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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/19012.txt b/19012.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..ee4a6d0 --- /dev/null +++ b/19012.txt @@ -0,0 +1,7114 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Two-Gun Man, by Charles Alden Seltzer + +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 Two-Gun Man + +Author: Charles Alden Seltzer + +Release Date: August 9, 2006 [EBook #19012] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE TWO-GUN MAN *** + + + + +Produced by Al Haines + + + + + +THE TWO-GUN MAN + + +BY CHARLES ALDEN SELTZER + + + + +Author of "The Range Riders," "The Coming of the Law," etc. + + + + + +A. L. BURT COMPANY + +PUBLISHERS -------- NEW YORK + + + + +COPYRIGHT, 1911, BY + +OUTING PUBLISHING COMPANY + + +ENTERED AT STATIONERS' HALL, LONDON, ENGLAND + + +All rights reserved + + + + +CONTENTS + + +CHAPTER + + I. THE STRANGER AT DRY BOTTOM + II. THE STRANGER SHOOTS + III. THE CABIN IN THE FLAT + IV. A "DIFFERENT GIRL" + V. THE MAN OF DRY BOTTOM + VI. AT THE TWO DIAMOND + VII. THE MEASURE OF A MAN + VIII. THE FINDING OF THE ORPHAN + IX. WOULD YOU BE A "CHARACTER"? + X. DISAPPEARANCE OF THE ORPHAN + XI. A TOUCH OF LOCAL COLOR + XII. THE STORY BEGINS + XIII. "DO YOU SMOKE?" + XIV. ON THE EDGE OF THE PLATEAU + XV. A FREE HAND + XVI. LEVIATT TAKES A STEP + XVII. A BREAK IN THE STORY + XVIII. THE DIM TRAIL + XIX. THE SHOT IN THE DARK + XX. LOVE AND A RIFLE + XXI. THE PROMISE + XXII. KEEPING A PROMISE + XXIII. AT THE EDGE OF THE COTTONWOOD + XXIV. THE END OF THE STORY + + + + +THE TWO-GUN MAN + + +CHAPTER I + +THE STRANGER AT DRY BOTTOM + +From the crest of Three Mile Slope the man on the pony could see the +town of Dry Bottom straggling across the gray floor of the flat, its +low, squat buildings looking like so many old boxes blown there by an +idle wind, or unceremoniously dumped there by a careless fate and left, +regardless, to carry out the scheme of desolation. + +Apparently the rider was in no hurry, for, as the pony topped the rise +and the town burst suddenly into view, the little animal pricked up its +ears and quickened its pace, only to feel the reins suddenly tighten +and to hear the rider's voice gruffly discouraging haste. Therefore, +the pony pranced gingerly, alert, champing the bit impatiently, picking +its way over the lumpy hills of stone and cactus, but holding closely +to the trail. + +The man lounged in the saddle, his strong, well-knit body swaying +gracefully, his eyes, shaded by the brim of his hat, narrowed with +slight mockery and interest as he gazed steadily at the town that lay +before him. + +"I reckon that must be Dry Bottom," he said finally, mentally taking in +its dimensions. "If that's so, I've only got twenty miles to go." + +Half way down the slope, and still a mile and a half from the town, the +rider drew the pony to a halt. He dropped the reins over the high +pommel of the saddle, drew out his two guns, one after the other, +rolled the cylinders, and returned the guns to their holsters. He had +heard something of Dry Bottom's reputation and in examining his pistols +he was merely preparing himself for an emergency. For a moment after +he had replaced the weapons he sat quietly in the saddle. Then he +shook out the reins, spoke to the pony, and the little animal set +forward at a slow lope. + +An ironic traveler, passing through Dry Bottom in its younger days, +before civic spirit had definitely centered its efforts upon things +nomenclatural, had hinted that the town should be known as "dry" +because of the fact that while it boasted seven buildings, four were +saloons; and that "bottom" might well be used as a suffix, because, in +the nature of things, a town of seven buildings, four of which were +saloons, might reasonably expect to descend to the very depths of moral +iniquity. + +The ironic traveler had spoken with prophetic wisdom. Dry Bottom was +trying as best it knew how to wallow in the depths of sin. Unlovely, +soiled, desolate of verdure, dumped down upon a flat of sand in a +treeless waste, amid cactus, crabbed yucca, scorpions, horned toads, +and rattlesnakes. Dry Bottom had forgotten its morals, subverted its +principles, and neglected its God. + +As the rider approached to within a few hundred yards of the edge of +town he became aware of a sudden commotion. He reined in his pony, +allowing it to advance at a walk, while with alert eyes he endeavored +to search out the cause of the excitement. He did not have long to +watch for the explanation. + +A man had stepped out of the door of one of the saloons, slowly walking +twenty feet away from it toward the center of the street. Immediately +other men had followed. But these came only to a point just outside +the door. For some reason which was not apparent to the rider, they +were giving the first man plenty of room. + +The rider was now able to distinguish the faces of the men in the +group, and he gazed with interested eyes at the man who had first +issued from the door of the saloon. + +The man was tall--nearly as tall as the rider--and in his every +movement seemed sure of himself. He was young, seemingly about +thirty-five, with shifty, insolent eyes and a hard mouth whose lips +were just now curved into a self-conscious smile. + +The rider had now approached to within fifty feet of the man, halting +his pony at the extreme end of the hitching rail that skirted the front +of the saloon. He sat carelessly in the saddle, his gaze fixed on the +man. + +The men who had followed the first man out, to the number of a dozen, +were apparently deeply interested, though plainly skeptical. A short, +fat man, who was standing near the saloon door, looked on with a +half-sneer. Several others were smiling blandly. A tall man on the +extreme edge of the crowd, near the rider, was watching the man in the +street gravely. Other men had allowed various expressions to creep +into their faces. But all were silent. + +Not so the man in the street. Plainly, here was conceit personified, +and yet a conceit mingled with a maddening insolence. His expression +told all that this thing which he was about to do was worthy of the +closest attention. He was the axis upon which the interest of the +universe revolved. + +Certainly he knew of the attention he was attracting. Men were +approaching from the other end of the street, joining the group in +front of the saloon--which the rider now noticed was called the "Silver +Dollar." The newcomers were inquisitive; they spoke in low tones to +the men who had arrived before them, gravely inquiring the cause. + +But the man in the street seemed not disturbed by his rapidly swelling +audience. He stood in the place he had selected, his insolent eyes +roving over the assembled company, his thin, expressive lips opening a +very little to allow words to filter through them. + +"Gents," he said, "you're goin' to see some shootin'! I told you in +the Silver Dollar that I could keep a can in the air while I put five +holes in it. There's some of you gassed about bein' showed, not +believin'. An' now I'm goin' to show you!" + +He reached down and took up a can that had lain at his feet, removing +the red lithographed label, which had a picture of a large tomato in +the center of it. The can was revealed, naked and shining in the white +sunlight. The man placed the can in his left hand and drew his pistol +with the right. + +Then he tossed the can into the air. While it still rose his weapon +exploded, the can shook spasmodically and turned clear over. Then in +rapid succession followed four other explosions, the last occurring +just before the can reached the ground. The man smiled, still holding +the smoking weapon in his hand. + +The tall man on the extreme edge of the group now stepped forward and +examined the can, while several other men crowded about to look. There +were exclamations of surprise. It was curious to see how quickly +enthusiasm and awe succeeded skepticism. + +"He's done it, boys!" cried the tall man, holding the can aloft. +"Bored it in five places!" He stood erect, facing the crowd. "I +reckon that's some shootin'!" He now threw a glance of challenge and +defiance about him. "I've got a hundred dollars to say that there +ain't another man in this here town can do it!" + +Several men tried, but none equaled the first man's performance. Many +of the men could not hit the can at all. The first man watched their +efforts, sneers twitching his lips as man after man failed. + +Presently all had tried. Watching closely, the rider caught an +expression of slight disappointment on the tall man's face. The rider +was the only man who had not yet tried his skill with the pistol, and +the man in the street now looked up at him, his eyes glittering with an +insolent challenge. As it happened, the rider glanced at the shooter +at the instant the latter had turned to look up at him. Their eyes met +fairly, the shooter's conveying a silent taunt. The rider smiled, +slight mockery glinting his eyes. + +Apparently the stranger did not care to try his skill. He still sat +lazily in the saddle, his gaze wandering languidly over the crowd. The +latter plainly expected him to take part in the shooting match and was +impatient over his inaction. + +"Two-gun," sneered a man who stood near the saloon door. "I wonder +what he totes them two guns for?" + +The shooter heard and turned toward the man who had spoken, his lips +wreathed satirically. + +"I reckon he wouldn't shoot nothin' with them," he said, addressing the +man who had spoken. + +Several men laughed. The tall man who had revealed interest before now +raised a hand, checking further comment. + +"That offer of a hundred to the man who can beat that shootin' still +goes," he declared. "An' I'm taking off the condition. The man that +tries don't have to belong to Dry Bottom. No stranger is barred!" + +The stranger's glance again met the shooter's. The latter grinned +felinely. Then the rider spoke. The crowd gave him its polite +attention. + +"I reckon you-all think you've seen some shootin'," he said in a +steady, even voice, singularly free from boast. "But I reckon you +ain't seen any real shootin'." He turned to the tall, grave-faced man. +"I ain't got no hundred," he said, "but I'm goin' to show you." + +He still sat in the saddle. But now with an easy motion he swung down +and hitched his pony to the rail. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE STRANGER SHOOTS + +The stranger seemed taller on the ground than in the saddle and an +admirable breadth of shoulder and slenderness of waist told eloquently +of strength. He could not have been over twenty-five or six. Yet +certain hard lines about his mouth, the glint of mockery in his eyes, +the pronounced forward thrust of the chin, the indefinable force that +seemed to radiate from him, told the casual observer that here was a +man who must be approached with care. + +But apparently the shooter saw no such signs. In the first glance that +had been exchanged between the two men there had been a lack of +ordinary cordiality. And now, as the rider slid down from his pony and +advanced toward the center of the street, the shooter's lips curled. +Writhing through them came slow-spoken words. + +"You runnin' sheep, stranger?" + +The rider's lips smiled, but his eyes were steady and cold. In them +shone a flash of cold humor. He stood, quietly contemplating his +insulter. + +Smiles appeared on the faces of several of the onlookers. The tall man +with the grave face watched with a critical eye. The insult had been +deliberate, and many men crouched, plainly expecting a serious outcome. +But the stranger made no move toward his guns, and when he answered he +might have been talking about the weather, so casual was his tone. + +"I reckon you think you're a plum man," he said quietly. "But if you +are, you ain't showed it much--buttin' in with that there wise +observation. An' there's some men who think that shootin' at a man is +more excitin' than shootin' at a can." + +There was a grim quality in his voice now. He leaned forward slightly, +his eyes cold and alert. The shooter sneered experimentally. Again +the audience smiled. + +But the tall man now stepped forward. "You've made your play, +stranger," he said quietly. "I reckon it's up to you to make good." + +"Correct," agreed the stranger. "I'm goin' to show you some real +shootin'. You got another can?" + +Some one dived into the Silver Dollar and returned in a flash with +another tomato can. This the stranger took, removing the label, as the +shooter had done. Then, smiling, he took a position in the center of +the street, the can in his right hand. + +He did not draw his weapon as the shooter had done, but stood loosely +in his place, his right hand still grasping the can, the left swinging +idly by his side. Apparently he did not mean to shoot. Sneers reached +the faces of several men in the crowd. The shooter growled, +"Fourflush." + +There was a flash as the can rose twenty feet in the air, propelled by +the right hand of the stranger. As the can reached the apex of its +climb the stranger's right hand descended and grasped the butt of the +weapon at his right hip. There was a flash as the gun came out; a gasp +of astonishment from the watchers. The can was arrested in the first +foot of its descent by the shock of the first bullet striking it. It +jumped up and out and again began its interrupted fall, only to stop +dead still in the air as another bullet struck it. There was an +infinitesimal pause, and then twice more the can shivered and jumped. +No man in the crowd but could tell that the bullets were striking true. + +The can was still ten feet in the air and well out from the stranger. +The latter whipped his weapon to a level, the bullet striking the can +and driving it twenty feet from him. Then it dropped. But when it was +within five feet of the ground the stranger's gun spoke again. The can +leaped, careened sideways, and fell, shattered, to the street, thirty +feet distant from the stranger. + +Several men sprang forward to examine it. + +"Six times!" ejaculated the tall man in an awed tone. "An' he didn't +pull his gun till he'd throwed the can!" + +He approached the stranger, drawing him confidentially aside. The +crowd slowly dispersed, loudly proclaiming the stranger's ability with +the six-shooter. The latter took his honors lightly, the mocking smile +again on his face. + +"I'm lookin' for a man who can shoot," said the tall man, when the last +man of the crowd had disappeared into the saloon. + +The stranger smiled. "I reckon you've just seen some shootin'," he +returned. + +The tall man smiled mirthlessly. "You particular about what you shoot +at?" he inquired. + +The stranger's lips straightened coldly. "I used to have that habit," +he returned evenly. + +"Hard luck?" queried the tall man. + +"I'm rollin' in wealth," stated the stranger, with an ironic sneer. + +The tall man's eyes glittered. "Where you from?" he questioned. + +"You c'n have three guesses," returned the stranger, his eyes narrowing +with the mockery that the tall man had seen in them before. + +The tall man adopted a placative tone. "I ain't wantin' to butt into +your business," he said. "I was wantin' to find out if any one around +here knowed you." + +"This town didn't send any reception committee to meet me, did they?" +smiled the stranger. + +"Correct," said the tall man. He leaned closer. "You willin' to work +your guns for me for a hundred a month?" + +The stranger looked steadily into the tall man's eyes. + +"You've been right handy askin' questions," he said. "Mebbe you'll +answer some. What's your name?" + +"Stafford," returned the tall man. "I'm managin' the Two Diamond, over +on the Ute." + +The stranger's eyelashes flickered slightly. His eyes narrowed +quizzically. "What you wantin' of a gun-man?" he asked. + +"Rustler," returned the other shortly. + +The stranger smiled. "Figger on shootin' him?" he questioned. + +Stafford hesitated. "Well, no," he returned. "That is, not until I'm +sure I've got the right one." He seized the stranger's arm in a +confidential grip. "You see," he explained, "I don't know just where +I'm at. There's been a rustler workin' on the herd, an' I ain't been +able to get close enough to find out who it is. But rustlin' has got +to be stopped. I've sent over to Raton to get a man named Ned +Ferguson, who's been workin' for Sid Tucker, of the Lazy J. Tucker +wrote me quite a while back, tellin' me that this man was plum slick at +nosin' out rustlers. He was to come to the Two Diamond two weeks ago. +But he ain't showed up, an' I've about concluded that he ain't comin'. +An' so I come over to Dry Bottom to find a man." + +"You've found one," smiled the stranger. + +Stafford drew out a handful of double eagles and pressed them into the +other's hand. "I'm goin' over to the Two Diamond now," he said. +"You'd better wait a day or two, so's no one will get wise. Come right +to me, like you was wantin' a job." + +He started toward the hitching rail for his pony, hesitated and then +walked back. + +"I didn't get your name," he smiled. + +The stranger's eyes glittered humorously. "It's Ferguson," he said +quietly. + +Stafford's eyes widened with astonishment. Then his right hand went +out and grasped the other's. + +"Well, now," he said warmly, "that's what I call luck." + +Ferguson smiled. "Mebbe it's luck," he returned. "But before I go +over to work for you there's got to be an understandin'. I c'n shoot +some," he continued, looking steadily at Stafford, "but I ain't runnin' +around the country shootin' men without cause. I'm willin' to try an' +find your rustler for you, but I ain't shootin' him--unless he goes to +crowdin' me mighty close." + +"I'm agreein' to that," returned Stafford. + +He turned again, looking back over his shoulder. "You'll sure be +over?" he questioned. + +"I'll be there the day after to-morrow," stated Ferguson. + +He turned and went into the Silver Dollar. Stafford mounted his pony +and loped rapidly out of town. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +THE CABIN IN THE FLAT + +It was the day appointed by Ferguson for his presence at the Two +Diamond ranch, and he was going to keep his word. Three hours out of +Dry Bottom he had struck the Ute trail and was loping his pony through +a cottonwood that skirted the river. It was an enchanted country +through which he rode; a land of vast distances, of white sunlight, +blue skies, and clear, pure air. Mountains rose in the distances, +their snowcapped peaks showing above the clouds like bald rock spires +above the calm level of the sea. Over the mountains swam the sun, its +lower rim slowly disappearing behind the peaks, throwing off broad +white shafts of light that soon began to dim as vari-colors, rising in +a slumberous haze like a gauze veil, mingled with them. + +Ferguson's gaze wandered from the trail to the red buttes that fringed +the river. He knew this world; there was no novelty here for him. He +knew the lava beds, looming gray and dead beneath the foothills; he +knew the grotesque rock shapes that seemed to hint of a mysterious +past. Nature had not altered her face. On the broad levels were the +yellow tinted lines that told of the presence of soap-weed, the dark +lines that betrayed the mesquite, the saccatone belts that marked the +little guillies. Then there were the barrancas, the arid stretches +where the sage-brush and the cactus grew. Snaky octilla dotted the +space; the crabbed yucca had not lost its ugliness. + +Ferguson looked upon the world with unseeing eyes. He had lived here +long and the country had not changed. It would never change. Nothing +ever changed here but the people. + +But he himself had not changed. Twenty-seven years in this country was +a long time, for here life was not measured by age, but by experience. +Looking back over the years he could see that he was living to-day as +he had lived last year, as he had lived during the last decade--a hard +life, but having its compensations. + +His coming to the Two Diamond ranch was merely another of those +incidents that, during the past year, had broken the monotony of range +life for him. He had had some success in breaking up a band of cattle +thieves which had made existence miserable for Sid Tucker, his +employer, and the latter had recommended him to Stafford. The promise +of high wages had been attractive, and so he had come. He had not +expected to surprise any one. When during his conversation with the +tall man in Dry Bottom he had discovered that the latter was the man +for whom he was to work he had been surprised himself. But he had not +revealed his surprise. Experience and association with men who kept +their emotions pretty much to themselves had taught him the value of +repression when in the presence of others. + +But alone he allowed his emotions full play. There was no one to see, +no one to hear, and the silence and the distances, and the great, +swimming blue sky would not tell. + +Stafford's action in coming to Dry Bottom for a gunfighter had puzzled +him not a little. Apparently the Two Diamond manager was intent upon +the death of the rustler he had mentioned. He had been searching for a +man who could "shoot," he had said. Ferguson had interpreted this to +mean that he desired to employ a gunfighter who would not scruple to +kill any man he pointed out, whether innocent or guilty. He had had +some experience with unscrupulous ranch managers, and he had admired +them very little. Therefore, during the ride today, his lips had +curled sarcastically many times. + +Riding through a wide clearing in the cottonwood, he spoke a thought +that had troubled him not a little since he had entered Stafford's +employ. + +"Why," he said, as he rode along, sitting carelessly in the saddle, +"he's wantin' to make a gunfighter out of me. But I reckon I ain't +goin' to shoot no man unless I'm pretty sure he's gunnin' for me." His +lips curled ironically. "I wonder what the boys of the Lazy J would +think if they knowed that a guy was tryin' to make a gunfighter out of +their old straw boss. I reckon they'd think that guy was loco--or a +heap mistaken in his man. But I'm seein' this thing through. I ain't +ridin' a hundred miles just to take a look at the man who's hirin' me. +It'll be a change. An' when I go back to the Lazy J----" + +It was not the pony's fault. Neither was it Ferguson's. The pony was +experienced; behind his slant eyes was stored a world of horse-wisdom +that had pulled him and his rider through many tight places. And +Ferguson had ridden horses all his life; he would not have known what +to do without one. + +But the pony stumbled. The cause was a prairie-dog hole, concealed +under a clump of matted mesquite. Ferguson lunged forward, caught at +the saddle horn, missed it, and pitched head-foremost out of the +saddle, turning completely over and alighting upon his feet. He stood +erect for an instant, but the momentum had been too great. He went +down, and when he tried to rise a twinge of pain in his right ankle +brought a grimace to his face. He arose and hopped over to a flat +rock, near where his pony now stood grazing as though nothing had +happened. + +Drawing off his boot, Ferguson made a rapid examination of the ankle. +It was inflamed and painful, but not broken. He believed he could see +it swelling. He rubbed it, hoping to assuage the pain. The woolen +sock interfered with the rubbing, and he drew it off. + +For a few minutes he worked with the ankle, but to little purpose. He +finally became convinced that it was a bad sprain, and he looked up, +scowling. The pony turned an inquiring eye upon him, and he grinned, +suddenly smitten with the humor of the situation. + +"You ain't got no call to look so doggoned innocent about it," he said. +"If you'd been tendin' to your business, you wouldn't have stepped into +no damned gopher hole." + +The pony moved slowly away, and he looked whimsically after it, +remarking: "Mebbe if I'd been tendin' to my business it wouldn't have +happened, either." He spoke again to the pony. "I reckon you know +that too, Mustard. You're some wise." + +The animal was now at some little distance from the rock upon which he +was sitting. He arose, hobbling on one foot toward it, carrying the +discarded boot in his hand. He thought of riding with the foot bare. +At the Two Diamond he was sure to find some sort of liniment which, +with the help of a bandage, would materially assist nature in---- + +He was passing a filmy mesquite clump--the bare foot swinging wide. +There was a warning rattle; a sharp thrust of a flat, brown head. + +Ferguson halted in astonishment, almost knocked off his balance with +the suddenness of the attack. He still held the boot, his fingers +gripping it tightly. He raised it, with a purely involuntary motion, +as though to hurl it at his insidious enemy. But he did not. The arm +fell to his side, and his face slowly whitened. He stared dully and +uncomprehendingly at the sinuous shape that was slipping noiselessly +away through the matted grass. + +Somehow, he had never thought of being bitten by a rattler. He had +seen so many of them that he had come to look upon them only as targets +at which he might shoot when he thought he needed practice. And now he +was bitten. The unreality of the incident surprised him. He looked +around at the silent hills, at the sun that swam above the mountain +peaks, at the great, vast arc of sky that yawned above him. Hills, +sky, and sun seemed also unreal. It was as though he had been suddenly +thrust into a land of dreams. + +But presently the danger of the situation burst upon him, and he lived +once more in the reality. He looked down at his foot. A livid, +pin-point wound showed in the flesh beside the arch. A tiny stream of +blood was oozing from it. He forgot the pain of the sprained ankle and +stood upon both feet, his body suddenly rigid, his face red with a +sudden, consuming anger, shaking a tense fist at the disappearing +rattler. + +"You damned sneak!" he shouted shrilly. + +In the same instant he had drawn one of his heavy guns and swung it +over his head. Its crashing report brought a sudden swishing from +beneath the grass, and he hopped over closer and sent three more +bullets into the threshing brown body. He stood over it for a moment, +his teeth showing in a savage snarl. + +"You won't bite any one else, damn you!" he shouted. + +The impotence of this conduct struck him immediately. He flushed and +drooped his head, a grim smile slowly wearing down his expression of +panic. Seldom did he allow his emotions to reveal themselves so +plainly. But the swiftness of the rattler's attack, the surprise when +he had not been thinking of such a thing, the fact that he was far from +help and that his life was in danger--all had a damaging effect upon +his self-control. And yet the smile showed that he was still master of +himself. + +Very deliberately he returned to the rock upon which he had been +sitting, ripping off his coat and tearing away the sleeve of his +woollen shirt. Twisting the sleeve into the form of a rude rope, he +tied it loosely around his leg, just above the ankle. Then he thrust +his knife between the improvised rope and the leg, forming a crude +tourniquet. He twisted the knife until tears of pain formed in his +eyes. Then he fastened the knife by tucking the haft under the rope. +His movements had been very deliberate, but sure, and in a few minutes +he hobbled to his pony and swung into the saddle. + +He had seen men who had been bitten by rattlers--had seen them die. +And he knew that if he did not get help within half an hour there would +be little use of doing anything further. In half an hour the virus +would have so great a grip upon him that it would be practically +useless to apply any of the antidotes commonly known to the inhabitants +of the country. + +Inquiries that he had made at Dry Bottom had resulted in the discovery +that the Two Diamond ranch was nearly thirty miles from the town. If +he had averaged eight miles an hour he had covered about twenty-four +miles of the distance. That would still leave about six. And he could +not hope to ride those six miles in time to get any benefit from an +antidote. + +His lips straightened, he stared grimly at a ridge of somber hills that +fringed the skyline. They had told him back in Dry Bottom that the Two +Diamond ranch was somewhere in a big basin below those hills. + +"I reckon I won't get there, after all," he said, commenting aloud. + +Thereafter he rode grimly on, keeping a good grip upon himself--for he +had seen men bitten by rattlers who had lost their self-control--and +they had not been good to look upon. Much depended upon coolness; +somewhere he had heard that it was a mistake for a bitten man to exert +himself in the first few minutes following a bite; exertion caused the +virus to circulate more rapidly through the system. And so he rode at +an even pace, carefully avoiding the rough spots, though keeping as +closely to the trail as possible. + +"If it hadn't been a diamond-back--an' a five-foot one--this rope that +I've got around my leg might be enough to fool him," he said once, +aloud. "But I reckon he's got me." His eyes lighted savagely for an +instant. "But I got him, too. Had the nerve to think that he could +get away after throwin' his hooks into me." + +Presently his eyes caught the saffron light that glowed in the western +sky. He laughed with a grim humor. "I've heard tell that a snake +don't die till sundown--much as you hurt him. If that's so, an' I +don't get to where I c'n get some help, I reckon it'll be a stand off +between him an' me as to who's goin' first." + +A little later he drew Mustard to a halt, sitting very erect in the +saddle and fixing his gaze upon a tall cottonwood tree that rose near +the trail. His heart was racing madly, and in spite of his efforts, he +felt himself swaying from side to side. He had often seen a rattler +doing that--flat, ugly head raised above his coiled body, forked tongue +shooting out, his venomous eyes glittering, the head and the part of +the body rising above the coils swaying gracefully back and forth. +Yes, gracefully, for in spite of his hideous aspect, there was a +certain horrible ease of movement about a rattler--a slippery, sinuous +motion that partly revealed reserve strength, and hinted at +repressed energy. + +Many times, while watching them, he had been fascinated by their grace, +and now, sitting in the saddle, he caught himself wondering if the +influence of a bite were great enough to cause the person bitten to +imitate the snake. He laughed when this thought struck him and drove +his spurs sharply against Mustard's flanks, riding forward past the +cottonwood at which he had been staring. + +"Hell!" he ejaculated, as he passed the tree, "what a fool notion." + +But he could not banish the "notion" from his mind, and five minutes +later, when he tried again to sit steadily, he found the swaying more +pronounced. The saddle seemed to rock with him, and even by jamming +his uninjured foot tightly into the ox-bow stirrup he could not stop +swaying. + +"Mebbe I won't get very far," he said, realizing that the poison had +entered his system, and that presently it would riot in his veins, "but +I'm goin' on until I stop. I wouldn't want that damned rattler to know +that he'd made me quit so soon." + +He urged Mustard to a faster pace, even while realizing that speed was +hopeless. He could never reach the Two Diamond. Convinced of this, he +halted the pony again, swaying in the saddle and holding, for the first +time, to the pommel in an effort to steady himself. But he still +swayed. He laughed mockingly. + +"Now, what do you think of that?" he said, addressing the silence. +"You might think I was plum tenderfoot an' didn't know how to ride a +horse proper." + +He urged the pony onward again, and for some little time rode with +bowed head, trying to keep himself steady by watching the trail. He +rode through a little clearing, where the grass was matted and some +naked rocks reared aloft. Near a clump of sage-brush he saw a sudden +movement--a rattler trying to slip away unnoticed. But the snake slid +into Ferguson's vision and with a sneer of hate he drew one of his +weapons and whipped it over his head, its roar awakening echoes in the +wood. Twice, three times, the crashing report sounded. But the +rattler whisked away and disappeared into the grass--apparently +uninjured. + +For an instant Ferguson scowled. Then a grin of mockery reached his +flushed face. + +"I reckon I'm done," he said. "Can't even hit a rattler no more, an' +him a brother or sister of that other one." A delirious light flashed +suddenly in his eyes, and he seemed on the point of dismounting. "I'll +cert'nly smash you some!" he said, speaking to the snake--which he +could no longer see. "I ain't goin' to let no snake bite me an' get +away with it!" + +But he now smiled guiltily, embarrassment shining in his eyes. "I +reckon that wasn't the snake that bit you, Ferguson," he said. "The +one that bit you is back on the trail. He ain't goin' to die till +sundown. Not till sundown," he repeated mechanically, grimly; +"Ferguson ain't goin' to die till sundown." + +He rode on, giving no attention to the pony whatever, but letting the +reins fall and holding to the pommel of the saddle. His face was +burning now, his hands were twitching, and an unnatural gleam had come +into his eyes. + +"Ferguson got hooked by a rattler!" he suddenly exclaimed, hilarity in +his voice. "He run plum into that reptile; tried to walk on him with a +bare foot." The laugh was checked as suddenly as it had come, and a +grim quality entered his voice. "But Ferguson wasn't no tenderfoot--he +didn't scare none. He went right on, not sayin' anything. You see, he +was reckonin' to be man's size." + +He rode on a little way, and as he entered another clearing a rational +gleam came into his eyes. "I'm still a-goin' it," he muttered. + +A shadow darkened the trail; he heard Mustard whinny. He became aware +of a cabin in front of him; heard an exclamation; saw dimly the slight +figure of a woman, sitting on a small porch; as through a mist, he saw +her rise and approach him, standing on the edge of the porch, looking +at him. + +He smiled, bowing low to her over his pony's mane. + +"I shot him, ma'am," he said gravely, "but he ain't goin' to die till +sundown." + +As from some great distance a voice seemed to come to him. "Mercy!" it +said. "What is wrong? Who is shot?" + +"Why, the snake, ma'am," he returned thickly. He slid down from his +pony and staggered to the edge of the porch, leaning against one of the +slender posts and hanging dizzily on. "You see, ma'am, that damned +rattler got Ferguson. But Ferguson ain't reckonin' on dyin' till +sundown. He couldn't let no snake get the best of him." + +He saw the woman start toward him, felt her hands on his arms, helping +him upon the porch. Then he felt her hands on his shoulders, felt them +pressing him down. He felt dimly that there was a chair under him, and +he sank into it, leaning back and stretching himself out full length. +A figure flitted before him and presently there was a sharp pain in his +foot. He started out of the chair, and was abruptly shoved back into +it, Then the figure leaned over him, prying his jaws apart with some +metal like object and pouring something down his throat. He clicked as +he swallowed, vainly trying to brush away the object. + +"You're a hell of a snake," he said savagely. Then the world blurred +dizzily, and he drifted into oblivion. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +A "DIFFERENT GIRL" + +Ferguson had no means of knowing how long he was unconscious, but when +he awoke the sun had gone down and the darkening shadows had stolen +into the clearing near the cabin. He still sat in the chair on the +porch. He tried to lift his injured foot and found to his surprise +that some weight seemed to be on it. He struggled to an erect +position, looking down. His foot had been bandaged, and the weight +that he had thought was upon it was not a weight at all, but the hands +of a young woman. + +She sat on the porch floor, the injured foot in her lap, and she had +just finished bandaging it. Beside her on the porch floor was a small +black medicine case, a sponge, some yards of white cloth, and a tin +wash basin partly filled with water. + +He had a hazy recollection of the young woman; he knew it must have +been she that he had seen when he had ridden up to the porch. He also +had a slight remembrance of having spoken to her, but what the words +were he could not recall. He stretched himself painfully. The foot +pained frightfully, and his face felt hot and feverish; he was woefully +weak and his nerves were tingling--but he was alive. + +The girl looked up at his movement. Her lips opened and she held up a +warning hand. + +"You are to be very quiet," she admonished. + +He smiled weakly and obeyed her, leaning back, his gaze on the +slate-blue of the sky. She still worked at the foot, fastening the +bandage; he could feel her fingers as they passed lightly over it. He +did not move, feeling a deep contentment. + +Presently she arose, placed the foot gently down, and entered the +house. With closed eyes he lay in the chair, listening to her step as +she walked about in the house. He lay there a long time, and when he +opened his eyes again he knew that he must have been asleep, for the +night had come and a big yellow moon was rising over a rim of distant +hills. Turning his head slightly, he saw the interior of one of the +rooms of the cabin--the kitchen, for he saw a stove and some kettles +and pans hanging on the wall and near the window a table, over which +was spread a cloth. A small kerosene lamp stood in the center of the +table, its rays glimmering weakly through the window. He raised one +hand and passed it over his forehead. There was still some fever, but +he felt decidedly better than when he had awakened the first time. + +Presently he heard a light step and became aware of some one standing +near him. He knew it was the girl, even before she spoke, for he had +caught the rustle of her dress. + +"Are you awake," she questioned. + +"Why, yes, ma'am," he returned. He turned to look at her, but in the +darkness he could not see her face. + +"Do you feel like eating anything?" she asked. + +He grinned ruefully in the darkness. "I couldn't say that I'm exactly +yearnin' for grub," he returned, "though I ain't done any eatin' since +mornin'. I reckon a rattler's bite ain't considered to help a man's +appetite any." + +He heard her laugh softly. "No," she returned; "I wouldn't recommend +it." + +He tried again to see her, but could not, and so he relaxed and turned +his gaze on the sky. But presently he felt her hand on his shoulder, +and then her voice, as she spoke firmly. + +"You can't lie here all night," she said. "You would be worse in the +morning. And it is impossible for you to travel to-night. I am going +to help you to get into the house. You can lean your weight on my +shoulder." + +He struggled to an erect position and made out her slender figure in +the dim light from the window. He would have been afraid of crushing +her could he have been induced to accept her advice. He got to his +uninjured foot and began to hop toward the door, but she was beside him +instantly protesting. + +"Stop!" she commanded firmly. "If you do that it will be the worse for +you. Put your hand on my shoulder!" + +In the darkness he could see her eyes flash with determination, and so +without further objection he placed a hand lightly on her shoulder, and +in this manner they made their way through the door and into the cabin. +Once inside the door he halted, blinking at the light and undecided. +But she promptly led him toward another door, into a room containing a +bed. She led him to the bedside and stood near him after he had sunk +down upon it. + +"You are to sleep here to-night," she said. "To-morrow, if you are +considerably better, I may allow you to travel." She went out, +returning immediately with a small bottle containing medicine. "If you +feel worse during the night," she directed, "you must take a spoonful +from that bottle. If you think you need anything else, don't hesitate +to call. I shall be in the next room." + +He started to voice his thanks, but she cut him short with a laugh. +"Good-night," she said. Then she went out and closed the door after +her. + +He awoke several times during the night and each time took a taste of +the medicine in the bottle. But shortly after midnight he fell into a +heavy sleep, from which he did not awaken until the dawn had come. He +lay quiet for a long time, until he heard steps in the kitchen, and +then he rose and went to the door, throwing it open and standing on the +threshold. + +She was standing near the table, a coffee pot in her hand. Her eyes +widened as she saw him. + +"Oh!" she exclaimed. "You are very much better!" + +He smiled. "I'm thankin' you for it, ma'am," he returned. "I cert'nly +wouldn't have been feelin' anything if I hadn't met you when I did." + +She put the coffee pot down and looked gravely at him. + +"You were in very bad shape when you came," she admitted. "There was a +time when I thought my remedies would not pull you through. They would +not had you come five minutes later." + +He had no reply to make to this, and he stood there silent, until she +poured coffee into a cup, arranged some dishes, and then invited him to +sit at the table. + +He needed no second invitation, for he had been twenty-four hours +without food. And he had little excuse to complain of the quality of +the food that was set before him. He ate in silence and when he had +finished he turned away from the table to see the girl dragging a +rocking chair out upon the porch. She returned immediately, smiling at +him. + +"Your chair is ready," she said. "I think you had better not exert +yourself very much to-day." + +"Why, ma'am," he expostulated, "I'm feelin' right well. I reckon I +could be travelin' now. I ain't used to bein' babied this way." + +"I don't think you are being 'babied,'" she returned a trifle coldly. +"I don't think that I would waste any time with anyone if I thought it +wasn't necessary. I am merely telling you to remain for your own good. +Of course, if you wish to disregard my advice you may do so." + +He smiled with a frank embarrassment and limped toward the door. "Why, +ma'am," he said regretfully as he reached the door, "I cert'nly don't +want to do anything which you think ain't right, after what you've done +for me. I don't want to belittle you, an' I think that when I said +that I might have been gassin' a little. But I thought mebbe I'd been +enough trouble already." + +It was not entirely the confession itself, but the self-accusing tone +in which it had been uttered that brought a smile to her face. + +"All the same," she said, "you are to do as I tell you." + +He smiled as he dropped into the chair on the porch. It was an odd +experience for him. Never before in his life had anyone adopted toward +him an air of even partial proprietorship. He had been accustomed to +having people--always men--meet him upon a basis of equality, and if a +man had adopted toward him the tone that she had employed there would +have been an instant severing of diplomatic relations and a beginning +of hostilities. + +But this situation was odd--a woman had ordered him to do a certain +thing and he was obeying, realizing that in doing so he was violating a +principle, though conscious of a strange satisfaction. He knew that he +had promised the Two Diamond manager, and he was convinced that, in +spite of the pain in his foot, he was well enough to ride. But he was +not going to ride; her command had settled that. + +For a long time he sat in the chair, looking out over a great stretch +of flat country which was rimmed on three sides by a fringe of low +hills, and behind him by the cottonwood. The sun had been up long; it +was swimming above the rim of distant hills--a ball of molten silver in +a shimmering white blur. The cabin was set squarely in the center of a +big clearing, and about an eighth of a mile behind him was a river--the +river that he had been following when he had been bitten by the rattler. + +He knew from the location of the cabin that he had not gone very far +out of his way; that a ride of an eighth of a mile would bring him to +the Two Diamond trail. And he could not be very far from the Two +Diamond. Yet because of an order, issued by a girl, he was doomed to +delay his appearance at the ranch. + +He had seen no man about the cabin. Did the girl live here alone? He +was convinced that no woman could long survive the solitude of this +great waste of country--some man--a brother or a husband--must share +the cabin with her. Several times he caught himself hoping that if +there was a man here it might be a brother, or even a distant relative. +The thought that she might have a husband aroused in him a sensation of +vague disquiet. + +He heard her moving about in the cabin, heard the rattle of dishes, the +swish of a broom on the rough floor. And then presently she came out, +dragging another rocker. Then she re-entered the cabin, returning with +a strip of striped cloth and a sewing basket. She seated herself in +the chair, placed the basket in her lap, and with a half smile on her +face began to ply the needle. He lay back contentedly and watched her. + +Hers was a lithe, vigorous figure in a white apron and a checkered +dress of some soft material. She wore no collar; her sleeves were +shoved up above the elbows, revealing a pair of slightly browned hands +and white, rounded arms. Her eyes were brown as her hair--the latter +in a tumble of graceful disorder. Through half closed eyes he was +appraising her in a riot of admiration that threatened completely to +bias his judgment. And yet women had interested him very little. + +Perhaps that was because he had never seen a woman like this one. The +women that he had known had been those of the plains-town--the +unfortunates who through circumstances or inclination had been drawn +into the maelstrom of cow-country vice, and who, while they may have +found flattery, were never objects of honest admiration or respect. + +He had known this young woman only a few hours, and yet he knew that +with her he could not adopt the easy, matter-of-fact intimacy that had +answered with the other women he had known. In fact, the desire to +look upon her in this light never entered his mind. Instead, he was +filled with a deep admiration for her--an admiration in which there was +a profound respect. + +"I expect you must know your business, ma'am," he said, after watching +her for a few minutes. "An' I'm mighty glad that you do. Most women +would have been pretty nearly flustered over a snake bite." + +"Why," she returned, without looking up, but exhibiting a little +embarrassment, which betrayed itself in a slight flush, "I really think +that I was a little excited--especially when you came riding up to the +porch." She thought of his words, when, looking at her accusingly, he +had told her that she was "a hell of a snake," and the flush grew, +suffusing her face. This of course he had not known and never would +know, but the words had caused her many smiles during the night. + +"You didn't show it much," he observed. "You must have took right +a-hold. Some women would have gone clean off the handle. They +wouldn't have been able to do anything." + +Her lips twitched, but she still gave her attention to her sewing, +treating his talk with a mild interest. + +"There is nothing about a snake bite to become excited over. That is, +if treatment is applied in time. In your case the tourniquet kept the +poison from getting very far into your system. If you hadn't thought +of that it might have gone very hard with you." + +"That rope around my leg wouldn't have done me a bit of good though, +ma'am, if I hadn't stumbled onto your cabin. I don't know when seein' +a woman has pleased me more." + +She smiled enigmatically, her eyelashes flickering slightly. But she +did not answer. + +Until noon she sewed, and he lay lazily back in the chair, watching her +sometimes, sometimes looking at the country around him. They talked +very little. Once, when he had been looking at her for a long time, +she suddenly raised her eyes and they met his fairly. Both smiled, but +he saw a blush mantle her cheeks. + +At noon she rose and entered the cabin. A little later she called to +him, telling him that dinner was ready. He washed from the tin basin +that stood on the bench just outside the door, and entering sat at the +table and ate heartily. + +After dinner he did not see her again for a time, and becoming wearied +of the chair he set out on a short excursion to the river. When he +returned she was seated on the porch and looked up at him with a demure +smile. + +"You will be quite active by to-morrow," she said. + +"I ain't feelin' exactly lazy now," he returned, showing a surprising +agility in reaching his chair. + +When the sun began to swim low over the hills, he looked at her with a +curiously grim smile. + +"I reckon that rattler was fooled last night," he said. "But if +foolin' him had been left to me I expect I'd have made a bad job of it. +But I'm thinkin' that he done his little old dyin' when the sun went +down last night. An' I'm still here. An' I'll keep right on, usin' +his brothers an' sisters for targets--when I think that I'm needin' +practice." + +"Then you killed the snake?" + +"Why sure, ma'am. I wasn't figgerin' to let that rattler go a-fannin' +right on to hook someone else. That'd be encouragin' his trade." + +She laughed, evidently pleased over his earnestness. "Oh, I see," she +said. "Then you were not angry merely because he bit you? You killed +him to keep him from attacking other persons?" + +He smiled. "I sure was some angry," he returned. "An' I reckon that +just at the time I wasn't thinkin' much about other people. I was +havin' plenty to keep me busy." + +"But you killed him. How?" + +"Why I shot him, ma'am. Was you thinkin' that I beat him to death with +somethin'?" + +Her lips twitched again, the corners turning suggestively inward. But +now he caught her looking at his guns. She looked from them to his +face. "All cowboys do not carry two guns," she said suddenly. + +He looked gravely at her. "Well, no, ma'am, they don't. There's some +that claim carryin' two guns is clumsy. But there's been times when I +found them right convenient." + +She fell silent now, regarding her sewing. A quizzical smile had +reached his face. This exchange of talk had developed the fact that +she was a stranger to the country. No Western girl would have made her +remark about the guns. + +He did not know whether or not he was pleased over the discovery. +Certain subtle signs about her had warned him in the beginning that she +was different from the other women of his acquaintance, but he had not +thought of her being a stranger here, of her coming here from some +other section of the country--the East, for instance. + +Her being from the East would account for many things. First, it would +make plain to him why she had smiled several times during their talks, +over things in which he had been able to see no humor. Then it would +answer the question that had formed in his mind concerning the fluency +of her speech. Western girls that he had met had not attained that +ease and poise which he saw was hers so naturally. Yet in spite of +this accomplishment she was none the less a woman--demure eyed, ready +to blush and become confused as easily as a Western woman. Assured of +this, he dropped the slight constraint which up till now had been plain +in his voice, and an inward humor seemed to draw the corners of his +mouth slightly downward. + +"I reckon that folks where you come from don't wear guns at all, +ma'am," he said slowly. + +She looked up quickly, surprised into meeting his gaze fairly. His +eyes did not waver. She rocked vigorously, showing some embarrassment +and giving undue attention to her sewing. + +"How do you know that?" she questioned, raising her head and looking at +him with suddenly defiant eyes. "I am not aware that I told you that I +was a stranger here! Don't you think you are guessing now?" + +His eyes narrowed cunningly. "I don't think I need to do any guessin', +ma'am," he returned. "When a man sees a different girl, he don't have +to guess none." + +The "different" girl was regarding him with furtive glances, plainly +embarrassed under his direct words. But there was much defiance in her +eyes, as though she was aware of the trend of his words and was +determined to outwit him. + +"I think you must be a remarkable man," she said, with the faintest +trace of mockery in her voice, "to be able to discover such a thing so +quickly. Or perhaps it is the atmosphere--it is marvelous." + +"I expect it ain't exactly marvelous," he returned, laboring with the +last word. "When a girl acts different, a man is pretty apt to know +it." He leaned forward a little, speaking earnestly. "I know that I'm +talkin' pretty plain to you, ma'am," he went on. "But when a man has +been bit by a rattler an' has sort of give up hope an' has had his life +saved by a girl, he's to be excused if he feels that he's some +acquainted with the girl. An' then when he finds that she's some +different from the girls he's been used to seein', I don't see why he +hadn't ought to take a lot of interest in her." + +"Oh!" she exclaimed, her eyes drooping. And then, her eyes dancing as +they shot a swift glance at him--"I should call that a pretty speech." + +He reddened with embarrassment. "I expect you are laughin' at me now, +ma'am," he said. "But I wasn't thinkin' to make any pretty speeches. +I was tellin' you the truth." + +She soberly plied her needle, and he sat back, watching her. + +"I expect you are a stranger around here yourself," she said presently, +her eyes covered with drooping lashes. "How do you know that you have +any right to sit there and tell me that you take an interest in me? +How do you know that I am not married?" + +He was not disconcerted. He drawled slightly over his words when he +answered. + +"You wouldn't listen at me at all, ma'am; you cert'nly wouldn't stay +an' listen to any speeches that you thought was pretty, if you was +married," he said. Plainly, he had not lost faith in the virtue of +woman. + +"But if I did listen?" she questioned, her face crimson, though her +eyes were still defiant. + +He regarded her with pleased eyes. "I've been lookin' for a weddin' +ring," he said. + +She gave it up in confusion. "I don't know why I am talking this way +to you," she said. "I expect it is because there isn't anything else +to do. But you really are entertaining!" she declared, for a parting +shot. + +Once Ferguson had seen a band of traveling minstrels in Cimarron. +Their jokes (of an ancient vintage) had taken well with the audience, +for the latter had laughed. Ferguson remembered that a stranger had +said that the minstrels were "entertaining." And now he was +entertaining her. A shadow passed over his face; he looked down at his +foot, with its white bandage so much in evidence. Then straight at +her, his eyes grave and steady. + +"I'm glad to have amused you, ma'am," he said. "An' now I reckon I'll +be gettin' over to the Two Diamond. It can't be very far now." + +"Five miles," she said shortly. She had dropped her sewing into her +lap and sat motionless, regarding him with level eyes. + +"Are you working for the Two Diamond?" she questioned. + +"Lookin' for a job," he returned. + +"Oh!" The exclamation struck him as rather expressionless. He looked +at her. + +"Do you know the Two Diamond folks?" + +"Of course." + +"Of course," he repeated, aware of the constraint in her voice. "I +ought to have known. They're neighbors of your'n." + +"They are not!" she suddenly flashed back at him. + +"Well, now," he returned slowly, puzzled, but knowing that somehow he +was getting things wrong, "I reckon there's a lot that I don't know." + +"If you are going to work over at the Two Diamond," she said coldly, +"you will know more than you do now. My----" + +Evidently she was about to say something more, but a sound caught her +ear and she rose, dropping her sewing to the chair. "My brother is +coming," she said quietly. Standing near the door she caught +Ferguson's swift glance. + +"Then it ain't a husband after all," he said, pretending surprise. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +THE MAN OF DRY BOTTOM + +A young man rode around the corner of the cabin and halted his pony +beside the porch, sitting quietly in the saddle and gazing inquiringly +at the two. He was about Ferguson's age and, like the latter, he wore +two heavy guns. There was about him, as he sat there sweeping a slow +glance over the girl and the man, a certain atmosphere of deliberate +certainty and quiet coldness that gave an impression of readiness for +whatever might occur. + +Ferguson's eyes lighted with satisfaction. The girl might be an +Easterner, but the young man was plainly at home in this country. +Nowhere, except in the West, could he have acquired the serene calm +that shone out of his eyes; in no other part of the world could he have +caught the easy assurance, the unstudied nonchalance, that seems the +inherent birthright of the cowpuncher. + +"Ben," said the girl, answering the young man's glance, "this man was +bitten by a rattler. He came here, and I treated him. He says he was +on his way over to the Two Diamond, for a job." + +The young man opened his lips slightly. "Stafford hire you?" he asked. + +"I'm hopin' he does," returned Ferguson. + +The young man's lips drooped sneeringly. "I reckon you're wantin' a +job mighty bad," he said. + +Ferguson smiled. "Takin' your talk, you an' Stafford ain't very good +friends," he returned. + +The young man did not answer. He dismounted and led his pony to a +small corral and then returned to the porch, carrying his saddle. + +For an instant after the young man had left the porch to turn his pony +into the corral Ferguson had kept his seat on the porch. But something +in the young man's tone had brought him out of the chair, determined to +accept no more of his hospitality. If the young man was no friend of +Stafford, it followed that he could not feel well disposed to a puncher +who had avowed that his purpose was to work for the Two Diamond manager. + +Ferguson was on his feet, clinging to one of the slender porch posts, +preparatory to stepping down to go to his pony, when the young woman +came out. Her sharp exclamation halted him. + +"You're not going now!" she said. "You have got to remain perfectly +quiet until morning!" + +The brother dropped his saddle to the porch floor, grinning mildly at +Ferguson, "You don't need to be in a hurry," he said. "I was intending +to run your horse into the corral. What I meant about Stafford don't +apply to you." He looked up at his sister, still grinning. "I reckon +he ain't got nothing to do with it?" + +The young woman blushed. "I hope not," she said in a low voice. + +"We're goin' to eat pretty soon," said the young man. "I reckon that +rattler didn't take your appetite?" + +Ferguson flushed. "It was plum rediculous, me bein' hooked by a +rattler," he said. "An' I've lived among them so long." + +"I reckon you let him get away?" questioned the young man evenly. + +"If he's got away," returned Ferguson, his lips straightening with +satisfaction, "he's a right smart snake." + +He related the incident of the attack, ending with praises of the young +woman's skill. + +The young man smiled at the reference to his sister. "She's studied +medicine--back East. Lately she's turned her hand to writin'. Come +out here to get experience--local color, she calls it." + +Ferguson sat back in his chair, quietly digesting this bit of +information. Medicine and writing. What did she write? Love stories? +Fairy tales? Romances? He had read several of these. Mostly they +were absurd and impossible. Love stories, he thought, would be easy +for her. For--he said, mentally estimating her--a woman ought to know +more about love than a man. And as for anything being impossible in a +love story. Why most anything could happen to people who are in love. + +"Supper is ready," he heard her announce from within. + +Ferguson preceded the young man at the tin wash basin, taking a fresh +towel that the young woman offered him from the doorway. Then he +followed the young man inside. The three took places at the table, and +Ferguson was helped to a frugal, though wholesome meal. + +The dusk had begun to fall while they were yet at the table, and the +young woman arose, lighting a kerosene lamp and placing it on the +table. By the time they had finished semi-darkness had settled. +Ferguson followed the young man out to the chairs on the porch for a +smoke. + +They were scarcely seated when there was a clatter of hoofs, and a pony +and rider came out of the shadow of the nearby cottonwood, approaching +the cabin and halting beside the porch. The newcomer was a man of +about thirty-five. The light of the kerosene lamp shone fairly in his +face as he sat in the saddle, showing a pair of cold, steady eyes and +thin, straight lips that were wreathed in a smile. + +"I thought I'd ride over for a smoke an' a talk before goin' down the +crick to where the outfit's workin'," he said to the young man. And +now his eyes swept Ferguson's lank figure with a searching glance. +"But I didn't know you was havin' company," he added. The second +glance that he threw toward Ferguson was not friendly. + +Ferguson's lips curled slightly under it. Each man had been measured +by the other, and neither had found in the other anything to admire. + +Ferguson's thoughts went rapidly back to Dry Bottom. He saw a man in +the street, putting five bullets through a can that he had thrown into +the air. He saw again the man's face as he had completed his +exhibition--insolent, filled with a sneering triumph. He heard again +this man's voice, as he himself had offered to eclipse his feat:-- + +"You runnin' sheep, stranger?" + +The voice and face of the man who stood before him now were the voice +and face of the man who had preceded him in the shooting match in Dry +Bottom. His thoughts were interrupted by the voice of his host, +explaining his presence. + +"This here man was bit by a rattler this afternoon," the young man was +saying. "He's layin' up here for to-night. Says he's reckonin' on +gettin' a job over at the Two Diamond." + +The man on the horse sneered. "Hell!" he said; "bit by a rattler!" He +laughed insolently, pulling his pony's head around. "I reckon I'll be +goin'," he said. "You'll nurse him so's he won't die?" He had struck +the pony's flanks with the spurs and was gone into the shadows before +either man on the porch could move. There was a short silence, while +the two men listened to the beat of his pony's hoofs. Then Ferguson +turned and spoke to the young man. + +"You know him?" he questioned. + +The young man smiled coldly. "Yep," he said; "he's range boss for the +Two Diamond!" + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +AT THE TWO DIAMOND + +As Ferguson rode through the pure sunshine of the morning his thoughts +kept going back to the little cabin in the flat--"Bear Flat," she had +called it. Certain things troubled him--he, whose mind had been always +untroubled--even through three months of idleness that had not been +exactly attractive. + +"She's cert'nly got nice eyes," he told himself confidentially, as he +lingered slowly on his way; "an' she knows how to use them. She sure +made me seem some breathless. An' no girl has ever done that. An' her +hair is like"--he pondered long over this--"like--why, I reckon I +didn't just ever see anything like it. An' the way she looked at me!" + +A shadow crossed his face. "So she's a writer--an' she's studied +medicine. I reckon I'd like it a heap better if she didn't monkey with +none of them fool things. What business has a girl got to----" He +suddenly laughed aloud. "Why I reckon I'm pretty near loco," he said, +"to be ravin' about a girl like this. She ain't nothin' to me; she +just done what any other girl would do if a man come to her place bit +by a rattler." + +He spurred his pony forward at a sharp lope. And now he found that his +thoughts would go back to the moment of his departure from the cabin +that morning. She had accompanied him to the door, after bandaging the +ankle. Her brother had gone away an hour before. + +"I'm thankin' you, ma'am," Ferguson said as he stood for a moment at +the door. "I reckon I'd have had a bad time if it hadn't been for you." + +"It was nothing," she returned. + +He had hesitated--he still felt the thrill of doubt that had assailed +him before he had taken the step that he knew was impertinent. "I'll +be ridin' over here again, some day, if you don't mind," he said. + +Her face reddened a trifle. "I'm sure brother would like to have you," +she replied. + +"I don't remember to have said that I was comin' over to see your +brother," was his reply. + +"But it would have to be he," she said, looking straight at him. "You +couldn't come to see me unless I asked you." + +And now he had spoken a certain word that had been troubling him. "Do +you reckon that Two Diamond range boss comes over to see your brother?" + +She frowned. "Of course!" she replied. "He is my brother's friend. +But I--I despise him!" + +Ferguson grinned broadly. "Well, now," he said, unable to keep his +pleasure over her evident dislike of the Two Diamond man from showing +in his eyes and voice, "that's cert'nly too bad. An' to think he's +wastin' his time--ridin' over here." + +She gazed at him with steady, unwavering eyes. He could still remember +the challenge in them. "Be careful that you don't waste your time!" +was her answer. + +"I reckon I won't," was his reply, as he climbed into the saddle. "But +I won't be comin' over here to see your brother!" + +"Oh, dear!" she said, "I call that very brazen!" + +But when he had spurred his pony down through the crossing of the river +he had turned to glance back at her. And he had seen a smile on her +face. As he rode now he went over this conversation many times, much +pleased with his own boldness; more pleased because she had not seemed +angry with him. + +It was late in the morning when he caught sight of the Two Diamond +ranch buildings, scattered over a great basin through which the river +flowed. Half an hour later he rode up to the ranchhouse and met +Stafford at the door of the office. The manager waved him inside. + +"I'm two days late," said Ferguson, after he had taken a chair in the +office. He related to Stafford the attack by the rattler. The latter +showed some concern over the injury. + +"I reckon you didn't do your own doctorin'?" he asked. + +Ferguson told him of the girl. The manager's lips straightened. A +grim humor shone from his eyes. + +"You stayed there over night?" he questioned. + +"I reckon I stayed there. It was in a cabin down at a place which I +heard the girl say was called 'Bear Flat.' I didn't ketch the name of +the man." + +Stafford grinned coldly. "I reckon they didn't know what you was +comin' over here for?" + +"I didn't advertise," returned Ferguson quietly. + +"If you had," declared Stafford, his eyes glinting with a cold +amusement, "you would have found things plum lively. The man's name is +Ben Radford. He's the man I'm hirin' you to put out of business!" + +For all Stafford could see Ferguson did not move a muscle. Yet the +news had shocked him; he could feel the blood surging rapidly through +his veins. But the expression of his face was inscrutable. + +"Well, now," he said, "that sure would have made things interestin'. +An' so that's the man you think has been stealin' your cattle?" He +looked steadily at the manager. "But I told you before that I wasn't +doin' any shootin'." + +"Correct," agreed the manager. "What I want you to do is to prove that +Radford's the man. We can't do anything until we prove that he's been +rustlin'. An' then----" He smiled grimly. + +"You reckon to know the girl's name too?" inquired Ferguson. + +"It's Mary," stated the manager. "I've heard Leviatt talk about her." + +Ferguson contemplated the manager gravely. "An' you ain't sure that +Radford's stealin' your cattle?" + +Stafford filled and lighted his pipe. "I'm takin' Dave Leviatt's word +for it," he said. + +"Who's Leviatt?" queried Ferguson. + +"My range boss," returned Stafford. + +"He's been ridin' sign on Radford an' says he's responsible for all the +stock that we've been missin' in the last six months." + +Ferguson rolled a cigarette. He lighted it and puffed for a moment in +silence, the manager watching him. + +"Back at Dry Bottom," said Ferguson presently, "there was a man +shootin' at a can when I struck town. He put five bullets through the +can. Was that your range boss?" + +Stafford smiled. "That was Leviatt--my range boss," he returned. "We +went over to Dry Bottom to get a gunfighter. We wanted a man who could +shoot plum quick. He'd have to be quick, for Radford's lightnin' with +a six. Leviatt said shootin' at a can would be a good way to find a +man who could take Radford's measure--in case it was necessary," he +added quickly. + +Ferguson's face was a mask of immobility. "Where's Leviatt now?" he +questioned. + +"Up the Ute with the outfit." + +"How far up?" + +"Thirty miles." + +Ferguson's eyelashes flickered. "Has Leviatt been here lately?" he +questioned. + +"Not since the day before yesterday." + +"When you expectin' him back?" + +"The boys'll be comin' back in a week. He'll likely come along with +them." + +"U--um. You're giving me a free hand?" + +"Of course." + +Ferguson lounged to the door. "I'm lookin' around a little," he said, +"to kind of size up things. I don't want you to put me with the +outfit. That strike you right?" + +"I'm hirin' you to do a certain thing," returned Stafford. "I ain't +tellin' you how it ought to be done. You've got till the fall roundup +to do it." + +Ferguson nodded. He went to the corral fence, unhitched his pony, and +rode out on the plains toward the river. Stafford watched him until he +was a mere dot on the horizon. Then he smiled with satisfaction. + +"I kind of like that guy," he said, commenting mentally. "There ain't +no show work to him, but he's business." + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +THE MEASURE OF A MAN + +During the week following Ferguson's arrival at the Two Diamond ranch +Stafford saw very little of him. Mornings saw him proceed to the +corral, catch up his pony, mount, and depart. He returned with the +dusk. Several times, from his office window, Stafford had seen him +ride away in the moonlight. + +Ferguson did his own cooking, for the cook had accompanied the wagon +outfit down the river. Stafford did not seek out the new man with +instructions or advice; the work Ferguson was engaged in he must do +alone, for if complications should happen to arise it was the manager's +business to know nothing. + +The Two Diamond ranch was not unlike many others that dotted the grass +plains of the Territory. The interminable miles that separated +Stafford from the nearest, did not prevent him from referring to that +particular owner as "neighbor", for distances were thus determined--and +distances thus determined were nearly always inaccurate. The traveler +inquiring for his destination was expected to discover it somewhere in +the unknown distance. + +The Two Diamond ranch had the enviable reputation of being +"slick"--which meant that Stafford was industrious and thrifty and that +his ranch bore an appearance of unusual neatness. For example, +Stafford believed in the science of irrigation. A fence skirted his +buildings, another ran around a large area of good grass, forming a +pasture for his horses. His buildings were attractive, even though +rough, for they revealed evidence of continued care. His ranchhouse +boasted a sloped roof and paved galleries. + +A garden in the rear was but another instance of Stafford's industry. +He had cattle that were given extraordinary care because they were +"milkers," for in his youth Stafford had lived on a farm and he +remembered days when his father had sent him out into the meadow to +drive the cows home for the milking. There were many other things that +Stafford had not forgotten, for chickens scratched promiscuously about +the ranch yard, occasionally trespassing into the sacred precincts of +the garden and the flower beds. His horses were properly stabled +during the cold, raw days that came inevitably; his men had little to +complain of, and there was a general atmosphere of prosperity over the +entire ranch. + +But of late there had been little contentment for the Two Diamond +manager. For six months cattle thieves had been at work on his stock. +The result of the spring round-up had been far from satisfactory. He +knew of the existence of nesters in the vicinity; one of +them--Radford--he had suspected upon evidence submitted by the range +boss. Radford had been warned to vacate Bear Flat, but the warning had +been disregarded. + +But one other course was left, and Stafford had adopted that. There +had been no hesitancy on the manager's part; he must protect the Two +Diamond property. Sentiment had no place in the situation whatever. +Therefore toward Ferguson's movements Stafford adopted an air of +studied indifference, not doubting, from what he had seen of the man, +that he would eventually ride in and report that the work which he had +been hired to do was finished. + +Toward the latter end of the week the wagon outfit straggled in. They +came in singly, in twos and threes, bronzed, hardy, seasoned young men, +taciturn, serene eyed, capable. They continued to come until there +were twenty-seven of them. Later in the day came the wagon and the +remuda. + +From a period of calm and inaction the ranch now awoke to life and +movement. The bunkhouse was scrubbed;--"swabbed" in the vernacular of +the cowboys; the scant bedding was "cured" in the white sunlight; and +the cook was adjured to extend himself in the preparation of "chuck" +(meaning food) to repay the men for the lack of good things during a +fortnight on the open range with the wagon. + +At dusk on the first day in Rope Jones, a tall, lithe young puncher, +whose spare moments were passed in breaking the wild horses that +occasionally found their way to the Two Diamond, was oiling his saddle +leathers. Sitting on a bench outside the bunkhouse he became aware of +Stafford standing near. + +"Leviatt come in?" queried the manager. + +The puncher grinned. "Nope. Last I seen of Dave he was hittin' the +breeze toward Bear Flat. Said he'd be in later." He lowered his voice +significantly. "Reckon that Radford girl is botherin' Dave a heap." + +Stafford smiled coldly and was about to answer when he saw Ferguson +dropping from his pony at the corral gate. Following Stafford's gaze, +Rope also observed Ferguson. He looked up at Stafford. + +"New man?" he questioned. + +Stafford nodded. He had invented a plausible story for the presence of +Ferguson. Sooner or later the boys would have noticed the latter's +absence from the outfit. Therefore if he advanced his story now there +would be less conjecture later. + +"You boys have got enough to do," he said, still watching Ferguson. +"I've hired this man to look up strays. I reckon he c'n put in a heap +of time at it." + +Rope shot a swift glance upward at the manager's back. Then he grinned +furtively. "Two-gun," he observed quietly; "with the bottoms of his +holsters tied down. I reckon your stray-man ain't for to be monkeyed +with." + +But Stafford had told his story and knew that within a very little time +Rope would be telling it to the other men. So without answering he +walked toward the ranchhouse. Before he reached it he saw Leviatt +unsaddling at the corral gate. + +When Ferguson, with his saddle on his shoulder, on his way to place it +on its accustomed peg in the lean-to adjoining the bunkhouse, passed +Rope, it was by the merest accident that one of the stirrups caught the +cinch buckle of Rope's saddle. Not observing the tangle, Ferguson +continued on his way. He halted when he felt the stirrup strap drag, +turning half around to see what was wrong. He smiled broadly at Rope. + +"You reckon them saddles are acquainted?" he said. + +Rope deftly untangled them. "I ain't thinkin' they're relations," he +returned, grinning up at Ferguson. "Leastways I never knowed a 'double +cinch' an' a 'center fire' to git real chummy." + +"I reckon you're right," returned Ferguson, his eyes gleaming +cordially; "an' I've knowed men to lose their tempers discussin' +whether a center fire or a double cinch was the most satisfyin'." + +"Some men is plum fools," returned Rope, surveying Ferguson with +narrow, pleased eyes. "You didn't observe that the saddles rode any +easier after the argument than before?" + +"I didn't observe. But mebbe the men was more satisfied. Let a man +argue that somethin' he's got is better'n somethin' that another +fellow's got an' he falls right in love with his own--an' goes right on +fallin' in love with it. Nothin' c'n ever change his mind after an +argument." + +"I know a man who's been studyin' human nature," observed Rope, +grinning. + +"An' not wastin' his time arguin' fool questions," added Ferguson. + +"You sure ain't plum greenhorn," declared Rope admiringly. + +"Thank yu'," smiled Ferguson; "I wasn't lookin' to see whether you'd +cut your eye-teeth either." + +"Well, now," remarked Rope, rising and shouldering his saddle, "you've +almost convinced me that a double cinch ain't a bad saddle. Seems to +make a man plum good humored." + +"When a man's hungry an' right close to the place where he's goin' to +feed," said Ferguson gravely, "he hadn't ought to bother his head about +nothin'." + +"You're settin' at my right hand at the table," remarked Rope, +delighted with his new friend. + +Several of the men were already at the washtrough when Rope and +Ferguson reached there. The method by which they performed their +ablutions was not delicate, but it was thorough. And when the dust had +been removed their faces shone with the dusky health-bloom that told of +their hard, healthy method of living. Men of various ages were +there--grizzled riders who saw the world through the introspective eye +of experience; young men with their enthusiasms, their impulses; +middle-aged men who had seen much of life--enough to be able to face +the future with unshaken complacence; but all bronzed, clear-eyed, +self-reliant, unafraid. + +When Ferguson and Rope entered the bunkhouse many of the men were +already seated. Ferguson and Rope took places at one end of the long +table and began eating. No niceties of the conventions were observed +here; the men ate each according to his whim and were immune from +criticism. Table etiquette was a thing that would have spoiled their +joy of eating. Theirs was a primitive country; their occupation +primitive; their manner of living no less so. They concerned +themselves very little with the customs of a world of which they heard +very little. + +Nor did they bolt their food silently--as has been recorded of them by +men who knew them little. If they did eat rapidly it was because the +ravening hunger of a healthy stomach demanded instant attention. And +they did not overeat. Epicurus would have marveled at the simplicity +of their food. Conversation was