was moving slowly +from side to side, as though she were making an effort to lift it; her +eyelids were fluttering, and her hands were straying over the +bedclothing, the fingers closing and unclosing. + +Lawler made a horrible grimace at Givens. + +"Get out of here, damn you!" he said. "Go out and take care of her +horse--anything! If you are in here when she wakes up, I'll kill you! +And take that other skunk out of here, too--take him to the dugout, and +don't come back here for an hour!" + +He watched impatiently while Givens seized his companion and dragged him +outside. Then Lawler fastened the door, and standing near it, watched +the woman. + +Her eyes were open. He could see them, even though he stood slightly +behind her. She moved her head, lifted it and gazed around the room, +seemingly bewildered at what she saw. Then she twisted her body around; +saw her bare feet, and quickly drew an end of the bunk blanket over +them. + +And then she saw Lawler. Her eyes opened wide, filling with +satisfaction, and she sat up, holding one hand to her throat, tight +against the flesh, covering it with the other. + +"Oh!" she said, thinly; "I--I got here, didn't I? But I didn't expect to +find you here!" + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +DEATH AT A DOOR + + +Lawler smiled. "Then I reckon we're both surprised, ma'am," he said. "I +certainly wasn't expecting the norther to bring you. You had a mighty +narrow squeeze. You were pretty near all in when I opened the door and +saw you." + +The girl drew a long, quavering breath and leaned back against the wall +of the bunk, closing her eyes. + +Her hair had fallen about her shoulders, showing the white throat +through the damp, glistening folds; and when she again opened her eyes, +they were big and luminous--and brown, Lawler took note of that, for the +glare from the lamp was directly upon them. + +Renewed life--animation--certainly beautified her. While Lawler had been +working with her to restore her suspended vitality he had felt no +emotion beyond an eagerness to restore her to consciousness. Now he was +vibrant with sympathy, with pity, and with wonder. + +Why had she come here? It was quite evident that she had come +intentionally, for her words: "I got here, didn't I?" seemed to be proof +of that. Also, she had not anticipated finding him at the cabin, for she +had said so in as many words. + +She gathered the blanket closer around her, noting that her feet were +wrapped in it and that one end of it covered her throat. Lawler saw the +blushes come and go in her face as she worked with the blanket, and he +secretly applauded her modesty. + +When she had arranged the blanket she looked straight at him. She +studied his face long before she spoke, and his eyes gleamed with +satisfaction when he saw her lips form a faint, half-smile. She had +decided she was not afraid of him. + +She was embarrassed, but not to the point of prudishness. Her gaze was +direct, frankly grateful. But there was something else in her eyes--a +vague uneasiness, curiosity, repressed eagerness. She glanced swiftly +around the interior of the cabin, and into the other bunks. And when she +saw Lawler watching her keenly she blushed. And now, as she dropped her +gaze, he saw her start as her eyes rested on the tangled ropes that +Lawler had torn from the two fence cutters when he had released them +after he had carried her into the cabin. The ropes were lying on the +floor where he had thrown them in his haste. + +"Has--has anything happened?" she asked, looking swiftly at him, +blushing again. + +"Plenty," he said; "you came." + +"I--I mean--that is, has anything else happened?" she added. She seemed +to hold her breath, for his answer. + +"I caught two fence cutters." + +"Did they cut the fence?" She was rigid, tense. + +Lawler nodded, and he saw her hands clench. + +"But there wasn't any damage done. I caught them just after they cut it, +and I made them repair it before the cattle got through." + +"And the two men?" she questioned, breathlessly. + +"They're in the dugout--with the horses. They were in here, until you +came." + +She leaned back, breathing fast. Her color was high, her eyes were +shining with satisfaction. And while Lawler watched her she laughed +quaveringly. + +"Then I had that long, cold ride for nothing," she said. + +Lawler looked straight at her. "You knew the fence was to be cut?" + +Her color receded and she met his gaze unflinchingly, resolutely. + +"Yes. I overheard Gary Warden telling two of the Two Diamond men--Link +and Givens--to cut it. Warden wanted to destroy all your cattle. It +seems he has had men watching them--and your men. And he learned the +herd was on the level near here. He told the men to wait until a storm +threatened. Gary didn't know I overheard him telling the men to cut the +fence; and I said nothing to him. But I waited until I saw an +opportunity, and then I came, to warn the men I expected would be here. +I didn't expect to find you here; and I intended to keep silent +regarding what I had heard." + +"Why are you telling it, now?" + +She blushed again and gazed downward. Then she looked at him with +direct, puzzled eyes. + +"I--I really don't know," she said, hesitatingly. "I expect it was +because I felt guilty--or because I thought I saw something in your eyes +that made me think you knew that I hadn't ridden over here for the fun +of it. It was a very cold and disagreeable ride. + +"And, somehow, I--I think you ought to know it. When I overheard Gary +telling those men to cut the fence it seemed to me that it was the +meanest scheme I ever had heard of. I was so angry I could have +horse-whipped Gary. At the time I believe I wasn't thinking of you at +all--I just kept seeing those poor cows wandering away in the storm, to +freeze to death in the open. And I determined to ride over here and +prevent it. I suppose what I have told you will make trouble for Gary. I +suppose I shouldn't have told you." + +"Givens and Link told me." + +"Oh! You made them tell, of course--_you_ would do that. What are you +going to do about it?" + +"What would you do--Miss--" Lawler paused. + +"I am Della Wharton," smiled the girl. + +"Well, what would _you_ do, Miss Wharton?" + +The girl flashed a quick glance at him. "Considering that the plan +didn't succeed, and that I rode clear over here to tell you about +it--don't you think you ought to keep silent, Mr. Lawler?" + +Whatever Lawler intended to do later, he was silent now. He was puzzled, +amazed, over the startling frankness the girl had exhibited. He had +heard, from Blackburn--or somebody--it wasn't important whom--that this +girl was staying at the Two Diamond. He believed Blackburn had hinted at +relations more intimate. And she was at this moment betraying +Warden--delivering him into the hands of a man the latter hated. + +"Miss Wharton," said Lawler gravely; "I confess I am puzzled. You accept +Warden's hospitality, and yet you come here to betray him." + +She laughed. "I am not accepting Gary's hospitality. My father is a +member of the company that bought the Two Diamond, and I have as much +right to be there as Gary has. We live East--in New York. I came West +out of curiosity. I wanted to see the ranch. And now that I am here I +intend to stay. I have always been eager to live in the West." + +"Then you don't like Gary Warden?" + +The girl's face sobered. "I like him. That is all." + +Lawler's eyes were still grave. "Miss Wharton," he said slowly; "do you +know what Gary Warden is doing--what the company with which your father +is connected, is doing?" + +"Yes," said the girl, frankly; "they--all of them--are trying to control +the western cattle market." She looked straight at him, with no sign of +embarrassment. + +"That is business, isn't it? It is what men are beginning to call 'big +business.' It means centralization of power, resources--and a number of +things that go with it. It is an admirable scheme--don't you think? It +eliminates uncertainty, risk of loss. It means the stabilizing of the +cattle industry; it means gigantic profits to the men who have brains +big enough to control it." + +Lawler smiled. "Also, Miss Wharton, it means the complete subjection of +the cattle raiser. It means that competition will be stifled; that the +cattle owner will be compelled to take what prices the buyers offer. It +means that the incentive to raise cattle will be destroyed. It means the +end of the open market--which has always been a spur to industry. It is +evil." + +The girl laughed. "How tragic!" she mocked. "One would think we were +facing a cataclysm, whereas business men are merely just beginning to +take advantage of some of the opportunities that are everywhere around +them. It is all perfectly legal, isn't it? I have heard my father say +that it is." + +Lawler's smile grew slightly bitter. He saw that the girl's mind was +merely skipping over the surface of the commercial sea upon which her +father sailed a pirate craft; she had not plunged into the depths where +she might have found the basic principles of all business--fairness; she +had taken no account of the human impulse that, in just men, impels them +to grant to their fellows a fighting chance to win. + +Watching her closely, Lawler saw in her the signs of frivolity and +vanity that he had failed to see that day when he had met her in +Willets. Her attitude now revealed her as plainly as though he had known +her all her days. She comprehended none of life's big problems; the +relations of men to one another had not compelled her attention; the +fine, deep impulses of sympathy had not touched her. She was selfish, +self-centered, light, inconsequential--a woman who danced from under the +burdens of life and laughed at those who were forced to bear them for +her. + +And yet she was a woman, demanding respect from his sex. He smiled as +he turned from her to fix the fire, wondering at the courage that had +driven her to ride to the cabin in the storm. His smile broadened when +he remembered she had said she sympathized with the "cows"--that motive, +while not a high one, was as good as another since the pursuing of it +had meant good for him in the end. + +"Do _you_ like this country?" she asked, as he turned. + +"It isn't a half bad place. If it wasn't for some persons--and +northers----" + +She laughed. "There are bad people everywhere. As for the 'norther'--I +enjoyed it very much until--until it got so bad that I just couldn't see +where I was going. I began to be afraid that I was lost and that I'd +freeze to death. And then I saw the light in the window--a little square +that flickered feebly in the distance, and which sometimes seemed to +disappear completely." She smiled, tremulously. + +"It seemed that--after I got here--I was to freeze to death, anyway. For +I couldn't make you hear me. I rode close to the door and pounded on it. +I was afraid to get off, for fear I would fall in that big drift near +the door and not be able to get up again. I was so cold and stiff----" + +She hesitated, and Lawler saw tears in her eyes. + +It was the reaction, delayed by their talk. Self-accusation shone in +Lawler's eyes as he started toward her. + +"I'm a box-head, Miss Wharton, for standing here, talking about nothing +at all, and you nearly freezing to death." + +And then he halted, midway of the distance toward her, aware that he +could do nothing when he did reach her. And her manner warned him of +that, too, for she pulled the blanket closer around her and crowded as +far back into the bunk as she could get, looking at him with embarrassed +eyes. + +"If you could get your clothes fixed," he began. "You see, Miss Wharton, +there wasn't much time, and we had to get them off mighty rapid. You can +see that we were none too gentle about it." + +She blushed, and he abruptly turned his back and walked to the +fireplace. He stuck close to it until he heard her say: + +"Won't you please hang my stockings up somewhere? They are so wet I +can't get them on." + +The stockings, wet and limp, fell close beside him. He snatched them up, +grinning widely, though fearful that she might see the grin, and +carefully laid them over the back of a chair, pulling the chair close to +the fire. + +Then he got out a frying-pan and began to prepare supper for her. When +the aroma of the sizzling bacon was wafted to her, he heard her exclaim: + +"U-um, that smells good! Why, I am almost famished!" + +Five minutes later, with a plate in her lap and a cup of steaming coffee +resting on the rail of the bunk, she was eating. Her eyes were bright +and her color high as she watched Lawler, who was seated at the table +with his back to her. + +"You don't feel much like talking, do you?" + +"No," he said. "According to the way this norther is whooping it up +we'll run out of talk before we can break trail out of here." + +"Do you mean that the storm may last some days?" + +"There is no telling. At this time of the year they are mighty +uncertain. I've known them to stick around for a month or more." + +She sat very silent, and for a time did not even move her lips. Stealing +a swift glance at her, expecting to see a worried light in her eyes, +Lawler noted that there was a slight--a very slight smile on her lips. + +He was amazed, incredulous, and he stole another glance at her to make +certain. There was no denying it--there was a smile in the eyes that +were gazing meditatively past him into the fire; a smile on her +lips--giving him proof that the prospect of remaining alone in the cabin +with him had not crushed her--had not brought the hysterical protests +that he had feared. She was plainly pleased, possibly considering the +thing an adventure which would have no damaging consequences. + +With a malice in his eyes that she did not see--for he looked gravely at +her, he said, slowly: + +"Listen, Miss Wharton!" + +He raised a hand and looked at the north window. Following his gaze she +saw the snow whipping against the glass, rattling against the panes like +small hailstones hurled with frightful velocity. The incessant droning +whine of the wind reached their ears, deep in volume as though it would +tell them of its interrupted sweep across the vast plains; as though to +convince them of its unlimited power and ferocity. She knew as well as +he that the big drifts around the cabin had grown bigger; that other +drifts were forming around the walls. For the sounds were muffled, and a +great, weird calm had settled inside the cabin. The walls, snow-banked, +were deadening outside sound. + +"A man couldn't go half a mile in that, now, Miss Wharton. And it will +be days before anybody can reach us. I am afraid we are in for a long +spell of monotony." + +"Well," she said, gazing straight at him; a glow in her eyes that +puzzled him; "we can't help it, can we? And I suppose we shall have to +make the best of it." + +Lawler, however, did not expect the storm to last more than a day or so. +They seldom did, at this time of the year. He had drawn the gloomy +picture merely in an attempt to force Miss Wharton to realize the +indelicacy of her position. He had thought she would have exhibited +perturbation. Instead, she was calm and plainly unworried. + +Puzzled, Lawler leaned an elbow on the table and scowled into the fire. +There was no apparent reason why he should object to remaining in the +cabin with a pretty woman who did not seem eager to leave it. And yet he +was afflicted with a grave unrest. + +Givens and Link were in the dugout, and presently they would return to +the cabin. They would have to remain in the cabin, for it would be +inhuman of him to compel them to stay very long in the dugout with the +horses. Thus was Miss Wharton shielded against the impropriety of +staying for any length of time in the cabin with him, alone. + +But the safeguard of propriety was also a danger. Because Link had +permitted a certain light to glow in his eyes Lawler had knocked him +down. If the four of them were to remain in the cabin for any length of +time, there would be periods when he must sleep. And then Link---- + +Lawler's thoughts broke off here, for he heard a sound at the +door--Givens' voice, saying hoarsely: + +"For God's sake, Boss, let us in! We're freezin' to death!" + +Lawler got up and walked to the door. He hesitated as he lifted the bar, +telling Miss Wharton to wrap the blanket tightly around her in +anticipation of the rush of wind. When he saw that she obeyed him, he +swung the door open. + +As Lawler opened the door he stepped back with it, escaping by inches +the sweep of an axe blade that caught the light from the lamp and +shimmered brightly in a half-circle as it was swung with the malignant +force of Link's arms. + +The blade of the axe struck the floor, sinking deep into the boards; +while Link, hurled off balance by the viciousness of his attack, tumbled +headlong after the axe, sprawling on his hands and knees on the cabin +floor, muttering curses. + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +THE "KILLING" + + +For an instant following the attack there was no change in the scene +inside the cabin. Surprise that Lawler had escaped his blow seemed to +retard Link's movements quite as much as the force of his fall. For he +floundered on the floor, unable to get his feet under him; while the +bitter wind, howling in through the open door, hurled a blinding +avalanche of white clear to the fireplace. On the floor in the smother +of white was Link, and near him the handle of the axe stuck rigidly +upward, its blade buried deeply in the floor. + +Della Wharton had been watching Lawler as he opened the door, and she +had seen what quickly had followed. Now, though a nameless terror had +seized her, she still watched, unable to withdraw her gaze, powerless to +move or to open her lips. + +She saw Lawler standing where he had halted when he had opened the +door--one hand grasping the bar that he had lifted when he had drawn the +door back; the other hanging at his side. She saw him dimly through the +driving mist that was between them, but he loomed big, gigantic, as he +stood there, motionless in the instant following the attack, watching +Link. + +Then the scene changed swiftly. Link was still on the floor when Givens +leaped into the cabin. He held a heavy piece of cordwood in one hand, +and as he entered the door he paused for an instant, plainly blinded by +the light and the snow. His face was hideous with passion. + +Until now, the lamp had been fluttering in the rush of wind. As Givens +stood, trying to peer around him, the light spluttered and went out, +plunging the cabin into a darkness but little relieved by the dull, red +flames in the fireplace. + +It was still light enough for the girl to see, however; and she gasped +as she watched Link scramble to his feet and lunge toward the axe. Then +the semi-darkness was rent by a flame streak that started from where +Lawler stood, and the air of the cabin rocked with a deafening roar. She +saw Link go down in a heap, and before she could draw a breath another +lancelike flame darted from the point where Lawler stood. She saw Givens +stagger; heard the heavy piece of cordwood thud to the floor; saw Givens +plunge backward through the door to land in the big drift outside. + +Then she huddled down into the bunk, covering her face with her hands, +shuddering, cringing from the horror she had witnessed. + +When she again opened her eyes the lamp had been lighted and the door +closed. For a long time she did not move, dreading to peer from the +bunk, lest she see a thing that would remind her of the tragedy. + +But when, after a while, she found courage to look, she saw Lawler +standing near the fireplace, looking down into the flames, his back to +her. + +The axe, she noted, shuddering, was standing on the floor near the +woodpile; and there was no sign of Link or Givens. + +For a long time she was silent, watching Lawler, a dread wonder filling +her. And at last, when the continuing silence began to affect her with +its horrible monotony, she said, quaveringly: + +"Did--you--Are they _dead_?" + +"Yes," said Lawler, gruffly; "I took them out back of the windbreak." He +wheeled, to look straight at her, his gaze level and somber. + +"I had to do it--there was no other way. I'm sorry you had to see it." + +That was all. He did not speak to her again. For a long time she watched +him, but he did not change position--standing there, tall, big, seeming +to brood into the dancing flames that cast grotesque figures over the +walls of the cabin. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +CHANCE--AND A MAN + + +Della must have slept, for when she again opened her eyes the light had +been extinguished and a gray glow was coming through the north window. + +Morning had come. She gathered the bedclothes around her and sat up, +glancing around the cabin for Lawler. He must have gone out, for the +heavy wooden bar had been removed from the door--it was standing in a +corner. She suspected Lawler had gone out to care for the horses, and +she hurriedly got out of the bunk, ran to the door and barred it, and +began to dress. + +A fire roared in the fireplace, and it was warm in the cabin. But she +noted, with an interest that was almost calm, that the storm still raged +as furiously as the night before. There was this difference. Last night +the wind had been driven against the cabin in fitful blasts, for the +most part; now to her ears there came a ceaseless, droning hum with no +intervals of silence between--a steady, vicious, incessant rushing roar +that made her fear the cabin walls could not long resist it. + +When she thought of last night's tragedy it seemed almost remote to +her--a thing that had happened long ago; an incident that time had +robbed of its gruesomeness. + +For she saw, now, that it had been inevitable--that Lawler had acted in +self-defense. There had been no other way. She shuddered when she +thought of the ghastly things that were lying under the windbreak; but +her own comfort became instantly paramount, and she drew a chair close +to the fire and enjoyed its welcome warmth while dressing. + +After dressing she got up from the chair and walked over to the +chuck-box, smiling as she noted the bulging sides; her eyes glowing with +satisfaction when she lifted the lid and saw the well-filled interior. +She paused before the shelf upon which reposed a supply of canned foods; +and exclaimed with delight when she saw, affixed to the wall near the +door, a piece of broken mirror. She spent some time looking into the +glass, combing her hair with a fragment of comb she found on a shelf +beside the mirror. + +She had finished when she heard a knock on the door. She removed the +bar, and when Lawler stepped in, closing the door instantly to keep out +the rush of wind, she was standing in a corner, smiling demurely at him. + +His face was grave, and he did not respond to her mood as he stood +there, watching her. + +"Well," she said, after a silence, during which his face did not change +expression; "can't you say something complimentary?" She lifted her eyes +challengingly, as though to invite his inspection. + +He saw that the tragedy had not affected her as it would have affected +some women--his mother and Ruth Hamlin, for example--though he veiled +the reproof in his eyes with a smile. The vanity she exhibited, her +self-interest, egotism disgusted him. + +"You've found the mirror," he said. "Well, you look pretty well slicked +up. What happened last night seems to have affected you very little." + +"Why should it?" she demanded, defiantly. "I don't intend to brood over +two men that I did not know--two men who attempted to commit murder! Of +course, it was an awful shock, and all that, but I am not going into +hysterics over it. Besides, I didn't kill them." + +Lawler abruptly turned away from her and walked to the fireplace. His +face was pale and his eyes were glowing with contempt. She followed him +as far as the table, her lips in a pout--and stood there watching him, +her gaze mocking, defiant. + +He finally turned and looked at her, his lips set in straight lines. + +"Yes, I killed them, Miss Wharton," he said, evenly. "Do you know why?" + +"Because they seemed determined to kill you--because they attacked you, +I suppose," she returned. + +"You are wrong, Miss Wharton. There was nothing personal in that +killing. Those men were carrying out a principle of the unscrupulous +system you defended in our talk last night. If there had been no system +those men would not have attempted to cut my fence, I would not have +captured them, and they would not have attempted to kill me. Do you see +what I meant last night when I said the system was evil?" + +She held his gaze unflinchingly. "Mr. Lawler," she said; "those men had +no orders to kill you--they attempted that because you captured them, I +suppose. And I did not, last night, attempt to defend Gary Warden's +action in sending them here. In fact--if you remember--I came over here +purposely to defeat them." + +"But if there was no scheme to control cattle there would have been no +incentive to cut my fence," he said, impatiently. + +"Perhaps some other persons would have cut it," she answered; "criminals +are everywhere. Please don't preach to me, Mr. Lawler," she added, +pleadingly. "I--I think you ought to be glad that I came--aren't you?" + +He smiled grimly. "Well, I am not going to turn you out into the storm." + +Getting out some cooking utensils he began to prepare breakfast. She +watched him for an instant, and then went to the north window, rubbed a +hole through the frost and tried to look out. She could not see more +than a few inches into the white blur that roared against the glass, and +so she turned, sought a chair near the table, and resumed watching +Lawler. And her eyes filled with a warm light as they followed his +movements--noting that he seemed handsomer now than he had appeared when +she had met him that day at the foot of the stairs. And she smiled at +his back, exulting in the continued fury of the storm. For it meant that +she would be alone with him for days--many, perhaps. And she told +herself that she loved Lawler; that she had loved him since the day she +had encountered him at the foot of the stairs leading to Warden's +office. He was wealthy, handsome; and in her code of morals it was no +crime to take advantage of every opportunity that chance presented. And +chance---- + +Here Gary Warden's face flashed in her mental vision. And she smiled. +For Warden had never thrilled her as this man had thrilled her. Warden +was cold, coarse, gross. This man was vibrant with life, with +energy--there was fire in him. And it had been Warden's scheming that +had sent her to Lawler. She laughed and snuggled contentedly down in the +chair. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +THE WHITE WASTE + + +Warden and Singleton had been in Willets on the day the storm broke. +They had ridden into town early, and when they saw the low-flying clouds +sweeping down from the north Singleton grinned maliciously, with a +significance that Warden could not mistake. + +"Warden, it's goin' to storm," he said. + +Warden glanced at the other, understandingly. + +"Looks a whole lot like it, Singleton. And we can be more comfortable at +the Two Diamond than in town." + +"Right," grinned Singleton. "An' we'd better hit the breeze right now, +for she's comin' fast." + +As they mounted their horses in front of the building that contained +Warden's office, the latter looked sharply at Singleton. + +"Givens and Link ought to be busy by now. You say your men reported that +the Circle L men stocked Number One line camp yesterday?" + +"She's stocked!" laughed Singleton; "Tulerosa an' Denver brought word. +An' the herd was on the big level north of the camp. They'll head +straight for that break because they'll hit it before they hit the +basin. An' Givens an' Link will send 'em through, to hell--an' then +some. An' them damn fools, Davies an' Harris, is layin' in the back +room of the Wolf, paralyzed by that forty-rod that Big Jim Lafflin has +been slippin' over the bar to 'em. They won't know they're alive until +this time tomorrow, an' then they'll be so scared that they'll just keep +right on hittin' the forty-rod for fair! I reckon we've got Lawler +goin', now, the damn maverick!" + +Warden and Singleton rode fast, but the storm caught them. Midway on the +ten-mile stretch of plain between Willets and the Two Diamond they +turned their backs to the white smother and sent their horses racing +headlong away from the storm. + +"She's a humdinger!" yelled Singleton to Warden as the wind shrieked and +howled about them. "If Givens an' Link git them cattle started they'll +drift clear into Mexico. Three thousand! I reckon that'll set the damn +fool back some!" + +The two men had only five miles to ride when the storm struck, and +Singleton was experienced. And yet when they rode into the Two Diamond +stable and dismounted, both men were breathless and tired; their legs +and arms stiff with cold and their faces raw and blue from the bitter +wind that had swirled around them. + +"Another five miles of that an' we wouldn't be as active as we are now!" +said Singleton, grimly. "She's got a worse bite than any wind I ever +seen!" + +Warden's hands were so cold he could not remove the saddle from his +horse. A Two Diamond man performed that service for him, and for +Singleton. While Warden and Singleton were stamping their feet in an +effort to restore circulation, the Two Diamond man called to them from +the far end of the stable: + +"You run into Miss Della?" + +Warden wheeled toward the man. "What do you mean, Lefty? What about Miss +Della? Isn't she at the ranchhouse?" + +"She rode away about three hours ago--on that big roan of hers. Went to +town, most likely. She didn't say. I reckoned that if she _had_ gone to +town, you'd have run into her." + +Warden ran stiffly to the ranchhouse, where he came upon Aunt Hannah in +the kitchen. + +"Where's Della?" he demanded, excitedly. + +The woman looked at Warden in mild surprise. + +"Why, didn't she come with you, Mr. Warden? She told me she intended +to." And then her face blanched at the wild excitement Warden betrayed. + +"She isn't with you--you didn't meet her? Oh, she'll be frozen to death +in this terrible storm!" + +"Damn you!" cursed Warden, gripping the woman's arm until she cried out +in pain; "didn't I tell you not to let her go alone--anywhere?" + +He released the woman and plunged out, running blindly back to the +stable. He collided with Singleton at the stable door. His face was +ghastly, his eyes bulging. + +"Della's gone, Singleton!" he gasped. "She went to town. For God's sake, +get those saddles on again! We've got to go back!" + +"Warden, it can't be done," said Singleton in a low voice; "you'd freeze +to death before you went a mile. There ain't any man can face that +storm an' live. Man," he added when Warden made a violent gesture of +impatience; "use your reason. We've just come five miles, with the wind +at our backs--an' we're half froze. Lefty just told me that Miss Della +left about three hours ago. If that's the case she's likely in town, +snug an' warm, somewheres. We'd ought to have nosed around a little +before we left, but we didn't, an' mebbe she rode right by your place, +thinkin' to stop in on the way back. You left early, you know. Anyway, +Warden, if she's in town she'll stay there till the storm is over--snug +an' warm. And if she didn't go to town there wouldn't be no use lookin' +for her. Why, man, look out there! you can't see your hand before you!" + +Warden raged insanely, stalking back and forth through the stable; and +finally to the ranchhouse again, where he bitterly arraigned Aunt +Hannah. But in the end he stayed in the ranchhouse, close beside a +window, out of which he watched until the night came to shut off his +view of the great, white world. + +Over at the Circle L ranchhouse were other anxious watchers--men whose +steady eyes held a haunting gleam of worry, and whose rugged faces grew +grim and long as the days passed and the storm did not abate. From their +bunkhouse they watched, day and night, for the end; their horses ready, +heavy clothing at hand for a plunge into the white waste that stretched +on all sides of them. Had they known which way Lawler had gone when he +left the Circle L they would have searched for him despite the frigid +danger that gripped the world. But Lawler had gone, leaving no word; +and there was nothing the men could do. + +Through a window in the Circle L ranchhouse anxious eyes peered +also--those of a gray-haired woman with a kindly, gentle face into +which, as the long days passed, came lines that had not been there +before. And yet in the watching eyes was a gleam of hope--of calm +confidence in the big son who was somewhere in the white waste--a +conviction that he was safe, that he would survive and return to her. