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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Orphan, by Clarence E. Mulford
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Orphan
+
+Author: Clarence E. Mulford
+
+Illustrator: Allen True
+
+Release Date: July 1, 2010 [EBook #33039]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ORPHAN ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Roger Frank and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at http://www.fadedpage.net
+
+
+
+
+
+THE ORPHAN
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: "She unfastened the gold breast-pin which she wore at her
+throat and pinned the bandage into place." (_See page 95._)]
+
+
+
+
+THE ORPHAN
+
+By Clarence E. Mulford
+
+Author of "Bar-20"
+
+With Four Illustrations in Colors
+
+By ALLEN TRUE
+
+A. L. BURT COMPANY
+
+PUBLISHERS NEW YORK
+
+
+
+
+Copyright, 1908, by
+
+THE OUTING PUBLISHING COMPANY
+
+Entered at Stationer's Hall, London, England
+
+All Rights Reserved
+
+THE ORPHAN
+
+
+
+
+AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED TO
+
+MY MOTHER
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+        I THE SHERIFF RIDES TO WAR                               3
+       II CONCERNING AN ARROW                                   14
+      III THE SHERIFF FINDS THE ORPHAN                          33
+       IV THE SECOND OFFENSE                                    45
+        V BILL JUSTIFIES HIS CREATION                           60
+       VI THE ORPHAN OBEYS AN IMPULSE                           80
+      VII THE OUTFIT HUNTS FOR STRAYS                          104
+     VIII "A TIMBER WOLF IN HIS OWN COUNTRY"                   125
+       IX THE CROSS BAR-8 LOSES SLEEP                          131
+        X THE ORPHAN PAYS TWO CALLS                            147
+       XI A VOICE FROM THE GALLERY                             173
+      XII A NEW DEAL ALL AROUND                                193
+     XIII THE STAR C GIVES WELCOME                             210
+      XIV THE SHERIFF STATES SOME FACTS                        240
+       XV AN UNDERSTANDING                                     266
+      XVI THE FLYING-MARE                                      284
+     XVII THE FEAST                                            299
+    XVIII PREPARATION                                          325
+      XIX THE ORPHAN GOES TO THE A-Y                           340
+       XX BILL ATTENDS THE PICNIC                              352
+      XXI THE ANNOUNCEMENT                                     368
+     XXII TEX WILLIARD'S MISTAKE                               375
+    XXIII THE GREAT HAPPINESS                                  392
+
+
+
+
+ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+  "She unfastened the gold breast-pin which she
+  wore at her throat and pinned the bandage into
+  place"                                              _Frontispiece_
+  "'The less you count the longer you'll live!'
+  said Shields"                                                192
+  The Orphan gives Blake Shields' note                         214
+  "The Orphan stepped back a pace and dropped the
+  Colt into its holster"                                       390
+
+
+
+
+THE ORPHAN
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+THE SHERIFF RIDES TO WAR
+
+
+Many men swore that The Orphan was bad, and many swore profanely and with
+wonderful command of epithets because he was bad, but for obvious reasons
+that was as far as the majority went to show their displeasure. Those of
+the minority who had gone farther and who had shown their hatred by rash
+actions only proved their foolishness; for they had indeed gone far and
+would return no more.
+
+Tradition had it that The Orphan was a mongrel, a half-breed, asserting
+that his mother had been a Sioux with negro blood in her veins. It also
+asserted that his father had been nominated and unanimously elected, by a
+posse, to an elevated position under a tree; and further, that The Orphan
+himself had been born during a cloudburst at midnight on the thirteenth
+of the month. The latter was from the Mexicans, who found great delight in
+making such terrifying combinations of ill luck.
+
+But tradition was strongly questioned as to his mother, for how could
+the son of such a mother be possessed of the dare-devil courage and grit
+which had made his name a synonym of terror? This contention was well
+stated and is borne out, for it can be authoritatively said that the
+mother of The Orphan was white, and had neither Indian nor negro blood
+in her veins, but on the contrary came from a family of gentlefolk.
+Thus I start aright by refuting slander. The Orphan was white, his
+profanity blue, and his anger red, and having started aright, I will
+continue with the events which led to the discovery of his innate better
+qualities and their final ascendency over the savagely hard nature
+which circumstances had bred in him. These events began on the day
+when James Shields, for reasons hereinafter set forth, became actively
+interested in his career.
+
+Shields, by common consent Keeper of the Law over a territory as large as
+the State of New Jersey and whom out of courtesy I will call sheriff,
+was no coward, and neither was he a fool; and when word came to him
+that The Orphan had made a mess of two sheep herders near the U Bend of
+the Limping Water Creek, he did not forthwith pace the street and
+inform the citizens of Ford's Station that he was about to start on a
+journey which had for its object the congratulation of The Orphan at
+long range. Upon occasions his taciturnity became oppressive, especially
+when grave dangers or tense situations demanded concentration of thought.
+The more he thought the less he talked, the one notable exception
+being when stirred to righteous anger by personal insults, in which case
+his words flowed smoothly along one channel while his thoughts gripped a
+single idea. To his acquaintances he varied as the mood directed, often
+saying practically nothing for hours, and at other times discoursing
+volubly. One thing, a word of his, had become proverbial--when Shields
+said "Hell!" he was in no mood for pleasantries, and the third repetition
+of the word meant red, red anger. He was a man of strong personality,
+who loved his friends in staunch, unswerving loyalty; and he tolerated
+his enemies until the last ditch had been reached.
+
+He, like The Orphan, was essentially a humorist in the finest definition
+of the term, inasmuch as he could find humor in the worst possible
+situations. He was even now forcibly struck with the humor of his
+contemplated ride, for The Orphan would be so very much surprised to see
+him. He could picture the expression of weary toleration which would
+grace the outlaw's face over the sights, and he chuckled inwardly as
+he thought of how The Orphan would swear. He did his shooting as an
+unavoidable duty, a business, a stern necessity; and he took great
+delight in its accuracy. When he shot at a man he did it with becoming
+gravity, but nevertheless he radiated pride and cheerfulness when he hit
+the man's nose or eye or Adam's apple at a hundred yards. All the time
+he knew that the man ought to die, that it was a case of necessity, and
+this explains why he was so pleased about the eye or nose or Adam's apple.
+
+With The Orphan popular opinion said it was far different; that his humor
+was ghastly, malevolent, murderous; that he shot to kill with the
+same gravity, but that it was that of icy determination, chilling
+ferocity. He was said to be methodical in the taking of innocent life,
+even more accurate than the sheriff, wily and shrewd as the leader of
+a wolf-pack, and equally relentless. The Orphan was looked upon as an
+abnormal development of the idea of destruction; the sheriff, a corrective
+force, and almost as strong as the evil he would endeavor to overcome.
+The two came as near to the scientists' little joke of the irresistible
+force meeting the immovable body as can be found in human agents.
+
+So Shields, upon hearing of The Orphan's latest manifestation of humor,
+appreciated the joke to the fullest extent and made up his mind to play
+a similar one on the frisky outlaw. He could not help but sympathize
+with The Orphan, because every man knew what pests the sheepmen were,
+and Shields, at one time a cowman, was naturally prejudiced against
+sheep. He was exceedingly weary of having to guard herds of bleating
+grass-shavers which so often passed across his domain, and he regarded
+the sheep-raising industry as an unnecessary evil which should by all
+rights be deported. But he could not excuse The Orphan's crude and savage
+idea of deportation. The sheriff was really kind-hearted, and he became
+angry when he thought of the outlaw driving two thousand sheep over
+the steep bank of the Limping Water to a pitiful death by drowning; The
+Orphan should have been satisfied in messing up the anatomy of the
+herders. He did not like a glutton, and he would tell the outlaw so
+in his own way.
+
+He walked briskly through his yard and called to his wife as he passed
+the house, telling her that he was going to be gone for an indefinite
+period, not revealing the object of his journey, as he did not wish
+to worry her. Accustomed as she was to have him face danger, she had a
+loving wife's fear for his safety, and lost many hours' sleep while he
+was away. He took his rifle from where it leaned against the porch and
+continued on his way to the small corral in the rear of the yard, where
+two horses whisked flies and sought the shade. Leading one of them
+outside, he deftly slung a saddle to its back, secured the cinches
+and put on a light bridle. Dropping the Winchester into its saddle
+holster, he mounted and fought the animal for a few minutes just as he
+always had to fight it. He spun the cylinders of his .45 Colts and ran his
+fingers along the under side of his belt for assurance as to ammunition.
+Seeing that the black leather case which was slung from the pommel of
+the saddle contained his field glass and that his canteen was full of
+water, he rode to the back door of his house, where his wife gave him
+a bag of food. Promising her that he would take good care of himself
+and to return as speedily as possible, he cantered through the gate
+and down the street toward the "Oasis," the door of which was always open.
+Two dogs were stretched out in the doorway, lazily snapping at flies.
+As the sheriff drew rein he heard snores which wheezed from the barroom.
+
+"Say, Dan!" he cried loudly. "Dan!"
+
+"Shout it out, Sheriff," came the response from within the darkened room,
+and the bartender appeared at the door.
+
+"If anybody wants me, they may find me at Brent's; I'm going out that
+way," the sheriff said, as he loosened the reins. "Bite, d------n you,"
+he growled at his horse.
+
+"All right, Jim," sleepily replied the bartender, watching the peace
+officer as he cantered briskly down the street. He yawned, stretched
+and returned to his chair, there to doze lightly as long as he might.
+
+Shields usually left word at the Oasis as to where he might be found in
+case he should be badly needed, but in this instance he had left word
+where he could not be found if needed. He cantered out of the town over
+the trail which led to Brent's ranch and held to it until he had put
+great enough distance behind to assure him that he was out of sight of any
+curious citizen of Ford's Station. Then he wheeled abruptly as he reached
+the bottom of an arroyo and swung sharply to the northeast at a right
+angle to his former course and pushed his mount at a lope around the
+chaparrals and cacti, all the time riding more to the east and in the
+direction of the U Bend of the Limping Water. He frowned slightly and
+grumbled as he estimated that The Orphan would have nearly three hours'
+start of him by the time he reached his objective, which meant a long
+chase in the pursuit of such a man.
+
+To a tenderfoot the heat would have been very oppressive, even dangerous,
+but the sheriff thought it an ideal temperature for hunting. He smiled
+pleasantly at his surroundings and was pleased by the playful vim of
+his belligerent pinto, whose actions were not in the least intended to
+be playful. When the animal suddenly turned its head and nipped hard and
+quick at the sheriff's legs, getting a mouthful of nasty leather and
+seasoned ash for its reward, he gleefully kicked the pony in the eye
+when it let go, and then rowelled a streak of perforations in its ugly
+hide with his spurs as an encouragement. The ensuing bucking was joy
+to his heart, and he feared that he might eventually grow to like the
+animal.
+
+When he arrived at the U Bend he put in half an hour burying the human
+butts of The Orphan's joke, for the perpetrator liked to leave his
+trophies where they could be seen and appreciated. Shields looked sadly
+at the dead sheep, said "Hell" twice and forded the stream, picked up the
+outlaw's trail on the further side and cantered along it. The trail
+was very plain to him, straight as a chalk line, and it led toward
+the northeast, which suited the sheriff, because there was a goodly
+sized water hole twenty miles further on in that direction. Perhaps he
+would find The Orphan fortified there, for it would be just like that
+person to monopolize the only drinking water within twenty miles and
+force his humorous adversary to either take the hole or go back to the
+Limping Water for a drink. Anyway, The Orphan would get awfully soiled
+wallowing about in the mud and water, and he would not hurt the water
+much unless he lacked the decency to bleed on the bank. Having decided
+to take the hole in preference to riding back to the creek, the sheriff
+immediately dismissed that phase of the game from his mind and fell to
+musing about the rumors which had persistently reiterated that the
+Apaches were out.
+
+Practical joking with The Orphan and interfering with the traveling of
+Apache war parties were much the same in results, so the sheriff made
+up his mind to attend to the lesser matter, if need be, after he had
+quieted the man he was following. Everybody knew that Apaches were very
+bad, but that The Orphan was worse; and, besides, the latter would be
+laughing derisively about that matter concerning a drink. The sheriff
+grinned and rode happily forward, taking pains, however, to circle
+around all chaparrals and covers of every nature, for he did not know but
+that his playful enemy might have tired of riding before the water
+hole had been reached and decided to camp out under cover. While the
+sheriff was unafraid, he had befitting respect for the quality of The
+Orphan's marksmanship, which was reputed as being above reproach; and he
+was not expected to determine offhand whether the outlaw was above lying
+in ambush. So he used his field glass constantly in sweeping covers and
+rode forward toward the water hole.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+CONCERNING AN ARROW
+
+
+The bleak foreground of gray soil, covered with drifts of alkali and
+sand, was studded with clumps of mesquite and cacti and occasional tufts
+of sun-burned grass, dusty and somber, while a few sagebrush blended their
+leaves to the predominating color. Back of this was a near horizon to the
+north and east, brought near by the skyline of a low, undulating range
+of sand hills rising from the desert to meet a faded sky. The morning
+glow brought this skyline into sharp definition as the dividing line
+between the darkness of the plain in the shadow of the range and the fast
+increasing morning light. To the south and west the plain blended into
+the sky, and there was no horizon.
+
+Two trails met and crossed near a sand-buffeted bowlder of lava stone,
+which was huge, grotesque and forbidding in its bulky indistinctness.
+The first of the trails ran north and south and was faint but plainly
+discernible, being beaten a trifle below the level of the desert and
+forming a depression which the winds alternately filled and emptied of
+dust; and its arrow-like directness, swerving neither to the right nor
+left, bespoke of the haste which urged the unfortunate traveler to
+have done with it as speedily as possible, since there was nothing
+alluring along its heat-cursed course to bid him tarry in his riding.
+There was yet another reason for haste, for the water holes were over
+fifty miles apart, and in that country water holes were more or less
+uncertain and doubtful as to being free from mineral poisons. On the
+occasions when the Apaches awoke to find that many of their young men
+were missing, and a proved warrior or two, this trail become weighted
+with possibilities, for this desert was the playground of war parties, an
+unlimited ante-room for the preliminaries to predatory pilgrimages; and
+the northern trail then partook of the nature of a huge wire over which
+played an alternating current, the potentials of which were the ranges
+at one end and the savagery and war spirit of the painted tribes at the
+other: and the voltage was frequently deadly.
+
+The other trail, crossing the first at right angles, led eastward to the
+fertile valleys of the Canadian and the Cimarron; westward it spread out
+like the sticks of a fan to anywhere and nowhere, gradually resolving
+itself into the fainter and still more faint individual paths which
+fed it as single strands feed a rope. It lacked the directness of its
+intersector because of the impenetrable chaparrals which forced it to
+wander hither and yon. Neither was it as plain to the eye, for preference,
+except in cases of urgent necessity, foreswore its saving of miles and
+journeyed by the more circuitous southern trail which wound beneath
+cottonwoods and mottes of live oak and frequently dipped beneath the
+waters of sluggish streams, the banks of which were fringed with willows.
+
+As a lean coyote loped past the point of intersection a moving object
+suddenly topped the skyline of the southern end of the sandhills to the
+east and sprang into sharp silhouette, paused for an instant on the edge
+of the range and then, plunging down into the shadows at its base, rode
+rapidly toward the bowlder.
+
+He was an Apache, and was magnificent in his proportions and the easy
+erectness of his poise. He glanced sharply about him, letting his gaze
+finally settle on the southern trail and then, leaning over, he placed an
+object on the highest point of the rock. Wheeling abruptly, he galloped
+back over his trail, the rising wind setting diligently at work to cover
+the hoofprints of his pony. He had no sooner dropped from sight over the
+hills than another figure began to be defined in the dim light, this time
+from the north.
+
+The newcomer rode at an easy canter and found small pleasure in the cloud
+of alkali dust which the wind kept at pace with him. His hat, the first
+visible sign of his calling, proclaimed him to be a cowboy, and when
+he had stopped at the bowlder his every possession endorsed the silent
+testimony of the hat.
+
+He was bronzed and self-reliant, some reason for the latter being
+suggested by the long-barreled rifle which swung from his right saddle
+skirt and the pair of Colt's which lay along his thighs. He wore the
+usual blue flannel shirt, open at the throat, the regular silk kerchief
+about his neck, and the indispensable chaps, which were of angora
+goatskin. His boots were tight fitting, with high heels, and huge
+brass spurs projected therefrom. A forty-foot coil of rawhide hung from
+the pommel of his "rocking-chair" saddle and a slicker was strapped
+behind the cantle.
+
+He glanced behind him as he drew rein, wondering when the sheriff would
+show himself, for he was being followed, of that he was certain. That was
+why he had ridden through so many chaparrals and doubled on his trail.
+He was now riding to describe a circle, the object being to get behind
+his pursuer and to do some hunting on his own account. As he started to
+continue on his way his quick eyes espied something on the bowlder
+which made him suddenly draw rein again. Glancing to the ground he saw
+the tracks made by the Apache, and he peered intently along the eastern
+trail with his hand shading his eyes. The eyes were of a grayish blue,
+hard and steely and cruel. They were calculating eyes, and never missed
+anything worth seeing. The fierce glare of the semi-tropical sun which for
+many years had daily assaulted them made it imperative that he squint
+from half-closed lids, and had given his face a malevolent look. And the
+characteristics promised by the eyes were endorsed by his jaw, which was
+square and firm set, underlying thin, straight lips. But about his
+lips were graven lines so cynical and yet so humorous as to baffle an
+observer.
+
+Raising his canteen to his lips he counted seven swallows and then,
+letting it fall to his side, he picked up the object which had made
+him pause. There was no surprise in his face, for he never was surprised
+at anything.
+
+As he looked at the object he remembered the rumors of the Apache war
+dances and of fast-riding, paint-bedaubed "hunting parties." What had been
+rumor he now knew to be a fact, and his face became even more cruel as
+he realized that he was playing tag with the sheriff in the very heart
+of the Apache playground, where death might lurk in any of the thorny
+covers which surrounded him on all sides.
+
+"Apache war arrow," he grunted. "Now it shore beats the devil that me and
+the sheriff can't have a free rein to settle up our accounts. Somebody is
+always sticking their nose in my business," he grumbled. Then he frowned
+at the arrow in his hand. "That red on the head is blood," he murmured,
+noticing the salient points of the weapon, "and that yellow hair means
+good scalping. The thong of leather spells plunder, and it was pointing
+to the east. The buck that brought it went back again, so this is to
+show his friends which way to ride. He was in a hurry, too, judging from
+the way he threw sand, and from them toe-prints."
+
+He hated Apaches vindictively, malevolently, with a single purpose and
+instinct, because of a little score he owed them. Once when he had managed
+to rustle together a big herd of horses and was within a day's ride of a
+ready market, a party of Apaches had ridden up in the night and made off
+with not only the stolen animals, but also with his own horse. This had
+lost him a neat sum and had forced him to carry a forty-pound saddle, a
+bridle and a rifle for two days under a merciless sun before he reached
+civilization. He did not thank them for not killing him, which they for
+some reason neglected to do. Apache stock was down very low with him, and
+he now had an opportunity to even the score. Then he thought of the
+sheriff, and swore. Finally he decided that he would just shoot that
+worthy as soon as he came within range, and so be free to play his lone
+hand against the race that had stolen his horses. His eyes twinkled
+at the game he was about to play, and he regarded the silent message and
+guide with a smile.
+
+"If it's all the same to you, I'll just polish you up a bit"--and when
+he replaced it on the bowlder its former owner would not have known
+it to be the same weapon, for its head was not red, but as bright as
+the friction of a handful of sand could make it. This destroyed its
+message of plentiful slaughter and, he knew, would grieve his enemies.
+He touched it gently with his hand and it swung at right angles to its
+former position and now pointed northward and in the direction from which
+he expected the sheriff.
+
+"It was d----d nice of that Apache leaving me this, but I reckon I'll
+switch them reinforcements--the sheriff will be some pleased to meet
+them," he said, grinning at the novelty of the situation. "Nobody
+will even suspect how a lone puncher"--for he regarded himself as a
+cowman--"squaring up a couple of scores went and saved the eastern
+valleys from more devilment. If the war-whoops are out along the Cimarron
+and Canadian they are shore havin' fun enough to give me a little. But
+I would like to see the sheriff's face when he bumps into the little
+party I'm sending his way. Wonder how many he will get before he goes
+under?"
+
+Then he again took up the arrow and carefully removed the hair and thong
+of leather, chuckling at the tale of woe the denuded weapon would tell,
+after which he placed it as before, wishing he knew how to indicate that
+the Apaches had been wiped out.
+
+He rode to a chaparral which lay three hundred yards to the southeast of
+him and thence around it to the far side, where he dismounted and fastened
+his horse to the empty air by simply allowing the reins to hang down in
+front of the animal's eyes. The pony knew many things about ropes and
+straps, and what it knew it knew well; nothing short of dynamite would
+have moved it while the reins dangled before its eyes.
+
+Its master slowly returned to the bowlder, where he set to work to cover
+his tracks with dust, for although the shifting sand was doing this for
+him, it was not doing it fast enough to suit him. When he had assured
+himself that he had performed his task in a thoroughly workmanlike manner
+he returned to his horse, and finally found a snug place of concealment
+for it and himself. First bandaging its eyes so that it would not whinny
+at the approach of other horses, he searched his pockets and finally
+brought to light a pack of greasy playing cards, with which he amused
+himself at solitaire, diligently keeping his eyes on both ends of the
+heavier trail.
+
+His intermittent scrutiny was finally rewarded by a cloud of dust which
+steadily grew larger on the southern horizon and soon revealed the
+character of the riders who made it. As they drew nearer to him his
+implacable hatred caused him to pick up his rifle, but he let it slide
+from him as he counted the number of the approaching party, before
+which was being driven a herd of horses which were intended to be placed
+as relays for the main force.
+
+"Two, five, eight, eleven, sixteen, twenty, twenty-four, twenty-seven,"
+he muttered, carefully settling himself more comfortably. He could
+distinguish the war paint on the reddish-brown colored bodies, and he
+smiled at what was in store for them.
+
+"I reckon I won't get gay with no twenty-seven Apaches," he muttered. "I
+can wait, all right."
+
+Upon reaching the rock the leaders of the band glanced at the arrow,
+excitedly exchanged monosyllables and set off to the north at a hard
+gallop, being followed by the others. As he expected, they were Apaches,
+which meant that of all red raiders they were the most proficient. They
+were human hyenas with rare intelligence for war and a most aggravating
+way of not being where one would expect them to be, as army officers will
+testify. Besides, an Apache war party did not appear to have stomachs,
+and so traveled faster and farther than the cavalry which so often
+pursued them.
+
+The watcher chuckled softly at the success of his stratagem and, suddenly
+arising, went carefully around the chaparral until he could see the
+fast-vanishing braves. Waiting until they had disappeared over the
+northern end of the crescent-shaped range of hills, he hurried to the
+bowlder and again picked up the arrow.
+
+"Huh! Didn't take it with them, eh?" he soliloquized. "Well, that
+means that there's more coming, so I'll just send the next batch plumb
+west--they'll be some pleased to explore this God-forsaken desert some
+extensive."
+
+Grinning joyously, he replaced the weapon with its head pointing westward
+and then looked anxiously at the tracks of the party which had just
+passed. Deciding that the wind would effectually cover them in an hour
+at most, he returned to his hiding place, taking care to cover his own
+tracks. Taking a chance on the second contingent going north was all
+right, but he didn't care to run the risk of having them ride to him for
+explanations. Picking up the cards again he shuffled them and suffered
+defeat after defeat, and finally announced his displeasure at the luck
+he was having.
+
+"I never saw nothing like it!" he grumbled petulantly. "Reckon I'll
+hit up the Old Thirteen a few," beginning a new game. He had whiled
+away an hour and a half, and as he stretched himself his uneasy eyes
+discovered another cloud on the southern horizon, which was smaller than
+the first. He placed the six of hearts on the five of hearts, ruffled
+the pack and then put the cards down and took up his rifle, watching the
+cloud closely. He was soon able to count seven warriors who were driving
+another "cavvieyeh" of horses.
+
+"Huh! Only seven!" he grunted, shifting his rifle for action. The fighting
+lust swept over him, but he choked it down and idly fingered the hammer of
+the gun. "Nope, I reckon not--seven husky Apaches are too much for one
+man to go out of his way to fight. Now, if the sheriff was only with me,"
+and he grinned at the humor of it, "we might cut loose and heave lead.
+But since he ain't, this is where I don't chip in--I'll wait a while,
+for they'll shore come back."
+
+The seven warriors went through almost the same actions which their
+predecessors had gone through and great excitement prevailed among them.
+The leaders pointed to the very faint tracks which led northward and
+debated vehemently. But the two small stones which held the arrow securely
+in its position against the possibility of the wind shifting it could
+not be doubted, and after a few minutes had passed they rode as bidden,
+leaving one of their number on guard at the bowlder. Soon the other
+six were lost to sight among the chaparrals to the west and the guard sat
+stolidly under the blazing sun.
+
+The dispatcher noted the position of a shadow thrown on the sand by a
+cactus and laughed silently as he fingered his rifle. He could not think
+out the game. Try as he would, he could find no really good excuse for
+the placing of the guard, although many presented themselves, to be
+finally cast aside. But the fact was enough, and when the moving shadow
+gave assurance that nearly an hour had passed since the departure of
+the guard's companions, the man with the grudge cautiously arose on one
+knee.
+
+After examining the contents of his rifle, he brought it slowly to
+his shoulder. A quick, calculating glance told him that the range was
+slightly over three hundred yards, and he altered the elevation of the
+rear sights accordingly. After a pause, during which he gauged the
+strength and velocity of the northern wind, he dropped his cheek against
+the walnut stock of the weapon. The echoless report rang out flatly
+and a sudden gust of hot wind whipped the ragged, gray smoke cloud into
+the chaparral, where it lay close to the ground and spread out like a
+miniature fog. As the smoke cleared away a second cartridge, inserted
+deftly and quickly, sent another cloud of smoke into the chaparral
+and the marksman arose to his feet, mechanically reloading his gun. The
+second shot was for the guard's horse, for it would be unnecessarily
+perilous to risk its rejoining the departed braves, which it very probably
+would do if allowed to escape.
+
+Dropping his rifle into the hollow of his arm he walked swiftly toward
+the fallen Indian, hoping that there would be no more war parties, for
+he had now made signs which the most stupid Apache could not fail to note
+and understand. The dead guard could be hidden, and by the use of his own
+horse and rope he could drag the carcass of the animal into the chaparral
+and out of sight. But the trail which would be left in the loose sand
+would be too deep and wide to be covered. He had crossed the Rubicon, and
+must stand or fall by the step.
+
+The Indian had fallen forward against the bowlder and had slid down its
+side, landing on his head and shoulders, in which grotesque position the
+rock supported him. One glance assured the "cowman" that his aim had
+been good, and another told him that he had to fear the arrival of no
+more war parties, for the arrow was gone. He was not satisfied, however,
+until he had made a good search for it, thinking that it might have
+been displaced by the fall of the Apache. He lifted the body of the
+dead warrior in his arms and flung it across the apex of the bowlder,
+face up and balanced nicely, the head pointing to the north. Then he
+looked for the arrow on the sand where the body had rested, but it was
+not to be found. A sardonic grin flitted across his face as he secured
+the weapons of the late guard, which were a heavy Colt's revolver and a
+late pattern Winchester repeater. Taking the cartridges from his body, he
+stood up triumphant. He now had what he needed to meet the smaller body
+of Indians on their return, ten shots in one rifle and a spare Colt's.
+
+"One for my cavvieyeh!" he muttered savagely as he thought of the loss of
+his horse herd. "There'll be more, too, before I get through, or my
+name's not"-- he paused abruptly, hearing hoofbeats made by a galloping
+horse over a stretch of hard soil which lay to the east of him. Leaping
+quickly behind the bowlder, he leveled his own rifle across the body of
+the guard and peered intently toward the east, wondering if the advancing
+horseman would be the sheriff or another Apache. The hoofbeats came
+rapidly nearer and another courier turned the corner of the chaparral
+and went no further. Again a second shot took care of the horse and the
+marksman strode to his second victim, from whose body and horse he took
+another Winchester and Colt.
+
+"Now I am in for it!" he muttered as he looked down at the warrior. "This
+is shore getting warm and it'll be a d----n sight warmer if his friends
+get anxious about him and hunt him up."
+
+Glancing around the horizon and seeing no signs of an interruption, he
+slung the body across his shoulders and staggered with it to the bowlder,
+where he heaved and pushed it across the body of the first Apache.
+
+"Might as well make a good showing and make them mad, for I can't very
+well hide you and the cayuses--I ain't no graveyard," he said, stepping
+back to look at his work. He felt no remorse, for that was a sensation
+not yet awakened in his consciousness. He was elated at his success,
+joyous in catering to his love for fighting, for he would rather die
+fighting than live the round of years heavily monotonous with peace,
+and his only regret was having won by ambush. But in this, he told
+himself, there was need, for his hatred ordered him to kill as many as
+he could, and in any way possible. Knowing that he was, single-handed,
+attempting to outwit wily chiefs and that he had before him a carnival of
+fighting, he would not have hesitated to make use of traps if they were
+at hand and could be used. Perhaps it was old Geronimo whose plans he
+was defeating and, if so, no precautions nor means were unjustifiable and
+too mean to make use of, for Geronimo was half-brother to the devil and a
+genius for warfare and slaughter, with a ferocity and cruelty cold-blooded
+and consummate.
+
+He had yet time to escape from his perilous position and meet the sheriff,
+if that worthy had eluded the first war party. But his elation had the
+upper hand and his brute courage was now blind to caution. He savagely
+decided that his matter with the sheriff could wait and that he would
+take care of the war parties first, since there was more honor in fighting
+against odds. The two Winchesters and his own Sharps, not to consider
+the four Colt's, gave him many shots without having to waste time in
+reloading, and he drew assurance from the past that he placed his shots
+quickly and with precision. He could put up a magnificent fight in the
+chaparral, shifting his position after each shot, and he could hug the
+ground where the trunks of the vegetation were thickest and would prove
+an effective barrier against random shots. His wits were keen, his legs
+nimble, his eyesight and accuracy above doubt, and he had no cause to
+believe that his strategy was inferior to that of his foes. There would be
+no moon for two nights, and he could escape in the darkness if hunger
+and thirst should drive him out. Here he had struck, and here he would
+strike again and again, and, if he fell, he would leave behind him such
+a tale of fighting as had seldom been known before; and it pleased his
+vanity to think of the amazement the story would call forth as it was
+recounted around the campfires and across the bars of a country larger
+than Europe. He did not realize that such a tale would die if he died and
+would never be known. His was the joy of a master of the game, a virile,
+fearless fighting machine, a man who had never failed in the playing of
+the many hands he had held in desperate games with death. He was not
+going to die; he was going to win and leave dying for others.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+THE SHERIFF FINDS THE ORPHAN
+
+
+The day dragged wearily along for the man in the chaparral, and when the
+sun showed that it was still two hours from the meridian he leaped to
+his feet, rifle in hand, and peered intently to the west, where he
+had seen a fast-riding horseman flit between two chaparrals which stood
+far down on the western end of the Cimarron Trail. Without pausing, he
+made his way out of cover and ran rapidly along the edge of the thicket
+until he had gained its northwestern extremity, where he plunged into
+it, unmindful of the cuts and slashes from the interlocked thorns.
+Using the rifle as a club, he hammered and pushed until he was screened
+from the view of anyone passing along the trail, but where he could
+see all who approached. As he turned and faced the west he saw the
+horseman suddenly emerge from the shelter of the last chaparral in his
+course and ride straight for the intersection of the trails, his horse
+flattened to the earth by the speed it was making. Waiting until the
+rider was within fifty yards of him, he pushed his way out to the trail,
+the rifle leaping to his shoulder as he stepped into the open. The
+newcomer was looking back at half a dozen Apaches who had burst into view
+by the chaparral he had just quitted, and when he turned he was stopped
+by a hail and the sight of an unwavering rifle held by the man on foot.
+
+"A truce!" shouted The Orphan from behind the sights, having an idea and
+wishing to share it.
+
+"Hell, yes!" cried the astonished sheriff in reply, slowing down and
+mechanically following the already running outlaw to the place where
+the latter had spent the last few hours.
+
+By keeping close to the edge of the chaparral, which receded from the
+trail, The Orphan had not been seen by the Apaches, and as he turned into
+his hiding place a yell reached his ears. His trophies on the bowlder
+were not to be unmourned.
+
+As he wormed his way into the thicket, closely followed by the sheriff,
+he tersely explained the situation, and Shields, feeling somewhat under
+obligation to the man who had refrained from killing him, nodded and
+smiled in good nature. The sheriff thought it was a fine joke and
+enthusiastically slapped his enemy on the back to show his appreciation,
+for the time forgetting that they very probably would try to kill each
+other later on, after the Apaches had been taken care of.
+
+As they reached a point which gave them a clear view of the bowlder, The
+Orphan kicked his companion on the shin, pointing to the Apaches grouped
+around their dead.
+
+"It's a little over three hundred, Sheriff," he said. "You shoot first and
+I'll follow you, so they'll think you shot twice--there's no use letting
+them think that there's two of us, that is, not yet."
+
+"Good idea," replied the sheriff, nodding and throwing his rifle to
+his shoulder. "Right end for me," he said, calling his shot so as to be
+sure that the same brave would not receive all the attention. As he fired
+his companion covered the second warrior, using one of his captured
+Winchesters, and a second later the rifle spun flame. Both warriors
+dropped and the remaining four hastily postponed their mourning and
+tumbled helter skelter behind the bowlder, the sheriff's second shot
+becoming a part of the last one to find cover.
+
+"Fine!" exulted the sheriff, delighted at the score. "Best game I ever
+took a hand in, d-----d if it ain't! We'll have them guessing so hard that
+they'll get brain fever."
+
+"Three shots in as many seconds will make them think that they are
+facing a Winchester in the hands of a crack shot," remarked The Orphan,
+smiling with pleasure at the sheriff's appreciation. "They'll think
+that if they can back off from the bowlder and keep it between them and
+you that they can get out of range in a few hundred yards more. That is
+where I come in again. You sling a little lead to let them know that you
+haven't moved a whole lot, but stop in a couple of minutes, while I go
+down the line a ways. The chaparral sweeps to the north quite a little,
+and mebby I can drop a slug behind their fort from down there. That'll
+make them think you are a jack rabbit at covering ground and will bother
+them. If they rush, which they won't after tasting that kind of shooting,
+you whistle good and loud and we'll make them plumb disgusted. I'll take
+a Winchester along with me, so they won't have any cause to suspect that
+you are an arsenal. So long."
+
+The sheriff glanced up as his companion departed and was pleased at the
+outlaw's command of the situation. He had a good chance to wipe out the
+man, but that he would not do, for The Orphan trusted him, and Shields
+was one who respected a thing like that.
+
+The outlaw finally stopped about a hundred yards down the trail and looked
+out, using his glasses. A brown shoulder showed under the overhanging side
+of the bowlder and he smiled, readjusting the sights on the Winchester as
+he waited. Soon the shoulder raised from the ground and pushed out farther
+into sight. Then a poll of black hair showed itself and slowly raised.
+The Orphan took deliberate aim and pulled the trigger. The head dropped to
+the sand and the shoulder heaved convulsively once or twice and then lay
+quiet. Leaping up, the marksman hastened back to the side of the sheriff,
+who did not trouble himself to look up.
+
+"I got him, Sheriff," he said. "Work up to the other end and I'll go back
+to where I came from. They have got all the fighting they have any use for
+and will be backing away purty soon now. The range from the point where I
+held you is some closer than it is from here, so you ought to get in a
+shot when they get far enough back."
+
+"All right," pleasantly responded Shields, vigorously attacking the thorns
+as he began his journey to the western end of the thicket. "Ouch!" he
+exclaimed as he felt the pricks. Then he stopped and slowly turned and
+saw The Orphan smiling at him, and grinned:
+
+"Say," he began, "why can't I go around?" he asked, indicating with a
+sweep of his arm the southern edge of the chaparral, and intimating that
+it would be far more pleasant to skirt the thorns than to buck against
+them. "These d------d thorns ain't no joke!" he added emphatically.
+
+The outlaw's smile enlarged and he glanced quickly at the bowlder to see
+that all was as it should be.
+
+"You can go around in one day afoot," he replied. "By that time
+they"--pointing to the Apaches--"will have made a day's journey on
+cayuses. And we simply mustn't let them get the best of us that way."
+
+Shields grinned and turned half-way around again: "It's a whole lot dry
+out here," he said, "and my canteen is on my cayuse."
+
+"Here, pardner," replied The Orphan, holding out his canteen and watching
+the effect of the familiarity. "Seven swallows is the dose."
+
+The sheriff faced him, took the vessel, counted seven swallows and
+returned it.
+
+"I'm some moist now," he remarked, as he returned to the thorns. "It's
+too d------n bad you're bad," he grumbled. "You'd make a blamed good
+cow-puncher."
+
+The Orphan, still smiling, placed his hands on hips and watched the
+rapidly disappearing arm of the law.
+
+"He's all right--too bad he'll make me shoot him," he soliloquized,
+turning toward his post. As he crawled through a particularly badly matted
+bit of chaparral he stopped to release himself and laughed outright. "How
+in thunder did he get so far west? My trail was as plain as day, too."
+When he had reached his destination and had settled down to watch the
+bowlder he laughed again and muttered: "Mebby he figured it out that I
+was doubling back and was laying for me to show up. And that's just the
+way I would have gone, too. He ain't any fool, all right."
+
+He thought of the sheriff at the far end of the chaparral and of the
+repeater he carried, and an inexplicable impulse of generosity surged
+over him. The sheriff would be pleased to do the rest himself, he thought,
+and the thought was father to the act. He picked up the Winchester he
+had brought with him and fired at the bowlder, only wishing to let the
+Apaches know his position so that they would think the way clear to
+the northwest, and so innocently give the sheriff a shot at them as
+they retreated. Dropping the Winchester he took up his Sharps, his pet
+rifle, with which he had done wonderful shooting, and arose to one
+knee, supporting his left elbow on the other; between the fingers of
+his left hand he held a cartridge in order that no time should be lost in
+reloading. The range was now five hundred yards, and when The Orphan knew
+the exact range he swore with rage if he missed.
+
+His shot had the effect he hoped it would have, for suddenly there was
+movement behind the bowlder. A pony's hip showed for an instant and
+then leaped from sight as the outlaw reloaded. A cloud of dust arose to
+the northwest of and behind the bowlder, and a series of close reports
+sounded from the direction of the sheriff. The Orphan leaped to his feet
+and dashed out on the plain to where his sight would not be obstructed
+and saw an Apache, who hung down on the far side of his horse, sweep
+northward and gallop along the northern trail. He fired, but the range
+was too great, and the warrior soon dropped from sight over the range
+of hills. As The Orphan made his way toward the bowlder the sheriff
+emerged from his shelter and pointed to the west. A pony lay on its side
+and not far away was the huddled body of its rider.
+
+As they neared each other the outlaw noticed something peculiar about
+the sheriff's ear, and his look of inquiry was rewarded. "Stung,"
+remarked Shields, grinning apologetically. "Just as I shot," he added in
+explanation of the Apache's escape. "Wonder what my wife'll say?" he
+mused, nursing the swelling.
+
+The Orphan's eyes opened a trifle at the sheriff's last words, and he
+thought of the war party he had sent north. His decision was immediate:
+no married man had any business to run risks, and he was glad that he
+refrained from shooting on sight.
+
+"Sheriff, you vamoose. Clear out now, while you have the chance. Ride west
+for an hour, and then strike north for Ford's Station. That buck that got
+away is due to run into twenty-seven of his friends and relatives that I
+sent north to meet you. And they won't waste any time in getting back,
+neither."
+
+Shields felt of his ear and laughed softly. He had a sudden, strong liking
+for his humorous, clever enemy, for he recognized qualities which he had
+always held in high esteem. While he had waited in the chaparral for the
+Apaches to break cover he had wondered if the Indians which The Orphan
+had sent north had been sent for the purpose of meeting him, and now
+he had the answer. Instead of embittering him against his companion, it
+increased his respect for that individual's strategy, and he felt only
+admiration.
+
+"I saw your reception committee in time to duck," the sheriff said,
+laughing. "If they kept on going as they were when I saw them they must
+have crossed my trail about three hours later. When they hit that it
+is a safe bet that at least some of them took it up. So if it's all the
+same to you, I'll leave both the north and the west alone and take another
+route home. I have shot up all the war-whoops I care about, so I am
+well satisfied."
+
+He suddenly reached down toward his belt, and then looked squarely into
+The Orphan's gun, which rested easily on that person's hip. His hand
+kept on, however, but more slowly and with but two fingers extended,
+and disappeared into his chap's pocket, from which it slowly and gingerly
+brought forth a package of tobacco and some rice paper. The Orphan looked
+embarrassed for a second and then laughed softly.
+
+"You're a square man, Sheriff, but I wasn't sure," he said in apology.
+"So long."
+
+"That's all right," cried the sheriff heartily. "I was a big fool to make
+a play like that!"
+
+The Orphan smiled and turned squarely around and walked away in the
+direction of his horse. Shields stared at his back and then rolled a
+cigarette and grinned: "By George!" he ejaculated at the confidence
+displayed by his companion, and he slowly followed.
+
+After they had mounted in silence the sheriff suddenly turned and looked
+his companion squarely in the eyes and received a steady, frank look in
+return.
+
+"What the devil made you ventilate them sheep herders that way?" he asked.
+"And go and drive all of them sheep over the bank?"
+
+The Orphan frowned momentarily, but answered without reserve.
+
+"Those sheep herders reckoned they'd get a reputation!" he answered. "And
+they would have gotten it, too, only I beat them on the draw. As for the
+idiotic muttons, they went plumb loco at the shooting and pushed each
+other over the bank. To hell with the herders--they only got what they was
+trying to hand me. But I'm a whole lot sorry about the sheep, although I
+can't say I'm dead stuck on range-killers of any kind."
+
+The sheriff reflectively eyed his companion's gun and remembered its
+celerity into getting into action, which persuaded him that The Orphan
+was telling the truth, and swept aside the last chance for fair warfare
+between the two for the day.
+
+"Yes, it is too bad, all them innocent sheep drowned that way," he slowly
+replied. "But they are shore awful skittish at times. Well, do we part?"
+he asked, suddenly holding out his hand.
+
+"I reckon we do, Sheriff, and I'm blamed glad to have met you," replied
+the outlaw as he shook hands with no uncertain grip. "Keep away from them
+Apaches, and so long."
+
+"Thanks, I will," responded the arm of the law. "And I'm glad to have met
+you, too. So long!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+THE SECOND OFFENSE
+
+
+Bill Howland emerged from the six-by-six office of the F. S. and S. Stage
+Company and strolled down the street to where his Concord stood. He
+hitched up and, after examining the harness, gained his seat, gathered up
+the lines and yelled. There was a lurch and a rumble, and Bill turned
+the corner on two wheels to the gratification of sundry stray dogs,
+whose gratification turned to yelps of surprise and pain as the driver
+neatly flecked bits of hair from their bodies with his sixteen foot
+"blacksnake." Twice each week Bill drove his Concord around the same
+corner on the same two wheels and flecked bits of hair from stray dogs
+with the same whip. He would have been deeply grieved if the supply of new
+stray dogs gave out, for no dogs were ever known to get close enough
+to be skinned the second time; once was enough, and those which had felt
+the sting of Bill's leather were content to stand across the street and
+create the necessary excitement to urge the new arrivals forward. The
+local wit is reported as saying: "Dogs may come and dogs may go, but Bill
+goes on forever," which saying pleased Bill greatly.
+
+As he threw the mail bag on the seat the sheriff came up and watched him,
+his eyes a-twinkle with humor.
+
+"Well, Sheriff, how's the boy?" genially asked Bill, who could talk all
+day on anything and two days on nothing without fatigue.
+
+"All right, Bill, thank you," the sheriff replied. "I hope you are able
+to take something more than liquid nourishment," he added.
+
+"Oh, you trust me for that, Sheriff. When my appetite gives out I'll be
+ready to plant. I see your ear is some smaller. Blamed funny how they do
+swell sometimes," remarked the driver, loosening his collar.
+
+The sheriff knew what that action meant and hurried to break the thread
+of the conversation.
+
+"New wheel?" he asked, eying what he knew to be old.
+
+"Nope, painted, that's all," the driver replied, grinning. "But she
+shore does look new, don't she? You see, Dick put in two new spokes
+yesterday, and when I saw 'em I says, says I, 'Dick, that new wheel don't
+look good thataway,' says I. 'It'll look like a limp, them new spokes
+coming 'round all alone like,' says I. So we paints it, but we didn't
+have time to paint the others, but they won't make much difference,
+anyhow. Funny how a little paint will change things, now ain't it? Why, I
+can remember when-----"
+
+"Much mail nowadays?" interposed the sheriff calmly.
+
+"Nope. Folks out here ain't a-helpin' Uncle Sam much. Postmaster says he
+only sold ten stamps this week. What he wants, as I told him, is women.
+Then everybody'll be sendin' letters and presents and things. Now, I knows
+what I'm talking about, because-----"
+
+"The Apaches are out," jabbed the sheriff, hopefully.
+
+"Yes, I heard that you had a soiree with them. But they won't get so
+far north as this. No, siree, they won't. They knows too much, Apaches
+do. Ain't they smart cusses, though? Now, there's old Geronimo--been
+raising the devil for years. The cavalry goes out for him regular, and
+shore thinks he's caught, but he ain't. When he's found he's home smoking
+his pipe and counting his wives, which are shore numerous, they say. Now,
+I've got a bully scheme for getting him, Sheriff----"
+
+"Hey, you," came from the office. "Do you reckon that train is going to
+tie up and wait for you, hey? Do you think you are so d----d important
+that they won't pull out unless you're on hand? Why in h--l don't you quit
+chinning and get started?"
+
+"Oh, you choke up!" cried Bill, clambering up to his seat. "Who's running
+this, anyhow!" he grumbled under his breath. Then he took up the reins
+and carefully sorted them, after which he looked down at Shields, whose
+face wore a smile of amusement.
+
+"Bill Howland ain't none a-scared because a lot of calamity howlers get a
+hunch. Not on your life! I've reached the high C of rollicking progress
+too many times to be airy scairt at rumors. Show me the feather-dusters
+in war paint, and then I'll take some stock in raids. You get up a bet
+on me Sheriff, make a little easy money. Back Bill Howland to be right
+here in seventy-two hours, right side up and smiling, and you'll win. You
+just bet you'll----"
+
+"Well, you won't get here in a year unless you starts, you pest! For
+God's sake get a-going and give the sheriff a rest!" came explosively
+from the office, accompanied by a sound as if a chair had dropped to its
+four legs. A tall, angular man stood in the doorway and shook his fist at
+the huge cloud of dust which rolled down the street, muttering savagely.
+Bill Howland had started on his eighty-mile trip to Sagetown.
+
+"Damnedest talker on two laigs," asserted the clerk. "He'll drive me loco
+some day with his eternal jabber, jabber. Why do you waste time with
+him? Tell him to close his yap and go to h--l. Beat him over the head,
+anything to shut him up!"
+
+Shields smiled: "Oh, he can't help it. He don't do anybody any harm."
+
+The clerk shook his head in doubt and started to return to his chair, and
+then stopped.
+
+"I hear you expect some women out purty soon," he suggested.
+
+"Yes. Sisters and a friend," Shields replied shortly.
+
+"Ain't you a little leary about letting 'em come out here while the
+Apaches are out?"
+
+"Not very much--I'll be on hand when they arrive," the sheriff assured him.
+
+"How soon are they due to land?"
+
+"Next trip if nothing hinders them."
+
+"Jim Hawes is comin' out next trip," volunteered the clerk.
+
+"Good," responded the sheriff, turning to go. "Every gun counts, and Jim
+is a good man."
+
+"Say," the agent was lonesome, "I heard down at the Oasis last night that
+The Orphant was seen out near the Cross Bar-8 yesterday. He ought to get
+shot, d----n him! But that's a purty big contract, I reckon. They say he
+can shoot like the very devil."
+
+"They're right, he can," Shields replied. "Everybody knows that."
+
+"Charley seems to be in a hurry," remarked the agent, looking down the
+street at a cowboy, a friend of the sheriff, who was coming at a dead
+gallop. The sheriff looked and Charley waved his arm. As he came within
+hailing distance he shouted:
+
+"The Orphan killed Jimmy Ford this morning on Twenty Mile Trail! His
+pardner got away by shootin' The Orphan's horse and taking to the trail
+through Little Arroyo. But he's shot, just the same, 'though not bad. The
+rest of the Cross Bar-8 outfit are going out for him; they've been out,
+but they can't follow his trail."
+
+"Hell!" cried the sheriff, running toward his corral. "Wait!" he shouted
+over his shoulder as he turned the corner. In less than five minutes he
+was back again, and on his best horse, and following the impatient cowboy,
+swung down the street at a gallop in the direction of Twenty Mile Trail.
