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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/38234-8.txt b/38234-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..e728e2e --- /dev/null +++ b/38234-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11457 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Hopalong Cassidy, 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: Hopalong Cassidy + +Author: Clarence E. Mulford + +Release Date: December 6, 2011 [EBook #38234] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HOPALONG CASSIDY *** + + + + +Produced by Janet Kegg, Matthew Wheaton and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + + Hopalong Cassidy + + BY + + Clarence E. Mulford + + + Author of + The BAR-20 THREE, "TEX", Etc. + + GROSSET & DUNLAP, Publishers + + By arrangement with A. C. McClurg & Co. + + + COPYRIGHT + BY A. C. MCCLURG & CO. + 1910 + + Published March 12, 1910 + Second Edition, March 19, 1910 + Third Edition, March 26, 1910 + Fourth Edition, May 28, 1910 + Fifth Edition, July 9, 1910 + Sixth Edition, January 28, 1911 + + Entered at Stationers' Hall, London + + _All Rights Reserved_ + + + _Affectionately Dedicated + to My Father_ + + + + + CONTENTS + + + CHAPTER + + I. ANTONIO'S SCHEME + II. MARY MEEKER RIDES NORTH + III. THE ROUNDUP + IV. IN WEST ARROYO + V. HOPALONG ASSERTS HIMSELF + VI. MEEKER IS TOLD + VII. HOPALONG MEETS MEEKER + VIII. ON THE EDGE OF THE DESERT + IX. ON THE PEAK + X. BUCK VISITS MEEKER + XI. THREE IS A CROWD + XII. HOBBLE BURNS AND SLEEPERS + XIII. HOPALONG GROWS SUSPICIOUS + XIV. THE COMPROMISE + XV. ANTONIO MEETS FRIENDS + XVI. THE FEINT + XVII. PETE IS TRICKED + XVIII. THE LINE HOUSE RE-CAPTURED + XIX. ANTONIO LEAVES THE H2 + XX. WHAT THE DAM TOLD + XXI. HOPALONG RIDES SOUTH + XXII. LUCAS VISITS THE PEAK + XXIII. HOPALONG AND RED GO SCOUTING + XXIV. RED'S DISCOMFITURE + XXV. ANTONIO'S REVENGE + XXVI. FRISCO VISITS EAGLE + XXVII. SHAW HAS VISITORS + XXVIII. NEVADA JOINS SHAW + XXIX. SURROUNDED + XXX. UP THE WALL + XXXI. FORTUNE SNICKERS AT DOC + XXXII. NATURE TAKES A HAND + XXXIII. DOC TRAILS + XXXIV. DISCOVERIES + XXXV. JOHNNY TAKES THE HUT + XXXVI. THE LAST NIGHT + XXXVII. THEIR LAST FIGHT + XXXVIII. A DISAGREEABLE TASK + XXXIX. THIRST + XL. CHANGES + XLI. HOPALONG'S REWARD + + + + +HOPALONG CASSIDY + + + + +CHAPTER I + +ANTONIO'S SCHEME + + +The raw and mighty West, the greatest stage in all the history of the +world for so many deeds of daring which verged on the insane, was +seared and cross-barred with grave-lined trails and dotted with +presumptuous, mushroom towns of brief stay, whose inhabitants flung +their primal passions in the face of humanity and laughed in +condescending contempt at what humanity had to say about it. In many +localities the real bad-man, the man of the gun, whose claims to the +appellation he was ready to prove against the rancorous doubting of +all comers, made history in a terse and business-like way, and also +made the first law for the locality--that of the gun. + +There were good bad-men and bad bad-men, the killer by necessity and +the wanton murderer; and the shifting of these to their proper strata +evolved the foundation for the law of to-day. The good bad-men, those +in whose souls lived the germs of law and order and justice, gradually +became arrayed against the other class, and stood up manfully for +their principles, let the odds be what they might; and bitter, +indeed, was the struggle, and great the price. + +From the gold camps of the Rockies to the shrieking towns of the +coast, where wantonness stalked unchecked; from the vast stretches of +the cattle ranges to the ever-advancing terminals of the persistent +railroads, to the cow towns, boiling and seething in the loosed +passions of men who brooked no restraint in their revels, no one +section of country ever boasted of such numbers of genuine bad-men of +both classes as the great, semi-arid Southwest. Here was one of the +worst collections of raw humanity ever broadcast in one locality; here +the crack of the gun would have sickened except that moralists were +few and the individual so calloused and so busy in protecting his own +life and wiping out his own scores that he gave no heed to the sum +total of the killings; it was a word and a shot, a shot and a laugh or +a curse. + +In this red setting was stuck a town which we will call Eagle, the +riffle which caught all the dregs of passing humanity, where men +danced as souls were freed. Unmapped, known only to those who had +visited it, it reared its flimsy buildings in the face of God and +rioted day and night with no thought of reckoning; mad, insane with +hellishness unlimited. + +Late in the afternoon of a glorious day towards this town rode +Antonio, "broncho-buster" for the H2, a Mexican of little courage, +much avarice, and great capacity for hatred. Crafty, filled with +cunning of the coyote kind, shifty-eyed, gloomy, taciturn, and +scowling, he was well fitted for the part he had elected to play in +the range dispute between his ranch and the Bar-20. He was absolutely +without mercy or conscience; indeed, one might aptly say that his +conscience, if he had ever known one, had been pulled out by the roots +and its place filled with viciousness. Cold-blooded in his ferocity, +easily angered and quick to commit murder if the risk were small, he +embraced within his husk of soul the putrescence of all that was evil. + +In Eagle he had friends who were only a shade less evil than himself; +but they had what he lacked and because of it were entitled to a +forced respect of small weight--they had courage, that spontaneous, +initiative, heedless courage which toned the atmosphere of the whole +West to a magnificent crimson. Were it not for the reason that they +had drifted to his social level they would have spurned his +acquaintance and shot him for a buzzard; but, while they secretly held +him in great contempt for his cowardice, they admired his criminal +cunning, and profited by it. He was too wise to show himself in the +true light to his foreman and the outfit, knowing full well that death +would be the response, and so lived a lie until he met his friends of +the town, when he threw off his cloak and became himself, and where he +plotted against the man who treated him fairly. + +Riding into the town, he stopped before a saloon and slouched in to +the bar, where the proprietor was placing a new stock of liquors on +the shelves. + +"Where's Benito, an' th' rest?" he asked. + +"Back there," replied the other; nodding toward a rear room. + +"Who's in there?" + +"Benito, Hall, Archer an' Frisco." + +"Where's Shaw?" + +"Him an' Clausen an' Cavalry went out 'bout ten minutes ago." + +"I want to see 'em when they come in," Antonio remarked, shambling +towards the door, where he listened, and then went in. + +In the small room four men were grouped around a table, drinking and +talking, and at his entry they looked up and nodded. He nodded in +reply and seated himself apart from them, where he soon became wrapped +in thought. + +Benito arose and went to the door. "_Mescal, pronto_," he said to the +man outside. + +"D----d _pronto_, too," growled Antonio. "A man would die of alkali in +this place before he's waited on." + +The proprietor brought a bottle and filled the glasses, giving Antonio +his drink first, and silently withdrew. + +The broncho-buster tossed off the fiery stuff and then turned his +shifty eyes on the group. "Where's Shaw?" + +"Don't know--back soon," replied Benito. + +"Why didn't he wait, when he knowed I was comin' in?" + +Hall leaned back from the table and replied, keenly watching the +inquisitor, "Because he don't give a d--n." + +"You----!" shouted the Mexican, half arising, but the others +interfered and he sank back again, content to let it pass. But not so +Hall, whose Colt was half drawn. + +"I'll kill you some day, you whelp," he gritted, but before anything +could come of it Shaw and his companions entered the room and the +trouble was quelled. + +Soon the group was deep in discussion over the merits of a scheme +which Antonio unfolded to them, and the more it was weighed the better +it appeared. Finally Shaw leaned back and filled his pipe. "You've got +th' brains of th' devil, 'Tony." + +"Eet ees not'ing," replied Antonio. + +"Oh, drop that lingo an' talk straight--you ain't on th' H2 now," +growled Hall. + +"Benito, you know this country like a book," Shaw continued. "Where's +a good place for us to work from, or ain't there no choice?" + +"Thunder Mesa." + +"Well, what of it?" + +"On de edge of de desert, high, beeg. De walls are stone, an' so ver' +smooth. Nobody can get up." + +"How can we get up then?" + +"There's a trail at one end," replied Antonio, crossing his legs and +preparing to roll a cigarette. "It's too steep for cayuses, an' too +narrow; but we can crawl up. An' once up, all h--l can't follow as +long as our cartridges hold out." + +"Water?" inquired Frisco. + +"At th' bottom of th' trail, an' th' spring is on top," Antonio +replied. "Not much, but enough." + +"Can you work yore end all right?" asked Shaw. + +"_Si_," laughed the other. "I am 'that fool, Antonio,' on th' ranch. +But they're th' fools. We can steal them blind an' if they find it +out--well," here he shrugged his shoulders, "th' Bar-20 can take th' +blame. I'll fix that, all right. This trouble about th' line is just +what I've been waitin' for, an' I'll help it along. If we can get 'em +fightin' we'll run off with th' bone _we_ want. That'll be easy." + +"But can you get 'em fightin'?" asked Cavalry, so called because he +had spent several years in that branch of the Government service, and +deserted because of the discipline. + +Antonio laughed and ordered more _mescal_ and for some time took no +part in the discussion which went on about him. He was dreaming of +success and plenty and a ranch of his own which he would start in Old +Mexico, in a place far removed from the border, and where no questions +would be asked. He would be a rich man, according to the standards of +that locality, and what he said would be law among the peons. He liked +to daydream, for everything came out just as he wished; there was no +discordant note. He was so certain of success, so conceited as not to +ask himself if any of the Bar-20 or H2 outfits were not his equal or +superior in intelligence. It was only a matter of time, he told +himself, for he could easily get the two ranches embroiled in a range +war, and once embroiled, his plan would succeed and he would be safe. + +"What do you want for your share, 'Tony?" suddenly asked Shaw. + +"Half." + +"What! _Half?_" + +"_Si._" + +"You're loco!" cried the other. "Do you reckon we're going to buck up +agin th' biggest an' hardest fightin' outfit in this country an' take +all sorts of chances for a measly half, to be divided up among seven +of us!" He brought his fist down on the table with a resounding thump. +"You an' yore game can go to h--l first!" he shouted. + +"I like a hog, all right," sneered Clausen, angrily. + +"I thought it out an' I got to look after th' worst an' most important +part of it, an' take three chances to you fellers' one," replied +Antonio, frowning. "I said half, an' it goes." + +"Run all th' ends, an' keep it all," exclaimed Hall. "An', by God, +we've got a hand in it, now. If you try to hog it we'll drop a word +where it'll do th' most good, an' don't you forget it, neither." + +"Anton ees right," asserted Benito, excitedly. "Eet ees one reesk for +Anton." + +"Keep yore yaller mouth shut," growled Cavalry. "Who gave you any say +in this?" + +"Half," said Antonio, shrugging his shoulders. + +"Look here, you," cried Shaw, who was, in reality, the leader of the +crowd, inasmuch as he controlled all the others with the exception of +Benito and Antonio, and these at times by the judicious use of +flattery. "We'll admit that you've got a right to th' biggest share, +but not to no half. You have a chance to get away, because you can +watch 'em, but how about us, out there on th' edge of h--l? If they +come for us we won't know nothing about it till we're surrounded. Now +we want to play square with you, an' we'll give you twice as much as +any one of th' rest of us. That'll make nine shares an' give you two +of 'em. What more do you want, when you've got to have us to run th' +game at all?" + +Antonio laughed ironically. "Yes. I'm where I can watch, an' get +killed first. You can hold th' mesa for a month. I ain't as easy as I +look. It's my game, not yourn; an' if you don't like what I ask, stay +out." + +"We will!" cried Hall, arising, followed by the others. His hand +rested on the butt of his revolver and trouble seemed imminent. Benito +wavered and then slid nearer to Antonio. "You can run yore game all by +yore lonesome, as _long_ as you _can_!" Hall shouted. "I know a feller +what knows Cassidy, an' I'll spoil yore little play right now. You'll +look nice at th' end of a rope, won't you? It's this: share like Shaw +said or get out of here, an' look out for trouble a-plenty to-morrow +morning. I've put up with yore gall an' swallered yore insultin' +actions just as long as I'm going to, an' I've got a powerful notion +to fix you right here and now!" + +"No fightin', you fools!" cried the proprietor, grabbing his Colt and +running to the door of the room. "It's up to you fellers to stick +together!" + +"I'll be d----d if I'll stand--" began Frisco. + +"They want too much," interrupted Antonio, angrily, keeping close +watch over Hall. + +"We want a fair share, an' that's all!" retorted Shaw. "Sit down, all +of you. We can wrastle this out without no gun-play." + +"You-all been yappin' like a set of fools," said the proprietor. "I've +heard every word you-all said. If you got a mite of sense you'll be +some tender how you shout about it. It's shore risky enough without +tellin' everybody this side of sun-up." + +"I mean just what I said," asserted Hall. "It's Shaw's offer, or +nothin'. We ain't playing fool for no Greaser. _Yes_, that's th' +word--Greaser!" he repeated in answer to Antonio's exclamation. "If +you don't like it, lump it!" + +"Here! Here!" cried Shaw, pushing Hall into a seat. "If you two have +got anything to settle, wait till some other time." + +"That's more like it," growled the proprietor, shuffling back to the +bar. + +"Good Lord, 'Tony," cried Shaw in a low voice. "That's fair enough; +we've got a right to something, ain't we? Don't let a good thing fall +through just because you want th' whole earth. Better have a little +than none." + +"Well, gimme a third, then." + +"I'll give you a slug in th' eye, you hog!" promised Hall, starting to +rise again, but Shaw held him back. "Sit down, you fool!" he ordered, +angrily. Then he turned to the Mexican. "Third don't go; take my offer +or leave it." + +"Gimme a fourth; that's fair enough." + +Shaw thought for a moment and then looked up. "Well, that's more like +it. What do you say, fellers?" + +"No!" cried Hall. "Two-ninths, or nothin'!" + +"A fourth is two-eighths, only a little more," Shaw replied. + +"Well, all right," muttered Hall, sullenly. + +"That ees ver' good," laughed Benito, glad that things were clearing. +All his sympathies were with his countryman, but he hesitated to take +his part in the face of such odds. + +The others gave their consent to the division and Shaw smiled. "Well, +that's more like it. Now we'll go into this thing an' sift it out. +Keep mum about it--there's twenty men in town that would want to join +us if they knowed." + +"I'm goin' to be boss; what I say goes," spoke up Antonio. "It's my +game an' I'm takin' th' most risky end." + +"You ain't got sand enough to be boss of anything," sneered Hall. +"Yore sand is chalk." + +"You'll say too much someday," retorted Antonio, glaring. + +"Oh, not to _you_, I reckon," rejoined Hall, easily. + +"Shut up, both of you!" snapped Shaw. "You can be boss, 'Tony," he +said, winking at Hall. "You've got more brains for a thing like this +than any of us. I don't see how you can figger it out like you do." + +Antonio laughed in a self-satisfied way, for it was pleasant to hear +such an admission from the lips of a Gringo, and he was ready to +discuss things in a better spirit. But he remembered one thing, and +swore to take payment if the plan leaked out; the proprietor had +confessed hearing every word, which was not at all to his liking. If +Quinn should tell, well, Quinn would die; he would see to that, he and +Benito. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +MARY MEEKER RIDES NORTH + + +Mary Meeker, daughter of the H2 owner and foreman, found pleasure in +riding on little tours of investigation. She had given the southern +portions her attention first and found, after the newness had worn +off, that she did not care for the level, sandy stretches of +half-desert land which lay so flat for miles. The prospect was always +the same, always uninteresting and wearying and hot. Now she +determined upon a step which she had wished to take for a long time, +and her father's request that she should not take it grew less and +less of a deterrent factor. He had given so much thought and worry to +that mysterious valley, dropped so many remarks about it, that she at +last gave rein to her curiosity and made ready to see for herself. It +was green and hilly, like the rugged Montana she had quitted to come +down to the desert, and it should be a small Montana to her. There +were hills of respectable size, for these she saw daily from the ranch +house door, and she loved hills; anything would be better than the +limitless sand. + +She had known little of restraint; her corner of the world had been +filled entirely by men and she had absorbed much of their better +traits. Self-reliant as a cowgirl should be, expert with either Colt +or Winchester, and at home in the saddle, she feared nothing the +desert might hold, except thirst. She was not only expert with +weapons, but she did not fear to use them against men, as she had +proved on one occasion in wild Montana. So she would ride to the hills +which called her so insistently and examine the valley. + +One bright morning just before the roundup began she went to the +corral and looked at her horse, a cross between Kentucky stock and +cow-pony and having in a great degree the speed of the first and the +hardiness of the last, and sighed to think that she could not ride it +for days to come. Teuton was crippled and she must choose some other +animal. She had overheard Doc Riley tell Ed Joyce that the piebald in +the smaller corral was well broken, and this was the horse she would +take. The truth of the matter was that the piebald was crafty and +permitted the saddle to be fixed and himself ridden for varying +periods of time before showing what he thought of such things. Doc, +unprepared for the piebald's sudden change in demeanor, had taken a +tumble, which made him anxious to have his wounded conceit soothed by +seeing Ed Joyce receive the same treatment. + +Mary found no trouble in mounting and riding the animal and she was +glad that she had overheard Doc, for now she had two horses which were +thoroughly reliable, although, of course, Teuton was the only really +good horse on the range. She rode out of the corral and headed for the +White Horse Hills, scarcely twelve miles away. What if her father had +warned her not to ride near the lawless punchers who rode the northern +range? They were only men and she was sure that to a woman they would +prove to be gentlemen. + +The southern boundary of the Bar-20 ran along the top of the hills and +from them east to the river, and it was being patrolled by three +Bar-20 punchers, Hopalong, Johnny, and Red, all on the lookout for +straying cattle of both ranches. Neither Hopalong nor Red had ever +seen Mary Meeker, but Johnny had upon the occasion of his scout over +the H2 range, and he had felt eminently qualified to describe her. He +had finished his eulogistic monologue by asserting that as soon as his +more unfortunate friends saw her they would lose sleep and sigh often, +which prophecy was received in various ways and called forth widely +differing comment. Red had snorted outright and Pete swore to learn +that a woman was on the range; for Pete had been married, and his wife +preferred another man. Hopalong, remembering a former experience of +his own, smiled in knowing cynicism when told that he again would fall +under the feminine spell. + +Red was near the river and Johnny half-way to the hills when Hopalong +began the ascent of Long Hill, wondering why it was that Meeker had +made no attempt to cross the boundary in force and bring on a crisis; +and from Meeker his mind turned to the daughter. + +"So there's a woman down here now," he muttered, riding down into an +arroyo and up the other bank. "This country is gettin' as bad as +Kansas, d----d if it ain't. First thing we know it'll be nursin' +bottles an' school houses, an' h--l loose all th' time instead of once +in a while." + +He heard hoofbeats and glanced up quickly, alert and ready for +trouble, for who would be riding where he was but some H2 puncher? + +"What th'----!" he exclaimed under his breath, for riding towards him +at an angle was Mary Meeker; and Johnny was wrong in his description +of her, but, he thought, the Kid had done as well as his limited +vocabulary would allow. She _was_ pretty, pretty as--she was more than +pretty! + +She had seen him at the same time and flashed a quick glance which +embraced everything; and she was surprised, for he was not only +passably good-looking, barring the red hair, but very different from +the men her father had told her made up the outfit of the Bar-20. He +removed his sombrero instantly and drew up to let her pass, a queer +expression on his face. Yes, he thought, Johnny had wronged her, for +no other woman could have such jet-black hair crowning such a face. + +"By God!" he whispered, and went no farther, for that was the summing +up of his whole opinion of her. + +"He _is_ a gentleman," she thought triumphantly, for he had proved +that she was right in her surmise regarding the men of the northern +ranch. She spurred to pass him and then her piebald took part in the +proceedings. The prick of the spur awakened in him a sudden desire to +assert his rights, and he promptly pitched to make up for his hitherto +gentle behavior. So taken up with what the last minute had brought +forth she was unprepared for the vicious bucking and when she opened +her eyes her head was propped against Hopalong's knee and her face +dripping with the contents of his canteen. + +"D--n yore ugly skin!" he was saying to the piebald, which stood +quietly a short distance away, evidently enjoying the result of his +activity. "Just you wait! I'll show you what's due to come yore way +purty soon!" He turned again to the woman and saw that her eyes were +closed as before. "By God, yore--yore beautiful!" he exclaimed +triumphantly, for he had found the word at last. + +She moved slightly and color came into her cheeks with a sudden rush +and he watched her anxiously. Soon she moved again and then, opening +her eyes, struggled to gain her feet. He helped her up and held her +until she drew away from him. + +"What was it?" she asked. + +"That ugly cayuse went an' pitched when you wasn't lookin' for it," he +told her. "Are you hurt much?" + +"No, just dizzy. I don't want to make you no trouble," she replied. + +"You ain't makin' me any trouble, not a bit," he assured her +earnestly. "But I'd like to make some trouble for that ornery cayuse +of yourn. Let me tone him down some." + +"No; it was my fault. I should 'a been looking--I never rode him +before." + +"Well, you've got to take my cayuse to get home on," he said. "He's +bad, but he's a regular angel when stacked up agin that bronc. I'll +ride the festive piebald, an' we can trade when you get home." Under +his breath he said, "Oh, just wait till I get on you, you wall-eyed +pinto! I'll give you what you need, all right!" + +"Thank you, but I can ride him now that I know just what he is," she +said, her eyes flashing with determination. "I've never let a bronc +get th' best of me in th' long run, an' I ain't goin' to begin now. I +came up here to look at th' hills an' th' valley, an' I'm not going +back home till I've done it." + +"That's th' way to talk!" he cried in admiration. "I'll get him for +you," he finished, swinging into his saddle. He loosened the lariat at +the saddle horn while he rode towards the animal, which showed sudden +renewed interest in the proceedings, but it tarried too long. Just as +it wheeled and leaped forward the rope settled and the next thing it +knew was that the sky had somehow slid under its stomach, for it had +been thrown over backward and flat on its back. When it had struggled +to its feet it found Hopalong astride it, spurring vigorously on the +side farthest from Mary, and for five minutes the air was greatly +disturbed. At the end of that time he dismounted and led a penitent +pony to its mistress, who vaulted lightly into the saddle and waited +for her companion to mount. When he had joined her they rode up the +hill together side by side. + +Johnny, shortly after he had passed Hopalong on the line, wished to +smoke and felt for his tobacco pouch, which he found to be empty. He +rode on for a short distance, angry with himself for his neglect, and +then remembered that Hopalong had a plentiful supply. He could +overtake the man on the hill much quicker than he could Red, who had +said that he was going to ride south along the river to see if Jumping +Bear Creek was dry. If it were, Meeker could be expected to become +active in his aggression. Johnny wheeled and cantered back along the +boundary trail, alertly watching for trespassing cattle. + +It was not long before he came within sight of the thicket which stood +a little east of the base of Long Hill, and he nearly fell from the +saddle in astonishment, for his friend was on the ground, holding a +woman's head on his knee! Johnny didn't care to intrude, and +cautiously withdrew to the shelter of the small chaparral, where he +waited impatiently. Wishing to stretch his legs, he dismounted and +picketed his horse and walked around the thicket until satisfied that +he was out of sight of his friend. + +Suddenly he fancied that he heard something suspicious and he crept +back around the thicket, keeping close to its base. When he turned the +corner he saw the head of a man on the other side of the chaparral +which lay a little southwest of his position. It was Antonio, and he +was intently watching the two on the slope of the hill, and entirely +unaware that he was being watched in turn. + +Johnny carefully drew his Colt and covered the Mexican, for he hated +"Greasers" instinctively, but on Antonio he lavished a hatred far +above the stock kind. He had seen the shifty-eyed broncho-buster on +more than one occasion and never without struggling with himself to +keep from shooting. Now his finger pressed gently against the trigger +of the weapon and he wished for a passable excuse to send the other +into eternity; but Antonio gave him no cause, only watching eagerly +and intently, his face set in such an expression of malignancy as to +cause Johnny's finger to tremble. + +Johnny arose slightly until he could see Hopalong and his companion +and he smothered an exclamation. "Gosh A'mighty!" he whispered, again +watching the Mexican. "That's Meeker's gal or I'm a liar! Th' +son-of-a-gun, keeping quiet about it all this time. An' no wonder th' +Greaser's on th' trail!" + +It was not long before Johnny looked again for Hopalong and saw him +riding up the hill with his companion. Then he crept forward, watching +the Mexican closely, his Colt ready for instant use. Antonio slowly +drew down until he was lost to sight of the Bar-20 puncher, who ran +swiftly forward and gained the side of the other thicket, where he +again crept forward, and around the chaparral. When he next caught +sight of the broncho-buster the latter was walking towards his horse +and his back was turned to Johnny. + +"Hey, you!" called the Bar-20 puncher, arising and starting after the +other. + +Antonio wheeled, leaped to one side and half drew his revolver, but he +was covered and he let the weapon slide back into the holster. + +"What was you doing?" + +Antonio's reply was a scowl and his inquisitor continued without +waiting for words from the other. + +"Never mind that, for I saw what you was doing," Johnny said. "An' I +shore knew what you wanted to do, because I came near doing it to you. +Now it ain't a whole lot healthy for you to go snooping around this +line like you was, for I'll plug you on suspicion next time. Get on +that cayuse of yourn an' hit th' trail south--go on, make tracks!" + +The Mexican mounted and slowly wheeled. "You hab drop, now," he said +significantly. "Nex' time, _quien sabe_?" + +Johnny dropped his Colt into the holster and removed his hand from the +butt. "You're a liar!" he shouted, savagely. "I ain't got th' drop. +It's an even break, an' what are you going to do about it?" + +Antonio shrugged his shoulders and rode on without replying, quite +content to let things stand as they were. He had learned something +which he might be able to use to advantage later on and he had +strained the situation just a little more. + +"Huh! Next time!" snorted Johnny in contempt as he turned to go back +to his horse. "It'll allus be 'nex' time' with that Greaser, 'less he +gets a good pot shot at me, which he won't. He ain't got sand enough +to put up a square fight. Now for Red; he'll shore be riding this way +purty soon, an' that'll never do. Hoppy won't want anybody foolin' +around th' hills for a while, lucky devil." + +More than an hour had passed before he met Red and he forthwith told +him that he had caught the Mexican scouting on foot along the line. + +"I ain't none surprised, Kid," Red replied, frowning. "You've seen how +th' H2 cows are being driven north agin us an' that means we'll be +tolerable busy purty soon. Th' Jumping Bear is dry as tinder, an' it +won't be long before Meeker'll be driving to get in th' valley." + +"Well, I'm some glad of that," Johnny replied, frankly. "It's been +peaceful too blamed long down here. Come on, we'll ride east an' see +if we can find any cows to turn. Hey! Look there!" he cried, spurring +forward. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +THE ROUNDUP + + +The Texan sky seemed a huge mirror upon which were reflected the white +fleecy clouds sailing northward; the warm spring air was full of that +magnetism which calls forth from their earthy beds the gramma grass +and the flowers; the scant vegetation had taken on new dress and +traces of green now showed against the more sombre-colored stems; +while in the distance, rippling in glistening patches where, disturbed +by the wind, the river sparkled like a tinsel ribbon flung carelessly +on the grays and greens of the plain. Birds winged their joyous way +and filled the air with song; and far overhead a battalion of tardy +geese flew, arrow-like, towards the cool lakes of the north, their +faint honking pathetic and continuous. Skulking in the coulees or +speeding across the skyline of some distant rise occasionally could be +seen a coyote or gray wolf. The cattle, less gregarious than they had +been in the colder months, made tentative sorties from the lessening +herd, and began to stray off in search of the tender green grass which +pushed up recklessly from the closely cropped, withered tufts. +Rattlesnakes slid out and uncoiled their sinuous lengths in the warm +sunlight, and copperheads raised their burnished armor from their +winter retreats. All nature had felt the magic touch of the warm +winds, and life in its multitudinous forms was discernible on all +sides. The gaunt tragedy of a hard winter for that southern range had +added its chilling share to the horrors of the past and now the cattle +took heart and lost their weakness in the sunlight, hungry but +contented. + +The winter had indeed been hard, one to be remembered for years to +come, and many cattle had died because of it; many skeletons, stripped +clean by coyotes and wolves, dotted the arroyos and coulees. The cold +weather had broken suddenly, and several days of rain, followed by +sleet, had drenched the cattle thoroughly. Then from out of the north +came one of those unusual rages of nature, locally known as a +"Norther," freezing pitilessly; and the cattle, weakened by cold and +starvation, had dumbly succumbed to this last blow. Their backs were +covered with an icy shroud, and the deadly cold gripped their vitals +with a power not to be resisted. A glittering sheet formed over the +grasses as far as eye could see, and the cattle, unlike the horses, +not knowing enough to stamp through it, nosed in vain at the +sustenance beneath, until weakness compelled them to lie down in the +driving snow, and once down, they never arose. The storm had raged for +the greater part of a week, and then suddenly one morning the sun +shown down on a velvety plain, blinding in its whiteness; and when +spring had sent the snow mantle roaring through the arroyos and water +courses in a turmoil of yellow water and driftwood, and when the range +riders rode forth to read the losses on the plain, the remaining +cattle were staggering weakly in search of food. Skeletons in the +coulees told the story of the hopeless fight, how the unfortunate +cattle had drifted before the wind to what shelter they could find and +how, huddled together for warmth, they had died one by one. The valley +along Conroy Creek had provided a rough shelter with its scattered +groves and these had stopped the cattle drift, so much dreaded by +cowmen. + +It had grieved Buck Peters and his men to the heart to see so many +cattle swept away in one storm, but they had done all that courage and +brains could do to save them. So now, when the plain was green again +and the warm air made riding a joy, they were to hold the calf +roundup. When Buck left his blanket after the first night spent in the +roundup camp and rode off to the horse herd, he smiled from suppressed +elation, and was glad that he was alive. + +Peaceful as the scene appeared there was trouble brewing, and it was +in expectation of this that Buck had begun the roundup earlier than +usual. The unreasoning stubbornness of one man, and the cunning +machinations of a natural rogue, threatened to bring about, from what +should have been only a misunderstanding, as pretty a range war as the +Southwest had seen. Those immediately involved were only a few when +compared to the number which might eventually be brought into the +strife, but if this had been pointed out to Jim Meeker he would have +replied that he "didn't give a d--n." + +Jim Meeker was a Montana man who thought to carry out on the H2 range, +of which he was foreman, the same system of things which had served +where he had come from. This meant trouble right away, for the Bar-20, +already short in range, would not stand idly by and see him encroach +upon their land for grass and water, more especially when he broke a +solemn compact as to range rights which had been made by the former +owners of the H2 with the Bar-20. It meant not only the forcible use +of Bar-20 range, but also a great hardship upon the herds for which +Buck Peters was responsible. + +Meeker's obstinacy was covertly prodded by Antonio for his own +personal gains, but this the Bar-20 foreman did not know; if he had +known it there would have been much trouble averted, and one more +Mexican sent to the spirit world. + +Buck Peters was probably the only man of all of them who realized just +what such a war would mean, to what an extent rustling would flourish +while the cowmen fought. His best efforts had been used to avert +trouble, so far successfully; but that he would continue to do so was +doubtful. He had an outfit which, while meaning to obey him in all +things and to turn from any overt act of war, was not of the kind to +stand much forcing or personal abuse; their nervous systems were +constructed on the hair-trigger plan, and their very loyalty might set +the range ablaze with war. However, on this most perfect of mornings +Meeker's persistent aggression did not bother him, he was free from +worry for the time. + +Just north of Big Coulee, in which was a goodly sized water hole, a +group of blanket-swathed figures lay about a fire near the chuck +wagon, while the sleepy cook prepared breakfast for his own outfit, +and for the eight men which the foreman of the C80 and the Double +Arrow had insisted upon Buck taking. The sun had not yet risen, but +the morning glow showed gray over the plain, and it would not be long +before the increasing daylight broke suddenly. The cook fires crackled +and blazed steadily, the iron pots hissing under their dancing and +noisy lids, while the coffee pots bubbled and sent up an aromatic +steam, and the odor of freshly baked biscuits swept forth as the cook +uncovered a pan. A pile of tin plates was stacked on the tail-board of +the wagon while a large sheet-iron pail contained tin cups. The +figures, feet to the fire, looked like huge, grotesque cocoons, for +the men had rolled themselves in their blankets, their heads resting +on their saddles, and in many cases folded sombreros next to the +leather made softer pillows. + +Back of the chuck wagon the eastern sky grew rapidly brighter, and +suddenly daylight in all its power dissipated the grayish light of the +moment before. As the rim of the golden sun arose above the low sand +hills to the east the foreman rode into camp. Some distance behind him +Harry Jones and two other C80 men drove up the horse herd and enclosed +it in a flimsy corral quickly extemporized from lariats; flimsy it +was, but it sufficed for cow-ponies that had learned the lesson of the +rope. + +"All ready, Buck," called Harry before his words were literally true. + +With assumed ferocity but real vociferation Buck uttered a shout and +watched the effect. The cocoons became animated, stirred and rapidly +unrolled, with the exception of one, and the sleepers leaped to their +feet and folded the blankets. The exception stirred, subsided, stirred +again and then was quiet. Buck and Red stepped forward while the +others looked on grinning to see the fun, grasped the free end of the +blanket and suddenly straightened up, their hands going high above +their heads. Johnny Nelson, squawking, rolled over and over and, with +a yell of surprise, sat bolt upright and felt for his gun. + +"Huh!" he snorted. "Reckon yo're smart, don't you!" + +"Purty near a shore 'nuf pin-wheel, Kid," laughed Red. + +"Don't you care, Johnny; you can finish it to-night," consoled Frenchy +McAllister, now one of Buck's outfit. + +"Breakfast, Kid, breakfast!" sang out Hopalong as he finished drying +his face. + +The breakfast was speedily out of the way, and pipes were started for +a short smoke as the punchers walked over to the horse herd to make +their selections. By exercising patience, profanity, and perseverance +they roped their horses and began to saddle up. Ed Porter, of the +C80, and Skinny Thompson, Bar-20, cast their ropes with a sweeping, +preliminary whirl over their heads, but the others used only a quick +flit and twist of the wrist. A few mildly exciting struggles for the +mastery took place between riders and mounts, for some cow-ponies are +not always ready to accept their proper place in the scheme of things. + +"Slab-sided jumpin' jack!" yelled Rich Finn, a Double Arrow puncher, +as he fought his horse. "Allus raisin' th' devil afore I'm all awake!" + +"Lemme hold her head, Rich," jeered Billy Williams. + +"Her laigs, Billy, not her head," corrected Lanky Smith, the Bar-20 +rope expert, whose own horse had just become sensible. + +"Don't hurt him, bronc; we need him," cautioned Red. + +"Come on, fellers; gettin' late," called Buck. + +Away they went, tearing across the plain, Buck in the lead. After some +time had passed the foreman raised his arm and Pete Wilson stopped and +filled his pipe anew, the west-end man of the cordon. Again Buck's arm +went up and Skinny Thompson dropped out, and so on until the last man +had been placed and the line completed. At a signal from Buck the +whole line rode forward, gradually converging on a central point and +driving the scattered cattle before it. + +Hopalong, on the east end of the line, sharing with Billy the posts of +honor, was now kept busy dashing here and there, wheeling, stopping, +and manoeuvring as certain strong-minded cattle, preferring the +freedom of the range they had just quitted, tried to break through the +cordon. All but branded steers and cows without calves had their +labors in vain, although the escape of these often set examples for +ambitious cows with calves. Here was where reckless and expert riding +saved the day, for the cow-ponies, trained in the art of punching +cows, entered into the game with zest and executed quick turns which +more than once threatened a catastrophe to themselves and riders. +Range cattle can run away from their domesticated kin, covering the +ground with an awkward gait that is deceiving; but the ponies can run +faster and turn as quickly. + +Hopalong, determined to turn back one stubborn mother cow, pushed her +too hard, and she wheeled to attack him. Again the nimble pony had +reason to move quickly and Hopalong swore as he felt the horns touch +his leg. + +"On th' prod, hey! Well, stay on it!" he shouted, well knowing that +she would. "Pig-headed old fool--_all right_, Johnny; I'm comin'!" and +he raced away to turn a handful of cows which were proving too much +for his friend. _"Ki-yi-yeow-eow-eow-eow-eow!"_ he yelled, imitating +the coyote howl. + +The cook had moved his wagon as soon as breakfast was over and +journeyed southeast with the cavvieyh; and as the cordon neared its +objective the punchers could see his camp about half a mile from the +level pasture where the herd would be held for the cutting-out and +branding. Cookie regarded himself as the most important unit of the +roundup and acted accordingly, and he was not far wrong. + +"Hey, Hoppy!" called Johnny through the dust of the herd, "there's +cookie. I was 'most scared he'd get lost." + +"Can't you think of anythin' else but grub?" asked Billy Jordan from +the rear. + +"Can you tell me anything better to think of?" + +There were from three to four thousand cattle in the herd when it +neared the stopping point, and dust arose in low-hanging clouds above +it. Its pattern of differing shades of brown, with yellow and black +and white relieving it, constantly shifted like a kaleidoscope as the +cattle changed positions; and the rattle of horns on horns and the +muffled bellowing could be heard for many rods. + +Gradually the cordon surrounded the herd and, when the destination was +reached, the punchers rode before the front ranks of cattle and +stopped them. There was a sudden tremor, a compactness in the herd, +and the cattle in the rear crowded forward against those before; +another tremor, and the herd was quiet. Cow-punchers took their places +around it, and kept the cattle from breaking out and back to the +range, while every second man, told off by the foreman, raced at top +speed towards the camp, there to eat a hasty dinner and get a fresh +horse from his _remuda_, as his string of from five to seven horses +was called. Then he galloped back to the herd and relieved his nearest +neighbor. When all had reassembled at the herd the work of cutting-out +began. + +Lanky Smith, Panhandle Lukins, and two more Bar-20 men rode some +distance east of the herd, there to take care of the cow-and-calf cut +as it grew by the cutting-out. Hopalong, Red, Johnny, and three others +were assigned to the task of getting the mother cows and their calves +out of the main herd and into the new one, while the other punchers +held the herd and took care of the stray herd when they should be +needed. Each of the cutters-out rode after some calf, and the victim, +led by its mother, worked its way after her into the very heart of the +mass; and in getting the pair out again care must be taken not to +unduly excite the other cattle. Wiry, happy, and conceited cow-ponies +unerringly and patiently followed mother and calf into the press, +nipping the pursued when too slow and gradually forcing them to the +outer edge of the herd; and when the mother tried to lead its +offspring back into the herd to repeat the performance, she was in +almost every case cleverly blocked and driven out on the plain where +the other punchers took charge of her and added her to the +cow-and-calf cut. + +Johnny jammed his sombrero on his head with reckless strength and +swore luridly as he wheeled to go back into the herd. + +"What's th' matter, Kid?" laughingly asked Skinny as he turned his +charges over to another man. + +"None of yore d----d business!" blazed Johnny. Under his breath he +made a resolve. "If I get you two out here again I'll keep you here if +I have to shoot you!" + +"Are they slippery, Johnny?" jibed Red, whose guess was correct. +Johnny refused to heed such asinine remarks and stood on his dignity. + +As the cow-and-calf herd grew in size and the main herd dwindled, more +punchers were shifted to hold it; and it was not long before the main +herd was comprised entirely of cattle without calves, when it was +driven off to freedom after being examined for other brands. As soon +as the second herd became of any size it was not necessary to drive +the cows and calves to it when they were driven out of the first herd, +as they made straight for it. The main herd, driven away, broke up as +it would, while the guarded cows stood idly beside their resting +offspring awaiting further indignities. + +The drive had covered so much ground and taken so much time that +approaching darkness warned Buck not to attempt the branding until the +morrow, and he divided his force into three shifts. Two of these +hastened to the camp, gulped down their supper, and rolling into their +blankets, were soon sound asleep. The horse herd was driven off to +where the grazing was better, and night soon fell over the plain. + +The cook's fires gleamed through the darkness and piles of biscuits +were heaped on the tail-board of the wagon, while pots of beef and +coffee simmered over the fires, handy for the guards as they rode in +during the night to awaken brother punchers, who would take their +places while they slept. Soon the cocoons were quiet in the grotesque +shadows caused by the fires and a deep silence reigned over the camp. +Occasionally some puncher would awaken long enough to look at the sky +to see if the weather had changed, and satisfied, return to sleep. + +Over the plain sleepy cowboys rode slowly around the herd, glad to be +relieved by some other member of the outfit, who always sang as he +approached the cattle to reassure them and save a possible stampede. +For cattle, if suddenly disturbed at night by anything, even the +waving of a slicker in the hands of some careless rider, or a +wind-blown paper, will rise in a body--all up at once, frightened and +nervous. The sky was clear and the stars bright and when the moon rose +it flooded the plain with a silvery light and made fairy patterns in +the shadows. + +Snatches of song floated down the gentle wind as the riders slowly +circled the herd, for the human voice, no matter how discordant, was +quieting. A low and plaintive "Don't let this par-ting grieve y-o-u" +passed from hearing around the resting cows, soon to be followed by +"When-n in thy dream-ing, nights like t-h-e-s-e shall come a-gain--" +as another watcher made the circuit. The serene cows, trusting in the +prowess and vigilance of these low-voiced centaurs to protect them +from danger, dozed and chewed their cuds in peace and quiet, while the +natural noises of the night relieved the silence in unobtruding +harmony. + +Far out on the plain a solitary rider watched the herd from cover and +swore because it was guarded so closely. He glanced aloft to see if +there was any hope of a storm and finding that there was not, +muttered savagely and rode away. It was Antonio, wishing that he +could start a stampede and so undo the work of the day and inflict +heavy losses on the Bar-20. He did not dare to start a grass fire for +at the first flicker of a light he would be charged by one or more of +the night riders and if caught, death would be his reward. + +While the third shift rode and sang the eastern sky became a dome of +light reflected from below and the sunrise, majestic in all its fiery +splendor, heralded the birth of another perfect day. + +Through the early morning hours the branding continued, and the +bleating of the cattle told of the hot stamping irons indelibly +burning the sign of the Bar-20 on the tender hides of calves. Mother +cows fought and plunged and called in reply to the terrified bawling +of their offspring, and sympathetically licked the burns when the +frightened calves had been allowed to join them. Cowboys were deftly +roping calves by their hind legs and dragging them to the fires of the +branding men. Two men would hold a calf, one doubling the foreleg back +on itself at the knee and the other, planting one booted foot against +the calf's under hind leg close to its body, pulled back on the other +leg while his companion, who held the foreleg, rested on the animal's +head. The third man, drawing the hot iron from the fire, raised and +held it suspended for a second over the calf's flank, and then there +was an odor and a puff of smoke; and the calf was branded with a mark +which neither water nor age would wipe out. + +Pete Wilson came riding up dragging a calf at the end of his rope, +and turned the captive over to Billy Williams and his two helpers, +none of them paying any attention to the cow which followed a short +distance behind him. Lanky seized the unfortunate calf and leaned over +to secure the belly hold, when someone shouted a warning and he +dropped the struggling animal and leaped back and to one side as the +mother charged past. Wheeling to return the attack, the cow suddenly +flopped over and struck the earth with a thud as Buck's rope went +home. He dragged her away and then releasing her, chased her back into +the herd. + +"_Hi!_ Get that little devil!" shouted Billy to Hopalong, pointing to +the fleeing calf. + +"Why didn't you watch for her, you half-breed!" demanded the indignant +Lanky of Pete. "Do you think this is a ten-pin alley!" + +Hopalong came riding up with the calf, which swiftly became recorded +property. + +"Bar-20; tally one," sang out the monotonous voice of the tally-man. +"Why didn't you grab her when she went by, Lanky?" he asked, putting a +new point on his pencil. + +"Hope th' next one heads yore way!" retorted Lanky, grinning. + +"Won't. I ain't abusin' th' kids." + +"Bar-20; tally one," droned a voice at the next fire. + +All was noise, laughter, dust, and a seeming confusion, but every man +knew his work thoroughly and was doing it in a methodical way, and the +confusion was confined to the victims and their mothers. + +When the herd had been branded and allowed to return to the plain, the +outfit moved on into a new territory and the work was repeated until +the whole range, with the exception of the valley, had been covered. +When the valley was worked it required more time in comparison with +the amount of ground covered than had been heretofore spent on any +part of the range; for the cattle were far more numerous, and it was +no unusual thing to have a herd of great size before the roundup place +had been reached. This heavy increase in the numbers of the cattle to +be herded made a corresponding increase in the time and labor required +for the cutting-out and branding. Five days were required in working +the eastern and central parts of the valley and it took three more +days to clean up around the White Horse Hills, where the ground was +rougher and the riding harder. And at every cutting-out there was a +large stray-herd made up of H2 and Three Triangle cattle. The H2 had +been formerly the Three Triangle. Buck had been earnest in his +instructions to his men regarding the strays, for now was the +opportunity to rid his range of Meeker's cattle in a way natural and +without especial significance; once over the line it would be a +comparatively easy matter to keep them there. + +For taking care of this extra herd and also because Buck courted +scrutiny during the branding, the foreman accepted the services of +three H2 men. This addition to his forces made the work move somewhat +more rapidly and when, at the end of each day's cutting-out, the +stray herd was complete, it was driven south across the boundary line +by Meeker's men. When the last stray-herd started south Buck rode over +to the H2 punchers and told them to tell their foreman to let him know +when he could assist in the southern roundup and thus return the +favor. + +As the Bar-20 outfit and the C80 and Double Arrow men rode north +towards the ranch house they were met by Lucas, foreman of the C80, +who joined them near Medicine Bend. + +"Well, got it all over, hey?" he cried as he rode up. + +"Yep; bigger job than I thought, too. It gets bigger every year an' +that blizzard didn't make much difference in th' work, neither," Buck +replied. "I'll help you out when you get ready to drive." + +"No you won't; you can help me an' Bartlett more by keeping all yore +men watchin' that line," quickly responded Lucas. "We'll work +together, me an' Bartlett, an' we'll have all th' men we want. You +just show that man Meeker that range grabbin' ain't healthy down +here--that's all we want. Did he send you any help in th' valley?" + +"Yes, three men," Buck replied. "But we'll break even on that when he +works along th' boundary." + +"Have any trouble with 'em?" + +"Not a bit." + +"I sent Wood Wright down to Eagle th' other day, an' he says th' town +is shore there'll be a big range war," remarked Lucas. "He said +there's lots of excitement down there an' they act like they wish th' +trouble would hurry up an' happen. We've got to watch that town, all +right." + +"If there's a war th' rustlers'll flock here from all over," +interposed Rich Finn. + +"Huh!" snorted Hopalong. "They'll flock out again if we get a chance +to look for 'em. An' that town'll shore get into trouble if it don't +live plumb easy. You know what happened th' last time rustlin' got to +be th' style, don't you?" + +"Well," replied Lucas, "I've fixed it with Cowan to get news to me an' +Bartlett if anything sudden comes up. If you need us just let him know +an' we'll be with you in two shakes." + +"That's good, but I don't reckon I'll need any help, leastwise not for +a long time," Buck responded. "But I tell you what you might do, when +you can; make up a vigilance committee from yore outfits an' ride +range for rustlers. We can take care of all that comes on us, but we +won't have no time to bother about th' rest of th' range. An' if you +do that it'll shut 'em out of our north range." + +"We'll do it," Lucas promised. "Bartlett is going to watch th' trails +north to see if he can catch anybody runnin' cattle to th' railroad +construction camps. Every suspicious lookin' stranger is going to be +held up an' asked questions; an' if we find any runnin' irons, you +know what that means." + +"I reckon we can handle th' situation, all right, no matter how hard +it gets," laughed the Bar-20 foreman. + +"Well, I'll be leavin' you now," Lucas remarked as they reached the +Bar-20 bunk house. "We begin to round up next week, an' there's lots +to be done before then. Say, can I use yore chuck wagon? Mine is shore +done for." + +"Why, of course," replied Buck heartily. "Take it now, if you want, or +any time you send for it." + +"Much obliged; come on, fellers," Lucas cried to his men. "We're goin' +home." + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +IN WEST ARROYO + + +Hopalong was heading for Lookout Peak, the highest of the White Horse +Hills, by way of West Arroyo, which he entered half an hour after he +had forded the creek, and was half way to the line when, rounding a +sharp turn, he saw Mary Meeker ahead of him. She was off her horse +picking flowers when she heard him and she stood erect, smiling. + +"Why, I didn't think I'd see you," she said. "I've been picking +flowers--see them? Ain't they pretty?" she asked, holding them out for +his inspection. + +"They shore are," he replied, not looking at the flowers at all, but +into her big, brown eyes. "An' they're some lucky, too," he asserted, +grinning. + +She lowered her head, burying her face in the blossoms and then picked +a few petals and let them fall one by one from her fingers. "You +didn't look at them at all," she chided. + +"Oh, yes, I did," he laughed. "But I see flowers all th' time, and not +much of you." + +"That's nice--they are so pretty. I just love them." + +"Yes. I reckon they are," doubtfully. + +She looked up at him, her eyes laughing and her white teeth glistening +between their red frames. "Why don't you scold me?" she asked. + +"Scold you! What for?" + +"Why, for being on yore ranch, for being across th' line an' in th' +valley." + +"Good Lord! Why, there ain't no lines for you! You can go anywhere." + +"In th' valley?" she asked, again hiding her face in the flowers. + +"Why, of course. What ever made you think you can't?" + +"I'm one of th' H2," she responded. "Paw says I run it. But I'm awful +glad you won't care." + +"Well, as far as riding where you please is concerned, you run this +ranch, too." + +"There's a pretty flower," she said, looking at the top of the bank. +"That purple one; see it?" she asked, pointing. + +"Yes. I'll get it for you," he replied, leaping from the saddle and +half way up the bank before she knew it. He slid down again and handed +the blossom to her. "There." + +"Thank you." + +"See any more you wants?" + +"No; this is enough. Thank you for getting it for me." + +"Oh, shucks; that was nothing," he laughed awkwardly. "That was shore +easy." + +"I'm going to give it to you for not scolding me about being over th' +line," she said, holding it out to him. + +"No; not for that," he said slowly. "Can't you think of some other +reason?" + +"Don't you want it?" + +"Want it!" he exclaimed, eagerly. "Shore I want it. But not for what +you said." + +"Will you wear it because we're friends?" + +"Now yo're talking!" + +She looked up and laughed, her cheeks dimpling, and then pinned it to +his shirt, while he held his breath lest the inflation of his lungs +bother her. It was nice to have a flower pinned on one's shirt by a +pretty girl. + +"There," she laughed, stepping back to look at it. + +"Gosh!" he complained, ruefully. "You've pinned it up so high I can't +see it. Why not put it lower down?" + +She changed it while he grinned at how his scheming had born fruit. He +was a hog, he knew that, but he did not care. + +"Oh, I reckon _I'm_ all right!" he exulted. "Shore you don't see no +more you want?" + +"Yes; an' I must go now," she replied, going towards her horse. "I'll +be late with th' dinner if I don't hurry." + +"What! Do you cook for that hungry outfit?" + +"No, not for them--just for Paw an' me." + +"When are you comin' up again for more flowers?" + +"I don't know. You see, I'm going to make cookies some day this week, +but I don't know just when. Do you like cookies, an' cake?" + +"You bet I do! Why?" + +"I'll bring some with me th' next time. Paw says they're th' best he +ever ate." + +"Bet I'll say so, too," he replied, stepping forward to help her into +the saddle, but she sprang into it before he reached her side, and he +vaulted on his own horse and joined her. + +She suddenly turned and looked him straight in the eyes. "Tell me, +honest, has yore ranch any right to keep our cows south of that line?" + +"Yes, we have. Our boundaries are fixed. We gave th' Three Triangle +about eighty square miles of range so our valley would be free from +all cows but our own. That's all th' land between th' line an' th' +Jumping Bear, an' it was a big price, too. They never drove a cow over +on us." + +She looked disappointed and toyed with her quirt. + +"Why don't you want to let Paw use th' valley?" + +"It ain't big enough for our own cows, an' we can't share it. As it +is, we'll have to drive ten thousand on leased range next year to give +our grass a rest." + +"Well,--" she stopped and he waited to hear what she would say, and +then asked her when she would be up again. + +"I don't know! I don't know!" she cried. + +"Why, what's the matter?" + +"Nothing. I'm foolish--that's all," she replied, smiling, and trying +to forget the picture which arose in her mind, a picture of desperate +fighting along the line; of her father--and him. + +"You scared me then," he said. + +"Did I? Why, it wasn't anything." + +"Are you shore?" + +"Please don't ask me any questions," she requested. + +"Will you be up here again soon?" + +"If th' baking turns out all right." + +"Hang the baking! come anyway." + +"I'll try; but I'm afraid," she faltered. + +"Of what?" he demanded, sitting up very straight. + +"Why, that I can't," she replied, hurriedly. "You see, it's far coming +up here." + +"That's easy. I'll meet you west of th' hills." + +"No, no! I'll come up here." + +"Look here," he said, slowly and kindly. "If yo're afraid of bein' +seen with me, don't you try it. I want to see you a whole lot, but I +don't want you to have no trouble with yore father about it. I can +wait till everything is all right if you want me to." + +She turned and faced him, her cheeks red. "No, it ain't that, exactly. +Don't ask me any more. Don't talk about it. I'll come, all right, just +as soon as I can." + +They were on the line now and she held out her hand. + +"Good-bye." + +"Good-bye for now. Try to come up an' see me as soon as you can. If +yo're worryin' because that Greaser don't like me, stop it. I've been +in too many tight places to get piped out where there's elbow room." + +"I asked you not to say nothing more about it," she chided. "I'll come +when I can. Good-bye." + +"Good-bye," he replied, his sombrero under his arm. He watched her +until she became lost to sight and then, suspicious, wheeled, and saw +Johnny sitting quietly on his horse several hundred yards away. He +called his friend to him by one wide sweep of his arm and Johnny +spurred forward. + +"Follow me, Johnny," he cried, dashing towards the arroyo. "Take th' +other side an' look for that Greaser. I'll take this side. Edge off; +yo're too close. Three hundred yards is about right." + +They raced away at top speed, reckless and grim, Johnny not knowing +just what it was all about; but the word Greaser needed no sauce to +whet his appetite since the day he had caught Antonio watching his +friend on the hill, and he scanned the plain eagerly. When they +reached the other end of the arroyo Hopalong called to him: "Sweep +east an' back to th' line on a circle. If you catch him, shoot off +yore Colt an' hold him for _me_. I'm going west." + +When they saw each other again it was on the line, and neither had +seen any traces of Antonio, to Johnny's vexation and Hopalong's great +satisfaction. + +"What's up, Hoppy?" shouted Johnny. + +"I reckoned that Greaser might 'a followed her so he could tell tales +to Meeker," Hopalong called. + +Johnny swept up recklessly, jauntily, a swagger almost in the very +actions of his horse, which seemed to have caught the spirit of its +rider. + +"Caught you that time," he laughed--and Johnny, when in a teasing +mood, could weave into his laughter an affectionate note which found +swift pardon for any words he might utter. "You an' her shore make a +good--" and then he saw the flower on his friend's shirt and for the +moment was rendered speechless by surprise. But in him the faculty of +speech was well developed and he recovered quickly. "Sufferin' +coyotes! Would you look at that! What's comin' to us down here, +anyway? Are you loco? Do you mean to let th' rest of th' outfit see +_that_?" + +"Calamity is comin' to th' misguided mavericks that get gay about it!" +retorted Hopalong. "I wear what I feels like, an' don't you forget it, +neither." + +"'In thy d-a-r-k eyes splendor, where th' l-o-v-e light longs to +dwel-l,'" Johnny hummed, grinning. Then his hand went out. "Good luck, +Hoppy! Th' best of luck!" he cried. "She's a dandy, all right, but she +ain't too good for you." + +"Much obliged," Hopalong replied, shaking hands. "But suppose you tell +me what all th' good luck is for. To hear you talk anybody'd think all +a feller had to do was to ride with a woman to be married to her." + +"Well, then take off that wart of a flower an' come on," Johnny +responded. + +"What? Not to save yore spotted soul! An' that ain't no wart of a +flower, neither." + +Johnny burst out laughing, a laugh from the soul of him, welling up in +infectious spontaneity, triumphant and hearty. "Oh, oh! You bit that +time! Anybody'd think about right in yore case, as far as _wantin'_ +to be married is concerned. Why, yo're hittin' th' lovely trail to +matri-mony as hard as you can." + +In spite of himself Hopalong had to laugh at the jibing of his friend, +the Kid. He thumped him heartily across the shoulders to show how he +felt about it and Johnny's breath was interfered with at a critical +moment. + +"Oh, just wait till th' crowd sees that blossom! Just wait," Johnny +coughed. + +"You keep mum about what you saw, d'y' hear?" + +"Shore; but it'll be on my mind all th' time, an' I talk in my sleep +when anything's on my mind." + +"Then that's why I never heard you talk in yore sleep." + +"Aw, g'wan! But they'll see th' flower, won't they?" + +"Shore they will; but as long as they don't know how it got there they +can't say much." + +"They can't, hey!" Johnny exclaimed. "That's a new one on me. It's +usually what they don't know about that they talks of most. What they +don't know they can guess in this case, all right. Most of 'em are +good on readin' signs, an' that's plain as th' devil." + +"But don't you tell 'em!" Hopalong warned. + +"No. I won't tell 'em, honest," Johnny replied. He could convey the +information in a negative way and he grinned hopefully at the fun +there would be. + +"I mean it, Kid," Hopalong responded, reading the grin. "I don't care +about myself; they can joke all they wants with me. But it ain't +nowise right to drag her into it, savvy? She don't want to be talked +about like that." + +"Yo're right; they won't find out nothin' from me," and Johnny saw his +fun slip from him. "I'm goin' east; comin' along?" + +"No; th' other way. So long." + +"Hey!" cried Johnny anxiously, drawing rein, "Frenchy said Buck was +going to put some of us up in Number Five so Frenchy an' his four +could ride th' line. Did Buck say anything to you about it?" + +Line house Number Five was too far from the zone of excitement, if +fighting should break out along the line, to please Johnny. + +"He was stringin' you, Kid," Hopalong laughed. "He won't take any of +th' old outfit away from here." + +"Oh, I knowed that; but I thought I'd ask, that's all," and Johnny +cantered away, whistling happily. + +Hopalong looked after him and smiled, for Johnny had laughed and +fought and teased himself into the heart of every man of the outfit: +"He's shore a good Kid; an' how he likes a fight!" + + + + +CHAPTER V + +HOPALONG ASSERTS HIMSELF + + +Paralleling West Arroyo and two miles east of it was another arroyo, +through which Hopalong was riding the day following his meeting with +Mary. Coming to a place where he could look over the bank he saw a +herd of H2 and Three Triangle cows grazing not far away, and Antonio +was in charge of them. Hopalong did not know how long they had been in +the valley, nor how they had crossed the line, but their presence was +enough. It angered him, for here was open and, it appeared, authorized +defiance. Not content to let his herds run as they wished, Meeker was +actually sending them into the valley under guard, presumably to find +out what would be done about it. The H2 foreman would find that out +very soon. + +The Mexican looked around and wheeled sharply to face the danger, his +listlessness gone in a flash. He was not there because of any orders +from Meeker, but for reasons of his own. So when the Bar-20 puncher +raised his arm and swept it towards the line he sat in sullen +indifference, alert and crafty. + +"You've got gall!" cried Hopalong. "Who told you to herd up here!" + +Antonio frowned but did not reply. + +"Yo're three miles too far north," continued Hopalong, riding slowly +forward until their stirrups almost touched. + +Antonio shrugged his shoulders. + +"I ain't warbling for my health!" cried Hopalong. "You start them cows +south right away." + +"I can't." + +Hopalong stared. "You can't! Got a sore thumb, mebby! Well, I reckon +you can, an' will." + +"I can't. Boss won't let me." + +"Oh, he won't! Well, I feel sorry for yore boss but yo're going to +push 'em just th' same." + +Antonio again shrugged his shoulders and lifted his hands in a gesture +of helplessness. + +"How long you been here, an' how'd you get in?" + +"'N'our. By de _rio_." + +"Oh, yore foreman's goin' to raise h--l, ain't he!" Hopalong snorted. +"He's going to pasture on us whether we like it or not, is he? He's a +land thief, that's what he is!" + +"De boss ees all right!" asserted Antonio, heatedly. + +"If he is he's lop-sided, but he'll be _left_ if he banks on this play +going through without a smash-up. You chase them cows home an' keep +'em there. If I find you flittin' around th' ends of th' line or +herdin' on this side of it I'll give you something to nurse--an' +you'll be lucky if you can nurse it. Come on, get a-going!" + +Antonio waved his arm excitedly and was about to expostulate, but +Hopalong cut him short by hitting him across the face with his quirt: +"D--n you!" he cried, angrily. "Shut yore mouth! Get them cows going! +You coffee-colored half-breed of a Greaser, I've a mind to stop you +right now. Come on, get a move on!" + +The Mexican's face grew livid and he tried to back away, swearing in +Spanish. Stung to action by the blow, he jerked at his gun, but found +Hopalong's Colt pushing against his neck. + +"Drop that gun!" the Bar-20 puncher ordered, his eyes flashing. "Don't +you know better'n that? We've put up with yore crowd as long as we're +going to, an' th' next thing will be a slaughter if that foreman of +yourn don't get some sense, an' get it sudden. Don't talk back! Just +start them cows!" + +The Mexican could do nothing but obey. His triumph at the success of +his effort was torn with rabid hatred for the man who had struck him; +but he could not fight with the Colt at his neck, and so sullenly +obeyed. As they neared the line Hopalong ceased his personal remarks +and, smiling grimly, turned to another topic. + +"I let you off easy; but no more. Th' next herd we find in our valley +will go sudden an' hard. If anybody is guardin' it they'll never know +what hit 'em." He paused for a moment and then continued, cold +contempt in his voice: "I reckon you had to obey orders, but you won't +do it again if you know what's good for you. If yore boss, as you +calls him, don't like what I've done, you tell him I said to drive th' +next herd hisself. If he ain't man enough to bring 'em in hisself, +tell him that Cassidy says to quit orderin' his men to take risks he's +a-scared of." + +"He ees brafe; he ain't 'fraid," Antonio rejoined. "He weel keel you +ef I tell heem what you say." + +"Tell him jus' th' same. I'll be riding th' line mostly, an' if he +wants to hunt me up an' confab about it he can find me any time." + +Antonio shrugged his shoulders and rode south, filled with elation at +his success in stirring up hostility between the two ranches, but his +heart seethed with murder for the blow. He would carry a message to +Meeker that would call for harsh measures, and the war would be on. + +As the Mexican departed Lanky Smith rode into sight and cantered +forward to meet his friend. + +"What's up?" he asked. + +"I don't know, yet," replied Hopalong. "Greasers are such liars I +don't know what to think," and he related the matter to his companion. + +"Lord, but you sent a stiff message to Meeker!" Lanky exclaimed. "You +keep yore eyes plumb open from now on. Meeker'll be wild, an' th' +Greaser won't forget that blow." + +"Was anybody on th' east end this morning?" + +"Shore; me an' Pete," Lanky replied, frowning. "He couldn't get a cow +acrost without us seein' him--he lied." + +"Well, it makes no difference how he got across; he was there, an' +that's all I care about." + +"There's one of his outfit now," Lanky said. + +Hopalong looked around and saw an H2 puncher riding slowly past them, +about two hundred yards to the south. + +"Who is he?" Lanky asked. + +"Doc Riley. Meeker got him an' Curley out of a bad scrape up north an' +took them both to punch for him. I hear he is some bad with th' Colt. +Sort of reckons he's a whole war-party in breech-cloths an' war-paint +just 'cause he's got his man." + +"He's gettin' close to th' line," Lanky remarked. + +"Yes, because we've been turnin' their cows." + +"Reckon he won't stop us none to speak of." + +Doc had stopped and was watching them and while he looked a cow +blundered out of the brush and started to cross the line. Hopalong +spurred forward to stop it, followed by Lanky, and Doc rode to +intercept them. + +"G'wan back, you bone-yard!" Hopalong shouted, firing his Colt in +front of the animal, which now turned and ran back. + +Doc slid to a stand, his Colt out. "What do you think you're doing +with that cow?" + +"None of yore business!" Hopalong retorted. + +Doc backed away so he could watch Lanky, his hand leaping up, and +Hopalong fired. Doc dropped the weapon and grabbed at his right arm, +cursing wildly. + +"You half-breed!" cried Hopalong, riding closer. "Next time you gets +any curious about what I'm doing, you better write. You're a fine +specimen to pull a gun on me, you are!" + +"You'll stop turnin' our cows, or you'll get a pass to h--l!" retorted +Doc. "We won't stand for it no more, an' when th' boys hears about +this you'll have all you can take care of." + +"I ain't got nothing to do but ride th' line an' answer questions like +I did yourn," Hopalong rejoined. "I will have lots of time to take +care of any little trouble that blows up from yore way. But _Meeker's_ +th' man I want to see. Tell him to take a herd across this line, will +you?" + +"You'll see him!" snapped Doc. "An' you'll need to see him first, +too." + +"I don't pot-shoot--I'll leave that for you fellers. All I want is an +even break." + +"You'll get it," replied Doc, wheeling and riding off. + +"Things are movin' so fast you better send for Buck," Lanky suggested. +"Hell'll be poppin' down here purty soon." + +"I'll tell him what's going on, but there ain't no use of bringing him +down here till we has to," Hopalong replied. "We can handle 'em. But I +reckon Johnny had better go up an' tell him." + +"Johnny ought to be riding this way purty quick; he's coming from th' +hills." + +"We'll meet him an' get him off." + +They met Johnny and when he had learned of his mission he protested +against being sent away from the line when things were getting +crowded. "I don't want to miss th' fun!" he exclaimed. "Send Red, or +Lanky." + +"Red's too handy with th' Winchester; we might need him," Hopalong +replied, smiling. + +"Then you go, Lanky," Johnny suggested. "I'm better'n you with th' +Colt." + +"You're better'n nothing!" retorted Lanky. "You do what you're told, +an' quick. Nothing will happen while you're gone, anyhow." + +"Then why don't you want to go?" + +"I don't want th' ride," Lanky replied. "It's too fur." + +"Huh!" snorted Johnny. "Too bad about you an' th' ride! Poor old man, +scared of sixty miles. I'll toss up with you." + +"One of you has got to ride to Red an' tell him. He mustn't get caught +unexpected," Hopalong remarked. + +"What do you call?" asked Johnny, flipping a coin and catching it when +it came down. + +"All right, that's fair enough. Heads," Lanky replied. + +"Whoop! It's tails!" cried Johnny, wheeling. "I'm going for Red," and +he was gone before Lanky had time to object. + +"Blasted Kid!" Lanky snorted. "How'd I know it was tails?" + +"That's yore lookout," laughed Hopalong. "You ought to know him by +this time. It's yore own fault." + +"I'll tan his hide some of these fine days," Lanky promised. "He's too +fresh," and he galloped off to cover the thirty miles between him and +the bunk house in the least possible time so as to return as soon as +he could. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +MEEKER IS TOLD + + +When Antonio had covered half of the distance between the line and the +H2 bunk house he was hailed from a chaparral and saw Benito ride into +view. He told his satellite what had occurred in the valley, gave him +a message for Shaw, who was now on the mesa, and cantered on to tell +Meeker his version of the morning's happenings. + +The H2 foreman was standing by the corral when his broncho-buster rode +up, and he stared. "Where'd you get that welt on th' face?" he +demanded. + +Antonio told him, with many exclamations and angry gestures, that he +had ridden through the valley to see if there were any H2 cows grazing +on it, that he had found a small herd and was about to return to his +own range when he was held up and struck by Hopalong, who accused him +of having driven the cattle across the line. When he had denied this +he had been called a liar and threatened with death if he was ever +again caught on that side of the line. + +"By G-d!" cried the foreman. "That's purty high-handed! I'll give 'em +something to beller about when I finds out just what I want to do!" + +"He say, 'Tell that boss of yourn to no send you, send heemself nex' +time.' He say he weel keel you on sight. I say he can't. He laugh, +_so_!" laughing in a blood-curdling manner. "He say he keel nex' man +an' cows that cross line. He ees _uno_ devil!" + +"He will, hey!" Meeker exclaimed, thoroughly angered. "We'll give him +all th' chance he wants when we get things fixed. 'Tony, what did you +do about getting those two men you spoke of? You went down to Eagle, +didn't you?" + +"_Si, si_," assured the Mexican. "They come, _pronto_. They can keel +heem. They come to-day; _quien sabe_?" + +"I'll do my own killin'--but here comes Doc," Meeker replied. "Looks +mad, too. Mebby they was going to kill him an' he objected. Hullo, +Doc; what's th' matter?" + +"That Cassidy d--n near blowed my arm off," Doc replied. "Caught him +turnin' back one of our cows an' told him not to. When I backed off so +I could keep one eye on his friend he up an' plugs me through my gun +arm." + +"I see; they owns th' earth!" Meeker roared. "Shootin' up my men +'cause they stick up for me! Come in th' house an' get that wing +fixed. We can talk in there," he said, glancing at Antonio. "They cut +'Tony across th' face with a quirt 'cause he was ridin' in their +valley!" + +"Let's get th' gang together an' wipe 'em off th' earth," Doc +suggested, following Meeker towards the house. + +Mary looked up when they entered: "What's th' matter, Dad? Why, are +you hurt, Doc?" + +"Don't ask questions, girl," Meeker ordered. "Get us some hot water +an' some clean cloth. Sit down, Doc; we'll fix it in no time." + +"We better clean 'em up to-morrow," Doc remarked. + +"No; there ain't no use of losin' men fighting if there's any other +way. You know there's a good strong line house on th' top of Lookout +Peak, don't you?" + +"Shore; reg'lar fort. They calls it Number Three." + +Mary had returned and was tearing a bandage, listening intently to +what was being said. + +"What's th' matter with getting in that some day soon an' holdin' it +for good?" asked the foreman. "It overlooks a lot of range, an' once +we're in it it'll cost 'em a lot of lives to get it back--if they can +get it back." + +"You're right!" cried Doc, eagerly. "Let me an' Curley get in there +to-night an' hold her for you. We can do it." + +"You can't do that. Somebody sleeps in it nights. Nope, we've got to +work some scheme to get it in th' daylight. They are bound to have it +guarded, an' we've got to coax him out somehow. I don't know how, but +I will before many hours pass. Hullo, who's this?" he asked, seeing +two strangers approach the house. + +"Couple of Greasers," grunted Doc. + +"Hey, you," cried Meeker through the open door. "You go down to th' +corral an' wait for me." + +"_Si, señor._" + +"What's th' matter, Dad?" asked Mary. "How did Doc get shot?" + +Meeker looked up angrily, but his face softened. + +"There's a whole lot th' matter, Mary. That Bar-20 shore is gettin' +hot-headed. Cassidy hit 'Tony acrost th' face with a quirt an' shot +Doc. 'Tony was riding through that valley, an' Doc told Cassidy not to +drive back a cow of ourn." + +She flushed. "There must 'a been more'n that, Dad. He wouldn't 'a shot +for that. I know it." + +"You know it!" cried Meeker, astonished. "How do you know it?" + +"He ain't that kind. I know he ain't." + +"I asked how you knew it!" + +She looked down and then faced him. "Because I know him, because he +ain't that kind. What did you say to him, Doc?" + +Meeker's face was a study and Doc flushed, for she was looking him +squarely in the eyes. + +"What did you say to him?" she repeated. "Did you make a gun-play?" + +"Well, by G-d!" shouted Meeker, leaping to his feet. "You know him, +hey! 'He ain't that kind!' How long have you known him, an' where'd +you meet him?" + +"This is no time to talk of that," she replied, her spirit aroused. +"Ask Doc what he did an' said to get shot. Look at him; he lied when +he told you about it." + +"I told him to quit driving our cows back," Doc cried. "Of course I +had my hand on my gun when I said it. I'd been a fool if I hadn't, +wouldn't I?" + +"That ain't all," she remarked. "Did you try to use it?" + +Meeker was staring first at one and then at the other, not knowing +just what to say. Doc looked at him and his mind was made up. + +"What'd you do, Doc?" he asked. + +"I said: 'What are you doing with that cow?' an' he said it wasn't +none of my business. I got mad then an' jerked my gun loose, but he +got me first. I wasn't going to shoot. I was only getting ready for +him if he tried to." + +"How did he know you wasn't going to shoot?" Meeker demanded. "Reckon +I can't blame him for that. He must be quick on th' draw." + +"Quickest I ever saw. He had his gun out to shoot in front of a cow. +At th' time I thought he was going to kill it. That's what made me get +in so quick. He slid it back in th' holster an' faced me. I told you +what happened then." + +"Well, we've got to show them fellers they can't fool with us an' get +away with it," Meeker replied. "An' I've got to have th' use of that +crick somehow. I'll think of some way to square things." + +"Wait, I'll go with you," Doc remarked, following the other towards +the door. + +"You go in th' bunk house an' wait for me. I want to see what them +Greasers want." + +"Wonder how much 'Tony didn't tell," mused the foreman, as he went +towards the corral. "Reckon Cassidy cut him 'cause he was a Greaser. +Come purty nigh doing it myself, once. Well, I don't care, but I've +got to notice plays like that or they'll think I'm scared of 'em. I'll +go up an' have it out, an' when I get ready I'll show them swaggerin' +bucks what's what." + +When he returned he saw Antonio leaning against his shack, for the +Mexican was not tolerated by the rest of the outfit and so lived +alone. He looked at his foreman and leered knowingly, and then went +inside the building, where he laughed silently. "That's a joke, all +right! Meeker hiring two of my brothers to watch his cows an' do his +spying! We'll skin this range before we're through." + +Meeker frowned when he caught his broncho-buster's look and he +growled: "You never did look good, an' that welt shore makes you look +more like th' devil than ever." He glanced at the house and the frown +deepened. "So you know Cassidy! That's a _nice_ thing to tell me! I'll +just go up an' see that coyote, right now," and he went for his horse, +muttering and scowling. + +Antonio knew of a herd of cows and calves which had not been included +in the H2 roundup, and which were fattening on an outlying range. +There was also a large herd of Bar-20 cattle growing larger every day +on the western range far outside the boundaries. Benito was scouting, +Shaw and the others were nearly ready for work on the mesa, and now +Meeker had hired Antonio's brothers to help him to be robbed. Added to +this was the constantly growing hostility along the line, and this +would blaze before he and Benito had finished their work. Everything +considered he was very much pleased and even his personal vengeance +was provided for. Doc had more cause for animosity against Hopalong +than he had, and if the Bar-20 puncher should be killed some day when +Doc rode the northern range Doc would be blamed for it. But Meeker had +not acted as he should have done when two of his men had been hurt on +the same day, and that must be remedied. The faster things moved +towards fighting the less chance there would be of the plot becoming +known. + +Antonio was the broncho-buster of the H2 because he was a positive +genius at the work, and he was a good, all-around cowman when he +overcame his inherent laziness; but he was cruel to a degree with both +horses and cattle. Because of his fitness Meeker had overlooked his +undesirable qualities, which he had in plenty. He was entirely too +fond of liquor and gambling, was uncertain in his hours, and used his +time as he saw fit when not engaged in breaking horses. A natural +liar, exceedingly unclean in his habits, vindictive and with a temper +dry as tinder, he was shunned by the other members of the outfit. This +filled his heart with hatred for them and for Meeker, who did not +interfere. He swore many times that he would square up everything +some day, and the day was getting closer. + +In appearance he was about medium height, but his sloping shoulders +and lax carriage gave his arms the appearance of being abnormally +long. His face was sharp and narrow, while his thin, wiry body seemed +almost devoid of flesh. Like most cowboys he was a poor walker and his +toes turned in like those of an Indian. Such was Antonio, who longed +to gamble with Fortune in a dangerous game for stakes which to him +were large, and who had already suggested to Meeker that the line +house on Lookout Peak was the key to the situation. It was the germ, +which grew slowly in the foreman's brain and became more feasible and +insistent day by day, and it accounted for his fits of abstraction; it +would not do to fail if the attempt were made. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +HOPALONG MEETS MEEKER + + +When Meeker was within a mile of the line he met Curley, told him what +had occurred and that he was going to find Hopalong. Curley smiled and +replied that he had seen that person less than ten minutes ago and +that he was riding towards the peak, and alone. + +"We'll go after him," Meeker replied. "You come because I want to face +him in force so he won't start no gun-play an' make me kill him. +That'd set hell to pop." + +Hopalong espied Johnny far to the east and he smiled as he remembered +the celerity with which that individual had departed after glancing at +the coin. + +"There ain't no flies on th' Kid, all right," he laughed, riding +slowly so Johnny could join him. He saw Curley riding south and looked +over the rough plain for other H2 punchers. Some time later as he +passed a chaparral he glanced back to see what had become of his +friend, but found that he had disappeared. When he wheeled to watch +for him he saw Meeker and Curley coming towards him and he shook his +holster to be sure his Colt was not jammed in it too tightly. + +"Well, here's where th' orchestry tunes up, all right," he muttered +grimly. "Licked th' Greaser, plugged Doc, an' sent word to Meeker to +come up if he wasn't scared. He's come, an' now I'll have to lick two +more. If they push me I'll shoot to kill!" + +The H2 foreman rode ahead of his companion and stopped when fifty +yards from the alert line-rider. Pushing his sombrero back on his +head, he lost no time in skirmishing. "Did you chase my broncho-buster +out of yore valley, cut his face with yore quirt, an' shoot Doc? Did +you send word to me that you'd kill me if I showed myself?" + +"Was you ever an auctioneer," calmly asked Hopalong, "or a book +agent?" + +"What's that got to do with it?" Meeker demanded. "You heard what I +said." + +"I don't know nothing about yore broncho-buster, taking one thing at a +time, which is proper." + +"What! You didn't drive him out, or cut him?" + +"No; why?" asked Hopalong, chuckling. + +"He says you did--an' somebody quirted him." + +"He's loco--he wasn't in th' valley," Hopalong replied. "Think he +could get in that valley? Him, or any other man we didn't want in?" + +"You're devilish funny!" retorted Meeker, riding slowly forward, +followed by his companion, who began to edge away from his foreman. +"Since you are so exact, did you chase him off yore range an' push +him over th' line at th' point of yore gun?" + +"You've got me. Better not come too close--my cayuse don't like +gettin' crowded." + +"That's all right," Meeker retorted, not heeding the warning. "Do you +mean to tell me you don't know? Yore name's Cassidy, ain't it?" he +asked, angrily, his determination to avoid fighting rapidly becoming +lost. + +"That's my own, shore 'nuf name," Hopalong answered, and then: "Do you +mean that cross-eyed, bone-yard of a yellow-faced Greaser I caught +stealing our range?" + +"Yes!" snapped Meeker, stopping again. + +"Why didn't you say so, then, 'stead of calling him yore +broncho-buster?" Hopalong demanded. "How do I know who yore +broncho-buster is? I don't know what every land pirate does in this +country." + +"Then you shot Doc--do you know who I mean this time?" sarcastically +asked the H2 foreman. + +"Oh, shore. He didn't get his gun out quick enough when he went after +it, did he? Any more I can tell you before I begins to say things, +too?" + +Meeker, angered greatly by Hopalong's contemptuous inflection and the +reckless assertiveness of his every word and look, began to ride to +describe a circle around the Bar-20 puncher, Curley going the other +way. + +"You said you'd kill me when you saw me, didn't you, you--" + +Hopalong was backing away so as to keep both men in front of him, +alert, eager, and waiting for the signal to begin his two-handed +shooting. "I ain't a whole lot deaf--I can hear you from where you +are. You better stop, for I've ridden out of tighter holes than this, +an' you'll shore get a pass to h--l if you crowd me too much!" + + Adown th' road, an' gun in hand, + Comes Whiskey Bill, mad Whiskey Bill-- + +This fragment of song floated out of a chaparral about twenty yards +behind Hopalong, who grinned pleasantly when he heard it. Now he knew +where Johnny was, and now he had the whip hand without touching his +guns; while the youngster was not in sight he was all the more +dangerous, since he presented no target. Johnny knew this and was +greatly pleased thereby, and he was more than pleased by the way +Hopalong had been talking. + +The effect of the singing was instant and marked on Meeker and his +companion, for they not only stopped suddenly and swore, but began to +back away, glancing around in an endeavor to locate the joker in the +deck. This they failed to do because Johnny was far too wise to +advertise his exact whereabouts. Meeker looked at Curley and Curley +looked at Meeker, both uneasy and angry. + +"As I was sayin' before th' concert began," Hopalong remarked, +laughing shortly, "it's a pass to h--l if you crowd me too much. Now, +Meeker, you'll listen to me an' I'll tell you what I didn't have time +to say before: I told that shifty-eyed mud-image of a Greaser that +th' next herd of yourn to cross th' line should be brought in by you, +'less you was scared to run th' risks yore men had to take. He said +you'd kill me for that message, an' I told him you knew where you +could find me. Now about Doc: When a man pulls a gun on me he wants to +be quicker than _he_ was or he'll shore get hurt. I could 'a killed +him just as easy as to plug his gun arm, an' just as easy as I could +'a plugged both of you if you pulled on me. You came up here looking +for my scalp an' if you still wants it I'll go away from th' song bird +in the chaparral an' give you th' chance. I'd ruther let things stay +as they are, though if you wants, I'll take both you an' Curley, +half-mile run together, with Colts." + +"No, I didn't come up here after your scalp, but I got mad after I +found you. How long is this going to last? I won't stand for it much +longer, nohow." + +"You'll have to see Buck. I'm obeyin' orders, which are to hold th' +line against you, which I'll do." + +"H'm!" replied Meeker, and then: "Do you know my girl?" + +Hopalong thought quickly. "Why, I've seen her ridin' around some. But +why?" + +"She says she knows you," persisted Meeker, frowning. + +The frown gave Hopalong his cue, but he hardly knew what to say, not +knowing what she had said about it. + +"Hey, you!" he suddenly cried to Curley. "Keep yore hand from that +gun!" + +"I didn't--" + +"You're lying! Any more of that an' I'll gimlet you!" + +"What in h--l are you doing, Curley?" demanded Meeker, the girl +question out of his mind instantly. He had been looking closely at +Hopalong and didn't know that Curley was innocent of any attempt to +use his Colt. + +"I tell--" + +"Get out of here! I've wasted too much time already. Go home, where +that gun won't worry you. You, too, Meeker! Bring an imitation bad-man +up here an' sayin' you didn't want my scalp! Flit!" + +"I'll go when I'm d----d good and ready!" retorted Meeker, angry +again. "You're too blasted bossy, you are!" he added, riding towards +the man who had shot Doc. + + A-looking for some place to land---- + +floated out of the chaparral and he stiffened in the saddle and +stopped. + +"Come on, Curley! We can't lick pot-shooters. An' let that gun alone!" + +"D--n it! I tell you I wasn't going for my gun!" Curley yelled. + +"Get out of here!" blazed Hopalong, riding forward. + +They rode away slowly, consulting in low voices. Then the foreman +turned and looked back. "You better be careful how you shoot my +punchers! They ain't all like Doc, an' they ain't all Greasers, +neither." + +"Then you're lucky," Hopalong retorted. "You keep yore cows on yore +side an' we won't hurt none of yore outfit." + +When they had gone Hopalong wheeled to look for Johnny and saw him +crawling out of a chaparral, dragging a rifle after him. He capered +about, waving the rifle and laughing with joy and Hopalong had to +laugh with him. When they were rid of the surplus of the merriment +Johnny patted the rifle. "Reckon they was shore up against a marked +deck that time! Did you see 'em stiffen when I warbled? Acted like +they had roped a puma an' didn't know what to do with it. Gee, it was +funny!" + +"You're all right, Kid," laughed Hopalong. "It was yore best play--you +couldn't 'a done better." + +"Shore," replied Johnny. "I had my sights glued to Curley's shirt +pocket, an' he'd been plumb disgusted if he'd tried to do what you +said he did. I couldn't 'a missed him with a club at that range. I +nearly died when you pushed Meeker's girl question up that blind +canyon. It was a peach of a throw, all right. Bet he ain't remembered +yet that he didn't get no answer to it. We're going to have some +blamed fine times down here before everything is settled, ain't we?" + +"I reckon so, Kid. I'm going to leave you now an' look around by West +Arroyo. You hang around th' line." + +"All right--so long." + +"Can you catch yore cayuse?" + +"Shore I can; he's hobbled," came the reply from behind a spur of the +chaparral. "_Stand still, you hen!_ All right, Hoppy." + +Johnny cantered away and, feeling happy, began, singing: + + Adown th' road, an' gun in hand, + Comes Whiskey Bill, mad Whiskey Bill; + A-looking for some place to land + Comes Whiskey Bill. + An' everybody'd like to be + Ten miles away behind a tree + When on his joyous, achin' spree + Starts Whiskey Bill. + + Th' times have changed since you made love, + Oh, Whiskey Bill, oh, Whiskey Bill; + Th' happy sun grinned up above + At Whiskey Bill. + An' down th' middle of th' street + Th' sheriff comes on toe-in feet, + A-wishing for one fretful peek + At Whiskey Bill. + + Th' cows go grazin' o'er th' lea-- + Pore Whiskey Bill, pore Whiskey Bill; + An' aching thoughts pour in on me + Of Whiskey Bill. + Th' sheriff up an' found his stride, + Bill's soul went shootin' down th' slide-- + How are things on th' Great Divide, + Oh, Whiskey Bill? + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +ON THE EDGE OF THE DESERT + + +Thunder Mesa was surrounded by almost impenetrable chaparrals, +impenetrable to horse and rider except along certain alleys, but not +too dense for a man on foot. These stretched away on all sides as far +as the eye could see and made the desolate prospect all the more +forbidding. It rose a sheer hundred feet into the air, its sides +smooth rock and affording no footing except a narrow, precarious ledge +which slanted up the face of the southern end, too broken and narrow +to permit of a horse ascending, but passable to a man. + +The top of the mesa was about eight acres in extent and was rocky and +uneven, cut by several half-filled fissures which did not show on the +walls. Uninviting as the top might be considered it had one feature +which was uncommon, for the cataclysm of nature which had caused this +mass of rock to tower above the plain had given to it a spring which +bubbled out of a crack in the rock and into a basin cut by itself; +from there it flowed down the wall and into a shallow depression in +the rock below, where it made a small water hole before flowing +through the chaparrals, where it sank into the sand and became lost +half a mile from its source. + +At the point where the slanting ledge met the top of the mesa was a +hut built of stones and adobe, its rear wall being part of a +projecting wall of rock. Narrow, deep loopholes had been made in the +other walls and a rough door, massive and tight fitting, closed the +small doorway. The roof, laid across cedar poles which ran from wall +to wall, was thick and flat and had a generous layer of adobe to repel +the rays of the scorching sun. Placed as it was the hut overlooked the +trail leading to it from the plain, and should it be defended by +determined men, assault by that path would be foolhardy. + +On the plain around the mesa extended a belt of sparse grass, some +hundreds of feet wide at the narrowest point and nearly a mile at the +widest, over which numerous rocks and bowlders and clumps of chaparral +lay scattered. On this pasture were about three score cattle, most of +them being yearlings, but all bearing the brand HQQ and a diagonal ear +cut. These were being watched by a careless cowboy, although it was +belittling their scanty intelligence to suppose that they would leave +the water and grass, poor as the latter was, to stray off onto the +surrounding desert. + +At the base of the east wall of the mesa was a rough corral of cedar +poles set on end, held together by rawhide strips, which, put on +green, tightened with the strength of steel cables when dried by the +sun. In its shadow another man watched the cattle while he worked in +a desultory way at repairing a saddle. Within the corral a man was +bending over a cow while two others held it down. Its feet were tied +and it was panting, wild-eyed and frightened. The man above it stepped +to a glowing fire a few paces away and took from it a hot iron, with +which he carefully traced over the small brand already borne by the +animal. With a final flourish he stepped back, regarding the work with +approval, and thrust the iron into the sand. Taking a knife from his +pocket he trimmed the V notch in its ear to the same slanting cut seen +on the cattle outside on the pasture. He tossed the bit of cartilage +from him, stepping back and nodding to his companions, who loosened +the ropes and leaped back, allowing the animal to escape. + +Shaw, who had altered the H2 brand, turned to one of the others and +laughed heartily. "Good job, eh Manuel? Th' H2 won't know their cow +now!" + +Manuel grinned. "_Si, si_; eet ees!" he cried. He was cook for the +gang, a bosom friend of Benito and Antonio, slight, cadaverous, and as +shifty-eyed as his friends. In his claw-like fingers he held a husk +cigarette, without which he was seldom seen. He spoke very little but +watched always, his eyes usually turned eastward. He seemed to be +almost as much afraid of the east as Cavalry was of the west, where +the desert lay. He ridiculed Cavalry's terror of the desert and +explained why the east was to be feared the more, for the eastern +danger rode horses and could come to them [Transcriber's note: Text +seems to be missing here in the original.] "Hope 'Tony fixes up that +line war purty soon, eh, Cavalry?" remarked Shaw, suddenly turning to +the third man in the group. + +Cavalry was staring moodily towards the desert and did not hear him. + +"Cavalry! Get that desert off yore mind! Do you want to go loco? Who's +going to take th' next drive an' bring back th' flour, you or +Clausen?" + +"It's Clausen's turn next." + +Manuel slouched away and began to climb the slanting path up the mesa. +Shaw watched him reflectively and laughed. "There he goes again. Beats +th' devil how scared he is, spending most of his time on th' lookout. +Why, he's blamed near as scared of them punchers as you are of that +skillet out yonder." + +"We ain't got no kick, have we?" retorted Cavalry. "Ain't he looking +out for us at th' same time?" + +"I don't know about that," Shaw replied, frowning. "I ain't got no +love for Manuel. If he saw 'em coming an' could get away he'd sneak +off without saying a word. It'd give him a chance to get away while we +held 'em." + +"We'll see him go, then; there's only one way down." + +"Oh, th' devil with him!" Shaw exclaimed. "What do you think of th' +chances of startin' that range war?" + +"From what th' Greaser says it looks good." + +"Yes. But he'll get caught some day, or night, an' pay for it with his +life." + +Cavalry shrugged his shoulders. "I reckon so; but he's only a +Greaser," he said, coldly. "I'd ruther they'd get him out there than +to follow him here. If he goes, I hope it's sudden, so he won't have +time to squeal." + +"He's a malignant devil, an' he hates that H2 outfit like blazes," +replied Shaw. "An' now he's got a pizen grudge agin' th' Bar-20. He +might let his hate get th' upper hand an' start in to square things; +if he does that he'll over-reach, an' get killed." + +"I reckon so; but he's clever as th' devil hisself." + +"Well, if he gets too big-headed out here Hall will take care of him, +all right," Shaw laughed. + +"I don't like th' Greasers he's saddled us with," Cavalry remarked. +"There's Manuel an' Benito. One of 'em is here all th' time an' close +to you, too, if you remember. Then he's going to put two or three on +th' range; why?" + +"Suspects we'll steal some of his share, I reckon. An' if he gets in +trouble with us they'll be on his side. Oh, he's no fool." + +"If he 'tends to business an' forgets his grudges it'll be a good +thing for us. That Bar-20 has got an awful number of cows. An' there's +th' H2, an' th' other two up north." + +"We've tackled th' hardest job first--th' Bar-20," replied Shaw, +laughing. "I used to know some fellers what said that outfit couldn't +be licked. They died trying to prove themselves liars." + +"Wonder how much money 'Tony totes around on him?" asked Cavalry. + +"Not much; he's too wise. He's cached it somewhere. Was you reckonin' +on takin' it away from him at th' end?" + +"No, no. I just wondered what he did with it." + +The man at the gate looked up. "Here comes 'Tony." + +Shaw and his companion rode forward to meet him. + +"What's up?" cried Shaw. + +"I have started th' war," Antonio replied, a cruel smile playing over +his sharp face. "They'll be fightin' purty soon." + +"That's good," responded Shaw. "Tell us about it." + +Antonio, with many gestures and much conceit, told of the trick he had +played on Hopalong, and he took care to lose no credit in the telling. +He passed lightly over the trouble between Doc and the Bar-20 puncher, +but intimated that he had caused it. He finished by saying: "You send +to th' same place to-morrow an' Benito'll have some cows for you. +They'll soon give us our chance, an' it'll be easy then." + +"Mebby it will be easy," replied Shaw, "but that rests with you. +You've got to play yore cards plumb cautious. You've done fine so far, +but if you ain't careful you'll go to h--l in a hurry an' take us with +you. You can't fool 'em all th' time, for someday they'll get +suspicious an' swap ideas. An' when they do that it means fight for +us." + +Antonio smiled and thought how easy it might be, if the outfits grew +suspicious and he learned of it in time, to discover tracks and other +things and tell Meeker he was sure there was organized rustling and +that all tracks pointed to Thunder Mesa. He could ride across the +border before any of his partners had time to confess and implicate +him. But he assured Shaw that he would be careful, adding: "No, I +won't make no mistakes. I hate 'em all too much to grow careless." + +"That's just where you'll miss fire," the other rejoined. "You'll +pamper yore grouch till you forget everything else. You better be +satisfied to get square by taking their cows." + +"Don't worry about that." + +"All right. Here's yore money for th' last herd," he said, digging +down into his pocket and handing the Mexican some gold coins. "You +know how to get more." + +Antonio took the money, considered a moment and then pocketed it, +laughing. "Good! But I mus' go back now. I won't be out here again +very soon; it's too risky. Send me my share by Benito," he called over +his shoulder as he started off. + +The two rustlers watched him and Cavalry shook his head slowly. "I'm +plumb scairt he'll bungle it. If he does we'll get caught like rats in +a trap." + +"If we're up there we can hold off a thousand," Shaw replied, looking +up the wall. + +"Here comes Hall," announced the man at the gate. + +The newcomer swept up and leaped from his hot and tired horse. "I +found them other ranches are keeping their men ridin' over th' range +an' along th' trails--I near got caught once," he reported. "We'll +have to be careful how we drives to th' construction camps." + +"They'll get tired watchin' after a while," replied the leader. "'Tony +was just here." + +"I don't care if he's in h--l," retorted Hall. "He'll peach on us to +save his mangy skin, one of these days." + +"We've got to chance it." + +"Where's Frisco?" + +"Down to Eagle for grub to tide us over for a few days." + +"Huh!" exclaimed Hall. "Everything considered we're goin' to fight +like th' devil out here someday. Down to Eagle!" + +"We can fight!" retorted Shaw. "An' if we has to run for it, there's +th' desert." + +"I'd ruther die right here fighting than on that desert," remarked +Cavalry, shuddering. "When I go I want to go quick, an' not be +tortured for 'most a week." He had an insistent and strong horror of +that gray void of sand and alkali so near at hand and so far across. +He was nervous and superstitious, and it seemed always to be calling +him. Many nights he had awakened in a cold sweat because he had +dreamed it had him, and often it was all he could do to resist going +out to it. + +Shaw laughed gratingly. "You don't like it, do you?" + +Hall smiled and walked towards the slanting trail. + +"Why, it ain't bad," he called over his shoulder. + +"It's an earthly hell!" Cavalry exclaimed. He glanced up the mesa +wall. "We can hold that till we starve, or run out of cartridges--then +what?" + +"You're a calamity howler!" snapped Shaw. "That desert has wore a +saddle sore on yore nerves somethin' awful. Don't think about it so +much! It can't come to you, an' you ain't going to it," he laughed, +trying to wipe out the suggestion of fear that had been awakened in +him by the thought of the desert as a place of refuge. He had found a +wanderer, denuded of clothes, sweating blood and hopelessly mad one +day when he and Cavalry had ridden towards the desert; and the sight +of the unfortunate's dying agonies had remained with him ever since. +"We ain't going to die out here--they won't look for us where they +don't think there's any grass or water." + +Fragments of Manuel's song floated down to them as they strode towards +the trail, and reassured that all would be well, their momentary +depression was banished by the courage of their hearts. + +The desert lay beyond, quiet; ominous by its very silence and inertia; +a ghastly, malevolent aspect in its every hollow; patient, +illimitable, scorching; fascinating in its horrible calm, sinister, +forbidding, hellish. It had waited through centuries--and was still +waiting, like the gigantic web of the Spider of Thirst. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +ON THE PEAK + + +Hopalong Cassidy had the most striking personality of all the men in +his outfit; humorous, courageous to the point of foolishness, eager +for fight or frolic, nonchalant when one would expect him to be quite +otherwise, curious, loyal to a fault, and the best man with a Colt in +the Southwest, he was a paradox, and a puzzle even to his most +intimate friends. With him life was a humorous recurrence of +sensations, a huge pleasant joke instinctively tolerated, but not +worth the price cowards pay to keep it. He had come onto the range +when a boy and since that time he had laughingly carried his life in +his open hand, and although there had been many attempts to snatch it +he still carried it there, and just as recklessly. + +Quick in decisions and quick to suspect evil designs against him and +his ranch, he was different from his foreman, whose temperament was +more optimistic. When Buck had made him foreman of the line riders he +had no fear that Meeker or his men would take many tricks, for his +faith in Hopalong's wits and ability was absolute. He had such faith +that he attended to what he had to do about the ranch house and did +not appear on the line until he had decided to call on Meeker and put +the question before him once and for all. If the H2 foreman did not +admit the agreement and promise to abide by it then he would be told +to look for trouble. + +While Buck rode towards Lookout Peak, Hopalong dismounted at the line +house perched on its top and found Red Connors seated on the rough +bench by the door. Red, human firebrand both in hair and temper, was +Hopalong's loyal chum--in the eyes of the other neither could do +wrong. Red was cleaning his rifle, the pride of his heart, a +wicked-shooting Winchester which used the Government cartridge +containing seventy grains of powder and five hundred grains of lead. +With his rifle he was as expert as his friend was with the Colt, and +up to six hundred yards, its limit with accuracy, he could do about +what he wished with it. + +"Hullo, you," said Red, pleasantly. "You looks peevish." + +"An' you look foolish. What you doing?" + +"Minding my business." + +"Hard work?" sweetly asked Hopalong, carelessly seating himself on the +small wooden box which lay close to his friend. + +"Hey, you!" cried Red, leaping up and hauling him away. "You bust them +sights an' you'll be sorry! Ain't you got no sense?" + +"Sights? What are you going to do with 'em?" + +"Wear 'em 'round my neck for a charm! What'd you reckon I'd do with +'em!" + +"Didn't know. I didn't think you'd put 'em on that thing," Hopalong +replied, looking with contempt at his friend's rifle. "Honest, you +ain't a-goin' to put 'em on that lead ranch, are you? You're like th' +Indians--want a lot of shots to waste without re-loadin'." + +"I ain't wasting no shots, an' I'm going to put sights on that lead +ranch, too. These old ones are too coarse," Red replied, carefully +placing the box out of danger. "Now you can sit down." + +"Thanks; please can I smoke?" + +Red grunted, pushed down the lever of the rifle, and began to +re-assemble the parts, his friend watching the operation. When Red +tried to slip the barrel into its socket Hopalong laughed and told him +to first draw out the magazine, if he wanted to have any success. + +The line foreman took a cartridge from the pile on the bench and +compared it with one which he took from his belt, a huge, 45-caliber +Sharps special, shooting five hundred and fifty grains of lead with +one hundred and twenty grains of powder out of a shell over three +inches long; a cartridge which shot with terrific force and for a +great distance, the weight of the large ball assuring accuracy at long +ranges. Beside this four-inch cartridge the Government ammunition +appeared dwarfed. + +"When are you going to wean yoreself from popping these musket caps, +Red?" he asked, tossing the smaller cartridge away and putting his own +back in his belt. + +"Well, you've got gall!" snorted Red, going out for his cartridge. +Returning with it he went back to work on his gun, his friend laughing +at his clumsy fingers. + +"Yore fingers are all thumbs, an' sore at that." + +"Never mind my fingers. Have you seen Johnny around?" + +"Yes; he was watching one of them new H2 Greasers. He'll go off th' +handle one of these days, for he hates Greasers worse'n I do, an' that +coffee face'll drive him to gun-play. He reminds me a whole lot of a +bull-pup chained with a corral-ful of cats when there's Greasers +around." + +Red laughed and nodded. "Where's Lanky?" + +"Johnny said he was at Number Four fixin' that saddle again. He ain't +done nothin' for th' last month but fix it. Purty soon there won't be +none of it left to fix." + +"There certainly won't!" + +"His saddle an' yore gun make a good pair." + +"Let up about the gun. You can't say nothin' more about it without +repeatin' yoreself." + +"It's a sawed-off carbine. I'd ruther have a Spencer any day." + +"You remind me a whole lot of a feller I once knowed," Red retorted. + +"That so?" asked Hopalong, suspiciously. "Was he so nice?" + +"No; he was a fool," Red responded, going into the house. + +"Then that's where you got it, for they say it's catching." + +Red stuck his head out of the door. "On second thought you remind me +of another feller." + +"You must 'a knowed some good people." + +"An' he was a liar." + +"Hullo, Hop Wah!" came from the edge of the hilltop and Hopalong +wheeled to see Skinny Thompson approaching. + +"What you doing?" Skinny asked, using his stock question for beginning +a conversation. + +"Painting white spots on pink elephants!" + +"Where's Red?" + +"In th' shack, rubbin' 'em off again." + +"Johnny chased that Greaser off'n th' ranch," Skinny offered, +grinning. + +"Good for him!" cried Hopalong. + +"Johnny's all right--here comes Buck," Red said, coming out of the +house. "Johnny's with him, too. Hullo, Kid!" + +"Hullo, Brick-top!" retorted Johnny, who did not like his nickname. No +one treated him as anything but a boy and he resented it at times. + +"Did he chase you far?" Hopalong queried. + +"I'd like to see anybody chase me!" + +Buck smiled. "How are things down here?" + +Hopalong related what had occurred and the foreman nodded. "I'm going +down to see Meeker--he's th' only man who can tell me what we're to +look for. I don't want to keep so many men down here. Frenchy has got +all he can handle, an' I want somebody up in Two. So long." + +"Let me an' Red go with you, Buck," cried Hopalong. + +"Me, too!" exclaimed Johnny, excitedly. + +"You stay home, an' don't worry about me," replied the foreman, riding +off. + +"I don't like to see him go alone," Hopalong muttered. "He may get a +raw deal down there. But if he does we'll wipe 'em off'n th' earth." + +"Mamma! Look there!" softly cried Johnny, staring towards the other +side of the plateau, where Mary Meeker rode past. Red and Skinny were +astonished and Johnny and Hopalong pretended to be; but all removed +their sombreros while she remained in sight. Johnny was watching +Hopalong's face, but when Red glanced around he was staring over the +hill. + +"Gosh, ain't she a ripper!" he exclaimed softly. + +"She is," admitted Skinny. "She shore is." + +Hopalong rubbed his nose reflectively and turned to Red. "Did you ever +notice how pretty a freckle is?" + +Red stared, for he had only toleration for the fair sex, and his +friend continued: + +"Take a purty girl an' stick a freckle on her nose an' it sort of +takes yore breath." + +Red grinned. "I ain't never took a purty girl an' stuck a freckle on +her nose, so I can't say." + +Hopalong flushed at the laughter and Skinny cried, joyously: "She's +got two of us already! Meeker's got us licked if he'll let her show +herself once in a while. Oh, these young fellers! Nothing can rope +'em so quick as a female, an' th' purtier she is th' quicker she can +do it." + +A warning light came into Hopalong's eyes. "Nobody in this outfit'll +go back on Buck for all th' purty women in th' world!" + +"Good boy!" thought Johnny. + +"We've got to watch th' Kid, just th' same," laughed Skinny. + +"I'll knock yore head off!" cried Johnny. "You're sore 'cause you know +you ain't got no chance with women while me an' Hoppy are around!" + +Red looked critically at Hopalong and snickered. "If we've got to look +like him to catch th' women, thank God we don't want 'em!" + +"Is that so!" retorted Hopalong. + +"Say," drawled Skinny. "Wouldn't th' Kid look nice hobbled with +matrimony? That is, after he grows up." + +"You go to th' devil!" + +"Gee, Kid, you look bloodthirsty," laughed Red. "You can fool them +Greasers easy if you looks like that." + +"You go to," Johnny retorted, swinging into the saddle. "I'm going +along th' line to see what's loose." + +"I'll lick you when I see you again!" shouted Red, grinning. + +Johnny turned and twirled his fingers at his red-haired friend. "Yah, +you ain't man enough!" + +"Johnny's gettin' more hungry for a fight every day," Hopalong +remarked. "He's itching for one." + +"So was you a few years back, an' you ain't changed none," replied +Red. "You used to ride around looking for fights." + +"To hear you talk, anybody'd think you was a Angel of Peace," Hopalong +retorted. + +"One's as bad as th' other, so shut up," Skinny remarked, going into +the house for a drink. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +BUCK VISITS MEEKER + + +As Buck rode south he went over the boundary trouble in all its +phases, and the more he thought about it the firmer his resolution +grew to hold the line at any cost. He had gone to great expense and +labor to improve the water supply in the valley and he saw no reason +why the H2 could not do the same; and to him an agreement was an +agreement, and ran with the land. What Meeker thought about it was not +the question--the point at issue was whether or not the H2 could take +the line and use the valley, and if they could they were welcome to +it. + +But while there was any possibility for a peaceable settlement it +would be foolish to start fighting, for one range war had spread to +alarming proportions and had been costly to life and property. Then +there was the certainty that once war had begun, rustling would +develop. But, be the consequences what they might, he would fight to +the last to hold that which was rightfully his. He was not going to +Meeker to beg a compromise, or to beg him to let the valley alone; he +was riding to tell the H2 foreman what he could expect if he forced +matters. + +When he rode past the H2 corrals he was curiously regarded by a group +of punchers who lounged near them, and he went straight up to them +without heeding their frowns. + +"Is Meeker here?" + +"No, he ain't here," replied Curley, who was regarded by his +companions as being something of a humorist. + +"Where is he?" + +"Since you asks, I reckon he's in th' bunk house," Curley replied. +"Where he ought to be," he added, pointedly, while his companions +grinned. + +"That's wise," responded Buck. "He ought to stay there more often. I +hope his cows will take after him. Much obliged for th' information," +he finished, riding on. + +"His cows an' his punchers'll do as they wants," asserted Curley, +frowning. + +"Excuse me. I reckoned _he_ was boss around here," Buck apologized, a +grim smile playing about his lips. "But you better change that 'will' +to 'won't' when you mean th' valley." + +"I mean _will_!" Curley retorted, leaping to his feet. "An' what's +more, I ain't through with that game laig puncher of yourn, neither." + +Buck laughed and rode forward again. "You have my sympathy, then," he +called over his shoulder. + +Buck stopped before the bunk house and called out, and in response to +his hail Jim Meeker came and stood in the door. + +The H2 foreman believed he was right, and he was too obstinate to +admit that there was any side but his which should be considered. He +wanted water and better grass, and both were close at hand. Where he +had been raised there had been no boundaries, for it had been free +grass and water, and he would not and could not see that it was any +different on his new range. He had made no agreement, and if one had +been made it did not concern him; it concerned only those who had made +it. He did not buy the ranch from the old owners, but from a +syndicate, and there had been nothing said about lines or +restrictions. When he made any agreements he lived up to them, but he +did not propose to observe those made by others. + +"How'dy, Meeker," said Buck, nodding. + +"How'dy, Peters; come in?" + +"I reckon it ain't worth while. I won't stay long," Buck replied. "I +came down to tell you that some of yore cows are crossing our line. +They're gettin' worse every day." + +"That so?" asked Meeker, carelessly. + +"Yes." + +"Um; well, what's th' reason they shouldn't? An' what is that 'line,' +that we shouldn't go over it?" + +"Dawson, th' old foreman of th' Three Triangle, told you all about +that," Buck replied, his whole mind given to the task of reading what +sort of a man he had to deal with. "It's our boundary; an' yourn." + +"Yes? But I don't recognize no boundary. What have they got to do with +me?" + +"It has this much, whether you recognize it or not: It marks th' north +limit of yore grazin'. _We_ don't cross it." + +"Huh! You don't have to, while you've got that crick." + +"We won't have th' crick, nor th' grass, either, if you drive yore +cows on us. That valley is our best grazing, an' it ain't in th' +agreement that you can eat it all off." + +"What agreement?" + +"I didn't come down here to tell you what you know," Buck replied, +slowly. "I came to tell you to keep yore Greasers an' yore cows on +yore own side, that's whatever." + +"How do you know my cows are over there?" + +"How do I know th' sun is shining?" + +"What do you want me to do?" Meeker asked, leaning against the house +and grinning. + +"Hold yore herds where they belong. Of course some are shore to stray +over, but strays don't count--I ain't talkin' about them." + +"Well, I've punched a lot of cows in my day," replied Meeker, "an' +over a lot of range, but I never seen no boundary lines afore. An' +nobody ever told me to keep on one range, if they knowed me. I've run +up against a wire fence or two in th' last few years, but they didn't +last long when I hit 'em." + +"If you want to know what a boundary line looks like I can show you. +There's a plain trail along it where my men have rode for years." + +"So you say; but I've got to have water." + +"You've got it; twenty miles of river. An' if you'll put down a well +or two th' Jumping Bear won't go dry." + +"I don't know nothing about wells," Meeker replied. "Natural water's +good enough for me without fooling with wet holes in th' ground." + +"No; but, by G-d, yo're willin' enough to use them what I put down! Do +you think I spent good time an' money just to supply _you_ with water? +Why don't you get yore own, 'stead of hoggin' mine!" + +"There's water enough, an' it ain't yourn, neither." + +"It's mine till somebody takes it away from me, an' you can gamble on +that." + +"Oh, I reckon you'll share it." + +"I reckon I won't!" Buck retorted. "Look here; my men have held that +range for many years against all kinds of propositions an' didn't get +pushed into th' discard once; an' they'll go right on holding it. Hell +has busted loose down here purty often during that time, but we've +allus roped an' branded it; an' we hain't forgot how!" + +"Well, I don't want no trouble, but I've got to use that water, an' my +men are some hard to handle." + +"You'll find mine worse to handle before you gets through," Buck +rejoined. "They're restless now, an' once they start, all h--l can't +stop 'em." Meeker started to reply, but Buck gave him no chance. "Do +you know why I haven't driven you back by force? It wasn't because I +figgered on what _you'd_ do. It was on account of th' rustling that'll +blossom on this range just as soon as we get too busy to watch things. +That's why, but if yo're willing to take a chance with cow thieves, I +am." + +"I'm willing. I've got to have water on my northwest corner," Meeker +replied. "An' I'm going to have it! If my cows get on yore private +reservation, it's up to you to drive 'em off; but I wouldn't be none +hasty doing it if I was you. You see, my men are plumb touchy." + +"That's final, is it?" + +"I ain't never swallered nothing I ever said." + +"All right. I can draw on forty men to fill up gaps, an' I'll do it +before I let any range jumper cheat me out of what's mine. When you +buck that line, come ready for trouble." + +"Yore line'll burn you before you get through pampering it," retorted +Meeker, angrily. + +"So? We'll pamper anybody that tries to keep us from pampering our +line. If there are any burns they'll not be salved in _our_ bunk +house. So long." + +Meeker laughed, stretched, and slipped his thumbs in the arm-holes of +his vest, watching the Bar-20 foreman ride away. Then he frowned and +snapped his fingers angrily. "We'll keep you busy on yore 'line' when +I get ready to play th' cards I'm looking for!" he exclaimed. "Th' +gall of him! Telling me I can't pasture where I wants! By G-d, I'll be +told I'm using his sunlight an' breathing his air!" + +He stepped forward. "Curley! Chick! Dan!" + +A moment later the three men stood before him. + +"What is it, Jim?" asked Curley. + +"You fellers drive north to-morrow. Pick up th' stragglers an' herd +'em close to that infernal line. Don't drive 'em over till I tell you, +but don't let none stray south again; savvy? If they want to stray +north it's none of our business." + +"Good!" + +"Fine!" + +"That's th' way to talk!" + +"Don't start nothing, but if trouble comes yore way take care of +yoreselves," Meeker remarked. "I'm telling you to herd up on our north +range, that's all." + +"Shore; we'll do it!" laughed Curley. + +"Is that house on th' peak guarded?" Meeker asked. + +"Somebody's there most of th' time," replied Dan Morgan. + +"Yes; it's their bunk house now," explained Chick. + +"All right; don't forget to-morrow." + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +THREE IS A CROWD + + +When Buck reached the line on his return Hopalong was the first man he +met and his orders were to the point: "Hold this line till h--l +freezes, drive all H2 cows across it, an' don't start a fight; but be +shore to finish any that zephyrs up. Keep yore eyes open." + +Hopalong grinned and replied that he would hold the line that long and +then skate on the ice, that any cow found trying to cross would get +indignant, and that he and trouble were old friends. Buck laughed and +rode on. + +"Red Eagle, old cayuse!" cried the line rider, slapping the animal +resoundingly. "We're shore ready!" And Red Eagle, to show how ready he +was to resent such stinging familiarities, pitched viciously and bit +at his rider's leg. + +"Hit her up, old devil!" yelled Hopalong, grabbing his sombrero and +applying the spurs. Red Eagle settled back to earth and then shot +forward at top speed along the line trail, bucking as often as he +could. + +It was not long before Hopalong saw a small herd of H2 cows on Bar-20 +land and he rode off to head them. When he got in front of the herd he +wheeled and dashed straight at it, yelling and firing his Colt, the +horse squealing and pitching at every jump. + +"Ki-yi, yeow-eow-eow-eow!" he yelled, and the herd, terror-stricken, +wheeled and dashed towards their ranch. He followed to the line and +saw them meet and terrorize another herd, and he gleefully cried that +it would be a "shore 'nuf stampede." + +"Look at 'em go, old Skyrocket," he laughed. The horse began to pitch +again but he soon convinced it that play time had passed. + +"You old, ugly wart of a cayuse!" he cried, fighting it viciously as +it reared and plunged and bit. "Don't you know I can lick four like +you an' not touch leather! There, that's better. If you bite me again +I'll kick yore corrugations in! But we made 'em hit th' high trail, +didn't we, old hinge-back?" + +He looked up and stiffened, feeling so foolish that he hardly knew +enough to tear off his sombrero, for before him, sitting quietly in +her saddle and looking clean through him, was Mary Meeker, a +contemptuous firmness about her lips. + +"Good-afternoon, Miss Meeker," he said, wondering how much she had +seen and heard. + +"I'll not spoil yore fun," she icily replied, riding away. + +He stared after her until she had ridden around a chaparral and out of +his sight, and he slammed his sombrero on the ground and swore. + +"D--n th' luck!" + +Then he spurred to overtake her and when he saw her again she was +talking to Antonio, who was all smiles. + +"Coffee-colored galoot!" Hopalong muttered, savagely. "I'll spill him +all over hisself some day, th' squint-eyed mud-image! Th' devil with +him, if he don't like my company he can amble." + +He swept up to them, his hair stirred by the breeze and his right hand +resting on the butt of his Colt. Antonio was talking when he arrived, +but he had no regard for "Greasers" and interrupted without loss of +time. + +"Miss Meeker," he began, backing his horse so he could watch the +Mexican. "I shore hope you ain't mad. Are you?" + +She looked at him coldly, and her companion muttered something in +Spanish; and found Hopalong's eyes looking into his soul, which hushed +the Spanish. + +"You talk United States if you've got anything to say, which you +ain't," Hopalong commanded and then turned to the woman. "I'm shore +sorry you heard me. I didn't think you was anywhere around." + +"Which accounts for you terrorizing our cows an' calves," she +retorted. "An' for trying to start a stampede." + +Antonio stiffened at this, but did nothing because Hopalong was +watching him. + +"You ought to be ashamed of yoreself!" she cried, her eyes flashing +and deep color surging into her cheeks. "You had no right to treat +them calves that way, or to start a stampede!" + +"I didn't try to start no stampede, honest," he replied, fascinated by +the color playing across her face. + +"You did!" she insisted, vehemently. "You may think it's funny to +scare calves, but it ain't!" + +"I was in a hurry," he replied, apologetically. "I shore didn't think +nothing about th' calves. They was over on us an' I had to drive 'em +back before I went on." + +"You have no right to drive 'em back," she retorted. "They have every +right to graze where th' grass is good an' where they can get water. +They can't live without water." + +"They shore can't," he replied in swift accord, as if the needs of +cattle had never before crossed his mind. "But they can get it at th' +river." + +"You have no right to drive 'em away from it!" + +"I ain't going to argue none with you, Miss," he responded. "My orders +are to drive 'em back, which I'll do." + +"Do you mean to tell me that you'll keep them from water?" she +demanded, her eyes flashing again. + +"It ain't my fault that yore men don't hold 'em closer to th' river," +he replied. "There's water a-plenty there. Yore father's keeping 'em +on a dry range." + +"Don't say anything about my father," she angrily retorted. "He knows +his business better'n you can tell it to him." + +"I'm sorry if I've gone an' said anything to make you mad," he +earnestly replied. "I just wanted to show you that I'm only obeying +orders. I don't want to argue with you." + +"I didn't come here to argue," she quickly retorted. "I don't want you +to drive our calves so hard, that's all." + +"I'll be plumb tender with 'em," he assured her, grinning. "An' I +didn't try to scare that other herd, honest." + +"I saw you trying to scare them just before you saw me." + +"Oh!" he exclaimed, chuckling as he recalled his fight with Red Eagle. +"That was all th' fault of this ornery cayuse. He got th' idea into +his fool head that he could throw me, so me an' him had it out right +there." + +She had been watching his face while he spoke and she remembered that +he had fought with his horse, and believed that he was telling the +truth. Then, suddenly, the humorous side struck her and brought a +smile to her face. "I'm sorry I didn't understand," she replied in a +low voice. + +"Then you ain't mad no more?" he asked eagerly. + +"No; not a bit." + +"I'm glad of that," he laughed, leaning forward. "You had me plumb +scared to death." + +"I didn't know I could scare a puncher so easy, 'specially you," she +replied, flushing. "But where's yore sombrero?" + +"Back where I throwed it," he grinned. + +"Where you threw it?" + +"Shore. I got sore when you rode away, an' didn't care much what +happened," he replied, coolly. Then he transfixed the Mexican with his +keen eyes. "If yo're so anxious to get that gun out, say so or do it," +he said, slowly. "That's th' second time." + +Mary watched them breathlessly, but Hopalong didn't intend to have any +fighting in her presence. + +"You let it alone before I take it away from you," he said. "An' I +reckon you better pull out--you ain't needed around here. Go on, +flit!" + +Antonio glanced at Mary for orders and she nodded her head. "I don't +need you; go." + +Hopalong watched him depart and turned to his companion. "What's +eating him, anyhow?" + +"I don't know. I never saw him act that way before." + +"H'm. I reckon I know; but he don't want to act that way again," he +said, decisively. "Greasers are shore funny animals." + +"All men are funny," she replied. "Th' idea of being scared by me when +you ain't afraid of a man like him." + +"That's a different kind of a scare, an' I never felt like that +before. It made me want to kill somebody. I don't want you to get mad +at me. I like you too much. You won't, will you?" + +She smiled. "No." + +"Never? No matter what happens?" + +"Do you care?" + +"Do I care! You know I do. Look at me, Mary!" + +"No; don't come any nearer. I must go--good-bye." + +"Don't go; let's ride around for a while." + +"But 'Tony may tell Dad; an' if he does Dad'll come up here an' make +trouble. No, I must go." + +"Tell 'Tony I want to see him," he replied. "If he says anything I'll +make him pay for it; an' he won't do it again." + +"You mustn't do that! It would make things all th' worse." + +"Will you come up again to-morrow?" + +She laughed. "That'll be too soon, won't it?" + +"Not by a blamed sight." + +"Well, I don't know. Good-bye." + +"Good-bye," he said, holding out his hand. + +She gave him her hand and then tried to push him away. "No, no! No, I +say! I won't come any more if you do that!" + +Despite her struggles he drew her to him and kissed her again and +again. + +"I hate you! I hate you!" she cried, her face the color of fire. "What +made you do it! You've spoiled everything, an' I'll never see you +again! I hate you!" and she wheeled and galloped away. + +He spurred in pursuit and when he had overtaken her he grasped her +horse by the bridle and stopped her. "Mary! Don't be mad--I love you!" + +"Will you let me go?" she demanded, her face crimson. + +"Not till you say yo're not mad." + +"Please let me go," she replied, looking in his eyes, "I'm not mad at +you; but you mustn't do that again. Won't you let me go before some +one sees us?" + +He released her and she impulsively put her hand on his arm. "Look +out--an' watch 'Tony," and she was gone. + +"Yo're th' best girl ever rode a cayuse," he muttered, joyously. +"'Look out--an' watch 'Tony,'" he cried. "What do I care about that +Greaser? I can clean out th' whole gang now. Just let 'em start +something." + +When he neared the place where his sombrero lay he saw Johnny in the +act of picking it up, and Johnny might take a notion to make a race +out of it before giving it up. "Hey, you!" Hopalong cried, dashing +forward, "gimme that cover!" + +"Come an' get it; I don't want it," Johnny retorted. "What made you +lose it?" + +"Fighting." + +"Fighting! Fighting who?" + +"Just fighting, Kid." + +"Ah, come on an' tell me," begged Johnny. Then, like a shot: "Was it +that Greaser?" + +"Nope." + +"Who was it?" + +"None of yore business," laughed Hopalong, delighted to be able to +tease him. + +"All right!" Johnny cried. "You wait; th' boys will be glad to learn +about you an' her!" + +Hopalong's hand shot out and gripped his friend's shoulder. "Don't you +say a word about it, do you hear?" + +"Shore. I was only fooling," replied Johnny. "Think I tell them kind +of things! Yo're a big fool, you are." + +"I was too quick, Kid. I know yo're a thoroughbred. An' now I'll tell +you who I was fighting. Its was Red Eagle. He got a fit of pitching, +an' I had to take it out of him." + +"I might 'a knowed it," responded Johnny, eying the tracks in the +sand. "But I reckoned you might 'a had a run-in with that Greaser. I +was saving him for myself." + +"Why do you hate him so much more'n th' other Greasers?" + +"Never mind that now. I'll tell you after I get him." + +"Have you seen Buck since he came back?" + +"No; why?" + +Hopalong told him what the foreman had said and his friend grinned. +"The good old days are coming back again, Hoppy!" he exulted. "Now I +can kick th' shirt off'n that Greaser, can't I, if he gets gay?" + +"If he don't kick yourn off first." + +"I'd like to see him try it; or you, either! Mebbe you'd like to try +it now?" + +"Shoo, fly! Shoo, fly," laughed Hopalong. + +"Where are you going now?" asked Johnny. + +"Where I please." + +"Shore. I knowed that. That's where you want to go," grinned Johnny. +"But where do you want to go?" + +"Where I can't go now." + +"Ah, shut up! Come on. I'll go with you." + +"Well, I'm going east to tell th' fellers what Buck said." + +"Go ahead. I'm with you," Johnny said, wheeling. + +"I didn't ask you to come." + +"I didn't ask you to go," retorted Johnny. "Here," he said, holding +out a cigar and putting another in his mouth. "Have a smoke; they're +all right." + +"Where the devil did you get 'em?" + +"Up in Number Five." + +"In Number Five!" + +"Shore. Frenchy, th' son-o'-a-gun, had three of 'em hid over th' +windy," Johnny explained. "I hooked 'em." + +"So I reckoned; did you take 'em all?" + +"Was you going up?" + +"No; but did you?" + +"Well, I looked good, but I didn't see none to leave." + +"You wait till he finds it out," Hopalong warned. + +"He won't do nothing," assured Johnny, easily. "Anyhow, yo're as +guilty as me. He ain't got no right to cache cigars when we can't get +to town for any. Besides, he's afraid of me." + +"Scared of you! Oh, Lord, that's good!" + +"Quit fooling an' get started," Johnny said, kicking his friend's +horse. + +"You behave, or I'll get that Greaser to lick you good," threatened +Hopalong as he quieted Red Eagle. + +"Huh! He don't like fights." + +"How do you know?" + +"Because my grub is his poison; get a-going." + +They cantered eastward, driving back Meeker's cows whenever they were +found too close to the line or over it, and it was not long before +they made out Lanky riding towards them. He had not yet seen them and +Johnny eagerly proposed that they prepare an ambush and scare him. + +"He don't scare, you fool," replied Hopalong. "A joke is a joke, but +there ain't no use getting shot at when you can't shoot back. No use +getting killed for a lark." + +"He might shoot, mightn't he," Johnny laughed. "I didn't think about +that." + +Lanky looked around, waved his hand and soon joined them. "I see yo're +taking care of th' Kid, Hopalong. Hullo, Kid." + +"Go to blazes!" snorted Johnny. + +"Has he been a good boy, Hoppy?" + +"No more'n usual. He's looking for Antonio." + +"_Again_?" asked Lanky, grinning. "Ain't you found him yet?" + +"Ah, go on. I'll find him when I want him," Johnny retorted. + +When Lanky had heard Buck's orders he frowned. + +"We'll hold it all right. Wait for Billy, he'll be along purty soon. I +left him chasing some cows." + +"Got yore saddle so it'll stay together for more'n ten minutes at a +time?" asked Johnny. + +"I bought Billy's old one," Lanky replied. "Got anything to say about +it?" + +Billy Williams, pessimist by nature and choice, rode up and joined +them and, laughing and joking, they rode towards the Peak, to see if +Buck had any further orders. But they had not gone far before Hopalong +stopped and thought. "You go on. I'll stay out here an' watch things." + +"I'm with you, Hoppy," Johnny offered. "You fellers go on; me an' +Hopalong'll take care of th' line out here." + +"All right," replied Lanky. "So long." + +A few minutes later Johnny turned in his saddle. "Hey, Billy!" he +shouted. + +"What?" + +"Has Lanky paid you for that saddle, yet?" + +"Shore; why?" + +"Oh, nothing. But yo're lucky." + +Billy turned and said something to Lanky and they cantered on their +way. + +"Hey, Hoppy; don't you tell Frenchy about them cigars," Johnny +suddenly remarked some time later. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +HOBBLE BURNS AND SLEEPERS + + +The western part of the Bar-20 ranch was poor range and but few cattle +were to be found on it until Big Coulee had been reached. This portion +of the ranch fed quite a large number of cattle, many of which were +outlaws, but because of the heavy work demanded on the more fertile +southern and eastern sections it was the custom with Buck to pay +little attention to the Big Coulee herds; if a man rode up there once +in a while he was satisfied. This time it was Skinny who was to look +over the condition of affairs around Number Two, which was not far +from Big Coulee. + +Detouring here and there he took his own time and followed the general +direction of the western line, and about four hours after he had +quitted the Peak he passed line house Number Two and shortly afterward +stopped on the rim of the coulee, a brush-grown depression of a score +of acres in extent, in which was a pond covering half an acre and fed +by springs on the bottom, its outlet being a deep gorge cut in the +soft stone. Half a mile from the pond the small stream disappeared in +the sand and was lost. + +He rode through the coulee without seeing a single cow and an +exploration lasting over an hour resulted no better. Beyond a bear +track or two among the berry bushes he saw no signs of animal life. +This did not disturb him because he took it for granted that the herds +had wandered back to where the grass was better. Stopping at the line +house to eat, he mounted and rode towards the hills to report to +Hopalong. + +Suddenly it struck him that he had seen no cow tracks in the mud +around the water hole and he began to hunt for cattle. Using Pete's +glasses constantly to sweep the plain for the missing herds, it was +not until he had reached a point half-way to the Peak that his search +was rewarded by seeing a calf far to the east of him. Watching it +until it stood out boldly to his sight he followed an impulse and rode +towards it to examine it at close range. + +Upon getting near it he saw that it bore the V notch of the H2 cut in +its ear, and that it was not branded. He thought it strange that an H2 +"sleeper" should be so far from home, without a mother to lead it +astray, and he roped it to look more closely at the notch. His opinion +was that it had been done very recently, for the cartilage had not yet +dried on the edges. Releasing the animal he mounted and started for +the line, muttering to himself. + +As he swung into the line trail he saw a lame cow limping around a +thicket and he spurred forward, roped and threw it, this time giving +no thought to the ears, for its brand was that of the Bar-20. He +looked at the hocks and found them swollen and inflamed, and his +experience told him that it had been done by hobbles. This, to him, +explained why the calf was alone, and it gave him the choice of two +explanations for the hobbling and the newly cut ear notch on the calf. +Either the H2 was sleepering Bar-20 calves for their irons later on, +or rustlers were at work. It seemed incredible that any H2 puncher +should come that distance to make a few sleepers--but the herd had not +been to the water hole! He was greatly wrought up and it was none the +more pleasant to be unable to say where the blame lay. There was only +one thing to do and that was to scout around and try to find a clue to +the perpetrators--and, perhaps, catch the thieves at work. This proved +to be unfruitful until he came to North Hill, where he found a cow +dead from gunshot. He put spurs to his horse and rode straight for the +Peak, which he reached as night fell and as Hopalong, Red, Pete, and +Lanky were eating supper and debating the line conditions. + +Skinny joined them and listened to the conversation, wordless, nodding +or shaking his head at the points made. When he had finished eating he +leaned back against his saddle and fumbled for tobacco and pipe, +gazing reflectively into the fire, at which he spat. Hopalong turned +in time to see the act and, knowing Skinny's peculiarities, asked +abruptly: "What's on yore mind, Skinny?" + +"Little piece of h--l," was the slow reply, and it gained the +attention of the others at once. "I saw a H2 sleeper, up just above +th' Bend and half way between it an' th' line." + +"That so!" exclaimed Hopalong. + +"Long way from home--starting in young to ramble," Red laughed. "Lazy +trick, that sleepering." + +"This here calf had a brand new V--hadn't healed yet," Skinny +remarked, lighting his pipe. "An' it didn't--_puff_--have +no--_puff_--mother," he added, significantly. + +"Huh, weaned, you chump--but that fresh V is shore funny." + +"Go on, Skinny," ordered Hopalong, eagerly. + +"I found its mother an hour later--hobble-burned an' limping; an' it +wasn't no H2 cow, neither; it was one of ourn." + +"Rustling!" cried Hopalong. + +"Th' H2 is doing it," contradicted Red, quickly. + +"They wouldn't take a chance like that," replied Hopalong. + +"There ain't no rule for taking chances," Red rejoined. "Some men'll +gamble with h--l itself--you, for instance, in gun-play." + +"What else?" demanded Hopalong of Skinny. + +"That Big Coulee herd ain't up there, an' hain't been near th' water +hole for so long th' mud's smooth around the edges of th' pond; kin +savvy?" + +"It's rustlers, by G-d!" cried Hopalong, looking triumphantly at Red. + +"An' I found a dead cow--shot--on th' upper end of North Hill," Skinny +added. + +"H2!" Red shouted. "They're doing it!" + +"Yes, likely; it was an H2 cow," Skinny placidly explained. + +"Why in h--l can't you tell things in a herd, 'stead of stringin' 'em +out like a stiff reata trailing to soften!" Red cried. "Yo're the +damndest talker that ever opened a mouth!" + +Skinny took the pipe from his mouth and looked at Red. + +"I allus get it all out, don't I? What are you kicking about?" + +"Yes, you do; like a five thousand herd filtering through a two-foot +gate!" + +"Mebby th' herd drifted to th' valley," Pete offered. + +"Mebby nothing!" Red retorted. "Why, we can't drive 'em down here +without 'em acting loco about it." + +"Cows are shore fool animals," Pete suggested in defence. + +"There's more than cows that are fool animals," Red snapped, while +Skinny laughed to see Pete get his share. + + * * * * * + +Sixteen miles to the southeast of the Peak, Meeker sat on a soap box +and listened, with the rest of his outfit, to what Curley was +saying,--"an' when I got down a good ways south I found two young +calves bellering for their maws. They was sleepers; an' an hour later +I found them same maws bellering for them calves--they was limping +a-plenty an' their hocks looked burned--hobble burns." + +Meeker mused for a moment and then arose. "You ride that range +regular, an' be cautious. Watch towards Eagle. If you catch any +sons-of-skunks gamboling reckless, an' they can't explain why they are +flitting over our range, shoot off yore gun accidental--there won't be +no inquest." + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +HOPALONG GROWS SUSPICIOUS + + +The eastern sky grew brighter and the dim morning light showed a group +of men at breakfast on the Peak. They already had been given their +orders and as soon as each man finished eating he strode off to where +his horse was picketed with the others, mounted, and rode away. Pete +had ridden in late the night before and was still sleeping in the +house, Hopalong not wishing to awaken him until it was absolutely +necessary. + +Red Connors, riding back to the house from the horse herd, drew rein +for a final word. "I'm going out to watch that unholy drift of +Meeker's cows, just this side of th' half-way point. They was purty +thick last night when I rode in. I told Johnny to keep on that part of +th' line, for I reckon things will get too crowded for one man to +handle. Th' two of us can take care of 'em, all right. You knows where +you can find us if you need us." + +"I don't like that drift, but I'll stay here an' give Pete an hour +more sleep," Hopalong replied. "Buck didn't know just when he'd be +down again, but I'm looking for him before noon, just th' same." + +"Well, me an' Johnny'll stop th' drift. So long," and Red cantered +away, whistling softly. + +Hopalong kicked out the fire and walked restlessly around the plateau, +puzzled by the massing of the H2 cows along the line. The play was +obvious enough on its face, for it meant that Meeker, tired of +inaction, had decided to force the issue by driving into the valley. +But Hopalong, suspicious to a degree, was not satisfied with that +solution. + +On more than one occasion he had searched past the obvious and found +deeper motives, and to this ferment of thought he owed his life many +times. He, himself, essentially a schemer and trusting no one but the +members of his outfit, accused others of scheming and bent his mind to +outwit them. Buck often irritated him greatly, for the foreman, +optimistic and believing all men honest until they proved to be +otherwise, held that Meeker thought himself to be in the right and so +was justified in his attempt to use the valley. Hopalong believed that +Meeker was not square, that he knew he had no right to the valley and +was trying to steal range; he maintained that the wiser way was to +believe all men crooked and put the burden on them of proving +otherwise; then he was prepared for anything. + +A better cow-man than Buck Peters never lived; he knew the cattle +industry thoroughly, was honest, fair, and fearless, maintained an +even temper and tried to avoid fighting until the last ditch had been +reached. But it was an indisputable fact that Hopalong Cassidy had +proved himself to be the best man on the ranch when danger threatened. +He grasped situations quickly and clearly and his companions looked to +him for suggestions when the sky was clouded by impending conflict. +Buck realized that his line-foreman was eminently better qualified to +handle the skirmish line than himself, that Hopalong could carry out +things which would fall flat if any one else attempted them. Back of +Buck's confidence was the pleasing knowledge that no man had ever yet +got in the first shot against Hopalong on an "even break," and that +when his puncher's gun exploded it was all over; this is why Hopalong +could, single-handed, win out in any reasonable situation. + +While Hopalong turned the matter over in his mind he thought he saw a +figure move among the chaparrals far to the south and he whipped out +his glasses, peering long and steadily at the place. Then he put them +away and laughed softly. "You can't fool me, by G-d! I'll let you make +yore play--an' if Pete don't kill a few of you I'm a liar. Here are +th' shells--pick out th' pea." + +Returning to the house he shook Pete. "Hey, get up!" + +Pete bounded up, wide awake in an instant. "Yes?" + +"Put on yore clothes an' come outside a minute," he ordered, going +out. + +Pete finished buttoning his vest when he joined his friend, who was +pointing south. "Pete, they're playing for this house, an' I can't +stay--Red an' Johnny may need me any minute. Down there a Greaser is +watching this house. Meeker is massing his cows along th' line for two +reasons; he's trying to draw us away from here so he can get in, an' +he's going to push over th' line if he falls down here. You stay in +that shack. Don't leave it for a second, understand? Stop anybody that +comes up here if you have to kill him. But don't leave this house for +nothing, savvy?" + +"Go ahead. I savvy." + +Hopalong vaulted to his saddle and started away. "I'll get somebody to +help you as soon as I can," he called. + +"Don't need anybody!" Pete shouted, going inside and barring the door. + +Hopalong was elated by the way he had forestalled Meeker, and also +because it was Pete who guarded the house. He knew his companions only +as a man can know friends with whom he has lived for nearly a score of +years. Red was too good a fighter to be cooped up while trouble +threatened in the open; Johnny, rash and hot-tempered, could be +tempted to leave the house to indulge in personal combat if taunted +enough, and he, too, was too good a man in a _mêlée_ to remain on the +Peak. The man for the house was Pete, for he was accurate enough for +that short range, he was unemotional and did not do much thinking for +himself when it ran counter to his instructions; he had been told to +stay in the house and hold it, and that, Hopalong felt certain, he +would do. + +"Pete'll hold 'em with one leg in th' air if they happen to be taking +a step when he sees 'em," he laughed. + +But Pete was to be confronted with a situation so unexpected and of +such a nature that for once in his life he was going to forget +orders--and small blame to him. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +THE COMPROMISE + + +It was night and on the H2 sickly, yellow lights gleamed from the +ranch houses. From the bunk house came occasional bursts of song, the +swinging choruses thundering out on the night air, deep-toned and +strong. In the foreman's quarters the clatter of dishes was soon +stilled and shortly afterward the light in the kitchen could be seen +no more. A girl stood in the kitchen door for a moment and then, +singing, went inside and the door closed. The strumming of a guitar +and much laughter came from Antonio's shack, for now he had Juan and +Sanchez to help him pass the time. + +Meeker emerged from a corral, glanced above him for signs of the +morrow's weather, and then stood and gazed at the Mexican's shack. +Turning abruptly on his heel he strode to the bunk house and smiled +grimly as the chorus roared out, for he had determined upon measures +which might easily change the merriment to mourning before another day +passed. He had made up his mind to remain inactive no longer, but to +put things to the test--his outfit and himself against the Bar-20. + +He entered the building and slamming the door shut behind him, waited +until the chorus was finished. When the last note died away he issued +his orders for the next day, orders which pleased his men, who had +chafed even more than he under the galling inaction, since they did +not thoroughly understand the reasons for it. + +"I had them cows herded up north for th' last three days so they'd be +ready for us when we wanted 'em," he said, and then leaped at the door +and jerked it open, peering about outside. The guitar was still +strumming in the Mexican's shack and he recognized the voices of three +in the singing. Turning, he beckoned Doc Riley to him and the two +stepped outside, closing the door behind them. Great noise broke out +within the house as his orders were repeated and commented on. Meeker +and Doc moved to the corner of the building and consulted earnestly +for several minutes, the foreman gesticulating slowly. + +"But Juan said they had a man to guard it," Doc replied. + +"Yes; he told me," Meeker responded. "I'm going to fix that before I +go to bed--we've got to coax him out on some excuse. Once we get him +out of th' house we can cover him, an' th' rest'll be easy. I won't be +able to be with you--I'll have to stay outside where I can move around +an' look out for th' line trouble, an' where they can see me. But you +an' Jack can hold it once you get in. By G-d, you _must_ get in, an' +you _must_ hold it!" + +"We'll do it if it's possible." + +"That's th' way to talk. Th' boys seem pleased about it," Meeker +laughed, listening to the joy loose in the house. + +"Pleased! They're tickled plumb to death," Doc cried. "They've got so +sore about having to keep their guns quiet that when they cut +loose--well, something's due to happen." + +"I don't want that if there's any other way," Meeker replied +earnestly. "If this thing can be done without wholesale slaughter +we've got to do it that way. Remember, Doc, this whole country is +backing Peters. He's got thirteen men now, an' he can call on thirty +more in two days. Easy is th' way, easy." + +"I'll spend th' next hour pounding that into their hot heads," Doc +replied. "They're itching for a chance to square up for everything. +They're some sore, been so for a couple of days, about that line house +being guarded--they get sore plumb easy now, you know." + +"Well, good-night, Doc." + +"Good-night, Jim." + +Meeker went towards his own house and as he neared the kitchen door a +deep-throated wolf-hound bayed from the kennels, inciting a clamorous +chorus from the others. Meeker shouted and the noise changed to low, +deep, rumbling growls which soon became hushed. Chains rattled over +wood and the fierce animals returned to their grass beds to snarl at +each other. The frightened crickets took up their song again and +poured it on the silence of the night. + +The foreman opened the door and strode through the kitchen and into +the living room, his eyes squinting momentarily because of the light. +His daughter was sitting in a rocking chair, sewing industriously, and +she looked up, welcoming him. He replied to her and, dexterously +tossing his sombrero on a peg in the wall where it caught and hung +swinging, walked heavily to the southern window and stood before it, +hands clasped behind his back, staring moodily into the star-stabbed +darkness. Down the wind came the faint, wailing howl of a wolf, +quavering and distant, and the hounds again shattered the peaceful +quiet. But he heard neither, so absorbed was he by his thoughts. Mary +looked at him for a moment and then took up her work again and resumed +sewing, for he had done this before when things had gone wrong, and +frequently of late. + +He turned suddenly and in response to the movement she looked up, +again laying her sewing aside. "What it is?" she asked. + +"Trouble, Mary. I want to talk to you." + +"I'm always ready to listen, Daddy," she replied. "I wish you wouldn't +worry so. That's all you've done since we left Montana." + +"I know; but I can't help it," he responded, smiling faintly. "But I +don't care much as long as I've got you to talk it over with. Yo're +like yore mother that way, Mary; she allus made things easy, somehow. +An' she knew more'n most women do about things." + +"Yo're my own Daddy," she replied affectionately. "Now tell me all +about it." + +"Well," he began, sitting on the table, "I'm being cheated out of my +rights. I find lines where none exist. I'm hemmed in from water, th' +best grazing is held from me, my cows are driven helter-skelter, my +pride hurt, an' my men mocked. When I say I must have water I'm told +to go to th' river for it, twenty miles from my main range, an' lined +with quicksands; an' yet there is water close to me, water enough for +double th' number of cows of both ranches! It is good, clean water, +unfailing an' over a firm bottom, flowing through thirty miles of th' +best grass valley in this whole sun-cursed section. Two hundred miles +in any direction won't show another as good. An' yet, I dassn't set my +foot in it--I can't drive a cow across that line!" + +He paused and then continued: "I'm good an' sick of it all. I ain't +going to swaller it no longer, not a day. Peace is all right, but not +at th' price I'm paying! I'd ruther die fighting for what's mine than +put up with what I have since I came down here." + +"What are you going to do?" she asked quietly. + +"I'm going to have a force on that line by to-morrow night!" he cried, +gradually working himself into a temper. "_I'm_ going to hold them +hills, an' th' springs at th' bottom of 'em. _I'm_ going to use that +valley an' I'll fight until th' last man goes under!" + +"Don't say that, Daddy," she quickly objected. "There ain't no line +worth yore life. What good will it do you when yo're dead? You can get +along without it if it comes to that. An' what'll happen to me if you +get killed?" + +"No, girl," he replied. "You've held me back too long. I should 'a +struck in th' beginning, before they got so set. It would 'a been +easier then. I don't like range wars any more'n anybody, but it's +come, an' I've got to hold up my end--an' my head!" + +"But th' agreement?" she queried, fearful for his safety. She loved +her father with all her heart, for he had been more than a father to +her; he had always confided in her and weighed her judgment; they had +been companions since her mother died, which was almost beyond her +memory; and now he would risk his life in a range war, a vindictive, +unmerciful conflict which usually died out when the last opponent +died--and perhaps he was in the wrong. She knew the fighting ability +of that shaggy, tight-lipped breed of men that mocked Death with +derisive, profane words, who jibed whether in _mêlée_ or duel with as +light hearts as if engaged in nothing more dangerous than dancing. And +she had heard, even in Montana, of the fighting qualities of the +outfit that rode range for the Bar-20. If they must be fought, then +let it be for the right principles and not otherwise. And there was +Hopalong!--she knew in her heart that she loved him, and feared it and +fought it, but it was true; and he was the active leader of his +outfit, the man who was almost the foreman, and who would be in the +thickest of the fighting. She didn't purpose to have him killed if he +was in the right, or in the wrong, either. + +"Agreement!" he cried, hotly. "Agreement! I hear that every time I say +anything to that crowd, an' now you give it to me! Agreement be +d----d! Nason never said nothing about any agreement when he told me +he had found a ranch for me. He wouldn't 'a dealt me a hand like that, +one that'd give me th' worst of it in a show-down! He found out all +about everything before he turned over my check to 'em." + +"But they say there is one, an' from th' way they act it looks that +way." + +"I don't believe anything of th' sort! It's just a trick to hog that +grass an' water!" + +"Hopalong Cassidy told me there was one--he told me all about it. He +was a witness." + +"Hopalong h--l!" he cried, remembering the day that Doc had been shot, +and certain hints which Antonio had let fall. + +"Father!" she exclaimed, her eyes flashing. + +"Oh, don't mind me," he replied. "I don't know what I'm saying half +th' time. I'm all mixed up, now-a-days." + +"I believe he was telling the truth--he wouldn't lie to me," she +remarked, decisively. + +He looked at her sharply. "Well, am I to be tied down by something I +don't know about? Am I to swaller everything I hear? _I_ don't know +about no agreement, except what th' Bar-20 tells me. An' if there was +one it was made by th' Three Triangle, wasn't it?--an' not by Nason or +me? Am I th' Three Triangle? Am I to walk th' line on something I +didn't make? _I_ didn't make it!--oh, I'm tired arguing about it." + +"Well, even if there wasn't no agreement you can't blame them for +trying to keep their land, can you?" she asked, idly fingering her +sewing. "The land is theirs, ain't it?" + +"Did you ever hear of free grass an' free water?" + +"I never heard of nothing else till I came down here," she admitted. +"But it may be different here." + +"Well, it ain't different!" he retorted. "An' if it is it won't stay +so. What goes in Montanny will go down here. Anyhow, I don't want +their land--all I want is th' use of it, same as they have. But +they're hogs, an' want it all." + +"They say it ain't big enough for their herds." + +"Thirty-five miles long, and five miles wide, in th' valley alone, an' +it ain't big enough! Don't talk to me like that! You know better." + +"I'm only trying to show it to you in every light," she responded. +"Mebby yo're right, an' mebby you ain't; that's what we've got to find +out. I don't want to think of you fightin', 'specially if yo're wrong. +Suppose yo're killed,--an' you might be. Ain't there some other way to +get what you want, if yo're determined to go ahead?" + +"Yes, I might be killed, but I won't go alone!" he cried savagely. +"Fifty years, man an' boy, I've lived on th' range, taking every kick +of fortune, riding hard an' fightin' hard when I had to. I ain't no +yearling at any game about cows, girl." + +"But can't you think of some other way?" she repeated. + +"I've got to get that line house on th' hill," he went on, not +heeding her question. "Juan told me three days ago, that they've put a +guard in it now--but I'll have it by noon to-morrow, for I've been +thinking hard since then. An' once in it, they can't take it from me! +With that in my hands I can laugh at 'em, for I can drive my cows over +th' line close by it, down th' other side of th' hill, an' into th' +valley near th' springs. They'll be under my guns in th' line house, +an' let anybody try to drive 'em out again! Two men can hold that +house--it was built for defence against Indians. Th' top of th' hill +is level as a floor an' only two hundred yards to th' edge. Nobody can +cross that space under fire an' live." + +"If they can't cross it an' live, how can _you_ cross it, when th' +house is guarded? An' when th' first shot is fired you'll have th' +whole outfit down on you from behind like wild fire. Then what'll you +do? You can't fight between two fires." + +"By G-d, yo're right! Yo're th' brains of this ranch," he cried, his +eyes squinting to hide his elation. He paced back and forth, thinking +deeply. Five minutes passed, then ten, and he suddenly turned and +faced her, to unfold the plan he had worked out the day before. He had +been leading up to it and now he knew how to propose it. "I've got it. +I've got it! Not a shot, not a single shot!" + +"Tell me," she said smiling. + +He slowly unfolded it, telling her of the herds waiting to be driven +across the line to draw the Bar-20 men from the Peak, and of the part +she was to play. She listened quietly, a troubled frown on her face, +and when he had finished and asked her what she thought of it she +looked at him earnestly and slowly replied: + +"Do you think that's fair? Do you want _me_ to do that?" + +"What's unfair about it? They're yore enemies as much as they are +mine, ain't they? Ain't everything fair in love an' war, as th' books +say?" + +"In war, perhaps; but not in love," she replied in a low voice, +thinking of the man who wore her flower. + +"Now look here!" he cried, leaning forward. "Don't you go an' get soft +on any of that crowd! Do you hear?" + +"We won't mix love an' war, Daddy," she said, decisively. "You take +care of yore end, that's war; an' let me run my part. I'll do what I +want to when it comes to falling in love; an' I'll help you to-morrow. +I don't want to do it, but I will; you've got to have th' line house, +an' without getting between two fires. I'll do it, Daddy." + +"Good girl! Yo're just like yore mother--all grit!" he cried, going +towards the door. "An' I reckon I won't have to take no hand in _yore_ +courting," he said, grabbing his sombrero. "Yo're shore able to run +yore own." + +"But _promise_ me you won't interfere," she said, calmly, hiding her +triumph. + +"It's a go. I'll keep away from th' sparking game," he promised. "I'm +going out to see th' boys for a minute," and the door slammed, +inciting the clamor of the kennels again, which he again hushed. +"D--n 'em!" he muttered, exultantly. "They tried to hog th' range, an' +then they want my girl! But they _won't_ hog th' range no more, an' +I'll put a stop to th' courting when she plays her cards to-morrow, +an' without having any hand in it. Lord, I win, every trick!" he +laughed. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +ANTONIO MEETS FRIENDS + + +Before daylight the next morning Antonio left the ranch and rode +south, bearing slightly to the west, so as not to leave his trail in +Curley's path. He was to meet some of Shaw's men who would come for +more cattle. When a dozen miles southwest of the ranch house he espied +them at work on the edge of an arroyo. They had a fire going and were +re-branding a calf. Far out on the plain was a dead cow, the calf's +mother, shot because they had become angered by its belligerency when +it had gone "on th' prod." They had driven cow and calf hard and when +they tried to separate the two the mother had charged viciously, +narrowly missing one of them, to die by a shot from the man most +concerned. Meanwhile the calf had run back over its trail and they had +roped it as it was about to plunge over the bank of the arroyo. + +"You fools!" yelled Antonio, galloping towards them. "Don't you know +better'n to blot on this range! How many times have I told you that +Curley rides south!" + +"He never gets this far west--we've watched him," retorted Clausen, +angrily. + +"Is that any reason why he can't!" demanded the Mexican. "How do we +know what he'll do?" + +"Yes!" rejoined Clausen. "An' I reckon he can find that steep-bank +hollow with th' rope gate, can't he? Suppose he finds th' herds you +holds in it for us--what then?" + +"It's a whole lot farther west than here!" retorted Antonio, hotly. +"They never go to Little Muddy, an' if they do, that's a chance we've +got to take. But you can wait till you get to th' mesa before you +change brands, can't you!" + +"Aw, close yore pie-sump!" cried Frisco. "Who th' devil is doing this, +anyhow? You make more noise than Cheyenne on th' Fourth of July!" + +"What right have you fellers got to take chances an' hobble _me_ with +trouble?" + +"Who's been doing all th' sleepering, hey?" sarcastically demanded +Dick Archer. "Let Meeker's gang see the God-forsaken bunch of sleepers +running on their range an' you'll be hobbled with trouble, all right." + +Through laziness, carelessness, or haste calves might not be branded +when found with branded cows. Feeling was strong against the use of +the "running iron," a straight iron rod about eighteen inches long +which was heated and used as a pencil on the calf's hide, and a man +caught with one in his possession could expect to be dealt with +harshly; it was a very easy task to light a fire and "run" a brand, +and the running iron was easily concealed under the saddle flap. But +it was not often that a puncher would carry a stamping iron, for it +was cumbersome. With a running iron a brand could be changed, or the +wrong mark put on unbranded cattle; but the stamping iron would give +only one pattern. + +When a puncher came across an unbranded calf with its branded mother, +and the number which escaped the roundup was often large, he branded +it, if he had an iron; if he did not have the iron he might cut the +calf's ears to conform to the notch in its mother's ears. When the +calf was again seen it might have attained its full growth. In that +case there was no branded mother to show to whom it belonged; but its +cut ears would tell. + +These unbranded, ear-cut calves were known as "sleepers" and, in +localities where cattle stealing was being or had been carried on to +any extent, such sleepering was regarded with strong suspicion, and +more than one man had paid a dear price for doing the work. + +The ear mark of the H2 was a V, while the Bar-20 depended entirely on +the brand, and part of its punchers' saddle equipment was a stamping +iron. + +Cowmen held sleepering in strong disfavor because it was an easy +matter for a maverick hunter or a rustler to drive off these sleepers +and, after altering the ear cut, to brand them with his own or some +strange brand; and it was easy to make sleepers. + +In the case of rustling the separation of branded calves and mothers +was imperative, for should any one see a cow of one brand with a calf +of another, it was very probable that a committee of discretionary +powers would look into the matter. Hobbling and laming mothers and +then driving away the calves were not the only ways of separating them +and of weaning the calves, for a shot was often as good a way as any; +but as dead cows, if found, were certain to tell the true story, this +was not generally employed. + +"Yes," laughed Frisco. "What about th' sleepers?" + +They were discreetly silent about the cow they had killed, for they +were ashamed of having left such a sign; but they would not stand +Antonio's scorn and anger, and that of the other members of the band, +and so said nothing about it. + +"Where's th' mother of this calf?" demanded the Mexican, not heeding +the remarks about sleepers. + +"Hanged if I know," replied Clausen, easily; "an' hanged if I care--we +can leave _one_ cow, I reckon." + +"Got many for us this time?" asked Archer as they rode west, driving +before them the newly branded calf. + +"Not many," replied Antonio. "It's risky, with Curley loose. We won't +be able to do much till th' fighting starts." + +When they reached their destination they came to a deep, steep-walled +depression, exit from which was had at only one end where a narrow +trail wound up to the plain. Across this trail at its narrowest point +was stretched a lariat. + +The depression itself was some ten acres in extent and was well +covered with grass, while near the southwest corner was a muddy pool +providing water for the herd which was now held captive. + +Clausen rode down and removed the rope, riding into the basin to +hasten the egress of the herd. When the last cow had scrambled out and +joined its fellows, Archer and Frisco drove them west, leaving Clausen +to say a few final words with Antonio before joining them. + +"How's th' range war coming on?" + +"Fine!" laughed Antonio. "Meeker's going to attack th' line house on +th' Peak, though what good it'll do him is more than I can figure out. +I put it in his head because it'll start th' fight. I had to grin when +I heard Meeker and Doc planning it last night--they're easy." + +"Gee!" laughed Clausen. "It's a stiff play. Who's going to win? +Meeker?" + +"Meeker's going to get th' licking of his life. I know that Bar-20 +gang, every one. I've lived down here for some time, an' I know what +they've done. Don't never get in a six-shooter argument with that +feller Cassidy; an' if his friend Connors tells you to stop under +eight hundred yards, you do it, an' trust to yore tongue, or Colt. +He's th' devil hisself with a Winchester." + +"Much obliged--but I ain't so bad that way myself. Well, I'm going to +ooze west. Got any word for Shaw?" + +"I'll send word by Benito--I'll know more about it to-morrow." + +"All right," and Clausen was being jerked over the scenery by his +impatient mount. + +Antonio wheeled and rode at a gallop, anxious to be found on northern +range, and eager to learn the result of his foreman's attack. + + * * * * * + +"Salem," once a harpooner on a whaling vessel, now cook for the H2, +drove home from Eagle in the chuck wagon, which contained food +supplies for his ranch. He was in that state hovering between tears +and song, which accounts for the winding trail his wagon wheels left, +and also for him being late. He had tarried in Eagle longer than he +should have, for he was reluctant to quit the society of his several +newly made friends, who so pleasantly allowed him to "buy" for them. +When he realized how the time had flown and that his outfit would be +clamoring for the noonday meal, such clamoring being spicy and +personal in its expression, he left the river trail before he should +and essayed a shorter way home, chanting a sea song. + + A pirate bold, on th' Spanish Main-- + Set sail, yo-ho, an' away we go-- + +"Starboard yore helm, you lubbers!" he shouted when the horses headed +towards Mexico. Then he saw a large bulk lying on the sand a short +distance ahead and he sat bolt upright. + +"There she blows! No, blast me, it's a dead cow!" + +He drove closer to it and, stopping the team, staggered over to see +what had killed it. + +"D--n me, if it ain't shot in th' port eye!" he ejaculated. "If I find +the lubber what's sinkin' our cows, I'll send him to Davy Jones' +locker!" + +He returned to the wagon and steered nor' by nor' east, once more +certain of his bearings, for he knew the locality now, and sometime +later he saw Curley riding towards him. + +"Ahoy!" he yelled. "Ahoy, you wind-jammer!" + +"What's eating you? Why are you so late?" demanded Curley, +approaching. "You needn't say--I know." + +"Foller my wake an' you'll see a dead cow," cried Salem. "Deader'n +dead, too! Shot in th' starboard--no, was it starboard? Now, d----d if +I know--reckon it was in th' port eye, though I didn't see no port +light; aye, 'twas in th' port--" + +"What in h--l do I care what eye it was!" shouted Curley. "Where is +it?" + +"Eight knots astern. Shot in th' port eye, an', as I said, deader'n +dead. Flew our flag, too." + +Curley, believing that the cook had seen what he claimed, wheeled +abruptly and galloped away to report it to Meeker. + +"Hey! Ain't you going to _see_ it?" yelled Salem, and as he received +no reply, turned to his team. "Come on, weigh anchor! Think I want to +lay out here all night? 'A-sailing out of Salem town,--'" he began, +and then stopped short and thought. "I _knowed_ it!--it _was_ th' port +eye! Same side th' flag was on!" he exclaimed, triumphantly. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +THE FEINT + + +On the boundary line alert and eager punchers rode at a canter to and +fro, watching the herds to the south of them, and quick to turn back +all that strayed across the line. Just east of the middle point of the +boundary Red and Johnny met and compared notes, and both reported the +same state of affairs, which was that the cattle came constantly +nearer. + +Johnny removed his field glasses from his eyes. + +"There's punchers with that herd, Red. Three of 'em." + +"I reckoned so." + +"Wonder what they think they're going to do?" + +"We'll know purty soon." + +"They're coming this way." + +"If you had th' brains of a calf you'd know they wouldn't go south." + +"Think they're going to rush us?" Johnny asked, eagerly. + +"No; course not!" retorted Red. "They're going to make 'em stand on +their heads!" + +Johnny began to hum-- + + Joyous Joe got a juniper jag, + A-jogging out of Jaytown; + Joyous Joe got a juniper jag-- + +"We'll show that prickly pear from Montanny some fine points." + +"Now, look here, Kid; don't you let 'em get a cow across th' line. +Shoot every one, but keep yore eyes on th' gang." + +"'Joyous Joe got a juniper jag,--' Come on, you half-breeds!" + +"Wonder where Hopalong is?" Red asked. + +"Up on th' Peak, I reckon. _Hey_, Billy!" he yelled. "Here comes +Billy, Red." + +"I guessed as much when you yelled; if you don't yell away from my ear +next time I'll kick yore pants over yore hat. D----d idiot, you!" + +"Hullo, Billy," cried Johnny, ignoring Red's remarks. "Just in time +for th' pie. Where's Hopalong?" + +"In th' hills." + +"You get along an' tell him what's doing out here," ordered Red. "Go +lively!" + +"Reckon I'd better stay an' give you a hand; you'll need it before +long," Billy replied. + +"You know what Hopalong said, don't you?" blazed Red. "What do you +think me an' th' Kid are made of, anyhow? You go on, an' quick!" + +"Send Johnny," Billy suggested, hopefully. + +"Why, you coyote!" cried Johnny, excitedly. "Th' idea! You go on!" + +"Yo're a pair of hogs," grumbled Billy, riding off. "I'll get square, +someday. Hope they lick you!" + +"Run along, little boy," jeered Johnny. "Oh, gee! Here they come!" he +cried as Billy rode behind the chaparral. "Look at 'em!" + +"_Let_ 'em come!" cried Billy, returning. "We'll lick 'em!" + +"Get out of here!" shouted Red, drawing his Winchester from its +sheath. "For G-d's sake, do what yo're told! Want to let Meeker win +out?" + +"Nope; so long," and Billy galloped away. + +"That ain't a herd!" cried Johnny, elated. "That's only a handful. +It's a scrawny looking bunch, men an' all. Come on, you coyotes!" he +yelled, waving his rifle. + +"You chump; this ain't the real play--it's a blind, a wedge," Red +replied. "They're pushing a big one through somewhere else." + +"I'm shore glad Billy went, an' not me," Johnny remarked. + +"There's Morgan," Red remarked. "I know his riding." + +"Bet you won't know it when th' show's over. An' there's Chick, too. +He needs a licking. You won't know his riding, neither." + +The herd came rapidly forward and the men who were guarding it waved +their sombreros and urged it on. Red, knowing that he would be crowded +if he waited until the cows were upon him, threw his rifle to his +shoulder and began to shoot rapidly, and cow after cow dropped, and +the rush was stopped. Before the H2 men could get free from the +panic-stricken herd Red and Johnny were within a hundred yards of them +and when they looked up it was to see Red covering them, while Johnny, +pleased by the reduced range, was dropping more cows. + +"Stop!" Red shouted, angrily. + +"Huh!" exclaimed Johnny, looking up. "Oh, I thought you was talking to +me," he muttered, and then dropped another cow. + +"What in h--l do you think yo're doing?" yelled Morgan. + +"Just practising," retorted Johnny. He quickly swung his rifle on +Chick. "Hands up! No more of that!" + +"You've got gall, shooting our cows!" replied Chick. + +"Get 'em up, boy!" snapped Johnny, and Chick slowly raised his arms, +speaking rapidly. + +"What do you take us for!" shouted Ed Joyce, frantic at his +helplessness. + +"Coyotes," replied Red. "An' since coyotes don't ride, you get off'n +them cayuses, _pronto_." + +"Like h--l!" retorted Ed. + +Johnny's rifle cracked and Ed tumbled off his dead horse, and when he +arose the air was blue. + +"Nex' gent say 'I,'" called Johnny. + +"I'll be d----d if I'll stand for that!" yelled Morgan, reaching for +his gun. The next thing he knew was that the air was full of comets, +and that his horse was dead. + +Chick sullenly dismounted and stood watching Red, who was now in +vastly better spirits, since the H2 rifles were on the horses and too +far away from their owners to be of any use. The range was too great +for good revolver shooting even if they could get them into action. + +"Watch 'em," said Red, firing. Chick's horse, stung to frenzy by the +wound, kicked up its heels and bolted, leaving the three punchers +stranded ten miles from home. + +"Turn around an' hit th' back trail," ordered Red. "No back talk!" + +"I'll bust you wide open, someday, you red-headed wart!" threatened +Dan, shaking his fist at the grinning line man. "That's a h--l of a +thing to do, that is!" + +"Shut up an' go home. Ain't you got enough?" shouted Red. + +"Just wait, you half-breed!" yelled Ed Joyce. + +"That's two with th' waiting habit," laughed Johnny. + +"What do--" began Chick, stepping forward. + +"Shut up! Who told you to open yore face!" cried Red, savagely. "Get +home! G'wan!" + +"Walk, you coyotes, walk!" exulted Johnny. + +He and his companion watched the three angry punchers stride off +towards the H2 and then Red told Johnny to ride west while he, +himself, would go east to help his friends if they should need him. +They had just begun to separate when Johnny uttered a shout of joy. +Antonio had joined the trio of walkers and they were pulling him from +his horse. He waved his arms excitedly, but Chick had him covered. Dan +and Ed were already on the animal and they quickly pulled Chick up +behind them, narrowly watching the Mexican all the while. The horse +fought for some time and then started south, the riders shouting while +Antonio, still waving his arms, plodded homeward on foot. + +Great joy filled Johnny's heart as he gloated over the Mexican's +predicament. "Hoof it, you greasy snake! Kick up th' dust, you lazy +lizard!" + +"They can't get in th' game again for some time, till they get +cayuses," remarked Red. "That makes four less to deal with, counting +th' Greaser as a whole man." + +"Three an' a third," corrected his companion. "He acts like he had all +eternity to get nowhere--look at him! Let's go down an' rope him. He's +on th' prod now--we can have a lot of fun." + +"If I go down there it'll be to plug him good," Red replied. "You hang +around out here for a while. I'm goin' west--Pete's in that house +alone--so long, Kid." + +Johnny grinned a farewell to Antonio and followed instructions while +his friend rode towards the Peak to assist Pete, the lonely, who as it +happened, would be very glad to see him. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +PETE IS TRICKED + + +Pete Wilson grumbled, for he was tiring of his monotonous vigil, and +almost hoped the H2 would take the house because of the excitement +incident to its re-capture. At first his assignment had pleased, but +as hour after hour passed with growing weariness, he chafed more and +more and his temper grew constantly shorter. + +With the exception of smoking he had exhausted every means of passing +the time; he knew to a certainty how many bushes and large stones were +on the plateau, the ranges between him and distant objects, and other +things, and now he had to fall back on his pipe. + +"Wish some son-of-a-thief would zephyr up an' start something," he +muttered. "If I stays in this fly-corral much longer I'll go loco. A +couple of years back we wouldn't have waited ten minutes in a case +like this--we'd 'a chased that crowd off th' range quick. What's +getting into us has got me picking out th' festive pea, all right." + +He stopped at the east window and scrutinized the line as far as he +could see the dim, dusty, winding trail, hoping that some of the +outfit would come into sight. Then he slid the Sharps out of the +window and held it on an imaginary enemy, whom he pretended was going +to try to take the house. While he thought of caustic remarks, with +which to greet such a person, he saw the head of a horse push up into +view over the edge of the hill. + +Sudden hope surged through him and shocked him to action. He cocked +the rifle, the metallic clicks sweet to his ears. Then he saw the +rider, and it was--Mary Meeker. + +Astonishment and quick suspicion filled his mind and he held the +weapon ready to use on her escort, should she have one. Her horse +reared and plunged and, deciding that she was alone, and ashamed to be +covering a woman, he slid the gun back into the room, leaning it +against the wall close at his hand, not losing sight of the rider for +a moment. + +"Now, what th' devil is she doing up here, anyhow?" he puzzled, and +then a grin flickered across his face as the possible solution came to +him. "Mebby she wants Hopalong," he muttered, and added quickly, +"Purty as blazes, too!" And she did make a pretty picture even to his +scoffing and woman-hating mind. + +She was having trouble with her mount, due to the spurring it was +getting on the side farther from the watcher. It reared and plunged, +bucking sideways, up-and-down and fence-cornered, zig-zagging over the +ground forward and back, and then began to pitch "stiff-legged." +Pete's eyes glowed with the appreciation of a master rider and he was +filled with admiration, which soon became enthusiastic, over her +saddle-ease and cool mastery. She seemed to be a part of the horse. + +"She'd 'a been gone long ago if she was fool enough to sit one of them +side saddle contraptions," he mused. "A-straddle is th' only--_Good!_ +All right! Yo're a stayer!" he exclaimed as she stepped from one +stirrup and stood up in the other when the animal reared up on its +hind legs. + +He glanced out of the other windows of the house and fell to watching +her again, his face darkening as he saw that she appeared to be +tiring, while her mount grew steadily worse. Then she "touched +leather," and again and again. Her foot slipped from the stirrup, but +found it again, while she frantically clung to the saddle horn. + +"Four-legged devil!" Pete exclaimed. "Wish _I_ was on you, you ornery +dog! Hey! Don't you bite like that! Keep yore teeth away from that leg +or I'll blow yore d----d head off!" he cried wrathfully as the animal +bit viciously several times at the stirrup leather. "I'll whale th' +stuffin' outen you, you wall-eyed clay-bank! Yo're too bronc for _her_ +to ride, all right." + +Then, during another and more vicious fit of stiff-legged pitching the +rider held to the saddle horn with both hands, while her foot, again +out of the stirrup, sought for it in vain. She was rapidly losing her +grip on the saddle and suddenly she was thrown off, a cry reaching +Pete's ears. The victorious animal kicked several times and shook its +head vigorously in celebration of its freedom and then buck-jumped +across the plateau and out of sight down the hill, Pete strongly +tempted to stop its exuberance with a bullet. + +Pete glanced at the figure huddled in the dust and then, swearing +savagely and fearing the worst, threw down the bar and jerked open the +door and ran as rapidly as his awkward legs would take him to see what +he could do for her, his hand still grasping his rifle. As he knelt +beside her he remembered that he had been told not to leave the house +under any circumstances and he glanced over his shoulder, and just in +time to see a chap-covered leg disappear through the doorway. His +heart sank as the crash of the bar falling into place told him that he +had been unworthy of the trust his best friend had reposed in him. It +was plain enough, now, that he had been fooled, to understand it all +and to know that as he left the house one or more H2 punchers had +sprinted for it from the other side of the plateau. + +Red fury filled him in an instant and tearing the revolver from the +girl's belt he threw it away and then, grasping her with both hands, +he raised her up as though she weighed nothing and threw her over his +shoulder, sprinting for the protection of the hillside, which he +reached in a few bounds. Throwing her down as he would throw a bag of +flour he snarled at her as she arose and brushed her clothes. Years +ago in Pete's life a woman had outraged his love and trust and sent +him through a very hell of sorrow; and since then he had had no love +for the sex--only a bitter, scathing cynicism, which now found its +outlet in words. + +"Yo're a nice one, you are!" he yelled. "You've done yore part! Yo're +all alike, every d----d one of you--Judas wasn't no man, not by a +d----d sight! You know a man won't stand by an' see you hurt without +trying to help you--an' you play it against him!" + +She was about to retort, but smiled instead and went on with her +dusting. + +"Tickled, hey! Well, you watch an' see what _we_ do to coyotes! You'll +see what happens to line-thieves down here!" + +She looked up quickly and suspected that instead of averting a fight +she had precipitated one. Both Hopalong and her father were in as much +danger now as if she had taken no part in the trouble. + +Pete emptied his revolver into the air as rapidly as he could work the +hammer and hurriedly reloaded it, all the time watching his prisoner +and the top of the hill. Three quick reports, muffled by distance, +replied from Long Hill and he turned to her. + +"Now why don't you laugh?" he gritted savagely. He caught sight of her +horse grazing calmly further down the hill and his Sharps leaped to +his shoulder and crashed. The animal stiffened, erect for a moment, +and then sank slowly back on its quivering haunches and dropped. + +"_You_ won't pitch no more, d--n you!" he growled, reloading. + +Her eyes snapped with anger and she caught at her holster. "You +coward! You coward!" she cried, stamping her foot. "To kill that +horse, an' steal my gun--afraid of a woman!" she taunted. "Coward!" + +"I'll pull a snake's fangs rather than get bit by one, when I can't +shoot 'em!" he retorted, stung by her words. "You'll see how big a +coward I am purty soon--an' you'll stay right here an' see it, too!" + +"_I_ won't run away," she replied, sitting down and tucking her feet +under her skirts. "_I'm_ not afraid of a coward!" + +Another shot rang out just over the top of Stepping Stone Hill and he +replied to it. Far to the west a faint report was heard and Pete knew +that Skinny was roweling the lathered sides of his straining horse. +Yet another sounded flatly from the direction of the dam, the hills +multiplying it into a distant fusillade. + +"Hear 'em!" he demanded, fierce joy ringing in his voice. "Hear 'em! +You've kicked th' dynamite, all right--you'll smell th' smoke of yore +little squib clean down to yore ranch house!" + +"That's grand--yo're doing it fine," she laughed, strangling the fear +which crept slowly through her. "Go on--it's grand!" + +"It'll be a whole lot grander when th' boys get here an' find out +what's happened," he promised. "There'll be some funerals start out +from what's left of yore ranch house purty soon." + +"Ki-i-i-e-e-p! Ki-ip ki-ip!" came the hair-raising yell from the top +of Stepping Stone Hill, and Pete withheld the rest of his remarks to +reply to it in kind. Suddenly Red Connors, his quirt rising and +falling, bounded over the top of the hill and shot down the other side +at full speed. Close behind him came Billy Williams, who rode as +recklessly until his horse stepped into a hole and went down, throwing +him forward like a shot out of a catapult. He rolled down the hill +some distance before he could check his impetus and then, scrambling +to his feet, drew his Colt and put his broken-legged mount out of its +misery before hobbling on again. + +Red slid to a stand and leaped to the ground, his eyes on the woman, +but his first thought was for the house. "What's th' matter? Why ain't +you in that shack? Didn't Hopalong tell you to hold it?" he demanded. +Turning to Mary Meeker he frowned. "What are you doing up here? Don't +you know this ain't no place for you to-day?" + +Pete grasped his shoulder and swung him around so sharply that he +nearly lost his balance, crying: "Don't talk to her, she's a d----d +snake!" + +Red's hand moved towards his holster and then stopped, for it was a +friend who spoke. "What do you mean, d--n you? Who's a snake? What's +wrong here, anyhow?" + +Billy limped up and stood amazed at the strange scene, for besides the +presence of the woman, his friends were quarrelling and he had never +seen that before. Seeing Mary look at him he flushed and sneaked off +his sombrero, ashamed because he had forgotten it. + +Pete swiftly related all that had occurred, and ended with another +curse flung at his prisoner, who looked him over with a keen, critical +glance and then smiled contemptuously. + +"That's a fine note!" Red cried, his sombrero also coming off. He +looked at Mary and saw no fear in her face, no sign of any weakness, +but rather a grimness in the firmness of her lips and a battling light +in her eyes, which gained her immunity from his tongue, for he admired +grit. "Here, you, stop that cussing! You can't cuss no woman while I'm +around!" he cried hotly. "Hopalong'll break you wide open if he hears +you. Cussing won't do no good; what we want is thinking, an' +fighting!" Catching sight of Billy, who looked self-conscious and a +little uncomfortable, he cried: "An' what's th' matter with you?" + +Billy jerked his thumb over his shoulder in the direction of the dead +horse and Red, following the motion, knew. "By th' Lord, you got off +easy! Pete, you watch yore prisoner; keep her out of danger, an' +there'll be lots of it purty soon. We'll get th' house for you." + +"Send up to Cowan's saloon; he had some dynamite, an' if we can get +any we can blow them sneaks off th' face of th' earth," Pete +exclaimed, his anger and shame urging him against his better nature. +"Go ahead. I'll take th' chances using th' stuff--I lost th' house." + +The pathetic note of self-condemnation in his last words stopped Red's +reprimand and he said, instead: "We'll talk about that later. But +don't you lose no sleep--they can't hold it, dynamite or no dynamite. +We'll have it before sundown." + +Dynamite! Mary caught her breath and sudden fear gripped her heart. +Dynamite! And two men were in the house, Doc Riley and Jack Curtis, +men who would not be there if she had not made it possible for +them--she was responsible. + +"Here comes Skinny!" cried Billy, waving his arm. + +"An' here's Hopalong!" joyously cried Pete, elated, for he pinned his +faith in his line-foreman's ability to get out of any kind of a hole, +no matter how deep and wide. "Now things 'll happen! We're going to +get busy _now_, all right!" + +The two arrived at the same instant and both asked the same question. +Then Hopalong saw Mary and he was at her side in a trice. + +"Hullo! What are _you_ doing up here?" he cried in astonishment. + +"I'm a prisoner--of _that_!" she replied, pointing at Pete. + +Hopalong wheeled. "What! What have you been doing to her? Why ain't +you in th' house, where you belongs?" + +Pete told him, briefly, and he turned to the prisoner, a smile of +admiration struggling to get through his frown. She looked at him +bravely, for now was the crisis, which she had feared, and welcomed. + +"By th' Lord!" he cried, softly. "Yo're a thoroughbred, a fighter from +start to finish. But you shouldn't come up here to-day; there's no +telling, sometimes, where bullets go after they start." Turning, he +said, "Pete, you chump, stay on this side of th' hill an' watch th' +house. Billy, lay so you can watch th' door. Red, come with me. An' if +anybody gets a shot at them range stealers, shoot to kill. Understand? +Shoot to kill--it's time." + +"Dynamite?" queried Pete, hopefully. "I'll use it. Cowan--" + +Hopalong stared. "Dynamite! Dynamite! We ain't fighting 'em that way, +even if they are coyotes. You go an' do what I told you." + +"Yes, but--" + +"Shut up!" snapped Hopalong. "I know how you feel _now_, but you'll +think different to-morrow." + +"Let's swap th' girl for th' house," suggested Skinny, grinning. "It's +a shore cinch," he added, winking at Billy, who laughed. + +Hopalong wheeled to retort, caught Skinny's eye closing, and laughed +instead. "I reckon that would work all right, Skinny. It'd be a good +joke on 'em to take th' house back with th' same card they got it by. +But this ain't no time for joking. Pete, you better stay here an' +watch th' window on this side; Billy, take th' window on th' south +side. Skinny can go around west an' Red'll take th' door. They won't +be so joyous after they get what's coming their way. This ain't no +picnic; shoot to kill. We've been peaceful too blamed long!" + +"That's th' way to talk!" cried Pete. "If we'd acted that way from th' +very first day they crossed our line we wouldn't be fighting to +capture our own line house! You know how to handle 'em all right!" + +"Pete, how much water is in there?" Hopalong asked. + +"'Bout a hatful--nobody brought me any this morning, th' lazy cusses." + +"All right; they won't hold it for long, then. Take yore places as I +said, fellers, an' get busy," he replied, and then turned to Mary. +"Where's yore father? Is _he_ in that house?" + +"I don't know--an' I wouldn't tell if I did!" + +"Say, yo're a regular hummer! Th' more you talk th' better I like +you," he laughed, admiringly. "You've shore stampeded me worse than +ever--I'm so loco I can't wait much longer--when are you going to +marry me? Of course you know that you've got to someday." + +"Indeed I have _not_!" she retorted, her face crimson. "If you wait +for me to marry you you will die of old age! An' I'm shore somebody's +listening." + +"Then _I'll_ marry _you_--of course, that's what I meant." + +"Indeed you _won't!_" + +"Then th' minister will. After this line fighting is over I won't +wait. I'll just rope you an' drive you down to Perry's Bend to th' +hobbling man, if you won't go any other way. We'll come back a team. +Oh, I mean just what I say," and she knew that he did, and she was +glad at heart that he thought none the less of her for the trick she +had played on Pete. He seemed to take everything as a matter of +course, and as a matter of course was going to re-take the house. + +"You just _dare_ try it! Just _dare!_" she cried, hotly. + +"Now you have gone an' done it, for I never take a dare, _never_," he +laughed. "It's us for th' sky pilot, an' then th' same range for life. +Yo're shore purty, an' that fighting spunk doubles it. You can begin +to practise calling yourself Mrs. Hopalong Cassidy, of th' Bar-20." + +Pete fired, swore, and turned his head. "How th' devil can I hit a +house with all that fool talk!" and the two, suddenly realizing that +Pete had been ordered to remain close by, looked foolish, and both +laughed. + +"It gets on my nerves," Pete growled, and then: "Here comes Johnny +like a greased coyote." + +They looked and saw Johnny tearing down Stepping Stone Hill as if he +were afraid that the fighting would be over before he could take a +hand in it. When he came within hailing distance he stood up in his +stirrups, shouting, "What's up?" and then, seeing Pete, understood. +Leaping from the saddle he jerked his rifle out of the sheath and ran +to him, jeering. "Oh, you Pete! Oh you d----d fool!" + +"Hey, Johnny! How's things east?" Hopalong demanded. + +Johnny stopped and hastily recounted how he and Red had driven back +the herd, adding: "Her dad is out there now looking at his dead +cows--I saw him when I came back from East Arroyo. An' I saw them +three punchers ride over that ridge down south; and they shore made +good time. Say, how did they get Pete out?" he asked eagerly. + +"I'll tell you that later--Pete, you go an' tell Red to come here, an' +take his place. We can't swap Mary for th' house, but we can swap her +dad! Mary, you better go home--this won't be no place for you in a +little while. Where's yore cayuse?" he asked, looking around. + +"It's down there--he shot it," she replied, nodding at Pete. + +"Shot it? Lord, but he must 'a been mad! Well, you can get +square--Pete, where's yore cayuse?" + +"How th' devil do _I_ know!" Pete blazed, indignantly. "_I_ wasn't +keeping track of no cayuse after they got th' house!" + +"It's down there on th' hill--see it?" volunteered Johnny. "Shall I +get it?" he asked, grinning at the disgruntled Pete. + +"Yes; an' strip th' fixings off her cayuse while yo're about +it--lively." + +Johnny vaulted into his saddle and loped down the hill, shortly +returning with Mary's saddle and bridle in front of him and Pete's +horse at the end of his rope. Hopalong quickly removed Pete's saddle +and put the other in its place, Pete eloquent in his silence, and +Johnny manifestly pleased by the proceedings. + +"Now you can ride," Hopalong smiled, helping her into the saddle. +"Pete don't care at all--he ain't saying a word," whereat Pete said a +word, several of them in fact, under his breath and vowed that he +would kill the men in the house to get square. + +"I'll send it back as soon as I can," she promised, and then, when +Hopalong leaned closer and whispered something to her, she flushed and +spurred the animal, leaving him standing in a cloud of dust, a smile +on his face. + +Johnny, grinning until his face threatened to be ruptured, wheeled on +Pete. "Yo're a lucky fool, even if you did go an' lose th' house for +us--wish she'd ride _my_ cayuse!" + +Pete replied in keeping with his feelings now that there was no woman +present, and walked away to change places with Red, who soon came up. +Then the three mounted and cantered east to find the H2 foreman, +Johnny mauling "Whiskey Bill" in his exuberance. Suddenly he turned in +his saddle and slapped his thigh: "I'll bet four cents to a tooth +brush that she's telling her dad to get scarce. She heard what you +said, Hoppy!" + +"Right! Come on!" exclaimed Hopalong, spurring into a gallop, his +companions racing behind, spurring and quirting to catch him. + +"Say, Red, she's a straight flush," Johnny shouted to his companion. +"Can't be beat--if she turns Hoppy down I'm next in th' line-up!" + +"You don't want no wife--you wants a nurse!" Red retorted. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +THE LINE HOUSE RE-CAPTURED + + +After Chick, Dan Morgan, and Ed Joyce had commandeered Antonio's horse +and left him on foot they rode as rapidly as they could to the corrals +of their ranch, where they saddled fresh mounts and galloped back to +try conclusions with the men who had humbled them. They also wished to +find their foreman, who they knew was somewhere along the line. Chick +rode to the west, Dan to the east, and Ed Joyce straight ahead; +intending to search for Meeker and then ride together again. + +Meanwhile Antonio, tired of walking, returned to the line and lay in +ambush to waylay the first Bar-20 puncher to ride past him, hoping to +get a horse and also to leave a dead man for the Bar-20 to find and +lay the blame on the H2. He knew that his rustler allies had scouts in +the chaparrals and were ready to run off a big herd as soon as +conditions were propitious, and he was anxious to give them the word +to begin. + +It chanced, however, that Ed Joyce was the first man to approach the +Mexican, and he paid dearly for being a party to taking Antonio's +horse. The dead man would not inflame the Bar-20, but the H2, and the +results would be the same in the end. Mounting Ed's horse Antonio +galloped north into the valley through West Arroyo so as to leave +tracks in the direction of the Bar-20, intending to describe a +semi-circle and return to his ranch by way of the river trail, leaving +the horse where the trail crossed the Jumping Bear. By going the +remainder of the way on foot he would not be seen on the horse of the +murdered puncher, which might naturally enough stray in that +direction, and so be free from suspicion. + +Lanky Smith, wondering why none of his friends had passed him on the +line, followed the trail west to see if things were as they should be. +He was almost in sight of a point opposite West Arroyo, his view being +obstructed by chaparrals, when he heard a faint shot, and spurred +forward, his rifle in the hollow of his arm ready for action. It could +mean only one thing--one of his friends was shooting H2 cows, and +complications might easily follow. When he had turned out of an arroyo +which made part of the line for a short distance he saw a body huddled +on the sand several hundred feet ahead of him. At that instant Meeker, +with Chick and Dan close at his heels, came into view on the other +side, saw the body and, drawing their own conclusions, opened a hot +fire on the Bar-20 puncher, riding to encircle him. Surprised for an +instant, and then filled with rage because they had killed one of his +friends, as he thought, he returned their fire and raced at Chick, who +was now some distance from his companions. Dan and Meeker wheeled +instantly and rode to the aid of their friend, and Lanky's horse +dropped from under him. Luckily for him he felt a warning tremor go +through the animal and jerked his feet free from the stirrups as it +sank down, quickly crawling behind it for protection. + +Immediately thereafter Chick lost his hat, then the use of his right +arm, followed by being deprived of the services of a very good +cow-pony, for Lanky now had a rest for his rifle and while his +marksmanship was not equal to that of his friend Red, it was good +enough for his present needs. Dan Morgan started to shout to his +foreman and then swore luridly instead, for Lanky was pleased to drill +him at five hundred yards, the bullet tearing a disconcerting hole in +Dan's thigh. + +Meeker had been most zealously engaged all this time in making his +rifle go off at regular intervals, his bullets kicking up the dust, +humming viciously about Lanky's head, and thudding into the carcass of +the dead horse. Then Lanky swore and shook the blood from his cheek, +telling Meeker what he thought about the matter. Settling down again +he determined to husk Meeker's body from its immortal soul, when he +found his magazine empty. Reaching to his belt for the wherewithal for +the husking he discovered the lamentable fact that he had only three +cartridges left for the Winchester, and the Colt was more ornamental +than useful at that range. To make matters worse both Chick and Dan +were now sitting up wasting cartridges in his direction, while Meeker +seemed to have an unending supply. Just then the H2 foreman found his +mark again and rendered his enemy's arm useless. At that point the +clouds of misfortune parted and Hopalong, Red and Johnny at his heels, +whirled into sight from the west, firing with burning zeal. + +Meeker's horse went down, pinning its rider under it; Dan Morgan threw +up his arms as he sat in the saddle, for his rifle was shattered; +Chick, popping up his good arm first, arose from behind his fleshy +breastwork and announced that he could not fight, although he +certainly wanted to; but Meeker said nothing. + +Riding first to Lanky, his friends joked him into a better humor while +they attended to his wounds. Then they divided to extend the +wound-dressing courtesy. First they tried to kill a man, then to save +him; but, of course, they desired mostly to render him incapable of +injuring them and as long as this was accomplished it was not +necessary to deprive him of life. + +Hopalong, being in command, went over to look at the H2 foreman and +found him unconscious. Dragging him from under the body of his horse +Hopalong felt along the pinned leg and found it was not broken. +Pouring a generous amount of whiskey down the unconscious man's throat +he managed to revive him and then immediately disarmed him. Meeker +complained of pains in his groin, not by words but by actions. His +left leg seemed paralyzed and would not obey him. Hopalong called Red, +who took the injured man up in front of him, where Hopalong bound his +hands to the pommel of the saddle. + +Meeker preserved a stolid silence until Lanky joined them and then his +rage poured out in a torrent of abuse and accusations for the killing +of Ed Joyce. Lanky retorted by asking who Ed Joyce was, and wanted to +know whose body he had found just before Meeker had come onto the +scene. When he found that they were the same he explained that he had +not seen it before Meeker had, which the H2 foreman would not believe. +Red captured Dan Morgan's horse and led it up. After Chick and Dan had +been helped to mount the Bar-20 men's horses, placed before the +saddles and bound there, all started towards Lookout Peak, Lanky +riding Dan's horse. + +When they had arrived at their destination Meeker suddenly realized +what he was to be used for and stormed impotently against it. He heard +the intermittent firing around the plateau and knew that Doc and Jack +still held the house, and believed they could continue to hold it, +since the thick adobe walls were impenetrable to rifle fire. + +"Well, Meeker, it's you for th' house," Hopalong remarked after he had +sent Red to stop the fire of the others. "You got off d----d lucky +to-day; th' next time you raise the dickens along our line we'll pay +yore ranch houses a visit in a body an' give you something to think +about. We handled you to-day with six of us up north, an' what th' +whole crowd can do you can guess. Now walk up there an' tell them +range-jumpers to vamoose th' house!" + +"They'll shoot me before they sees who I am," Meeker retorted, +sullenly. "If yo're so anxious to get 'em out, do it yoreself--I don't +want 'em." + +By this time the others were coming up and heard Meeker's words, and +Hopalong, turning to Skinny and Billy, curtly ordered them to mount. +"Take this royal American fool up to th' bunk house to Buck. Tell Buck +what's took place down here, an' also that we're going to shoot h--l +out of th' fellers in th' house before he sees us. After that those of +us who can ride are going down to th' H2 an' clean up that part of th' +game, buildings an' all. Go on, lively! Red, Johnny, Pete; cover th' +windows an' fill that shack plumb full of lead. It's clouding up now +an' when it gets good an' dark we'll bust in th' door an' end it. +Skinny, you come back again, quick, with all th' grub an' cartridges +you can carry. Meeker started this, but _I'm_ going to finish it an' +do it right. There won't be no more line fights down here for a long +time to come." + +"I reckon I'll have to order 'em out," Meeker growled. "What'll you do +to 'em if I do?" + +"Send 'em home so quick they won't have any time to say 'good-bye,'" +Hopalong rejoined. "We've seen too much of you fellers now. An' after +I send 'em home you see that they stays away from that line--we'll +shoot on sight if they gets within gunshot of it! You've shore had a +gall, pushing us, you an' yore hatful of men an' cows! If it wasn't +for th' rustling we'd 'a pushed you into th' discard th' day I found +yore Greaser herding on us." + +Meeker, holding his side because of the pain there from the fall, +limped slowly up the hill, waving his sombrero over his head as he +advanced. + +"What do you want now?--_Meeker!_" cried a voice from the building. +"What's wrong?" + +"Everything; come on out--we lose," the foreman cried, shame in his +voice. + +"Don't you tell us that if you wants us to stay here," came the swift +reply. "We're game as long as we last, an' we'll last a long time, +too." + +"I know it, Doc--" his voice broke--"they've killed Ed an' captured +Chick, Dan, an' me. I'd say fight it out, an' I'd fight to th' end, +only they'll attack th' ranch house if we do. We're licked, _this +time!_" + +"First sensible words you've said since you've been on this range," +growled Lanky. "You was licked before you began, if you only knowed +it. An' you'll get licked _every_ time, too!" + +"Well, we'll come out an' give up if they'll let us all go, including +you," cried Doc. "I ain't going to get picked off in th' open while +I've got this shack to fight in, not by a blamed sight!" + +"It's all right, Doc," Meeker replied. "How's Jack?" he asked, +anxiously, not having heard Doc's companion speak. + +"Wait an' see," was the reply, and the door opened and the two +defenders stepped into sight, bandaged with strips torn from their +woollen shirts, the remains of which they did not bother to carry +away. + +"Who played that gun through th' west window?" asked Doc, angrily. + +"Me!" cried Skinny, belligerently. "Why?" + +"Muzzle th' talk--you can hold yore pow-wow some other time," +interposed Hopalong. "You fellers get off this range, an' do it quick. +An' stay off, savvy?" + +Meeker, his face flushed by rage and hatred for the men who had so +humiliated him, climbed up on Dan's horse and Dan was helped up +behind. Then Chick was helped to mount in front of his foreman and +they rode down the hill, followed by Doc and Jack. The intention was +to let Dan ride to the ranch after they had all got off the Bar-20 +range, and send up the cook with spare horses. Just then Doc +remembered that he and Jack had left their mounts below when they +walked up the hill to take the house, and they went after them. + +At this instant Curley was seen galloping up and he soon reported what +Salem had seen. Meeker flew into a rage at this and swore that he +would never give in to either foe. While Curley was learning of the +fighting, Doc and his companion returned on foot, reporting that their +horses had strayed, whereupon Meeker got off the horse he rode and +told Doc and Chick to ride it home, Curley being despatched for +mounts, while the others sat down on the ground and waited. + +When Curley returned with the horses he was very much excited, crying +that during his absence Salem had seen six men run off a herd of +several hundred head towards Eagle and had tried to overtake them in +the chuck wagon. + +"God A'mighty!" cried Meeker, furiously. "Ain't I got enough, _now_! +Rustling, an' on a scale like that! Peters was right after all about +th' rustling, d--n him. A whole herd! Why didn't they take th' rest, +an' th' houses, an' th' whole ranch? An' Salem, th' fool, chasing 'em +in th' chuck wagon! Wonder they didn't take him, too." + +"I reckon he wished he had his harpoon with him," Chick snorted, the +ridiculousness of Salem's action bringing a faint grin to his face, +angry and wounded as he was. "He's the locoedest thing that wears +pants in this section, or any other!" + +"It was a shore fizzle all around," Meeker grumbled. "But I ain't +through with that line yet--no, by th' Lord, I ain't got started yet! +But this rustling has got to be cleaned up first of all--th' line can +wait; an' if we don't pay no attention to th' valley for a while +they'll think we've given it up an' get off their guard." + +"Shore!" cried Dan, whose fury had been aroused almost to madness by +the sting of the bitter defeat, and who itched to kill, whether +puncher or rustler it little mattered; he only wanted a vent for his +rage. + +"We'll parade over that south range like buzzards sighting carrion," +Meeker continued, leading the way homeward. "I ain't a-going to get +robbed all th' time!" + +"Wonder if Smith did shoot Ed?" queried Dan, thoughtfully. "There was +quite a spell between th' shot I heard an' us seeing him, an' he acted +like he had just seen Ed. But it's tough, all right. Ed was a blamed +good feller." + +"Who did shoot him, then?" snapped Meeker, savagely. "There's no +telling what happened out there before we got there. Here, Curley, you +ain't full of holes like us--you ride up there an' get him while we go +home. He's laying near that S arroyo right close to th' line--th' one +we scouted through that time." + +"Shore, I'll get him," replied Curley, wheeling. "See you later." + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +ANTONIO LEAVES THE H2 + + +On the H2 Jim Meeker rolled and muttered in his sleep, which had been +more or less fitful because of his aching groin and strained leg. +Gazing confusedly about him he sat bolt upright, swearing softly at +the pain and then, realizing that he was where he should be, grumbled +at the kaleidoscopic dreams that had beset him during his few hours of +sleep, and glanced out of the window. Hastily dressing he strode to +the kitchen door, calling his daughter as he passed her room, and +looked out. The bunk house and the corrals were beginning to loom up +in the early light and the noise in the cook shack told him that Salem +was preparing breakfast for the men. He did not like the looks of the +low, huge, black cloud east of him and as he figured that it would not +pass over the ranch houses unless the wind shifted sharply he suddenly +stared at a corral and then hastened back to his room for the Colt +which lay on the floor beside his bunk. He had seen a man flit past +the further corral, speed across the open, and disappear behind the +corral nearest to the bunk house. This ordinarily would have provoked +no further thought, for his men were crazy-headed enough to do +anything, but while rustling flourished, and so audaciously, and while +a line war was on, it would stand prompt investigation. + +Peering again from the door, Colt in hand, Meeker slipped out silently +and ran to the corral wall as rapidly as his injuries would allow. +When he reached it he leaned close to it and waited, his gun levelled +at the corner not ten feet from him. Half a minute later and without a +sound a man suddenly turned it, crouching and alertly watching the +bunk house and cook shack at his left, and then stopped with a jerk +and reached to his thigh as he became aware that he was being watched +at such close range. Straightening up and smothering an exclamation he +faced the foreman and laughed, but to Meeker's suspicious ears it +sounded very much forced and strained. + +"No _sabe_ Anton?" asked the prowler, smiling innocently and raising +his hand from the gun. + +Meeker stood silent and motionless, the Colt as steady as a rock, and +a heavy frown covered his face as he searched the evil eyes of his +broncho-buster, whose smile remained fixed. + +"No _sabe Anton_?" somewhat hastily repeated the other, a faint trace +of anxiety in his voice, but the smile did not waver, and his eyes did +not shift. He began to realize that it was about time for him to leave +the H2, for he knew that few things grow so rapidly as suspicion. And +he knew that the outfit would do very little weighing in his case. + +Meeker slowly lowered his weapon and swore; he did not like the +prowling any better than he did the smile and the laugh and the +treacherous eyes. + +"I no savvy why yo're flitting around th' scenery when you should +ought to be in bed," he replied, his words ominously low and distinct. +"You've shore had a narrow squeak, for I came nigh on to letting drive +from th' door on a gamble. An' I'll own that I'm some curious as to +why yo're prowling around so early before breakfast. It ain't a whole +lot like you to be out so early before grub time. What dragged you +from th' bunk so d----d early, anyhow?" + +Antonio rolled a cigarette to gain time, being elaborately exacting, +and thought quickly for an excuse. Tossing the match in the air and +letting the smoke curl slowly from his nostrils he grinned pleasantly. +"I no sleep--have bad dreams. I wake up, _uno_, _dos_ times an' teenk +someteeng ees wrong. Then I ride to see. Eet ees soon light after that +an' I am hungry, so I come back. Eet ees no more, at all." + +"Oh, it ain't!" retorted the foreman, still frowning, for he strongly +doubted the truth of what he had heard, so strongly that he almost +passed the lie. "It's some peculiar how this ranch has been shedding +dreams last night, all right. However, since I had some few myself I +won't say I had all there was loose. But you listen to me, an' listen +good, too. When I want any scouting done before daylight I'll take +care of it myself, savvy? An' if yo're any wise you'll cure yoreself +of th' habit of being out nights percolating around when you ought to +be asleep. You ain't acted none too wide awake lately an' yore string +of cayuses has shore been used hard, so I want it stopped, an' stopped +_sudden_; hear me? I ain't paying you to work nights an' loaf days an' +use up good cayuses riding hell-bent for nothing. You ain't never +around no more when I want you, so you get weaned of flitting around +in th' night air like a whip-poor-will; you might go an' catch +malaria!" + +"I no been out bafo'--Juan, he tell you that ees so, _si_." + +"Is that so? I sort of reckon he'd tell me anything you want him to if +he thought I'd believe it. Henceforth an' hereafter you mind what +_I've_ just told _you_. You might run up against some rustler what you +don't know very well, an' get shot on suspicion," Meeker hazarded, but +he found no change in the other's face, although he had hit Antonio +hard, and he limped off to the ranch house to get his breakfast, +swearing every time he put his sore leg forward, and at the ranch +responsible for its condition. + +Antonio leaned against the corral wall and smoked, gazing off into +space as the foreman left him, for he had much to think about. He +smiled cynically and shrugged his shoulders as he shambled to his +shack, making up his mind to leave the H2 and join Shaw on the mesa as +soon as he could do so, and the sooner the better. Meeker's remark +about meeting strange rustlers, thieves he did not know, was very +disquieting, and it was possible that things might happen suddenly to +the broncho-buster of the H2. Soon emerging from his hut he walked +leisurely to the fartherest corral and returned with his saddle and +bridle. After holding a whispered consultation with Juan and Sanchez, +who both showed great alarm at what he told them, and who called his +attention to the fact that he had lost one of the big brass buttons +from the sleeve of his coat, the three walked to the cook shack for +their breakfast, where, every morning, they fought with Salem. + +"Here comes them Lascars again to fill their holds with white man's +grub," the cook growled as he espied them. "If I was th' old man I'd +maroon them, or make 'em walk th' plank. Here, _you_! Get away from +that bench!" he shouted, running out of the shack. "That's _my_ grub! +If you ain't good enough to eat longside of th' crew, d----d if you +can eat with th' cook! Some day I'll slit you open, tail to gills, see +if I don't! Here's yore grub--take it out on th' deck an' fight for +it," and Salem, mounting guard over the bench, waved a huge butcher +knife at them and ordered them off. "Bilgy smelling lubbers! I'll run +afoul of 'em some morning an' make shark's food out of th' whole lot!" + +Meanwhile Meeker, finding his breakfast not yet ready, went to +Antonio's shack and glanced in it. The bunk his broncho-buster used +was made up, which struck him as peculiar, since it was well known +that Antonio never made up his bunk until after supper. As he turned +to leave he espied the saddle and saw that the stirrups were streaked +with clay. "Now what was he doing over at th' river last night?" he +soliloquized. Shrugging his shoulders he wheeled and went to the bunk +house, where he stumbled over a box, whacking his shins soundly. His +heartfelt and extemporaneous remarks regarding stiff legs and +malicious boxes awakened Curley, who sat up and vigorously rubbed his +eyes with his rough knuckles. Grunts and profanity came from the other +bunks, Dan swearing with exceptional loquacity and fervor at his +wounded thigh. + +"Somebody'll shore have to lift me out like a baby," he grumbled. +"I'll get square for this, all right!" + +"Aw, what you cussing about?" demanded Chick, whose arm throbbed with +renewed energy when he sat up. "How'd you like to have an arm like +mine so you can't use it for grub, hey?" + +"You an' yore arm can--" + +"What's matter, Jim?" interrupted Curley, dropping his feet to the +floor and groping for his trousers. "You got my pants?" he asked Dan, +whereupon Dan told him many things, ending with: "In th' name of +heaven what do I want with pants on this leg! I can't get my own on, +let alone yourn. Mebby Chick has put 'em on his scratched wing!" he +added, with great sarcasm, whereupon Curley found them under his bunk +and muttered a profane request to be told why they had crawled so far +back. + +"Yo're a hard luck bunch if yo're as sore as me," growled Meeker, +kicking the offending box out of doors. "I cuss every time I hobble." + +"Oh, I ain't sore, not a bit--I'm feeling fine," exulted Curley, +putting one foot into a twisted trouser leg while he hopped +recklessly about to keep his balance, Dan watching him enviously. He +grabbed Chick's shoulder to steady himself and then arose from the +floor to find Chick calling him every name in the language and +offering to whip him with one hand if he grabbed the wounded arm +again. + +"Aw, what's th' matter with you!" he demanded, getting the foot +through without further trouble. "I didn't stop to think, you chump!" + +"Why didn't you?" snapped Chick, aggressively. + +"Curley, yo're a plain, d----d nuisance--get outside where you'll have +plenty of room to get that other leg in," remarked Dan. + +"Not satisfied with keeping us all awake by his cussed snoring an' +talking, he goes an' _hops_ right on my bad arm!" Chick remarked. "He +snores something awful, Jim; like a wagon rumbling over a wooden +bridge; an' he whistles every lap." + +"You keep away from _me_, you cow!" warned Doc, weighing a Colt in his +hand by the muzzle. "I'll shore bend this right around yore face if +you don't!" + +"Aw, go to th' devil! Yo're a bunch of sore-heads, just a bunch of--" +Curley snapped, his words becoming inaudible as he went out to the +wash bench, where Meeker followed him, glad to get away from the +grunting, swearing crowd inside. + +"Curley," the foreman began, leaning against the house to ease his +thigh and groin, "that Greaser of our'n is either going _loco_, or he +is up to some devilment, an' I a whole lot favors th' devilment. I +thought of telling him to clean out, get off th' range an' stay off, +but I reckon I'll let him hang around a while longer to see just what +his game is. Of course if he is crooked, it's rustling. I'd like an +awful lot to ketch him rustling; it'd wipe out a lot of guessing, an' +him at th' same time." + +"They're all of 'em crooked," Curley replied, refilling the basin. +"Every blasted one, an' he's worse than all th' others--he's a +coyote!" + +"Yes, I reckon you ain't far from right," replied Meeker. "Well, +anyway, I put in a bad night an' rolled out earlier'n usual. I looked +out an' saw somebody sneaking around th' corral, an', gettin' my gun, +I went after him hot foot. It was Antonio, an' when I asks for whys +an' wherefores, he gives me a fool yarn about having a dream. He woke +up an' was plumb scared to death somebody was running off with th' +ranch, an', being so all-fired worried about th' safety of th' ranch +he's too lazy to work for, he just couldn't sleep, but had to get up +an' _saddle his cayuse_ an' _ride_ around th' corrals to see if it was +here. Now, what do you think of that?" + +"Huh!" snorted Curley. "He don't care a continental cuss about this +ranch or anybody on it, an' never did." + +"Which same I endorses; it shore was a sudden change," Meeker replied, +glancing at the Mexican's shack. "I looked in his hut an' saw his bunk +hadn't been used since night afore last, so he must 'a had his dreams +then. There was yaller clay on his stirrups--he must 'a been scared +somebody was going to run off with th' river, too. Now he shore was +rampaging all over creation last night--he didn't have no dreams nor +no sleep in that bunk last night, nohow. Now, th' question is, where +was he, an' what th' devil was he doing? I'd give twenty-five dollars +if I knowed for shore." + +"That's easy!" snorted Curley, trying to get water out of his ear. +"Where'd I 'a been last night if I wasn't broke? Why, down in Eagle +having a good time--there's lots of good times in that town if you've +got th' price of more than a look-in. Or, mebby, he was off seeing his +girl, his _dulce_, as he calls her. That's a good way to pass th' +evening, too." Then, seeing the frown on Meeker's face he swiftly +contradicted himself, realizing that it was no time for jesting. "Why, +it looks to me like he might be a little interested in some of th' +promiscuous cattle lifting that's going on 'round here. I'll pump him +easy so he won't know what I'm driving at." + +"Yes, you might do that if yo're shore you won't scare him away, but I +want you to pass th' horse corral, anyhow, an' see what horse he rode. +See how hard he pushed it riding around th' corrals, an' if there's +any yellow clay on its legs. Don't let him see you doing it or he'll +get gun-shy an' jump th' country. I'm going up to breakfast--Mary's +calling me." + +Curley looked up. "Shore I'll do it. Holy cats! It's raining some on +th' hills, all right. Look yonder!" + +"Yes. I saw it this morning early. It passed to th' northeast of us. +I'll be back soon," and the foreman limped away. "Hey, Curley," he +called over his shoulder for Antonio's benefit, "take a look at them +sore yearlings in th' corral," referring to several calves they had +quarantined. + +"All right, Jim. They was some better last night. I don't think it's +anything that's catching." + +"O-o-h!" yawned Jack in the doorway. "Seems like I just turned +in--gosh, but I'm sleepy." + +"Nothing like cold water for that feeling," laughed Curley. "We stayed +up too late last night talking it over. Hullo, Chick; still going to +lick me one-handed?" + +"You get away from that water, so I can wash one-handed," replied +Chick. "But you shouldn't ought to 'a done that. No, Jack--go ahead; +but I'm next. Hey, Dan!" he cried, laughing, "shall I bring some water +in to you?" + +"I won't stay here an' listen to such language as Dan's ripping off," +Curley grinned, starting away. "I'm going up to look at them sick +yearlings in Number Two corral." + +True to his word Curley looked the animals over thoroughly and then +dodged into the horse corral, where he quickly examined the horses as +he passed them, alert for trouble, for a man on foot takes chances +when he goes among cow-ponies in a corral. Not one of the animals +forming Antonio's _remuda_ appeared to have been ridden and it was not +until he espied Pete, Doc's favorite horse, that he found any signs. +Pete's hair was roughened and still wet from perspiration, there was a +streak of yellow clay along its belly on one side but none on its +hoofs, and dried lather still clung to its jaws. Pete made no effort +to get away, for he was one of the best trained and most intelligent +animals on the ranch, a veteran of many roundups and drives, and he +knew from experience that he would not be called on to do double duty; +he had done his trick while the others rested. + +"An' you know I ain't a-going to ride you, hey?" Curley muttered. +"You've had yore turn, an' you know you won't be called on to-day, you +wise old devil. Pete, some people say cayuses ain't got no sense, that +they can't reason--they never knowed you, did they? Well, boy, you'll +have yore turn grazing with th' rest purty soon." + +He returned to the bunk house and spent a few minutes inside and then +sauntered easily towards the ranch house, where the foreman met him. + +"So there wasn't no clay on his hoofs, hey?" Meeker exclaimed. "Some +on his belly, an' none on his hoofs. Hum! I reckon Pete was left by +hisself while th' Greaser wrastled with th' mud. Must 'a thought he +was prospecting. Well, he's a liar, an' a sneak; watch him close, an' +tell th' rest to do th' same. Mebby we'll get th' chance soon of +stretching his yellow neck some bright morning. I'll be down purty +soon to tell you fellers where to ride." + +Curley returned to the wash bench and cleansed his hands, and because +the cold water felt so good, he dipped his face into it again, blowing +like a porpoise. As he squilgeed his face to lessen the duty of the +overworked towel, he heard a step and looked up quickly. Antonio was +leaning against the house and scowling at him, for he had looked +through a crack in the corral wall and had seen Pete being examined. + +"Eet ees _bueno_ thees mornin'," the Mexican offered. + +"What's good?" Curley retorted, staring because of Antonio's unusual +loquacity. + +"_Madre de Dios_, de weatha." + +"Oh, salubrious," replied Curley, evading a hole in the towel. "Plumb +sumptuous an' highfalutin', so to speak. You had a nice night for +Eagle, all right. Who-all was down there?" + +"Antone not en Eagle--he no leev de rancho," the Mexican replied, +surprised. He hesitated as if to continue and Curley noticed it. + +"What's on yore mind, 'Tony? What's eating you? _Pronto_, I'm hungry. +Next!" + +"No nex'--I no _sabe_." + +"You talkee likum Chinee!" retorted Curley. "Why don't you learn how +to talk English? It's easy enough. An' what do you want, anyhow, +getting so friendly all of a sudden?" + +Antonio hesitated again. "What you do een de corral thees mornin'?" + +"Oh, I was looking at them yearlings--they was purty bad, but they're +gettin' along all right. What do you think about 'em?" + +"No; een de _beeg_ corral." + +"Oh, you do!" snapped Curley. "Well, I remembered you was riding +around this morning before sun-up so I reckoned I'd look in an' see if +you rid my cayuse, which you didn't, an' which is good for you. I +ain't a whole lot intending to go moping about on no tired-out bronc, +an' don't you forget it, neither. An' seeing as how it ain't none of +your d----d business what I do or where I go, that's about all for +you." + +"You no spik true--_Pah_! eet ees a lie!" cried the Mexican excitedly, +advancing a step, and running into the wash water and a fist, both of +which met him in the face. Curley, reaching for his holster and +finding that he had forgotten to buckle it on, snatched the Remington +from Antonio's sheath while the fallen man was half dazed. Pointing it +at the Mexican's stomach, he ordered him up and then told him things. + +"I reckon you got off easy, Greaser--th' next time you calls me a liar +shoot first, or there'll be one less unwashed, shifty-eyed coyote of a +Greaser to ride range nights." + +Antonio, drenched and seething with fury, his discolored face working +with passion and his small, cruel eyes snapping, sprang to the wall +and glared at the man who had knocked him down. But for the gun in +Curley's hand there would have been the flash of a knife, but the +Remington was master of the situation. Knife throwing is a useful art +at times, but it has its limitations. Cursing in Spanish, he backed +away and slunk into his shack as Doc Riley stuck his head out of the +bunk house doorway, hoping to be entertained. + +"Worth while hanging 'round, Curley? Any chance of seeing a scrap?" +Doc asked, eying the gun in his friend's hand. + +"You could 'a seen th' beginning of a scrap a couple of minutes +earlier," Curley replied. "I didn't give him a chance to throw. Why, +he was out all night on Pete, yore cayuse--rode him hard, too. He +said--" + +"My Pete! Out all night on Pete!" yelled Doc, taking a quick step +towards Antonio's hut, the door of which slammed shut, whereupon Doc +shouted out his opinions of "Greasers" in general and of Antonio in +particular. "Is that right?" he asked, turning to Curley. "Was he out +on Pete?" + +"He shore was--used him up, too." + +"I'll break every bone in his yaller carcass!" Doc shouted, shaking +his fist at the hut. "Every time I see him I want to get my gun going, +an' it's getting worse all th' time. Unwashed pup! I'll fill him full +of lead pills surer than anything some of these days, you see if I +don't!" + +"If you don't I will," replied Curley. "I just don't know why I didn't +then because--" + +"Four bells--grub pile!" rang out the stentorian voice of Salem, who +could shout louder than any man on the ranch, and the conversation +came to an abrupt end, to be renewed at the table. + +When Antonio heard the cook's shout he opened the door a trifle and +then, seeing that the coast was clear, picked up the bundle which +contained his belongings, shouldered his saddle, slipped his rifle +under his arm, and ran to the corral. Juan and Sanchez had been there +before him and he found that they not only had taken four of the best +horses, but that they had also picketed two good ones for him, and had +driven off the remainder to graze, which would delay pursuit should it +be instituted. Saddling the better of the two, he left the other and +cantered northwest until hidden from the sight of any one at the +ranch, and then galloped for safety. + +Meeker, returning to the bunk house, found his men in far better humor +than they were in when he left them, although the death and burial of +Ed Joyce and the other misfortunes of the day before had quieted them +a little. As he entered the room he heard Salem in the cook shack, +droning a mournful dirge-like air as he slammed things about. + +"Hey, cook!" shouted the foreman, standing in the door of the gallery. +"Cook!" + +"Aye, aye, sir!" + +"You are shore you didn't recognize none of them thieves that ran off +our herd yesterday?" + +"Nary a one, sir. They was running with all sails set two points off +my port bow, which left me astarn of 'em. I was in that water-logged, +four-wheeled hulk of a chuck wagon an' I couldn't overhaul 'em, sir, +'though I gave chase. I tried a shot with th' chaser, but I was +rolling so hard I couldn't hull 'em. But I'll try again when I'm +sober, sir." + +"All right, Salem," laughed Meeker. "Curley, you take yore regular +range. Doc, suppose you take th' west, next to Curley? Chick an' Dan +will have to stay here till they get well enough to ride, an' I'll +need somebody on th' ranch after yesterday, anyhow. Jack, how do you +feel? Good! Ride between here an' Eagle. I'm going to go down to that +town an' see what I can find out." + +"But I can ride, Jim," offered Chick, eagerly. "This arm won't bother +me much. Let me stick close to Doc, or one of th' boys. Maybe they +might need me, Jim." + +"You stay right here, like I said. We'll have to wait till we're all +right before we can get down to work in earnest. An' every one of you +look out for trouble--shoot first an' talk after." He turned again to +the gallery. "Salem, kill a cow an' sun cure th' meat; we might want +it in a hurry sometime soon. That'll be one cow they don't get, +anyway." + +"Who's going to ride north, Jim?" asked Doc. + +"Nobody; th' Bar-20 has been so d----d anxious to turn our cows an' do +our herding for us, an' run th' earth, we'll just let 'em for a while. +Not much danger of any rustlers buzzing reckless around _that_ +neighborhood; they'll earn all they steal if they get away with it." + + I saw her face grow cold in death, + I saw her-- + +came Salem's voice in a new wail. Meeker grabbed a quirt and, leaping +to the gallery, threw it. The song stopped short and other words, +less tuneful, finished the cook's efforts. + +"You never mind what you saw!" shouted the foreman. "If you can't sing +anything but graveyard howls, you shut up yore singer!" + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +WHAT THE DAM TOLD + + +About the time Meeker caught Antonio prowling around the corral, +Hopalong stepped out of the line house on the Peak and saw the +approaching storm, which gladdened him, notwithstanding the fact that +he and Red would ride through it to the bunk house. The range was fast +drying up, the grass was burning under the fierce heat of the sun, and +the reservoir, evaporating as rapidly as it was supplied, sent but +little water down the creek through the valley. This storm, if it +broke over the valley, promised to be almost a flood, and would not +only replenish the water supply, but would fortify the range for quite +a while against the merciless sun. + +After he had sent Meeker and his men on their homeward journey he +ordered all but Red to report to Buck at the bunk house, believing +that the line fighting was at an end for a while, at least. But to +circumvent any contingency to the contrary, he and Red remained to +guard the house and discuss the situation. The rest of the line riders +were glad to get away for a day, as there was washing and mending to +be done, clothes to be changed, and their supply of cartridges and +tobacco to be replenished. + +After throwing his saddle on his horse he went back to the house to +get his "slicker," a yellow water-proof coat, and saw Red gathering up +their few belongings. + +"Going to rain like th' devil, Red," he said. "We'll get soaked before +we reach th' dam, but it'll give th' grass a chance, all right. It's +due us, an' we're going to get it." + +Red glanced out of the window and saw the onrushing, low black mass of +clouds. "Gee! I reckon yes! Going to be some fireworks, too." + +Hopalong, slipping into the hideous slicker, followed Red outside and +watched him saddle up. "It'll seem good to be in th' house again with +all th' boys, an' eat cook's grub once more. I reckon Frenchy an' some +of his squad will drift in--Johnny said he was going to ride out that +way on his way back an' tell 'em all th' news." + +"Yes. Mind yore business, Ginger!" Red added as his horse turned its +head and nipped at his arm, half in earnest and half in playful +expostulation. Ginger could not accustom himself to the broad, hind +cinch which gripped his soft stomach, and he was wont to object to it +in his own way. "Yes, it's going to be a shore enough cloud-burst!" +Red exclaimed, glancing apprehensively at the storm. "Mebby we better +take th' hill trail--we won't have no cinch fording at th' Bend if +_that_ lets loose before we get there. We should 'a gone home with th' +crowd last night, 'stead of staying up here. I knowed they wouldn't +try it again--it's all yore fault." + +"Oh, yo're a regular old woman!" retorted Hopalong. "A wetting will do +us good--an' as for th' ford, I feel like having a swim." + +The close, humid air stirred and moaned, and fitful gusts bent the +sparse grass and rustled across the plateau, picking up dust and +sending it eddying along the ground. A sudden current of air whined +around the corners of the line house, slamming the door violently and +awakening the embers of the fire into a mass of glowing coals, which +crackled and gave off flying sparks. Several larger embers burst into +flame and tumbled end over end across the ground, and Hopalong, +running them down, stamped them out, returning and kicking dust over +the fire, actuated by the plainsman's instinct. Red watched him and +grinned. + +"Of course that cloud-burst won't put the fire out," he remarked, +sarcastically, although he would have done the same thing if his +friend had not. + +"Never go away an' leave a fire lit," Hopalong replied, sententiously, +closing the banging door and fastening it shut. A streak of lightning +quivered between earth and clouds and the thunder rolled in many +reverberations along the cliffs of the valley's edge, to die out on +the flat void to the west. Down the wind came the haunting wail of a +coyote, sounding so close at hand that Red instinctively reached for +his rifle and looked around. + +"Take _mine_!" jeered Hopalong, mounting, having in mind the greater +range of his weapon. "You'll shore need it if you want to get that +feller. Gee, but it's dark!" + +It was dark and the air was so charged with electricity that blue +points of flame quivered on the ears of their horses. + +"We're going to get h--l!" shouted Red above the roar of the storm. +"Every time I spits I make a streak in th' air--an' ain't it hot!" + +One minute it was dark; another, the lightning showed things in a +ghastly light, crackling and booming like a huge fireworks exhibition. +The two men could feel the hearts of their horses pounding against +their sides, and the animals, nervous as cats, kept their ears moving +back and forth, the blue sparks ghostly in the darkness. + +"Come on, get out of this," shouted Hopalong. "D--n it, there goes my +hat!" and he shot after it. + +For reply Red spurred forward and they rode down the steep hill at a +canter, which soon changed to a gallop, then to a dead run. Suddenly +there came a roar that shook them and the storm broke in earnest, the +rain pouring down in slanting sheets, drenching them to the skin in a +minute, for their slickers were no protection against that deluge. +Hopalong stripped his off, to see it torn from his grasp and disappear +in the darkness like a frightened thing. + +"Go, then!" he snapped. "I was roasting in you, anyhow! I won't have +no clothes left by th' time I hits th' Bend--which is all th' better +for swimming." + +Red slackened pace, rode at his friend's side, their stirrups almost +touching, for it was safer to canter than to gallop when they could +not see ahead of them. The darkness gradually lessened and when they +got close to the dam they could see as well as they could on any dull +day, except for a distance--the sheets of water forbade that. + +"What's that?" Hopalong suddenly demanded, drawing rein and listening. +A dull roar came from the dam and he instinctively felt that something +was radically wrong. + +"Water, of course," Red replied, impatiently. "This is a _storm_," he +explained. + +Hopalong rode out along the dam, followed by Red, peering ahead. +Suddenly he stopped and swore. + +"She's _busted_! Look there!" + +A turbulent flood poured through a cut ten feet wide and roared down +the other side of the embankment, roiled and yellow. + +"Good G-d! She's a goner shore!" cried Red excitedly. + +"It shore is--_No_, Red! It's over th' stone work--see where that +ripple runs? We can save it if we hustle," Hopalong replied, wheeling. +"Come on! Dead cows'll choke it--get a move on!" + +When Buck had decided to build the dam he had sent for an engineer to +come out and look the valley over and to lay out the lines to be +followed. The west end, which would be built against the bluff, would +be strong; but Buck was advised to build a core of rubble masonry for +a hundred feet east of the centre, where the embankment must run +almost straight to avoid a quicksand bottom. This had been done at a +great increase over the original estimate of the cost of the dam, but +now it more than paid for itself, for Antonio had dug his trench over +the rubble core--had he gone down a foot deeper he would have struck +it and discovered his mistake. + +Hopalong and Red raced along the dam and separated when they struck +the plain, soon returning with a cow apiece dragging from their +lariats, which they released and pushed into the torrent. The bodies +floated with the stream and both men feared their efforts were in +vain. Then Hopalong uttered a shout of joy, for the carcasses, +stranding against the top of the masonry core, stopped, the water +surging over them. Racing away again they dragged up more cows until +the bodies choked the gap, when they brought up armfuls of brush and +threw them before the bodies. Then Red espied a shovel, swore +furiously at what it told him, and fell to throwing dirt into the +breach before the brush. He had to take it from different places so as +not to weaken the dam, and an hour elapsed before they stopped work +and regarded the results of their efforts with satisfaction. + +"Well, she's there yet, and she'll stay, all right. Good thing we +didn't take th' hill trail," Hopalong remarked. + +"Somebody cut it, all right," Red avowed, looking at the shovel in his +hands. "_H2_! Hoppy, see here! This is _their_ work!" + +"Shore enough H2 on th' handle, but Meeker an' his crowd never did +that," Hopalong replied. "I ain't got no love for any of 'em, but +they're too square for this sort of a thing. Besides, they want to use +this water too much to cheat themselves out of every chance to get +it." + +"You may be right--but it's d----d funny that we find their shovel on +th' job," Red rejoined, scowling at the brand burned into the wooden +handle. + +"What's that yo're treading on?" Hopalong asked, pointing to a bright +object on the ground. + +Red stooped and then shouted, holding up the object so his friend +could see it. "It's a brass button as big as a half-dollar--bet it +belonged to th' snake that used this shovel!" + +"Yo're safe. I won't bet you--an' Antonio was th' only one I've seen +wearing buttons like that in these parts," Hopalong replied. "I'm +going to kill him on sight!" and he meant what he said. + +"Same here, th' ornery coyote!" Red gritted. + +"That Greaser has had me guessing, but I'm beginning to see a great +big light," Hopalong remarked, taking the button and looking it over. +"Yep, it's hissen, all right." + +"Well, we've filled her," Red remarked after a final inspection. + +"She'll hold until to-morrow, anyhow, or till we can bring th' chuck +wagon full of tools an' rocks down here," Hopalong replied. "We'll +make her solid for keeps when we begin. You better take th' evidence +with you, Red, an' let Buck look 'em over. It's a good thing Buck +spent that extra money putting in that stone core! Besides losing th' +reservoir we'd have had plenty of dead cows by this time if it wasn't +for that." + +"An' that Greaser went an' picked out the weakest spot in th' whole +thing, or th' spot what would be th' weakest if that wall wasn't +there," Red remarked. "He ain't no fool, but a stacked deck can beat a +good head time after time." + +When they reached the ford they found a driftwood-dotted flood roaring +around the bend, three times as wide as it was ordinarily, for the +hills made a watershed that gave quick results in such a rain. + +"Now Red Eagle, old cayuse, here's where you swim," Hopalong laughed, +riding up stream so he would not be carried past the bottom of the +hill trail on the farther side. Plunging in, the two horses swam +gallantly across, landing within a few feet of the point aimed at, and +scrambled up the slippery path, down which poured a stream of water. + +When they reached the half-way point between the ford and the ranch +houses the storm slackened, evolving into an ordinary rain, which +Hopalong remarked would last all day. Red nodded and then pointed to a +miserable, rain-soaked calf, which moved away at their approach. + +"Do you see that!" he exclaimed. "Our brand, an' Meeker's ear notch!" + +"That explains th' shovel being left on th' dam," quickly replied +Hopalong. "It would be plumb crazy for th' H2 to make a combination +like that ear notch an' our brand, an' you can gamble they don't know +nothing about it. Th' gent that left Meeker's shovel _for us to find_ +did that, too. You know if any of th' H2 cut th' dam they wouldn't +forget to take th' shovel with 'em, Red. It's Antonio, that's who it +is. He's trying to make a bigger fight along th' line an' stir things +up generally so he can rustle promiscuous. Well, we'll give all our +time to th' rustling end from now on, if I have got any voice in th' +matter. An' I hope to th' Lord I can get within gun range of that +coyote of a Greaser. Why, by th' A'mighty, I'll go down an' plug him +on his own ground just as soon as I can get away, which will be +to-morrow! That's just what I'll do! I'll stop his plays or know th' +reason why." + +"An' I'm with you--you'll take a big chance going down there alone," +Red replied. "_After_ Meeker hears what we've got to say he'll be +blamed glad we came." + +An hour later they stopped at the ranch house, a squat, square +building, flat of roof, its adobe walls three feet thick and +impenetrable to heat. Stripping saddles and bridles from their +streaming mounts, they drove the animals into a large corral and ran +to the bunk house, where laughter greeted their appearance. + +"Swimming?" queried Johnny, putting aside his harmonica. + +"Hey, you! Get out of here an' lean up against th' corral till you +shed some of that water!" cried Lanky, the wounded, watching the +streams from their clothes run over the floor. "We'll be afloat in a +minute if you don't get out--we ain't no fishes." + +"You shut up," retorted Red. "We'll put you out there to catch what +water we missed if you gets funny," he threatened, stripping as +rapidly as he could. He hung the saturated garments on pegs in the +gallery wall and had Pete rub him down briskly, while Billy did the +same for his soaked companion. + +Around them were their best friends, all laughing and contented, +chaffing and exchanging personal banter with each other, engaged in +various occupations, from sewing buttons on shirts to playing cards +and mending riding gear. Snatches of songs burst forth at odd +intervals, while laughter was continually heard. This was the +atmosphere they loved, this repaid them for their hard work, this and +the unswerving loyalty, the true, deep affection, and good-natured +banter that pricked but left no sting. Here was one of the lures of +the range, the perfect fellowship that long acquaintance and the +sharing of hard work and ubiquitous danger breeds among the members of +a good, square outfit. Not one of them ever counted personal safety +before duty to his ranch and his companions, taking his hard life +laughingly and without complaint, generous to a fault, truthful and +loyal and considerate. There was manhood for you, there was contempt +for restricting conventions, for danger; there was a unity of thought +and purpose that set the rough-spoken, ready-fighting men of the +saddle and rope in a niche by themselves, a niche where fair play, +unselfishness, and a rough but sterling honor abides always. Their +occupation gave more than it exacted and they loved it and the open, +wind-swept range where they were the dominating living forces. + +Buck came in with Frenchy McAllister and Pie Willis and grinned at his +crowd of happy "boys," who gave warm welcome. The foreman was not +their "boss," their taskmaster, but he was their best friend, and he +shared with them the dangers and joys which were their lot, +sympathetic in his rough way, kind and trusting. + +Hopalong struggling to get his head through a dry shirt, succeeded, +and swiftly related to his foreman the occurrences of the morning, +pointing to the shovel and button as the total exhibit of his proofs +against the Mexican. The laughter died out, the banter was hushed, and +the atmosphere became that of tense hostility and anger. When he had +ceased speaking angry exclamations and threats filled the room, coming +from men who always "made good." When Red had told of the H2-Bar-20 +calf, an air of finality, of conviction, settled on them; and it +behooved Antonio to hunt a new range, for his death would be sudden +and merciless if he met any of the Bar-20 outfit, no matter when or +where. They never forgot. + +After brief argument they came to the decision that he was connected +with the rustling going on around them, and this clinched his fate. +Several, from the evidence and from things which they had observed and +now understood, were of the opinion that he was the ringleader of the +cattle thieves, the head and the moving spirit. + +"Boys," Buck remarked, "we won't bother about th' line very much for a +while. It's been a peaceable sort of a fracas, anyhow, an' I don't +expect much further trouble. If H2 cows straggle across an' yo're +right handy to 'em an' ain't got nothing pressing to do, drive 'em +back; but don't look for 'em particularly. There won't be no more +drives against us for a long time. We've got to hunt rustlers from now +on, an' hunt hard, or they'll get too numerous to handle very easy. +Let th' cows take care of themselves along th' river, Frenchy, an' put +your men up near Big Coulee, staying nights in Number Two. Pete an' +Billy will go with you. That'll protect th' west, an' there won't be +no rustling going on from th' river, nohow. Don't waste no time +herding--put it all in hunting. Hopalong, you, Johnny, Red, an' Skinny +take th' hills country an' make yore headquarters in Number Three an' +Four. Lanky will stay up here until he can handle hisself good again. +I'll ride promiscuous, but if any of you learn anything you want me to +know, leave it with Lanky or th' cook if you can't find me. Just as +soon as we have anything to go on, we'll start on th' war path hot +foot an' clean things up right an' proper." + +"What'll we do if we catches anybody rustling?" asked Johnny, assuming +an air of ignorance and curiosity, and ducking quickly as Red swung at +him. + +"Give 'em ten dollars reward an' let 'em go," Buck grinned. + +"Give me ten if I brings th' Greaser to you?" + +"I'll fine you twenty if you waste that much time over him," Buck +replied. + +"Whoop!" Johnny exulted. "Th' good old times are coming back again! +Remember Bye-an'-Bye an' Cactus Springs, Buckskin an' Slippery +Trendley? Remember th' good old scraps? Now we'll have something else +to do besides chasing cows an' wiping th' rust off our guns!" + +Lanky, who took keen delight in teasing the youngster, frowned +severely. "Yo're just a fool kid, just a happy idiot!" he snorted, and +Johnny looked at him, surprised but grinning. "Yes, you are! I never +seen such a bloody-minded animal in all my born days as you! After all +th' fighting you've gone an' got mixed up in, you still yap for more! +You makes me plumb disgusted, you do!" + +"He _is_ awful gory," remarked Hopalong soberly. "Just a animated +massacre in pants." + +"Regular Comanche," amended Red, frowning. "What do you think about +him, Frenchy?" + +"I'd ruther not say it," Frenchy replied. "You ask Pie--he ain't +scared of nothing, massacre _or_ Comanche." + +Johnny looked around the room and blurted out, "You all think th' same +as me, every one of you, even if you are a lot of pussy-cats, an' you +know it, too!" + +"Crazy as a locoed cow," Red whispered across the room to Buck, who +nodded sorrowfully and went into the cook shack. + +"You wait till I sees Antonio an' you'll find out how crazy I am!" +promised Johnny. + +"I shore hopes he spanks you an' sends you home a-bawling," Lanky +snorted. "You needs a good licking, you young cub!" + +"Yah, yah!" jibed Johnny. "Needing an' getting are two different +tunes, grand-pop!" + +"You wasn't down here, was you, Frenchy, when Johnny managed to rope a +sleepy gray wolf that was two years old, an' tried to make a pet out +of him?" asked Hopalong, grinning at his recollection of the affair. + +"No!" exclaimed Frenchy in surprise. "Did he do it?" + +"Oh, yes, he did it; with a gun, after th' pet had torn his pants off +an' chewed him up real well. He's looking for another, because he says +that was too mean a beast to have any luck with." + +Buck stepped into the room again. "Who wants to go with me to th' dam +in th' wagon?" he asked. "I want to look at that cut an' fix it for +keeps if it needs fixing. All right! All right! Anybody'd think I +asked you to go to a dance," he laughed. "Pete, you an' Billy an' Pie +will be enough." + +"Can't we ride alongside?" asked Pie. "Do we have to sit in that +thing?" + +"You can walk, if you want to. I don't care how you go," Buck +replied, stepping into the rain with the three men close behind him. +Soon the rattling of the wagon was heard growing fainter on the plain. + +The banter and the laughter ran on all the rest of the morning. After +dinner Hopalong built a fire in the huge stove and put a ladleful of +lead on the coals, while Frenchy and Skinny re-sized and re-capped +shells from the boxes on the wall. Hopalong watched the fire and +smoked the bullet moulds, while Lanky managed to measure powder and +fill the shells after Frenchy and Skinny had finished with them. +Hopalong filled the moulds rapidly while Johnny took out the bullets +and cooled them by dropping them into cold rain water, being cautioned +by Hopalong not to splash any water into the row of moulds. As soon as +he found them cool enough, Johnny wiped them dry and passed them on to +Red, who crimped them into the charged shells. Soon the piles of +cartridges grew to a goodly size, and when the last one had been +finished the crowd fell to playing cards until supper was ready. +Hopalong, who had kept on running bullets, sorted them, and then +dropped them into the boxes made for each size. Finally he stopped and +went to the door to look for signs of the morrow's weather. + +"Clearing up in th' west an' south--here comes Buck an' th' others," +he called over his shoulder. "How was it, Buck?" he shouted, and out +of the gathering dusk came the happy reply: + +"Bully!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +HOPALONG RIDES SOUTH + + +The morning broke clear and showed a clean, freshened plain to the men +who rode to the line house on the Peak, there to take up their +quarters and from there to ride as scouts. Hopalong sent Red to ride +along the line for the purpose of seeing how things were in that +vicinity and, leaving the others to go where they wished, struck south +down the side of the hill, intending to hunt Antonio on his own +ground. Tied to his saddle was the shovel and in his pocket he carried +the brass button, his evidence for Meeker. As he rode at an easy lope +he kept a constant lookout for signs of rustling. Suddenly he leaned +forward and tightened his knee grip, the horse responding by breaking +into a gallop, while its rider took up his lariat, shaking it into a +long loop, his twisting right wrist imparting enough motion to it to +keep it clear of the vegetation and rocks. + +A distant cow wheeled sharply and watched him for a moment and then, +snorting, its head down and its tail up, galloped away at a speed not +to be found among domesticated cattle. It was bent upon only one +thing--to escape that dreaded, whirling loop of rawhide, so pliant +and yet so strong. Hopalong, not as expert as Lanky, who carried a +rope nearly sixty feet long and who could place it where he wished, +used one longer than the more common lariats. + +The cow did its best, but the pony steadily gained, nimbly executing +quick turns and jumping gullies, up one side of a hill and down the +other, threading its way with precision through the chaparrals and +deftly avoiding the holes in its path. Closer and closer together came +the pursued and pursuers, and then the long rope shot out and sailed +through the air, straight for the animal's hind legs. As it settled, a +quick upward jerk of the arm did the rest and there was a snubbing of +rope around the saddle horn, a sudden stopping and dropping back on +haunches on the part of the pony, and the cow went down heavily. The +rider did not wait for the horse to get set, but left the saddle as +soon as the rope had been securely snubbed, and ran to the side of his +victim. + +The cow was absolutely helpless, for the rope was taut, the +intelligent pony leaning back and being too well trained to allow the +least amount of slack to bow the rawhide closer to the earth. +Therefore Hopalong gave no thought to his horse, for while cinches, +pommel, and rope held, the small, wiry, wild-eyed bundle of galvanic +cussedness would hold the cow despite all its efforts to get up. + +"Never saw _that_ brand before, an' I've rid all over this country for +a good many years, too," he soliloquized. "There sure ain't no HQQ +herd down this way, nor no place close enough for a stray. Somebody +is shore starting a herd on his own hook; from th' cows on this range, +too. + +"By th' great horned spoon! I can see Bar-20 in them marks!" he cried, +bending closer. "All he had to do was to make a H out of th' Bar, +close up th' 2, an' put a tail on th' O! Hum--whoop! There is H2 in +it, too! Close th' 2 an' add a Q, an' there you are! I don't mind a +hog once in a while, but working both ranches to a common mark is +shore too much for me. Stealing from both ranches an' markin 'em all +HQQ!" + +He moved up to look at the ears and swore when he saw them. "D--n it! +That's all I want to know! Mebby a sheriff wouldn't get busy on th' +evidence, but I ain't no sheriff--I'm just a plain cow-punch with good +common sense. Meeker's cut is a V in one ear--here I finds a slant +like Skinny saw, an' in both ears. If that don't cut under Meeker's +notch I'm a liar! All framed up to make a new herd out of our cows. +Just let me catch some coyote with a running iron under his saddle +flap an' see what happens!" + +He quickly slacked the rope and slipped off the noose, running as fast +as he could go to his pony, for some cows get "on the prod" very +easily, and few cows are afraid of a man on foot; and when a +long-horned Texas cow has "its dander up," it is not safe for an +unmounted man to take a chance with its horns, unless he is willing to +shoot it down. This Hopalong would not do, for he did not want to let +the rustlers know that the new brand had been discovered. Vaulting +into his saddle he eluded the charge of the indignant cow and loped +south, coiling up his rope as he went. + +Half an hour after leaving the HQQ cow he saw a horseman ahead of him, +threading his way through a chaparral. As Hopalong overtook him the +other emerged and stopped, uncertain whether to reach for his gun or +not. It was Juan, who had not gone to Mesa overnight, scouting to +learn if any new developments had taken place along the boundary. Juan +looked at the shovel and then at the puncher, his face expressionless. + +Hopalong glanced at the other's cuff, found it was all right, and then +forced himself to smile. "Looking for rustlers?" he bantered. + +"_Si._" + +"What! There ain't no rustlers loose on this range, is there?" asked +Hopalong, surprised. + +"_Quien sabe?_" + +"Oh, them sleepers were made by yore own, lazy outfit, an' you might +as well own up to it," Hopalong grinned, deprecatingly. "You can fool +Meeker, all right, he's easy; but you can't throw dust in my eyes like +that. On th' level, now, ain't I right? Didn't you fellers make them +sleepers?" + +Juan shrugged his shoulders. "_Quien sabe?_" + +"That '_Quien sabe_' is th' handiest an' most used pair of words in +yore cussed language," replied Hopalong grinning. "Ask one of you +fellers something you don't want to tell an' it's '_Quien sabe?_' +ain't it?" + +"_Si_," laughed the Mexican. + +"I thought so," Hopalong retorted. "You can't tell me that any gang +that would cut a dam like they did ourn wouldn't sleeper, an' don't +you forget it, neither!" + +Juan's face cleared for a moment as he gloated over how Antonio's +scheme had worked out, and he laughed. "No can fool you, hey?" Then he +pressed his knee tighter against his saddle skirt and a worried look +came into his eyes. + +Hopalong took no apparent notice of the action, but he saw it, and it +sent one word burning through his brain. They were riding at a walk +now and Hopalong, not knowing that Juan had left the H2, suggested +that they ride to the ranch together. He was watching the Mexican +closely, for it would not be unusual for a man in Juan's position to +try to get out of it by shooting. The Mexican refused to ride south +and Hopalong, who was determined to stay with his companion until he +found out what he wanted to know, proposed a race to a barranca that +cut into the plain several hundred yards ahead. He would let Juan beat +him, and all the way, so he could watch the saddle flap, and if this +failed he would waste no more time in strategy, but would find out +about it quickly. Juan also declined to race, and very hurriedly, for +the less his saddle was jolted the better it would be for him. He knew +Hopalong's reputation as a revolver fighter and would take no chances. + +"That ain't a bad cayuse you got there. I was wondering if it could +beat mine, what's purty good itself. Is it very bronc?" he asked, +kicking the animal in the ribs whereupon it reared and pranced. +Juan's left hand went to the assistance of his knee, his right grasped +the cantle of his saddle, where it was nearer the butt of his Colt, +and a look of fear came into his eyes. + +Hopalong watched his chance and as the restive animal swung towards +him he spurred it viciously, at the same time crying: "Take yore hand +from off that flap, you d----d cow-lifter!" + +The command was unnecessary, for a thin, straight rod of iron slipped +down and stuck in the sand, having worked loose from its lashings. +Mexican-like, Juan had put off until to-morrow to heat it and bend a +loop in one end for more secure fastening. + +At the instant it fell Juan leaned back and dropped over on the far +side of his horse, his right leg coming up level with his enemy, and +reached for his gun, intending to shoot through the end of the holster +and save time. But he went farther than he had intended, not stopping +until he struck the earth, his bullet missing Hopalong by only a few +inches. + +The Bar-20 puncher slipped his Colt back into the sheath and, leaning +down, deftly picked up the iron and fastened it to his saddle. Roping +the Mexican's horse he continued on his way to the H2, leaving Juan +where he had fallen. + +When he arrived at the ranch he turned the horse into the corral and +started to ride to the bunk house; but Salem, enjoying a respite from +cooking and washing dishes, saw him and started for him on an awkward +run, crying: + +"Where'd you git that hoss? Where'd you clear from, an' who are you?" + +"Th' cayuse belongs to Meeker--Juan was riding it. Is anybody around?" + +"I'm around, ain't I, you fog-eyed lubber! Where's th' Lascar? Who are +you?" + +"Well, Duke, I'm from th' Bar-20, an' my name is Hop--" + +"Weigh anchor an' 'bout ship! You can't make this port, you +wind-jamming pirate!" + +"I want to see yore foreman. This is his shovel, an' I--" + +"Then where'd you get it, hey? How'd you get his--" + +"Hang it!" interrupted Hopalong, losing his patience. "I tell you I +want to see Meeker! I want to see him about some--" + +"An' where's th' coolie that rid that hoss?" demanded the cook, +belligerently. + +"You won't see that thief no more. That's one of th' things I want +to--" + +"Hooray!" cried Salem. "Was he drowned, or shanghaied?" + +"Was he what? What are you talking about, anyhow? Where did you ever +learn how to talk Chinese?" + +"What! Chinese! You whale-bellied, barnacle-brained bilge pirate, I've +got a good notion--" + +"Say, is there anybody around here that ain't loco? Are they all as +crazy as you?" Hopalong asked. + +Salem grabbed up one of the bars of the corral gate and, roaring +strange oaths, ran at the stranger, but Hopalong spurred his horse and +kept clear of the pole while Salem grew short winded and more profane. +Then the puncher thought of Mary and cantered towards the ranch house +intending to ask her where he could find her father, thus combining +business with pleasure. Salem shook the pole at him and then espied +the saddled horse in the corral. He disliked horses as much as they +disliked him, so much, in fact, that he said the only reason he did +not get out of the country and go back to the sea was because he had +to ride a horse to do it. But any way was acceptable under the present +exigencies, so he clambered into the saddle after more or less effort +and found it not quite roomy enough for one of his growing corpulency. +Shouting "Let fall!" he cantered after the invader of his ranch, +waving the pole valiantly. He did not see that the ears of his mount +were flattened or that its eyes were growing murderous in their +expression, and he did not know that the lower end of the pole was +pounding lustily against the horse's legs every time he waved the +weapon. All he thought about was getting his pleasant duty over with +as soon as possible, and he gripped the pole more firmly. + +Hopalong looked around curiously to see what the cook was doing to +make all that noise, and when he saw he held his sides. "Well, if th' +locoed son-of-a-gun ain't after me! Lord! Hey, stranger," he shouted, +"if you want him to run fast, take hold of his tail an' pull it three +times!" + +He was not averse to having a little fun at the tenderfoot's expense +and he deferred his visit to the house to circle around the angry cook +and shout advice. Instead of laying the reins against his mount's neck +to turn it, Salem jerked on them, which the indignant animal instantly +resented. It had felt all along that it was being made a fool of and +imposed upon, but now it would have a sweet revenge. Leaping forward +suddenly it stopped stiff-legged and arched its back several times +with all the force it was capable of; but it could have stopped +immediately after the first pitch, for Salem, still holding to the +pole, executed a more or less graceful parabola and landed in a +sitting posture amid much dust. + +"_Whoof!_ What'd we strike?" he demanded dazedly. Then, catching sight +of the cause of his flight, which was at that moment cropping an +overlooked tuft of grass as if it were accustomed to upsetting +pole-waving cooks, Salem scrambled to his feet and ran at it, getting +in one good whack before the indignant and groping pony could move. + +"There, blast you!" he yelled. "I'll show you what you get for a trick +like that!" Turning, and seeing Hopalong laughing until the tears ran +down his face, he roared, "What are you laughing at, d--n you?" + +A rope sailed out and tightened around Salem's feet and he once more +sat down, unable to arise this time, because of Hopalong's horse, +which backed slowly, step by step, dragging the captive, who was now +absolutely helpless. + +"Now I want to talk to you for a few minutes, an' I'm going to," +Hopalong remarked. "Will you listen quietly or will you risk losing +th' seat of yore pants? You've _got_ to listen, anyhow." + +"Wha--what----go ahead, only stop th' headway of yore craft! Lay to! +I'm on th' rocks!" + +Laughing, Hopalong rode closer to him. "Where's Antonio?" + +"In h--l, I hope, leastwise that's where he ought to be." + +"Well, I just sent his friend Juan there--had to; he toted a running +iron an'--" + +"Did you? Did you?" cried Salem in accents of joy. "Why didn't you say +so before! Come in an' splice th' main brace, shipmate! That cross +between a nigger an' a Chinee is in Davy Jones' locker, is he? Hey, +wait till I get these lashings cast off--yo're a good hand after all. +Come in an' have some grog--best stuff this side of Kentucky, where it +was made." + +"I ain't got time," replied Hopalong, smiling. "Where's that Greaser +broncho-buster?" + +"Going to send _him_ down too? D--n my tops'ls, wish I knowed! He +deserted, took shore leave, an' ain't reported since. Yo're +clipper-rigged, a regular AB, you are! Spin us th' yarn, matey." + +Hopalong told him about the dam and the shooting of Juan and gave him +the shovel and button for Meeker, Salem's mouth wide open at the +recital. When he had finished the cook grabbed his stirrup and urged +him towards the grog, but Hopalong laughingly declined and, looking +towards the ranch house, saw Jim Meeker riding like mad in their +direction. + +"What do you want?" blazed the foreman, drawing rein, his face dark +with anger. + +"I want to plug Antonio, an' his friend Sanchez," Hopalong replied +calmly. "I just caught Juan with a running iron under his saddle flap +an' I drilled him for good. Here's th' iron." + +"Good for you!" cried Meeker, taking the rod. "They've jumped, all of +'em. I'm looking for 'em myself, an' we're all looking for coyotes +toting these irons. I'm glad you got one of 'em!" + +"Antonio scuttled their dike--here's th' shovel he did it with," +interrupted Salem eagerly. "An' here's th' button off th' Greaser's +jacket. He left it by th' shovel. My mate, here, is cruising to fall +in with 'em, an' when he does there'll be--" + +"Why, that's _my_ shovel!" cried Meeker. "An' that's his button, all +right." + +Hopalong told him all about the attempt to cut the dam and when he had +ceased Meeker swore angrily. "Them Greasers are on th' rustle, shore! +They're trying to keep th' fighting going on along th' line so we'll +be too busy to bother 'em in their stealing. I've been losing cows +right an' left--why, they run off a herd of beef right here by th' +houses. Salem saw 'em. They killed cows down south an' covered my +range with sleepers an' lame mothers. How did you come to guess he +had an iron?" + +Hopalong told of the HQQ cow he had found and, dismounting, traced the +brand in the sand, Meeker bending over eagerly. + +"You see this Bar-20?" he asked, pointing it out, and his interested +companion interrupted him with a curse. + +"Yes, I do; an' do _you_ see this H2?" he demanded. "They've merged +our brands into one--stealing from both of us!" + +"Yes. I figgered that out when I saw th' mark; that's one of th' +things I came down to tell you about," Hopalong replied, mounting +again. "An' Red an' me found a Bar-20 calf with a V ear notch, too. +That proves what th' dam was cut for, don't it?" + +"Why didn't I drop that coyote when I caught him skulking th' other +morning!" growled Meeker, regretfully. "He had just come back from +yore dam then--had yaller mud on his cayuse an' his stirrups. Out all +night on a played-out bronc, an' me too thick to guess he was up to +some devilment an' shoot him for it! Oh, h--l! I thought purty hard of +you, Cassidy, but I reckon we all make mistakes. Any man what would +stop to think out th' real play when he found that shovel is square." + +"Oh, that's all right. I allus did hate Greasers, an' mebby that was +why I suspected him, that an' th' button." + +Meeker turned to the cook. "Where's Chick an' Dan?" he asked, +impatiently. "I ain't seen 'em around." + +"Why, Chick rid off down south an' Dan cleared about an hour ago." + +"What! With that leg of hissen!" + +"Aye, aye, sir; he couldn't leave it behind, you know, sir." + +"All right, Cassidy; much obliged. I'll put a stop to th' rustling on +_my_ range, or know th' reason why. D--n th' day I ever left +Montanny!" Meeker swore, riding towards the ranch house. + +"Say, I hope you find them Lascars," remarked Salem. "Yo're th' boy +that'll give 'em what they needs. Wish you had caught 'em all four +instead of only one." + +Hopalong smiled. "Then they might 'a got me instead." + +"No, no, siree!" exclaimed the cook. "You can lick 'em all, an' I'll +gamble on it, too! But you better come in an' have a swig o' grog +before you weighs anchor, matey. As I was saying, it's th' best grog +west of Kentucky. Come on in!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +LUCAS VISITS THE PEAK + + +When Hopalong returned to the line house on the Peak he saw Johnny and +Skinny talking with Lucas, the C80 foreman, and he hailed them. + +"Hullo, Lucas!" he cried. "What are you doing down here?" + +"Glad to see you, Hopalong," Lucas replied, shaking hands. "Came down +to see Buck, but Lanky, up in th' bunk house, said he was off +somewhere scouting. From what Lanky said I reckon you fellers had a +little joke down here last week." + +"Yes," responded Hopalong, dismounting. "It was a sort of a joke, +except that somebody killed one of Meeker's men. I'll be blamed if I +know who done it. Lanky says he didn't an' he don't have to deny a +thing like that neither. Looks to me like he caught some brand-blotter +dead to rights, like I did a little while ago, an' like he got th' +worst of th' argument. Lanky would 'a told me if he did it, an' don't +you forget it, neither." + +"What's that about catching somebody dead to rights?" eagerly asked +Johnny. + +"Who was it?" asked Skinny. + +"Juan. He toted a running iron an' I caught him just after I looked +over a cow with a new brand--" + +"Did you get him good?" quickly asked Johnny. "Did he put up a fight?" + +"Yes; an' what was th' brand?" Skinny interposed. + +"Here, here!" laughed Hopalong. "I reckon I'll save time if I tell you +th' whole story," and he gave a short account of his ride, interrupted +often by the inquisitive and insistent Johnny. + +"An' who is Salem?" Johnny asked. + +"Meeker's cook." + +"What did Meeker say about it when you told him?" + +"Gimme a chance to talk an' I'll tell you!" and Johnny remained silent +for a moment. Finally the story was told and Johnny, who had been +swearing vengeance on all "Greasers," asked one more question, +grinning broadly: + +"An' what did Mary say?" + +"You say Meeker lost a whole herd?" asked Lucas. "Let me tell you +there's more people mixed up in this rustling than we think. But I'll +tell you one thing; that herd didn't go north, unless they drove ten +miles east or west of our range." + +"Well, I reckon it's under one man, all right," Hopalong replied. "If +it was a lot of separate fellers running it by themselves there'd 'a +been a lot of blunders an' some few of 'em would 'a been shot before +Juan went. It's a gang, all right. But why th' devil did they turn +loose that H2 rebranded cow, that HQQ that I found? They might 'a +knowed it would cause some hot thinking when it was found. That cow is +just about going to lick 'em." + +"Stray," sententiously remarked Skinny. + +"Shore, that's what it was," Lucas endorsed. + +"An' do you know what that means?" asked Hopalong, looking from face +to face. "It means that they can't be holding their herds very far +away. It's three to one that I'm right." + +"Mebby they're down in Eagle," suggested Johnny hopefully, for Eagle +would be a good, exciting proposition in a fight. + +"No, it ain't there," Hopalong replied. "There's too many people down +there. They would all know about it an' want a share in th' profits; +but it ain't a whole lot foolish to say that Eagle men are in it." + +"Look here!" cried Skinny. "Mebby that HQQ is their road brand--that +cow might 'a strayed from their drive. They've got to have some brand +on cows they sell, an' they can't leave ours on an' get back alive." + +"You are right, but not necessarily so about th' road brand," Hopalong +rejoined. "But that don't tell us where they are, does it?" + +"We've got to hunt HQQ cows on th' drive," Johnny interposed as Skinny +was about to speak. "I'll go down to Eagle an' see if I can't get on +to a drive. Then I'll trail th' gang all th' way an' back to where +they hangs out. That'll tell us where to go, all right." + +"You keep out of Eagle--you'd be shot before you reached Quinn's +saloon," Hopalong said. "No; it ain't Eagle, not at all. See here, +Lucas; have you watched them construction camps along that railroad? +There ain't a better market nowhere than them layouts; they don't ask +no questions if th' beef is cheap." + +"Yes, I've watched th' trails leading to 'em." + +"Why, they wouldn't cross yore range!" Hopalong cried. "They'd drive +around you an' hit th' camp from above; they ain't fools. Hey! I've +got it! They can't go around th' Double Arrow unless they are willing +to cross th' Staked Plain, an' you can bet they ain't. That leaves th' +west, an' there's a desert out there they wouldn't want to tackle. +They drive between th' desert an' yore range." + +"If they drive to th' camps, yo're right without a doubt," Skinny +remarked. "But mebby they are driving south--mebby they're starting a +ranch along th' Grande, or across it." + +"Well, we'll take th' camps first," Hopalong replied. "Lucas, can you +spare a man to look them camps over? Somebody that can live in 'em a +month, if he has to?" + +"Shore. Wood Wright is just th' man." + +"No, he ain't th' man," contradicted Hopalong quickly. "Anybody that +wears chaps, or walks like he does would arouse suspicion in no time, +an' get piped out some night. This man has got to have business up +there, like looking for a job. Say! Can you get along without yore +cook for a while? If you can't we will!" + +"You bet yore life I can!" exulted Lucas. "That's good. He can get a +job right where th' meat is used, an' where th' hides will be kicking +around. He goes to-morrow!" + +"That's th' way; th' sooner th' better," Hopalong responded. "But we +won't wait for him. We'll scout around lively down here an' if we +don't find anything he may. But for th' Lord's sake, don't let him +ride a cayuse into that camp that has brands of this section. Cowan +will be glad to lend you his cayuse; he got it up north too far to +make 'em suspicious." + +"Yes; I reckon that'll be about the thing." + +"Here comes Red," Johnny remarked. "Hey, Red, Hoppy got Juan this +morning. Caught him toting a straight iron!" + +"Johnny, you get away lively an' tell Frenchy to scout west," Hopalong +ordered. "You can stay up in Number Two with them to-night, but come +down here again in th' morning. Red, to-morrow at daylight we go west +an' comb that country." + +"That's th' way," remarked Lucas, mounting. "Get right at it. Have you +got any word for Buck? I'll go past th' house an' leave it if you +have." + +"Yes; tell him what we've talked over. An' you might send yore outfit +further west, too," Hopalong responded. "I'll bet a month's pay we +end this cow-lifting before two more weeks roll by. We've got to!" + +"Oh, yes; I near forgot it--Bartlett thinks we-all ought to get +together after th' rustling is stopped an' shoot that town of Eagle +plumb off th' earth," Lucas said. "It's only a hell hole, anyhow, an' +it won't do no harm to wipe it out." He looked around the group. "What +do you fellers think about it?" he asked. + +"Well, we might, then; we've got too many irons in th' fire now, +though," Hopalong replied. "Hey, Johnny! Get a-going! We'll talk about +Eagle later." + +"I'm forgetting lots of things," laughed Lucas. "We had a little fight +up our way th' other day. Caught a feller skinning one of Bartlett's +cows, what had strayed over on us. Got him dead to rights, too. He put +up a fight while he lasted. Said his name was Hawkins." + +"Hawkins!" exclaimed Hopalong. "I've heard that name somewhere." + +"Why, that's th' name on th' notice of reward posted in Cowan's," Red +supplied. "He's wanted for desertion from th' army, an' for other +things. They want him bad up at Roswell, an' they'll pay for him, dead +or alive." + +"Well, they won't get him; he ain't keeping good enough," Lucas +replied. "An' we don't want that kind of money. So long," and he was +off. + +"So you got Juan," Red remarked. "You ought to have took him alive--we +could get it all out of him an' find out where his friends are hanging +out." + +"He went after his gun, an' he had an iron," Hopalong replied. "I +didn't know he had left Meeker, an' I didn't stop to think. You see, +he was a brand-blotter." + +"What's Meeker going to do about th' line?" Red asked. + +"Nothing for a while; he's too worried an' busy looking after his +sleepers. He ain't so bad, after all." + +"Say," remarked Skinny, thoughtfully. "Mebby that gang is over east, +like Trendley was. There's lots of water thereabouts, an' good grass, +too, in th' Panhandle. Look how close it is to Fort Worth an' th' +railroad." + +"Too many people over there," Hopalong replied. "An' _they_ know all +about th' time we killed Trendley an' wiped out his gang. They won't +go where they are shore we'll look." + +"If I can get sight of one of them Greasers I'll find out where they +are," Red growled. "I'll put green rawhide around his face if I have +to, an' when he savvys what th' sun is going to do to that hide an' +him, he'll talk, all right, an' be glad of th' chance." + +"To hear you, anybody would think you'd do a thing like that," +Hopalong laughed. "I reckon he'd drop at eight hundred, clean an' at +th' first shot. But, say, green rawhide wouldn't do a thing to a man's +face, would it! When it shrunk he'd know it, all right." + +"Crush it to a pulp," Skinny remarked. "But who is going to cook th' +supper? I'm starved." + + * * * * * + +Hopalong awakened suddenly and listened and found Red also awake. +Hoofbeats were coming towards the house and Hopalong peered out into +the darkness to see who it was, his Colt ready. + +"Who's that?" he challenged, sharply, the clicks of his gun ringing +clear in the night air. + +"Why, me," replied a well-known voice. "Who'd you think it was?" + +"Why didn't you stay up in Number Two, like I told you? What's wrong?" + +"Nothing," Johnny replied, stripping off his saddle and bridle. + +"An' you came all th' way down here in th' dark, just to wake us up?" +Hopalong asked, incredulously. "Twenty miles just for that!" + +"No. I ain't got here yet--I'm only half way," Johnny retorted. "Can't +you see I'm here? An' I didn't care about you waking up. I wanted to +get here, an' here I am." + +"In th' name of heaven, are you drunk, or crazy?" asked Red. "Of all +th' d--n fools I ever--" + +"Oh, shut up, all of you!" growled Skinny, turning over in his bunk. +"Lot of locoed cusses that don't know enough to keep still! Let th' +Kid alone, why don't you!" he muttered, and was sound asleep again. + +"No, I ain't drunk or crazy! Think I was going to stay up there when +you two fellers are going off scouting to-morrow? Not by a jugful! I +ain't letting nothing get past me, all right," Johnny rejoined. + +"Well, you ain't a-going, anyhow," muttered Hopalong, crawling into +his bunk again. "You've got to stay with Skinny--" he did not speak +very loud, because he knew it would cause an argument, and he wished +to sleep instead of talk. + +"What'd you say?" demanded Johnny. + +"For G-d's sake!" marvelled Red. "Can't nobody go an' scratch +'emselves unless th' Kid is on th' ground? Come in here an' get to +sleep, you coyote!" + + Adown th' road, his gun in hand, + Comes Whiskey Bill, mad Whiskey-- + +Johnny hummed. "Hey! What you doing?" he yelled, leaping back. + +"You heave any more guns on my face an' you'll find out!" roared +Skinny, sitting up and throwing Johnny's Colt and belt to the floor. +"Fool infant!" + +"Tumble in an' shut up!" cried Red. "We want some sleep, you sage +hen!" + +"Yo're a lot of tumble-bugs!" retorted Johnny, indignantly. "How did I +know Skinny had his face where I threw my gun! He's so cussed thin I +can't hardly see him in daylight, th' chalk mark! Why didn't he say +so? Think I can see in th' dark?" + +"I don't talk in my sleep!" retorted Skinny, "or go flea-hopping +around in th' dark like a--" + +"_Shut up!_" shouted Hopalong, and silence at last ensued. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +HOPALONG AND RED GO SCOUTING + + +As Hopalong and Red rode down the slope of the Peak the rays of the +sun flashed over the hills, giving promise of a very hot day. They +were prepared to stay several days, if need be, on the semi-arid plain +to the west of them, for it would be combed thoroughly before they +returned. On they loped, looking keenly over the plain and +occasionally using their field glasses to more closely scrutinize +distant objects, searching the barrancas and coulees and threading +through mesquite and cactus growths. Hopalong momentarily expected to +find signs of what they were looking for, while Red, according to +his habit, was consistently contradictory in his words and +disproportionately pessimistic. + +Moving forward at a swinging lope they began to circle to the west and +as they advanced Hopalong became eager and hopeful, while his +companion grumbled more and more. In his heart he believed as Hopalong +did, but there had to be something to talk about to pass the time more +pleasantly; so when they met in some barranca to ride together for a +short distance they exchanged pleasantries. + +"Yo're showing even more than yore usual amount of pig-headed +ignorance to-day," Hopalong grumbled. "Yore blasted, ingrowing +disposition has been shedding cussedness at every step. I'll own up to +being some curious as to when it's going to peter out." + +"As if that's any of yore business," retorted Red. "But I'll just tell +you, since you asks; it's going to stop when I get good an' ready, +savvy?" + +"Yo're awful cheerful at times," sarcastically snorted his companion. + +Red's eyes had been roving over the plain and now he raised his +glasses and looked steadily ahead. + +"What's that out there? Dead cow?" he asked, calmly. + +Hopalong put his glasses on it instantly. "Cow?" he asked, +witheringly. "No; it's an over-grown lizard! Come on," he cried, +spurring forward, Red close behind him. + +Riding around it they saw that it bore the brand of the H2, and +Hopalong, dismounting, glanced it over quickly and swore. + +"Shot in th' head--what did I tell you!" + +"You didn't have to get off yore cayuse to see that," retorted Red. +"But get on again, an' come along. There's more out here. I'll take +th' south end of this--don't get out of hearing." + +"Wait! Wonder why they shot it, instead of driving it off after they +got it this far?" Hopalong mused. + +"Got on th' prod, I reckon, leaving its calf an' being run so hard. +I've seen many a one I'd like to have shot. Looks to me like they hang +out around that water hole--they drove it that way." + +"You can bet yore head they didn't drive it straight to their +hang-out--they ain't doing nothing like that," Hopalong replied. "They +struck south after they thought they had throwed off any pursuit. They +drove it almost north, so far; savvy?" + +"Well, they've got to have water if they're holding cows out on this +stove," Red rejoined. "An' I just told you where th' water is." + +"G'wan! Ten cows would drain that hole in two days!" Hopalong +responded. "They've also got to have grass, though mebby you never +knew that. An' what about that herd Meeker lost? They wouldn't circle +so far to a one-by-nothing water hole like that one is." + +"Well, then, where'll they find grass an' water out here?" demanded +Red, impatiently. "Th' desert's west, though mebby you never knew +that!" + +"Red, we've been a pair of fools!" Hopalong cried, slapping his thigh +by way of emphasis. "Here we are skating around up here when Thunder +Mesa lays south, with plenty of water an' a fair pasture on all sides +of it! That's where we'll go." + +"Hoppy, once in a great while you do show some intelligence, an' +you've shown some now; but we better go up to that water hole first," +Red replied. "We can swing south then. We're so close to it now that +there ain't nothing to be gained by not taking a look at it. Mebby +we'll find a trail, or something." + +"Right you are; come on. There ain't no use of us riding separate no +more." + +Half an hour later Hopalong pointed to one side, to a few half-burned +greasewood and mesquite sticks which radiated like the spokes of a +wheel. + +"Yes, I saw 'em," Red remarked. "They couldn't wait till they got home +before they changed th' brand, blamed fools." + +"Yes, an' that explains th' HQQ cow I discovered," Hopalong quickly +replied. "They got too blamed hasty to blot it an' it got away from +'em." + +"Well, it shore beats th' devil how Meeker had to go an' stir up this +nest of rattlers," Red grumbled, angrily. + +"If these fellers hang out at Thunder Mesa an' drive to th' railroad +camps we ought to strike their trail purty close to th' water hole," +Hopalong remarked. "It's right in their path." + +Red nodded his head. "Yes, we ought to." + +An hour later they rode around a chaparral and came within sight of +the water hole, which lay a few hundred yards away. As they did so a +man rode up out of the depression and started north, unconscious of +his danger. + +The two men spurred to overtake him, both drawing their rifles and +getting ready for action. He turned in his saddle, saw them, and +heading westward, quirted and spurred his horse into a dead run, both +of his pursuers shouting for him to stop as they followed at top +speed. He glanced around again and, seeing that they were slowly but +surely gaining, whipped up his rifle and fired at them several times, +both replying. He kept bearing more and more to the west and Red rode +away at an angle to intercept him. Ten minutes later the fleeing man +turned and rode north again, but Red had gained fifty yards over +Hopalong and suddenly stopping his horse to permit better shooting, he +took quick aim and fired. The pursued man found that his horse was +useful only as a breastwork as Red's report died away, and hastily +picked himself up and crawled behind it. + +"Look out, Red!" warned Hopalong as he flung himself off his horse and +led it down into a deep coulee for protection. "That's Dick Archer, +an' he can shoot like th' very devil!" + +Red, already in a gully, laughed. "An' so can I." + +"Hey, I'm going around on th' other side--look out for him," Hopalong +called, starting away. "We can't waste no more time up here than we +has to." + +"All right; go ahead," Red replied, pushing his sombrero over the edge +of the gully where the rustler could see it; and he laughed softly +when he saw the new hole in it. "He shore can shoot, all right," he +muttered. Working down the gully until he came to a clump of +greasewood he crawled up the bank and looked out at the man behind +the dead horse, who was intently watching the place where he had seen +Red's sombrero. "I knowed Eagle was holding cards in this game," Red +remarked, smiling grimly. "Wonder how many are in it, anyhow?" + +Hearing the crack of a gun he squinted along the sights of his +Winchester and waited patiently for a chance to shoot. Then he heard +another shot and saw the rustler raise himself to change his position, +and Red fired. "I knowed, too, that Hoppy would drive him into range +for me, even if he didn't hit him. Wonder what Mr. Dick Archer thinks +about _my_ shooting about now? Ah!" he cried as the smoke from his +second shot drifted away. "Got you again!" he grunted. Then he dropped +below the edge of the gully and grinned as he listened to the bullets +whining overhead, for the rustler, wounded twice inside of a minute by +one man, was greatly incensed thereby and petulantly bombarded the +greasewood clump. He knew that he was done for, but that was no reason +why he shouldn't do as much damage as he could while he was able. + +"Bet he's mad," grinned Red. "An' there goes that Sharps--I could tell +Hoppy's gun in a fusillade." + +Crawling back up the gully to his first position Red peered out +between some gramma grass tufts and again slid his rifle to his +shoulder, laughing softly at the regular reports of the Sharps. + +A puff of smoke enveloped his head and drifted behind him as he worked +the lever of his rifle and, arising, he walked out towards the +prostrate man and waved for his friend to join him. As he drew near +the rustler struggled up on one elbow, and Red, running forward with +his gun raised half-way to his shoulder, cried: "Don't make no +gun-play, or I'll blow you apart! Where's th' rest of yore gang?" + +"Go to h--l!" coughed the other, trying to get his Colt out, for his +rifle was empty. He stiffened and fell flat. + +Ten minutes later Hopalong and Red were riding southwest along a plain +and well beaten trail, both silent and thoughtful. And at the end of +an hour they saw the ragged top of Thunder Mesa towering against the +horizon. They went forward cautiously now and took advantage of the +unevenness of the plain, riding through barrancas and keeping close to +chaparrals. + +"Well, Red, I reckon we better stop," Hopalong remarked at last, his +glasses glued to his eyes. "No use letting them see us." + +"Is that smoke up there?" asked Red. + +"Yes; an' there's somebody moving around near th' edge." + +"I see him now." + +"I reckon we know all that's necessary," Hopalong remarked. "That +trail is enough, anyhow. Now we've got to get back to th' ranch +without letting them fellers see us." + +"We can lead th' cayuses till we can get in that barranca back there," +Red replied. "We won't stick up so prominent if we do that. After we +make it we'll find it easy to keep from being seen if we've any +caution." + +Hopalong threw himself out of the saddle. "Dismount!" he cried. "That +feller up there is coming towards this end. He's their lookout, I +bet." + +They remained hidden and quiet for an hour while the lookout gazed +around the plain, both impatient and angry at the time he gave to his +examination. When he turned and disappeared they waited for a few +minutes to see if he was coming back, and satisfied that the way was +clear, led their horses to the barranca and rode through it until far +enough away to be safe from observation. + +Darkness caught them before they had covered half of the distance +between the mesa and the ranch, and there being no moon to light the +way, they picketed their mounts, had supper, and rolling up in their +blankets, spent the night on the open plain. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +RED'S DISCOMFITURE + + +On their return they separated and Red, coming to an arroyo, rode +along its edge for a mile and then turned north. Ten minutes after he +had changed his course he espied an indistinct black speck moving +among a clump of cottonwoods over half a mile ahead of him, and as he +swung his glasses on it a cloud of smoke spurted out. His horse +reared, plunged, and then sank to earth where it kicked spasmodically +and lay quiet. As the horse died Red, who had dismounted at the first +tremor, threw himself down behind it and shoved his rifle across the +body, swearing at the range, for at that distance his Winchester was +useless. A small handful of sand flew into the air close beside him +with a vicious spat, and the bullet hummed away into the brush as a +small pebble struck him sharply on the cheek. A few seconds later he +heard the faint, flat report. + +"It's a clean thousand, an' more," he growled. "Wish I had Hopalong's +gun. I'd make that feller jump!" + +He looked around to see how close he was to cover and when he glanced +again at the cottonwoods they seemed to be free of an enemy. Then a +shot came from a point to the north of the trees and thudded into the +carcass of the horse. Red suddenly gave way to his accumulated anger +which now seethed at a white heat and, scrambling to his feet, ran to +the brush behind him. When he gained it he plunged forward to top +speed, leaping from cover to cover as he zig-zagged towards the man +who had killed Ginger, and who had tried his best to kill him. + +He ran on and on, his rifle balanced in his right hand and ready for +instant use, his breath coming sharply now. Red was in no way at home +out of the saddle. His high-heeled, tight-fitting boots cramped his +toes and the sand made running doubly hard. He was not far from the +cottonwoods; they lay before him and to his right. + +Turning quickly he went north, so as to go around the plot of ground +on which he hoped to find his accurate, long-range assailant, and as +he came to a break in the hitherto close-growing brush he stopped +short and dropped to one knee behind a hillock of sand, the rifle +going to his shoulder as part of the movement. + +Several hundred yards east of him he saw two men, who were hastily +mounting, and running from them was a frightened calf. One of the pair +waved an arm towards the place where Ginger lay and as he did so a +puff of smoke lazily arose from behind the hillock of sand to the west +and he jumped up in his saddle, his left arm falling to his side. +Another puff of smoke arose and his companion fought his wounded and +frightened horse, and then suddenly grasped his side and groaned. The +puffs were rising rapidly behind the hillock and bullets sang sharply +about them; the horse of the first man hit leaped forward with a +bullet-stung rump. Spurring madly the two rustlers dashed into the +brush, lying close along the necks of their mounts, and soon were lost +to the sight of the angry marksman. + +Red leaped up, mechanically refilling the magazine of his rifle, and +watched them out of sight, helpless either to stop or pursue them. He +shook his rifle, almost blind with rage, crying: "I hope you get to +Thunder Mesa before _we_ do, an' stay there; or run into Frenchy an' +his men on yore way back! If I could get to Number Two ahead of you +you'd never cross that boundary." + +As he returned to his horse his rage cooled and left him, a quiet, +deep animosity taking its place, and he even smiled with savage +elation when he thought how he had shot at eight hundred yards--they +had not escaped entirely free from punishment and his accuracy had +impressed them so much that they had not lingered to have it out with +him, even as they were two to one, mounted, and armed with long-range +rifles. And he could well allow them to escape, for he would find them +again at the mesa, if they managed to cross the line unseen by his +friends, and he could pay the debt there. + +He swore when he came to the body of his horse and anger again took +possession of him. Ginger had been the peer of any animal on the +range and, contrary to custom, he had felt no little affection for it. +At cutting out it had been unequalled and made the work a pleasure to +its rider; at stopping when the rope went home and turning short when +on the dead run it had not been excelled by any horse on the ranch. He +had taught it several tricks, such as coming to him in response to a +whistle, lying down quickly at a slap on the shoulder, and bucking +with whole-hearted zeal and viciousness when mounted by a stranger. +Now he slapped the carcass and removed the saddle and bridle which had +so often displeased it. + +"Ginger, old boy," he said, slinging the forty-pound saddle to his +shoulder and turning to begin his long tramp towards the dam, "I shore +hate to hoof it, but I'd do it with a lot better temper if I knowed +you was munching grass with th' rest of the cavvieyh. You've been a +good old friend, an' I hates to leave you; but if I get any kind of a +chance at th' thief that plugged you I'll square up for you good an' +plenty." + +To the most zealous for exercise, carrying a forty-pound +double-cinched saddle for over five miles across a hot, sandy plain +and under a blazing, scorching sun, with the cinches all the time +working loose and falling to drag behind and catch in the vegetation, +was no pleasant task; and add to that a bridle, full magazine rifle, +field glasses, canteen, and a three-pound Colt revolver swinging from +a belt heavily weighted with cartridges, and it becomes decidedly +irksome, to say the least. Red's temper can be excused when it is +remembered that for years his walking had been restricted to getting +to his horse, that his footwear was unsuited for walking, that he had +been shot at and had lost his best horse. Each mile added greatly to +his weariness and temper and by the time he caught sight of Hopalong, +who rode recklessly over the range blazing at a panic-stricken coyote, +he was near the point of spontaneous combustion. + +He heaved the saddle from him, kicked savagely at it as it dropped, +for which he was instantly sorry, and straightened his back slowly for +fear that any sudden exertion would break it. His rifle exploded, +twice, thrice; and Hopalong sat bolt upright and turned, his rifle +going instinctively to his shoulder before he saw his friend's waving +sombrero. + +The coyote-chaser slid the smoking Sharps into its sheath and galloped +to meet his friend who, filling the air with sulphurous remarks, now +seated himself on the roundly cursed saddle. + +Hopalong swept up and stopped, grinning expectantly and, to Red, +exasperatingly. "Where's yore cayuse?" he asked. "Why are you toting +yore possessions on th' hoof? Are you emigrating?" + +Red's reply was a look wonderfully expressive of all the evils in +human nature, it was fairly crowded with murder and torture, and +Hopalong held his head on one side while he weighed it. + +"Phew!" he exclaimed in wondering awe. "Yo're shore mad! You'd freeze +old Geronimo's blood if he saw that look!" + +"An' I'll freeze yourn; I'll let it soak into th' sand if you don't +change yore front!" blazed Red. + +"What's the matter? Where's Ginger?" + +A rapid-fire string of expletives replied and then Hopalong began to +hear sensible words, which more and more interspersed the profanity, +and it was not long before he learned of Red's ride along the arroyo's +rim. + +"When I turned north," Red continued, wrathfully, "I saw something in +them dozen cottonwoods around that come-an'-go spring; an' then what +do you think happened?" he cried. Not waiting for any reply he +continued hastily: "Why, some murdering squaw's dog went an' squibbed +at me at long range! With me on my own ranch, too! An' he killed +Ginger first shot. He missed me three straight an' _I_ couldn't do +nothing at a thousand an' over with this gun." + +"Th' d--n pirate!" exclaimed Hopalong, hotly. + +"I was a whole lot mad by that time, so I jumped back into th' brush +an' ran for th' grove, hoping to get square when I got in range. After +I'd run about a thousand miles I came to th' edge of th' clearing west +of th' trees an' d----d if I didn't see two fellers climbing on their +cayuses, an' some hasty, too. Reckon they didn't know how many friends +I might have behind me. Well, I was some shaky from running like I +did, an' they was a good eight hundred away, but I let drive just th' +same an' got one in th' arm, th' other somewhere else, an' hit both of +their cayuses. I wish I'd 'a filled 'em so full of holes they couldn't +hang together, th' thieves!" + +"I'd shore like to go after them, Red," Hopalong remarked. "We could +ride west an' get 'em when they pass that water hole if you had a +cayuse." + +"Oh, we'll get 'em, all right--at th' mesa," Red rejoined. "I'm so +tired I wouldn't go now if I could. Walking all th' way down here with +that saddle! You get off that cayuse an' let me ride him," he +suggested, mopping his face with his sleeve. + +"What! Me? _Me_ get off an' walk! I reckon not!" replied Hopalong, and +then his face softened. "You pore, unfortunate cow-punch," he said, +sympathetically. "You toss up yore belongings an' climb up here behind +me. I'll take you to th' dam, where Johnny has picketed his cayuse. +Th' Kid's going in for a swim; said he didn't know how soon he'd get a +chance to take a bath. We can rustle his cayuse for a joke--come on." + +"Oh, wait a minute, can't you?" Red replied, wearily. "I can't lift my +legs high enough to get up there--they're like lead. That trail was +hell strung out." + +"You should 'a cached yore saddle an' everything but th' gun an' come +down light," Hopalong remarked. "Or you could a' gone to th' line an' +waited for somebody to come along. Why didn't you do that?" + +"I ain't leaving that saddle nowhere," Red responded. "Besides I was +too blamed mad to stop an' think." + +"Well, don't wait very long--Johnny may skin out if you do," Hopalong +replied, and then, suddenly: "Just where was it you shot at them +snakes?" Red told him and Hopalong wheeled as if to ride after them. + +"Here, you!" cried Red, the horseless. "Where th' devil are you going +so sudden?" + +"Up to get them cow-lifters that you couldn't, of course," his +companion replied. "I'm shore going to show you how easy it is when +you know how." + +"Like h--l you are!" Red cried, springing up, his lariat in his hand. +"Yo're going to stay right here with me, that's what yo're going to +do! I've got something for you to do, you compact bundle of gall! You +try to get away without me and I'll make you look like an interrupted +spasm, you wart-headed Algernon!" + +"Do you want 'em to get plumb away?" cried the man in the saddle, +concealing his mirth. + +"I want you to stick right here an' tote me to a cayuse!" Red +retorted, swinging the rope. "_I'm_ going to be around when anybody +goes after them Siwashes, an' don't you forget it. There ain't no +hurry--we'll get 'em quick enough when we starts west. An' if you try +any get-away play an' leave me out here on my two feet with all these +contraptions, I'll pick you off'n that piebald like hell greased with +calamity!" + +Hopalong laughed heartily. "Why, I was only a-fooling, Red. Do you +reckon I'd go away an' leave you standing out here like a busted-down +pack mule?" + +"I hoped you was only fooling, but I wasn't taking no chances with a +cuss like you," Red replied, grinning. "Not with this load of woe, you +bet." + +"Say, it's too bad you didn't have my gun up there," Hopalong said, +regretfully. "You could 'a got 'em both then, an' had two cayuses to +ride home on." + +"Well, _I_ could 'a got 'em with it," Red replied, grinning, his good +nature returning under the chaffing. "But you can't hit th' mesa with +it over six hundred. They'd 'a got away from you without getting hit." + +Hopalong laughed derisively and then sobered and became anxious. +"Yo're right, Red, yo're right," he asserted with tender solicitude. +"Now you get right up here behind me an' I'll take you to th' dam +where th' Kid is. Pore feller," he sighed. "Well, I ain't a-wondering +after all you've been through. It was enough to make a _strong_-minded +man loco." He smiled reassuringly. "Now climb right up behind me, +Reddie. Gimme yore little saddle an' yore no-account gun--Ouch!" + +"I'll give you th' butt of it again if you don't act like you've made +th' best of them gravy brains!" Red snorted. "Here, you lop-eared +cow-wrastler--catch this!" throwing the saddle so sudden and hard that +Hopalong almost lost his balance from the impact. "Now you gimme a +little room in front of th' tail--I ain't no blasted fly." + +Hopalong gave his friend a hand and Red landed across the horse's +back, to the instant and strong dislike of that animal, which showed +its displeasure by bucking mildly. + +"Glory be!" cried Hopalong, laughing. "Riding double on a bucking +hinge ain't no play, is it? Suppose he felt like pitching real +strong--where would you be with that tail holt?" + +"You bump my nose again with th' back of yore head an' you'll see how +much play it is!" Red retorted. "Come on--pull out. We ain't glued +fast. Th' world moves, all right, but if yo're counting on it sliding +under you till th' dam comes around you're way off; it ain't moving +that way. Hey! Stop that spurring!" + +"I'll hook 'em in you again if you don't shut up!" Hopalong promised, +jabbing them into the horse, which gave one farewell kick, to Red's +disgust, and cantered south with ears flattened. + +"Whoop! I'm riding again!" Red exulted. + +"I'm glad it wasn't Red Eagle they went an' killed," Hopalong +remarked. + +"Red Eagle!" snorted Red, indignantly. "What good is this cayuse, +anyhow? Ginger was worth three like this." + +"Well, if you don't like this cayuse you can get off an' hoof it, you +know," Hopalong retorted. "But I'll tell you what you know a'ready; +there ain't no cayuse in this part of th' country that can lose him in +long-distance running. He ain't no fancy, parlor animal like Ginger +was; he don't know how to smoke a cig or wash dishes, or do any of th' +fool things yore cayuse did, but he is right on th' job when it comes +to going hard an' long. An' it's them two things that tell how much a +cayuse is worth, down here in this country. If I could 'a jumped on +him up there when they made their get-away from you, me an' th' Sharps +would 'a fixed 'em. They wouldn't be laughing now at how easy you +was." + +"They ain't laughing, not a bit of it--an' they won't even be able to +swear after I get out to th' mesa," Red asserted. "Have you seen Buck, +or anybody 'cept th' Kid?" + +"Yes. I told Buck an' Frenchy about it, an' Skinny, too," Hopalong +replied. "Buck an' Frenchy went north along th' west line to get th' +boys from Number Two. Buck says we'll go after 'em just as soon as we +can get ready, which most of us are now. Pore Lanky; he's got to stay +home an' pet his wounds--Buck said he couldn't go." + +"Did Buck say who was going an' who was going to stay home?" + +"Yes; you, Johnny, Billy, Pete, Skinny, Frenchy, me, Buck, an' Pie +Willis are going--th' rest will have to watch th' ranch. That makes +nine of us. Wonder how many are up that mesa?" + +"There'll be plenty, don't you worry," Red replied. "When we go after +anybody we generally has to mix up with a whole company. I wouldn't be +a whole lot surprised if they give us an awful fight before they peter +out. They'll be up in th' air a hundred feet. We'll have plenty to do, +all right." + +"Well, two won't be there, anyhow--Archer an' Juan. I bet we'll find +most of th' people of Eagle up there waiting for us." + +"Lord, I hope they are!" cried Red. "Then we can clean up everything +at once, town an' all." + +"There's th' Kid--see th' splash?" Hopalong laughed. "He shore is +stuck on swimming. He don't care if there's cotton-mouths in there +with him. One of them snakes will get him some day, an' if one does, +then we'll plant him, quick." + +"Oh, I dunno. I ain't seen none at th' dam," Red replied. "They don't +like th' sand there as much as they do th' mud up at th' other end, +an' along th' sides. Gee! There's his cayuse!" + +Johnny dove out of sight, turned over and came up again, happy as a +lark, and saw his friends riding towards him, and he trod water and +grinned. "Hullo, fellers. Coming in?--it's fine! Hey, Red. We're all +going out to Thunder Mesa as soon as we can! But what are you riding +double for? Where's yore cayuse?" Something in Red's expression made +him suspicious of his friends' intentions and, fearing that he might +have to do some walking, he made a few quick strokes and climbed out, +dressing as rapidly as his wet skin would permit. + +Red briefly related his experience and Johnny swore as he struggled +through his shirt. "What are you going to do?" he asked, poking his +head out into sight. + +"I'm going to ride yore cayuse to th' line house--you ain't as tired +as me," replied Red. + +"Not while I'm alive, you ain't!" cried Johnny, running to his horse. +Then he grinned and went back to his clothes. "You take him an' rope +th' cayuse I saw down in that barranca--there's two of 'em there, +both belonging to Meeker. But you be shore to come back!" + +"Shore, Kid," Red replied, vaulting into the saddle and riding away. + +Johnny fastened his belt around him and looked up. "Say, Hoppy," he +laughed, "Buck said Cowan sent my new gun down to th' bunk house +yesterday. He's going to bring it with him when he comes down +to-morrow. But I only got fifty cartridges for it--will you lend me +some of yourn if I run short?" + +"Where did Cowan get it?" + +"Why, don't you remember he said he'd get me one like yourn th' next +time he went north? He got back yesterday--bought it off some feller +up on th' XS. Cost me twenty-five dollars without th' cartridges. But +I've got fifty empties I can load when I get time, so I'll be all +right later on. Will you lend me some?" + +"Fifty is enough, you chump," laughed Hopalong. "You won't get that +many good chances out there." + +"I know; but I want to practise a little. It'll shoot flatter than my +Winchester," Johnny grinned, hardly able to keep from riding to the +bunk house to get his new gun. + +Red rode up leading a horse. "That's a good rope, Kid, 'though th' +hondo is purty heavy," he said, saddling the captured animal. "Is Buck +going to bring down any food an' cartridges when he comes?" he asked. + +"Yes; three cayuses will pack 'em. We can send back for more if we +stay out there long enough to need more. Buck says that freak spring +up on top flows about half a mile through th' chaparral before it +peters out. What do you know about it, Red?" Hopalong asked. + +"Seems to me that he's right. I think it flows through a twisting +arroyo. But there'll be water enough for us, all right." + +"I got a .45-120 Sharps just like Hopalong's, Red," Johnny grinned. +"He said he'd lend me fifty cartridges for it, didn't you, Hoppy?" + +"Well, I'll be blamed!" exclaimed Hopalong. "First thing _I_ knowed +about it, if I did. I tell you you won't need 'em." + +"Where'd you get it?" asked Red. + +"Cowan got it. I told you all about it three weeks ago." + +"Well, you better give it back an' use yore Winchester," replied Red. +"It ain't no good, an' you'll shoot some of us with it, too. What do +_you_ want with a gun that'll shoot eighteen hundred? You can't hit +anything now above three hundred." + +"Yo're another--I can, an' you know it, too. Three hundred!" he +snorted. "Huh! Here comes Skinny!" + +Skinny rode up and joined them, all going to the Peak. Finally he +turned and winked at Johnny. + +"Hey, Kid. Hopalong ought to go right down to th' H2 while he's got +time. He hadn't ought to go off fighting without saying good-bye to +his girl, had he?" + +"She'd keep him home--wouldn't let him take no chances of getting +shot," Red asserted. "Anyhow, if he went down there he'd forget to +come back." + +"Ow-wow!" cried Johnny. "You hit him! You hit him! Look at his face!" + +"He shore can't do no courting while he's away," Skinny remarked. "He +wouldn't let Red go with him when he went to give Meeker th' shovel, +an' I didn't know why till just now." + +"You go to blazes, all of you!" exclaimed Hopalong, red and +uncomfortable. "I ain't doing no courting, you chump! An' Red knows +why I went down there alone." + +"Yes; you gave me a fool reason, an' went alone," Red retorted. "An' +if that ain't courting, for th' Lord's sake what is it? Or is she +doing all of it, you being bashful?" + +"Yes, Hoppy; tell us what it is," asked Skinny. + +"Oh, don't mind them, Hoppy; they're jealous," Johnny interposed. +"Don't you make no excuses, not one. Admit that yo're courting an' +tell 'em that yo're going to keep right on a-doing it an' get all th' +honey you can." + +Red and Skinny grinned and Hopalong, swearing at Johnny, made a quick +grab for him, but missed, for Johnny knew the strength of that grip. +"I ain't courting! I'm only trying to--trying to be--sociable; that's +all!" + +"Sociable!" yelled Red. "Oh, Lord!" + +"It must be nice to be sociable," replied Johnny. "Since you ain't +courting, an' are only trying to be sociable, then you won't care if +we go down an' try it. Me for th' H2!" + +"You bet; an' I'm going down, too," asserted Red, who was very much +afraid of women, and who wouldn't have called on Mary Meeker for a +hundred dollars. + +Hopalong knew his friend's weakness and he quickly replied: "Red, I +dare you to do that. I dare you to go down there an' talk to her for +five minutes. When I say talk, I don't mean stammer. I dare you!" + +"Do you dare _me_?" asked Johnny, quickly, glancing at the sun to see +how much time he had. + +"Oh, I ain't got time," replied Red, grinning. + +"You ain't got th' nerve, you mean," jeered Skinny. + +"I dare you, Red," Hopalong repeated, grimly. + +"I asked you if you dared _me?_" hastily repeated Johnny. + +"_You!_ Not on yore life, Kid. But you stay away from there!" Hopalong +warned. + +"Gee--wish you'd lend me them cartridges," sighed Johnny. "Mebbe +Meeker has got some he ain't so stingy with," he added, thoughtfully. + +"I'll lend you th' cartridges, Kid," Hopalong offered. "But you stay +away from th' H2. D'y hear?" + + + + +CHAPTER XXV + +ANTONIO'S REVENGE + + +While Red had been trudging southward under his saddle and other +possessions a scene was being enacted on a remote part of the H2 range +which showed how completely a cowboy leased his very life to the man +who paid him his monthly wage, one which serves to illustrate in a way +how a ranchman was almost a feudal lord. There are songs of men who +gave up their lives to save their fellows, one life for many, and they +are well sung; but what of him who risks his life to save one small, +insignificantly small portion of his employer's possessions, risks it +without hesitation or fear, as a part of his daily work? What of the +man who, not content with taking his share of danger in blizzard, +fire, and stampede, on drive, roundup, and range-riding, leaps +fearlessly at the risk of his life to save a paltry head or two of +cattle to his ranch's tally sheet? Such men were the rule, and such a +one was Curley, who, with all his faults, was a man as a man should +be. + +Following out his orders he rode his part of the range with alertness, +and decided to explore the more remote southwestern angle of the +ranch. Doc had left him an hour before to search the range nearer +Eagle and would not be back again until time to return to the ranch +house for the night. This was against Meeker's orders, for they had +been told to keep together for their own protection, but they had +agreed that there was little risk and that it would be better to +separate and cover more ground. + +The day was bright and, with the exception of the heat, all he could +desire. His spirits bubbled over in snatches of song as he cantered +hither and yon, but all the time moving in the general direction of +the little-ridden territory. On all sides stretched the same +monotonous view, sage brush, mesquite, cactus, scattered tufts of +grass, and the brown plain, endless, flat, wearying. + +The surroundings did not depress him, but only gradually slowed the +exultant surge of his blood and, as he hummed at random, an old +favorite came to him out of the past, and he sung it joyously: + + My taste is that of an aristocrat, + My purse that of a pauper: + I scorn the gold her parents hold-- + But shore I love their daughter. + Hey de diddle de, hey de dee, + But shore I love their daughter. + + When silvery nights my courting light + An' souls of flowers wander, + Then who's to blame if I loved th' game + An' did not pause to ponder? + Hey de diddle de, hey de dee, + An' did not pause to ponder. + + Her eyes are blue, an' oh, so true-- + Th' words were said ere thought, Lad. + Her father swore we'd meet no more-- + But I am not distraught, Lad. + Hey de diddle de, hey de de-- + But I am not distraught, Lad. + +He ceased abruptly, rigidly erect, staring straight ahead as the +significance of the well trodden trail impressed itself on his mind. +He was close to the edge of a steep-walled basin; and leading to it +was a narrow, steep gully, down which the beaten trail went. Riding +closer he saw that two poles were set close to the wall of the gully, +and from one of them dangled a short, frayed hempen rope. There was a +water hole in the basin, surrounded by a muddy flat, and everywhere +were the tracks of cattle. + +As he hesitated to decide whether or not it would be worth while to +ride through the depression he chanced to look south, and the question +decided itself. Spurring savagely, he leaned forward in the saddle, +the wind playing a stern song in his ears, a call to battle for his +ranch, his pride, and his hatred for foul work. He felt the peculiar, +compelling delight, the surging, irresistible intoxication of his kind +for fighting, the ecstasy of the blood lust, handed down from his +Saxon forefathers. + +A mile ahead of him was a small herd of cattle, being driven west by +two men. Did he stop to return to the ranch for assistance? Did he +count the odds? Not he, for he saw the perpetrators of the insults he +and his companions had chafed under--the way was clear, the quarry +plain, and he asked naught else. + +They saw him coming--one of them raised a pair of glasses to his eyes +and looked closely at him and from him all around the plain. All the +time they were driving the cattle harder, shouting and whipping about +them with their rawhide quirts; and constantly nearer came the cowboy, +now standing up in his stirrups and lashing his straining mount +without mercy. Soon he thought he recognized one of the herders, and +he flung the name on the whistling wind in one contemptuous shout: +"_Antonio!_ D--n his soul!" and fell to beating the horse all the +harder. + +It was Antonio, and a puff of smoke arose from the Mexican's shoulder +and streaked behind, soon followed by another. Curley knew the rifle, +a .40-90 Sharps, and did not waste a shot, for he must be on equal +terms before he could hope to cope with it. Another puff, then another +and another, but still he was not hit. Now he drew his own rifle from +its holster and hazarded a shot, but to no avail. Then the second +herder, who had not as yet fired, snatching the rifle from Antonio's +hands and, checking his horse, leaped off and rested the weapon across +the saddle. Taking deliberate aim, he fired, and Curley pitched out of +the saddle as his horse stumbled and fell. The rider scrambled to his +feet, dazed and hurt, and ran to his horse, but one look told the +story and he ended the animal's misery with a shot from his Colt. + +The herder and the cattle were rapidly growing smaller in the distance +but the Mexican rode slowly around the man on foot, following the +circumference of a large circle and shooting with calm deliberation. +The bullets hummed and whined viciously past the H2 puncher, kicking +up the dust in little spurts, and cold ferocity filled his heart as he +realized the rustler's purpose. He raised his own rifle and fired--and +leaded the barrel. When he had fallen the barrel had become choked +with sand and dust and he was at the mercy of his gloating enemy, who +would now wipe out the insult put upon him at the bunk house. Slowly +Antonio rode and carefully he fired and then, seeing that there was +something wrong with Curley's rifle, which the puncher threw aside, he +drew closer, determined to shoot him to pieces. + +Curley was stung with rage now. He knew that it was only a question of +waiting until the right bullet came, and scorning to hug the sand for +the "Greaser" he held in such contempt, and vaguely realizing that +such an act would not change the result, he put all his faith in a +dash. He ran swiftly towards his astonished enemy, who expected him to +seek what cover the dead horse would give him, Colt in hand, cursing +at every jump and hoping to be spared long enough to get within range +with his six-shooter, if only for one shot. Antonio did not like this +close work and cantered away, glancing back from time to time. When +Curley finally was forced to stop because of exhaustion the rider also +stopped and slipped off his horse to have a rest for the rifle. Curley +emptied the Colt in a futile, enraged effort to make a lucky hit while +his enemy calmly aimed from across the saddle. Hastily reloading the +Colt as he ran, the puncher dashed forward again, zig-zagging to avoid +being hit. There was a puff of gray smoke, but Curley did not hear +the report. He threw one arm half up as if to ward off the shot and +pitched forward, face down in the dust, free from all pain and strife. + +Antonio fired again and then cautiously drew nearer to his victim, the +rifle at the ready. Turning shortly he made a quick grab at his horse, +fearing that it might leave him on foot to be caught by some wandering +H2 puncher. Springing into the saddle he rode forward warily to get a +closer look at the man he had murdered, proud of his work, but fearful +that Curley was playing dead. + +When assured that he had nothing to fear from the prostrate form, he +rode close. "Knock me down, will you!" he gritted, urging the horse to +trample on the body, which the animal refused to do. "Call me an +unwashed Greaser coyote, hey! Come out looking for us, did you? Well, +you found us, all right, but a h--l of a lot of good it did you, you +American dog! You ain't saying a word, are you, you carrion? You ain't +got no smart come-back now, an' you ain't throwing no wash water on +me, are you?" + +He started and looked around nervously, fearful that he might be +caught and left lying on the sand as he had left Curley. One or two of +the H2 outfit carried single-shot rifles which shot as far if not +farther than his own, and the owners of them knew how to shoot. +Wheeling abruptly he galloped after the herd, looking back constantly +and thinking only of putting as great a distance as possible between +himself and the scene of the killing. + +A lizard crawled out of a hillock and stared steadily at the quiet +figure and then, making a tentative sortie, disappeared under the +sand; but the man who had sung so buoyantly did not mind it, he lay +wrapped in the Sleep Eternal. He had died as he had lived, fearlessly +and without a whimper. + +Late in the afternoon Doc Riley, sweeping on a circling course, rode +through chaparrals, alert even after his fruitless search, looking +around on all sides, and wondered if Curley and he would meet before +they reached the ranch proper. Suddenly something caught his eye and +he stood up in the stirrups to see it better, a ready curse leaping +from his lips. He could not make out who it was, but he had fears and +he spurred forward as hard as he could go. Then he saw the horse and +knew. + +Riding close to the figure so as to be absolutely sure, he knew beyond +a hope of mistake and looked around the plain, his expression +malevolent and murderous. + +"Curley! Curley!" he cried, leaping off his horse and placing a heavy, +kindly hand on the broad, sloping shoulder of the man who had been his +best friend for years. "So they got you, lad! They got you! In God's +name, why did I leave you?" he cried in bitter self-condemnation. +"It's my fault, it's my fault, lad!" He straightened up suddenly and +glared around through tear-dimmed eyes. "_But by th' living God I'll +pay them for this,_ I'll pay them for this! D--n their murdering +souls!" + +He caught sight of an empty cartridge shell and snatched it up +eagerly. ".40-90, by G-d! That's Antonio's! Curley, my lad, I'll get +him for you--an' when I _do_! I'll send his soul to th' blackest pit +in h--l, an' send it _slow!_" + +He noticed and followed the tracks in the sand, reading them easily. +He found the Winchester and quickly learned its story, which told him +the whole thing. Returning to the body of his friend he sat by it +quietly, looking down at it for several minutes, his sombrero in his +hand. + +"Well, wishing won't do no good," he muttered, dismounting. "I'll take +you home, lad, an' see you put down too deep for coyotes to bother +you. An' I'll square yore scores or join you trying." + +He lifted the body across the withers of his horse and picked up the +Colt. Mounting, he rode at a walk towards the bunk house, afire with +rage and sorrow. + + * * * * * + +For the third time Meeker strode to the door of the bunk house and +looked out into the darkness, uneasy and anxious. Chick sauntered over +to him and leaned against the frame of the door. "They'll show up +purty soon, Jim," he remarked. + +"Yes. I reckon so--Salem!" the foreman called. "Put their grub where +it'll keep warm." + +"Aye, aye, sir. I was just thinking I ought to. They're late, ain't +they, sir?" he asked. "An' it's dark, too," he added, gratis. + +"Why, is it, Salem?" queried Dan, winking at Jack Curtis, but Salem +disappeared into the gallery. + +"Listen!--I hear 'em!" exclaimed Chick. + +"You hear one of 'em," corrected Meeker, turning to the table to +finish drinking his coffee. "Hey, Salem! Never mind warming that +grub--rustle it in here. One of 'em's here, an' he'll be starved, +too." + +Suddenly Chick started back with an exclamation as Doc Riley loomed up +in the light of the door, carrying a body over his shoulder. Stepping +into the room while his friends leaped to their feet in amazement and +incredulity, he lowered his burden to a bench and faced them, bloody +and furious. + +"What's th' matter?" exclaimed Meeker, the first to find his voice, +leaping forward and dropping the cup to the floor. "Who did that?" + +Doc placed his sombrero over the upturned face and ripped out a savage +reply. "Antonio! Yore broncho-buster! Th' snake that's raising all th' +devil on this range! Here--see for yoreself!" tossing the cartridge +shell to his foreman, who caught it clumsily, looked at it, and then +handed it to Dan. Exclamations and short, fierce questions burst from +the others, who crowded up to see the shell. + +"Tell me about it, Doc," requested Meeker, pacing from wall to wall. + +"He was shot down like a dog!" Doc cried, his rage sweeping over him +anew in all its savagery. "I saw th' whole thing in th' sand, plain as +day. Th' Greaser got his cayuse first an' then rode rings around him, +keeping out of range of Curley's Colt, for Curley had leaded his +rifle. It was Colt against Sharps at five hundred, that was what it +was! He didn't have a show, not a measly show for his life! Shot down +like _a dog!_" + +"Where'd it happen?" asked Chick, breathlessly, while the low-voiced +threats and imprecations swelled to an angry, humming chorus. + +"Away down in th' southwest corner," replied Doc, and he continued +almost inaudibly, speaking to himself and forgetful of the others. "Me +an' him went to school together an' I used to lick every kid that +bullied him till he got big enough to do it hisself. We run away +together an' shared th' same hard luck. We went through that Sioux +campaign together, side by side, an' to think that after he pulled out +of _that_ alive he had to be murdered by a yaller coward of a Greaser! +If he'd been killed by a human being an' in a fair fight it would be +all right; but by that coyote--it don't seem possible, not noway. I +licked th' feller that hurt him on his first day at school--I'm going +to kill th' last! + +"Meeker," he said, coming to himself and facing the angry foreman, +"I'm quitting to-night. I won't punch no more till I get that Greaser. +I take up that trail at daylight an' push it to a finish even if it +takes me into Mexico--it's got to be him or me, now." + +"You don't have to quit _me_ to do that, an' you _know_ it!" Meeker +cried. "I don't care if yo're gone for six months--yore pay goes on +just th' same. He went down fighting for me, an' I'll be everlastingly +condemned if I don't have a hand in squaring up for it. Yo're going on +special duty for th' H2, Doc, an' yore orders are to get Antonio. +Why, by th' Lord, I'll take up th' trail with you, Doc, an' with th' +rest of th' boys behind me. This ranch can go galley-west an' crooked +till we get that snake. Dan an' Salem stays with my girl an' to watch +th' ranch--th' rest of us are with you--we're as anxious as you to +push him Yonder, Doc." + +"If I can get him alive, get my two hands on his skinny neck," Doc +muttered, his fingers twitching, "I'll kill him slow, so he'll feel it +longer, so he'll be shore to know why he's going. I want to _feel_ his +murdering soul dribble hell-wards, an' let him come back a couple of +times so I can laugh in his yaller face when he begs! I want to get +him--_so!_" and Chick shuddered as the knotted, steel-like fingers +opened and shut, for Doc was half devil now. While Chick stared, the +transformed man walked over to the bench and picked up the body in his +brawny arms and strode into the blackness--Curley was going to lie in +the open, with the stars and the sky and the sighing wind. + +"God!" breathed Chick, looking around, "I never saw a man like _that_ +before!" + +"I hope he gets what he wants!" exclaimed Dan, fiercely. + +"You fellers get yore traps ready for a chase," Meeker ordered as he +strode to the door of the gallery. "Fifty rounds for six-shooters an' +fifty for rifle, an' plenty of grub. It's a whole lot likely that th' +Greaser headed for his gang, an' we've got to be ready to handle +everything that comes up. Hey, Salem!" he shouted. + +"Aye, aye, sir!" replied Salem, who had just come in from one of the +corrals and knew nothing of what had occurred. + +"Did you cure that beef I told you to?" demanded the foreman. + +"Yes, sir; but it ain't had time to cure--th' weather's not been +right. Howsomever, I smoked some. That'll be ship-shape." + +"Well, have it on our cayuses at daylight. Did you cut this beef in +strips, or in twenty-pound chunks, like you did th' last?" + +"Strips, _little_ strips--I ain't trying to sun-cure no more big +hunks, not me, sir." + +Meeker turned and went towards the outer door. + +"Don't waste no time, boys," he said. "Get all th' sleep you can +to-night--you'll need it if I reckon right. Good-night," and he +stepped out into the darkness. "D--n them dogs!" he muttered, +disappearing in the direction of the kennels, from which came +quavering, long-drawn howls. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI + +FRISCO VISITS EAGLE + + +Eagle did not thoroughly awaken until the sun began to set, for it was +not until dark that its inhabitants, largely transient, cared to +venture forth. Then it was that the town seethed, boldly, openly, +restrained by nothing save the might of the individual. + +Prosperity had blessed the town, for there had been an abrupt and +pleasing change in local conditions since the disagreement between the +two ranches north of the town had assumed warlike aspect. Men who +heretofore had no standing with the proprietors of the town's places +of amusement and who had seldom been able to pay for as much liquor as +they were capable of drinking, now swaggered importantly where they +pleased, and found welcome where formerly it had been denied them; for +their hands were thrust deep into pockets from which came the cheerful +and open-sesame clinking of gold. Even Big Sandy, who had earned his +food by sweeping out the saloons and doing odd jobs about them, and +who was popularly believed to be too lazy to earn a better living by +real work, now drank his fill and failed to recognize a broom when he +saw it. While the inhabitants could not "get in" on the big plums +which they were certain were being shaken down on the range, they +could and did take care of the windfalls, and thrived well. They would +stay in town until their money was gone and then disappear for a week, +and return to spend recklessly. It is not out of place to state, in +passing, that numerous small herds bearing strange brands frequently +passed around the town at a speed greater than that common to drives, +and left clouds of dust on the southeastern horizon. + +The town debated the probable whereabouts of ten men who had suddenly +disappeared in a body, along with Antonio of the H2. It was obvious +what they were doing and the conjectures were limited as to their +whereabouts and success. For a while after they had left one or two +had ridden in occasionally to buy flour and other necessities, and at +that time they had caused no particular thought. But now even these +visits had ceased. It was common belief that Quinn knew all about +them, but Quinn for good reasons was not urged to talk about the +matter. Big Sandy acted as though he knew, which increased his +importance for a time, and discredited him thereafter. + +While the citizens had been able to rustle as they pleased they had +given but little thought to the ten men, being too busy to trail. But +now that the H2 punchers rode range with rifles across their arms +rustling had become very risky and had fallen off. Then it was that +the idlers renewed their conjectures about Shaw and his men and +thrashed that matter over and over again. The majority being, as we +have said, transients, knew nothing about Thunder Mesa, and those who +did know of it were silent, for Shaw and some of his companions knew +only one way to close a man's mouth, and were very capable. + +So it happened that about noon of the day Curley lost his life six men +met in the shadow cast by the front of the "Rawhide" a hundred yards +from Quinn's, and exercised squatter sovereignty on the bench just +outside the door, while inside the saloon Big Sandy and Nevada played +cards close to the bar and talked in low tones. When they were aware +of the presence of those on the bench they played silently and +listened. The six men outside made up one of the groups of the town's +society, having ridden in together and stuck together ever since they +had arrived, which was wise. + +Big Sandy and Nevada made a team more feared than any other +combination. The former, while fair with weapons, was endowed with +prodigious strength; by some it was hailed as being greater than that +of Pete Wilson, the squat giant of the Bar-20, whose strength was +proverbial, as it had good right to be. Nevada was the opposite type, +slender, short, wiry, and soft-spoken, but the quickest man in town on +the draw and of uncertain temper. + +Chet Bates, on the bench, replied to a companion and gave vent to his +soft, Southern laugh. "Yuh still wondering 'bout thet man Shaw, an' +th' othas?" + +"Nothing else to do, is there?" retorted Dal Gilbert. "We can't run no +more cattle, can we?" + +"I reckon we can't." + +"They're running a big game an' I want to get in it," remarked John +Elder. "Frisco was allus friendly. We've got to go trailing for 'em." + +"Yes; an' get shot," interposed George Lewis. "They're ten to our six. +An' that ain't all of our troubles, neither. We'll find ourselves in a +big fight some day, an' right here. Them ranches will wake up, patch +up their troubles, an' come down here. You remember what Quinn said +about th' time Peters led a lot of mad punchers agin Trendley an' his +crowd, don't you? In a day he can raise men enough to wipe this town +off th' map." + +"Yuh forget, suh, that they are fighting foh principles, an' men who +fight foh principles don't call truces," said Chet Bates. + +"You've said that till it's old," laughed Sam Austin. + +"_I_ say we've got to keep our eyes open," warned Lewis. + +"Th' devil with that!" broke in Con Irwin. "What _I_ want to know is +how we're going to get some of th' easy money Shaw's getting." + +"We'll have to wait for one of his men to come to town an' trail him +back," replied Gilbert. + +"What do you say that we try to run one more good herd an' then scout +for them, or their trails?" asked Irwin. + +"Heah comes somebody," remarked Chet, listening. + +The sound of galloping grew rapidly louder and soon they saw Frisco +turn into the street and ride towards them. As they saw him a quiet +voice was heard behind them and looking up, they saw Nevada smiling at +them. "Get him drunk an' keep him away from Quinn's," he counselled. + +They exchanged looks and then Elder stepped out into the street and +held up his hand. "Hullo, Frisco!" he cried. + +"Where yuh been keeping yuhself foh so long?" asked Chet, affably. +"Holed up som'ers?" + +"Hullo, fellers," grinned Frisco, drawing rein. + +"Everybody have a drink on me," laughed Chet. "Ah'm pow'ful thirsty." + +Frisco was escorted inside to the bar, where Chet did the honors, and +where such a spirit of hospitality and joviality surrounded him that +he forgot how many drinks he had taken. He dug up a handful of gold +and silver and spread it out on the bar and waved at the bartender. +"Bes' you got--ver' bes'," he grinned. "Me an' my fren's want th' ver' +bes'; don't we, fellers? I got money--helluva lot of money--an' thersh +more where it came from, ain't that so, boys?" + +When the noise had subsided he turned around and levelled an unsteady +finger at the bartender. "I never go--back onsh fren', never. An' +we're all frensh--ain't we, fellers? Tha's right. I got s'more +frensh--good fellesh, an' lots of money cached in sand." + +"Ah'll bet yuh have!" cried Chet. + +"You allus could find pay-dirt," marvelled Nevada, glancing warningly +around him. "Yo're a fine prospector, all right." + +Frisco stared for a moment and then laughed loudly and leaned against +the bar for support. "Proshpector! Proshpector! W'y, we earned tha's +money--run a helluva lot of risks. Mebby tha's Bar-20 outfit'll jump +us an' make us fight 'em. No; they can't jump us--they can't get up at +us!" + +"On a mesa, shore!" whispered Elder to Lewis. + +"Wha's you shay?" + +"Said they couldn't lick you." + +"Who couldn't--lick us?" + +"Th' Bar-20," explained Elder. + +Frisco rubbed his head and drew himself up, suspicion percolating +through his muddled brain. "Never shaid nozzing 'bout no Bar-Twensh!" +he asserted, angrily. "Nozzing 'tall. I'm going out of here--don't +like you! Gotta get some flour an' ozzer stuff. Never shaid nozzing +'bout--" he muttered, staggering out. + +Nevada turned to Elder. "You go with him an' quiet his suspicions. +Keep him away from Quinn, for that coyote'll hold him till he gets +sober if you don't. This is the chance we've been wanting. Don't try +to pump him--his trail will be all we need." + +"Wonder what mesa they're on?" asked Lewis. + +"Don't know, an' don't care," Nevada replied. "We'll find out quick +enough. There's eight of us an' we can put up a stiff argument if they +won't take us in. You know they ain't going to welcome us, don't +you?" + +"Hey, go out th' back way," growled Big Sandy, interposing his huge +bulk between Bates and the door. "An' don't let Frisco see you near a +cayuse, neither," he added. + +Nevada walked quickly over to his friend and said a few hurried words +in a low voice and Big Sandy nodded. "Shore, Nevada; he might try +that, but I'll watch him. If he tries to sneak I'll let you know +hasty. We're in this to stay," and he followed the others to the door. + +Nevada turned and faced the bartender. "Mike, you keep quiet about +what you saw an' heard to-day; understand? If you don't, me an' you +won't fit in this town at th' same time." + +Mike grinned. "I forgot how to talk after one exciting day up in +Cheyenne, an' I ain't been drunk since, neither." + +"Yo're a wise man," replied the other, stepping out by the back door +and hastening up the street where he could keep watch over Quinn's +saloon. It was an hour before he caught sight of Frisco, and he was +riding west, singing at the top of his lungs. Then Quinn slipped into +his corral and threw a saddle on a horse. + +"Drop it!" said a quiet voice behind him and he turned to see Nevada +watching him. + +"What do you mean?" demanded Quinn, ominously. + +"Let loose of that cayuse an' go back inside," was the reply. + +"You get th' h--l out of here an' mind yore own--" Quinn leaped aside +and jerked at his Colt; but was too late, and he fell, badly wounded. +Nevada sprang forward and disarmed him and then, mounting, galloped +off to join his friends. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII + +SHAW HAS VISITORS + + +When Frisco reached the edge of the clearing around the mesa he saw +Antonio and Shaw toiling cautiously up the steep, precarious trail +leading to the top, and he hailed vociferously. Both looked around, +Antonio scowling and his companion swearing at their friend's +condition. Frisco's pack horse, which he had sense enough to bring +back, was loaded down with bags and packages which had been put on +recklessly, inasmuch as a slab of bacon hung from the animal's neck +and swayed to and fro with each step; and the animal he rode had a +bartender's apron hanging down before its shoulders. + +"Had a rip-snorting time--rip-snorting time," he announced pleasantly, +in a roar. "Salubrious--rip-snorting--helluva time!" + +"Nobody'd guess it!" retorted Shaw. "Look at them bundles! An' him an +expert pack-horse man, too. An' that cayuse with a shirt! For anybody +that can throw as neat a diamond hitch as him, that pack horse is a +howling disgrace!" + +"Hang th' pack horse!" growled Antonio. "I bet th' whole town knows +our business now! He ought to be shot. Where you going?" + +"Down to help him up," Shaw replied. "He'll bust his fool neck if he +wrestles with that trail alone. You go on up an' send a couple of th' +boys down to bring up th' grub," he ordered, starting down the path. + +"Let him bust his fool neck!" cried the Mexican. "He should 'a done +that before he left." + +"What's th' ruction?" asked Clausen, looking down over the edge at the +Mexican. + +"Oh, Frisco's come back howling drunk. Go down an' help him tote th' +grub up. Shaw said for somebody else to help you." + +"Hey, Cavalry," cried Clausen. "Come on an' gimme a hand," and the two +disappeared down the trail. + +The leader returned, heralded by singing and swearing, and pushed +Frisco over the mesa top to sprawl full-length on the ground. Shaw +looked down at him with an expression of anger and anxiety and then +turned abruptly on his heel as a quavering snore floated up from the +other. + +"Here, Manuel!" he called, sharply. "Take my glasses an' go out to +yore lookout rock. Look towards Eagle an' call me if you see anybody." + +The Mexican shuffled away as Cavalry and Clausen, loaded down, +appeared over the edge of the mesa wall and dropped their loads at +Shaw's feet. + +"What did you tell him to get?" asked Clausen, marvelling. + +"What do you think I told him to get?" snapped Shaw. + +"I don't know, seeing what he brought back," was the reply. + +Shaw examined the pile. "G-d's name, what's all this stuff?" he +roared. "Bacon! An' all th' meat we want is down below. Canned milk! +Two bottles XXX Cough Syrup, four bottles of whiskey, bottle vaniller +extract, plug tobacco, an' three harmonicas! Is _that_ flour!" he +yelled, glaring at a small bag. "Twenty pounds! Five pounds of salt!" + +"I reckon he bought all th' cartridges in town," Cavalry announced, +staggering into sight with a box on his shoulder. "Lord, but it's +heavy!" + +"Twenty pounds of flour to last nine men a month!" Shaw shouted, +kicking at the bag. "An' look at this coffee--two pounds! I'll teach +him a lesson when he gets sober." + +"Well, he made up th' weight in th' cartridges," Cavalry grinned. He +grasped Shaw's arm. "What's got into Manuel?" + +The leader looked and sprinted to the lookout rock, where Manuel was +gesticulating, and took the glasses. Half a minute later he returned +them to the Mexican and rejoined his companions near the pile of +supplies. + +"What is it?" asked Cavalry. + +"Some of our Eagle friends. Mebby they want cards in this game, but +we'll waste little time with 'em. Post th' fellers along th' edge, +Clausen, an' you watch th' trail up. Keep 'em covered while I talks +with 'em. Don't be slow to burn powder if they gets to pushing +things." + +"They trailed Frisco," growled Cavalry. + +"Shore; oh, he was a great success!" snapped Shaw, going to the edge +of the mesa to await the eight newcomers, his men finding convenient +places along the top of the wall, their rifles ready for action. + +They did not have long to wait for soon Nevada and Chet Bates rode +into the clearing and made for the trail. + +"That's far enough, Nevada!" shouted Shaw, holding up his hand. + +"Why, hullo, Shaw!" cried the man below. "Yo're up a good tree, all +right," he laughed. + +"Yes." + +"Can we ride up, or do we have to take shank's mare?" + +"Neither." + +"Well, we want some water after that ride," replied Nevada. + +"Plenty of it below. Nobody asked you to take that ride. What do you +want, anyhow?" + +"Why, when Frisco said you was out here we thought we'd drop in on you +an' pay you a little visit." + +"You have paid us a little visit. Call again next summer." + +"Running many cows?" asked Nevada. + +"Nope; educating coyotes. Didn't see none, did you?" + +Nevada exchanged a few words with his companion and then looked up +again. "I reckon you need us, Shaw. Eight more men means twice as many +cows; an' we can all fight a little if th' ranches get busy out here." + +"We're crowded now. Better water up an' hit th' back trail. It's hard +riding in th' dark." + +"We didn't come out here for a drink," replied Nevada. "We came out to +help you rustle, which same we'll do. I tell you that you need us, +man!" + +"When I need you I'll send for you. _Adios._" + +"You ain't going to let us come up?" + +"Not a little bit. Pull yore stakes an' hit th' back trail. _Adios!_" + +"Well, we'll hang around to-night an' talk it over again to-morrow. +Mebby you'll change yore mind. So long," and the two wheeled and +disappeared into the chaparrals, Nevada chuckling. "I didn't spring +that little joker, Chet, because it's a good card to play last. When +we tell him that we won't let nobody come down off'n th' mesa it'll be +after we can't do nothing else. No use making him mad." + +Up on the mesa Shaw wheeled, scowling. "I knowed that fool would fire +off something big! Why can't he get drunk out here, where it's all +right?" + +"That Nevada is a shore bad proposition," Clausen remarked. + +"So'm I!" snapped Shaw. "He can't come up, an' pursooant to that idee +I reckon you an' Hall better arrange to watch th' trail to-night." + +He walked away and paced slowly along the edge of the wall, studying +every yard of it. He had done this thing before and had decided that +no man sat a saddle who could scale the sheer hundred feet of rock +which dropped so straight below him. But somehow he felt oppressed, +and the sinking sun threw into bold relief the furrows of his +weather-beaten, leathery face and showed the trouble marks which sat +above his eyes. At one part of the wall he stopped and peered over, +marshalling imaginative forces in attack after attack against it. But +at the end he smiled and moved on--that was the weakest point in his +defence, but he would consider himself fortunate if he should find no +weaker defence in future conflicts. As he returned to the hut he +glanced at the lookout rock and saw Manuel in his characteristic pose, +unmoving, silent, watchful. + +"I'm getting as bad as Cavalry and his desert," he grumbled. "Still, +they can't lick us while we stay up here." + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII + +NEVADA JOINS SHAW + + +Late in the forenoon of the day after Nevada had argued with Shaw, +Manuel shifted his position on the lookout rock and turned to face the +hut. "Señor! Señor Shaw! He ees here." + +Shaw strode to the edge of the mesa and looked down, seeing Nevada +sitting quietly on a horse and looking up at him. Manuel, his duty +performed, turned and looked eastward, shrinking back as Shaw stepped +close to him. Lying prone along the edge half a dozen men idly +fingered rifles as they covered the man below, Antonio's face in +particular showing intense aversion to any more recruits. + +"Morning, Shaw," shouted Nevada. "Going to let us come up?" + +The leader was about to reply when he felt a tug at his ankle and saw +Manuel's lips moving. "What is it, Greaser?" + +"Look, Señor, look!" whispered the frightened Mexican, pointing +eastward. "Eet ees de Bar-20! They be here _poco tiempo_!" + +"Shut up!" retorted Shaw in a whisper, glancing east, and what he saw +changed his reply to the man below. "Well, Nevada, we are purty +crowded up here as it is, but I'll ask th' boys about it. They ain't +quite decided. Be back in a minute," and he stepped back out of sight +of those below and waved his companions to him. Briefly stating the +facts he asked that Nevada and his force be allowed up to help repulse +the Bar-20, and the men who only a short time before had sworn that +they would take in no partners nodded assent and talked over the new +conditions while their leader again went to the edge. + +"We can get along without you fellers," he called down, "but we don't +reckon you'll cut any hole in our profits as long as you do yore share +of work. If yo're willin' to share an' share alike, in work, grub, +profits, an' fighting, why I reckon you can come up. But I'm leader +here an' what I says goes; are you agreeable?" + +"That's fair," Nevada replied. "Th' harder th' work th' bigger th' +pay--come on, boys," he cried, turning and waving his arm. "We're in!" + +While the newcomers put their horses in the corral and toiled +carefully up the steep trail Manuel stared steadily into the east and +again saw the force that had filled him with fear. Hall, who was now +watching with him, abruptly arose and returned to the hut, reporting: +"Seven men out there--it's th' Bar-20, all right, I reckon"; and +almost immediately afterward Manuel found a moving speck far to the +east which Shaw's powerful glasses soon showed to be three pack horses +driven by two men. + +Nevada looked curiously about him as he gained his goal and then +sought a place in the hut for his bunk. This, however, was full, and +he cast around outside to find the best place for his blankets. +Finding it, he stepped to the spring and had just quenched his thirst +when he saw Shaw standing on a ledge of rock above him, looking down. +"What is it, Shaw?" he asked. + +"Well, you fellers shore enough raised h--l, now didn't you!" demanded +the leader, a rising anger in his voice. "Yo're a fine collection of +fools, you are--" + +"What do--" + +"--Leading that Bar-20 gang out here by th' nice, plain trail you +left," Shaw continued, sarcastically, not heeding the other's +explosive interjection. "That's a nice thing to saddle us with! D--n +it, don't you know you've queered th' game for good?" + +"Yo're drunk!" retorted Nevada, heatedly. "We came up from th' south! +How th' devil could that crowd hit _our_ trail?" + +"They must 'a hit southwest on a circle," lied Shaw. "Manuel just now +saw 'em pass a clearing an' heading this way--nine of 'em!" + +"Th' devil!" exclaimed Nevada. "How many are up here now?" he asked +quickly. + +"Sixteen." + +"All right! Let 'em come!" cried the other. "Sixteen to nine--it's +easy!" he laughed. "Look here; we can clean up them fellers an' then +raid their ranch, for there's only four left at home. We can run off a +whopping big herd, sell 'em, an' divvy even. Then we separates, +savvy? Why, it couldn't be better!" + +Shaw showed his astonishment and his companion continued. "Th' H2 is +shy men, an' th' C80 and th' Double Arrow is too far away to bother +us. As soon as we lick this aggregation of trouble hunters, what's +left will ride hell-bent for that valley. Then th' biggest herd ever +rustled in these parts, a trip to a new range, an' plenty of money to +spend there." + +"That sounds good--but this pleasing cleaning-up is due to be full of +knots," Shaw rejoined. "Them nine men come from th' craggiest outfit +of high-toned gun-artists in these parts, an' you can bet that they +are th' pick of th' crowd! Cassidy, Connors, Peters--an' they've got +forty friends purty nigh as bad, an' eager to join in. I ain't no ways +a quitter, but this looks to me like Custer's Last Stand, us being th' +Custers." + +"Ah, yo're loco!" retorted Nevada. "Look here! Send a dozen picked men +down quick an' let 'em lose 'emselves in th' chaparral, far back. When +th' terrible man-killers of th' great Bar-20 get plugging this way, +our trouble-gang slips up from behind an' it's all over! Go on, before +it's too late! Or one of us will ride like th' devil to Eagle for +help--but it's got to be quick! You say I got you in this, which I +know well I didn't, but now I'll get you out an' put you in th' way of +a barrel of money." + +The crack of a rifle sounded from the plain and the next instant +Clausen dashed up, crying, "Manuel tried to cut an' run, but somebody +down below dropped him off'n th' trail. They're all around us!" + +"Good for th' somebody!" cried Shaw. "I'll kill th' next man that +tries to leave us--that goes, so pass it along." Then he turned to +Nevada, a sneer on his face. "That means anybody riding for help, +too!" and he backed away. + +Hall turned the corner, looking Nevada squarely in the eyes. "Say, +Shaw, wonder what's got into Archer? He's been gone a long time for +that trip." + +"Reckon he's got tired an' quit," replied Shaw. + +"You know he ain't that kind!" Hall cried, angrily. + +"All right, all right. If he comes back an' finds out what's up he'll +probably hustle to Eagle for some of th' boys," Shaw responded. +Neither would ever see Dick Archer again--his bones were whitening +near a small water hole miles to the north, as Hopalong and Red could +testify. + +"As long as one of us is outside we've got a chance," Nevada remarked. +"How're we fixed for grub, Hall?" + +"Got enough jerked beef to last us a month," and Hall departed. + +A shot hummed over Nevada's head and, ducking quickly, he followed +Hall. Close behind him went Shaw, muttering. "Well, it had to come +sometime--an' we're better fixed than I ever reckoned we'd be. Now +we'll see who gets wiped out!