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+Project Gutenberg's Rowdy of the Cross L, by B.M. Sinclair, AKA B.M. Bower
+
+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: Rowdy of the Cross L
+
+Author: B.M. Sinclair, AKA B.M. Bower
+
+Posting Date: November 7, 2008 [EBook #1907]
+Release Date: September, 1999
+Last Updated: March 9, 2018
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: UTF-8
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ROWDY OF THE CROSS L ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Mary Starr
+
+
+
+
+
+ROWDY OF THE “CROSS L.”
+
+By B.M. Sinclair (AKA B. M. Bower)
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+     1. Lost in a Blizzard
+     2. Miss Conroy Refuses Shelter
+     3. Rowdy Hires a New Boss
+     4. Pink as “Chappyrone”
+      5. At Home at Cross L
+     6. A Shot From the Dark
+     7. Rowdy in a Tough Place
+     8. Pink in a Threatening Mood
+     9. Moving the Herd
+     10. Harry Conroy at Home
+     11. Rowdy Promoted
+     12. “You Can Tell Jessie”
+      13. Rowdy Finds Happiness
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 1. Lost in a Blizzard.
+
+“Rowdy” Vaughan--he had been christened Rowland by his mother, and
+rechristened Rowdy by his cowboy friends, who are prone to treat with
+much irreverence the names bestowed by mothers--was not happy. He stood
+in the stirrups and shook off the thick layer of snow which clung, damp
+and close-packed, to his coat. The dull yellow folds were full of it;
+his gray hat, pulled low over his purple ears, was heaped with it. He
+reached up a gloved hand and scraped away as much as he could, wrapped
+the long-skirted, “sour-dough” coat around his numbed legs, then settled
+into the saddle with a shiver of distaste at the plight he was in, and
+wished himself back at the Horseshoe Bar.
+
+Dixie, standing knee-deep in a drift, shook himself much after the
+manner of his master; perhaps he, also, wished himself back at the
+Horseshoe Bar. He turned his head to look back, blinking at the snow
+which beat insistently in his eyes; he could not hold them open long
+enough to see anything, however, so he twitched his ears pettishly and
+gave over the attempt.
+
+“It's up to you, old boy,” Rowdy told him resignedly. “I'm plumb lost; I
+never was in this damn country before, anyhow--and I sure wish I wasn't
+here now. If you've any idea where we're at, I'm dead willing to have
+you pilot the layout. Never mind Chub; locating his feed when it's stuck
+under his nose is his limit.”
+
+Chub lifted an ear dispiritedly when his name was spoken; but, as was
+usually the case, he heard no good of himself, and dropped his head
+again. No one took heed of him; no one ever did. His part was to carry
+Vaughan's bed, and to follow unquestionably where Vaughan and Dixie
+might lead. He was cold and tired and hungry, but his faith in his
+master was strong; the responsibility of finding shelter before the dark
+came down rested not with him.
+
+Vaughan pressed his chilled knees against Dixie's ribs, but the hand
+upon the reins was carefully non-committal; so that Dixie, having no
+suggestion of his master's wish, ventured to indulge his own. He turned
+tail squarely to the storm and went straight ahead. Vaughan put his
+hands deep into his pockets, snuggled farther down into the sheepskin
+collar of his coat, and rode passive, enduring.
+
+They brought up against a wire fence, and Vaughan, rousing from his
+apathy, tried to peer through the white, shifting wall of the storm.
+“You're a swell guide--not,” he remarked to the horse. “Now you, you
+hike down this fence till you locate a gate or a corner, or any darned
+thing; and I don't give a cuss if the snow does get in your eyes. It's
+your own fault.”
+
+Dixie, sneezing the snow from his nostrils, turned obediently; Chub,
+his feet dragging wearily in the snow, trailed patiently behind. Half an
+hour of this, and it seemed as if it would go on forever.
+
+Through the swirl Vaughan could see the posts standing forlornly in
+the snow, with sixteen feet of blizzard between; at no time could he
+distinguish more than two or three at once, and there were long minutes
+when the wall stood, blank and shifting, just beyond the first post.
+
+Then Dixie lifted his head and gazed questioningly before him, his ears
+pointed forward--sentient, strained--and whinnied shrill challenge.
+He hurried his steps, dragging Chub out of the beginnings of a dream.
+Vaughan straightened and took his hands from his pockets.
+
+Out beyond the dim, wavering outline of the farthest post came answer
+to the challenge. A mysterious, vague shape grew impalpably upon the
+strained vision; a horse sneezed, then nickered eagerly. Vaughan drew up
+and waited.
+
+“Hello!” he called cheerfully. “Pleasant day, this. Out for your
+health?”
+
+The shape hesitated, as though taken aback by the greeting, and there
+was no answer. Vaughan, puzzled, rode closer.
+
+“Say, don't talk so fast!” he yelled. “I can't follow yuh.”
+
+“Who--who is it?” The voice sounded perturbed; and it was, moreover, the
+voice of a woman.
+
+Vaughan pulled up short and swore into his collar. Women are not, as a
+rule, to be met out on the blank prairie in a blizzard. His voice, when
+he spoke again, was not ironical, as it had been; it was placating.
+
+“I beg your pardon,” he said. “I thought it was a man. I'm looking for
+the Cross L; you don't happen to know where it is, do yuh?”
+
+“No--I don't,” she declared dismally. “I don't know where any place is.
+I'm teaching school in this neighborhood--or in some other. I was going
+to spend Sunday with a friend, but this storm came up, and I'm--lost.”
+
+“Same here,” said Rowdy pleasantly, as though being lost was a matter
+for congratulation.
+
+“Oh! I was in hopes--”
+
+“So was I, so we're even there. We'll have to pool our chances, I guess.
+Any gate down that way--or haven't you followed the fence?”
+
+“I followed it for miles and miles--it seemed. It must be some big field
+of the Cross L; but they have so very many big fields!”
+
+“And you couldn't give a rough guess at how far it is to the Cross
+L?”--insinuatingly.
+
+He could vaguely see her shake of head. “Ordinarily it should be about
+six miles beyond Rodway's, where I board. But I haven't the haziest idea
+of where Rodway's place is, you see; so that won't help you much. I'm
+all at sea in this snow.” Her voice was rueful.
+
+“Well, if you came up the fence, there's no use going back that way; and
+there's sure nothing made by going away from it.--that's the way I came.
+Why not go on the way you're headed?”
+
+“We might as well, I suppose,” she assented; and Rowdy turned and rode
+by her side, grateful for the plurality of the pronoun which tacitly
+included him in her wanderings, and meditating many things. For one, he
+wondered if she were as nice a girl as her voice sounded. He could not
+see much of her face, because it was muffled in a white silk scarf. Only
+her eyes showed, and they were dark and bright.
+
+When he awoke to the fact that the wind, grown colder, beat upon her
+cruelly, he dropped behind a pace and took the windy side, that he might
+shield her with his body. But if she observed the action she gave no
+sign; her face was turned from him and the wind, and she rode without
+speaking. After long plodding, the line of posts turned unexpectedly a
+right angle, and Vaughan took a long, relieved breath.
+
+“We'll have the wind on our backs now,” he remarked. “I guess we may as
+well keep on and see where this fence goes to.”
+
+His tone was too elaborately cheerful to be very cheering. He was
+wondering if the girl was dressed warmly. It had been so warm and sunny
+before the blizzard struck, but now the wind searched out the thin
+places in one's clothing and ran lead in one's bones, where should be
+simply marrow. He fancied that her voice, when she spoke, gave evidence
+of actual suffering--and the heart of Rowdy Vaughan was ever soft toward
+a woman.
+
+“If you're cold,” he began, “I'll open up my bed and get out a blanket.”
+ He held Dixie in tentatively.
+
+“Oh, don't trouble to do that,” she protested; but there was that in her
+voice which hardened his impulse into fixed resolution.
+
+“I ought to have thought of it before,” he lamented, and swung down
+stiffly into the snow.
+
+Her eyes followed his movement with a very evident interest while
+he unbuckled the pack Chub had carried since sunrise and drew out a
+blanket.
+
+“Stand in your stirrup,” he commanded briskly “and I'll wrap you up.
+It's a Navajo, and the wind will have a time trying to find a thin
+spot.”
+
+“You're thoughtful.” She snuggled into it thankfully. “I was cold.”
+
+Vaughan tucked it around her with more care than haste. He was pretty
+uncomfortable himself, and for that reason he was the more anxious
+that the girl should be warm. It came to him that she was a cute little
+schoolma'am, all right; he was glad she belonged close around the Cross
+L. He also wished he knew her name--and so he set about finding it out,
+with much guile.
+
+“How's that?” he wanted to know, when he had made sure that her
+feet--such tiny feet--were well covered. He thought it lucky that she
+did not ride astride, after the manner of the latter-day young woman,
+because then he could not have covered her so completely. “Hold on! That
+windy side's going to make trouble.” He unbuckled the strap he wore
+to hold his own coat snug about him, and put it around the girl's slim
+waist, feeling idiotically happy and guilty the while. “It don't come
+within a mile of you,” he complained; “but it'll help some.”
+
+Sheltered in the thick folds of the Navajo, she laughed, and the sound
+of it sent the blood galloping through Rowdy Vaughan's body so that he
+was almost warm. He went and scraped the snow out of his saddle, and
+swung up, feeling that, after all, there are worse things in the
+world than being lost and hungry in a blizzard, with a sweet-voiced,
+bright-eyed little schoolma'am who can laugh like that.
+
+“I don't want to have you think I may be a bold, bad robber-man,” he
+said, when they got going again. “My name's Rowdy Vaughan--for which I
+beg your pardon. Mother named me Rowland, never knowing I'd get out here
+and have her nice, pretty name mutilated that way. I won't say that my
+behavior never suggested the change, though. I'm from the Horseshoe
+Bar, over the line, and if I have my way, I'll be a Cross L man before
+another day.” Then he waited expectantly.
+
+“For fear you may think I'm a--a robber-woman,” she answered him
+solemnly--he felt sure her eyes twinkled, if only he could have seen
+them--“I'm Jessie Conroy. And if you're from over the line, maybe you
+know my brother Harry. He was over there a year or two.”
+
+Rowdy hunched his shoulders--presumably at the wind. Harry Conroy's
+sister, was she? And he swore. “I may have met him,” he parried, in a
+tone you'd never notice as being painstakingly careless. “I think I did,
+come to think of it.”
+
+Miss Conroy seemed displeased, and presently the cause was forthcoming.
+“If you'd ever met him,” she said, “you'd hardly forget him.”
+ (Rowdy mentally agreed profanely.) “He's the best rider in the whole
+country--and the handsomest. He--he's splendid! And he's the only
+brother I've got. It's a pity you never got acquainted with him.”
+
+“Yes,” lied Rowdy, and thought a good deal in a very short time. Harry
+Conroy's sister! Well, she wasn't to blame for that, of course; nor for
+thinking her brother a white man. “I remember I did see him ride once,”
+ he observed. “He was a whirlwind, all right--and he sure was handsome,
+too.”
+
+Miss Conroy turned her face toward him and smiled her pleasure, and
+Rowdy hovered between heaven and--another place. He was glad she
+smiled, and he was afraid of what that subject might discover for his
+straightforward tongue in the way of pitfalls. It would not be nice to
+let her know what he really thought of her brother.
+
+“This looks to me like a lane,” he said diplomatically. “We must be
+getting somewhere; don't you recognize any landmarks?”
+
+Miss Conroy leaned forward and peered through the clouds of snow dust.
+Already the night was creeping down upon the land, stealthily turning
+the blank white of the blizzard into as blank a gray--which was as near
+darkness as it could get, because of the snow which fell and fell,
+and yet seemed never to find an abiding-place, but danced and swirled
+giddily in the wind as the cold froze it dry. There would be no more
+damp, clinging masses that night; it was sifting down like flour from a
+giant sieve; and of the supply there seemed no end.
+
+“I don't know of any lanes around here,” she began dubiously, “unless
+it's--”
+
+Vaughan looked sharply at her muffled figure and wondered why she
+broke off so suddenly. She was staring hard at the few, faint traces of
+landmarks; and, bundled in the red-and-yellow Navajo blanket, with her
+bright, dark eyes, she might easily have passed for a slim young squaw.
+
+Out ahead, a dog began barking vaguely, and Rowdy turned eagerly to
+the sound. Dixie, scenting human habitation, stepped out more briskly
+through the snow, and even Chub lifted an ear briefly to show he heard.
+
+“It may not be any one you know,” Vaughan remarked, and his voice showed
+his longing; “but it'll be shelter and a warm fire--and supper. Can you
+appreciate such blessings, Miss Conroy? I can. I've been in the saddle
+since sunrise; and I was so sure I'd strike the Cross L by dinner-time
+that I didn't bring a bite to eat. It was a sheep-camp where I stopped,
+and the grub didn't look good to me, anyway--I've called myself bad
+names all the afternoon for being more dainty than sensible. But it's
+all right now, I guess.”
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 2. Miss Conroy Refuses Shelter.
+
+The storm lifted suddenly, as storms have a way of doing, and a low,
+squat ranch-house stood dimly revealed against the bleak expanse of
+wind-tortured prairie. Rowdy gave an exultant little whoop and made for
+the gate, leaned and swung it open and rode through, dragging Chub after
+him by main strength, as usual. When he turned to close the gate after
+Miss Conroy he found her standing still in the lane.
+
+“Come on in,” he called, with a trace of impatience born of his
+weariness and hunger.
+
+“Thank you, no.” Miss Conroy's voice was as crisply cold as the wind
+which fluttered the Navajo blanket around her face. “I much prefer the
+blizzard.”
+
+
+For a moment Rowdy found nothing to say; he just stared. Miss Conroy
+shifted uneasily in the saddle.
+
+“This is old Bill Brown's place,” she explained reluctantly. “He--I'd
+rather freeze than go in!”
+
+“Well, I guess that won't be hard to do,” he retorted curtly, “if you
+stay out much longer.”
+
+The dog was growing hysterical over their presence, and Bill Brown
+himself came out to see what it was all about. He could see two dim
+figures at the gate.
+
+“Hello!” he shouted. “Why don't yuh come on in? What yuh standing there
+chewing the rag for?”
+
+Vaughan hesitated, his eyes upon Miss Conroy.
+
+“Go in,” she commanded imperiously, quite as if he were a refractory
+pupil. “You're tired out, and hungry. I'm neither. Besides, I know where
+I am now. I can find my way without any trouble. Go in, I tell you!”
+
+But Rowdy stayed where he was, with the gate creaking to and fro between
+them. Dixie circled till his back was to the wind. “I hope you don't
+think you're going to mill around out here alone,” Rowdy said tartly.
+
+“I can manage very well. I'm not lost now, I tell you. Rodway's is only
+three miles from here, and I know the direction.”
+
+Bill Brown waded out to them, wondering what weighty discussion was
+keeping them there in the cold. Vaughan he passed by with the cursory
+glance of a disinterested stranger, and went on to where Miss Conroy
+waited stubbornly in the lane.
+
+“Oh, it's you!” he said grimly. “Well, come in and thaw out; I hope yuh
+didn't think yuh wouldn't be welcome yuh knew better. You got lost, I
+reckon. Come on--”
+
+Miss Conroy struck Badger sharply across the flank and disappeared into
+the night. “When I ask shelter of you,” she flung back, “you'll know
+it.”
+
+Rowdy started after, and met Bill Brown squarely in the gate. Bill eyed
+him sharply. “Say, young fellow, how'd you come by that packhorse?” he
+demanded, as Chub brushed past him.
+
+“None of your damn' business,” snapped Rowdy, and drove the spurs into
+Dixie's ribs. But Chub was a handicap at any time; now, when he was
+tired, there was no getting anything like speed out of him; he clung to
+his shuffling trot, which was really no better than a walk. After
+five minutes spent alternately in spurring Dixie and yanking at Chub's
+lead-rope, Rowdy grew frightened and took to shouting. While they were
+in the lane Miss Conroy must perforce ride straight ahead, but the lane
+would not last always. As though with malicious intent, the snow swooped
+down again and the world became an unreal, nightmare world, wherein was
+nothing save shifting, blinding snowfloury and wind and bitter, numbing
+cold.
+
+Rowdy stood in his stirrups, cupped his chilled fingers around his
+numbed lips, and sent a longdrawn “Who-ee!” shrilling weirdly into the
+night.
+
+It seemed to him, after long listening, that from the right came faint
+reply, and he turned and rode recklessly, swearing at Chub for
+his slowness. He called again, and the answer, though faint, was
+unmistakable. He settled heavily into the saddle--too weak, from sheer
+relief, to call again. He had not known till then just how frightened he
+had been, and he was somewhat disconcerted at the discovery. In a minute
+the reaction passed and he shouted a loud hello.
+
+“Hello?” came the voice of Miss Conroy, tantalizingly calm, and as
+superior as the greeting of Central. “Were you looking for me, Mr.
+Vaughan?”
+
+She was close to him--so close that she had not needed to raise her
+voice perceptibly. Rowdy rode up alongside, remembering uncomfortably
+his prolonged shouting.
+
+“I sure was,” he admitted. And then: “You rode off with my blanket on.”
+ He was very proud of his matter-of-fact tone.
+
+“Oh!” Miss Conroy was almost deceived, and a bit disappointed. “I'll
+give it to you now, and you can go back--if you know the way.”
+
+“No hurry,” said Rowdy politely. “I'll go on and see if you can find a
+place that looks good to you. You seem pretty particular.”
+
+Miss Conroy may have blushed, in the shelter of the blanket. “I suppose
+it did look strange to you,” she confessed, but defiantly. “Bill Brown
+is an enemy to--Harry. He--because he lost a horse or two out of a
+field, one time, he--he actually accused Harry of taking them! He lied,
+of course, and nobody believed him; nobody could believe a thing like
+that about Harry. It was perfectly absurd. But he did his best to
+hurt Harry's name, and I would rather freeze than ask shelter of him.
+Wouldn't you--in my place, I mean?”
+
+“I always stand up for my friends,” evaded Rowdy. “And if I had a
+brother--”
+
+“Of course you'd be loyal,” approved Miss Conroy warmly. “But I didn't
+want you to come on; it isn't your quarrel. And I know the way now. You
+needn't have come any farther.”
+
+“You forgot the blanket,” Rowdy reminded wickedly. “I think a lot of
+that Navajo.”
+
+“You insisted upon my taking it,” she retorted, and took refuge in
+silence.
+
+For a long hour they plodded blindly. Rowdy beat his hands often about
+his body to start the blood, and meditated yearnigly upon hot coffee
+and the things he liked best to eat. Also, a good long pull at a
+flask wouldn't be had, either, he thought. And he hoped this little
+schoolma'am knew where she was going--truth to tell, he doubted it.
+
+After a while, it seemed that Miss Conroy doubted it also. She took
+to leaning forward and straining her eyes to see through the gray wall
+before.
+
+“There should be a gate here,” she said dubiously, at last.
+
+“It seems to me,” Rowdy ventured mildly, “if there were a gate, it would
+have some kind of a fence hitched to it; wouldn't it?”
+
+Miss Conroy was in no mood for facetiousness, and refused to answer his
+question. “I surely can't have made a mistake,” she observed uneasily.
+
+“It would be a wonder if you didn't, such a night as this,” he consoled.
+“I wouldn't bank on traveling straight myself, even if I knew the
+country--which I don't. And I've been in more blizzards than I'm years
+old.”
+
+“Rodway's place can't be far away,” she said, brightening. “It may be
+farther to the east; shall we try that way--if you know which is east?”
+
+“Sure, we'll try. It's all we can do. My packhorse is about all in, from
+the way he hangs back; if we don't strike something pretty soon I'll
+have to turn him loose.”
+
+“Oh, don't do that,” she begged. “It would be too cruel. We're sure to
+reach Rodway's very soon.”
+
+More plodding through drifts high and drifts low; more leaning from
+saddles to search anxiously for trace of something besides snow and wind
+and biting cold. Then, far to the right, a yellow eye glowed briefly
+when the storm paused to take breath. Miss Conroy gave a glad little cry
+and turned Badger sharply.
+
+“Did you see? It was the light from a window. We were going the wrong
+way. I'm sure that is Rodway's.”
+
+Rowdy thanked the Lord and followed her. They came up against a fence,
+found a gate, and passed through. While they hurried toward it, the
+light winked welcome; as they drew near, some one stirred the fire and
+sent sparks and rose-hued smoke rushing up into the smother of snow.
+Rowdy watched them wistfully, and wondered if there would be supper, and
+strong, hot coffee. He lifted Miss Conroy out of the saddle, carried
+her two long strides, and deposited her upon the door-step; rapped
+imperatively, and when a voice replied, lifted the latch and pushed her
+in before him.
+
+For a minute they stood blinking, just within the door. The change
+from numbing cold and darkness to the light of the overheated room was
+stupefying.
+
+Then Miss Conroy went over and held her little, gloved hands to the
+heat of the stove, but she did not take the chair which some one pushed
+toward her. She stood, the blanket shrouding her face and her slim young
+figure, and looked about her curiously. It was not Rodway's house, after
+all. She thought she knew what place it was--the shack where Rodway's
+hay-balers bached.
+
+From the first, Rowdy did not like the look of things--though for
+himself it did not matter; he was used to such scenes. It was the
+presence of the girl which made him uncomfortable. He unbuttoned his
+coat that the warmth might reach his chilled body, and frowned.
+
+Four men sat around a small, dirty table; evidently the arrivals had
+interrupted an exciting game of seven-up. A glance told Rowdy, even
+if his nose had not, that the four round, ribbed bottles had not been
+nearly emptied without effect.
+
+“Have one on the house,” the man nearest him cried, and shoved a bottle
+toward him.
+
+Involuntarily Rowdy reached for it. Now that he was inside, he realized
+all at once how weary he was, and cold and hungry. Each abused muscle
+and nerve seemed to have a distinct grievance against him. His fingers
+closed around the bottle before he remembered and dropped it. He looked
+up, hoping Miss Conroy had not observed the action; met her wide,
+questioning eyes, and the blood flew guiltily to his cheeks.
+
+“Thanks, boys--not any for me,” he said, and apologized to Miss Conroy
+with his eyes.
+
+The man rose and confronted him unsteadily. “Dat's a hell off a way! You
+too proud for drink weeth us? You drink, now! By Gar, I make you drink!”
+
+Rowdy's eyelids drooped, which was a bad sign for those who knew him.
+“You're forgetting there's a lady present,” he reminded warningly.
+
+The man turned a brief, contemptuous glance toward the stove. “You got
+the damn' queer way to talk. I don't call no squaw no lady. You drink
+queeck, now!”
+
+“Aw, shut up, Frenchy,” the man at his elbow abjured him. “He don't have
+to drink if he don't want to.”
+
+“You keep the face close,” the other retorted majestically; and cursed
+loud and long and incoherently.
+
+Rowdy drew back his arm, with a fist that meant trouble for somebody;
+but there were others before him who pinned the importunate host to the
+table, where he squirmed unavailingly.
+
+Rowdy buttoned up his coat the while he eyed the group disgustedly. “I
+guess we'll drift,” he remarked. “You don't look good to me, and that's
+no dream.”
+
+“Aw, stay and warm up,” the fourth man expostulated. “Yuh don't need t'
+mind Le Febre; he's drunk.”
+
+But Rowdy opened the door decisively, and Miss Conroy, her cheeks
+like two storm-buffeted poppies, followed him out with dignity--albeit
+trailing a yard of red-and-yellow Navajo blanket behind her. Rowdy
+lifted her into the saddle, tucked her feet carefully under the blanket,
+and said never a word.
+
+“Mr. Vaughan,” she began hesitatingly, “this is too bad; you need not
+have left. I--I wasn't afraid.”
+
+“I know you weren't,” conceded Rowdy. “But it was a hard formation--for
+a woman. Are there any more places on this flat marked Unavailable?”
+
+Miss Conroy replied misanthropically that if there were they would be
+sure to find them.
+
+They took up their weary wanderings again, while the yellow eye of the
+window winked after them. They missed Rodway's by a scant hundred yards,
+and didn't know it, because the side of the house next them had no
+lighted windows. They traveled in a wide, half circle, and thought that
+they were leaving a straight trail behind them. More than once Rowdy was
+urged by his aching arm to drop the lead-rope and leave Chub to shift
+by himself, but habit was strong and his heart was soft. Then he felt an
+odd twitching at the lead-rope, as if Chub were minded to rebel against
+their leadership. Rowdy yanked him into remembrance of his duty, and
+wondered. Bill Brown's question came insistently to mind; he wondered
+the more.
+
+Two minutes and the lead-rope was sawing against the small of his back
+again. Rowdy turned Dixie's head, and spoke for the first time in an
+hour.
+
+“My packhorse seems to have an idea about where he wants to go,” he
+said. “I guess we might as well follow him as anybody; he ain't often
+taken with a rush of brains to the head. And we can't be any worse lost
+than we are now, can we?”
+
+Miss Conroy said no dispiritedly, and they swung about and followed
+Chub's leadership apathetically. It took Chub just five minutes to
+demonstrate that he knew what he was about. When he stopped, it was with
+his nose against a corral gate; not content with that, he whinnied, and
+a new, exultant note was in the sound. A deep-voiced dog bayed loudly,
+and a shrill yelp cut in and clamored for recognition.
+
+Miss Conroy gasped. “It's Lion and Skeesicks. We're at Rodway's, Mr.
+Vaughan.”
+
+Rowdy, for the second time, thanked the Lord. But when he was stripping
+the pack off Chub's back, ten minutes later, he was thinking many things
+he would not have cared to say aloud. It might be all right, but it sure
+was strange, he told himself, that Chub belonged here at Rodway's when
+Harry Conroy claimed that he was an Oregon horse. Rowdy had thought his
+account against Harry Conroy long enough, but it looked now as though
+another item must be added to the list. He went in and ate his supper
+thoughtfully, and when he got into bed he did not fall asleep within two
+minutes, as he might be expected to do. His last conscious thought was
+not of stolen horses, however. It was: “And she's Harry Conroy's sister!
+Now, what do you think of that? But all the same, she's sure a nice
+little schoolma'am.”
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 3. Rowdy Hires a New Boss.
+
+Next morning, after breakfast, Mr. Rodway followed Vaughan out to the
+stable, and repeated Bill Brown's question.
+
+“I'd like to know where yuh got this horse,” he began, with an
+apologetic sort of determination in his tone. “He happens to belong to
+me. He was run off with a bunch three years ago, and this is the first
+trace anybody has ever got of 'em. I see the brand's been worked. It was
+a Roman four--that's my brand; now it looks like a map of Texas; but I'd
+swear to the horse--raised him from a colt.”
+
+Rowdy had expected something of the sort, and he knew quite well what he
+was going to do; he had settled that the night before, with the memory
+of Miss Conroy's eyes fresh in his mind.
+
+“I got him in a deal across the line,” he said. “I was told he came from
+east Oregon. But last night, when he piloted us straight to your corral
+gate, I guessed he'd been here before. He's yours, all right, if you say
+so.”
+
+“Uh course he ain't worth such a pile uh money,” apologized Rodway, “but
+the kids thought a heap of him. I'd rather locate some of the horses
+that was with him--or the man yuh got him of. They was some mighty good
+horses run out uh this country then, but they was all out on the range,
+so we didn't miss 'em in time to do any good. Do yu know who took 'em
+across the line?”
+
+“No,” said Rowdy deliberately. “The man I got Chub from went north, and
+I heard he got killed. I don't know of any other in the deal.”
+
+Rodway grunted, and Vaughan began vigorously brushing Dixie's roughened
+coat. “If you don't mind,” he said, after a minute, “I'd like to borrow
+Chub to pack my bed over to the Cross L. I can bring him back again.”
+
+“Why, sure!” assented Rodway eagerly. “I hate to take him from yuh, but
+the kids--”
+
+“Oh, that's all right,” interrupted Rowdy cheerfully. “It's all in the
+game, and I should 'a' looked up his pedigree, for I knew--. Anyway, was
+worth the price of him to have him along last night. We'd have milled
+around till daylight, I guess, only for him.”
+
+“That's what,” agreed Rodway. “Jessie's horse is one she brought from
+home lately, and he ain't located yet; I dunno as he'd 'a' piloted her
+home. Billy--that's what the kids named him--was born and raised here,
+yuh see. I'll bet he's glad to get back--and the kids'll be plumb wild.”
+
+Rowdy did not answer; there seemed nothing in particular to say, and he
+was wondering if he would see Miss Conroy before he left. She had not
+eaten breakfast with the others; from their manner, he judged that
+no one expected her to. He was not well informed upon the subject
+of schoolma'ams, but he had a hazy impression that late rising was a
+distinguishing characteristic--and he did not know how late. He
+saddled leisurely, and packed his bed for the last time upon Chub. The
+red-and-yellow Navajo blanket he folded tenderly, with an unconscious
+smile for the service it had done, and laid it in its accustomed place
+in the bed. Then, having no plausible excuse for going back to the
+house, he mounted and rode away into the brilliant white world, watching
+wistfully the house from the tail of his eye.
+
+She might have got up in time to see him off, he thought discontentedly;
+but he supposed one cowpuncher more or less made little difference to
+her. Anyway, he didn't know as he had any license to moon around her.
+She probably had a fellow; she might even be engaged, for all he knew.
+And--she was Harry Conroy's sister; and from his experience with the
+breed, good looks didn't count for anything. Harry was good-looking, and
+he was a snake, if ever there was one. He had never expected to lie for
+him--but he had done it, all right--and because Harry's sister happened
+to have nice eyes and a pretty little foot!--
+
+He had half a mind to go back and tell Rodway all he knew about those
+horses; it was only a matter of time, anyway, till Harry Conroy overshot
+the mark and got what was coming to him. He sure didn't owe Harry
+anything, that he had need to shield him like he had done. Still,
+Rodway would wonder why he hadn't told it at first; and that little girl
+believed in Harry, and said he was “splendid!” Humph! He wondered if she
+really meant that. If she did--
+
+He squared his back to the house--and the memory of Miss Conroy's
+eyes--and plodded across the field to the gate. Now the sun was shining,
+and there was no possibility of getting lost. The way to the Cross L lay
+straight and plain before him.
+
+Rowdy rode leisurely up over the crest of a ridge beyond which lay the
+home ranch of the Cross L. Whether it was henceforth to be his home he
+had yet to discover--though there was reason for hoping that it would
+be. Even so venturesome a man as Rowdy Vaughan would scarce ride a long
+hundred miles through unpeopled prairie, in the tricky month of March,
+without some reason for expecting a welcome at the end of his journey.
+In this case, a previous acquaintance with “Wooden Shoes” Mielke,
+foreman of the Cross L, was Rowdy's trump-card. Wooden Shoes, whenever
+chance had brought them together in the last two or three years, was
+ever urging Rowdy to come over and unroll his soogans in the Cross L
+bed-tent, and promising the best string in the outfit to ride--besides
+other things alluring to a cow-puncher. So that, when his relations with
+the Horseshoe Bar became strained, Rowdy remembered his friend of the
+Cross L and the promises, and had drifted south.
+
+Just now he hoped that Wooden Shoes would be home to greet him, and
+his eyes searched wishfully the huddle of low-eaved cabins and the
+assortment of sheds and corrals for the bulky form of the foreman. But
+no one seemed to be about--except a bigbodied, bandy-legged individual,
+who appeared to be playfully chasing a big, bright bay stallion inside
+the large enclosure where stood the cabins.
+
+Rowdy watched them impersonally; a glance proved that the man was not
+Wooden Shoes, and so he was not particularly interested in him or his
+doings. It did occur to him, however, that if the fellow wanted to catch
+that brute, he ought to have sense enough to get a horse. No one but
+a plumb idiot would mill around in that snow afoot. He jogged down the
+slope at a shuffling trot, grinning tolerantly at the pantomime below.
+
+He of the bandy-legs stopped, evidently out of breath; the stallion
+stopped also, snorting defiance. Rowdy heard him plainly, even at that
+distance. The horse arched his neck and watched the man warily, ready
+to be off at the first symptom of hostilities--and Rowdy observed that a
+short rope hung from his halter, swaying as he moved.
+
+Bandy-legs seemed to have an idea; he turned and scuttled to the nearest
+cabin, returning with what seemed a basin of oats, for he shook it
+enticingly and edged cautiously toward the horse. Rowdy could imagine
+him coaxing, with hypocritically endearing names, such as “Good old
+boy!” and “Steady now, Billy”--or whatever the horse's name might
+be. Rowdy chuckled to himself, and hoped the horse saw through the
+subterfuge.
+
+Perhaps the horse chuckled also; at any rate, he stood quite still,
+equally prepared to bounce away on the instant or to don the mask of
+docility. Bandy-legs drew nearer and nearer, shaking the basin briskly,
+like an old woman sifting meal. The horse waited, his nostrils quivering
+hungrily at the smell of the oats, and with an occasional low nicker.
+
+Bandy-legs went on tiptoes--or as nearly as he could in the snow--the
+basin at arm's length before. The dainty, flaring nostrils sniffed
+tentatively, dipped into the basin, and snuffed the oats about
+luxuriously--till he felt a stealthy hand seize the dangling rope. At
+the touch he snorted protest, and was off and away, upsetting Bandy-legs
+and the basin ignominiously into a high-piled drift.
+
+Bandy-legs sat up, scraped the snow out of his collar and his ears, and
+swore. It was then that Rowdy appeared like an angel of deliverance.
+
+“Want that horse caught?” he yelled cheerfully.
+
+Bandy-legs lifted up his voice and bellowed things I should not like to
+repeat verbatim. But Rowdy gathered that the man emphatically did want
+that so-and-so-and-then-some horse caught, and that it couldn't be done
+a blessed minute too soon. Whereat Rowdy smiled anew, with his face
+discreetly turned away from Bandy-legs, and took down his rope and
+widened the loop. Also, he turned Chub loose.
+
+The stallion evidently sensed what new danger threatened his stolen
+freedom, and circled the yard with high, springy strides. Rowdy circled
+after, saw his chance, swirled the loop twice over his head, and
+hazarded a long throw.
+
+Rowdy knew it for pure good luck that it landed right, but to this day
+Bandy-legs looks upon him as a Wonder with a rope--and Bandy-legs would
+insist upon the capital.
+
+“Where shall I take him?” Rowdy asked, coming up with his captive, and
+with nothing but his eyes to show how he was laughing inwardly.
+
+Bandy-legs crawled from the drift, still scraping snow from inside his
+collar, and gave many directions about going through a certain gate into
+such-and-such a corral; from there into a stable; and by seeming devious
+ways into a minutely described stall.
+
+“All right,” said Rowdy, cutting short the last needless details. “I
+guess I can find the trail;” and started off, leading the stallion.
+Bandy-legs followed, and Chub, observing the departure of Dixie, ambled
+faithfully in the rear.
+
+“Much obliged,” conceded Bandy-legs, when the stallion was safely housed
+and tied securely. “Where yuh headed for, young man?”
+
+“Right here,” Rowdy told him calmly, loosening Dixie's cinch. “I'm the
+long-lost top hand that the Cross L's been watching the sky-line for,
+lo! these many moons, a-yearning for the privilege of handing me forty
+plunks about twice as fast as I've got 'em coming. Where's the boss?”
+
+“Er--I'm him,” confessed Bandy-legs meekly, and circled the two
+dubiously. “I guess you've heard uh Eagle Creek Smith--I'm him. The
+Cross L belongs to me.”
+
+Rowdy let out an explosive, and showed a row of nice teeth. “Well, I
+ain't hard to please,” he added. “I won't kick on that, I guess. I like
+your looks tolerable well, and I'm willing to take yuh on for a boss. If
+yuh do your part, I bet we'll get along fine.” His tone was banteringly
+patronizing “Anyway, I'll try yuh for a spell. You can put my name down
+as Rowdy Vaughan, lately canned from the Horseshoe Bar.”
+
+“What for?” ventured Bandy-legs--rather, Eagle Creek--still circling
+Rowdy dubiously.
+
+“What for was I canned?” repeated Rowdy easily. “Being a modest youth, I
+hate t' tell yuh. But the old man's son and me, we disagreed, and one
+of his eyes swelled some; so did mine, a little.” He stood head and
+shoulders above Eagle Creek, and he smiled down upon him engagingly.
+Eagle Creek capitulated before the smile.
+
+“Well, I ain't got any sons--that I know of,” he grinned. “So I guess
+yuh can consider yourself a Cross L man till further notice.”
+
+“Why, sure!” The teeth gleamed again briefly. “That's what I've been
+telling you right along. Where's old Wooden Shoes? He's responsible for
+me being here.”
+
+“Gone to Chinook. He'll be back in a day or two.” Eagle Creek shifted
+his feet awkwardly. “Say”--he glanced uneasily behind him--“yuh don't
+want t' let it get around that yuh sort of--hired me--see?”
+
+“Of course not,” Rowdy assured him. “I was only joshing. If you don't
+want me, just tell me to hit the sod.”
+
+“You stay right where you're at!” commanded Eagle Creek with returned
+confidence in himself and his authority. Of a truth, this self-assured,
+straight-limbed young man had rather dazed him. “Take your bed and
+war-bag up to the bunk-house and make yourself t' home till the boys get
+back, and--say, where'd yuh git that pack-horse?”
+
+The laugh went out of Rowdy's tawny eyes. The question hit a spot that
+was becoming sore. “I borrowed him this morning from Mr. Rodway,” he
+said evenly. “I'm to take him back to-day. I stopped there last night.”
+
+“Oh!” Eagle Creek coughed apologetically, and said no word, while Rowdy
+led Chub back to the cabin which he had pointed out as the bunk-house;
+he stood by while Rowdy loosened the pack and dragged it inside.
+
+“I guess you can get located here,” he said. “I ain't workin' more'n
+three or four men just now, but there's quite a few uh the boys stopping
+here; the Cross L's a regular hang-out for cow-punchers. You're a little
+early for the season, but I'll see that yuh have something t' do--just
+t' keep yuh out uh devilment.”
+
+Rowdy's brows unbent; it would seem that Eagle Creek was capable of
+“joshing” also. “It's up t' you, old-timer,” he retorted. “I'm strong
+and willing, and don't shy at anything but pitchforks.”
+
+Eagle Creek grinned. “This ain't no blamed cowhospital,” he gave as a
+parting shot. “All the hay that's shoveled on this ranch needn't hurt
+nobody's feelings.” With that he shut the door, and left Rowdy to
+acquaint himself with his new home.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 4. Pink as “Chappyrone.”
+
+Rowdy was sprawled ungracefully upon somebody's bunk--he neither knew
+nor cared whose--and he was snoring unmelodiously, and not dreaming a
+thing; for when a cow-puncher has nothing in particular to do, he
+sleeps to atone for the weary hours when he must be very wide-awake. An
+avalanche descended upon his unwarned middle, and checked the rhythmic
+ebb and flow of sound. He squawked and came to life clawing viciously.
+
+“I'd like t' know where the devil yuh come from,” a voice remarked
+plaintively in a soft treble.
+
+Rowdy opened his eyes with a snap. “Pink! by all that's good and bad!
+Get up off my diaphragm, you little fiend.”
+
+Pink absent-mindedly kneaded Rowdy's stomach with his knuckles, and
+immediately found himself in a far corner. He came back, dimpling
+mischievously. He looked much more an angel than a fiend, for all his
+Angora chaps and flame-colored scarf.
+
+“Your bed and war-bag's on my bunk; you're on Smoky's; and Dixie's
+makin' himself to home in the corral. By all them signs and tokens,
+I give a reckless guess you're here t' stay a while. That right?” He
+prodded again at Rowdy's ribs.
+
+“It sure is, Pink. And if I'd known you was holding out here, I'd 'a'
+come sooner, maybe. You sure look good to me, you darned little cuss!”
+ Rowdy sat up and took a lightning inventory of the four or five other
+fellows lounging about. He must have slept pretty sound, he thought, not
+to hear them come in.
+
+Pink read the look, and bethought him of the necessary introductions.
+“This is my side-kicker over the line that--you've heard about till
+you're plumb weary, boys,” he announced musically. “His name is Rowdy
+Vaughan--bronco-peeler, crap fiend, and all-round bad man. He ain't a
+safe companion, and yuh want t' sleep with your six-guns cuddled under
+your right ear, and never, on no account, show him your backs. He's a
+real wolf, he is, and the only reason I live t' tell the tale is because
+he respects m' size. Boys, I'm afraid for yuh--but I wish yuh well.”
+
+“Pink, you need killing, and I'm tempted to live up to my rep,” grinned
+Rowdy indulgently. “Read me the pedigree of your friends.”
+
+“Oh, they ain't no worse--when yuh git used to 'em. That long-legged
+jasper with the far-away look in his eyes is the Silent One--if he takes
+a notion t' you, he'll maybe tell yuh the name his mother calls him. He
+may have seen better days; but here's hoping he won't see no worse! He
+once was a tenderfoot; but he's convalescing.”
+
+The Silent One nodded carelessly, but with a quick, measuring glance
+that Rowdy liked.
+
+“This unshaved savage is Smoky. He's harmless, if yuh don't
+mention socialism in his presence; and if yuh do, he'll
+down-with-the-trust-and-long-live-the-sons-uh-toil, all hours uh the
+night, and keep folks awake. Then him and the fellow that started him
+off 'll likely get chapped good and plenty. Over there's Jim Ellis
+and Bob Nevin; they've both turned a cow or two, and I've seen worse
+specimens running around loose--plenty of 'em. That man hidin' behind
+the grin--you can see him if yuh look close--is Sunny Sam. Yuh needn't
+take no notice of him, unless you're a mind to. He won't care--he's dead
+gentle.
+
+“Say,” he broke off, “how'd you happen t' stray onto this range, anyhow?
+Yuh used t' belong t the Horseshoe Bar so solid the assessor always t'
+yuh down on the personal-property list.”
+
+“They won't pay taxes on me no more, son.” Rowdy's eyes dwelt fondly
+upon Pink's cupid-bow mouth and dimples. He had never dreamed of finding
+Pink here; though, when he came to think of it there was no reason why
+he shouldn't.
+
+Pink was not like any one else. He was slight and girlish to look at.
+But you mustn't trust appearances; for Pink was all muscle strung on
+steel wire, according to the belief of those who tried to handle him.
+He had little white hands, and feet that looked quite comfortable in
+a number four boot, and his hair was a tawny gold and curled in
+distracting, damp rings on his forehead. His eyes were blue and
+long-lashed and beautiful, and they looked at the world with baby
+innocence--whereas a more sophisticated little devil never jangled spurs
+at his heels. He was everything but insipid, and men liked him--unless
+he chose to dislike them, when they thought of him with grating teeth.
+To find him bullying the Cross L boys brought a warmth to Rowdy's heart.
+
+Pink made a cigarette, and then offered Rowdy his tobacco-sack, and
+asked questions about the Cypress Hills country. How was this girl?--and
+was that one married yet?--and did the other still grieve for him? As a
+matter of fact, he had yet to see the girl who could quicken his pulse
+a single beat, and for that reason it sometimes pleased him to affect
+susceptibility beyond that of other men.
+
+It was after dinner when he and Rowdy went humming down to the stables,
+gossiping like a couple of old women over a back fence.
+
+“I see you've got Conroy's Chub yet,” Pink observed carelessly.
+
+“Oh, for Heaven's sake let up on that cayuse!” Rowdy cried petulantly.
+“I wish I'd never got sight of the little buzzard-head; I've had him
+crammed down my throat the last day or two till it's getting plumb
+monotonous. Pink, that cayuse never saw Oregon. He was raised right on
+this flat, and he belongs to old Rodway. I've got to lead him back there
+and turn him over to-day.”
+
+Pink took three puffs at his cigarette, and lifted his long lashes to
+Rowdy's gloom-filled face. “Stole?” he asked briefly.
+
+“Stole,” Rowdy repeated disgustedly. “So was the whole blame' bunch, as
+near as I can make out.”
+
+“We might 'a' knowed it. We might 'a' guessed Harry Conroy wouldn't have
+a straight title to anything if he could make it crooked. I bet he never
+finished paying back that money yuh lent him--out uh the kindness uh
+your heart. Did he?” Pink leaned against the corral fence and kicked
+meditatively at a snow-covered rock.
+
+“He did not, m' son. Chub's all I ever got out uh the deal--and
+I haven't even got him. I borrowed him from Rodway to pack my bed
+over--borrowed the blame' little runty cayuse that cost me sixty-four
+hard-earned dollars; that's what Harry borrowed of me. And every blame'
+gazabo on the flat wanted to know what I was doing with him!”
+
+“I can tell yuh where t' find Conroy, Rowdy. He's working for an
+outfit down on the river. I'd sure fix him for this! Yuh got plenty of
+evidence; you can send him up like a charm. It was different when he cut
+your latigo strap in that rough-riding contest; yuh couldn't prove it on
+him. But this--why, man, it's a cinch!”
+
+“I haven't lost Harry Conroy, so I ain't looking for him just now,”
+ growled Rowdy. “So long as he keeps out uh reach, I won't ask no more of
+him. And, Pink, I wish you'd keep this quiet--about him having Chub. I
+told Rodway I couldn't put him next to the fellow that brought that
+bunch across the line. I told him the fellow went north and got killed.
+He did go north--fifty miles or so; and he'd ought to been killed, if he
+wasn't. Let it go that way, Pink.”
+
+Pink looked like a cherub-faced child when he has been told there's
+no Santa Claus. “Sure, if yuh say so,” he stammered dubiously. He eyed
+Rowdy reproachfully, and then looked away to the horizon. He kicked
+the rock out of place, and then poked it painstakingly back with his
+toe--and from the look of him, he did not know there was a rock there at
+all.
+
+“How'd yuh happen to run across Rodway?” he asked guilelessly.
+
+“I stopped there last night. I got to milling around in that storm, and
+ran across the schoolma'am that boards at Rodway's, She was plumb lost,
+too, so we dubbed around together for a while, and finally got inside
+Rodway's field. Then Chub come alive and piloted us to the house. This
+morning Rodway claimed him--says the brand has been worked from a Roman
+four. Oh, it's all straight goods,” he added hastily. “Old Eagle Creek
+here knew him, too.”
+
+But Pink was not thinking of Chub. He hunched his chap-belt higher
+and spat viciously into the snow. “I knowed it,” he declared, with
+melancholy triumph. “It's school-ma'amitis that's gave yuh softening uh
+the vitals, and not no Christian charity play. How comes it you're took
+that way, all unbeknown t' your friends? Yuh never used t' bother about
+no female girls. It's a cinch you're wise that she's Harry's sister; and
+I admit she's a swell looker. But so's he; and I should think, Rowdy,
+you'd had about enough uh that brand uh snake.”
+
+“There's nothing so snaky about her that I could see,” defended Rowdy.
+He did not particularly relish having his own mental argument against
+Miss Conroy thrown back at him from another. “She seemed to be all
+right; and if you'd seen how plucky she was in that blizzard--”
+
+“Well, I never heard anybody stand up and call Harry white-livered, when
+yuh come t' that,” Pink cut in tartly. “Anyway, you're a blame fool. If
+she was a little white-winged angel, yuh wouldn't stand no kind uh show;
+and I tell yuh why. She's got a little tin god that she says prayers to
+regular.”
+
+“That's Harry. And wouldn't he be the fine brother-in-law? He could
+borrow all your wages off'n yuh, and when yuh went t' make a pretty
+ride, he'd up and cut your latigo, and give yuh a fall. And he could
+work stolen horses off onto yuh--and yuh wouldn't give a damn, 'cause
+Jessie wears a number two shoe--”
+
+“You must have done some rimrock riding after her yourself!” jeered
+Rowdy.
+
+“And has got shiny brown eyes, just like Harry's--”
+
+“They're not!” laughed Rowdy, half-angrily. “If you say that again,
+Pink, I'll stick your head in a snow-bank. Her eyes are all right. They
+sure look good to me.”
+
+“You've sure got 'em,” mourned Pink. “Yuh need t' be close-herded by
+your friends, and that's no dream. You wait till toward evening before
+yuh take that horse back. I'm going along t' chappyrone yuh, Rowdy. Yuh
+ain't safe running loose any more.”
+
+Rowdy cursed him companionably and told him to go along, if he wanted
+to, and to look out he didn't throw up his own hands; and Pink grumbled
+and swore and did go along. But when they got there, Miss Conroy greeted
+him like a very good friend; which sent Rowdy sulky, and kept him so all
+the evening. It seemed to him that Pink was playing a double game, and
+when they started home he told him so.
+
+But Pink turned in his saddle and smiled so that his dimples showed
+plainly in the moonlight. “Chappyrones that set in a corner and look
+wise are the rankest kind uh fakes,” he explained. “When she was talking
+to me, she was letting you alone--see?”
+
+Rowdy accepted the explanation silently, and stored it away in his
+memory. After that, by riding craftily, and by threats, and by much
+vituperation, he managed to reach Rodway's unchapperoned at least three
+times out of five--which was doing remarkably well, when one considers
+Pink.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 5. At Home at Cross L.
+
+In two days Rowdy was quite at home with the Cross L. In a month he
+found himself transplanted from the smoke-laden air of the bunk-house,
+and set off from the world in a line camp, with nothing to do but patrol
+the boggy banks of Milk River, where it was still unfenced and unclaimed
+by small farmers. The only mitigation of his exile, so far as he could
+see, lay in the fact that he had Pink and the Silent One for companions.
+
+It developed that when he would speak to the Silent One, he must say
+Jim, or wait long for a reply. Also, the Silent One was not always
+silent, and he was quick to observe the weak points in those around him,
+and keen at repartee. When it pleased him so to do, he could handle the
+English language in a way that was perfectly amazing--and not always
+intelligible to the unschooled. At such times Pink frankly made no
+attempt to understand him; Rowdy, having been hustled through grammar
+school and two-thirds through high school before he ran away from a
+brand new stepmother, rather enjoyed the outbreaks and Pink's consequent
+disgust.
+
+Not one of them loved particularly the line camp, and Rowdy least of
+all, since it put an extra ten miles between Miss Conroy and himself.
+Rowdy had got to that point where his mind dwelt much upon matters
+domestic, and he made many secret calculations on the cost of
+housekeeping for two. More than that, he put himself upon a rigid
+allowance for pocket-money--an allowance barely sufficient to keep
+him in tobacco and papers. All this without consulting Miss Conroy's
+wishes--which only goes to show that Rowdy Vaughan was a born optimist.
+
+The Silent One complained that he could not keep supplied with
+reading-matter, and Pink bewailed the monotony of inaction. For, beyond
+watching the river to keep the cattle from miring in the mud lately
+released from frost grip, there was nothing to do.
+
+According to the calendar, spring was well upon them, and the prairies
+would soon be flaunting new dresses of green. The calendar, however, had
+neglected to record the rainless heat of the summer gone before, or
+the searing winds that burned the grass brown as it grew, or the winter
+which forgot its part and permitted prairie-dogs to chip-chip-chip above
+ground in January, when they should be sleeping decently in their cellar
+homes.
+
+Apart from the brief storm which Rowdy had brought with him, there had
+been no snow worth considering. Always the chill winds shaved the barren
+land from the north, or veered unexpectedly, and blew dry warmth from
+the southwest; but never the snow for which the land yearned. Wind, and
+bright sunlight, and more wind, and hypocritical, drifting clouds, and
+more sun; lean cattle walking, walking, up-hill and down coulee, nose to
+the dry ground, snipping the stray tufts where should be a woolly carpet
+of sweet, ripened grasses, eating wildrose bushes level with the sod,
+and wishing there was only an abundance even of them; drifting uneasily
+from hilltop to farther hilltop, hunger-driven and gaunt, where should
+be sleek content. When they sought to continue their quest beyond the
+river, and the weaker bogged at its muddy edge, Rowdy and Pink and
+the Silent One would ride out, and with their ropes drag them back
+ignominiously to solid ground and the very doubtful joy of living.
+
+May Day found the grass-land brown and lifeless, with a chill wind
+blowing over it. The cattle wandered as before except that knock-kneed
+little calves trailed beside their lean mothers and clamored for full
+stomachs.
+
+The Cross L cattle bore the brunt of the range famine, because Eagle
+Creek Smith was a stockman of the old school. His cattle must live on
+the open range, because they always had done so. Other men bought or
+leased large tracts of grass-land, and fenced them for just such an
+emergency, but not he. It is true that he had two or three large fields,
+as Miss Conroy had told Rowdy, but it was his boast that all the hay he
+raised was eaten by his saddlehorses, and that all the fields he owned
+were used solely for horse pastures. The open range was the place for
+cattle and no Cross L critter ever fed inside a wire fence.
+
+Through the dry summer before, when other men read the ominous signs
+and hurriedly leased pasture-land and cut down their herds to what the
+fields would feed, Eagle Creek went calmly on as he had done always.
+He shipped what beef was fit--and that, of a truth, was not much!--and
+settled down for the winter, trusting to winter snows and spring rains
+to refill the long-dry lakes and waterholes, and coat the levels anew
+with grass.
+
+But the winter snows had failed to appear, and with the spring came
+no rain. “April showers” became a hideously ironical joke at nature's
+expense. Always the wind blew, and sometimes great flocks of clouds
+would drift superciliously up from the far sky-line, play with men's
+hopes, and sail disdainfully on to some more favored land.
+
+It is all very well for a man to cling stubbornly to precedent, but if
+he clings long enough, there comes a time when to cling becomes akin to
+crime. Eagle Creek Smith still stubbornly held that rangecattle should
+be kept to the range. He waited until May was fast merging to June,
+watching, from sheer habit, for the spring transformation of brown
+prairies into green. When it did not come, and only the coulee sides and
+bottoms showed green among the brown, he accepted ruefully the unusual
+conditions which nature had thrust upon him, and started “Wooden Shoes”
+ out with the wagons on the horse round-up, which is a preliminary to the
+roundup proper, as every one knows.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 6. A Shot From the Dark.
+
+“I call that a bad job well done,” Pink remarked, after a long silence,
+as he gave over trying to catch a fish in the muddy Milk River.
+
+“What?” Rowdy, still prone to day-dreams of matters domestic, came back
+reluctantly to reality, and inspected his bait.
+
+“Oh, come alive! I mean the horse round-up. How we're going to keep that
+bunch uh skeletons under us all summer is a guessing contest for fair.
+Wooden Shoes has got t' give me about forty, instead of a dozen, if
+he wants me t' hit 'er up on circle the way I'm used to. I bet their
+back-bones'll wear clean up through our saddles.”
+
+“Oh, I guess not,” said Rowdy calmly. “They ain't so thin--and they'll
+pick up flesh. There's some mighty good ones in the bunch, too. I hope
+Wooden Shoes don't forget to give me the first pick. There's one I got
+my eye on--that blue roan. Anyway, I guess you can wiggle along with
+less than forty.”
+
+Pink shook his head thoughtfully and sighed. Pink loved good mounts, and
+the outlook did not please him. The round-up had camped, for the last
+time, on the river within easy riding distance of Camas. The next day's
+drive would bring them to the home ranch, where Eagle Creek was fuming
+over the lateness of the season, the condition of the range, and the
+June rains, which had thus far failed even to moisten decently the
+grass-roots.
+
+“Let's ride over to Camas; all the other fellows have gone,” Pink
+proposed listlessly, drawing in his line.
+
+Rowdy as listlessly consented. Camas as a town was neither interesting
+nor important; but when one has spent three long weeks communing with
+nature in her sulkiest and most unamiable mood, even a town without a
+railroad to its name may serve to relieve the monotony of living.
+
+The sun was piling gorgeous masses of purple and crimson clouds high
+about him, cuddling his fat cheeks against their soft folds till, a
+Midas, he turned them to gold at the touch. Those farther away
+gloomed jealously at the favoritism of their lord, and huddled closer
+together--the purple for rage, perhaps; and the crimson for shame!
+
+Pink's face was tinged daintily with the glow, and even Rowdy's lean,
+brown features were for the moment glorified. They rode knee to knee
+silently, thinking each his own thoughts the while they watched the
+sunset with eyes grown familiar with its barbaric splendor, but never
+indifferent.
+
+Soon the west held none but the deeper tints, and the shadows climbed,
+with the stealthy tread of trailing Indians, from the valley, chasing
+the after-glow to the very hilltops, where it stood a moment at bay
+and then surrendered meekly to the dusk. A meadow-lark near-by cut the
+silence into haunting ripples of melody, stopped affrighted at their
+coming, and flew off into the dull glow of the west; his little body
+showed black against a crimson cloud. Out across the river a lone coyote
+yapped sharply, then trailed off into the weird plaint of his kind.
+
+“Brother-in-law's in town to-day; Bob Nevin saw him,” Pink remarked,
+when the coyote ceased wailing and held his peace.
+
+“Who?” Rowdy only half-heard.
+
+“Bob Nevin,” repeated Pink naively.
+
+“Don't get funny. Who did Bob see?”
+
+“Brother-in-law. Yours, not mine. Jessie's tin god. If he's there yet,
+I bid for an invite to the 'swatfest.' Or maybe”--a horrible possibility
+forced itself upon Pink--“maybe you'll kill the fattest maverick and
+fall on his neck--”
+
+“The maverick's?” Rowdy's brows were rather pinched together, but his
+tone told nothing.
+
+“Naw; Harry Conroy's a fellow's liable to do most any fool thing when
+he's got schoolma'amitis.”
+
+“That so?”
+
+Pink snorted. The possibility had grown to black certainty in his mind.
+He became suddenly furious.
+
+“Lord! I hope some kind friend'll lead me out an' knock me in the head,
+if ever I get locoed over any darned girl!”
+
+“Same here,” agreed Rowdy, unmoved.
+
+“Then your days are sure numbered in words uh one syllable, old-timer,”
+ snapped Pink.
+
+Rowdy leaned and patted him caressingly upon the shoulder--a form of
+irony which Pink detested. “Don't get excited, sonny,” he soothed. “Did
+you fetch your gun?”
+
+“I sure did!” Pink drew a long breath of relief. “Yuh needn't think I'm
+going t' take chances on being no human colander. I've packed a gun for
+Harry Conroy ever since that rough-riding contest uh yourn. Yuh mind
+the way I took him under the ear with a rock? He's been makin' war-talk
+behind m' back ever since. Did I bring m' gun! Well, I guess yes!” He
+dimpled distractingly.
+
+“All the same, it'll suit me not to run up against him,” said Rowdy
+quite frankly. He knew Pink would understand. Then he lifted his coat
+suggestively, to show the weapon concealed beneath, and smiled.
+
+“Different here. Yuh did have sense enough t' be ready--and if yuh see
+him, and don't forget he's got a sister with a number two foot, damned
+if I don't fix yuh both a-plenty!” He settled his hat more firmly over
+his curls, and eyed Rowdy anxiously from under his lashes.
+
+Rowdy caught the action and the look from the tail of his eye, and
+grinned at his horse's ears. Pink in warlike mood always made him think
+of a four-year-old child playing pirate with the difference that Pink
+was always in deadly earnest and would fight like a fiend.
+
+For more reasons than one he hoped they would not meet Harry Conroy.
+Jessie was still in ignorance of his real attitude toward her brother,
+and Rowdy wanted nothing more than to keep her so. The trouble was that
+he was quite certain to forget everything but his grievances, if ever he
+came face to face with Harry. Also, Pink would always fight quicker for
+his friends than for himself, and he felt very tender toward Pink. So
+he hoped fervently that Harry Conroy had already ridden back whence he
+came, and there would be no unpleasantness.
+
+Four or five Cross L horses stood meekly before the Come Again Saloon,
+so Rowdy and Pink added theirs to the gathering and went in. The Silent
+One looked up from his place at a round table in a far corner, and
+beckoned.
+
+“We need another hand here,” he said, when they went over to him. “These
+gentlemen are worried because they might be taken into high society some
+day, and they would be placed in a very embarrassing position through
+their ignorance of bridge-whist. I have very magnanimously consented to
+teach them the rudiments.”
+
+Bob Nevin looked up, and then lowered an eyelid cautiously. “He's a
+liar. He offered to learn us how to play it; we bet him the drinks he
+didn't savvy the game himself. Set down, Pink, and I'll have you for my
+pretty pardner.”
+
+The Silent One shuffled the cards thoughtfully. “To make it seem like
+bona-fide bridge,” he began, “we should have everybody playing.”
+
+“Aw, the common, ordinary brand is good enough,” protested Bob. “I ain't
+in on any trimmings.”
+
+The Silent One smiled ever so slightly. “We should have prizes--or
+favors. Is there a store in town where one could buy something
+suitable?”
+
+“They got codfish up here; I smelt it,” suggested Jim Ellis. Him the
+Silent One ignored.
+
+“What do you say, boys, to a real, high society whist-party? I'll invite
+the crowd, and be the hostess. And I'll serve punch--”
+
+“Come on, fellows, and have one with me,” called a strange voice near
+the door.
+
+“Meeting's adjourned,” cried Jim Ellis, and got up to accept the
+invitation and range along the bar with the rest. He had not been
+particularly interested in bridge-whist anyway.
+
+The others remained seated, and the bartender called across to know what
+they would have. Pink cut the cards very carefully, and did not look up.
+Rowdy thrust both hands in his pockets and turned his square shoulder
+to the bar. He did not need to look--he knew that voice, with its shoddy
+heartiness.
+
+Men began to observe his attitude, and looked at one another. When one
+is asked to drink with another, he must comply or decline graciously, if
+he would not give a direct insult.
+
+Harry Conroy took three long steps and laid a hand on Rowdy's
+shoulder--a hand which Rowdy shook off as though it burned. “Say,
+stranger, are you too high-toned t' drink with a common cowpuncher?” he
+demanded sharply.
+
+Rowdy half-turned toward him. “No, sir. But I'll be mighty thirsty
+before I drink with you.” His voice was even, but it cut.
+
+The room stilled on the instant; it was as if every man of them had
+turned to lay figures. Harry Conroy had winced at sight of Rowdy's
+face--men saw that, and some of them wondered. Pink leaned back in
+his chair, every nerve tightened for the next move, and waited. It
+was Harry--handsome, sneering, a certain swaggering defiance in his
+pose--who first spoke.
+
+“Oh, it's you, is it? I haven't saw yuh for some time. How's
+bronco-fighting? Gone up against any more contests?” He laughed
+mockingly--with mouth and eyes maddeningly like Jessie's in teasing
+mood.
+
+Rowdy could have killed him for the resemblance alone. His lids drooped
+sleepily over eyes that glittered. Harry saw the sign, read it for
+danger; but he laughed again.
+
+“Yuh ought to have seen this bronco-peeler pull leather, boys,” he
+jeered recklessly “I like to 'a' died. He got piled up the slickest I
+ever saw; and there was some feeble-minded Canucks had money up on him,
+too: He won't drink with me, 'cause I got off with the purse. He's got
+a grouch--and I don't know as I blame him; he did get let down pretty
+hard, for a fact.”
+
+“Maybe he did pull leather--but he didn't cut none, like you did, you
+damn' skunk!” It was Pink--Pink, with big, long-lashed eyes purple with
+rage, and with a dead-white streak around his mouth, and a gun in his
+hand.
+
+Harry wheeled toward him, and if a new light of fear crept into his
+eyes, his lips belied it in a sneer. “Two of a kind!” he laughed. “So
+that's the story yuh brought over here, is it? Hell of a lot uh good
+it'll do yuh!”
+
+Something in Pink's face warned Rowdy. Harry's face turned watchfully
+from one to the other. Evidently he considered Pink the more uncertain
+of the two; and he was quite justified in so thinking. Pink was only
+waiting for a cue before using his gun; and when Pink once began, there
+was no telling where or when he would leave off.