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +A WOMAN'S WILES + + +From the ceiling of the cabin Lawler had suspended a spare blanket. It +hung between the two tiers of bunks, thus providing a certain privacy +for both Miss Wharton and Lawler. + +Lawler had been scrupulously considerate, and with a delicacy that must +have earned her applause--had she been serious-minded--he had sought to +seem unaware or indifferent to the many inevitable intimacies forced +upon them by the nature of their association. + +He knew, however, that the girl was secretly laughing at him. Certain +signs were convincing. On the first night of their enforced joint +occupancy of the cabin, she had silently watched him tack the blanket to +the ceiling; and though she had said nothing, he had noted a gleam in +her eyes which had made him wonder if he should not have waited until +_she_ suggested it. + +At other times he felt her gaze upon him--her eyes always glowing with +the suggestion of silent mirth. She seemed to be amused over the +delicacy he exhibited--to be wondering at it. Whether she appreciated it +or not he did not know, or care. For he had noted other things that had +increased his contempt of her. She was betraying absolutely no +perturbation over her enforced stay in the cabin with him. On the +contrary, her manner gave him the impression that she was enjoying +herself and not thinking of the future. She was contented with the +present. + +Moreover, he could not fail to be aware of her interest in him; for the +many signs were infallible. Glances, the intonations of her voice, a way +she had of standing close to him, of touching his hands or his +shoulders--all was evidence of the guile he had detected in her, +convincing him that she thought him desirable, and that she had decided +to win him. + +But vanity in Lawler had long since been ruthlessly overwhelmed by the +serious business of life. He had never had time--in his later years--to +yield to the fatuous imaginings of youth. He had lived a rough, hard +life, in which values were computed by the rule of sheer worth--a life +that had taught him that performance, and not appearances, must be the +standard by which all men and women must ultimately be judged. + +Lawler was not flattered by Della Wharton's feminine blandishments. He +was grimly amused--when he was not disgusted; though he continued to +treat her with the utmost courtesy and gentleness, trying to keep her +from divining his emotions. + +Also, he had tried to lessen the dread monotony that encompassed them. +There was nothing they could do. Beyond the mechanical tasks of eating, +or of cooking and sleeping, of plunging outside to the water hole for +water, or of caring for the horses and bringing wood for the fire, there +was no diversion except that of talking. And, as the days dragged and +the storm did not abate, even talking began to irk Lawler. There would +be periods during which they would be silent, listening to the howling +and moaning of the wind--hours at a stretch when the cold outside would +seem to threaten, to tighten its constricting circle, when a great awe +oppressed them; when it seemed that the whole world was snowbound, and +that it would keep piling over and around them and all life would be +extinct. + +It was on the morning of the tenth day that Lawler began to notice that +the dread monotony and the white, ever-present menace were beginning to +affect the girl. Her face was white and in her eyes was a haunting gleam +of fear. He noted how she clasped her hands; how she nervously twined +and untwined her fingers, and how she kept pushing her chair toward him, +as though for protection. + +A swift sympathy seized him; he laughed, lowly, reaching out a hand and +laying it lightly on her shoulder as she started at the sound of his +voice and drew a quick, startled breath. + +"Oh!" she said; "will it never end?" + +"It can't last much longer, Miss Wharton," he smiled. "It has held on +longer, now, than it should at this season." + +The sound of his voice reassured her--it was calm, quiet, confident. +Some color came back into her face, and she smiled. + +"I believe I was beginning to get the doldrums," she said. + +"That wouldn't be startling, Miss Wharton. Life in a line camp does +become monotonous. It is to be expected. It becomes tragic. Also, it has +a humorous side--viewed from a distance--chiefly afterward. In the +fall, men go into line camps fast friends. We always pair them that way. +Any other method would be fatal, for when the men come out in the spring +they invariably are deadly enemies. You can imagine what would happen if +we sent into a line cabin two men who did not think well of each other." + +She shuddered and snuggled closer to him, letting her head fall to his +shoulder. A pulse of pity stirred him, and he permitted her head to stay +where she had laid it, while he gently smoothed her hair. + +He would have done as much for any woman in her position; the emotion +that filled him was entirely that of pity. She was vain and +frivolous--employing every artifice, but she was a woman despite that, +and entitled, in the present circumstances, to what comfort and sympathy +he could give her. + +However, to Della, the moment of victory was at hand. She _had_ been a +trifle worried just an instant before; and the white world outside _had_ +seemed to threaten to rush in and crush out her life--the life she loved +so well--and she had been just a little afraid. + +But she had not been too frightened to note Lawler's sympathy--the quick +glow in his eyes, and the atmosphere of tenderness that suddenly seemed +to envelop him. It was surrender, she thought, the breaking down of that +quiet, steady reserve in him which had filled her with resentment. + +She caught his free hand and held it tightly, while she turned her head +so that she could look into his eyes. + +"Lawler," she said then, in a low voice; "I lied to you." + +"Lied?" He stiffened, dropped his hand from her head and looked straight +at her. + +She laughed, lightly. "Yes; I lied, Lawler. The day we met in +Willets--you remember? Well, I loved you from that moment, Lawler. You +looked so big and fine and strong. I just couldn't help it. I did +overhear Gary Warden telling those two men to cut the fence; and I +didn't want them to set all those cattle adrift. But I didn't intend to +come here. I started out to find your ranch--the Circle L. I thought I +would find you there, and I knew I wouldn't be able to go back to the +Two Diamond right away--that you would have to keep me at your house +until the storm was over. But I got lost, and when I saw the light in +the window, here, I knew I had better go toward it. But I came because I +wanted to be near you, Lawler. And now--" She laughed and tried to draw +him toward her. + +"Of course you are not in earnest, Miss Wharton," he said, slowly, his +voice grave. "Such a confession----" + +"It's the truth," she declared, shamelessly, holding tightly to him. "It +is simple, isn't it? I love you--and I came to you. I came, because I +had to--I wanted to. I had been thinking of you--dreaming of you. You +were in my mind all the time. + +"And you have been acting dreadfully distant. I had begun to believe +that you didn't like me--that you wished I hadn't come----" + +"That would be the truth, Miss Wharton," he interrupted. He grimly +walked to the fireplace, standing with his back to it, looking at her. +He was wondering how he could tell her that she had disgraced her sex; +how he could, without being brutal, tell her how he abhorred women who +pursued men. + +Despite the impulse of charity that moved him, he could not veil the +grim disgust that had seized him. It showed in the curve of his lips and +in his eyes. + +And Miss Wharton saw it. She had been watching him narrowly +when he walked away from her; she was looking at him now, in resentful +inquiry, her lips tight-pressed. She was puzzled, incredulous. + +Then, with their glances locked, she laughed, jeeringly. + +"I really don't know how to classify you!" she said, scornfully. "Am I +ugly?" + +He smiled grimly. "Far from it," he answered, frankly. "I think," he +added, his gaze still holding hers, "that mere physical beauty doesn't +intrigue my interest. There must be something back of it." + +"Character, I suppose," she mocked; "nobility, virtue?" + +"I think you have said it," he smiled. "At least I haven't the slightest +desire to like you." + +"School teachers are more in your line, I suppose," she jibed. + +There was a wanton light in her eyes. The change that had come over her +was startling; and Lawler found himself watching her, trying to +associate this new side of her character with that she had shown before +she had betrayed her real character; she represented a type that had +always been repulsive to him. And, until now, she had fooled him. He had +wasted his politeness, his gentleness, his consideration, and his +delicacy. He understood, now, why she had seemed to laugh at him when he +had endeavored to provide a certain measure of privacy for her; he knew +how she felt at this moment, when she must realize that she had betrayed +herself. + +Any further talk between them would be profitless, and so Lawler did not +answer her question. He stood, looking at the north window, which was a +little to one side of her; while she sat staring past him, her lips +straight and hard. + +At last she looked up. "What an odd courtship!" + +His gaze dropped, met hers, and he smiled. + +"Yes--odd," he returned, dryly. + +"But I suppose," she said, in a tone equally dry; "that you will make up +for it, after we are married. You will learn to like me." + +"Yes; after we are married," he smiled, ironically. + +"That will be as soon as we can get to town, I presume," she went on, +watching him with brazen directness. "You see," she explained; "I have +been here with you for about two weeks, you know, and my friends will +ask embarrassing questions. You are so _honorable_ that you cannot +refuse to protect my reputation." + +"I am sorry, of course, Miss Wharton. But you should have considered +your reputation before you decided to come here." + +"You mean that you won't marry me?" she demanded. She got up and walked +toward him, halting within a pace of him and standing stiffly before +him. + +"You have perception, after all, it seems," he said, gravely. "But you +don't understand human nature. No man--or woman--in this section will +see anything wrong in your staying in this cabin with me during the +storm. They will accept it as being the most natural thing in the world. +It was a simple act of humanness for me to take you in, and it entails +no offer of marriage. Perhaps it has been done, and will be done again, +where there is an inclination to marry. It has been done in books, and +in certain sections of the world where narrow-minded people are the +manufacturers of public sentiment. The mere fact that I happened to save +your life does not obligate me to marry you, Miss Wharton. And I do not +feel like playing the martyr." + +For an instant it seemed that Della would become hysterical. But when +she looked into Lawler's eyes and realized that mere acting would not +deceive him, she sneered. + +"I might have known _you_ wouldn't be man enough to protect me!" + +Lawler smiled, but did not answer. And after an instant, during which +Della surveyed him with scorn unspeakable, she strode stiffly to a chair +in a far corner of the room and dropped into it. + +Lawler had been little affected. He pitied her because of her perverted +moral sense, which sought an honorable marriage from a wild, immoral +impulse. He pitied her because she was what she was--a wanton who was +determined by scheme and wile to gain her ends. And he shrewdly +suspected that she was not so much concerned for her reputation as she +was eager to achieve what she had determined upon. Defeat to her kind is +intolerable. + +"Gary Warden will never marry me if he discovers that I have been here," +declared Della from the corner. + +"You said you did not love Warden, Miss Wharton," Lawler reminded her. +"You wouldn't marry a man you merely liked, would you?" + +"We have been engaged for a year. Certainly, I shall marry him. Why not? +But he won't have me, now!" + +"Does Warden love you, Miss Wharton?" + +"That doesn't concern you!" she snapped. + +"No--not in the least. But if Warden loves you, and I went to him and +explained that your being here was accidental----" + +"Bah!" she sneered; "you're a fool, Lawler! Do you expect Gary Warden +would swallow _that_! You don't know him!" + +"Well," said Lawler, gently; "he need not know. If you are afraid to +face public opinion, to show by your actions that you have nothing to be +ashamed of, I'll take you to the Circle L, just as soon as we can get +through. We'll time ourselves to get there at night. No one need know, +and you can tell Warden that you were caught in the storm and drifted to +the Circle L, where you stayed with my mother. I can come back here and +no one will ever know the difference." + +"I don't want to see your mother!" she sneered. "I'd be afraid she would +be something like you! Ugh! I hate you!" + +"There is only one other way," smiled Lawler. "I know Keller, the owner +of the Willets Hotel, very intimately. I can take you there, at +night--after the storm breaks. No one need know. You can say you were at +the hotel all the time. And Keller will support your word." + +"I presume I shall have to go to Willets--since I have to lie!" she +said, wrathfully. + +"Yes," said Lawler incisively; "it takes courage to be truthful, Miss +Wharton. But if a person always tells the truth----" + +"Shut up!" she said savagely; "you make me sick!" She glared malignantly +at him. "Ugh, I positively loathe you! I must have been crazy when I +thought I saw something in you!" She paused for an instant to get her +breath, and then she resumed, vindictively: + +"I hope they arrest you for killing those two men--Link and Givens. I +hope they hang you. And they will hang you, because you can't prove you +acted in self-defense. You'll be sorry you didn't marry me when you +realize that I might have saved you by telling the truth about the +fight!" + +"Well," he said; "you can't testify without admitting you were here, you +know." + +"And I will never tell!" she declared; "I will never admit it!" she +added, exultingly. "You'll change your mind about marrying me--you'll +have to, to save your neck!" + +Lawler shook his head negatively. + +"You wouldn't marry me to save your life?" asked the girl, +incredulously. + +"Not to save my life, Miss Wharton." + +"Well," she said slowly; "you're a damned fool!" + +Lawler smiled and turned away. He heard Della moving about in the cabin, +but he did not look around. + +But later, after there had been a deep silence for a time, he ventured a +backward glance. During the day he had kept the dividing blanket rolled +up out of the way, fastening it with two loops that he had suspended +from the ceiling. The blanket was now down--it was the first time Della +had touched it. + +Lawler smiled, pulled a chair over near the fireplace, rolled a +cigarette, and puffed slowly at it, reflecting that life in the cabin +would now be more monotonous than ever. + +Della did not get out of her bunk during the day. She ate nothing, nor +did she reply to Lawler when he invited her to partake of the food he +had prepared. + +Late that afternoon Lawler noted a glow of light coming through the +north window. He went to the door, opened it and looked out. The snow +had ceased and the wind had gone down. Far over in the west a cold sun, +hanging its rim on a mountain peak, bathed the world with a shimmering, +glittering, blinding light. + +Lawler went outside and shielding his eyes with his hands, peered out +over the gleaming waste. He noted that the snow had drifted much, but +that there were ridges where no snow had settled, as well as vast +sections of plain where the wind had swept the snow clear. There would +be no difficulty in reaching Willets, for the wind that was coming over +the plains now was mild--almost warm. + +He went inside, told Della, and began to make preparations for the ride. +And later that night, moving swiftly northward, under straggling clouds +that obscured the moon, the two journeyed--Della swathed in clothing +that assured her of warmth, and still preserving a sullen silence; +Lawler riding ahead, breaking trail. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +DELLA'S HANDKERCHIEF + + +Dawn was just breaking when Lawler dropped from Red King at the +windbreak near the line cabin. He put the big horse in the dugout, +closed the dugout door and entered the cabin. Then he breathed a sigh of +relief. + +There were still some glowing embers in the fireplace, and he soon had a +roaring fire, in front of which he stood for a while, meditating. + +He had got Della Wharton into the Willets Hotel without, he felt +certain, attracting attention. For when they had ridden into +town--taking the back way in order to avoid any sleepless citizens that +might be about--it was past midnight. Lawler had timed himself to reach +town at about that hour, knowing that with the exception of a brothel or +two, Willets would be dark. + +He had been fortunate. At his first knock on the rear door of the hotel, +Keller had appeared; and Keller had instantly grasped the +situation--though he plainly told Della that she was "goin' to a whole +lot of unnecessary trouble." "Why, good Lord, ma'am, I reckon you had a +right to hole up with Lawler! Nobody'd be blamin' you. They's a dozen +men in this town that would make a colander out of anybody that'd hint +things about a deal like that. Lawsy, ma'am, folks has got sense, ain't +they? But if you doubt 'em, I reckon we can take care of you." + +Lawler prepared and ate breakfast. It had been a tiresome ride, and +after eating, knowing that there was no occasion for haste in his return +to the Circle L--except that his mother would wonder over his +whereabouts--he stretched out in one of the lower bunks--the one he had +occupied during Della's stay in the cabin. + +He had not barred the door; and when, some hours later he awoke, he saw +half a dozen men in the cabin. They were standing near the door, +watching him. Foremost among them was Gary Warden. + +Lawler swung around in the bunk and sat on its edge, facing the men. +They were Two Diamond men, for he recognized some of them. + +Lawler got to his feet. He saw no friendliness in the faces of the men; +and Warden was pale, scowling. + +But Lawler smiled. "Looking for something, boys?" he said. + +"We're looking for two men and a woman, Lawler. Have you seen anything +of them?" + +"I've seen two men, Warden; but no woman." + +Warden's eyes quickened. Some color surged into his face. + +"How long have you been here, Lawler?" + +"Since the day the storm broke. Davies and Harris went to town for a +spree, and I've been substituting for them." + +He felt a savage amusement over Warden's attempt to conceal his +disappointment. He could see that the man was consumed with curiosity +over the outcome of the fence cutting, though he dared not voice it. + +"Lawler," said Warden; "we've lost two men--Link and Givens; and Della +Wharton--who was staying at the Two Diamond." + +"I've seen no woman, Warden. But I've seen Link and Givens. You'll find +them out by the windbreak. I had to kill them." + +Lawler saw the men behind Warden grow rigid; Warden's face grew ghastly. + +Lawler's smile had gone. He was coldly alert, watching the men behind +Lawler, aware that his news was a shock to them; divining they would not +hesitate to do violence if an explanation was not quickly offered. + +But there was cold malice in Lawler's heart toward Warden; and he stood, +silent, watchful, until Warden recovered from his astonishment. He was +determined to compel Warden to ask the question that, plainly, was in +his mind. + +And at last Warden asked it: + +"What did you kill them for?" + +"I caught them cutting my fence, Warden. At just about the time the +storm struck. I brought them here--after lifting their guns. I intended +to take them to Sheriff Moreton, at Willets. But during the night I sent +them out for wood, and when they re-entered the cabin they attacked +me--Link with an axe, and Givens with a piece of cordwood. You can see +where the axe landed--where it stuck in the floor, when Link missed me +as I opened the door for him." + +The door opened and the men filed out, eager to ascertain the truth of +Lawler's story. Warden did not move; but his eyes, the expression of his +face, indicated that he did not doubt Lawler's story. But he sought to +discredit it. + +"What would my men cut your fence for, Lawler?" + +Lawler laughed. He had no intention of telling Warden about the +confession the men had signed. + +"You ought to know, Warden--they were your men." + +"Meaning that I sent them to cut the fence?" demanded Warden. His face +was red with a wrath that was plainly artificial, or that had been +aroused over the knowledge that Link and Givens had failed. + +"Meaning whatever you choose to think I mean, Warden," said Lawler +coldly. "I'll make my explanations to the sheriff." + +Warden had quickly recovered his composure. It was evident from Lawler's +manner that Link and Givens had not talked. He had been afraid they +might have told Lawler that _he_ had ordered them to cut the fence. If +they had talked, Lawler would have mentioned it before this--any man +would, for no man could have resisted the inevitable impulse to exult +over his success in thwarting the men, of bringing confusion upon the +author of the scheme. That was what Warden would have done, and he +believed any man would have done it. + +He drew himself erect and walked slowly to the fireplace; where he +halted, turned, and smiled at Lawler--a smile full of malice. + +"Your explanation of the killing of Link and Givens is a mighty flimsy +one, Lawler, don't you think? Moreton might want a witness,--eh?" + +"There was no witness, Warden." Lawler had not turned. He was watching +the door, for he expected the Two Diamond men to enter at any instant, +and he knew they would deeply resent the killing of their companions. He +did not intend to be taken by surprise. + +Warden, standing in front of the fireplace, noted the blanket suspended +from the ceiling, swinging between the two tiers of bunks. He started, +his face paled, and he looked searchingly at Lawler. And then, observing +that Lawler was paying no attention to him, he moved slowly toward one +of the bunks--the one Miss Wharton had occupied--noting the disturbed +bedclothing. A white piece of cloth, crumpled and soiled, lay on a +gray blanket. He took it up swiftly, stuck it into the front of his +heavy coat and turned again toward the fireplace. With his back to +Lawler he swiftly examined the cloth he had picked up. It was a +handkerchief--a woman's--and in one corner of it was an embroidered +monogram containing the letters "D.W." It was Della's--he had seen that +and others like it, many times, in her hands and at the Two Diamond, on +the wash line. + +For a long time, with his back to Lawler, Warden fought to control the +terrible jealousy that the finding of the handkerchief had aroused in +him. His face was contorted with passion; his eyes were aflame with it. +He had hated Lawler before; now the passion was a malignant poison that +burned, through his veins like fire. + +He did not trust himself to speak--his voice would have betrayed him. He +walked past Lawler, sneering silently as he reached the door, looking +back as he opened it and stood on the threshold, muttering hoarsely: + +"You'll hang for this, Lawler--damn you!" + +Lawler heard the Two Diamond men ride away, and he went to the door at +the sound they made and saw they were carrying the bodies of Link and +Givens--they were lashed to their horses, which the Two Diamond men had +taken from the dugout. He watched them out of sight. + +It was only an hour or so later when Davies and Harris clattered to the +door of the cabin. They were red and embarrassed, and confessed they had +been intoxicated. But they were much relieved when they found that +Lawler had headed the herd into the valley; and they were filled with +rage when Lawler told them of the fence cutting and the killing of the +two men. And they were delighted when Lawler told them to go on duty at +the cabin, not even mentioning their dereliction. + +Half an hour after the appearance of Davies and Harris half a dozen +Circle L men rode up, eager-eyed, overjoyed at finding their "boss". +They were covered with snow from their ride up the valley, through the +big drifts they had encountered, but the glow in their eyes when they +saw Lawler was safe indicated they had forgotten the rigors of the ride. + +They told him the herd had reached the shelters and that few of the +cattle were missing; and a little later, with Lawler riding with them, +they set out for the Circle L, shouting and laughing like schoolboys. + +Shorty, the tawny-haired giant, was with them. + +"Cuttin' fences, eh?" he said as he rode close to Lawler. "Well, they're +sort of pickin' on us, I reckon. First there's Blondy Antrim; an' now +Link an' Givens cuttin' the fence. When you goin' to cut loose an' give +'em hell, Boss?" + +"Hell is closer than you think, Shorty," said Lawler, gravely. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV + +IN WHICH A MAN PLOTS + + +When the storm broke Warden had shown by his actions that he was more +concerned over Link and Givens than over Della Wharton. He had told +Singleton to ride the trail to Willets, to search for the girl, while +himself and several of the Two Diamond men started for the line cabin. +Singleton had left the Two Diamond in the early evening, while Warden +had delayed his departure until after midnight. + +Singleton had made good time, and he reached Willets long before +midnight. He made some inquiries, discovering that Della Wharton had not +been seen; and shortly after midnight he was in the low, squatty stable +in the rear of the Wolf Saloon, saddling his horse for the return trip +to the Two Diamond. He was convinced that Della had not come to Willets. + +He was about to lead the horse outside when he saw two horsemen riding +through the drifts in the rear of a building near the Willets Hotel. The +light was not good, but Singleton would have recognized Red King in any +light, and he laughed exultantly as he saw the rider dismount. + +Singleton abruptly closed the stable door and darted into the shadow of +the stable. Then he crouched, ran low behind a big drift, and gained the +side of a building next to the Willets Hotel. He was close to the two +riders, and he grinned maliciously when he saw that one of them was a +woman. + +He heard Lawler knock on the rear door of the hotel; and he crouched in +the shadow of the building until Lawler and the woman entered. But just +before the two entered, Singleton caught sight of the woman's face as +she turned toward him for an instant and the dull light shone upon her. + +He watched until Lawler came out again and rode away; and from behind +another building on the other side of the street he saw Lawler going +directly south, which direction would take him to Number One Circle L +line camp. + +Then Singleton mounted his horse and followed the trail taken by Lawler. +By the time Singleton struck Lawler's trail, Lawler was out of sight +beyond a low ridge, and Singleton leisurely examined the tracks in the +snow. + +He discovered that two sets of tracks led in the direction Lawler was +taking. He followed them for several miles, until there seemed to be no +doubt that Della had been with Lawler at the line camp; then he grinned +and wheeled his horse toward the Two Diamond. + + * * * * * + +Gary Warden was also following the two sets of tracks that led +northward. He had come upon them accidentally, while riding with one of +his men slightly in advance of the others as they went toward Willets, +where Warden intended to take the bodies of Link and Givens. He had said +nothing to his companion regarding the tracks, though he noted the +other saw them also, and was studying them, puzzled. + +"Them tracks ain't more'n half a dozen hours old," the man said once, +tentatively. But receiving no answer from Warden he said no more. + +In places there were three sets of tracks--two going northward, and one +leading back. Warden, his eyes glowing malevolently, followed them until +they took him into Willets. An hour later, his face flushed with +passion, he was in a little office with Sheriff Moreton, demanding +Lawler's arrest on a charge of murder. + +Moreton, a slender man of medium height with a lean, strong face and +keen, penetrating eyes, had listened patiently to Warden's story. + +"Lawler told you he killed 'em, eh? Well then, I reckon he must +have--Lawler ain't in the habit of lyin'. You got any witness that +Lawler killed 'em, malicious? You've just got done hintin' that Lawler +said he shot 'em in self-defense. But you say he didn't. One man's word +is as good as another's in law, Mr. Warden--you got to remember that!" + +"Then you won't do anything?" snapped Warden. + +"I reckon I'll do somethin'," said the sheriff, drawlingly. "I'll have +to see Lawler an' get his side of it. An' if you charge Lawler with +murder, I'll have to bring him in. But I'm warnin' you that if you ain't +got any witnesses to prove your charge, you ain't got no show of +convictin' him. An' Lawler's standin' is pretty high in this country, +Warden--an' don't you forget it!" + +Warden smiled derisively. "Well, he seems to have a friend in you, +anyway. I'll investigate a little before I file formal charges." + +"It's a good idee--I'd do a lot of it," advised the sheriff. "An' then, +when I'd done a lot of it, I'd do some more--just to be sure I wasn't +bitin' off more than I could chew!" + +Warden left the sheriff's office, after turning the bodies of Link and +Givens over to the official. He sent his men to the Two Diamond, and +spent some time at a window in the rear of the Wolf Saloon, examining +hoof prints on the snow in the vicinity of the Willets Hotel, a short +distance from the Wolf. He was in a vicious mood. + +He noted that the three sets of tracks he had followed led to the rear +of the hotel. They were clear and distinct, for no other tracks were +near them. His men and himself had evidently been the first to reach +town after the storm had abated--excepting the riders whose tracks he +had followed. + +He was still at the window when he heard a step behind him, and saw +Singleton approaching. + +Singleton's eyes were gleaming with knowledge. He was breathing fast. + +"I met the boys, headin' for the Two Diamond," he said. "They tell me +Lawler downed Link an' Givens--an' that Lawler caught 'em cuttin' the +fence. An' Colter says he was ridin' with you an' that you was followin' +them tracks that led to town from that Circle L line cabin. Well, that +was a hot trail, Warden. She's there--in the hotel!" + +"Who?" demanded Warden, his face paling, though he was convinced that +what Singleton would tell him would merely confirm his suspicions. + +"Della Wharton!" declared Singleton. He related what he had seen the +night before from the stable in the rear of the Wolf; and he stood tense +and stiff behind Warden as the latter glared out of the window, his lips +in a bestial pout. + +Warden spoke at last, his voice dry and light and vibrant with cold +fury. + +"No women, Singleton; he told me he'd kill me if I dragged any of his +women into this deal. And now----" + +"An' now he's drugged in the woman you've took a shine to," sympathized +Singleton. He scratched his head in puzzlement. "Hell's fire!" he added; +"I didn't think that of Lawler. I ain't never admired the cuss none--a +damned sight less since he walloped me--but I didn't think he'd drag +another man's woman into a cabin like that, an'----" + +"Bah! Shut up!" commanded Warden, glaring malignantly at the other. + +"Sure; I reckon you don't like to think of it," said Singleton. "It +would rile me some, too." + +Aware that this was a matter which would not permit of even suggestion +on his part, Singleton soon found an excuse to take leave of Warden. And +for an hour after Singleton's departure, Warden stood at the window +fighting for his composure. Then, when he had succeeded, he walked out +of the front door of the saloon and made his way down the street to the +Willets Hotel. He told Keller, the proprietor, about Miss Wharton's +disappearance, and he succeeded in simulating an excellent counterfeit +of astonishment when Keller informed him that Miss Wharton was at that +moment up stairs in her room--that she had been at the hotel since the +storm broke. He pretended not to see the flush on Keller's face as he +told the lie; and his greeting to Della was distinguished by calm +casualness. + +Later, when Warden told her that the Two Diamond had been lonely without +her, and that the trail was in condition for travel, she readily agreed +to accompany him. And, shortly after noon they rode out of town +together, Warden apparently in the best of humor over finding her safe; +Della elated over the success of the deception. + +It was late when they reached the Two Diamond. Several of the men +cheered delightedly when they rode into the ranch yard; and Aunt Hannah +was tearfully grateful. + +However, twice during the evening meal, as they sat opposite each other, +Della noted a look of sullen preoccupation in Warden's eyes. And then, +studying him covertly while she ate, she observed that he was paler than +usual; that his lips were straight and stiff, even when he smiled; that +he seemed to have little appetite and was restless and jerky. + +Warden was suspicious--that was evident. She had thought, when he had +entered her room at the hotel, that his manner was strange and not +nearly so hearty as it should have been over finding her. He had been +too matter-of-fact and undemonstrative. + +She never had loved Warden; she had not even respected him. She had +plumbed his nature and had found him narrow, selfish--even brutal. But +she had permitted him to make love to her occasionally--mildly, for what +doubtful amusement she got out of it, and she had responded merely for +the thrill it gave her to have a man pursue her. + +When, after supper, Warden called her into his office and closed the +door behind her, she had steeled herself for any attack he might make. +She was calm, and unmoved by what she saw in Warden's face. + +A lamp glowed on Warden's desk, and he motioned her to a chair that +stood beside it, so that when she seated herself the glare of the lamp +was on her face. + +While she sat there, a little malice in her heart for Warden--because he +had dared to suspect her--he moved toward her and without saying a word +laid before her the handkerchief he had found. + +She took it up deliberately, looked at it, and as deliberately stuck it +into her belt. + +"It's mine, Gary," she said. + +"I found it in a bunk at a Circle L line camp, occupied during the storm +by Kane Lawler. I thought perhaps you would like to explain how it got +there." + +"I left it there, Gary--I forgot it." + +"You admit you were there?" + +"Certainly. Why should I deny it? Do you want to know why I went there, +Gary?" + +"I'd like to know, of course," said Warden. He was standing, tense, his +eyes glowing with passion that he was trying to control; his face +ashen. + +"I started for the Circle L. I wanted to see Lawler. You didn't know +that I had met him one day at the foot of the stairs leading from your +office, in town. Well, I did, Gary; and I fell in love with him." + +She heard Warden's gasp; saw his eyes glow into hers with a jealous fury +that seemed to threaten to drive him to violence. + +"Bah; don't be silly, Gary," she admonished coldly. "You know I never +have cared for you in the way you wanted. I shall have to respect the +man I marry, and I never could respect you, Gary. You are too--too much +as you are now. You'd like to punish me, physically; you'd like to hurt +me, in some way--if you could. You'll never be a lover to any woman, +Gary--you are too insincere. You never have loved me; you have merely +been flattered over having me near you. And it is only your vanity that +is hurt, now." + +Warden laughed unpleasantly; though she knew from the expression of his +eyes that he knew she had spoken truthfully. + +"Well--go on," he said, shortly. + +"That is all, Gary," she laughed. "Except that I got lost and went to +the cabin instead of the house. Lawler was there; we were both +there--for ten days. And then, because I didn't want my reputation to +suffer, I had Lawler take me to the hotel at night, to make it appear +that I had been there all the time. Interesting, isn't it?" + +"Very," said Warden. "I think I understand. But why didn't Lawler marry +you to save your reputation--if you loved him so much?" + +Her smile was shallow and hard. + +"I expect Lawler thought my reputation didn't need saving--or wasn't +worth it. For he refused me, point blank." + +"Gallant--eh?" mocked Warden. + +She laughed. "Well, I don't know that I blame him. I have thought, +since, that I went at it very crudely. I should have played the innocent +instead of doing what I did. He's wary as a serpent, Gary, and wise." + +"Do you still love him?" + +Her eyes flashed spitefully. "I hate him, now! I think I was merely +infatuated. I thought it was love, but I can see now that it wasn't. I +don't think I ever really have loved a man, Gary." + +Warden laughed. He knew she had told him the truth--he could see truth +in her eyes. + +"He killed Link and Givens," said Warden. "Did you see it?" At her nod +he went on: "Just how did it happen?" + +She told him, and he evinced disappointment. Then, during a silence, he +watched her keenly, a gleam of craft in his eyes. + +"How much do you hate him, Della?" + +Her eyes narrowed and she regarded him steadily, noting the subtle glow +in his eyes. She smiled, with sinister understanding. + +"You want me to swear that he killed those two men wantonly, Gary--is +that it?" She laughed mirthlessly; "I would do it if--if I didn't have +to risk my precious reputation." + +"You won't risk your reputation," exulted Warden. "I'll fix that. We +don't want to charge him openly with the murder--and he can't be +convicted without evidence. What we want to do is to hold a threat of +exposure over him--to fix him so that he won't ever be able to run for +an office in this state--as he intends to. For they are grooming him, +right now. And the governor is back of the scheme to break him--you know +that. If you'll sign a statement to the effect that you were a witness +of the murder, and that Lawler was the aggressor, I'll hold it over him, +and we'll make him get down off his hind legs and be good. When I show +him the statement you can be sure he will never want to stand trial. And +we won't force him. We'll let the court at Willets examine him; and +they'll have to let him off." + +"It would be satisfying--wouldn't it, Gary?" she said, after a time. + +"You're a brick, Della!" he laughed. + +She got up and stood beside him as he wrote. And Warden did not see the +designing light in her eyes as she watched him. And her smile, as she +signed her name to what he had written, was inscrutable--containing much +knowledge of Warden's motives, and concealing still more of her own. + +In her room, while undressing, she laughed. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI + +A MENACE APPEARS + + +Sheriff Moreton waited for Warden to act, as he had promised. And the +sheriff continued to wait. For Warden did not appear with his evidence. +It seemed that the power behind Warden had called a truce; that it had +been disconcerted by its failures, and was waiting--slowly marshaling +its forces for another assault. But the power was working secretly, if +it worked at all, for during the winter there were no visible signs +which would indicate activity on the part of Lawler's enemies. + +Nature seemed to wait, also. The country, between storms, lay bare and +naked, bleakly barren where the winds swept; somber in the valleys, with +desolation reigning on the coldly gleaming peaks of the hills and the +distant mountains. + +Willets was somnolent, lethargic. Occasionally a canvas-covered wagon +rumbled over the frozen windrows of the town's one street, and rumbled +out again, loaded with supplies for a distant ranch; or a group of +cowboys, in search of diversion, came into town for a night. But these +visitations were so infrequent as to create no disturbance in the dull, +slumberous routine of Willets' citizens. + +Warden and Della Wharton, accompanied by Aunt Hannah, had taken a +west-bound train shortly after Miss Wharton's adventure in the Circle L +line cabin. It was whispered they had gone to the capital for the +winter. + +Sheriff Moreton had ridden over to the Circle L, to quiz Lawler about +the killing of Link and Givens. + +"The coroner's verdict didn't incriminate no one," said Moreton. "I told +him some Two Diamond men had found the bodies down south a ways, an' +that they wasn't no evidence to show who'd done for 'em. Now, Lawler, if +you'd give me a straight story I'd be obliged to you." + +Lawler gave him a "straight" story, merely omitting mention of Miss +Wharton. + +"Cut your fence, eh?" muttered the sheriff, gruffly; "well, I reckon +they got what was comin' to 'em!" + +Lawler had ridden over to the Hamlin cabin twice, making his visits +short, for he saw the embarrassment in Ruth's eyes, over what he had +done for Hamlin. + +A change had come over Hamlin. His eyes held a straightforward gleam +that had not been in them for a long time; he held his head erect, his +step was springy and full of reliance. He seemed rejuvenated, imbued +with a new spirit. Several times Lawler saw Ruth's eyes following him +with pleasure; though she blushed when she caught Lawler watching her. + +When the mild winds of spring began to sweep across the wide levels, and +the sun began to shed its welcome warmth over the land, Lawler rode +again to the Hamlin cabin. This time there was an anxious light in +Hamlin's eyes; and Ruth was pale and worried. + +"There's been strange doin's around here, lately, Lawler," Hamlin said +when Lawler questioned him. "If you hadn't rode over today, I was +intendin' to sneak over to the Circle L an' tell you about it. + +"The other night I was ridin' north--near Bolton's Shallow--where the +old trail crosses, leadin' to Kinney's canon. There's some new grass +there, an' my cattle is dead set on gettin' it. I'd got 'em, an' started +back with 'em--easin' 'em down that little gully near the river--an' +bein' plumb out of sight from the shallow--when I seen a trail herd +comin'--_west_! + +"Lawler, I watched 'em. I seen 'em cross the river, still headin' west, +easin' off a little to the south. They was above me, an' they was a glow +in the north, behind 'em--an' they stood out plain an' clear. An' so did +the men that was with 'em, drivin'. + +"Lawler, they was more'n fifty men drivin' them cattle--mebbe five +hundred head. An' they had three wagons, an' a _remuda_ with about a +hundred head in it! + +"They was takin' their time. I rode back a ways, an' then got off my +horse an' sneaked up close to the shallow. An' I seen all the men, +clear. I waited until they got a good start, an' then I trailed 'em. +They brought up at the Rabbit Ear, at that old house of Rud +Dickman's--who cashed in three or four years ago, leavin' nobody behind +him." + +Lawler nodded. He knew the place. Dickman had been a nester, and since +his death no one had occupied the house, and no one had come to claim +his land. + +"Well?" said Lawler, as Hamlin paused. + +"Lawler," said Hamlin, gravely; "there's goin' to be hell to pay in this +section. Them men turned their cattle into the grass around there, an' +put a night guard over them. They emptied their wagons and toted the +stuff into the house. They fixed up the corral fence an' turned their +horses into it. They brought lamps an' stoves for the bunkhouse an' the +cabin--an' bunk stuff an' tables an' such. They're figurin' to stay +there. An', Lawler--they're _Blondy Antrim an' his gang of +cutthroats_!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII + +EVIDENCE + + +When Gary Warden stepped off the east-bound train at Willets one evening +in April--to be met by Singleton, who had been apprised of the day of +his coming and who had been in town for two days waiting--there was an +expectant smile on his face. + +A change seemed to have come over the town. The winter lethargy had been +shaken off and Willets was a throb with life and activity. There was a +warm wind blowing, bearing the breath of the new sage; doors were open; +many horses were hitched to the rails that fringed the walk in front of +saloons and stores; and there was over it all an atmosphere that seemed +to be vital, electric. + +Warden drew Singleton over to a corner of the station platform, from +where, between two buildings, they had a clear, unobstructed view of the +street. + +"Della Wharton didn't come?" asked Singleton. + +"No," laughed Warden; "she stayed over for a reception at the governor's +mansion, tonight. She'll be here tomorrow." He leaned close to +Singleton, whispering: + +"Are Blondy and his men settled?" + +"Settled!" Singleton laughed deeply. "You might call it that. Blondy an' +his gang are runnin' this man's town, right now! They've got Moreton +scared, looks like! He's layin' mighty low, an' keepin' his trap shut. +Blondy's got a mighty tough gang--a bunch of hoppin', howlin' +tarantulas, straight from hell! Blondy's still raw from that deal Lawler +handed him when he brought him here an' dumped him down on the platform, +tellin' you Blondy was his 'vent.' Blondy swears he'll kill Lawler for +that, an' I'm bankin' that he makes a strong play for a killin'. There's +red in Blondy's eyes when he talks about Lawler!" + +Warden smiled evilly. "That's Lawler's lookout," he said, venomously; +"he ought to be man enough to take care of himself. Let's take a look +around." + +With Singleton beside him, Warden visited half a dozen saloons and dance +halls; smiling as he noted the bepistoled cowboys who were swaggering in +and out of doorways and on the sidewalk--strangers to him, but not to +Singleton, who grinned and nodded to them as they passed. + +Warden spent the night in town. And after midnight, in a room at the +rear of the Wolf Saloon--when the sounds of the night's revelry were +becoming fainter--he sat at a table with Singleton and Blondy Antrim, +talking in low tones. + + * * * * * + +At eight o'clock in the morning Warden stepped into the door of Sheriff +Moreton's office. + +Warden's face was pale, and he smiled mirthlessly at Moreton, who was +standing near a desk looking over some papers. + +Moreton looked keenly at his visitor. "You're back, eh?" he said, +shortly. + +"Back to perform a solemn duty, Moreton," said Warden. "I have the +evidence I spoke to you about. It's too bad, but we are all bound to see +that justice is done. I don't like to take this step, for Lawler is a +distinguished citizen despite some mighty bad habits, and I don't like +to be the one to charge him with that crime." + +"Uh-huh," grunted Moreton; "I can see that you're about ready to break +down an' bawl right out in meetin'. But I wouldn't do no more +fourflushin' in here--it ain't healthy. Where's your evidence?" + +Warden laid Della Wharton's written statement on the desk at the +sheriff's hand. He watched while Moreton read; he saw Moreton's face +whiten; saw his hand tremble a little as he folded the paper and put it +into a pocket. + +Then he looked straight at Warden. + +"I don't believe a damned word of it, Warden!" he said, his eyes +blazing. "If that woman was in that cabin with Lawler durin' the storm +she kept it mighty quiet. An' Lawler didn't say a word about it when I +rode over to see him a couple of months ago!" He glared at Warden. +"Where's that Wharton woman, now?" + +"She'll get to town this afternoon," Warden said. + +"Well, she'll have to swear to this, Warden. I can't afford to act on +this--mebbe it ain't her signature." + +"Meaning that I forged it?" smiled Warden. + +"Meanin' what you damned please!" snapped Moreton. "I ain't actin' in +this case till that woman swears she seen what she claims to have +seen." + +"She'll swear to it," said Warden, confidently. "Meantime, I'd advise +you to have a talk with Keller. Ask him who brought Della Wharton to the +hotel, and what time she got there." Warden smiled. "I'll see you later, +Sheriff." + +Warden went to his office; and, after a time, Moreton strode slowly to +the Willets Hotel, where for a long time he talked with Keller. + +When Moreton emerged from the hotel after the talk with Keller his brows +were furrowed and his lips were in a pout. He spent most of the day +sitting in his office, glaring moodily out into the street; and when he +heard the east-bound train rumble in late in the afternoon he drew a +deep breath and got up, muttering lowly: + +"It looks mighty like it--for a fact. But Lawler--Oh, hell!" + +Within fifteen minutes after the arrival of the east-bound train, +Moreton was sitting at the desk in his office, studying Miss Wharton's +face. + +Della had been met at the train by Warden--who now stood just inside the +door of the office, watching her, admiring her self-possession. + +For Della was calm and deliberate. There was, to be sure, a paleness +around her mouth that was not there at other times; and her lips were +set rather tightly. Moreton saw those indications of mental stress--but +they were no more pronounced than they should be in any woman who had +come to swear she had witnessed murder. + +And Della swore to the statement she had made. She answered Moreton's +questions in a low voice, telling him she regretted having to answer +them--begging him to keep the matter as secret as possible, for she +abhorred publicity. + +After Moreton had administered the oath, Della and Warden went out; and +for many minutes Moreton sat at his desk with his chin on his chest, +staring at the desk top. + +He finally got up, buckled on his cartridge belt and pistol, went out, +mounted his horse and rode southward. + + * * * * * + +Inside the sheriff's office, Warden took leave of Della Wharton, +pressing her hand warmly, telling her that she had been "great." Della +smiled shallowly, not responding to Warden's hand pressure. Her face had +grown white and there was a glow in her eyes that she did not permit +Warden to see. + +Warden left her, telling her she would find her horse in front of his +office--where Singleton had brought it. Warden's expressions of regret +that he could not accompany her to the Two Diamond were received in +silence. Business would keep him in town for a day or so, he said. + +Warden went toward the Wolf, and Della walked down the street to her +horse, mounted and rode through mounds of back-yard refuse to the rear +of the Willets Hotel. She got a man out to stable her horse, and a few +minutes later she was in the room she had occupied on the night Lawler +brought her to town from the line cabin. She was still pale, but now +there was a smile on her lips. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII + +THE TRAIL HORDE + + +From the front windows of the Wolf Saloon, Slade, the violent-mannered +rider whom Blondy Antrim had left in charge of his men the night he had +ridden away from the desert camp fire to hold a conference with Lawler +near the trail herd, had watched Sheriff Moreton lope his horse into the +soft southern twilight. + +Slade was a young man, tall, swarthy, reckless-eyed. He was keen, +cynical, and jealous of the power and authority of Antrim. He grinned at +Warden, who was standing near, also watching Moreton. + +The grin was crooked, expressing reluctance. + +"Well the Law is hittin' the breeze, an' I reckon, accordin' to orders, +we'll be hittin' it, too." + +He left Warden and walked to the bar, where he spoke lowly to several +men. Then he walked into a rear room, where several other men were +playing cards, and repeated his words. The men ceased playing and +followed him to the front door. + +Half an hour later, when Sheriff Moreton had vanished into the growing +dusk, Slade and the men to whom he had spoken, went outside, clambered +upon their horses and rode slowly in the direction taken by the sheriff. + +There were a score of them--rough-looking characters with eyes as +reckless as those of the man who led them; and they were silent as they +rode, as though on some stealthy mission. + +They did not follow Moreton far; they veered eastward slightly after +they had traveled several miles, and finally came to a trail that +paralleled a small river, which they rode for a time. + +Darkness came while they rode, and the twinkling points of stars grew +brighter in the cold blue of the sky--millions of them appeared, +distant, winking, shedding a luminous haze over the land. + +After a time the riders reached a level near the river, and some low +buildings loomed out of the haze. A light glowed through a window in one +of the buildings--the largest--and toward this the men rode, dropping +from their horses at the door and filing silently inside. + +In a big room, from which came the light the riders had seen, were many +other men. + +Antrim, his bronzed face almost the hue of copper in the glare from the +lamp that stood on a table, was sitting in a chair near the door. Some +of the men inside were on their feet, expectant, suspicious. They +grinned when they recognized the newcomers, calling variously to them in +greeting. + +Antrim got to his feet when he saw Slade at the door, looking at him +expectantly. When Slade grinned, telling Antrim that Moreton had ridden +south, Antrim's eyes glittered with satisfaction. + +"Selden!" he ordered, sharply; "you slope for the Circle L trail an' +watch it! When you see Moreton an' Lawler headin' toward town, you fan +it here in a hurry!" + +A tall man with two guns sagging at his hips leaped to the door and +plunged out. In the silence that followed his departure, they could hear +the thudding of hoofs that marked his going. + +Antrim grinned coldly around at the other men. + +"We'll clean up on Lawler tonight, boys," he said. "We've got to work +fast!" + +He stood, boldly outlined in the light, a sinister figure. His cruel +lips were set tightly, his eyes were agleam. He was a symbol of passion, +rampant and unrecking--a wild, violent spirit to whom laws were irksome +shackles. + +He grinned at Slade, mockingly, naked malevolence in his gaze. His voice +was harsh, vibrant. + +"Slade, tonight you're goin' to get what you've been waitin' for--the +leadership! Ha, ha!" he laughed as he saw Slade's face work with the +bitter rage that instantly seized him. "You thought I didn't know you +wanted my place--eh? Bah! I've known it for a year. You're ambitious, +eh? Well, listen! + +"Tonight you're leadin' this little party. You're to run off them cattle +of Lawler's--three thousand head--which he euchered me out of last fall. +You're takin' three thousand head, Slade--not a one less. If you take +less you're through with me. You'll run 'em down through Kinney's canon, +clear through to the big basin beyond. At the other end you'll head 'em +south, to Mexico--where we've been runnin' 'em for three years past. +You'll take a receipt for them from a guy named Miguel Lomo, who will +be waitin' for you at Panya--where you knifed that Oiler last summer. +Warden arranged that. + +"You'll post a dozen men in Kinney's canon, to drop anyone that follows. +There's goin' to be no excuses, or you settle with me--afterward. +Understand?" + +Slade's eyes glared with savage triumph and defiance. He grinned +felinely at the other, and when he spoke there was cold, taunting +contempt in his voice. + +"I'm doin' it, Antrim! I'm tickled to get the chance. But where are you +goin' to be tonight?" + +Antrim flushed darkly. He laughed. "I'm figurin' to do a man's +work--tonight or tomorrow, Slade. Somethin' that you ain't got nerve +enough to do--I'm goin' to face Kane Lawler when he's riled, with a gun +in his hand! I'm goin' to down him right here in this room!" + +Slade started, his face paled. He laughed mirthlessly. + +"Well," he said, watching Antrim keenly; "if he's as fast as he used to +be--before gettin' to be a big guy in this neck of the woods tamed +him--you'll have to be lightnin'--an' then some!" + +He wheeled, and went out of the door, where he stood, looking toward the +plains on the