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX + +SURROUNDED + + +Above, a pale, hot sky with only a wisp of cloud; below, a semi-arid +"pasture," scant in grass, seamed by tortuous gullies and studded with +small, compact thickets and bulky bowlders. A wall of chaparral, +appearing solid when viewed from a distance, fenced the pasture, and +rising boldly from the southwest end of the clearing a towering mass +of rock flung its rugged ramparts skyward. Nature had been in a sullen +mood when this scene had been perpetrated and there was no need of men +trying to heighten the gloomy aspect by killing each other. Yet they +were trying and had been for a week, and they could have found no +surroundings more in keeping with their occupation. + +Minute clouds of smoke spurted from the top of the wall and from the +many points of vantage on the pasture to hang wavering for an instant +before lazily dissipating in the hot, close air. In such a sombre +setting men had elected to joke and curse and kill, perhaps to die; +men hot with passion and blood-lust plied rifles with deliberate +intent to kill. On one side there was fierce deep joy, an exultation +in forcing the issue, much as if they had tugged vainly at a leash and +suddenly found themselves free. They had been baited, tricked, robbed, +and fired upon and now, their tormentors penned before them, there +would be no cessation in their efforts to wipe out the indignities +under which they had chafed for so long a time. + +On the other side, high up on a natural fortress which was considered +impregnable, lay those who had brought this angry pack about them. +There was no joy there, no glad eagerness to force the battle, no +jokes nor laughter, but only a grim desperation, a tenacious holding +to that which the others would try to take. On one side aggression; on +the other, defence. Fighters all, they now were inspired by the +merciless end always in their minds; they were trapped like rats and +would fight while mind could lay a plan or move a muscle. Of the type +which had out-roughed, out-fought for so long even the sturdy, rough +men who had laid the foundation for an inland empire amid dangers +superlative, they knew nothing of yielding; and to yield was to die. +It was survivor against survivor in an even game. + +"Ah, God!" moaned a man on the mesa's lofty rim, staggering back +aimlessly before he fell, never to rise again. His companions regarded +him curiously, stolidly, without sympathy, as is often the case where +death is constantly expected. Dal Gilbert turned back to his rifle and +the problems before him. "So you've gone, too. An' I reckon we'll +follow"--such was Chet Bates' obituary. + +In a thicket two hundred yards south of the mesa Red Connors worked +the lever of his rifle, a frown on his face. "I got him, all right. Do +you know who he is?" + +"No; but I've seen him in Eagle," replied Hopalong, lowering the +glasses. "What's worrying me is water--my throat's drying awful." + +"You shouldn't 'a forgot it," chided Red. "Now we've got to go without +it all day." + +Hopalong ducked and swore as he felt of his bleeding face. "Purty +close, that!" + +"Mind what yo're doing!" replied Red. "Get off my hand." + +"This scrap is shore slow," Hopalong growled. "Here we've been doing +this for a whole week, all of us shot up, an' only got two of them +fellers." + +"Well, yo're right; but there ain't a man up there that ain't got a +few bullet holes in him," Red replied. "But it is slow, that's shore." + +"I've got to get a drink, an' that's all about it," Hopalong asserted. +"I can crawl in that gully most of th' way, an' then trust a +side-hopping dash. Anyhow, I'm tired of this place. Johnny's got th' +place for _me_." + +"You better stay here till it's dark, you fool." + +"Aw, stay nothing--so long," and Hopalong, rifle in hand, crawled +towards the gully. Red watched the mesa intently, hoping to be able to +stop some of the firing his rash friend was sure to call forth. + +Twenty minutes passed and then two puffs of smoke sailed against the +sky, Red replying. Then half a dozen puffs burst into sight. A faint +shout came to Red's ears and he smiled, for his friend was safe. + +As Hopalong gained the chaparral he felt himself heartily kicked and, +wheeling pugnaciously, looked into Buck Peters' scowling face. "Yo're +a healthy fool!" growled the foreman. "Ain't you got no sense at all? +Hereafter you flit over that pasture after dark, d'y hear!" + +"He's th' biggest fool I ever saw, an' th' coolest," said a voice in +the chaparral at the left. + +"Why, hullo, Meeker," Hopalong laughed, turning from Buck. "How do you +like our little party now?" + +"I'm getting tired of it, an' it's some costly for me," grumbled the +H2 foreman. "Bet them skunks in Eagle have cleaned out every head I +owned." Then he added as an afterthought: "But I don't care a whole +lot if I can see this gang wiped out--_Antonio_ is th' coyote _I'm_ +itching to stop." + +"He'll be stopped," replied Hopalong. "Hey, Buck, Red's shore +thirsty." + +"He can stay thirsty, then. An' don't you try to take no water to him. +You stay off that pasture during daylight." + +"But it was all my fault--" Hopalong began, and then he was off like a +shot across the open, leaping gullies and dodging around bowlders. + +"Here you!" roared Buck, and stopped to stare, Meeker at his side. A +man was staggering in circles near a thicket which lay a hundred yards +from them. He dropped and began to crawl aimlessly about, a good +target for the eager rifles on the mesa. Bullets whined and shrilled +and kicked up the dust on the plain, but still the rushing Bar-20 +puncher was unhit. From the mesa came the faint crackling of rifle +fire and clouds of smoke hovered over the cover sheltering Red +Connors. Here and there over the pasture and along the chaparral's rim +rifles cracked in hot endeavor to drive the rustlers from their +positions long enough to save the reckless puncher. Buck and Meeker +both were firing now, rapidly but carefully, muttering words of hope +and anxiety as they worked the levers of their spurting guns. Then +they saw Hopalong gain the prostrate man's side, drag him back to +cover, and wave his arm. The fire from the mesa was growing weaker and +as it stopped Hopalong, with the wounded man on his back, ran to the +shelter of a gully and called for water. + +"He's th' best man in this whole country!" cried Meeker, grabbing up a +canteen and starting to go through the chaparral to give them water. +"To do that for one of _my_ men!" + +"I've knowed that for nigh onto fifteen years," replied Buck. + +Near the Eagle trail Billy Williams and Doc Riley lay side by side, +friendly now. + +"I tell you we've been shooting high," Doc grumbled. "It's no cinch +picking range against that skyline." + +"Hey! Look at Hopalong!" cried Billy, excitedly. "Blamed idiot--why, +he's going out to that feller. Lord! Get busy!" + +"That's Curtis out there!" ejaculated Doc, angrily. "They've got him, +d--n 'em!" + +"My gun's jammed!" cursed Billy, in his excitement and anger standing +up to tear at the cartridge. "I allus go an'--" he pitched sideways to +the sand, where he lay quiet. + +Doc dropped his rifle and leaped to drag his companion back to the +shelter of the cover. As he did so his left arm was hit, but he +accomplished his purpose and as he reached for his canteen the Bar-20 +pessimist saved him the trouble by opening his eyes and staring +around. "Oh, my head! It's shore burning up, Doc!" he groaned. "What +th' devil happened that time, anyhow?" + +"Here; swaller this," Doc replied, handing him the canteen. + +"Who got me?" asked Billy, laying the vessel aside. + +"How do I know? Whoever he was he creased you nice. His friends got me +in th' arm, too. You can help me fix it soon." + +"Shore I will! We can lick them thieves, Doc," Billy expounded without +much interest. "Yessir," he added. + +"You make me tired," Doc retorted. "You talking about being careful +when you stand up in plain sight of them fellers like you just did." + +"Yes, I know. I was mad, an' sort of forgot about 'em being able to +shoot at me--but what happened out there, anyhow?" + +Doc craned his neck. "There's Cassidy now, in that gully--Meeker's +just joined him. Good men, both of 'em." + +"You bet," replied Billy, satisfied. "Yessir, we can lick 'em--we've +got to." + +On the west side of the mesa, back in the chaparral and out of sight +of the rustlers, Pie Willis lay face down in the sand, quiet. Near him +lay Frenchy McAllister, firing at intervals, aflame with anger and a +desire to kill. Opposite him on the mesa, a scant three hundred yards +away, two rustlers gloated and fired, eager to kill the other puncher, +who shot so well. + +"That other feller knows his business, Elder," remarked Nevada as a +slug ricochetted past his head. "Wonder who he is." + +"Wonder _where_ he is," growled Elder, firing at a new place. "He's +been shifting a lot. Anyhow, we got one. There's so much smoke down +there I can't seem to place him. Mebby--" he fell back, limp, his +rifle clattering down a hundred feet of rock. + +Nevada looked at him closely and then drew back to a more secure +position. "We're even, stranger, but we ain't quits, by a good deal!" +He swore. _Zing-ing-ing!_ "Oh, you know I moved, do you!" he gritted. +"Well, how's _that_!" _Spat_! a new, bright leaden splotch showed on +the rock above his head and hot lead stung his neck and face as the +bullet spattered. "I'll get you yet, you coyote!" he muttered, +changing his position again. "Ah, _h--l_!" he sobbed and dropped his +rifle to grasp his right elbow, shattered by a Winchester .45. Pain +shot through every fibre of his body and weakened him so he could not +crawl for shelter or assistance. He swayed, lost his balance and +swayed further, and as his side showed beyond the edge of his rocky +rampart he quivered and sank back, helpless, pain-racked, and bleeding +to death from two desperate wounds. + +"We was--tricked--up here!" he moaned. "That must--be Red--Connors out +there. Ah!" _Spat! Chug! Spat!_ But Nevada did not hear them now. + +Down in the chaparral, Frenchy, getting no response to his shots, +picked up his glasses and examined the mesa. A moment later he put +them back in the case, picked up his rifle and crawled towards his +companion. + +"Pie!" he called, touching the body. "Pie, old feller! I got 'em both +for you, Pie--got 'em--" screened by the surrounding chaparral he +stood up and shook a clenched fist at the sombre, smoke-wreathed pile +of rock and shouted: "An' they won't be all! Do you hear, you thieves? +_They won't be all!_" + +Lying in a crack on the apex of a pinnacle of rock a hundred yards +northwest of the mesa Johnny Nelson cursed the sun and squirmed around +on the hot stone, vainly trying to find a spot comparatively cool, +while two panic-stricken lizards huddled miserably as far back in the +crack as they could force themselves. Long bright splotches marked the +stone all around the youthful puncher and shrill whinings came to him +out of the air, to hurtle away in the distance ten times as loud and +high-pitched. For an hour he had not dared to raise his head to aim, +and his sombrero, which he had used as a dummy, was shot full of +holes. Johnny, at first elated because of his aerial position, now +cursed it fervently and was filled with disgust. When he had begun +firing at sunrise he had only one man to face. But the news went +around among the rustlers that a fool had volunteered to be a target +and now three good shots vied with each other to get the work over +with quickly, and return to their former positions. + +"I reckon I can squirm over th' edge an' drop down that split," Johnny +soliloquized, eying a ragged, sharp edge in the rock close at hand. +"Don't know where it goes to, or how far down, but it's cool, that's +shore." + +He wriggled over to it, flattened as much as possible, and looked over +the edge, seeing a four-inch ledge ten feet below him. From the ledge +it was ten feet more to the bottom, but the ledge was what interested +him. + +"Shore I can--just land on that shelf, hug th' wall an' they can't +touch me," he grinned, slipping over and hanging for an instant until +he stopped swinging. The rock bulged out between him and the ledge, +but he did not give that any thought. Letting go he dropped down the +face of the rock, shot out along the bulge and over his cherished +ledge, and landed with a grunt on a mass of sand and debris twenty +feet below. As he pitched forward to his hands he heard the metallic +warning of a rattlesnake and all his fears of being shot were knocked +out of his head by the sound. When he landed from his jump he was on +the wrong side of the crevice and among hot lead. Ducking and dodging +he worked back to the right side and then blew off the offending +rattler's head with his Colt. Other rattlers now became prominent and +Johnny, realizing that he was an unwelcome guest in a rattlesnake den, +made good use of his eyes and Colt as he edged towards the mouth of +the crevice. Behind him were rattlers; before him, rustlers who could +and would shoot. To say that he was disgusted is to put it mildly. + +"Cussed joint!" he grunted. "This is a measly place for me. If I stay +I get bit to death; if I leave I get shot. Wonder if I can get to that +ledge--ugh!" he cried as the tip of a rattler's tail hung down from it +for an instant. "Come on! Bring 'em all out! Trot out th' tarantulas, +copper heads, an' Gilas! Th' more th' merrier! Blasted snake +hang-out!" + +He glanced about him rapidly, apprehensively, and shivered. "No more +of this for Little Johnny! I'll chance th' sharp-shooters," he yelled, +and dashed out and around the pile so quickly as to be unhit. But he +was not hit for another reason, also. Skinny Thompson and Pete Wilson, +having grown restless, were encircling the mesa by keeping inside the +chaparral and came opposite the pinnacle about the time Johnny +discovered his reptilian neighbors. Hearing the noise they both +stopped and threw their rifles to their shoulders. Here was a fine +opportunity to lessen the numbers of the enemy, for the rustlers, +careless for the moment, were peering over their breastwork to see +what all the noise was about, not dreaming that two pairs of eyes +three hundred yards away were calculating the range. Two puffs of +smoke burst from the chaparral and the rustlers ducked out of sight, +one of them hard hit. At that moment Johnny made his dash and caused +smiles to flit across the faces of his friends. + +"We might 'a knowed it was him!" laughed Skinny. "Nobody else would be +loco enough to pick out that thing." + +"Yes; but now what's he doing?" asked Pete, seeing Johnny poking +around among the rocks, Colt in hand. + +"Hunting rustlers, I reckon," Skinny replied. "Thinks they are +tunnelling an' coming up under him, I suppose. Hey! Johnny!" + +Johnny turned, peering at the chaparral. + +"What are you doing?" yelled Skinny. + +"Hunting snakes." + +Skinny laughed and turned to watch the mesa, from which lead was +coming. + +"Can you cover me if I make a break?" shouted Johnny, hopefully. + +"No; stay where you are!" shouted Pete, and then ducked. + +"Stop yelling and move about some or you'll get us both hit," ordered +Skinny. "Them fellers can _shoot_!" + +"Come on; let's go ahead. Johnny can stay out there till dark an' hunt +snakes," Pete was getting sarcastic. "Wonder if he reckons we came +here to get shot at just to hunt snakes!" + +"No; we'll help him in," Skinny replied. "You'll find th' rattlers +made it too hot for him up there. Start shooting." + +Johnny hearing the rapid firing of his friends, ran backwards, keeping +the pinnacle between him and his enemies as long as he could. Then, +once out of its shelter, he leaped erratically over the plain and +gained a clump of chaparral. He now had only about a hundred yards to +go, and Johnny could sprint when need was. He sprinted. Joining his +friends the three disappeared in the chaparral and two disgusted +rustlers helped a badly wounded companion to the rough hospital in the +hut at the top of the mesa trail. + +Johnny and his friends had not gone far before Johnny, eager to find a +rustler to shoot at, left them to go to the edge of the chaparral and +while he was away his friends stumbled on the body of Pie Willis. +Johnny, moving cautiously along the edge of the chaparral, soon met +Buck and Hopalong, who were examining every square foot of the mesa +wall for a way up. + +"Hullo, Johnny!" cried Hopalong. "What you doing here? Thought you was +plumb stuck on that freak rock up north." + +"I was--an' _stuck_, for shore," grinned Johnny. "That rock is a nest +of snakes, besides being a fine place to get plugged by them fellers. +An' hot!" + +"How'd you get away?" + +"Pete an' Skinny drove 'em back an' I made my get-away. They're in th' +chaparral somewhere close," Johnny replied. "But why are you +telescoping at th' joker? Think you see money out there?" + +"Looking for a place to climb it," Hopalong responded. "We're +disgusted with this long-range squibbing. You didn't see no breaks in +th' wall up where you was, did you?" + +"Lemme see," and Johnny cogitated for a moment. Then his face cleared. +"Shore I did; there's lots of cracks in it, running up an' down, an' a +couple of ledges. I ain't so shore about th' ledges, though--you see I +was too busy to look for ledges during th' first part of th' seance, +and I dassn't look during th' last of it. There was three of 'em +a-popping at me!" + +"Hey, Johnny!" came a hail; "Johnny!" + +"That's Pete an' Skinny--Hullo!" Johnny shouted. + +"Come here--Pie Willis is done for!" + +"What?" + +"Pie--Willis--is--done--for!" + +The three turned and hastened towards the voice, shouting questions. +They found Skinny and Pete standing over the body and sombreros came +off as the foreman knelt to examine it. Pie had been greatly liked by +the members of the outfit he had lately joined, having been known to +them for years. + +"Clean temple shot," Buck remarked, covering the face and arising. +"There's some fine shots up on that rock. Well, here's another reason +why we've got to get up there an' wipe 'em out quick. Pie was a white +man, square as a die and a good puncher--I wouldn't have asked for a +better pardner. You fellers take him to camp--we're going to find a +way to square things if there is one. No, Pete, you an' Johnny carry +him in--Skinny is going with us." + +Buck, Hopalong, and Skinny returned to the edge of the pasture and the +foreman again swept the wall through his glasses. "Hey! What's that? A +body?" + +Hopalong looked. "Yes, two of 'em! I reckon Pie died game, all right." + +"Well, come on--we've got to move along," and Buck led the way north, +Skinny bringing up the rear. Next to Lanky Smith, at present nursing +wounds at the ranch, Skinny was the best man with a rope in the Bar-20 +outfit and the lariat he used so deftly was one hundred and fifty feet +in length, much longer than any used by those around the mesa. Buck +had asked him to go with them because he wished to have his opinion as +to the possibility of getting a rope up the mesa wall. + +When they came opposite the rock which had sheltered Johnny they +sortied to see if that part of the mesa was guarded, but there was no +sign of life upon it. Then, separating, they dashed to the midway +cover, the thicket, which they reached without incident. From there +they continued to the pinnacle and now could see every rock and seam +of the wall with their naked eyes. But they used the glasses and after +a few minutes' examination of the ledges Hopalong turned to his +companions. "Just as Johnny said. Skinny, do you reckon if you was +under them to-night that you could get yore rope fast to th' bottom +one?" + +"Shore; that's easy. But it won't be no cinch roping th' other," +Skinny replied. "She sticks out over th' first by two feet. It'll be +hard to jerk a rope from that narrow foothold." + +"Somebody can hang onto you so you can lean out," Buck replied. "Pete +can hold you easy." + +"But what'll he hold on to?" + +Hopalong pointed. "See that spur up there, close to th' first ledge? +He can hitch a rope around that an' hang to th' rope. I tell you it's +_got_ to be done. We can't lose no more men in this everlasting +pot-shooting game. We've got to get close an' clean up!" + +"Well, I ain't saying nothing different, am I?" snapped Skinny. "I'm +saying it'll be hard, an' it will. Now suppose one of them fellers +goes on sentry duty along this end; what then?" + +"We'll solve that when we come to it," Hopalong replied. "I reckon if +Red lays on this rock in th' moonlight that he can drop any sentry +that stands up against th' sky at a hundred yards. We've got to try +it, anyhow." + +"_Down!_" whispered Buck, warningly. "Don't let 'em know we're here. +Drop that gun, Hoppy!" + +They dropped down behind the loose bowlders while the rustler passed +along the edge, his face turned towards the pinnacle. Then, deciding +that Johnny had not returned, he swept the chaparral with a pair of +glasses. Satisfied at length that all was well he turned and +disappeared over a rocky ledge ten feet from the edge of the wall. + +"I could 'a dropped him easy," grumbled Hopalong, regretfully, and +Skinny backed him up. + +"Shore you could; but I don't want them to think we are looking at +this end," Buck replied. "We'll have th' boys raise th' devil down +south till dark an' keep that gang away from this end." + +"I reckon they read yore mind--hear th' shooting?" Skinny queried. + +"That must be Red out there--I can see half of him from here," +Hopalong remarked, lowering his glasses. "Look at th' smoke he's +making! Wonder what's up? Hear th' others, too!" + +"Come on--we'll get out of this," Buck responded. "We'll go to camp +an' plan for to-night, an' talk it over with th' rest. I want to hear +what Meeker's going to do about it an' how we can place his men." + +"By thunder! If we _can_ get up there, half a dozen of us with Colts, +an' sneak up on 'em, we'll have this fight tied up in a bag so quick +they won't know what's up," Skinny remarked. "You can bet yore life +that if there's any way to get a rope up that wall I'll do it!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXX + +UP THE WALL + + +Pipes were glowing in the shadows away from the fire, where men lay in +various attitudes of ease. A few were examining wounds while others +cleaned rifles and saw that their revolvers were in good condition. +Around the fire but well back from it four men sat cross-legged, two +others stretched out on their elbows and stomachs near them. + +"You say everything is all right on th' ranch?" asked Buck of a man +who, covered with alkali, had just come from the Bar-20. "No trouble, +hey?" + +"Nope; no trouble at all," replied Cross, tossing his sombrero aside. +"Lucas an' Bartlett each sent us four men to help out when they +learned you had come out here. We shipped four of 'em right on to th' +H2, which is too short-handed to do any damage to rustlers." + +"Much obliged for that," spoke up Meeker, relief in his voice. "I'm +blamed glad to hear things are quiet back home--but I don't know how +long they'll stay that way with Eagle so close." + +"Well, Eagle ain't a whole lot anxious to dip in no more," laughed +Cross, looking at the H2 foreman. "Leastawise, that's what Lucas said. +He sent a delegation down there which made a good impression. There +was ten men in it an' they let it be known that if they came back +again there would be ten more with 'em. In that case Eagle wouldn't be +no more than a charred memory. Since Quinn died, being shot hard by +Nevada, who I reckons is out here, th' town ain't got nobody to tell +it how to do things right, which is shore pleasant." + +"You bring blamed good news--I'm glad Lucas went down there," Buck +replied. "I can't tell as good news about us out here, yet. We've had +a hard time for a week. They got Pie to-day, an' most of us are shot +up plentiful. Yo're just in time for th' festival, Cross--we're going +to try to rush 'em to-night an' get it over. We reckon Skinny an' Pete +can get us a way up that wall before dawn." + +"Me for th' rush," laughed Cross. "I'm fresh as a daisy, which most of +you fellers ain't. How many of 'em have you got so far? Are there many +still up there?" + +"We've got four of 'em that I knows of, an' how many of 'em died from +their wounds I can't say," replied Hopalong. "But a whole lot of 'em +have been plugged, an' plugged hard." + +"But how many are up there still able to fight?" + +"I should say about nine," Hopalong remarked, thoughtfully. + +"Ten," corrected Red. "I've been watching th' positions an' I know." + +"About nine or ten--they shift so nobody can really tell," Buck +replied. "I reckon we've seen 'em all in Eagle, too." + +"Frenchy got Nevada an' another to-day, on th' west side," Johnny +interposed. + +"I'm glad Nevada is gone--he's a terror in a mix-up," Cross rejoined. +"Best two-handed gun man in Eagle, he was." + +"Huh!" snorted Johnny. "Stack him up against Hoppy an' see how long +he'd last!" + +"I said in Eagle!" retorted Cross. + +Buck suddenly stood up and stretched. "You fellers all turn in now an' +snatch some sleep. I'm going out to see how things are with Billy. +I'll call you in time. Doc, you an' Curtis are too shot up to do any +climbing--you turn in too. When I come back I'll wake you an' send you +out to help Billy watch th' trail. Where's Red?" + +"Over here--what do you want?" came from the shadows. + +"Nothing, only get to sleep. I reckoned you might be off somewheres +scouting. Skinny, where's yore rope? Got that manilla one? Good! Put +three more hemp lariats out here where I can find 'em when I come +back. Now don't none of you waste no time; turn in right now!" He +started to walk away and then hesitated, turning around. "Doc, you an' +Curtis better come with me now so you won't lose no time hunting +Billy in th' dark when yore eyes are sleepy--it's hard enough to find +him now in th' dark, when I'm wide awake. You can get yore sleep out +there--he'll wake you when yo're needed." + +The two punchers arose and joined him, Doc with his left arm bandaged +and his companion with three bandages on him. When they joined Buck +Doc protested. "Let me go with you an' th' rest of th' boys, Peters, +when you go up that wall. I came out here to get th' Greaser that +murdered Curley, an' I hate to miss him now. If I can't climb th' boys +will be glad to pull me up, an' it won't take no time to speak of. My +gun arm is sound as a dollar--_I_ want that Greaser!" + +Buck glanced at Meeker, who refused to give any sign of his thoughts +on the matter. "Well, all right, Doc. But if we should have to fight +as soon as we get up an' don't have no time to pull you after us, +you'll miss everything. But you can do what you want." + +"I'll just gamble on that. I ain't hurt much, an' if I can't climb +I'll manage to get in th' scrap someway, even if I has to hunt up +Billy," replied Doc, contentedly, returning to the fire. + +Buck and his companion moved away into the darkness while those around +the fire lay down to get a few hours' rest, which they needed badly. +George Cross, who was not sleepy, remained awake in a shadow and kept +guard, although none was needed. + +Buck and Curtis found Billy by whistling and the wounded H2 puncher +found a place to lie down and was soon asleep, while the foreman and +his friend sat up, watching the faint glow on the mesa, the camp-fire +of the besieged. Once they heard the clatter of a rifle from the head +of the trail and later they saw a dim figure pass quickly across the +lighted space. They were content to watch on such a night, for the air +had cooled rapidly after the sun went down and the sky was one +twinkling mass of stars. + +Twice during the wait Buck disappeared into the black chaparral close +at hand and struck a match under his coat to see the time, and on the +last occasion he returned to Billy, remarking: "Got half an hour yet +before I leave you. Are you sleepy?" + +"No, not very; my head hurts too much to sleep," Billy replied, +re-crossing his legs and settling himself in a more comfortable +position. "When you leave I'll get up on my hoofs so I won't feel like +dosing off. I won't wake Curtis unless I have to--he's about played +out." + +"You wake him when you think I've been gone half an hour," Buck +ordered. "It'll take him some time to get his eyes open--we mustn't +let any get away. They've got friends in Eagle, you know." + +"Wish I could smoke," Billy remarked, wistfully. + +"Why, you can," replied Buck, quickly. "Go back there in th' chaparral +an' get away with a pipeful. I'll watch things till you come back, an' +if I need you quick I can call. You've got near half an hour--make th' +best of it." + +"Here's th' gun--much obliged, Buck," and Billy disappeared, leaving +the foreman to plan and watch. Buck glanced at the sleeping man +occasionally when he heard him toss or mutter and wished he could let +him sleep on undisturbed. + +Suddenly a flash lighted up the top of the trail for an instant and +the sharp report of a rifle rang out loudly on the still, night air. +Buck, grabbing the Winchester, sprang to his feet as an excited chorus +came from the rustlers' stronghold. Then he heard laughter and a few +curses and quiet again ensued. + +"What was that, Buck?" came a low, anxious hail from behind. + +The foreman laughed softly and replied: "Nothing, Billy, except that +th' guard up there reckoned he saw something to shoot at. It's funny +how staring at th' dark will get a feller seeing things that ain't. +Why, had yore smoke so soon?" he asked in surprise as Billy sat down +beside him. + +"Shore," replied Billy. "Two of 'em. I reckon yore time is about up. +Gimme th' gun now." + +"Well, good luck, Billy. Better move up closer to th' trail if you can +find any cover. You don't want to miss none. So long," and Billy was +alone with his sleeping companion. + +When the foreman returned to the camp he was challenged, and stopped, +surprised. "It's Peters," he called. + +"Oh, all right. Time to go yet?" asked Cross, emerging from the +darkness. + +"Purty near; but I thought I told you to go to sleep?" + +"I know, but I ain't sleepy, not a bit. So I reckoned I'd keep watch +over th' rest of th' gang." + +"Well, since yo're wide awake, you help me knot these ropes an' let +th' others have a few minutes more," Buck responded, picking up +Skinny's fifty-foot lariat and placing it to one side. He picked up +the three shorter ropes and threw one to his companion. "Put a knot +every foot an' a half--make 'em tight an' big." + +In a few minutes the work was finished and Buck awakened the sleeping +men, who groped their way to the little stream close by and washed the +sleep out of their tired eyes, grabbing a bit of food on their return +to the fire. + +"Now, fellers," said the foreman, "leave yore rifles here--it's Colts +this trip, except in Red's case. Got plenty of cartridges? Everybody +had a drink an' some grub? All right; single file after me an' don't +make no noise." + +When the moon came up an hour later Red Connors, lying full length on +the apex of the pinnacle which Johnny had tried and found wanting, +watched an indistinct blurr of men in the shadow of the mesa wall. He +saw one of them step out into the moonlight, lean back and then +straighten up suddenly, his arm going above his head. The silence was +so intense that Red could faintly hear the falling rope as it struck +the ground. Another cast, and yet another, both unsuccessful, and +then the fourth, which held. The puncher stepped back into the shadow +again and another figure appeared, to go jerking himself up the face +of the wall. While he watched the scaling operations Red was not +missing anything on the top of the mesa, where the moon bathed +everything in a silvery light. + +Then he saw another figure follow the first and kick energetically as +it clambered over onto the ledge. Soon a rope fell to the plain and +the last man up, who was Skinny, leaned far out and cast at the second +ledge, Pete holding him. After some time he was successful and again +he and his companion went up the wall. Pete climbed rapidly, his heavy +body but small weight for the huge, muscular arms which rose and fell +so rapidly. On the second ledge the same casting was gone through +with, but it was not until the eighth attempt that the rope stayed up. +Then Red, rising on his elbows, put his head closer to the stock of +his rifle and peered into the shadows back of the lighted space on the +rocky pile. He saw Pete pull his companion back to safety and then, +leaping forward, grasp the rope and climb to the top. Already one of +the others was part way up the second rope while another was squirming +over the lower ledge, and below him a third kicked and hauled, half +way up the first lariat. + +"String of monkeys," chuckled Red. "But they can't none of 'em touch +Pete in that sort of a game. Wonder what Pete's doing?" he queried as +he saw the man on the top of the mesa bend, fumble around for a +moment, and then toss his arm out over the edge. "Oh, it's a knotted +rope--he's throwing it down for th' others. Well, Pete, old feller, +you was th' first man to get--_Lord_!" + +He saw Pete wheel, leap forward into a shadow, and then a heaving, +twisting, bending bulk emerged into the moonlight. It swayed back and +forth, separated into two figures and then became one again. + +"They're fighting, rough an' tumble!" Red exclaimed. "Lord have mercy +on th' man who's closing with that Pete of ourn!" + +He could hear the scuffling and he knew that the others had heard it, +too, for Skinny was desperately anxious to wriggle over the edge, +while down the line of ropes the others acted like men crazed. Still +the pair on the mesa top swayed back and forth, this way and that, +bending, twisting, and Red imagined he could hear their labored +breathing. Then Skinny managed to pull himself to the top of the wall +and sprang forward, to sink down from a kick in the stomach. + +"God A'mighty!" cried Red excitedly. "Who is it that can give Pete a +fight like that? Well, I'm glad he's so busy he can't use his gun!" + +Skinny was crawling around on his hands and knees as Buck's head arose +over the edge. The foreman, well along in years, and heavy, was too +tired to draw himself over the rim without a moment's rest. He had no +fear for Pete, but he was worried lest some rustler might sound an +alarm. Skinny now sat up and felt for his Colt, but the foreman's +voice stopped him. "No shooting, yet! Want to tell 'em what's up? You +let them fellers alone for a minute, an' give me a hand here." + +Pete, his steel-like fingers darting in for hold after hold, managed +to jerk his opponent's gun from its sheath and throw it aside, where +Skinny quickly picked it up. He was astonished by the skill and +strength of his adversary, who blocked every move, every attempt to +get a dangerous hold. Pete, for a man reputed as being slow, which he +was in some things, was darting his arms in and out with remarkable +quickness, but without avail. Then, realizing that his cleaner living +was standing him in good stead, and hearing the labored breathing of +the rustler, he leaped in and clinched. By this time Hopalong and +three more of the attacking force had gained the mesa top and were +sent forward by the foreman, who was now intent upon the struggle at +hand. + +"It's Big Sandy!" Hopalong whispered to Skinny, pausing to watch for a +moment before he disappeared into the shadows. + +He was right, and Big Sandy, breathless and tired, was fighting a +splendid fight for his life against a younger, fresher, and stronger +man. The rustler tried several times for a throat hold but in vain, +and in a fury of rage threw his weight against his opponent to bear +him to the ground, incautiously bringing his feet close together as he +felt the other yield. In that instant Pete dropped to a crouch, his +vice-like hands tightened about Big Sandy's ankles, and with a sudden, +great surge of his powerful back and shoulders he straightened up and +Sandy plunged forward to a crashing fall on the very edge of the mesa, +scrambled to his feet, staggered, lost his balance, and fell backwards +a hundred feet to the rocks below. + +The victor would have followed him but for Buck, who grasped him in +time. Pete, steady on his feet again, threw Buck from him by one sweep +of his arms and wheeled to renew the fight, surprise flashing across +his face at not seeing his opponent. + +"He's down below, Pete," Buck cried as Johnny, white-faced, crawled +over the edge. + +"What was that?" exclaimed the Kid. "Who fell?" + +"Big Sandy," replied the foreman. "He--" the report of a shot cut him +short. "Come on!" he cried. "They're at it!" and he dashed away, +closely followed by Johnny and Pete as Jim Meeker came into view. The +H2 foreman slid over the mesa rim, leaped to his feet and sprinted +forward, Colt in hand, to be quickly lost in the shadows, and after +him came Red Connors, the last. + +Down below Doc, hearing a thud not far from him, hurried around a spur +of rock in the wall, sick at heart when he saw the body. Bending over +quickly he recognized the mass as once having been Big Sandy, and he +forthwith returned to the rope to be pulled up. When he at last +realized that his friends had forgotten him there was loud, lurid +cursing and he stamped around like a wild man, waving a Colt in his +right hand. Finally he dropped heavily on a rock, too enraged to +think, and called the attacking force, collectively and individually, +every name that sprang to his lips. As he grew calmer he arose from +the rock, intending to join Billy and Curtis at the other end of the +pasture, and as he took a step in that direction he heard a sharp +click and a pebble bounced past him. He stepped backwards quickly and +looked up, seeing a figure sliding rapidly down the highest rope. He +was immediately filled with satisfaction and easily forgave his +companions for the anxiety they had caused him, and as he was about to +call out he heard a Spanish oath. Slipping quickly and noiselessly +into the deeper shadow at the base of the wall he flattened himself +behind the spur of rock close to the rope, where he waited tensely, a +grim smile transforming his face. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXI + +FORTUNE SNICKERS AT DOC + + +Antonio was restless and could not sleep. He turned from side to side +on the ground near the fire before the hut and was one of the first to +run to the top of the trail when the guard there discharged his rifle +at nothing. Returning to his blanket the Mexican tried to compose +himself to rest, but was unsuccessful. Finally he arose, picked up his +rifle, and slouched off into the shadows to wander about from point to +point. + +Cavalry, coming in from his post to get a drink, caught sight of the +Mexican before he was swallowed up by the darkness and, suspicious as +ever of Antonio, forgot the drink and followed. + +After wandering about all unconscious of espionage Antonio finally +drifted to the western edge and seated himself comfortably against a +bowlder, Cavalry not fifty feet away in a shadow. Time passed slowly +and as the Mexican was about to return to the fire he chanced to +glance across the mesa along a moon-lighted path and stiffened at what +he saw. A figure ran across the lighted space, silently, cautiously, +Colt in hand, and then another, then two together, and the Mexican +knew that the enemy had found a way up the wall and were hurrying +forward to fight at close quarters, to effect a surprise on the +unsuspecting men about the fire and in the hut. There remained, +perhaps, time enough for him to escape and he arose and ran north, +crouching as he zig-zagged from cover to cover, cautious and alert. + +Cavalry, because of his position, had not seen the flitting punchers +and, his suspicions now fully aroused, he slipped after the Mexican to +find out just what he was going to do. When the firing burst out +behind him he paused and stood up, amazed. As he struggled to +understand what it meant he saw three men run past a bowlder at his +left and then he knew, and still hesitated. He was not a man who +thought quickly and his first natural impulse, due to his army +training, was to try to join his friends, but gradually the true +situation came to him. How many men there were in the attacking force +he did not know, but he had seen three after the fighting had begun; +and it was evident that the cowmen would not rush into the lion's jaws +unless they were strong enough to batter down all resistance. Four of +his friends were dead, another had evidently deserted, and the +remainder were all more or less severely wounded--there could be no +hope of driving the ranchmen back, and small chance of him being able +to work through their line to join his friends. There remained only +one thing to be done, to save himself while he might. + +As he moved forward slowly and cautiously to find a way down the wall +he remembered the Mexican's peculiar actions and wondered if he had a +hand in helping the cowmen up. + +Meanwhile Antonio, reaching the edge of the open space where Pete and +Big Sandy had fought, saw Red Connors appear over the rim and dash +away to join in the fighting. Waiting long enough to assure himself +that there were none following Red he ran to the edge and knelt by the +rope. Leaving his rifle behind and seeing that the flap of his holster +was fastened securely, he lowered himself over, sliding rapidly down +to the first ledge. Here he spent a minute, a minute that seemed an +eternity, hunting for the second rope in the shadows, found it and +went on. + +Sliding and bumping down the rough wall he at last reached the plain +and, with a sigh of relief, turned to run. At that instant a figure +leaped upon him from behind and a hand gripped his throat and jerked +him over backwards. Antonio instinctively reached for his Colt with +one hand while he tore at the gripping fingers with the other, but he +found himself pinned down between two rocks in such a manner that his +whole weight and that of his enemy was on the holster and made his +effort useless. Then, terrified and choking for breath, he dug wildly +at the vice-like fingers which not for a moment relaxed, but in vain, +for he was growing weaker with each passing second. + +Doc leaned forward, peering into the face before him, his fingers +gripping with all their power, gripping with a force which made the +muscles of the brawny forearm stand out like cords, his face +malevolent and his heart full of savage joy. Here was the end of his +hunt, here was the man who had murdered Curley in cold blood, +cowardly, deliberately. The face, already dark, was turning black and +the eyes were growing wide open and bulging out. He felt the surge of +the Mexican's pulse, steadily growing weaker. But he said no word as +he watched and gloated, he was too intent to speak, too centred upon +the man under him, too busy keeping his fingers tight-gripped. He +would make good his threat, he would keep his word and kill the +murderer of his best friend with his naked hand, as he had sworn. + +Up above the two, Cavalry, working along the edge, had come across +Antonio's rifle and then as he glanced about, saw the rope. Here was +where the cowmen had come up and here was where he could go down. From +the way the shooting continued he knew that the fight was desperate +and he believed himself to be cut off from his friends. He hated to +desert in the face of the enemy, to leave his companions of a +dangerous business to fight for their lives without him, but there was +only one thing to do since he could not help them--he must save +himself. + +Dropping his rifle beside the other he lowered himself over the edge +and slid rapidly down. When half-way down the last rope his burning +hands slipped and he fell head over heels, and landed on Doc, knocking +him over and partially stunning him. Cavalry's only idea now was to +escape from the men who, as he thought, were guarding the rope and, +hastily picking himself up, he dashed towards the chaparral to the +west as fast as he could run, every moment expecting to feel the hot +sting of a bullet. At last, when the chaparral closed about him he +plunged through it recklessly and ran until sheer exhaustion made him +drop insensible to the sand. He had run far, much farther than he +could have gone were it not for the stimulus of the fear which gripped +him; and had he noticed where he was going he would have known that he +was running up a slope, a slope which eventually reached a level +higher than the top of the mesa. And when he dropped if he had been +capable of observation he would have found himself in a chaparral +which arose above his head, and seen the narrow lane through it which +led to a great expanse of sand, tawney and blotched with ash-colored +alkali, an expanse which stretched away to the desolate horizon. + +Shortly after Cavalry's descent Antonio stirred, opened his eyes, +stared vaguely about him and, feeling his bruised and aching throat, +staggered to his feet and stumbled to the east, hardly conscious of +what he was doing. As he proceeded his breath came easier and he began +to remember having seen Doc lying quiet against a rock. He hesitated a +moment as he wondered if Doc was dead and if so, who had killed him. +Then he swore because he had not given him a shot to make sure that he +would not rejoin his friends. Hesitating a moment he suddenly decided +that he would be better off if he put a good distance between himself +and the mesa, and ran on again, eager to gain the shelter of the +chaparral. + +When Doc opened his eyes and groped around he slowly remembered what +had occurred and his first conscious act was to look to see if his +expected victim were dead or alive. It did not take him long to +realize that he was alone and his hand leaped for his Colt as he +peered around. Limping out on the plain he caught sight of the running +Mexican, rapidly growing indistinct, and hazarded two shots after him. +Antonio leaped into a new speed as though struck with a whip and +cursed himself for not having killed the H2 puncher when he had the +chance. A moment more and he was lost in the thickets. Doc tried to +follow, but his leg, hurt by Cavalry's meteoric descent, was not equal +to any great demand for speed and so, turning, he made his way towards +the camp to get a horse and return to take up the Mexican's trail. + +He lost an hour in this, a feverishly impatient hour, punctuated with +curses as he limped along and with an unsparing quirt once he was +astride. What devilish Humpty Dumpty had cheated him this time? "All +the king's horses and all the king's men couldn't put Humpty Dumpty +together again"--they couldn't if he once caught up with the Mexican. +He laughed grimly and swore again as the cranky beast beneath him +shied a pain into his sore leg. "Go on, you!" he yelled, as he swept +up to where the ropes still dangled against the wall. "Th' Mexican +first," he muttered. The world was not big enough to hide the murderer +of Curley, to save him from his just deserts. The two trails lay plain +before him in the brilliant moonlight and his pony sprang forward +toward the spot where Antonio had disappeared in the chaparral. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXII + +NATURE TAKES A HAND + + +When Hopalong caught up with his four companions he was astonished by +the conditions on the mesa. Instead of a bowlder-strewn, rocky plain +as he had believed it to be he found himself on a table-land cut and +barred by fissures which ran in all directions. At one time these had +been open almost to the level of the surrounding pasture but the winds +had swept sand and debris into the gashes until now none were much +more than ten feet deep. Narrow alleyways which led in every +direction, twisting and turning, now blocked and now open for many +feet in depth, their walls sand-beaten to a smoothness baffling the +grip of one who would scale them, were not the same in a fight as a +comparatively flat plain broken only by miscellaneous bowlders and +hummocks. There could be no concerted dash for the reason that one +group of the attacking force might be delayed until after another had +begun to fight. And it was possible, even probable, that the turns in +the alleyways might be guarded; and once separated in the heat of +battle it would be easy enough to shoot each other. Instead of a +dashing fight soon to be over, it looked as though it would be a +deadly game of hide and seek to wear out the players and which might +last for an indefinite length of time. It was disconcerting to find +that what had been regarded as the hardest part of the whole affair, +the gaining of the mesa top, was the easiest. + +"Here, fellows!" Hopalong growled. "We'll stick together till we get +right close, an' then if we have time an' these infernal gorges don't +stop us, we may be able to spread out. We've got to move easy, too. If +we go galloping reckless we'll run into some guard an' there won't be +no surprise party on Thunder Mesa. We can count on having light, +though not as much as we might have, for th' moon won't go back on us +till th' sun fades it." + +"It's light enough," growled Skinny. "Come on--we've got to go ahead +an' every minute counts. _I_ didn't think we'd lose so much time +roping them knobs an' getting up." + +They moved forward cautiously in single file, alert and straining eyes +and ears, and had covered half of the distance when a shot was heard +ahead and they listened, expecting an uproar. Waiting a minute and +hearing nothing further, they moved on again, angry and disgruntled. +Then another shot rang out and they heard Billy and Curtis reply. + +"Shooting before daylight, before they get their morning's grub," +grumbled George Cross. + +"Yes; sort of eye-opener, I reckon," softly laughed Chick Travers, +who was nervous and impatient. "Get a move on an' let's start +something," he added. + +As they separated to take advantage of a spoke-like radiation of +several intersecting fissures another shot rang out ahead and there +was an angry _spat_! close to Hopalong's head. Another shot and then a +rattling volley sent the punchers hunting cover on the run, but they +were moving forward all the time. It was a case of getting close or be +killed at a range too great for Colts, and their rifles were in the +camp. Had the light been better the invaders might have paid dearly +right there for the attack. + +Confusion was rife among the defenders and the noise of the shouts and +firing made one jumble of sound. Bullets whistled along the fissures +in the dim light and hummed and whizzed as they ricochetted from wall +to wall. As yet the attacking force had made no reply, being too +busily occupied in getting close to lose time in wasting lead at that +range, and being only five against an unknown number protected by a +stone hut and who knew every bowlder, crevice, and other points of +vantage. + +Hopalong slid over a bowlder which choked his particular and personal +fissure and saw Jim Meeker sliding down the wall in front of it. And +as Meeker picked himself up Skinny Thompson slid down the other wall. + +"Well, I'm hanged!" grunted Hopalong in astonishment. + +"Same here," retorted Skinny. "What you doing 'way over here?" + +"Thought you was going to lead th' other end of th' line!" rejoined +Hopalong. + +"This is it--yo're off yore range." + +"Well, I reckon not!" Hopalong responded, indignantly. + +"An' say, Meeker, how'd you get over here so quick?" Skinny asked, +turning to the other. "You was down below when I saw you last." + +"_Me?_ Why, I just follered my nose, that's all," Meeker replied, +surprised. + +"You've got a blamed crooked nose, then," Skinny snorted, and turned +to Hopalong. "Why don't you untangle yoreself an' go where you belong, +you carrot-headed blunderer!" + +"Hang it! I tell you I--" Hopalong began, and then ducked quickly. +"Lord, but somebody's got us mapped out good!" + +"Well, some of our fellers have started up--hear 'em over there?" +exclaimed Skinny as firing broke out on the east. "Them's Colts, all +right. Mebby it's plumb lucky for us it _ain't_ so blamed light, after +all; we'll have time to pick our places before they can see us real +good." + +"Pick our places!" snorted Hopalong. "Get tangled up, you mean!" he +added. + +"Hullo! What you doing, fellers?" asked a pained and surprised voice +above them. "Why ain't you in it?" + +"For th' love of heaven--it's Frenchy!" cried Hopalong. "Skinny, I +reckon them Colts you heard belonged to th' rustlers. _We're_ all here +but a couple." + +"Didn't I leave you over east about five minutes ago, Frenchy?" +demanded Skinny, his mouth almost refusing to shut. + +"Shore. I'm east--what's eating at you?" asked Frenchy. + +"Come on--get out of this!" ordered Hopalong, scrambling ahead. "You +foller me an' you'll be all right." + +"We'll be back to th' ropes if we foller you," growled Skinny. "Of all +th' locoed layouts I ever run up against this here mesa top takes th' +prize," he finished in disgust. + +Bullets whined and droned above them and frequently hummed down the +fissure to search them out, the high, falsetto whine changing quickly +to an angry _spang_! as they struck the wall a slanting blow. They +seemed to spring away again with renewed strength as they sang the +loud, whirring hum of the ricochette, not the almost musical, sad note +of the uninterrupted bullet, but venomous, assertive, insistent. The +shots could be distinguished now, for on one side were the sharp +cracks of rifles; on the other a different note, the roar of Colts. + +"This ain't no fit society for six-shooters," Meeker remarked in a low +voice as they slid over a ridge, and dropped ten feet before they knew +it. + +"For th' Lord's sake!" ejaculated Hopalong as he arose to his feet. +"Step over a rock an' you need wings! Foller a nice trail an' you +can't get out of th' cussed thing! Go west an' you land east, say +'so-long' to a friend an' you meet him a minute later!" + +"We ought to have rifles in this game," Meeker remarked, rubbing his +knee-cap ruefully. + +"Yes; an' ladders, ropes, an' balloons," snorted Skinny. + +"Send somebody back for th' guns," suggested Frenchy. + +"Who?" demanded Hopalong. "Will _you_ go?" + +"Me? Why, I don't want no rifle!" + +"Huh! Neither do I," remarked Skinny. "Here, Frenchy, give me a boost +up this wall,--take my foot!" + +"Well, don't wiggle so, you piece of string!" + +"That's right! Walk backwards! I ain't no folding step-ladder! How do +you think I'm going to grab that edge if you takes me ten feet away +from it?" + +_Spang! Spang! Zing-ing-ing!_ + +"Here, you! Lemme down! Want me to get plugged!" yelled Skinny, +executing ungraceful and rapid contortions. "Lower me, you fool!" + +"Let go that ridge, then!" retorted Frenchy. + +During the comedy Hopalong had been crawling up a rough part of the +wall and he fired before he lost his balance. As he landed on Meeker a +yell rang out and the sound of a rifle clattering on rock came to +them. "I got him, Skinny--go ahead now," he grunted, picking himself +up. + +It was not long until they were out of the fissure and crawling down +a bowlder-strewn slope. As they came to the bottom they saw a rustler +trying to drag himself to cover and Meeker fired instantly, stopping +the other short. + +"Why, I thought _I_ stopped him!" exclaimed Hopalong. + +"Reckon you won't rustle no more cows, you thief," growled Meeker, +rising to his knees. + +Hopalong pulled him down again as a bullet whizzed through the space +just occupied by his head. "Don't you get so curious," he warned. +"Come on--I see Red. He's got his rifle, lucky cuss." + +"Good for him! Wish I had mine," replied Meeker, grinning at Red, who +wriggled an elbow as a salutation. In his position Red could hardly be +expected to do much more, since two men were waiting for a shot at +him. + +"Well, you can get that gun down there an' have a rifle," Hopalong +suggested, pointing to the Winchester lying close to its former owner. +"You can do it, all right." + +"Good idea--shoot 'em with their own lead," and the H2 foreman +departed on his hands and knees for the weapon. + +"I hit one--he's trying to put his shoulder together," cried Red, +grinning. "What makes you so late--I was th' last one up, an' I've +been here a couple of hours." + +"Yo're a sinful liar!" retorted Hopalong. "We stopped to pick +blackberries back at that farm house," he finished with withering +sarcasm. + +"You fellers had time to get married an' raise a family," Red replied. +He ducked and looked around. "Ah, you coyote--hit him, but not very +hard, I reckon." + +It was daylight when Pete, on the other end of the line, turned and +scourged Johnny. "Ain't you got no sense in yore fool head? How can I +see to shoot when you kick around like that an' fill my eyes with +dirt! Come down from up there or I'll lick you!" + +"Ah, shut up!" retorted Johnny with a curse. "You'd kick around if +somebody nicked _yore_ ear!" + +"Well, it serves you right for being so unholy curious!" Pete replied. +"You come down before he nicks yore eye!" + +"Not before I get square--_Wow!_" and Johnny came down rapidly. + +"Where'd he get you that time?" + +"None of yore business!" growled Johnny. + +"I told you to come--" + +"Shut up!" roared Johnny, glaring at him. "Wish I had that new Sharps +of mine!" + +"Go an' get it, Kid. Yo're nimble," Pete responded. "An' bring up some +of th' others, too, while yo're about it." + +"But how long will this fight last, do you reckon?" the other asked, +with an air of weighing something. + +"All day with rifles--a week without 'em." + +"Shore yo're right?" + +"Yes; go ahead. There'll be some of th' scrap left for you when you +get back." + +"All right,--but don't you get that feller. I want him for what he did +to me," and Johnny hastened away. He returned in fifteen minutes with +two rifles and gave one of them to his companion. + +"They're .45-70's--an' full, too," he remarked. "But I ain't got no +more cartridges for 'em." + +"How'd you get 'em so quick?" + +"Found 'em by th' rope where we come up--didn't have to stop; just +picked 'em up an' came right back," Johnny laughed. "But I wonder how +they got there?" + +"Bet four dollars an' a tooth-pick they means that two thieves got +away down them ropes. Where's Doc?" + +"Don't know--but I don't think anybody pulled him up here." + +"Then he might 'a stopped them two what owned th' rifles--he would be +mad enough to stay there a month if Red forgot him." + +"Yes; waiting to lick Red when he came down," and Johnny crawled up +again to his former position. "Now, you cow-stealing coyote, watch +out!" As he settled down he caught sight of his foreman. "Hullo, Buck! +What you doing?" + +"Stringing beads for my night shirt," retorted Buck. "You get down +from up there, you fool!" + +"Can't. I got to pay for--" he ducked, and then fired twice. "Just +missed th' other ear, Pete. But I made him jump a foot--plugged him +where he sits down. He was moving away. An' blamed if he ain't a +Greaser!" + +"Yes; an' you took two shots to do it, when cartridges are so scarce," +Pete grumbled. + +At first several of the rustlers had defended the hut but the +concentrated fire of the attacking force had poured through its north +window from so many angles that evacuation became necessary. This was +accomplished through the south window, which opened behind the natural +breastwork, and at a great cost, for Con Irwin and Sam Austin were +killed in the move. + +The high, steep ridge which formed the rear wall of the hut and +overlooked the roof of the building ran at right angles to the low +breastwork and extended from the north end of the hut to the edge of +the mesa, a distance of perhaps fifty feet. On the side farthest from +the breastwork it sloped to the stream made by the spring and its +surface was covered with bowlders. The rustlers, if they attempted to +scale its steep face, would be picked off at short range, but they +realized that once the enemy gained its top their position would be +untenable except around the turn in the breastwork at the other side +of the mesa. In order to keep the punchers from gaining this position +they covered the wide cut which separated the ridge from the enemy's +line, and so long as they could command this they were safe. + +After wandering from point to point Hopalong finally came to the edge +of the cut and found Red Connors ensconced in a narrow, shallow +depression on a comparatively high hummock. While they talked his +eyes rested on the ridge across the cut and took in the possibilities +that holding it would give. + +"Say, Red, if we could get up on that hill behind th' shack we'd have +this fight over in no time--see how it overlooks everything?" + +"Yes," slowly replied Red. "But we can't cross this barranca--they +sweep it from end to end. I tried to get over there, an' I know." + +"But we can try again," Hopalong replied. "You cover me." + +"Now don't be a fool, Hoppy!" his friend retorted. "We can't afford to +lose you for no gang of rustlers. It's shore death to try it." + +"Well, you can bet I ain't going to be fool enough to run twenty yards +in th' open," Hopalong replied, starting away. "But I'm going to look +for a way across, just th' same. Keep me covered." + +"All right, I'll do my best--but don't you try no dash!" + +But the rustlers had not given up the idea of holding the ridge +themselves, and there was another and just as important reason why +they must have it; their only water was in the hut and the spring. To +enter the building was certain death, but if they could command the +ridge it would be possible to get water, for the spring and rivulet +lay on the other side at its base. Hall, well knowing the folly of +trying to scale the steep bank under fire, set about finding another +way to gain the coveted position. He found a narrow ledge on the face +of the mesa wall, at no place more than eight inches wide, and he +believed that it led to the rear of the ridge. Finding that the wall +above the narrow foothold was rough and offered precarious finger +holds, he began to edge along it, a hundred feet above the plain. When +he had almost reached the end of his trying labors he was discovered +by Billy and Curtis, who lay four hundred yards away in the chaparral, +and at once became the target for their rifles. Were it not for the +fact that they could not shoot at their best because of their wounds +Hall would never have finished his attempt, and as it was the bullets +flattened against the wall so close to him that on two occasions he +was struck by spattering lead and flecks of stone. Then he moved +around the turn and was free from that danger, but found that he must +get fifty yards north before he could gain the plateau again. To make +matters worse the ledge he was on began to grow narrower and at one +place disappeared altogether. When he got to the gap he had to cling +to the rough wall and move forward inch by inch, twice narrowly +missing a drop to the plain below. But he managed to get across it and +strike the ledge again and in a few minutes more he stepped into a +crevice and sat down to rest before he pushed on. When he looked +around he found that the crevice led northeast and did not run to the +ridge, and he swore as he realized that he must go through the enemy's +line to gain the position. He would not risk going back the way he had +come, for he was pretty well tired out. He thought of trying to get to +the other end of the mesa so as to escape by the way the attacking +force had come up, but immediately put it out of his mind as being too +contemptible for further consideration. He arose and moved forward, +seeking a way up the wall of the crevice--and turning a corner, bumped +into Jim Meeker. + +There was no time for weapons and they clinched. Meeker scorned to +call for help and Hall dared make no unnecessary noise while in the +enemy's line and so they fought silently. Both tried to draw their +Colts, Meeker to use his either as a gun or a club, Hall as a club +only, and neither succeeded. Both were getting tired when Hall slipped +and fell, the H2 foreman on top of him. At that instant Buck Peters +peered down at them from the edge of the fissure and then dropped +lightly. He struck Hall over the head with the butt of his Colt and +stepped back, grinning. + +"There'll be a lot more of these duets if this fight drags out very +long," Buck said. "This layout is shore loco with all its hidden +trails. Have you got a rope, Jim? We'll tie this gent so he won't hurt +hisself if you can find one." + +"No. Much obliged, Peters," Meeker replied. "Why, yes I have, too. +Here, use this," and he quickly untied his neck-kerchief and gave it +to his friend. Buck took the one from around Hall's neck and the two +foremen gave a deft and practical exhibition of how to tie a man so he +cannot get loose. Meeker took the Winchester from Hall's back, the +Colt and the cartridge belt, and gave them to Buck, laughing. + +"Seventy-three model; .44 caliber," he explained. "You'll find it +better than th' six-shooter, an' you'll have plenty of cartridges for +it, too." + +"But don't you want it?" asked Buck, hesitating. + +"Nope. I left one around th' corner here. I can get along with it till +I get my own from th' camp." + +"All right, Jim. I'll be glad to keep this--it'll come in handy." + +"Tough luck, finding them fellers in such a strong layout," Meeker +growled, glancing around at the prisoner. "Ah, got yore eyes open, +hey?" he ejaculated as Hall glared at him. "How many of you fellers +are up here, anyhow?" + +"Five thousand!" snapped Hall. "It took two of you to get me!" he +blazed. "Got my guns, too, ain't you? Hope they bust an' blow yore +cussed heads off!" + +"Thanks, stranger, thanks," Buck replied, turning to leave. "But +Meeker had you licked good--I only hurried it to save time. Coming, +Jim?" + +"Shore. But do you think this thief can get loose?" + +Buck paused, searching his pockets, and smiled as he brought to light +a small, tight roll of rawhide thongs. "Here, this'll keep him down," +and when they had finished their prisoner could move neither hands nor +feet. They looked at him critically and then went away towards the +firing, the rustler cursing them heartily. + +"What's th' matter, Meeker?" asked Buck suddenly, noticing a drawn +look on his companion's face. + +"Oh, I can't help worrying about my girl. She ain't scared of nothing +an' she likes to ride. She's too purty to go breezing over a range +that's covered with rustling skunks. I told her to stay in th' house, +but--" + +"Well, why in thunder don't you go back where you can take care of +her?" Buck demanded, sharply. "She's worth more than all th' cows an' +rustlers on earth. You ain't needed bad out here, for we can clean +this up, all right. You know as long as there are fellers like us to +handle a thing like this no man with a girl depending on him has +really got any right to take chances. I never thought of it before, or +I'd 'a told you so. You cut loose for home to-day, an' leave us to +finish this." + +"Well, I'll see how things go to-morrow, then. I can pull out th' next +morning if everything is all right out here." He hesitated a moment, +looking Buck steadily in the eyes, a peculiar expression on his face. +"Peters, yo're a white man, one of th' whitest I ever met, an' you've +got a white outfit. I don't reckon we'll have no more trouble about +that line of yourn, not nohow. When we settle down to peace an' +punching again I'm going to let you show me how to put down some wells +at th' southern base of yore hills, like you said one day. If I can +get water, a half as much as you got in th' Jumping Bear, I'll be +fixed all right. But I want to ask you a fair question, man to man. I +ain't no real fool an' I've seen more than I'm supposed to, but I want +to be shore about this, dead shore. What kind of a man is Hopalong +Cassidy when it comes to women?" + +Buck looked at him frankly. "If I had a daughter I wouldn't want a +better man for her." + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII + +DOC TRAILS + + +Doc had not gone far into the chaparral before he realized that his +work was going to be hard. The trail was much fainter than it would +have been if the Mexican were mounted; the moonlight failed to +penetrate the chaparral except in irregular patches which made the +surrounding shadows all the deeper by contrast; what little he saw of +the trail led through places far too small and turning too sharply to +permit being followed by a man on horseback, and lastly, he expected +every minute to be fired upon, and at close range. He paused and +thought a while--Antonio would head for Eagle, that being the only +place where he could get assistance, and there he would find friends. +Doc picked his way out of the labyrinth of tortuous alleys and finally +came to a comparatively wide lane leading southeast. He rode at a +canter now and planned how he would strike the fugitive's trail +further down, and after he had ridden a few miles he was struck by a +thought that stopped him at once. + +"Hang it all, he might 'a headed for them construction camps or for +one of th' north ranches, to steal a cayuse," he muttered. "Th' only +safe thing for me to do is to jump his trail an' stop guessing, an' +even then mebby he'll get me before I get him. That's a clean gamble, +an' so here goes," wheeling and retracing his course. When he again +found the trail at the place he had quit it, he dismounted and crawled +along on his hands and knees in order to follow the foot-prints among +the shadows. Then some animal bounded up in front of him and leaped +away, and as he turned to look after it he caught sight of his horse +standing on its hind legs, and the next instant it was crashing +through the chaparral. Drawing his Colt and cursing he ran back in +time to see the horse gain an alleyway and gallop off. Angered +thoroughly he sent a shot after it and then followed it, finally +capturing it in a blind alley. Roundly cursing the frightened beast he +led it back to where he had left the trail and, keeping one hand on +the reins, continued to follow the foot-prints. Day broke when he had +reached the edge of the chaparral and he mounted with a sigh of relief +and rode forward along the now plainly marked trail. + +As he cantered along he kept his eyes searching every possible cover +ahead of and on both sides of him, watching the trail as far ahead as +he could see it, for the Mexican might have doubled back to get a +pursuer as he rode past. After an hour of this caution he slapped his +thigh and grinned at his foolishness. + +"Now ain't I a cussed fool!" he exclaimed. "A regular, old-woman of a +cow-puncher! That Greaser won't do no doubling back or ambushing. +He'll shore reckon on being trailed by a bunch an' not by a locoed, +prize-winning idiot. Why, he's making th' best time he can, an' that's +a-plenty, too. Besides he ain't got no rifle. Lift yore feet, you +four-legged sage hen," he cried, spurring his horse into a lope. He +mechanically felt at the long rifle holster at the saddle flap and +then looked at it quickly. "An' no rifle for _me_, neither! Oh, well, +that's all right, too. I don't need any better gun than he's got, th' +coyote. Canteen full of water an' saddle flaps stuffed with grub. Why, +old cayuse, if you can do without drinking till we get back to th' +mesa we'll be plumb happy. Wonder when you was watered last?" + +The trail had been swinging to the north more and more and when Doc +noted this fact he grinned again. + +"Nice fool I'd 'a been hunting for these tracks down towards Eagle, +wouldn't I? But I wonder where he reckons he's going, anyhow?" + +Sometime later he had his answer, for he found himself riding towards +a water hole and then he knew the reason for the trail swinging north. +He let his mount drink its fill and while he waited he noticed a torn +sombrero, then a spur, and further away the skeleton of a horse. +Looking further he saw the skeleton of a man, all that the coyotes had +left of the body of Dick Archer, the man killed by Red on the day when +he and Hopalong had discovered that Thunder Mesa was inhabited. He +pushed around the water hole and then caught sight of something in the +sand. Edging his mount over to it he leaned down from the saddle and +picked up a Colt's revolver, fully loaded and as good as the day +Archer died. That air contained no moisture. As he slipped it in a +saddle bag he spurred forward at top speed, for on the other side of a +hummock he saw the head and then the full figure of a man plodding +away from him, and it was Antonio. + +The fugitive, hearing hoofbeats, looked back and then dropped to one +knee, his rifle going to his shoulder with the movement. + +"Where in h--l did _he_ get a rifle?" ejaculated Doc, forcing his +horse to buck-jump and pitch so as to be an erratic target. "He didn't +have none when _I_ grabbed him! Th' devil! That cussed skeleton back +there gave _me_ a six-shooter, an' _him_ a rifle!" + +There was a dull smothered report and he saw the Mexican drop the gun +and rock back and forth, apparently in agony, and he rode forward at +top speed. Jerking his horse to its haunches he leaped off it just as +Antonio wiped the blood from his eyes and jerked loose his Remington +six-shooter. But his first shot missed and before he could fire again +Doc grappled with him. + +This time it was nearly an even break and Doc found that the slim +figure of his enemy was made up of muscles of steel, that the lazy +Greaser of the H2 ranch was, when necessary, quick as a cat and filled +with the courage of desperation. It required all of Doc's attention +and skill to keep himself from being shot by the other's gun and when +he finally managed to wrest the weapon loose he was forced to drop it +quickly and grab the same hand, which by some miracle of speed and +dexterity now held a knife, a weapon far more deadly in hand-to-hand +fighting. Once when believing himself to be gone the buckle of his +belt stayed the slashing thrust and he again fought until the knife +was above his head. Then, suddenly, two fingers flashed at his eyes +and missed by so close a margin that Doc's eyebrows were torn open and +his eyes blinded with blood. Instinct stronger than the effect of the +disconcerting blindness made him hold his grip on the knife hand, else +he would have been missing when his foreman looked for him at the +mesa. He dug the fingers of his left hand, that had gripped around the +Mexican's waist, into his enemy's side and squeezed the writhing man +tighter to him, wiping the blood from his eyes on the shirt of the +other. As he did so he felt Antonio's teeth sink into his shoulder and +a sudden great burst of rage swept over him and turned a man already +desperate into a berserker, a mad man. + +The grip tightened and then the brawny, bandaged left arm quickly +slipped up and around the Mexican's neck, pressing against the back of +it with all the power of the swelling, knotted muscles. A smothered +cry sobbed into his chest and he bent the knife hand back until the +muscles were handicapped by their unnatural position and then, +suddenly releasing both neck and hand, leaped back a step and the next +instant his heavy boot thudded into the Mexican's stomach and he +watched the gasping, ghastly-faced rustler sink down in a nerveless +heap, fighting desperately for the breath that almost refused to +return. + +Doc wiped his eyes free of blood and hastily bound his neck-kerchief +around the bleeding eyebrows. As he knotted the bandage he stepped +forward and picked up both the revolver and knife and threw them far +from him. Glancing at the rifle he saw that it had burst and knew that +the greased, dirty barrel had been choked with sand. He remembered how +Curley's rifle had been leaded by the same cause and fierce joy surged +through him at this act of retributive justice. He waited patiently, +sneering at the groaning Mexican and taunting him until the desperate +man had gained his feet. + +Doc stepped back a pace, tossing the burst rifle from him, and grinned +malignantly. "Take yore own time, Greaser. Get all yore wind an' +strength. _I_ ain't no murderer--I don't ride circles around a man an' +pot-shoot him. I'm going to kill you fair, with my hands, like I said. +Th' stronger you are th' better I'll feel when I leave you. An' if you +should leave me out here on th' sand, all right--but it's got to be +fair." + +When fully recovered Antonio began the struggle by leaping forward, +thinking his enemy unprepared. Doc faced him like a flash and bent +low, barely escaping the other's kick. They clinched and swayed to and +fro, panting, straining, every ounce of strength called into play. +Then Doc got the throat hold again and took a shower of blows +unflinchingly. His eyebrows, bleeding again, blinded him, but he could +feel if he could not see. Slowly the resistance weakened and finally +Doc wrestled Antonio to his knees, bending over the Mexican and slowly +tightening his grip; and the man who had murdered Curley went through +all he had felt at the base of the mesa wall, at last paying with his +life for his career of murder, theft, fear, and hypocrisy. + +Doc arose and went to his horse. Leading the animal back to the scene +of the struggle he stood a while, quietly watching the Mexican for any +sign of life, although he knew there would be none. + +"Well, bronc, Curley's squared," he muttered, swinging into the saddle +and turning the animal's head. "Come on, get out of this!" he +exclaimed, quirting hard. As he passed the water hole he bowed to the +broken skeleton. "Much obliged, stranger, whoever you was. Yore last +play was a good one." + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIV + +DISCOVERIES + + +When the two foremen entered the firing line again they saw Red +Connors and they cautiously went towards him. As they came within +twenty feet of him Buck chanced to glance across the cut and what he +saw brought a sudden smile to his face. + +"Meeker, Red has got that spring under his gun!" he exclaimed in a low +voice. "They can't get within ten feet of it or within ten feet of th' +water at any point along its course. This is too good to bungle--wait +for me," and he ran out of sight around a bend in the crevice, Meeker +staring across at the spring, his eyes following the rivulet until it +flowed into the deep, narrow cut it had worn in the side of the mesa. + +Red looked around. "Why, hullo, Meeker! Where's Buck? Thought I heard +him a minute ago. If you have got any water to spare I can use some of +it good. Some thief drilled my canteen when I went fooling along this +barranca, an' I ain't got a drop left." + +Meeker began to move closer to him, Red warning him to be careful, and +adding, "Three of them fellers ain't doing nothing but watch this +cut. Scared we'll get across it an' flank 'em, I reckon." + +"Do you know that yo're covering their water supply?" Meeker asked, +handing his canteen to his thirsty companion. "They can't get to it as +long as you stay here. That's why they're after you so hard." + +Red wiped his lips on his sleeve and sighed contentedly. "It's blamed +hot, but it's wet. But is that right? Am I keeping 'em thirsty? +Where's th' water?" + +"Shore you are; it's right over there--see that little ditch?" Meeker +replied, pointing. + +_Bing! Spat!_ + +The H2 foreman dropped his arm and grinned. "They're watching us purty +close, ain't they? Didn't miss me far, at that," showing his companion +a torn sleeve and a lead splotch on the rock behind him. + +"Not a whole lot. Two of them fellers can shoot like blazes. Yo're +plumb lucky," Red responded. "If you'd showed more'n yore sleeve that +time they'd 'a hit you." He looked across the cut and puckered his +brow. "Well, if that's where their water is they don't get none. Mebby +we can force 'em out if we watches that spring right smart." + +"Here comes Buck now, with Skinny." + +"It's too good a card to lose, Skinny," the Bar-20 foreman was saying +as he approached. "You settle some place near here where you can pot +anybody that tries for a drink. Mebby this little trick wins th' game +for us--_quien sabe?_ Hullo, Red; where's yore side pardner?" + +"Oh, he went prospecting along this barranca to see if he could get +across," Red replied. "He wants to get up on top of that ridge behind +th' shack. Says if he can do it th' fight won't last long. See how it +overlooks their layout?" + +Buck looked and his eyes glistened. "An' he's right, too, like he is +generally. That's th' key, an' it lies between them an' th' spring. +Beats all how quick that feller can size up a hand. If he could play +poker as well as he can fight he could quit working for a living." + +"Yes; yo're shore right," Red replied. + +Several shots rang out from the breastwork and the bullets hummed past +them down the cut. A burst of derisive laughter replied fifty yards to +their right and a taunt followed it. More shots were fired and +answered by another laugh and taunt, inducing profanity from the +marksman, and then Hopalong called to Red. "Six out of seven went +plumb through my sombrero, Red, when I poked it out to find if they +was looking. They was. Purty good for 'em, eh?" + +"Too blamed good to suit me--lucky yore head wasn't in it," Red +replied. + +Hopalong, singing in stentorian voice an original version of "Mary and +Her Little Lamb" in which it seemed he aspired to be the lamb, finally +came into view with a perforated sombrero in his hand, which he eyed +ruefully. "A good roof gone up, but I didn't reckon everybody was +looking my way," he grumbled. "Somebody shore has got to pay for that +lid, too," then he glanced up, saw Meeker, and looked foolish. +"Howd'y, Meeker; what's new, Buck?" + +"Hey, Hoppy! Did you know I was covering their drinking water?" asked +Red, triumphantly. + +"I knowed you was covering some of it, but you needn't take on no airs +about it, for you didn't know it," Hopalong retorted. "What I want to +know is why you wasn't covering _me_, like you said you would!" he +cried, eying Red's sombrero, which lay at his feet. "It's all yore +fault that my Stetson's bust wide open, an' that being so, we'll just +swap, right now, too!" suiting the action to the words. + +"Hey! Gimme that war-bonnet, you bunch of gall!" yelled Red kicking at +his tormentor and missing. "Gimme that, d'y hear!" + +"Give you a punch in th' eye, you sheep!" retorted Hopalong, backing +away. "Think you can get away with a play like that after saying you +was going to cover me? _I_ ain't no papoose, you animated carrot!" + +"Gimme that Stetson!" Red commanded, starting to arise. There was a +sharp hum and he dropped back again, blood flowing from his cheek, +that being the extent of his person he had so inadvertently exposed. +"There, blank you! See what you made me do! Going to drop that hat?" + +"Why don't you give 'em a good shot at you? That ain't no way to treat +'em--but honest, Red, you shouldn't get so excited over a little thing +like that," Hopalong replied. "Now, I'll leave it to Meeker, +here--hadn't I ought to take his roof?" + +Meeker laughed. "Th' Court reserves its decision, but possession is +nine points in law." + +"Huh! Possession is everything. Since I can keep it, why, then, +according to th' Court, th' hat belongs to me. Hear that, Red?" + +"Yes, I hear it! An' if I wasn't so cussed busy I'd show you how long +you'd keep it," Red rejoined. "I'll bet you a hat you don't keep it a +day after we get this off'n our hands. Bow-legged Algernon, you!" + +"Done--then I'll have two hats; one for work an' one to wear when I'm +visiting," Hopalong laughed. "But you've got th' best of th' swap, +anyhow. That new lid of yourn, holes an' all, is worth twice as much +as this wool thing I'm getting for it. My old one is a _hat!_" + +Red refused to lower his dignity by replying and soon fired. "Huh! +Reckon that feller won't shoot no more with his right hand." + +"Say, I near forgot to tell you Meeker captured one of them fellers +out back; got him tied up now," Buck remarked, relating the incident, +Meeker interrupting to give the Bar-20 foreman all the credit. + +"Good!" exclaimed Red. "It's a rope necktie for him. An' one less to +shoot at me." + +"An' _you_ here, Buck!" cried Hopalong in surprise. "Come on, lead th' +way! How do you know he was th' only one to get behind us! Good +Lord!" + +"Gosh, yo're right!" Buck exclaimed, running off. "Come on, Jim. We're +a pair of fools, after all!" + +At the other end of the line Chick Travers and George Cross did as +well as they could with their Colts, but found their efforts +unavailing. Their positions were marked by the rustlers and they had +several narrow escapes, both being wounded, Cross twice. Ten yards +west of them Frenchy McAllister was crawling forward a foot at a time +from cover to cover and so far he had not been hit. His position also +had been marked and he was now trying to find a new one unobserved, +where he could have a chance to shoot once without instantly being +fired upon. Pete and Johnny had separated, the latter having given up +his attempt to make the rustler pay for his wounded ear. He had +emptied the magazine of the rifle he had found and now only used his +Colt. As he worked along the firing line he saw Frenchy ten yards in +front of him, covered nicely by a steep rise in the ground. + +"How are you doing out there, Frenchy?" he asked in a low voice. + +"Not very good; wish I had my rifle," came the soft-spoken reply. + +"I had one that I found, but I used up all th' cartridges there was in +th' magazine." + +"What kind an' caliber?" + +".45-70 Winchester. I found it by th' ropes. Pete says he reckoned +some rustler must have left it behind an' got away down th'--" + +"Get it for me, Kid, will you?" interrupted Frenchy, eagerly. "I +plumb forgot to leave my belt of rifle cartridges back in th' camp. +Got it on now, an' it's chock full, too. Hurry up, an' I'll work back +to you for it." + +"What luck! In a second," Johnny exulted, disappearing. Returning with +the rifle he handed it to his friend and gazed longingly at the +beltful of rifle cartridges. "Say, Frenchy," he began. "You know we'll +all have our rifles to-night, an' you've got more cartridges for that +than you can use before then. It won't be more than three hours before +we send for ours. Suppose you gimme some of them for Pete--he's got +th' mate to that gun, an' can't use it no more because it's empty." + +"Shore, Kid," and Frenchy slipped a handful of cartridges out of his +belt and gave them to Johnny. "With my compliments to Pete. What was +that you was saying about rustlers an' th' ropes?" + +Johnny told of Pete's deductions regarding the finding of the rifles +and Frenchy agreed with them, and also that Doc had taken care of the +owners of the weapons when they had reached the plain. + +"Well, I'm going further away from them thieves now that I've got +something to shoot with," Frenchy asserted. "They won't be looking for +any of us a hundred yards or more farther back. Mebbe I can catch some +of 'em unawares." + +"I'll chase off an' give Pete these pills," Johnny replied. "He'll be +tickled plumb to death. He was cussing bad when I left him." + +George Cross, crawling along a steep, smooth rock barely under the +shelter of a bowlder, endeavored to grasp the top, but under-reached +and slipped, rolling down to the bottom and in plain sight of the +rustlers. As his companion, Chick Travers, tried to help him two shots +rang out and Cross, sitting up with his hands to his head, toppled +back to arise no more. Chick leaped up and fired twice at one of the +marksmen, and missed. His actions had been so sudden and unexpected +that he escaped the return shot which passed over him by a foot as he +dropped back to cover. Somehow the whole line seemed to feel that +there had been a death among them, as evidenced by the burst of firing +along it. And the whole line felt another thing; that the cartridges +of the rustlers were getting low, for they seemed to be saving their +shots. But it was Hopalong who found the cause of the diminishing +fire. After hunting fruitlessly with the two foremen and finding that +Hall was the only man to get back of the firing line he left his two +companions in order to learn the condition of his friends. As he made +his way along the line he chanced to look towards the hut and saw four +rifles on the floor of it, and back of them, piled against the wall, +was the rustlers' main supply of ammunition. Calling out, he was +answered by Pete, who soon joined him. + +"Pete, you lucky devil, turn that rifle through th' door of th' shack +an' keep it on them cartridges," he ordered. "They ain't been shooting +as fast as they was at first, an' there's th' reason for it. Oh, just +wait till daylight to-morrow! They won't last long after that!" + +"They won't get them cartridges, anyhow," Pete replied with +conviction. + +"Hey, fellers," cried a voice, and they looked around to see Chick +Travers coming towards them. "Yore man Cross has passed. He rolled off +his ledge an' couldn't stop. They got him when he hit th' bottom of +it." + +"D--n 'em!" growled Hopalong. "We'll square our accounts to-morrow +morning. Pete, you watch them cartridges." + +"Shore--" _Bang!_ "Did you see that?" Pete asked, frantically pumping +the lever of his rifle. + +"Yes!" cried Chick. "Some feller tried to get in that south window! +Bet he won't try again after that hint. Hear him cuss? There--Red must +'a fired then, too!" + +"Good boy, Pete!--keep 'em out. We'll have somebody in there after +dark," Hopalong responded. "They've got th' best covers now, but we'll +turn th' table on 'em when th' sun comes up to-morrow." + +"Here comes Buck an' Meeker," remarked Chick. "Them two are getting a +whole lot chummy lately, all right. They're allus together." + +"That's good, too. They're both of 'em all right," Hopalong replied, +running to meet them. Chick saw the three engage in a consultation and +look towards the hut and the ridge behind it, Buck and Meeker nodding +slowly at what Hopalong was saying. Then they moved off towards the +west where they could examine the building at closer range. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXV + +JOHNNY TAKES THE HUT + + +As the day waned the dropping shots became less and less frequent and +the increasing darkness began to work its magic. The unsightly plain +with its crevices and bowlders and scrawny vegetation would soon be +changed into one smooth blot, to be lighted with the lurid flashes of +rifles as Red and Pete fired at irregular intervals through the south +windows of the hut to keep back any rustler who tried to get the +ammunition within its walls. Two were trying and had approached the +window just as a bullet hummed through it. They stopped and looked at +each other and moved forward again. Then a bullet from Pete's rifle, +entering through the open door, hummed out the window and struck +against the rocky ridge. + +"Say! Them coyotes can see us through that windy," remarked Clausen. +"Th' sky at our backs is too light yet." + +"They can't see us standing here," objected Shaw. + +"Then what are they shooting at?" + +"Cuss me if I know. Looks like they was using th' winder for a +target. Reckon we better wait till it gets darker." + +"If we wait till it's dark we can sneak in through th' door," +suggested Clausen. "If we go in crawling we ain't likely to stop no +shot high enough to go through that windy." + +"You can if you wants, but I ain't taking no chances like that, none +whatever." + +Another shot whined through the window and stopped with an angry spat +against the ridge. Shaw scratched his head reflectively. "It shore +beats me why they keeps that up. There ain't no sense to it," he +declared in aggrieved tones. "They don't know nothing about them +cartridges in there." + +"That's it!" exclaimed Clausen, excitedly. "I bet a stack of blues +they do know. An' they're covering somebody going in to steal 'em. Oh, +h--l!" and he slammed his hat to the ground in bitter anger. "An' us +a-standing here like a couple of mired cows! I'm going to risk it." + +"Wait," advised Shaw. "Let's try a hat an' see if they plug at it." + +"Wait be d----d! My feet are growing roots right now. I'm going in," +and Clausen broke away from his friend and ran towards the hut, a +crouching run, comical to look at but effective because it kept his +head below the level of the window; without pausing in his stride his +body lengthened into a supple curve as he plunged head foremost +through the window, landing on the cabin floor with hands and feet +bunched under him, his passing seen only as a fleeting, puzzling +shadow, by the watchful eyes outside. + +Across the cut Johnny was giving Red instructions and turned to leave. +"Th' cut is full of shadows an' th' moon ain't up yet. Now, remember, +one more shot through that window--I'm going to foller it right in. +Get word to Pete as soon as you can, though I won't pass th' door. +He's only got three cartridges left an' he'll be getting some anxious +about now. So long." + +"So long, an' good luck, Kid," Red replied. + +Johnny wriggled across the cut on his stomach, picking out the shadows +and gaining the shelter of the opposite bank, stood up, and ran to the +hut. Red fired and then Johnny cautiously climbed through the window +and dropped to the floor. + +He had anticipated Clausen by the fraction of a second. As his feet +touched the floor the noise of Clausen's arrival saluted him and the +startled Johnny jerked his gun loose and sent a shot in the other's +direction, leaping aside on the instant. The flash of the discharge +was gone too quickly for him to distinguish anything and the +scrambling sound that followed mystified him further. That there had +been no return shot did not cause him to dance with joy, far +otherwise; it made him drop silently to his stomach and hunt the +darkest part of the hut, the west wall. He lay still for a minute, +eyes and ears strained for a sound to tell him where to shoot. Then +Red called to him and wanted an answer, whereupon Johnny thought of +things he ached to call Red. Then he heard a low voice outside the +south window, and it called: "Clausen, Clausen--what happened? Why +don't you answer?" + +"Oh, so my guest is Clausen, hey?" Johnny thought. "Wonder if Clausen +can see in th' dark? 'Nother d----d fool wanting an answer! I'll bet +Clausen is hugging th' dark spots, too. Wonder if I scared him as much +as he scared me?" + +The suspense was becoming too much of a strain and, poking his Colt +out in front of him, he began to move forward, his eyes staring ahead +of him at the place where Clausen ought to be. + +Inch by inch he advanced, holding his breath as well as he could, +every moment expecting to have Clausen salute him in the face with a +hot .45. Johnny was scared, and well scared, but it only proves +courage to go on when scared stiff, and Johnny went on and along the +wall he thought Clausen was using for a highway. + +"Wonder how it feels to have yore brains blowed out," he shivered. +"For God's sake, Clausen, make a noise--sneeze, cough, choke, yell, +anything!" he prayed, but Clausen remained ominously silent. Johnny +pushed his Colt out farther and poked it all around. Touching the wall +it made a slight scraping sound and Johnny's blood froze. Still no +move from Clausen, and his fright went down a notch--Clausen was +evidently even more scared than he was. That was consoling. Perhaps he +was so scared that he couldn't pull a trigger, which would be far more +consoling. + +"Johnny! Johnny! Answer, can't you!" came Red's stentorian voice, +causing Johnny to jump a few inches off the floor. + +"Clausen! Clausen!" came another voice. + +"For God's sake, answer, Clausen! Tell 'em yo're here!" prayed Johnny. +"Yo're d----d unpolite, anyhow." + +By this time he was opposite the door and he wondered if Pete had been +told not to bombard it. He stopped and looked, and stared. What was +that thing on the floor? Or was it anything at all? He blinked and +moved closer. It looked like a head, but Johnny was taking no chances. +He stared steadily into the blackest part of the hut for a moment and +then looked again at the object. He could see it a little plainer now, +for it was not quite as dark outside as it was in the building; but he +was not sure about it. + +"Can't fool me, you coyote," he thought. "Yo're hugging this wall as +tight as a tick on a cow, a blamed sight tighter than I am, an' in +about a minute I'm going to shoot along it about four inches from th' +floor. I'd just as soon get shot as be scared to death, anyhow. Mebby +we've passed each other! An' Holy Medicine! Mebby there's two of 'em!" + +He regarded the object again. "That shore looks like a head, all +right." He felt a pebble under his hand and drawing back a little he +covered the questionable object and then tossed the pebble at it. +"Huh, if it's a head, why in thunder didn't it move?" + +There were footsteps outside the south window and he listened, the +Colt ready to stop any one rash enough to look in, Clausen or no +Clausen. + +"Where's Clausen, Shaw?" said a voice, and the reply was so low Johnny +could not make it out. + +"Yes; that's just what I want to know," and Johnny stared in frowning +intentness at the supposed head. He moved closer to the object and by +dint of staring thought he saw the head and shoulders of a man face +down in a black, shallow pool. Then his hand became wet and he jerked +it back and wiped it on his sleeve; he could hardly believe his +senses. As he grasped the significance of his discovery he grinned +sheepishly and moved back to the north wall, where no rustler's bullet +could find him. "Lord! An' I got him th' first crack! Got him shooting +by ear!" + +"Johnny! Johnny!" came Red's roar, anxious and querulous. + +Johnny wheeled and shook his Colt out of the window, for the moment +forgetting the peril of losing sight of the opening in the other wall. +"I'll Johnny _you_, you blankety-blank fool!" he shouted. Then he +heard a curse at the south window and turned quickly, his Colt +covering the opening. "An' I'll Johnny you too, you cow-stealing +coyotes! Stick yore thieving heads in that windy an' holler for yore +Clausen! _I_ can show you where he is, an' send you after him if +you'll just take a look! Want them cartridges, hey? Well, come an' get +'em!" + +A bullet, fired at an angle through the window, was the reply and +several hummed through the open door and glanced off the steep sides +of the ridge. Waiting until they stopped coming he dropped and +wriggled forward along the west wall, feeling in front of him until he +touched a box. Grasping it he dragged the important cartridges to him +and then backed to the north window with them. + +He fell to stuffing his pockets with the captured ammunition and then +stopped short and grinned happily. "Might as well _hold_ this shack +an' wait for somebody to look in that windy. They can't get me." + +He dropped the box and walked to the heavy plank door, slamming it +shut. He heard the thud of bullets in it as he propped it, and +laughed. "Can't shoot through them planks, they're double thick." He +smelled his sticky fingers. "An' they're full of resin, besides." + +He stopped suddenly and frowned as a fear entered his mind; and then +smiled, reassured. "Nope; no rustling snake can climb up that +ridge--not with Red an' Pete watching it." + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVI + +THE LAST NIGHT + + +Fifty yards behind the firing line of the besiegers a small fire +burned brightly in a steep-walled basin, casting grotesque shadows on +the rock walls as men passed and re-passed. Overhead a silvery moon +looked down at the cheerful blaze and from the cracks and crevices of +the plain came the tuneful chorus of Nature's tiny musicians, sounding +startlingly out of place where men were killing and dying. A little +aside from the others three men in consultation reached a mutual +understanding and turned to face their waiting friends just as Pete +Wilson ran into the lighted circle. + +"Hey, Johnny is in th' hut with th' cartridges," he exclaimed, telling +the story in a few words. + +"Good for th' Kid!" + +"It's easy now, thanks to him." + +"Why didn't he tell us he was going to try that?" demanded Buck. +"Taking a chance like that on his own hook!" + +"Scared you wouldn't let him," Pete laughed. "Red an' me backed him up +with our rifles th' best we could. He had a fight in there, too, +judging from th' shot. He had me an' Red worried, thinking he might 'a +been hit, but he was cussing Red when I left." + +"Well, that helps us a lot," Buck replied. "Now I want three of you to +go to camp an' bring back grub, rifles, an' cartridges. Pete, Skinny, +Chick--yo're th' ones. Leave yore canteens here an' hustle! Hopalong, +you an' Meeker go off somewhere an' get some sleep. I'll call you +before it gets light. Frenchy, me an' you will take all th' canteens +at hand an' fill 'em while we've got time. They won't be able to see +us now. We'll pass Red an' get his, too. Come on." + +When they returned they dropped the dripping vessels and began +cleaning their Colts. That done they filled their pipes and sat +cross-legged, staring into the fire. A snatch of Johnny's exultant +song floated to them and Buck smiled, laying his pipe aside and +rising. "Well, Frenchy, things'll happen in chunks when th' sun comes +up. Something like old times, eh? There ain't no Deacon Rankin or +Slippery Trendley here--" he stopped, having mentioned a name he had +promised himself never to say in Frenchy's presence, and then +continued in a subdued voice, bitterly scourging himself for his +blunder. "They're stronger than I thought, an' they've shot us up +purty well, killed Willis an' Cross, an' made fools of us for weeks on +th' range; but this is th' end of it all. _We_ deal to-morrow, an' we +cut th' cards to-night." + +Frenchy was strangely silent, staring fixedly at the fire. Buck +glanced at him in strong sympathy, for he knew what his slip of the +tongue had awakened in his friend's heart. Frenchy had adored his +young wife and since the day he had found her foully murdered in his +cabin on the Double Y he had been another man. When the moment of his +vengeance had come, when he had her murderer in his power and saw his +friends ride away to leave him alone with Trendley that day over in +the Panhandle, to exact what payment he wished, then he had become his +old self for a while, but it was not long before he again sank into +his habitual carelessness, waiting patiently for death to remove his +burden and make him free. His vengeance did not bring him back his +wife. + +Buck shook his head slowly and affectionately placed a heavy hand on +his friend's shoulder. "Frenchy, won't you ever forget it? It hurts me +to see you this way so much. It's over twenty years now an' day after +day I've grieved to see you so unhappy. You paid him for it in yore +own way. Can't you forget it now?" + +"Yes; I killed him, an' slow. He never thought a man could make th' +payment so hard, not even his black heart could realize it till he +felt it," Frenchy replied, slowly and calmly. "He took th' heart out +of me; he killed my wife and made my life a living hell. All I had +worth living for went that day, an' if I could kill him over again +every day for a year it wouldn't square th' score. I reckon I ain't +built like other men. You never heard me whimper. I kept my poison to +myself an' tried to do the best that was in me. An' you ain't never +heard me say what I'm going to tell you now. I never believed in +hunches, but something tells me that I'll leave all this behind me +before another day passes. I felt it somehow when we left th' ranch +an' it's been growing stronger every hour since. If I do pass out +to-morrow, I want you to be glad of it, same as I would be if I could +know. I'm going back to th' line now an' watch them fellers. So long." + +The two men, bosom friends for thirty years, looked in each other's +eyes as they grasped hands, and it was Buck's eyes that grew moist and +dropped first. "So long, Frenchy--an' good luck, as you see it." + +The foreman watched his friend until lost in the darkness and he +thought he heard him singing, but of this he was not sure. He turned +and stared at the fire for a minute, silent, immovable, and then +breathed heavily. + +"I never saw anybody carry a grief so long, never," he soliloquized. +"I reckon it sort of turned his brain, coming so sudden an' in such a +damnable way. I know it made me see red for a week. If I had only +stayed there that day! When he got Trendley in th' Panhandle I hoped +he would change, an' he did for a while, but that was all. He lived +for that alone, an' since then I reckon he's felt he hadn't nothing to +do with his life. He has been mixed up in a bunch of gun-arguments +since then; but he didn't have no luck. Well, Frenchy, I hate to lose +a friend like you, but here's better luck to-morrow, luck as you see +it, friend!" + +He kicked the fire together and was about to add fuel when he heard +two quick shots and raised his head to listen. Then a ringing whoop +came from the front and he recognized Johnny's voice. He heard Red +call out and Johnny reply and he smiled grimly as he went towards the +sounds. "Reckon somebody tried to get in that shack, like a fool. He +must 'a been disgusted. How that Kid shore does love a fight!" + + Joyous Joe got a juniper jag, + A-jogging out of Jaytown, + +came down the wind. + +"Did you get him, Kid?" cried Buck from the firing line. + +"Nope; got his hat, though--but I shore got Clausen an' all of their +cartridges!" + +"Can you keep them shells alone?" + +"_Can_ I? _Wow_, ask th' other fellers! An' I'm eating jerked +beef--sorry I can't give you some." + +"Shut up about eating, you pig!" blazed Red, who was hungry. + +"You'll eat hot lead to-morrow, all of you!" jeered a rustler's voice. + +Red fired at the sound. "Take yourn now!" he shouted. + +"You can't hit a cow!" came the taunt, while other strange voices +joined in. + +Buck found Red and ordered him to camp to get some sleep before Pete +and the others returned, feeling that he and Frenchy were enough to +watch. Red demurred sleepily and finally compromised by lying down at +Buck's side, where he would be handy in case of trouble. Buck waited +patiently, too heavily laden with responsibility to feel the need of +rest, and when he judged that three hours had passed began to worry +about the men he had sent to camp. Drawing back into a crevice he +struck a match and looked at his watch. + +"Twelve o'clock!" he muttered. "I'll wake Red an' see how Frenchy is +getting on. Time them fellers were back too." + +Frenchy changed his position uneasily and peered at the distant +breastwork, hearing the low murmur of voices behind it. All night he +had heard their curses, but a new note made him sit up and watch more +closely. The moon was coming up now and he could see better. Suddenly +he caught the soft flash of a silver sombrero buckle and fired +instantly. Curses and a few shots replied and a new, querulous voice +was added to the murmur, a voice expressing pain. + +"I reckon you got him," remarked a quiet voice at his side as Buck lay +down beside him. The foreman had lost some time in wandering along the +whole line of defence and was later than he had expected. + +"Yes; I reckon so," Frenchy replied without interest, and they lapsed +into silence, the eloquent silence of men who understand each other. +They heard a shot from below and knew that Billy or Curtis was about +and smiled grimly at the rising murmur it caused among the rustlers. +Buck glanced at the sky and frowned. "There can't be more'n five or +six left by now, an' if it wasn't for th' moon I'd get th' boys +together an' rush that bunch." He was silent for a moment and then +added, half to himself, "but it won't be long now, an' we can wait." + +Distant voices heralded the return of Pete and his companions and the +foreman arose. "Frenchy, I'm going to place th' boys an' start things +right away. We've been quiet too long." + +"Might as well," Frenchy replied, "I'm getting sleepy--straining my +eyes too much, I reckon, trying to see a little better than I can." + +"Here's th' stuff, Buck," Skinny remarked as the foreman entered the +circle of light. "Two days' fighting rations, fifty rounds for th' +rifles an' fifty for th' Colts. Chick is coming back there with th' +rifles." + +"Good. Had yore grub yet?" Buck asked. "All right--didn't reckon you'd +wait for it. What kept you so long? You've been gone over three +hours." + +"We was talking to Billy an' Curtis," Skinny remarked. "They're +anxious to have it over. They've been spelling each other an' getting +some sleep. We saw Doc's saddle piled on top of th' grub when we got +to camp. It wasn't there when we all left th' other night. Billy says +Doc came running past last night, saddled up an' rode off. He got back +this afternoon wearing a bandage around his head. He didn't say where +he had been, but now he is at th' bottom of th' trail waiting for a +shot, so Billy says. Pete reckons he went after somebody that got +down last night, one of them fellers that left their rifles up here by +th' ropes." + +"Mebby yo're right," replied Buck, hurriedly. "Get ready to fight. I +ain't going to wait for daylight when this moonlight will answer. +Pete, Skinny, Chick--you get settled out on th' east end, where me an' +Frenchy will join you. We'll have this game over before long." + +He strode away and returned with Hopalong and Meeker, who hastily ate +and drank and, filling their belts with cartridges and taking their +own rifles from the pile Chick had brought, departed toward the cut +with orders for Red to come in. + +Pete and his companions moved away as Frenchy, shortly followed by +Red, came in and reported. + +"Eat an' drink, lively. Red, you get back to yore place an' take care +of th' cut," Buck ordered. "Frenchy, you come out east with th' rest. +There's cartridges for you both an' there's yore own rifle, Frenchy." + +"Glad yo're going to start things," chewed Red through a mouthful of +food. "It's about time we show them fellers we can live up to our +reputations. Any of 'em coming my way won't go far." + +Frenchy filled his pipe and lighted it from a stick he took out of the +fire and as it began to draw well he stepped quickly forward and held +out his hand. "Good luck, Red. They can't fight long." + +"Same to you, Frenchy," Red cried, grasping the hand. "Yo're right, +there. You look plumb wide awake, like Buck--how'd you do it?" + +Frenchy laughed and strode after his foreman, Red watching him. "He's +acting funny--reckon it's th' sleep he's missed. Well, here goes," and +he, too, went off to the firing line. + + --An' aching thoughts pour in on me, + Of Whiskey Bill, + +came Johnny's song from the hut--and the fight began again. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVII + +THEIR LAST FIGHT + + +A figure suddenly appeared on the top of the flanking ridge, outlined +against the sky, and flashes of flame spurted from its hands, while +kneeling beside it was another, rapidly working a rifle, the roar of +the guns deafening because of the silence which preceded it. Shouts, +curses, and a few random, futile shots replied from the breastworks, +its defenders, panic-stricken by the surprise and the deadly accuracy +of the two marksmen, scurrying around the bend in their +fortifications, so busy in seeking shelter that they failed to make +their shots tell. Two men, riddled by bullets, lay where they had +fallen and the remaining three, each of them wounded more than once, +crouched under cover and turned their weapons against the new factors; +but these had already slid down the face of the ridge and were +crawling along the breastwork, alert and cautious. + +In front of the rustlers heavy firing burst out along the cowmen's +line and Red Connors, from his old position above the cut, swung part +way around and turned his rifle against the remnant of the defenders +at another angle, and fired at every mark, whether it was hand, foot, +or head; while Johnny, tumbling out of the south window of the hut, +followed in the wake of Hopalong and Meeker. The east end of the line +was wrapped in smoke, where Buck and his companions labored zealously. + +Along the narrow trail up the mesa's face a man toiled heavily and it +was not long before Doc Riley opened fire from the rear. The three +rustlers, besieged from all sides, found their positions to be most +desperate and knew then that only a few minutes intervened between +them and eternity. They had three choices--to surrender, to die +fighting, or to leap from the mesa to instant death below. + +Shaw, to his credit, chose the second and like a cornered wolf goaded +to despair leaped up and forward to take a gambler's chance of gaining +the hut. Before him were Hopalong, Meeker, Johnny, and Doc. Doc was +hastily reloading his Colt, Johnny was temporarily out of sight as he +crawled around a bowlder, and Hopalong was greatly worried by +ricochettes and wild shots from the rifles of his friends which +threatened to end his career. Meeker alone was watching at that moment +but his attention was held by the rustler near the edge of the mesa +who was trying to shrink himself to fit the small rock in front of him +and to use his gun at the same time. + +Shaw sprang from his cover and straight at the H2 foreman, his foot +slipping slightly as he fired. The bullet grazed Meeker's waist, but +the second, fired as the rustler was recovering his balance, bored +through Meeker's shoulder. The H2 foreman, bending forward for a shot +at the man behind the small rock, was caught unawares and his balance, +already strained, was destroyed by the shock of the second bullet, and +he flopped down to all fours. Shaw sprang over him just as Hopalong +and Johnny caught sight of him and he swung his revolver on Hopalong +at the moment when the latter's bullet crashed through his brain. + +Buck Peters, trying for a better position, slipped on the rock which +had been the cause of the death of George Cross and before he could +gain his feet a figure leaped down in front of him and raised a Colt +in his defence, but spun half way around and fell, shot through the +head. A cry of rage went up at this and a rush was made against the +breastworks from front and side. Frenchy McAllister's forebodings had +come true. + +Sanchez, finding his revolver empty and with no time to reload, held +up his hands. Frisco, blinded by blood, wounded in half a dozen +places, desperate, snarling, and still unbeaten, wheeled viciously, +but before he could pull his trigger, Hopalong grasped him and hurled +him down, Johnny going with them. Doc, a second too late, waved his +sombrero. "Come on, it's all over!" + +In another second the rushing punchers from the front slid and rolled +and plunged over the breastwork and eyed the results of their fire. + +Meeker staggered around the corner and leaned against Buck for +support. "My G-d! This is awful! I didn't think we were doing so much +damage." + +"I did!" retorted Buck. "I know what happens when my outfit burns +powder. Where's Red?" he asked anxiously. + +"Here I am," replied a voice behind him. + +"All right; take that Greaser to th' hut, somebody," the foreman +ordered. "Johnny, you an' Pete take this feller there, too," pointing +to Frisco. "He's th' one that killed Frenchy. Hopalong, take Red, an' +bring in that feller me an' Meeker tied up in that crevice, if he +ain't got away." + +Hopalong and Red went off to bring in Hall and Buck turned to the +others. "You fellers doctor yore wounds. Meeker, yo're hard hit," he +remarked, more closely looking at the H2 foreman. + +"Yes. I know it--loss of blood, mostly," Meeker replied. "An' if it +hadn't been for Cassidy I'd been hit a d----d sight harder. Where's +Doc? He knows what to do--_Doc_!" + +"Coming," replied a voice and Doc turned the corner. He had a limited +knowledge of the work he was called upon to do, and practice, though +infrequent, had kept it more or less fresh. + +"Reckon yo're named about right, Doc," Buck remarked as he passed the +busy man. "You got me beat an' I ain't no slouch." + +"I'd 'a been a real Doc if I hadn't left college like a fool to punch +cows,--you've got to keep still, Jim," he chided. + +"Hey, Buck," remarked Hopalong, joining the crowd and grinning at the +injured, "we've got that feller in th' shack. When th' feller I +grabbed out here saw him he called him Hall. Th' other is Frisco an' +th' Greaser ain't got no name, I reckon. How you feeling, Meeker? That +was Shaw plugged you." + +"Feeling better'n him," Meeker growled. "Yo're a good man to work +with, Cassidy." + +"Well, Cassidy, got any slugs in you?" affably asked Doc, the man +Hopalong had wounded on the line a few weeks before. Doc brandished a +knife and cleaning rod and appeared to be anxious to use them on +somebody else. + +"No; but what do you do with them things?" Hopalong rejoined, feeling +of his bandage. + +"Take out bullets," Doc grinned. + +"Oh, I see; you cut a hole in th' back an' then push 'em right +through," Hopalong laughed. "Reckon I'd ruther have 'em go right +through without stopping. Who's that calling?" + +"Billy an' Curtis. Tell 'em to come up," Buck replied, walking towards +the place where Frenchy's body lay. + +Hopalong went to the edge and replied to the shouts and it was not +long before they appeared. When Doc saw them he grinned pleasantly and +drew them aside, trying to coax them to let him repair them. But +Billy, eying the implements, sidestepped and declined with alacrity; +Curtis was the victim. + +"After _him_ th' undertaker," Billy growled, going towards the hut. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVIII + +A DISAGREEABLE TASK + + +Two men, Hall and Frisco, sat with their backs against the wall of the +hut, weaponless, wounded, nervous, one sullen and enraged, the other +growling querulously to himself about his numerous wounds. The third +prisoner, the Mexican, was pacing to and fro with restless strides, +vicious and defiant, his burning eyes quick, searching, calculating. +It seemed as though he was filled with a tremendous amount of energy +which would not let him remain quiet. When his companions spoke to him +he flashed them a quick glance but did not answer; thinking, scheming, +plotting, he missed not the slightest movement of those about him. +Wounded as he was he did not appear to know it, so intent was he upon +his thoughts. + +Hall, saved from the dangers of the last night's fight, loosed his +cumulative rage frequently in caustic and profane verbal abuse of his +captors, his defeat, his companions, and the guard. Frisco, courageous +as any under fire, was dejected because of the wait; merely a +difference of temperament. + +The guard, seated carelessly on a nearby rock, kept watch over the +three and cogitated upon the whole affair, his Colt swinging from a +hand between his knees. Twenty paces to his right was a stack of +rifles and Sanchez, lengthening his panther stride with barely +perceptible effort, drew nearer to them on each northward lap. He +typified the class of men who never give up hope, and as he gained +each yard he glanced furtively at the guard and then estimated the +number of leaps necessary to reach the coveted rifles. His rippling +muscles were bunching up for the desperate attempt when the guard +interfered, the sharp clicks of his Colt bringing the Mexican to an +abrupt stop. Sanchez shrugged his shoulders and wheeling, resumed his +restless walk, being careful to keep it within safe limits. + +Hall, lighting his pipe, blew a cloud of smoke into the air and looked +at the guard, who was still cogitating. + +"How did you fools finally figger we was out here?" + +Hopalong looked up and smiled. "Oh, we just figgered you fools would +be here, and would stay up here. Yore friend Antonio worked too hard." + +Hall carefully packed his pipe and puffed quickly. "I knowed he'd +bungle it, d----d Greaser. It was th' Greasers that busted up th' +game. Sixteen men an' four of 'em Greasers. By G-d, if we was all +white men we'd 'a given you fellers a hot tune to dance to. Greasers +are all cowards, any--" + +"You lie!" snapped Sanchez, stepping forward. + +"Stop it!" shouted Hopalong, half arising, his Colt on the two. "You +keep peaceful--there's been too much fighting now. But if them other +Greasers had been like this one here I reckon you wouldn't 'a lost +nothing by having 'em." + +"What happened to Cavalry an' Antonio?" asked Hall. "Did you get 'em +when you came up?" + +"They got down th' way we came up--Doc trailed th' Greaser an' got him +at that water hole up north," Hopalong replied. "Don't know nothing +about th' other feller. Reckon he got away, but one don't make much +difference, anyhow. He'll never come back to this country." + +"Say, how much longer will it take yore friends to do th' buryin' +act?" asked Frisco, irritably. "I'm plumb tired of waiting--these +wounds hurt like blazes, too." + +"Reckon they're coming now," was the reply. "I hear--yes, here they +are." + +"I owe you ten dollars, Hall," Frisco remarked, trivial things now +entering his mind. "Reckon you won't get it, neither." + +"Oh, pay me in h--l!" Hall snapped. + +"Yes," Buck was saying, "he shore was white. He knowed he was going +an' he went like th' man he was--saving a friend. 'Tain't th' first +time Frenchy McAllister's saved my life, neither." + +Frisco glanced around and his face flashed with a look of recognition, +but he held his tongue; not so with Curtis, who stared at him in +surprise and stepped forward. + +"Good G-d! It's Davis! What ever got you into this?" + +"Easy money an' a gun fight," Davis, alias Frisco, replied. + +"Tough luck, tough luck," Curtis muttered slowly. + +"D--n tough, if you asks me," Frisco growled. + +"What happened to th' others?" Curtis asked, referring to three men +with whom he and Frisco had punched and prospected several years +before. + +"Little Dan went out in that same gun fight, Joe Baird was got by th' +posse next day, an' George Wild an' I got into th' mountains an' was +separated. I got free after a sixty-mile chase, but I don't know how +George made out. We had stuck up a gold caravan an' killed two men +what was with it. They was th' only fellers to pull their guns against +us." + +"Well, I'm d----d!" ejaculated Curtis. "An' so that crowd went bad!" + +"Say, for th' Lord's sake, get things moving," cried Hall, angrily. +"If we've got to die make it quick--or else shoot that infernal +Greaser--he's got on my nerves with his tramp, tramp, tramp! Wish I'd +'a gone with Shaw 'stead of waiting for my own funeral." + +Buck surveyed them. "Got anything to say?" + +"Not me--I've had mine," replied Frisco, toying with a bandage. Then +he started to say something but changed his mind. "Oh, well, what's +th' use! Go ahead." + +"Don't drag it out," growled Hall. "Say, you got _my_ rope there?" he +demanded suddenly, eying the coils slung over Skinny's shoulder. "No, +you ain't. I want my own, savvy?" + +"Oh, we ain't got time to hunt for no ropes," rejoined Skinny. "One's +as good as another, ain't it?" + +"Yes, I reckon so--hustle it through," Hall replied, sullenly. + +"Go ahead, you fellers," ordered Hopalong as some of his friends went +first down the trail after the two sent to the camp for the horses. +"Come on, Sanchez! Fall in there!" + +When the procession reached the bottom of the trail Buck halted it to +wait for the horses and his prisoners took one more look around. + +"Say, Peters, where's th' cayuses we had in that corral?" asked Hall, +surprised. + +"Oh, we got them out th' first night--we wasn't taking no chances," +replied the foreman. "They're somewhere near th' camp now." + +As the horse herd was driven up Sanchez made his last play. All were +intent upon tightening cinches, the more intent because of the +impending and disagreeable task, when he slipped like a shadow through +the group and throwing himself across a likely looking pinto (he knew +the horse), headed in a circular track for the not too distant +chaparral. + +"_Take_ him, Red!" shouted Buck, who was the first to recover. + +Red's rifle leaped to his shoulder and steadied; in three more jumps +the speedy pinto would have shielded Sanchez, clinging like a burr to +the further side; but the rifle spoke once and the fleeing Mexican +dropped and lay quiet on the sand. + +Hopalong rode out to him and glancing at the still form, wheeled and +returned. "Got him clean, Red." + + * * * * * + +A group of horsemen rode eastward towards the chaparral and as it was +about to enclose them one of the riders bringing up the rear turned in +his saddle and looked back at two dangling forms outlined against the +darker background of the frowning mesa, two where he had expected to +see three. + +"Well, th' rustling is over," he remarked. "Say, that Greaser wasn't +no coward. I reckoned Greasers was all yaller dogs." + +"Have you known many of 'em?" asked Skinny, quietly. + +"No," replied Chick. "Didn't ever see none till I came down here. +Reckon there ain't many up in Montanny. But I heard lots about 'em. +_He_ was all grit! I allus reckoned they was coyotes, an' mostly +scared." + +"If you stay down here for long you'll meet some more that ain't +cowards," Skinny replied. "I have--more'n once. A Greaser is a man, +same as me an' you, an' I've known some that would look th' devil +hisself in th' eye an' call him a liar." + +"Gee!" exclaimed Chick, thoughtfully. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIX + +THIRST + + +The stars grow dim and a streak of color paints the eastern sky, +sweeping through the upper reaches of the darkness and tingeing the +earth's curtain until the dim gray light outlines spectral yuccas and +twisted, grotesque cacti leaning in the hushed air like drunken +sentries of some monstrous army. The dark carpet which stretched away +on all sides begins to show its characteristics and soon develops into +greasewood brush. As if curtains were drawn aside objects which a +moment before were lost to sight in the darkness emerge out of the +light like ghosts, bulky, indistinct, grotesque, and array themselves +to complete the scene. + +The silence seems to deepen and become strained, as if in fear of what +is to come; the dark ground is now gray and tawny in places and the +vegetation is plain to the eye. Then out of the east comes a flash and +a red, coppery sun flares above the horizon, molten, quivering, +blinding; the cool of the night swiftly departs and a caldron-like +heat bursts upon the plain. The silence seems almost to shrink and +become portentous with evil, the air is hushed, the plants stand +without the movement of a leaf, and nowhere is seen any living +creature. The whole is unreal, a panorama, with vegetation of wax and +a painted, faded blue sky, the only movement being the shortening +shadows and the rising sun. + +Across the sand is an erratic trail of shoe prints, coming from the +east. For a dozen yards it runs evenly and straight, then a few close +prints straggle to and fro, zig-zagging hither and yon for a distance, +finally going on straight again. But the erratic prints grow more +frequent and become more pronounced as they go on, circling and +weaving, crossing, re-crossing and doubling back as their maker +staggered hopelessly on his way, urged only by the instinct of thirst, +to find water, if it were only a mouthful. The trail is here blurred, +for he fell, and the prints of his hands and knees and shoe-tips tell +how he went on for some distance. He gained his feet here and threw +away his Colt, and later his holster and belt. + +The sun is overhead now and the sand shimmers, the heated air +quivering and glistening, and the desolate void takes on an air of +mystery and fear, and death. No living thing moves across the +heat-cursed sand, but here is a tangled mass of sand and clay and +greasewood twigs, in the heart of which mice sleep and wait for night, +and over there is a hillock sheltering lizards. Stay! Under that +greasewood bush a foolish gray wolf is waiting for night--but he has +little to fear, for he can cover forty miles between dark and dawn, +and his instinct is infallible; no wandering trail will mark his +passing, but one as straight as the flight of a bullet. The shadows +shrink close to the stems of the plants and the thin air dances with +heat. + +Behind that clump of greasewood, back beyond those crippled cacti, a +man staggers on and on. His hair is matted, his fingers bleeding from +digging frantically in the sand for water; his lips, cracked and +bleeding and swollen, hide the shrivelled, stiff tongue which clicks +against his teeth at every painful step. His eyelids are stiff and the +staring, unblinking eyes are set and swollen. He clutches at his +throat time and time again,--a drowning sensation is there. Ha! He +drops to his knees and digs frantically again, for the sand is moist! +A few days ago a water hole lay there. He throws off his shirt and +finally staggers on again. + +His tongue begins to swell and forces itself beyond the swollen, +festering lips; the eyelids split and the protruding eyeballs weep +tears of blood. His skin cracks and curls up, the clefts going +constantly deeper into the flesh, and the exuding blood quickly dries +and leaves a tough coating over the wounds. Wherever the exudation +touches it stings and burns, and the cracks and clefts, irritated more +and more each minute, deepen and widen and lengthen, smarting and +nerve-racking with their pain. + +There! A grove of beautiful green trees is before him, and in it a +fountain splashes with musical babbling. He yells and dances and then, +casting aside the rest of his clothes, staggers towards it. Water, +water, at last! Water and shade! It grows indistinct, wavers--and is +gone! But it must be there. It was there only a moment ago--and on and +on he runs, hands tearing at his choking, drowning throat. Here is +water--close at hand--a purling, cold brook, whispering and tinkling +over its rocky bed--he jumps into it--it moved! It's over there, ten +paces to his right. On and on he staggers, the stream just ahead. He +falls more frequently and wavers now. Oh, for just a canteen of water, +just a swallow, just a drop! The gold of the world would not buy it +from him--just a drop of water! + +He is dying from within, from the inside out. The liquids of his body +exude through the clefts and evaporate. His brain burns and bands of +white-hot steel crush his throbbing head and his burning lungs. No +amount of water will save him now--only death, merciful death can end +his sufferings. + +Water at last! Real water, a noisome pool of stagnant liquid lies at +the bottom of a slight depression, the dregs of a larger pool +concentrated by evaporation. Around it are the prints of many kinds of +feet. It is water, water!--he plunges forward into it and lies +motionless, half submerged. A grayback lizard darts out of the +greasewood near at hand, blinks rapidly and darts back again, glad to +escape the intolerable heat. + +Cavalry had escaped. + + + + +CHAPTER XL + +CHANGES + + +With the passing of the weeks the two ranches had settled down to +routine duty. On the H2 conditions were changed greatly for the better +and Meeker gloated over his gushing wells and the dam which gave him a +reservoir on his north range, the early completion of which he owed +largely to the experience and willing assistance of Buck and the +Bar-20 outfit. + +It was getting along towards Fall when a letter came to the Bar-20 +addressed to John McAllister. Buck looked at it long and curiously. +"Wonder who's writing to Frenchy?" he mused. "Well, I've got to find +out," and he opened the envelope and looked at the signature; it made +him stare still more and he read the letter carefully. George +McAllister, through the aid of the courts, had gained possession of +the old Double Y in the name of its owners and was going to put an +outfit on the ground to evict and hold off those who had jumped it. He +knew nothing about ranching and wanted Frenchy McAllister, who owned +half of it, to take charge of it and to give him the address of Buck +Peters, the other half-owner. He advised that Peters' share be bought +because the range was near a railroad and was growing more valuable +every day. + +Buck's decision was taken instantly. Much as he disliked to leave the +old outfit here was the chance he had been waiting for without knowing +it. He would never have set foot on the Double Y during Frenchy's +lifetime because of loyalty to his old friend. Had he at any time +desired possession of the property he and his friends could have taken +it and left court actions to the other side. But Frenchy was gone, and +he still owned half of a valuable piece of property and one that he +could make pay well. He was getting on in years and it would be +pleasant to have his cherished dream come true, to be the over-lord +and half-owner of a good cattle ranch and to know that when he became +too old to work with any degree of pleasure he need not worry about +his remaining years. If he left the Bar-20 one of his friends would +take his place and he was sure it would be Hopalong. The advancement +in pay and authority would please the man whom he had looked upon as +his son. And perhaps it would bring to Hopalong that which now kept +his eyes turned towards the H2. Yes, it was time to go to his own and +let another man come into _his_ own; to move along and give a younger +man a chance. + +He replied to George McAllister at length, covering everything, and +took the letter to the bunk house to have it mailed. + +"Billy," he said, "here's a letter to go to Cowan's th' first thing +to-morrow. Don't forget." + +Buck started the fall work early and pushed it harder than usual for +he wished to have everything done before the new foreman took charge. +The beef roundup and drives were over with quickly, considering the +time and labor involved, and when the chill blasts of early Winter +swept across the range and whined around the ranch buildings Buck +smiled with the satisfaction which comes with work well done. George +McAllister, failing to buy Buck's interest, now implored him to go to +the Double Y at once and take charge, which he had promised to do in +time to become familiar with conditions on the winter-bound northern +range before the new herds were driven to it. + +As yet he had told his men nothing of his plans for fear they would +persuade him to stay where he was, but he could tell Meeker, and one +crisp morning he called at the H2 and led its foreman aside. When he +had finished Meeker grasped his hand, told him how sorry he was to +lose so good a friend and neighbor, and how glad he was at that +friend's good fortune. + +"I hope Cassidy _is_ th' man to take yore place, Peters," he remarked, +thoughtfully. "He's a good man, th' best in th' country, white, +square, and nervy. I've had my eyes on him for some time an' I'll back +him to bust anything he throws his rope on. He can handle that ranch +easy an' well." + +"Yo're right," replied Buck, slowly. "He ain't never failed to make +good yet. Whoever th' boys pick out to be foreman will be foreman, +for th' owners have left that question with me. But Meeker, it's like +pulling teeth for me to go up to Montana without him. I can't take him +'less I take 'em all, an' I've got reasons why I can't do that. An' I +ain't quite shore he'd go with me now--yore ranch holds something that +ties him tight to this range. He'll be lonely up in our ranch house, +an' it's plenty big enough for two," he finished, smiling +interrogatively at his companion. + +"Well, I reckon it'll not be lonely if he wants to change it," laughed +Meeker. "Leastawise, them's th' symptoms plentiful enough down here. I +was dead set agin it at first, but now I don't want nothing else but +to see my girl fixed for life. An' when I pass out, all I have is +hers." + + + + +CHAPTER XLI + +HOPALONG'S REWARD + + +Seven men loitered about the line house on Lookout Peak, wondering why +they, the old outfit, had been told to await their foreman there. Why +were the others, all good fellows, excluded? What could it mean? +Foreboding grew upon them as they talked the matter over and when Buck +approached they waited eagerly for him to speak. + +He dismounted and looked at them with pride and affection and a trace +of sorrow showed in his voice and face when he began to talk. + +"Boys," he said, slowly, "we've got things ready for snow when it +comes. Th' cattle are strong an' fat, there's plenty of grass curing +on th' range, an' th' biggest drive ever sent north from this ranch +has been taken care of. There's seven of you here, two on th' north +range, an' four more good men coming next week; an' thirteen men can +handle this ranch with some time to spare. + +"I've been with you for a long time now. Some of you I've had for over +twelve years, an' no man ever had a better outfit. You've never turned +back on any game, an' you've never had no trouble among yoreselves. +You've seen me sending an' getting letters purty regular for some +time, an' you've been surprised at how I've pushed you to get ready +for winter. I'm going to tell you all about it now, an' when I've +finished I want you to vote on something," and they listened in dumb +surprise and sorrow while he told them of his decision. When he had +finished they crowded about him and begged him to stay with them, +telling him they would not allow him to leave. But if he must go, then +they, too, must go and help him whip a wild and lawless range into +submission. He would need them badly in Montana, and nowhere could he +get men who would work and fight so hard and cheerfully for him as his +old outfit. They would not let him talk and he could not if they +would, for there was something in his throat which choked and pained +him. Johnny Nelson and Hopalong were tugging at his shoulders and the +others stormed and pleaded and swore, tears in the eyes of all. He +wavered and would have thrown away all his resolutions, when he +thought of Hopalong and the girl. Pushing them back he told them he +could not stay and begged them, as they loved him, to consider his +future. They looked at one another strangely and then realized how +selfish they were, and said so profanely. + +"_Now_ yo're my old outfit," he cried, striking while the iron was +hot. "I've told you why I must go, an' why I can't take _all_ of you +with me, an' why I won't take a few an' leave th' rest. Don't think I +don't want you! Why, with you at my back I'd buck that range into +shape in no time, an' chase th' festive gun-fighters off th' earth. +Mebby some day you can come up to me, but not now. Now I want th' new +foreman of th' Bar-20 to be one of th' men who worked so hard an' +loyally an' long for me an' th' ranch. I want one of you to take my +place. Th' owners have left th' choice to me, an' say th' man I +appoint will be their choice; an' I ain't a-going to do it--I can't do +it. One last favor, boys; go in that house an' pick yore foreman. Go +now, an' I'll wait for you here." + +"We'll do it right here--Red Connors!" cried Hopalong. + +"Hopalong!" yelled Red and Johnny in the same voice, and only a breath +ahead of the others. "Hopalong! Hopalong!" was the cry, his own voice +lost, buried, swept under. He tried to argue, tried to show that he +was unfit, but he could make no headway, for his exploits were shouted +to convince him. As fast as he tried to speak some one remembered +something else he had done--they ranged over a period of ten years and +from Mexico to Cheyenne; from Dodge City and Leavenworth to the +Rockies. + +Buck laughed and clapped his hands on Hopalong's shoulders. "I appoint +you foreman, an' you can't get out of it, nohow! Lemme shake hands +with th' new foreman of th' Bar-20--I'm one of th' boys now, an' glad +to get rid of th' responsibility for a while. Good luck, son!" + +"No you ain't going to get rid of 'em," laughed Hopalong, but serious +withal. "Yo're th' foreman of this ranch till you leave us--ain't he, +boys?" he appealed. + +Buck put his hands to his ears and yelled for less noise. "All right, +I'll play at breaking you in--'though th' Lord knows I can't show you +nothing you don't know now. My first order under these conditions is +that you ride south, Hopalong, an' tell th' news to Meeker, an' to his +girl. An' tell 'em separate, too. An' don't forget I want to see you +hobbled before I leave next month--tell her to make it soon!" + +Hopalong reddened and grinned under the rapid-fire advice and chaffing +of his friends and tried to retort. + +Johnny sprang forward. "Come on, fellers! Put him on his cayuse an' +start him south! We've got to have _some_ hand in his courting, +anyhow!" + +"Right!" + +"Good idea!" + +"Look out! _Grab_ him, Red!" + +"Up with him!" + +"We ought to escort him on his first love trail," yelled Skinny above +the uproar. "Come on! _Saddles_, boys!" + +"Like h--l!" cried Hopalong, spurring forward his nettlesome mount. +"You've got to grow wings to catch me an' Red Eagle! _Go, bronc!_" and +he shot forward like an arrow from a bow, cheers and good wishes +thundering after him. + + * * * * * + +Buck moved about restlessly in his sleep and then awakened suddenly +and lay quiet as a hand touched his shoulder. "What is it? Who are +you?" he demanded, ominously. + +"I reckoned you'd like to know that yo're going to be best man in two +weeks, Buck," said a happy voice. "She said a month, but I told her +you was going away before then, an' you _might_, you know. I shore +feel joyous!" + +The huge hand of the elder man closed over his in a grip which made +him wince. "Good boy, an' good luck, Hoppy! It was due you an' I +knowed you'd win. Good luck, an' happiness, son!" + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Hopalong Cassidy, by Clarence E. Mulford + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HOPALONG CASSIDY *** + +***** This file should be named 38234-8.txt or 38234-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/8/2/3/38234/ + +Produced by Janet Kegg, Matthew Wheaton and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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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: Hopalong Cassidy + +Author: Clarence E. Mulford + +Release Date: December 6, 2011 [EBook #38234] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HOPALONG CASSIDY *** + + + + +Produced by Janet Kegg, Matthew Wheaton and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<h1 class="booktitle">Hopalong Cassidy</h1> + +<p class="h4">BY</p> + +<p class="h3">Clarence E. Mulford</p> + +<p class="h5">Author of</p> + +<p class="h4">The BAR-20 THREE, "TEX", Etc.</p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<p class="h3">GROSSET & DUNLAP, Publishers</p> + +<p class="h5">By arrangement with A. C. McClurg & Co.</p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<p class="h5"><span class="smcap">Copyright</span><br /> +<span class="smcap">By A. C. McClurg & Co.</span><br /> +1910<br /> +<br /> +Published March 12, 1910<br /> +Second Edition, March 19, 1910<br /> +Third Edition, March 26, 1910<br /> +Fourth Edition, May 28, 1910<br /> +Fifth Edition, July 9, 1910<br /> +Sixth Edition, January 28, 1911<br /> +<br /> +Entered at Stationers' Hall, London</p> + +<hr class="thin" /> + +<p class="h5"><i>All Rights Reserved</i></p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<p class="h3"><i>Affectionately Dedicated<br /> +to My Father</i></p> +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<p><span class="pagenum">[vii]</span></p> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +<h2>CONTENTS</h2> + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="Table of Contents"> + <tr> + <td class="tdrfirst">Chapter</td> + <td> </td> + <td class="tdrfirst">Page</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#CHAPTER_I">I.</a></td> + <td class="tdlsc">Antonio's Scheme</td> + <td class="tdr">11</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#CHAPTER_II">II.</a></td> + <td class="tdlsc">Mary Meeker Rides North</td> + <td class="tdr">22</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#CHAPTER_III">III.</a></td> + <td class="tdlsc">The Roundup</td> + <td class="tdr">32</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#CHAPTER_IV">IV.</a></td> + <td class="tdlsc">In West Arroyo</td> + <td class="tdr">50</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#CHAPTER_V">V.</a></td> + <td class="tdlsc">Hopalong Asserts Himself</td> + <td class="tdr">59</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#CHAPTER_VI">VI.</a></td> + <td class="tdlsc">Meeker is Told</td> + <td class="tdr">67</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#CHAPTER_VII">VII.</a></td> + <td class="tdlsc">Hopalong Meets Meeker</td> + <td class="tdr">75</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">VIII.</a></td> + <td class="tdlsc">On the Edge of the Desert</td> + <td class="tdr">83</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#CHAPTER_IX">IX.</a></td> + <td class="tdlsc">On the Peak</td> + <td class="tdr">92</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#CHAPTER_X">X.</a></td> + <td class="tdlsc">Buck Visits Meeker</td> + <td class="tdr">100</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#CHAPTER_XI">XI.</a></td> + <td class="tdlsc">Three Is a Crowd</td> + <td class="tdr">107</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#CHAPTER_XII">XII.</a></td> + <td class="tdlsc">Hobble Burns and Sleepers</td> + <td class="tdr">119</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIII">XIII.</a></td> + <td class="tdlsc">Hopalong Grows Suspicious</td> + <td class="tdr">125</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIV">XIV.</a></td> + <td class="tdlsc">The Compromise</td> + <td class="tdr">130</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#CHAPTER_XV">XV.</a></td> + <td class="tdlsc">Antonio Meets Friends</td> + <td class="tdr">141</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVI">XVI.</a></td> + <td class="tdlsc">The Feint</td> + <td class="tdr">148</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVII">XVII.</a></td> + <td class="tdlsc">Pete is Tricked</td> + <td class="tdr">154</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVIII">XVIII.</a></td> + <td class="tdlsc">The Line House Re-Captured</td> + <td class="tdr">168</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIX">XIX.</a></td> + <td class="tdlsc">Antonio Leaves the H2</td> + <td class="tdr">178</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#CHAPTER_XX">XX.</a></td> + <td class="tdlsc">What the Dam Told</td> + <td class="tdr">195</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXI">XXI.</a></td> + <td class="tdlsc">Hopalong Rides South</td> + <td class="tdr">210</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXII">XXII.</a></td> + <td class="tdlsc">Lucas Visits the Peak</td> + <td class="tdr">223</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"><span class="pagenum">[viii]</span><a href="#CHAPTER_XXIII">XXIII.</a></td> + <td class="tdlsc">Hopalong and Red Go Scouting</td> + <td class="tdr">232</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXIV">XXIV.</a></td> + <td class="tdlsc">Red's Discomfiture</td> + <td class="tdr">240</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXV">XXV.</a></td> + <td class="tdlsc">Antonio's Revenge</td> + <td class="tdr">256</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXVI">XXVI.</a></td> + <td class="tdlsc">Frisco Visits Eagle</td> + <td class="tdr">268</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXVII">XXVII.</a></td> + <td class="tdlsc">Shaw Has Visitors</td> + <td class="tdr">276</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXVIII">XXVIII.</a></td> + <td class="tdlsc">Nevada Joins Shaw</td> + <td class="tdr">282</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXIX">XXIX.</a></td> + <td class="tdlsc">Surrounded</td> + <td class="tdr">287</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXX">XXX.</a></td> + <td class="tdlsc">Up the Wall</td> + <td class="tdr">303</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXXI">XXXI.</a></td> + <td class="tdlsc">Fortune Snickers at Doc</td> + <td class="tdr">315</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXXII">XXXII.</a></td> + <td class="tdlsc">Nature Takes a Hand</td> + <td class="tdr">321</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXXIII">XXXIII.</a></td> + <td class="tdlsc">Doc Trails</td> + <td class="tdr">336</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXXIV">XXXIV.</a></td> + <td class="tdlsc">Discoveries</td> + <td class="tdr">343</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXXV">XXXV.</a></td> + <td class="tdlsc">Johnny Takes the Hut</td> + <td class="tdr">353</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXXVI">XXXVI.</a></td> + <td class="tdlsc">The Last Night</td> + <td class="tdr">360</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXXVII">XXXVII.</a></td> + <td class="tdlsc">Their Last Fight</td> + <td class="tdr">369</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXXVIII">XXXVIII.</a></td> + <td class="tdlsc">A Disagreeable Task</td> + <td class="tdr">374</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXXIX">XXXIX.</a></td> + <td class="tdlsc">Thirst</td> + <td class="tdr">380</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#CHAPTER_XL">XL.</a></td> + <td class="tdlsc">Changes</td> + <td class="tdr">384</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#CHAPTER_XLI">XLI.</a></td> + <td class="tdlsc">Hopalong's Reward</td> + <td class="tdr">388</td> + </tr> +</table></div> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum">[11]</span></p> + +<h2>HOPALONG CASSIDY</h2> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +<h2 id="CHAPTER_I">CHAPTER I</h2> + +<p class="h3">ANTONIO'S SCHEME</p> + +<p>The raw and mighty West, the greatest stage in +all the history of the world for so many deeds of +daring which verged on the insane, was seared +and cross-barred with grave-lined trails and dotted with +presumptuous, mushroom towns of brief stay, whose inhabitants +flung their primal passions in the face of humanity +and laughed in condescending contempt at what +humanity had to say about it. In many localities the +real bad-man, the man of the gun, whose claims to the +appellation he was ready to prove against the rancorous +doubting of all comers, made history in a terse and +business-like way, and also made the first law for the +locality—that of the gun.</p> + +<p>There were good bad-men and bad bad-men, the +killer by necessity and the wanton murderer; and the +shifting of these to their proper strata evolved the foundation +for the law of to-day. The good bad-men, those +in whose souls lived the germs of law and order and +justice, gradually became arrayed against the other +class, and stood up manfully for their principles, let the<span class="pagenum">[12]</span> +odds be what they might; and bitter, indeed, was the +struggle, and great the price.</p> + +<p>From the gold camps of the Rockies to the shrieking +towns of the coast, where wantonness stalked unchecked; +from the vast stretches of the cattle ranges to the ever-advancing +terminals of the persistent railroads, to the +cow towns, boiling and seething in the loosed passions +of men who brooked no restraint in their revels, no one +section of country ever boasted of such numbers of +genuine bad-men of both classes as the great, semi-arid +Southwest. Here was one of the worst collections +of raw humanity ever broadcast in one locality; here the +crack of the gun would have sickened except that moralists +were few and the individual so calloused and so busy +in protecting his own life and wiping out his own scores +that he gave no heed to the sum total of the killings; +it was a word and a shot, a shot and a laugh or a curse.</p> + +<p>In this red setting was stuck a town which we will call +Eagle, the riffle which caught all the dregs of passing +humanity, where men danced as souls were freed. Unmapped, +known only to those who had visited it, it +reared its flimsy buildings in the face of God and rioted +day and night with no thought of reckoning; mad, insane +with hellishness unlimited.</p> + +<p>Late in the afternoon of a glorious day towards this +town rode Antonio, "broncho-buster" for the H2, a +Mexican of little courage, much avarice, and great capacity +for hatred. Crafty, filled with cunning of the +coyote kind, shifty-eyed, gloomy, taciturn, and scowling, +he was well fitted for the part he had elected to<span class="pagenum">[13]</span> +play in the range dispute between his ranch and the +Bar-20. He was absolutely without mercy or conscience; +indeed, one might aptly say that his conscience, +if he had ever known one, had been pulled out by the +roots and its place filled with viciousness. Cold-blooded +in his ferocity, easily angered and quick to commit murder +if the risk were small, he embraced within his husk +of soul the putrescence of all that was evil.</p> + +<p>In Eagle he had friends who were only a shade less +evil than himself; but they had what he lacked and because +of it were entitled to a forced respect of small +weight—they had courage, that spontaneous, initiative, +heedless courage which toned the atmosphere of the +whole West to a magnificent crimson. Were it not for +the reason that they had drifted to his social level they +would have spurned his acquaintance and shot him for +a buzzard; but, while they secretly held him in great +contempt for his cowardice, they admired his criminal +cunning, and profited by it. He was too wise to show +himself in the true light to his foreman and the outfit, +knowing full well that death would be the response, and +so lived a lie until he met his friends of the town, when +he threw off his cloak and became himself, and where he +plotted against the man who treated him fairly.</p> + +<p>Riding into the town, he stopped before a saloon and +slouched in to the bar, where the proprietor was placing +a new stock of liquors on the shelves.</p> + +<p>"Where's Benito, an' th' rest?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"Back there," replied the other, nodding toward a +rear room.</p><p><span class="pagenum">[14]</span></p> + +<p>"Who's in there?"</p> + +<p>"Benito, Hall, Archer an' Frisco."</p> + +<p>"Where's Shaw?"</p> + +<p>"Him an' Clausen an' Cavalry went out 'bout ten +minutes ago."</p> + +<p>"I want to see 'em when they come in," Antonio +remarked, shambling towards the door, where he listened, +and then went in.</p> + +<p>In the small room four men were grouped around a +table, drinking and talking, and at his entry they looked +up and nodded. He nodded in reply and seated himself +apart from them, where he soon became wrapped in +thought.</p> + +<p>Benito arose and went to the door. "<i>Mescal, +pronto</i>," he said to the man outside.</p> + +<p>"D——d <i>pronto</i>, too," growled Antonio. "A man +would die of alkali in this place before he's waited on."</p> + +<p>The proprietor brought a bottle and filled the glasses, +giving Antonio his drink first, and silently withdrew.</p> + +<p>The broncho-buster tossed off the fiery stuff and then +turned his shifty eyes on the group. "Where's +Shaw?"</p> + +<p>"Don't know—back soon," replied Benito.</p> + +<p>"Why didn't he wait, when he knowed I was comin' +in?"</p> + +<p>Hall leaned back from the table and replied, keenly +watching the inquisitor, "Because he don't give a +d—n."</p> + +<p>"You——!" shouted the Mexican, half arising, but +the others interfered and he sank back again, content<span class="pagenum">[15]</span> +to let it pass. But not so Hall, whose Colt was half +drawn.</p> + +<p>"I'll kill you some day, you whelp," he gritted, but +before anything could come of it Shaw and his companions +entered the room and the trouble was quelled.</p> + +<p>Soon the group was deep in discussion over the merits +of a scheme which Antonio unfolded to them, and the +more it was weighed the better it appeared. Finally +Shaw leaned back and filled his pipe. "You've got th' +brains of th' devil, 'Tony."</p> + +<p>"Eet ees not'ing," replied Antonio.</p> + +<p>"Oh, drop that lingo an' talk straight—you ain't +on th' H2 now," growled Hall.</p> + +<p>"Benito, you know this country like a book," Shaw +continued. "Where's a good place for us to work +from, or ain't there no choice?"</p> + +<p>"Thunder Mesa."</p> + +<p>"Well, what of it?"</p> + +<p>"On de edge of de desert, high, beeg. De walls are +stone, an' so ver' smooth. Nobody can get up."</p> + +<p>"How can we get up then?"</p> + +<p>"There's a trail at one end," replied Antonio, crossing +his legs and preparing to roll a cigarette. "It's +too steep for cayuses, an' too narrow; but we can crawl +up. An' once up, all h—l can't follow as long as our +cartridges hold out."</p> + +<p>"Water?" inquired Frisco.</p> + +<p>"At th' bottom of th' trail, an' th' spring is on top," +Antonio replied. "Not much, but enough."</p> + +<p>"Can you work yore end all right?" asked Shaw.</p><p><span class="pagenum">[16]</span></p> + +<p>"<i>Si</i>," laughed the other. "I am 'that fool, Antonio,' +on th' ranch. But they're th' fools. We can +steal them blind an' if they find it out—well," here he +shrugged his shoulders, "th' Bar-20 can take th' blame. +I'll fix that, all right. This trouble about th' line is +just what I've been waitin' for, an' I'll help it along. +If we can get 'em fightin' we'll run off with th' bone <i>we</i> +want. That'll be easy."</p> + +<p>"But can you get 'em fightin'?" asked Cavalry, so +called because he had spent several years in that branch +of the Government service, and deserted because of the +discipline.</p> + +<p>Antonio laughed and ordered more <i>mescal</i> and for +some time took no part in the discussion which went on +about him. He was dreaming of success and plenty and +a ranch of his own which he would start in Old Mexico, +in a place far removed from the border, and where no +questions would be asked. He would be a rich man, according +to the standards of that locality, and what he +said would be law among the peons. He liked to daydream, +for everything came out just as he wished; there +was no discordant note. He was so certain of success, +so conceited as not to ask himself if any of the Bar-20 +or H2 outfits were not his equal or superior in intelligence. +It was only a matter of time, he told himself, +for he could easily get the two ranches embroiled in a +range war, and once embroiled, his plan would succeed +and he would be safe.</p> + +<p>"What do you want for your share, 'Tony?" suddenly +asked Shaw.</p><p><span class="pagenum">[17]</span></p> + +<p>"Half."</p> + +<p>"What! <i>Half?</i>"</p> + +<p>"<i>Si.</i>"</p> + +<p>"You're loco!" cried the other. "Do you reckon +we're going to buck up agin th' biggest an' hardest +fightin' outfit in this country an' take all sorts of chances +for a measly half, to be divided up among seven of +us!" He brought his fist down on the table with a +resounding thump. "You an' yore game can go to +h—l first!" he shouted.</p> + +<p>"I like a hog, all right," sneered Clausen, angrily.</p> + +<p>"I thought it out an' I got to look after th' worst an' +most important part of it, an' take three chances to +you fellers' one," replied Antonio, frowning. "I said +half, an' it goes."</p> + +<p>"Run all th' ends, an' keep it all," exclaimed Hall. +"An', by God, we've got a hand in it, now. If you try +to hog it we'll drop a word where it'll do th' most good, +an' don't you forget it, neither."</p> + +<p>"Anton ees right," asserted Benito, excitedly. +"Eet ees one reesk for Anton."</p> + +<p>"Keep yore yaller mouth shut," growled Cavalry. +"Who gave you any say in this?"</p> + +<p>"Half," said Antonio, shrugging his shoulders.</p> + +<p>"Look here, you," cried Shaw, who was, in reality, +the leader of the crowd, inasmuch as he controlled all +the others with the exception of Benito and Antonio, +and these at times by the judicious use of flattery. +"We'll admit that you've got a right to th' biggest +share, but not to no half. You have a chance to get<span class="pagenum">[18]</span> +away, because you can watch 'em, but how about us, +out there on th' edge of h—l? If they come for us +we won't know nothing about it till we're surrounded. +Now we want to play square with you, an' we'll give you +twice as much as any one of th' rest of us. That'll +make nine shares an' give you two of 'em. What more +do you want, when you've got to have us to run th' +game at all?"</p> + +<p>Antonio laughed ironically. "Yes. I'm where I +can watch, an' get killed first. You can hold th' mesa +for a month. I ain't as easy as I look. It's my game, +not yourn; an' if you don't like what I ask, stay out."</p> + +<p>"We will!" cried Hall, arising, followed by the +others. His hand rested on the butt of his revolver and +trouble seemed imminent. Benito wavered and then slid +nearer to Antonio. "You can run yore game all by +yore lonesome, as <i>long</i> as you <i>can</i>!" Hall shouted. +"I know a feller what knows Cassidy, an' I'll spoil yore +little play right now. You'll look nice at th' end of a +rope, won't you? It's this: share like Shaw said or get +out of here, an' look out for trouble a-plenty to-morrow +morning. I've put up with yore gall an' swallered yore +insultin' actions just as long as I'm going to, an' I've +got a powerful notion to fix you right here and now!"</p> + +<p>"No fightin', you fools!" cried the proprietor, grabbing +his Colt and running to the door of the room. +"It's up to you fellers to stick together!"</p> + +<p>"I'll be d——d if I'll stand—" began Frisco.</p> + +<p>"They want too much," interrupted Antonio, angrily, +keeping close watch over Hall.</p><p><span class="pagenum">[19]</span></p> + +<p>"We want a fair share, an' that's all!" retorted +Shaw. "Sit down, all of you. We can wrastle this +out without no gun-play."</p> + +<p>"You-all been yappin' like a set of fools," said the +proprietor. "I've heard every word you-all said. If +you got a mite of sense you'll be some tender how you +shout about it. It's shore risky enough without tellin' +everybody this side of sun-up."</p> + +<p>"I mean just what I said," asserted Hall. "It's +Shaw's offer, or nothin'. We ain't playing fool for no +Greaser. <i>Yes</i>, that's th' word—Greaser!" he repeated +in answer to Antonio's exclamation. "If you don't like +it, lump it!"</p> + +<p>"Here! Here!" cried Shaw, pushing Hall into a +seat. "If you two have got anything to settle, wait till +some other time."</p> + +<p>"That's more like it," growled the proprietor, shuffling +back to the bar.</p> + +<p>"Good Lord, 'Tony," cried Shaw in a low voice. +"That's fair enough; we've got a right to something, +ain't we? Don't let a good thing fall through just because +you want th' whole earth. Better have a little +than none."</p> + +<p>"Well, gimme a third, then."</p> + +<p>"I'll give you a slug in th' eye, you hog!" promised +Hall, starting to rise again, but Shaw held him back. +"Sit down, you fool!" he ordered, angrily. Then he +turned to the Mexican. "Third don't go; take my offer +or leave it."</p> + +<p>"Gimme a fourth; that's fair enough."</p><p><span class="pagenum">[20]</span></p> + +<p>Shaw thought for a moment and then looked up. +"Well, that's more like it. What do you say, fellers?"</p> + +<p>"No!" cried Hall. "Two-ninths, or nothin'!"</p> + +<p>"A fourth is two-eighths, only a little more," Shaw +replied.</p> + +<p>"Well, all right," muttered Hall, sullenly.</p> + +<p>"That ees ver' good," laughed Benito, glad that +things were clearing. All his sympathies were with his +countryman, but he hesitated to take his part in the +face of such odds.</p> + +<p>The others gave their consent to the division and +Shaw smiled. "Well, that's more like it. Now we'll +go into this thing an' sift it out. Keep mum about it—there's +twenty men in town that would want to join +us if they knowed."</p> + +<p>"I'm goin' to be boss; what I say goes," spoke up +Antonio. "It's my game an' I'm takin' th' most risky +end."</p> + +<p>"You ain't got sand enough to be boss of anything," +sneered Hall. "Yore sand is chalk."</p> + +<p>"You'll say too much someday," retorted Antonio, +glaring.</p> + +<p>"Oh, not to <i>you</i>, I reckon," rejoined Hall, easily.</p> + +<p>"Shut up, both of you!" snapped Shaw. "You can +be boss, 'Tony," he said, winking at Hall. "You've +got more brains for a thing like this than any of us. I +don't see how you can figger it out like you do."</p> + +<p>Antonio laughed in a self-satisfied way, for it was +pleasant to hear such an admission from the lips of a +Gringo, and he was ready to discuss things in a better<span class="pagenum">[21]</span> +spirit. But he remembered one thing, and swore to take +payment if the plan leaked out; the proprietor had confessed +hearing every word, which was not at all to his +liking. If Quinn should tell, well, Quinn would die; he +would see to that, he and Benito.</p><hr class="chap" /><p><span class="pagenum">[22]</span></p> + +<h2 id="CHAPTER_II">CHAPTER II</h2> + +<p class="h3">MARY MEEKER RIDES NORTH</p> + +<p>Mary Meeker, daughter of the H2 owner +and foreman, found pleasure in riding on little +tours of investigation. She had given +the southern portions her attention first and found, +after the newness had worn off, that she did not care for +the level, sandy stretches of half-desert land which lay +so flat for miles. The prospect was always the same, +always uninteresting and wearying and hot. Now she +determined upon a step which she had wished to take for +a long time, and her father's request that she should not +take it grew less and less of a deterrent factor. He had +given so much thought and worry to that mysterious +valley, dropped so many remarks about it, that she at +last gave rein to her curiosity and made ready to see for +herself. It was green and hilly, like the rugged Montana +she had quitted to come down to the desert, and it +should be a small Montana to her. There were hills of +respectable size, for these she saw daily from the ranch +house door, and she loved hills; anything would be better +than the limitless sand.</p> + +<p>She had known little of restraint; her corner of the +world had been filled entirely by men and she had absorbed<span class="pagenum">[23]</span> +much of their better traits. Self-reliant as a +cowgirl should be, expert with either Colt or Winchester, +and at home in the saddle, she feared nothing the desert +might hold, except thirst. She was not only expert +with weapons, but she did not fear to use them against +men, as she had proved on one occasion in wild Montana. +So she would ride to the hills which called her so insistently +and examine the valley.</p> + +<p>One bright morning just before the roundup began +she went to the corral and looked at her horse, a cross +between Kentucky stock and cow-pony and having in a +great degree the speed of the first and the hardiness of +the last, and sighed to think that she could not ride it +for days to come. Teuton was crippled and she must +choose some other animal. She had overheard Doc Riley +tell Ed Joyce that the piebald in the smaller corral was +well broken, and this was the horse she would take. The +truth of the matter was that the piebald was crafty and +permitted the saddle to be fixed and himself ridden for +varying periods of time before showing what he thought +of such things. Doc, unprepared for the piebald's sudden +change in demeanor, had taken a tumble, which made +him anxious to have his wounded conceit soothed by seeing +Ed Joyce receive the same treatment.</p> + +<p>Mary found no trouble in mounting and riding the +animal and she was glad that she had overheard Doc, +for now she had two horses which were thoroughly reliable, +although, of course, Teuton was the only really +good horse on the range. She rode out of the corral +and headed for the White Horse Hills, scarcely twelve<span class="pagenum">[24]</span> +miles away. What if her father had warned her not +to ride near the lawless punchers who rode the northern +range? They were only men and she was sure that to +a woman they would prove to be gentlemen.</p> + +<p>The southern boundary of the Bar-20 ran along the +top of the hills and from them east to the river, and it +was being patrolled by three Bar-20 punchers, Hopalong, +Johnny, and Red, all on the lookout for straying +cattle of both ranches. Neither Hopalong nor Red +had ever seen Mary Meeker, but Johnny had upon the +occasion of his scout over the H2 range, and he had +felt eminently qualified to describe her. He had finished +his eulogistic monologue by asserting that as soon +as his more unfortunate friends saw her they would lose +sleep and sigh often, which prophecy was received in +various ways and called forth widely differing comment. +Red had snorted outright and Pete swore to learn that +a woman was on the range; for Pete had been married, +and his wife preferred another man. Hopalong, +remembering a former experience of his own, smiled in +knowing cynicism when told that he again would fall +under the feminine spell.</p> + +<p>Red was near the river and Johnny half-way to the +hills when Hopalong began the ascent of Long Hill, +wondering why it was that Meeker had made no attempt +to cross the boundary in force and bring on a crisis; +and from Meeker his mind turned to the daughter.</p> + +<p>"So there's a woman down here now," he muttered, +riding down into an arroyo and up the other bank. +<span class="pagenum">[25]</span>"This country is gettin' as bad as Kansas, d——d if it +ain't. First thing we know it'll be nursin' bottles an' +school houses, an' h—l loose all th' time instead of once +in a while."</p> + +<p>He heard hoofbeats and glanced up quickly, alert and +ready for trouble, for who would be riding where he +was but some H2 puncher?</p> + +<p>"What th'——!" he exclaimed under his breath, for +riding towards him at an angle was Mary Meeker; and +Johnny was wrong in his description of her, but, he +thought, the Kid had done as well as his limited vocabulary +would allow. She <i>was</i> pretty, pretty as—she was +more than pretty!</p> + +<p>She had seen him at the same time and flashed a quick +glance which embraced everything; and she was surprised, +for he was not only passably good-looking, +barring the red hair, but very different from the men +her father had told her made up the outfit of the Bar-20. +He removed his sombrero instantly and drew up to let +her pass, a queer expression on his face. Yes, he +thought, Johnny had wronged her, for no other woman +could have such jet-black hair crowning such a face.</p> + +<p>"By God!" he whispered, and went no farther, for +that was the summing up of his whole opinion of her.</p> + +<p>"He <i>is</i> a gentleman," she thought triumphantly, for +he had proved that she was right in her surmise regarding +the men of the northern ranch. She spurred to +pass him and then her piebald took part in the proceedings. +The prick of the spur awakened in him a sudden +desire to assert his rights, and he promptly pitched to +make up for his hitherto gentle behavior. So taken up<span class="pagenum">[26]</span> +with what the last minute had brought forth she was +unprepared for the vicious bucking and when she opened +her eyes her head was propped against Hopalong's knee +and her face dripping with the contents of his canteen.</p> + +<p>"D—n yore ugly skin!" he was saying to the piebald, +which stood quietly a short distance away, evidently +enjoying the result of his activity. "Just you +wait! I'll show you what's due to come yore way purty +soon!" He turned again to the woman and saw that +her eyes were closed as before. "By God, yore—yore +beautiful!" he exclaimed triumphantly, for he had +found the word at last.</p> + +<p>She moved slightly and color came into her cheeks +with a sudden rush and he watched her anxiously. Soon +she moved again and then, opening her eyes, struggled +to gain her feet. He helped her up and held her until +she drew away from him.</p> + +<p>"What was it?" she asked.</p> + +<p>"That ugly cayuse went an' pitched when you wasn't +lookin' for it," he told her. "Are you hurt much?"</p> + +<p>"No, just dizzy. I don't want to make you no trouble," +she replied.</p> + +<p>"You ain't makin' me any trouble, not a bit," he assured +her earnestly. "But I'd like to make some trouble +for that ornery cayuse of yourn. Let me tone him +down some."</p> + +<p>"No; it was my fault. I should 'a been looking—I +never rode him before."</p> + +<p>"Well, you've got to take my cayuse to get home on," +he said. "He's bad, but he's a regular angel when<span class="pagenum">[27]</span> +stacked up agin that bronc. I'll ride the festive piebald, +an' we can trade when you get home." Under his +breath he said, "Oh, just wait till I get on you, you +wall-eyed pinto! I'll give you what you need, all +right!"</p> + +<p>"Thank you, but I can ride him now that I know +just what he is," she said, her eyes flashing with determination. +"I've never let a bronc get th' best of me in +th' long run, an' I ain't goin' to begin now. I came up +here to look at th' hills an' th' valley, an' I'm not going +back home till I've done it."</p> + +<p>"That's th' way to talk!" he cried in admiration. +"I'll get him for you," he finished, swinging into his +saddle. He loosened the lariat at the saddle horn while +he rode towards the animal, which showed sudden renewed +interest in the proceedings, but it tarried too +long. Just as it wheeled and leaped forward the rope +settled and the next thing it knew was that the sky +had somehow slid under its stomach, for it had been +thrown over backward and flat on its back. When it +had struggled to its feet it found Hopalong astride it, +spurring vigorously on the side farthest from Mary, +and for five minutes the air was greatly disturbed. At +the end of that time he dismounted and led a penitent +pony to its mistress, who vaulted lightly into the saddle +and waited for her companion to mount. When he +had joined her they rode up the hill together side by +side.</p> + +<p>Johnny, shortly after he had passed Hopalong on the +line, wished to smoke and felt for his tobacco pouch,<span class="pagenum">[28]</span> +which he found to be empty. He rode on for a short +distance, angry with himself for his neglect, and then +remembered that Hopalong had a plentiful supply. +He could overtake the man on the hill much quicker +than he could Red, who had said that he was going to +ride south along the river to see if Jumping Bear Creek +was dry. If it were, Meeker could be expected to become +active in his aggression. Johnny wheeled and +cantered back along the boundary trail, alertly watching +for trespassing cattle.</p> + +<p>It was not long before he came within sight of the +thicket which stood a little east of the base of Long +Hill, and he nearly fell from the saddle in astonishment, +for his friend was on the ground, holding a woman's +head on his knee! Johnny didn't care to intrude, and +cautiously withdrew to the shelter of the small chaparral, +where he waited impatiently. Wishing to stretch +his legs, he dismounted and picketed his horse and +walked around the thicket until satisfied that he was out +of sight of his friend.</p> + +<p>Suddenly he fancied that he heard something suspicious +and he crept back around the thicket, keeping +close to its base. When he turned the corner he saw +the head of a man on the other side of the chaparral +which lay a little southwest of his position. It was +Antonio, and he was intently watching the two on the +slope of the hill, and entirely unaware that he was being +watched in turn.</p> + +<p>Johnny carefully drew his Colt and covered the Mexican, +for he hated "Greasers" instinctively, but on<span class="pagenum">[29]</span> +Antonio he lavished a hatred far above the stock kind. +He had seen the shifty-eyed broncho-buster on more +than one occasion and never without struggling with +himself to keep from shooting. Now his finger pressed +gently against the trigger of the weapon and he wished +for a passable excuse to send the other into eternity; +but Antonio gave him no cause, only watching eagerly +and intently, his face set in such an expression of malignancy +as to cause Johnny's finger to tremble.</p> + +<p>Johnny arose slightly until he could see Hopalong +and his companion and he smothered an exclamation. +"Gosh A'mighty!" he whispered, again watching the +Mexican. "That's Meeker's gal or I'm a liar! Th' +son-of-a-gun, keeping quiet about it all this time. An' +no wonder th' Greaser's on th' trail!"</p> + +<p>It was not long before Johnny looked again for +Hopalong and saw him riding up the hill with his companion. +Then he crept forward, watching the Mexican +closely, his Colt ready for instant use. Antonio slowly +drew down until he was lost to sight of the Bar-20 +puncher, who ran swiftly forward and gained the side +of the other thicket, where he again crept forward, and +around the chaparral. When he next caught sight of +the broncho-buster the latter was walking towards his +horse and his back was turned to Johnny.</p> + +<p>"Hey, you!" called the Bar-20 puncher, arising and +starting after the other.</p> + +<p>Antonio wheeled, leaped to one side and half drew his +revolver, but he was covered and he let the weapon slide +back into the holster.</p><p><span class="pagenum">[30]</span></p> + +<p>"What was you doing?"</p> + +<p>Antonio's reply was a scowl and his inquisitor continued +without waiting for words from the other.</p> + +<p>"Never mind that, for I saw what you was doing," +Johnny said. "An' I shore knew what you wanted to +do, because I came near doing it to you. Now it ain't +a whole lot healthy for you to go snooping around this +line like you was, for I'll plug you on suspicion next +time. Get on that cayuse of yourn an' hit th' trail south—go +on, make tracks!"</p> + +<p>The Mexican mounted and slowly wheeled. "You +hab drop, now," he said significantly. "Nex' time, +<i>quien sabe</i>?"</p> + +<p>Johnny dropped his Colt into the holster and removed +his hand from the butt. "You're a liar!" he shouted, +savagely. "I ain't got th' drop. It's an even break, +an' what are you going to do about it?"</p> + +<p>Antonio shrugged his shoulders and rode on without +replying, quite content to let things stand as they were. +He had learned something which he might be able to +use to advantage later on and he had strained the situation +just a little more.</p> + +<p>"Huh! Next time!" snorted Johnny in contempt +as he turned to go back to his horse. "It'll allus be +'nex' time' with that Greaser, 'less he gets a good pot +shot at me, which he won't. He ain't got sand enough +to put up a square fight. Now for Red; he'll shore be +riding this way purty soon, an' that'll never do. +Hoppy won't want anybody foolin' around th' hills for +a while, lucky devil."</p><p><span class="pagenum">[31]</span></p> + +<p>More than an hour had passed before he met Red and +he forthwith told him that he had caught the Mexican +scouting on foot along the line.</p> + +<p>"I ain't none surprised, Kid," Red replied, frowning. +"You've seen how th' H2 cows are being driven +north agin us an' that means we'll be tolerable busy +purty soon. Th' Jumping Bear is dry as tinder, an' +it won't be long before Meeker'll be driving to get in +th' valley."</p> + +<p>"Well, I'm some glad of that," Johnny replied, +frankly. "It's been peaceful too blamed long down +here. Come on, we'll ride east an' see if we can find +any cows to turn. Hey! Look there!" he cried, spurring +forward.</p><hr class="chap" /><p><span class="pagenum">[32]</span></p> + +<h2 id="CHAPTER_III">CHAPTER III</h2> + +<p class="h3">THE ROUNDUP</p> + +<p>The Texan sky seemed a huge mirror upon +which were reflected the white fleecy clouds +sailing northward; the warm spring air was +full of that magnetism which calls forth from their +earthy beds the gramma grass and the flowers; the scant +vegetation had taken on new dress and traces of green +now showed against the more sombre-colored stems; +while in the distance, rippling in glistening patches +where, disturbed by the wind, the river sparkled like a +tinsel ribbon flung carelessly on the grays and greens +of the plain. Birds winged their joyous way and filled +the air with song; and far overhead a battalion of +tardy geese flew, arrow-like, towards the cool lakes of the +north, their faint honking pathetic and continuous. +Skulking in the coulees or speeding across the skyline +of some distant rise occasionally could be seen a +coyote or gray wolf. The cattle, less gregarious than +they had been in the colder months, made tentative +sorties from the lessening herd, and began to stray off +in search of the tender green grass which pushed up +recklessly from the closely cropped, withered tufts.<span class="pagenum">[33]</span> +Rattlesnakes slid out and uncoiled their sinuous lengths +in the warm sunlight, and copperheads raised their +burnished armor from their winter retreats. All nature +had felt the magic touch of the warm winds, and life +in its multitudinous forms was discernible on all sides. +The gaunt tragedy of a hard winter for that southern +range had added its chilling share to the horrors of the +past and now the cattle took heart and lost their weakness +in the sunlight, hungry but contented.</p> + +<p>The winter had indeed been hard, one to be remembered +for years to come, and many cattle had died +because of it; many skeletons, stripped clean by coyotes +and wolves, dotted the arroyos and coulees. The cold +weather had broken suddenly, and several days of rain, +followed by sleet, had drenched the cattle thoroughly. +Then from out of the north came one of those unusual +rages of nature, locally known as a "Norther," freezing +pitilessly; and the cattle, weakened by cold and +starvation, had dumbly succumbed to this last blow. +Their backs were covered with an icy shroud, and the +deadly cold gripped their vitals with a power not to be +resisted. A glittering sheet formed over the grasses +as far as eye could see, and the cattle, unlike the horses, +not knowing enough to stamp through it, nosed in vain +at the sustenance beneath, until weakness compelled them +to lie down in the driving snow, and once down, they +never arose. The storm had raged for the greater +part of a week, and then suddenly one morning the +sun shown down on a velvety plain, blinding in its +whiteness; and when spring had sent the snow mantle<span class="pagenum">[34]</span> +roaring through the arroyos and water courses in a +turmoil of yellow water and driftwood, and when the +range riders rode forth to read the losses on the plain, +the remaining cattle were staggering weakly in search +of food. Skeletons in the coulees told the story of the +hopeless fight, how the unfortunate cattle had drifted +before the wind to what shelter they could find and +how, huddled together for warmth, they had died one +by one. The valley along Conroy Creek had provided +a rough shelter with its scattered groves and these had +stopped the cattle drift, so much dreaded by cowmen.</p> + +<p>It had grieved Buck Peters and his men to the heart +to see so many cattle swept away in one storm, but +they had done all that courage and brains could do +to save them. So now, when the plain was green again +and the warm air made riding a joy, they were to hold +the calf roundup. When Buck left his blanket after +the first night spent in the roundup camp and rode +off to the horse herd, he smiled from suppressed elation, +and was glad that he was alive.</p> + +<p>Peaceful as the scene appeared there was trouble +brewing, and it was in expectation of this that Buck +had begun the roundup earlier than usual. The unreasoning +stubbornness of one man, and the cunning +machinations of a natural rogue, threatened to bring +about, from what should have been only a misunderstanding, +as pretty a range war as the Southwest had +seen. Those immediately involved were only a few when +compared to the number which might eventually be +brought into the strife, but if this had been pointed out<span class="pagenum">[35]</span> +to Jim Meeker he would have replied that he "didn't +give a d—n."</p> + +<p>Jim Meeker was a Montana man who thought to +carry out on the H2 range, of which he was foreman, +the same system of things which had served where he +had come from. This meant trouble right away, for +the Bar-20, already short in range, would not stand +idly by and see him encroach upon their land for grass +and water, more especially when he broke a solemn compact +as to range rights which had been made by the +former owners of the H2 with the Bar-20. It meant +not only the forcible use of Bar-20 range, but also a +great hardship upon the herds for which Buck Peters +was responsible.</p> + +<p>Meeker's obstinacy was covertly prodded by Antonio +for his own personal gains, but this the Bar-20 foreman +did not know; if he had known it there would have +been much trouble averted, and one more Mexican sent +to the spirit world.</p> + +<p>Buck Peters was probably the only man of all of +them who realized just what such a war would mean, +to what an extent rustling would flourish while the +cowmen fought. His best efforts had been used to avert +trouble, so far successfully; but that he would continue +to do so was doubtful. He had an outfit which, while +meaning to obey him in all things and to turn from +any overt act of war, was not of the kind to stand +much forcing or personal abuse; their nervous systems +were constructed on the hair-trigger plan, and their +very loyalty might set the range ablaze with war.<span class="pagenum">[36]</span> +However, on this most perfect of mornings Meeker's +persistent aggression did not bother him, he was free +from worry for the time.