+
+While Harry stood uncertain, Rowdy's fist suddenly spatted against his
+cheek with considerable force. He tumbled, a cursing heap, against the
+foot-rail of the bar, scrambled up like a cat--a particularly vicious
+cat--and came at Rowdy murderously. The Come Again would shortly have
+been filled with the pungent haze of burned powder, only that the
+bartender was a man-of-action. He hated brawls, and it did not matter
+to him how just might be the quarrel; he slapped the gaping barrels of
+a sawed-off shotgun across the bar--and from the look of it one might
+imagine many disagreeable things.
+
+“Drop it! Cut it out!” he bellowed. “Yuh ain't going t' make no
+slaughter-pen out uh this joint, I tell yuh. Put up them guns or else
+take 'em outside. If you fellers are hell-bent on smokin' each other up,
+they's all kinds uh room outdoors. Git! Vamose! Hike!”
+
+Conroy wheeled and walked, straight-backed and venomous, to the door.
+“Come on out, if yuh ain't scared,” he sneered. “It's two agin' one
+and then some, by the look uh things. But I'll take yuh singly or in
+bunches. I'm ready for the whole damn' Cross L bunch uh coyotes. Come
+on, you white-livered--!”
+
+Rowdy rushed for him, with Pink and the Silent One at his heels. He had
+forgotten that Harry Conroy ever had a sister of any sort whatsoever.
+All he knew was that Harry had done him much wrong, of the sort which
+comes near to being unforgivable, and that he had sneered insults that
+no man may overlook. All he thought of was to get his hands on him.
+
+Outside, the dusky stillness made all sounds seem out of place; the
+faint starlight made all objects black and unfamiliar. Rowdy stopped,
+just off the threshold, blinking at the darkness which held his enemy.
+It was strange that he did not find him at his elbow, he thought--and
+a suspicion came to him that Harry was lying in wait; it would be like
+him. He stepped out of the yellow glare from a window and stood in
+more friendly shade. Behind him, on the door-step, stood the other two,
+blinking as he had done.
+
+A form which he did not recognize rushed up out of the darkness and
+confronted the three belligerently. “You're a-disturbin' the peace,”
+ he yelled. “We don't stand for nothing like that in Camas. You're my
+prisoners--all uh yuh.” The edict seemed to include even the bartender,
+peering over the shoulder of Bob Nevin, who struggled with several
+others for immediate passage through the doorway.
+
+“I guess not, pardner,” retorted Pink, facing him as defiantly as though
+the marshal were not twice his size.
+
+The marshal lunged for him; but the Silent One, reaching a long arm from
+the door-step, rapped him smartly on the head with his gun. The marshal
+squawked and went down in a formless heap.
+
+“Come on, boys,” said the Silent One coolly. “I think we'd better go.
+Your friend seems to have vanished in thin air.”
+
+Rowdy, grumbling mightily over what looked unpleasantly like retreat,
+was pushed toward his horse and mounted under protest. Likewise Pink,
+who was for staying and cleaning up the whole town. But the Silent One
+was firm, and there was that in his manner which compelled obedience.
+
+Harry Conroy might have been an optical--and aural--illusion, for all
+the trace there was of him. But when the three rode out into the little
+street, a bullet pinged close to Rowdy's left ear, and the red bark of a
+revolver spat viciously from a black shadow beside the Come Again.
+
+Rowdy and the two turned and rode back, shooting blindly at the place,
+but the shadow yawned silently before them and gave no sign. Then the
+Silent One, observing that the marshal was getting upon a pair of very
+unsteady legs, again assumed the leadership, and fairly forced Rowdy and
+Pink into the homeward trail.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 7. Rowdy in a Tough Place.
+
+Rowdy, with nice calculation, met Miss Conroy just as she had left
+the school-house, and noted with much satisfaction that she was riding
+alone. Miss Conroy, if she had been at all observant, must have seen the
+light of some fixed purpose shining in his eyes; for Rowdy was resolved
+to make her a partner in his dreams of matters domestic. And, of a
+truth, his easy assurance was the thinnest of cloaks to hide his inner
+agitation.
+
+“The round-up just got in yesterday afternoon,” he told her, as he swung
+into the trail beside her. “We're going to start out again to-morrow, so
+this is about the only chance I'll have to see you for a while.”
+
+“I knew the round-up must be in,” said Miss Conroy calmly. “I heard that
+you were in Camas a night or two ago.”
+
+Inwardly, Rowdy dodged. “We camped close to Camas,” he conceded
+guardedly. “A lot of us fellows rode into town.”
+
+“Yes, so Harry told me,” she said. “He came over to see me yesterday.
+He is going to leave--has already, in fact. He has had a fine position
+offered him by the Indian agent at Belknap. The agent used to be
+a friend of father's.” She looked at Rowdy sidelong, and then went
+straight at what was in the minds of both.
+
+“I'm sorry to hear, Mr. Vaughan, that you are on bad terms with Harry.
+What was the trouble?” She turned her head and smiled at him--but the
+smile did not bring his lips to answer; it was unpleasantly like the way
+Harry smiled when he had some deviltry in mind.
+
+Rowdy scented trouble and parried. “Men can't always get along agreeably
+together.”
+
+“And you disagree with a man rather emphatically, I should judge. Harry
+said you knocked him down.” Politeness ruled her voice, but cheeks and
+eyes were aflame.
+
+“I did. And of course he told you how he took a shot at me from a dark
+corner, outside.” Rowdy's eyes, it would seem, had kindled from the fire
+in hers.
+
+“No, he didn't--but I--you struck him first.”
+
+“Hitting a man with your fist is one thing,” said Rowdy with decision.
+“Shooting at him from ambush is another.”
+
+“Harry shouldn't have done that,” she admitted with dignity. “But why
+wouldn't you take a drink with him? Not that I approve of drinking--I
+wish Harry wouldn't do such things--but he said it was an insult the way
+you refused.”
+
+“Jessie--”
+
+“Miss Conroy, please.”
+
+“Jessie”--he repeated the name stubbornly--“I think we'd better drop
+that subject. You don't understand the case; and, anyway, I didn't come
+here to discuss Harry. Our trouble is long standing, and if I insulted
+him you ought to know I had a reason. I never came whining to you about
+him, and it don't speak well for him that he hot-footed over to you with
+his version. I suppose he'd heard about me--er--going to see you, and
+wanted to queer me. I hope you'll take my word for it, Jessie, that I've
+never harmed him; all the trouble he's made for himself, one way and
+another.
+
+“But what I came over for to-day concerns just you and me. I wanted
+to tell you that--to ask you if you'll marry me. I might put it more
+artistic, Jessie, but that's what I mean, and--I mean all the things
+I'd like to say and can't.” He stopped and smiled at her, wistfully
+whimsical. “I've been three weeks getting my feelings into proper words,
+little girl, and coming over here I had a speech thought out that
+sure done justice to my subject. But all I can remember of it is just
+that--that I want you for always.”
+
+Miss Conroy looked away from him, but he could see a deeper tint of red
+in her cheek. It seemed a long time before she said anything. Then:
+“But you've forgotten about Harry. He's my brother, and he'd be--er--you
+wouldn't want him related--to you.”
+
+“Harry! Well, I pass him up. I've got a pretty long account against him;
+but I'll cross it off. It won't be hard to do--for you. I've thought of
+all that; and a man can forgive a whole lot in the brother of the woman
+he loves.” He leaned toward her and added honestly: “I can't promise you
+I'll ever get to like him, Jessie; but I'll keep my hands off him, and
+I'll treat him civil; and when you consider all he's done, that's quite
+a large-sized contract.”
+
+Miss Conroy became much interested in the ears of her horse.
+
+“The only thing to decide is whether you like me enough. If you do,
+we'll sure be happy. Never mind Harry.”
+
+“You're very generous,” she flared, “telling me to never mind Harry.
+And Harry's my own brother, and the only near relative I've got. I know
+he's--impulsive, and quick-tempered, perhaps. But he needs me all the
+more. Do you think I'll turn against him, even for you?”
+
+That “even” may have been a slip, but it heartened Rowdy immensely.
+“I don't ask you to,” he told her gently. “I only want you to not turn
+against me.”
+
+“I do wish you two would be sensible, and stop quarreling.” She glanced
+at him briefly.
+
+“I'm willing to cut it out--I told you that. I can't answer for him,
+though.” Rowdy sighed, wishing Harry Conroy in Australia, or some place
+equally remote.
+
+Miss Conroy suddenly resolved to be strictly just; and when a young
+woman sets about being deliberately just, the Lord pity him whom she
+judges!
+
+“Before I answer you, I must know just what all this is about,” she said
+firmly. “I want to hear both sides; I'm sure Harry wouldn't do anything
+mean. Do you think he would?”
+
+Rowdy was dissentingly silent.
+
+“Do you really, in your heart, believe that Harry would--knowingly--be
+guilty of anything mean?” Her eyes plainly told the answer she wanted to
+hear.
+
+Rowdy looked into them, hesitated, and clung tenaciously to his
+convictions. “Yes, I do; and I know Harry pretty well, Jessie.” His face
+showed how much he hated to say it.
+
+“I'm afraid you are very prejudiced,” she sighed. “But go on; tell me
+just what you have against Harry. I'm sure it can all be explained away,
+only I must hear what it is.”
+
+Rowdy regarded her, puzzled. How he was to comply he did not know. It
+would be simply brutal to tell her. He would feel like a hangman. And
+she believed so in Harry, she wouldn't listen; even if she did, he
+thought bitterly, she would hate him for destroying her faith. A woman's
+justice--ah, me!
+
+“Don't you see you're putting me in a mighty hard position, girlie?” he
+protested. “You're a heap better off not to know. He's your brother. I
+wish you'd take my word that I'll drop the whole thing right where it
+is. Harry's had all the best of it, so far; let it stand that way.”
+
+Her eyes met his coldly. “Are you afraid to let me judge between you?
+What did he do? Daren't you tell?”
+
+Rowdy's lids drooped ominously. “If you call that a dare,” he said
+grimly, “I'll tell you, fast enough. I was a friend to him when he
+needed one mighty bad. I helped him when he was dead broke and out uh
+work. I kept him going all winter--and to show his gratitude, he gave
+me the doublecross, in more ways than one. I won't go into details.” He
+decided that he simply could not tell her bluntly that Harry had worked
+off stolen horses on him, and worse.
+
+“Oh--you won't go into details!” Scorn filled eyes and voice. “Are
+they so trivial, then? You tell me what you did for Harry--playing Good
+Samaritan. Harry, let me tell you, has property of his own; I can't see
+why he should ever be in need of charity. You're like all the rest; you
+hint things against him--but I believe it's just jealousy. You can't
+come out honestly and tell me a single instance where he has harmed you,
+or done anything worse than other high-spirited young men.”
+
+“It wouldn't do any good to tell you,” he retorted. “You think he's just
+lacking wings to be an angel. I hope to God you'll always be able to
+think so! I'm sure I don't want to jar your faith.”
+
+“I must say your actions don't bear out your words. You've just been
+trying to turn me against him.”
+
+“I haven't. I've been trying to convince you that I want you, anyway,
+and Harry needn't come between us.”
+
+“In other words, you're willing to overlook my being Harry's sister. I
+appreciate your generosity, I'm sure.” She did not look, however, as if
+she meant that.
+
+“I didn't mean that.”
+
+“Then you won't overlook it? How very unfortunate! Because I can't help
+the relationship.”
+
+“Would you, if you could?” he asked rashly.
+
+“Certainly not!”
+
+“I'm afraid we're getting off the trail,” he amended tactfully. “I asked
+you, a while back, if you'd marry me.”
+
+“And I said I must hear both sides of your trouble with Harry, before I
+could answer.”
+
+“What's the use? You'd take his part, anyway.”
+
+“Not if I found he was guilty of all you--insinuate. I should be
+perfectly just.” She really believed that.
+
+“Can't you tell me yes or no, anyway? Don't let him come between us.”
+
+“I can't help it. We'd never agree, or be happy. He'd keep on coming
+between us, whether we meant him to or not,” she said dispiritedly.
+
+“That's a cinch,” Rowdy muttered, thinking of Harry's trouble-breeding
+talents.
+
+“Then there's no more to be said. Until you and Harry settle your
+difficulties amicably, or I am convinced that he's in the wrong, we'll
+just be friends, Mr. Vaughan. Good afternoon.” She rode into the Rodway
+yard, feeling very just and virtuous, no doubt. But she left Rowdy
+with some rather unpleasant thoughts, and with a sentiment toward her
+precious brother which was not far from manslaughter.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 8. Pink in a Threatening Mood.
+
+Eagle Creek Smith had at last reached the point where he must face new
+conditions and change established customs. He could no longer ignore
+the barrenness of the range, or close his eyes to the grim fact that
+his cattle were facing starvation--and that in June, when they should be
+taking on flesh.
+
+When he finally did confess to himself that things couldn't go on like
+that, others had been before him in leasing and buying land, until only
+the dry benches were left to him and his hungry herds.
+
+But Eagle Creek was a man of resource. When the round-up pulled in and
+Wooden Shoes reported to him the general state of the cattle, and told
+of the water-holes newly fenced and of creek bottoms gobbled by men more
+farseeing than he, Eagle Creek took twenty-four hours to adjust himself
+to the situation and to meet the crisis before him. His own land, as
+compared to his twenty thousand cattle, was too pitifully inadequate for
+a second thought.
+
+He must look elsewhere for the correct answer to his problem.
+
+When Rowdy rode apathetically up to the stable, Pink came out of the
+bunk-house to meet him, big with news. “Oh, doctor! We're up against it
+a-plenty now,” he greeted, with his dimples at their deepest.
+
+“Huh!” grunted Rowdy crossly. “What's hurting you, Pink?”
+
+“Forecasting the future,” Pink retorted. “Eagle Creek has come alive,
+and has wised up sudden to the fact that this ain't going t' be any
+Noah's flood brand uh summer, and that his cattle look like the tailings
+of a wash-board factory. He's got busy--and we're sure going to. We're
+due t' hit the grit out uh here in the first beams uh rosy morn, and do
+a record stunt at gathering cattle.”
+
+“Well, we were going to, anyhow,” Rowdy cut in.
+
+“But that's only the prelude, old-timer. We've got t' take 'em across
+country to the Belknap reservation. Eagle Creek went t' town and
+telegraphed, and got the refusal of it for pasturage; he ain't so
+slow, oncet he gets started. But if you've ever rode over them dried-up
+benches, you savvy the merry party we'll be when we git there. I've saw
+jack-rabbits packing their lunch along over there.”
+
+“Belknap”--Rowdy dropped his saddle spitefully to the ground--“is where
+our friend Conroy has just gone to fill a splendid position.”
+
+Pink thoughtfully blew the ashes from his cigarette. “Harry Conroy would
+fill one position fine. So one uh these days I'll offer it to him. I
+don't know anybody that'd look nicer in a coffin than that jasper--and
+if he's gone t' Belknap, that's likely the position he'll fill, all
+right.”
+
+Rowdy said nothing, but his very silence told Pink much.
+
+“How'd yuh make out with Jessie?” Pink asked frankly, though he was not
+supposed to know where Rowdy had been.
+
+Rowdy knew from experience that it was useless trying to keep anything
+from Pink that Pink wanted to know; besides, there was a certain comfort
+in telling his troubles to so stanch a friend. “Harry got his work in
+there, too,” he said bitterly. “He beat me to her and queered me for
+good, by the looks.”
+
+“Huh!” said Pink. “I wouldn't waste much time worrying over her, if
+she's that easy turned.”
+
+“She's all right,” defended Rowdy quickly. “I don't know as I blame her;
+she takes the stand any sister would take. She wants to know all about
+the trouble--hear both sides, she said, so she could judge which was to
+blame. I guess she's got her heart set on being peacemaker. I know one
+thing: she--likes me, all right.”
+
+“I don't see how he queered yuh any, then,” puzzled Pink. “She sure
+couldn't take his part after you'd told her all he done.”
+
+Rowdy turned on him savagely. “You little fool, do you think I told her?
+Right there's the trouble. He told his story; and when she asked for
+mine, I couldn't say anything. She's his sister.”
+
+“You--didn't--tell!” Pink leaned against the stable and stared. “Rowdy
+Vaughan, there's times when even your friend can't disguise the fact
+that yuh act plumb batty. Yuh let Harry do yuh dirt that any other man'd
+'a' killed him on bare suspicion uh doing; and yuh never told her when
+she asked yuh to! How yuh lent him money, and let him steal some right
+out uh your pocket--”
+
+“I couldn't prove that,” Rowdy objected.
+
+“And yuh never told her about his cutting your latigo--”
+
+“Oh, cut it out!” Rowdy glowered down at him. “I guess I don't need to
+be reminded of all those things. But are they the things a man can tell
+a girl about her brother? Pink, you're about as unfeeling a little devil
+as I ever run across. Maybe you'd have told her; but I couldn't. So it's
+all off.”
+
+He turned away and stared unseeingly at the rim of hills that hid the
+place where she lived. She seemed very far away from him just then--and
+very, very desirable. He thought then that he had never before realized
+just how much he cared.
+
+“You can jest bet I'd 'a' told her!” gritted Pink, watching furtively
+Rowdy's averted face. “She ain't goin' t' be bowed down by no load of
+ignorance much longer, either. If she don't get Harry Conroy's pedigree
+straight out, without the varnish, it'll be because I ain't next to all
+his past.”
+
+But Rowdy, glooming among the debris of certain pet air-castles, neither
+heard nor wanted to hear Pink's wrathful mutterings. As a matter of
+fact, it was not till Pink clattered out of the yard on Mascot that he
+remembered where he was. Even then it did not occur to him to wonder
+where Pink was going.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 9. Moving the Herd.
+
+Four thousand weary cattle crawled up the long ridge which divides Chin
+Coulee from Quitter Creek. Pink, riding point, opposite the Silent One,
+twisted round in his saddle and looked back at the slow-moving river of
+horns and backs veiled in a gray dust-cloud. Down the line at intervals
+rode the others, humped listlessly in their saddles, their hat brims
+pulled low over tired eyes that smarted with dust and wind and burning
+heat.
+
+Pink sighed, and wished lonesomely that it was Rowdy riding point with
+him, instead of the Silent One, who grew even more silent as the day
+dragged leadenly to mid-afternoon; Pink could endure anything better
+than being left to his thoughts and to the complaining herd for company.
+
+He took off his hat, pushed back his curls--dripping wet they were and
+flattened unbecomingly in pasty, yellow rings on his forehead--and eyed
+with disfavor a line-backed, dry cow, with one horn tipped rakishly
+toward her speckled nose; she blinked silently at wind and heat, and
+forged steadily ahead, up-hill and down coulee, always in the lead,
+always walking, walking, like an automaton. Her energy, in the face of
+all the dry, dreary days, rasped Pink's nerves unbearably. For nearly a
+week he had ridden left point, and always that line-backed cow with the
+down-crumpled horn walked and walked and walked, a length ahead of her
+most intrepid followers.
+
+He leaned from his saddle, picked up a rock from the barren, yellow
+hillside, and threw it at the cow spitefully. The rock bounced off her
+lean rump; she blinked and broke into a shuffling trot, her dragging
+hoofs kicking up an extra amount of dust, which blew straight into
+Pink's face.
+
+“Aw, cut it out!” he shouted petulantly. “You're sure the limit, without
+doing any stunts at sprinting up-hill. Ain't yuh got any nerves, yuh
+blamed old skate? Yuh act like it was milkin'-time, and yuh was headed
+straight for the bars and a bran mash. Can't yuh realize the kind uh
+deal you're up against? Here's cattle that's got you skinned for looks,
+old girl, and they know it's coming blamed tough; and you just bat your
+eyes and peg along like yuh enjoyed it. Bawl, or something, can't yuh?
+Drop back a foot and act human!”
+
+The Silent One looked across at him with a tired smile. “Let her go,
+Pink, and pray for more like her,” he called amusedly. “There'll be
+enough of them dropping back presently.”
+
+Pink threw one leg over the horn and rode sidewise, made him a
+cigarette, and tried to forget the cow--or, at least, to forgive her for
+not acting as dog-tired as he felt.
+
+They were on the very peak of the ridge now, and the hill sloped
+smoothly down before them to the bluff which bounded Quitter Creek. Far
+down, a tiny black speck in the coulee-bottom, they could see Wooden
+Shoes riding along the creek-bank, scouting for water. From the way he
+rode, and from the fact that camp was nowhere in sight, Pink guessed
+shrewdly that his quest was in vain. He shrugged his shoulders at what
+that meant, and gave his attention to the herd.
+
+The marching line split at the brow of the bluff. The line-backed
+cow lowered her head a bit and went unfaltering down the parched,
+gravel-coated hill, followed by a few hundred of the freshest. Then the
+stream stopped flowing, and Pink and the Silent One rode back up the
+bluff to where the bulk of the footsore herd, their senses dulled by
+hunger and weariness and choking thirst, sniffed at the gravel that
+promised agony to their bruised feet, and balked at the ordeal. Others
+straggled up, bunched against the rebels, and stood stolidly where they
+were.
+
+Pink galloped on down the crawling line. “Forward, the Standard Oil
+Brigade!” he yelled whimsically as he went.
+
+The cowboys heard--and understood. They left their places and went
+forward at a lope, and Pink rode back to the coulee edge, untying
+his slicker as he went. The Silent One was already off his horse and
+shouting hoarsely as he whacked with his slicker at the sulky mass.
+Pink rode in and did the same. It was not the first time this thing had
+happened, and from a diversion it was verging closely on the monotonous.
+Presently, even a rank tenderfoot must have caught the significance of
+Pink's military expression. The Standard Oil Brigade was at the front in
+force.
+
+Cowboys, swinging five-gallon oil-cans, picked up from scattered sheep
+camps and carried many a weary mile for just such an emergency, were
+charging the bunch intrepidly. Others made shift with flat sirup-cans
+with pebbles inside. A few, like Pink and the Silent One, flapped their
+slickers till their arms ached. Anything, everything that would make
+a din and startle the cattle out of their lethargy, was pressed into
+service.
+
+But they might have been raised in a barnyard and fed cabbage leaves
+from back door-steps, for all the excitement they showed. Cattle that
+three months ago--or a month--would run, head and tail high in air, at
+sight of a man on foot, backed away from a rattling, banging cube of
+gleaming tin, turned and faced the thing dull-eyed and apathetic.
+
+In time, however, they gave way dogedly before the onslaught. A few were
+forced shrinkingly down the hill; others followed gingerly, until the
+line lengthened and flowed, a sluggish, brown-red stream, into the
+coulee and across to Quitter Creek.
+
+Here the leaders were browsing greedily along the banks. They had
+emptied the few holes that had still held a meager store of brackish
+water and so the mutinous bulk of the herd snuffed at the trampled,
+muddy spots and bellowed their disappointment.
+
+Wooden Shoes rode up and surveyed the half maddened animals gloomily.
+“Push 'em on, boys,” he said. “They's nothings for 'em here. I've sent
+the wagons on to Red Willow; we'll try that next. Push 'em along all yuh
+can, while I go on ahead and see.”
+
+With tin-cans, slickers, and much vituperation, they forced the herd up
+the coulee side and strung them out again on trail. The line-backed
+cow walked and walked in the lead before Pink's querulous gaze, and the
+others plodded listlessly after. The gray dust-cloud formed anew over
+their slowmoving backs, and the cowboys humped over in their saddles
+and rode and rode, with the hot sun beating aslant in their dirt-grimed
+faces, and with the wind blowing and blowing.
+
+If this had been the first herd to make that dreary trip, things would
+not have been quite so disheartening. But it was the third. Seven
+thousand lean kine had passed that way before them, eating the scant
+grass growth and drinking what water they could find among those barren,
+sun-baked coulees.
+
+The Cross L boys, on this third trip, were become a jaded lot of
+hollow-eyed men, whose nerves were rasped raw with long hours and longer
+days in the saddle. Pink's cheeks no longer made his name appropriate,
+and he was not the only one who grew fretful over small things. Rowdy
+had been heard, more than once lately, to anathematize viciously the
+prairie-dogs for standing on their tails and chipchip-chipping at them
+as they went by. And though the Silent One did not swear, he carried
+rocks in his pockets, and threw them with venomous precision at every
+“dog” that showed his impertinent nose out of a burrow within range. For
+Pink, he vented his spleen on the line-backed cow.
+
+So they walked and walked and walked.
+
+The cattle balked at another hill, and all the tincans and slickers in
+the crowd could scarcely move them. The wind dropped with the sun, and
+the clouds glowed gorgeously above them, getting scant notice, except
+that they told eloquently of the coming night; and there were yet
+miles--long, rough, heartbreaking miles--to put behind them before
+they could hope for the things their tired bodies craved: supper and
+dreamless sleep.
+
+When the last of the herd had sidled, under protest, down the long hill
+to the flat, dusk was pushing the horizon closer upon them, mile by
+mile. When they crawled sinuously out upon the welcome level, the hill
+loomed ghostly and black behind them. A mile out, Wooden Shoes rode out
+of the gloom and met the point. He turned and rode beside Pink.
+
+“Yuh'll have t' swing 'em north,” he greeted.
+
+“Red Willow's dry as hell--all but in the Rockin' R field. No use askin'
+ole Mullen to let us in there; we'll just go. I sent the wagons through
+the fence, an' yuh'll find camp about a mile up from the mouth uh the
+big coulee. You swing 'em round the end uh this bench, an' hit that big
+coulee at the head. When you come t' the fence, tear it down. They's
+awful good grass in that field!”
+
+“All right,” said Pink cheerfully. It was in open defiance of range
+etiquette; but their need was desperate. The only thing about it Pink
+did not like was the long detour they must make. He called the news
+across to the Silent One, after Wooden Shoes had gone on down the line,
+and they swung the point gradually to the left.
+
+Before that drive was over, Pink had vowed many times to leave the range
+forever and never to turn another cow--besides a good many other foolish
+things which would be forgotten, once he had a good sleep. And Rowdy,
+plodding half-way down the herd, had grown exceedingly pessimistic
+regarding Jessie Conroy, and decided that there was no sense in thinking
+about her all the time, the way he had been doing. Also, he told himself
+savagely that if Harry ever crossed his trail again, there would be
+something doing. This thing of letting a cur like that run roughshod
+over a man on account of a girl that didn't care was plumb idiotic. And
+beside him the cattle walked and walked and walked, a dim, moving mass
+in the quiet July night.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 10. Harry Conroy at Home.
+
+It was late next morning when they got under way; for they had not
+reached camp until long after midnight, and Wooden Shoes was determined
+the cattle should have one good feed, and all the water they wanted, to
+requite them for the hard drive of the day before.
+
+Pink rode out with Rowdy to the herd--a heavylidded, gloomy Rowdy he
+was, and not amiably inclined toward the small talk of the range. But
+Pink had slept five whole hours and was almost his normal self; which
+means that speech was not to be denied him.
+
+“What yuh mourning over?” he bantered. “Mad 'cause the reservation's so
+close?”
+
+“Sure,” assented Rowdy, with deep sarcasm.
+
+“That's what I thought. Studying up the nicest way uh giving
+brother-in-law the glad hand, ain't yuh?”
+
+“He's no relation uh mine--and never will be,” said Rowdy curtly. “And
+I'll thank you, Pink, to drop that subject for good and all.”
+
+“Down she goes,” assented Pink, quite unperturbed. “But the cards ain't
+all turned yet, yuh want to remember, I wouldn't pass on no hand like
+you've got. If I wanted a girl right bad, Rowdy, I'd wait till I got
+refused before I'd quit.”
+
+“Seems to me you've changed your politics lately,” Rowdy retorted. “A
+while back you was cussing the whole business; and now you're worse than
+an old maid aunt. Pink, you may not be wise to the fact, but you sure
+are an inconsistent little devil.”
+
+“Are yuh going t' hunt Harry up and--”
+
+“I thought I told you to drop that.”
+
+“Did yuh? All right, then--only I hope yuh didn't leave your gun packed
+away in your bed,” he insinuated.
+
+“You can take a look to-night, if you want to.”
+
+Pink laughed in a particularly infectious way he had, and, before he
+quite knew it, Rowdy was laughing, also. After that the world did not
+look quite so forlorn as it had, nor the day's work so distasteful. So
+Pink, having accomplished his purpose, was content to turn the subject.
+
+“There's old Liney”--he pointed her out to Rowdy--“fresh as a
+meadow-lark. I had a big grouch against her yesterday, just because she
+batted her eyes and kept putting one foot ahead uh the other. I could
+'a' killed her. But she's all right, that old girl. The way she led out
+down that black coulee last night wasn't slow! Say, she's an ambitious
+old party. I wish you was riding point with me, Rowdy. The Silent One
+talks just about as much as that old cow. He sure loves to live up to
+his rep.”
+
+“Oh, go on to work,” Rowdy admonished. “You make me think of a magpie.”
+ All the same, he looked after him with smiling lips, and eyes that
+forgot their gloom. He even whistled while he helped round up the
+scattered herd, ready for that last day's drive.
+
+Every man in the outfit comforted himself with the thought that it
+was the last day's drive. After long weeks of trailing lean herds over
+barren, windbrushed hills, the last day meant much to them. Even the
+Silent One sang something they had never heard before, about “If Only I
+Knew You Were True.”
+
+They crossed the Rocking R field, took down four panels of fence, passed
+out, and carefully put them up again behind them. Before them stretched
+level plain for two miles; beyond that a high, rocky ridge that promised
+some trouble with the herd, and after that more plain and a couleee or
+two, and then, on a far slope--the reservation.
+
+The cattle were rested and fed, and walked out briskly; the ridge neared
+perceptibly. Pink's shrill whistle carried far back down the line and
+mingled pleasantly with voices calling to one another across the herd.
+Not a man was humped listlessly in his saddle; instead, they rode with
+shoulders back and hats at divers jaunty angles to keep the sun from
+shining in eyes that faced the future cheerfully.
+
+The herd steadily climbed the ridge, choosing the smoothest path and the
+easiest slope. Pink assured the line-backed cow that she was a peach,
+and told her to “go to it, old girl.” The Silent One's pockets were
+quite empty of rocks, and the prairiedogs chipped and flirted their
+funny little tails unassailed. And Rowdy, from wondering what had made
+Pink change his attitude so abruptly, began to plan industriously the
+next meeting with Jessie Conroy, and to build a new castle that was
+higher and airier than any he had ever before attempted--and perhaps
+had a more flimsy foundation; for it rested precariously on Pink's idle
+remarks.
+
+The point gained the top of the ridge, and Pink turned and swung his hat
+jubilantly at the others. The reservation was in sight, though it lay
+several miles distant. But in that clear air one could distinguish the
+line fence--if one had the eye of faith and knew just where to look.
+Presently he observed a familiar horseman climbing the ridge to meet
+them.
+
+“Eagle Creek's coming,” he shouted to the man behind. “Come alive,
+there, and don't let 'em roam all over the map. Git some style on yuh!”
+
+Those who heard laughed; no one ever dreamed of being offended at what
+Pink said. Those who had not heard had the news passed on to them,
+in various forms. Wooden Shoes, who had been loitering in the rear
+gossiping with the men, rode on to meet Smith.
+
+Eagle Creek urged his horse up the last steep place, right in the face
+of the leaders, which halted and tried to turn back. Pink, swearing in a
+whisper, began to force them forward.
+
+“Let 'em alone,” Eagle Creek bellowed harshly. “They ain't goin' no
+farther.”
+
+“W-what?” Pink stopped short and eyed him critically. Eagle Creek could
+not justly be called a teetotaler; but Pink had never known him to
+get worse than a bit wobbly in his legs; his mind had never fogged
+perceptibly. Still, something was wrong with him, that was certain.
+Pink glanced dubiously across at the Silent One and saw him shrug his
+shoulders expressively.
+
+Eagle Creek rode up and stopped within ten feet of the line-backed cow;
+she seemed hurt at being held up in this manner, Pink thought.
+
+“Yuh'll have t' turn this herd back,” Eagle Creek announced bluntly.
+
+“Where to?” Pink asked, too stunned to take in the meaning of it.
+
+“T' hell, I guess. It's the only place I know of where everybody's
+welcome.” Eagle Creek's tone was not pleasant.
+
+“We just came from there,” Pink said simply, thinking of the horrors of
+that drive.
+
+“Where's Wooden Shoes?” snapped the old man; and the foreman's hat-crown
+appeared at that instant over the ridge.
+
+“Well, we're up against it,” Eagle Creek greeted. “That damn' agent--or
+the fellow he had workin' for him--reported his renting us pasture. Made
+the report read about twice as many as we're puttin' on. He's got orders
+now t' turn out every hoof but what b'longs there.”
+
+“My Lord!” Wooden Shoes gasped at the catastrophe which faced the Cross
+L.
+
+“That's Harry Conroy's work,” Pink cut in sharply' “He'd hurt the Cross
+L if he could, t' spite me and Rowdy. He--”
+
+“Don't matter--seein' it's done. Yuh might as well turn the herd loose
+right here, an' let 'em go t' the devil. I don't know what else t' do
+with 'em.”
+
+“Anything gone wrong?” It was Rowdy, who had left his place and ridden
+forward to see what was holding the herd back.
+
+“Naw. We're fired off the reservation, is all. We got orders to take the
+herd to hell. Eagle Creek's leased it. Mr. Satan is going to keep house
+here in Montana; he says it's better for his trade,” Pink informed him,
+in his girlish treble.
+
+Eagle Creek turned on him fiercely, then thought better of it and
+grinned. “Them arrangements wouldn't make us any worse off'n what we
+are,” he commented. “Turn 'em loose, boys.”
+
+“Man, if yuh turn 'em loose here, the first storm that hits 'em, they
+all die,” Wooden Shoes interposed excitedly. “They ain't nothings for
+'em. We had t' turn 'em into the Rockin' R field last night, t'
+git water an' feed. Red Willow's gone dry outside dat field. They
+ain't--nothings. They'll die!”
+
+Eagle Creek looked at him dully. For the first time in his life he faced
+utter ruin. “Damn 'em, let 'em die, then!” he said.
+
+“That's what they'll sure do,” Wooden Shoes reiterated stubbornly. “If
+they don't git feed and water now, yuh needn't start no round-up next
+spring.”
+
+Pink's eyes went down over the close-huddled backs and the thicket
+of polished horns, and his eyelids stung. Would all of them die, he
+wondered! Four thousand! He hoped not. There must be some way out. Down
+the hill, he knew the cowboys were making cigarettes while they waited
+and wondered mightily what it was all about If they only knew, he
+thought, there would be more than one rope ready for Harry Conroy.
+
+“How about the Peck reservation? Couldn't you get them on there?” Rowdy
+ventured.
+
+“Not a hoof!” growled Eagle Creek, with his chin sunk against his chest.
+“There's thirty thousand Valley County cattle on there now.” He looked
+down at the cattle, as Pink had done. “God! It's bad enough t' go
+broke,” he groaned; “but t' think uh them poor brutes dyin' off in
+bunches, for want uh grass an' water! I've run that brand fer over
+thirty year.”
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 11. Rowdy Promoted.
+
+Rowdy rode closer. “If you don't mind paying duty,” he began
+tentatively, “I can put you next to a range over the line, where I'll
+guarantee feed and water the year round for every hoof you own.”
+
+Eagle Creek lifted his head and looked at him “Whereabouts?” he demanded
+skeptically.
+
+“Up in the Red Deer country. Pink knows the place. There's range
+a-plenty, and creeks running through that never go dry; and the country
+isn't stocked and fenced to death, like this is.”
+
+“And would we be ordered off soon as we got there?”
+
+“Sure not--if you paid duty, which would only be about double what you
+were going to pay for one year's pasture.”
+
+Eagle Creek breathed deeply, like a man who has narrowly escaped
+suffocation. “Young man, I b'lieve you're a square dealer, and that yuh
+savvy the cow business. I've thought it ever since yuh started t' work.”
+ His keen old eyes twinkled at the memory of Rowdy's arrival, and Rowdy
+grinned. “I take yuh at your word, and yuh can consider yourself in
+charge uh this herd as it stands. Take it t' that cow heaven yuh tell
+about--and damn it, yuh won't be none the worse for it!”
+
+“We'll pass that up,” said Rowdy quietly. “I'll take the herd through,
+though; and I'd advise you to get the rest on the road as soon as they
+can be gathered. It's a three-hundred-mile drive.”
+
+“All right. From now on it's up to you,” Eagle Creek told him briskly.
+“Take 'em back t' the Rockin' R field, and I'll send the wagons back
+t' you. Old Mullen'll likely make a roar--but that's most all gove'ment
+land he's got fenced, so I guess I can calm him down. Will yuh go near
+the ranch?”
+
+“I think so,” said Rowdy. “It will be the shortest way.”
+
+“Well, I'll give yuh some blank checks, an' you can load up with grub
+and anything else yuh need. I'll be over there by the time you are, and
+fix up that duty business. Wooden Shoes'll have t' get another outfit
+together, and get another bunch on the trail. One good thing--I got
+thirty days t' get off what cattle is on there; and thirty days uh grass
+and water'll put 'em in good shape for the trip. Wish this bunch was as
+well fixed.”
+
+“That's what,” Rowdy assented. “But I think they'll make it, all right.”
+
+“I'll likely want yuh to stay up there and keep cases on 'em. Any
+objections?”
+
+“Sure not!” laughed Rowdy. “Only I'll want Pink and the Silent One to
+stay with me.”
+
+“Keep what men yuh want. Anything else?”
+
+“I don't think of anything,” said Rowdy. “Only I'd like to have
+a--talk--with Conroy.” Creek eyed him sharply. “Yuh won't be apt t'
+meet him. Old Bill Brown, up home, would like to see him, too. Bill's
+a perseverin' old cuss, and wants to see Conroy so bad he's got the
+sheriff out lookin' for him. It's about a bunch uh horses that was run
+off, three years ago. Yuh brought one of 'em back into the country last
+spring, yuh mind.”
+
+Rowdy and Pink looked at one another, but said nothing.
+
+“Old Bill, he follered your back trail and found out some things he
+wanted t' know. Conroy got wind of it, though, and he left the agency
+kind-a suddint. No use yuh lookin' for him.”
+
+“Then we're ready to hit the grit, I guess.” Rowdy glanced again at Pink
+who nodded.
+
+“Well, I ain't stoppin' yuh,” Eagle Creek drawled laconically. “S'-long,
+and good luck t' yuh.”
+
+He waited while Pink and the Silent One swung the point back down the
+hill, with Rowdy helping them, quite unmoved by his sudden promotion.
+When the herd was fairly started on the backward march, Eagle Creek
+nodded satisfaction the while he pried off a corner of plug-tobacco.
+
+“He's all right,” he asserted emphatically. “That boy suits me, from
+the ground up. If he don't put that deal through in good shape, it'll be
+becaus' it can't be did.”
+
+Wooden Shoes, with whom Rowdy had always been a prime favorite, agreed
+with Dutch heartiness. Then, leaving the herd to its new guardian they
+rode swiftly to overtake and turn back the wagons.
+
+“Three hundred miles! And part of it across howling desert!” Rowdy drew
+his brows together. “It's a big thing for me, all right, Pink; but it's
+sure a big contract to take this herd through, if anybody should happen
+to ask yuh.”
+
+“Oh, buck up! You'll make good, all right--if only these creeks wasn't
+so bone dry!”
+
+“Well, there's water enough in the Rocking R field for to-day; we'll
+throw 'em in there till tomorrow. And I've a notion I can find a better
+trail across to North Fork than the way we came. I'm going to strike
+out this afternoon and see, anyway, if Quitter Creek hasn't got water
+farther up. Once we get up north uh the home ranch, I can see my way
+clear.”
+
+“Go to it, boss,” Pink cried heartily. “I don't see how I'm goin t'
+keep from sassing yuh, once in a while, though. That's what bothers me.
+What'll happen if I turn loose on yuh, some time?”
+
+“You'll get fired, I expect,” laughed Rowdy, and rode off to announce
+the news to the rest of the outfit, who were very unhappy in their
+mystification.
+
+If their reception of the change of plans and foreman was a bit profane,
+and their manner toward him a bit familiar, Rowdy didn't mind. He knew
+that they did not grudge him his good luck, even while they hated
+the long drive. He also knew that they watched him furtively; for
+nothing--not even misfortune--is as sure a test of a man's character
+as success. They liked Rowdy, and they did not believe this would spoil
+him; still, every man of them was secretly a bit anxious.
+
+On the trail, he rode in his accustomed place, and, so far as
+appearances went, the party had no foreman. He went forward and helped
+Pink take down the fence that had been so carefully put up a few hours
+before, and he whistled while he put it in place again, just as if
+he had no responsibility in the world. Then the cattle were left to
+themselves, and the men rode down to their old campground, marked by
+empty tin-cans and a trodden place where had been the horse corral.
+
+Rowdy swung down and faced the men gravely. Instinctively they stood at
+attention, waiting for what he had to say; they felt that the situation
+was so far out of the ordinary that a few remarks pertaining to their
+new relations would not be out of place.
+
+He looked them over appraisingly, and met glances as grave as his own.
+Straight, capable fellows they were, every man of them.
+
+“Boys,” he began impressively, “you all know that from to-day on you're
+working under my orders. I never was boss of anything but the cayuse I
+happened to have under me, and I'm going to extract all the honey there
+is in the situation. Maybe I'll never be boss again--but at present I'm
+it. I want you fellows to remember that important fact, and treat me
+with proper respect. From now on you can call me Mr. Vaughan; 'Rowdy'
+doesn't go, except on a legal holiday.
+
+“Furthermore, I'm not going to get out at daylight and catch up my own
+horse; I'll let yuh take turns being flunky, and I'll expect yuh
+to saddle my horse every morning and noon, and bring him to the
+cook-tent--and hold my stirrup for me. Also, you are expected, at
+all times and places, to anticipate my wants and fall over yourselves
+waiting on me. You're just common, ordinary, forty-dollar cow-punchers,
+and if I treat yuh white, it's because I pity yuh for not being up where
+I am. Remember, vassals, that I'm your superior, mentally, morally,
+socially--”
+
+“Chap him!” yelled Pink, and made for him “I'll stand for a lot, but
+don't yuh ever think I'm a vassal!”
+
+“Mutiny is strictly prohibited!” he thundered. “Villains, beware!
+Gadzooks--er--let's have a swim before the wagons come!”
+
+They laughed and made for the creek, feeling rather crestfallen and a
+bit puzzled.
+
+“If I had an outfit like this to run, and a three hundred-mile drive to
+make,” Bob Nevin remarked to the Silent One, “blessed if I'd make a josh
+of it! I'd cultivate the corrugated brow and the stiff spine--me!”
+
+“My friend,” the Silent One responded, “don't be too hasty in your
+judgment. It's because the corrugated brow will come later that he
+laughs now. You'll presently find yourself accomplishing the impossible
+in obedience to the flicker of Rowdy Vaughan's eyelids. Man, did you
+never observe the set of his head, and the look of his eye? Rowdy
+Vaughan will get more out of this crowd than any man ever did; and if he
+fails, he'll fail with the band playing 'Hot Time.'”
+
+“Maybe so,” Bob admitted, not quite convinced; “but I wonder if he
+realizes what he's up against.” At which the Silent One only smiled
+queerly as he splashed into the water.
+
+After dinner Rowdy caught up the blue roan, which was his favorite for
+a hard ride--he seemed to have forgotten his speech concerning
+“flunkies”--and rode away up the coulee which had brought them into the
+field the night before. The boys watched him go, speculated a lot, and
+went to sleep as the best way of putting in the afternoon.
+
+Pink, who knew quite well what was in Rowdy's mind, said nothing at all;
+it is possible that he was several degrees more jealous of the dignity
+of Rowdy's position than was Rowdy himself, who had no time to think of
+anything but the best way of getting the herd to Canada. He would like
+to have gone along, only that Rowdy did not ask him to. Pink assured
+himself that it was best for Rowdy not to start playing any favorites,
+and curled down in the bed-tent with the others and went to sleep.
+
+It was late that night when Rowdy crept silently into his corner of
+the tent; but Pink was awake, and whispered to know if he found water.
+Rowdy's “Yes” was a mere breath, but it was enough.
+
+At sunrise the herd trailed up the Rocking R coulee, and Pink and the
+Silent One pointed them north of the old trail.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 12. “You Can Tell Jessie.”
+
+In the days that followed Rowdy was much alone. There was water to
+hunt, far ahead of the herd, together with the most practicable way of
+reaching it. He did not take the shortest way across that arid country
+and leave the next day's camping-place to chance--as Wooden Shoes had
+done. He felt that there was too much at stake, and the cattle were too
+thin for any more dry drives; long drives there were, but such was his
+generalship that there was always water at the end.
+
+He rode miles and miles that he might have shirked, and he never slept
+until the next day's move, at least, was clearly defined in his mind and
+he felt sure that he could do no better by going another route.
+
+These lonely rides gave him over to the clutch of thoughts he had never
+before harbored in his sunny nature. Grim, ugly thoughts they were, and
+not nice to remember afterward. They swung persistently around a central
+subject, as the earth revolves around the sun; and, like the earth, they
+turned and turned on the axis of his love for a woman.
+
+In particularly ugly moods he thought that if Harry Conroy were caught
+and convicted of horsestealing, Jessie must perforce admit his guilt and
+general unworthiness--Rowdy called it general cussedness--and Rowdy be
+vindicated in her eyes. Then she would marry him, and go with him to
+the Red Deer country and--air-castles for miles! When he awoke to the
+argument again, he would tell himself savagely that if he could, by any
+means, bring about Conroy's speedy conviction, he would do so.
+
+This was unlike Rowdy, whose generous charity toward his enemies came
+near being a fault. He might feel any amount of resentment for wrong
+done, but cold-blooded revenge was not in him; that he had suffered
+so much at Conroy's hands was due largely to the fact that Conroy was
+astute enough to read Rowdy aright, and unscrupulous enough to take
+advantage. Add to that a smallminded jealousy of Rowdy's popularity and
+horsemanship, one can easily imagine him doing some rather nasty things.
+Perhaps the meanest, and the one which rankled most in Rowdy's memory,
+was the cutting of Rowdy's latigo just before a riding contest, in which
+the purse and the glory of a championship-belt seemed in danger of going
+to Rowdy.
+
+Rowdy had got a fall that crippled him for weeks, and Harry had won the
+purse and belt--and the enmity of several men better than he. For though
+morally sure of his guilt, no one could prove that he had cut the strap,
+and so he got off unpunished, except that Pink thrashed him--a bit
+unscientifically, it is true, since he resorted to throwing rocks toward
+the last, but with a thoroughness worthy even of Pink.
+
+But in moods less ugly he shrank from the hurt that must be Jessie's
+if she should discover the truth. Jessie's brother a convicted thief
+serving his sentence in Deer Lodge! The thought was horrible; it was
+brutal cruelty. If he could only know where to look for that lad, he'd
+help him out of the country. It was no good shutting him up in jail;
+that wouldn't help him any, or make him better. He hoped he would get
+off--go somewhere, where they couldn't find him, and stay there.
+
+He wondered where he was, and if he had money enough to see him through.
+He might be no good--he sure wasn't!--but he was Jessie's brother, and
+Jessie believed in him and thought a lot of him. It would be hard lines
+for that little girl if Harry were caught. Bill Brown, the meddlesome
+old freak!--he didn't blame Jessie for not wanting to stop there that
+night. She did just the right thing.
+
+With all this going round and round, monotonously persistent in his
+brain, and with the care of four thousand lean kine and more than a
+hundred saddle-horses--to say nothing of a dozen overworked, fretful
+cow-punchers--Rowdy acquired the “corrugated brow” fast enough without
+any cultivation.
+
+The men were as the Silent One had predicted. They made drives that
+lasted far into the night, stood guard, and got along with so little
+sleep that it was scarce worth mention, and did many things that shaved
+close the impossible--just because Rowdy looked at them straightly, with
+half-closed lids, and asked them if they thought they could.
+
+Pink began to speak of their new foreman as “Moses”; and when the
+curious asked him why, told them soberly that Rowdy could “hit a rock
+with his quirt and start a creek running bank full.” When Rowdy heard
+that, he thought of the miles of weary searching, and wished that it
+were true.
+
+They had left the home ranch a day's drive behind them, and were going
+north. Rowdy had denied himself the luxury of riding over to see Jessie,
+and he was repenting the sacrifice in deep gloom and sincerity, when two
+men rode into camp and dismounted, as if they had a right. The taller
+one--with brawn and brain a-plenty, by the look of him--announced that
+he was the sheriff, and would like to stop overnight.
+
+Rowdy gave him welcome half-heartedly, and questioned him craftily.
+A sheriff is not a detective, and does not mind giving harmless
+information; so Rowdy learned that they had traced Conroy thus far, and
+believed that he was ahead of them and making for Canada. He had dodged
+them cleverly two or three times, but now they had reason to believe
+that he was not more than half a day's ride before them. They wanted to
+know if the outfit had seen any one that day, or sign of any one having
+passed that way.
+
+Rowdy shook his head.
+
+“I bet it was Harry Conroy driving that little bunch uh horses up the
+creek, just as we come over the ridge,” spoke Pink eagerly.
+
+Rowdy could have choked him. “He wouldn't be driving a lot of horses,”
+ he interposed quickly.
+
+“Well, he might,” argued Pink. “If I was making a quick get-away, and
+my horse was about played out--like his was apt t' be--I'd sure round
+up the first bunch I seen, and catch me a fresh one--if I was a
+horse-thief. I'll bet yuh--”
+
+The sheriff had put down his cup of coffee. “Is there any place where a
+man could corral a bunch on the quiet?” he asked crisply. It was evident
+that Pink's theory had impressed him.
+
+“Yes, there is. There's an old corral up at the ford--Drowning Ford,
+they call it--that I'd use, if it was me. It was an old line camp,
+and there's a cabin. It's down on the flat by the creek, and it's as
+God-forsaken a place as a man'd want t' hide in, or t' change mounts.”
+ Pink hitched up his chapbelt and looked across at Rowdy. He was aching
+for a sight of Harry Conroy in handcuffs, and he was certain that Rowdy
+felt the same. “If it was me,” he added speculatively, “and I thought I
+was far enough in the lead, I'd stop there till morning.”
+
+“How far is it from here?” demanded the sheriff, standing up.
+
+Pink told him he guessed it was five miles. Whereupon the sheriff
+announced his intention of going up there at once, and Pink hinted
+rather strongly that he would like to go with them. The sheriff did not
+know Pink; he looked down at his slimness and at the yellow fringe of
+curls showing under his hat brim, at his pink cheeks and dimples and
+girlish hands, and threw back his head in a loud ha! ha!
+
+Pink asked him politely, but rather stiffly, what there was funny about
+it. The sheriff laughed louder and longer; then, being the sort of man
+who likes a joke now and then, even in the way of business, he solemnly
+deputized Pink, and patted him on the shoulder and told him gravely that
+they couldn't possibly do without him.
+
+It looked for a minute as if Pink were going at him with his fists--but
+he didn't. He reflected that one must not offer violence to an officer
+of the law, and that, being made a deputy, he would have to go, anyway;
+so he gritted his teeth and buckled on his gun, and went along sulkily.
+
+They rode silently, for the most part, and swiftly.
+
+Even in the dusk they could see where a band of horses had been driven
+at a gallop along the creek bank. When they neared the place it was
+dark. Pink pulled up and spoke for the first time since leaving the
+tent.
+
+“We better tie up our horses here and walk,” he said, quite unconscious
+of the fact that he was usurping the leadership, and thinking only of
+their quest.
+
+But the sheriff was old at the business, and not too jealous of his
+position. He signed to his deputy proper, and they dismounted.
+
+When they started on, Pink was ahead. The sheriff observed that Pink's
+gun still swung in its scabbard at his hip, and he grinned--but that was
+because he didn't know Pink. That the gun swung at his hip would have
+been quite enough for any one who did know him; it didn't take Pink all
+day to get into action.
+
+Ten rods from the corral, which they could distinguish as a black blotch
+in the sparse willow growth, Pink turned and stopped them. “I know the
+layout here,” he whispered. “I'll just sneak ahead and rubber around.
+You Rubes sound like the beginning of a stampede, in this brush.”
+
+The sheriff had never before been called a Rube--to his face, at least.
+The audacity took his breath; and when he opened his mouth for scathing
+speech, Pink was not there. He had slipped away, like a slim, elusive
+shadow, and the sheriff did not even know the exact direction of his
+going. There was nothing for it but to wait.
+
+In five minutes Pink appeared with a silent suddenness that startled
+them more than they would like to own.
+
+“He's somewheres around,” he announced, in a murmur that would not carry
+ten feet. “He's got a horse in the corral, and, from the sound, he's got
+him all saddled; and the gate's tied shut with a rope.”
+
+“How d'yuh know?” grunted the sheriff crossly.
+
+“Felt of it, yuh chump. He's turned the bunch loose and kept up a fresh
+one, like I said he would. It's blame dark, but I could see the horse--a
+big white devil. It's him yuh hear makin' all that racket. If he gits
+away now--”
+
+“Well, we didn't come for a chin-whackin' bee,” snapped the sheriff. “I
+come out here t' git him.”
+
+Pink gritted his teeth again, and wished the sheriff was just a man,
+so he could lick him. He led them forward without a word, thinking that
+Rowdy wanted Harry Conroy captured.
+
+The sheriff circled warily the corral, peered through the rails at the
+great white horse that ran here and there, whinnying occasionally for
+the band, and heard the creak of leather and the rattle of the bit. Pink
+was right; the horse was saddled, ready for immediate flight.
+
+“Maybe he's in the cabin,” he whispered, coming up where Pink stood
+listening tensely at all the little night sounds. Pink turned and crept
+silently to the right, keeping in the deepest shade, while the others
+followed willingly. They were beginning to see the great advantage of
+having Pink along, even if he had called them Rubes.
+
+The cabin door yawned wide open, and creaked weirdly as the light wind
+moved it; the interior was black and silent--suspiciously silent, in
+the opinion of the sheriff. He waited for some time before venturing
+in, fearing an ambush. Then he caught the flicker of a shielded match,
+called out to Conroy to surrender, and leveled his gun at the place.
+
+There was no answer but the faint shuffle of stealthy feet on the board
+floor. The sheriff called another warning, cocked his gun--and came near
+shooting Pink, who walked composedly out of the door into the sheriff's
+astonished face. The sheriff had been sure that Pink was just behind
+him.
+
+“What the hell,” began the sheriff explosively.
+
+“He ain't here,” said Pink simply. “I crawled in the window and hunted
+the place over.”
+
+The sheriff glared at him dumbly; he could not reconcile Pink's
+daredevil behavior with Pink's innocent, girlish appearance.
+
+“I tell yuh the corral's what we want t' keep cases on,” Pink added
+insistently. “He's sure somewheres around--I'd gamble on it. He saddled
+that horse t' git away on. That horse is sure the key t' this situation,
+old-timer. If you fellows'll keep cases on the gate, I'll cover the
+rear.”
+
+He made his way quietly to the back of the corral, inwardly much amused
+at the tractability of the sheriff, who took his deputy obediently to
+watch the gate.
+
+Pink squatted comfortably in the shade of a willow and wished he dared
+indulge in a cigarette, and wondered what scheme Harry was trying to
+play.
+
+Fifty feet away the big white horse still circled round and round,
+rattling his bridle impatiently and shaking the saddle in an occasional
+access of rage, and whinnying lonesomely out into the gloom.
+
+So they waited and waited, and peered into the shadows, and listened to
+the trampling horse fretting for freedom and his mates.
+
+The cook had just called breakfast when Pink dashed up to the tent,
+flung himself from his horse, and confronted Rowdy--a hollow-eyed,
+haggard Rowdy who had not slept all night, and whose eyes questioned
+anxiously.
+
+“Well,” Rowdy said, with what passed for composure, “did you get him?”
+
+Pink leaned against his horse, with one hand reaching up and gripping
+tightly the horn of the saddle. His cheeks held not a trace of color,
+and his eyes were full of a great horror.
+
+“They're bringin' him t' camp,” he answered huskily. “We found a
+horse--a big white horse they call the Fern Outlaw”--the Silent One
+started and came closer, listening intently; evidently he knew the
+horse--“saddled in the corral, and the gate tied shut. We dubbed around
+a while, but we didn't find--Harry. So we camped down by the corral and
+waited. We set there all night--and the horse faunching around inside
+something fierce. When--it come daybreak--I seen something--by the
+fence, inside. It was--Harry.” Pink shivered and moistened his dry lips.
+“That Fern Outlaw--some uh the boys know--is a devil t' mount. He'd got
+Harry down--hell, Rowdy! it--it was sure--awful. He'd been there all
+night--and that horse stomping.”
+
+“Shut up!” Rowdy turned all at once deathly sick. He had once seen a man
+who had been trampled by a maddened, man-killing horse. It had not been
+a pretty sight. He sat down weakly and covered his face with his shaking
+hands.
+
+The others stood around horrified, muttering disjointed, shocked
+sentences.
+
+Pink lifted his head from where it had fallen upon his arm. “One thing,
+Rowdy--I done. You can tell Jessie. I shot that horse.”
+
+Rowdy dropped his hands and stood up. Yes, he must tell Jessie.
+
+“You'll have to take the herd on,” he told Pink in his masterful way.
+“I'll catch you to-morrow some time. I've got to go back and tell
+Jessie. You know the trail I was going to take--straight across to Wild
+Horse Lake. From there you strike across to North Fork--and if I don't
+overtake you on the way, I'll hit camp some time in the night. It's all
+plain sailing.”
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 13. Rowdy Finds Happiness.
+
+Miss Conroy was rather listlessly endeavoring to persuade the First
+Reader class that “catch” should not be pronounced “ketch,” when she saw
+Rowdy ride past the window. Intuition of something amiss sent her to the
+door before he reached it.
+
+“Can't you give the kids a day off?” he began, without preface. “I've
+got such a lot to talk about--and I don't come very often.” He thought
+that his tone was perfectly natural; but all the same she turned
+white. He rode on to a little tree and tied his horse--not that it was
+necessary to tie him, but to avoid questions.
+
+Miss Conroy went in and dismissed the children, although it was only
+fifteen minutes after nine. They gathered up their lunch-pails and
+straggled out reluctantly, round-eyed, and curious. Rowdy waited until
+the last one had gone before he went in. Miss Conroy sat in her chair
+on the platform, and she was still white; otherwise she seemed to have
+herself well in hand.
+
+“It's about Harry,” she asserted, rather sharply.
+
+“Have they--caught him?”
+
+Rowdy stopped half-way down the aisle and stared. “How did you know they
+were--after him?”
+
+“He came to me night before last, and--told me.” She bit her lip, took
+firm hold on her honesty and her courage, and went on steadily. “He
+came because he--wanted money. I've wanted to see you since, to tell you
+that--I misjudged you. I know all about your--trouble, and I want you
+to know that I think you are--that you did quite right. You are to
+understand that I cannot honestly uphold--Harry. He is--not the kind of
+brother--I thought.”
+
+Rowdy went clanking forward till only the table stood between. “Did he
+tell you?” he demanded, in a curious, breathless fashion.
+
+“No, he did not. He denied everything. It was Pink. He told me long
+ago--that evening, just after you--the last time I saw you. I told him
+he--lied. I tried not to believe it, but I did. Pink knew I would; he
+said so. The other night I asked Harry about--those things he did to
+you. He lied to me. I'd have forgiven him--but he lied. I--can't forgive
+that. I--”
+
+“Hush!” Rowdy threw out a gloved hand quickly. He could not bear to let
+her go on like that.
+
+She looked up at him, and all at once she was shaking. “There's
+something--tell me!”
+
+“They didn't take him,” he said slowly, weighing each word and
+looking down at her pityingly “They never will. He--had an accident. A
+horse--fell with him--and--he was dead when they picked him up.” It was
+as merciful a version as he could make it, but the words choked him,
+even then. “Girlie!” He went around and knelt, with his arms holding her
+close.
+
+After a long while he spoke again, smoothing her hair absently, and
+never noticing that he had not taken off his gloves. His gray hat was
+pushed aslant as his head rested against hers.
+
+“Perhaps, girlie, it's for the best. We couldn't have saved him
+from--the other; and that would have been worse, don't you think? We'll
+forget all but the good in him”--he could not help thinking that there
+would not be much to remember--“and I'll get a little home ready, and
+come back and get you before snow flies--and--you'll be kind of happy,
+won't you?
+
+“Maybe you haven't heard--but Eagle Creek has made me foreman of his
+outfit that's going to Canada. It's a good position. I can make you
+comfortable, girlie--and happy. Anyway, I'll try, mighty hard. You'll be
+ready for me when I come--won't you, girlie?”
+
+Miss Conroy raised her face, all tear-stained, but, with the light of
+happiness fighting the sorrow in her eyes, nodded just enough to make
+the movement perceptible, and settled her head to a more comfortable
+nestling-place on his shoulder.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Rowdy of the Cross L, by
+B.M. Sinclair, AKA B.M. Bower
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ROWDY OF THE CROSS L ***
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diff --git a/1907-0.zip b/1907-0.zip
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+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
+
+<!DOCTYPE html
+   PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN"
+   "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd" >
+
+<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" lang="en">
+  <head>
+    <title>
+      Rowdy of the 'Cross L.', by B.M. Sinclair (aka B. M. Bower)
+    </title>
+    <style type="text/css" xml:space="preserve">
+
+    body { margin:5%; background:#faebd0; text-align:justify}
+    P { text-indent: 1em; margin-top: .25em; margin-bottom: .25em; }
+    H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { text-align: center; margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%; }
+    hr  { width: 50%; text-align: center;}
+    .foot { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; text-indent: -3em; font-size: 90%; }
+    blockquote {font-size: 97%; font-style: italic; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;}
+    .mynote    {background-color: #DDE; color: #000; padding: .5em; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 95%;}
+    .toc       { margin-left: 10%; margin-bottom: .75em;}
+    .toc2      { margin-left: 20%;}
+    div.fig    { display:block; margin:0 auto; text-align:center; }
+    div.middle { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; }
+    .figleft   {float: left; margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 1%;}
+    .figright  {float: right; margin-right: 0%; margin-left: 1%;}
+    .pagenum   {display:inline; font-size: 70%; font-style:normal;
+               margin: 0; padding: 0; position: absolute; right: 1%;
+               text-align: right;}
+    pre        { font-style: italic; font-size: 90%; margin-left: 10%;}
+
+</style>
+  </head>
+  <body>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+
+Project Gutenberg's Rowdy of the Cross L, by B.M. Sinclair, AKA B.M. Bower
+
+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: Rowdy of the Cross L
+
+Author: B.M. Sinclair, AKA B.M. Bower
+
+Release Date: November 7, 2008 [EBook #1907]
+Last Updated: March 9, 2018
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: UTF-8
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ROWDY OF THE CROSS L ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Mary Starr, and David Widger
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      <br /><br />
+    </p>
+    <h1>
+      ROWDY OF THE &ldquo;CROSS L.&rdquo;
+     </h1>
+    <p>
+      <br />
+    </p>
+    <h2>
+      By B.M. Sinclair
+    </h2>
+    <h3>
+      (AKA B. M. Bower)
+    </h3>
+    <p>
+      <br /> <br />
+    </p>
+    <hr />
+    <p>
+      <br /> <br />
+    </p>
+    <h2>
+      Contents
+    </h2>
+    <table summary="" style="margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto">
+      <tr>
+        <td>
+          <p class="toc">
+            <a href="#link2HCH0001"> CHAPTER 1. Lost in a Blizzard. </a>
+          </p>
+          <p class="toc">
+            <a href="#link2HCH0002"> CHAPTER 2. Miss Conroy Refuses Shelter.