mingled with every mouthful. + +At one end of the table sat an empty plate, with no man on the bench +before it. This was the place reserved for Leviatt, the range boss. +Next to this place on the right was seated a goodlooking young puncher, +whose age might have been estimated at twenty-three. "Skinny" they +called him because of his exceeding slenderness. At the moment +Ferguson settled into his seat the young man was filling the room with +rapid talk. This talk had been inconsequential and concerned only +those small details about which we bother during our leisure. But now +his talk veered and he was suddenly telling something that gave promise +of consecutiveness and universal interest. Other voices died away as +his arose. + +"Leviatt ain't the only one," he was saying. "She ain't made no +exception with any of the outfit. To my knowin' there's been Lon +Dexter, Soapy, Clem Miller, Lazy, Wrinkles--an' myself," he admitted, +reddening, "been notified that we was mavericks an' needed our ears +marked. An' now comes Leviatt a-fannin' right on to get his'n. An' I +reckon he'll get it." + +"You ain't tellin' what she said when she give you your'n," said a +voice. + +There was a laugh, through which the youth emerged smiling broadly. + +"No," he said, "I ain't tellin'. But she told Soapy here that she was +lookin' for local color. Wanted to know if he was it. Since then +Soapy's been using a right smart lot of soap, tryin' to rub some color +into his face." + +Color was in Soapy's face now. He sat directly opposite the slender +youth and his cheeks were crimson. + +"I reckon if you'd keep to the truth----" he began. But Skinny has +passed on to the next. + +"An' there's Dexter. Lon's been awful quiet since she told him he had +a picturesque name. Said it'd do for to put into a book which she's +goin' to write, but when it come to choosin' a husband she'd prefer to +tie up to a commoner name. An' so Lon didn't graze on that range no +more." + +"This country's goin' plum to----" sneered Dexter. But a laugh +silenced him. And the youth continued. + +"It might have been fixed up for Lazy," he went on, "only when she +found out his name was Lazy, she wanted to know right off if he could +support a wife--providin' he got one. He said he reckoned he could, +an' she told him he could experiment on some other woman. An' now +Lazy'll have to look around quite a spell before he'll get another +chancst. I'd call that bein' in mighty poor luck." + +Lazy was giving his undivided attention to his plate. + +"An' she come right out an' told Wrinkles he was too old; that when she +was thinkin' of gettin' wedded to some old monolith she'd send word to +Egypt, where they keep 'em in stock. Beats me where she gets all them +words." + +"Told me she'd studied her dictionary," said a man who sat near +Ferguson. + +The young man grinned. "Well, I swear if I didn't come near forgettin' +Clem Miller!" he said. "If you hadn't spoke up then, I reckon you +wouldn't have been in on this deal. An' so she told you she'd studied +her dictionary! Now, I'd call that news. Some one'd been tellin' me +that she'd asked you the meanin' of the word 'evaporate.' An' when you +couldn't tell her she told you to do it. Said that when you got home +you might look up a dictionary an' then you'd know what she meant. + +"An' now Leviatt's hangin' around over there," continued the youth. +"He's claimin' to be goin' to see Ben Radford, but I reckon he's got +the same kind of sickness as the rest of us." + +"An' you ain't sayin' a word about what she said to you," observed +Miller. "She must have treated you awful gentle, seein' you won't +tell." + +"Well," returned the young man, "I ain't layin' it all out to you. But +I'll tell you this much; she said she was goin' to make me one of the +characters in that book she's writin'." + +"Well, now," said Miller, "that's sure lettin' you down easy. Did she +say what the character was goin' to be?" + +"I reckon she did." + +"An' now you're goin' to tell us boys?" + +"An' now I'm goin' to tell you boys," returned Skinny. "But I reckon +there's a drove of them characters here. You'll find them with every +outfit, an' you'll know them chiefly by their bray an' their long, +hairy ears." + +The young man now smiled into his plate, while a chorus of laughter +rose around him. In making himself appear as ridiculous a figure as +the others, the young man had successfully extracted all the sting from +his story and gained the applause of even those at whom he had struck. + +But now a sound was heard outside, and Leviatt came into the room. He +nodded shortly and took his place at the end of the table. A certain +reserve came into the atmosphere of the room. No further reference was +made to the subject that had aroused laughter, but several of the men +snickered into their plates over the recollection of Leviatt's +connection with the incident. + +As the meal continued Leviatt's gaze wandered over the table, resting +finally upon Ferguson. The range boss's face darkened. + +Ferguson had seen Leviatt enter; several times during the course of the +meal he felt Leviatt looking at him. Once, toward the end, his glance +met the range boss's fairly. Leviatt's eyes glittered evilly; +Ferguson's lips curled with a slight contempt. + +And yet these men had met but twice before. A man meets another in +North America--in the Antipodes. He looks upon him, meets his eye, and +instantly has won a friend or made an enemy. Perhaps this will always +be true of men. Certainly it was true of Ferguson and the range boss. + +What force was at work in Leviatt when in Dry Bottom he had insulted +Ferguson? Whatever the force, it had told him that the steady-eyed, +deliberate gun-man was henceforth to be an enemy. Enmity, hatred, evil +intent, shone out of his eyes as they met Ferguson's. + +Beyond the slight curl of the lips the latter gave no indication of +feeling. And after the exchange of glances he resumed eating, +apparently unaware of Leviatt's existence. + +Later, the men straggled from the bunkhouse, seeking the outdoors to +smoke and talk. Upon the bench just outside the door several of the +men sat; others stood at a little distance, or lounged in the doorway. +With Rope, Ferguson had come out and was standing near the door, +talking. + +The talk was light, turning to trivial incidents of the day's +work--things that are the monotony of the cowboy life. + +Presently Leviatt came out and joined the group. He stood near +Ferguson, mingling his voice with the others. For a little time the +talk flowed easily and much laughter rose. Then suddenly above the +good natured babble came a harsh word. Instantly the other voices +ceased, and the men of the group centered their glances upon the range +boss, for the harsh word had come from him. He had been talking to a +man named Tucson and it was to the latter that he had now spoken. + +"There's a heap of rattlers in this country," he had said. + +Evidently the statement was irrelevant, for Tucson's glance at +Leviatt's face was uncomprehending. But Leviatt did not wait for an +answer. + +"A man might easily claim to have been bit by one of them," he +continued, his voice falling coldly. + +The men of the group sat in a tense silence, trying to penetrate this +mystery that had suddenly silenced their talk. Steady eyes searched +out each face in an endeavor to discover the man at whom the range boss +was talking. They did not discover him. Ferguson stood near Leviatt, +an arm's length distant, his hands on his hips. Perhaps his eyes were +more alert than those of the other men, his lips in a straighter line. +But apparently he knew no more of this mystery than any of the others. + +And now Leviatt's voice rose again, insolent, carrying an unmistakable +personal application. + +"Stafford hires a stray-man," he said, sneering. "This man claims to +have been bit by a rattler an' lays up over night in Ben Radford's +cabin--makin' love to Mary Radford." + +Ferguson turned his head slightly, surveying the range boss with a +cold, alert eye. + +"A little while ago," he said evenly, "I heard a man inside tellin' +about some of the boys learnin' their lessons from a girl over on Bear +Flat. I reckon, Leviatt, that you've been over there to learn your'n. +An' now you've got to let these boys know----!" + +Just a rustle it was--a snake-like motion. And then Ferguson's gun was +out; its cold muzzle pressed deep into the pit of Leviatt's stomach, +and Ferguson's left hand was pinning Leviatt's right to his side, the +range boss's hand still wrapped around the butt of his half-drawn +weapon. Then came Ferguson's voice again, dry, filled with a quiet +earnestness: + +"I ain't goin' to hurt you--you're still tenderfoot with a gun. I just +wanted to show these boys that you're a false alarm. I reckon they +know that now." + +Leviatt sneered. There was a movement behind Ferguson. Tucson's gun +was half way out of its holster. And then arose Rope's voice as his +weapon came out and menaced Tucson. + +"Three in this game would make it odd, Tucson," he said quietly. "If +there's goin' to be any shootin', let's have an even break, anyway." + +Tucson's hand fell away from his holster; he stepped back toward the +door, away from the range boss and Ferguson. + +Leviatt's face had crimsoned. "Mebbe I was runnin' a little bit +wild----" he began. + +"That's comin' down right handsome," said Ferguson. + +He sheathed his gun and deliberately turned his back on Leviatt. The +latter stood silent for a moment, his face gradually paling. Then he +turned to where Tucson had taken himself and with his friend entered +the bunkhouse. In an instant the old talk arose and the laughter, but +many furtive glances swept Ferguson as he stood, talking quietly with +Rope. + +The following morning Stafford came upon Rope while the latter was +throwing the saddle on his pony down at the corral gate. + +"I heard something about some trouble between Dave Leviatt an' the new +stray-man," said Stafford. "I reckon it wasn't serious?" + +Rope turned a grave eye upon the manager. "Shucks," he returned, "I +reckon it wasn't nothin' serious. Only," he continued with twitching +lips, "Dave was takin' the stray-man's measure." + +Stafford smiled grimly. "How did the stray-man measure up?" he +inquired, a smile working at the corners of his mouth. "I reckon he +wasn't none shy?" + +Rope grinned, admiration glinting his eyes. "He's sure man's size," he +returned, giving his attention to the saddle cinch. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +THE FINDING OF THE ORPHAN + +During the few first days of his connection with the Two Diamond +Ferguson had reached the conclusion that he would do well to take +plenty of time to inquire into the situation before attempting any +move. He had now been at the Two Diamond for two weeks and he had not +even seen Radford. Nor had he spoken half a dozen words with Stafford. +The manager had observed certain signs that had convinced him that +speech with the stray-man was unnecessary and futile. If he purposed +to do anything he would do it in his own time and in his own way. +Stafford mentally decided that the stray-man was "set in his ways." + +The wagon outfit had departed,--this time down the river. Rope Jones +had gone with the wagon, and therefore Ferguson was deprived of the +companionship of a man who had unexpectedly taken a stand with him in +his clash with Leviatt and for whom he had conceived a great liking. + +With the wagon had gone Leviatt also. During the week that had elapsed +between the clash at the bunkhouse and the departure of the wagon the +range boss had given no sign that he knew of the existence of Ferguson. +Nor had he intimated by word or sign that he meditated revenge upon +Rope because of the latter's championship of the stray-man. If he had +any such intention he concealed it with consummate skill. He treated +Rope with a politeness that drew smiles to the faces of the men. But +Ferguson saw in this politeness a subtleness of purpose that gave him +additional light on the range boss's character. A man who held his +vengeance at his finger tips would have taken pains to show Rope that +he might expect no mercy. Had Leviatt revealed an open antagonism to +Rope, the latter might have known what to expect when at last the two +men would reach the open range and the puncher be under the direct +domination of the man he had offended. + +There were many ways in which a petty vengeance might be gratified. It +was within the range boss's power to make life nearly unbearable for +the puncher. If he did this it would of course be an unworthy +vengeance, and Ferguson had little doubt that any vengeance meditated +by Leviatt would not be petty. + +Ferguson went his own way, deeply thoughtful. He was taking his time. +Certain things were puzzling him. Where did Leviatt stand in this +rustling business? That was part of the mystery. Stafford had told +him that he had Leviatt's word that Radford was the thief who had been +stealing the Two Diamond cattle. Stafford had said also that it had +been Leviatt who had suggested employing a gunfighter--had even gone to +Dry Bottom with the manager for the purpose of finding one. And now +that one had been employed Leviatt had become suddenly antagonistic to +him. + +And Leviatt was in the habit of visiting the Radford cabin. Of course +he might be doing this for the purpose of spying upon Ben Radford, but +if that were the case why had he shown so venomous when he had seen +Ferguson sitting on the porch on the evening of the day after the +latter had been bitten by the rattler? + +Mary Radford had told him that Leviatt was her brother's friend. If he +was a friend of the brother why had he suggested that Stafford employ a +gunfighter to shoot him? Here was more mystery. + +On a day soon after the departure of the wagon outfit he rode away +through the afternoon sunshine. Not long did his thoughts dwell upon +the mystery of the range boss and Ben Radford. He kept seeing a young +woman kneeling in front of him, bathing and binding his foot. Scraps +of a conversation that he had not forgotten revolved in his mind and +brought smiles to his lips. + +"She didn't need to act so plum serious when she told me that I didn't +know that I had any right to set there an' make pretty speeches to her. +. . . She wouldn't need to ask me to stay at the cabin all night. I +could have gone on to the Two Diamond. I reckon that snake bite wasn't +so plum dangerous that I'd have died if I'd have rode a little while." + +As he came out of a little gully a few miles up the river and rode +along the crest of a ridge that rose above endless miles of plains, his +thoughts went back to that first night in the bunkhouse when the outfit +had come in from the range. Satisfaction glinted in his eyes. + +"I reckon them boys didn't make good with her. An' I expect that some +day Leviatt will find he's been wastin' his time." + +He frowned at thought of Leviatt and unconsciously his spurs drove hard +against the pony's flanks. The little animal sprang forward, tossing +his head spiritedly. Ferguson grinned and patted its flank with a +remorseful hand. + +"Well, now, Mustard," he said, "I wasn't reckonin' on takin' my spite +out on you. You don't expect I thought you was Leviatt." And he +patted the flank again. + +He rode down the long slope of the rise and struck the level, traveling +at a slow lope through a shallow washout. The ground was broken and +rocky here and the snake-like cactus caught at his stirrup leathers. A +rattler warned from the shadow of some sage-brush and, remembering his +previous experience, he paused long enough to shoot its head off. + +"There," he said, surveying the shattered snake, "I reckon you ain't to +blame for me bein' bit by your uncle or cousin, or somethin', but I +ain't never goin' to be particular when I see one of your family +swingin' their head that suggestive." + +He rode on again, reloading his pistol. For a little time he traveled +at a brisk pace and then he halted to breathe Mustard. Throwing one +leg over the pommel, he turned half way around in the saddle and swept +the plains with a casual glance. + +He sat erect instantly, focusing his gaze upon a speck that loomed +through a dust cloud some miles distant. For a time he watched the +speck, his eyes narrowing. Finally he made out the speck to be a man +on a pony. + +"He's a-fannin' it some," he observed, shading his eyes with his hands; +"hittin' up the breeze for fair." He meditated long, a critical smile +reaching his lips. + +"It's right warm to-day. Not just the kind of an atmosphere that a man +ought to be runnin' his horse reckless in." He meditated again. + +"How far would you say he's off, Mustard? Ten miles, I reckon you'd +say if you was a knowin' horse." + +The horseman had reached a slight ridge and for a moment he appeared on +the crest of it, racing his pony toward the river. Then he suddenly +disappeared. + +Ferguson smiled coldly. Again his gaze swept the plains and the ridges +about him. "I don't see nothin' that'd make a man ride like that in +this heat," he said. "Where would he have come from?" He stared +obliquely off at a deep gully almost hidden by an adjoining ridge. + +"It's been pretty near an hour since I shot that snake. I didn't see +no man about that time. If he was around here he must have heard my +gun--an' sloped." He smiled and urged his pony about. "I reckon we'll +go look around that gully a little, Mustard," he said. + +Half an hour later he rode down into the gully. After going some +little distance he came across a dead cow, lying close to an +overhanging rock rim. A bullet hole in the cow's forehead told +eloquently of the manner of her death. + +Ferguson dismounted and laid a hand on her side. The body was still +warm. A four-months' calf was nudging the mother with an inquisitive +muzzle. Ferguson took a sharp glance at its ears and then drove it off +to get a look at the brand. There was none. + +"Sleeper," he said quietly. "With the Two Diamond ear-mark. Most +range bosses make a mistake in not brandin' their calves. Seems as if +they're trustin' to luck that rustlers won't work on them. I must have +scared this one off." + +He swung into the saddle, a queer light in his eyes. "Mustard, old +boy, we're goin' to Bear Flat. Mebbe Radford's hangin' around there +now. An' mebbe he ain't. But we're goin' to see." + +But he halted a moment to bend a pitying glance at the calf. + +"Poor little dogie," he said; "poor little orphan. Losin' your +mother--just like a human bein'. I call that mean luck." + +Then he was off, Mustard swinging in a steady lope down the gully and +up toward the ridge that led to the river trail. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +WOULD YOU BE A "CHARACTER"? + +The sun was still a shimmering white blur in the great arc of sky when +Ferguson rode around the corner of the cabin in Bear Flat, halted his +pony, and sat quietly in the saddle before the door. His rapid eye had +already swept the horse corral, the sheds, and the stable. If the +horseman that he had seen riding along the ridge had been Radford he +would not arrive for quite a little while. Meantime, he would learn +from Miss Radford what direction the young man had taken on leaving the +cabin. + +Ferguson was beginning to take an interest in this game. At the outset +he had come prepared to carry out his contract. In his code of ethics +it was not a crime to shoot a rustler. Experience had taught him that +justice was to be secured only through drastic action. In the criminal +category of the West the rustler took a place beside the horse thief +and the man who shot from behind. + +But before taking any action Ferguson must be convinced of the guilt of +the man he was hunting, and nothing had yet occurred that would lead +him to suspect Radford. He did not speculate on what course he would +take should circumstances prove Radford to be the thief. Would the +fact that he was Mary Radford's brother affect his decision? He +preferred to answer that question when the time came--if it ever came. +One thing was certain; he was not shooting anyone unless the +provocation was great. + +His voice was purposely loud when he called "Whoa, Mustard!" to his +pony, but his eyes were not purposely bright and expectant as they +tried to penetrate the semi-darkness of the interior of the cabin for a +glimpse of Miss Radford. + +He heard a movement presently, and she was at the door looking at him, +her hands folded in her apron, her eyes wide with unmistakable pleasure. + +"Why, I never expected to see you again!" she exclaimed. + +She came out and stood near the edge of the porch, making a determined +attempt to subdue the flutter of excitement that was revealed in a pair +of very bright eyes and a tinge of deep color in her cheeks. + +"Then I reckon you thought I had died, or stampeded out of this +country?" he answered, grinning. "I told you I'd be comin' back here." + +But the first surprise was over, and she very properly retired to the +shelter of a demurely polite reserve. + +"So you did!" she made reply. "You told me you were comin' over to see +my brother. But he is not here now." + +Had he been less wise he would have reminded her that it had been she +who had told him that he might come to see her brother. But to reply +thus would have discomfited her and perhaps have brought a sharp reply. +He had no doubt that some of the other Two Diamond men had made similar +mistakes, but not he. He smiled broadly. "Mebbe I did," he said; +"sometimes I'm mighty careless in handlin' the truth. Mebbe I thought +then that I'd come over to see your brother. But we have different +thoughts at different times. You say your brother ain't here now?" + +"He left early this morning to go down the river," she informed him. +"He said he would be back before sun-down." + +His eyes narrowed perceptibly. "Down" the river meant that Radford's +trail led in the general direction of the spot where he had seen the +fleeing horseman and the dead Two Diamond cow with her orphaned calf. +Yet this proved nothing. Radford might easily have been miles away +when the deed had been done. For the present there was nothing he +could do, except to wait until Radford returned, to form whatever +conclusions he might from the young man's appearance when he should +find a Two Diamond man at the cabin. But anxiety to see the brother +was not the only reason that would keep him waiting. + +He removed his hat and sat regarding it with a speculative eye. Miss +Radford smiled knowingly. + +"I expect I have been scarcely polite," she said. "Won't you get off +your horse?" + +"Why, yes," he responded, obeying promptly; "I expect Mustard's been +doin' a lot of wonderin' why I didn't get off before." + +If he had meant to imply that her invitation had been tardy he had hit +the mark fairly, for Miss Radford nibbled her lips with suppressed +mirth. The underplay of meaning was not the only subtleness of the +speech, for the tone in which it had been uttered was rich in +interrogation, as though its author, while realizing the pony's dimness +of perception, half believed the animal had noticed Miss Radford's +lapse of hospitality. + +"I'm thinkin' you are laughin' at me again, ma'am," he said as he came +to the edge of the porch and stood looking up at her, grinning. + +"Do you think I am laughing?" she questioned, again biting her lips to +keep them from twitching. + +"No-o. I wouldn't say that you was laughin' with your lips--laughin' +regular. But there's a heap of it inside of you--tryin' to get out." + +"Don't you ever laugh inwardly?" she questioned. + +He laughed frankly. "I expect there's times when I do." + +"But you haven't lately?" + +"Well, no, I reckon not." + +"Not even when you thought your horse might have noticed that I had +neglected to invite you off?" + +"Did I think that?" he questioned. + +"Of course you did." + +"Well, now," he drawled. "An' so you took that much interest in what I +was thinkin'! I reckon people who write must know a lot." + +Her face expressed absolute surprise. "Why, who told you that I +wrote?" she questioned. + +"Nobody told me, ma'am. I just heard it. I heard a man tell another +man that you had threatened to make him a character in a book you was +writin'." + +Her face was suddenly convulsed. "I imagine I know whom you mean," she +said. "A young cowboy from the Two Diamond used to annoy me quite a +little, until one day I discouraged him." + +His smile grew broad at this answer. But he grew serious instantly. + +"I don't think there is much to write about in this country, ma'am," he +said. + +"You don't? Why, I believe you are trying to discourage me!" + +"I reckon you won't listen to me, ma'am, if you want to write. I've +heard that anyone who writes is a special kind of a person an' they +just can't help writin'--any more'n I can help comin' over here to see +your brother. You see, they like it a heap." + +They both laughed, she because of the clever way in which he had turned +the conversation to his advantage; he through sheer delight. But she +did purpose to allow him to dwell on the point he had raised, so she +adroitly took up the thread where he had broken off to apply his +similitude. + +"Some of that is true," she returned, giving him a look on her own +account; "especially about a writer loving his work. But I don't think +one needs to be a 'special' kind of person. One must be merely a keen +observer." + +He shook his head doubtfully. "I see everything that goes on around +me," he returned. "Most of the time I can tell pretty near what sort a +man is by lookin' at his face and watching the way he moves. But I +reckon I'd never make a writer. Times when I look at this country--at +a nice sunset, for instance, or think what a big place this country +is--I feel like sayin' somethin' about it; somethin' inside of me seems +kind of breathless-like--kind of scarin' me. But I couldn't write +about it." + +She had felt it, too, and more than once had sat down with her pencil +to transcribe her thoughts. She thought that it was not exactly fear, +but an overpowering realization of her own atomity; a sort of cringing +of the soul away from the utter vastness of the world; a growing +consciousness of the unlimited bigness of things; an insight of the +infinite power of God--the yearning of the soul for understanding of +the mysteries of life and existence. + +She could sympathize with him, for she knew exactly how he had felt. +She turned and looked toward the distant mountains, behind which the +sun was just then swimming--a great ball of shimmering gold, which +threw off an effulgent expanse of yellow light that was slowly turning +into saffron and violet as it met the shadows below the hills. + +"Whoever saw such colors?" she asked suddenly, her face transfixed with +sheer delight. + +"It's cert'nly pretty, ma'am." + +She clapped her hands. "It is magnificent!" she declared +enthusiastically. She came closer to him and stretched an arm toward +the mountains. "Look at that saffron shade which is just now blending +with the streak of pearl striking the cleft between those hills! See +the violet tinge that has come into that sea of orange, and the purple +haze touching the snow-caps of the mountains. And now the flaming red, +the deep yellow, the slate blue; and now that gauzy veil of lilac, +rose, and amethyst, fading and dulling as the darker shadows rise from +the valleys!" + +Her flashing eyes sought Ferguson's. Twilight had suddenly come. + +"It is the most beautiful country in the world!" she said positively. + +He was regarding her with gravely humorous eyes. "It cert'nly is +pretty, ma'am," he returned. "But you can't make a whole book out of +one sunset." + +Her eyes flashed. "No," she returned. "Nor can I make a whole book +out of only one character. But I am going to try and draw a word +picture of the West by writing of the things that I see. And I am +going to try and have some real characters in it. I shall try to have +them talk and act naturally." + +She smiled suddenly and looked at him with a significant expression. +"And the hero will not be an Easterner--to swagger through the pages of +the book, scaring people into submission through the force of his +compelling personality. He will be a cowboy who will do things after +the manner of the country--a real, unaffected care-free puncher!" + +"Have you got your eye on such a man?" he asked, assuring himself that +he knew of no man who would fill the requirements she had named. + +"I don't mind telling you that I have," she returned, looking straight +at him. + +It suddenly burst upon him. His face crimsoned. He felt like bolting. +But he managed to grin, though she could see that the grin was forced. + +"It's gettin' late, ma'am," he said, as he turned toward his pony. "I +reckon I'll be gettin' back to the Two Diamond." + +She laughed mockingly as he settled into the saddle. There was a +clatter of hoofs from around the corner of the cabin. + +"Wait!" she commanded. "Ben is coming!" + +But there was a rush of wind that ruffled her apron, a clatter, and she +could hear Mustard's hoofs pounding over the matted mesquite that +carpeted the clearing. Ferguson had fled. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +DISAPPEARANCE OF THE ORPHAN + +During the night Ferguson had dreamed dreams. A girl with fluffy brown +hair and mocking eyes had been the center of many mental pictures that +had haunted him. He had seen her seated before him, rapidly plying a +pencil. Once he imagined he had peered over her shoulder. He had seen +a sketch of a puncher, upon which she appeared to be working, +representing a man who looked very like himself. He could remember +that he had been much surprised. Did writers draw the pictures that +appeared in their books? + +This puncher was sitting in a chair; one foot was bandaged. As he +watched over the girl's shoulder he saw the deft pencil forming the +outlines of another figure--a girl. As this sketch developed he saw +that it was to represent Miss Radford herself. It was a clever pencil +that the girl wielded, for the scene was strikingly real. He even +caught subtle glances from her eyes. But as he looked the scene +changed and the girl stood at the edge of the porch, her eyes mocking +him. And then to his surprise she spoke. "I am going to put you into +a book," she said. + +Then he knew why she had tolerated him. He had grown hot and +embarrassed. "You ain't goin' to put me in any book, ma'am," he had +said. "You ain't givin' me a square deal. I wouldn't love no girl +that would put me into a book." + +He had seen a sudden scorn in her eyes. "Love!" she said, her lips +curling. "Do you really believe that I would allow a puncher to make +love to me?" + +And then the scene had changed again, and he was shooting the head off +a rattler. "I don't want you to love me!" he had declared to it. And +then while the snake writhed he saw another head growing upon it, and a +face. It was the face of Leviatt; and there was mockery in this face +also. While he looked it spoke. + +"You'll nurse him so's he won't die?" it had said. + +When he awakened his blood was surging with a riotous anger. The dream +was bothering him now, as he rode away from the ranchhouse toward the +gully where he had found the dead Two Diamond cow. He had not reported +the finding of the dead cow, intending to return the next morning to +look the ground over and to fetch the "dogie" back to the home ranch. +It would be time enough then to make a report of the occurrence to +Stafford. + +It was mid-morning when he finally reached the gully and rode down into +it. He found the dead cow still there. He dismounted to drive away +some crows that had gathered around the body. Then he noticed that the +calf had disappeared. It had strayed, perhaps. A calf could not be +depended upon to remain very long beside its dead mother, though he had +known cases where they had. But if it had strayed it could not be very +far away. He remounted his pony and loped down the gully, reaching the +ridge presently and riding along this, searching the surrounding +country with keen glances. He could see no signs of the calf. He came +to a shelf-rock presently, beside which grew a tangled gnarl of +scrub-oak brush. Something lay in the soft sand and he dismounted +quickly and picked up a leather tobacco pouch. He examined this +carefully. There were no marks on it to tell who might be the owner. + +"A man who loses his tobacco in this country is mighty careless," he +observed, smiling; "or in pretty much of a hurry." + +He went close to the thicket, looking down at it, searching the sand +with interest. Presently he made out the impression of a foot in a +soft spot and, looking further, saw two furrows that might have been +made by a man kneeling. He knelt in the furrows himself and with one +hand parted the brush. He smiled grimly as, peering into the gully, he +saw the dead Two Diamond cow on the opposite side. + +He stepped abruptly away from the thicket and looked about him. A few +yards back there was a deep depression in the ridge, fringed with a +growth of nondescript weed. He approached this and peered into it. +Quite recently a horse had been there. He could plainly see the +hoof-prints--where the animal had pawed impatiently. He returned to +the thicket, convinced. + +"Some one was here yesterday when I was down there lookin' at that +cow," he decided. "They was watchin' me. That man I seen ridin' that +other ridge was with the one who was here. Now why didn't this man +slope too?" + +He stood erect, looking about him. Then he smiled. + +"Why, it's awful plain," he said. "The man who was on this ridge was +watchin'. He heard my gun go off, when I shot that snake. I reckon he +figgered that if he tried to ride away on this ridge whoever'd done the +shootin' would see him. An' so he didn't go. He stayed right here an' +watched me when I rode up." He smiled. "There ain't no use lookin' +for that dogie. The man that stayed here has run him off." + +There was nothing left for Ferguson to do. He mounted and rode slowly +along the ridge, examining the tobacco pouch. And then suddenly he +discovered something that brought an interested light to his eyes. +Beneath the greasy dirt on the leather he could make out the faint +outlines of two letters. Time had almost obliterated these, but by +moistening his fingers and rubbing the dirt from the leather he was +able to trace them. They had been burned in, probably branded with a +miniature iron. + +"D. L," he spelled. + +He rode on again, his lips straightening into serious lines. + +He mentally catalogued the names he had heard since coming to the Two +Diamond. None answered for the initials "D. L." It was evident that +the pouch could belong to no one but Dave Leviatt. In that case what +had Leviatt been doing on the ridge? Why, he had been watching the +rustler, of course. In that case the man must be known to him. But +what had become of the dogie? What would have been Leviatt's duty, +after the departure of the rustlers? Obviously to drive the calf to +the herd and report the occurrence to the manager. + +Leviatt may have driven the calf to the herd, but assuredly he had not +reported the occurrence to the manager, for he had not been in to the +ranchhouse. Why not? + +Ferguson pondered long over this, while his pony traveled the river +trail toward the ranchhouse. Finally he smiled. Of course, if the man +on the ridge had been Leviatt, he must have been there still when +Ferguson came up, or he would not have been there to drive the Two +Diamond calf to the herd after Ferguson had departed. In that case he +must have seen Ferguson, and must be waiting for the latter to make the +report to the manager. But what motive would he have in this? + +Here was more mystery. Ferguson might have gone on indefinitely +arranging motives, but none of them would have brought him near the +truth. + +He could, however, be sure of three things. Leviatt had seen the +rustler and must know him; he had seen Ferguson, and knew that he knew +that a rustler had been in the gully before him; and for some +mysterious reason he had not reported to the manager. But Ferguson had +one advantage that pleased him, even drew a grim smile to his lips as +he rode on his way. Leviatt may have seen him near the dead Two +Diamond cow, but he certainly was not aware that Ferguson knew he +himself had been there during the time that the rustler had been at +work. + +Practically, of course, this knowledge would avail Ferguson little. +Yet it was a good thing to know, for Leviatt must have some reason for +secrecy, and if anything developed later Ferguson would know exactly +where the range boss stood in the matter. + +Determined to investigate as far as possible, he rode down the river +for a few miles, finally reaching a broad plain where the cattle were +feeding. Some cowboys were scattered over this plain, and before +riding very far Ferguson came upon Rope. The latter spurred close to +him, grinning. + +"I'm right glad to see you," said the puncher. "You've been keepin' +yourself pretty scarce. Scared of another run-in with Leviatt?" + +"Plum scared," returned Ferguson. "I reckon that man'll make me +nervous--give him time." + +"Yu' don't say?" grinned Rope. "I wasn't noticin' that you was +worryin' about him." + +"I'm right flustered," returned Ferguson. "Where's he now?" + +"Gone down the crick--with Tucson." + +Ferguson smoothed Mustard's mane. "Leviatt been with you right along?" + +"He went up the crick yesterday," returned Rope, looking quickly at the +stray-man. + +"Went alone, I reckon?" + +"With Tucson." Rope was trying to conceal his interest in these +questions. + +But apparently Ferguson's interest was only casual. He turned a +quizzical eye upon Rope. "You an' Tucson gettin' along?" he questioned. + +"Me an' him's of the same mind about one thing," returned Rope. + +"Well, now." Ferguson's drawl was pregnant with humor. "You surprise +me. An' so you an' him have agreed. I reckon you ain't willin' to +tell me what you've agreed about?" + +"I'm sure tellin'," grinned Rope. "Me an' him's each dead certain that +the other's a low down horse thief." + +The eyes of the two men met fairly. Both smiled. + +"Then I reckon you an' Tucson are lovin' one another about as well as +me an' Leviatt," observed Ferguson. + +"There ain't a turruble lot of difference," agreed Rope. + +"An' so Tucson's likin' you a heap," drawled Ferguson absently. He +gravely contemplated the puncher. "I expect you was a long ways off +yesterday when Leviatt an' Tucson come in from up the crick?" he asked. + +"Not a turruble ways off," returned Rope. "I happened to have this end +an' they passed right close to me. They clean forgot to speak." + +"Well, now," said Ferguson. "That was sure careless of them. But I +reckon they was busy at somethin' when they passed. In that case they +wouldn't have time to speak. I've heard tell that some folks can't do +more'n one thing at a time." + +Rope laughed. "They was puttin' in a heap of their time tryin' to make +me believe they didn't see me," he returned. "Otherwise they wasn't +doin' anything." + +"Shucks!" declared Ferguson heavily. "I reckon them men wouldn't go +out of their way to drive a poor little dogie in off the range. +They're that hard hearted." + +"Correct," agreed Rope. "You ain't missin' them none there." + +Ferguson smiled, urging his pony about. "I'm figgerin' on gettin' back +to the Two Diamond," he said. He rode a few feet and then halted, +looking back over his shoulder. "You ain't givin' Tucson no chancst to +say you drawed first?" he warned. + +Rope laughed grimly. "If there's any shootin' goin' on," he replied, +"Tucson ain't goin' to say nothin' after it's over." + +"Well, so-long," said Ferguson, urging his pony forward. He