</p> + +<p>Just north of Big Coulee, in which was a goodly +sized water hole, a group of blanket-swathed figures lay +about a fire near the chuck wagon, while the sleepy cook +prepared breakfast for his own outfit, and for the eight +men which the foreman of the C80 and the Double Arrow +had insisted upon Buck taking. The sun had not yet +risen, but the morning glow showed gray over the plain, +and it would not be long before the increasing daylight +broke suddenly. The cook fires crackled and +blazed steadily, the iron pots hissing under their dancing +and noisy lids, while the coffee pots bubbled and +sent up an aromatic steam, and the odor of freshly +baked biscuits swept forth as the cook uncovered a pan. +A pile of tin plates was stacked on the tail-board of the +wagon while a large sheet-iron pail contained tin cups. +The figures, feet to the fire, looked like huge, grotesque +cocoons, for the men had rolled themselves in their +blankets, their heads resting on their saddles, and in +many cases folded sombreros next to the leather made +softer pillows.</p> + +<p>Back of the chuck wagon the eastern sky grew +rapidly brighter, and suddenly daylight in all its power +dissipated the grayish light of the moment before. As +the rim of the golden sun arose above the low sand hills +to the east the foreman rode into camp. Some distance +behind him Harry Jones and two other C80 men drove +up the horse herd and enclosed it in a flimsy corral<span class="pagenum">[37]</span> +quickly extemporized from lariats; flimsy it was, but it +sufficed for cow-ponies that had learned the lesson of +the rope.</p> + +<p>"All ready, Buck," called Harry before his words +were literally true.</p> + +<p>With assumed ferocity but real vociferation Buck +uttered a shout and watched the effect. The cocoons +became animated, stirred and rapidly unrolled, with the +exception of one, and the sleepers leaped to their feet +and folded the blankets. The exception stirred, subsided, +stirred again and then was quiet. Buck and Red +stepped forward while the others looked on grinning +to see the fun, grasped the free end of the blanket and +suddenly straightened up, their hands going high above +their heads. Johnny Nelson, squawking, rolled over +and over and, with a yell of surprise, sat bolt upright +and felt for his gun.</p> + +<p>"Huh!" he snorted. "Reckon yo're smart, don't +you!"</p> + +<p>"Purty near a shore 'nuf pin-wheel, Kid," laughed +Red.</p> + +<p>"Don't you care, Johnny; you can finish it to-night," +consoled Frenchy McAllister, now one of Buck's +outfit.</p> + +<p>"Breakfast, Kid, breakfast!" sang out Hopalong +as he finished drying his face.</p> + +<p>The breakfast was speedily out of the way, and +pipes were started for a short smoke as the punchers +walked over to the horse herd to make their selections. +By exercising patience, profanity, and perseverance they<span class="pagenum">[38]</span> +roped their horses and began to saddle up. Ed Porter, +of the C80, and Skinny Thompson, Bar-20, cast their +ropes with a sweeping, preliminary whirl over their +heads, but the others used only a quick flit and twist of +the wrist. A few mildly exciting struggles for the +mastery took place between riders and mounts, for some +cow-ponies are not always ready to accept their proper +place in the scheme of things.</p> + +<p>"Slab-sided jumpin' jack!" yelled Rich Finn, a +Double Arrow puncher, as he fought his horse. "Allus +raisin' th' devil afore I'm all awake!"</p> + +<p>"Lemme hold her head, Rich," jeered Billy Williams.</p> + +<p>"Her laigs, Billy, not her head," corrected Lanky +Smith, the Bar-20 rope expert, whose own horse had +just become sensible.</p> + +<p>"Don't hurt him, bronc; we need him," cautioned +Red.</p> + +<p>"Come on, fellers; gettin' late," called Buck.</p> + +<p>Away they went, tearing across the plain, Buck in the +lead. After some time had passed the foreman raised +his arm and Pete Wilson stopped and filled his pipe +anew, the west-end man of the cordon. Again Buck's +arm went up and Skinny Thompson dropped out, and +so on until the last man had been placed and the line +completed. At a signal from Buck the whole line rode +forward, gradually converging on a central point and +driving the scattered cattle before it.</p> + +<p>Hopalong, on the east end of the line, sharing with +Billy the posts of honor, was now kept busy dashing +here and there, wheeling, stopping, and manœuvring as<span class="pagenum">[39]</span> +certain strong-minded cattle, preferring the freedom of +the range they had just quitted, tried to break through +the cordon. All but branded steers and cows without +calves had their labors in vain, although the escape of +these often set examples for ambitious cows with calves. +Here was where reckless and expert riding saved the +day, for the cow-ponies, trained in the art of punching +cows, entered into the game with zest and executed +quick turns which more than once threatened a catastrophe +to themselves and riders. Range cattle can run +away from their domesticated kin, covering the ground +with an awkward gait that is deceiving; but the ponies +can run faster and turn as quickly.</p> + +<p>Hopalong, determined to turn back one stubborn +mother cow, pushed her too hard, and she wheeled to +attack him. Again the nimble pony had reason to +move quickly and Hopalong swore as he felt the horns +touch his leg.</p> + +<p>"On th' prod, hey! Well, stay on it!" he shouted, +well knowing that she would. "Pig-headed old fool—<i>all +right</i>, Johnny; I'm comin'!" and he raced away to +turn a handful of cows which were proving too much +for his friend. <i>"Ki-yi-yeow-eow-eow-eow-eow!"</i> he +yelled, imitating the coyote howl.</p> + +<p>The cook had moved his wagon as soon as breakfast +was over and journeyed southeast with the cavvieyh; +and as the cordon neared its objective the punchers +could see his camp about half a mile from the level +pasture where the herd would be held for the cutting-out +and branding. Cookie regarded himself as the most<span class="pagenum">[40]</span> +important unit of the roundup and acted accordingly, +and he was not far wrong.</p> + +<p>"Hey, Hoppy!" called Johnny through the dust of +the herd, "there's cookie. I was 'most scared he'd get +lost."</p> + +<p>"Can't you think of anythin' else but grub?" asked +Billy Jordan from the rear.</p> + +<p>"Can you tell me anything better to think of?"</p> + +<p>There were from three to four thousand cattle in the +herd when it neared the stopping point, and dust arose +in low-hanging clouds above it. Its pattern of differing +shades of brown, with yellow and black and white +relieving it, constantly shifted like a kaleidoscope as +the cattle changed positions; and the rattle of horns on +horns and the muffled bellowing could be heard for many +rods.</p> + +<p>Gradually the cordon surrounded the herd and, when +the destination was reached, the punchers rode before +the front ranks of cattle and stopped them. There was +a sudden tremor, a compactness in the herd, and the +cattle in the rear crowded forward against those before; +another tremor, and the herd was quiet. Cow-punchers +took their places around it, and kept the cattle from +breaking out and back to the range, while every second +man, told off by the foreman, raced at top speed towards +the camp, there to eat a hasty dinner and get a fresh +horse from his <i>remuda</i>, as his string of from five to +seven horses was called. Then he galloped back to the +herd and relieved his nearest neighbor. When all had +reassembled at the herd the work of cutting-out began.</p><p><span class="pagenum">[41]</span></p> + +<p>Lanky Smith, Panhandle Lukins, and two more Bar-20 +men rode some distance east of the herd, there to +take care of the cow-and-calf cut as it grew by the +cutting-out. Hopalong, Red, Johnny, and three others +were assigned to the task of getting the mother cows +and their calves out of the main herd and into the +new one, while the other punchers held the herd +and took care of the stray herd when they should be +needed. Each of the cutters-out rode after some calf, +and the victim, led by its mother, worked its way after +her into the very heart of the mass; and in getting the +pair out again care must be taken not to unduly excite +the other cattle. Wiry, happy, and conceited cow-ponies +unerringly and patiently followed mother and +calf into the press, nipping the pursued when too slow +and gradually forcing them to the outer edge of the +herd; and when the mother tried to lead its offspring +back into the herd to repeat the performance, she was in +almost every case cleverly blocked and driven out on the +plain where the other punchers took charge of her and +added her to the cow-and-calf cut.</p> + +<p>Johnny jammed his sombrero on his head with reckless +strength and swore luridly as he wheeled to go +back into the herd.</p> + +<p>"What's th' matter, Kid?" laughingly asked Skinny +as he turned his charges over to another man.</p> + +<p>"None of yore d——d business!" blazed Johnny. +Under his breath he made a resolve. "If I get you +two out here again I'll keep you here if I have to shoot +you!"</p><p><span class="pagenum">[42]</span></p> + +<p>"Are they slippery, Johnny?" jibed Red, whose +guess was correct. Johnny refused to heed such asinine +remarks and stood on his dignity.</p> + +<p>As the cow-and-calf herd grew in size and the main +herd dwindled, more punchers were shifted to hold it; +and it was not long before the main herd was comprised +entirely of cattle without calves, when it was driven off to +freedom after being examined for other brands. As +soon as the second herd became of any size it was not +necessary to drive the cows and calves to it when they +were driven out of the first herd, as they made straight +for it. The main herd, driven away, broke up as it +would, while the guarded cows stood idly beside their +resting offspring awaiting further indignities.</p> + +<p>The drive had covered so much ground and taken so +much time that approaching darkness warned Buck not +to attempt the branding until the morrow, and he +divided his force into three shifts. Two of these +hastened to the camp, gulped down their supper, and +rolling into their blankets, were soon sound asleep. The +horse herd was driven off to where the grazing was +better, and night soon fell over the plain.</p> + +<p>The cook's fires gleamed through the darkness and +piles of biscuits were heaped on the tail-board of the +wagon, while pots of beef and coffee simmered over the +fires, handy for the guards as they rode in during +the night to awaken brother punchers, who would take +their places while they slept. Soon the cocoons were +quiet in the grotesque shadows caused by the fires and a +deep silence reigned over the camp. Occasionally some<span class="pagenum">[43]</span> +puncher would awaken long enough to look at the sky +to see if the weather had changed, and satisfied, return +to sleep.</p> + +<p>Over the plain sleepy cowboys rode slowly around the +herd, glad to be relieved by some other member of the +outfit, who always sang as he approached the cattle to +reassure them and save a possible stampede. For +cattle, if suddenly disturbed at night by anything, even +the waving of a slicker in the hands of some careless +rider, or a wind-blown paper, will rise in a body—all +up at once, frightened and nervous. The sky was clear +and the stars bright and when the moon rose it flooded +the plain with a silvery light and made fairy patterns +in the shadows.</p> + +<p>Snatches of song floated down the gentle wind as +the riders slowly circled the herd, for the human voice, +no matter how discordant, was quieting. A low and +plaintive "Don't let this par-ting grieve y-o-u" +passed from hearing around the resting cows, soon to +be followed by "When-n in thy dream-ing, nights like +t-h-e-s-e shall come a-gain—" as another watcher made +the circuit. The serene cows, trusting in the prowess +and vigilance of these low-voiced centaurs to protect +them from danger, dozed and chewed their cuds in +peace and quiet, while the natural noises of the night +relieved the silence in unobtruding harmony.</p> + +<p>Far out on the plain a solitary rider watched the +herd from cover and swore because it was guarded so +closely. He glanced aloft to see if there was any hope +of a storm and finding that there was not, muttered<span class="pagenum">[44]</span> +savagely and rode away. It was Antonio, wishing that +he could start a stampede and so undo the work of the +day and inflict heavy losses on the Bar-20. He did +not dare to start a grass fire for at the first flicker of a +light he would be charged by one or more of the night +riders and if caught, death would be his reward.</p> + +<p>While the third shift rode and sang the eastern sky +became a dome of light reflected from below and the +sunrise, majestic in all its fiery splendor, heralded the +birth of another perfect day.</p> + +<p>Through the early morning hours the branding continued, +and the bleating of the cattle told of the hot +stamping irons indelibly burning the sign of the Bar-20 +on the tender hides of calves. Mother cows fought and +plunged and called in reply to the terrified bawling of +their offspring, and sympathetically licked the burns +when the frightened calves had been allowed to join +them. Cowboys were deftly roping calves by their hind +legs and dragging them to the fires of the branding +men. Two men would hold a calf, one doubling the +foreleg back on itself at the knee and the other, planting +one booted foot against the calf's under hind leg +close to its body, pulled back on the other leg while his +companion, who held the foreleg, rested on the animal's +head. The third man, drawing the hot iron from the +fire, raised and held it suspended for a second over the +calf's flank, and then there was an odor and a puff of +smoke; and the calf was branded with a mark which +neither water nor age would wipe out.</p> + +<p>Pete Wilson came riding up dragging a calf at the<span class="pagenum">[45]</span> +end of his rope, and turned the captive over to Billy +Williams and his two helpers, none of them paying any +attention to the cow which followed a short distance behind +him. Lanky seized the unfortunate calf and +leaned over to secure the belly hold, when someone +shouted a warning and he dropped the struggling +animal and leaped back and to one side as the mother +charged past. Wheeling to return the attack, the cow +suddenly flopped over and struck the earth with a thud +as Buck's rope went home. He dragged her away and +then releasing her, chased her back into the herd.</p> + +<p>"<i>Hi!</i> Get that little devil!" shouted Billy to Hopalong, +pointing to the fleeing calf.</p> + +<p>"Why didn't you watch for her, you half-breed!" +demanded the indignant Lanky of Pete. "Do you +think this is a ten-pin alley!"</p> + +<p>Hopalong came riding up with the calf, which swiftly +became recorded property.</p> + +<p>"Bar-20; tally one," sang out the monotonous voice +of the tally-man. "Why didn't you grab her when she +went by, Lanky?" he asked, putting a new point on his +pencil.</p> + +<p>"Hope th' next one heads yore way!" retorted +Lanky, grinning.</p> + +<p>"Won't. I ain't abusin' th' kids."</p> + +<p>"Bar-20; tally one," droned a voice at the next fire.</p> + +<p>All was noise, laughter, dust, and a seeming confusion, +but every man knew his work thoroughly and was doing +it in a methodical way, and the confusion was confined +to the victims and their mothers.</p><p><span class="pagenum">[46]</span></p> + +<p>When the herd had been branded and allowed to return +to the plain, the outfit moved on into a new territory +and the work was repeated until the whole range, +with the exception of the valley, had been covered. +When the valley was worked it required more time in +comparison with the amount of ground covered than +had been heretofore spent on any part of the range; +for the cattle were far more numerous, and it was no +unusual thing to have a herd of great size before the +roundup place had been reached. This heavy increase +in the numbers of the cattle to be herded made a corresponding +increase in the time and labor required for +the cutting-out and branding. Five days were required +in working the eastern and central parts of the valley +and it took three more days to clean up around the +White Horse Hills, where the ground was rougher and +the riding harder. And at every cutting-out there was +a large stray-herd made up of H2 and Three Triangle +cattle. The H2 had been formerly the Three Triangle. +Buck had been earnest in his instructions to his men regarding +the strays, for now was the opportunity to rid +his range of Meeker's cattle in a way natural and without +especial significance; once over the line it would be +a comparatively easy matter to keep them there.</p> + +<p>For taking care of this extra herd and also because +Buck courted scrutiny during the branding, the foreman +accepted the services of three H2 men. This addition +to his forces made the work move somewhat more rapidly +and when, at the end of each day's cutting-out, the<span class="pagenum">[47]</span> +stray herd was complete, it was driven south across the +boundary line by Meeker's men. When the last stray-herd +started south Buck rode over to the H2 punchers +and told them to tell their foreman to let him know when +he could assist in the southern roundup and thus return +the favor.</p> + +<p>As the Bar-20 outfit and the C80 and Double Arrow +men rode north towards the ranch house they were met +by Lucas, foreman of the C80, who joined them near +Medicine Bend.</p> + +<p>"Well, got it all over, hey?" he cried as he rode up.</p> + +<p>"Yep; bigger job than I thought, too. It gets +bigger every year an' that blizzard didn't make much +difference in th' work, neither," Buck replied. "I'll +help you out when you get ready to drive."</p> + +<p>"No you won't; you can help me an' Bartlett more +by keeping all yore men watchin' that line," quickly +responded Lucas. "We'll work together, me an' +Bartlett, an' we'll have all th' men we want. You +just show that man Meeker that range grabbin' ain't +healthy down here—that's all we want. Did he send +you any help in th' valley?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, three men," Buck replied. "But we'll break +even on that when he works along th' boundary."</p> + +<p>"Have any trouble with 'em?"</p> + +<p>"Not a bit."</p> + +<p>"I sent Wood Wright down to Eagle th' other day, +an' he says th' town is shore there'll be a big range war," +remarked Lucas. "He said there's lots of excitement<span class="pagenum">[48]</span> +down there an' they act like they wish th' trouble would +hurry up an' happen. We've got to watch that town, +all right."</p> + +<p>"If there's a war th' rustlers'll flock here from all +over," interposed Rich Finn.</p> + +<p>"Huh!" snorted Hopalong. "They'll flock out +again if we get a chance to look for 'em. An' that +town'll shore get into trouble if it don't live plumb easy. +You know what happened th' last time rustlin' got to +be th' style, don't you?"</p> + +<p>"Well," replied Lucas, "I've fixed it with Cowan to +get news to me an' Bartlett if anything sudden comes +up. If you need us just let him know an' we'll be with +you in two shakes."</p> + +<p>"That's good, but I don't reckon I'll need any help, +leastwise not for a long time," Buck responded. "But +I tell you what you might do, when you can; make up +a vigilance committee from yore outfits an' ride range +for rustlers. We can take care of all that comes on us, +but we won't have no time to bother about th' rest of +th' range. An' if you do that it'll shut 'em out of our +north range."</p> + +<p>"We'll do it," Lucas promised. "Bartlett is going +to watch th' trails north to see if he can catch anybody +runnin' cattle to th' railroad construction camps. +Every suspicious lookin' stranger is going to be held +up an' asked questions; an' if we find any runnin' irons, +you know what that means."</p> + +<p>"I reckon we can handle th' situation, all right, no +matter how hard it gets," laughed the Bar-20 foreman.</p><p><span class="pagenum">[49]</span></p> + +<p>"Well, I'll be leavin' you now," Lucas remarked as +they reached the Bar-20 bunk house. "We begin to +round up next week, an' there's lots to be done before +then. Say, can I use yore chuck wagon? Mine is +shore done for."</p> + +<p>"Why, of course," replied Buck heartily. "Take it +now, if you want, or any time you send for it."</p> + +<p>"Much obliged; come on, fellers," Lucas cried to his +men. "We're goin' home."</p><hr class="chap" /><p><span class="pagenum">[50]</span></p> + +<h2 id="CHAPTER_IV">CHAPTER IV</h2> + +<p class="h3">IN WEST ARROYO</p> + +<p>Hopalong was heading for Lookout Peak, +the highest of the White Horse Hills, by +way of West Arroyo, which he entered half +an hour after he had forded the creek, and was half way +to the line when, rounding a sharp turn, he saw Mary +Meeker ahead of him. She was off her horse picking +flowers when she heard him and she stood erect, smiling.</p> + +<p>"Why, I didn't think I'd see you," she said. "I've +been picking flowers—see them? Ain't they pretty?" +she asked, holding them out for his inspection.</p> + +<p>"They shore are," he replied, not looking at the +flowers at all, but into her big, brown eyes. "An' +they're some lucky, too," he asserted, grinning.</p> + +<p>She lowered her head, burying her face in the blossoms +and then picked a few petals and let them fall +one by one from her fingers. "You didn't look at them +at all," she chided.</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes, I did," he laughed. "But I see flowers all +th' time, and not much of you."</p> + +<p>"That's nice—they are so pretty. I just love +them."</p><p><span class="pagenum">[51]</span></p> + +<p>"Yes. I reckon they are," doubtfully.</p> + +<p>She looked up at him, her eyes laughing and her +white teeth glistening between their red frames. "Why +don't you scold me?" she asked.</p> + +<p>"Scold you! What for?"</p> + +<p>"Why, for being on yore ranch, for being across th' +line an' in th' valley."</p> + +<p>"Good Lord! Why, there ain't no lines for you! +You can go anywhere."</p> + +<p>"In th' valley?" she asked, again hiding her face in +the flowers.</p> + +<p>"Why, of course. What ever made you think you +can't?"</p> + +<p>"I'm one of th' H2," she responded. "Paw says I +run it. But I'm awful glad you won't care."</p> + +<p>"Well, as far as riding where you please is concerned, +you run this ranch, too."</p> + +<p>"There's a pretty flower," she said, looking at the +top of the bank. "That purple one; see it?" she +asked, pointing.</p> + +<p>"Yes. I'll get it for you," he replied, leaping from +the saddle and half way up the bank before she knew it. +He slid down again and handed the blossom to her. +"There."</p> + +<p>"Thank you."</p> + +<p>"See any more you wants?"</p> + +<p>"No; this is enough. Thank you for getting it for +me."</p> + +<p>"Oh, shucks; that was nothing," he laughed +awkwardly. "That was shore easy."</p><p><span class="pagenum">[52]</span></p> + +<p>"I'm going to give it to you for not scolding me +about being over th' line," she said, holding it out to +him.</p> + +<p>"No; not for that," he said slowly. "Can't you +think of some other reason?"</p> + +<p>"Don't you want it?"</p> + +<p>"Want it!" he exclaimed, eagerly. "Shore I want +it. But not for what you said."</p> + +<p>"Will you wear it because we're friends?"</p> + +<p>"Now yo're talking!"</p> + +<p>She looked up and laughed, her cheeks dimpling, and +then pinned it to his shirt, while he held his breath lest +the inflation of his lungs bother her. It was nice to +have a flower pinned on one's shirt by a pretty girl.</p> + +<p>"There," she laughed, stepping back to look at it.</p> + +<p>"Gosh!" he complained, ruefully. "You've pinned +it up so high I can't see it. Why not put it lower +down?"</p> + +<p>She changed it while he grinned at how his scheming +had born fruit. He was a hog, he knew that, but +he did not care.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I reckon <i>I'm</i> all right!" he exulted. "Shore +you don't see no more you want?"</p> + +<p>"Yes; an' I must go now," she replied, going towards +her horse. "I'll be late with th' dinner if I don't +hurry."</p> + +<p>"What! Do you cook for that hungry outfit?"</p> + +<p>"No, not for them—just for Paw an' me."</p> + +<p>"When are you comin' up again for more flowers?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know. You see, I'm going to make cookies<span class="pagenum">[53]</span> +some day this week, but I don't know just when. Do +you like cookies, an' cake?"</p> + +<p>"You bet I do! Why?"</p> + +<p>"I'll bring some with me th' next time. Paw says +they're th' best he ever ate."</p> + +<p>"Bet I'll say so, too," he replied, stepping forward +to help her into the saddle, but she sprang into it before +he reached her side, and he vaulted on his own +horse and joined her.</p> + +<p>She suddenly turned and looked him straight in the +eyes. "Tell me, honest, has yore ranch any right to +keep our cows south of that line?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, we have. Our boundaries are fixed. We +gave th' Three Triangle about eighty square miles of +range so our valley would be free from all cows but +our own. That's all th' land between th' line an' th' +Jumping Bear, an' it was a big price, too. They never +drove a cow over on us."</p> + +<p>She looked disappointed and toyed with her quirt.</p> + +<p>"Why don't you want to let Paw use th' valley?"</p> + +<p>"It ain't big enough for our own cows, an' we can't +share it. As it is, we'll have to drive ten thousand on +leased range next year to give our grass a rest."</p> + +<p>"Well,—" she stopped and he waited to hear what +she would say, and then asked her when she would be +up again.</p> + +<p>"I don't know! I don't know!" she cried.</p> + +<p>"Why, what's the matter?"</p> + +<p>"Nothing. I'm foolish—that's all," she replied, +smiling, and trying to forget the picture which arose in<span class="pagenum">[54]</span> +her mind, a picture of desperate fighting along the line; +of her father—and him.</p> + +<p>"You scared me then," he said.</p> + +<p>"Did I? Why, it wasn't anything."</p> + +<p>"Are you shore?"</p> + +<p>"Please don't ask me any questions," she requested.</p> + +<p>"Will you be up here again soon?"</p> + +<p>"If th' baking turns out all right."</p> + +<p>"Hang the baking! come anyway."</p> + +<p>"I'll try; but I'm afraid," she faltered.</p> + +<p>"Of what?" he demanded, sitting up very straight.</p> + +<p>"Why, that I can't," she replied, hurriedly. "You +see, it's far coming up here."</p> + +<p>"That's easy. I'll meet you west of th' hills."</p> + +<p>"No, no! I'll come up here."</p> + +<p>"Look here," he said, slowly and kindly. "If yo're +afraid of bein' seen with me, don't you try it. I want +to see you a whole lot, but I don't want you to have no +trouble with yore father about it. I can wait till +everything is all right if you want me to."</p> + +<p>She turned and faced him, her cheeks red. "No, it +ain't that, exactly. Don't ask me any more. Don't +talk about it. I'll come, all right, just as soon as I +can."</p> + +<p>They were on the line now and she held out her hand.</p> + +<p>"Good-bye."</p> + +<p>"Good-bye for now. Try to come up an' see me as +soon as you can. If yo're worryin' because that +Greaser don't like me, stop it. I've been in too many +tight places to get piped out where there's elbow room."</p><p><span class="pagenum">[55]</span></p> + +<p>"I asked you not to say nothing more about it," she +chided. "I'll come when I can. Good-bye."</p> + +<p>"Good-bye," he replied, his sombrero under his arm. +He watched her until she became lost to sight and then, +suspicious, wheeled, and saw Johnny sitting quietly on +his horse several hundred yards away. He called his +friend to him by one wide sweep of his arm and Johnny +spurred forward.</p> + +<p>"Follow me, Johnny," he cried, dashing towards the +arroyo. "Take th' other side an' look for that Greaser. +I'll take this side. Edge off; yo're too close. Three +hundred yards is about right."</p> + +<p>They raced away at top speed, reckless and grim, +Johnny not knowing just what it was all about; but +the word Greaser needed no sauce to whet his appetite +since the day he had caught Antonio watching his friend +on the hill, and he scanned the plain eagerly. When +they reached the other end of the arroyo Hopalong +called to him: "Sweep east an' back to th' line on a +circle. If you catch him, shoot off yore Colt an' hold +him for <i>me</i>. I'm going west."</p> + +<p>When they saw each other again it was on the line, +and neither had seen any traces of Antonio, to Johnny's +vexation and Hopalong's great satisfaction.</p> + +<p>"What's up, Hoppy?" shouted Johnny.</p> + +<p>"I reckoned that Greaser might 'a followed her so +he could tell tales to Meeker," Hopalong called.</p> + +<p>Johnny swept up recklessly, jauntily, a swagger almost +in the very actions of his horse, which seemed to +have caught the spirit of its rider.</p><p><span class="pagenum">[56]</span></p> + +<p>"Caught you that time," he laughed—and Johnny, +when in a teasing mood, could weave into his laughter +an affectionate note which found swift pardon for any +words he might utter. "You an' her shore make a +good—" and then he saw the flower on his friend's +shirt and for the moment was rendered speechless by +surprise. But in him the faculty of speech was well +developed and he recovered quickly. "Sufferin' coyotes! +Would you look at that! What's comin' to us +down here, anyway? Are you loco? Do you mean +to let th' rest of th' outfit see <i>that</i>?"</p> + +<p>"Calamity is comin' to th' misguided mavericks +that get gay about it!" retorted Hopalong. "I wear +what I feels like, an' don't you forget it, neither."</p> + +<p>"'In thy d-a-r-k eyes splendor, where th' l-o-v-e +light longs to dwel-l,'" Johnny hummed, grinning. +Then his hand went out. "Good luck, Hoppy! Th' +best of luck!" he cried. "She's a dandy, all right, +but she ain't too good for you."</p> + +<p>"Much obliged," Hopalong replied, shaking hands. +"But suppose you tell me what all th' good luck is for. +To hear you talk anybody'd think all a feller had to +do was to ride with a woman to be married to her."</p> + +<p>"Well, then take off that wart of a flower an' come +on," Johnny responded.</p> + +<p>"What? Not to save yore spotted soul! An' that +ain't no wart of a flower, neither."</p> + +<p>Johnny burst out laughing, a laugh from the soul +of him, welling up in infectious spontaneity, triumphant +and hearty. "Oh, oh! You bit that time!<span class="pagenum">[57]</span> +Anybody'd think about right in yore case, as far as +<i>wantin'</i> to be married is concerned. Why, yo're hittin' +th' lovely trail to matri-mony as hard as you can."</p> + +<p>In spite of himself Hopalong had to laugh at the +jibing of his friend, the Kid. He thumped him heartily +across the shoulders to show how he felt about it +and Johnny's breath was interfered with at a critical +moment.</p> + +<p>"Oh, just wait till th' crowd sees that blossom! Just +wait," Johnny coughed.</p> + +<p>"You keep mum about what you saw, d'y' hear?"</p> + +<p>"Shore; but it'll be on my mind all th' time, an' I +talk in my sleep when anything's on my mind."</p> + +<p>"Then that's why I never heard you talk in yore +sleep."</p> + +<p>"Aw, g'wan! But they'll see th' flower, won't +they?"</p> + +<p>"Shore they will; but as long as they don't know +how it got there they can't say much."</p> + +<p>"They can't, hey!" Johnny exclaimed. "That's a +new one on me. It's usually what they don't know +about that they talks of most. What they don't know +they can guess in this case, all right. Most of 'em are +good on readin' signs, an' that's plain as th' devil."</p> + +<p>"But don't you tell 'em!" Hopalong warned.</p> + +<p>"No. I won't tell 'em, honest," Johnny replied. +He could convey the information in a negative way and +he grinned hopefully at the fun there would be.</p> + +<p>"I mean it, Kid," Hopalong responded, reading the +grin. "I don't care about myself; they can joke all<span class="pagenum">[58]</span> +they wants with me. But it ain't nowise right to drag +her into it, savvy? She don't want to be talked about +like that."</p> + +<p>"Yo're right; they won't find out nothin' from me," +and Johnny saw his fun slip from him. "I'm goin' +east; comin' along?"</p> + +<p>"No; th' other way. So long."</p> + +<p>"Hey!" cried Johnny anxiously, drawing rein, +"Frenchy said Buck was going to put some of us up +in Number Five so Frenchy an' his four could ride th' +line. Did Buck say anything to you about it?"</p> + +<p>Line house Number Five was too far from the +zone of excitement, if fighting should break out along +the line, to please Johnny.</p> + +<p>"He was stringin' you, Kid," Hopalong laughed. +"He won't take any of th' old outfit away from here."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I knowed that; but I thought I'd ask, that's +all," and Johnny cantered away, whistling happily.</p> + +<p>Hopalong looked after him and smiled, for Johnny +had laughed and fought and teased himself into the +heart of every man of the outfit: "He's shore a good +Kid; an' how he likes a fight!"</p><hr class="chap" /><p><span class="pagenum">[59]</span></p> + +<h2 id="CHAPTER_V">CHAPTER V</h2> + +<p class="h3">HOPALONG ASSERTS HIMSELF</p> + +<p>Paralleling West Arroyo and two miles east +of it was another arroyo, through which Hopalong +was riding the day following his meeting +with Mary. Coming to a place where he could look +over the bank he saw a herd of H2 and Three Triangle +cows grazing not far away, and Antonio was in charge +of them. Hopalong did not know how long they had +been in the valley, nor how they had crossed the line, +but their presence was enough. It angered him, for +here was open and, it appeared, authorized defiance. +Not content to let his herds run as they wished, Meeker +was actually sending them into the valley under guard, +presumably to find out what would be done about it. +The H2 foreman would find that out very soon.</p> + +<p>The Mexican looked around and wheeled sharply to +face the danger, his listlessness gone in a flash. He +was not there because of any orders from Meeker, but +for reasons of his own. So when the Bar-20 puncher +raised his arm and swept it towards the line he sat in +sullen indifference, alert and crafty.</p><p><span class="pagenum">[60]</span></p> + +<p>"You've got gall!" cried Hopalong. "Who told +you to herd up here!"</p> + +<p>Antonio frowned but did not reply.</p> + +<p>"Yo're three miles too far north," continued Hopalong, +riding slowly forward until their stirrups almost +touched.</p> + +<p>Antonio shrugged his shoulders.</p> + +<p>"I ain't warbling for my health!" cried Hopalong. +"You start them cows south right away."</p> + +<p>"I can't."</p> + +<p>Hopalong stared. "You can't! Got a sore thumb, +mebby! Well, I reckon you can, an' will."</p> + +<p>"I can't. Boss won't let me."</p> + +<p>"Oh, he won't! Well, I feel sorry for yore boss +but yo're going to push 'em just th' same."</p> + +<p>Antonio again shrugged his shoulders and lifted his +hands in a gesture of helplessness.</p> + +<p>"How long you been here, an' how'd you get in?"</p> + +<p>"'N'our. By de <i>rio</i>."</p> + +<p>"Oh, yore foreman's goin' to raise h—l, ain't he!" +Hopalong snorted. "He's going to pasture on us +whether we like it or not, is he? He's a land thief, +that's what he is!"</p> + +<p>"De boss ees all right!" asserted Antonio, heatedly.</p> + +<p>"If he is he's lop-sided, but he'll be <i>left</i> if he banks +on this play going through without a smash-up. You +chase them cows home an' keep 'em there. If I find +you flittin' around th' ends of th' line or herdin' on this +side of it I'll give you something to nurse—an' you'll +be lucky if you can nurse it. Come on, get a-going!"</p><p><span class="pagenum">[61]</span></p> + +<p>Antonio waved his arm excitedly and was about to +expostulate, but Hopalong cut him short by hitting +him across the face with his quirt: "D—n you!" he +cried, angrily. "Shut yore mouth! Get them cows +going! You coffee-colored half-breed of a Greaser, +I've a mind to stop you right now. Come on, get a +move on!"</p> + +<p>The Mexican's face grew livid and he tried to back +away, swearing in Spanish. Stung to action by the +blow, he jerked at his gun, but found Hopalong's Colt +pushing against his neck.</p> + +<p>"Drop that gun!" the Bar-20 puncher ordered, his +eyes flashing. "Don't you know better'n that? +We've put up with yore crowd as long as we're going +to, an' th' next thing will be a slaughter if that foreman +of yourn don't get some sense, an' get it sudden. +Don't talk back! Just start them cows!"</p> + +<p>The Mexican could do nothing but obey. His triumph +at the success of his effort was torn with rabid +hatred for the man who had struck him; but he could +not fight with the Colt at his neck, and so sullenly +obeyed. As they neared the line Hopalong ceased his +personal remarks and, smiling grimly, turned to another +topic.</p> + +<p>"I let you off easy; but no more. Th' next herd +we find in our valley will go sudden an' hard. If +anybody is guardin' it they'll never know what hit 'em." +He paused for a moment and then continued, cold contempt +in his voice: "I reckon you had to obey orders, +but you won't do it again if you know what's good<span class="pagenum">[62]</span> +for you. If yore boss, as you calls him, don't like +what I've done, you tell him I said to drive th' next +herd hisself. If he ain't man enough to bring 'em in +hisself, tell him that Cassidy says to quit orderin' his +men to take risks he's a-scared of."</p> + +<p>"He ees brafe; he ain't 'fraid," Antonio rejoined. +"He weel keel you ef I tell heem what you say."</p> + +<p>"Tell him jus' th' same. I'll be riding th' line +mostly, an' if he wants to hunt me up an' confab about +it he can find me any time."</p> + +<p>Antonio shrugged his shoulders and rode south, filled +with elation at his success in stirring up hostility between +the two ranches, but his heart seethed with murder +for the blow. He would carry a message to +Meeker that would call for harsh measures, and the +war would be on.</p> + +<p>As the Mexican departed Lanky Smith rode into +sight and cantered forward to meet his friend.</p> + +<p>"What's up?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"I don't know, yet," replied Hopalong. "Greasers +are such liars I don't know what to think," and he related +the matter to his companion.</p> + +<p>"Lord, but you sent a stiff message to Meeker!" +Lanky exclaimed. "You keep yore eyes plumb open +from now on. Meeker'll be wild, an' th' Greaser won't +forget that blow."</p> + +<p>"Was anybody on th' east end this morning?"</p> + +<p>"Shore; me an' Pete," Lanky replied, frowning. +"He couldn't get a cow acrost without us seein' him—he +lied."</p><p><span class="pagenum">[63]</span></p> + +<p>"Well, it makes no difference how he got across; he +was there, an' that's all I care about."</p> + +<p>"There's one of his outfit now," Lanky said.</p> + +<p>Hopalong looked around and saw an H2 puncher +riding slowly past them, about two hundred yards to +the south.</p> + +<p>"Who is he?" Lanky asked.</p> + +<p>"Doc Riley. Meeker got him an' Curley out of a +bad scrape up north an' took them both to punch for +him. I hear he is some bad with th' Colt. Sort of +reckons he's a whole war-party in breech-cloths an' +war-paint just 'cause he's got his man."</p> + +<p>"He's gettin' close to th' line," Lanky remarked.</p> + +<p>"Yes, because we've been turnin' their cows."</p> + +<p>"Reckon he won't stop us none to speak of."</p> + +<p>Doc had stopped and was watching them and while +he looked a cow blundered out of the brush and started +to cross the line. Hopalong spurred forward to stop +it, followed by Lanky, and Doc rode to intercept them.</p> + +<p>"G'wan back, you bone-yard!" Hopalong shouted, +firing his Colt in front of the animal, which now turned +and ran back.</p> + +<p>Doc slid to a stand, his Colt out. "What do you +think you're doing with that cow?"</p> + +<p>"None of yore business!" Hopalong retorted.</p> + +<p>Doc backed away so he could watch Lanky, his hand +leaping up, and Hopalong fired. Doc dropped the +weapon and grabbed at his right arm, cursing wildly.</p> + +<p>"You half-breed!" cried Hopalong, riding closer. +"Next time you gets any curious about what I'm doing,<span class="pagenum">[64]</span> +you better write. You're a fine specimen to pull a gun +on me, you are!"</p> + +<p>"You'll stop turnin' our cows, or you'll get a pass +to h—l!" retorted Doc. "We won't stand for it no +more, an' when th' boys hears about this you'll have +all you can take care of."</p> + +<p>"I ain't got nothing to do but ride th' line an' answer +questions like I did yourn," Hopalong rejoined. "I +will have lots of time to take care of any little trouble +that blows up from yore way. But <i>Meeker's</i> th' man +I want to see. Tell him to take a herd across this line, +will you?"</p> + +<p>"You'll see him!" snapped Doc. "An' you'll need +to see him first, too."</p> + +<p>"I don't pot-shoot—I'll leave that for you fellers. +All I want is an even break."</p> + +<p>"You'll get it," replied Doc, wheeling and riding off.</p> + +<p>"Things are movin' so fast you better send for +Buck," Lanky suggested. "Hell'll be poppin' down +here purty soon."</p> + +<p>"I'll tell him what's going on, but there ain't no use +of bringing him down here till we has to," Hopalong +replied. "We can handle 'em. But I reckon Johnny +had better go up an' tell him."</p> + +<p>"Johnny ought to be riding this way purty quick; +he's coming from th' hills."</p> + +<p>"We'll meet him an' get him off."</p> + +<p>They met Johnny and when he had learned of his +mission he protested against being sent away from the<span class="pagenum">[65]</span> +line when things were getting crowded. "I don't want +to miss th' fun!" he exclaimed. "Send Red, or +Lanky."</p> + +<p>"Red's too handy with th' Winchester; we might +need him," Hopalong replied, smiling.</p> + +<p>"Then you go, Lanky," Johnny suggested. "I'm +better'n you with th' Colt."</p> + +<p>"You're better'n nothing!" retorted Lanky. "You +do what you're told, an' quick. Nothing will happen +while you're gone, anyhow."</p> + +<p>"Then why don't you want to go?"</p> + +<p>"I don't want th' ride," Lanky replied. "It's too +fur."</p> + +<p>"Huh!" snorted Johnny. "Too bad about you an' +th' ride! Poor old man, scared of sixty miles. I'll toss +up with you."</p> + +<p>"One of you has got to ride to Red an' tell him. He +mustn't get caught unexpected," Hopalong remarked.</p> + +<p>"What do you call?" asked Johnny, flipping a coin +and catching it when it came down.</p> + +<p>"All right, that's fair enough. Heads," Lanky replied.</p> + +<p>"Whoop! It's tails!" cried Johnny, wheeling. +"I'm going for Red," and he was gone before Lanky +had time to object.</p> + +<p>"Blasted Kid!" Lanky snorted. "How'd I know +it was tails?"</p> + +<p>"That's yore lookout," laughed Hopalong. "You +ought to know him by this time. It's yore own fault."</p><p><span class="pagenum">[66]</span></p> + +<p>"I'll tan his hide some of these fine days," Lanky +promised. "He's too fresh," and he galloped off to +cover the thirty miles between him and the bunk house +in the least possible time so as to return as soon as he +could.</p><hr class="chap" /><p><span class="pagenum">[67]</span></p> + +<h2 id="CHAPTER_VI">CHAPTER VI</h2> + +<p class="h3">MEEKER IS TOLD</p> + +<p>When Antonio had covered half of the distance +between the line and the H2 bunk +house he was hailed from a chaparral and +saw Benito ride into view. He told his satellite what +had occurred in the valley, gave him a message for +Shaw, who was now on the mesa, and cantered on to +tell Meeker his version of the morning's happenings.</p> + +<p>The H2 foreman was standing by the corral when +his broncho-buster rode up, and he stared. "Where'd +you get that welt on th' face?" he demanded.</p> + +<p>Antonio told him, with many exclamations and angry +gestures, that he had ridden through the valley to see +if there were any H2 cows grazing on it, that he had +found a small herd and was about to return to his own +range when he was held up and struck by Hopalong, +who accused him of having driven the cattle across +the line. When he had denied this he had been called a +liar and threatened with death if he was ever again +caught on that side of the line.</p> + +<p>"By G-d!" cried the foreman. "That's purty<span class="pagenum">[68]</span> +high-handed! I'll give 'em something to beller about +when I finds out just what I want to do!"</p> + +<p>"He say, 'Tell that boss of yourn to no send you, +send heemself nex' time.' He say he weel keel you on +sight. I say he can't. He laugh, <i>so</i>!" laughing in a +blood-curdling manner. "He say he keel nex' man an' +cows that cross line. He ees <i>uno</i> devil!"</p> + +<p>"He will, hey!" Meeker exclaimed, thoroughly +angered. "We'll give him all th' chance he wants when +we get things fixed. 'Tony, what did you do about +getting those two men you spoke of? You went down +to Eagle, didn't you?"</p> + +<p>"<i>Si, si</i>," assured the Mexican. "They come, <i>pronto</i>. +They can keel heem. They come to-day; <i>quien sabe</i>?"</p> + +<p>"I'll do my own killin'—but here comes Doc," +Meeker replied. "Looks mad, too. Mebby they was +going to kill him an' he objected. Hullo, Doc; what's +th' matter?"</p> + +<p>"That Cassidy d—n near blowed my arm off," Doc +replied. "Caught him turnin' back one of our cows +an' told him not to. When I backed off so I could +keep one eye on his friend he up an' plugs me through +my gun arm."</p> + +<p>"I see; they owns th' earth!" Meeker roared. +"Shootin' up my men 'cause they stick up for me! +Come in th' house an' get that wing fixed. We can +talk in there," he said, glancing at Antonio. "They +cut 'Tony across th' face with a quirt 'cause he was +ridin' in their valley!"</p><p><span class="pagenum">[69]</span></p> + +<p>"Let's get th' gang together an' wipe 'em off th' +earth," Doc suggested, following Meeker towards the +house.</p> + +<p>Mary looked up when they entered: "What's th' +matter, Dad? Why, are you hurt, Doc?"</p> + +<p>"Don't ask questions, girl," Meeker ordered. "Get +us some hot water an' some clean cloth. Sit down, Doc; +we'll fix it in no time."</p> + +<p>"We better clean 'em up to-morrow," Doc remarked.</p> + +<p>"No; there ain't no use of losin' men fighting if +there's any other way. You know there's a good strong +line house on th' top of Lookout Peak, don't you?"</p> + +<p>"Shore; reg'lar fort. They calls it Number Three."</p> + +<p>Mary had returned and was tearing a bandage, listening +intently to what was being said.</p> + +<p>"What's th' matter with getting in that some day +soon an' holdin' it for good?" asked the foreman. +"It overlooks a lot of range, an' once we're in it it'll +cost 'em a lot of lives to get it back—if they can get +it back."</p> + +<p>"You're right!" cried Doc, eagerly. "Let me an' +Curley get in there to-night an' hold her for you. +We can do it."</p> + +<p>"You can't do that. Somebody sleeps in it nights. +Nope, we've got to work some scheme to get it in th' +daylight. They are bound to have it guarded, an' +we've got to coax him out somehow. I don't know how, +but I will before many hours pass. Hullo, who's this?" +he asked, seeing two strangers approach the house.</p><p><span class="pagenum">[70]</span></p> + +<p>"Couple of Greasers," grunted Doc.</p> + +<p>"Hey, you," cried Meeker through the open door. +"You go down to th' corral an' wait for me."</p> + +<p>"<i>Si, señor.</i>"</p> + +<p>"What's th' matter, Dad?" asked Mary. "How +did Doc get shot?"</p> + +<p>Meeker looked up angrily, but his face softened.</p> + +<p>"There's a whole lot th' matter, Mary. That Bar-20 +shore is gettin' hot-headed. Cassidy hit 'Tony acrost +th' face with a quirt an' shot Doc. 'Tony was riding +through that valley, an' Doc told Cassidy not to drive +back a cow of ourn."</p> + +<p>She flushed. "There must 'a been more'n that, Dad. +He wouldn't 'a shot for that. I know it."</p> + +<p>"You know it!" cried Meeker, astonished. "How +do you know it?"</p> + +<p>"He ain't that kind. I know he ain't."</p> + +<p>"I asked how you knew it!"</p> + +<p>She looked down and then faced him. "Because I +know him, because he ain't that kind. What did you +say to him, Doc?"</p> + +<p>Meeker's face was a study and Doc flushed, for she +was looking him squarely in the eyes.</p> + +<p>"What did you say to him?" she repeated. "Did +you make a gun-play?"</p> + +<p>"Well, by G-d!" shouted Meeker, leaping to his +feet. "You know him, hey! 'He ain't that kind!' +How long have you known him, an' where'd you meet +him?"</p> + +<p>"This is no time to talk of that," she replied, her<span class="pagenum">[71]</span> +spirit aroused. "Ask Doc what he did an' said to get +shot. Look at him; he lied when he told you about it."</p> + +<p>"I told him to quit driving our cows back," Doc +cried. "Of course I had my hand on my gun when I +said it. I'd been a fool if I hadn't, wouldn't I?"</p> + +<p>"That ain't all," she remarked. "Did you try to +use it?"</p> + +<p>Meeker was staring first at one and then at the other, +not knowing just what to say. Doc looked at him +and his mind was made up.</p> + +<p>"What'd you do, Doc?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"I said: 'What are you doing with that cow?' +an' he said it wasn't none of my business. I got mad +then an' jerked my gun loose, but he got me first. I +wasn't going to shoot. I was only getting ready for +him if he tried to."</p> + +<p>"How did he know you wasn't going to shoot?" +Meeker demanded. "Reckon I can't blame him for +that. He must be quick on th' draw."</p> + +<p>"Quickest I ever saw. He had his gun out to shoot +in front of a cow. At th' time I thought he was going +to kill it. That's what made me get in so quick. He +slid it back in th' holster an' faced me. I told you +what happened then."</p> + +<p>"Well, we've got to show them fellers they can't fool +with us an' get away with it," Meeker replied. "An' +I've got to have th' use of that crick somehow. I'll +think of some way to square things."</p> + +<p>"Wait, I'll go with you," Doc remarked, following +the other towards the door.</p><p><span class="pagenum">[72]</span></p> + +<p>"You go in th' bunk house an' wait for me. I want +to see what them Greasers want."</p> + +<p>"Wonder how much 'Tony didn't tell," mused the +foreman, as he went towards the corral. "Reckon Cassidy +cut him 'cause he was a Greaser. Come purty +nigh doing it myself, once. Well, I don't care, but +I've got to notice plays like that or they'll think I'm +scared of 'em. I'll go up an' have it out, an' when I +get ready I'll show them swaggerin' bucks what's +what."</p> + +<p>When he returned he saw Antonio leaning against +his shack, for the Mexican was not tolerated by the rest +of the outfit and so lived alone. He looked at his foreman +and leered knowingly, and then went inside the +building, where he laughed silently. "That's a joke, +all right! Meeker hiring two of my brothers to watch +his cows an' do his spying! We'll skin this range before +we're through."</p> + +<p>Meeker frowned when he caught his broncho-buster's +look and he growled: "You never did look good, an' +that welt shore makes you look more like th' devil than +ever." He glanced at the house and the frown deepened. +"So you know Cassidy! That's a <i>nice</i> thing to +tell me! I'll just go up an' see that coyote, right now," +and he went for his horse, muttering and scowling.</p> + +<p>Antonio knew of a herd of cows and calves which +had not been included in the H2 roundup, and which +were fattening on an outlying range. There was also +a large herd of Bar-20 cattle growing larger every day +on the western range far outside the boundaries. Benito<span class="pagenum">[73]</span> +was scouting, Shaw and the others were nearly ready +for work on the mesa, and now Meeker had hired Antonio's +brothers to help him to be robbed. Added to +this was the constantly growing hostility along the +line, and this would blaze before he and Benito had +finished their work. Everything considered he was very +much pleased and even his personal vengeance was provided +for. Doc had more cause for animosity against +Hopalong than he had, and if the Bar-20 puncher +should be killed some day when Doc rode the northern +range Doc would be blamed for it. But Meeker had +not acted as he should have done when two of his men +had been hurt on the same day, and that must be +remedied. The faster things moved towards fighting +the less chance there would be of the plot becoming +known.</p> + +<p>Antonio was the broncho-buster of the H2 because +he was a positive genius at the work, and he was a +good, all-around cowman when he overcame his inherent +laziness; but he was cruel to a degree with both +horses and cattle. Because of his fitness Meeker had +overlooked his undesirable qualities, which he had in +plenty. He was entirely too fond of liquor and +gambling, was uncertain in his hours, and used his time +as he saw fit when not engaged in breaking horses. +A natural liar, exceedingly unclean in his habits, vindictive +and with a temper dry as tinder, he was shunned +by the other members of the outfit. This filled his +heart with hatred for them and for Meeker, who did +not interfere. He swore many times that he would<span class="pagenum">[74]</span> +square up everything some day, and the day was getting +closer.</p> + +<p>In appearance he was about medium height, but his +sloping shoulders and lax carriage gave his arms the +appearance of being abnormally long. His face was +sharp and narrow, while his thin, wiry body seemed +almost devoid of flesh. Like most cowboys he was a +poor walker and his toes turned in like those of an +Indian. Such was Antonio, who longed to gamble with +Fortune in a dangerous game for stakes which to him +were large, and who had already suggested to Meeker +that the line house on Lookout Peak was the key to +the situation. It was the germ, which grew slowly in +the foreman's brain and became more feasible and insistent +day by day, and it accounted for his fits of +abstraction; it would not do to fail if the attempt were +made.</p><hr class="chap" /><p><span class="pagenum">[75]</span></p> + +<h2 id="CHAPTER_VII">CHAPTER VII</h2> + +<p class="h3">HOPALONG MEETS MEEKER</p> + +<p>When Meeker was within a mile of the line +he met Curley, told him what had occurred +and that he was going to find +Hopalong. Curley smiled and replied that he had seen +that person less than ten minutes ago and that he was +riding towards the peak, and alone.</p> + +<p>"We'll go after him," Meeker replied. "You come +because I want to face him in force so he won't start +no gun-play an' make me kill him. That'd set hell +to pop."</p> + +<p>Hopalong espied Johnny far to the east and he +smiled as he remembered the celerity with which that individual +had departed after glancing at the coin.</p> + +<p>"There ain't no flies on th' Kid, all right," he +laughed, riding slowly so Johnny could join him. He +saw Curley riding south and looked over the rough +plain for other H2 punchers. Some time later as he +passed a chaparral he glanced back to see what had +become of his friend, but found that he had disappeared. +When he wheeled to watch for him he saw +Meeker and Curley coming towards him and he shook<span class="pagenum">[76]</span> +his holster to be sure his Colt was not jammed in it too +tightly.</p> + +<p>"Well, here's where th' orchestry tunes up, all right," +he muttered grimly. "Licked th' Greaser, plugged +Doc, an' sent word to Meeker to come up if he wasn't +scared. He's come, an' now I'll have to lick two more. +If they push me I'll shoot to kill!"</p> + +<p>The H2 foreman rode ahead of his companion and +stopped when fifty yards from the alert line-rider. +Pushing his sombrero back on his head, he lost no time +in skirmishing. "Did you chase my broncho-buster out +of yore valley, cut his face with yore quirt, an' shoot +Doc? Did you send word to me that you'd kill me if +I showed myself?"</p> + +<p>"Was you ever an auctioneer," calmly asked Hopalong, +"or a book agent?"</p> + +<p>"What's that got to do with it?" Meeker demanded. +"You heard what I said."</p> + +<p>"I don't know nothing about yore broncho-buster, +taking one thing at a time, which is proper."</p> + +<p>"What! You didn't drive him out, or cut him?"</p> + +<p>"No; why?" asked Hopalong, chuckling.</p> + +<p>"He says you did—an' somebody quirted him."</p> + +<p>"He's loco—he wasn't in th' valley," Hopalong +replied. "Think he could get in that valley? Him, +or any other man we didn't want in?"</p> + +<p>"You're devilish funny!" retorted Meeker, riding +slowly forward, followed by his companion, who began +to edge away from his foreman. "Since you are so<span class="pagenum">[77]</span> +exact, did you chase him off yore range an' push him +over th' line at th' point of yore gun?"</p> + +<p>"You've got me. Better not come too close—my +cayuse don't like gettin' crowded."</p> + +<p>"That's all right," Meeker retorted, not heeding the +warning. "Do you mean to tell me you don't know? +Yore name's Cassidy, ain't it?" he asked, angrily, his +determination to avoid fighting rapidly becoming lost.</p> + +<p>"That's my own, shore 'nuf name," Hopalong answered, +and then: "Do you mean that cross-eyed, +bone-yard of a yellow-faced Greaser I caught stealing +our range?"</p> + +<p>"Yes!" snapped Meeker, stopping again.</p> + +<p>"Why didn't you say so, then, 'stead of calling him +yore broncho-buster?" Hopalong demanded. "How +do I know who yore broncho-buster is? I don't know +what every land pirate does in this country."</p> + +<p>"Then you shot Doc—do you know who I mean +this time?" sarcastically asked the H2 foreman.</p> + +<p>"Oh, shore. He didn't get his gun out quick enough +when he went after it, did he? Any more I can tell +you before I begins to say things, too?"</p> + +<p>Meeker, angered greatly by Hopalong's contemptuous +inflection and the reckless assertiveness of his every +word and look, began to ride to describe a circle around +the Bar-20 puncher, Curley going the other way.</p> + +<p>"You said you'd kill me when you saw me, didn't +you, you—"</p> + +<p>Hopalong was backing away so as to keep both men<span class="pagenum">[78]</span> +in front of him, alert, eager, and waiting for the signal +to begin his two-handed shooting. "I ain't a whole +lot deaf—I can hear you from where you are. You +better stop, for I've ridden out of tighter holes than +this, an' you'll shore get a pass to h—l if you crowd +me too much!"</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Adown th' road, an' gun in hand,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Comes Whiskey Bill, mad Whiskey Bill—<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>This fragment of song floated out of a chaparral +about twenty yards behind Hopalong, who grinned +pleasantly when he heard it. Now he knew where +Johnny was, and now he had the whip hand without +touching his guns; while the youngster was not in sight +he was all the more dangerous, since he presented no target. +Johnny knew this and was greatly pleased thereby, +and he was more than pleased by the way Hopalong +had been talking.</p> + +<p>The effect of the singing was instant and marked +on Meeker and his companion, for they not only stopped +suddenly and swore, but began to back away, glancing +around in an endeavor to locate the joker in the deck. +This they failed to do because Johnny was far too wise +to advertise his exact whereabouts. Meeker looked at +Curley and Curley looked at Meeker, both uneasy and +angry.</p> + +<p>"As I was sayin' before th' concert began," Hopalong +remarked, laughing shortly, "it's a pass to h—l +if you crowd me too much. Now, Meeker, you'll listen +to me an' I'll tell you what I didn't have time to say<span class="pagenum">[79]</span> +before: I told that shifty-eyed mud-image of a +Greaser that th' next herd of yourn to cross th' line +should be brought in by you, 'less you was scared to +run th' risks yore men had to take. He said you'd +kill me for that message, an' I told him you knew where +you could find me. Now about Doc: When a man +pulls a gun on me he wants to be quicker than <i>he</i> was +or he'll shore get hurt. I could 'a killed him just as +easy as to plug his gun arm, an' just as easy as I +could 'a plugged both of you if you pulled on me. +You came up here looking for my scalp an' if you still +wants it I'll go away from th' song bird in the chaparral +an' give you th' chance. I'd ruther let things stay as +they are, though if you wants, I'll take both you an' +Curley, half-mile run together, with Colts."</p> + +<p>"No, I didn't come up here after your scalp, but I +got mad after I found you. How long is this going to +last? I won't stand for it much longer, nohow."</p> + +<p>"You'll have to see Buck. I'm obeyin' orders, which +are to hold th' line against you, which I'll do."</p> + +<p>"H'm!" replied Meeker, and then: "Do you know +my girl?"</p> + +<p>Hopalong thought quickly. "Why, I've seen her +ridin' around some. But why?"</p> + +<p>"She says she knows you," persisted Meeker, frowning.</p> + +<p>The frown gave Hopalong his cue, but he hardly +knew what to say, not knowing what she had said +about it.</p><p><span class="pagenum">[80]</span></p> + +<p>"Hey, you!" he suddenly cried to Curley. "Keep +yore hand from that gun!"</p> + +<p>"I didn't—"</p> + +<p>"You're lying! Any more of that an' I'll gimlet +you!"</p> + +<p>"What in h—l are you doing, Curley?" demanded +Meeker, the girl question out of his mind instantly. +He had been looking closely at Hopalong and didn't +know that Curley was innocent of any attempt to use +his Colt.</p> + +<p>"I tell—"</p> + +<p>"Get out of here! I've wasted too much time already. +Go home, where that gun won't worry you. You, too, +Meeker! Bring an imitation bad-man up here an' +sayin' you didn't want my scalp! Flit!"</p> + +<p>"I'll go when I'm d——d good and ready!" retorted +Meeker, angry again. "You're too blasted bossy, you +are!" he added, riding towards the man who had shot +Doc.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">A-looking for some place to land——<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>floated out of the chaparral and he stiffened in the +saddle and stopped.</p> + +<p>"Come on, Curley! We can't lick pot-shooters. +An' let that gun alone!"</p> + +<p>"D—n it! I tell you I wasn't going for my gun!" +Curley yelled.</p> + +<p>"Get out of here!" blazed Hopalong, riding forward.</p> + +<p>They rode away slowly, consulting in low voices.<span class="pagenum">[81]</span> +Then the foreman turned and looked back. "You +better be careful how you shoot my punchers! They +ain't all like Doc, an' they ain't all Greasers, neither."</p> + +<p>"Then you're lucky," Hopalong retorted. "You +keep yore cows on yore side an' we won't hurt none of +yore outfit."</p> + +<p>When they had gone Hopalong wheeled to look for +Johnny and saw him crawling out of a chaparral, +dragging a rifle after him. He capered about, waving +the rifle and laughing with joy and Hopalong had +to laugh with him. When they were rid of the surplus +of the merriment Johnny patted the rifle. +"Reckon they was shore up against a marked deck that +time! Did you see 'em stiffen when I warbled? Acted +like they had roped a puma an' didn't know what to do +with it. Gee, it was funny!"</p> + +<p>"You're all right, Kid," laughed Hopalong. "It +was yore best play—you couldn't 'a done better."</p> + +<p>"Shore," replied Johnny. "I had my sights glued +to Curley's shirt pocket, an' he'd been plumb disgusted +if he'd tried to do what you said he did. I couldn't 'a +missed him with a club at that range. I nearly died +when you pushed Meeker's girl question up that blind +canyon. It was a peach of a throw, all right. Bet he +ain't remembered yet that he didn't get no answer to it. +We're going to have some blamed fine times down here +before everything is settled, ain't we?"</p> + +<p>"I reckon so, Kid. I'm going to leave you now an' +look around by West Arroyo. You hang around th' +line."</p><p><span class="pagenum">[82]</span></p> + +<p>"All right—so long."</p> + +<p>"Can you catch yore cayuse?"</p> + +<p>"Shore I can; he's hobbled," came the reply from +behind a spur of the chaparral. "<i>Stand still, you hen!</i> +All right, Hoppy."</p> + +<p>Johnny cantered away and, feeling happy, began, +singing:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Adown th' road, an' gun in hand,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Comes Whiskey Bill, mad Whiskey Bill;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">A-looking for some place to land<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Comes Whiskey Bill.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">An' everybody'd like to be<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Ten miles away behind a tree<br /></span> +<span class="i0">When on his joyous, achin' spree<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Starts Whiskey Bill.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Th' times have changed since you made love,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Oh, Whiskey Bill, oh, Whiskey Bill;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Th' happy sun grinned up above<br /></span> +<span class="i2">At Whiskey Bill.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">An' down th' middle of th' street<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Th' sheriff comes on toe-in feet,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">A-wishing for one fretful peek<br /></span> +<span class="i2">At Whiskey Bill.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Th' cows go grazin' o'er th' lea—<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Pore Whiskey Bill, pore Whiskey Bill;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">An' aching thoughts pour in on me<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Of Whiskey Bill.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Th' sheriff up an' found his stride,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Bill's soul went shootin' down th' slide—<br /></span> +<span class="i0">How are things on th' Great Divide,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Oh, Whiskey Bill?<br /></span> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +<span class="pagenum">[83]</span></div></div> + +<h2 id="CHAPTER_VIII">CHAPTER VIII</h2> + +<p class="h3">ON THE EDGE OF THE DESERT</p> + +<p>Thunder Mesa was surrounded by almost impenetrable +chaparrals, impenetrable to horse and +rider except along certain alleys, but not too +dense for a man on foot. These stretched away on all +sides as far as the eye could see and made the desolate +prospect all the more forbidding. It rose a sheer hundred +feet into the air, its sides smooth rock and affording +no footing except a narrow, precarious ledge which +slanted up the face of the southern end, too broken and +narrow to permit of a horse ascending, but passable +to a man.</p> + +<p>The top of the mesa was about eight acres in extent +and was rocky and uneven, cut by several half-filled +fissures which did not show on the walls. Uninviting +as the top might be considered it had one feature +which was uncommon, for the cataclysm of nature which +had caused this mass of rock to tower above the plain +had given to it a spring which bubbled out of a crack +in the rock and into a basin cut by itself; from there +it flowed down the wall and into a shallow depression +in the rock below, where it made a small water hole before<span class="pagenum">[84]</span> +flowing through the chaparrals, where it sank into +the sand and became lost half a mile from its source.</p> + +<p>At the point where the slanting ledge met the top of +the mesa was a hut built of stones and adobe, its rear +wall being part of a projecting wall of rock. Narrow, +deep loopholes had been made in the other walls and a +rough door, massive and tight fitting, closed the small +doorway. The roof, laid across cedar poles which ran +from wall to wall, was thick and flat and had a generous +layer of adobe to repel the rays of the scorching +sun. Placed as it was the hut overlooked the trail leading +to it from the plain, and should it be defended by +determined men, assault by that path would be foolhardy.</p> + +<p>On the plain around the mesa extended a belt of sparse +grass, some hundreds of feet wide at the narrowest point +and nearly a mile at the widest, over which numerous +rocks and bowlders and clumps of chaparral lay +scattered. On this pasture were about three score cattle, +most of them being yearlings, but all bearing the brand +HQQ and a diagonal ear cut. These were being +watched by a careless cowboy, although it was belittling +their scanty intelligence to suppose that they +would leave the water and grass, poor as the latter was, +to stray off onto the surrounding desert.</p> + +<p>At the base of the east wall of the mesa was a rough +corral of cedar poles set on end, held together by rawhide +strips, which, put on green, tightened with the +strength of steel cables when dried by the sun. In its<span class="pagenum">[85]</span> +shadow another man watched the cattle while he worked +in a desultory way at repairing a saddle. Within the +corral a man was bending over a cow while two others +held it down. Its feet were tied and it was panting, +wild-eyed and frightened. The man above it stepped +to a glowing fire a few paces away and took from it a hot +iron, with which he carefully traced over the small brand +already borne by the animal. With a final flourish he +stepped back, regarding the work with approval, and +thrust the iron into the sand. Taking a knife from his +pocket he trimmed the V notch in its ear to the same +slanting cut seen on the cattle outside on the pasture. +He tossed the bit of cartilage from him, stepping back +and nodding to his companions, who loosened the ropes +and leaped back, allowing the animal to escape.</p> + +<p>Shaw, who had altered the H2 brand, turned to one +of the others and laughed heartily. "Good job, eh +Manuel? Th' H2 won't know their cow now!"</p> + +<p>Manuel grinned. "<i>Si, si</i>; eet ees!" he cried. He +was cook for the gang, a bosom friend of Benito and +Antonio, slight, cadaverous, and as shifty-eyed as his +friends. In his claw-like fingers he held a husk +cigarette, without which he was seldom seen. He spoke +very little but watched always, his eyes usually turned +eastward. He seemed to be almost as much afraid of +the east as Cavalry was of the west, where the desert +lay. He ridiculed Cavalry's terror of the desert and +explained why the east was to be feared the more, for +the eastern danger rode horses and could come to them +[Transcriber's note: Text +seems to be missing here in the original.] +<span class="pagenum">[86]</span> +"Hope 'Tony fixes up that line war purty soon, eh, +Cavalry?" remarked Shaw, suddenly turning to the +third man in the group.</p> + +<p>Cavalry was staring moodily towards the desert and +did not hear him.</p> + +<p>"Cavalry! Get that desert off yore mind! Do you +want to go loco? Who's going to take th' next drive +an' bring back th' flour, you or Clausen?"</p> + +<p>"It's Clausen's turn next."</p> + +<p>Manuel slouched away and began to climb the slanting +path up the mesa. Shaw watched him reflectively +and laughed. "There he goes again. Beats th' devil +how scared he is, spending most of his time on th' lookout. +Why, he's blamed near as scared of them punchers +as you are of that skillet out yonder."</p> + +<p>"We ain't got no kick, have we?" retorted Cavalry. +"Ain't he looking out for us at th' same time?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know about that," Shaw replied, frowning. +"I ain't got no love for Manuel. If he saw 'em coming +an' could get away he'd sneak off without saying a +word. It'd give him a chance to get away while we +held 'em."</p> + +<p>"We'll see him go, then; there's only one way down."</p> + +<p>"Oh, th' devil with him!" Shaw exclaimed. +"What do you think of th' chances of startin' that +range war?"</p> + +<p>"From what th' Greaser says it looks good."</p> + +<p>"Yes. But he'll get caught some day, or night, an' +pay for it with his life."</p> + +<p>Cavalry shrugged his shoulders. "I reckon so; but<span class="pagenum">[87]</span> +he's only a Greaser," he said, coldly. "I'd ruther +they'd get him out there than to follow him here. If +he goes, I hope it's sudden, so he won't have time to +squeal."</p> + +<p>"He's a malignant devil, an' he hates that H2 outfit +like blazes," replied Shaw. "An' now he's got a +pizen grudge agin' th' Bar-20. He might let his hate +get th' upper hand an' start in to square things; if he +does that he'll over-reach, an' get killed."</p> + +<p>"I reckon so; but he's clever as th' devil hisself."</p> + +<p>"Well, if he gets too big-headed out here Hall will +take care of him, all right," Shaw laughed.</p> + +<p>"I don't like th' Greasers he's saddled us with," Cavalry +remarked. "There's Manuel an' Benito. One of +'em is here all th' time an' close to you, too, if you remember. +Then he's going to put two or three on th' +range; why?"</p> + +<p>"Suspects we'll steal some of his share, I reckon. +An' if he gets in trouble with us they'll be on his side. +Oh, he's no fool."</p> + +<p>"If he 'tends to business an' forgets his grudges it'll +be a good thing for us. That Bar-20 has got an awful +number of cows. An' there's th' H2, an' th' other two +up north."</p> + +<p>"We've tackled th' hardest job first—th' Bar-20," +replied Shaw, laughing. "I used to know some fellers +what said that outfit couldn't be licked. They died trying +to prove themselves liars."</p> + +<p>"Wonder how much money 'Tony totes around on +him?" asked Cavalry.</p><p><span class="pagenum">[88]</span></p> + +<p>"Not much; he's too wise. He's cached it somewhere. +Was you reckonin' on takin' it away from him +at th' end?"</p> + +<p>"No, no. I just wondered what he did with it."</p> + +<p>The man at the gate looked up. "Here comes +'Tony."</p> + +<p>Shaw and his companion rode forward to meet him.</p> + +<p>"What's up?" cried Shaw.</p> + +<p>"I have started th' war," Antonio replied, a cruel +smile playing over his sharp face. "They'll be +fightin' purty soon."</p> + +<p>"That's good," responded Shaw. "Tell us about +it."</p> + +<p>Antonio, with many gestures and much conceit, told +of the trick he had played on Hopalong, and he took +care to lose no credit in the telling. He passed lightly +over the trouble between Doc and the Bar-20 puncher, +but intimated that he had caused it. He finished by +saying: "You send to th' same place to-morrow an' +Benito'll have some cows for you. They'll soon give +us our chance, an' it'll be easy then."</p> + +<p>"Mebby it will be easy," replied Shaw, "but that +rests with you. You've got to play yore cards plumb +cautious. You've done fine so far, but if you ain't careful +you'll go to h—l in a hurry an' take us with you. +You can't fool 'em all th' time, for someday they'll get +suspicious an' swap ideas. An' when they do that it +means fight for us."</p> + +<p>Antonio smiled and thought how easy it might be, +if the outfits grew suspicious and he learned of it in<span class="pagenum">[89]</span> +time, to discover tracks and other things and tell +Meeker he was sure there was organized rustling and +that all tracks pointed to Thunder Mesa. He could +ride across the border before any of his partners had +time to confess and implicate him. But he assured Shaw +that he would be careful, adding: "No, I won't make +no mistakes. I hate 'em all too much to grow careless."</p> + +<p>"That's just where you'll miss fire," the other rejoined. +"You'll pamper yore grouch till you forget +everything else. You better be satisfied to get square +by taking their cows."</p> + +<p>"Don't worry about that."</p> + +<p>"All right. Here's yore money for th' last herd," +he said, digging down into his pocket and handing the +Mexican some gold coins. "You know how to get +more."</p> + +<p>Antonio took the money, considered a moment and +then pocketed it, laughing. "Good! But I mus' go +back now. I won't be out here again very soon; it's +too risky. Send me my share by Benito," he called +over his shoulder as he started off.</p> + +<p>The two rustlers watched him and Cavalry shook his +head slowly. "I'm plumb scairt he'll bungle it. If +he does we'll get caught like rats in a trap."</p> + +<p>"If we're up there we can hold off a thousand," +Shaw replied, looking up the wall.</p> + +<p>"Here comes Hall," announced the man at the gate.</p> + +<p>The newcomer swept up and leaped from his hot and +tired horse. "I found them other ranches are keeping +<span class="pagenum">[90]</span>their men ridin' over th' range an' along th' trails—I +near got caught once," he reported. "We'll have +to be careful how we drives to th' construction camps."</p> + +<p>"They'll get tired watchin' after a while," replied the +leader. "'Tony was just here."</p> + +<p>"I don't care if he's in h—l," retorted Hall. "He'll +peach on us to save his mangy skin, one of these days."</p> + +<p>"We've got to chance it."</p> + +<p>"Where's Frisco?"</p> + +<p>"Down to Eagle for grub to tide us over for a few +days."</p> + +<p>"Huh!" exclaimed Hall. "Everything considered +we're goin' to fight like th' devil out here someday. +Down to Eagle!"</p> + +<p>"We can fight!" retorted Shaw. "An' if we has to +run for it, there's th' desert."</p> + +<p>"I'd ruther die right here fighting than on that desert," +remarked Cavalry, shuddering. "When I go I +want to go quick, an' not be tortured for 'most a week." +He had an insistent and strong horror of that gray void +of sand and alkali so near at hand and so far across. +He was nervous and superstitious, and it seemed always +to be calling him. Many nights he had awakened in a cold +sweat because he had dreamed it had him, and often +it was all he could do to resist going out to it.</p> + +<p>Shaw laughed gratingly. "You don't like it, do +you?"</p> + +<p>Hall smiled and walked towards the slanting trail.</p> + +<p>"Why, it ain't bad," he called over his shoulder.</p> + +<p>"It's an earthly hell!" Cavalry exclaimed. He<span class="pagenum">[91]</span> +glanced up the mesa wall. "We can hold that till we +starve, or run out of cartridges—then what?"</p> + +<p>"You're a calamity howler!" snapped Shaw. "That +desert has wore a saddle sore on yore nerves somethin' +awful. Don't think about it so much! It can't come +to you, an' you ain't going to it," he laughed, trying to +wipe out the suggestion of fear that had been awakened +in him by the thought of the desert as a place of +refuge. He had found a wanderer, denuded of clothes, +sweating blood and hopelessly mad one day when he and +Cavalry had ridden towards the desert; and the sight of +the unfortunate's dying agonies had remained with him +ever since. "We ain't going to die out here—they +won't look for us where they don't think there's any +grass or water."</p> + +<p>Fragments of Manuel's song floated down to them +as they strode towards the trail, and reassured that all +would be well, their momentary depression was banished +by the courage of their hearts.</p> + +<p>The desert lay beyond, quiet; ominous by its very +silence and inertia; a ghastly, malevolent aspect in its +every hollow; patient, illimitable, scorching; fascinating +in its horrible calm, sinister, forbidding, hellish. It +had waited through centuries—and was still waiting, +like the gigantic web of the Spider of Thirst.</p><hr class="chap" /><p><span class="pagenum">[92]</span></p> + +<h2 id="CHAPTER_IX">CHAPTER IX</h2> + +<p class="h3">ON THE PEAK</p> + +<p>Hopalong Cassidy had the most striking +personality of all the men in his outfit; +humorous, courageous to the point of foolishness, +eager for fight or frolic, nonchalant when one +would expect him to be quite otherwise, curious, loyal +to a fault, and the best man with a Colt in the Southwest, +he was a paradox, and a puzzle even to his most +intimate friends. With him life was a humorous recurrence +of sensations, a huge pleasant joke instinctively +tolerated, but not worth the price cowards pay to keep it. +He had come onto the range when a boy and since that +time he had laughingly carried his life in his open hand, +and although there had been many attempts to snatch +it he still carried it there, and just as recklessly.</p> + +<p>Quick in decisions and quick to suspect evil designs +against him and his ranch, he was different from his +foreman, whose temperament was more optimistic. +When Buck had made him foreman of the line riders he +had no fear that Meeker or his men would take many +tricks, for his faith in Hopalong's wits and ability was<span class="pagenum">[93]</span> +absolute. He had such faith that he attended to what he +had to do about the ranch house and did not appear +on the line until he had decided to call on Meeker and +put the question before him once and for all. If the +H2 foreman did not admit the agreement and promise +to abide by it then he would be told to look for +trouble.</p> + +<p>While Buck rode towards Lookout Peak, Hopalong +dismounted at the line house perched on its top and +found Red Connors seated on the rough bench by the +door. Red, human firebrand both in hair and temper, +was Hopalong's loyal chum—in the eyes of the other +neither could do wrong. Red was cleaning his rifle, the +pride of his heart, a wicked-shooting Winchester which +used the Government cartridge containing seventy grains +of powder and five hundred grains of lead. With his +rifle he was as expert as his friend was with the Colt, +and up to six hundred yards, its limit with accuracy, +he could do about what he wished with it.</p> + +<p>"Hullo, you," said Red, pleasantly. "You looks +peevish."</p> + +<p>"An' you look foolish. What you doing?"</p> + +<p>"Minding my business."</p> + +<p>"Hard work?" sweetly asked Hopalong, carelessly +seating himself on the small wooden box which lay close +to his friend.</p> + +<p>"Hey, you!" cried Red, leaping up and hauling him +away. "You bust them sights an' you'll be sorry! +Ain't you got no sense?"</p><p><span class="pagenum">[94]</span></p> + +<p>"Sights? What are you going to do with 'em?"</p> + +<p>"Wear 'em 'round my neck for a charm! What'd +you reckon I'd do with 'em!"</p> + +<p>"Didn't know. I didn't think you'd put 'em on that +thing," Hopalong replied, looking with contempt at +his friend's rifle. "Honest, you ain't a-goin' to put 'em +on that lead ranch, are you? You're like th' Indians—want +a lot of shots to waste without re-loadin'."</p> + +<p>"I ain't wasting no shots, an' I'm going to put +sights on that lead ranch, too. These old ones are too +coarse," Red replied, carefully placing the box out of +danger. "Now you can sit down."</p> + +<p>"Thanks; please can I smoke?"</p> + +<p>Red grunted, pushed down the lever of the rifle, and +began to re-assemble the parts, his friend watching the +operation. When Red tried to slip the barrel into its +socket Hopalong laughed and told him to first draw out +the magazine, if he wanted to have any success.</p> + +<p>The line foreman took a cartridge from the pile on +the bench and compared it with one which he took from +his belt, a huge, 45-caliber Sharps special, shooting five +hundred and fifty grains of lead with one hundred and +twenty grains of powder out of a shell over three inches +long; a cartridge which shot with terrific force and for +a great distance, the weight of the large ball assuring +accuracy at long ranges. Beside this four-inch cartridge +the Government ammunition appeared dwarfed.</p> + +<p>"When are you going to wean yoreself from popping +these musket caps, Red?" he asked, tossing the smaller +cartridge away and putting his own back in his belt.</p><p><span class="pagenum">[95]</span></p> + +<p>"Well, you've got gall!" snorted Red, going out +for his cartridge. Returning with it he went back to +work on his gun, his friend laughing at his clumsy +fingers.</p> + +<p>"Yore fingers are all thumbs, an' sore at that."</p> + +<p>"Never mind my fingers. Have you seen Johnny +around?"</p> + +<p>"Yes; he was watching one of them new H2 Greasers. +He'll go off th' handle one of these days, for he hates +Greasers worse'n I do, an' that coffee face'll drive him +to gun-play. He reminds me a whole lot of a bull-pup +chained with a corral-ful of cats when there's Greasers +around."</p> + +<p>Red laughed and nodded. "Where's Lanky?"</p> + +<p>"Johnny said he was at Number Four fixin' that +saddle again. He ain't done nothin' for th' last month +but fix it. Purty soon there won't be none of it left to +fix."</p> + +<p>"There certainly won't!"</p> + +<p>"His saddle an' yore gun make a good pair."</p> + +<p>"Let up about the gun. You can't say nothin' more +about it without repeatin' yoreself."</p> + +<p>"It's a sawed-off carbine. I'd ruther have a Spencer +any day."</p> + +<p>"You remind me a whole lot of a feller I once +knowed," Red retorted.</p> + +<p>"That so?" asked Hopalong, suspiciously. "Was +he so nice?"</p> + +<p>"No; he was a fool," Red responded, going into the +house.</p><p><span class="pagenum">[96]</span></p> + +<p>"Then that's where you got it, for they say it's +catching."</p> + +<p>Red stuck his head out of the door. "On second +thought you remind me of another feller."</p> + +<p>"You must 'a knowed some good people."</p> + +<p>"An' he was a liar."</p> + +<p>"Hullo, Hop Wah!" came from the edge of the +hilltop and Hopalong wheeled to see Skinny Thompson +approaching.</p> + +<p>"What you doing?" Skinny asked, using his stock +question for beginning a conversation.</p> + +<p>"Painting white spots on pink elephants!"</p> + +<p>"Where's Red?"</p> + +<p>"In th' shack, rubbin' 'em off again."</p> + +<p>"Johnny chased that Greaser off'n th' ranch," Skinny +offered, grinning.</p> + +<p>"Good for him!" cried Hopalong.</p> + +<p>"Johnny's all right—here comes Buck," Red said, +coming out of the house. "Johnny's with him, too. +Hullo, Kid!"</p> + +<p>"Hullo, Brick-top!" retorted Johnny, who did not +like his nickname. No one treated him as anything +but a boy and he resented it at times.</p> + +<p>"Did he chase you far?" Hopalong queried.</p> + +<p>"I'd like to see anybody chase me!"</p> + +<p>Buck smiled. "How are things down here?"</p> + +<p>Hopalong related what had occurred and the foreman +nodded. "I'm going down to see Meeker—he's +th' only man who can tell me what we're to look for. I +don't want to keep so many men down here. Frenchy<span class="pagenum">[97]</span> +has got all he can handle, an' I want somebody up in +Two. So long."</p> + +<p>"Let me an' Red go with you, Buck," cried Hopalong.</p> + +<p>"Me, too!" exclaimed Johnny, excitedly.</p> + +<p>"You stay home, an' don't worry about me," replied +the foreman, riding off.</p> + +<p>"I don't like to see him go alone," Hopalong muttered. +"He may get a raw deal down there. But if +he does we'll wipe 'em off'n th' earth."</p> + +<p>"Mamma! Look there!" softly cried Johnny, staring +towards the other side of the plateau, where Mary +Meeker rode past. Red and Skinny were astonished +and Johnny and Hopalong pretended to be; but all +removed their sombreros while she remained in sight. +Johnny was watching Hopalong's face, but when Red +glanced around he was staring over the hill.</p> + +<p>"Gosh, ain't she a ripper!" he exclaimed softly.</p> + +<p>"She is," admitted Skinny. "She shore is."</p> + +<p>Hopalong rubbed his nose reflectively and turned to +Red. "Did you ever notice how pretty a freckle is?"</p> + +<p>Red stared, for he had only toleration for the fair +sex, and his friend continued:</p> + +<p>"Take a purty girl an' stick a freckle on her nose +an' it sort of takes yore breath."</p> + +<p>Red grinned. "I ain't never took a purty girl an' +stuck a freckle on her nose, so I can't say."</p> + +<p>Hopalong flushed at the laughter and Skinny cried, +joyously: "She's got two of us already! Meeker's +got us licked if he'll let her show herself once in a while.<span class="pagenum">[98]</span> +Oh, these young fellers! Nothing can rope 'em so quick +as a female, an' th' purtier she is th' quicker she can +do it."</p> + +<p>A warning light came into Hopalong's eyes. "Nobody +in this outfit'll go back on Buck for all th' purty +women in th' world!"</p> + +<p>"Good boy!" thought Johnny.</p> + +<p>"We've got to watch th' Kid, just th' same," laughed +Skinny.</p> + +<p>"I'll knock yore head off!" cried Johnny. "You're +sore 'cause you know you ain't got no chance with +women while me an' Hoppy are around!"</p> + +<p>Red looked critically at Hopalong and snickered. +"If we've got to look like him to catch th' women, +thank God we don't want 'em!"</p> + +<p>"Is that so!" retorted Hopalong.</p> + +<p>"Say," drawled Skinny. "Wouldn't th' Kid look +nice hobbled with matrimony? That is, after he grows +up."</p> + +<p>"You go to th' devil!"</p> + +<p>"Gee, Kid, you look bloodthirsty," laughed Red. +"You can fool them Greasers easy if you looks like +that."</p> + +<p>"You go to," Johnny retorted, swinging into the +saddle. "I'm going along th' line to see what's loose."</p> + +<p>"I'll lick you when I see you again!" shouted Red, +grinning.</p> + +<p>Johnny turned and twirled his fingers at his red-haired +friend. "Yah, you ain't man enough!"</p><p><span class="pagenum">[99]</span></p> + +<p>"Johnny's gettin' more hungry for a fight every +day," Hopalong remarked. "He's itching for one."</p> + +<p>"So was you a few years back, an' you ain't changed +none," replied Red. "You used to ride around looking +for fights."</p> + +<p>"To hear you talk, anybody'd think you was a Angel +of Peace," Hopalong retorted.</p> + +<p>"One's as bad as th' other, so shut up," Skinny remarked, +going into the house for a drink.</p><hr class="chap" /><p><span class="pagenum">[100]</span></p> + +<h2 id="CHAPTER_X">CHAPTER X</h2> + +<p class="h3">BUCK VISITS MEEKER</p> + +<p>As Buck rode south he went over the boundary +trouble in all its phases, and the more he +thought about it the firmer his resolution +grew to hold the line at any cost. He had gone to +great expense and labor to improve the water supply in +the valley and he saw no reason why the H2 could not +do the same; and to him an agreement was an agreement, +and ran with the land. What Meeker thought about +it was not the question—the point at issue was whether +or not the H2 could take the line and use the valley, +and if they could they were welcome to it.</p> + +<p>But while there was any possibility for a peaceable +settlement it would be foolish to start fighting, for one +range war had spread to alarming proportions and had +been costly to life and property. Then there was the +certainty that once war had begun, rustling would develop. +But, be the consequences what they might, he +would fight to the last to hold that which was rightfully +his. He was not going to Meeker to beg a compromise, +or to beg him to let the valley alone; he was riding to<span class="pagenum">[101]</span> +tell the H2 foreman what he could expect if he forced +matters.</p> + +<p>When he rode past the H2 corrals he was curiously +regarded by a group of punchers who lounged near +them, and he went straight up to them without heeding +their frowns.</p> + +<p>"Is Meeker here?"</p> + +<p>"No, he ain't here," replied Curley, who was regarded +by his companions as being something of a humorist.</p> + +<p>"Where is he?"</p> + +<p>"Since you asks, I reckon he's in th' bunk house," +Curley replied. "Where he ought to be," he added, +pointedly, while his companions grinned.</p> + +<p>"That's wise," responded Buck. "He ought to stay +there more often. I hope his cows will take after him. +Much obliged for th' information," he finished, riding +on.</p> + +<p>"His cows an' his punchers'll do as they wants," +asserted Curley, frowning.</p> + +<p>"Excuse me. I reckoned <i>he</i> was boss around here," +Buck apologized, a grim smile playing about his lips. +"But you better change that 'will' to 'won't' when +you mean th' valley."</p> + +<p>"I mean <i>will</i>!" Curley retorted, leaping to his feet. +"An' what's more, I ain't through with that game laig +puncher of yourn, neither."</p> + +<p>Buck laughed and rode forward again. "You have +my sympathy, then," he called over his shoulder.</p> + +<p>Buck stopped before the bunk house and called out,<span class="pagenum">[102]</span> +and in response to his hail Jim Meeker came and stood +in the door.</p> + +<p>The H2 foreman believed he was right, and he was +too obstinate to admit that there was any side but his +which should be considered. He wanted water and better +grass, and both were close at hand. Where he had +been raised there had been no boundaries, for it had +been free grass and water, and he would not and could +not see that it was any different on his new range. He +had made no agreement, and if one had been made +it did not concern him; it concerned only those who had +made it. He did not buy the ranch from the old owners, +but from a syndicate, and there had been nothing +said about lines or restrictions. When he made any +agreements he lived up to them, but he did not propose +to observe those made by others.</p> + +<p>"How'dy, Meeker," said Buck, nodding.</p> + +<p>"How'dy, Peters; come in?"</p> + +<p>"I reckon it ain't worth while. I won't stay long," +Buck replied. "I came down to tell you that some of +yore cows are crossing our line. They're gettin' worse +every day."</p> + +<p>"That so?" asked Meeker, carelessly.</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"Um; well, what's th' reason they shouldn't? An' +what is that 'line,' that we shouldn't go over it?"</p> + +<p>"Dawson, th' old foreman of th' Three Triangle, +told you all about that," Buck replied, his whole mind +given to the task of reading what sort of a man he had +to deal with. "It's our boundary; an' yourn."</p><p><span class="pagenum">[103]</span></p> + +<p>"Yes? But I don't recognize no boundary. What +have they got to do with me?"</p> + +<p>"It has this much, whether you recognize it or not: +It marks th' north limit of yore grazin'. <i>We</i> don't +cross it."</p> + +<p>"Huh! You don't have to, while you've got that +crick."</p> + +<p>"We won't have th' crick, nor th' grass, either, if +you drive yore cows on us. That valley is our best +grazing, an' it ain't in th' agreement that you can eat +it all off."</p> + +<p>"What agreement?"</p> + +<p>"I didn't come down here to tell you what you +know," Buck replied, slowly. "I came to tell you to +keep yore Greasers an' yore cows on yore own side, +that's whatever."</p> + +<p>"How do you know my cows are over there?"</p> + +<p>"How do I know th' sun is shining?"</p> + +<p>"What do you want me to do?" Meeker asked, leaning +against the house and grinning.</p> + +<p>"Hold yore herds where they belong. Of course +some are shore to stray over, but strays don't count—I +ain't talkin' about them."</p> + +<p>"Well, I've punched a lot of cows in my day," replied +Meeker, "an' over a lot of range, but I never seen no +boundary lines afore. An' nobody ever told me to +keep on one range, if they knowed me. I've run up +against a wire fence or two in th' last few years, but +they didn't last long when I hit 'em."</p> + +<p>"If you want to know what a boundary line looks<span class="pagenum">[104]</span> +like I can show you. There's a plain trail along it +where my men have rode for years."</p> + +<p>"So you say; but I've got to have water."</p> + +<p>"You've got it; twenty miles of river. An' if you'll +put down a well or two th' Jumping Bear won't go +dry."</p> + +<p>"I don't know nothing about wells," Meeker replied. +"Natural water's good enough for me without fooling +with wet holes in th' ground."</p> + +<p>"No; but, by G-d, yo're willin' enough to use them +what I put down! Do you think I spent good time an' +money just to supply <i>you</i> with water? Why don't +you get yore own, 'stead of hoggin' mine!"</p> + +<p>"There's water enough, an' it ain't yourn, neither."</p> + +<p>"It's mine till somebody takes it away from me, an' +you can gamble on that."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I reckon you'll share it."</p> + +<p>"I reckon I won't!" Buck retorted. "Look here; +my men have held that range for many years against +all kinds of propositions an' didn't get pushed into th' +discard once; an' they'll go right on holding it. Hell +has busted loose down here purty often during that +time, but we've allus roped an' branded it; an' we +hain't forgot how!"</p> + +<p>"Well, I don't want no trouble, but I've got to use +that water, an' my men are some hard to handle."</p> + +<p>"You'll find mine worse to handle before you gets +through," Buck rejoined. "They're restless now, an' +once they start, all h—l can't stop 'em." Meeker<span class="pagenum">[105]</span> +started to reply, but Buck gave him no chance. "Do +you know why I haven't driven you back by force? It +wasn't because I figgered on what <i>you'd</i> do. It was +on account of th' rustling that'll blossom on this range +just as soon as we get too busy to watch things. That's +why, but if yo're willing to take a chance with cow +thieves, I am."</p> + +<p>"I'm willing. I've got to have water on my northwest +corner," Meeker replied. "An' I'm going to have +it! If my cows get on yore private reservation, it's +up to you to drive 'em off; but I wouldn't be none hasty +doing it if I was you. You see, my men are plumb +touchy."</p> + +<p>"That's final, is it?"</p> + +<p>"I ain't never swallered nothing I ever said."</p> + +<p>"All right. I can draw on forty men to fill up +gaps, an' I'll do it before I let any range jumper cheat +me out of what's mine. When you buck that line, come +ready for trouble."</p> + +<p>"Yore line'll burn you before you get through pampering +it," retorted Meeker, angrily.</p> + +<p>"So? We'll pamper anybody that tries to keep us +from pampering our line. If there are any burns +they'll not be salved in <i>our</i> bunk house. So long."</p> + +<p>Meeker laughed, stretched, and slipped his thumbs in +the arm-holes of his vest, watching the Bar-20 foreman +ride away. Then he frowned and snapped his fingers +angrily. "We'll keep you busy on yore 'line' when +I get ready to play th' cards I'm looking for!" he<span class="pagenum">[106]</span> +exclaimed. "Th' gall of him! Telling me I can't +pasture where I wants! By G-d, I'll be told I'm using +his sunlight an' breathing his air!"</p> + +<p>He stepped forward. "Curley! Chick! Dan!"</p> + +<p>A moment later the three men stood before him.</p> + +<p>"What is it, Jim?" asked Curley.</p> + +<p>"You fellers drive north to-morrow. Pick up th' +stragglers an' herd 'em close to that infernal line. +Don't drive 'em over till I tell you, but don't let none +stray south again; savvy? If they want to stray north +it's none of our business."</p> + +<p>"Good!"</p> + +<p>"Fine!"</p> + +<p>"That's th' way to talk!"</p> + +<p>"Don't start nothing, but if trouble comes yore way +take care of yoreselves," Meeker remarked. "I'm telling +you to herd up on our north range, that's all."</p> + +<p>"Shore; we'll do it!" laughed Curley.</p> + +<p>"Is that house on th' peak guarded?" Meeker asked.</p> + +<p>"Somebody's there most of th' time," replied Dan +Morgan.</p> + +<p>"Yes; it's their bunk house now," explained Chick.</p> + +<p>"All right; don't forget to-morrow."</p><hr class="chap" /><p><span class="pagenum">[107]</span></p> + +<h2 id="CHAPTER_XI">CHAPTER XI</h2> + +<p class="h3">THREE IS A CROWD</p> + +<p>When Buck reached the line on his return +Hopalong was the first man he met and his +orders were to the point: "Hold this line +till h—l freezes, drive all H2 cows across it, an' don't +start a fight; but be shore to finish any that zephyrs up. +Keep yore eyes open."</p> + +<p>Hopalong grinned and replied that he would hold +the line that long and then skate on the ice, that any +cow found trying to cross would get indignant, and +that he and trouble were old friends. Buck laughed +and rode on.</p> + +<p>"Red Eagle, old cayuse!" cried the line rider, slapping +the animal resoundingly. "We're shore ready!" +And Red Eagle, to show how ready he was to resent +such stinging familiarities, pitched viciously and bit at +his rider's leg.</p> + +<p>"Hit her up, old devil!" yelled Hopalong, grabbing +his sombrero and applying the spurs. Red Eagle settled +back to earth and then shot forward at top speed +along the line trail, bucking as often as he could.</p> + +<p>It was not long before Hopalong saw a small herd<span class="pagenum">[108]</span> +of H2 cows on Bar-20 land and he rode off to head them. +When he got in front of the herd he wheeled and dashed +straight at it, yelling and firing his Colt, the horse +squealing and pitching at every jump.</p> + +<p>"Ki-yi, yeow-eow-eow-eow!" he yelled, and the herd, +terror-stricken, wheeled and dashed towards their ranch. +He followed to the line and saw them meet and terrorize +another herd, and he gleefully cried that it would be a +"shore 'nuf stampede."</p> + +<p>"Look at 'em go, old Skyrocket," he laughed. The +horse began to pitch again but he soon convinced it +that play time had passed.</p> + +<p>"You old, ugly wart of a cayuse!" he cried, fighting +it viciously as it reared and plunged and bit. "Don't +you know I can lick four like you an' not touch leather! +There, that's better. If you bite me again I'll kick +yore corrugations in! But we made 'em hit th' high +trail, didn't we, old hinge-back?"</p> + +<p>He looked up and stiffened, feeling so foolish that he +hardly knew enough to tear off his sombrero, for before +him, sitting quietly in her saddle and looking clean +through him, was Mary Meeker, a contemptuous firmness +about her lips.</p> + +<p>"Good-afternoon, Miss Meeker," he said, wondering +how much she had seen and heard.</p> + +<p>"I'll not spoil yore fun," she icily replied, riding +away.</p> + +<p>He stared after her until she had ridden around a +chaparral and out of his sight, and he slammed his sombrero +on the ground and swore.</p><p><span class="pagenum">[109]</span></p> + +<p>"D—n th' luck!"</p> + +<p>Then he spurred to overtake her and when he saw her +again she was talking to Antonio, who was all smiles.</p> + +<p>"Coffee-colored galoot!" Hopalong muttered, savagely. +"I'll spill him all over hisself some day, th' +squint-eyed mud-image! Th' devil with him, if he +don't like my company he can amble."</p> + +<p>He swept up to them, his hair stirred by the breeze +and his right hand resting on the butt of his Colt. Antonio +was talking when he arrived, but he had no regard +for "Greasers" and interrupted without loss of time.</p> + +<p>"Miss Meeker," he began, backing his horse so he +could watch the Mexican. "I shore hope you ain't +mad. Are you?"</p> + +<p>She looked at him coldly, and her companion muttered +something in Spanish; and found Hopalong's +eyes looking into his soul, which hushed the Spanish.</p> + +<p>"You talk United States if you've got anything to +say, which you ain't," Hopalong commanded and then +turned to the woman. "I'm shore sorry you heard +me. I didn't think you was anywhere around."</p> + +<p>"Which accounts for you terrorizing our cows an' +calves," she retorted. "An' for trying to start a stampede."</p> + +<p>Antonio stiffened at this, but did nothing because +Hopalong was watching him.</p> + +<p>"You ought to be ashamed of yoreself!" she cried, +her eyes flashing and deep color surging into her cheeks. +"You had no right to treat them calves that way, or +to start a stampede!"</p><p><span class="pagenum">[110]</span></p> + +<p>"I didn't try to start no stampede, honest," he replied, +fascinated by the color playing across her face.</p> + +<p>"You did!" she insisted, vehemently. "You may +think it's funny to scare calves, but it ain't!"</p> + +<p>"I was in a hurry," he replied, apologetically. "I +shore didn't think nothing about th' calves. They was +over on us an' I had to drive 'em back before I went +on."</p> + +<p>"You have no right to drive 'em back," she retorted. +"They have every right to graze where th' grass is +good an' where they can get water. They can't live +without water."</p> + +<p>"They shore can't," he replied in swift accord, as if +the needs of cattle had never before crossed his mind. +"But they can get it at th' river."</p> + +<p>"You have no right to drive 'em away from it!"</p> + +<p>"I ain't going to argue none with you, Miss," he responded. +"My orders are to drive 'em back, which +I'll do."</p> + +<p>"Do you mean to tell me that you'll keep them from +water?" she demanded, her eyes flashing again.</p> + +<p>"It ain't my fault that yore men don't hold 'em +closer to th' river," he replied. "There's water a-plenty +there. Yore father's keeping 'em on a dry range."</p> + +<p>"Don't say anything about my father," she angrily +retorted. "He knows his business better'n you can tell +it to him."</p> + +<p>"I'm sorry if I've gone an' said anything to make +you mad," he earnestly replied. "I just wanted to<span class="pagenum">[111]</span> +show you that I'm only obeying orders. I don't want +to argue with you."</p> + +<p>"I didn't come here to argue," she quickly retorted. +"I don't want you to drive our calves so hard, that's +all."</p> + +<p>"I'll be plumb tender with 'em," he assured her, grinning. +"An' I didn't try to scare that other herd, honest."</p> + +<p>"I saw you trying to scare them just before you +saw me."</p> + +<p>"Oh!" he exclaimed, chuckling as he recalled his +fight with Red Eagle. "That was all th' fault of this +ornery cayuse. He got th' idea into his fool head that +he could throw me, so me an' him had it out right +there."</p> + +<p>She had been watching his face while he spoke and +she remembered that he had fought with his horse, and +believed that he was telling the truth. Then, suddenly, +the humorous side struck her and brought a smile to +her face. "I'm sorry I didn't understand," she replied +in a low voice.</p> + +<p>"Then you ain't mad no more?" he asked eagerly.</p> + +<p>"No; not a bit."</p> + +<p>"I'm glad of that," he laughed, leaning forward. +"You had me plumb scared to death."</p> + +<p>"I didn't know I could scare a puncher so easy, +'specially you," she replied, flushing. "But where's +yore sombrero?"</p> + +<p>"Back where I throwed it," he grinned.</p><p><span class="pagenum">[112]</span></p> + +<p>"Where you threw it?"</p> + +<p>"Shore. I got sore when you rode away, an' didn't +care much what happened," he replied, coolly. Then +he transfixed the Mexican with his keen eyes. "If yo're +so anxious to get that gun out, say so or do it," he said, +slowly. "That's th' second time."</p> + +<p>Mary watched them breathlessly, but Hopalong +didn't intend to have any fighting in her presence.</p> + +<p>"You let it alone before I take it away from you," +he said. "An' I reckon you better pull out—you +ain't needed around here. Go on, flit!"</p> + +<p>Antonio glanced at Mary for orders and she nodded +her head. "I don't need you; go."</p> + +<p>Hopalong watched him depart and turned to his companion. +"What's eating him, anyhow?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know. I never saw him act that way before."</p> + +<p>"H'm. I reckon I know; but he don't want to act +that way again," he said, decisively. "Greasers are +shore funny animals."</p> + +<p>"All men are funny," she replied. "Th' idea of +being scared by me when you ain't afraid of a man +like him."</p> + +<p>"That's a different kind of a scare, an' I never felt +like that before. It made me want to kill somebody. +I don't want you to get mad at me. I like you too +much. You won't, will you?"</p> + +<p>She smiled. "No."</p> + +<p>"Never? No matter what happens?"</p> + +<p>"Do you care?"</p><p><span class="pagenum">[113]</span></p> + +<p>"Do I care! You know I do. Look at me, Mary!"</p> + +<p>"No; don't come any nearer. I must go—good-bye."</p> + +<p>"Don't go; let's ride around for a while."</p> + +<p>"But 'Tony may tell Dad; an' if he does Dad'll +come up here an' make trouble. No, I must go."</p> + +<p>"Tell 'Tony I want to see him," he replied. "If +he says anything I'll make him pay for it; an' he won't +do it again."</p> + +<p>"You mustn't do that! It would make things all +th' worse."</p> + +<p>"Will you come up again to-morrow?"</p> + +<p>She laughed. "That'll be too soon, won't it?"</p> + +<p>"Not by a blamed sight."</p> + +<p>"Well, I don't know. Good-bye."</p> + +<p>"Good-bye," he said, holding out his hand.</p> + +<p>She gave him her hand and then tried to push him +away. "No, no! No, I say! I won't come any more +if you do that!"</p> + +<p>Despite her struggles he drew her to him and kissed +her again and again.</p> + +<p>"I hate you! I hate you!" she cried, her face the +color of fire. "What made you do it! You've spoiled +everything, an' I'll never see you again! I hate you!" +and she wheeled and galloped away.</p> + +<p>He spurred in pursuit and when he had overtaken +her he grasped her horse by the bridle and stopped her. +"Mary! Don't be mad—I love you!"</p> + +<p>"Will you let me go?" she demanded, her face crimson.</p><p><span class="pagenum">[114]</span></p> + +<p>"Not till you say yo're not mad."</p> + +<p>"Please let me go," she replied, looking in his eyes, +"I'm not mad at you; but you mustn't do that again. +Won't you let me go before some one sees us?"</p> + +<p>He released her and she impulsively put her hand +on his arm. "Look out—an' watch 'Tony," and she +was gone.</p> + +<p>"Yo're th' best girl ever rode a cayuse," he muttered, +joyously. "'Look out—an' watch 'Tony,'" he +cried. "What do I care about that Greaser? I can +clean out th' whole gang now. Just let 'em start something."</p> + +<p>When he neared the place where his sombrero lay he +saw Johnny in the act of picking it up, and Johnny +might take a notion to make a race out of it before +giving it up. "Hey, you!" Hopalong cried, dashing +forward, "gimme that cover!"</p> + +<p>"Come an' get it; I don't want it," Johnny retorted. +"What made you lose it?"</p> + +<p>"Fighting."</p> + +<p>"Fighting! Fighting who?"</p> + +<p>"Just fighting, Kid."</p> + +<p>"Ah, come on an' tell me," begged Johnny. Then, +like a shot: "Was it that Greaser?"</p> + +<p>"Nope."</p> + +<p>"Who was it?"</p> + +<p>"None of yore business," laughed Hopalong, delighted +to be able to tease him.</p> + +<p>"All right!" Johnny cried. "You wait; th' boys +will be glad to learn about you an' her!"</p><p><span class="pagenum">[115]</span></p> + +<p>Hopalong's hand shot out and gripped his friend's +shoulder. "Don't you say a word about it, do you +hear?"</p> + +<p>"Shore. I was only fooling," replied Johnny. +"Think I tell them kind of things! Yo're a big fool, +you are."</p> + +<p>"I was too quick, Kid. I know yo're a thoroughbred. +An' now I'll tell you who I was fighting. Its +was Red Eagle. He got a fit of pitching, an' I had +to take it out of him."</p> + +<p>"I might 'a knowed it," responded Johnny, eying +the tracks in the sand. "But I reckoned you might +'a had a run-in with that Greaser. I was saving him +for myself."</p> + +<p>"Why do you hate him so much more'n th' other +Greasers?"</p> + +<p>"Never mind that now. I'll tell you after I get +him."</p> + +<p>"Have you seen Buck since he came back?"</p> + +<p>"No; why?"</p> + +<p>Hopalong told him what the foreman had said and +his friend grinned. "The good old days are coming +back again, Hoppy!" he exulted. "Now I can kick +th' shirt off'n that Greaser, can't I, if he gets gay?"</p> + +<p>"If he don't kick yourn off first."</p> + +<p>"I'd like to see him try it; or you, either! Mebbe +you'd like to try it now?"</p> + +<p>"Shoo, fly! Shoo, fly," laughed Hopalong.</p> + +<p>"Where are you going now?" asked Johnny.</p> + +<p>"Where I please."</p><p><span class="pagenum">[116]</span></p> + +<p>"Shore. I knowed that. That's where you want +to go," grinned Johnny. "But where do you want +to go?"</p> + +<p>"Where I can't go now."</p> + +<p>"Ah, shut up! Come on. I'll go with you."</p> + +<p>"Well, I'm going east to tell th' fellers what Buck +said."</p> + +<p>"Go ahead. I'm with you," Johnny said, wheeling.</p> + +<p>"I didn't ask you to come."</p> + +<p>"I didn't ask you to go," retorted Johnny. "Here," +he said, holding out a cigar and putting another in his +mouth. "Have a smoke; they're all right."</p> + +<p>"Where the devil did you get 'em?"</p> + +<p>"Up in Number Five."</p> + +<p>"In Number Five!"</p> + +<p>"Shore. Frenchy, th' son-o'-a-gun, had three of 'em +hid over th' windy," Johnny explained. "I hooked +'em."</p> + +<p>"So I reckoned; did you take 'em all?"</p> + +<p>"Was you going up?"</p> + +<p>"No; but did you?"</p> + +<p>"Well, I looked good, but I didn't see none to leave."</p> + +<p>"You wait till he finds it out," Hopalong warned.</p> + +<p>"He won't do nothing," assured Johnny, easily. +"Anyhow, yo're as guilty as me. He ain't got no +right to cache cigars when we can't get to town for +any. Besides, he's afraid of me."</p> + +<p>"Scared of you! Oh, Lord, that's good!"</p> + +<p>"Quit fooling an' get started," Johnny said, kicking +his friend's horse.</p><p><span class="pagenum">[117]</span></p> + +<p>"You behave, or I'll get that Greaser to lick you +good," threatened Hopalong as he quieted Red Eagle.</p> + +<p>"Huh! He don't like fights."</p> + +<p>"How do you know?"</p> + +<p>"Because my grub is his poison; get a-going."</p> + +<p>They cantered eastward, driving back Meeker's cows +whenever they were found too close to the line or over +it, and it was not long before they made out Lanky +riding towards them. He had not yet seen them and +Johnny eagerly proposed that they prepare an ambush +and scare him.</p> + +<p>"He don't scare, you fool," replied Hopalong. "A +joke is a joke, but there ain't no use getting shot at +when you can't shoot back. No use getting killed for +a lark."</p> + +<p>"He might shoot, mightn't he," Johnny laughed. +"I didn't think about that."</p> + +<p>Lanky looked around, waved his hand and soon joined +them. "I see yo're taking care of th' Kid, Hopalong. +Hullo, Kid."</p> + +<p>"Go to blazes!" snorted Johnny.</p> + +<p>"Has he been a good boy, Hoppy?"</p> + +<p>"No more'n usual. He's looking for Antonio."</p> + +<p>"<i>Again</i>?" asked Lanky, grinning. "Ain't you +found him yet?"</p> + +<p>"Ah, go on. I'll find him when I want him," Johnny +retorted.</p> + +<p>When Lanky had heard Buck's orders he frowned.</p> + +<p>"We'll hold it all right. Wait for Billy, he'll be +along purty soon. I left him chasing some cows."</p><p><span class="pagenum">[118]</span></p> + +<p>"Got yore saddle so it'll stay together for more'n +ten minutes at a time?" asked Johnny.</p> + +<p>"I bought Billy's old one," Lanky replied. "Got +anything to say about it?"</p> + +<p>Billy Williams, pessimist by nature and choice, rode +up and joined them and, laughing and joking, they +rode towards the Peak, to see if Buck had any further +orders. But they had not gone far before Hopalong +stopped and thought. "You go on. I'll stay out here +an' watch things."</p> + +<p>"I'm with you, Hoppy," Johnny offered. "You +fellers go on; me an' Hopalong'll take care of th' line +out here."</p> + +<p>"All right," replied Lanky. "So long."</p> + +<p>A few minutes later Johnny turned in his saddle. +"Hey, Billy!" he shouted.</p> + +<p>"What?"</p> + +<p>"Has Lanky paid you for that saddle, yet?"</p> + +<p>"Shore; why?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, nothing. But yo're lucky."</p> + +<p>Billy turned and said something to Lanky and they +cantered on their way.</p> + +<p>"Hey, Hoppy; don't you tell Frenchy about them +cigars," Johnny suddenly remarked some time later.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum">[119]</span></p> + +<h2 id="CHAPTER_XII">CHAPTER XII</h2> + +<p class="h3">HOBBLE BURNS AND SLEEPERS</p> + +<p>The western part of the Bar-20 ranch was poor +range and but few cattle were to be found on +it until Big Coulee had been reached. This +portion of the ranch fed quite a large number of cattle, +many of which were outlaws, but because of the heavy +work demanded on the more fertile southern and eastern +sections it was the custom with Buck to pay little attention +to the Big Coulee herds; if a man rode up +there once in a while he was satisfied. This time it was +Skinny who was to look over the condition of affairs +around Number Two, which was not far from Big +Coulee.</p> + +<p>Detouring here and there he took his own time and +followed the general direction of the western line, and +about four hours after he had quitted the Peak he passed +line house Number Two and shortly afterward stopped +on the rim of the coulee, a brush-grown depression of a +score of acres in extent, in which was a pond covering +half an acre and fed by springs on the bottom, its +outlet being a deep gorge cut in the soft stone. Half<span class="pagenum">[120]</span> +a mile from the pond the small stream disappeared in +the sand and was lost.</p> + +<p>He rode through the coulee without seeing a single +cow and an exploration lasting over an hour resulted +no better. Beyond a bear track or two among the berry +bushes he saw no signs of animal life. This did not +disturb him because he took it for granted that the +herds had wandered back to where the grass was better. +Stopping at the line house to eat, he mounted and rode +towards the hills to report to Hopalong.</p> + +<p>Suddenly it struck him that he had seen no cow +tracks in the mud around the water hole and he began +to hunt for cattle. Using Pete's glasses constantly to +sweep the plain for the missing herds, it was not until +he had reached a point half-way to the Peak that his +search was rewarded by seeing a calf far to the east +of him. Watching it until it stood out boldly to his +sight he followed an impulse and rode towards it to +examine it at close range.</p> + +<p>Upon getting near it he saw that it bore the V notch +of the H2 cut in its ear, and that it was not branded. +He thought it strange that an H2 "sleeper" should +be so far from home, without a mother to lead it astray, +and he roped it to look more closely at the notch. His +opinion was that it had been done very recently, for +the cartilage had not yet dried on the edges. Releasing +the animal he mounted and started for the line, +muttering to himself.</p> + +<p>As he swung into the line trail he saw a lame cow +limping around a thicket and he spurred forward, roped<span class="pagenum">[121]</span> +and threw it, this time giving no thought to the ears, +for its brand was that of the Bar-20. He looked at +the hocks and found them swollen and inflamed, and his +experience told him that it had been done by hobbles. +This, to him, explained why the calf was alone, and it +gave him the choice of two explanations for the hobbling +and the newly cut ear notch on the calf. Either +the H2 was sleepering Bar-20 calves for their irons +later on, or rustlers were at work. It seemed incredible +that any H2 puncher should come that distance +to make a few sleepers—but the herd had not been +to the water hole! He was greatly wrought up and +it was none the more pleasant to be unable to say +where the blame lay. There was only one thing to +do and that was to scout around and try to find a +clue to the perpetrators—and, perhaps, catch the +thieves at work. This proved to be unfruitful until +he came to North Hill, where he found a cow dead from +gunshot. He put spurs to his horse and rode straight +for the Peak, which he reached as night fell and as +Hopalong, Red, Pete, and Lanky were eating supper +and debating the line conditions.</p> + +<p>Skinny joined them and listened to the conversation, +wordless, nodding or shaking his head at the points +made. When he had finished eating he leaned back +against his saddle and fumbled for tobacco and pipe, +gazing reflectively into the fire, at which he spat. +Hopalong turned in time to see the act and, knowing +Skinny's peculiarities, asked abruptly: "What's on +yore mind, Skinny?"</p><p><span class="pagenum">[122]</span></p> + +<p>"Little piece of h—l," was the slow reply, and it +gained the attention of the others at once. "I saw a +H2 sleeper, up just above th' Bend and half way between +it an' th' line."</p> + +<p>"That so!" exclaimed Hopalong.</p> + +<p>"Long way from home—starting in young to ramble," +Red laughed. "Lazy trick, that sleepering."</p> + +<p>"This here calf had a brand new V—hadn't healed +yet," Skinny remarked, lighting his pipe. "An' it +didn't—<i>puff</i>—have no—<i>puff</i>—mother," he added, +significantly.</p> + +<p>"Huh, weaned, you chump—but that fresh V is +shore funny."</p> + +<p>"Go on, Skinny," ordered Hopalong, eagerly.</p> + +<p>"I found its mother an hour later—hobble-burned +an' limping; an' it wasn't no H2 cow, neither; it was +one of ourn."</p> + +<p>"Rustling!" cried Hopalong.</p> + +<p>"Th' H2 is doing it," contradicted Red, quickly.</p> + +<p>"They wouldn't take a chance like that," replied +Hopalong.</p> + +<p>"There ain't no rule for taking chances," Red rejoined. +"Some men'll gamble with h—l itself—you, +for instance, in gun-play."</p> + +<p>"What else?" demanded Hopalong of Skinny.</p> + +<p>"That Big Coulee herd ain't up there, an' hain't +been near th' water hole for so long th' mud's smooth +around the edges of th' pond; kin savvy?"</p> + +<p>"It's rustlers, by G-d!" cried Hopalong, looking +triumphantly at Red.</p><p><span class="pagenum">[123]</span></p> + +<p>"An' I found a dead cow—shot—on th' upper +end of North Hill," Skinny added.</p> + +<p>"H2!" Red shouted. "They're doing it!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, likely; it was an H2 cow," Skinny placidly +explained.</p> + +<p>"Why in h—l can't you tell things in a herd, 'stead +of stringin' 'em out like a stiff reata trailing to soften!" +Red cried. "Yo're the damndest talker that ever +opened a mouth!"</p> + +<p>Skinny took the pipe from his mouth and looked at +Red.</p> + +<p>"I allus get it all out, don't I? What are you kicking +about?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, you do; like a five thousand herd filtering +through a two-foot gate!"</p> + +<p>"Mebby th' herd drifted to th' valley," Pete offered.</p> + +<p>"Mebby nothing!" Red retorted. "Why, we can't +drive 'em down here without 'em acting loco about it."</p> + +<p>"Cows are shore fool animals," Pete suggested in defence.</p> + +<p>"There's more than cows that are fool animals," +Red snapped, while Skinny laughed to see Pete get his +share.</p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p>Sixteen miles to the southeast of the Peak, Meeker +sat on a soap box and listened, with the rest of his outfit, +to what Curley was saying,—"an' when I got down +a good ways south I found two young calves bellering +for their maws. They was sleepers; an' an hour later +<span class="pagenum">[124]</span>I found them same maws bellering for them calves—they +was limping a-plenty an' their hocks looked burned—hobble +burns."</p> + +<p>Meeker mused for a moment and then arose. "You +ride that range regular, an' be cautious. Watch towards +Eagle. If you catch any sons-of-skunks gamboling +reckless, an' they can't explain why they are +flitting over our range, shoot off yore gun accidental—there +won't be no inquest."</p><hr class="chap" /><p><span class="pagenum">[125]</span></p> + +<h2 id="CHAPTER_XIII">CHAPTER XIII</h2> + +<p class="h3">HOPALONG GROWS SUSPICIOUS</p> + +<p>The eastern sky grew brighter and the dim morning +light showed a group of men at breakfast +on the Peak. They already had been given +their orders and as soon as each man finished eating +he strode off to where his horse was picketed with the +others, mounted, and rode away. Pete had ridden in +late the night before and was still sleeping in the house, +Hopalong not wishing to awaken him until it was absolutely +necessary.</p> + +<p>Red Connors, riding back to the house from the horse +herd, drew rein for a final word. "I'm going out to +watch that unholy drift of Meeker's cows, just this side +of th' half-way point. They was purty thick last night +when I rode in. I told Johnny to keep on that part +of th' line, for I reckon things will get too crowded for +one man to handle. Th' two of us can take care of 'em, +all right. You knows where you can find us if you +need us."</p> + +<p>"I don't like that drift, but I'll stay here an' give +Pete an hour more sleep," Hopalong replied. "Buck<span class="pagenum">[126]</span> +didn't know just when he'd be down again, but I'm looking +for him before noon, just th' same."</p> + +<p>"Well, me an' Johnny'll stop th' drift. So long," +and Red cantered away, whistling softly.</p> + +<p>Hopalong kicked out the fire and walked restlessly +around the plateau, puzzled by the massing of the H2 +cows along the line. The play was obvious enough on +its face, for it meant that Meeker, tired of inaction, had +decided to force the issue by driving into the valley. +But Hopalong, suspicious to a degree, was not satisfied +with that solution.</p> + +<p>On more than one occasion he had searched past the +obvious and found deeper motives, and to this ferment +of thought he owed his life many times. He, himself, +essentially a schemer and trusting no one but the members +of his outfit, accused others of scheming and bent +his mind to outwit them. Buck often irritated him +greatly, for the foreman, optimistic and believing all +men honest until they proved to be otherwise, held that +Meeker thought himself to be in the right and so was +justified in his attempt to use the valley. Hopalong +believed that Meeker was not square, that he knew he +had no right to the valley and was trying to steal +range; he maintained that the wiser way was to believe +all men crooked and put the burden on them of +proving otherwise; then he was prepared for anything.</p> + +<p>A better cow-man than Buck Peters never lived; he +knew the cattle industry thoroughly, was honest, fair, +and fearless, maintained an even temper and tried to +avoid fighting until the last ditch had been reached.<span class="pagenum">[127]</span> +But it was an indisputable fact that Hopalong Cassidy +had proved himself to be the best man on the ranch +when danger threatened. He grasped situations quickly +and clearly and his companions looked to him for suggestions +when the sky was clouded by impending conflict. +Buck realized that his line-foreman was eminently +better qualified to handle the skirmish line than himself, +that Hopalong could carry out things which would fall +flat if any one else attempted them. Back of Buck's +confidence was the pleasing knowledge that no man had +ever yet got in the first shot against Hopalong on an +"even break," and that when his puncher's gun exploded +it was all over; this is why Hopalong could, single-handed, +win out in any reasonable situation.</p> + +<p>While Hopalong turned the matter over in his mind +he thought he saw a figure move among the chaparrals +far to the south and he whipped out his glasses, peering +long and steadily at the place. Then he put them +away and laughed softly. "You can't fool me, by +G-d! I'll let you make yore play—an' if Pete don't +kill a few of you I'm a liar. Here are th' shells—pick +out th' pea."</p> + +<p>Returning to the house he shook Pete. "Hey, get +up!"</p> + +<p>Pete bounded up, wide awake in an instant. "Yes?"</p> + +<p>"Put on yore clothes an' come outside a minute," +he ordered, going out.</p> + +<p>Pete finished buttoning his vest when he joined his +friend, who was pointing south. "Pete, they're playing +for this house, an' I can't stay—Red an' Johnny<span class="pagenum">[128]</span> +may need me any minute. Down there a Greaser is +watching this house. Meeker is massing his cows along +th' line for two reasons; he's trying to draw us away +from here so he can get in, an' he's going to push over +th' line if he falls down here. You stay in that shack. +Don't leave it for a second, understand? Stop anybody +that comes up here if you have to kill him. But don't +leave this house for nothing, savvy?"</p> + +<p>"Go ahead. I savvy."</p> + +<p>Hopalong vaulted to his saddle and started away. +"I'll get somebody to help you as soon as I can," he +called.</p> + +<p>"Don't need anybody!" Pete shouted, going inside +and barring the door.</p> + +<p>Hopalong was elated by the way he had forestalled +Meeker, and also because it was Pete who guarded the +house. He knew his companions only as a man can +know friends with whom he has lived for nearly a score +of years. Red was too good a fighter to be cooped up +while trouble threatened in the open; Johnny, rash and +hot-tempered, could be tempted to leave the house to +indulge in personal combat if taunted enough, and he, +too, was too good a man in a <i>mêlée</i> to remain on the +Peak. The man for the house was Pete, for he was +accurate enough for that short range, he was unemotional +and did not do much thinking for himself when it +ran counter to his instructions; he had been told to +stay in the house and hold it, and that, Hopalong felt +certain, he would do.</p><p><span class="pagenum">[129]</span></p> + +<p>"Pete'll hold 'em with one leg in th' air if they happen +to be taking a step when he sees 'em," he laughed.</p> + +<p>But Pete was to be confronted with a situation so unexpected +and of such a nature that for once in his life +he was going to forget orders—and small blame to him.</p><hr class="chap" /><p><span class="pagenum">[130]</span></p> + +<h2 id="CHAPTER_XIV">CHAPTER XIV</h2> + +<p class="h3">THE COMPROMISE</p> + +<p>It was night and on the H2 sickly, yellow lights +gleamed from the ranch houses. From the bunk +house came occasional bursts of song, the swinging +choruses thundering out on the night air, deep-toned +and strong. In the foreman's quarters the clatter +of dishes was soon stilled and shortly afterward the light +in the kitchen could be seen no more. A girl stood in +the kitchen door for a moment and then, singing, went +inside and the door closed. The strumming of a guitar +and much laughter came from Antonio's shack, for now +he had Juan and Sanchez to help him pass the time.</p> + +<p>Meeker emerged from a corral, glanced above him for +signs of the morrow's weather, and then stood and gazed +at the Mexican's shack. Turning abruptly on his heel +he strode to the bunk house and smiled grimly as the +chorus roared out, for he had determined upon measures +which might easily change the merriment to mourning +before another day passed. He had made up his +mind to remain inactive no longer, but to put things to +the test—his outfit and himself against the Bar-20.</p> + +<p>He entered the building and slamming the door shut<span class="pagenum">[131]</span> +behind him, waited until the chorus was finished. When +the last note died away he issued his orders for the next +day, orders which pleased his men, who had chafed even +more than he under the galling inaction, since they did +not thoroughly understand the reasons for it.</p> + +<p>"I had them cows herded up north for th' last three +days so they'd be ready for us when we wanted 'em," +he said, and then leaped at the door and jerked it open, +peering about outside. The guitar was still strumming +in the Mexican's shack and he recognized the voices of +three in the singing. Turning, he beckoned Doc Riley +to him and the two stepped outside, closing the door behind +them. Great noise broke out within the house +as his orders were repeated and commented on. Meeker +and Doc moved to the corner of the building and consulted +earnestly for several minutes, the foreman gesticulating +slowly.</p> + +<p>"But Juan said they had a man to guard it," Doc +replied.</p> + +<p>"Yes; he told me," Meeker responded. "I'm going +to fix that before I go to bed—we've got to coax him +out on some excuse. Once we get him out of th' house +we can cover him, an' th' rest'll be easy. I won't be +able to be with you—I'll have to stay outside where +I can move around an' look out for th' line trouble, an' +where they can see me. But you an' Jack can hold it +once you get in. By G-d, you <i>must</i> get in, an' you +<i>must</i> hold it!"</p> + +<p>"We'll do it if it's possible."</p> + +<p>"That's th' way to talk. Th' boys seem pleased<span class="pagenum">[132]</span> +about it," Meeker laughed, listening to the joy loose in +the house.</p> + +<p>"Pleased! They're tickled plumb to death," Doc +cried. "They've got so sore about having to keep their +guns quiet that when they cut loose—well, something's +due to happen."</p> + +<p>"I don't want that if there's any other way," Meeker +replied earnestly. "If this thing can be done without +wholesale slaughter we've got to do it that way. Remember, +Doc, this whole country is backing Peters. +He's got thirteen men now, an' he can call on thirty more +in two days. Easy is th' way, easy."</p> + +<p>"I'll spend th' next hour pounding that into their +hot heads," Doc replied. "They're itching for a chance +to square up for everything. They're some sore, been +so for a couple of days, about that line house being +guarded—they get sore plumb easy now, you know."</p> + +<p>"Well, good-night, Doc."</p> + +<p>"Good-night, Jim."</p> + +<p>Meeker went towards his own house and as he neared +the kitchen door a deep-throated wolf-hound bayed from +the kennels, inciting a clamorous chorus from the +others. Meeker shouted and the noise changed to low, +deep, rumbling growls which soon became hushed. +Chains rattled over wood and the fierce animals returned +to their grass beds to snarl at each other. The frightened +crickets took up their song again and poured it on +the silence of the night.</p> + +<p>The foreman opened the door and strode through the +kitchen and into the living room, his eyes squinting<span class="pagenum">[133]</span> +momentarily because of the light. His daughter was +sitting in a rocking chair, sewing industriously, and she +looked up, welcoming him. He replied to her and, dexterously +tossing his sombrero on a peg in the wall where +it caught and hung swinging, walked heavily to the +southern window and stood before it, hands clasped behind +his back, staring moodily into the star-stabbed +darkness. Down the wind came the faint, wailing howl +of a wolf, quavering and distant, and the hounds again +shattered the peaceful quiet. But he heard neither, so +absorbed was he by his thoughts. Mary looked at him +for a moment and then took up her work again and resumed +sewing, for he had done this before when things +had gone wrong, and frequently of late.</p> + +<p>He turned suddenly and in response to the movement +she looked up, again laying her sewing aside. "What +it is?" she asked.</p> + +<p>"Trouble, Mary. I want to talk to you."</p> + +<p>"I'm always ready to listen, Daddy," she replied. +"I wish you wouldn't worry so. That's all you've done +since we left Montana."</p> + +<p>"I know; but I can't help it," he responded, smiling +faintly. "But I don't care much as long as I've got +you to talk it over with. Yo're like yore mother that +way, Mary; she allus made things easy, somehow. An' +she knew more'n most women do about things."</p> + +<p>"Yo're my own Daddy," she replied affectionately. +"Now tell me all about it."</p> + +<p>"Well," he began, sitting on the table, "I'm being +cheated out of my rights. I find lines where none exist.<span class="pagenum">[134]</span> +I'm hemmed in from water, th' best grazing is +held from me, my cows are driven helter-skelter, my +pride hurt, an' my men mocked. When I say I must +have water I'm told to go to th' river for it, twenty miles +from my main range, an' lined with quicksands; an' +yet there is water close to me, water enough for double +th' number of cows of both ranches! It is good, clean +water, unfailing an' over a firm bottom, flowing through +thirty miles of th' best grass valley in this whole sun-cursed +section. Two hundred miles in any direction +won't show another as good. An' yet, I dassn't set my +foot in it—I can't drive a cow across that line!"</p> + +<p>He paused and then continued: "I'm good an' sick +of it all. I ain't going to swaller it no longer, not a +day. Peace is all right, but not at th' price I'm paying! +I'd ruther die fighting for what's mine than put +up with what I have since I came down here."</p> + +<p>"What are you going to do?" she asked quietly.</p> + +<p>"I'm going to have a force on that line by to-morrow +night!" he cried, gradually working himself into a temper. +"<i>I'm</i> going to hold them hills, an' th' springs at +th' bottom of 'em. <i>I'm</i> going to use that valley an' +I'll fight until th' last man goes under!"</p> + +<p>"Don't say that, Daddy," she quickly objected. +"There ain't no line worth yore life. What good will +it do you when yo're dead? You can get along without +it if it comes to that. An' what'll happen to me if you +get killed?"</p> + +<p>"No, girl," he replied. "You've held me back too +long. I should 'a struck in th' beginning, before they<span class="pagenum">[135]</span> +got so set. It would 'a been easier then. I don't like +range wars any more'n anybody, but it's come, an' I've +got to hold up my end—an' my head!"</p> + +<p>"But th' agreement?" she queried, fearful for his +safety. She loved her father with all her heart, for he +had been more than a father to her; he had always confided +in her and weighed her judgment; they had been +companions since her mother died, which was almost beyond +her memory; and now he would risk his life in a +range war, a vindictive, unmerciful conflict which +usually died out when the last opponent died—and +perhaps he was in the wrong. She knew the fighting +ability of that shaggy, tight-lipped breed of men that +mocked Death with derisive, profane words, who jibed +whether in <i>mêlée</i> or duel with as light hearts as if engaged +in nothing more dangerous than dancing. And +she had heard, even in Montana, of the fighting qualities +of the outfit that rode range for the Bar-20. If +they must be fought, then let it be for the right principles +and not otherwise. And there was Hopalong!—she +knew in her heart that she loved him, and feared it +and fought it, but it was true; and he was the active +leader of his outfit, the man who was almost the foreman, +and who would be in the thickest of the fighting. She +didn't purpose to have him killed if he was in the right, +or in the wrong, either.</p> + +<p>"Agreement!" he cried, hotly. "Agreement! I +hear that every time I say anything to that crowd, +an' now you give it to me! Agreement be d——d! +Nason never said nothing about any agreement when<span class="pagenum">[136]</span> +he told me he had found a ranch for me. He wouldn't +'a dealt me a hand like that, one that'd give me th' +worst of it in a show-down! He found out all about +everything before he turned over my check to 'em."</p> + +<p>"But they say there is one, an' from th' way they act +it looks that way."</p> + +<p>"I don't believe anything of th' sort! It's just a +trick to hog that grass an' water!"</p> + +<p>"Hopalong Cassidy told me there was one—he told +me all about it. He was a witness."</p> + +<p>"Hopalong h—l!" he cried, remembering the day +that Doc had been shot, and certain hints which Antonio +had let fall.</p> + +<p>"Father!" she exclaimed, her eyes flashing.</p> + +<p>"Oh, don't mind me," he replied. "I don't know +what I'm saying half th' time. I'm all mixed up, now-a-days."</p> + +<p>"I believe he was telling the truth—he wouldn't lie +to me," she remarked, decisively.</p> + +<p>He looked at her sharply. "Well, am I to be tied +down by something I don't know about? Am I to swaller +everything I hear? <i>I</i> don't know about no agreement, +except what th' Bar-20 tells me. An' if there was +one it was made by th' Three Triangle, wasn't it?—an' +not by Nason or me? Am I th' Three Triangle? +Am I to walk th' line on something I didn't make? <i>I</i> +didn't make it!—oh, I'm tired arguing about it."</p> + +<p>"Well, even if there wasn't no agreement you can't +blame them for trying to keep their land, can you?"<span class="pagenum">[137]</span> +she asked, idly fingering her sewing. "The land is +theirs, ain't it?"</p> + +<p>"Did you ever hear of free grass an' free water?"</p> + +<p>"I never heard of nothing else till I came down here," +she admitted. "But it may be different here."</p> + +<p>"Well, it ain't different!" he retorted. "An' if it is +it won't stay so. What goes in Montanny will go down +here. Anyhow, I don't want their land—all I want is +th' use of it, same as they have. But they're hogs, an' +want it all."</p> + +<p>"They say it ain't big enough for their herds."</p> + +<p>"Thirty-five miles long, and five miles wide, in th' +valley alone, an' it ain't big enough! Don't talk to me +like that! You know better."</p> + +<p>"I'm only trying to show it to you in every light," +she responded. "Mebby yo're right, an' mebby you +ain't; that's what we've got to find out. I don't want +to think of you fightin', 'specially if yo're wrong. +Suppose yo're killed,—an' you might be. Ain't there +some other way to get what you want, if yo're determined +to go ahead?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I might be killed, but I won't go alone!" he +cried savagely. "Fifty years, man an' boy, I've lived +on th' range, taking every kick of fortune, riding hard +an' fightin' hard when I had to. I ain't no yearling at +any game about cows, girl."</p> + +<p>"But can't you think of some other way?" she repeated.</p> + +<p>"I've got to get that line house on th' hill," he went<span class="pagenum">[138]</span> +on, not heeding her question. "Juan told me three days +ago, that they've put a guard in it now—but I'll have +it by noon to-morrow, for I've been thinking hard since +then. An' once in it, they can't take it from me! With +that in my hands I can laugh at 'em, for I can drive my +cows over th' line close by it, down th' other side of th' +hill, an' into th' valley near th' springs. They'll be +under my guns in th' line house, an' let anybody try to +drive 'em out again! Two men can hold that house—it +was built for defence against Indians. Th' top of th' +hill is level as a floor an' only two hundred yards to th' +edge. Nobody can cross that space under fire an' live."</p> + +<p>"If they can't cross it an' live, how can <i>you</i> cross it, +when th' house is guarded? An' when th' first shot is +fired you'll have th' whole outfit down on you from behind +like wild fire. Then what'll you do? You can't +fight between two fires."</p> + +<p>"By G-d, yo're right! Yo're th' brains of this +ranch," he cried, his eyes squinting to hide his elation. +He paced back and forth, thinking deeply. Five minutes +passed, then ten, and he suddenly turned and faced +her, to unfold the plan he had worked out the day before. +He had been leading up to it and now he knew +how to propose it. "I've got it. I've got it! Not +a shot, not a single shot!"</p> + +<p>"Tell me," she said smiling.</p> + +<p>He slowly unfolded it, telling her of the herds waiting +to be driven across the line to draw the Bar-20 men +from the Peak, and of the part she was to play. She +listened quietly, a troubled frown on her face, and when<span class="pagenum">[139]</span> +he had finished and asked her what she thought of it she +looked at him earnestly and slowly replied:</p> + +<p>"Do you think that's fair? Do you want <i>me</i> to do +that?"</p> + +<p>"What's unfair about it? They're yore enemies as +much as they are mine, ain't they? Ain't everything +fair in love an' war, as th' books say?"</p> + +<p>"In war, perhaps; but not in love," she replied in a +low voice, thinking of the man who wore her flower.</p> + +<p>"Now look here!" he cried, leaning forward. +"Don't you go an' get soft on any of that crowd! Do +you hear?"</p> + +<p>"We won't mix love an' war, Daddy," she said, decisively. +"You take care of yore end, that's war; an' +let me run my part. I'll do what I want to when it +comes to falling in love; an' I'll help you to-morrow. +I don't want to do it, but I will; you've got to have th' +line house, an' without getting between two fires. I'll +do it, Daddy."</p> + +<p>"Good girl! Yo're just like yore mother—all +grit!" he cried, going towards the door. "An' I +reckon I won't have to take no hand in <i>yore</i> courting," +he said, grabbing his sombrero. "Yo're shore able to +run yore own."</p> + +<p>"But <i>promise</i> me you won't interfere," she said, +calmly, hiding her triumph.</p> + +<p>"It's a go. I'll keep away from th' sparking game," +he promised. "I'm going out to see th' boys for a +minute," and the door slammed, inciting the clamor of +<span class="pagenum">[140]</span>the kennels again, which he again hushed. "D—n +'em!" he muttered, exultantly. "They tried to hog th' +range, an' then they want my girl! But they <i>won't</i> hog +th' range no more, an' I'll put a stop to th' courting +when she plays her cards to-morrow, an' without having +any hand in it. Lord, I win, every trick!" he laughed.</p><hr class="chap" /><p><span class="pagenum">[141]</span></p> + +<h2 id="CHAPTER_XV">CHAPTER XV</h2> + +<p class="h3">ANTONIO MEETS FRIENDS</p> + +<p>Before daylight the next morning Antonio left +the ranch and rode south, bearing slightly to +the west, so as not to leave his trail in Curley's +path. He was to meet some of Shaw's men who would +come for more cattle. When a dozen miles southwest of +the ranch house he espied them at work on the edge of +an arroyo. They had a fire going and were re-branding +a calf. Far out on the plain was a dead cow, the calf's +mother, shot because they had become angered by its +belligerency when it had gone "on th' prod." They +had driven cow and calf hard and when they tried to +separate the two the mother had charged viciously, narrowly +missing one of them, to die by a shot from the +man most concerned. Meanwhile the calf had run back +over its trail and they had roped it as it was about to +plunge over the bank of the arroyo.</p> + +<p>"You fools!" yelled Antonio, galloping towards +them. "Don't you know better'n to blot on this range! +How many times have I told you that Curley rides +south!"</p><p><span class="pagenum">[142]</span></p> + +<p>"He never gets this far west—we've watched him," +retorted Clausen, angrily.</p> + +<p>"Is that any reason why he can't!" demanded the +Mexican. "How do we know what he'll do?"</p> + +<p>"Yes!" rejoined Clausen. "An' I reckon he can +find that steep-bank hollow with th' rope gate, can't he? +Suppose he finds th' herds you holds in it for us—what +then?"</p> + +<p>"It's a whole lot farther west than here!" retorted +Antonio, hotly. "They never go to Little Muddy, an' +if they do, that's a chance we've got to take. But you +can wait till you get to th' mesa before you change +brands, can't you!"</p> + +<p>"Aw, close yore pie-sump!" cried Frisco. "Who +th' devil is doing this, anyhow? You make more noise +than Cheyenne on th' Fourth of July!"</p> + +<p>"What right have you fellers got to take chances an' +hobble <i>me</i> with trouble?"</p> + +<p>"Who's been doing all th' sleepering, hey?" sarcastically +demanded Dick Archer. "Let Meeker's gang +see the God-forsaken bunch of sleepers running on their +range an' you'll be hobbled with trouble, all right."</p> + +<p>Through laziness, carelessness, or haste calves might +not be branded when found with branded cows. Feeling +was strong against the use of the "running iron," +a straight iron rod about eighteen inches long which +was heated and used as a pencil on the calf's hide, and +a man caught with one in his possession could expect to +be dealt with harshly; it was a very easy task to light a +fire and "run" a brand, and the running iron was easily<span class="pagenum">[143]</span> +concealed under the saddle flap. But it was not often +that a puncher would carry a stamping iron, for it was +cumbersome. With a running iron a brand could be +changed, or the wrong mark put on unbranded cattle; +but the stamping iron would give only one pattern.</p> + +<p>When a puncher came across an unbranded calf with +its branded mother, and the number which escaped the +roundup was often large, he branded it, if he had an +iron; if he did not have the iron he might cut the calf's +ears to conform to the notch in its mother's ears. When +the calf was again seen it might have attained its full +growth. In that case there was no branded mother to +show to whom it belonged; but its cut ears would tell.</p> + +<p>These unbranded, ear-cut calves were known as +"sleepers" and, in localities where cattle stealing was +being or had been carried on to any extent, such sleepering +was regarded with strong suspicion, and more than +one man had paid a dear price for doing the work.</p> + +<p>The ear mark of the H2 was a V, while the Bar-20 +depended entirely on the brand, and part of its punchers' +saddle equipment was a stamping iron.</p> + +<p>Cowmen held sleepering in strong disfavor because it +was an easy matter for a maverick hunter or a rustler +to drive off these sleepers and, after altering the ear cut, +to brand them with his own or some strange brand; and +it was easy to make sleepers.</p> + +<p>In the case of rustling the separation of branded +calves and mothers was imperative, for should any one +see a cow of one brand with a calf of another, it was +very probable that a committee of discretionary powers<span class="pagenum">[144]</span> +would look into the matter. Hobbling and laming +mothers and then driving away the calves were not the +only ways of separating them and of weaning the calves, +for a shot was often as good a way as any; but as dead +cows, if found, were certain to tell the true story, this +was not generally employed.</p> + +<p>"Yes," laughed Frisco. "What about th' sleepers?"</p> + +<p>They were discreetly silent about the cow they had +killed, for they were ashamed of having left such a sign; +but they would not stand Antonio's scorn and anger, and +that of the other members of the band, and so said nothing +about it.</p> + +<p>"Where's th' mother of this calf?" demanded the +Mexican, not heeding the remarks about sleepers.</p> + +<p>"Hanged if I know," replied Clausen, easily; "an' +hanged if I care—we can leave <i>one</i> cow, I reckon."</p> + +<p>"Got many for us this time?" asked Archer as they +rode west, driving before them the newly branded calf.</p> + +<p>"Not many," replied Antonio. "It's risky, with +Curley loose. We won't be able to do much till th' +fighting starts."</p> + +<p>When they reached their destination they came to a +deep, steep-walled depression, exit from which was had +at only one end where a narrow trail wound up to the +plain. Across this trail at its narrowest point was +stretched a lariat.</p> + +<p>The depression itself was some ten acres in extent and +was well covered with grass, while near the southwest +corner was a muddy pool providing water for the herd +which was now held captive.</p><p><span class="pagenum">[145]</span></p> + +<p>Clausen rode down and removed the rope, riding into +the basin to hasten the egress of the herd. When the +last cow had scrambled out and joined its fellows, Archer +and Frisco drove them west, leaving Clausen to say a +few final words with Antonio before joining them.</p> + +<p>"How's th' range war coming on?"</p> + +<p>"Fine!" laughed Antonio. "Meeker's going to attack +th' line house on th' Peak, though what good it'll +do him is more than I can figure out. I put it in his +head because it'll start th' fight. I had to grin when I +heard Meeker and Doc planning it last night—they're +easy."</p> + +<p>"Gee!" laughed Clausen. "It's a stiff play. +Who's going to win? Meeker?"</p> + +<p>"Meeker's going to get th' licking of his life. I +know that Bar-20 gang, every one. I've lived down +here for some time, an' I know what they've done. +Don't never get in a six-shooter argument with that feller +Cassidy; an' if his friend Connors tells you to stop +under eight hundred yards, you do it, an' trust to yore +tongue, or Colt. He's th' devil hisself with a Winchester."</p> + +<p>"Much obliged—but I ain't so bad that way myself. +Well, I'm going to ooze west. Got any word for +Shaw?"</p> + +<p>"I'll send word by Benito—I'll know more about it +to-morrow."</p> + +<p>"All right," and Clausen was being jerked over the +scenery by his impatient mount.</p> + +<p>Antonio wheeled and rode at a gallop, anxious to be<span class="pagenum">[146]</span> +found on northern range, and eager to learn the result +of his foreman's attack.</p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p>"Salem," once a harpooner on a whaling vessel, now +cook for the H2, drove home from Eagle in the chuck +wagon, which contained food supplies for his ranch. +He was in that state hovering between tears and song, +which accounts for the winding trail his wagon wheels +left, and also for him being late. He had tarried in +Eagle longer than he should have, for he was reluctant +to quit the society of his several newly made friends, who +so pleasantly allowed him to "buy" for them. When +he realized how the time had flown and that his outfit +would be clamoring for the noonday meal, such clamoring +being spicy and personal in its expression, he left +the river trail before he should and essayed a shorter +way home, chanting a sea song.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">A pirate bold, on th' Spanish Main—<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Set sail, yo-ho, an' away we go—<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>"Starboard yore helm, you lubbers!" he shouted +when the horses headed towards Mexico. Then he saw +a large bulk lying on the sand a short distance ahead +and he sat bolt upright.</p> + +<p>"There she blows! No, blast me, it's a dead cow!"</p> + +<p>He drove closer to it and, stopping the team, staggered +over to see what had killed it.</p> + +<p>"D—n me, if it ain't shot in th' port eye!" he ejaculated. +"If I find the lubber what's sinkin' our cows, +I'll send him to Davy Jones' locker!"</p><p><span class="pagenum">[147]</span></p> + +<p>He returned to the wagon and steered nor' by nor' +east, once more certain of his bearings, for he knew the +locality now, and sometime later he saw Curley riding towards +him.</p> + +<p>"Ahoy!" he yelled. "Ahoy, you wind-jammer!"</p> + +<p>"What's eating you? Why are you so late?" demanded +Curley, approaching. "You needn't say—I +know."</p> + +<p>"Foller my wake an' you'll see a dead cow," cried +Salem. "Deader'n dead, too! Shot in th' starboard—no, +was it starboard? Now, d——d if I know—reckon +it was in th' port eye, though I didn't see no port +light; aye, 'twas in th' port—"</p> + +<p>"What in h—l do I care what eye it was!" shouted +Curley. "Where is it?"</p> + +<p>"Eight knots astern. Shot in th' port eye, an', +as I said, deader'n dead. Flew our flag, too."</p> + +<p>Curley, believing that the cook had seen what he +claimed, wheeled abruptly and galloped away to report +it to Meeker.</p> + +<p>"Hey! Ain't you going to <i>see</i> it?" yelled Salem, +and as he received no reply, turned to his team. "Come +on, weigh anchor! Think I want to lay out here all +night? 'A-sailing out of Salem town,—'" he began, +and then stopped short and thought. "I <i>knowed</i> it!—it +<i>was</i> th' port eye! Same side th' flag was on!" he exclaimed, +triumphantly.</p><hr class="chap" /><p><span class="pagenum">[148]</span></p> + +<h2 id="CHAPTER_XVI">CHAPTER XVI</h2> + +<p class="h3">THE FEINT</p> + +<p>On the boundary line alert and eager punchers +rode at a canter to and fro, watching the herds +to the south of them, and quick to turn back all +that strayed across the line. Just east of the middle +point of the boundary Red and Johnny met and compared +notes, and both reported the same state of affairs, +which was that the cattle came constantly nearer.</p> + +<p>Johnny removed his field glasses from his eyes.</p> + +<p>"There's punchers with that herd, Red. Three of +'em."</p> + +<p>"I reckoned so."</p> + +<p>"Wonder what they think they're going to do?"</p> + +<p>"We'll know purty soon."</p> + +<p>"They're coming this way."</p> + +<p>"If you had th' brains of a calf you'd know they +wouldn't go south."</p> + +<p>"Think they're going to rush us?" Johnny asked, +eagerly.</p> + +<p>"No; course not!" retorted Red. "They're going +to make 'em stand on their heads!"</p> + +<p>Johnny began to hum<span class="pagenum">[149]</span>—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Joyous Joe got a juniper jag,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">A-jogging out of Jaytown;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Joyous Joe got a juniper jag—<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>"We'll show that prickly pear from Montanny some +fine points."</p> + +<p>"Now, look here, Kid; don't you let 'em get a cow +across th' line. Shoot every one, but keep yore eyes on +th' gang."</p> + +<p>"'Joyous Joe got a juniper jag,—' Come on, you +half-breeds!"</p> + +<p>"Wonder where Hopalong is?" Red asked.</p> + +<p>"Up on th' Peak, I reckon. <i>Hey</i>, Billy!" he yelled. +"Here comes Billy, Red."</p> + +<p>"I guessed as much when you yelled; if you don't +yell away from my ear next time I'll kick yore pants +over yore hat. D——d idiot, you!"</p> + +<p>"Hullo, Billy," cried Johnny, ignoring Red's remarks. +"Just in time for th' pie. Where's Hopalong?"</p> + +<p>"In th' hills."</p> + +<p>"You get along an' tell him what's doing out here," +ordered Red. "Go lively!"</p> + +<p>"Reckon I'd better stay an' give you a hand; you'll +need it before long," Billy replied.</p> + +<p>"You know what Hopalong said, don't you?" blazed +Red. "What do you think me an' th' Kid are made +of, anyhow? You go on, an' quick!"</p> + +<p>"Send Johnny," Billy suggested, hopefully.</p> + +<p>"Why, you coyote!" cried Johnny, excitedly. "Th' +idea! You go on!"</p><p><span class="pagenum">[150]</span></p> + +<p>"Yo're a pair of hogs," grumbled Billy, riding off. +"I'll get square, someday. Hope they lick you!"</p> + +<p>"Run along, little boy," jeered Johnny. "Oh, gee! +Here they come!" he cried as Billy rode behind the +chaparral. "Look at 'em!"</p> + +<p>"<i>Let</i> 'em come!" cried Billy, returning. "We'll +lick 'em!"</p> + +<p>"Get out of here!" shouted Red, drawing his Winchester +from its sheath. "For G-d's sake, do what +yo're told! Want to let Meeker win out?"</p> + +<p>"Nope; so long," and Billy galloped away.</p> + +<p>"That ain't a herd!" cried Johnny, elated. "That's +only a handful. It's a scrawny looking bunch, men an' +all. Come on, you coyotes!" he yelled, waving his +rifle.</p> + +<p>"You chump; this ain't the real play—it's a blind, +a wedge," Red replied. "They're pushing a big one +through somewhere else."</p> + +<p>"I'm shore glad Billy went, an' not me," Johnny +remarked.</p> + +<p>"There's Morgan," Red remarked. "I know his +riding."</p> + +<p>"Bet you won't know it when th' show's over. An' +there's Chick, too. He needs a licking. You won't +know his riding, neither."</p> + +<p>The herd came rapidly forward and the men who +were guarding it waved their sombreros and urged it +on. Red, knowing that he would be crowded if he +waited until the cows were upon him, threw his rifle to +his shoulder and began to shoot rapidly, and cow after<span class="pagenum">[151]</span> +cow dropped, and the rush was stopped. Before the +H2 men could get free from the panic-stricken herd +Red and Johnny were within a hundred yards of them +and when they looked up it was to see Red covering +them, while Johnny, pleased by the reduced range, was +dropping more cows.</p> + +<p>"Stop!" Red shouted, angrily.</p> + +<p>"Huh!" exclaimed Johnny, looking up. "Oh, I +thought you was talking to me," he muttered, and then +dropped another cow.</p> + +<p>"What in h—l do you think yo're doing?" yelled +Morgan.</p> + +<p>"Just practising," retorted Johnny. He quickly +swung his rifle on Chick. "Hands up! No more of +that!"</p> + +<p>"You've got gall, shooting our cows!" replied Chick.</p> + +<p>"Get 'em up, boy!" snapped Johnny, and Chick +slowly raised his arms, speaking rapidly.</p> + +<p>"What do you take us for!" shouted Ed Joyce, +frantic at his helplessness.</p> + +<p>"Coyotes," replied Red. "An' since coyotes don't +ride, you get off'n them cayuses, <i>pronto</i>."</p> + +<p>"Like h—l!" retorted Ed.</p> + +<p>Johnny's rifle cracked and Ed tumbled off his dead +horse, and when he arose the air was blue.</p> + +<p>"Nex' gent say 'I,'" called Johnny.</p> + +<p>"I'll be d——d if I'll stand for that!" yelled Morgan, +reaching for his gun. The next thing he knew +was that the air was full of comets, and that his horse +was dead.</p><p><span class="pagenum">[152]</span></p> + +<p>Chick sullenly dismounted and stood watching Red, +who was now in vastly better spirits, since the H2 rifles +were on the horses and too far away from their owners +to be of any use. The range was too great for good +revolver shooting even if they could get them into +action.</p> + +<p>"Watch 'em," said Red, firing. Chick's horse, stung +to frenzy by the wound, kicked up its heels and bolted, +leaving the three punchers stranded ten miles from +home.</p> + +<p>"Turn around an' hit th' back trail," ordered Red. +"No back talk!"</p> + +<p>"I'll bust you wide open, someday, you red-headed +wart!" threatened Dan, shaking his fist at the grinning +line man. "That's a h—l of a thing to do, that +is!"</p> + +<p>"Shut up an' go home. Ain't you got enough?" +shouted Red.</p> + +<p>"Just wait, you half-breed!" yelled Ed Joyce.</p> + +<p>"That's two with th' waiting habit," laughed Johnny.</p> + +<p>"What do—" began Chick, stepping forward.</p> + +<p>"Shut up! Who told you to open yore face!" cried +Red, savagely. "Get home! G'wan!"</p> + +<p>"Walk, you coyotes, walk!" exulted Johnny.</p> + +<p>He and his companion watched the three angry +punchers stride off towards the H2 and then Red told +Johnny to ride west while he, himself, would go east to +help his friends if they should need him. They had +just begun to separate when Johnny uttered a shout of +joy. Antonio had joined the trio of walkers and they<span class="pagenum">[153]</span> +were pulling him from his horse. He waved his arms +excitedly, but Chick had him covered. Dan and Ed +were already on the animal and they quickly pulled +Chick up behind them, narrowly watching the Mexican +all the while. The horse fought for some time and then +started south, the riders shouting while Antonio, still +waving his arms, plodded homeward on foot.</p> + +<p>Great joy filled Johnny's heart as he gloated over +the Mexican's predicament. "Hoof it, you greasy +snake! Kick up th' dust, you lazy lizard!"</p> + +<p>"They can't get in th' game again for some time, +till they get cayuses," remarked Red. "That makes +four less to deal with, counting th' Greaser as a whole +man."</p> + +<p>"Three an' a third," corrected his companion. "He +acts like he had all eternity to get nowhere—look at +him! Let's go down an' rope him. He's on th' prod +now—we can have a lot of fun."</p> + +<p>"If I go down there it'll be to plug him good," +Red replied. "You hang around out here for a while. +I'm goin' west—Pete's in that house alone—so long, +Kid."</p> + +<p>Johnny grinned a farewell to Antonio and followed +instructions while his friend rode towards the Peak to +assist Pete, the lonely, who as it happened, would be +very glad to see him.</p><hr class="chap" /><p><span class="pagenum">[154]</span></p> + +<h2 id="CHAPTER_XVII">CHAPTER XVII</h2> + +<p class="h3">PETE IS TRICKED</p> + +<p>Pete Wilson grumbled, for he was tiring +of his monotonous vigil, and almost hoped the +H2 would take the house because of the excitement +incident to its re-capture. At first his assignment +had pleased, but as hour after hour passed with +growing weariness, he chafed more and more and his +temper grew constantly shorter.</p> + +<p>With the exception of smoking he had exhausted +every means of passing the time; he knew to a certainty +how many bushes and large stones were on the +plateau, the ranges between him and distant objects, +and other things, and now he had to fall back on his +pipe.</p> + +<p>"Wish some son-of-a-thief would zephyr up an' +start something," he muttered. "If I stays in this fly-corral +much longer I'll go loco. A couple of years +back we wouldn't have waited ten minutes in a case like +this—we'd 'a chased that crowd off th' range quick. +What's getting into us has got me picking out th' festive +pea, all right."</p> + +<p>He stopped at the east window and scrutinized the<span class="pagenum">[155]</span> +line as far as he could see the dim, dusty, winding trail, +hoping that some of the outfit would come into sight. +Then he slid the Sharps out of the window and held it +on an imaginary enemy, whom he pretended was going +to try to take the house. While he thought of caustic +remarks, with which to greet such a person, he saw the +head of a horse push up into view over the edge of the +hill.</p> + +<p>Sudden hope surged through him and shocked him to +action. He cocked the rifle, the metallic clicks sweet to +his ears. Then he saw the rider, and it was—Mary +Meeker.</p> + +<p>Astonishment and quick suspicion filled his mind and he +held the weapon ready to use on her escort, should she +have one. Her horse reared and plunged and, deciding +that she was alone, and ashamed to be covering a +woman, he slid the gun back into the room, leaning it +against the wall close at his hand, not losing sight of +the rider for a moment.</p> + +<p>"Now, what th' devil is she doing up here, anyhow?" +he puzzled, and then a grin flickered across his face as +the possible solution came to him. "Mebby she wants +Hopalong," he muttered, and added quickly, "Purty +as blazes, too!" And she did make a pretty picture +even to his scoffing and woman-hating mind.</p> + +<p>She was having trouble with her mount, due to the +spurring it was getting on the side farther from the +watcher. It reared and plunged, bucking sideways, +up-and-down and fence-cornered, zig-zagging over the +ground forward and back, and then began to pitch<span class="pagenum">[156]</span> +"stiff-legged." Pete's eyes glowed with the appreciation +of a master rider and he was filled with admiration, +which soon became enthusiastic, over her saddle-ease +and cool mastery. She seemed to be a part of the +horse.</p> + +<p>"She'd 'a been gone long ago if she was fool enough +to sit one of them side saddle contraptions," he mused. +"A-straddle is th' only—<i>Good!</i> All right! Yo're a +stayer!" he exclaimed as she stepped from one stirrup +and stood up in the other when the animal reared up +on its hind legs.</p> + +<p>He glanced out of the other windows of the house +and fell to watching her again, his face darkening as +he saw that she appeared to be tiring, while her mount +grew steadily worse. Then she "touched leather," and +again and again. Her foot slipped from the stirrup, +but found it again, while she frantically clung to the +saddle horn.</p> + +<p>"Four-legged devil!" Pete exclaimed. "Wish <i>I</i> was +on you, you ornery dog! Hey! Don't you bite like +that! Keep yore teeth away from that leg or I'll blow +yore d——d head off!" he cried wrathfully as the animal +bit viciously several times at the stirrup leather. +"I'll whale th' stuffin' outen you, you wall-eyed clay-bank! +Yo're too bronc for <i>her</i> to ride, all right."</p> + +<p>Then, during another and more vicious fit of stiff-legged +pitching the rider held to the saddle horn with +both hands, while her foot, again out of the stirrup, +sought for it in vain. She was rapidly losing her grip +on the saddle and suddenly she was thrown off, a cry<span class="pagenum">[157]</span> +reaching Pete's ears. The victorious animal kicked several +times and shook its head vigorously in celebration +of its freedom and then buck-jumped across the plateau +and out of sight down the hill, Pete strongly tempted +to stop its exuberance with a bullet.</p> + +<p>Pete glanced at the figure huddled in the dust and +then, swearing savagely and fearing the worst, threw +down the bar and jerked open the door and ran as rapidly +as his awkward legs would take him to see what he could +do for her, his hand still grasping his rifle. As he +knelt beside her he remembered that he had been told +not to leave the house under any circumstances and he +glanced over his shoulder, and just in time to see a +chap-covered leg disappear through the doorway. His +heart sank as the crash of the bar falling into place +told him that he had been unworthy of the trust his best +friend had reposed in him. It was plain enough, now, +that he had been fooled, to understand it all and to +know that as he left the house one or more H2 punchers +had sprinted for it from the other side of the +plateau.</p> + +<p>Red fury filled him in an instant and tearing the +revolver from the girl's belt he threw it away and then, +grasping her with both hands, he raised her up as +though she weighed nothing and threw her over his +shoulder, sprinting for the protection of the hillside, +which he reached in a few bounds. Throwing her +down as he would throw a bag of flour he snarled at +her as she arose and brushed her clothes. Years ago +in Pete's life a woman had outraged his love and trust<span class="pagenum">[158]</span> +and sent him through a very hell of sorrow; and since +then he had had no love for the sex—only a bitter, +scathing cynicism, which now found its outlet in words.</p> + +<p>"Yo're a nice one, you are!" he yelled. "You've +done yore part! Yo're all alike, every d——d one of you—Judas +wasn't no man, not by a d——d sight! You +know a man won't stand by an' see you hurt without +trying to help you—an' you play it against him!"</p> + +<p>She was about to retort, but smiled instead and went +on with her dusting.</p> + +<p>"Tickled, hey! Well, you watch an' see what <i>we</i> +do to coyotes! You'll see what happens to line-thieves +down here!"</p> + +<p>She looked up quickly and suspected that instead of +averting a fight she had precipitated one. Both Hopalong +and her father were in as much danger now as if +she had taken no part in the trouble.</p> + +<p>Pete emptied his revolver into the air as rapidly as +he could work the hammer and hurriedly reloaded it, +all the time watching his prisoner and the top of the +hill. Three quick reports, muffled by distance, replied +from Long Hill and he turned to her.</p> + +<p>"Now why don't you laugh?" he gritted savagely. +He caught sight of her horse grazing calmly further +down the hill and his Sharps leaped to his shoulder and +crashed. The animal stiffened, erect for a moment, +and then sank slowly back on its quivering haunches and +dropped.</p> + +<p>"<i>You</i> won't pitch no more, d—n you!" he growled, +reloading.</p><p><span class="pagenum">[159]</span></p> + +<p>Her eyes snapped with anger and she caught at her +holster. "You coward! You coward!" she cried, +stamping her foot. "To kill that horse, an' steal my +gun—afraid of a woman!" she taunted. "Coward!"</p> + +<p>"I'll pull a snake's fangs rather than get bit by one, +when I can't shoot 'em!" he retorted, stung by her +words. "You'll see how big a coward I am purty soon—an' +you'll stay right here an' see it, too!"</p> + +<p>"<i>I</i> won't run away," she replied, sitting down and +tucking her feet under her skirts. "<i>I'm</i> not afraid of +a coward!"</p> + +<p>Another shot rang out just over the top of Stepping +Stone Hill and he replied to it. Far to the west a +faint report was heard and Pete knew that Skinny was +roweling the lathered sides of his straining horse. Yet +another sounded flatly from the direction of the dam, +the hills multiplying it into a distant fusillade.</p> + +<p>"Hear 'em!" he demanded, fierce joy ringing in his +voice. "Hear 'em! You've kicked th' dynamite, all +right—you'll smell th' smoke of yore little squib +clean down to yore ranch house!"</p> + +<p>"That's grand—yo're doing it fine," she laughed, +strangling the fear which crept slowly through her. +"Go on—it's grand!"</p> + +<p>"It'll be a whole lot grander when th' boys get here +an' find out what's happened," he promised. "There'll +be some funerals start out from what's left of yore +ranch house purty soon."</p> + +<p>"Ki-i-i-e-e-p! Ki-ip ki-ip!" came the hair-raising +yell from the top of Stepping Stone Hill, and Pete<span class="pagenum">[160]</span> +withheld the rest of his remarks to reply to it in kind. +Suddenly Red Connors, his quirt rising and falling, +bounded over the top of the hill and shot down the +other side at full speed. Close behind him came Billy +Williams, who rode as recklessly until his horse stepped +into a hole and went down, throwing him forward like +a shot out of a catapult. He rolled down the hill some +distance before he could check his impetus and then, +scrambling to his feet, drew his Colt and put his broken-legged +mount out of its misery before hobbling on +again.</p> + +<p>Red slid to a stand and leaped to the ground, his +eyes on the woman, but his first thought was for the +house. "What's th' matter? Why ain't you in that +shack? Didn't Hopalong tell you to hold it?" he demanded. +Turning to Mary Meeker he frowned. +"What are you doing up here? Don't you know this +ain't no place for you to-day?"</p> + +<p>Pete grasped his shoulder and swung him around so +sharply that he nearly lost his balance, crying: +"Don't talk to her, she's a d——d snake!"</p> + +<p>Red's hand moved towards his holster and then +stopped, for it was a friend who spoke. "What do +you mean, d—n you? Who's a snake? What's wrong +here, anyhow?"</p> + +<p>Billy limped up and stood amazed at the strange +scene, for besides the presence of the woman, his friends +were quarrelling and he had never seen that before. +Seeing Mary look at him he flushed and sneaked off his +sombrero, ashamed because he had forgotten it.</p><p><span class="pagenum">[161]</span></p> + +<p>Pete swiftly related all that had occurred, and ended +with another curse flung at his prisoner, who looked +him over with a keen, critical glance and then smiled +contemptuously.</p> + +<p>"That's a fine note!" Red cried, his sombrero also +coming off. He looked at Mary and saw no fear in +her face, no sign of any weakness, but rather a grimness +in the firmness of her lips and a battling light in +her eyes, which gained her immunity from his tongue, +for he admired grit. "Here, you, stop that cussing! +You can't cuss no woman while I'm around!" he cried +hotly. "Hopalong'll break you wide open if he hears +you. Cussing won't do no good; what we want is +thinking, an' fighting!" Catching sight of Billy, who +looked self-conscious and a little uncomfortable, he cried: +"An' what's th' matter with you?"</p> + +<p>Billy jerked his thumb over his shoulder in the direction +of the dead horse and Red, following the motion, +knew. "By th' Lord, you got off easy! Pete, you +watch yore prisoner; keep her out of danger, an' +there'll be lots of it purty soon. We'll get th' house +for you."</p> + +<p>"Send up to Cowan's saloon; he had some dynamite, +an' if we can get any we can blow them sneaks off th' +face of th' earth," Pete exclaimed, his anger and shame +urging him against his better nature. "Go ahead. I'll +take th' chances using th' stuff—I lost th' house."</p> + +<p>The pathetic note of self-condemnation in his last +words stopped Red's reprimand and he said, instead: +"We'll talk about that later. But don't you lose no<span class="pagenum">[162]</span> +sleep—they can't hold it, dynamite or no dynamite. +We'll have it before sundown."</p> + +<p>Dynamite! Mary caught her breath and sudden fear +gripped her heart. Dynamite! And two men were in +the house, Doc Riley and Jack Curtis, men who would +not be there if she had not made it possible for them—she +was responsible.</p> + +<p>"Here comes Skinny!" cried Billy, waving his arm.</p> + +<p>"An' here's Hopalong!" joyously cried Pete, elated, +for he pinned his faith in his line-foreman's ability to +get out of any kind of a hole, no matter how deep and +wide. "Now things 'll happen! We're going to get +busy <i>now</i>, all right!"</p> + +<p>The two arrived at the same instant and both asked +the same question. Then Hopalong saw Mary and he +was at her side in a trice.</p> + +<p>"Hullo! What are <i>you</i> doing up here?" he cried +in astonishment.</p> + +<p>"I'm a prisoner—of <i>that</i>!" she replied, pointing +at Pete.</p> + +<p>Hopalong wheeled. "What! What have you been +doing to her? Why ain't you in th' house, where you +belongs?"</p> + +<p>Pete told him, briefly, and he turned to the prisoner, +a smile of admiration struggling to get through his +frown. She looked at him bravely, for now was the +crisis, which she had feared, and welcomed.</p> + +<p>"By th' Lord!" he cried, softly. "Yo're a thoroughbred, +a fighter from start to finish. But you +shouldn't come up here to-day; there's no telling, sometimes,<span class="pagenum">[163]</span> +where bullets go after they start." Turning, +he said, "Pete, you chump, stay on this side of th' +hill an' watch th' house. Billy, lay so you can watch +th' door. Red, come with me. An' if anybody gets a +shot at them range stealers, shoot to kill. Understand? +Shoot to kill—it's time."</p> + +<p>"Dynamite?" queried Pete, hopefully. "I'll use it. +Cowan—"</p> + +<p>Hopalong stared. "Dynamite! Dynamite! We +ain't fighting 'em that way, even if they are coyotes. +You go an' do what I told you."</p> + +<p>"Yes, but—"</p> + +<p>"Shut up!" snapped Hopalong. "I know how you +feel <i>now</i>, but you'll think different to-morrow."</p> + +<p>"Let's swap th' girl for th' house," suggested Skinny, +grinning. "It's a shore cinch," he added, winking at +Billy, who laughed.</p> + +<p>Hopalong wheeled to retort, caught Skinny's eye +closing, and laughed instead. "I reckon that would +work all right, Skinny. It'd be a good joke on 'em +to take th' house back with th' same card they got it +by. But this ain't no time for joking. Pete, you better +stay here an' watch th' window on this side; Billy, +take th' window on th' south side. Skinny can go +around west an' Red'll take th' door. They won't be +so joyous after they get what's coming their way. +This ain't no picnic; shoot to kill. We've been peaceful +too blamed long!"</p> + +<p>"That's th' way to talk!" cried Pete. "If we'd +acted that way from th' very first day they crossed<span class="pagenum">[164]</span> +our line we wouldn't be fighting to capture our own line +house! You know how to handle 'em all right!"</p> + +<p>"Pete, how much water is in there?" Hopalong +asked.</p> + +<p>"'Bout a hatful—nobody brought me any this +morning, th' lazy cusses."</p> + +<p>"All right; they won't hold it for long, then. Take +yore places as I said, fellers, an' get busy," he replied, +and then turned to Mary. "Where's yore father? Is +<i>he</i> in that house?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know—an' I wouldn't tell if I did!"</p> + +<p>"Say, yo're a regular hummer! Th' more you talk +th' better I like you," he laughed, admiringly. "You've +shore stampeded me worse than ever—I'm so loco I +can't wait much longer—when are you going to marry +me? Of course you know that you've got to someday."</p> + +<p>"Indeed I have <i>not</i>!" she retorted, her face crimson. +"If you wait for me to marry you you will die of old +age! An' I'm shore somebody's listening."</p> + +<p>"Then <i>I'll</i> marry <i>you</i>—of course, that's what I +meant."</p> + +<p>"Indeed you <i>won't!</i>"</p> + +<p>"Then th' minister will. After this line fighting is +over I won't wait. I'll just rope you an' drive you +down to Perry's Bend to th' hobbling man, if you won't +go any other way. We'll come back a team. Oh, I +mean just what I say," and she knew that he did, and +she was glad at heart that he thought none the less +of her for the trick she had played on Pete. He seemed<span class="pagenum">[165]</span> +to take everything as a matter of course, and as a matter +of course was going to re-take the house.</p> + +<p>"You just <i>dare</i> try it! Just <i>dare!</i>" she cried, hotly.</p> + +<p>"Now you have gone an' done it, for I never take a +dare, <i>never</i>," he laughed. "It's us for th' sky pilot, +an' then th' same range for life. Yo're shore purty, +an' that fighting spunk doubles it. You can begin to +practise calling yourself Mrs. Hopalong Cassidy, of +th' Bar-20."</p> + +<p>Pete fired, swore, and turned his head. "How th' +devil can I hit a house with all that fool talk!" and the +two, suddenly realizing that Pete had been ordered to +remain close by, looked foolish, and both laughed.</p> + +<p>"It gets on my nerves," Pete growled, and then: +"Here comes Johnny like a greased coyote."</p> + +<p>They looked and saw Johnny tearing down Stepping +Stone Hill as if he were afraid that the fighting would +be over before he could take a hand in it. When he +came within hailing distance he stood up in his stirrups, +shouting, "What's up?" and then, seeing Pete, understood. +Leaping from the saddle he jerked his rifle +out of the sheath and ran to him, jeering. "Oh, you +Pete! Oh you d——d fool!"</p> + +<p>"Hey, Johnny! How's things east?" Hopalong demanded.</p> + +<p>Johnny stopped and hastily recounted how he and +Red had driven back the herd, adding: "Her dad is out +there now looking at his dead cows—I saw him when +I came back from East Arroyo. An' I saw them three +punchers ride over that ridge down south; and they<span class="pagenum">[166]</span> +shore made good time. Say, how did they get Pete +out?" he asked eagerly.</p> + +<p>"I'll tell you that later—Pete, you go an' tell Red +to come here, an' take his place. We can't swap Mary +for th' house, but we can swap her dad! Mary, you +better go home—this won't be no place for you in a +little while. Where's yore cayuse?" he asked, looking +around.</p> + +<p>"It's down there—he shot it," she replied, nodding +at Pete.</p> + +<p>"Shot it? Lord, but he must 'a been mad! Well, +you can get square—Pete, where's yore cayuse?"</p> + +<p>"How th' devil do <i>I</i> know!" Pete blazed, indignantly. +"<i>I</i> wasn't keeping track of no cayuse after they got +th' house!"</p> + +<p>"It's down there on th' hill—see it?" volunteered +Johnny. "Shall I get it?" he asked, grinning at the +disgruntled Pete.</p> + +<p>"Yes; an' strip th' fixings off her cayuse while yo're +about it—lively."</p> + +<p>Johnny vaulted into his saddle and loped down the +hill, shortly returning with Mary's saddle and bridle +in front of him and Pete's horse at the end of his rope. +Hopalong quickly removed Pete's saddle and put the +other in its place, Pete eloquent in his silence, and +Johnny manifestly pleased by the proceedings.</p> + +<p>"Now you can ride," Hopalong smiled, helping her +into the saddle. "Pete don't care at all—he ain't saying +a word," whereat Pete said a word, several of them in<span class="pagenum">[167]</span> +fact, under his breath and vowed that he would kill the +men in the house to get square.</p> + +<p>"I'll send it back as soon as I can," she promised, +and then, when Hopalong leaned closer and whispered +something to her, she flushed and spurred the animal, +leaving him standing in a cloud of dust, a smile on his +face.</p> + +<p>Johnny, grinning until his face threatened to be +ruptured, wheeled on Pete. "Yo're a lucky fool, even +if you did go an' lose th' house for us—wish she'd ride +<i>my</i> cayuse!"</p> + +<p>Pete replied in keeping with his feelings now that +there was no woman present, and walked away to change +places with Red, who soon came up. Then the three +mounted and cantered east to find the H2 foreman, +Johnny mauling "Whiskey Bill" in his exuberance. +Suddenly he turned in his saddle and slapped his thigh: +"I'll bet four cents to a tooth brush that she's telling +her dad to get scarce. She heard what you said, +Hoppy!"</p> + +<p>"Right! Come on!" exclaimed Hopalong, spurring +into a gallop, his companions racing behind, spurring +and quirting to catch him.</p> + +<p>"Say, Red, she's a straight flush," Johnny shouted +to his companion. "Can't be beat—if she turns +Hoppy down I'm next in th' line-up!"</p> + +<p>"You don't want no wife—you wants a nurse!" +Red retorted.</p><hr class="chap" /><p><span class="pagenum">[168]</span></p> + +<h2 id="CHAPTER_XVIII">CHAPTER XVIII</h2> + +<p class="h3">THE LINE HOUSE RE-CAPTURED</p> + +<p>After Chick, Dan Morgan, and Ed Joyce had +commandeered Antonio's horse and left him +on foot they rode as rapidly as they could +to the corrals of their ranch, where they saddled fresh +mounts and galloped back to try conclusions with the +men who had humbled them. They also wished to find +their foreman, who they knew was somewhere along the +line. Chick rode to the west, Dan to the east, and Ed +Joyce straight ahead; intending to search for Meeker +and then ride together again.