+            </a>
+          </p>
+          <p class="toc">
+            <a href="#link2HCH0003"> CHAPTER 3. Rowdy Hires a New Boss. </a>
+          </p>
+          <p class="toc">
+            <a href="#link2HCH0004"> CHAPTER 4. Pink as &ldquo;Chappyrone.&rdquo; </a>
+          </p>
+          <p class="toc">
+            <a href="#link2HCH0005"> CHAPTER 5. At Home at Cross L. </a>
+          </p>
+          <p class="toc">
+            <a href="#link2HCH0006"> CHAPTER 6. A Shot From the Dark. </a>
+          </p>
+          <p class="toc">
+            <a href="#link2HCH0007"> CHAPTER 7. Rowdy in a Tough Place. </a>
+          </p>
+          <p class="toc">
+            <a href="#link2HCH0008"> CHAPTER 8. Pink in a Threatening Mood. </a>
+          </p>
+          <p class="toc">
+            <a href="#link2HCH0009"> CHAPTER 9. Moving the Herd. </a>
+          </p>
+          <p class="toc">
+            <a href="#link2HCH0010"> CHAPTER 10. Harry Conroy at Home. </a>
+          </p>
+          <p class="toc">
+            <a href="#link2HCH0011"> CHAPTER 11. Rowdy Promoted. </a>
+          </p>
+          <p class="toc">
+            <a href="#link2HCH0012"> CHAPTER 12. &ldquo;You Can Tell Jessie.&rdquo; </a>
+          </p>
+          <p class="toc">
+            <a href="#link2HCH0013"> CHAPTER 13. Rowdy Finds Happiness. </a>
+          </p>
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+    </table>
+    <p>
+      <br /> <br />
+    </p>
+    <hr />
+    <p>
+      <br /> <br /> <a name="link2HCH0001" id="link2HCH0001">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER 1. Lost in a Blizzard.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Rowdy&rdquo; Vaughan&mdash;he had been christened Rowland by his mother, and
+      rechristened Rowdy by his cowboy friends, who are prone to treat with much
+      irreverence the names bestowed by mothers&mdash;was not happy. He stood in
+      the stirrups and shook off the thick layer of snow which clung, damp and
+      close-packed, to his coat. The dull yellow folds were full of it; his gray
+      hat, pulled low over his purple ears, was heaped with it. He reached up a
+      gloved hand and scraped away as much as he could, wrapped the
+      long-skirted, &ldquo;sour-dough&rdquo; coat around his numbed legs, then settled into
+      the saddle with a shiver of distaste at the plight he was in, and wished
+      himself back at the Horseshoe Bar.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Dixie, standing knee-deep in a drift, shook himself much after the manner
+      of his master; perhaps he, also, wished himself back at the Horseshoe Bar.
+      He turned his head to look back, blinking at the snow which beat
+      insistently in his eyes; he could not hold them open long enough to see
+      anything, however, so he twitched his ears pettishly and gave over the
+      attempt.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It's up to you, old boy,&rdquo; Rowdy told him resignedly. &ldquo;I'm plumb lost; I
+      never was in this damn country before, anyhow&mdash;and I sure wish I
+      wasn't here now. If you've any idea where we're at, I'm dead willing to
+      have you pilot the layout. Never mind Chub; locating his feed when it's
+      stuck under his nose is his limit.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Chub lifted an ear dispiritedly when his name was spoken; but, as was
+      usually the case, he heard no good of himself, and dropped his head again.
+      No one took heed of him; no one ever did. His part was to carry Vaughan's
+      bed, and to follow unquestionably where Vaughan and Dixie might lead. He
+      was cold and tired and hungry, but his faith in his master was strong; the
+      responsibility of finding shelter before the dark came down rested not
+      with him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Vaughan pressed his chilled knees against Dixie's ribs, but the hand upon
+      the reins was carefully non-committal; so that Dixie, having no suggestion
+      of his master's wish, ventured to indulge his own. He turned tail squarely
+      to the storm and went straight ahead. Vaughan put his hands deep into his
+      pockets, snuggled farther down into the sheepskin collar of his coat, and
+      rode passive, enduring.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      They brought up against a wire fence, and Vaughan, rousing from his
+      apathy, tried to peer through the white, shifting wall of the storm.
+      &ldquo;You're a swell guide&mdash;not,&rdquo; he remarked to the horse. &ldquo;Now you, you
+      hike down this fence till you locate a gate or a corner, or any darned
+      thing; and I don't give a cuss if the snow does get in your eyes. It's
+      your own fault.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Dixie, sneezing the snow from his nostrils, turned obediently; Chub, his
+      feet dragging wearily in the snow, trailed patiently behind. Half an hour
+      of this, and it seemed as if it would go on forever.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Through the swirl Vaughan could see the posts standing forlornly in the
+      snow, with sixteen feet of blizzard between; at no time could he
+      distinguish more than two or three at once, and there were long minutes
+      when the wall stood, blank and shifting, just beyond the first post.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Then Dixie lifted his head and gazed questioningly before him, his ears
+      pointed forward&mdash;sentient, strained&mdash;and whinnied shrill
+      challenge. He hurried his steps, dragging Chub out of the beginnings of a
+      dream. Vaughan straightened and took his hands from his pockets.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Out beyond the dim, wavering outline of the farthest post came answer to
+      the challenge. A mysterious, vague shape grew impalpably upon the strained
+      vision; a horse sneezed, then nickered eagerly. Vaughan drew up and
+      waited.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hello!&rdquo; he called cheerfully. &ldquo;Pleasant day, this. Out for your health?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The shape hesitated, as though taken aback by the greeting, and there was
+      no answer. Vaughan, puzzled, rode closer.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Say, don't talk so fast!&rdquo; he yelled. &ldquo;I can't follow yuh.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Who&mdash;who is it?&rdquo; The voice sounded perturbed; and it was, moreover,
+      the voice of a woman.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Vaughan pulled up short and swore into his collar. Women are not, as a
+      rule, to be met out on the blank prairie in a blizzard. His voice, when he
+      spoke again, was not ironical, as it had been; it was placating.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I beg your pardon,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I thought it was a man. I'm looking for the
+      Cross L; you don't happen to know where it is, do yuh?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No&mdash;I don't,&rdquo; she declared dismally. &ldquo;I don't know where any place
+      is. I'm teaching school in this neighborhood&mdash;or in some other. I was
+      going to spend Sunday with a friend, but this storm came up, and I'm&mdash;lost.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Same here,&rdquo; said Rowdy pleasantly, as though being lost was a matter for
+      congratulation.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh! I was in hopes&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;So was I, so we're even there. We'll have to pool our chances, I guess.
+      Any gate down that way&mdash;or haven't you followed the fence?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I followed it for miles and miles&mdash;it seemed. It must be some big
+      field of the Cross L; but they have so very many big fields!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And you couldn't give a rough guess at how far it is to the Cross L?&rdquo;&mdash;insinuatingly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He could vaguely see her shake of head. &ldquo;Ordinarily it should be about six
+      miles beyond Rodway's, where I board. But I haven't the haziest idea of
+      where Rodway's place is, you see; so that won't help you much. I'm all at
+      sea in this snow.&rdquo; Her voice was rueful.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, if you came up the fence, there's no use going back that way; and
+      there's sure nothing made by going away from it.&mdash;that's the way I
+      came. Why not go on the way you're headed?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We might as well, I suppose,&rdquo; she assented; and Rowdy turned and rode by
+      her side, grateful for the plurality of the pronoun which tacitly included
+      him in her wanderings, and meditating many things. For one, he wondered if
+      she were as nice a girl as her voice sounded. He could not see much of her
+      face, because it was muffled in a white silk scarf. Only her eyes showed,
+      and they were dark and bright.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      When he awoke to the fact that the wind, grown colder, beat upon her
+      cruelly, he dropped behind a pace and took the windy side, that he might
+      shield her with his body. But if she observed the action she gave no sign;
+      her face was turned from him and the wind, and she rode without speaking.
+      After long plodding, the line of posts turned unexpectedly a right angle,
+      and Vaughan took a long, relieved breath.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We'll have the wind on our backs now,&rdquo; he remarked. &ldquo;I guess we may as
+      well keep on and see where this fence goes to.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      His tone was too elaborately cheerful to be very cheering. He was
+      wondering if the girl was dressed warmly. It had been so warm and sunny
+      before the blizzard struck, but now the wind searched out the thin places
+      in one's clothing and ran lead in one's bones, where should be simply
+      marrow. He fancied that her voice, when she spoke, gave evidence of actual
+      suffering&mdash;and the heart of Rowdy Vaughan was ever soft toward a
+      woman.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;If you're cold,&rdquo; he began, &ldquo;I'll open up my bed and get out a blanket.&rdquo;
+       He held Dixie in tentatively.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh, don't trouble to do that,&rdquo; she protested; but there was that in her
+      voice which hardened his impulse into fixed resolution.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I ought to have thought of it before,&rdquo; he lamented, and swung down
+      stiffly into the snow.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Her eyes followed his movement with a very evident interest while he
+      unbuckled the pack Chub had carried since sunrise and drew out a blanket.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Stand in your stirrup,&rdquo; he commanded briskly &ldquo;and I'll wrap you up. It's
+      a Navajo, and the wind will have a time trying to find a thin spot.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You're thoughtful.&rdquo; She snuggled into it thankfully. &ldquo;I was cold.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Vaughan tucked it around her with more care than haste. He was pretty
+      uncomfortable himself, and for that reason he was the more anxious that
+      the girl should be warm. It came to him that she was a cute little
+      schoolma'am, all right; he was glad she belonged close around the Cross L.
+      He also wished he knew her name&mdash;and so he set about finding it out,
+      with much guile.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;How's that?&rdquo; he wanted to know, when he had made sure that her feet&mdash;such
+      tiny feet&mdash;were well covered. He thought it lucky that she did not
+      ride astride, after the manner of the latter-day young woman, because then
+      he could not have covered her so completely. &ldquo;Hold on! That windy side's
+      going to make trouble.&rdquo; He unbuckled the strap he wore to hold his own
+      coat snug about him, and put it around the girl's slim waist, feeling
+      idiotically happy and guilty the while. &ldquo;It don't come within a mile of
+      you,&rdquo; he complained; &ldquo;but it'll help some.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Sheltered in the thick folds of the Navajo, she laughed, and the sound of
+      it sent the blood galloping through Rowdy Vaughan's body so that he was
+      almost warm. He went and scraped the snow out of his saddle, and swung up,
+      feeling that, after all, there are worse things in the world than being
+      lost and hungry in a blizzard, with a sweet-voiced, bright-eyed little
+      schoolma'am who can laugh like that.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I don't want to have you think I may be a bold, bad robber-man,&rdquo; he said,
+      when they got going again. &ldquo;My name's Rowdy Vaughan&mdash;for which I beg
+      your pardon. Mother named me Rowland, never knowing I'd get out here and
+      have her nice, pretty name mutilated that way. I won't say that my
+      behavior never suggested the change, though. I'm from the Horseshoe Bar,
+      over the line, and if I have my way, I'll be a Cross L man before another
+      day.&rdquo; Then he waited expectantly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;For fear you may think I'm a&mdash;a robber-woman,&rdquo; she answered him
+      solemnly&mdash;he felt sure her eyes twinkled, if only he could have seen
+      them&mdash;&ldquo;I'm Jessie Conroy. And if you're from over the line, maybe you
+      know my brother Harry. He was over there a year or two.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Rowdy hunched his shoulders&mdash;presumably at the wind. Harry Conroy's
+      sister, was she? And he swore. &ldquo;I may have met him,&rdquo; he parried, in a tone
+      you'd never notice as being painstakingly careless. &ldquo;I think I did, come
+      to think of it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Miss Conroy seemed displeased, and presently the cause was forthcoming.
+      &ldquo;If you'd ever met him,&rdquo; she said, &ldquo;you'd hardly forget him.&rdquo; (Rowdy
+      mentally agreed profanely.) &ldquo;He's the best rider in the whole country&mdash;and
+      the handsomest. He&mdash;he's splendid! And he's the only brother I've
+      got. It's a pity you never got acquainted with him.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; lied Rowdy, and thought a good deal in a very short time. Harry
+      Conroy's sister! Well, she wasn't to blame for that, of course; nor for
+      thinking her brother a white man. &ldquo;I remember I did see him ride once,&rdquo; he
+      observed. &ldquo;He was a whirlwind, all right&mdash;and he sure was handsome,
+      too.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Miss Conroy turned her face toward him and smiled her pleasure, and Rowdy
+      hovered between heaven and&mdash;another place. He was glad she smiled,
+      and he was afraid of what that subject might discover for his
+      straightforward tongue in the way of pitfalls. It would not be nice to let
+      her know what he really thought of her brother.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;This looks to me like a lane,&rdquo; he said diplomatically. &ldquo;We must be
+      getting somewhere; don't you recognize any landmarks?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Miss Conroy leaned forward and peered through the clouds of snow dust.
+      Already the night was creeping down upon the land, stealthily turning the
+      blank white of the blizzard into as blank a gray&mdash;which was as near
+      darkness as it could get, because of the snow which fell and fell, and yet
+      seemed never to find an abiding-place, but danced and swirled giddily in
+      the wind as the cold froze it dry. There would be no more damp, clinging
+      masses that night; it was sifting down like flour from a giant sieve; and
+      of the supply there seemed no end.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I don't know of any lanes around here,&rdquo; she began dubiously, &ldquo;unless it's&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Vaughan looked sharply at her muffled figure and wondered why she broke
+      off so suddenly. She was staring hard at the few, faint traces of
+      landmarks; and, bundled in the red-and-yellow Navajo blanket, with her
+      bright, dark eyes, she might easily have passed for a slim young squaw.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Out ahead, a dog began barking vaguely, and Rowdy turned eagerly to the
+      sound. Dixie, scenting human habitation, stepped out more briskly through
+      the snow, and even Chub lifted an ear briefly to show he heard.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It may not be any one you know,&rdquo; Vaughan remarked, and his voice showed
+      his longing; &ldquo;but it'll be shelter and a warm fire&mdash;and supper. Can
+      you appreciate such blessings, Miss Conroy? I can. I've been in the saddle
+      since sunrise; and I was so sure I'd strike the Cross L by dinner-time
+      that I didn't bring a bite to eat. It was a sheep-camp where I stopped,
+      and the grub didn't look good to me, anyway&mdash;I've called myself bad
+      names all the afternoon for being more dainty than sensible. But it's all
+      right now, I guess.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0002" id="link2HCH0002">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER 2. Miss Conroy Refuses Shelter.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      The storm lifted suddenly, as storms have a way of doing, and a low, squat
+      ranch-house stood dimly revealed against the bleak expanse of
+      wind-tortured prairie. Rowdy gave an exultant little whoop and made for
+      the gate, leaned and swung it open and rode through, dragging Chub after
+      him by main strength, as usual. When he turned to close the gate after
+      Miss Conroy he found her standing still in the lane.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Come on in,&rdquo; he called, with a trace of impatience born of his weariness
+      and hunger.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Thank you, no.&rdquo; Miss Conroy's voice was as crisply cold as the wind which
+      fluttered the Navajo blanket around her face. &ldquo;I much prefer the
+      blizzard.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      For a moment Rowdy found nothing to say; he just stared. Miss Conroy
+      shifted uneasily in the saddle.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;This is old Bill Brown's place,&rdquo; she explained reluctantly. &ldquo;He&mdash;I'd
+      rather freeze than go in!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, I guess that won't be hard to do,&rdquo; he retorted curtly, &ldquo;if you stay
+      out much longer.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The dog was growing hysterical over their presence, and Bill Brown himself
+      came out to see what it was all about. He could see two dim figures at the
+      gate.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hello!&rdquo; he shouted. &ldquo;Why don't yuh come on in? What yuh standing there
+      chewing the rag for?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Vaughan hesitated, his eyes upon Miss Conroy.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Go in,&rdquo; she commanded imperiously, quite as if he were a refractory
+      pupil. &ldquo;You're tired out, and hungry. I'm neither. Besides, I know where I
+      am now. I can find my way without any trouble. Go in, I tell you!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      But Rowdy stayed where he was, with the gate creaking to and fro between
+      them. Dixie circled till his back was to the wind. &ldquo;I hope you don't think
+      you're going to mill around out here alone,&rdquo; Rowdy said tartly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I can manage very well. I'm not lost now, I tell you. Rodway's is only
+      three miles from here, and I know the direction.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Bill Brown waded out to them, wondering what weighty discussion was
+      keeping them there in the cold. Vaughan he passed by with the cursory
+      glance of a disinterested stranger, and went on to where Miss Conroy
+      waited stubbornly in the lane.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh, it's you!&rdquo; he said grimly. &ldquo;Well, come in and thaw out; I hope yuh
+      didn't think yuh wouldn't be welcome yuh knew better. You got lost, I
+      reckon. Come on&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Miss Conroy struck Badger sharply across the flank and disappeared into
+      the night. &ldquo;When I ask shelter of you,&rdquo; she flung back, &ldquo;you'll know it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Rowdy started after, and met Bill Brown squarely in the gate. Bill eyed
+      him sharply. &ldquo;Say, young fellow, how'd you come by that packhorse?&rdquo; he
+      demanded, as Chub brushed past him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;None of your damn' business,&rdquo; snapped Rowdy, and drove the spurs into
+      Dixie's ribs. But Chub was a handicap at any time; now, when he was tired,
+      there was no getting anything like speed out of him; he clung to his
+      shuffling trot, which was really no better than a walk. After five minutes
+      spent alternately in spurring Dixie and yanking at Chub's lead-rope, Rowdy
+      grew frightened and took to shouting. While they were in the lane Miss
+      Conroy must perforce ride straight ahead, but the lane would not last
+      always. As though with malicious intent, the snow swooped down again and
+      the world became an unreal, nightmare world, wherein was nothing save
+      shifting, blinding snowfloury and wind and bitter, numbing cold.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Rowdy stood in his stirrups, cupped his chilled fingers around his numbed
+      lips, and sent a longdrawn &ldquo;Who-ee!&rdquo; shrilling weirdly into the night.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It seemed to him, after long listening, that from the right came faint
+      reply, and he turned and rode recklessly, swearing at Chub for his
+      slowness. He called again, and the answer, though faint, was unmistakable.
+      He settled heavily into the saddle&mdash;too weak, from sheer relief, to
+      call again. He had not known till then just how frightened he had been,
+      and he was somewhat disconcerted at the discovery. In a minute the
+      reaction passed and he shouted a loud hello.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hello?&rdquo; came the voice of Miss Conroy, tantalizingly calm, and as
+      superior as the greeting of Central. &ldquo;Were you looking for me, Mr.
+      Vaughan?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She was close to him&mdash;so close that she had not needed to raise her
+      voice perceptibly. Rowdy rode up alongside, remembering uncomfortably his
+      prolonged shouting.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I sure was,&rdquo; he admitted. And then: &ldquo;You rode off with my blanket on.&rdquo; He
+      was very proud of his matter-of-fact tone.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh!&rdquo; Miss Conroy was almost deceived, and a bit disappointed. &ldquo;I'll give
+      it to you now, and you can go back&mdash;if you know the way.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No hurry,&rdquo; said Rowdy politely. &ldquo;I'll go on and see if you can find a
+      place that looks good to you. You seem pretty particular.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Miss Conroy may have blushed, in the shelter of the blanket. &ldquo;I suppose it
+      did look strange to you,&rdquo; she confessed, but defiantly. &ldquo;Bill Brown is an
+      enemy to&mdash;Harry. He&mdash;because he lost a horse or two out of a
+      field, one time, he&mdash;he actually accused Harry of taking them! He
+      lied, of course, and nobody believed him; nobody could believe a thing
+      like that about Harry. It was perfectly absurd. But he did his best to
+      hurt Harry's name, and I would rather freeze than ask shelter of him.
+      Wouldn't you&mdash;in my place, I mean?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I always stand up for my friends,&rdquo; evaded Rowdy. &ldquo;And if I had a brother&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Of course you'd be loyal,&rdquo; approved Miss Conroy warmly. &ldquo;But I didn't
+      want you to come on; it isn't your quarrel. And I know the way now. You
+      needn't have come any farther.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You forgot the blanket,&rdquo; Rowdy reminded wickedly. &ldquo;I think a lot of that
+      Navajo.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You insisted upon my taking it,&rdquo; she retorted, and took refuge in
+      silence.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      For a long hour they plodded blindly. Rowdy beat his hands often about his
+      body to start the blood, and meditated yearnigly upon hot coffee and the
+      things he liked best to eat. Also, a good long pull at a flask wouldn't be
+      had, either, he thought. And he hoped this little schoolma'am knew where
+      she was going&mdash;truth to tell, he doubted it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      After a while, it seemed that Miss Conroy doubted it also. She took to
+      leaning forward and straining her eyes to see through the gray wall
+      before.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;There should be a gate here,&rdquo; she said dubiously, at last.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It seems to me,&rdquo; Rowdy ventured mildly, &ldquo;if there were a gate, it would
+      have some kind of a fence hitched to it; wouldn't it?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Miss Conroy was in no mood for facetiousness, and refused to answer his
+      question. &ldquo;I surely can't have made a mistake,&rdquo; she observed uneasily.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It would be a wonder if you didn't, such a night as this,&rdquo; he consoled.
+      &ldquo;I wouldn't bank on traveling straight myself, even if I knew the country&mdash;which
+      I don't. And I've been in more blizzards than I'm years old.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Rodway's place can't be far away,&rdquo; she said, brightening. &ldquo;It may be
+      farther to the east; shall we try that way&mdash;if you know which is
+      east?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Sure, we'll try. It's all we can do. My packhorse is about all in, from
+      the way he hangs back; if we don't strike something pretty soon I'll have
+      to turn him loose.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh, don't do that,&rdquo; she begged. &ldquo;It would be too cruel. We're sure to
+      reach Rodway's very soon.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      More plodding through drifts high and drifts low; more leaning from
+      saddles to search anxiously for trace of something besides snow and wind
+      and biting cold. Then, far to the right, a yellow eye glowed briefly when
+      the storm paused to take breath. Miss Conroy gave a glad little cry and
+      turned Badger sharply.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Did you see? It was the light from a window. We were going the wrong way.
+      I'm sure that is Rodway's.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Rowdy thanked the Lord and followed her. They came up against a fence,
+      found a gate, and passed through. While they hurried toward it, the light
+      winked welcome; as they drew near, some one stirred the fire and sent
+      sparks and rose-hued smoke rushing up into the smother of snow. Rowdy
+      watched them wistfully, and wondered if there would be supper, and strong,
+      hot coffee. He lifted Miss Conroy out of the saddle, carried her two long
+      strides, and deposited her upon the door-step; rapped imperatively, and
+      when a voice replied, lifted the latch and pushed her in before him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      For a minute they stood blinking, just within the door. The change from
+      numbing cold and darkness to the light of the overheated room was
+      stupefying.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Then Miss Conroy went over and held her little, gloved hands to the heat
+      of the stove, but she did not take the chair which some one pushed toward
+      her. She stood, the blanket shrouding her face and her slim young figure,
+      and looked about her curiously. It was not Rodway's house, after all. She
+      thought she knew what place it was&mdash;the shack where Rodway's
+      hay-balers bached.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      From the first, Rowdy did not like the look of things&mdash;though for
+      himself it did not matter; he was used to such scenes. It was the presence
+      of the girl which made him uncomfortable. He unbuttoned his coat that the
+      warmth might reach his chilled body, and frowned.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Four men sat around a small, dirty table; evidently the arrivals had
+      interrupted an exciting game of seven-up. A glance told Rowdy, even if his
+      nose had not, that the four round, ribbed bottles had not been nearly
+      emptied without effect.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Have one on the house,&rdquo; the man nearest him cried, and shoved a bottle
+      toward him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Involuntarily Rowdy reached for it. Now that he was inside, he realized
+      all at once how weary he was, and cold and hungry. Each abused muscle and
+      nerve seemed to have a distinct grievance against him. His fingers closed
+      around the bottle before he remembered and dropped it. He looked up,
+      hoping Miss Conroy had not observed the action; met her wide, questioning
+      eyes, and the blood flew guiltily to his cheeks.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Thanks, boys&mdash;not any for me,&rdquo; he said, and apologized to Miss
+      Conroy with his eyes.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The man rose and confronted him unsteadily. &ldquo;Dat's a hell off a way! You
+      too proud for drink weeth us? You drink, now! By Gar, I make you drink!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Rowdy's eyelids drooped, which was a bad sign for those who knew him.
+      &ldquo;You're forgetting there's a lady present,&rdquo; he reminded warningly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The man turned a brief, contemptuous glance toward the stove. &ldquo;You got the
+      damn' queer way to talk. I don't call no squaw no lady. You drink queeck,
+      now!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Aw, shut up, Frenchy,&rdquo; the man at his elbow abjured him. &ldquo;He don't have
+      to drink if he don't want to.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You keep the face close,&rdquo; the other retorted majestically; and cursed
+      loud and long and incoherently.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Rowdy drew back his arm, with a fist that meant trouble for somebody; but
+      there were others before him who pinned the importunate host to the table,
+      where he squirmed unavailingly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Rowdy buttoned up his coat the while he eyed the group disgustedly. &ldquo;I
+      guess we'll drift,&rdquo; he remarked. &ldquo;You don't look good to me, and that's no
+      dream.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Aw, stay and warm up,&rdquo; the fourth man expostulated. &ldquo;Yuh don't need t'
+      mind Le Febre; he's drunk.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      But Rowdy opened the door decisively, and Miss Conroy, her cheeks like two
+      storm-buffeted poppies, followed him out with dignity&mdash;albeit
+      trailing a yard of red-and-yellow Navajo blanket behind her. Rowdy lifted
+      her into the saddle, tucked her feet carefully under the blanket, and said
+      never a word.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Mr. Vaughan,&rdquo; she began hesitatingly, &ldquo;this is too bad; you need not have
+      left. I&mdash;I wasn't afraid.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I know you weren't,&rdquo; conceded Rowdy. &ldquo;But it was a hard formation&mdash;for
+      a woman. Are there any more places on this flat marked Unavailable?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Miss Conroy replied misanthropically that if there were they would be sure
+      to find them.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      They took up their weary wanderings again, while the yellow eye of the
+      window winked after them. They missed Rodway's by a scant hundred yards,
+      and didn't know it, because the side of the house next them had no lighted
+      windows. They traveled in a wide, half circle, and thought that they were
+      leaving a straight trail behind them. More than once Rowdy was urged by
+      his aching arm to drop the lead-rope and leave Chub to shift by himself,
+      but habit was strong and his heart was soft. Then he felt an odd twitching
+      at the lead-rope, as if Chub were minded to rebel against their
+      leadership. Rowdy yanked him into remembrance of his duty, and wondered.
+      Bill Brown's question came insistently to mind; he wondered the more.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Two minutes and the lead-rope was sawing against the small of his back
+      again. Rowdy turned Dixie's head, and spoke for the first time in an hour.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;My packhorse seems to have an idea about where he wants to go,&rdquo; he said.
+      &ldquo;I guess we might as well follow him as anybody; he ain't often taken with
+      a rush of brains to the head. And we can't be any worse lost than we are
+      now, can we?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Miss Conroy said no dispiritedly, and they swung about and followed Chub's
+      leadership apathetically. It took Chub just five minutes to demonstrate
+      that he knew what he was about. When he stopped, it was with his nose
+      against a corral gate; not content with that, he whinnied, and a new,
+      exultant note was in the sound. A deep-voiced dog bayed loudly, and a
+      shrill yelp cut in and clamored for recognition.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Miss Conroy gasped. &ldquo;It's Lion and Skeesicks. We're at Rodway's, Mr.
+      Vaughan.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Rowdy, for the second time, thanked the Lord. But when he was stripping
+      the pack off Chub's back, ten minutes later, he was thinking many things
+      he would not have cared to say aloud. It might be all right, but it sure
+      was strange, he told himself, that Chub belonged here at Rodway's when
+      Harry Conroy claimed that he was an Oregon horse. Rowdy had thought his
+      account against Harry Conroy long enough, but it looked now as though
+      another item must be added to the list. He went in and ate his supper
+      thoughtfully, and when he got into bed he did not fall asleep within two
+      minutes, as he might be expected to do. His last conscious thought was not
+      of stolen horses, however. It was: &ldquo;And she's Harry Conroy's sister! Now,
+      what do you think of that? But all the same, she's sure a nice little
+      schoolma'am.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0003" id="link2HCH0003">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER 3. Rowdy Hires a New Boss.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Next morning, after breakfast, Mr. Rodway followed Vaughan out to the
+      stable, and repeated Bill Brown's question.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I'd like to know where yuh got this horse,&rdquo; he began, with an apologetic
+      sort of determination in his tone. &ldquo;He happens to belong to me. He was run
+      off with a bunch three years ago, and this is the first trace anybody has
+      ever got of 'em. I see the brand's been worked. It was a Roman four&mdash;that's
+      my brand; now it looks like a map of Texas; but I'd swear to the horse&mdash;raised
+      him from a colt.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Rowdy had expected something of the sort, and he knew quite well what he
+      was going to do; he had settled that the night before, with the memory of
+      Miss Conroy's eyes fresh in his mind.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I got him in a deal across the line,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I was told he came from
+      east Oregon. But last night, when he piloted us straight to your corral
+      gate, I guessed he'd been here before. He's yours, all right, if you say
+      so.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Uh course he ain't worth such a pile uh money,&rdquo; apologized Rodway, &ldquo;but
+      the kids thought a heap of him. I'd rather locate some of the horses that
+      was with him&mdash;or the man yuh got him of. They was some mighty good
+      horses run out uh this country then, but they was all out on the range, so
+      we didn't miss 'em in time to do any good. Do yu know who took 'em across
+      the line?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No,&rdquo; said Rowdy deliberately. &ldquo;The man I got Chub from went north, and I
+      heard he got killed. I don't know of any other in the deal.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Rodway grunted, and Vaughan began vigorously brushing Dixie's roughened
+      coat. &ldquo;If you don't mind,&rdquo; he said, after a minute, &ldquo;I'd like to borrow
+      Chub to pack my bed over to the Cross L. I can bring him back again.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why, sure!&rdquo; assented Rodway eagerly. &ldquo;I hate to take him from yuh, but
+      the kids&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh, that's all right,&rdquo; interrupted Rowdy cheerfully. &ldquo;It's all in the
+      game, and I should 'a' looked up his pedigree, for I knew&mdash;. Anyway,
+      was worth the price of him to have him along last night. We'd have milled
+      around till daylight, I guess, only for him.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That's what,&rdquo; agreed Rodway. &ldquo;Jessie's horse is one she brought from home
+      lately, and he ain't located yet; I dunno as he'd 'a' piloted her home.
+      Billy&mdash;that's what the kids named him&mdash;was born and raised here,
+      yuh see. I'll bet he's glad to get back&mdash;and the kids'll be plumb
+      wild.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Rowdy did not answer; there seemed nothing in particular to say, and he
+      was wondering if he would see Miss Conroy before he left. She had not
+      eaten breakfast with the others; from their manner, he judged that no one
+      expected her to. He was not well informed upon the subject of
+      schoolma'ams, but he had a hazy impression that late rising was a
+      distinguishing characteristic&mdash;and he did not know how late. He
+      saddled leisurely, and packed his bed for the last time upon Chub. The
+      red-and-yellow Navajo blanket he folded tenderly, with an unconscious
+      smile for the service it had done, and laid it in its accustomed place in
+      the bed. Then, having no plausible excuse for going back to the house, he
+      mounted and rode away into the brilliant white world, watching wistfully
+      the house from the tail of his eye.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She might have got up in time to see him off, he thought discontentedly;
+      but he supposed one cowpuncher more or less made little difference to her.
+      Anyway, he didn't know as he had any license to moon around her. She
+      probably had a fellow; she might even be engaged, for all he knew. And&mdash;she
+      was Harry Conroy's sister; and from his experience with the breed, good
+      looks didn't count for anything. Harry was good-looking, and he was a
+      snake, if ever there was one. He had never expected to lie for him&mdash;but
+      he had done it, all right&mdash;and because Harry's sister happened to
+      have nice eyes and a pretty little foot!&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He had half a mind to go back and tell Rodway all he knew about those
+      horses; it was only a matter of time, anyway, till Harry Conroy overshot
+      the mark and got what was coming to him. He sure didn't owe Harry
+      anything, that he had need to shield him like he had done. Still, Rodway
+      would wonder why he hadn't told it at first; and that little girl believed
+      in Harry, and said he was &ldquo;splendid!&rdquo; Humph! He wondered if she really
+      meant that. If she did&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He squared his back to the house&mdash;and the memory of Miss Conroy's
+      eyes&mdash;and plodded across the field to the gate. Now the sun was
+      shining, and there was no possibility of getting lost. The way to the
+      Cross L lay straight and plain before him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Rowdy rode leisurely up over the crest of a ridge beyond which lay the
+      home ranch of the Cross L. Whether it was henceforth to be his home he had
+      yet to discover&mdash;though there was reason for hoping that it would be.
+      Even so venturesome a man as Rowdy Vaughan would scarce ride a long
+      hundred miles through unpeopled prairie, in the tricky month of March,
+      without some reason for expecting a welcome at the end of his journey. In
+      this case, a previous acquaintance with &ldquo;Wooden Shoes&rdquo; Mielke, foreman of
+      the Cross L, was Rowdy's trump-card. Wooden Shoes, whenever chance had
+      brought them together in the last two or three years, was ever urging
+      Rowdy to come over and unroll his soogans in the Cross L bed-tent, and
+      promising the best string in the outfit to ride&mdash;besides other things
+      alluring to a cow-puncher. So that, when his relations with the Horseshoe
+      Bar became strained, Rowdy remembered his friend of the Cross L and the
+      promises, and had drifted south.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Just now he hoped that Wooden Shoes would be home to greet him, and his
+      eyes searched wishfully the huddle of low-eaved cabins and the assortment
+      of sheds and corrals for the bulky form of the foreman. But no one seemed
+      to be about&mdash;except a bigbodied, bandy-legged individual, who
+      appeared to be playfully chasing a big, bright bay stallion inside the
+      large enclosure where stood the cabins.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Rowdy watched them impersonally; a glance proved that the man was not
+      Wooden Shoes, and so he was not particularly interested in him or his
+      doings. It did occur to him, however, that if the fellow wanted to catch
+      that brute, he ought to have sense enough to get a horse. No one but a
+      plumb idiot would mill around in that snow afoot. He jogged down the slope
+      at a shuffling trot, grinning tolerantly at the pantomime below.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He of the bandy-legs stopped, evidently out of breath; the stallion
+      stopped also, snorting defiance. Rowdy heard him plainly, even at that
+      distance. The horse arched his neck and watched the man warily, ready to
+      be off at the first symptom of hostilities&mdash;and Rowdy observed that a
+      short rope hung from his halter, swaying as he moved.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Bandy-legs seemed to have an idea; he turned and scuttled to the nearest
+      cabin, returning with what seemed a basin of oats, for he shook it
+      enticingly and edged cautiously toward the horse. Rowdy could imagine him
+      coaxing, with hypocritically endearing names, such as &ldquo;Good old boy!&rdquo; and
+      &ldquo;Steady now, Billy&rdquo;&mdash;or whatever the horse's name might be. Rowdy
+      chuckled to himself, and hoped the horse saw through the subterfuge.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Perhaps the horse chuckled also; at any rate, he stood quite still,
+      equally prepared to bounce away on the instant or to don the mask of
+      docility. Bandy-legs drew nearer and nearer, shaking the basin briskly,
+      like an old woman sifting meal. The horse waited, his nostrils quivering
+      hungrily at the smell of the oats, and with an occasional low nicker.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Bandy-legs went on tiptoes&mdash;or as nearly as he could in the snow&mdash;the
+      basin at arm's length before. The dainty, flaring nostrils sniffed
+      tentatively, dipped into the basin, and snuffed the oats about luxuriously&mdash;till
+      he felt a stealthy hand seize the dangling rope. At the touch he snorted
+      protest, and was off and away, upsetting Bandy-legs and the basin
+      ignominiously into a high-piled drift.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Bandy-legs sat up, scraped the snow out of his collar and his ears, and
+      swore. It was then that Rowdy appeared like an angel of deliverance.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Want that horse caught?&rdquo; he yelled cheerfully.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Bandy-legs lifted up his voice and bellowed things I should not like to
+      repeat verbatim. But Rowdy gathered that the man emphatically did want
+      that so-and-so-and-then-some horse caught, and that it couldn't be done a
+      blessed minute too soon. Whereat Rowdy smiled anew, with his face
+      discreetly turned away from Bandy-legs, and took down his rope and widened
+      the loop. Also, he turned Chub loose.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The stallion evidently sensed what new danger threatened his stolen
+      freedom, and circled the yard with high, springy strides. Rowdy circled
+      after, saw his chance, swirled the loop twice over his head, and hazarded
+      a long throw.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Rowdy knew it for pure good luck that it landed right, but to this day
+      Bandy-legs looks upon him as a Wonder with a rope&mdash;and Bandy-legs
+      would insist upon the capital.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Where shall I take him?&rdquo; Rowdy asked, coming up with his captive, and
+      with nothing but his eyes to show how he was laughing inwardly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Bandy-legs crawled from the drift, still scraping snow from inside his
+      collar, and gave many directions about going through a certain gate into
+      such-and-such a corral; from there into a stable; and by seeming devious
+      ways into a minutely described stall.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;All right,&rdquo; said Rowdy, cutting short the last needless details. &ldquo;I guess
+      I can find the trail;&rdquo; and started off, leading the stallion. Bandy-legs
+      followed, and Chub, observing the departure of Dixie, ambled faithfully in
+      the rear.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Much obliged,&rdquo; conceded Bandy-legs, when the stallion was safely housed
+      and tied securely. &ldquo;Where yuh headed for, young man?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Right here,&rdquo; Rowdy told him calmly, loosening Dixie's cinch. &ldquo;I'm the
+      long-lost top hand that the Cross L's been watching the sky-line for, lo!
+      these many moons, a-yearning for the privilege of handing me forty plunks
+      about twice as fast as I've got 'em coming. Where's the boss?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Er&mdash;I'm him,&rdquo; confessed Bandy-legs meekly, and circled the two
+      dubiously. &ldquo;I guess you've heard uh Eagle Creek Smith&mdash;I'm him. The
+      Cross L belongs to me.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Rowdy let out an explosive, and showed a row of nice teeth. &ldquo;Well, I ain't
+      hard to please,&rdquo; he added. &ldquo;I won't kick on that, I guess. I like your
+      looks tolerable well, and I'm willing to take yuh on for a boss. If yuh do
+      your part, I bet we'll get along fine.&rdquo; His tone was banteringly
+      patronizing &ldquo;Anyway, I'll try yuh for a spell. You can put my name down as
+      Rowdy Vaughan, lately canned from the Horseshoe Bar.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What for?&rdquo; ventured Bandy-legs&mdash;rather, Eagle Creek&mdash;still
+      circling Rowdy dubiously.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What for was I canned?&rdquo; repeated Rowdy easily. &ldquo;Being a modest youth, I
+      hate t' tell yuh. But the old man's son and me, we disagreed, and one of
+      his eyes swelled some; so did mine, a little.&rdquo; He stood head and shoulders
+      above Eagle Creek, and he smiled down upon him engagingly. Eagle Creek
+      capitulated before the smile.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, I ain't got any sons&mdash;that I know of,&rdquo; he grinned. &ldquo;So I guess
+      yuh can consider yourself a Cross L man till further notice.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why, sure!&rdquo; The teeth gleamed again briefly. &ldquo;That's what I've been
+      telling you right along. Where's old Wooden Shoes? He's responsible for me
+      being here.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Gone to Chinook. He'll be back in a day or two.&rdquo; Eagle Creek shifted his
+      feet awkwardly. &ldquo;Say&rdquo;&mdash;he glanced uneasily behind him&mdash;&ldquo;yuh
+      don't want t' let it get around that yuh sort of&mdash;hired me&mdash;see?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Of course not,&rdquo; Rowdy assured him. &ldquo;I was only joshing. If you don't want
+      me, just tell me to hit the sod.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You stay right where you're at!&rdquo; commanded Eagle Creek with returned
+      confidence in himself and his authority. Of a truth, this self-assured,
+      straight-limbed young man had rather dazed him. &ldquo;Take your bed and war-bag
+      up to the bunk-house and make yourself t' home till the boys get back, and&mdash;say,
+      where'd yuh git that pack-horse?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The laugh went out of Rowdy's tawny eyes. The question hit a spot that was
+      becoming sore. &ldquo;I borrowed him this morning from Mr. Rodway,&rdquo; he said
+      evenly. &ldquo;I'm to take him back to-day. I stopped there last night.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh!&rdquo; Eagle Creek coughed apologetically, and said no word, while Rowdy
+      led Chub back to the cabin which he had pointed out as the bunk-house; he
+      stood by while Rowdy loosened the pack and dragged it inside.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I guess you can get located here,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I ain't workin' more'n three
+      or four men just now, but there's quite a few uh the boys stopping here;
+      the Cross L's a regular hang-out for cow-punchers. You're a little early
+      for the season, but I'll see that yuh have something t' do&mdash;just t'
+      keep yuh out uh devilment.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Rowdy's brows unbent; it would seem that Eagle Creek was capable of
+      &ldquo;joshing&rdquo; also. &ldquo;It's up t' you, old-timer,&rdquo; he retorted. &ldquo;I'm strong and
+      willing, and don't shy at anything but pitchforks.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Eagle Creek grinned. &ldquo;This ain't no blamed cowhospital,&rdquo; he gave as a
+      parting shot. &ldquo;All the hay that's shoveled on this ranch needn't hurt
+      nobody's feelings.&rdquo; With that he shut the door, and left Rowdy to acquaint
+      himself with his new home.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0004" id="link2HCH0004">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER 4. Pink as &ldquo;Chappyrone.&rdquo;
+     </h2>
+    <p>
+      Rowdy was sprawled ungracefully upon somebody's bunk&mdash;he neither knew
+      nor cared whose&mdash;and he was snoring unmelodiously, and not dreaming a
+      thing; for when a cow-puncher has nothing in particular to do, he sleeps
+      to atone for the weary hours when he must be very wide-awake. An avalanche
+      descended upon his unwarned middle, and checked the rhythmic ebb and flow
+      of sound. He squawked and came to life clawing viciously.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I'd like t' know where the devil yuh come from,&rdquo; a voice remarked
+      plaintively in a soft treble.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Rowdy opened his eyes with a snap. &ldquo;Pink! by all that's good and bad! Get
+      up off my diaphragm, you little fiend.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Pink absent-mindedly kneaded Rowdy's stomach with his knuckles, and
+      immediately found himself in a far corner. He came back, dimpling
+      mischievously. He looked much more an angel than a fiend, for all his
+      Angora chaps and flame-colored scarf.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Your bed and war-bag's on my bunk; you're on Smoky's; and Dixie's makin'
+      himself to home in the corral. By all them signs and tokens, I give a
+      reckless guess you're here t' stay a while. That right?&rdquo; He prodded again
+      at Rowdy's ribs.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It sure is, Pink. And if I'd known you was holding out here, I'd 'a' come
+      sooner, maybe. You sure look good to me, you darned little cuss!&rdquo; Rowdy
+      sat up and took a lightning inventory of the four or five other fellows
+      lounging about. He must have slept pretty sound, he thought, not to hear
+      them come in.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Pink read the look, and bethought him of the necessary introductions.
+      &ldquo;This is my side-kicker over the line that&mdash;you've heard about till
+      you're plumb weary, boys,&rdquo; he announced musically. &ldquo;His name is Rowdy
+      Vaughan&mdash;bronco-peeler, crap fiend, and all-round bad man. He ain't a
+      safe companion, and yuh want t' sleep with your six-guns cuddled under
+      your right ear, and never, on no account, show him your backs. He's a real
+      wolf, he is, and the only reason I live t' tell the tale is because he
+      respects m' size. Boys, I'm afraid for yuh&mdash;but I wish yuh well.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Pink, you need killing, and I'm tempted to live up to my rep,&rdquo; grinned
+      Rowdy indulgently. &ldquo;Read me the pedigree of your friends.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh, they ain't no worse&mdash;when yuh git used to 'em. That long-legged
+      jasper with the far-away look in his eyes is the Silent One&mdash;if he
+      takes a notion t' you, he'll maybe tell yuh the name his mother calls him.
+      He may have seen better days; but here's hoping he won't see no worse! He
+      once was a tenderfoot; but he's convalescing.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The Silent One nodded carelessly, but with a quick, measuring glance that
+      Rowdy liked.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;This unshaved savage is Smoky. He's harmless, if yuh don't mention
+      socialism in his presence; and if yuh do, he'll
+      down-with-the-trust-and-long-live-the-sons-uh-toil, all hours uh the
+      night, and keep folks awake. Then him and the fellow that started him off
+      'll likely get chapped good and plenty. Over there's Jim Ellis and Bob
+      Nevin; they've both turned a cow or two, and I've seen worse specimens
+      running around loose&mdash;plenty of 'em. That man hidin' behind the grin&mdash;you
+      can see him if yuh look close&mdash;is Sunny Sam. Yuh needn't take no
+      notice of him, unless you're a mind to. He won't care&mdash;he's dead
+      gentle.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Say,&rdquo; he broke off, &ldquo;how'd you happen t' stray onto this range, anyhow?
+      Yuh used t' belong t the Horseshoe Bar so solid the assessor always t' yuh
+      down on the personal-property list.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;They won't pay taxes on me no more, son.&rdquo; Rowdy's eyes dwelt fondly upon
+      Pink's cupid-bow mouth and dimples. He had never dreamed of finding Pink
+      here; though, when he came to think of it there was no reason why he
+      shouldn't.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Pink was not like any one else. He was slight and girlish to look at. But
+      you mustn't trust appearances; for Pink was all muscle strung on steel
+      wire, according to the belief of those who tried to handle him. He had
+      little white hands, and feet that looked quite comfortable in a number
+      four boot, and his hair was a tawny gold and curled in distracting, damp
+      rings on his forehead. His eyes were blue and long-lashed and beautiful,
+      and they looked at the world with baby innocence&mdash;whereas a more
+      sophisticated little devil never jangled spurs at his heels. He was
+      everything but insipid, and men liked him&mdash;unless he chose to dislike
+      them, when they thought of him with grating teeth. To find him bullying
+      the Cross L boys brought a warmth to Rowdy's heart.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Pink made a cigarette, and then offered Rowdy his tobacco-sack, and asked
+      questions about the Cypress Hills country. How was this girl?&mdash;and
+      was that one married yet?&mdash;and did the other still grieve for him? As
+      a matter of fact, he had yet to see the girl who could quicken his pulse a
+      single beat, and for that reason it sometimes pleased him to affect
+      susceptibility beyond that of other men.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It was after dinner when he and Rowdy went humming down to the stables,
+      gossiping like a couple of old women over a back fence.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I see you've got Conroy's Chub yet,&rdquo; Pink observed carelessly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh, for Heaven's sake let up on that cayuse!&rdquo; Rowdy cried petulantly. &ldquo;I
+      wish I'd never got sight of the little buzzard-head; I've had him crammed
+      down my throat the last day or two till it's getting plumb monotonous.
+      Pink, that cayuse never saw Oregon. He was raised right on this flat, and
+      he belongs to old Rodway. I've got to lead him back there and turn him
+      over to-day.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Pink took three puffs at his cigarette, and lifted his long lashes to
+      Rowdy's gloom-filled face. &ldquo;Stole?&rdquo; he asked briefly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Stole,&rdquo; Rowdy repeated disgustedly. &ldquo;So was the whole blame' bunch, as
+      near as I can make out.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We might 'a' knowed it. We might 'a' guessed Harry Conroy wouldn't have a
+      straight title to anything if he could make it crooked. I bet he never
+      finished paying back that money yuh lent him&mdash;out uh the kindness uh
+      your heart. Did he?&rdquo; Pink leaned against the corral fence and kicked
+      meditatively at a snow-covered rock.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He did not, m' son. Chub's all I ever got out uh the deal&mdash;and I
+      haven't even got him. I borrowed him from Rodway to pack my bed over&mdash;borrowed
+      the blame' little runty cayuse that cost me sixty-four hard-earned
+      dollars; that's what Harry borrowed of me. And every blame' gazabo on the
+      flat wanted to know what I was doing with him!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I can tell yuh where t' find Conroy, Rowdy. He's working for an outfit
+      down on the river. I'd sure fix him for this! Yuh got plenty of evidence;
+      you can send him up like a charm. It was different when he cut your latigo
+      strap in that rough-riding contest; yuh couldn't prove it on him. But this&mdash;why,
+      man, it's a cinch!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I haven't lost Harry Conroy, so I ain't looking for him just now,&rdquo;
+       growled Rowdy. &ldquo;So long as he keeps out uh reach, I won't ask no more of
+      him. And, Pink, I wish you'd keep this quiet&mdash;about him having Chub.
+      I told Rodway I couldn't put him next to the fellow that brought that
+      bunch across the line. I told him the fellow went north and got killed. He
+      did go north&mdash;fifty miles or so; and he'd ought to been killed, if he
+      wasn't. Let it go that way, Pink.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Pink looked like a cherub-faced child when he has been told there's no
+      Santa Claus. &ldquo;Sure, if yuh say so,&rdquo; he stammered dubiously. He eyed Rowdy
+      reproachfully, and then looked away to the horizon. He kicked the rock out
+      of place, and then poked it painstakingly back with his toe&mdash;and from
+      the look of him, he did not know there was a rock there at all.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;How'd yuh happen to run across Rodway?&rdquo; he asked guilelessly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I stopped there last night. I got to milling around in that storm, and
+      ran across the schoolma'am that boards at Rodway's, She was plumb lost,
+      too, so we dubbed around together for a while, and finally got inside
+      Rodway's field. Then Chub come alive and piloted us to the house. This
+      morning Rodway claimed him&mdash;says the brand has been worked from a
+      Roman four. Oh, it's all straight goods,&rdquo; he added hastily. &ldquo;Old Eagle
+      Creek here knew him, too.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      But Pink was not thinking of Chub. He hunched his chap-belt higher and
+      spat viciously into the snow. &ldquo;I knowed it,&rdquo; he declared, with melancholy
+      triumph. &ldquo;It's school-ma'amitis that's gave yuh softening uh the vitals,
+      and not no Christian charity play. How comes it you're took that way, all
+      unbeknown t' your friends? Yuh never used t' bother about no female girls.
+      It's a cinch you're wise that she's Harry's sister; and I admit she's a
+      swell looker. But so's he; and I should think, Rowdy, you'd had about
+      enough uh that brand uh snake.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;There's nothing so snaky about her that I could see,&rdquo; defended Rowdy. He
+      did not particularly relish having his own mental argument against Miss
+      Conroy thrown back at him from another. &ldquo;She seemed to be all right; and
+      if you'd seen how plucky she was in that blizzard&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, I never heard anybody stand up and call Harry white-livered, when
+      yuh come t' that,&rdquo; Pink cut in tartly. &ldquo;Anyway, you're a blame fool. If
+      she was a little white-winged angel, yuh wouldn't stand no kind uh show;
+      and I tell yuh why. She's got a little tin god that she says prayers to
+      regular.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That's Harry. And wouldn't he be the fine brother-in-law? He could borrow
+      all your wages off'n yuh, and when yuh went t' make a pretty ride, he'd up
+      and cut your latigo, and give yuh a fall. And he could work stolen horses
+      off onto yuh&mdash;and yuh wouldn't give a damn, 'cause Jessie wears a
+      number two shoe&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You must have done some rimrock riding after her yourself!&rdquo; jeered Rowdy.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And has got shiny brown eyes, just like Harry's&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;They're not!&rdquo; laughed Rowdy, half-angrily. &ldquo;If you say that again, Pink,
+      I'll stick your head in a snow-bank. Her eyes are all right. They sure
+      look good to me.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You've sure got 'em,&rdquo; mourned Pink. &ldquo;Yuh need t' be close-herded by your
+      friends, and that's no dream. You wait till toward evening before yuh take
+      that horse back. I'm going along t' chappyrone yuh, Rowdy. Yuh ain't safe
+      running loose any more.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Rowdy cursed him companionably and told him to go along, if he wanted to,
+      and to look out he didn't throw up his own hands; and Pink grumbled and
+      swore and did go along. But when they got there, Miss Conroy greeted him
+      like a very good friend; which sent Rowdy sulky, and kept him so all the
+      evening. It seemed to him that Pink was playing a double game, and when
+      they started home he told him so.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But Pink turned in his saddle and smiled so that his dimples showed
+      plainly in the moonlight. &ldquo;Chappyrones that set in a corner and look wise
+      are the rankest kind uh fakes,&rdquo; he explained. &ldquo;When she was talking to me,
+      she was letting you alone&mdash;see?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Rowdy accepted the explanation silently, and stored it away in his memory.
+      After that, by riding craftily, and by threats, and by much vituperation,
+      he managed to reach Rodway's unchapperoned at least three times out of
+      five&mdash;which was doing remarkably well, when one considers Pink.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0005" id="link2HCH0005">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER 5. At Home at Cross L.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      In two days Rowdy was quite at home with the Cross L. In a month he found
+      himself transplanted from the smoke-laden air of the bunk-house, and set
+      off from the world in a line camp, with nothing to do but patrol the boggy
+      banks of Milk River, where it was still unfenced and unclaimed by small
+      farmers. The only mitigation of his exile, so far as he could see, lay in
+      the fact that he had Pink and the Silent One for companions.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It developed that when he would speak to the Silent One, he must say Jim,
+      or wait long for a reply. Also, the Silent One was not always silent, and
+      he was quick to observe the weak points in those around him, and keen at
+      repartee. When it pleased him so to do, he could handle the English
+      language in a way that was perfectly amazing&mdash;and not always
+      intelligible to the unschooled. At such times Pink frankly made no attempt
+      to understand him; Rowdy, having been hustled through grammar school and
+      two-thirds through high school before he ran away from a brand new
+      stepmother, rather enjoyed the outbreaks and Pink's consequent disgust.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Not one of them loved particularly the line camp, and Rowdy least of all,
+      since it put an extra ten miles between Miss Conroy and himself. Rowdy had
+      got to that point where his mind dwelt much upon matters domestic, and he
+      made many secret calculations on the cost of housekeeping for two. More
+      than that, he put himself upon a rigid allowance for pocket-money&mdash;an
+      allowance barely sufficient to keep him in tobacco and papers. All this
+      without consulting Miss Conroy's wishes&mdash;which only goes to show that
+      Rowdy Vaughan was a born optimist.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Silent One complained that he could not keep supplied with
+      reading-matter, and Pink bewailed the monotony of inaction. For, beyond
+      watching the river to keep the cattle from miring in the mud lately
+      released from frost grip, there was nothing to do.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      According to the calendar, spring was well upon them, and the prairies
+      would soon be flaunting new dresses of green. The calendar, however, had
+      neglected to record the rainless heat of the summer gone before, or the
+      searing winds that burned the grass brown as it grew, or the winter which
+      forgot its part and permitted prairie-dogs to chip-chip-chip above ground
+      in January, when they should be sleeping decently in their cellar homes.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Apart from the brief storm which Rowdy had brought with him, there had
+      been no snow worth considering. Always the chill winds shaved the barren
+      land from the north, or veered unexpectedly, and blew dry warmth from the
+      southwest; but never the snow for which the land yearned. Wind, and bright
+      sunlight, and more wind, and hypocritical, drifting clouds, and more sun;
+      lean cattle walking, walking, up-hill and down coulee, nose to the dry
+      ground, snipping the stray tufts where should be a woolly carpet of sweet,
+      ripened grasses, eating wildrose bushes level with the sod, and wishing
+      there was only an abundance even of them; drifting uneasily from hilltop
+      to farther hilltop, hunger-driven and gaunt, where should be sleek
+      content. When they sought to continue their quest beyond the river, and
+      the weaker bogged at its muddy edge, Rowdy and Pink and the Silent One
+      would ride out, and with their ropes drag them back ignominiously to solid
+      ground and the very doubtful joy of living.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      May Day found the grass-land brown and lifeless, with a chill wind blowing
+      over it. The cattle wandered as before except that knock-kneed little
+      calves trailed beside their lean mothers and clamored for full stomachs.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Cross L cattle bore the brunt of the range famine, because Eagle Creek
+      Smith was a stockman of the old school. His cattle must live on the open
+      range, because they always had done so. Other men bought or leased large
+      tracts of grass-land, and fenced them for just such an emergency, but not
+      he. It is true that he had two or three large fields, as Miss Conroy had
+      told Rowdy, but it was his boast that all the hay he raised was eaten by
+      his saddlehorses, and that all the fields he owned were used solely for
+      horse pastures. The open range was the place for cattle and no Cross L
+      critter ever fed inside a wire fence.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Through the dry summer before, when other men read the ominous signs and
+      hurriedly leased pasture-land and cut down their herds to what the fields
+      would feed, Eagle Creek went calmly on as he had done always. He shipped
+      what beef was fit&mdash;and that, of a truth, was not much!&mdash;and
+      settled down for the winter, trusting to winter snows and spring rains to
+      refill the long-dry lakes and waterholes, and coat the levels anew with
+      grass.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But the winter snows had failed to appear, and with the spring came no
+      rain. &ldquo;April showers&rdquo; became a hideously ironical joke at nature's
+      expense. Always the wind blew, and sometimes great flocks of clouds would
+      drift superciliously up from the far sky-line, play with men's hopes, and
+      sail disdainfully on to some more favored land.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It is all very well for a man to cling stubbornly to precedent, but if he
+      clings long enough, there comes a time when to cling becomes akin to
+      crime. Eagle Creek Smith still stubbornly held that rangecattle should be
+      kept to the range. He waited until May was fast merging to June, watching,
+      from sheer habit, for the spring transformation of brown prairies into
+      green. When it did not come, and only the coulee sides and bottoms showed
+      green among the brown, he accepted ruefully the unusual conditions which
+      nature had thrust upon him, and started &ldquo;Wooden Shoes&rdquo; out with the wagons
+      on the horse round-up, which is a preliminary to the roundup proper, as
+      every one knows.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0006" id="link2HCH0006">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER 6. A Shot From the Dark.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I call that a bad job well done,&rdquo; Pink remarked, after a long silence, as
+      he gave over trying to catch a fish in the muddy Milk River.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What?&rdquo; Rowdy, still prone to day-dreams of matters domestic, came back
+      reluctantly to reality, and inspected his bait.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh, come alive! I mean the horse round-up. How we're going to keep that
+      bunch uh skeletons under us all summer is a guessing contest for fair.
+      Wooden Shoes has got t' give me about forty, instead of a dozen, if he
+      wants me t' hit 'er up on circle the way I'm used to. I bet their
+      back-bones'll wear clean up through our saddles.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh, I guess not,&rdquo; said Rowdy calmly. &ldquo;They ain't so thin&mdash;and
+      they'll pick up flesh. There's some mighty good ones in the bunch, too. I
+      hope Wooden Shoes don't forget to give me the first pick. There's one I
+      got my eye on&mdash;that blue roan. Anyway, I guess you can wiggle along
+      with less than forty.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Pink shook his head thoughtfully and sighed. Pink loved good mounts, and
+      the outlook did not please him. The round-up had camped, for the last
+      time, on the river within easy riding distance of Camas. The next day's
+      drive would bring them to the home ranch, where Eagle Creek was fuming
+      over the lateness of the season, the condition of the range, and the June
+      rains, which had thus far failed even to moisten decently the grass-roots.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Let's ride over to Camas; all the other fellows have gone,&rdquo; Pink proposed
+      listlessly, drawing in his line.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Rowdy as listlessly consented. Camas as a town was neither interesting nor
+      important; but when one has spent three long weeks communing with nature
+      in her sulkiest and most unamiable mood, even a town without a railroad to
+      its name may serve to relieve the monotony of living.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The sun was piling gorgeous masses of purple and crimson clouds high about
+      him, cuddling his fat cheeks against their soft folds till, a Midas, he
+      turned them to gold at the touch. Those farther away gloomed jealously at
+      the favoritism of their lord, and huddled closer together&mdash;the purple
+      for rage, perhaps; and the crimson for shame!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Pink's face was tinged daintily with the glow, and even Rowdy's lean,
+      brown features were for the moment glorified. They rode knee to knee
+      silently, thinking each his own thoughts the while they watched the sunset
+      with eyes grown familiar with its barbaric splendor, but never
+      indifferent.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Soon the west held none but the deeper tints, and the shadows climbed,
+      with the stealthy tread of trailing Indians, from the valley, chasing the
+      after-glow to the very hilltops, where it stood a moment at bay and then
+      surrendered meekly to the dusk. A meadow-lark near-by cut the silence into
+      haunting ripples of melody, stopped affrighted at their coming, and flew
+      off into the dull glow of the west; his little body showed black against a
+      crimson cloud. Out across the river a lone coyote yapped sharply, then
+      trailed off into the weird plaint of his kind.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Brother-in-law's in town to-day; Bob Nevin saw him,&rdquo; Pink remarked, when
+      the coyote ceased wailing and held his peace.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Who?&rdquo; Rowdy only half-heard.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Bob Nevin,&rdquo; repeated Pink naively.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Don't get funny. Who did Bob see?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Brother-in-law. Yours, not mine. Jessie's tin god. If he's there yet, I
+      bid for an invite to the 'swatfest.' Or maybe&rdquo;&mdash;a horrible
+      possibility forced itself upon Pink&mdash;&ldquo;maybe you'll kill the fattest
+      maverick and fall on his neck&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The maverick's?&rdquo; Rowdy's brows were rather pinched together, but his tone
+      told nothing.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Naw; Harry Conroy's a fellow's liable to do most any fool thing when he's
+      got schoolma'amitis.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That so?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Pink snorted. The possibility had grown to black certainty in his mind. He
+      became suddenly furious.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Lord! I hope some kind friend'll lead me out an' knock me in the head, if
+      ever I get locoed over any darned girl!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Same here,&rdquo; agreed Rowdy, unmoved.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then your days are sure numbered in words uh one syllable, old-timer,&rdquo;
+       snapped Pink.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Rowdy leaned and patted him caressingly upon the shoulder&mdash;a form of
+      irony which Pink detested. &ldquo;Don't get excited, sonny,&rdquo; he soothed. &ldquo;Did
+      you fetch your gun?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I sure did!&rdquo; Pink drew a long breath of relief. &ldquo;Yuh needn't think I'm
+      going t' take chances on being no human colander. I've packed a gun for
+      Harry Conroy ever since that rough-riding contest uh yourn. Yuh mind the
+      way I took him under the ear with a rock? He's been makin' war-talk behind
+      m' back ever since. Did I bring m' gun! Well, I guess yes!&rdquo; He dimpled
+      distractingly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;All the same, it'll suit me not to run up against him,&rdquo; said Rowdy quite
+      frankly. He knew Pink would understand. Then he lifted his coat
+      suggestively, to show the weapon concealed beneath, and smiled.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Different here. Yuh did have sense enough t' be ready&mdash;and if yuh
+      see him, and don't forget he's got a sister with a number two foot, damned
+      if I don't fix yuh both a-plenty!&rdquo; He settled his hat more firmly over his
+      curls, and eyed Rowdy anxiously from under his lashes.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Rowdy caught the action and the look from the tail of his eye, and grinned
+      at his horse's ears. Pink in warlike mood always made him think of a
+      four-year-old child playing pirate with the difference that Pink was
+      always in deadly earnest and would fight like a fiend.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      For more reasons than one he hoped they would not meet Harry Conroy.