other side of the river, grinning derisively. + + * * * * * + +Two hours later Selden clattered to the door of the cabin and +dismounted, conveying the news that Moreton and Lawler were riding +north, toward Willets. And within a few minutes after the appearance of +Selden, Slade and forty-eight of Antrim's men rode swiftly, scurrying +into the star haze, straight into the south wind that swept out of the +Wolf River valley. + +The men rode close together for more than an hour, until they reached +the crest of the big valley, where they halted, closely massed, and +scanned the semi-gloom in front of them. + +The big valley was silent, somber. There was no movement in it. Looking +down from the crest the Antrim men could see the dim outlines of the +Circle L buildings; and they had no trouble in distinguishing the +ranchhouse, out of which through a window, a feeble glimmer of light +came. The other buildings were dark. + +One of the men laughed raucously, as he pointed out the light. "That's +mebbe Lawler's old woman, settin' up, wonderin' what her boy's been +grabbed by the law for," he sneered. "Well, she'll be wonderin' +more--after Blondy gits through with him." + +Slade chuckled, but said nothing. He was hoping that by this time on the +morrow Antrim would have discovered that Kane Lawler could "sling" a gun +with the speed and accuracy he had used in the old days. + +Far down in the valley, Slade pointed out the cattle. They were +scattered a little, as though perfunctorily guarded, but still massed +enough to make the task of rounding them up comparatively simple to the +big group of men in Slade's company. + +"There ain't more'n half a dozen men ridin' night herd down there," said +Slade as he pointed out the forms of several horsemen in the vicinity of +the herd; "an' likely enough they ain't watchin' a hell of a lot." He +issued some orders, and the group on the crest of the valley split up. +Some of them rode west along the edge of the valley, where there was a +fringe of juniper and post oak to conceal them; others slid down into +the valley directly toward the herd, keeping in the tangled growth that +featured the sloping sides of the great hollow. They were adept at this +work, and they moved like shadows until they reached the wide floor of +the valley. + +Then, spreading out, fanwise, a number of them swinging far around the +herd so that they approached it from the west, they closed in. + +There was no longer any attempt at concealment. A shot from Slade's +pistol was the signal for a violent dash that instantly set the big herd +in motion. As the attack came from the west the cattle moved eastward, +bleating and bellowing with surprise. They moved slowly at first, as +though confused by the suddenness of the rush--milling in bewilderment; +detached numbers dashing here and there in wild affright. + +Concerted movement came when the strange horsemen began to flank them. +Eastward there was open ground, with no dashing, shooting men to bar +their progress, and eastward they went, a dark mass that moved with +exceeding swiftness straight up the valley. + +The few cowboys who had been riding night herd made a feeble, astonished +resistance. There were several shots, frenzied cries of rage and pain; +and then nothing but the thunderous rumble of hoofs; the shouts of the +driving rustlers; scattered shots and the clashing of horns. A vast +dust cloud ballooned above the herd; and five riderless Circle L horses +trotted aimlessly about, snorting with fright. + +The big herd had gone with the suddenness of a cyclone. It went, +rumbling up the valley, the dust cloud hovering over it, blotting out +its movements. It roared past the Circle L bunkhouses, leaving behind it +a number of Circle L cowboys who had been awakened by the thunderous +noise. The Circle L men had plunged outside in various stages of +undress--all bootless, unprepared, amazed, and profane. + +"Stampede!" yelled a hoarse voice. + +"Stampede--hell!" shouted another. "It's rustlers! That damn Antrim +bunch!" + +This was Shorty. The lithe giant had rushed out of the bunkhouse as the +herd thundered past. He was now running back toward the bunkhouse, +trying to tighten the waistband of his trousers with a belt whose +buckleless end persisted in eluding his grasp. + +His words had spurred the other men to frenzied action. There was +confusion in the bunkhouse where men collided with their fellows as they +plunged about for discarded garments, gun-belts, and boots. But soon +they began to straggle out of the door in twos and threes and singly, +racing for the corral and for the lean-to where they kept their saddles. + +Foremost among them was Shorty. His tall figure appeared first at the +corral gates, and his long legs were the first astride a horse. While +the others were running hither and yon near the bunkhouse and the +corral, Shorty raced his horse to the ranchhouse, slid off and crossed +the wide porch in two or three leaps. + +He was confronted at the door by Mrs. Lawler, ashen, trembling. + +"Rustlers!" he said, shortly, answering her look of interrogation. +"Where's the boss?" + +The woman's voice broke. "Sheriff Moreton came after him some hours +ago--and took him to Willets--charging him with murdering those two men +at the line cabin, last winter. He isn't guilty, of course," declared +the mother; "but of course he had to go with Moreton." + +Shortly swore silently. "All right, ma'am," he said, aloud; "I reckon +we'll have to handle it without him! Some of the boys of the night herd +are hurt, most likely--mebbe worse. If you'd sort of look after +them--mebbe--" He broke off short when he saw riders rushing from the +corral toward the house. "I'll stop at Joe Hamlin's place an' send Ruth +over, to help you. We can't spare any men--there's a horde of them +devils!" + +He was leaping for his horse with the last words, and in an instant he +had joined the other riders who had paused, tentatively, near the edge +of the porch, having seen him. They fled, a dark mass against the dull +shadows of the valley, sweeping up the big slope toward the plains. + +Blackburn, the range boss, was leading, with Shorty riding close beside +him. In the dim distance they could see the herd, spreading wide over +the level, running fast in the dust cloud that still followed them. + +The Circle L men had not ridden more than a mile after striking the +level when Blackburn saw some blots detach themselves from the larger +blot--a number of them, like stray wisps of clouds straggling behind a +storm. + +"They're droppin' back to pot-shot us," Blackburn said to Shorty. He +yelled at the men behind, warning them, and the group split up, +spreading out, though not reducing the breakneck speed at which they had +been riding. + +They had not gone far after Blackburn shouted his warning when a puff of +white smoke dotted the luminous haze ahead, and a bullet whined close to +Blackburn. + +"Rifle!" said Blackburn, grimly. + +There were still three Circle L men at the line camps on the range; five +had been left behind in the valley when the attack had been made; and +only twenty others, including Blackburn, were left to cope with the +rustlers. + +Blackburn cast a worried glance at them. He had plunged out of the +bunkhouse with the other men in time to catch a glimpse of the outlaws +as they went by with the herd, and he had roughly estimated their number +at fifty. The odds were great, and the advantage lay with the pursued, +for they could select ambuscades and take terrible toll from the Circle +L men. + +Yet Blackburn was determined. He yelled to the others to take advantage +of whatever cover they could find; and he saw them slide from their +horses, one after another, and throw themselves into a shallow +depression that ran erratically north and south for some distance over +the plains. Before they reached the depression, however, there had come +more white puffs of smoke from the space ahead of them, and Blackburn +saw two Circle L men slide from their horses with a finality that +brought a savage glare into his eyes. + +"Shorty," he said, hoarsely, to the big man at his side--who had +wriggled behind a rock at the crest of the depression and was coldly and +deliberately using the rifle he had taken from the holster on his +saddle; "we've got to have help--them scum outnumber us. You've got the +fastest horse an' you're the best rider in the bunch. An' you've got the +most sense. Barthman's ranch is the nearest, an' he's got fifteen men. +You hit the breeze over there an' tell him what's happened. Tell him +we're whipped if he don't help us. An' tell him to send a rider to +Corts, an' Littlefield, an' Sigmund, an' Lester, an' Caldwell. Tell 'em +to take that trail leadin' to Kinney's canon--this side. That's where +they're headin' the cattle to. They'll come a-rushin', for they like the +boss. + +"There's forty men in that gang that's hidin' ahead of us, tryin' to +wipe us out. But if they was a hundred we could keep 'em from makin' any +time, an' if you'll burn the breeze some, you can have Barthman an' the +others at the trail near Kinney's canon before these guys get there!" + +"Hell's fire, Blackburn," protested Shorty; "ain't there somebody else +can ride a damned horse? I'm aimin' to salivate some of them skunks!" + +"Orders is orders, Shorty," growled Blackburn, coldly. "You're goin', +an' you're goin' right this minute--or I'm goin' to bust you in the +eye!" + +"Well, if you put it that way," grimly grinned Shorty. + +He crawled out of the depression, threw himself upon his horse and raced +southeastward, yelling, and waving his hat defiantly at the outlaws, who +were shooting at him. But the speed of Shorty's horse was too great for +accurate shooting; and Shorty kept going--waving his hat for a time, and +then, when out of range, riding hard--seeming to glide like a shadow +into the yawning gulf of distance. + +The depression into which Blackburn and his men had crept was not more +than three or four feet deep, with long, sloping sides which were +covered with alkali and rotted rock. Along the edges grew greasewood and +mesquite bushes, which afforded concealment but not protection. The +shallow was wide enough for the horses, though the men were forced to +throw the animals and stake their heads down, so that they would not +show themselves above the edge of the depression and thus become targets +for the outlaws. + +The firing during the night was intermittent. Once the outlaws made an +attempt to withdraw, rushing concertedly toward their horses, which they +had concealed in a sand draw slightly behind them, southward. But +Blackburn and his men were alert. + +The outlaws had chosen a gully for their ambuscade, but they had made +the mistake of leaving their horses too far away from their place of +concealment. And when they rushed across the stretch of level that +extended from the gully to the draw, half a dozen of them dropped before +they had traveled a quarter of the distance. The others plunged back +into the gully, while the Circle L men yelled exultantly. + +As Blackburn had told Shorty, he did not expect to rout or capture the +outlaws; the best he could hope for was that Shorty would get help in +time to head off the cattle before the other outlaws drove them into +Kinney's canon or that he would bring help to the Circle L men in time +to prevent the sanguinary fight which would certainly occur as soon as +the day dawned. + +And so Blackburn waited, grimly watchful; though worry began to wrinkle +his face as he noted that the semi-gloom of the starlit night was +lifting, and that a gray streak on the eastern horizon was slowly +broadening. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX + +ANTRIM STRIKES + + +From the doorway of the cabin on the Rabbit Ear, Antrim had watched +Slade and his men ride away. His gaze followed them until they vanished +over the edge of the big plain above the river valley. Then, smiling +crookedly, he turned back into the cabin. + +Two men--one of them the tall man who had ridden away to return with the +news that Lawler and the sheriff were riding northward--were draped on +chairs watching the outlaw chief. They were expectant, eager; there was +covert satisfaction in their eyes. + +Like Selden, the other man wore two guns. There was about both men an +atmosphere that suggested stealth and violence. It lurked over them, +hinting of something sinister and deadly. + +Selden wore a mustache that drooped at the corners of his mouth. It was +the color of old straw--a faded, washed-out blonde, darkened here and +there from tobacco stains. His mouth was large, the lower lip sagging in +the center, giving it a satiric appearance, increased by the bleared, +narrowed eyes that always seemed to be glowing with a questioning, +leering light. + +Krell, the other man, was smooth of face, with a strong, bold, thrusting +jaw and thick, pouting lips. His eyes were big, but they had a +disquieting habit of incessant watchfulness--a crafty alertness, as +though their owner was suspicious of the motives of those at whom he +looked. + +Selden and Krell had been recruited from the southern border, they +represented an element that the ranger service was slowly and surely +eliminating--and driving northward into states whose laws were less +stringent for the evil-doer--the professional gunmen who took life for +the malicious thrill it gave them. + +Krell and Selden were "killers." They were Antrim's constant companions, +except when the necessities of his trade drove the outlaw to work alone. +They knew his whims and understood his methods. + +Now, as Antrim paused near the table and looked at them, Krell smiled +evilly. + +"I reckon we'll be settin' here twirlin' our thumbs till the outfit gits +back?" he suggested. + +Antrim laughed. + +"We're trailin' the outfit right now," he told the other. + +Antrim extinguished the light, and the three went out and mounted their +horses. Their movements were deliberate, unhurried. They crossed the +river, gaining the plains above it, and rode at a slow lope in the +direction taken by the others who had preceded them. + +They talked as they rode, lowly, earnestly--planning the night's work, +speculating upon the probable outcome of the raid upon the Circle L by +the men under Slade. + +When they reached the edge of the big valley and concealed themselves in +the fringing brush, they saw that Slade and his men had already struck. +Streaks of flame were splitting the darkness in the basin; there were +reports of pistols--which were reduced to mere faint, popping noises by +the distance they traveled before reaching the ears of Antrim and his +men; they saw the herd start; heard it go thundering up the valley in a +cloud of dust and strike the edge of the plain above, to swing eastward +toward Kinney's canon. + +"Slade's sure workin' hard for that promotion," observed Antrim, +mockingly. "He's got 'em runnin' fast an' under control." + +The three men did not emerge from their concealment for some time. They +watched until the herd grew small in the distance eastward; they noted +the confusion that seemed to reign in the vicinity of the bunkhouse, +where the Circle L men were frenziedly preparing to pursue the rustlers; +they laughed at the figures that were darting here and there in the +light from the open doorway of the bunkhouse; and Antrim sneered when he +saw the ranchhouse door open and noted the form of a man framed in the +square of light that shone out. + +"That'll be Blackburn, I reckon," he said to the other two; "inquirin' +for Lawler, mebbe. Well, Blackburn an' his guys will have to get along +without Lawler." + +He watched until he saw the Circle L men sweep up the valley, following +the direction taken by the herd. He waited until he saw a woman emerge +from the door of the ranchhouse. The woman was carrying a lantern, and +its fitful, bobbing glare marked the woman's progress as she moved +toward the bunkhouse--in which a light still burned. For an instant the +light from the lantern disappeared, and then they saw it again as it +bobbed toward the open where the herd had been when the rustlers had +struck. Several times Antrim observed that the lantern became +stationary--as though it had been placed upon the ground. He grinned +coldly as he spoke to Krell and Selden. + +"That's Lawler's mother, I reckon. She's huntin' for them boys that was +foolish enough to try an' stop Slade. Looks like she's findin' 'em, +too!" + +Antrim watched until the light began to bob as its bearer went toward +the ranchhouse. He saw the door of the ranchhouse open and the woman +enter. Then he spoke shortly to the others and they rode down into the +valley. After they reached the floor of the valley Antrim spoke again, +shortly: + +"Get busy; an' keep back out of the light when you get 'em goin'. Meet +me back there where we was waitin'!" + +Antrim urged his horse toward the ranchhouse, riding slowly. When he +reached the big porch he dismounted, and an instant later was pounding +heavily upon the front door. + +It was opened after an instant, and Mrs. Lawler appeared, pale, anxious. + +"Oh!" she said, startled, when she saw Antrim's face in the glare of +light from within; "I thought you were one of the Circle L men!" She +shrank back a little when Antrim grinned evilly at her, catching her +breath with a gasp. + +"What do you want?" she demanded. + +Antrim crossed the threshold and stood inside, where the light was full +upon his face. Repelled--almost terrorized by what she saw in his eyes, +Mrs. Lawler attempted to retreat from him; but in an instant he had +seized her arms, roughly and brutally crushing them against her sides, +while he shoved her back against the open door; holding her in that +position and grinning hideously at her helplessness. + +"You know me?" he sneered, his face close to hers. "I'm Antrim!" He +laughed when she caught her breath; when he noted that she recognized +the name. + +"I reckoned you'd know me, when I told you," he said. "Luke Lawler +knowed me--an' your son knows me! I've never had no love for the Lawler +breed, an' I ain't changed any. But there's a lot of things that I'm +squarin' up for! + +"This is my night; I've been waitin' for it!" he gloated. "I'm cleanin' +up on the Lawlers! I'm wipin' Kane Lawler out--cattle, buildings--an' +him too, mebbe. It ain't goin' to be a thing you ought to see. You're +gettin' away from here--I don't give a damn where. An' you're goin' +now!" + +Awed by his manner and by the terrible threat in his voice, Mrs. Lawler +did not resist the physical strength of the outlaw. Though Antrim's +fingers were gripping her arms until the pain made her long to cry out +in agony, she made no sound. Nor--now that she realized what +portended--did her gaze waver as it met Antrim's. Her eyes glowed with +contempt as they looked into his--with a proud scorn that brought a +crimson flush into Antrim's cheeks. It had been that spirit that had +always enraged Antrim--that had always made him realize his inferiority +to her husband, and to the steady-eyed son who had shamed him publicly +at Willets. It was a thing that physical violence could not conquer; it +revealed a quiet courage that had always disconcerted him. + +"Hell!" he sneered; "you can't come any of that high an' mighty stuff on +me!" + +He twisted her until she faced the door, and then shoved her before him +across the porch and down upon the level on the ranchhouse yard, toward +the stable and the corral. + +She did not resist, knowing that physical resistance would be futile. + +He shoved her into the stable, and she stood there, unresisting while he +saddled a horse. She could not see him, but she could hear him as he +moved about; and presently he spoke shortly to her from a point close +by: + +"Here's a cayuse--saddled an' bridled. You want to get on him here, or +outside?" + +"Outside," she said, coldly. + +In front of the stable door she mounted, Antrim helping her despite her +scornful protest. + +"Listen," he said, as he stood for an instant at the horse's head, dimly +outlined. "You'd better go to Hamlin's--that's nearest. An' make +arrangements to stay there. I'm burnin' the Circle L buildin's. There +won't be a stick standin' when I get through! When I get through, I'm +goin' back to my place on the Rabbit Ear. My men have all gone with the +cattle, an' I'll be there alone. You can tell that damned son of yours +that! Understand? He's aimin' to get even for what I'm doin' tonight, +he'll find me at my place--alone--waitin' for him! Now, get goin'." + +Mrs. Lawler did not answer. She took up the reins and sent the horse +forward, past the bunkhouses and the corral and the ranchhouse--through +the valley and up the long rise that led to the great plains above. + +It took her a long time to reach the plains, and when she looked back +she saw some leaping tongues of flame issuing from the doors of the +bunkhouse. Two or three of the other buildings were on fire; and the +windows of the ranchhouse were illuminated by a dull red glare. But the +woman made no sound that would have betrayed the emotions that tortured +her. She turned her back to the burning buildings and rode onward, +toward the Hamlin cabin--trying, in this crisis, to live the code she +had taught her son; endeavoring to vindicate the precepts that she had +dinned into his ears all the days of his life--that courage in adversity +is the ultimate triumph of character--the forge in which is fashioned +the moral fiber which makes men strong and faithful. + + + + +CHAPTER XXX + +A WOMAN LIES + + +Lawler had said little to Sheriff Moreton on the ride to Willets. Nor +had he made any comment when, in the Circle L ranchhouse, in the +presence of his mother, Moreton had shown him the statement signed by +Della Wharton. He had silently passed it back to Moreton; and had walked +to Mrs. Lawler--telling her why the sheriff had come; smilingly taking +leave of her while Moreton, sweating profusely, turned his back and +pretended to be interested in a picture on the wall. + +"I reckon there's somethin' about this case that ain't been brought out +yet, Mrs. Lawler," said Moreton when he was about to depart with his +prisoner. "But things has a way of comin' out, an' I reckon we'll get +Kane out of this before long." + +Outside, on their horses, Moreton rode close to Lawler. + +"Kane, I reckon it's a damn lie about you killin' Link an' Givens the +way that Wharton woman says you did--in that damned paper--just +malicious, without them deservin' it?" + +"Moreton, I told you my side of the story a couple of months ago. It's +the lady's word against mine." + +Moreton muttered much to himself during the ride. He told Lawler how +Warden had come to him with the statement--the charge; and of how he +had waited until Della Wharton had personally appeared before him to +corroborate what she had signed. + +"She don't want to have her reputation dragged into it," sneered +Moreton. "Well, before it's over she won't have no more reputation than +a coyote! I'll make the thing so damned public that she'll think I've +hired a brass band to blare it all over the country!" + +Lawler merely smiled. He might have further increased the sheriff's rage +by showing him the signed confession in his pocket--the confession he +had secured from Link and Givens--but he preferred to keep silent until +he discovered why Della Wharton had brought the charge against him. + +There were two possible motives. One was that Della was still in the +grip of the vindictiveness that had characterized her that last day in +the cabin--and had charged him with murder merely to be revenged upon +him; the other was that she had been influenced to the action by Gary +Warden. He intended to keep silent until events explained the motive. +And he smiled faintly at Moreton when the sheriff opened the jail doors +for him--Moreton saying that he "hated like poison to do it." + +Two persons had watched Lawler and Moreton ride into town. Warden, +standing in the darkened windows of the Wolf Saloon--deserted by its +revelers shortly before--saw Moreton and Lawler dismount in front of the +jail, which adjoined the sheriff's office. Warden watched until he saw +the two men enter the building--until he saw Moreton come out alone and +enter his office. Then Warden smiled and walked to the door of a room +in the rear of the saloon, where Singleton and several other men were +playing cards. He winked at Singleton, a signal correctly interpreted by +the other, whose eyes quickened. And then Warden returned to the front +window where, later, he was joined by Singleton; for a long time both of +them watched the southern sky, into which had crept a dull red glow, +faint, and far away. + +"Antrim didn't lose any time!" commented Warden, exultantly. "And Della +can tell the truth to the sheriff whenever she gets ready!" + +The other watcher was Della Wharton. She had seen the sheriff leave +town, to ride southward, and she had divined what his errand meant. And +she had sat in a chair near a window for many hours, peering into the +darkness for Moreton's return with his prisoner. And when she saw them +coming she smiled as she had smiled when she had entered the room after +taking leave of Warden. + +Della knew Warden better than Warden knew himself; and on the night when +he had asked her to sign the statement charging Lawler with murder, she +was convinced that Warden intended to use the statement. He had told her +that he merely intended to hold it as a threat over Lawler's head, to +dissuade him from succeeding politically; and she had permitted Warden +to think that she believed him. And when, upon her arrival from the +capital, he had told her that it was part of his strategy to secretly +present the statement to the sheriff--and that she must appear +personally before that official--she had consented, knowing that Warden +was insincere. + +Della had really felt vindictive toward Lawler on that last day in the +line cabin. She had yielded to the resentment that had assailed her over +the conviction that she had made no impression upon the man. And she had +lied when she had told Warden that she had been merely infatuated with +Lawler. She discovered that after she reached the hotel following her +sojourn in the cabin with him. She wanted him more than she had ever +wanted anything in the world. And she was determined to have him. She +meant to win him even if she had to bring confusion upon Warden. And so +she smiled as she watched Moreton open the jail doors to Lawler--a smile +in which there was much triumph. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXI + +"JAIL'S EMPTY, KANE!" + + +The jail was small--merely one room with barred windows and an iron +door, opening upon the street. The iron door was supplemented with a +wooden one, which halted the glances of the curious. The windows were +high, thus insuring further privacy; the hard adobe floor was clean, and +the bunk in which Lawler lay when the dawn came was as comfortable as +might have been expected. + +Moreton had come in just before daylight, solicitous, concerned, eager +to lessen the discomforts of his prisoner. Back of the apology in his +voice was a note of rage: + +"It goes ag'in' the grain to keep you here, Lawler," he said when he +closed the door after entering; "but I'm goin' to bring this case to a +showdown today, an' don't you forget it!" + +But the sheriff did not bring the case up that day. A little later he +provided Lawler with breakfast, and toward noon he opened the door to +ask Lawler how he was getting along. On the occasion of this visit he +told Lawler he was trying to locate Warden, but so far hadn't been +successful. + +"An' I ain't found that Wharton woman, either!" he declared. "I'm +sendin' a man out to the Two Diamond for both of them, an' if they ain't +in town to appear ag'in' you by night I'm goin' to turn you loose--an' +be damned to them!" + +It seemed to Lawler that only an hour or so had elapsed when the key +grated in the lock of the door and Moreton stuck his head in. His face +lacked expression. + +"Someone to see you, Lawler," he grunted, gruffly. "Wants to talk to you +alone. I'll be right outside, so's you can call me when you've got +enough of it." + +He pushed the door open, and Della Wharton stepped in. + +Moreton closed the door, and Della stood watching Lawler steadily. + +Lawler had been standing near one of the rear windows, and when he +recognized his visitor he came forward and stood within three or four +paces of her. + +"Well, Miss Wharton?" he said, quietly. + +"I heard you were here, Lawler," she said, evenly, her voice +expressionless. "In fact, I saw the sheriff bring you in, last night." + +"You expected me, I presume?" + +The sarcasm in his voice brought a faint glow to her cheeks. But her +gaze was level and steady, containing much inquiry. + +"Yes," she said slowly; "I expected you to be brought here. You know, of +course, about the charge I brought against you?" + +"Why did you do it, Miss Wharton?" + +She laughed mirthlessly. "Why? I don't know, Lawler. I expect I did it +because I felt I ought to tell the truth." + +Lawler's grim smile did not seem to affect her. She met it steadily. + +"You say in your charge that I deliberately planned to kill Link and +Givens; you said I laid in wait for them at the door. Is that the way +you saw it?" + +"Yes." + +"And you are willing to swear to that?" His smile was incredulous. + +She nodded affirmatively. + +He bowed stiffly to her. "In that case, Miss Wharton, there seems to be +nothing more for us to talk about." He walked to the front window, and +stood on his toes, intending to call to Moreton to open the door for +Miss Wharton, when she moved close to him and seized his left arm, +drawing him suddenly toward her while he was off balance, so that when +he turned he was facing her, standing close to her. + +The color that had surged into her face soon after her entrance, had +gone. Her cheeks were white and her eyes held mute appeal that, she +felt, he must respond to. + +She saw the cold contempt in his eyes as he looked at her, the lurking +passion that lay deep in them, and the disgust that she should lie about +a matter that might mean life or death to him. + +She must act, now, and she must sacrifice Warden. Her grasp on his arm +tightened; she clung to him in seeming frenzy, and she spoke brokenly, +pleadingly. + +"Lawler, I don't believe what I said--what was written on that paper I +signed. I know you acted in self-defense; you couldn't help doing as you +did. + +"Gary Warden forced me to sign that statement, Lawler--he threatened to +kill me if I didn't! He found out, some way, that I had been in the +cabin with you. And he made me sign. + +"He told me that he didn't intend to charge you with the murder; he said +he merely wanted to threaten you--to keep you out of politics. Please +believe me, Lawler!" + +Lawler laughed coldly, incredulously. "A minute ago you told me----" + +"I did that to frighten you," she declared. "I--I thought +that--perhaps--when you saw that I would testify against you--you +would--" She paused and tried to get closer to him, but he held her off +and watched her keenly, suspiciously. + +"Lawler," she urged; "don't you see? I thought you would agree to marry +me if--if I told you that. And, now----" + +"An' now it don't make a damn bit of difference what you say!" +interrupted a voice from the doorway. Both Miss Wharton and Lawler +wheeled quickly, to see Sheriff Moreton standing in the room. + +He was grinning hugely, though his eyes were gleaming subtly. + +While Lawler and Miss Wharton watched him, he slowly tore to pieces the +statement the woman had signed, and scattered them upon the floor. + +"That's all of that damned nonsense!" he declared. "Lawler, I knowed +they was somethin' behind all this. That's why I let this hussy in to +talk to you. I thought I'd hear somethin', an' I did!" + +"Lawler, you're free as the air! If there's any more of this talk about +chargin' you with killin' them two guys, an' you don't salivate them +that's doin' the talkin', I will!" + +After his first quick glance at Moreton, Lawler looked at Della. The +deep amusement Lawler felt over the knowledge that the sheriff had +overheard Della, and that the woman's evidence would now be discredited, +was revealed in his smile as he watched her. + +She saw it. She also understood that she had failed. But she veiled her +chagrin and disappointment behind a scornful smile. + +"Framed!" she said. "And it was crude work, too--wasn't it, Lawler? I +should have been more careful. Ha, ha! Lawler, I should have known you +would do something like this--after what happened in the line cabin. And +I let you trick me!" + +She raised her head, disdaining to glance at Lawler as she walked to the +door, in front of which Moreton was standing. + +She smiled broadly at the latter. "Mr. Sheriff," she said, evenly; "if +you will stand aside, I shall be glad to leave you." + +Moreton grinned, admiringly. "You've sure got a heap of nerve, ma'am," +he complimented; "I'll say that for you! I don't know what your game is, +but you're mighty clever--though you're wastin' your time out here in +the sagebrush. You ought to stay East--where there's a lot more rummies +than there is out here!" + +He opened the door, and bowed her out with extravagant politeness. Then, +when she had gone, he motioned Lawler toward the door. + +"Jail's empty, Kane. But I reckon we'd better play this deal safe. +Dorgan, the county prosecutor, is in his office. We'll go down to see +him, an' I'll have him make a record of what happened here. Then, if I +happen to get bumped off this here planet them scum can't come back at +you, sayin' this never came off!" + +Lawler accompanied Moreton to the office of the prosecutor, who took the +depositions of both men, attested the document and placed it in the +office safe. + +"So that's the kind of a dame she is--eh?" grinned the official. "Well, +she don't look it. But you never can tell--can you?" + + + + +CHAPTER XXXII + +RED KING RUNS + + +Sheriff Moreton had left Red King at the livery stable, and after Lawler +had thanked the sheriff for his part in the little drama that had just +been played, he walked to the stable, saddled and bridled the big horse, +mounted and rode out of town, toward the Circle L. + +While grim tragedy had lurked over the incident that had just closed, +the thing had had its humorous side. And as Lawler rode he reflected +smilingly, though feeling a pulse of shame for Della Wharton. + +In spite of the fact that the woman had charged Gary Warden with +evolving the plot, Lawler felt nothing but contempt for the man. +Warden's schemes, so far, had resulted only in discomfiture for Warden +himself. And because Lawler was not vindictive, he entertained no +thoughts of reprisal. + +However, Lawler was now well equipped with evidence of Warden's +misdeeds. Months before, he had sent to Metcalf, the editor of the +_News_, in the capital, the story of the drive to Red Rock, embellished +with an account of his adventure with Antrim's gang, his capture of +Antrim and the subsequent bringing of the outlaw to Willets, where he +had delivered him to Warden. + +Metcalf had written him that the publication of the article had created +a sensation in the state, and it appeared from the prominent position in +which Metcalf had placed the story--on the front page, with a picture of +Lawler dominating; and big, black headlines announcing: + +"PROMINENT CATTLEMAN WORSTS TRAIL HORDE!"--that Metcalf had kept his +promise to the effect that he intended to "feature" his fight against +the power that was attempting to control the cattle industry. + +So far, though, Lawler had no evidence that the governor's power had +been used against them. He was convinced that Warden, Jordan, Simmons, +and the others were employing their talents against him with the secret +approval of the governor; but until he secured absolute, damning +evidence he dared not openly charge it. + +Lawler had been waiting patiently for such evidence. He had felt all +along that sooner or later his enemies would over-reach themselves, +leaving some weak spot through which he could attack, and he had been +content to wait until that time, merely defending himself and his +interests, planning no aggressive campaign. + +The effect of the assaults of his enemies thus far had disturbed him +little. He had been able to anticipate most of their attacks and they +had resulted in little harm to himself. They had left him unperturbed, +unharmed--like the attacks of an excitable poodle upon a giant, +contemptuous mastiff. + +Deep in his heart, though, lurked a spark of passion that, day by day, +had been slowly growing, warming him, making his veins swell a little +when his thoughts dwelt upon Warden and the others; bringing into his +heart a savage longing that he often had yielded to in the old +days--before he had learned to control his passions. There were times +when he was almost persuaded to break the laws for which he had fought +in the old days--moments when it seemed to him that further toleration +of the attacks of his enemies would be a sign of weakness. But he had +conquered those surges of passion, though the victory always left him +with a smile on his face that would have awed Warden, had he seen it. + +Something of that passion was in his heart now, as he rode toward the +Circle L. It had become plain to him that Warden would adopt any means +to destroy him; that in the man's heart was a malignant hatred that was +driving him to a boldness that could mean nothing but that in the end +they must settle their differences as man to man. Lawler would not +always be able to control the passion that lurked in him. He knew it. +One day Warden would press him too hard. And then---- + +His thoughts had made him oblivious to his surroundings. A whinney from +Red King brought him out of his ruminations, and he looked swiftly up, +and then directly ahead, to see a horseman racing toward him; the rider +crouched in the saddle, the horse running low, coming toward him at a +speed that brought him out of depressions with light, flying bounds, and +over the crests of small hills with a velocity that was dizzying. + +The running horse and the crouching rider were still a mile from Lawler; +but even at that distance Lawler recognized Shorty, and he urged Red +King on to meet him, suspecting that nothing but a stern emergency would +make the man race his horse at that speed. + +Lawler glanced back as he rode. He had come several miles, and the +rolling character of the plains behind him had blotted Willets out. He +saw, too, that he had reached a point where three trails converged. +One--which Shorty was traveling--came westward from the Two +Bar--Hamlin's ranch; the other, leading almost straight southward, was +the Circle L trail; the third, leading southward also, though inclining +in a westward direction, ran to the Rabbit Ear, near the Dickman +cabin--the ranch where Antrim and his men had established themselves. + +Shorty came on at cyclonic speed. When he reached a point within a +hundred yards of Lawler, the latter observed that Shorty's face was +pale; that his jaws were set and his eyes glowing with a wild, savage +light. + +Stiffening, his lips straightening, a responsive passion assailing him, +Lawler drew Red King down and waited for Shorty to reach him. He knew +Shorty did not permit himself to become excited without cause. + +And when Shorty drew his horse to a sliding halt within half a dozen +paces of Red King, Lawler saw that Shorty was in the grip of a cold, +deadly passion. His eyes were glittering, his lips were stiff and white, +and he was drawing great, long breaths that could be heard above the +shuddering gasps of the horse he rode. + +The giant's fingers were working--clenching and unclenching near the +butts of the two guns he wore; and his eyes were pools of icy rage that +chilled Lawler. + +Twice he tried to speak as Lawler shot a short question at him, and +twice he failed, making guttural sounds that betrayed the awful +agitation that had seized him. At the third attempt he blurted: + +"Lawler, Antrim's gang has cleaned up the Circle L! Damn their sneakin', +dirty hides! They've run off our cattle--takin' 'em through Kinney's +canon! They've wiped out the Circle L outfit! Blackburn's +left--Blackburn an' three more poor fellows they plugged, an' didn't +finish! + +"Blackburn made me ride for help--damn him, anyway, Lawler! I wanted to +stay with the bunch!" Shorty's voice broke; his lips quivered; his voice +rose to a screech of impotent, awful rage. Brokenly, he told Lawler what +had happened after the stampeding of the cattle by Antrim's men. He +related, in tumbling, rapid, quavering sentences, how he had got the +help Blackburn had sent him for--Caldwell's outfit--with the exception +of two men who had been sent in different directions to other ranches. +And how, later in the morning, he had returned to the shallow gulley on +the plains where he had left Blackburn and the others, to find most of +them dead. Blackburn and three more had been wounded, but had survived. + +"Fifteen men, Lawler!" raged Shorty; "fifteen men wiped out by that +miserable gang of coyotes! But damn them!" he added with a fierce, +savage joy; "they didn't get away without payin' toll, either! There's +twenty of them layin' out there, Lawler--twenty of them for the coyotes +to find. For Caldwell an' his outfit wouldn't touch 'em. When I left, to +come an' tell you--thinkin' you was in jail--Caldwell an' his boys was +plantin' our fellows, an' takin' Blackburn and the three others to the +Hamlin shack!" + +He looked hard at Lawler, noted the paleness of the man's face, and then +spoke less excitedly, and with deep regret in his voice. + +"Lawler, I hate to tell you this. After I seen what happened to our +boys, I rode this way, intendin' to tell you. The trail took me past the +Hamlin shack. I wasn't intendin' to stop, but it seems like they heard +me comin' an' run out to see what was up. + +"It was your mother stopped me, Lawler--smiling kind of grim--like she +always smiles when things go wrong. + +"'Shorty,' she says; 'you go directly to town and find Kane. You know +he's in jail, for I told you so last night. Tell Sheriff Moreton to +release him; and then tell Kane that Antrim has stolen all the Circle L +cattle and has burned all the Circle L buildings. Tell him that Antrim +himself burned the buildings, and that Antrim said he would wait for +Kane at Antrim's shack--and that he dared Kane to come there for him. +'Shorty,' she said, cold an' ca'm; 'you tell Kane to get out of jail and +go to Antrim's cabin, and kill him!'" + +Lawler had sat, grim and silent, listening to Shorty. Twice had Shorty +seen his eyes quicken--when Shorty had mentioned his mother, and again +when he had spoken of Antrim's action in burning the Circle L +buildings. + +Now, he leaned forward and peered intently at Shorty, and Shorty +marveled how his eyes bored into his own--with a cold intensity that +chilled the giant. + +"Shorty," he said, in a low, strained voice; "Mother hasn't been hurt?" + +"I forgot to tell you that," said Shorty; "she said, 'tell Kane I am all +right.'" + +Shorty opened his mouth to speak further, but closed it again when he +saw Red King leap down the trails--a flaming red streak that flashed +over the new grass at a speed that took him a hundred yards before +Shorty could get his own horse turned. + +The big red horse was lost in a dust cloud when Shorty urged his own +animal southward. And Shorty rode as he had never ridden before, in an +effort to lessen the space between himself and the flying Red King. + +To no avail, however. Shorty's horse was fast, but Red King seemed to +have wings, so lightly did he skim over the green gulf of distance that +stretched between his master and the vengeance for which Lawler's soul +was now yearning. Shorty's horse was tired, and Red King was fresh; and +the distance between them grew greater--always greater--slowly, +surely--until the red horse was lost in the tiny dust cloud that moved +with unbelievable velocity far down the trail toward the Rabbit Ear. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII + +THE FIGHT AT THE CABIN + + +When Red King struck the river trail he was traveling as strongly as +when he began his long race. The miles that had stretched between him +and the destination at which his rider aimed had been mere play for him. +By the time he reached the river trail he was warmed to his work and his +giant, spurning stride carried him along in the shade of the fringing +trees at a speed that made the wind whine and moan in Lawler's ears. + +But Lawler did not offer to check Red King's speed. The big horse was +traveling at a pace that was all too slow for Lawler, now in the clutch +of that passion which for many months had been smoldering within him. He +was leaning a little forward in the saddle, riding the red horse as he +had ridden few times; and then only in sport. + +In Lawler's eyes was still that intense light that had been in them when +he had been watching Shorty as the latter had been relating what had +happened during the night and the morning. + +And yet Lawler betrayed no sign of excitement. His face was pale, and +his lips were stiff and white; but his muscles were tense, steady, and +his brain clear. + +He knew what to expect from Antrim. If Antrim expected him to come to +his cabin, Antrim would be ready for him. He might expect craft and +cunning from the outlaw--an ambuscade, a trap--anything but the cold, +sheer courage that would be required for him to face an enemy upon equal +terms. And so as Lawler rode he kept an alert eye upon the coverts and +the shelters, upon the huge rocks that littered the sides of the trail, +upon the big trees that Red King flashed past. + +Nothing happened. And Red King thundered down the trail where it doubled +half a mile from the Dickman cabin, and swept out upon the level that +surrounded the place, his speed unslackened, his rider still urging him. + +Lawler had forgotten Shorty. Half a mile behind him the giant's horse +labored, making better time on the level river trail than he had made +over the plains. But Lawler did not even think of Shorty. His brain was +upon the work that was before him, his thoughts were definitely centered +upon Antrim and the Circle L men that Antrim and his men had killed. It +was concentration of a sinister character that had seized Lawler, and in +it was a single purpose, a single determination--to kill Antrim. + +He saw the cabin as he crossed the level--a patch of bare, sandy earth +surrounding it; and the other buildings, with no sign of life near them. +His gaze swept the corral, and he saw no horse in it. As he guided Red +King toward the cabin he peered vainly for sight of Antrim's horse. + +Not a living thing was in sight. The buildings were silent, seemingly +deserted. And the atmosphere of the place seemed to be pregnant with a +lurking threat, a hint of hidden danger. + +He grinned as he plunged Red King to the door of the cabin--a grin which +meant that he expected Antrim would be waiting for him, but which +expressed his contempt of ambuscades and traps. + +As he slipped from Red King he drew his pistol and lunged forward, +bringing up against the cabin door and sending it crashing inward, +against the wall. + +He halted just inside the door, his pistol rigid in his right hand, +which was pressed tightly to his side; for directly in front of him, +standing, his arms folded over his chest, was Antrim, a huge, venomous +grin on his face. + +"Well, you got here, Lawler," he said, huskily. "You come a-runnin', +didn't you? Well, I had your cattle run off, an' I burned your +buildin's. What are you aimin' to do about it?" + +Lawler did not move. He might have killed Antrim, for the man's weapon +was in the holster at his hip--Lawler could see the stock sticking above +the leather. He had expected Antrim would be in the cabin when he opened +the door; he anticipated that the outlaw would shoot on sight, and he +had been prepared to do the same. + +But there was something in the outlaw's manner, in the cold, measured +tone of his voice, in his nonchalant disregard of the pistol in Lawler's +hand that brought a swift suspicion into Lawler's mind. It was a +presentiment that the outlaw was not alone in the cabin; that he had +carefully laid his plans, and that they did not include a gun fight in +which he would have to face Lawler upon equal terms. + +Lawler did not look around. He kept his gaze unwaveringly upon the +outlaw, knowing that if other men were in the cabin with him they were +waiting for Antrim to give the word to shoot him. Otherwise they would +have shot him down when he had entered. + +"Not sayin' anything, eh?" jeered Antrim. "Well, come a-shootin'. You +bust in here, seein' red, with a gun in your hand; an' then stand there, +like you was wonderin' if you was welcome." He peered close at Lawler, +his eyes narrowing with suspicion, and then, finally, with savage +amusement. + +"I reckon I ketch on," he sneered. "You know there's some one here with +me, an' that they've got you covered. I know you, an' I knowed you'd +come rushin' in here, just like you did, killin' mad. Bah! Did you think +I'd give you a chance, you short-horned maverick! There's Selden behind +that curtain, there--back of the cupboard. An' Krell watchin' you from +the door of that room, on the side. They've got you between them, an' if +you bat an eyewinker they'll down you. I'm goin' to gas to you--I'm +goin' to tell you what I think of you for ropin' me an' draggin' me back +to Willets, to show to the damned yaps on the station platform. An' +after that I'm goin' to hog-tie you an'--Ah!" + +Antrim's exclamation was a mere gasp. It escaped his lips as Lawler +jumped backward, landing outside the door, overbalanced, trying to stand +upright while he snapped a shot at Antrim. + +Antrim, however, had reached for his gun. It came out before Lawler +could steady himself, and Lawler saw it. Lawler saw the weapon belch +smoke and fire as it cleared Antrim's hip; he felt a shock as the bullet +struck him; felt still another sear his flesh near the arm as he let his +own pistol off. He saw the outlaw plunge forward and fall prone, his +arms outstretched. He was motionless, inert. + +From inside the cabin came the sounds of steps--Antrim's confederates, +Lawler supposed. He heard them approach the door and he leaped, swaying +a little, toward the corner of the cabin nearest him. He had reached it, +had just dodged behind it, when Selden and Krell rushed out. At the same +instant Shorty thundered up, slipped out of the saddle and ran toward +Lawler, drawing his guns. + +Shorty had approached the cabin from the rear, having cut across the +space behind the bunkhouses when he heard the shooting. He could not be +seen by Selden and Krell as they plunged out of the door; but he had +seen Lawler when the latter dodged behind the corner of the cabin, and +as he ran toward Lawler he drew his guns. + +As yet Shorty had seen no one but Lawler. He supposed Antrim and Lawler +had exchanged shots and he knew Lawler had been hit--his swaying as he +came around the corner of the cabin proved it. Knowing something of the +terrible rage that had seized the man, he suspected Lawler had burst +into the cabin, recklessly exposing himself to Antrim's fire. + +And as Shorty ran toward the spot where Lawler was standing, he +expected to see Antrim follow, to complete his work. + +Within a dozen feet of Lawler he halted, facing the corner. He had not +long to wait. For Selden and Krell, guns in hand, appeared almost +instantly--their faces hideous with passion. As they rushed around the +corner they saw Shorty. They saw Shorty first, because Shorty dominated +the scene. A gun in each hand, he made a terrible figure. His eyes were +blazing with the cold rage that had seized him at sight of Lawler, +wounded--for Lawler was now leaning against the wall of the cabin, and +his gun had dropped from his hand. + +The unexpected appearance of Shorty startled Krell and Selden. Surprise +showed in their faces as they paused for an infinitesimal space and +looked at him. + +And then their guns roared. + +Shorty, however, had anticipated them. His guns went off simultaneously, +slightly in advance of theirs, belching fire and smoke in a continuous +stream. + +Shorty did not seem to be hit by the bullets from the guns of the +outlaws; he seemed to pay no attention to them whatever. + +But the outlaws ceased shooting. Krell staggered, his guns dropped from +his hands, and he stood, for an instant, looking foolishly at Shorty, +his face becoming ashen. Then, without uttering a word, he lunged gently +forward, his legs doubling at the knees, and sank into the dust in a +huddled heap. + +Selden had been hit hard, too. The shock of Shorty's first bullet +striking him had turned him partially around, so that his left side was +toward Shorty. He had lurched forward a little; and was turning, trying +to use the gun in his left hand, when another bullet struck him. He +grunted, stood slowly erect, and then fell backward stiffly. + +Shorty ran to him and to Krell, scanning their faces with savage +intentness. When he saw that neither of them would bother him again, he +leaped around the corner of the cabin and cautiously peered into the +doorway. He saw Antrim stretched out on the floor of the cabin, face +down and motionless. He stepped into the cabin, turned the outlaw over, +grinned saturninely, and then went out to where Lawler stood. His eyes +were aglow with concern. + +When he reached the corner he saw Lawler bending over, picking up the +pistol that had dropped from his hand a few seconds before. Lawler's +face was pale, but he grinned broadly at Shorty as the latter came up to +him. + +"I saw what was happening but I couldn't throw in with you. I reckon +Antrim hit me mighty hard. In my right shoulder. I was trying to change +my gun to the other hand, when I dropped it. I didn't seem to be able to +get it again--just then." He grinned. "Lucky you came, Shorty," he added +jocosely. + +Shorty's lips grimmed. "I reckon it's lucky I'm here right now!" he said +shortly. "You're hit bad, Lawler!" + +He led Lawler into the cabin, where he tore away the latter's shirt and +exposed the wound--high up on the shoulder. + +After a swift examination, Shorty exclaimed with relief. + +"It ain't so bad, after all. She bored through that big muscle. Must +have struck like a batterin' ram. No wonder you was weak an' dizzy for a +minute or so. There's a hole big enough to stick your hand through. But +she ain't dangerous, Boss!" + +Shorty had not been touched by the bullets the outlaws had sent at him. +He was energy, personified. He got water, bathed the wound in Lawler's +shoulder; bandaged it, and at last grinned widely as Lawler got up, +saying he felt better. + +A little later they went out and mounted their horses. Lawler was pale, +though he sat steadily in the saddle; and Shorty, big, exuding elation, +grinned broadly as he glanced at the cabin as they rode away from it. + +They rode up the river trail; Shorty expressing his elation by emitting +low chuckles of grim mirth; Lawler silent, riding steadily, his gaze +straight ahead. + +It took them long to reach the point on the plains where the trails +diverged. And then Lawler spoke. "Shorty, you go back to Hamlin's and +tell mother I killed Antrim. You needn't mention this scratch I've got." + +"Where you goin'?" demanded Shorty. + +"Shorty," said Lawler evenly; "you do as I say." + +"I'll be damned if I do!" declared Shorty, his face flushing. "That's +the kind of palaver Blackburn handed me when he sent me after Caldwell's +outfit, makin' me miss the big scrap. I ain't missin' nothin' else. If +this thing is to be a clean-up I'm goin' to be right close when the +cleanin' is bein' done! + +"I'm stayin' right here, as long as you stay! An' when you get goin', +little Shorty will be taggin' along, achin' to salivate some more of the +scum that's been makin' things howl in these parts. Get goin' where +you're goin', Lawler!" + +Shorty had not told Lawler all he knew of the wound in Lawler's +shoulder. He knew that Lawler had lost much blood, and that he was +losing more constantly; and that nothing but the man's implacable +courage was keeping him up. And he did not intend to desert him. + +Lawler laughed. But he said nothing as he urged Red King over the +Willets trail, riding at a fair pace, not so steady in the saddle as he +had been. His face was chalk white, but there was a set to his lips and +a glow in his eyes that told Shorty there was no use in arguing. + +Shorty permitted Lawler to hold the lead he had taken when they reached +the Willets' trail. But Shorty kept a vigilant eye upon the big horse +and his rider as they went over the plains toward town. Twice Shorty saw +Lawler reel in the saddle, and both times Shorty urged his horse forward +to be close to him when he fell. But each time Lawler stiffened and rode +onward--silent, grimly determined, with Shorty riding behind him, +watching him with awed admiration. + +Lawler had not mentioned the purpose of his ride to town, and Shorty was +lost in a maze of futile conjecture. Shorty knew, however, that a man in +Lawler's condition would not ride to town to gratify a whim; and the +longer he watched Lawler the deeper became his conviction that another +tragedy was imminent. For there was something in Lawler's manner, in the +steady, unflagging way he rode; in the set of his head and the cold +gleam of his eyes, that suggested more of the kind of violence in which +both had participated at the Dickman cabin. + +The sun was low when Lawler and Shorty rode into town--Lawler riding +ahead, as he had ridden all along; Shorty a few yards behind him, keenly +watching him. + +There were many men on the street; for word had been brought in +regarding the big fight between the Circle L outfit and the +rustlers--and a doctor had gone, summoned to the Hamlin cabin by a wild +rider on a jaded horse--and Willets' citizens were eagerly curious. And +when they saw Lawler coming, swaying in the saddle as he rode, they +began to run toward him. + +However, they were brought to a halt by Shorty--who waved a hand +savagely at them, his face expressing a cold intolerance that warned +them away. And so they retreated to the sidewalk, wonderingly, to watch +Lawler and Shorty as they rode down the street--Lawler looking neither +to the right nor left, but keeping his gaze straight ahead as though in +that direction lay what he had come to seek. + +Shorty's eyes gleamed with understanding when he saw Lawler halt Red +King in front of the building in which was Warden's office. He was out +of the saddle before Lawler clambered slowly out of his, and he stood +near as Lawler walked to the door of the building and began to mount +the stairs--going up slowly, swaying from side to side and placing his +hands against the wall on either side of him for support. And when +Lawler finally reached the top of the stairs and threw open the door of +Warden's office, Shorty was so close to him that he might have touched +his shoulder. + +Warden was sitting at his desk when Lawler opened the door, and he +continued to sit there--staring hard at Lawler as the latter swayed +across the room to bring up with a lurch against Warden's desk, his +hands grasping its edge. + +"Warden," said Lawler--and Shorty marveled at the cold steadiness of his +voice; "I have just killed Antrim. Antrim's men ran off three thousand +head of my cattle and killed about twenty of my men--five at the Circle +L and the rest in a fight on the plains not far from the Two Bar. Antrim +burned my buildings. Twenty-five thousand dollars for the buildings, and +ninety thousand for the cattle not to mention my men. + +"I've got no proof that you were implicated in the deal; but I am +convinced that you planned it--that you got Antrim and his gang to do +the work. That evidence doesn't go in law, though, Warden--and you know +it. But it's enough for the kind of law that I am representing right +now. It's this!" + +He drew his gun with his left hand, taking it from the waistband of his +trousers--where he had placed it when he had picked it up at the Dickman +cabin--and held it on the desk top, so that its dark muzzle gaped at +Warden. + +For an instant Warden sat, staring in dread fascination into the muzzle +of the weapon, his face dead white, his eyes wide with fear, naked, +cringing. Then he spoke, his voice hoarse and quavering. + +"This is murder, Lawler!" + +"Murder, Warden?" jeered Lawler. "One of my men was worth a dozen of +you!" + +Lawler laughed--a sound that brought an ashen pallor to Warden's face; +then he straightened, and turned, to face Shorty. + +He lurched to Shorty's side, drew out one of the latter's big guns, and +tossed it upon the desk within reach of Warden's hand. + +"I gave Antrim the first shot, Warden," he said; "I gave him his chance. +I didn't murder him, and I won't murder you. Take that gun and follow me +to the street. There's people there. They'll see that it's a square +deal. You're a sneaking polecat, Warden; but you--I'm going to give +you----" + +Lawler paused; he sagged. He tried to straighten, failed. And while both +men watched him--Shorty with eyes that were terrible in their ineffable +sympathy and impotent wrath; Warden in a paralysis of cold +terror--Lawler lurched heavily against the desk and slid gently to the +floor, where he leaned, his eyes closed, against the desk, motionless, +unconscious. + +Silently, his eyes aflame with passion, Shorty leaped to the desk and +snatched the gun that Lawler had placed at Warden's hand. With almost +the same movement he pulled Warden out of his chair and threw him +against the rear wall of the room. He was after the man like a giant +panther; catching him by the throat with his left hand as he reached +him, crushing him against the wall so that the impact jarred the +building; while he savagely jammed the muzzle of the pistol deep into +the man's stomach, holding it there with venomous pressure, while his +blazing eyes bored into Warden's with a ferocious malignance. "Damn you, +Warden," he said hoarsely; "I ought to kill you!" He shook Warden with +his left hand, as though the man were a child in his grasp, sinking his +fingers into the flesh of his neck until Warden's eyes popped out and +his face grew purple. Then he released him so suddenly that Warden sank +to his knees on the floor, coughing, laboring, straining to draw his +breath. + +He stood, huge and menacing, until Warden swayed to his feet and +staggered weakly to the chair in which he had been sitting when Lawler +entered; and then he leaned over the desk and peered into Warden's face. + +"This ain't my game, Warden! If it was, I'd choke the gizzard out of you +and chuck you out of a window! I reckon I've got to save you for +Lawler--if he gets over this. If he don't, I'm comin' for you!" + +He holstered his gun, stooped, lifted Lawler and gently swung him over +his shoulder; and without glancing back at Warden strode to the stairs, +out into the street and made his way to the Willets Hotel, a crowd of +curious citizens at his heels. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIV + +"GOOD OLD SHORTY!" + + +Della Wharton had watched from one of the windows of her room in the +hotel. She had seen Lawler and Shorty ride down the street to Warden's +office; she had seen Shorty come out carrying Lawler; and she heard +Shorty's steps on the stairs as he brought his burden up, preceded by +the proprietor. + +She was standing in the hall when the proprietor and Shorty reached the +upper landing, and when the proprietor looked inquiringly at her she +silently motioned toward her room, and stood aside as Shorty entered and +placed his limp burden upon the bed. Lawler was unconscious and ghastly +pale. + +Della instantly took charge of Lawler. Which means that she set +seriously to work with him, while Shorty stood by, his arms folded over +his huge chest, one hand caressing his chin, grimly watching. + +Shorty continued to watch. For many days he stood guard over his +"boss"--a somber, brooding figure, silent, imperturbable. When he moved +it was only to walk slowly up and down the hall, or downstairs to take +his meals. At other times he would stand at the bedside looking down at +Lawler's closed eyes and ashen face; or he would sit on the edge of a +chair and watch him, intently, with stoic calm, his face as +expressionless as a stone image. + +Mrs. Lawler came early the next morning--after the doctor had told Della +and Shorty there was a fighting chance for Lawler; and Ruth Hamlin. +Shorty's eyes grew moist as he watched Mrs. Lawler and Ruth as they +stood by the unconscious man; and his voice was low and gruff when, +during the day Mrs. Lawler asked him for particulars. + +"That's all there was to it, ma'am," he said in conclusion. "The boss +oughtn't to have busted in that shack like he did, knowin' Antrim was +there--an' givin' the scum a chance to take the first shot at him. But +he done it. An' he done the same thing to Warden--offered him the first +shot. Ma'am, I never heard the beat of it! I've got nerve--as the sayin' +is. But--Lordy!" + +And Shorty became silent again. + +For three days Lawler remained unconscious. And during that interval +there were no disturbing sounds to agitate the deathlike quiet of the +sickroom. Riders glided into town from various points of the compass and +stepped softly as they moved in the street--whispering or talking in low +tones. The universal topic was the fight, and Lawler's condition. On the +second day of Lawler's unconsciousness a keen-eyed man stepped off the +east-bound train and made his way to the hotel. + +"I'm Metcalf of the _News_, in the capital," he told Keller, the +proprietor. And Keller quietly ushered the newspaperman upstairs, where +the latter stood for a long time until Mrs. Lawler opened the door of +the sickroom for him. Metcalf entered, looked down at Lawler, and then +drew Shorty aside where, in a whispered conversation he obtained the +particulars of the fight and the wounding of Lawler. He took the +west-bound train that night. + +A pall seemed to have settled over Willets. The atmosphere was tense, +strained. Riders from Caldwell's ranch, from Sigmund's, from +Lester's--and from other ranches came in; and important-looking men from +various sections of the state alighted from the trains at the station +and lingered long in the dingy foyer of the hotel. One of these was +recognized by Keller as McGregor, secretary of the State Central +Committee of Lawler's party. And Keller noted that McGregor wore a +worried look and that he scowled continually. + +Willets waited; the riders who came into town waited; it seemed to the +residents of Willets that the whole state waited, with its collective +gaze upon the little room in the hotel where a man lay, fighting for his +life. + +Shorty waited--still silent, the somber brooding light in his eyes; his +jaws set a little tighter, his eyes filled with a deeper glow. Shorty +said no word to any man regarding the deadly intention that reigned in +his heart. He merely waited, watching Lawler, grimly determined that if +Lawler died he would keep his promise to "come for" Warden. + +But Shorty would not have found Warden in town. On the night of the +shooting Warden had taken the west-bound train, and the next day he was +closeted with the governor and Hatfield--the three of them sitting in +the governor's office, where, their faces pale, though expressing no +regret, they sat and talked of the fight and conjectured over its +probable consequences. + +Singleton stayed close to the Two Diamond; and after the second day, +Della Wharton rode to the ranch and sat brooding over the failure of her +plans. When Lawler had been brought into the hotel she had entertained a +hope that the situation might be turned to her advantage. But there had +been something in Ruth Hamlin's clear, direct eyes that had convinced +her of the futility of attempting to poison her mind against Lawler by +referring to her stay in the line cabin with Lawler. She saw faith in +Ruth's eyes--complete, disconcerting; and it had made her feel inferior, +unworthy, cheap, and inconsequential. + +On the fourth day Lawler regained consciousness. The doctor had told +them all that the crisis was at hand; that if the fever broke, marking +the end of the delirium which had seized him, he would awaken normal +mentally, though inevitably weak. But if the fever did not break there +would be no hope for him. + +Mrs. Lawler, Ruth, and Shorty were in the room with Lawler when he +opened his eyes. For a long time the three stood, breathlessly watching +as Lawler lay, staring in bewilderment at the ceiling, at the walls, and +out of the windows, through which came a soft, subdued light. + +Presently Lawler raised his head a trifle, saw them all, and smiled. The +clear light of reason was in his eyes. + +"Mother, Ruth, and Shorty," he said, weakly smiling. "I've known for a +long time that you were here. But I couldn't let you know. Mother and +Ruth--and Shorty," he repeated; and then, in a lower voice, that trailed +off into a murmur as he closed his eyes and appeared to be falling +asleep: "Good old Shorty!" + +Ruth and Mrs. Lawler were clasped in each other's arms, joy unutterable +in their eyes. It was some time before they turned, to look at Shorty. + +The tawny giant was standing near the foot of the bed. His lips were +quivering, his eyes were wet, his whole body seemed to be racked with +emotion that he could not suppress. He was making an heroic effort, +though--an effort that made the cords of his neck stand out lividly; +that swelled his muscles into knotty bunches. + +"Damn it!" he growled as he turned his head away from Ruth and Mrs. +Lawler, so that they might not see what was reflected there; "there +ain't no sense of him gettin' mush-headed about it!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXXV + +HAUNTING MEMORIES + + +It was many days before Lawler was strong enough to ride Red King to the +Circle L; and many more days joined the regiments that have marched into +the ages, before he forgot what he saw in Blackburn's eyes when one day, +soon after his return to the Circle L, he listened to the range boss +relate the story of the fight on the plains. Blackburn's cynical eyes +had changed expression. They had become tragic, strained, as though the +man was striving to blot out mental pictures that were detailed +there--pictures that memory persisted in drawing. + +He rode with Lawler to the scene of the fight, and showed him where the +Circle L outfit had brought the rustlers to bay. + +"After Shorty left," said Blackburn; "me insistin' on him goin', an' him +blackguardin' me for sendin' him, there was a little time when nothin' +happened. Then the day broke, an' everything seemed to happen at once. + +"They rushed us, Lawler. There was more of 'em than there was of us, an' +they circled around us, howlin' an' shootin' like Indians. They got us +between 'em. But we fought 'em--Lawler, we fought 'em till there wasn't +a man left standing. But there was too many of 'em. We planted +twenty--afterward. But about that number got away. I was hit sort of +hard, but I watched 'em scutterin' towards Kinney's canon. They'd been +gone some time when Caldwell's outfit--an' Shorty--come up. Caldwell's +outfit lit out after 'em; but Caldwell's men had rode pretty hard +gettin' to us, an' it wasn't no go. Sigmund's men, though; an' Lester's +an' the rest of 'em, had took a gorge trail that cuts into the big basin +from the south, away the other side of Kinney's canon; an' they run +plumb into the rustlers over at the edge of the basin on Sigmund's side. + +"An' they brought back your cattle; though Slade an' twenty or thirty of +his men got away, clean. I reckon you've heard about enough, an'--Well, +Lawler, that's about all--exceptin' to tell you how the boys--an' I +don't seem to want to go over that when I'm awake; I keep seein' it +enough of nights." + +But something of the deep emotion Blackburn felt was reflected in +Lawler's eyes from the time he heard the story. + +During the many days he had spent in the little hotel room recovering +from his wound--and in the long interval of convalescence that +followed--a small army of workmen had been engaged in rebuilding the +Circle L ranchhouse, the bunkhouses, and the other structures. On the +second day following his return to consciousness Lawler had called in a +contractor and had made arrangements for reconstruction. + +A temporary cabin--to be used afterward by Blackburn--had been erected +near the site of the bunkhouses, and into this Lawler and his mother +moved while the ranchhouse and the other buildings were being rebuilt. +Blackburn was slowly engaging men to fill the depleted complement, and +the work went on some way, though in it was none of that spirit which +had marked the activities of the Circle L men in the old days. + +In fact, the atmosphere that surrounded the Circle L seemed to be filled +with a strange depression. There had come a cold grimness into +Blackburn's face, a sullenness had appeared in the eyes of the three men +who had survived the fight on the plains; they were moody, irritable, +impatient. One of them, a slender, lithe man named Sloan, voiced to +Blackburn one day a prediction. + +"Antrim's dead, all O.K.," he said. "But Slade--who was always a damned +sight worse than Antrim--is still a-kickin'. An' Slade ain't the man to +let things go halfway. Them boys from the other outfits bested him, all +right. But Slade will be back--you'll see. An' when he comes we'll be +squarin' things with him--an' don't you forget it!" + + * * * * * + +It was after Lawler had been occupying the cabin for a month that +Metcalf made his second visit. He rode down the slope of the valley on a +horse he had hired at Willets, and came upon Lawler, who was standing at +the corral gates, looking across the enclosure at the workmen who were +bustling about the ranchhouse. + +Metcalf regarded Lawler critically before he dismounted; and then he +came forward, shook Lawler's hand and again looked him over. + +"A little thin and peaked; but otherwise all right, eh?" he smiled. +"It's hard to kill you denizens of the sagebrush." + +He followed Lawler into the shade of the cabin, remarked to Mrs. Lawler +that her son would need someone to guard him--if he persisted in meeting +outlaws of the Antrim type single-handed; and then turned to +Lawler--after Mrs. Lawler had gone inside--and said lowly: + +"Lord, man! you've got this state raving over you! Your fight against +the ring is talked about in every corner of the country. And that scrap +with Antrim, Selden, and Krell in the old Dickman cabin will go down in +history--it will be a classic! What made you rush in on Antrim that +way--giving him the first shot?" + +Lawler smiled faintly. "Shucks, Metcalf, there was nothing to that. +Shorty told me what had happened, and as I recollect, now, I was pretty +much excited." + +"Excited, eh?" said Metcalf, incredulously; "I don't believe it. What +about your going in to Warden's office, offering to give him the first +shot? Were you excited then?" + +Lawler reddened, and Metcalf laughed triumphantly. + +"Lawler," he said; "you're too damned modest--but modesty becomes you. I +believe you know it. Anyway, this state is raving over you. You're going +to be the next governor. You've got to run! This state needs a man like +you--it _needs_ you! You know it. Everybody knows it--and everybody +wants you. That is, everybody except Haughton, Hatfield, Warden--and +that bunch--including the railroad company. Why, look here, Lawler!" he +went on, when Lawler did not answer; "the fight you made last fall +against the railroad company was made, with variations, by all the +courageous cattlemen in the state. If a strong man isn't elected this +fall the same fight will have to be made again. Haughton is so rotten +that people are beginning to hold their noses! + +"The people of this state trust you, Lawler--they swear by you. You've +got to run--there's no way out of it!" He looked keenly at Lawler. "Man, +do you know what McGregor told me the day before he left the capital to +come down here and look you over, to see how badly you were hurt? He +said: 'Metcalf, if Lawler dies we lose the governorship next fall. He is +the only man who can beat Haughton!'" + +"Metcalf," smiled Lawler; "I'll tell you a secret--your argument has had +no effect upon me. I decided this thing as far back as the day following +the last election. I am going to run." + +"Then we've got Haughton licked!" declared Metcalf, enthusiastically. + +Metcalf stayed at the Circle L throughout the day, and in the evening +Lawler rode with him to Willets, where he saw him aboard the west-bound +train. + +"I'm telling you something, Lawler," grinned the newspaperman as he +gripped Lawler's hand just before the train started. "McGregor came to +me yesterday. He told me he intended to come to see you, but he was +afraid you'd refuse to run. He asked me if I had any influence with you, +and I told him you'd do anything I suggested. Now, don't get excited, +Lawler," he laughed as Lawler looked sharply at him. "I've proved it, +haven't I? You've agreed to run! Lord, man, I'd hate to be an evil-doer +and have you look at me like that!" He laughed again, exultantly. "What +was it you said to Warden one day, when Warden refused to keep that +agreement you made with Lefingwell? Oh, don't look at me that way--that +conversation has been printed all over the state. I saw to that. How did +I hear of it? Somebody must have talked, Lawler. It wasn't you. You +remember what you told Warden? It was this: + +"'I'm telling you this, though: A man's word in this country has got to +be backed by his performances--and he's got to have memory enough to +know when he gives his word!' + +"You've given yours, Lawler; and you can't back out. McGregor will be +waiting for me in the capital. And when I tell him that I have persuaded +you to run, he'll fall on my neck and weep tears of joy. Then he'll hire +a special train and run down here to fall on _your_ neck!" + +McGregor came the next day. And he took Lawler back to the capital with +him. Lawler stayed in the capital for a week, and when he returned he +went directly to the Circle L. + +No word came from him, to Willets, during the summer. He did not appear +in town; though Willets heard that the new Circle L ranchhouse had at +last been completed, and that Lawler was living in it. Also, the Circle +L outfit had been recruited to full strength; Blackburn was occupying +the new cabin. + +When Corwin--who was chairman of the county committee--sent out calls +for the county primary election--which convention was also to choose +delegates to the state convention, to be held later--Lawler did not +appear. He sent a note to Corwin, asking to be excused. + +"I reckon he ain't entirely over that wound," Corwin told an intimate +friend. "We'll have to get along without him, this time." But there was +a light in Corwin's eyes which told that he was not unaware of the +significance of Lawler's trip to the capital with McGregor. + +There came a day when Corwin and his brother-delegates got on a train at +Willets and were taken to the capital. And there came another day when +they returned. They brought a brass band with them; and Willets closed +its doors and went out into the street--and crowded the station +platform, where the band was playing, and where the returned delegates, +frenzied with joy, were shrieking above the din: "Hurrah for Kane +Lawler! Lawler--our next governor! Hip, hip--HOORRAY!" + +"We swamped 'em!" howled a crimson-faced enthusiast; "there was nothin' +to it! Unanimous after the first vote! HOORRAY!" + +In his office, Gary Warden heard the shouting; saw the crowd, and +listened to the cheers. He stood at one of the windows, balefully +watching; sneering at the delegates who had returned, flushed with +victory. Singleton, scowling, stood beside Warden. + +They saw half a dozen men draw apart from the others. Later the +men--delegates, from the gay badges appended to them--rode out of town, +southward. + +"Reception committee," sneered Warden. "They're going to escort Lawler +to town. Let's go to the Two Diamond. I'll be damned if I want to be in +town to watch Lawler grin when he sees that crowd! There's a dozen big +guns in that bunch, who have come down from the capital to watch the +fun. Well, it's no fun for me!" + +However, it was "fun" for the delighted citizens of Willets, who, some +hours later, saw the reception committee returning with Lawler. They +escorted him to a platform which had been erected in the middle of the +street in the absence of the reception committee, where, after the crowd +had cheered him many times, Lawler made his first speech as the +candidate of his party. + +Energetic citizens had gayly decorated the street with flags and +bunting--taking Corwin's entire stock--and the varicolored decorations +swathed the town from end to end. + +Warden and Singleton had scurried out of town long before the coming of +Lawler. But Jimmy Singleton, with a number of other children who had +mercifully been dismissed by the school teacher, were close to the +platform during the celebration. + +"He's gonna be governor, Jimmy," whispered one of Jimmy's companions, +awe in his voice as he indicated Lawler, who was just concluding his +speech. + +"I've knowed him a long time," went on Jimmy's friend, proudly. + +"Huh!" said Jimmy; "I've knowed him longer than you. An' besides, he +walloped me. An' he walloped my paw, too!" + +Shorty had ridden to town with Lawler; and Shorty rode home with the +candidate for governor--after the citizens of Willets had shouted +themselves hoarse and the prominent men who had come down from the +capital had taken the evening train home. + +And Shorty said nothing when Lawler veered from the Circle L trail and +headed eastward, toward Hamlin's cabin. And he waited with much patience +outside the cabin while Lawler went in, to stay an unconscionably long +time. + +Ruth was alone. And her eyes were glowing with happiness when she saw +Lawler. + +"Oh, I know!" she said when Lawler essayed to break the news to her. "On +his way to town, Blackburn rode over and told me. All of your men were +in town--didn't you know that?" + +"Ruth," said Lawler; "I will be elected. Won't you come to the capital +with me--to be the first lady of the state?" + +She looked straight at him, her face paling. + +"Wait, Kane," she said, gently. "I--I can't, just now. Oh, Kane, don't +you see that the higher you go the harder it is for me. I can't have +people say--what they might say--what your enemies would be sure to say! +Father is all right now. But I can't depend upon him. We will wait, +Kane--until we are sure." + +Shorty rode with Lawler after they left the Hamlin cabin. And the +gravity of Lawler's expression was noted by the giant, and duly +commented upon the following morning, in Blackburn's presence. + +"The boss's trail is sure hard to anticipate," said Shorty. "There's the +state goin' loco over him--nominatin' him for governor, an' folks in +Willets makin' more fuss over him than they did over the President--the +time he stopped for two minutes in town. Well, you'd think a man would +be sort of fussed up himself, over that kind of a deal. But what does +the boss do? He rides home with me, sayin' nothin' pretty regular--with +a face on him as long as the moral law--an' then some. I ain't got no +rope on him--an' that's a fact. But he's all wool an' a yard wide--ain't +he, Blackburn?" + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVI + +A MAN MEDITATES VENGEANCE + + +It had always been lonely at the Hamlin cabin, and it grew more lonely +after Kane Lawler left the Circle L. For the barrier between Ruth and +the happiness she had a right to expect seemed to grow higher and more +impassable daily. + +After receiving official notification of his nomination, Lawler had gone +away on a speaking tour of the state, and Ruth had seen little of him. +He came home once, for a few days, just before the election, and had +renewed his pleas to Ruth. But the girl, rigidly adhering to her +determination not to permit the shadow of her father's reputation to +embarrass him, had firmly refused to consent. And after the election, +when he had gone to the capital to take the office to which he had been +chosen by a record vote, she watched him ride away with a consciousness +that the world had grown to gigantic proportions and that Lawler was +going to its extreme farther limits, leaving behind him a gulf of space, +endless and desolate. + +Dorgan, the country prosecutor, had been defeated for re-election by a +man named Carney--who was known to be friendly to Singleton. Moreton had +also been defeated--by "Slim" McCray, who hailed from a little town +called Keegles, southeast from Willets. It was rumored--after the +election--that Slim McCray had been friendly to Antrim, though no one +advanced any evidence in support of the rumor. + +McCray--because Willets was the county seat--came to the office that had +formerly been Moreton's, immediately following his election. He was +slender, tall, and unprepossessing, and instantly created a bad +impression. + +This news came to Ruth through her father, for she had not visited town +since she had gone there to help Mrs. Lawler care for her son. She felt +that she did not dare to leave the cabin. For one night, after her +father had acted strangely, he got up suddenly and went out of the door. +And after a while, growing suspicious, she blew out the light and +stepped softly outside, to see him, at a little distance from the house, +talking with Singleton. + +That incident had occurred shortly after Lawler had departed for the +capital to assume his duties as governor. She suspected her father had +talked with Singleton since, though she had never seen them together +from that time until now. + +Lawler had been gone a month. She had heard through various +mediums--mostly from cowboys from nearby ranches who occasionally passed +the cabin--that Lawler was "making good"--in the vernacular of the +cowpuncher; and "makin' them all set up an' take notice." Those terms, +of course, would seem to indicate that Lawler was a good governor and +that he was attracting attention by the quality of his administration. + +But it seemed that more than a month had passed since Lawler had gone +to the capital. The days dragged and the weeks seemed to be aeons long. +And yet the dull monotony of the girl's life was relieved by trips she +made to the Circle L, to visit Lawler's mother--and by the presence of +Mary Lawler, who had come home for her vacation, during the summer, and +during Lawler's absence on his speaking tour. + +Ruth had heard with satisfaction that the Circle L trail herd, attended +by Blackburn, Shorty, and other Circle L men, had not been molested on +the trip to Red Rock. Caldwell and the others had driven their cattle to +Red Rock also--not one of them visiting Warden to arrange for cars. +Lawler's influence, and the spirit he had revealed in undertaking the +long drive the previous season, had had its effect upon the other +owners. + +It seemed to Ruth that the fight between the Circle L men and the +rustlers had made the latter cautious; and that even Warden had decided +that discretion was necessary. At any rate, the surface of life in +Willets and the surrounding country had become smooth, no matter what +forces were at work in the depths. It appeared that the men who had +fought Lawler in the past, were now careful to do nothing that would +bring upon them a demonstration of his new power. + + * * * * * + +Gary Warden, however, was not fearful of Lawler's official power. In +fact, he was openly contemptuous when Lawler's name was mentioned in his +presence. Face to face with Lawler, he was afflicted with an emotion +that was akin to fear, though with it was mingled the passionate hatred +he had always felt for the man. + +While Lawler had been at the Circle L he had fought him secretly, with +motives that arose from a determination to control the cattle industry. +Warden had had behind him the secret power of the state government and +the clandestine cooperation of the railroad company. His fight against +Lawler had been in the nature of business, in which the advantage had +been all on his side. + +Now, however, intense personal feeling dominated Warden. Lawler had +beaten him, so far, and the knowledge intensified his rage against his +conqueror. The railroad company's corral had yawned emptily during the +entire fall season. Not a hoof had been shipped through Willets. All the +cattlemen of the district had driven their stock to Red Rock. And Warden +no longer smiled at the empty corral. + +Looking out of one of his office windows this morning, Warden scowled. +He remembered a day, a year or so ago, when he had stood in one of the +windows of his office watching Della Wharton wave a handkerchief at +Lawler. She had been riding out of town in a buckboard, with Aunt +Hannah beside her, and Lawler had just come from the railroad station. +That incident had spread the poison of jealousy in Warden's veins; the +recollection of it had caused him to doubt Della's story of what had +happened at the line cabin during the blizzard of the preceding winter; +it had filled him with the maddening conviction that Lawler had +deliberately tried to alienate Della's affections--that Lawler, knowing +Della to be vain and frivolous, had intentionally planned the girl's +visit to the line cabin. + +He did not blame Della for what had happened. Upon Lawler was the blame +for the affair; Lawler had planned it all, merely to be revenged upon +him for his refusal to keep the agreement that had been made with +Lefingwell. + +Warden sneered as his thoughts went to that day in Jordan's office when +Lawler, a deadly threat in his eyes, had leaned close to him to warn +him. Warden remembered the words--they had flamed in his consciousness +since. + +"But get this straight," Lawler had said. "You've got to fight _me_! +Understand? You'll drag no woman into it. You went to Hamlin's ranch the +other day. God's grace and a woman's mercy permitted you to get away, +alive. Just so sure as you molest a woman in the section, just so sure +will I kill you, no matter who your friends are!" + +Apparently, in Lawler's code of morals, it was one thing to force one's +attentions upon a pretty woman, and another thing to steal the +affections of a woman promised to another man. + +But Warden's passion permitted him to make no distinction. And his rage +was based upon the premise that Lawler was guilty. Warden's thoughts +grew abysmal as he stood at the window; and considerations of business +became unimportant in his mind as the Satanic impulse seized him. He +stood for a long time at the window, and when he finally seized hat and +coat and went down into the street he was muttering, savagely: + +"God's grace and a woman's mercy. Bah! Damn you, Lawler; I'll make you +squirm!