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile Antonio, tired of walking, returned to the +line and lay in ambush to waylay the first Bar-20 +puncher to ride past him, hoping to get a horse and +also to leave a dead man for the Bar-20 to find and lay +the blame on the H2. He knew that his rustler allies +had scouts in the chaparrals and were ready to run off +a big herd as soon as conditions were propitious, and +he was anxious to give them the word to begin.</p> + +<p>It chanced, however, that Ed Joyce was the first man +to approach the Mexican, and he paid dearly for being +a party to taking Antonio's horse. The dead man<span class="pagenum">[169]</span> +would not inflame the Bar-20, but the H2, and the results +would be the same in the end. Mounting Ed's +horse Antonio galloped north into the valley through +West Arroyo so as to leave tracks in the direction of +the Bar-20, intending to describe a semi-circle and return +to his ranch by way of the river trail, leaving the +horse where the trail crossed the Jumping Bear. By +going the remainder of the way on foot he would not be +seen on the horse of the murdered puncher, which might +naturally enough stray in that direction, and so be free +from suspicion.</p> + +<p>Lanky Smith, wondering why none of his friends had +passed him on the line, followed the trail west to see +if things were as they should be. He was almost in +sight of a point opposite West Arroyo, his view being +obstructed by chaparrals, when he heard a faint shot, +and spurred forward, his rifle in the hollow of his arm +ready for action. It could mean only one thing—one +of his friends was shooting H2 cows, and complications +might easily follow. When he had turned out +of an arroyo which made part of the line for a short +distance he saw a body huddled on the sand several +hundred feet ahead of him. At that instant Meeker, +with Chick and Dan close at his heels, came into view +on the other side, saw the body and, drawing their own +conclusions, opened a hot fire on the Bar-20 puncher, +riding to encircle him. Surprised for an instant, and +then filled with rage because they had killed one of his +friends, as he thought, he returned their fire and raced +at Chick, who was now some distance from his companions.<span class="pagenum">[170]</span> +Dan and Meeker wheeled instantly and rode +to the aid of their friend, and Lanky's horse dropped +from under him. Luckily for him he felt a warning +tremor go through the animal and jerked his feet free +from the stirrups as it sank down, quickly crawling +behind it for protection.</p> + +<p>Immediately thereafter Chick lost his hat, then the +use of his right arm, followed by being deprived of +the services of a very good cow-pony, for Lanky now +had a rest for his rifle and while his marksmanship was +not equal to that of his friend Red, it was good enough +for his present needs. Dan Morgan started to shout +to his foreman and then swore luridly instead, for +Lanky was pleased to drill him at five hundred yards, +the bullet tearing a disconcerting hole in Dan's thigh.</p> + +<p>Meeker had been most zealously engaged all this +time in making his rifle go off at regular intervals, his +bullets kicking up the dust, humming viciously about +Lanky's head, and thudding into the carcass of the dead +horse. Then Lanky swore and shook the blood from +his cheek, telling Meeker what he thought about the +matter. Settling down again he determined to husk +Meeker's body from its immortal soul, when he found +his magazine empty. Reaching to his belt for the +wherewithal for the husking he discovered the lamentable +fact that he had only three cartridges left for the +Winchester, and the Colt was more ornamental than +useful at that range. To make matters worse both +Chick and Dan were now sitting up wasting cartridges +in his direction, while Meeker seemed to have an unending<span class="pagenum">[171]</span> +supply. Just then the H2 foreman found his mark +again and rendered his enemy's arm useless. At that +point the clouds of misfortune parted and Hopalong, +Red and Johnny at his heels, whirled into sight from +the west, firing with burning zeal.</p> + +<p>Meeker's horse went down, pinning its rider under it; +Dan Morgan threw up his arms as he sat in the saddle, +for his rifle was shattered; Chick, popping up his good +arm first, arose from behind his fleshy breastwork and +announced that he could not fight, although he certainly +wanted to; but Meeker said nothing.</p> + +<p>Riding first to Lanky, his friends joked him into a +better humor while they attended to his wounds. Then +they divided to extend the wound-dressing courtesy. +First they tried to kill a man, then to save him; but, of +course, they desired mostly to render him incapable of +injuring them and as long as this was accomplished it +was not necessary to deprive him of life.</p> + +<p>Hopalong, being in command, went over to look at +the H2 foreman and found him unconscious. Dragging +him from under the body of his horse Hopalong +felt along the pinned leg and found it was not broken. +Pouring a generous amount of whiskey down the unconscious +man's throat he managed to revive him and +then immediately disarmed him. Meeker complained of +pains in his groin, not by words but by actions. His +left leg seemed paralyzed and would not obey him. +Hopalong called Red, who took the injured man up in +front of him, where Hopalong bound his hands to the +pommel of the saddle.</p><p><span class="pagenum">[172]</span></p> + +<p>Meeker preserved a stolid silence until Lanky joined +them and then his rage poured out in a torrent of +abuse and accusations for the killing of Ed Joyce. +Lanky retorted by asking who Ed Joyce was, and +wanted to know whose body he had found just before +Meeker had come onto the scene. When he found that +they were the same he explained that he had not seen +it before Meeker had, which the H2 foreman would not +believe. Red captured Dan Morgan's horse and led it +up. After Chick and Dan had been helped to mount +the Bar-20 men's horses, placed before the saddles and +bound there, all started towards Lookout Peak, Lanky +riding Dan's horse.</p> + +<p>When they had arrived at their destination Meeker +suddenly realized what he was to be used for and stormed +impotently against it. He heard the intermittent firing +around the plateau and knew that Doc and Jack still +held the house, and believed they could continue to +hold it, since the thick adobe walls were impenetrable +to rifle fire.</p> + +<p>"Well, Meeker, it's you for th' house," Hopalong +remarked after he had sent Red to stop the fire of the +others. "You got off d——d lucky to-day; th' next time +you raise the dickens along our line we'll pay yore ranch +houses a visit in a body an' give you something to +think about. We handled you to-day with six of us +up north, an' what th' whole crowd can do you can +guess. Now walk up there an' tell them range-jumpers +to vamoose th' house!"</p> + +<p>"They'll shoot me before they sees who I am,"<span class="pagenum">[173]</span> +Meeker retorted, sullenly. "If yo're so anxious to get +'em out, do it yoreself—I don't want 'em."</p> + +<p>By this time the others were coming up and heard +Meeker's words, and Hopalong, turning to Skinny and +Billy, curtly ordered them to mount. "Take this +royal American fool up to th' bunk house to Buck. +Tell Buck what's took place down here, an' also that +we're going to shoot h—l out of th' fellers in th' house +before he sees us. After that those of us who can ride +are going down to th' H2 an' clean up that part of +th' game, buildings an' all. Go on, lively! Red, +Johnny, Pete; cover th' windows an' fill that shack +plumb full of lead. It's clouding up now an' when +it gets good an' dark we'll bust in th' door an' end it. +Skinny, you come back again, quick, with all th' grub +an' cartridges you can carry. Meeker started this, but +<i>I'm</i> going to finish it an' do it right. There won't be +no more line fights down here for a long time to come."</p> + +<p>"I reckon I'll have to order 'em out," Meeker +growled. "What'll you do to 'em if I do?"</p> + +<p>"Send 'em home so quick they won't have any time +to say 'good-bye,'" Hopalong rejoined. "We've seen +too much of you fellers now. An' after I send 'em home +you see that they stays away from that line—we'll +shoot on sight if they gets within gunshot of it! +You've shore had a gall, pushing us, you an' yore hatful +of men an' cows! If it wasn't for th' rustling we'd +'a pushed you into th' discard th' day I found yore +Greaser herding on us."</p> + +<p>Meeker, holding his side because of the pain there<span class="pagenum">[174]</span> +from the fall, limped slowly up the hill, waving his +sombrero over his head as he advanced.</p> + +<p>"What do you want now?—<i>Meeker!</i>" cried a voice +from the building. "What's wrong?"</p> + +<p>"Everything; come on out—we lose," the foreman +cried, shame in his voice.</p> + +<p>"Don't you tell us that if you wants us to stay here," +came the swift reply. "We're game as long as we +last, an' we'll last a long time, too."</p> + +<p>"I know it, Doc—" his voice broke—"they've +killed Ed an' captured Chick, Dan, an' me. I'd say +fight it out, an' I'd fight to th' end, only they'll attack +th' ranch house if we do. We're licked, <i>this time!</i>"</p> + +<p>"First sensible words you've said since you've been +on this range," growled Lanky. "You was licked before +you began, if you only knowed it. An' you'll get +licked <i>every</i> time, too!"</p> + +<p>"Well, we'll come out an' give up if they'll let us +all go, including you," cried Doc. "I ain't going to +get picked off in th' open while I've got this shack to +fight in, not by a blamed sight!"</p> + +<p>"It's all right, Doc," Meeker replied. "How's +Jack?" he asked, anxiously, not having heard Doc's +companion speak.</p> + +<p>"Wait an' see," was the reply, and the door opened +and the two defenders stepped into sight, bandaged +with strips torn from their woollen shirts, the remains +of which they did not bother to carry away.</p> + +<p>"Who played that gun through th' west window?" +asked Doc, angrily.</p><p><span class="pagenum">[175]</span></p> + +<p>"Me!" cried Skinny, belligerently. "Why?"</p> + +<p>"Muzzle th' talk—you can hold yore pow-wow +some other time," interposed Hopalong. "You fellers +get off this range, an' do it quick. An' stay off, +savvy?"</p> + +<p>Meeker, his face flushed by rage and hatred for the +men who had so humiliated him, climbed up on Dan's +horse and Dan was helped up behind. Then Chick was +helped to mount in front of his foreman and they rode +down the hill, followed by Doc and Jack. The intention +was to let Dan ride to the ranch after they had all +got off the Bar-20 range, and send up the cook with +spare horses. Just then Doc remembered that he and +Jack had left their mounts below when they walked up +the hill to take the house, and they went after them.</p> + +<p>At this instant Curley was seen galloping up and he +soon reported what Salem had seen. Meeker flew into +a rage at this and swore that he would never give in to +either foe. While Curley was learning of the fighting, +Doc and his companion returned on foot, reporting +that their horses had strayed, whereupon Meeker got +off the horse he rode and told Doc and Chick to ride +it home, Curley being despatched for mounts, while +the others sat down on the ground and waited.</p> + +<p>When Curley returned with the horses he was very +much excited, crying that during his absence Salem +had seen six men run off a herd of several hundred +head towards Eagle and had tried to overtake them in +the chuck wagon.</p> + +<p>"God A'mighty!" cried Meeker, furiously. "Ain't<span class="pagenum">[176]</span> +I got enough, <i>now</i>! Rustling, an' on a scale like that! +Peters was right after all about th' rustling, d—n him. +A whole herd! Why didn't they take th' rest, an' th' +houses, an' th' whole ranch? An' Salem, th' fool, chasing +'em in th' chuck wagon! Wonder they didn't take +him, too."</p> + +<p>"I reckon he wished he had his harpoon with him," +Chick snorted, the ridiculousness of Salem's action +bringing a faint grin to his face, angry and wounded +as he was. "He's the locoedest thing that wears pants +in this section, or any other!"</p> + +<p>"It was a shore fizzle all around," Meeker grumbled. +"But I ain't through with that line yet—no, by th' +Lord, I ain't got started yet! But this rustling has +got to be cleaned up first of all—th' line can wait; +an' if we don't pay no attention to th' valley for a +while they'll think we've given it up an' get off their +guard."</p> + +<p>"Shore!" cried Dan, whose fury had been aroused +almost to madness by the sting of the bitter defeat, and +who itched to kill, whether puncher or rustler it little +mattered; he only wanted a vent for his rage.</p> + +<p>"We'll parade over that south range like buzzards +sighting carrion," Meeker continued, leading the way +homeward. "I ain't a-going to get robbed all th' time!"</p> + +<p>"Wonder if Smith did shoot Ed?" queried Dan, +thoughtfully. "There was quite a spell between th' +shot I heard an' us seeing him, an' he acted like he had +just seen Ed. But it's tough, all right. Ed was a +blamed good feller."</p><p><span class="pagenum">[177]</span></p> + +<p>"Who did shoot him, then?" snapped Meeker, savagely. +"There's no telling what happened out there +before we got there. Here, Curley, you ain't full of +holes like us—you ride up there an' get him while we +go home. He's laying near that S arroyo right close +to th' line—th' one we scouted through that time."</p> + +<p>"Shore, I'll get him," replied Curley, wheeling. +"See you later."</p><hr class="chap" /><p><span class="pagenum">[178]</span></p> + +<h2 id="CHAPTER_XIX">CHAPTER XIX</h2> + +<p class="h3">ANTONIO LEAVES THE H2</p> + +<p>On the H2 Jim Meeker rolled and muttered in +his sleep, which had been more or less fitful because +of his aching groin and strained leg. +Gazing confusedly about him he sat bolt upright, swearing +softly at the pain and then, realizing that he was +where he should be, grumbled at the kaleidoscopic +dreams that had beset him during his few hours of +sleep, and glanced out of the window. Hastily dressing +he strode to the kitchen door, calling his daughter +as he passed her room, and looked out. The bunk house +and the corrals were beginning to loom up in the early +light and the noise in the cook shack told him that +Salem was preparing breakfast for the men. He did +not like the looks of the low, huge, black cloud east +of him and as he figured that it would not pass over +the ranch houses unless the wind shifted sharply he suddenly +stared at a corral and then hastened back to his +room for the Colt which lay on the floor beside his +bunk. He had seen a man flit past the further corral, +speed across the open, and disappear behind the corral +nearest to the bunk house. This ordinarily would have<span class="pagenum">[179]</span> +provoked no further thought, for his men were crazy-headed +enough to do anything, but while rustling flourished, +and so audaciously, and while a line war was on, +it would stand prompt investigation.</p> + +<p>Peering again from the door, Colt in hand, Meeker +slipped out silently and ran to the corral wall as rapidly +as his injuries would allow. When he reached it he +leaned close to it and waited, his gun levelled at the +corner not ten feet from him. Half a minute later +and without a sound a man suddenly turned it, crouching +and alertly watching the bunk house and cook shack +at his left, and then stopped with a jerk and reached +to his thigh as he became aware that he was being +watched at such close range. Straightening up and +smothering an exclamation he faced the foreman and +laughed, but to Meeker's suspicious ears it sounded +very much forced and strained.</p> + +<p>"No <i>sabe</i> Anton?" asked the prowler, smiling innocently +and raising his hand from the gun.</p> + +<p>Meeker stood silent and motionless, the Colt as steady +as a rock, and a heavy frown covered his face as he +searched the evil eyes of his broncho-buster, whose smile +remained fixed.</p> + +<p>"No <i>sabe Anton</i>?" somewhat hastily repeated the +other, a faint trace of anxiety in his voice, but the smile +did not waver, and his eyes did not shift. He began +to realize that it was about time for him to leave the +H2, for he knew that few things grow so rapidly as +suspicion. And he knew that the outfit would do very +little weighing in his case.</p><p><span class="pagenum">[180]</span></p> + +<p>Meeker slowly lowered his weapon and swore; he did +not like the prowling any better than he did the smile +and the laugh and the treacherous eyes.</p> + +<p>"I no savvy why yo're flitting around th' scenery +when you should ought to be in bed," he replied, his +words ominously low and distinct. "You've shore had +a narrow squeak, for I came nigh on to letting drive +from th' door on a gamble. An' I'll own that I'm +some curious as to why yo're prowling around so early +before breakfast. It ain't a whole lot like you to be +out so early before grub time. What dragged you +from th' bunk so d——d early, anyhow?"</p> + +<p>Antonio rolled a cigarette to gain time, being elaborately +exacting, and thought quickly for an excuse. +Tossing the match in the air and letting the smoke curl +slowly from his nostrils he grinned pleasantly. "I no +sleep—have bad dreams. I wake up, <i>uno</i>, <i>dos</i> times +an' teenk someteeng ees wrong. Then I ride to see. +Eet ees soon light after that an' I am hungry, so I +come back. Eet ees no more, at all."</p> + +<p>"Oh, it ain't!" retorted the foreman, still frowning, +for he strongly doubted the truth of what he had heard, +so strongly that he almost passed the lie. "It's some +peculiar how this ranch has been shedding dreams last +night, all right. However, since I had some few myself +I won't say I had all there was loose. But you listen +to me, an' listen good, too. When I want any scouting +done before daylight I'll take care of it myself, savvy? +An' if yo're any wise you'll cure yoreself of th' habit +of being out nights percolating around when you ought<span class="pagenum">[181]</span> +to be asleep. You ain't acted none too wide awake +lately an' yore string of cayuses has shore been used +hard, so I want it stopped, an' stopped <i>sudden</i>; hear +me? I ain't paying you to work nights an' loaf days +an' use up good cayuses riding hell-bent for nothing. +You ain't never around no more when I want you, so +you get weaned of flitting around in th' night air like +a whip-poor-will; you might go an' catch malaria!"</p> + +<p>"I no been out bafo'—Juan, he tell you that ees so, +<i>si</i>."</p> + +<p>"Is that so? I sort of reckon he'd tell me anything +you want him to if he thought I'd believe it. Henceforth +an' hereafter you mind what <i>I've</i> just told <i>you</i>. +You might run up against some rustler what you don't +know very well, an' get shot on suspicion," Meeker +hazarded, but he found no change in the other's face, +although he had hit Antonio hard, and he limped off +to the ranch house to get his breakfast, swearing every +time he put his sore leg forward, and at the ranch +responsible for its condition.</p> + +<p>Antonio leaned against the corral wall and smoked, +gazing off into space as the foreman left him, for he +had much to think about. He smiled cynically and +shrugged his shoulders as he shambled to his shack, +making up his mind to leave the H2 and join Shaw on +the mesa as soon as he could do so, and the sooner the +better. Meeker's remark about meeting strange rustlers, +thieves he did not know, was very disquieting, and it +was possible that things might happen suddenly to the +broncho-buster of the H2. Soon emerging from his<span class="pagenum">[182]</span> +hut he walked leisurely to the fartherest corral and returned +with his saddle and bridle. After holding a +whispered consultation with Juan and Sanchez, who +both showed great alarm at what he told them, and who +called his attention to the fact that he had lost one +of the big brass buttons from the sleeve of his coat, +the three walked to the cook shack for their breakfast, +where, every morning, they fought with Salem.</p> + +<p>"Here comes them Lascars again to fill their holds +with white man's grub," the cook growled as he espied +them. "If I was th' old man I'd maroon them, +or make 'em walk th' plank. Here, <i>you</i>! Get away +from that bench!" he shouted, running out of the +shack. "That's <i>my</i> grub! If you ain't good enough +to eat longside of th' crew, d——d if you can eat with +th' cook! Some day I'll slit you open, tail to gills, +see if I don't! Here's yore grub—take it out on +th' deck an' fight for it," and Salem, mounting guard +over the bench, waved a huge butcher knife at them +and ordered them off. "Bilgy smelling lubbers! I'll +run afoul of 'em some morning an' make shark's food +out of th' whole lot!"</p> + +<p>Meanwhile Meeker, finding his breakfast not yet +ready, went to Antonio's shack and glanced in it. The +bunk his broncho-buster used was made up, which struck +him as peculiar, since it was well known that Antonio +never made up his bunk until after supper. As he +turned to leave he espied the saddle and saw that the +stirrups were streaked with clay. "Now what was he +doing over at th' river last night?" he soliloquized.<span class="pagenum">[183]</span> +Shrugging his shoulders he wheeled and went to the bunk +house, where he stumbled over a box, whacking his +shins soundly. His heartfelt and extemporaneous remarks +regarding stiff legs and malicious boxes awakened +Curley, who sat up and vigorously rubbed his eyes with +his rough knuckles. Grunts and profanity came from +the other bunks, Dan swearing with exceptional loquacity +and fervor at his wounded thigh.</p> + +<p>"Somebody'll shore have to lift me out like a baby," +he grumbled. "I'll get square for this, all right!"</p> + +<p>"Aw, what you cussing about?" demanded Chick, +whose arm throbbed with renewed energy when he sat +up. "How'd you like to have an arm like mine so you +can't use it for grub, hey?"</p> + +<p>"You an' yore arm can—"</p> + +<p>"What's matter, Jim?" interrupted Curley, dropping +his feet to the floor and groping for his trousers. +"You got my pants?" he asked Dan, whereupon Dan +told him many things, ending with: "In th' name +of heaven what do I want with pants on this leg! I +can't get my own on, let alone yourn. Mebby Chick +has put 'em on his scratched wing!" he added, with +great sarcasm, whereupon Curley found them under his +bunk and muttered a profane request to be told why +they had crawled so far back.</p> + +<p>"Yo're a hard luck bunch if yo're as sore as me," +growled Meeker, kicking the offending box out of doors. +"I cuss every time I hobble."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I ain't sore, not a bit—I'm feeling fine," exulted +Curley, putting one foot into a twisted trouser<span class="pagenum">[184]</span> +leg while he hopped recklessly about to keep his balance, +Dan watching him enviously. He grabbed Chick's +shoulder to steady himself and then arose from the +floor to find Chick calling him every name in the language +and offering to whip him with one hand if he +grabbed the wounded arm again.</p> + +<p>"Aw, what's th' matter with you!" he demanded, +getting the foot through without further trouble. "I +didn't stop to think, you chump!"</p> + +<p>"Why didn't you?" snapped Chick, aggressively.</p> + +<p>"Curley, yo're a plain, d——d nuisance—get outside +where you'll have plenty of room to get that other leg +in," remarked Dan.</p> + +<p>"Not satisfied with keeping us all awake by his +cussed snoring an' talking, he goes an' <i>hops</i> right on +my bad arm!" Chick remarked. "He snores something +awful, Jim; like a wagon rumbling over a wooden +bridge; an' he whistles every lap."</p> + +<p>"You keep away from <i>me</i>, you cow!" warned Doc, +weighing a Colt in his hand by the muzzle. "I'll shore +bend this right around yore face if you don't!"</p> + +<p>"Aw, go to th' devil! Yo're a bunch of sore-heads, +just a bunch of—" Curley snapped, his words becoming +inaudible as he went out to the wash bench, where +Meeker followed him, glad to get away from the grunting, +swearing crowd inside.</p> + +<p>"Curley," the foreman began, leaning against the +house to ease his thigh and groin, "that Greaser of +our'n is either going <i>loco</i>, or he is up to some devilment, +an' I a whole lot favors th' devilment. I thought of<span class="pagenum">[185]</span> +telling him to clean out, get off th' range an' stay off, +but I reckon I'll let him hang around a while longer +to see just what his game is. Of course if he is crooked, +it's rustling. I'd like an awful lot to ketch him rustling; +it'd wipe out a lot of guessing, an' him at th' same +time."</p> + +<p>"They're all of 'em crooked," Curley replied, refilling +the basin. "Every blasted one, an' he's worse +than all th' others—he's a coyote!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I reckon you ain't far from right," replied +Meeker. "Well, anyway, I put in a bad night an' +rolled out earlier'n usual. I looked out an' saw somebody +sneaking around th' corral, an', gettin' my gun, +I went after him hot foot. It was Antonio, an' when +I asks for whys an' wherefores, he gives me a fool +yarn about having a dream. He woke up an' was +plumb scared to death somebody was running off with +th' ranch, an', being so all-fired worried about th' safety +of th' ranch he's too lazy to work for, he just couldn't +sleep, but had to get up an' <i>saddle his cayuse</i> an' <i>ride</i> +around th' corrals to see if it was here. Now, what do +you think of that?"</p> + +<p>"Huh!" snorted Curley. "He don't care a continental +cuss about this ranch or anybody on it, an' never +did."</p> + +<p>"Which same I endorses; it shore was a sudden +change," Meeker replied, glancing at the Mexican's +shack. "I looked in his hut an' saw his bunk hadn't +been used since night afore last, so he must 'a had his +<span class="pagenum">[186]</span>dreams then. There was yaller clay on his stirrups—he +must 'a been scared somebody was going to run off +with th' river, too. Now he shore was rampaging all +over creation last night—he didn't have no dreams +nor no sleep in that bunk last night, nohow. Now, th' +question is, where was he, an' what th' devil was he +doing? I'd give twenty-five dollars if I knowed for +shore."</p> + +<p>"That's easy!" snorted Curley, trying to get water +out of his ear. "Where'd I 'a been last night if I +wasn't broke? Why, down in Eagle having a good +time—there's lots of good times in that town if you've +got th' price of more than a look-in. Or, mebby, he +was off seeing his girl, his <i>dulce</i>, as he calls her. That's +a good way to pass th' evening, too." Then, seeing +the frown on Meeker's face he swiftly contradicted himself, +realizing that it was no time for jesting. "Why, +it looks to me like he might be a little interested in +some of th' promiscuous cattle lifting that's going on +'round here. I'll pump him easy so he won't know +what I'm driving at."</p> + +<p>"Yes, you might do that if yo're shore you won't +scare him away, but I want you to pass th' horse corral, +anyhow, an' see what horse he rode. See how hard he +pushed it riding around th' corrals, an' if there's any +yellow clay on its legs. Don't let him see you doing it +or he'll get gun-shy an' jump th' country. I'm going +up to breakfast—Mary's calling me."</p> + +<p>Curley looked up. "Shore I'll do it. Holy cats! +It's raining some on th' hills, all right. Look yonder!"</p><p><span class="pagenum">[187]</span></p> + +<p>"Yes. I saw it this morning early. It passed to +th' northeast of us. I'll be back soon," and the foreman +limped away. "Hey, Curley," he called over his +shoulder for Antonio's benefit, "take a look at them +sore yearlings in th' corral," referring to several calves +they had quarantined.</p> + +<p>"All right, Jim. They was some better last night. +I don't think it's anything that's catching."</p> + +<p>"O-o-h!" yawned Jack in the doorway. "Seems +like I just turned in—gosh, but I'm sleepy."</p> + +<p>"Nothing like cold water for that feeling," laughed +Curley. "We stayed up too late last night talking it +over. Hullo, Chick; still going to lick me one-handed?"</p> + +<p>"You get away from that water, so I can wash +one-handed," replied Chick. "But you shouldn't ought +to 'a done that. No, Jack—go ahead; but I'm next. +Hey, Dan!" he cried, laughing, "shall I bring some +water in to you?"</p> + +<p>"I won't stay here an' listen to such language as +Dan's ripping off," Curley grinned, starting away. +"I'm going up to look at them sick yearlings in Number +Two corral."</p> + +<p>True to his word Curley looked the animals over +thoroughly and then dodged into the horse corral, +where he quickly examined the horses as he passed them, +alert for trouble, for a man on foot takes chances when +he goes among cow-ponies in a corral. Not one of the +animals forming Antonio's <i>remuda</i> appeared to have +been ridden and it was not until he espied Pete, Doc's<span class="pagenum">[188]</span> +favorite horse, that he found any signs. Pete's hair +was roughened and still wet from perspiration, there +was a streak of yellow clay along its belly on one side +but none on its hoofs, and dried lather still clung to +its jaws. Pete made no effort to get away, for he was +one of the best trained and most intelligent animals +on the ranch, a veteran of many roundups and drives, +and he knew from experience that he would not be +called on to do double duty; he had done his trick +while the others rested.</p> + +<p>"An' you know I ain't a-going to ride you, hey?" +Curley muttered. "You've had yore turn, an' you +know you won't be called on to-day, you wise old devil. +Pete, some people say cayuses ain't got no sense, that +they can't reason—they never knowed you, did they? +Well, boy, you'll have yore turn grazing with th' rest +purty soon."</p> + +<p>He returned to the bunk house and spent a few minutes +inside and then sauntered easily towards the ranch +house, where the foreman met him.</p> + +<p>"So there wasn't no clay on his hoofs, hey?" Meeker +exclaimed. "Some on his belly, an' none on his hoofs. +Hum! I reckon Pete was left by hisself while th' +Greaser wrastled with th' mud. Must 'a thought he +was prospecting. Well, he's a liar, an' a sneak; watch +him close, an' tell th' rest to do th' same. Mebby we'll +get th' chance soon of stretching his yellow neck some +bright morning. I'll be down purty soon to tell you +fellers where to ride."</p> + +<p>Curley returned to the wash bench and cleansed his<span class="pagenum">[189]</span> +hands, and because the cold water felt so good, he +dipped his face into it again, blowing like a porpoise. +As he squilgeed his face to lessen the duty of the overworked +towel, he heard a step and looked up quickly. +Antonio was leaning against the house and scowling at +him, for he had looked through a crack in the corral +wall and had seen Pete being examined.</p> + +<p>"Eet ees <i>bueno</i> thees mornin'," the Mexican offered.</p> + +<p>"What's good?" Curley retorted, staring because +of Antonio's unusual loquacity.</p> + +<p>"<i>Madre de Dios</i>, de weatha."</p> + +<p>"Oh, salubrious," replied Curley, evading a hole in +the towel. "Plumb sumptuous an' highfalutin', so to +speak. You had a nice night for Eagle, all right. +Who-all was down there?"</p> + +<p>"Antone not en Eagle—he no leev de rancho," the +Mexican replied, surprised. He hesitated as if to continue +and Curley noticed it.</p> + +<p>"What's on yore mind, 'Tony? What's eating you? +<i>Pronto</i>, I'm hungry. Next!"</p> + +<p>"No nex'—I no <i>sabe</i>."</p> + +<p>"You talkee likum Chinee!" retorted Curley. "Why +don't you learn how to talk English? It's easy enough. +An' what do you want, anyhow, getting so friendly all +of a sudden?"</p> + +<p>Antonio hesitated again. "What you do een de corral +thees mornin'?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, I was looking at them yearlings—they was +purty bad, but they're gettin' along all right. What +do you think about 'em?"</p><p><span class="pagenum">[190]</span></p> + +<p>"No; een de <i>beeg</i> corral."</p> + +<p>"Oh, you do!" snapped Curley. "Well, I remembered +you was riding around this morning before sun-up +so I reckoned I'd look in an' see if you rid my cayuse, +which you didn't, an' which is good for you. I ain't +a whole lot intending to go moping about on no tired-out +bronc, an' don't you forget it, neither. An' seeing +as how it ain't none of your d——d business what I +do or where I go, that's about all for you."</p> + +<p>"You no spik true—<i>Pah</i>! eet ees a lie!" cried the +Mexican excitedly, advancing a step, and running into +the wash water and a fist, both of which met him in +the face. Curley, reaching for his holster and finding +that he had forgotten to buckle it on, snatched the Remington +from Antonio's sheath while the fallen man was +half dazed. Pointing it at the Mexican's stomach, he +ordered him up and then told him things.</p> + +<p>"I reckon you got off easy, Greaser—th' next time +you calls me a liar shoot first, or there'll be one less unwashed, +shifty-eyed coyote of a Greaser to ride range +nights."</p> + +<p>Antonio, drenched and seething with fury, his discolored +face working with passion and his small, cruel +eyes snapping, sprang to the wall and glared at the man +who had knocked him down. But for the gun in Curley's +hand there would have been the flash of a knife, +but the Remington was master of the situation. Knife +throwing is a useful art at times, but it has its limitations. +Cursing in Spanish, he backed away and slunk<span class="pagenum">[191]</span> +into his shack as Doc Riley stuck his head out of the +bunk house doorway, hoping to be entertained.</p> + +<p>"Worth while hanging 'round, Curley? Any chance +of seeing a scrap?" Doc asked, eying the gun in his +friend's hand.</p> + +<p>"You could 'a seen th' beginning of a scrap a couple +of minutes earlier," Curley replied. "I didn't give him +a chance to throw. Why, he was out all night on Pete, +yore cayuse—rode him hard, too. He said—"</p> + +<p>"My Pete! Out all night on Pete!" yelled Doc, +taking a quick step towards Antonio's hut, the door of +which slammed shut, whereupon Doc shouted out his +opinions of "Greasers" in general and of Antonio in +particular. "Is that right?" he asked, turning to +Curley. "Was he out on Pete?"</p> + +<p>"He shore was—used him up, too."</p> + +<p>"I'll break every bone in his yaller carcass!" Doc +shouted, shaking his fist at the hut. "Every time I see +him I want to get my gun going, an' it's getting worse +all th' time. Unwashed pup! I'll fill him full of lead +pills surer than anything some of these days, you see +if I don't!"</p> + +<p>"If you don't I will," replied Curley. "I just don't +know why I didn't then because—"</p> + +<p>"Four bells—grub pile!" rang out the stentorian +voice of Salem, who could shout louder than any man +on the ranch, and the conversation came to an abrupt +end, to be renewed at the table.</p> + +<p>When Antonio heard the cook's shout he opened the<span class="pagenum">[192]</span> +door a trifle and then, seeing that the coast was clear, +picked up the bundle which contained his belongings, +shouldered his saddle, slipped his rifle under his arm, +and ran to the corral. Juan and Sanchez had been there +before him and he found that they not only had taken +four of the best horses, but that they had also picketed +two good ones for him, and had driven off the remainder +to graze, which would delay pursuit should it be instituted. +Saddling the better of the two, he left the other +and cantered northwest until hidden from the sight of +any one at the ranch, and then galloped for safety.</p> + +<p>Meeker, returning to the bunk house, found his men +in far better humor than they were in when he left them, +although the death and burial of Ed Joyce and the +other misfortunes of the day before had quieted them +a little. As he entered the room he heard Salem in the +cook shack, droning a mournful dirge-like air as he +slammed things about.</p> + +<p>"Hey, cook!" shouted the foreman, standing in the +door of the gallery. "Cook!"</p> + +<p>"Aye, aye, sir!"</p> + +<p>"You are shore you didn't recognize none of them +thieves that ran off our herd yesterday?"</p> + +<p>"Nary a one, sir. They was running with all sails +set two points off my port bow, which left me astarn +of 'em. I was in that water-logged, four-wheeled hulk +of a chuck wagon an' I couldn't overhaul 'em, sir, +'though I gave chase. I tried a shot with th' chaser, +but I was rolling so hard I couldn't hull 'em. But I'll +try again when I'm sober, sir."</p><p><span class="pagenum">[193]</span></p> + +<p>"All right, Salem," laughed Meeker. "Curley, you +take yore regular range. Doc, suppose you take th' +west, next to Curley? Chick an' Dan will have to stay +here till they get well enough to ride, an' I'll need somebody +on th' ranch after yesterday, anyhow. Jack, how +do you feel? Good! Ride between here an' Eagle. +I'm going to go down to that town an' see what I can +find out."</p> + +<p>"But I can ride, Jim," offered Chick, eagerly. +"This arm won't bother me much. Let me stick close +to Doc, or one of th' boys. Maybe they might need +me, Jim."</p> + +<p>"You stay right here, like I said. We'll have to +wait till we're all right before we can get down to +work in earnest. An' every one of you look out for +trouble—shoot first an' talk after." He turned again +to the gallery. "Salem, kill a cow an' sun cure th' +meat; we might want it in a hurry sometime soon. +That'll be one cow they don't get, anyway."</p> + +<p>"Who's going to ride north, Jim?" asked Doc.</p> + +<p>"Nobody; th' Bar-20 has been so d——d anxious to +turn our cows an' do our herding for us, an' run th' +earth, we'll just let 'em for a while. Not much danger +of any rustlers buzzing reckless around <i>that</i> neighborhood; +they'll earn all they steal if they get away with +it."</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">I saw her face grow cold in death,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">I saw her—<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>came Salem's voice in a new wail. Meeker grabbed +a quirt and, leaping to the gallery, threw it. The song<span class="pagenum">[194]</span> +stopped short and other words, less tuneful, finished the +cook's efforts.</p> + +<p>"You never mind what you saw!" shouted the foreman. +"If you can't sing anything but graveyard +howls, you shut up yore singer!"</p><hr class="chap" /><p><span class="pagenum">[195]</span></p> + +<h2 id="CHAPTER_XX">CHAPTER XX</h2> + +<p class="h3">WHAT THE DAM TOLD</p> + +<p>About the time Meeker caught Antonio prowling +around the corral, Hopalong stepped out +of the line house on the Peak and saw the approaching +storm, which gladdened him, notwithstanding +the fact that he and Red would ride through it to the +bunk house. The range was fast drying up, the grass +was burning under the fierce heat of the sun, and the +reservoir, evaporating as rapidly as it was supplied, +sent but little water down the creek through the valley. +This storm, if it broke over the valley, promised to be +almost a flood, and would not only replenish the water +supply, but would fortify the range for quite a while +against the merciless sun.</p> + +<p>After he had sent Meeker and his men on their homeward +journey he ordered all but Red to report to Buck +at the bunk house, believing that the line fighting was +at an end for a while, at least. But to circumvent any +contingency to the contrary, he and Red remained to +guard the house and discuss the situation. The rest of +the line riders were glad to get away for a day, as there +was washing and mending to be done, clothes to be<span class="pagenum">[196]</span> +changed, and their supply of cartridges and tobacco +to be replenished.</p> + +<p>After throwing his saddle on his horse he went back +to the house to get his "slicker," a yellow water-proof +coat, and saw Red gathering up their few belongings.</p> + +<p>"Going to rain like th' devil, Red," he said. "We'll +get soaked before we reach th' dam, but it'll give th' +grass a chance, all right. It's due us, an' we're going +to get it."</p> + +<p>Red glanced out of the window and saw the onrushing, +low black mass of clouds. "Gee! I reckon yes! +Going to be some fireworks, too."</p> + +<p>Hopalong, slipping into the hideous slicker, followed +Red outside and watched him saddle up. "It'll seem +good to be in th' house again with all th' boys, an' eat +cook's grub once more. I reckon Frenchy an' some of +his squad will drift in—Johnny said he was going to +ride out that way on his way back an' tell 'em all th' +news."</p> + +<p>"Yes. Mind yore business, Ginger!" Red added as +his horse turned its head and nipped at his arm, half +in earnest and half in playful expostulation. Ginger +could not accustom himself to the broad, hind cinch +which gripped his soft stomach, and he was wont to object +to it in his own way. "Yes, it's going to be a +shore enough cloud-burst!" Red exclaimed, glancing +apprehensively at the storm. "Mebby we better take +th' hill trail—we won't have no cinch fording at th' +Bend if <i>that</i> lets loose before we get there. We should +'a gone home with th' crowd last night, 'stead of staying<span class="pagenum">[197]</span> +up here. I knowed they wouldn't try it again—it's +all yore fault."</p> + +<p>"Oh, yo're a regular old woman!" retorted Hopalong. +"A wetting will do us good—an' as for th' +ford, I feel like having a swim."</p> + +<p>The close, humid air stirred and moaned, and fitful +gusts bent the sparse grass and rustled across the plateau, +picking up dust and sending it eddying along the +ground. A sudden current of air whined around the +corners of the line house, slamming the door violently +and awakening the embers of the fire into a mass of +glowing coals, which crackled and gave off flying +sparks. Several larger embers burst into flame and +tumbled end over end across the ground, and Hopalong, +running them down, stamped them out, returning and +kicking dust over the fire, actuated by the plainsman's +instinct. Red watched him and grinned.</p> + +<p>"Of course that cloud-burst won't put the fire out," +he remarked, sarcastically, although he would have done +the same thing if his friend had not.</p> + +<p>"Never go away an' leave a fire lit," Hopalong replied, +sententiously, closing the banging door and fastening +it shut. A streak of lightning quivered between +earth and clouds and the thunder rolled in many reverberations +along the cliffs of the valley's edge, to die out +on the flat void to the west. Down the wind came the +haunting wail of a coyote, sounding so close at hand +that Red instinctively reached for his rifle and looked +around.</p> + +<p>"Take <i>mine</i>!" jeered Hopalong, mounting, having<span class="pagenum">[198]</span> +in mind the greater range of his weapon. "You'll +shore need it if you want to get that feller. Gee, but +it's dark!"</p> + +<p>It was dark and the air was so charged with electricity +that blue points of flame quivered on the ears of their +horses.</p> + +<p>"We're going to get h—l!" shouted Red above the +roar of the storm. "Every time I spits I make a +streak in th' air—an' ain't it hot!"</p> + +<p>One minute it was dark; another, the lightning +showed things in a ghastly light, crackling and booming +like a huge fireworks exhibition. The two men +could feel the hearts of their horses pounding against +their sides, and the animals, nervous as cats, kept their +ears moving back and forth, the blue sparks ghostly in +the darkness.</p> + +<p>"Come on, get out of this," shouted Hopalong. +"D—n it, there goes my hat!" and he shot after it.</p> + +<p>For reply Red spurred forward and they rode down +the steep hill at a canter, which soon changed to a gallop, +then to a dead run. Suddenly there came a roar +that shook them and the storm broke in earnest, the +rain pouring down in slanting sheets, drenching them to +the skin in a minute, for their slickers were no protection +against that deluge. Hopalong stripped his off, +to see it torn from his grasp and disappear in the darkness +like a frightened thing.</p> + +<p>"Go, then!" he snapped. "I was roasting in you, +anyhow! I won't have no clothes left by th' time I hits +th' Bend—which is all th' better for swimming."</p><p><span class="pagenum">[199]</span></p> + +<p>Red slackened pace, rode at his friend's side, their +stirrups almost touching, for it was safer to canter than +to gallop when they could not see ahead of them. The +darkness gradually lessened and when they got close to +the dam they could see as well as they could on any dull +day, except for a distance—the sheets of water forbade +that.</p> + +<p>"What's that?" Hopalong suddenly demanded, +drawing rein and listening. A dull roar came from the +dam and he instinctively felt that something was radically +wrong.</p> + +<p>"Water, of course," Red replied, impatiently. "This +is a <i>storm</i>," he explained.</p> + +<p>Hopalong rode out along the dam, followed by Red, +peering ahead. Suddenly he stopped and swore.</p> + +<p>"She's <i>busted</i>! Look there!"</p> + +<p>A turbulent flood poured through a cut ten feet wide +and roared down the other side of the embankment, +roiled and yellow.</p> + +<p>"Good G-d! She's a goner shore!" cried Red excitedly.</p> + +<p>"It shore is—<i>No</i>, Red! It's over th' stone work—see +where that ripple runs? We can save it if we +hustle," Hopalong replied, wheeling. "Come on! +Dead cows'll choke it—get a move on!"</p> + +<p>When Buck had decided to build the dam he had sent +for an engineer to come out and look the valley over and +to lay out the lines to be followed. The west end, which +would be built against the bluff, would be strong; but +Buck was advised to build a core of rubble masonry for<span class="pagenum">[200]</span> +a hundred feet east of the centre, where the embankment +must run almost straight to avoid a quicksand bottom. +This had been done at a great increase over the +original estimate of the cost of the dam, but now it more +than paid for itself, for Antonio had dug his trench +over the rubble core—had he gone down a foot deeper +he would have struck it and discovered his mistake.</p> + +<p>Hopalong and Red raced along the dam and separated +when they struck the plain, soon returning with +a cow apiece dragging from their lariats, which they +released and pushed into the torrent. The bodies +floated with the stream and both men feared their efforts +were in vain. Then Hopalong uttered a shout of joy, +for the carcasses, stranding against the top of the +masonry core, stopped, the water surging over them. +Racing away again they dragged up more cows until +the bodies choked the gap, when they brought up armfuls +of brush and threw them before the bodies. Then +Red espied a shovel, swore furiously at what it told him, +and fell to throwing dirt into the breach before the +brush. He had to take it from different places so as +not to weaken the dam, and an hour elapsed before they +stopped work and regarded the results of their efforts +with satisfaction.</p> + +<p>"Well, she's there yet, and she'll stay, all right. +Good thing we didn't take th' hill trail," Hopalong remarked.</p> + +<p>"Somebody cut it, all right," Red avowed, looking +at the shovel in his hands. "<i>H2</i>! Hoppy, see here! +This is <i>their</i> work!"</p><p><span class="pagenum">[201]</span></p> + +<p>"Shore enough H2 on th' handle, but Meeker an' his +crowd never did that," Hopalong replied. "I ain't +got no love for any of 'em, but they're too square for +this sort of a thing. Besides, they want to use this +water too much to cheat themselves out of every chance +to get it."</p> + +<p>"You may be right—but it's d——d funny that we +find their shovel on th' job," Red rejoined, scowling at +the brand burned into the wooden handle.</p> + +<p>"What's that yo're treading on?" Hopalong asked, +pointing to a bright object on the ground.</p> + +<p>Red stooped and then shouted, holding up the object +so his friend could see it. "It's a brass button as big +as a half-dollar—bet it belonged to th' snake that +used this shovel!"</p> + +<p>"Yo're safe. I won't bet you—an' Antonio was +th' only one I've seen wearing buttons like that in these +parts," Hopalong replied. "I'm going to kill him on +sight!" and he meant what he said.</p> + +<p>"Same here, th' ornery coyote!" Red gritted.</p> + +<p>"That Greaser has had me guessing, but I'm beginning +to see a great big light," Hopalong remarked, taking +the button and looking it over. "Yep, it's hissen, +all right."</p> + +<p>"Well, we've filled her," Red remarked after a final +inspection.</p> + +<p>"She'll hold until to-morrow, anyhow, or till we can +bring th' chuck wagon full of tools an' rocks down +here," Hopalong replied. "We'll make her solid for +keeps when we begin. You better take th' evidence<span class="pagenum">[202]</span> +with you, Red, an' let Buck look 'em over. It's a good +thing Buck spent that extra money putting in that +stone core! Besides losing th' reservoir we'd have had +plenty of dead cows by this time if it wasn't for that."</p> + +<p>"An' that Greaser went an' picked out the weakest +spot in th' whole thing, or th' spot what would be th' +weakest if that wall wasn't there," Red remarked. "He +ain't no fool, but a stacked deck can beat a good head +time after time."</p> + +<p>When they reached the ford they found a driftwood-dotted +flood roaring around the bend, three times as +wide as it was ordinarily, for the hills made a watershed +that gave quick results in such a rain.</p> + +<p>"Now Red Eagle, old cayuse, here's where you swim," +Hopalong laughed, riding up stream so he would not be +carried past the bottom of the hill trail on the farther +side. Plunging in, the two horses swam gallantly across, +landing within a few feet of the point aimed at, and +scrambled up the slippery path, down which poured +a stream of water.</p> + +<p>When they reached the half-way point between the +ford and the ranch houses the storm slackened, evolving +into an ordinary rain, which Hopalong remarked would +last all day. Red nodded and then pointed to a miserable, +rain-soaked calf, which moved away at their approach.</p> + +<p>"Do you see that!" he exclaimed. "Our brand, an' +Meeker's ear notch!"</p> + +<p>"That explains th' shovel being left on th' dam," +quickly replied Hopalong. "It would be plumb crazy<span class="pagenum">[203]</span> +for th' H2 to make a combination like that ear notch +an' our brand, an' you can gamble they don't know +nothing about it. Th' gent that left Meeker's shovel +<i>for us to find</i> did that, too. You know if any of th' +H2 cut th' dam they wouldn't forget to take th' shovel +with 'em, Red. It's Antonio, that's who it is. He's +trying to make a bigger fight along th' line an' stir +things up generally so he can rustle promiscuous. +Well, we'll give all our time to th' rustling end from +now on, if I have got any voice in th' matter. An' I +hope to th' Lord I can get within gun range of that +coyote of a Greaser. Why, by th' A'mighty, I'll go +down an' plug him on his own ground just as soon as +I can get away, which will be to-morrow! That's just +what I'll do! I'll stop his plays or know th' reason +why."</p> + +<p>"An' I'm with you—you'll take a big chance going +down there alone," Red replied. "<i>After</i> Meeker hears +what we've got to say he'll be blamed glad we came."</p> + +<p>An hour later they stopped at the ranch house, a +squat, square building, flat of roof, its adobe walls three +feet thick and impenetrable to heat. Stripping saddles +and bridles from their streaming mounts, they drove +the animals into a large corral and ran to the bunk +house, where laughter greeted their appearance.</p> + +<p>"Swimming?" queried Johnny, putting aside his +harmonica.</p> + +<p>"Hey, you! Get out of here an' lean up against th' +corral till you shed some of that water!" cried Lanky, +the wounded, watching the streams from their clothes<span class="pagenum">[204]</span> +run over the floor. "We'll be afloat in a minute if +you don't get out—we ain't no fishes."</p> + +<p>"You shut up," retorted Red. "We'll put you out +there to catch what water we missed if you gets funny," +he threatened, stripping as rapidly as he could. He +hung the saturated garments on pegs in the gallery +wall and had Pete rub him down briskly, while Billy did +the same for his soaked companion.</p> + +<p>Around them were their best friends, all laughing and +contented, chaffing and exchanging personal banter +with each other, engaged in various occupations, from +sewing buttons on shirts to playing cards and mending +riding gear. Snatches of songs burst forth at odd +intervals, while laughter was continually heard. This +was the atmosphere they loved, this repaid them for +their hard work, this and the unswerving loyalty, the +true, deep affection, and good-natured banter that +pricked but left no sting. Here was one of the lures of +the range, the perfect fellowship that long acquaintance +and the sharing of hard work and ubiquitous danger +breeds among the members of a good, square outfit. +Not one of them ever counted personal safety before +duty to his ranch and his companions, taking his hard +life laughingly and without complaint, generous to a +fault, truthful and loyal and considerate. There was +manhood for you, there was contempt for restricting +conventions, for danger; there was a unity of thought +and purpose that set the rough-spoken, ready-fighting +men of the saddle and rope in a niche by themselves, a<span class="pagenum">[205]</span> +niche where fair play, unselfishness, and a rough but +sterling honor abides always. Their occupation gave +more than it exacted and they loved it and the open, +wind-swept range where they were the dominating living +forces.</p> + +<p>Buck came in with Frenchy McAllister and Pie Willis +and grinned at his crowd of happy "boys," who gave +warm welcome. The foreman was not their "boss," +their taskmaster, but he was their best friend, and he +shared with them the dangers and joys which were their +lot, sympathetic in his rough way, kind and trusting.</p> + +<p>Hopalong struggling to get his head through a dry +shirt, succeeded, and swiftly related to his foreman the +occurrences of the morning, pointing to the shovel and +button as the total exhibit of his proofs against the +Mexican. The laughter died out, the banter was +hushed, and the atmosphere became that of tense hostility +and anger. When he had ceased speaking angry +exclamations and threats filled the room, coming from +men who always "made good." When Red had told +of the H2-Bar-20 calf, an air of finality, of conviction, +settled on them; and it behooved Antonio to hunt a +new range, for his death would be sudden and merciless +if he met any of the Bar-20 outfit, no matter when or +where. They never forgot.</p> + +<p>After brief argument they came to the decision that +he was connected with the rustling going on around +them, and this clinched his fate. Several, from the evidence +and from things which they had observed and now<span class="pagenum">[206]</span> +understood, were of the opinion that he was the ringleader +of the cattle thieves, the head and the moving +spirit.</p> + +<p>"Boys," Buck remarked, "we won't bother about th' +line very much for a while. It's been a peaceable sort of +a fracas, anyhow, an' I don't expect much further +trouble. If H2 cows straggle across an' yo're right +handy to 'em an' ain't got nothing pressing to do, drive +'em back; but don't look for 'em particularly. There +won't be no more drives against us for a long time. +We've got to hunt rustlers from now on, an' hunt hard, +or they'll get too numerous to handle very easy. Let +th' cows take care of themselves along th' river, Frenchy, +an' put your men up near Big Coulee, staying nights +in Number Two. Pete an' Billy will go with you. +That'll protect th' west, an' there won't be no rustling +going on from th' river, nohow. Don't waste no time +herding—put it all in hunting. Hopalong, you, +Johnny, Red, an' Skinny take th' hills country an' make +yore headquarters in Number Three an' Four. Lanky +will stay up here until he can handle hisself good again. +I'll ride promiscuous, but if any of you learn anything +you want me to know, leave it with Lanky or th' cook +if you can't find me. Just as soon as we have anything +to go on, we'll start on th' war path hot foot an' clean +things up right an' proper."</p> + +<p>"What'll we do if we catches anybody rustling?" +asked Johnny, assuming an air of ignorance and curiosity, +and ducking quickly as Red swung at him.</p><p><span class="pagenum">[207]</span></p> + +<p>"Give 'em ten dollars reward an' let 'em go," Buck +grinned.</p> + +<p>"Give me ten if I brings th' Greaser to you?"</p> + +<p>"I'll fine you twenty if you waste that much time +over him," Buck replied.</p> + +<p>"Whoop!" Johnny exulted. "Th' good old times +are coming back again! Remember Bye-an'-Bye an' +Cactus Springs, Buckskin an' Slippery Trendley? Remember +th' good old scraps? Now we'll have something +else to do besides chasing cows an' wiping th' rust +off our guns!"</p> + +<p>Lanky, who took keen delight in teasing the youngster, +frowned severely. "Yo're just a fool kid, just a +happy idiot!" he snorted, and Johnny looked at him, +surprised but grinning. "Yes, you are! I never seen +such a bloody-minded animal in all my born days as you! +After all th' fighting you've gone an' got mixed up in, +you still yap for more! You makes me plumb disgusted, +you do!"</p> + +<p>"He <i>is</i> awful gory," remarked Hopalong soberly. +"Just a animated massacre in pants."</p> + +<p>"Regular Comanche," amended Red, frowning. +"What do you think about him, Frenchy?"</p> + +<p>"I'd ruther not say it," Frenchy replied. "You ask +Pie—he ain't scared of nothing, massacre <i>or</i> Comanche."</p> + +<p>Johnny looked around the room and blurted out, +"You all think th' same as me, every one of you, even +if you are a lot of pussy-cats, an' you know it, too!"</p><p><span class="pagenum">[208]</span></p> + +<p>"Crazy as a locoed cow," Red whispered across the +room to Buck, who nodded sorrowfully and went into +the cook shack.</p> + +<p>"You wait till I sees Antonio an' you'll find out how +crazy I am!" promised Johnny.</p> + +<p>"I shore hopes he spanks you an' sends you home a-bawling," +Lanky snorted. "You needs a good licking, +you young cub!"</p> + +<p>"Yah, yah!" jibed Johnny. "Needing an' getting +are two different tunes, grand-pop!"</p> + +<p>"You wasn't down here, was you, Frenchy, when +Johnny managed to rope a sleepy gray wolf that was +two years old, an' tried to make a pet out of him?" +asked Hopalong, grinning at his recollection of the affair.</p> + +<p>"No!" exclaimed Frenchy in surprise. "Did he do +it?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes, he did it; with a gun, after th' pet had torn +his pants off an' chewed him up real well. He's looking +for another, because he says that was too mean a beast +to have any luck with."</p> + +<p>Buck stepped into the room again. "Who wants to +go with me to th' dam in th' wagon?" he asked. "I +want to look at that cut an' fix it for keeps if it needs +fixing. All right! All right! Anybody'd think I +asked you to go to a dance," he laughed. "Pete, you +an' Billy an' Pie will be enough."</p> + +<p>"Can't we ride alongside?" asked Pie. "Do we have +to sit in that thing?"</p> + +<p>"You can walk, if you want to. I don't care how<span class="pagenum">[209]</span> +you go," Buck replied, stepping into the rain with the +three men close behind him. Soon the rattling of the +wagon was heard growing fainter on the plain.</p> + +<p>The banter and the laughter ran on all the rest of the +morning. After dinner Hopalong built a fire in the +huge stove and put a ladleful of lead on the coals, while +Frenchy and Skinny re-sized and re-capped shells from +the boxes on the wall. Hopalong watched the fire and +smoked the bullet moulds, while Lanky managed to +measure powder and fill the shells after Frenchy and +Skinny had finished with them. Hopalong filled the +moulds rapidly while Johnny took out the bullets and +cooled them by dropping them into cold rain water, being +cautioned by Hopalong not to splash any water into +the row of moulds. As soon as he found them cool +enough, Johnny wiped them dry and passed them on to +Red, who crimped them into the charged shells. Soon +the piles of cartridges grew to a goodly size, and when +the last one had been finished the crowd fell to playing +cards until supper was ready. Hopalong, who had +kept on running bullets, sorted them, and then dropped +them into the boxes made for each size. Finally he +stopped and went to the door to look for signs of the +morrow's weather.</p> + +<p>"Clearing up in th' west an' south—here comes +Buck an' th' others," he called over his shoulder. +"How was it, Buck?" he shouted, and out of the +gathering dusk came the happy reply:</p> + +<p>"Bully!"</p><hr class="chap" /><p><span class="pagenum">[210]</span></p> + +<h2 id="CHAPTER_XXI">CHAPTER XXI</h2> + +<p class="h3">HOPALONG RIDES SOUTH</p> + +<p>The morning broke clear and showed a clean, +freshened plain to the men who rode to the line +house on the Peak, there to take up their quarters +and from there to ride as scouts. Hopalong sent +Red to ride along the line for the purpose of seeing +how things were in that vicinity and, leaving the others +to go where they wished, struck south down the side of +the hill, intending to hunt Antonio on his own ground. +Tied to his saddle was the shovel and in his pocket he +carried the brass button, his evidence for Meeker. As he +rode at an easy lope he kept a constant lookout for signs +of rustling. Suddenly he leaned forward and tightened +his knee grip, the horse responding by breaking into a +gallop, while its rider took up his lariat, shaking it into +a long loop, his twisting right wrist imparting enough +motion to it to keep it clear of the vegetation and rocks.</p> + +<p>A distant cow wheeled sharply and watched him for a +moment and then, snorting, its head down and its tail +up, galloped away at a speed not to be found among domesticated +cattle. It was bent upon only one thing—to +escape that dreaded, whirling loop of rawhide, so<span class="pagenum">[211]</span> +pliant and yet so strong. Hopalong, not as expert as +Lanky, who carried a rope nearly sixty feet long and +who could place it where he wished, used one longer than +the more common lariats.</p> + +<p>The cow did its best, but the pony steadily gained, +nimbly executing quick turns and jumping gullies, up +one side of a hill and down the other, threading its way +with precision through the chaparrals and deftly avoiding +the holes in its path. Closer and closer together +came the pursued and pursuers, and then the long rope +shot out and sailed through the air, straight for the animal's +hind legs. As it settled, a quick upward jerk of +the arm did the rest and there was a snubbing of rope +around the saddle horn, a sudden stopping and dropping +back on haunches on the part of the pony, and the cow +went down heavily. The rider did not wait for the +horse to get set, but left the saddle as soon as the rope +had been securely snubbed, and ran to the side of his +victim.</p> + +<p>The cow was absolutely helpless, for the rope was +taut, the intelligent pony leaning back and being too +well trained to allow the least amount of slack to bow +the rawhide closer to the earth. Therefore Hopalong +gave no thought to his horse, for while cinches, pommel, +and rope held, the small, wiry, wild-eyed bundle of galvanic +cussedness would hold the cow despite all its efforts +to get up.</p> + +<p>"Never saw <i>that</i> brand before, an' I've rid all over +this country for a good many years, too," he soliloquized. +"There sure ain't no HQQ herd down this<span class="pagenum">[212]</span> +way, nor no place close enough for a stray. Somebody +is shore starting a herd on his own hook; from th' cows +on this range, too.</p> + +<p>"By th' great horned spoon! I can see Bar-20 in +them marks!" he cried, bending closer. "All he had to +do was to make a H out of th' Bar, close up th' 2, an' +put a tail on th' O! Hum—whoop! There is H2 +in it, too! Close th' 2 an' add a Q, an' there you are! +I don't mind a hog once in a while, but working both +ranches to a common mark is shore too much for me. +Stealing from both ranches an' markin 'em all HQQ!"</p> + +<p>He moved up to look at the ears and swore when he +saw them. "D—n it! That's all I want to know! +Mebby a sheriff wouldn't get busy on th' evidence, but I +ain't no sheriff—I'm just a plain cow-punch with good +common sense. Meeker's cut is a V in one ear—here I +finds a slant like Skinny saw, an' in both ears. If that +don't cut under Meeker's notch I'm a liar! All framed +up to make a new herd out of our cows. Just let me +catch some coyote with a running iron under his saddle +flap an' see what happens!"</p> + +<p>He quickly slacked the rope and slipped off the noose, +running as fast as he could go to his pony, for some +cows get "on the prod" very easily, and few cows are +afraid of a man on foot; and when a long-horned Texas +cow has "its dander up," it is not safe for an unmounted +man to take a chance with its horns, unless he +is willing to shoot it down. This Hopalong would not +do, for he did not want to let the rustlers know that the +new brand had been discovered. Vaulting into his saddle<span class="pagenum">[213]</span> +he eluded the charge of the indignant cow and loped +south, coiling up his rope as he went.</p> + +<p>Half an hour after leaving the HQQ cow he saw a +horseman ahead of him, threading his way through a +chaparral. As Hopalong overtook him the other +emerged and stopped, uncertain whether to reach for his +gun or not. It was Juan, who had not gone to Mesa +overnight, scouting to learn if any new developments +had taken place along the boundary. Juan looked at +the shovel and then at the puncher, his face expressionless.</p> + +<p>Hopalong glanced at the other's cuff, found it was all +right, and then forced himself to smile. "Looking for +rustlers?" he bantered.</p> + +<p>"<i>Si.</i>"</p> + +<p>"What! There ain't no rustlers loose on this range, +is there?" asked Hopalong, surprised.</p> + +<p>"<i>Quien sabe?</i>"</p> + +<p>"Oh, them sleepers were made by yore own, lazy outfit, +an' you might as well own up to it," Hopalong +grinned, deprecatingly. "You can fool Meeker, all +right, he's easy; but you can't throw dust in my eyes +like that. On th' level, now, ain't I right? Didn't you +fellers make them sleepers?"</p> + +<p>Juan shrugged his shoulders. "<i>Quien sabe?</i>"</p> + +<p>"That '<i>Quien sabe</i>' is th' handiest an' most used +pair of words in yore cussed language," replied Hopalong +grinning. "Ask one of you fellers something you +don't want to tell an' it's '<i>Quien sabe?</i>' ain't it?"</p> + +<p>"<i>Si</i>," laughed the Mexican.</p><p><span class="pagenum">[214]</span></p> + +<p>"I thought so," Hopalong retorted. "You can't +tell me that any gang that would cut a dam like they +did ourn wouldn't sleeper, an' don't you forget it, +neither!"</p> + +<p>Juan's face cleared for a moment as he gloated over +how Antonio's scheme had worked out, and he laughed. +"No can fool you, hey?" Then he pressed his knee +tighter against his saddle skirt and a worried look came +into his eyes.</p> + +<p>Hopalong took no apparent notice of the action, but +he saw it, and it sent one word burning through his +brain. They were riding at a walk now and Hopalong, +not knowing that Juan had left the H2, suggested that +they ride to the ranch together. He was watching the +Mexican closely, for it would not be unusual for a man in +Juan's position to try to get out of it by shooting. +The Mexican refused to ride south and Hopalong, who +was determined to stay with his companion until he +found out what he wanted to know, proposed a race to +a barranca that cut into the plain several hundred yards +ahead. He would let Juan beat him, and all the way, +so he could watch the saddle flap, and if this failed he +would waste no more time in strategy, but would find +out about it quickly. Juan also declined to race, and very +hurriedly, for the less his saddle was jolted the better +it would be for him. He knew Hopalong's reputation +as a revolver fighter and would take no chances.</p> + +<p>"That ain't a bad cayuse you got there. I was wondering +if it could beat mine, what's purty good itself. +Is it very bronc?" he asked, kicking the animal in the<span class="pagenum">[215]</span> +ribs whereupon it reared and pranced. Juan's left +hand went to the assistance of his knee, his right grasped +the cantle of his saddle, where it was nearer the butt +of his Colt, and a look of fear came into his eyes.</p> + +<p>Hopalong watched his chance and as the restive animal +swung towards him he spurred it viciously, at the +same time crying: "Take yore hand from off that +flap, you d——d cow-lifter!"</p> + +<p>The command was unnecessary, for a thin, straight +rod of iron slipped down and stuck in the sand, having +worked loose from its lashings. Mexican-like, Juan +had put off until to-morrow to heat it and bend a loop +in one end for more secure fastening.</p> + +<p>At the instant it fell Juan leaned back and dropped +over on the far side of his horse, his right leg coming +up level with his enemy, and reached for his gun, intending +to shoot through the end of the holster and +save time. But he went farther than he had intended, +not stopping until he struck the earth, his bullet missing +Hopalong by only a few inches.</p> + +<p>The Bar-20 puncher slipped his Colt back into the +sheath and, leaning down, deftly picked up the iron +and fastened it to his saddle. Roping the Mexican's +horse he continued on his way to the H2, leaving Juan +where he had fallen.</p> + +<p>When he arrived at the ranch he turned the horse +into the corral and started to ride to the bunk house; +but Salem, enjoying a respite from cooking and washing +dishes, saw him and started for him on an awkward +run, crying:</p><p><span class="pagenum">[216]</span></p> + +<p>"Where'd you git that hoss? Where'd you clear +from, an' who are you?"</p> + +<p>"Th' cayuse belongs to Meeker—Juan was riding +it. Is anybody around?"</p> + +<p>"I'm around, ain't I, you fog-eyed lubber! Where's +th' Lascar? Who are you?"</p> + +<p>"Well, Duke, I'm from th' Bar-20, an' my name is +Hop—"</p> + +<p>"Weigh anchor an' 'bout ship! You can't make this +port, you wind-jamming pirate!"</p> + +<p>"I want to see yore foreman. This is his shovel, +an' I—"</p> + +<p>"Then where'd you get it, hey? How'd you get +his—"</p> + +<p>"Hang it!" interrupted Hopalong, losing his patience. +"I tell you I want to see Meeker! I want to +see him about some—"</p> + +<p>"An' where's th' coolie that rid that hoss?" demanded +the cook, belligerently.</p> + +<p>"You won't see that thief no more. That's one of +th' things I want to—"</p> + +<p>"Hooray!" cried Salem. "Was he drowned, or +shanghaied?"</p> + +<p>"Was he what? What are you talking about, anyhow? +Where did you ever learn how to talk Chinese?"</p> + +<p>"What! Chinese! You whale-bellied, barnacle-brained +bilge pirate, I've got a good notion—"</p> + +<p>"Say, is there anybody around here that ain't loco? +Are they all as crazy as you?" Hopalong asked.</p><p><span class="pagenum">[217]</span></p> + +<p>Salem grabbed up one of the bars of the corral gate +and, roaring strange oaths, ran at the stranger, but +Hopalong spurred his horse and kept clear of the pole +while Salem grew short winded and more profane. +Then the puncher thought of Mary and cantered +towards the ranch house intending to ask her where +he could find her father, thus combining business with +pleasure. Salem shook the pole at him and then espied +the saddled horse in the corral. He disliked horses as +much as they disliked him, so much, in fact, that he said +the only reason he did not get out of the country +and go back to the sea was because he had to ride a +horse to do it. But any way was acceptable under the +present exigencies, so he clambered into the saddle after +more or less effort and found it not quite roomy enough +for one of his growing corpulency. Shouting "Let +fall!" he cantered after the invader of his ranch, waving +the pole valiantly. He did not see that the ears of +his mount were flattened or that its eyes were growing +murderous in their expression, and he did not know that +the lower end of the pole was pounding lustily against +the horse's legs every time he waved the weapon. All +he thought about was getting his pleasant duty over +with as soon as possible, and he gripped the pole more +firmly.</p> + +<p>Hopalong looked around curiously to see what the +cook was doing to make all that noise, and when he saw +he held his sides. "Well, if th' locoed son-of-a-gun +ain't after me! Lord! Hey, stranger," he shouted,<span class="pagenum">[218]</span> +"if you want him to run fast, take hold of his tail an' +pull it three times!"</p> + +<p>He was not averse to having a little fun at the +tenderfoot's expense and he deferred his visit to the +house to circle around the angry cook and shout advice. +Instead of laying the reins against his mount's neck to +turn it, Salem jerked on them, which the indignant +animal instantly resented. It had felt all along that +it was being made a fool of and imposed upon, but +now it would have a sweet revenge. Leaping forward +suddenly it stopped stiff-legged and arched its back +several times with all the force it was capable of; but +it could have stopped immediately after the first pitch, +for Salem, still holding to the pole, executed a more or +less graceful parabola and landed in a sitting posture +amid much dust.</p> + +<p>"<i>Whoof!</i> What'd we strike?" he demanded dazedly. +Then, catching sight of the cause of his flight, which +was at that moment cropping an overlooked tuft of grass +as if it were accustomed to upsetting pole-waving cooks, +Salem scrambled to his feet and ran at it, getting in +one good whack before the indignant and groping pony +could move.</p> + +<p>"There, blast you!" he yelled. "I'll show you +what you get for a trick like that!" Turning, and +seeing Hopalong laughing until the tears ran down his +face, he roared, "What are you laughing at, d—n +you?"</p> + +<p>A rope sailed out and tightened around Salem's feet +and he once more sat down, unable to arise this time,<span class="pagenum">[219]</span> +because of Hopalong's horse, which backed slowly, step +by step, dragging the captive, who was now absolutely +helpless.</p> + +<p>"Now I want to talk to you for a few minutes, an' +I'm going to," Hopalong remarked. "Will you listen +quietly or will you risk losing th' seat of yore pants? +You've <i>got</i> to listen, anyhow."</p> + +<p>"Wha—what——go ahead, only stop th' headway +of yore craft! Lay to! I'm on th' rocks!"</p> + +<p>Laughing, Hopalong rode closer to him. "Where's +Antonio?"</p> + +<p>"In h—l, I hope, leastwise that's where he ought to +be."</p> + +<p>"Well, I just sent his friend Juan there—had to; +he toted a running iron an'—"</p> + +<p>"Did you? Did you?" cried Salem in accents of +joy. "Why didn't you say so before! Come in an' +splice th' main brace, shipmate! That cross between a +nigger an' a Chinee is in Davy Jones' locker, is he? +Hey, wait till I get these lashings cast off—yo're a +good hand after all. Come in an' have some grog—best +stuff this side of Kentucky, where it was made."</p> + +<p>"I ain't got time," replied Hopalong, smiling. +"Where's that Greaser broncho-buster?"</p> + +<p>"Going to send <i>him</i> down too? D—n my tops'ls, +wish I knowed! He deserted, took shore leave, an' ain't +reported since. Yo're clipper-rigged, a regular AB, +you are! Spin us th' yarn, matey."</p> + +<p>Hopalong told him about the dam and the shooting +of Juan and gave him the shovel and button for<span class="pagenum">[220]</span> +Meeker, Salem's mouth wide open at the recital. When +he had finished the cook grabbed his stirrup and urged +him towards the grog, but Hopalong laughingly declined +and, looking towards the ranch house, saw Jim +Meeker riding like mad in their direction.</p> + +<p>"What do you want?" blazed the foreman, drawing +rein, his face dark with anger.</p> + +<p>"I want to plug Antonio, an' his friend Sanchez," +Hopalong replied calmly. "I just caught Juan with a +running iron under his saddle flap an' I drilled him for +good. Here's th' iron."</p> + +<p>"Good for you!" cried Meeker, taking the rod. +"They've jumped, all of 'em. I'm looking for 'em +myself, an' we're all looking for coyotes toting these +irons. I'm glad you got one of 'em!"</p> + +<p>"Antonio scuttled their dike—here's th' shovel he +did it with," interrupted Salem eagerly. "An' here's +th' button off th' Greaser's jacket. He left it by th' +shovel. My mate, here, is cruising to fall in with 'em, +an' when he does there'll be—"</p> + +<p>"Why, that's <i>my</i> shovel!" cried Meeker. "An' +that's his button, all right."</p> + +<p>Hopalong told him all about the attempt to cut the +dam and when he had ceased Meeker swore angrily. +"Them Greasers are on th' rustle, shore! They're trying +to keep th' fighting going on along th' line so +we'll be too busy to bother 'em in their stealing. I've +been losing cows right an' left—why, they run off a +herd of beef right here by th' houses. Salem saw 'em. +They killed cows down south an' covered my range with<span class="pagenum">[221]</span> +sleepers an' lame mothers. How did you come to guess +he had an iron?"</p> + +<p>Hopalong told of the HQQ cow he had found and, +dismounting, traced the brand in the sand, Meeker +bending over eagerly.</p> + +<p>"You see this Bar-20?" he asked, pointing it out, +and his interested companion interrupted him with a +curse.</p> + +<p>"Yes, I do; an' do <i>you</i> see this H2?" he demanded. +"They've merged our brands into one—stealing from +both of us!"</p> + +<p>"Yes. I figgered that out when I saw th' mark; +that's one of th' things I came down to tell you about," +Hopalong replied, mounting again. "An' Red an' me +found a Bar-20 calf with a V ear notch, too. That +proves what th' dam was cut for, don't it?"</p> + +<p>"Why didn't I drop that coyote when I caught him +skulking th' other morning!" growled Meeker, regretfully. +"He had just come back from yore dam then—had +yaller mud on his cayuse an' his stirrups. Out +all night on a played-out bronc, an' me too thick to +guess he was up to some devilment an' shoot him for +it! Oh, h—l! I thought purty hard of you, Cassidy, +but I reckon we all make mistakes. Any man what +would stop to think out th' real play when he found +that shovel is square."</p> + +<p>"Oh, that's all right. I allus did hate Greasers, an' +mebby that was why I suspected him, that an' th' button."</p> + +<p>Meeker turned to the cook. "Where's Chick an'<span class="pagenum">[222]</span> +Dan?" he asked, impatiently. "I ain't seen 'em +around."</p> + +<p>"Why, Chick rid off down south an' Dan cleared +about an hour ago."</p> + +<p>"What! With that leg of hissen!"</p> + +<p>"Aye, aye, sir; he couldn't leave it behind, you +know, sir."</p> + +<p>"All right, Cassidy; much obliged. I'll put a stop +to th' rustling on <i>my</i> range, or know th' reason why. +D—n th' day I ever left Montanny!" Meeker swore, +riding towards the ranch house.</p> + +<p>"Say, I hope you find them Lascars," remarked +Salem. "Yo're th' boy that'll give 'em what they needs. +Wish you had caught 'em all four instead of only one."</p> + +<p>Hopalong smiled. "Then they might 'a got me instead."</p> + +<p>"No, no, siree!" exclaimed the cook. "You can +lick 'em all, an' I'll gamble on it, too! But you better +come in an' have a swig o' grog before you weighs +anchor, matey. As I was saying, it's th' best grog +west of Kentucky. Come on in!"</p><hr class="chap" /><p><span class="pagenum">[223]</span></p> + +<h2 id="CHAPTER_XXII">CHAPTER XXII</h2> + +<p class="h3">LUCAS VISITS THE PEAK</p> + +<p>When Hopalong returned to the line +house on the Peak he saw Johnny and +Skinny talking with Lucas, the C80 foreman, +and he hailed them.</p> + +<p>"Hullo, Lucas!" he cried. "What are you doing +down here?"</p> + +<p>"Glad to see you, Hopalong," Lucas replied, shaking +hands. "Came down to see Buck, but Lanky, up +in th' bunk house, said he was off somewhere scouting. +From what Lanky said I reckon you fellers had a little +joke down here last week."</p> + +<p>"Yes," responded Hopalong, dismounting. "It was +a sort of a joke, except that somebody killed one of +Meeker's men. I'll be blamed if I know who done it. +Lanky says he didn't an' he don't have to deny a thing +like that neither. Looks to me like he caught some +brand-blotter dead to rights, like I did a little while ago, +an' like he got th' worst of th' argument. Lanky +would 'a told me if he did it, an' don't you forget it, +neither."</p><p><span class="pagenum">[224]</span></p> + +<p>"What's that about catching somebody dead to +rights?" eagerly asked Johnny.</p> + +<p>"Who was it?" asked Skinny.</p> + +<p>"Juan. He toted a running iron an' I caught him +just after I looked over a cow with a new brand—"</p> + +<p>"Did you get him good?" quickly asked Johnny. +"Did he put up a fight?"</p> + +<p>"Yes; an' what was th' brand?" Skinny interposed.</p> + +<p>"Here, here!" laughed Hopalong. "I reckon I'll +save time if I tell you th' whole story," and he gave a +short account of his ride, interrupted often by the inquisitive +and insistent Johnny.</p> + +<p>"An' who is Salem?" Johnny asked.</p> + +<p>"Meeker's cook."</p> + +<p>"What did Meeker say about it when you told him?"</p> + +<p>"Gimme a chance to talk an' I'll tell you!" and +Johnny remained silent for a moment. Finally the +story was told and Johnny, who had been swearing +vengeance on all "Greasers," asked one more question, +grinning broadly:</p> + +<p>"An' what did Mary say?"</p> + +<p>"You say Meeker lost a whole herd?" asked Lucas. +"Let me tell you there's more people mixed up in this +rustling than we think. But I'll tell you one thing; that +herd didn't go north, unless they drove ten miles east or +west of our range."</p> + +<p>"Well, I reckon it's under one man, all right," Hopalong +replied. "If it was a lot of separate fellers running +it by themselves there'd 'a been a lot of blunders<span class="pagenum">[225]</span> +an' some few of 'em would 'a been shot before Juan +went. It's a gang, all right. But why th' devil did +they turn loose that H2 rebranded cow, that HQQ that +I found? They might 'a knowed it would cause some +hot thinking when it was found. That cow is just about +going to lick 'em."</p> + +<p>"Stray," sententiously remarked Skinny.</p> + +<p>"Shore, that's what it was," Lucas endorsed.</p> + +<p>"An' do you know what that means?" asked Hopalong, +looking from face to face. "It means that they +can't be holding their herds very far away. It's three +to one that I'm right."</p> + +<p>"Mebby they're down in Eagle," suggested Johnny +hopefully, for Eagle would be a good, exciting proposition +in a fight.</p> + +<p>"No, it ain't there," Hopalong replied. "There's +too many people down there. They would all know +about it an' want a share in th' profits; but it ain't a +whole lot foolish to say that Eagle men are in it."</p> + +<p>"Look here!" cried Skinny. "Mebby that HQQ is +their road brand—that cow might 'a strayed from +their drive. They've got to have some brand on cows +they sell, an' they can't leave ours on an' get back +alive."</p> + +<p>"You are right, but not necessarily so about th' +road brand," Hopalong rejoined. "But that don't tell +us where they are, does it?"</p> + +<p>"We've got to hunt HQQ cows on th' drive," +Johnny interposed as Skinny was about to speak. "I'll +go down to Eagle an' see if I can't get on to a drive.<span class="pagenum">[226]</span> +Then I'll trail th' gang all th' way an' back to where +they hangs out. That'll tell us where to go, all right."</p> + +<p>"You keep out of Eagle—you'd be shot before you +reached Quinn's saloon," Hopalong said. "No; it ain't +Eagle, not at all. See here, Lucas; have you watched +them construction camps along that railroad? There +ain't a better market nowhere than them layouts; they +don't ask no questions if th' beef is cheap."</p> + +<p>"Yes, I've watched th' trails leading to 'em."</p> + +<p>"Why, they wouldn't cross yore range!" Hopalong +cried. "They'd drive around you an' hit th' camp +from above; they ain't fools. Hey! I've got it! They +can't go around th' Double Arrow unless they are willing +to cross th' Staked Plain, an' you can bet they +ain't. That leaves th' west, an' there's a desert out +there they wouldn't want to tackle. They drive between +th' desert an' yore range."</p> + +<p>"If they drive to th' camps, yo're right without a +doubt," Skinny remarked. "But mebby they are driving +south—mebby they're starting a ranch along th' +Grande, or across it."</p> + +<p>"Well, we'll take th' camps first," Hopalong replied. +"Lucas, can you spare a man to look them +camps over? Somebody that can live in 'em a month, +if he has to?"</p> + +<p>"Shore. Wood Wright is just th' man."</p> + +<p>"No, he ain't th' man," contradicted Hopalong +quickly. "Anybody that wears chaps, or walks like he +does would arouse suspicion in no time, an' get piped<span class="pagenum">[227]</span> +out some night. This man has got to have business up +there, like looking for a job. Say! Can you get +along without yore cook for a while? If you can't we +will!"</p> + +<p>"You bet yore life I can!" exulted Lucas. "That's +good. He can get a job right where th' meat is used, +an' where th' hides will be kicking around. He goes to-morrow!"</p> + +<p>"That's th' way; th' sooner th' better," Hopalong +responded. "But we won't wait for him. We'll scout +around lively down here an' if we don't find anything +he may. But for th' Lord's sake, don't let him ride a +cayuse into that camp that has brands of this section. +Cowan will be glad to lend you his cayuse; he got it up +north too far to make 'em suspicious."</p> + +<p>"Yes; I reckon that'll be about the thing."</p> + +<p>"Here comes Red," Johnny remarked. "Hey, Red, +Hoppy got Juan this morning. Caught him toting a +straight iron!"</p> + +<p>"Johnny, you get away lively an' tell Frenchy to +scout west," Hopalong ordered. "You can stay up in +Number Two with them to-night, but come down here +again in th' morning. Red, to-morrow at daylight we +go west an' comb that country."</p> + +<p>"That's th' way," remarked Lucas, mounting. +"Get right at it. Have you got any word for Buck? +I'll go past th' house an' leave it if you have."</p> + +<p>"Yes; tell him what we've talked over. An' you +might send yore outfit further west, too," Hopalong<span class="pagenum">[228]</span> +responded. "I'll bet a month's pay we end this cow-lifting +before two more weeks roll by. We've got +to!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes; I near forgot it—Bartlett thinks we-all +ought to get together after th' rustling is stopped an' +shoot that town of Eagle plumb off th' earth," Lucas +said. "It's only a hell hole, anyhow, an' it won't do +no harm to wipe it out." He looked around the +group. "What do you fellers think about it?" he +asked.</p> + +<p>"Well, we might, then; we've got too many irons in +th' fire now, though," Hopalong replied. "Hey, +Johnny! Get a-going! We'll talk about Eagle +later."</p> + +<p>"I'm forgetting lots of things," laughed Lucas. +"We had a little fight up our way th' other day. +Caught a feller skinning one of Bartlett's cows, what +had strayed over on us. Got him dead to rights, too. +He put up a fight while he lasted. Said his name was +Hawkins."</p> + +<p>"Hawkins!" exclaimed Hopalong. "I've heard +that name somewhere."</p> + +<p>"Why, that's th' name on th' notice of reward +posted in Cowan's," Red supplied. "He's wanted for +desertion from th' army, an' for other things. They +want him bad up at Roswell, an' they'll pay for him, +dead or alive."</p> + +<p>"Well, they won't get him; he ain't keeping good +enough," Lucas replied. "An' we don't want that kind +of money. So long," and he was off.</p><p><span class="pagenum">[229]</span></p> + +<p>"So you got Juan," Red remarked. "You ought +to have took him alive—we could get it all out of him +an' find out where his friends are hanging out."</p> + +<p>"He went after his gun, an' he had an iron," Hopalong +replied. "I didn't know he had left Meeker, an' +I didn't stop to think. You see, he was a brand-blotter."</p> + +<p>"What's Meeker going to do about th' line?" Red +asked.</p> + +<p>"Nothing for a while; he's too worried an' busy looking +after his sleepers. He ain't so bad, after all."</p> + +<p>"Say," remarked Skinny, thoughtfully. "Mebby +that gang is over east, like Trendley was. There's +lots of water thereabouts, an' good grass, too, in th' +Panhandle. Look how close it is to Fort Worth an' th' +railroad."</p> + +<p>"Too many people over there," Hopalong replied. +"An' <i>they</i> know all about th' time we killed Trendley +an' wiped out his gang. They won't go where they +are shore we'll look."</p> + +<p>"If I can get sight of one of them Greasers I'll +find out where they are," Red growled. "I'll put +green rawhide around his face if I have to, an' when +he savvys what th' sun is going to do to that hide an' +him, he'll talk, all right, an' be glad of th' chance."</p> + +<p>"To hear you, anybody would think you'd do a +thing like that," Hopalong laughed. "I reckon he'd +drop at eight hundred, clean an' at th' first shot. But, +say, green rawhide wouldn't do a thing to a man's face, +would it! When it shrunk he'd know it, all right."</p><p><span class="pagenum">[230]</span></p> + +<p>"Crush it to a pulp," Skinny remarked. "But +who is going to cook th' supper? I'm starved."</p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p>Hopalong awakened suddenly and listened and found +Red also awake. Hoofbeats were coming towards the +house and Hopalong peered out into the darkness to +see who it was, his Colt ready.</p> + +<p>"Who's that?" he challenged, sharply, the clicks of +his gun ringing clear in the night air.</p> + +<p>"Why, me," replied a well-known voice. "Who'd +you think it was?"</p> + +<p>"Why didn't you stay up in Number Two, like I +told you? What's wrong?"</p> + +<p>"Nothing," Johnny replied, stripping off his saddle +and bridle.</p> + +<p>"An' you came all th' way down here in th' dark, +just to wake us up?" Hopalong asked, incredulously. +"Twenty miles just for that!"</p> + +<p>"No. I ain't got here yet—I'm only half way," +Johnny retorted. "Can't you see I'm here? An' I +didn't care about you waking up. I wanted to get +here, an' here I am."</p> + +<p>"In th' name of heaven, are you drunk, or crazy?" +asked Red. "Of all th' d—n fools I ever—"</p> + +<p>"Oh, shut up, all of you!" growled Skinny, turning +over in his bunk. "Lot of locoed cusses that don't +know enough to keep still! Let th' Kid alone, why +don't you!" he muttered, and was sound asleep again.</p> + +<p>"No, I ain't drunk or crazy! Think I was going to +stay up there when you two fellers are going off scouting<span class="pagenum">[231]</span> +to-morrow? Not by a jugful! I ain't letting nothing +get past me, all right," Johnny rejoined.</p> + +<p>"Well, you ain't a-going, anyhow," muttered Hopalong, +crawling into his bunk again. "You've got to +stay with Skinny—" he did not speak very loud, because +he knew it would cause an argument, and he +wished to sleep instead of talk.</p> + +<p>"What'd you say?" demanded Johnny.</p> + +<p>"For G-d's sake!" marvelled Red. "Can't nobody +go an' scratch 'emselves unless th' Kid is on th' ground? +Come in here an' get to sleep, you coyote!"</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Adown th' road, his gun in hand,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Comes Whiskey Bill, mad Whiskey—<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Johnny hummed. "Hey! What you doing?" he +yelled, leaping back.</p> + +<p>"You heave any more guns on my face an' you'll +find out!" roared Skinny, sitting up and throwing +Johnny's Colt and belt to the floor. "Fool infant!"</p> + +<p>"Tumble in an' shut up!" cried Red. "We want +some sleep, you sage hen!"</p> + +<p>"Yo're a lot of tumble-bugs!" retorted Johnny, indignantly. +"How did I know Skinny had his face +where I threw my gun! He's so cussed thin I can't +hardly see him in daylight, th' chalk mark! Why +didn't he say so? Think I can see in th' dark?"</p> + +<p>"I don't talk in my sleep!" retorted Skinny, "or +go flea-hopping around in th' dark like a—"</p> + +<p>"<i>Shut up!</i>" shouted Hopalong, and silence at last +ensued.</p><hr class="chap" /><p><span class="pagenum">[232]</span></p> + +<h2 id="CHAPTER_XXIII">CHAPTER XXIII</h2> + +<p class="h3">HOPALONG AND RED GO SCOUTING</p> + +<p>As Hopalong and Red rode down the slope of +the Peak the rays of the sun flashed over +the hills, giving promise of a very hot +day. They were prepared to stay several days, if +need be, on the semi-arid plain to the west of them, for +it would be combed thoroughly before they returned. +On they loped, looking keenly over the plain and occasionally +using their field glasses to more closely +scrutinize distant objects, searching the barrancas and +coulees and threading through mesquite and cactus +growths. Hopalong momentarily expected to find +signs of what they were looking for, while Red, according +to his habit, was consistently contradictory in +his words and disproportionately pessimistic.</p> + +<p>Moving forward at a swinging lope they began to +circle to the west and as they advanced Hopalong became +eager and hopeful, while his companion grumbled +more and more. In his heart he believed as Hopalong +did, but there had to be something to talk about to +pass the time more pleasantly; so when they met in<span class="pagenum">[233]</span> +some barranca to ride together for a short distance +they exchanged pleasantries.</p> + +<p>"Yo're showing even more than yore usual amount +of pig-headed ignorance to-day," Hopalong grumbled. +"Yore blasted, ingrowing disposition has been shedding +cussedness at every step. I'll own up to being +some curious as to when it's going to peter out."</p> + +<p>"As if that's any of yore business," retorted Red. +"But I'll just tell you, since you asks; it's going to +stop when I get good an' ready, savvy?"</p> + +<p>"Yo're awful cheerful at times," sarcastically snorted +his companion.</p> + +<p>Red's eyes had been roving over the plain and now +he raised his glasses and looked steadily ahead.</p> + +<p>"What's that out there? Dead cow?" he asked, +calmly.</p> + +<p>Hopalong put his glasses on it instantly. "Cow?" +he asked, witheringly. "No; it's an over-grown lizard! +Come on," he cried, spurring forward, Red close behind +him.</p> + +<p>Riding around it they saw that it bore the brand of +the H2, and Hopalong, dismounting, glanced it over +quickly and swore.</p> + +<p>"Shot in th' head—what did I tell you!"</p> + +<p>"You didn't have to get off yore cayuse to see that," +retorted Red. "But get on again, an' come along. +There's more out here. I'll take th' south end of this—don't +get out of hearing."</p> + +<p>"Wait! Wonder why they shot it, instead of driving<span class="pagenum">[234]</span> +it off after they got it this far?" Hopalong +mused.</p> + +<p>"Got on th' prod, I reckon, leaving its calf an' +being run so hard. I've seen many a one I'd like to +have shot. Looks to me like they hang out around that +water hole—they drove it that way."</p> + +<p>"You can bet yore head they didn't drive it straight +to their hang-out—they ain't doing nothing like that," +Hopalong replied. "They struck south after they +thought they had throwed off any pursuit. They drove +it almost north, so far; savvy?"</p> + +<p>"Well, they've got to have water if they're holding +cows out on this stove," Red rejoined. "An' I just +told you where th' water is."</p> + +<p>"G'wan! Ten cows would drain that hole in two +days!" Hopalong responded. "They've also got to +have grass, though mebby you never knew that. An' +what about that herd Meeker lost? They wouldn't +circle so far to a one-by-nothing water hole like that +one is."</p> + +<p>"Well, then, where'll they find grass an' water out +here?" demanded Red, impatiently. "Th' desert's +west, though mebby you never knew that!"</p> + +<p>"Red, we've been a pair of fools!" Hopalong cried, +slapping his thigh by way of emphasis. "Here we are +skating around up here when Thunder Mesa lays south, +with plenty of water an' a fair pasture on all sides of it! +That's where we'll go."</p> + +<p>"Hoppy, once in a great while you do show some<span class="pagenum">[235]</span> +intelligence, an' you've shown some now; but we better +go up to that water hole first," Red replied. "We +can swing south then. We're so close to it now that +there ain't nothing to be gained by not taking a look +at it. Mebby we'll find a trail, or something."</p> + +<p>"Right you are; come on. There ain't no use of +us riding separate no more."</p> + +<p>Half an hour later Hopalong pointed to one side, +to a few half-burned greasewood and mesquite sticks +which radiated like the spokes of a wheel.</p> + +<p>"Yes, I saw 'em," Red remarked. "They couldn't +wait till they got home before they changed th' brand, +blamed fools."</p> + +<p>"Yes, an' that explains th' HQQ cow I discovered," +Hopalong quickly replied. "They got too blamed +hasty to blot it an' it got away from 'em."</p> + +<p>"Well, it shore beats th' devil how Meeker had to +go an' stir up this nest of rattlers," Red grumbled, +angrily.</p> + +<p>"If these fellers hang out at Thunder Mesa an' +drive to th' railroad camps we ought to strike their +trail purty close to th' water hole," Hopalong remarked. +"It's right in their path."</p> + +<p>Red nodded his head. "Yes, we ought to."</p> + +<p>An hour later they rode around a chaparral and came +within sight of the water hole, which lay a few hundred +yards away. As they did so a man rode up out +of the depression and started north, unconscious of his +danger.</p> + +<p>The two men spurred to overtake him, both drawing<span class="pagenum">[236]</span> +their rifles and getting ready for action. He turned +in his saddle, saw them, and heading westward, quirted +and spurred his horse into a dead run, both of his pursuers +shouting for him to stop as they followed at top +speed. He glanced around again and, seeing that they +were slowly but surely gaining, whipped up his rifle +and fired at them several times, both replying. He +kept bearing more and more to the west and Red rode +away at an angle to intercept him. Ten minutes later +the fleeing man turned and rode north again, but Red +had gained fifty yards over Hopalong and suddenly +stopping his horse to permit better shooting, he took +quick aim and fired. The pursued man found that +his horse was useful only as a breastwork as Red's +report died away, and hastily picked himself up and +crawled behind it.</p> + +<p>"Look out, Red!" warned Hopalong as he flung +himself off his horse and led it down into a deep coulee +for protection. "That's Dick Archer, an' he can +shoot like th' very devil!"</p> + +<p>Red, already in a gully, laughed. "An' so can I."</p> + +<p>"Hey, I'm going around on th' other side—look +out for him," Hopalong called, starting away. "We +can't waste no more time up here than we has to."</p> + +<p>"All right; go ahead," Red replied, pushing his +sombrero over the edge of the gully where the rustler +could see it; and he laughed softly when he saw the +new hole in it. "He shore can shoot, all right," he +muttered. Working down the gully until he came to +a clump of greasewood he crawled up the bank and<span class="pagenum">[237]</span> +looked out at the man behind the dead horse, who was +intently watching the place where he had seen Red's +sombrero. "I knowed Eagle was holding cards in this +game," Red remarked, smiling grimly. "Wonder how +many are in it, anyhow?"</p> + +<p>Hearing the crack of a gun he squinted along the +sights of his Winchester and waited patiently for a +chance to shoot. Then he heard another shot and saw +the rustler raise himself to change his position, and Red +fired. "I knowed, too, that Hoppy would drive him +into range for me, even if he didn't hit him. Wonder +what Mr. Dick Archer thinks about <i>my</i> shooting about +now? Ah!" he cried as the smoke from his second shot +drifted away. "Got you again!" he grunted. Then +he dropped below the edge of the gully and grinned +as he listened to the bullets whining overhead, for the +rustler, wounded twice inside of a minute by one man, +was greatly incensed thereby and petulantly bombarded +the greasewood clump. He knew that he was done for, +but that was no reason why he shouldn't do as much +damage as he could while he was able.</p> + +<p>"Bet he's mad," grinned Red. "An' there goes +that Sharps—I could tell Hoppy's gun in a fusillade."</p> + +<p>Crawling back up the gully to his first position Red +peered out between some gramma grass tufts and again +slid his rifle to his shoulder, laughing softly at the regular +reports of the Sharps.</p> + +<p>A puff of smoke enveloped his head and drifted behind +him as he worked the lever of his rifle and, arising,<span class="pagenum">[238]</span> +he walked out towards the prostrate man and waved for +his friend to join him. As he drew near the rustler +struggled up on one elbow, and Red, running forward +with his gun raised half-way to his shoulder, cried: +"Don't make no gun-play, or I'll blow you apart! +Where's th' rest of yore gang?"</p> + +<p>"Go to h—l!" coughed the other, trying to get his +Colt out, for his rifle was empty. He stiffened and fell +flat.</p> + +<p>Ten minutes later Hopalong and Red were riding +southwest along a plain and well beaten trail, both silent +and thoughtful. And at the end of an hour they saw +the ragged top of Thunder Mesa towering against the +horizon. They went forward cautiously now and took +advantage of the unevenness of the plain, riding +through barrancas and keeping close to chaparrals.</p> + +<p>"Well, Red, I reckon we better stop," Hopalong +remarked at last, his glasses glued to his eyes. "No use +letting them see us."</p> + +<p>"Is that smoke up there?" asked Red.</p> + +<p>"Yes; an' there's somebody moving around near th' +edge."</p> + +<p>"I see him now."</p> + +<p>"I reckon we know all that's necessary," Hopalong +remarked. "That trail is enough, anyhow. Now we've +got to get back to th' ranch without letting them fellers +see us."</p> + +<p>"We can lead th' cayuses till we can get in that barranca +back there," Red replied. "We won't stick up +so prominent if we do that. After we make it we'll<span class="pagenum">[239]</span> +find it easy to keep from being seen if we've any caution."</p> + +<p>Hopalong threw himself out of the saddle. "Dismount!" +he cried. "That feller up there is coming +towards this end. He's their lookout, I bet."</p> + +<p>They remained hidden and quiet for an hour while +the lookout gazed around the plain, both impatient and +angry at the time he gave to his examination. When +he turned and disappeared they waited for a few minutes +to see if he was coming back, and satisfied that the +way was clear, led their horses to the barranca and +rode through it until far enough away to be safe from +observation.</p> + +<p>Darkness caught them before they had covered half +of the distance between the mesa and the ranch, and +there being no moon to light the way, they picketed their +mounts, had supper, and rolling up in their blankets, +spent the night on the open plain.</p><hr class="chap" /><p><span class="pagenum">[240]</span></p> + +<h2 id="CHAPTER_XXIV">CHAPTER XXIV</h2> + +<p class="h3">RED'S DISCOMFITURE</p> + +<p>On their return they separated and Red, coming +to an arroyo, rode along its edge for a +mile and then turned north. Ten minutes +after he had changed his course he espied an indistinct +black speck moving among a clump of cottonwoods over +half a mile ahead of him, and as he swung his glasses +on it a cloud of smoke spurted out. His horse reared, +plunged, and then sank to earth where it kicked spasmodically +and lay quiet. As the horse died Red, who +had dismounted at the first tremor, threw himself down +behind it and shoved his rifle across the body, swearing +at the range, for at that distance his Winchester was +useless. A small handful of sand flew into the air close +beside him with a vicious spat, and the bullet hummed +away into the brush as a small pebble struck him sharply +on the cheek. A few seconds later he heard the faint, +flat report.</p> + +<p>"It's a clean thousand, an' more," he growled. +"Wish I had Hopalong's gun. I'd make that feller +jump!"</p> + +<p>He looked around to see how close he was to cover and<span class="pagenum">[241]</span> +when he glanced again at the cottonwoods they seemed +to be free of an enemy. Then a shot came from a +point to the north of the trees and thudded into the +carcass of the horse. Red suddenly gave way to his +accumulated anger which now seethed at a white heat +and, scrambling to his feet, ran to the brush behind him. +When he gained it he plunged forward to top speed, +leaping from cover to cover as he zig-zagged towards +the man who had killed Ginger, and who had tried his +best to kill him.</p> + +<p>He ran on and on, his rifle balanced in his right hand +and ready for instant use, his breath coming sharply +now. Red was in no way at home out of the saddle. +His high-heeled, tight-fitting boots cramped his toes and +the sand made running doubly hard. He was not far +from the cottonwoods; they lay before him and to his +right.</p> + +<p>Turning quickly he went north, so as to go around +the plot of ground on which he hoped to find his accurate, +long-range assailant, and as he came to a break +in the hitherto close-growing brush he stopped short and +dropped to one knee behind a hillock of sand, the rifle +going to his shoulder as part of the movement.</p> + +<p>Several hundred yards east of him he saw two men, +who were hastily mounting, and running from them was +a frightened calf. One of the pair waved an arm towards +the place where Ginger lay and as he did so a +puff of smoke lazily arose from behind the hillock of +sand to the west and he jumped up in his saddle, his +left arm falling to his side. Another puff of smoke<span class="pagenum">[242]</span> +arose and his companion fought his wounded and frightened +horse, and then suddenly grasped his side and +groaned. The puffs were rising rapidly behind the hillock +and bullets sang sharply about them; the horse of +the first man hit leaped forward with a bullet-stung +rump. Spurring madly the two rustlers dashed into +the brush, lying close along the necks of their mounts, +and soon were lost to the sight of the angry marksman.</p> + +<p>Red leaped up, mechanically refilling the magazine +of his rifle, and watched them out of sight, helpless +either to stop or pursue them. He shook his rifle, almost +blind with rage, crying: "I hope you get to +Thunder Mesa before <i>we</i> do, an' stay there; or run into +Frenchy an' his men on yore way back! If I could +get to Number Two ahead of you you'd never cross that +boundary."</p> + +<p>As he returned to his horse his rage cooled and left +him, a quiet, deep animosity taking its place, and he +even smiled with savage elation when he thought how +he had shot at eight hundred yards—they had not escaped +entirely free from punishment and his accuracy +had impressed them so much that they had not lingered +to have it out with him, even as they were two to one, +mounted, and armed with long-range rifles. And he +could well allow them to escape, for he would find them +again at the mesa, if they managed to cross the line +unseen by his friends, and he could pay the debt there.</p> + +<p>He swore when he came to the body of his horse and +anger again took possession of him. Ginger had been<span class="pagenum">[243]</span> +the peer of any animal on the range and, contrary to +custom, he had felt no little affection for it. At cutting +out it had been unequalled and made the work a pleasure +to its rider; at stopping when the rope went home and +turning short when on the dead run it had not been +excelled by any horse on the ranch. He had taught +it several tricks, such as coming to him in response to +a whistle, lying down quickly at a slap on the shoulder, +and bucking with whole-hearted zeal and viciousness +when mounted by a stranger. Now he slapped the carcass +and removed the saddle and bridle which had so +often displeased it.</p> + +<p>"Ginger, old boy," he said, slinging the forty-pound +saddle to his shoulder and turning to begin his long +tramp towards the dam, "I shore hate to hoof it, but +I'd do it with a lot better temper if I knowed you was +munching grass with th' rest of the cavvieyh. You've +been a good old friend, an' I hates to leave you; but if I +get any kind of a chance at th' thief that plugged you +I'll square up for you good an' plenty."</p> + +<p>To the most zealous for exercise, carrying a forty-pound +double-cinched saddle for over five miles across a +hot, sandy plain and under a blazing, scorching sun, with +the cinches all the time working loose and falling to +drag behind and catch in the vegetation, was no pleasant +task; and add to that a bridle, full magazine rifle, field +glasses, canteen, and a three-pound Colt revolver swinging +from a belt heavily weighted with cartridges, and it +becomes decidedly irksome, to say the least. Red's temper +can be excused when it is remembered that for years<span class="pagenum">[244]</span> +his walking had been restricted to getting to his horse, +that his footwear was unsuited for walking, that he +had been shot at and had lost his best horse. Each mile +added greatly to his weariness and temper and by the +time he caught sight of Hopalong, who rode recklessly +over the range blazing at a panic-stricken coyote, he +was near the point of spontaneous combustion.</p> + +<p>He heaved the saddle from him, kicked savagely at it +as it dropped, for which he was instantly sorry, and +straightened his back slowly for fear that any sudden +exertion would break it. His rifle exploded, twice, thrice; +and Hopalong sat bolt upright and turned, his rifle +going instinctively to his shoulder before he saw his +friend's waving sombrero.</p> + +<p>The coyote-chaser slid the smoking Sharps into its +sheath and galloped to meet his friend who, filling the +air with sulphurous remarks, now seated himself on the +roundly cursed saddle.</p> + +<p>Hopalong swept up and stopped, grinning expectantly +and, to Red, exasperatingly. "Where's yore +cayuse?" he asked. "Why are you toting yore possessions +on th' hoof? Are you emigrating?"</p> + +<p>Red's reply was a look wonderfully expressive of all +the evils in human nature, it was fairly crowded with +murder and torture, and Hopalong held his head on one +side while he weighed it.</p> + +<p>"Phew!" he exclaimed in wondering awe. "Yo're +shore mad! You'd freeze old Geronimo's blood if he +saw that look!"</p><p><span class="pagenum">[245]</span></p> + +<p>"An' I'll freeze yourn; I'll let it soak into th' sand +if you don't change yore front!" blazed Red.</p> + +<p>"What's the matter? Where's Ginger?"</p> + +<p>A rapid-fire string of expletives replied and then +Hopalong began to hear sensible words, which more and +more interspersed the profanity, and it was not long +before he learned of Red's ride along the arroyo's rim.</p> + +<p>"When I turned north," Red continued, wrathfully, +"I saw something in them dozen cottonwoods around +that come-an'-go spring; an' then what do you think +happened?" he cried. Not waiting for any reply he +continued hastily: "Why, some murdering squaw's dog +went an' squibbed at me at long range! With me on my +own ranch, too! An' he killed Ginger first shot. He +missed me three straight an' <i>I</i> couldn't do nothing at a +thousand an' over with this gun."</p> + +<p>"Th' d—n pirate!" exclaimed Hopalong, hotly.</p> + +<p>"I was a whole lot mad by that time, so I jumped +back into th' brush an' ran for th' grove, hoping to get +square when I got in range. After I'd run about a +thousand miles I came to th' edge of th' clearing west +of th' trees an' d——d if I didn't see two fellers climbing +on their cayuses, an' some hasty, too. Reckon they +didn't know how many friends I might have behind me. +Well, I was some shaky from running like I did, an' they +was a good eight hundred away, but I let drive just th' +same an' got one in th' arm, th' other somewhere else, +an' hit both of their cayuses. I wish I'd 'a filled 'em so +full of holes they couldn't hang together, th' thieves!"</p><p><span class="pagenum">[246]</span></p> + +<p>"I'd shore like to go after them, Red," Hopalong +remarked. "We could ride west an' get 'em when they +pass that water hole if you had a cayuse."</p> + +<p>"Oh, we'll get 'em, all right—at th' mesa," Red +rejoined. "I'm so tired I wouldn't go now if I could. +Walking all th' way down here with that saddle! You +get off that cayuse an' let me ride him," he suggested, +mopping his face with his sleeve.</p> + +<p>"What! Me? <i>Me</i> get off an' walk! I reckon +not!" replied Hopalong, and then his face softened. +"You pore, unfortunate cow-punch," he said, sympathetically. +"You toss up yore belongings an' climb +up here behind me. I'll take you to th' dam, where +Johnny has picketed his cayuse. Th' Kid's going in +for a swim; said he didn't know how soon he'd get a +chance to take a bath. We can rustle his cayuse for a +joke—come on."</p> + +<p>"Oh, wait a minute, can't you?" Red replied, wearily. +"I can't lift my legs high enough to get up +there—they're like lead. That trail was hell strung +out."</p> + +<p>"You should 'a cached yore saddle an' everything +but th' gun an' come down light," Hopalong remarked. +"Or you could a' gone to th' line an' waited for somebody +to come along. Why didn't you do that?"</p> + +<p>"I ain't leaving that saddle nowhere," Red responded. +"Besides I was too blamed mad to stop an' think."</p> + +<p>"Well, don't wait very long—Johnny may skin out +if you do," Hopalong replied, and then, suddenly: +"Just where was it you shot at them snakes?"<span class="pagenum">[247]</span> +Red told him and Hopalong wheeled as if to ride +after them.</p> + +<p>"Here, you!" cried Red, the horseless. "Where th' +devil are you going so sudden?"</p> + +<p>"Up to get them cow-lifters that you couldn't, of +course," his companion replied. "I'm shore going to +show you how easy it is when you know how."</p> + +<p>"Like h—l you are!" Red cried, springing up, his +lariat in his hand. "Yo're going to stay right here +with me, that's what yo're going to do! I've got something +for you to do, you compact bundle of gall! You +try to get away without me and I'll make you look like +an interrupted spasm, you wart-headed Algernon!"</p> + +<p>"Do you want 'em to get plumb away?" cried the +man in the saddle, concealing his mirth.</p> + +<p>"I want you to stick right here an' tote me to a +cayuse!" Red retorted, swinging the rope. "<i>I'm</i> going +to be around when anybody goes after them Siwashes, +an' don't you forget it. There ain't no hurry—we'll +get 'em quick enough when we starts west. An' if you +try any get-away play an' leave me out here on my two +feet with all these contraptions, I'll pick you off'n that +piebald like hell greased with calamity!"</p> + +<p>Hopalong laughed heartily. "Why, I was only a-fooling, +Red. Do you reckon I'd go away an' leave +you standing out here like a busted-down pack mule?"</p> + +<p>"I hoped you was only fooling, but I wasn't taking +no chances with a cuss like you," Red replied, grinning. +"Not with this load of woe, you bet."</p> + +<p>"Say, it's too bad you didn't have my gun up there,"<span class="pagenum">[248]</span> +Hopalong said, regretfully. "You could 'a got 'em +both then, an' had two cayuses to ride home on."</p> + +<p>"Well, <i>I</i> could 'a got 'em with it," Red replied, +grinning, his good nature returning under the chaffing. +"But you can't hit th' mesa with it over six hundred. +They'd 'a got away from you without getting hit."</p> + +<p>Hopalong laughed derisively and then sobered and +became anxious. "Yo're right, Red, yo're right," he +asserted with tender solicitude. "Now you get right +up here behind me an' I'll take you to th' dam where +th' Kid is. Pore feller," he sighed. "Well, I ain't a-wondering +after all you've been through. It was +enough to make a <i>strong</i>-minded man loco." He smiled +reassuringly. "Now climb right up behind me, Reddie. +Gimme yore little saddle an' yore no-account gun—Ouch!"</p> + +<p>"I'll give you th' butt of it again if you don't act +like you've made th' best of them gravy brains!" Red +snorted. "Here, you lop-eared cow-wrastler—catch +this!" throwing the saddle so sudden and hard that +Hopalong almost lost his balance from the impact. +"Now you gimme a little room in front of th' tail—I +ain't no blasted fly."</p> + +<p>Hopalong gave his friend a hand and Red landed +across the horse's back, to the instant and strong dislike +of that animal, which showed its displeasure by bucking +mildly.</p> + +<p>"Glory be!" cried Hopalong, laughing. "Riding +double on a bucking hinge ain't no play, is it? Suppose<span class="pagenum">[249]</span> +he felt like pitching real strong—where would +you be with that tail holt?"</p> + +<p>"You bump my nose again with th' back of yore +head an' you'll see how much play it is!" Red retorted. +"Come on—pull out. We ain't glued fast. Th' +world moves, all right, but if yo're counting on it sliding +under you till th' dam comes around you're way +off; it ain't moving that way. Hey! Stop that spurring!"</p> + +<p>"I'll hook 'em in you again if you don't shut up!" +Hopalong promised, jabbing them into the horse, which +gave one farewell kick, to Red's disgust, and cantered +south with ears flattened.</p> + +<p>"Whoop! I'm riding again!" Red exulted.</p> + +<p>"I'm glad it wasn't Red Eagle they went an' killed," +Hopalong remarked.</p> + +<p>"Red Eagle!" snorted Red, indignantly. "What +good is this cayuse, anyhow? Ginger was worth three +like this."</p> + +<p>"Well, if you don't like this cayuse you can get off +an' hoof it, you know," Hopalong retorted. "But I'll +tell you what you know a'ready; there ain't no cayuse +in this part of th' country that can lose him in long-distance +running. He ain't no fancy, parlor animal +like Ginger was; he don't know how to smoke a cig or +wash dishes, or do any of th' fool things yore cayuse +did, but he is right on th' job when it comes to going +hard an' long. An' it's them two things that tell how +much a cayuse is worth, down here in this country. If<span class="pagenum">[250]</span> +I could 'a jumped on him up there when they made +their get-away from you, me an' th' Sharps would 'a +fixed 'em. They wouldn't be laughing now at how easy +you was."</p> + +<p>"They ain't laughing, not a bit of it—an' they +won't even be able to swear after I get out to th' mesa," +Red asserted. "Have you seen Buck, or anybody 'cept +th' Kid?"</p> + +<p>"Yes. I told Buck an' Frenchy about it, an' Skinny, +too," Hopalong replied. "Buck an' Frenchy went +north along th' west line to get th' boys from Number +Two. Buck says we'll go after 'em just as soon as we +can get ready, which most of us are now. Pore Lanky; +he's got to stay home an' pet his wounds—Buck said +he couldn't go."</p> + +<p>"Did Buck say who was going an' who was going to +stay home?"</p> + +<p>"Yes; you, Johnny, Billy, Pete, Skinny, Frenchy, +me, Buck, an' Pie Willis are going—th' rest will have +to watch th' ranch. That makes nine of us. Wonder +how many are up that mesa?"</p> + +<p>"There'll be plenty, don't you worry," Red replied. +"When we go after anybody we generally has to mix +up with a whole company. I wouldn't be a whole lot +surprised if they give us an awful fight before they +peter out. They'll be up in th' air a hundred feet. +We'll have plenty to do, all right."</p> + +<p>"Well, two won't be there, anyhow—Archer an' +Juan. I bet we'll find most of th' people of Eagle up +there waiting for us."</p><p><span class="pagenum">[251]</span></p> + +<p>"Lord, I hope they are!" cried Red. "Then we +can clean up everything at once, town an' all."</p> + +<p>"There's th' Kid—see th' splash?" Hopalong +laughed. "He shore is stuck on swimming. He don't +care if there's cotton-mouths in there with him. One +of them snakes will get him some day, an' if one does, +then we'll plant him, quick."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I dunno. I ain't seen none at th' dam," Red +replied. "They don't like th' sand there as much as +they do th' mud up at th' other end, an' along th' sides. +Gee! There's his cayuse!"</p> + +<p>Johnny dove out of sight, turned over and came up +again, happy as a lark, and saw his friends riding towards +him, and he trod water and grinned. "Hullo, +fellers. Coming in?—it's fine! Hey, Red. We're +all going out to Thunder Mesa as soon as we can! But +what are you riding double for? Where's yore +cayuse?" Something in Red's expression made him +suspicious of his friends' intentions and, fearing that +he might have to do some walking, he made a few quick +strokes and climbed out, dressing as rapidly as his wet +skin would permit.</p> + +<p>Red briefly related his experience and Johnny swore +as he struggled through his shirt. "What are you +going to do?" he asked, poking his head out into sight.</p> + +<p>"I'm going to ride yore cayuse to th' line house—you +ain't as tired as me," replied Red.</p> + +<p>"Not while I'm alive, you ain't!" cried Johnny, running +to his horse. Then he grinned and went back to +his clothes. "You take him an' rope th' cayuse I saw<span class="pagenum">[252]</span> +down in that barranca—there's two of 'em there, both +belonging to Meeker. But you be shore to come +back!"</p> + +<p>"Shore, Kid," Red replied, vaulting into the saddle +and riding away.</p> + +<p>Johnny fastened his belt around him and looked up. +"Say, Hoppy," he laughed, "Buck said Cowan sent +my new gun down to th' bunk house yesterday. He's +going to bring it with him when he comes down to-morrow. +But I only got fifty cartridges for it—will you +lend me some of yourn if I run short?"</p> + +<p>"Where did Cowan get it?"</p> + +<p>"Why, don't you remember he said he'd get me one +like yourn th' next time he went north? He got back +yesterday—bought it off some feller up on th' XS. +Cost me twenty-five dollars without th' cartridges. But +I've got fifty empties I can load when I get time, so +I'll be all right later on. Will you lend me some?"</p> + +<p>"Fifty is enough, you chump," laughed Hopalong. +"You won't get that many good chances out there."</p> + +<p>"I know; but I want to practise a little. It'll shoot +flatter than my Winchester," Johnny grinned, hardly +able to keep from riding to the bunk house to get his +new gun.</p> + +<p>Red rode up leading a horse. "That's a good rope, +Kid, 'though th' hondo is purty heavy," he said, saddling +the captured animal. "Is Buck going to bring down +any food an' cartridges when he comes?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"Yes; three cayuses will pack 'em. We can send +back for more if we stay out there long enough to need<span class="pagenum">[253]</span> +more. Buck says that freak spring up on top flows +about half a mile through th' chaparral before it peters +out. What do you know about it, Red?" Hopalong +asked.</p> + +<p>"Seems to me that he's right. I think it flows +through a twisting arroyo. But there'll be water +enough for us, all right."</p> + +<p>"I got a .45-120 Sharps just like Hopalong's, Red," +Johnny grinned. "He said he'd lend me fifty cartridges +for it, didn't you, Hoppy?"</p> + +<p>"Well, I'll be blamed!" exclaimed Hopalong. +"First thing <i>I</i> knowed about it, if I did. I tell you +you won't need 'em."</p> + +<p>"Where'd you get it?" asked Red.</p> + +<p>"Cowan got it. I told you all about it three weeks +ago."</p> + +<p>"Well, you better give it back an' use yore Winchester," +replied Red. "It ain't no good, an' you'll +shoot some of us with it, too. What do <i>you</i> want with +a gun that'll shoot eighteen hundred? You can't hit +anything now above three hundred."</p> + +<p>"Yo're another—I can, an' you know it, too. Three +hundred!" he snorted. "Huh! Here comes Skinny!"</p> + +<p>Skinny rode up and joined them, all going to the +Peak. Finally he turned and winked at Johnny.</p> + +<p>"Hey, Kid. Hopalong ought to go right down to +th' H2 while he's got time. He hadn't ought to go off +fighting without saying good-bye to his girl, had +he?"</p> + +<p>"She'd keep him home—wouldn't let him take no<span class="pagenum">[254]</span> +chances of getting shot," Red asserted. "Anyhow, if +he went down there he'd forget to come back."</p> + +<p>"Ow-wow!" cried Johnny. "You hit him! You hit +him! Look at his face!"</p> + +<p>"He shore can't do no courting while he's away," +Skinny remarked. "He wouldn't let Red go with him +when he went to give Meeker th' shovel, an' I didn't +know why till just now."</p> + +<p>"You go to blazes, all of you!" exclaimed Hopalong, +red and uncomfortable. "I ain't doing no courting, +you chump! An' Red knows why I went down +there alone."</p> + +<p>"Yes; you gave me a fool reason, an' went alone," +Red retorted. "An' if that ain't courting, for th' +Lord's sake what is it? Or is she doing all of it, you +being bashful?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, Hoppy; tell us what it is," asked Skinny.</p> + +<p>"Oh, don't mind them, Hoppy; they're jealous," +Johnny interposed. "Don't you make no excuses, not +one. Admit that yo're courting an' tell 'em that yo're +going to keep right on a-doing it an' get all th' honey +you can."</p> + +<p>Red and Skinny grinned and Hopalong, swearing at +Johnny, made a quick grab for him, but missed, for +Johnny knew the strength of that grip. "I ain't courting! +I'm only trying to—trying to be—sociable; +that's all!"</p> + +<p>"Sociable!" yelled Red. "Oh, Lord!"</p> + +<p>"It must be nice to be sociable," replied Johnny. +"Since you ain't courting, an' are only trying to be<span class="pagenum">[255]</span> +sociable, then you won't care if we go down an' try it. +Me for th' H2!"</p> + +<p>"You bet; an' I'm going down, too," asserted Red, +who was very much afraid of women, and who wouldn't +have called on Mary Meeker for a hundred dollars.</p> + +<p>Hopalong knew his friend's weakness and he quickly +replied: "Red, I dare you to do that. I dare you to +go down there an' talk to her for five minutes. When +I say talk, I don't mean stammer. I dare you!"</p> + +<p>"Do you dare <i>me</i>?" asked Johnny, quickly, glancing +at the sun to see how much time he had.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I ain't got time," replied Red, grinning.</p> + +<p>"You ain't got th' nerve, you mean," jeered Skinny.</p> + +<p>"I dare you, Red," Hopalong repeated, grimly.</p> + +<p>"I asked you if you dared <i>me?</i>" hastily repeated +Johnny.</p> + +<p>"<i>You!</i> Not on yore life, Kid. But you stay away +from there!" Hopalong warned.</p> + +<p>"Gee—wish you'd lend me them cartridges," sighed +Johnny. "Mebbe Meeker has got some he ain't so +stingy with," he added, thoughtfully.</p> + +<p>"I'll lend you th' cartridges, Kid," Hopalong offered. +"But you stay away from th' H2. D'y hear?"</p><hr class="chap" /><p><span class="pagenum">[256]</span></p> + +<h2 id="CHAPTER_XXV">CHAPTER XXV</h2> + +<p class="h3">ANTONIO'S REVENGE</p> + +<p>While Red had been trudging southward +under his saddle and other possessions a +scene was being enacted on a remote part +of the H2 range which showed how completely a cowboy +leased his very life to the man who paid him his +monthly wage, one which serves to illustrate in a way +how a ranchman was almost a feudal lord. There are +songs of men who gave up their lives to save their fellows, +one life for many, and they are well sung; but +what of him who risks his life to save one small, insignificantly +small portion of his employer's possessions, +risks it without hesitation or fear, as a part of his daily +work? What of the man who, not content with taking +his share of danger in blizzard, fire, and stampede, on +drive, roundup, and range-riding, leaps fearlessly at the +risk of his life to save a paltry head or two of cattle +to his ranch's tally sheet? Such men were the rule, and +such a one was Curley, who, with all his faults, was a +man as a man should be.</p> + +<p>Following out his orders he rode his part of the range +with alertness, and decided to explore the more remote<span class="pagenum">[257]</span> +southwestern angle of the ranch. Doc had left him an +hour before to search the range nearer Eagle and would +not be back again until time to return to the ranch +house for the night. This was against Meeker's orders, +for they had been told to keep together for their own +protection, but they had agreed that there was little +risk and that it would be better to separate and cover +more ground.</p> + +<p>The day was bright and, with the exception of the +heat, all he could desire. His spirits bubbled over in +snatches of song as he cantered hither and yon, but all +the time moving in the general direction of the little-ridden +territory. On all sides stretched the same monotonous +view, sage brush, mesquite, cactus, scattered +tufts of grass, and the brown plain, endless, flat, wearying.</p> + +<p>The surroundings did not depress him, but only gradually +slowed the exultant surge of his blood and, as he +hummed at random, an old favorite came to him out of +the past, and he sung it joyously:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">My taste is that of an aristocrat,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">My purse that of a pauper:<br /></span> +<span class="i0">I scorn the gold her parents hold—<br /></span> +<span class="i2">But shore I love their daughter.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Hey de diddle de, hey de dee,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">But shore I love their daughter.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">When silvery nights my courting light<br /></span> +<span class="i2">An' souls of flowers wander,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Then who's to blame if I loved th' game<br /></span> +<span class="i2">An' did not pause to ponder?<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Hey de diddle de, hey de dee,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">An' did not pause to ponder.<br /></span> +<span class="pagenum">[258]</span></div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Her eyes are blue, an' oh, so true—<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Th' words were said ere thought, Lad.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Her father swore we'd meet no more—<br /></span> +<span class="i2">But I am not distraught, Lad.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Hey de diddle de, hey de de—<br /></span> +<span class="i2">But I am not distraught, Lad.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>He ceased abruptly, rigidly erect, staring straight +ahead as the significance of the well trodden trail impressed +itself on his mind. He was close to the edge of +a steep-walled basin; and leading to it was a narrow, +steep gully, down which the beaten trail went. Riding +closer he saw that two poles were set close to the wall +of the gully, and from one of them dangled a short, +frayed hempen rope. There was a water hole in the +basin, surrounded by a muddy flat, and everywhere were +the tracks of cattle.</p> + +<p>As he hesitated to decide whether or not it would be +worth while to ride through the depression he chanced +to look south, and the question decided itself. Spurring +savagely, he leaned forward in the saddle, the wind +playing a stern song in his ears, a call to battle for his +ranch, his pride, and his hatred for foul work. He felt +the peculiar, compelling delight, the surging, irresistible +intoxication of his kind for fighting, the ecstasy of the +blood lust, handed down from his Saxon forefathers.</p> + +<p>A mile ahead of him was a small herd of cattle, being +driven west by two men. Did he stop to return to the +ranch for assistance? Did he count the odds? Not he, +for he saw the perpetrators of the insults he and his +companions had chafed under—the way was clear, the +quarry plain, and he asked naught else.</p><p><span class="pagenum">[259]</span></p> + +<p>They saw him coming—one of them raised a pair of +glasses to his eyes and looked closely at him and from +him all around the plain. All the time they were driving +the cattle harder, shouting and whipping about them +with their rawhide quirts; and constantly nearer came +the cowboy, now standing up in his stirrups and lashing +his straining mount without mercy. Soon he thought +he recognized one of the herders, and he flung the name +on the whistling wind in one contemptuous shout: "<i>Antonio!</i> +D—n his soul!" and fell to beating the horse +all the harder.</p> + +<p>It was Antonio, and a puff of smoke arose from the +Mexican's shoulder and streaked behind, soon followed +by another. Curley knew the rifle, a .40-90 Sharps, and +did not waste a shot, for he must be on equal terms before +he could hope to cope with it. Another puff, then +another and another, but still he was not hit. Now he +drew his own rifle from its holster and hazarded a shot, +but to no avail. Then the second herder, who had not +as yet fired, snatching the rifle from Antonio's hands and, +checking his horse, leaped off and rested the weapon +across the saddle. Taking deliberate aim, he fired, and +Curley pitched out of the saddle as his horse stumbled +and fell. The rider scrambled to his feet, dazed and +hurt, and ran to his horse, but one look told the story and +he ended the animal's misery with a shot from his Colt.</p> + +<p>The herder and the cattle were rapidly growing smaller +in the distance but the Mexican rode slowly around the +man on foot, following the circumference of a large +circle and shooting with calm deliberation. The bullets<span class="pagenum">[260]</span> +hummed and whined viciously past the H2 puncher, kicking +up the dust in little spurts, and cold ferocity filled +his heart as he realized the rustler's purpose. He raised +his own rifle and fired—and leaded the barrel. When +he had fallen the barrel had become choked with sand +and dust and he was at the mercy of his gloating enemy, +who would now wipe out the insult put upon him at the +bunk house. Slowly Antonio rode and carefully he fired +and then, seeing that there was something wrong with +Curley's rifle, which the puncher threw aside, he drew +closer, determined to shoot him to pieces.</p> + +<p>Curley was stung with rage now. He knew that it +was only a question of waiting until the right bullet +came, and scorning to hug the sand for the "Greaser" +he held in such contempt, and vaguely realizing that such +an act would not change the result, he put all his faith +in a dash. He ran swiftly towards his astonished enemy, +who expected him to seek what cover the dead horse +would give him, Colt in hand, cursing at every jump +and hoping to be spared long enough to get within +range with his six-shooter, if only for one shot. Antonio +did not like this close work and cantered away, glancing +back from time to time. When Curley finally was forced +to stop because of exhaustion the rider also stopped and +slipped off his horse to have a rest for the rifle. Curley +emptied the Colt in a futile, enraged effort to make a +lucky hit while his enemy calmly aimed from across the +saddle. Hastily reloading the Colt as he ran, the +puncher dashed forward again, zig-zagging to avoid being +hit. There was a puff of gray smoke, but Curley<span class="pagenum">[261]</span> +did not hear the report. He threw one arm half up as +if to ward off the shot and pitched forward, face down +in the dust, free from all pain and strife.</p> + +<p>Antonio fired again and then cautiously drew nearer +to his victim, the rifle at the ready. Turning shortly +he made a quick grab at his horse, fearing that it might +leave him on foot to be caught by some wandering H2 +puncher. Springing into the saddle he rode forward +warily to get a closer look at the man he had murdered, +proud of his work, but fearful that Curley was playing +dead.</p> + +<p>When assured that he had nothing to fear from the +prostrate form, he rode close. "Knock me down, will +you!" he gritted, urging the horse to trample on the +body, which the animal refused to do. "Call me an unwashed +Greaser coyote, hey! Come out looking for us, +did you? Well, you found us, all right, but a h—l of +a lot of good it did you, you American dog! You ain't +saying a word, are you, you carrion? You ain't got +no smart come-back now, an' you ain't throwing no wash +water on me, are you?"</p> + +<p>He started and looked around nervously, fearful that +he might be caught and left lying on the sand as he +had left Curley. One or two of the H2 outfit carried +single-shot rifles which shot as far if not farther than his +own, and the owners of them knew how to shoot. Wheeling +abruptly he galloped after the herd, looking back +constantly and thinking only of putting as great a distance +as possible between himself and the scene of the +killing.</p><p><span class="pagenum">[262]</span></p> + +<p>A lizard crawled out of a hillock and stared steadily +at the quiet figure and then, making a tentative sortie, +disappeared under the sand; but the man who had sung +so buoyantly did not mind it, he lay wrapped in the +Sleep Eternal. He had died as he had lived, fearlessly +and without a whimper.</p> + +<p>Late in the afternoon Doc Riley, sweeping on a circling +course, rode through chaparrals, alert even after +his fruitless search, looking around on all sides, and wondered +if Curley and he would meet before they reached +the ranch proper. Suddenly something caught his eye +and he stood up in the stirrups to see it better, a ready +curse leaping from his lips. He could not make out +who it was, but he had fears and he spurred forward as +hard as he could go. Then he saw the horse and knew.</p> + +<p>Riding close to the figure so as to be absolutely sure, +he knew beyond a hope of mistake and looked around +the plain, his expression malevolent and murderous.</p> + +<p>"Curley! Curley!" he cried, leaping off his horse +and placing a heavy, kindly hand on the broad, sloping +shoulder of the man who had been his best friend for +years. "So they got you, lad! They got you! In +God's name, why did I leave you?" he cried in bitter self-condemnation. +"It's my fault, it's my fault, lad!" +He straightened up suddenly and glared around through +tear-dimmed eyes. "<i>But by th' living God I'll pay them +for this,</i> I'll pay them for this! D—n their murdering +souls!"</p> + +<p>He caught sight of an empty cartridge shell and +snatched it up eagerly. ".40-90, by G-d! That's<span class="pagenum">[263]</span> +Antonio's! Curley, my lad, I'll get him for you—an' +when I <i>do</i>! I'll send his soul to th' blackest pit in h—l, +an' send it <i>slow!</i>"</p> + +<p>He noticed and followed the tracks in the sand, reading +them easily. He found the Winchester and quickly +learned its story, which told him the whole thing. Returning +to the body of his friend he sat by it quietly, +looking down at it for several minutes, his sombrero in +his hand.</p> + +<p>"Well, wishing won't do no good," he muttered, dismounting. +"I'll take you home, lad, an' see you put +down too deep for coyotes to bother you. An' I'll +square yore scores or join you trying."</p> + +<p>He lifted the body across the withers of his horse and +picked up the Colt. Mounting, he rode at a walk towards +the bunk house, afire with rage and sorrow.</p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p>For the third time Meeker strode to the door of the +bunk house and looked out into the darkness, uneasy +and anxious. Chick sauntered over to him and leaned +against the frame of the door. "They'll show up +purty soon, Jim," he remarked.</p> + +<p>"Yes. I reckon so—Salem!" the foreman called. +"Put their grub where it'll keep warm."</p> + +<p>"Aye, aye, sir. I was just thinking I ought to. +They're late, ain't they, sir?" he asked. "An' it's +dark, too," he added, gratis.</p> + +<p>"Why, is it, Salem?" queried Dan, winking at Jack +Curtis, but Salem disappeared into the gallery.</p> + +<p>"Listen!—I hear 'em!" exclaimed Chick.</p><p><span class="pagenum">[264]</span></p> + +<p>"You hear one of 'em," corrected Meeker, turning to +the table to finish drinking his coffee. "Hey, Salem! +Never mind warming that grub—rustle it in here. +One of 'em's here, an' he'll be starved, too."</p> + +<p>Suddenly Chick started back with an exclamation as +Doc Riley loomed up in the light of the door, carrying +a body over his shoulder. Stepping into the room while +his friends leaped to their feet in amazement and incredulity, +he lowered his burden to a bench and faced them, +bloody and furious.</p> + +<p>"What's th' matter?" exclaimed Meeker, the first to +find his voice, leaping forward and dropping the cup to +the floor. "Who did that?"</p> + +<p>Doc placed his sombrero over the upturned face and +ripped out a savage reply. "Antonio! Yore broncho-buster! +Th' snake that's raising all th' devil on this +range! Here—see for yoreself!" tossing the cartridge +shell to his foreman, who caught it clumsily, +looked at it, and then handed it to Dan. Exclamations +and short, fierce questions burst from the others, who +crowded up to see the shell.</p> + +<p>"Tell me about it, Doc," requested Meeker, pacing +from wall to wall.</p> + +<p>"He was shot down like a dog!" Doc cried, his rage +sweeping over him anew in all its savagery. "I saw th' +whole thing in th' sand, plain as day. Th' Greaser got +his cayuse first an' then rode rings around him, keeping +out of range of Curley's Colt, for Curley had leaded his +rifle. It was Colt against Sharps at five hundred, that<span class="pagenum">[265]</span> +was what it was! He didn't have a show, not a measly +show for his life! Shot down like <i>a dog!</i>"</p> + +<p>"Where'd it happen?" asked Chick, breathlessly, +while the low-voiced threats and imprecations swelled to +an angry, humming chorus.</p> + +<p>"Away down in th' southwest corner," replied Doc, +and he continued almost inaudibly, speaking to himself +and forgetful of the others. "Me an' him went to +school together an' I used to lick every kid that bullied +him till he got big enough to do it hisself. We run +away together an' shared th' same hard luck. We went +through that Sioux campaign together, side by side, an' +to think that after he pulled out of <i>that</i> alive he had to +be murdered by a yaller coward of a Greaser! If he'd +been killed by a human being an' in a fair fight it would +be all right; but by that coyote—it don't seem possible, +not noway. I licked th' feller that hurt him on his first +day at school—I'm going to kill th' last!</p> + +<p>"Meeker," he said, coming to himself and facing the +angry foreman, "I'm quitting to-night. I won't punch +no more till I get that Greaser. I take up that trail +at daylight an' push it to a finish even if it takes me +into Mexico—it's got to be him or me, now."</p> + +<p>"You don't have to quit <i>me</i> to do that, an' you <i>know</i> +it!" Meeker cried. "I don't care if yo're gone for six +months—yore pay goes on just th' same. He went +down fighting for me, an' I'll be everlastingly condemned +if I don't have a hand in squaring up for it. Yo're +going on special duty for th' H2, Doc, an' yore orders<span class="pagenum">[266]</span> +are to get Antonio. Why, by th' Lord, I'll take up th' +trail with you, Doc, an' with th' rest of th' boys behind +me. This ranch can go galley-west an' crooked till we +get that snake. Dan an' Salem stays with my girl an' +to watch th' ranch—th' rest of us are with you—we're +as anxious as you to push him Yonder, Doc."</p> + +<p>"If I can get him alive, get my two hands on his +skinny neck," Doc muttered, his fingers twitching, "I'll +kill him slow, so he'll feel it longer, so he'll be shore to +know why he's going. I want to <i>feel</i> his murdering soul +dribble hell-wards, an' let him come back a couple of times +so I can laugh in his yaller face when he begs! I want +to get him—<i>so!</i>" and Chick shuddered as the knotted, +steel-like fingers opened and shut, for Doc was half devil +now. While Chick stared, the transformed man walked +over to the bench and picked up the body in his brawny +arms and strode into the blackness—Curley was going +to lie in the open, with the stars and the sky and the +sighing wind.</p> + +<p>"God!" breathed Chick, looking around, "I never +saw a man like <i>that</i> before!"</p> + +<p>"I hope he gets what he wants!" exclaimed Dan, +fiercely.</p> + +<p>"You fellers get yore traps ready for a chase," +Meeker ordered as he strode to the door of the gallery. +"Fifty rounds for six-shooters an' fifty for rifle, an' +plenty of grub. It's a whole lot likely that th' Greaser +headed for his gang, an' we've got to be ready to handle +everything that comes up. Hey, Salem!" he shouted.</p> + +<p>"Aye, aye, sir!" replied Salem, who had just come<span class="pagenum">[267]</span> +in from one of the corrals and knew nothing of what +had occurred.</p> + +<p>"Did you cure that beef I told you to?" demanded +the foreman.</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir; but it ain't had time to cure—th' weather's +not been right. Howsomever, I smoked some. That'll +be ship-shape."</p> + +<p>"Well, have it on our cayuses at daylight. Did you +cut this beef in strips, or in twenty-pound chunks, like +you did th' last?"</p> + +<p>"Strips, <i>little</i> strips—I ain't trying to sun-cure no +more big hunks, not me, sir."</p> + +<p>Meeker turned and went towards the outer door.</p> + +<p>"Don't waste no time, boys," he said. "Get all th' +sleep you can to-night—you'll need it if I reckon +right. Good-night," and he stepped out into the darkness. +"D—n them dogs!" he muttered, disappearing +in the direction of the kennels, from which came quavering, +long-drawn howls.</p><hr class="chap" /><p><span class="pagenum">[268]</span></p> + +<h2 id="CHAPTER_XXVI">CHAPTER XXVI</h2> + +<p class="h3">FRISCO VISITS EAGLE</p> + +<p>Eagle did not thoroughly awaken until the sun +began to set, for it was not until dark that its +inhabitants, largely transient, cared to venture +forth. Then it was that the town seethed, boldly, +openly, restrained by nothing save the might of the individual.</p> + +<p>Prosperity had blessed the town, for there had been +an abrupt and pleasing change in local conditions since +the disagreement between the two ranches north of the +town had assumed warlike aspect. Men who heretofore +had no standing with the proprietors of the town's +places of amusement and who had seldom been able to +pay for as much liquor as they were capable of drinking, +now swaggered importantly where they pleased, +and found welcome where formerly it had been denied +them; for their hands were thrust deep into pockets +from which came the cheerful and open-sesame clinking +of gold. Even Big Sandy, who had earned his food by +sweeping out the saloons and doing odd jobs about them, +and who was popularly believed to be too lazy to earn +a better living by real work, now drank his fill and failed<span class="pagenum">[269]</span> +to recognize a broom when he saw it. While the inhabitants +could not "get in" on the big plums which they +were certain were being shaken down on the range, they +could and did take care of the windfalls, and thrived +well. They would stay in town until their money was +gone and then disappear for a week, and return to spend +recklessly. It is not out of place to state, in passing, +that numerous small herds bearing strange brands frequently +passed around the town at a speed greater than +that common to drives, and left clouds of dust on the +southeastern horizon.</p> + +<p>The town debated the probable whereabouts of ten +men who had suddenly disappeared in a body, along +with Antonio of the H2. It was obvious what they +were doing and the conjectures were limited as to their +whereabouts and success. For a while after they had +left one or two had ridden in occasionally to buy flour +and other necessities, and at that time they had caused +no particular thought. But now even these visits had +ceased. It was common belief that Quinn knew all +about them, but Quinn for good reasons was not urged +to talk about the matter. Big Sandy acted as though +he knew, which increased his importance for a time, and +discredited him thereafter.</p> + +<p>While the citizens had been able to rustle as they +pleased they had given but little thought to the ten men, +being too busy to trail. But now that the H2 punchers +rode range with rifles across their arms rustling had become +very risky and had fallen off. Then it was that +the idlers renewed their conjectures about Shaw and his<span class="pagenum">[270]</span> +men and thrashed that matter over and over again. +The majority being, as we have said, transients, knew +nothing about Thunder Mesa, and those who did know +of it were silent, for Shaw and some of his companions +knew only one way to close a man's mouth, and were +very capable.</p> + +<p>So it happened that about noon of the day Curley lost +his life six men met in the shadow cast by the front of +the "Rawhide" a hundred yards from Quinn's, and exercised +squatter sovereignty on the bench just outside +the door, while inside the saloon Big Sandy and Nevada +played cards close to the bar and talked in low tones. +When they were aware of the presence of those on the +bench they played silently and listened. The six men +outside made up one of the groups of the town's society, +having ridden in together and stuck together ever since +they had arrived, which was wise.</p> + +<p>Big Sandy and Nevada made a team more feared than +any other combination. The former, while fair with +weapons, was endowed with prodigious strength; by +some it was hailed as being greater than that of Pete +Wilson, the squat giant of the Bar-20, whose strength +was proverbial, as it had good right to be. Nevada was +the opposite type, slender, short, wiry, and soft-spoken, +but the quickest man in town on the draw and of uncertain +temper.</p> + +<p>Chet Bates, on the bench, replied to a companion and +gave vent to his soft, Southern laugh. "Yuh still wondering +'bout thet man Shaw, an' th' othas?"</p><p><span class="pagenum">[271]</span></p> + +<p>"Nothing else to do, is there?" retorted Dal Gilbert. +"We can't run no more cattle, can we?"</p> + +<p>"I reckon we can't."</p> + +<p>"They're running a big game an' I want to get in +it," remarked John Elder. "Frisco was allus friendly. +We've got to go trailing for 'em."</p> + +<p>"Yes; an' get shot," interposed George Lewis. +"They're ten to our six. An' that ain't all of our +troubles, neither. We'll find ourselves in a big fight +some day, an' right here. Them ranches will wake up, +patch up their troubles, an' come down here. You remember +what Quinn said about th' time Peters led a lot +of mad punchers agin Trendley an' his crowd, don't you? +In a day he can raise men enough to wipe this town off +th' map."</p> + +<p>"Yuh forget, suh, that they are fighting foh principles, +an' men who fight foh principles don't call truces," +said Chet Bates.</p> + +<p>"You've said that till it's old," laughed Sam Austin.</p> + +<p>"<i>I</i> say we've got to keep our eyes open," warned +Lewis.</p> + +<p>"Th' devil with that!" broke in Con Irwin. "What +<i>I</i> want to know is how we're going to get some of th' +easy money Shaw's getting."</p> + +<p>"We'll have to wait for one of his men to come to +town an' trail him back," replied Gilbert.</p> + +<p>"What do you say that we try to run one more good +herd an' then scout for them, or their trails?" asked +Irwin.</p><p><span class="pagenum">[272]</span></p> + +<p>"Heah comes somebody," remarked Chet, listening.</p> + +<p>The sound of galloping grew rapidly louder and soon +they saw Frisco turn into the street and ride towards +them. As they saw him a quiet voice was heard behind +them and looking up, they saw Nevada smiling at them. +"Get him drunk an' keep him away from Quinn's," he +counselled.</p> + +<p>They exchanged looks and then Elder stepped out +into the street and held up his hand. "Hullo, Frisco!" +he cried.</p> + +<p>"Where yuh been keeping yuhself foh so long?" +asked Chet, affably. "Holed up som'ers?"</p> + +<p>"Hullo, fellers," grinned Frisco, drawing rein.</p> + +<p>"Everybody have a drink on me," laughed Chet. +"Ah'm pow'ful thirsty."</p> + +<p>Frisco was escorted inside to the bar, where Chet did +the honors, and where such a spirit of hospitality and +joviality surrounded him that he forgot how many +drinks he had taken. He dug up a handful of gold +and silver and spread it out on the bar and waved at the +bartender. "Bes' you got—ver' bes'," he grinned. +"Me an' my fren's want th' ver' bes'; don't we, fellers? +I got money—helluva lot of money—an' thersh more +where it came from, ain't that so, boys?"</p> + +<p>When the noise had subsided he turned around and +levelled an unsteady finger at the bartender. "I never +go—back onsh fren', never. An' we're all frensh—ain't +we, fellers? Tha's right. I got s'more frensh—good +fellesh, an' lots of money cached in sand."</p> + +<p>"Ah'll bet yuh have!" cried Chet.</p><p><span class="pagenum">[273]</span></p> + +<p>"You allus could find pay-dirt," marvelled Nevada, +glancing warningly around him. "Yo're a fine prospector, +all right."</p> + +<p>Frisco stared for a moment and then laughed loudly +and leaned against the bar for support. "Proshpector! +Proshpector! W'y, we earned tha's money—run +a helluva lot of risks. Mebby tha's Bar-20 outfit'll +jump us an' make us fight 'em. No; they can't jump +us—they can't get up at us!"</p> + +<p>"On a mesa, shore!" whispered Elder to Lewis.</p> + +<p>"Wha's you shay?"</p> + +<p>"Said they couldn't lick you."</p> + +<p>"Who couldn't—lick us?"</p> + +<p>"Th' Bar-20," explained Elder.</p> + +<p>Frisco rubbed his head and drew himself up, suspicion +percolating through his muddled brain. "Never +shaid nozzing 'bout no Bar-Twensh!" he asserted, angrily. +"Nozzing 'tall. I'm going out of here—don't +like you! Gotta get some flour an' ozzer stuff. +Never shaid nozzing 'bout—" he muttered, staggering +out.</p> + +<p>Nevada turned to Elder. "You go with him an' +quiet his suspicions. Keep him away from Quinn, for +that coyote'll hold him till he gets sober if you don't. +This is the chance we've been wanting. Don't try to +pump him—his trail will be all we need."</p> + +<p>"Wonder what mesa they're on?" asked Lewis.</p> + +<p>"Don't know, an' don't care," Nevada replied. +"We'll find out quick enough. There's eight of us an' +we can put up a stiff argument if they won't take us in.<span class="pagenum">[274]</span> +You know they ain't going to welcome us, don't you?"</p> + +<p>"Hey, go out th' back way," growled Big Sandy, interposing +his huge bulk between Bates and the door. +"An' don't let Frisco see you near a cayuse, neither," +he added.</p> + +<p>Nevada walked quickly over to his friend and said a +few hurried words in a low voice and Big Sandy nodded. +"Shore, Nevada; he might try that, but I'll watch him. +If he tries to sneak I'll let you know hasty. We're in +this to stay," and he followed the others to the door.</p> + +<p>Nevada turned and faced the bartender. "Mike, you +keep quiet about what you saw an' heard to-day; understand? +If you don't, me an' you won't fit in this town +at th' same time."</p> + +<p>Mike grinned. "I forgot how to talk after one exciting +day up in Cheyenne, an' I ain't been drunk +since, neither."</p> + +<p>"Yo're a wise man," replied the other, stepping out +by the back door and hastening up the street where he +could keep watch over Quinn's saloon. It was an hour +before he caught sight of Frisco, and he was riding +west, singing at the top of his lungs. Then Quinn +slipped into his corral and threw a saddle on a horse.</p> + +<p>"Drop it!" said a quiet voice behind him and he +turned to see Nevada watching him.</p> + +<p>"What do you mean?" demanded Quinn, ominously.</p> + +<p>"Let loose of that cayuse an' go back inside," was +the reply.</p> + +<p>"You get th' h—l out of here an' mind yore own—"<span class="pagenum">[275]</span> +Quinn leaped aside and jerked at his Colt; but was +too late, and he fell, badly wounded. Nevada sprang +forward and disarmed him and then, mounting, galloped +off to join his friends.</p><hr class="chap" /><p><span class="pagenum">[276]</span></p> + +<h2 id="CHAPTER_XXVII">CHAPTER XXVII</h2> + +<p class="h3">SHAW HAS VISITORS</p> + +<p>When Frisco reached the edge of the clearing +around the mesa he saw Antonio and +Shaw toiling cautiously up the steep, precarious +trail leading to the top, and he hailed vociferously. +Both looked around, Antonio scowling and his +companion swearing at their friend's condition. Frisco's +pack horse, which he had sense enough to bring +back, was loaded down with bags and packages which +had been put on recklessly, inasmuch as a slab of bacon +hung from the animal's neck and swayed to and fro with +each step; and the animal he rode had a bartender's +apron hanging down before its shoulders.</p> + +<p>"Had a rip-snorting time—rip-snorting time," he +announced pleasantly, in a roar. "Salubrious—rip-snorting—helluva +time!"</p> + +<p>"Nobody'd guess it!" retorted Shaw. "Look at +them bundles! An' him an expert pack-horse man, too. +An' that cayuse with a shirt! For anybody that can +throw as neat a diamond hitch as him, that pack horse is +a howling disgrace!"</p> + +<p>"Hang th' pack horse!" growled Antonio. "I bet<span class="pagenum">[277]</span> +th' whole town knows our business now! He ought to +be shot. Where you going?"</p> + +<p>"Down to help him up," Shaw replied. "He'll bust +his fool neck if he wrestles with that trail alone. You +go on up an' send a couple of th' boys down to bring up +th' grub," he ordered, starting down the path.</p> + +<p>"Let him bust his fool neck!" cried the Mexican. +"He should 'a done that before he left."</p> + +<p>"What's th' ruction?" asked Clausen, looking down +over the edge at the Mexican.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Frisco's come back howling drunk. Go down +an' help him tote th' grub up. Shaw said for somebody +else to help you."</p> + +<p>"Hey, Cavalry," cried Clausen. "Come on an' +gimme a hand," and the two disappeared down the +trail.</p> + +<p>The leader returned, heralded by singing and swearing, +and pushed Frisco over the mesa top to sprawl full-length +on the ground. Shaw looked down at him with +an expression of anger and anxiety and then turned +abruptly on his heel as a quavering snore floated up +from the other.</p> + +<p>"Here, Manuel!" he called, sharply. "Take my +glasses an' go out to yore lookout rock. Look towards +Eagle an' call me if you see anybody."</p> + +<p>The Mexican shuffled away as Cavalry and Clausen, +loaded down, appeared over the edge of the mesa wall +and dropped their loads at Shaw's feet.</p> + +<p>"What did you tell him to get?" asked Clausen, +marvelling.</p><p><span class="pagenum">[278]</span></p> + +<p>"What do you think I told him to get?" snapped +Shaw.</p> + +<p>"I don't know, seeing what he brought back," was +the reply.</p> + +<p>Shaw examined the pile. "G-d's name, what's all +this stuff?" he roared. "Bacon! An' all th' meat we +want is down below. Canned milk! Two bottles XXX +Cough Syrup, four bottles of whiskey, bottle vaniller extract, +plug tobacco, an' three harmonicas! Is <i>that</i> +flour!" he yelled, glaring at a small bag. "Twenty +pounds! Five pounds of salt!"</p> + +<p>"I reckon he bought all th' cartridges in town," Cavalry +announced, staggering into sight with a box on his +shoulder. "Lord, but it's heavy!"</p> + +<p>"Twenty pounds of flour to last nine men a month!" +Shaw shouted, kicking at the bag. "An' look at this +coffee—two pounds! I'll teach him a lesson when he +gets sober."</p> + +<p>"Well, he made up th' weight in th' cartridges," Cavalry +grinned. He grasped Shaw's arm. "What's got +into Manuel?"</p> + +<p>The leader looked and sprinted to the lookout rock, +where Manuel was gesticulating, and took the glasses. +Half a minute later he returned them to the Mexican +and rejoined his companions near the pile of supplies.</p> + +<p>"What is it?" asked Cavalry.</p> + +<p>"Some of our Eagle friends. Mebby they want cards +in this game, but we'll waste little time with 'em. Post +th' fellers along th' edge, Clausen, an' you watch th' +trail up. Keep 'em covered while I talks with 'em.<span class="pagenum">[279]</span> +Don't be slow to burn powder if they gets to pushing +things."</p> + +<p>"They trailed Frisco," growled Cavalry.</p> + +<p>"Shore; oh, he was a great success!" snapped Shaw, +going to the edge of the mesa to await the eight newcomers, +his men finding convenient places along the top +of the wall, their rifles ready for action.</p> + +<p>They did not have long to wait for soon Nevada and +Chet Bates rode into the clearing and made for the +trail.</p> + +<p>"That's far enough, Nevada!" shouted Shaw, holding +up his hand.</p> + +<p>"Why, hullo, Shaw!" cried the man below. "Yo're +up a good tree, all right," he laughed.</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"Can we ride up, or do we have to take shank's +mare?"</p> + +<p>"Neither."</p> + +<p>"Well, we want some water after that ride," replied +Nevada.</p> + +<p>"Plenty of it below. Nobody asked you to take that +ride. What do you want, anyhow?"</p> + +<p>"Why, when Frisco said you was out here we +thought we'd drop in on you an' pay you a little visit."</p> + +<p>"You have paid us a little visit. Call again next +summer."</p> + +<p>"Running many cows?" asked Nevada.</p> + +<p>"Nope; educating coyotes. Didn't see none, did +you?"</p> + +<p>Nevada exchanged a few words with his companion<span class="pagenum">[280]</span> +and then looked up again. "I reckon you need us, +Shaw. Eight more men means twice as many cows; an' +we can all fight a little if th' ranches get busy out here."</p> + +<p>"We're crowded now. Better water up an' hit th' +back trail. It's hard riding in th' dark."</p> + +<p>"We didn't come out here for a drink," replied Nevada. +"We came out to help you rustle, which same +we'll do. I tell you that you need us, man!"</p> + +<p>"When I need you I'll send for you. <i>Adios.</i>"</p> + +<p>"You ain't going to let us come up?"</p> + +<p>"Not a little bit. Pull yore stakes an' hit th' back +trail. <i>Adios!</i>"</p> + +<p>"Well, we'll hang around to-night an' talk it over +again to-morrow. Mebby you'll change yore mind. +So long," and the two wheeled and disappeared into the +chaparrals, Nevada chuckling. "I didn't spring that +little joker, Chet, because it's a good card to play last. +When we tell him that we won't let nobody come down +off'n th' mesa it'll be after we can't do nothing else. +No use making him mad."</p> + +<p>Up on the mesa Shaw wheeled, scowling. "I knowed +that fool would fire off something big! Why can't he +get drunk out here, where it's all right?"</p> + +<p>"That Nevada is a shore bad proposition," Clausen +remarked.</p> + +<p>"So'm I!" snapped Shaw. "He can't come up, an' +pursooant to that idee I reckon you an' Hall better arrange +to watch th' trail to-night."</p> + +<p>He walked away and paced slowly along the edge of +the wall, studying every yard of it. He had done this<span class="pagenum">[281]</span> +thing before and had decided that no man sat a saddle +who could scale the sheer hundred feet of rock which +dropped so straight below him. But somehow he felt +oppressed, and the sinking sun threw into bold relief the +furrows of his weather-beaten, leathery face and showed +the trouble marks which sat above his eyes. At one part +of the wall he stopped and peered over, marshalling imaginative +forces in attack after attack against it. But +at the end he smiled and moved on—that was the +weakest point in his defence, but he would consider himself +fortunate if he should find no weaker defence in future +conflicts. As he returned to the hut he glanced at +the lookout rock and saw Manuel in his characteristic +pose, unmoving, silent, watchful.</p> + +<p>"I'm getting as bad as Cavalry and his desert," he +grumbled. "Still, they can't lick us while we stay up +here."</p><hr class="chap" /><p><span class="pagenum">[282]</span></p> + +<h2 id="CHAPTER_XXVIII">CHAPTER XXVIII</h2> + +<p class="h3">NEVADA JOINS SHAW</p> + +<p>Late in the forenoon of the day after Nevada +had argued with Shaw, Manuel shifted his position +on the lookout rock and turned to face the +hut. "Señor! Señor Shaw! He ees here."</p> + +<p>Shaw strode to the edge of the mesa and looked down, +seeing Nevada sitting quietly on a horse and looking up +at him. Manuel, his duty performed, turned and looked +eastward, shrinking back as Shaw stepped close to him. +Lying prone along the edge half a dozen men idly fingered +rifles as they covered the man below, Antonio's +face in particular showing intense aversion to any more +recruits.</p> + +<p>"Morning, Shaw," shouted Nevada. "Going to let +us come up?"</p> + +<p>The leader was about to reply when he felt a tug at +his ankle and saw Manuel's lips moving. "What is it, +Greaser?"</p> + +<p>"Look, Señor, look!" whispered the frightened Mexican, +pointing eastward. "Eet ees de Bar-20! They +be here <i>poco tiempo</i>!"</p> + +<p>"Shut up!" retorted Shaw in a whisper, glancing<span class="pagenum">[283]</span> +east, and what he saw changed his reply to the man below. +"Well, Nevada, we are purty crowded up here as +it is, but I'll ask th' boys about it. They ain't quite decided. +Be back in a minute," and he stepped back out +of sight of those below and waved his companions to +him. Briefly stating the facts he asked that Nevada +and his force be allowed up to help repulse the Bar-20, +and the men who only a short time before had sworn +that they would take in no partners nodded assent and +talked over the new conditions while their leader again +went to the edge.</p> + +<p>"We can get along without you fellers," he called +down, "but we don't reckon you'll cut any hole in our +profits as long as you do yore share of work. If yo're +willin' to share an' share alike, in work, grub, profits, an' +fighting, why I reckon you can come up. But I'm +leader here an' what I says goes; are you agreeable?"</p> + +<p>"That's fair," Nevada replied. "Th' harder th' +work th' bigger th' pay—come on, boys," he cried, +turning and waving his arm. "We're in!"</p> + +<p>While the newcomers put their horses in the corral and +toiled carefully up the steep trail Manuel stared steadily +into the east and again saw the force that had filled +him with fear. Hall, who was now watching with him, +abruptly arose and returned to the hut, reporting: +"Seven men out there—it's th' Bar-20, all right, I +reckon"; and almost immediately afterward Manuel +found a moving speck far to the east which Shaw's powerful +glasses soon showed to be three pack horses driven +by two men.</p><p><span class="pagenum">[284]</span></p> + +<p>Nevada looked curiously about him as he gained his +goal and then sought a place in the hut for his bunk. +This, however, was full, and he cast around outside to +find the best place for his blankets. Finding it, he +stepped to the spring and had just quenched his thirst +when he saw Shaw standing on a ledge of rock above +him, looking down. "What is it, Shaw?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"Well, you fellers shore enough raised h—l, now +didn't you!" demanded the leader, a rising anger in his +voice. "Yo're a fine collection of fools, you are—"</p> + +<p>"What do—"</p> + +<p>"—Leading that Bar-20 gang out here by th' nice, +plain trail you left," Shaw continued, sarcastically, not +heeding the other's explosive interjection. "That's a +nice thing to saddle us with! D—n it, don't you know +you've queered th' game for good?"</p> + +<p>"Yo're drunk!" retorted Nevada, heatedly. "We +came up from th' south! How th' devil could that +crowd hit <i>our</i> trail?"</p> + +<p>"They must 'a hit southwest on a circle," lied Shaw. +"Manuel just now saw 'em pass a clearing an' heading +this way—nine of 'em!"</p> + +<p>"Th' devil!" exclaimed Nevada. "How many are +up here now?" he asked quickly.</p> + +<p>"Sixteen."</p> + +<p>"All right! Let 'em come!" cried the other. "Sixteen +to nine—it's easy!" he laughed. "Look here; +we can clean up them fellers an' then raid their ranch, for +there's only four left at home. We can run off a whopping<span class="pagenum">[285]</span> +big herd, sell 'em, an' divvy even. Then we separates, +savvy? Why, it couldn't be better!"</p> + +<p>Shaw showed his astonishment and his companion continued. +"Th' H2 is shy men, an' th' C80 and th' +Double Arrow is too far away to bother us. As soon as +we lick this aggregation of trouble hunters, what's left +will ride hell-bent for that valley. Then th' biggest +herd ever rustled in these parts, a trip to a new range, +an' plenty of money to spend there."</p> + +<p>"That sounds good—but this pleasing cleaning-up +is due to be full of knots," Shaw rejoined. "Them nine +men come from th' craggiest outfit of high-toned gun-artists +in these parts, an' you can bet that they are th' +pick of th' crowd! Cassidy, Connors, Peters—an' +they've got forty friends purty nigh as bad, an' eager to +join in. I ain't no ways a quitter, but this looks to me +like Custer's Last Stand, us being th' Custers."</p> + +<p>"Ah, yo're loco!" retorted Nevada. "Look here! +Send a dozen picked men down quick an' let 'em lose +'emselves in th' chaparral, far back. When th' terrible +man-killers of th' great Bar-20 get plugging this way, +our trouble-gang slips up from behind an' it's all over! +Go on, before it's too late! Or one of us will ride like +th' devil to Eagle for help—but it's got to be quick! +You say I got you in this, which I know well I didn't, +but now I'll get you out an' put you in th' way of a +barrel of money."</p> + +<p>The crack of a rifle sounded from the plain and the +next instant Clausen dashed up, crying, "Manuel<span class="pagenum">[286]</span> +tried to cut an' run, but somebody down below dropped +him off'n th' trail. They're all around us!"</p> + +<p>"Good for th' somebody!" cried Shaw. "I'll kill +th' next man that tries to leave us—that goes, so pass +it along." Then he turned to Nevada, a sneer on his +face. "That means anybody riding for help, too!" +and he backed away.</p> + +<p>Hall turned the corner, looking Nevada squarely in +the eyes. "Say, Shaw, wonder what's got into Archer? +He's been gone a long time for that trip."</p> + +<p>"Reckon he's got tired an' quit," replied Shaw.</p> + +<p>"You know he ain't that kind!" Hall cried, angrily.</p> + +<p>"All right, all right. If he comes back an' finds out +what's up he'll probably hustle to Eagle for some of th' +boys," Shaw responded. Neither would ever see Dick +Archer again—his bones were whitening near a small +water hole miles to the north, as Hopalong and Red +could testify.</p> + +<p>"As long as one of us is outside we've got a chance," +Nevada remarked. "How're we fixed for grub, Hall?"</p> + +<p>"Got enough jerked beef to last us a month," and +Hall departed.</p> + +<p>A shot hummed over Nevada's head and, ducking +quickly, he followed Hall. Close behind him went Shaw, +muttering. "Well, it had to come sometime—an' +we're better fixed than I ever reckoned we'd be. Now +we'll see who gets wiped out!"</p><hr class="chap" /><p><span class="pagenum">[287]</span></p> + +<h2 id="CHAPTER_XXIX">CHAPTER XXIX</h2> + +<p class="h3">SURROUNDED</p> + +<p>Above, a pale, hot sky with only a wisp of +cloud; below, a semi-arid "pasture," scant in +grass, seamed by tortuous gullies and studded +with small, compact thickets and bulky bowlders. A +wall of chaparral, appearing solid when viewed from a +distance, fenced the pasture, and rising boldly from the +southwest end of the clearing a towering mass of rock +flung its rugged ramparts skyward. Nature had been +in a sullen mood when this scene had been perpetrated +and there was no need of men trying to heighten the +gloomy aspect by killing each other. Yet they were +trying and had been for a week, and they could have +found no surroundings more in keeping with their occupation.</p> + +<p>Minute clouds of smoke spurted from the top of the +wall and from the many points of vantage on the pasture +to hang wavering for an instant before lazily dissipating +in the hot, close air. In such a sombre setting +men had elected to joke and curse and kill, perhaps to +die; men hot with passion and blood-lust plied rifles with +deliberate intent to kill. On one side there was fierce<span class="pagenum">[288]</span> +deep joy, an exultation in forcing the issue, much as if +they had tugged vainly at a leash and suddenly found +themselves free. They had been baited, tricked, robbed, +and fired upon and now, their tormentors penned before +them, there would be no cessation in their efforts to wipe +out the indignities under which they had chafed for so +long a time.</p> + +<p>On the other side, high up on a natural fortress which +was considered impregnable, lay those who had brought +this angry pack about them. There was no joy there, +no glad eagerness to force the battle, no jokes nor +laughter, but only a grim desperation, a tenacious holding +to that which the others would try to take. On one +side aggression; on the other, defence. Fighters all, +they now were inspired by the merciless end always in +their minds; they were trapped like rats and would fight +while mind could lay a plan or move a muscle. Of the +type which had out-roughed, out-fought for so long even +the sturdy, rough men who had laid the foundation for +an inland empire amid dangers superlative, they knew +nothing of yielding; and to yield was to die. It was +survivor against survivor in an even game.</p> + +<p>"Ah, God!" moaned a man on the mesa's lofty rim, +staggering back aimlessly before he fell, never to rise +again. His companions regarded him curiously, stolidly, +without sympathy, as is often the case where death is +constantly expected. Dal Gilbert turned back to his +rifle and the problems before him. "So you've gone, +too. An' I reckon we'll follow"—such was Chet Bates' +obituary.</p><p><span class="pagenum">[289]</span></p> + +<p>In a thicket two hundred yards south of the mesa +Red Connors worked the lever of his rifle, a frown on his +face. "I got him, all right. Do you know who he +is?"</p> + +<p>"No; but I've seen him in Eagle," replied Hopalong, +lowering the glasses. "What's worrying me is water—my +throat's drying awful."</p> + +<p>"You shouldn't 'a forgot it," chided Red. "Now +we've got to go without it all day."</p> + +<p>Hopalong ducked and swore as he felt of his bleeding +face. "Purty close, that!"</p> + +<p>"Mind what yo're doing!" replied Red. "Get off +my hand."</p> + +<p>"This scrap is shore slow," Hopalong growled. +"Here we've been doing this for a whole week, all of +us shot up, an' only got two of them fellers."</p> + +<p>"Well, yo're right; but there ain't a man up there +that ain't got a few bullet holes in him," Red replied. +"But it is slow, that's shore."</p> + +<p>"I've got to get a drink, an' that's all about it," +Hopalong asserted. "I can crawl in that gully most +of th' way, an' then trust a side-hopping dash. Anyhow, +I'm tired of this place. Johnny's got th' place +for <i>me</i>."</p> + +<p>"You better stay here till it's dark, you fool."</p> + +<p>"Aw, stay nothing—so long," and Hopalong, rifle +in hand, crawled towards the gully. Red watched the +mesa intently, hoping to be able to stop some of the +firing his rash friend was sure to call forth.</p> + +<p>Twenty minutes passed and then two puffs of smoke<span class="pagenum">[290]</span> +sailed against the sky, Red replying. Then half a +dozen puffs burst into sight. A faint shout came to +Red's ears and he smiled, for his friend was safe.</p> + +<p>As Hopalong gained the chaparral he felt himself +heartily kicked and, wheeling pugnaciously, looked into +Buck Peters' scowling face. "Yo're a healthy fool!" +growled the foreman. "Ain't you got no sense at all? +Hereafter you flit over that pasture after dark, d'y +hear!"</p> + +<p>"He's th' biggest fool I ever saw, an' th' coolest," +said a voice in the chaparral at the left.</p> + +<p>"Why, hullo, Meeker," Hopalong laughed, turning +from Buck. "How do you like our little party now?"</p> + +<p>"I'm getting tired of it, an' it's some costly for +me," grumbled the H2 foreman. "Bet them skunks in +Eagle have cleaned out every head I owned." Then he +added as an afterthought: "But I don't care a whole +lot if I can see this gang wiped out—<i>Antonio</i> is th' +coyote <i>I'm</i> itching to stop."</p> + +<p>"He'll be stopped," replied Hopalong. "Hey, +Buck, Red's shore thirsty."</p> + +<p>"He can stay thirsty, then. An' don't you try to +take no water to him. You stay off that pasture during +daylight."</p> + +<p>"But it was all my fault—" Hopalong began, and +then he was off like a shot across the open, leaping gullies +and dodging around bowlders.</p> + +<p>"Here you!" roared Buck, and stopped to stare, +Meeker at his side. A man was staggering in circles +near a thicket which lay a hundred yards from them.<span class="pagenum">[291]</span> +He dropped and began to crawl aimlessly about, a good +target for the eager rifles on the mesa. Bullets whined +and shrilled and kicked up the dust on the plain, but +still the rushing Bar-20 puncher was unhit. From the +mesa came the faint crackling of rifle fire and clouds of +smoke hovered over the cover sheltering Red Connors. +Here and there over the pasture and along the +chaparral's rim rifles cracked in hot endeavor to drive +the rustlers from their positions long enough to save +the reckless puncher. Buck and Meeker both were firing +now, rapidly but carefully, muttering words of hope +and anxiety as they worked the levers of their spurting +guns. Then they saw Hopalong gain the prostrate +man's side, drag him back to cover, and wave his arm. +The fire from the mesa was growing weaker and as it +stopped Hopalong, with the wounded man on his back, +ran to the shelter of a gully and called for water.</p> + +<p>"He's th' best man in this whole country!" cried +Meeker, grabbing up a canteen and starting to go +through the chaparral to give them water. "To do +that for one of <i>my</i> men!"</p> + +<p>"I've knowed that for nigh onto fifteen years," replied +Buck.</p> + +<p>Near the Eagle trail Billy Williams and Doc Riley +lay side by side, friendly now.</p> + +<p>"I tell you we've been shooting high," Doc grumbled. +"It's no cinch picking range against that skyline."</p> + +<p>"Hey! Look at Hopalong!" cried Billy, excitedly. +"Blamed idiot—why, he's going out to that feller. +Lord! Get busy!"</p><p><span class="pagenum">[292]</span></p> + +<p>"That's Curtis out there!" ejaculated Doc, angrily. +"They've got him, d—n 'em!"</p> + +<p>"My gun's jammed!" cursed Billy, in his excitement +and anger standing up to tear at the cartridge. +"I allus go an'—" he pitched sideways to the sand, +where he lay quiet.</p> + +<p>Doc dropped his rifle and leaped to drag his companion +back to the shelter of the cover. As he did so +his left arm was hit, but he accomplished his purpose and +as he reached for his canteen the Bar-20 pessimist saved +him the trouble by opening his eyes and staring around. +"Oh, my head! It's shore burning up, Doc!" he +groaned. "What th' devil happened that time, anyhow?"</p> + +<p>"Here; swaller this," Doc replied, handing him the +canteen.</p> + +<p>"Who got me?" asked Billy, laying the vessel +aside.</p> + +<p>"How do I know? Whoever he was he creased you +nice. His friends got me in th' arm, too. You can +help me fix it soon."</p> + +<p>"Shore I will! We can lick them thieves, Doc," +Billy expounded without much interest. "Yessir," he +added.</p> + +<p>"You make me tired," Doc retorted. "You talking +about being careful when you stand up in plain +sight of them fellers like you just did."</p> + +<p>"Yes, I know. I was mad, an' sort of forgot about +'em being able to shoot at me—but what happened +out there, anyhow?"</p><p><span class="pagenum">[293]</span></p> + +<p>Doc craned his neck. "There's Cassidy now, in that +gully—Meeker's just joined him. Good men, both of +'em."</p> + +<p>"You bet," replied Billy, satisfied. "Yessir, we +can lick 'em—we've got to."</p> + +<p>On the west side of the mesa, back in the chaparral +and out of sight of the rustlers, Pie Willis lay face +down in the sand, quiet. Near him lay Frenchy McAllister, +firing at intervals, aflame with anger and a +desire to kill. Opposite him on the mesa, a scant three +hundred yards away, two rustlers gloated and fired, +eager to kill the other puncher, who shot so well.</p> + +<p>"That other feller knows his business, Elder," remarked +Nevada as a slug ricochetted past his head. +"Wonder who he is."</p> + +<p>"Wonder <i>where</i> he is," growled Elder, firing at a +new place. "He's been shifting a lot. Anyhow, we +got one. There's so much smoke down there I can't +seem to place him. Mebby—" he fell back, limp, his +rifle clattering down a hundred feet of rock.</p> + +<p>Nevada looked at him closely and then drew back to a +more secure position. "We're even, stranger, but we +ain't quits, by a good deal!" He swore. <i>Zing-ing-ing!</i> +"Oh, you know I moved, do you!" he gritted. +"Well, how's <i>that</i>!" <i>Spat</i>! a new, bright leaden +splotch showed on the rock above his head and hot lead +stung his neck and face as the bullet spattered. "I'll +get you yet, you coyote!" he muttered, changing his +position again. "Ah, <i>h—l</i>!" he sobbed and dropped +his rifle to grasp his right elbow, shattered by a Winchester<span class="pagenum">[294]</span> +.45. Pain shot through every fibre of his body +and weakened him so he could not crawl for shelter or +assistance. He swayed, lost his balance and swayed further, +and as his side showed beyond the edge of his rocky +rampart he quivered and sank back, helpless, pain-racked, +and bleeding to death from two desperate wounds.</p> + +<p>"We was—tricked—up here!" he moaned. +"That must—be Red—Connors out there. Ah!" +<i>Spat! Chug! Spat!</i> But Nevada did not hear them +now.</p> + +<p>Down in the chaparral, Frenchy, getting no response +to his shots, picked up his glasses and examined the +mesa. A moment later he put them back in the case, +picked up his rifle and crawled towards his companion.</p> + +<p>"Pie!" he called, touching the body. "Pie, old feller! +I got 'em both for you, Pie—got 'em—" +screened by the surrounding chaparral he stood up and +shook a clenched fist at the sombre, smoke-wreathed +pile of rock and shouted: "An' they won't be all! +Do you hear, you thieves? <i>They won't be all!</i>"</p> + +<p>Lying in a crack on the apex of a pinnacle of rock +a hundred yards northwest of the mesa Johnny Nelson +cursed the sun and squirmed around on the hot stone, +vainly trying to find a spot comparatively cool, while +two panic-stricken lizards huddled miserably as far back +in the crack as they could force themselves. Long +bright splotches marked the stone all around the youthful +puncher and shrill whinings came to him out of +the air, to hurtle away in the distance ten times as +loud and high-pitched. For an hour he had not dared<span class="pagenum">[295]</span> +to raise his head to aim, and his sombrero, which he had +used as a dummy, was shot full of holes. Johnny, at +first elated because of his aerial position, now cursed it +fervently and was filled with disgust. When he had +begun firing at sunrise he had only one man to face. +But the news went around among the rustlers that a +fool had volunteered to be a target and now three good +shots vied with each other to get the work over with +quickly, and return to their former positions.