+      Jessie was still in ignorance of his real attitude toward her brother, and
+      Rowdy wanted nothing more than to keep her so. The trouble was that he was
+      quite certain to forget everything but his grievances, if ever he came
+      face to face with Harry. Also, Pink would always fight quicker for his
+      friends than for himself, and he felt very tender toward Pink. So he hoped
+      fervently that Harry Conroy had already ridden back whence he came, and
+      there would be no unpleasantness.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Four or five Cross L horses stood meekly before the Come Again Saloon, so
+      Rowdy and Pink added theirs to the gathering and went in. The Silent One
+      looked up from his place at a round table in a far corner, and beckoned.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We need another hand here,&rdquo; he said, when they went over to him. &ldquo;These
+      gentlemen are worried because they might be taken into high society some
+      day, and they would be placed in a very embarrassing position through
+      their ignorance of bridge-whist. I have very magnanimously consented to
+      teach them the rudiments.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Bob Nevin looked up, and then lowered an eyelid cautiously. &ldquo;He's a liar.
+      He offered to learn us how to play it; we bet him the drinks he didn't
+      savvy the game himself. Set down, Pink, and I'll have you for my pretty
+      pardner.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The Silent One shuffled the cards thoughtfully. &ldquo;To make it seem like
+      bona-fide bridge,&rdquo; he began, &ldquo;we should have everybody playing.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Aw, the common, ordinary brand is good enough,&rdquo; protested Bob. &ldquo;I ain't
+      in on any trimmings.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The Silent One smiled ever so slightly. &ldquo;We should have prizes&mdash;or
+      favors. Is there a store in town where one could buy something suitable?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;They got codfish up here; I smelt it,&rdquo; suggested Jim Ellis. Him the
+      Silent One ignored.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What do you say, boys, to a real, high society whist-party? I'll invite
+      the crowd, and be the hostess. And I'll serve punch&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Come on, fellows, and have one with me,&rdquo; called a strange voice near the
+      door.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Meeting's adjourned,&rdquo; cried Jim Ellis, and got up to accept the
+      invitation and range along the bar with the rest. He had not been
+      particularly interested in bridge-whist anyway.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The others remained seated, and the bartender called across to know what
+      they would have. Pink cut the cards very carefully, and did not look up.
+      Rowdy thrust both hands in his pockets and turned his square shoulder to
+      the bar. He did not need to look&mdash;he knew that voice, with its shoddy
+      heartiness.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Men began to observe his attitude, and looked at one another. When one is
+      asked to drink with another, he must comply or decline graciously, if he
+      would not give a direct insult.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Harry Conroy took three long steps and laid a hand on Rowdy's shoulder&mdash;a
+      hand which Rowdy shook off as though it burned. &ldquo;Say, stranger, are you
+      too high-toned t' drink with a common cowpuncher?&rdquo; he demanded sharply.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Rowdy half-turned toward him. &ldquo;No, sir. But I'll be mighty thirsty before
+      I drink with you.&rdquo; His voice was even, but it cut.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The room stilled on the instant; it was as if every man of them had turned
+      to lay figures. Harry Conroy had winced at sight of Rowdy's face&mdash;men
+      saw that, and some of them wondered. Pink leaned back in his chair, every
+      nerve tightened for the next move, and waited. It was Harry&mdash;handsome,
+      sneering, a certain swaggering defiance in his pose&mdash;who first spoke.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh, it's you, is it? I haven't saw yuh for some time. How's
+      bronco-fighting? Gone up against any more contests?&rdquo; He laughed mockingly&mdash;with
+      mouth and eyes maddeningly like Jessie's in teasing mood.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Rowdy could have killed him for the resemblance alone. His lids drooped
+      sleepily over eyes that glittered. Harry saw the sign, read it for danger;
+      but he laughed again.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yuh ought to have seen this bronco-peeler pull leather, boys,&rdquo; he jeered
+      recklessly &ldquo;I like to 'a' died. He got piled up the slickest I ever saw;
+      and there was some feeble-minded Canucks had money up on him, too: He
+      won't drink with me, 'cause I got off with the purse. He's got a grouch&mdash;and
+      I don't know as I blame him; he did get let down pretty hard, for a fact.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Maybe he did pull leather&mdash;but he didn't cut none, like you did, you
+      damn' skunk!&rdquo; It was Pink&mdash;Pink, with big, long-lashed eyes purple
+      with rage, and with a dead-white streak around his mouth, and a gun in his
+      hand.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Harry wheeled toward him, and if a new light of fear crept into his eyes,
+      his lips belied it in a sneer. &ldquo;Two of a kind!&rdquo; he laughed. &ldquo;So that's the
+      story yuh brought over here, is it? Hell of a lot uh good it'll do yuh!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Something in Pink's face warned Rowdy. Harry's face turned watchfully from
+      one to the other. Evidently he considered Pink the more uncertain of the
+      two; and he was quite justified in so thinking. Pink was only waiting for
+      a cue before using his gun; and when Pink once began, there was no telling
+      where or when he would leave off.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      While Harry stood uncertain, Rowdy's fist suddenly spatted against his
+      cheek with considerable force. He tumbled, a cursing heap, against the
+      foot-rail of the bar, scrambled up like a cat&mdash;a particularly vicious
+      cat&mdash;and came at Rowdy murderously. The Come Again would shortly have
+      been filled with the pungent haze of burned powder, only that the
+      bartender was a man-of-action. He hated brawls, and it did not matter to
+      him how just might be the quarrel; he slapped the gaping barrels of a
+      sawed-off shotgun across the bar&mdash;and from the look of it one might
+      imagine many disagreeable things.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Drop it! Cut it out!&rdquo; he bellowed. &ldquo;Yuh ain't going t' make no
+      slaughter-pen out uh this joint, I tell yuh. Put up them guns or else take
+      'em outside. If you fellers are hell-bent on smokin' each other up, they's
+      all kinds uh room outdoors. Git! Vamose! Hike!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Conroy wheeled and walked, straight-backed and venomous, to the door.
+      &ldquo;Come on out, if yuh ain't scared,&rdquo; he sneered. &ldquo;It's two agin' one and
+      then some, by the look uh things. But I'll take yuh singly or in bunches.
+      I'm ready for the whole damn' Cross L bunch uh coyotes. Come on, you
+      white-livered&mdash;!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Rowdy rushed for him, with Pink and the Silent One at his heels. He had
+      forgotten that Harry Conroy ever had a sister of any sort whatsoever. All
+      he knew was that Harry had done him much wrong, of the sort which comes
+      near to being unforgivable, and that he had sneered insults that no man
+      may overlook. All he thought of was to get his hands on him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Outside, the dusky stillness made all sounds seem out of place; the faint
+      starlight made all objects black and unfamiliar. Rowdy stopped, just off
+      the threshold, blinking at the darkness which held his enemy. It was
+      strange that he did not find him at his elbow, he thought&mdash;and a
+      suspicion came to him that Harry was lying in wait; it would be like him.
+      He stepped out of the yellow glare from a window and stood in more
+      friendly shade. Behind him, on the door-step, stood the other two,
+      blinking as he had done.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A form which he did not recognize rushed up out of the darkness and
+      confronted the three belligerently. &ldquo;You're a-disturbin' the peace,&rdquo; he
+      yelled. &ldquo;We don't stand for nothing like that in Camas. You're my
+      prisoners&mdash;all uh yuh.&rdquo; The edict seemed to include even the
+      bartender, peering over the shoulder of Bob Nevin, who struggled with
+      several others for immediate passage through the doorway.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I guess not, pardner,&rdquo; retorted Pink, facing him as defiantly as though
+      the marshal were not twice his size.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The marshal lunged for him; but the Silent One, reaching a long arm from
+      the door-step, rapped him smartly on the head with his gun. The marshal
+      squawked and went down in a formless heap.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Come on, boys,&rdquo; said the Silent One coolly. &ldquo;I think we'd better go. Your
+      friend seems to have vanished in thin air.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Rowdy, grumbling mightily over what looked unpleasantly like retreat, was
+      pushed toward his horse and mounted under protest. Likewise Pink, who was
+      for staying and cleaning up the whole town. But the Silent One was firm,
+      and there was that in his manner which compelled obedience.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Harry Conroy might have been an optical&mdash;and aural&mdash;illusion,
+      for all the trace there was of him. But when the three rode out into the
+      little street, a bullet pinged close to Rowdy's left ear, and the red bark
+      of a revolver spat viciously from a black shadow beside the Come Again.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Rowdy and the two turned and rode back, shooting blindly at the place, but
+      the shadow yawned silently before them and gave no sign. Then the Silent
+      One, observing that the marshal was getting upon a pair of very unsteady
+      legs, again assumed the leadership, and fairly forced Rowdy and Pink into
+      the homeward trail.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0007" id="link2HCH0007">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER 7. Rowdy in a Tough Place.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Rowdy, with nice calculation, met Miss Conroy just as she had left the
+      school-house, and noted with much satisfaction that she was riding alone.
+      Miss Conroy, if she had been at all observant, must have seen the light of
+      some fixed purpose shining in his eyes; for Rowdy was resolved to make her
+      a partner in his dreams of matters domestic. And, of a truth, his easy
+      assurance was the thinnest of cloaks to hide his inner agitation.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The round-up just got in yesterday afternoon,&rdquo; he told her, as he swung
+      into the trail beside her. &ldquo;We're going to start out again to-morrow, so
+      this is about the only chance I'll have to see you for a while.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I knew the round-up must be in,&rdquo; said Miss Conroy calmly. &ldquo;I heard that
+      you were in Camas a night or two ago.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Inwardly, Rowdy dodged. &ldquo;We camped close to Camas,&rdquo; he conceded guardedly.
+      &ldquo;A lot of us fellows rode into town.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, so Harry told me,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;He came over to see me yesterday. He
+      is going to leave&mdash;has already, in fact. He has had a fine position
+      offered him by the Indian agent at Belknap. The agent used to be a friend
+      of father's.&rdquo; She looked at Rowdy sidelong, and then went straight at what
+      was in the minds of both.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I'm sorry to hear, Mr. Vaughan, that you are on bad terms with Harry.
+      What was the trouble?&rdquo; She turned her head and smiled at him&mdash;but the
+      smile did not bring his lips to answer; it was unpleasantly like the way
+      Harry smiled when he had some deviltry in mind.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Rowdy scented trouble and parried. &ldquo;Men can't always get along agreeably
+      together.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And you disagree with a man rather emphatically, I should judge. Harry
+      said you knocked him down.&rdquo; Politeness ruled her voice, but cheeks and
+      eyes were aflame.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I did. And of course he told you how he took a shot at me from a dark
+      corner, outside.&rdquo; Rowdy's eyes, it would seem, had kindled from the fire
+      in hers.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, he didn't&mdash;but I&mdash;you struck him first.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hitting a man with your fist is one thing,&rdquo; said Rowdy with decision.
+      &ldquo;Shooting at him from ambush is another.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Harry shouldn't have done that,&rdquo; she admitted with dignity. &ldquo;But why
+      wouldn't you take a drink with him? Not that I approve of drinking&mdash;I
+      wish Harry wouldn't do such things&mdash;but he said it was an insult the
+      way you refused.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Jessie&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Miss Conroy, please.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Jessie&rdquo;&mdash;he repeated the name stubbornly&mdash;&ldquo;I think we'd better
+      drop that subject. You don't understand the case; and, anyway, I didn't
+      come here to discuss Harry. Our trouble is long standing, and if I
+      insulted him you ought to know I had a reason. I never came whining to you
+      about him, and it don't speak well for him that he hot-footed over to you
+      with his version. I suppose he'd heard about me&mdash;er&mdash;going to
+      see you, and wanted to queer me. I hope you'll take my word for it,
+      Jessie, that I've never harmed him; all the trouble he's made for himself,
+      one way and another.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But what I came over for to-day concerns just you and me. I wanted to
+      tell you that&mdash;to ask you if you'll marry me. I might put it more
+      artistic, Jessie, but that's what I mean, and&mdash;I mean all the things
+      I'd like to say and can't.&rdquo; He stopped and smiled at her, wistfully
+      whimsical. &ldquo;I've been three weeks getting my feelings into proper words,
+      little girl, and coming over here I had a speech thought out that sure
+      done justice to my subject. But all I can remember of it is just that&mdash;that
+      I want you for always.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Miss Conroy looked away from him, but he could see a deeper tint of red in
+      her cheek. It seemed a long time before she said anything. Then: &ldquo;But
+      you've forgotten about Harry. He's my brother, and he'd be&mdash;er&mdash;you
+      wouldn't want him related&mdash;to you.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Harry! Well, I pass him up. I've got a pretty long account against him;
+      but I'll cross it off. It won't be hard to do&mdash;for you. I've thought
+      of all that; and a man can forgive a whole lot in the brother of the woman
+      he loves.&rdquo; He leaned toward her and added honestly: &ldquo;I can't promise you
+      I'll ever get to like him, Jessie; but I'll keep my hands off him, and
+      I'll treat him civil; and when you consider all he's done, that's quite a
+      large-sized contract.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Miss Conroy became much interested in the ears of her horse.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The only thing to decide is whether you like me enough. If you do, we'll
+      sure be happy. Never mind Harry.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You're very generous,&rdquo; she flared, &ldquo;telling me to never mind Harry. And
+      Harry's my own brother, and the only near relative I've got. I know he's&mdash;impulsive,
+      and quick-tempered, perhaps. But he needs me all the more. Do you think
+      I'll turn against him, even for you?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      That &ldquo;even&rdquo; may have been a slip, but it heartened Rowdy immensely. &ldquo;I
+      don't ask you to,&rdquo; he told her gently. &ldquo;I only want you to not turn
+      against me.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I do wish you two would be sensible, and stop quarreling.&rdquo; She glanced at
+      him briefly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I'm willing to cut it out&mdash;I told you that. I can't answer for him,
+      though.&rdquo; Rowdy sighed, wishing Harry Conroy in Australia, or some place
+      equally remote.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Miss Conroy suddenly resolved to be strictly just; and when a young woman
+      sets about being deliberately just, the Lord pity him whom she judges!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Before I answer you, I must know just what all this is about,&rdquo; she said
+      firmly. &ldquo;I want to hear both sides; I'm sure Harry wouldn't do anything
+      mean. Do you think he would?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Rowdy was dissentingly silent.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Do you really, in your heart, believe that Harry would&mdash;knowingly&mdash;be
+      guilty of anything mean?&rdquo; Her eyes plainly told the answer she wanted to
+      hear.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Rowdy looked into them, hesitated, and clung tenaciously to his
+      convictions. &ldquo;Yes, I do; and I know Harry pretty well, Jessie.&rdquo; His face
+      showed how much he hated to say it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I'm afraid you are very prejudiced,&rdquo; she sighed. &ldquo;But go on; tell me just
+      what you have against Harry. I'm sure it can all be explained away, only I
+      must hear what it is.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Rowdy regarded her, puzzled. How he was to comply he did not know. It
+      would be simply brutal to tell her. He would feel like a hangman. And she
+      believed so in Harry, she wouldn't listen; even if she did, he thought
+      bitterly, she would hate him for destroying her faith. A woman's justice&mdash;ah,
+      me!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Don't you see you're putting me in a mighty hard position, girlie?&rdquo; he
+      protested. &ldquo;You're a heap better off not to know. He's your brother. I
+      wish you'd take my word that I'll drop the whole thing right where it is.
+      Harry's had all the best of it, so far; let it stand that way.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Her eyes met his coldly. &ldquo;Are you afraid to let me judge between you? What
+      did he do? Daren't you tell?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Rowdy's lids drooped ominously. &ldquo;If you call that a dare,&rdquo; he said grimly,
+      &ldquo;I'll tell you, fast enough. I was a friend to him when he needed one
+      mighty bad. I helped him when he was dead broke and out uh work. I kept
+      him going all winter&mdash;and to show his gratitude, he gave me the
+      doublecross, in more ways than one. I won't go into details.&rdquo; He decided
+      that he simply could not tell her bluntly that Harry had worked off stolen
+      horses on him, and worse.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh&mdash;you won't go into details!&rdquo; Scorn filled eyes and voice. &ldquo;Are
+      they so trivial, then? You tell me what you did for Harry&mdash;playing
+      Good Samaritan. Harry, let me tell you, has property of his own; I can't
+      see why he should ever be in need of charity. You're like all the rest;
+      you hint things against him&mdash;but I believe it's just jealousy. You
+      can't come out honestly and tell me a single instance where he has harmed
+      you, or done anything worse than other high-spirited young men.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It wouldn't do any good to tell you,&rdquo; he retorted. &ldquo;You think he's just
+      lacking wings to be an angel. I hope to God you'll always be able to think
+      so! I'm sure I don't want to jar your faith.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I must say your actions don't bear out your words. You've just been
+      trying to turn me against him.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I haven't. I've been trying to convince you that I want you, anyway, and
+      Harry needn't come between us.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;In other words, you're willing to overlook my being Harry's sister. I
+      appreciate your generosity, I'm sure.&rdquo; She did not look, however, as if
+      she meant that.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I didn't mean that.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then you won't overlook it? How very unfortunate! Because I can't help
+      the relationship.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Would you, if you could?&rdquo; he asked rashly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Certainly not!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I'm afraid we're getting off the trail,&rdquo; he amended tactfully. &ldquo;I asked
+      you, a while back, if you'd marry me.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And I said I must hear both sides of your trouble with Harry, before I
+      could answer.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What's the use? You'd take his part, anyway.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Not if I found he was guilty of all you&mdash;insinuate. I should be
+      perfectly just.&rdquo; She really believed that.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Can't you tell me yes or no, anyway? Don't let him come between us.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I can't help it. We'd never agree, or be happy. He'd keep on coming
+      between us, whether we meant him to or not,&rdquo; she said dispiritedly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That's a cinch,&rdquo; Rowdy muttered, thinking of Harry's trouble-breeding
+      talents.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then there's no more to be said. Until you and Harry settle your
+      difficulties amicably, or I am convinced that he's in the wrong, we'll
+      just be friends, Mr. Vaughan. Good afternoon.&rdquo; She rode into the Rodway
+      yard, feeling very just and virtuous, no doubt. But she left Rowdy with
+      some rather unpleasant thoughts, and with a sentiment toward her precious
+      brother which was not far from manslaughter.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0008" id="link2HCH0008">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER 8. Pink in a Threatening Mood.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Eagle Creek Smith had at last reached the point where he must face new
+      conditions and change established customs. He could no longer ignore the
+      barrenness of the range, or close his eyes to the grim fact that his
+      cattle were facing starvation&mdash;and that in June, when they should be
+      taking on flesh.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      When he finally did confess to himself that things couldn't go on like
+      that, others had been before him in leasing and buying land, until only
+      the dry benches were left to him and his hungry herds.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But Eagle Creek was a man of resource. When the round-up pulled in and
+      Wooden Shoes reported to him the general state of the cattle, and told of
+      the water-holes newly fenced and of creek bottoms gobbled by men more
+      farseeing than he, Eagle Creek took twenty-four hours to adjust himself to
+      the situation and to meet the crisis before him. His own land, as compared
+      to his twenty thousand cattle, was too pitifully inadequate for a second
+      thought.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He must look elsewhere for the correct answer to his problem.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      When Rowdy rode apathetically up to the stable, Pink came out of the
+      bunk-house to meet him, big with news. &ldquo;Oh, doctor! We're up against it
+      a-plenty now,&rdquo; he greeted, with his dimples at their deepest.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Huh!&rdquo; grunted Rowdy crossly. &ldquo;What's hurting you, Pink?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Forecasting the future,&rdquo; Pink retorted. &ldquo;Eagle Creek has come alive, and
+      has wised up sudden to the fact that this ain't going t' be any Noah's
+      flood brand uh summer, and that his cattle look like the tailings of a
+      wash-board factory. He's got busy&mdash;and we're sure going to. We're due
+      t' hit the grit out uh here in the first beams uh rosy morn, and do a
+      record stunt at gathering cattle.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, we were going to, anyhow,&rdquo; Rowdy cut in.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But that's only the prelude, old-timer. We've got t' take 'em across
+      country to the Belknap reservation. Eagle Creek went t' town and
+      telegraphed, and got the refusal of it for pasturage; he ain't so slow,
+      oncet he gets started. But if you've ever rode over them dried-up benches,
+      you savvy the merry party we'll be when we git there. I've saw
+      jack-rabbits packing their lunch along over there.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Belknap&rdquo;&mdash;Rowdy dropped his saddle spitefully to the ground&mdash;&ldquo;is
+      where our friend Conroy has just gone to fill a splendid position.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Pink thoughtfully blew the ashes from his cigarette. &ldquo;Harry Conroy would
+      fill one position fine. So one uh these days I'll offer it to him. I don't
+      know anybody that'd look nicer in a coffin than that jasper&mdash;and if
+      he's gone t' Belknap, that's likely the position he'll fill, all right.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Rowdy said nothing, but his very silence told Pink much.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;How'd yuh make out with Jessie?&rdquo; Pink asked frankly, though he was not
+      supposed to know where Rowdy had been.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Rowdy knew from experience that it was useless trying to keep anything
+      from Pink that Pink wanted to know; besides, there was a certain comfort
+      in telling his troubles to so stanch a friend. &ldquo;Harry got his work in
+      there, too,&rdquo; he said bitterly. &ldquo;He beat me to her and queered me for good,
+      by the looks.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Huh!&rdquo; said Pink. &ldquo;I wouldn't waste much time worrying over her, if she's
+      that easy turned.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;She's all right,&rdquo; defended Rowdy quickly. &ldquo;I don't know as I blame her;
+      she takes the stand any sister would take. She wants to know all about the
+      trouble&mdash;hear both sides, she said, so she could judge which was to
+      blame. I guess she's got her heart set on being peacemaker. I know one
+      thing: she&mdash;likes me, all right.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I don't see how he queered yuh any, then,&rdquo; puzzled Pink. &ldquo;She sure
+      couldn't take his part after you'd told her all he done.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Rowdy turned on him savagely. &ldquo;You little fool, do you think I told her?
+      Right there's the trouble. He told his story; and when she asked for mine,
+      I couldn't say anything. She's his sister.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You&mdash;didn't&mdash;tell!&rdquo; Pink leaned against the stable and stared.
+      &ldquo;Rowdy Vaughan, there's times when even your friend can't disguise the
+      fact that yuh act plumb batty. Yuh let Harry do yuh dirt that any other
+      man'd 'a' killed him on bare suspicion uh doing; and yuh never told her
+      when she asked yuh to! How yuh lent him money, and let him steal some
+      right out uh your pocket&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I couldn't prove that,&rdquo; Rowdy objected.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And yuh never told her about his cutting your latigo&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh, cut it out!&rdquo; Rowdy glowered down at him. &ldquo;I guess I don't need to be
+      reminded of all those things. But are they the things a man can tell a
+      girl about her brother? Pink, you're about as unfeeling a little devil as
+      I ever run across. Maybe you'd have told her; but I couldn't. So it's all
+      off.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He turned away and stared unseeingly at the rim of hills that hid the
+      place where she lived. She seemed very far away from him just then&mdash;and
+      very, very desirable. He thought then that he had never before realized
+      just how much he cared.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You can jest bet I'd 'a' told her!&rdquo; gritted Pink, watching furtively
+      Rowdy's averted face. &ldquo;She ain't goin' t' be bowed down by no load of
+      ignorance much longer, either. If she don't get Harry Conroy's pedigree
+      straight out, without the varnish, it'll be because I ain't next to all
+      his past.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      But Rowdy, glooming among the debris of certain pet air-castles, neither
+      heard nor wanted to hear Pink's wrathful mutterings. As a matter of fact,
+      it was not till Pink clattered out of the yard on Mascot that he
+      remembered where he was. Even then it did not occur to him to wonder where
+      Pink was going.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0009" id="link2HCH0009">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER 9. Moving the Herd.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Four thousand weary cattle crawled up the long ridge which divides Chin
+      Coulee from Quitter Creek. Pink, riding point, opposite the Silent One,
+      twisted round in his saddle and looked back at the slow-moving river of
+      horns and backs veiled in a gray dust-cloud. Down the line at intervals
+      rode the others, humped listlessly in their saddles, their hat brims
+      pulled low over tired eyes that smarted with dust and wind and burning
+      heat.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Pink sighed, and wished lonesomely that it was Rowdy riding point with
+      him, instead of the Silent One, who grew even more silent as the day
+      dragged leadenly to mid-afternoon; Pink could endure anything better than
+      being left to his thoughts and to the complaining herd for company.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He took off his hat, pushed back his curls&mdash;dripping wet they were
+      and flattened unbecomingly in pasty, yellow rings on his forehead&mdash;and
+      eyed with disfavor a line-backed, dry cow, with one horn tipped rakishly
+      toward her speckled nose; she blinked silently at wind and heat, and
+      forged steadily ahead, up-hill and down coulee, always in the lead, always
+      walking, walking, like an automaton. Her energy, in the face of all the
+      dry, dreary days, rasped Pink's nerves unbearably. For nearly a week he
+      had ridden left point, and always that line-backed cow with the
+      down-crumpled horn walked and walked and walked, a length ahead of her
+      most intrepid followers.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He leaned from his saddle, picked up a rock from the barren, yellow
+      hillside, and threw it at the cow spitefully. The rock bounced off her
+      lean rump; she blinked and broke into a shuffling trot, her dragging hoofs
+      kicking up an extra amount of dust, which blew straight into Pink's face.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Aw, cut it out!&rdquo; he shouted petulantly. &ldquo;You're sure the limit, without
+      doing any stunts at sprinting up-hill. Ain't yuh got any nerves, yuh
+      blamed old skate? Yuh act like it was milkin'-time, and yuh was headed
+      straight for the bars and a bran mash. Can't yuh realize the kind uh deal
+      you're up against? Here's cattle that's got you skinned for looks, old
+      girl, and they know it's coming blamed tough; and you just bat your eyes
+      and peg along like yuh enjoyed it. Bawl, or something, can't yuh? Drop
+      back a foot and act human!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The Silent One looked across at him with a tired smile. &ldquo;Let her go, Pink,
+      and pray for more like her,&rdquo; he called amusedly. &ldquo;There'll be enough of
+      them dropping back presently.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Pink threw one leg over the horn and rode sidewise, made him a cigarette,
+      and tried to forget the cow&mdash;or, at least, to forgive her for not
+      acting as dog-tired as he felt.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      They were on the very peak of the ridge now, and the hill sloped smoothly
+      down before them to the bluff which bounded Quitter Creek. Far down, a
+      tiny black speck in the coulee-bottom, they could see Wooden Shoes riding
+      along the creek-bank, scouting for water. From the way he rode, and from
+      the fact that camp was nowhere in sight, Pink guessed shrewdly that his
+      quest was in vain. He shrugged his shoulders at what that meant, and gave
+      his attention to the herd.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The marching line split at the brow of the bluff. The line-backed cow
+      lowered her head a bit and went unfaltering down the parched,
+      gravel-coated hill, followed by a few hundred of the freshest. Then the
+      stream stopped flowing, and Pink and the Silent One rode back up the bluff
+      to where the bulk of the footsore herd, their senses dulled by hunger and
+      weariness and choking thirst, sniffed at the gravel that promised agony to
+      their bruised feet, and balked at the ordeal. Others straggled up, bunched
+      against the rebels, and stood stolidly where they were.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Pink galloped on down the crawling line. &ldquo;Forward, the Standard Oil
+      Brigade!&rdquo; he yelled whimsically as he went.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The cowboys heard&mdash;and understood. They left their places and went
+      forward at a lope, and Pink rode back to the coulee edge, untying his
+      slicker as he went. The Silent One was already off his horse and shouting
+      hoarsely as he whacked with his slicker at the sulky mass. Pink rode in
+      and did the same. It was not the first time this thing had happened, and
+      from a diversion it was verging closely on the monotonous. Presently, even
+      a rank tenderfoot must have caught the significance of Pink's military
+      expression. The Standard Oil Brigade was at the front in force.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cowboys, swinging five-gallon oil-cans, picked up from scattered sheep
+      camps and carried many a weary mile for just such an emergency, were
+      charging the bunch intrepidly. Others made shift with flat sirup-cans with
+      pebbles inside. A few, like Pink and the Silent One, flapped their
+      slickers till their arms ached. Anything, everything that would make a din
+      and startle the cattle out of their lethargy, was pressed into service.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But they might have been raised in a barnyard and fed cabbage leaves from
+      back door-steps, for all the excitement they showed. Cattle that three
+      months ago&mdash;or a month&mdash;would run, head and tail high in air, at
+      sight of a man on foot, backed away from a rattling, banging cube of
+      gleaming tin, turned and faced the thing dull-eyed and apathetic.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In time, however, they gave way dogedly before the onslaught. A few were
+      forced shrinkingly down the hill; others followed gingerly, until the line
+      lengthened and flowed, a sluggish, brown-red stream, into the coulee and
+      across to Quitter Creek.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Here the leaders were browsing greedily along the banks. They had emptied
+      the few holes that had still held a meager store of brackish water and so
+      the mutinous bulk of the herd snuffed at the trampled, muddy spots and
+      bellowed their disappointment.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Wooden Shoes rode up and surveyed the half maddened animals gloomily.
+      &ldquo;Push 'em on, boys,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;They's nothings for 'em here. I've sent the
+      wagons on to Red Willow; we'll try that next. Push 'em along all yuh can,
+      while I go on ahead and see.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      With tin-cans, slickers, and much vituperation, they forced the herd up
+      the coulee side and strung them out again on trail. The line-backed cow
+      walked and walked in the lead before Pink's querulous gaze, and the others
+      plodded listlessly after. The gray dust-cloud formed anew over their
+      slowmoving backs, and the cowboys humped over in their saddles and rode
+      and rode, with the hot sun beating aslant in their dirt-grimed faces, and
+      with the wind blowing and blowing.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      If this had been the first herd to make that dreary trip, things would not
+      have been quite so disheartening. But it was the third. Seven thousand
+      lean kine had passed that way before them, eating the scant grass growth
+      and drinking what water they could find among those barren, sun-baked
+      coulees.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Cross L boys, on this third trip, were become a jaded lot of
+      hollow-eyed men, whose nerves were rasped raw with long hours and longer
+      days in the saddle. Pink's cheeks no longer made his name appropriate, and
+      he was not the only one who grew fretful over small things. Rowdy had been
+      heard, more than once lately, to anathematize viciously the prairie-dogs
+      for standing on their tails and chipchip-chipping at them as they went by.
+      And though the Silent One did not swear, he carried rocks in his pockets,
+      and threw them with venomous precision at every &ldquo;dog&rdquo; that showed his
+      impertinent nose out of a burrow within range. For Pink, he vented his
+      spleen on the line-backed cow.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      So they walked and walked and walked.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The cattle balked at another hill, and all the tincans and slickers in the
+      crowd could scarcely move them. The wind dropped with the sun, and the
+      clouds glowed gorgeously above them, getting scant notice, except that
+      they told eloquently of the coming night; and there were yet miles&mdash;long,
+      rough, heartbreaking miles&mdash;to put behind them before they could hope
+      for the things their tired bodies craved: supper and dreamless sleep.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      When the last of the herd had sidled, under protest, down the long hill to
+      the flat, dusk was pushing the horizon closer upon them, mile by mile.
+      When they crawled sinuously out upon the welcome level, the hill loomed
+      ghostly and black behind them. A mile out, Wooden Shoes rode out of the
+      gloom and met the point. He turned and rode beside Pink.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yuh'll have t' swing 'em north,&rdquo; he greeted.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Red Willow's dry as hell&mdash;all but in the Rockin' R field. No use
+      askin' ole Mullen to let us in there; we'll just go. I sent the wagons
+      through the fence, an' yuh'll find camp about a mile up from the mouth uh
+      the big coulee. You swing 'em round the end uh this bench, an' hit that
+      big coulee at the head. When you come t' the fence, tear it down. They's
+      awful good grass in that field!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;All right,&rdquo; said Pink cheerfully. It was in open defiance of range
+      etiquette; but their need was desperate. The only thing about it Pink did
+      not like was the long detour they must make. He called the news across to
+      the Silent One, after Wooden Shoes had gone on down the line, and they
+      swung the point gradually to the left.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Before that drive was over, Pink had vowed many times to leave the range
+      forever and never to turn another cow&mdash;besides a good many other
+      foolish things which would be forgotten, once he had a good sleep. And
+      Rowdy, plodding half-way down the herd, had grown exceedingly pessimistic
+      regarding Jessie Conroy, and decided that there was no sense in thinking
+      about her all the time, the way he had been doing. Also, he told himself
+      savagely that if Harry ever crossed his trail again, there would be
+      something doing. This thing of letting a cur like that run roughshod over
+      a man on account of a girl that didn't care was plumb idiotic. And beside
+      him the cattle walked and walked and walked, a dim, moving mass in the
+      quiet July night.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0010" id="link2HCH0010">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER 10. Harry Conroy at Home.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      It was late next morning when they got under way; for they had not reached
+      camp until long after midnight, and Wooden Shoes was determined the cattle
+      should have one good feed, and all the water they wanted, to requite them
+      for the hard drive of the day before.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Pink rode out with Rowdy to the herd&mdash;a heavylidded, gloomy Rowdy he
+      was, and not amiably inclined toward the small talk of the range. But Pink
+      had slept five whole hours and was almost his normal self; which means
+      that speech was not to be denied him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What yuh mourning over?&rdquo; he bantered. &ldquo;Mad 'cause the reservation's so
+      close?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Sure,&rdquo; assented Rowdy, with deep sarcasm.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That's what I thought. Studying up the nicest way uh giving
+      brother-in-law the glad hand, ain't yuh?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He's no relation uh mine&mdash;and never will be,&rdquo; said Rowdy curtly.
+      &ldquo;And I'll thank you, Pink, to drop that subject for good and all.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Down she goes,&rdquo; assented Pink, quite unperturbed. &ldquo;But the cards ain't
+      all turned yet, yuh want to remember, I wouldn't pass on no hand like
+      you've got. If I wanted a girl right bad, Rowdy, I'd wait till I got
+      refused before I'd quit.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Seems to me you've changed your politics lately,&rdquo; Rowdy retorted. &ldquo;A
+      while back you was cussing the whole business; and now you're worse than
+      an old maid aunt. Pink, you may not be wise to the fact, but you sure are
+      an inconsistent little devil.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Are yuh going t' hunt Harry up and&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I thought I told you to drop that.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Did yuh? All right, then&mdash;only I hope yuh didn't leave your gun
+      packed away in your bed,&rdquo; he insinuated.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You can take a look to-night, if you want to.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Pink laughed in a particularly infectious way he had, and, before he quite
+      knew it, Rowdy was laughing, also. After that the world did not look quite
+      so forlorn as it had, nor the day's work so distasteful. So Pink, having
+      accomplished his purpose, was content to turn the subject.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;There's old Liney&rdquo;&mdash;he pointed her out to Rowdy&mdash;&ldquo;fresh as a
+      meadow-lark. I had a big grouch against her yesterday, just because she
+      batted her eyes and kept putting one foot ahead uh the other. I could 'a'
+      killed her. But she's all right, that old girl. The way she led out down
+      that black coulee last night wasn't slow! Say, she's an ambitious old
+      party. I wish you was riding point with me, Rowdy. The Silent One talks
+      just about as much as that old cow. He sure loves to live up to his rep.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh, go on to work,&rdquo; Rowdy admonished. &ldquo;You make me think of a magpie.&rdquo;
+       All the same, he looked after him with smiling lips, and eyes that forgot
+      their gloom. He even whistled while he helped round up the scattered herd,
+      ready for that last day's drive.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Every man in the outfit comforted himself with the thought that it was the
+      last day's drive. After long weeks of trailing lean herds over barren,
+      windbrushed hills, the last day meant much to them. Even the Silent One
+      sang something they had never heard before, about &ldquo;If Only I Knew You Were
+      True.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      They crossed the Rocking R field, took down four panels of fence, passed
+      out, and carefully put them up again behind them. Before them stretched
+      level plain for two miles; beyond that a high, rocky ridge that promised
+      some trouble with the herd, and after that more plain and a couleee or
+      two, and then, on a far slope&mdash;the reservation.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The cattle were rested and fed, and walked out briskly; the ridge neared
+      perceptibly. Pink's shrill whistle carried far back down the line and
+      mingled pleasantly with voices calling to one another across the herd. Not
+      a man was humped listlessly in his saddle; instead, they rode with
+      shoulders back and hats at divers jaunty angles to keep the sun from
+      shining in eyes that faced the future cheerfully.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The herd steadily climbed the ridge, choosing the smoothest path and the
+      easiest slope. Pink assured the line-backed cow that she was a peach, and
+      told her to &ldquo;go to it, old girl.&rdquo; The Silent One's pockets were quite
+      empty of rocks, and the prairiedogs chipped and flirted their funny little
+      tails unassailed. And Rowdy, from wondering what had made Pink change his
+      attitude so abruptly, began to plan industriously the next meeting with
+      Jessie Conroy, and to build a new castle that was higher and airier than
+      any he had ever before attempted&mdash;and perhaps had a more flimsy
+      foundation; for it rested precariously on Pink's idle remarks.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The point gained the top of the ridge, and Pink turned and swung his hat
+      jubilantly at the others. The reservation was in sight, though it lay
+      several miles distant. But in that clear air one could distinguish the
+      line fence&mdash;if one had the eye of faith and knew just where to look.
+      Presently he observed a familiar horseman climbing the ridge to meet them.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Eagle Creek's coming,&rdquo; he shouted to the man behind. &ldquo;Come alive, there,
+      and don't let 'em roam all over the map. Git some style on yuh!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Those who heard laughed; no one ever dreamed of being offended at what
+      Pink said. Those who had not heard had the news passed on to them, in
+      various forms. Wooden Shoes, who had been loitering in the rear gossiping
+      with the men, rode on to meet Smith.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Eagle Creek urged his horse up the last steep place, right in the face of
+      the leaders, which halted and tried to turn back. Pink, swearing in a
+      whisper, began to force them forward.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Let 'em alone,&rdquo; Eagle Creek bellowed harshly. &ldquo;They ain't goin' no
+      farther.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;W-what?&rdquo; Pink stopped short and eyed him critically. Eagle Creek could
+      not justly be called a teetotaler; but Pink had never known him to get
+      worse than a bit wobbly in his legs; his mind had never fogged
+      perceptibly. Still, something was wrong with him, that was certain. Pink
+      glanced dubiously across at the Silent One and saw him shrug his shoulders
+      expressively.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Eagle Creek rode up and stopped within ten feet of the line-backed cow;
+      she seemed hurt at being held up in this manner, Pink thought.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yuh'll have t' turn this herd back,&rdquo; Eagle Creek announced bluntly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Where to?&rdquo; Pink asked, too stunned to take in the meaning of it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;T' hell, I guess. It's the only place I know of where everybody's
+      welcome.&rdquo; Eagle Creek's tone was not pleasant.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We just came from there,&rdquo; Pink said simply, thinking of the horrors of
+      that drive.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Where's Wooden Shoes?&rdquo; snapped the old man; and the foreman's hat-crown
+      appeared at that instant over the ridge.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, we're up against it,&rdquo; Eagle Creek greeted. &ldquo;That damn' agent&mdash;or
+      the fellow he had workin' for him&mdash;reported his renting us pasture.
+      Made the report read about twice as many as we're puttin' on. He's got
+      orders now t' turn out every hoof but what b'longs there.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;My Lord!&rdquo; Wooden Shoes gasped at the catastrophe which faced the Cross L.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That's Harry Conroy's work,&rdquo; Pink cut in sharply' &ldquo;He'd hurt the Cross L
+      if he could, t' spite me and Rowdy. He&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Don't matter&mdash;seein' it's done. Yuh might as well turn the herd
+      loose right here, an' let 'em go t' the devil. I don't know what else t'
+      do with 'em.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Anything gone wrong?&rdquo; It was Rowdy, who had left his place and ridden
+      forward to see what was holding the herd back.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Naw. We're fired off the reservation, is all. We got orders to take the
+      herd to hell. Eagle Creek's leased it. Mr. Satan is going to keep house
+      here in Montana; he says it's better for his trade,&rdquo; Pink informed him, in
+      his girlish treble.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Eagle Creek turned on him fiercely, then thought better of it and grinned.
+      &ldquo;Them arrangements wouldn't make us any worse off'n what we are,&rdquo; he
+      commented. &ldquo;Turn 'em loose, boys.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Man, if yuh turn 'em loose here, the first storm that hits 'em, they all
+      die,&rdquo; Wooden Shoes interposed excitedly. &ldquo;They ain't nothings for 'em. We
+      had t' turn 'em into the Rockin' R field last night, t' git water an'
+      feed. Red Willow's gone dry outside dat field. They ain't&mdash;nothings.
+      They'll die!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Eagle Creek looked at him dully. For the first time in his life he faced
+      utter ruin. &ldquo;Damn 'em, let 'em die, then!&rdquo; he said.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That's what they'll sure do,&rdquo; Wooden Shoes reiterated stubbornly. &ldquo;If
+      they don't git feed and water now, yuh needn't start no round-up next
+      spring.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Pink's eyes went down over the close-huddled backs and the thicket of
+      polished horns, and his eyelids stung. Would all of them die, he wondered!
+      Four thousand! He hoped not. There must be some way out. Down the hill, he
+      knew the cowboys were making cigarettes while they waited and wondered
+      mightily what it was all about If they only knew, he thought, there would
+      be more than one rope ready for Harry Conroy.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;How about the Peck reservation? Couldn't you get them on there?&rdquo; Rowdy
+      ventured.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Not a hoof!&rdquo; growled Eagle Creek, with his chin sunk against his chest.
+      &ldquo;There's thirty thousand Valley County cattle on there now.&rdquo; He looked
+      down at the cattle, as Pink had done. &ldquo;God! It's bad enough t' go broke,&rdquo;
+       he groaned; &ldquo;but t' think uh them poor brutes dyin' off in bunches, for
+      want uh grass an' water! I've run that brand fer over thirty year.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0011" id="link2HCH0011">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER 11. Rowdy Promoted.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Rowdy rode closer. &ldquo;If you don't mind paying duty,&rdquo; he began tentatively,
+      &ldquo;I can put you next to a range over the line, where I'll guarantee feed
+      and water the year round for every hoof you own.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Eagle Creek lifted his head and looked at him &ldquo;Whereabouts?&rdquo; he demanded
+      skeptically.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Up in the Red Deer country. Pink knows the place. There's range a-plenty,
+      and creeks running through that never go dry; and the country isn't
+      stocked and fenced to death, like this is.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And would we be ordered off soon as we got there?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Sure not&mdash;if you paid duty, which would only be about double what
+      you were going to pay for one year's pasture.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Eagle Creek breathed deeply, like a man who has narrowly escaped
+      suffocation. &ldquo;Young man, I b'lieve you're a square dealer, and that yuh
+      savvy the cow business. I've thought it ever since yuh started t' work.&rdquo;
+       His keen old eyes twinkled at the memory of Rowdy's arrival, and Rowdy
+      grinned. &ldquo;I take yuh at your word, and yuh can consider yourself in charge
+      uh this herd as it stands. Take it t' that cow heaven yuh tell about&mdash;and
+      damn it, yuh won't be none the worse for it!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We'll pass that up,&rdquo; said Rowdy quietly. &ldquo;I'll take the herd through,
+      though; and I'd advise you to get the rest on the road as soon as they can
+      be gathered. It's a three-hundred-mile drive.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;All right. From now on it's up to you,&rdquo; Eagle Creek told him briskly.
+      &ldquo;Take 'em back t' the Rockin' R field, and I'll send the wagons back t'
+      you. Old Mullen'll likely make a roar&mdash;but that's most all gove'ment
+      land he's got fenced, so I guess I can calm him down. Will yuh go near the
+      ranch?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I think so,&rdquo; said Rowdy. &ldquo;It will be the shortest way.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, I'll give yuh some blank checks, an' you can load up with grub and
+      anything else yuh need. I'll be over there by the time you are, and fix up
+      that duty business. Wooden Shoes'll have t' get another outfit together,
+      and get another bunch on the trail. One good thing&mdash;I got thirty days
+      t' get off what cattle is on there; and thirty days uh grass and water'll
+      put 'em in good shape for the trip. Wish this bunch was as well fixed.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That's what,&rdquo; Rowdy assented. &ldquo;But I think they'll make it, all right.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I'll likely want yuh to stay up there and keep cases on 'em. Any
+      objections?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Sure not!&rdquo; laughed Rowdy. &ldquo;Only I'll want Pink and the Silent One to stay
+      with me.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Keep what men yuh want. Anything else?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I don't think of anything,&rdquo; said Rowdy. &ldquo;Only I'd like to have a&mdash;talk&mdash;with
+      Conroy.&rdquo; Creek eyed him sharply. &ldquo;Yuh won't be apt t' meet him. Old Bill
+      Brown, up home, would like to see him, too. Bill's a perseverin' old cuss,
+      and wants to see Conroy so bad he's got the sheriff out lookin' for him.
+      It's about a bunch uh horses that was run off, three years ago. Yuh
+      brought one of 'em back into the country last spring, yuh mind.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Rowdy and Pink looked at one another, but said nothing.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Old Bill, he follered your back trail and found out some things he wanted
+      t' know. Conroy got wind of it, though, and he left the agency kind-a
+      suddint. No use yuh lookin' for him.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then we're ready to hit the grit, I guess.&rdquo; Rowdy glanced again at Pink
+      who nodded.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, I ain't stoppin' yuh,&rdquo; Eagle Creek drawled laconically. &ldquo;S'-long,
+      and good luck t' yuh.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He waited while Pink and the Silent One swung the point back down the
+      hill, with Rowdy helping them, quite unmoved by his sudden promotion. When
+      the herd was fairly started on the backward march, Eagle Creek nodded
+      satisfaction the while he pried off a corner of plug-tobacco.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He's all right,&rdquo; he asserted emphatically. &ldquo;That boy suits me, from the
+      ground up. If he don't put that deal through in good shape, it'll be
+      becaus' it can't be did.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Wooden Shoes, with whom Rowdy had always been a prime favorite, agreed
+      with Dutch heartiness. Then, leaving the herd to its new guardian they
+      rode swiftly to overtake and turn back the wagons.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Three hundred miles! And part of it across howling desert!&rdquo; Rowdy drew
+      his brows together. &ldquo;It's a big thing for me, all right, Pink; but it's
+      sure a big contract to take this herd through, if anybody should happen to
+      ask yuh.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh, buck up! You'll make good, all right&mdash;if only these creeks
+      wasn't so bone dry!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, there's water enough in the Rocking R field for to-day; we'll throw
+      'em in there till tomorrow. And I've a notion I can find a better trail
+      across to North Fork than the way we came. I'm going to strike out this
+      afternoon and see, anyway, if Quitter Creek hasn't got water farther up.
+      Once we get up north uh the home ranch, I can see my way clear.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Go to it, boss,&rdquo; Pink cried heartily. &ldquo;I don't see how I'm goin t' keep
+      from sassing yuh, once in a while, though. That's what bothers me. What'll
+      happen if I turn loose on yuh, some time?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You'll get fired, I expect,&rdquo; laughed Rowdy, and rode off to announce the
+      news to the rest of the outfit, who were very unhappy in their
+      mystification.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      If their reception of the change of plans and foreman was a bit profane,
+      and their manner toward him a bit familiar, Rowdy didn't mind. He knew
+      that they did not grudge him his good luck, even while they hated the long
+      drive. He also knew that they watched him furtively; for nothing&mdash;not
+      even misfortune&mdash;is as sure a test of a man's character as success.
+      They liked Rowdy, and they did not believe this would spoil him; still,
+      every man of them was secretly a bit anxious.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      On the trail, he rode in his accustomed place, and, so far as appearances
+      went, the party had no foreman. He went forward and helped Pink take down
+      the fence that had been so carefully put up a few hours before, and he
+      whistled while he put it in place again, just as if he had no
+      responsibility in the world. Then the cattle were left to themselves, and
+      the men rode down to their old campground, marked by empty tin-cans and a
+      trodden place where had been the horse corral.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Rowdy swung down and faced the men gravely. Instinctively they stood at
+      attention, waiting for what he had to say; they felt that the situation
+      was so far out of the ordinary that a few remarks pertaining to their new
+      relations would not be out of place.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He looked them over appraisingly, and met glances as grave as his own.
+      Straight, capable fellows they were, every man of them.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Boys,&rdquo; he began impressively, &ldquo;you all know that from to-day on you're
+      working under my orders. I never was boss of anything but the cayuse I
+      happened to have under me, and I'm going to extract all the honey there is
+      in the situation. Maybe I'll never be boss again&mdash;but at present I'm
+      it. I want you fellows to remember that important fact, and treat me with
+      proper respect. From now on you can call me Mr. Vaughan; 'Rowdy' doesn't
+      go, except on a legal holiday.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Furthermore, I'm not going to get out at daylight and catch up my own
+      horse; I'll let yuh take turns being flunky, and I'll expect yuh to saddle
+      my horse every morning and noon, and bring him to the cook-tent&mdash;and
+      hold my stirrup for me. Also, you are expected, at all times and places,
+      to anticipate my wants and fall over yourselves waiting on me. You're just
+      common, ordinary, forty-dollar cow-punchers, and if I treat yuh white,
+      it's because I pity yuh for not being up where I am. Remember, vassals,
+      that I'm your superior, mentally, morally, socially&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Chap him!&rdquo; yelled Pink, and made for him &ldquo;I'll stand for a lot, but don't
+      yuh ever think I'm a vassal!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Mutiny is strictly prohibited!&rdquo; he thundered. &ldquo;Villains, beware! Gadzooks&mdash;er&mdash;let's
+      have a swim before the wagons come!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      They laughed and made for the creek, feeling rather crestfallen and a bit
+      puzzled.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;If I had an outfit like this to run, and a three hundred-mile drive to
+      make,&rdquo; Bob Nevin remarked to the Silent One, &ldquo;blessed if I'd make a josh
+      of it! I'd cultivate the corrugated brow and the stiff spine&mdash;me!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;My friend,&rdquo; the Silent One responded, &ldquo;don't be too hasty in your
+      judgment. It's because the corrugated brow will come later that he laughs
+      now. You'll presently find yourself accomplishing the impossible in
+      obedience to the flicker of Rowdy Vaughan's eyelids. Man, did you never
+      observe the set of his head, and the look of his eye? Rowdy Vaughan will
+      get more out of this crowd than any man ever did; and if he fails, he'll
+      fail with the band playing 'Hot Time.'&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Maybe so,&rdquo; Bob admitted, not quite convinced; &ldquo;but I wonder if he
+      realizes what he's up against.&rdquo; At which the Silent One only smiled
+      queerly as he splashed into the water.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      After dinner Rowdy caught up the blue roan, which was his favorite for a
+      hard ride&mdash;he seemed to have forgotten his speech concerning
+      &ldquo;flunkies&rdquo;&mdash;and rode away up the coulee which had brought them into
+      the field the night before. The boys watched him go, speculated a lot, and
+      went to sleep as the best way of putting in the afternoon.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Pink, who knew quite well what was in Rowdy's mind, said nothing at all;
+      it is possible that he was several degrees more jealous of the dignity of
+      Rowdy's position than was Rowdy himself, who had no time to think of
+      anything but the best way of getting the herd to Canada. He would like to
+      have gone along, only that Rowdy did not ask him to. Pink assured himself
+      that it was best for Rowdy not to start playing any favorites, and curled
+      down in the bed-tent with the others and went to sleep.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It was late that night when Rowdy crept silently into his corner of the
+      tent; but Pink was awake, and whispered to know if he found water. Rowdy's
+      &ldquo;Yes&rdquo; was a mere breath, but it was enough.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      At sunrise the herd trailed up the Rocking R coulee, and Pink and the
+      Silent One pointed them north of the old trail.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0012" id="link2HCH0012">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER 12. &ldquo;You Can Tell Jessie.&rdquo;
+     </h2>
+    <p>
+      In the days that followed Rowdy was much alone. There was water to hunt,
+      far ahead of the herd, together with the most practicable way of reaching
+      it. He did not take the shortest way across that arid country and leave
+      the next day's camping-place to chance&mdash;as Wooden Shoes had done. He
+      felt that there was too much at stake, and the cattle were too thin for
+      any more dry drives; long drives there were, but such was his generalship
+      that there was always water at the end.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He rode miles and miles that he might have shirked, and he never slept
+      until the next day's move, at least, was clearly defined in his mind and
+      he felt sure that he could do no better by going another route.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      These lonely rides gave him over to the clutch of thoughts he had never
+      before harbored in his sunny nature. Grim, ugly thoughts they were, and
+      not nice to remember afterward. They swung persistently around a central
+      subject, as the earth revolves around the sun; and, like the earth, they
+      turned and turned on the axis of his love for a woman.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In particularly ugly moods he thought that if Harry Conroy were caught and
+      convicted of horsestealing, Jessie must perforce admit his guilt and
+      general unworthiness&mdash;Rowdy called it general cussedness&mdash;and
+      Rowdy be vindicated in her eyes. Then she would marry him, and go with him
+      to the Red Deer country and&mdash;air-castles for miles! When he awoke to
+      the argument again, he would tell himself savagely that if he could, by
+      any means, bring about Conroy's speedy conviction, he would do so.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      This was unlike Rowdy, whose generous charity toward his enemies came near
+      being a fault. He might feel any amount of resentment for wrong done, but
+      cold-blooded revenge was not in him; that he had suffered so much at
+      Conroy's hands was due largely to the fact that Conroy was astute enough
+      to read Rowdy aright, and unscrupulous enough to take advantage. Add to
+      that a smallminded jealousy of Rowdy's popularity and horsemanship, one
+      can easily imagine him doing some rather nasty things. Perhaps the
+      meanest, and the one which rankled most in Rowdy's memory, was the cutting
+      of Rowdy's latigo just before a riding contest, in which the purse and the
+      glory of a championship-belt seemed in danger of going to Rowdy.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Rowdy had got a fall that crippled him for weeks, and Harry had won the
+      purse and belt&mdash;and the enmity of several men better than he. For
+      though morally sure of his guilt, no one could prove that he had cut the
+      strap, and so he got off unpunished, except that Pink thrashed him&mdash;a
+      bit unscientifically, it is true, since he resorted to throwing rocks
+      toward the last, but with a thoroughness worthy even of Pink.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But in moods less ugly he shrank from the hurt that must be Jessie's if
+      she should discover the truth. Jessie's brother a convicted thief serving
+      his sentence in Deer Lodge! The thought was horrible; it was brutal
+      cruelty. If he could only know where to look for that lad, he'd help him
+      out of the country. It was no good shutting him up in jail; that wouldn't
+      help him any, or make him better. He hoped he would get off&mdash;go
+      somewhere, where they couldn't find him, and stay there.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He wondered where he was, and if he had money enough to see him through.
+      He might be no good&mdash;he sure wasn't!&mdash;but he was Jessie's
+      brother, and Jessie believed in him and thought a lot of him. It would be
+      hard lines for that little girl if Harry were caught. Bill Brown, the
+      meddlesome old freak!&mdash;he didn't blame Jessie for not wanting to stop
+      there that night. She did just the right thing.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      With all this going round and round, monotonously persistent in his brain,
+      and with the care of four thousand lean kine and more than a hundred
+      saddle-horses&mdash;to say nothing of a dozen overworked, fretful
+      cow-punchers&mdash;Rowdy acquired the &ldquo;corrugated brow&rdquo; fast enough
+      without any cultivation.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The men were as the Silent One had predicted. They made drives that lasted
+      far into the night, stood guard, and got along with so little sleep that
+      it was scarce worth mention, and did many things that shaved close the
+      impossible&mdash;just because Rowdy looked at them straightly, with
+      half-closed lids, and asked them if they thought they could.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Pink began to speak of their new foreman as &ldquo;Moses&rdquo;; and when the curious
+      asked him why, told them soberly that Rowdy could &ldquo;hit a rock with his
+      quirt and start a creek running bank full.&rdquo; When Rowdy heard that, he
+      thought of the miles of weary searching, and wished that it were true.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      They had left the home ranch a day's drive behind them, and were going
+      north. Rowdy had denied himself the luxury of riding over to see Jessie,
+      and he was repenting the sacrifice in deep gloom and sincerity, when two
+      men rode into camp and dismounted, as if they had a right. The taller one&mdash;with
+      brawn and brain a-plenty, by the look of him&mdash;announced that he was
+      the sheriff, and would like to stop overnight.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Rowdy gave him welcome half-heartedly, and questioned him craftily. A
+      sheriff is not a detective, and does not mind giving harmless information;
+      so Rowdy learned that they had traced Conroy thus far, and believed that
+      he was ahead of them and making for Canada. He had dodged them cleverly
+      two or three times, but now they had reason to believe that he was not
+      more than half a day's ride before them. They wanted to know if the outfit
+      had seen any one that day, or sign of any one having passed that way.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Rowdy shook his head.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I bet it was Harry Conroy driving that little bunch uh horses up the
+      creek, just as we come over the ridge,&rdquo; spoke Pink eagerly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Rowdy could have choked him. &ldquo;He wouldn't be driving a lot of horses,&rdquo; he
+      interposed quickly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, he might,&rdquo; argued Pink. &ldquo;If I was making a quick get-away, and my
+      horse was about played out&mdash;like his was apt t' be&mdash;I'd sure
+      round up the first bunch I seen, and catch me a fresh one&mdash;if I was a
+      horse-thief. I'll bet yuh&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The sheriff had put down his cup of coffee. &ldquo;Is there any place where a
+      man could corral a bunch on the quiet?&rdquo; he asked crisply. It was evident
+      that Pink's theory had impressed him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, there is. There's an old corral up at the ford&mdash;Drowning Ford,
+      they call it&mdash;that I'd use, if it was me. It was an old line camp,
+      and there's a cabin. It's down on the flat by the creek, and it's as
+      God-forsaken a place as a man'd want t' hide in, or t' change mounts.&rdquo;
+       Pink hitched up his chapbelt and looked across at Rowdy. He was aching for
+      a sight of Harry Conroy in handcuffs, and he was certain that Rowdy felt
+      the same. &ldquo;If it was me,&rdquo; he added speculatively, &ldquo;and I thought I was far
+      enough in the lead, I'd stop there till morning.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;How far is it from here?&rdquo; demanded the sheriff, standing up.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Pink told him he guessed it was five miles. Whereupon the sheriff
+      announced his intention of going up there at once, and Pink hinted rather
+      strongly that he would like to go with them. The sheriff did not know
+      Pink; he looked down at his slimness and at the yellow fringe of curls
+      showing under his hat brim, at his pink cheeks and dimples and girlish
+      hands, and threw back his head in a loud ha! ha!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Pink asked him politely, but rather stiffly, what there was funny about
+      it. The sheriff laughed louder and longer; then, being the sort of man who
+      likes a joke now and then, even in the way of business, he solemnly
+      deputized Pink, and patted him on the shoulder and told him gravely that
+      they couldn't possibly do without him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It looked for a minute as if Pink were going at him with his fists&mdash;but
+      he didn't. He reflected that one must not offer violence to an officer of
+      the law, and that, being made a deputy, he would have to go, anyway; so he
+      gritted his teeth and buckled on his gun, and went along sulkily.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      They rode silently, for the most part, and swiftly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Even in the dusk they could see where a band of horses had been driven at
+      a gallop along the creek bank. When they neared the place it was dark.
+      Pink pulled up and spoke for the first time since leaving the tent.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We better tie up our horses here and walk,&rdquo; he said, quite unconscious of
+      the fact that he was usurping the leadership, and thinking only of their
+      quest.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But the sheriff was old at the business, and not too jealous of his
+      position. He signed to his deputy proper, and they dismounted.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      When they started on, Pink was ahead. The sheriff observed that Pink's gun
+      still swung in its scabbard at his hip, and he grinned&mdash;but that was
+      because he didn't know Pink. That the gun swung at his hip would have been
+      quite enough for any one who did know him; it didn't take Pink all day to
+      get into action.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Ten rods from the corral, which they could distinguish as a black blotch
+      in the sparse willow growth, Pink turned and stopped them. &ldquo;I know the
+      layout here,&rdquo; he whispered. &ldquo;I'll just sneak ahead and rubber around. You
+      Rubes sound like the beginning of a stampede, in this brush.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The sheriff had never before been called a Rube&mdash;to his face, at
+      least. The audacity took his breath; and when he opened his mouth for
+      scathing speech, Pink was not there. He had slipped away, like a slim,
+      elusive shadow, and the sheriff did not even know the exact direction of
+      his going. There was nothing for it but to wait.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In five minutes Pink appeared with a silent suddenness that startled them
+      more than they would like to own.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He's somewheres around,&rdquo; he announced, in a murmur that would not carry
+      ten feet. &ldquo;He's got a horse in the corral, and, from the sound, he's got
+      him all saddled; and the gate's tied shut with a rope.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;How d'yuh know?&rdquo; grunted the sheriff crossly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Felt of it, yuh chump. He's turned the bunch loose and kept up a fresh
+      one, like I said he would. It's blame dark, but I could see the horse&mdash;a
+      big white devil. It's him yuh hear makin' all that racket. If he gits away
+      now&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, we didn't come for a chin-whackin' bee,&rdquo; snapped the sheriff. &ldquo;I
+      come out here t' git him.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Pink gritted his teeth again, and wished the sheriff was just a man, so he
+      could lick him. He led them forward without a word, thinking that Rowdy
+      wanted Harry Conroy captured.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The sheriff circled warily the corral, peered through the rails at the
+      great white horse that ran here and there, whinnying occasionally for the
+      band, and heard the creak of leather and the rattle of the bit. Pink was
+      right; the horse was saddled, ready for immediate flight.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Maybe he's in the cabin,&rdquo; he whispered, coming up where Pink stood
+      listening tensely at all the little night sounds. Pink turned and crept
+      silently to the right, keeping in the deepest shade, while the others
+      followed willingly. They were beginning to see the great advantage of
+      having Pink along, even if he had called them Rubes.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The cabin door yawned wide open, and creaked weirdly as the light wind
+      moved it; the interior was black and silent&mdash;suspiciously silent, in
+      the opinion of the sheriff. He waited for some time before venturing in,
+      fearing an ambush. Then he caught the flicker of a shielded match, called
+      out to Conroy to surrender, and leveled his gun at the place.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      There was no answer but the faint shuffle of stealthy feet on the board
+      floor. The sheriff called another warning, cocked his gun&mdash;and came
+      near shooting Pink, who walked composedly out of the door into the
+      sheriff's astonished face. The sheriff had been sure that Pink was just
+      behind him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What the hell,&rdquo; began the sheriff explosively.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He ain't here,&rdquo; said Pink simply. &ldquo;I crawled in the window and hunted the
+      place over.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The sheriff glared at him dumbly; he could not reconcile Pink's daredevil
+      behavior with Pink's innocent, girlish appearance.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I tell yuh the corral's what we want t' keep cases on,&rdquo; Pink added
+      insistently. &ldquo;He's sure somewheres around&mdash;I'd gamble on it. He
+      saddled that horse t' git away on. That horse is sure the key t' this
+      situation, old-timer. If you fellows'll keep cases on the gate, I'll cover
+      the rear.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He made his way quietly to the back of the corral, inwardly much amused at
+      the tractability of the sheriff, who took his deputy obediently to watch
+      the gate.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Pink squatted comfortably in the shade of a willow and wished he dared
+      indulge in a cigarette, and wondered what scheme Harry was trying to play.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Fifty feet away the big white horse still circled round and round,
+      rattling his bridle impatiently and shaking the saddle in an occasional
+      access of rage, and whinnying lonesomely out into the gloom.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      So they waited and waited, and peered into the shadows, and listened to
+      the trampling horse fretting for freedom and his mates.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The cook had just called breakfast when Pink dashed up to the tent, flung
+      himself from his horse, and confronted Rowdy&mdash;a hollow-eyed, haggard
+      Rowdy who had not slept all night, and whose eyes questioned anxiously.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well,&rdquo; Rowdy said, with what passed for composure, &ldquo;did you get him?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Pink leaned against his horse, with one hand reaching up and gripping
+      tightly the horn of the saddle. His cheeks held not a trace of color, and
+      his eyes were full of a great horror.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;They're bringin' him t' camp,&rdquo; he answered huskily. &ldquo;We found a horse&mdash;a
+      big white horse they call the Fern Outlaw&rdquo;&mdash;the Silent One started
+      and came closer, listening intently; evidently he knew the horse&mdash;&ldquo;saddled
+      in the corral, and the gate tied shut. We dubbed around a while, but we
+      didn't find&mdash;Harry. So we camped down by the corral and waited. We
+      set there all night&mdash;and the horse faunching around inside something
+      fierce. When&mdash;it come daybreak&mdash;I seen something&mdash;by the
+      fence, inside. It was&mdash;Harry.&rdquo; Pink shivered and moistened his dry
+      lips. &ldquo;That Fern Outlaw&mdash;some uh the boys know&mdash;is a devil t'
+      mount. He'd got Harry down&mdash;hell, Rowdy! it&mdash;it was sure&mdash;awful.