+
+As they left the town behind and swung through the arroyo leading to the
+Limping Water, through which the stage route lay, Charley began to speak
+again:
+
+"Jimmy and Pete Carson were taking a rest in the shade of the chaparral
+and playin' old sledge, when they looked up and saw The Orphan looking
+down at them. They're rather easy-going, and so they asked him to take a
+hand. He said he would, and got off his cayuse and sat down with them.
+Jimmy started a new deal, but The Orphan objected to old sledge and
+wanted poker, at the same time throwing a bag of dust down in front of
+him. Jimmy looked at Pete, who nodded, and put his wealth in front of
+him. Well, they played along for a while, and The Orphan began to have
+great luck. When he had won five straight jack pots it was more than
+Jimmy could stand, him being young and hasty. He saw his new Cheyenne
+saddle, what he was going to buy, getting further away all the time, and
+he yelled 'Cheat!' grabbing for his gun, what was plumb crazy for him to
+do.
+
+"The Orphan fired from his hip quick as a wink, and Jimmy fell back just
+as Pete drew. The Orphan swung on him and ordered him to drop his gun,
+which same Pete did, being sick at the stomach at Jimmy's passing. Then
+The Orphan told him to take his dirty money and his cheap life and go back
+to his mamma. Pete didn't stop none to argue, but mounted and rode away.
+But the fool wasn't satisfied at having a whole skin after a run-in
+with The Orphan, and when he got off about four hundred yards and right
+on the edge of Little Arroyo, where he could get cover in one jump,
+he up and let drive, killing The Orphan's horse. Pete got two holes in
+his shoulder before he could get out of sight, and he remembered that
+his shot had hardly left his gun before he had 'em, too. Pete says he
+wonders how in h--l The Orphan could shoot twice so quick, when his
+gun's a Sharp's single shot."
+
+Shields was pleased with the knowledge that it was not a plain murder
+this time, and fell to wondering if the other killings in which The
+Orphan had figured had not in a measure been justified. Hearsay cried
+"Murderer," but his own personal experience denied the term. Did not
+The Orphan know that Shields was after him, and that the sheriff was no
+man to be taken lightly when he had shown mercy near the big bowlder? The
+outlaw must be fair and square, reasoned the sheriff, else he would not
+have looked for those qualities in another, and least of all in an
+enemy. The outlaw had given him plenty of chances to kill and had thought
+nothing of it, time and time again turning his back without hesitation.
+True, The Orphan had covered him when his hand had streaked for his
+tobacco; but the sheriff would have done the same, because the movement
+was decidedly hostile, and he had been fortunate in not having paid
+dearly for his rash action. The Orphan had taken a chance when he
+refrained from pulling the trigger.
+
+Charley continued: "Jimmy's outfit swear they'll have a lynchin' bee to
+square things for the Kid. They are plumb crazy about it. Jimmy was a
+whole lot liked by them, and the foreman is going to give them a week
+off with no questions asked. They are getting things ready now."
+
+The sheriff turned to his companion, his hazel eyes aflame with anger
+at this threat of lynching when he had given plain warning that such
+lawlessness would not for one minute be tolerated by him.
+
+"We'll call on the Cross Bar-8 first, Charley, and find out when this
+lynching bee is due to come off," he said, turning toward the northwest.
+Charley looked surprised at the sudden change in the plans, but followed
+without comment, secretly glad that trouble was in store for the ranch he
+had no use for.
+
+After an hour of fast riding they rode up to the corral of the Cross
+Bar-8, and Shields, seeing a cowboy busily engaged in cleaning a rifle,
+asked for Sneed, at the same time making a mental note of the preparations
+which were going on about him.
+
+The foreman, as if in answer to the sheriff's words, walked into sight
+around the corral wall and stepped forward eagerly when he saw who the
+caller was.
+
+"I see that you know all about it, Sheriff," he began, hastily. "I've
+just told the boys that they can go out for him," he continued. "They're
+getting ready now, and will soon be on his trail."
+
+"Yes?" coldly inquired the sheriff.
+
+"They'll get him if you don't," assured the foreman, who had about as much
+tact as a mule.
+
+"I'll shoot the first man who tries it," the sheriff said, as he flecked
+a bit of dust from his arm.
+
+"What!" cried Sneed in astonishment. "By God, Sheriff, that's a d----d
+hard assertion to make!"
+
+"And I hold _you_ responsible," continued the sheriff, leaning forward
+as if to give weight to his words.
+
+The cowboy stopped cleaning his rifle and stood up, covering the sheriff,
+a sneer on his face and anger in his eyes.
+
+"If you're a-scared, we ain't, by God!" he cried. "The Orphan has got
+away too many times already, and here is where he gets stopped for good!
+When we gets through with him he won't shoot no more friends of ourn,
+nor nobody else's!"
+
+Shields looked him squarely in the eyes: "If you don't drop that gun I'll
+drop you, Bucknell," he said pleasantly, and his eyes proclaimed that he
+meant what he said.
+
+Sneed sprang forward and knocked the gun aside; "You d----n fool!" he
+cried. "You ornery, silly fool! Get back to the bunk house or I'll make
+you wish you had never seen that gun! Go on, get the h--l out of here
+before you join Jimmy!"
+
+Then the foreman turned to Shields, feeling that he had lost much through
+the rashness of his man.
+
+"Don't pay any attention to that crazy yearling, Sheriff," he said
+earnestly. "He's only feeling his oats. But we only wanted to round him
+up," he continued on the main topic. "We meant to turn him over to you
+after we'd got him. He's a blasted, thieving, murdering dog, that's what
+he is, and he oughtn't get away this time!"
+
+"You keep out of this, and keep your men out of it, too," responded
+Shields, turning away. "I mean what I say. Jimmy started the mess and
+got the worst of it. I'll get The Orphan, or nobody will. As long as I'm
+sheriff of this county I'll take care of my job without any lynching
+parties. Come on, Charley."
+
+"Deputize some of my boys, Sheriff!" he begged. "Let 'em think they're
+doing something. The Orphan is a bad man to go after alone. The boys are
+so mad that they'll get him if they have to ride through hell after him.
+Swear them in and let them get him lawfully."
+
+"Yes?" retorted Shields cynically. "And have to shoot them to keep them
+from shooting him?"
+
+"By God, Sheriff," cried Sneed, losing control of his temper, "this is
+our fight, and we're going to see it through! We'll get that cur, sheriff
+or no sheriff, and when we do, he'll stretch rope! And anybody who tries
+to stop us will get hurt! I ain't making any threats, Sheriff; only
+telling plain facts, that's all."
+
+"Then I'll be a wreck," responded Shields, still smiling. "For I'll stop
+it, even if I have to shoot you first, which are also plain facts."
+
+Sneed's men had been coming up while they talked and were freely voicing
+their opinions of sheriffs. Sneed stepped close to the peace officer and
+laughed, his face flushed with foolish elation at his strength.
+
+"Do you see 'em?" he asked, ironically, indicating his men by a sweep of
+his arm. "Do you think you could shoot me?"
+
+The reply was instantaneous. The last word had hardly left his lips before
+he peered blankly into the cold, unreasoning muzzle of a Colt, and the
+sheriff's voice softly laughed up above him. The cowboys stood as if
+turned to stone, not daring to risk their foreman's life by a move, for
+they did not understand the sheriff's methods of arguments, never having
+become thoroughly acquainted with him.
+
+"You know me better now, Sneed," Shields remarked quietly as he slipped
+his Colt into its holster. "I'm running the law end of the game and I'll
+keep right on running it as I d----d please while I'm called sheriff,
+understand?"
+
+Sneed was a brave man, and he thoroughly appreciated the clean-cut
+courage which had directed the sheriff's act, and he knew, then, that
+Shields would keep his word. He involuntarily stepped back and intently
+regarded the face above him, seeing a not unpleasant countenance, although
+it was tanned by the suns and beaten by the weather of fifty years. The
+hazel eyes twinkled and the thin lips twitched in that quiet humor for
+which the man was famed; yet underlying the humor was stern, unyielding
+determination.
+
+"You're shore nervy, Sheriff," at length remarked the foreman. "The boys
+are loco, but I'll try to hold them."
+
+"You'll hold them, or bury them," responded the sheriff, and turning to
+his companion he said: "Now I'm with you, Charley. So long, Sneed," he
+pleasantly called over his shoulder as if there had been no unpleasant
+disagreement.
+
+"So long, Sheriff," replied the foreman, looking after the departing pair
+and hardly free from his astonishment. Then he turned to his men: "You
+heard what he said, and you saw what he did. You keep out of this, or
+I'll make you d----d sorry, if he don't. If The Orphan comes your way,
+all right and good. But you let his trail religiously alone, do you hear?"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+BILL JUSTIFIES HIS CREATION
+
+
+Bill Howland careened along the stage route, rapidly leaving Ford's
+Station in his rear. He rolled through the arroyo on alternate pairs of
+wheels, splashed through the Limping Water, leaving it roiled and
+muddy, and shot up the opposite bank with a rush. Before him was a
+stretch of a dozen miles, level as a billiard table, and then the
+route traversed a country rocky and uneven and wound through cuts and
+defiles and around rocky buttes of strange formation. This continued
+for ten miles, and the last defile cut through a ridge of rock, called
+the Backbone, which ranged in height from twenty to forty feet, smooth,
+unbroken and perpendicular on its eastern face. This ridge wound and
+twisted from the big chaparral twenty miles below the defile to a branch
+of the Limping Water, fifteen miles above. And in all the thirty-five
+miles there was but a single opening, the one used by Bill and the stage.
+
+In crossing the level plain Bill could see for miles to either side of
+him, but when once in the rough country his view was restricted to yards,
+and more often to feet. It was here that he expected trouble if at all,
+and he usually went through it with a speed which was reckless, to say
+the least.
+
+He had just dismissed the possibility of meeting with Apaches as he
+turned into the last long defile, which he was pleased to call a canyon. As
+he made the first turn he nearly fell from his seat in astonishment at
+what he saw. Squarely in the center of the trail ahead of him was a
+horseman, who rode the horse which had formerly belonged to Jimmy of
+the Cross Bar-8, and across the cut lay a heavy piece of timber, one
+of the dead trees which were found occasionally at that altitude, and
+it effectively barred the passing of the stage. The horseman wore his
+sombrero far back on his head and a rifle lay across his saddle, while
+two repeating Winchesters were slung on either side of his horse. One
+startled look revealed the worst to the driver--The Orphan, the terrible
+Orphan faced him!
+
+"Don't choke--I'm not going to eat you," assured the horseman with a
+smile. "But I'm going to smoke half of your tobacco--and you can bring me
+a half pound when you come back from Sagetown. Just throw it up yonder,"
+pointing to a rocky ledge, "and keep going right ahead."
+
+Bill looked very much relieved, and hastily fumbled in his hip pocket,
+which was a most suicidal thing to do in a hurry; but The Orphan didn't
+even move at the play, having judged the man before him and having faith
+in his judgment. The hand came out again with a pouch of tobacco, which
+its owner flung to the outlaw. After putting half of it in his own pouch
+and enclosing a coin to pay for his half pound, The Orphan tossed it
+back again and then moved the tree trunk until it fell to the road, when
+he dismounted and rolled it aside.
+
+"You forget right now that you have seen me or you'll have heart disease
+some day in this place," warned the horseman, moving aside. Bill swore
+earnestly that at times his memory was too short to even remember his own
+name, and he enthusiastically lashed his cayuse sextet. As he swung out
+on the plain again he glanced furtively over his shoulder and breathed a
+deep breath of relief when he found that the outlaw was not in sight.
+He then tied a knot in his handkerchief so as to be sure to remember to
+get a half-pound package of tobacco. A new responsibility, and one which
+he had never borne before, weighed upon him. He must keep silent--and what
+a rich subject for endless conversations! Talking material which would
+last him for years must be sealed tightly within his memory on penalty
+of death if he failed to keep it secret.
+
+After an uneventful trip across the open plain, which passed so rapidly
+because of his intent thoughts that he hardly realized it, he ripped
+into Sagetown with a burst of speed and flung the mail bag at the station
+agent, after which he hastened to float the dust down his throat.
+
+When he met his Sagetown friends he had fairly to choke down his secret,
+and his aching desire to create a sensation pained and worried him.
+
+"You made her faster than usual, Bill," remarked the bartender casually.
+"Yore half-an-hour ahead of time," he added in a congratulatory tone as
+he placed a bottle and glass before the new arrival.
+
+"Yes, and I had to stop, too," Bill replied, and then hastily gulped down
+his liquor to save himself.
+
+"That so?" asked old Pop Westley, an habitue of the saloon. Pop Westley
+had fought through the Civil War and never forgot to tell of his
+experiences, which must have been unusually numerous, even for four years
+of hard campaigning, if one may judge from the fact that he never had to
+repeat, and yet used them as his _coup d'etat_ in many conversational
+bouts. "What was it, Injuns?" he asked, winking at the bartender as if
+in prophecy as to what the driver would choose for his next lie.
+
+"Oh, no," replied Bill, groping for an idea to get him out of trouble.
+"Nope, just had to lose twenty minutes rollin' rocks out of the
+canyon--they must have been a little landslide since I went through her
+the last time. Some of 'em was purty big, too."
+
+"I thought you might a had to kill some Injuns, like you did when they
+broke out four years ago," responded the bartender gravely. "Tell us about
+that time you licked them dozen mad Apache warriors, Bill," he requested.
+"That was a blamed good scrap from what I can remember."
+
+"Oh, I've told you about that scrap so much I'm ashamed to tell it again,"
+replied the driver, wishing that he could remember just what he had said
+about it, and sorry that his memory was so inferior to his imagination.
+
+"Bet you get scalped goin' back," pleasantly remarked Johnny Sands, who
+had not fought in the Civil War, but who often ferociously wished he had
+when old Pop Westley was telling of how Mead took Vicksburg, or some other
+such bit of history. Pop must have been connected to a flying regiment,
+for he had fought under every general on the Union side.
+
+"You're on for the drinks, Johnny," answered Bill promptly, feeling that
+it would be a double joy to win. "The war-whoops never lived who could
+scalp Bill Howland, and don't forget it, neither," he boastfully averred
+as he made for the door, very anxious to get away from that awful gnawing
+temptation to open their eyes wide about his recent experience.
+
+"Then The Orphan will get you, shore," came from Pop Westley. Bill jumped
+and slammed the door so hard that it shook the building.
+
+He saw that his sextet was being properly fed and watered for the return
+trip, which would not take place until the next day. But a trifle like
+twenty-four hours had no effect on Bill under his present stress of
+excitement, and he fooled about the coach as if it was his dearest
+possession, inspecting the king-bolt, running-gear and whiffletrees with
+anxious eyes. He wanted no break-down, because the Apaches _might_ be
+farther north than was their custom. That done he took his rifle apart
+and thoroughly cleaned and oiled it, seeing that the magazine was full
+to the end. Then he had his supper and went straight therefrom to bed,
+not daring to again meet his friends for fear of breaking his promise
+to The Orphan.
+
+At dawn he drew up beside the small station and waited for the arrival of
+the train, which even then was a speck at the meeting place of the rails
+on the horizon.
+
+The station agent sauntered over to him and grinned.
+
+"I guess I will get that telegraph line after all, Bill," he remarked
+happily. "I heard that the division superintendent wanted to get word
+to me in a hurry the other day, and raised the devil when he couldn't.
+I've been fighting for a wire to civilization for three years, and now I
+reckon she'll come."
+
+"I always said you ought to have a telegraph line out here," Bill replied.
+"Suppose that train should run off the track some day, what would they
+do, hey?"
+
+"Huh, that train never goes fast enough to run off of anything," retorted
+the station agent. "She'd stop dead if she hit a coyote--by gosh! Here
+she comes now! What do you think of that, eh? Half-an-hour ahead of time,
+too! Must be trying to hit up a better average than she's had for the
+last year. She's usually due three hours late," he added in bewilderment.
+"She owes the world about a month--must have left the day before by
+mistake."
+
+"Johnny Sands says he raced her once for ten miles, and beat it a mile,"
+replied Bill, crossing his legs and yawning. Then he began one of his
+endless talks, and the agent hastily departed and left him to himself.
+
+When the train finally stopped at its destination, after running past
+the station and having to back to the platform, three women alighted and
+looked around. Seeing the stage, they ordered their baggage transferred to
+it and gave Bill a shock by their appearance.
+
+"Is this the stage which runs to Ford's Station?" the eldest asked of Bill.
+
+Bill fumbled at his sombrero and tore it from his head as he replied.
+
+"Yes, sir, er--ma'am!" he said, confusedly. "Are you Sheriff's sister,
+ma'am?"
+
+"Yes," she answered. "Why do you ask? Has anything happened to him in this
+awful country?" she asked in alarm.
+
+"No, ma'am, not yet," responded Bill in confusion. "He just didn't expect
+you 'til the next train, ma'am, that's all. He was going to meet you then."
+
+"Now, _isn't_ that just like a man?" she asked her companions. "I
+distinctly remember that I wrote him I would come on the twenty-fourth.
+How stupid of him!"
+
+"Yes, ma'am, you did," interposed Bill, eagerly. "But this is only the
+twenty-first, ma'am."
+
+She refused to notice the correction and waved her hand toward the coach.
+
+"Get in, dears," she said. "I _do_ so hope it isn't dirty and
+uncomfortable, and we have so far to go in it, too. Thirty miles--think
+of it!"
+
+Bill thought of it, but refrained from offering correction. If Shields
+had said it was thirty miles when he knew it was eighty that was Shields'
+affair, and he didn't care to have any unpleasantness. He had offered
+correction about the date, and that was enough for him. Clambering down
+heavily he opened the side door of the vehicle and then helped the
+station agent put the trunks and valises and hat boxes on the hanging
+shelf behind the coach and saw that they were lashed securely into
+place. Then he threw the mail bag upon his seat, climbed after it and
+started on his journey with a whoop and rush, for this trip was to be a
+record-breaker. Shields had said it was thirty miles, and it behove
+the driver to make it seem as short as possible.
+
+The unexpected arrival of the women had driven everything else from
+his mind, even The Orphan, and after he had covered a mile he had a
+strong desire to smoke. Giving his whip a jerk he threw it along the top
+of the coach and slipped the handle under his arm. Then he felt for
+his pouch, and as his fingers closed upon it he suddenly stiffened and
+gasped. He had forgotten The Orphan's half pound! Swearing earnestly
+and badly frightened at the close call he had from incurring the anger of
+a man like the outlaw, he pulled on the reins with a suddenness which
+caused the sextet to lay back their ears and indulge in a few heartfelt
+kicks. But the darting whip kept peace and he swung around and returned
+to town.
+
+As he drove past the station Mary Shields, the sheriff's elder sister,
+poked her head out of the door and called to him.
+
+"Driver!" she exclaimed. "Driver!"
+
+Bill craned his neck and looked down.
+
+"Yes, ma'am," he replied anxiously.
+
+"Are we there already?" she asked.
+
+"Why, no, ma'am, it's ei--thirty miles yet," he responded as he sprang
+to the ground.
+
+"Then where are we, for goodness' sake?"
+
+"Back in Sagetown, ma'am," he hurriedly replied. "I shore forgot
+something," he added in explanation of the return as he ran toward
+the saloon.
+
+She turned to her companions with a gesture of despair:
+
+"Isn't it awful," she asked, "what a terrible thing drinking is? A most
+detestable habit! Here we are back to where we started from and just
+because our driver must have a drink of nasty liquor! Why, we would have
+been there by this time. I will most assuredly speak to James about this!"
+
+"Well, I suppose we may go on now!" she exclaimed as Bill bolted into
+sight again, holding a package firmly in his two hands. "I suppose he
+feels quite capable of driving now."
+
+Bill, blissfully ignorant of the remarks he had called forth, tossed
+the tobacco upon the mail bag and climbed to his seat again. The long
+whip hissed and cracked as he bellowed to the team, and once more they
+started for Ford's Station.
+
+The passengers had all they could do to keep their seats because of the
+gymnastics of the erratic stage. Bill, who had always found delight in
+seeing how near he could come to missing things and who was elated at
+the joy of getting over the worst parts of the trail with speed, decided
+that this was a rare and most auspicious occasion to show just what he
+could do in the way of fancy driving. The return to town had spoiled
+his chances for a record, but he still could do some high-class work
+with the reins. The weight of the baggage on the tail-board bothered
+him until he discovered that it acted as a tail to his Concord kite,
+and when he learned that he joyously essayed feats which he had long
+dreamed of doing. The result was fully appreciated by the terrified
+passengers who, choking with the dust which forced its way in to them,
+could only hold fast to whatever came to their grasp and pray that they
+would survive.
+
+As he passed a peculiarly formed clump of organ cacti, which he regarded
+as being his half-way mark, he happened to glance behind, and his face
+blanched in a sudden fear which gripped his heart in an icy grasp.
+
+He leaped to his feet, wrapping the reins about his wrists, and the
+"blacksnake" coiled and writhed and hissed. Its reports sounded like
+those of a gun, and every time it straightened out a horse lost a bit of
+hair and skin. Both of the leaders had limp and torn ears, and a sudden
+terror surged through the team, causing their eyes to dilate and grow
+red. The driver's voice, strong and full, rang out in blood-curdling
+whoops, which ended in the wailing howl of a coyote, wonderfully well
+imitated. The combination of voice and whip was too much, and the six
+horses, maddened by the terrible sting of the lash and the frightful,
+haunting howl, became frenzied and bolted.
+
+Braced firmly on the footboard, poised carefully and with just the right
+tension on the reins, the driver scanned the trail before him, avoiding
+as best he could the rocks and deep ruts, and watching alertly for a
+stumble. His sombrero had deserted him and his long brown hair snapped
+behind him in the wind. Bill was frightened, but not for himself alone.
+With all his bravado he was built of good timber, and his one thought was
+for the women under his care. He unconsciously prayed that they might not
+be brought face to face with the realization of what menaced them; that
+they would not learn why the coach lurched so terribly; that the trunk
+which obstructed the back window of the coach would not shift and give
+them a sight of the danger. Oh, that the running gear held! That the
+king-bolt, new, thank God, proved the words of the boasting blacksmith
+to be true! He soon came to the beginning of a three-hundred-yard stretch
+of perfect road and he hazarded a quick backward glance. Instantly his
+eyes were to the front again, but his brain retained the picture he had
+seen, retained it perfectly and in wonderful clearness. He saw that the
+Apaches were no longer a mile away, but that they had gained upon him
+a very little, so very little that only an eye accustomed to gauging
+changing distances could have noticed the difference. And he also saw
+that the group was no longer compact, but that it was already spreading
+out into the dreaded, deadly crescent, a crescent with the best horses at
+the horns, which would endeavor to sweep forward and past the coach,
+drawing closer together until the circle was complete, with the stage
+as the center.
+
+Another yell burst from him, and again and again the whip writhed and
+hissed and cracked, and a new burst of speed was the reward. Well it
+was that the horses were the best and most enduring to be found on the
+range. He was dependent on his team, he and his passengers. He could not
+hope to take up his rifle until the last desperate stand. Oh, if he only
+had the sheriff, the cool, laughing, accurate sheriff with him to lie
+against the seat and shoot for his sisters! Already the bullets were
+dropping behind him, but he did not know of it. They dropped, as yet,
+many yards too short, and he could not hear the flat reports. The wind
+which roared and whistled past his ears spared him that.
+
+A stumble! But up again and without injury, for a master hand held the
+reins, a hand as cunning as the eyes were calculating. Could Bill's
+scoffing friends see him now their scoffing would freeze on lips open in
+admiring astonishment. If he attained nothing more in his life he was
+justifying his creation. He was doing his best, and doing it wonderfully
+well. Long since had fear left him. He was now only a superb driver,
+an alert, quick-thinking master of his chosen trade. He thrilled with
+a peculiar elation, for was he not playing his hand against death? A
+lone hand and with no hope of a lucky draw. All he could hope for was that
+he be not unlucky and lose the game because of the weakness of a wheel,
+or the traces, or that new king-bolt; that the splendid, ugly, terrorized
+units of his sextet would last until he had gained the canyon, where
+the stage would nearly block the narrow opening, and where he could
+exchange reins for rifle!
+
+Within the coach three women were miserably huddled in a mass on the
+floor. Two would be more proper, because the third, a slim girl of
+nineteen, was temporarily out of her misery, having fainted, which was a
+boon denied to her companions. Thrown from side to side as if they were
+straws in weight, they first crashed into one wall and then into the
+other, buffeted from the edge of the front seat to that of the rear one.
+Bruised and bleeding and terrified, they dumbly prayed for deliverance
+from the madman up above them.
+
+The driver's eye caught sight of the turn, which lay ten miles northeast
+of the canyon--then he had passed it.
+
+"Only ten miles more, bronchs!" he shouted, imploringly, beseechingly.
+"Hold it, boys! Hold it, pets! Only ten miles more!" he repeated until
+the left-hand leader lurched forward and lost its footing. Another bit
+of masterly manipulation of the reins saved it from going down, and again
+the coyote yell rang out in all of its acute, quavering, hair-raising
+mournfulness. The blacksnake again and again mercilessly leaped and
+struck, and another wonderful burst of speed rewarded him.
+
+His heart suddenly went out to his horses, as he realized what speed they
+were making and had been holding for so long a time, and he swore to treat
+them better than they had ever known if they pulled him safely to the
+mouth of the canyon.
+
+A second backward glance, forced from him because of the awful uncertainty
+at his back, because if it was the last thing he ever did he must look
+behind him as a child looks back into the awful darkness of the room,
+caused his face to be convulsed with smiles, sudden and sincere. He
+shouted madly in his joy at what he saw, dancing up and down regardless
+of his perilous footing, bending his knees with a recklessness almost
+criminal, as he uncoiled the hissing blacksnake high up in the air.
+Again and again the whistling, hissing length of braided rawhide curled
+and straightened and cracked, faster and faster until the reports
+almost merged. He tossed his head and laughed wildly, hysterically,
+and danced as only a man can dance when eased of a terrible nervous
+tension; the rasping of the icy, grasping fingers of Death along his
+back suddenly ceased, and there came to him assurance of life and
+vengeance. Turning again he hurled the writhing length of his whip at
+the yelling Apaches, snapping the rifle-like reports at their faces,
+cursing them in shouted words; hot, joyous, cynical, taunting words
+fresh from the soul of him, throbbing with his hatred; venomous,
+contemptuous, scathing, too heartfelt to be over-profane.
+
+"Come _on_, d----n you! Your slide to h--l is greased _now!_ Come on,
+you wolves! You cheap, blind vultures! Come on! _Come on!!_" he yelled,
+well nigh out of his senses from the reaction. "Yes, yell! Yell, d----n
+you!" he shouted as they replied to his taunts. "Yell! Shoot your tin guns
+while you can, for you'll soon be so full of lead you'll stop forever!
+_Come on!_ COME ON!"
+
+They came. All their energies were bent toward the grotesque figure that
+reviled them. They could not catch his words, but their eyes flashed at
+what they could see. Dust arose in huge, low clouds behind them, and they
+gained rapidly for a time, but only for a time, for their mounts had
+covered many miles in the last few days and were jaded and without their
+usual strength because of insufficient food. But they gained enough to
+drop their shots on the coach, although accurate shooting at the pace they
+were keeping was beyond their skill.
+
+Puffs of dust spurted from the plain in front of the team and arose
+beside it, and a jagged splinter of seasoned ash whizzed past the driver's
+ear. A long, gray furrow suddenly appeared in the end of the seat and
+holes began to show in the woodwork of the stage. One bullet, closer than
+the others, almost tore the reins from the driver's hands as it hit the
+loose end of leather which flapped in the air. Its jerk caused him to
+turn again and renew his verbal cautery, tears in his eyes from the
+fervor of his madness.
+
+"Hi-yi! Whoop-e-e!" he shouted at his straining, steaming sextet. "Keep it
+up, bronchs! Hold her for ten minutes more, boys! We'll win! We'll win!
+We'll laugh them into h--l yet! We'll dance on their painted faces! Keep
+her steady! You're all right, every d----d one of you! Hold her steady!
+Whoop-e-e!"
+
+A new factor had drawn cards, and the new factor could play his cards
+better than any two men under that washed-out, faded blue sky.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+THE ORPHAN OBEYS AN IMPULSE
+
+
+When Sneed promised to try to restrain his men he spoke in good faith,
+and when he discovered that half of them were missing his anger began to
+rise. But he was helpless now because they were beyond his reach, so he
+could only hope that they would not meet the sheriff, not only because
+of the displeasure of the peace officer, but also because good cowboys
+were hard to obtain, and he knew what such a meeting might easily develop
+into.
+
+The foreman knew that Ford's Station bore him and his ranch no love and
+that if the sheriff should meet with armed resistance and, possibly,
+mishap at the hands of any members of the Cross Bar-8, that trouble would
+be the tune for him and his men to dance to. Angrily striding to and
+fro in front of the bunk house he gave a profane and pointed lecture
+to several of his men who stood near, abashed at their foreman's anger. He
+suddenly stopped and looked toward the rocky stretch of land and hurled
+epithets at what he feared might be taking place in its defiles and among
+its rocks and bowlders.
+
+"Fools!" he shouted, shaking his fist at the Backbone. "Fools, to hunt
+a man like that on his own ground, and in the way you'll do it! You can't
+keep together for long, and as sure as you separate, some of you will be
+missing to-night!"
+
+Had he been able, he would have seen six cowboys, who were keeping close
+together as they worked their way southward, exploring every arroyo and
+examining every thicket and bowlder. Their Colts were in their hands and
+their nerves were tensed to the snapping point.
+
+They finally came to the stage road and, after a brief consultation,
+plunged into it and scrambled up the opposite bank, where they left one of
+their number on guard while they continued on their search. The guard
+found concealment behind a huge bowlder which stood on the edge of the
+canyon above the entrance. He lighted a cigarette, and the thin wisps of
+pale blue smoke slowly made their way above him, twisting and turning,
+halting for an instant, and then speeding upward as straight as a rod.
+It was strong tobacco and very aromatic, and when the wind caught it up in
+filmy clouds and carried it away it could be detected for many feet.
+
+Five minutes had passed since the searchers had become lost to sight
+to the south when something moved on the other side of the canyon and
+then became instantly quiet as the smoke streamed up. The guard was
+cleverly hidden from sight, but he felt that he must smoke, for time
+passed slowly for him. Again something moved, this time behind a thin
+clump of mesquite. Gradually it took on the outlines of a man, and he was
+intently watching the tell-tale vapor, the odor of which had warned him
+in time.
+
+Retreating, he was soon lost to sight, and a few minutes later he peered
+through a thin thicket which stood on the edge of the canyon wall. As
+he did so the guard stuck his head out from the shelter of his bowlder
+and glanced along the trail. Again seeking his cover he finished his
+cigarette and lighted another.
+
+"He won't look again for a few minutes, the fool," muttered the other
+as he dropped into the road and darted across it. After a bit of cautious
+climbing he gained the top of the canyon wall and again became lost to
+sight.
+
+Still the smoke ascended fitfully from behind the bowlder, and the
+prowler gradually drew near it, at last gaining the side opposite the
+smoker. He crouched and slowly crawled around it, his left hand holding
+a Colt; his right, a lariat. As the guard again turned to examine the
+lower end of the canyon his eyes looked into a steady gun, and while
+his wits were rallying to his aid the rope leaped at him and neatly
+dropped over his shoulders, pinning his arms to his side. It twitched and
+a loop formed in it, running swiftly and almost horizontally. It whipped
+over his head and tightened about his throat, while another loop sped
+after it and assisted in throttling the puncher. Then the lariat twitched
+and whirled and loops ran along it and fastened over the guard's wrists,
+rapidly getting shorter; and when it ceased, its wielder was brought to
+the side of his trussed victim. The bound man was turning purple in
+the face and neck and his captor, hastily crowding the guard's own
+neck-kerchief into the open, gasping mouth, released the throat clutch
+of the rawhide and then securely fixed the gag into place.
+
+Roughly dragging his captive to a mass of debris he tore it apart and
+dragged and pushed the man into it, after which he pushed the rubbish
+back into place and then ran to the bowlder, where he covered all tracks.
+Picking up the puncher's revolver he took the cylinder from it and hurled
+it far out on the plain, throwing the frame across the defile into a
+tangled mass of mesquite. Looking carefully about him, to be sure he had
+not overlooked anything, he disappeared in the direction from which he had
+come.
+
+He again appeared in the canyon, and ran swiftly along it until he came to
+the tracks made by the guard's horse, which he followed into an arroyo
+and where he found the animal hobbled. Loosening the hobbles he threw
+them over the horse's neck and sprang into the saddle. He picked his
+way carefully until he had reached the level plain, when he cantered
+northward, keeping close to the rock wall of the Backbone to avoid
+being seen by the searchers. When he had put a dozen miles behind him he
+turned abruptly to the east, soon becoming lost to sight behind the
+scattered chaparrals.
+
+The Orphan, surmounting a rise, looked to the southwest and saw something
+which almost caused his hair to rise, and raising hair was not the
+rule with him, which latter is mentioned to give proper emphasis to the
+seriousness of what he looked upon. He leaped to the ground and saw that
+the cinches were securely fastened, after which he vaulted back into the
+saddle, and, instead of offering prayer for success, sent up profanity
+at the possibility of failure.
+
+Two miles to the southwest of him he saw six horses flattened almost to
+earth in keeping the speed they had attained and were holding. Back of
+them lurched and rocked and heaved the sun-bleached coach, dull gray
+and dusty, its tall driver standing up to his work, hatless and with
+his arm rapidly rising and falling as he sent the cruel whip cruelly
+home. Behind the stage whipped the baggage flap, a huge leathern apron
+for the protection of luggage, standing out horizontally because of the
+rush of wind caused by the speed of the coach. It flapped defiantly at
+what so tenaciously pursued it. A thousand yards to the rear, riding
+in crescent formation, the horns now far apart and well ahead of the
+center, were five arm- and weapon-waving bronzed enthusiasts whose war
+paint could just be discerned by The Orphan's good eyes and field glasses.
+
+As yet, the reason for the lifting hair has not been disclosed, because
+The Orphan was proud in his belief that he had few nerves and a dormant
+sympathy, and this scene alone would not have aroused much sympathy
+in his heart for the driver, and neither would it have changed the
+malevolent expression which disfigured his face, an expression caused
+by the remembrance of six cowboys who had searched for him as if he was a
+cowardly, cattle-killing coyote. But the exuberant baggage-flap revealed
+two trunks, three valises and a pile of white cardboard boxes; and as if
+this was not enough for a man adept at sign reading, the door of the
+coach suddenly became unfastened and alternately swung open and shut as
+the lurching of the coach affected it. And through the intermittent
+opening he could see a mass of gray and brown and blue.
+
+The Orphan had spent ten years of his life battling against the hardest
+kinds of odds, and his brain had foresworn long methods of thinking
+and had adopted short cuts to conclusions. His mental processes were
+sharp, quick and acted instantly on his nerves, often completing an action
+before he became clearly conscious of its need. He forgot the pleasant
+sheriff and the unpleasant, blundering cowboys who, very probably, were
+now engaged in wondering where their companion had gone; and he forgot
+his determination to return and free that puncher. He asked himself no
+questions as to why or how, but simply sunk his spurs half an inch into a
+horse that had peculiar and fixed ideas about their use, and that now
+bucked, pitched and galloped forward because its rider had suddenly
+decided to save those gray and brown and blue dresses.
+
+The Apaches had passed the point immediately south of him and were now
+more to the west, going at right angles to the course he took. They
+were so intent upon gaining yard upon yard that they did not look to
+the side--their thoughts were centered on the tall, lanky man who stood
+up against the sky and cursed them, and whose hat they had passed miles
+back. As he turned and stole the look at them which had so pleased him,
+they only waved guns and wasted cartridges more recklessly, yelling
+savagely.
+
+Down from the north charged a brown, a dirty brown horse, and it was
+comparatively fresh. It gained steadily, silently, and its gains were
+measured in yards to each minute it ran, since it was coming at a sharp
+angle. Astride of it and lying along its neck was a man whose spurs and
+quirt urged it to its uttermost effort. Soon the man straightened up in
+his saddle, the horse braced its legs and slid to a stand as a rifle
+arose to the rider's shoulder, and at the shot the animal leaped forward
+at its top speed. A puff of smoke flashed past the marksman's head to
+mingle with the dust cloud in his wake, and the nearest brave, who was
+the last in the crescent, dropped sprawlingly to the ground and rolled
+rapidly several times. His horse, freed of its burden, ran off at an
+angle and was soon left behind. The excitement of the chase and the noise
+of the hoofbeats of their own horses and of the reports of their own
+rifles effectually lost the report of the shot and soon another, and
+nearest, Apache also plunged to the plain. This time the freed horse shot
+ahead and ranged alongside the wearer of the head-dress, who turned in
+his saddle and looked back. His eyesight was good, but not good enough
+to see the .50 caliber slug which passed through his abdomen and tore the
+ear of another warrior's horse.
+
+The rider of the horse owning the mutilated ear looked quickly backward,
+screamed a warning and war-cry all in one and began to shoot rapidly.
+His surprised companion followed suit as the coach came to a stand, and
+another rifle, long silent, took a hand in the dispute with a vim as if
+to make up for lost time. The first warrior fell, shot through by both
+rifles, and the other, emptying his magazine at the new factor, who was
+very busily engaged in extracting a jammed cartridge, wheeled his pony
+about and fled toward the south, panic-stricken by the accuracy of the
+newcomer and terrorized by the awful execution. But the Apache's last
+shot nearly cleaned the sheriff's slate, grazing The Orphan's temple and
+stunning him: a fraction of an inch more to the right would have cheated
+the Cross Bar-8 of any chance of revenge.
+
+Bill, still holding the rifle, leaped to the sand and ran to where his
+rescuer lay huddled in the dust of the plain.
+
+"I've got yore smoking," he exclaimed breathlessly, at last getting rid
+of his mental burden. Then he stopped short, swore, and bent over the
+figure, and grasping the body firmly by neck and thigh, slung it over
+his shoulders and staggered toward the coach, his progress slow and
+laborious because of the deep sand and dust. As he neared his objective
+he glanced up and saw that his passengers had left the stage and were
+grouped together on the plain like lambs lost in a lion country.
+
+They were hysterical, and all talked at once, sobbing and wringing their
+hands. But when they noticed the driver stumbling toward them with the
+body across his shoulders their tongues became suddenly mute with a new
+fear. Up to then they had thought only of their own woes and bruises, but
+here, perhaps, was Death; here was the man who had risked his life that
+they might live, and he might have lost as they gained.
+
+They besieged Bill with tearful questions and gave him no chance to
+reply. He staggered past them and placed his burden in the scant shadow
+of the coach, while they cried aloud at sight of the blood-stained
+face, frozen in their tracks with fear and horror. Bill, ignoring them,
+hastily climbed with a wonderful celerity for him, to the high seat
+and dropped to the ground with a canteen which he had torn from its
+fastenings. Pouring its contents over the upturned face he half emptied a
+pocket flask of whisky into The Orphan's mouth and then fell to chafing
+and rubbing with his calloused, dust-covered hands, well knowing the
+nature of the wound and that it had only stunned.
+
+Soon the eyelids quivered, fluttered and then flew back and the cruel eyes
+stared unblinkingly into those of the man above him, who swore in sudden
+joy. Then, weak as he was and only by the aid of an indomitable will, the
+wounded man bounded to his feet and stood swaying slightly as one hand
+reached out to the stage for support, the other instinctively leaping to
+his Colt. He swayed still more as he slowly turned his head and searched
+the plain for foes, the Colt half drawn from its holster.
+
+As soon as he had gained his feet and while he was looking about him in
+a dazed way the women began to talk again, excitedly, hysterically. They
+gathered around this unshaven, blood-stained man and tried to thank him
+for their lives, their voices broken with sobs. He listened, vaguely
+conscious of what they were trying to say, until his brain cleared and
+made him capable of thought. Then he ceased to sway and spread his feet
+far apart to stand erect. His hand went to his head for the sombrero
+which was not there, and he smiled as he recalled how he had lost it.
+
+"Oh, how can we ever thank you!" cried the sheriff's eldest sister,
+choking back a nervous sob. "How can we ever thank you for what you have
+done! You saved our lives!" she cried, shuddering at the danger now
+past. "You saved our lives! You saved our lives!" she repeated excitedly,
+clasping and unclasping her hands in her agitation.
+
+"How can we ever thank you, how can we!" cried the girl who had fainted
+when the chase had begun. "It was splendid, splendid!" she cried, swaying
+in her weakness. She was so white and bruised and frail that The Orphan
+felt pity for her and started to say something, but had no chance. The
+three women monopolized the conversation even to the exclusion of Bill,
+who suddenly felt that his talking ability was only commonplace after all.
+
+Blood trickled slowly down the outlaw's face as he smiled at them and
+tried to calm them, and the younger sister, suddenly realizing the meaning
+of what she had vaguely seen, turned to Bill with an imperative gesture.
+
+"Bring me some water, driver, immediately," she commanded impatiently,
+and Bill hurried around to the rear axle from which swung a small keg of
+three gallons' capacity. Quickly unsnapping the chain from it he returned
+and pried out the wooden plug, slowly turning the keg until water began
+to flow through the hole and trickle down to the sand. Miss Shields took a
+small handkerchief from her waist and unfolded it, to be stopped by Bill.
+
+"Don't spoil that, miss!" he hastily exclaimed. "Take one of mine. They
+ain't worth much, and besides, they're a whole lot bigger."
+
+"Thank you, but this is better," she replied, smiling as she regarded
+the dusty neck-kerchief which he eagerly held out to her. She wet the
+bit of clean linen and Bill followed her as she stepped to the side of
+the outlaw, holding the keg for her and thinking that the sheriff was
+not the only thoroughbred to bear the name of Shields. He turned the
+keg for her as she needed water, and she bathed the wound carefully,
+pushing back the long hair which persisted in getting in her way, all
+the time vehemently declining the eager offers of assistance from her
+companions. The Orphan had involuntarily raised his hand to stop her,
+feeling foolish at so much attention given to so trivial a wound and not
+at all accustomed to such things, especially from women with wonderful
+deep, black eyes.
+
+"Please do not bother me," she commanded, pushing his hand aside. "You
+can at least let me do this little thing, when you have done so much, or
+I shall think you selfish."
+
+He stood as a bad boy stands when unexpectedly rewarded for some good
+deed, uncomfortable because of the ridiculous seriousness given to his
+gash, and ashamed because he was glad of the attention. He tried not to
+look at her, but somehow his eyes would not stray from her face, her heavy
+mass of black hair and her wonderful eyes.
+
+"You make me think that I'm really hurt," he feebly expostulated as he
+capitulated to her deft hands. "Now, if it was a real wound, why it might
+be all right. But, pshaw, all this fuss and feathers about a scratch!"
+
+"Indeed!" she cried, dropping the stained handkerchief to the ground
+as she took another from her dress, plastering his hair back with her
+free hand. "I suppose you would rather have what you call a real wound!
+You should be thankful that it is no worse! Why, just the tiniest bit
+more, and you would have--" she shuddered as she thought of it and turned
+quickly away and tore a strip of linen from her skirt. Straightening up
+and facing him again she ripped off the trimming and carefully plucked
+the loose threads from it. Folding it into a neat bandage she placed the
+handkerchief over the wound after pushing back the rebellious hair and
+bound it into place with the strip, deftly patting it here and pushing it
+there until it suited her. Then, drawing it tight, she unfastened the
+gold breast-pin which she wore at her throat and pinned the bandage into
+place, stepping back to regard her work with satisfaction.
+
+"There!" she cried laughing delightedly. "You look real well in a bandage!
+But I am sorry there is need for one," she said, sobering instantly.
+"But, then, it could have been much worse, very much worse, couldn't
+it?" she asked, smiling brightly.
+
+Before The Orphan could reply, Bill saw a break in the conversation, or
+thought he did, and hastened to say something, for he felt unnatural.
+
+"I got yore smokin', Orphant!" he cried, clambering up to his seat.
+"Leastawise, I had before them war-whoops--yep! Here she is, right side
+up and fine and dandy!"
+
+Could he have seen the look which the outlaw flashed at him he would have
+quailed with sudden fear. Three gasps arose in chorus, and the women
+drew back from the outlaw, fearful and shocked and severe. But with
+the sheriff's younger sister it was only momentarily, for she quickly
+recovered herself and the look of fear left her eyes. So this, then,
+was the dreaded Orphan, the outlaw of whom her brother had written! This
+young, sinewy, good-looking man, who had swayed so unsteadily on his
+feet, was the man the stories of whose outrages had filled the pages of
+Eastern newspapers and magazines! Could he possibly be guilty of the
+murders ascribed to him? Was he capable of the inhumanity which had
+made his name a synonym of terror? As she wondered, torn by conflicting
+thoughts, he looked at her unflinchingly, and his thin lips wore a
+peculiar smile, cynical and yet humorous.
+
+Bill leaped to the ground with the smoking tobacco and, blissfully
+unconscious of what he had done, continued unruffled.
+
+"That was d----n fine--begging the ladies' pardon," he cried. "Yes sir,
+it was plumb sumptious, it shore was! And when I tell the sheriff how
+you saved his sisters, he'll be some tickled! You just bet he will! And
+I'll tell it right, too! Just leave the telling of it to me. Lord, when
+I looked back to see how far them war-whoops were from my back hair, and
+saw you tearing along like you was a shore enough express train, I just
+had to yell, I was so tickled. It was just like I held a pair of deuces
+in a big jack-pot and drew two more! My, but didn't I feel good! And,
+say--whenever you run out of smoking again, you just flag Bill Howland's
+chariot: you can have all he's got. That's straight, you bet! Bill Howland
+don't forget a turn like that, never."
+
+The enthusiasm he looked for did not materialize and he glanced from one
+to another as he realized that something was up.
+
+"Come, dears, let us go," said Mary Shields, lifting her skirts and
+abruptly turning her back on the outlaw. "We evidently have far to go,
+and we have wasted _so_ much time. Come, Grace," she said to her friend,
+stepping toward the coach.
+
+Bill stared and wondered how much time had been wasted, since never before
+had he reached that point in so short a time. He had made two miles to
+every one at his regular speed.
+
+"Come, Helen!" came the command from the elder, and with a trace of
+surprise and impatience.
+
+"Sister! Why, Mary, how can you be so mean!" retorted the girl with the
+black eyes, angry and indignant at the unkindness of the cut, her face
+flushing at its injustice. Her spirit was up in arms immediately and she
+deliberately walked to The Orphan and impulsively held out her hand, her
+sister's words deciding the doubts in her mind in the outlaw's favor.
+
+"Forgive her!" she cried. "She doesn't mean to be rude! She is so very
+nervous, and this afternoon has been too much for her. It was a man's
+act, a brave man's act! And one which I will always cherish, for I will
+never forget this day, never, never!" she reiterated earnestly. "I don't
+care what they say about you, not a bit! I don't believe it, for you
+could not have done what you have if you are as they paint you. I will
+not wait for our driver to tell my brother about your splendid act--he,
+at least, shall know you as you are, and some day he will return it, too."
+
+Then she looked from him to her hand: "Will you not shake hands with
+me? Show me that you are not angry. Are you fair to me to class me as an
+enemy, just because my brother is the sheriff?"
+
+He looked at her in wonderment and his face softened as he took the hand.
+
+"Thank you," he said simply. "You are kind, and fair. I do not think of
+you as an enemy."
+
+"Helen! Are you coming?" came from the coach.
+
+He smiled at the words and then laughed bitterly, recklessly, his
+shoulders unconsciously squaring. There was no malice in his face,
+only a quizzical, baffling cynicism.
+
+"Oh, it's a shame!" she cried, her eyes growing moist. She made a gesture
+of helplessness and looked him full in the eyes. "Whatever you have
+done in the past, you will give them no cause to say such things in the
+future, will you? You will leave it all behind you and get work, and not
+be an outlaw any more, won't you? You will prove my faith in you, for I
+_have_ faith in you, won't you? It will all be forgotten," she added,
+as if her words made it so. Then she leaned forward to readjust the
+bandage. "There, now it's all right--you must not touch it again like
+that."
+
+"You are alone in your faith," he replied bitterly, not daring to look at
+her.
+
+"Oh, I reckon not," muttered Bill, scowling at the stage as if he would
+like to unhitch and leave it there. Then seeing The Orphan glance at the
+horse which was grazing contentedly, he went out to capture the animal.
+"D----d old hen, that's what she is!" he muttered fiercely. "I don't care
+if she is the sheriff's sister, that's just what she is! Just a regular
+ingrowing disposition!"
+
+"You are kind, as kind as you are beautiful," The Orphan responded simply.
+"But you don't know."
+
+She flushed at his words and then decided that he spoke in simple
+sincerity.
+
+"I know that you are going to do differently," she replied as she extended
+her hand again. "Good-by."
+
+He bowed his head as he took it and flushed: "Good-by."
+
+She slowly turned and walked toward the coach, where she was received by
+a chilling silence.
+
+Bill brought the horse to where The Orphan stood lost in thought,
+unbuckled his cartridge belt and wrapped it around the pommel of the
+saddle, the heavy Colt still in the holster. Then he clambered up for his
+rifle and tied it to the saddle skirt by the thongs of leather which
+dangled therefrom. Looking about him he espied the keg on the sand and,
+driving home the plug, slung it behind the cantle of the saddle where
+he fastend it by the straps which held the outlaw's "slicker." Jamming
+the package of tobacco into the pocket of the garment he stepped back
+and grinned sheepishly at his generous gifts. He turned abruptly and
+strode to the outlaw and shoved out his hand.