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVII + +THE TRAP + + +For more than a month--or from a few days following the night on which +she had seen her father talking with Dave Singleton--Ruth Hamlin had +been aware that her parent was acting strangely. There had been an +interval--directly after that night when he had told her about his talk +with Lawler, when Lawler had offered to help him to regain his place +among men--that Hamlin had seemed to "go straight," as he had promised. +During that interval he had taken her into his confidence many times, to +discuss with her the new prospects that the future seemed to offer, and +to renew his assurances to her. It had seemed, then, that there was hope +for him. + +Of late, though, a change had come over him. He no longer confided in +her; his eyes were beginning to take on again the expression of guilt +she had seen in them in the old days; his glances at her were no longer +direct, but furtive, as though he feared she might learn something of +his actions should she meet his gaze. + +In the old days Ruth had passively endured the shame that Hamlin's +crimes had brought upon her. They had been so unexpected that they had +stunned her--they had been so miserably mean that she had not dared to +take anyone into her confidence. + +However, the days of passive endurance were over. Lawler knew, and +Lawler had helped her father. And now, she was certain, her father had +again fallen. + +She steeled herself against pity for him, determined that she would not +stand idly by and watch him betray Lawler. She did not know what she +intended to do, or what she could do, to prevent the stealing of the +Circle L cattle; but she determined to watch her father, hopeful that +she might devise some way to prevent the thefts. + +She had passed many sleepless nights, having become aware that her +father was habitually absenting himself after nightfall, but she had +never been able to catch him in the act of leaving the cabin at those +times, though many nights she had purposely stayed awake. + +Tonight she had gone to her room, to lie awake on the bed, fully +dressed. She had left the oil-lamp burning, for Hamlin had been sitting +at a table reading. She heard him get up after a while; saw the light +flicker and go out; heard her father cross the floor and go to his room. + +There was a fire in the kitchen stove, for the weather during the day +had been cold, and she could hear the embers crackling for more than an +hour after her father went to his room. After that there followed a +brief time when she heard nothing. + +She drew a blanket over her, and its welcome warmth brought on a +drowsiness to which she almost yielded. She was sure, however, that she +would not go to sleep, and she lay there, comfortably for, it seemed +merely a few minutes. And then a sound assailed her ears and she started +up, realizing that she had been asleep. For a chill had come into the +air of the cabin, and she knew the fire had gone out. + +She sat up, breathing fast, and ran to her father's room. The bed had +not been slept in; and she emerged from the room, her face pallid with +resolution. + +Running to the outside door she swung it open and looked out. Far out +upon the clear, moonlit sweep of plain stretching toward Willets, she +saw the shadowy figures of two horsemen. + +Moving swiftly, she went to the corral, caught her pony, saddled it, +threw on a bridle, mounted and rode after the two horsemen, urging the +pony to its best efforts. + +The speed at which the pony traveled did not equal the pace of the +animals ahead of her, however, and she steadily lost ground, though the +night was so clear that she did not lose sight of the figures in front +of her until they reached the shadows of Willets' buildings. She did +lose them there, though, and when she rode down the dimly lighted street +she could see no sign of them. + +There was no one about, and she rode back and forth on the street, +searching for Hamlin's horse, which would give her a clue to Hamlin's +whereabouts. And at last, peering into a vacant space between two +buildings she saw Hamlin's horse, and another, hitched to a rail near an +outside stairway. + +She got off the pony, threw the reins over its head and ran around to +the front of the building, into the light of some oil-lamps that stabbed +the semi-gloom of the street. + +The building was occupied by the Wolf Saloon. She knew that, and it was +that knowledge that caused her to hesitate as she stood in front of it. +But her father was in there, she was certain. She had recognized the +horse that had been hitched close to her father's as one that Singleton +had ridden to the Hamlin cabin on several of his visits, and the cold +determination that had seized her at last gave her courage to swing the +front door of the saloon open. She hesitated on the threshold, white, +shaking with dread, almost afraid, now that she had come this far, to +face the terrible men she knew she would find inside. The ill-fame of +the place was notorious. + +But while she hesitated, she heard her father's voice--a sound that +drove her to instant action, for it was high-pitched, and carried a note +of anger. + +She went inside, then, no longer thinking of herself; her heart a throb +with concern, courage of a high order sustaining her. She pushed the +outside door open, burst through the double-swing door that screened the +barroom from the street, and stood in the front of the room blinking at +the lights. + +The room was full of men--she did not know how many. They made a great +blur in front of her; and it seemed to her that all their faces were +turned to her. She had a flashing view of a multitude of inquiring eyes; +she noted the thick haze that hung over the room; her nostrils were +assailed by mingled odors that were nauseating. The flashing glance +showed her the long bar, a cluster of lights overhead; card tables; a +low ceiling, and a stairway leading from the barroom to a platform. + +All sound had ceased with her entrance. She saw her father standing near +the center of the room. + +He was standing alone, in sinister isolation. Singleton was facing him, +about a dozen feet distant. A few feet from Singleton stood another +man--dark of face, with cruel lips, and eyes that held a wanton light. A +little farther away--close to the bar--stood Gary Warden. + +Her father seemed to be the only man in the room who had not seen her. A +terrible rage had gripped him; he seemed to have undergone a strange +transformation since she had seen him last; that manhood which she had +thought had departed from him appeared to have returned. + +For he made a striking figure as he stood there. He was rigid, alert; he +seemed to dominate every man that faced him, that stood within sound of +his voice. He had been talking when Ruth entered; he was still talking, +unaware of her presence. + +His voice was pitched high, it carried a note of defiance; it was +vibrant with passion. Fascinated by the change in him, Ruth stood +motionless, listening. + +"So that's what you brought me here for?" he said, his voice shaking +with rage. He was looking at Singleton and the man who stood near the +latter. "You brought me here because you wanted to be sure there'd be +enough of you to down me. Well, damn you--get goin!" + +His voice rose to a screech of awful rage; and while it still resounded +through the room he dropped his right hand and dragged at the pistol at +his hip. + +It was done so swiftly that Ruth could make no movement to interfere. +And yet as swiftly as her father's hand had dropped to the holster at +his side, the dark-faced man who stood near Singleton anticipated the +movement. His right hand moved like a streak of light. It went down, +then up again with the same motion. The air rocked with a crashing +report, mingled with Ruth's scream of terror. And Hamlin's gun loosened +in his hand, his knees doubled and he tumbled headlong, to fall face +down at the feet of the dark-faced man who stood, sneering, some +blue-white smoke curling upward in mocking laziness from the muzzle of +his pistol. + +Ruth had moved with the report of the pistol; she was at Hamlin's side +when he fell, grasping one of his arms; and she went down with him, to +one knee, dazed from the suddenness of the thing; palzied with horror, +the room reeling around her. + +How long she knelt at her father's side she did not know. It seemed only +a second or two to her when she raised her head and looked around with +dumb, agonized grief at the faces that seemed to fill the place. Then +she heard Warden's voice; he spoke to the dark-faced man who had killed +her father, and his voice was vibrant with a mocking, Satanic +satisfaction. + +"You've wanted her, Slade--take her!" + +The dark-faced man grinned at her, bestially. She leaped to her feet at +the expression of his eyes, and started to run toward the door. But +terror shackled her feet; it seemed that some power was dragging at her, +holding her back from the door. She had not taken more than half a +dozen steps when Slade was upon her. + +His strength seemed to be prodigious, for despite her desperate +resistance he lifted her from the floor, crushed her to him and started +for the stairs. She screamed, begging the men in the room to help her. +But through the haze she saw grinning faces turned to hers; heard loud +laughter and coarse oaths. And then came oblivion. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVIII + +THE GOVERNOR'S GUNS + + +From his desk in the big, quiet room in the capitol building Lawler +could look out upon a wide sweep of orderly landscape. There were +trees--now stripped of their foliage--in serried array around the +spacious grounds that surrounded the building; bushes arranged in +attractive clusters; a low stone fence with massive posts that rose in +simple dignity above white cement walks that curved gracefully toward +the streets. + +For nearly two months the huge building--representing the seat of +government of a mighty state--had been Lawler's throne. And he had ruled +with a democratic spirit and with a simple directness, that had +indicated earnestness and strength. There had been a mass of detail +which had required close attention; many conferences with the prominent +men of his party--in which the prominent men had been made to understand +that Lawler intended to be governor in fact as well as in name; and a +gradual gathering up of all the loose ends of administration which had +become badly tangled through the inefficiency of the former incumbent. +And now the legislature was in session. + +Lawler had not been able to seize time to visit the Wolf River section. +Work, work--and more work had confronted him from the moment he had +taken the oath of office on the capitol steps until this minute, when +he sat at his desk looking out of a window at the bleak, artificial +landscape. + +There had been times when he had longed for a glance at the Wolf River +section; and there had been many more times when he had sat where he was +sitting now, thinking of Ruth Hamlin. + +Something lacked--he was not satisfied. In the old days--when he had +visited the capital and had entered the state building to sense +immediately the majesty of it and to feel the atmosphere of solemn +dignity that reigned within--he had felt that any man must experience +the ultimate thrill--the tingling realization that he stood in a spot +hallowed by the traditions of the republic. + +The thought of serving the people of a great state had thrilled him +mightily in the old days. It still thrilled him, but it brought with it +a longing for Ruth to share it with him. + +Thoughts of Ruth this morning brought Gary Warden into his mind. And he +frowned as a man frowns who watches a pleasant scene turn into tragedy. + +Only his collapse as he faced Warden that day in the latter's office had +prevented him killing the man. He had left the Dickman cabin lusting for +Warden's life. The passion that had surged through his veins during the +long ride to Warden's office had been the only force that could have +kept him going. It had burned within him like a raging fire, and it had +upheld his failing strength until he had sunk beside the desk with his +passion unsatisfied. + +He had thought much of the incident during the days he had lain in the +room at the Willets Hotel, and later, while convalescing at the Circle +L. And he had been glad his strength had failed him before he did what +he had set out to do. For while there was no doubt in his mind that +Warden had been implicated in all the attacks that had been made upon +him, he had no legal proof--except the confession, signed by Link and +Givens--that Warden was guilty. + +And, now that he had been elected, he intended to keep silent regarding +the confession. He hated Warden, but it was with something of the +passion a man feels who treads upon a poisonous reptile that attacks +him. + +He meant to be generous in the moment of victory. Those men--Warden, +Perry Haughton, Hatfield, and the officials of the railroad company--had +performed according to their lights, using whatever power and influence +was at hand to gain their ends. But they had failed. Several bills now +pending in the legislature would effectually curb the powers of those +men and others of their kind; and he would see to it that there never +would be another opportunity for that sort of practice. + +Lawler got up after a time, and walked to one of the big windows, where +he stood for some minutes looking out. Then he returned to his desk, +dropped into the chair, pulled open a deep drawer and took therefrom a +cartridge belt, completely studded with cartridges. Suspended from the +belt were two ivory-handled pistols that had seen much service. + +They had belonged to his father. Later, he had worn them himself--in +the days when his character had been in process of developing, when he +had earned, with them, a reputation which had made him respected +throughout the state. + +They were, he felt, symbols of an ancient time. The day was coming when +men would ride the open range without guns, when the wearing of guns +would bring upon a man the distrust and the condemnation of his kind. +Law and order would supersede the rule of the gun, and the passions of +men would have to be regulated by the statute books. + +He had brought the two guns with him upon the impulse of a moment. He +would be away from the Circle L for at least two years, and he wanted +the guns where he could look at them occasionally. For they brought into +his mind a picture of his father as he had seen him, many times, wearing +them; and they reminded him of days when he, too, had worn them--days +that had a romantic charm all their own. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIX + +SLADE'S PRISONER + + +When Ruth regained the use of her senses she was lying on a bed in a +small, evil-smelling room. An oil-lamp burned upon a little stand in one +corner. A door--the only one--was closed--locked. She saw the stout +wooden bar in its sturdy side slots. + +At first she thought she was alone; and with a hope that made her +breathless she lifted herself, swinging around until her feet were on +the floor, intending to leap to the door, open it, and escape. A sound +arrested her, a chuckle, grim and sinister, in a man's voice. She +flashed swiftly around, to see Slade sitting in a chair near the foot of +the bed. He was bending forward, his elbows on his knees, his knuckles +supporting his chin, watching her with a wide, amused grin. + +For a long, breathless space she looked at him; noting the evil light in +his eyes and the cruel, bestial curve of his lips. She saw how his gaze +quickened as he watched her; how he had drawn one foot under +him--obviously to be used as leverage for a rapid leap should she try to +reach the door. + +"It ain't no use, ma'am," he said; "you're here, an' you're goin' to +stay for a while." He got up and walked to the door, placing his back +against it and grinning widely as he looked down at her, as she yielded +to a long shudder of dread. + +During the silence that followed Slade's words Ruth could hear faint +sounds from below--the clinking of glasses, the scuffling of feet, a low +murmur of voices. She knew, then, that they had brought her to a room +above a saloon--the Wolf, she supposed, for that was where Warden said +he intended to bring her. + +She watched Slade fearfully, divining that he meant to attack her. She +could see that determination in his eyes and in his manner. He was still +grinning, but now the grin had become set, satyric, hideous. It was a +mere smirk. No mirth was behind it--nothing but passion, intense, +frightful. + +She glanced swiftly around, saw a window beyond the foot of the bed with +a ragged shade hanging over it. She knew the Wolf was only two stories +in height, and she felt that if she threw herself out of the window she +would suffer injury. But she meant to do it. She got her feet set firmly +on the floor, and was about to run toward the window, when Slade leaped +at her, seeing the reckless design in her eyes. + +She had been moving when Slade leaped, and she evaded the arm he +extended and slipped away from him. She heard Slade curse. She was +almost at the window when he rushed at her again; and to keep him from +grasping her she dodged, bringing up against the farther wall, while +Slade, losing his balance, plunged against the window, crashing against +the glass and sending a thousand broken fragments tinkling on the floor +of the room and into the darkness outside. + +She was alert to the advantage that had suddenly come to her, and she +ran lightly to the door and tried to lift the bar. She got one end of +it from a socket, but the other stuck. She pulled frantically at it. It +finally came loose, with a suddenness that threw her off balance, and +she reeled against the bed, almost falling. + +She saw Slade coming toward her, a bestial rage in his eyes, and she +threw herself again at the door, grasping it and throwing it wide open. +She tried to throw herself out of the opening, to the stairs that led +straight downward into the barroom. But the movement was halted at its +inception by Slade's arms, which went around her with the rigidity of +iron hoops, quickly constricting. She got a glimpse of the room +below--saw the bar and the men near it--all facing her way, watching +her. Then Slade drew her back and closed the door. + +He did not bar the door, for she was fighting him, now--fighting him +with a strength and fury that bothered him for an instant. His strength, +however, was greater than hers, and at last her arms were crushed +against her sides with a pressure that almost shut off her breath. +Slade's face was close to hers, his lips loose; and his eyes were +looking into hers with an expression that terrified her. + +She screamed--once--twice--with the full power of her lungs. And then +Slade savagely brought a big hand over her mouth and held it there. She +fought to escape the clutch, kicking, squirming--trying to bite the +hand. But to no avail. The terrible pressure on her mouth was +suffocating her, and the room went dark as she continued to fight. She +thought Slade had extinguished the light, and she was conscious of a +dull curiosity over how he had done it. And then sound seem to cease. +She felt nothing, saw nothing, heard nothing. She was conscious only of +that terrible pressure over her mouth and nose. And finally she ceased +to feel even that. + + + + +CHAPTER XL + +PRIMITIVE INSTINCTS + + +Shorty and a dozen Circle L men--among them Blackburn and the three +others who had been wounded in the fight with the rustlers on the plains +the previous spring--had been waiting long in a gully at a distance of a +mile or more from the Hamlin cabin. Shortly after dark they had filed +into the gully, having come directly from the Circle L. + +Hours before, they had got off their horses to stretch their legs, and +to wait. And now they had grown impatient. It was cold--even in the +gulley where the low moaning, biting wind did not reach them--and they +knew they could have no fire. + +"Hell!" exclaimed one man, intolerantly; "I reckon she's a whizzer!" + +"Looks a heap like it," agreed Shorty. "Seems, if Hamlin couldn't get +him headed this way--like he said he would--he ought to let us know." + +"You reckon Hamlin's runnin' straight, now?" inquired Blackburn. + +"Straight as a die!" declared Shorty. "If you'd been trailin' him like +me an' the boys has, you'd know it. Trouble is, that Singleton is +holdin' off. A dozen times we've been close enough to ketch Singleton +with the goods--if he'd do the brandin'. But he don't, an' Hamlin has to +do it--with Singleton watchin'. We've framed up on him a dozen times. +But he lets Hamlin run the iron on 'em. Hamlin eased that bunch into the +gully just ahead, especial for tonight. I helped him drive 'em. An' +Hamlin said that tonight he'd refuse to run the iron on 'em--makin' +Singleton do it. An' then we'd ketch him doin' it. But I reckon Hamlin's +slipped up somewheres." + +"It ain't none comfortable here, with that wind whinin' that vicious," +complained a cowboy. "An' no fire. Hamlin said ten o'clock, didn't he? +It's past eleven." + +"It's off, I reckon," said Shorty. "Let's fan it to Hamlin's shack an' +say somethin' to him." + +Instantly the outfit was on the move. With Shorty leading they swept out +of the gully to the level and rode northward rapidly. + +When they came in sight of the Hamlin cabin there was no light within, +and the men sat for a time on their horses, waiting and listening. Then, +when it seemed certain there was no one stirring, Shorty glanced at the +horse corral. + +Instantly he whispered to the other men: + +"Somethin's wrong, boys. Hamlin's horse is gone, an' Ruth's pony!" + +He dismounted and burst into the cabin, looking into the two bedrooms. +He came out again, scratching his head in puzzlement. + +"I don't seem to sabe this here thing, boys. I know Ruth Hamlin ain't in +the habit of wanderin' off alone at this time of the night. An' Hamlin +was tellin' me that he sure was goin' with Singleton. It's a heap +mysterious, an' I've got a hunch things ain't just what they ought to +be!" + +He turned toward the plain that stretched toward Willets. Far out--a +mere dot in his vision--he detected movement. He straightened, his face +paled. + +"Somebody's out there, headin' for town. I'm takin' a look--the boss +would want me to, an' I ain't overlookin' anything that'll do him any +good!" + +He leaped upon his horse, and the entire company plunged into the soft +moonlight that flooded the plains between the cabin and Willets. + + * * * * * + +The ivory-handled pistols were still on Lawler's desk when his secretary +softly opened a door and entered. The secretary smiled slightly at sight +of the weapons, but he said no word as he advanced to the desk and +placed a telegram before Lawler. + +He stood, waiting respectfully, as Lawler read the telegram. It was from +Moreton: + +"Governor Lawler: There's something mighty wrong going on in Willets. +Slade and his gang struck town this morning. He was with Warden all day +in the Wolf. Don't depend on the new sheriff." + +Lawler got up, his face paling. He dismissed the secretary and then +stood for several minutes looking down at the pistols on the desk. They +offered a quick solution of the problem that confronted him. + +At this minute he was conscious of one thing only--that Slade was in +Willets. Slade, who had led the gang that had killed his men--Slade, +whose face haunted Blackburn's dreams--the man the Circle L outfit held +responsible for the massacre that day on the plains above the big +valley. + +Lurking in the metal cylinders of the two weapons on the desk was that +death which Warden, Singleton, Slade, and the others deserved at his +hands. He took up the pistols, nestling their sinister shapes in his +palms, while his blood rioted with the terrible lust that now seized +him--the old urge to do violence, the primal instinct to slay, to which +he had yielded when Shorty told him of the things Blondy Antrim had +done. + +Another minute passed while he fondled the weapons. Twice he moved as +though to buckle the cartridge belt around his waist--shoving aside the +black coat he wore, which would have hidden them. But each time he +changed his mind. + +He knew that if he wore them he would use them. The driving intensity of +his desire to kill Warden, Singleton, and Slade would overwhelm him if +he should find they had harmed Ruth. The deadly passion that held him in +a mighty clutch would take no account of his position, of his duty to +the state, or of the oath he had taken to obey and administer the laws. + +While he silently fought the lust that filled his heart the secretary +came in. He started and then stood rigid, watching Lawler, seeming to +divine something of the struggle that was going on before his eyes. He +saw how Lawler's muscles had tensed, how his chin had gone forward with +a vicious thrust--noted the awful indecision that had seized the man. As +the secretary watched, he realized that Lawler was on the verge of +surrendering to the passions he was fighting--for Lawler had again +taken up the cartridge belt and was opening his coat to buckle the belt +around him. + +"_Governor._" + +It was the secretary's voice. It was low, conveying the respect that the +man always used in addressing Lawler. But the sound startled Lawler like +the explosion of a bomb in the room. He flashed around, saw the +secretary--looked steadily at him for one instant, and then dropped the +belt to the desk, tossed the pistols into the drawer and smiled +mirthlessly. + +"Governor," said the secretary; "your train is ready." + +The secretary stood within three yards of Lawler, and before he could +turn to go out, Lawler had reached him. He seized both the man's hands, +gripped them tightly, and said, hoarsely: + +"Thank you, Williams." + +Then he released the secretary's hands and plunged out through the door, +while the secretary, smiling wisely, walked to the desk and picking up +the cartridge belt, dropped it into the drawer with the pistols. + + + + +CHAPTER XLI + +THE CLEAN-UP + + +The Wolf Saloon was in a big frame building that stood at a little +distance from the back of the street, with a wide, open space on each +side of it. Lights were flickering from some of the upstairs windows of +the building when Shorty and the other Circle L men reached town. Shorty +and his men had ridden hard, and they had seen a horse and rider halt in +front of the building while they were yet a mile or so out on the +plains. And when Shorty's horse struck the edge of town Shorty headed +him straight for the Wolf, veering when he reached it and passing to the +open space from which ran an outside stairway. The other men followed +Shorty's example, and they were close at his heels when he slipped off +his horse and ran around to the front of the Wolf. + +Warden had come out shortly before; he was now in his office farther +down the street, congratulating himself upon the outcome of the incident +in the saloon. He had struck a damaging blow at Lawler. At a stroke he +was evening his score with the latter. + +Several other men had emerged from the saloon. When Shorty reached the +front door four men were just emerging, carrying another. Suspicious, +alert, Shorty halted the men and peered closely at the face of the man +they were carrying. + +"It's Joe Hamlin!" he said as he recognized the other's face. + +Shorty's eyes were glowing with rage and suspicion. + +"What's happened?" he demanded of one of the men. + +"Rukus," shortly replied one. "Hamlin, here, tried to draw on Slade, an' +Slade----" + +"Slade!" + +Shorty almost screamed the words. He straightened, his face grew +convulsed. Pausing on the verge of violent action, he heard Hamlin's +voice: + +"Shorty!" + +Shorty leaned over. Straining, his muscles working, his eyes blazing, +Shorty heard low words issuing from Hamlin's lips: + +"Slade done it, Shorty. An' he's got Ruth--took her upstairs. +Shorty--save her--for God's sake!" + +Shorty straightened. "Take this man to the doctor--he's hit bad!" The +words were