+      He'd been there all night&mdash;and that horse stomping.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Shut up!&rdquo; Rowdy turned all at once deathly sick. He had once seen a man
+      who had been trampled by a maddened, man-killing horse. It had not been a
+      pretty sight. He sat down weakly and covered his face with his shaking
+      hands.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The others stood around horrified, muttering disjointed, shocked
+      sentences.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Pink lifted his head from where it had fallen upon his arm. &ldquo;One thing,
+      Rowdy&mdash;I done. You can tell Jessie. I shot that horse.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Rowdy dropped his hands and stood up. Yes, he must tell Jessie.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You'll have to take the herd on,&rdquo; he told Pink in his masterful way.
+      &ldquo;I'll catch you to-morrow some time. I've got to go back and tell Jessie.
+      You know the trail I was going to take&mdash;straight across to Wild Horse
+      Lake. From there you strike across to North Fork&mdash;and if I don't
+      overtake you on the way, I'll hit camp some time in the night. It's all
+      plain sailing.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0013" id="link2HCH0013">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER 13. Rowdy Finds Happiness.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Miss Conroy was rather listlessly endeavoring to persuade the First Reader
+      class that &ldquo;catch&rdquo; should not be pronounced &ldquo;ketch,&rdquo; when she saw Rowdy
+      ride past the window. Intuition of something amiss sent her to the door
+      before he reached it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Can't you give the kids a day off?&rdquo; he began, without preface. &ldquo;I've got
+      such a lot to talk about&mdash;and I don't come very often.&rdquo; He thought
+      that his tone was perfectly natural; but all the same she turned white. He
+      rode on to a little tree and tied his horse&mdash;not that it was
+      necessary to tie him, but to avoid questions.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Miss Conroy went in and dismissed the children, although it was only
+      fifteen minutes after nine. They gathered up their lunch-pails and
+      straggled out reluctantly, round-eyed, and curious. Rowdy waited until the
+      last one had gone before he went in. Miss Conroy sat in her chair on the
+      platform, and she was still white; otherwise she seemed to have herself
+      well in hand.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It's about Harry,&rdquo; she asserted, rather sharply.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Have they&mdash;caught him?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Rowdy stopped half-way down the aisle and stared. &ldquo;How did you know they
+      were&mdash;after him?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He came to me night before last, and&mdash;told me.&rdquo; She bit her lip,
+      took firm hold on her honesty and her courage, and went on steadily. &ldquo;He
+      came because he&mdash;wanted money. I've wanted to see you since, to tell
+      you that&mdash;I misjudged you. I know all about your&mdash;trouble, and I
+      want you to know that I think you are&mdash;that you did quite right. You
+      are to understand that I cannot honestly uphold&mdash;Harry. He is&mdash;not
+      the kind of brother&mdash;I thought.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Rowdy went clanking forward till only the table stood between. &ldquo;Did he
+      tell you?&rdquo; he demanded, in a curious, breathless fashion.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, he did not. He denied everything. It was Pink. He told me long ago&mdash;that
+      evening, just after you&mdash;the last time I saw you. I told him he&mdash;lied.
+      I tried not to believe it, but I did. Pink knew I would; he said so. The
+      other night I asked Harry about&mdash;those things he did to you. He lied
+      to me. I'd have forgiven him&mdash;but he lied. I&mdash;can't forgive
+      that. I&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hush!&rdquo; Rowdy threw out a gloved hand quickly. He could not bear to let
+      her go on like that.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She looked up at him, and all at once she was shaking. &ldquo;There's something&mdash;tell
+      me!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;They didn't take him,&rdquo; he said slowly, weighing each word and looking
+      down at her pityingly &ldquo;They never will. He&mdash;had an accident. A horse&mdash;fell
+      with him&mdash;and&mdash;he was dead when they picked him up.&rdquo; It was as
+      merciful a version as he could make it, but the words choked him, even
+      then. &ldquo;Girlie!&rdquo; He went around and knelt, with his arms holding her close.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      After a long while he spoke again, smoothing her hair absently, and never
+      noticing that he had not taken off his gloves. His gray hat was pushed
+      aslant as his head rested against hers.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Perhaps, girlie, it's for the best. We couldn't have saved him from&mdash;the
+      other; and that would have been worse, don't you think? We'll forget all
+      but the good in him&rdquo;&mdash;he could not help thinking that there would not
+      be much to remember&mdash;&ldquo;and I'll get a little home ready, and come back
+      and get you before snow flies&mdash;and&mdash;you'll be kind of happy,
+      won't you?
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Maybe you haven't heard&mdash;but Eagle Creek has made me foreman of his
+      outfit that's going to Canada. It's a good position. I can make you
+      comfortable, girlie&mdash;and happy. Anyway, I'll try, mighty hard. You'll
+      be ready for me when I come&mdash;won't you, girlie?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Miss Conroy raised her face, all tear-stained, but, with the light of
+      happiness fighting the sorrow in her eyes, nodded just enough to make the
+      movement perceptible, and settled her head to a more comfortable
+      nestling-place on his shoulder.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+
+
+
+
+
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+Project Gutenberg's Rowdy of the Cross L, by B.M. Sinclair, AKA B.M. Bower
+
+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: Rowdy of the Cross L
+
+Author: B.M. Sinclair, AKA B.M. Bower
+
+Posting Date: November 7, 2008 [EBook #1907]
+Release Date: September, 1999
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ROWDY OF THE CROSS L ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Mary Starr
+
+
+
+
+
+ROWDY OF THE "CROSS L."
+
+By B.M. Sinclair (AKA B. M. Bower)
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+     1. Lost in a Blizzard
+     2. Miss Conroy Refuses Shelter
+     3. Rowdy Hires a New Boss
+     4. Pink as "Chappyrone"
+     5. At Home at Cross L
+     6. A Shot From the Dark
+     7. Rowdy in a Tough Place
+     8. Pink in a Threatening Mood
+     9. Moving the Herd
+     10. Harry Conroy at Home
+     11. Rowdy Promoted
+     12. "You Can Tell Jessie"
+     13. Rowdy Finds Happiness
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 1. Lost in a Blizzard.
+
+"Rowdy" Vaughan--he had been christened Rowland by his mother, and
+rechristened Rowdy by his cowboy friends, who are prone to treat with
+much irreverence the names bestowed by mothers--was not happy. He stood
+in the stirrups and shook off the thick layer of snow which clung, damp
+and close-packed, to his coat. The dull yellow folds were full of it;
+his gray hat, pulled low over his purple ears, was heaped with it. He
+reached up a gloved hand and scraped away as much as he could, wrapped
+the long-skirted, "sour-dough" coat around his numbed legs, then settled
+into the saddle with a shiver of distaste at the plight he was in, and
+wished himself back at the Horseshoe Bar.
+
+Dixie, standing knee-deep in a drift, shook himself much after the
+manner of his master; perhaps he, also, wished himself back at the
+Horseshoe Bar. He turned his head to look back, blinking at the snow
+which beat insistently in his eyes; he could not hold them open long
+enough to see anything, however, so he twitched his ears pettishly and
+gave over the attempt.
+
+"It's up to you, old boy," Rowdy told him resignedly. "I'm plumb lost; I
+never was in this damn country before, anyhow--and I sure wish I wasn't
+here now. If you've any idea where we're at, I'm dead willing to have
+you pilot the layout. Never mind Chub; locating his feed when it's stuck
+under his nose is his limit."
+
+Chub lifted an ear dispiritedly when his name was spoken; but, as was
+usually the case, he heard no good of himself, and dropped his head
+again. No one took heed of him; no one ever did. His part was to carry
+Vaughan's bed, and to follow unquestionably where Vaughan and Dixie
+might lead. He was cold and tired and hungry, but his faith in his
+master was strong; the responsibility of finding shelter before the dark
+came down rested not with him.
+
+Vaughan pressed his chilled knees against Dixie's ribs, but the hand
+upon the reins was carefully non-committal; so that Dixie, having no
+suggestion of his master's wish, ventured to indulge his own. He turned
+tail squarely to the storm and went straight ahead. Vaughan put his
+hands deep into his pockets, snuggled farther down into the sheepskin
+collar of his coat, and rode passive, enduring.
+
+They brought up against a wire fence, and Vaughan, rousing from his
+apathy, tried to peer through the white, shifting wall of the storm.
+"You're a swell guide--not," he remarked to the horse. "Now you, you
+hike down this fence till you locate a gate or a corner, or any darned
+thing; and I don't give a cuss if the snow does get in your eyes. It's
+your own fault."
+
+Dixie, sneezing the snow from his nostrils, turned obediently; Chub,
+his feet dragging wearily in the snow, trailed patiently behind. Half an
+hour of this, and it seemed as if it would go on forever.
+
+Through the swirl Vaughan could see the posts standing forlornly in
+the snow, with sixteen feet of blizzard between; at no time could he
+distinguish more than two or three at once, and there were long minutes
+when the wall stood, blank and shifting, just beyond the first post.
+
+Then Dixie lifted his head and gazed questioningly before him, his ears
+pointed forward--sentient, strained--and whinnied shrill challenge.
+He hurried his steps, dragging Chub out of the beginnings of a dream.
+Vaughan straightened and took his hands from his pockets.
+
+Out beyond the dim, wavering outline of the farthest post came answer
+to the challenge. A mysterious, vague shape grew impalpably upon the
+strained vision; a horse sneezed, then nickered eagerly. Vaughan drew up
+and waited.
+
+"Hello!" he called cheerfully. "Pleasant day, this. Out for your
+health?"
+
+The shape hesitated, as though taken aback by the greeting, and there
+was no answer. Vaughan, puzzled, rode closer.
+
+"Say, don't talk so fast!" he yelled. "I can't follow yuh."
+
+"Who--who is it?" The voice sounded perturbed; and it was, moreover, the
+voice of a woman.
+
+Vaughan pulled up short and swore into his collar. Women are not, as a
+rule, to be met out on the blank prairie in a blizzard. His voice, when
+he spoke again, was not ironical, as it had been; it was placating.
+
+"I beg your pardon," he said. "I thought it was a man. I'm looking for
+the Cross L; you don't happen to know where it is, do yuh?"
+
+"No--I don't," she declared dismally. "I don't know where any place is.
+I'm teaching school in this neighborhood--or in some other. I was going
+to spend Sunday with a friend, but this storm came up, and I'm--lost."
+
+"Same here," said Rowdy pleasantly, as though being lost was a matter
+for congratulation.
+
+"Oh! I was in hopes--"
+
+"So was I, so we're even there. We'll have to pool our chances, I guess.
+Any gate down that way--or haven't you followed the fence?"
+
+"I followed it for miles and miles--it seemed. It must be some big field
+of the Cross L; but they have so very many big fields!"
+
+"And you couldn't give a rough guess at how far it is to the Cross
+L?"--insinuatingly.
+
+He could vaguely see her shake of head. "Ordinarily it should be about
+six miles beyond Rodway's, where I board. But I haven't the haziest idea
+of where Rodway's place is, you see; so that won't help you much. I'm
+all at sea in this snow." Her voice was rueful.
+
+"Well, if you came up the fence, there's no use going back that way; and
+there's sure nothing made by going away from it.--that's the way I came.
+Why not go on the way you're headed?"
+
+"We might as well, I suppose," she assented; and Rowdy turned and rode
+by her side, grateful for the plurality of the pronoun which tacitly
+included him in her wanderings, and meditating many things. For one, he
+wondered if she were as nice a girl as her voice sounded. He could not
+see much of her face, because it was muffled in a white silk scarf. Only
+her eyes showed, and they were dark and bright.
+
+When he awoke to the fact that the wind, grown colder, beat upon her
+cruelly, he dropped behind a pace and took the windy side, that he might
+shield her with his body. But if she observed the action she gave no
+sign; her face was turned from him and the wind, and she rode without
+speaking. After long plodding, the line of posts turned unexpectedly a
+right angle, and Vaughan took a long, relieved breath.
+
+"We'll have the wind on our backs now," he remarked. "I guess we may as
+well keep on and see where this fence goes to."
+
+His tone was too elaborately cheerful to be very cheering. He was
+wondering if the girl was dressed warmly. It had been so warm and sunny
+before the blizzard struck, but now the wind searched out the thin
+places in one's clothing and ran lead in one's bones, where should be
+simply marrow. He fancied that her voice, when she spoke, gave evidence
+of actual suffering--and the heart of Rowdy Vaughan was ever soft toward
+a woman.
+
+"If you're cold," he began, "I'll open up my bed and get out a blanket."
+He held Dixie in tentatively.
+
+"Oh, don't trouble to do that," she protested; but there was that in her
+voice which hardened his impulse into fixed resolution.
+
+"I ought to have thought of it before," he lamented, and swung down
+stiffly into the snow.
+
+Her eyes followed his movement with a very evident interest while
+he unbuckled the pack Chub had carried since sunrise and drew out a
+blanket.
+
+"Stand in your stirrup," he commanded briskly "and I'll wrap you up.
+It's a Navajo, and the wind will have a time trying to find a thin
+spot."
+
+"You're thoughtful." She snuggled into it thankfully. "I was cold."
+
+Vaughan tucked it around her with more care than haste. He was pretty
+uncomfortable himself, and for that reason he was the more anxious
+that the girl should be warm. It came to him that she was a cute little
+schoolma'am, all right; he was glad she belonged close around the Cross
+L. He also wished he knew her name--and so he set about finding it out,
+with much guile.
+
+"How's that?" he wanted to know, when he had made sure that her
+feet--such tiny feet--were well covered. He thought it lucky that she
+did not ride astride, after the manner of the latter-day young woman,
+because then he could not have covered her so completely. "Hold on! That
+windy side's going to make trouble." He unbuckled the strap he wore
+to hold his own coat snug about him, and put it around the girl's slim
+waist, feeling idiotically happy and guilty the while. "It don't come
+within a mile of you," he complained; "but it'll help some."
+
+Sheltered in the thick folds of the Navajo, she laughed, and the sound
+of it sent the blood galloping through Rowdy Vaughan's body so that he
+was almost warm. He went and scraped the snow out of his saddle, and
+swung up, feeling that, after all, there are worse things in the
+world than being lost and hungry in a blizzard, with a sweet-voiced,
+bright-eyed little schoolma'am who can laugh like that.
+
+"I don't want to have you think I may be a bold, bad robber-man," he
+said, when they got going again. "My name's Rowdy Vaughan--for which I
+beg your pardon. Mother named me Rowland, never knowing I'd get out here
+and have her nice, pretty name mutilated that way. I won't say that my
+behavior never suggested the change, though. I'm from the Horseshoe
+Bar, over the line, and if I have my way, I'll be a Cross L man before
+another day." Then he waited expectantly.
+
+"For fear you may think I'm a--a robber-woman," she answered him
+solemnly--he felt sure her eyes twinkled, if only he could have seen
+them--"I'm Jessie Conroy. And if you're from over the line, maybe you
+know my brother Harry. He was over there a year or two."
+
+Rowdy hunched his shoulders--presumably at the wind. Harry Conroy's
+sister, was she? And he swore. "I may have met him," he parried, in a
+tone you'd never notice as being painstakingly careless. "I think I did,
+come to think of it."
+
+Miss Conroy seemed displeased, and presently the cause was forthcoming.
+"If you'd ever met him," she said, "you'd hardly forget him."
+(Rowdy mentally agreed profanely.) "He's the best rider in the whole
+country--and the handsomest. He--he's splendid! And he's the only
+brother I've got. It's a pity you never got acquainted with him."
+
+"Yes," lied Rowdy, and thought a good deal in a very short time. Harry
+Conroy's sister! Well, she wasn't to blame for that, of course; nor for
+thinking her brother a white man. "I remember I did see him ride once,"
+he observed. "He was a whirlwind, all right--and he sure was handsome,
+too."
+
+Miss Conroy turned her face toward him and smiled her pleasure, and
+Rowdy hovered between heaven and--another place. He was glad she
+smiled, and he was afraid of what that subject might discover for his
+straightforward tongue in the way of pitfalls. It would not be nice to
+let her know what he really thought of her brother.
+
+"This looks to me like a lane," he said diplomatically. "We must be
+getting somewhere; don't you recognize any landmarks?"
+
+Miss Conroy leaned forward and peered through the clouds of snow dust.
+Already the night was creeping down upon the land, stealthily turning
+the blank white of the blizzard into as blank a gray--which was as near
+darkness as it could get, because of the snow which fell and fell,
+and yet seemed never to find an abiding-place, but danced and swirled
+giddily in the wind as the cold froze it dry. There would be no more
+damp, clinging masses that night; it was sifting down like flour from a
+giant sieve; and of the supply there seemed no end.
+
+"I don't know of any lanes around here," she began dubiously, "unless
+it's--"
+
+Vaughan looked sharply at her muffled figure and wondered why she
+broke off so suddenly. She was staring hard at the few, faint traces of
+landmarks; and, bundled in the red-and-yellow Navajo blanket, with her
+bright, dark eyes, she might easily have passed for a slim young squaw.
+
+Out ahead, a dog began barking vaguely, and Rowdy turned eagerly to
+the sound. Dixie, scenting human habitation, stepped out more briskly
+through the snow, and even Chub lifted an ear briefly to show he heard.
+
+"It may not be any one you know," Vaughan remarked, and his voice showed
+his longing; "but it'll be shelter and a warm fire--and supper. Can you
+appreciate such blessings, Miss Conroy? I can. I've been in the saddle
+since sunrise; and I was so sure I'd strike the Cross L by dinner-time
+that I didn't bring a bite to eat. It was a sheep-camp where I stopped,
+and the grub didn't look good to me, anyway--I've called myself bad
+names all the afternoon for being more dainty than sensible. But it's
+all right now, I guess."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 2. Miss Conroy Refuses Shelter.
+
+The storm lifted suddenly, as storms have a way of doing, and a low,
+squat ranch-house stood dimly revealed against the bleak expanse of
+wind-tortured prairie. Rowdy gave an exultant little whoop and made for
+the gate, leaned and swung it open and rode through, dragging Chub after
+him by main strength, as usual. When he turned to close the gate after
+Miss Conroy he found her standing still in the lane.
+
+"Come on in," he called, with a trace of impatience born of his
+weariness and hunger.
+
+"Thank you, no." Miss Conroy's voice was as crisply cold as the wind
+which fluttered the Navajo blanket around her face. "I much prefer the
+blizzard."
+
+
+For a moment Rowdy found nothing to say; he just stared. Miss Conroy
+shifted uneasily in the saddle.
+
+"This is old Bill Brown's place," she explained reluctantly. "He--I'd
+rather freeze than go in!"
+
+"Well, I guess that won't be hard to do," he retorted curtly, "if you
+stay out much longer."
+
+The dog was growing hysterical over their presence, and Bill Brown
+himself came out to see what it was all about. He could see two dim
+figures at the gate.
+
+"Hello!" he shouted. "Why don't yuh come on in? What yuh standing there
+chewing the rag for?"
+
+Vaughan hesitated, his eyes upon Miss Conroy.
+
+"Go in," she commanded imperiously, quite as if he were a refractory
+pupil. "You're tired out, and hungry. I'm neither. Besides, I know where
+I am now. I can find my way without any trouble. Go in, I tell you!"
+
+But Rowdy stayed where he was, with the gate creaking to and fro between
+them. Dixie circled till his back was to the wind. "I hope you don't
+think you're going to mill around out here alone," Rowdy said tartly.
+
+"I can manage very well. I'm not lost now, I tell you. Rodway's is only
+three miles from here, and I know the direction."
+
+Bill Brown waded out to them, wondering what weighty discussion was
+keeping them there in the cold. Vaughan he passed by with the cursory
+glance of a disinterested stranger, and went on to where Miss Conroy
+waited stubbornly in the lane.
+
+"Oh, it's you!" he said grimly. "Well, come in and thaw out; I hope yuh
+didn't think yuh wouldn't be welcome yuh knew better. You got lost, I
+reckon. Come on--"
+
+Miss Conroy struck Badger sharply across the flank and disappeared into
+the night. "When I ask shelter of you," she flung back, "you'll know
+it."
+
+Rowdy started after, and met Bill Brown squarely in the gate. Bill eyed
+him sharply. "Say, young fellow, how'd you come by that packhorse?" he
+demanded, as Chub brushed past him.
+
+"None of your damn' business," snapped Rowdy, and drove the spurs into
+Dixie's ribs. But Chub was a handicap at any time; now, when he was
+tired, there was no getting anything like speed out of him; he clung to
+his shuffling trot, which was really no better than a walk. After
+five minutes spent alternately in spurring Dixie and yanking at Chub's
+lead-rope, Rowdy grew frightened and took to shouting. While they were
+in the lane Miss Conroy must perforce ride straight ahead, but the lane
+would not last always. As though with malicious intent, the snow swooped
+down again and the world became an unreal, nightmare world, wherein was
+nothing save shifting, blinding snowfloury and wind and bitter, numbing
+cold.
+
+Rowdy stood in his stirrups, cupped his chilled fingers around his
+numbed lips, and sent a longdrawn "Who-ee!" shrilling weirdly into the
+night.
+
+It seemed to him, after long listening, that from the right came faint
+reply, and he turned and rode recklessly, swearing at Chub for
+his slowness. He called again, and the answer, though faint, was
+unmistakable. He settled heavily into the saddle--too weak, from sheer
+relief, to call again. He had not known till then just how frightened he
+had been, and he was somewhat disconcerted at the discovery. In a minute
+the reaction passed and he shouted a loud hello.
+
+"Hello?" came the voice of Miss Conroy, tantalizingly calm, and as
+superior as the greeting of Central. "Were you looking for me, Mr.
+Vaughan?"
+
+She was close to him--so close that she had not needed to raise her
+voice perceptibly. Rowdy rode up alongside, remembering uncomfortably
+his prolonged shouting.
+
+"I sure was," he admitted. And then: "You rode off with my blanket on."
+He was very proud of his matter-of-fact tone.
+
+"Oh!" Miss Conroy was almost deceived, and a bit disappointed. "I'll
+give it to you now, and you can go back--if you know the way."
+
+"No hurry," said Rowdy politely. "I'll go on and see if you can find a
+place that looks good to you. You seem pretty particular."
+
+Miss Conroy may have blushed, in the shelter of the blanket. "I suppose
+it did look strange to you," she confessed, but defiantly. "Bill Brown
+is an enemy to--Harry. He--because he lost a horse or two out of a
+field, one time, he--he actually accused Harry of taking them! He lied,
+of course, and nobody believed him; nobody could believe a thing like
+that about Harry. It was perfectly absurd. But he did his best to
+hurt Harry's name, and I would rather freeze than ask shelter of him.
+Wouldn't you--in my place, I mean?"
+
+"I always stand up for my friends," evaded Rowdy. "And if I had a
+brother--"
+
+"Of course you'd be loyal," approved Miss Conroy warmly. "But I didn't
+want you to come on; it isn't your quarrel. And I know the way now. You
+needn't have come any farther."
+
+"You forgot the blanket," Rowdy reminded wickedly. "I think a lot of
+that Navajo."
+
+"You insisted upon my taking it," she retorted, and took refuge in
+silence.
+
+For a long hour they plodded blindly. Rowdy beat his hands often about
+his body to start the blood, and meditated yearnigly upon hot coffee
+and the things he liked best to eat. Also, a good long pull at a
+flask wouldn't be had, either, he thought. And he hoped this little
+schoolma'am knew where she was going--truth to tell, he doubted it.
+
+After a while, it seemed that Miss Conroy doubted it also. She took
+to leaning forward and straining her eyes to see through the gray wall
+before.
+
+"There should be a gate here," she said dubiously, at last.
+
+"It seems to me," Rowdy ventured mildly, "if there were a gate, it would
+have some kind of a fence hitched to it; wouldn't it?"
+
+Miss Conroy was in no mood for facetiousness, and refused to answer his
+question. "I surely can't have made a mistake," she observed uneasily.
+
+"It would be a wonder if you didn't, such a night as this," he consoled.
+"I wouldn't bank on traveling straight myself, even if I knew the
+country--which I don't. And I've been in more blizzards than I'm years
+old."
+
+"Rodway's place can't be far away," she said, brightening. "It may be
+farther to the east; shall we try that way--if you know which is east?"
+
+"Sure, we'll try. It's all we can do. My packhorse is about all in, from
+the way he hangs back; if we don't strike something pretty soon I'll
+have to turn him loose."
+
+"Oh, don't do that," she begged. "It would be too cruel. We're sure to
+reach Rodway's very soon."
+
+More plodding through drifts high and drifts low; more leaning from
+saddles to search anxiously for trace of something besides snow and wind
+and biting cold. Then, far to the right, a yellow eye glowed briefly
+when the storm paused to take breath. Miss Conroy gave a glad little cry
+and turned Badger sharply.
+
+"Did you see? It was the light from a window. We were going the wrong
+way. I'm sure that is Rodway's."
+
+Rowdy thanked the Lord and followed her. They came up against a fence,
+found a gate, and passed through. While they hurried toward it, the
+light winked welcome; as they drew near, some one stirred the fire and
+sent sparks and rose-hued smoke rushing up into the smother of snow.
+Rowdy watched them wistfully, and wondered if there would be supper, and
+strong, hot coffee. He lifted Miss Conroy out of the saddle, carried
+her two long strides, and deposited her upon the door-step; rapped
+imperatively, and when a voice replied, lifted the latch and pushed her
+in before him.
+
+For a minute they stood blinking, just within the door. The change
+from numbing cold and darkness to the light of the overheated room was
+stupefying.
+
+Then Miss Conroy went over and held her little, gloved hands to the
+heat of the stove, but she did not take the chair which some one pushed
+toward her. She stood, the blanket shrouding her face and her slim young
+figure, and looked about her curiously. It was not Rodway's house, after
+all. She thought she knew what place it was--the shack where Rodway's
+hay-balers bached.
+
+From the first, Rowdy did not like the look of things--though for
+himself it did not matter; he was used to such scenes. It was the
+presence of the girl which made him uncomfortable. He unbuttoned his
+coat that the warmth might reach his chilled body, and frowned.
+
+Four men sat around a small, dirty table; evidently the arrivals had
+interrupted an exciting game of seven-up. A glance told Rowdy, even
+if his nose had not, that the four round, ribbed bottles had not been
+nearly emptied without effect.
+
+"Have one on the house," the man nearest him cried, and shoved a bottle
+toward him.
+
+Involuntarily Rowdy reached for it. Now that he was inside, he realized
+all at once how weary he was, and cold and hungry. Each abused muscle
+and nerve seemed to have a distinct grievance against him. His fingers
+closed around the bottle before he remembered and dropped it. He looked
+up, hoping Miss Conroy had not observed the action; met her wide,
+questioning eyes, and the blood flew guiltily to his cheeks.
+
+"Thanks, boys--not any for me," he said, and apologized to Miss Conroy
+with his eyes.
+
+The man rose and confronted him unsteadily. "Dat's a hell off a way! You
+too proud for drink weeth us? You drink, now! By Gar, I make you drink!"
+
+Rowdy's eyelids drooped, which was a bad sign for those who knew him.
+"You're forgetting there's a lady present," he reminded warningly.
+
+The man turned a brief, contemptuous glance toward the stove. "You got
+the damn' queer way to talk. I don't call no squaw no lady. You drink
+queeck, now!"
+
+"Aw, shut up, Frenchy," the man at his elbow abjured him. "He don't have
+to drink if he don't want to."
+
+"You keep the face close," the other retorted majestically; and cursed
+loud and long and incoherently.
+
+Rowdy drew back his arm, with a fist that meant trouble for somebody;
+but there were others before him who pinned the importunate host to the
+table, where he squirmed unavailingly.
+
+Rowdy buttoned up his coat the while he eyed the group disgustedly. "I
+guess we'll drift," he remarked. "You don't look good to me, and that's
+no dream."
+
+"Aw, stay and warm up," the fourth man expostulated. "Yuh don't need t'
+mind Le Febre; he's drunk."
+
+But Rowdy opened the door decisively, and Miss Conroy, her cheeks
+like two storm-buffeted poppies, followed him out with dignity--albeit
+trailing a yard of red-and-yellow Navajo blanket behind her. Rowdy
+lifted her into the saddle, tucked her feet carefully under the blanket,
+and said never a word.
+
+"Mr. Vaughan," she began hesitatingly, "this is too bad; you need not
+have left. I--I wasn't afraid."
+
+"I know you weren't," conceded Rowdy. "But it was a hard formation--for
+a woman. Are there any more places on this flat marked Unavailable?"
+
+Miss Conroy replied misanthropically that if there were they would be
+sure to find them.
+
+They took up their weary wanderings again, while the yellow eye of the
+window winked after them. They missed Rodway's by a scant hundred yards,
+and didn't know it, because the side of the house next them had no
+lighted windows. They traveled in a wide, half circle, and thought that
+they were leaving a straight trail behind them. More than once Rowdy was
+urged by his aching arm to drop the lead-rope and leave Chub to shift
+by himself, but habit was strong and his heart was soft. Then he felt an
+odd twitching at the lead-rope, as if Chub were minded to rebel against
+their leadership. Rowdy yanked him into remembrance of his duty, and
+wondered. Bill Brown's question came insistently to mind; he wondered
+the more.
+
+Two minutes and the lead-rope was sawing against the small of his back
+again. Rowdy turned Dixie's head, and spoke for the first time in an
+hour.
+
+"My packhorse seems to have an idea about where he wants to go," he
+said. "I guess we might as well follow him as anybody; he ain't often
+taken with a rush of brains to the head. And we can't be any worse lost
+than we are now, can we?"
+
+Miss Conroy said no dispiritedly, and they swung about and followed
+Chub's leadership apathetically. It took Chub just five minutes to
+demonstrate that he knew what he was about. When he stopped, it was with
+his nose against a corral gate; not content with that, he whinnied, and
+a new, exultant note was in the sound. A deep-voiced dog bayed loudly,
+and a shrill yelp cut in and clamored for recognition.
+
+Miss Conroy gasped. "It's Lion and Skeesicks. We're at Rodway's, Mr.
+Vaughan."
+
+Rowdy, for the second time, thanked the Lord. But when he was stripping
+the pack off Chub's back, ten minutes later, he was thinking many things
+he would not have cared to say aloud. It might be all right, but it sure
+was strange, he told himself, that Chub belonged here at Rodway's when
+Harry Conroy claimed that he was an Oregon horse. Rowdy had thought his
+account against Harry Conroy long enough, but it looked now as though
+another item must be added to the list. He went in and ate his supper
+thoughtfully, and when he got into bed he did not fall asleep within two
+minutes, as he might be expected to do. His last conscious thought was
+not of stolen horses, however. It was: "And she's Harry Conroy's sister!
+Now, what do you think of that? But all the same, she's sure a nice
+little schoolma'am."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 3. Rowdy Hires a New Boss.
+
+Next morning, after breakfast, Mr. Rodway followed Vaughan out to the
+stable, and repeated Bill Brown's question.
+
+"I'd like to know where yuh got this horse," he began, with an
+apologetic sort of determination in his tone. "He happens to belong to
+me. He was run off with a bunch three years ago, and this is the first
+trace anybody has ever got of 'em. I see the brand's been worked. It was
+a Roman four--that's my brand; now it looks like a map of Texas; but I'd
+swear to the horse--raised him from a colt."
+
+Rowdy had expected something of the sort, and he knew quite well what he
+was going to do; he had settled that the night before, with the memory
+of Miss Conroy's eyes fresh in his mind.
+
+"I got him in a deal across the line," he said. "I was told he came from
+east Oregon. But last night, when he piloted us straight to your corral
+gate, I guessed he'd been here before. He's yours, all right, if you say
+so."
+
+"Uh course he ain't worth such a pile uh money," apologized Rodway, "but
+the kids thought a heap of him. I'd rather locate some of the horses
+that was with him--or the man yuh got him of. They was some mighty good
+horses run out uh this country then, but they was all out on the range,
+so we didn't miss 'em in time to do any good. Do yu know who took 'em
+across the line?"
+
+"No," said Rowdy deliberately. "The man I got Chub from went north, and
+I heard he got killed. I don't know of any other in the deal."
+
+Rodway grunted, and Vaughan began vigorously brushing Dixie's roughened
+coat. "If you don't mind," he said, after a minute, "I'd like to borrow
+Chub to pack my bed over to the Cross L. I can bring him back again."
+
+"Why, sure!" assented Rodway eagerly. "I hate to take him from yuh, but
+the kids--"
+
+"Oh, that's all right," interrupted Rowdy cheerfully. "It's all in the
+game, and I should 'a' looked up his pedigree, for I knew--. Anyway, was
+worth the price of him to have him along last night. We'd have milled
+around till daylight, I guess, only for him."
+
+"That's what," agreed Rodway. "Jessie's horse is one she brought from
+home lately, and he ain't located yet; I dunno as he'd 'a' piloted her
+home. Billy--that's what the kids named him--was born and raised here,
+yuh see. I'll bet he's glad to get back--and the kids'll be plumb wild."
+
+Rowdy did not answer; there seemed nothing in particular to say, and he
+was wondering if he would see Miss Conroy before he left. She had not
+eaten breakfast with the others; from their manner, he judged that
+no one expected her to. He was not well informed upon the subject
+of schoolma'ams, but he had a hazy impression that late rising was a
+distinguishing characteristic--and he did not know how late. He
+saddled leisurely, and packed his bed for the last time upon Chub. The
+red-and-yellow Navajo blanket he folded tenderly, with an unconscious
+smile for the service it had done, and laid it in its accustomed place
+in the bed. Then, having no plausible excuse for going back to the
+house, he mounted and rode away into the brilliant white world, watching
+wistfully the house from the tail of his eye.
+
+She might have got up in time to see him off, he thought discontentedly;
+but he supposed one cowpuncher more or less made little difference to
+her. Anyway, he didn't know as he had any license to moon around her.
+She probably had a fellow; she might even be engaged, for all he knew.
+And--she was Harry Conroy's sister; and from his experience with the
+breed, good looks didn't count for anything. Harry was good-looking, and
+he was a snake, if ever there was one. He had never expected to lie for
+him--but he had done it, all right--and because Harry's sister happened
+to have nice eyes and a pretty little foot!--
+
+He had half a mind to go back and tell Rodway all he knew about those
+horses; it was only a matter of time, anyway, till Harry Conroy overshot
+the mark and got what was coming to him. He sure didn't owe Harry
+anything, that he had need to shield him like he had done. Still,
+Rodway would wonder why he hadn't told it at first; and that little girl
+believed in Harry, and said he was "splendid!" Humph! He wondered if she
+really meant that. If she did--
+
+He squared his back to the house--and the memory of Miss Conroy's
+eyes--and plodded across the field to the gate. Now the sun was shining,
+and there was no possibility of getting lost. The way to the Cross L lay
+straight and plain before him.
+
+Rowdy rode leisurely up over the crest of a ridge beyond which lay the
+home ranch of the Cross L. Whether it was henceforth to be his home he
+had yet to discover--though there was reason for hoping that it would
+be. Even so venturesome a man as Rowdy Vaughan would scarce ride a long
+hundred miles through unpeopled prairie, in the tricky month of March,
+without some reason for expecting a welcome at the end of his journey.
+In this case, a previous acquaintance with "Wooden Shoes" Mielke,
+foreman of the Cross L, was Rowdy's trump-card. Wooden Shoes, whenever
+chance had brought them together in the last two or three years, was
+ever urging Rowdy to come over and unroll his soogans in the Cross L
+bed-tent, and promising the best string in the outfit to ride--besides
+other things alluring to a cow-puncher. So that, when his relations with
+the Horseshoe Bar became strained, Rowdy remembered his friend of the
+Cross L and the promises, and had drifted south.
+
+Just now he hoped that Wooden Shoes would be home to greet him, and
+his eyes searched wishfully the huddle of low-eaved cabins and the
+assortment of sheds and corrals for the bulky form of the foreman. But
+no one seemed to be about--except a bigbodied, bandy-legged individual,
+who appeared to be playfully chasing a big, bright bay stallion inside
+the large enclosure where stood the cabins.
+
+Rowdy watched them impersonally; a glance proved that the man was not
+Wooden Shoes, and so he was not particularly interested in him or his
+doings. It did occur to him, however, that if the fellow wanted to catch
+that brute, he ought to have sense enough to get a horse. No one but
+a plumb idiot would mill around in that snow afoot. He jogged down the
+slope at a shuffling trot, grinning tolerantly at the pantomime below.
+
+He of the bandy-legs stopped, evidently out of breath; the stallion
+stopped also, snorting defiance. Rowdy heard him plainly, even at that
+distance. The horse arched his neck and watched the man warily, ready
+to be off at the first symptom of hostilities--and Rowdy observed that a
+short rope hung from his halter, swaying as he moved.
+
+Bandy-legs seemed to have an idea; he turned and scuttled to the nearest
+cabin, returning with what seemed a basin of oats, for he shook it
+enticingly and edged cautiously toward the horse. Rowdy could imagine
+him coaxing, with hypocritically endearing names, such as "Good old
+boy!" and "Steady now, Billy"--or whatever the horse's name might
+be. Rowdy chuckled to himself, and hoped the horse saw through the
+subterfuge.
+
+Perhaps the horse chuckled also; at any rate, he stood quite still,
+equally prepared to bounce away on the instant or to don the mask of
+docility. Bandy-legs drew nearer and nearer, shaking the basin briskly,
+like an old woman sifting meal. The horse waited, his nostrils quivering
+hungrily at the smell of the oats, and with an occasional low nicker.
+
+Bandy-legs went on tiptoes--or as nearly as he could in the snow--the
+basin at arm's length before. The dainty, flaring nostrils sniffed
+tentatively, dipped into the basin, and snuffed the oats about
+luxuriously--till he felt a stealthy hand seize the dangling rope. At
+the touch he snorted protest, and was off and away, upsetting Bandy-legs
+and the basin ignominiously into a high-piled drift.
+
+Bandy-legs sat up, scraped the snow out of his collar and his ears, and
+swore. It was then that Rowdy appeared like an angel of deliverance.
+
+"Want that horse caught?" he yelled cheerfully.
+
+Bandy-legs lifted up his voice and bellowed things I should not like to
+repeat verbatim. But Rowdy gathered that the man emphatically did want
+that so-and-so-and-then-some horse caught, and that it couldn't be done
+a blessed minute too soon. Whereat Rowdy smiled anew, with his face
+discreetly turned away from Bandy-legs, and took down his rope and
+widened the loop. Also, he turned Chub loose.
+
+The stallion evidently sensed what new danger threatened his stolen
+freedom, and circled the yard with high, springy strides. Rowdy circled
+after, saw his chance, swirled the loop twice over his head, and
+hazarded a long throw.
+
+Rowdy knew it for pure good luck that it landed right, but to this day
+Bandy-legs looks upon him as a Wonder with a rope--and Bandy-legs would
+insist upon the capital.
+
+"Where shall I take him?" Rowdy asked, coming up with his captive, and
+with nothing but his eyes to show how he was laughing inwardly.
+
+Bandy-legs crawled from the drift, still scraping snow from inside his
+collar, and gave many directions about going through a certain gate into
+such-and-such a corral; from there into a stable; and by seeming devious
+ways into a minutely described stall.
+
+"All right," said Rowdy, cutting short the last needless details. "I
+guess I can find the trail;" and started off, leading the stallion.
+Bandy-legs followed, and Chub, observing the departure of Dixie, ambled
+faithfully in the rear.
+
+"Much obliged," conceded Bandy-legs, when the stallion was safely housed
+and tied securely. "Where yuh headed for, young man?"
+
+"Right here," Rowdy told him calmly, loosening Dixie's cinch. "I'm the
+long-lost top hand that the Cross L's been watching the sky-line for,
+lo! these many moons, a-yearning for the privilege of handing me forty
+plunks about twice as fast as I've got 'em coming. Where's the boss?"
+
+"Er--I'm him," confessed Bandy-legs meekly, and circled the two
+dubiously. "I guess you've heard uh Eagle Creek Smith--I'm him. The
+Cross L belongs to me."
+
+Rowdy let out an explosive, and showed a row of nice teeth. "Well, I
+ain't hard to please," he added. "I won't kick on that, I guess. I like
+your looks tolerable well, and I'm willing to take yuh on for a boss. If
+yuh do your part, I bet we'll get along fine." His tone was banteringly
+patronizing "Anyway, I'll try yuh for a spell. You can put my name down
+as Rowdy Vaughan, lately canned from the Horseshoe Bar."
+
+"What for?" ventured Bandy-legs--rather, Eagle Creek--still circling
+Rowdy dubiously.
+
+"What for was I canned?" repeated Rowdy easily. "Being a modest youth, I
+hate t' tell yuh. But the old man's son and me, we disagreed, and one
+of his eyes swelled some; so did mine, a little." He stood head and
+shoulders above Eagle Creek, and he smiled down upon him engagingly.
+Eagle Creek capitulated before the smile.
+
+"Well, I ain't got any sons--that I know of," he grinned. "So I guess
+yuh can consider yourself a Cross L man till further notice."
+
+"Why, sure!" The teeth gleamed again briefly. "That's what I've been
+telling you right along. Where's old Wooden Shoes? He's responsible for
+me being here."
+
+"Gone to Chinook. He'll be back in a day or two." Eagle Creek shifted
+his feet awkwardly. "Say"--he glanced uneasily behind him--"yuh don't
+want t' let it get around that yuh sort of--hired me--see?"
+
+"Of course not," Rowdy assured him. "I was only joshing. If you don't
+want me, just tell me to hit the sod."
+
+"You stay right where you're at!" commanded Eagle Creek with returned
+confidence in himself and his authority. Of a truth, this self-assured,
+straight-limbed young man had rather dazed him. "Take your bed and
+war-bag up to the bunk-house and make yourself t' home till the boys get
+back, and--say, where'd yuh git that pack-horse?"
+
+The laugh went out of Rowdy's tawny eyes. The question hit a spot that
+was becoming sore. "I borrowed him this morning from Mr. Rodway," he
+said evenly. "I'm to take him back to-day. I stopped there last night."
+
+"Oh!" Eagle Creek coughed apologetically, and said no word, while Rowdy
+led Chub back to the cabin which he had pointed out as the bunk-house;
+he stood by while Rowdy loosened the pack and dragged it inside.
+
+"I guess you can get located here," he said. "I ain't workin' more'n
+three or four men just now, but there's quite a few uh the boys stopping
+here; the Cross L's a regular hang-out for cow-punchers. You're a little
+early for the season, but I'll see that yuh have something t' do--just
+t' keep yuh out uh devilment."
+
+Rowdy's brows unbent; it would seem that Eagle Creek was capable of
+"joshing" also. "It's up t' you, old-timer," he retorted. "I'm strong
+and willing, and don't shy at anything but pitchforks."
+
+Eagle Creek grinned. "This ain't no blamed cowhospital," he gave as a
+parting shot. "All the hay that's shoveled on this ranch needn't hurt
+nobody's feelings." With that he shut the door, and left Rowdy to
+acquaint himself with his new home.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 4. Pink as "Chappyrone."
+
+Rowdy was sprawled ungracefully upon somebody's bunk--he neither knew
+nor cared whose--and he was snoring unmelodiously, and not dreaming a
+thing; for when a cow-puncher has nothing in particular to do, he
+sleeps to atone for the weary hours when he must be very wide-awake. An
+avalanche descended upon his unwarned middle, and checked the rhythmic
+ebb and flow of sound. He squawked and came to life clawing viciously.
+
+"I'd like t' know where the devil yuh come from," a voice remarked
+plaintively in a soft treble.
+
+Rowdy opened his eyes with a snap. "Pink! by all that's good and bad!
+Get up off my diaphragm, you little fiend."
+
+Pink absent-mindedly kneaded Rowdy's stomach with his knuckles, and
+immediately found himself in a far corner. He came back, dimpling
+mischievously. He looked much more an angel than a fiend, for all his
+Angora chaps and flame-colored scarf.
+
+"Your bed and war-bag's on my bunk; you're on Smoky's; and Dixie's
+makin' himself to home in the corral. By all them signs and tokens,
+I give a reckless guess you're here t' stay a while. That right?" He
+prodded again at Rowdy's ribs.
+
+"It sure is, Pink. And if I'd known you was holding out here, I'd 'a'
+come sooner, maybe. You sure look good to me, you darned little cuss!"
+Rowdy sat up and took a lightning inventory of the four or five other
+fellows lounging about. He must have slept pretty sound, he thought, not
+to hear them come in.
+
+Pink read the look, and bethought him of the necessary introductions.
+"This is my side-kicker over the line that--you've heard about till
+you're plumb weary, boys," he announced musically. "His name is Rowdy
+Vaughan--bronco-peeler, crap fiend, and all-round bad man. He ain't a
+safe companion, and yuh want t' sleep with your six-guns cuddled under
+your right ear, and never, on no account, show him your backs. He's a
+real wolf, he is, and the only reason I live t' tell the tale is because
+he respects m' size. Boys, I'm afraid for yuh--but I wish yuh well."
+
+"Pink, you need killing, and I'm tempted to live up to my rep," grinned
+Rowdy indulgently. "Read me the pedigree of your friends."
+
+"Oh, they ain't no worse--when yuh git used to 'em. That long-legged
+jasper with the far-away look in his eyes is the Silent One--if he takes
+a notion t' you, he'll maybe tell yuh the name his mother calls him. He
+may have seen better days; but here's hoping he won't see no worse! He
+once was a tenderfoot; but he's convalescing."
+
+The Silent One nodded carelessly, but with a quick, measuring glance
+that Rowdy liked.
+
+"This unshaved savage is Smoky. He's harmless, if yuh don't
+mention socialism in his presence; and if yuh do, he'll
+down-with-the-trust-and-long-live-the-sons-uh-toil, all hours uh the
+night, and keep folks awake. Then him and the fellow that started him
+off 'll likely get chapped good and plenty. Over there's Jim Ellis
+and Bob Nevin; they've both turned a cow or two, and I've seen worse
+specimens running around loose--plenty of 'em. That man hidin' behind
+the grin--you can see him if yuh look close--is Sunny Sam. Yuh needn't
+take no notice of him, unless you're a mind to. He won't care--he's dead
+gentle.
+
+"Say," he broke off, "how'd you happen t' stray onto this range, anyhow?
+Yuh used t' belong t the Horseshoe Bar so solid the assessor always t'
+yuh down on the personal-property list."
+
+"They won't pay taxes on me no more, son." Rowdy's eyes dwelt fondly
+upon Pink's cupid-bow mouth and dimples. He had never dreamed of finding
+Pink here; though, when he came to think of it there was no reason why
+he shouldn't.
+
+Pink was not like any one else. He was slight and girlish to look at.
+But you mustn't trust appearances; for Pink was all muscle strung on
+steel wire, according to the belief of those who tried to handle him.
+He had little white hands, and feet that looked quite comfortable in
+a number four boot, and his hair was a tawny gold and curled in
+distracting, damp rings on his forehead. His eyes were blue and
+long-lashed and beautiful, and they looked at the world with baby
+innocence--whereas a more sophisticated little devil never jangled spurs
+at his heels. He was everything but insipid, and men liked him--unless
+he chose to dislike them, when they thought of him with grating teeth.
+To find him bullying the Cross L boys brought a warmth to Rowdy's heart.
+
+Pink made a cigarette, and then offered Rowdy his tobacco-sack, and
+asked questions about the Cypress Hills country. How was this girl?--and
+was that one married yet?--and did the other still grieve for him? As a
+matter of fact, he had yet to see the girl who could quicken his pulse
+a single beat, and for that reason it sometimes pleased him to affect
+susceptibility beyond that of other men.
+
+It was after dinner when he and Rowdy went humming down to the stables,
+gossiping like a couple of old women over a back fence.
+
+"I see you've got Conroy's Chub yet," Pink observed carelessly.
+
+"Oh, for Heaven's sake let up on that cayuse!" Rowdy cried petulantly.
+"I wish I'd never got sight of the little buzzard-head; I've had him
+crammed down my throat the last day or two till it's getting plumb
+monotonous. Pink, that cayuse never saw Oregon. He was raised right on
+this flat, and he belongs to old Rodway. I've got to lead him back there
+and turn him over to-day."
+
+Pink took three puffs at his cigarette, and lifted his long lashes to
+Rowdy's gloom-filled face. "Stole?" he asked briefly.
+
+"Stole," Rowdy repeated disgustedly. "So was the whole blame' bunch, as
+near as I can make out."
+
+"We might 'a' knowed it. We might 'a' guessed Harry Conroy wouldn't have
+a straight title to anything if he could make it crooked. I bet he never
+finished paying back that money yuh lent him--out uh the kindness uh
+your heart. Did he?" Pink leaned against the corral fence and kicked
+meditatively at a snow-covered rock.
+
+"He did not, m' son. Chub's all I ever got out uh the deal--and
+I haven't even got him. I borrowed him from Rodway to pack my bed
+over--borrowed the blame' little runty cayuse that cost me sixty-four
+hard-earned dollars; that's what Harry borrowed of me. And every blame'
+gazabo on the flat wanted to know what I was doing with him!"
+
+"I can tell yuh where t' find Conroy, Rowdy. He's working for an
+outfit down on the river. I'd sure fix him for this! Yuh got plenty of
+evidence; you can send him up like a charm. It was different when he cut
+your latigo strap in that rough-riding contest; yuh couldn't prove it on
+him. But this--why, man, it's a cinch!"
+
+"I haven't lost Harry Conroy, so I ain't looking for him just now,"
+growled Rowdy. "So long as he keeps out uh reach, I won't ask no more of
+him. And, Pink, I wish you'd keep this quiet--about him having Chub. I
+told Rodway I couldn't put him next to the fellow that brought that
+bunch across the line. I told him the fellow went north and got killed.
+He did go north--fifty miles or so; and he'd ought to been killed, if he
+wasn't. Let it go that way, Pink."
+
+Pink looked like a cherub-faced child when he has been told there's
+no Santa Claus. "Sure, if yuh say so," he stammered dubiously. He eyed
+Rowdy reproachfully, and then looked away to the horizon. He kicked
+the rock out of place, and then poked it painstakingly back with his
+toe--and from the look of him, he did not know there was a rock there at
+all.
+
+"How'd yuh happen to run across Rodway?" he asked guilelessly.
+
+"I stopped there last night. I got to milling around in that storm, and
+ran across the schoolma'am that boards at Rodway's, She was plumb lost,
+too, so we dubbed around together for a while, and finally got inside
+Rodway's field. Then Chub come alive and piloted us to the house. This
+morning Rodway claimed him--says the brand has been worked from a Roman
+four. Oh, it's all straight goods," he added hastily. "Old Eagle Creek
+here knew him, too."
+
+But Pink was not thinking of Chub. He hunched his chap-belt higher
+and spat viciously into the snow. "I knowed it," he declared, with
+melancholy triumph. "It's school-ma'amitis that's gave yuh softening uh
+the vitals, and not no Christian charity play. How comes it you're took
+that way, all unbeknown t' your friends? Yuh never used t' bother about
+no female girls. It's a cinch you're wise that she's Harry's sister; and
+I admit she's a swell looker. But so's he; and I should think, Rowdy,
+you'd had about enough uh that brand uh snake."
+
+"There's nothing so snaky about her that I could see," defended Rowdy.
+He did not particularly relish having his own mental argument against
+Miss Conroy thrown back at him from another. "She seemed to be all
+right; and if you'd seen how plucky she was in that blizzard--"
+
+"Well, I never heard anybody stand up and call Harry white-livered, when
+yuh come t' that," Pink cut in tartly. "Anyway, you're a blame fool. If
+she was a little white-winged angel, yuh wouldn't stand no kind uh show;
+and I tell yuh why. She's got a little tin god that she says prayers to
+regular."
+
+"That's Harry. And wouldn't he be the fine brother-in-law? He could
+borrow all your wages off'n yuh, and when yuh went t' make a pretty
+ride, he'd up and cut your latigo, and give yuh a fall. And he could
+work stolen horses off onto yuh--and yuh wouldn't give a damn, 'cause
+Jessie wears a number two shoe--"
+
+"You must have done some rimrock riding after her yourself!" jeered
+Rowdy.
+
+"And has got shiny brown eyes, just like Harry's--"
+
+"They're not!" laughed Rowdy, half-angrily. "If you say that again,
+Pink, I'll stick your head in a snow-bank. Her eyes are all right. They
+sure look good to me."
+
+"You've sure got 'em," mourned Pink. "Yuh need t' be close-herded by
+your friends, and that's no dream. You wait till toward evening before
+yuh take that horse back. I'm going along t' chappyrone yuh, Rowdy. Yuh
+ain't safe running loose any more."
+
+Rowdy cursed him companionably and told him to go along, if he wanted
+to, and to look out he didn't throw up his own hands; and Pink grumbled
+and swore and did go along. But when they got there, Miss Conroy greeted
+him like a very good friend; which sent Rowdy sulky, and kept him so all
+the evening. It seemed to him that Pink was playing a double game, and
+when they started home he told him so.
+
+But Pink turned in his saddle and smiled so that his dimples showed
+plainly in the moonlight. "Chappyrones that set in a corner and look
+wise are the rankest kind uh fakes," he explained. "When she was talking
+to me, she was letting you alone--see?"
+
+Rowdy accepted the explanation silently, and stored it away in his
+memory. After that, by riding craftily, and by threats, and by much
+vituperation, he managed to reach Rodway's unchapperoned at least three
+times out of five--which was doing remarkably well, when one considers
+Pink.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 5. At Home at Cross L.
+
+In two days Rowdy was quite at home with the Cross L. In a month he
+found himself transplanted from the smoke-laden air of the bunk-house,
+and set off from the world in a line camp, with nothing to do but patrol
+the boggy banks of Milk River, where it was still unfenced and unclaimed
+by small farmers. The only mitigation of his exile, so far as he could
+see, lay in the fact that he had Pink and the Silent One for companions.
+
+It developed that when he would speak to the Silent One, he must say
+Jim, or wait long for a reply. Also, the Silent One was not always
+silent, and he was quick to observe the weak points in those around him,
+and keen at repartee. When it pleased him so to do, he could handle the
+English language in a way that was perfectly amazing--and not always
+intelligible to the unschooled. At such times Pink frankly made no
+attempt to understand him; Rowdy, having been hustled through grammar
+school and two-thirds through high school before he ran away from a
+brand new stepmother, rather enjoyed the outbreaks and Pink's consequent
+disgust.
+
+Not one of them loved particularly the line camp, and Rowdy least of
+all, since it put an extra ten miles between Miss Conroy and himself.
+Rowdy had got to that point where his mind dwelt much upon matters
+domestic, and he made many secret calculations on the cost of
+housekeeping for two. More than that, he put himself upon a rigid
+allowance for pocket-money--an allowance barely sufficient to keep
+him in tobacco and papers. All this without consulting Miss Conroy's
+wishes--which only goes to show that Rowdy Vaughan was a born optimist.
+
+The Silent One complained that he could not keep supplied with
+reading-matter, and Pink bewailed the monotony of inaction. For, beyond
+watching the river to keep the cattle from miring in the mud lately
+released from frost grip, there was nothing to do.
+
+According to the calendar, spring was well upon them, and the prairies
+would soon be flaunting new dresses of green. The calendar, however, had
+neglected to record the rainless heat of the summer gone before, or
+the searing winds that burned the grass brown as it grew, or the winter
+which forgot its part and permitted prairie-dogs to chip-chip-chip above
+ground in January, when they should be sleeping decently in their cellar
+homes.
+
+Apart from the brief storm which Rowdy had brought with him, there had
+been no snow worth considering. Always the chill winds shaved the barren
+land from the north, or veered unexpectedly, and blew dry warmth from
+the southwest; but never the snow for which the land yearned. Wind, and
+bright sunlight, and more wind, and hypocritical, drifting clouds, and
+more sun; lean cattle walking, walking, up-hill and down coulee, nose to
+the dry ground, snipping the stray tufts where should be a woolly carpet
+of sweet, ripened grasses, eating wildrose bushes level with the sod,
+and wishing there was only an abundance even of them; drifting uneasily
+from hilltop to farther hilltop, hunger-driven and gaunt, where should
+be sleek content. When they sought to continue their quest beyond the
+river, and the weaker bogged at its muddy edge, Rowdy and Pink and
+the Silent One would ride out, and with their ropes drag them back
+ignominiously to solid ground and the very doubtful joy of living.
+
+May Day found the grass-land brown and lifeless, with a chill wind
+blowing over it. The cattle wandered as before except that knock-kneed
+little calves trailed beside their lean mothers and clamored for full
+stomachs.
+
+The Cross L cattle bore the brunt of the range famine, because Eagle
+Creek Smith was a stockman of the old school. His cattle must live on
+the open range, because they always had done so. Other men bought or
+leased large tracts of grass-land, and fenced them for just such an
+emergency, but not he. It is true that he had two or three large fields,
+as Miss Conroy had told Rowdy, but it was his boast that all the hay he
+raised was eaten by his saddlehorses, and that all the fields he owned
+were used solely for horse pastures. The open range was the place for
+cattle and no Cross L critter ever fed inside a wire fence.
+
+Through the dry summer before, when other men read the ominous signs
+and hurriedly leased pasture-land and cut down their herds to what the
+fields would feed, Eagle Creek went calmly on as he had done always.
+He shipped what beef was fit--and that, of a truth, was not much!--and
+settled down for the winter, trusting to winter snows and spring rains
+to refill the long-dry lakes and waterholes, and coat the levels anew
+with grass.
+
+But the winter snows had failed to appear, and with the spring came
+no rain. "April showers" became a hideously ironical joke at nature's
+expense. Always the wind blew, and sometimes great flocks of clouds
+would drift superciliously up from the far sky-line, play with men's
+hopes, and sail disdainfully on to some more favored land.
+
+It is all very well for a man to cling stubbornly to precedent, but if
+he clings long enough, there comes a time when to cling becomes akin to
+crime. Eagle Creek Smith still stubbornly held that rangecattle should
+be kept to the range. He waited until May was fast merging to June,
+watching, from sheer habit, for the spring transformation of brown
+prairies into green. When it did not come, and only the coulee sides and
+bottoms showed green among the brown, he accepted ruefully the unusual
+conditions which nature had thrust upon him, and started "Wooden Shoes"
+out with the wagons on the horse round-up, which is a preliminary to the
+roundup proper, as every one knows.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 6. A Shot From the Dark.
+
+"I call that a bad job well done," Pink remarked, after a long silence,
+as he gave over trying to catch a fish in the muddy Milk River.
+
+"What?" Rowdy, still prone to day-dreams of matters domestic, came back
+reluctantly to reality, and inspected his bait.
+
+"Oh, come alive! I mean the horse round-up. How we're going to keep that
+bunch uh skeletons under us all summer is a guessing contest for fair.
+Wooden Shoes has got t' give me about forty, instead of a dozen, if
+he wants me t' hit 'er up on circle the way I'm used to. I bet their
+back-bones'll wear clean up through our saddles."
+
+"Oh, I guess not," said Rowdy calmly. "They ain't so thin--and they'll
+pick up flesh. There's some mighty good ones in the bunch, too. I hope
+Wooden Shoes don't forget to give me the first pick. There's one I got
+my eye on--that blue roan. Anyway, I guess you can wiggle along with
+less than forty."
+
+Pink shook his head thoughtfully and sighed. Pink loved good mounts, and
+the outlook did not please him. The round-up had camped, for the last
+time, on the river within easy riding distance of Camas. The next day's
+drive would bring them to the home ranch, where Eagle Creek was fuming
+over the lateness of the season, the condition of the range, and the
+June rains, which had thus far failed even to moisten decently the
+grass-roots.
+
+"Let's ride over to Camas; all the other fellows have gone," Pink
+proposed listlessly, drawing in his line.
+
+Rowdy as listlessly consented. Camas as a town was neither interesting
+nor important; but when one has spent three long weeks communing with
+nature in her sulkiest and most unamiable mood, even a town without a
+railroad to its name may serve to relieve the monotony of living.
+
+The sun was piling gorgeous masses of purple and crimson clouds high
+about him, cuddling his fat cheeks against their soft folds till, a
+Midas, he turned them to gold at the touch. Those farther away
+gloomed jealously at the favoritism of their lord, and huddled closer
+together--the purple for rage, perhaps; and the crimson for shame!
+
+Pink's face was tinged daintily with the glow, and even Rowdy's lean,
+brown features were for the moment glorified. They rode knee to knee
+silently, thinking each his own thoughts the while they watched the
+sunset with eyes grown familiar with its barbaric splendor, but never
+indifferent.
+
+Soon the west held none but the deeper tints, and the shadows climbed,
+with the stealthy tread of trailing Indians, from the valley, chasing
+the after-glow to the very hilltops, where it stood a moment at bay
+and then surrendered meekly to the dusk. A meadow-lark near-by cut the
+silence into haunting ripples of melody, stopped affrighted at their
+coming, and flew off into the dull glow of the west; his little body
+showed black against a crimson cloud. Out across the river a lone coyote
+yapped sharply, then trailed off into the weird plaint of his kind.
+
+"Brother-in-law's in town to-day; Bob Nevin saw him," Pink remarked,
+when the coyote ceased wailing and held his peace.
+
+"Who?" Rowdy only half-heard.
+
+"Bob Nevin," repeated Pink naively.
+
+"Don't get funny. Who did Bob see?"