+
+"There, pardner, shake!" he cried heartily. "Yore the best man in the
+whole d----d cow country, and I'll tell 'em so, too, by God!"
+
+The outlaw came out of his reverie and looked him searchingly in the face
+as he gripped the outstretched hand with a grip which made the driver
+wince.
+
+"Don't be a fool, Bill," he replied. "You'll get yourself disliked if
+you enthuse about me." Then he noticed the additions to his equipment
+and frowned: "You better take those things, I can't. The spirit is enough."
+
+"Oh, you borrow them 'til you see me again," replied Bill. "You may need
+'em," he added as he wheeled and walked to the coach. He climbed to his
+seat and wrapped the lines about his hands, cracking the whip as soon as
+he could, and the coach lurched on its way to Ford's Station, the driver
+grunting about fool old maids who didn't know enough to be glad they were
+alive.
+
+The Orphan hesitated about the gifts and then decided to take them for
+the time. He mounted and rode past the coach door, keeping near to the
+flank of the last horse, where he listened to Bill's endless talk.
+
+"How is it that you've got a Cross Bar-8 cayuse?" Bill asked at length,
+too idiotically happy to realize the significance of his question.
+
+The Orphan's hand leaped suddenly and then stopped and dropped to the
+pommel, and he looked up at the driver.
+
+"Oh, one of their punchers and I sort of swapped," he laughingly replied,
+thinking of the man under the debris. "Say, if I don't get as far as
+the canyon with you, just climb up above on the left hand side near the
+entrance and release a fool puncher that is covered up under a pile of
+rubbish, will you? I came near forgetting him, and I don't want him to die
+in that way."
+
+As he spoke he saw a group of horsemen swing over a rise and he knew them
+instinctively.
+
+"There's the gang now--tell them, I'm off for a ride," he said, dropping
+back to the coach door, where he raised his hand to his head and bowed.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+THE OUTFIT HUNTS FOR STRAYS
+
+
+As the group of punchers and the stage neared each other Bill saw two
+horsemen ride out into view beside a chaparral half a mile to the
+northwest, and he recognized Shields and Charley, who were loping forward
+as if to overtake the cowboys, their approach noiseless because of
+the deep sand. As the cowboys came nearer Bill recognized them as being
+the five worst men of the Cross Bar-8 outfit, and his loyalty to his
+new friend was no stronger than his dislike for the newcomers. They
+swept up at a canter and stopped abruptly near the front wheel.
+
+"Who was _that?"_ asked Larry Thompson impatiently, with his gloved hand
+indicating the direction taken by The Orphan.
+
+"Friend of mine," replied Bill, who was diplomatically pleasant. "Say," he
+began, enthusing for effect, "you should have turned up sooner--you missed
+a regular circus! We was chased by five Apaches, and my friend cleaned
+'em up right, he shore did! You should a seen it. I wouldn't a missed it
+for----"
+
+"Cheese it!" relentlessly continued Larry, interrupting the threatened
+verbal deluge. "Don't be all day about it, Windy," he cried; "who is he?"
+
+"Why, a friend of mine, Tom Davis," lied Bill. "He just wiped out a bunch
+of Apaches, like I was telling you. They was a-chasing me some plentiful
+and things was getting real interesting when he chipped in and took a
+hand from behind. And he certainly cleaned 'em up brown, he shore did!
+Say, I'll bet you, even money, that he can lick the sheriff, or even The
+Orphant! He's a holy terror on wheels, that's what he is! Talk about
+lightning on the shoot--and he can hit twice in the same place, too,
+if he wants to, though there ain't no use of it when he gets there once.
+The way he can heave lead is enough to make----"
+
+"Choke it, Bill, choke it!" testily ordered Curley Smith, whose reputation
+was unsavory. "Tell us why in h--l he hit th' trail so all-fired hard.
+Is yore friend some bashful?" he inquired ironically.
+
+"Well," replied Bill, grinning exasperatingly, "it all depends on how
+you looks at it. Women say he is, men swear he ain't; you can take your
+choice. But they do say he ain't no ladies' man," he jabbed maliciously,
+well knowing that Curley prided himself on being a "lady-killer."
+
+"Th' h--l he ain't!" retorted Curley, with a show of anger, preparing to
+argue, which would take time; and Bill was trying to give the outlaw a
+good start of them. "Th' h--l he ain't!" he repeated, leaning aggressively
+forward. "Yu keep yore opinions close to home, yu big-mouthed coyote!"
+
+"Well, you asked me, didn't you?" replied Bill. "And I told you, didn't I?
+He's a good man all around, and say, you should oughter hear him sing!
+He's a singer from Singersville, he is. Got the finest voice this side
+of Chicago, that's what."
+
+"That's _real_ interesting, and _just_ what we was askin' yu about,"
+replied Larry with withering sarcasm. "An' bein' so, Windy, we'll shore
+give him all the music he wants to sing to before dark if we gets him.
+Yore lying ability is real highfalutin'. Now, suppose yu tell th' truth
+before we drag it outen yu--who is he?"
+
+"You ought to know it by this time. Didn't I say his name is Tom Davis?"
+he replied, crossing his legs, his face wearing a bored look. "How many
+names do you think he's got, anyhow? Ain't one enough?"
+
+"Look a-here!" cried Curley, pushing forward. "Was that th' d----d
+Orphant? Come on, now, talk straight!"
+
+"Orphant!" ejaculated Bill in surprise. "Did you say Orphant? Orphant
+nothing!" he responded. "What in h--l do you think I'd be lying about
+him for? Do I look easy? He ain't no friend of mine! Besides, I wouldn't
+know him if I saw him, never having seen that frisky gent. Holy gee! is
+the Orphant loose in this country, out here along my route!" he cried,
+simulating alarm.
+
+"Well, we'll take a chance anyhow," interposed Jack Kelly. "I can tell
+when a fool lies. If it _is_ yore friend Tom Davis we won't hurt him none."
+
+"Honest, you won't hurt him?" asked Bill, grinning broadly. "No, I reckon
+_you_ won't, all right," he added, for the sheriff was close at hand
+now and was coming up at a walk, and Bill had an abiding faith in that
+official. He could be a trifle reckless how he talked now. He laughed
+sarcastically and hooked his thumbs in the armholes of his vest. "Nope,
+I reckon _you_ won't hurt him, not a little bit. Not if he knows you're
+going to try it on him. And if it should be Mister Orphant, well, I hear
+that he's dead sore on being hunted--don't like it for a d----n. I also
+hear he drinks blood instead of water and whips five men before breakfast
+every morning to get up an appetite. Oh, no, and you won't hurt him
+neither, will you?"
+
+"Yore real pert, now _ain't_ yu?" shouted Curley angrily. "Yore a whole
+lot sassy an' smart, _ain't_ yu? But if we find that he is that Orphant,
+we'll pay yu a visit so yu can explain just why yore so d----d friendly
+with him. He seems to have a whole lot of friends about this country, he
+does! Even the sheriff won't hurt him. Even th' brave sheriff loses his
+trail. Must be somethin' in it for somebody, eh?"
+
+"You'd better tell that to somebody else, the sheriff, for instance. He'd
+like to think it over," responded Bill easily. "It's a good chance to
+see a little branding, a la Colt, as the French say. Tell it to him, why
+don't you?"
+
+"I'm a-tellin' it to yu, _now_, an' I'll tell it to Shields when I sees
+him, yu overgrown baby, yu!" shouted Curley, his hand dropping to his
+Colt. "Everybody knows it! Everybody is a-talkin' about it! An' we'll
+have a new sheriff, too, before long! An' as for yu, if we wasn't in such
+a hurry, we'd give yu a lesson yu'd never forget! That d----d Orphant
+has got a pull, but we're goin' to give him a push, an' plumb into hell!
+Either a pull or our brave sheriff is some ascairt of him! He's a _fine_
+sheriff, _he_ is, th' big baby!"
+
+"Pleasant afternoon, Curley," came from behind the group, accompanied by a
+soft laugh. The voice was very pleasant and low. Curley stiffened and
+turned in his saddle like a flash. The sheriff was smiling, but there was
+a glint in his fighting eyes that gave grave warning. The sheriff smiled,
+but some men smile when most dangerous, and as an assurance of mastery
+and coolness.
+
+"Looking for strays, or is it mavericks?" he casually asked, a question
+which left no doubt as to what the smile indicated, for it was a
+challenge. Maverick hunting was at that time akin to rustling, and it was
+occurring on the range despite the sheriff's best efforts to stop it.
+
+Curley flushed and mumbled something about a missing herd. He had suddenly
+remembered the scene at the corral, and it had a most subduing effect on
+him. The sheriff regarded him closely and then noted the bullet holes in
+the coach. The door of the vehicle was closed, the curtains down, and no
+sound came from within it. The baggage flap had settled askew over the
+tell-tale trunks and hid them from sight on that side.
+
+"Oh, it's a missing herd this time, is it?" he inquired coolly. "Well,
+I reckon you won't find it out here. They don't wander over this layout
+while the Limping Water is running."
+
+"Well, we'll take a look down south aways; it won't do no harm now that
+we've got this far," replied Larry. "Come on, boys," he cried. "We've
+wasted too much time with th' engineer."
+
+"Wait!" commanded the sheriff shortly. "Your foreman made me certain
+promises, and I reckon that you are out against orders. I wouldn't be
+surprised if Sneed wants you right now."
+
+Larry laughed uneasily. "Oh, I reckon he ain't losin' no sleep about us.
+We won't hurt nobody" --whereat Bill grinned. "Come on, fellows."
+
+"Well, I hope you get what you're looking for," replied the sheriff,
+whereat Bill snickered outright and winked at Charley, who sat alert
+and scowling behind the sheriff, rather hoping for a fight.
+
+Larry flashed the driver a malicious look and, wheeling, cantered south,
+followed by his companions. They rode straight for the point at which The
+Orphan had disappeared, Bill waving his arms and crying: "Sic 'em." The
+chase was on in earnest.
+
+The stage door suddenly flew open with a bang and interrupted the
+explanations which Bill was about to offer, and in a flash the sheriff
+was almost smothered by the attentions showered on him. Laughing and
+struggling and delighted by the surprise, the peace officer could not
+get a word edgewise in the rapid-fire exclamations and questions which
+were hurled at him from all sides.
+
+But finally he could be heard as he extricated himself from the embraces
+of his sisters.
+
+"Well, well!" he cried, smiles wreathing his face as he stepped back to
+get a good look at them. "You're a sight to make a sick man well! My,
+Helen, but how you've grown! It's been five years since I saw you--and
+you were only a schoolgirl in short dresses! And Mary hasn't grown a
+bit older, not a bit," addressing the elder of the two. Then he turned to
+the friend. "You must pardon me, Miss Ritchie," he said as he shook hands
+with her. "But I've been looking forward to this meeting for a long time.
+And I'm really surprised, too, because I didn't expect you all until the
+next stage trip. I had intended meeting you at the train and seeing you
+safely to Ford's Station, because the Apaches are out. I couldn't get
+word to you in time for you to postpone your visit, so I was going to
+take Charley and several more of the boys and escort you home."
+
+Then he looked about for Charley, and found that person engaged in
+conversation with Bill as the two examined the bullet-marked stage.
+
+"Come here, Charley!" he cried, beckoning his friend to his side.
+"Ladies, this is Charley Winter, and he is a real good boy for a puncher.
+Charley, Miss Ritchie, my sisters Mary and Helen. I reckon you ladies are
+purty well acquainted with Bill Howland by this time, but in case you
+ain't, I'll just say that he is the boss driver of the Southwest, noted
+locally for his oppressive taciturnity. I reckon you two boys don't need
+any introducing," he laughed.
+
+Then, while the conversation throbbed at fever heat, Bill suddenly
+remembered and wheeled toward the sheriff.
+
+"The Orphant!" he yelled in alarm, hoping to gain attention that way.
+
+The sheriff and Charley wheeled, guns in hand, and leaped clear of the
+women, their quick eyes glancing from point to point in search of the
+danger.
+
+"Where?" cried the sheriff over his shoulder at Bill.
+
+"Down south, ahead of them fool punchers," Bill exclaimed. "He's only
+got a little start on 'em. And they know he's there, too. That's why
+they're looking for cows on a place cows never go."
+
+Then he related in detail the occurrences of the past few hours, to the
+sheriff's great astonishment, and also to his delight at the way it had
+turned out. Shields thought of his own personal experiences with the
+outlaw, and this put him deeper in debt. His opinion as to there being
+much good in his enemy's makeup was strengthened, and he smiled at the
+fighting ability and fairness of the man who had declared a truce with
+him by the big bowlder on the Apache Trail.
+
+"Oh, I hope they don't catch him!" Helen cried anxiously. "Can't you do
+something, James?" she implored. "He saved us, and he is wounded, too!
+Can't you stop them?"
+
+The sheriff looked to the south in the direction taken by the
+cow-punchers, and a hard light grew in his eyes.
+
+"No, not now," he replied decisively. "They've had too much time now. And
+it's safe to bet that they rode at full speed just as soon as they got
+out of my sight. They knew Bill would tell me. They're miles away by
+this time. But don't you worry, Sis--they won't get him. Five curs never
+lived that could catch a timber wolf in his own country--and if they
+do catch him, they will wish they hadn't. And I almost hope they win the
+chase, for they'll lose their fool lives. It will be a lesson to the
+rest of the bullies of the Cross Bar-8--and small loss to the community at
+large, eh, Charley?"
+
+"Yore shore right, Jim," replied Charley, smiling at Miss Ritchie.
+"Did you ever hear tell of the dog that retrieved a lighted dynamite
+cartridge?" he asked her. "No? Well, the dog left for parts unknown."
+
+"That's good, Charley," Shields responded with a laugh. "The dog just
+wouldn't mind, and he was only a snarling, no-account cur at that,
+wasn't he?" Then he looked at the coach, and his heart softened to the
+hunted man. "I can see it all, now," he said slowly. "Those punchers must
+have forced him out of the Backbone, and he was getting away when he
+saw the plight you were in. By God!" he cried in appreciation of the
+act. "It wasn't no one man's work, five Apaches! One man stopping five of
+those devils--it was no work for a murderer, not much! It was clean-cut
+nerve, and if I ever see him I'll tell him so, too! I'll let him know that
+he's got some friends in this country. They can say what they please,
+but there's more manhood in him to the square inch than there is in all
+the people who cry him down; and who are in a great way responsible for
+his being an outlaw. I'm ready to swear that he never wantonly shot a man
+down; no, sir, he didn't. And I reckon he never had much show, from
+what I know of him."
+
+"Helen was real kind to him," remarked the spinster. "She bathed his wound
+and bandaged it. Spoiled her very best skirt, too."
+
+"You're a good girl, Sis," Shields said, looking fondly at the beautiful
+girl at his side. His arm went around her shoulder and he affectionately
+patted her cheek. "I'm proud of you, and we'll have to see if we can't
+get another 'very best skirt,' too." Then he laughed: "But I'll bet he
+blesses the warrior who fired that shot--he's not used to having pretty
+girls fuss about him."
+
+Mary looked quickly at her sister. "Why, Helen! You've lost your gold pin!
+Where do you suppose it has gone? I'll look in the stage for it before we
+forget about it. Dear me, dear me," she cried as she entered the vehicle,
+"this has indeed been a terrible day!"
+
+Bill grinned and turned toward his team. "I reckon she'll find it some
+day," he said in a low aside as he passed the sheriff. "I'll just bet she
+does. It'll be in at the finish of a whole lot of things, and people, too,
+you bet," he added enigmatically.
+
+Shields looked quickly at the driver, his face brightened and he smiled
+knowingly at the words. "I reckon it will; fool punchers, for instance?"
+
+Bill turned his head and one eye closed in an emphatic wink. "Keno," he
+replied.
+
+Mary bustled out again, very much agitated. "I can't find it. Where do
+you suppose you lost it, dear? I've looked everywhere in the stage."
+
+"Probably back where we stopped before," Helen replied quietly. "We were
+so agitated that we would never have noticed it if it slipped down."
+
+"Well--" began Mary.
+
+"No use going back for it, Miss Shields," promptly interrupted Bill from
+his high seat. "We just couldn't find it in all that trampled sand, not
+if we hunted all week for it with a comb."
+
+"You're right, Bill," gravely responded the sheriff. "We never could."
+
+As they entered the defile of the Backbone the sheriff suddenly remembered
+what Bill had told him and he stopped and dismounted.
+
+"You keep right on, Bill," he said. "I'm going up to hunt that fool
+puncher. Lord, but it's a joke! This game is getting better every day--I'm
+getting so I sort of like to have The Orphan around. He's shore original,
+all right."
+
+"He's better than a marked deck in a darkened room," laughed the driver.
+"He shore ought to be framed, or something like that."
+
+"You better go with them, Charley," the sheriff said as his friend made a
+move at dismounting. "There ain't no danger, but we won't take no chances
+this time; we've got a precious coachful."
+
+"All right," replied Charley as he wheeled toward the disappearing stage.
+"So long, Sheriff."
+
+The sheriff looked the wall over and then picked out a comparatively easy
+place and climbed to the top. As he drew himself over the edge he espied
+a pair of boots which showed from under a pile of debris, and he laughed
+heartily. At the laugh the feet began to kick vigorously, so affecting
+the sheriff that he had to stop a minute, for it was the most ludicrous
+sight he had ever looked upon.
+
+Shields grabbed the boots and pulled, walking backward, and soon an
+enraged and trussed cow-puncher came into view. Slowly and carefully
+unrolling the rope from the unfortunate man, he coiled it methodically
+and slung it over his shoulder, and then assisted in loosening the gag.
+
+The puncher was too stiff to rise and his liberator helped him to his
+feet and slapped and rubbed and chuckled and rubbed to start the blood in
+circulation. The gag had so affected the muscles of the puncher's jaw
+that his mouth would not close without assistance and effort, and his
+words were not at all clear for that reason. His first word was a curse.
+
+"'Ell!" he cried as he stamped and swung his arms. "'Ell! I'm asleep all
+o'er! ----! 'Ait till I get 'im! ----! 'Ait till I get 'im!"
+
+"Sort of continuing the little nap you was taking when he roped you, eh?"
+asked Shields, holding his sides.
+
+"Nap nothing! Nap nothing!" yelled the other in profane denial. "I wasn't
+asleep, I tell yu! I was wide awake! He got th' drop on me, and then that
+cussed rope of his'n was everywhere! Th' air was plumb full of rope and
+guns! I didn't have no show! Not a bit of a show! Oh, just wait till I
+get him! Why, I heard my pardners talking as they hunted for me, and there
+I was not twenty feet away from them all the time, helpless! They're
+fine lookers, they are! Wait till I sees them, too! I'll tell 'em a few
+things, all right!"
+
+"Well, I reckon you may see one or two of them, if they're lucky--and you
+can't beat a fool for luck," replied the sheriff. "They want to be angels;
+they're on his trail now."
+
+"Hope they get him!" yelled the puncher, dancing with rage. "Hope they
+burn him at th' stake! Hope they scalp him, an' hash him, an' saw his arms
+off, an' cave his roof in! Hope they make him eat his fingers and toes!
+Hope----"
+
+"You're some hopeful to-day," responded the sheriff. "If you like them,
+you better hope they don't get him. That's hoping real hope."
+
+"Wait till I get him!" the puncher repeated, grabbing for his Colt, being
+too enraged to notice its absence. "I'll show him if he can tie a man up
+an' leave him to choke to death, an' starve an' roast! I'll show him if
+he can run this country like he owns it, shooting and abusing everybody
+he wants to!"
+
+"All right, Sonny," Shields laughed. "I'll shore wait till you gets him,
+if I live long enough. But for your sake I shore hope you never finds him.
+He wouldn't get any more reputation if he killed you, and your friends
+would miss you."
+
+"Don't yu let that worry yu!" retorted the enraged man. "I can take care
+of myself in a mix-up, all right! An' I'm going to chase after my friends
+an' take a hand in th' game, too, by God! He ain't going to leave me high
+an' dry an' live to boast about it! But I suppose you reckon yu'll stop
+me, hey?"
+
+Shields raised both hands high in the air in denial. "I wouldn't think
+of such a thing, not for the world," he cried, laughter shaking his big
+frame. "You can go any place you please, only _I'd_ take a gun if I was
+going after _him_," he added, eyeing the empty holster. "You know, you
+_might_ need it," he was very grave in his use of the subjunctive.
+
+The puncher slapped his hand to his thigh and then jumped high into the
+air: "----! ----!" he shouted. "Stole my gun! Stole my gun!" Then he
+paused suddenly and his face cleared. "But I've got something better'n a
+Colt on my cayuse!" he cried as he leaped toward the edge of the canyon.
+"An' I'll give him all it holds, too!" he threatened as he bumped and
+slid to the bottom. The sheriff took more care and time in descending and
+had just reached the trail when he heard a heart-rending yell, followed
+by a sizzling stream of throbbing profanity.
+
+"Where's my cayuse?" yelled the puncher as he rounded the corner of
+the canyon wall on a peculiar lope and hop. "Where's my cayuse, yu
+law-coyote?" he shouted, temporarily out of his senses from rage.
+"Where's my cayuse!" dancing up to the sheriff and shaking both fists
+under the laughter-convulsed face.
+
+When the sheriff could speak, he leaned against the canyon wall for support
+and broke the news.
+
+"Why, Bill Howland said as how The Orphan was riding a Cross Bar-8
+cayuse--dirty brown, with a white stocking on his near front foot. It
+had a big scar on its neck, too."
+
+"Th' d----d hoss thief!" began the puncher, but Shields kept right on
+talking.
+
+"There was a dandy Cheyenne saddle," he said, counting on his fingers, "a
+good gun, a pair of hobbles and a big coil of rawhide rope on the cayuse.
+Was they yours?"
+
+"Was they mine! Was they mine!" his companion screamed. "My new saddle
+gone, my gun gone and my fine rope gone! Oh, h--l! How'll I hunt him now?
+How'll I get home? How'll I get back to th' ranch?" Words failed him, and
+he could only wave his arms and yell.
+
+"Well, it wouldn't hardly be worth while chasing him on foot without a
+gun, that's shore," the sheriff said, grave once more. "But you can get
+home all right; that's easy."
+
+"How can I?" asked the puncher, eyeing the sheriff's horse and waiting
+for the invitation to ride double on it.
+
+"Why, walk," was the reply. "It's only about twenty miles as the crow
+flies--say twenty-five on the trail."
+
+"Walk! Walk!" cried his companion, savagely kicking at a lizard which
+looked out from a crevice in the rock wall. "I never walked five miles
+all at once in my life!"
+
+"Well, it'll be a new experience, and you can't begin any younger,"
+replied Shields as he swung into his saddle. "It'll do you good,
+too--increase your appetite."
+
+"I'm so hungry now I'm half starved," replied the other. "But I'll pay up
+for all this, you see if I don't! I'll get square with that d----d outlaw!"
+
+"You don't know enough to be glad you were found," retorted the sheriff.
+"And if he hadn't told Bill where to look for you, you wouldn't have been,
+neither. You got off easy, Bucknell, and don't you forget it, neither.
+Men have been killed for less than what you tried to do."
+
+The puncher wilted, for twenty-five miles in high-heeled boots, over rocks
+and sand, and with an empty stomach, was terrible to contemplate, and he
+turned to the sheriff beseechingly.
+
+"Give me a lift, Sheriff," he implored. "Take me up behind you--I can't
+walk all the way!"
+
+Shields looked at the sun, which was nearing the western horizon, and
+thought for a minute. Then he shrugged his shoulders.
+
+"Well, I hadn't ought to help you a step, not a single, solitary step, and
+you know it. You tried your best to run against me. You tried to hold me
+up there by the corral, and then after I had warned you not to go out
+for The Orphan you went right ahead. Now you're asking me to help you out
+of your trouble, to make good for your fool stupidity. But I'll take you
+as far as the end of the canyon--no, I'll take you on to the ford, and
+then you can do the rest on foot. That'll leave you ten or a dozen miles.
+Get aboard."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+"A TIMBER WOLF IN HIS OWN COUNTRY"
+
+
+When The Orphan said good-by to Bill he sat quietly in his saddle for a
+minute watching the departing stage and wondered how it was that he had
+the decency to avoid a fight with the cowboys in the presence of the
+women. Then Helen's words came to him and he smiled at the idea of peace
+when he would have to fight the outfit before sundown. The heat of the sun
+on his bare head recalled him from his mental wanderings and he wheeled
+abruptly and galloped along the trail to where he remembered that a tiny,
+blood-stained handkerchief lay in the dust and sand. Soon he espied it
+and, swinging over in the saddle, deftly picked it up and regained his
+upright position, his head reeling at the effort. Unfolding it he examined
+the neat "H" done in silk in one corner and smiled as he put it in his
+chaps pocket where he kept his extra ammunition.
+
+"Peace and war in one pocket," he muttered, grinning at his cartridges'
+new and unusual companion.
+
+Then he espied a Winchester near a fallen brave, and he procured it as he
+had the handkerchief. Describing an arc he picked up another, discarding
+it after he had emptied the magazine, for ammunition was what he wanted.
+Two Winchesters were all right, but three were too many. As he threw it
+from him he glanced through a slight opening in the chaparral and saw the
+outfit approach the stage. Then he galloped to where his sombrero lay,
+picked it up and turned to the south for the Cimarron Trail. When
+thoroughly screened by the chaparral he pushed on with the swinging lope
+which his horse could maintain for hours, and which ate up distance in
+an astonishing manner. He had lost time in going for his sombrero and
+the handkerchief, and every minute before nightfall was precious. His
+thoughts now bent to the problem of how either to elude or ambush his
+pursuers, and the Winchesters bespoke his forethought, for up to six
+hundred yards they were not a pleasant proposition to face. If he
+eluded the cowboys in the darkness he was morally certain that they
+would take up his trail at dawn, and what distance he had gained would be
+at the expense of the freshness of his horse. While he would average ten
+miles an hour through the night, their mounts, freshened by a night's
+rest, might cut down his gain before the nightfall of the next day.
+
+One of the Winchesters worked loose from its lashings and started to slide
+toward the ground. He quickly grasped it and made it secure, smiling at
+the number of rifles he had had and lost during the past three weeks.
+
+"Funny how this country has been shedding Winchesters lately," he mused.
+"There was the five I got by the big bowlder, which I lost playing tag
+with that d----d Cross Bar-8 gang, and here's two more, and I just left
+three what I didn't want. Well, they're real handy for stopping a rush,
+and I reckons that's what I'm up against this time. If I can find a
+likely spot for a scrap before dark I may stop that gang in bang-up
+style, d----n them."
+
+Half an hour later he caught sight of a moving body of horsemen to the
+southeast of him and his glasses enabled him to make them out.
+
+"'Paches!" he exclaimed, and then he smiled grimly and continued on his
+way toward them, taking care to keep himself screened from their sight
+by rises and chaparrals. His first thought had been of danger, but now
+he laughed at the cards fate had put in his hand, for he would use the
+Indians to great advantage later on.
+
+He counted them and made their number to be twenty-two, which accounted
+for the five warriors who had pursued the stage coach. The odds were fine
+and he laughed joyously, recklessly: "All is fair in love and war," he
+muttered savagely.
+
+Before the Indians had come upon the scene he had been alone to face
+five angry and vengeful men, and whom he had every reason to believe
+were at least fair fighters. Had the positions been reversed they would
+not have hesitated to make use of any stratagem to save themselves--and
+here were two contingents, both of which would take his life at the first
+opportunity. He felt no distaste at the game he was about to play; on
+the other hand, it pleased him immensely to know that he was superior
+in intellect to his enemies. They both wanted blood, and they should
+have it. If they found too much, well and good--that was their lookout.
+And no less pleasing was the knowledge that he had sent them north and
+that now he could make use of them. He wondered what they had been doing
+for the last three weeks and why they were still in that part of the
+country, but he did not care, for they were where he wanted them to be.
+
+"Twenty-two mad Apaches on the warpath against five cow-wrastlers!"
+he exulted. "More than four to one, and just aching to get square on
+somebody! That Cross Bar-8 gang will have something to weep about purty
+d----n soon! And I shore hope they don't get tired and quit chasing me."
+
+He stopped and waited when he had gained a screened position from where
+he could look back over his trail, and he had not long to wait, for soon
+he saw five cowboys galloping hard in his direction. Another look to
+the southeast showed him that the war party was now riding slowly toward
+him, not knowing of his presence, and they would arrive at his cover
+at about the same time the cowboys would come up. Neither the Indians
+nor the cowboys knew of the proximity of the other, while The Orphan
+could see them both. He glanced at the thicket to the west of him and
+saw that it was thin, being a connecting link between the two larger
+chaparrals.
+
+"I don't know how you are on the jump, bronch," he said to his mount, "but
+I reckon you can get through that, all right."
+
+The cowboys disappeared from his sight behind the northern chaparral,
+and as they did so he sunk his spurs into his horse and rode straight at
+the prickly screen and, going partly over and partly through it, galloped
+westward as the war party and the ranch contingent met. The shots and
+yells were as music to his ears, and he bowed in mockery and waved his
+hand at the turmoil as he made his escape. The timber wolf had won.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+THE CROSS BAR-8 LOSES SLEEP
+
+
+Sneed was angry, which could be seen by the way he talked, ate, moved and
+swore. He had many cattle to care for and they were strewn over six
+hundred square miles of territory. The work was hard enough when he had
+his full dozen punchers, but now it forced groans from the tired bodies
+of his men, who fell asleep while removing their saddles at night, and
+who worked in a way almost mechanical. The extra work was not conducive to
+sweetness of temper, and he was continually quelling fights among the
+members of the outfit. Where only argument formerly would have arisen
+over differences of opinion, guns now leaped forth; and the differences
+were multiplied greatly, and getting worse every day. Things which
+ordinarily would have provoked no notice, or a laugh at most, now caused
+hot words and surliness. And the reason for the extra work was the
+continued absence of five cow punchers.
+
+Sneed, tired of cursing the missing men and of offering himself
+explanations as to why they had not returned, fell, instead, to
+planning an appropriate reception for them on their return to the ranch.
+He needed no rehearsing, for while he did not know in just what manner
+he would reveal his ideas concerning them, he knew what his ideas were
+and he had always been good at extemporizing when under pressure, and he
+was under pressure now if he had ever been.
+
+The extra work was hard enough in itself to cause his anger to rise
+and to create sensitiveness and surliness on the part of his men, but
+it was only one factor of his discontent. Busy all day at driving the
+scattered cattle away from the Backbone and closer to the ranch proper
+where they would be less likely to fall prey to Apache raiders; working
+all day from the first sign of dawn to the prohibitive blackness of the
+night, they could have stood up under the strain, for these were men of
+iron, inured to hardships and constant riding. But hardy as they were
+there was one thing which they must have, and that was sleep. If they
+could have only four hours of unbroken sleep when they threw themselves,
+fully dressed with the exception of their boots, in their bunks, they
+could have endured the labor for weeks. But this was denied them, and
+constantly on their minds were thoughts of fire, slaughtered cattle
+and death.
+
+For a week night had been a terror on the Cross Bar-8. No sooner had the
+exhausted outfit fallen asleep than bits of window glass would fly about
+them, cutting and stinging. There was not a whole window pane in the house
+and the door was so full of lead that it sagged on its half-shattered
+hinges. Cooking utensils were fast deserving premiums, for hardly an
+unperforated tin could be found on the premises. And their cook, a
+Mexican, who most devoutly believed in a personal devil and a brimstone
+hell, and who feared that he was living in uncomfortable proximity to
+both, stood the strain for just two nights and then, panic-stricken, had
+fled from the accursed place and left them to get their own meals as
+best they could. The protection of the saints was all very well and good
+under ordinary circumstances, but when they failed to stop the bullets
+which passed through his cook shack and which more than once had grazed
+him, it was time for him to find some place far removed from the Cross
+Bar-8, and where the devil was less strong. When the saints allowed a
+devil-sped bullet to completely shatter a crucifix it was time to migrate,
+which he did, but in broad daylight when the outfit had departed and when
+the devil was not in evidence.
+
+The interiors of both the ranch house and the bunk house were wrecked.
+The clock, the pride of the foreman, stood with half its wheels buried in
+the wall behind it by a .50 caliber slug, its hands pointing to half-past
+one. Lead filled the interior walls, where opposite windows, and the
+holes and splinters were a disgrace. Sombreros, equipment and the few
+pictures the walls boasted were like tops of pepper shakers. No sooner was
+a light shown than it became the target for a shot, and more than one
+wound gave proof as to the accuracy of the perpetrator. So tired that
+they fell asleep at supper, the men were constantly awakened by the noise
+of devastation and the whining hum of the bullets. Pursuit was a failure,
+and was also hazardous, as proven by Bert Hodge's arm, broken by a .50
+caliber slug from somewhere.
+
+The two houses, wrecked as they were, were fortunate when compared to
+the condition of the other appurtenances of the ranch. Horses were
+found dead at all points, and always with a bullet hole in the center
+of the forehead. The carcasses of cows dotted the plain, and fire had
+half-destroyed the three corrals. The three new cook wagons, unsheltered,
+were denuded of bolts and nuts, and their tarpaulins were hopelessly
+ruined. A wheel was missing from each of them and their poles had been
+cut through in the middle, the severed ends being found on the roof of
+the ranch house three minutes after their crashing descent had
+awakened the foreman, who heard the hum and thud of a bullet as he opened
+the door. The best grass had been burned off and the outfit had fought
+fire on several nights when it should have slept. And the small water
+hole near the cook shack, which furnished water for the bunk house,
+had been cleared of a dead calf on two mornings. Scouting was of no
+avail, for the few remaining horses (which now spent the night in the
+bunk house) were as exhausted as their riders. Keeping guard was a
+farce, for it had been tried twice, and the guards had fallen asleep;
+and, awakened by their foreman at dawn, found that their rifles,
+sombreros and even their spurs were missing. With all his hatred for The
+Orphan, Sneed was fair-minded enough to give his enemy credit for being
+the better man. When the harassing outrages had first begun and the
+foreman and his men were comparatively fresh, he had given the matter
+his whole attention; and he was no fool. But he had gained nothing but a
+sense of defeat, which fact did not improve his peace of mind or
+cause him to lose a whit of his anger. Do what he could, plan as he
+might, he was beaten, and beaten at every turn. He had to deal with a
+man whose cunning and ingenuity were far above the average; a man who,
+combining a rare courage and a wonderful accuracy in shooting with
+devilish strategy, towered far above the ordinary rustler and outlaw.
+Sneed knew that he was absolutely at the mercy of his persistent enemy
+and wondered why it was that he did not steal up in the night and kill
+the outfit as it slept, which was entirely feasible. Finally, when the
+strain had grown too much for even his iron nerves the sheriff was
+implored to take command on the ranch and give it his personal
+protection. The relations between the sheriff and the ranch were not
+as cordial as they might have been, and the asking of this favor was
+gall and wormwood to the foreman and his outfit.
+
+When Shields arrived to take charge of the trouble, accompanied by Charley
+and two others, he sought the foreman, for Charley had news of a grave
+nature for the Cross Bar-8.
+
+The foreman ran out of the bunk house and met them near the corral, where
+the disagreement had taken place.
+
+"By the living God, Sheriff!" he cried, white with anger. "This thing
+has got to stop if we have to call out the cavalry! We can't get a
+decent breakfast--not a whole plate or pan in the house! Our cayuses
+and cows are being slaughtered by the score! And as for the rest of our
+possessions, they are so full of holes that they whistle when the wind
+blows!"
+
+"So I heard," replied the sheriff. "I'll do my best."
+
+"We've been doing our best, but what good is it?" cried the foreman. "We
+are so plumb sleepy we go to sleep moving about! We dassent show our faces
+after dark without being made a target of! Our new wagons are wrecks, the
+corrals destroyed and the best grass made us fight for our lives while it
+burned! That cursed outlaw has got to be killed, d----n him!"
+
+"We'll do our best, Sneed," responded Shields. "I reckon we can stop it;
+at least we can give you a good night's rest."
+
+"Where are my five punchers?" Sneed asked; his words bellowed until his
+voice broke. "And Bucknell! D----n near dead before you found him above
+the canyon, tied up like a package of flour!"
+
+"Well, Charley can tell you about your men," Shields responded, viewing
+the devastation on all sides of him.
+
+"Well, what about them?" cried the foreman turning to the sheriff's
+deputy, anger flashing anew in his eyes.
+
+"Well," Charley slowly began, "I was taking a short cut this morning,
+and when I got to a place about a dozen miles southeast of the mouth
+of Bill's canyon, I saw five bodies on the desert. They were your
+cow-punchers, and they was so full of arrows that they looked like big
+brooms. Apaches, I reckon," he added sententiously.
+
+Sneed tore his hair and swore when he was not choking.
+
+"And after I told them to let up on that blasted outlaw's trail!" he
+yelled. "Where will it end, between war-whoops and murders? What sort of
+a God-forsaken layout is this, anyhow? A man can't stick his nose out of
+his own house after dark without having it skinned by a slug! He's a
+h--l of a hefty orphant, he is! Poor thing, ain't got no paw or maw to
+look after his dear little hide! He needs a regiment of cavalry for a
+papa, that's what he needs, and a good strong lariat for a mamma! Orphant!
+He's a h--l of a sumptious orphant!"
+
+"Have you trailed him?" asked the sheriff, having to smile in spite of
+himself at the execution on all sides of him, and at the foreman's words.
+
+"Trailed him!" yelled Sneed, raising on his toes in his vehemence.
+"Trailed him! Good God, yes! But what good is it, what can we do when
+our cayuses are so dod-gasted tired that they can't catch a tumble bug?
+Trailed him! Yes, we trailed him, all right! We trailed him until we fell
+asleep in the saddles on our sleeping cayuses! And while we were gone,
+d----d if he didn't blow in and smash up our furniture! We trailed him,
+all right; just like a lot of cross-eyed, locoed drunken ants! We had to
+wake each other up, and he could-a killed the whole crowd of us with a
+club! And my punchers who were so cock-sure they'd get him! How in
+h--l did they go and mess up with Apaches? They wasn't no fool kids!"
+
+"The last time we saw them they were leaving the stage to go south after
+him," Charley said. "They hadn't got more than ten miles south when they
+must have met the Apaches. I have a suspicion that The Orphan had a hand
+in that meeting, but how he did it I don't know. But I know that the spot
+was lovely for a head-on collision. Punchers riding south would turn the
+corner of the chaparral and run into the war party before they knowed
+it. And I didn't see The Orphant's body laying around all full of arrows,
+neither."
+
+Sneed's rage was pathetic. He almost frothed, and tears stood in his
+blood-shot eyes. His neck and his face were red as fire and the veins
+of his neck and forehead stood out like whip-cords, while his face
+worked convulsively. He was incapable of coherent speech, his words being
+unintelligible growls, a series of snarls, and he could only pace back
+and forth, waving his arms and cursing wildly.
+
+Shields glanced about the ranch and gave a few orders, his men executing
+them without delay. One man was to keep guard in the bunk house while
+Sneed and his woe-begone men slept. The sheriff and Charley rode away
+toward the north to begin the search for the outlaw; and there was to
+be no quarter asked or given if his deputies had anything to do with it.
+
+The remaining deputy busied himself about the ranch in executing a
+plan the sheriff had thought out, and his actions were peculiar. First
+selecting a position from which a man could command an extensive view of
+the premises, he began to pace off distances in all directions. The
+place was about eight hundred yards west of the ranch house and bunk
+house, and formed one angle of a triangle with them; and from it it was
+possible to look in through the windows of both of them. Anyone passing
+within good rifle range of either house would show up against the lights
+in the windows; and if a man had been covered over with sand on that
+particular outlying angle, he could pick off the intruder without being
+seen. The Orphan was due to meet with a surprise if he paid his regular
+visit the coming night.
+
+The deputy, after completing his work to his satisfaction found three more
+positions where they respectively commanded the corrals, the wagons and
+the rear of the bunk house. Then he paced more distances and was careful
+that bulky objects interposed in the direct lines between the positions,
+this latter precaution being to make it impossible for the deputies to
+shoot each other. This done, he went into the house and consulted with
+his companion in arms, laughing immoderately about the joke they would
+play on the marauder.
+
+While Shields and Charley vainly searched the plain and while the
+deputy paced and thought and paced, and while Sneed and his exhausted
+cow-punchers slept as if in death, safely under guard, two men were
+riding along the Ford's Station Sagetown Trail well to the east of the
+Backbone, chatting amicably and smoking the same brand of tobacco. One of
+them sat high up in the air on the seat of a stage coach, from where he
+overlooked his six-horse team. His face was wreathed in grins and his
+expression was one of beatific contentment. The other cantered alongside
+on a dirty brown horse which had a white stocking on the near front
+foot, keeping close watch of the surrounding plain, his mind active and
+alert.
+
+Bill Howland laughed suddenly and slapped his thigh with enthusiasm:
+"Say, Orphant," he cried, "you are shore raising h--l with that Cross
+Bar-8 gang! You has got them so tangled up and miserable that they don't
+know where they are! If their brains was money they'd have to chalk up
+their drinks. They're about as dangerous as ossified prairie dogs.
+They remind me of the feller who kicked a rattlesnake to see if it was
+alive, and found out that it was. No, sir, they shore won't die of brain
+fever. Why, they ain't had any sleep for a week, have to work double
+hard, eat what they can cook in sieve tins, and can't say their soul's
+their own after dark. They could get rest if they quit working one
+day and all but one get plenty of sleep. Then the other feller could get
+his at night. But they don't know enough. Oh, it's rich: the whole
+blamed town is laughing at 'em fit to bust. It's the funniest thing
+ever happened in these parts since I've been out here."
+
+Then he suddenly paused: "Say, Sneed sent a puncher to town this morning.
+It was that brass-headed, flat-faced Bucknell, what you tied up by the
+canyon. He begged the sheriff to swear in a dozen bad men and come out and
+protect his foreman and the rest of the outfit. And the pin-headed wart
+went and blabbed the whole thing right in front of the Taggert's saloon
+crowd, and he shore had to blow, all right. He shore did, and that gang's
+always thirsty."
+
+The horseman flecked the ashes from his cigarette and smiled: "Well?" he
+asked, looking up.
+
+"So Shields took Charley Winter and the two Larkin boys and went out
+to the ranch right after the puncher went back. So you want to go easy
+to-night or you'll touch off some unexpected fireworks and such. Shields
+and his men will stay out there for several days and nights. That'll
+give the crazy hens a chance to rest up a bit nights. But you be blamed
+careful about them pinwheels and skyrockets or you'll get burned some.
+Now, don't you even remember that _I_ told you about it. I wouldn't-a
+said nothing at all, seeing as it ain't none of my business, only you
+went and got me out of a tight place, and Bill Howland don't forget a
+favor, no siree! You gave me a square deal and a ace full on kings with
+them animated paint shops, and I'll give you a lift every time I can.
+It wouldn't be a bad scheme to watch for me once in a while--I might have
+some news for you."
+
+Bill's offer, plain as it was that he wished to help, not only because
+he was in debt to the outlaw, but also because he wished to have safe
+trips, touched the horseman deeply. Never in his life had The Orphan
+been offered a helping hand from a stranger; all he could hope for was
+to get the drop first. He rode on silently, buried in thought, and then,
+suddenly flipping his cigarette at a cactus, raised his head and looked
+full at the man above him.
+
+"You play square with me, Bill, and I'll take care of you," he replied.
+"The less you say, the less apt you are to put your foot in it. I'll
+hold my mouth about your information, for if Shields knew what you've
+just said he'd play a tune for you to dance to. The Cross Bar-8 would
+shoot you before a day passed. Any time you have news for me, tie your
+kerchief to that cactus," pointing to an exceptionally tall plant close
+at hand. "Do it on your outward trip. If I see it in time I'll meet you
+somewhere on the Sagetown end of the trail on your return. I'm going
+back now, so by-by."
+
+"So long, and good luck," replied Bill heartily. "I'll do the handkerchief
+game, all right. Be some cautious about the way you buzz around that
+stacked deck of a Cross Bar-8 for the next few days."
+
+The Orphan wheeled and cantered back, making a detour to the south, for
+he had a plan to develop and did not wish to be interrupted by meeting
+any more hunting parties. Bill lashed his team and rolled on his way to
+Sagetown, a happy smile illuminating his countenance.
+
+"They can't beat us, bronchs," he cried to his team. "Me and The Orphant
+can lick the whole blasted territory, you bet we can!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+THE ORPHAN PAYS TWO CALLS
+
+
+Shortly after nightfall a rider cantered along the stage route, fording
+the Limping Water and rode toward the town, whose few lights were bunched
+together as if for protection against the spirits of the night. He
+soon passed the scattered corrals on the outskirts of Ford's Station
+and, slowing to a walk, went carelessly past the row of saloons and the
+general store and approached a neat, small house some two hundred yards
+west of the stage office. He appeared careless as to being seen; in fact
+a casual observer would have thought him to be some cowboy who was
+familiar with the town and who feared the recognition of no man. But while
+he had no fear, he was alert; under his affected nonchalance nerves
+were set for instant action. He was in the heart of the enemy's country,
+in the crude stronghold of the Law, and if anything hostile to him
+occurred it would happen quickly. And he was familiar with the town,
+because he had on more than one occasion ridden through and explored it,
+but never before at such an early hour.
+
+Arriving at his destination he dismounted and, leaving his horse
+unrestrained by rope or strap, walked boldly up to the door of the
+sheriff's house and knocked. Soon he heard footsteps within and the
+door opened wide, revealing him standing hat in hand and smiling.
+
+"Good evening, ma'am," he said uneasily.
+
+The sheriff's wife stepped aside and the light fell full on his face.
+For an instant she was at a loss, and then the fresh scar on his forehead
+and her husband's good description came to her aid. She gasped and
+stepped back involuntarily, astonished at his daring. Her act allowed
+her companions to see him and the effect was marked. Miss Ritchie sat
+upright in expectation, her face beaming, for this was as romantic and
+unexpected as she could wish. Mary gasped and dropped her hands to her
+side, not knowing what to do or say, while Helen slowly laid her work
+aside and leaned forward slightly, regarding him intently, a curious
+expression on her face.
+
+"I only called to ask how the ladies were," he continued slowly, turning
+his hat in his hands, apparently not noticing Mrs. Shields' surprise.
+"I was afraid they might have--that their recent experience might have
+bothered them some."
+
+Evidently it was to be only a social call, and Mrs. Shields owed something
+to this fair-minded and chivalrous man. She smiled kindly, remembering
+that the caller was rather well thought of by her husband--he was not a
+man for women to fear, whatever else he might be.
+
+"It is very kind of you," she replied. "Won't you come in?" she asked from
+the habit of politeness, hardly expecting that he would do so.
+
+"Thank you, I will be glad to for a minute," he responded, slowly stepping
+into the room, where he suddenly felt awkward and not at all comfortable.
+
+Helen picked up her work to fasten a thread, and he found himself
+marveling at the cleverness of her fingers. Again laying the work
+aside, she arose to meet him, a mischievous twinkle in her dark eyes.
+It was so unusual to have been saved by an outlaw whom her brother had
+tried to capture, and still more unusual to have him dare to call on her
+in her brother's own house, especially after her sister's direct cut at
+the coach.
+
+"Won't you be seated?" she asked, indicating her own chair by the light
+and taking his hat. When the hat left him he suffered a loss, for he
+had nothing to twist and grip. He replied by dropping into the chair,
+not even seeing that it was out of range of the door as a compliment
+to his hostess. There was no sign of a weapon on him, his holster being
+empty; but his blue flannel shirt was unbuttoned, the opening hidden by
+his neck-kerchief. He had, however, only put his Colt there to have it
+out of sight, and not because he feared trouble. Habitual caution was
+responsible for the shirt being open, for he was not even sure that he
+would fight if trouble should come upon him, unless the women gave him
+a clear field.
+
+Helen drew a chair from the wall and seated herself in the semi-circle
+which faced him.
+
+"I am very glad that your wound has healed so nicely," she said with a
+smile. "We are very sorry that you were hurt in our defense."
+
+"Oh, it wasn't anything," he quickly replied, smiling deprecatingly. "You
+fixed it up so nice that it didn't bother me at all--didn't hurt a bit."
+
+"I am glad it was no worse," she replied, looking around the circle.
+"Grace, Mary, you surely remember Mr.--Mr.----"
+
+"Please call me by the name you know me by--The Orphan," smiling broadly.
+"I've almost forgotten that I ever had any other name."
+
+"Mr. Orphan--how funny it sounds," she laughed. "It's most original.
+Margaret, this is the gentleman to whom we certainly owe our lives. Oh! I
+know you don't like to be reminded of it," she went on, answering his
+deprecatory gesture, "no doubt you are accustomed to that sort of thing
+out here, but in the East such an experience does not often occur."
+
+"I am glad indeed to know and thank you," said Mrs. Shields, impulsively
+extending her hand. "Your bravery has put me still deeper in your
+debt. My husband--" her feelings overcame her as she realized that this
+was the man who had spared to her that husband, her laughing, burly,
+broad-shouldered, big-hearted king of men. Was it possible that this
+handsome, confident stripling was his peer?