flung at the four men; and Shorty was on the move before he +finished. + +Blackburn and the others were close behind him when he burst into the +front door of the saloon. + +The saloon occupied the entire lower floor. A bar ran the length of the +room from front to rear. In the center of the room was a roulette wheel; +near it was a faro table; and scattered in various places were other +tables. Some oil-lamps in clusters provided light for the card and +gambling tables; and behind the bar were several bracket lamps. + +There were perhaps a score of men in the room when Shorty and the Circle +L men burst in. Shorty had come to a halt in the glare of one of the +big clusters of lights, and his friends had halted near him. + +The giant made a picture that brought an awed hush over the place. He +stood in the glaring light, a gun in each hand, the muscles of his face +and neck standing out like whipcords; his legs a-sprawl, his eyes +blazing with awful rage as they roved around the room, scanning the +faces of every man there. The other Circle L men had drawn their +weapons, too. But Shorty dominated. It was upon him that all eyes +turned; it was upon his crimson, rage-lined face that every man looked. +He was a figure of gigantic proportions--a mighty man in the grip of the +blood-lust. + +"You guys stand. Every damned one of you! Don't move a finger or bat an +eyelash! I've come a-killin'!" he said in a low, tense voice, the words +coming with a snap, jerkily, like the separate and distinct lashes of a +whip. + +Not a man in the room moved, nor did their fascinated eyes waver for an +instant from Shorty's face. + +"Where's Slade?" + +He shot the words at them. He saw their eyes waver for an instant from +his and they looked toward the stairs in the rear--the stairs that Ruth +Hamlin had seen when for an instant after throwing the door of the room +open she had glanced down to see the room full of men, all looking at +her. + +The concentrated gazing of the men at the stairs told Shorty what he +wanted to know. He spoke to Blackburn, throwing the words back over his +shoulder: + +"Hold 'em right where they are--damn 'em!" + +Then with a few gigantic bounds he was at the foot of the stairs. In a +few more he had gained the top, where he pressed his huge shoulder +against the door. It gave a little--enough to further enrage the giant. +He drew back a little and literally hurled himself against it. It burst +open, Shorty keeping his feet as the wreck fell away from him. And he +saw Slade, with a hand over Ruth's mouth, standing near the foot of the +bed. + +Evidently Slade had been about to release Ruth when he heard the door +crashing behind him; for at the instant Shorty emerged from the wreck he +saw that the girl's body was already falling--toward the bed--as Slade +drew away from her and reached for his guns. + +They came out--both of them--streaking fire and smoke. But they never +came to the deadly level to which Slade sought to throw them; for +Shorty's guns were crashing at Slade's first movement, and the bullets +from the outlaw's weapons thudded into the board floor, harmlessly, and +Slade lurched forward--almost to Shorty's side--his guns loosening in +his hands and falling, one after the other, to the floor. He grinned, +with hideous satire, into Shorty's face as he tried, vainly, to steady +himself. + +"Warden--the damned skunk--said Lawler would come--first!" he said, with +horrible pauses. He lurched again, still grinning satirically; and +slumped to the floor, where he turned slowly over on his back and lay +still. + +Shorty glanced at Ruth, who was huddled on the bed; then he wheeled, and +leaped for the stairs. + +Before he reached the bottom, Ruth sat up and stared dazedly about. She +had heard the crashing of the pistols, though the reports had seemed to +come from a great distance--faintly, dully. But when she reeled to her +feet and saw Slade lying on the floor, his upturned face ghastly in the +feeble light from the oil-lamp, she knew that someone had saved her, and +she yielded, momentarily, to a great joy that weakened her so that she +had to sit on the edge of the bed to steady herself. + +It was not for long; and presently she got up and swayed to the door at +the top of the stairs, holding onto the jamb while she looked downward. +When her eyes grew accustomed to the light she paled. + +In the big room were many men. She saw Shorty standing among them--she +recognized them as Circle L cowboys. Shorty's guns were out; in fact the +men in the group near Shorty seemed to bristle with weapons. + +At the rear of the room was another group of men. They stood motionless, +silent, and had no weapons in their hands. But some of them were +crouching, their faces grim and set. + +And then Ruth heard Shorty's voice--hoarse, raucous with passion: + +"You guys that don't belong to Slade's gang, get out! Fan it! You Slade +men stand! I know every damned one of you!" + +There was a short silence, during which several men slipped away from +the group at the rear of the room and bolted for the rear door. And +then, suddenly, as Shorty muttered words that Ruth did not hear, both +groups of men leaped into action. + +Ruth saw the men in the group at the rear reach, concertedly, for their +weapons; she saw smoke streaks stabbing the heavy atmosphere of the big +room; heard the roar and crash of pistols; saw men falling, to land in +grotesque positions; saw Shorty, huge and terrible amid the billowing +smoke, shoot a man who tried to leap over the bar, so that he fell +across it limply, as though sleeping. She observed another man--one of +Slade's--dodge behind a card table, rest his pistol for an instant on +its top, and shoot at Shorty. She saw Shorty snap a shot at the man, saw +the man's head wobble as he sank behind the table. And then she was +suddenly aware that it was ended. A ghastly silence fell. Through the +heavy smoke she saw Shorty, standing where he had stood all along--near +the cluster of lights just inside the front door. It seemed to her that +the room was full of motionless figures of men, strewing the floor. + +She was sick and weak, but she knew she must get out into the air or she +would faint; and so she began to descend the stairs, holding to the +slender railing for support. + +She got down without anyone seeing her. No one seemed to pay any +attention to her. As she reached a side door--opening into the space +from which the outside stairs ran--she looked back, to see Shorty and a +number of Circle L men clustered around Blackburn--who was sitting in a +chair, looking very white. + +She got out into the open and ran toward the street, hardly knowing +what she intended to do. Whatever happened, she did not want to stay +longer in the Wolf. She had a feeling that if she could find Moreton she +would be safe until Shorty and the Circle L men completed the grim work +upon which they were engaged. For she knew that the Circle L men had +sworn to square their account with the outlaws--and, knowing the +circumstances of the fight on the plains the previous spring, she could +not blame them for what they had done. + +And yet she wanted to get away from the scene--anywhere. + +She halted in front of the Wolf, and saw a number of men on the +street--and others running toward the building. She moved down the +street toward the station, and as she passed a group of men she saw a +man running toward her, shouting loudly: + +"Lawler's here! What in hell is comin' off? Lawler just got off a +special train! He looks like he looked that day he rode into town +lookin' for Gary Warden!" + +Far down the street Ruth saw him coming. He was running, and she leaped +to meet him, unaware that Shorty and the other Circle L men had emerged +from the front door of the Wolf and were listening to the man who had +brought the news of Lawler's arrival. + +She was aware of nothing but the fact that Lawler was coming. And when, +running toward him, she saw him stop dead short, she cried aloud with +joy: + +"O Kane! Kane!" + +And then his big arms went around her, and she nestled close to him, +shuddering, sobbing, laughing. + +Excitedly, rapidly, as he held her, she related the story of the night's +adventure. Then Shorty and the others came up. She and Lawler were +standing in front of a store, in a glare of light that came through a +big window; and she saw his lips straighten when she told him what Slade +had done. + +"Shorty," he said, grimly; "take care of her." + +And then, despite her struggles--for she knew that he was going to seek +Warden--she found herself a captive in the giant's arms, while Lawler +ran down the street toward Warden's office. + + + + +CHAPTER XLII + +GOING EAST + + +Within fifteen minutes after he had left Ruth Hamlin with Slade at the +side door of the Wolf, Warden had sent a telegram to Lawler, at the +capital, informing him that the girl might be found at the brothel with +the outlaw. He had signed no name to the telegram, but that did not +lessen the venomous satisfaction he felt over sending it. + +It had been nearly eleven o'clock when Warden sent the wire and allowing +for some minutes of waste time before the message could be delivered, +and the space of time that must elapse before Lawler could reach +Willets--even if he came on a special train--he knew that Lawler could +not arrive before the early hours of the morning. + +Lawler, Warden knew, would be in a killing mood when he reached Willets. +And he knew, also, that Slade would be waiting for Lawler, and that he +would kill Lawler on sight. + +Slade would have to kill Lawler, for Lawler, as governor, had the power +to be revenged upon the outlaw for the abduction of Ruth; and Slade +would know that Lawler would use that power to the limit. If Slade +killed Lawler, that would be another matter. The outlaw would have to +hide, to evade the clutches of the law. But hiding was not more than +Slade had been accustomed to for years, and that necessity would work +no hardship upon him. + +That was Warden's reasoning. Perhaps it was faulty, for it hinged upon +the vagaries of a wanton character who could not be depended upon. But +Warden had to take that chance. + +And Warden's reasoning, of late, had been influenced by his passionate +hatred of Lawler. That hatred had warped his judgment until he had +become a creature guided by the savage impulses that filled his brain. + +When he left Slade and Ruth at the door of the Wolf, he went directly to +his office, taking Singleton with him. He lit a kerosene lamp, built a +fire in the small stove that stood in a corner; seated himself in a +chair, motioned Singleton to another, lit a cigar and smoked--his eyes +gleaming with the vindictive joy he felt. + +However, the cigar in his mouth was not half smoked, when from a +distance, on the steady west wind, was borne to his ears the faint, +wailing shriek of a locomotive whistle. + +The cigar drooped from his lips and he looked swiftly at Singleton. +Singleton had heard the sound, too, for his eyes had narrowed and his +attitude had become tense. + +That both men had the same thought was evidenced by the glance they +exchanged--incipient apprehension. + +"It's a freight, likely," muttered Singleton. + +Warden took a nervous puff at his cigar. Then he got up, walked to a +window and stood, looking out into the night. He stood there for a few +minutes, Singleton watching him--until the whistle shrieked again and a +muffled roar reached their ears. Then Warden turned, his face ashen. + +"Singleton, it's a special!" he said, jerkily; "an engine and one car!" + +Singleton got up and walked to the window, beside Warden. As they stood +there, they saw the train stop at the station. They saw, in the dim +light from the coach, the figure of a tall man alight and dart across +the platform, to vanish in the shadow of the station. Simultaneously, +there came to their ears the staccato reports of pistols, the sounds +rendered faint and muffled by distance. + +Singleton flashed around, his face pale and his eyes bulging. + +"It's Lawler! I'd know him among a million! An' somethin's happened at +the Wolf. That's where the shootin' is! Warden," he said, nervously; "it +looks like there's goin' to be hell to pay!" + +Warden's face was ashen, but he laughed. + +"Don't worry, Singleton; Slade will take care of Lawler," he said. But +the words carried no conviction with them--they had been uttered without +expression. + +Warden walked to the door and gazed down the dimly lighted stairway. +There was suppressed excitement in his manner, nervous anxiety in his +eyes. He walked back into the room, threw his cigar into a cuspidor, and +stood with his back to the stove, listening. + +Singleton said nothing; though his lips had settled into a pout and his +eyes had a sullen, malignant expression. He, too, was wishing--what +Warden was wishing--that Slade would kill Lawler. The death of Lawler +would make the future safe for both of them; it would remove a menace to +their lives and a barrier to their schemes for the autocratic control of +the cattle industry. + +But they doubted. Deep in their hearts lurked a fear that something had +gone wrong--which thought was suggested by the sounds of the shooting +they had heard. + +Singleton had become afflicted with the nervousness that had seized +Warden. The pout on his lips grew; he cast startled, inquiring glances +toward the door. And at last, as they stood silent, looking at each +other, there came a sound--close; the sound of a man walking in the +street. As they listened the sound came closer, reached the front of the +building. Then they heard it on the stairs. Warden stiffened, and +Singleton drew his gun. An instant later the door crashed inward, and +Lawler stood in the opening, his eyes flaming with the cold wrath that +had been in them on the day when, after he had killed Antrim, he had +come to Warden's office for a like purpose. + +There was no word spoken. Lawler saw the gun in Singleton's hand. He +leaped quickly to one side as Singleton pulled the trigger--the smoke +streak touching his clothing as he moved. He leaped again as Singleton +shot at him a second time. This time he was so close to Singleton that +the powder burned his face. And before Singleton could shoot again +Lawler struck--with the precision and force that he had put into his +blows that day in the schoolhouse. + +Singleton reeled headlong across the room, bringing up against the +farther wall, striking it with his head and tumbling to the floor beside +it. + +Then, his lips set stiffly, his eyes flaming with a fire that brought +terror into Warden's heart, he faced the other. + +"Now, damn you; I'll teach you to make war on women!" He leaped forward, +striking at Warden with terrific energy. + + * * * * * + +Still struggling in Shorty's arms, Ruth heard Singleton's shots. She +broke away from Shorty, noting with dull astonishment that Shorty seemed +almost to have permitted it, and ran down the street toward Warden's +office. As she ran she heard a tumult behind her, and steps close beside +her. She glanced swiftly over her shoulder, to see Shorty beside her. +The giant was taking steps that dwarfed hers, and while she looked at +him he drew past her. She heard him muttering as he passed--caught his +words: + +"Lawler ain't got no gun--I seen that!" + +She ran faster than ever at that, and when Shorty reached the foot of +the stairs leading to Warden's office she was at his heels. + +There were other men behind her--a multitude. She felt them pressing +close behind her as she ran up the stairs. But she did not look back, +for she heard sounds of a conflict in Warden's office--the thud and jar +of blows, the crashing of furniture overturned and smashed; the +scuffling of feet on the floors--and screams of rage--in Warden's +voice. + +When she reached the top of the stairs and looked into the room between +Shorty's shoulder and the door jamb, she screamed with apprehension. For +she saw Singleton, with blood dripping from a huge gash in his cheek, in +the act of picking up a pistol that, evidently, had fallen on the floor +during the fight that must have raged in the room. + +Singleton's face was hideous with rage. It was evident that he did not +see Shorty and herself at the door--and that he had not heard the +tramping of the many feet on the stairs. He was apparently oblivious to +everything but the fact that the pistol was there and that he had an +opportunity to use it. + +Ruth saw Warden and Lawler fighting in a corner. Warden's back was +against the wall, near the stove. He was facing the door. His lips were +lacerated, drooling blood, his eyes were puffed and blackened, and he +was screaming and cursing insanely. + +As Ruth watched, her gaze taking in the wreck of the room--and Singleton +picking up the pistol--she saw Lawler strike Warden--a full sweeping +blow that sent forth a sodden deadening sound as it landed. + +Warden sagged, his eyes closing as he slid to the floor and sat in the +corner his legs doubled under him, his chin on his chest. + +The scene had held only for an instant--merely while Ruth screamed. The +sound had hardly died away when Singleton succeeded in grasping the +pistol. Ruth tried to squeeze past Shorty, to prevent the tragedy that +seemed imminent. But Shorty's quick, flashing motion checked her--made +interference by her unnecessary. There was a flash at Shorty's side, +and the crash of his pistol rocked the air in the room and the hallway. +Singleton straightened, turned slowly, looked full at Shorty. Then +without uttering a sound he pitched forward, almost at Lawler's feet. + +The roar of the pistol brought Lawler around so that he faced the door. +He saw Shorty and Ruth and the others behind them, but gave no sign. His +rage had left him; he seemed coldly deliberate. The only sign of passion +about him was in his eyes. They were narrowed, and pin points of fire +appeared to flame in them. As though there were no witnesses to what he +was doing, he stooped, lifted Warden and threw him over his shoulder. +The crowd gave way before him as he started for the stairs--even Ruth +and Shorty stepping aside to let him pass. They watched him wonderingly +as he carried his burden down the stairs and out into the street. And +then as he walked they followed him. + +He went straight across the street, past some low buildings, and over a +vacant stretch between the buildings and the station. The crowd followed +him--Ruth and Shorty closely, silently watching. + +The special train in which he had come was still standing beside the +station platform, the engine panting as though from its long run +eastward. Ruth noted that the train crew was on the platform near the +engine, interestedly watching the approach of Lawler carrying his +burden. + +Lawler walked to the rear end of the coach and threw Warden bodily upon +it. Then he turned and motioned toward the conductor. The latter +approached him warily, seeming doubtful of what might be in store for +him from a man, who though governor--thus carried the body of a man on +his shoulder. But he listened respectfully when he observed the clear +sanity of Lawler's eyes. + +"This man is leaving Willets--immediately!" said Lawler. "He's going +East, to the end of this line--at my expense. When he regains +consciousness you will tell him what I have said." + +"It's Warden, ain't it?" grinned the conductor. "Well, I'll be glad to +take him. But I'll have to wire for orders. This guy ain't a _bona fide_ +passenger." + +He strode to the telegraphers window. There was a short wait; and during +the interval Warden stirred and sat up, swaying from side to side and +staring about him in bewilderment. Lawler stepped forward, leaned over +the platform. + +"Warden," he said; "you are going East. You are not coming back. If you +ever step a foot into this state again I will send you to prison for a +term that will make you wish you were dead. I have a signed confession +from Link and Givens that convicts you of a crime for which this state +provides an adequate penalty. Do you understand?" + +Warden nodded, wearily, and dropped his chin to his chest. After an +interval, during which the crowd watched him intently, he staggered to +his feet and reeled into the coach, and the crowd saw him no more. An +instant later the conductor went toward the coach, grinning, signaling +the engineer. + +A low cheer rose from the crowd as the train started, and a man far back +toward the station shouted, loudly: + +"If they hadn't been in such a damned hurry, we'd have raised a +collection to send him to hell!" + +A little later Lawler and Ruth and Shorty formed the van of the crowd +that walked down the street toward the Wolf--where the Circle L men had +left their horses. Ruth walked between Lawler and Shorty. Ruth was very +pale, and her lips were trembling. In front of the Willets Hotel--in the +flood of light that came through the windows, she clutched at Lawler's +sleeve. + +"Hurry, Kane," she begged; "they have killed daddy!" + +"Don't you believe it, Miss Ruth," said Shorty, softly, into her ear. +"When I left Joe Hamlin he was a whole lot alive--an' gettin' more alive +right along. I left Andy Miller with him--an' Andy's got more sabe of +medicine than any doctor in these parts!" + +"Shorty!" she breathed, springing around in front of him and catching +him by the shoulders--standing on tip-toe to do it. "_Shorty_, you don't +mean it?" + +Shorty laughed lowly. "I'm reckonin' to mean it, Miss Ruth." + +"But how," she questioned, her hands still on his shoulders, her eyes +wide and questioning; "how did you happen to go to the Two Bar?" + +"Well, you see, Miss Ruth," laughed the giant--while the crowd which had +followed them stood off at a little distance and watched--"it was like +this. Me an' the boys--an' your dad--had been tryin' for a long time to +ketch Singleton runnin' an iron on the Circle L cattle. Your dad an' me +had run a bunch into that gully near the Two Bar, an' tonight me an' the +boys was waitin' in the gully for your dad to bring Singleton there. +Your dad had been brandin' stolen stock--at my orders--an' tonight he +was goin' to refuse--makin' Singleton do it. For Singleton was really +doin' the rustlin'. An' your dad----" + +"Was doing it all for you? Is that what you mean, Shorty?" + +"Why, I reckon, Miss Ruth. You see----" + +Ruth had to leap upward to do it. But somehow the height was achieved. +Two arms went around Shorty's neck and Ruth's lips were pressed against +his with a resounding smack. + +"O Shorty!" she exclaimed as she hugged him tightly, after kissing him; +"I just _love_ you!" + +Shorty blushed furiously. As soon as Ruth released him he grinned with +embarrassment and walked with giant strides down the street to where he +and his men had left the horses, the laughter and jibes of his fellows +following him. + + + + +CHAPTER XLIII + +THE MAJESTY OF PEACE + + +As upon another day that was vivid in his memory, Governor Lawler sat at +his desk in his office in the capitol building. A big, keen-eyed man of +imposing appearance was sitting at a little distance from Lawler, +watching him. The big man was talking, but the governor seemed to be +looking past him--at the bare trees that dotted the spacious grounds +around the building. His gaze seemed to follow the low stone fence with +its massive posts that seemed to hint of the majesty of the government +Lawler served; it appeared that he was studying the bleak landscape, and +that he was not interested in what the big man was saying. + +But Lawler was not interested in the landscape. For many minutes, while +listening to the big man--and answering him occasionally--he had been +watching for a trim little figure that he knew would presently appear on +one of the white walks leading to the great, wide steps that led to the +entrance to the building. For he had heard the long-drawn plaint of a +locomotive whistle some minutes before; he had seen the train itself +come gliding over the mammoth plains that stretched eastward from the +capitol; and he knew that Ruth would be on the train. + +"The proposed bill is iniquitous," said the big man. "It is more than +that, Governor Lawler; it is discrimination without justification. We +really have made unusual efforts to provide cars for the shipment of +cattle. The bill you propose will conflict directly with the regulations +of Federal Interstate Commerce. It will be unconstitutional." + +"We'll risk it," smiled Lawler. "The attorney-general is certain of the +constitutionality of the bill." + +"We'll never obey its provisions!" declared the big man, with some +warmth. + +Lawler looked at the other with a level gaze. "This is a cattle-raising +state," he said. "The interests of the state's citizens are sacred to +me. I intend to safeguard them. You run your railroad and I will run the +state. Previous railroad commissioners have permitted the railroad +companies to do largely as they pleased. We are going to have some +regulation--regulation that will regulate. + +"The proposed bill may seem drastic to you," he added as he leaned +forward the better to look out of the window he had looked out of +before--to see the trim little figure he had expected coming up one of +the white walks; "but if you fight it, we shall introduce others. The +people of this state are pretty well worked up, and are demanding +legislation that will curb the power of the railroads--that will make +impossible a situation such as existed under the regime of my +predecessor. What would you say to a law that would compel you to +construct grade crossings at every street intersection along the +right-of-way in every city and town in the state through which your +railroad passes?" + +The big man's color fled; he stared at Lawler. + +"Also," went on Lawler; "there is an insistent demand for +electrification of railroads, especially from city governments. Then, +too, there is some agitation regarding rates--both freight and +passenger. But I want to be fair--to go at these improvements gradually. +Still, if your company insists on fighting the bill which is now +pending--" He paused and looked at the big man. + +The latter got up, smiling faintly. + +"All right, Governor; we'll be good. I never really favored that +deal--which almost set the state afire--and made you governor. But my +directors----" + +"They'll be sensible, now, I hope?" + +The big man grimaced. "They'll have to be sensible." He extended a hand, +and Lawler took it. + +The big man went out. As the door closed behind him Lawler got up and +walked to it, standing there, expectantly. The door suddenly opened and +Ruth stood in the opening. + +It was her first visit to the office, and the atmosphere of solemn +dignity almost awed her. + +After a little, when she had seated herself in the governor's chair, +from where she looked gayly at the big, smiling man who watched her, she +got up and Lawler led her to one of the great windows. + +"Father is much better, Kane," she said. "In another week he will be +able to ride. Your mother sent you her love, and Shorty told me to tell +you to take care of yourself. Kane, Shorty actually loves you!" + +"Shorty is a man, Ruth." + +"Oh, he is wonderful!" And then, with a direct look at him, she added: + +"Della Wharton has gone East, Kane." + +Lawler's eyes narrowed; he was silent. + +Ruth's voice was tremulous with happiness as she stood close to the man +she had come to marry on the morrow, in the big house which was awaiting +both of them--the governor's mansion. "Kane," she said; "I used to dream +of this day--tomorrow, I mean; but I never thought it would be like +this--so terribly, solemnly happy." + +Lawler drew her closer to him--and nearer the window. "I wonder if you +know how lonesome I used to feel as I sat at my desk, there, trying to +look out over that great waste of world, stretching between us?" + +"I know," she said, lowly; "I used to feel the same way. There was a +time--right after you went away to begin your campaign, when it seemed +to me that: you had gone to the farthest limits of the earth." + +"And now?" he asked, smiling. And when she did not answer, he added; +"the world seems to have become very small." + +"It is a wonderful world, Kane," she said solemnly. + +For a time both were silent, gazing out of the window. In the foreground +were the bare trees of the capitol grounds; the white, curving walks, +the low stone fence with its massive posts; the broad streets of the +city animated by traffic; the roofs of buildings. But straight down a +street that intersected the broad thoroughfare skirting the capitol +grounds on the east, they could look beyond the limits of the city at +the mighty level country that stretched into the yawning gulf of +distance--toward Willets; straight to the section of world which had +been the scene of the conflict that had tried them sorely. + +It was a bleak picture; the plains dead and drear, barren of verdure--a +dull, drab expanse of waste world with no life or movement in it, +stretching below gray, cold clouds. + +But while they watched, a rift appeared in the clouds. It grew, +expanded, and a shaft of sunlight pierced it, shimmering, +glowing--touching the waste of world with a brilliance that thrilled +them. + +It was evident that Ruth seemed to feel that the glimmering shaft was a +promise of happiness to come, for when Lawler turned, her eyes were +shining with a light that caused his own to deepen with sympathy and +understanding. + + + + * * * * * + + + +Transcriber's note: On page 275, "foolishing" changed to "foolishly". + (looking foolishly at Shorty) + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE TRAIL HORDE*** + + +******* This file should be named 17477.txt or 17477.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/7/4/7/17477 + + + +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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