+
+"Brother-in-law. Yours, not mine. Jessie's tin god. If he's there yet,
+I bid for an invite to the 'swatfest.' Or maybe"--a horrible possibility
+forced itself upon Pink--"maybe you'll kill the fattest maverick and
+fall on his neck--"
+
+"The maverick's?" Rowdy's brows were rather pinched together, but his
+tone told nothing.
+
+"Naw; Harry Conroy's a fellow's liable to do most any fool thing when
+he's got schoolma'amitis."
+
+"That so?"
+
+Pink snorted. The possibility had grown to black certainty in his mind.
+He became suddenly furious.
+
+"Lord! I hope some kind friend'll lead me out an' knock me in the head,
+if ever I get locoed over any darned girl!"
+
+"Same here," agreed Rowdy, unmoved.
+
+"Then your days are sure numbered in words uh one syllable, old-timer,"
+snapped Pink.
+
+Rowdy leaned and patted him caressingly upon the shoulder--a form of
+irony which Pink detested. "Don't get excited, sonny," he soothed. "Did
+you fetch your gun?"
+
+"I sure did!" Pink drew a long breath of relief. "Yuh needn't think I'm
+going t' take chances on being no human colander. I've packed a gun for
+Harry Conroy ever since that rough-riding contest uh yourn. Yuh mind
+the way I took him under the ear with a rock? He's been makin' war-talk
+behind m' back ever since. Did I bring m' gun! Well, I guess yes!" He
+dimpled distractingly.
+
+"All the same, it'll suit me not to run up against him," said Rowdy
+quite frankly. He knew Pink would understand. Then he lifted his coat
+suggestively, to show the weapon concealed beneath, and smiled.
+
+"Different here. Yuh did have sense enough t' be ready--and if yuh see
+him, and don't forget he's got a sister with a number two foot, damned
+if I don't fix yuh both a-plenty!" He settled his hat more firmly over
+his curls, and eyed Rowdy anxiously from under his lashes.
+
+Rowdy caught the action and the look from the tail of his eye, and
+grinned at his horse's ears. Pink in warlike mood always made him think
+of a four-year-old child playing pirate with the difference that Pink
+was always in deadly earnest and would fight like a fiend.
+
+For more reasons than one he hoped they would not meet Harry Conroy.
+Jessie was still in ignorance of his real attitude toward her brother,
+and Rowdy wanted nothing more than to keep her so. The trouble was that
+he was quite certain to forget everything but his grievances, if ever he
+came face to face with Harry. Also, Pink would always fight quicker for
+his friends than for himself, and he felt very tender toward Pink. So
+he hoped fervently that Harry Conroy had already ridden back whence he
+came, and there would be no unpleasantness.
+
+Four or five Cross L horses stood meekly before the Come Again Saloon,
+so Rowdy and Pink added theirs to the gathering and went in. The Silent
+One looked up from his place at a round table in a far corner, and
+beckoned.
+
+"We need another hand here," he said, when they went over to him. "These
+gentlemen are worried because they might be taken into high society some
+day, and they would be placed in a very embarrassing position through
+their ignorance of bridge-whist. I have very magnanimously consented to
+teach them the rudiments."
+
+Bob Nevin looked up, and then lowered an eyelid cautiously. "He's a
+liar. He offered to learn us how to play it; we bet him the drinks he
+didn't savvy the game himself. Set down, Pink, and I'll have you for my
+pretty pardner."
+
+The Silent One shuffled the cards thoughtfully. "To make it seem like
+bona-fide bridge," he began, "we should have everybody playing."
+
+"Aw, the common, ordinary brand is good enough," protested Bob. "I ain't
+in on any trimmings."
+
+The Silent One smiled ever so slightly. "We should have prizes--or
+favors. Is there a store in town where one could buy something
+suitable?"
+
+"They got codfish up here; I smelt it," suggested Jim Ellis. Him the
+Silent One ignored.
+
+"What do you say, boys, to a real, high society whist-party? I'll invite
+the crowd, and be the hostess. And I'll serve punch--"
+
+"Come on, fellows, and have one with me," called a strange voice near
+the door.
+
+"Meeting's adjourned," cried Jim Ellis, and got up to accept the
+invitation and range along the bar with the rest. He had not been
+particularly interested in bridge-whist anyway.
+
+The others remained seated, and the bartender called across to know what
+they would have. Pink cut the cards very carefully, and did not look up.
+Rowdy thrust both hands in his pockets and turned his square shoulder
+to the bar. He did not need to look--he knew that voice, with its shoddy
+heartiness.
+
+Men began to observe his attitude, and looked at one another. When one
+is asked to drink with another, he must comply or decline graciously, if
+he would not give a direct insult.
+
+Harry Conroy took three long steps and laid a hand on Rowdy's
+shoulder--a hand which Rowdy shook off as though it burned. "Say,
+stranger, are you too high-toned t' drink with a common cowpuncher?" he
+demanded sharply.
+
+Rowdy half-turned toward him. "No, sir. But I'll be mighty thirsty
+before I drink with you." His voice was even, but it cut.
+
+The room stilled on the instant; it was as if every man of them had
+turned to lay figures. Harry Conroy had winced at sight of Rowdy's
+face--men saw that, and some of them wondered. Pink leaned back in
+his chair, every nerve tightened for the next move, and waited. It
+was Harry--handsome, sneering, a certain swaggering defiance in his
+pose--who first spoke.
+
+"Oh, it's you, is it? I haven't saw yuh for some time. How's
+bronco-fighting? Gone up against any more contests?" He laughed
+mockingly--with mouth and eyes maddeningly like Jessie's in teasing
+mood.
+
+Rowdy could have killed him for the resemblance alone. His lids drooped
+sleepily over eyes that glittered. Harry saw the sign, read it for
+danger; but he laughed again.
+
+"Yuh ought to have seen this bronco-peeler pull leather, boys," he
+jeered recklessly "I like to 'a' died. He got piled up the slickest I
+ever saw; and there was some feeble-minded Canucks had money up on him,
+too: He won't drink with me, 'cause I got off with the purse. He's got
+a grouch--and I don't know as I blame him; he did get let down pretty
+hard, for a fact."
+
+"Maybe he did pull leather--but he didn't cut none, like you did, you
+damn' skunk!" It was Pink--Pink, with big, long-lashed eyes purple with
+rage, and with a dead-white streak around his mouth, and a gun in his
+hand.
+
+Harry wheeled toward him, and if a new light of fear crept into his
+eyes, his lips belied it in a sneer. "Two of a kind!" he laughed. "So
+that's the story yuh brought over here, is it? Hell of a lot uh good
+it'll do yuh!"
+
+Something in Pink's face warned Rowdy. Harry's face turned watchfully
+from one to the other. Evidently he considered Pink the more uncertain
+of the two; and he was quite justified in so thinking. Pink was only
+waiting for a cue before using his gun; and when Pink once began, there
+was no telling where or when he would leave off.
+
+While Harry stood uncertain, Rowdy's fist suddenly spatted against his
+cheek with considerable force. He tumbled, a cursing heap, against the
+foot-rail of the bar, scrambled up like a cat--a particularly vicious
+cat--and came at Rowdy murderously. The Come Again would shortly have
+been filled with the pungent haze of burned powder, only that the
+bartender was a man-of-action. He hated brawls, and it did not matter
+to him how just might be the quarrel; he slapped the gaping barrels of
+a sawed-off shotgun across the bar--and from the look of it one might
+imagine many disagreeable things.
+
+"Drop it! Cut it out!" he bellowed. "Yuh ain't going t' make no
+slaughter-pen out uh this joint, I tell yuh. Put up them guns or else
+take 'em outside. If you fellers are hell-bent on smokin' each other up,
+they's all kinds uh room outdoors. Git! Vamose! Hike!"
+
+Conroy wheeled and walked, straight-backed and venomous, to the door.
+"Come on out, if yuh ain't scared," he sneered. "It's two agin' one
+and then some, by the look uh things. But I'll take yuh singly or in
+bunches. I'm ready for the whole damn' Cross L bunch uh coyotes. Come
+on, you white-livered--!"
+
+Rowdy rushed for him, with Pink and the Silent One at his heels. He had
+forgotten that Harry Conroy ever had a sister of any sort whatsoever.
+All he knew was that Harry had done him much wrong, of the sort which
+comes near to being unforgivable, and that he had sneered insults that
+no man may overlook. All he thought of was to get his hands on him.
+
+Outside, the dusky stillness made all sounds seem out of place; the
+faint starlight made all objects black and unfamiliar. Rowdy stopped,
+just off the threshold, blinking at the darkness which held his enemy.
+It was strange that he did not find him at his elbow, he thought--and
+a suspicion came to him that Harry was lying in wait; it would be like
+him. He stepped out of the yellow glare from a window and stood in
+more friendly shade. Behind him, on the door-step, stood the other two,
+blinking as he had done.
+
+A form which he did not recognize rushed up out of the darkness and
+confronted the three belligerently. "You're a-disturbin' the peace,"
+he yelled. "We don't stand for nothing like that in Camas. You're my
+prisoners--all uh yuh." The edict seemed to include even the bartender,
+peering over the shoulder of Bob Nevin, who struggled with several
+others for immediate passage through the doorway.
+
+"I guess not, pardner," retorted Pink, facing him as defiantly as though
+the marshal were not twice his size.
+
+The marshal lunged for him; but the Silent One, reaching a long arm from
+the door-step, rapped him smartly on the head with his gun. The marshal
+squawked and went down in a formless heap.
+
+"Come on, boys," said the Silent One coolly. "I think we'd better go.
+Your friend seems to have vanished in thin air."
+
+Rowdy, grumbling mightily over what looked unpleasantly like retreat,
+was pushed toward his horse and mounted under protest. Likewise Pink,
+who was for staying and cleaning up the whole town. But the Silent One
+was firm, and there was that in his manner which compelled obedience.
+
+Harry Conroy might have been an optical--and aural--illusion, for all
+the trace there was of him. But when the three rode out into the little
+street, a bullet pinged close to Rowdy's left ear, and the red bark of a
+revolver spat viciously from a black shadow beside the Come Again.
+
+Rowdy and the two turned and rode back, shooting blindly at the place,
+but the shadow yawned silently before them and gave no sign. Then the
+Silent One, observing that the marshal was getting upon a pair of very
+unsteady legs, again assumed the leadership, and fairly forced Rowdy and
+Pink into the homeward trail.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 7. Rowdy in a Tough Place.
+
+Rowdy, with nice calculation, met Miss Conroy just as she had left
+the school-house, and noted with much satisfaction that she was riding
+alone. Miss Conroy, if she had been at all observant, must have seen the
+light of some fixed purpose shining in his eyes; for Rowdy was resolved
+to make her a partner in his dreams of matters domestic. And, of a
+truth, his easy assurance was the thinnest of cloaks to hide his inner
+agitation.
+
+"The round-up just got in yesterday afternoon," he told her, as he swung
+into the trail beside her. "We're going to start out again to-morrow, so
+this is about the only chance I'll have to see you for a while."
+
+"I knew the round-up must be in," said Miss Conroy calmly. "I heard that
+you were in Camas a night or two ago."
+
+Inwardly, Rowdy dodged. "We camped close to Camas," he conceded
+guardedly. "A lot of us fellows rode into town."
+
+"Yes, so Harry told me," she said. "He came over to see me yesterday.
+He is going to leave--has already, in fact. He has had a fine position
+offered him by the Indian agent at Belknap. The agent used to be
+a friend of father's." She looked at Rowdy sidelong, and then went
+straight at what was in the minds of both.
+
+"I'm sorry to hear, Mr. Vaughan, that you are on bad terms with Harry.
+What was the trouble?" She turned her head and smiled at him--but the
+smile did not bring his lips to answer; it was unpleasantly like the way
+Harry smiled when he had some deviltry in mind.
+
+Rowdy scented trouble and parried. "Men can't always get along agreeably
+together."
+
+"And you disagree with a man rather emphatically, I should judge. Harry
+said you knocked him down." Politeness ruled her voice, but cheeks and
+eyes were aflame.
+
+"I did. And of course he told you how he took a shot at me from a dark
+corner, outside." Rowdy's eyes, it would seem, had kindled from the fire
+in hers.
+
+"No, he didn't--but I--you struck him first."
+
+"Hitting a man with your fist is one thing," said Rowdy with decision.
+"Shooting at him from ambush is another."
+
+"Harry shouldn't have done that," she admitted with dignity. "But why
+wouldn't you take a drink with him? Not that I approve of drinking--I
+wish Harry wouldn't do such things--but he said it was an insult the way
+you refused."
+
+"Jessie--"
+
+"Miss Conroy, please."
+
+"Jessie"--he repeated the name stubbornly--"I think we'd better drop
+that subject. You don't understand the case; and, anyway, I didn't come
+here to discuss Harry. Our trouble is long standing, and if I insulted
+him you ought to know I had a reason. I never came whining to you about
+him, and it don't speak well for him that he hot-footed over to you with
+his version. I suppose he'd heard about me--er--going to see you, and
+wanted to queer me. I hope you'll take my word for it, Jessie, that I've
+never harmed him; all the trouble he's made for himself, one way and
+another.
+
+"But what I came over for to-day concerns just you and me. I wanted
+to tell you that--to ask you if you'll marry me. I might put it more
+artistic, Jessie, but that's what I mean, and--I mean all the things
+I'd like to say and can't." He stopped and smiled at her, wistfully
+whimsical. "I've been three weeks getting my feelings into proper words,
+little girl, and coming over here I had a speech thought out that
+sure done justice to my subject. But all I can remember of it is just
+that--that I want you for always."
+
+Miss Conroy looked away from him, but he could see a deeper tint of red
+in her cheek. It seemed a long time before she said anything. Then:
+"But you've forgotten about Harry. He's my brother, and he'd be--er--you
+wouldn't want him related--to you."
+
+"Harry! Well, I pass him up. I've got a pretty long account against him;
+but I'll cross it off. It won't be hard to do--for you. I've thought of
+all that; and a man can forgive a whole lot in the brother of the woman
+he loves." He leaned toward her and added honestly: "I can't promise you
+I'll ever get to like him, Jessie; but I'll keep my hands off him, and
+I'll treat him civil; and when you consider all he's done, that's quite
+a large-sized contract."
+
+Miss Conroy became much interested in the ears of her horse.
+
+"The only thing to decide is whether you like me enough. If you do,
+we'll sure be happy. Never mind Harry."
+
+"You're very generous," she flared, "telling me to never mind Harry.
+And Harry's my own brother, and the only near relative I've got. I know
+he's--impulsive, and quick-tempered, perhaps. But he needs me all the
+more. Do you think I'll turn against him, even for you?"
+
+That "even" may have been a slip, but it heartened Rowdy immensely.
+"I don't ask you to," he told her gently. "I only want you to not turn
+against me."
+
+"I do wish you two would be sensible, and stop quarreling." She glanced
+at him briefly.
+
+"I'm willing to cut it out--I told you that. I can't answer for him,
+though." Rowdy sighed, wishing Harry Conroy in Australia, or some place
+equally remote.
+
+Miss Conroy suddenly resolved to be strictly just; and when a young
+woman sets about being deliberately just, the Lord pity him whom she
+judges!
+
+"Before I answer you, I must know just what all this is about," she said
+firmly. "I want to hear both sides; I'm sure Harry wouldn't do anything
+mean. Do you think he would?"
+
+Rowdy was dissentingly silent.
+
+"Do you really, in your heart, believe that Harry would--knowingly--be
+guilty of anything mean?" Her eyes plainly told the answer she wanted to
+hear.
+
+Rowdy looked into them, hesitated, and clung tenaciously to his
+convictions. "Yes, I do; and I know Harry pretty well, Jessie." His face
+showed how much he hated to say it.
+
+"I'm afraid you are very prejudiced," she sighed. "But go on; tell me
+just what you have against Harry. I'm sure it can all be explained away,
+only I must hear what it is."
+
+Rowdy regarded her, puzzled. How he was to comply he did not know. It
+would be simply brutal to tell her. He would feel like a hangman. And
+she believed so in Harry, she wouldn't listen; even if she did, he
+thought bitterly, she would hate him for destroying her faith. A woman's
+justice--ah, me!
+
+"Don't you see you're putting me in a mighty hard position, girlie?" he
+protested. "You're a heap better off not to know. He's your brother. I
+wish you'd take my word that I'll drop the whole thing right where it
+is. Harry's had all the best of it, so far; let it stand that way."
+
+Her eyes met his coldly. "Are you afraid to let me judge between you?
+What did he do? Daren't you tell?"
+
+Rowdy's lids drooped ominously. "If you call that a dare," he said
+grimly, "I'll tell you, fast enough. I was a friend to him when he
+needed one mighty bad. I helped him when he was dead broke and out uh
+work. I kept him going all winter--and to show his gratitude, he gave
+me the doublecross, in more ways than one. I won't go into details." He
+decided that he simply could not tell her bluntly that Harry had worked
+off stolen horses on him, and worse.
+
+"Oh--you won't go into details!" Scorn filled eyes and voice. "Are
+they so trivial, then? You tell me what you did for Harry--playing Good
+Samaritan. Harry, let me tell you, has property of his own; I can't see
+why he should ever be in need of charity. You're like all the rest; you
+hint things against him--but I believe it's just jealousy. You can't
+come out honestly and tell me a single instance where he has harmed you,
+or done anything worse than other high-spirited young men."
+
+"It wouldn't do any good to tell you," he retorted. "You think he's just
+lacking wings to be an angel. I hope to God you'll always be able to
+think so! I'm sure I don't want to jar your faith."
+
+"I must say your actions don't bear out your words. You've just been
+trying to turn me against him."
+
+"I haven't. I've been trying to convince you that I want you, anyway,
+and Harry needn't come between us."
+
+"In other words, you're willing to overlook my being Harry's sister. I
+appreciate your generosity, I'm sure." She did not look, however, as if
+she meant that.
+
+"I didn't mean that."
+
+"Then you won't overlook it? How very unfortunate! Because I can't help
+the relationship."
+
+"Would you, if you could?" he asked rashly.
+
+"Certainly not!"
+
+"I'm afraid we're getting off the trail," he amended tactfully. "I asked
+you, a while back, if you'd marry me."
+
+"And I said I must hear both sides of your trouble with Harry, before I
+could answer."
+
+"What's the use? You'd take his part, anyway."
+
+"Not if I found he was guilty of all you--insinuate. I should be
+perfectly just." She really believed that.
+
+"Can't you tell me yes or no, anyway? Don't let him come between us."
+
+"I can't help it. We'd never agree, or be happy. He'd keep on coming
+between us, whether we meant him to or not," she said dispiritedly.
+
+"That's a cinch," Rowdy muttered, thinking of Harry's trouble-breeding
+talents.
+
+"Then there's no more to be said. Until you and Harry settle your
+difficulties amicably, or I am convinced that he's in the wrong, we'll
+just be friends, Mr. Vaughan. Good afternoon." She rode into the Rodway
+yard, feeling very just and virtuous, no doubt. But she left Rowdy
+with some rather unpleasant thoughts, and with a sentiment toward her
+precious brother which was not far from manslaughter.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 8. Pink in a Threatening Mood.
+
+Eagle Creek Smith had at last reached the point where he must face new
+conditions and change established customs. He could no longer ignore
+the barrenness of the range, or close his eyes to the grim fact that
+his cattle were facing starvation--and that in June, when they should be
+taking on flesh.
+
+When he finally did confess to himself that things couldn't go on like
+that, others had been before him in leasing and buying land, until only
+the dry benches were left to him and his hungry herds.
+
+But Eagle Creek was a man of resource. When the round-up pulled in and
+Wooden Shoes reported to him the general state of the cattle, and told
+of the water-holes newly fenced and of creek bottoms gobbled by men more
+farseeing than he, Eagle Creek took twenty-four hours to adjust himself
+to the situation and to meet the crisis before him. His own land, as
+compared to his twenty thousand cattle, was too pitifully inadequate for
+a second thought.
+
+He must look elsewhere for the correct answer to his problem.
+
+When Rowdy rode apathetically up to the stable, Pink came out of the
+bunk-house to meet him, big with news. "Oh, doctor! We're up against it
+a-plenty now," he greeted, with his dimples at their deepest.
+
+"Huh!" grunted Rowdy crossly. "What's hurting you, Pink?"
+
+"Forecasting the future," Pink retorted. "Eagle Creek has come alive,
+and has wised up sudden to the fact that this ain't going t' be any
+Noah's flood brand uh summer, and that his cattle look like the tailings
+of a wash-board factory. He's got busy--and we're sure going to. We're
+due t' hit the grit out uh here in the first beams uh rosy morn, and do
+a record stunt at gathering cattle."
+
+"Well, we were going to, anyhow," Rowdy cut in.
+
+"But that's only the prelude, old-timer. We've got t' take 'em across
+country to the Belknap reservation. Eagle Creek went t' town and
+telegraphed, and got the refusal of it for pasturage; he ain't so
+slow, oncet he gets started. But if you've ever rode over them dried-up
+benches, you savvy the merry party we'll be when we git there. I've saw
+jack-rabbits packing their lunch along over there."
+
+"Belknap"--Rowdy dropped his saddle spitefully to the ground--"is where
+our friend Conroy has just gone to fill a splendid position."
+
+Pink thoughtfully blew the ashes from his cigarette. "Harry Conroy would
+fill one position fine. So one uh these days I'll offer it to him. I
+don't know anybody that'd look nicer in a coffin than that jasper--and
+if he's gone t' Belknap, that's likely the position he'll fill, all
+right."
+
+Rowdy said nothing, but his very silence told Pink much.
+
+"How'd yuh make out with Jessie?" Pink asked frankly, though he was not
+supposed to know where Rowdy had been.
+
+Rowdy knew from experience that it was useless trying to keep anything
+from Pink that Pink wanted to know; besides, there was a certain comfort
+in telling his troubles to so stanch a friend. "Harry got his work in
+there, too," he said bitterly. "He beat me to her and queered me for
+good, by the looks."
+
+"Huh!" said Pink. "I wouldn't waste much time worrying over her, if
+she's that easy turned."
+
+"She's all right," defended Rowdy quickly. "I don't know as I blame her;
+she takes the stand any sister would take. She wants to know all about
+the trouble--hear both sides, she said, so she could judge which was to
+blame. I guess she's got her heart set on being peacemaker. I know one
+thing: she--likes me, all right."
+
+"I don't see how he queered yuh any, then," puzzled Pink. "She sure
+couldn't take his part after you'd told her all he done."
+
+Rowdy turned on him savagely. "You little fool, do you think I told her?
+Right there's the trouble. He told his story; and when she asked for
+mine, I couldn't say anything. She's his sister."
+
+"You--didn't--tell!" Pink leaned against the stable and stared. "Rowdy
+Vaughan, there's times when even your friend can't disguise the fact
+that yuh act plumb batty. Yuh let Harry do yuh dirt that any other man'd
+'a' killed him on bare suspicion uh doing; and yuh never told her when
+she asked yuh to! How yuh lent him money, and let him steal some right
+out uh your pocket--"
+
+"I couldn't prove that," Rowdy objected.
+
+"And yuh never told her about his cutting your latigo--"
+
+"Oh, cut it out!" Rowdy glowered down at him. "I guess I don't need to
+be reminded of all those things. But are they the things a man can tell
+a girl about her brother? Pink, you're about as unfeeling a little devil
+as I ever run across. Maybe you'd have told her; but I couldn't. So it's
+all off."
+
+He turned away and stared unseeingly at the rim of hills that hid the
+place where she lived. She seemed very far away from him just then--and
+very, very desirable. He thought then that he had never before realized
+just how much he cared.
+
+"You can jest bet I'd 'a' told her!" gritted Pink, watching furtively
+Rowdy's averted face. "She ain't goin' t' be bowed down by no load of
+ignorance much longer, either. If she don't get Harry Conroy's pedigree
+straight out, without the varnish, it'll be because I ain't next to all
+his past."
+
+But Rowdy, glooming among the debris of certain pet air-castles, neither
+heard nor wanted to hear Pink's wrathful mutterings. As a matter of
+fact, it was not till Pink clattered out of the yard on Mascot that he
+remembered where he was. Even then it did not occur to him to wonder
+where Pink was going.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 9. Moving the Herd.
+
+Four thousand weary cattle crawled up the long ridge which divides Chin
+Coulee from Quitter Creek. Pink, riding point, opposite the Silent One,
+twisted round in his saddle and looked back at the slow-moving river of
+horns and backs veiled in a gray dust-cloud. Down the line at intervals
+rode the others, humped listlessly in their saddles, their hat brims
+pulled low over tired eyes that smarted with dust and wind and burning
+heat.
+
+Pink sighed, and wished lonesomely that it was Rowdy riding point with
+him, instead of the Silent One, who grew even more silent as the day
+dragged leadenly to mid-afternoon; Pink could endure anything better
+than being left to his thoughts and to the complaining herd for company.
+
+He took off his hat, pushed back his curls--dripping wet they were and
+flattened unbecomingly in pasty, yellow rings on his forehead--and eyed
+with disfavor a line-backed, dry cow, with one horn tipped rakishly
+toward her speckled nose; she blinked silently at wind and heat, and
+forged steadily ahead, up-hill and down coulee, always in the lead,
+always walking, walking, like an automaton. Her energy, in the face of
+all the dry, dreary days, rasped Pink's nerves unbearably. For nearly a
+week he had ridden left point, and always that line-backed cow with the
+down-crumpled horn walked and walked and walked, a length ahead of her
+most intrepid followers.
+
+He leaned from his saddle, picked up a rock from the barren, yellow
+hillside, and threw it at the cow spitefully. The rock bounced off her
+lean rump; she blinked and broke into a shuffling trot, her dragging
+hoofs kicking up an extra amount of dust, which blew straight into
+Pink's face.
+
+"Aw, cut it out!" he shouted petulantly. "You're sure the limit, without
+doing any stunts at sprinting up-hill. Ain't yuh got any nerves, yuh
+blamed old skate? Yuh act like it was milkin'-time, and yuh was headed
+straight for the bars and a bran mash. Can't yuh realize the kind uh
+deal you're up against? Here's cattle that's got you skinned for looks,
+old girl, and they know it's coming blamed tough; and you just bat your
+eyes and peg along like yuh enjoyed it. Bawl, or something, can't yuh?
+Drop back a foot and act human!"
+
+The Silent One looked across at him with a tired smile. "Let her go,
+Pink, and pray for more like her," he called amusedly. "There'll be
+enough of them dropping back presently."
+
+Pink threw one leg over the horn and rode sidewise, made him a
+cigarette, and tried to forget the cow--or, at least, to forgive her for
+not acting as dog-tired as he felt.
+
+They were on the very peak of the ridge now, and the hill sloped
+smoothly down before them to the bluff which bounded Quitter Creek. Far
+down, a tiny black speck in the coulee-bottom, they could see Wooden
+Shoes riding along the creek-bank, scouting for water. From the way he
+rode, and from the fact that camp was nowhere in sight, Pink guessed
+shrewdly that his quest was in vain. He shrugged his shoulders at what
+that meant, and gave his attention to the herd.
+
+The marching line split at the brow of the bluff. The line-backed
+cow lowered her head a bit and went unfaltering down the parched,
+gravel-coated hill, followed by a few hundred of the freshest. Then the
+stream stopped flowing, and Pink and the Silent One rode back up the
+bluff to where the bulk of the footsore herd, their senses dulled by
+hunger and weariness and choking thirst, sniffed at the gravel that
+promised agony to their bruised feet, and balked at the ordeal. Others
+straggled up, bunched against the rebels, and stood stolidly where they
+were.
+
+Pink galloped on down the crawling line. "Forward, the Standard Oil
+Brigade!" he yelled whimsically as he went.
+
+The cowboys heard--and understood. They left their places and went
+forward at a lope, and Pink rode back to the coulee edge, untying
+his slicker as he went. The Silent One was already off his horse and
+shouting hoarsely as he whacked with his slicker at the sulky mass.
+Pink rode in and did the same. It was not the first time this thing had
+happened, and from a diversion it was verging closely on the monotonous.
+Presently, even a rank tenderfoot must have caught the significance of
+Pink's military expression. The Standard Oil Brigade was at the front in
+force.
+
+Cowboys, swinging five-gallon oil-cans, picked up from scattered sheep
+camps and carried many a weary mile for just such an emergency, were
+charging the bunch intrepidly. Others made shift with flat sirup-cans
+with pebbles inside. A few, like Pink and the Silent One, flapped their
+slickers till their arms ached. Anything, everything that would make
+a din and startle the cattle out of their lethargy, was pressed into
+service.
+
+But they might have been raised in a barnyard and fed cabbage leaves
+from back door-steps, for all the excitement they showed. Cattle that
+three months ago--or a month--would run, head and tail high in air, at
+sight of a man on foot, backed away from a rattling, banging cube of
+gleaming tin, turned and faced the thing dull-eyed and apathetic.
+
+In time, however, they gave way dogedly before the onslaught. A few were
+forced shrinkingly down the hill; others followed gingerly, until the
+line lengthened and flowed, a sluggish, brown-red stream, into the
+coulee and across to Quitter Creek.
+
+Here the leaders were browsing greedily along the banks. They had
+emptied the few holes that had still held a meager store of brackish
+water and so the mutinous bulk of the herd snuffed at the trampled,
+muddy spots and bellowed their disappointment.
+
+Wooden Shoes rode up and surveyed the half maddened animals gloomily.
+"Push 'em on, boys," he said. "They's nothings for 'em here. I've sent
+the wagons on to Red Willow; we'll try that next. Push 'em along all yuh
+can, while I go on ahead and see."
+
+With tin-cans, slickers, and much vituperation, they forced the herd up
+the coulee side and strung them out again on trail. The line-backed
+cow walked and walked in the lead before Pink's querulous gaze, and the
+others plodded listlessly after. The gray dust-cloud formed anew over
+their slowmoving backs, and the cowboys humped over in their saddles
+and rode and rode, with the hot sun beating aslant in their dirt-grimed
+faces, and with the wind blowing and blowing.
+
+If this had been the first herd to make that dreary trip, things would
+not have been quite so disheartening. But it was the third. Seven
+thousand lean kine had passed that way before them, eating the scant
+grass growth and drinking what water they could find among those barren,
+sun-baked coulees.
+
+The Cross L boys, on this third trip, were become a jaded lot of
+hollow-eyed men, whose nerves were rasped raw with long hours and longer
+days in the saddle. Pink's cheeks no longer made his name appropriate,
+and he was not the only one who grew fretful over small things. Rowdy
+had been heard, more than once lately, to anathematize viciously the
+prairie-dogs for standing on their tails and chipchip-chipping at them
+as they went by. And though the Silent One did not swear, he carried
+rocks in his pockets, and threw them with venomous precision at every
+"dog" that showed his impertinent nose out of a burrow within range. For
+Pink, he vented his spleen on the line-backed cow.
+
+So they walked and walked and walked.
+
+The cattle balked at another hill, and all the tincans and slickers in
+the crowd could scarcely move them. The wind dropped with the sun, and
+the clouds glowed gorgeously above them, getting scant notice, except
+that they told eloquently of the coming night; and there were yet
+miles--long, rough, heartbreaking miles--to put behind them before
+they could hope for the things their tired bodies craved: supper and
+dreamless sleep.
+
+When the last of the herd had sidled, under protest, down the long hill
+to the flat, dusk was pushing the horizon closer upon them, mile by
+mile. When they crawled sinuously out upon the welcome level, the hill
+loomed ghostly and black behind them. A mile out, Wooden Shoes rode out
+of the gloom and met the point. He turned and rode beside Pink.
+
+"Yuh'll have t' swing 'em north," he greeted.
+
+"Red Willow's dry as hell--all but in the Rockin' R field. No use askin'
+ole Mullen to let us in there; we'll just go. I sent the wagons through
+the fence, an' yuh'll find camp about a mile up from the mouth uh the
+big coulee. You swing 'em round the end uh this bench, an' hit that big
+coulee at the head. When you come t' the fence, tear it down. They's
+awful good grass in that field!"
+
+"All right," said Pink cheerfully. It was in open defiance of range
+etiquette; but their need was desperate. The only thing about it Pink
+did not like was the long detour they must make. He called the news
+across to the Silent One, after Wooden Shoes had gone on down the line,
+and they swung the point gradually to the left.
+
+Before that drive was over, Pink had vowed many times to leave the range
+forever and never to turn another cow--besides a good many other foolish
+things which would be forgotten, once he had a good sleep. And Rowdy,
+plodding half-way down the herd, had grown exceedingly pessimistic
+regarding Jessie Conroy, and decided that there was no sense in thinking
+about her all the time, the way he had been doing. Also, he told himself
+savagely that if Harry ever crossed his trail again, there would be
+something doing. This thing of letting a cur like that run roughshod
+over a man on account of a girl that didn't care was plumb idiotic. And
+beside him the cattle walked and walked and walked, a dim, moving mass
+in the quiet July night.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 10. Harry Conroy at Home.
+
+It was late next morning when they got under way; for they had not
+reached camp until long after midnight, and Wooden Shoes was determined
+the cattle should have one good feed, and all the water they wanted, to
+requite them for the hard drive of the day before.
+
+Pink rode out with Rowdy to the herd--a heavylidded, gloomy Rowdy he
+was, and not amiably inclined toward the small talk of the range. But
+Pink had slept five whole hours and was almost his normal self; which
+means that speech was not to be denied him.
+
+"What yuh mourning over?" he bantered. "Mad 'cause the reservation's so
+close?"
+
+"Sure," assented Rowdy, with deep sarcasm.
+
+"That's what I thought. Studying up the nicest way uh giving
+brother-in-law the glad hand, ain't yuh?"
+
+"He's no relation uh mine--and never will be," said Rowdy curtly. "And
+I'll thank you, Pink, to drop that subject for good and all."
+
+"Down she goes," assented Pink, quite unperturbed. "But the cards ain't
+all turned yet, yuh want to remember, I wouldn't pass on no hand like
+you've got. If I wanted a girl right bad, Rowdy, I'd wait till I got
+refused before I'd quit."
+
+"Seems to me you've changed your politics lately," Rowdy retorted. "A
+while back you was cussing the whole business; and now you're worse than
+an old maid aunt. Pink, you may not be wise to the fact, but you sure
+are an inconsistent little devil."
+
+"Are yuh going t' hunt Harry up and--"
+
+"I thought I told you to drop that."
+
+"Did yuh? All right, then--only I hope yuh didn't leave your gun packed
+away in your bed," he insinuated.
+
+"You can take a look to-night, if you want to."
+
+Pink laughed in a particularly infectious way he had, and, before he
+quite knew it, Rowdy was laughing, also. After that the world did not
+look quite so forlorn as it had, nor the day's work so distasteful. So
+Pink, having accomplished his purpose, was content to turn the subject.
+
+"There's old Liney"--he pointed her out to Rowdy--"fresh as a
+meadow-lark. I had a big grouch against her yesterday, just because she
+batted her eyes and kept putting one foot ahead uh the other. I could
+'a' killed her. But she's all right, that old girl. The way she led out
+down that black coulee last night wasn't slow! Say, she's an ambitious
+old party. I wish you was riding point with me, Rowdy. The Silent One
+talks just about as much as that old cow. He sure loves to live up to
+his rep."
+
+"Oh, go on to work," Rowdy admonished. "You make me think of a magpie."
+All the same, he looked after him with smiling lips, and eyes that
+forgot their gloom. He even whistled while he helped round up the
+scattered herd, ready for that last day's drive.
+
+Every man in the outfit comforted himself with the thought that it
+was the last day's drive. After long weeks of trailing lean herds over
+barren, windbrushed hills, the last day meant much to them. Even the
+Silent One sang something they had never heard before, about "If Only I
+Knew You Were True."
+
+They crossed the Rocking R field, took down four panels of fence, passed
+out, and carefully put them up again behind them. Before them stretched
+level plain for two miles; beyond that a high, rocky ridge that promised
+some trouble with the herd, and after that more plain and a couleee or
+two, and then, on a far slope--the reservation.
+
+The cattle were rested and fed, and walked out briskly; the ridge neared
+perceptibly. Pink's shrill whistle carried far back down the line and
+mingled pleasantly with voices calling to one another across the herd.
+Not a man was humped listlessly in his saddle; instead, they rode with
+shoulders back and hats at divers jaunty angles to keep the sun from
+shining in eyes that faced the future cheerfully.
+
+The herd steadily climbed the ridge, choosing the smoothest path and the
+easiest slope. Pink assured the line-backed cow that she was a peach,
+and told her to "go to it, old girl." The Silent One's pockets were
+quite empty of rocks, and the prairiedogs chipped and flirted their
+funny little tails unassailed. And Rowdy, from wondering what had made
+Pink change his attitude so abruptly, began to plan industriously the
+next meeting with Jessie Conroy, and to build a new castle that was
+higher and airier than any he had ever before attempted--and perhaps
+had a more flimsy foundation; for it rested precariously on Pink's idle
+remarks.
+
+The point gained the top of the ridge, and Pink turned and swung his hat
+jubilantly at the others. The reservation was in sight, though it lay
+several miles distant. But in that clear air one could distinguish the
+line fence--if one had the eye of faith and knew just where to look.
+Presently he observed a familiar horseman climbing the ridge to meet
+them.
+
+"Eagle Creek's coming," he shouted to the man behind. "Come alive,
+there, and don't let 'em roam all over the map. Git some style on yuh!"
+
+Those who heard laughed; no one ever dreamed of being offended at what
+Pink said. Those who had not heard had the news passed on to them,
+in various forms. Wooden Shoes, who had been loitering in the rear
+gossiping with the men, rode on to meet Smith.
+
+Eagle Creek urged his horse up the last steep place, right in the face
+of the leaders, which halted and tried to turn back. Pink, swearing in a
+whisper, began to force them forward.
+
+"Let 'em alone," Eagle Creek bellowed harshly. "They ain't goin' no
+farther."
+
+"W-what?" Pink stopped short and eyed him critically. Eagle Creek could
+not justly be called a teetotaler; but Pink had never known him to
+get worse than a bit wobbly in his legs; his mind had never fogged
+perceptibly. Still, something was wrong with him, that was certain.
+Pink glanced dubiously across at the Silent One and saw him shrug his
+shoulders expressively.
+
+Eagle Creek rode up and stopped within ten feet of the line-backed cow;
+she seemed hurt at being held up in this manner, Pink thought.
+
+"Yuh'll have t' turn this herd back," Eagle Creek announced bluntly.
+
+"Where to?" Pink asked, too stunned to take in the meaning of it.
+
+"T' hell, I guess. It's the only place I know of where everybody's
+welcome." Eagle Creek's tone was not pleasant.
+
+"We just came from there," Pink said simply, thinking of the horrors of
+that drive.
+
+"Where's Wooden Shoes?" snapped the old man; and the foreman's hat-crown
+appeared at that instant over the ridge.
+
+"Well, we're up against it," Eagle Creek greeted. "That damn' agent--or
+the fellow he had workin' for him--reported his renting us pasture. Made
+the report read about twice as many as we're puttin' on. He's got orders
+now t' turn out every hoof but what b'longs there."
+
+"My Lord!" Wooden Shoes gasped at the catastrophe which faced the Cross
+L.
+
+"That's Harry Conroy's work," Pink cut in sharply' "He'd hurt the Cross
+L if he could, t' spite me and Rowdy. He--"
+
+"Don't matter--seein' it's done. Yuh might as well turn the herd loose
+right here, an' let 'em go t' the devil. I don't know what else t' do
+with 'em."
+
+"Anything gone wrong?" It was Rowdy, who had left his place and ridden
+forward to see what was holding the herd back.
+
+"Naw. We're fired off the reservation, is all. We got orders to take the
+herd to hell. Eagle Creek's leased it. Mr. Satan is going to keep house
+here in Montana; he says it's better for his trade," Pink informed him,
+in his girlish treble.
+
+Eagle Creek turned on him fiercely, then thought better of it and
+grinned. "Them arrangements wouldn't make us any worse off'n what we
+are," he commented. "Turn 'em loose, boys."
+
+"Man, if yuh turn 'em loose here, the first storm that hits 'em, they
+all die," Wooden Shoes interposed excitedly. "They ain't nothings for
+'em. We had t' turn 'em into the Rockin' R field last night, t'
+git water an' feed. Red Willow's gone dry outside dat field. They
+ain't--nothings. They'll die!"
+
+Eagle Creek looked at him dully. For the first time in his life he faced
+utter ruin. "Damn 'em, let 'em die, then!" he said.
+
+"That's what they'll sure do," Wooden Shoes reiterated stubbornly. "If
+they don't git feed and water now, yuh needn't start no round-up next
+spring."
+
+Pink's eyes went down over the close-huddled backs and the thicket
+of polished horns, and his eyelids stung. Would all of them die, he
+wondered! Four thousand! He hoped not. There must be some way out. Down
+the hill, he knew the cowboys were making cigarettes while they waited
+and wondered mightily what it was all about If they only knew, he
+thought, there would be more than one rope ready for Harry Conroy.
+
+"How about the Peck reservation? Couldn't you get them on there?" Rowdy
+ventured.
+
+"Not a hoof!" growled Eagle Creek, with his chin sunk against his chest.
+"There's thirty thousand Valley County cattle on there now." He looked
+down at the cattle, as Pink had done. "God! It's bad enough t' go
+broke," he groaned; "but t' think uh them poor brutes dyin' off in
+bunches, for want uh grass an' water! I've run that brand fer over
+thirty year."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 11. Rowdy Promoted.
+
+Rowdy rode closer. "If you don't mind paying duty," he began
+tentatively, "I can put you next to a range over the line, where I'll
+guarantee feed and water the year round for every hoof you own."
+
+Eagle Creek lifted his head and looked at him "Whereabouts?" he demanded
+skeptically.
+
+"Up in the Red Deer country. Pink knows the place. There's range
+a-plenty, and creeks running through that never go dry; and the country
+isn't stocked and fenced to death, like this is."
+
+"And would we be ordered off soon as we got there?"
+
+"Sure not--if you paid duty, which would only be about double what you
+were going to pay for one year's pasture."
+
+Eagle Creek breathed deeply, like a man who has narrowly escaped
+suffocation. "Young man, I b'lieve you're a square dealer, and that yuh
+savvy the cow business. I've thought it ever since yuh started t' work."
+His keen old eyes twinkled at the memory of Rowdy's arrival, and Rowdy
+grinned. "I take yuh at your word, and yuh can consider yourself in
+charge uh this herd as it stands. Take it t' that cow heaven yuh tell
+about--and damn it, yuh won't be none the worse for it!"
+
+"We'll pass that up," said Rowdy quietly. "I'll take the herd through,
+though; and I'd advise you to get the rest on the road as soon as they
+can be gathered. It's a three-hundred-mile drive."
+
+"All right. From now on it's up to you," Eagle Creek told him briskly.
+"Take 'em back t' the Rockin' R field, and I'll send the wagons back
+t' you. Old Mullen'll likely make a roar--but that's most all gove'ment
+land he's got fenced, so I guess I can calm him down. Will yuh go near
+the ranch?"
+
+"I think so," said Rowdy. "It will be the shortest way."
+
+"Well, I'll give yuh some blank checks, an' you can load up with grub
+and anything else yuh need. I'll be over there by the time you are, and
+fix up that duty business. Wooden Shoes'll have t' get another outfit
+together, and get another bunch on the trail. One good thing--I got
+thirty days t' get off what cattle is on there; and thirty days uh grass
+and water'll put 'em in good shape for the trip. Wish this bunch was as
+well fixed."
+
+"That's what," Rowdy assented. "But I think they'll make it, all right."
+
+"I'll likely want yuh to stay up there and keep cases on 'em. Any
+objections?"
+
+"Sure not!" laughed Rowdy. "Only I'll want Pink and the Silent One to
+stay with me."
+
+"Keep what men yuh want. Anything else?"
+
+"I don't think of anything," said Rowdy. "Only I'd like to have
+a--talk--with Conroy." Creek eyed him sharply. "Yuh won't be apt t'
+meet him. Old Bill Brown, up home, would like to see him, too. Bill's
+a perseverin' old cuss, and wants to see Conroy so bad he's got the
+sheriff out lookin' for him. It's about a bunch uh horses that was run
+off, three years ago. Yuh brought one of 'em back into the country last
+spring, yuh mind."
+
+Rowdy and Pink looked at one another, but said nothing.
+
+"Old Bill, he follered your back trail and found out some things he
+wanted t' know. Conroy got wind of it, though, and he left the agency
+kind-a suddint. No use yuh lookin' for him."
+
+"Then we're ready to hit the grit, I guess." Rowdy glanced again at Pink
+who nodded.
+
+"Well, I ain't stoppin' yuh," Eagle Creek drawled laconically. "S'-long,
+and good luck t' yuh."
+
+He waited while Pink and the Silent One swung the point back down the
+hill, with Rowdy helping them, quite unmoved by his sudden promotion.
+When the herd was fairly started on the backward march, Eagle Creek
+nodded satisfaction the while he pried off a corner of plug-tobacco.
+
+"He's all right," he asserted emphatically. "That boy suits me, from
+the ground up. If he don't put that deal through in good shape, it'll be
+becaus' it can't be did."
+
+Wooden Shoes, with whom Rowdy had always been a prime favorite, agreed
+with Dutch heartiness. Then, leaving the herd to its new guardian they
+rode swiftly to overtake and turn back the wagons.
+
+"Three hundred miles! And part of it across howling desert!" Rowdy drew
+his brows together. "It's a big thing for me, all right, Pink; but it's
+sure a big contract to take this herd through, if anybody should happen
+to ask yuh."
+
+"Oh, buck up! You'll make good, all right--if only these creeks wasn't
+so bone dry!"
+
+"Well, there's water enough in the Rocking R field for to-day; we'll
+throw 'em in there till tomorrow. And I've a notion I can find a better
+trail across to North Fork than the way we came. I'm going to strike
+out this afternoon and see, anyway, if Quitter Creek hasn't got water
+farther up. Once we get up north uh the home ranch, I can see my way
+clear."
+
+"Go to it, boss," Pink cried heartily. "I don't see how I'm goin t'
+keep from sassing yuh, once in a while, though. That's what bothers me.
+What'll happen if I turn loose on yuh, some time?"
+
+"You'll get fired, I expect," laughed Rowdy, and rode off to announce
+the news to the rest of the outfit, who were very unhappy in their
+mystification.
+
+If their reception of the change of plans and foreman was a bit profane,
+and their manner toward him a bit familiar, Rowdy didn't mind. He knew
+that they did not grudge him his good luck, even while they hated
+the long drive. He also knew that they watched him furtively; for
+nothing--not even misfortune--is as sure a test of a man's character
+as success. They liked Rowdy, and they did not believe this would spoil
+him; still, every man of them was secretly a bit anxious.
+
+On the trail, he rode in his accustomed place, and, so far as
+appearances went, the party had no foreman. He went forward and helped
+Pink take down the fence that had been so carefully put up a few hours
+before, and he whistled while he put it in place again, just as if
+he had no responsibility in the world. Then the cattle were left to
+themselves, and the men rode down to their old campground, marked by
+empty tin-cans and a trodden place where had been the horse corral.
+
+Rowdy swung down and faced the men gravely. Instinctively they stood at
+attention, waiting for what he had to say; they felt that the situation
+was so far out of the ordinary that a few remarks pertaining to their
+new relations would not be out of place.
+
+He looked them over appraisingly, and met glances as grave as his own.
+Straight, capable fellows they were, every man of them.
+
+"Boys," he began impressively, "you all know that from to-day on you're
+working under my orders. I never was boss of anything but the cayuse I
+happened to have under me, and I'm going to extract all the honey there
+is in the situation. Maybe I'll never be boss again--but at present I'm
+it. I want you fellows to remember that important fact, and treat me
+with proper respect. From now on you can call me Mr. Vaughan; 'Rowdy'
+doesn't go, except on a legal holiday.
+
+"Furthermore, I'm not going to get out at daylight and catch up my own
+horse; I'll let yuh take turns being flunky, and I'll expect yuh
+to saddle my horse every morning and noon, and bring him to the
+cook-tent--and hold my stirrup for me. Also, you are expected, at
+all times and places, to anticipate my wants and fall over yourselves
+waiting on me. You're just common, ordinary, forty-dollar cow-punchers,
+and if I treat yuh white, it's because I pity yuh for not being up where
+I am. Remember, vassals, that I'm your superior, mentally, morally,
+socially--"
+
+"Chap him!" yelled Pink, and made for him "I'll stand for a lot, but
+don't yuh ever think I'm a vassal!"
+
+"Mutiny is strictly prohibited!" he thundered. "Villains, beware!
+Gadzooks--er--let's have a swim before the wagons come!"
+
+They laughed and made for the creek, feeling rather crestfallen and a
+bit puzzled.
+
+"If I had an outfit like this to run, and a three hundred-mile drive to
+make," Bob Nevin remarked to the Silent One, "blessed if I'd make a josh
+of it! I'd cultivate the corrugated brow and the stiff spine--me!"
+
+"My friend," the Silent One responded, "don't be too hasty in your
+judgment. It's because the corrugated brow will come later that he
+laughs now. You'll presently find yourself accomplishing the impossible
+in obedience to the flicker of Rowdy Vaughan's eyelids. Man, did you
+never observe the set of his head, and the look of his eye? Rowdy
+Vaughan will get more out of this crowd than any man ever did; and if he
+fails, he'll fail with the band playing 'Hot Time.'"
+
+"Maybe so," Bob admitted, not quite convinced; "but I wonder if he
+realizes what he's up against." At which the Silent One only smiled
+queerly as he splashed into the water.
+
+After dinner Rowdy caught up the blue roan, which was his favorite for
+a hard ride--he seemed to have forgotten his speech concerning
+"flunkies"--and rode away up the coulee which had brought them into the
+field the night before. The boys watched him go, speculated a lot, and
+went to sleep as the best way of putting in the afternoon.
+
+Pink, who knew quite well what was in Rowdy's mind, said nothing at all;
+it is possible that he was several degrees more jealous of the dignity
+of Rowdy's position than was Rowdy himself, who had no time to think of
+anything but the best way of getting the herd to Canada. He would like
+to have gone along, only that Rowdy did not ask him to. Pink assured
+himself that it was best for Rowdy not to start playing any favorites,
+and curled down in the bed-tent with the others and went to sleep.
+
+It was late that night when Rowdy crept silently into his corner of
+the tent; but Pink was awake, and whispered to know if he found water.
+Rowdy's "Yes" was a mere breath, but it was enough.
+
+At sunrise the herd trailed up the Rocking R coulee, and Pink and the
+Silent One pointed them north of the old trail.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 12. "You Can Tell Jessie."
+
+In the days that followed Rowdy was much alone. There was water to
+hunt, far ahead of the herd, together with the most practicable way of
+reaching it. He did not take the shortest way across that arid country
+and leave the next day's camping-place to chance--as Wooden Shoes had
+done. He felt that there was too much at stake, and the cattle were too
+thin for any more dry drives; long drives there were, but such was his
+generalship that there was always water at the end.
+
+He rode miles and miles that he might have shirked, and he never slept
+until the next day's move, at least, was clearly defined in his mind and
+he felt sure that he could do no better by going another route.
+
+These lonely rides gave him over to the clutch of thoughts he had never
+before harbored in his sunny nature. Grim, ugly thoughts they were, and
+not nice to remember afterward. They swung persistently around a central
+subject, as the earth revolves around the sun; and, like the earth, they
+turned and turned on the axis of his love for a woman.
+
+In particularly ugly moods he thought that if Harry Conroy were caught
+and convicted of horsestealing, Jessie must perforce admit his guilt and
+general unworthiness--Rowdy called it general cussedness--and Rowdy be
+vindicated in her eyes. Then she would marry him, and go with him to
+the Red Deer country and--air-castles for miles! When he awoke to the
+argument again, he would tell himself savagely that if he could, by any
+means, bring about Conroy's speedy conviction, he would do so.
+
+This was unlike Rowdy, whose generous charity toward his enemies came
+near being a fault. He might feel any amount of resentment for wrong
+done, but cold-blooded revenge was not in him; that he had suffered
+so much at Conroy's hands was due largely to the fact that Conroy was
+astute enough to read Rowdy aright, and unscrupulous enough to take
+advantage. Add to that a smallminded jealousy of Rowdy's popularity and
+horsemanship, one can easily imagine him doing some rather nasty things.
+Perhaps the meanest, and the one which rankled most in Rowdy's memory,
+was the cutting of Rowdy's latigo just before a riding contest, in which
+the purse and the glory of a championship-belt seemed in danger of going
+to Rowdy.
+
+Rowdy had got a fall that crippled him for weeks, and Harry had won the
+purse and belt--and the enmity of several men better than he. For though
+morally sure of his guilt, no one could prove that he had cut the strap,
+and so he got off unpunished, except that Pink thrashed him--a bit
+unscientifically, it is true, since he resorted to throwing rocks toward
+the last, but with a thoroughness worthy even of Pink.
+
+But in moods less ugly he shrank from the hurt that must be Jessie's
+if she should discover the truth. Jessie's brother a convicted thief
+serving his sentence in Deer Lodge! The thought was horrible; it was
+brutal cruelty. If he could only know where to look for that lad, he'd
+help him out of the country. It was no good shutting him up in jail;
+that wouldn't help him any, or make him better. He hoped he would get
+off--go somewhere, where they couldn't find him, and stay there.
+
+He wondered where he was, and if he had money enough to see him through.
+He might be no good--he sure wasn't!--but he was Jessie's brother, and
+Jessie believed in him and thought a lot of him. It would be hard lines
+for that little girl if Harry were caught. Bill Brown, the meddlesome
+old freak!--he didn't blame Jessie for not wanting to stop there that
+night. She did just the right thing.
+
+With all this going round and round, monotonously persistent in his
+brain, and with the care of four thousand lean kine and more than a
+hundred saddle-horses--to say nothing of a dozen overworked, fretful
+cow-punchers--Rowdy acquired the "corrugated brow" fast enough without
+any cultivation.
+
+The men were as the Silent One had predicted. They made drives that
+lasted far into the night, stood guard, and got along with so little
+sleep that it was scarce worth mention, and did many things that shaved
+close the impossible--just because Rowdy looked at them straightly, with
+half-closed lids, and asked them if they thought they could.
+
+Pink began to speak of their new foreman as "Moses"; and when the
+curious asked him why, told them soberly that Rowdy could "hit a rock
+with his quirt and start a creek running bank full." When Rowdy heard
+that, he thought of the miles of weary searching, and wished that it
+were true.
+
+They had left the home ranch a day's drive behind them, and were going
+north. Rowdy had denied himself the luxury of riding over to see Jessie,
+and he was repenting the sacrifice in deep gloom and sincerity, when two
+men rode into camp and dismounted, as if they had a right. The taller
+one--with brawn and brain a-plenty, by the look of him--announced that
+he was the sheriff, and would like to stop overnight.
+
+Rowdy gave him welcome half-heartedly, and questioned him craftily.
+A sheriff is not a detective, and does not mind giving harmless
+information; so Rowdy learned that they had traced Conroy thus far, and
+believed that he was ahead of them and making for Canada. He had dodged
+them cleverly two or three times, but now they had reason to believe
+that he was not more than half a day's ride before them. They wanted to
+know if the outfit had seen any one that day, or sign of any one having
+passed that way.
+
+Rowdy shook his head.
+
+"I bet it was Harry Conroy driving that little bunch uh horses up the
+creek, just as we come over the ridge," spoke Pink eagerly.
+
+Rowdy could have choked him. "He wouldn't be driving a lot of horses,"
+he interposed quickly.
+
+"Well, he might," argued Pink. "If I was making a quick get-away, and
+my horse was about played out--like his was apt t' be--I'd sure round
+up the first bunch I seen, and catch me a fresh one--if I was a
+horse-thief. I'll bet yuh--"
+
+The sheriff had put down his cup of coffee. "Is there any place where a
+man could corral a bunch on the quiet?" he asked crisply. It was evident
+that Pink's theory had impressed him.
+
+"Yes, there is. There's an old corral up at the ford--Drowning Ford,
+they call it--that I'd use, if it was me. It was an old line camp,
+and there's a cabin. It's down on the flat by the creek, and it's as
+God-forsaken a place as a man'd want t' hide in, or t' change mounts."
+Pink hitched up his chapbelt and looked across at Rowdy. He was aching
+for a sight of Harry Conroy in handcuffs, and he was certain that Rowdy
+felt the same. "If it was me," he added speculatively, "and I thought I
+was far enough in the lead, I'd stop there till morning."
+
+"How far is it from here?" demanded the sheriff, standing up.
+
+Pink told him he guessed it was five miles. Whereupon the sheriff
+announced his intention of going up there at once, and Pink hinted
+rather strongly that he would like to go with them. The sheriff did not
+know Pink; he looked down at his slimness and at the yellow fringe of
+curls showing under his hat brim, at his pink cheeks and dimples and
+girlish hands, and threw back his head in a loud ha! ha!
+
+Pink asked him politely, but rather stiffly, what there was funny about
+it. The sheriff laughed louder and longer; then, being the sort of man
+who likes a joke now and then, even in the way of business, he solemnly
+deputized Pink, and patted him on the shoulder and told him gravely that
+they couldn't possibly do without him.
+
+It looked for a minute as if Pink were going at him with his fists--but
+he didn't. He reflected that one must not offer violence to an officer
+of the law, and that, being made a deputy, he would have to go, anyway;
+so he gritted his teeth and buckled on his gun, and went along sulkily.
+
+They rode silently, for the most part, and swiftly.
+
+Even in the dusk they could see where a band of horses had been driven
+at a gallop along the creek bank. When they neared the place it was
+dark. Pink pulled up and spoke for the first time since leaving the
+tent.
+
+"We better tie up our horses here and walk," he said, quite unconscious
+of the fact that he was usurping the leadership, and thinking only of
+their quest.
+
+But the sheriff was old at the business, and not too jealous of his
+position. He signed to his deputy proper, and they dismounted.
+
+When they started on, Pink was ahead. The sheriff observed that Pink's
+gun still swung in its scabbard at his hip, and he grinned--but that was
+because he didn't know Pink. That the gun swung at his hip would have
+been quite enough for any one who did know him; it didn't take Pink all
+day to get into action.
+
+Ten rods from the corral, which they could distinguish as a black blotch
+in the sparse willow growth, Pink turned and stopped them. "I know the
+layout here," he whispered. "I'll just sneak ahead and rubber around.
+You Rubes sound like the beginning of a stampede, in this brush."
+
+The sheriff had never before been called a Rube--to his face, at least.
+The audacity took his breath; and when he opened his mouth for scathing
+speech, Pink was not there. He had slipped away, like a slim, elusive
+shadow, and the sheriff did not even know the exact direction of his
+going. There was nothing for it but to wait.
+
+In five minutes Pink appeared with a silent suddenness that startled
+them more than they would like to own.
+
+"He's somewheres around," he announced, in a murmur that would not carry
+ten feet. "He's got a horse in the corral, and, from the sound, he's got
+him all saddled; and the gate's tied shut with a rope."
+
+"How d'yuh know?" grunted the sheriff crossly.
+
+"Felt of it, yuh chump. He's turned the bunch loose and kept up a fresh
+one, like I said he would. It's blame dark, but I could see the horse--a
+big white devil. It's him yuh hear makin' all that racket. If he gits
+away now--"
+
+"Well, we didn't come for a chin-whackin' bee," snapped the sheriff. "I
+come out here t' git him."
+
+Pink gritted his teeth again, and wished the sheriff was just a man,
+so he could lick him. He led them forward without a word, thinking that
+Rowdy wanted Harry Conroy captured.
+
+The sheriff circled warily the corral, peered through the rails at the
+great white horse that ran here and there, whinnying occasionally for
+the band, and heard the creak of leather and the rattle of the bit. Pink
+was right; the horse was saddled, ready for immediate flight.
+
+"Maybe he's in the cabin," he whispered, coming up where Pink stood
+listening tensely at all the little night sounds. Pink turned and crept
+silently to the right, keeping in the deepest shade, while the others
+followed willingly. They were beginning to see the great advantage of
+having Pink along, even if he had called them Rubes.
+
+The cabin door yawned wide open, and creaked weirdly as the light wind
+moved it; the interior was black and silent--suspiciously silent, in
+the opinion of the sheriff. He waited for some time before venturing
+in, fearing an ambush. Then he caught the flicker of a shielded match,
+called out to Conroy to surrender, and leveled his gun at the place.
+
+There was no answer but the faint shuffle of stealthy feet on the board
+floor. The sheriff called another warning, cocked his gun--and came near
+shooting Pink, who walked composedly out of the door into the sheriff's
+astonished face. The sheriff had been sure that Pink was just behind
+him.
+
+"What the hell," began the sheriff explosively.
+
+"He ain't here," said Pink simply. "I crawled in the window and hunted
+the place over."
+
+The sheriff glared at him dumbly; he could not reconcile Pink's
+daredevil behavior with Pink's innocent, girlish appearance.
+
+"I tell yuh the corral's what we want t' keep cases on," Pink added
+insistently. "He's sure somewheres around--I'd gamble on it. He saddled
+that horse t' git away on. That horse is sure the key t' this situation,
+old-timer. If you fellows'll keep cases on the gate, I'll cover the
+rear."
+
+He made his way quietly to the back of the corral, inwardly much amused
+at the tractability of the sheriff, who took his deputy obediently to
+watch the gate.
+
+Pink squatted comfortably in the shade of a willow and wished he dared
+indulge in a cigarette, and wondered what scheme Harry was trying to
+play.
+
+Fifty feet away the big white horse still circled round and round,
+rattling his bridle impatiently and shaking the saddle in an occasional
+access of rage, and whinnying lonesomely out into the gloom.
+
+So they waited and waited, and peered into the shadows, and listened to
+the trampling horse fretting for freedom and his mates.
+
+The cook had just called breakfast when Pink dashed up to the tent,
+flung himself from his horse, and confronted Rowdy--a hollow-eyed,
+haggard Rowdy who had not slept all night, and whose eyes questioned
+anxiously.
+
+"Well," Rowdy said, with what passed for composure, "did you get him?"
+
+Pink leaned against his horse, with one hand reaching up and gripping
+tightly the horn of the saddle. His cheeks held not a trace of color,
+and his eyes were full of a great horror.
+
+"They're bringin' him t' camp," he answered huskily. "We found a
+horse--a big white horse they call the Fern Outlaw"--the Silent One
+started and came closer, listening intently; evidently he knew the
+horse--"saddled in the corral, and the gate tied shut. We dubbed around
+a while, but we didn't find--Harry. So we camped down by the corral and
+waited. We set there all night--and the horse faunching around inside
+something fierce. When--it come daybreak--I seen something--by the
+fence, inside. It was--Harry." Pink shivered and moistened his dry lips.
+"That Fern Outlaw--some uh the boys know--is a devil t' mount. He'd got
+Harry down--hell, Rowdy! it--it was sure--awful. He'd been there all
+night--and that horse stomping."
+
+"Shut up!" Rowdy turned all at once deathly sick. He had once seen a man
+who had been trampled by a maddened, man-killing horse. It had not been
+a pretty sight. He sat down weakly and covered his face with his shaking
+hands.
+
+The others stood around horrified, muttering disjointed, shocked
+sentences.
+
+Pink lifted his head from where it had fallen upon his arm. "One thing,
+Rowdy--I done. You can tell Jessie. I shot that horse."
+
+Rowdy dropped his hands and stood up. Yes, he must tell Jessie.
+
+"You'll have to take the herd on," he told Pink in his masterful way.