+
+Helen relieved the tension: "Mr. Orphan, this is Miss Ritchie, the same
+Miss Ritchie who was so badly frightened when she first met you. Perhaps
+you'll remember it. And this----"
+
+"I wasn't! I wasn't one bit frightened!" declared Miss Ritchie hotly, to
+The Orphan's great enjoyment.
+
+"Now, Grace, don't fib--you can't deny it. And this is my sister who was
+mean enough to keep her senses when I didn't. We thought highly of you
+then, but even more so now. You see, my brother has been talking about
+you, he takes a keen interest in you, Mr. Orphan--I declare I can't help
+laughing at that name, it sounds so funny; but you will forgive me, won't
+you? I knew you would. Well, James has been saying nice things about you,
+and so you see we know you better now. He likes you real well, as well
+as you will let him, and I'm awful sorry that he is not at home," she
+dared, her eyes flashing with delight. "I am sure he would like to meet
+you very much; in fact he has said as much. Oh, he speaks of you quite
+often."
+
+The caller flushed, but he was determined to let them think him perfectly
+at ease.
+
+"I am glad that he remembers me," he responded gravely. "I have only
+met him once, but I thought he was rather glad to see me. We had a very
+enjoyable time together and I found him very pleasant." He was forced
+to smile as he recalled the six Apaches in the sheriff's rear.
+
+"Helen was just saying what awful risks her brother ran," Miss Ritchie
+remarked, intently studying the rugged face before her. "But then, he's
+a man. If I was a man, I wouldn't be afraid of them!"
+
+"My, how brave you are, Grace," laughed Mrs. Shields. "I heard quite to
+the contrary about the stage ride."
+
+"Goodness, Margaret!" retorted Miss Ritchie, up in arms at the remark.
+"You would have been afraid in that old coach if you had been banged about
+in it as I was. The noise was terrible, and that awful driver!"
+
+The caller smiled at her spirit and then replied to her, serious at once.
+
+"Well, he does take chances," he said. "But for that matter every man
+out in this country has to run risks. Now, I've taken some myself," he
+added, smiling quizzically. "But, you know, we get used to them after a
+while--we get used to everything but hunger and thirst--and life. I've
+even gotten used to being lonesome, and I find that it really isn't so bad
+after all. And then, you know, lonesomeness does have its advantages at
+times, for it certainly promotes peace, and the cartridges that it saves
+are worth considerable. But it took me several years before I could accept
+it in that light with any degree of ease."
+
+Helen laughed merrily, for she most of all appreciated this outcast's
+humor, and she liked him better the more he talked.
+
+"Yes, in time I suppose one does become accustomed to danger," she
+replied, "although I'll be frank enough to admit that I don't believe
+I could," glancing at her friend. "You risked much by coming here
+to-night--just suppose that you had called last night!"
+
+"The danger was only from a chance recognition in the street," he replied,
+smiling, "and it would have been equally dangerous for the man who
+recognized me, and perhaps more so, since I was on the lookout--that
+balances. I would be the last man anyone would expect to be in Ford's
+Station at this time, and once free of the town, I could elude the
+pursuers in the dark. And as for the sheriff, I knew that he was not
+at home to-night, and, had he been so, I doubt if it would have stayed
+me, for he is fair and square, and an unarmed man is safe with him in
+his own house. He understands what a truce means, and we had one before."
+
+Mrs. Shields smiled at him in such warmth that he thanked his stars that
+he had played fair out by the bowlder.
+
+"He told us of that!" Helen exclaimed, laughingly. "It was splendid of
+you, both of you. And, do you know, I liked you much better for it. And
+I wanted to meet you again and talk with you; I'm dreadfully curious."
+
+"Helen!" reproved her sister, and, turning from the girl to him, she tried
+to explain away her sister's boldness. "You must excuse Helen, Mr.--Mr.
+Orphan, because she is not a day older than she was five years ago."
+
+"Why, Mary!" cried Helen, reproachfully, "how can you say that? Just the
+other day you said that I was quite grown up and dignified. I am sure that
+Mr.--oh, goodness, there's that name again!" she bewailed. "Why don't you
+get another name--that one sounds so funny!"
+
+The Orphan laughed: "I am not responsible for the name, I had no hand in
+it. But, let's see what we can do," he said, counting on his fingers.
+"There's Smith, Brown, Jones--Jones sounds well, why not say it?" he asked
+gravely. "I am sure that's easier to say and remember."
+
+"Yes, that _is_ better!" she cried. "Let's see," she said, experimenting.
+"Mr. Jones, Mr. Jones--oh, pshaw, I like the other much better. I trust
+that I'll get accustomed to it in time, and I certainly should, because I
+hear it enough; only then it hasn't that formal Mister before it. And it
+is the Mister that causes all the trouble. Now, I'll try it again: I'm
+sure that The Orphan (I said that real nicely, didn't I?) I'm sure that
+The Orphan doesn't think me lacking in dignity, does he?" she asked,
+regarding him merrily, and with a dare in her eyes.
+
+"Well, now really," he began, and then, seeing the look of warning in her
+face, he laughed softly. "Why, really, I think that you must be much more
+dignified than you were five years ago."
+
+"That's such a neat evasion that I hardly know whether to be angry or
+not," she retorted, and then turned to Miss Ritchie, who was smiling.
+
+"Grace," she cried, "for goodness sake, say something! You don't want me
+to do all the talking, do you?" and before her friend could say a word
+she began a new attack, her eyes sparkling at the fun she was having.
+
+"What have you done since I told you to behave yourself?" she asked,
+assuming a judicial seriousness which was extremely comical.
+
+He laughed heartily, for she was so droll, her eyes flashing so with
+vivacity, and so rarely beautiful that he breathed deep in unconscious
+effort to absorb some of the atmosphere she had created. And he was not
+alone in his mirth, for Helen's audacity had caused smiles to come to
+Miss Ritchie and Mrs. Shields, who were content to take no part in the
+conversation, and even Mary forgot to be serious.
+
+"Well, I haven't had time to do much," he replied in humble apology,
+"although I have been occupied in a desultory way on the Cross Bar-8 for
+a week, and before that I was quite busily engaged in traveling for my
+health. You see, this climate occasionally affects me, and I am forced
+to go south or west for a change of air. I was just starting out on my
+last trip when I first met you, and I have reason to believe that my
+promptness in leaving you saved me much annoyance. But I have cooked
+quite a few meals in the interim--and I've learned how mutton should be
+broiled, too. I'll have to confess, however, that I have been out late
+nights. But then, I'll have a better record to report next time, honest I
+will."
+
+Helen leveled an accusing finger at him: "You spoiled all the cooking
+utensils on that ranch, and you scared that poor cook so bad that he fled
+in terror of his life and left those poor, tired men to get all their
+own meals. Now, that was not right, do you see? The poor cook, he was
+almost frightened to death. I am almost ashamed of you; you will have
+to promise that you will not do anything like that again."
+
+"I promise, cross my heart," he replied eagerly, thinking of the five dead
+punchers she had been kind enough to overlook. "I solemnly promise never
+to scare that cook again," then seeing that she was about to object, he
+added, "nor any other cook."
+
+"And you'll promise not to spoil any more tins, or terrorize that poor
+outfit, or burn any more corrals, and everything like that?" she asked
+quickly, for she detected a trace of seriousness in his face and wished to
+drive home her advantage. If she could get a serious promise from him she
+would rest content, for she knew he would keep his word.
+
+He thought for an instant and then turned a smiling face to her. Seeing
+veiled entreaty in her eyes, he suddenly felt a quiet gladness steal over
+him. Perhaps she really cared about his welfare, after all, though he
+dared not hope for that. He grew serious, and when he spoke she knew that
+he had given his word.
+
+"I promise not to take the initiative in any warfare, nor to harass the
+Cross Bar-8 unless they force me to in self-defense," he replied.
+
+She hid her elation, for she had gained the point her brother had failed
+to win, and did not wish to risk anything by showing her feelings. As
+if to reward him for yielding to her, she led the conversation from the
+personal grounds it had assumed and cleverly got him to talk about the
+country and everything pertaining to it.
+
+He was thoroughly at ease now, and for an hour held them interested by
+his knowledge of the trails and the natural phenomena. He told them of
+cattle herding, its dangers and sports; and his description of a stampede
+was masterly. He recounted the struggles of the first settlers with
+the Indians, and even quite extensively covered the field of practical
+prospecting, lightening his story with naive bits of humor and witty
+personal opinions which had them laughing heartily. It was not long before
+they forgot that they were entertaining, or, rather, being entertained by
+an outlaw; and as for himself, it was the most pleasant evening he had
+ever known. There was such an air of friendliness and they were so natural
+and human that he was stimulated to his best efforts; the barriers had
+been broken down.
+
+"Oh, James says that you are a wonderful shot!" cried Helen, interrupting
+his description of a shooting match at a cowboy carnival he had once
+attended in a northern town. "He says that no man ever lived who could
+hope to beat you with either rifle or revolver, six-shooter, as he calls
+it. Won't you let me see you shoot, some day?"
+
+He laughed deprecatingly: "You ask the sheriff to shoot for you," he
+responded. "He can beat me, I'm sure."
+
+"No, he can't!" she cried impulsively, "because he said he couldn't. That
+was why he couldn't get you--" she stopped, horrified at what she had
+said. Then, determined to make the best of it, and knowing that excuses
+or apologies would make it worse, she hurriedly continued: "He says that
+you are so fair and square that he just will not take any advantage of
+you. He likes square people, and he isn't afraid to say it, either."
+
+The Orphan sat silently for half a minute, thinking hard, while Mrs.
+Shields looked anxiously at him. Here was peace and happiness. The
+sheriff could come and go as he pleased, and every good citizen was
+his friend. He had a home--a pleasant contrast to the man who spent his
+nights under the stars, not sure of his life from day to day, hounded
+from point to point, having no friend, no one who cared for him; he
+was just an outlaw, and damned by his fellow men. Then he remembered what
+Helen had said before leaving him at the coach. She had faith in him, for
+she had told him so--and she would not lie. Her kindness and faith in
+him, an outcast, had been with him in his thoughts ever since, and he had
+felt the loneliness of his life heavily from that day. He felt a strange
+gnawing at his heart and he slowly raised his eyes to her, eagerly
+drinking in her radiant beauty, a beauty wonderful to him, for never
+before had he seen a beautiful woman. To him women had always been
+repellent--and no wonder. He scorned those usually found in the cow
+towns. At their best they were only ornaments, and to The Orphan's
+mind ornaments were trash. But now he suddenly awoke to the fact that
+she was more, that she was all that was worth fighting for, that she
+was the missing half of his consciousness. And she herself had given him
+heart for the fight, slight as it was, for he was like a drowning man
+clutching at straws. But still his cynicism swayed him and made him
+fear that it would be a hopeless battle. Again he thought of her brother
+and suddenly envied him, and the liking he had felt for the sheriff
+became strong and clear. Shields was a white man, just and square.
+
+He slowly raised his eyes to Mrs. Shields and smiled, which caused her
+look of anxiety to clear.
+
+"The Sheriff is the whitest man in this whole country," he said quietly,
+a trace of his mood being in his voice, "and only for that did I play
+square with him. In confidence, just to let you know that I am not as
+bad as people say, I will tell you that I have had him under my sights
+more than once, and that I will never try to harm him while he remains
+the man he is. I do not exaggerate when I say that I am naturally a good
+judge of men, and I knew what he was in less than a minute after I met him.
+
+"At this minute he is watching for me, he and Charley Winter and the
+Larkin brothers. They are lying quietly out on the plain, waiting for
+me to show up between them and the lights of the windows. This is not
+guesswork, for I know it. And if it was only the sheriff, and I did show
+up over his sights, he would call out and give me a chance to surrender
+or fight, and not shoot me down like a dog; the others wouldn't. And
+because of my faith in his squareness, and because I above all others
+can fully appreciate it at its highest value, I am going to ask you to
+remember this, Mrs. Shields: If he ever needs a man to stand at his
+back, and I can be found, he has only to let me know. He is compromising
+himself with certain people because he has been fair to me, so please
+remember what I said. He is the sheriff, and he only does his duty,
+for which I cannot blame him. Bill Howland may be able to find me if
+trouble should come upon you and yours.
+
+"Others have hunted for me as if I was a cattle-killing wolf. They have
+tracked me and hounded me in gangs, determined to shoot me down at the
+first opportunity, and unawares, if possible. They have laid traps for
+me, tried to ambush me, and even stooped so low as to poison the water
+of a remote water hole with wolf poison--strychnine. They knew that I
+occasionally filled my canteen from it. Those who fight me foully I repay
+in kind--but never with poison! It is my wits and gunplay against theirs
+and against their cowardice and dirty tricks. When I fight, it is not
+because I want to, except in the case of Indians, but because I must.
+But your husband is a white man, madam, a thoroughbred. He stands so far
+above the rest of the men in this country that I have only respect and
+liking for him. Can you imagine the sheriff using poison to kill a man?
+
+"Once when I had finally found a good berth punching cows, once when I had
+started out aright, I was discovered. They didn't get me, though they
+tried to hard enough. And they call me a murderer because I declined to
+remain inactive while they prepared for my funeral! Ever since I was a
+lad of fifteen I have fought for my life at every turn, and continually.
+I have no friends, not a living soul cares whether I live or die. There is
+no one whom I can trust, and no one who trusts me. I have to be ever on
+the lookout, and suspicious. Every man is my enemy, and all I have is
+my life, worthless as it is. But pride will not let me lose it without
+making a fight.
+
+"I hope the time will come when you can see me shoot, Miss Shields, that
+the time will come when I can turn my back to my fellow men without
+fearing a shot. Only once have I done that--it was with your brother, and
+I enjoyed it immensely. And no one will welcome that day more devoutly
+than the outlawed Orphan--the many times murderer--but by necessity:
+for I never killed a man unless he was trying to kill me, and I never
+will. I know what is _said_, but what I say is the truth. I can only ask
+you to believe me, although I realize that I am asking much."
+
+He arose and walked over to his sombrero, taking it up and turning toward
+the door.
+
+"To-night is the first time in ten years that I have been in a stranger's
+house unarmed, and at ease. You have made the evening so pleasant for
+me, so delightfully strange, and you all have been so good to talk to me
+and treat me white that I find it impossible to thank you as I wish I
+could. Words are hopelessly inadequate, and more or less empty, but you
+will not lose by it," he said as he opened the door. "Good night, ladies."
+
+The door closed softly, quickly, and the women heard the cantering
+hoofbeats of his horse as they grew fainter and finally died out on the
+plain.
+
+His departure was seemingly unnoticed. They sat in silence for a minute
+or more, each lost in her own thoughts, each deeply affected by his
+words, staring before them and picturing each as her temperament
+guided, the hunted man's dangers and loneliness. Mrs. Shields sat as he
+had left her, her chin resting in her hand, seeing only two men in a
+chaparral, one of whom was the man she loved. She could hear the
+shooting and the war cries, she could see them meet, and clasp hands at
+the parting; and her heart filled with kindly pity for the outcast, a
+pity the others could not know. Helen, her face full in the light, her
+arms outstretched on the table before her and her eyes moist, wondered at
+the savage unkindness of men, the almost unbelievable harshness of
+man for man. Her head dropped to her arms, and her sister Mary, also
+under the spell, wondered at the expression she had seen on Helen's
+face. Miss Ritchie, who had scarcely given more than a passing thought
+to the sadness in his words, was picturing his fights, drinking in the
+dash and courage which had so exalted him in her mind. With all his
+loneliness, his danger, she almost envied him his devil-may-care, humorous
+recklessness and good fortune, his superb self-confidence and prowess.
+Here was a man who fought his own battles, who stood alone against the
+best the world sent against him, giving blow for blow, and always
+triumphing.
+
+Mrs. Shields stirred, glanced at Helen's bowed head and sighed:
+
+"Now I understand why James likes him so. Poor boy, I believe that if he
+had a chance he would be a different and better man. James is right; he
+always is."
+
+"I think he is just splendid!" cried Miss Ritchie with a start, emerging
+from her dreams of deeds of daring. "Simply splendid! Don't you Helen?"
+she asked impulsively.
+
+Helen arose and walked to the door of her room, turning her face toward
+the wall as she passed them: "Yes, dear," she replied. "Good night."
+
+"Oh, why are men so cruel!" she cried softly as she paused before her
+mirror. "Why must they fight and kill one another! It's awful!"
+
+The door had softly opened and closed and Miss Ritchie's arms were around
+her neck, hugging tightly.
+
+"It _is_ awful, dear," she said. "But they can't kill _him!_ They can't
+hurt him, so don't you care. Come on to bed--I have _so_ much to talk
+about! Don't put your hair up to-night, Helen--let's go right to bed!"
+
+Helen impulsively kissed her and pushed her away, her face flushed.
+
+"You dear, silly goose, do you think I am worrying about him? Why, I had
+forgotten him. I'm thinking about James."
+
+"Yes, of course you are," laughed Miss Ritchie. "I was only teasing you,
+dear. But it _is_ too bad that nobody cares anything about him, isn't it,
+Helen?"
+
+Tears trembled in Helen's eyes and she turned quickly toward the bed.
+"Well, it's his own fault--oh, don't talk to me, Grace! Poor James, all
+alone out there on that awful plain! I'm just as blue as I can be, so
+there!"
+
+"Have a good, long cry, dear," suggested Miss Ritchie. "It does one _so_
+much good," she added as she stepped before the mirror. "But I think he is
+just as splendid as he can be--I wish I was a man like him!"
+
+And while they played at pretending, the man who was uppermost in their
+thoughts was playing a joke on the sheriff at the Cross Bar-8 which would
+open that person's eyes wide in the morning.
+
+                .       .       .       .      .
+
+On the ranch the darkness was intense and no sounds save the natural
+noises of the night could be heard. The sky was overcast with clouds and
+occasionally a drop of rain fell. The haunting wail of a distant coyote
+quavered down the wind and the cattle in the corral were restless and
+uneasy. A mounted man suddenly topped a rise at a walk and then stopped
+to stare at the dim lights in the windows of the houses nearly a mile
+away. He laughed softly at the foolishness of the inmates trying to
+plot for _his_ death by doing something they had not dared to do for a
+week. Who would be so foolish as to ride up to those lighted windows
+unless he was a tenderfoot?
+
+Leaping lightly to the grass, he hobbled his horse and then took a bundle
+from his saddle, which he strapped on his back and then went quietly
+forward on foot, peering intently into the darkness before him. Soon he
+dropped to his hands and knees and crawled cautiously and without a
+sound. After covering several hundred yards in this manner he dropped
+to his stomach and wriggled forward, his eyes strained for dangers. A
+quarter of an hour elapsed, and then he heard a sneeze, muffled and
+indistinct, but still a sneeze. Avoiding the place from whence it came, he
+made a wide detour and finally stopped, chuckling silently. Untying
+the bundle he removed it from his back and placed it upon a pile of
+sand, which he heaped up for the purpose, and, printing his name in the
+sand at its base, retreated as he had come and without mishap. After
+searching for a quarter of an hour for his horse he finally found it,
+removed the hobbles and vaulted to the saddle. Wheeling, he rode off at
+a walk, soon changing to a canter, in the direction of the Limping
+Water. When he had gained it he chanced the danger of quicksands and rode
+north along the middle of the stream. If he was to be followed, the
+probability was that his pursuers would ride south to find where he had
+left the water; and they must be delayed as long as possible.
+
+An hour later daylight swiftly developed and a peculiarly shaped pile
+of sand quaked and split asunder as a man arose from it. He shook himself
+and spent some time in digging the sand from his pockets and boots and
+in cleaning his rifle of it. Then he walked wearily toward the bunk-house,
+whose occupants were still lost in the sleep of the exhausted. It was very
+tedious to stay awake all night peering at the lights in the distant
+windows; and it was very hard to keep one's eyes from closing when lying
+in that position, and without any sleep for twenty-four hours. The
+sheriff determined to crawl into a bunk as soon as he possibly could and
+be prepared for his next vigil.
+
+As he glanced over the plain he espied something which caused him to stare
+and rub his tired eyes, and which immediately banished sleep from his
+mind. Running to it, he suddenly stopped and swore: "Hell!" he shouted.
+
+His wife's blue flower pot sat snugly on the apex of a pile of sand and
+from it arose a geranium, which was tied to a supporting stick by a white
+ribbon. He had whittled that stick himself, and he knew the flower pot.
+Roughly traced in the sand at its base was one word--"Orphan."
+
+"Margaret's geranium in its blue pot, by God!" cried the sheriff, his
+mouth open in amazement. "Well, I'll be d----d!" he exclaimed, running
+toward the corral for his horse. "If that son-of-a-gun ain't been out
+here under my very nose while I watched for him!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+A VOICE FROM THE GALLERY
+
+
+Matters were fast coming to a head as far as the sheriff and the Cross
+Bar-8 were concerned. The loss of the five men who had won the friendship
+of their fellows, the reign of terror caused by the outlaw, the loss
+of their cook, the devastation and the extra work had only deepened the
+hatred which the members of the outfit held for The Orphan; and it went
+farther than The Orphan.
+
+Sneed was not long in learning what took place at the stage and of the
+driver's loyalty to the outlaw, because Bill would talk; and the working
+of his mind was the same as that of his men, for it followed the line of
+least resistance. Questions of the nature of arraignments, and which
+were answerable by the outfit in only one way, constantly presented
+themselves in the minds of the men. They asked themselves why it was
+that a man of the sheriff's proven courage, marksmanship and cleverness
+should fail to get the man who so terrorized the ranch. Why was the
+sheriff so apparently reluctant to take up the chase in earnest and push
+it to a finish? Why was he so firm against the assistance of the ranchmen?
+Why did he keep to his determination to allow no lynch law when the
+evil was so great and the danger so pressing? And he was prepared to go
+to great lengths to see that his orders were not disobeyed, as proven by
+the scene at the corral. Why could he not have overlooked one lynching
+party when property was being destroyed and lives in danger? And why had
+the outrages suddenly ceased when Shields took charge of the defense of
+the ranch?--there had been no molestation, not a shot had been fired,
+not a cow killed. And how was it that a flower pot, which Shields had
+admitted as belonging to his wife, had been placed at a point hardly two
+hundred yards in front of the peace officer as he lay on guard? It was
+true that it was out of line of him and the lights, but that could be
+explained by events. From whom did The Orphan learn of the trap set for
+him, and all of its details, even to the placing of the men, enabling him
+to avoid the eager deputies and choose the position occupied by the
+sheriff when he had so recklessly flaunted his contempt from a pile
+of sand?
+
+The cowboys were naturally enough warped and prejudiced because of
+their blind rage and hatred, and the questions which ran so riotously
+through their minds found their answers waiting for them; in fact, the
+answers induced the questions, and each recurrence gave them added
+weight until they ceased to be questions and became, in reality,
+statements of facts. Bill had talked too much when he had told in
+careful detail of the attentions shown The Orphan by the sheriff's
+sister; and to minds eager for confirmation of their suspicions this was
+the crowning proof of the double dealing of the sheriff. And to make
+matters worse, Tex Williard, who was as unscrupulous a man as ever wore
+the garb of honesty, had tried to force his attentions on Helen when
+she rode for exercise. His ideas of women had been developed among
+those who frequented frontier bar-rooms, and he was enraged at his
+rebuff, which had been sharp and final. She actually preferred a murdering
+outlaw to a hardworking cowboy! His profane oratory as to the collusion,
+or at least passive sympathy between the sheriff and the outlaw found
+eager ears and receptive minds awaiting the torch of initiative, and it
+was not long before low-voiced consultations began to plan a drastic
+course of action. Credit must be given to Sneed, because he knew only of
+the natural discontent and nothing of what was in the wind. Had he
+known what was brewing he would have stamped it out with no uncertain
+force, for he was wise enough to realize the folly of increasing the
+antagonism which already was held by Ford's Station for his ranch.
+
+At first the conspirators had hopes of undermining Shields among the
+citizens of the town, not knowing the feeling there as well as their
+foreman knew it, but they were wise enough to go about it cautiously;
+and the returns justified their caution, for they found the inhabitants
+of Ford's Station unassailably loyal to the peace officer. To accuse
+him, either directly or by suggestion, of double dealing would be to array
+the two score inhabitants of the town on his side in hot and belligerent
+partisanship, and this they wished to avoid by all means, for they had no
+stomach for such a war as might easily follow. They then hit upon what
+appeared to them to be an excellent plan, inasmuch as it was indirect and
+would give the results desired; and the medium was to be the driver.
+
+The talkative one had shown more than passing friendliness for The
+Orphan, and they had his boasting words for it and he could not deny it,
+for Bill was very proud of the part he had played on that memorable day,
+and he took delight in recounting the conversation he had held with the
+outfit at the coach--and he had a way of adding to the tartness of his
+repartee in its repetition. Tex Williard reasoned from experience that it
+would not appear at all strange and unusual for Bill to be called to
+account for his friendliness and assistance to the outlaw and for his
+contemptuous words concerning the cowboys if it was done by some member or
+members of the ranch as a personal affair and without the appearance
+of being sanctioned by the foreman. And through the driver he hoped to
+strike at Shields, for the sheriff would not remain passive in such an
+event; and once he was drawn into a brawl, hot tempers or accident
+would be the plea if he should be killed. The apologies and remorse of
+the sorrowful participants could be profound. And thus was cold-blooded
+murder planned by the very men who reviled The Orphan because they claimed
+he was a murderer, and who cried aloud for his death on that charge.
+
+Tex was the ringleader and in his own way he was not without cunning,
+and neither was he lacking in daring. He selected his assistants for the
+game with cool, calculating judgment. The three he finally decided upon
+were reckless and not lacking in intelligence and physical courage for
+such work. After having made his selection he sounded them carefully
+and finally made his plans known, going into minute rehearsal of every
+phase and detail of the game with thoughtful care and studied sequence.
+When he believed them to be well drilled he fixed upon the time and place
+and caused word to get to Bill that he might expect trouble for his
+assistance to The Orphan, and for having had a hand in sending the five
+cowboys to their deaths. The news immediately reached the ears of the
+sheriff, who determined to see that Bill received no injury at the hands
+of the Cross Bar-8. He quietly made up his mind to be near the stage
+route on the days when Bill drove through the defile of the Backbone,
+and to be within call if he should be needed. If he should think it
+necessary, he would even go so far as to become a regular passenger
+in the coach until the trouble died down. To the masterly driving and
+cool-headed courage of Bill no less than to the daring and accuracy of
+The Orphan was the sheriff indebted for the lives of his sisters; and
+the protection of Bill clove close to the line of duty, and not one
+whit less to the line of law and order.
+
+Bill laughed and boasted and made a joke of the thought of any danger
+from the malcontents of the Cross Bar-8, and flatly refused to allow the
+sheriff to ride with him. He talked volubly until the agent profanely
+sent him on his journey, and he tore through the streets of the town in
+the same old way. He forded the Limping Water in safety and crossed the
+ten mile stretch of open plain without a sign of trouble. As he left the
+water of the stream the sheriff started after him from town, intending to
+be not far behind him when he entered the rough country.
+
+When Bill plunged into the defile through the Backbone he began to grow a
+little apprehensive, and he intently watched each stretch of the road as
+each successive turn unfolded it to his sight. His foot was on the brakes
+and he was braced to stop the rush of his team at the first glimpse of an
+obstruction, or to tear past the danger if he could. One coyote yell and
+one snap of the whip would send the team wild, for they remembered well.
+
+All was nice until he neared the place where The Orphan had held him up
+for a smoke, and it was there the trouble occurred. As he swung around
+the sharp turn he saw four cowboys bunched squarely in the center of the
+trail and at such a distance from him that to attempt to dash past them
+would be to lay himself open to several shots. They had him covered, and
+as he grasped the situation Tex Williard rode forward and held up his hand.
+
+"Stop!" Tex shouted. "Get down!"
+
+"What in thunder do you want?" Bill asked, setting the brakes and stopping
+his team, wonder showing on his face.
+
+"Yu!" came the laconic reply. "Get down!"
+
+"What's eating you?" Bill asked in no uncertain inflection. Had Tex been
+less imperative and kept the insulting tone out of his words Bill might
+have had time to become afraid, but the sting made him leap over fear to
+anger; and genuine anger takes small heed of fear.
+
+Tex motioned to one of his men, who instantly leaped to the ground and
+ran to the turn, where he knelt behind a rock, his rifle covering the back
+trail. Then Tex returned to the driver.
+
+"Curiosity is eating me, yu half-breed!" he cried. "GET DOWN! d----n yu,
+GET DOWN!! Don't wait all day, neither, do yu hear? What th' h--l do yu
+think I'm a-talkin' for!"
+
+"Well, I'll be blamed!" ejaculated Bill, wrapping the reins about the
+back of his seat. "Anybody would think you was the boss of the earth to
+hear you! You ain't no road agent, you're only a fool amature with more
+gall than brains! But I'll tell you right here and now that if you _are_
+playing road agent, I wouldn't be in your fool boots for a cool million.
+And if you are joking you are showing d----d bad taste, and don't you
+forget it. You're holding up a sack of U. S. mail, and if you don't know
+what that means----"
+
+"Shut yore face! Yu talk when I ask yu to!" shouted Tex as the driver
+dropped to the ground. "But since yore so unholy strong on th' palaver,
+suppose yu just explains why yu are so all-fired friendly to Th' Orphant?
+Suppose yu lisp why yu take such a peculiar interest in his health and
+happiness. Come now, out with it--this ain't no Quaker meeting."
+
+"Warble, birdie, warble!" jeered one of the cowboys. "Sing, yu ---- ----!"
+
+"We're shore waitin', darlin'," jeered another. "Tune up an' get started,
+Windy."
+
+"Well, since you talks like that," cried Bill, stung to reckless fury at
+the cutting contempt of the words, "you can go to h--l and find out from
+your fool friends!" he shouted, beside himself with rage. "Who are you to
+stick me up and ask questions? It's none of your infernal business who
+I like, you hog-nosed tanks! Why didn't you bring some decent men with
+you, you flat-faced skunks? Why didn't you bring Sneed! White men would
+a told you just what you are if you asked them to help you in your dirty
+work, wouldn't they? Even a tin-horn gambler, a crooked cheat, would
+give me more show for my money than you have, you bowlegged coyotes!
+Ain't you man enough to turn the trick alone, Williard? Can't you play
+a lone hand in ambush, you bob-tailed flush of a bad man! You're only a
+lake-mouthed, red-headed wart of a two-by-four puncher, that's what----"
+
+Tex had been stunned by surprise at such an outburst from a man whom he
+had always regarded as woefully lacking in courage. Then his face flamed
+with an insane rage at the taunting insults hurled venomously at him and
+he sprang to action as though he had been struck. It would have been bad
+enough to hear such words from an equal, but from Bill!
+
+"Yu cur!" he yelled as he leaped forward into the tearing sting of the
+driver's whip, which had been hanging from the wrist.
+
+"You're the fourth dog I cut to-day," Bill said, jerking it back for
+another try.
+
+Tex shivered with pain as the lash cut through his ear, as it would have
+cut through paper, and screamed his words as he avoided the second blow.
+"I'll show yu if I am man enough! I'll kill yu for that, d----n yu!"
+
+As Tex threw his arms wide open to clinch, Bill leaped aside and drove
+his heavy fist into the cowman's face as he passed, knocking him sidewise
+against the wall of the defile; and then struggled like a madman in the
+toils of two ropes. He was a Berserker now, a maniac without a hope
+of life, and he screamed with rage as he tore frantically at the rough
+hair ropes, wishing only to destroy, to kill with his bare hands. The blow
+had not been well placed, being too high for the vital point, but it had
+smashed the puncher's nose flat to his face and one eye was fast losing
+its resemblance to the other. Tex staggered to his feet and returned
+to the attack, striking savagely at the face of the bound man. Bill
+avoided the blow by jerking his head aside and snarled like a beast
+as he drove the heel of his heavy boot into his enemy's stomach. Then
+everything grew black before his eyes and a roaring sound filled his
+ears. The rope slackened and the men who had thrown him head-first on a
+rock leaped from their horses and ran to him.
+
+When his senses returned he found himself bound hand and foot and under a
+spur of rock which projected from the bank of the cut. His face was cut
+and bruised and his scalp laid open, but through the blood which dripped
+from his eyebrows he vaguely saw Tex, bent double and rocking back and
+forth on the ground, intoned moans coming from him with a sound like that
+made by a rasp on the edge of a box.
+
+As Bill's brain cleared he became conscious of excruciating pains in
+his head, as if hammers were crashing against his skull. Glancing upward
+he saw that a rope ran from his neck to the rock, over it and then to
+the pommel of a saddle, and his face twitched as its meaning sifted
+through his mind. Then he thought of the time The Orphan had held him
+up in the defile--how unlike these men the outlaw was! If he would only
+come now--what joy there would be in the flashing of his gun; what ecstasy
+in the confusion, panic, rout that he would cause. He was dazed and
+the throbbing, heavy, monotonous pain dulled him still more. He seemed
+to be apart from his surroundings, to be an onlooker and not an actor
+in the game. He wondered if that whip was his: yes, it must be . . .
+certainly it was. He ought to know his own whip . . . of course it was
+his. He regarded Tex curiously . . . there had been Indians, or was it
+some other time? What was Tex doing there on the ground? He struggled to
+think clearly, and then he knew. But the deadening pain was merciful
+to him, it made him apathetic. Was he going to die? Perhaps, but what
+of it? He didn't care, for then that pain wouldn't beat through him. Tex
+looked funny. . . . He closed his eyes wearily and seemed to be far
+away. He _was_ far away, and, oh, so tired!
+
+Tex finally managed to gain his feet and straighten up and revealed his
+face, bloody and swollen and black from the blow. His words came with a
+hesitation which suggested pain, and they were mumbled between split and
+swollen lips.
+
+"Now, d----n yu!" he cried, brokenly, staggering to the helpless man
+before him. "Now mebby yu'll talk! Why did yu help Th' Orphant? If yu
+lie yu'll swing!"
+
+Bill swayed and his eyes opened, and after an interval he slowly and
+wearily made reply, for his senses had returned again.
+
+"He saved my life," he said, "and I'll help--anybody for that."
+
+"Oh, he did, did he?" jeered Tex. "An' why? That ain't his way, helpin'
+strangers at his own risk. Why?"
+
+"There was women--in the coach."
+
+"Oh, there was, hey?" ironically remarked Tex. "Mebby he wanted 'em all
+to himself, eh?"
+
+"He's a white man, not a cur."
+
+"He's a cub of th' devil, that's what he is!" Tex cried. "He ain't no
+orphant, not by a d----d sight--th' devil's his father, an' all hell is
+his mother. Now, I want an answer to this one, and I want it quick: no lie
+goes. Why don't th' sheriff get busy an' camp on his trail? What interest
+has th' sheriff an' Th' Orphant in each other? Come on, out with it!"
+
+"I don't know," replied Bill, wishing that the sheriff was at hand to make
+an appropriate answer. "Ask him, why don't you?" he asked, stretching his
+neck to ease the hairy, bristling clutch of the lariat.
+
+"Oh, yu don't, an' yore still cheeky, eh?" cried the inquisitor. "An' yu
+want yore d----d neck stretched, do yu?"
+
+He motioned to the man on the horse at the end of the rope and Bill
+straightened up and daylight showed under his heels. As he struggled there
+was an interruption from the man who covered the back trail: "'Nds up!"
+he cried. "Don't move!"
+
+Tex signalled for Bill to be let down and ran backward to the opposite
+side of the defile until he could see around the turn; and he discovered
+the sheriff, who sat quietly under the gun of the cowboy.
+
+"Stop! Don't yu even wiggle!" cried the guard. "I'll blow yore head off
+at the first move!" he added in warning; and for once in his eventful life
+Shields knew that he was absolutely helpless, for the time, at least.
+His hands were clasped over his sombrero, for it would be tiresome to hold
+them out, and he felt that he might have need of fresh, quick muscles
+before long.
+
+"All right, all right, bub," he responded in perfect good nature,
+apparently. "Don't get nervous and let that gun go off, for it's shore
+your turn now," he added, smiling his war smile. "Any particular thing you
+want, or are you just practicing a short cut to eternity?"
+
+"I want yu to stay just like yu are!" snapped the man with the drop. "And
+yu keep yore mouth shut, too!"
+
+"Since it's your last wish, why, it goes," replied the sheriff, ignoring
+the command for silence. "Got any message for your folks? Any keep-sakes
+you'd like to have sent back East? Give me the address of your folks and
+I'll send them your last words, too."
+
+"That's enough, Sheriff," said Tex, moving cautiously forward behind his
+leveled Colt. "I'll do all th' talkin' that's necessary; yu just listen
+for a while."
+
+"Well, well," replied the sheriff, grinning and simulating surprise. "If
+here ain't Tex Williard, too! What's your pet psalm, sonny? Good God,
+what a face!"
+
+"What's that got to do with this?" asked Tex, intently watching for war.
+
+"Oh, nothing, nothing at all," replied the sheriff. "But, Lord, that
+cayuse of yours can shore kick! Was you tickling it? They do go off like
+that some times. Any of your nose coming out the back of your head yet?
+But to reply to your touching inquiry, I'll say that the psalm might
+work in handy after while, that's all. If you'll only tell me, I'll see
+that it is sung over your grave. But, honest, how did you get that face?"
+
+"That'll just about do for yu!" cried the cowboy, angrily. "An' sit still,
+yu!" he added.
+
+"Say, bub," confidentially said Shields, "my stomach itches like blazes.
+Can't I scratch it, just once?"
+
+"No! Think I'm a fool!" yelled Tex, his finger tightening on the trigger.
+"Yu sit still, d----n yu!"
+
+"Well, I only wanted to see just how much of a fool you really are,"
+grinned the sheriff exasperatingly. "Judging from your present position
+I must say that I thought you didn't have any sense at all, but now I
+reckon you've got a few brains after all. But suppose you scratch it
+for me, hey? Just rub it easy like with your left paw."
+
+Tex swore luridly, too tense to realize what a fool the sheriff was making
+of him. He could think of only one thing at a time, and he was thinking
+very hard about the sheriff's hands.
+
+"Tut, tut, don't take it so hard," jeered the sheriff, smiling pleasantly.
+"Now that I know that you are some rational, suppose you tell me the joke?
+What's the secret? Who skinned his shin? What in thunder is all this
+artillery saluting me for?"
+
+"Since yu want to know, I'll tell yu, all right," replied Tex. "Why are yu
+an' Th' Orphant so d----d thick? Don't be all day about it?"
+
+"You d----d excuse!" responded the sheriff. "You mere accident! As the
+poet said, it's none of your business! Catch that?"
+
+"Yes, I caught it," retorted Tex. "I reckon we needs a new sheriff, an'
+d----d soon, too," he added venomously.
+
+"Well, people don't always get what they need," replied Shields easily.
+"If they did, you would get yours right now, and good and hard, too," he
+explained, making ready to put up the hardest fight of his life. Three
+men had him covered, and he knew they would all shoot if he made a move,
+for they had placed themselves in a desperate situation and could not back
+out now. He knew that never before had he been in so tight a hole, but he
+trusted to luck and his own quickness to crawl out with a whole skin. If
+he was killed, he would have company across the Great Divide; of that
+he was certain.
+
+"I reckon I'll take yore guns for a while, just to be doin' somethin',"
+Tex said as he advanced a step. "Mebby that itch will go away then."
+
+"I reckon you'll be a d----n sight wiser if you don't force matters, for
+they are purty well forced now," Shields replied. "No man gets my guns'
+butts first without getting all mussed up inside. You'll certainly be
+doing something if you try it."
+
+"Well, then," compromised Tex, "answer my question!"
+
+"And no man gets an answer to a question like that in words," the sheriff
+continued, as if there had been no interruption. "But I'll give you and
+your white-faced bums a chance for your lives--and I don't wonder The
+Orphan shot up Jimmy, neither. Put up your wobbling guns and get out of
+this country as fast as God will let you! If you ever come back I'll fill
+you plumb full of lead! It's your move, Lovely Face, and the quicker you
+do it the better it'll be for your health."
+
+[Illustration: "'The less you count the longer you'll live!' said Shields"
+(See page 192.)]
+
+"Oh, I don't know about that," replied Tex with a leer and swagger. "To a
+man up a tree it looks like yu are up agin a buzz saw this time."
+
+"To a man on the ground it looks like your tin buzz saw has hit the
+hardest knot it ever struck, and you'll feel the jar purty soon, too,"
+Shields countered, his hazel eyes beginning to grow red. "You put up that
+gun and scoot before I blow your d----d head off!"
+
+"I'll give yu 'til I counts three to answer my question," Tex said,
+ignoring the advice. "One!"
+
+"The less you count the longer you'll live," said Shields, gripping his
+horse with his knees in readiness to jump it sideways.
+
+"Two!"
+
+"Afternoon, gents," said a pleasant voice up above them, and all jumped
+and looked up. As they did so Shields jerked his guns loose and laughed
+softly: "That itch has plumb gone away," he said. "It's a new deal," he
+exulted, his face wreathed in grins.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+A NEW DEAL ALL AROUND
+
+
+On the edge of the bank, thirty feet above them, a man squatted on his
+heels, his forearms resting easily on his knees. In each hand was a
+long-barreled Colt, held in a manner oppressively businesslike. One of
+the guns was leveled at the stomach of the man who guarded Bill, and
+who still held the rope; the other covered the man who had baited the
+sheriff. Shields took care of the remaining two. One of the newcomer's
+eyes was half closed, squinting to keep out the smoke which curled up
+from the cigarette which protruded jauntily from a corner of his mouth.
+If anything was needed to strengthen the air of pertness of the man
+above it was supplied by his sombrero, which sat rakishly over one
+ear. A quizzical grin flickered across his face and the cigarette bobbed
+recklessly when he laughed.
+
+"Was you counting?" he asked of Tex in anxious inquiry. "And for God's
+sake, who stepped on your face?"
+
+Tex made no reply, for his astonishment at the interruption had given way
+to the iron hand of fear which gripped him almost to suffocation. In
+the space of one breath he had been hurled from the mastery to defeat;
+from a good fighting chance, with all the odds on his side, to what
+he believed to be certain death, for to move was to die. Had it been
+anyone but The Orphan who had turned the scale he would have hazarded a
+shot and trusted to luck, for his gun was in his hand; but The Orphan's
+gunplay was as swift as light and never missed at that distance, and
+The Orphan's reputation was a host in itself. He had threatened the
+sheriff with death, he had used Bill worse than he would have used a
+dog, and now his cup of bitterness was full to overflowing. Above him a
+pair of cruel gray eyes looked over a sight into his very soul and a
+malevolent grin played about the thin, straight lips of the man who
+had killed Jimmy, who had led his five friends to an awful death, and
+who had instilled terror night after night into the hearts of seven good
+men. His mind leaped back to a day ten years before, and what he saw
+caused his face to blanch. Ten years of immunity, but at last he was to
+pay for his crime. Before him stood the son of the man he had been
+foremost in hanging, before him stood the man he had cruelly wronged.
+His nerve left him and he stood a broken, trembling coward, a living lie
+to the occupation he had made his own, an insult to his dress and his
+companions. Had he by some miracle been given the drop he could not
+have pulled the trigger. He now had no hope for mercy where he had
+denied it. He had played a good hand, but he had made no allowance for
+the joker, and no blame to him.
+
+No sooner had The Orphan spoken and the sheriff discovered that he had
+things safely in his hands, than Shields had leaped to the ground and
+quickly disarmed his opponents, tossing the captured weapons to the top
+of the bank near the outlaw. Then he folded his arms and waited, laughing
+silently all the while.
+
+As soon as Shields had disposed of the last gun, The Orphan gave his whole
+attention to the man who was guarding Bill, and that person changed the
+course of his hand just in time.
+
+"No, I wouldn't try to use that gun, neither, if I was you," The Orphan
+said, still smiling. "You can just toss it up on the bank over your
+head--that's right. Now drop that rope--I'm surprised that you didn't
+do it before. When you get Bill all untangled from those fixings come
+right around here, where I can see how nice you all look in a bunch.
+It'll take you one whole minute to get out of sight around that turn, so I
+wouldn't try any running."
+
+The Orphan was ignorant of the condition of Bill's face, since he had only
+seen the driver's back as he had crawled to the edge of the bank, and now
+the bend in the opposite wall just hid Bill from his sight. So he gave
+no great attention to the driver, but turned to the sheriff and laughed.
+
+"I knew that you would pull through, Sheriff," he said, "but I couldn't
+help having a surprise party; I'm a whole lot fond of surprise parties,
+you know. And it's shore been a howling success, all right."
+
+"You have a very pleasant way of making yourself useful," Shields
+replied. "From the holes you've pulled me out of within the past six
+weeks you must have a poor impression of me. But seeing that you have
+reason to laugh at me, I accept your apology and bid you welcome. It's
+all yours." Then he glanced quickly up the trail and his face went red
+with anger. "Hell!" he cried in amazement.
+
+The Orphan looked in the direction indicated and he leaped to his feet
+in sudden anger at what he saw. A man, followed by a cowboy, staggered
+and stumbled drunkenly along the trail toward them, his face a mass of
+cuts and bruises and blood. His hair was matted with blood and dirt, and a
+red ring showed around his neck. His hands opened and shut convulsively
+and he made straight as he could for Tex, who shrank back involuntarily.
+
+"My God! It's Bill!" cried The Orphan, hardly able to believe his eyes.
+
+"You're the cur _I_ want!" Bill muttered brokenly to Tex, straightening up
+and becoming rapidly steadier under the stimulus of his rage. "You're the
+---- _I_ want, d----n you!" he repeated as he slowly advanced. "It's my
+turn now, you cur! Lynch me, would you? Lynch me, eh? Tried to hit me when
+I was tied, eh? Sicked your dogs on me, eh? Keep still, d----n you--you
+can't get away!" he cried as Tex moved backward.
+
+"Stand to it like a man, or I'll blow your head off!" cried The Orphan
+from his perch. "Go on, Bill!"
+
+"You said you wanted me, didn't you? Do you still want me?" he asked, not
+hearing The Orphan's words. "Are you still curious?" he asked, backing
+Tex into a corner.
+
+"Hash him up, Bill!" cried the man above, and then, "Hey, wait a minute--I
+want to see this," he added as he slid down the bank. "Go ahead with the
+slaughter--push his head off!"
+
+Bill's one hundred and eighty pounds of muscle and rage suddenly hurled
+itself forward behind a huge fist and Tex hit the bank and careened into
+the dust of the trail, unconscious before he had moved.
+
+"I told you you wasn't man enough to play a lone hand!" yelled the driver
+as he leaped after his victim. But he was stopped by the sheriff, who
+sprang forward and deflected him from his course.
+
+"That's enough--no killing!" Shields cried, regaining his balance and
+swiftly interposing himself between the driver and Tex.
+
+Bill didn't hear him, for he had just caught sight of the man who had told
+him to warble, and he lost no time in getting to him. A few quick blows
+and the enraged driver left his second victim face down in the dirt and
+passed on to the man who had held the rope.
+
+"Hurrah for Bill!" yelled The Orphan, hopping first on one foot and
+then on the other in his joy. "Set 'em up in the other alley! I didn't
+know you had it in you, Bill! Good boy!" he shouted as Bill clinched with
+the third cowboy. "Oh, that was a beauty! Right on the nose--oh, what
+a whopper to get on the jaw! Whoop her up! Fine, fine!" he laughed as
+Bill dropped his man. "'And subsequent proceedings interested _him_
+no more!' Next!" he cried as Bill wheeled on the last of the group. "Eat
+him up, Bill!--that's the way! Just above the belt for his--Good! All
+down!" he yelled madly as Bill, drawing his arm back from the stomach of
+the falling puncher, sent a swift uppercut hissing to the jaw. "You
+lifted him five feet, Bill," The Orphan exulted as Bill wheeled for more
+worlds to conquer.
+
+"Where's the rest of the gang?" savagely yelled the driver, looking twice
+at The Orphan before he was sure of his identity. "Where's the rest of
+'em?" he shouted again, running around the bend in hot search. "Come
+out and fight, you cowards!" they heard him cry, and straightway the
+outlaw and the guardian of the law clung to each other for support as
+they cried with joy.
+
+As Bill hurried back to the field of carnage one of his victims was
+mechanically striving to gain his hands and knees, to go down in a
+quivering heap by a blow from the insane victor. As Bill drew back
+his foot to finish his work, Shields broke from his companion and leaped
+forward just in time to hurl Bill back several steps. "D----n you!"
+he cried, standing over the prostrate figure, "If you hit another man
+while he's down I'll trim you right! Cool down and get some sense before
+I punch it into you!"
+
+The Orphan, leaning limply against the bank of the defile, was making
+foolish motions with his hands, which still held the Colts, and was
+babbling idiotically, tears of laughter streaming down his face and
+dripping from his chin. His eyes were closed and he was bent over, rocking
+to and fro against the wall.
+
+"Oh, Lord!" he sobbed senselessly. "Oh, Lord, oh, Lord! Let me die in
+peace! Take him away, take him away! Let me die in peace!"