</p> + +<p>"I reckon I can squirm over th' edge an' drop down +that split," Johnny soliloquized, eying a ragged, sharp +edge in the rock close at hand. "Don't know where it +goes to, or how far down, but it's cool, that's shore."</p> + +<p>He wriggled over to it, flattened as much as possible, +and looked over the edge, seeing a four-inch ledge ten +feet below him. From the ledge it was ten feet more to +the bottom, but the ledge was what interested him.</p> + +<p>"Shore I can—just land on that shelf, hug th' +wall an' they can't touch me," he grinned, slipping +over and hanging for an instant until he stopped swinging. +The rock bulged out between him and the ledge, +but he did not give that any thought. Letting go he +dropped down the face of the rock, shot out along the +bulge and over his cherished ledge, and landed with a +grunt on a mass of sand and debris twenty feet below. +As he pitched forward to his hands he heard the metallic +warning of a rattlesnake and all his fears of being +shot were knocked out of his head by the sound. When +he landed from his jump he was on the wrong side of the +crevice and among hot lead. Ducking and dodging he<span class="pagenum">[296]</span> +worked back to the right side and then blew off the +offending rattler's head with his Colt. Other rattlers +now became prominent and Johnny, realizing that he +was an unwelcome guest in a rattlesnake den, made good +use of his eyes and Colt as he edged towards the mouth +of the crevice. Behind him were rattlers; before him, +rustlers who could and would shoot. To say that he +was disgusted is to put it mildly.</p> + +<p>"Cussed joint!" he grunted. "This is a measly +place for me. If I stay I get bit to death; if I leave +I get shot. Wonder if I can get to that ledge—ugh!" +he cried as the tip of a rattler's tail hung +down from it for an instant. "Come on! Bring 'em +all out! Trot out th' tarantulas, copper heads, an' +Gilas! Th' more th' merrier! Blasted snake hang-out!"</p> + +<p>He glanced about him rapidly, apprehensively, and +shivered. "No more of this for Little Johnny! I'll +chance th' sharp-shooters," he yelled, and dashed out +and around the pile so quickly as to be unhit. But he +was not hit for another reason, also. Skinny Thompson +and Pete Wilson, having grown restless, were encircling +the mesa by keeping inside the chaparral and +came opposite the pinnacle about the time Johnny discovered +his reptilian neighbors. Hearing the noise they +both stopped and threw their rifles to their shoulders. +Here was a fine opportunity to lessen the numbers of +the enemy, for the rustlers, careless for the moment, +were peering over their breastwork to see what all the<span class="pagenum">[297]</span> +noise was about, not dreaming that two pairs of eyes +three hundred yards away were calculating the range. +Two puffs of smoke burst from the chaparral and the +rustlers ducked out of sight, one of them hard hit. +At that moment Johnny made his dash and caused smiles +to flit across the faces of his friends.</p> + +<p>"We might 'a knowed it was him!" laughed Skinny. +"Nobody else would be loco enough to pick out that +thing."</p> + +<p>"Yes; but now what's he doing?" asked Pete, seeing +Johnny poking around among the rocks, Colt in hand.</p> + +<p>"Hunting rustlers, I reckon," Skinny replied. +"Thinks they are tunnelling an' coming up under him, +I suppose. Hey! Johnny!"</p> + +<p>Johnny turned, peering at the chaparral.</p> + +<p>"What are you doing?" yelled Skinny.</p> + +<p>"Hunting snakes."</p> + +<p>Skinny laughed and turned to watch the mesa, from +which lead was coming.</p> + +<p>"Can you cover me if I make a break?" shouted +Johnny, hopefully.</p> + +<p>"No; stay where you are!" shouted Pete, and then +ducked.</p> + +<p>"Stop yelling and move about some or you'll get us +both hit," ordered Skinny. "Them fellers can <i>shoot</i>!"</p> + +<p>"Come on; let's go ahead. Johnny can stay out +there till dark an' hunt snakes," Pete was getting sarcastic. +"Wonder if he reckons we came here to get +shot at just to hunt snakes!"</p><p><span class="pagenum">[298]</span></p> + +<p>"No; we'll help him in," Skinny replied. "You'll +find th' rattlers made it too hot for him up there. +Start shooting."</p> + +<p>Johnny hearing the rapid firing of his friends, ran +backwards, keeping the pinnacle between him and his +enemies as long as he could. Then, once out of its +shelter, he leaped erratically over the plain and gained +a clump of chaparral. He now had only about a hundred +yards to go, and Johnny could sprint when need +was. He sprinted. Joining his friends the three disappeared +in the chaparral and two disgusted rustlers +helped a badly wounded companion to the rough hospital +in the hut at the top of the mesa trail.</p> + +<p>Johnny and his friends had not gone far before +Johnny, eager to find a rustler to shoot at, left them to +go to the edge of the chaparral and while he was away +his friends stumbled on the body of Pie Willis. Johnny, +moving cautiously along the edge of the chaparral, +soon met Buck and Hopalong, who were examining +every square foot of the mesa wall for a way up.</p> + +<p>"Hullo, Johnny!" cried Hopalong. "What you +doing here? Thought you was plumb stuck on that +freak rock up north."</p> + +<p>"I was—an' <i>stuck</i>, for shore," grinned Johnny. +"That rock is a nest of snakes, besides being a fine +place to get plugged by them fellers. An' hot!"</p> + +<p>"How'd you get away?"</p> + +<p>"Pete an' Skinny drove 'em back an' I made my +get-away. They're in th' chaparral somewhere close,"<span class="pagenum">[299]</span> +Johnny replied. "But why are you telescoping at th' +joker? Think you see money out there?"</p> + +<p>"Looking for a place to climb it," Hopalong responded. +"We're disgusted with this long-range squibbing. +You didn't see no breaks in th' wall up where +you was, did you?"</p> + +<p>"Lemme see," and Johnny cogitated for a moment. +Then his face cleared. "Shore I did; there's lots of +cracks in it, running up an' down, an' a couple of +ledges. I ain't so shore about th' ledges, though—you +see I was too busy to look for ledges during th' first +part of th' seance, and I dassn't look during th' last +of it. There was three of 'em a-popping at me!"</p> + +<p>"Hey, Johnny!" came a hail; "Johnny!"</p> + +<p>"That's Pete an' Skinny—Hullo!" Johnny +shouted.</p> + +<p>"Come here—Pie Willis is done for!"</p> + +<p>"What?"</p> + +<p>"Pie—Willis—is—done—for!"</p> + +<p>The three turned and hastened towards the voice, +shouting questions. They found Skinny and Pete +standing over the body and sombreros came off as the +foreman knelt to examine it. Pie had been greatly +liked by the members of the outfit he had lately joined, +having been known to them for years.</p> + +<p>"Clean temple shot," Buck remarked, covering the +face and arising. "There's some fine shots up on that +rock. Well, here's another reason why we've got to +get up there an' wipe 'em out quick. Pie was a white<span class="pagenum">[300]</span> +man, square as a die and a good puncher—I wouldn't +have asked for a better pardner. You fellers take him +to camp—we're going to find a way to square things +if there is one. No, Pete, you an' Johnny carry him +in—Skinny is going with us."</p> + +<p>Buck, Hopalong, and Skinny returned to the edge of +the pasture and the foreman again swept the wall +through his glasses. "Hey! What's that? A body?"</p> + +<p>Hopalong looked. "Yes, two of 'em! I reckon Pie +died game, all right."</p> + +<p>"Well, come on—we've got to move along," and +Buck led the way north, Skinny bringing up the rear. +Next to Lanky Smith, at present nursing wounds at the +ranch, Skinny was the best man with a rope in the +Bar-20 outfit and the lariat he used so deftly was one +hundred and fifty feet in length, much longer than any +used by those around the mesa. Buck had asked him to +go with them because he wished to have his opinion as to +the possibility of getting a rope up the mesa wall.</p> + +<p>When they came opposite the rock which had sheltered +Johnny they sortied to see if that part of the +mesa was guarded, but there was no sign of life upon +it. Then, separating, they dashed to the midway cover, +the thicket, which they reached without incident. +From there they continued to the pinnacle and now +could see every rock and seam of the wall with their +naked eyes. But they used the glasses and after a +few minutes' examination of the ledges Hopalong turned +to his companions. "Just as Johnny said. Skinny,<span class="pagenum">[301]</span> +do you reckon if you was under them to-night that you +could get yore rope fast to th' bottom one?"</p> + +<p>"Shore; that's easy. But it won't be no cinch roping +th' other," Skinny replied. "She sticks out over +th' first by two feet. It'll be hard to jerk a rope from +that narrow foothold."</p> + +<p>"Somebody can hang onto you so you can lean out," +Buck replied. "Pete can hold you easy."</p> + +<p>"But what'll he hold on to?"</p> + +<p>Hopalong pointed. "See that spur up there, close +to th' first ledge? He can hitch a rope around that an' +hang to th' rope. I tell you it's <i>got</i> to be done. We +can't lose no more men in this everlasting pot-shooting +game. We've got to get close an' clean up!"</p> + +<p>"Well, I ain't saying nothing different, am I?" +snapped Skinny. "I'm saying it'll be hard, an' it will. +Now suppose one of them fellers goes on sentry duty +along this end; what then?"</p> + +<p>"We'll solve that when we come to it," Hopalong replied. +"I reckon if Red lays on this rock in th' +moonlight that he can drop any sentry that stands up +against th' sky at a hundred yards. We've got to try +it, anyhow."</p> + +<p>"<i>Down!</i>" whispered Buck, warningly. "Don't let +'em know we're here. Drop that gun, Hoppy!"</p> + +<p>They dropped down behind the loose bowlders while +the rustler passed along the edge, his face turned towards +the pinnacle. Then, deciding that Johnny had not returned, +he swept the chaparral with a pair of glasses.<span class="pagenum">[302]</span> +Satisfied at length that all was well he turned and disappeared +over a rocky ledge ten feet from the edge of +the wall.</p> + +<p>"I could 'a dropped him easy," grumbled Hopalong, +regretfully, and Skinny backed him up.</p> + +<p>"Shore you could; but I don't want them to think +we are looking at this end," Buck replied. "We'll have +th' boys raise th' devil down south till dark an' keep +that gang away from this end."</p> + +<p>"I reckon they read yore mind—hear th' shooting?" +Skinny queried.</p> + +<p>"That must be Red out there—I can see half of +him from here," Hopalong remarked, lowering his +glasses. "Look at th' smoke he's making! Wonder +what's up? Hear th' others, too!"</p> + +<p>"Come on—we'll get out of this," Buck responded. +"We'll go to camp an' plan for to-night, an' talk it +over with th' rest. I want to hear what Meeker's +going to do about it an' how we can place his men."</p> + +<p>"By thunder! If we <i>can</i> get up there, half a dozen +of us with Colts, an' sneak up on 'em, we'll have this +fight tied up in a bag so quick they won't know what's +up," Skinny remarked. "You can bet yore life that +if there's any way to get a rope up that wall I'll do +it!"</p><hr class="chap" /><p><span class="pagenum">[303]</span></p> + +<h2 id="CHAPTER_XXX">CHAPTER XXX</h2> + +<p class="h3">UP THE WALL</p> + +<p>Pipes were glowing in the shadows away from +the fire, where men lay in various attitudes of +ease. A few were examining wounds while +others cleaned rifles and saw that their revolvers were +in good condition. Around the fire but well back from +it four men sat cross-legged, two others stretched out +on their elbows and stomachs near them.</p> + +<p>"You say everything is all right on th' ranch?" +asked Buck of a man who, covered with alkali, had +just come from the Bar-20. "No trouble, hey?"</p> + +<p>"Nope; no trouble at all," replied Cross, tossing +his sombrero aside. "Lucas an' Bartlett each sent us +four men to help out when they learned you had come +out here. We shipped four of 'em right on to th' H2, +which is too short-handed to do any damage to rustlers."</p> + +<p>"Much obliged for that," spoke up Meeker, relief +in his voice. "I'm blamed glad to hear things are +quiet back home—but I don't know how long they'll +stay that way with Eagle so close."</p> + +<p>"Well, Eagle ain't a whole lot anxious to dip in no<span class="pagenum">[304]</span> +more," laughed Cross, looking at the H2 foreman. +"Leastawise, that's what Lucas said. He sent a delegation +down there which made a good impression. +There was ten men in it an' they let it be known that +if they came back again there would be ten more with +'em. In that case Eagle wouldn't be no more than a +charred memory. Since Quinn died, being shot hard by +Nevada, who I reckons is out here, th' town ain't got +nobody to tell it how to do things right, which is shore +pleasant."</p> + +<p>"You bring blamed good news—I'm glad Lucas +went down there," Buck replied. "I can't tell as good +news about us out here, yet. We've had a hard time +for a week. They got Pie to-day, an' most of us are +shot up plentiful. Yo're just in time for th' festival, +Cross—we're going to try to rush 'em to-night an' +get it over. We reckon Skinny an' Pete can get us a +way up that wall before dawn."</p> + +<p>"Me for th' rush," laughed Cross. "I'm fresh as +a daisy, which most of you fellers ain't. How many +of 'em have you got so far? Are there many still up +there?"</p> + +<p>"We've got four of 'em that I knows of, an' how +many of 'em died from their wounds I can't say," replied +Hopalong. "But a whole lot of 'em have been +plugged, an' plugged hard."</p> + +<p>"But how many are up there still able to fight?"</p> + +<p>"I should say about nine," Hopalong remarked, +thoughtfully.</p><p><span class="pagenum">[305]</span></p> + +<p>"Ten," corrected Red. "I've been watching th' +positions an' I know."</p> + +<p>"About nine or ten—they shift so nobody can +really tell," Buck replied. "I reckon we've seen 'em +all in Eagle, too."</p> + +<p>"Frenchy got Nevada an' another to-day, on th' +west side," Johnny interposed.</p> + +<p>"I'm glad Nevada is gone—he's a terror in a mix-up," +Cross rejoined. "Best two-handed gun man in +Eagle, he was."</p> + +<p>"Huh!" snorted Johnny. "Stack him up against +Hoppy an' see how long he'd last!"</p> + +<p>"I said in Eagle!" retorted Cross.</p> + +<p>Buck suddenly stood up and stretched. "You fellers +all turn in now an' snatch some sleep. I'm going +out to see how things are with Billy. I'll call you in +time. Doc, you an' Curtis are too shot up to do any +climbing—you turn in too. When I come back +I'll wake you an' send you out to help Billy watch th' +trail. Where's Red?"</p> + +<p>"Over here—what do you want?" came from the +shadows.</p> + +<p>"Nothing, only get to sleep. I reckoned you might +be off somewheres scouting. Skinny, where's yore rope? +Got that manilla one? Good! Put three more hemp +lariats out here where I can find 'em when I come back. +Now don't none of you waste no time; turn in right now!" +He started to walk away and then hesitated, turning +around. "Doc, you an' Curtis better come with me<span class="pagenum">[306]</span> +now so you won't lose no time hunting Billy in th' dark +when yore eyes are sleepy—it's hard enough to find +him now in th' dark, when I'm wide awake. You can +get yore sleep out there—he'll wake you when yo're +needed."</p> + +<p>The two punchers arose and joined him, Doc with his +left arm bandaged and his companion with three +bandages on him. When they joined Buck Doc protested. +"Let me go with you an' th' rest of th' boys, +Peters, when you go up that wall. I came out here +to get th' Greaser that murdered Curley, an' I hate to +miss him now. If I can't climb th' boys will be glad to +pull me up, an' it won't take no time to speak of. +My gun arm is sound as a dollar—<i>I</i> want that +Greaser!"</p> + +<p>Buck glanced at Meeker, who refused to give any +sign of his thoughts on the matter. "Well, all right, +Doc. But if we should have to fight as soon as we get +up an' don't have no time to pull you after us, you'll +miss everything. But you can do what you want."</p> + +<p>"I'll just gamble on that. I ain't hurt much, an' +if I can't climb I'll manage to get in th' scrap someway, +even if I has to hunt up Billy," replied Doc, contentedly, +returning to the fire.</p> + +<p>Buck and his companion moved away into the darkness +while those around the fire lay down to get a few +hours' rest, which they needed badly. George Cross, +who was not sleepy, remained awake in a shadow and +kept guard, although none was needed.</p> + +<p>Buck and Curtis found Billy by whistling and the<span class="pagenum">[307]</span> +wounded H2 puncher found a place to lie down and +was soon asleep, while the foreman and his friend sat +up, watching the faint glow on the mesa, the camp-fire +of the besieged. Once they heard the clatter of a rifle +from the head of the trail and later they saw a dim +figure pass quickly across the lighted space. They +were content to watch on such a night, for the air had +cooled rapidly after the sun went down and the sky +was one twinkling mass of stars.</p> + +<p>Twice during the wait Buck disappeared into the +black chaparral close at hand and struck a match under +his coat to see the time, and on the last occasion he +returned to Billy, remarking: "Got half an hour yet +before I leave you. Are you sleepy?"</p> + +<p>"No, not very; my head hurts too much to sleep," +Billy replied, re-crossing his legs and settling himself +in a more comfortable position. "When you leave I'll +get up on my hoofs so I won't feel like dosing off. I +won't wake Curtis unless I have to—he's about played +out."</p> + +<p>"You wake him when you think I've been gone half +an hour," Buck ordered. "It'll take him some time to +get his eyes open—we mustn't let any get away. +They've got friends in Eagle, you know."</p> + +<p>"Wish I could smoke," Billy remarked, wistfully.</p> + +<p>"Why, you can," replied Buck, quickly. "Go back +there in th' chaparral an' get away with a pipeful. +I'll watch things till you come back, an' if I need you +quick I can call. You've got near half an hour—make +th' best of it."</p><p><span class="pagenum">[308]</span></p> + +<p>"Here's th' gun—much obliged, Buck," and Billy +disappeared, leaving the foreman to plan and watch. +Buck glanced at the sleeping man occasionally when he +heard him toss or mutter and wished he could let him +sleep on undisturbed.</p> + +<p>Suddenly a flash lighted up the top of the trail for +an instant and the sharp report of a rifle rang out +loudly on the still, night air. Buck, grabbing the Winchester, +sprang to his feet as an excited chorus came +from the rustlers' stronghold. Then he heard laughter +and a few curses and quiet again ensued.</p> + +<p>"What was that, Buck?" came a low, anxious hail +from behind.</p> + +<p>The foreman laughed softly and replied: "Nothing, +Billy, except that th' guard up there reckoned he saw +something to shoot at. It's funny how staring at th' +dark will get a feller seeing things that ain't. Why, +had yore smoke so soon?" he asked in surprise as Billy +sat down beside him.</p> + +<p>"Shore," replied Billy. "Two of 'em. I reckon +yore time is about up. Gimme th' gun now."</p> + +<p>"Well, good luck, Billy. Better move up closer to +th' trail if you can find any cover. You don't want to +miss none. So long," and Billy was alone with his +sleeping companion.</p> + +<p>When the foreman returned to the camp he was +challenged, and stopped, surprised. "It's Peters," he +called.</p> + +<p>"Oh, all right. Time to go yet?" asked Cross, +emerging from the darkness.</p><p><span class="pagenum">[309]</span></p> + +<p>"Purty near; but I thought I told you to go to +sleep?"</p> + +<p>"I know, but I ain't sleepy, not a bit. So I reckoned +I'd keep watch over th' rest of th' gang."</p> + +<p>"Well, since yo're wide awake, you help me knot +these ropes an' let th' others have a few minutes more," +Buck responded, picking up Skinny's fifty-foot lariat +and placing it to one side. He picked up the three +shorter ropes and threw one to his companion. "Put +a knot every foot an' a half—make 'em tight an' +big."</p> + +<p>In a few minutes the work was finished and Buck +awakened the sleeping men, who groped their way to the +little stream close by and washed the sleep out of their +tired eyes, grabbing a bit of food on their return to +the fire.</p> + +<p>"Now, fellers," said the foreman, "leave yore rifles +here—it's Colts this trip, except in Red's case. Got +plenty of cartridges? Everybody had a drink an' some +grub? All right; single file after me an' don't make no +noise."</p> + +<p>When the moon came up an hour later Red Connors, +lying full length on the apex of the pinnacle which +Johnny had tried and found wanting, watched an indistinct +blurr of men in the shadow of the mesa wall. He +saw one of them step out into the moonlight, lean back +and then straighten up suddenly, his arm going above +his head. The silence was so intense that Red could +faintly hear the falling rope as it struck the ground. +Another cast, and yet another, both unsuccessful, and<span class="pagenum">[310]</span> +then the fourth, which held. The puncher stepped back +into the shadow again and another figure appeared, to +go jerking himself up the face of the wall. While he +watched the scaling operations Red was not missing +anything on the top of the mesa, where the moon bathed +everything in a silvery light.</p> + +<p>Then he saw another figure follow the first and kick +energetically as it clambered over onto the ledge. Soon +a rope fell to the plain and the last man up, who was +Skinny, leaned far out and cast at the second ledge, +Pete holding him. After some time he was successful +and again he and his companion went up the wall. Pete +climbed rapidly, his heavy body but small weight for +the huge, muscular arms which rose and fell so rapidly. +On the second ledge the same casting was gone through +with, but it was not until the eighth attempt that the +rope stayed up. Then Red, rising on his elbows, put +his head closer to the stock of his rifle and peered into +the shadows back of the lighted space on the rocky +pile. He saw Pete pull his companion back to safety +and then, leaping forward, grasp the rope and climb to +the top. Already one of the others was part way up +the second rope while another was squirming over the +lower ledge, and below him a third kicked and hauled, +half way up the first lariat.</p> + +<p>"String of monkeys," chuckled Red. "But they +can't none of 'em touch Pete in that sort of a game. +Wonder what Pete's doing?" he queried as he saw the +man on the top of the mesa bend, fumble around for a +moment, and then toss his arm out over the edge. "Oh,<span class="pagenum">[311]</span> +it's a knotted rope—he's throwing it down for th' +others. Well, Pete, old feller, you was th' first man to +get—<i>Lord</i>!"</p> + +<p>He saw Pete wheel, leap forward into a shadow, and +then a heaving, twisting, bending bulk emerged into +the moonlight. It swayed back and forth, separated +into two figures and then became one again.</p> + +<p>"They're fighting, rough an' tumble!" Red exclaimed. +"Lord have mercy on th' man who's closing +with that Pete of ourn!"</p> + +<p>He could hear the scuffling and he knew that the +others had heard it, too, for Skinny was desperately +anxious to wriggle over the edge, while down the line +of ropes the others acted like men crazed. Still the +pair on the mesa top swayed back and forth, this way +and that, bending, twisting, and Red imagined he could +hear their labored breathing. Then Skinny managed +to pull himself to the top of the wall and sprang forward, +to sink down from a kick in the stomach.</p> + +<p>"God A'mighty!" cried Red excitedly. "Who is +it that can give Pete a fight like that? Well, I'm glad +he's so busy he can't use his gun!"</p> + +<p>Skinny was crawling around on his hands and knees +as Buck's head arose over the edge. The foreman, well +along in years, and heavy, was too tired to draw himself +over the rim without a moment's rest. He had no +fear for Pete, but he was worried lest some rustler +might sound an alarm. Skinny now sat up and felt +for his Colt, but the foreman's voice stopped him. "No +shooting, yet! Want to tell 'em what's up? You let<span class="pagenum">[312]</span> +them fellers alone for a minute, an' give me a hand +here."</p> + +<p>Pete, his steel-like fingers darting in for hold after +hold, managed to jerk his opponent's gun from its +sheath and throw it aside, where Skinny quickly picked +it up. He was astonished by the skill and strength of +his adversary, who blocked every move, every attempt +to get a dangerous hold. Pete, for a man reputed as +being slow, which he was in some things, was darting +his arms in and out with remarkable quickness, but +without avail. Then, realizing that his cleaner living +was standing him in good stead, and hearing the labored +breathing of the rustler, he leaped in and clinched. By +this time Hopalong and three more of the attacking +force had gained the mesa top and were sent forward +by the foreman, who was now intent upon the struggle +at hand.</p> + +<p>"It's Big Sandy!" Hopalong whispered to Skinny, +pausing to watch for a moment before he disappeared +into the shadows.</p> + +<p>He was right, and Big Sandy, breathless and tired, +was fighting a splendid fight for his life against a +younger, fresher, and stronger man. The rustler tried +several times for a throat hold but in vain, and in a fury +of rage threw his weight against his opponent to bear +him to the ground, incautiously bringing his feet close +together as he felt the other yield. In that instant +Pete dropped to a crouch, his vice-like hands tightened +about Big Sandy's ankles, and with a sudden, great +surge of his powerful back and shoulders he straightened<span class="pagenum">[313]</span> +up and Sandy plunged forward to a crashing fall +on the very edge of the mesa, scrambled to his feet, +staggered, lost his balance, and fell backwards a hundred +feet to the rocks below.</p> + +<p>The victor would have followed him but for Buck, +who grasped him in time. Pete, steady on his feet +again, threw Buck from him by one sweep of his arms +and wheeled to renew the fight, surprise flashing across +his face at not seeing his opponent.</p> + +<p>"He's down below, Pete," Buck cried as Johnny, +white-faced, crawled over the edge.</p> + +<p>"What was that?" exclaimed the Kid. "Who +fell?"</p> + +<p>"Big Sandy," replied the foreman. "He—" the +report of a shot cut him short. "Come on!" he cried. +"They're at it!" and he dashed away, closely followed +by Johnny and Pete as Jim Meeker came into view. +The H2 foreman slid over the mesa rim, leaped to his +feet and sprinted forward, Colt in hand, to be quickly +lost in the shadows, and after him came Red Connors, +the last.</p> + +<p>Down below Doc, hearing a thud not far from him, +hurried around a spur of rock in the wall, sick at heart +when he saw the body. Bending over quickly he recognized +the mass as once having been Big Sandy, and he +forthwith returned to the rope to be pulled up. When +he at last realized that his friends had forgotten him +there was loud, lurid cursing and he stamped around +like a wild man, waving a Colt in his right hand. +Finally he dropped heavily on a rock, too enraged to<span class="pagenum">[314]</span> +think, and called the attacking force, collectively and +individually, every name that sprang to his lips. As +he grew calmer he arose from the rock, intending to +join Billy and Curtis at the other end of the pasture, +and as he took a step in that direction he heard a sharp +click and a pebble bounced past him. He stepped +backwards quickly and looked up, seeing a figure sliding +rapidly down the highest rope. He was immediately +filled with satisfaction and easily forgave his companions +for the anxiety they had caused him, and as +he was about to call out he heard a Spanish oath. Slipping +quickly and noiselessly into the deeper shadow at +the base of the wall he flattened himself behind the spur +of rock close to the rope, where he waited tensely, a +grim smile transforming his face.</p><hr class="chap" /><p><span class="pagenum">[315]</span></p> + +<h2 id="CHAPTER_XXXI">CHAPTER XXXI</h2> + +<p class="h3">FORTUNE SNICKERS AT DOC</p> + +<p>Antonio was restless and could not sleep. He +turned from side to side on the ground near the +fire before the hut and was one of the first to +run to the top of the trail when the guard there discharged +his rifle at nothing. Returning to his blanket +the Mexican tried to compose himself to rest, but was +unsuccessful. Finally he arose, picked up his rifle, and +slouched off into the shadows to wander about from +point to point.</p> + +<p>Cavalry, coming in from his post to get a drink, +caught sight of the Mexican before he was swallowed +up by the darkness and, suspicious as ever of Antonio, +forgot the drink and followed.</p> + +<p>After wandering about all unconscious of espionage +Antonio finally drifted to the western edge and seated +himself comfortably against a bowlder, Cavalry not +fifty feet away in a shadow. Time passed slowly and +as the Mexican was about to return to the fire he chanced +to glance across the mesa along a moon-lighted path +and stiffened at what he saw. A figure ran across the +lighted space, silently, cautiously, Colt in hand, and<span class="pagenum">[316]</span> +then another, then two together, and the Mexican knew +that the enemy had found a way up the wall and were +hurrying forward to fight at close quarters, to effect a +surprise on the unsuspecting men about the fire and in +the hut. There remained, perhaps, time enough for +him to escape and he arose and ran north, crouching as +he zig-zagged from cover to cover, cautious and alert.</p> + +<p>Cavalry, because of his position, had not seen the +flitting punchers and, his suspicions now fully aroused, +he slipped after the Mexican to find out just what he was +going to do. When the firing burst out behind him he +paused and stood up, amazed. As he struggled to understand +what it meant he saw three men run past a +bowlder at his left and then he knew, and still hesitated. +He was not a man who thought quickly and his first natural +impulse, due to his army training, was to try to +join his friends, but gradually the true situation came +to him. How many men there were in the attacking +force he did not know, but he had seen three after the +fighting had begun; and it was evident that the cowmen +would not rush into the lion's jaws unless they were +strong enough to batter down all resistance. Four of +his friends were dead, another had evidently deserted, +and the remainder were all more or less severely wounded—there +could be no hope of driving the ranchmen back, +and small chance of him being able to work through +their line to join his friends. There remained only one +thing to be done, to save himself while he might.</p> + +<p>As he moved forward slowly and cautiously to find a +way down the wall he remembered the Mexican's peculiar<span class="pagenum">[317]</span> +actions and wondered if he had a hand in helping the +cowmen up.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile Antonio, reaching the edge of the open +space where Pete and Big Sandy had fought, saw Red +Connors appear over the rim and dash away to join in +the fighting. Waiting long enough to assure himself +that there were none following Red he ran to the edge +and knelt by the rope. Leaving his rifle behind and seeing +that the flap of his holster was fastened securely, he +lowered himself over, sliding rapidly down to the first +ledge. Here he spent a minute, a minute that seemed +an eternity, hunting for the second rope in the shadows, +found it and went on.</p> + +<p>Sliding and bumping down the rough wall he at last +reached the plain and, with a sigh of relief, turned to +run. At that instant a figure leaped upon him from +behind and a hand gripped his throat and jerked him +over backwards. Antonio instinctively reached for his +Colt with one hand while he tore at the gripping fingers +with the other, but he found himself pinned down between +two rocks in such a manner that his whole weight +and that of his enemy was on the holster and made his +effort useless. Then, terrified and choking for breath, +he dug wildly at the vice-like fingers which not for a +moment relaxed, but in vain, for he was growing weaker +with each passing second.</p> + +<p>Doc leaned forward, peering into the face before him, +his fingers gripping with all their power, gripping with +a force which made the muscles of the brawny forearm +stand out like cords, his face malevolent and his heart<span class="pagenum">[318]</span> +full of savage joy. Here was the end of his hunt, here +was the man who had murdered Curley in cold blood, +cowardly, deliberately. The face, already dark, was +turning black and the eyes were growing wide open and +bulging out. He felt the surge of the Mexican's pulse, +steadily growing weaker. But he said no word as he +watched and gloated, he was too intent to speak, too centred +upon the man under him, too busy keeping his +fingers tight-gripped. He would make good his threat, +he would keep his word and kill the murderer of his best +friend with his naked hand, as he had sworn.</p> + +<p>Up above the two, Cavalry, working along the edge, +had come across Antonio's rifle and then as he glanced +about, saw the rope. Here was where the cowmen had +come up and here was where he could go down. From +the way the shooting continued he knew that the fight +was desperate and he believed himself to be cut off from +his friends. He hated to desert in the face of the enemy, +to leave his companions of a dangerous business to fight +for their lives without him, but there was only one thing +to do since he could not help them—he must save himself.</p> + +<p>Dropping his rifle beside the other he lowered himself +over the edge and slid rapidly down. When half-way +down the last rope his burning hands slipped and he +fell head over heels, and landed on Doc, knocking him +over and partially stunning him. Cavalry's only +idea now was to escape from the men who, as he +thought, were guarding the rope and, hastily picking +himself up, he dashed towards the chaparral to the west<span class="pagenum">[319]</span> +as fast as he could run, every moment expecting to feel +the hot sting of a bullet. At last, when the chaparral +closed about him he plunged through it recklessly and +ran until sheer exhaustion made him drop insensible to +the sand. He had run far, much farther than he could +have gone were it not for the stimulus of the fear which +gripped him; and had he noticed where he was going +he would have known that he was running up a slope, +a slope which eventually reached a level higher than the +top of the mesa. And when he dropped if he had been +capable of observation he would have found himself in +a chaparral which arose above his head, and seen the +narrow lane through it which led to a great expanse of +sand, tawney and blotched with ash-colored alkali, an expanse +which stretched away to the desolate horizon.</p> + +<p>Shortly after Cavalry's descent Antonio stirred, +opened his eyes, stared vaguely about him and, feeling +his bruised and aching throat, staggered to his feet and +stumbled to the east, hardly conscious of what he was doing. +As he proceeded his breath came easier and he began +to remember having seen Doc lying quiet against a +rock. He hesitated a moment as he wondered if Doc +was dead and if so, who had killed him. Then he swore +because he had not given him a shot to make sure that +he would not rejoin his friends. Hesitating a moment +he suddenly decided that he would be better off if he put +a good distance between himself and the mesa, and ran +on again, eager to gain the shelter of the chaparral.</p> + +<p>When Doc opened his eyes and groped around he +slowly remembered what had occurred and his first conscious<span class="pagenum">[320]</span> +act was to look to see if his expected victim were +dead or alive. It did not take him long to realize that +he was alone and his hand leaped for his Colt as he +peered around. Limping out on the plain he caught +sight of the running Mexican, rapidly growing indistinct, +and hazarded two shots after him. Antonio leaped +into a new speed as though struck with a whip and +cursed himself for not having killed the H2 puncher +when he had the chance. A moment more and he was +lost in the thickets. Doc tried to follow, but his leg, +hurt by Cavalry's meteoric descent, was not equal to any +great demand for speed and so, turning, he made his +way towards the camp to get a horse and return to take +up the Mexican's trail.</p> + +<p>He lost an hour in this, a feverishly impatient hour, +punctuated with curses as he limped along and with an +unsparing quirt once he was astride. What devilish +Humpty Dumpty had cheated him this time? "All the +king's horses and all the king's men couldn't put +Humpty Dumpty together again"—they couldn't if +he once caught up with the Mexican. He laughed grimly +and swore again as the cranky beast beneath him shied a +pain into his sore leg. "Go on, you!" he yelled, +as he swept up to where the ropes still dangled +against the wall. "Th' Mexican first," he muttered. +The world was not big enough to hide the murderer +of Curley, to save him from his just deserts. +The two trails lay plain before him in the brilliant moonlight +and his pony sprang forward toward the spot +where Antonio had disappeared in the chaparral.</p><hr class="chap" /><p><span class="pagenum">[321]</span></p> + +<h2 id="CHAPTER_XXXII">CHAPTER XXXII</h2> + +<p class="h3">NATURE TAKES A HAND</p> + +<p>When Hopalong caught up with his four +companions he was astonished by the conditions +on the mesa. Instead of a bowlder-strewn, +rocky plain as he had believed it to be he found +himself on a table-land cut and barred by fissures which +ran in all directions. At one time these had been open +almost to the level of the surrounding pasture but the +winds had swept sand and debris into the gashes until +now none were much more than ten feet deep. Narrow +alleyways which led in every direction, twisting and +turning, now blocked and now open for many feet in +depth, their walls sand-beaten to a smoothness baffling +the grip of one who would scale them, were not the same +in a fight as a comparatively flat plain broken only by +miscellaneous bowlders and hummocks. There could be +no concerted dash for the reason that one group of the +attacking force might be delayed until after another had +begun to fight. And it was possible, even probable, that +the turns in the alleyways might be guarded; and once +separated in the heat of battle it would be easy enough +to shoot each other. Instead of a dashing fight soon to<span class="pagenum">[322]</span> +be over, it looked as though it would be a deadly game +of hide and seek to wear out the players and which might +last for an indefinite length of time. It was disconcerting +to find that what had been regarded as the hardest +part of the whole affair, the gaining of the mesa top, +was the easiest.</p> + +<p>"Here, fellows!" Hopalong growled. "We'll stick +together till we get right close, an' then if we have time +an' these infernal gorges don't stop us, we may be able +to spread out. We've got to move easy, too. If we go +galloping reckless we'll run into some guard an' there +won't be no surprise party on Thunder Mesa. We can +count on having light, though not as much as we might +have, for th' moon won't go back on us till th' sun fades +it."</p> + +<p>"It's light enough," growled Skinny. "Come on—we've +got to go ahead an' every minute counts. <i>I</i> didn't +think we'd lose so much time roping them knobs an' +getting up."</p> + +<p>They moved forward cautiously in single file, alert +and straining eyes and ears, and had covered half of the +distance when a shot was heard ahead and they listened, +expecting an uproar. Waiting a minute and hearing +nothing further, they moved on again, angry and disgruntled. +Then another shot rang out and they heard +Billy and Curtis reply.</p> + +<p>"Shooting before daylight, before they get their +morning's grub," grumbled George Cross.</p> + +<p>"Yes; sort of eye-opener, I reckon," softly laughed<span class="pagenum">[323]</span> +Chick Travers, who was nervous and impatient. "Get +a move on an' let's start something," he added.</p> + +<p>As they separated to take advantage of a spoke-like +radiation of several intersecting fissures another shot +rang out ahead and there was an angry <i>spat</i>! close to +Hopalong's head. Another shot and then a rattling +volley sent the punchers hunting cover on the run, but +they were moving forward all the time. It was a case +of getting close or be killed at a range too great for +Colts, and their rifles were in the camp. Had the light +been better the invaders might have paid dearly right +there for the attack.</p> + +<p>Confusion was rife among the defenders and the noise +of the shouts and firing made one jumble of sound. +Bullets whistled along the fissures in the dim light and +hummed and whizzed as they ricochetted from wall to +wall. As yet the attacking force had made no reply, being +too busily occupied in getting close to lose time in +wasting lead at that range, and being only five against +an unknown number protected by a stone hut and who +knew every bowlder, crevice, and other points of vantage.</p> + +<p>Hopalong slid over a bowlder which choked his particular +and personal fissure and saw Jim Meeker sliding +down the wall in front of it. And as Meeker picked +himself up Skinny Thompson slid down the other wall.</p> + +<p>"Well, I'm hanged!" grunted Hopalong in astonishment.</p> + +<p>"Same here," retorted Skinny. "What you doing +'way over here?"</p><p><span class="pagenum">[324]</span></p> + +<p>"Thought you was going to lead th' other end of th' +line!" rejoined Hopalong.</p> + +<p>"This is it—yo're off yore range."</p> + +<p>"Well, I reckon not!" Hopalong responded, indignantly.</p> + +<p>"An' say, Meeker, how'd you get over here so +quick?" Skinny asked, turning to the other. "You +was down below when I saw you last."</p> + +<p>"<i>Me?</i> Why, I just follered my nose, that's all," +Meeker replied, surprised.</p> + +<p>"You've got a blamed crooked nose, then," Skinny +snorted, and turned to Hopalong. "Why don't you +untangle yoreself an' go where you belong, you carrot-headed +blunderer!"</p> + +<p>"Hang it! I tell you I—" Hopalong began, and +then ducked quickly. "Lord, but somebody's got us +mapped out good!"</p> + +<p>"Well, some of our fellers have started up—hear +'em over there?" exclaimed Skinny as firing broke out +on the east. "Them's Colts, all right. Mebby it's +plumb lucky for us it <i>ain't</i> so blamed light, after all; +we'll have time to pick our places before they can see +us real good."</p> + +<p>"Pick our places!" snorted Hopalong. "Get +tangled up, you mean!" he added.</p> + +<p>"Hullo! What you doing, fellers?" asked a +pained and surprised voice above them. "Why ain't +you in it?"</p> + +<p>"For th' love of heaven—it's Frenchy!" cried<span class="pagenum">[325]</span> +Hopalong. "Skinny, I reckon them Colts you heard +belonged to th' rustlers. <i>We're</i> all here but a couple."</p> + +<p>"Didn't I leave you over east about five minutes ago, +Frenchy?" demanded Skinny, his mouth almost refusing +to shut.</p> + +<p>"Shore. I'm east—what's eating at you?" +asked Frenchy.</p> + +<p>"Come on—get out of this!" ordered Hopalong, +scrambling ahead. "You foller me an' you'll be all +right."</p> + +<p>"We'll be back to th' ropes if we foller you," +growled Skinny. "Of all th' locoed layouts I ever run +up against this here mesa top takes th' prize," he finished +in disgust.</p> + +<p>Bullets whined and droned above them and frequently +hummed down the fissure to search them out, the high, +falsetto whine changing quickly to an angry <i>spang</i>! as +they struck the wall a slanting blow. They seemed to +spring away again with renewed strength as they sang +the loud, whirring hum of the ricochette, not the almost +musical, sad note of the uninterrupted bullet, but +venomous, assertive, insistent. The shots could be distinguished +now, for on one side were the sharp cracks of +rifles; on the other a different note, the roar of Colts.</p> + +<p>"This ain't no fit society for six-shooters," Meeker +remarked in a low voice as they slid over a ridge, and +dropped ten feet before they knew it.</p> + +<p>"For th' Lord's sake!" ejaculated Hopalong as he +arose to his feet. "Step over a rock an' you need<span class="pagenum">[326]</span> +wings! Foller a nice trail an' you can't get out of th' +cussed thing! Go west an' you land east, say 'so-long' +to a friend an' you meet him a minute later!"</p> + +<p>"We ought to have rifles in this game," Meeker remarked, +rubbing his knee-cap ruefully.</p> + +<p>"Yes; an' ladders, ropes, an' balloons," snorted +Skinny.</p> + +<p>"Send somebody back for th' guns," suggested +Frenchy.</p> + +<p>"Who?" demanded Hopalong. "Will <i>you</i> go?"</p> + +<p>"Me? Why, I don't want no rifle!"</p> + +<p>"Huh! Neither do I," remarked Skinny. "Here, +Frenchy, give me a boost up this wall,—take my +foot!"</p> + +<p>"Well, don't wiggle so, you piece of string!"</p> + +<p>"That's right! Walk backwards! I ain't no folding +step-ladder! How do you think I'm going to grab +that edge if you takes me ten feet away from it?"</p> + +<p><i>Spang! Spang! Zing-ing-ing!</i></p> + +<p>"Here, you! Lemme down! Want me to get +plugged!" yelled Skinny, executing ungraceful and +rapid contortions. "Lower me, you fool!"</p> + +<p>"Let go that ridge, then!" retorted Frenchy.</p> + +<p>During the comedy Hopalong had been crawling up +a rough part of the wall and he fired before he lost his +balance. As he landed on Meeker a yell rang out and +the sound of a rifle clattering on rock came to them. +"I got him, Skinny—go ahead now," he grunted, +picking himself up.</p> + +<p>It was not long until they were out of the fissure and<span class="pagenum">[327]</span> +crawling down a bowlder-strewn slope. As they came +to the bottom they saw a rustler trying to drag himself +to cover and Meeker fired instantly, stopping the +other short.</p> + +<p>"Why, I thought <i>I</i> stopped him!" exclaimed Hopalong.</p> + +<p>"Reckon you won't rustle no more cows, you thief," +growled Meeker, rising to his knees.</p> + +<p>Hopalong pulled him down again as a bullet whizzed +through the space just occupied by his head. "Don't +you get so curious," he warned. "Come on—I see +Red. He's got his rifle, lucky cuss."</p> + +<p>"Good for him! Wish I had mine," replied Meeker, +grinning at Red, who wriggled an elbow as a salutation. +In his position Red could hardly be expected to do much +more, since two men were waiting for a shot at him.</p> + +<p>"Well, you can get that gun down there an' have a +rifle," Hopalong suggested, pointing to the Winchester +lying close to its former owner. "You can do it, all +right."</p> + +<p>"Good idea—shoot 'em with their own lead," and +the H2 foreman departed on his hands and knees for the +weapon.</p> + +<p>"I hit one—he's trying to put his shoulder together," +cried Red, grinning. "What makes you so +late—I was th' last one up, an' I've been here a couple +of hours."</p> + +<p>"Yo're a sinful liar!" retorted Hopalong. "We +stopped to pick blackberries back at that farm house," +he finished with withering sarcasm.</p><p><span class="pagenum">[328]</span></p> + +<p>"You fellers had time to get married an' raise a family," +Red replied. He ducked and looked around. +"Ah, you coyote—hit him, but not very hard, I +reckon."</p> + +<p>It was daylight when Pete, on the other end of the +line, turned and scourged Johnny. "Ain't you got +no sense in yore fool head? How can I see to shoot +when you kick around like that an' fill my eyes with +dirt! Come down from up there or I'll lick you!"</p> + +<p>"Ah, shut up!" retorted Johnny with a curse. +"You'd kick around if somebody nicked <i>yore</i> ear!"</p> + +<p>"Well, it serves you right for being so unholy curious!" +Pete replied. "You come down before he nicks +yore eye!"</p> + +<p>"Not before I get square—<i>Wow!</i>" and Johnny +came down rapidly.</p> + +<p>"Where'd he get you that time?"</p> + +<p>"None of yore business!" growled Johnny.</p> + +<p>"I told you to come—"</p> + +<p>"Shut up!" roared Johnny, glaring at him. +"Wish I had that new Sharps of mine!"</p> + +<p>"Go an' get it, Kid. Yo're nimble," Pete responded. +"An' bring up some of th' others, too, while yo're +about it."</p> + +<p>"But how long will this fight last, do you reckon?" +the other asked, with an air of weighing something.</p> + +<p>"All day with rifles—a week without 'em."</p> + +<p>"Shore yo're right?"</p> + +<p>"Yes; go ahead. There'll be some of th' scrap left +for you when you get back."</p><p><span class="pagenum">[329]</span></p> + +<p>"All right,—but don't you get that feller. I want +him for what he did to me," and Johnny hastened away. +He returned in fifteen minutes with two rifles and gave +one of them to his companion.</p> + +<p>"They're .45-70's—an' full, too," he remarked. +"But I ain't got no more cartridges for 'em."</p> + +<p>"How'd you get 'em so quick?"</p> + +<p>"Found 'em by th' rope where we come up—didn't +have to stop; just picked 'em up an' came right back," +Johnny laughed. "But I wonder how they got there?"</p> + +<p>"Bet four dollars an' a tooth-pick they means that +two thieves got away down them ropes. Where's +Doc?"</p> + +<p>"Don't know—but I don't think anybody pulled +him up here."</p> + +<p>"Then he might 'a stopped them two what owned th' +rifles—he would be mad enough to stay there a month +if Red forgot him."</p> + +<p>"Yes; waiting to lick Red when he came down," and +Johnny crawled up again to his former position. +"Now, you cow-stealing coyote, watch out!" As he +settled down he caught sight of his foreman. "Hullo, +Buck! What you doing?"</p> + +<p>"Stringing beads for my night shirt," retorted Buck. +"You get down from up there, you fool!"</p> + +<p>"Can't. I got to pay for—" he ducked, and +then fired twice. "Just missed th' other ear, Pete. +But I made him jump a foot—plugged him where he +sits down. He was moving away. An' blamed if he +ain't a Greaser!"</p><p><span class="pagenum">[330]</span></p> + +<p>"Yes; an' you took two shots to do it, when cartridges +are so scarce," Pete grumbled.</p> + +<p>At first several of the rustlers had defended the hut +but the concentrated fire of the attacking force had +poured through its north window from so many angles +that evacuation became necessary. This was accomplished +through the south window, which opened behind +the natural breastwork, and at a great cost, for Con +Irwin and Sam Austin were killed in the move.</p> + +<p>The high, steep ridge which formed the rear wall of +the hut and overlooked the roof of the building ran at +right angles to the low breastwork and extended from +the north end of the hut to the edge of the mesa, a +distance of perhaps fifty feet. On the side farthest +from the breastwork it sloped to the stream made by the +spring and its surface was covered with bowlders. The +rustlers, if they attempted to scale its steep face, would +be picked off at short range, but they realized that once +the enemy gained its top their position would be +untenable except around the turn in the breastwork +at the other side of the mesa. In order to keep the +punchers from gaining this position they covered the +wide cut which separated the ridge from the enemy's +line, and so long as they could command this they were +safe.</p> + +<p>After wandering from point to point Hopalong +finally came to the edge of the cut and found Red Connors +ensconced in a narrow, shallow depression on a +comparatively high hummock. While they talked his<span class="pagenum">[331]</span> +eyes rested on the ridge across the cut and took in the +possibilities that holding it would give.</p> + +<p>"Say, Red, if we could get up on that hill behind th' +shack we'd have this fight over in no time—see how it +overlooks everything?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," slowly replied Red. "But we can't cross +this barranca—they sweep it from end to end. I +tried to get over there, an' I know."</p> + +<p>"But we can try again," Hopalong replied. "You +cover me."</p> + +<p>"Now don't be a fool, Hoppy!" his friend retorted. +"We can't afford to lose you for no gang of rustlers. +It's shore death to try it."</p> + +<p>"Well, you can bet I ain't going to be fool enough +to run twenty yards in th' open," Hopalong replied, +starting away. "But I'm going to look for a way +across, just th' same. Keep me covered."</p> + +<p>"All right, I'll do my best—but don't you try no +dash!"</p> + +<p>But the rustlers had not given up the idea of holding +the ridge themselves, and there was another and just as +important reason why they must have it; their only +water was in the hut and the spring. To enter the +building was certain death, but if they could command +the ridge it would be possible to get water, for the +spring and rivulet lay on the other side at its base. +Hall, well knowing the folly of trying to scale the steep +bank under fire, set about finding another way to gain +the coveted position. He found a narrow ledge on the<span class="pagenum">[332]</span> +face of the mesa wall, at no place more than eight +inches wide, and he believed that it led to the rear of the +ridge. Finding that the wall above the narrow foothold +was rough and offered precarious finger holds, he +began to edge along it, a hundred feet above the plain. +When he had almost reached the end of his trying labors +he was discovered by Billy and Curtis, who lay four +hundred yards away in the chaparral, and at once became +the target for their rifles. Were it not for the +fact that they could not shoot at their best because of +their wounds Hall would never have finished his attempt, +and as it was the bullets flattened against the wall so +close to him that on two occasions he was struck by +spattering lead and flecks of stone. Then he moved +around the turn and was free from that danger, but +found that he must get fifty yards north before he +could gain the plateau again. To make matters worse +the ledge he was on began to grow narrower and at one +place disappeared altogether. When he got to the +gap he had to cling to the rough wall and move forward +inch by inch, twice narrowly missing a drop to the plain +below. But he managed to get across it and strike the +ledge again and in a few minutes more he stepped into +a crevice and sat down to rest before he pushed on. +When he looked around he found that the crevice led +northeast and did not run to the ridge, and he swore +as he realized that he must go through the enemy's line +to gain the position. He would not risk going back +the way he had come, for he was pretty well tired out. +He thought of trying to get to the other end of the mesa<span class="pagenum">[333]</span> +so as to escape by the way the attacking force had +come up, but immediately put it out of his mind as +being too contemptible for further consideration. He +arose and moved forward, seeking a way up the wall of +the crevice—and turning a corner, bumped into Jim +Meeker.</p> + +<p>There was no time for weapons and they clinched. +Meeker scorned to call for help and Hall dared make no +unnecessary noise while in the enemy's line and so they +fought silently. Both tried to draw their Colts, Meeker +to use his either as a gun or a club, Hall as a club only, +and neither succeeded. Both were getting tired when +Hall slipped and fell, the H2 foreman on top of him. +At that instant Buck Peters peered down at them from +the edge of the fissure and then dropped lightly. He +struck Hall over the head with the butt of his Colt and +stepped back, grinning.</p> + +<p>"There'll be a lot more of these duets if this fight +drags out very long," Buck said. "This layout is +shore loco with all its hidden trails. Have you got a +rope, Jim? We'll tie this gent so he won't hurt hisself +if you can find one."</p> + +<p>"No. Much obliged, Peters," Meeker replied. +"Why, yes I have, too. Here, use this," and he quickly +untied his neck-kerchief and gave it to his friend. Buck +took the one from around Hall's neck and the two foremen +gave a deft and practical exhibition of how to tie +a man so he cannot get loose. Meeker took the Winchester +from Hall's back, the Colt and the cartridge +belt, and gave them to Buck, laughing.</p><p><span class="pagenum">[334]</span></p> + +<p>"Seventy-three model; .44 caliber," he explained. +"You'll find it better than th' six-shooter, an' you'll have +plenty of cartridges for it, too."</p> + +<p>"But don't you want it?" asked Buck, hesitating.</p> + +<p>"Nope. I left one around th' corner here. I can +get along with it till I get my own from th' camp."</p> + +<p>"All right, Jim. I'll be glad to keep this—it'll +come in handy."</p> + +<p>"Tough luck, finding them fellers in such a strong +layout," Meeker growled, glancing around at the prisoner. +"Ah, got yore eyes open, hey?" he ejaculated +as Hall glared at him. "How many of you fellers are +up here, anyhow?"</p> + +<p>"Five thousand!" snapped Hall. "It took two of +you to get me!" he blazed. "Got my guns, too, ain't +you? Hope they bust an' blow yore cussed heads off!"</p> + +<p>"Thanks, stranger, thanks," Buck replied, turning +to leave. "But Meeker had you licked good—I only +hurried it to save time. Coming, Jim?"</p> + +<p>"Shore. But do you think this thief can get loose?"</p> + +<p>Buck paused, searching his pockets, and smiled as he +brought to light a small, tight roll of rawhide thongs. +"Here, this'll keep him down," and when they had finished +their prisoner could move neither hands nor feet. +They looked at him critically and then went away towards +the firing, the rustler cursing them heartily.</p> + +<p>"What's th' matter, Meeker?" asked Buck suddenly, +noticing a drawn look on his companion's face.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I can't help worrying about my girl. She ain't +scared of nothing an' she likes to ride. She's too purty<span class="pagenum">[335]</span> +to go breezing over a range that's covered with rustling +skunks. I told her to stay in th' house, but—"</p> + +<p>"Well, why in thunder don't you go back where you +can take care of her?" Buck demanded, sharply. +"She's worth more than all th' cows an' rustlers on +earth. You ain't needed bad out here, for we can clean +this up, all right. You know as long as there are fellers +like us to handle a thing like this no man with a girl depending +on him has really got any right to take chances. +I never thought of it before, or I'd 'a told you so. You +cut loose for home to-day, an' leave us to finish this."</p> + +<p>"Well, I'll see how things go to-morrow, then. I can +pull out th' next morning if everything is all right out +here." He hesitated a moment, looking Buck steadily +in the eyes, a peculiar expression on his face. "Peters, +yo're a white man, one of th' whitest I ever met, an' +you've got a white outfit. I don't reckon we'll have no +more trouble about that line of yourn, not nohow. +When we settle down to peace an' punching again I'm +going to let you show me how to put down some wells +at th' southern base of yore hills, like you said one day. +If I can get water, a half as much as you got in th' +Jumping Bear, I'll be fixed all right. But I want to +ask you a fair question, man to man. I ain't no real +fool an' I've seen more than I'm supposed to, but I want +to be shore about this, dead shore. What kind of a man +is Hopalong Cassidy when it comes to women?"</p> + +<p>Buck looked at him frankly. "If I had a daughter +I wouldn't want a better man for her."</p><hr class="chap" /><p><span class="pagenum">[336]</span></p> + +<h2 id="CHAPTER_XXXIII">CHAPTER XXXIII</h2> + +<p class="h3">DOC TRAILS</p> + +<p>Doc had not gone far into the chaparral before +he realized that his work was going to be hard. +The trail was much fainter than it would have +been if the Mexican were mounted; the moonlight failed +to penetrate the chaparral except in irregular patches +which made the surrounding shadows all the deeper by +contrast; what little he saw of the trail led through +places far too small and turning too sharply to permit +being followed by a man on horseback, and lastly, he +expected every minute to be fired upon, and at close +range. He paused and thought a while—Antonio +would head for Eagle, that being the only place where +he could get assistance, and there he would find friends. +Doc picked his way out of the labyrinth of tortuous +alleys and finally came to a comparatively wide lane +leading southeast. He rode at a canter now and +planned how he would strike the fugitive's trail further +down, and after he had ridden a few miles he was struck +by a thought that stopped him at once.</p> + +<p>"Hang it all, he might 'a headed for them construction +camps or for one of th' north ranches, to steal a<span class="pagenum">[337]</span> +cayuse," he muttered. "Th' only safe thing for me to +do is to jump his trail an' stop guessing, an' even then +mebby he'll get me before I get him. That's a clean +gamble, an' so here goes," wheeling and retracing his +course. When he again found the trail at the place he +had quit it, he dismounted and crawled along on his +hands and knees in order to follow the foot-prints among +the shadows. Then some animal bounded up in front +of him and leaped away, and as he turned to look after +it he caught sight of his horse standing on its hind +legs, and the next instant it was crashing through the +chaparral. Drawing his Colt and cursing he ran back +in time to see the horse gain an alleyway and gallop +off. Angered thoroughly he sent a shot after it and +then followed it, finally capturing it in a blind alley. +Roundly cursing the frightened beast he led it back to +where he had left the trail and, keeping one hand on the +reins, continued to follow the foot-prints. Day broke +when he had reached the edge of the chaparral and he +mounted with a sigh of relief and rode forward along +the now plainly marked trail.</p> + +<p>As he cantered along he kept his eyes searching every +possible cover ahead of and on both sides of him, watching +the trail as far ahead as he could see it, for the +Mexican might have doubled back to get a pursuer as he +rode past. After an hour of this caution he slapped +his thigh and grinned at his foolishness.</p> + +<p>"Now ain't I a cussed fool!" he exclaimed. "A +regular, old-woman of a cow-puncher! That Greaser +won't do no doubling back or ambushing. He'll shore<span class="pagenum">[338]</span> +reckon on being trailed by a bunch an' not by a locoed, +prize-winning idiot. Why, he's making th' best time +he can, an' that's a-plenty, too. Besides he ain't got no +rifle. Lift yore feet, you four-legged sage hen," he +cried, spurring his horse into a lope. He mechanically +felt at the long rifle holster at the saddle flap and then +looked at it quickly. "An' no rifle for <i>me</i>, neither! +Oh, well, that's all right, too. I don't need any better +gun than he's got, th' coyote. Canteen full of water +an' saddle flaps stuffed with grub. Why, old cayuse, if +you can do without drinking till we get back to th' mesa +we'll be plumb happy. Wonder when you was watered +last?"</p> + +<p>The trail had been swinging to the north more and +more and when Doc noted this fact he grinned again.</p> + +<p>"Nice fool I'd 'a been hunting for these tracks down +towards Eagle, wouldn't I? But I wonder where he +reckons he's going, anyhow?"</p> + +<p>Sometime later he had his answer, for he found himself +riding towards a water hole and then he knew the +reason for the trail swinging north. He let his mount +drink its fill and while he waited he noticed a torn sombrero, +then a spur, and further away the skeleton of a +horse. Looking further he saw the skeleton of a man, +all that the coyotes had left of the body of Dick Archer, +the man killed by Red on the day when he and Hopalong +had discovered that Thunder Mesa was inhabited. He +pushed around the water hole and then caught sight of +something in the sand. Edging his mount over to it he +leaned down from the saddle and picked up a Colt's revolver,<span class="pagenum">[339]</span> +fully loaded and as good as the day Archer +died. That air contained no moisture. As he slipped +it in a saddle bag he spurred forward at top speed, for +on the other side of a hummock he saw the head and +then the full figure of a man plodding away from him, +and it was Antonio.</p> + +<p>The fugitive, hearing hoofbeats, looked back and +then dropped to one knee, his rifle going to his shoulder +with the movement.</p> + +<p>"Where in h—l did <i>he</i> get a rifle?" ejaculated +Doc, forcing his horse to buck-jump and pitch so as to +be an erratic target. "He didn't have none when <i>I</i> +grabbed him! Th' devil! That cussed skeleton back +there gave <i>me</i> a six-shooter, an' <i>him</i> a rifle!"</p> + +<p>There was a dull smothered report and he saw the +Mexican drop the gun and rock back and forth, apparently +in agony, and he rode forward at top speed. +Jerking his horse to its haunches he leaped off it just as +Antonio wiped the blood from his eyes and jerked +loose his Remington six-shooter. But his first shot +missed and before he could fire again Doc grappled with +him.</p> + +<p>This time it was nearly an even break and Doc found +that the slim figure of his enemy was made up of muscles +of steel, that the lazy Greaser of the H2 ranch was, +when necessary, quick as a cat and filled with the courage +of desperation. It required all of Doc's attention +and skill to keep himself from being shot by the +other's gun and when he finally managed to wrest the +weapon loose he was forced to drop it quickly and grab<span class="pagenum">[340]</span> +the same hand, which by some miracle of speed and dexterity +now held a knife, a weapon far more deadly in +hand-to-hand fighting. Once when believing himself to +be gone the buckle of his belt stayed the slashing thrust +and he again fought until the knife was above his head. +Then, suddenly, two fingers flashed at his eyes and +missed by so close a margin that Doc's eyebrows were +torn open and his eyes blinded with blood. Instinct +stronger than the effect of the disconcerting blindness +made him hold his grip on the knife hand, else he would +have been missing when his foreman looked for him at +the mesa. He dug the fingers of his left hand, that +had gripped around the Mexican's waist, into his enemy's +side and squeezed the writhing man tighter to him, +wiping the blood from his eyes on the shirt of the other. +As he did so he felt Antonio's teeth sink into his shoulder +and a sudden great burst of rage swept over him +and turned a man already desperate into a berserker, a +mad man.</p> + +<p>The grip tightened and then the brawny, bandaged +left arm quickly slipped up and around the Mexican's +neck, pressing against the back of it with all the power +of the swelling, knotted muscles. A smothered cry +sobbed into his chest and he bent the knife hand back +until the muscles were handicapped by their unnatural +position and then, suddenly releasing both neck and +hand, leaped back a step and the next instant his heavy +boot thudded into the Mexican's stomach and he watched +the gasping, ghastly-faced rustler sink down in a nerveless<span class="pagenum">[341]</span> +heap, fighting desperately for the breath that almost +refused to return.</p> + +<p>Doc wiped his eyes free of blood and hastily bound +his neck-kerchief around the bleeding eyebrows. As he +knotted the bandage he stepped forward and picked up +both the revolver and knife and threw them far from +him. Glancing at the rifle he saw that it had burst and +knew that the greased, dirty barrel had been choked with +sand. He remembered how Curley's rifle had been +leaded by the same cause and fierce joy surged through +him at this act of retributive justice. He waited patiently, +sneering at the groaning Mexican and taunting +him until the desperate man had gained his feet.</p> + +<p>Doc stepped back a pace, tossing the burst rifle from +him, and grinned malignantly. "Take yore own time, +Greaser. Get all yore wind an' strength. <i>I</i> ain't no +murderer—I don't ride circles around a man an' pot-shoot +him. I'm going to kill you fair, with my hands, +like I said. Th' stronger you are th' better I'll feel +when I leave you. An' if you should leave me out here +on th' sand, all right—but it's got to be fair."</p> + +<p>When fully recovered Antonio began the struggle by +leaping forward, thinking his enemy unprepared. Doc +faced him like a flash and bent low, barely escaping the +other's kick. They clinched and swayed to and fro, +panting, straining, every ounce of strength called into +play. Then Doc got the throat hold again and took +a shower of blows unflinchingly. His eyebrows, bleeding +again, blinded him, but he could feel if he could not<span class="pagenum">[342]</span> +see. Slowly the resistance weakened and finally Doc +wrestled Antonio to his knees, bending over the Mexican +and slowly tightening his grip; and the man who had +murdered Curley went through all he had felt at the base +of the mesa wall, at last paying with his life for his +career of murder, theft, fear, and hypocrisy.</p> + +<p>Doc arose and went to his horse. Leading the animal +back to the scene of the struggle he stood a while, +quietly watching the Mexican for any sign of life, although +he knew there would be none.</p> + +<p>"Well, bronc, Curley's squared," he muttered, swinging +into the saddle and turning the animal's head. +"Come on, get out of this!" he exclaimed, quirting +hard. As he passed the water hole he bowed to the +broken skeleton. "Much obliged, stranger, whoever +you was. Yore last play was a good one."</p><hr class="chap" /><p><span class="pagenum">[343]</span></p> + +<h2 id="CHAPTER_XXXIV">CHAPTER XXXIV</h2> + +<p class="h3">DISCOVERIES</p> + +<p>When the two foremen entered the firing line +again they saw Red Connors and they cautiously +went towards him. As they came +within twenty feet of him Buck chanced to glance across +the cut and what he saw brought a sudden smile to his +face.</p> + +<p>"Meeker, Red has got that spring under his gun!" he +exclaimed in a low voice. "They can't get within ten +feet of it or within ten feet of th' water at any point +along its course. This is too good to bungle—wait +for me," and he ran out of sight around a bend in the +crevice, Meeker staring across at the spring, his eyes +following the rivulet until it flowed into the deep, narrow +cut it had worn in the side of the mesa.</p> + +<p>Red looked around. "Why, hullo, Meeker! +Where's Buck? Thought I heard him a minute ago. +If you have got any water to spare I can use some of it +good. Some thief drilled my canteen when I went +fooling along this barranca, an' I ain't got a drop left."</p> + +<p>Meeker began to move closer to him, Red warning him +to be careful, and adding, "Three of them fellers ain't<span class="pagenum">[344]</span> +doing nothing but watch this cut. Scared we'll get +across it an' flank 'em, I reckon."</p> + +<p>"Do you know that yo're covering their water supply?" +Meeker asked, handing his canteen to his thirsty +companion. "They can't get to it as long as you stay +here. That's why they're after you so hard."</p> + +<p>Red wiped his lips on his sleeve and sighed contentedly. +"It's blamed hot, but it's wet. But is that right? +Am I keeping 'em thirsty? Where's th' water?"</p> + +<p>"Shore you are; it's right over there—see that little +ditch?" Meeker replied, pointing.</p> + +<p><i>Bing! Spat!</i></p> + +<p>The H2 foreman dropped his arm and grinned. +"They're watching us purty close, ain't they? Didn't +miss me far, at that," showing his companion a torn +sleeve and a lead splotch on the rock behind him.</p> + +<p>"Not a whole lot. Two of them fellers can shoot like +blazes. Yo're plumb lucky," Red responded. "If +you'd showed more'n yore sleeve that time they'd 'a hit +you." He looked across the cut and puckered his brow. +"Well, if that's where their water is they don't get +none. Mebby we can force 'em out if we watches that +spring right smart."</p> + +<p>"Here comes Buck now, with Skinny."</p> + +<p>"It's too good a card to lose, Skinny," the Bar-20 +foreman was saying as he approached. "You settle +some place near here where you can pot anybody that +tries for a drink. Mebby this little trick wins th' game +for us—<i>quien sabe?</i> Hullo, Red; where's yore side +pardner?"</p><p><span class="pagenum">[345]</span></p> + +<p>"Oh, he went prospecting along this barranca to see +if he could get across," Red replied. "He wants to +get up on top of that ridge behind th' shack. Says if +he can do it th' fight won't last long. See how it overlooks +their layout?"</p> + +<p>Buck looked and his eyes glistened. "An' he's right, +too, like he is generally. That's th' key, an' it lies +between them an' th' spring. Beats all how quick +that feller can size up a hand. If he could play +poker as well as he can fight he could quit working for +a living."</p> + +<p>"Yes; yo're shore right," Red replied.</p> + +<p>Several shots rang out from the breastwork and the +bullets hummed past them down the cut. A burst of +derisive laughter replied fifty yards to their right and a +taunt followed it. More shots were fired and answered +by another laugh and taunt, inducing profanity from +the marksman, and then Hopalong called to Red. "Six +out of seven went plumb through my sombrero, Red, +when I poked it out to find if they was looking. They +was. Purty good for 'em, eh?"</p> + +<p>"Too blamed good to suit me—lucky yore head +wasn't in it," Red replied.</p> + +<p>Hopalong, singing in stentorian voice an original +version of "Mary and Her Little Lamb" in which it +seemed he aspired to be the lamb, finally came into view +with a perforated sombrero in his hand, which he eyed +ruefully. "A good roof gone up, but I didn't reckon +everybody was looking my way," he grumbled. +"Somebody shore has got to pay for that lid, too,"<span class="pagenum">[346]</span> +then he glanced up, saw Meeker, and looked foolish. +"Howd'y, Meeker; what's new, Buck?"</p> + +<p>"Hey, Hoppy! Did you know I was covering their +drinking water?" asked Red, triumphantly.</p> + +<p>"I knowed you was covering some of it, but you +needn't take on no airs about it, for you didn't know +it," Hopalong retorted. "What I want to know is why +you wasn't covering <i>me</i>, like you said you would!" he +cried, eying Red's sombrero, which lay at his feet. +"It's all yore fault that my Stetson's bust wide open, +an' that being so, we'll just swap, right now, too!" +suiting the action to the words.</p> + +<p>"Hey! Gimme that war-bonnet, you bunch of gall!" +yelled Red kicking at his tormentor and missing. +"Gimme that, d'y hear!"</p> + +<p>"Give you a punch in th' eye, you sheep!" retorted +Hopalong, backing away. "Think you can get +away with a play like that after saying you was going +to cover me? <i>I</i> ain't no papoose, you animated carrot!"</p> + +<p>"Gimme that Stetson!" Red commanded, starting to +arise. There was a sharp hum and he dropped back +again, blood flowing from his cheek, that being the +extent of his person he had so inadvertently exposed. +"There, blank you! See what you made me do! +Going to drop that hat?"</p> + +<p>"Why don't you give 'em a good shot at you? That +ain't no way to treat 'em—but honest, Red, you +shouldn't get so excited over a little thing like that,"<span class="pagenum">[347]</span> +Hopalong replied. "Now, I'll leave it to Meeker, here—hadn't +I ought to take his roof?"</p> + +<p>Meeker laughed. "Th' Court reserves its decision, +but possession is nine points in law."</p> + +<p>"Huh! Possession is everything. Since I can keep +it, why, then, according to th' Court, th' hat belongs to +me. Hear that, Red?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I hear it! An' if I wasn't so cussed busy I'd +show you how long you'd keep it," Red rejoined. "I'll +bet you a hat you don't keep it a day after we get +this off'n our hands. Bow-legged Algernon, you!"</p> + +<p>"Done—then I'll have two hats; one for work an' +one to wear when I'm visiting," Hopalong laughed. +"But you've got th' best of th' swap, anyhow. That +new lid of yourn, holes an' all, is worth twice as much +as this wool thing I'm getting for it. My old one is +a <i>hat!</i>"</p> + +<p>Red refused to lower his dignity by replying and +soon fired. "Huh! Reckon that feller won't shoot no +more with his right hand."</p> + +<p>"Say, I near forgot to tell you Meeker captured one +of them fellers out back; got him tied up now," Buck +remarked, relating the incident, Meeker interrupting to +give the Bar-20 foreman all the credit.</p> + +<p>"Good!" exclaimed Red. "It's a rope necktie for +him. An' one less to shoot at me."</p> + +<p>"An' <i>you</i> here, Buck!" cried Hopalong in surprise. +"Come on, lead th' way! How do you know he was +th' only one to get behind us! Good Lord!"</p><p><span class="pagenum">[348]</span></p> + +<p>"Gosh, yo're right!" Buck exclaimed, running off. +"Come on, Jim. We're a pair of fools, after all!"</p> + +<p>At the other end of the line Chick Travers and +George Cross did as well as they could with their Colts, +but found their efforts unavailing. Their positions +were marked by the rustlers and they had several narrow +escapes, both being wounded, Cross twice. Ten +yards west of them Frenchy McAllister was crawling +forward a foot at a time from cover to cover and so +far he had not been hit. His position also had been +marked and he was now trying to find a new one unobserved, +where he could have a chance to shoot once +without instantly being fired upon. Pete and Johnny +had separated, the latter having given up his attempt +to make the rustler pay for his wounded ear. He had +emptied the magazine of the rifle he had found and now +only used his Colt. As he worked along the firing line +he saw Frenchy ten yards in front of him, covered +nicely by a steep rise in the ground.</p> + +<p>"How are you doing out there, Frenchy?" he asked +in a low voice.</p> + +<p>"Not very good; wish I had my rifle," came the soft-spoken +reply.</p> + +<p>"I had one that I found, but I used up all th' cartridges +there was in th' magazine."</p> + +<p>"What kind an' caliber?"</p> + +<p>".45-70 Winchester. I found it by th' ropes. +Pete says he reckoned some rustler must have left it +behind an' got away down th'—"</p> + +<p>"Get it for me, Kid, will you?" interrupted<span class="pagenum">[349]</span> +Frenchy, eagerly. "I plumb forgot to leave my belt +of rifle cartridges back in th' camp. Got it on now, +an' it's chock full, too. Hurry up, an' I'll work back +to you for it."</p> + +<p>"What luck! In a second," Johnny exulted, disappearing. +Returning with the rifle he handed it to +his friend and gazed longingly at the beltful of rifle +cartridges. "Say, Frenchy," he began. "You know +we'll all have our rifles to-night, an' you've got more +cartridges for that than you can use before then. It +won't be more than three hours before we send for ours. +Suppose you gimme some of them for Pete—he's got +th' mate to that gun, an' can't use it no more because +it's empty."</p> + +<p>"Shore, Kid," and Frenchy slipped a handful of +cartridges out of his belt and gave them to Johnny. +"With my compliments to Pete. What was that you +was saying about rustlers an' th' ropes?"</p> + +<p>Johnny told of Pete's deductions regarding the +finding of the rifles and Frenchy agreed with them, and +also that Doc had taken care of the owners of the +weapons when they had reached the plain.</p> + +<p>"Well, I'm going further away from them thieves +now that I've got something to shoot with," Frenchy +asserted. "They won't be looking for any of us a +hundred yards or more farther back. Mebbe I can +catch some of 'em unawares."</p> + +<p>"I'll chase off an' give Pete these pills," Johnny +replied. "He'll be tickled plumb to death. He was +cussing bad when I left him."</p><p><span class="pagenum">[350]</span></p> + +<p>George Cross, crawling along a steep, smooth rock +barely under the shelter of a bowlder, endeavored to +grasp the top, but under-reached and slipped, rolling +down to the bottom and in plain sight of the rustlers. +As his companion, Chick Travers, tried to help him +two shots rang out and Cross, sitting up with his hands +to his head, toppled back to arise no more. Chick +leaped up and fired twice at one of the marksmen, and +missed. His actions had been so sudden and unexpected +that he escaped the return shot which passed over him +by a foot as he dropped back to cover. Somehow the +whole line seemed to feel that there had been a death +among them, as evidenced by the burst of firing along +it. And the whole line felt another thing; that the +cartridges of the rustlers were getting low, for they +seemed to be saving their shots. But it was Hopalong +who found the cause of the diminishing fire. After +hunting fruitlessly with the two foremen and finding +that Hall was the only man to get back of the firing +line he left his two companions in order to learn the condition +of his friends. As he made his way along the +line he chanced to look towards the hut and saw +four rifles on the floor of it, and back of them, piled +against the wall, was the rustlers' main supply of ammunition. +Calling out, he was answered by Pete, who +soon joined him.</p> + +<p>"Pete, you lucky devil, turn that rifle through th' +door of th' shack an' keep it on them cartridges," he +ordered. "They ain't been shooting as fast as they<span class="pagenum">[351]</span> +was at first, an' there's th' reason for it. Oh, just wait +till daylight to-morrow! They won't last long after +that!"</p> + +<p>"They won't get them cartridges, anyhow," Pete replied +with conviction.</p> + +<p>"Hey, fellers," cried a voice, and they looked around +to see Chick Travers coming towards them. "Yore +man Cross has passed. He rolled off his ledge an' +couldn't stop. They got him when he hit th' bottom +of it."</p> + +<p>"D—n 'em!" growled Hopalong. "We'll square +our accounts to-morrow morning. Pete, you watch them +cartridges."</p> + +<p>"Shore—" <i>Bang!</i> "Did you see that?" Pete +asked, frantically pumping the lever of his rifle.</p> + +<p>"Yes!" cried Chick. "Some feller tried to get in +that south window! Bet he won't try again after that +hint. Hear him cuss? There—Red must 'a fired then, +too!"</p> + +<p>"Good boy, Pete!—keep 'em out. We'll have +somebody in there after dark," Hopalong responded. +"They've got th' best covers now, but we'll turn th' +table on 'em when th' sun comes up to-morrow."</p> + +<p>"Here comes Buck an' Meeker," remarked Chick. +"Them two are getting a whole lot chummy lately, all +right. They're allus together."</p> + +<p>"That's good, too. They're both of 'em all right," +Hopalong replied, running to meet them. Chick saw +the three engage in a consultation and look towards the<span class="pagenum">[352]</span> +hut and the ridge behind it, Buck and Meeker nodding +slowly at what Hopalong was saying. Then they +moved off towards the west where they could examine +the building at closer range.</p><hr class="chap" /><p><span class="pagenum">[353]</span></p> + +<h2 id="CHAPTER_XXXV">CHAPTER XXXV</h2> + +<p class="h3">JOHNNY TAKES THE HUT</p> + +<p>As the day waned the dropping shots became +less and less frequent and the increasing +darkness began to work its magic. The unsightly +plain with its crevices and bowlders and scrawny +vegetation would soon be changed into one smooth blot, +to be lighted with the lurid flashes of rifles as Red and +Pete fired at irregular intervals through the south windows +of the hut to keep back any rustler who tried to +get the ammunition within its walls. Two were trying +and had approached the window just as a bullet hummed +through it. They stopped and looked at each other +and moved forward again. Then a bullet from Pete's +rifle, entering through the open door, hummed out the +window and struck against the rocky ridge.</p> + +<p>"Say! Them coyotes can see us through that +windy," remarked Clausen. "Th' sky at our backs is +too light yet."</p> + +<p>"They can't see us standing here," objected Shaw.</p> + +<p>"Then what are they shooting at?"</p> + +<p>"Cuss me if I know. Looks like they was using th'<span class="pagenum">[354]</span> +winder for a target. Reckon we better wait till it gets +darker."</p> + +<p>"If we wait till it's dark we can sneak in through +th' door," suggested Clausen. "If we go in crawling +we ain't likely to stop no shot high enough to go +through that windy."</p> + +<p>"You can if you wants, but I ain't taking no chances +like that, none whatever."</p> + +<p>Another shot whined through the window and stopped +with an angry spat against the ridge. Shaw scratched +his head reflectively. "It shore beats me why they +keeps that up. There ain't no sense to it," he declared +in aggrieved tones. "They don't know nothing +about them cartridges in there."</p> + +<p>"That's it!" exclaimed Clausen, excitedly. "I bet +a stack of blues they do know. An' they're covering +somebody going in to steal 'em. Oh, h—l!" and he +slammed his hat to the ground in bitter anger. "An' +us a-standing here like a couple of mired cows! I'm +going to risk it."</p> + +<p>"Wait," advised Shaw. "Let's try a hat an' see +if they plug at it."</p> + +<p>"Wait be d——d! My feet are growing roots right +now. I'm going in," and Clausen broke away from his +friend and ran towards the hut, a crouching run, comical +to look at but effective because it kept his head below the +level of the window; without pausing in his stride his +body lengthened into a supple curve as he plunged head +foremost through the window, landing on the cabin +floor with hands and feet bunched under him, his passing<span class="pagenum">[355]</span> +seen only as a fleeting, puzzling shadow, by the +watchful eyes outside.</p> + +<p>Across the cut Johnny was giving Red instructions +and turned to leave. "Th' cut is full of shadows an' +th' moon ain't up yet. Now, remember, one more shot +through that window—I'm going to foller it right in. +Get word to Pete as soon as you can, though I won't +pass th' door. He's only got three cartridges left an' +he'll be getting some anxious about now. So long."</p> + +<p>"So long, an' good luck, Kid," Red replied.</p> + +<p>Johnny wriggled across the cut on his stomach, picking +out the shadows and gaining the shelter of the opposite +bank, stood up, and ran to the hut. Red fired and +then Johnny cautiously climbed through the window +and dropped to the floor.</p> + +<p>He had anticipated Clausen by the fraction of a +second. As his feet touched the floor the noise of +Clausen's arrival saluted him and the startled Johnny +jerked his gun loose and sent a shot in the other's +direction, leaping aside on the instant. The flash of +the discharge was gone too quickly for him to distinguish +anything and the scrambling sound that followed +mystified him further. That there had been no +return shot did not cause him to dance with joy, far +otherwise; it made him drop silently to his stomach and +hunt the darkest part of the hut, the west wall. He +lay still for a minute, eyes and ears strained for a +sound to tell him where to shoot. Then Red called to +him and wanted an answer, whereupon Johnny thought +of things he ached to call Red. Then he heard a low<span class="pagenum">[356]</span> +voice outside the south window, and it called: "Clausen, +Clausen—what happened? Why don't you answer?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, so my guest is Clausen, hey?" Johnny +thought. "Wonder if Clausen can see in th' dark? +'Nother d——d fool wanting an answer! I'll bet +Clausen is hugging th' dark spots, too. Wonder if I +scared him as much as he scared me?"</p> + +<p>The suspense was becoming too much of a strain and, +poking his Colt out in front of him, he began to move +forward, his eyes staring ahead of him at the place +where Clausen ought to be.</p> + +<p>Inch by inch he advanced, holding his breath as well +as he could, every moment expecting to have Clausen +salute him in the face with a hot .45. Johnny was +scared, and well scared, but it only proves courage to +go on when scared stiff, and Johnny went on and along +the wall he thought Clausen was using for a highway.</p> + +<p>"Wonder how it feels to have yore brains blowed +out," he shivered. "For God's sake, Clausen, make a +noise—sneeze, cough, choke, yell, anything!" he +prayed, but Clausen remained ominously silent. +Johnny pushed his Colt out farther and poked it all +around. Touching the wall it made a slight scraping +sound and Johnny's blood froze. Still no move from +Clausen, and his fright went down a notch—Clausen +was evidently even more scared than he was. That was +consoling. Perhaps he was so scared that he couldn't +pull a trigger, which would be far more consoling.</p><p><span class="pagenum">[357]</span></p> + +<p>"Johnny! Johnny! Answer, can't you!" came +Red's stentorian voice, causing Johnny to jump a few +inches off the floor.</p> + +<p>"Clausen! Clausen!" came another voice.</p> + +<p>"For God's sake, answer, Clausen! Tell 'em yo're +here!" prayed Johnny. "Yo're d——d unpolite, anyhow."</p> + +<p>By this time he was opposite the door and he wondered +if Pete had been told not to bombard it. He +stopped and looked, and stared. What was that thing +on the floor? Or was it anything at all? He blinked +and moved closer. It looked like a head, but Johnny +was taking no chances. He stared steadily into the +blackest part of the hut for a moment and then looked +again at the object. He could see it a little plainer +now, for it was not quite as dark outside as it was in +the building; but he was not sure about it.</p> + +<p>"Can't fool me, you coyote," he thought. "Yo're +hugging this wall as tight as a tick on a cow, a blamed +sight tighter than I am, an' in about a minute I'm +going to shoot along it about four inches from th' +floor. I'd just as soon get shot as be scared to death, +anyhow. Mebby we've passed each other! An' Holy +Medicine! Mebby there's two of 'em!"</p> + +<p>He regarded the object again. "That shore looks +like a head, all right." He felt a pebble under his +hand and drawing back a little he covered the questionable +object and then tossed the pebble at it. "Huh, if +it's a head, why in thunder didn't it move?"</p><p><span class="pagenum">[358]</span></p> + +<p>There were footsteps outside the south window and +he listened, the Colt ready to stop any one rash enough +to look in, Clausen or no Clausen.</p> + +<p>"Where's Clausen, Shaw?" said a voice, and the +reply was so low Johnny could not make it out.</p> + +<p>"Yes; that's just what I want to know," and +Johnny stared in frowning intentness at the supposed +head. He moved closer to the object and by dint of +staring thought he saw the head and shoulders of a +man face down in a black, shallow pool. Then his +hand became wet and he jerked it back and wiped it on +his sleeve; he could hardly believe his senses. As he +grasped the significance of his discovery he grinned +sheepishly and moved back to the north wall, where no +rustler's bullet could find him. "Lord! An' I got him +th' first crack! Got him shooting by ear!"</p> + +<p>"Johnny! Johnny!" came Red's roar, anxious and +querulous.</p> + +<p>Johnny wheeled and shook his Colt out of the window, +for the moment forgetting the peril of losing sight of +the opening in the other wall. "I'll Johnny <i>you</i>, you +blankety-blank fool!" he shouted. Then he heard a +curse at the south window and turned quickly, his Colt +covering the opening. "An' I'll Johnny you too, you +cow-stealing coyotes! Stick yore thieving heads in +that windy an' holler for yore Clausen! <i>I</i> can show +you where he is, an' send you after him if you'll just +take a look! Want them cartridges, hey? Well, come +an' get 'em!"</p> + +<p>A bullet, fired at an angle through the window, was<span class="pagenum">[359]</span> +the reply and several hummed through the open door +and glanced off the steep sides of the ridge. Waiting +until they stopped coming he dropped and wriggled +forward along the west wall, feeling in front of him +until he touched a box. Grasping it he dragged the +important cartridges to him and then backed to the +north window with them.</p> + +<p>He fell to stuffing his pockets with the captured ammunition +and then stopped short and grinned happily. +"Might as well <i>hold</i> this shack an' wait for somebody +to look in that windy. They can't get me."</p> + +<p>He dropped the box and walked to the heavy plank +door, slamming it shut. He heard the thud of bullets +in it as he propped it, and laughed. "Can't shoot +through them planks, they're double thick." He +smelled his sticky fingers. "An' they're full of resin, +besides."</p> + +<p>He stopped suddenly and frowned as a fear entered +his mind; and then smiled, reassured. "Nope; no +rustling snake can climb up that ridge—not with Red +an' Pete watching it."</p><hr class="chap" /><p><span class="pagenum">[360]</span></p> + +<h2 id="CHAPTER_XXXVI">CHAPTER XXXVI</h2> + +<p class="h3">THE LAST NIGHT</p> + +<p>Fifty yards behind the firing line of the besiegers +a small fire burned brightly in a steep-walled +basin, casting grotesque shadows on +the rock walls as men passed and re-passed. Overhead +a silvery moon looked down at the cheerful blaze +and from the cracks and crevices of the plain came the +tuneful chorus of Nature's tiny musicians, sounding +startlingly out of place where men were killing and +dying. A little aside from the others three men in consultation +reached a mutual understanding and turned +to face their waiting friends just as Pete Wilson ran +into the lighted circle.</p> + +<p>"Hey, Johnny is in th' hut with th' cartridges," he +exclaimed, telling the story in a few words.</p> + +<p>"Good for th' Kid!"</p> + +<p>"It's easy now, thanks to him."</p> + +<p>"Why didn't he tell us he was going to try that?" +demanded Buck. "Taking a chance like that on his +own hook!"</p> + +<p>"Scared you wouldn't let him," Pete laughed. +"Red an' me backed him up with our rifles th' best we<span class="pagenum">[361]</span> +could. He had a fight in there, too, judging from th' +shot. He had me an' Red worried, thinking he might +'a been hit, but he was cussing Red when I left."</p> + +<p>"Well, that helps us a lot," Buck replied. "Now I +want three of you to go to camp an' bring back grub, +rifles, an' cartridges. Pete, Skinny, Chick—yo're th' +ones. Leave yore canteens here an' hustle! Hopalong, +you an' Meeker go off somewhere an' get some sleep. +I'll call you before it gets light. Frenchy, me an' you +will take all th' canteens at hand an' fill 'em while we've +got time. They won't be able to see us now. We'll +pass Red an' get his, too. Come on."</p> + +<p>When they returned they dropped the dripping vessels +and began cleaning their Colts. That done they +filled their pipes and sat cross-legged, staring into the +fire. A snatch of Johnny's exultant song floated to +them and Buck smiled, laying his pipe aside and rising. +"Well, Frenchy, things'll happen in chunks when +th' sun comes up. Something like old times, eh? +There ain't no Deacon Rankin or Slippery Trendley +here—" he stopped, having mentioned a name he had +promised himself never to say in Frenchy's presence, and +then continued in a subdued voice, bitterly scourging +himself for his blunder. "They're stronger than I +thought, an' they've shot us up purty well, killed Willis +an' Cross, an' made fools of us for weeks on th' range; +but this is th' end of it all. <i>We</i> deal to-morrow, an' we +cut th' cards to-night."</p> + +<p>Frenchy was strangely silent, staring fixedly at the +fire. Buck glanced at him in strong sympathy, for<span class="pagenum">[362]</span> +he knew what his slip of the tongue had awakened in +his friend's heart. Frenchy had adored his young wife +and since the day he had found her foully murdered +in his cabin on the Double Y he had been another man. +When the moment of his vengeance had come, when he +had her murderer in his power and saw his friends ride +away to leave him alone with Trendley that day over in +the Panhandle, to exact what payment he wished, then +he had become his old self for a while, but it was not +long before he again sank into his habitual carelessness, +waiting patiently for death to remove his burden +and make him free. His vengeance did not bring him +back his wife.</p> + +<p>Buck shook his head slowly and affectionately placed +a heavy hand on his friend's shoulder. "Frenchy, +won't you ever forget it? It hurts me to see you this +way so much. It's over twenty years now an' day after +day I've grieved to see you so unhappy. You paid +him for it in yore own way. Can't you forget it +now?"</p> + +<p>"Yes; I killed him, an' slow. He never thought a +man could make th' payment so hard, not even his +black heart could realize it till he felt it," Frenchy replied, +slowly and calmly. "He took th' heart out of +me; he killed my wife and made my life a living hell. +All I had worth living for went that day, an' if I +could kill him over again every day for a year it +wouldn't square th' score. I reckon I ain't built like +other men. You never heard me whimper. I kept my +poison to myself an' tried to do the best that was in<span class="pagenum">[363]</span> +me. An' you ain't never heard me say what I'm going +to tell you now. I never believed in hunches, but +something tells me that I'll leave all this behind me +before another day passes. I felt it somehow when we +left th' ranch an' it's been growing stronger every hour +since. If I do pass out to-morrow, I want you to be +glad of it, same as I would be if I could know. I'm +going back to th' line now an' watch them fellers. +So long."</p> + +<p>The two men, bosom friends for thirty years, looked +in each other's eyes as they grasped hands, and it was +Buck's eyes that grew moist and dropped first. "So +long, Frenchy—an' good luck, as you see it."</p> + +<p>The foreman watched his friend until lost in the darkness +and he thought he heard him singing, but of +this he was not sure. He turned and stared at the fire +for a minute, silent, immovable, and then breathed +heavily.</p> + +<p>"I never saw anybody carry a grief so long, never," +he soliloquized. "I reckon it sort of turned his brain, +coming so sudden an' in such a damnable way. I +know it made me see red for a week. If I had only +stayed there that day! When he got Trendley in th' +Panhandle I hoped he would change, an' he did for a +while, but that was all. He lived for that alone, an' +since then I reckon he's felt he hadn't nothing to do +with his life. He has been mixed up in a bunch of gun-arguments +since then; but he didn't have no luck. +Well, Frenchy, I hate to lose a friend like you, but +here's better luck to-morrow, luck as you see it, friend!"</p><p><span class="pagenum">[364]</span></p> + +<p>He kicked the fire together and was about to add +fuel when he heard two quick shots and raised his +head to listen. Then a ringing whoop came from the +front and he recognized Johnny's voice. He heard Red +call out and Johnny reply and he smiled grimly as he +went towards the sounds. "Reckon somebody tried to +get in that shack, like a fool. He must 'a been disgusted. +How that Kid shore does love a fight!"</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Joyous Joe got a juniper jag,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">A-jogging out of Jaytown,<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>came down the wind.</p> + +<p>"Did you get him, Kid?" cried Buck from the firing +line.</p> + +<p>"Nope; got his hat, though—but I shore got +Clausen an' all of their cartridges!"</p> + +<p>"Can you keep them shells alone?"</p> + +<p>"<i>Can</i> I? <i>Wow</i>, ask th' other fellers! An' I'm eating +jerked beef—sorry I can't give you some."</p> + +<p>"Shut up about eating, you pig!" blazed Red, who +was hungry.</p> + +<p>"You'll eat hot lead to-morrow, all of you!" jeered +a rustler's voice.</p> + +<p>Red fired at the sound. "Take yourn now!" he +shouted.</p> + +<p>"You can't hit a cow!" came the taunt, while other +strange voices joined in.</p> + +<p>Buck found Red and ordered him to camp to get +some sleep before Pete and the others returned, feeling +that he and Frenchy were enough to watch. Red demurred<span class="pagenum">[365]</span> +sleepily and finally compromised by lying down +at Buck's side, where he would be handy in case of +trouble. Buck waited patiently, too heavily laden with +responsibility to feel the need of rest, and when he +judged that three hours had passed began to worry +about the men he had sent to camp. Drawing back +into a crevice he struck a match and looked at his +watch.</p> + +<p>"Twelve o'clock!" he muttered. "I'll wake Red an' +see how Frenchy is getting on. Time them fellers were +back too."</p> + +<p>Frenchy changed his position uneasily and peered at +the distant breastwork, hearing the low murmur of +voices behind it. All night he had heard their curses, +but a new note made him sit up and watch more closely. +The moon was coming up now and he could see better. +Suddenly he caught the soft flash of a silver sombrero +buckle and fired instantly. Curses and a few shots replied +and a new, querulous voice was added to the murmur, +a voice expressing pain.</p> + +<p>"I reckon you got him," remarked a quiet voice at +his side as Buck lay down beside him. The foreman had +lost some time in wandering along the whole line of +defence and was later than he had expected.</p> + +<p>"Yes; I reckon so," Frenchy replied without interest, +and they lapsed into silence, the eloquent silence of men +who understand each other. They heard a shot from +below and knew that Billy or Curtis was about and +smiled grimly at the rising murmur it caused among the +rustlers. Buck glanced at the sky and frowned.<span class="pagenum">[366]</span> +"There can't be more'n five or six left by now, an' if +it wasn't for th' moon I'd get th' boys together an' +rush that bunch." He was silent for a moment and then +added, half to himself, "but it won't be long now, +an' we can wait."</p> + +<p>Distant voices heralded the return of Pete and his +companions and the foreman arose. "Frenchy, I'm +going to place th' boys an' start things right away. +We've been quiet too long."</p> + +<p>"Might as well," Frenchy replied, "I'm getting +sleepy—straining my eyes too much, I reckon, trying +to see a little better than I can."</p> + +<p>"Here's th' stuff, Buck," Skinny remarked as the +foreman entered the circle of light. "Two days' +fighting rations, fifty rounds for th' rifles an' fifty for +th' Colts. Chick is coming back there with th' rifles."</p> + +<p>"Good. Had yore grub yet?" Buck asked. "All +right—didn't reckon you'd wait for it. What kept +you so long? You've been gone over three hours."</p> + +<p>"We was talking to Billy an' Curtis," Skinny remarked. +"They're anxious to have it over. They've +been spelling each other an' getting some sleep. We +saw Doc's saddle piled on top of th' grub when we got +to camp. It wasn't there when we all left th' other +night. Billy says Doc came running past last night, +saddled up an' rode off. He got back this afternoon +wearing a bandage around his head. He didn't say +where he had been, but now he is at th' bottom of th' +trail waiting for a shot, so Billy says. Pete reckons<span class="pagenum">[367]</span> +he went after somebody that got down last night, one +of them fellers that left their rifles up here by th' +ropes."</p> + +<p>"Mebby yo're right," replied Buck, hurriedly. +"Get ready to fight. I ain't going to wait for daylight +when this moonlight will answer. Pete, Skinny, +Chick—you get settled out on th' east end, where me +an' Frenchy will join you. We'll have this game over +before long."</p> + +<p>He strode away and returned with Hopalong and +Meeker, who hastily ate and drank and, filling their +belts with cartridges and taking their own rifles from +the pile Chick had brought, departed toward the cut +with orders for Red to come in.</p> + +<p>Pete and his companions moved away as Frenchy, +shortly followed by Red, came in and reported.</p> + +<p>"Eat an' drink, lively. Red, you get back to yore +place an' take care of th' cut," Buck ordered. +"Frenchy, you come out east with th' rest. There's +cartridges for you both an' there's yore own rifle, +Frenchy."</p> + +<p>"Glad yo're going to start things," chewed Red +through a mouthful of food. "It's about time we +show them fellers we can live up to our reputations. +Any of 'em coming my way won't go far."</p> + +<p>Frenchy filled his pipe and lighted it from a stick +he took out of the fire and as it began to draw well +he stepped quickly forward and held out his hand. +"Good luck, Red. They can't fight long."</p><p><span class="pagenum">[368]</span></p> + +<p>"Same to you, Frenchy," Red cried, grasping the +hand. "Yo're right, there. You look plumb wide +awake, like Buck—how'd you do it?"</p> + +<p>Frenchy laughed and strode after his foreman, Red +watching him. "He's acting funny—reckon it's th' +sleep he's missed. Well, here goes," and he, too, went +off to the firing line.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">—An' aching thoughts pour in on me,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Of Whiskey Bill,<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>came Johnny's song from the hut—and the fight began +again.</p><hr class="chap" /><p><span class="pagenum">[369]</span></p> + +<h2 id="CHAPTER_XXXVII">CHAPTER XXXVII</h2> + +<p class="h3">THEIR LAST FIGHT</p> + +<p>A figure suddenly appeared on the top of the +flanking ridge, outlined against the sky, and +flashes of flame spurted from its hands, while +kneeling beside it was another, rapidly working a rifle, +the roar of the guns deafening because of the silence +which preceded it. Shouts, curses, and a few random, +futile shots replied from the breastworks, its defenders, +panic-stricken by the surprise and the deadly accuracy +of the two marksmen, scurrying around the bend in +their fortifications, so busy in seeking shelter that they +failed to make their shots tell. Two men, riddled by +bullets, lay where they had fallen and the remaining +three, each of them wounded more than once, crouched +under cover and turned their weapons against the new +factors; but these had already slid down the face of the +ridge and were crawling along the breastwork, alert +and cautious.</p> + +<p>In front of the rustlers heavy firing burst out along +the cowmen's line and Red Connors, from his old position +above the cut, swung part way around and turned +his rifle against the remnant of the defenders at another<span class="pagenum">[370]</span> +angle, and fired at every mark, whether it was hand, foot, +or head; while Johnny, tumbling out of the south window +of the hut, followed in the wake of Hopalong and +Meeker. The east end of the line was wrapped in +smoke, where Buck and his companions labored zealously.</p> + +<p>Along the narrow trail up the mesa's face a man +toiled heavily and it was not long before Doc Riley +opened fire from the rear. The three rustlers, besieged +from all sides, found their positions to be most desperate +and knew then that only a few minutes intervened +between them and eternity. They had three choices—to +surrender, to die fighting, or to leap from the mesa +to instant death below.</p> + +<p>Shaw, to his credit, chose the second and like a cornered +wolf goaded to despair leaped up and forward to +take a gambler's chance of gaining the hut. Before +him were Hopalong, Meeker, Johnny, and Doc. Doc +was hastily reloading his Colt, Johnny was temporarily +out of sight as he crawled around a bowlder, and Hopalong +was greatly worried by ricochettes and wild shots +from the rifles of his friends which threatened to end his +career. Meeker alone was watching at that moment +but his attention was held by the rustler near the edge +of the mesa who was trying to shrink himself to fit the +small rock in front of him and to use his gun at the +same time.</p> + +<p>Shaw sprang from his cover and straight at the H2 +foreman, his foot slipping slightly as he fired. The +bullet grazed Meeker's waist, but the second, fired as<span class="pagenum">[371]</span> +the rustler was recovering his balance, bored through +Meeker's shoulder. The H2 foreman, bending forward +for a shot at the man behind the small rock, was caught +unawares and his balance, already strained, was destroyed +by the shock of the second bullet, and he flopped +down to all fours. Shaw sprang over him just as Hopalong +and Johnny caught sight of him and he swung +his revolver on Hopalong at the moment when the latter's +bullet crashed through his brain.</p> + +<p>Buck Peters, trying for a better position, slipped on +the rock which had been the cause of the death of +George Cross and before he could gain his feet a figure +leaped down in front of him and raised a Colt in his +defence, but spun half way around and fell, shot through +the head. A cry of rage went up at this and a rush +was made against the breastworks from front and side. +Frenchy McAllister's forebodings had come true.</p> + +<p>Sanchez, finding his revolver empty and with no time +to reload, held up his hands. Frisco, blinded by blood, +wounded in half a dozen places, desperate, snarling, and +still unbeaten, wheeled viciously, but before he could pull +his trigger, Hopalong grasped him and hurled him +down, Johnny going with them. Doc, a second too late, +waved his sombrero. "Come on, it's all over!"</p> + +<p>In another second the rushing punchers from the +front slid and rolled and plunged over the breastwork +and eyed the results of their fire.</p> + +<p>Meeker staggered around the corner and leaned +against Buck for support. "My G-d! This is awful! +I didn't think we were doing so much damage."</p><p><span class="pagenum">[372]</span></p> + +<p>"I did!" retorted Buck. "I know what happens +when my outfit burns powder. Where's Red?" he asked +anxiously.</p> + +<p>"Here I am," replied a voice behind him.</p> + +<p>"All right; take that Greaser to th' hut, somebody," +the foreman ordered. "Johnny, you an' Pete take this +feller there, too," pointing to Frisco. "He's th' one +that killed Frenchy. Hopalong, take Red, an' bring in +that feller me an' Meeker tied up in that crevice, if he +ain't got away."</p> + +<p>Hopalong and Red went off to bring in Hall and +Buck turned to the others. "You fellers doctor yore +wounds. Meeker, yo're hard hit," he remarked, more +closely looking at the H2 foreman.</p> + +<p>"Yes. I know it—loss of blood, mostly," Meeker +replied. "An' if it hadn't been for Cassidy I'd been +hit a d——d sight harder. Where's Doc? He knows +what to do—<i>Doc</i>!"</p> + +<p>"Coming," replied a voice and Doc turned the corner. +He had a limited knowledge of the work he was called +upon to do, and practice, though infrequent, had kept +it more or less fresh.</p> + +<p>"Reckon yo're named about right, Doc," Buck remarked +as he passed the busy man. "You got me beat +an' I ain't no slouch."</p> + +<p>"I'd 'a been a real Doc if I hadn't left college like a +fool to punch cows,—you've got to keep still, Jim," he +chided.</p> + +<p>"Hey, Buck," remarked Hopalong, joining the crowd +and grinning at the injured, "we've got that feller in<span class="pagenum">[373]</span> +th' shack. When th' feller I grabbed out here saw him +he called him Hall. Th' other is Frisco an' th' Greaser +ain't got no name, I reckon. How you feeling, Meeker? +That was Shaw plugged you."</p> + +<p>"Feeling better'n him," Meeker growled. "Yo're +a good man to work with, Cassidy."</p> + +<p>"Well, Cassidy, got any slugs in you?" affably asked +Doc, the man Hopalong had wounded on the line a few +weeks before. Doc brandished a knife and cleaning rod +and appeared to be anxious to use them on somebody +else.</p> + +<p>"No; but what do you do with them things?" Hopalong +rejoined, feeling of his bandage.</p> + +<p>"Take out bullets," Doc grinned.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I see; you cut a hole in th' back an' then push +'em right through," Hopalong laughed. "Reckon I'd +ruther have 'em go right through without stopping. +Who's that calling?"</p> + +<p>"Billy an' Curtis. Tell 'em to come up," Buck replied, +walking towards the place where Frenchy's body +lay.</p> + +<p>Hopalong went to the edge and replied to the shouts +and it was not long before they appeared. When Doc +saw them he grinned pleasantly and drew them aside, +trying to coax them to let him repair them. But Billy, +eying the implements, sidestepped and declined with +alacrity; Curtis was the victim.</p> + +<p>"After <i>him</i> th' undertaker," Billy growled, going +towards the hut.</p><hr class="chap" /><p><span class="pagenum">[374]</span></p> + +<h2 id="CHAPTER_XXXVIII">CHAPTER XXXVIII</h2> + +<p class="h3">A DISAGREEABLE TASK</p> + +<p>Two men, Hall and Frisco, sat with their backs +against the wall of the hut, weaponless, +wounded, nervous, one sullen and enraged, the +other growling querulously to himself about his numerous +wounds. The third prisoner, the Mexican, was pacing +to and fro with restless strides, vicious and defiant, +his burning eyes quick, searching, calculating. It +seemed as though he was filled with a tremendous amount +of energy which would not let him remain quiet. When +his companions spoke to him he flashed them a quick +glance but did not answer; thinking, scheming, plotting, +he missed not the slightest movement of those about him. +Wounded as he was he did not appear to know it, so +intent was he upon his thoughts.</p> + +<p>Hall, saved from the dangers of the last night's fight, +loosed his cumulative rage frequently in caustic and +profane verbal abuse of his captors, his defeat, his companions, +and the guard. Frisco, courageous as any +under fire, was dejected because of the wait; merely a +difference of temperament.</p> + +<p>The guard, seated carelessly on a nearby rock, kept<span class="pagenum">[375]</span> +watch over the three and cogitated upon the whole affair, +his Colt swinging from a hand between his knees. +Twenty paces to his right was a stack of rifles and +Sanchez, lengthening his panther stride with barely perceptible +effort, drew nearer to them on each northward +lap. He typified the class of men who never give up +hope, and as he gained each yard he glanced furtively +at the guard and then estimated the number of leaps +necessary to reach the coveted rifles. His rippling +muscles were bunching up for the desperate attempt +when the guard interfered, the sharp clicks of his Colt +bringing the Mexican to an abrupt stop. Sanchez +shrugged his shoulders and wheeling, resumed his restless +walk, being careful to keep it within safe limits.</p> + +<p>Hall, lighting his pipe, blew a cloud of smoke into +the air and looked at the guard, who was still cogitating.</p> + +<p>"How did you fools finally figger we was out here?"</p> + +<p>Hopalong looked up and smiled. "Oh, we just figgered +you fools would be here, and would stay up here. +Yore friend Antonio worked too hard."</p> + +<p>Hall carefully packed his pipe and puffed quickly. +"I knowed he'd bungle it, d——d Greaser. It was th' +Greasers that busted up th' game. Sixteen men an' four +of 'em Greasers. By G-d, if we was all white men we'd +'a given you fellers a hot tune to dance to. Greasers +are all cowards, any—"</p> + +<p>"You lie!" snapped Sanchez, stepping forward.</p> + +<p>"Stop it!" shouted Hopalong, half arising, his Colt +on the two. "You keep peaceful—there's been too +much fighting now. But if them other Greasers had<span class="pagenum">[376]</span> +been like this one here I reckon you wouldn't 'a lost nothing +by having 'em."</p> + +<p>"What happened to Cavalry an' Antonio?" asked +Hall. "Did you get 'em when you came up?"</p> + +<p>"They got down th' way we came up—Doc trailed +th' Greaser an' got him at that water hole up north," +Hopalong replied. "Don't know nothing about th' +other feller. Reckon he got away, but one don't make +much difference, anyhow. He'll never come back to this +country."</p> + +<p>"Say, how much longer will it take yore friends to +do th' buryin' act?" asked Frisco, irritably. "I'm +plumb tired of waiting—these wounds hurt like blazes, +too."</p> + +<p>"Reckon they're coming now," was the reply. "I +hear—yes, here they are."</p> + +<p>"I owe you ten dollars, Hall," Frisco remarked, trivial +things now entering his mind. "Reckon you won't get +it, neither."</p> + +<p>"Oh, pay me in h—l!" Hall snapped.</p> + +<p>"Yes," Buck was saying, "he shore was white. He +knowed he was going an' he went like th' man he was—saving +a friend. 'Tain't th' first time Frenchy McAllister's +saved my life, neither."</p> + +<p>Frisco glanced around and his face flashed with a look +of recognition, but he held his tongue; not so with +Curtis, who stared at him in surprise and stepped forward.</p> + +<p>"Good G-d! It's Davis! What ever got you into +this?"</p><p><span class="pagenum">[377]</span></p> + +<p>"Easy money an' a gun fight," Davis, alias Frisco, +replied.</p> + +<p>"Tough luck, tough luck," Curtis muttered slowly.</p> + +<p>"D—n tough, if you asks me," Frisco growled.</p> + +<p>"What happened to th' others?" Curtis asked, referring +to three men with whom he and Frisco had +punched and prospected several years before.</p> + +<p>"Little Dan went out in that same gun fight, Joe +Baird was got by th' posse next day, an' George Wild +an' I got into th' mountains an' was separated. I got +free after a sixty-mile chase, but I don't know how +George made out. We had stuck up a gold caravan +an' killed two men what was with it. They was th' +only fellers to pull their guns against us."</p> + +<p>"Well, I'm d——d!" ejaculated Curtis. "An' so that +crowd went bad!"</p> + +<p>"Say, for th' Lord's sake, get things moving," cried +Hall, angrily. "If we've got to die make it quick—or +else shoot that infernal Greaser—he's got on my +nerves with his tramp, tramp, tramp! Wish I'd 'a gone +with Shaw 'stead of waiting for my own funeral."</p> + +<p>Buck surveyed them. "Got anything to say?"</p> + +<p>"Not me—I've had mine," replied Frisco, toying +with a bandage. Then he started to say something but +changed his mind. "Oh, well, what's th' use! Go +ahead."</p> + +<p>"Don't drag it out," growled Hall. "Say, you got +<i>my</i> rope there?" he demanded suddenly, eying the coils +slung over Skinny's shoulder. "No, you ain't. I want +my own, savvy?"</p><p><span class="pagenum">[378]</span></p> + +<p>"Oh, we ain't got time to hunt for no ropes," rejoined +Skinny. "One's as good as another, ain't it?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I reckon so—hustle it through," Hall replied, +sullenly.</p> + +<p>"Go ahead, you fellers," ordered Hopalong as some +of his friends went first down the trail after the two +sent to the camp for the horses. "Come on, Sanchez! +Fall in there!"</p> + +<p>When the procession reached the bottom of the trail +Buck halted it to wait for the horses and his prisoners +took one more look around.</p> + +<p>"Say, Peters, where's th' cayuses we had in that corral?" +asked Hall, surprised.</p> + +<p>"Oh, we got them out th' first night—we wasn't +taking no chances," replied the foreman. "They're +somewhere near th' camp now."</p> + +<p>As the horse herd was driven up Sanchez made his +last play. All were intent upon tightening cinches, the +more intent because of the impending and disagreeable +task, when he slipped like a shadow through the group +and throwing himself across a likely looking pinto (he +knew the horse), headed in a circular track for the not +too distant chaparral.</p> + +<p>"<i>Take</i> him, Red!" shouted Buck, who was the first +to recover.</p> + +<p>Red's rifle leaped to his shoulder and steadied; in +three more jumps the speedy pinto would have shielded +Sanchez, clinging like a burr to the further side; but the +rifle spoke once and the fleeing Mexican dropped and +lay quiet on the sand.</p><p><span class="pagenum">[379]</span></p> + +<p>Hopalong rode out to him and glancing at the still +form, wheeled and returned. "Got him clean, Red."</p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p>A group of horsemen rode eastward towards the +chaparral and as it was about to enclose them one of +the riders bringing up the rear turned in his saddle and +looked back at two dangling forms outlined against +the darker background of the frowning mesa, two where +he had expected to see three.</p> + +<p>"Well, th' rustling is over," he remarked. "Say, +that Greaser wasn't no coward. I reckoned Greasers +was all yaller dogs."</p> + +<p>"Have you known many of 'em?" asked Skinny, +quietly.</p> + +<p>"No," replied Chick. "Didn't ever see none till I +came down here. Reckon there ain't many up in Montanny. +But I heard lots about 'em. <i>He</i> was all grit! +I allus reckoned they was coyotes, an' mostly scared."</p> + +<p>"If you stay down here for long you'll meet some +more that ain't cowards," Skinny replied. "I have—more'n +once. A Greaser is a man, same as me an' you, +an' I've known some that would look th' devil hisself in +th' eye an' call him a liar."</p> + +<p>"Gee!" exclaimed Chick, thoughtfully.</p><hr class="chap" /><p><span class="pagenum">[380]</span></p> + +<h2 id="CHAPTER_XXXIX">CHAPTER XXXIX</h2> + +<p class="h3">THIRST</p> + +<p>The stars grow dim and a streak of color paints +the eastern sky, sweeping through the upper +reaches of the darkness and tingeing the earth's +curtain until the dim gray light outlines spectral yuccas +and twisted, grotesque cacti leaning in the hushed air +like drunken sentries of some monstrous army. The +dark carpet which stretched away on all sides begins to +show its characteristics and soon develops into greasewood +brush. As if curtains were drawn aside objects +which a moment before were lost to sight in the darkness +emerge out of the light like ghosts, bulky, indistinct, +grotesque, and array themselves to complete the scene.</p> + +<p>The silence seems to deepen and become strained, as if +in fear of what is to come; the dark ground is now gray +and tawny in places and the vegetation is plain to the +eye. Then out of the east comes a flash and a red, +coppery sun flares above the horizon, molten, quivering, +blinding; the cool of the night swiftly departs and a +caldron-like heat bursts upon the plain. The silence +seems almost to shrink and become portentous with evil, +the air is hushed, the plants stand without the movement<span class="pagenum">[381]</span> +of a leaf, and nowhere is seen any living creature. +The whole is unreal, a panorama, with vegetation of +wax and a painted, faded blue sky, the only movement +being the shortening shadows and the rising sun.</p> + +<p>Across the sand is an erratic trail of shoe prints, +coming from the east. For a dozen yards it runs evenly +and straight, then a few close prints straggle to and +fro, zig-zagging hither and yon for a distance, finally +going on straight again. But the erratic prints grow +more frequent and become more pronounced as they go +on, circling and weaving, crossing, re-crossing and +doubling back as their maker staggered hopelessly on +his way, urged only by the instinct of thirst, to find +water, if it were only a mouthful. The trail is here +blurred, for he fell, and the prints of his hands and knees +and shoe-tips tell how he went on for some distance. +He gained his feet here and threw away his Colt, and +later his holster and belt.</p> + +<p>The sun is overhead now and the sand shimmers, the +heated air quivering and glistening, and the desolate +void takes on an air of mystery and fear, and death. +No living thing moves across the heat-cursed sand, but +here is a tangled mass of sand and clay and greasewood +twigs, in the heart of which mice sleep and wait for +night, and over there is a hillock sheltering lizards. +Stay! Under that greasewood bush a foolish gray wolf +is waiting for night—but he has little to fear, for he +can cover forty miles between dark and dawn, and his +instinct is infallible; no wandering trail will mark his<span class="pagenum">[382]</span> +passing, but one as straight as the flight of a bullet. +The shadows shrink close to the stems of the plants and +the thin air dances with heat.</p> + +<p>Behind that clump of greasewood, back beyond those +crippled cacti, a man staggers on and on. His hair is +matted, his fingers bleeding from digging frantically +in the sand for water; his lips, cracked and bleeding and +swollen, hide the shrivelled, stiff tongue which clicks +against his teeth at every painful step. His eyelids are +stiff and the staring, unblinking eyes are set and swollen. +He clutches at his throat time and time again,—a +drowning sensation is there. Ha! He drops to his +knees and digs frantically again, for the sand is moist! +A few days ago a water hole lay there. He throws off +his shirt and finally staggers on again.</p> + +<p>His tongue begins to swell and forces itself beyond +the swollen, festering lips; the eyelids split and the protruding +eyeballs weep tears of blood. His skin cracks +and curls up, the clefts going constantly deeper into +the flesh, and the exuding blood quickly dries and leaves +a tough coating over the wounds. Wherever the exudation +touches it stings and burns, and the cracks and +clefts, irritated more and more each minute, deepen and +widen and lengthen, smarting and nerve-racking with +their pain.</p> + +<p>There! A grove of beautiful green trees is before +him, and in it a fountain splashes with musical babbling. +He yells and dances and then, casting aside the rest of +his clothes, staggers towards it. Water, water, at last! +Water and shade! It grows indistinct, wavers—and is<span class="pagenum">[383]</span> +gone! But it must be there. It was there only a moment +ago—and on and on he runs, hands tearing at +his choking, drowning throat. Here is water—close +at hand—a purling, cold brook, whispering and tinkling +over its rocky bed—he jumps into it—it moved! +It's over there, ten paces to his right. On and on he +staggers, the stream just ahead. He falls more frequently +and wavers now. Oh, for just a canteen of +water, just a swallow, just a drop! The gold of the +world would not buy it from him—just a drop of +water!</p> + +<p>He is dying from within, from the inside out. The +liquids of his body exude through the clefts and evaporate. +His brain burns and bands of white-hot steel crush +his throbbing head and his burning lungs. No amount +of water will save him now—only death, merciful +death can end his sufferings.</p> + +<p>Water at last! Real water, a noisome pool of stagnant +liquid lies at the bottom of a slight depression, the +dregs of a larger pool concentrated by evaporation. +Around it are the prints of many kinds of feet. It +is water, water!—he plunges forward into it and lies +motionless, half submerged. A grayback lizard darts +out of the greasewood near at hand, blinks rapidly and +darts back again, glad to escape the intolerable heat.</p> + +<p>Cavalry had escaped.</p><hr class="chap" /><p><span class="pagenum">[384]</span></p> + +<h2 id="CHAPTER_XL">CHAPTER XL</h2> + +<p class="h3">CHANGES</p> + +<p>With the passing of the weeks the two +ranches had settled down to routine duty. +On the H2 conditions were changed +greatly for the better and Meeker gloated over his gushing +wells and the dam which gave him a reservoir on +his north range, the early completion of which he owed +largely to the experience and willing assistance of Buck +and the Bar-20 outfit.</p> + +<p>It was getting along towards Fall when a letter came +to the Bar-20 addressed to John McAllister. Buck +looked at it long and curiously. "Wonder who's writing +to Frenchy?" he mused. "Well, I've got to find +out," and he opened the envelope and looked at the +signature; it made him stare still more and he read the +letter carefully. George McAllister, through the aid +of the courts, had gained possession of the old Double +Y in the name of its owners and was going to put an +outfit on the ground to evict and hold off those who +had jumped it. He knew nothing about ranching and +wanted Frenchy McAllister, who owned half of it, to +take charge of it and to give him the address of Buck<span class="pagenum">[385]</span> +Peters, the other half-owner. He advised that Peters' +share be bought because the range was near a railroad +and was growing more valuable every day.</p> + +<p>Buck's decision was taken instantly. Much as he disliked +to leave the old outfit here was the chance he had +been waiting for without knowing it. He would never +have set foot on the Double Y during Frenchy's lifetime +because of loyalty to his old friend. Had he at +any time desired possession of the property he and his +friends could have taken it and left court actions to the +other side. But Frenchy was gone, and he still owned +half of a valuable piece of property and one that he +could make pay well. He was getting on in years and +it would be pleasant to have his cherished dream come +true, to be the over-lord and half-owner of a good cattle +ranch and to know that when he became too old to work +with any degree of pleasure he need not worry about +his remaining years. If he left the Bar-20 one of his +friends would take his place and he was sure it would be +Hopalong. The advancement in pay and authority +would please the man whom he had looked upon as his +son. And perhaps it would bring to Hopalong that +which now kept his eyes turned towards the H2. Yes, +it was time to go to his own and let another man come +into <i>his</i> own; to move along and give a younger man a +chance.</p> + +<p>He replied to George McAllister at length, covering +everything, and took the letter to the bunk house to +have it mailed.</p><p><span class="pagenum">[386]</span></p> + +<p>"Billy," he said, "here's a letter to go to Cowan's +th' first thing to-morrow. Don't forget."</p> + +<p>Buck started the fall work early and pushed it harder +than usual for he wished to have everything done before +the new foreman took charge. The beef roundup and +drives were over with quickly, considering the time and +labor involved, and when the chill blasts of early Winter +swept across the range and whined around the ranch +buildings Buck smiled with the satisfaction which comes +with work well done. George McAllister, failing to buy +Buck's interest, now implored him to go to the Double +Y at once and take charge, which he had promised to +do in time to become familiar with conditions on the +winter-bound northern range before the new herds were +driven to it.</p> + +<p>As yet he had told his men nothing of his plans for +fear they would persuade him to stay where he was, but +he could tell Meeker, and one crisp morning he called +at the H2 and led its foreman aside. When he had +finished Meeker grasped his hand, told him how sorry he +was to lose so good a friend and neighbor, and how glad +he was at that friend's good fortune.</p> + +<p>"I hope Cassidy <i>is</i> th' man to take yore place, Peters," +he remarked, thoughtfully. "He's a good man, +th' best in th' country, white, square, and nervy. I've +had my eyes on him for some time an' I'll back him to +bust anything he throws his rope on. He can handle +that ranch easy an' well."</p> + +<p>"Yo're right," replied Buck, slowly. "He ain't +never failed to make good yet. Whoever th' boys pick<span class="pagenum">[387]</span> +out to be foreman will be foreman, for th' owners have +left that question with me. But Meeker, it's like pulling +teeth for me to go up to Montana without him. I +can't take him 'less I take 'em all, an' I've got reasons +why I can't do that. An' I ain't quite shore he'd go +with me now—yore ranch holds something that ties +him tight to this range. He'll be lonely up in our +ranch house, an' it's plenty big enough for two," he +finished, smiling interrogatively at his companion.</p> + +<p>"Well, I reckon it'll not be lonely if he wants to +change it," laughed Meeker. "Leastawise, them's th' +symptoms plentiful enough down here. I was dead set +agin it at first, but now I don't want nothing else but +to see my girl fixed for life. An' when I pass out, all +I have is hers."</p><hr class="chap" /><p><span class="pagenum">[388]</span></p> + +<h2 id="CHAPTER_XLI">CHAPTER XLI</h2> + +<p class="h3">HOPALONG'S REWARD</p> + +<p>Seven men loitered about the line house on +Lookout Peak, wondering why they, the old +outfit, had been told to await their foreman +there. Why were the others, all good fellows, excluded? +What could it mean? Foreboding grew upon them as +they talked the matter over and when Buck approached +they waited eagerly for him to speak.</p> + +<p>He dismounted and looked at them with pride and +affection and a trace of sorrow showed in his voice and +face when he began to talk.</p> + +<p>"Boys," he said, slowly, "we've got things ready for +snow when it comes. Th' cattle are strong an' fat, +there's plenty of grass curing on th' range, an' th' biggest +drive ever sent north from this ranch has been taken +care of. There's seven of you here, two on th' north +range, an' four more good men coming next week; an' +thirteen men can handle this ranch with some time to +spare.</p> + +<p>"I've been with you for a long time now. Some of +you I've had for over twelve years, an' no man ever +had a better outfit. You've never turned back on any<span class="pagenum">[389]</span> +game, an' you've never had no trouble among yoreselves. +You've seen me sending an' getting letters purty regular +for some time, an' you've been surprised at how I've +pushed you to get ready for winter. I'm going to +tell you all about it now, an' when I've finished I want +you to vote on something," and they listened in dumb +surprise and sorrow while he told them of his decision. +When he had finished they crowded about him and +begged him to stay with them, telling him they would +not allow him to leave. But if he must go, then they, +too, must go and help him whip a wild and lawless range +into submission. He would need them badly in Montana, +and nowhere could he get men who would work +and fight so hard and cheerfully for him as his old outfit. +They would not let him talk and he could not if +they would, for there was something in his throat which +choked and pained him. Johnny Nelson and Hopalong +were tugging at his shoulders and the others stormed +and pleaded and swore, tears in the eyes of all. He +wavered and would have thrown away all his resolutions, +when he thought of Hopalong and the girl. Pushing +them back he told them he could not stay and begged +them, as they loved him, to consider his future. They +looked at one another strangely and then realized how +selfish they were, and said so profanely.</p> + +<p>"<i>Now</i> yo're my old outfit," he cried, striking while +the iron was hot. "I've told you why I must go, an' +why I can't take <i>all</i> of you with me, an' why I won't +take a few an' leave th' rest. Don't think I don't want +you! Why, with you at my back I'd buck that range<span class="pagenum">[390]</span> +into shape in no time, an' chase th' festive gun-fighters +off th' earth. Mebby some day you can come up to +me, but not now. Now I want th' new foreman of th' +Bar-20 to be one of th' men who worked so hard an' +loyally an' long for me an' th' ranch. I want one of +you to take my place. Th' owners have left th' choice +to me, an' say th' man I appoint will be their choice; +an' I ain't a-going to do it—I can't do it. One last +favor, boys; go in that house an' pick yore foreman. +Go now, an' I'll wait for you here."</p> + +<p>"We'll do it right here—Red Connors!" cried +Hopalong.</p> + +<p>"Hopalong!" yelled Red and Johnny in the same +voice, and only a breath ahead of the others. "Hopalong! +Hopalong!" was the cry, his own voice lost, +buried, swept under. He tried to argue, tried to show +that he was unfit, but he could make no headway, for +his exploits were shouted to convince him. As fast as +he tried to speak some one remembered something else he +had done—they ranged over a period of ten years and +from Mexico to Cheyenne; from Dodge City and +Leavenworth to the Rockies.</p> + +<p>Buck laughed and clapped his hands on Hopalong's +shoulders. "I appoint you foreman, an' you can't get +out of it, nohow! Lemme shake hands with th' new +foreman of th' Bar-20—I'm one of th' boys now, an' +glad to get rid of th' responsibility for a while. Good +luck, son!"</p> + +<p>"No you ain't going to get rid of 'em," laughed +Hopalong, but serious withal. "Yo're th' foreman of<span class="pagenum">[391]</span> +this ranch till you leave us—ain't he, boys?" he appealed.</p> + +<p>Buck put his hands to his ears and yelled for less +noise. "All right, I'll play at breaking you in—'though +th' Lord knows I can't show you nothing you +don't know now. My first order under these conditions +is that you ride south, Hopalong, an' tell th' news to +Meeker, an' to his girl. An' tell 'em separate, too. +An' don't forget I want to see you hobbled before I +leave next month—tell her to make it soon!"</p> + +<p>Hopalong reddened and grinned under the rapid-fire +advice and chaffing of his friends and tried to retort.</p> + +<p>Johnny sprang forward. "Come on, fellers! Put +him on his cayuse an' start him south! We've got to +have <i>some</i> hand in his courting, anyhow!"</p> + +<p>"Right!"</p> + +<p>"Good idea!"</p> + +<p>"Look out! <i>Grab</i> him, Red!"</p> + +<p>"Up with him!"</p> + +<p>"We ought to escort him on his first love trail," +yelled Skinny above the uproar. "Come on! <i>Saddles</i>, +boys!"</p> + +<p>"Like h—l!" cried Hopalong, spurring forward +his nettlesome mount. "You've got to grow wings to +catch me an' Red Eagle! <i>Go, bronc!</i>" and he shot +forward like an arrow from a bow, cheers and good +wishes thundering after him.</p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p>Buck moved about restlessly in his sleep and then +awakened suddenly and lay quiet as a hand touched his<span class="pagenum">[392]</span> +shoulder. "What is it? Who are you?" he demanded, +ominously.</p> + +<p>"I reckoned you'd like to know that yo're going to be +best man in two weeks, Buck," said a happy voice. +"She said a month, but I told her you was going away +before then, an' you <i>might</i>, you know. I shore feel +joyous!"</p> + +<p>The huge hand of the elder man closed over his in a +grip which made him wince. "Good boy, an' good +luck, Hoppy! It was due you an' I knowed you'd win. +Good luck, an' happiness, son!"</p> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Hopalong Cassidy, by Clarence E. 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Mulford + +Release Date: December 6, 2011 [EBook #38234] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HOPALONG CASSIDY *** + + + + +Produced by Janet Kegg, Matthew Wheaton and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + + Hopalong Cassidy + + BY + + Clarence E. Mulford + + + Author of + The BAR-20 THREE, "TEX", Etc. + + GROSSET & DUNLAP, Publishers + + By arrangement with A. C. McClurg & Co. + + + COPYRIGHT + BY A. C. MCCLURG & CO. + 1910 + + Published March 12, 1910 + Second Edition, March 19, 1910 + Third Edition, March 26, 1910 + Fourth Edition, May 28, 1910 + Fifth Edition, July 9, 1910 + Sixth Edition, January 28, 1911 + + Entered at Stationers' Hall, London + + _All Rights Reserved_ + + + _Affectionately Dedicated + to My Father_ + + + + + CONTENTS + + + CHAPTER + + I. ANTONIO'S SCHEME + II. MARY MEEKER RIDES NORTH + III. THE ROUNDUP + IV. IN WEST ARROYO + V. HOPALONG ASSERTS HIMSELF + VI. MEEKER IS TOLD + VII. HOPALONG MEETS MEEKER + VIII. ON THE EDGE OF THE DESERT + IX. ON THE PEAK + X. BUCK VISITS MEEKER + XI. THREE IS A CROWD + XII. HOBBLE BURNS AND SLEEPERS + XIII. HOPALONG GROWS SUSPICIOUS + XIV. THE COMPROMISE + XV. ANTONIO MEETS FRIENDS + XVI. THE FEINT + XVII. PETE IS TRICKED + XVIII. THE LINE HOUSE RE-CAPTURED + XIX. ANTONIO LEAVES THE H2 + XX. WHAT THE DAM TOLD + XXI. HOPALONG RIDES SOUTH + XXII. LUCAS VISITS THE PEAK + XXIII. HOPALONG AND RED GO SCOUTING + XXIV. RED'S DISCOMFITURE + XXV. ANTONIO'S REVENGE + XXVI. FRISCO VISITS EAGLE + XXVII. SHAW HAS VISITORS + XXVIII. NEVADA JOINS SHAW + XXIX. SURROUNDED + XXX. UP THE WALL + XXXI. FORTUNE SNICKERS AT DOC + XXXII. NATURE TAKES A HAND + XXXIII. DOC TRAILS + XXXIV. DISCOVERIES + XXXV. JOHNNY TAKES THE HUT + XXXVI. THE LAST NIGHT + XXXVII. THEIR LAST FIGHT + XXXVIII. A DISAGREEABLE TASK + XXXIX. THIRST + XL. CHANGES + XLI. HOPALONG'S REWARD + + + + +HOPALONG CASSIDY + + + + +CHAPTER I + +ANTONIO'S SCHEME + + +The raw and mighty West, the greatest stage in all the history of the +world for so many deeds of daring which verged on the insane, was +seared and cross-barred with grave-lined trails and dotted with +presumptuous, mushroom towns of brief stay, whose inhabitants flung +their primal passions in the face of humanity and laughed in +condescending contempt at what humanity had to say about it. In many +localities the real bad-man, the man of the gun, whose claims to the +appellation he was ready to prove against the rancorous doubting of +all comers, made history in a terse and business-like way, and also +made the first law for the locality--that of the gun. + +There were good bad-men and bad bad-men, the killer by necessity and +the wanton murderer; and the shifting of these to their proper strata +evolved the foundation for the law of to-day. The good bad-men, those +in whose souls lived the germs of law and order and justice, gradually +became arrayed against the other class, and stood up manfully for +their principles, let the odds be what they might; and bitter, +indeed, was the struggle, and great the price. + +From the gold camps of the Rockies to the shrieking towns of the +coast, where wantonness stalked unchecked; from the vast stretches of +the cattle ranges to the ever-advancing terminals of the persistent +railroads, to the cow towns, boiling and seething in the loosed +passions of men who brooked no restraint in their revels, no one +section of country ever boasted of such numbers of genuine bad-men of +both classes as the great, semi-arid Southwest. Here was one of the +worst collections of raw humanity ever broadcast in one locality; here +the crack of the gun would have sickened except that moralists were +few and the individual so calloused and so busy in protecting his own +life and wiping out his own scores that he gave no heed to the sum +total of the killings; it was a word and a shot, a shot and a laugh or +a curse. + +In this red setting was stuck a town which we will call Eagle, the +riffle which caught all the dregs of passing humanity, where men +danced as souls were freed. Unmapped, known only to those who had +visited it, it reared its flimsy buildings in the face of God and +rioted day and night with no thought of reckoning; mad, insane with +hellishness unlimited. + +Late in the afternoon of a glorious day towards this town rode +Antonio, "broncho-buster" for the H2, a Mexican of little courage, +much avarice, and great capacity for hatred. Crafty, filled with +cunning of the coyote kind, shifty-eyed, gloomy, taciturn, and +scowling, he was well fitted for the part he had elected to play in +the range dispute between his ranch and the Bar-20. He was absolutely +without mercy or conscience; indeed, one might aptly say that his +conscience, if he had ever known one, had been pulled out by the roots +and its place filled with viciousness. Cold-blooded in his ferocity, +easily angered and quick to commit murder if the risk were small, he +embraced within his husk of soul the putrescence of all that was evil. + +In Eagle he had friends who were only a shade less evil than himself; +but they had what he lacked and because of it were entitled to a +forced respect of small weight--they had courage, that spontaneous, +initiative, heedless courage which toned the atmosphere of the whole +West to a magnificent crimson. Were it not for the reason that they +had drifted to his social level they would have spurned his +acquaintance and shot him for a buzzard; but, while they secretly held +him in great contempt for his cowardice, they admired his criminal +cunning, and profited by it. He was too wise to show himself in the +true light to his foreman and the outfit, knowing full well that death +would be the response, and so lived a lie until he met his friends of +the town, when he threw off his cloak and became himself, and where he +plotted against the man who treated him fairly. + +Riding into the town, he stopped before a saloon and slouched in to +the bar, where the proprietor was placing a new stock of liquors on +the shelves. + +"Where's Benito, an' th' rest?" he asked. + +"Back there," replied the other; nodding toward a rear room. + +"Who's in there?" + +"Benito, Hall, Archer an' Frisco." + +"Where's Shaw?" + +"Him an' Clausen an' Cavalry went out 'bout ten minutes ago." + +"I want to see 'em when they come in," Antonio remarked, shambling +towards the door, where he listened, and then went in. + +In the small room four men were grouped around a table, drinking and +talking, and at his entry they looked up and nodded. He nodded in +reply and seated himself apart from them, where he soon became wrapped +in thought. + +Benito arose and went to the door. "_Mescal, pronto_," he said to the +man outside. + +"D----d _pronto_, too," growled Antonio. "A man would die of alkali in +this place before he's waited on." + +The proprietor brought a bottle and filled the glasses, giving Antonio +his drink first, and silently withdrew. + +The broncho-buster tossed off the fiery stuff and then turned his +shifty eyes on the group. "Where's Shaw?" + +"Don't know--back soon," replied Benito. + +"Why didn't he wait, when he knowed I was comin' in?" + +Hall leaned back from the table and replied, keenly watching the +inquisitor, "Because he don't give a d--n." + +"You----!" shouted the Mexican, half arising, but the others +interfered and he sank back again, content to let it pass. But not so +Hall, whose Colt was half drawn. + +"I'll kill you some day, you whelp," he gritted, but before anything +could come of it Shaw and his companions entered the room and the +trouble was quelled. + +Soon the group was deep in discussion over the merits of a scheme +which Antonio unfolded to them, and the more it was weighed the better +it appeared. Finally Shaw leaned back and filled his pipe. "You've got +th' brains of th' devil, 'Tony." + +"Eet ees not'ing," replied Antonio. + +"Oh, drop that lingo an' talk straight--you ain't on th' H2 now," +growled Hall. + +"Benito, you know this country like a book," Shaw continued. "Where's +a good place for us to work from, or ain't there no choice?" + +"Thunder Mesa." + +"Well, what of it?" + +"On de edge of de desert, high, beeg. De walls are stone, an' so ver' +smooth. Nobody can get up." + +"How can we get up then?" + +"There's a trail at one end," replied Antonio, crossing his legs and +preparing to roll a cigarette. "It's too steep for cayuses, an' too +narrow; but we can crawl up. An' once up, all h--l can't follow as +long as our cartridges hold out." + +"Water?" inquired Frisco. + +"At th' bottom of th' trail, an' th' spring is on top," Antonio +replied. "Not much, but enough." + +"Can you work yore end all right?" asked Shaw. + +"_Si_," laughed the other. "I am 'that fool, Antonio,' on th' ranch. +But they're th' fools. We can steal them blind an' if they find it +out--well," here he shrugged his shoulders, "th' Bar-20 can take th' +blame. I'll fix that, all right. This trouble about th' line is just +what I've been waitin' for, an' I'll help it along. If we can get 'em +fightin' we'll run off with th' bone _we_ want. That'll be easy." + +"But can you get 'em fightin'?" asked Cavalry, so called because he +had spent several years in that branch of the Government service, and +deserted because of the discipline. + +Antonio laughed and ordered more _mescal_ and for some time took no +part in the discussion which went on about him. He was dreaming of +success and plenty and a ranch of his own which he would start in Old +Mexico, in a place far removed from the border, and where no questions +would be asked. He would be a rich man, according to the standards of +that locality, and what he said would be law among the peons. He liked +to daydream, for everything came out just as he wished; there was no +discordant note. He was so certain of success, so conceited as not to +ask himself if any of the Bar-20 or H2 outfits were not his equal or +superior in intelligence. It was only a matter of time, he told +himself, for he could easily get the two ranches embroiled in a range +war, and once embroiled, his plan would succeed and he would be safe. + +"What do you want for your share, 'Tony?" suddenly asked Shaw. + +"Half." + +"What! _Half?_" + +"_Si._" + +"You're loco!" cried the other. "Do you reckon we're going to buck up +agin th' biggest an' hardest fightin' outfit in this country an' take +all sorts of chances for a measly half, to be divided up among seven +of us!" He brought his fist down on the table with a resounding thump. +"You an' yore game can go to h--l first!" he shouted. + +"I like a hog, all right," sneered Clausen, angrily. + +"I thought it out an' I got to look after th' worst an' most important +part of it, an' take three chances to you fellers' one," replied +Antonio, frowning. "I said half, an' it goes." + +"Run all th' ends, an' keep it all," exclaimed Hall. "An', by God, +we've got a hand in it, now. If you try to hog it we'll drop a word +where it'll do th' most good, an' don't you forget it, neither." + +"Anton ees right," asserted Benito, excitedly. "Eet ees one reesk for +Anton." + +"Keep yore yaller mouth shut," growled Cavalry. "Who gave you any say +in this?" + +"Half," said Antonio, shrugging his shoulders. + +"Look here, you," cried Shaw, who was, in reality, the leader of the +crowd, inasmuch as he controlled all the others with the exception of +Benito and Antonio, and these at times by the judicious use of +flattery. "We'll admit that you've got a right to th' biggest share, +but not to no half. You have a chance to get away, because you can +watch 'em, but how about us, out there on th' edge of h--l? If they +come for us we won't know nothing about it till we're surrounded. Now +we want to play square with you, an' we'll give you twice as much as +any one of th' rest of us. That'll make nine shares an' give you two +of 'em. What more do you want, when you've got to have us to run th' +game at all?" + +Antonio laughed ironically. "Yes. I'm where I can watch, an' get +killed first. You can hold th' mesa for a month. I ain't as easy as I +look. It's my game, not yourn; an' if you don't like what I ask, stay +out." + +"We will!" cried Hall, arising, followed by the others. His hand +rested on the butt of his revolver and trouble seemed imminent. Benito +wavered and then slid nearer to Antonio. "You can run yore game all by +yore lonesome, as _long_ as you _can_!" Hall shouted. "I know a feller +what knows Cassidy, an' I'll spoil yore little play right now. You'll +look nice at th' end of a rope, won't you? It's this: share like Shaw +said or get out of here, an' look out for trouble a-plenty to-morrow +morning. I've put up with yore gall an' swallered yore insultin' +actions just as long as I'm going to, an' I've got a powerful notion +to fix you right here and now!" + +"No fightin', you fools!" cried the proprietor, grabbing his Colt and +running to the door of the room. "It's up to you fellers to stick +together!" + +"I'll be d----d if I'll stand--" began Frisco. + +"They want too much," interrupted Antonio, angrily, keeping close +watch over Hall. + +"We want a fair share, an' that's all!" retorted Shaw. "Sit down, all +of you. We can wrastle this out without no gun-play." + +"You-all been yappin' like a set of fools," said the proprietor. "I've +heard every word you-all said. If you got a mite of sense you'll be +some tender how you shout about it. It's shore risky enough without +tellin' everybody this side of sun-up." + +"I mean just what I said," asserted Hall. "It's Shaw's offer, or +nothin'. We ain't playing fool for no Greaser. _Yes_, that's th' +word--Greaser!" he repeated in answer to Antonio's exclamation. "If +you don't like it, lump it!" + +"Here! Here!" cried Shaw, pushing Hall into a seat. "If you two have +got anything to settle, wait till some other time." + +"That's more like it," growled the proprietor, shuffling back to the +bar. + +"Good Lord, 'Tony," cried Shaw in a low voice. "That's fair enough; +we've got a right to something, ain't we? Don't let a good thing fall +through just because you want th' whole earth. Better have a little +than none." + +"Well, gimme a third, then." + +"I'll give you a slug in th' eye, you hog!" promised Hall, starting to +rise again, but Shaw held him back. "Sit down, you fool!" he ordered, +angrily. Then he turned to the Mexican. "Third don't go; take my offer +or leave it." + +"Gimme a fourth; that's fair enough." + +Shaw thought for a moment and then looked up. "Well, that's more like +it. What do you say, fellers?" + +"No!" cried Hall. "Two-ninths, or nothin'!" + +"A fourth is two-eighths, only a little more," Shaw replied. + +"Well, all right," muttered Hall, sullenly. + +"That ees ver' good," laughed Benito, glad that things were clearing. +All his sympathies were with his countryman, but he hesitated to take +his part in the face of such odds. + +The others gave their consent to the division and Shaw smiled. "Well, +that's more like it. Now we'll go into this thing an' sift it out. +Keep mum about it--there's twenty men in town that would want to join +us if they knowed." + +"I'm goin' to be boss; what I say goes," spoke up Antonio. "It's my +game an' I'm takin' th' most risky end." + +"You ain't got sand enough to be boss of anything," sneered Hall. +"Yore sand is chalk." + +"You'll say too much someday," retorted Antonio, glaring. + +"Oh, not to _you_, I reckon," rejoined Hall, easily. + +"Shut up, both of you!" snapped Shaw. "You can be boss, 'Tony," he +said, winking at Hall. "You've got more brains for a thing like this +than any of us. I don't see how you can figger it out like you do." + +Antonio laughed in a self-satisfied way, for it was pleasant to hear +such an admission from the lips of a Gringo, and he was ready to +discuss things in a better spirit. But he remembered one thing, and +swore to take payment if the plan leaked out; the proprietor had +confessed hearing every word, which was not at all to his liking. If +Quinn should tell, well, Quinn would die; he would see to that, he and +Benito. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +MARY MEEKER RIDES NORTH + + +Mary Meeker, daughter of the H2 owner and foreman, found pleasure in +riding on little tours of investigation. She had given the southern +portions her attention first and found, after the newness had worn +off, that she did not care for the level, sandy stretches of +half-desert land which lay so flat for miles. The prospect was always +the same, always uninteresting and wearying and hot. Now she +determined upon a step which she had wished to take for a long time, +and her father's request that she should not take it grew less and +less of a deterrent factor. He had given so much thought and worry to +that mysterious valley, dropped so many remarks about it, that she at +last gave rein to her curiosity and made ready to see for herself. It +was green and hilly, like the rugged Montana she had quitted to come +down to the desert, and it should be a small Montana to her. There +were hills of respectable size, for these she saw daily from the ranch +house door, and she loved hills; anything would be better than the +limitless sand. + +She had known little of restraint; her corner of the world had been +filled entirely by men and she had absorbed much of their better +traits. Self-reliant as a cowgirl should be, expert with either Colt +or Winchester, and at home in the saddle, she feared nothing the +desert might hold, except thirst. She was not only expert with +weapons, but she did not fear to use them against men, as she had +proved on one occasion in wild Montana. So she would ride to the hills +which called her so insistently and examine the valley. + +One bright morning just before the roundup began she went to the +corral and looked at her horse, a cross between Kentucky stock and +cow-pony and having in a great degree the speed of the first and the +hardiness of the last, and sighed to think that she could not ride it +for days to come. Teuton was crippled and she must choose some other +animal. She had overheard Doc Riley tell Ed Joyce that the piebald in +the smaller corral was well broken, and this was the horse she would +take. The truth of the matter was that the piebald was crafty and +permitted the saddle to be fixed and himself ridden for varying +periods of time before showing what he thought of such things. Doc, +unprepared for the piebald's sudden change in demeanor, had taken a +tumble, which made him anxious to have his wounded conceit soothed by +seeing Ed Joyce receive the same treatment. + +Mary found no trouble in mounting and riding the animal and she was +glad that she had overheard Doc, for now she had two horses which were +thoroughly reliable, although, of course, Teuton was the only really +good horse on the range. She rode out of the corral and headed for the +White Horse Hills, scarcely twelve miles away. What if her father had +warned her not to ride near the lawless punchers who rode the northern +range? They were only men and she was sure that to a woman they would +prove to be gentlemen. + +The southern boundary of the Bar-20 ran along the top of the hills and +from them east to the river, and it was being patrolled by three +Bar-20 punchers, Hopalong, Johnny, and Red, all on the lookout for +straying cattle of both ranches. Neither Hopalong nor Red had ever +seen Mary Meeker, but Johnny had upon the occasion of his scout over +the H2 range, and he had felt eminently qualified to describe her. He +had finished his eulogistic monologue by asserting that as soon as his +more unfortunate friends saw her they would lose sleep and sigh often, +which prophecy was received in various ways and called forth widely +differing comment. Red had snorted outright and Pete swore to learn +that a woman was on the range; for Pete had been married, and his wife +preferred another man. Hopalong, remembering a former experience of +his own, smiled in knowing cynicism when told that he again would fall +under the feminine spell. + +Red was near the river and Johnny half-way to the hills when Hopalong +began the ascent of Long Hill, wondering why it was that Meeker had +made no attempt to cross the boundary in force and bring on a crisis; +and from Meeker his mind turned to the daughter. + +"So there's a woman down here now," he muttered, riding down into an +arroyo and up the other bank. "This country is gettin' as bad as +Kansas, d----d if it ain't. First thing we know it'll be nursin' +bottles an' school houses, an' h--l loose all th' time instead of once +in a while." + +He heard hoofbeats and glanced up quickly, alert and ready for +trouble, for who would be riding where he was but some H2 puncher? + +"What th'----!" he exclaimed under his breath, for riding towards him +at an angle was Mary Meeker; and Johnny was wrong in his description +of her, but, he thought, the Kid had done as well as his limited +vocabulary would allow. She _was_ pretty, pretty as--she was more than +pretty! + +She had seen him at the same time and flashed a quick glance which +embraced everything; and she was surprised, for he was not only +passably good-looking, barring the red hair, but very different from +the men her father had told her made up the outfit of the Bar-20. He +removed his sombrero instantly and drew up to let her pass, a queer +expression on his face. Yes, he thought, Johnny had wronged her, for +no other woman could have such jet-black hair crowning such a face. + +"By God!" he whispered, and went no farther, for that was the summing +up of his whole opinion of her. + +"He _is_ a gentleman," she thought triumphantly, for he had proved +that she was right in her surmise regarding the men of the northern +ranch. She spurred to pass him and then her piebald took part in the +proceedings. The prick of the spur awakened in him a sudden desire to +assert his rights, and he promptly pitched to make up for his hitherto +gentle behavior. So taken up with what the last minute had brought +forth she was unprepared for the vicious bucking and when she opened +her eyes her head was propped against Hopalong's knee and her face +dripping with the contents of his canteen. + +"D--n yore ugly skin!" he was saying to the piebald, which stood +quietly a short distance away, evidently enjoying the result of his +activity. "Just you wait! I'll show you what's due to come yore way +purty soon!" He turned again to the woman and saw that her eyes were +closed as before. "By God, yore--yore beautiful!" he exclaimed +triumphantly, for he had found the word at last. + +She moved slightly and color came into her cheeks with a sudden rush +and he watched her anxiously. Soon she moved again and then, opening +her eyes, struggled to gain her feet. He helped her up and held her +until she drew away from him. + +"What was it?" she asked. + +"That ugly cayuse went an' pitched when you wasn't lookin' for it," he +told her. "Are you hurt much?" + +"No, just dizzy. I don't want to make you no trouble," she replied. + +"You ain't makin' me any trouble, not a bit," he assured her +earnestly. "But I'd like to make some trouble for that ornery cayuse +of yourn. Let me tone him down some." + +"No; it was my fault. I should 'a been looking--I never rode him +before." + +"Well, you've got to take my cayuse to get home on," he said. "He's +bad, but he's a regular angel when stacked up agin that bronc. I'll +ride the festive piebald, an' we can trade when you get home." Under +his breath he said, "Oh, just wait till I get on you, you wall-eyed +pinto! I'll give you what you need, all right!" + +"Thank you, but I can ride him now that I know just what he is," she +said, her eyes flashing with determination. "I've never let a bronc +get th' best of me in th' long run, an' I ain't goin' to begin now. I +came up here to look at th' hills an' th' valley, an' I'm not going +back home till I've done it." + +"That's th' way to talk!" he cried in admiration. "I'll get him for +you," he finished, swinging into his saddle. He loosened the lariat at +the saddle horn while he rode towards the animal, which showed sudden +renewed interest in the proceedings, but it tarried too long. Just as +it wheeled and leaped forward the rope settled and the next thing it +knew was that the sky had somehow slid under its stomach, for it had +been thrown over backward and flat on its back. When it had struggled +to its feet it found Hopalong astride it, spurring vigorously on the +side farthest from Mary, and for five minutes the air was greatly +disturbed. At the end of that time he dismounted and led a penitent +pony to its mistress, who vaulted lightly into the saddle and waited +for her companion to mount. When he had joined her they rode up the +hill together side by side. + +Johnny, shortly after he had passed Hopalong on the line, wished to +smoke and felt for his tobacco pouch, which he found to be empty. He +rode on for a short distance, angry with himself for his neglect, and +then remembered that Hopalong had a plentiful supply. He could +overtake the man on the hill much quicker than he could Red, who had +said that he was going to ride south along the river to see if Jumping +Bear Creek was dry. If it were, Meeker could be expected to become +active in his aggression. Johnny wheeled and cantered back along the +boundary trail, alertly watching for trespassing cattle. + +It was not long before he came within sight of the thicket which stood +a little east of the base of Long Hill, and he nearly fell from the +saddle in astonishment, for his friend was on the ground, holding a +woman's head on his knee! Johnny didn't care to intrude, and +cautiously withdrew to the shelter of the small chaparral, where he +waited impatiently. Wishing to stretch his legs, he dismounted and +picketed his horse and walked around the thicket until satisfied that +he was out of sight of his friend. + +Suddenly he fancied that he heard something suspicious and he crept +back around the thicket, keeping close to its base. When he turned the +corner he saw the head of a man on the other side of the chaparral +which lay a little southwest of his position. It was Antonio, and he +was intently watching the two on the slope of the hill, and entirely +unaware that he was being watched in turn. + +Johnny carefully drew his Colt and covered the Mexican, for he hated +"Greasers" instinctively, but on Antonio he lavished a hatred far +above the stock kind. He had seen the shifty-eyed broncho-buster on +more than one occasion and never without struggling with himself to +keep from shooting. Now his finger pressed gently against the trigger +of the weapon and he wished for a passable excuse to send the other +into eternity; but Antonio gave him no cause, only watching eagerly +and intently, his face set in such an expression of malignancy as to +cause Johnny's finger to tremble. + +Johnny arose slightly until he could see Hopalong and his companion +and he smothered an exclamation. "Gosh A'mighty!" he whispered, again +watching the Mexican. "That's Meeker's gal or I'm a liar! Th' +son-of-a-gun, keeping quiet about it all this time. An' no wonder th' +Greaser's on th' trail!" + +It was not long before Johnny looked again for Hopalong and saw him +riding up the hill with his companion. Then he crept forward, watching +the Mexican closely, his Colt ready for instant use. Antonio slowly +drew down until he was lost to sight of the Bar-20 puncher, who ran +swiftly forward and gained the side of the other thicket, where he +again crept forward, and around the chaparral. When he next caught +sight of the broncho-buster the latter was walking towards his horse +and his back was turned to Johnny. + +"Hey, you!" called the Bar-20 puncher, arising and starting after the +other. + +Antonio wheeled, leaped to one side and half drew his revolver, but he +was covered and he let the weapon slide back into the holster. + +"What was you doing?" + +Antonio's reply was a scowl and his inquisitor continued without +waiting for words from the other. + +"Never mind that, for I saw what you was doing," Johnny said. "An' I +shore knew what you wanted to do, because I came near doing it to you. +Now it ain't a whole lot healthy for you to go snooping around this +line like you was, for I'll plug you on suspicion next time. Get on +that cayuse of yourn an' hit th' trail south--go on, make tracks!" + +The Mexican mounted and slowly wheeled. "You hab drop, now," he said +significantly. "Nex' time, _quien sabe_?" + +Johnny dropped his Colt into the holster and removed his hand from the +butt. "You're a liar!" he shouted, savagely. "I ain't got th' drop. +It's an even break, an' what are you going to do about it?" + +Antonio shrugged his shoulders and rode on without replying, quite +content to let things stand as they were. He had learned something +which he might be able to use to advantage later on and he had +strained the situation just a little more. + +"Huh! Next time!" snorted Johnny in contempt as he turned to go back +to his horse. "It'll allus be 'nex' time' with that Greaser, 'less he +gets a good pot shot at me, which he won't. He ain't got sand enough +to put up a square fight. Now for Red; he'll shore be riding this way +purty soon, an' that'll never do. Hoppy won't want anybody foolin' +around th' hills for a while, lucky devil." + +More than an hour had passed before he met Red and he forthwith told +him that he had caught the Mexican scouting on foot along the line. + +"I ain't none surprised, Kid," Red replied, frowning. "You've seen how +th' H2 cows are being driven north agin us an' that means we'll be +tolerable busy purty soon. Th' Jumping Bear is dry as tinder, an' it +won't be long before Meeker'll be driving to get in th' valley." + +"Well, I'm some glad of that," Johnny replied, frankly. "It's been +peaceful too blamed long down here. Come on, we'll ride east an' see +if we can find any cows to turn. Hey! Look there!" he cried, spurring +forward. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +THE ROUNDUP + + +The Texan sky seemed a huge mirror upon which were reflected the white +fleecy clouds sailing northward; the warm spring air was full of that +magnetism which calls forth from their earthy beds the gramma grass +and the flowers; the scant vegetation had taken on new dress and +traces of green now showed against the more sombre-colored stems; +while in the distance, rippling in glistening patches where, disturbed +by the wind, the river sparkled like a tinsel ribbon flung carelessly +on the grays and greens of the plain. Birds winged their joyous way +and filled the air with song; and far overhead a battalion of tardy +geese flew, arrow-like, towards the cool lakes of the north, their +faint honking pathetic and continuous. Skulking in the coulees or +speeding across the skyline of some distant rise occasionally could be +seen a coyote or gray wolf. The cattle, less gregarious than they had +been in the colder months, made tentative sorties from the lessening +herd, and began to stray off in search of the tender green grass which +pushed up recklessly from the closely cropped, withered tufts. +Rattlesnakes slid out and uncoiled their sinuous lengths in the warm +sunlight, and copperheads raised their burnished armor from their +winter retreats. All nature had felt the magic touch of the warm +winds, and life in its multitudinous forms was discernible on all +sides. The gaunt tragedy of a hard winter for that southern range had +added its chilling share to the horrors of the past and now the cattle +took heart and lost their weakness in the sunlight, hungry but +contented. + +The winter had indeed been hard, one to be remembered for years to +come, and many cattle had died because of it; many skeletons, stripped +clean by coyotes and wolves, dotted the arroyos and coulees. The cold +weather had broken suddenly, and several days of rain, followed by +sleet, had drenched the cattle thoroughly. Then from out of the north +came one of those unusual rages of nature, locally known as a +"Norther," freezing pitilessly; and the cattle, weakened by cold and +starvation, had dumbly succumbed to this last blow. Their backs were +covered with an icy shroud, and the deadly cold gripped their vitals +with a power not to be resisted. A glittering sheet formed over the +grasses as far as eye could see, and the cattle, unlike the horses, +not knowing enough to stamp through it, nosed in vain at the +sustenance beneath, until weakness compelled them to lie down in the +driving snow, and once down, they never arose. The storm had raged for +the greater part of a week, and then suddenly one morning the sun +shown down on a velvety plain, blinding in its whiteness; and when +spring had sent the snow mantle roaring through the arroyos and water +courses in a turmoil of yellow water and driftwood, and when the range +riders rode forth to read the losses on the plain, the remaining +cattle were staggering weakly in search of food. Skeletons in the +coulees told the story of the hopeless fight, how the unfortunate +cattle had drifted before the wind to what shelter they could find and +how, huddled together for warmth, they had died one by one. The valley +along Conroy Creek had provided a rough shelter with its scattered +groves and these had stopped the cattle drift, so much dreaded by +cowmen. + +It had grieved Buck Peters and his men to the heart to see so many +cattle swept away in one storm, but they had done all that courage and +brains could do to save them. So now, when the plain was green again +and the warm air made riding a joy, they were to hold the calf +roundup. When Buck left his blanket after the first night spent in the +roundup camp and rode off to the horse herd, he smiled from suppressed +elation, and was glad that he was alive. + +Peaceful as the scene appeared there was trouble brewing, and it was +in expectation of this that Buck had begun the roundup earlier than +usual. The unreasoning stubbornness of one man, and the cunning +machinations of a natural rogue, threatened to bring about, from what +should have been only a misunderstanding, as pretty a range war as the +Southwest had seen. Those immediately involved were only a few when +compared to the number which might eventually be brought into the +strife, but if this had been pointed out to Jim Meeker he would have +replied that he "didn't give a d--n." + +Jim Meeker was a Montana man who thought to carry out on the H2 range, +of which he was foreman, the same system of things which had served +where he had come from. This meant trouble right away, for the Bar-20, +already short in range, would not stand idly by and see him encroach +upon their land for grass and water, more especially when he broke a +solemn compact as to range rights which had been made by the former +owners of the H2 with the Bar-20. It meant not only the forcible use +of Bar-20 range, but also a great hardship upon the herds for which +Buck Peters was responsible. + +Meeker's obstinacy was covertly prodded by Antonio for his own +personal gains, but this the Bar-20 foreman did not know; if he had +known it there would have been much trouble averted, and one more +Mexican sent to the spirit world. + +Buck Peters was probably the only man of all of them who realized just +what such a war would mean, to what an extent rustling would flourish +while the cowmen fought. His best efforts had been used to avert +trouble, so far successfully; but that he would continue to do so was +doubtful. He had an outfit which, while meaning to obey him in all +things and to turn from any overt act of war, was not of the kind to +stand much forcing or personal abuse; their nervous systems were +constructed on the hair-trigger plan, and their very loyalty might set +the range ablaze with war. However, on this most perfect of mornings +Meeker's persistent aggression did not bother him, he was free from +worry for the time. + +Just north of Big Coulee, in which was a goodly sized water hole, a +group of blanket-swathed figures lay about a fire near the chuck +wagon, while the sleepy cook prepared breakfast for his own outfit, +and for the eight men which the foreman of the C80 and the Double +Arrow had insisted upon Buck taking. The sun had not yet risen, but +the morning glow showed gray over the plain, and it would not be long +before the increasing daylight broke suddenly. The cook fires crackled +and blazed steadily, the iron pots hissing under their dancing and +noisy lids, while the coffee pots bubbled and sent up an aromatic +steam, and the odor of freshly baked biscuits swept forth as the cook +uncovered a pan. A pile of tin plates was stacked on the tail-board of +the wagon while a large sheet-iron pail contained tin cups. The +figures, feet to the fire, looked like huge, grotesque cocoons, for +the men had rolled themselves in their blankets, their heads resting +on their saddles, and in many cases folded sombreros next to the +leather made softer pillows. + +Back of the chuck wagon the eastern sky grew rapidly brighter, and +suddenly daylight in all its power dissipated the grayish light of the +moment before. As the rim of the golden sun arose above the low sand +hills to the east the foreman rode into camp. Some distance behind him +Harry Jones and two other C80 men drove up the horse herd and enclosed +it in a flimsy corral quickly extemporized from lariats; flimsy it +was, but it sufficed for cow-ponies that had learned the lesson of the +rope. + +"All ready, Buck," called Harry before his words were literally true. + +With assumed ferocity but real vociferation Buck uttered a shout and +watched the effect. The cocoons became animated, stirred and rapidly +unrolled, with the exception of one, and the sleepers leaped to their +feet and folded the blankets. The exception stirred, subsided, stirred +again and then was quiet. Buck and Red stepped forward while the +others looked on grinning to see the fun, grasped the free end of the +blanket and suddenly straightened up, their hands going high above +their heads. Johnny Nelson, squawking, rolled over and over and, with +a yell of surprise, sat bolt upright and felt for his gun. + +"Huh!" he snorted. "Reckon yo're smart, don't you!" + +"Purty near a shore 'nuf pin-wheel, Kid," laughed Red. + +"Don't you care, Johnny; you can finish it to-night," consoled Frenchy +McAllister, now one of Buck's outfit. + +"Breakfast, Kid, breakfast!" sang out Hopalong as he finished drying +his face. + +The breakfast was speedily out of the way, and pipes were started for +a short smoke as the punchers walked over to the horse herd to make +their selections. By exercising patience, profanity, and perseverance +they roped their horses and began to saddle up. Ed Porter, of the +C80, and Skinny Thompson, Bar-20, cast their ropes with a sweeping, +preliminary whirl over their heads, but the others used only a quick +flit and twist of the wrist. A few mildly exciting struggles for the +mastery took place between riders and mounts, for some cow-ponies are +not always ready to accept their proper place in the scheme of things. + +"Slab-sided jumpin' jack!" yelled Rich Finn, a Double Arrow puncher, +as he fought his horse. "Allus raisin' th' devil afore I'm all awake!" + +"Lemme hold her head, Rich," jeered Billy Williams. + +"Her laigs, Billy, not her head," corrected Lanky Smith, the Bar-20 +rope expert, whose own horse had just become sensible. + +"Don't hurt him, bronc; we need him," cautioned Red. + +"Come on, fellers; gettin' late," called Buck. + +Away they went, tearing across the plain, Buck in the lead. After some +time had passed the foreman raised his arm and Pete Wilson stopped and +filled his pipe anew, the west-end man of the cordon. Again Buck's arm +went up and Skinny Thompson dropped out, and so on until the last man +had been placed and the line completed. At a signal from Buck the +whole line rode forward, gradually converging on a central point and +driving the scattered cattle before it. + +Hopalong, on the east end of the line, sharing with Billy the posts of +honor, was now kept busy dashing here and there, wheeling, stopping, +and manoeuvring as certain strong-minded cattle, preferring the +freedom of the range they had just quitted, tried to break through the +cordon. All but branded steers and cows without calves had their +labors in vain, although the escape of these often set examples for +ambitious cows with calves. Here was where reckless and expert riding +saved the day, for the cow-ponies, trained in the art of punching +cows, entered into the game with zest and executed quick turns which +more than once threatened a catastrophe to themselves and riders. +Range cattle can run away from their domesticated kin, covering the +ground with an awkward gait that is deceiving; but the ponies can run +faster and turn as quickly. + +Hopalong, determined to turn back one stubborn mother cow, pushed her +too hard, and she wheeled to attack him. Again the nimble pony had +reason to move quickly and Hopalong swore as he felt the horns touch +his leg. + +"On th' prod, hey! Well, stay on it!" he shouted, well knowing that +she would. "Pig-headed old fool--_all right_, Johnny; I'm comin'!" and +he raced away to turn a handful of cows which were proving too much +for his friend. _"Ki-yi-yeow-eow-eow-eow-eow!"