+"I'll catch you to-morrow some time. I've got to go back and tell
+Jessie. You know the trail I was going to take--straight across to Wild
+Horse Lake. From there you strike across to North Fork--and if I don't
+overtake you on the way, I'll hit camp some time in the night. It's all
+plain sailing."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 13. Rowdy Finds Happiness.
+
+Miss Conroy was rather listlessly endeavoring to persuade the First
+Reader class that "catch" should not be pronounced "ketch," when she saw
+Rowdy ride past the window. Intuition of something amiss sent her to the
+door before he reached it.
+
+"Can't you give the kids a day off?" he began, without preface. "I've
+got such a lot to talk about--and I don't come very often." He thought
+that his tone was perfectly natural; but all the same she turned
+white. He rode on to a little tree and tied his horse--not that it was
+necessary to tie him, but to avoid questions.
+
+Miss Conroy went in and dismissed the children, although it was only
+fifteen minutes after nine. They gathered up their lunch-pails and
+straggled out reluctantly, round-eyed, and curious. Rowdy waited until
+the last one had gone before he went in. Miss Conroy sat in her chair
+on the platform, and she was still white; otherwise she seemed to have
+herself well in hand.
+
+"It's about Harry," she asserted, rather sharply.
+
+"Have they--caught him?"
+
+Rowdy stopped half-way down the aisle and stared. "How did you know they
+were--after him?"
+
+"He came to me night before last, and--told me." She bit her lip, took
+firm hold on her honesty and her courage, and went on steadily. "He
+came because he--wanted money. I've wanted to see you since, to tell you
+that--I misjudged you. I know all about your--trouble, and I want you
+to know that I think you are--that you did quite right. You are to
+understand that I cannot honestly uphold--Harry. He is--not the kind of
+brother--I thought."
+
+Rowdy went clanking forward till only the table stood between. "Did he
+tell you?" he demanded, in a curious, breathless fashion.
+
+"No, he did not. He denied everything. It was Pink. He told me long
+ago--that evening, just after you--the last time I saw you. I told him
+he--lied. I tried not to believe it, but I did. Pink knew I would; he
+said so. The other night I asked Harry about--those things he did to
+you. He lied to me. I'd have forgiven him--but he lied. I--can't forgive
+that. I--"
+
+"Hush!" Rowdy threw out a gloved hand quickly. He could not bear to let
+her go on like that.
+
+She looked up at him, and all at once she was shaking. "There's
+something--tell me!"
+
+"They didn't take him," he said slowly, weighing each word and
+looking down at her pityingly "They never will. He--had an accident. A
+horse--fell with him--and--he was dead when they picked him up." It was
+as merciful a version as he could make it, but the words choked him,
+even then. "Girlie!" He went around and knelt, with his arms holding her
+close.
+
+After a long while he spoke again, smoothing her hair absently, and
+never noticing that he had not taken off his gloves. His gray hat was
+pushed aslant as his head rested against hers.
+
+"Perhaps, girlie, it's for the best. We couldn't have saved him
+from--the other; and that would have been worse, don't you think? We'll
+forget all but the good in him"--he could not help thinking that there
+would not be much to remember--"and I'll get a little home ready, and
+come back and get you before snow flies--and--you'll be kind of happy,
+won't you?
+
+"Maybe you haven't heard--but Eagle Creek has made me foreman of his
+outfit that's going to Canada. It's a good position. I can make you
+comfortable, girlie--and happy. Anyway, I'll try, mighty hard. You'll be
+ready for me when I come--won't you, girlie?"
+
+Miss Conroy raised her face, all tear-stained, but, with the light of
+happiness fighting the sorrow in her eyes, nodded just enough to make
+the movement perceptible, and settled her head to a more comfortable
+nestling-place on his shoulder.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Rowdy of the Cross L, by 
+B.M. Sinclair, AKA B.M. Bower
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+The Project Gutenberg Etext Rowdy of the Cross L, by B. M. Bower
+#9 in our series by B. M. Bower
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+Rowdy of the Cross L
+
+by B. M. Bower (B.M. Sinclair)
+
+September, 1999  [Etext #1907]
+
+
+The Project Gutenberg Etext Rowdy of the Cross L, by B. M. Bower
+******This file should be named rowdy10.txt or rowdy10.zip******
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+
+
+ROWDY OF THE "CROSS L."
+
+by
+
+B. M. BOWER
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+1. Lost in a Blizzard
+2. Miss Conroy Refuses Shelter
+3. Rowdy Hires a New Boss
+4. Pink as "Chappyrone"
+5. At Home at Cross L
+6. A Shot From the Dark
+7. Rowdy in a Tough Place
+8. Pink in a Threatening Mood
+9. Moving the Herd
+10. Harry Conroy at Home
+11. Rowdy Promoted
+12. "You Can Tell Jessie"
+13. Rowdy Finds Happiness
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 1
+
+Lost in a Blizzard.
+
+"Rowdy" Vaughan--he had been christened Rowland by his mother, and
+rechristened Rowdy by his cowboy friends, who are prone to treat with much
+irreverence the names bestowed by mothers--was not happy. He stood in the
+stirrups and shook off the thick layer of snow which clung, damp and
+close-packed, to his coat. The dull yellow folds were full of it; his gray
+hat, pulled low over his purple ears, was heaped with it. He reached up a
+gloved hand and scraped away as much as he could, wrapped the long-skirted,
+"sour-dough" coat around his numbed legs, then settled into the saddle with
+a shiver of distaste at the plight he was in, and wished himself back at the
+Horseshoe Bar.
+
+Dixie, standing knee-deep in a drift, shook himself much after the manner of
+his master; perhaps he, also, wished himself back at the Horseshoe Bar. He
+turned his head to look back, blinking at the snow which beat insistently in
+his eyes; he could not hold them open long enough to see anything, however,
+so he twitched his ears pettishly and gave over the attempt.
+
+"It's up to you, old boy," Rowdy told him resignedly. "I'm plumb lost; I
+never was in this damn country before, anyhow--and I sure wish I wasn't here
+now. If you've any idea where we're at, I'm dead willing to have you pilot
+the layout. Never mind Chub; locating his feed when it's stuck under his
+nose is his limit."
+
+Chub lifted an ear dispiritedly when his name was spoken; but, as was
+usually the case, he heard no good of himself, and dropped his head again.
+No one took heed of him; no one ever did. His part was to carry Vaughan's
+bed, and to follow unquestionably where Vaughan and Dixie might lead. He was
+cold and tired and hungry, but his faith in his master was strong; the
+responsibility of finding shelter before the dark came down rested not with
+him.
+
+Vaughan pressed his chilled knees against Dixie's ribs, but the hand upon
+the reins was carefully non-committal; so that Dixie, having no suggestion
+of his master's wish, ventured to indulge his own. He turned tail squarely
+to the storm and went straight ahead. Vaughan put his hands deep into his
+pockets, snuggled farther down into the sheepskin collar of his coat, and
+rode passive, enduring.
+
+They brought up against a wire fence, and Vaughan, rousing from his apathy,
+tried to peer through the white, shifting wall of the storm. "You're a swell
+guide--not," he remarked to the horse. "Now you, you hike down this fence
+till you locate a gate or a corner, or any darned thing; and I don't give a
+cuss if the snow does get in your eyes. It's your own fault."
+
+Dixie, sneezing the snow from his nostrils, turned obediently; Chub, his
+feet dragging wearily in the snow, trailed patiently behind. Half an hour of
+this, and it seemed as if it would go on forever.
+
+Through the swirl Vaughan could see the posts standing forlornly in the
+snow, with sixteen feet of blizzard between; at no time could he distinguish
+more than two or three at once, and there were long minutes when the wall
+stood, blank and shifting, just beyond the first post.
+
+Then Dixie lifted his head and gazed questioningly before him, his ears
+pointed forward--sentient, strained--and whinnied shrill challenge. He
+hurried his steps, dragging Chub out of the beginnings of a dream. Vaughan
+straightened and took his hands from his pockets.
+
+Out beyond the dim, wavering outline of the farthest post came answer to the
+challenge. A mysterious, vague shape grew impalpably upon the strained
+vision; a horse sneezed, then nickered eagerly. Vaughan drew up and waited.
+
+"Hello!" he called cheerfully. "Pleasant day, this. Out for your health?"
+
+The shape hesitated, as though taken aback by the greeting, and there was no
+answer. Vaughan, puzzled, rode closer.
+
+"Say, don't talk so fast!" he yelled. "I can't follow yuh."
+
+"Who--who is it?" The voice sounded perturbed; and it was, moreover, the
+voice of a woman.
+
+Vaughan pulled up short and swore into his collar. Women are not, as a rule,
+to be met out on the blank prairie in a blizzard. His voice, when he spoke
+again, was not ironical, as it had been; it was placating.
+
+"I beg your pardon," he said. "I thought it was a man. I'm looking for the
+Cross L; you don't happen to know where it is, do yuh?"
+
+"No--I don't," she declared dismally. "I don't know where any place is. I'm
+teaching school in this neighborhood--or in some other. I was going to spend
+Sunday with a friend, but this storm came up, and I'm--lost."
+
+"Same here," said Rowdy pleasantly, as though being lost was a matter for
+congratulation.
+
+"Oh! I was in hopes--"
+
+"So was I, so we're even there. We'll have to pool our chances, I guess. Any
+gate down that way--or haven't you followed the fence?"
+
+"I followed it for miles and miles--it seemed. It must be some big field of
+the Cross L; but they have so very many big fields!"
+
+"And you couldn't give a rough guess at how far it is to the Cross
+L?"--insinuatingly.
+
+He could vaguely see her shake of head. "Ordinarily it should be about six
+miles beyond Rodway's, where I board. But I haven't the haziest idea of
+where Rodway's place is, you see; so that won't help you much. I'm all at
+sea in this snow." Her voice was rueful.
+
+"Well, if you came up the fence, there's no use going back that way; and
+there's sure nothing made by going away from it.--that's the way I came. Why
+not go on the way you're headed?"
+
+"We might as well, I suppose," she assented; and Rowdy turned and rode by
+her side, grateful for the plurality of the pronoun which tacitly included
+him in her wanderings, and meditating many things. For one, he wondered if
+she were as nice a girl as her voice sounded. He could not see much of her
+face, because it was muffled in a white silk scarf. Only her eyes showed,
+and they were dark and bright.
+
+When he awoke to the fact that the wind, grown colder, beat upon her
+cruelly, he dropped behind a pace and took the windy side, that he might
+shield her with his body. But if she observed the action she gave no sign;
+her face was turned from him and the wind, and she rode without speaking.
+After long plodding, the line of posts turned unexpectedly a right angle,
+and Vaughan took a long, relieved breath.
+
+"We'll have the wind on our backs now," he remarked. "I guess we may as well
+keep on and see where this fence goes to."
+
+His tone was too elaborately cheerful to be very cheering.He was wondering
+if the girl was dressed warmly. It had been so warm and sunny before the
+blizzard struck, but now the wind searched out the thin places in one's
+clothing and ran lead in one's bones, where should be simply marrow. He
+fancied that her voice, when she spoke, gave evidence of actual
+suffering--and the heart of Rowdy Vaughan was ever soft toward a woman.
+
+"If you're cold," he began, "I'll open up my bed and get out a blanket." He
+held Dixie in tentatively.
+
+"Oh, don't trouble to do that," she protested; but there was that in her
+voice which hardened his impulse into fixed resolution.
+
+"I ought to have thought of it before," he lamented, and swung down stiffly
+into the snow.
+
+Her eyes followed his movement with a very evident interest while he
+unbuckled the pack Chub had carried since sunrise and drew out a blanket.
+
+"Stand in your stirrup," he commanded briskly "and I'll wrap you up. It's a
+Navajo, and the wind will have a time trying to find a thin spot."
+
+"You're thoughtful." She snuggled into it thankfully. "I was cold."
+
+Vaughan tucked it around her with more care than haste. He was pretty
+uncomfortable himself, and for that reason he was the more anxious that the
+girl should be warm. It came to him that she was a cute little schoolma'am,
+all right; he was glad she belonged close around the Cross L. He also wished
+he knew her name--and so he set about finding it out, with much guile.
+
+"How's that?" he wanted to know, when he had made sure that her feet--such
+tiny feet--were well covered. He thought it lucky that she did not ride
+astride, after the manner of the latter-day young woman, because then he
+could not have covered her so completely. "Hold on! That windy side's going
+to make trouble." He unbuckled the strap he wore to hold his own coat snug
+about him, and put it around the girl's slim waist, feeling idiotically
+happy and guilty the while. "It don't come within a mile of you," he
+complained; "but it'll help some."
+
+Sheltered in the thick folds of the Navajo, she laughed, and the sound of it
+sent the blood galloping through Rowdy Vaughan's body so that he was almost
+warm. He went and scraped the snow out of his saddle, and swung up, feeling
+that, after all, there are worse things in the world than being lost and
+hungry in a blizzard, with a sweet-voiced, bright-eyed little schoolma'am
+who can laugh like that.
+
+"I don't want to have you think I may be a bold, bad robber-man," he said,
+when they got going again. "My name's Rowdy Vaughan--for which I beg your
+pardon. Mother named me Rowland, never knowing I'd get out here and have her
+nice, pretty name mutilated that way. I won't say that my behavior never
+suggested the change, though. I'm from the Horseshoe Bar, over the line, and
+if I have my way, I'll be a Cross L man before another day." Then he waited
+expectantly.
+
+"For fear you may think I'm a--a robber-woman," she answered him
+solemnly--he felt sure her eyes twinkled, if only he could have seen them--
+"I'm Jessie Conroy. And if you're from over the line, maybe you know my
+brother Harry. He was over there a year or two."
+
+Rowdy hunched his shoulders--presumably at the wind. Harry Conroy's sister,
+was she? And he swore. "I may have met him," he parried, in a tone you'd
+never notice as being painstakingly careless. "I think I did, come to think
+of it."
+
+Miss Conroy seemed displeased, and presently the cause was forthcoming. "If
+you'd ever met him," she said, "you'd hardly forget him." (Rowdy mentally
+agreed profanely.) "He's the best rider in the whole country--and the
+handsomest. He--he's splendid! And he's the only brother I've got. It's a
+pity you never got acquainted with him."
+
+"Yes," lied Rowdy, and thought a good deal in a very short time. Harry
+Conroy's sister! Well, she wasn't to blame for that, of course; nor for
+thinking her brother a white man. "I remember I did see him ride once," he
+observed. "He was a whirlwind, all right--and he sure was handsome, too."
+
+Miss Conroy turned her face toward him and smiled her pleasure, and Rowdy
+hovered between heaven and--another place. He was glad she smiled, and he
+was afraid of what that subject might discover for his straightforward
+tongue in the way of pitfalls. It would not be nice to let her know what he
+really thought of her brother.
+
+"This looks to me like a lane," he said diplomatically. "We must be getting
+somewhere; don't you recognize any landmarks?"
+
+Miss Conroy leaned forward and peered through the clouds of snow dust.
+Already the night was creeping down upon the land, stealthily turning the
+blank white of the blizzard into as blank a gray--which was as near darkness
+as it could get, because of the snow which fell and fell, and yet seemed
+never to find an abiding-place, but danced and swirled giddily in the wind
+as the cold froze it dry. There would be no more damp, clinging masses that
+night; it was sifting down like flour from a giant sieve; and
+of the supply there seemed no end.
+
+"I don't know of any lanes around here," she began dubiously, "unless
+it's--"
+
+Vaughan looked sharply at her muffled figure and wondered why she broke off
+so suddenly. She was staring hard at the few, faint traces of landmarks;
+and, bundled in the red-and-yellow Navajo blanket, with her bright, dark
+eyes, she might easily have passed for a slim young squaw.
+
+Out ahead, a dog began barking vaguely, and Rowdy turned eagerly to the
+sound. Dixie, scenting human habitation, stepped out more briskly through
+the snow, and even Chub lifted an ear briefly to show he heard.
+
+"It may not be any one you know," Vaughan remarked, and his voice showed his
+longing; "but it'll be shelter and a warm fire--and supper. Can you
+appreciate such blessings, Miss Conroy? I can. I've been in the saddle since
+sunrise; and I was so sure I'd strike the Cross L by dinner-time that I
+didn't bring a bite to eat. It was a sheep-camp where I stopped, and the
+grub didn't look good to me, anyway--I've called myself bad names all the
+afternoon for being more dainty than sensible. But it's all right now, I
+guess."
+
+CHAPTER 2
+
+Miss Conroy Refuses Shelter.
+
+The storm lifted suddenly, as storms have a way of doing, and a low, squat
+ranch-house stood dimly revealed against the bleak expanse of wind-tortured
+prairie. Rowdy gave an exultant little whoop and made for the gate, leaned
+and swung it open and rode through, dragging Chub after him by main
+strength, as usual. When he turned to close the gate after Miss Conroy he
+found her standing still in the lane.
+
+"Come on in," he called, with a trace of impatience born of his weariness
+and hunger.
+
+"Thank you, no." Miss Conroy's voice was as crisply cold as the wind which
+fluttered the Navajo blanket around her face. "I much prefer the blizzard."
+
+
+For a moment Rowdy found nothing to say; he just stared. Miss Conroy shifted
+uneasily in the saddle.
+
+"This is old Bill Brown's place," she explained reluctantly. "He--I'd rather
+freeze than go in!"
+
+"Well, I guess that won't be hard to do," he retorted curtly, "if you stay
+out much longer."
+
+The dog was growing hysterical over their presence, and Bill Brown himself
+came out to see what it was all about. He could see two dim figures at the
+gate.
+
+"Hello!" he shouted. "Why don't yuh come on in? What yuh standing there
+chewing the rag for?"
+
+Vaughan hesitated, his eyes upon Miss Conroy.
+
+"Go in," she commanded imperiously, quite as if he were a refractory pupil.
+"You're tired out, and hungry. I'm neither. Besides, I know where I am now.
+I can find my way without any trouble. Go in, I tell you!"
+
+But Rowdy stayed where he was, with the gate creaking to and fro between
+them. Dixie circled till his back was to the wind. "I hope you don't think
+you're going to mill around out here alone," Rowdy said tartly.
+
+"I can manage very well. I'm not lost now, I tell you. Rodway's is only
+three miles from here, and I know the direction."
+
+Bill Brown waded out to them, wondering what weighty discussion was keeping
+them there in the cold. Vaughan he passed by with the cursory glance of a
+disinterested stranger, and went on to where Miss Conroy waited stubbornly
+in the lane.
+
+"Oh, it's you!" he said grimly. "Well, come in and thaw out; I hope yuh
+didn't think yuh wouldn't be welcome yuh knew better. You got lost, I
+reckon. Come on--"
+
+Miss Conroy struck Badger sharply across the flank and disappeared into the
+night. "When I ask shelter of you," she flung back, "you'll know it."
+
+Rowdy started after, and met Bill Brown squarely in the gate. Bill eyed him
+sharply. "Say, young fellow, how'd you come by that packhorse?" he demanded,
+as Chub brushed past him.
+
+"None of your damn' business," snapped Rowdy, and drove the spurs into
+Dixie's ribs. But Chub was a handicap at any time; now, when he was tired,
+there was no getting anything like speed out of him; he clung to his
+shuffling trot, which was really no better than a walk. After five minutes
+spent alternately in spurring Dixie and yanking at Chub's lead-rope, Rowdy
+grew frightened and took to shouting. While they were in the lane Miss
+Conroy must perforce ride straight ahead, but the lane would not last
+always. As though with malicious intent, the snow swooped down again and the
+world became an unreal, nightmare world, wherein was nothing save
+shifting, blinding snowfloury and wind and bitter, numbing cold.
+
+Rowdy stood in his stirrups, cupped his chilled fingers around his numbed
+lips, and sent a longdrawn "Who-ee!" shrilling weirdly into the night.
+
+It seemed to him, after long listening, that from the right came faint
+reply, and he turned and rode recklessly, swearing at Chub for his slowness.
+He called again, and the answer, though faint, was unmistakable. He settled
+heavily into the saddle--too weak, from sheer relief, to call again. He had
+not known till then just how frightened he had been, and he was somewhat
+disconcerted at the discovery. In a minute the reaction passed and he
+shouted a loud hello.
+
+"Hello?" came the voice of Miss Conroy, tantalizingly calm, and as superior
+as the greeting of Central. "Were you looking for me, Mr. Vaughan?"
+
+She was close to him--so close that she had not needed to raise her voice
+perceptibly. Rowdy rode up alongside, remembering uncomfortably his
+prolonged shouting.
+
+"I sure was," he admitted. And then: "You rode off with my blanket on." He
+was very proud of his matter-of-fact tone.
+
+"Oh!" Miss Conroy was almost deceived, and a bit disappointed. "I'll give it
+to you now, and you can go back--if you know the way."
+
+"No hurry," said Rowdy politely. "I'll go on and see if you can find a place
+that looks good to you. You seem pretty particular."
+
+Miss Conroy may have blushed, in the shelter of the blanket. "I suppose it
+did look strange to you," she confessed, but defiantly. "Bill Brown is an
+enemy to--Harry. He--because he lost a horse or two out of a field, one
+time, he--he actually accused Harry of taking them! He lied, of course, and
+nobody believed him; nobody could believe a thing like that about Harry. It
+was perfectly absurd. But he did his best to hurt Harry's name, and I would
+rather freeze than ask shelter of him. Wouldn't you--in my place, I mean?"
+
+"I always stand up for my friends," evaded Rowdy. "And if I had a brother--"
+
+"Of course you'd be loyal," approved Miss Conroy warmly. "But I didn't want
+you to come on; it isn't your quarrel. And I know the way now. You needn't
+have come any farther "
+
+"You forgot the blanket," Rowdy reminded wickedly. "I think a lot of that
+Navajo."
+
+"You insisted upon my taking it," she retorted, and took refuge in silence.
+
+For a long hour they plodded blindly. Rowdy beat his hands often about his
+body to start the blood, and meditated yearnigly upon hot coffee and the
+things he liked best to eat. Also, a good long pull at a flask wouldn't be
+had, either, he thought. And he hoped this little schoolma'am knew where she
+was going--truth to tell, he doubted it.
+
+After a while, it seemed that Miss Conroy doubted it also. She took to
+leaning forward and straining her eyes to see through the gray wall before.
+
+"There should be a gate here," she said dubiously, at last.
+
+"It seems to me," Rowdy ventured mildly, "if there were a gate, it would
+have some kind of a fence hitched to it; wouldn't it?"
+
+Miss Conroy was in no mood for facetiousness, and refused to answer his
+question. "I surely can't have made a mistake," she observed uneasily.
+
+"It would be a wonder if you didn't, such a night as this," he consoled. "I
+wouldn't bank on traveling straight myself, even if I knew the
+country--which I don't. And I've been in more blizzards than I'm years old."
+
+"Rodway's place can't be far away," she said, brightening. "It may be
+farther to the east; shall we try that way--if you know which is east?"
+
+"Sure, we'll try. It's all we can do. My packhorse is about all in, from the
+way he hangs back; if we don't strike something pretty soon I'll have to
+turn him loose."
+
+"Oh, don't do that," she begged. "It would be too cruel. We're sure to reach
+Rodway's very soon."
+
+More plodding through drifts high and drifts low; more leaning from saddles
+to search anxiously for trace of something besides snow and wind and biting
+cold. Then, far to the right, a yellow eye glowed briefly when the storm
+paused to take breath. Miss Conroy gave a glad little cry and turned Badger
+sharply.
+
+"Did you see? It was the light from a window. We were going the wrong way.
+I'm sure that is Rodway's."
+
+Rowdy thanked the Lord and followed her. They came up against a fence, found
+a gate, and passed through. While they hurried toward it, the light winked
+welcome; as they drew near, some one stirred the fire and sent sparks and
+rose-hued smoke rushing up into the smother of snow. Rowdy watched them
+wistfully, and wondered if there would be supper, and strong, hot coffee. He
+lifted Miss Conroy out of the saddle, carried her two long strides, and
+deposited her upon the door-step; rapped imperatively, and when a voice
+replied, lifted the latch and pushed her in before him.
+
+For a minute they stood blinking, just within the door. The change from
+numbing cold and darkness to the light of the overheated room was
+stupefying.
+
+Then Miss Conroy went over and held her little, gloved hands to the heat of
+the stove, but she did not take the chair which some one pushed toward her.
+She stood, the blanket shrouding her face and her slim young figure, and
+looked about her curiously. It was not Rodway's house, after all. She
+thought she knew what place it was--the shack where Rodway's hay-balers
+bached.
+
+From the first, Rowdy did not like the look of things--though for himself it
+did not matter; he was used to such scenes. It was the presence of the girl
+which made him uncomfortable. He unbuttoned his coat that the warmth might
+reach his chilled body, and frowned.
+
+Four men sat around a small, dirty table; evidently the arrivals had
+interrupted an exciting game of seven-up. A glance told Rowdy, even if his
+nose had not, that the four round, ribbed bottles had not been nearly
+emptied without effect.
+
+"Have one on the house," the man nearest him cried, and shoved a bottle
+toward him.
+
+Involuntarily Rowdy reached for it. Now that he was inside, he realized all
+at once how weary he was, and cold and hungry. Each abused muscle and nerve
+seemed to have a distinct grievance against him. His fingers closed around
+the bottle before he remembered and dropped it. He looked up, hoping Miss
+Conroy had not observed the action; met her wide, questioning eyes, and the
+blood flew guiltily to his cheeks.
+
+"Thanks, boys--not any for me," he said, and apologized to Miss Conroy with
+his eyes.
+
+The man rose and confronted him unsteadily. "Dat's a hell off a way! You too
+proud for drink weeth us? You drink, now! By Gar, I make you drink!"
+
+Rowdy's eyelids drooped, which was a bad sign for those who knew him.
+"You're forgetting there's a lady present," he reminded warningly.
+
+The man turned a brief, contemptuous glance toward the stove. "You got the
+damn' queer way to talk. I don't call no squaw no lady. You drink queeck,
+now!"
+
+"Aw, shut up, Frenchy," the man at his elbow abjured him. "He don't have to
+drink if he don't want to."
+
+"You keep the face close," the other retorted majestically; and cursed loud
+and long and incoherently.
+
+Rowdy drew back his arm, with a fist that meant trouble for somebody; but
+there were others before him who pinned the importunate host to the table,
+where he squirmed unavailingly.
+
+Rowdy buttoned up his coat the while he eyed the group disgustedly. "I guess
+we'll drift," he remarked. "You don't look good to me, and that's no dream."
+
+"Aw, stay and warm up," the fourth man expostulated. "Yuh don't need t' mind
+Le Febre; he's drunk.'
+
+But Rowdy opened the door decisively, and Miss Conroy, her cheeks like two
+storm-buffeted poppies, followed him out with dignity--albeit trailing a
+yard of red-and-yellow Navajo blanket behind her. Rowdy lifted her into the
+saddle, tucked her feet carefully under the blanket, and said never a word.
+
+"Mr. Vaughan," she began hesitatingly, "this is too bad; you need not have
+left. I--I wasn't afraid."
+
+"I know you weren't," conceded Rowdy. "But it was a hard formation--for a
+woman. Are there any more places on this flat marked Unavailable?"
+
+Miss Conroy replied misanthropically that if there were they would be sure
+to find them.
+
+They took up their weary wanderings again, while the yellow eye of the
+window winked after them. They missed Rodway's by a scant hundred yards, and
+didn't know it, because the side of the house next them had no lighted
+windows. They traveled in a wide, half circle, and thought that they were
+leaving a straight trail behind them. More than once Rowdy was urged by his
+aching arm to drop the lead-rope and leave Chub to shift by himself, but
+habit was strong and his heart was soft. Then he felt an odd twitching at
+the lead-rope, as if Chub were minded to rebel against their leadership.
+Rowdy yanked him into remembrance of his duty, and wondered. Bill Brown's
+question came insistently to mind; he wondered the more.
+
+Two minutes and the lead-rope was sawing against the small of his back
+again. Rowdy turned Dixie's head, and spoke for the first time in an hour.
+
+"My packhorse seems to have an idea about where he wants to go," he said. "I
+guess we might as well follow him as anybody; he ain't often taken with a
+rush of brains to the head. And we can't be any worse lost than we are now,
+can we?"
+
+Miss Conroy said no dispiritedly, and they swung about and followed Chub's
+leadership apathetically. It took Chub just five minutes to demonstrate that
+he knew what he was about. When he stopped, it was with his nose against a
+corral gate; not content with that, he whinnied, and a new, exultant note
+was in the sound. A deep-voiced dog bayed loudly, and a shrill yelp cut in
+and clamored for recognition.
+
+Miss Conroy gasped. "It's Lion and Skeesicks. We're at Rodway's, Mr.
+Vaughan."
+
+Rowdy, for the second time, thanked the Lord. But when he was stripping the
+pack off Chub's back, ten minutes later, he was thinking many things he
+would not have cared to say aloud. It might be all right, but it sure was
+strange, he told himself, that Chub belonged here at Rodway's when Harry
+Conroy claimed that he was an Oregon horse. Rowdy had thought his account
+against Harry Conroy long enough, but it looked now as though another item
+must be added to the list. He went in and ate his supper thoughtfully, and
+when he got into bed he did not fall asleep within two minutes, as he might
+be expected to do. His last conscious thought was not of stolen horses,
+however. It was: "And she's Harry Conroy's sister! Now, what do you think of
+that? But all the same, she's sure a nice little schoolma'am."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 3
+
+Rowdy Hires a New Boss.
+
+Next morning, after breakfast, Mr. Rodway followed Vaughan out to the
+stable, and repeated Bill Brown's question.
+
+"I'd like to know where yuh got this horse," he began, with an apologetic
+sort of determination in his tone. "He happens to belong to me. He was run
+off with a bunch three years ago, and this is the first trace anybody has
+ever got of 'em. I see the brand's been worked. It was a Roman four--that's
+my brand; now it looks like a map of Texas; but I'd swear to the
+horse--raised him from a colt."
+
+Rowdy had expected something of the sort, and he knew quite well what he was
+going to do; he had settled that the night before, with the memory of Miss
+Conroy's eyes fresh in his mind.
+
+"I got him in a deal across the line," he said. "I was told he came from
+east Oregon. But last night, when he piloted us straight to your corral
+gate, I guessed he'd been here before. He's yours, all right, if you say
+so."
+
+"Uh course he ain't worth such a pile uh money, apologized Rodway, "but the
+kids thought a heap of him. I'd rather locate some of the horses that was
+with him--or the man yuh got him of. They was some mighty good horses run
+out uh this country then, but they was all out on the range, so we didn't
+miss 'em in time to do any good. Do yu know who took 'em across the line?"
+
+"No," said Rowdy deliberately. "The man I got Chub from went north, and I
+heard he got killed. I don't know of any other in the deal."
+
+Rodway grunted, and Vaughan began vigorously brushing Dixie's roughened
+coat. "If you don't mind," he said, after a minute, "I'd like to borrow Chub
+to pack my bed over to the Cross L. I can bring him back again."
+
+"Why, sure!" assented Rodway eagerly. "I hate to take him from yuh, but the
+kids--"
+
+"Oh, that's all right," interrupted Rowdy cheerfully. "It's all in the game,
+and I should 'a' looked up his pedigree, for I knew--. Anyway, was worth the
+price of him to have him along last night. We'd have milled around till
+daylight, I guess, only for him."
+
+"That's what," agreed Rodway. "Jessie's horse is one she brought from home
+lately, and he ain't located yet; I dunno as he'd 'a' piloted her home.
+Billy--that's what the kids named him--was born and raised here, yuh see.
+I'll bet he's glad to get back--and the kids'll be plumb wild."
+
+Rowdy did not answer; there seemed nothing in particular to say, and he was
+wondering if he would see Miss Conroy before he left. She had not eaten
+breakfast with the others; from their manner, he judged that no one expected
+her to. He was not well informed upon the subject of schoolma'ams, but he
+had a hazy impression that late rising was a distinguishing
+characteristic--and he did not know how late. He saddled leisurely, and
+packed his bed for the last time upon Chub. The red-and-yellow Navajo
+blanket he folded tenderly, with an unconscious smile for the service it had
+done, and laid it in its accustomed place in the bed. Then, having no
+plausible excuse for going back to the house, he mounted and rode away into
+the brilliant white world, watching wistfully the house from the tail of his
+eye.
+
+She might have got up in time to see him off, he thought discontentedly; but
+he supposed one cowpuncher more or less made little difference to her.
+Anyway, he didn't know as he had any license to moon around her. She
+probably had a fellow; she might even be engaged, for all he knew. And--she
+was Harry Conroy's sister; and from his experience with the breed, good
+looks didn't count for anything. Harry was good-looking, and he was a snake,
+if ever there was one. He had never expected to lie for him--but he
+had done it, all right --and because Harry's sister happened to have nice
+eyes and a pretty little foot!--
+
+He had half a mind to go back and tell Rodway all he knew about those
+horses; it was only a matter of time, anyway, till Harry Conroy overshot the
+mark and got what was coming to him. He sure didn't owe Harry anything, that
+he had need to shield him like he had done. Still, Rodway would wonder why
+he hadn't told it at first; and that little girl believed in Harry, and said
+he was "splendid!" Humph! He wondered if she really meant that. If she
+did--
+
+He squared his back to the house--and the memory of Miss Conroy's eyes--and
+plodded across the field to the gate. Now the sun was shining, and there was
+no possibility of getting lost. The way to the Cross L lay straight and
+plain before him.
+
+Rowdy rode leisurely up over the crest of a ridge beyond which lay the home
+ranch of the Cross L. Whether it was henceforth to be his home he had yet to
+discover--though there was reason for hoping that it would be. Even so
+venturesome a man as Rowdy Vaughan would scarce ride a long hundred miles
+through unpeopled prairie, in the tricky month of March, without some reason
+for expecting a welcome at the end of his journey. In this case, a previous
+acquaintance with "Wooden Shoes" Mielke, foreman of the Cross L, was Rowdy's
+trump-card. Wooden Shoes, whenever chance had brought them together in the
+last two or three years, was ever urging Rowdy to come over and unroll his
+soogans in the Cross L bed-tent, and promising the best string in the outfit
+to ride--besides other things alluring to a cow-puncher. So that, when his
+relations with the Horseshoe Bar became strained, Rowdy remembered his
+friend of the Cross L and the promises, and had drifted south.
+
+Just now he hoped that Wooden Shoes would be home to greet him, and his eyes
+searched wishfully the huddle of low-eaved cabins and the assortment of
+sheds and corrals for the bulky form of the foreman. But no one seemed to be
+about--except a bigbodied, bandy-legged individual, who appeared to be
+playfully chasing a big, bright bay stallion inside the large enclosure
+where stood the cabins.
+
+Rowdy watched them impersonally; a glance proved that the man was not Wooden
+Shoes, and so he was not particularly interested in him or his doings. It
+did occur to him, however, that if the fellow wanted to catch that brute, he
+ought to have sense enough to get a horse. No one but a plumb idiot would
+mill around in that snow afoot. He jogged down the slope at a shuffling
+trot, grinning tolerantly at the pantomime below.
+
+He of the bandy-legs stopped, evidently out of breath; the stallion stopped
+also, snorting defiance. Rowdy heard him plainly, even at that distance. The
+horse arched his neck and watched the man warily, ready to be off at the
+first symptom of hostilities--and Rowdy observed that a short rope hung from
+his halter, swaying as he moved.
+
+Bandy-legs seemed to have an idea; he turned and scuttled to the nearest
+cabin, returning with what seemed a basin of oats, for he shook it
+enticingly and edged cautiously toward the horse. Rowdy could imagine him
+coaxing, with hypocritically endearing names, such as "Good old boy!" and
+"Steady now, Billy"--or whatever the horse's name might be. Rowdy chuckled
+to himself, and hoped the horse saw through the subterfuge.
+
+Perhaps the horse chuckled also; at any rate, he stood quite still, equally
+prepared to bounce away on the instant or to don the mask of docility.
+Bandy-legs drew nearer and nearer, shaking the basin briskly, like an old
+woman sifting meal. The horse waited, his nostrils quivering hungrily at the
+smell of the oats, and with an occasional low nicker.
+
+Bandy-legs went on tiptoes--or as nearly as he could in the snow--the basin
+at arm's length before. The dainty, flaring nostrils sniffed tentatively,
+dipped into the basin, and snuffed the oats about luxuriously--till he felt
+a stealthy hand seize the dangling rope. At the touch he snorted protest,
+and was off and away, upsetting Bandy-legs and the basin ignominiously into
+a high-piled drift.
+
+Bandy-legs sat up, scraped the snow out of his collar and his ears, and
+swore. It was then that Rowdy appeared like an angel of deliverance.
+
+"Want that horse caught?" he yelled cheerfully.
+
+Bandy-legs lifted up his voice and bellowed things I should not like to
+repeat verbatim. But Rowdy gathered that the man emphatically did want that
+so-and-so-and-then-some horse caught, and that it couldn't be done a blessed
+minute too soon. Whereat Rowdy smiled anew, with his face discreetly turned
+away from Bandy-legs, and took down his rope and widened the loop. Also, he
+turned Chub loose.
+
+The stallion evidently sensed what new danger threatened his stolen freedom,
+and circled the yard with high, springy strides. Rowdy circled after, saw
+his chance, swirled the loop twice over his head, and hazarded a long throw.
+
+Rowdy knew it for pure good luck that it landed right, but to this day
+Bandy-legs looks upon him as a Wonder with a rope--and Bandy-legs would
+insist upon the capital.
+
+"Where shall I take him?" Rowdy asked, coming up with his captive, and with
+nothing but his eyes to show how he was laughing inwardly.
+
+Bandy-legs crawled from the drift, still scraping snow from inside his
+collar, and gave many directions about going through a certain gate into
+such-and-such a corral; from there into a stable; and by seeming devious
+ways into a minutely described stall.
+
+"All right," said Rowdy, cutting short the last needless details. "I guess I
+can find the trail;" and started off, leading the stallion. Bandy-legs
+followed, and Chub, observing the departure of Dixie, ambled faithfully in
+the rear.
+
+"Much obliged," conceded Bandy-legs, when the stallion was safely housed and
+tied securely. "Where yuh headed for, young man?"
+
+"Right here," Rowdy told him calmly, loosening Dixie's cinch. "I'm the
+long-lost top hand that the Cross L's been watching the sky-line for, lo!
+these many moons, a-yearning for the privilege of handing me forty plunks
+about twice as fast as I've got 'em coming. Where's the boss?"
+
+"Er--I'm him," confessed Bandy-legs meekly, and circled the two dubiously.
+"I guess you've heard uh Eagle Creek Smith--I'm him. The Cross L belongs to
+me."
+
+Rowdy let out an explosive, and showed a row of nice teeth. "Well, I ain't
+hard to please," he added. "I won't kick on that, I guess. I like your looks
+tolerable well, and I'm willing to take yuh on for a boss. If yuh do your
+part, I bet we'll get along fine." His tone was banteringly patronizing
+"Anyway, I'll try yuh for a spell. You can put my name down as Rowdy
+Vaughan, lately canned from the Horseshoe Bar."
+
+"What for?" ventured Bandy-legs--rather, Eagle Creek--still circling Rowdy
+dubiously.
+
+"What for was I canned?" repeated Rowdy easily. "Being a modest youth, I
+hate t' tell yuh. But the old man's son and me, we disagreed, and one of his
+eyes swelled some; so did mine, a little." He stood head and shoulders above
+Eagle Creek, and he smiled down upon him engagingly. Eagle Creek capitulated
+before the smile.
+
+"Well, I ain't got any sons--that I know of," he grinned. "So I guess yuh
+can consider yourself a Cross L man till further notice."
+
+"Why, sure!" The teeth gleamed again briefly. "That's what I've been telling
+you right along. Where's old Wooden Shoes? He's responsible for me being
+here."
+
+"Gone to Chinook. He'll be back in a day or two." Eagle Creek shifted his
+feet awkwardly. "Say"--he glanced uneasily behind him--"yuh don't want t'
+let it get around that yuh sort of-- hired me--see?"
+
+"Of course not," Rowdy assured him. "I was only joshing. If you don't want
+me, just tell me to hit the sod."
+
+"You stay right where you're at!" commanded Eagle Creek with returned
+confidence in himself and his authority. Of a truth, this self-assured,
+straight-limbed young man had rather dazed him. "Take your bed and war-bag
+up to the bunk-house and make yourself t' home till the boys get back,
+and--say, where'd yuh git that pack-horse?"
+
+The laugh went out of Rowdy's tawny eyes. The question hit a spot that was
+becoming sore. "I borrowed him this morning from Mr. Rodway," he said
+evenly. "I'm to take him back to-day. I stopped there last night."
+
+"Oh!" Eagle Creek coughed apologetically, and said no word, while Rowdy led
+Chub back to the cabin which he had pointed out as the bunk-house; he stood
+by while Rowdy loosened the pack and dragged it inside.
+
+"I guess you can get located here," he said. "I ain't workin' more'n three
+or four men just now, but there's quite a few uh the boys stopping here; the
+Cross L's a regular hang-out for cow-punchers. You're a little early for the
+season, but I'll see that yuh have something t' do--just t' keep yuh out uh
+devilment."
+
+Rowdy's brows unbent; it would seem that Eagle Creek was capable of
+"joshing" also. "It's up t' you, old-timer," he retorted. "I'm strong and
+willing, and don't shy at anything but pitchforks."
+
+Eagle Creek grinned. "This ain't no blamed cowhospital," he gave as a
+parting shot. "All the hay that's shoveled on this ranch needn't hurt
+nobody's feelings." With that he shut the door, and left Rowdy to acquaint
+himself with his new home.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 4
+
+Pink as "Chappyrone."
+
+Rowdy was sprawled ungracefully upon somebody's bunk--he neither knew nor
+cared whose--and he was snoring unmelodiously, and not dreaming a thing; for
+when a cow-puncher has nothing in particular to do, he sleeps to atone for
+the weary hours when he must be very wide-awake. An avalanche descended upon
+his unwarned middle, and checked the rhythmic ebb and flow of sound. He
+squawked and came to life clawing viciously.
+
+"I'd like t' know where the devil yuh come from," a voice remarked
+plaintively in a soft treble.
+
+Rowdy opened his eyes with a snap. "Pink! by all that's good and bad! Get up
+off my diaphragm, you little fiend."
+
+Pink absent-mindedly kneaded Rowdy's stomach with his knuckles, and
+immediately found himself in a far corner. He came back, dimpling
+mischievously. He looked much more an angel than a fiend, for all his Angora
+chaps and flame-colored scarf.
+
+"Your bed and war-bag's on my bunk; you're on Smoky's; and Dixie's makin'
+himself to home in the corral. By all them signs and tokens, I give a
+reckless guess you're here t' stay a while. That right?" He prodded again at
+Rowdy's ribs.
+
+"It sure is, Pink. And if I'd known you was holding out here, I'd 'a' come
+sooner, maybe. You sure look good to me, you darned little cuss!" Rowdy sat
+up and took a lightning inventory of the four or five other fellows lounging
+about. He must have slept pretty sound, he thought, not to hear them come
+in.
+
+Pink read the look, and bethought him of the necessary introductions. "This
+is my side-kicker over the line that--you've heard about till you're plumb
+weary, boys," he announced musically. "His name is Rowdy
+Vaughan--bronco-peeler, crap fiend, and all-round bad man. He ain't a safe
+companion, and yuh want t' sleep with your six-guns cuddled under your right
+ear, and never, on no account, show him your backs. He's a real wolf, he is,
+and the only reason I live t' tell the tale is because he respects
+m' size. Boys, I'm afraid for yuh--but I wish yuh well."
+
+"Pink, you need killing, and I'm tempted to live up to my rep," grinned
+Rowdy indulgently. "Read me the pedigree of your friends."
+
+"Oh, they ain't no worse--when yuh git used to 'em. That long-legged jasper
+with the far-away look in his eyes is the Silent One--if he takes a notion
+t' you, he'll maybe tell yuh the name his mother calls him. He may have seen
+better days; but here's hoping he won't see no worse! He once was a
+tenderfoot; but he's convalescing."
+
+The Silent One nodded carelessly, but with a quick, measuring glance that
+Rowdy liked.
+
+"This unshaved savage is Smoky. He's harmless, if yuh don't mention
+socialism in his presence; and if yuh do, he'll
+down-with-the-trust-and-long-live-the-sons-uh-toil, all hours uh the night,
+and keep folks awake. Then him and the fellow that started him off 'll
+likely get chapped good and plenty. Over there's Jim Ellis and Bob Nevin;
+they've both turned a cow or two, and I've seen worse specimens running
+around loose--plenty of 'em. That man hidin' behind the grin--you can see
+him if yuh look close--is Sunny Sam. Yuh needn't take no notice of him,
+unless you're a mind to. He won't care--he's dead gentle.
+
+"Say," he broke off, "how'd you happen t' stray onto this range, anyhow? Yuh
+used t' belong t the Horseshoe Bar so solid the assessor always t' yuh down
+on the personal-property list."
+
+"They won't pay taxes on me no more, son." Rowdy's eyes dwelt fondly upon
+Pink's cupid-bow mouth and dimples. He had never dreamed of finding Pink
+here; though, when he came to think of it there was no reason why he
+shouldn't.
+
+Pink was not like any one else. He was slight and girlish to look at. But
+you mustn't trust appearances; for Pink was all muscle strung on steel wire,
+according to the belief of those who tried to handle him. He had little
+white hands, and feet that looked quite comfortable in a number four boot,
+and his hair was a tawny gold and curled in distracting, damp rings on his
+forehead. His eyes were blue and long-lashed and beautiful, and they looked
+at the world with baby innocence--whereas a more sophisticated
+little devil never jangled spurs at his heels. He was everything but
+insipid, and men liked him--unless he chose to dislike them, when they
+thought of him with grating teeth. To find him bullying the Cross L boys
+brought a warmth to Rowdy's heart.
+
+Pink made a cigarette, and then offered Rowdy his tobacco-sack, and asked
+questions about the Cypress Hills country. How was this girl?--and was that
+one married yet?--and did the other still grieve for him? As a matter of
+fact, he had yet to see the girl who could quicken his pulse a single beat,
+and for that reason it sometimes pleased him to affect susceptibility beyond
+that of other men.
+
+It was after dinner when he and Rowdy went humming down to the stables,
+gossiping like a couple of old women over a back fence.
+
+"I see you've got Conroy's Chub yet," Pink observed carelessly.
+
+"Oh, for Heaven's sake let up on that cayuse!" Rowdy cried petulantly. "I
+wish I'd never got sight of the little buzzard-head; I've had him crammed
+down my throat the last day or two till it's getting plumb monotonous. Pink,
+that cayuse never saw Oregon. He was raised right on this flat, and he
+belongs to old Rodway. I've got to lead him back there and turn him over
+to-day."
+
+Pink took three puffs at his cigarette, and lifted his long lashes to
+Rowdy's gloom-filled face. "Stole?" he asked briefly.
+
+"Stole," Rowdy repeated disgustedly. "So was the whole blame' bunch, as near
+as I can make out."
+
+"We might 'a' knowed it. We might 'a' guessed Harry Conroy wouldn't have a
+straight title to anything if he could make it crooked. I bet he never
+finished paying back that money yuh lent him--out uh the kindness uh your
+heart. Did he?" Pink leaned against the corral fence and kicked meditatively
+at a snow-covered rock.
+
+"He did not, m' son. Chub's all I ever got out uh the deal--and I haven't
+even got him. I borrowed him from Rodway to pack my bed over--borrowed the
+blame' little runty cayuse that cost me sixty-four hard-earned dollars;
+that's what Harry borrowed of me. And every blame' gazabo on the flat wanted
+to know what I was doing with him!"
+
+"I can tell yuh where t' find Conroy, Rowdy. He's working for an outfit down
+on the river. I'd sure fix him for this! Yuh got plenty of evidence; you can
+send him up like a charm. It was different when he cut your latigo strap in
+that rough-riding contest; yuh couldn't prove it on him. But this--why, man,
+it's a cinch!"
+
+"I haven't lost Harry Conroy, so I ain't looking for him just now," growled
+Rowdy. "So long as he keeps out uh reach, I won't ask no more of him.
+
+And, Pink, I wish you'd keep this quiet--about him having Chub. I told
+Rodway I couldn't put him next to the fellow that brought that bunch across
+the line. I told him the fellow went north and got killed. He did go
+north--fifty miles or so; and he'd ought to been killed, if he wasn't. Let
+it go that way, Pink."
+
+Pink looked like a cherub-faced child when he has been told there's no Santa
+Claus. "Sure, if yuh say so," he stammered dubiously. He eyed Rowdy
+reproachfully, and then looked away to the horizon. He kicked the rock out
+of place, and then poked it painstakingly back with his toe--and from the
+look of him, he did not know there was a rock there at all.
+
+"How'd yuh happen to run across Rodway?" he asked guilelessly.
+
+"I stopped there last night. I got to milling around in that storm, and ran
+across the schoolma'am that boards at Rodway's, She was plumb lost, too, so
+we dubbed around together for a while, and finally got inside Rodway's
+field. Then Chub come alive and piloted us to the house. This morning Rodway
+claimed him--says the brand has been worked from a Roman four. Oh, it's all
+straight goods," he added hastily. "Old Eagle Creek here knew him, too."
+
+But Pink was not thinking of Chub. He hunched his chap-belt higher and spat
+viciously into the snow. "I knowed it," he declared, with melancholy
+triumph. "It's school-ma'amitis that's gave yuh softening uh the vitals, and
+not no Christian charity play. How comes it you're took that way, all
+unbeknown t' your friends? Yuh never used t' bother about no female girls.
+It's a cinch you're wise that she's Harry's sister; and I admit she's a
+swell looker. But so's he; and I should think, Rowdy, you'd had about enough
+uh that brand uh snake."
+
+"There's nothing so snaky about her that I could see," defended Rowdy. He
+did not particularly relish having his own mental argument against Miss
+Conroy thrown back at him from another. "She seemed to be all right; and if
+you'd seen how plucky she was in that blizzard--"
+
+"Well, I never heard anybody stand up and call Harry white-livered, when yuh
+come t' that," Pink cut in tartly. "Anyway, you're a blame fool. If she was
+a little white-winged angel, yuh wouldn't stand no kind uh show; and I tell
+yuh why. She's got a little tin god that she says prayers to regular.
+
+That's Harry. And wouldn't he be the fine brother-in-law? He could borrow
+all your wages off'n yuh, and when yuh went t' make a pretty ride, he'd up
+and cut your latigo, and give yuh a fall. And he could work stolen horses
+off onto yuh--and yuh wouldn't give a damn, 'cause Jessie wears a number two
+shoe--"
+
+"You must have done some rimrock riding after her yourself!" jeered Rowdy.
+
+"And has got shiny brown eyes, just like Harry's--"
+
+"They're not!" laughed Rowdy, half-angrily. "If you say that again, Pink,
+I'll stick your head in a snow-bank. Her eyes are all right. They sure look
+good to me."
+
+"You've sure got 'em," mourned Pink. "Yuh need t' be close-herded by your
+friends, and that's no dream. You wait till toward evening before yuh take
+that horse back. I'm going along t' chappyrone yuh, Rowdy. Yuh ain't safe
+running loose any more."
+
+Rowdy cursed him companionably and told him to go along, if he wanted to,
+and to look out he didn't throw up his own hands; and Pink grumbled and
+swore and did go along. But when they got there, Miss Conroy greeted him
+like a very good friend; which sent Rowdy sulky, and kept him so all the
+evening. It seemed to him that Pink was playing a double game, and when they
+started home he told him so.
+
+But Pink turned in his saddle and smiled so that his dimples showed plainly
+in the moonlight. "Chappyrones that set in a corner and look wise are the
+rankest kind uh fakes," he explained. "When she was talking to me, she was
+letting you alone--see?"
+
+Rowdy accepted the explanation silently, and stored it away in his memory.
+After that, by riding craftily, and by threats, and by much vituperation, he
+managed to reach Rodway's unchapperoned at least three times out of
+five--which was doing remarkably well, when one considers Pink.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 5
+
+At Home at Cross L.
+
+In two days Rowdy was quite at home with the Cross L. In a month he found
+himself transplanted from the smoke-laden air of the bunk-house, and set off
+from the world in a line camp, with nothing to do but patrol the boggy banks
+of Milk River, where it was still unfenced and unclaimed by small farmers.
+The only mitigation of his exile, so far as he could see, lay in
+the fact that he had Pink and the Silent One for companions.
+
+It developed that when he would speak to the Silent One, he must say Jim, or
+wait long for a reply. Also, the Silent One was not always silent, and he
+was quick to observe the weak points in those around him, and keen at
+repartee. When it pleased him so to do, he could handle the English language
+in a way that was perfectly amazing--and not always intelligible to the
+unschooled. At such times Pink frankly made no attempt to understand him;
+Rowdy, having been hustled through grammar school and two-thirds through
+high school before he ran away from a brand new stepmother, rather enjoyed
+the outbreaks and Pink's consequent disgust.
+
+Not one of them loved particularly the line camp, and Rowdy least of all,
+since it put an extra ten miles between Miss Conroy and himself. Rowdy had
+got to that point where his mind dwelt much upon matters domestic, and he
+made many secret calculations on the cost of housekeeping for two. More than
+that, he put himself upon a rigid allowance for pocket-money--an allowance
+barely sufficient to keep him in tobacco and papers. All this without
+consulting Miss Conroy's wishes--which only goes to show that Rowdy Vaughan
+was a born optimist.
+
+The Silent One complained that he could not keep supplied with
+reading-matter, and Pink bewailed the monotony of inaction. For, beyond
+watching the river to keep the cattle from miring in the mud lately released
+from frost grip, there was nothing to do.
+
+According to the calendar, spring was well upon them, and the prairies would
+soon be flaunting new dresses of green. The calendar, however, had neglected
+to record the rainless heat of the summer gone before, or the searing winds
+that burned the grass brown as it grew, or the winter which forgot its part
+and permitted prairie-dogs to chip-chip-chip above ground in January, when
+they should be sleeping decently in their cellar homes.
+
+Apart from the brief storm which Rowdy had brought with him, there had been
+no snow worth considering. Always the chill winds shaved the barren land
+from the north, or veered unexpectedly, and blew dry warmth from the
+southwest; but never the snow for which the land yearned. Wind, and bright
+sunlight, and more wind, and hypocritical, drifting clouds, and more sun;
+lean cattle walking, walking, up-hill and down coulee, nose to the dry
+ground, snipping the stray tufts where should be a woolly carpet of sweet,
+ripened grasses, eating wildrose bushes level with the sod, and wishing
+there was only an abundance even of them; drifting uneasily from hilltop to
+farther hilltop, hunger-driven and gaunt, where should be sleek content.
+When they sought to continue their quest beyond the river, and the weaker
+bogged at its muddy edge, Rowdy and Pink and the Silent One would ride out,
+and with their ropes drag them back ignominiously to solid ground and the
+very doubtful joy of living.
+
+May Day found the grass-land brown and lifeless, with a chill wind blowing
+over it. The cattle wandered as before except that knock-kneed little calves
+trailed beside their lean mothers and clamored for full stomachs.
+
+The Cross L cattle bore the brunt of the range famine, because Eagle Creek
+Smith was a stockman of the old school. His cattle must live on the open
+range, because they always had done so. Other men bought or leased large
+tracts of grass-land, and fenced them for just such an emergency, but not
+he. It is true that he had two or three large fields, as Miss Conroy had
+told Rowdy, but it was his boast that all the hay he raised was eaten by his
+saddlehorses, and that all the fields he owned were used solely for horse
+pastures. The open range was the place for cattle and no Cross L critter
+ever fed inside a wire fence.
+
+Through the dry summer before, when other men read the ominous signs and
+hurriedly leased pasture-land and cut down their herds to what the fields
+would feed, Eagle Creek went calmly on as he had done always. He shipped
+what beef was fit --and that, of a truth, was not much!--and settled down
+for the winter, trusting to winter snows and spring rains to refill the
+long-dry lakes and waterholes, and coat the levels anew with grass.
+
+But the winter snows had failed to appear, and with the spring came no rain.
+"April showers" became a hideously ironical joke at nature's expense. Always
+the wind blew, and sometimes great flocks of clouds would drift
+superciliously up from the far sky-line, play with men's hopes, and sail
+disdainfully on to some more favored land.
+
+It is all very well for a man to cling stubbornly to precedent, but if he
+clings long enough, there comes a time when to cling becomes akin to crime.
+Eagle Creek Smith still stubbornly held that rangecattle should be kept to
+the range. He waited until May was fast merging to June, watching, from
+sheer habit, for the spring transformation of brown prairies into green.
+When it did not come, and only the coulee sides and bottoms showed green
+among the brown, he accepted ruefully the unusual conditions which nature
+had thrust upon him, and started "Wooden Shoes" out with the wagons on the
+horse round-up, which is a preliminary to the roundup proper, as every one
+knows.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 6
+
+A Shot From the Dark.
+
+"I call that a bad job well done," Pink remarked, after a long silence, as
+he gave over trying to catch a fish in the muddy Milk River.
+
+"What?" Rowdy, still prone to day-dreams of matters domestic, came back
+reluctantly to reality, and inspected his bait.
+
+"Oh, come alive! I mean the horse round-up. How we're going to keep that
+bunch uh skeletons under us all summer is a guessing contest for fair.
+Wooden Shoes has got t' give me about forty, instead of a dozen, if he wants
+me t' hit 'er up on circle the way I'm used to. I bet their back-bones'll
+wear clean up through our saddles."
+
+"Oh, I guess not," said Rowdy calmly. "They ain't so thin--and they'll pick
+up flesh. There's some mighty good ones in the bunch, too. I hope Wooden
+Shoes don't forget to give me the first pick. There's one I got my eye
+on--that blue roan. Anyway, I guess you can wiggle along with less than
+forty."
+
+Pink shook his head thoughtfully and sighed. Pink loved good mounts, and the
+outlook did not please him. The round-up had camped, for the last time, on
+the river within easy riding distance of Camas. The next day's drive would
+bring them to the home ranch, where Eagle Creek was fuming over the
+lateness of the season, the condition of the range, and the June rains,
+which had thus far failed even to moisten decently the grass-roots.
+
+"Let's ride over to Camas; all the other fellows have gone," Pink proposed
+listlessly, drawing in his line.
+
+Rowdy as listlessly consented. Camas as a town was neither interesting nor
+important; but when one has spent three long weeks communing with nature in
+her sulkiest and most unamiable mood, even a town without a railroad to its
+name may serve to relieve the monotony of living.
+
+The sun was piling gorgeous masses of purple and crimson clouds high about
+him, cuddling his fat cheeks against their soft folds till, a Midas, he
+turned them to gold at the touch. Those farther away gloomed jealously at
+the favoritism of their lord, and huddled closer together--the purple for
+rage, perhaps; and the crimson for shame!
+
+Pink's face was tinged daintily with the glow. and even Rowdy's lean, brown
+features were for the moment glorified. They rode knee to knee silently,
+thinking each his own thoughts the while they watched the sunset with eyes
+grown familiar with its barbaric splendor, but never indifferent.
+
+Soon the west held none but the deeper tints, and the shadows climbed, with
+the stealthy tread of trailing Indians, from the valley, chasing the
+after-glow to the very hilltops, where it stood a moment at bay and then
+surrendered meekly to the dusk. A meadow-lark near-by cut the silence into
+haunting ripples of melody, stopped affrighted at their coming, and flew off
+into the dull glow of the west; his little body showed black against a
+crimson cloud. Out across the river a lone coyote yapped sharply, then
+trailed off into the weird plaint of his kind.
+
+"Brother-in-law's in town to-day; Bob Nevin saw him," Pink remarked, when
+the coyote ceased wailing and held his peace.
+
+"Who?" Rowdy only half-heard.
+
+"Bob Nevin," repeated Pink naively.
+
+"Don't get funny. Who did Bob see?"
+
+"Brother-in-law. Yours, not mine. Jessie's tin god. If he's there yet, I bid
+for an invite to the 'swatfest.' Or maybe"--a horrible possibility forced
+itself upon Pink--"maybe you'll kill the fattest maverick and fall on his
+neck--"
+
+"The maverick's?" Rowdy's brows were rather pinched together, but his tone
+told nothing.
+
+"Naw; Harry Conroy's a fellow's liable to do most any fool thing when he's
+got schoolma'amitis."
+
+"That so?"
+
+Pink snorted. The possibility had grown to black certainty in his mind. He
+became suddenly furious.
+
+"Lord! I hope some kind friend'll lead me out an' knock me in the head, if
+ever I get locoed over any darned girl!"
+
+"Same here," agreed Rowdy, unmoved.
+
+"Then your days are sure numbered in words uh one syllable, old-timer,"
+snapped Pink.
+
+Rowdy leaned and patted him caressingly upon the shoulder--a form of irony
+which Pink detested. "Don't get excited, sonny," he soothed. "Did you fetch
+your gun?"
+
+"I sure did!" Pink drew a long breath of relief. "Yuh needn't think I'm
+going t' take chances on being no human colander. I've packed a gun for
+Harry Conroy ever since that rough-riding contest uh yourn. Yuh mind the way
+I took him under the ear with a rock? He's been makin' war-talk behind m'
+back ever since. Did I bring m' gun! Well, I guess yes!" He dimpled
+distractingly.
+
+"All the same, it'll suit me not to run up against him," said Rowdy quite
+frankly. He knew Pink would understand. Then he lifted his coat
+suggestively, to show the weapon concealed beneath, and smiled.
+
+"Different here. Yuh did have sense enough t' be ready--and if yuh see him,
+and don't forget he's got a sister with a number two foot, damned if I don't
+fix yuh both a-plenty!" He settled his hat more firmly over his curls, and
+eyed Rowdy anxiously from under his lashes.
+
+Rowdy caught the action and the look from the tail of his eye, and grinned
+at his horse's ears. Pink in warlike mood always made him think of a
+four-year-old child playing pirate with the difference that Pink was always
+in deadly earnest and would fight like a fiend.
+
+For more reasons than one he hoped they would not meet Harry Conroy. Jessie
+was still in ignorance of his real attitude toward her brother, and Rowdy
+wanted nothing more than to keep her so. The trouble was that he was quite
+certain to forget everything but his grievances, if ever he came face to
+face with Harry. Also, Pink would always fight quicker for his friends than
+for himself, and he felt very tender toward Pink. So he hoped fervently
+that Harry Conroy had already ridden back whence he came, and there would be
+no unpleasantness.
+
+Four or five Cross L horses stood meekly before the Come Again Saloon, so
+Rowdy and Pink added theirs to the gathering and went in. The Silent One
+looked up from his place at a round table in a far corner, and beckoned.
+
+"We need another hand here," he said, when they went over to him. "These
+gentlemen are worried because they might be taken into high society some
+day, and they would be placed in a very embarrassing position through their
+ignorance of bridge-whist. I have very magnanimously consented to teach them
+the rudiments."
+
+Bob Nevin looked up, and then lowered an eyelid cautiously. "He's a liar. He
+offered to learn us how to play it; we bet him the drinks he didn't savvy
+the game himself. Set down, Pink, and I'll have you for my pretty pardner."
+
+The Silent One shuffled the cards thoughtfully. "To make it seem like
+bona-fide bridge," he began, "we should have everybody playing."
+
+"Aw, the common, ordinary brand is good enough," protested Bob. "I ain't in
+on any trimmings."
+
+The Silent One smiled ever so slightly. "We should have prizes--or favors.