+
+"I'm a fine sight to hit Sagetown, ain't I?" yelled Bill, keeping keen
+watch on the four prostrate punchers. "They'll think I was licked!
+They'll point to my face and head and swear that some papoose kicked
+the stuffing outen me! That's what they'll do! But I'll show them, all
+right! I'll just take my game with me and prove that I am the best man,
+that's what I'll do! I'll pile 'em in the coach and lug 'em with me!"
+grabbing, as he finished, one of the men by the foot and dragging him
+toward the stage. It took The Orphan and Shields several strenuous
+minutes to dissuade him from his purpose. Shields placed his fingers on
+the bones of Bill's hand in a peculiar grip, and the driver loosened
+his hold without loss of time.
+
+"You go back to town and get fixed up," ordered the sheriff. "I'll take
+your team out of this and turn them around, and then come back for you.
+Charley can make the trip if you can't. I would do it myself, only I've
+got to tell Sneed that he's shy four more men."
+
+"I'll turn 'em around myself--I ain't hurt," asserted Bill with decision.
+"And when I get patched up I'll make the trip, Pop Westley or no Pop
+Westley. And I'll lick the whole blamed town, too, if they get fresh
+about my face! I'm a fighter from Fightersville, I am! I'm a man-eating
+bad-man, I am! I can lick anything that ever walked on hind legs, I can!"
+and he glared as if anxious to prove his words.
+
+After the cowboys regained consciousness and got so they could stand, the
+sheriff lined them up with their backs to the wall and gave them the guns
+which The Orphan had obtained for him. The outlaw held them covered while
+the sheriff told them what they were, and he wound up his lecture with
+instructions and a warning.
+
+"Get out of this country and don't never come back!" he told them. "I
+don't care where you go, so long as you go right now. If you even show
+your faces in these parts again I'll shoot first and talk after."
+
+"Same here!" endorsed The Orphan, frowning down his desire to laugh at
+the wrecks in front of him.
+
+"I'll kill you next time!" shouted Bill, prancing uneasily.
+
+"The cayuses are yours," continued the sheriff. "I'll settle with Sneed if
+he has the gall to ask about them. Now git!"
+
+Tex stared first at the sheriff and then at The Orphan and Bill as if
+doubting his ears. He was ten years nearer the grave than he had been
+before The Orphan had interrupted his counting. In less than half an hour
+he had gone through hell, and now he suddenly burst into tears from the
+reaction and staggered to his horse, which he finally managed to mount, a
+nervous wreck. "Oh, God!" he moaned, "Oh, God!"
+
+The others stared at him in amazement until he had turned the bend, and
+then his companions slowly followed him and were lost to sight.
+
+"D----n near dead from fright!" ejaculated the sheriff. "I never saw
+anybody go to pieces so bad!"
+
+"He shore lost his nerve all right, all right," responded The Orphan.
+Then he turned to where Bill stood looking after them: "Bill, you're all
+right--you can fight like h--l!"
+
+Bill slowly turned and grinned through the blood: "Oh, that wasn't
+nothing--you should oughter see me when I get real mad!"
+
+                .       .       .       .      .
+
+Two men rode side by side after a lurching coach on their way toward the
+Limping Water, both buried in thought at what the driver had told them.
+As they emerged from the defile and left the Backbone behind, the elder
+looked keenly, almost affectionately, at his companion and placed a kindly
+hand on the shoulder of the man who had turned the balance, breaking the
+long silence.
+
+"Son, why don't you get a job punching cows, or something, and quit your
+d----d foolishness?" he bluntly asked.
+
+The younger man thought for a space, and a woman's words directed his
+reply:
+
+"I've thought of that, and I'd like to do it," he said earnestly. "But,
+pshaw, who will give me a try in this country?" he asked bitterly. Then
+he added softly: "And I won't leave these parts, not now."
+
+"You won't have to leave the country," replied the sheriff. "Why not try
+Blake, of the Star C?" he asked. "Blake is a shore square man, and he's a
+good friend of mine, too."
+
+"Yes, I reckon he is square," replied The Orphan. "But he won't take no
+stock in me, not a bit."
+
+"Tell him that you're a friend of mine, and that I sent you to punch for
+him, and see," responded Shields, examining his cinch.
+
+"Do you mean that, Sheriff?" the other cried in surprise.
+
+"Hell, yes!" answered Shields gruffly. "I'll give you a note to him, and
+if you watch your business you'll be his right-hand man in a month. I
+ain't making any mistake."
+
+"By God, I'll do it!" cried the outlaw. "You're all right, Sheriff!"
+
+"Well, I don't know about that," replied Shields, grinning broadly. "Mebby
+I just can't see the use of us shooting each other up, and that is what it
+will come to if things go on as they are, you know. I'd a blamed sight
+rather have you behaving yourself with Blake than bothering me with your
+fool nonsense and raising the devil all the time. Why, it's got so that
+every place I go I sort of looks for flower pots!"
+
+The Orphan laughed: "I shore had a fine time that night!"
+
+When half way to the Limping Water the sheriff said good-by to Bill and
+wheeled, facing in the direction of the Cross Bar-8.
+
+"Orphan, you wait for me at the ford," he said. "I'm going up to break the
+news to Sneed, and I'll get paper and pencil while I'm there, and write a
+note to Blake. I'll get back as quick as I can--so long."
+
+"So long, and good luck," replied The Orphan, heartily shaking hands with
+his new friend.
+
+Shields loped away and arrived at the ranch as Sneed was carrying water
+to the cook shack.
+
+"Hullo, Sneed! Playing cook?" he said, pulling in to a stop.
+
+"I'll play _on_ the cook if I ever get my hands on him," replied Sneed,
+setting the pail down. "Well, what's new? Seen Tex and the other three?
+I'll play on _them_, too, when they gets home! Off playing hookey from
+work when we all of us aches from double shifts--oh, just wait till I sees
+'em sneaking in to bed! Just wait!"
+
+"You ought to give 'em all a good thrashing, they need it," replied the
+sheriff, and then he asked: "Got any paper, and a pencil?" He wanted his
+needs supplied before he broke the news, for then he might not get them.
+
+"Shore as you live I have," answered the foreman, picking up the pail and
+starting toward the bunk-house. "Come in and wet the dust--it's hot out
+here."
+
+"Let me have the paper first--I want to scrawl a note before I forget
+about it," the sheriff responded as he seated himself on a bunk and looked
+critically about him at the bullet-riddled walls and pictures.
+
+Sneed handed him an ink bottle and placed a piece of wrapping paper and
+a corroded pen on the table.
+
+"That paper ain't for love letters, the ink is mud, and the pen's a
+brush, but I reckon you can make tracks, all right," the host remarked as
+he pushed a bench up to the table for his guest. "And if them punchers
+don't make tracks for home purty lively, I'll salt their hides and peg
+'em on the wall to cure," he grumbled, rummaging for a bottle and cup.
+When he placed the tin cup on the table he grinned foolishly, for it
+was plugged with a cork. "D----d outlaw!" he grunted.
+
+"There," remarked the sheriff, fanning the note in the air. "That's done,
+if it'll ever dry."
+
+"Blow on it," suggested Sneed, and then smiled.
+
+"Here, wait a minute," he said, stepping to the door, where he scooped up
+a handful of sand. "Throw this on it--it can't get no muddier, anyhow."
+
+Shields carefully folded the missive and tucked it in his hip pocket, and
+then he looked up at the foreman.
+
+"Sneed," he slowly began, "your punchers ain't never coming back."
+
+"What!" yelled the foreman, leaping to his feet, and having visions of
+his men being cut up by outlaws and Indians.
+
+"Nope," replied Shields with an air of finality. "Bill Howland gave them
+the most awful beating up that I ever saw men get, the whole four of
+them, too! When he got through with them I took a hand and ordered them to
+get out of the country, and I told them that if they ever came back I'd
+shoot on sight, and I will."
+
+Sneed's rage was pathetic, and was not induced by the beating his men
+had received, nor by the sheriff's orders, but because it left him only
+three men to work a ranch which needed twelve. As he listened to the
+sheriff's story he paced back and forth in the small room and swore
+luridly, kicking at everything in sight, except the sheriff. Then he
+cooled down, spread his feet far apart and stared at Shields.
+
+"Why didn't you kill 'em, the d----d fools?" he cried. "That's what
+they deserved!" Then he paused. "But what am I going to do?" he asked.
+"Where'll I get men, and what'll I do 'til I do get 'em?"
+
+"I'll send Charley and half a dozen of the boys out from town to stay
+with you 'til you get some others," replied the sheriff, walking toward
+the door. "And you might tell the three that are left that I'll kill the
+next man who tries that kind of work in this country. I'm getting good
+and tired of it. So long."
+
+Sneed didn't hear him, but sat with his head in his hands for several
+minutes after the sheriff had gone, swearing fluently.
+
+"Orphan h--l!" he yelled as he picked up the water pail and stamped to
+the cook shack.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+THE STAR C GIVES WELCOME
+
+
+The Limping Water, within a mile after it passed Ford's Station, turned
+abruptly and flowed almost due west for thirty miles, where it again
+proceeded southward. At the second bend stood the ranch houses and corrals
+of the Star C, in a country rich in grass and water. Its cows numbered
+far into the thousands and its horses were the best for miles around,
+while the whole ranch had an air of opulence and plenty. Its ranch
+house was a curiosity, for even now there were lace curtains in some of
+the windows, badly torn and soiled, but still lace curtains; and on the
+floors of several rooms were thick carpets, now covered with dust and
+riding paraphernalia. Oddly shaped and badly scratched chairs were
+piled high with accumulated trash, and the few gilt-framed paintings
+which graced the walls were hanging awry and were torn and scratched. At
+one time an Eastern woman had tried to live there, but that was when
+the owner of the ranch and his wife had been enthusiasts. New York
+regained and kept its own, and they now would rather receive quarterly
+reports by mail than daily reports in person. The foreman and his wolf
+hounds reigned supreme, not at all bothered by the stiff furniture and
+lace curtains, because he would rather be comfortable than stylish,
+and so lived in two rooms which he had fitted up to his ideas. Carpets and
+two-inch spurs cause profanity and ravelings, and as for pictures, they
+have a most annoying way of tilting when one hangs a six-shooter on
+one corner of the frame, and they are so inviting that one is constantly
+forgetting. So the unstable pictures, the dress-parade chairs, bothersome
+curtains and clutching carpets were left under the dust.
+
+The Star C, being in a part of the country little traversed and crossed
+by no trails, was removed from the zone of The Orphan's activities and
+had no cause for animosity, save that induced by his reputation. Several
+of its punchers had seen him, and all were well versed in his exploits,
+for frequently Ford's Station shared its hospitality with one or more of
+them; and in Ford's Station at that time The Orphan was the chief topic
+of conversation and the bone of contention. But the foreman of the Star C
+would not know him if he should see him, unless by intuition.
+
+Blake was a man much after the pattern of Shields in his ideas, and the
+two were warm friends and had roughed it together when Ford's Station
+had only been an adobe hut. Their affection for each other was of the
+stern, silent kind, which seldom betrayed itself directly in words,
+and they could ride together for hours in an understanding silence and
+never weary of the companionship; and when need was, deeds spoke for
+them. The Cross Bar-8 would have had more than Ford's Station to fight if
+it had declared war on the sheriff, which the Cross Bar-8 knew. The
+three cleverest manipulators of weapons in that section, in the order of
+their merit, were The Orphan, Shields and Blake, which also the Cross
+Bar-8 knew.
+
+The foreman of the Star C rode at a walk toward a distant point of his
+dominions and cogitated as to whether he could ride over to Ford's
+Station that night to see the sheriff. It was a matter of sixty miles for
+the round trip, but it might have been sixty blocks, so far as the
+distance troubled him. He had just decided to make the trip and to
+spend a pleasant hour with his friend, and drink some of the delicious
+coffee which Mrs. Shields always made for him and eat one of her prize
+pies, or some of her light ginger bread, when he descried a horseman
+coming toward him at a lope.
+
+[Illustration: The Orphan gives Blake Shields' note. (_See page_
+213.)]
+
+The newcomer was a stranger to Blake and appeared to be a young man, which
+was of no consequence. But the thing which attracted more than a casual
+glance from the foreman was a certain jaunty, reckless air about the man
+which spoke well for the condition of his nerves and liver.
+
+The stranger approached to within a rod of Blake before he spoke, and then
+he slowed down and nodded, but with wide-eyed alertness.
+
+"Howdy," he said. "Are you the foreman of the Star C?"
+
+"Howdy. I am," replied the foreman.
+
+"Then I reckon this is yours," said the stranger, holding out a bit of
+straw-colored paper.
+
+The foreman took it and slowly read it. When he had finished reading he
+turned it over to see if there was anything on the back, and then stuck
+it in his pocket and looked up casually.
+
+"Are you The Orphan?" he asked, with no more interest than he would have
+displayed if he had asked about the weather.
+
+"Yes," replied The Orphan, nonchalantly rolling another cigarette.
+
+"How is the sheriff?" Blake asked.
+
+"Shore well enough, but a little mad about the Cross Bar-8," answered the
+other as he inhaled deeply and with much satisfaction. "He said there was
+some good coffee waiting for you to-night if you wanted it," he added.
+
+"Did he?" asked Blake, grinning his delight.
+
+"Yes, and some--apricot pie," added The Orphan wistfully.
+
+Blake laughed: "Well, I reckon I've got some business over in town
+to-night, so you keep on going 'til you get to the bunk house. Tell Lee
+Lung to rustle the grub lively--I'll be there right after you. Apricot
+pie!" he chuckled as he pushed on at a lope.
+
+Jim Carter was washing for supper, being urged to show more speed by
+Bud Taylor, when the latter looked up and saw The Orphan dismount. His
+mouth opened a trifle, but he continued his urging without a break. He
+had seen The Orphan at Ace High the year before, when the outlaw had
+ridden in for a supply of cartridges, and he instantly recalled the face.
+But Bud was not only easy-going, but also very hungry at the time, and he
+didn't care if the devil himself called as long as the devil respected the
+etiquette of the range. Besides, if there was to be trouble it would rest
+more comfortably on a full stomach.
+
+"Give me a quit-claim to that pan, yu coyote," he said pleasantly to Jim.
+"Yu ain't taking no bath!"
+
+"Blub--no I ain't--blub blub--but you will be--blub--if yu don't lemme
+alone," came from the pan. "Hand me that towel!"
+
+"Don't wallow in it, yu!" admonished Bud as he refilled the basin. "Leave
+some dry spots for me, this time."
+
+Jim carefully hung the towel on a peg in the wall of the house and then
+noticed the stranger, who was removing his saddle.
+
+"Howdy, stranger!" he said heartily. "Just in time to feed. Coax some of
+that water from Bud, but get holt of the towel first, for there won't be
+none left soon."
+
+The Orphan laughed and dusted his chaps.
+
+"Where'll I find Lee Lung?" he asked. "Blake wants him to rustle the grub
+lively."
+
+"He's in the cook shack behind the house a-doing it and trying to sing,"
+replied Jim. "He's always trying to sing; it goes something like this:
+Hop-lee, low-hop yum-see," he hummed in a monotonous wail as he combed
+his hair before a broken bit of mirror stuck in a crack. "Hi-dee, hee-hee,
+chop-chop----"
+
+"Gimme that comb, yu heathen Chinee," cried Bud, "and don't make that
+noise."
+
+"Anything else yu wants?" asked Jim, deliberately putting the comb away
+in the box.
+
+"I want to be in Kansas City with a million dollars and a whopper of a
+thirst," replied Bud as he filled the basin for the stranger. "It's all
+yourn, stranger. Grub's waiting for yu inside when yore ready."
+
+"Do yu know who that feller is?" Bud asked in a whisper as they made their
+way to the table, from which came much laughter. "That's The Orphant,"
+he added.
+
+"Th' h--l it is!" said Jim. "Him? Him Th' Orphant? Tell another! I'm more
+than six years old, even if yu ain't."
+
+"That's straight, fellers!" said Bud to the assembled outfit in a low
+voice. "I ain't kidding yu none, honest. I saw him up to Ace High last
+year. That's him, all right. Wait 'til he comes in and see!"
+
+"Well, I don't care if he's Jonah," responded Jim. "Only I reckons you're
+plumb loco, all the same. But I'm too hungry to care if Gabriel blows if I
+can fill up before these Oliver Twists eats it all up," he said, revealing
+his last reading matter.
+
+"He shore enough wears his gun plumb low--and the holster is tied to his
+chaps, too," muttered Jim as he seated himself at the table. "So would I,
+too, if I was him. Pass them murphys, Humble," he ordered.
+
+"You has got to bust that piebald pet what you've been keeping around the
+house to-morrow, Humble," exulted the man nearest to him. "And it'll shore
+be a circus watching you do it, too!"
+
+The blankets which divided the bunk house into two rooms were pushed aside
+and The Orphan entered, carrying his saddle and bridle, which he placed
+beside the others on the floor. Then he unbuckled his belts and hung
+them, Colts and all, over the pommel, which was etiquette and which gave
+assurance that the guest was not hunting anyone. Then he seated himself
+at the table in a chair which Humble pushed back for him. His entry in
+no degree caused a lull in the conversation.
+
+"Well, you hasn't got no kick coming, has you?" asked Humble. "Hey,
+Cookie!" he shouted into the dark gallery which led to the cook shack.
+"Rustle in some more fixings for another place, and bring in the slush!"
+Then he turned to his tormentor: "You has allus got something to say about
+my business, ain't you, hey?"
+
+"Sic 'em, Humble!" said Silent Allen. "Go for him!"
+
+From the gallery came sounds of calamity and then a mongrel dog shot
+out and collided with the table, glancing off it and under the curtain
+in his haste to gain the outside world. A second later the cook, his
+face fiendish, grasping a huge knife, followed the dog out on the plain.
+Those eating sprang to their feet and streamed after the cook, yelling
+encouragement to their favorite.
+
+"Go it, Old Woman!" "'Ray for Cookie!" "Beat him out, Lightning!" and
+other expressions met Blake as he came up from the corral.
+
+"Cook got 'em again?" he asked, elbowing his way into the house. "I told
+you to keep liquor away from him."
+
+"'Tain't liquor this time; it's th' kioodle," replied Docile Thomas as he
+led the way back to the table. "Him an' th' dog don't mix extra well."
+
+Blake swept aside the blanket and saw The Orphan standing by the window
+and laughing. Turning, he disappeared into the gallery and soon returned
+with a tin plate, a steel knife, a tin cup and the coffee pot.
+
+"Sit down--good Lord, they would let a man starve," he said, roughly
+clearing a place at the table for the new arrival. "I don't know how
+you feel," he continued, "but I'm so all-fired hungry that I don't know
+whether it's my back or stomach that hurts. Take some beef and throw
+those potatoes down this way. Here, have some slush," filling The Orphan's
+cup with coffee. "This ain't like the coffee the sheriff drinks, but it
+is just a little bit better than nothing. You see, Cook's all right, only
+he can't cook, never could and never will. But he's a whole lot better
+than a sailor I once suffered under."
+
+"What's the matter between you and Lightning, Lee?" asked Bud as the cook
+passed by the table on his way to the shack.
+
+"Wouldn't he drink yore slush? I allus said some dogs was smart," laughed
+Jack Lawson.
+
+Lee's smile was bland. "Scalpee th' dlog," he asserted as he disappeared.
+"No dlamn good!" wafted from the gallery.
+
+"Say, Humble," said Silent Allen in an aggrieved tone, "the beef will wag
+its tail some night if you don't shoot that cur!"
+
+"That's right!" endorsed Jack. "I'll shoot him for a dollar," he added
+hopefully. "The boys will all chip in to make up the purse and it won't
+cost you a cent, not even a cartridge."
+
+"Anybody that don't like that setter can move," responded Humble with
+decision. "He's a O. K. dog, that's what he is," he added loyally.
+
+"Well, he's a setter, all right," laughed Silent. "He ain't good for
+nothing else but to set around all day in the shade and chew hisself up."
+
+"He ain't, ain't he?" cried Humble, delaying the morsel on his fork in
+mid-air. "You ought to see him a-chasing coyotes!"
+
+"I did see him chasing coyotes, and that's why I want you to have him
+killed," replied Silent, grinning. "His feet are too big. Every time he
+shoves his hind feet between the front ones he throws hisself."
+
+"What did he ever catch except fleas and the mange?" asked Blake, winking
+at The Orphan, who was extremely busy burying his hunger.
+
+"What did he ever catch!" indignantly cried Humble, dropping his fork.
+"You saw him catch that gray wolf over near the timber, and you can't deny
+it, neither!"
+
+"By George, he did!" exclaimed Blake seriously. "You're right this time,
+Humble, he did. But he let go awful sudden. Besides, that gray wolf
+you're talking about was a coyote, and he would have died of old age in
+another week if you hadn't shot him to save the dog. And, what's more, I
+never saw him chase anything since, not even rabbits."
+
+"He caught my boot one night," remarked Charley Bailey, reflectively,
+"right plumb on his near eye. Oh, he's a catcher, all right."
+
+"He's so good he ought to be stuffed, then he could sit without having
+to move around catching boots and things," said Jim. "Why don't you have
+him stuffed, Humble?"
+
+"Oh, yore a whole lot smart, now ain't you?" blazed the persecuted
+puncher, glaring at his tormentors.
+
+"He can't catch his tail, Silent," offered Bud. "I once saw him trying
+to do it for ten minutes--he looked like a pinwheel what we used to have
+when we were kids. Missed it every time, and all he got was a cheap drunk."
+
+Humble said a few things which came out so fast that they jammed up, and
+he left the room to hunt for his dog.
+
+"Any particular reason why you call him Lightning, or is it just irony?"
+asked The Orphan as he helped himself to the beef for the third time. "I
+never heard that name used before."
+
+"Oh, it ain't irony at all!" hastily denied the foreman. "That's a real
+good name, fits him all right," he assured. Then he explained: "You see,
+lightning don't hit twice in the same place, and neither can the dog when
+he scratches himself. And, besides, he can dodge awful quick. You have
+to figure which way he'll jump when you want him to catch anything."
+
+"But you don't have to remember his name at all, Stranger," interposed
+Silent, who was not at all silent. "Any handle will do, if you only yells.
+Every time anybody yells he makes a crow line for the plain and howls at
+every jump. He's got a regular, shore enough trail worn where he makes his
+get-away."
+
+Silence descended over the table, and for a quarter of an hour only the
+click of eating utensils could be heard. At the end of that time Blake
+pushed back his chair and arose. He glanced around the table and then
+spoke very distinctly: "Well, Orphan, get acquainted with your outfit." A
+head or two raised at the name, but that seemed to be all the effect of
+his words. "The boys will put you onto the game in the morning, and Bud
+will show you where to begin in case I don't show up in time. Better take
+a fresh cayuse and let yours rest up some. Don't hurt Humble's ki-yi and
+he'll be plumb nice to you; and if Silent wants to know how you likes
+his singing and banjo playing, lie and say it's fine."
+
+The laugh went around and all was serene with the good fellowship which
+is so often found in good outfits.
+
+"Joe, I'll bring the mail out with me, so you needn't go after it,"
+continued the foreman as he strode towards the door. "That's what I'm
+going over for," he laughed.
+
+"Lord, I'd go, too, if pie and cake and good coffee was on the card,"
+laughed Silent.
+
+"We'll shore have to go over in a gang some night and raid that pantry,"
+remarked Bud. "It would be a circus, all right."
+
+"The sheriff would get some good target practice, that's shore," responded
+Blake. "But I've got something better than that, and since you brought
+the subject up I'll tell you now, so you'll be good.
+
+"Mrs. Shields has promised to get up a fine feed for you fellows as soon
+as Jim's sisters are on hand to help her, and as they are here now I
+wouldn't be a whole lot surprised if I brought the invitation back with
+me. How's that for a change, eh?" he asked.
+
+"Glory be!" cried Silent. "Hurry up and get home!"
+
+"Say, she's all right, ain't she!" shouted Jack, executing a jig to show
+how glad he was.
+
+"Pinch me, Humble, pinch me!" begged Bud. "I may be asleep and
+dreaming--_here!_ What the devil do you think I am, you wart-headed
+coyote!" he yelled, dancing in pain and rubbing his leg frantically.
+"You blamed doodle bug, yu!"
+
+"Well, I pinched you, didn't I?" indignantly cried Humble. "What's eating
+you? Didn't you ask me to, you chump?"
+
+"Hurry up and get that mail, Tom," cried Jim. "It might spoil--and say,
+if she leads at you with that invite, clinch!"
+
+Blake laughed and went off toward the corral. As he found the horse he
+wished to ride he heard a riot in the bunk-house and he laughed silently.
+A Virginia reel was in full swing and the noise was terrible. Riding
+past the window, he saw Silent working like a madman at his banjo; and
+assiduously playing a harmonica was The Orphan, all smiles and puffed-out
+cheeks.
+
+"Well, The Orphan is all right now," the foreman muttered as he swung out
+on the trail to Ford's Station. "I reckon he's found himself."
+
+In the bunk-house there was much hilarity, and laughter roared continually
+at the grotesque gymnastics of the reel and at the sharp wit which cut
+right and left, respecting no one save the new member of the outfit,
+and eventually he came in for his share, which he repaid with interest.
+Suddenly Jim, catching his spurs in a bear-skin rug which lay near a
+bunk, threw out his arms to save himself and then went sprawling to the
+floor. The uproar increased suddenly, and as it died down Jim could be
+heard complaining.
+
+"---- ----!" he cried as he nursed his knee. "I've had that pelt for
+nigh onto three years and regularly I go and get tangled up with it. It
+shore beats all how I plumb forget its habit of wrapping itself around
+them rowels, what are too big, anyhow. And it ain't a big one at that,
+only about half as big as the one I got for a tenderfoot up in Montanny,"
+he deprecated in disgust.
+
+The outfit scented a story and became suddenly quiet.
+
+"Dod-blasted postage stamp of a pelt," he grumbled as he threw it into
+his bunk.
+
+"The other skin couldn't 'a' been much bigger than that one," said Bud,
+leading him on. "How big was it, anyhow, Jim?"
+
+"It couldn't, hey? It came off a nine-foot grizzly, that's how big it
+was," retorted Jim, sitting down and filling his pipe. "Nine whole feet
+from stub of tail to snoot, plumb full of cussedness, too."
+
+"How'd you get it--Sharps?" queried Charley.
+
+"No, Colt," responded Jim. "Luckiest shot _I_ ever made, all right. I
+shore had visions of wearing wings when I pulled the trigger. Just one of
+them lucky shots a man will make sometimes."
+
+"Give us the story, Jim," suggested Silent, settling himself easily in his
+bunk. "Then we'll have another smoke and go right to bed. I'm some sleepy."
+
+"Well," began Jim after his pipe was going well, "I was sort of second
+foreman for the Tadpole, up in Montanny, about six years ago. I had a good
+foreman, a good ranch and about a dozen white punchers to look after. And
+we had a real cook, no mistake about that, all right.
+
+"The Old Man hibernated in New York during the winter and came out every
+spring right after the calf round-up was over to see how we was fixed and
+to eat some of the cook's flapjacks. That cook wasn't no yaller-skinned
+post for a hair clothes line, like this grinning monkey what we've got
+here. The Old Man was a fine old cuss--one of the boys, and a darn good
+one, too--and we was always plumb glad to see him. He minded his own
+business, didn't tell us how we ought to punch cows and didn't bother
+anybody what didn't want to be bothered, which we most of us did like.
+
+"Well, one day Jed Thompson, who rustled our mail for us twice a month,
+handed me a letter for the foreman, who was down South and wouldn't
+be back for some time. His mother had died and he went back home for a
+spell. I saw that the letter was from the Old Man, and wondered what it
+would say. I sort of figured that it would tell us when to hitch up to
+the buckboard and go after him. Fearing that he might land before the
+foreman got back, I went and opened it up.
+
+"It was from the Old Man, all right, but it was no go for him that spring.
+He was sick abed in New York, and said as how he was plumb sorry he
+couldn't get out to see his boys, and so was we sorry. But he said as
+how he was sending us a friend of his'n who wanted to go hunting, and
+would we see that he didn't shoot no cows. We said we would, and then
+I went on and found out when this hunter was due to land.
+
+"When the unfortunate day rolled around I straddled the buckboard and lit
+out for Whisky Crossing, twenty miles to the east, it being the nearest
+burg on the stage line. And as I pulled in I saw Frank, who drove the
+stage, and he was grinning from ear to ear.
+
+"'I reckon that's your'n,' he said, pointing to a circus clown what had
+got loose and was sizing up the town.
+
+"'The drinks are on me when I sees you again, Frank,' I said, for somehow
+I felt that he was right.
+
+"Then I sized up my present, and blamed if he wasn't all rigged out to
+kill Indians. While my mouth was closing he ambled up to me and stared
+at my gun, which must 'a' been purty big to him.
+
+"'Are you Mr. Fisher's hired man?' he asked, giving me a real tolerating
+look.
+
+"Frank followed his grin into the saloon, leaving the door open so he
+could hear everything. That made me plumb sore at Frank, him a-doing a
+thing like that, and I glared.
+
+"'I ain't nobody's hired man, and never was,' I said, sort of riled. 'We
+ain't had no hired man since we lynched the last one, but I'm next door
+to the foreman. Won't I do, or do you insist on talking to a hired man?
+If you do, he's in the saloon.'
+
+"'Oh, yes, you'll do!' he said, quick-like, and then he ups and climbs
+aboard and we pulled out for home, Frank waving his sombrero at me and
+laughing fit to kill.
+
+"We hadn't no more than got started when the hunter ups and grabs at the
+lines, which he shore missed by a foot. I was driving them cayuses, not
+him, and I told him so, too.
+
+"'But ain't you going to take my luggage?' he asked.
+
+"'Luggage! What luggage?' I answers, surprised-like.
+
+"Then he pointed behind him, and blamed if he didn't have two trunks, a
+gripsack and three gun cases. I didn't say a word, being too full of cuss
+words to let any of 'em loose, until Frank wobbled up and asked me if
+I'd forgot something. Then I shore said a few, after which I busted my
+back a-hoisting his freight cars aboard, and we started out again, Frank
+acting like a d----n fool.
+
+"The cayuses raised their ears, wondering what we was taking the saloon
+for, and I reckoned we would make them twenty miles in about eight hours
+if nothing busted and we rustled real hard.
+
+"Well, about every twenty minutes I had to get off and hoist some of
+his furniture aboard, it being jolted off, for the prairie wasn't paved
+a whole lot, and us going cross-country. Considering my back, and the
+fact that he kept calling me 'My man,' and Frank's grin, I wasn't in
+no frame of mind to lead a religion round-up when I got home and dumped
+Davy Crockett's war-duds overboard for Jed to rustle in. I was still sore
+at Jed for bringing that letter.
+
+"Davy Crockett dusted for the house and ordered Sammy Johns to oil his
+guns and put them together, after which he went off a-poking his nose into
+everything in sight, and mostly everything that wasn't in sight. When he
+got back to the house from his tour of inspection he found his guns just
+like he'd left them, and that was in their cases. Then he ambled out to
+me and registered his howl.
+
+"'My man,' he said, 'My man, that hired man what I told to put my guns
+together ain't done it!'
+
+"'Oh, he didn't?' I said, hanging on to my cuss words, for I was some
+surprised and couldn't say a whole lot.
+
+"'No, he hasn't, and so I've come out to report him,' he said, looking mad.
+
+"'My man!' said I, mad some myself, and looking him plumb in the eyes. 'My
+man, if he had I'd shore think he was off his feed or loco. He ain't no
+hired man, but he is a all-fired good cow-puncher, and I'm a heap scared
+about him not filling you full of holes, you asking him to do a thing like
+that! He must be real sick.'
+
+"He didn't have no come-back to that, but just looked sort of funny, and
+then he trotted off to put his guns together hisself. I hustled around
+and saw that some work was done right and then went in to supper. After it
+was over my present got up and handed me a gun, and I near fell over.
+It was a purty little Winchester, and I don't blame him a whole lot for
+being tickled over it, for it shore was a beauty, but it oozed out a ball
+about the size of a pea, and the makers would 'a' been some scared if
+they had known it was running around loose in a grizzly-bear country.
+
+"'I reckon that'll stop him,' he said, happy-like.
+
+"'Stop what?' I asked him.
+
+"'Why, game--bears, of course,' he said, shocked at my appalling ignorance.
+
+"'Yes,' said I, slow-like, 'I reckon Ephraim may turn around and scratch
+hisself, if you hits him.'
+
+"'Why, won't that stop a bear?'
+
+"'Yes, if it's a stuffed bear,' I said.
+
+"'Why, that's a blamed good rifle!'
+
+"'It shore is; it's as fine a gun as I ever laid my eyes on,' I replied,
+'for prairie dogs and such.'
+
+"Then I felt plumb sorry for him, he being so ignorant, and so when he
+hands me a peach of a shotgun to shoot coyotes with I laid it down and
+got my breach-loading Sharps, .50 caliber, which I handed to him.
+
+"'There,' I said, 'that's the only gun in the room what any
+self-respecting bear will give a d----n for.'
+
+"He looked at it, felt its heft, sized up the bunghole and then squinted
+along the sights.
+
+"'Why, this gun will kick like the very deuce!' he said.
+
+"'Kick!' said I. 'KICK! She'll kick like a army mule if you holds her far
+enough from your shoulder. But I'd a whole lot ruther get kicked by a mule
+than hugged by a grizzly, and so'll you when you sees him a-heading your
+way.'
+
+"'But what'll you use?' says he, 'I don't want to take your gun.'
+
+"Well, when he said that I reckoned that he had some good stuff in him
+after all, and somehow I felt better. There he was, away from his mother
+and sisters, among a bunch of gamboling cow-punchers, and right in the
+middle of a good bear country. I sort of wondered if he was to blame, and
+managed to lay all the fault on his city bringing-up.
+
+"'That's all right,' says I, 'I'll take an old muzzle-loading Bridesburg
+what's been laying around the house ever since I came here. It heaves
+enough lead at one crack to sink a man-of-war, being a .60 caliber.'
+
+"Well, bright and early the next morning we started out for bear, and I
+knowed just where to look, too. You see, there was a thicket of berry
+bushes about three miles from the ranch house and I had seen plenty of
+tracks there, and there was a grizzly among them, too, and as big as a
+house, judging from the signs. The boys had wanted to ride out in a gang
+and rope him, but I said as how I was saving him for a dude hunter to
+practice on, so they left him alone.
+
+"We footed it through the brush, and finally Davy Crockett, who simply
+would go ahead of me, yelled out that he had found tracks.
+
+"I rustled over, and sure enough he had, only they wasn't made by no bear,
+and I said so.
+
+"'Then what are they?' he asked, sort of disappointed.
+
+"'Cow tracks,' said I. 'When you see bear tracks you'll know it right
+away,' and we went on a-hunting.
+
+"We had just got down in a little hollow, where the green flies were
+purty bad, when I saw tracks, and they was bear tracks this time, and
+whoppers. It had rained a little during the night and the ground was
+just soft enough to show them nice. I called Davy Crockett and he came
+up, and when he saw them tracks he was plumb tickled, and some scairt.
+
+"'Where is he?' he asked, looking around sort of anxious.
+
+"'At the front end of these tracks, making more,' said I.
+
+"'And what are we going to do now?' he asked, cocking the Sharps.
+
+"'We're going to trail him,' said I, 'and if we finds him and has any
+accidents, you wants to telegraph yourself up a tree, and be sure that
+it ain't a big tree, too.'
+
+"'"Be sure it ain't a big tree!"' he repeated, looking at me like he
+thought I wanted him to get killed.
+
+"'Exactly,' said I, and then I explained: 'The bigger the tree, the sooner
+you'll be a meal, for he climbs by hugging the trunk and pushing hisself
+up. A little tree'll slide through his legs, and he can't get a holt.'
+
+"'I hope I don't forget that!' he exclaimed, looking dubious.
+
+"'The less you forgets when bear hunting,' said I, 'the longer you'll
+remember.'
+
+"We took up the trail and purty soon we saw the bear, and he was so big he
+didn't hardly know how to act. He was pawing berries into his mouth
+for breakfast, and he turned his head and slowly sized us up. He dropped
+on all fours and then got up again, and Davy Crockett, not listening to
+me telling him where to shoot, lets drive and busted an ear. Ephraim
+preferred all fours again and started coming straight at us, and Moses
+and all his bullrushers couldn't have stopped him. He was due to arrive
+near Davy Crockett in about four and a half seconds, and that person
+dropped his gun and hot-footed it for a whopping big tree. I yelled
+at him and told him to take a little one, but he was too blamed busy
+hunting bear to listen to a no-account hired man like me, so he kept
+on a-going for the big tree.
+
+"I figured, and figured blamed quick, that the bear would tag him just
+about the time he tagged the tree, and so, hoping to create a diversion,
+I whanged away at the bear's tail, him running plumb away from me. I
+was real successful, for I created it all right. When he felt that
+carload of lead slide up under his skin he braced hisself, slid and
+wheeled, looking for the son-of-a-gun what done it, and he saw me pouring
+powder hell-bent down my gun. He must 'a' knowed that I was the real
+business end of the partnership, and that he'd have trouble a-plenty if
+he let me finish my job, for he came at me like a bullet.
+
+"'Climb a _little_ tree! Climb a _little_ tree!' yelled Davy Crockett from
+his perch in his two-foot-through oak.
+
+"I wasn't in no joyous frame of mind when a nine-foot grizzly was due in
+the next mail, but I just had to laugh at his advice when I sized up his
+layout. As I jumped to one side the bear slid past, trying awful hard to
+stop, and he was doing real well, too. As he turned I slipped on some of
+that green grass, and thought as how the Old Man would have to get another
+puncher.
+
+"'I ain't never going to peter out with a tenderfoot looking on if I can
+help it!' I said to myself, and I jerked loose my six-shooter, shooting
+offhand and some hasty. It was just a last hope, the kick of a dying
+man's foot, but it fetched him, blamed if it didn't! He went down in a
+heap and clawed about for a spell, but I put five more in him, and then
+sat down. Did you ever notice how long it takes a grizzly to die? I
+loaded my gun in a hurry, the sweat pouring down my face, for that was
+one of the times it ain't no disgrace to be some scared, which I was.
+
+"'Is he dead?' called Davy Crockett from his tree, hopeful-like and some
+anxious.
+
+"'He is,' I said, 'or, leastawise, he was.'
+
+"Davy was a sight. He was all skinned up from his clinch with the tree,
+though how he used his face getting up is more than I can tell. And he
+was some white and unsteady. He had all the hunting he wanted, and he
+managed to say that he was glad he hadn't come out alone, and that he
+reckoned I was right about his guns after all. So we took a last look at
+the bear and lit out for the ranch, where I told the boys to go out and
+drag our game home."
+
+Jim knocked the ashes from his pipe and began to fill it anew, acting as
+though the story was finished, but Bud knew him well, and he spoke up:
+
+"Well, what then?" he asked.
+
+"Oh, the hunter left for New York the very next day, and I skinned the
+bear and sent the pelt after him as a present. When I wrote out my
+quarterly report, the foreman not being back yet, I told the Old Man that
+if he had any more friends what wanted to go hunting to send them up to
+Frenchy McAllister on the Tin Cup. I was some sore at Frenchy for the
+way he had cleaned me out at poker."
+
+He threw the skin to the floor and began to undress.
+
+"Come on, now, lights out," he said. "I'm tired."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+THE SHERIFF STATES SOME FACTS
+
+
+The foreman of the Star C impatiently tossed his bridle reins over the
+post which stood near the sheriff's door and knocked heavily, brushing
+the dust of his ride from him. Quick, heavy steps approached within the
+house and the door suddenly flew open.
+
+"Hullo, Tom!" Shields cried, shaking hands with his friend. "Come right
+in--I knew you would come if we coaxed you a little."
+
+"You don't have to do much coaxing--I can't stay away, Jim," replied Blake
+with a laugh. "How do you do, Mrs. Shields?"
+
+"Very well, Tom," she answered. "Miss Ritchie, Helen, Mary, this is Tom
+Blake; Tom, Miss Ritchie and James' sisters. They are to stay with us just
+as long as they can, and I'll see that it is a good, long time, too."
+
+"How do you do?" he cried heartily, acknowledging the introduction. "I
+am glad to meet you, for I've heard a whole lot about you. I hope you'll
+like this country--greatest country under the sky! You stay out here a
+month and I'll bet you'll be just like lots of people, and not want to
+go back East again."
+
+"It seems as though we have always known Mr. Blake, for James has written
+about you so much," replied Helen, and then she laughed: "But I am not
+so sure about liking this country, although very unusual things seem to
+take place in it. The journey was very trying, and it seemed to get worse
+as we neared our destination."
+
+"Well, I'll have to confess that the stage-ride part of it is a drawback,
+and also that Apaches don't make good reception committees. They are a
+little too pressing at times."
+
+"But, speaking seriously," responded Helen, "I have had a really
+delightful time. James has managed to get me a very tame horse after
+quite a long search, and I have taken many rides about the country."
+
+"Wait 'til you see that horse, Tom," laughed the sheriff. "It's warranted
+not to raise any devilment, but it can't, for it has all it can do to
+stand up alone, and can't very well run away."
+
+"I see that The Orphan delivered my message, contrary to the habits of
+men," remarked the sheriff's wife as she took the guest's hat and offered
+him a seat. "I spoke to James about it several days ago, and asked him to
+send you word when he could, for you have not been here for a long time.
+And the wonderful thing about it is that he remembered to tell The Orphan."
+
+"Thank you," he replied, seating himself. "Yes, he delivered it all
+right, it was about the second thing he said. But I just couldn't get
+here any sooner, Mrs. Shields. And I was just wondering if I could get
+over to-night when he told me. When he said 'apricot pie' he looked sort
+of sad."
+
+"Poor boy!" she exclaimed. "You must take him one--it was a shame to send
+such a message by him, poor, lonesome boy!"
+
+"Well, he ain't so lonesome now," laughed Blake.
+
+Helen had looked up quickly at the mention of The Orphan's name, and the
+sheriff replied to her look of inquiry.
+
+"I sent him out to punch for Blake, Helen," he said quickly. "If he has
+the right spirit in him he'll get along with the Star C outfit; if he
+hasn't, why, he won't get on with anybody. But I reckon Tom will bring
+out all the good in him; he'll have a fair show, anyhow."
+
+"And you never told us about it!" cried Helen reproachfully.
+
+"Oh, I was saving it up," laughed the sheriff. "What do you think of him,
+Tom?" he asked, turning to the foreman.
+
+"Why, he's a clean-looking boy," answered Blake. "I like his looks. He
+seems to be a fellow what can be depended on in a pinch, and after all
+I had heard about him he sort of took me by surprise. I thought he would
+be a tough-looking killer, and there he was only a overgrown, mischievous
+kid. But there is a look in his eyes that says there is a limit. But he
+surprised me, all right."
+
+"You want to appreciate that, Miss Ritchie," remarked the sheriff, smiling
+broadly. "Anything that takes Tom Blake by surprise must have merit of
+some kind. And he is a good judge of men, too."
+
+"I do so hope he gets on well," she replied earnestly. "He was a perfect
+gentleman when he was here, and his wit was sharp, too. And out there on
+that awful plain, when he stood swaying with weakness, he looked just
+splendid!"
+
+"Pure grit, pure grit!" cried the sheriff in reply. "That's why I'm
+banking on him," he added, his eyes warming as he remembered. "Any fellow
+who could turn a trick like that, and who has so much clean-cut courage,
+must be worth looking after. He's got a bad reputation, but he's plumb
+white and square with me, and I'm going to be square with him. And when
+you know all that I know about him you'll take his reputation as a
+natural result of hard luck, spunk, and other people's devilment and
+foolishness. But he's going to have a show now, all right."
+
+"What did your men say when they saw him? Do they know who he is?" asked
+Mrs. Shields anxiously.
+
+Blake laughed: "Oh, yes, they know who he is. They ain't the talking kind
+in a case like that; they won't say a word to him about what he has
+done. Besides, he was under their roof, eating their food, and that's
+enough for them. Of course, they were a little surprised, but not half as
+much as I thought they would be. He is a man who gives a good first
+impression, and the boys are all fine fellows, big-hearted, square,
+clean-living and peaceful. Reputations don't count for much with them,
+for they know that reputations are gossip-made in most cases. I asked
+him to stay, and they haven't got no reason to object, and they won't
+waste no time looking for reasons, neither. If there is any trouble at
+all, it will be his own fault. Then again, they know that he is all
+sand and that his gunplay is real and sudden; not that they are afraid
+of him, or anybody else, for that matter, but he is the kind of a man
+they like--somebody who can stand up on his own legs and give better than
+he gets."
+
+"I reckon he fills that bill, all right," laughed the sheriff. "He _can_
+stand up on his own legs, and when he does he makes good. And as for
+gunplay, good Lord, he's a shore wizard! I reckoned I could do things
+with a gun, but he can beat me. He ain't no Boston pet, and he ain't
+no city tough, not nohow. And I'd rather have him with me in a mix-up
+than against me. He's the coolest proposition loose in this part of the
+country at any game, and I know what I'm talking about, too."
+
+"You promised to tell us everything about him, all you knew," reproached
+Helen. "And I am sure that it will be well worth hearing."
+
+"Well, I was saving it up 'til I could tell it all at once and when you
+would all be together," he replied. "There wasn't any use of telling it
+twice," he explained as he brought out a box of cigars. "These are the
+same brand you sampled last time you were here," he assured his friend
+as he extended the box.
+
+"By George, that's fine!" cried the foreman, picking out the blackest
+cigar he could see. "I could taste them cigars for a whole week, they
+was so good. There's nothing like a good Perfecto to make a fellow feel
+like he's too lucky to live."
+
+"Oh," said Mrs. Shields. "Then you won't care for the coffee and pie and
+gingerbread," she sighed. "I'm very sorry."
+
+Blake jumped: "Lord, Ma'am," he cried hastily, "I meant in the smoking
+line! Why, I've been losing sleep a-dreaming of your cooking. Every time
+the cook fills my cup with his insult to coffee I feel so lonesome that
+it hurts!"
+
+"You want to look out, Tom!" laughingly warned the sheriff, "or you'll
+get yourself disliked! When I don't care for Margaret's cooking I ain't
+fool enough to say so, not a bit of it."
+
+"You're a nice one to talk like that!" cried his wife. "You are just like
+a little boy on baking day--I can hardly keep you out of the kitchen. You
+bother me to death, and it is all I can do to cook enough for you!"
+
+After the laugh had subsided and a steaming cup of coffee had been placed
+at the foreman's elbow, Helen impatiently urged her brother to begin his
+story.
+
+He lighted his cigar with exasperating deliberateness and then laughed
+softly: "Gosh! I'm getting to be a second fiddle around here. From morning
+to night all I hear is The Orphan. The first thing that hits me when I
+come home is, 'Have you seen The Orphan?' or, 'Have you heard anything
+about him?' The worst offenders are Miss Ritchie and Helen. They pester
+me nigh to death about him. But here goes:
+
+"I reckon I'd better begin with Old John Taylor," he slowly began. "I've
+been doing some quiet hunting lately, and in the course of it I ran across
+Old John down in Crockettsville. You remember him, don't you, Tom? Yes,
+I reckoned you wouldn't forget the man who got us out of that Apache
+scrape. Well, I had a good talk with him, and this is what I learned:
+
+"About twenty years ago a family named Gordon moved into northwestern
+Texas and put up a shack in one of the valleys. There was three of them,
+father, mother, and a bright little five-year-old boy, and they brought
+about two hundred head of cattle, a few horses and a whole raft of
+books. Gordon bought up quite a bit of land from a ranch nearby at
+almost a song, and he never thought of asking for a deed--who would,
+down there in those days? There wasn't a rancher who owned more than a
+quarter section; you know the game, Tom--take up a hundred and sixty
+acres on a stream and then claim about a million, and fight like the very
+devil to hold it. We've all done it, I reckon, but there is plenty of
+land for everybody, and so there is no kick. Well, he was shore lucky,
+for his boundary on two sides was a fair-sized stream that never went
+dry, and you know how scarce that is--a whole lot better than a gold mine
+to a cattleman.
+
+"They got along all right for a while, had a tenderfoot's luck with their
+cattle, which soon began to be more than a few specks on the plain, and he
+was very well satisfied with everything, except that there wasn't no
+school. Old man Gordon was daffy on education, which is a good thing to
+be daffy over, and he was some strong in that line himself, having been a
+school teacher back East. But he took his boy in hand and taught him
+all he knew, which must have been a whole lot, judging from things in
+general, and the kid was a smart, quick youngster. He was plumb crazy
+about two things--books and guns. He read and re-read all the books he
+could borrow, and got so he could handle a gun with any man on the range.
+
+"About five years after he had located, the ranchman from whom he bought
+his range and water rights went and died. Some of the heirs, who were not
+what you would call square, began to get an itching for Gordon's land,
+which was improved by the first irrigation ditch in Texas. There was a
+garden and a purty good orchard, which was just beginning to bear fruit.
+It was pure, cussed hoggishness, for there was more land than anybody
+had any use for, but they must grab everything in sight, no matter what
+the cost. Trouble was the rule after that, and the old man was up against
+it all the time. But he managed to hold his own, even though he did lose
+a lot of cattle.