heard +Rope's answer, and then rode on, deeply concerned over his discovery. + +Leviatt and Tucson had ridden up the river the day before. They had +returned empty handed. And so another link had been added to the chain +of mystery. Where was the dogie? + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +A TOUCH OF LOCAL COLOR + +A few months before her first meeting with Ferguson, Mary Radford had +come West with the avowed purpose of "absorbing enough local color for +a Western novel." Friends in the East had encouraged her; an uncle +(her only remaining relative, beside her brother) had assisted her. So +she had come. + +The uncle (under whose care she had been since the death of her mother, +ten years before) had sent her to a medical college, determined to make +her a finished physician. But Destiny had stepped in. Quite by +accident Miss Radford had discovered that she could write, and the +uncle's hope that she might one day grace the medical profession had +gone glimmering--completely buried under a mass of experimental +manuscript. + +He professed to have still a ray of hope until after several of the +magazines had accepted Mary's work. Then hope died and was succeeded +by silent acquiescence and patient resignation. Having a knowledge of +human nature far beyond that possessed by the average person, the uncle +had realized that if Mary's inclination led to literature it was worse +than useless to attempt to interest her in any other profession. +Therefore, when she had announced her intention of going West he had +interposed no objection; on the contrary had urged her to the venture. +What might have been his attitude had not Ben Radford been already in +the West is problematical. Very seldom do we decide a thing until it +confronts us. + +Mary Radford had been surprised at the West. From Ben's cabin in the +flat she had made her first communion with this new world that she had +worshipped at first sight. It was as though she had stepped out of an +old world into one that was just experiencing the dawn of creation's +first morning. At least so it had seemed to her on the morning she had +first stepped outside her brother's cabin to view her first sunrise. + +She had breathed the sweet, moisture-laden breezes that had seemed to +almost steal over the flat where she had stood watching the shadows +yield to the coming sun. The somber hills had become slowly outlined; +the snow caps of the distant mountain peaks glinted with the brilliant +shafts that struck them and reflected into the dark recesses below. +Nature was king here and showed its power in a mysterious, though +convincing manner. + +In the evening there would come a change. Through rifts in the +mountains descended the sun, spreading an effulgent expanse of yellow +light--like burnished gold. In the shadows were reflected numerous +colors, all quietly blended, making contrasts of perfect harmony. +There were the sinuous buttes that bordered the opposite shore of the +river--solemn sentinels guarding the beauty and purity of this virgin +land. Near her were sloping hills, dotted with thorny cactus and other +prickly plants, and now rose a bald rock spire with its suggestion of +grim lonesomeness. In the southern and eastern distances were the +plains, silent, vast, unending. It seemed she had come to dwell in a +land deserted by some cyclopean race. Its magnificent, unchanging +beauty had enthralled her. + +She had not lacked company. She found that the Two Diamond punchers +were eager to gain her friendship. Marvelous excuses were invented for +their appearance at the cabin in the flat. She thought that Ben's +friendship was valued above that of all other persons in the +surrounding country. + +But she found the punchers gentlemen. Though their conversation was +unique and their idioms picturesque, they compared favorably with the +men she had known in the East. Did they lack the subtleties, they made +up for this by their unfailing deference. And they were never rude; +their very bashfulness prevented that. + +Through them she came to know much of many things. They contrived to +acquaint her with the secretive peculiarities of the prairie dog, +and--when she would listen with more than ordinary attention--they +would loose their wonderful imaginations in the hope of continuing the +conversation. Then it was that the subject under discussion would +receive exhaustive, and altogether unnecessary, elucidation. The +habits of the prairie-dog were not alone betrayed to the ears of the +young lady. The sage-fowl's inherent weaknesses were paraded before +her; the hoot of the owl was imitated with ludicrous solemnity; other +fowl were described with wonderful attention to detail; and the +inevitable rattlesnake was pointed out to her as a serpent whose chief +occupation in life was that of posing in the shadow of the sage-brush +as a target for the revolver of the cowpuncher. + +The quaintness of the cowboy speech, his incomparable bashfulness, +amused her, while she was strangely affected by his earnestness. She +attended to the chickens and immediately her visitors became interested +in them and fell to discussing them as though they had done nothing all +their days but build hen-houses and runways. But she had them on +botany. The flower beds were deep, unfathomable mysteries to them, and +they stood afar while she cultivated the more difficult plants and +encouraged the hardier to increased beauty. + +But she had not been content to view this land of mystery from her +brother's cabin. The dignity of nature had cast its thrall upon her. +She was impressed with the sublimity of the climate, the wonderful +sunshine, the crystal light of the days and the quiet peace and beauty +of the nights. The lure of the plains had taken her upon long rides, +and the cottonwood, filling a goodly portion of the flat, was the scene +of many of her explorations. + +The pony with which her brother had provided her was--Ben Radford +declared--a shining example of sterling horse-honesty. She did not +know that Ben knew horses quite as well as he knew men or she would not +have allowed him to see the skeptical glance she had thrown over the +drowsy-eyed beast that he saddled for her. But she was overjoyed at +finding the pony all that her brother had said of it. The little +animal was tireless, and often, after a trip over the plains, or to Dry +Bottom to mail a letter, she would return by a roundabout trail. + +Meanwhile the novel still remained unwritten. Perhaps she had not yet +"absorbed" the "local color"; perhaps inspiration was tardy. At all +events she had not written a word. But she was beginning to realize +the possibilities; deep in her soul something was moving that would +presently flow from her pen. + +It would not be commonplace--that she knew. Real people would move +among the pages of her book; real deeds would be done. And as the days +passed she decided. She would write herself into her book; there would +be the first real character. The story would revolve about her and +another character--a male one--upon whom she had not decided--until the +appearance of Ferguson. After he had come she was no longer +undecided--she would make him the hero of her story. + +The villain she had already met--in Leviatt. Something about this man +was repellant. She already had a description of him in the note book +that she always carried. Had Leviatt read the things she had written +of him he would have discontinued his visits to the cabin. + +Several of the Two Diamond punchers, also, were noted as being possible +secondary characters. She had found them very amusing. But the hero +would be the one character to whom she would devote the concentrated +effort of her mind. She would make him live in the pages; a real, +forceful magnetic human being that the reader would instantly admire. +She would bare his soul to the reader; she would reveal his mental +processes--not involved, but leading straight and true to---- + +But would she? Had she not so far discovered a certain craftiness in +the character of the Two Diamond stray-man that would indicate subtlety +of thought? + +This knowledge had been growing gradually upon her since their second +meeting, and it had become an obstacle that promised difficulties. Of +course she could make Ferguson talk and act as she pleased--in the +book. But if she wanted a real character she would have to portray him +as he was. To do this would require study. Serious study of any +character would inspire faithful delineation. + +She gave much thought to him now, keeping this purpose in view. She +questioned Ben concerning him, but was unable to gain satisfying +information. He had been hired by Stafford, her brother told her, +holding the position of stray-man. + +"I've seen him once, down the other side of the cottonwood," the young +man had said. "He ain't saying much to anyone. Seems to be a quiet +sort--and deep. Pretty good sort though." + +She was pleased over Ben's brief estimate of the stray-man. It +vindicated her judgment. Besides, it showed that her brother was not +averse to friendship with him. + +Leviatt she saw with her brother often, and occasionally he came to the +cabin. His attitude toward her was one of frank admiration, but he had +received no encouragement. How could he know that he was going to be +the villain in her book--soon to be written? + +Shall we take a peep into that mysterious note book? Yes, for later we +shall see much of it. + +"Dave Leviatt," she had written in one place. "Age thirty-five. Tall, +slender; walks with a slight stoop. One rather gets the impression +that the stoop is a reflection of the man's nature, which seems +vindictive and suggests a low cunning. His eyes are small, deep set, +and glitter when he talks. But they are steady, and cold--almost +merciless. One's thoughts go instantly to the tiger. I shall try to +create that impression in the reader's mind." + +In another place she had jotted this down: "I shouldn't want anyone +killed in my book, but if I find this to be necessary Leviatt must do +the murder. But I think it would be better to have him employ some +other person to do it for him; that would give him just the character +that would fit him best. I want to make him seem too cowardly--no, not +cowardly, because I don't think he is a coward: but too cunning--to +take chances of being caught." + +Evidently she had been questioning Ben, for in another place she had +written: + +"Ferguson. I must remember this--all cowboys do not carry two guns. +Ben does, because he says he is ambidextrous, shooting equally well +with either hand. But he does not tie the bottoms of his holsters +down, like Ferguson; he says some men do this, but usually they are men +who are exceptionally rapid in getting their revolvers out and that +tying down the bottoms of the holsters facilitates removing the +weapons. They are accounted to be dangerous men. + +"Ben says when a man is quick to shoot out here he is called a gun-man, +and that if he carries two revolvers he is a two-gun man. Ben laughs +at me when I speak of a 'revolver'; they are known merely as 'guns' out +here. I must remember this. Ben says that though he likes Ferguson +quite well, he is rather suspicious of him. He seems to be unable to +understand why Stafford should employ a two-gun man to look up stray +cows." + +Below this appeared a brief reference to Ferguson. + +"He is not a bit conceited--rather bashful, I should say. But +embarrassment in him is attractive. No hero should be conceited. +There is a wide difference between impertinence and frankness. +Ferguson seems to speak frankly, but with a subtle shade. I think this +is a very agreeable trait for a hero in a novel." + +There followed more interesting scraps concerning Leviatt, which would +have caused the range boss many bad moments. And there were +interesting bits of description--jotted down when she became impressed +with a particularly odd view of the country. But there were no more +references to Ferguson. He--being the hero of her novel--must be +studied thoroughly. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +THE STORY BEGINS + +Miss Radford tied her pony to the trunk of a slender fir-balsam and +climbed to the summit of a small hill. There were some trees, quite a +bit of grass, some shrubbery, on the hill--and no snakes. She made +sure of this before seating herself upon a little shelf of rock, near a +tall cedar. + +Half a mile down the river she could see a corner of Ben's cabin, a +section of the corral fence, and one of the small outbuildings. +Opposite the cabin, across the river, rose the buttes that met her eyes +always when she came to the cabin door. This hill upon which she sat +was one that she saw often, when in the evening, watching the setting +sun, she followed its golden rays with her eyes. Many times, as the +sun had gone slowly down into a rift of the mountains, she had seen the +crest of this hill shimmering in a saffron light; the only spot in the +flat that rose above the somber, oncoming shadows of the dusk. + +From here, it seemed, began the rose veil that followed the broad +saffron shaft that led straight to the mountains. Often, watching the +beauty of the hill during the long sunset, she had felt a deep awe +stirring her. Romance was here, and mystery; it was a spot favored by +the Sun-Gods, who surrounded it with a glorious halo, lingeringly, +reluctantly withdrawing as the long shadows of the twilight crept over +the face of the world. + +It was not her first visit to the hill. Many times she had come here, +charmed with the beauty of the view, and during one of those visits she +had decided that seated on the shelf rock on the summit of the hill she +would write the first page of the book. It was for this purpose that +she had now come. + +After seating herself she opened a small handbag, producing therefrom +many sheets of paper, a much-thumbed copy of Shakespeare, and a pencil. +She was tempted to begin with a description of the particular bit of +country upon which she looked, for long ago she had decided upon Bear +Flat for the locale of the story. But she sat long nibbling at the end +of the pencil, delaying the beginning for fear of being unable to do +justice to it. + +She began at length, making several false starts and beginning anew. +Finally came a paragraph that remained. Evidently this was +satisfactory, for another paragraph followed; and then another, and +still another. Presently a complete page. Then she looked up with a +long-drawn sigh of relief. The start had been made. + +She had drawn a word picture of the flat; dwelling upon the solitude, +the desolation, the vastness, the swimming sunlight, the absence of +life and movement. But as she looked, critically comparing what she +had written with the reality, there came a movement--a horseman had +ridden into her picture. He had come down through a little gully that +led into the flat and was loping his pony through the deep saccatone +grass toward the cabin. + +It couldn't be Ben. Ben had told her that he intended riding some +thirty miles down the river and he couldn't be returning already. She +leaned forward, watching intently, the story forgotten. + +The rider kept steadily on for a quarter of an hour. Then he reached +the clearing in which the cabin stood; she saw him ride through it and +disappear. Five minutes later he reappeared, hesitated at the edge of +the clearing and then urged his pony toward the hill upon which she +sat. As he rode out of the shadows of the trees within an eighth of a +mile of her the sunlight shone fairly upon the pony. She would have +known Mustard among many other ponies. + +She drew a sudden, deep breath and sat erect, tucking back some stray +wisps of hair from her forehead. Did the rider see her? + +For a moment it seemed that the answer would be negative, for he +disappeared behind some dense shrubbery on the plain below and seemed +to be on the point of passing the hill. But just at the edge of the +shrubbery Mustard suddenly swerved and came directly toward her. +Through the corners of her eyes she watched while Ferguson dismounted, +tied Mustard close to her own animal, and stood a moment quietly +regarding her. + +"You want to look at the country all by yourself?" he inquired. + +She pretended a start, looking down at him in apparent surprise. + +"Why," she prevaricated, "I thought there was no one within miles of +me!" + +She saw his eyes flash in the sunlight. "Of course," he drawled, +"there's such an awful darkness that no one could see a pony comin' +across the flat. You think you'll be able to find your way home?" + +She flushed guiltily and did not reply. She heard him clambering up +over the loose stones, and presently he stood near her. She made a +pretense of writing. + +"Did you stop at the cabin?" she asked without looking up. + +He regarded her with amused eyes, standing loosely, his arms folded, +the fingers of his right hand pulling at his chin. "Did I stop?" he +repeated. "I couldn't rightly say. Seems to me as though I did. You +see, I didn't intend to, but I was ridin' down that way an' I thought +I'd stop in an' have a talk with Ben." + +"Oh!" Sometimes even a monosyllable is pregnant with mockery. + +"But he wasn't there. Nobody was there. I wasn't reckonin' on +everybody runnin' off." + +She turned and looked straight at him. "Why," she said, "I shouldn't +think our running away would surprise you. You see, you set us an +example in running away the other day." + +He knew instantly that she referred to his precipitate retreat on the +night she had hinted that she intended putting him into her story. She +shot another glance at him and saw his face redden with embarrassment, +but he showed no intention of running now. + +"I've been thinkin' of what you said," he returned. "You couldn't put +me into no book. You don't know anything about me. You don't know +what I think. Then how could you do it?" + +"Of course," she returned, turning squarely around to him and speaking +seriously, "the story will be fiction, and the plot will have no +foundation in fact. But I shall be very careful to have my characters +talk and act naturally. To do this I shall have to study the people +whom I wish to characterize." + +He was moved by an inward mirth. "You're still thinkin' of puttin' me +into the book?" he questioned. + +She nodded, smiling. + +"Then," he said, very gravely, "you hadn't ought to have told me. You +didn't show so clever there. Ain't you afraid that I'll go to actin' +swelled? If I do that, you'd not have the character you wanted." + +"I had thought of that, too," she returned seriously. "If you were +that kind of a man I shouldn't want you in the book. How do you know +that I haven't told you for the purpose of discovering if you would be +affected in that manner?" + +He scratched his head, contemplating her gravely. "I reckon you're +travelin' too fast for me, ma'am," he said. + +His expression of frank amusement was good to see. He stood before +her, plainly ready to surrender. Absolutely boyish, he seemed to +her--a grown-up boy to be sure, but with a boy's enthusiasms, impulses, +and generosity. Yet in his eyes was something that told of maturity, +of conscious power, of perfect trust in his ability to give a good +account of himself, even in this country where these qualities +constituted the chief rule of life. + +A strange emotion stirred her, a sudden quickening of the pulse told +her that something new had come into her life. She drew a deep, +startled breath and felt her cheeks crimsoning. She swiftly turned her +head and gazed out over the flat, leaving him standing there, scarcely +comprehending her embarrassment. + +"I reckon you've been writin' some of that book, ma'am," he said, +seeing the papers lying on the rock beside her. "I don't see why you +should want to write a Western story. Do folks in the East get +interested in knowin' what's goin' on out here?" + +She suddenly thought of herself. Had she found it interesting? She +looked swiftly at him, appraising him from a new viewpoint, feeling a +strange, new interest in him. + +"It would be strange if they didn't," she returned. "Why, it is the +only part of the country in which there still remains a touch of +romance. You must remember that this is a young country; that its +history began at a comparatively late date. England can write of its +feudal barons; France of its ancient aristocracy; but America can look +back only to the Colonial period--and the West." + +"Mebbe you're right," he said, not convinced. "But I expect there +ain't a heap of romance out here. Leastways, if there is it manages to +keep itself pretty well hid." + +She smiled, thinking of the romance that surrounded him--of which, +plainly, he was not conscious. To him, romance meant the lights, the +crowds, the amusements, the glitter and tinsel of the cities of the +East, word of which had come to him through various channels. To her +these things were no longer novel,--if they had ever been so--and so +for her romance must come from the new, the unusual, the +unconventional. The West was all this, therefore romance dwelt here. + +"Of course it all seems commonplace to you," she returned; "perhaps +even monotonous. For you have lived here long." + +He laughed. "I've traveled a heap," he said. "I've been in +California, Dakota, Wyoming, Texas, an' Arizona. An' now I'm here. +Savin' a man meets different people, this country is pretty much all +the same." + +"You must have had a great deal of experience," she said. "And you are +not very old." + +He gravely considered her. "I would say that I am about the average +age for this country. You see, folks don't live to get very old out +here--unless they're mighty careful." + +"And you haven't been careful?" + +He smiled gravely. "I expect you wouldn't call it careful. But I'm +still livin'." + +His words were singularly free from boast. + +"That means that you have escaped the dangers," she said. "I have +heard that a man's safety in this country depends largely upon his +ability to shoot quickly and accurately. I suppose you are accounted a +good shot?" + +The question was too direct. His eyes narrowed craftily. + +"I expect you're thinkin' of that book now ma'am," he said. "There's a +heap of men c'n shoot. You might say they're all good shots. I've +told you about the men who can't shoot good. They're either mighty +careful, or they ain't here any more. It's always one or the other." + +"Oh, dear!" she exclaimed, shuddering slightly. "In that case I +suppose the hero in my story will have to be a good shot." She +laughed. "I shouldn't want him to get half way through the story and +then be killed because he was clumsy in handling his weapon. I am +beginning to believe that I shall have to make him a 'two-gun' man. I +understand they are supposed to be very good shots." + +"I've seen them that wasn't," he returned gravely and shortly. + +"How did you prove that?" she asked suddenly. + +But he was not to be snared. "I didn't say I'd proved it," he stated. +"But I've seen it proved." + +"How proved?" + +"Why," he said, his eyes glinting with amusement, "they ain't here any +more, ma'am." + +"Oh. Then it doesn't follow that because a man wears two guns he is +more likely to survive than is the man who wears only one?" + +"I reckon not, ma'am." + +"I see that you have the bottoms of your holsters tied down," she said, +looking at them. "Why have you done that?" + +"Well," he declared, drawling his words a little, "I've always found +that there ain't any use of takin' chances on an accident. You +mightn't live to tell about it. An' havin' the bottoms of your +holsters tied down keeps your guns from snaggin'. I've seen men whose +guns got snagged when they wanted to use them. They wasn't so active +after." + +"Then I shall have to make my hero a 'two-gun' man," she said. "That +is decided. Now, the next thing to do is to give some attention to his +character. I think he ought to be absolutely fearless and honest and +incapable of committing a dishonorable deed. Don't you think so?" + +While they had talked he had come closer to her and stood beside the +shelf rock, one foot resting on it. At her question he suddenly looked +down at the foot, shifting it nervously, while a flush started from +above the blue scarf at his throat and slowly suffused his face. + +"Don't you think so?" she repeated, her eyes meeting his for an instant. + +"Why, of course, ma'am," he suddenly answered, the words coming +sharply, as though he had only at that instant realized the import of +the question. + +"Why," said she, aware of his embarrassment, "don't you think there are +such men?" + +"I expect there are, ma'am," he returned; "but in this country there's +a heap of argument could be made about what would be dishonorable. If +your two-gun should happen to be a horse thief, or a rustler, I reckon +we could get at it right off." + +"He shan't be either of those," she declared stoutly. "I don't think +he would stoop to such contemptible deeds. In the story he is employed +by a ranch owner to kill a rustler whom the owner imagines has been +stealing his cattle." + +His hands were suddenly behind him, the fingers clenched. His eyes +searched her face with an alert, intense gaze. His embarrassment was +gone; his expression was saturnine, his eyes narrowed with a slight +mockery. And his voice came, cold, deliberate, even. + +"I reckon you've got your gun-man true to life, ma'am," he said. + +She laughed lightly, amused over the sudden change that she saw and +felt in him. "Of course the gun-man doesn't really intend to kill the +rustler," she said. "I don't believe I shall have any one killed in +the story. The gun-man is merely attracted by the sum of money +promised him by the ranch owner, and when he accepts it is only because +he is in dire need of work. Don't you think that could be possible?" + +"That could happen easy in this country, ma'am," he returned. + +She laughed delightedly. "That vindicates my judgment," she declared. + +He was regarding her with unwavering eyes. "Is that gun-man goin' to +be the hero in your story, ma'am?" he asked quietly. + +"Why, of course." + +"An' I'm to be him?" + +She gave him a defiant glance, though she blushed immediately. + +"Why do you ask?" she questioned in reply. "You need have no fear that +I will compel my hero to do anything dishonorable." + +"I ain't fearin' anything," he returned. "But I'd like to know how you +come to think of that. Do writers make them things up out of their own +minds, or does someone tell them?" + +"Those things generally have their origin in the mind of the writer," +she replied. + +"Meanin' that you thought of that yourself?" he persisted. + +"Of course." + +He lifted his foot from the rock and stood looking gravely at her. "In +most of the books I have read there's always a villain. I reckon +you're goin' to have one?" + +"There will be a villain," she returned. + +His eyes flashed queerly. "Would you mind tellin' me who you have +picked out for your villain?" he continued. + +"I don't mind," she said. "It is Leviatt." + +He suddenly grinned broadly and held out his right hand to her. +"Shake, ma'am," he said. "I reckon if I was writin' a book Leviatt +would be the villain." + +She rose from the rock and took his outstretched hand, her eyes +drooping as they met his. He felt her hand tremble a little, and he +looked at it, marveling. She glanced up, saw him looking at her hand, +swiftly withdrew it, and turned from him, looking down into the flat at +the base of the hill. She started, uttering the sharp command: + +"Look!" + +Perhaps a hundred yards distant, sitting on his pony in a lounging +attitude, was a horseman. While they looked the horseman removed his +broad brimmed hat, bowed mockingly, and urged his pony out into the +flat. It was Leviatt. + +On the slight breeze a laugh floated back to them, short, sharp, +mocking. + +For a time they stood silent, watching the departing rider. Then +Ferguson's lips wreathed into a feline smile. + +"Kind of dramatic, him ridin' up that-a-way," he said. "Don't you +think puttin' him in the book will spoil it, ma'am?" + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +"DO YOU SMOKE?" + +Leviatt rode down through the gully where Miss Radford had first caught +sight of Ferguson when he had entered the flat. He disappeared in this +and five minutes later came out upon a ridge above it. The distance +was too great to observe whether he turned to look back. But just +before he disappeared finally they saw him sweep his hat from his head. +It was a derisive motion, and Miss Radford colored and shot a furtive +glance at Ferguson. + +The latter stood loosely beside her, his hat brim pulled well down over +his forehead. As she looked she saw his eyes narrow and his lips curve +ironically. + +"What do you suppose he thought?" she questioned, her eyes drooping +away from his. + +"Him?" Ferguson laughed. "I expect you could see from his actions +that he wasn't a heap tickled." Some thought was moving him mightily. +He chuckled gleefully. "Now if you could only put what he was thinkin' +into your book, ma'am, it sure would make interestin' readin'." + +"But he saw you holding my hand!" she declared, aware of the +uselessness of telling him this, but unable to repress her indignation +over the thought that Leviatt had seen. + +"Why, I expect he did, ma'am!" he returned, trying hard to keep the +pleasure out of his voice. "You see, he must have been lookin' right +at us. But there ain't nothin' to be flustered over. I reckon that +some day, if he's around, he'll see me holdin' your hand again." + +The red in her cheeks deepened. "Why, how conceited you are!" she +said, trying to be very severe, but only succeeding in making him think +that her eyes were prettier than he had thought. + +"I don't think I am conceited, ma'am," he returned, smiling. "I've +liked you right well since the beginning. I don't think it's conceit +to tell a lady that you're thinkin' of holdin' her hand." + +She was looking straight at him, trying to be very defiant. "And so +you have liked me?" she taunted. "I am considering whether to tell you +that I was not thinking of you as a possible admirer." + +His eyes flashed. "I don't think you mean that, ma'am," he said. "You +ain't treated me like you treated some others." + +"Some others?" she questioned, not comprehending. + +He laughed. "Them other Two Diamond men that took a shine to you. +I've heard that you talked right sassy to them. But you ain't never +been sassy to me. Leastways, you ain't never told me to 'evaporate'." + +She was suddenly convulsed. "They have told you that?" she questioned. +And then not waiting for an answer she continued more soberly: "And so +you thought that in view of what I have said to those men you had been +treated comparatively civilly. I am afraid I have underestimated you. +Hereafter I shall talk less intimately to you." + +"I wouldn't do that, ma'am," he pleaded. "You don't need to be afraid +that I'll be too fresh." + +"Oh, dear!" she exclaimed, with a pretense of delight. "It will be +very nice to know that I can talk to you without fear of your placing a +false construction on my words. But I am not afraid of you." + +He stepped back from the rock, hitching at his cartridge belt. "I'm +goin' over to the Two Diamond now, ma'am," he said. "And since you've +said you ain't afraid of me, I'm askin' you if you won't go ridin' with +me tomorrow. There's a right pretty stretch of country about fifteen +miles up the crick that you'd be tickled over." + +Should she tell him that she had explored all of the country within +thirty miles? The words trembled on her lips but remained unspoken. + +"Why, I don't know," she objected. "Do you think it is quite safe?" + +He smiled and stepped away from her, looking back over his shoulder. +"Thank you, ma'am," he said. "I'll ride over for you some time in the +mornin'." He continued down the hill, loose stones rattling ahead of +him. She looked after him, radiant. + +"But I didn't say I would go," she called. And then, receiving no +answer to this, she waited until he had swung into the saddle and was +waving a farewell to her. + +"Don't come before ten o'clock!" she advised. + +She saw him smile and then she returned to her manuscript. + +When the Sun-Gods kissed the crest of the hill and bathed her in the +rich rose colors that came straight down to the hill through the rift +in the mountains, she rose and gathered up her papers. She had not +written another line. + + +It was late in the afternoon when Leviatt rode up to the door of +Stafford's office and dismounted. He took plenty of time walking the +short distance that lay between him and the door, and growled a savage +reply to a loafing puncher, who asked him a question. Once in the +office he dropped glumly into a chair, his eyes glittering vengefully +as his gaze rested on Stafford, who sat at his desk, engaged in his +accounts. Through the open window Stafford had seen the range boss +coming and therefore when the latter had entered he had not looked up. + +Presently he finished his work and drew back from the desk. Then he +took up a pipe, filled it with tobacco, lighted it, and puffed with +satisfaction. + +"Nothin's happened?" he questioned, glancing at his range boss. + +Leviatt's reply was short. "No. Dropped down to see how things was +runnin'." + +"Things is quiet," returned Stafford. "There ain't been any cattle +missed for a long time. I reckon the new stray-man is doin' some good." + +Leviatt's eyes glowed. "If you call gassin' with Mary Radford doin' +good, why then, he's doin' it!" he snapped. + +"I ain't heard that he's doin' that," returned Stafford. + +"I'm tellin' you about it now," said Leviatt. "I seen him to-day; him +an' her holdin' hands on top of a hill in Bear Flat." He sneered. +"He's a better ladies' man than a gunfighter. I reckon we made a +mistake in pickin' him up." + +Stafford smiled indulgently. "He's cert'nly a good looker," he said. +"I reckon some girls would take a shine to him. But I ain't +questionin' his shootin'. I've been in this country a right smart +while an' I ain't never seen another man that could bore a can six +times while it's in the air." + +Leviatt's lips drooped. "He could do that an' not have nerve enough to +shoot a coyote. Him not clashin' with Ben Radford proves he ain't got +nerve." + +Stafford smiled. The story of how the stray-man had closed Leviatt's +mouth was still fresh in his memory. He was wondering whether Leviatt +knew that he had heard about the incident. + +"Suppose you try him?" he suggested. "That'd be as good a way as any +to find out if he's got nerve." + +Leviatt's face bloated poisonously, but he made no answer. Apparently +unaware that he had touched a tender spot Stafford continued. + +"Mebbe his game is to get in with the girl, figgerin' that he'll be +more liable that way to get a chancst at Ben Radford. But whatever his +game is, I ain't interferin'. He's got a season contract an' I ain't +breakin' my word with the cuss. I ain't takin' no chances with him." + +Leviatt rose abruptly, his face swelling with an anger that he was +trying hard to suppress. "He'd better not go to foolin' with Mary +Radford, damn him!" he snapped. + +"I reckon that wind is blowin' in two directions," grinned Stafford. +"When I see him I'll tell him----" A clatter of hoofs reached the ears +of the two men, and Stafford turned to the window. "Here's the +stray-man now," he said gravely. + +Both men were silent when Ferguson reached the door. He stood just +inside, looking at Stafford and Leviatt with cold, alert eyes. He +nodded shortly to Stafford, not removing his gaze from the range boss. +The latter deliberately turned his back and looked out of the window. + +There was insolence in the movement, but apparently it had no effect +upon the stray-man, beyond bringing a queer twitch into the corners of +his mouth. He smiled at Stafford. + +"Anything new?" questioned the latter, as he had questioned Leviatt. + +"Nothin' doin'," returned Ferguson. + +Leviatt now turned from the window. He spoke to Stafford, sneering. +"Ben Radford's quite a piece away from where he's hangin' out," he +said. He again turned to the window. + +Ferguson's lips smiled, but his eyes narrowed. Stafford stiffened in +his chair. He watched the stray-man's hands furtively, fearing the +outcome of this meeting. But Ferguson's hands were nowhere near his +guns. They were folded over his chest--lightly--the fingers of his +right hand caressing his chin. + +"You ridin' up the crick to-day?" he questioned of Leviatt. His tone +was mild, yet there was a peculiar quality in it that hinted at +hardness. + +"No," answered Leviatt, without turning. + +Ferguson began rolling a cigarette. When he had done this he lighted +it and puffed slowly. "Well, now," he said, "that's mighty peculiar. +I'd swore that I saw you over in Bear Flat." + +Leviatt turned. "You've been pickin' posies too long with Mary +Radford," he sneered. + +Ferguson smiled. "Mebbe I have," he returned. "There's them that +she'll let pick posies with her, an' them that she won't." + +Leviatt's face crimsoned with anger. "I reckon if you hadn't been +monkeyin' around too much with the girl, you'd have run across that +dead Two Diamond cow an' the dogie that she left," he sneered. + +Ferguson's lips straightened. "How far off was you standin' when that +cow died?" he drawled. + +A curse writhed through Leviatt's lips. "Why, you damned----" + +"Don't!" warned Ferguson. He coolly stepped toward Leviatt, holding by +the thongs the leather tobacco pouch from which he had obtained the +tobacco to make his cigarette. When he had approached close to the +range boss he held the pouch up before his eyes. + +"I reckon you'd better have a smoke," he said quietly; "they say it's +good for the nerves." He took a long pull at the cigarette. "It's +pretty fair tobacco," he continued. "I found it about ten miles up the +crick, on a ridge above a dry arroyo. I reckon it's your'n. It's got +your initials on it." + +The eyes of the two men met in a silent battle. Leviatt's were the +first to waver. Then he reached out and took the pouch. "It's mine," +he said shortly. Again he looked straight at Ferguson, his eyes +carrying a silent message. + +"You see anything else?" he questioned. + +Ferguson smiled. "I ain't sayin' anything about anything else," he +returned. + +Thus, unsuspectingly, did Stafford watch and listen while these two men +arranged to carry on their war man to man, neither asking any favor +from the man who, with a word, might have settled it. With his reply +that he wasn't "sayin' anything about anything else," Ferguson had told +Leviatt that he had no intention of telling his suspicions to any man. +Nor from this moment would Leviatt dare whisper a derogatory word into +the manager's ear concerning Ferguson. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +ON THE EDGE OF THE PLATEAU + +Now that Ferguson was satisfied beyond doubt that Leviatt had been +concealed in the thicket above the bed of the arroyo where he had come +upon the dead Two Diamond cow, there remained but one disturbing +thought: who was the man he had seen riding along the ridge away from +the arroyo? Until he discovered the identity of the rider he must +remain absolutely in the dark concerning Leviatt's motive in concealing +the name of this other actor in the incident. He was positive that +Leviatt knew the rider, but he was equally positive that Leviatt would +keep this knowledge to himself. + +But on this morning he was not much disturbed over the mystery. Other +things were troubling him. Would Miss Radford go riding with him? +Would she change her mind over night? + +As he rode he consulted his silver timepiece. She had told him not to +come before ten. The hands of his watch pointed to ten thirty when he +entered the flat, and it was near eleven when he rode up to the cabin +door--to find Miss Radford--arrayed in riding skirt, dainty boots, +gauntleted gloves, blouse, and soft felt hat--awaiting him at the door. + +"You're late," she said, smiling as she came out upon the porch. + +If he had been less wise he might have told her that she had told him +not to come until after ten and that he had noticed that she had been +waiting for him in spite of her apparent reluctance of yesterday. But +he steered carefully away from this pitfall. He dismounted and threw +the bridle rein over Mustard's head, coming around beside the porch. + +"I wasn't thinkin' to hurry you, ma'am," he said. "But I reckon we'll +go now. It's cert'nly a fine day for ridin'." He stood silent for a +moment, looking about him. Then he flushed. "Why, I'm gettin' right +box-headed, ma'am," he declared. "Here I am standin' an' makin' you +sick with my palaver, an' your horse waitin' to be caught up." + +He stepped quickly to Mustard's side and uncoiled his rope. She stood +on the porch, watching him as he proceeded to the corral, caught the +pony, and flung a bridle on it. Then he led the animal to the porch +and cinched the saddle carefully. Throwing the reins over the pommel +of the saddle, he stood at the animal's head, waiting. + +She came to the edge of the porch, placed a slender, booted foot into +the ox-bow stirrup, and swung gracefully up. In an instant he had +vaulted into his own saddle, and together they rode out upon the +gray-white floor of the flat. + +They rode two miles, keeping near the fringe of cottonwoods, and +presently mounted a long slope. Half an hour later Miss Radford looked +back and saw the flat spread out behind, silent, vast, deserted, +slumbering in the swimming white sunlight. A little later she looked +again, and the flat was no longer there, for they had reached the crest +of the slope and their trail had wound them round to a broad level, +from which began another slope, several miles distant. + +They had ridden for more than two hours, talking very little, when they +reached the crest of the last rise and saw, spreading before them, a +level many miles wide, stretching away in three directions. It was a +grass plateau, but the grass was dry and drooping and rustled under the +ponies' hoofs. There were no trees, but a post oak thicket skirted the +southern edge, and it was toward this that he urged his pony. She +followed, smiling to think that he was deceiving himself in believing +that she had not yet explored this place. + +They came close to the thicket, and he swung off his horse and stood at +her stirrup. + +"I was wantin' you to see the country from here," he said, as he helped +her down. She watched him while he picketed the horses, so that they +might not stray. Then they went together to the edge of the thicket, +seating themselves in a welcome shade. + +At their feet the plateau dropped sheer, as though cut with a knife, +and a little way out from the base lay a narrow ribbon of water that +flowed slowly in its rocky bed, winding around the base of a small +hill, spreading over a shallow bottom, and disappearing between the +buttes farther down. + +Everything beneath them was distinguishable, though distant. Knobs +rose here; there a flat spread. Mountains frowned in the distance, but +so far away that they seemed like papier-mache shapes towering in a sea +of blue. Like a map the country seemed as Miss Radford and Ferguson +looked down upon it, yet a big map, over which one might wonder; more +vast, more nearly perfect, richer in detail than any that could be +evolved from the talents of man. + +Ridges, valleys, gullies, hills, knobs, and draws were all laid out in +a vast basin. Miss Radford's gaze swept down into a section of flat +near the river. + +"Why, there are some cattle down there!" she exclaimed. + +"Sure," he returned; "they're Two Diamond. Way off there behind that +ridge is where the wagon is." He pointed to a long range of flat hills +that stretched several miles. "The boys that are workin' on the other +side of that ridge can't see them cattle like we can. Looks plum +re-diculous." + +"There are no men with those cattle down there," she said, pointing to +those below in the flat. + +"No," he returned quietly; "they're all off on the other side of the +ridge." + +She smiled demurely at him. "Then we won't be interrupted--as we were +yesterday," she said. + +Did she know that this was why he had selected this spot for the end of +the ride? He looked quickly at her, but answered slowly. + +"They couldn't see us," he said. "If we was out in the open we'd be +right on the skyline. Then anyone could see us. But we've got this +thicket behind us, an' I reckon from down there we'd be pretty near +invisible." + +He turned around, clasping his hands about one knee and looking +squarely at her. "I expect you done a heap with your book +yesterday--after I went away?" + +Her cheeks colored a little under his straight gaze. + +"I didn't stay there long," she equivocated. "But I got some very good +ideas, and I am glad that I didn't write much. I should have had to +destroy it, because I have decided upon a different beginning. Ben +made the trip to Dry Bottom yesterday, and last night he told something +that had happened there that has given me some very good material for a +beginning." + +"That's awful interestin'," he observed. "So now you'll be able to +start your book with somethin' that really happened?" + +"Real and original," she returned, with a quick glance at him. "Ben +told me that about a month ago some men had a shooting match in Dry +Bottom. They used a can for a target, and one man kept it in the air +until he put six bullet holes through it. Ben says he is pretty handy +with his weapons, but he could never do that. He insists that few men +can, and he is inclined to think that the man who did do it must have +been a gunfighter. I suppose you have never tried it?" + +Over his lips while she had been speaking had crept the slight mocking +smile which always told better than words of the cold cynicism that +moved him at times. Did she know anything? Did she suspect him? The +smile masked an interest that illumined his eyes very slightly as he +looked at her. + +"I expect that is plum slick shootin'," he returned slowly. "But some +men can do it. I've knowed them. But I ain't heard that it's been +done lately in this here country. I reckon Ben told you somethin' of +how this man looked?" + +He had succeeded in putting the question very casually, and she had not +caught the note of deep interest in his voice. + +"Why it's very odd," she said, looking him over carefully; "from Ben's +description I should assume that the man looked very like you!" + +If her reply had startled him he gave little evidence of it. He sat +perfectly quiet, gazing with steady eyes out over the big basin. For a +time she sat silent also, her gaze following his. Then she turned. + +"That would be odd, wouldn't it?" she said. + +"What would?" he answered, not looking at her. + +"Why, if you _were_ the man who had done that shooting! It would +follow out the idea of my plot perfectly. For in my story the hero is +hired to shoot a supposed rustler, and of course he would have to be a +good shot. And since Ben has told me the story of the shooting match I +have decided that the hero in my story shall be tested in that manner +before being employed to shoot the rustler. Then he comes to the +supposed rustler's cabin and meets the heroine, in much the same manner +that you came. Now if it should turn out that you were the man who did +the shooting in Dry Bottom my story up to this point would be very +nearly real. And that would be fine!" + +She had allowed a little enthusiasm to creep into her voice, and he +looked up at her quickly, a queer expression in his eyes. + +"You goin' to have your 'two-gun' man bit by a rattler?" he questioned. + +"Well, I don't know about that. It would make very little difference. +But I should be delighted to find that you were the man who did the +shooting over at Dry Bottom. Say that you are!" + +Even now he could not tell whether there was subtlety in her voice The +old doubt rose again in his mind. Was she really serious in saying +that she intended putting all this in her story, or was this a ruse, +concealing an ulterior purpose? Suppose she and her brother suspected +him of being the man who had participated in the shooting match in Dry +Bottom? Suppose the brother, or she, had invented this tale about the +book to draw him out? He was moved to an inward humor, amused to think +that either of them should imagine him shallow enough to be caught thus. + +But what if they did catch him? Would they gain by it? They could +gain nothing, but the knowledge would serve to put them on their guard. +But if she did suspect him, what use was there in evasion or denial? +He smiled whimsically. + +"I reckon your story is goin' to be real up to this point," he +returned. "A while back I did shoot at a can in Dry Bottom." + +She gave an exclamation of delight. "Now, isn't that marvelous? No +one shall be able to say that my beginning will be strictly fiction." +She leaned closer to him, her eyes alight with eagerness. "Now please +don't say that you are the man who shot the can five times," she +pleaded. "I shouldn't want my hero to be beaten at anything he +undertook. But I know that you were not beaten. Were you?" + +He smiled gravely. "I reckon I wasn't beat," he returned. + +She sat back and surveyed him with satisfaction. + +"I knew it," she stated, as though in her mind there had never existed +any doubt of the fact. "Now," she said, plainly pleased over the +result of her questioning, "I shall be able to proceed, entirely +confident that my hero will be able to give a good account of himself +in any situation." + +Her eyes baffled him. He gave up watching her and turned to look at +the world beneath him. He would have given much to know her thoughts. +She had said that from her brother's description of the man who had won +the shooting match at Dry Bottom she would assume that that man had +looked very like him. Did her brother hold this opinion also? + +Ferguson cared very little if he did. He was accustomed to danger, and +he had gone into this business with his eyes open. And if Ben did +know---- Unconsciously his lips straightened and his chin went forward +slightly, giving his face an expression of hardness that made him look +ten years older. Watching him, the girl drew a slow, full breath. It +was a side of his character with which she was as yet unacquainted, and +she marveled over it, comparing it to the side she already knew--the +side that he had shown her--quiet, thoughtful, subtle. And now at a +glance she saw him as men knew him--unyielding, unafraid, indomitable. + +Yet there was much in this sudden revelation of character to admire. +She liked a man whom other men respected for the very traits that his +expression had revealed. No man would be likely to adopt an air of +superiority toward him; none would attempt to trifle with him. She +felt that she ought not to trifle, but moved by some unaccountable +impulse, she laughed. + +He turned his head at the laugh and looked quizzically at her. + +"I hope you were not thinking of killing some one?" she taunted. + +His right hand slowly clenched. Something metallic suddenly glinted +his eyes, to be succeeded instantly by a slight mockery. "You afraid +some one's goin' to be killed?" he inquired slowly. + +"Well--no," she returned, startled by the question. "But you looked +so--so determined that I--I thought----" + +He suddenly seized her arm and drew her around so that she faced the +little stretch of plain near the ridge about which they had been +speaking previously. His lips were in straight lines again, his eyes +gleaming interestedly. + +"You see that man down there among them cattle?" he questioned. + +Following his gaze, she saw a man among perhaps a dozen cattle. At the +moment she looked the man had swung a rope, and she saw the loop fall +true over the head of a cow the man had selected, saw the pony pivot +and drag the cow prone. Then the man dismounted, ran swiftly to the +side of the fallen cow, and busied himself about her hind legs. + +"What is he doing?" she asked, a sudden excitement shining in her eyes. + +"He's hog-tieing her now," returned Ferguson. + +She knew what that meant. She had seen Ben throw cattle in this manner +when he was branding them. "Hog-tieing" meant binding their hind legs +with a short piece of rope to prevent struggling while the brand was +being applied. + +Apparently this was what the man was preparing to do. Smoke from a +nearby fire curled lazily upward, and about this fire the man now +worked--evidently turning some branding irons. He gave some little +time to this, and while Miss Radford watched she heard Ferguson's voice +again. + +"I reckon we're goin' to see some fun pretty soon," he said quietly. + +"Why?" she inquired quickly. + +He smiled. "Do you see that man ridin' through that break on the +ridge?" he asked, pointing the place out to her. She nodded, puzzled +by his manner. He continued dryly. + +"Well, if that man that's comin' through the break is what he ought to +be he'll be shootin' pretty soon." + +"Why?" she gasped, catching at his sleeve, "why should he shoot?" + +He laughed again--grimly. "Well," he returned, "if a puncher ketches a +rustler with the goods on he's got a heap of right to do some shootin'." + +She shuddered. "And do you think that man among the cattle is a +rustler?" she asked. + +"Wait," he advised, peering intently toward the ridge. "Why," he +continued presently, "there's another man ridin' this way. An' he's +hidin' from the other--keepin' in the gullies an' the draws so's the +first man can't see him if he looks back." He laughed softly. "It's +plum re-diculous. Here we are, able to see all that's goin' on down +there an' not able to take a hand in it. An' there's them three goin' +ahead with what they're thinkin' about, not knowin' that we're watchin' +them, an' two of them not knowin' that the third man is watchin'. I'd +call that plum re-diculous." + +The first man was still riding through the break in the ridge, coming +boldly, apparently unconscious of the presence of the man among the +cattle, who was well concealed from the first man's eyes by a rocky +promontory at the corner of the break. The third man was not over an +eighth of a mile behind the first man, and riding slowly and carefully. +At the rate the first man was riding not five minutes would elapse +before he would come out into the plain full upon the point where the +man among the cattle was working at his fire. + +Ferguson and Miss Radford watched the scene with interest. Plainly the +first man was intruding. Or if not, he was the rustler's confederate +and the third man was spying upon him. Miss Radford and Ferguson were +to discover the key to the situation presently. + +"Do you think that man among the cattle is a rustler?" questioned Miss +Radford. In her excitement she had pressed very close to Ferguson and +was clutching his arm very tightly. + +"I reckon he is," returned Ferguson. "I ain't rememberin' that any +ranch has cows that run the range unbranded; especially when the cow +has got a calf, unless that cow is a maverick, an' that ain't likely, +since she's runnin' with the Two Diamond bunch." + +He leaned forward, for the man had left the fire and was running toward +the fallen cow. Once at her side the man bent over her, pressing the +hot irons against the bottoms of her hoofs. A thin wreath of smoke +curled upward; the cow struggled. + +Ferguson looked at Miss Radford. "Burnt her hoofs," he said shortly, +"so she can't follow when he runs her calf off." + +"The brute!" declared Miss Radford, her face paling with anger. + +The man was fumbling with the rope that bound the cow's legs, when the +first man rode around the edge of the break and came full upon him. +From the distance at which Miss Radford and Ferguson watched they could +not see the expression of either man's face, but they saw the rustler's +right hand move downward; saw his pistol glitter in the sunlight. + +But the pistol was not raised. The first man's pistol had appeared +just a fraction of a second sooner, and they saw that it was poised, +menacing the rustler. + +For an instant the two men were motionless. Ferguson felt the grasp on +his arm tighten, and he turned his head to see Miss Radford's face, +pale and drawn; her eyes lifted to his with a slow, dawning horror in +them. + +"Oh!" she exclaimed. "They are going to shoot!" She withdrew her hand +from Ferguson's arm and held it, with the other, to her ears, cringing +away from the edge of the cliff. She waited, breathless, for--it +seemed to her--the space of several minutes, her head turned from the +men, her eyes closed for fear that she might, in the dread of the +moment, look toward the plain. She kept telling herself that she would +not turn, but presently, in spite of her determination, the suspense +was too great, and she turned quickly and fearfully, expecting to see +at least one riderless horse. That would have been horrible enough. + +To her surprise both men still kept the positions that they had held +when she had turned away. The newcomer's revolver still menaced the +rustler. She looked up into Ferguson's face, to see a grim smile on +it, to see his eyes, chilled and narrowed, fixed steadily upon the two +horsemen. + +"Oh!" she said, "is it over?" + +Ferguson heard the question, and smiled mirthlessly without turning his +head. + +"I reckon it ain't over--yet," he returned. "But I expect it'll be +over pretty soon, if that guy that's got his gun on the rustler don't +get a move on right quick. That other guy is comin' around the corner +of that break, an' if he's the rustler's friend that man with the gun +will get his pretty rapid." His voice raised a trifle, a slightly +anxious note in it. + +"Why don't the damn fool turn around? He could see that last man now +if he did. Now, what do you think of that?" Ferguson's voice was +sharp and tense, and, in spite of herself, Miss Radford's gaze shifted +again to the plains below her. Fascinated, her fear succumbing to the +intense interest of the moment, she followed the movements of the trio. + +From around the corner of the break the third man had ridden. He was +not over a hundred feet from the man who had caught the rustler and he +was walking his horse now. The watchers on the edge of the plateau +could see that he had taken in the situation and was stealing upon the +captor, who sat in his saddle, his back to the advancing rider. + +Drawing a little closer, the third man stealthily dropped from his pony +and crept forward. The significance of this movement dawned upon Miss +Radford in a flash, and she again seized Ferguson's arm, tugging at it +fiercely. + +"Why, he's going to kill that man!" she cried. "Can't you do +something? For mercy's sake do! Shout, or shoot off your pistol--do +something to warn him!" + +Ferguson flashed a swift glance at her, and she saw that his face wore +a queer pallor. His expression had grown grimmer, but he smiled--a +little sadly, she thought. + +"It ain't a bit of use tryin' to do anything," he returned, his gaze +again on the men. "We're two miles from them men an' a thousand feet +above them. There ain't any pistol report goin' to stop what's goin' +on down there. All we can do is to watch. Mebbe we can recognize one +of them. . . . Shucks!" + +The exclamation was called from him by a sudden movement on the part of +the captor. The third man must have made a noise, for the captor +turned sharply. At the instant he did so the rustler's pistol flashed +in the sunlight. + +The watchers on the plateau did not hear the report at once, and when +they did it came to them only faintly--a slight sound which was barely +distinguishable. But they saw a sudden spurt of flame and smoke. The +captor reeled drunkenly in his saddle, caught blindly at the pommel, +and then slid slowly down into the grass of the plains. + +Ferguson drew a deep breath and, turning, looked sharply at Miss +Radford. She had covered her face with her hands and was swaying +dizzily. He was up from the rock in a flash and was supporting her, +leading her away from the edge of the plateau. She went unresisting, +her slender figure shuddering spasmodically, her hands still covering +her face. + +"Oh!" she exclaimed, as the horror of the scene rose in her mind. "The +brutes! The brutes!" + +Feeling that if he kept quiet she would recover from the shock of the +incident sooner, Ferguson said nothing in reply to her outbreaks as he +led her toward the ponies. For a moment after reaching them she leaned +against her animal's shoulder, her face concealed from Ferguson by the +pony's mane. Then he was at her side, speaking firmly. + +"You must get away from here," he said, "I ought to have got you away +before--before that happened." + +She looked up, showing him a pair of wide, dry eyes, in which there was +still a trace of horror. An expression of grave self-accusation shone +in his. + +"You were not to blame," she said dully. "You may have anticipated a +meeting of those men, but you could not have foreseen the end. Oh!" +She shuddered again. "To think of seeing a man deliberately murdered!" + +"That's just what it was," he returned quietly; "just plain murder. +They had him between them. He didn't have a chance. He was bound to +get it from one or the other. Looks like they trapped him; run him +down there on purpose." He held her stirrup. + +"I reckon you've seen enough, ma'am," he added. "You'd better hop +right on your horse an' get back to Bear Flat." + +She shivered and raised her head, looking at him--a flash of fear in +her eyes. "You are going down there!" she cried, her eyes dilating. + +He laughed grimly. "I cert'nly am, ma'am," he returned. "You'd better +go right off. I'm ridin' down there to see how bad that man is hit." + +She started toward him, protesting. "Why, they will kill you, too!" +she declared. + +He laughed again, with a sudden grim humor. "There ain't any danger," +he returned. "They've sloped." + +Involuntarily she looked down. Far out on the plains, through the +break in the ridge of hills, she could see two horsemen racing away. + +"The cowards!" she cried, her voice shaking with anger. "To shoot a +man in cold blood and then run!" She looked at Ferguson, her figure +stiffening with decision. + +"If you go down there I am going, too!" she declared. "He might need +some help," she added, seeing the objection in his eyes, "and if he +does I may be able to give it to him. You know," she continued, +smiling wanly, "I have had some experience with sick people." + +He said nothing more, but silently assisted her into the saddle and +swung into his own. They urged the animals to a rapid pace, she +following him eagerly. + +It was a rough trail, leading through many gullies, around miniature +hills, into bottoms where huge boulders and treacherous sand barred the +way, along the face of dizzy cliffs, and through lava beds where the +footing was uncertain and dangerous. But in an hour they were on the +plains and riding toward the break in the ridge of hills, where the +shooting had been done. + +The man's pony had moved off a little and was grazing unconcernedly +when they arrived. A brown heap in the grass told where the man lay, +and presently Ferguson was down beside him, one of his limp wrists +between his fingers. He stood up after a moment, to confront Miss +Radford, who had fallen behind during the last few minutes of the ride. +Ferguson's face was grave, and there was a light in his eyes that +thrilled her for a moment as she looked at him. + +"He ain't dead, ma'am," he said as he assisted her down from her pony. +"The bullet got him in the shoulder." + +She caught a queer note in his voice--something approaching appeal. +She looked swiftly at him, suspicious. "Do you know him?" she asked. + +"I reckon I do, ma'am," he returned. "It's Rope Jones. Once he stood +by me when he thought I needed a friend. If there's any chance I'm +goin' to get him to your cabin--where you can take care of him till he +gets over this--if he ever does." + +She realized now how this tragedy had shocked her. She reeled and the +world swam dizzily before her. Again she saw Ferguson dart forward, +but she steadied herself and smiled reassuringly. + +"It is merely the thought that I must now put my little knowledge to a +severe test," she said. "It rather frightened me. I don't know +whether anything can be done." + +She succeeded in forcing herself to calmness and gave orders rapidly. + +"Get something under his head," she commanded. "No, that will be too +high," she added, as she saw Ferguson start to unbuckle the saddle +cinch on his pony. "Raise his head only a very little. That round +thing that you have fastened to your saddle (the slicker) would do very +well. There. Now get some water!" + +She was down beside the wounded man in another instant, cutting away a +section of the shirt near the shoulder, with a knife that she had +borrowed from Ferguson. The wound had not bled much and was lower than +Ferguson had thought. But she gave it what care she could, and when +Ferguson arrived with water--from the river, a mile away--she dressed +the wound and applied water to Rope's forehead. + +Soon she saw that her efforts were to be of little avail. Rope lay +pitifully slack and unresponsive. At the end of an hour's work +Ferguson bent over her with a question on his lips. + +"Do you reckon he'll come around, ma'am?" + +She shook her head negatively. "The bullet has lodged +somewhere--possibly in the lung," she returned. "It entered just above +the heart, and he has bled much--internally. He may never regain +consciousness." + +Ferguson's face paled with a sudden anger. "In that case, ma'am, we'll +never know who shot him," he said slowly. "An' I'm wantin' to know +that. Couldn't you fetch him to, ma'am--just long enough so's I could +ask him?" + +She looked up with a slow glance. "I can try," she said. "Is there +any more whiskey in your flask?" + +He produced the flask, and they both bent over Rope, forcing a generous +portion of the liquor down his throat. Then, alternately bathing the +wound and his forehead, they watched. They were rewarded presently by +a faint flicker of the eyelids and a slow flow of color in the pale +cheeks. Then after a little the eyes opened. + +In an instant Ferguson's lips were close to Rope's ear. "Who shot you, +Rope, old man?" he asked eagerly. "You don't need to be afraid to tell +me, it's Ferguson." + +The wounded man's eyes were glazed with a dull incomprehension. But +slowly, as though at last he was faintly conscious of the significance +of the question, his eyes glinted with the steady light of returning +reason. Suddenly he smiled, his lips opening slightly. Both watchers +leaned tensely forward to catch the low words. + +"Ferguson told me to look out," he mumbled. "He told me to be careful +that they didn't get me between them. But I wasn't thinkin' it would +happen just that way." And now his eyes opened scornfully and he +struggled and lifted himself upon one arm, gazing at some imaginary +object. + +"Why," he said slowly and distinctly, his voice cold and metallic, +"you're a hell of a range boss! Why you----!" he broke off suddenly, +his eyes fixed full upon Miss Radford. "Why, it's a woman! An' I +thought---- Why, ma'am," he went on, apologetically, "I didn't know +you was there! . . . But you ain't goin' to run off no calf while I'm +lookin' at you. Shucks! Won't the Ol' Man be some surprised to know +that Tucson an'----" + +He shuddered spasmodically and sat erect with a great effort. + +"You've got me, damn you!" he sneered. "But you won't never get +anyone----" + +He swung his right hand over his head, as though the hand held a +pistol. But the arm suddenly dropped, he shuddered again, and sank +slowly back--his eyes wide and staring, but unseeing. + +Ferguson looked sharply at Miss Radford, who was suddenly bending over +the prostrate man, her head on his breast. She arose after a little, +tears starting to her eyes. + +"He has gone," she said slowly. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +A FREE HAND + +It was near midnight when Ferguson rode in to the Two Diamond +ranchhouse leading Rope's pony. He carefully unsaddled the two animals +and let them into the corral, taking great pains to make little noise. +Rope's saddle--a peculiar one with a high pommel bearing a silver plate +upon which the puncher's name was engraved--he placed conspicuously +near the door of the bunkhouse. His own he carefully suspended from +its accustomed hook in the lean-to. Then, still carefully, he made his +way inside the bunkhouse and sought his bunk. + +At dawn he heard voices outside and he arose and went to the door. +Several of the men were gathered about the step talking. For an +instant Ferguson stood, his eyes roving over the group. Tucson was not +there. He went back into the bunkhouse and walked casually about, +taking swift glances at the bunks where the men still slept. Then he +returned to the door, satisfied that Tucson had not come in. + +When he reached the door again he found that the men of the group had +discovered the saddle. One of them was saying something about it. +"That ain't just the way I take care of my saddle," he was telling the +others; "leavin' her out nights." + +"I never knowed Rope to be that careless before," said another. + +Ferguson returned to the bunkhouse and ate breakfast. After the meal +was finished he went out, caught up Mustard, swung into the saddle, and +rode down to the ranchhouse door. He found Stafford in the office. +The latter greeted the stray-man with a smile. + +"Somethin' doin'?" he questioned. + +"You might call it that," returned Ferguson. He went inside and seated +himself near Stafford's desk. + +"I've come in to tell you that I saw some rustlers workin' on the herd +yesterday," he said. + +Stafford sat suddenly erect, his eyes lighting interrogatively. + +"It wasn't Ben Radford," continued Ferguson, answering the look. +"You'd be surprised if I told you. But I ain't tellin'--now. I'm +waitin' to see if someone else does. But I'm tellin' you this: They +got Rope Jones." + +Stafford's face reddened with anger. "They got Rope, you say?" he +demanded. "Why, where--damn them!" + +"Back of the ridge about fifteen miles up the crick," returned +Ferguson. "I was ridin' along the edge of the plateau an' I saw a man +down there shoot another. I got down as soon as I could an' found +Rope. There wasn't nothin' I could do. So I planted him where I found +him an' brought his horse back. There was two rustlers there. But +only one done the shootin'. I got the name of one." + +Stafford cursed. "I'm wantin' to know who it was!" he demanded. "I'll +make him--why, damn him, I'll----" + +"You're carryin' on awful," observed Ferguson dryly. "But you ain't +doin' any good." He leaned closer to Stafford. "I'm quittin' my job +right now," he said. + +Stafford leaned back in his chair, surprised into silence. For an +instant he glared at the stray-man, and then his lips curled scornfully. + +"So you're quittin'," he sneered; "scared plum out because you seen a +man put out of business! I reckon Leviatt wasn't far wrong when he +said----" + +"I wouldn't say a lot," interrupted Ferguson coldly. "I ain't +admittin' that I'm any scared. An' I ain't carin' a heap because +Leviatt's been gassin' to you. But I'm quittin' the job you give me. +Ben Radford ain't the man who's been rustlin' your cattle. It's +someone else. I'm askin' you to hire me to find out whoever it is. +I'm wantin' a free hand. I don't want anyone askin' me any questions. +I don't want anyone orderin' me around. But if you want the men who +are rustlin' your cattle, I'm offerin' to do the job. Do I get it?" + +"You're keepin' right on--workin' for the Two Diamond," returned +Stafford. "But I'd like to get hold of the man who got Rope." + +Ferguson smiled grimly. "That man'll be gittin' his some day," he +declared, rising. "I'm keepin' him for myself. Mebbe I won't shoot +him. I reckon Rope'd be some tickled if he'd know that the man who +shot him could get a chance to think it over while some man was +stringin' him up. You ain't sayin' anything about anything." + +He turned and went out. Five minutes later Stafford saw him riding +slowly toward the river. + + +As the days went a mysterious word began to be spoken wherever men +congregated. No man knew whence the word had come, but it was +whispered that Rope Jones would be seen no more. His pony joined the +remuda; his saddle and other personal effects became prizes for which +the men of the outfit cast lots. Inquiries were made concerning the +puncher by friends who persisted in being inquisitive, but nothing +resulted. In time the word "rustler" became associated with his name, +and "caught with the goods" grew to be a phrase that told eloquently of +the manner of his death. Later it was whispered that Leviatt and +Tucson had come upon Rope behind the ridge, catching him in the act of +running off a Two Diamond calf. But as no report had been made to +Stafford by either Leviatt or Tucson, the news remained merely rumor. + +Ferguson had said nothing more to any man concerning the incident. To +do so would have warned Tucson. And neither Ferguson nor Miss Radford +could have sworn to the man's guilt. In addition to this, there +lingered in Ferguson's mind a desire to play this game in his own way. +Telling the men of the outfit what he had seen would make his knowledge +common property--and in the absence of proof might cause him to appear +ridiculous. + +But since the shooting he had little doubt that Leviatt had been +Tucson's companion on that day. Rope's scathing words--spoken while +Miss Radford had been trying to revive him--. "You're a hell of a +range boss," had convinced the stray-man that Leviatt had been one of +the assailants. He had wondered much over the emotions of the two when +they returned to the spot where the murder had been committed, to find +their victim buried and his horse gone. But of one thing he was +certain--their surprise over the discovery that the body of their +victim had been buried could not have equalled their discomfiture on +learning that the latter's pony had been secretly brought to the home +ranch, and that among the men of the outfit was one, at least, who knew +something of their guilty secret. Ferguson thought this to be the +reason that they had not reported the incident to Stafford. + +There was now nothing for the stray-man to do but watch. The men who +had killed Rope were wary and dangerous, and their next move might be +directed at him. But he was not disturbed. One thought brought him a +mighty satisfaction. He was no longer employed to fasten upon Ben +Radford the stigma of guilt; no longer need he feel oppressed with the +guilty consciousness, when in the presence of Mary Radford, that he +was, in a measure, a hired spy whose business it was to convict her +brother of the crime of rustling. He might now meet the young woman +face to face, without experiencing the sensation of guilt that had +always affected him. + +Beneath his satisfaction lurked a deeper emotion. During the course of +his acquaintance with Rope Jones he had developed a sincere affection +for the man. The grief in his heart over Rope's death was made more +poignant because of the latter's words, just before the final moment, +which seemed to have been a plea for vengeance: + +"Ferguson told me to look out. He told me to be careful that they +didn't get me between them. But I wasn't thinkin' that it would happen +just that way." + +This had been all that Rope had said about his friend, but it showed +that during his last conscious moments he had been thinking of the +stray-man. As the days passed the words dwelt continually in +Ferguson's mind. Each day that he rode abroad, searching for evidence +against the murderers, brought him a day nearer to the vengeance upon +which he had determined. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +LEVIATT TAKES A STEP + +Miss Radford was sitting on the flat rock on the hill where she had +written the first page of her novel. The afternoon sun was coming +slantwise over the western mountains, sinking steadily toward the rift +out of which came the rose veil that she had watched many times. She +had just completed a paragraph in which the villain appears when she +became aware of someone standing near. She turned swiftly, with +heightened color, to see Leviatt. + +His sudden appearance gave her something of a shock, for as he stood +there, smiling at her, he answered perfectly the description she had +just written. He might have just stepped from one of her pages. But +the shock passed, leaving her a little pale, but quite composed--and +not a little annoyed. She had found her work interesting; she had +become quite absorbed in it. Therefore she failed to appreciate +Leviatt's sudden appearance, and with uptilted chin turned from him and +pretended an interest in the rim of hills that surrounded the flat. + +For an instant Leviatt stood, a frown wrinkling his forehead. Then +with a smile he stepped forward and seated himself beside her on the +rock. She immediately drew her skirts close to her and shot a +displeased glance at him from the corners of her eyes. Then seeing +that he still sat there, she moved her belongings a few feet and +followed them. He could not doubt the significance of this move, but +had he been wise he might have ignored it. A woman's impulses will +move her to rebuke a man, but if he will accept without comment he may +be reasonably sure of her pity, and pity is a path of promise. + +But the range boss neglected his opportunity. He made the mistake of +thinking that because he had seen her many times while visiting her +brother he might now with propriety assume an air of intimacy toward +her. + +"I reckon this rock is plenty big enough for both of us," he said +amiably. + +She measured the distance between them with a calculating eye. "It +is," she returned quietly, "if you remain exactly where you are." + +He forced a smile. "An' if I don't?" he inquired. + +"You may have the rock to yourself," she returned coldly. "I did not +ask you to come here." + +He chose to ignore this hint, telling her that he had been to the cabin +to see Ben and, finding him absent, had ridden through the flat. "I +saw you when I was quite a piece away," he concluded, "an' thought +mebbe you might be lonesome." + +"When I am lonesome I choose my own company," she returned coldly. + +"Why, sure," he said, his tone slightly sarcastic; "you cert'nly ought +to know who you want to talk to. But you ain't objectin' to me settin' +on this hill?" he inquired. + +"The hill is not mine," she observed quietly, examining one of the +written pages of her novel; "sit here as long as you like." + +"Thanks." He drawled the word. Leaning back on one elbow he stretched +out as though assured that she would make no further objections to his +presence. She ignored him completely and very deliberately arranged +her papers and resumed writing. + +For a time he lay silent, watching the pencil travel the width of the +page--and then back. A mass of completed manuscript lay at her side, +the pages covered with carefully written, legible words. She had +always taken a pardonable pride in her penmanship. For a while he +watched her, puzzled, furtively trying to decipher some of the words +that appeared upon the pages. But the distance was too great for him +and he finally gave it up and fell to looking at her instead, though +determined to solve the wordy mystery that was massed near her. + +Finally finding the silence irksome, he dropped an experimental word, +speaking casually. "You must have been to school a heap--writin' like +you do." + +She gave him no answer, being at that moment absorbed in a thought +which she was trying to transcribe before it should take wings and be +gone forever. + +"Writin' comes easy to some people," he persisted. + +The thought had been set down; she turned very slightly. "Yes," she +said looking steadily at him, "it does. So does impertinence." + +He smiled easily. "I ain't aimin' to be impertinent," he returned. "I +wouldn't reckon that askin' you what you are writin' would be +impertinent. It's too long for a letter." + +"It is a novel," she returned shortly. + +He smiled, exulting over this partial concession. "I reckon to write a +book you must be some special kind of a woman," he observed admiringly. + +She was silent. He sat up and leaned toward her, his eyes flashing +with a sudden passion. + +"If that's it," he said with unmistakable significance, "I don't mind +tellin' you that I'm some partial to them special kind." + +Her chin rose a little. "I am not concerned over your feelings," she +returned without looking at him. + +"That kind of a woman would naturally know a heap," he went on, +apparently unmindful of the rebuke; "they'd cert'nly know enough to be +able to see when a man likes them." + +She evidently understood the drift, for her eyes glowed subtly. "It is +too bad that you are not a 'special kind of man,' then," she replied. + +"Meanin'?" he questioned, his eyes glinting with eagerness. + +"Meaning that if you were a 'special kind of man' you would be able to +tell when a woman doesn't like you," she said coldly. + +"I reckon that I ain't a special kind then," he declared, his face +reddening slightly. "Of course, I've seen that you ain't appeared to +take much of a shine to me. But I've heard that there's women that can +be won if a man keeps at it long enough." + +"Some men like to waste their time," she returned quietly. + +"I don't call it wastin' time to be talkin' to you," he declared +rapidly. + +"Our opinions differ," she observed shortly, resting the pencil point +on the page that she had been writing. + +Her profile was toward him; her cheeks were tinged with color; some +stray wisps of hair hung, breeze-blown, over her forehead and temples. +She made an attractive picture, sitting there with the soft sunlight +about her, a picture whose beauty smote Leviatt's heart with a pang of +sudden regret and disappointment. She might have been his, but for the +coming of Ferguson. And now, because of the stray-man's wiles, he was +losing her. + +A sudden rage seized upon him; he leaned forward, his face bloating +poisonously. "Mebbe I could name a man who ain't wastin' his time!" he +sneered. + +She turned suddenly and looked at him, dropping pencil and paper, her +eyes flashing with a hitter scorn. "You are one of those sulking +cowards who fawn over men and insult defenseless women!" she declared, +the words coming slowly and distinctly. + +He had realized before she answered that he had erred, and he smiled +deprecatingly, the effort contorting his face. + +"I wasn't meanin' just that," he said weakly. "I reckon it's a clear +field an' no favors." He took a step toward her, his voice growing +tense. "I've been comin' down to your cabin a lot, sayin' that I was +comin' to see Ben. But I didn't come to see Ben--I wanted to look at +you. I reckon you knowed that. A woman can't help but see when a +man's in love with her. But you've never give me a chance to tell you. +I'm tellin' you now. I want you to marry me. I'm range boss for the +Two Diamond an' I've got some stock that's my own, an' money in the +bank over in Cimarron. I'll put up a shack a few miles down the river +an'----" + +"Stop!" commanded Miss Radford imperiously. + +Leviatt had been speaking rapidly, absorbed in his subject, assurance +shining in his face. But at Miss Radford's command he broke off +suddenly and stiffened, surprise widening his eyes. + +"You have said enough," she continued; "quite enough. I have never +thought of you as a possible admirer. I certainly have done nothing +that might lead you to believe I would marry you. I do not even like +you--not even respect you. I am not certain that I shall ever marry, +but if I do, I certainly shall not marry a man whose every look is an +insult." + +She turned haughtily and began to gather up her papers. There had been +no excitement in her manner; her voice had been steady, even, and +tempered with a slight scorn. + +For a brief space Leviatt stood, while the full significance of her +refusal ate slowly into his consciousness. Whatever hopes he might +have had had been swept away in those few short, pithy sentences. His +passion checked, the structure erected by his imagination toppled to +ruin, his vanity hurt, he stood before her stripped of the veneer that +had made him seem, heretofore, nearly the man he professed to be. + +In her note book had been written: + +"Dave Leviatt. . . . One rather gets the impression that the stoop is +a reflection of the man's nature, which seems vindictive and suggests a +low cunning. His eyes are small, deep set, and glitter when he talks. +But they are steady and cold--almost merciless. One's thoughts go +instantly to the tiger. I shall try to create that impression in the +reader's mind." + +And now as she looked at him she was sure that task would not be +difficult. She had now an impression of him that seemed as though it +had been seared into her mind. The eyes that she had thought merciless +were now glittering malevolently, and she shuddered at the satyric +upward curve of his lips as he stepped close to the rock and placed a +hand upon the mass of manuscript lying there, that she had previously +dropped, to prevent her leaving. + +"So you don't love me?" he sneered. "You don't even respect me. Why? +Because you've taken a shine to that damned maverick that come here +from Dry Bottom--Stafford's new stray-man!" + +"That is my business," she returned icily. + +"It sure is," he said, the words writhing venomously through his lips. +"An' it's my business too. There ain't any damned----" + +He had glanced suddenly downward while he had been talking and his gaze +rested upon an upturned page of the manuscript that lay beside him on +the rock. He broke off speaking and reaching down took up the page, +his eyes narrowing with interest. The page he had taken up was one +from the first chapter and described in detail the shooting match in +Dry Bottom. It was a truthful picture of what had actually happened. +She had even used the real names of the characters. Leviatt saw a +reference to the "Silver Dollar" saloon, to the loungers, to the +stranger who had ridden up and who sat on his pony near the hitching +rail, and who was called Ferguson. He saw his own name; read the story +of how the stranger had eclipsed his feat by putting six bullets into +the can. + +He dropped the page to the rock and looked up at Miss Radford with a +short laugh. + +"So that's what you're writin'?" he sneered. "You're writin' somethin' +that really happened. You're even writin' the real names an' tellin' +how Stafford's stray-man butted in an' beat me shootin'. You knowin' +this shows that him an' you has been travelin' pretty close together." + +For an instant Miss Radford forgot her anger. Her eyes snapped with a +sudden interest. + +"Were you the man who hit the can five times?" she questioned, unable +to conceal her eagerness. + +She saw a flush slowly mount to his face. Evidently he had said more +than he had intended. + +"Well, if I am?" he returned, his lips writhing in a sneer. "Him +beatin' me shootin' that way don't prove nothin'." + +She was now becoming convinced of her cleverness. From Ben's +description of the man who had won the shooting match she had been able +to lead Ferguson to the admission that he had been the central +character in that incident, and now it had transpired that Leviatt was +the man he had beaten. This had been the way she had written it in the +story. So far the plot that had been born of her imagination had +proved to be the story of a real occurrence. + +She had counted upon none but imaginary characters,--though she had +determined to clothe these with reality through study--but now, she had +discovered, she had been the chronicler of a real incident, and two of +her characters had been pitted against each other in a contest in which +there had been enough bitterness to provide the animus necessary to +carry them through succeeding pages, ready and willing to fly at each +other's throats. She was not able to conceal her satisfaction over the +discovery, and when she looked at Leviatt again she smiled broadly. + +"That confession explains a great many things," she said, stooping to +recover the page that he had dropped beside her upon the rock. + +"Meanin' what?" he questioned, his eyes glittering evilly. + +"Meaning that I now know why you are not friendly toward Mr. Ferguson," +she returned. "I heard that he beat you in the shooting match," she +went on tauntingly, "and then when you insulted him afterwards, he +talked very plainly to you." + +The moment she had spoken she realized that her words had hurt him, for +he paled and his eyes narrowed venomously. But his voice was cold and +steady. + +"Was Mr. Ferguson tellin' you that?" he inquired, succeeding in placing +ironic emphasis upon the prefix. + +She was arranging the contents of her hand bag and she did not look up +as she answered him. + +"That is my business," she returned quietly. "But I don't mind telling +you that the man who told me about the occurrence would not lie about +it." + +"It's nice that you've got such a heap of faith in him," he sneered. + +It was plain to her that he thought Ferguson had told her about the +shooting match, and it was equally plain that he still harbored evil +thoughts against the stray-man. And also, he suspected that something +more than mere friendship existed between her and Ferguson. She had +long hoped that one day she might be given the opportunity of meeting +in person a man whose soul was consumed with jealousy, in order that +she might be able to gain some impressions of the intensity of his +passion. This seemed to be her opportunity. Therefore she raised her +chin a little and looked at him with a tantalizing smile. + +"Of course I have faith in him," she declared, with a slight, biting +emphasis. "I believe in him--absolutely." + +She saw his lips twitch. "Sure," he sneered, "you was just beginnin' +to believe in him that day when you was holdin' hands with him--just +about here. I reckon he was enjoyin' himself." + +She started, but smiled immediately. "So you saw that?" she inquired, +knowing that he had, but taking a keen delight in seeing that he still +remembered. But this conversation was becoming too personal; she had +no desire to argue this point with him, even to get an impression of +the depth of his passion, so she gathered up her belongings and +prepared to depart. But he stepped deliberately in front of her, +barring the way of escape. His face was aflame with passion. + +"I seen him holdin' your hand," he said, his voice trembling; "I seen +that he was holdin' it longer than he had any right. An' I seen you +pull your hand away when you thought I was lookin' at you. I reckon +you've taken a shine to him; he's the kind that the women like--with +his slick ways an' smooth palaver--an' his love makin'." He laughed +with his lips only, his eyes narrowed to glittering pin points. She +had not thought that jealousy could make a person half so repulsive. + +"If you're lovin' him," he continued, leaning toward her, his muscles +tense, his lips quivering with a passion that he was no longer able to +repress, "I'm tellin' you that you're wastin' your time. You wouldn't +think so much of him if you knowed that he come here----" + +Leviatt had become aware that Miss Radford was not listening; that she +was no longer looking at him, but at something behind him. At the +instant he became aware of this he turned sharply in his tracks, his +right hand falling swiftly to his holster. Not over half a dozen paces +distant stood Ben Radford, gravely watching. + +"Mebbe you folks are rehearsing a scene from that story," he observed +quietly. "I wasn't intending to interrupt, but I heard loud talking +and I thought mebbe it wasn't anything private. So I just got off my +horse and climbed up here, to satisfy my curiosity." + +Leviatt's hand fell away from the holster, a guilty grin overspreading +his face. "I reckon we wasn't rehearsin' any scene," he said, trying +to make the words come easily. "I was just tellin' your sister +that----" + +Miss Radford laughed banteringly. "You have spoiled a chapter in my +book, Ben," she declared with pretended annoyance; "Mr. Leviatt had +just finished proposing to me and was at the point where he was +supposed to speak bitter words about his rival." She laughed again, +gazing at Leviatt with mocking eyes. "Of course, I shall never be able +to tell my readers what he might have said, for you appeared at a most +inopportune time. But he has taught me a great deal--much more, in +fact, than I ever expected from him." + +She bowed mockingly. "I am very, very much obliged to you, Mr. +Leviatt," she said, placing broad emphasis upon her words. "I promise +to try and make a very interesting character of you--there were times +when you were most dramatic." + +She bowed to Leviatt and flashed a dazzling smile at her brother. Then +she walked past Leviatt, picked her way daintily over the loose stones +on the hillside, and descended to the level where she had tethered her +pony. Ben stood grinning admiringly after her as she mounted and rode +out into the flat. Then he turned to Leviatt, soberly contemplating +him. + +"I don't think you were rehearsing for the book," he said quietly, an +undercurrent of humor in his voice. + +"She was funnin' me," returned Leviatt, his face reddening. + +"I reckon she was," returned Ben dryly. "She's certainly some clever +at handing it to a man." He smiled down into the flat, where Miss +Radford could still be seen, riding toward the cabin. "Looks as though +she wasn't quite ready to change her name to 'Leviatt'," he grinned. + +But there was no humor in Leviatt's reflections. He stood for a +moment, looking down into the flat, the expression of his face morose +and sullen. Ben's bantering words only added fuel to the flame of rage +and disappointment that was burning fiercely in his heart. Presently +the hard lines of his lips disappeared and he smiled craftily. + +"She's about ready to change her name," he said. "Only she ain't +figgerin' that it's goin' to be Leviatt." + +"You're guessing now," returned Ben sharply. + +Leviatt laughed oddly. "I reckon I ain't doin' any guessin'," he +returned. "You've been around her a heap an' been seein' her +consid'able, but you ain't been usin' your eyes." + +"Meaning what?" demanded Ben, an acid-like coldness in his voice. + +"Meanin' that if you'd been usin' your eyes you'd have seen that she's +some took up with Stafford's new stray-man." + +"Well," returned Ben, "she's her own boss. If she's made friends with +Ferguson that's her business." He laughed. "She's certainly clever," +he added, "and mebbe she's got her own notion as to why she's made +friends with him. She's told me that she's goin' to make him a +character in the book she's writing. Likely she's stringing him." + +"I reckon she ain't stringin' him," declared Leviatt. "A girl ain't +doin' much stringin' when she's holdin' a man's hand an' blushin' when +somebody ketches her at it." + +There was a slight sneer in Leviatt's voice which drew a sharp glance +from Radford. For an instant his face clouded and he was about to make +a sharp reply. But his face cleared immediately and he smiled. + +"I'm banking on her being able to take care of herself," he returned. +"Her holding Ferguson's hand proves nothing. Likely she was trying to +get an impression--she's always telling me that. But she's running her +own game, and if she is stringing Ferguson that's her business, and if +she thinks a good bit of him that's her business, too. If a man ain't +jealous, he might be able to see that Ferguson ain't a half bad sort of +a man." + +An evil light leaped into Leviatt's eyes. He turned and faced Radford, +words coming from his lips coldly and incisively. "When you +interrupted me," he said, "I was goin' to tell your sister about +Ferguson. Mebbe if I tell you what I was goin' to tell her it'll make +you see things some different. A while ago Stafford was wantin' to +hire a gunfighter." He shot a significant glance at Radford, who +returned it steadily. "I reckon you know what he wanted a gunfighter +for. He got one. His name's Ferguson. He's gettin' a hundred dollars +a month for the season, to put Ben Radford out of business!" + +The smile had gone from Radford's face; his lips were tightly closed, +his eyes cold and alert. + +"You lying about Ferguson because you think he's friendly with Mary?" +he questioned quietly. + +Leviatt's right hand dropped swiftly to his holster. But Radford +laughed harshly. "Quit it!" he said sharply. "I ain't sayin' you're a +liar, but what you've said makes you liable to be called that until +you've proved you ain't. How do you know Ferguson's been hired to put +me out of business?" + +Leviatt laughed. "Stafford an' me went to Dry Bottom to get a +gunfighter. I shot a can in the street in front of the Silver Dollar +so's Stafford would be able to get a line on anyone tryin' to beat my +game. Ferguson done it an' Stafford hired him." + +Radford's gaze was level and steady. "Then you've knowed right along +that he was lookin' for me," he said coldly. "Why didn't you say +something about it before. You've been claiming to be my friend." + +Leviatt flushed, shifting uneasily from one foot to the other, but +watching Radford with alert and suspicious glances. "Why," he returned +shortly, "I'm range boss for the Two Diamond an' I ain't hired to tell +what I know. I reckon you'd think I was a hell of a man to be tellin' +things that I ain't got no right to tell." + +"But you're telling it now," returned Radford, his eyes narrowing a +little. + +"Yes," returned Leviatt quietly, "I am. An' you're callin' me a liar +for it. But I'm tellin' you to wait. Mebbe you'll tumble. I reckon +you ain't heard how Ferguson's been tellin' the boys that he went down +to your cabin one night claimin' to have been bit by a rattler, because +he wanted to get acquainted with you an' pot you some day when you +wasn't expectin' it. An' then after he'd stayed all night in your +cabin he was braggin' to the boys that he reckoned on makin' a fool of +your sister. Oh, he's some slick!" he concluded, a note of triumph in +his voice. + +Radford started, his face paling a little. He had thought it strange +that an experienced plainsman--as Ferguson appeared to be--should have +been bitten by a rattler in the manner he had described. And then he +had been hanging around the---- + +"Mebbe you might think it's onusual for Stafford to hire a two-gun man +to look after strays," broke in Leviatt at this point. "Two-gun men +ain't takin' such jobs regular," he insinuated. "Stray-men is usual +low-down, mean, ornery cusses which ain't much good for anything else, +an' so they spend their time mopin' around, doin' work that ain't fit +for any puncher to do." + +Radford had snapped himself erect, his lips straightening. He suddenly +held out a hand to Leviatt. "I'm thanking you," he said steadily. +"It's rather late for you to be telling me, but I think it's come in +time anyway. I'm watching him for a little while, and if things are as +you say----" He broke off, his voice filled with a significant +grimness. "So-long," he added. + +He turned and descended the slope of the hill. An instant later +Leviatt saw him loping his pony toward the cabin. For a few minutes +Leviatt gazed after him, his eyes alight with satisfaction. Then he, +too, descended the slope of the hill and mounted his pony. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +A BREAK IN THE STORY + +Mary Radford had found the day too beautiful to remain indoors and so +directly after dinner she had caught up her pony and was off for a ride +through the cottonwood. She had been compelled to catch up the pony +herself, for of late Ben had been neglectful of this duty. Until the +last week or so he had always caught her pony and placed the saddle on +it before leaving in the morning, assuring her that if she did not ride +during his absence the pony would not suffer through being saddled and +bridled. But within the last week she thought she detected a change in +Ben's manner. He seemed preoccupied and glum, falling suddenly into a +taciturnity broken only by brief periods during which he condescended +to reply to her questions with--it seemed--grudging monosyllables. + +Several times, too, she had caught him watching her with furtive +glances in which, she imagined, she detected a glint of speculation. +But of this she was not quite sure, for when she bluntly questioned him +concerning his moods he had invariably given her an evasive reply. +Fearing that there might have been a recurrence of the old trouble with +the Two Diamond manager--about which he had told her during her first +days at the cabin--she ventured a question. He had grimly assured her +that he anticipated no further trouble in that direction. So, unable +to get a direct reply from him she had decided that perhaps he would +speak when the time came, and so she had ceased questioning. + +In spite of his negligence regarding the pony, she had not given up her +rides. Nor had she neglected to give a part of each morning to the +story. + +The work of gradually developing her hero's character had been an +absorbing task; times when she lingered over the pages of the story she +found herself wondering whether she had sounded the depths of his +nature. She knew, at least, that she had made him attractive, for as +he moved among her pages, she--who should have been satiated with him +because of being compelled to record his every word and movement--found +his magnetic personality drawing her applause, found that he haunted +her dreams, discovered one day that her waking moments were filled with +thoughts of him. + +But of late she had begun to suspect that her interest in him was not +all on account of the story; there were times when she sat long +thinking of him, seeing him, watching the lights and shadows of +expression come and go in his face. Somewhere between the real +Ferguson and the man who was impersonating him in her story was an +invisible line that she could not trace. There were times when she +could not have told whether the character she admired belonged to the +real or the unreal. + +She was thinking much of this to-day while she rode into the subdued +light of the cottonwood. Was she, absorbed in the task of putting a +real character in her story, to confess that her interest in him was +not wholly the interest of the artist who sees the beauties and virtues +of a model only long enough to paint them into the picture? The +blushes came when she suddenly realized that her interest was not +wholly professional, that she had lately lingered long over her model, +at times when she had not been thinking of the story at all. + +Then, too, she had considered her friends in the East. What would they +say if they knew of her friendship with the Two Diamond stray-man? The +standards of Eastern civilization were not elastic enough to include +the man whom she had come to know so well, who had strode as boldly +into her life as he had strode into her story, with his steady, serene +eyes, his picturesque rigging, and his two guns, their holsters tied so +suggestively and forebodingly down. Would her friends be able to see +the romance in him? Would they be able to estimate him according to +the standards of the world in which he lived, in which he moved so +gracefully? + +She was aware that, measured by Eastern standards, Ferguson fell far +short of the average in those things that combine to produce the +polished gentleman. Yet she was also aware that these things were mere +accomplishments, a veneer acquired through constant practice--and that +usually the person known as "gentleman" could not be distinguished by +these things at all--that the real "gentleman" could be known only +through the measure of his quiet and genuine consideration and +unfailing Christian virtues. + +As she rode through the cottonwood, into that deep solitude which +brings with it a mighty reverence for nature and a solemn desire for +communion with the soul--that solitude in which all affectation +disappears and man is face to face with his Maker--she tried to think +of Ferguson in an Eastern drawing room, attempting a sham courtesy, +affecting mannerisms that more than once had brought her own soul into +rebellion. But she could not get him into the imaginary picture. He +did not belong there; it seemed that she was trying to force a living +figure into a company of mechanical puppets. And so they were--puppets +who answered to the pulling strings of precedent and established +convention. + +But at the same time she knew that this society which she affected to +despise would refuse to accept him; that if by any chance he should be +given a place in it he would be an object of ridicule, or at the least +passive contempt. The world did not want originality; would not +welcome in its drawing room the free, unaffected child of nature. No, +the world wanted pretense, imitation. It frowned upon truth and +applauded the sycophant. + +She was not even certain that if she succeeded in making Ferguson a +real living character the world would be interested in him. But she +had reached that state of mind in which she cared very little about the +world's opinion. She, at least, was interested in him. + +Upon the same afternoon--for there is no rule for the mere incidents of +life--Ferguson loped his pony through the shade of the cottonwood. He +was going to visit the cabin in Bear Flat. Would she be at home? +Would she be glad to see him? He could not bring his mind to give him +an affirmative answer to either of these questions. + +But of one thing he was certain--she had treated him differently from +the other Two Diamond men who had attempted to win her friendship. Was +he to think then that she cared very little whether he came to the +cabin or not? He smiled over his pony's mane at the thought. He could +not help but see that she enjoyed his visits. + +When he rode up to the cabin he found it deserted, but with a smile he +remounted Mustard and set out over the river trail, through the +cottonwood. He was sure that he would find her on the hill in the +flat, and when he had reached the edge of the cottonwood opposite the +hill he saw her. + +When she heard the clatter of his pony's hoofs she turned and saw him, +waving a hand at him. + +"I reckoned on findin' you here," he said when he came close enough to +be heard. + +She shyly made room for him beside her on the rock, but there was +mischief in her eye. "It seems impossible to hide from you," she said +with a pretense of annoyance. + +He laughed as he came around the edge of the rock and sat near her. +"Was you really tryin' to hide?" he questioned. "Because if you was," +he continued, "you hadn't ought to have got up on this hill--where I +could see you without even lookin' for you." + +"But of course you were not looking for me," she observed quietly. + +He caught her gaze and held it--steadily. "I reckon I was lookin' for +you," he said. + +"Why--why," she returned, suddenly fearful that something had happened +to Ben--"is anything wrong?" + +He smiled. "Nothin' is wrong," he returned. "But I wanted to talk to +you, an' I expected to find you here." + +There was a gentleness in his voice that she had not heard before, and +a quiet significance to his words that made her eyes droop away from +his with slight confusion. She replied without looking at him. + +"But I came here to write," she said. + +He gravely considered her, drawing one foot up on the rock and clasping +his hands about the knee. "I've thought a lot about that book," he +declared with a trace of embarrassment, "since you told me that you was +goin' to put real men an' women in it. I expect you've made them do +the things that you've wanted them to do an' made them say what you +wanted them to say. That part is right an' proper--there wouldn't be +any sense of anyone writin' a book unless they could put into it what +they thought was right. But what's been botherin' me is this; how can +you tell whether the things you've made them say is what they would +have said if they'd had any chance to talk? An' how can you tell what +their feelin's would be when you set them doin' somethin'?" + +She laughed. "That is a prerogative which the writer assumes without +question," she returned. "The author of a novel makes his characters +think and act as the author himself imagines he would act in the same +circumstances." + +He looked at her with amused eyes. "That's just what I was tryin' to +get at," he said. "You've put me into your book, an' you've made me do +an' say things out of your mind. But you don't know for sure whether I +would have done an' said things just like you've wrote them. Mebbe if +I would have had somethin' to say I wouldn't have done things your way +at all." + +"I am sure you would," she returned positively. + +"Well, now," he returned smiling, "you're speakin' as though you was +pretty certain about it. You must have wrote a whole lot of the story." + +"It is two-thirds finished," she returned with a trace of satisfaction +in her voice which did not escape him. + +"An' you've got all your characters doin' an' thinkin' things that you +think they ought to do?" His eyes gleamed craftily. "You got a man +an' a girl in it?" + +"Of course." + +"An' they're goin' to love one another?" + +"No other outcome is popular with novel readers," she returned. + +He rocked back and forth, his eyes languidly surveying the rim of hills +in the distance. + +"I expect that outcome is popular in real life too," he observed. +"Nobody ever hears about it when it turns out some other way." + +"I expect love is always a popular subject," she returned smiling. + +His eyes were still languid, his gaze still on the rim of distant hills. + +"You got any love talk in there--between the man an' the girl?" he +questioned. + +"Of course." + +"That's mighty interestin'," he returned. "I expect they do a good bit +of mushin'?" + +"They do not talk extravagantly," she defended. + +"Then I expect it must be pretty good," he returned. "I don't like +mushy love stories." And now he turned and looked fairly at her. "Of +course," he said slyly, "I don't know whether it's necessary or not, +but I've been thinkin' that to write a good love story the writer ought +to be in love. Whoever was writin' would know more about how it feels +to be in love." + +She admired the cleverness with which he had led her up to this point, +but she was not to be trapped. She met his eyes fairly. + +"I am sure it is not necessary for the writer to be in love," she said +quietly but positively. "I flatter myself that my love scenes are +rather real, and I have not found it necessary to love anyone." + +This reply crippled him instantly. "Well, now," he said, eyeing her, +she thought, a bit reproachfully, "that comes pretty near stumpin' me. +But," he added, a subtle expression coming again into his eyes, "you +say you've got only two-thirds finished. Mebbe you'll be in love +before you get it all done. An' then mebbe you'll find that you didn't +get it right an' have to do it all over again. That would sure be too +bad, when you could have got in love an' wrote it real in the first +place." + +"I don't think that I shall fall in love," she said laughing. + +He looked quickly at her, suddenly grave. "I wouldn't want to think +you meant that," he said. + +"Why?" she questioned in a low voice, her laughter subdued by his +earnestness. + +"Why," he said steadily, as though stating a perfectly plain fact, +"I've thought right along that you liked me. Of course I ain't been +fool enough to think that you loved me"--and now he reddened a +little--, "but I don't deny that I've hoped that you would." + +"Oh, dear!" she laughed; "and so you have planned it all out! And I +was hoping that you would not prove so deep as that. You know," she +went on, "you promised me a long while ago that you would not fall in +love with me." + +"I don't reckon that I said that," he returned. "I told you that I +wasn't goin' to get fresh. I reckon I ain't fresh now. But I expect I +couldn't help lovin' you--I've done that since the first day." + +She could not stop the blushes--they would come. And so would that +thrilling, breathless exultation. No man had ever talked to her like +this; no man had ever made her feel quite as she felt at this moment. +She turned a crimson face to him. + +"But you hadn't any right to love me," she declared, feeling sure that +she had been unable to make him understand that she meant to rebuke +him. Evidently he did not understand that she meant to do that, for he +unclasped his hand from his knee and came closer to her, standing at +the edge of the rock, one hand resting upon it. + +"Of course I didn't have any right," he said gravely, "but I loved you +just the same. There's been some things in my life that I couldn't +help doin'. Lovin' you is one. I expect that you'll think I'm pretty +fresh, but I've been thinkin' a whole lot about you an' I've got to +tell you. You ain't like the women I've been used to. An' I reckon I +ain't just the kind of man you've been acquainted with all your life. +You've been used to seein' men who was all slicked up an' clever. I +expect them kind of men appeal to any woman. I ain't claimin' to be +none of them clever kind, but I've been around quite a little an' I +ain't never done anything that I'm ashamed of. I can't offer you a +heap, but if you----" + +She had looked up quickly, her cheeks burning. + +"Please don't," she pleaded, rising and placing a hand on his arm, +gripping it tightly. "I have known for a long time, but I--I wanted to +be sure." He could not suspect that she had only just now begun to +realize that she was in danger of yielding to him and that the +knowledge frightened her. + +"You wanted to be sure?" he questioned, his face clouding. "What is it +that you wanted to be sure of?" + +"Why," she returned, laughing to hide her embarrassment, "I wanted to +be sure that you loved me!" + +"Well, you c'n be sure now," he said. + +"I believe I can," she laughed. "And," she continued, finding it +difficult to pretend seriousness, "knowing what I do will make writing +so much easier." + +His face clouded again. "I don't see what your writin' has got to do +with it," he said. + +"You don't?" she demanded, her eyes widening with pretended surprise. +"Why, don't you see that I wanted to be sure of your love so that I +might be able to portray a real love scene in my story?" + +He did not reply instantly, but folded his arms over his chest and +stood looking at her. In his expression was much reproach and not a +little disappointment. The hopes that had filled his dreams had been +ruined by her frivolous words; he saw her at this moment a woman who +had trifled with him, who had led him cleverly on to a declaration of +love that she might in the end sacrifice him to her art. But in this +moment, when he might have been excused for exhibiting anger; for +heaping upon her the bitter reproaches of an outraged confidence, he +was supremely calm. The color fled from his face, leaving it slightly +pale, and his eyes swam with a deep feeling that told of the struggle +that he was making. + +"I didn't think you'd do it, ma'am," he said finally, a little +hoarsely. "But I reckon you know your own business best." He smiled +slightly. "I don't think there's any use of you an' me meetin' +again--I don't want to be goin' on, bein' a dummy man that you c'n +watch. But I'm glad to have amused you some an' I have enjoyed myself, +talkin' to you. But I reckon you've done what you wanted to do, an' so +I'll be gettin' along." + +He smiled grimly and with an effort turned and walked around the corner +of the rock, intending to descend the hill and mount his pony. But as +he passed around to the side of the rock he heard her voice: + +"Wait, please," she said in a scarcely audible voice. + +He halted, looking gravely at her from the opposite side of the rock. + +"You wantin' to get somethin' more for your story?" he asked. + +She turned and looked over her shoulder at him, her eyes luminous with +a tell-tale expression, her face crimson. "Why," she said smiling at +him, "do you really think that I could be so mean?" + +He was around the rock again in half a dozen steps and standing above +her, his eyes alight, his lips parted slightly with surprise and +eagerness. + +"Do you mean that you wantin' to make sure that I loved you wasn't all +for the sake of the story?" he demanded rapidly. + +Her eyes drooped away from his. "Didn't you tell me that a writer +should be in love in order to be able to write of it?" she asked, her +face averted. + +"Yes." He was trembling a little and leaning toward her. In this +position he caught her low reply. + +"I think my love story will be real," she returned. "I have +learned----" But whatever she might have wanted to add was smothered +when his arms closed tightly about her. + +A little later she drew a deep breath and looked up at him with moist, +eloquent eyes. + +"Perhaps I _shall_ have to change the story a little," she said. + +He drew her head to his shoulder, one hand caressing her hair. "If you +do," he said smiling, "don't have the hero thinkin' that the girl is +makin' a fool of him." He drew her close. "That cert'nly was a mighty +bad minute you give me," he added. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +THE DIM TRAIL. + +A shadow fell upon the rock. Ferguson turned his head and looked +toward the west, where the sun had already descended over the mountains. + +"Why it's sundown!" he said, smiling into Miss Radford's eyes. "I +reckon the days must be gettin' shorter." + +"The happy days are always short," she returned, blushing. He kissed +her for this. For a while they sat, watching together the vari-colors +swimming in the sky. They sat close together, saying little, for mere +words are sometimes inadequate. In a little time the colors faded, the +mountain peaks began to throw sombre shades; twilight--gray and +cold--settled suddenly into the flat. Then Miss Radford raised her +head from Ferguson's shoulder and sighed. + +"Time to go home," she said. + +"Yes, time," he returned. "I'm ridin' down that far with you." + +They rose and clambered down the hillside and he helped her into the +saddle. Then he mounted Mustard and rode across the flat beside her. + +Darkness had fallen when they rode through the clearing near the cabin +and dismounted from their ponies at the door. The light from the +kerosene lamp shone in a dim stream from the kitchen door and within +they saw dishes on the table with cold food. Ferguson stood beside his +pony while Miss Radford went in and explored the cabin. She came to +the door presently, shading her eyes to look out into the darkness. + +"Ben has been here and gone," she said. "He can't be very far away. +Won't you come in?" + +He laughed. "I don't think I'll come in," he returned. "This lover +business is new to me, an' I wouldn't want Ben to come back an' ketch +me blushin' an' takin' on." + +"But he has to know," she insisted, laughing. + +"Sure," he said, secure in the darkness, "but you tell him." + +"I won't!" she declared positively, stamping a foot. + +"Then I reckon he won't get told," he returned quietly. + +"Well, then," she said, laughing, "I suppose that is settled." + +She came out to the edge of the porch, away from the door, where the +stream of light from within could not search them out, and there they +took leave of one another, she going back into the cabin and he +mounting Mustard and riding away in the darkness. + +He was in high spirits, for he had much to be thankful for. As he rode +through the darkness, skirting the cottonwood in the flat, he allowed +his thoughts to wander. His refusal to enter the cabin had not been a +mere whim; he intended on the morrow to seek out Ben and tell him. He +had not wanted to tell him with her looking on to make the situation +embarrassing for him. + +When he thought of how she had fooled him by making it appear that she +had led him on for the purpose of getting material for her love story, +he was moved to silent mirth. "But I cert'nly didn't see anything +funny in it while she was puttin' it on," he told himself, as he rode. + +He had not ridden more than a quarter of a mile from the cabin, and was +passing a clump of heavy shrubbery, when a man rose suddenly out of the +shadows beside the trail. Startled, Mustard reared, and then seeing +that the apparition was merely a man, he came quietly down and halted, +shaking his head sagely. Ferguson's right hand had dropped swiftly to +his right holster, but was raised again instantly as the man's voice +came cold and steady: + +"Get your hands up--quick!" + +Ferguson's hands were raised, but he gave no evidence of fear or +excitement. Instead, he leaned forward, trying, in the dim light, to +see the man's face. The latter still stood in the shadows. But now he +advanced a little toward Ferguson, and the stray-man caught his breath +sharply. But when he spoke his voice was steady. + +"Why, it's Ben Radford," he said. + +"That's just who it is," returned Radford. "I've been waitin' for you." + +"That's right clever of you," returned Ferguson, drawling his words a +little. He was puzzled over this unusual occurrence, but his face did +not betray this. "You was wantin' to see me then," he added. + +"You're keen," returned Radford, sneering slightly. + +Ferguson's face reddened. "I ain't no damn fool," he said sharply. +"An' I don't like holdin' my hands up like this. I reckon whatever +you're goin' to do you ought to do right quick." + +"I'm figuring to be quick," returned Radford shortly. "Ketch hold of +your guns with the tips of one finger and one thumb and drop them. +Don't hit any rocks and don't try any monkey business." + +He waited until Ferguson had dropped one gun. And then, knowing that +the stray-man usually wore two weapons, he continued sharply: "I'm +waiting for the other one." + +Ferguson laughed. "Then you'll be waitin' a long time. There ain't +any 'other one. Broke a spring yesterday an' sent it over to Cimarron +to get it fixed up. You c'n have it when it comes back," he added with +a touch of sarcasm, "if you're carin' to wait that long." + +Radford did not reply, but came around to Ferguson's left side and +peered at the holster. It was empty. Then he looked carefully at the +stray-man's waist for signs that a weapon might have been concealed +between the waist-band and the trousers--in front. Then, apparently +satisfied, he stepped back, his lips closed grimly. + +"Get off your horse," he ordered. + +Ferguson laughed as he swung down. "Anything to oblige a friend," he +said, mockingly. + +The two men were now not over a yard apart, and at Ferguson's word +Radford's face became inflamed with wrath. "I don't think I'm a friend +of yours," he sneered coldly; "I ain't making friends with every damned +sneak that crawls around the country, aiming to shoot a man in the +back." He raised his voice, bitter with sarcasm. "You're thinking +that you're pretty slick," he said; "that all you have to do in this +country is to hang around till you get a man where you want him and +then bore him. But you've got to the end of your rope. You ain't +going to shoot anyone around here. + +"I'm giving you a chance to say what you've got to say and then I'm +going to fill you full of lead and plant you over in the cottonwood--in +a place where no one will ever be able to find you--not even Stafford. +I'd have shot you off your horse when you come around the bend," he +continued coldly, "but I wanted you to know who was doing it and that +the man that did it knowed what you come here to do." He poised his +pistol menacingly. "You got anything to say?" he inquired. + +Ferguson looked steadily from the muzzle of the poised weapon to +Radford's frowning eyes. Then he smiled grimly. + +"Some one's been talkin'," he said evenly. He calmly crossed his arms +over his chest, the right hand slipping carelessly under the left side +of his vest. Then he rocked slowly back and forth on his heels and +toes. "Someone's been tellin' you a pack of lies," he added. "I +reckon you've wondered, if I was goin' to shoot you in the back, that I +ain't done it long ago. You're admittin' that I've had some chance." + +Radford sneered. "I ain't wondering why you ain't done it before," he +said. "Mebbe it was because you're too white livered. Mebbe you +thought you didn't see your chance. I ain't worrying none about why +you didn't do it. But you ain't going to get another chance." The +weapon came to a foreboding level. + +Ferguson laughed grimly, but there was an ironic quality in his voice +that caught Radford's ear. It seemed to Radford that the stray-man +knew that he was near death, and yet some particular phase of the +situation appealed to his humor--grim though it was. It came out when +the stray-man spoke. + +"You've been gassin' just now about shootin' people in the back--sayin' +that I've been thinkin' of doin' it. But I reckon you ain't thought a +lot about the way you're intendin' to put me out of business. I was +wonderin' if it made any difference--shootin' a man in the back or +shootin' him when he ain't got any guns. I expect a man that's shot +when he ain't got guns would be just as dead as a man that's shot in +the back, wouldn't he?" + +He laughed again, his eyes gleaming in the dim light. "That's the +reason I ain't scared a heap," he said. "From what I know about you +you ain't the man to shoot another without givin' him a chance. An' +you're givin' me a chance to talk. I ain't goin' to do any prayin'. I +reckon that's right?" + +Radford shifted his feet uneasily. He could not have told at that +moment whether or not he had intended to murder Ferguson. He had +waylaid him with that intention, utterly forgetful that by shooting the +stray-man he would be committing the very crime which he had accused +Ferguson of contemplating. The muzzle of his weapon drooped +uncertainly. + +"Talk quick!" he said shortly. + +Ferguson grinned. "I'm takin' my time," he returned. "There ain't any +use of bein' in such an awful hurry--time don't amount to much when a +man's talkin' for his life. I ain't askin' who told you what you've +said about me--I've got a pretty clear idea who it was. I've had to +tell a man pretty plain that my age has got its growth an' I don't +think that man is admirin' me much for bein' told. But if he's wantin' +to have me put out of business he's goin' to do the job himself--Ben +Radford ain't doin' it." + +While he had been talking he had contrived to throw the left side of +his vest open, and his right hand was exposed in the dim light--a heavy +six-shooter gleaming forebodingly in it. His arms were still crossed, +but as he talked he had turned a very little and now the muzzle of the +weapon was at a level--trained fairly upon Radford's breast. And then +came Ferguson's voice again, quiet, cold, incisive. + +"If there's goin' to be any shootin', Ben, there'll be two of us doin' +it. Don't be afraid that you'll beat me to it." And he stared grimly +over the short space that separated them. + +For a full minute neither man moved a muscle. Silence--a premonitory +silence--fell over them as they stood, each with a steady finger +dragging uncertainly upon the trigger of his weapon. An owl hooted in +the cottonwood nearby; other noises of the night reached their ears. +Unaware of this crisis Mustard grazed unconcernedly at a distance. + +Then Radford's weapon wavered a little and dropped to his side. + +"This game's too certain," he said. + +Ferguson laughed, and his six-shooter disappeared as mysteriously as it +had appeared. "I thought I'd be able to make you see the point," he +said. "It don't always pay to be in too much of a hurry to do a +thing," he continued gravely. "An' I reckon I've proved that someone's +been lying about me. If I'd wanted to shoot you I could have done it +quite a spell ago--I had you covered just as soon as I crossed my arms. +You'd never knowed about it. That I didn't shoot proves that whoever +told you I was after you has been romancin'." He laughed. + +"An' now I'm tellin' you another thing that I was goin' to tell you +about to-morrow. Mebbe you'll want to shoot me for that. But if you +do I expect you'll have a woman to fight. Me an' Mary has found that +we're of one mind about a thing. We're goin' to hook up into a double +harness. I reckon when I'm your brother-in-law you won't be so worried +about shootin' me." + +Radford's astonishment showed for a moment in his eyes as his gaze met +the stray-man's. Then they drooped guiltily. + +"Well I'm a damn fool!" he said finally. "I might have knowed that +Mary wouldn't get afoul of any man who was thinkin' of doing dirt to +me." He suddenly extended a hand. "You shakin'?" he said. + +Ferguson took the hand, gripping it tightly. Neither man spoke. Then +Radford suddenly unclasped his hand and turned, striding rapidly up the +trail toward the cabin. + +For a moment Ferguson stood, looking after him with narrowed, friendly +eyes. Then he walked to Mustard, threw the bridle rein over the pommel +of the saddle, mounted, and was off at a rapid lope toward the Two +Diamond. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +THE SHOT IN THE DARK + +Now that Mary Radford had obtained experience for the love scene in her +story it might be expected that on returning to the cabin she would get +out her writing materials and attempt to transcribe the emotions that +had beset her during the afternoon, but she did nothing of the kind. +After Ferguson's departure she removed her riding garments, walked +several times around the interior of the cabin, and for a long time +studied her face in the looking glass. Yes, she discovered the +happiness shining out of the glass. Several times, standing before the +glass, she attempted to keep the lines of her face in repose, and +though she almost succeeded in doing this she could not control her +eyes--they simply would gleam with the light that seemed to say to her: +"You may deceive people by making a mask of your face, but the eyes are +the windows of the soul and through them people will see your secret." + +Ben hadn't eaten much, she decided, as she seated herself at the table, +after pouring a cup of tea. Before she had finished her meal she had +begun to wonder over his absence--it was not his custom to go away in +the night. She thought he might have gone to the corral, or might even +be engaged in some small task in the stable. So after completing her +meal she rose and went to the door, looking out. + +There was no moon, only the starlight, but in this she was able to +distinguish objects in the clearing, and if Ben had been working about +anywhere she must have noticed him. She returned to the table and sat +there long, pondering. Then she rose, heated some water, and washed +and dried the dishes. Then she swept the kitchen floor and tidied +things up a bit, returning to the door when all was complete. + +Still no signs that Ben was anywhere in the vicinity. She opened the +screen door and went out upon the porch, leaning against one of the +slender posts. For a long time she stood thus, listening to the +indescribable noises of the night. This was only the second time since +she had been with Ben that he had left her alone at night, and a slight +chill stole over her as she watched the dense shadows beyond the +clearing, shadows that seemed suddenly dismal and foreboding. She had +loved the silence, but now suddenly it too seemed too deep, too solemn +to be real. She shuddered, and with some unaccountable impulse shrank +back against the screen door, one hand upon it, ready to throw it open. +In this position she stood for a few minutes, and then from somewhere +in the flat came a slight sound--and then, after a short interval, +another. + +She shrank back again, a sudden fear chilling her, her hands clasped +over her breast. + +"Someone is shooting," she said aloud. + +She waited long for a repetition of the sounds. But she did not hear +them again. Tremblingly she returned to the cabin and resumed her +chair at the table, fighting against a growing presentiment that +something had gone wrong with Ben. But she could not have told from +what direction the sounds had come, and so it would have been folly for +her to ride out to investigate. And so for an hour she sat at the +table, cringing away from the silence, starting at intervals, when her +imagination tricked her into the belief that sound had begun. + +And then presently she became aware that there was sound. In the vast +silence beyond the cabin door something had moved. She was on her feet +instantly, her senses alert. Her fear had left her. Her face was +pale, but her lips closed grimly as she went to the rack behind the +door and took down a rifle that Ben always kept there. Then she turned +the lamp low and cautiously stepped to the door. + +A pony whinnied, standing with ears erect at the edge of the porch. In +a crumpled heap on the ground lay a man. She caught her breath +sharply, but in the next instant was out and bending over him. With a +strength that seemed almost beyond her shy dragged the limp form to the +door where the light from the lamp shone upon it. + +"Ben!" she said sharply. "What has happened?" She shook him slightly, +calling again to him. + +Aroused, he opened his eyes, recognized her, and raised himself +painfully upon one elbow, smiling weakly. + +"It ain't anything, sis," he said. "Creased in the back of the head. +Knocked me cold. Mebbe my shoulder too--I ain't been able to lift my +arm." He smiled again--grimly, though wearily. "From the back too. +The damned sneak!" + +Her eyes filled vengefully, and she leaned closer to him, her voice +tense. "Who, Ben? Who did it?" + +"Ferguson," he said sharply. And again, as his eyes closed: "The +damned sneak." + +She swayed dizzily and came very near dropping him to the porch floor. +But no sound came from her, and presently when the dizziness had +passed, she dragged him to the door, propped it open with a chair, and +then dragged him on through the opening to the kitchen, and from there +to one of the adjoining rooms. Then with pale face and determined lips +she set about the work of taking care of Ben's wounds. The spot on the +back of the head, she found, was a mere abrasion, as he had said. But +his shoulder had been shattered, the bullet, she discovered, having +passed clear through the fleshy part of the shoulder, after breaking +one of the smaller bones. + +Getting her scissors she clipped away the hair from the back of his +head and sponged the wound and bandaged it, convinced that of itself it +was not dangerous. Then she undressed him, and by the use of plenty of +clear, cold water, a sponge, and some bandages, stopped the flow of +blood in his shoulder and placed him in a comfortable position. He had +very little fever, but she moved rapidly around him, taking his +temperature, administering sedatives when he showed signs of +restlessness, hovering over him constantly until the dawn began to come. + +Soon after this he went off into a peaceful sleep, and, almost +exhausted with her efforts and the excitement, she threw herself upon +the floor beside his bed, sacrificing her own comfort that she might be +near to watch should he need her. It was late in the afternoon when +Radford opened his eyes to look out through the door that connected his +room with the kitchen and saw his sister busying herself with the +dishes. His mind was clear and he suffered very little pain. For a +long time he lay, quietly watching her, while his thoughts went back to +the meeting on the trail with Ferguson. Why hadn't he carried out his +original intention of shooting the stray-man down from ambush? He had +doubted Leviatt's word and had hesitated, wishing to give Ferguson the +benefit of the doubt, and had received his reward in the shape of a +bullet in the back--after practically making a peace pact with his +intended victim. + +He presently became aware that his sister was standing near him, and he +looked up and smiled at her. Then in an instant she was kneeling +beside him, admonishing him to quietness, smoothing his forehead, +giving delighted little gasps over his improved condition. But in +spite of her evident cheerfulness there was a suggestion of trouble +swimming deep in her eyes; he could not help but see that she was +making a brave attempt to hide her bitter disappointment over the turn +things had taken. Therefore he was not surprised when, after she had +attended to all his wants, she sank on her knees beside him. + +"Ben," she said, trying to keep a quiver out of her voice, "are you +sure it was Ferguson who shot you?" + +He patted her hand tenderly and sympathetically with his uninjured one. +"I'm sorry for you, Mary," he returned, "but there ain't any doubt +about it." Then he told her of the warning he had received from +Leviatt, and when he saw her lips curl at the mention of the Two +Diamond range boss's name he smiled. + +"I thought the same thing that you are thinking, Mary," he said. "And +I didn't want to shoot Ferguson. But as things have turned out I +wouldn't have been much wrong to have done it." + +She raised her head from the coverlet. "Did you see him before he shot +you?" she questioned eagerly. + +"Just a little before," he returned. "I met him at a turn in the trail +about half a mile from here. I made him get down off his horse and +drop his guns. We had a talk, for I didn't want to shoot him until I +was sure, and he talked so clever that I thought he was telling the +truth. But he wasn't." + +He told her about Ferguson's concealed pistol; how they had stood face +to face with death between them, concluding: "By that time I had +decided not to shoot him. But he didn't have the nerve to pull the +trigger when he was looking at me. He waited until I'd got on my horse +and was riding away. Then he sneaked up behind." + +He saw her body shiver, and he caressed her hair slowly, telling her +that he was sorry things had turned out so, and promising her that when +he recovered he would bring the Two Diamond stray-man to a strict +accounting--providing the latter didn't leave the country before. But +he saw that his words had given her little comfort, for when an hour or +so later he dropped off to sleep the last thing he saw was her seated +at the table in the kitchen, her head bowed in her hands, crying softly. + +"Poor little kid," he said, as sleep dimmed his eyes; "it looks as +though this would be the end of _her_ story." + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +LOVE AND A RIFLE + +Ferguson did not visit Miss Radford the next morning--he had seen +Leviatt and Tucson depart from the ranchhouse, had observed the +direction they took, and had followed them. For twenty miles he had +kept them in sight, watching them with a stern patience that had +brought its reward. + +They had ridden twenty miles straight down the river, when Ferguson, +concealed behind a ridge, saw them suddenly disappear into a little +basin. Then he rode around the ridge, circled the rim of hills that +surrounded the basin, and dismounting from his pony, crept through a +scrub oak thicket to a point where he could look directly down upon +them. + +He was surprised into a subdued whistle. Below him in the basin was an +adobe hut. He had been through this section of the country several +times but had never before stumbled upon the hut. This was not +remarkable, for situated as it was, in this little basin, hidden from +sight by a serried line of hills and ridges among which no cowpuncher +thought to travel--nor cared to--, the cabin was as safe from prying +eyes as it was possible for a human habitation to be. + +There was a small corral near the cabin, in which there were several +steers, half a dozen cows, and perhaps twenty calves. As Ferguson's +eyes took in the latter detail, they glittered with triumph. Not even +the wildest stretch of the imagination could produce twenty calves from +half a dozen cows. + +But Ferguson did not need this evidence to convince him that the men +who occupied the cabin were rustlers. Honest men did not find it +necessary to live in a basin in the hills where they were shut in from +sight of the open country. Cattle thieves did not always find it +necessary to do so--unless they were men like these, who had no herds +of their own among which to conceal their ill-gotten beasts. He was +convinced that these men were migratory thieves, who operated upon the +herds nearest them, remained until they had accumulated a considerable +number of cattle, and then drove the entire lot to some favored friend +who was not averse to running the risk of detection if through that +risk he came into possession of easily earned money. + +There were two of the men, beside Leviatt and Tucson--tall, +rangy--looking their part. Ferguson watched them for half an hour, and +then, convinced that he would gain nothing more by remaining there, he +stealthily backed down the hillside to where his pony stood, mounted, +and rode toward the river. + +Late in the afternoon he entered Bear Flat, urged his pony at a brisk +pace across it, and just before sundown drew rein in front of the +Radford cabin. He dismounted and stepped to the edge of the porch, a +smile of anticipation on his lips. The noise of his arrival brought +Mary Radford to the door. She came out upon the porch, and he saw that +her face was pale and her lips firmly set. Apparently something had +gone amiss with her and he halted, looking at her questioningly. + +"What's up?" he asked. + +"You ought to know," she returned quietly. + +"I ain't good at guessin' riddles," he returned, grinning at her. + +"There is no riddle," she answered, still quietly. She came forward +until she stood within two paces of him, her eyes meeting his squarely. +"When you left here last night did you meet Ben on the trail?" she +continued steadily. + +He started, reddening a little. "Why, yes," he returned, wondering if +Ben had told her what had been said at that meeting; "was he tellin' +you about it?" + +"Yes," she returned evenly, "he has been telling me about it. That +should be sufficient for you. I am sorry that I ever met you. You +should know why. If I were you I should not lose any time in getting +away from here." + +Her voice was listless, even flat, but there was a grim note in it that +told that she was keeping her composure with difficulty. He laughed, +thinking that since he had made the new agreement with the Two Diamond +manager he had nothing to fear. "I reckon I ought to be scared," he +returned, "but I ain't. An' I don't consider that I'm losin' any time." + +Her lips curved sarcastically. "You have said something like that +before," she told him, her eyes glittering scornfully. "You have a +great deal of faith in your ability to fool people. But you have +miscalculated this time. + +"I know why you have come to the Two Diamond. I know what made you +come over here so much. Of course I am partly to blame. You have +fooled me as you have fooled everyone." She stood suddenly erect, her +eyes flashing. "If you planned to kill my brother, why did you not +have the manhood to meet him face to face?" + +Ferguson flushed. Would it help his case to deny that he had thought +of fooling her, that he never had any intention of shooting Ben? He +thought not. Leviatt had poisoned her mind against him. He smiled +grimly. + +"Someone's been talkin'," he said quietly. "You'd be helpin' to make +this case clear if you'd tell who it was." + +"Someone has talked," she replied; "someone who knows. Why didn't you +tell me that you came here to kill Ben? That you were hired by +Stafford to do it?" + +"Why, I didn't, ma'am," he protested, his face paling. + +"You did!" She stamped one foot vehemently. + +Ferguson's eyes drooped. "I came here to see if Ben was rustlin' +cattle, ma'am," he confessed frankly. "But I wasn't intendin' to shoot +him. Why, I've had lots of chances, an' I didn't do it. Ain't that +proof enough?" + +"No," she returned, her voice thrilling with a sudden, bitter irony, +"you didn't shoot him. That is, you didn't shoot him while he was +looking at you--when there was a chance that he might have given you as +good as you sent. No, you didn't shoot him then--you waited until his +back was turned. You--you coward!" + +Ferguson's lips whitened. "You're talkin' extravagant, ma'am," he said +coldly. "Somethin' is all mixed up. Has someone been shootin' Ben?" + +She sneered, pinning him with a scornful, withering glance. "I +expected that you would deny it," she returned. "That would be +following out your policy of deception." + +He leaned forward, his eyes wide with surprise. If she had not been +laboring under the excitement of the incident she might have seen that +his surprise was genuine, but she was certain that it was mere +craftiness--a craftiness that she had hitherto admired, but which now +awakened a fierce anger in her heart. + +"When was he shot?" he questioned quietly. + +"Last night," she answered scornfully. "Of course that is a surprise +to you too. An hour after you left he rode up to the cabin and fell +from his horse at the edge of the porch. He had been shot twice--both +times in the back." She laughed--almost hysterically. "Oh, you knew +enough not to take chances with him in spite of your bragging--in spite +of the reputation you have of being a 'two-gun' man!" + +He winced under her words, his face whitening, his lips twitching, his +hands clenched that he might not lose his composure. But in spite of +the conflict that was going on within him at the moment he managed to +keep his voice quiet and even. It was admirable acting, she thought, +her eyes burning with passion--despicable, contemptible acting. + +"I reckon I ain't the snake you think I am, ma'am," he said, looking +steadily at her. "But I'm admittin' that mebbe you've got cause to +think so. When I left Ben last night I shook hands with him, after +fixin' up the difference we'd had. Why, ma'am," he went on earnestly, +"I'd just got through tellin' him about you an' me figgerin' to get +hooked up. An' do you think I'd shoot him after that? Why, if I'd +been wantin' to shoot him I reckon there was nothin' to stop me while +he was standin' there. He'd never knowed what struck him. I'm tellin' +you that I didn't know he was shot; that----" + +She made a gesture of impatience. "I don't think I care to hear any +more," she said. "I heard the shots here on the porch. I suppose you +were so far away at that time that you couldn't hear them?" + +He writhed again under the scorn in her voice. But he spoke again, +earnestly. "I did hear some shootin'," he said, "after I'd gone on a +ways. But I reckoned it was Ben." + +"What do you suppose he would be shooting at at that time of the +night?" she demanded. + +"Why, I don't remember that I was doin' a heap of wonderin' at that +time about it," he returned hesitatingly. "Mebbe I thought he was +shootin' at a sage-hen, or a prairie-dog--or somethin'. I've often +took a shot at somethin' like that--when I've been alone that way." He +took a step toward her, his whole lithe body alive and tingling with +earnestness. "Why, ma'am, there's a big mistake somewheres. If I +could talk to Ben I'm sure I could explain----" + +She drew her skirts close and stepped back toward the door. "There is +nothing to explain--now," she said coldly. "Ben is doing nicely, and +when he has fully recovered you will have a chance to explain to +him--if you are not afraid." + +"Afraid?" he laughed grimly. "I expect, ma'am, that things look pretty +bad for me. They always do when someone's tryin' to make 'em. I +reckon there ain't any use of tryin' to straighten it out now--you +won't listen. But I'm tellin' you this: When everything comes out +you'll see that I didn't shoot your brother." + +"Of course not," sneered the girl. "You did not shoot him. Stafford +did not hire you to do it. You didn't come here, pretending that you +had been bitten by a rattler, so that you might have a chance to worm +yourself into my brother's favor--and then shoot him. You haven't been +hanging around Bear Flat all summer, pretending to look for stray Two +Diamond cattle. You haven't been trying to make a fool of me----" Her +voice trembled and her lips quivered suspiciously. + +"Well, now," said Ferguson, deeply moved; "I'm awful sorry you're +lookin' at things like you are. But I wasn't thinkin' to try an' make +a fool of you. Things that I said to you I meant. I wouldn't say +things to a girl that I said to you if----" + +She had suddenly stepped into the cabin and as suddenly reappeared +holding the rifle that was kept always behind the door. She stood +rigid on the porch, her eyes blazing through the moisture in them. + +"You go now!" she commanded hotly; "I've heard enough of your lies! +Get away from this cabin! If I ever see you around here again I won't +wait for Ben to shoot you!" + +Ferguson hesitated, a deep red mounting over the scarf at his throat. +Then his voice rose, tingling with regret. "There ain't any use of me +sayin' anything now, ma'am," he said. "You wouldn't listen. I'm goin' +away, of course, because you want me to. You didn't need to get that +gun if you wanted to hurt me--what you've said would have been enough." +He bowed to her, not even looking at the rifle. "I'm goin' now," he +concluded. "But I'm comin' back. You'll know then whether I'm the +sneak you've said I was." + +He bowed again over the pony's mane and urged the animal around the +corner of the cabin, striking the trail that led through the flat +toward the Two Diamond ranchhouse. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +THE PROMISE + +Ferguson heard loud talking and laughter in the bunkhouse when he +passed there an hour after his departure from the Radford cabin in Bear +Flat. It was near sundown and the boys were eating supper. Ferguson +smiled grimly as he rode his pony to the corral gate, dismounted, +pulled off the bridle and saddle, and turned the animal into the +corral. The presence of the boys at the bunkhouse meant that the wagon +outfit had come in--meant that Leviatt would have to come in--if he had +not already done so. + +The stray-man's movements were very deliberate; there was an absence of +superfluous energy that told of intensity of thought and singleness of +purpose. He shouldered the saddle with a single movement, walked with +it to the lean-to, threw it upon its accustomed peg, hung the bridle +from the pommel, and then turned and for a brief time listened to the +talk and laughter that issued from the open door and windows of the +bunkhouse. With a sweep of his hands he drew his two guns from their +holsters, rolled the cylinders and examined them minutely. Then he +replaced the guns, hitched at his cartridge belt, and stepped out of +the door of the lean-to. + +In spite of his promise to Mary Radford to the effect that he would +return to prove to her that he was not the man who had attempted to +kill her brother he had no hope of discovering the guilty man. His +suspicions, of course, centered upon Leviatt, but he knew that under +the circumstances Mary Radford would have to be given convincing proof. +The attempted murder of her brother, following the disclosure that he +had been hired by Stafford to do the deed, must have seemed to her +sufficient evidence of his guilt. He did not blame her for feeling +bitter toward him; she had done the only thing natural under the +circumstances. He had been very close to the garden of happiness--just +close enough to scent its promise of fulfilled joy, when the gates had +been violently closed in his face, to leave him standing without, +contemplating the ragged path over which he must return to the old life. + +He knew that Leviatt had been the instrument that had caused the gates +to close; he knew that it had been he who had dropped the word that had +caused the finger of accusation to point to him. "Stafford didn't hire +you to do it," Mary Radford had said, ironically. The words rang in +his ears still. Who had told her that Stafford had hired him to shoot +Radford? Surely not Stafford. He himself had not hinted at the reason +of his presence at the Two Diamond. And there was only one other man +who knew. That man was Leviatt. As he stood beside the door of the +lean-to the rage in his heart against the range boss grew more bitter, +and the hues around his mouth straightened more grimly. + +A few minutes later he stalked into the bunkhouse, among the men who, +after finishing their meal, were lounging about, their small talk +filling the room. The talk died away as he entered, the men adroitly +gave him room, for there was something in the expression of his eyes, +in the steely, boring glances that he cast about him, that told these +men, inured to danger though they were, that the stray-man was in no +gentle mood. He dropped a short word to the one among them that he +knew best, at which they all straightened, for through the word they +knew that he was looking for Leviatt. + +But they knew nothing of Leviatt beyond the fact that he and Tucson had +not accompanied the wagon to the home ranch. They inferred that the +range boss and Tucson had gone about some business connected with the +cattle. Therefore Ferguson did not stop long in the bunkhouse. +Without a word he was gone, striding rapidly toward the ranchhouse. +They looked after him, saying nothing, but aware that his quest for +Leviatt was not without significance. + +Five minutes later he was in Stafford's office. The latter had been +worrying about him. When Ferguson entered the manager's manner was a +trifle anxious. + +"You seen anything of Radford yet?" he inquired. + +"I ain't got anything on Radford," was the short reply. + +His tone angered the manager. "I ain't askin' if you've got anything +on him," he returned. "But we missed more cattle yesterday, an' it +looks mighty suspicious. Since we had that talk about Radford, when +you told me it wasn't him doin' the rustlin' I've changed my mind a +heap. I'm thinkin' he rustled them cattle last night." + +Ferguson looked quizzically at him. "How many cattle you missin'?" he +questioned. + +Stafford banged a fist heavily down upon his desk top. "We're twenty +calves short on the tally," he declared, "an' half a dozen cows. We +ain't got to the steers yet, but I'm expectin' to find them short too." + +Ferguson drew a deep breath. The number of cattle missing tallied +exactly with the number he had seen in the basin down the river. A +glint of triumph lighted his eyes, but he looked down upon Stafford, +drawling: + +"You been doin' the tallyin'?" + +"Yes." + +Ferguson was now smiling grimly. + +"Where's your range boss?" he questioned. + +"The boys say he rode over to the river lookin' for strays. Sent word +that he'd be in to-morrow. But I don't see what he's got to do----" + +"No," returned Ferguson, "of course. You say them cattle was rustled +last night?" + +"Yes." Stafford banged his fist down with a positiveness that left no +doubt of his knowledge. + +"Well, now," observed Ferguson, "an' so you're certain Radford rustled +them." He smiled again saturninely. + +"I ain't sayin' for certain," returned Stafford, puzzled by Ferguson's +manner. "What I'm gettin' at is that there ain't no one around here +that'd rustle them except Radford." + +"There ain't no other nester around here that you know of?" questioned +Ferguson. + +"No. Radford's the only one." + +Ferguson lingered a moment. Then he walked slowly to the door. "I +reckon that's all," he said. "To-morrow I'm goin' to show you your +rustler." + +He had stepped out of the door and was gone into the gathering dusk +before Stafford could ask the question that was on the end of his +tongue. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +KEEPING A PROMISE + +Ferguson's dreams had been troubled. Long before dawn he was awake and +outside the bunkhouse, splashing water over his face from the tin wash +basin that stood on the bench just outside the door. Before breakfast +he had saddled and bridled Mustard, and directly after the meal he was +in the saddle, riding slowly toward the river. + +Before very long he was riding through Bear Flat, and after a time he +came to the hill where only two short days before he had reveled in the +supreme happiness that had followed months of hope and doubt. It did +not seem as though it had been only two days. It seemed that time was +playing him a trick. Yet he knew that to-day was like yesterday--each +day like its predecessor--that if the hours dragged it was because in +the bitterness of his soul he realized that today could not be--for +him--like the day before yesterday; and that succeeding days gave no +promise of restoring to him the happiness that he had lost. + +He saw the sun rising above the rim of hills that surrounded the flat; +he climbed to the rock upon which he had sat--with her--watching the +shadows retreat to the mountains, watching the sun stream down into the +clearing and upon the Radford cabin. But there was no longer beauty in +the picture--for him. Hereafter he would return to that life that he +had led of old; the old hard life that he had known before his brief +romance had given him a fleeting glimpse of what might have been. + +Many times, when his hopes had been high, he had felt a chilling fear +that he would never be able to reach the pinnacle of promise; that in +the end fate would place before him a barrier--the barrier in the shape +of his contract with Stafford, that he had regretted many times. + +Mary Radford would never believe his protest that he had not been hired +to kill her brother. Fate, in the shape of Leviatt, had forestalled +him there. Many times, when she had questioned him regarding the hero +in her story, he had been on the point of taking her into his +confidence as to the reason of his presence at the Two Diamond, but he +had always put it off, hoping that things would be righted in the end +and that he would be able to prove to her the honesty of his intentions. + +But now that time was past. Whatever happened now she would believe +him the creature that she despised--that all men despised; the man who +strikes in the dark. + +This, then, was to be the end. He could not say that he had been +entirely blameless. He should have told her. But it was not the end +that he was now contemplating. There could be no end until there had +been an accounting between him and Leviatt. Perhaps the men who had +shot Ben Radford in the back would never be known. He had his +suspicions, but they availed nothing. In the light of present +circumstances Miss Radford would never hold him guiltless. + +Until near noon he sat on the rock on the crest of the hill, the lines +of his face growing more grim, his anger slowly giving way to the +satisfying calmness that comes when the mind has reached a conclusion. +There would be a final scene with Leviatt, and then---- + +He rose from the rock, made his way deliberately down the hillside, +mounted his pony, and struck the trail leading to the Two Diamond +ranchhouse. + + +About noon Leviatt and Tucson rode in to the Two Diamond corral gate, +dismounted from their ponies, and proceeded to the bunkhouse for +dinner. The men of the outfit were already at the table, and after +washing their faces from the tin wash basin on the bench outside the +door, Leviatt and Tucson entered the bunkhouse and took their places. +Greetings were given and returned through the medium of short +nods--with several of the men even this was omitted. Leviatt was not a +popular range boss, and there were some of the men who had whispered +their suspicions that the death of Rope Jones had not been brought +about in the regular way. Many of them remembered the incident that +had occurred between Rope, the range boss, Tucson, and the new +stray-man, and though opinions differed, there were some who held that +the death of Rope might have resulted from the ill-feeling engendered +by the incident. But in the absence of proof there was nothing to be +done. So those men who held suspicions wisely refrained from talking +in public. + +Before the meal was finished the blacksmith poked his head in through +the open doorway, calling: "Ol' Man wants to see Leviatt up in the +office!" + +The blacksmith's head was withdrawn before Leviatt, who had heard the +voice but had not seen the speaker, could raise his voice in reply. He +did not hasten, however, and remained at the table with Tucson for five +minutes after the other men had left. Then, with a final word to +Tucson, he rose and strode carelessly to the door of Stafford's office. +The latter had been waiting with some impatience, and at the appearance +of the range boss he shoved his chair back from his desk and arose. + +"Just come in?" he questioned. + +"Just come in," repeated Leviatt drawling. "Plum starved. Had to eat +before I came down here." + +He entered and dropped lazily into a chair near the desk, stretching +his legs comfortably. He had observed in Stafford's manner certain +signs of a subdued excitement, and while he affected not to notice +this, there was a glint of feline humor in his eyes. + +"Somebody said you wanted me," he said. "Anything doin'?" + +Stafford had held in as long as he could. Now he exploded. + +"What in hell do you suppose I sent for you for?" he demanded, as, +walking to and fro in the room, he paused and glared down at the range +boss. "Where you been? We're twenty calves an' a dozen cows short on +the tally!" + +Leviatt looked up, his eyes suddenly flashing. "Whew!" he exclaimed. +"They're hittin' them pretty heavy lately. When was they missed?" + +Stafford spluttered impotently. "Night before last," he flared. "An' +not a damned sign of where they went!" + +Leviatt grinned coldly. "Them rustlers is gettin' to be pretty slick, +ain't they?" he drawled. + +Stafford's face swelled with a rage that threatened to bring on +apoplexy. He brought a tense fist heavily down upon his desk top. + +"Slick!" he sneered. "I don't reckon they're any slick. It's that +I've got a no good outfit. There ain't a man in the bunch could see a +rustler if he'd hobbled a cow and was runnin' her calf off before their +eyes!" He hesitated to gain breath before continuing. "What have I +got an outfit for? What have I got a range boss for? What have I +got----!" + +Leviatt grinned wickedly and Stafford hesitated, his hand upraised. + +"Your stray-man doin' anything these days?" questioned Leviatt +significantly. "Because if he is," resumed Leviatt, before the manager +could reply, "he ought to manage to be around where them thieves are +workin'." + +Stafford stiffened. He had developed a liking for the stray-man and he +caught a note of venom in Leviatt's voice. + +"I reckon the stray-man knows what he's doin'," he replied. He +returned to his chair beside the desk and sat in it, facing Leviatt, +and speaking with heavy sarcasm. "The stray-man's the only one of the +whole bunch that's doin' anything," he said. + +"Sure," sneered Leviatt; "he's gettin' paid for sparkin' Mary Radford." + +"Mebbe he is," returned Stafford. "I don't know as I'd blame him any +for that. But he's been doin' somethin' else now an' then, too." + +"Findin' the man that's been rustlin' your stock, for instance," mocked +Leviatt. + +Stafford leaned back in his chair, frowning. + +"Look here, Leviatt," he said steadily. "I might have spoke a little +strong to you about them missin' cattle. But I reckon you're partly to +blame. If you'd been minded to help Ferguson a little, instead of +actin' like a fool because you've thought he's took a shine to Mary +Radford, we might have been further along with them rustlers. As it +is, Ferguson's been playin' a lone hand. But he claims to have been +doin' somethin'. He ain't been in the habit of blowin' his own horn, +an' I reckon we can rely on what he says. I'm wantin' you to keep the +boys together this afternoon, for we might need them to help Ferguson +out. He's promised to ride in to-day an' show me the man who's been +rustlin' my cattle." + +Leviatt's lips slowly straightened. He sat more erect, and when he +spoke the mockery had entirely gone from his voice and from his manner. + +"He's goin' to do what?" he questioned coldly. + +"Show me the man who's been rustlin' my cattle," repeated Stafford. + +For a brief space neither man spoke--nor moved. Stafford's face wore +the smile of a man who has just communicated some unexpected and +astonishing news and was watching its effect with suppressed enjoyment. +He knew that Leviatt felt bitter toward the stray-man and that the news +that the latter might succeed in doing the thing that he had set out to +do would not be received with any degree of pleasure by the range boss. + +But watching closely, Stafford was forced to admit that Leviatt did not +feel so strongly, or was cleverly repressing his emotions. There was +no sign on the range boss's face that he had been hurt by the news. +His face had grown slightly paler and there was a hard glitter in his +narrowed eyes. But his voice was steady. + +"Well, now," he said, "that ought to tickle you a heap." + +"I won't be none disappointed," returned Stafford. + +Leviatt looked sharply at him and crossed his arms over his chest. + +"When was you talkin' to him?" he questioned. + +"Yesterday." + +Leviatt's lips moved slightly. "An' when did you say them cattle was +rustled?" he asked. + +"Night before last," returned Stafford. + +Leviatt was silent for a brief time. Then he unfolded his arms and +stood erect, his eyes boring into Stafford's. + +"When you expectin' Ferguson?" he questioned. + +"He didn't say just when he was comin' in," returned Stafford. "But I +reckon we might expect him any time." + +Leviatt strode to the door. Looking back over his shoulder, he smiled +evilly. "I'm much obliged to you for tellin' me," he said. "We'll be +ready for him." + + +A little over an hour after his departure from the hill, Ferguson rode +up to the Two Diamond corral gate and dismounted. + +Grouped around the door of the bunkhouse were several of the Two +Diamond men; in a strip of shade from the blacksmith shop were others. +Jocular words were hurled at him by some of the men as he drew the +saddle from Mustard, for the stray-man's quietness and invariable +thoughtfulness had won him a place in the affections of many of the +men, and their jocular greetings were evidence of this. + +He nodded shortly to them, but did not answer. And instead of lugging +his saddle to its accustomed peg in the lean-to, he threw it over the +corral fence and left it. Then, without another look toward the men, +he turned and strode toward the manager's office. + +The latter was seated at his desk and looked up at the stray-man's +entrance. He opened his lips to speak, but closed them again, +surprised at the stray-man's appearance. + +During the months that Ferguson had worked at the Two Diamond, Stafford +had not seen him as he looked at this moment. Never, during the many +times the manager had seen him, had he been able to guess anything of +the stray-man's emotions by looking at his face. Now, however, there +had come a change. In the set, tightly drawn lips were the tell-tale +signs of an utterable resolve. In the narrowed, steady eyes was a +light that chilled Stafford like a cold breeze in the heat of a +summer's day. In the man's whole body was something that shocked the +manager into silence. + +He came into the room, standing near the door, his set lips moving a +very little, "You heard anything from Leviatt yet?" he questioned. + +"Why, yes," returned Stafford, hesitatingly; "he was here, talkin' to +me. Ain't been gone more'n half an hour. I reckon he's somewhere +around now." + +"You talkin' to him, you say?" said the stray-man slowly. He smiled +mirthlessly. "I reckon you told him about them missin' calves?" + +"I sure did!" returned Stafford with much vehemence. He laughed +harshly. "I told him more," he said; "I told him you was goin' to show +me the man who'd rustled them." + +Ferguson's lips wreathed into a grim smile. "So you told him?" he +said. "I was expectin' you'd do that, if he got in before me. That's +why I stopped in here. That was somethin' which I was wantin' him to +know. I don't want it to be said that I didn't give him a chance." + +Stafford rose from his chair, taking a step toward the stray-man. + +"Why, what----?" he began. But a look at the stray-man's face silenced +him. + +"I've come over here to-day to show you that rustler I told you about +yesterday. I'm goin' to look for him now. If he ain't sloped I reckon +you'll see him pretty soon." + + +Leviatt stepped down from the door of the manager's office and strode +slowly toward the bunkhouse. On the way he passed several of the men, +but he paid no attention to them, his face wearing an evil expression, +his eyes glittering venomously. + +When he reached the bunkhouse he passed several more of the men without +a word, going directly to a corner of the room where sat Tucson and +conversing earnestly with his friend. A little later both he and +Tucson rose and passed out of the bunkhouse, walking toward the +blacksmith shop. + +After a little they appeared, again joining the group outside the +bunkhouse. It was while Leviatt and Tucson were in the blacksmith shop +that Ferguson had come in. When they came out again the stray-man had +disappeared into the manager's office. + +Since the day when in the manager's office, Ferguson had walked across +the floor to return to Leviatt the leather tobacco pouch that the +latter had dropped in the depression on the ridge above the gully where +the stray-man had discovered the dead Two Diamond cow and her calf, +Leviatt had known that the stray-man suspected him of being leagued +with the rustlers. But this knowledge had not disturbed him. He felt +secure because of his position. Even the stray-man would have to have +absolute, damning evidence before he could hope to be successful in +proving a range boss guilty of cattle stealing. + +Leviatt had been more concerned over the stray-man's apparent success +in courting Mary Radford. His hatred--beginning with the shooting +match in Dry Bottom--had been intensified by the discovery of Ferguson +on the Radford porch in Bear Flat; by the incident at the bunkhouse, +when Rope Jones had prevented Tucson from shooting the stray-man from +behind, and by the discovery that the latter suspected him of +complicity with the cattle thieves. But it had reached its highest +point when Mary Radford spurned his love. After that he had realized +that just so long as the stray-man lived and remained at the Two +Diamond there would be no peace or security for him there. + +Yet he had no thought of settling his differences with Ferguson as man +to man. Twice had he been given startling proof of the stray-man's +quickness with the six-shooter, and each time his own slowness had been +crushingly impressed on his mind. He was not fool enough to think that +he could beat the stray-man at that game. + +But there were other ways. Rope Jones had discovered that--when it had +been too late to profit. Rope had ridden into a carefully laid trap +and, in spite of his reputation for quickness in drawing his weapon, +had found that the old game of getting a man between two fires had +proven efficacious. + +And now Leviatt and Tucson were to attempt the scheme again. Since his +interview with Stafford, Leviatt had become convinced that the time for +action had come. Ferguson had left word with the manager that he was +to show the latter the rustler, and by that token Leviatt knew that the +stray-man had gathered evidence against him and was prepared to show +him to the manager in his true light. He, in turn, had left a message +with the manager for Ferguson. "We'll be ready for him," he had said. + +He did not know whether Ferguson had received this message. It had +been a subtle thought; the words had been merely involuntary. By "We" +the manager had thought that he had meant the entire outfit was to be +held ready to apprehend the rustler. Leviatt had meant only himself +and Tucson. + +And they were ready. Down in the blacksmith shop, while Ferguson had +ridden in and stepped into the manager's office, had Leviatt and Tucson +made their plan. When they had joined the group in front of the +bunkhouse and had placed themselves in positions where thirty or forty +feet of space yawned between them, they had been making the first +preparatory movement. The next would come when Ferguson appeared, to +carry out his intention of showing Stafford the rustler. + +To none of the men of the outfit did Leviatt or Tucson reveal anything +of the nervousness that affected them. They listened to the rough +jest, they laughed when the others laughed, they dropped an occasional +word of encouragement. They even laughed at jokes in which there was +no visible point. + +But they did not move from their places, nor did they neglect to keep a +sharp, alert eye out for the stray-man's appearance. And when they saw +him come out of the door of the office they neglected to joke or laugh, +but stood silent, with the thirty or forty feet of space between them, +their faces paling a little, their hearts laboring a little harder. + +When Ferguson stepped out of the door of the office, Stafford followed. +The stray-man had said enough to arouse the manager's suspicions, and +there was something about the stray-man's movements which gave the +impression that he contemplated something more than merely pointing out +the thief. If warning of impending tragedy had ever shone in a man's +eyes, Stafford was certain that it had shone in the stray-man's during +the brief time that he had been in the office and when he had stepped +down from the door. + +Stafford had received no invitation to follow the stray-man, but +impelled by the threat in the latter's eyes and by the hint of cold +resolution that gave promise of imminent tragedy, he stepped down also, +trailing the stray-man at a distance of twenty yards. + +Ferguson did not hesitate once in his progress toward the bunkhouse, +except to cast a rapid, searching glance toward a group of two or three +men who lounged in the shade of the eaves of the building. Passing the +blacksmith shop he continued toward the bunkhouse, walking with a +steady stride, looking neither to the right or left. + +Other men in the group, besides Leviatt and Tucson, had seen the +stray-man coming, and as he came nearer, the talk died and a sudden +silence fell. Ferguson came to a point within ten feet of the group of +men, who were ranged along the wall of the bunkhouse. Stafford had +come up rapidly, and he now stood near a corner of the bunkhouse in an +attitude of intense attention. + +He was in a position where he could see the stray-man's face, and he +marveled at the sudden change that had come into it. The tragedy had +gone, and though the hard lines were still around his mouth, the +corners twitched a little, as though moved by a cold, feline humor. +There was a hint of mockery in his eyes--a chilling mockery, much like +that which the manager had seen in them months before when in Dry +Bottom the stray-man had told Leviatt that he thought he was a "plum +man." + +But now Stafford stood breathless as he heard the stray-man's voice, +directed at Leviatt. "I reckon you think you've been some busy +lately," he drawled. + +Meaningless words, as they appear here; meaningless to the group of men +and to the Two Diamond manager; yet to Leviatt they were burdened with +a dire significance. They told him that the stray-man was aware of his +duplicity; they meant perhaps that the stray-man knew of his dealings +with the cattle thieves whom he had visited yesterday in the hills near +the river. Whatever Leviatt thought, there was significance enough in +the words to bring a sneering smile to his face. + +"Meanin'?" he questioned, his eyes glittering evilly. + +Ferguson smiled, his eyes unwavering and narrowing a very little as +they met those of his questioner. Deliberately, as though the occasion +were one of unquestioned peace, he drew out some tobacco and several +strips of rice paper. Selecting one of the strips of paper, he +returned the others to a pocket and proceeded to roll a cigarette. His +movements were very deliberate. Stafford watched him, fascinated by +his coolness. In the tense silence no sound was heard except a subdued +rattle of pans in the bunkhouse--telling that the cook and his +assistant were at work. + +The cigarette was made finally, and then the stray-man lighted it and +looked again at Leviatt, ignoring his question, asking another himself. +"You workin' down the creek yesterday?" he said. + +"Up!" snapped Leviatt. The question had caught him off his guard or he +would have evaded it. He had told the lie out of pure perverseness. + +Ferguson took a long pull at his cigarette. "Well, now," he returned, +"that's mighty peculiar. I'd have swore that I seen you an' Tucson +ridin' down the river yesterday. Thought I saw you in a basin in the +hills, talkin' to some men that I'd never seen before. I reckon I was +mistaken, but I'd have swore that I'd seen you." + +Leviatt's face was colorless. Standing with his profile to Tucson, he +closed one eye furtively. This had been a signal that had previously +been agreed upon. Tucson caught it and turned slightly, letting one +hand fall to his right hip, immediately above the butt of his pistol. + +"Hell!" sneered Leviatt, "you're seein' a heap of things since you've +been runnin' with Mary Radford!" + +Ferguson laughed mockingly. "Mebbe I have," he returned. "Ridin' with +her sure makes a man open his eyes considerable." + +Now he ignored Leviatt, speaking to Stafford. "When I was in here one +day, talkin' to you," he said quietly, "you told me about you an' +Leviatt goin' to Dry Bottom to hire a gunfighter. I reckon you told +that right?" + +"I sure did," returned Stafford. + +Ferguson took another pull at his cigarette--blowing the smoke slowly +skyward. And he drawled again, so that there was a distinct space +between the words. + +"I reckon you didn't go around advertisin' that?" he asked. + +Stafford shook his head negatively. "There ain't anyone around here +knowed anything about that but me an' you an' Leviatt," he returned. + +Ferguson grinned coldly. "An' yet it's got out," he stated quietly. +"I reckon if no one but us three knowed about it, one of us has been +gassin'. I wouldn't think that you'd done any gassin'," he added, +speaking to Stafford. + +The latter slowly shook his head. + +Ferguson continued, his eyes cold and alert. "An' I reckon that I +ain't shot off about it--unless I've been dreamin'. Accordin' to that +it must have been Leviatt who told Mary Radford that I'd been hired to +kill her brother." + +Leviatt sneered. "Suppose I did?" he returned, showing his teeth in a +savage snarl. "What are you goin' to do about it?" + +"Nothin' now," drawled Ferguson. "I'm glad to hear that you ain't +denyin' it." He spoke to Stafford, without removing his gaze from the +range boss. + +"Yesterday," he stated calmly, "I was ridin' down the river. I found a +basin among the hills. There was a cabin down there. Four men was +talkin' in front of it. There was twenty calves an' a dozen cows in a +corral. Two of the men was----" + +Leviatt's right hand dropped suddenly to his holster. His pistol was +half out. Tucson's hand was also wrapped around the butt of his +pistol. But before the muzzle of either man's gun had cleared its +holster, there was a slight movement at the stray-man's sides and his +two guns glinted in the white sunlight. There followed two reports, so +rapidly that they blended. Smoke curled from the muzzles of the +stray-man's pistols. + +Tucson sighed, placed both hands to his chest, and pitched forward +headlong, stretching his length in the sand. For an instant Leviatt +stood rigid, his left arm swinging helplessly by his side, broken by +the stray-man's bullet, an expression of surprise and fear in his eyes. +Then with a sudden, savage motion he dragged again at his gun. + +One of the stray-man's guns crashed again, sharply. Leviatt's weapon +went off, its bullet throwing up sand in front of Ferguson. Leviatt's +eyes closed, his knees doubled under him, and he pitched forward at +Ferguson's feet. He was face down, his right arm outstretched, the +pistol still in his hand. A thin, blue wreath of smoke rose lazily +from its muzzle. + +Ferguson bent over him, his weapons still in his hands. Leviatt's legs +stretched slowly and then stiffened. In the strained silence that had +followed the shooting Ferguson stood, looking gloomily down upon the +quiet form of his fallen adversary. + +"I reckon you won't lie no more about me," he said dully. + +Without a glance in the direction of the group of silent men, he +sheathed his weapons and strode toward the ranchhouse. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +AT THE EDGE OF THE COTTONWOOD + +Ferguson strode into the manager's office and dropped heavily into a +chair beside the desk. He was directly in front of the open door and +looking up he could see the men down at the bunkhouse congregated +around the bodies of Leviatt and Tucson. + +The end that he had been expecting for the past two days had come--had +come as he knew it must come. He had not been trapped as they had +trapped Rope Jones. When he had stood before Leviatt in front of the +bunkhouse, he had noted the positions of the two men; had seen that +they had expected him to walk squarely into the net that they had +prepared for him. His lips curled a little even now over the thought +that the two men had held him so cheaply. Well, they had learned +differently, when too late. It was the end of things for them, and for +him the end of his hopes. When he had drawn his guns he had thought of +merely wounding Leviatt, intending to allow the men of the outfit to +apply to him the penalty that all convicted cattle thieves must suffer. +But before that he had hoped to induce Leviatt to throw some light upon +the attempted murder of Ben Radford. + +However, Leviatt had spoiled all that when he had attempted to draw his +weapon after he was wounded. He had given Ferguson no alternative. He +had been forced to kill the only man who, he was convinced, could have +given him any information about the shooting of Radford, and now, in +spite of anything that he might say to the contrary, Mary Radford, and +even Ben himself, would always believe him guilty. He could not stay +at Two Diamond now. He must get out of the country, back to the old +life at the Lazy J, where among his friends he might finally forget. +But he doubted much. Did men ever forget women they had loved? Some +perhaps did, but he was certain that nothing--not even time--could dim +the picture that was now in his mind: the hill in the flat, the girl +sitting upon the rock beside him, her eyes illuminated with a soft, +tender light; her breeze-blown hair--which he had kissed; which the +Sun-Gods had kissed as, coming down from the mountains, they had bathed +the hill with the golden light of the evening. He had thought then +that nothing could prevent him from enjoying the happiness which that +afternoon seemed to have promised. He had watched the sun sinking +behind the mountains, secure in the thought that the morrow would bring +him added happiness. But now there could be no tomorrow--for him. + +Fifteen minutes later Stafford entered the office to find his stray-man +still seated in the chair, his head bowed in his hands. He did not +look up as the manager entered, and the latter stepped over to him and +laid a friendly hand on his shoulder. + +"I'm thankin' you for what you've done for me," he said. + +Ferguson rose, leaning one hand on the back of the chair upon which he +had been sitting. The manager saw that deep lines had come into his +face; that his eyes--always steady before--were restless and gleaming +with an expression which seemed unfathomable. But he said nothing +until the manager had seated himself beside the desk. Then he took a +step and stood looking into Stafford's upturned face. + +"I reckon I've done what I came here to do," he said grimly. "I'm +takin' my time now." + +Stafford's face showed a sudden disappointment. + +"Shucks!" he returned, unable to keep the regret from his voice. +"Ain't things suited you here?" + +The stray-man grinned with straight lips. He could not let the manager +know his secret. "Things have suited me mighty well," he declared. +"I'm thankin' you for havin' made things pleasant for me while I've +been here. But I've done what I contracted to do an' there ain't +anything more to keep me here. If you'll give me my time I'll be +goin'." + +Stafford looked up at him with a sly, significant smile. "Why," he +said, "Leviatt told me that you'd found somethin' real interestin' over +on Bear Flat. Now, I shouldn't think you'd want to run away from her!" + +The stray-man's lips whitened a little. "I don't think Mary Radford is +worryin' about me," he said steadily. + +"Well, now," returned Stafford, serious again; "then I reckon Leviatt +had it wrong." + +"I expect he had it wrong," answered the stray-man shortly. + +But Stafford did not yield. He had determined to keep the stray-man at +the Two Diamond and there were other arguments that he had not yet +advanced which might cause him to stay. He looked up again, his face +wearing a thoughtful expression. + +"I reckon you remember our contract?" he questioned. + +The stray-man nodded. "I was to find out who was stealin' your +cattle," he said. + +Stafford smiled slightly. "Correct!" he returned. "You've showed me +two thieves. But a while ago I heard you say that there was two more. +Our contract ain't fulfilled until you show me them too. You reckon?" + +The stray-man drew a deep, resigned breath. "I expect that's right," +he admitted. "But I've told you where you can find them. All you've +got to do is to ride over there an' catch them." + +Stafford's smile widened a little. "Sure," he returned, "that's all +I've got to do. An' I'm goin' to do it. But I'm wantin' my range boss +to take charge of the outfit that's goin' over to ketch them." + +"Your range boss?" said Ferguson, a flash of interest in his eyes, +"Why, your range boss ain't here any more." + +Stafford leaned forward, speaking seriously. "I'm talkin' to my range +boss right now!" he said significantly. + +Ferguson started, and a tinge of slow color came into his face. He +drew a deep breath and took a step forward. But suddenly he halted, +his lips straightening again. + +"I'm thankin' you," he said slowly. "But I'm leavin' the Two Diamond." +He drew himself up, looking on the instant more his old indomitable +self. "I'm carryin' out our contract though," he added. "If you're +wantin' me to go after them other two men, I ain't backin' out. But +you're takin' charge of the outfit. I ain't goin' to be your range +boss." + +An hour later ten of the Two Diamond men, accompanied by Stafford and +the stray-man, loped their horses out on the plains toward the river. +It was a grim company on a grim mission, and the men forbore to joke as +they rode through the dust and sunshine of the afternoon. Ferguson +rode slightly in advance, silent, rigid in the saddle, not even +speaking to Stafford, who rode near him. + +Half an hour after leaving the Two Diamond they rode along the crest of +a ridge of hills above Bear Flat. They had been riding here only a few +minutes when Stafford, who had been watching the stray-man, saw him +start suddenly. The manager turned and followed the stray-man's gaze. + +Standing on a porch in front of a cabin on the other side of the flat +was a woman. She was watching them, her hands shading her eyes. +Stafford saw the stray-man suddenly dig his spurs into his pony's +flanks, saw a queer pallor come over his face. Five minutes later they +had ridden down through a gully to the plains. Thereafter, even the +hard riding Two Diamond boys found it difficult to keep near the +stray-man. + +Something over two hours later the Two Diamond outfit, headed by the +stray-man, clattered down into a little basin, where Ferguson had seen +the cabin two days before. As the Two Diamond men came to within a +hundred feet of the cabin two men, who had been at work in a small +corral, suddenly dropped their branding irons and bolted toward the +cabin. But before they had time to reach the door the Two Diamond men +had surrounded them, sitting grimly and silently in their saddles. +Several of Stafford's men had drawn their weapons, but were now +returning them to their holsters, for neither of the two men was armed. +They stood within the grim circle, embarrassed, their heads bowed, +their attitude revealing their shame at having been caught so easily. +One of the men, a clear, steady-eyed fellow, laughed frankly. + +"Well, we're plum easy, ain't we boys?" he said, looking around at the +silent group. "Corraled us without lettin' off a gun. That's what I'd +call re-diculous. You're right welcome. But mebbe you wouldn't have +had things so easy if we hadn't left our guns in the cabin. Eh, Bill?" +he questioned, prodding the other man playfully in the ribs. + +But the other man did not laugh. He stood before them, his +embarrassment gone, his eyes shifting and fearful. + +"Shut up, you damn fool!" he snarled. + +But the clear-eyed man gave no attention to this outburst. "You're Two +Diamond men, ain't you?" he asked, looking full at Ferguson. + +The latter nodded, and the clear-eyed man continued. "Knowed you right +off," he declared, with a laugh. "Leviatt pointed you out to me one +day when you was ridin' out yonder." He jerked a thumb toward the +distance. "Leviatt told me about you. Wanted to try an' plug you with +his six, but decided you was too far away." He laughed +self-accusingly. "If you'd been half an hour later, I reckon you +wouldn't have proved your stock, but we loafed a heap, an' half of that +bunch ain't got our brand." + +"We didn't need to look at no brand," declared Stafford grimly. + +The clear-eyed man started a little. Then he laughed. "Then you must +have got Leviatt an' Tucson," he said. He turned to Ferguson. "If +Leviatt has been got," he said, "it must have been you that got him. +He told me he was runnin' in with you some day. I kept tellin' him to +be careful." + +Ferguson's eyelashes twitched a little. "Thank you for the +compliment," he said. + +"Aw, hell!" declared the man, sneering. "I wasn't mushin' none!" + +Stafford had made a sign to the men and some of them dismounted and +approached the two rustlers. The man who had profanely admonished the +other to silence made some little resistance, but in the end he stood +within the circle, his hands tied behind him. The clear-eyed man made +no resistance, seeming to regard the affair in the light of a huge +joke. Once, while the Two Diamond men worked at his hands, he told +them to be careful not to hurt him. + +"I'm goin' to be hurt enough, after a while," he added. + +There was nothing more to be done. The proof of guilt was before the +Two Diamond men, in the shape of several calves in the small corral +that still bore the Two Diamond brand. Several of the cows were still +adorned with the Two Diamond ear mark, and in addition to this was +Ferguson's evidence. Therefore the men's ponies were caught up, +saddled, and the two men forced to mount. Then the entire company rode +out of the little gully through which the Two Diamond outfit had +entered, riding toward the cottonwood that skirted the river--miles +away. + +A little while before sunset the cavalcade rode to the edge of the +cottonwood. Stafford halted his pony and looked at Ferguson, but the +stray-man had seen enough tragedy for one day and he shook his head, +sitting gloomily in the saddle. + +"I'm waitin' here," he said simply. "There'll be enough in there to do +it without me." + +The clear-eyed man looked at him with a grim smile. + +"Why, hell!" he said. "You ain't goin' in?" his eyes lighted for an +instant. "I reckon you're plum white!" he declared. "You ain't aimin' +to see any free show." + +"I'm sayin' so-long to you," returned Ferguson. "You're game." A +flash of admiration lighted his eyes. + +The clear-eyed man smiled enigmatically. "I'm stayin' game!" he +declared grimly, without boast. "An' now I'm tellin' you somethin'. +Yesterday Leviatt told me he'd shot Ben Radford. He said he'd lied to +Ben about you an' that he'd shot him so's his sister would think you +done it. You've been white, an' so I'm squarin' things for you. I'm +wishin' you luck." + +For an instant he sat in the saddle, watching a new color surge into +the stray-man's face. Then his pony was led away, through a tangle of +undergrowth at the edge of the cottonwood. When Ferguson looked again, +the little company had ridden into the shadow, but Ferguson could make +out the clear-eyed man, still erect in his saddle, still seeming to +wear an air of unstudied nonchalance. For a moment longer Ferguson saw +him, and then he was lost in the shadows. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +THE END OF THE STORY + +Two weeks later Ferguson had occasion to pass through Bear Flat. +Coming out of the flat near the cottonwood he met Ben Radford. The +latter, his shoulder mending rapidly, grinned genially at the stray-man. + +"I'm right sorry I made that mistake, Ferguson," he said; "but Leviatt +sure did give you a bad reputation." + +Ferguson smiled grimly. "He won't be sayin' bad things about anyone +else," he said. And then his eyes softened. "But I'm some sorry for +the cuss," he added. + +"He had it comin'," returned Ben soberly. "An' I'd rather it was him +than me." He looked up at Ferguson, his eyes narrowing quizzically. +"You ain't been around here for a long time," he said. "For a man +who's just been promoted to range boss you're unnaturally shy." + +Ferguson smiled. "I ain't paradin' around showin' off," he returned. +"Someone might take it into their head to bore me with a rifle bullet." + +Radford's grin broadened. "I reckon you're wastin' valuable time," he +declared. "For I happen to know that she wouldn't throw nothing +worse'n a posy at you!" + +"You don't say?" returned Ferguson seriously. "I reckon----" + +He abruptly turned his pony down the trail that led to the cabin. As +he rode up to the porch there was a sudden movement, a rustle, a gasp +of astonishment, and Mary Radford stood in the doorway looking at him. +For a moment there was a silence that might have meant many things. +Both were thinking rapidly over the events of their last meeting at +this very spot. Then Ferguson moved uneasily in the saddle. + +"You got that there rifle anywheres handy?" he asked, grinning at her. + +Her eyes drooped; one foot nervously pushed out the hem of her skirts. +Then she laughed, flushing crimson. + +"It wasn't loaded anyway," she said. + + +The sunset was never more beautiful than to-day on the hill in Bear +Flat. Mary Radford sat on the rock in her accustomed place and +stretched out, full length beside her, was Ferguson. He was looking +out over the flat, at the shadows of the evening that were advancing +slowly toward the hill. + +She turned toward him, her eyes full and luminous. "I am almost at the +end of my story," she said smiling at him. "But," and her forehead +wrinkled perplexedly, "I find the task of ending it more difficult than +I had anticipated. It's a love scene," she added banteringly; "do you +think you could help me?" + +He looked up at her. "I reckon I could help you in a real love scene," +he said, "but I ain't very good at pretendin'." + +"But this is a real love scene," she replied stoutly; "I am writing it +as it actually occurred to me. I have reached the moment when you--I +mean the hero--has declared his love for me,--of course (with a blush) +I mean the heroine, and she has accepted him. But they are facing a +problem. In the story he has been a cowpuncher and of course has no +permanent home. And of course the reader will expect me to tell how +they lived after they had finally decided to make life's journey +together. Perhaps you can tell me how the hero should go about it." + +"Do you reckon that any reader is that inquisitive?" he questioned. + +"Why of course." + +He looked anxiously at her. "In that case," he said, "mebbe the reader +would want to know what the heroine thought about it. Would she want +to go back East to live--takin' her cowpuncher with her to show off to +her Eastern friends?" + +She laughed. "I thought you were not very good at pretending," she +said, "and here you are trying to worm a declaration of my intentions +out of me. You did not need to go about that so slyly," she told him, +with an earnestness that left absolutely no doubt of her determination, +"for I am going to stay right here. Why," she added, taking a deep +breath, and a lingering glance at the rift in the mountains where the +rose veil descended, "I love the West." + +He looked at her, his eyes narrowing with sympathy. "I reckon it's a +pretty good little old country," he said. He smiled broadly. "An' now +I'm to tell you how to end your story," he said, "by givin' you the +hero's plans for the future. I'm tellin' you that they ain't what you +might call elaborate. But if your inquisitive reader must know about +them, you might say that Stafford is givin' his hero--I'm meanin', of +course, his range boss--a hundred dollars a month--bein' some tickled +over what his range boss has done for him. + +"An' that there range boss knows when he's got a good thing. He's +goin' to send to Cimarron for a lot of stuff--fixin's an' things for +the heroine,--an' he's goin' to make a proposition to Ben Radford to +make his cabin a whole lot bigger. Then him an' the heroine is goin' +to live right there--right where the hero meets the heroine the first +time--when he come there after bein' bit by a rattler. An' then if any +little heroes or heroines come they'd have----" + +Her hand was suddenly over his mouth. "Why--why----" she protested, +trying her best to look scornful--"do you imagine that I would think of +putting such a thing as that into my book?" + +He grinned guiltily. "I don't know anything about writin'," he said, +properly humbled, "but I reckon it wouldn't be any of the reader's +business." + + + + +THE END. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Two-Gun Man, by Charles Alden Seltzer + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE TWO-GUN MAN *** + +***** This file should be named 19012.txt or 19012.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/1/9/0/1/19012/ + +Produced by Al Haines + +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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