+Is there a store in town where one could buy something suitable?"
+
+"They got codfish up here; I smelt it," suggested Jim Ellis. Him the Silent
+One ignored.
+
+"What do you say, boys, to a real, high society whist-party? I'll invite the
+crowd, and be the hostess. And I'll serve punch--"
+
+"Come on, fellows, and have one with me," called a strange voice near the
+door.
+
+"Meeting's adjourned," cried Jim Ellis, and got up to accept the invitation
+and range along the bar with the rest. He had not been particularly
+interested in bridge-whist anyway.
+
+The others remained seated, and the bartender called across to know what
+they would have. Pink cut the cards very carefully, and did not look up.
+Rowdy thrust both hands in his pockets and turned his square shoulder to the
+bar. He did not need to look--he knew that voice, with its shoddy
+heartiness.
+
+Men began to observe his attitude, and looked at one another. When one is
+asked to drink with another, he must comply or decline graciously, if he
+would not give a direct insult.
+
+Harry Conroy took three long steps and laid a hand on Rowdy's shoulder--a
+hand which Rowdy shook off as though it burned. "Say, stranger, are you too
+high-toned t' drink with a common cowpuncher?" he demanded sharply.
+
+Rowdy half-turned toward him. "No, sir. But I'll be mighty thirsty before I
+drink with you." His voice was even, but it cut.
+
+The room stilled on the instant; it was as if every man of them had turned
+to lay figures. Harry Conroy had winced at sight of Rowdy's face--men saw
+that, and some of them wondered. Pink leaned back in his chair, every nerve
+tightened for the next move, and waited. It was Harry--handsome, sneering, a
+certain swaggering defiance in his pose --who first spoke.
+
+"Oh, it's you, is it? I haven't saw yuh for some time. How's
+bronco-fighting? Gone up against any more contests?" He laughed
+mockingly--with mouth and eyes maddeningly like Jessie's in teasing mood.
+
+Rowdy could have killed him for the resemblance alone. His lids drooped
+sleepily over eyes that glittered. Harry saw the sign, read it for danger;
+but he laughed again.
+
+"Yuh ought to have seen this bronco-peeler pull leather, boys," he jeered
+recklessly "I like to 'a' died. He got piled up the slickest I ever saw; and
+there was some feeble-minded Canucks had money up on him, too: He won't
+drink with me, 'cause I got off with the purse. He's got a grouch--and I
+don't know as I blame him; he did get let down pretty hard, for a fact."
+
+"Maybe he did pull leather--but he didn't cut none, like you did, you damn'
+skunk!" It was Pink--Pink, with big, long-lashed eyes purple with rage, and
+with a dead-white streak around his mouth, and a gun in his hand.
+
+Harry wheeled toward him, and if a new light of fear crept into his eyes,
+his lips belied it in a sneer. "Two of a kind!" he laughed. "So that's the
+story yuh brought over here, is it? Hell of a lot uh good it'll do yuh!"
+
+Something in Pink's face warned Rowdy. Harry's face turned watchfully from
+one to the other. Evidently he considered Pink the more uncertain of the
+two; and he was quite justified in so thinking. Pink was only waiting for a
+cue before using his gun; and when Pink once began, there was no telling
+where or when he would leave off.
+
+While Harry stood uncertain, Rowdy's fist suddenly spatted against his cheek
+with considerable force. He tumbled, a cursing heap, against the foot-rail
+of the bar, scrambled up like a cat--a particularly vicious cat--and came at
+Rowdy murderously. The Come Again would shortly have been filled with the
+pungent haze of burned powder, only that the bartender was a man-of-action.
+He hated brawls, and it did not matter to him how just might be the quarrel;
+he slapped the gaping barrels of a sawed-off shotgun across the bar--and from
+the look of it one might imagine many disagreeable things.
+
+"Drop it! Cut it out!" he bellowed. "Yuh ain't going t' make no
+slaughter-pen out uh this joint, I tell yuh. Put up them guns or else take
+'em outside. If you fellers are hell-bent on smokin' each other up, they's
+all kinds uh room outdoors. Git! Vamose! Hike!"
+
+Conroy wheeled and walked, straight-backed and venomous, to the door. "Come
+on out, if yuh ain't scared," he sneered. "It's two agin' one and then some,
+by the look uh things. But I'll take yuh singly or in bunches. I'm ready for
+the whole damn' Cross L bunch uh coyotes. Come on, you white-livered--!"
+
+Rowdy rushed for him, with Pink and the Silent One at his heels. He had
+forgotten that Harry Conroy ever had a sister of any sort whatsoever. All he
+knew was that Harry had done him much wrong, of the sort which comes near to
+being unforgivable, and that he had sneered insults that no man may
+overlook. All he thought of was to get his hands on him.
+
+Outside, the dusky stillness made all sounds seem out of place; the faint
+starlight made all objects black and unfamiliar. Rowdy stopped, just off the
+threshold, blinking at the darkness which held his enemy. It was strange
+that he did not find him at his elbow, he thought--and a suspicion came to
+him that Harry was lying in wait; it would be like him. He stepped out of
+the yellow glare from a window and stood in more friendly shade. Behind him,
+on the door-step, stood the other two, blinking as he had done.
+
+A form which he did not recognize rushed up out of the darkness and
+confronted the three belligerently. "You're a-disturbin' the peace," he
+yelled. "We don't stand for nothing like that in Camas. You're my
+prisoners--all uh yuh." The edict seemed to include even the bartender,
+peering over the shoulder of Bob Nevin, who struggled with several others
+for immediate passage through the doorway.
+
+"I guess not, pardner," retorted Pink, facing him as defiantly as though the
+marshal were not twice his size.
+
+The marshal lunged for him; but the Silent One, reaching a long arm from the
+door-step, rapped him smartly on the head with his gun. The marshal squawked
+and went down in a formless heap.
+
+"Come on, boys," said the Silent One coolly. "I think we'd better go. Your
+friend seems to have vanished in thin air."
+
+Rowdy, grumbling mightily over what looked unpleasantly like retreat, was
+pushed toward his horse and mounted under protest. Likewise Pink, who was
+for staying and cleaning up the whole town. But the Silent One was firm, and
+there was that in his manner which compelled obedience.
+
+Harry Conroy might have been an optical--and aural--illusion, for all the
+trace there was of him. But when the three rode out into the little street,
+a bullet pinged close to Rowdy's left ear, and the red bark of a revolver
+spat viciously from a black shadow beside the Come Again.
+
+Rowdy and the two turned and rode back, shooting blindly at the place, but
+the shadow yawned silently before them and gave no sign. Then the Silent
+One, observing that the marshal was getting upon a pair of very unsteady
+legs, again assumed the leadership, and fairly forced Rowdy and Pink into
+the homeward trail.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 7
+
+Rowdy in a Tough Place.
+
+Rowdy, with nice calculation, met Miss Conroy just as she had left the
+school-house, and noted with much satisfaction that she was riding alone.
+Miss Conroy, if she had been at all observant, must have seen the light of
+some fixed purpose shining in his eyes; for Rowdy was resolved to make her a
+partner in his dreams of matters domestic. And, of a truth, his easy
+assurance was the thinnest of cloaks to hide his inner agitation.
+
+"The round-up just got in yesterday afternoon," he told her, as he swung
+into the trail beside her. "We're going to start out again to-morrow, so
+this is about the only chance I'll have to see you for a while."
+
+"I knew the round-up must be in," said Miss Conroy calmly. "I heard that you
+were in Camas a night or two ago."
+
+Inwardly, Rowdy dodged. "We camped close to Camas," he conceded guardedly.
+"A lot of us fellows rode into town."
+
+"Yes, so Harry told me," she said. "He came over to see me yesterday. He is
+going to leave--has already, in fact. He has had a fine position offered him
+by the Indian agent at Belknap. The agent used to be a friend of father's."
+She looked at Rowdy sidelong, and then went straight at what was in the
+minds of both.
+
+"I'm sorry to hear, Mr. Vaughan, that you are on bad terms with Harry. What
+was the trouble?" She turned her head and smiled at him--but the smile did
+not bring his lips to answer; it was unpleasantly like the way Harry smiled
+when he had some deviltry in mind.
+
+Rowdy scented trouble and parried. "Men can't always get along agreeably
+together."
+
+"And you disagree with a man rather emphatically, I should judge. Harry said
+you knocked him down." Politeness ruled her voice, but cheeks and eyes were
+aflame.
+
+"I did. And of course he told you how he took a shot at me from a dark
+corner, outside." Rowdy's eyes, it would seem, had kindled from the fire in
+hers.
+
+"No, he didn't--but I--you struck him first."
+
+"Hitting a man with your fist is one thing," said Rowdy with decision.
+"Shooting at him from ambush is another."
+
+"Harry shouldn't have done that," she admitted with dignity. "But why
+wouldn't you take a drink with him? Not that I approve of drinking--I wish
+Harry wouldn't do such things--but he said it was an insult the way you
+refused."
+
+"Jessie--"
+
+"Miss Conroy, please."
+
+"Jessie"--he repeated the name stubbornly--"I think we'd better drop that
+subject. You don't understand the case; and, anyway, I didn't come here to
+discuss Harry. Our trouble is long standing, and if I insulted him you ought
+to know I had a reason. I never came whining to you about him, and it don't
+speak well for him that he hot-footed over to you with his version. I
+suppose he'd heard about me--er--going to see you, and wanted to queer me.
+I hope you'll take my word for it, Jessie, that I've never harmed him; all
+the trouble he's made for himself, one way and another.
+
+"But what I came over for to-day concerns just you and me. I wanted to tell
+you that--to ask you if you'll marry me. I might put it more artistic,
+Jessie, but that's what I mean, and--I mean all the things I'd like to say
+and can't." He stopped and smiled at her, wistfully whimsical. "I've been
+three weeks getting my feelings into proper words, little girl, and coming
+over here I had a speech thought out that sure done justice to my subject.
+But all I can remember of it is just that--that I want you for always."
+
+Miss Conroy looked away from him, but he could see a deeper tint of red in
+her cheek. It seemed a long time before she said anything. Then: "But you've
+forgotten about Harry. He's my brother, and he'd be--er--you wouldn't want
+him related-- to you."
+
+"Harry! Well, I pass him up. I've got a pretty long account against him; but
+I'll cross it off. It won't be hard to do--for you. I've thought of all
+that; and a man can forgive a whole lot in the brother of the woman he
+loves." He leaned toward her and added honestly: "I can't promise you I'll
+ever get to like him, Jessie; but I'll keep my hands off him, and I'll treat
+him civil; and when you consider all he's done, that's quite a large-sized
+contract."
+
+Miss Conroy became much interested in the ears of her horse.
+
+"The only thing to decide is whether you like me enough. If you do, we'll
+sure be happy. Never mind Harry."
+
+"You're very generous," she flared, "telling me to never mind Harry. And
+Harry's my own brother, and the only near relative I've got. I know
+he's--impulsive, and quick-tempered, perhaps. But he needs me all the more.
+Do you think I'll turn against him, even for you?"
+
+That "even" may have been a slip, but it heartened Rowdy immensely. "I don't
+ask you to," he told her gently. "I only want you to not turn against me."
+
+"I do wish you two would be sensible, and stop quarreling." She glanced at
+him briefly.
+
+"I'm willing to cut it out--I told you that. I can't answer for him,
+though." Rowdy sighed, wishing Harry Conroy in Australia, or some place
+equally remote.
+
+Miss Conroy suddenly resolved to be strictly just; and when a young woman
+sets about being deliberately just, the Lord pity him whom she judges!
+
+"Before I answer you, I must know just what all this is about," she said
+firmly. "I want to hear both sides; I'm sure Harry wouldn't do anything
+mean. Do you think he would?"
+
+Rowdy was dissentingly silent.
+
+"Do you really, in your heart, believe that Harry would--knowingly--be
+guilty of anything mean?" Her eyes plainly told the answer she wanted to
+hear.
+
+Rowdy looked into them, hesitated, and clung tenaciously to his
+convictions. "Yes, I do; and I know Harry pretty well, Jessie." His face
+showed how much he hated to say it.
+
+"I'm afraid you are very prejudiced," she sighed. "But go on; tell me just
+what you have against Harry. I'm sure it can all be explained away, only I
+must hear what it is."
+
+Rowdy regarded her, puzzled. How he was to comply he did not know. It would
+be simply brutal to tell her. He would feel like a hangman. And she believed
+so in Harry, she wouldn't listen; even if she did, he thought bitterly, she
+would hate him for destroying her faith. A woman's justice--ah, me!
+
+"Don't you see you're putting me in a mighty hard position, girlie?" he
+protested. "You're a heap better off not to know. He's your brother. I wish
+you'd take my word that I'll drop the whole thing right where it is. Harry's
+had all the best of it, so far; let it stand that way."
+
+Her eyes met his coldly. "Are you afraid to let me judge between you? What
+did he do? Daren't you tell?"
+
+Rowdy's lids drooped ominously. "If you call that a dare," he said grimly,
+"I'll tell you, fast enough. I was a friend to him when he needed one mighty
+bad. I helped him when he was dead broke and out uh work. I kept him going
+all winter--and to show his gratitude, he gave me the doublecross, in more
+ways than one. I won't go into details." He decided that he simply could not
+tell her bluntly that Harry had worked off stolen horses on him, and worse.
+
+"Oh--you won't go into details!" Scorn filled eyes and voice. "Are they so
+trivial, then? You tell me what you did for Harry--playing Good Samaritan.
+Harry, let me tell you, has property of his own; I can't see why he should
+ever be in need of charity. You're like all the rest; you hint things
+against him--but I believe it's just jealousy. You can't come out honestly
+and tell me a single instance where he has harmed you, or done anything
+worse than other high-spirited young men."
+
+"It wouldn't do any good to tell you," he retorted. "You think he's just
+lacking wings to be an angel. I hope to God you'll always be able to think
+so! I'm sure I don't want to jar your faith."
+
+"I must say your actions don't bear out your words. You've just been trying
+to turn me against him."
+
+"I haven't. I've been trying to convince you that I want you, anyway, and
+Harry needn't come between us."
+
+"In other words, you're willing to overlook my being Harry's sister. I
+appreciate your generosity, I'm sure." She did not look, however, as if she
+meant that.
+
+"I didn't mean that."
+
+"Then you won't overlook it? How very unfortunate! Because I can't help the
+relationship."
+
+"Would you, if you could?" he asked rashly.
+
+"Certainly not!"
+
+"I'm afraid we're getting off the trail," he amended tactfully. "I asked
+you, a while back, if you'd marry me."
+
+"And I said I must hear both sides of your trouble with Harry, before I
+could answer."
+
+"What's the use? You'd take his part, anyway."
+
+"Not if I found he was guilty of all you--insinuate. I should be perfectly
+just." She really believed that.
+
+"Can't you tell me yes or no, anyway? Don't let him come between us."
+
+"I can't help it. We'd never agree, or be happy. He'd keep on coming between
+us, whether we meant him to or not," she said dispiritedly.
+
+"That's a cinch," Rowdy muttered, thinking of Harry's trouble-breeding
+talents.
+
+"Then there's no more to be said. Until you and Harry settle your
+difficulties amicably, or I am convinced that he's in the wrong, we'll just
+be friends, Mr. Vaughan. Good afternoon." She rode into the Rodway yard,
+feeling very just and virtuous, no doubt. But she left Rowdy with some
+rather unpleasant thoughts, and with a sentiment toward her precious brother
+which was not far from manslaughter.
+
+
+CHAPTER 8
+
+Pink in a Threatening Mood.
+
+Eagle Creek Smith had at last reached the point where he must face new
+conditions and change established customs. He could no longer ignore the
+barrenness of the range, or close his eyes to the grim fact that his cattle
+were facing starvation--and that in June, when they should be taking on
+flesh.
+
+When he finally did confess to himself that things couldn't go on like that,
+others had been before him in leasing and buying land, until only the dry
+benches were left to him and his hungry herds.
+
+But Eagle Creek was a man of resource. When the round-up pulled in and
+Wooden Shoes reported to him the general state of the cattle, and told of
+the water-holes newly fenced and of creek bottoms gobbled by men more
+farseeing than he, Eagle Creek took twenty-four hours to adjust himself to
+the situation and to meet the crisis before him. His own land, as compared
+to his twenty thousand cattle, was too pitifully inadequate for a second
+thought.
+
+He must look elsewhere for the correct answer to his problem.
+
+When Rowdy rode apathetically up to the stable, Pink came out of the
+bunk-house to meet him, big with news. "Oh, doctor! We're up against it
+a-plenty now," he greeted, with his dimples at their deepest.
+
+"Huh!" grunted Rowdy crossly. "What's hurting you, Pink?"
+
+"Forecasting the future," Pink retorted. "Eagle Creek has come alive, and
+has wised up sudden to the fact that this ain't going t' be any Noah's flood
+brand uh summer, and that his cattle look like the tailings of a wash-board
+factory. He's got busy--and we're sure going to. We're due t' hit the grit
+out uh here in the first beams uh rosy morn, and do a record stunt at
+gathering cattle."
+
+"Well, we were going to, anyhow," Rowdy cut in.
+
+"But that's only the prelude, old-timer. We've got t' take 'em across
+country to the Belknap reservation. Eagle Creek went t' town and
+telegraphed, and got the refusal of it for pasturage; he ain't so slow,
+oncet he gets started. But if you've ever rode over them dried-up benches,
+you savvy the merry party we'll be when we git there. I've saw jack-rabbits
+packing their lunch along over there."
+
+"Belknap"--Rowdy dropped his saddle spitefully to the ground--"is where our
+friend Conroy has just gone to fill a splendid position."
+
+Pink thoughtfully blew the ashes from his cigarette. "Harry Conroy would
+fill one position fine. So one uh these days I'll offer it to him. I don't
+know anybody that'd look nicer in a coffin than that jasper--and if he's
+gone t' Belknap, that's likely the position he'll fill, all right."
+
+Rowdy said nothing, but his very silence told Pink much.
+
+"How'd yuh make out with Jessie?" Pink asked frankly, though he was not
+supposed to know where Rowdy had been.
+
+Rowdy knew from experience that it was useless trying to keep anything from
+Pink that Pink wanted to know; besides, there was a certain comfort in
+telling his troubles to so stanch a friend. "Harry got his work in there,
+too," he said bitterly. "He beat me to her and queered me for good, by the
+looks."
+
+"Huh!" said Pink. "I wouldn't waste much time worrying over her, if she's
+that easy turned."
+
+"She's all right," defended Rowdy quickly. "I don't know as I blame her; she
+takes the stand any sister would take. She wants to know all about the
+trouble--hear both sides, she said, so she could judge which was to blame. I
+guess she's got her heart set on being peacemaker. I know one thing:
+she--likes me, all right."
+
+"I don't see how he queered yuh any, then," puzzled Pink. "She sure couldn't
+take his part after you'd told her all he done."
+
+Rowdy turned on him savagely. "You little fool, do you think I told her?
+Right there's the trouble. He told his story; and when she asked for mine, I
+couldn't say anything. She's his sister."
+
+"You--didn't--tell!" Pink leaned against the stable and stared. "Rowdy
+Vaughan, there's times when even your friend can't disguise the fact that
+yuh act plumb batty. Yuh let Harry do yuh dirt that any other man'd 'a'
+killed him on bare suspicion uh doing; and yuh never told her when she asked
+yuh to! How yuh lent him money, and let him steal some right out uh your
+pocket--"
+
+"I couldn't prove that," Rowdy objected.
+
+"And yuh never told her about his cutting your latigo--"
+
+"Oh, cut it out!" Rowdy glowered down at him. "I guess I don't need to be
+reminded of all those things. But are they the things a man can tell a girl
+about her brother? Pink, you're about as unfeeling a little devil as I ever
+run across. Maybe you'd have told her; but I couldn't. So it's all off."
+
+He turned away and stared unseeingly at the rim of hills that hid the place
+where she lived. She seemed very far away from him just then--and very, very
+desirable. He thought then that he had never before realized just how much
+he cared.
+
+"You can jest bet I'd 'a' told her!" gritted Pink, watching furtively
+Rowdy's averted face. "She ain't goin' t' be bowed down by no load of
+ignorance much longer, either. If she don't get Harry Conroy's pedigree
+straight out, without the varnish, it'll be because I ain't next to all his
+past."
+
+But Rowdy, glooming among the debris of certain pet air-castles, neither
+heard nor wanted to hear Pink's wrathful mutterings.As a matter of fact, it
+was not till Pink clattered out of the yard on Mascot that he remembered
+where he was. Even then it did not occur to him to wonder where Pink was
+going.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 9
+
+Moving the Herd.
+
+Four thousand weary cattle crawled up the long ridge which divides Chin
+Coulee from Quitter Creek. Pink, riding point, opposite the Silent One,
+twisted round in his saddle and looked back at the slow-moving river of
+horns and backs veiled in a gray dust-cloud. Down the line at intervals rode
+the others, humped listlessly in their saddles, their hat brims pulled low
+over tired eyes that smarted with dust and wind and burning heat.
+
+Pink sighed, and wished lonesomely that it was Rowdy riding point with him,
+instead of the Silent One, who grew even more silent as the day dragged
+leadenly to mid-afternoon; Pink could endure anything better than being left
+to his thoughts and to the complaining herd for company.
+
+He took off his hat, pushed back his curls--dripping wet they were and
+flattened unbecomingly in pasty, yellow rings on his forehead--and eyed with
+disfavor a line-backed, dry cow, with one horn tipped rakishly toward her
+speckled nose; she blinked silently at wind and heat, and forged steadily
+ahead, up-hill and down coulee,always in the lead, always walking, walking,
+like an automaton. Her energy, in the face of all the dry, dreary days,
+rasped Pink's nerves unbearably. For nearly a week he had
+ridden left point, and always that line-backed cow with the down-crumpled
+horn walked and walked and walked, a length ahead of her most intrepid
+followers.
+
+He leaned from his saddle, picked up a rock from the barren, yellow
+hillside, and threw it at the cow spitefully. The rock bounced off her lean
+rump; she blinked and broke into a shuffling trot, her dragging hoofs
+kicking up an extra amount of dust, which blew straight into Pink's face.
+
+"Aw, cut it out!" he shouted petulantly. "You're sure the limit, without
+doing any stunts at sprinting up-hill. Ain't yuh got any nerves, yuh blamed
+old skate? Yuh act like it was milkin'-time, and yuh was headed straight for
+the bars and a bran mash. Can't yuh realize the kind uh deal you're up
+against? Here's cattle that's got you skinned for looks, old girl, and they
+know it's coming blamed tough; and you just bat your eyes and peg along
+like yuh enjoyed it. Bawl, or something, can't yuh? Drop back a foot and act
+human!"
+
+The Silent One looked across at him with a tired smile. "Let her go, Pink,
+and pray for more like her," he called amusedly. "There'll be enough of them
+dropping back presently."
+
+Pink threw one leg over the horn and rode sidewise, made him a cigarette,
+and tried to forget the cow--or, at least, to forgive her for not acting as
+dog-tired as he felt.
+
+They were on the very peak of the ridge now, and the hill sloped smoothly
+down before them to the bluff which bounded Quitter Creek. Far down, a tiny
+black speck in the coulee-bottom, they could see Wooden Shoes riding along
+the creek-bank, scouting for water. From the way he rode, and from the fact
+that camp was nowhere in sight, Pink guessed shrewdly that his quest was in
+vain. He shrugged his shoulders at what that meant, and gave his attention
+to the herd.
+
+The marching line split at the brow of the bluff. The line-backed cow
+lowered her head a bit and went unfaltering down the parched, gravel-coated
+hill, followed by a few hundred of the freshest. Then the stream stopped
+flowing, and Pink and the Silent One rode back up the bluff to where the
+bulk of the footsore herd, their senses dulled by hunger and weariness and
+choking thirst, sniffed at the gravel that promised agony to their bruised
+feet, and balked at the ordeal. Others straggled up, bunched against the
+rebels, and stood stolidly where they were.
+
+Pink galloped on down the crawling line. "Forward, the Standard Oil
+Brigade!" he yelled whimsically as he went.
+
+The cowboys heard--and understood. They left their places and went forward
+at a lope, and Pink rode back to the coulee edge, untying his slicker as he
+went. The Silent One was already off his horse and shouting hoarsely as he
+whacked with his slicker at the sulky mass. Pink rode in and did the same.
+It was not the first time this thing had happened, and from a diversion it
+was verging closely on the monotonous. Presently, even a rank tenderfoot
+must have caught the significance of Pink's military expression. The
+Standard Oil Brigade was at the front in force.
+
+Cowboys, swinging five-gallon oil-cans, picked up from scattered sheep camps
+and carried many a weary mile for just such an emergency, were charging the
+bunch intrepidly. Others made shift with flat sirup-cans with pebbles
+inside. A few, like Pink and the Silent One, flapped their slickers till
+their arms ached. Anything, everything that would make a din and startle the
+cattle out of their lethargy, was pressed into service.
+
+But they might have been raised in a barnyard and fed cabbage leaves from
+back door-steps, for all the excitement they showed. Cattle that three
+months ago--or a month--would run, head and tail high in air, at sight of a
+man on foot, backed away from a rattling, banging cube of gleaming tin,
+turned and faced the thing dull-eyed and apathetic.
+
+In time, however, they gave way dogedly before the onslaught. A few were
+forced shrinkingly down the hill; others followed gingerly, until the line
+lengthened and flowed, a sluggish, brown-red stream, into the coulee and
+across to Quitter Creek.
+
+Here the leaders were browsing greedily along the banks. They had emptied
+the few holes that had still held a meager store of brackish water and so
+the mutinous bulk of the herd snuffed at the trampled, muddy spots and
+bellowed their disappointment.
+
+Wooden Shoes rode up and surveyed the half maddened animals gloomily. "Push
+'em on, boys," he said. "They's nothings for 'em here. I've sent the wagons
+on to Red Willow; we'll try that next. Push 'em along all yuh can, while I
+go on ahead and see."
+
+With tin-cans, slickers, and much vituperation, they forced the herd up the
+coulee side and strung them out again on trail. The line-backed cow walked
+and walked in the lead before Pink's querulous gaze, and the others plodded
+listlessly after. The gray dust-cloud formed anew over their slowmoving
+backs, and the cowboys humped over in their saddles and rode and rode, with
+the hot sun beating aslant in their dirt-grimed faces, and with the wind
+blowing and blowing.
+
+If this had been the first herd to make that dreary trip, things would not
+have been quite so disheartening. But it was the third. Seven thousand lean
+kine had passed that way before them, eating the scant grass growth and
+drinking what water they could find among those barren, sun-baked coulees.
+
+The Cross L boys, on this third trip, were become a jaded lot of
+hollow-eyed men, whose nerves were rasped raw with long hours and longer
+days in the saddle. Pink's cheeks no longer made his name appropriate, and
+he was not the only one who grew fretful over small things. Rowdy had been
+heard, more than once lately, to anathematize viciously the prairie-dogs for
+standing on their tails and chipchip-chipping at them as they went by. And
+though the Silent One did not swear, he carried rocks in his pockets,
+and threw them with venomous precision at every "dog" that showed his
+impertinent nose out of a burrow within range. For Pink, he vented his
+spleen on the line-backed cow.
+
+So they walked and walked and walked.
+
+The cattle balked at another hill, and all the tincans and slickers in the
+crowd could scarcely move them. The wind dropped with the sun, and the
+clouds glowed gorgeously above them, getting scant notice, except that they
+told eloquently of the coming night; and there were yet miles--long, rough,
+heartbreaking miles--to put behind them before they could hope for the
+things their tired bodies craved: supper and dreamless sleep.
+
+When the last of the herd had sidled, under protest, down the long hill to
+the flat, dusk was pushing the horizon closer upon them, mile by mile. When
+they crawled sinuously out upon the welcome level, the hill loomed ghostly
+and black behind them. A mile out, Wooden Shoes rode out of the gloom and
+met the point. He turned and rode beside Pink.
+
+"Yuh'll have t' swing 'em north," he greeted.
+
+"Red Willow's dry as hell--all but in the Rockin' R field. No use askin' ole
+Mullen to let us in there; we'll just go. I sent the wagons through the
+fence, an' yuh'll find camp about a mile up from the mouth uh the big
+coulee. You swing 'em round the end uh this bench, an' hit that big coulee
+at the head. When you come t' the fence, tear it down. They's awful good
+grass in that field!"
+
+"All right," said Pink cheerfully. It was in open defiance of range
+etiquette; but their need was desperate. The only thing about it Pink did
+not like was the long detour they must make. He called the news across to
+the Silent One, after Wooden Shoes had gone on down the line, and they swung
+the point gradually to the left.
+
+Before that drive was over, Pink had vowed many times to leave the range
+forever and never to turn another cow--besides a good many other foolish
+things which would be forgotten, once he had a good sleep. And Rowdy,
+plodding half-way down the herd, had grown exceedingly pessimistic regarding
+Jessie Conroy, and decided that there was no sense in thinking about her all
+the time, the way he had been doing. Also, he told himself savagely that if
+Harry ever crossed his trail again, there would be something doing. This
+thing of letting a cur like that run roughshod over a man on account of a
+girl that didn't care was plumb idiotic. And beside him the cattle walked
+and walked and walked, a dim, moving mass in the quiet July night.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 10
+
+Harry Conroy at Home.
+
+It was late next morning when they got under way; for they had not reached
+camp until long after midnight, and Wooden Shoes was determined the cattle
+should have one good feed, and all the water they wanted, to requite them
+for the hard drive of the day before.
+
+Pink rode out with Rowdy to the herd--a heavylidded, gloomy Rowdy he was,
+and not amiably inclined toward the small talk of the range. But Pink had
+slept five whole hours and was almost his normal self; which means that
+speech was not to be denied him.
+
+"What yuh mourning over?" he bantered. "Mad 'cause the reservation's so
+close?"
+
+"Sure," assented Rowdy, with deep sarcasm.
+
+"That's what I thought. Studying up the nicest way uh giving brother-in-law
+the glad hand, ain't yuh?"
+
+"He's no relation uh mine--and never will be," said Rowdy curtly. "And I'll
+thank you, Pink, to drop that subject for good and all."
+
+"Down she goes," assented Pink, quite unperturbed. "But the cards ain't all
+turned yet, yuh want to remember, I wouldn't pass on no hand like you've
+got. If I wanted a girl right bad, Rowdy, I'd wait till I got refused before
+I'd quit."
+
+"Seems to me you've changed your politics lately," Rowdy retorted. "A while
+back you was cussing the whole business; and now you're worse than an old
+maid aunt. Pink, you may not be wise to the fact, but you sure are an
+inconsistent little devil."
+
+"Are yuh going t' hunt Harry up and--"
+
+"I thought I told you to drop that."
+
+"Did yuh? All right, then--only I hope yuh didn't leave your gun packed away
+in your bed," he insinuated.
+
+"You can take a look to-night, if you want to."
+
+Pink laughed in a particularly infectious way he had, and, before he quite
+knew it, Rowdy was laughing, also. After that the world did not look quite
+so forlorn as it had, nor the day's work so distasteful. So Pink, having
+accomplished his purpose, was content to turn the subject.
+
+"There's old Liney"--he pointed her out to Rowdy--"fresh as a meadow-lark. I
+had a big grouch against her yesterday, just because she batted her eyes and
+kept putting one foot ahead uh the other. I could 'a' killed her. But she's
+all right, that old girl. The way she led out down that black coulee last
+night wasn't slow! Say, she's an ambitious old party. I wish you was riding
+point with me, Rowdy. The Silent One talks just about as much as
+that old cow. He sure loves to live up to his rep."
+
+"Oh, go on to work," Rowdy admonished. "You make me think of a magpie." All
+the same, he looked after him with smiling lips, and eyes that forgot their
+gloom. He even whistled while he helped round up the scattered herd, ready
+for that last day's drive.
+
+Every man in the outfit comforted himself with the thought that it was the
+last day's drive. After long weeks of trailing lean herds over barren,
+windbrushed hills, the last day meant much to them. Even the Silent One sang
+something they had never heard before, about "If Only I Knew You Were True."
+
+They crossed the Rocking R field, took down four panels of fence, passed
+out, and carefully put them up again behind them. Before them stretched
+level plain for two miles; beyond that a high, rocky ridge that promised
+some trouble with the herd, and after that more plain and a couleee or two,
+and then, on a far slope--the reservation.
+
+The cattle were rested and fed, and walked out briskly; the ridge neared
+perceptibly. Pink's shrill whistle carried far back down the line and
+mingled pleasantly with voices calling to one another across the herd. Not a
+man was humped listlessly in his saddle; instead, they rode with shoulders
+back and hats at divers jaunty angles to keep the sun from shining in eyes
+that faced the future cheerfully.
+
+The herd steadily climbed the ridge, choosing the smoothest path and the
+easiest slope. Pink assured the line-backed cow that she was a peach, and
+told her to "go to it, old girl." The Silent One's pockets were quite empty
+of rocks, and the prairiedogs chipped and flirted their funny little tails
+unassailed. And Rowdy, from wondering what had made Pink change his attitude
+so abruptly, began to plan industriously the next meeting with
+Jessie Conroy, and to build a new castle that was higher and airier than any
+he had ever before attempted--and perhaps had a more flimsy foundation; for
+it rested precariously on Pink's idle remarks.
+
+The point gained the top of the ridge, and Pink turned and swung his hat
+jubilantly at the others. The reservation was in sight, though it lay
+several miles distant. But in that clear air one could distinguish the line
+fence--if one had the eye of faith and knew just where to look. Presently he
+observed a familiar horseman climbing the ridge to meet them.
+
+"Eagle Creek's coming," he shouted to the man behind. "Come alive, there,
+and don't let 'em roam all over the map. Git some style on yuh!"
+
+Those who heard laughed; no one ever dreamed of being offended at what Pink
+said. Those who had not heard had the news passed on to them, in various
+forms. Wooden Shoes, who had been loitering in the rear gossiping with the
+men, rode on to meet Smith.
+
+Eagle Creek urged his horse up the last steep place, right in the face of
+the leaders, which halted and tried to turn back. Pink, swearing in a
+whisper, began to force them forward.
+
+"Let 'em alone," Eagle Creek bellowed harshly. "They ain't goin' no
+farther."
+
+"W-what?" Pink stopped short and eyed him critically. Eagle Creek could not
+justly be called a teetotaler; but Pink had never known him to get worse
+than a bit wobbly in his legs; his mind had never fogged perceptibly. Still,
+something was wrong with him, that was certain. Pink glanced dubiously
+across at the Silent One and saw him shrug his shoulders expressively.
+
+Eagle Creek rode up and stopped within ten feet of the line-backed cow; she
+seemed hurt at being held up in this manner, Pink thought.
+
+"Yuh'll have t' turn this herd back," Eagle Creek announced bluntly.
+
+"Where to?" Pink asked, too stunned to take in the meaning of it.
+
+"T' hell, I guess. It's the only place I know of where everybody's
+welcome." Eagle Creek's tone was not pleasant.
+
+"We just came from there," Pink said simply, thinking of the horrors of that
+drive.
+
+"Where's Wooden Shoes?" snapped the old man; and the foreman's hat-crown
+appeared at that instant over the ridge.
+
+"Well, we're up against it," Eagle Creek greeted. "That damn' agent--or the
+fellow he had workin' for him--reported his renting us pasture. Made the
+report read about twice as many as we're puttin' on. He's got orders now t'
+turn out every hoof but what b'longs there."
+
+"My Lord!" Wooden Shoes gasped at the catastrophe which faced the Cross L.
+
+"That's Harry Conroy's work," Pink cut in sharply' "He'd hurt the Cross L if
+he could, t' spite me and Rowdy. He--"
+
+"Don't matter--seein' it's done. Yuh might as well turn the herd loose right
+here, an' let 'em go t' the devil. I don't know what else t' do with 'em."
+
+"Anything gone wrong?" It was Rowdy, who had left his place and ridden
+forward to see what was holding the herd back.
+
+"Naw. We're fired off the reservation, is all. We got orders to take the
+herd to hell. Eagle Creek's leased it. Mr. Satan is going to keep house here
+in Montana; he says it's better for his trade," Pink informed him, in his
+girlish treble.
+
+Eagle Creek turned on him fiercely, then thought better of it and grinned.
+"Them arrangements wouldn't make us any worse off'n what we are," he
+commented. "Turn 'em loose, boys."
+
+"Man, if yuh turn 'em loose here, the first storm that hits 'em, they all
+die," Wooden Shoes interposed excitedly. "They ain't nothings for 'em. We
+had t' turn 'em into the Rockin' R field last night, t' git water an' feed.
+Red Willow's gone dry outside dat field. They ain't--nothings. They'll die!"
+
+Eagle Creek looked at him dully. For the first time in his life he faced
+utter ruin. "Damn 'em, let 'em die, then!" he said.
+
+"That's what they'll sure do," Wooden Shoes reiterated stubbornly. "If they
+don't git feed and water now, yuh needn't start no round-up next spring."
+
+Pink's eyes went down over the close-huddled backs and the thicket of
+polished horns, and his eyelids stung. Would all of them die, he wondered!
+Four thousand! He hoped not. There must be some way out. Down the hill, he
+knew the cowboys were making cigarettes while they waited and wondered
+mightily what it was all about If they only knew, he thought, there would be
+more than one rope ready for Harry Conroy.
+
+"How about the Peck reservation? Couldn't you get them on there?" Rowdy
+ventured.
+
+"Not a hoof!" growled Eagle Creek, with his chin sunk against his chest.
+"There's thirty thousand Valley County cattle on there now." He looked down
+at the cattle, as Pink had done. "God! It's bad enough t' go broke," he
+groaned; "but t' think uh them poor brutes dyin' off in bunches, for want uh
+grass an' water! I've run that brand fer over thirty year."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 11
+
+Rowdy Promoted.
+
+Rowdy rode closer. "If you don't mind paying duty," he began tentatively, "I
+can put you next to a range over the line, where I'll guarantee feed and
+water the year round for every hoof you own."
+
+Eagle Creek lifted his head and looked at him "Whereabouts?" he demanded
+skeptically.
+
+"Up in the Red Deer country. Pink knows the place. There's range a-plenty,
+and creeks running through that never go dry; and the country isn't stocked
+and fenced to death, like this is."
+
+"And would we be ordered off soon as we got there?"
+
+"Sure not--if you paid duty, which would only be about double what you were
+going to pay for one year's pasture."
+
+Eagle Creek breathed deeply, like a man who has narrowly escaped
+suffocation. "Young man, I b'lieve you're a square dealer, and that yuh
+savvy the cow business. I've thought it ever since yuh started t' work." His
+keen old eyes twinkled at the memory of Rowdy's arrival, and Rowdy grinned.
+"I take yuh at your word, and yuh can consider yourself in charge uh this
+herd as it stands. Take it t' that cow heaven yuh tell about--and damn it,
+yuh won't be none the worse for it!"
+
+"We'll pass that up," said Rowdy quietly. "I'll take the herd through,
+though; and I'd advise you to get the rest on the road as soon as they can
+be gathered. It's a three-hundred-mile drive."
+
+"All right. From now on it's up to you," Eagle Creek told him briskly. "Take
+'em back t' the Rockin' R field, and I'll send the wagons back t' you. Old
+Mullen'll likely make a roar--but that's most all gove'ment land he's got
+fenced, so I guess I can calm him down. Will yuh go near the ranch?"
+
+"I think so," said Rowdy. "It will be the shortest way."
+
+"Well, I'll give yuh some blank checks, an' you can load up with grub and
+anything else yuh need. I'll be over there by the time you are, and fix up
+that duty business. Wooden Shoes'll have t' get another outfit together, and
+get another bunch on the trail. One good thing--I got thirty days t' get off
+what cattle is on there; and thirty days uh grass and water'll put 'em in
+good shape for the trip. Wish this bunch was as well fixed."
+
+"That's what," Rowdy assented. "But I think they'll make it, all right."
+
+"I'll likely want yuh to stay up there and keep cases on 'em. Any
+objections?"
+
+"Sure not!" laughed Rowdy. "Only I'll want Pink and the Silent One to stay
+with me."
+
+"Keep what men yuh want. Anything else?"
+
+"I don't think of anything," said Rowdy. "Only I'd like to have
+a--talk--with Conroy." Creek eyed him sharply. "Yuh won't be apt t' meet
+him. Old Bill Brown, up home, would like to see him, too. Bill's a
+perseverin' old cuss, and wants to see Conroy so bad he's got the sheriff
+out lookin' for him. It's about a bunch uh horses that was run off, three
+years ago. Yuh brought one of 'em back into the country last spring, yuh
+mind."
+
+Rowdy and Pink looked at one another, but said nothing.
+
+"Old Bill, he follered your back trail and found out some things he wanted
+t' know. Conroy got wind of it, though, and he left the agency kind-a
+suddint. No use yuh lookin' for him."
+
+"Then we're ready to hit the grit, I guess." Rowdy glanced again at Pink who
+nodded.
+
+"Well, I ain't stoppin' yuh," Eagle Creek drawled laconically. "S'-long, and
+good luck t' yuh."
+
+He waited while Pink and the Silent One swung the point back down the hill,
+with Rowdy helping them, quite unmoved by his sudden promotion. When the
+herd was fairly started on the backward march, Eagle Creek nodded
+satisfaction the while he pried off a corner of plug-tobacco.
+
+"He's all right," he asserted emphatically. "That boy suits me, from the
+ground up. If he don't put that deal through in good shape, it'll be becaus'
+it can't be did."
+
+Wooden Shoes, with whom Rowdy had always been a prime favorite, agreed with
+Dutch heartiness. Then, leaving the herd to its new guardian they rode
+swiftly to overtake and turn back the wagons.
+
+"Three hundred miles! And part of it across howling desert!" Rowdy drew his
+brows together. "It's a big thing for me, all right, Pink; but it's sure a
+big contract to take this herd through, if anybody should happen to ask
+yuh."
+
+"Oh, buck up! You'll make good, all right--if only these creeks wasn't so
+bone dry!"
+
+"Well, there's water enough in the Rocking R field for to-day; we'll throw
+'em in there till tomorrow. And I've a notion I can find a better trail
+across to North Fork than the way we came. I'm going to strike out this
+afternoon and see, anyway, if Quitter Creek hasn't got water farther up.
+Once we get up north uh the home ranch, I can see my way clear."
+
+"Go to it, boss," Pink cried heartily. "I don't see how I'm goin t' keep
+from sassing yuh, once in a while, though. That's what bothers me. What'll
+happen if I turn loose on yuh, some time?"
+
+"You'll get fired, I expect," laughed Rowdy, and rode off to announce the
+news to the rest of the outfit, who were very unhappy in their
+mystification.
+
+If their reception of the change of plans and foreman was a bit profane, and
+their manner toward him a bit familiar, Rowdy didn't mind. He knew that they
+did not grudge him his good luck, even while they hated the long drive. He
+also knew that they watched him furtively; for nothing--not even
+misfortune--is as sure a test of a man's character as success. They liked
+Rowdy, and they did not believe this would spoil him; still, every man of
+them was secretly a bit anxious.
+
+On the trail, he rode in his accustomed place, and, so far as appearances
+went, the party had no foreman. He went forward and helped Pink take down
+the fence that had been so carefully put up a few hours before, and he
+whistled while he put it in place again, just as if he had no responsibility
+in the world. Then the cattle were left to themselves, and the men rode down
+to their old campground, marked by empty tin-cans and a trodden place where
+had been the horse corral.
+
+Rowdy swung down and faced the men gravely. Instinctively they stood at
+attention, waiting for what he had to say; they felt that the situation was
+so far out of the ordinary that a few remarks pertaining to their new
+relations would not be out of place.
+
+He looked them over appraisingly, and met glances as grave as his own.
+Straight, capable fellows they were, every man of them.
+
+"Boys," he began impressively, "you all know that from to-day on you're
+working under my orders. I never was boss of anything but the cayuse I
+happened to have under me, and I'm going to extract all the honey there is
+in the situation. Maybe I'll never be boss again--but at present I'm it. I
+want you fellows to remember that important fact, and treat me with proper
+respect. From now on you can call me Mr. Vaughan; 'Rowdy' doesn't go, except
+on a legal holiday.
+
+"Furthermore, I'm not going to get out at daylight and catch up my own
+horse; I'll let yuh take turns being flunky, and I'll expect yuh to saddle
+my horse every morning and noon, and bring him to the cook-tent--and hold my
+stirrup for me. Also, you are expected, at all times and places, to
+anticipate my wants and fall over yourselves waiting on me. "You're just
+common, ordinary, forty-dollar cow-punchers, and if I treat yuh white, it's
+because I pity yuh for not being up where I am. Remember, vassals, that I'm
+your superior, mentally, morally, socially--"
+
+"Chap him!" yelled Pink, and made for him "I'll stand for a lot, but don't
+yuh ever think I'm a vassal!"
+
+"Mutiny is strictly prohibited!" he thundered. "Villains, beware!
+Gadzooks--er--let's have a swim before the wagons come!"
+
+They laughed and made for the creek, feeling rather crestfallen and a bit
+puzzled.
+
+"If I had an outfit like this to run, and a three hundred-mile drive to
+make," Bob Nevin remarked to the Silent One, "blessed if I'd make a josh of
+it! I'd cultivate the corrugated brow and the stiff spine--me!"
+
+"My friend," the Silent One responded, "don't be too hasty in your
+judgment. It's because the corrugated brow will come later that he laughs
+now. You'll presently find yourself accomplishing the impossible in
+obedience to the flicker of Rowdy Vaughan's eyelids. Man, did you never
+observe the set of his head, and the look of his eye? Rowdy Vaughan will get
+more out of this crowd than any man ever did; and if he fails, he'll fail
+with the band playing 'Hot Time.'"
+
+"Maybe so," Bob admitted, not quite convinced; "but I wonder if he realizes
+what he's up against." At which the Silent One only smiled queerly as he
+splashed into the water.
+
+After dinner Rowdy caught up the blue roan, which was his favorite for a
+hard ride--he seemed to have forgotten his speech concerning
+"flunkies"--and rode away up the coulee which had brought them into the
+field the night before. The boys watched him go, speculated a lot, and went
+to sleep as the best way of putting in the afternoon.
+
+Pink, who knew quite well what was in Rowdy's mind, said nothing at all; it
+is possible that he was several degrees more jealous of the dignity of
+Rowdy's position than was Rowdy himself, who had no time to think of
+anything but the best way of getting the herd to Canada. He would like to
+have gone along, only that Rowdy did not ask him to. Pink assured himself
+that it was best for Rowdy not to start playing any favorites, and curled
+down in the bed-tent with the others and went to sleep.
+
+It was late that night when Rowdy crept silently into his corner of the
+tent; but Pink was awake, and whispered to know if he found water. Rowdy's
+"Yes" was a mere breath, but it was enough.
+
+At sunrise the herd trailed up the Rocking R coulee, and Pink and the Silent
+One pointed them north of the old trail.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 12
+
+"You Can Tell Jessie."
+
+In the days that followed Rowdy was much alone. There was water to hunt, far
+ahead of the herd, together with the most practicable way of reaching it. He
+did not take the shortest way across that arid country and leave the next
+day's camping-place to chance--as Wooden Shoes had done. He felt that there
+was too much at stake, and the cattle were too thin for any more dry drives;
+long drives there were, but such was his generalship that there was always
+water at the end.
+
+He rode miles and miles that he might have shirked, and he never slept until
+the next day's move, at least, was clearly defined in his mind and he felt
+sure that he could do no better by going another route.
+
+These lonely rides gave him over to the clutch of thoughts he had never
+before harbored in his sunny nature. Grim, ugly thoughts they were, and not
+nice to remember afterward. They swung persistently around a central
+subject, as the earth revolves around the sun; and, like the earth, they
+turned and turned on the axis of his love for a woman.
+
+In particularly ugly moods he thought that if Harry Conroy were caught and
+convicted of horsestealing, Jessie must perforce admit his guilt and general
+unworthiness--Rowdy called it general cussedness--and Rowdy be vindicated in
+her eyes. Then she would marry him, and go with him to the Red Deer country
+and--air-castles for miles! When he awoke to the argument again, he would
+tell himself savagely that if he could, by any means, bring
+about Conroy's speedy conviction, he would do so."
+
+This was unlike Rowdy, whose generous charity toward his enemies came near
+being a fault. He might feel any amount of resentment for wrong done, but
+cold-blooded revenge was not in him; that he had suffered so much at
+Conroy's hands was due largely to the fact that Conroy was astute enough to
+read Rowdy aright, and unscrupulous enough to take advantage. Add to that a
+smallminded jealousy of Rowdy's popularity and horsemanship, one can easily
+imagine him doing some rather nasty things. Perhaps the meanest, and the one
+which rankled most in Rowdy's memory, was the cutting of Rowdy's latigo just
+before a riding contest, in which the purse and the glory of a
+championship-belt seemed in danger of going to Rowdy.
+
+Rowdy had got a fall that crippled him for weeks, and Harry had won the
+purse and belt--and the enmity of several men better than he. For though
+morally sure of his guilt, no one could prove that he had cut the strap, and
+so he got off unpunished, except that Pink thrashed him--a bit
+unscientifically, it is true, since he resorted to throwing rocks toward the
+last, but with a thoroughness worthy even of Pink.
+
+But in moods less ugly he shrank from the hurt that must be Jessie's if she
+should discover the truth. Jessie's brother a convicted thief serving his
+sentence in Deer Lodge! The thought was horrible; it was brutal cruelty. If
+he could only know where to look for that lad, he'd help him out of the
+country. It was no good shutting him up in jail; that wouldn't help him any,
+or make him better. He hoped he would get off--go somewhere, where they
+couldn't find him, and stay there.
+
+He wondered where he was, and if he had money enough to see him through. He
+might be no good--he sure wasn't!--but he was Jessie's brother, and Jessie
+believed in him and thought a lot of him. It would be hard lines for that
+little girl if Harry were caught. Bill Brown, the meddlesome old freak!--he
+didn't blame Jessie for not wanting to stop there that night. She did just
+the right thing.
+
+With all this going round and round, monotonously persistent in his brain,
+and with the care of four thousand lean kine and more than a hundred
+saddle-horses--to say nothing of a dozen overworked, fretful
+cow-punchers--Rowdy acquired the "corrugated brow" fast enough without any
+cultivation.
+
+The men were as the Silent One had predicted. They made drives that lasted
+far into the night, stood guard, and got along with so little sleep that it
+was scarce worth mention, and did many things that shaved close the
+impossible--just because Rowdy looked at them straightly, with half-closed
+lids, and asked them if they thought they could.
+
+Pink began to speak of their new foreman as "Moses"; and when the curious
+asked him why, told them soberly that Rowdy could "hit a rock with his quirt
+and start a creek running bank full." When Rowdy heard that, he thought of
+the miles of weary searching, and wished that it were true.
+
+They had left the home ranch a day's drive behind them, and were going
+north. Rowdy had denied himself the luxury of riding over to see Jessie, and
+he was repenting the sacrifice in deep gloom and sincerity, when two men
+rode into camp and dismounted, as if they had a right. The taller one--with
+brawn and brain a-plenty, by the look of him--announced that he was the
+sheriff, and would like to stop overnight.
+
+Rowdy gave him welcome half-heartedly, and questioned him craftily. A
+sheriff is not a detective, and does not mind giving harmless information;
+so Rowdy learned that they had traced Conroy thus far, and believed that he
+was ahead of them and making for Canada. He had dodged them cleverly two or
+three times, but now they had reason to believe that he was not more than
+half a day's ride before them. They wanted to know if the outfit had seen
+any one that day, or sign of any one having passed that way.
+
+Rowdy shook his head.
+
+"I bet it was Harry Conroy driving that little bunch uh horses up the creek,
+just as we come over the ridge," spoke Pink eagerly.
+
+Rowdy could have choked him. "He wouldn't be driving a lot of horses," he
+interposed quickly.
+
+"Well, he might," argued Pink. "If I was making a quick get-away, and my
+horse was about played out--like his was apt t' be--I'd sure round up the
+first bunch I seen, and catch me a fresh one--if I was a horse-thief. I'll
+bet yuh--"
+
+The sheriff had put down his cup of coffee. "Is there any place where a man
+could corral a bunch on the quiet?" he asked crisply. It was evident that
+Pink's theory had impressed him.
+
+"Yes, there is. There's an old corral up at the ford--Drowning Ford, they
+call it--that I'd use, if it was me. It was an old line camp, and there's a
+cabin. It's down on the flat by the creek, and it's as God-forsaken a place
+as a man'd want t' hide in, or t' change mounts." Pink hitched up his
+chapbelt and looked across at Rowdy. He was aching for a sight of Harry
+Conroy in handcuffs, and he was certain that Rowdy felt the same. "If it was
+me," he added speculatively, "and I thought I was far enough in the lead,
+I'd stop there till morning."
+
+"How far is it from here?" demanded the sheriff, standing up.
+
+Pink told him he guessed it was five miles. Whereupon the sheriff announced
+his intention of going up there at once, and Pink hinted rather strongly
+that he would like to go with them. The sheriff did not know Pink; he looked
+down at his slimness and at the yellow fringe of curls showing under his hat
+brim, at his pink cheeks and dimples and girlish hands, and threw back his
+head in a loud ha! ha!
+
+Pink asked him politely, but rather stiffly, what there was funny about it.
+The sheriff laughed louder and longer; then, being the sort of man who likes
+a joke now and then, even in the way of business, he solemnly deputized
+Pink, and patted him on the shoulder and told him gravely that they couldn't
+possibly do without him.
+
+It looked for a minute as if Pink were going at him with his fists--but he
+didn't. He reflected that one must not offer violence to an officer of the
+law, and that, being made a deputy, he would have to go, anyway; so he
+gritted his teeth and buckled on his gun, and went along sulkily.
+
+They rode silently, for the most part, and swiftly.
+
+Even in the dusk they could see where a band of horses had been driven at a
+gallop along the creek bank. When they neared the place it was dark. Pink
+pulled up and spoke for the first time since leaving the tent.
+
+"We better tie up our horses here and walk," he said, quite unconscious of
+the fact that he was usurping the leadership, and thinking only of their
+quest.
+
+But the sheriff was old at the business, and not too jealous of his
+position. He signed to his deputy proper, and they dismounted.
+
+When they started on, Pink was ahead. The sheriff observed that Pink's gun
+still swung in its scabbard at his hip, and he grinned--but that was because
+he didn't know Pink. That the gun swung at his hip would have been quite
+enough for any one who did know him; it didn't take Pink all day to get into
+action
+
+Ten rods from the corral, which they could distinguish as a black blotch in
+the sparse willow growth, Pink turned and stopped them. "I know the layout
+here," he whispered. "I'll just sneak ahead and rubber around. You Rubes
+sound like the beginning of a stampede, in this brush."
+
+The sheriff had never before been called a Rube--to his face, at least. The
+audacity took his breath; and when he opened his mouth for scathing speech,
+Pink was not there. He had slipped away, like a slim, elusive shadow, and
+the sheriff did not even know the exact direction of his going. There was
+nothing for it but to wait.
+
+In five minutes Pink appeared with a silent suddenness that startled them
+more than they would like to own.
+
+"He's somewheres around," he announced, in a murmur that would not carry ten
+feet. "He's got a horse in the corral, and, from the sound, he's got him all
+saddled; and the gate's tied shut with a rope."
+
+"How d'yuh know?" grunted the sheriff crossly.
+
+"Felt of it, yuh chump. He's turned the bunch loose and kept up a fresh one,
+like I said he would. It's blame dark, but I could see the horse--a big
+white devil. It's him yuh hear makin' all that racket. If he gits away
+now--"
+
+"Well, we didn't come for a chin-whackin' bee," snapped the sheriff. "I come
+out here t' git him."
+
+Pink gritted his teeth again, and wished the sheriff was just a man, so he
+could lick him. He led them forward without a word, thinking that Rowdy
+wanted Harry Conroy captured.
+
+The sheriff circled warily the corral, peered through the rails at the great
+white horse that ran here and there, whinnying occasionally for the band,
+and heard the creak of leather and the rattle of the bit. Pink was right;
+the horse was saddled, ready for immediate flight.
+
+"Maybe he's in the cabin," he whispered, coming up where Pink stood
+listening tensely at all the little night sounds. Pink turned and crept
+silently to the right, keeping in the deepest shade, while the others
+followed willingly. They were beginning to see the great advantage of having
+Pink along, even if he had called them Rubes.
+
+The cabin door yawned wide open, and creaked weirdly as the light wind moved
+it; the interior was black and silent--suspiciously silent, in the opinion
+of the sheriff. He waited for some time before venturing in, fearing an
+ambush. Then he caught the flicker of a shielded match, called out to Conroy
+to surrender, and leveled his gun at the place.
+
+There was no answer but the faint shuffle of stealthy feet on the board
+floor. The sheriff called another warning, cocked his gun--and came near
+shooting Pink, who walked composedly out of the door into the sheriff's
+astonished face. The sheriff had been sure that Pink was just behind him.
+
+"What the hell " began the sheriff explosively.
+
+"He ain't here," said Pink simply. "I crawled in the window and hunted the
+place over."
+
+The sheriff glared at him dumbly; he could not reconcile Pink's daredevil
+behavior with Pink's innocent, girlish appearance.
+
+"I tell yuh the corral's what we want t' keep cases on," Pink added
+insistently. "He's sure somewheres around--I'd gamble on it. He saddled that
+horse t' git away on. That horse is sure the key t' this situation,
+old-timer. If you fellows'll keep cases on the gate, I'll cover the rear."
+
+He made his way quietly to the back of the corral, inwardly much amused at
+the tractability of the sheriff, who took his deputy obediently to watch the
+gate.
+
+Pink squatted comfortably in the shade of a willow and wished he dared
+indulge in a cigarette, and wondered what scheme Harry was trying to play.
+
+Fifty feet away the big white horse still circled round and round, rattling
+his bridle impatiently and shaking the saddle in an occasional access of
+rage, and whinnying lonesomely out into the gloom.
+
+So they waited and waited, and peered into the shadows, and listened to the
+trampling horse fretting for freedom and his mates.
+
+The cook had just called breakfast when Pink dashed up to the tent, flung
+himself from his horse, and confronted Rowdy--a hollow-eyed, haggard Rowdy
+who had not slept all night, and whose eyes questioned anxiously.
+
+"Well," Rowdy said, with what passed for composure, "did you get him?"
+
+Pink leaned against his horse, with one hand reaching up and gripping
+tightly the horn of the saddle. His cheeks held not a trace of color, and
+his eyes were full of a great horror.
+
+"They're bringin' him t' camp," he answered huskily. "We found a horse--a
+big white horse they call the Fern Outlaw"--the Silent One started and came
+closer, listening intently; evidently he knew the horse--"saddled in the
+corral, and the gate tied shut. We dubbed around a while, but we didn't
+find--Harry. So we camped down by the corral and waited. We set there all
+night--and the horse faunching around inside something fierce. When--it
+come daybreak--I seen something--by the fence, inside. It was--Harry." Pink
+shivered and moistened his dry lips. "That Fern Outlaw--some uh the boys
+know--is a devil t' mount. He'd got Harry down--hell, Rowdy! it--it was
+sure--awful. He'd been there all night--and that horse stomping. "
+
+"Shut up!" Rowdy turned all at once deathly sick. He had once seen a man who
+had been trampled by a maddened, man-killing horse. It had not been a pretty
+sight. He sat down weakly and covered his face with his shaking hands.
+
+The others stood around horrified, muttering disjointed, shocked sentences.
+
+Pink lifted his head from where it had fallen upon his arm. "One thing,
+Rowdy--I done. You can tell Jessie. I shot that horse."
+
+Rowdy dropped his hands and stood up. Yes, he must tell Jessie.
+
+"You'll have to take the herd on," he told Pink in his masterful way. "I'll
+catch you to-morrow some time. I've got to go back and tell Jessie. You know
+the trail I was going to take--straight across to Wild Horse Lake. From
+there you strike across to North Fork--and if I don't overtake you on the
+way, I'll hit camp some time in the night. It's all plain sailing."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 13
+
+Rowdy Finds Happiness.
+
+Miss Conroy was rather listlessly endeavoring to persuade the First Reader
+class that "catch" should not be pronounced "ketch," when she saw Rowdy ride
+past the window. Intuition of something amiss sent her to the door before he
+reached it.
+
+"Can't you give the kids a day off?" he began, without preface. "I've got
+such a lot to talk about--and I don't come very often." He thought that his
+tone was perfectly natural; but all the same she turned white. He rode on to
+a little tree and tied his horse--not that it was necessary to tie him, but
+to avoid questions.
+
+Miss Conroy went in and dismissed the children, although it was only fifteen
+minutes after nine. They gathered up their lunch-pails and straggled out
+reluctantly, round-eyed, and curious. Rowdy waited until the last one had
+gone before he went in. Miss Conroy sat in her chair on the platform, and
+she was still white; otherwise she seemed to have herself well in hand.
+
+"It's about Harry," she asserted, rather sharply.
+
+"Have they--caught him?"
+
+Rowdy stopped half-way down the aisle and stared. "How did you know they
+were--after him?"
+
+"He came to me night before last, and--told me." She bit her lip, took firm
+hold on her honesty and her courage, and went on steadily. "He came because
+he--wanted money. I've wanted to see you since, to tell you that--I
+misjudged you. I know all about your--trouble, and I want you to know that I
+think you are--that you did quite right. You are to understand that I cannot
+honestly uphold--Harry. He is--not the kind of brother--I thought."
+
+Rowdy went clanking forward till only the table stood between. "Did he tell
+you?" he demanded, in a curious, breathless fashion.
+
+"No, he did not. He denied everything. It was Pink. He told me long
+ago--that evening, just after you--the last time I saw you. I told him
+he--lied. I tried not to believe it, but I did. Pink knew I would; he said
+so. The other night I asked Harry about--those things he did to you. He lied
+to me. I'd have forgiven him--but he lied. I--can't forgive that. I--"
+
+"Hush!" Rowdy threw out a gloved hand quickly. He could not bear to let her
+go on like that.
+
+She looked up at him, and all at once she was shaking. "There's
+something--tell me!"
+
+"They didn't take him," he said slowly, weighing each word and looking down
+at her pityingly "They never will. He--had an accident. A horse--fell with
+him--and--he was dead when they picked him up." It was as merciful a version
+as he could make it, but the words choked him, even then. "Girlie!" He went
+around and knelt, with his arms holding her close.
+
+After a long while he spoke again, smoothing her hair absently, and never
+noticing that he had not taken off his gloves. His gray hat was pushed
+aslant as his head rested against hers.
+
+"Perhaps, girlie, it's for the best. We couldn't have saved him from--the
+other; and that would have been worse, don't you think? We'll forget all but
+the good in him"--he could not help thinking that there would not be much to
+remember--"and I'll get a little home ready, and come back and get you
+before snow flies--and--you'll be kind of happy, won't you?
+
+"Maybe you haven't heard--but Eagle Creek has made me foreman of his outfit
+that's going to Canada. It's a good position. I can make you comfortable,
+girlie--and happy. Anyway, I'll try, mighty hard. You'll be ready for me
+when I come--won't you, girlie?"
+
+Miss Conroy raised her face, all tear-stained, but, with the light of
+happiness fighting the sorrow in her eyes, nodded just enough to make the
+movement perceptible, and settled her head to a more comfortable
+nestling-place on his shoulder.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of The Project Gutenberg Etext Rowdy of the Cross L, by B. M. Bower
+
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