+
+"His brand was a gridiron, which wasn't much different from the gridiron
+circle brand of the big ranch. It ain't much trouble to use a running iron
+through a wet blanket and change a brand like that when you know how,
+and the Gridiron Circle gang shore enough knew how. Their expertness with
+a running iron would have caused questions to be asked, and probably a
+lynching bee, in other parts of the country, but down there they were
+purty well alone. They let Gordon know that he had jumped the range,
+which was just what they had done, that he didn't own it, and that the
+sooner he left the country the better it would be for his health. But
+he had peculiar ideas about justice, and he shore was plumb full of
+grit and obstinacy. He knew he was right, that he had paid for the land,
+and that he had improved it. And he had a lot of faith in the law, not
+realizing that he hadn't anything to show the law. And he didn't know
+that law and justice don't always mean the same thing, not by a long shot.
+
+"Well, one day he went out looking for a vein of coal, which he thought
+ought to be thereabouts, according to his books, and it ought to be close
+to the surface of a fissure. He reckoned that coal of any quality would
+be some better than chips and the little wood he owned, so he got busy.
+But he didn't find coal, but something that made him hotfoot it to his
+books. When the report came back from the assay office he knew that he
+had hit on a vein of native silver, which was some better than coal.
+
+"It didn't take long for the news to get around, though God Himself only
+knows how it did, unless the storekeeper told that a package had gone
+through his hands addressed to the assay office, and things began to
+happen in chunks. He caught three Gridiron Circle punchers shooting his
+cows, and he was naturally mad about it and just shot up the bunch before
+they knew he was around. He killed one and spoiled the health of the other
+two for some time to come, which naturally spelled war with a big W. Then
+about this time his wife went and died, which was a purty big addition
+to his troubles. As he stood above her grave, all broken up, and about
+ready to give up the fight and go back East, he was shot at from cover.
+He didn't much care if he was killed or not, until he remembered that he
+had a boy to take care of. Then he got fighting mad all at once, all of
+his troubles coming up before him in a bunch, and he got his gun and
+went hunting, which was only right and proper under the circumstances."
+
+The sheriff flecked the ashes of his cigar into a blue flower pot which
+was gay with white ribbons, and poured himself a cup of coffee.
+
+"I hate to think that it is possible to find a whole ranch of hellions
+from the owner down," he continued, "but the nature of the owner picks a
+dirty foreman, and a dirty foreman needs dirty men, and there you are.
+That fits the case of the Gridiron Circle to a T. There was not one white
+man in the whole gang," and he sat in silence for a space.
+
+"Well, the boy, who was about fifteen years old by this time, took his
+gun and went out to find his daddy, and he succeeded. He cut him down
+and buried him and then went home. That night the shack burned to the
+ground, the orchard was ruined and the boy disappeared. Some people said
+that the kid took what he wanted and burned the house rather than to
+have it profaned as a range house by the curs who murdered his dad; and
+some said the other thing, but from what I know of the kid, I reckon he
+did it himself.
+
+"Right there and then things began to happen that hurt the ease and safety
+of the Gridiron Circle. Cows were found dead all over the range--juglars
+cut in every case. Three of their punchers were found dead in one
+week--a .5O-caliber Sharps had done it. A regular reign of terror began
+and kept the outfit on the nervous jump all the time. They searched and
+trailed and searched and swore, and if one of them went off by himself
+he was usually ready to be buried. Ten experienced, old-time cowmen were
+made fools of by a fifteen-year-old kid, who was never seen by anybody
+that lived long enough to tell about it. When he got hungry, he just
+killed another cow and had a porterhouse steak cooked between two others
+over a good fire. He ate the middle steak, which had all the juices of
+the two burned ones, and threw the others away. Three meals a day for six
+months, and one cow to a meal, was the order of things on the ranges of
+the Gridiron Circle. He had plenty of ammunition, because every dead
+puncher was minus his belt when found and his guns were broken or gone;
+and early in the game the boy had made a master stroke: he raided the
+storehouse of the ranch one night and lugged away about five hundred
+rounds of ammunition in his saddle bags, with a couple of spare Colts and
+a repeating Winchester of the latest pattern, and he spoiled all the
+rest of the guns he could lay his hands on. Humorous kid, wasn't he,
+shooting up the ranch with its own guns and cartridges?
+
+"Finally, however, after the news had spread, which it did real quick, a
+regular lynching party was arranged, and the U-B, which lay about sixty
+miles to the east, sent over half a dozen men to take a hand. Then the
+Gridiron Circle had a rest, but while the gang was hunting for him and
+laying all sorts of elaborate traps to catch him, the boy was over on
+the U-B, showing it how foolish it had been to take up another man's
+quarrel. By this time the whole country knew about it, and even some
+Eastern papers began to give it much attention. One of the punchers of
+the Gridiron Circle, when he found a friend dead and saw the tracks of
+the kid in the sand, swore and cried that it was 'that d----n Orphan'
+who had done it, and the name stuck. He had become an outlaw and was
+legitimate prey for any man who had the chance and grit to turn the
+trick. For ten years he has been wandering all over the range like a
+hunted gray wolf, fighting for his life at every turn against all kinds of
+odds, both human and natural. And I reckon that explains why he is accused
+of doing so much killing. He has been hunted and forced to shoot to
+save his own life, and a gray wolf is a fighter when cornered. I know
+that I wouldn't give up the ghost if I could help it, and neither would
+anybody else."
+
+"Oh, it is a shame, an awful shame!" cried Helen, tears of sympathy in her
+eyes. "How could they do it? I don't blame him, not a bit! He did right,
+terrible as it was! And only a boy when they began, too! Oh, it is awful,
+almost unbelievable!"
+
+"Yes, it is, Sis," replied Shields earnestly. "It ain't his fault, not
+by any manner or means--he was warped." And then he added slowly: "But Tom
+and I will straighten him out, and if some folks hereabouts don't like it,
+they can shore lump it, or fight."
+
+"Tell me how you met him, Jim," requested Blake in the interval of
+silence. "I've heard some of it, second-handed, or third-handed, but I'd
+like to have it straight."
+
+"Well," the sheriff continued, "when he came to these parts I didn't
+know anything about him except what I had heard, which was only bad. He
+had a nasty way of handling his gun, a hair-trigger and a nervous finger
+on his gun, and he had a distressing way of using one cow to a meal, so
+I got busy. I didn't expect much trouble in getting him. I knew that he
+was only a youngster and I counted on my fifty years, and most of them
+of experience, getting him. Being young, I reckoned he would be foolhardy
+and hasty and uncertain in his wisdom; but, Lord! it was just like trying
+to catch a flea in the dark. He was here, there and everywhere. While
+I was down south hunting along his trail he would be up north objecting
+to the sheep industry in ingenious ways and varying his bill of fare
+with choice cuts of lamb and mutton. And by the time I got down south he
+would be--God only knows where, I didn't. I could only guess, and I
+guessed wrong until the last one. And then it was the toss of a coin
+that decided it.
+
+"After a while he began to get more daring, and when I say more daring I
+mean an open game with no limit. He began to prove my ideas about his age
+making him reckless, though he was cautious enough, to be sure. One day,
+not long ago, he had a run-in with two sheepmen out by the U bend of the
+creek, who had driven their herds up on Cross Bar-8 land and over the
+dead-line established by the ranch. They must have taken him for some
+Cross Bar-8 puncher and thought he was going to kick up a fuss about the
+trespass, or else they recognized him. Anyway, when I got on the scene
+they were ready to be planted, which I did for them. Then I went after
+him on a plain trail north--and almost too plain to suit me, because it
+looked like it had been made plain as an invitation. He had picked out
+the softest ground and left plenty of good tracks. But I was some mad
+and didn't care much what I run into. I thought he had driven the whole
+blasted herd of baa-baas over that high bank and into the creek, for the
+number of dead sheep was shore scandalous.
+
+"I followed that cussed trail north, east, south, west and then all
+over the whole United States, it seemed to me. And it was always
+growing older, because I had to waste time in dodging chaparrals and
+things like that that might hold him and his gun. I went picking my
+way on a roundabout course past thickets of honey mesquite and cactus
+gardens, over alkali flats and everything else, and the more I fooled
+about the madder I got. I ain't no real, genuine fool, and I've had
+some experience at trailing, but I had to confess that I was just a
+plain, ordinary monkey-on-a-stick when stacked up against a kid that was
+only about half my age, because suddenly the plainness of the trail
+disappeared and I was left out on the middle of a burning desert to
+guess the answer as best I could. I knew what he had done, all right,
+but that didn't help me a whole lot. Did you ever trail anybody that used
+padded-leather footpads on his cayuse's feet, and that went on a
+walk, picking out the hardest ground? No? Well, I have, and it's no cinch.
+
+"I got tired of chasing myself back to the same place four times out of
+five, and I reckons that it wouldn't be very long before he had made his
+circle and got me in front of him. It ain't no church fair to be hunting
+a mad devil like him under the best conditions, and it's a whole lot
+less like one when he gets behind you doing the same thing. I didn't
+know whether he had swung to the north or south, so I tossed up a coin
+and cried heads for north--and it was tails. I cut loose at a lope and
+had been riding for some time when I saw something through an opening
+in the chaparrals to the east of me, and it moved. I swung my glasses
+on it, and I'm blamed if it wasn't an Apache war party bound north.
+They were about a mile to the east of me, and if they kept on going
+straight ahead they would run across my trail in about three hours,
+for it gradually worked their way. I ducked right then and there and
+struck west for a time, turning south again until I hit the Cimarron
+Trail, which I followed east. Well, as I went around one side of the
+chaparral six mad Apaches went around the other, and they hit my trail
+too soon to suit me. I heard a hair-raising yell and lit out in the
+direction of Chattanooga as hard as I could go, with a hungry chorus a
+mile behind me.
+
+"I had just passed that freak bowlder on the Apache Trail when the man I
+was looking for turned up, and with the drop, of course. We reckoned that
+two was needed to stop the war-paints, which we did, him running the game
+and doing most of the playing. I felt like I was his honored guest whom
+he had invited to share in the festivities. He had plenty of chances to
+nail me if he wanted to, and he had chipped in on a game that he didn't
+have to take cards in; and to help me out. He could have let them get
+me and they would have thought that I had done all the injury and that
+there wasn't another man on the desert. But he didn't, and I began to
+think he wasn't as bad as he was painted."
+
+Then he told of the trouble between The Orphan and Jimmy of the Cross
+Bar-8, and of the rage which blossomed out on the ranch.
+
+"That shore settled it for the Cross Bar-8. They wanted lots of gore, and
+they got it, all right, when he played five of their punchers against
+the very war party he had sent north to meet me, while I was chasing him.
+That war party must have found something to their liking, wandering about
+the country all that time."
+
+Blake interrupted him: "War party that he sent north to meet you?" he
+asked in surprise. "How could he do that?"
+
+"That's just what I said," replied Shields, and then he explained about
+the arrow. "Any man who could stack a deck like that and use one danger to
+wipe out another ain't going to get caught by an outfit of lunkheads--by
+George! if he didn't work nearly the same trick on the Cross Bar-8 crowd!
+Oh, it's great, simply great!"
+
+The foreman slapped his knee enthusiastically: "Fine! Fine!" he exulted.
+"That fellow has got brains, plenty of them! And he'll make use of them
+to the good of this country, too, before we get through with him."
+
+Shields continued: "After he sic'd the chumps of the Cross Bar-8 on the
+Apaches he shore raised the devil on the ranch and I was asked to go out
+and run things, which I did, or rather thought I would do. Charley and I
+and the two Larkin boys laid out on the plain all night, covered up with
+sand, waiting for him to show up between us and the windows--and the first
+thing I saw in the morning was Helen's flower pot here--it used to be
+Margaret's--setting up on top of a pile of sand under my very nose where
+he had stuck it while I waited for him--and blamed if he hadn't signed
+his name in the sand at its base!" He suddenly turned to his sister:
+"Tell Tom about him calling on you while I was waiting for him out on
+the ranch, Helen."
+
+Helen did so and the way she told it caused the women to look keenly at
+her.
+
+Blake laughed heartily: "Now, don't that beat all!" he cried.
+
+"It don't beat this," responded the sheriff, turning again to Helen. "Tell
+him about the stage coach, Sis."
+
+"Well, I don't know much about the first part of it," she replied. "All I
+remember is a terrible ride --oh, it was awful!" she cried, shuddering as
+she remembered the tortures of the Concord. "But when we stopped and
+after I managed to get out of the coach I saw the driver carrying a man on
+his shoulders and coming toward us. He laid his burden down and revived
+him--and he was a young man, and covered with blood." Then she paused:
+"He was real nice and polite and didn't seem to think that he had done
+anything out of the ordinary. Then we went on and he left us."
+
+The sheriff laughed and leveled an accusing finger at her:
+
+"You have left out a whole lot, Sis," he said affectionately. "Helen acted
+just like the thoroughbred she is, Tom," he continued. "I guess Bill told
+you all about it, for he's aired it purty well. Why, she even lost her
+gold pin a-helping him!" and he grinned broadly.
+
+Helen shot him a warning glance, but it was too late; Mary suddenly sat
+bolt upright, her expression one of shocked surprise.
+
+"Helen Shields!" she cried, "and I never thought of it before! How could
+you do it! Why, that horrid man will show your pin and boast about it to
+everybody! The idea! I'm surprised at you!"
+
+"Tut, tut," exclaimed Shields. "I reckon that pin is all right. He might
+find it handy some day to return it, it'll be a good excuse when he gets
+on his feet. And I'd hate to be the man to laugh at it, or try to take it
+from him. Now, come, Mary, think of it right; it was the first kind act
+he had known since he lost his daddy. And that pin is one of my main
+stand-bys in this game. I believe that he'll be square as long as he
+has it."
+
+"Well, I don't care, James," warmly responded Mary. "It was _not_ a modest
+thing to do when she had never seen him before, and he her brother's
+enemy and an outlaw!"
+
+"How could I have fastened the bandage, sister dear?" asked Helen, her
+complexion slightly more colored than its natural shade. "It was so very
+little to do after all he had done for us!"
+
+"Well, Tom and I have some business to talk over, so we'll leave you
+to fight the matter out among yourselves," the sheriff said, arising.
+"Come to my room, Tom, I want to talk over that ranch scheme with you.
+You bring the coffee pot and the cigars and I'll juggle the pie and
+gingerbread," he laughed as he led the way.
+
+"Oh, Tom!" hastily called Mrs. Shields after good-nights had been said,
+and just before the door closed; "I promised you a dinner for your boys
+when Helen and Mary came, and if you think you can spare them this coming
+Sunday I will have it then."
+
+"Thank you, Mrs. Shields," earnestly responded Blake, turning on the
+threshold. "It is awful good of you to put yourself out that way, and you
+can bet that the boys will be your devoted slaves ever after. If you
+must go to that trouble, why, Sunday or any day you may name will do for
+us. Gosh, but won't they be tickled!" he exulted as he pictured them
+feasting on goodies. "It'll be better than a circus, it shore will!"
+
+"Why, it's no trouble at all, Tom," she replied, smiling at being able
+to bring cheer to a crowd of men, lonely, as she thought. "And you will
+arrange to have The Orphan with them, won't you?"
+
+"I most certainly will," he heartily replied. "It'll do wonders for him."
+He glanced quickly at Helen, but she was busily engaged in threading a
+needle under the lamp shade.
+
+"Good night, all," he said as he closed the door.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+AN UNDERSTANDING
+
+
+Blake settled himself in the easy chair which his host pushed over to
+him and crossed his feet on the seat of another, and became the
+personification of contentment. One of the black Perfectos which a
+friend in the East kept Shields supplied with, was tenderly nursed by his
+lips, its fragrant smoke slowly issuing from his nose and mouth,
+yielding its delights to a man who knew a good cigar when he smoked it,
+and who knew how to smoke it. At his elbow stood a coffee pot, flanked
+on one side by a plate piled high with gingerbread; on the other by an
+apricot pie. His eyes half-closed and his arms were folded, and a great
+peace stole over him. He had the philosopher's mind which so readily
+yields to the magic touch of a perfect cigar. In that short space of
+time he was recompensed for a life of hardships, perils and but few
+pleasures.
+
+They sat each lost in his own thoughts, in a silence broken only by the
+very low and indistinct hum of women's voices and the loud ticking of the
+clock, which soon struck ten. The foreman sighed, stirred to knock the
+ashes from his cigar, and then slowly reached his hand toward the pie.
+Shields came to himself and very gravely relighted his cigar, watching
+the blue smoke stream up over the lamp. He looked at his contented friend
+for a few seconds and then broke the silence.
+
+"Tom," he said, "what I'm going to tell you now is all meat. I couldn't
+say anything about it while the women were around, for they shore worry a
+lot and there wasn't no good in scaring them.
+
+"The Cross Bar-8 outfit got saddled with the idea that they wanted a
+new sheriff, and four of them didn't care a whole lot how they made the
+necessary vacancy. I got word that they were going to pay Bill Howland
+for the part he played, and on the face of it there wasn't nothing more
+than that. It was natural enough that they were sore on him, and that
+they would try to square matters. Well, of course, I couldn't let him
+get wiped out and I took cards in the game. But, Lord, it wasn't what I
+reckoned it was at all. He was in for his licking, all right, but _he_
+was the _little_ fish--and _I_ was the _big_ one.
+
+"They got Bill in the defile of the Backbone and were going to lynch
+him--they beat him up shameful. He wouldn't tell them that I was
+hand-in-glove with The Orphan, which they wanted to hear, so they tried to
+scare him to lie, but it was no go.
+
+"Well, I followed Bill and, to make it short, that is just what they had
+figured on. They posted an outpost to get the drop on me when I showed
+up, and he got it. Tex Williard seemed to be the officer in charge,
+and he asked me questions and suggested things that made me fighting
+mad inside. But I was as cool as I could be apparently, for it ain't
+no good to lose your temper in a place like that. I suppose they wanted
+me to get out on the warpath so they could frame up some story about
+self-defense. It looked bad for me, with three of them having their guns
+on me, and Tex Williard had just given me an ultimatum and had counted
+two, when, d----d if The Orphan didn't take a hand from up on the wall
+of the defile. That let me get my guns out, and the rest was easy. We let
+Bill get square on the gang for the beating he had got, by whipping
+all of them to the queen's taste. When they got so they could stand up I
+told them a few things and ordered them out of the country, and they were
+blamed glad to get the chance to go, too.
+
+"The Orphan didn't have to mix up in that, not at all, and it makes the
+third time he's put his head in danger to help me or mine, and he took big
+chances every time. How in h--l can I help liking him? Can I be blamed
+for treating him white and square when he's done so much for me? He is so
+chock full of grit and squareness that I'll throw up this job rather than
+to go out after him for his past deeds, and I mean it, too, Tom."
+
+Blake reached for another piece of pie, held his hand over it in
+uncertainty and then, changing his mind, took gingerbread for a change.
+
+"Well, I reckon you're right, Jim," he replied. "Anyhow, it don't make
+a whole lot of difference whether you are or not. You're the sheriff of
+this layout, and you're to do what you think best, and that's the idea
+of most of the people out here, too. If you want to experiment, that's
+your business, for you'll be the first to get bit if you're wrong. And
+it ain't necessary to tell you that your friends will back you up in
+anything you try. Personally, I am rather glad of what you're doing,
+for I like that man's looks, as I said before, and he'll be just the kind
+of a puncher I want. He's a man that'll fight like h--l for the man he
+ties up to and who treats him square. If he ain't, I'm getting childish
+in my judgment."
+
+"I sent him to you," the sheriff continued, "because I wanted to get
+him in with a good outfit and under a man who would be fair with him. I
+knew that you would give him every chance in the world. And then Helen
+takes such an interest in him, being young and sympathetic and romantic,
+that I wanted to please her if I could, and I can. She'll be very much
+pleased now that I've given him a start in the right direction and there
+ain't nothing I can do for her that is not going to be done. She's a
+blamed fine girl, Tom, as nice a girl as ever lived."
+
+"She shore is--there ain't no doubt about that!" cried the foreman, and
+then he frowned slightly. "But have you thought of what all this might
+develop into?" he asked, leaning forward in his earnestness. "It's shore
+funny how I should think of such a thing, for it ain't in my line at all,
+but the idea just sort of blew into my head."
+
+"What do you mean?"
+
+"Well, Helen, being young and sympathetic and romantic, as you said,
+and owing her own life and the lives of her sister and friend, not to
+mention yours, to him, might just go and fall in love with him, and I
+reckon that if she did, she would stick to him in spite of hell. He's a
+blamed good-looking, attractive fellow, full of energy and grit, somewhat
+of a mystery, and women are strong on mysteries, and he might nurse
+ideas about having some one to make gingerbread and apricot pie for
+him; and if he does, as shore as God made little apples, it'll be Helen
+that he'll want. He's never seen as pretty a girl, she's been kind and
+sympathetic with him, and I'm willing to bet my hat that he's lost a bit
+of sleep about her already. Good Lord, what can you expect? She pities
+him, and what do the books say about pity?"
+
+The sheriff thought for a minute and then looked up with a peculiar light
+in his eyes.
+
+"For a bachelor you're doing real well," he said, still thinking hard.
+
+"Being a bachelor don't mean that I ain't never rubbed elbows with women,"
+replied the foreman. "There are some people that are bachelors because
+they are too darned smart to get roped and branded because the moon
+happens to be real bright. But I'll confess to you that I ain't a bachelor
+because I didn't want to get roped. We won't say any more about that,
+however."
+
+"Well," said Shields, slowly. "If he tries to get her before I know that
+he is straight and clean and good enough for her, I'll just have to
+stop him any way I can. First of all, I'm looking out for my sister,
+the h--l with anybody else. But on the other hand, if he makes good and
+wants her bad enough to rustle for two and she has her mind made up that
+she'd rather have him than stay single and is head over heels in love
+with him, I don't see that there's anything to worry about. I tell you
+that he is a good man, a real man, and if he changes like I want him
+to, she would be a d----d sight better off with him than with some dudish
+tenderfoot in love with money. He has had such a God-forsaken life that
+he will be able to appreciate a change like that--he would be square as a
+brick with her and attentive and loyal--and with him she wouldn't run
+much chance of being left a widow. Why, I'll bet he'll worship the ground
+she walks on--she could wind him all around her little finger and he'd
+never peep. And she would have the best protection that walks around these
+parts. But, pshaw, all this is too far ahead of the game. How about that
+herd of cattle you spoke of?"
+
+"I can get you the whole herd dirt cheap," replied the foreman. "And they
+are as hungry and healthy a lot as you could wish."
+
+"Well," responded the sheriff, "I've made up my mind to go ranching
+again. I can't stand this loafing, for it don't amount to much more than
+that now that The Orphan has graduated out of the outlaw class. I can run
+a ranch and have plenty of time to attend to the sheriff part of it,
+too. Ever since I sold the Three-S I have been like a fish out of water.
+When I got rid of it I put the money away in Kansas City, thinking that I
+might want to go back at it again. Then I got rid of that mine and bunked
+the money with the ranch money. The interest has been accumulating for
+a long time now and I have got something over thirty thousand lying idle.
+Now, I'm going to put it to work.
+
+"I ran across Crawford last week, and he is dead anxious to sell out and
+go back East--he don't like the West. I've determined to take the A-Y off
+his hands, for it's a good ranch, has good buildings on it, two fine
+windmills over driven wells, good grass and shelters. Why, he has put
+up shelters in Long Valley that can't be duplicated under a thousand
+dollars. His terms are good--five thousand down and the balance in
+installments of two thousand a year at three per cent., and I can get
+_over_ three per cent, while it is lying waiting to be paid to him. He
+is too blamed sick of his white elephant to haggle over terms. He was
+foolish to try to run it himself and to sink so much money in driven
+wells, windmills and buildings--it would astonish you to know how much
+money he spent in paint alone. What did he know about ranching, anyhow?
+He can't hardly tell a cow from a heifer. He said that he knew how to
+make money earn money in the East, but that he couldn't make a cent
+raising cows.
+
+"If The Orphan attends to his new deal I'll put him in charge and the
+rest lies with him. I'll provide him with a good outfit, everything he
+needs and, if he makes good and the ranch pays, I'll fix it so he can
+own a half-interest in it at less than it cost me, and that will give
+him a good job to hold down for the rest of his life. It'll be something
+for him to tie to in case of squalls, but there ain't much danger of his
+becoming unsteady, because if he was at all inclined to that sort of thing
+he would be dead now.
+
+"This ain't no fly-away notion, as you know. I've had an itching for a
+good ranch for several years, and for just about that length of time
+I've had my eyes on the A-Y. I was going to buy it when Crawford gobbled
+it up at that fancy price and I felt a little put out when he took up
+his option on it, but I'm glad he did, now. Why, Reeves sold out to
+Crawford for almost three times what I am going to pay for it, and it
+has been improved fifty per cent. since he has had it. But, of course,
+there was more cattle then than there is now. You get me that herd at
+a good figure and I'll be able to take care of them very soon now, just
+as soon as I close the deal. But, mind you, no Texas cattle goes--I don't
+want any Spanish fever in mine.
+
+"I'm thinking some of putting Charley in charge temporarily, just as
+soon as Sneed gets some men, and when The Orphan takes it over things will
+be in purty fair shape. I won't move out there because my wife don't
+like ranching--she wants to be in town where she is near somebody, but
+I'll spend most of my time out there until everything gets in running
+order. Oh, yes--in consideration of the five thousand down at the time
+the papers are signed, Crawford has agreed to leave the ranch-house
+furnished practically as it is, and that will be nice for Helen and The
+Orphan if they ever should decide to join hands in double blessedness.
+You used to have a lot of fun about the high-faluting fixings in your
+ranch-house, but just wait 'til you see this one! An inside look around
+will open your eyes some, all right. It is a wonder, a real wonder!
+Running water from the windmills, a bath-room, sinks in the kitchen, a
+wood-burning boiler in the cellar, and all the comforts possible. If
+Crawford tries to move all that stuff back East it would cost him more
+than he could get for it, and he knows it, too. It's a bargain at twice
+the price, and I'm going to nail it. I can't think of anything else."
+
+"Well," replied Blake, "I don't see how you could do anything better,
+that's sure. It all depends on the price, and if you're satisfied with
+that, there ain't no use of turning it down. I know you can make money
+out there with any kind of attention, for I'm purty well acquainted with
+the A-Y. And I'll see about the cattle next week, but you better leave
+The Orphan stay with me a while longer. My boys are the best crowd that
+ever lived in a bunk-house, and if he minds his business they'll smooth
+down his corners until you won't hardly know him; and they'll teach him a
+little about the cow-puncher game if he's rusty.
+
+"You remember the time we had that killing out there, don't you?" Blake
+asked. "Well, you also remember that we agreed to cut out all gunplay on
+the ranch in the future, and that I sent East for some boxing gloves,
+which were to be used in case anybody wanted to settle any trouble.
+They have been out there for two years now, and haven't been used except
+in fun. Give the boys a chance and they'll cure him of the itching
+trigger-finger, all right. They're only a lot of big-hearted, overgrown
+kids, and they can get along with the devil himself if he'll let them.
+But they are hell-fire and brimstone when aroused," then he laughed
+softly: "They heard about your trouble with Sneed and they shore was
+dead anxious to call on the Cross Bar-8 and make a few remarks about
+long life and happiness, but I made them wait 'til they should be sent for.
+
+"They know all about The Orphan--that is, as much as I did before I
+called to-night. Joe Haines is a great listener and when he rustles our
+mail once a week he takes it all in, so of course they know all about
+it. They had a lot of fun about the way he made the Cross Bar-8 sit
+up and take notice, for they ain't wasting any love on Sneed's crowd.
+And it took Bill Howland over an hour to tell Joe about his experiences.
+So when The Orphan met the outfit they knew him to be the man who had
+saved the sheriff's sisters, which went a long way with them. Say, Jim,"
+he exclaimed, "can I tell them what you said about him to-night? Let
+me tell them everything, for it'll go far with them, especially with
+Silent, who had some trouble with the U-B about five years ago. He was
+taking a herd of about three thousand head across their range and he
+swears yet at the treatment he got. Yes? All right, it'll make him solid
+with the outfit."
+
+"Tell them anything you want about him," said the sheriff, "but don't say
+anything about the A-Y. I want to keep it quiet for a while."
+
+Shields poured himself a cup of coffee and then glanced at the clock: "Too
+late for a game, Tom?" he asked, expectantly.
+
+The foreman laughed: "It's seldom too late for that," he replied.
+
+"Good enough!" cried his host. "What shall it be this time--pinochle or
+crib?"
+
+The foreman slowly closed his eyes as he replied: "Either suits me--this
+feed has made me plumb easy to please. Why, I'd even play casino to-night!"
+
+"Well, what do you say to crib?" asked the sheriff. "You licked me so bad
+at it the last time you were here that I hanker to get revenge."
+
+"Well, I don't blame you for wanting to get it, but I'll tell you right
+now that you won't, for I can lick the man that invented crib to-night,"
+laughed the foreman. "Bring out your cards."
+
+Shields placed the cards on the table and arranged things where they would
+be handy while his friend shuffled the pack.
+
+The foreman pushed the cards toward his host: "There you are--low deals
+as usual, I suppose."
+
+"Oh, you might as well go ahead and deal," grumbled the sheriff
+good-naturedly. "I don't remember ever cutting low enough for you--by
+George! A five!"
+
+Blake picked up the cards and started to deal, but the sheriff stopped him.
+
+"Hey! You haven't cut yet!" Shields cried, putting his hand on the cards.
+"What are you doing, anyhow?"
+
+Blake laughed with delight: "Well, anybody that can't cut lower than a
+five hadn't ought to play the game. What's the use of wasting time?"
+
+"Well, you never mind about the time--you go ahead and beat me," cried
+the sheriff. "Of all the nerve!"
+
+Blake picked up the cards again: "Do you want to cut again?" he asked.
+
+"Not a bit of it! That five stands!"
+
+"Well, how would a four do?" asked the foreman, lifting his hand. "It's a
+three!" he exulted. "All that time wasted," he said.
+
+"You go to blazes," pleasantly replied the sheriff as he sorted his hand.
+"This ain't so bad for you, not at all bad; you could have done worse,
+but I doubt it." He discarded, cut, and Blake turned a six.
+
+"Seven," called Shields as he played.
+
+"Seventeen," replied Blake, playing a queen.
+
+"No you don't, either," grinned the sheriff. "You can play that four later
+if you want to, but not now on twenty-seven. Call it twenty-five," he
+said, playing an eight.
+
+Blake carefully scanned his hand and finally played the four, grumbling a
+little as his friend laughed.
+
+"Thirty-one--first blood," remarked the sheriff, dropping the deuce.
+
+While he pegged his points Blake suddenly laughed.
+
+"Say, Jim," he said, "before I forget it I want to tell you a joke on
+Humble. He thought it would be easy money if he taught Lee Lung how
+to play poker. He bothered Lee's life out of him for several days, and
+finally the Chinaman consented to learn the great American game."
+
+Blake played a six and the sheriff scored two by pairing, whereupon his
+opponent made it threes for six, and took a point for the last card.
+
+"As I was saying, Humble wanted the cook to learn poker. Lee's face was
+as blank as a cow's, and Humble had to explain everything several times
+before the cook seemed to understand what he was driving at. Anybody would
+have thought he had been brought up in a monastery and that he didn't know
+a card from an army mule."
+
+Blake pegged his seven points and picked up his cards without breaking
+the story.
+
+"But Lee had awful luck, and in half an hour he owned half of Humble's
+next month's pay. Now, every time he gets a chance he shows Humble the
+cards and asks for a game. 'Nicee game, ploker, nicee game,' he'll say.
+What Humble says is pertinent, profane and permeating. Then the boys guy
+him to a finish. He'll be wanting to teach Lee how to play fan-tan some
+day, so the boys say. Lee must have graduated in poker before Humble
+ever heard of the game."
+
+Shields laughed heartily and swiftly ran over his cards.
+
+"Fifteen two, four, six, a pair is eight, and a double run of three is
+fourteen. Real good," he said as he pegged. "Passed the crack that time.
+What have you got?"
+
+The foreman put his cards down, found three sixes and then turned the crib
+face up. "Pair of tens and His Highness," he grumbled. "Only three in that
+crib!"
+
+"That's what you get for cutting a three," laughed the sheriff.
+
+The game continued until the striking of the clock startled the guest.
+
+"Midnight!" he cried. "Thirty miles before I get to bed--no, no, I can't
+stay with you to-night --much obliged, all the same."
+
+He clapped his sombrero on his head and started for the door: "Well,
+better luck next time, Jim--three twenty-four hands shore did make a
+difference. Right where they were needed, too. So long."
+
+"Sorry you won't stay, Tom," called his friend from the door as the
+foreman mounted. "You might just as well, you know."
+
+"I'm sorry, too, but I've got to be on hand to-morrow--anyway, it's bright
+moonlight--so long!" he cried as he cantered away.
+
+"Hey, Tom!" cried the sheriff, leaping from the porch and running to the
+gate. "Tom!"
+
+"Hullo, what is it?" asked the foreman, drawing rein and returning.
+
+"Smoke this on your way, it'll seem shorter," said the sheriff, holding
+out a cigar.
+
+"By George, I will!" laughed Blake. "That's fine, you're all right!"
+
+"Be good," cried the sheriff, watching his friend ride down the street.
+
+"Shore enough good--I have to be," floated back to his ears.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+THE FLYING-MARE
+
+
+The Sunday morning following Blake's visit to Ford's Station found the
+Star C in excitement. Notwithstanding the fact that on every pleasant
+night after the day's work had been done it was the custom for the outfit
+to indulge in a swim, and that Saturday night had been very pleasant, the
+Limping Water was being violently disturbed, and laughter and splashing
+greeted the sun as it looked over the rim of the bank. Cakes of soap
+glistened on the sand on the west bank and towels hung from convenient
+limbs of the bushes which fringed the creek.
+
+Silent, who was noted among his companions for the length of time he
+could stay under water, challenged them to a submersion test. The rules
+were simple, inasmuch as they consisted in all plunging under at the
+same time, the winner being he who was the last man up. Silent had
+steadfastly refused to have his endurance timed, which his friends
+mistook for modesty, and no sooner had all "ducked under" than his head
+popped up--but this time he was not alone. Humble, whose utmost limit
+was not over half a minute, grew angry at his inability to make a good
+showing and craftily determined to take a handicap. The two stared at
+each other for a space and then burst into laughter, forgetting for the
+time being what they should do. Other heads bobbed up, and the secret
+was out. Only that Silent was the best swimmer in the crowd saved him
+from a ducking, and as it was he had to grab his clothes and run.
+
+After being assured that he was forgiven for his trickery he rejoined his
+friends and his towel.
+
+More fun was now the rule, for dressing required care. The sandy west bank
+sloped gradually to the water's edge, and it was necessary to stand on one
+foot on a small stone in the water while the other was dipped to remove
+the sand. Still on one foot the other must be dried, the stocking put on,
+then the trouser leg and lastly the boot, and woe to the man who lost his
+balance and splashed stocking and trouser leg as he wildly sought to
+save it! Humble splashed while his foot was only half-way through the
+trouser leg, and The Orphan fared even worse. Then a race of awkward
+runners was on toward the bunk house, where breakfast was annihilated.
+
+"Hey, Tom, what time do we leave?" asked Bud for the fifth time.
+
+"Nine o'clock, you chump," replied the foreman.
+
+"Three whole hours yet," grumbled Jim as he again plastered his hair to
+his head.
+
+"I'll lose my appetite shore," worried Humble. "We got up too blamed
+early, that's what we did."
+
+"Why, here's Humble!" cried Silent in mock surprise. "Do _you_ like
+apricot pie, and gingerbread and _real_ coffee?"
+
+"You go to the devil," grumbled Humble. "You wouldn't 'a' been asked at
+all, only she couldn't very well cut you out of it when she asked me
+along. _I_'m the one she really wants to feed; you fellers just happen
+to tag on behind, that's all."
+
+"Going to take Lightning with you, Humble?" asked Docile, winking at the
+others.
+
+"Why, I shore am," replied Humble in surprise. "Do you reckon I'd leave
+him and that d-----d Chink all alone together, you sheep?"
+
+"I was afraid you wouldn't," pessimistically grumbled Docile, but here
+he smiled hopefully. "Suppose you take Lee Lung and leave the dog here?"
+he queried.
+
+"Suppose you quit supposing with your feet!" sarcastically countered
+Humble. "I know you ain't got much brains, but you might exercise what
+little you have got once in a while. It won't hurt you none after you
+get used to it."
+
+"How are you going to carry him, Humble--like a papoose?" queried Joe with
+a great show of interest.
+
+Humble stared at him: "Huh!" he muttered, being too much astonished to
+say more.
+
+"I asked you how you are going to carry your fighting wolfhound," Joe
+said without the quiver of an eyelash. "I thought mebby you was going to
+sling him on your back like a papoose."
+
+"Carry him! Papoose!" ejaculated Humble in withering irony. "What do you
+reckon his legs are for? He ain't no statue, he ain't no ornament, he's a
+dog."
+
+"Well, I knowed he ain't no ornament, but I wasn't shore about the rest of
+it," responded Joe. "I only wanted to know how he'd get to town. There
+ain't no crime in asking about that, is there? I know he can't follow the
+gait we'll hit up for thirty miles, so I just naturally asked, _sabe?"_
+
+"Oh, you did, did you!" cried Humble, not at all humbly. "He can't follow
+us, can't he?" he yelled belligerently.
+
+"He shore can't, cross my heart," asserted Silent in great earnestness.
+"If he runs to Ford's Station after us and gets there inside of two days
+I'll buy him a collar. That goes."
+
+"Huh!" snorted Humble in disgust, "he won't wear your old collar after he
+wins it. He's got too much pride to wear anything you'll give him."
+
+"He couldn't, you mean," jabbed Jim. "He's so plumb tender that it would
+strain his back to carry it. Why, he has to sit down and rest if more'n
+two flies get on the same spot at once."
+
+"He can't wag his tail more'n three times in an hour," added Bud, "and
+when he scratches hisself he has to rest for the remainder of the day."
+
+Humble turned to The Orphan in an appealing way: "Did you ever see so many
+d----d fools all at once?" he beseeched.
+
+The Orphan placed his finger to his chin and thought for fully half a
+minute before replying: "I was just figuring," he explained in apology
+for his abstraction. Then his face brightened: "You can tie him up in
+a blanket--that's the best way. Yes, sir, tie him up in a blanket and
+sling him at the pommel. We'll take turns carrying him."
+
+"Purple h--l!" yelled Humble. "You're another! The whole crowd are a lot
+of ----!"
+
+"Sing it, Humble," suggested Tad, laughing. "Sing it!"
+
+"Whistle some of it, and send the rest by mail," assisted Jack Lawson.
+
+"Seen th' dlog?" came a bland, monotonous voice from the doorway, where
+Lee Lung stood holding a chunk of beef in one hand, while his other hand
+was hidden behind his back. Over his left shoulder projected half a foot
+of club, which he thought concealed. "Seen th' dlog?" he repeated, smiling.
+
+"Miss Mirandy and holy hell!" shouted Humble, leaping forward at sight of
+the club. There was a swish! and Humble rebounded from the door, at which
+he stared. From the rear of the house came more monotonous words: "Nice
+dlog-gie. Pletty Lightling. Here come. Gette glub," and Humble galloped
+around the corner of the house, swearing at every jump.
+
+When the laughter had died down Blake smiled grimly: "Some day Lee _will_
+get that dog, and when he does he'll get him good and hard. Then we'll
+have to get another cook. I've told him fifty times if I've told him once
+not to let it go past a joke, but it's no use."
+
+"He won't hurt the cur, he's only stringing Humble," said Bud. "Nobody
+would hurt a dog that minded his own business."
+
+"If anybody hit a dog of mine for no cause, he wouldn't do it again unless
+he got me first," quietly remarked The Orphan.
+
+Jim hastily pointed to the corner of the house where a club projected into
+sight: "There's Lee now!" he whispered hurriedly. "He's laying for him!"
+
+There was a sudden spurt of flame and smoke and the club flew several
+yards, struck by three bullets. Humble hopped around the corner holding
+his hand, his words too profane for repetition.
+
+Smoke filtered from The Orphan's holster and eyes opened wide in surprise
+at the wonderful quickness of his gunplay, for no one had seen it. All
+there was was smoke.
+
+"Good God!" breathed Blake, staring at the marksman, who had stepped
+forward and was explaining to Humble. "It's a good thing Shields was
+square!" he muttered.
+
+"Did you see that?" asked Bud of Jim in whispered awe. "And I thought _I_
+was some beans with a six-shooter!"
+
+"No, but I heard it--was they one or six?" replied Jim.
+
+"I didn't know it was you, Humble," explained The Orphan. "I thought it
+was the Chink laying for the dog."
+
+"---- ----! Good for you!" cried Humble in sudden friendliness. "You're
+all right, Orphant, but will you be sure next time? That stung like
+blazes," he said as he held out his hand. "I can always tell a white
+man by the way he treats a dog. If all men were as good as dogs this world
+would be a blamed sight nicer place to live in, and don't you forget it."
+
+"Still going to take Lightning with you, Humble?" asked Bud.
+
+"No, I ain't going to take Lightning with me!" snapped Humble. "I'm going
+to leave him right here on the ranch," here his voice arose to a roar,
+"and if any sing-song, rope-haired, animated hash-wrastler gets gay while
+I'm gone, I'll send him to his heathen hell!"
+
+"Come on, boys," said Blake, snapping his watch shut. "Time to get going."
+
+"Glory be!" exulted Silent, executing a few fancy steps toward the corral,
+his companions close behind, with the exception of The Orphan, who had
+gone into the bunk house for a minute.
+
+As they whooped their way toward the town Blake noticed that a gold
+pin glittered at the knot of the new recruit's neck-kerchief, and he
+chuckled when he recalled the warning he had given to the sheriff. He
+shrewdly guessed that the apricot pie and the rest of the feast were
+quite subordinated by The Orphan to the girl who had given him the pin.
+
+Bud suddenly turned in his saddle and pointed to a jackrabbit which
+bounded away across the plain like an animated shadow.
+
+"Now, if Humble's bloodhound was only here," he said, "we would rope that
+jack and make the cur fight it. It would be a fine fight, all right," he
+laughed.
+
+"You go to the devil," grunted Humble, and he started ahead at full speed.
+"Come on!" he cried. "Come on, you snails!" and a race was on.
+
+                .       .       .       .      .
+
+The citizens of Ford's Station saw a low-hanging cloud of dust which
+rolled rapidly up from the west and soon a hard-riding crowd of cowboys,
+in gala attire, galloped down the main street of the town. They slowed
+to a canter and rode abreast in a single line, the arms of each man over
+the shoulders of his nearest companions, and all sang at the top of
+their lungs. On the right end rode Blake, and on the left was The
+Orphan. Bill Howland ran out into the street and spotted his new friend
+immediately and swung his hat and cheered for the man who had helped
+him out of two bad holes. The Orphan broke from the line and shook
+hands with the driver, his face wreathed by a grin.
+
+"You old son-of-a-gun!" cried Bill, delighted at the familiarity from so
+noted a person as the former outlaw. "How are you, hey?"
+
+The line cried warm greeting as it swung around to shake his hand, and
+the driver's chest took on several inches of girth.
+
+"Hullo, Bill!" cried Bud with a laugh. "Seen your old friend Tex lately?"
+
+"Yes, I did," replied Bill. "I saw him out on Thirty-Mile Stretch, but he
+didn't do nothing but swear. He didn't want no more run-ins with me, all
+right, and, besides, my rifle was across my knees. He said as how he was
+going to come back some day and start things moving about this old town,
+and I told him to begin with the Star C when he did."
+
+He looked across the street and waved his hand at a group of his friends
+who were looking on. "Come on over, fellows," he cried, and when they had
+done so he turned and introduced The Orphan to them.
+
+"This ugly cuss here is Charley Winter; this slab-sided curiosity is Tommy
+Larkin, and here is his brother Al; Chet Dare, Duke Irwin, Frank Hicks,
+Hoke Jones, Gus Shaw and Roy Purvis. All good fellows, every one of them,
+and all friends of the sheriff. Here comes Jed Carr, the only man in the
+whole town who ain't afraid of me since I licked them punchers in the
+defile. Hullo, Jed! Shake hands with the man who played h--l with the
+Cross Bar-8 and the Apaches."
+
+"Glad to meet you, Orphan," remarked Jed as he shook hands. "Punching
+for the Star C, eh? Good crowd, most of them, as they run, though Humble
+ain't very much."
+
+"He ain't, ain't he?" grinned that puncher. "You're some sore about that
+day when I cleaned up all your cush at poker, ain't you? Ain't had time to
+get over it, have you? Want to borrow some?"
+
+"You want to look out for Humble, Jed," bantered Bud. "He's taken a lesson
+at poker from our cook since he played you. Didn't you, Easy?" he asked
+Humble.
+
+The roar of laughter which followed Bud's words forced Humble to stand
+treat: "Come on over and have something with the only man in the crowd
+that's got any money," he said.
+
+When they had lined up against the bar jokes began to fly thick and fast
+and The Orphan felt a peculiar elation steal over him as he slowly puffed
+at his cigar. Suddenly the door flew open and Bill's glass dropped from
+his hand.
+
+"Bucknell, by God! And as drunk as a fool!" he exclaimed.
+
+The puncher whom The Orphan had tied up above the defile leaned against
+the door frame and his gun wavered from point to point unsteadily as he
+tried to peer into the dim interior of the room, his face leering as he
+sought, with a courage born of drink, for the man who had made a fool of
+him.
+
+A bottle crashed against the wall at his side, and as he lurched forward,
+glancing at the broken glass, a figure leaped to meet him and with
+agile strength grasped his right wrist, wheeled and got his shoulder
+under Bucknell's armpit, took two short steps and straightened up with
+a jerk. The intruder left the floor and flew headforemost through the
+air, crashing against the rear wall, where he fell to the floor and lay
+quiet. The Orphan, having foresworn unnecessary gunplay, and always
+scorning to shoot a drunken man, had executed a clever, quick flying-mare.
+
+As the sheriff stepped into the room Blake ran forward and lifted Bucknell
+to his feet, supporting him until he could stand alone. The puncher was
+greatly sobered by the shock and blinked confusedly about him. The Orphan
+was smoking nonchalantly at the bar and Bill had just given the sheriff
+the victim's gun.
+
+"What's the matter?" asked Bucknell, rubbing his forehead, which was cut
+and bruised.
+
+"Nothing's the matter, yet," answered Shields shortly. "But there would
+have been if you hadn't been too drunk to know what you was doing. I saw
+you and tried to get here first, but it's all right now. Take your gun
+and get out. Here," he exclaimed, "you promise me to behave yourself and
+you can go back to Sneed, for he needs you. Otherwise, it's out of the
+country after Tex for you. Is it a go?"
+
+"What was that, and who done it?" asked Bucknell, clinging to the bar.
+"What was it?" he repeated.
+
+"That was me trying to throw you through the wall," said the sheriff,
+wishing to give Bucknell no greater cause for animosity against The
+Orphan, and for the peace of the community; and also because he wished to
+help The Orphan to refrain from using his gun in the future. "And I'd
+'a' done it, too, only my hand was sweaty. Will you do what I said?" he
+asked.
+
+Bucknell straightened up and staggered past the sheriff to where The
+Orphan stood: "You done that, but it's all right, ain't it?" he asked.
+"You ain't sore, are you?" His eyes had a crafty look, but the dimness
+of the room concealed it, and The Orphan did not notice the look.
+
+"It's all right, Bucknell, and I ain't sore," he replied. "I won't be sore
+if you do what the sheriff wants you to."
+
+"All right, all right," replied Bucknell. "Have a drink on me, boys. It's
+all right now, ain't it? Have a drink on me."
+
+"No more drinking to-day," quickly said the bartender at a look from
+Shields. "All the good stuff is used up and the rest ain't fit for dogs,
+let alone my friends. Wait 'til next time, when I'll have some new."
+
+"That's too d----d bad," replied Bucknell, leering at the crowd. "Have a
+smoke, then. Come on, have a smoke with me."
+
+"We shore will, Bucknell," responded Shields quickly.
+
+As the cowboy started for the door the sheriff placed a hand on his
+shoulder: "You behave yourself, Bucknell," he said. "So long."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+THE FEAST
+
+
+Joyous whoops, loud and heartfelt, brought the women to the door of the
+sheriff's house in time to see their guests dismount. A perfect babel of
+words greeted their appearance as the cowboys burst into a running fire
+of jokes, salutations and comments. Even the ponies seemed to know that
+something important and unusual was taking place, for they cavorted
+and bit and squealed to prove that they were in accord with the spirit of
+their riders and that thirty miles in less than three hours had not
+subdued them. Bright colors prevailed, for the neck-kerchiefs in most
+cases were new and yet showed the original folding creases, while new,
+clean thongs of rawhide and glittering bits of metal flashed back the
+sunlight. Spurs glittered and the clean looking horses appeared to have
+had a dip in the Limping Water. Blake had hunted through the carpeted
+rooms of his ranch-house for decorations, and in the drawer of a table
+he had found a bunch of ribbons of many kinds and shades. These now
+fluttered from the pommels of the saddles and in one case a red ribbon
+was twined about the leg of a vicious pinto, and the pinto was not at
+all pleased by the decoration.