_ he yelled, imitating +the coyote howl. + +The cook had moved his wagon as soon as breakfast was over and +journeyed southeast with the cavvieyh; and as the cordon neared its +objective the punchers could see his camp about half a mile from the +level pasture where the herd would be held for the cutting-out and +branding. Cookie regarded himself as the most important unit of the +roundup and acted accordingly, and he was not far wrong. + +"Hey, Hoppy!" called Johnny through the dust of the herd, "there's +cookie. I was 'most scared he'd get lost." + +"Can't you think of anythin' else but grub?" asked Billy Jordan from +the rear. + +"Can you tell me anything better to think of?" + +There were from three to four thousand cattle in the herd when it +neared the stopping point, and dust arose in low-hanging clouds above +it. Its pattern of differing shades of brown, with yellow and black +and white relieving it, constantly shifted like a kaleidoscope as the +cattle changed positions; and the rattle of horns on horns and the +muffled bellowing could be heard for many rods. + +Gradually the cordon surrounded the herd and, when the destination was +reached, the punchers rode before the front ranks of cattle and +stopped them. There was a sudden tremor, a compactness in the herd, +and the cattle in the rear crowded forward against those before; +another tremor, and the herd was quiet. Cow-punchers took their places +around it, and kept the cattle from breaking out and back to the +range, while every second man, told off by the foreman, raced at top +speed towards the camp, there to eat a hasty dinner and get a fresh +horse from his _remuda_, as his string of from five to seven horses +was called. Then he galloped back to the herd and relieved his nearest +neighbor. When all had reassembled at the herd the work of cutting-out +began. + +Lanky Smith, Panhandle Lukins, and two more Bar-20 men rode some +distance east of the herd, there to take care of the cow-and-calf cut +as it grew by the cutting-out. Hopalong, Red, Johnny, and three others +were assigned to the task of getting the mother cows and their calves +out of the main herd and into the new one, while the other punchers +held the herd and took care of the stray herd when they should be +needed. Each of the cutters-out rode after some calf, and the victim, +led by its mother, worked its way after her into the very heart of the +mass; and in getting the pair out again care must be taken not to +unduly excite the other cattle. Wiry, happy, and conceited cow-ponies +unerringly and patiently followed mother and calf into the press, +nipping the pursued when too slow and gradually forcing them to the +outer edge of the herd; and when the mother tried to lead its +offspring back into the herd to repeat the performance, she was in +almost every case cleverly blocked and driven out on the plain where +the other punchers took charge of her and added her to the +cow-and-calf cut. + +Johnny jammed his sombrero on his head with reckless strength and +swore luridly as he wheeled to go back into the herd. + +"What's th' matter, Kid?" laughingly asked Skinny as he turned his +charges over to another man. + +"None of yore d----d business!" blazed Johnny. Under his breath he +made a resolve. "If I get you two out here again I'll keep you here if +I have to shoot you!" + +"Are they slippery, Johnny?" jibed Red, whose guess was correct. +Johnny refused to heed such asinine remarks and stood on his dignity. + +As the cow-and-calf herd grew in size and the main herd dwindled, more +punchers were shifted to hold it; and it was not long before the main +herd was comprised entirely of cattle without calves, when it was +driven off to freedom after being examined for other brands. As soon +as the second herd became of any size it was not necessary to drive +the cows and calves to it when they were driven out of the first herd, +as they made straight for it. The main herd, driven away, broke up as +it would, while the guarded cows stood idly beside their resting +offspring awaiting further indignities. + +The drive had covered so much ground and taken so much time that +approaching darkness warned Buck not to attempt the branding until the +morrow, and he divided his force into three shifts. Two of these +hastened to the camp, gulped down their supper, and rolling into their +blankets, were soon sound asleep. The horse herd was driven off to +where the grazing was better, and night soon fell over the plain. + +The cook's fires gleamed through the darkness and piles of biscuits +were heaped on the tail-board of the wagon, while pots of beef and +coffee simmered over the fires, handy for the guards as they rode in +during the night to awaken brother punchers, who would take their +places while they slept. Soon the cocoons were quiet in the grotesque +shadows caused by the fires and a deep silence reigned over the camp. +Occasionally some puncher would awaken long enough to look at the sky +to see if the weather had changed, and satisfied, return to sleep. + +Over the plain sleepy cowboys rode slowly around the herd, glad to be +relieved by some other member of the outfit, who always sang as he +approached the cattle to reassure them and save a possible stampede. +For cattle, if suddenly disturbed at night by anything, even the +waving of a slicker in the hands of some careless rider, or a +wind-blown paper, will rise in a body--all up at once, frightened and +nervous. The sky was clear and the stars bright and when the moon rose +it flooded the plain with a silvery light and made fairy patterns in +the shadows. + +Snatches of song floated down the gentle wind as the riders slowly +circled the herd, for the human voice, no matter how discordant, was +quieting. A low and plaintive "Don't let this par-ting grieve y-o-u" +passed from hearing around the resting cows, soon to be followed by +"When-n in thy dream-ing, nights like t-h-e-s-e shall come a-gain--" +as another watcher made the circuit. The serene cows, trusting in the +prowess and vigilance of these low-voiced centaurs to protect them +from danger, dozed and chewed their cuds in peace and quiet, while the +natural noises of the night relieved the silence in unobtruding +harmony. + +Far out on the plain a solitary rider watched the herd from cover and +swore because it was guarded so closely. He glanced aloft to see if +there was any hope of a storm and finding that there was not, +muttered savagely and rode away. It was Antonio, wishing that he +could start a stampede and so undo the work of the day and inflict +heavy losses on the Bar-20. He did not dare to start a grass fire for +at the first flicker of a light he would be charged by one or more of +the night riders and if caught, death would be his reward. + +While the third shift rode and sang the eastern sky became a dome of +light reflected from below and the sunrise, majestic in all its fiery +splendor, heralded the birth of another perfect day. + +Through the early morning hours the branding continued, and the +bleating of the cattle told of the hot stamping irons indelibly +burning the sign of the Bar-20 on the tender hides of calves. Mother +cows fought and plunged and called in reply to the terrified bawling +of their offspring, and sympathetically licked the burns when the +frightened calves had been allowed to join them. Cowboys were deftly +roping calves by their hind legs and dragging them to the fires of the +branding men. Two men would hold a calf, one doubling the foreleg back +on itself at the knee and the other, planting one booted foot against +the calf's under hind leg close to its body, pulled back on the other +leg while his companion, who held the foreleg, rested on the animal's +head. The third man, drawing the hot iron from the fire, raised and +held it suspended for a second over the calf's flank, and then there +was an odor and a puff of smoke; and the calf was branded with a mark +which neither water nor age would wipe out. + +Pete Wilson came riding up dragging a calf at the end of his rope, +and turned the captive over to Billy Williams and his two helpers, +none of them paying any attention to the cow which followed a short +distance behind him. Lanky seized the unfortunate calf and leaned over +to secure the belly hold, when someone shouted a warning and he +dropped the struggling animal and leaped back and to one side as the +mother charged past. Wheeling to return the attack, the cow suddenly +flopped over and struck the earth with a thud as Buck's rope went +home. He dragged her away and then releasing her, chased her back into +the herd. + +"_Hi!_ Get that little devil!" shouted Billy to Hopalong, pointing to +the fleeing calf. + +"Why didn't you watch for her, you half-breed!" demanded the indignant +Lanky of Pete. "Do you think this is a ten-pin alley!" + +Hopalong came riding up with the calf, which swiftly became recorded +property. + +"Bar-20; tally one," sang out the monotonous voice of the tally-man. +"Why didn't you grab her when she went by, Lanky?" he asked, putting a +new point on his pencil. + +"Hope th' next one heads yore way!" retorted Lanky, grinning. + +"Won't. I ain't abusin' th' kids." + +"Bar-20; tally one," droned a voice at the next fire. + +All was noise, laughter, dust, and a seeming confusion, but every man +knew his work thoroughly and was doing it in a methodical way, and the +confusion was confined to the victims and their mothers. + +When the herd had been branded and allowed to return to the plain, the +outfit moved on into a new territory and the work was repeated until +the whole range, with the exception of the valley, had been covered. +When the valley was worked it required more time in comparison with +the amount of ground covered than had been heretofore spent on any +part of the range; for the cattle were far more numerous, and it was +no unusual thing to have a herd of great size before the roundup place +had been reached. This heavy increase in the numbers of the cattle to +be herded made a corresponding increase in the time and labor required +for the cutting-out and branding. Five days were required in working +the eastern and central parts of the valley and it took three more +days to clean up around the White Horse Hills, where the ground was +rougher and the riding harder. And at every cutting-out there was a +large stray-herd made up of H2 and Three Triangle cattle. The H2 had +been formerly the Three Triangle. Buck had been earnest in his +instructions to his men regarding the strays, for now was the +opportunity to rid his range of Meeker's cattle in a way natural and +without especial significance; once over the line it would be a +comparatively easy matter to keep them there. + +For taking care of this extra herd and also because Buck courted +scrutiny during the branding, the foreman accepted the services of +three H2 men. This addition to his forces made the work move somewhat +more rapidly and when, at the end of each day's cutting-out, the +stray herd was complete, it was driven south across the boundary line +by Meeker's men. When the last stray-herd started south Buck rode over +to the H2 punchers and told them to tell their foreman to let him know +when he could assist in the southern roundup and thus return the +favor. + +As the Bar-20 outfit and the C80 and Double Arrow men rode north +towards the ranch house they were met by Lucas, foreman of the C80, +who joined them near Medicine Bend. + +"Well, got it all over, hey?" he cried as he rode up. + +"Yep; bigger job than I thought, too. It gets bigger every year an' +that blizzard didn't make much difference in th' work, neither," Buck +replied. "I'll help you out when you get ready to drive." + +"No you won't; you can help me an' Bartlett more by keeping all yore +men watchin' that line," quickly responded Lucas. "We'll work +together, me an' Bartlett, an' we'll have all th' men we want. You +just show that man Meeker that range grabbin' ain't healthy down +here--that's all we want. Did he send you any help in th' valley?" + +"Yes, three men," Buck replied. "But we'll break even on that when he +works along th' boundary." + +"Have any trouble with 'em?" + +"Not a bit." + +"I sent Wood Wright down to Eagle th' other day, an' he says th' town +is shore there'll be a big range war," remarked Lucas. "He said +there's lots of excitement down there an' they act like they wish th' +trouble would hurry up an' happen. We've got to watch that town, all +right." + +"If there's a war th' rustlers'll flock here from all over," +interposed Rich Finn. + +"Huh!" snorted Hopalong. "They'll flock out again if we get a chance +to look for 'em. An' that town'll shore get into trouble if it don't +live plumb easy. You know what happened th' last time rustlin' got to +be th' style, don't you?" + +"Well," replied Lucas, "I've fixed it with Cowan to get news to me an' +Bartlett if anything sudden comes up. If you need us just let him know +an' we'll be with you in two shakes." + +"That's good, but I don't reckon I'll need any help, leastwise not for +a long time," Buck responded. "But I tell you what you might do, when +you can; make up a vigilance committee from yore outfits an' ride +range for rustlers. We can take care of all that comes on us, but we +won't have no time to bother about th' rest of th' range. An' if you +do that it'll shut 'em out of our north range." + +"We'll do it," Lucas promised. "Bartlett is going to watch th' trails +north to see if he can catch anybody runnin' cattle to th' railroad +construction camps. Every suspicious lookin' stranger is going to be +held up an' asked questions; an' if we find any runnin' irons, you +know what that means." + +"I reckon we can handle th' situation, all right, no matter how hard +it gets," laughed the Bar-20 foreman. + +"Well, I'll be leavin' you now," Lucas remarked as they reached the +Bar-20 bunk house. "We begin to round up next week, an' there's lots +to be done before then. Say, can I use yore chuck wagon? Mine is shore +done for." + +"Why, of course," replied Buck heartily. "Take it now, if you want, or +any time you send for it." + +"Much obliged; come on, fellers," Lucas cried to his men. "We're goin' +home." + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +IN WEST ARROYO + + +Hopalong was heading for Lookout Peak, the highest of the White Horse +Hills, by way of West Arroyo, which he entered half an hour after he +had forded the creek, and was half way to the line when, rounding a +sharp turn, he saw Mary Meeker ahead of him. She was off her horse +picking flowers when she heard him and she stood erect, smiling. + +"Why, I didn't think I'd see you," she said. "I've been picking +flowers--see them? Ain't they pretty?" she asked, holding them out for +his inspection. + +"They shore are," he replied, not looking at the flowers at all, but +into her big, brown eyes. "An' they're some lucky, too," he asserted, +grinning. + +She lowered her head, burying her face in the blossoms and then picked +a few petals and let them fall one by one from her fingers. "You +didn't look at them at all," she chided. + +"Oh, yes, I did," he laughed. "But I see flowers all th' time, and not +much of you." + +"That's nice--they are so pretty. I just love them." + +"Yes. I reckon they are," doubtfully. + +She looked up at him, her eyes laughing and her white teeth glistening +between their red frames. "Why don't you scold me?" she asked. + +"Scold you! What for?" + +"Why, for being on yore ranch, for being across th' line an' in th' +valley." + +"Good Lord! Why, there ain't no lines for you! You can go anywhere." + +"In th' valley?" she asked, again hiding her face in the flowers. + +"Why, of course. What ever made you think you can't?" + +"I'm one of th' H2," she responded. "Paw says I run it. But I'm awful +glad you won't care." + +"Well, as far as riding where you please is concerned, you run this +ranch, too." + +"There's a pretty flower," she said, looking at the top of the bank. +"That purple one; see it?" she asked, pointing. + +"Yes. I'll get it for you," he replied, leaping from the saddle and +half way up the bank before she knew it. He slid down again and handed +the blossom to her. "There." + +"Thank you." + +"See any more you wants?" + +"No; this is enough. Thank you for getting it for me." + +"Oh, shucks; that was nothing," he laughed awkwardly. "That was shore +easy." + +"I'm going to give it to you for not scolding me about being over th' +line," she said, holding it out to him. + +"No; not for that," he said slowly. "Can't you think of some other +reason?" + +"Don't you want it?" + +"Want it!" he exclaimed, eagerly. "Shore I want it. But not for what +you said." + +"Will you wear it because we're friends?" + +"Now yo're talking!" + +She looked up and laughed, her cheeks dimpling, and then pinned it to +his shirt, while he held his breath lest the inflation of his lungs +bother her. It was nice to have a flower pinned on one's shirt by a +pretty girl. + +"There," she laughed, stepping back to look at it. + +"Gosh!" he complained, ruefully. "You've pinned it up so high I can't +see it. Why not put it lower down?" + +She changed it while he grinned at how his scheming had born fruit. He +was a hog, he knew that, but he did not care. + +"Oh, I reckon _I'm_ all right!" he exulted. "Shore you don't see no +more you want?" + +"Yes; an' I must go now," she replied, going towards her horse. "I'll +be late with th' dinner if I don't hurry." + +"What! Do you cook for that hungry outfit?" + +"No, not for them--just for Paw an' me." + +"When are you comin' up again for more flowers?" + +"I don't know. You see, I'm going to make cookies some day this week, +but I don't know just when. Do you like cookies, an' cake?" + +"You bet I do! Why?" + +"I'll bring some with me th' next time. Paw says they're th' best he +ever ate." + +"Bet I'll say so, too," he replied, stepping forward to help her into +the saddle, but she sprang into it before he reached her side, and he +vaulted on his own horse and joined her. + +She suddenly turned and looked him straight in the eyes. "Tell me, +honest, has yore ranch any right to keep our cows south of that line?" + +"Yes, we have. Our boundaries are fixed. We gave th' Three Triangle +about eighty square miles of range so our valley would be free from +all cows but our own. That's all th' land between th' line an' th' +Jumping Bear, an' it was a big price, too. They never drove a cow over +on us." + +She looked disappointed and toyed with her quirt. + +"Why don't you want to let Paw use th' valley?" + +"It ain't big enough for our own cows, an' we can't share it. As it +is, we'll have to drive ten thousand on leased range next year to give +our grass a rest." + +"Well,--" she stopped and he waited to hear what she would say, and +then asked her when she would be up again. + +"I don't know! I don't know!" she cried. + +"Why, what's the matter?" + +"Nothing. I'm foolish--that's all," she replied, smiling, and trying +to forget the picture which arose in her mind, a picture of desperate +fighting along the line; of her father--and him. + +"You scared me then," he said. + +"Did I? Why, it wasn't anything." + +"Are you shore?" + +"Please don't ask me any questions," she requested. + +"Will you be up here again soon?" + +"If th' baking turns out all right." + +"Hang the baking! come anyway." + +"I'll try; but I'm afraid," she faltered. + +"Of what?" he demanded, sitting up very straight. + +"Why, that I can't," she replied, hurriedly. "You see, it's far coming +up here." + +"That's easy. I'll meet you west of th' hills." + +"No, no! I'll come up here." + +"Look here," he said, slowly and kindly. "If yo're afraid of bein' +seen with me, don't you try it. I want to see you a whole lot, but I +don't want you to have no trouble with yore father about it. I can +wait till everything is all right if you want me to." + +She turned and faced him, her cheeks red. "No, it ain't that, exactly. +Don't ask me any more. Don't talk about it. I'll come, all right, just +as soon as I can." + +They were on the line now and she held out her hand. + +"Good-bye." + +"Good-bye for now. Try to come up an' see me as soon as you can. If +yo're worryin' because that Greaser don't like me, stop it. I've been +in too many tight places to get piped out where there's elbow room." + +"I asked you not to say nothing more about it," she chided. "I'll come +when I can. Good-bye." + +"Good-bye," he replied, his sombrero under his arm. He watched her +until she became lost to sight and then, suspicious, wheeled, and saw +Johnny sitting quietly on his horse several hundred yards away. He +called his friend to him by one wide sweep of his arm and Johnny +spurred forward. + +"Follow me, Johnny," he cried, dashing towards the arroyo. "Take th' +other side an' look for that Greaser. I'll take this side. Edge off; +yo're too close. Three hundred yards is about right." + +They raced away at top speed, reckless and grim, Johnny not knowing +just what it was all about; but the word Greaser needed no sauce to +whet his appetite since the day he had caught Antonio watching his +friend on the hill, and he scanned the plain eagerly. When they +reached the other end of the arroyo Hopalong called to him: "Sweep +east an' back to th' line on a circle. If you catch him, shoot off +yore Colt an' hold him for _me_. I'm going west." + +When they saw each other again it was on the line, and neither had +seen any traces of Antonio, to Johnny's vexation and Hopalong's great +satisfaction. + +"What's up, Hoppy?" shouted Johnny. + +"I reckoned that Greaser might 'a followed her so he could tell tales +to Meeker," Hopalong called. + +Johnny swept up recklessly, jauntily, a swagger almost in the very +actions of his horse, which seemed to have caught the spirit of its +rider. + +"Caught you that time," he laughed--and Johnny, when in a teasing +mood, could weave into his laughter an affectionate note which found +swift pardon for any words he might utter. "You an' her shore make a +good--" and then he saw the flower on his friend's shirt and for the +moment was rendered speechless by surprise. But in him the faculty of +speech was well developed and he recovered quickly. "Sufferin' +coyotes! Would you look at that! What's comin' to us down here, +anyway? Are you loco? Do you mean to let th' rest of th' outfit see +_that_?" + +"Calamity is comin' to th' misguided mavericks that get gay about it!" +retorted Hopalong. "I wear what I feels like, an' don't you forget it, +neither." + +"'In thy d-a-r-k eyes splendor, where th' l-o-v-e light longs to +dwel-l,'" Johnny hummed, grinning. Then his hand went out. "Good luck, +Hoppy! Th' best of luck!" he cried. "She's a dandy, all right, but she +ain't too good for you." + +"Much obliged," Hopalong replied, shaking hands. "But suppose you tell +me what all th' good luck is for. To hear you talk anybody'd think all +a feller had to do was to ride with a woman to be married to her." + +"Well, then take off that wart of a flower an' come on," Johnny +responded. + +"What? Not to save yore spotted soul! An' that ain't no wart of a +flower, neither." + +Johnny burst out laughing, a laugh from the soul of him, welling up in +infectious spontaneity, triumphant and hearty. "Oh, oh! You bit that +time! Anybody'd think about right in yore case, as far as _wantin'_ +to be married is concerned. Why, yo're hittin' th' lovely trail to +matri-mony as hard as you can." + +In spite of himself Hopalong had to laugh at the jibing of his friend, +the Kid. He thumped him heartily across the shoulders to show how he +felt about it and Johnny's breath was interfered with at a critical +moment. + +"Oh, just wait till th' crowd sees that blossom! Just wait," Johnny +coughed. + +"You keep mum about what you saw, d'y' hear?" + +"Shore; but it'll be on my mind all th' time, an' I talk in my sleep +when anything's on my mind." + +"Then that's why I never heard you talk in yore sleep." + +"Aw, g'wan! But they'll see th' flower, won't they?" + +"Shore they will; but as long as they don't know how it got there they +can't say much." + +"They can't, hey!" Johnny exclaimed. "That's a new one on me. It's +usually what they don't know about that they talks of most. What they +don't know they can guess in this case, all right. Most of 'em are +good on readin' signs, an' that's plain as th' devil." + +"But don't you tell 'em!" Hopalong warned. + +"No. I won't tell 'em, honest," Johnny replied. He could convey the +information in a negative way and he grinned hopefully at the fun +there would be. + +"I mean it, Kid," Hopalong responded, reading the grin. "I don't care +about myself; they can joke all they wants with me. But it ain't +nowise right to drag her into it, savvy? She don't want to be talked +about like that." + +"Yo're right; they won't find out nothin' from me," and Johnny saw his +fun slip from him. "I'm goin' east; comin' along?" + +"No; th' other way. So long." + +"Hey!" cried Johnny anxiously, drawing rein, "Frenchy said Buck was +going to put some of us up in Number Five so Frenchy an' his four +could ride th' line. Did Buck say anything to you about it?" + +Line house Number Five was too far from the zone of excitement, if +fighting should break out along the line, to please Johnny. + +"He was stringin' you, Kid," Hopalong laughed. "He won't take any of +th' old outfit away from here." + +"Oh, I knowed that; but I thought I'd ask, that's all," and Johnny +cantered away, whistling happily. + +Hopalong looked after him and smiled, for Johnny had laughed and +fought and teased himself into the heart of every man of the outfit: +"He's shore a good Kid; an' how he likes a fight!" + + + + +CHAPTER V + +HOPALONG ASSERTS HIMSELF + + +Paralleling West Arroyo and two miles east of it was another arroyo, +through which Hopalong was riding the day following his meeting with +Mary. Coming to a place where he could look over the bank he saw a +herd of H2 and Three Triangle cows grazing not far away, and Antonio +was in charge of them. Hopalong did not know how long they had been in +the valley, nor how they had crossed the line, but their presence was +enough. It angered him, for here was open and, it appeared, authorized +defiance. Not content to let his herds run as they wished, Meeker was +actually sending them into the valley under guard, presumably to find +out what would be done about it. The H2 foreman would find that out +very soon. + +The Mexican looked around and wheeled sharply to face the danger, his +listlessness gone in a flash. He was not there because of any orders +from Meeker, but for reasons of his own. So when the Bar-20 puncher +raised his arm and swept it towards the line he sat in sullen +indifference, alert and crafty. + +"You've got gall!" cried Hopalong. "Who told you to herd up here!" + +Antonio frowned but did not reply. + +"Yo're three miles too far north," continued Hopalong, riding slowly +forward until their stirrups almost touched. + +Antonio shrugged his shoulders. + +"I ain't warbling for my health!" cried Hopalong. "You start them cows +south right away." + +"I can't." + +Hopalong stared. "You can't! Got a sore thumb, mebby! Well, I reckon +you can, an' will." + +"I can't. Boss won't let me." + +"Oh, he won't! Well, I feel sorry for yore boss but yo're going to +push 'em just th' same." + +Antonio again shrugged his shoulders and lifted his hands in a gesture +of helplessness. + +"How long you been here, an' how'd you get in?" + +"'N'our. By de _rio_." + +"Oh, yore foreman's goin' to raise h--l, ain't he!" Hopalong snorted. +"He's going to pasture on us whether we like it or not, is he? He's a +land thief, that's what he is!" + +"De boss ees all right!" asserted Antonio, heatedly. + +"If he is he's lop-sided, but he'll be _left_ if he banks on this play +going through without a smash-up. You chase them cows home an' keep +'em there. If I find you flittin' around th' ends of th' line or +herdin' on this side of it I'll give you something to nurse--an' +you'll be lucky if you can nurse it. Come on, get a-going!" + +Antonio waved his arm excitedly and was about to expostulate, but +Hopalong cut him short by hitting him across the face with his quirt: +"D--n you!" he cried, angrily. "Shut yore mouth! Get them cows going! +You coffee-colored half-breed of a Greaser, I've a mind to stop you +right now. Come on, get a move on!" + +The Mexican's face grew livid and he tried to back away, swearing in +Spanish. Stung to action by the blow, he jerked at his gun, but found +Hopalong's Colt pushing against his neck. + +"Drop that gun!" the Bar-20 puncher ordered, his eyes flashing. "Don't +you know better'n that? We've put up with yore crowd as long as we're +going to, an' th' next thing will be a slaughter if that foreman of +yourn don't get some sense, an' get it sudden. Don't talk back! Just +start them cows!" + +The Mexican could do nothing but obey. His triumph at the success of +his effort was torn with rabid hatred for the man who had struck him; +but he could not fight with the Colt at his neck, and so sullenly +obeyed. As they neared the line Hopalong ceased his personal remarks +and, smiling grimly, turned to another topic. + +"I let you off easy; but no more. Th' next herd we find in our valley +will go sudden an' hard. If anybody is guardin' it they'll never know +what hit 'em." He paused for a moment and then continued, cold +contempt in his voice: "I reckon you had to obey orders, but you won't +do it again if you know what's good for you. If yore boss, as you +calls him, don't like what I've done, you tell him I said to drive th' +next herd hisself. If he ain't man enough to bring 'em in hisself, +tell him that Cassidy says to quit orderin' his men to take risks he's +a-scared of." + +"He ees brafe; he ain't 'fraid," Antonio rejoined. "He weel keel you +ef I tell heem what you say." + +"Tell him jus' th' same. I'll be riding th' line mostly, an' if he +wants to hunt me up an' confab about it he can find me any time." + +Antonio shrugged his shoulders and rode south, filled with elation at +his success in stirring up hostility between the two ranches, but his +heart seethed with murder for the blow. He would carry a message to +Meeker that would call for harsh measures, and the war would be on. + +As the Mexican departed Lanky Smith rode into sight and cantered +forward to meet his friend. + +"What's up?" he asked. + +"I don't know, yet," replied Hopalong. "Greasers are such liars I +don't know what to think," and he related the matter to his companion. + +"Lord, but you sent a stiff message to Meeker!" Lanky exclaimed. "You +keep yore eyes plumb open from now on. Meeker'll be wild, an' th' +Greaser won't forget that blow." + +"Was anybody on th' east end this morning?" + +"Shore; me an' Pete," Lanky replied, frowning. "He couldn't get a cow +acrost without us seein' him--he lied." + +"Well, it makes no difference how he got across; he was there, an' +that's all I care about." + +"There's one of his outfit now," Lanky said. + +Hopalong looked around and saw an H2 puncher riding slowly past them, +about two hundred yards to the south. + +"Who is he?" Lanky asked. + +"Doc Riley. Meeker got him an' Curley out of a bad scrape up north an' +took them both to punch for him. I hear he is some bad with th' Colt. +Sort of reckons he's a whole war-party in breech-cloths an' war-paint +just 'cause he's got his man." + +"He's gettin' close to th' line," Lanky remarked. + +"Yes, because we've been turnin' their cows." + +"Reckon he won't stop us none to speak of." + +Doc had stopped and was watching them and while he looked a cow +blundered out of the brush and started to cross the line. Hopalong +spurred forward to stop it, followed by Lanky, and Doc rode to +intercept them. + +"G'wan back, you bone-yard!" Hopalong shouted, firing his Colt in +front of the animal, which now turned and ran back. + +Doc slid to a stand, his Colt out. "What do you think you're doing +with that cow?" + +"None of yore business!" Hopalong retorted. + +Doc backed away so he could watch Lanky, his hand leaping up, and +Hopalong fired. Doc dropped the weapon and grabbed at his right arm, +cursing wildly. + +"You half-breed!" cried Hopalong, riding closer. "Next time you gets +any curious about what I'm doing, you better write. You're a fine +specimen to pull a gun on me, you are!" + +"You'll stop turnin' our cows, or you'll get a pass to h--l!" retorted +Doc. "We won't stand for it no more, an' when th' boys hears about +this you'll have all you can take care of." + +"I ain't got nothing to do but ride th' line an' answer questions like +I did yourn," Hopalong rejoined. "I will have lots of time to take +care of any little trouble that blows up from yore way. But _Meeker's_ +th' man I want to see. Tell him to take a herd across this line, will +you?" + +"You'll see him!" snapped Doc. "An' you'll need to see him first, +too." + +"I don't pot-shoot--I'll leave that for you fellers. All I want is an +even break." + +"You'll get it," replied Doc, wheeling and riding off. + +"Things are movin' so fast you better send for Buck," Lanky suggested. +"Hell'll be poppin' down here purty soon." + +"I'll tell him what's going on, but there ain't no use of bringing him +down here till we has to," Hopalong replied. "We can handle 'em. But I +reckon Johnny had better go up an' tell him." + +"Johnny ought to be riding this way purty quick; he's coming from th' +hills." + +"We'll meet him an' get him off." + +They met Johnny and when he had learned of his mission he protested +against being sent away from the line when things were getting +crowded. "I don't want to miss th' fun!" he exclaimed. "Send Red, or +Lanky." + +"Red's too handy with th' Winchester; we might need him," Hopalong +replied, smiling. + +"Then you go, Lanky," Johnny suggested. "I'm better'n you with th' +Colt." + +"You're better'n nothing!" retorted Lanky. "You do what you're told, +an' quick. Nothing will happen while you're gone, anyhow." + +"Then why don't you want to go?" + +"I don't want th' ride," Lanky replied. "It's too fur." + +"Huh!" snorted Johnny. "Too bad about you an' th' ride! Poor old man, +scared of sixty miles. I'll toss up with you." + +"One of you has got to ride to Red an' tell him. He mustn't get caught +unexpected," Hopalong remarked. + +"What do you call?" asked Johnny, flipping a coin and catching it when +it came down. + +"All right, that's fair enough. Heads," Lanky replied. + +"Whoop! It's tails!" cried Johnny, wheeling. "I'm going for Red," and +he was gone before Lanky had time to object. + +"Blasted Kid!" Lanky snorted. "How'd I know it was tails?" + +"That's yore lookout," laughed Hopalong. "You ought to know him by +this time. It's yore own fault." + +"I'll tan his hide some of these fine days," Lanky promised. "He's too +fresh," and he galloped off to cover the thirty miles between him and +the bunk house in the least possible time so as to return as soon as +he could. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +MEEKER IS TOLD + + +When Antonio had covered half of the distance between the line and the +H2 bunk house he was hailed from a chaparral and saw Benito ride into +view. He told his satellite what had occurred in the valley, gave him +a message for Shaw, who was now on the mesa, and cantered on to tell +Meeker his version of the morning's happenings. + +The H2 foreman was standing by the corral when his broncho-buster rode +up, and he stared. "Where'd you get that welt on th' face?" he +demanded. + +Antonio told him, with many exclamations and angry gestures, that he +had ridden through the valley to see if there were any H2 cows grazing +on it, that he had found a small herd and was about to return to his +own range when he was held up and struck by Hopalong, who accused him +of having driven the cattle across the line. When he had denied this +he had been called a liar and threatened with death if he was ever +again caught on that side of the line. + +"By G-d!" cried the foreman. "That's purty high-handed! I'll give 'em +something to beller about when I finds out just what I want to do!" + +"He say, 'Tell that boss of yourn to no send you, send heemself nex' +time.' He say he weel keel you on sight. I say he can't. He laugh, +_so_!" laughing in a blood-curdling manner. "He say he keel nex' man +an' cows that cross line. He ees _uno_ devil!" + +"He will, hey!" Meeker exclaimed, thoroughly angered. "We'll give him +all th' chance he wants when we get things fixed. 'Tony, what did you +do about getting those two men you spoke of? You went down to Eagle, +didn't you?" + +"_Si, si_," assured the Mexican. "They come, _pronto_. They can keel +heem. They come to-day; _quien sabe_?" + +"I'll do my own killin'--but here comes Doc," Meeker replied. "Looks +mad, too. Mebby they was going to kill him an' he objected. Hullo, +Doc; what's th' matter?" + +"That Cassidy d--n near blowed my arm off," Doc replied. "Caught him +turnin' back one of our cows an' told him not to. When I backed off so +I could keep one eye on his friend he up an' plugs me through my gun +arm." + +"I see; they owns th' earth!" Meeker roared. "Shootin' up my men +'cause they stick up for me! Come in th' house an' get that wing +fixed. We can talk in there," he said, glancing at Antonio. "They cut +'Tony across th' face with a quirt 'cause he was ridin' in their +valley!" + +"Let's get th' gang together an' wipe 'em off th' earth," Doc +suggested, following Meeker towards the house. + +Mary looked up when they entered: "What's th' matter, Dad? Why, are +you hurt, Doc?" + +"Don't ask questions, girl," Meeker ordered. "Get us some hot water +an' some clean cloth. Sit down, Doc; we'll fix it in no time." + +"We better clean 'em up to-morrow," Doc remarked. + +"No; there ain't no use of losin' men fighting if there's any other +way. You know there's a good strong line house on th' top of Lookout +Peak, don't you?" + +"Shore; reg'lar fort. They calls it Number Three." + +Mary had returned and was tearing a bandage, listening intently to +what was being said. + +"What's th' matter with getting in that some day soon an' holdin' it +for good?" asked the foreman. "It overlooks a lot of range, an' once +we're in it it'll cost 'em a lot of lives to get it back--if they can +get it back." + +"You're right!" cried Doc, eagerly. "Let me an' Curley get in there +to-night an' hold her for you. We can do it." + +"You can't do that. Somebody sleeps in it nights. Nope, we've got to +work some scheme to get it in th' daylight. They are bound to have it +guarded, an' we've got to coax him out somehow. I don't know how, but +I will before many hours pass. Hullo, who's this?" he asked, seeing +two strangers approach the house. + +"Couple of Greasers," grunted Doc. + +"Hey, you," cried Meeker through the open door. "You go down to th' +corral an' wait for me." + +"_Si, senor._" + +"What's th' matter, Dad?" asked Mary. "How did Doc get shot?" + +Meeker looked up angrily, but his face softened. + +"There's a whole lot th' matter, Mary. That Bar-20 shore is gettin' +hot-headed. Cassidy hit 'Tony acrost th' face with a quirt an' shot +Doc. 'Tony was riding through that valley, an' Doc told Cassidy not to +drive back a cow of ourn." + +She flushed. "There must 'a been more'n that, Dad. He wouldn't 'a shot +for that. I know it." + +"You know it!" cried Meeker, astonished. "How do you know it?" + +"He ain't that kind. I know he ain't." + +"I asked how you knew it!" + +She looked down and then faced him. "Because I know him, because he +ain't that kind. What did you say to him, Doc?" + +Meeker's face was a study and Doc flushed, for she was looking him +squarely in the eyes. + +"What did you say to him?" she repeated. "Did you make a gun-play?" + +"Well, by G-d!" shouted Meeker, leaping to his feet. "You know him, +hey! 'He ain't that kind!' How long have you known him, an' where'd +you meet him?" + +"This is no time to talk of that," she replied, her spirit aroused. +"Ask Doc what he did an' said to get shot. Look at him; he lied when +he told you about it." + +"I told him to quit driving our cows back," Doc cried. "Of course I +had my hand on my gun when I said it. I'd been a fool if I hadn't, +wouldn't I?" + +"That ain't all," she remarked. "Did you try to use it?" + +Meeker was staring first at one and then at the other, not knowing +just what to say. Doc looked at him and his mind was made up. + +"What'd you do, Doc?" he asked. + +"I said: 'What are you doing with that cow?' an' he said it wasn't +none of my business. I got mad then an' jerked my gun loose, but he +got me first. I wasn't going to shoot. I was only getting ready for +him if he tried to." + +"How did he know you wasn't going to shoot?" Meeker demanded. "Reckon +I can't blame him for that. He must be quick on th' draw." + +"Quickest I ever saw. He had his gun out to shoot in front of a cow. +At th' time I thought he was going to kill it. That's what made me get +in so quick. He slid it back in th' holster an' faced me. I told you +what happened then." + +"Well, we've got to show them fellers they can't fool with us an' get +away with it," Meeker replied. "An' I've got to have th' use of that +crick somehow. I'll think of some way to square things." + +"Wait, I'll go with you," Doc remarked, following the other towards +the door. + +"You go in th' bunk house an' wait for me. I want to see what them +Greasers want." + +"Wonder how much 'Tony didn't tell," mused the foreman, as he went +towards the corral. "Reckon Cassidy cut him 'cause he was a Greaser. +Come purty nigh doing it myself, once. Well, I don't care, but I've +got to notice plays like that or they'll think I'm scared of 'em. I'll +go up an' have it out, an' when I get ready I'll show them swaggerin' +bucks what's what." + +When he returned he saw Antonio leaning against his shack, for the +Mexican was not tolerated by the rest of the outfit and so lived +alone. He looked at his foreman and leered knowingly, and then went +inside the building, where he laughed silently. "That's a joke, all +right! Meeker hiring two of my brothers to watch his cows an' do his +spying! We'll skin this range before we're through." + +Meeker frowned when he caught his broncho-buster's look and he +growled: "You never did look good, an' that welt shore makes you look +more like th' devil than ever." He glanced at the house and the frown +deepened. "So you know Cassidy! That's a _nice_ thing to tell me! I'll +just go up an' see that coyote, right now," and he went for his horse, +muttering and scowling. + +Antonio knew of a herd of cows and calves which had not been included +in the H2 roundup, and which were fattening on an outlying range. +There was also a large herd of Bar-20 cattle growing larger every day +on the western range far outside the boundaries. Benito was scouting, +Shaw and the others were nearly ready for work on the mesa, and now +Meeker had hired Antonio's brothers to help him to be robbed. Added to +this was the constantly growing hostility along the line, and this +would blaze before he and Benito had finished their work. Everything +considered he was very much pleased and even his personal vengeance +was provided for. Doc had more cause for animosity against Hopalong +than he had, and if the Bar-20 puncher should be killed some day when +Doc rode the northern range Doc would be blamed for it. But Meeker had +not acted as he should have done when two of his men had been hurt on +the same day, and that must be remedied. The faster things moved +towards fighting the less chance there would be of the plot becoming +known. + +Antonio was the broncho-buster of the H2 because he was a positive +genius at the work, and he was a good, all-around cowman when he +overcame his inherent laziness; but he was cruel to a degree with both +horses and cattle. Because of his fitness Meeker had overlooked his +undesirable qualities, which he had in plenty. He was entirely too +fond of liquor and gambling, was uncertain in his hours, and used his +time as he saw fit when not engaged in breaking horses. A natural +liar, exceedingly unclean in his habits, vindictive and with a temper +dry as tinder, he was shunned by the other members of the outfit. This +filled his heart with hatred for them and for Meeker, who did not +interfere. He swore many times that he would square up everything +some day, and the day was getting closer. + +In appearance he was about medium height, but his sloping shoulders +and lax carriage gave his arms the appearance of being abnormally +long. His face was sharp and narrow, while his thin, wiry body seemed +almost devoid of flesh. Like most cowboys he was a poor walker and his +toes turned in like those of an Indian. Such was Antonio, who longed +to gamble with Fortune in a dangerous game for stakes which to him +were large, and who had already suggested to Meeker that the line +house on Lookout Peak was the key to the situation. It was the germ, +which grew slowly in the foreman's brain and became more feasible and +insistent day by day, and it accounted for his fits of abstraction; it +would not do to fail if the attempt were made. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +HOPALONG MEETS MEEKER + + +When Meeker was within a mile of the line he met Curley, told him what +had occurred and that he was going to find Hopalong. Curley smiled and +replied that he had seen that person less than ten minutes ago and +that he was riding towards the peak, and alone. + +"We'll go after him," Meeker replied. "You come because I want to face +him in force so he won't start no gun-play an' make me kill him. +That'd set hell to pop." + +Hopalong espied Johnny far to the east and he smiled as he remembered +the celerity with which that individual had departed after glancing at +the coin. + +"There ain't no flies on th' Kid, all right," he laughed, riding +slowly so Johnny could join him. He saw Curley riding south and looked +over the rough plain for other H2 punchers. Some time later as he +passed a chaparral he glanced back to see what had become of his +friend, but found that he had disappeared. When he wheeled to watch +for him he saw Meeker and Curley coming towards him and he shook his +holster to be sure his Colt was not jammed in it too tightly. + +"Well, here's where th' orchestry tunes up, all right," he muttered +grimly. "Licked th' Greaser, plugged Doc, an' sent word to Meeker to +come up if he wasn't scared. He's come, an' now I'll have to lick two +more. If they push me I'll shoot to kill!" + +The H2 foreman rode ahead of his companion and stopped when fifty +yards from the alert line-rider. Pushing his sombrero back on his +head, he lost no time in skirmishing. "Did you chase my broncho-buster +out of yore valley, cut his face with yore quirt, an' shoot Doc? Did +you send word to me that you'd kill me if I showed myself?" + +"Was you ever an auctioneer," calmly asked Hopalong, "or a book +agent?" + +"What's that got to do with it?" Meeker demanded. "You heard what I +said." + +"I don't know nothing about yore broncho-buster, taking one thing at a +time, which is proper." + +"What! You didn't drive him out, or cut him?" + +"No; why?" asked Hopalong, chuckling. + +"He says you did--an' somebody quirted him." + +"He's loco--he wasn't in th' valley," Hopalong replied. "Think he +could get in that valley? Him, or any other man we didn't want in?" + +"You're devilish funny!" retorted Meeker, riding slowly forward, +followed by his companion, who began to edge away from his foreman. +"Since you are so exact, did you chase him off yore range an' push +him over th' line at th' point of yore gun?" + +"You've got me. Better not come too close--my cayuse don't like +gettin' crowded." + +"That's all right," Meeker retorted, not heeding the warning. "Do you +mean to tell me you don't know? Yore name's Cassidy, ain't it?" he +asked, angrily, his determination to avoid fighting rapidly becoming +lost. + +"That's my own, shore 'nuf name," Hopalong answered, and then: "Do you +mean that cross-eyed, bone-yard of a yellow-faced Greaser I caught +stealing our range?" + +"Yes!" snapped Meeker, stopping again. + +"Why didn't you say so, then, 'stead of calling him yore +broncho-buster?" Hopalong demanded. "How do I know who yore +broncho-buster is? I don't know what every land pirate does in this +country." + +"Then you shot Doc--do you know who I mean this time?" sarcastically +asked the H2 foreman. + +"Oh, shore. He didn't get his gun out quick enough when he went after +it, did he? Any more I can tell you before I begins to say things, +too?" + +Meeker, angered greatly by Hopalong's contemptuous inflection and the +reckless assertiveness of his every word and look, began to ride to +describe a circle around the Bar-20 puncher, Curley going the other +way. + +"You said you'd kill me when you saw me, didn't you, you--" + +Hopalong was backing away so as to keep both men in front of him, +alert, eager, and waiting for the signal to begin his two-handed +shooting. "I ain't a whole lot deaf--I can hear you from where you +are. You better stop, for I've ridden out of tighter holes than this, +an' you'll shore get a pass to h--l if you crowd me too much!" + + Adown th' road, an' gun in hand, + Comes Whiskey Bill, mad Whiskey Bill-- + +This fragment of song floated out of a chaparral about twenty yards +behind Hopalong, who grinned pleasantly when he heard it. Now he knew +where Johnny was, and now he had the whip hand without touching his +guns; while the youngster was not in sight he was all the more +dangerous, since he presented no target. Johnny knew this and was +greatly pleased thereby, and he was more than pleased by the way +Hopalong had been talking. + +The effect of the singing was instant and marked on Meeker and his +companion, for they not only stopped suddenly and swore, but began to +back away, glancing around in an endeavor to locate the joker in the +deck. This they failed to do because Johnny was far too wise to +advertise his exact whereabouts. Meeker looked at Curley and Curley +looked at Meeker, both uneasy and angry. + +"As I was sayin' before th' concert began," Hopalong remarked, +laughing shortly, "it's a pass to h--l if you crowd me too much. Now, +Meeker, you'll listen to me an' I'll tell you what I didn't have time +to say before: I told that shifty-eyed mud-image of a Greaser that +th' next herd of yourn to cross th' line should be brought in by you, +'less you was scared to run th' risks yore men had to take. He said +you'd kill me for that message, an' I told him you knew where you +could find me. Now about Doc: When a man pulls a gun on me he wants to +be quicker than _he_ was or he'll shore get hurt. I could 'a killed +him just as easy as to plug his gun arm, an' just as easy as I could +'a plugged both of you if you pulled on me. You came up here looking +for my scalp an' if you still wants it I'll go away from th' song bird +in the chaparral an' give you th' chance. I'd ruther let things stay +as they are, though if you wants, I'll take both you an' Curley, +half-mile run together, with Colts." + +"No, I didn't come up here after your scalp, but I got mad after I +found you. How long is this going to last? I won't stand for it much +longer, nohow." + +"You'll have to see Buck. I'm obeyin' orders, which are to hold th' +line against you, which I'll do." + +"H'm!" replied Meeker, and then: "Do you know my girl?" + +Hopalong thought quickly. "Why, I've seen her ridin' around some. But +why?" + +"She says she knows you," persisted Meeker, frowning. + +The frown gave Hopalong his cue, but he hardly knew what to say, not +knowing what she had said about it. + +"Hey, you!" he suddenly cried to Curley. "Keep yore hand from that +gun!" + +"I didn't--" + +"You're lying! Any more of that an' I'll gimlet you!" + +"What in h--l are you doing, Curley?" demanded Meeker, the girl +question out of his mind instantly. He had been looking closely at +Hopalong and didn't know that Curley was innocent of any attempt to +use his Colt. + +"I tell--" + +"Get out of here! I've wasted too much time already. Go home, where +that gun won't worry you. You, too, Meeker! Bring an imitation bad-man +up here an' sayin' you didn't want my scalp! Flit!" + +"I'll go when I'm d----d good and ready!" retorted Meeker, angry +again. "You're too blasted bossy, you are!" he added, riding towards +the man who had shot Doc. + + A-looking for some place to land---- + +floated out of the chaparral and he stiffened in the saddle and +stopped. + +"Come on, Curley! We can't lick pot-shooters. An' let that gun alone!" + +"D--n it! I tell you I wasn't going for my gun!" Curley yelled. + +"Get out of here!" blazed Hopalong, riding forward. + +They rode away slowly, consulting in low voices. Then the foreman +turned and looked back. "You better be careful how you shoot my +punchers! They ain't all like Doc, an' they ain't all Greasers, +neither." + +"Then you're lucky," Hopalong retorted. "You keep yore cows on yore +side an' we won't hurt none of yore outfit." + +When they had gone Hopalong wheeled to look for Johnny and saw him +crawling out of a chaparral, dragging a rifle after him. He capered +about, waving the rifle and laughing with joy and Hopalong had to +laugh with him. When they were rid of the surplus of the merriment +Johnny patted the rifle. "Reckon they was shore up against a marked +deck that time! Did you see 'em stiffen when I warbled? Acted like +they had roped a puma an' didn't know what to do with it. Gee, it was +funny!" + +"You're all right, Kid," laughed Hopalong. "It was yore best play--you +couldn't 'a done better." + +"Shore," replied Johnny. "I had my sights glued to Curley's shirt +pocket, an' he'd been plumb disgusted if he'd tried to do what you +said he did. I couldn't 'a missed him with a club at that range. I +nearly died when you pushed Meeker's girl question up that blind +canyon. It was a peach of a throw, all right. Bet he ain't remembered +yet that he didn't get no answer to it. We're going to have some +blamed fine times down here before everything is settled, ain't we?" + +"I reckon so, Kid. I'm going to leave you now an' look around by West +Arroyo. You hang around th' line." + +"All right--so long." + +"Can you catch yore cayuse?" + +"Shore I can; he's hobbled," came the reply from behind a spur of the +chaparral. "_Stand still, you hen!_ All right, Hoppy." + +Johnny cantered away and, feeling happy, began, singing: + + Adown th' road, an' gun in hand, + Comes Whiskey Bill, mad Whiskey Bill; + A-looking for some place to land + Comes Whiskey Bill. + An' everybody'd like to be + Ten miles away behind a tree + When on his joyous, achin' spree + Starts Whiskey Bill. + + Th' times have changed since you made love, + Oh, Whiskey Bill, oh, Whiskey Bill; + Th' happy sun grinned up above + At Whiskey Bill. + An' down th' middle of th' street + Th' sheriff comes on toe-in feet, + A-wishing for one fretful peek + At Whiskey Bill. + + Th' cows go grazin' o'er th' lea-- + Pore Whiskey Bill, pore Whiskey Bill; + An' aching thoughts pour in on me + Of Whiskey Bill. + Th' sheriff up an' found his stride, + Bill's soul went shootin' down th' slide-- + How are things on th' Great Divide, + Oh, Whiskey Bill? + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +ON THE EDGE OF THE DESERT + + +Thunder Mesa was surrounded by almost impenetrable chaparrals, +impenetrable to horse and rider except along certain alleys, but not +too dense for a man on foot. These stretched away on all sides as far +as the eye could see and made the desolate prospect all the more +forbidding. It rose a sheer hundred feet into the air, its sides +smooth rock and affording no footing except a narrow, precarious ledge +which slanted up the face of the southern end, too broken and narrow +to permit of a horse ascending, but passable to a man. + +The top of the mesa was about eight acres in extent and was rocky and +uneven, cut by several half-filled fissures which did not show on the +walls. Uninviting as the top might be considered it had one feature +which was uncommon, for the cataclysm of nature which had caused this +mass of rock to tower above the plain had given to it a spring which +bubbled out of a crack in the rock and into a basin cut by itself; +from there it flowed down the wall and into a shallow depression in +the rock below, where it made a small water hole before flowing +through the chaparrals, where it sank into the sand and became lost +half a mile from its source. + +At the point where the slanting ledge met the top of the mesa was a +hut built of stones and adobe, its rear wall being part of a +projecting wall of rock. Narrow, deep loopholes had been made in the +other walls and a rough door, massive and tight fitting, closed the +small doorway. The roof, laid across cedar poles which ran from wall +to wall, was thick and flat and had a generous layer of adobe to repel +the rays of the scorching sun. Placed as it was the hut overlooked the +trail leading to it from the plain, and should it be defended by +determined men, assault by that path would be foolhardy. + +On the plain around the mesa extended a belt of sparse grass, some +hundreds of feet wide at the narrowest point and nearly a mile at the +widest, over which numerous rocks and bowlders and clumps of chaparral +lay scattered. On this pasture were about three score cattle, most of +them being yearlings, but all bearing the brand HQQ and a diagonal ear +cut. These were being watched by a careless cowboy, although it was +belittling their scanty intelligence to suppose that they would leave +the water and grass, poor as the latter was, to stray off onto the +surrounding desert. + +At the base of the east wall of the mesa was a rough corral of cedar +poles set on end, held together by rawhide strips, which, put on +green, tightened with the strength of steel cables when dried by the +sun. In its shadow another man watched the cattle while he worked in +a desultory way at repairing a saddle. Within the corral a man was +bending over a cow while two others held it down. Its feet were tied +and it was panting, wild-eyed and frightened. The man above it stepped +to a glowing fire a few paces away and took from it a hot iron, with +which he carefully traced over the small brand already borne by the +animal. With a final flourish he stepped back, regarding the work with +approval, and thrust the iron into the sand. Taking a knife from his +pocket he trimmed the V notch in its ear to the same slanting cut seen +on the cattle outside on the pasture. He tossed the bit of cartilage +from him, stepping back and nodding to his companions, who loosened +the ropes and leaped back, allowing the animal to escape. + +Shaw, who had altered the H2 brand, turned to one of the others and +laughed heartily. "Good job, eh Manuel? Th' H2 won't know their cow +now!" + +Manuel grinned. "_Si, si_; eet ees!" he cried. He was cook for the +gang, a bosom friend of Benito and Antonio, slight, cadaverous, and as +shifty-eyed as his friends. In his claw-like fingers he held a husk +cigarette, without which he was seldom seen. He spoke very little but +watched always, his eyes usually turned eastward. He seemed to be +almost as much afraid of the east as Cavalry was of the west, where +the desert lay. He ridiculed Cavalry's terror of the desert and +explained why the east was to be feared the more, for the eastern +danger rode horses and could come to them [Transcriber's note: Text +seems to be missing here in the original.] "Hope 'Tony fixes up that +line war purty soon, eh, Cavalry?" remarked Shaw, suddenly turning to +the third man in the group. + +Cavalry was staring moodily towards the desert and did not hear him. + +"Cavalry! Get that desert off yore mind! Do you want to go loco? Who's +going to take th' next drive an' bring back th' flour, you or +Clausen?" + +"It's Clausen's turn next." + +Manuel slouched away and began to climb the slanting path up the mesa. +Shaw watched him reflectively and laughed. "There he goes again. Beats +th' devil how scared he is, spending most of his time on th' lookout. +Why, he's blamed near as scared of them punchers as you are of that +skillet out yonder." + +"We ain't got no kick, have we?" retorted Cavalry. "Ain't he looking +out for us at th' same time?" + +"I don't know about that," Shaw replied, frowning. "I ain't got no +love for Manuel. If he saw 'em coming an' could get away he'd sneak +off without saying a word. It'd give him a chance to get away while we +held 'em." + +"We'll see him go, then; there's only one way down." + +"Oh, th' devil with him!" Shaw exclaimed. "What do you think of th' +chances of startin' that range war?" + +"From what th' Greaser says it looks good." + +"Yes. But he'll get caught some day, or night, an' pay for it with his +life." + +Cavalry shrugged his shoulders. "I reckon so; but he's only a +Greaser," he said, coldly. "I'd ruther they'd get him out there than +to follow him here. If he goes, I hope it's sudden, so he won't have +time to squeal." + +"He's a malignant devil, an' he hates that H2 outfit like blazes," +replied Shaw. "An' now he's got a pizen grudge agin' th' Bar-20. He +might let his hate get th' upper hand an' start in to square things; +if he does that he'll over-reach, an' get killed." + +"I reckon so; but he's clever as th' devil hisself." + +"Well, if he gets too big-headed out here Hall will take care of him, +all right," Shaw laughed. + +"I don't like th' Greasers he's saddled us with," Cavalry remarked. +"There's Manuel an' Benito. One of 'em is here all th' time an' close +to you, too, if you remember. Then he's going to put two or three on +th' range; why?" + +"Suspects we'll steal some of his share, I reckon. An' if he gets in +trouble with us they'll be on his side. Oh, he's no fool." + +"If he 'tends to business an' forgets his grudges it'll be a good +thing for us. That Bar-20 has got an awful number of cows. An' there's +th' H2, an' th' other two up north." + +"We've tackled th' hardest job first--th' Bar-20," replied Shaw, +laughing. "I used to know some fellers what said that outfit couldn't +be licked. They died trying to prove themselves liars." + +"Wonder how much money 'Tony totes around on him?" asked Cavalry. + +"Not much; he's too wise. He's cached it somewhere. Was you reckonin' +on takin' it away from him at th' end?" + +"No, no. I just wondered what he did with it." + +The man at the gate looked up. "Here comes 'Tony." + +Shaw and his companion rode forward to meet him. + +"What's up?" cried Shaw. + +"I have started th' war," Antonio replied, a cruel smile playing over +his sharp face. "They'll be fightin' purty soon." + +"That's good," responded Shaw. "Tell us about it." + +Antonio, with many gestures and much conceit, told of the trick he had +played on Hopalong, and he took care to lose no credit in the telling. +He passed lightly over the trouble between Doc and the Bar-20 puncher, +but intimated that he had caused it. He finished by saying: "You send +to th' same place to-morrow an' Benito'll have some cows for you. +They'll soon give us our chance, an' it'll be easy then." + +"Mebby it will be easy," replied Shaw, "but that rests with you. +You've got to play yore cards plumb cautious. You've done fine so far, +but if you ain't careful you'll go to h--l in a hurry an' take us with +you. You can't fool 'em all th' time, for someday they'll get +suspicious an' swap ideas. An' when they do that it means fight for +us." + +Antonio smiled and thought how easy it might be, if the outfits grew +suspicious and he learned of it in time, to discover tracks and other +things and tell Meeker he was sure there was organized rustling and +that all tracks pointed to Thunder Mesa. He could ride across the +border before any of his partners had time to confess and implicate +him. But he assured Shaw that he would be careful, adding: "No, I +won't make no mistakes. I hate 'em all too much to grow careless." + +"That's just where you'll miss fire," the other rejoined. "You'll +pamper yore grouch till you forget everything else. You better be +satisfied to get square by taking their cows." + +"Don't worry about that." + +"All right. Here's yore money for th' last herd," he said, digging +down into his pocket and handing the Mexican some gold coins. "You +know how to get more." + +Antonio took the money, considered a moment and then pocketed it, +laughing. "Good! But I mus' go back now. I won't be out here again +very soon; it's too risky. Send me my share by Benito," he called over +his shoulder as he started off. + +The two rustlers watched him and Cavalry shook his head slowly. "I'm +plumb scairt he'll bungle it. If he does we'll get caught like rats in +a trap." + +"If we're up there we can hold off a thousand," Shaw replied, looking +up the wall. + +"Here comes Hall," announced the man at the gate. + +The newcomer swept up and leaped from his hot and tired horse. "I +found them other ranches are keeping their men ridin' over th' range +an' along th' trails--I near got caught once," he reported. "We'll +have to be careful how we drives to th' construction camps." + +"They'll get tired watchin' after a while," replied the leader. "'Tony +was just here." + +"I don't care if he's in h--l," retorted Hall. "He'll peach on us to +save his mangy skin, one of these days." + +"We've got to chance it." + +"Where's Frisco?" + +"Down to Eagle for grub to tide us over for a few days." + +"Huh!" exclaimed Hall. "Everything considered we're goin' to fight +like th' devil out here someday. Down to Eagle!" + +"We can fight!" retorted Shaw. "An' if we has to run for it, there's +th' desert." + +"I'd ruther die right here fighting than on that desert," remarked +Cavalry, shuddering. "When I go I want to go quick, an' not be +tortured for 'most a week." He had an insistent and strong horror of +that gray void of sand and alkali so near at hand and so far across. +He was nervous and superstitious, and it seemed always to be calling +him. Many nights he had awakened in a cold sweat because he had +dreamed it had him, and often it was all he could do to resist going +out to it. + +Shaw laughed gratingly. "You don't like it, do you?" + +Hall smiled and walked towards the slanting trail. + +"Why, it ain't bad," he called over his shoulder. + +"It's an earthly hell!" Cavalry exclaimed. He glanced up the mesa +wall. "We can hold that till we starve, or run out of cartridges--then +what?" + +"You're a calamity howler!" snapped Shaw. "That desert has wore a +saddle sore on yore nerves somethin' awful. Don't think about it so +much! It can't come to you, an' you ain't going to it," he laughed, +trying to wipe out the suggestion of fear that had been awakened in +him by the thought of the desert as a place of refuge. He had found a +wanderer, denuded of clothes, sweating blood and hopelessly mad one +day when he and Cavalry had ridden towards the desert; and the sight +of the unfortunate's dying agonies had remained with him ever since. +"We ain't going to die out here--they won't look for us where they +don't think there's any grass or water." + +Fragments of Manuel's song floated down to them as they strode towards +the trail, and reassured that all would be well, their momentary +depression was banished by the courage of their hearts. + +The desert lay beyond, quiet; ominous by its very silence and inertia; +a ghastly, malevolent aspect in its every hollow; patient, +illimitable, scorching; fascinating in its horrible calm, sinister, +forbidding, hellish. It had waited through centuries--and was still +waiting, like the gigantic web of the Spider of Thirst. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +ON THE PEAK + + +Hopalong Cassidy had the most striking personality of all the men in +his outfit; humorous, courageous to the point of foolishness, eager +for fight or frolic, nonchalant when one would expect him to be quite +otherwise, curious, loyal to a fault, and the best man with a Colt in +the Southwest, he was a paradox, and a puzzle even to his most +intimate friends. With him life was a humorous recurrence of +sensations, a huge pleasant joke instinctively tolerated, but not +worth the price cowards pay to keep it. He had come onto the range +when a boy and since that time he had laughingly carried his life in +his open hand, and although there had been many attempts to snatch it +he still carried it there, and just as recklessly. + +Quick in decisions and quick to suspect evil designs against him and +his ranch, he was different from his foreman, whose temperament was +more optimistic. When Buck had made him foreman of the line riders he +had no fear that Meeker or his men would take many tricks, for his +faith in Hopalong's wits and ability was absolute. He had such faith +that he attended to what he had to do about the ranch house and did +not appear on the line until he had decided to call on Meeker and put +the question before him once and for all. If the H2 foreman did not +admit the agreement and promise to abide by it then he would be told +to look for trouble. + +While Buck rode towards Lookout Peak, Hopalong dismounted at the line +house perched on its top and found Red Connors seated on the rough +bench by the door. Red, human firebrand both in hair and temper, was +Hopalong's loyal chum--in the eyes of the other neither could do +wrong. Red was cleaning his rifle, the pride of his heart, a +wicked-shooting Winchester which used the Government cartridge +containing seventy grains of powder and five hundred grains of lead. +With his rifle he was as expert as his friend was with the Colt, and +up to six hundred yards, its limit with accuracy, he could do about +what he wished with it. + +"Hullo, you," said Red, pleasantly. "You looks peevish." + +"An' you look foolish. What you doing?" + +"Minding my business." + +"Hard work?" sweetly asked Hopalong, carelessly seating himself on the +small wooden box which lay close to his friend. + +"Hey, you!" cried Red, leaping up and hauling him away. "You bust them +sights an' you'll be sorry! Ain't you got no sense?" + +"Sights? What are you going to do with 'em?" + +"Wear 'em 'round my neck for a charm! What'd you reckon I'd do with +'em!" + +"Didn't know. I didn't think you'd put 'em on that thing," Hopalong +replied, looking with contempt at his friend's rifle. "Honest, you +ain't a-goin' to put 'em on that lead ranch, are you? You're like th' +Indians--want a lot of shots to waste without re-loadin'." + +"I ain't wasting no shots, an' I'm going to put sights on that lead +ranch, too. These old ones are too coarse," Red replied, carefully +placing the box out of danger. "Now you can sit down." + +"Thanks; please can I smoke?" + +Red grunted, pushed down the lever of the rifle, and began to +re-assemble the parts, his friend watching the operation. When Red +tried to slip the barrel into its socket Hopalong laughed and told him +to first draw out the magazine, if he wanted to have any success. + +The line foreman took a cartridge from the pile on the bench and +compared it with one which he took from his belt, a huge, 45-caliber +Sharps special, shooting five hundred and fifty grains of lead with +one hundred and twenty grains of powder out of a shell over three +inches long; a cartridge which shot with terrific force and for a +great distance, the weight of the large ball assuring accuracy at long +ranges. Beside this four-inch cartridge the Government ammunition +appeared dwarfed. + +"When are you going to wean yoreself from popping these musket caps, +Red?" he asked, tossing the smaller cartridge away and putting his own +back in his belt. + +"Well, you've got gall!" snorted Red, going out for his cartridge. +Returning with it he went back to work on his gun, his friend laughing +at his clumsy fingers. + +"Yore fingers are all thumbs, an' sore at that." + +"Never mind my fingers. Have you seen Johnny around?" + +"Yes; he was watching one of them new H2 Greasers. He'll go off th' +handle one of these days, for he hates Greasers worse'n I do, an' that +coffee face'll drive him to gun-play. He reminds me a whole lot of a +bull-pup chained with a corral-ful of cats when there's Greasers +around." + +Red laughed and nodded. "Where's Lanky?" + +"Johnny said he was at Number Four fixin' that saddle again. He ain't +done nothin' for th' last month but fix it. Purty soon there won't be +none of it left to fix." + +"There certainly won't!" + +"His saddle an' yore gun make a good pair." + +"Let up about the gun. You can't say nothin' more about it without +repeatin' yoreself." + +"It's a sawed-off carbine. I'd ruther have a Spencer any day." + +"You remind me a whole lot of a feller I once knowed," Red retorted. + +"That so?" asked Hopalong, suspiciously. "Was he so nice?" + +"No; he was a fool," Red responded, going into the house. + +"Then that's where you got it, for they say it's catching." + +Red stuck his head out of the door. "On second thought you remind me +of another feller." + +"You must 'a knowed some good people." + +"An' he was a liar." + +"Hullo, Hop Wah!" came from the edge of the hilltop and Hopalong +wheeled to see Skinny Thompson approaching. + +"What you doing?" Skinny asked, using his stock question for beginning +a conversation. + +"Painting white spots on pink elephants!" + +"Where's Red?" + +"In th' shack, rubbin' 'em off again." + +"Johnny chased that Greaser off'n th' ranch," Skinny offered, +grinning. + +"Good for him!" cried Hopalong. + +"Johnny's all right--here comes Buck," Red said, coming out of the +house. "Johnny's with him, too. Hullo, Kid!" + +"Hullo, Brick-top!" retorted Johnny, who did not like his nickname. No +one treated him as anything but a boy and he resented it at times. + +"Did he chase you far?" Hopalong queried. + +"I'd like to see anybody chase me!" + +Buck smiled. "How are things down here?" + +Hopalong related what had occurred and the foreman nodded. "I'm going +down to see Meeker--he's th' only man who can tell me what we're to +look for. I don't want to keep so many men down here. Frenchy has got +all he can handle, an' I want somebody up in Two. So long." + +"Let me an' Red go with you, Buck," cried Hopalong. + +"Me, too!" exclaimed Johnny, excitedly. + +"You stay home, an' don't worry about me," replied the foreman, riding +off. + +"I don't like to see him go alone," Hopalong muttered. "He may get a +raw deal down there. But if he does we'll wipe 'em off'n th' earth." + +"Mamma! Look there!" softly cried Johnny, staring towards the other +side of the plateau, where Mary Meeker rode past. Red and Skinny were +astonished and Johnny and Hopalong pretended to be; but all removed +their sombreros while she remained in sight. Johnny was watching +Hopalong's face, but when Red glanced around he was staring over the +hill. + +"Gosh, ain't she a ripper!" he exclaimed softly. + +"She is," admitted Skinny. "She shore is." + +Hopalong rubbed his nose reflectively and turned to Red. "Did you ever +notice how pretty a freckle is?" + +Red stared, for he had only toleration for the fair sex, and his +friend continued: + +"Take a purty girl an' stick a freckle on her nose an' it sort of +takes yore breath." + +Red grinned. "I ain't never took a purty girl an' stuck a freckle on +her nose, so I can't say." + +Hopalong flushed at the laughter and Skinny cried, joyously: "She's +got two of us already! Meeker's got us licked if he'll let her show +herself once in a while. Oh, these young fellers! Nothing can rope +'em so quick as a female, an' th' purtier she is th' quicker she can +do it." + +A warning light came into Hopalong's eyes. "Nobody in this outfit'll +go back on Buck for all th' purty women in th' world!" + +"Good boy!" thought Johnny. + +"We've got to watch th' Kid, just th' same," laughed Skinny. + +"I'll knock yore head off!" cried Johnny. "You're sore 'cause you know +you ain't got no chance with women while me an' Hoppy are around!" + +Red looked critically at Hopalong and snickered. "If we've got to look +like him to catch th' women, thank God we don't want 'em!" + +"Is that so!" retorted Hopalong. + +"Say," drawled Skinny. "Wouldn't th' Kid look nice hobbled with +matrimony? That is, after he grows up." + +"You go to th' devil!" + +"Gee, Kid, you look bloodthirsty," laughed Red. "You can fool them +Greasers easy if you looks like that." + +"You go to," Johnny retorted, swinging into the saddle. "I'm going +along th' line to see what's loose." + +"I'll lick you when I see you again!" shouted Red, grinning. + +Johnny turned and twirled his fingers at his red-haired friend. "Yah, +you ain't man enough!" + +"Johnny's gettin' more hungry for a fight every day," Hopalong +remarked. "He's itching for one." + +"So was you a few years back, an' you ain't changed none," replied +Red. "You used to ride around looking for fights." + +"To hear you talk, anybody'd think you was a Angel of Peace," Hopalong +retorted. + +"One's as bad as th' other, so shut up," Skinny remarked, going into +the house for a drink. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +BUCK VISITS MEEKER + + +As Buck rode south he went over the boundary trouble in all its +phases, and the more he thought about it the firmer his resolution +grew to hold the line at any cost. He had gone to great expense and +labor to improve the water supply in the valley and he saw no reason +why the H2 could not do the same; and to him an agreement was an +agreement, and ran with the land. What Meeker thought about it was not +the question--the point at issue was whether or not the H2 could take +the line and use the valley, and if they could they were welcome to +it. + +But while there was any possibility for a peaceable settlement it +would be foolish to start fighting, for one range war had spread to +alarming proportions and had been costly to life and property. Then +there was the certainty that once war had begun, rustling would +develop. But, be the consequences what they might, he would fight to +the last to hold that which was rightfully his. He was not going to +Meeker to beg a compromise, or to beg him to let the valley alone; he +was riding to tell the H2 foreman what he could expect if he forced +matters. + +When he rode past the H2 corrals he was curiously regarded by a group +of punchers who lounged near them, and he went straight up to them +without heeding their frowns. + +"Is Meeker here?" + +"No, he ain't here," replied Curley, who was regarded by his +companions as being something of a humorist. + +"Where is he?" + +"Since you asks, I reckon he's in th' bunk house," Curley replied. +"Where he ought to be," he added, pointedly, while his companions +grinned. + +"That's wise," responded Buck. "He ought to stay there more often. I +hope his cows will take after him. Much obliged for th' information," +he finished, riding on. + +"His cows an' his punchers'll do as they wants," asserted Curley, +frowning. + +"Excuse me. I reckoned _he_ was boss around here," Buck apologized, a +grim smile playing about his lips. "But you better change that 'will' +to 'won't' when you mean th' valley." + +"I mean _will_!" Curley retorted, leaping to his feet. "An' what's +more, I ain't through with that game laig puncher of yourn, neither." + +Buck laughed and rode forward again. "You have my sympathy, then," he +called over his shoulder. + +Buck stopped before the bunk house and called out, and in response to +his hail Jim Meeker came and stood in the door. + +The H2 foreman believed he was right, and he was too obstinate to +admit that there was any side but his which should be considered. He +wanted water and better grass, and both were close at hand. Where he +had been raised there had been no boundaries, for it had been free +grass and water, and he would not and could not see that it was any +different on his new range. He had made no agreement, and if one had +been made it did not concern him; it concerned only those who had made +it. He did not buy the ranch from the old owners, but from a +syndicate, and there had been nothing said about lines or +restrictions. When he made any agreements he lived up to them, but he +did not propose to observe those made by others. + +"How'dy, Meeker," said Buck, nodding. + +"How'dy, Peters; come in?" + +"I reckon it ain't worth while. I won't stay long," Buck replied. "I +came down to tell you that some of yore cows are crossing our line. +They're gettin' worse every day." + +"That so?" asked Meeker, carelessly. + +"Yes." + +"Um; well, what's th' reason they shouldn't? An' what is that 'line,' +that we shouldn't go over it?" + +"Dawson, th' old foreman of th' Three Triangle, told you all about +that," Buck replied, his whole mind given to the task of reading what +sort of a man he had to deal with. "It's our boundary; an' yourn." + +"Yes? But I don't recognize no boundary. What have they got to do with +me?" + +"It has this much, whether you recognize it or not: It marks th' north +limit of yore grazin'. _We_ don't cross it." + +"Huh! You don't have to, while you've got that crick." + +"We won't have th' crick, nor th' grass, either, if you drive yore +cows on us. That valley is our best grazing, an' it ain't in th' +agreement that you can eat it all off." + +"What agreement?" + +"I didn't come down here to tell you what you know," Buck replied, +slowly. "I came to tell you to keep yore Greasers an' yore cows on +yore own side, that's whatever." + +"How do you know my cows are over there?" + +"How do I know th' sun is shining?" + +"What do you want me to do?" Meeker asked, leaning against the house +and grinning. + +"Hold yore herds where they belong. Of course some are shore to stray +over, but strays don't count--I ain't talkin' about them." + +"Well, I've punched a lot of cows in my day," replied Meeker, "an' +over a lot of range, but I never seen no boundary lines afore. An' +nobody ever told me to keep on one range, if they knowed me. I've run +up against a wire fence or two in th' last few years, but they didn't +last long when I hit 'em." + +"If you want to know what a boundary line looks like I can show you. +There's a plain trail along it where my men have rode for years." + +"So you say; but I've got to have water." + +"You've got it; twenty miles of river. An' if you'll put down a well +or two th' Jumping Bear won't go dry." + +"I don't know nothing about wells," Meeker replied. "Natural water's +good enough for me without fooling with wet holes in th' ground." + +"No; but, by G-d, yo're willin' enough to use them what I put down! Do +you think I spent good time an' money just to supply _you_ with water? +Why don't you get yore own, 'stead of hoggin' mine!" + +"There's water enough, an' it ain't yourn, neither." + +"It's mine till somebody takes it away from me, an' you can gamble on +that." + +"Oh, I reckon you'll share it." + +"I reckon I won't!" Buck retorted. "Look here; my men have held that +range for many years against all kinds of propositions an' didn't get +pushed into th' discard once; an' they'll go right on holding it. Hell +has busted loose down here purty often during that time, but we've +allus roped an' branded it; an' we hain't forgot how!" + +"Well, I don't want no trouble, but I've got to use that water, an' my +men are some hard to handle." + +"You'll find mine worse to handle before you gets through," Buck +rejoined. "They're restless now, an' once they start, all h--l can't +stop 'em." Meeker started to reply, but Buck gave him no chance. "Do +you know why I haven't driven you back by force? It wasn't because I +figgered on what _you'd_ do. It was on account of th' rustling that'll +blossom on this range just as soon as we get too busy to watch things. +That's why, but if yo're willing to take a chance with cow thieves, I +am." + +"I'm willing. I've got to have water on my northwest corner," Meeker +replied. "An' I'm going to have it! If my cows get on yore private +reservation, it's up to you to drive 'em off; but I wouldn't be none +hasty doing it if I was you. You see, my men are plumb touchy." + +"That's final, is it?" + +"I ain't never swallered nothing I ever said." + +"All right. I can draw on forty men to fill up gaps, an' I'll do it +before I let any range jumper cheat me out of what's mine. When you +buck that line, come ready for trouble." + +"Yore line'll burn you before you get through pampering it," retorted +Meeker, angrily. + +"So? We'll pamper anybody that tries to keep us from pampering our +line. If there are any burns they'll not be salved in _our_ bunk +house. So long." + +Meeker laughed, stretched, and slipped his thumbs in the arm-holes of +his vest, watching the Bar-20 foreman ride away. Then he frowned and +snapped his fingers angrily. "We'll keep you busy on yore 'line' when +I get ready to play th' cards I'm looking for!" he exclaimed. "Th' +gall of him! Telling me I can't pasture where I wants! By G-d, I'll be +told I'm using his sunlight an' breathing his air!" + +He stepped forward. "Curley! Chick! Dan!" + +A moment later the three men stood before him. + +"What is it, Jim?" asked Curley. + +"You fellers drive north to-morrow. Pick up th' stragglers an' herd +'em close to that infernal line. Don't drive 'em over till I tell you, +but don't let none stray south again; savvy? If they want to stray +north it's none of our business." + +"Good!" + +"Fine!" + +"That's th' way to talk!" + +"Don't start nothing, but if trouble comes yore way take care of +yoreselves," Meeker remarked. "I'm telling you to herd up on our north +range, that's all." + +"Shore; we'll do it!" laughed Curley. + +"Is that house on th' peak guarded?" Meeker asked. + +"Somebody's there most of th' time," replied Dan Morgan. + +"Yes; it's their bunk house now," explained Chick. + +"All right; don't forget to-morrow." + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +THREE IS A CROWD + + +When Buck reached the line on his return Hopalong was the first man he +met and his orders were to the point: "Hold this line till h--l +freezes, drive all H2 cows across it, an' don't start a fight; but be +shore to finish any that zephyrs up. Keep yore eyes open." + +Hopalong grinned and replied that he would hold the line that long and +then skate on the ice, that any cow found trying to cross would get +indignant, and that he and trouble were old friends. Buck laughed and +rode on. + +"Red Eagle, old cayuse!" cried the line rider, slapping the animal +resoundingly. "We're shore ready!" And Red Eagle, to show how ready he +was to resent such stinging familiarities, pitched viciously and bit +at his rider's leg. + +"Hit her up, old devil!" yelled Hopalong, grabbing his sombrero and +applying the spurs. Red Eagle settled back to earth and then shot +forward at top speed along the line trail, bucking as often as he +could. + +It was not long before Hopalong saw a small herd of H2 cows on Bar-20 +land and he rode off to head them. When he got in front of the herd he +wheeled and dashed straight at it, yelling and firing his Colt, the +horse squealing and pitching at every jump. + +"Ki-yi, yeow-eow-eow-eow!" he yelled, and the herd, terror-stricken, +wheeled and dashed towards their ranch. He followed to the line and +saw them meet and terrorize another herd, and he gleefully cried that +it would be a "shore 'nuf stampede." + +"Look at 'em go, old Skyrocket," he laughed. The horse began to pitch +again but he soon convinced it that play time had passed. + +"You old, ugly wart of a cayuse!" he cried, fighting it viciously as +it reared and plunged and bit. "Don't you know I can lick four like +you an' not touch leather! There, that's better. If you bite me again +I'll kick yore corrugations in! But we made 'em hit th' high trail, +didn't we, old hinge-back?" + +He looked up and stiffened, feeling so foolish that he hardly knew +enough to tear off his sombrero, for before him, sitting quietly in +her saddle and looking clean through him, was Mary Meeker, a +contemptuous firmness about her lips. + +"Good-afternoon, Miss Meeker," he said, wondering how much she had +seen and heard. + +"I'll not spoil yore fun," she icily replied, riding away. + +He stared after her until she had ridden around a chaparral and out of +his sight, and he slammed his sombrero on the ground and swore. + +"D--n th' luck!" + +Then he spurred to overtake her and when he saw her again she was +talking to Antonio, who was all smiles. + +"Coffee-colored galoot!" Hopalong muttered, savagely. "I'll spill him +all over hisself some day, th' squint-eyed mud-image! Th' devil with +him, if he don't like my company he can amble." + +He swept up to them, his hair stirred by the breeze and his right hand +resting on the butt of his Colt. Antonio was talking when he arrived, +but he had no regard for "Greasers" and interrupted without loss of +time. + +"Miss Meeker," he began, backing his horse so he could watch the +Mexican. "I shore hope you ain't mad. Are you?" + +She looked at him coldly, and her companion muttered something in +Spanish; and found Hopalong's eyes looking into his soul, which hushed +the Spanish. + +"You talk United States if you've got anything to say, which you +ain't," Hopalong commanded and then turned to the woman. "I'm shore +sorry you heard me. I didn't think you was anywhere around." + +"Which accounts for you terrorizing our cows an' calves," she +retorted. "An' for trying to start a stampede." + +Antonio stiffened at this, but did nothing because Hopalong was +watching him. + +"You ought to be ashamed of yoreself!" she cried, her eyes flashing +and deep color surging into her cheeks. "You had no right to treat +them calves that way, or to start a stampede!" + +"I didn't try to start no stampede, honest," he replied, fascinated by +the color playing across her face. + +"You did!" she insisted, vehemently. "You may think it's funny to +scare calves, but it ain't!" + +"I was in a hurry," he replied, apologetically. "I shore didn't think +nothing about th' calves. They was over on us an' I had to drive 'em +back before I went on." + +"You have no right to drive 'em back," she retorted. "They have every +right to graze where th' grass is good an' where they can get water. +They can't live without water." + +"They shore can't," he replied in swift accord, as if the needs of +cattle had never before crossed his mind. "But they can get it at th' +river." + +"You have no right to drive 'em away from it!" + +"I ain't going to argue none with you, Miss," he responded. "My orders +are to drive 'em back, which I'll do." + +"Do you mean to tell me that you'll keep them from water?" she +demanded, her eyes flashing again. + +"It ain't my fault that yore men don't hold 'em closer to th' river," +he replied. "There's water a-plenty there. Yore father's keeping 'em +on a dry range." + +"Don't say anything about my father," she angrily retorted. "He knows +his business better'n you can tell it to him." + +"I'm sorry if I've gone an' said anything to make you mad," he +earnestly replied. "I just wanted to show you that I'm only obeying +orders. I don't want to argue with you." + +"I didn't come here to argue," she quickly retorted. "I don't want you +to drive our calves so hard, that's all." + +"I'll be plumb tender with 'em," he assured her, grinning. "An' I +didn't try to scare that other herd, honest." + +"I saw you trying to scare them just before you saw me." + +"Oh!" he exclaimed, chuckling as he recalled his fight with Red Eagle. +"That was all th' fault of this ornery cayuse. He got th' idea into +his fool head that he could throw me, so me an' him had it out right +there." + +She had been watching his face while he spoke and she remembered that +he had fought with his horse, and believed that he was telling the +truth. Then, suddenly, the humorous side struck her and brought a +smile to her face. "I'm sorry I didn't understand," she replied in a +low voice. + +"Then you ain't mad no more?" he asked eagerly. + +"No; not a bit." + +"I'm glad of that," he laughed, leaning forward. "You had me plumb +scared to death." + +"I didn't know I could scare a puncher so easy, 'specially you," she +replied, flushing. "But where's yore sombrero?" + +"Back where I throwed it," he grinned. + +"Where you threw it?" + +"Shore. I got sore when you rode away, an' didn't care much what +happened," he replied, coolly. Then he transfixed the Mexican with his +keen eyes. "If yo're so anxious to get that gun out, say so or do it," +he said, slowly. "That's th' second time." + +Mary watched them breathlessly, but Hopalong didn't intend to have any +fighting in her presence. + +"You let it alone before I take it away from you," he said. "An' I +reckon you better pull out--you ain't needed around here. Go on, +flit!" + +Antonio glanced at Mary for orders and she nodded her head. "I don't +need you; go." + +Hopalong watched him depart and turned to his companion. "What's +eating him, anyhow?" + +"I don't know. I never saw him act that way before." + +"H'm. I reckon I know; but he don't want to act that way again," he +said, decisively. "Greasers are shore funny animals." + +"All men are funny," she replied. "Th' idea of being scared by me when +you ain't afraid of a man like him." + +"That's a different kind of a scare, an' I never felt like that +before. It made me want to kill somebody. I don't want you to get mad +at me. I like you too much. You won't, will you?" + +She smiled. "No." + +"Never? No matter what happens?" + +"Do you care?" + +"Do I care! You know I do. Look at me, Mary!" + +"No; don't come any nearer. I must go--good-bye." + +"Don't go; let's ride around for a while." + +"But 'Tony may tell Dad; an' if he does Dad'll come up here an' make +trouble. No, I must go." + +"Tell 'Tony I want to see him," he replied. "If he says anything I'll +make him pay for it; an' he won't do it again." + +"You mustn't do that! It would make things all th' worse." + +"Will you come up again to-morrow?" + +She laughed. "That'll be too soon, won't it?" + +"Not by a blamed sight." + +"Well, I don't know. Good-bye." + +"Good-bye," he said, holding out his hand. + +She gave him her hand and then tried to push him away. "No, no! No, I +say! I won't come any more if you do that!" + +Despite her struggles he drew her to him and kissed her again and +again. + +"I hate you! I hate you!" she cried, her face the color of fire. "What +made you do it! You've spoiled everything, an' I'll never see you +again! I hate you!" and she wheeled and galloped away. + +He spurred in pursuit and when he had overtaken her he grasped her +horse by the bridle and stopped her. "Mary! Don't be mad--I love you!" + +"Will you let me go?" she demanded, her face crimson. + +"Not till you say yo're not mad." + +"Please let me go," she replied, looking in his eyes, "I'm not mad at +you; but you mustn't do that again. Won't you let me go before some +one sees us?" + +He released her and she impulsively put her hand on his arm. "Look +out--an' watch 'Tony," and she was gone. + +"Yo're th' best girl ever rode a cayuse," he muttered, joyously. +"'Look out--an' watch 'Tony,'" he cried. "What do I care about that +Greaser? I can clean out th' whole gang now. Just let 'em start +something." + +When he neared the place where his sombrero lay he saw Johnny in the +act of picking it up, and Johnny might take a notion to make a race +out of it before giving it up. "Hey, you!" Hopalong cried, dashing +forward, "gimme that cover!" + +"Come an' get it; I don't want it," Johnny retorted. "What made you +lose it?" + +"Fighting." + +"Fighting! Fighting who?" + +"Just fighting, Kid." + +"Ah, come on an' tell me," begged Johnny. Then, like a shot: "Was it +that Greaser?" + +"Nope." + +"Who was it?" + +"None of yore business," laughed Hopalong, delighted to be able to +tease him. + +"All right!" Johnny cried. "You wait; th' boys will be glad to learn +about you an' her!" + +Hopalong's hand shot out and gripped his friend's shoulder. "Don't you +say a word about it, do you hear?" + +"Shore. I was only fooling," replied Johnny. "Think I tell them kind +of things! Yo're a big fool, you are." + +"I was too quick, Kid. I know yo're a thoroughbred. An' now I'll tell +you who I was fighting. Its was Red Eagle. He got a fit of pitching, +an' I had to take it out of him." + +"I might 'a knowed it," responded Johnny, eying the tracks in the +sand. "But I reckoned you might 'a had a run-in with that Greaser. I +was saving him for myself." + +"Why do you hate him so much more'n th' other Greasers?" + +"Never mind that now. I'll tell you after I get him." + +"Have you seen Buck since he came back?" + +"No; why?" + +Hopalong told him what the foreman had said and his friend grinned. +"The good old days are coming back again, Hoppy!" he exulted. "Now I +can kick th' shirt off'n that Greaser, can't I, if he gets gay?" + +"If he don't kick yourn off first." + +"I'd like to see him try it; or you, either! Mebbe you'd like to try +it now?" + +"Shoo, fly! Shoo, fly," laughed Hopalong. + +"Where are you going now?" asked Johnny. + +"Where I please." + +"Shore. I knowed that. That's where you want to go," grinned Johnny. +"But where do you want to go?" + +"Where I can't go now." + +"Ah, shut up! Come on. I'll go with you." + +"Well, I'm going east to tell th' fellers what Buck said." + +"Go ahead. I'm with you," Johnny said, wheeling. + +"I didn't ask you to come." + +"I didn't ask you to go," retorted Johnny. "Here," he said, holding +out a cigar and putting another in his mouth. "Have a smoke; they're +all right." + +"Where the devil did you get 'em?" + +"Up in Number Five." + +"In Number Five!" + +"Shore. Frenchy, th' son-o'-a-gun, had three of 'em hid over th' +windy," Johnny explained. "I hooked 'em." + +"So I reckoned; did you take 'em all?" + +"Was you going up?" + +"No; but did you?" + +"Well, I looked good, but I didn't see none to leave." + +"You wait till he finds it out," Hopalong warned. + +"He won't do nothing," assured Johnny, easily. "Anyhow, yo're as +guilty as me. He ain't got no right to cache cigars when we can't get +to town for any. Besides, he's afraid of me." + +"Scared of you! Oh, Lord, that's good!" + +"Quit fooling an' get started," Johnny said, kicking his friend's +horse. + +"You behave, or I'll get that Greaser to lick you good," threatened +Hopalong as he quieted Red Eagle. + +"Huh! He don't like fights." + +"How do you know?" + +"Because my grub is his poison; get a-going." + +They cantered eastward, driving back Meeker's cows whenever they were +found too close to the line or over it, and it was not long before +they made out Lanky riding towards them. He had not yet seen them and +Johnny eagerly proposed that they prepare an ambush and scare him. + +"He don't scare, you fool," replied Hopalong. "A joke is a joke, but +there ain't no use getting shot at when you can't shoot back. No use +getting killed for a lark." + +"He might shoot, mightn't he," Johnny laughed. "I didn't think about +that." + +Lanky looked around, waved his hand and soon joined them. "I see yo're +taking care of th' Kid, Hopalong. Hullo, Kid." + +"Go to blazes!" snorted Johnny. + +"Has he been a good boy, Hoppy?" + +"No more'n usual. He's looking for Antonio." + +"_Again_?" asked Lanky, grinning. "Ain't you found him yet?" + +"Ah, go on. I'll find him when I want him," Johnny retorted. + +When Lanky had heard Buck's orders he frowned. + +"We'll hold it all right. Wait for Billy, he'll be along purty soon. I +left him chasing some cows." + +"Got yore saddle so it'll stay together for more'n ten minutes at a +time?" asked Johnny. + +"I bought Billy's old one," Lanky replied. "Got anything to say about +it?" + +Billy Williams, pessimist by nature and choice, rode up and joined +them and, laughing and joking, they rode towards the Peak, to see if +Buck had any further orders. But they had not gone far before Hopalong +stopped and thought. "You go on. I'll stay out here an' watch things." + +"I'm with you, Hoppy," Johnny offered. "You fellers go on; me an' +Hopalong'll take care of th' line out here." + +"All right," replied Lanky. "So long." + +A few minutes later Johnny turned in his saddle. "Hey, Billy!" he +shouted. + +"What?" + +"Has Lanky paid you for that saddle, yet?" + +"Shore; why?" + +"Oh, nothing. But yo're lucky." + +Billy turned and said something to Lanky and they cantered on their +way. + +"Hey, Hoppy; don't you tell Frenchy about them cigars," Johnny +suddenly remarked some time later. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +HOBBLE BURNS AND SLEEPERS + + +The western part of the Bar-20 ranch was poor range and but few cattle +were to be found on it until Big Coulee had been reached. This portion +of the ranch fed quite a large number of cattle, many of which were +outlaws, but because of the heavy work demanded on the more fertile +southern and eastern sections it was the custom with Buck to pay +little attention to the Big Coulee herds; if a man rode up there once +in a while he was satisfied. This time it was Skinny who was to look +over the condition of affairs around Number Two, which was not far +from Big Coulee. + +Detouring here and there he took his own time and followed the general +direction of the western line, and about four hours after he had +quitted the Peak he passed line house Number Two and shortly afterward +stopped on the rim of the coulee, a brush-grown depression of a score +of acres in extent, in which was a pond covering half an acre and fed +by springs on the bottom, its outlet being a deep gorge cut in the +soft stone. Half a mile from the pond the small stream disappeared in +the sand and was lost. + +He rode through the coulee without seeing a single cow and an +exploration lasting over an hour resulted no better. Beyond a bear +track or two among the berry bushes he saw no signs of animal life. +This did not disturb him because he took it for granted that the herds +had wandered back to where the grass was better. Stopping at the line +house to eat, he mounted and rode towards the hills to report to +Hopalong. + +Suddenly it struck him that he had seen no cow tracks in the mud +around the water hole and he began to hunt for cattle. Using Pete's +glasses constantly to sweep the plain for the missing herds, it was +not until he had reached a point half-way to the Peak that his search +was rewarded by seeing a calf far to the east of him. Watching it +until it stood out boldly to his sight he followed an impulse and rode +towards it to examine it at close range. + +Upon getting near it he saw that it bore the V notch of the H2 cut in +its ear, and that it was not branded. He thought it strange that an H2 +"sleeper" should be so far from home, without a mother to lead it +astray, and he roped it to look more closely at the notch. His opinion +was that it had been done very recently, for the cartilage had not yet +dried on the edges. Releasing the animal he mounted and started for +the line, muttering to himself. + +As he swung into the line trail he saw a lame cow limping around a +thicket and he spurred forward, roped and threw it, this time giving +no thought to the ears, for its brand was that of the Bar-20. He +looked at the hocks and found them swollen and inflamed, and his +experience told him that it had been done by hobbles. This, to him, +explained why the calf was alone, and it gave him the choice of two +explanations for the hobbling and the newly cut ear notch on the calf. +Either the H2 was sleepering Bar-20 calves for their irons later on, +or rustlers were at work. It seemed incredible that any H2 puncher +should come that distance to make a few sleepers--but the herd had not +been to the water hole! He was greatly wrought up and it was none the +more pleasant to be unable to say where the blame lay. There was only +one thing to do and that was to scout around and try to find a clue to +the perpetrators--and, perhaps, catch the thieves at work. This proved +to be unfruitful until he came to North Hill, where he found a cow +dead from gunshot. He put spurs to his horse and rode straight for the +Peak, which he reached as night fell and as Hopalong, Red, Pete, and +Lanky were eating supper and debating the line conditions. + +Skinny joined them and listened to the conversation, wordless, nodding +or shaking his head at the points made. When he had finished eating he +leaned back against his saddle and fumbled for tobacco and pipe, +gazing reflectively into the fire, at which he spat. Hopalong turned +in time to see the act and, knowing Skinny's peculiarities, asked +abruptly: "What's on yore mind, Skinny?" + +"Little piece of h--l," was the slow reply, and it gained the +attention of the others at once. "I saw a H2 sleeper, up just above +th' Bend and half way between it an' th' line." + +"That so!" exclaimed Hopalong. + +"Long way from home--starting in young to ramble," Red laughed. "Lazy +trick, that sleepering." + +"This here calf had a brand new V--hadn't healed yet," Skinny +remarked, lighting his pipe. "An' it didn't--_puff_--have +no--_puff_--mother," he added, significantly. + +"Huh, weaned, you chump--but that fresh V is shore funny." + +"Go on, Skinny," ordered Hopalong, eagerly. + +"I found its mother an hour later--hobble-burned an' limping; an' it +wasn't no H2 cow, neither; it was one of ourn." + +"Rustling!" cried Hopalong. + +"Th' H2 is doing it," contradicted Red, quickly. + +"They wouldn't take a chance like that," replied Hopalong. + +"There ain't no rule for taking chances," Red rejoined. "Some men'll +gamble with h--l itself--you, for instance, in gun-play." + +"What else?" demanded Hopalong of Skinny. + +"That Big Coulee herd ain't up there, an' hain't been near th' water +hole for so long th' mud's smooth around the edges of th' pond; kin +savvy?" + +"It's rustlers, by G-d!" cried Hopalong, looking triumphantly at Red. + +"An' I found a dead cow--shot--on th' upper end of North Hill," Skinny +added. + +"H2!" Red shouted. "They're doing it!" + +"Yes, likely; it was an H2 cow," Skinny placidly explained. + +"Why in h--l can't you tell things in a herd, 'stead of stringin' 'em +out like a stiff reata trailing to soften!" Red cried. "Yo're the +damndest talker that ever opened a mouth!" + +Skinny took the pipe from his mouth and looked at Red. + +"I allus get it all out, don't I? What are you kicking about?" + +"Yes, you do; like a five thousand herd filtering through a two-foot +gate!" + +"Mebby th' herd drifted to th' valley," Pete offered. + +"Mebby nothing!" Red retorted. "Why, we can't drive 'em down here +without 'em acting loco about it." + +"Cows are shore fool animals," Pete suggested in defence. + +"There's more than cows that are fool animals," Red snapped, while +Skinny laughed to see Pete get his share. + + * * * * * + +Sixteen miles to the southeast of the Peak, Meeker sat on a soap box +and listened, with the rest of his outfit, to what Curley was +saying,--"an' when I got down a good ways south I found two young +calves bellering for their maws. They was sleepers; an' an hour later +I found them same maws bellering for them calves--they was limping +a-plenty an' their hocks looked burned--hobble burns." + +Meeker mused for a moment and then arose. "You ride that range +regular, an' be cautious. Watch towards Eagle. If you catch any +sons-of-skunks gamboling reckless, an' they can't explain why they are +flitting over our range, shoot off yore gun accidental--there won't be +no inquest." + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +HOPALONG GROWS SUSPICIOUS + + +The eastern sky grew brighter and the dim morning light showed a group +of men at breakfast on the Peak. They already had been given their +orders and as soon as each man finished eating he strode off to where +his horse was picketed with the others, mounted, and rode away. Pete +had ridden in late the night before and was still sleeping in the +house, Hopalong not wishing to awaken him until it was absolutely +necessary. + +Red Connors, riding back to the house from the horse herd, drew rein +for a final word. "I'm going out to watch that unholy drift of +Meeker's cows, just this side of th' half-way point. They was purty +thick last night when I rode in. I told Johnny to keep on that part of +th' line, for I reckon things will get too crowded for one man to +handle. Th' two of us can take care of 'em, all right. You knows where +you can find us if you need us." + +"I don't like that drift, but I'll stay here an' give Pete an hour +more sleep," Hopalong replied. "Buck didn't know just when he'd be +down again, but I'm looking for him before noon, just th' same." + +"Well, me an' Johnny'll stop th' drift. So long," and Red cantered +away, whistling softly. + +Hopalong kicked out the fire and walked restlessly around the plateau, +puzzled by the massing of the H2 cows along the line. The play was +obvious enough on its face, for it meant that Meeker, tired of +inaction, had decided to force the issue by driving into the valley. +But Hopalong, suspicious to a degree, was not satisfied with that +solution. + +On more than one occasion he had searched past the obvious and found +deeper motives, and to this ferment of thought he owed his life many +times. He, himself, essentially a schemer and trusting no one but the +members of his outfit, accused others of scheming and bent his mind to +outwit them. Buck often irritated him greatly, for the foreman, +optimistic and believing all men honest until they proved to be +otherwise, held that Meeker thought himself to be in the right and so +was justified in his attempt to use the valley. Hopalong believed that +Meeker was not square, that he knew he had no right to the valley and +was trying to steal range; he maintained that the wiser way was to +believe all men crooked and put the burden on them of proving +otherwise; then he was prepared for anything. + +A better cow-man than Buck Peters never lived; he knew the cattle +industry thoroughly, was honest, fair, and fearless, maintained an +even temper and tried to avoid fighting until the last ditch had been +reached. But it was an indisputable fact that Hopalong Cassidy had +proved himself to be the best man on the ranch when danger threatened. +He grasped situations quickly and clearly and his companions looked to +him for suggestions when the sky was clouded by impending conflict. +Buck realized that his line-foreman was eminently better qualified to +handle the skirmish line than himself, that Hopalong could carry out +things which would fall flat if any one else attempted them. Back of +Buck's confidence was the pleasing knowledge that no man had ever yet +got in the first shot against Hopalong on an "even break," and that +when his puncher's gun exploded it was all over; this is why Hopalong +could, single-handed, win out in any reasonable situation. + +While Hopalong turned the matter over in his mind he thought he saw a +figure move among the chaparrals far to the south and he whipped out +his glasses, peering long and steadily at the place. Then he put them +away and laughed softly. "You can't fool me, by G-d! I'll let you make +yore play--an' if Pete don't kill a few of you I'm a liar. Here are +th' shells--pick out th' pea." + +Returning to the house he shook Pete. "Hey, get up!" + +Pete bounded up, wide awake in an instant. "Yes?" + +"Put on yore clothes an' come outside a minute," he ordered, going +out. + +Pete finished buttoning his vest when he joined his friend, who was +pointing south. "Pete, they're playing for this house, an' I can't +stay--Red an' Johnny may need me any minute. Down there a Greaser is +watching this house. Meeker is massing his cows along th' line for two +reasons; he's trying to draw us away from here so he can get in, an' +he's going to push over th' line if he falls down here. You stay in +that shack. Don't leave it for a second, understand? Stop anybody that +comes up here if you have to kill him. But don't leave this house for +nothing, savvy?" + +"Go ahead. I savvy." + +Hopalong vaulted to his saddle and started away. "I'll get somebody to +help you as soon as I can," he called. + +"Don't need anybody!" Pete shouted, going inside and barring the door. + +Hopalong was elated by the way he had forestalled Meeker, and also +because it was Pete who guarded the house. He knew his companions only +as a man can know friends with whom he has lived for nearly a score of +years. Red was too good a fighter to be cooped up while trouble +threatened in the open; Johnny, rash and hot-tempered, could be +tempted to leave the house to indulge in personal combat if taunted +enough, and he, too, was too good a man in a _melee_ to remain on the +Peak. The man for the house was Pete, for he was accurate enough for +that short range, he was unemotional and did not do much thinking for +himself when it ran counter to his instructions; he had been told to +stay in the house and hold it, and that, Hopalong felt certain, he +would do. + +"Pete'll hold 'em with one leg in th' air if they happen to be taking +a step when he sees 'em," he laughed. + +But Pete was to be confronted with a situation so unexpected and of +such a nature that for once in his life he was going to forget +orders--and small blame to him. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +THE COMPROMISE + + +It was night and on the H2 sickly, yellow lights gleamed from the +ranch houses. From the bunk house came occasional bursts of song, the +swinging choruses thundering out on the night air, deep-toned and +strong. In the foreman's quarters the clatter of dishes was soon +stilled and shortly afterward the light in the kitchen could be seen +no more. A girl stood in the kitchen door for a moment and then, +singing, went inside and the door closed. The strumming of a guitar +and much laughter came from Antonio's shack, for now he had Juan and +Sanchez to help him pass the time. + +Meeker emerged from a corral, glanced above him for signs of the +morrow's weather, and then stood and gazed at the Mexican's shack. +Turning abruptly on his heel he strode to the bunk house and smiled +grimly as the chorus roared out, for he had determined upon measures +which might easily change the merriment to mourning before another day +passed. He had made up his mind to remain inactive no longer, but to +put things to the test--his outfit and himself against the Bar-20. + +He entered the building and slamming the door shut behind him, waited +until the chorus was finished. When the last note died away he issued +his orders for the next day, orders which pleased his men, who had +chafed even more than he under the galling inaction, since they did +not thoroughly understand the reasons for it. + +"I had them cows herded up north for th' last three days so they'd be +ready for us when we wanted 'em," he said, and then leaped at the door +and jerked it open, peering about outside. The guitar was still +strumming in the Mexican's shack and he recognized the voices of three +in the singing. Turning, he beckoned Doc Riley to him and the two +stepped outside, closing the door behind them. Great noise broke out +within the house as his orders were repeated and commented on. Meeker +and Doc moved to the corner of the building and consulted earnestly +for several minutes, the foreman gesticulating slowly. + +"But Juan said they had a man to guard it," Doc replied. + +"Yes; he told me," Meeker responded. "I'm going to fix that before I +go to bed--we've got to coax him out on some excuse. Once we get him +out of th' house we can cover him, an' th' rest'll be easy. I won't be +able to be with you--I'll have to stay outside where I can move around +an' look out for th' line trouble, an' where they can see me. But you +an' Jack can hold it once you get in. By G-d, you _must_ get in, an' +you _must_ hold it!" + +"We'll do it if it's possible." + +"That's th' way to talk. Th' boys seem pleased about it," Meeker +laughed, listening to the joy loose in the house. + +"Pleased! They're tickled plumb to death," Doc cried. "They've got so +sore about having to keep their guns quiet that when they cut +loose--well, something's due to happen." + +"I don't want that if there's any other way," Meeker replied +earnestly. "If this thing can be done without wholesale slaughter +we've got to do it that way. Remember, Doc, this whole country is +backing Peters. He's got thirteen men now, an' he can call on thirty +more in two days. Easy is th' way, easy." + +"I'll spend th' next hour pounding that into their hot heads," Doc +replied. "They're itching for a chance to square up for everything. +They're some sore, been so for a couple of days, about that line house +being guarded--they get sore plumb easy now, you know." + +"Well, good-night, Doc." + +"Good-night, Jim." + +Meeker went towards his own house and as he neared the kitchen door a +deep-throated wolf-hound bayed from the kennels, inciting a clamorous +chorus from the others. Meeker shouted and the noise changed to low, +deep, rumbling growls which soon became hushed. Chains rattled over +wood and the fierce animals returned to their grass beds to snarl at +each other. The frightened crickets took up their song again and +poured it on the silence of the night. + +The foreman opened the door and strode through the kitchen and into +the living room, his eyes squinting momentarily because of the light. +His daughter was sitting in a rocking chair, sewing industriously, and +she looked up, welcoming him. He replied to her and, dexterously +tossing his sombrero on a peg in the wall where it caught and hung +swinging, walked heavily to the southern window and stood before it, +hands clasped behind his back, staring moodily into the star-stabbed +darkness. Down the wind came the faint, wailing howl of a wolf, +quavering and distant, and the hounds again shattered the peaceful +quiet. But he heard neither, so absorbed was he by his thoughts. Mary +looked at him for a moment and then took up her work again and resumed +sewing, for he had done this before when things had gone wrong, and +frequently of late. + +He turned suddenly and in response to the movement she looked up, +again laying her sewing aside. "What it is?" she asked. + +"Trouble, Mary. I want to talk to you." + +"I'm always ready to listen, Daddy," she replied. "I wish you wouldn't +worry so. That's all you've done since we left Montana." + +"I know; but I can't help it," he responded, smiling faintly. "But I +don't care much as long as I've got you to talk it over with. Yo're +like yore mother that way, Mary; she allus made things easy, somehow. +An' she knew more'n most women do about things." + +"Yo're my own Daddy," she replied affectionately. "Now tell me all +about it." + +"Well," he began, sitting on the table, "I'm being cheated out of my +rights. I find lines where none exist. I'm hemmed in from water, th' +best grazing is held from me, my cows are driven helter-skelter, my +pride hurt, an' my men mocked. When I say I must have water I'm told +to go to th' river for it, twenty miles from my main range, an' lined +with quicksands; an' yet there is water close to me, water enough for +double th' number of cows of both ranches! It is good, clean water, +unfailing an' over a firm bottom, flowing through thirty miles of th' +best grass valley in this whole sun-cursed section. Two hundred miles +in any direction won't show another as good. An' yet, I dassn't set my +foot in it--I can't drive a cow across that line!" + +He paused and then continued: "I'm good an' sick of it all. I ain't +going to swaller it no longer, not a day. Peace is all right, but not +at th' price I'm paying! I'd ruther die fighting for what's mine than +put up with what I have since I came down here." + +"What are you going to do?" she asked quietly. + +"I'm going to have a force on that line by to-morrow night!" he cried, +gradually working himself into a temper. "_I'm_ going to hold them +hills, an' th' springs at th' bottom of 'em. _I'm_ going to use that +valley an' I'll fight until th' last man goes under!" + +"Don't say that, Daddy," she quickly objected. "There ain't no line +worth yore life. What good will it do you when yo're dead? You can get +along without it if it comes to that. An' what'll happen to me if you +get killed?" + +"No, girl," he replied. "You've held me back too long. I should 'a +struck in th' beginning, before they got so set. It would 'a been +easier then. I don't like range wars any more'n anybody, but it's +come, an' I've got to hold up my end--an' my head!" + +"But th' agreement?" she queried, fearful for his safety. She loved +her father with all her heart, for he had been more than a father to +her; he had always confided in her and weighed her judgment; they had +been companions since her mother died, which was almost beyond her +memory; and now he would risk his life in a range war, a vindictive, +unmerciful conflict which usually died out when the last opponent +died--and perhaps he was in the wrong. She knew the fighting ability +of that shaggy, tight-lipped breed of men that mocked Death with +derisive, profane words, who jibed whether in _melee_ or duel with as +light hearts as if engaged in nothing more dangerous than dancing. And +she had heard, even in Montana, of the fighting qualities of the +outfit that rode range for the Bar-20. If they must be fought, then +let it be for the right principles and not otherwise. And there was +Hopalong!--she knew in her heart that she loved him, and feared it and +fought it, but it was true; and he was the active leader of his +outfit, the man who was almost the foreman, and who would be in the +thickest of the fighting. She didn't purpose to have him killed if he +was in the right, or in the wrong, either. + +"Agreement!" he cried, hotly. "Agreement! I hear that every time I say +anything to that crowd, an' now you give it to me! Agreement be +d----d! Nason never said nothing about any agreement when he told me +he had found a ranch for me. He wouldn't 'a dealt me a hand like that, +one that'd give me th' worst of it in a show-down! He found out all +about everything before he turned over my check to 'em." + +"But they say there is one, an' from th' way they act it looks that +way." + +"I don't believe anything of th' sort! It's just a trick to hog that +grass an' water!" + +"Hopalong Cassidy told me there was one--he told me all about it. He +was a witness." + +"Hopalong h--l!" he cried, remembering the day that Doc had been shot, +and certain hints which Antonio had let fall. + +"Father!" she exclaimed, her eyes flashing. + +"Oh, don't mind me," he replied. "I don't know what I'm saying half +th' time. I'm all mixed up, now-a-days." + +"I believe he was telling the truth--he wouldn't lie to me," she +remarked, decisively. + +He looked at her sharply. "Well, am I to be tied down by something I +don't know about? Am I to swaller everything I hear? _I_ don't know +about no agreement, except what th' Bar-20 tells me. An' if there was +one it was made by th' Three Triangle, wasn't it?--an' not by Nason or +me? Am I th' Three Triangle? Am I to walk th' line on something I +didn't make? _I_ didn't make it!--oh, I'm tired arguing about it." + +"Well, even if there wasn't no agreement you can't blame them for +trying to keep their land, can you?" she asked, idly fingering her +sewing. "The land is theirs, ain't it?" + +"Did you ever hear of free grass an' free water?" + +"I never heard of nothing else till I came down here," she admitted. +"But it may be different here." + +"Well, it ain't different!" he retorted. "An' if it is it won't stay +so. What goes in Montanny will go down here. Anyhow, I don't want +their land--all I want is th' use of it, same as they have. But +they're hogs, an' want it all." + +"They say it ain't big enough for their herds." + +"Thirty-five miles long, and five miles wide, in th' valley alone, an' +it ain't big enough! Don't talk to me like that! You know better." + +"I'm only trying to show it to you in every light," she responded. +"Mebby yo're right, an' mebby you ain't; that's what we've got to find +out. I don't want to think of you fightin', 'specially if yo're wrong. +Suppose yo're killed,--an' you might be. Ain't there some other way to +get what you want, if yo're determined to go ahead?" + +"Yes, I might be killed, but I won't go alone!" he cried savagely. +"Fifty years, man an' boy, I've lived on th' range, taking every kick +of fortune, riding hard an' fightin' hard when I had to. I ain't no +yearling at any game about cows, girl." + +"But can't you think of some other way?" she repeated. + +"I've got to get that line house on th' hill," he went on, not +heeding her question. "Juan told me three days ago, that they've put a +guard in it now--but I'll have it by noon to-morrow, for I've been +thinking hard since then. An' once in it, they can't take it from me! +With that in my hands I can laugh at 'em, for I can drive my cows over +th' line close by it, down th' other side of th' hill, an' into th' +valley near th' springs. They'll be under my guns in th' line house, +an' let anybody try to drive 'em out again! Two men can hold that +house--it was built for defence against Indians. Th' top of th' hill +is level as a floor an' only two hundred yards to th' edge. Nobody can +cross that space under fire an' live." + +"If they can't cross it an' live, how can _you_ cross it, when th' +house is guarded? An' when th' first shot is fired you'll have th' +whole outfit down on you from behind like wild fire. Then what'll you +do? You can't fight between two fires." + +"By G-d, yo're right! Yo're th' brains of this ranch," he cried, his +eyes squinting to hide his elation. He paced back and forth, thinking +deeply. Five minutes passed, then ten, and he suddenly turned and +faced her, to unfold the plan he had worked out the day before. He had +been leading up to it and now he knew how to propose it. "I've got it. +I've got it! Not a shot, not a single shot!" + +"Tell me," she said smiling. + +He slowly unfolded it, telling her of the herds waiting to be driven +across the line to draw the Bar-20 men from the Peak, and of the part +she was to play. She listened quietly, a troubled frown on her face, +and when he had finished and asked her what she thought of it she +looked at him earnestly and slowly replied: + +"Do you think that's fair? Do you want _me_ to do that?" + +"What's unfair about it? They're yore enemies as much as they are +mine, ain't they? Ain't everything fair in love an' war, as th' books +say?" + +"In war, perhaps; but not in love," she replied in a low voice, +thinking of the man who wore her flower. + +"Now look here!" he cried, leaning forward. "Don't you go an' get soft +on any of that crowd! Do you hear?" + +"We won't mix love an' war, Daddy," she said, decisively. "You take +care of yore end, that's war; an' let me run my part. I'll do what I +want to when it comes to falling in love; an' I'll help you to-morrow. +I don't want to do it, but I will; you've got to have th' line house, +an' without getting between two fires. I'll do it, Daddy." + +"Good girl! Yo're just like yore mother--all grit!" he cried, going +towards the door. "An' I reckon I won't have to take no hand in _yore_ +courting," he said, grabbing his sombrero. "Yo're shore able to run +yore own." + +"But _promise_ me you won't interfere," she said, calmly, hiding her +triumph. + +"It's a go. I'll keep away from th' sparking game," he promised. "I'm +going out to see th' boys for a minute," and the door slammed, +inciting the clamor of the kennels again, which he again hushed. +"D--n 'em!" he muttered, exultantly. "They tried to hog th' range, an' +then they want my girl! But they _won't_ hog th' range no more, an' +I'll put a stop to th' courting when she plays her cards to-morrow, +an' without having any hand in it. Lord, I win, every trick!" he +laughed. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +ANTONIO MEETS FRIENDS + + +Before daylight the next morning Antonio left the ranch and rode +south, bearing slightly to the west, so as not to leave his trail in +Curley's path. He was to meet some of Shaw's men who would come for +more cattle. When a dozen miles southwest of the ranch house he espied +them at work on the edge of an arroyo. They had a fire going and were +re-branding a calf. Far out on the plain was a dead cow, the calf's +mother, shot because they had become angered by its belligerency when +it had gone "on th' prod." They had driven cow and calf hard and when +they tried to separate the two the mother had charged viciously, +narrowly missing one of them, to die by a shot from the man most +concerned. Meanwhile the calf had run back over its trail and they had +roped it as it was about to plunge over the bank of the arroyo. + +"You fools!" yelled Antonio, galloping towards them. "Don't you know +better'n to blot on this range! How many times have I told you that +Curley rides south!" + +"He never gets this far west--we've watched him," retorted Clausen, +angrily. + +"Is that any reason why he can't!" demanded the Mexican. "How do we +know what he'll do?" + +"Yes!" rejoined Clausen. "An' I reckon he can find that steep-bank +hollow with th' rope gate, can't he? Suppose he finds th' herds you +holds in it for us--what then?" + +"It's a whole lot farther west than here!" retorted Antonio, hotly. +"They never go to Little Muddy, an' if they do, that's a chance we've +got to take. But you can wait till you get to th' mesa before you +change brands, can't you!" + +"Aw, close yore pie-sump!" cried Frisco. "Who th' devil is doing this, +anyhow? You make more noise than Cheyenne on th' Fourth of July!" + +"What right have you fellers got to take chances an' hobble _me_ with +trouble?" + +"Who's been doing all th' sleepering, hey?" sarcastically demanded +Dick Archer. "Let Meeker's gang see the God-forsaken bunch of sleepers +running on their range an' you'll be hobbled with trouble, all right." + +Through laziness, carelessness, or haste calves might not be branded +when found with branded cows. Feeling was strong against the use of +the "running iron," a straight iron rod about eighteen inches long +which was heated and used as a pencil on the calf's hide, and a man +caught with one in his possession could expect to be dealt with +harshly; it was a very easy task to light a fire and "run" a brand, +and the running iron was easily concealed under the saddle flap. But +it was not often that a puncher would carry a stamping iron, for it +was cumbersome. With a running iron a brand could be changed, or the +wrong mark put on unbranded cattle; but the stamping iron would give +only one pattern. + +When a puncher came across an unbranded calf with its branded mother, +and the number which escaped the roundup was often large, he branded +it, if he had an iron; if he did not have the iron he might cut the +calf's ears to conform to the notch in its mother's ears. When the +calf was again seen it might have attained its full growth. In that +case there was no branded mother to show to whom it belonged; but its +cut ears would tell. + +These unbranded, ear-cut calves were known as "sleepers" and, in +localities where cattle stealing was being or had been carried on to +any extent, such sleepering was regarded with strong suspicion, and +more than one man had paid a dear price for doing the work. + +The ear mark of the H2 was a V, while the Bar-20 depended entirely on +the brand, and part of its punchers' saddle equipment was a stamping +iron. + +Cowmen held sleepering in strong disfavor because it was an easy +matter for a maverick hunter or a rustler to drive off these sleepers +and, after altering the ear cut, to brand them with his own or some +strange brand; and it was easy to make sleepers. + +In the case of rustling the separation of branded calves and mothers +was imperative, for should any one see a cow of one brand with a calf +of another, it was very probable that a committee of discretionary +powers would look into the matter. Hobbling and laming mothers and +then driving away the calves were not the only ways of separating them +and of weaning the calves, for a shot was often as good a way as any; +but as dead cows, if found, were certain to tell the true story, this +was not generally employed. + +"Yes," laughed Frisco. "What about th' sleepers?" + +They were discreetly silent about the cow they had killed, for they +were ashamed of having left such a sign; but they would not stand +Antonio's scorn and anger, and that of the other members of the band, +and so said nothing about it. + +"Where's th' mother of this calf?" demanded the Mexican, not heeding +the remarks about sleepers. + +"Hanged if I know," replied Clausen, easily; "an' hanged if I care--we +can leave _one_ cow, I reckon." + +"Got many for us this time?" asked Archer as they rode west, driving +before them the newly branded calf. + +"Not many," replied Antonio. "It's risky, with Curley loose. We won't +be able to do much till th' fighting starts." + +When they reached their destination they came to a deep, steep-walled +depression, exit from which was had at only one end where a narrow +trail wound up to the plain. Across this trail at its narrowest point +was stretched a lariat. + +The depression itself was some ten acres in extent and was well +covered with grass, while near the southwest corner was a muddy pool +providing water for the herd which was now held captive. + +Clausen rode down and removed the rope, riding into the basin to +hasten the egress of the herd. When the last cow had scrambled out and +joined its fellows, Archer and Frisco drove them west, leaving Clausen +to say a few final words with Antonio before joining them. + +"How's th' range war coming on?" + +"Fine!" laughed Antonio. "Meeker's going to attack th' line house on +th' Peak, though what good it'll do him is more than I can figure out. +I put it in his head because it'll start th' fight. I had to grin when +I heard Meeker and Doc planning it last night--they're easy." + +"Gee!" laughed Clausen. "It's a stiff play. Who's going to win? +Meeker?" + +"Meeker's going to get th' licking of his life. I know that Bar-20 +gang, every one. I've lived down here for some time, an' I know what +they've done. Don't never get in a six-shooter argument with that +feller Cassidy; an' if his friend Connors tells you to stop under +eight hundred yards, you do it, an' trust to yore tongue, or Colt. +He's th' devil hisself with a Winchester." + +"Much obliged--but I ain't so bad that way myself. Well, I'm going to +ooze west. Got any word for Shaw?" + +"I'll send word by Benito--I'll know more about it to-morrow." + +"All right," and Clausen was being jerked over the scenery by his +impatient mount. + +Antonio wheeled and rode at a gallop, anxious to be found on northern +range, and eager to learn the result of his foreman's attack. + + * * * * * + +"Salem," once a harpooner on a whaling vessel, now cook for the H2, +drove home from Eagle in the chuck wagon, which contained food +supplies for his ranch. He was in that state hovering between tears +and song, which accounts for the winding trail his wagon wheels left, +and also for him being late. He had tarried in Eagle longer than he +should have, for he was reluctant to quit the society of his several +newly made friends, who so pleasantly allowed him to "buy" for them. +When he realized how the time had flown and that his outfit would be +clamoring for the noonday meal, such clamoring being spicy and +personal in its expression, he left the river trail before he should +and essayed a shorter way home, chanting a sea song. + + A pirate bold, on th' Spanish Main-- + Set sail, yo-ho, an' away we go-- + +"Starboard yore helm, you lubbers!" he shouted when the horses headed +towards Mexico. Then he saw a large bulk lying on the sand a short +distance ahead and he sat bolt upright. + +"There she blows! No, blast me, it's a dead cow!" + +He drove closer to it and, stopping the team, staggered over to see +what had killed it. + +"D--n me, if it ain't shot in th' port eye!" he ejaculated. "If I find +the lubber what's sinkin' our cows, I'll send him to Davy Jones' +locker!" + +He returned to the wagon and steered nor' by nor' east, once more +certain of his bearings, for he knew the locality now, and sometime +later he saw Curley riding towards him. + +"Ahoy!" he yelled. "Ahoy, you wind-jammer!" + +"What's eating you? Why are you so late?" demanded Curley, +approaching. "You needn't say--I know." + +"Foller my wake an' you'll see a dead cow," cried Salem. "Deader'n +dead, too! Shot in th' starboard--no, was it starboard? Now, d----d if +I know--reckon it was in th' port eye, though I didn't see no port +light; aye, 'twas in th' port--" + +"What in h--l do I care what eye it was!" shouted Curley. "Where is +it?" + +"Eight knots astern. Shot in th' port eye, an', as I said, deader'n +dead. Flew our flag, too." + +Curley, believing that the cook had seen what he claimed, wheeled +abruptly and galloped away to report it to Meeker. + +"Hey! Ain't you going to _see_ it?" yelled Salem, and as he received +no reply, turned to his team. "Come on, weigh anchor! Think I want to +lay out here all night? 'A-sailing out of Salem town,--'" he began, +and then stopped short and thought. "I _knowed_ it!--it _was_ th' port +eye! Same side th' flag was on!" he exclaimed, triumphantly. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +THE FEINT + + +On the boundary line alert and eager punchers rode at a canter to and +fro, watching the herds to the south of them, and quick to turn back +all that strayed across the line. Just east of the middle point of the +boundary Red and Johnny met and compared notes, and both reported the +same state of affairs, which was that the cattle came constantly +nearer. + +Johnny removed his field glasses from his eyes. + +"There's punchers with that herd, Red. Three of 'em." + +"I reckoned so." + +"Wonder what they think they're going to do?" + +"We'll know purty soon." + +"They're coming this way." + +"If you had th' brains of a calf you'd know they wouldn't go south." + +"Think they're going to rush us?" Johnny asked, eagerly. + +"No; course not!" retorted Red. "They're going to make 'em stand on +their heads!" + +Johnny began to hum-- + + Joyous Joe got a juniper jag, + A-jogging out of Jaytown; + Joyous Joe got a juniper jag-- + +"We'll show that prickly pear from Montanny some fine points." + +"Now, look here, Kid; don't you let 'em get a cow across th' line. +Shoot every one, but keep yore eyes on th' gang." + +"'Joyous Joe got a juniper jag,--' Come on, you half-breeds!" + +"Wonder where Hopalong is?" Red asked. + +"Up on th' Peak, I reckon. _Hey_, Billy!" he yelled. "Here comes +Billy, Red." + +"I guessed as much when you yelled; if you don't yell away from my ear +next time I'll kick yore pants over yore hat. D----d idiot, you!" + +"Hullo, Billy," cried Johnny, ignoring Red's remarks. "Just in time +for th' pie. Where's Hopalong?" + +"In th' hills." + +"You get along an' tell him what's doing out here," ordered Red. "Go +lively!" + +"Reckon I'd better stay an' give you a hand; you'll need it before +long," Billy replied. + +"You know what Hopalong said, don't you?" blazed Red. "What do you +think me an' th' Kid are made of, anyhow? You go on, an' quick!" + +"Send Johnny," Billy suggested, hopefully. + +"Why, you coyote!" cried Johnny, excitedly. "Th' idea! You go on!" + +"Yo're a pair of hogs," grumbled Billy, riding off. "I'll get square, +someday. Hope they lick you!" + +"Run along, little boy," jeered Johnny. "Oh, gee! Here they come!" he +cried as Billy rode behind the chaparral. "Look at 'em!" + +"_Let_ 'em come!" cried Billy, returning. "We'll lick 'em!" + +"Get out of here!" shouted Red, drawing his Winchester from its +sheath. "For G-d's sake, do what yo're told! Want to let Meeker win +out?" + +"Nope; so long," and Billy galloped away. + +"That ain't a herd!" cried Johnny, elated. "That's only a handful. +It's a scrawny looking bunch, men an' all. Come on, you coyotes!" he +yelled, waving his rifle. + +"You chump; this ain't the real play--it's a blind, a wedge," Red +replied. "They're pushing a big one through somewhere else." + +"I'm shore glad Billy went, an' not me," Johnny remarked. + +"There's Morgan," Red remarked. "I know his riding." + +"Bet you won't know it when th' show's over. An' there's Chick, too. +He needs a licking. You won't know his riding, neither." + +The herd came rapidly forward and the men who were guarding it waved +their sombreros and urged it on. Red, knowing that he would be crowded +if he waited until the cows were upon him, threw his rifle to his +shoulder and began to shoot rapidly, and cow after cow dropped, and +the rush was stopped. Before the H2 men could get free from the +panic-stricken herd Red and Johnny were within a hundred yards of them +and when they looked up it was to see Red covering them, while Johnny, +pleased by the reduced range, was dropping more cows. + +"Stop!" Red shouted, angrily. + +"Huh!" exclaimed Johnny, looking up. "Oh, I thought you was talking to +me," he muttered, and then dropped another cow. + +"What in h--l do you think yo're doing?" yelled Morgan. + +"Just practising," retorted Johnny. He quickly swung his rifle on +Chick. "Hands up! No more of that!" + +"You've got gall, shooting our cows!" replied Chick. + +"Get 'em up, boy!" snapped Johnny, and Chick slowly raised his arms, +speaking rapidly. + +"What do you take us for!" shouted Ed Joyce, frantic at his +helplessness. + +"Coyotes," replied Red. "An' since coyotes don't ride, you get off'n +them cayuses, _pronto_." + +"Like h--l!" retorted Ed. + +Johnny's rifle cracked and Ed tumbled off his dead horse, and when he +arose the air was blue. + +"Nex' gent say 'I,'" called Johnny. + +"I'll be d----d if I'll stand for that!" yelled Morgan, reaching for +his gun. The next thing he knew was that the air was full of comets, +and that his horse was dead. + +Chick sullenly dismounted and stood watching Red, who was now in +vastly better spirits, since the H2 rifles were on the horses and too +far away from their owners to be of any use. The range was too great +for good revolver shooting even if they could get them into action. + +"Watch 'em," said Red, firing. Chick's horse, stung to frenzy by the +wound, kicked up its heels and bolted, leaving the three punchers +stranded ten miles from home. + +"Turn around an' hit th' back trail," ordered Red. "No back talk!" + +"I'll bust you wide open, someday, you red-headed wart!" threatened +Dan, shaking his fist at the grinning line man. "That's a h--l of a +thing to do, that is!" + +"Shut up an' go home. Ain't you got enough?" shouted Red. + +"Just wait, you half-breed!" yelled Ed Joyce. + +"That's two with th' waiting habit," laughed Johnny. + +"What do--" began Chick, stepping forward. + +"Shut up! Who told you to open yore face!" cried Red, savagely. "Get +home! G'wan!" + +"Walk, you coyotes, walk!" exulted Johnny. + +He and his companion watched the three angry punchers stride off +towards the H2 and then Red told Johnny to ride west while he, +himself, would go east to help his friends if they should need him. +They had just begun to separate when Johnny uttered a shout of joy. +Antonio had joined the trio of walkers and they were pulling him from +his horse. He waved his arms excitedly, but Chick had him covered. Dan +and Ed were already on the animal and they quickly pulled Chick up +behind them, narrowly watching the Mexican all the while. The horse +fought for some time and then started south, the riders shouting while +Antonio, still waving his arms, plodded homeward on foot. + +Great joy filled Johnny's heart as he gloated over the Mexican's +predicament. "Hoof it, you greasy snake! Kick up th' dust, you lazy +lizard!" + +"They can't get in th' game again for some time, till they get +cayuses," remarked Red. "That makes four less to deal with, counting +th' Greaser as a whole man." + +"Three an' a third," corrected his companion. "He acts like he had all +eternity to get nowhere--look at him! Let's go down an' rope him. He's +on th' prod now--we can have a lot of fun." + +"If I go down there it'll be to plug him good," Red replied. "You hang +around out here for a while. I'm goin' west--Pete's in that house +alone--so long, Kid." + +Johnny grinned a farewell to Antonio and followed instructions while +his friend rode towards the Peak to assist Pete, the lonely, who as it +happened, would be very glad to see him. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +PETE IS TRICKED + + +Pete Wilson grumbled, for he was tiring of his monotonous vigil, and +almost hoped the H2 would take the house because of the excitement +incident to its re-capture. At first his assignment had pleased, but +as hour after hour passed with growing weariness, he chafed more and +more and his temper grew constantly shorter. + +With the exception of smoking he had exhausted every means of passing +the time; he knew to a certainty how many bushes and large stones were +on the plateau, the ranges between him and distant objects, and other +things, and now he had to fall back on his pipe. + +"Wish some son-of-a-thief would zephyr up an' start something," he +muttered. "If I stays in this fly-corral much longer I'll go loco. A +couple of years back we wouldn't have waited ten minutes in a case +like this--we'd 'a chased that crowd off th' range quick. What's +getting into us has got me picking out th' festive pea, all right." + +He stopped at the east window and scrutinized the line as far as he +could see the dim, dusty, winding trail, hoping that some of the +outfit would come into sight. Then he slid the Sharps out of the +window and held it on an imaginary enemy, whom he pretended was going +to try to take the house. While he thought of caustic remarks, with +which to greet such a person, he saw the head of a horse push up into +view over the edge of the hill. + +Sudden hope surged through him and shocked him to action. He cocked +the rifle, the metallic clicks sweet to his ears. Then he saw the +rider, and it was--Mary Meeker. + +Astonishment and quick suspicion filled his mind and he held the +weapon ready to use on her escort, should she have one. Her horse +reared and plunged and, deciding that she was alone, and ashamed to be +covering a woman, he slid the gun back into the room, leaning it +against the wall close at his hand, not losing sight of the rider for +a moment. + +"Now, what th' devil is she doing up here, anyhow?" he puzzled, and +then a grin flickered across his face as the possible solution came to +him. "Mebby she wants Hopalong," he muttered, and added quickly, +"Purty as blazes, too!" And she did make a pretty picture even to his +scoffing and woman-hating mind. + +She was having trouble with her mount, due to the spurring it was +getting on the side farther from the watcher. It reared and plunged, +bucking sideways, up-and-down and fence-cornered, zig-zagging over the +ground forward and back, and then began to pitch "stiff-legged." +Pete's eyes glowed with the appreciation of a master rider and he was +filled with admiration, which soon became enthusiastic, over her +saddle-ease and cool mastery. She seemed to be a part of the horse. + +"She'd 'a been gone long ago if she was fool enough to sit one of them +side saddle contraptions," he mused. "A-straddle is th' only--_Good!_ +All right! Yo're a stayer!" he exclaimed as she stepped from one +stirrup and stood up in the other when the animal reared up on its +hind legs. + +He glanced out of the other windows of the house and fell to watching +her again, his face darkening as he saw that she appeared to be +tiring, while her mount grew steadily worse. Then she "touched +leather," and again and again. Her foot slipped from the stirrup, but +found it again, while she frantically clung to the saddle horn. + +"Four-legged devil!" Pete exclaimed. "Wish _I_ was on you, you ornery +dog! Hey! Don't you bite like that! Keep yore teeth away from that leg +or I'll blow yore d----d head off!" he cried wrathfully as the animal +bit viciously several times at the stirrup leather. "I'll whale th' +stuffin' outen you, you wall-eyed clay-bank! Yo're too bronc for _her_ +to ride, all right." + +Then, during another and more vicious fit of stiff-legged pitching the +rider held to the saddle horn with both hands, while her foot, again +out of the stirrup, sought for it in vain. She was rapidly losing her +grip on the saddle and suddenly she was thrown off, a cry reaching +Pete's ears. The victorious animal kicked several times and shook its +head vigorously in celebration of its freedom and then buck-jumped +across the plateau and out of sight down the hill, Pete strongly +tempted to stop its exuberance with a bullet. + +Pete glanced at the figure huddled in the dust and then, swearing +savagely and fearing the worst, threw down the bar and jerked open the +door and ran as rapidly as his awkward legs would take him to see what +he could do for her, his hand still grasping his rifle. As he knelt +beside her he remembered that he had been told not to leave the house +under any circumstances and he glanced over his shoulder, and just in +time to see a chap-covered leg disappear through the doorway. His +heart sank as the crash of the bar falling into place told him that he +had been unworthy of the trust his best friend had reposed in him. It +was plain enough, now, that he had been fooled, to understand it all +and to know that as he left the house one or more H2 punchers had +sprinted for it from the other side of the plateau. + +Red fury filled him in an instant and tearing the revolver from the +girl's belt he threw it away and then, grasping her with both hands, +he raised her up as though she weighed nothing and threw her over his +shoulder, sprinting for the protection of the hillside, which he +reached in a few bounds. Throwing her down as he would throw a bag of +flour he snarled at her as she arose and brushed her clothes. Years +ago in Pete's life a woman had outraged his love and trust and sent +him through a very hell of sorrow; and since then he had had no love +for the sex--only a bitter, scathing cynicism, which now found its +outlet in words. + +"Yo're a nice one, you are!" he yelled. "You've done yore part! Yo're +all alike, every d----d one of you--Judas wasn't no man, not by a +d----d sight! You know a man won't stand by an' see you hurt without +trying to help you--an' you play it against him!" + +She was about to retort, but smiled instead and went on with her +dusting. + +"Tickled, hey! Well, you watch an' see what _we_ do to coyotes! You'll +see what happens to line-thieves down here!" + +She looked up quickly and suspected that instead of averting a fight +she had precipitated one. Both Hopalong and her father were in as much +danger now as if she had taken no part in the trouble. + +Pete emptied his revolver into the air as rapidly as he could work the +hammer and hurriedly reloaded it, all the time watching his prisoner +and the top of the hill. Three quick reports, muffled by distance, +replied from Long Hill and he turned to her. + +"Now why don't you laugh?" he gritted savagely. He caught sight of her +horse grazing calmly further down the hill and his Sharps leaped to +his shoulder and crashed. The animal stiffened, erect for a moment, +and then sank slowly back on its quivering haunches and dropped. + +"_You_ won't pitch no more, d--n you!" he growled, reloading. + +Her eyes snapped with anger and she caught at her holster. "You +coward! You coward!" she cried, stamping her foot. "To kill that +horse, an' steal my gun--afraid of a woman!" she taunted. "Coward!" + +"I'll pull a snake's fangs rather than get bit by one, when I can't +shoot 'em!" he retorted, stung by her words. "You'll see how big a +coward I am purty soon--an' you'll stay right here an' see it, too!" + +"_I_ won't run away," she replied, sitting down and tucking her feet +under her skirts. "_I'm_ not afraid of a coward!" + +Another shot rang out just over the top of Stepping Stone Hill and he +replied to it. Far to the west a faint report was heard and Pete knew +that Skinny was roweling the lathered sides of his straining horse. +Yet another sounded flatly from the direction of the dam, the hills +multiplying it into a distant fusillade. + +"Hear 'em!" he demanded, fierce joy ringing in his voice. "Hear 'em! +You've kicked th' dynamite, all right--you'll smell th' smoke of yore +little squib clean down to yore ranch house!" + +"That's grand--yo're doing it fine," she laughed, strangling the fear +which crept slowly through her. "Go on--it's grand!" + +"It'll be a whole lot grander when th' boys get here an' find out +what's happened," he promised. "There'll be some funerals start out +from what's left of yore ranch house purty soon." + +"Ki-i-i-e-e-p! Ki-ip ki-ip!" came the hair-raising yell from the top +of Stepping Stone Hill, and Pete withheld the rest of his remarks to +reply to it in kind. Suddenly Red Connors, his quirt rising and +falling, bounded over the top of the hill and shot down the other side +at full speed. Close behind him came Billy Williams, who rode as +recklessly until his horse stepped into a hole and went down, throwing +him forward like a shot out of a catapult. He rolled down the hill +some distance before he could check his impetus and then, scrambling +to his feet, drew his Colt and put his broken-legged mount out of its +misery before hobbling on again. + +Red slid to a stand and leaped to the ground, his eyes on the woman, +but his first thought was for the house. "What's th' matter? Why ain't +you in that shack? Didn't Hopalong tell you to hold it?" he demanded. +Turning to Mary Meeker he frowned. "What are you doing up here? Don't +you know this ain't no place for you to-day?" + +Pete grasped his shoulder and swung him around so sharply that he +nearly lost his balance, crying: "Don't talk to her, she's a d----d +snake!" + +Red's hand moved towards his holster and then stopped, for it was a +friend who spoke. "What do you mean, d--n you? Who's a snake? What's +wrong here, anyhow?" + +Billy limped up and stood amazed at the strange scene, for besides the +presence of the woman, his friends were quarrelling and he had never +seen that before. Seeing Mary look at him he flushed and sneaked off +his sombrero, ashamed because he had forgotten it. + +Pete swiftly related all that had occurred, and ended with another +curse flung at his prisoner, who looked him over with a keen, critical +glance and then smiled contemptuously. + +"That's a fine note!" Red cried, his sombrero also coming off. He +looked at Mary and saw no fear in her face, no sign of any weakness, +but rather a grimness in the firmness of her lips and a battling light +in her eyes, which gained her immunity from his tongue, for he admired +grit. "Here, you, stop that cussing! You can't cuss no woman while I'm +around!" he cried hotly. "Hopalong'll break you wide open if he hears +you. Cussing won't do no good; what we want is thinking, an' +fighting!" Catching sight of Billy, who looked self-conscious and a +little uncomfortable, he cried: "An' what's th' matter with you?" + +Billy jerked his thumb over his shoulder in the direction of the dead +horse and Red, following the motion, knew. "By th' Lord, you got off +easy! Pete, you watch yore prisoner; keep her out of danger, an' +there'll be lots of it purty soon. We'll get th' house for you." + +"Send up to Cowan's saloon; he had some dynamite, an' if we can get +any we can blow them sneaks off th' face of th' earth," Pete +exclaimed, his anger and shame urging him against his better nature. +"Go ahead. I'll take th' chances using th' stuff--I lost th' house." + +The pathetic note of self-condemnation in his last words stopped Red's +reprimand and he said, instead: "We'll talk about that later. But +don't you lose no sleep--they can't hold it, dynamite or no dynamite. +We'll have it before sundown." + +Dynamite! Mary caught her breath and sudden fear gripped her heart. +Dynamite! And two men were in the house, Doc Riley and Jack Curtis, +men who would not be there if she had not made it possible for +them--she was responsible. + +"Here comes Skinny!" cried Billy, waving his arm. + +"An' here's Hopalong!" joyously cried Pete, elated, for he pinned his +faith in his line-foreman's ability to get out of any kind of a hole, +no matter how deep and wide. "Now things 'll happen! We're going to +get busy _now_, all right!" + +The two arrived at the same instant and both asked the same question. +Then Hopalong saw Mary and he was at her side in a trice. + +"Hullo! What are _you_ doing up here?" he cried in astonishment. + +"I'm a prisoner--of _that_!" she replied, pointing at Pete. + +Hopalong wheeled. "What! What have you been doing to her? Why ain't +you in th' house, where you belongs?" + +Pete told him, briefly, and he turned to the prisoner, a smile of +admiration struggling to get through his frown. She looked at him +bravely, for now was the crisis, which she had feared, and welcomed. + +"By th' Lord!" he cried, softly. "Yo're a thoroughbred, a fighter from +start to finish. But you shouldn't come up here to-day; there's no +telling, sometimes, where bullets go after they start." Turning, he +said, "Pete, you chump, stay on this side of th' hill an' watch th' +house. Billy, lay so you can watch th' door. Red, come with me. An' if +anybody gets a shot at them range stealers, shoot to kill. Understand? +Shoot to kill--it's time." + +"Dynamite?" queried Pete, hopefully. "I'll use it. Cowan--" + +Hopalong stared. "Dynamite! Dynamite! We ain't fighting 'em that way, +even if they are coyotes. You go an' do what I told you." + +"Yes, but--" + +"Shut up!" snapped Hopalong. "I know how you feel _now_, but you'll +think different to-morrow." + +"Let's swap th' girl for th' house," suggested Skinny, grinning. "It's +a shore cinch," he added, winking at Billy, who laughed. + +Hopalong wheeled to retort, caught Skinny's eye closing, and laughed +instead. "I reckon that would work all right, Skinny. It'd be a good +joke on 'em to take th' house back with th' same card they got it by. +But this ain't no time for joking. Pete, you better stay here an' +watch th' window on this side; Billy, take th' window on th' south +side. Skinny can go around west an' Red'll take th' door. They won't +be so joyous after they get what's coming their way. This ain't no +picnic; shoot to kill. We've been peaceful too blamed long!" + +"That's th' way to talk!" cried Pete. "If we'd acted that way from th' +very first day they crossed our line we wouldn't be fighting to +capture our own line house! You know how to handle 'em all right!" + +"Pete, how much water is in there?" Hopalong asked. + +"'Bout a hatful--nobody brought me any this morning, th' lazy cusses." + +"All right; they won't hold it for long, then. Take yore places as I +said, fellers, an' get busy," he replied, and then turned to Mary. +"Where's yore father? Is _he_ in that house?" + +"I don't know--an' I wouldn't tell if I did!" + +"Say, yo're a regular hummer! Th' more you talk th' better I like +you," he laughed, admiringly. "You've shore stampeded me worse than +ever--I'm so loco I can't wait much longer--when are you going to +marry me? Of course you know that you've got to someday." + +"Indeed I have _not_!" she retorted, her face crimson. "If you wait +for me to marry you you will die of old age! An' I'm shore somebody's +listening." + +"Then _I'll_ marry _you_--of course, that's what I meant." + +"Indeed you _won't!_" + +"Then th' minister will. After this line fighting is over I won't +wait. I'll just rope you an' drive you down to Perry's Bend to th' +hobbling man, if you won't go any other way. We'll come back a team. +Oh, I mean just what I say," and she knew that he did, and she was +glad at heart that he thought none the less of her for the trick she +had played on Pete. He seemed to take everything as a matter of +course, and as a matter of course was going to re-take the house. + +"You just _dare_ try it! Just _dare!_" she cried, hotly. + +"Now you have gone an' done it, for I never take a dare, _never_," he +laughed. "It's us for th' sky pilot, an' then th' same range for life. +Yo're shore purty, an' that fighting spunk doubles it. You can begin +to practise calling yourself Mrs. Hopalong Cassidy, of th' Bar-20." + +Pete fired, swore, and turned his head. "How th' devil can I hit a +house with all that fool talk!" and the two, suddenly realizing that +Pete had been ordered to remain close by, looked foolish, and both +laughed. + +"It gets on my nerves," Pete growled, and then: "Here comes Johnny +like a greased coyote." + +They looked and saw Johnny tearing down Stepping Stone Hill as if he +were afraid that the fighting would be over before he could take a +hand in it. When he came within hailing distance he stood up in his +stirrups, shouting, "What's up?" and then, seeing Pete, understood. +Leaping from the saddle he jerked his rifle out of the sheath and ran +to him, jeering. "Oh, you Pete! Oh you d----d fool!" + +"Hey, Johnny! How's things east?" Hopalong demanded. + +Johnny stopped and hastily recounted how he and Red had driven back +the herd, adding: "Her dad is out there now looking at his dead +cows--I saw him when I came back from East Arroyo. An' I saw them +three punchers ride over that ridge down south; and they shore made +good time. Say, how did they get Pete out?" he asked eagerly. + +"I'll tell you that later--Pete, you go an' tell Red to come here, an' +take his place. We can't swap Mary for th' house, but we can swap her +dad! Mary, you better go home--this won't be no place for you in a +little while. Where's yore cayuse?" he asked, looking around. + +"It's down there--he shot it," she replied, nodding at Pete. + +"Shot it? Lord, but he must 'a been mad! Well, you can get +square--Pete, where's yore cayuse?" + +"How th' devil do _I_ know!" Pete blazed, indignantly. "_I_ wasn't +keeping track of no cayuse after they got th' house!" + +"It's down there on th' hill--see it?" volunteered Johnny. "Shall I +get it?" he asked, grinning at the disgruntled Pete. + +"Yes; an' strip th' fixings off her cayuse while yo're about +it--lively." + +Johnny vaulted into his saddle and loped down the hill, shortly +returning with Mary's saddle and bridle in front of him and Pete's +horse at the end of his rope. Hopalong quickly removed Pete's saddle +and put the other in its place, Pete eloquent in his silence, and +Johnny manifestly pleased by the proceedings. + +"Now you can ride," Hopalong smiled, helping her into the saddle. +"Pete don't care at all--he ain't saying a word," whereat Pete said a +word, several of them in fact, under his breath and vowed that he +would kill the men in the house to get square. + +"I'll send it back as soon as I can," she promised, and then, when +Hopalong leaned closer and whispered something to her, she flushed and +spurred the animal, leaving him standing in a cloud of dust, a smile +on his face. + +Johnny, grinning until his face threatened to be ruptured, wheeled on +Pete. "Yo're a lucky fool, even if you did go an' lose th' house for +us--wish she'd ride _my_ cayuse!" + +Pete replied in keeping with his feelings now that there was no woman +present, and walked away to change places with Red, who soon came up. +Then the three mounted and cantered east to find the H2 foreman, +Johnny mauling "Whiskey Bill" in his exuberance. Suddenly he turned in +his saddle and slapped his thigh: "I'll bet four cents to a tooth +brush that she's telling her dad to get scarce. She heard what you +said, Hoppy!" + +"Right! Come on!" exclaimed Hopalong, spurring into a gallop, his +companions racing behind, spurring and quirting to catch him. + +"Say, Red, she's a straight flush," Johnny shouted to his companion. +"Can't be beat--if she turns Hoppy down I'm next in th' line-up!" + +"You don't want no wife--you wants a nurse!" Red retorted. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +THE LINE HOUSE RE-CAPTURED + + +After Chick, Dan Morgan, and Ed Joyce had commandeered Antonio's horse +and left him on foot they rode as rapidly as they could to the corrals +of their ranch, where they saddled fresh mounts and galloped back to +try conclusions with the men who had humbled them. They also wished to +find their foreman, who they knew was somewhere along the line. Chick +rode to the west, Dan to the east, and Ed Joyce straight ahead; +intending to search for Meeker and then ride together again. + +Meanwhile Antonio, tired of walking, returned to the line and lay in +ambush to waylay the first Bar-20 puncher to ride past him, hoping to +get a horse and also to leave a dead man for the Bar-20 to find and +lay the blame on the H2. He knew that his rustler allies had scouts in +the chaparrals and were ready to run off a big herd as soon as +conditions were propitious, and he was anxious to give them the word +to begin. + +It chanced, however, that Ed Joyce was the first man to approach the +Mexican, and he paid dearly for being a party to taking Antonio's +horse. The dead man would not inflame the Bar-20, but the H2, and the +results would be the same in the end. Mounting Ed's horse Antonio +galloped north into the valley through West Arroyo so as to leave +tracks in the direction of the Bar-20, intending to describe a +semi-circle and return to his ranch by way of the river trail, leaving +the horse where the trail crossed the Jumping Bear. By going the +remainder of the way on foot he would not be seen on the horse of the +murdered puncher, which might naturally enough stray in that +direction, and so be free from suspicion. + +Lanky Smith, wondering why none of his friends had passed him on the +line, followed the trail west to see if things were as they should be. +He was almost in sight of a point opposite West Arroyo, his view being +obstructed by chaparrals, when he heard a faint shot, and spurred +forward, his rifle in the hollow of his arm ready for action. It could +mean only one thing--one of his friends was shooting H2 cows, and +complications might easily follow. When he had turned out of an arroyo +which made part of the line for a short distance he saw a body huddled +on the sand several hundred feet ahead of him. At that instant Meeker, +with Chick and Dan close at his heels, came into view on the other +side, saw the body and, drawing their own conclusions, opened a hot +fire on the Bar-20 puncher, riding to encircle him. Surprised for an +instant, and then filled with rage because they had killed one of his +friends, as he thought, he returned their fire and raced at Chick, who +was now some distance from his companions. Dan and Meeker wheeled +instantly and rode to the aid of their friend, and Lanky's horse +dropped from under him. Luckily for him he felt a warning tremor go +through the animal and jerked his feet free from the stirrups as it +sank down, quickly crawling behind it for protection. + +Immediately thereafter Chick lost his hat, then the use of his right +arm, followed by being deprived of the services of a very good +cow-pony, for Lanky now had a rest for his rifle and while his +marksmanship was not equal to that of his friend Red, it was good +enough for his present needs. Dan Morgan started to shout to his +foreman and then swore luridly instead, for Lanky was pleased to drill +him at five hundred yards, the bullet tearing a disconcerting hole in +Dan's thigh. + +Meeker had been most zealously engaged all this time in making his +rifle go off at regular intervals, his bullets kicking up the dust, +humming viciously about Lanky's head, and thudding into the carcass of +the dead horse. Then Lanky swore and shook the blood from his cheek, +telling Meeker what he thought about the matter. Settling down again +he determined to husk Meeker's body from its immortal soul, when he +found his magazine empty. Reaching to his belt for the wherewithal for +the husking he discovered the lamentable fact that he had only three +cartridges left for the Winchester, and the Colt was more ornamental +than useful at that range. To make matters worse both Chick and Dan +were now sitting up wasting cartridges in his direction, while Meeker +seemed to have an unending supply. Just then the H2 foreman found his +mark again and rendered his enemy's arm useless. At that point the +clouds of misfortune parted and Hopalong, Red and Johnny at his heels, +whirled into sight from the west, firing with burning zeal. + +Meeker's horse went down, pinning its rider under it; Dan Morgan threw +up his arms as he sat in the saddle, for his rifle was shattered; +Chick, popping up his good arm first, arose from behind his fleshy +breastwork and announced that he could not fight, although he +certainly wanted to; but Meeker said nothing. + +Riding first to Lanky, his friends joked him into a better humor while +they attended to his wounds. Then they divided to extend the +wound-dressing courtesy. First they tried to kill a man, then to save +him; but, of course, they desired mostly to render him incapable of +injuring them and as long as this was accomplished it was not +necessary to deprive him of life. + +Hopalong, being in command, went over to look at the H2 foreman and +found him unconscious. Dragging him from under the body of his horse +Hopalong felt along the pinned leg and found it was not broken. +Pouring a generous amount of whiskey down the unconscious man's throat +he managed to revive him and then immediately disarmed him. Meeker +complained of pains in his groin, not by words but by actions. His +left leg seemed paralyzed and would not obey him. Hopalong called Red, +who took the injured man up in front of him, where Hopalong bound his +hands to the pommel of the saddle. + +Meeker preserved a stolid silence until Lanky joined them and then his +rage poured out in a torrent of abuse and accusations for the killing +of Ed Joyce. Lanky retorted by asking who Ed Joyce was, and wanted to +know whose body he had found just before Meeker had come onto the +scene. When he found that they were the same he explained that he had +not seen it before Meeker had, which the H2 foreman would not believe. +Red captured Dan Morgan's horse and led it up. After Chick and Dan had +been helped to mount the Bar-20 men's horses, placed before the +saddles and bound there, all started towards Lookout Peak, Lanky +riding Dan's horse. + +When they had arrived at their destination Meeker suddenly realized +what he was to be used for and stormed impotently against it. He heard +the intermittent firing around the plateau and knew that Doc and Jack +still held the house, and believed they could continue to hold it, +since the thick adobe walls were impenetrable to rifle fire. + +"Well, Meeker, it's you for th' house," Hopalong remarked after he had +sent Red to stop the fire of the others. "You got off d----d lucky +to-day; th' next time you raise the dickens along our line we'll pay +yore ranch houses a visit in a body an' give you something to think +about. We handled you to-day with six of us up north, an' what th' +whole crowd can do you can guess. Now walk up there an' tell them +range-jumpers to vamoose th' house!" + +"They'll shoot me before they sees who I am," Meeker retorted, +sullenly. "If yo're so anxious to get 'em out, do it yoreself--I don't +want 'em." + +By this time the others were coming up and heard Meeker's words, and +Hopalong, turning to Skinny and Billy, curtly ordered them to mount. +"Take this royal American fool up to th' bunk house to Buck. Tell Buck +what's took place down here, an' also that we're going to shoot h--l +out of th' fellers in th' house before he sees us. After that those of +us who can ride are going down to th' H2 an' clean up that part of th' +game, buildings an' all. Go on, lively! Red, Johnny, Pete; cover th' +windows an' fill that shack plumb full of lead. It's clouding up now +an' when it gets good an' dark we'll bust in th' door an' end it. +Skinny, you come back again, quick, with all th' grub an' cartridges +you can carry. Meeker started this, but _I'm_ going to finish it an' +do it right. There won't be no more line fights down here for a long +time to come." + +"I reckon I'll have to order 'em out," Meeker growled. "What'll you do +to 'em if I do?" + +"Send 'em home so quick they won't have any time to say 'good-bye,'" +Hopalong rejoined. "We've seen too much of you fellers now. An' after +I send 'em home you see that they stays away from that line--we'll +shoot on sight if they gets within gunshot of it! You've shore had a +gall, pushing us, you an' yore hatful of men an' cows! If it wasn't +for th' rustling we'd 'a pushed you into th' discard th' day I found +yore Greaser herding on us." + +Meeker, holding his side because of the pain there from the fall, +limped slowly up the hill, waving his sombrero over his head as he +advanced. + +"What do you want now?--_Meeker!_" cried a voice from the building. +"What's wrong?" + +"Everything; come on out--we lose," the foreman cried, shame in his +voice. + +"Don't you tell us that if you wants us to stay here," came the swift +reply. "We're game as long as we last, an' we'll last a long time, +too." + +"I know it, Doc--" his voice broke--"they've killed Ed an' captured +Chick, Dan, an' me. I'd say fight it out, an' I'd fight to th' end, +only they'll attack th' ranch house if we do. We're licked, _this +time!