+
+The sheriff led the way to the house closely followed by Blake, the others
+coming in the order of their nerve. The Orphan was last, not from lack of
+courage, but rather because of strategy. He thought that Helen would
+remain at the door to welcome each arrival and if he was in the van
+he would be passed on to make way for those behind him. Being the last
+man he hoped to be able to say more to her than a few words of greeting.
+As he mounted the steps she was drawn into the room for something and he
+stepped to one side on the porch, well knowing that she would miss him.
+
+Bud poked his head out the door and started to say something, but The
+Orphan fiercely whispered for him to be silent and to disappear, which
+Bud did after grinning exasperatingly.
+
+The man on the porch was growing impatient when he heard the light
+swish of skirts around the corner of the house. Sauntering carelessly to
+the corner he looked into the back-yard and saw Helen with a tray in
+her hands, nearing the back door. She espied him and stopped, flushing
+suddenly as he leaped lightly to the ground and walked rapidly toward
+her. Her cheeks became a deeper red when he stopped before her and took
+the tray, for his eyes were rebellious and would not be subdued, and the
+first thing she saw was the gold pin which stood out boldly against
+the dark blue neck-kerchief. She was rarely beautiful in her white dress,
+and the ribbon which she wore at her throat did not detract in its
+effect. Later her sister was to wonder if it was a coincidence that the
+ribbon and his neck-kerchief were so good a match in color.
+
+She welcomed him graciously and he felt a sudden new and strangely
+exhilarating sensation steal over him as he took the hand she held out,
+the tray all the while bobbing recklessly in his other hand.
+
+"Why aren't you in the house paying your respects to your hostess?" she
+chided half in jest and half in earnest.
+
+"The delay will but add to my fervor when I do," he replied, "for I will
+have had a stimulus then. As long as the hostesses are four and insist
+on not being together, how can I pay my respects all at once?"
+
+"But there is only one hostess," she laughingly corrected. "I am afraid
+you are not very good at making excuses. You probably never felt the need
+to make them before. You see, I, too, am only a guest."
+
+"We two," he corrected daringly.
+
+"I am very glad to see you," she said, leading away from plurals. "You
+are looking very well and much more contented. And then, this is ever so
+much nicer than our first meeting, isn't it? No horrid Apaches."
+
+"I've gotten so that I rather like Apaches," he replied. "They are so
+useful at times. But you mustn't try to tempt me to subordinate that
+eventful day, not yet. It can't be done, although I've never tried to do
+it," he hastily assured her, making a gesture of helplessness. "Sometimes
+an unexpected incident will change the habits of a lifetime, making
+the days seem brighter, and yet, somehow, adding a touch of sadness. I
+have been a stranger to myself since then, restless, absentminded, moody
+and hungry for I know not what." He paused and then slowly continued, "I
+must beg to remain loyal to that day of all days when you bathed an
+outlaw's head and showed your love for fair play and kindness."
+
+"Goodness!" she cried, for one instant meeting his eager eyes. "Why, I
+thought it was a terrible day! And you really think differently?"
+
+"Very much so," he assured her as she withdrew her hand from his. "You
+see, it was such a new and delightful experience to save a stage coach
+and then find that it was a hospital with a wonderful doctor. I accused
+that Apache of being stingy with his lead, for he might just as well have
+given me a few more wounds to have dressed."
+
+"Yes," she laughingly retorted, "it was almost as new an experience
+as starting on a long and supposedly peaceful journey and suddenly
+finding oneself in the middle of a desert surrounded by dead Indians
+and doctoring an Indian killer who was at war with one's brother. And
+that after a terrible shaking up lasting for over an hour. Truly it
+is a day to be remembered. Now, don't you think you should hurry in and
+greet my sister-in-law?"
+
+"Yes, certainly," he quickly responded. "But before I lose the opportunity
+I must ask you if you will care if I ride over and see you occasionally,
+because it is terribly lonely on that ranch."
+
+"You know that we shall always be glad to see you whenever you can call,"
+she replied, smiling up at him. "We are all very deep in your debt and
+brother and all of us think a great deal of you. Are you satisfied on the
+Star C, and do you like your work and your companions?"
+
+"Thank you," he cried happily, "I will ride over and see you once in a
+while. But as for my work, it is delightful! The Star C is fine and my
+companions--well, they just simply can't be beat! they are the finest,
+whitest set of men that ever gathered under one roof."
+
+"That's very nice, I am glad that you find things so congenial," she
+replied in sincerity. "James was sure that you would, for Mr. Blake is an
+old friend of his."
+
+"I'm very anxious about this pin," he said, putting his hand on it. "May
+I keep it for a while longer?" he asked with a note of appeal in his voice.
+
+"Why, yes," she replied, "if you wish to. But only as long as you do
+not displease me, and you will not do that, will you? James has such
+deep confidence in you that I know you will not disappoint him. You will
+justify him in his own mind and in the minds of his acquaintances and
+prove that he has not erred in judgment, won't you?"
+
+"If I am the sum total of your brother's trouble, he will have a path of
+roses to wander through all the rest of his life," he responded earnestly.
+"And I'm really afraid that you will never again wear this pin as a
+possession of yours. Of course you can borrow it occasionally," and he
+smiled whimsically, "but as far as displeasing you is concerned, it is
+mine forever. It will really and truly be mine on that condition, won't
+it? My very own if I do not forfeit it?"
+
+"If you wish it so," she replied quickly, her face radiant with smiles.
+"And you will work hard and you will never shoot a man, no matter what the
+provocation may be, unless it is absolutely necessary to do it for the
+saving of your own life or that of a friend or an innocent man. Promise
+me that!" she commanded imperatively, pleased at being able to dictate
+to him. "Men like you never break a promise," she added impulsively.
+
+"I promise never to shoot a man, woman, child or--or anybody," he
+laughingly replied, "unless it is necessary to save life. And I'll work
+real hard and save my money. And on Sundays, rain or shine, I'll ride in
+and report to my new foreman." Then a bit of his old humor came to him:
+"For I just about need this pin--knots are so clumsy, you know."
+
+She glanced at the knot which held the pin and laughed merrily, leading
+the way into the house.
+
+As they entered Humble was extolling the virtues of his dog, to the
+broad grins of his companions, who constantly added amendments and made
+corrections _sotto voce._
+
+"Why, here they are!" cried the sheriff in such a tone as to suffuse
+Helen's face with blushes. The Orphan coolly shook hands with him.
+
+"Yes, here we are, Sheriff, every one of us," he replied. "We couldn't be
+expected to stay away when Mrs. Shields put herself to so much trouble,
+and we're all happy and proud to be so honored. How do you do, Mrs.
+Shields," he continued as he took her hand. "It is awful kind of you to go
+to such trouble for a lot of lonely, hungry fellows like us."
+
+"Goodness sakes!" she cried, delighted at his words and pleased at the
+way he had parried her husband's teasing thrust. "Why, it was no trouble
+at all--you are all my boys now, you know."
+
+"Thank you, Mrs. Shields," he replied slowly. "We will do our very best
+to prove ourselves worthy of being called your boys."
+
+The sheriff regarded The Orphan with a look of approbation and turned to
+his sister Helen.
+
+"He ain't nobody's fool, eh, Sis?" he whispered. "I'm wondering how you
+ever made up your mind to share him with us!"
+
+"Oh, please don't!" she begged in confusion. "Please don't tease me now!"
+
+"All right, Sis," he replied in a whisper, pinching her ear. "I'll save
+it all up for some other time, some time when he ain't around to turn it
+off, eh? But I don't blame him a bit for exploring the yard first--you're
+the prettiest girl this side of sun-up," he said, beaming with love and
+pride. "How's that for a change, eh? Worth a kiss?"
+
+She kissed him hurriedly and then left the room to attend to her duties
+in the kitchen, and he sauntered over to where The Orphan was talking with
+Mrs. Shields, his hand rubbing his lips and a mischievous twinkle in his
+kind eyes.
+
+"Did you notice the new flower-bed right by the side of the house as you
+ran past it a while ago?" he asked, flashing a keen warning to his wife.
+
+The Orphan searched his memory for the flower-bed and not finding it,
+turned and smiled, not willing to admit that his attention had been too
+fully taken up with a fairer flower than ever grew in earth.
+
+"Why, yes, it is real pretty," he replied. "What about it?"
+
+"Oh, nothing much," gravely replied the sheriff as he edged away. "Only
+we were thinking of putting a flower-bed there, although I haven't had
+time to get at it yet."
+
+The Orphan flushed and glanced quickly at the outfit, who were too busy
+cracking jokes and laughing to pay any attention to the conversation
+across the room.
+
+"James!" cried Mrs. Shields. "Aren't you ashamed of yourself!"
+
+"When you tickle a mule," said the sheriff, grinning at his friend, "you
+want to look out for the kick. Come again sometime, Sonny."
+
+"James!" his wife repeated, "how can you be so mean! Now, stop teasing and
+behave yourself!"
+
+"For a long time I've been puzzled about what you resembled, but now
+I have your words for it," easily countered The Orphan. "Thank you for
+putting me straight."
+
+The sheriff grinned sheepishly and scratched his head: "I'm an old fool,"
+he grumbled, and forthwith departed to tell Helen of the fencing.
+
+Mrs. Shields excused herself and followed her husband into the kitchen to
+look after the dinner, and The Orphan sauntered over to his outfit just
+as Jim looked out of a rear window. Jim turned quickly, his face wearing
+a grin from ear to ear.
+
+"Hey, Bud!" he called eagerly. "Bud!"
+
+"What?" asked Bud, turning at the hail.
+
+"Come over here for a minute, I want to show you something," Jim replied,
+"but don't let Humble come."
+
+Bud obeyed and looked: "Jimminee!" he exulted. "Don't that look sumptious,
+though? This is where we shine, all right." Then turned: "Hey, fellows,
+come over here and take a look."
+
+As they crowded around the window Humble discovered that something was
+in the wind and he followed them. What they saw was a long table beneath
+two trees, and it was covered with a white cloth and dressed for a feast.
+Bud turned quickly from the crowd and forcibly led Humble to a side
+window before that unfortunate had seen anything and told him to put
+his finger against the glass, which Humble finally did after an argument.
+
+"Feel the pain?" Bud asked.
+
+"Why, no," Humble replied, looking critically at his finger. "What's the
+matter with you, anyhow?"
+
+"Nothing," replied Bud. "Think it over, Humble," he advised, turning away.
+
+Humble again put his finger to the glass and then snorted:
+
+"Locoed chump! Prosperity is making him nutty!" When he turned he saw his
+friends laughing silently at him and making grimaces, and a light suddenly
+broke in upon him.
+
+"Yes, I did!" he cried. "That joke is so old I plumb forgot it years ago!
+Spring something that hasn't got whiskers and a halting step, will you?"
+
+Jim laughed and suggested a dance, but was promptly squelched.
+
+"You heathen!" snorted Blake in mock horror. "This is Sunday! If you want
+to dance wait till you get back to the ranch--suppose one of the women was
+here and heard you say that!"
+
+"Gee, I forgot all about it being Sunday," replied Jim, quickly looking
+to see if any of the women were in the room. "We're regular barbarians,
+ain't we!" he exclaimed in self-condemnation and relief when he saw that
+no women were present. "We're regular land pirates, ain't we?"
+
+"You'll be asking to play poker yet, or have a race," jabbed Humble with
+malice. "You ain't got no sense and never did have any."
+
+"Huh!" retorted Jim belligerently, "I won't try to learn a Chinee cook
+how to play poker and get skinned out of my pay, anyhow! Got enough?"
+he asked, "or shall I tell of the time you drifted into Sagetown and
+asked----"
+
+"Shut up, you fool!" whispered Humble ferociously. "Yu'll get skun if you
+say too much!"
+
+"'Skun' is real good," retorted Jim. "Got any more of them new words to
+spring on us?"
+
+Helen had been passing to and fro past the window and Docile Thomas here
+put his marveling into words, for he had been casting covert glances at
+her, but now his restraint broke.
+
+"Gee whiz!" he exclaimed in a whisper to Jack Lawson. "Ain't she a regular
+hummer, now! Lines like a thoroughbred, face like a dream and a smile
+what shore is a winner! See her hair--fine and dandy, eh? She's in the
+two-forty class, all right!" he enthused. "Why, when this country wakes
+up to what's in it the sheriff will have to put up a stockade around this
+house and mount guard. Everybody from Bill up will be stampeding this way
+to talk business with the sheriff. No wonder The Orphan has got a bee
+in his bonnet--lucky dog!"
+
+"She can take care of my pay every month just as soon as she says the
+word," Jack replied. "But suppose you look away once in a while? Suppose
+you shift your sights! You, too, Humble," he said, suddenly turning on
+the latter.
+
+"Me what?" asked Humble, without interest and without shifting his gaze.
+"What are you talking about?"
+
+"Look at something else, see?"
+
+"Shore I see," replied Humble. "That's why I'm looking. Do you think I
+look with my eyes shut! Gee, but ain't she a picture, though!"
+
+"She shore is, but give it a rest, take a vacation, you chump!" retorted
+Jack. "You're staring at her like she had you hoodooed. Come out of your
+trance--wake up and make a fool of yourself some other way. Don't aim all
+the time at her. Mebby Lee Lung has killed your dog!"
+
+"If he has we'll need a new cook," replied Humble with decision.
+
+"Come on, boys! Don't start milling!" cried the sheriff, suddenly entering
+the room. "Dinner's all ready and waiting for us. And I shore hope you
+have all got your best appetites with you, because Margaret likes to
+see her food taken care of lively. If you don't clean it all up she'll
+think you don't like it," he said, winking at Blake, "and if she once
+gets that notion in her head it will be no more invitations for the Star
+C."
+
+There was much excitement in the crowd, and the replies came fast.
+
+"I ain't had anything good to eat for fifteen long, aching years!" cried
+Bud. "When I get through you'll need a new table.
+
+"Same here, only for thirty years," replied Jim hastily. "I just couldn't
+sleep last night for thinking about the glorious surprise my abused
+stomach was due to have to-day. I'll bet my gun on my performance if
+the track is heavy, all right. I'm not poor on speed, and I'm a stayer
+from Stayersville."
+
+"Well, I won't be among the also rans, you can bet on that," laughed
+Silent. "I don't weigh very much, but I'm geared high."
+
+"I'll bet it's good!" cried Humble, "I'll bet it's real good!"
+
+"D----n good, you mean!" corrected Jack. "Hey, fellows!" he cried, "did
+you hear what Humble said? He said that he'd bet it was _real_ good!"
+
+"Horray for Humble, the wit of the Star C," laughed Docile.
+
+"Me for the apricot pie!" exulted Charley. "Here's where I get square on
+Blake for rubbing it in all these months about the fine pie he gets over
+here."
+
+"There ain't no apricot pie," gravely lied the sheriff in surprise.
+
+"What!" cried Charley in alarm. "There ain't none for me! Oh, well, you
+can't lose me in daylight, for I'll double up on everything else. I ain't
+going to get left, all right!"
+
+"Don't wake me up," begged Joe Haines. "Let me dream on in peace and
+plenty. Grub, real, genuine grub, grub what is grub! Oh, joy!"
+
+Mrs. Shields hurried into the room and then paused in surprise when she
+saw that the outfit had not moved toward the feast.
+
+"Land sakes!" she cried. "Aren't you boys hungry, or is James up to some
+of his everlasting teasing again!"
+
+"You talk to her, Bud," whispered Jim eagerly. "I'm so scary I shore
+can't."
+
+"Yes, go ahead, Bud!" came instant and unanimous endorsement in whispers.
+
+"Well, ma'am," began Bud, clearing his throat, glancing around uneasily
+to be sure that the crowd was giving him moral backing, and feeling
+uncomfortable, "we was just getting up a--a----"
+
+"B, C, D," prompted Jim in a whisper.
+
+"We was just getting up a resolution of thanks, Mrs. Shields," he
+continued, stabbing his elbow into the stomach of the offending Jim.
+"You shut up!" he fiercely whispered. "I'm carrying one hundred and
+forty pounds now without the saddle!" Then he continued: "We all of us
+are plumb tickled about this, so plumb tickled we don't hardly know what
+to say----"
+
+"That's right," whispered Jim, folding his arms across his stomach.
+"You're proving it, all right."
+
+Silent and Jack hauled Jim to the rear and Bud continued unruffled: "But
+we want to thank you, ma'am, from the bottoms, the very lowest bottoms of
+our hearts for your kindness to a orphant outfit what ain't had anything
+to eat since the war, and very little during it. Joe Haines, here, ma'am,
+was just saying as how he was a-scared that it is all a dream----"
+
+"I didn't neither!" fiercely contradicted Joe in a whisper, looking very
+self-conscious. He was whisked to the rear to join Jim and the speech went
+on.
+
+"He is afraid it is a dream, ma'am, and I know we all of us have more or
+less doubts about it being really true. But, ma'am, we shore are anxious
+to find out all about it. We've rid thirty miles to see for ourselves,
+and I don't reckon you'll have any fears about our appetites being left
+at home when you sizes up the wreck left in the path of the storm after
+the stampede is over. The boys want to give you three cheers even if it
+is Sunday, ma'am, for your kindness to them, and I'm shore one of the
+boys!"
+
+"Hip, hip, horray!" yelled the crowd, surging forward.
+
+"Good boy, Bud!" they cried.
+
+"I'm proud of you, Buddie!" exulted Charley, slapping him extra heartily
+on the back.
+
+"I didn't know you had it in you, Bud!" cried Silent. "It was shore a
+dandy speech, all right."
+
+"We'll send you to Congress for that, some day, Bud," cried Jack Lawson.
+"You're all right!"
+
+    "I once had a piece of pie, a piece of pie, a piece of pie,
+    I once had a piece of pie, when I was five years old,"
+
+sang Charley as he pranced toward the door.
+
+"Good! Go on, Charley, go on!" cried his companions joyously.
+
+    "Now I'll have another piece, another piece, another piece,
+    Now I'll have another piece, that's two all told.
+
+    Good bye, Lee Lung, good bye Lee Lung,
+    Good bye, Lee Lung, we're going to forget you now!"
+
+"Again on that Lee Lung, altogether--it hits me right!" cried Bud, and the
+matter pertaining to the farewells to Lee Lung was promptly and properly
+attended to in heartfelt sincerity.
+
+The ladies laughed with delight, and Mrs. Shields whispered to her
+husband, who nodded and escorted The Orphan to a seat near the head of the
+table, where he was flanked by Helen and Blake.
+
+"Grab your partners, boys," the sheriff cried, pointing to the chairs.
+There was a hasty piling of belts and guns on the ground, and after much
+confusion all were seated.
+
+The sheriff arose: "Boys, Mrs. Shields wants me to tell you how pleased
+she is to have you all here. She has felt plumb sorry about you and she
+shore has shuddered at the thought of a Chinee cook----"
+
+"Which same we all do--it's chronic," interposed Jim to laughter.
+
+"She wants you to make yourselves at home," continued the sheriff, "learn
+the lay of the land around this range and never forget the trail leading
+here, because she insists that when any of you come to town you have
+simply got to pay us a visit and see if there is a piece of pie or cake
+to eat before you go back to that cook. And Tom says that he'll fire
+the first man who renigs----"
+
+"I'm going to carry the mail hereafter!" cried Bud, scowling fiercely at
+Joe.
+
+"Not if I can shoot first, you don't!" retorted the mail carrier. "I was
+just a-wondering if it wouldn't be better to come in twice a week for it
+instead of once. We might get more letters."
+
+"We'll bid for your job next year," laughed Silent.
+
+"Before I coax you to eat," continued the sheriff, "I----"
+
+"Wrong word, Sheriff," interposed Humble. "Not coax, but force."
+
+"I am going to ask you to reverse things a little, and drink a standing
+toast to the man who saved the stage, to the man who saved Miss Ritchie
+and my sisters and who made this dinner possible. This would be far from a
+happy day but for him. I want you to drink to the long life and happiness
+of The Orphan. All up!"
+
+The clink of glasses was lost in the spontaneous cheer which burst from
+the lips of the former outlaw's new friends, and he sat confused and
+embarrassed with a sudden timidity, his face crimson.
+
+"Speech!" cried Jim, the others joining in the cry. "Speech! Speech!"
+
+Finally, after some urging, The Orphan slowly arose to his feet, a foolish
+smile playing about his lips.
+
+"It wasn't anything," he said deprecatingly. "You all would have done it,
+every one of you. But I'm glad it was me. I'm glad I was on hand, although
+it wasn't anything to make all this fuss about," and he dropped suddenly
+into his seat, feeling hot and uncomfortable.
+
+"Well, we have different ideas about its being nothing," replied the
+sheriff. "Now, boys, a toast to Bill Halloway," he requested. "Bill
+couldn't get here to-day, but we mustn't forget him. His splendid grit
+and driving made it possible for our friend to play his hand so well."
+
+"Hurrah for Bill!" cried Silent, leaping to his feet with the others. When
+seated again he looked quickly at his glass and turned to Bud.
+
+"Real sweet cider!" he exulted. "Good Lord, but how time gallops past!
+I'd almost forgotten what it was like! It's been over twenty years since I
+tasted any! Ain't it fine?"
+
+"I was wondering what it was," remarked Humble, a trace of awe in his
+voice as he refilled his glass. "It's shore enough sweet cider, and blamed
+good, too!"
+
+Charley was romping with the mail carrier and he had a sudden inspiration:
+"Speech from Joe! Speech for the pieces of pie and cake he's due to get!"
+
+"Now, look here, boy," Joe gravely replied. "I'm the mail carrier. I
+don't have to go on jury duty, lead religion round-ups, go to war or make
+speeches. As the books say, I'm exempt. All I have to do is punch cows,
+rustle the mail and eat pie and cake once a week," he said, glancing
+at Bud, who glared and groaned.
+
+"Good boy, Joe!" cried Humble, waving his glass excitedly. "You're shore
+all right, you are, and I'm your deputy, ain't I?"
+
+"No, not my deputy, but my delirium," corrected Joe.
+
+"Glory be!" cried Silent as his plate was passed to him. "Chicken, real
+chicken! Mashed potatoes, mashed turnips and dressing and gravy! And
+here comes stewed corn, boiled onions and jelly and mother's bread. And
+stewed tomatoes? Well, well! I guess we ain't going to be well fed, and
+real happy, eh, fellows? My stomach won't know what's the matter--it'll
+think it died and went to heaven by mistake. Holy smoke! It hurts my
+eyes. What, cranberry jam? Well, I'm just going to close my eyes for a
+minute if you don't mind; I want to recuperate from the shock. This is
+where I live again!"
+
+Humble stared in rapture at the feast before him and finally heaved a long
+drawn sigh of doubt and content.
+
+"Gee!" he cried softly, a far-away look in his eyes. "Look at it, just
+look at it! Just like I used to get when I was a little tad back in
+Connecticut--but that was shore a long time ago. Well," he exclaimed,
+bracing up and bravely forgetting his boyhood, "there's one thing I hope,
+and that is that Lee beats my dog. Then I can shoot him and get square
+for all these years of imitation grub what he's handed out to me!"
+
+"Hey, Tom!" eagerly cried Charley, "why can't we handle a herd of chickens
+out on the ranch, and have a garden? Why, we could have eggs every day
+and chickens on holidays!"
+
+"No wonder Tom likes to ride to town," laughed Silent. "Gee whiz, I'd walk
+it for pie and cake and real genuine coffee!"
+
+"Walk it!" snorted Jim. "Huh, I'd crawl, and stand on my head, knock my
+feet together and crow every half mile! Walk it, huh!"
+
+Merriment reigned supreme throughout the meal and when the bashfulness had
+worn off the conversation became fast and furious, abounding in terse wit,
+verbal attacks and clever counters, and in concentrated onslaughts
+against the unfortunate Humble, who soon found, however, a new and
+loyal champion in Miss Ritchie, who took his part. Her assistance was so
+doughty as to more than once put to rout his tormentors, and before the
+dessert had been reached he was her devoted slave and admirer and was
+henceforth to sing her praises at every opportunity, and even to make
+opportunities.
+
+At The Orphan's end of the table all was serene. He, Helen, Blake and
+the sheriff found much to talk about, and all the while Mrs. Shields
+regarded the four in a motherly way, and tempered the keenness of her
+husband's wit, for he was prone to break lances with The Orphan and to
+tease his sister, much to her confusion. She was very happy, for here
+at her side were her husband and the man she had feared would harm him,
+laughing and joking and the best of friends; and down the table a crowd
+of big-hearted boys, her boys now, were having the time of their lives.
+They were good boys, too, she told herself; a trifle rough, but sterling
+at the heart, and every one of them a loyal friend. How good it was to
+see them eat and hear them laugh, all happy and mischievous. The welding
+of the units had been finished, and now the Star C and The Orphan were
+one in spirit.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII
+
+PREPARATION
+
+
+After the dinner at the sheriff's house, life meant much to The Orphan,
+for the dinner had done its work and done it well. Whatever had been
+missing to complete the good fellowship between him and the others had
+been supplied and by the time the outfit was ready to leave for home,
+all corners had been rounded and all rough edges smoothed down. With
+his outfit he was in hearty, loyal accord, and the spirit of the ranch
+had become his own. With the sheriff his already strong liking had been
+stripped of any undesirable qualities, and he felt that Shields was not
+only the whitest man he had ever met, but also his best friend. He had
+become more intimate with the sheriff's household, and for Mrs. Shields he
+had only love and respect.
+
+With Helen his cup was full to overflowing, for he had managed to hold
+several long talks with her during the afternoon, and to his mind he had
+heard nothing detrimental to his hopes. His eyes had been opened as to
+what it was he had been hungering for, and the knowledge thrilled him to
+his finger-tips. He was a red-blooded, clean-limbed man, direct of words
+and purpose, reveling in a joyous, surging, vigorous health, in tune with
+his surroundings; he was dominant, fearless, and he had a saving grace
+in his humor. To him came visions of the future, golden as the sunrise,
+rich in promise and assurance as to a happiness such as he could only
+feebly feel. Himself he was sure of, for he feared no failure on his part;
+as far as he was concerned it was won. Helen, he believed from what the
+day had given him, would not refuse him when the time came for her to
+decide, and his effervescent spirits sent a song to his lips, which he
+hurled to the sky as a war-cry, a slogan of triumph and a defiance.
+
+As yet he knew nothing of the sheriff's plans, and his thoughts concerning
+his future position in the community did not dare to soar above that of
+foreman of some ranch. To this end he would bend his energies with all the
+power of his splendid trinity--heart, mind and body. He was far too
+happy to think of failure, because there would be none; had the word
+passed through his mind he would have laughed it into oblivion. His
+experience gave him confidence, for he was no weakling sheltered and
+protected by any guiding angel; to the contrary, he was the survivor
+of a bitter war against conditions which would have destroyed a less
+strong man; he was victor over himself and his enemies, a conqueror
+of adverse conditions, a hewer of his own path; his enemies had been
+his best friends, and his long fight, his salvation. For ten years he
+had constantly fought a bitter fight against nature and man; hunger and
+thirst, plots and ambushes had all played their parts, and he had won
+out over all of them. He was young, hopeful and unafraid, and now that he
+was on the right trail he would bend every energy to stay there, and
+he would stay there, be the opposition what it might; and if the
+opposition should be man, and of a strength dangerous to him, he would
+destroy it as he had destroyed others before it. While now scorning to
+use his gun on every provocation he would depend upon it as on a court
+of last resort--and its decision would be final.
+
+He held ill wishes against no man save one, and that one was the man who
+had placed the rope about the neck of his father. He did not know that
+man's name, and he did not know that he might not be among those who had
+already paid for that crime. But should he ever learn that he lived he
+would take payment in full be the cost what it might.
+
+But he had no thoughts for strife, he only knew that the sun had never
+been so bright, the sky so blue and the plain so full of life and beauty
+as it was on this perfect day. Only one other day rivaled it--the day he
+had swayed weakly by the side of a dusty coach and had felt warm, soft
+fingers touching his forehead. But, he told himself with joy, there would
+be days to come which would eclipse even that.
+
+He was aroused from his reverie by the approach of the foreman, who gave
+him a hearty hail and smiled at the happy expression on the puncher's face.
+
+"Well, you look like you had struck it rich!" cried Blake. "What is it,
+gold or silver?"
+
+"Gold or silver!" cried The Orphan in contempt at such cheapness. "By God,
+Blake, I wouldn't sell my claim for all the gold and silver in this fool
+earth! Gold or silver! Why, man, I know where there is plenty of both.
+Here," he cried, plunging his hand into his chaps pocket, "look at this!"
+
+The foreman looked and whistled and took the object into his hand, where
+he examined it critically. "By George, it's the yellow metal, all right,
+and blamed near pure!" He returned it to its owner and added: "That's the
+real stuff, Orphan."
+
+"Yes, it is," replied the other as he pocketed the nugget. "And I know
+where it came from. There's plenty left that's just like it, but I
+wouldn't go after it if it was diamonds."
+
+"You wouldn't!" exclaimed Blake in surprise. "By George, I'd go to-morrow,
+to-night, if I knew. Gold like that ain't to be sneered at. It spells
+ranches, ease, plenty, anything you want. And you wouldn't go for it?"
+
+"No, I wouldn't, and I won't," replied the puncher. "I'm going to stay
+right here on this range and make good with my hands and brains. I'm
+going to win the game with the cards I hold, and when I say win I mean it.
+There are times when gold is a dangerous thing to have, and this is one
+of them, as you'll understand when I disclose my hand. When I win I won't
+need gold bad enough to go through hell and hot water for it and risk not
+getting back to my claim, and it's one hundred to one that I wouldn't
+get back, too. And if I lose, mind you, _if_, I won't have any use for
+it. I picked that nugget up in the middle of the damnedest desert God
+ever made, and when I got off it I was loco for a week. I won't tell
+any friend of mine where it is because I want my friends to go on drawing
+their breath. I need my friends a whole lot, and that's why I don't tell
+you where it is. I was saving that for my enemies. Two have gone after
+it already, and haven't been heard of since."
+
+"Well, you are the first man who ever told me that gold isn't worth going
+after, and you have convinced me that in your case you are right," laughed
+the foreman.
+
+"You wouldn't have to be told if you knew that desert as I do," replied
+The Orphan.
+
+"How was the sheriff last night?" asked Blake. "Or didn't you notice,
+being too much occupied in your claim?"
+
+The Orphan looked at him and then laughed softly: "He was the same as
+ever--the best man I ever knew. But how in thunder do you know about my
+claim? How did you know what I meant? I thought that I had covered that
+trail pretty well."
+
+Blake put his hand on his friend's shoulders and gravely looked at him:
+"Son, having eyes, I see; having ears, I hear; having brains, I think.
+If you have been fooling yourself that you are on a quiet trail, just
+listen to this: There ain't a man who knows you well that don't know what
+you're playing for, even Bill had it all mapped out the second time he
+saw you. And most of us wish you luck. You're not a man who needs help,
+but if you _do_ need it, you know where to come for it."
+
+"Thank you, Blake," replied The Orphan, eagerly filling his lungs with the
+crisp air. "That's why I ain't hankering for that gold--I'm too blamed
+busy making my own."
+
+"Well, what I wanted to speak to you about is this," said the foreman,
+thinking quickly as to how to say it. "Old man Crawford got me to promise
+that I'd pick up a herd of cows for him before fall. Now, I would just
+as soon do it myself as not, but if you want to try your hand at it, go
+ahead. He wants about five thousand, to be delivered in five herds, a
+thousand each, at his corrals. He won't pay any more than the regular
+price for them, and the more you can drop the price the better he will
+like it, of course. They must be good, healthy cattle and be delivered
+to him before payment is made. What do you say?"
+
+"I say that it's a go!" cried The Orphan. "I've had some great luck
+lately!" he exulted. "I'm ready to go after them whenever you say the
+word, to-night if you say so. And I'll get the right number and kind
+or know the reason why. And I'll take a hand in driving the last herd to
+him myself. Good Lord, what luck!"
+
+Blake talked a while longer about the trip, giving necessary instructions
+about prices and where he would be likely to find the herd, and then
+rode off in the direction of Ford's Station for a consultation with his
+friend, the sheriff.
+
+"Hullo, Tom!" came from the stage office as he rode past. He quickly
+turned his head and then stopped, smiling broadly.
+
+"Why, hullo, Bill," he replied. "Glad to see you. How are things? Had any
+trouble lately?"
+
+"Nope, times are real dull since that day in the defile," Bill answered
+with a grin. "I saw Tex once at Sagetown, but he ain't talking none
+these days, he's too busy thinking. You see, I've got a purty strong
+combination backing me and nobody feels like starting it a-going, because
+there ain't no telling just where it'll stop. The Orphant and the sheriff
+make a blamed good team, all right."
+
+"None better at any game, Bill," replied Blake. "And you used the right
+word, too. They're going to pull together from now on, in fact, the Star
+C will be in harness with them."
+
+"That's the way to talk!" cried Bill enthusiastically. "I always said
+that Orphant was a white man, even before I ever saw him," he said,
+forgetting much that he might be in hearty accord. "He can call on me
+any time he needs me, you bet. He cheated the devil twice with me, and I
+ain't a-going to forget it. But say, what do you think of the sheriff's
+sister, Helen? Ain't she a winner, hey? Finest girl these parts have
+ever seen, all right, and her friend ain't second by no length, neither."
+
+"Why, Bill," exclaimed Blake, a twinkle coming to his eyes, "you are not
+allowing yourself to get captured, are you? That's a risky game, like
+starting up The Orphan and the sheriff, for there's no telling just where
+it will stop."
+
+"No, I ain't letting myself get captured," sighed Bill. "I ain't no fool.
+Bill Howland knows a thing or two, which he learned not more than a
+thousand years ago. I've got it all sized up. And since then I've seen
+a certain bang-up puncher hitting the trail for the sheriff's house some
+regular twice a week. Nope, I'm a batchler now and forever, long may
+I wave."
+
+"Say," he continued, suddenly remembering something. "What's the sheriff
+up to now? Is he going to have a picnic out on Crawford's ranch? He asked
+me if he could have the lend of the stage on an off day some time soon.
+Wants me to drive it for him out to the A-Y and back. I don't know what
+his game is, and I don't care none. I'll do it, all right. But what's he
+going to do out there, anyhow?"
+
+Blake laughed: "Oh, nothing bad, I reckon. You'll probably learn all about
+it as soon as the rest of us. How do you expect me to know anything about
+it? Mebby he is going to have a picnic out there for all we know. The
+A-Y is a good place for one, ain't it?"
+
+"You just bet it is," cried Bill. "Your ranch is all right, Blake, but I
+like the A-Y better. It's got windmills and everything. Finest grove near
+the ranch-house that I ever saw, and I've seen some fine groves in my
+time. Old man Crawford knew a good thing when he saw it, all right.
+Here comes Charley Winter like he had all day to go nowhere--he's got a
+good job with the Cross Bar-8, but I wouldn't have it for a gift--no,
+sir, money wouldn't tempt me to be one of that outfit. But I reckon
+it's some better out there than it once was since the sheriff and The
+Orphant amputated its inflamed fingers. Hullo, Charley," he cried as the
+newcomer drew rein. "I was just telling Blake what a good job you have
+got with Sneed."
+
+"Hullo, you old one-hoss driver," grinned Charley. "Hullo, Tom," he cried.
+"Looking for the sheriff?"
+
+"Hullo, Charley," said the foreman, shaking hands with Sneed's substitute
+puncher. "Yes, I am. Do you know where he is?"
+
+"He's out at the Cross Bar-8, giving Sneed a talking to," Charley
+answered. "Bucknell went and got loaded again last night, raised h--l
+in town and out of it all the way home. He thought he wanted to shoot
+up The Orphan, so he was some primed. Jim is telling Sneed to hold him
+down to water and peace unless he wants to lose him. He'll be in soon,
+though. How's The Orphan getting on out at your place?"
+
+"Fine!" answered Blake, his face wearing a frown. "But I'm some sorry
+about that fool Bucknell, though. He may get on a spree some day and
+_find_ The Orphan. I don't want any more gunplay, and if that idiot does
+find him and gets ambitious to notch up his gun another hole, there'll
+shore be some loose lead. If he ever gets on Star C ground, and I catch
+him there, I'll shore enough wipe up the earth with him, and when you
+see him, just tell him what I said, will you? It ain't no joke, for I
+will."
+
+"Shore I'll tell him," replied Charley. "When will that bunch of cattle
+be on hand--I'm anxious to swap jobs."
+
+Blake flashed him a warning glance and tried to ignore the question by
+changing the subject, but it was too late, for Bill was curious.
+
+"What cattle is that, Charley?" asked the driver in sudden interest.
+
+"Oh, some cattle that I'm going to get of Blake for Sneed," lied Charley
+easily.
+
+"What in all get out does Sneed want with any Star C cows?" Bill asked in
+surprise. "He's got plenty of cows of his own, unless The Orphant shot a
+whole lot more than I thought he did."
+
+"I don't know, Bill," replied Charley. "I didn't ask him, it being plainly
+none of my business."
+
+Bill scratched his head: "No, I reckon not," he replied doubtfully.
+
+"Here comes Shields now," said Blake suddenly. "I reckon I'll ride off
+and meet him. So long, Bill."
+
+"So long," replied Bill. "Be sure to tell The Orphan I was asking about
+him. So long, Charley." He turned abruptly and entered the stage office:
+"I don't understand it," he muttered. "There's something in the wind that
+I can't get onto nohow. He has shore got me guessing some, all right."
+
+The clerk tossed aside the paper and stared: "Well, that's too d----d
+bad, now ain't it?" he asked sarcastically. "You ought to object, that's
+what you ought to do! What right has anybody to keep quiet about their
+own business when you want to know, hey? If I wanted to know everybody's
+business as bad as you do, I'd shore raise h--l, I would. Why don't you
+choke it out of him, wipe up the earth with him? Go out right now and give
+him a piece of your mind."
+
+"Oh, you would, would you! You're blamed smart, now ain't you? You work
+too hard--your nerves are giving away," drawled Bill as he picked up the
+paper. "Sitting around all day with your feet on the table and a pipe in
+your mouth that you're too lazy to light, working like the very devil
+trying to find time to do the company's business, which there ain't none
+to do. Ain't you ashamed to go to bed?--it must take a lot of gall to
+hunt your rest at night after finding it and hugging it all day. What
+would you do for a living if I forgot to bring the paper with me some day,
+hey? You ain't got enough animation to want to know what is going on in
+this little world of ours, you----"
+
+"You get out of here, right now, too!" yelled the clerk. "I don't want you
+hanging around bothering me, you pest! Get out of here right now, before I
+get up and throw you out! Do you hear me!"
+
+Bill crossed his legs, pushed back his sombrero, turned the page carefully
+and then remarked, "I licked four husky cow-punchers, real bad men, last
+month. One right after the other, and I was purty near all in, too." He
+glanced at the next page disinterestedly, spat at a fly on the edge of
+the box cuspidor and then added wearily and with great deprecation, "I'm
+feeling fine to-day, never felt so good in my life, but I need more
+exercise--I'm two pounds over weight right now."
+
+The clerk showed interest and awe: "Weight?" he asked. "What is your
+fighting weight?"
+
+Bill looked up aggressively: "Fighting weight?" he asked, raising his
+eyebrows. "My _fighting_ weight is something over nine hundred pounds,
+when I'm real mad. Ordinarily, one hundred and eighty. Why?"
+
+"Oh, nothing," replied the clerk, staring out of the window.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX
+
+THE ORPHAN GOES TO THE A-Y
+
+
+The A-Y had been a very busy place for the past two weeks because of the
+cattle which had to be re-branded and taken care of, and of other things
+which had to be done about the ranch. The sheriff had taken title and
+had persuaded Crawford to remain in nominal charge for a month at the
+most so as to keep the sale a secret until the new owner would be ready to
+make it known. So word went around that Crawford had hired the sheriff to
+put things on a paying basis and that half of the old outfit had left,
+their places being filled by Charley, the two Larkin brothers and two
+men from a northern ranch.
+
+Shields had been very much pleased with the cattle which The Orphan
+had bought for him and had asked Blake if he could borrow the new
+puncher to help him get things in good running shape. Blake had told The
+Orphan of the sheriff's request and had advised him to accept, which the
+puncher was very glad to do. So this is how the former outlaw became
+temporary foreman of the A-Y under the sheriff. Only the sheriff's most
+intimate friends knew his plans, one of whom was Charley Winter, who
+found food for mirth in the unique position things had taken. The
+sheriff's deputies who had lain out-doors all night on the Cross Bar-8
+waiting to capture or kill the outlaw were now working under him, and
+the best of feelings prevailed. The man who had hunted The Orphan now
+employed him as the bearer of the responsibilities of the new ranch.
+Truly, a change!
+
+While The Orphan was busy with his duties on the A-Y the sheriff rode to
+the Star C and sought out the foreman, whom he finally found engaged in
+freeing a cow that had become mired in a quicksand. As the terror-stricken
+animal galloped wildly away from the scene of torture and indignities to
+its person Blake mopped his face and began to scrape the quicksand from
+him.
+
+"Playing life-saver, eh?" laughed the sheriff.
+
+The foreman looked up and smiled sheepishly: "Yes," he replied as he shook
+hands with the sheriff. "One cow more or less won't make nor break no
+ranch, but I just can't see 'em suffer. The boys and I were passing, so
+we stopped and got to work. But cows ain't got no gratitude, not nohow!
+That ornery beast will be all ready to charge me the first time he sees
+me afoot. Did you see him try to horn me when I let go?"
+
+His friend laughed, and when they had ridden some distance from the others
+he turned in his saddle:
+
+"Well, The Orphan is working like a horse, and he likes it, too," he
+said. "You ought to hear him giving orders--he just asks a man to do a
+thing, don't order it done. When he talks it sounds like the puncher
+would be doing him the greatest possible favor to do the work he is paid
+to do, but there is a suggestion that if any nastiness develops, hell
+will be a peaceful place compared to the near vicinity of the foreman
+of the A-Y. He sizes up a thing with one look, and then tells how it
+should be done. Everything has gone off so fine that I'm going to ask
+you to lose a good man, and real soon, too. What do you say, Tom?"
+
+Blake laughed: "Why, we were a-plenty before he came and we'll be a-plenty
+after he goes. That's for your asking me to turn him over to you. The
+boys will be both sorry and glad to have him leave, because they like
+him a whole lot. But of course they want to see him land everything
+that he can, so they'll give him a good send-off. That reminds me to
+say that I know they will want to be on hand when you break the news to
+him. It'll be a circus for your Eastern friend, Miss Ritchie."
+
+"Now you're talking!" enthused the sheriff. "I want to have as many
+fireworks at the ceremony as I can possibly get. Oh, it'll be a great
+day, all right. We are all going out and take a bang-up lunch, just
+like we're going on that picnic that Bill's been so worried about, and
+Bill is going to drive the women over in his coach. The first surprise
+will be the announcement of the new ownership of the A-Y, and right on
+top of it I'm going to fire the second gun. I hope none of your boys
+know anything about it," he added with anxiety.
+
+"Not a thing," hastily replied the foreman. "You have your wife send a
+message to me by Joe when he rustles our mail to-morrow and ask us to come
+to the picnic at the A-Y on the day which you will decide on. They'll go,
+all right, no fear about that. Nothing more than your wife's cooking is
+needed to attract them," and he laughed heartily at how suddenly they
+would come to life at such a summons.
+
+Shields thought intently for a few seconds and then slapped his thigh:
+"I've got it!" he exulted. "I'll ride over to your place with you and
+write a letter to my wife telling her just what to do. Joe can deliver
+it and bring back the invitation. You see, I won't be home to-night, but
+that will do the trick, all right. Now, what do you say to this coming
+Saturday?--this is, let me see: Wednesday. Will that be time enough for
+you to make any arrangements you may want to make?"
+
+"Shore, plenty of time," Blake laughed. "It's good all the way. Joe will
+be delighted to have a real good excuse to call at your house. He's a
+bashful cuss, like all the rest. They talk big, but they're some bashful
+all the same. He's been worrying about it, for one day he came to me
+with a funny expression on his face and acted like he didn't know how
+to begin. So I asked him what was troubling him, and he blurted out like
+this, as near as I can remember:
+
+"'Well, you know Mrs. Shields said we was to go to her house when any of
+us hit town?' he asked.
+
+"'I shore do,' I answered, wondering what was up.
+
+"'Well, I go to town a lot, and it takes a h--l of a lot of gall to do
+it,' he complained, looking so serious that it was funny.
+
+"'Gall!' said I, surprised-like, and trying to keep my face straight.
+'Gall! Well, I can't see that it takes such a brave man to call at a
+friend's house when he's been told to do it.'
+
+"'Oh, that part of it is all right," he replied. 'But she'll think I only
+call to get my face fed, and it makes me feel like a--I don't know what.
+You see, I always get away quick.'
+
+"'Well, stay longer, there ain't no use of being in a hurry,' I said.
+'Stay and talk a while.'
+
+"'Then they'll think I ain't got enough and push more pie at me, like they
+did once,' he complained.
+
+"'Suppose I give Silent your terrible ordeal to do,' I suggested
+tentatively, 'or Bud, he's dead anxious for your job.'
+
+"'Oh, it ain't as bad as that!' he cried quickly. 'I only thought that
+I'd speak to you about it. I thought you could suggest something.'
+
+"'Well,' I replied, 'every time you call you say I sent you over to ask
+about the sheriff's health. How'll that do?'
+
+"He grinned sheepishly and then swore: 'H--l, that would make a shore
+enough mess of it,' he cried. 'I'd be a royal American idiot to say a
+thing like that, now, wouldn't I?'"
+
+The sheriff laughed heartily, and they talked about the picnic until they
+had reached the ranch-house, where he wrote the note to his wife. Bidding
+his friend good-by, he rode out past the corrals and headed for the A-Y.
+
+When about half-way to his own ranch, and on A-Y ground, he surmounted a
+rise and saw a figure flit from sight behind a thicket, and his curiosity
+was immediately aroused. Not knowing who the man might be, he stalked his
+quarry and finally found Bucknell standing beside his horse.
+
+"Well, what's the trouble now?" the sheriff asked as he came out into
+sight. He was dangerously near angry, for Bucknell was on forbidden ground
+and was flushed as if from liquor. "What's the trouble?" he repeated.
+
+Bucknell looked confused: "Nothing, Sheriff. Why?" he asked, evading the
+searching gaze of the peace officer.
+
+"Oh, I thought something might have gone wrong on the Cross Bar-8, and
+that you were looking for me," Shields coldly replied.
+
+Bucknell looked at the ground and coughed nervously before he replied,
+which only made the sheriff all the more determined to get at the matter
+in a true light.
+
+"No, nothing's wrong," replied the puncher. "I was just riding out this
+way--I was some nervous, that's all."
+
+"That don't go with me!" the sheriff said sharply. "I've lived too long
+to bite on a yarn like that. Why, you can't look at me!"
+
+The puncher did not reply and the sheriff continued:
+
+"Now, look here, Bucknell, take some good advice from me--stay on your
+ranch, mind your own business and let liquor alone. As sure as you
+monkey around the Star C Blake will give you a d----n sound licking, and
+he's man enough to do it, too, make no error. And as for the A-Y, well,
+the temporary foreman of that ranch is the cleverest man with a gun that I
+ever saw, and I've seen some good ones in my time. If you go up against
+him you'll get shot, for he'd think you were about the easiest proposition
+he ever met. As sure as you drink you'll get drunk, and as sure as you
+get drunk you'll work up an appetite for a fight, and if you pick a
+fight with him you'll never know what hit you. You stick to water and
+the Cross Bar-8."
+
+"Oh, I reckon I can take care of my own business," sullenly replied
+Bucknell. "I can come out here drunk or sober if I wants to, I reckon."
+
+"You can do nothing of the kind," rejoined the sheriff. "And you certainly
+ought to be able to take care of your own business, as you say," he
+retorted, holding his temper with an effort. "But in the past you didn't,
+and you may not in the future. And when your business gets too big for you
+to handle it gets into my hands, and if you make any trouble I'll d----n
+soon convince you that I can handle your surplus. Now, get out of here and
+think it over."
+
+Bucknell swung into his saddle and then turned, the liquor making him
+reckless.
+
+"D----n it!" he cried. "The Orphant killed Jimmy and a whole lot more good
+cow-punchers! He's nothing but a murdering thief, a d----d rustler, that's
+what he is! And you are his best friend, it seems!"
+
+The wan smile flickered across the sheriff's face, but still he refrained,
+for such is the foolish consideration given by brave men to liquor. A
+drunkard may do much with impunity, for the argument states he is not
+responsible, forgetting that in the beginning he was responsible enough
+to have left liquor alone, and that injury, whether unintentional or
+not, is still injury.
+
+"There is no seem about it!" he retorted. "I _am_ his best friend, and
+he needs friends bad enough, God knows. But speaking of murder, those
+four good cow-punchers that stopped me in the defile tried hard enough to
+qualify at it, and The Orphan not only saved me, but also some of them,
+for I'd a gotten some of them before I cashed. You're a h--l of a fine
+cub to talk about murders, you are!"
+
+"That's all right," retorted Bucknell, "he's just what I said he was. And
+a side pardner of our brave sheriff, too!"
+
+"D----n you!" shouted Shields, his face dark with passion. "You have
+said enough, any more from you and I'll break your dirty neck! Just
+because I felt sorry for you when you got half killed in the saloon
+and let you stay in the country don't think you are the boss of this
+section. When I saw what a pitiful, drunken wreck you were, I felt sorry
+for you, but not any more. You don't want decent treatment, you want
+to get clubbed, and you're right in line to get just what you need, too!
+Now, I'm not going to stand any more of your d----d foolishness--my
+patience is played out. And if you were half a man you wouldn't sit there
+like a bump on a log and swallow what I'm saying--you'd put up a fight
+if you died for it. You are no good, just a drunken, lawless fool of a
+puncher; just a bag of wind, and it's up to you to walk a chalk line or
+I'll give you a taste of what I carry around with me for bums of your
+kind. What in h--l do you think I am? No, you don't, you stay right
+where you are 'til I get good and ready to have you go! You've come
+d----d near the end of your rope and there is just one thing for you
+to do, and that is, get out of this country and do it quick! You stay on
+your own side of the Limping Water, for if I catch you riding off any
+nervousness off of Cross Bar-8 ground without word from your foreman,
+I'll shoot you down like I'd shoot a coyote! And for a dollar I'd wipe up
+the earth with you right now! You d----d, sneaking, cowardly cur, you
+tin-horn bully! Pull your stakes and get scarce and don't you open your
+mouth to me--come on, lively! Pull your freight!"
+
+Bucknell slowly rode away, his eyes to the ground and not daring to say
+what seethed in his heart. He swore to himself that he would get square
+some day on both, not realizing in his anger that when sober he feared
+them both.
+
+The sheriff stared after him and then returned to the point where he
+had left his horse. As he mounted he shook his head savagely and swore.
+Glancing again after the puncher he struck into a canter and rode toward
+the ranch.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX
+
+BILL ATTENDS THE PICNIC
+
+
+The picnic aroused quite a stir for so frivolous a thing. When Blake
+read Mrs. Shields' invitation to the outfit they acted like schoolboys
+dismissed for a vacation. Grins of delight were the style on the Star
+C, and the overflow of bubbling happiness took the form of practical
+joking against Humble, whose life suddenly held much anxiety. In Ford's
+Station there was an air of expectancy, and Bill spent all of Saturday
+morning from daylight until time to start in cleaning his stage and
+grooming the horses, whose astonishment quickly passed into prohibitive
+indignation. After narrowly escaping broken bones and chewed arms Bill
+decided that the sextet could go as it was.
+
+"Serves 'em right!" he yelled to his friendly enemy, the clerk, after he
+had barely dodged a vicious kick, wildly waving a curry comb. "Let the
+ignoramuses go like they are! Let 'em show how cheap and common they are!
+They never was any good for anything, anyhow, eating their heads off and
+kicking their best friend!"
+
+"How about the time they beat out them Apaches?" asked the clerk, settling
+back comfortably against the coach.
+
+"You get out!" yelled Bill pugnaciously. "Who asked you for talk, hey? And
+get away from that coach, you idiot, you'll dirty it all up!"
+
+"Sic 'em, Tige!" jeered the clerk pleasantly. "Chew 'em up!"
+
+"What!" yelled Bill, swiftly grabbing up the pail of water which stood
+near him. "Sic 'em, is it!" he cried, running forward. "Chew 'em up,
+hey!" he continued, heaving the contents of the pail at the clerk, who
+nimbly sprang inside the vehicle and slammed the door shut behind him as
+the water struck it. He leaped out of the other door and was safely away
+before Bill realized what had happened. Then the driver said things when
+he saw the mess he had made of the coach, upon which he had spent two
+hard hours in polishing.
+
+"Suffering dogs!" he shouted, dancing first on one foot and then on the
+other. "Now look what you've done! You're a h--l of a feller, you are!
+After me rubbing the skin off'n my hands and breaking my arms a-polishing
+it up! You good for nothing, mangy half-breed! Wait till I get a hold of
+you, you long pair of legs, you! Just wait! I'll show you, all right!"
+
+The clerk twiddled his fingers from afar and jeered in his laughter:
+"Serves you right! Sic 'em, Towser! Eat 'em up, Fido! Sic 'em, sic 'em!"
+he shouted joyously, and forthwith ran for his life.
+
+Bill returned to the coach and worked like mad to undo the evil effects
+he had wrought and finally succeeded in bringing a phantom glow to the
+time-battered wood. Then he hitched up and drove to the sheriff's house,
+where he saw huge baskets on the porch.
+
+"Good morning, Mrs. Shields," he said as he stamped to the door. "Good
+morning, ladies."
+
+"Good morning William," replied the sheriff's wife as she hurried to
+collect shawls and blankets. "Will you mind putting those baskets on
+the coach, William? We will soon be ready."
+
+"Why, certainly not, ma'am," he answered, recklessly grabbing up the two
+largest. "Jimminee!" he exulted. "These are shore heavy, all right, all
+right! Must be plumb full of good things! To-day is where your Uncle
+Bill Halloway gets square for the dinner the company froze him out of.
+Wonder if there's apricot pie in this one?" he mused curiously. He
+gingerly raised the cover and a grin distorted his face. "Must be six,
+yes, eight--mebby ten!" he soliloquized as he placed it on the stage.
+"Hullo, bottles of some kind," he whispered as he picked up another
+basket. "Hear the little devils clink, eh? Must be coffee and tea, hey?
+Yes, shore enough it is. Good Lord, how hungry I am--wish I had eaten that
+breakfast this morning--how in thunder did I know we was going to be so
+late? I'll be the strong man at this picnic, all right!"
+
+"Here are some blankets, William," called Mrs. Shields. "Helen, would you
+mind showing him how to carry that box?--he's sure to turn it upside down
+if you don't."
+
+"Next!" he cried, returning from the trip with the blankets. "I put them
+blankets up on top, Mrs. Shields, is it all right? How do you do, Miss
+Helen, any more freight?"
+
+"How do you do," she replied. "This box is to go, please. Now, do be very
+careful not to turn it up, or jar it!" she warned. "And put it on the seat
+inside the coach where we can steady it."
+
+"Gee, what's in it?" asked Bill, nearly dying from his curiosity. "Must
+be the joker of the feast, eh?"
+
+"Three layer cakes," she laughingly replied. "Chocolate, cocoanut and
+lemon."
+
+"Um!" he said. "I'll carry this one high up, it deserves it."
+
+"Oh, do be careful!" she cried as he swooped it up to his shoulder. "Oh!"
+she screamed as it thumped against the top of the door frame.
+
+"Whoa! Back up!" cried Bill, executing the order. "Easy, boy--all right,
+off we go!"
+
+"Grace, Mary," cried Helen, "we are all ready to go!"
+
+"Ain't there any more boxes?" asked Bill from the coach.
+
+"Come, girls," cried Mrs. Shields as she stepped into the coach. "Close
+the door after you, and lock it, dear."
+
+Bill gallantly helped the ladies into the coach, grinned at the cake box
+and started toward the front wheel when he was called back.
+
+"Now, William," cautioned Mrs. Shields, laughing. "We will not be pursued
+by Apaches to-day, and this cake must not be shaken!"
+
+"You won't know you're riding, ma'am, you shore won't," he assured her as
+he danced toward the front wheel again.
+
+"Wake up there, you!" he yelled from the box. "Come on, Jerry, think
+you're glued to the earth? Come on, Tom! Easy there, you fool jackrabbit!
+--haven't you learned that you can't reach this high!"
+
+When they had arrived at the A-Y the baskets were carried into the
+ranch-house and the women became very busy getting things ready for the
+feast. Bill took care of his team and then carried the blankets to the
+grove.
+
+While the picnic was being prepared there arose a series of blood-curdling
+whoops off to the south where the outfit of the Star C made the air
+blue with powder smoke. As they came nearer something peculiar was
+noticed by Helen. It appeared to be a sort of drag drawn by a horse and
+supported by two long, springy poles, one end of which rested on the
+ground, and the other fastened to the saddle. While she wondered Bill
+came up and she turned to him for light.
+
+"What have they got fastened to that horse?" she asked him.
+
+He looked and then smiled: "Why, it is a travois," he said. "But what
+under the sun have they got on it? They must be bringing their own grub!"
+
+The travois dragged and bumped over the uneven plain and soon came near
+enough for its burden to be made out. A man and a dog were strapped to it.
+
+At this point Blake joined Helen and Bill, and as he did so he espied the
+travois.
+
+"Thunder!" he cried, running forward. "Somebody is hurt! What's the
+matter, Silent?" he shouted.
+
+"Matter?" asked Silent, in surprise as the outfit drew near. "There ain't
+nothing the matter. Why?"
+
+"What's that travois doing with you, then?" Blake demanded.
+
+Silent's face was as grave as that of an owl. "Travois?" he asked.
+Then his face cleared: "Oh, yes--I near forgot about it," he added,
+apologetically. "You see, Humble he shore wanted his dog to come to the
+picnic, so we reckoned we'd let it come along. Bud and Jim was for
+slinging it at the end of a rope and dragging it over, but I said no.
+We ain't got any ropes to have all frayed out and cut a-dragging dogs
+to picnics, and I said so, too. So we built the travois and strapped
+Lightning to it. When Humble saw what we had done he acted real unpolite.
+He said as how he wasn't going to have no dog of his'n toted twenty
+miles in a fool travois. Said that he'd make it stay home first, which
+was some mean after inviting the dog to come along. He said that he'd
+go in a travois himself first before he'd let the setter be made a fool
+of. Well, we simply had to subdue him, and he got so unreasonable that we
+just had to tie him with his dog. He shore does get awful pig-headed at
+times."
+
+"Take off the gag, Jim," requested Silent, turning to the grinning
+cow-puncher. "Let him loose now, we've arrived."
+
+Jim leaned over and whispered in Humble's ear, the information being that
+there were ladies about, and that all swearing must be thought and not
+yelled. Then he slipped the gag, and untied the ropes. Gales of laughter
+met the angry and indignant puncher when he had leaped to his feet, and
+he flashed one quick glance at the women and then, boiling with wrath
+and suppressed profanity, fled toward the corrals as swiftly as cramped
+muscles would allow. The dog snarled at its tormentors and then set
+off in hot pursuit of its discomfited master, whose waving arms kept
+time with his speeding legs.
+
+"That's all the thanks we get," grumbled Bud, "but then, he don't know
+any better anyhow."
+
+Blake laughed and regarded his grinning and expectant outfit, and the
+longer he looked at them the more he laughed. They had paid their respects
+to the women while Silent explained about the travois and now they cast
+many longing glances at the blankets and cloths spread out on the grass
+and at the baskets which Bill was busy over. They had tried to coax the
+driver to them to give information as to what they might expect in the
+way of edibles, but he had haughtily and disdainfully refused to enlighten
+them, taking care, however, to arouse their curiosity by looking fondly
+at the box and the baskets and even showed his elation by taking several
+fancy steps for their benefit.
+
+"Well, get rid of the cayuses," said Blake, "and square things with
+Humble. Bring him back with you or you don't get any pie. You're such a
+darn fool crowd that I can't get mad this time, but don't ever drag a
+man in a travois again."
+
+"Did he come, or was he kidnapped?" murmured Bud. "What we did once we can
+do again, and Humble will be on hand when the feast begins."
+
+Jim had been scowling at Bill, whose manners were most aggravating. "You
+just wait, you heathen," threatened Jim. "You're ace high with the grub,
+all right, but just you wait 'til we get you alone!"
+
+"Yah!" laughed the driver. "I shore can handle the best cow-wrastler that
+ever lived."
+
+"Bill seems to be running this here festival," Bud complained to Helen.
+
+"Oh, he is our right-hand man," she replied with enthusiasm. "We couldn't
+possibly get along without him, now. He has charge of the pie and cake."
+
+Bill's chest expanded: "I'm foreman of the pie and cake herd," he
+exclaimed proudly. "You can't get ahead of me."
+
+Bud looked at the driver and then significantly waved his hand at the
+travois: "And you'll shore travel in style, just like a real pie foreman,
+too, when we gets a chance to honor you like we wants to."
+
+"You'll get no pie if you acts smart, little boy," retorted the driver.
+"Run along and play till lunch is ready, and don't dirty your hands and
+face."
+
+"Well, we've got fine memories," Bud suggested as he led the way to the
+corrals, where he found The Orphan.
+
+"Hullo, Orphan!" he cried enthusiastically as he gripped the outstretched
+hand. "Plumb glad to see you. How's things?"
+
+"Glad to see you, boys," cried the temporary foreman, who was all smiles.
+"One at a time!" he laughed as they crowded about him. "Make yourselves
+right at home--that smallest corral is for your cayuses. And you'll find
+plenty of soap and water and towels by the bunk-house, and there's a box
+of good cigars, a tin of tobacco, and a jug on the table inside. Help
+yourself to anything you want, the place is all yours."
+
+"Gee, this is a good game, all right," Bud laughed as he turned to put
+his horse in the corral. "The sheriff shore knows how to deal."
+
+"Leave a cigar for me, Silent," jokingly warned Jim as his friend turned
+toward the bunk-house. "Too many smokes will make you sick."
+
+"Well, you've got a gall, all right!" retorted Silent. "You better let me
+bring yours out to you and keep away from the box, for I'm always plumb
+suspicious of these goody-goody, it's-for-your-own-good people."
+
+A crafty look came to Jack Lawson's face and he turned to The Orphan: "Has
+Bill Howland got his cigars yet?" he asked, winking at his friends.
+
+"Why, I don't know whether he has or not," replied The Orphan. "But I
+don't believe that he has been out of sight of the pies since he came.
+They've got him in a trance."
+
+"Guess I'll take him one," continued Jack, grinning broadly. "He likes to
+smoke."
+
+"Shore enough, go ahead," endorsed the foreman of the A-Y as he turned
+toward the grove. Then he stopped, and with a knowing look added: "If you
+want to see Humble, he just went in the bunk-house."
+
+A yell of dismay arose as the outfit started pell-mell for the house.
+Silent entered it first and his profanity informed his companions that
+their fears were well grounded. Neither Humble, cigars, tobacco nor jug
+were to be seen, and a search was forthwith instituted. Jack looked at
+a distant corral and saw Lightning as the dog disappeared from sight into
+it.
+
+"Hey!" he cried. "He's in the big corral--I just saw his dog go in, and
+it was wagging its tail a whole lot. Come on, we'll surround it and show
+that frisky gent a thing or two!"
+
+No more words were wasted, and in a very short time figures were creeping
+around the corral. Then there was a scramble as most of the searchers
+scaled the wall at different points while two of them ran in through
+the gate. The first thing they saw was the dog, and his tail was still
+wagging as he curiously followed, nose to the ground, a huge horned toad.
+He looked up at the sudden disturbance and backed off suspiciously,
+looking for a way to escape.
+
+"---- ----!" chorused the fooled punchers, who discovered that deductions
+don't always deduct, and then they returned to the bunk-house to "slick
+up." When finally satisfied about their appearance they made their way
+to the grove and the sight which greeted their eyes as they entered it
+almost made them drop in their tracks.
+
+Humble and Bill sat cross-legged on a blanket, which was surrounded with
+guns. The jug, tobacco and cigars were flanked by pies and a cake, while
+each of the conspirators held a lighted cigar in one hand while they took
+turns at the jug. A huge piece of pie rested in a plate at Humble's side,
+while Bill's knee held a piece of cake.
+
+"Hands up!" shouted Humble, grabbing a gun. "Don't you dare to raid the
+gallery! You stay right where you are!"
+
+Bill's blacksnake whip leaped from point to point experimentally, picking
+up twigs and leaves with disturbing accuracy.
+
+The invaders halted just beyond the range of the whip and consulted
+uneasily, not noticing that the driver had shortened his weapon by twice
+the length of its handle. Finally Jim and Docile ran back toward the
+corral while their friends waited impatiently for their return, grinning
+at the enemy with an I-told-you-so air.
+
+Bill suddenly leaned forward, the whip slid down into his hand to the end
+of the handle and cracked viciously. Joe Haines, who had grown a little
+careless, leaped into the air and yelled, grabbing at his leg.
+
+"Keep your distance, you!" warned the driver, trying to look ferocious.
+"Twenty feet is the dead-line, children."
+
+Jim and Docile returned apace and brought with them half a dozen lariats,
+which ranged in length from thirty to forty feet.
+
+"Hey, you!" cried Humble in alarm. "That ain't fair!"
+
+Grim silence was the only reply as the invaders each took his rope and
+surrounded the two. Then, suddenly, the air was full of darting ropes
+and in less time than it takes to tell of it the pair were hopelessly
+and helplessly trussed. Silent ran in and hurled the whip away and then
+squatted before the prisoners, throwing their cigars after the whip as
+he took up the pie and cake, which he tantalizingly munched before their
+eyes.
+
+"I like a hog, all right, but you suit me too blamed well!" asserted Bud,
+grabbing at Silent's pie.
+
+"Gimme some of that," demanded Jim, trying for the cake. And when the
+disturbance had ceased there were no signs of either pie or cake.
+
+"It's the travois for you, Humble dear!" softly hummed Charley Bailey.
+"And to the ranch, by the way of town!"
+
+"And Bill will be pleased to explore the Limping Water on the bottom,"
+amended Jim. "One of us can drive the women home!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI
+
+THE ANNOUNCEMENT
+
+
+About thirty people sat in a circle on the grass in the grove on the A-Y,
+engaged in taking viands from the well-filled plates which made the
+rounds. Keen humor from all sides kept them in roars of laughter, Humble
+and Bill provoking the greater part of it. Humble sat next to Miss
+Ritchie, while The Orphan and Bill flanked Helen, the sheriff next to his
+new foreman. Humble's face had a look of benign condescension when he
+allowed himself to bestow perfunctory attentions on the members of
+his outfit, whom he graciously called "purty fair punchers in a way."
+
+Crawford, the former owner of the A-Y, sat next to Shields, and when the
+lunch had reached the cigar stage he arose and cleared his throat.
+
+"Ladies and Gentlemen, Bill and Humble," he began amid laughter. "I
+have been regarded as the host of this picnic, and the false position
+embarrasses me. But any such momentary feeling is compensated by the
+importance of what I have to tell you.
+
+"When I took up the A-Y it was with a determination to keep it and to
+spend the rest of my days on it in peace. This I have found to be
+impossible, and in consequence I have turned it over to a better man. The
+energy which I have seen applied in the right way for the last few weeks
+has assured me that the A-Y will soon be second in importance and
+wealth to no ranch in this country. I have seen order, system, emerge
+from chaos; I have seen five thousand cattle re-branded and taken care
+of in such dispatch as to astonish me and be almost beyond my belief.
+The sheriff has been as economical in the use of his energy as he can
+be in the use of his words. By that I don't mean in the way that is
+causing you to smile, but simply that he knows how to accomplish the
+most work with the least possible expenditure of effort and time, as
+witnessed by the condition of this ranch to-day. But while he has been
+the guiding spirit in the work of putting the ranch on its proper
+footing, he has had as good assistants as it is possible to find.
+
+"I don't wish to tire you with any long speech, for brevity is the soul
+of more than wit, so I will close by telling you that the A-Y is in new
+and better hands--our sheriff is now its owner, and I extend to him my
+heartiest wishes for his success in his new venture. I must thank him and
+all of you for a very pleasant day and a memory to take East with me."
+
+For an instant there was intense silence, and then a small battle seemed
+to be taking place. The noise of the shooting and cheering was deafening
+and smoke rolled down like a heavy fog. The sheriff met the rush toward
+him and put in a very busy few minutes in shaking hands and replying
+to the hearty congratulations which poured in upon him from all sides.
+Everybody was happy and all were talking at once, and Bill could be heard
+reeling off an unbroken string of words at high speed.
+
+The Orphan fought his way to his best friend and gripped both hands in his
+own.
+
+"By God, Sheriff!" he cried. "This is great news, and I'm plumb glad to
+hear it! I hope you have the very best of luck and that your returns, both
+in pleasure and money, far exceed your fondest expectations. Anything I
+can do is yours for the asking."
+
+"Thank you, son," replied the sheriff, looking fondly into his friend's
+eyes. "I'm going to call on you just as soon as I can make myself heard
+in all this hellabaloo. Just listen to that!" he exclaimed as Silent let
+loose again.
+
+"Glory be!" yelled he of the misleading name, slapping Humble across the
+back. "For this you ride home like a white man, Humble--all your sins are
+forgiven! Hurrah for the sheriff, his family and the A-Y!" he shouted at
+the top of his lungs, and his cheer was supported unanimously with true
+cowboy enthusiasm and vim.
+
+"Hurray for me, too!" shouted Bill in laughter. Then he fled, with Silent
+in hot pursuit.
+
+The sheriff tried to speak, and after several attempts was finally given
+silence.
+
+"Thank you, everybody!" he cried, his face beaming. "I am happy for many
+reasons to-day, but foremost among them is the fact that I have so many
+warm and loyal friends. The A-Y is always open to all of you, and I'll be
+some disappointed if you don't put in a lot of your spare time over here."
+
+He paused for a few seconds and then looked at The Orphan, who stood at
+Helen's side.
+
+"Mr. Crawford did his part a whole lot better than I can do mine, I'm
+afraid, but I'm going to do my best, anyhow. The news has only been half
+told--the name of the new foreman of the A-Y henceforth will be The
+Orphan! Whoop her up, boys!" he shouted, leading a cheer which was not
+one whit less a cheer than those which had gone before.
+
+The Orphan stared in astonishment, for once in his life he had been
+surprised. The sheriff at last had the drop on him. He looked from one to
+another, started to step forward and then changed his mind and looked
+appealingly at Helen, who smiled in a way to double the speed of his
+heart-beats.
+
+Her eyes were moist, and the sudden consciousness that she formed half
+of the objective of all eyes caused her cheeks to go crimson. Her hand
+impulsively went to his shoulder and without thought on her part, and his
+incredulous questioning was answered by her.
+
+"It's all true," she said earnestly. "I've known of it for a whole week
+now. You are the real foreman of the A-Y, and I most earnestly hope for
+your success."
+
+He suddenly seemed to be above the earth and his voice broke in his
+stammered reply. For a fraction of a second her eyes had told him what
+he had dreamed of, what he had hoped for above all things, and he grasped
+her hand for a second as he stepped forward toward his new employer,
+whose hand met his with a man's grasp.
+
+"Thank you, Sheriff," he said, his head whirling from the surprises of a
+minute. "You've been squarer and fairer with me than any man I've ever
+known, and hell will look nice to me if I don't make good with you.
+
+"Thank you, boys; thank you, Bill: you're all right, every one of you!"
+he cried as his friends crowded about him. "What the sheriff said
+about warm friends was the truth--thank you, Bud and Jim! Thank you,
+Blake--you're another brick! Good God, what I have gained in two months!
+I can scarcely believe it, it seems so like a dream. That's a real
+warm grip, all right, though," he exclaimed as he shook hands with Humble,
+"so I reckon it's all true. Two months!" he marveled. "Two glorious,
+glorious months! A new start in life, a loyal crowd of friends, a--and
+all in two months! And there is the man I owe it all to," he suddenly
+cried, pointing to the sheriff. "There's the whitest man God ever made,
+and I'll kill the man who says I lie!"
+
+"Good boy!" shouted Bill in enthusiastic endorsement. "You two make a pair
+of aces what can beat any full-house ever got together, and _I_'ll lick
+the man who says _I_ lie!" he yelled pugnaciously. "The Orphant may be
+an orphant, all right, but he's got a whole lot of brothers."
+
+Mrs. Shields walked over to The Orphan and placed a motherly hand on his
+shoulder as he recovered.
+
+"You won't be an orphan any longer, my boy," she said, smiling up at him.
+"You're one of us now--I always wanted a son, and God has given me one
+in you."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII
+
+TEX WILLIARD'S MISTAKE
+
+
+During the month which followed the picnic things ran smoothly on the
+A-Y, and the rejuvenated ranch was the pride of the whole contingent,
+from the sheriff down to the cook. The Orphan had taken charge with a
+determination which grew firmer with each passing day and the new
+owner was delighted at the outcome of his plans. The foreman, elated
+and happy at his sudden shift in fortune, radiated cheerfulness and
+consideration. His men knew that he would not ask them to do anything
+which he himself feared to do, which would not have been much consolation
+to a timid man, since he feared nothing; but to them it meant that
+they had a foreman who would stick by them through fire and water,
+and a foreman who commands respect from his outfit is a man whose life
+is made easy for him. He had known too much of unkindness, harshness,
+to become angry at mistakes; instead, he set diligently at work to undo
+them, and mistakes were rare. The very men who had once wished for his
+life would now fight instantly to save it. They were proud of him, of
+the owner, the ranch and themeselves; and proudest of all was Bill, once
+driver of the stage, but now a cowboy working hard and loyally under the
+man who had once held him up for a smoke.
+
+Visitors were numerous, and every man who called became enthusiastic
+about the ranch, and after he had departed marveled at the complete
+change in the man who was its foreman, and felt confidence in the good
+judgment of the sheriff. Ford's Station was openly jubilant, for the town
+exulted in the discomfiture of the Cross Bar-8 and in the proof that
+their sheriff was right. And Ford's Station chuckled at the news it
+heard, for the foreman of the Cross Bar-8 had called twice at the A-Y and
+was fast losing his prejudice against The Orphan. Sneed had found a
+quiet, optimistic foreman in the place of his former enemy, and the
+laughter which lurked in The Orphan's eyes closed the breach. He had
+seen the man in a new light, and when he had said his farewell at the
+close of his second visit the grip of his hand was strong. As for the
+Star C, a trail had been worn between the two ranches and hardly a day
+passed but one or more of its punchers dropped in to say a few words to
+their former bunkmate, and to stir up Bill. The Star C, no less than his
+own men, swore by The Orphan.
+
+One bright morning the sheriff left for a trip to Chicago and other
+packing cities to arrange for future cattle shipments, and announced
+that he would be away for a week or two. On the night following his
+departure trouble began. The ranch and bunk houses of the Cross Bar-8
+were fired into, and when Sneed and his men had returned after a fruitless
+search in the dark the foreman stared at the wall and swore. Was it The
+Orphan again? In the absence of the sheriff had he renewed the war?
+First thought cried that he had, but gradually the idea became untenable.
+Why should The Orphan risk his splendid berth on the A-Y, his prospects
+now rich in promise, to work off any lingering hatred? When Sneed had
+shaken hands with him he found apparent sincerity in the warm clasp. He
+would ride over at daylight and have the matter settled once and for
+all. And if satisfied that The Orphan was guiltless of the outrage he
+would turn his whole attention to the imitator of the former outlaw.
+
+The Orphan was mending his saddle girth when he saw Sneed cantering past
+the farthest corral. The latter's horse bore all the signs of hard riding
+and he looked up inquiringly at the visitor.
+
+"Good morning, Sneed," he said pleasantly, arising and laying aside the
+saddle. "What's up, anything?"
+
+"Yes, and I came over to find out about it," Sneed answered. "I hardly
+know how to begin--but here, I'll tell it from the beginning," and he
+related what had occurred, much to the wonder of The Orphan.
+
+"Now," finished the visitor, "I want to ask you a question, although I
+may be a d----n fool for doing it. But I want to get this thing thrashed
+out. Do you know who did it?"
+
+The foreman of the A-Y straightened up, his eyes flashing, and then he
+realized that Sneed had some right to question him after what had occurred
+in the past.
+
+"No, Sneed, I do not," he answered, "but in two guesses I can name the
+man!"
+
+"Good!" cried Sneed. "Go ahead!"
+
+"Bucknell?"
+
+"No, he was with me in the bunk-house," replied the foreman of the Cross
+Bar-8. "It wasn't him--go on."
+
+"Tex Williard," said The Orphan with decision.
+
+"Tex?" cried Sneed. "Why?"
+
+"It's plain as day, Sneed," The Orphan answered. "He's sore at me, but
+lacks nerve."
+
+"But, thunderation, how would he hurt you by shooting at us?" Sneed
+demanded, impatiently.
+
+"Oh, he would scare up a war during the sheriff's absence by throwing your
+suspicions on me. He reckoned you would think that I did it, get good
+and mad, fly off the handle and raise h--l generally. He figured that
+I, according to the past, would meet you half way and that you or some
+of your men might kill me. If you didn't, he reckoned that the sheriff
+would kick me out of this berth, and that one or both of us might get
+killed in the argument. He could sit back and laugh to himself at how easy
+it was to square up old scores from a distance. It's Tex as sure as I am
+here, and unless Tex changes his plans and gets out of this country d----n
+soon he won't be long in getting what he seems to ache for."
+
+Sneed pushed back his sombrero and smiled grimly: "I reckon that you're
+right," he replied. "But you ain't sore at the way I asked, are you? I
+had to begin somewhere, you know."
+
+"Sore?" rejoined his companion, angrily. "Sore? I'm so sore that I'm going
+out after Tex right now. And I'll get him or know the reason why, too.
+You go back and post your men about this--and tell them on no account
+to ride over my range for a few days, for they might get hurt before they
+are known. Put a couple of them to bed as soon as you get back--you need
+them to keep watch nights."
+
+He turned toward the corral and called to a man who was busy near it:
+"Charley, you take anybody that you want and get in a good sleep before
+nightfall. I will want both of you to work to-night."
+
+"All right, after dinner will be time enough," Charley replied. "I'll take
+Lefty Lukins."
+
+The Orphan went into the ranch house and returned at once with his rifle,
+a canteen of water and a package of food. As he threw a saddle on his
+horse Bill galloped up, waving his arms and very much excited.
+
+"Hey, Orphant!" he shouted. "Somebody's shore enough plugged some of our
+cows near the creek! I lost his trail at the Cottonwoods!"
+
+"All right, Bill," replied the foreman, "I'll go out and look them over.
+You take another horse and ride to the Star C. Tell Blake to keep watch
+for Tex Williard, and tell him to hold Tex for me if he sees him. Lively,
+Bill!"
+
+Bill stared, leaped from his horse, took the saddle from its back and was
+soon lost to sight in the corral. In a few minutes he galloped past his
+foreman and Sneed swearing heartily. His quirt arose and fell and soon
+he was lost to sight over a rise near the ranch-house.
+
+The foreman of the A-Y rode over to Charley: "Charley, in case I don't get
+back to-night, you and Lefty keep guard somewhere out here, and shoot
+any man who don't halt at your hail. If I return in the dark I'll whistle
+Dixie as soon as I see the lights in the bunk house, and I'll keep it
+up so you won't mistake me. So long."
+
+Sneed and he cantered away together and soon they parted, the former to
+ride toward his ranch, the latter toward the Cottonwoods near the Limping
+Water and along the trail left by Bill.
+
+When near the grove The Orphan saw five dead cows and he quickly
+dismounted to examine them.
+
+"Not dead for long," he muttered as he examined the blood on them. He
+leaped into his saddle and galloped through the grove. "Now, by God,
+somebody pays for them!" he muttered.
+
+Here was a sudden change in things, positions had been reversed, and
+now he could appreciate the feelings which he had, more than once, aroused
+in the hearts of numerous foremen. He emerged from the grove and rode
+rapidly along the trail left by the perpetrator, alert, grim and angry.
+Soon the trail dipped beneath the waters of the creek and he stopped
+and thought for a few seconds. If it was Tex, he would not have ridden
+toward the Cross Bar-8 and the town, and neither would he have ridden
+south toward the Star C, nor north in the direction of the A-Y. He would
+seek cover for the day if he was still determined to carry on his game,
+and would not emerge until night covered his movements. That left him
+only the west along the creek, and more than that, the creek turned to the
+south again about five miles farther on and flowed far too close to the
+ranch-houses of the Star C for safety. He must have left the water at the
+turn, and toward the turn rode The Orphan, watching intently for the trail
+to emerge on either bank. His deductions were sound, for when he had
+rounded the bend of the stream he picked up the trail where it left
+the water and followed it westward.
+
+The country around the bend was very wild and rough, for ravines between
+the hills cut seams and gashes in the plain. The underbrush was shoulder
+high, and he did not know how soon he might become a target. The trail
+was very fresh in the soft loam of the ravines and the broken branches
+and trampled leaves were still wet with sap. Soon he hobbled his horse
+and proceeded on foot, but to one side of and parallel with the trail.
+He had spent an hour in his advance and had begun to regret having left
+his horse so early, when he heard the report of a gun near at hand and
+a bullet hissed viciously over his head as he stooped to go under a low
+branch.
+
+He threw up his arms, the rifle falling from his hands, pitched forward
+and rolled down the side of the hill and behind a fallen tree trunk
+which lay against a thicket. As soon as he had gained this position he
+glanced in the direction from whence the shot had come and, finding
+himself screened from sight on that side, quickly jerked off his boots and
+planted them among the bushes, where they looked as if he had crawled in
+almost out of sight. That done, he crawled along the ground under the
+protection of the tree trunk and then squirmed under it, when he pushed
+himself, feet first, deep into a tangled thicket and waited, Colt in
+hand, for a sign of his enemy's approach.
+
+A quarter of an hour had passed in silence when a shot, followed by
+another, sounded from the hillside. After the lapse of a like interval
+another shot was fired, this time from the opposite direction. He saw a
+twig fall by the boots and heard the spat! of the bullet as it hit a
+stone. Two more shots sounded in rapid succession, and then another long
+interval of silence. Half an hour passed, but he was not impatient. He
+most firmly believed that his man would, sooner or later, come out to
+examine the boots, and time was of no consequence: he wanted the man.
+
+Whoever he was, he was certainly cautious, he did not believe in taking
+any chances. It was almost certain that he would not leave until he had
+been assured that he had accomplished his purpose, for it would be most
+disconcerting at some future time to unexpectedly meet the man he thought
+he had murdered. Another shot whizzed into the place where the body
+should have been, according to the silent testimony of the boots. It
+sounded much closer to the thicket, but in the same direction of the
+last few shots. Then, after ten minutes of silence, a twig snapped,
+and directly behind the thicket in which The Orphan was hidden! The
+foreman's nerves were tense now, his every sense was alert, for his
+was a most dangerous position. He quickly glanced over his shoulder into
+the thicket and found that he could not penetrate the mass of leaves and
+branches, which reassured him. He was very glad that he had forced himself
+well into the cover, for soon the leaves rustled and a pebble rolled not
+more than four feet off, and in front of him, slightly at his right.
+More rustling and then a head and shoulder slowly pushed past him into
+view. The man moved very slowly and cautiously and was crouched, his
+head far in advance of his waist. The Orphan could see only one side
+of the face, the angle of the man's jaw and an ear, but that was enough,
+for he knew the owner. Slowly and without a sound the foreman's right
+hand turned at the wrist until the Colt gleamed on a line with the
+other's heart. The searcher leaned forward and to one side, that he
+might better see the boots, when a sound met his ears.
+
+"Don't move," whispered the foreman.
+
+The prowler stiffened in his tracks, frozen to rigidity by the command.
+Then he slowly turned his head and looked squarely into the gun of the
+man he thought he had killed.
+
+"Christ!" he cried hoarsely, starting back.
+
+"I don't reckon you'll ever know Him," said The Orphan, his voice very
+low and monotonous. "Stand just as you are--don't move--I want to talk
+with you."
+
+Tex simply stared at him in pitiful helplessness and could not speak,
+beads of perspiration standing out on his face, testifying to the agony
+of fear he was in.
+
+"You're on the wrong side of the game again, Tex," The Orphan said slowly,
+watching the puncher narrowly, his gun steady as a rock. "You still
+want to kill me, it seems. I've given you your life twice, once to your
+knowledge, and I told you with the sheriff that I would shoot you if you
+ever returned; and still you have come back to have me do it. You were
+not satisfied to let things rest as they were."
+
+Tex did not reply, and The Orphan continued, a flicker of contempt about
+his lips.
+
+"You were never cast for an outlaw, Tex. If I do say it myself, it
+takes a clever man to live at that game, and I know, for I've been all
+through it. As you see, Sneed and I didn't shoot each other, for the
+play was too plain, too transparent. You should have ambushed one of
+his men, burned his corrals and slaughtered his cattle, for then he
+might have shot and talked later. And he might have gotten me, too,
+for I was unsuspecting. I don't say that I would kill an innocent man to
+arouse his anger if I had been in your place, I'm only showing you
+where you made the mistake, where you blundered. Had you killed one of
+his men it is very probable that his rage would have known no bounds,
+but as it was the provocation was not great enough."
+
+Tex remained silent and unconsciously toyed at his ear. The Orphan looked
+keenly at the movement and wondered where he had seen it before, for it
+was familiar. His face darkened as memory urged something forward to
+him out of the dark catacombs of the past, and he stilled his breathing
+to catch a clue to it. He saw the little ranch his father had worked so
+hard over to improve, and had fought hard to save, and then the picture of
+his dying mother came vividly before him; but still something avoided
+his searching thoughts, something barely eluded him, trembling on the
+edge of the Then and Now. He saw his father's body slowly swinging and
+turning in the light breeze of a perfect day, and he quivered at the
+nearness of what he was seeking, its proximity was tantalizing. The
+rope!--the rope about his father's neck had been of manila fiber; he
+could never forget the soiled, bleached-yellow streak which had led
+upward to Eternity. And manila ropes were, at that time, a rarity in
+that part of the country, for rawhide and braided-hair lariats had been
+the rule. And on the day when he had given Tex his life in the defile he
+had noticed the faded yellow rope which had swung at the puncher's saddle
+horn. As he strained with renewed hope to catch the elusive impression
+another scene came before him. It was of three men bent over a cow,
+engaged in blotting out his father's brand, and instantly the face of
+one of them sprang into sharp definition on his mental canvas.
+
+"D----n you!" he cried, his finger tightening on the trigger of the
+Colt which for so many years had been his best friend. "I know you now,
+changed as you are! Now I know why you have been so determined for my
+death. On the day that I cut my father down I swore that I would kill
+the man who had lynched him if kind fate let me find him, and I have
+found him. You have just five minutes to live, so make the most of it, you
+cowardly murderer!"
+
+Tex's face went suddenly white again and his nerve deserted him. His Colt
+was in his hand, but oh, so useless! Should he fight to the end? A shudder
+ran through him at the thought, for life was so good, so precious; far
+too precious to waste a minute of it by dying before his time was up.
+Perhaps the foreman would relent, perhaps he would become so wrapped
+up in the memories of the years gone by as to forget, just for half a
+second, where he was. The watch in The Orphan's hand gave him hope,
+for he would wait until the other glanced at it--that would be his only
+hope of life.
+
+The foreman's watch ticked loudly in the palm of his left hand and the
+Colt in his right never quivered. The first minute passed in terrifying
+silence, then the second, then the third, but all the time The Orphan's
+eyes stared steadily at the man before him, gray, cruel, unblinking.
+
+"They told me to do it! They told me to do it!" shrieked the pitiful,
+unnerved wreck of a man as he convulsively opened and shut his hand.
+"I didn't want to do it! I swear I didn't want to do it! As God is above,
+I didn't want to! They made me, they made me!" he cried, his words swiftly
+becoming an unintelligible jumble of meaningless sounds. He stared at the
+black muzzle of the Colt, frozen by terror, fascinated by horror and
+deadened by despair. The watch ticked on in maddening noise, for his every
+sense was now most acute, beating in upon his brain like the strokes of a
+hammer. Then the foreman glanced quickly at it. The gun in Tex's hand
+leaped up, but not quickly enough, and a spurt of smoke enveloped his face
+as he fell. The Orphan stepped back, dropping the Colt into its holster.
+
+[Illustration: "The Orphan stepped back a pace and dropped the Colt into
+its holster." (_See page_ 390.)]
+
+"The courage of despair!" he whispered. "But I'm glad he died game," he
+slowly added. Then he suddenly buried his face in his hands: "Helen!" he
+cried. "Helen--forgive me!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII
+
+THE GREAT HAPPINESS
+
+
+The town was rapidly losing sharpness of detail, for the straggling
+buildings were becoming more and more blurred and were growing into sharp
+silhouettes in the increasing dusk, and the sickly yellow lights were
+growing more numerous in the scattered windows.
+
+Helen moved about the dining-room engaged in setting the table and
+she had just placed fresh flowers in the vase, when she suddenly stopped
+and listened. Faintly to her ears came the pounding hoofbeats of a
+galloping horse on the well-packed street, growing rapidly nearer with
+portentous speed. It could not be Miss Ritchie, for there was a vast
+difference between the comparatively lazy gallop of her horse and the
+pulse-stirring tattoo which she now heard. The hoofbeats passed the
+corner without slackening pace, and whirled up the street, stopping in
+front of the house with a suddenness which she had long since learned
+to attribute to cowboys. She stood still, afraid to go to the door,
+numbed with a nameless fear--something terrible must have happened,
+perhaps to The Orphan. The rider ran up the path, his spurs jingling
+sharply, leaped to the porch, and the door was dashed open to show him
+standing before her, sombrero in hand, his quirt dangling from his left
+wrist. He was dusty and tired, but the expression on his face terrified
+her, held her speechless.
+
+"Helen!" he cried hoarsely, driving her fear deeper into her heart by
+his altered voice. "Helen!" She trembled, and he made a gesture of
+hopelessness and involuntarily stepped toward her, letting the door swing
+shut behind him. He stood just within the room, rigidly erect, his eyes
+meeting hers in the silence of strong emotion. Breathlessly she retreated
+as he advanced, as if instinct warned her of what he had to tell her,
+until the table was between them; and a spasm of pain flickered across
+his face as he noticed it, leaving him hard and stern again, but in
+his eyes was a look of despair, a keen misery which softened her and
+drew her toward him even while she feared him.
+
+The silence became unbearable and at last she could endure it no longer.
+"What is it?" she breathed, tensely. "What have you to tell me?"
+
+His eyes never wavered from her face, fascinated in despair of what he
+must read there, much as he dreaded it, and he answered her from between
+set lips, much as a man would pronounce his own death sentence. "I have
+broken my word," he said, harshly.
+
+"Broken your word--to me?" she asked.
+
+"Yes."
+
+Her face brightened and was softened by a child-like wonder, for she felt
+relieved in a degree, and unconsciously she moved nearer to him. "What is
+it--what have you done?"
+
+He regarded her without appraising the change in her expression and his
+reply was as harsh and stern as his first statement, accompanied by no
+excuses nor words of extenuation. "I have killed a man," he said.
+
+A shiver passed over her and her eyes went closed for a moment. The
+great choice was at hand now, and in her heart a fierce, short battle
+raged; on one side was arrayed her early training, all her teachings, all
+regard for the ideas of law and order which she had absorbed in the East,
+where human life was safeguarded as the first necessity; and on the
+other was the Unwritten Law of the range as exemplified by The Orphan.
+Blood, and human blood, was precious, and her early environment fought
+bitterly against this regime of direct justice, so startlingly driven
+into her mind by his bold, cold admission. And then, he had sinned in
+this way again after he had promised her not to do so. The last thought
+dominated her and she opened her eyes and looked at him hopefully.
+
+"Perhaps," she said, eagerly, "perhaps you could not avoid it--perhaps you
+were forced to do it."
+
+"No."
+
+"Oh!" she cried. "You did not--you did not shoot him down without warning!
+I _know_ you didn't!"
+
+"No, not that," he said slowly. "And, besides, this was his third offense.
+Twice I have given him his life, and I would have done so again but for
+what I discovered after I faced him." He paused for a moment and then
+continued, with more feeling in his voice, a ring of victory and an
+irrepressible elation. "I found that he was the man for whom I have
+been looking for fifteen years, and whom I had sworn to kill. He killed
+my father, killed him like a dog and without a chance for life, hung
+him to a tree on his own land. And when I learned that, when he had
+confessed to me, I forgot the new game, I forgot everything but the
+watch in my hand slowly ticking away his life, the time I had given him
+to make his peace with God--and I hated the slow seconds, I begrudged
+him every movement of the hands. Then I shot him, and I was glad, so
+glad--but oh, dear! If you--if you----"
+
+His voice wavered and broke and he dropped to his knees before her with
+bowed head as she came slowly toward him and seized the hem of her gown
+in both hands, kissing it passionately, burying his face in its folds like
+a tired boy at his mother's knee.
+
+Her eyes were filled with tears and they rimmed her lashes as she looked
+down on the man at her feet. Bending, she touched him and then placed her
+hands on his head, tenderly kissing the tangled hair in loving forgiveness.
+
+"Dear, dear boy," she murmured softly. "Don't, dear heart. Don't, you
+must not--oh, you must not! Please--come with me; get up, dear, and sit
+with me over here in the corner; then you shall tell me all about it. I
+am sure you have not done wrong--and if you have--don't you know I love
+you, boy? Don't you know I love you?"
+
+He stirred slightly, as if awakening from a troubled sleep, and slowly
+raised his head and looked at her with doubt in his eyes, for it was so
+much like a dream--perhaps it was one. But he saw a light on her face,
+a light which a man sees only on the face of one woman and which blinds
+him against all other lights forever. Then it was true, all true--he had
+heard aright! "Helen!" he cried, "Helen!" and the ring in his voice
+brought new tears to her eyes. He sprang to his feet, tense, eager, all
+his nerves tingling, and his quirt hissed through the air and snapped a
+defiance, a warning to the world as he clasped her to him. "I _knew_,
+I _knew!_" he cried passionately. "In my heart I _knew_ you were a
+thoroughbred!"
+
+He tilted her head back, but she laughed low with delight and eluded him,
+leading him to a chair, the chair he had occupied on the occasion of his
+first visit, and then drew a low, rough footrest beside him and seated
+herself at his feet, her elbows resting on his knees and her chin in her
+hands. He looked down into the upturned face and then glanced swiftly
+about the homelike room and back to her face again. She snuggled tightly
+against his knees and waited patiently for his story.
+
+He sighed contentedly and touched her cheek reverently and then told her
+all of the story of Tex Williard, from the very beginning to the very end,
+from the time he had seen Tex bending over one of his father's cows to
+the last scene in the thicket. When he had finished, Helen took his head
+between her hands, pressing it warmly as she nodded wisely to show that
+she understood. He looked deep into her eyes and then suddenly bent
+his head until his lips touched her ear: "Helen, darling," he whispered,
+"how long must I wait?"
+
+"Why, you scamp!" she exclaimed, teasingly, threatening to draw away from
+him. "You haven't even told me that you love me!"
+
+He pressed her hands tightly and laughed aloud, joyously, filled with an
+elated, effervescent gladness which surged over him in waves of delight:
+"Haven't I? Oh, but you know better, dear. Many and many times I have
+told you that, and in many ways, and you knew it and understood. You
+never doubted it, and I hope," he added seriously, "that you never will."
+
+"I never will, dear."
+
+They did not hear Grace Ritchie in the kitchen, did not hear her quiet
+step as it crossed the threshold and stopped, and then tiptoed to the
+rear door and sped lightly around the house to the street, and down it
+to where Mrs. Shields and Mary were walking toward the house. They did not
+know that half an hour had passed since the coming of the quiet step and
+the three women, and that the supper was hopelessly ruined. They knew
+nothing--and Everything: they had learned the Great Happiness.
+
+THE END
+
+
+
+
+Popular Copyright Books
+
+AT MODERATE PRICES
+
+Any of the following titles can be bought of your
+bookseller at the price you paid for this volume
+
+Alternative, The. By George Barr McCutcheon.
+Angel of Forgiveness, The. By Rosa N. Carey.
+Angel of Pain, The. By E. F. Benson.
+Annals of Ann, The. By Kate Trimble Sharber.
+Battle Ground, The. By Ellen Glasgow.
+Beau Brocade. By Baroness Orczy.
+Beechy. By Bettina Von Hutten.
+Bella Donna. By Robert Hichens.
+Betrayal, The. By E. Phillips Oppenheim.
+Bill Toppers, The. By Andre Castaigne.
+Butterfly Man, The. By George Barr McCutcheon.
+Cab No. 44. By R. F. Foster.
+Calling of Dan Matthews, The. By Harold Bell Wright
+Cape Cod Stories. By Joseph C. Lincoln.
+Challoners, The. By E. F. Benson.
+City of Six, The. By C. L. Canfield.
+Conspirators, The, By Robert W. Chambers.
+Dan Merrithew. By Lawrence Perry.
+Day of the Dog, The. By George Barr McCutcheon.
+Depot Master, The. By Joseph C. Lincoln.
+Derelicts. By William J. Locke.
+Diamonds Cut Paste. By Agnes & Egerton Castle.
+Early Bird, The. By George Randolph Chester
+Eleventh Hour, The. By David Potter.
+Elizabeth in Rugen. By the author of Elizabeth and Her German Garden.
+Flying Mercury, The. By Eleanor M. Ingram.
+Gentleman, The. By Alfred Ollivant.
+Girl Who Won, The. By Beth Ellis.
+Going Some. By Rex Beach.
+Hidden Water. By Dane Coolidge.
+Honor of the Big Snows, The. By James Oliver Curwood.
+Hopalong Cassidy. By Clarence E. Mulford.
+House of the Whispering Pines, The. By Anna Katherine Green.
+Imprudence of Prue, The. By Sophie Fisher.
+
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