_" + +"First sensible words you've said since you've been on this range," +growled Lanky. "You was licked before you began, if you only knowed +it. An' you'll get licked _every_ time, too!" + +"Well, we'll come out an' give up if they'll let us all go, including +you," cried Doc. "I ain't going to get picked off in th' open while +I've got this shack to fight in, not by a blamed sight!" + +"It's all right, Doc," Meeker replied. "How's Jack?" he asked, +anxiously, not having heard Doc's companion speak. + +"Wait an' see," was the reply, and the door opened and the two +defenders stepped into sight, bandaged with strips torn from their +woollen shirts, the remains of which they did not bother to carry +away. + +"Who played that gun through th' west window?" asked Doc, angrily. + +"Me!" cried Skinny, belligerently. "Why?" + +"Muzzle th' talk--you can hold yore pow-wow some other time," +interposed Hopalong. "You fellers get off this range, an' do it quick. +An' stay off, savvy?" + +Meeker, his face flushed by rage and hatred for the men who had so +humiliated him, climbed up on Dan's horse and Dan was helped up +behind. Then Chick was helped to mount in front of his foreman and +they rode down the hill, followed by Doc and Jack. The intention was +to let Dan ride to the ranch after they had all got off the Bar-20 +range, and send up the cook with spare horses. Just then Doc +remembered that he and Jack had left their mounts below when they +walked up the hill to take the house, and they went after them. + +At this instant Curley was seen galloping up and he soon reported what +Salem had seen. Meeker flew into a rage at this and swore that he +would never give in to either foe. While Curley was learning of the +fighting, Doc and his companion returned on foot, reporting that their +horses had strayed, whereupon Meeker got off the horse he rode and +told Doc and Chick to ride it home, Curley being despatched for +mounts, while the others sat down on the ground and waited. + +When Curley returned with the horses he was very much excited, crying +that during his absence Salem had seen six men run off a herd of +several hundred head towards Eagle and had tried to overtake them in +the chuck wagon. + +"God A'mighty!" cried Meeker, furiously. "Ain't I got enough, _now_! +Rustling, an' on a scale like that! Peters was right after all about +th' rustling, d--n him. A whole herd! Why didn't they take th' rest, +an' th' houses, an' th' whole ranch? An' Salem, th' fool, chasing 'em +in th' chuck wagon! Wonder they didn't take him, too." + +"I reckon he wished he had his harpoon with him," Chick snorted, the +ridiculousness of Salem's action bringing a faint grin to his face, +angry and wounded as he was. "He's the locoedest thing that wears +pants in this section, or any other!" + +"It was a shore fizzle all around," Meeker grumbled. "But I ain't +through with that line yet--no, by th' Lord, I ain't got started yet! +But this rustling has got to be cleaned up first of all--th' line can +wait; an' if we don't pay no attention to th' valley for a while +they'll think we've given it up an' get off their guard." + +"Shore!" cried Dan, whose fury had been aroused almost to madness by +the sting of the bitter defeat, and who itched to kill, whether +puncher or rustler it little mattered; he only wanted a vent for his +rage. + +"We'll parade over that south range like buzzards sighting carrion," +Meeker continued, leading the way homeward. "I ain't a-going to get +robbed all th' time!" + +"Wonder if Smith did shoot Ed?" queried Dan, thoughtfully. "There was +quite a spell between th' shot I heard an' us seeing him, an' he acted +like he had just seen Ed. But it's tough, all right. Ed was a blamed +good feller." + +"Who did shoot him, then?" snapped Meeker, savagely. "There's no +telling what happened out there before we got there. Here, Curley, you +ain't full of holes like us--you ride up there an' get him while we go +home. He's laying near that S arroyo right close to th' line--th' one +we scouted through that time." + +"Shore, I'll get him," replied Curley, wheeling. "See you later." + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +ANTONIO LEAVES THE H2 + + +On the H2 Jim Meeker rolled and muttered in his sleep, which had been +more or less fitful because of his aching groin and strained leg. +Gazing confusedly about him he sat bolt upright, swearing softly at +the pain and then, realizing that he was where he should be, grumbled +at the kaleidoscopic dreams that had beset him during his few hours of +sleep, and glanced out of the window. Hastily dressing he strode to +the kitchen door, calling his daughter as he passed her room, and +looked out. The bunk house and the corrals were beginning to loom up +in the early light and the noise in the cook shack told him that Salem +was preparing breakfast for the men. He did not like the looks of the +low, huge, black cloud east of him and as he figured that it would not +pass over the ranch houses unless the wind shifted sharply he suddenly +stared at a corral and then hastened back to his room for the Colt +which lay on the floor beside his bunk. He had seen a man flit past +the further corral, speed across the open, and disappear behind the +corral nearest to the bunk house. This ordinarily would have provoked +no further thought, for his men were crazy-headed enough to do +anything, but while rustling flourished, and so audaciously, and while +a line war was on, it would stand prompt investigation. + +Peering again from the door, Colt in hand, Meeker slipped out silently +and ran to the corral wall as rapidly as his injuries would allow. +When he reached it he leaned close to it and waited, his gun levelled +at the corner not ten feet from him. Half a minute later and without a +sound a man suddenly turned it, crouching and alertly watching the +bunk house and cook shack at his left, and then stopped with a jerk +and reached to his thigh as he became aware that he was being watched +at such close range. Straightening up and smothering an exclamation he +faced the foreman and laughed, but to Meeker's suspicious ears it +sounded very much forced and strained. + +"No _sabe_ Anton?" asked the prowler, smiling innocently and raising +his hand from the gun. + +Meeker stood silent and motionless, the Colt as steady as a rock, and +a heavy frown covered his face as he searched the evil eyes of his +broncho-buster, whose smile remained fixed. + +"No _sabe Anton_?" somewhat hastily repeated the other, a faint trace +of anxiety in his voice, but the smile did not waver, and his eyes did +not shift. He began to realize that it was about time for him to leave +the H2, for he knew that few things grow so rapidly as suspicion. And +he knew that the outfit would do very little weighing in his case. + +Meeker slowly lowered his weapon and swore; he did not like the +prowling any better than he did the smile and the laugh and the +treacherous eyes. + +"I no savvy why yo're flitting around th' scenery when you should +ought to be in bed," he replied, his words ominously low and distinct. +"You've shore had a narrow squeak, for I came nigh on to letting drive +from th' door on a gamble. An' I'll own that I'm some curious as to +why yo're prowling around so early before breakfast. It ain't a whole +lot like you to be out so early before grub time. What dragged you +from th' bunk so d----d early, anyhow?" + +Antonio rolled a cigarette to gain time, being elaborately exacting, +and thought quickly for an excuse. Tossing the match in the air and +letting the smoke curl slowly from his nostrils he grinned pleasantly. +"I no sleep--have bad dreams. I wake up, _uno_, _dos_ times an' teenk +someteeng ees wrong. Then I ride to see. Eet ees soon light after that +an' I am hungry, so I come back. Eet ees no more, at all." + +"Oh, it ain't!" retorted the foreman, still frowning, for he strongly +doubted the truth of what he had heard, so strongly that he almost +passed the lie. "It's some peculiar how this ranch has been shedding +dreams last night, all right. However, since I had some few myself I +won't say I had all there was loose. But you listen to me, an' listen +good, too. When I want any scouting done before daylight I'll take +care of it myself, savvy? An' if yo're any wise you'll cure yoreself +of th' habit of being out nights percolating around when you ought to +be asleep. You ain't acted none too wide awake lately an' yore string +of cayuses has shore been used hard, so I want it stopped, an' stopped +_sudden_; hear me? I ain't paying you to work nights an' loaf days an' +use up good cayuses riding hell-bent for nothing. You ain't never +around no more when I want you, so you get weaned of flitting around +in th' night air like a whip-poor-will; you might go an' catch +malaria!" + +"I no been out bafo'--Juan, he tell you that ees so, _si_." + +"Is that so? I sort of reckon he'd tell me anything you want him to if +he thought I'd believe it. Henceforth an' hereafter you mind what +_I've_ just told _you_. You might run up against some rustler what you +don't know very well, an' get shot on suspicion," Meeker hazarded, but +he found no change in the other's face, although he had hit Antonio +hard, and he limped off to the ranch house to get his breakfast, +swearing every time he put his sore leg forward, and at the ranch +responsible for its condition. + +Antonio leaned against the corral wall and smoked, gazing off into +space as the foreman left him, for he had much to think about. He +smiled cynically and shrugged his shoulders as he shambled to his +shack, making up his mind to leave the H2 and join Shaw on the mesa as +soon as he could do so, and the sooner the better. Meeker's remark +about meeting strange rustlers, thieves he did not know, was very +disquieting, and it was possible that things might happen suddenly to +the broncho-buster of the H2. Soon emerging from his hut he walked +leisurely to the fartherest corral and returned with his saddle and +bridle. After holding a whispered consultation with Juan and Sanchez, +who both showed great alarm at what he told them, and who called his +attention to the fact that he had lost one of the big brass buttons +from the sleeve of his coat, the three walked to the cook shack for +their breakfast, where, every morning, they fought with Salem. + +"Here comes them Lascars again to fill their holds with white man's +grub," the cook growled as he espied them. "If I was th' old man I'd +maroon them, or make 'em walk th' plank. Here, _you_! Get away from +that bench!" he shouted, running out of the shack. "That's _my_ grub! +If you ain't good enough to eat longside of th' crew, d----d if you +can eat with th' cook! Some day I'll slit you open, tail to gills, see +if I don't! Here's yore grub--take it out on th' deck an' fight for +it," and Salem, mounting guard over the bench, waved a huge butcher +knife at them and ordered them off. "Bilgy smelling lubbers! I'll run +afoul of 'em some morning an' make shark's food out of th' whole lot!" + +Meanwhile Meeker, finding his breakfast not yet ready, went to +Antonio's shack and glanced in it. The bunk his broncho-buster used +was made up, which struck him as peculiar, since it was well known +that Antonio never made up his bunk until after supper. As he turned +to leave he espied the saddle and saw that the stirrups were streaked +with clay. "Now what was he doing over at th' river last night?" he +soliloquized. Shrugging his shoulders he wheeled and went to the bunk +house, where he stumbled over a box, whacking his shins soundly. His +heartfelt and extemporaneous remarks regarding stiff legs and +malicious boxes awakened Curley, who sat up and vigorously rubbed his +eyes with his rough knuckles. Grunts and profanity came from the other +bunks, Dan swearing with exceptional loquacity and fervor at his +wounded thigh. + +"Somebody'll shore have to lift me out like a baby," he grumbled. +"I'll get square for this, all right!" + +"Aw, what you cussing about?" demanded Chick, whose arm throbbed with +renewed energy when he sat up. "How'd you like to have an arm like +mine so you can't use it for grub, hey?" + +"You an' yore arm can--" + +"What's matter, Jim?" interrupted Curley, dropping his feet to the +floor and groping for his trousers. "You got my pants?" he asked Dan, +whereupon Dan told him many things, ending with: "In th' name of +heaven what do I want with pants on this leg! I can't get my own on, +let alone yourn. Mebby Chick has put 'em on his scratched wing!" he +added, with great sarcasm, whereupon Curley found them under his bunk +and muttered a profane request to be told why they had crawled so far +back. + +"Yo're a hard luck bunch if yo're as sore as me," growled Meeker, +kicking the offending box out of doors. "I cuss every time I hobble." + +"Oh, I ain't sore, not a bit--I'm feeling fine," exulted Curley, +putting one foot into a twisted trouser leg while he hopped +recklessly about to keep his balance, Dan watching him enviously. He +grabbed Chick's shoulder to steady himself and then arose from the +floor to find Chick calling him every name in the language and +offering to whip him with one hand if he grabbed the wounded arm +again. + +"Aw, what's th' matter with you!" he demanded, getting the foot +through without further trouble. "I didn't stop to think, you chump!" + +"Why didn't you?" snapped Chick, aggressively. + +"Curley, yo're a plain, d----d nuisance--get outside where you'll have +plenty of room to get that other leg in," remarked Dan. + +"Not satisfied with keeping us all awake by his cussed snoring an' +talking, he goes an' _hops_ right on my bad arm!" Chick remarked. "He +snores something awful, Jim; like a wagon rumbling over a wooden +bridge; an' he whistles every lap." + +"You keep away from _me_, you cow!" warned Doc, weighing a Colt in his +hand by the muzzle. "I'll shore bend this right around yore face if +you don't!" + +"Aw, go to th' devil! Yo're a bunch of sore-heads, just a bunch of--" +Curley snapped, his words becoming inaudible as he went out to the +wash bench, where Meeker followed him, glad to get away from the +grunting, swearing crowd inside. + +"Curley," the foreman began, leaning against the house to ease his +thigh and groin, "that Greaser of our'n is either going _loco_, or he +is up to some devilment, an' I a whole lot favors th' devilment. I +thought of telling him to clean out, get off th' range an' stay off, +but I reckon I'll let him hang around a while longer to see just what +his game is. Of course if he is crooked, it's rustling. I'd like an +awful lot to ketch him rustling; it'd wipe out a lot of guessing, an' +him at th' same time." + +"They're all of 'em crooked," Curley replied, refilling the basin. +"Every blasted one, an' he's worse than all th' others--he's a +coyote!" + +"Yes, I reckon you ain't far from right," replied Meeker. "Well, +anyway, I put in a bad night an' rolled out earlier'n usual. I looked +out an' saw somebody sneaking around th' corral, an', gettin' my gun, +I went after him hot foot. It was Antonio, an' when I asks for whys +an' wherefores, he gives me a fool yarn about having a dream. He woke +up an' was plumb scared to death somebody was running off with th' +ranch, an', being so all-fired worried about th' safety of th' ranch +he's too lazy to work for, he just couldn't sleep, but had to get up +an' _saddle his cayuse_ an' _ride_ around th' corrals to see if it was +here. Now, what do you think of that?" + +"Huh!" snorted Curley. "He don't care a continental cuss about this +ranch or anybody on it, an' never did." + +"Which same I endorses; it shore was a sudden change," Meeker replied, +glancing at the Mexican's shack. "I looked in his hut an' saw his bunk +hadn't been used since night afore last, so he must 'a had his dreams +then. There was yaller clay on his stirrups--he must 'a been scared +somebody was going to run off with th' river, too. Now he shore was +rampaging all over creation last night--he didn't have no dreams nor +no sleep in that bunk last night, nohow. Now, th' question is, where +was he, an' what th' devil was he doing? I'd give twenty-five dollars +if I knowed for shore." + +"That's easy!" snorted Curley, trying to get water out of his ear. +"Where'd I 'a been last night if I wasn't broke? Why, down in Eagle +having a good time--there's lots of good times in that town if you've +got th' price of more than a look-in. Or, mebby, he was off seeing his +girl, his _dulce_, as he calls her. That's a good way to pass th' +evening, too." Then, seeing the frown on Meeker's face he swiftly +contradicted himself, realizing that it was no time for jesting. "Why, +it looks to me like he might be a little interested in some of th' +promiscuous cattle lifting that's going on 'round here. I'll pump him +easy so he won't know what I'm driving at." + +"Yes, you might do that if yo're shore you won't scare him away, but I +want you to pass th' horse corral, anyhow, an' see what horse he rode. +See how hard he pushed it riding around th' corrals, an' if there's +any yellow clay on its legs. Don't let him see you doing it or he'll +get gun-shy an' jump th' country. I'm going up to breakfast--Mary's +calling me." + +Curley looked up. "Shore I'll do it. Holy cats! It's raining some on +th' hills, all right. Look yonder!" + +"Yes. I saw it this morning early. It passed to th' northeast of us. +I'll be back soon," and the foreman limped away. "Hey, Curley," he +called over his shoulder for Antonio's benefit, "take a look at them +sore yearlings in th' corral," referring to several calves they had +quarantined. + +"All right, Jim. They was some better last night. I don't think it's +anything that's catching." + +"O-o-h!" yawned Jack in the doorway. "Seems like I just turned +in--gosh, but I'm sleepy." + +"Nothing like cold water for that feeling," laughed Curley. "We stayed +up too late last night talking it over. Hullo, Chick; still going to +lick me one-handed?" + +"You get away from that water, so I can wash one-handed," replied +Chick. "But you shouldn't ought to 'a done that. No, Jack--go ahead; +but I'm next. Hey, Dan!" he cried, laughing, "shall I bring some water +in to you?" + +"I won't stay here an' listen to such language as Dan's ripping off," +Curley grinned, starting away. "I'm going up to look at them sick +yearlings in Number Two corral." + +True to his word Curley looked the animals over thoroughly and then +dodged into the horse corral, where he quickly examined the horses as +he passed them, alert for trouble, for a man on foot takes chances +when he goes among cow-ponies in a corral. Not one of the animals +forming Antonio's _remuda_ appeared to have been ridden and it was not +until he espied Pete, Doc's favorite horse, that he found any signs. +Pete's hair was roughened and still wet from perspiration, there was a +streak of yellow clay along its belly on one side but none on its +hoofs, and dried lather still clung to its jaws. Pete made no effort +to get away, for he was one of the best trained and most intelligent +animals on the ranch, a veteran of many roundups and drives, and he +knew from experience that he would not be called on to do double duty; +he had done his trick while the others rested. + +"An' you know I ain't a-going to ride you, hey?" Curley muttered. +"You've had yore turn, an' you know you won't be called on to-day, you +wise old devil. Pete, some people say cayuses ain't got no sense, that +they can't reason--they never knowed you, did they? Well, boy, you'll +have yore turn grazing with th' rest purty soon." + +He returned to the bunk house and spent a few minutes inside and then +sauntered easily towards the ranch house, where the foreman met him. + +"So there wasn't no clay on his hoofs, hey?" Meeker exclaimed. "Some +on his belly, an' none on his hoofs. Hum! I reckon Pete was left by +hisself while th' Greaser wrastled with th' mud. Must 'a thought he +was prospecting. Well, he's a liar, an' a sneak; watch him close, an' +tell th' rest to do th' same. Mebby we'll get th' chance soon of +stretching his yellow neck some bright morning. I'll be down purty +soon to tell you fellers where to ride." + +Curley returned to the wash bench and cleansed his hands, and because +the cold water felt so good, he dipped his face into it again, blowing +like a porpoise. As he squilgeed his face to lessen the duty of the +overworked towel, he heard a step and looked up quickly. Antonio was +leaning against the house and scowling at him, for he had looked +through a crack in the corral wall and had seen Pete being examined. + +"Eet ees _bueno_ thees mornin'," the Mexican offered. + +"What's good?" Curley retorted, staring because of Antonio's unusual +loquacity. + +"_Madre de Dios_, de weatha." + +"Oh, salubrious," replied Curley, evading a hole in the towel. "Plumb +sumptuous an' highfalutin', so to speak. You had a nice night for +Eagle, all right. Who-all was down there?" + +"Antone not en Eagle--he no leev de rancho," the Mexican replied, +surprised. He hesitated as if to continue and Curley noticed it. + +"What's on yore mind, 'Tony? What's eating you? _Pronto_, I'm hungry. +Next!" + +"No nex'--I no _sabe_." + +"You talkee likum Chinee!" retorted Curley. "Why don't you learn how +to talk English? It's easy enough. An' what do you want, anyhow, +getting so friendly all of a sudden?" + +Antonio hesitated again. "What you do een de corral thees mornin'?" + +"Oh, I was looking at them yearlings--they was purty bad, but they're +gettin' along all right. What do you think about 'em?" + +"No; een de _beeg_ corral." + +"Oh, you do!" snapped Curley. "Well, I remembered you was riding +around this morning before sun-up so I reckoned I'd look in an' see if +you rid my cayuse, which you didn't, an' which is good for you. I +ain't a whole lot intending to go moping about on no tired-out bronc, +an' don't you forget it, neither. An' seeing as how it ain't none of +your d----d business what I do or where I go, that's about all for +you." + +"You no spik true--_Pah_! eet ees a lie!" cried the Mexican excitedly, +advancing a step, and running into the wash water and a fist, both of +which met him in the face. Curley, reaching for his holster and +finding that he had forgotten to buckle it on, snatched the Remington +from Antonio's sheath while the fallen man was half dazed. Pointing it +at the Mexican's stomach, he ordered him up and then told him things. + +"I reckon you got off easy, Greaser--th' next time you calls me a liar +shoot first, or there'll be one less unwashed, shifty-eyed coyote of a +Greaser to ride range nights." + +Antonio, drenched and seething with fury, his discolored face working +with passion and his small, cruel eyes snapping, sprang to the wall +and glared at the man who had knocked him down. But for the gun in +Curley's hand there would have been the flash of a knife, but the +Remington was master of the situation. Knife throwing is a useful art +at times, but it has its limitations. Cursing in Spanish, he backed +away and slunk into his shack as Doc Riley stuck his head out of the +bunk house doorway, hoping to be entertained. + +"Worth while hanging 'round, Curley? Any chance of seeing a scrap?" +Doc asked, eying the gun in his friend's hand. + +"You could 'a seen th' beginning of a scrap a couple of minutes +earlier," Curley replied. "I didn't give him a chance to throw. Why, +he was out all night on Pete, yore cayuse--rode him hard, too. He +said--" + +"My Pete! Out all night on Pete!" yelled Doc, taking a quick step +towards Antonio's hut, the door of which slammed shut, whereupon Doc +shouted out his opinions of "Greasers" in general and of Antonio in +particular. "Is that right?" he asked, turning to Curley. "Was he out +on Pete?" + +"He shore was--used him up, too." + +"I'll break every bone in his yaller carcass!" Doc shouted, shaking +his fist at the hut. "Every time I see him I want to get my gun going, +an' it's getting worse all th' time. Unwashed pup! I'll fill him full +of lead pills surer than anything some of these days, you see if I +don't!" + +"If you don't I will," replied Curley. "I just don't know why I didn't +then because--" + +"Four bells--grub pile!" rang out the stentorian voice of Salem, who +could shout louder than any man on the ranch, and the conversation +came to an abrupt end, to be renewed at the table. + +When Antonio heard the cook's shout he opened the door a trifle and +then, seeing that the coast was clear, picked up the bundle which +contained his belongings, shouldered his saddle, slipped his rifle +under his arm, and ran to the corral. Juan and Sanchez had been there +before him and he found that they not only had taken four of the best +horses, but that they had also picketed two good ones for him, and had +driven off the remainder to graze, which would delay pursuit should it +be instituted. Saddling the better of the two, he left the other and +cantered northwest until hidden from the sight of any one at the +ranch, and then galloped for safety. + +Meeker, returning to the bunk house, found his men in far better humor +than they were in when he left them, although the death and burial of +Ed Joyce and the other misfortunes of the day before had quieted them +a little. As he entered the room he heard Salem in the cook shack, +droning a mournful dirge-like air as he slammed things about. + +"Hey, cook!" shouted the foreman, standing in the door of the gallery. +"Cook!" + +"Aye, aye, sir!" + +"You are shore you didn't recognize none of them thieves that ran off +our herd yesterday?" + +"Nary a one, sir. They was running with all sails set two points off +my port bow, which left me astarn of 'em. I was in that water-logged, +four-wheeled hulk of a chuck wagon an' I couldn't overhaul 'em, sir, +'though I gave chase. I tried a shot with th' chaser, but I was +rolling so hard I couldn't hull 'em. But I'll try again when I'm +sober, sir." + +"All right, Salem," laughed Meeker. "Curley, you take yore regular +range. Doc, suppose you take th' west, next to Curley? Chick an' Dan +will have to stay here till they get well enough to ride, an' I'll +need somebody on th' ranch after yesterday, anyhow. Jack, how do you +feel? Good! Ride between here an' Eagle. I'm going to go down to that +town an' see what I can find out." + +"But I can ride, Jim," offered Chick, eagerly. "This arm won't bother +me much. Let me stick close to Doc, or one of th' boys. Maybe they +might need me, Jim." + +"You stay right here, like I said. We'll have to wait till we're all +right before we can get down to work in earnest. An' every one of you +look out for trouble--shoot first an' talk after." He turned again to +the gallery. "Salem, kill a cow an' sun cure th' meat; we might want +it in a hurry sometime soon. That'll be one cow they don't get, +anyway." + +"Who's going to ride north, Jim?" asked Doc. + +"Nobody; th' Bar-20 has been so d----d anxious to turn our cows an' do +our herding for us, an' run th' earth, we'll just let 'em for a while. +Not much danger of any rustlers buzzing reckless around _that_ +neighborhood; they'll earn all they steal if they get away with it." + + I saw her face grow cold in death, + I saw her-- + +came Salem's voice in a new wail. Meeker grabbed a quirt and, leaping +to the gallery, threw it. The song stopped short and other words, +less tuneful, finished the cook's efforts. + +"You never mind what you saw!" shouted the foreman. "If you can't sing +anything but graveyard howls, you shut up yore singer!" + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +WHAT THE DAM TOLD + + +About the time Meeker caught Antonio prowling around the corral, +Hopalong stepped out of the line house on the Peak and saw the +approaching storm, which gladdened him, notwithstanding the fact that +he and Red would ride through it to the bunk house. The range was fast +drying up, the grass was burning under the fierce heat of the sun, and +the reservoir, evaporating as rapidly as it was supplied, sent but +little water down the creek through the valley. This storm, if it +broke over the valley, promised to be almost a flood, and would not +only replenish the water supply, but would fortify the range for quite +a while against the merciless sun. + +After he had sent Meeker and his men on their homeward journey he +ordered all but Red to report to Buck at the bunk house, believing +that the line fighting was at an end for a while, at least. But to +circumvent any contingency to the contrary, he and Red remained to +guard the house and discuss the situation. The rest of the line riders +were glad to get away for a day, as there was washing and mending to +be done, clothes to be changed, and their supply of cartridges and +tobacco to be replenished. + +After throwing his saddle on his horse he went back to the house to +get his "slicker," a yellow water-proof coat, and saw Red gathering up +their few belongings. + +"Going to rain like th' devil, Red," he said. "We'll get soaked before +we reach th' dam, but it'll give th' grass a chance, all right. It's +due us, an' we're going to get it." + +Red glanced out of the window and saw the onrushing, low black mass of +clouds. "Gee! I reckon yes! Going to be some fireworks, too." + +Hopalong, slipping into the hideous slicker, followed Red outside and +watched him saddle up. "It'll seem good to be in th' house again with +all th' boys, an' eat cook's grub once more. I reckon Frenchy an' some +of his squad will drift in--Johnny said he was going to ride out that +way on his way back an' tell 'em all th' news." + +"Yes. Mind yore business, Ginger!" Red added as his horse turned its +head and nipped at his arm, half in earnest and half in playful +expostulation. Ginger could not accustom himself to the broad, hind +cinch which gripped his soft stomach, and he was wont to object to it +in his own way. "Yes, it's going to be a shore enough cloud-burst!" +Red exclaimed, glancing apprehensively at the storm. "Mebby we better +take th' hill trail--we won't have no cinch fording at th' Bend if +_that_ lets loose before we get there. We should 'a gone home with th' +crowd last night, 'stead of staying up here. I knowed they wouldn't +try it again--it's all yore fault." + +"Oh, yo're a regular old woman!" retorted Hopalong. "A wetting will do +us good--an' as for th' ford, I feel like having a swim." + +The close, humid air stirred and moaned, and fitful gusts bent the +sparse grass and rustled across the plateau, picking up dust and +sending it eddying along the ground. A sudden current of air whined +around the corners of the line house, slamming the door violently and +awakening the embers of the fire into a mass of glowing coals, which +crackled and gave off flying sparks. Several larger embers burst into +flame and tumbled end over end across the ground, and Hopalong, +running them down, stamped them out, returning and kicking dust over +the fire, actuated by the plainsman's instinct. Red watched him and +grinned. + +"Of course that cloud-burst won't put the fire out," he remarked, +sarcastically, although he would have done the same thing if his +friend had not. + +"Never go away an' leave a fire lit," Hopalong replied, sententiously, +closing the banging door and fastening it shut. A streak of lightning +quivered between earth and clouds and the thunder rolled in many +reverberations along the cliffs of the valley's edge, to die out on +the flat void to the west. Down the wind came the haunting wail of a +coyote, sounding so close at hand that Red instinctively reached for +his rifle and looked around. + +"Take _mine_!" jeered Hopalong, mounting, having in mind the greater +range of his weapon. "You'll shore need it if you want to get that +feller. Gee, but it's dark!" + +It was dark and the air was so charged with electricity that blue +points of flame quivered on the ears of their horses. + +"We're going to get h--l!" shouted Red above the roar of the storm. +"Every time I spits I make a streak in th' air--an' ain't it hot!" + +One minute it was dark; another, the lightning showed things in a +ghastly light, crackling and booming like a huge fireworks exhibition. +The two men could feel the hearts of their horses pounding against +their sides, and the animals, nervous as cats, kept their ears moving +back and forth, the blue sparks ghostly in the darkness. + +"Come on, get out of this," shouted Hopalong. "D--n it, there goes my +hat!" and he shot after it. + +For reply Red spurred forward and they rode down the steep hill at a +canter, which soon changed to a gallop, then to a dead run. Suddenly +there came a roar that shook them and the storm broke in earnest, the +rain pouring down in slanting sheets, drenching them to the skin in a +minute, for their slickers were no protection against that deluge. +Hopalong stripped his off, to see it torn from his grasp and disappear +in the darkness like a frightened thing. + +"Go, then!" he snapped. "I was roasting in you, anyhow! I won't have +no clothes left by th' time I hits th' Bend--which is all th' better +for swimming." + +Red slackened pace, rode at his friend's side, their stirrups almost +touching, for it was safer to canter than to gallop when they could +not see ahead of them. The darkness gradually lessened and when they +got close to the dam they could see as well as they could on any dull +day, except for a distance--the sheets of water forbade that. + +"What's that?" Hopalong suddenly demanded, drawing rein and listening. +A dull roar came from the dam and he instinctively felt that something +was radically wrong. + +"Water, of course," Red replied, impatiently. "This is a _storm_," he +explained. + +Hopalong rode out along the dam, followed by Red, peering ahead. +Suddenly he stopped and swore. + +"She's _busted_! Look there!" + +A turbulent flood poured through a cut ten feet wide and roared down +the other side of the embankment, roiled and yellow. + +"Good G-d! She's a goner shore!" cried Red excitedly. + +"It shore is--_No_, Red! It's over th' stone work--see where that +ripple runs? We can save it if we hustle," Hopalong replied, wheeling. +"Come on! Dead cows'll choke it--get a move on!" + +When Buck had decided to build the dam he had sent for an engineer to +come out and look the valley over and to lay out the lines to be +followed. The west end, which would be built against the bluff, would +be strong; but Buck was advised to build a core of rubble masonry for +a hundred feet east of the centre, where the embankment must run +almost straight to avoid a quicksand bottom. This had been done at a +great increase over the original estimate of the cost of the dam, but +now it more than paid for itself, for Antonio had dug his trench over +the rubble core--had he gone down a foot deeper he would have struck +it and discovered his mistake. + +Hopalong and Red raced along the dam and separated when they struck +the plain, soon returning with a cow apiece dragging from their +lariats, which they released and pushed into the torrent. The bodies +floated with the stream and both men feared their efforts were in +vain. Then Hopalong uttered a shout of joy, for the carcasses, +stranding against the top of the masonry core, stopped, the water +surging over them. Racing away again they dragged up more cows until +the bodies choked the gap, when they brought up armfuls of brush and +threw them before the bodies. Then Red espied a shovel, swore +furiously at what it told him, and fell to throwing dirt into the +breach before the brush. He had to take it from different places so as +not to weaken the dam, and an hour elapsed before they stopped work +and regarded the results of their efforts with satisfaction. + +"Well, she's there yet, and she'll stay, all right. Good thing we +didn't take th' hill trail," Hopalong remarked. + +"Somebody cut it, all right," Red avowed, looking at the shovel in his +hands. "_H2_! Hoppy, see here! This is _their_ work!" + +"Shore enough H2 on th' handle, but Meeker an' his crowd never did +that," Hopalong replied. "I ain't got no love for any of 'em, but +they're too square for this sort of a thing. Besides, they want to use +this water too much to cheat themselves out of every chance to get +it." + +"You may be right--but it's d----d funny that we find their shovel on +th' job," Red rejoined, scowling at the brand burned into the wooden +handle. + +"What's that yo're treading on?" Hopalong asked, pointing to a bright +object on the ground. + +Red stooped and then shouted, holding up the object so his friend +could see it. "It's a brass button as big as a half-dollar--bet it +belonged to th' snake that used this shovel!" + +"Yo're safe. I won't bet you--an' Antonio was th' only one I've seen +wearing buttons like that in these parts," Hopalong replied. "I'm +going to kill him on sight!" and he meant what he said. + +"Same here, th' ornery coyote!" Red gritted. + +"That Greaser has had me guessing, but I'm beginning to see a great +big light," Hopalong remarked, taking the button and looking it over. +"Yep, it's hissen, all right." + +"Well, we've filled her," Red remarked after a final inspection. + +"She'll hold until to-morrow, anyhow, or till we can bring th' chuck +wagon full of tools an' rocks down here," Hopalong replied. "We'll +make her solid for keeps when we begin. You better take th' evidence +with you, Red, an' let Buck look 'em over. It's a good thing Buck +spent that extra money putting in that stone core! Besides losing th' +reservoir we'd have had plenty of dead cows by this time if it wasn't +for that." + +"An' that Greaser went an' picked out the weakest spot in th' whole +thing, or th' spot what would be th' weakest if that wall wasn't +there," Red remarked. "He ain't no fool, but a stacked deck can beat a +good head time after time." + +When they reached the ford they found a driftwood-dotted flood roaring +around the bend, three times as wide as it was ordinarily, for the +hills made a watershed that gave quick results in such a rain. + +"Now Red Eagle, old cayuse, here's where you swim," Hopalong laughed, +riding up stream so he would not be carried past the bottom of the +hill trail on the farther side. Plunging in, the two horses swam +gallantly across, landing within a few feet of the point aimed at, and +scrambled up the slippery path, down which poured a stream of water. + +When they reached the half-way point between the ford and the ranch +houses the storm slackened, evolving into an ordinary rain, which +Hopalong remarked would last all day. Red nodded and then pointed to a +miserable, rain-soaked calf, which moved away at their approach. + +"Do you see that!" he exclaimed. "Our brand, an' Meeker's ear notch!" + +"That explains th' shovel being left on th' dam," quickly replied +Hopalong. "It would be plumb crazy for th' H2 to make a combination +like that ear notch an' our brand, an' you can gamble they don't know +nothing about it. Th' gent that left Meeker's shovel _for us to find_ +did that, too. You know if any of th' H2 cut th' dam they wouldn't +forget to take th' shovel with 'em, Red. It's Antonio, that's who it +is. He's trying to make a bigger fight along th' line an' stir things +up generally so he can rustle promiscuous. Well, we'll give all our +time to th' rustling end from now on, if I have got any voice in th' +matter. An' I hope to th' Lord I can get within gun range of that +coyote of a Greaser. Why, by th' A'mighty, I'll go down an' plug him +on his own ground just as soon as I can get away, which will be +to-morrow! That's just what I'll do! I'll stop his plays or know th' +reason why." + +"An' I'm with you--you'll take a big chance going down there alone," +Red replied. "_After_ Meeker hears what we've got to say he'll be +blamed glad we came." + +An hour later they stopped at the ranch house, a squat, square +building, flat of roof, its adobe walls three feet thick and +impenetrable to heat. Stripping saddles and bridles from their +streaming mounts, they drove the animals into a large corral and ran +to the bunk house, where laughter greeted their appearance. + +"Swimming?" queried Johnny, putting aside his harmonica. + +"Hey, you! Get out of here an' lean up against th' corral till you +shed some of that water!" cried Lanky, the wounded, watching the +streams from their clothes run over the floor. "We'll be afloat in a +minute if you don't get out--we ain't no fishes." + +"You shut up," retorted Red. "We'll put you out there to catch what +water we missed if you gets funny," he threatened, stripping as +rapidly as he could. He hung the saturated garments on pegs in the +gallery wall and had Pete rub him down briskly, while Billy did the +same for his soaked companion. + +Around them were their best friends, all laughing and contented, +chaffing and exchanging personal banter with each other, engaged in +various occupations, from sewing buttons on shirts to playing cards +and mending riding gear. Snatches of songs burst forth at odd +intervals, while laughter was continually heard. This was the +atmosphere they loved, this repaid them for their hard work, this and +the unswerving loyalty, the true, deep affection, and good-natured +banter that pricked but left no sting. Here was one of the lures of +the range, the perfect fellowship that long acquaintance and the +sharing of hard work and ubiquitous danger breeds among the members of +a good, square outfit. Not one of them ever counted personal safety +before duty to his ranch and his companions, taking his hard life +laughingly and without complaint, generous to a fault, truthful and +loyal and considerate. There was manhood for you, there was contempt +for restricting conventions, for danger; there was a unity of thought +and purpose that set the rough-spoken, ready-fighting men of the +saddle and rope in a niche by themselves, a niche where fair play, +unselfishness, and a rough but sterling honor abides always. Their +occupation gave more than it exacted and they loved it and the open, +wind-swept range where they were the dominating living forces. + +Buck came in with Frenchy McAllister and Pie Willis and grinned at his +crowd of happy "boys," who gave warm welcome. The foreman was not +their "boss," their taskmaster, but he was their best friend, and he +shared with them the dangers and joys which were their lot, +sympathetic in his rough way, kind and trusting. + +Hopalong struggling to get his head through a dry shirt, succeeded, +and swiftly related to his foreman the occurrences of the morning, +pointing to the shovel and button as the total exhibit of his proofs +against the Mexican. The laughter died out, the banter was hushed, and +the atmosphere became that of tense hostility and anger. When he had +ceased speaking angry exclamations and threats filled the room, coming +from men who always "made good." When Red had told of the H2-Bar-20 +calf, an air of finality, of conviction, settled on them; and it +behooved Antonio to hunt a new range, for his death would be sudden +and merciless if he met any of the Bar-20 outfit, no matter when or +where. They never forgot. + +After brief argument they came to the decision that he was connected +with the rustling going on around them, and this clinched his fate. +Several, from the evidence and from things which they had observed and +now understood, were of the opinion that he was the ringleader of the +cattle thieves, the head and the moving spirit. + +"Boys," Buck remarked, "we won't bother about th' line very much for a +while. It's been a peaceable sort of a fracas, anyhow, an' I don't +expect much further trouble. If H2 cows straggle across an' yo're +right handy to 'em an' ain't got nothing pressing to do, drive 'em +back; but don't look for 'em particularly. There won't be no more +drives against us for a long time. We've got to hunt rustlers from now +on, an' hunt hard, or they'll get too numerous to handle very easy. +Let th' cows take care of themselves along th' river, Frenchy, an' put +your men up near Big Coulee, staying nights in Number Two. Pete an' +Billy will go with you. That'll protect th' west, an' there won't be +no rustling going on from th' river, nohow. Don't waste no time +herding--put it all in hunting. Hopalong, you, Johnny, Red, an' Skinny +take th' hills country an' make yore headquarters in Number Three an' +Four. Lanky will stay up here until he can handle hisself good again. +I'll ride promiscuous, but if any of you learn anything you want me to +know, leave it with Lanky or th' cook if you can't find me. Just as +soon as we have anything to go on, we'll start on th' war path hot +foot an' clean things up right an' proper." + +"What'll we do if we catches anybody rustling?" asked Johnny, assuming +an air of ignorance and curiosity, and ducking quickly as Red swung at +him. + +"Give 'em ten dollars reward an' let 'em go," Buck grinned. + +"Give me ten if I brings th' Greaser to you?" + +"I'll fine you twenty if you waste that much time over him," Buck +replied. + +"Whoop!" Johnny exulted. "Th' good old times are coming back again! +Remember Bye-an'-Bye an' Cactus Springs, Buckskin an' Slippery +Trendley? Remember th' good old scraps? Now we'll have something else +to do besides chasing cows an' wiping th' rust off our guns!" + +Lanky, who took keen delight in teasing the youngster, frowned +severely. "Yo're just a fool kid, just a happy idiot!" he snorted, and +Johnny looked at him, surprised but grinning. "Yes, you are! I never +seen such a bloody-minded animal in all my born days as you! After all +th' fighting you've gone an' got mixed up in, you still yap for more! +You makes me plumb disgusted, you do!" + +"He _is_ awful gory," remarked Hopalong soberly. "Just a animated +massacre in pants." + +"Regular Comanche," amended Red, frowning. "What do you think about +him, Frenchy?" + +"I'd ruther not say it," Frenchy replied. "You ask Pie--he ain't +scared of nothing, massacre _or_ Comanche." + +Johnny looked around the room and blurted out, "You all think th' same +as me, every one of you, even if you are a lot of pussy-cats, an' you +know it, too!" + +"Crazy as a locoed cow," Red whispered across the room to Buck, who +nodded sorrowfully and went into the cook shack. + +"You wait till I sees Antonio an' you'll find out how crazy I am!" +promised Johnny. + +"I shore hopes he spanks you an' sends you home a-bawling," Lanky +snorted. "You needs a good licking, you young cub!" + +"Yah, yah!" jibed Johnny. "Needing an' getting are two different +tunes, grand-pop!" + +"You wasn't down here, was you, Frenchy, when Johnny managed to rope a +sleepy gray wolf that was two years old, an' tried to make a pet out +of him?" asked Hopalong, grinning at his recollection of the affair. + +"No!" exclaimed Frenchy in surprise. "Did he do it?" + +"Oh, yes, he did it; with a gun, after th' pet had torn his pants off +an' chewed him up real well. He's looking for another, because he says +that was too mean a beast to have any luck with." + +Buck stepped into the room again. "Who wants to go with me to th' dam +in th' wagon?" he asked. "I want to look at that cut an' fix it for +keeps if it needs fixing. All right! All right! Anybody'd think I +asked you to go to a dance," he laughed. "Pete, you an' Billy an' Pie +will be enough." + +"Can't we ride alongside?" asked Pie. "Do we have to sit in that +thing?" + +"You can walk, if you want to. I don't care how you go," Buck +replied, stepping into the rain with the three men close behind him. +Soon the rattling of the wagon was heard growing fainter on the plain. + +The banter and the laughter ran on all the rest of the morning. After +dinner Hopalong built a fire in the huge stove and put a ladleful of +lead on the coals, while Frenchy and Skinny re-sized and re-capped +shells from the boxes on the wall. Hopalong watched the fire and +smoked the bullet moulds, while Lanky managed to measure powder and +fill the shells after Frenchy and Skinny had finished with them. +Hopalong filled the moulds rapidly while Johnny took out the bullets +and cooled them by dropping them into cold rain water, being cautioned +by Hopalong not to splash any water into the row of moulds. As soon as +he found them cool enough, Johnny wiped them dry and passed them on to +Red, who crimped them into the charged shells. Soon the piles of +cartridges grew to a goodly size, and when the last one had been +finished the crowd fell to playing cards until supper was ready. +Hopalong, who had kept on running bullets, sorted them, and then +dropped them into the boxes made for each size. Finally he stopped and +went to the door to look for signs of the morrow's weather. + +"Clearing up in th' west an' south--here comes Buck an' th' others," +he called over his shoulder. "How was it, Buck?" he shouted, and out +of the gathering dusk came the happy reply: + +"Bully!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +HOPALONG RIDES SOUTH + + +The morning broke clear and showed a clean, freshened plain to the men +who rode to the line house on the Peak, there to take up their +quarters and from there to ride as scouts. Hopalong sent Red to ride +along the line for the purpose of seeing how things were in that +vicinity and, leaving the others to go where they wished, struck south +down the side of the hill, intending to hunt Antonio on his own +ground. Tied to his saddle was the shovel and in his pocket he carried +the brass button, his evidence for Meeker. As he rode at an easy lope +he kept a constant lookout for signs of rustling. Suddenly he leaned +forward and tightened his knee grip, the horse responding by breaking +into a gallop, while its rider took up his lariat, shaking it into a +long loop, his twisting right wrist imparting enough motion to it to +keep it clear of the vegetation and rocks. + +A distant cow wheeled sharply and watched him for a moment and then, +snorting, its head down and its tail up, galloped away at a speed not +to be found among domesticated cattle. It was bent upon only one +thing--to escape that dreaded, whirling loop of rawhide, so pliant +and yet so strong. Hopalong, not as expert as Lanky, who carried a +rope nearly sixty feet long and who could place it where he wished, +used one longer than the more common lariats. + +The cow did its best, but the pony steadily gained, nimbly executing +quick turns and jumping gullies, up one side of a hill and down the +other, threading its way with precision through the chaparrals and +deftly avoiding the holes in its path. Closer and closer together came +the pursued and pursuers, and then the long rope shot out and sailed +through the air, straight for the animal's hind legs. As it settled, a +quick upward jerk of the arm did the rest and there was a snubbing of +rope around the saddle horn, a sudden stopping and dropping back on +haunches on the part of the pony, and the cow went down heavily. The +rider did not wait for the horse to get set, but left the saddle as +soon as the rope had been securely snubbed, and ran to the side of his +victim. + +The cow was absolutely helpless, for the rope was taut, the +intelligent pony leaning back and being too well trained to allow the +least amount of slack to bow the rawhide closer to the earth. +Therefore Hopalong gave no thought to his horse, for while cinches, +pommel, and rope held, the small, wiry, wild-eyed bundle of galvanic +cussedness would hold the cow despite all its efforts to get up. + +"Never saw _that_ brand before, an' I've rid all over this country for +a good many years, too," he soliloquized. "There sure ain't no HQQ +herd down this way, nor no place close enough for a stray. Somebody +is shore starting a herd on his own hook; from th' cows on this range, +too. + +"By th' great horned spoon! I can see Bar-20 in them marks!" he cried, +bending closer. "All he had to do was to make a H out of th' Bar, +close up th' 2, an' put a tail on th' O! Hum--whoop! There is H2 in +it, too! Close th' 2 an' add a Q, an' there you are! I don't mind a +hog once in a while, but working both ranches to a common mark is +shore too much for me. Stealing from both ranches an' markin 'em all +HQQ!" + +He moved up to look at the ears and swore when he saw them. "D--n it! +That's all I want to know! Mebby a sheriff wouldn't get busy on th' +evidence, but I ain't no sheriff--I'm just a plain cow-punch with good +common sense. Meeker's cut is a V in one ear--here I finds a slant +like Skinny saw, an' in both ears. If that don't cut under Meeker's +notch I'm a liar! All framed up to make a new herd out of our cows. +Just let me catch some coyote with a running iron under his saddle +flap an' see what happens!" + +He quickly slacked the rope and slipped off the noose, running as fast +as he could go to his pony, for some cows get "on the prod" very +easily, and few cows are afraid of a man on foot; and when a +long-horned Texas cow has "its dander up," it is not safe for an +unmounted man to take a chance with its horns, unless he is willing to +shoot it down. This Hopalong would not do, for he did not want to let +the rustlers know that the new brand had been discovered. Vaulting +into his saddle he eluded the charge of the indignant cow and loped +south, coiling up his rope as he went. + +Half an hour after leaving the HQQ cow he saw a horseman ahead of him, +threading his way through a chaparral. As Hopalong overtook him the +other emerged and stopped, uncertain whether to reach for his gun or +not. It was Juan, who had not gone to Mesa overnight, scouting to +learn if any new developments had taken place along the boundary. Juan +looked at the shovel and then at the puncher, his face expressionless. + +Hopalong glanced at the other's cuff, found it was all right, and then +forced himself to smile. "Looking for rustlers?" he bantered. + +"_Si._" + +"What! There ain't no rustlers loose on this range, is there?" asked +Hopalong, surprised. + +"_Quien sabe?_" + +"Oh, them sleepers were made by yore own, lazy outfit, an' you might +as well own up to it," Hopalong grinned, deprecatingly. "You can fool +Meeker, all right, he's easy; but you can't throw dust in my eyes like +that. On th' level, now, ain't I right? Didn't you fellers make them +sleepers?" + +Juan shrugged his shoulders. "_Quien sabe?_" + +"That '_Quien sabe_' is th' handiest an' most used pair of words in +yore cussed language," replied Hopalong grinning. "Ask one of you +fellers something you don't want to tell an' it's '_Quien sabe?_' +ain't it?" + +"_Si_," laughed the Mexican. + +"I thought so," Hopalong retorted. "You can't tell me that any gang +that would cut a dam like they did ourn wouldn't sleeper, an' don't +you forget it, neither!" + +Juan's face cleared for a moment as he gloated over how Antonio's +scheme had worked out, and he laughed. "No can fool you, hey?" Then he +pressed his knee tighter against his saddle skirt and a worried look +came into his eyes. + +Hopalong took no apparent notice of the action, but he saw it, and it +sent one word burning through his brain. They were riding at a walk +now and Hopalong, not knowing that Juan had left the H2, suggested +that they ride to the ranch together. He was watching the Mexican +closely, for it would not be unusual for a man in Juan's position to +try to get out of it by shooting. The Mexican refused to ride south +and Hopalong, who was determined to stay with his companion until he +found out what he wanted to know, proposed a race to a barranca that +cut into the plain several hundred yards ahead. He would let Juan beat +him, and all the way, so he could watch the saddle flap, and if this +failed he would waste no more time in strategy, but would find out +about it quickly. Juan also declined to race, and very hurriedly, for +the less his saddle was jolted the better it would be for him. He knew +Hopalong's reputation as a revolver fighter and would take no chances. + +"That ain't a bad cayuse you got there. I was wondering if it could +beat mine, what's purty good itself. Is it very bronc?" he asked, +kicking the animal in the ribs whereupon it reared and pranced. +Juan's left hand went to the assistance of his knee, his right grasped +the cantle of his saddle, where it was nearer the butt of his Colt, +and a look of fear came into his eyes. + +Hopalong watched his chance and as the restive animal swung towards +him he spurred it viciously, at the same time crying: "Take yore hand +from off that flap, you d----d cow-lifter!" + +The command was unnecessary, for a thin, straight rod of iron slipped +down and stuck in the sand, having worked loose from its lashings. +Mexican-like, Juan had put off until to-morrow to heat it and bend a +loop in one end for more secure fastening. + +At the instant it fell Juan leaned back and dropped over on the far +side of his horse, his right leg coming up level with his enemy, and +reached for his gun, intending to shoot through the end of the holster +and save time. But he went farther than he had intended, not stopping +until he struck the earth, his bullet missing Hopalong by only a few +inches. + +The Bar-20 puncher slipped his Colt back into the sheath and, leaning +down, deftly picked up the iron and fastened it to his saddle. Roping +the Mexican's horse he continued on his way to the H2, leaving Juan +where he had fallen. + +When he arrived at the ranch he turned the horse into the corral and +started to ride to the bunk house; but Salem, enjoying a respite from +cooking and washing dishes, saw him and started for him on an awkward +run, crying: + +"Where'd you git that hoss? Where'd you clear from, an' who are you?" + +"Th' cayuse belongs to Meeker--Juan was riding it. Is anybody around?" + +"I'm around, ain't I, you fog-eyed lubber! Where's th' Lascar? Who are +you?" + +"Well, Duke, I'm from th' Bar-20, an' my name is Hop--" + +"Weigh anchor an' 'bout ship! You can't make this port, you +wind-jamming pirate!" + +"I want to see yore foreman. This is his shovel, an' I--" + +"Then where'd you get it, hey? How'd you get his--" + +"Hang it!" interrupted Hopalong, losing his patience. "I tell you I +want to see Meeker! I want to see him about some--" + +"An' where's th' coolie that rid that hoss?" demanded the cook, +belligerently. + +"You won't see that thief no more. That's one of th' things I want +to--" + +"Hooray!" cried Salem. "Was he drowned, or shanghaied?" + +"Was he what? What are you talking about, anyhow? Where did you ever +learn how to talk Chinese?" + +"What! Chinese! You whale-bellied, barnacle-brained bilge pirate, I've +got a good notion--" + +"Say, is there anybody around here that ain't loco? Are they all as +crazy as you?" Hopalong asked. + +Salem grabbed up one of the bars of the corral gate and, roaring +strange oaths, ran at the stranger, but Hopalong spurred his horse and +kept clear of the pole while Salem grew short winded and more profane. +Then the puncher thought of Mary and cantered towards the ranch house +intending to ask her where he could find her father, thus combining +business with pleasure. Salem shook the pole at him and then espied +the saddled horse in the corral. He disliked horses as much as they +disliked him, so much, in fact, that he said the only reason he did +not get out of the country and go back to the sea was because he had +to ride a horse to do it. But any way was acceptable under the present +exigencies, so he clambered into the saddle after more or less effort +and found it not quite roomy enough for one of his growing corpulency. +Shouting "Let fall!" he cantered after the invader of his ranch, +waving the pole valiantly. He did not see that the ears of his mount +were flattened or that its eyes were growing murderous in their +expression, and he did not know that the lower end of the pole was +pounding lustily against the horse's legs every time he waved the +weapon. All he thought about was getting his pleasant duty over with +as soon as possible, and he gripped the pole more firmly. + +Hopalong looked around curiously to see what the cook was doing to +make all that noise, and when he saw he held his sides. "Well, if th' +locoed son-of-a-gun ain't after me! Lord! Hey, stranger," he shouted, +"if you want him to run fast, take hold of his tail an' pull it three +times!" + +He was not averse to having a little fun at the tenderfoot's expense +and he deferred his visit to the house to circle around the angry cook +and shout advice. Instead of laying the reins against his mount's neck +to turn it, Salem jerked on them, which the indignant animal instantly +resented. It had felt all along that it was being made a fool of and +imposed upon, but now it would have a sweet revenge. Leaping forward +suddenly it stopped stiff-legged and arched its back several times +with all the force it was capable of; but it could have stopped +immediately after the first pitch, for Salem, still holding to the +pole, executed a more or less graceful parabola and landed in a +sitting posture amid much dust. + +"_Whoof!_ What'd we strike?" he demanded dazedly. Then, catching sight +of the cause of his flight, which was at that moment cropping an +overlooked tuft of grass as if it were accustomed to upsetting +pole-waving cooks, Salem scrambled to his feet and ran at it, getting +in one good whack before the indignant and groping pony could move. + +"There, blast you!" he yelled. "I'll show you what you get for a trick +like that!" Turning, and seeing Hopalong laughing until the tears ran +down his face, he roared, "What are you laughing at, d--n you?" + +A rope sailed out and tightened around Salem's feet and he once more +sat down, unable to arise this time, because of Hopalong's horse, +which backed slowly, step by step, dragging the captive, who was now +absolutely helpless. + +"Now I want to talk to you for a few minutes, an' I'm going to," +Hopalong remarked. "Will you listen quietly or will you risk losing +th' seat of yore pants? You've _got_ to listen, anyhow." + +"Wha--what----go ahead, only stop th' headway of yore craft! Lay to! +I'm on th' rocks!" + +Laughing, Hopalong rode closer to him. "Where's Antonio?" + +"In h--l, I hope, leastwise that's where he ought to be." + +"Well, I just sent his friend Juan there--had to; he toted a running +iron an'--" + +"Did you? Did you?" cried Salem in accents of joy. "Why didn't you say +so before! Come in an' splice th' main brace, shipmate! That cross +between a nigger an' a Chinee is in Davy Jones' locker, is he? Hey, +wait till I get these lashings cast off--yo're a good hand after all. +Come in an' have some grog--best stuff this side of Kentucky, where it +was made." + +"I ain't got time," replied Hopalong, smiling. "Where's that Greaser +broncho-buster?" + +"Going to send _him_ down too? D--n my tops'ls, wish I knowed! He +deserted, took shore leave, an' ain't reported since. Yo're +clipper-rigged, a regular AB, you are! Spin us th' yarn, matey." + +Hopalong told him about the dam and the shooting of Juan and gave him +the shovel and button for Meeker, Salem's mouth wide open at the +recital. When he had finished the cook grabbed his stirrup and urged +him towards the grog, but Hopalong laughingly declined and, looking +towards the ranch house, saw Jim Meeker riding like mad in their +direction. + +"What do you want?" blazed the foreman, drawing rein, his face dark +with anger. + +"I want to plug Antonio, an' his friend Sanchez," Hopalong replied +calmly. "I just caught Juan with a running iron under his saddle flap +an' I drilled him for good. Here's th' iron." + +"Good for you!" cried Meeker, taking the rod. "They've jumped, all of +'em. I'm looking for 'em myself, an' we're all looking for coyotes +toting these irons. I'm glad you got one of 'em!" + +"Antonio scuttled their dike--here's th' shovel he did it with," +interrupted Salem eagerly. "An' here's th' button off th' Greaser's +jacket. He left it by th' shovel. My mate, here, is cruising to fall +in with 'em, an' when he does there'll be--" + +"Why, that's _my_ shovel!" cried Meeker. "An' that's his button, all +right." + +Hopalong told him all about the attempt to cut the dam and when he had +ceased Meeker swore angrily. "Them Greasers are on th' rustle, shore! +They're trying to keep th' fighting going on along th' line so we'll +be too busy to bother 'em in their stealing. I've been losing cows +right an' left--why, they run off a herd of beef right here by th' +houses. Salem saw 'em. They killed cows down south an' covered my +range with sleepers an' lame mothers. How did you come to guess he +had an iron?" + +Hopalong told of the HQQ cow he had found and, dismounting, traced the +brand in the sand, Meeker bending over eagerly. + +"You see this Bar-20?" he asked, pointing it out, and his interested +companion interrupted him with a curse. + +"Yes, I do; an' do _you_ see this H2?" he demanded. "They've merged +our brands into one--stealing from both of us!" + +"Yes. I figgered that out when I saw th' mark; that's one of th' +things I came down to tell you about," Hopalong replied, mounting +again. "An' Red an' me found a Bar-20 calf with a V ear notch, too. +That proves what th' dam was cut for, don't it?" + +"Why didn't I drop that coyote when I caught him skulking th' other +morning!" growled Meeker, regretfully. "He had just come back from +yore dam then--had yaller mud on his cayuse an' his stirrups. Out all +night on a played-out bronc, an' me too thick to guess he was up to +some devilment an' shoot him for it! Oh, h--l! I thought purty hard of +you, Cassidy, but I reckon we all make mistakes. Any man what would +stop to think out th' real play when he found that shovel is square." + +"Oh, that's all right. I allus did hate Greasers, an' mebby that was +why I suspected him, that an' th' button." + +Meeker turned to the cook. "Where's Chick an' Dan?" he asked, +impatiently. "I ain't seen 'em around." + +"Why, Chick rid off down south an' Dan cleared about an hour ago." + +"What! With that leg of hissen!" + +"Aye, aye, sir; he couldn't leave it behind, you know, sir." + +"All right, Cassidy; much obliged. I'll put a stop to th' rustling on +_my_ range, or know th' reason why. D--n th' day I ever left +Montanny!" Meeker swore, riding towards the ranch house. + +"Say, I hope you find them Lascars," remarked Salem. "Yo're th' boy +that'll give 'em what they needs. Wish you had caught 'em all four +instead of only one." + +Hopalong smiled. "Then they might 'a got me instead." + +"No, no, siree!" exclaimed the cook. "You can lick 'em all, an' I'll +gamble on it, too! But you better come in an' have a swig o' grog +before you weighs anchor, matey. As I was saying, it's th' best grog +west of Kentucky. Come on in!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +LUCAS VISITS THE PEAK + + +When Hopalong returned to the line house on the Peak he saw Johnny and +Skinny talking with Lucas, the C80 foreman, and he hailed them. + +"Hullo, Lucas!" he cried. "What are you doing down here?" + +"Glad to see you, Hopalong," Lucas replied, shaking hands. "Came down +to see Buck, but Lanky, up in th' bunk house, said he was off +somewhere scouting. From what Lanky said I reckon you fellers had a +little joke down here last week." + +"Yes," responded Hopalong, dismounting. "It was a sort of a joke, +except that somebody killed one of Meeker's men. I'll be blamed if I +know who done it. Lanky says he didn't an' he don't have to deny a +thing like that neither. Looks to me like he caught some brand-blotter +dead to rights, like I did a little while ago, an' like he got th' +worst of th' argument. Lanky would 'a told me if he did it, an' don't +you forget it, neither." + +"What's that about catching somebody dead to rights?" eagerly asked +Johnny. + +"Who was it?" asked Skinny. + +"Juan. He toted a running iron an' I caught him just after I looked +over a cow with a new brand--" + +"Did you get him good?" quickly asked Johnny. "Did he put up a fight?" + +"Yes; an' what was th' brand?" Skinny interposed. + +"Here, here!" laughed Hopalong. "I reckon I'll save time if I tell you +th' whole story," and he gave a short account of his ride, interrupted +often by the inquisitive and insistent Johnny. + +"An' who is Salem?" Johnny asked. + +"Meeker's cook." + +"What did Meeker say about it when you told him?" + +"Gimme a chance to talk an' I'll tell you!" and Johnny remained silent +for a moment. Finally the story was told and Johnny, who had been +swearing vengeance on all "Greasers," asked one more question, +grinning broadly: + +"An' what did Mary say?" + +"You say Meeker lost a whole herd?" asked Lucas. "Let me tell you +there's more people mixed up in this rustling than we think. But I'll +tell you one thing; that herd didn't go north, unless they drove ten +miles east or west of our range." + +"Well, I reckon it's under one man, all right," Hopalong replied. "If +it was a lot of separate fellers running it by themselves there'd 'a +been a lot of blunders an' some few of 'em would 'a been shot before +Juan went. It's a gang, all right. But why th' devil did they turn +loose that H2 rebranded cow, that HQQ that I found? They might 'a +knowed it would cause some hot thinking when it was found. That cow is +just about going to lick 'em." + +"Stray," sententiously remarked Skinny. + +"Shore, that's what it was," Lucas endorsed. + +"An' do you know what that means?" asked Hopalong, looking from face +to face. "It means that they can't be holding their herds very far +away. It's three to one that I'm right." + +"Mebby they're down in Eagle," suggested Johnny hopefully, for Eagle +would be a good, exciting proposition in a fight. + +"No, it ain't there," Hopalong replied. "There's too many people down +there. They would all know about it an' want a share in th' profits; +but it ain't a whole lot foolish to say that Eagle men are in it." + +"Look here!" cried Skinny. "Mebby that HQQ is their road brand--that +cow might 'a strayed from their drive. They've got to have some brand +on cows they sell, an' they can't leave ours on an' get back alive." + +"You are right, but not necessarily so about th' road brand," Hopalong +rejoined. "But that don't tell us where they are, does it?" + +"We've got to hunt HQQ cows on th' drive," Johnny interposed as Skinny +was about to speak. "I'll go down to Eagle an' see if I can't get on +to a drive. Then I'll trail th' gang all th' way an' back to where +they hangs out. That'll tell us where to go, all right." + +"You keep out of Eagle--you'd be shot before you reached Quinn's +saloon," Hopalong said. "No; it ain't Eagle, not at all. See here, +Lucas; have you watched them construction camps along that railroad? +There ain't a better market nowhere than them layouts; they don't ask +no questions if th' beef is cheap." + +"Yes, I've watched th' trails leading to 'em." + +"Why, they wouldn't cross yore range!" Hopalong cried. "They'd drive +around you an' hit th' camp from above; they ain't fools. Hey! I've +got it! They can't go around th' Double Arrow unless they are willing +to cross th' Staked Plain, an' you can bet they ain't. That leaves th' +west, an' there's a desert out there they wouldn't want to tackle. +They drive between th' desert an' yore range." + +"If they drive to th' camps, yo're right without a doubt," Skinny +remarked. "But mebby they are driving south--mebby they're starting a +ranch along th' Grande, or across it." + +"Well, we'll take th' camps first," Hopalong replied. "Lucas, can you +spare a man to look them camps over? Somebody that can live in 'em a +month, if he has to?" + +"Shore. Wood Wright is just th' man." + +"No, he ain't th' man," contradicted Hopalong quickly. "Anybody that +wears chaps, or walks like he does would arouse suspicion in no time, +an' get piped out some night. This man has got to have business up +there, like looking for a job. Say! Can you get along without yore +cook for a while? If you can't we will!" + +"You bet yore life I can!" exulted Lucas. "That's good. He can get a +job right where th' meat is used, an' where th' hides will be kicking +around. He goes to-morrow!" + +"That's th' way; th' sooner th' better," Hopalong responded. "But we +won't wait for him. We'll scout around lively down here an' if we +don't find anything he may. But for th' Lord's sake, don't let him +ride a cayuse into that camp that has brands of this section. Cowan +will be glad to lend you his cayuse; he got it up north too far to +make 'em suspicious." + +"Yes; I reckon that'll be about the thing." + +"Here comes Red," Johnny remarked. "Hey, Red, Hoppy got Juan this +morning. Caught him toting a straight iron!" + +"Johnny, you get away lively an' tell Frenchy to scout west," Hopalong +ordered. "You can stay up in Number Two with them to-night, but come +down here again in th' morning. Red, to-morrow at daylight we go west +an' comb that country." + +"That's th' way," remarked Lucas, mounting. "Get right at it. Have you +got any word for Buck? I'll go past th' house an' leave it if you +have." + +"Yes; tell him what we've talked over. An' you might send yore outfit +further west, too," Hopalong responded. "I'll bet a month's pay we +end this cow-lifting before two more weeks roll by. We've got to!" + +"Oh, yes; I near forgot it--Bartlett thinks we-all ought to get +together after th' rustling is stopped an' shoot that town of Eagle +plumb off th' earth," Lucas said. "It's only a hell hole, anyhow, an' +it won't do no harm to wipe it out." He looked around the group. "What +do you fellers think about it?" he asked. + +"Well, we might, then; we've got too many irons in th' fire now, +though," Hopalong replied. "Hey, Johnny! Get a-going! We'll talk about +Eagle later." + +"I'm forgetting lots of things," laughed Lucas. "We had a little fight +up our way th' other day. Caught a feller skinning one of Bartlett's +cows, what had strayed over on us. Got him dead to rights, too. He put +up a fight while he lasted. Said his name was Hawkins." + +"Hawkins!" exclaimed Hopalong. "I've heard that name somewhere." + +"Why, that's th' name on th' notice of reward posted in Cowan's," Red +supplied. "He's wanted for desertion from th' army, an' for other +things. They want him bad up at Roswell, an' they'll pay for him, dead +or alive." + +"Well, they won't get him; he ain't keeping good enough," Lucas +replied. "An' we don't want that kind of money. So long," and he was +off. + +"So you got Juan," Red remarked. "You ought to have took him alive--we +could get it all out of him an' find out where his friends are hanging +out." + +"He went after his gun, an' he had an iron," Hopalong replied. "I +didn't know he had left Meeker, an' I didn't stop to think. You see, +he was a brand-blotter." + +"What's Meeker going to do about th' line?" Red asked. + +"Nothing for a while; he's too worried an' busy looking after his +sleepers. He ain't so bad, after all." + +"Say," remarked Skinny, thoughtfully. "Mebby that gang is over east, +like Trendley was. There's lots of water thereabouts, an' good grass, +too, in th' Panhandle. Look how close it is to Fort Worth an' th' +railroad." + +"Too many people over there," Hopalong replied. "An' _they_ know all +about th' time we killed Trendley an' wiped out his gang. They won't +go where they are shore we'll look." + +"If I can get sight of one of them Greasers I'll find out where they +are," Red growled. "I'll put green rawhide around his face if I have +to, an' when he savvys what th' sun is going to do to that hide an' +him, he'll talk, all right, an' be glad of th' chance." + +"To hear you, anybody would think you'd do a thing like that," +Hopalong laughed. "I reckon he'd drop at eight hundred, clean an' at +th' first shot. But, say, green rawhide wouldn't do a thing to a man's +face, would it! When it shrunk he'd know it, all right." + +"Crush it to a pulp," Skinny remarked. "But who is going to cook th' +supper? I'm starved." + + * * * * * + +Hopalong awakened suddenly and listened and found Red also awake. +Hoofbeats were coming towards the house and Hopalong peered out into +the darkness to see who it was, his Colt ready. + +"Who's that?" he challenged, sharply, the clicks of his gun ringing +clear in the night air. + +"Why, me," replied a well-known voice. "Who'd you think it was?" + +"Why didn't you stay up in Number Two, like I told you? What's wrong?" + +"Nothing," Johnny replied, stripping off his saddle and bridle. + +"An' you came all th' way down here in th' dark, just to wake us up?" +Hopalong asked, incredulously. "Twenty miles just for that!" + +"No. I ain't got here yet--I'm only half way," Johnny retorted. "Can't +you see I'm here? An' I didn't care about you waking up. I wanted to +get here, an' here I am." + +"In th' name of heaven, are you drunk, or crazy?" asked Red. "Of all +th' d--n fools I ever--" + +"Oh, shut up, all of you!" growled Skinny, turning over in his bunk. +"Lot of locoed cusses that don't know enough to keep still! Let th' +Kid alone, why don't you!" he muttered, and was sound asleep again. + +"No, I ain't drunk or crazy! Think I was going to stay up there when +you two fellers are going off scouting to-morrow? Not by a jugful! I +ain't letting nothing get past me, all right," Johnny rejoined. + +"Well, you ain't a-going, anyhow," muttered Hopalong, crawling into +his bunk again. "You've got to stay with Skinny--" he did not speak +very loud, because he knew it would cause an argument, and he wished +to sleep instead of talk. + +"What'd you say?" demanded Johnny. + +"For G-d's sake!" marvelled Red. "Can't nobody go an' scratch +'emselves unless th' Kid is on th' ground? Come in here an' get to +sleep, you coyote!" + + Adown th' road, his gun in hand, + Comes Whiskey Bill, mad Whiskey-- + +Johnny hummed. "Hey! What you doing?" he yelled, leaping back. + +"You heave any more guns on my face an' you'll find out!" roared +Skinny, sitting up and throwing Johnny's Colt and belt to the floor. +"Fool infant!" + +"Tumble in an' shut up!" cried Red. "We want some sleep, you sage +hen!" + +"Yo're a lot of tumble-bugs!" retorted Johnny, indignantly. "How did I +know Skinny had his face where I threw my gun! He's so cussed thin I +can't hardly see him in daylight, th' chalk mark! Why didn't he say +so? Think I can see in th' dark?" + +"I don't talk in my sleep!" retorted Skinny, "or go flea-hopping +around in th' dark like a--" + +"_Shut up!_" shouted Hopalong, and silence at last ensued. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +HOPALONG AND RED GO SCOUTING + + +As Hopalong and Red rode down the slope of the Peak the rays of the +sun flashed over the hills, giving promise of a very hot day. They +were prepared to stay several days, if need be, on the semi-arid plain +to the west of them, for it would be combed thoroughly before they +returned. On they loped, looking keenly over the plain and +occasionally using their field glasses to more closely scrutinize +distant objects, searching the barrancas and coulees and threading +through mesquite and cactus growths. Hopalong momentarily expected to +find signs of what they were looking for, while Red, according to +his habit, was consistently contradictory in his words and +disproportionately pessimistic. + +Moving forward at a swinging lope they began to circle to the west and +as they advanced Hopalong became eager and hopeful, while his +companion grumbled more and more. In his heart he believed as Hopalong +did, but there had to be something to talk about to pass the time more +pleasantly; so when they met in some barranca to ride together for a +short distance they exchanged pleasantries. + +"Yo're showing even more than yore usual amount of pig-headed +ignorance to-day," Hopalong grumbled. "Yore blasted, ingrowing +disposition has been shedding cussedness at every step. I'll own up to +being some curious as to when it's going to peter out." + +"As if that's any of yore business," retorted Red. "But I'll just tell +you, since you asks; it's going to stop when I get good an' ready, +savvy?" + +"Yo're awful cheerful at times," sarcastically snorted his companion. + +Red's eyes had been roving over the plain and now he raised his +glasses and looked steadily ahead. + +"What's that out there? Dead cow?" he asked, calmly. + +Hopalong put his glasses on it instantly. "Cow?" he asked, +witheringly. "No; it's an over-grown lizard! Come on," he cried, +spurring forward, Red close behind him. + +Riding around it they saw that it bore the brand of the H2, and +Hopalong, dismounting, glanced it over quickly and swore. + +"Shot in th' head--what did I tell you!" + +"You didn't have to get off yore cayuse to see that," retorted Red. +"But get on again, an' come along. There's more out here. I'll take +th' south end of this--don't get out of hearing." + +"Wait! Wonder why they shot it, instead of driving it off after they +got it this far?" Hopalong mused. + +"Got on th' prod, I reckon, leaving its calf an' being run so hard. +I've seen many a one I'd like to have shot. Looks to me like they hang +out around that water hole--they drove it that way." + +"You can bet yore head they didn't drive it straight to their +hang-out--they ain't doing nothing like that," Hopalong replied. "They +struck south after they thought they had throwed off any pursuit. They +drove it almost north, so far; savvy?" + +"Well, they've got to have water if they're holding cows out on this +stove," Red rejoined. "An' I just told you where th' water is." + +"G'wan! Ten cows would drain that hole in two days!" Hopalong +responded. "They've also got to have grass, though mebby you never +knew that. An' what about that herd Meeker lost? They wouldn't circle +so far to a one-by-nothing water hole like that one is." + +"Well, then, where'll they find grass an' water out here?" demanded +Red, impatiently. "Th' desert's west, though mebby you never knew +that!" + +"Red, we've been a pair of fools!" Hopalong cried, slapping his thigh +by way of emphasis. "Here we are skating around up here when Thunder +Mesa lays south, with plenty of water an' a fair pasture on all sides +of it! That's where we'll go." + +"Hoppy, once in a great while you do show some intelligence, an' +you've shown some now; but we better go up to that water hole first," +Red replied. "We can swing south then. We're so close to it now that +there ain't nothing to be gained by not taking a look at it. Mebby +we'll find a trail, or something." + +"Right you are; come on. There ain't no use of us riding separate no +more." + +Half an hour later Hopalong pointed to one side, to a few half-burned +greasewood and mesquite sticks which radiated like the spokes of a +wheel. + +"Yes, I saw 'em," Red remarked. "They couldn't wait till they got home +before they changed th' brand, blamed fools." + +"Yes, an' that explains th' HQQ cow I discovered," Hopalong quickly +replied. "They got too blamed hasty to blot it an' it got away from +'em." + +"Well, it shore beats th' devil how Meeker had to go an' stir up this +nest of rattlers," Red grumbled, angrily. + +"If these fellers hang out at Thunder Mesa an' drive to th' railroad +camps we ought to strike their trail purty close to th' water hole," +Hopalong remarked. "It's right in their path." + +Red nodded his head. "Yes, we ought to." + +An hour later they rode around a chaparral and came within sight of +the water hole, which lay a few hundred yards away. As they did so a +man rode up out of the depression and started north, unconscious of +his danger. + +The two men spurred to overtake him, both drawing their rifles and +getting ready for action. He turned in his saddle, saw them, and +heading westward, quirted and spurred his horse into a dead run, both +of his pursuers shouting for him to stop as they followed at top +speed. He glanced around again and, seeing that they were slowly but +surely gaining, whipped up his rifle and fired at them several times, +both replying. He kept bearing more and more to the west and Red rode +away at an angle to intercept him. Ten minutes later the fleeing man +turned and rode north again, but Red had gained fifty yards over +Hopalong and suddenly stopping his horse to permit better shooting, he +took quick aim and fired. The pursued man found that his horse was +useful only as a breastwork as Red's report died away, and hastily +picked himself up and crawled behind it. + +"Look out, Red!" warned Hopalong as he flung himself off his horse and +led it down into a deep coulee for protection. "That's Dick Archer, +an' he can shoot like th' very devil!" + +Red, already in a gully, laughed. "An' so can I." + +"Hey, I'm going around on th' other side--look out for him," Hopalong +called, starting away. "We can't waste no more time up here than we +has to." + +"All right; go ahead," Red replied, pushing his sombrero over the edge +of the gully where the rustler could see it; and he laughed softly +when he saw the new hole in it. "He shore can shoot, all right," he +muttered. Working down the gully until he came to a clump of +greasewood he crawled up the bank and looked out at the man behind +the dead horse, who was intently watching the place where he had seen +Red's sombrero. "I knowed Eagle was holding cards in this game," Red +remarked, smiling grimly. "Wonder how many are in it, anyhow?" + +Hearing the crack of a gun he squinted along the sights of his +Winchester and waited patiently for a chance to shoot. Then he heard +another shot and saw the rustler raise himself to change his position, +and Red fired. "I knowed, too, that Hoppy would drive him into range +for me, even if he didn't hit him. Wonder what Mr. Dick Archer thinks +about _my_ shooting about now? Ah!" he cried as the smoke from his +second shot drifted away. "Got you again!" he grunted. Then he dropped +below the edge of the gully and grinned as he listened to the bullets +whining overhead, for the rustler, wounded twice inside of a minute by +one man, was greatly incensed thereby and petulantly bombarded the +greasewood clump. He knew that he was done for, but that was no reason +why he shouldn't do as much damage as he could while he was able. + +"Bet he's mad," grinned Red. "An' there goes that Sharps--I could tell +Hoppy's gun in a fusillade." + +Crawling back up the gully to his first position Red peered out +between some gramma grass tufts and again slid his rifle to his +shoulder, laughing softly at the regular reports of the Sharps. + +A puff of smoke enveloped his head and drifted behind him as he worked +the lever of his rifle and, arising, he walked out towards the +prostrate man and waved for his friend to join him. As he drew near +the rustler struggled up on one elbow, and Red, running forward with +his gun raised half-way to his shoulder, cried: "Don't make no +gun-play, or I'll blow you apart! Where's th' rest of yore gang?" + +"Go to h--l!" coughed the other, trying to get his Colt out, for his +rifle was empty. He stiffened and fell flat. + +Ten minutes later Hopalong and Red were riding southwest along a plain +and well beaten trail, both silent and thoughtful. And at the end of +an hour they saw the ragged top of Thunder Mesa towering against the +horizon. They went forward cautiously now and took advantage of the +unevenness of the plain, riding through barrancas and keeping close to +chaparrals. + +"Well, Red, I reckon we better stop," Hopalong remarked at last, his +glasses glued to his eyes. "No use letting them see us." + +"Is that smoke up there?" asked Red. + +"Yes; an' there's somebody moving around near th' edge." + +"I see him now." + +"I reckon we know all that's necessary," Hopalong remarked. "That +trail is enough, anyhow. Now we've got to get back to th' ranch +without letting them fellers see us." + +"We can lead th' cayuses till we can get in that barranca back there," +Red replied. "We won't stick up so prominent if we do that. After we +make it we'll find it easy to keep from being seen if we've any +caution." + +Hopalong threw himself out of the saddle. "Dismount!" he cried. "That +feller up there is coming towards this end. He's their lookout, I +bet." + +They remained hidden and quiet for an hour while the lookout gazed +around the plain, both impatient and angry at the time he gave to his +examination. When he turned and disappeared they waited for a few +minutes to see if he was coming back, and satisfied that the way was +clear, led their horses to the barranca and rode through it until far +enough away to be safe from observation. + +Darkness caught them before they had covered half of the distance +between the mesa and the ranch, and there being no moon to light the +way, they picketed their mounts, had supper, and rolling up in their +blankets, spent the night on the open plain. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +RED'S DISCOMFITURE + + +On their return they separated and Red, coming to an arroyo, rode +along its edge for a mile and then turned north. Ten minutes after he +had changed his course he espied an indistinct black speck moving +among a clump of cottonwoods over half a mile ahead of him, and as he +swung his glasses on it a cloud of smoke spurted out. His horse +reared, plunged, and then sank to earth where it kicked spasmodically +and lay quiet. As the horse died Red, who had dismounted at the first +tremor, threw himself down behind it and shoved his rifle across the +body, swearing at the range, for at that distance his Winchester was +useless. A small handful of sand flew into the air close beside him +with a vicious spat, and the bullet hummed away into the brush as a +small pebble struck him sharply on the cheek. A few seconds later he +heard the faint, flat report. + +"It's a clean thousand, an' more," he growled. "Wish I had Hopalong's +gun. I'd make that feller jump!" + +He looked around to see how close he was to cover and when he glanced +again at the cottonwoods they seemed to be free of an enemy. Then a +shot came from a point to the north of the trees and thudded into the +carcass of the horse. Red suddenly gave way to his accumulated anger +which now seethed at a white heat and, scrambling to his feet, ran to +the brush behind him. When he gained it he plunged forward to top +speed, leaping from cover to cover as he zig-zagged towards the man +who had killed Ginger, and who had tried his best to kill him. + +He ran on and on, his rifle balanced in his right hand and ready for +instant use, his breath coming sharply now. Red was in no way at home +out of the saddle. His high-heeled, tight-fitting boots cramped his +toes and the sand made running doubly hard. He was not far from the +cottonwoods; they lay before him and to his right. + +Turning quickly he went north, so as to go around the plot of ground +on which he hoped to find his accurate, long-range assailant, and as +he came to a break in the hitherto close-growing brush he stopped +short and dropped to one knee behind a hillock of sand, the rifle +going to his shoulder as part of the movement. + +Several hundred yards east of him he saw two men, who were hastily +mounting, and running from them was a frightened calf. One of the pair +waved an arm towards the place where Ginger lay and as he did so a +puff of smoke lazily arose from behind the hillock of sand to the west +and he jumped up in his saddle, his left arm falling to his side. +Another puff of smoke arose and his companion fought his wounded and +frightened horse, and then suddenly grasped his side and groaned. The +puffs were rising rapidly behind the hillock and bullets sang sharply +about them; the horse of the first man hit leaped forward with a +bullet-stung rump. Spurring madly the two rustlers dashed into the +brush, lying close along the necks of their mounts, and soon were lost +to the sight of the angry marksman. + +Red leaped up, mechanically refilling the magazine of his rifle, and +watched them out of sight, helpless either to stop or pursue them. He +shook his rifle, almost blind with rage, crying: "I hope you get to +Thunder Mesa before _we_ do, an' stay there; or run into Frenchy an' +his men on yore way back! If I could get to Number Two ahead of you +you'd never cross that boundary." + +As he returned to his horse his rage cooled and left him, a quiet, +deep animosity taking its place, and he even smiled with savage +elation when he thought how he had shot at eight hundred yards--they +had not escaped entirely free from punishment and his accuracy had +impressed them so much that they had not lingered to have it out with +him, even as they were two to one, mounted, and armed with long-range +rifles. And he could well allow them to escape, for he would find them +again at the mesa, if they managed to cross the line unseen by his +friends, and he could pay the debt there. + +He swore when he came to the body of his horse and anger again took +possession of him. Ginger had been the peer of any animal on the +range and, contrary to custom, he had felt no little affection for it. +At cutting out it had been unequalled and made the work a pleasure to +its rider; at stopping when the rope went home and turning short when +on the dead run it had not been excelled by any horse on the ranch. He +had taught it several tricks, such as coming to him in response to a +whistle, lying down quickly at a slap on the shoulder, and bucking +with whole-hearted zeal and viciousness when mounted by a stranger. +Now he slapped the carcass and removed the saddle and bridle which had +so often displeased it. + +"Ginger, old boy," he said, slinging the forty-pound saddle to his +shoulder and turning to begin his long tramp towards the dam, "I shore +hate to hoof it, but I'd do it with a lot better temper if I knowed +you was munching grass with th' rest of the cavvieyh. You've been a +good old friend, an' I hates to leave you; but if I get any kind of a +chance at th' thief that plugged you I'll square up for you good an' +plenty." + +To the most zealous for exercise, carrying a forty-pound +double-cinched saddle for over five miles across a hot, sandy plain +and under a blazing, scorching sun, with the cinches all the time +working loose and falling to drag behind and catch in the vegetation, +was no pleasant task; and add to that a bridle, full magazine rifle, +field glasses, canteen, and a three-pound Colt revolver swinging from +a belt heavily weighted with cartridges, and it becomes decidedly +irksome, to say the least. Red's temper can be excused when it is +remembered that for years his walking had been restricted to getting +to his horse, that his footwear was unsuited for walking, that he had +been shot at and had lost his best horse. Each mile added greatly to +his weariness and temper and by the time he caught sight of Hopalong, +who rode recklessly over the range blazing at a panic-stricken coyote, +he was near the point of spontaneous combustion. + +He heaved the saddle from him, kicked savagely at it as it dropped, +for which he was instantly sorry, and straightened his back slowly for +fear that any sudden exertion would break it. His rifle exploded, +twice, thrice; and Hopalong sat bolt upright and turned, his rifle +going instinctively to his shoulder before he saw his friend's waving +sombrero. + +The coyote-chaser slid the smoking Sharps into its sheath and galloped +to meet his friend who, filling the air with sulphurous remarks, now +seated himself on the roundly cursed saddle. + +Hopalong swept up and stopped, grinning expectantly and, to Red, +exasperatingly. "Where's yore cayuse?" he asked. "Why are you toting +yore possessions on th' hoof? Are you emigrating?" + +Red's reply was a look wonderfully expressive of all the evils in +human nature, it was fairly crowded with murder and torture, and +Hopalong held his head on one side while he weighed it. + +"Phew!" he exclaimed in wondering awe. "Yo're shore mad! You'd freeze +old Geronimo's blood if he saw that look!" + +"An' I'll freeze yourn; I'll let it soak into th' sand if you don't +change yore front!" blazed Red. + +"What's the matter? Where's Ginger?" + +A rapid-fire string of expletives replied and then Hopalong began to +hear sensible words, which more and more interspersed the profanity, +and it was not long before he learned of Red's ride along the arroyo's +rim. + +"When I turned north," Red continued, wrathfully, "I saw something in +them dozen cottonwoods around that come-an'-go spring; an' then what +do you think happened?" he cried. Not waiting for any reply he +continued hastily: "Why, some murdering squaw's dog went an' squibbed +at me at long range! With me on my own ranch, too! An' he killed +Ginger first shot. He missed me three straight an' _I_ couldn't do +nothing at a thousand an' over with this gun." + +"Th' d--n pirate!" exclaimed Hopalong, hotly. + +"I was a whole lot mad by that time, so I jumped back into th' brush +an' ran for th' grove, hoping to get square when I got in range. After +I'd run about a thousand miles I came to th' edge of th' clearing west +of th' trees an' d----d if I didn't see two fellers climbing on their +cayuses, an' some hasty, too. Reckon they didn't know how many friends +I might have behind me. Well, I was some shaky from running like I +did, an' they was a good eight hundred away, but I let drive just th' +same an' got one in th' arm, th' other somewhere else, an' hit both of +their cayuses. I wish I'd 'a filled 'em so full of holes they couldn't +hang together, th' thieves!" + +"I'd shore like to go after them, Red," Hopalong remarked. "We could +ride west an' get 'em when they pass that water hole if you had a +cayuse." + +"Oh, we'll get 'em, all right--at th' mesa," Red rejoined. "I'm so +tired I wouldn't go now if I could. Walking all th' way down here with +that saddle! You get off that cayuse an' let me ride him," he +suggested, mopping his face with his sleeve. + +"What! Me? _Me_ get off an' walk! I reckon not!" replied Hopalong, and +then his face softened. "You pore, unfortunate cow-punch," he said, +sympathetically. "You toss up yore belongings an' climb up here behind +me. I'll take you to th' dam, where Johnny has picketed his cayuse. +Th' Kid's going in for a swim; said he didn't know how soon he'd get a +chance to take a bath. We can rustle his cayuse for a joke--come on." + +"Oh, wait a minute, can't you?" Red replied, wearily. "I can't lift my +legs high enough to get up there--they're like lead. That trail was +hell strung out." + +"You should 'a cached yore saddle an' everything but th' gun an' come +down light," Hopalong remarked. "Or you could a' gone to th' line an' +waited for somebody to come along. Why didn't you do that?" + +"I ain't leaving that saddle nowhere," Red responded. "Besides I was +too blamed mad to stop an' think." + +"Well, don't wait very long--Johnny may skin out if you do," Hopalong +replied, and then, suddenly: "Just where was it you shot at them +snakes?" Red told him and Hopalong wheeled as if to ride after them. + +"Here, you!" cried Red, the horseless. "Where th' devil are you going +so sudden?" + +"Up to get them cow-lifters that you couldn't, of course," his +companion replied. "I'm shore going to show you how easy it is when +you know how." + +"Like h--l you are!" Red cried, springing up, his lariat in his hand. +"Yo're going to stay right here with me, that's what yo're going to +do! I've got something for you to do, you compact bundle of gall! You +try to get away without me and I'll make you look like an interrupted +spasm, you wart-headed Algernon!" + +"Do you want 'em to get plumb away?" cried the man in the saddle, +concealing his mirth. + +"I want you to stick right here an' tote me to a cayuse!" Red +retorted, swinging the rope. "_I'm_ going to be around when anybody +goes after them Siwashes, an' don't you forget it. There ain't no +hurry--we'll get 'em quick enough when we starts west. An' if you try +any get-away play an' leave me out here on my two feet with all these +contraptions, I'll pick you off'n that piebald like hell greased with +calamity!" + +Hopalong laughed heartily. "Why, I was only a-fooling, Red. Do you +reckon I'd go away an' leave you standing out here like a busted-down +pack mule?" + +"I hoped you was only fooling, but I wasn't taking no chances with a +cuss like you," Red replied, grinning. "Not with this load of woe, you +bet." + +"Say, it's too bad you didn't have my gun up there," Hopalong said, +regretfully. "You could 'a got 'em both then, an' had two cayuses to +ride home on." + +"Well, _I_ could 'a got 'em with it," Red replied, grinning, his good +nature returning under the chaffing. "But you can't hit th' mesa with +it over six hundred. They'd 'a got away from you without getting hit." + +Hopalong laughed derisively and then sobered and became anxious. +"Yo're right, Red, yo're right," he asserted with tender solicitude. +"Now you get right up here behind me an' I'll take you to th' dam +where th' Kid is. Pore feller," he sighed. "Well, I ain't a-wondering +after all you've been through. It was enough to make a _strong_-minded +man loco." He smiled reassuringly. "Now climb right up behind me, +Reddie. Gimme yore little saddle an' yore no-account gun--Ouch!" + +"I'll give you th' butt of it again if you don't act like you've made +th' best of them gravy brains!" Red snorted. "Here, you lop-eared +cow-wrastler--catch this!" throwing the saddle so sudden and hard that +Hopalong almost lost his balance from the impact. "Now you gimme a +little room in front of th' tail--I ain't no blasted fly." + +Hopalong gave his friend a hand and Red landed across the horse's +back, to the instant and strong dislike of that animal, which showed +its displeasure by bucking mildly. + +"Glory be!" cried Hopalong, laughing. "Riding double on a bucking +hinge ain't no play, is it? Suppose he felt like pitching real +strong--where would you be with that tail holt?" + +"You bump my nose again with th' back of yore head an' you'll see how +much play it is!" Red retorted. "Come on--pull out. We ain't glued +fast. Th' world moves, all right, but if yo're counting on it sliding +under you till th' dam comes around you're way off; it ain't moving +that way. Hey! Stop that spurring!" + +"I'll hook 'em in you again if you don't shut up!" Hopalong promised, +jabbing them into the horse, which gave one farewell kick, to Red's +disgust, and cantered south with ears flattened. + +"Whoop! I'm riding again!" Red exulted. + +"I'm glad it wasn't Red Eagle they went an' killed," Hopalong +remarked. + +"Red Eagle!" snorted Red, indignantly. "What good is this cayuse, +anyhow? Ginger was worth three like this." + +"Well, if you don't like this cayuse you can get off an' hoof it, you +know," Hopalong retorted. "But I'll tell you what you know a'ready; +there ain't no cayuse in this part of th' country that can lose him in +long-distance running. He ain't no fancy, parlor animal like Ginger +was; he don't know how to smoke a cig or wash dishes, or do any of th' +fool things yore cayuse did, but he is right on th' job when it comes +to going hard an' long. An' it's them two things that tell how much a +cayuse is worth, down here in this country. If I could 'a jumped on +him up there when they made their get-away from you, me an' th' Sharps +would 'a fixed 'em. They wouldn't be laughing now at how easy you +was." + +"They ain't laughing, not a bit of it--an' they won't even be able to +swear after I get out to th' mesa," Red asserted. "Have you seen Buck, +or anybody 'cept th' Kid?" + +"Yes. I told Buck an' Frenchy about it, an' Skinny, too," Hopalong +replied. "Buck an' Frenchy went north along th' west line to get th' +boys from Number Two. Buck says we'll go after 'em just as soon as we +can get ready, which most of us are now. Pore Lanky; he's got to stay +home an' pet his wounds--Buck said he couldn't go." + +"Did Buck say who was going an' who was going to stay home?" + +"Yes; you, Johnny, Billy, Pete, Skinny, Frenchy, me, Buck, an' Pie +Willis are going--th' rest will have to watch th' ranch. That makes +nine of us. Wonder how many are up that mesa?" + +"There'll be plenty, don't you worry," Red replied. "When we go after +anybody we generally has to mix up with a whole company. I wouldn't be +a whole lot surprised if they give us an awful fight before they peter +out. They'll be up in th' air a hundred feet. We'll have plenty to do, +all right." + +"Well, two won't be there, anyhow--Archer an' Juan. I bet we'll find +most of th' people of Eagle up there waiting for us." + +"Lord, I hope they are!" cried Red. "Then we can clean up everything +at once, town an' all." + +"There's th' Kid--see th' splash?" Hopalong laughed. "He shore is +stuck on swimming. He don't care if there's cotton-mouths in there +with him. One of them snakes will get him some day, an' if one does, +then we'll plant him, quick." + +"Oh, I dunno. I ain't seen none at th' dam," Red replied. "They don't +like th' sand there as much as they do th' mud up at th' other end, +an' along th' sides. Gee! There's his cayuse!" + +Johnny dove out of sight, turned over and came up again, happy as a +lark, and saw his friends riding towards him, and he trod water and +grinned. "Hullo, fellers. Coming in?--it's fine! Hey, Red. We're all +going out to Thunder Mesa as soon as we can! But what are you riding +double for? Where's yore cayuse?" Something in Red's expression made +him suspicious of his friends' intentions and, fearing that he might +have to do some walking, he made a few quick strokes and climbed out, +dressing as rapidly as his wet skin would permit. + +Red briefly related his experience and Johnny swore as he struggled +through his shirt. "What are you going to do?" he asked, poking his +head out into sight. + +"I'm going to ride yore cayuse to th' line house--you ain't as tired +as me," replied Red. + +"Not while I'm alive, you ain't!" cried Johnny, running to his horse. +Then he grinned and went back to his clothes. "You take him an' rope +th' cayuse I saw down in that barranca--there's two of 'em there, +both belonging to Meeker. But you be shore to come back!" + +"Shore, Kid," Red replied, vaulting into the saddle and riding away. + +Johnny fastened his belt around him and looked up. "Say, Hoppy," he +laughed, "Buck said Cowan sent my new gun down to th' bunk house +yesterday. He's going to bring it with him when he comes down +to-morrow. But I only got fifty cartridges for it--will you lend me +some of yourn if I run short?" + +"Where did Cowan get it?" + +"Why, don't you remember he said he'd get me one like yourn th' next +time he went north? He got back yesterday--bought it off some feller +up on th' XS. Cost me twenty-five dollars without th' cartridges. But +I've got fifty empties I can load when I get time, so I'll be all +right later on. Will you lend me some?" + +"Fifty is enough, you chump," laughed Hopalong. "You won't get that +many good chances out there." + +"I know; but I want to practise a little. It'll shoot flatter than my +Winchester," Johnny grinned, hardly able to keep from riding to the +bunk house to get his new gun. + +Red rode up leading a horse. "That's a good rope, Kid, 'though th' +hondo is purty heavy," he said, saddling the captured animal. "Is Buck +going to bring down any food an' cartridges when he comes?" he asked. + +"Yes; three cayuses will pack 'em. We can send back for more if we +stay out there long enough to need more. Buck says that freak spring +up on top flows about half a mile through th' chaparral before it +peters out. What do you know about it, Red?" Hopalong asked. + +"Seems to me that he's right. I think it flows through a twisting +arroyo. But there'll be water enough for us, all right." + +"I got a .45-120 Sharps just like Hopalong's, Red," Johnny grinned. +"He said he'd lend me fifty cartridges for it, didn't you, Hoppy?" + +"Well, I'll be blamed!" exclaimed Hopalong. "First thing _I_ knowed +about it, if I did. I tell you you won't need 'em." + +"Where'd you get it?" asked Red. + +"Cowan got it. I told you all about it three weeks ago." + +"Well, you better give it back an' use yore Winchester," replied Red. +"It ain't no good, an' you'll shoot some of us with it, too. What do +_you_ want with a gun that'll shoot eighteen hundred? You can't hit +anything now above three hundred." + +"Yo're another--I can, an' you know it, too. Three hundred!" he +snorted. "Huh! Here comes Skinny!" + +Skinny rode up and joined them, all going to the Peak. Finally he +turned and winked at Johnny. + +"Hey, Kid. Hopalong ought to go right down to th' H2 while he's got +time. He hadn't ought to go off fighting without saying good-bye to +his girl, had he?" + +"She'd keep him home--wouldn't let him take no chances of getting +shot," Red asserted. "Anyhow, if he went down there he'd forget to +come back." + +"Ow-wow!" cried Johnny. "You hit him! You hit him! Look at his face!" + +"He shore can't do no courting while he's away," Skinny remarked. "He +wouldn't let Red go with him when he went to give Meeker th' shovel, +an' I didn't know why till just now." + +"You go to blazes, all of you!" exclaimed Hopalong, red and +uncomfortable. "I ain't doing no courting, you chump! An' Red knows +why I went down there alone." + +"Yes; you gave me a fool reason, an' went alone," Red retorted. "An' +if that ain't courting, for th' Lord's sake what is it? Or is she +doing all of it, you being bashful?" + +"Yes, Hoppy; tell us what it is," asked Skinny. + +"Oh, don't mind them, Hoppy; they're jealous," Johnny interposed. +"Don't you make no excuses, not one. Admit that yo're courting an' +tell 'em that yo're going to keep right on a-doing it an' get all th' +honey you can." + +Red and Skinny grinned and Hopalong, swearing at Johnny, made a quick +grab for him, but missed, for Johnny knew the strength of that grip. +"I ain't courting! I'm only trying to--trying to be--sociable; that's +all!" + +"Sociable!" yelled Red. "Oh, Lord!" + +"It must be nice to be sociable," replied Johnny. "Since you ain't +courting, an' are only trying to be sociable, then you won't care if +we go down an' try it. Me for th' H2!" + +"You bet; an' I'm going down, too," asserted Red, who was very much +afraid of women, and who wouldn't have called on Mary Meeker for a +hundred dollars. + +Hopalong knew his friend's weakness and he quickly replied: "Red, I +dare you to do that. I dare you to go down there an' talk to her for +five minutes. When I say talk, I don't mean stammer. I dare you!" + +"Do you dare _me_?" asked Johnny, quickly, glancing at the sun to see +how much time he had. + +"Oh, I ain't got time," replied Red, grinning. + +"You ain't got th' nerve, you mean," jeered Skinny. + +"I dare you, Red," Hopalong repeated, grimly. + +"I asked you if you dared _me?_" hastily repeated Johnny. + +"_You!_ Not on yore life, Kid. But you stay away from there!" Hopalong +warned. + +"Gee--wish you'd lend me them cartridges," sighed Johnny. "Mebbe +Meeker has got some he ain't so stingy with," he added, thoughtfully. + +"I'll lend you th' cartridges, Kid," Hopalong offered. "But you stay +away from th' H2. D'y hear?" + + + + +CHAPTER XXV + +ANTONIO'S REVENGE + + +While Red had been trudging southward under his saddle and other +possessions a scene was being enacted on a remote part of the H2 range +which showed how completely a cowboy leased his very life to the man +who paid him his monthly wage, one which serves to illustrate in a way +how a ranchman was almost a feudal lord. There are songs of men who +gave up their lives to save their fellows, one life for many, and they +are well sung; but what of him who risks his life to save one small, +insignificantly small portion of his employer's possessions, risks it +without hesitation or fear, as a part of his daily work? What of the +man who, not content with taking his share of danger in blizzard, +fire, and stampede, on drive, roundup, and range-riding, leaps +fearlessly at the risk of his life to save a paltry head or two of +cattle to his ranch's tally sheet? Such men were the rule, and such a +one was Curley, who, with all his faults, was a man as a man should +be. + +Following out his orders he rode his part of the range with alertness, +and decided to explore the more remote southwestern angle of the +ranch. Doc had left him an hour before to search the range nearer +Eagle and would not be back again until time to return to the ranch +house for the night. This was against Meeker's orders, for they had +been told to keep together for their own protection, but they had +agreed that there was little risk and that it would be better to +separate and cover more ground. + +The day was bright and, with the exception of the heat, all he could +desire. His spirits bubbled over in snatches of song as he cantered +hither and yon, but all the time moving in the general direction of +the little-ridden territory. On all sides stretched the same +monotonous view, sage brush, mesquite, cactus, scattered tufts of +grass, and the brown plain, endless, flat, wearying. + +The surroundings did not depress him, but only gradually slowed the +exultant surge of his blood and, as he hummed at random, an old +favorite came to him out of the past, and he sung it joyously: + + My taste is that of an aristocrat, + My purse that of a pauper: + I scorn the gold her parents hold-- + But shore I love their daughter. + Hey de diddle de, hey de dee, + But shore I love their daughter. + + When silvery nights my courting light + An' souls of flowers wander, + Then who's to blame if I loved th' game + An' did not pause to ponder? + Hey de diddle de, hey de dee, + An' did not pause to ponder. + + Her eyes are blue, an' oh, so true-- + Th' words were said ere thought, Lad. + Her father swore we'd meet no more-- + But I am not distraught, Lad. + Hey de diddle de, hey de de-- + But I am not distraught, Lad. + +He ceased abruptly, rigidly erect, staring straight ahead as the +significance of the well trodden trail impressed itself on his mind. +He was close to the edge of a steep-walled basin; and leading to it +was a narrow, steep gully, down which the beaten trail went. Riding +closer he saw that two poles were set close to the wall of the gully, +and from one of them dangled a short, frayed hempen rope. There was a +water hole in the basin, surrounded by a muddy flat, and everywhere +were the tracks of cattle. + +As he hesitated to decide whether or not it would be worth while to +ride through the depression he chanced to look south, and the question +decided itself. Spurring savagely, he leaned forward in the saddle, +the wind playing a stern song in his ears, a call to battle for his +ranch, his pride, and his hatred for foul work. He felt the peculiar, +compelling delight, the surging, irresistible intoxication of his kind +for fighting, the ecstasy of the blood lust, handed down from his +Saxon forefathers. + +A mile ahead of him was a small herd of cattle, being driven west by +two men. Did he stop to return to the ranch for assistance? Did he +count the odds? Not he, for he saw the perpetrators of the insults he +and his companions had chafed under--the way was clear, the quarry +plain, and he asked naught else. + +They saw him coming--one of them raised a pair of glasses to his eyes +and looked closely at him and from him all around the plain. All the +time they were driving the cattle harder, shouting and whipping about +them with their rawhide quirts; and constantly nearer came the cowboy, +now standing up in his stirrups and lashing his straining mount +without mercy. Soon he thought he recognized one of the herders, and +he flung the name on the whistling wind in one contemptuous shout: +"_Antonio!_ D--n his soul!" and fell to beating the horse all the +harder. + +It was Antonio, and a puff of smoke arose from the Mexican's shoulder +and streaked behind, soon followed by another. Curley knew the rifle, +a .40-90 Sharps, and did not waste a shot, for he must be on equal +terms before he could hope to cope with it. Another puff, then another +and another, but still he was not hit. Now he drew his own rifle from +its holster and hazarded a shot, but to no avail. Then the second +herder, who had not as yet fired, snatching the rifle from Antonio's +hands and, checking his horse, leaped off and rested the weapon across +the saddle. Taking deliberate aim, he fired, and Curley pitched out of +the saddle as his horse stumbled and fell. The rider scrambled to his +feet, dazed and hurt, and ran to his horse, but one look told the +story and he ended the animal's misery with a shot from his Colt. + +The herder and the cattle were rapidly growing smaller in the distance +but the Mexican rode slowly around the man on foot, following the +circumference of a large circle and shooting with calm deliberation. +The bullets hummed and whined viciously past the H2 puncher, kicking +up the dust in little spurts, and cold ferocity filled his heart as he +realized the rustler's purpose. He raised his own rifle and fired--and +leaded the barrel. When he had fallen the barrel had become choked +with sand and dust and he was at the mercy of his gloating enemy, who +would now wipe out the insult put upon him at the bunk house. Slowly +Antonio rode and carefully he fired and then, seeing that there was +something wrong with Curley's rifle, which the puncher threw aside, he +drew closer, determined to shoot him to pieces. + +Curley was stung with rage now. He knew that it was only a question of +waiting until the right bullet came, and scorning to hug the sand for +the "Greaser" he held in such contempt, and vaguely realizing that +such an act would not change the result, he put all his faith in a +dash. He ran swiftly towards his astonished enemy, who expected him to +seek what cover the dead horse would give him, Colt in hand, cursing +at every jump and hoping to be spared long enough to get within range +with his six-shooter, if only for one shot. Antonio did not like this +close work and cantered away, glancing back from time to time. When +Curley finally was forced to stop because of exhaustion the rider also +stopped and slipped off his horse to have a rest for the rifle. Curley +emptied the Colt in a futile, enraged effort to make a lucky hit while +his enemy calmly aimed from across the saddle. Hastily reloading the +Colt as he ran, the puncher dashed forward again, zig-zagging to avoid +being hit. There was a puff of gray smoke, but Curley did not hear +the report. He threw one arm half up as if to ward off the shot and +pitched forward, face down in the dust, free from all pain and strife. + +Antonio fired again and then cautiously drew nearer to his victim, the +rifle at the ready. Turning shortly he made a quick grab at his horse, +fearing that it might leave him on foot to be caught by some wandering +H2 puncher. Springing into the saddle he rode forward warily to get a +closer look at the man he had murdered, proud of his work, but fearful +that Curley was playing dead. + +When assured that he had nothing to fear from the prostrate form, he +rode close. "Knock me down, will you!" he gritted, urging the horse to +trample on the body, which the animal refused to do. "Call me an +unwashed Greaser coyote, hey! Come out looking for us, did you? Well, +you found us, all right, but a h--l of a lot of good it did you, you +American dog! You ain't saying a word, are you, you carrion? You ain't +got no smart come-back now, an' you ain't throwing no wash water on +me, are you?" + +He started and looked around nervously, fearful that he might be +caught and left lying on the sand as he had left Curley. One or two of +the H2 outfit carried single-shot rifles which shot as far if not +farther than his own, and the owners of them knew how to shoot. +Wheeling abruptly he galloped after the herd, looking back constantly +and thinking only of putting as great a distance as possible between +himself and the scene of the killing. + +A lizard crawled out of a hillock and stared steadily at the quiet +figure and then, making a tentative sortie, disappeared under the +sand; but the man who had sung so buoyantly did not mind it, he lay +wrapped in the Sleep Eternal. He had died as he had lived, fearlessly +and without a whimper. + +Late in the afternoon Doc Riley, sweeping on a circling course, rode +through chaparrals, alert even after his fruitless search, looking +around on all sides, and wondered if Curley and he would meet before +they reached the ranch proper. Suddenly something caught his eye and +he stood up in the stirrups to see it better, a ready curse leaping +from his lips. He could not make out who it was, but he had fears and +he spurred forward as hard as he could go. Then he saw the horse and +knew. + +Riding close to the figure so as to be absolutely sure, he knew beyond +a hope of mistake and looked around the plain, his expression +malevolent and murderous. + +"Curley! Curley!" he cried, leaping off his horse and placing a heavy, +kindly hand on the broad, sloping shoulder of the man who had been his +best friend for years. "So they got you, lad! They got you! In God's +name, why did I leave you?" he cried in bitter self-condemnation. +"It's my fault, it's my fault, lad!" He straightened up suddenly and +glared around through tear-dimmed eyes. "_But by th' living God I'll +pay them for this,_ I'll pay them for this! D--n their murdering +souls!" + +He caught sight of an empty cartridge shell and snatched it up +eagerly. ".40-90, by G-d! That's Antonio's! Curley, my lad, I'll get +him for you--an' when I _do_! I'll send his soul to th' blackest pit +in h--l, an' send it _slow!_" + +He noticed and followed the tracks in the sand, reading them easily. +He found the Winchester and quickly learned its story, which told him +the whole thing. Returning to the body of his friend he sat by it +quietly, looking down at it for several minutes, his sombrero in his +hand. + +"Well, wishing won't do no good," he muttered, dismounting. "I'll take +you home, lad, an' see you put down too deep for coyotes to bother +you. An' I'll square yore scores or join you trying." + +He lifted the body across the withers of his horse and picked up the +Colt. Mounting, he rode at a walk towards the bunk house, afire with +rage and sorrow. + + * * * * * + +For the third time Meeker strode to the door of the bunk house and +looked out into the darkness, uneasy and anxious. Chick sauntered over +to him and leaned against the frame of the door. "They'll show up +purty soon, Jim," he remarked. + +"Yes. I reckon so--Salem!" the foreman called. "Put their grub where +it'll keep warm." + +"Aye, aye, sir. I was just thinking I ought to. They're late, ain't +they, sir?" he asked. "An' it's dark, too," he added, gratis. + +"Why, is it, Salem?" queried Dan, winking at Jack Curtis, but Salem +disappeared into the gallery. + +"Listen!--I hear 'em!" exclaimed Chick. + +"You hear one of 'em," corrected Meeker, turning to the table to +finish drinking his coffee. "Hey, Salem! Never mind warming that +grub--rustle it in here. One of 'em's here, an' he'll be starved, +too." + +Suddenly Chick started back with an exclamation as Doc Riley loomed up +in the light of the door, carrying a body over his shoulder. Stepping +into the room while his friends leaped to their feet in amazement and +incredulity, he lowered his burden to a bench and faced them, bloody +and furious. + +"What's th' matter?" exclaimed Meeker, the first to find his voice, +leaping forward and dropping the cup to the floor. "Who did that?" + +Doc placed his sombrero over the upturned face and ripped out a savage +reply. "Antonio! Yore broncho-buster! Th' snake that's raising all th' +devil on this range! Here--see for yoreself!" tossing the cartridge +shell to his foreman, who caught it clumsily, looked at it, and then +handed it to Dan. Exclamations and short, fierce questions burst from +the others, who crowded up to see the shell. + +"Tell me about it, Doc," requested Meeker, pacing from wall to wall. + +"He was shot down like a dog!" Doc cried, his rage sweeping over him +anew in all its savagery. "I saw th' whole thing in th' sand, plain as +day. Th' Greaser got his cayuse first an' then rode rings around him, +keeping out of range of Curley's Colt, for Curley had leaded his +rifle. It was Colt against Sharps at five hundred, that was what it +was! He didn't have a show, not a measly show for his life! Shot down +like _a dog!_" + +"Where'd it happen?" asked Chick, breathlessly, while the low-voiced +threats and imprecations swelled to an angry, humming chorus. + +"Away down in th' southwest corner," replied Doc, and he continued +almost inaudibly, speaking to himself and forgetful of the others. "Me +an' him went to school together an' I used to lick every kid that +bullied him till he got big enough to do it hisself. We run away +together an' shared th' same hard luck. We went through that Sioux +campaign together, side by side, an' to think that after he pulled out +of _that_ alive he had to be murdered by a yaller coward of a Greaser! +If he'd been killed by a human being an' in a fair fight it would be +all right; but by that coyote--it don't seem possible, not noway. I +licked th' feller that hurt him on his first day at school--I'm going +to kill th' last! + +"Meeker," he said, coming to himself and facing the angry foreman, +"I'm quitting to-night. I won't punch no more till I get that Greaser. +I take up that trail at daylight an' push it to a finish even if it +takes me into Mexico--it's got to be him or me, now." + +"You don't have to quit _me_ to do that, an' you _know_ it!" Meeker +cried. "I don't care if yo're gone for six months--yore pay goes on +just th' same. He went down fighting for me, an' I'll be everlastingly +condemned if I don't have a hand in squaring up for it. Yo're going on +special duty for th' H2, Doc, an' yore orders are to get Antonio. +Why, by th' Lord, I'll take up th' trail with you, Doc, an' with th' +rest of th' boys behind me. This ranch can go galley-west an' crooked +till we get that snake. Dan an' Salem stays with my girl an' to watch +th' ranch--th' rest of us are with you--we're as anxious as you to +push him Yonder, Doc." + +"If I can get him alive, get my two hands on his skinny neck," Doc +muttered, his fingers twitching, "I'll kill him slow, so he'll feel it +longer, so he'll be shore to know why he's going. I want to _feel_ his +murdering soul dribble hell-wards, an' let him come back a couple of +times so I can laugh in his yaller face when he begs! I want to get +him--_so!_" and Chick shuddered as the knotted, steel-like fingers +opened and shut, for Doc was half devil now. While Chick stared, the +transformed man walked over to the bench and picked up the body in his +brawny arms and strode into the blackness--Curley was going to lie in +the open, with the stars and the sky and the sighing wind. + +"God!" breathed Chick, looking around, "I never saw a man like _that_ +before!" + +"I hope he gets what he wants!" exclaimed Dan, fiercely. + +"You fellers get yore traps ready for a chase," Meeker ordered as he +strode to the door of the gallery. "Fifty rounds for six-shooters an' +fifty for rifle, an' plenty of grub. It's a whole lot likely that th' +Greaser headed for his gang, an' we've got to be ready to handle +everything that comes up. Hey, Salem!" he shouted. + +"Aye, aye, sir!" replied Salem, who had just come in from one of the +corrals and knew nothing of what had occurred. + +"Did you cure that beef I told you to?" demanded the foreman. + +"Yes, sir; but it ain't had time to cure--th' weather's not been +right. Howsomever, I smoked some. That'll be ship-shape." + +"Well, have it on our cayuses at daylight. Did you cut this beef in +strips, or in twenty-pound chunks, like you did th' last?" + +"Strips, _little_ strips--I ain't trying to sun-cure no more big +hunks, not me, sir." + +Meeker turned and went towards the outer door. + +"Don't waste no time, boys," he said. "Get all th' sleep you can +to-night--you'll need it if I reckon right. Good-night," and he +stepped out into the darkness. "D--n them dogs!" he muttered, +disappearing in the direction of the kennels, from which came +quavering, long-drawn howls. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI + +FRISCO VISITS EAGLE + + +Eagle did not thoroughly awaken until the sun began to set, for it was +not until dark that its inhabitants, largely transient, cared to +venture forth. Then it was that the town seethed, boldly, openly, +restrained by nothing save the might of the individual. + +Prosperity had blessed the town, for there had been an abrupt and +pleasing change in local conditions since the disagreement between the +two ranches north of the town had assumed warlike aspect. Men who +heretofore had no standing with the proprietors of the town's places +of amusement and who had seldom been able to pay for as much liquor as +they were capable of drinking, now swaggered importantly where they +pleased, and found welcome where formerly it had been denied them; for +their hands were thrust deep into pockets from which came the cheerful +and open-sesame clinking of gold. Even Big Sandy, who had earned his +food by sweeping out the saloons and doing odd jobs about them, and +who was popularly believed to be too lazy to earn a better living by +real work, now drank his fill and failed to recognize a broom when he +saw it. While the inhabitants could not "get in" on the big plums +which they were certain were being shaken down on the range, they +could and did take care of the windfalls, and thrived well. They would +stay in town until their money was gone and then disappear for a week, +and return to spend recklessly. It is not out of place to state, in +passing, that numerous small herds bearing strange brands frequently +passed around the town at a speed greater than that common to drives, +and left clouds of dust on the southeastern horizon. + +The town debated the probable whereabouts of ten men who had suddenly +disappeared in a body, along with Antonio of the H2. It was obvious +what they were doing and the conjectures were limited as to their +whereabouts and success. For a while after they had left one or two +had ridden in occasionally to buy flour and other necessities, and at +that time they had caused no particular thought. But now even these +visits had ceased. It was common belief that Quinn knew all about +them, but Quinn for good reasons was not urged to talk about the +matter. Big Sandy acted as though he knew, which increased his +importance for a time, and discredited him thereafter. + +While the citizens had been able to rustle as they pleased they had +given but little thought to the ten men, being too busy to trail. But +now that the H2 punchers rode range with rifles across their arms +rustling had become very risky and had fallen off. Then it was that +the idlers renewed their conjectures about Shaw and his men and +thrashed that matter over and over again. The majority being, as we +have said, transients, knew nothing about Thunder Mesa, and those who +did know of it were silent, for Shaw and some of his companions knew +only one way to close a man's mouth, and were very capable. + +So it happened that about noon of the day Curley lost his life six men +met in the shadow cast by the front of the "Rawhide" a hundred yards +from Quinn's, and exercised squatter sovereignty on the bench just +outside the door, while inside the saloon Big Sandy and Nevada played +cards close to the bar and talked in low tones. When they were aware +of the presence of those on the bench they played silently and +listened. The six men outside made up one of the groups of the town's +society, having ridden in together and stuck together ever since they +had arrived, which was wise. + +Big Sandy and Nevada made a team more feared than any other +combination. The former, while fair with weapons, was endowed with +prodigious strength; by some it was hailed as being greater than that +of Pete Wilson, the squat giant of the Bar-20, whose strength was +proverbial, as it had good right to be. Nevada was the opposite type, +slender, short, wiry, and soft-spoken, but the quickest man in town on +the draw and of uncertain temper. + +Chet Bates, on the bench, replied to a companion and gave vent to his +soft, Southern laugh. "Yuh still wondering 'bout thet man Shaw, an' +th' othas?" + +"Nothing else to do, is there?" retorted Dal Gilbert. "We can't run no +more cattle, can we?" + +"I reckon we can't." + +"They're running a big game an' I want to get in it," remarked John +Elder. "Frisco was allus friendly. We've got to go trailing for 'em." + +"Yes; an' get shot," interposed George Lewis. "They're ten to our six. +An' that ain't all of our troubles, neither. We'll find ourselves in a +big fight some day, an' right here. Them ranches will wake up, patch +up their troubles, an' come down here. You remember what Quinn said +about th' time Peters led a lot of mad punchers agin Trendley an' his +crowd, don't you? In a day he can raise men enough to wipe this town +off th' map." + +"Yuh forget, suh, that they are fighting foh principles, an' men who +fight foh principles don't call truces," said Chet Bates. + +"You've said that till it's old," laughed Sam Austin. + +"_I_ say we've got to keep our eyes open," warned Lewis. + +"Th' devil with that!" broke in Con Irwin. "What _I_ want to know is +how we're going to get some of th' easy money Shaw's getting." + +"We'll have to wait for one of his men to come to town an' trail him +back," replied Gilbert. + +"What do you say that we try to run one more good herd an' then scout +for them, or their trails?" asked Irwin. + +"Heah comes somebody," remarked Chet, listening. + +The sound of galloping grew rapidly louder and soon they saw Frisco +turn into the street and ride towards them. As they saw him a quiet +voice was heard behind them and looking up, they saw Nevada smiling at +them. "Get him drunk an' keep him away from Quinn's," he counselled. + +They exchanged looks and then Elder stepped out into the street and +held up his hand. "Hullo, Frisco!" he cried. + +"Where yuh been keeping yuhself foh so long?" asked Chet, affably. +"Holed up som'ers?" + +"Hullo, fellers," grinned Frisco, drawing rein. + +"Everybody have a drink on me," laughed Chet. "Ah'm pow'ful thirsty." + +Frisco was escorted inside to the bar, where Chet did the honors, and +where such a spirit of hospitality and joviality surrounded him that +he forgot how many drinks he had taken. He dug up a handful of gold +and silver and spread it out on the bar and waved at the bartender. +"Bes' you got--ver' bes'," he grinned. "Me an' my fren's want th' ver' +bes'; don't we, fellers? I got money--helluva lot of money--an' thersh +more where it came from, ain't that so, boys?" + +When the noise had subsided he turned around and levelled an unsteady +finger at the bartender. "I never go--back onsh fren', never. An' +we're all frensh--ain't we, fellers? Tha's right. I got s'more +frensh--good fellesh, an' lots of money cached in sand." + +"Ah'll bet yuh have!" cried Chet. + +"You allus could find pay-dirt," marvelled Nevada, glancing warningly +around him. "Yo're a fine prospector, all right." + +Frisco stared for a moment and then laughed loudly and leaned against +the bar for support. "Proshpector! Proshpector! W'y, we earned tha's +money--run a helluva lot of risks. Mebby tha's Bar-20 outfit'll jump +us an' make us fight 'em. No; they can't jump us--they can't get up at +us!" + +"On a mesa, shore!" whispered Elder to Lewis. + +"Wha's you shay?" + +"Said they couldn't lick you." + +"Who couldn't--lick us?" + +"Th' Bar-20," explained Elder. + +Frisco rubbed his head and drew himself up, suspicion percolating +through his muddled brain. "Never shaid nozzing 'bout no Bar-Twensh!" +he asserted, angrily. "Nozzing 'tall. I'm going out of here--don't +like you! Gotta get some flour an' ozzer stuff. Never shaid nozzing +'bout--" he muttered, staggering out. + +Nevada turned to Elder. "You go with him an' quiet his suspicions. +Keep him away from Quinn, for that coyote'll hold him till he gets +sober if you don't. This is the chance we've been wanting. Don't try +to pump him--his trail will be all we need." + +"Wonder what mesa they're on?" asked Lewis. + +"Don't know, an' don't care," Nevada replied. "We'll find out quick +enough. There's eight of us an' we can put up a stiff argument if they +won't take us in. You know they ain't going to welcome us, don't +you?" + +"Hey, go out th' back way," growled Big Sandy, interposing his huge +bulk between Bates and the door. "An' don't let Frisco see you near a +cayuse, neither," he added. + +Nevada walked quickly over to his friend and said a few hurried words +in a low voice and Big Sandy nodded. "Shore, Nevada; he might try +that, but I'll watch him. If he tries to sneak I'll let you know +hasty. We're in this to stay," and he followed the others to the door. + +Nevada turned and faced the bartender. "Mike, you keep quiet about +what you saw an' heard to-day; understand? If you don't, me an' you +won't fit in this town at th' same time." + +Mike grinned. "I forgot how to talk after one exciting day up in +Cheyenne, an' I ain't been drunk since, neither." + +"Yo're a wise man," replied the other, stepping out by the back door +and hastening up the street where he could keep watch over Quinn's +saloon. It was an hour before he caught sight of Frisco, and he was +riding west, singing at the top of his lungs. Then Quinn slipped into +his corral and threw a saddle on a horse. + +"Drop it!" said a quiet voice behind him and he turned to see Nevada +watching him. + +"What do you mean?" demanded Quinn, ominously. + +"Let loose of that cayuse an' go back inside," was the reply. + +"You get th' h--l out of here an' mind yore own--" Quinn leaped aside +and jerked at his Colt; but was too late, and he fell, badly wounded. +Nevada sprang forward and disarmed him and then, mounting, galloped +off to join his friends. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII + +SHAW HAS VISITORS + + +When Frisco reached the edge of the clearing around the mesa he saw +Antonio and Shaw toiling cautiously up the steep, precarious trail +leading to the top, and he hailed vociferously. Both looked around, +Antonio scowling and his companion swearing at their friend's +condition. Frisco's pack horse, which he had sense enough to bring +back, was loaded down with bags and packages which had been put on +recklessly, inasmuch as a slab of bacon hung from the animal's neck +and swayed to and fro with each step; and the animal he rode had a +bartender's apron hanging down before its shoulders. + +"Had a rip-snorting time--rip-snorting time," he announced pleasantly, +in a roar. "Salubrious--rip-snorting--helluva time!" + +"Nobody'd guess it!" retorted Shaw. "Look at them bundles! An' him an +expert pack-horse man, too. An' that cayuse with a shirt! For anybody +that can throw as neat a diamond hitch as him, that pack horse is a +howling disgrace!" + +"Hang th' pack horse!" growled Antonio. "I bet th' whole town knows +our business now! He ought to be shot. Where you going?" + +"Down to help him up," Shaw replied. "He'll bust his fool neck if he +wrestles with that trail alone. You go on up an' send a couple of th' +boys down to bring up th' grub," he ordered, starting down the path. + +"Let him bust his fool neck!" cried the Mexican. "He should 'a done +that before he left." + +"What's th' ruction?" asked Clausen, looking down over the edge at the +Mexican. + +"Oh, Frisco's come back howling drunk. Go down an' help him tote th' +grub up. Shaw said for somebody else to help you." + +"Hey, Cavalry," cried Clausen. "Come on an' gimme a hand," and the two +disappeared down the trail. + +The leader returned, heralded by singing and swearing, and pushed +Frisco over the mesa top to sprawl full-length on the ground. Shaw +looked down at him with an expression of anger and anxiety and then +turned abruptly on his heel as a quavering snore floated up from the +other. + +"Here, Manuel!" he called, sharply. "Take my glasses an' go out to +yore lookout rock. Look towards Eagle an' call me if you see anybody." + +The Mexican shuffled away as Cavalry and Clausen, loaded down, +appeared over the edge of the mesa wall and dropped their loads at +Shaw's feet. + +"What did you tell him to get?" asked Clausen, marvelling. + +"What do you think I told him to get?" snapped Shaw. + +"I don't know, seeing what he brought back," was the reply. + +Shaw examined the pile. "G-d's name, what's all this stuff?" he +roared. "Bacon! An' all th' meat we want is down below. Canned milk! +Two bottles XXX Cough Syrup, four bottles of whiskey, bottle vaniller +extract, plug tobacco, an' three harmonicas! Is _that_ flour!" he +yelled, glaring at a small bag. "Twenty pounds! Five pounds of salt!" + +"I reckon he bought all th' cartridges in town," Cavalry announced, +staggering into sight with a box on his shoulder. "Lord, but it's +heavy!" + +"Twenty pounds of flour to last nine men a month!" Shaw shouted, +kicking at the bag. "An' look at this coffee--two pounds! I'll teach +him a lesson when he gets sober." + +"Well, he made up th' weight in th' cartridges," Cavalry grinned. He +grasped Shaw's arm. "What's got into Manuel?" + +The leader looked and sprinted to the lookout rock, where Manuel was +gesticulating, and took the glasses. Half a minute later he returned +them to the Mexican and rejoined his companions near the pile of +supplies. + +"What is it?" asked Cavalry. + +"Some of our Eagle friends. Mebby they want cards in this game, but +we'll waste little time with 'em. Post th' fellers along th' edge, +Clausen, an' you watch th' trail up. Keep 'em covered while I talks +with 'em. Don't be slow to burn powder if they gets to pushing +things." + +"They trailed Frisco," growled Cavalry. + +"Shore; oh, he was a great success!" snapped Shaw, going to the edge +of the mesa to await the eight newcomers, his men finding convenient +places along the top of the wall, their rifles ready for action. + +They did not have long to wait for soon Nevada and Chet Bates rode +into the clearing and made for the trail. + +"That's far enough, Nevada!" shouted Shaw, holding up his hand. + +"Why, hullo, Shaw!" cried the man below. "Yo're up a good tree, all +right," he laughed. + +"Yes." + +"Can we ride up, or do we have to take shank's mare?" + +"Neither." + +"Well, we want some water after that ride," replied Nevada. + +"Plenty of it below. Nobody asked you to take that ride. What do you +want, anyhow?" + +"Why, when Frisco said you was out here we thought we'd drop in on you +an' pay you a little visit." + +"You have paid us a little visit. Call again next summer." + +"Running many cows?" asked Nevada. + +"Nope; educating coyotes. Didn't see none, did you?" + +Nevada exchanged a few words with his companion and then looked up +again. "I reckon you need us, Shaw. Eight more men means twice as many +cows; an' we can all fight a little if th' ranches get busy out here." + +"We're crowded now. Better water up an' hit th' back trail. It's hard +riding in th' dark." + +"We didn't come out here for a drink," replied Nevada. "We came out to +help you rustle, which same we'll do. I tell you that you need us, +man!" + +"When I need you I'll send for you. _Adios._" + +"You ain't going to let us come up?" + +"Not a little bit. Pull yore stakes an' hit th' back trail. _Adios!_" + +"Well, we'll hang around to-night an' talk it over again to-morrow. +Mebby you'll change yore mind. So long," and the two wheeled and +disappeared into the chaparrals, Nevada chuckling. "I didn't spring +that little joker, Chet, because it's a good card to play last. When +we tell him that we won't let nobody come down off'n th' mesa it'll be +after we can't do nothing else. No use making him mad." + +Up on the mesa Shaw wheeled, scowling. "I knowed that fool would fire +off something big! Why can't he get drunk out here, where it's all +right?" + +"That Nevada is a shore bad proposition," Clausen remarked. + +"So'm I!" snapped Shaw. "He can't come up, an' pursooant to that idee +I reckon you an' Hall better arrange to watch th' trail to-night." + +He walked away and paced slowly along the edge of the wall, studying +every yard of it. He had done this thing before and had decided that +no man sat a saddle who could scale the sheer hundred feet of rock +which dropped so straight below him. But somehow he felt oppressed, +and the sinking sun threw into bold relief the furrows of his +weather-beaten, leathery face and showed the trouble marks which sat +above his eyes. At one part of the wall he stopped and peered over, +marshalling imaginative forces in attack after attack against it. But +at the end he smiled and moved on--that was the weakest point in his +defence, but he would consider himself fortunate if he should find no +weaker defence in future conflicts. As he returned to the hut he +glanced at the lookout rock and saw Manuel in his characteristic pose, +unmoving, silent, watchful. + +"I'm getting as bad as Cavalry and his desert," he grumbled. "Still, +they can't lick us while we stay up here." + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII + +NEVADA JOINS SHAW + + +Late in the forenoon of the day after Nevada had argued with Shaw, +Manuel shifted his position on the lookout rock and turned to face the +hut. "Senor! Senor Shaw! He ees here." + +Shaw strode to the edge of the mesa and looked down, seeing Nevada +sitting quietly on a horse and looking up at him. Manuel, his duty +performed, turned and looked eastward, shrinking back as Shaw stepped +close to him. Lying prone along the edge half a dozen men idly +fingered rifles as they covered the man below, Antonio's face in +particular showing intense aversion to any more recruits. + +"Morning, Shaw," shouted Nevada. "Going to let us come up?" + +The leader was about to reply when he felt a tug at his ankle and saw +Manuel's lips moving. "What is it, Greaser?" + +"Look, Senor, look!" whispered the frightened Mexican, pointing +eastward. "Eet ees de Bar-20! They be here _poco tiempo_!" + +"Shut up!" retorted Shaw in a whisper, glancing east, and what he saw +changed his reply to the man below. "Well, Nevada, we are purty +crowded up here as it is, but I'll ask th' boys about it. They ain't +quite decided. Be back in a minute," and he stepped back out of sight +of those below and waved his companions to him. Briefly stating the +facts he asked that Nevada and his force be allowed up to help repulse +the Bar-20, and the men who only a short time before had sworn that +they would take in no partners nodded assent and talked over the new +conditions while their leader again went to the edge. + +"We can get along without you fellers," he called down, "but we don't +reckon you'll cut any hole in our profits as long as you do yore share +of work. If yo're willin' to share an' share alike, in work, grub, +profits, an' fighting, why I reckon you can come up. But I'm leader +here an' what I says goes; are you agreeable?" + +"That's fair," Nevada replied. "Th' harder th' work th' bigger th' +pay--come on, boys," he cried, turning and waving his arm. "We're in!" + +While the newcomers put their horses in the corral and toiled +carefully up the steep trail Manuel stared steadily into the east and +again saw the force that had filled him with fear. Hall, who was now +watching with him, abruptly arose and returned to the hut, reporting: +"Seven men out there--it's th' Bar-20, all right, I reckon"; and +almost immediately afterward Manuel found a moving speck far to the +east which Shaw's powerful glasses soon showed to be three pack horses +driven by two men. + +Nevada looked curiously about him as he gained his goal and then +sought a place in the hut for his bunk. This, however, was full, and +he cast around outside to find the best place for his blankets. +Finding it, he stepped to the spring and had just quenched his thirst +when he saw Shaw standing on a ledge of rock above him, looking down. +"What is it, Shaw?" he asked. + +"Well, you fellers shore enough raised h--l, now didn't you!" demanded +the leader, a rising anger in his voice. "Yo're a fine collection of +fools, you are--" + +"What do--" + +"--Leading that Bar-20 gang out here by th' nice, plain trail you +left," Shaw continued, sarcastically, not heeding the other's +explosive interjection. "That's a nice thing to saddle us with! D--n +it, don't you know you've queered th' game for good?" + +"Yo're drunk!" retorted Nevada, heatedly. "We came up from th' south! +How th' devil could that crowd hit _our_ trail?" + +"They must 'a hit southwest on a circle," lied Shaw. "Manuel just now +saw 'em pass a clearing an' heading this way--nine of 'em!" + +"Th' devil!" exclaimed Nevada. "How many are up here now?" he asked +quickly. + +"Sixteen." + +"All right! Let 'em come!" cried the other. "Sixteen to nine--it's +easy!" he laughed. "Look here; we can clean up them fellers an' then +raid their ranch, for there's only four left at home. We can run off a +whopping big herd, sell 'em, an' divvy even. Then we separates, +savvy? Why, it couldn't be better!" + +Shaw showed his astonishment and his companion continued. "Th' H2 is +shy men, an' th' C80 and th' Double Arrow is too far away to bother +us. As soon as we lick this aggregation of trouble hunters, what's +left will ride hell-bent for that valley. Then th' biggest herd ever +rustled in these parts, a trip to a new range, an' plenty of money to +spend there." + +"That sounds good--but this pleasing cleaning-up is due to be full of +knots," Shaw rejoined. "Them nine men come from th' craggiest outfit +of high-toned gun-artists in these parts, an' you can bet that they +are th' pick of th' crowd! Cassidy, Connors, Peters--an' they've got +forty friends purty nigh as bad, an' eager to join in. I ain't no ways +a quitter, but this looks to me like Custer's Last Stand, us being th' +Custers." + +"Ah, yo're loco!" retorted Nevada. "Look here! Send a dozen picked men +down quick an' let 'em lose 'emselves in th' chaparral, far back. When +th' terrible man-killers of th' great Bar-20 get plugging this way, +our trouble-gang slips up from behind an' it's all over! Go on, before +it's too late! Or one of us will ride like th' devil to Eagle for +help--but it's got to be quick! You say I got you in this, which I +know well I didn't, but now I'll get you out an' put you in th' way of +a barrel of money." + +The crack of a rifle sounded from the plain and the next instant +Clausen dashed up, crying, "Manuel tried to cut an' run, but somebody +down below dropped him off'n th' trail. They're all around us!" + +"Good for th' somebody!" cried Shaw. "I'll kill th' next man that +tries to leave us--that goes, so pass it along." Then he turned to +Nevada, a sneer on his face. "That means anybody riding for help, +too!" and he backed away. + +Hall turned the corner, looking Nevada squarely in the eyes. "Say, +Shaw, wonder what's got into Archer? He's been gone a long time for +that trip." + +"Reckon he's got tired an' quit," replied Shaw. + +"You know he ain't that kind!" Hall cried, angrily. + +"All right, all right. If he comes back an' finds out what's up he'll +probably hustle to Eagle for some of th' boys," Shaw responded. +Neither would ever see Dick Archer again--his bones were whitening +near a small water hole miles to the north, as Hopalong and Red could +testify. + +"As long as one of us is outside we've got a chance," Nevada remarked. +"How're we fixed for grub, Hall?" + +"Got enough jerked beef to last us a month," and Hall departed. + +A shot hummed over Nevada's head and, ducking quickly, he followed +Hall. Close behind him went Shaw, muttering. "Well, it had to come +sometime--an' we're better fixed than I ever reckoned we'd be. Now +we'll see who gets wiped out!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX + +SURROUNDED + + +Above, a pale, hot sky with only a wisp of cloud; below, a semi-arid +"pasture," scant in grass, seamed by tortuous gullies and studded with +small, compact thickets and bulky bowlders. A wall of chaparral, +appearing solid when viewed from a distance, fenced the pasture, and +rising boldly from the southwest end of the clearing a towering mass +of rock flung its rugged ramparts skyward. Nature had been in a sullen +mood when this scene had been perpetrated and there was no need of men +trying to heighten the gloomy aspect by killing each other. Yet they +were trying and had been for a week, and they could have found no +surroundings more in keeping with their occupation. + +Minute clouds of smoke spurted from the top of the wall and from the +many points of vantage on the pasture to hang wavering for an instant +before lazily dissipating in the hot, close air. In such a sombre +setting men had elected to joke and curse and kill, perhaps to die; +men hot with passion and blood-lust plied rifles with deliberate +intent to kill. On one side there was fierce deep joy, an exultation +in forcing the issue, much as if they had tugged vainly at a leash and +suddenly found themselves free. They had been baited, tricked, robbed, +and fired upon and now, their tormentors penned before them, there +would be no cessation in their efforts to wipe out the indignities +under which they had chafed for so long a time. + +On the other side, high up on a natural fortress which was considered +impregnable, lay those who had brought this angry pack about them. +There was no joy there, no glad eagerness to force the battle, no +jokes nor laughter, but only a grim desperation, a tenacious holding +to that which the others would try to take. On one side aggression; on +the other, defence. Fighters all, they now were inspired by the +merciless end always in their minds; they were trapped like rats and +would fight while mind could lay a plan or move a muscle. Of the type +which had out-roughed, out-fought for so long even the sturdy, rough +men who had laid the foundation for an inland empire amid dangers +superlative, they knew nothing of yielding; and to yield was to die. +It was survivor against survivor in an even game. + +"Ah, God!" moaned a man on the mesa's lofty rim, staggering back +aimlessly before he fell, never to rise again. His companions regarded +him curiously, stolidly, without sympathy, as is often the case where +death is constantly expected. Dal Gilbert turned back to his rifle and +the problems before him. "So you've gone, too. An' I reckon we'll +follow"--such was Chet Bates' obituary. + +In a thicket two hundred yards south of the mesa Red Connors worked +the lever of his rifle, a frown on his face. "I got him, all right. Do +you know who he is?" + +"No; but I've seen him in Eagle," replied Hopalong, lowering the +glasses. "What's worrying me is water--my throat's drying awful." + +"You shouldn't 'a forgot it," chided Red. "Now we've got to go without +it all day." + +Hopalong ducked and swore as he felt of his bleeding face. "Purty +close, that!" + +"Mind what yo're doing!" replied Red. "Get off my hand." + +"This scrap is shore slow," Hopalong growled. "Here we've been doing +this for a whole week, all of us shot up, an' only got two of them +fellers." + +"Well, yo're right; but there ain't a man up there that ain't got a +few bullet holes in him," Red replied. "But it is slow, that's shore." + +"I've got to get a drink, an' that's all about it," Hopalong asserted. +"I can crawl in that gully most of th' way, an' then trust a +side-hopping dash. Anyhow, I'm tired of this place. Johnny's got th' +place for _me_." + +"You better stay here till it's dark, you fool." + +"Aw, stay nothing--so long," and Hopalong, rifle in hand, crawled +towards the gully. Red watched the mesa intently, hoping to be able to +stop some of the firing his rash friend was sure to call forth. + +Twenty minutes passed and then two puffs of smoke sailed against the +sky, Red replying. Then half a dozen puffs burst into sight. A faint +shout came to Red's ears and he smiled, for his friend was safe. + +As Hopalong gained the chaparral he felt himself heartily kicked and, +wheeling pugnaciously, looked into Buck Peters' scowling face. "Yo're +a healthy fool!" growled the foreman. "Ain't you got no sense at all? +Hereafter you flit over that pasture after dark, d'y hear!" + +"He's th' biggest fool I ever saw, an' th' coolest," said a voice in +the chaparral at the left. + +"Why, hullo, Meeker," Hopalong laughed, turning from Buck. "How do you +like our little party now?" + +"I'm getting tired of it, an' it's some costly for me," grumbled the +H2 foreman. "Bet them skunks in Eagle have cleaned out every head I +owned." Then he added as an afterthought: "But I don't care a whole +lot if I can see this gang wiped out--_Antonio_ is th' coyote _I'm_ +itching to stop." + +"He'll be stopped," replied Hopalong. "Hey, Buck, Red's shore +thirsty." + +"He can stay thirsty, then. An' don't you try to take no water to him. +You stay off that pasture during daylight." + +"But it was all my fault--" Hopalong began, and then he was off like a +shot across the open, leaping gullies and dodging around bowlders. + +"Here you!" roared Buck, and stopped to stare, Meeker at his side. A +man was staggering in circles near a thicket which lay a hundred yards +from them. He dropped and began to crawl aimlessly about, a good +target for the eager rifles on the mesa. Bullets whined and shrilled +and kicked up the dust on the plain, but still the rushing Bar-20 +puncher was unhit. From the mesa came the faint crackling of rifle +fire and clouds of smoke hovered over the cover sheltering Red +Connors. Here and there over the pasture and along the chaparral's rim +rifles cracked in hot endeavor to drive the rustlers from their +positions long enough to save the reckless puncher. Buck and Meeker +both were firing now, rapidly but carefully, muttering words of hope +and anxiety as they worked the levers of their spurting guns. Then +they saw Hopalong gain the prostrate man's side, drag him back to +cover, and wave his arm. The fire from the mesa was growing weaker and +as it stopped Hopalong, with the wounded man on his back, ran to the +shelter of a gully and called for water. + +"He's th' best man in this whole country!" cried Meeker, grabbing up a +canteen and starting to go through the chaparral to give them water. +"To do that for one of _my_ men!" + +"I've knowed that for nigh onto fifteen years," replied Buck. + +Near the Eagle trail Billy Williams and Doc Riley lay side by side, +friendly now. + +"I tell you we've been shooting high," Doc grumbled. "It's no cinch +picking range against that skyline." + +"Hey! Look at Hopalong!" cried Billy, excitedly. "Blamed idiot--why, +he's going out to that feller. Lord! Get busy!" + +"That's Curtis out there!" ejaculated Doc, angrily. "They've got him, +d--n 'em!" + +"My gun's jammed!" cursed Billy, in his excitement and anger standing +up to tear at the cartridge. "I allus go an'--" he pitched sideways to +the sand, where he lay quiet. + +Doc dropped his rifle and leaped to drag his companion back to the +shelter of the cover. As he did so his left arm was hit, but he +accomplished his purpose and as he reached for his canteen the Bar-20 +pessimist saved him the trouble by opening his eyes and staring +around. "Oh, my head! It's shore burning up, Doc!" he groaned. "What +th' devil happened that time, anyhow?" + +"Here; swaller this," Doc replied, handing him the canteen. + +"Who got me?" asked Billy, laying the vessel aside. + +"How do I know? Whoever he was he creased you nice. His friends got me +in th' arm, too. You can help me fix it soon." + +"Shore I will! We can lick them thieves, Doc," Billy expounded without +much interest. "Yessir," he added. + +"You make me tired," Doc retorted. "You talking about being careful +when you stand up in plain sight of them fellers like you just did." + +"Yes, I know. I was mad, an' sort of forgot about 'em being able to +shoot at me--but what happened out there, anyhow?" + +Doc craned his neck. "There's Cassidy now, in that gully--Meeker's +just joined him. Good men, both of 'em." + +"You bet," replied Billy, satisfied. "Yessir, we can lick 'em--we've +got to." + +On the west side of the mesa, back in the chaparral and out of sight +of the rustlers, Pie Willis lay face down in the sand, quiet. Near him +lay Frenchy McAllister, firing at intervals, aflame with anger and a +desire to kill. Opposite him on the mesa, a scant three hundred yards +away, two rustlers gloated and fired, eager to kill the other puncher, +who shot so well. + +"That other feller knows his business, Elder," remarked Nevada as a +slug ricochetted past his head. "Wonder who he is." + +"Wonder _where_ he is," growled Elder, firing at a new place. "He's +been shifting a lot. Anyhow, we got one. There's so much smoke down +there I can't seem to place him. Mebby--" he fell back, limp, his +rifle clattering down a hundred feet of rock. + +Nevada looked at him closely and then drew back to a more secure +position. "We're even, stranger, but we ain't quits, by a good deal!" +He swore. _Zing-ing-ing!_ "Oh, you know I moved, do you!" he gritted. +"Well, how's _that_!" _Spat_! a new, bright leaden splotch showed on +the rock above his head and hot lead stung his neck and face as the +bullet spattered. "I'll get you yet, you coyote!" he muttered, +changing his position again. "Ah, _h--l_!" he sobbed and dropped his +rifle to grasp his right elbow, shattered by a Winchester .45. Pain +shot through every fibre of his body and weakened him so he could not +crawl for shelter or assistance. He swayed, lost his balance and +swayed further, and as his side showed beyond the edge of his rocky +rampart he quivered and sank back, helpless, pain-racked, and bleeding +to death from two desperate wounds. + +"We was--tricked--up here!" he moaned. "That must--be Red--Connors out +there. Ah!" _Spat! Chug! Spat!_ But Nevada did not hear them now. + +Down in the chaparral, Frenchy, getting no response to his shots, +picked up his glasses and examined the mesa. A moment later he put +them back in the case, picked up his rifle and crawled towards his +companion. + +"Pie!" he called, touching the body. "Pie, old feller! I got 'em both +for you, Pie--got 'em--" screened by the surrounding chaparral he +stood up and shook a clenched fist at the sombre, smoke-wreathed pile +of rock and shouted: "An' they won't be all! Do you hear, you thieves? +_They won't be all!_" + +Lying in a crack on the apex of a pinnacle of rock a hundred yards +northwest of the mesa Johnny Nelson cursed the sun and squirmed around +on the hot stone, vainly trying to find a spot comparatively cool, +while two panic-stricken lizards huddled miserably as far back in the +crack as they could force themselves. Long bright splotches marked the +stone all around the youthful puncher and shrill whinings came to him +out of the air, to hurtle away in the distance ten times as loud and +high-pitched. For an hour he had not dared to raise his head to aim, +and his sombrero, which he had used as a dummy, was shot full of +holes. Johnny, at first elated because of his aerial position, now +cursed it fervently and was filled with disgust. When he had begun +firing at sunrise he had only one man to face. But the news went +around among the rustlers that a fool had volunteered to be a target +and now three good shots vied with each other to get the work over +with quickly, and return to their former positions. + +"I reckon I can squirm over th' edge an' drop down that split," Johnny +soliloquized, eying a ragged, sharp edge in the rock close at hand. +"Don't know where it goes to, or how far down, but it's cool, that's +shore." + +He wriggled over to it, flattened as much as possible, and looked over +the edge, seeing a four-inch ledge ten feet below him. From the ledge +it was ten feet more to the bottom, but the ledge was what interested +him. + +"Shore I can--just land on that shelf, hug th' wall an' they can't +touch me," he grinned, slipping over and hanging for an instant until +he stopped swinging. The rock bulged out between him and the ledge, +but he did not give that any thought. Letting go he dropped down the +face of the rock, shot out along the bulge and over his cherished +ledge, and landed with a grunt on a mass of sand and debris twenty +feet below. As he pitched forward to his hands he heard the metallic +warning of a rattlesnake and all his fears of being shot were knocked +out of his head by the sound. When he landed from his jump he was on +the wrong side of the crevice and among hot lead. Ducking and dodging +he worked back to the right side and then blew off the offending +rattler's head with his Colt. Other rattlers now became prominent and +Johnny, realizing that he was an unwelcome guest in a rattlesnake den, +made good use of his eyes and Colt as he edged towards the mouth of +the crevice. Behind him were rattlers; before him, rustlers who could +and would shoot. To say that he was disgusted is to put it mildly. + +"Cussed joint!" he grunted. "This is a measly place for me. If I stay +I get bit to death; if I leave I get shot. Wonder if I can get to that +ledge--ugh!" he cried as the tip of a rattler's tail hung down from it +for an instant. "Come on! Bring 'em all out! Trot out th' tarantulas, +copper heads, an' Gilas! Th' more th' merrier! Blasted snake +hang-out!" + +He glanced about him rapidly, apprehensively, and shivered. "No more +of this for Little Johnny! I'll chance th' sharp-shooters," he yelled, +and dashed out and around the pile so quickly as to be unhit. But he +was not hit for another reason, also. Skinny Thompson and Pete Wilson, +having grown restless, were encircling the mesa by keeping inside the +chaparral and came opposite the pinnacle about the time Johnny +discovered his reptilian neighbors. Hearing the noise they both +stopped and threw their rifles to their shoulders. Here was a fine +opportunity to lessen the numbers of the enemy, for the rustlers, +careless for the moment, were peering over their breastwork to see +what all the noise was about, not dreaming that two pairs of eyes +three hundred yards away were calculating the range. Two puffs of +smoke burst from the chaparral and the rustlers ducked out of sight, +one of them hard hit. At that moment Johnny made his dash and caused +smiles to flit across the faces of his friends. + +"We might 'a knowed it was him!" laughed Skinny. "Nobody else would be +loco enough to pick out that thing." + +"Yes; but now what's he doing?" asked Pete, seeing Johnny poking +around among the rocks, Colt in hand. + +"Hunting rustlers, I reckon," Skinny replied. "Thinks they are +tunnelling an' coming up under him, I suppose. Hey! Johnny!" + +Johnny turned, peering at the chaparral. + +"What are you doing?" yelled Skinny. + +"Hunting snakes." + +Skinny laughed and turned to watch the mesa, from which lead was +coming. + +"Can you cover me if I make a break?" shouted Johnny, hopefully. + +"No; stay where you are!" shouted Pete, and then ducked. + +"Stop yelling and move about some or you'll get us both hit," ordered +Skinny. "Them fellers can _shoot_!" + +"Come on; let's go ahead. Johnny can stay out there till dark an' hunt +snakes," Pete was getting sarcastic. "Wonder if he reckons we came +here to get shot at just to hunt snakes!" + +"No; we'll help him in," Skinny replied. "You'll find th' rattlers +made it too hot for him up there. Start shooting." + +Johnny hearing the rapid firing of his friends, ran backwards, keeping +the pinnacle between him and his enemies as long as he could. Then, +once out of its shelter, he leaped erratically over the plain and +gained a clump of chaparral. He now had only about a hundred yards to +go, and Johnny could sprint when need was. He sprinted. Joining his +friends the three disappeared in the chaparral and two disgusted +rustlers helped a badly wounded companion to the rough hospital in the +hut at the top of the mesa trail. + +Johnny and his friends had not gone far before Johnny, eager to find a +rustler to shoot at, left them to go to the edge of the chaparral and +while he was away his friends stumbled on the body of Pie Willis. +Johnny, moving cautiously along the edge of the chaparral, soon met +Buck and Hopalong, who were examining every square foot of the mesa +wall for a way up. + +"Hullo, Johnny!" cried Hopalong. "What you doing here? Thought you was +plumb stuck on that freak rock up north." + +"I was--an' _stuck_, for shore," grinned Johnny. "That rock is a nest +of snakes, besides being a fine place to get plugged by them fellers. +An' hot!" + +"How'd you get away?" + +"Pete an' Skinny drove 'em back an' I made my get-away. They're in th' +chaparral somewhere close," Johnny replied. "But why are you +telescoping at th' joker? Think you see money out there?" + +"Looking for a place to climb it," Hopalong responded. "We're +disgusted with this long-range squibbing. You didn't see no breaks in +th' wall up where you was, did you?" + +"Lemme see," and Johnny cogitated for a moment. Then his face cleared. +"Shore I did; there's lots of cracks in it, running up an' down, an' a +couple of ledges. I ain't so shore about th' ledges, though--you see I +was too busy to look for ledges during th' first part of th' seance, +and I dassn't look during th' last of it. There was three of 'em +a-popping at me!" + +"Hey, Johnny!" came a hail; "Johnny!" + +"That's Pete an' Skinny--Hullo!" Johnny shouted. + +"Come here--Pie Willis is done for!" + +"What?" + +"Pie--Willis--is--done--for!" + +The three turned and hastened towards the voice, shouting questions. +They found Skinny and Pete standing over the body and sombreros came +off as the foreman knelt to examine it. Pie had been greatly liked by +the members of the outfit he had lately joined, having been known to +them for years. + +"Clean temple shot," Buck remarked, covering the face and arising. +"There's some fine shots up on that rock. Well, here's another reason +why we've got to get up there an' wipe 'em out quick. Pie was a white +man, square as a die and a good puncher--I wouldn't have asked for a +better pardner. You fellers take him to camp--we're going to find a +way to square things if there is one. No, Pete, you an' Johnny carry +him in--Skinny is going with us." + +Buck, Hopalong, and Skinny returned to the edge of the pasture and the +foreman again swept the wall through his glasses. "Hey! What's that? A +body?" + +Hopalong looked. "Yes, two of 'em! I reckon Pie died game, all right." + +"Well, come on--we've got to move along," and Buck led the way north, +Skinny bringing up the rear. Next to Lanky Smith, at present nursing +wounds at the ranch, Skinny was the best man with a rope in the Bar-20 +outfit and the lariat he used so deftly was one hundred and fifty feet +in length, much longer than any used by those around the mesa. Buck +had asked him to go with them because he wished to have his opinion as +to the possibility of getting a rope up the mesa wall. + +When they came opposite the rock which had sheltered Johnny they +sortied to see if that part of the mesa was guarded, but there was no +sign of life upon it. Then, separating, they dashed to the midway +cover, the thicket, which they reached without incident. From there +they continued to the pinnacle and now could see every rock and seam +of the wall with their naked eyes. But they used the glasses and after +a few minutes' examination of the ledges Hopalong turned to his +companions. "Just as Johnny said. Skinny, do you reckon if you was +under them to-night that you could get yore rope fast to th' bottom +one?" + +"Shore; that's easy. But it won't be no cinch roping th' other," +Skinny replied. "She sticks out over th' first by two feet. It'll be +hard to jerk a rope from that narrow foothold." + +"Somebody can hang onto you so you can lean out," Buck replied. "Pete +can hold you easy." + +"But what'll he hold on to?" + +Hopalong pointed. "See that spur up there, close to th' first ledge? +He can hitch a rope around that an' hang to th' rope. I tell you it's +_got_ to be done. We can't lose no more men in this everlasting +pot-shooting game. We've got to get close an' clean up!" + +"Well, I ain't saying nothing different, am I?" snapped Skinny. "I'm +saying it'll be hard, an' it will. Now suppose one of them fellers +goes on sentry duty along this end; what then?" + +"We'll solve that when we come to it," Hopalong replied. "I reckon if +Red lays on this rock in th' moonlight that he can drop any sentry +that stands up against th' sky at a hundred yards. We've got to try +it, anyhow." + +"_Down!_" whispered Buck, warningly. "Don't let 'em know we're here. +Drop that gun, Hoppy!" + +They dropped down behind the loose bowlders while the rustler passed +along the edge, his face turned towards the pinnacle. Then, deciding +that Johnny had not returned, he swept the chaparral with a pair of +glasses. Satisfied at length that all was well he turned and +disappeared over a rocky ledge ten feet from the edge of the wall. + +"I could 'a dropped him easy," grumbled Hopalong, regretfully, and +Skinny backed him up. + +"Shore you could; but I don't want them to think we are looking at +this end," Buck replied. "We'll have th' boys raise th' devil down +south till dark an' keep that gang away from this end." + +"I reckon they read yore mind--hear th' shooting?" Skinny queried. + +"That must be Red out there--I can see half of him from here," +Hopalong remarked, lowering his glasses. "Look at th' smoke he's +making! Wonder what's up? Hear th' others, too!" + +"Come on--we'll get out of this," Buck responded. "We'll go to camp +an' plan for to-night, an' talk it over with th' rest. I want to hear +what Meeker's going to do about it an' how we can place his men." + +"By thunder! If we _can_ get up there, half a dozen of us with Colts, +an' sneak up on 'em, we'll have this fight tied up in a bag so quick +they won't know what's up," Skinny remarked. "You can bet yore life +that if there's any way to get a rope up that wall I'll do it!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXX + +UP THE WALL + + +Pipes were glowing in the shadows away from the fire, where men lay in +various attitudes of ease. A few were examining wounds while others +cleaned rifles and saw that their revolvers were in good condition. +Around the fire but well back from it four men sat cross-legged, two +others stretched out on their elbows and stomachs near them. + +"You say everything is all right on th' ranch?" asked Buck of a man +who, covered with alkali, had just come from the Bar-20. "No trouble, +hey?" + +"Nope; no trouble at all," replied Cross, tossing his sombrero aside. +"Lucas an' Bartlett each sent us four men to help out when they +learned you had come out here. We shipped four of 'em right on to th' +H2, which is too short-handed to do any damage to rustlers." + +"Much obliged for that," spoke up Meeker, relief in his voice. "I'm +blamed glad to hear things are quiet back home--but I don't know how +long they'll stay that way with Eagle so close." + +"Well, Eagle ain't a whole lot anxious to dip in no more," laughed +Cross, looking at the H2 foreman. "Leastawise, that's what Lucas said. +He sent a delegation down there which made a good impression. There +was ten men in it an' they let it be known that if they came back +again there would be ten more with 'em. In that case Eagle wouldn't be +no more than a charred memory. Since Quinn died, being shot hard by +Nevada, who I reckons is out here, th' town ain't got nobody to tell +it how to do things right, which is shore pleasant." + +"You bring blamed good news--I'm glad Lucas went down there," Buck +replied. "I can't tell as good news about us out here, yet. We've had +a hard time for a week. They got Pie to-day, an' most of us are shot +up plentiful. Yo're just in time for th' festival, Cross--we're going +to try to rush 'em to-night an' get it over. We reckon Skinny an' Pete +can get us a way up that wall before dawn." + +"Me for th' rush," laughed Cross. "I'm fresh as a daisy, which most of +you fellers ain't. How many of 'em have you got so far? Are there many +still up there?" + +"We've got four of 'em that I knows of, an' how many of 'em died from +their wounds I can't say," replied Hopalong. "But a whole lot of 'em +have been plugged, an' plugged hard." + +"But how many are up there still able to fight?" + +"I should say about nine," Hopalong remarked, thoughtfully. + +"Ten," corrected Red. "I've been watching th' positions an' I know." + +"About nine or ten--they shift so nobody can really tell," Buck +replied. "I reckon we've seen 'em all in Eagle, too." + +"Frenchy got Nevada an' another to-day, on th' west side," Johnny +interposed. + +"I'm glad Nevada is gone--he's a terror in a mix-up," Cross rejoined. +"Best two-handed gun man in Eagle, he was." + +"Huh!" snorted Johnny. "Stack him up against Hoppy an' see how long +he'd last!" + +"I said in Eagle!" retorted Cross. + +Buck suddenly stood up and stretched. "You fellers all turn in now an' +snatch some sleep. I'm going out to see how things are with Billy. +I'll call you in time. Doc, you an' Curtis are too shot up to do any +climbing--you turn in too. When I come back I'll wake you an' send you +out to help Billy watch th' trail. Where's Red?" + +"Over here--what do you want?" came from the shadows. + +"Nothing, only get to sleep. I reckoned you might be off somewheres +scouting. Skinny, where's yore rope? Got that manilla one? Good! Put +three more hemp lariats out here where I can find 'em when I come +back. Now don't none of you waste no time; turn in right now!" He +started to walk away and then hesitated, turning around. "Doc, you an' +Curtis better come with me now so you won't lose no time hunting +Billy in th' dark when yore eyes are sleepy--it's hard enough to find +him now in th' dark, when I'm wide awake. You can get yore sleep out +there--he'll wake you when yo're needed." + +The two punchers arose and joined him, Doc with his left arm bandaged +and his companion with three bandages on him. When they joined Buck +Doc protested. "Let me go with you an' th' rest of th' boys, Peters, +when you go up that wall. I came out here to get th' Greaser that +murdered Curley, an' I hate to miss him now. If I can't climb th' boys +will be glad to pull me up, an' it won't take no time to speak of. My +gun arm is sound as a dollar--_I_ want that Greaser!" + +Buck glanced at Meeker, who refused to give any sign of his thoughts +on the matter. "Well, all right, Doc. But if we should have to fight +as soon as we get up an' don't have no time to pull you after us, +you'll miss everything. But you can do what you want." + +"I'll just gamble on that. I ain't hurt much, an' if I can't climb +I'll manage to get in th' scrap someway, even if I has to hunt up +Billy," replied Doc, contentedly, returning to the fire. + +Buck and his companion moved away into the darkness while those around +the fire lay down to get a few hours' rest, which they needed badly. +George Cross, who was not sleepy, remained awake in a shadow and kept +guard, although none was needed. + +Buck and Curtis found Billy by whistling and the wounded H2 puncher +found a place to lie down and was soon asleep, while the foreman and +his friend sat up, watching the faint glow on the mesa, the camp-fire +of the besieged. Once they heard the clatter of a rifle from the head +of the trail and later they saw a dim figure pass quickly across the +lighted space. They were content to watch on such a night, for the air +had cooled rapidly after the sun went down and the sky was one +twinkling mass of stars. + +Twice during the wait Buck disappeared into the black chaparral close +at hand and struck a match under his coat to see the time, and on the +last occasion he returned to Billy, remarking: "Got half an hour yet +before I leave you. Are you sleepy?" + +"No, not very; my head hurts too much to sleep," Billy replied, +re-crossing his legs and settling himself in a more comfortable +position. "When you leave I'll get up on my hoofs so I won't feel like +dosing off. I won't wake Curtis unless I have to--he's about played +out." + +"You wake him when you think I've been gone half an hour," Buck +ordered. "It'll take him some time to get his eyes open--we mustn't +let any get away. They've got friends in Eagle, you know." + +"Wish I could smoke," Billy remarked, wistfully. + +"Why, you can," replied Buck, quickly. "Go back there in th' chaparral +an' get away with a pipeful. I'll watch things till you come back, an' +if I need you quick I can call. You've got near half an hour--make th' +best of it." + +"Here's th' gun--much obliged, Buck," and Billy disappeared, leaving +the foreman to plan and watch. Buck glanced at the sleeping man +occasionally when he heard him toss or mutter and wished he could let +him sleep on undisturbed. + +Suddenly a flash lighted up the top of the trail for an instant and +the sharp report of a rifle rang out loudly on the still, night air. +Buck, grabbing the Winchester, sprang to his feet as an excited chorus +came from the rustlers' stronghold. Then he heard laughter and a few +curses and quiet again ensued. + +"What was that, Buck?" came a low, anxious hail from behind. + +The foreman laughed softly and replied: "Nothing, Billy, except that +th' guard up there reckoned he saw something to shoot at. It's funny +how staring at th' dark will get a feller seeing things that ain't. +Why, had yore smoke so soon?" he asked in surprise as Billy sat down +beside him. + +"Shore," replied Billy. "Two of 'em. I reckon yore time is about up. +Gimme th' gun now." + +"Well, good luck, Billy. Better move up closer to th' trail if you can +find any cover. You don't want to miss none. So long," and Billy was +alone with his sleeping companion. + +When the foreman returned to the camp he was challenged, and stopped, +surprised. "It's Peters," he called. + +"Oh, all right. Time to go yet?" asked Cross, emerging from the +darkness. + +"Purty near; but I thought I told you to go to sleep?" + +"I know, but I ain't sleepy, not a bit. So I reckoned I'd keep watch +over th' rest of th' gang." + +"Well, since yo're wide awake, you help me knot these ropes an' let +th' others have a few minutes more," Buck responded, picking up +Skinny's fifty-foot lariat and placing it to one side. He picked up +the three shorter ropes and threw one to his companion. "Put a knot +every foot an' a half--make 'em tight an' big." + +In a few minutes the work was finished and Buck awakened the sleeping +men, who groped their way to the little stream close by and washed the +sleep out of their tired eyes, grabbing a bit of food on their return +to the fire. + +"Now, fellers," said the foreman, "leave yore rifles here--it's Colts +this trip, except in Red's case. Got plenty of cartridges? Everybody +had a drink an' some grub? All right; single file after me an' don't +make no noise." + +When the moon came up an hour later Red Connors, lying full length on +the apex of the pinnacle which Johnny had tried and found wanting, +watched an indistinct blurr of men in the shadow of the mesa wall. He +saw one of them step out into the moonlight, lean back and then +straighten up suddenly, his arm going above his head. The silence was +so intense that Red could faintly hear the falling rope as it struck +the ground. Another cast, and yet another, both unsuccessful, and +then the fourth, which held. The puncher stepped back into the shadow +again and another figure appeared, to go jerking himself up the face +of the wall. While he watched the scaling operations Red was not +missing anything on the top of the mesa, where the moon bathed +everything in a silvery light. + +Then he saw another figure follow the first and kick energetically as +it clambered over onto the ledge. Soon a rope fell to the plain and +the last man up, who was Skinny, leaned far out and cast at the second +ledge, Pete holding him. After some time he was successful and again +he and his companion went up the wall. Pete climbed rapidly, his heavy +body but small weight for the huge, muscular arms which rose and fell +so rapidly. On the second ledge the same casting was gone through +with, but it was not until the eighth attempt that the rope stayed up. +Then Red, rising on his elbows, put his head closer to the stock of +his rifle and peered into the shadows back of the lighted space on the +rocky pile. He saw Pete pull his companion back to safety and then, +leaping forward, grasp the rope and climb to the top. Already one of +the others was part way up the second rope while another was squirming +over the lower ledge, and below him a third kicked and hauled, half +way up the first lariat. + +"String of monkeys," chuckled Red. "But they can't none of 'em touch +Pete in that sort of a game. Wonder what Pete's doing?" he queried as +he saw the man on the top of the mesa bend, fumble around for a +moment, and then toss his arm out over the edge. "Oh, it's a knotted +rope--he's throwing it down for th' others. Well, Pete, old feller, +you was th' first man to get--_Lord_!" + +He saw Pete wheel, leap forward into a shadow, and then a heaving, +twisting, bending bulk emerged into the moonlight. It swayed back and +forth, separated into two figures and then became one again. + +"They're fighting, rough an' tumble!" Red exclaimed. "Lord have mercy +on th' man who's closing with that Pete of ourn!" + +He could hear the scuffling and he knew that the others had heard it, +too, for Skinny was desperately anxious to wriggle over the edge, +while down the line of ropes the others acted like men crazed. Still +the pair on the mesa top swayed back and forth, this way and that, +bending, twisting, and Red imagined he could hear their labored +breathing. Then Skinny managed to pull himself to the top of the wall +and sprang forward, to sink down from a kick in the stomach. + +"God A'mighty!" cried Red excitedly. "Who is it that can give Pete a +fight like that? Well, I'm glad he's so busy he can't use his gun!" + +Skinny was crawling around on his hands and knees as Buck's head arose +over the edge. The foreman, well along in years, and heavy, was too +tired to draw himself over the rim without a moment's rest. He had no +fear for Pete, but he was worried lest some rustler might sound an +alarm. Skinny now sat up and felt for his Colt, but the foreman's +voice stopped him. "No shooting, yet! Want to tell 'em what's up? You +let them fellers alone for a minute, an' give me a hand here." + +Pete, his steel-like fingers darting in for hold after hold, managed +to jerk his opponent's gun from its sheath and throw it aside, where +Skinny quickly picked it up. He was astonished by the skill and +strength of his adversary, who blocked every move, every attempt to +get a dangerous hold. Pete, for a man reputed as being slow, which he +was in some things, was darting his arms in and out with remarkable +quickness, but without avail. Then, realizing that his cleaner living +was standing him in good stead, and hearing the labored breathing of +the rustler, he leaped in and clinched. By this time Hopalong and +three more of the attacking force had gained the mesa top and were +sent forward by the foreman, who was now intent upon the struggle at +hand. + +"It's Big Sandy!" Hopalong whispered to Skinny, pausing to watch for a +moment before he disappeared into the shadows. + +He was right, and Big Sandy, breathless and tired, was fighting a +splendid fight for his life against a younger, fresher, and stronger +man. The rustler tried several times for a throat hold but in vain, +and in a fury of rage threw his weight against his opponent to bear +him to the ground, incautiously bringing his feet close together as he +felt the other yield. In that instant Pete dropped to a crouch, his +vice-like hands tightened about Big Sandy's ankles, and with a sudden, +great surge of his powerful back and shoulders he straightened up and +Sandy plunged forward to a crashing fall on the very edge of the mesa, +scrambled to his feet, staggered, lost his balance, and fell backwards +a hundred feet to the rocks below. + +The victor would have followed him but for Buck, who grasped him in +time. Pete, steady on his feet again, threw Buck from him by one sweep +of his arms and wheeled to renew the fight, surprise flashing across +his face at not seeing his opponent. + +"He's down below, Pete," Buck cried as Johnny, white-faced, crawled +over the edge. + +"What was that?" exclaimed the Kid. "Who fell?" + +"Big Sandy," replied the foreman. "He--" the report of a shot cut him +short. "Come on!" he cried. "They're at it!" and he dashed away, +closely followed by Johnny and Pete as Jim Meeker came into view. The +H2 foreman slid over the mesa rim, leaped to his feet and sprinted +forward, Colt in hand, to be quickly lost in the shadows, and after +him came Red Connors, the last. + +Down below Doc, hearing a thud not far from him, hurried around a spur +of rock in the wall, sick at heart when he saw the body. Bending over +quickly he recognized the mass as once having been Big Sandy, and he +forthwith returned to the rope to be pulled up. When he at last +realized that his friends had forgotten him there was loud, lurid +cursing and he stamped around like a wild man, waving a Colt in his +right hand. Finally he dropped heavily on a rock, too enraged to +think, and called the attacking force, collectively and individually, +every name that sprang to his lips. As he grew calmer he arose from +the rock, intending to join Billy and Curtis at the other end of the +pasture, and as he took a step in that direction he heard a sharp +click and a pebble bounced past him. He stepped backwards quickly and +looked up, seeing a figure sliding rapidly down the highest rope. He +was immediately filled with satisfaction and easily forgave his +companions for the anxiety they had caused him, and as he was about to +call out he heard a Spanish oath. Slipping quickly and noiselessly +into the deeper shadow at the base of the wall he flattened himself +behind the spur of rock close to the rope, where he waited tensely, a +grim smile transforming his face. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXI + +FORTUNE SNICKERS AT DOC + + +Antonio was restless and could not sleep. He turned from side to side +on the ground near the fire before the hut and was one of the first to +run to the top of the trail when the guard there discharged his rifle +at nothing. Returning to his blanket the Mexican tried to compose +himself to rest, but was unsuccessful. Finally he arose, picked up his +rifle, and slouched off into the shadows to wander about from point to +point. + +Cavalry, coming in from his post to get a drink, caught sight of the +Mexican before he was swallowed up by the darkness and, suspicious as +ever of Antonio, forgot the drink and followed. + +After wandering about all unconscious of espionage Antonio finally +drifted to the western edge and seated himself comfortably against a +bowlder, Cavalry not fifty feet away in a shadow. Time passed slowly +and as the Mexican was about to return to the fire he chanced to +glance across the mesa along a moon-lighted path and stiffened at what +he saw. A figure ran across the lighted space, silently, cautiously, +Colt in hand, and then another, then two together, and the Mexican +knew that the enemy had found a way up the wall and were hurrying +forward to fight at close quarters, to effect a surprise on the +unsuspecting men about the fire and in the hut. There remained, +perhaps, time enough for him to escape and he arose and ran north, +crouching as he zig-zagged from cover to cover, cautious and alert. + +Cavalry, because of his position, had not seen the flitting punchers +and, his suspicions now fully aroused, he slipped after the Mexican to +find out just what he was going to do. When the firing burst out +behind him he paused and stood up, amazed. As he struggled to +understand what it meant he saw three men run past a bowlder at his +left and then he knew, and still hesitated. He was not a man who +thought quickly and his first natural impulse, due to his army +training, was to try to join his friends, but gradually the true +situation came to him. How many men there were in the attacking force +he did not know, but he had seen three after the fighting had begun; +and it was evident that the cowmen would not rush into the lion's jaws +unless they were strong enough to batter down all resistance. Four of +his friends were dead, another had evidently deserted, and the +remainder were all more or less severely wounded--there could be no +hope of driving the ranchmen back, and small chance of him being able +to work through their line to join his friends. There remained only +one thing to be done, to save himself while he might. + +As he moved forward slowly and cautiously to find a way down the wall +he remembered the Mexican's peculiar actions and wondered if he had a +hand in helping the cowmen up. + +Meanwhile Antonio, reaching the edge of the open space where Pete and +Big Sandy had fought, saw Red Connors appear over the rim and dash +away to join in the fighting. Waiting long enough to assure himself +that there were none following Red he ran to the edge and knelt by the +rope. Leaving his rifle behind and seeing that the flap of his holster +was fastened securely, he lowered himself over, sliding rapidly down +to the first ledge. Here he spent a minute, a minute that seemed an +eternity, hunting for the second rope in the shadows, found it and +went on. + +Sliding and bumping down the rough wall he at last reached the plain +and, with a sigh of relief, turned to run. At that instant a figure +leaped upon him from behind and a hand gripped his throat and jerked +him over backwards. Antonio instinctively reached for his Colt with +one hand while he tore at the gripping fingers with the other, but he +found himself pinned down between two rocks in such a manner that his +whole weight and that of his enemy was on the holster and made his +effort useless. Then, terrified and choking for breath, he dug wildly +at the vice-like fingers which not for a moment relaxed, but in vain, +for he was growing weaker with each passing second. + +Doc leaned forward, peering into the face before him, his fingers +gripping with all their power, gripping with a force which made the +muscles of the brawny forearm stand out like cords, his face +malevolent and his heart full of savage joy. Here was the end of his +hunt, here was the man who had murdered Curley in cold blood, +cowardly, deliberately. The face, already dark, was turning black and +the eyes were growing wide open and bulging out. He felt the surge of +the Mexican's pulse, steadily growing weaker. But he said no word as +he watched and gloated, he was too intent to speak, too centred upon +the man under him, too busy keeping his fingers tight-gripped. He +would make good his threat, he would keep his word and kill the +murderer of his best friend with his naked hand, as he had sworn. + +Up above the two, Cavalry, working along the edge, had come across +Antonio's rifle and then as he glanced about, saw the rope. Here was +where the cowmen had come up and here was where he could go down. From +the way the shooting continued he knew that the fight was desperate +and he believed himself to be cut off from his friends. He hated to +desert in the face of the enemy, to leave his companions of a +dangerous business to fight for their lives without him, but there was +only one thing to do since he could not help them--he must save +himself. + +Dropping his rifle beside the other he lowered himself over the edge +and slid rapidly down. When half-way down the last rope his burning +hands slipped and he fell head over heels, and landed on Doc, knocking +him over and partially stunning him. Cavalry's only idea now was to +escape from the men who, as he thought, were guarding the rope and, +hastily picking himself up, he dashed towards the chaparral to the +west as fast as he could run, every moment expecting to feel the hot +sting of a bullet. At last, when the chaparral closed about him he +plunged through it recklessly and ran until sheer exhaustion made him +drop insensible to the sand. He had run far, much farther than he +could have gone were it not for the stimulus of the fear which gripped +him; and had he noticed where he was going he would have known that he +was running up a slope, a slope which eventually reached a level +higher than the top of the mesa. And when he dropped if he had been +capable of observation he would have found himself in a chaparral +which arose above his head, and seen the narrow lane through it which +led to a great expanse of sand, tawney and blotched with ash-colored +alkali, an expanse which stretched away to the desolate horizon. + +Shortly after Cavalry's descent Antonio stirred, opened his eyes, +stared vaguely about him and, feeling his bruised and aching throat, +staggered to his feet and stumbled to the east, hardly conscious of +what he was doing. As he proceeded his breath came easier and he began +to remember having seen Doc lying quiet against a rock. He hesitated a +moment as he wondered if Doc was dead and if so, who had killed him. +Then he swore because he had not given him a shot to make sure that he +would not rejoin his friends. Hesitating a moment he suddenly decided +that he would be better off if he put a good distance between himself +and the mesa, and ran on again, eager to gain the shelter of the +chaparral. + +When Doc opened his eyes and groped around he slowly remembered what +had occurred and his first conscious act was to look to see if his +expected victim were dead or alive. It did not take him long to +realize that he was alone and his hand leaped for his Colt as he +peered around. Limping out on the plain he caught sight of the running +Mexican, rapidly growing indistinct, and hazarded two shots after him. +Antonio leaped into a new speed as though struck with a whip and +cursed himself for not having killed the H2 puncher when he had the +chance. A moment more and he was lost in the thickets. Doc tried to +follow, but his leg, hurt by Cavalry's meteoric descent, was not equal +to any great demand for speed and so, turning, he made his way towards +the camp to get a horse and return to take up the Mexican's trail. + +He lost an hour in this, a feverishly impatient hour, punctuated with +curses as he limped along and with an unsparing quirt once he was +astride. What devilish Humpty Dumpty had cheated him this time? "All +the king's horses and all the king's men couldn't put Humpty Dumpty +together again"--they couldn't if he once caught up with the Mexican. +He laughed grimly and swore again as the cranky beast beneath him +shied a pain into his sore leg. "Go on, you!" he yelled, as he swept +up to where the ropes still dangled against the wall. "Th' Mexican +first," he muttered. The world was not big enough to hide the murderer +of Curley, to save him from his just deserts. The two trails lay plain +before him in the brilliant moonlight and his pony sprang forward +toward the spot where Antonio had disappeared in the chaparral. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXII + +NATURE TAKES A HAND + + +When Hopalong caught up with his four companions he was astonished by +the conditions on the mesa. Instead of a bowlder-strewn, rocky plain +as he had believed it to be he found himself on a table-land cut and +barred by fissures which ran in all directions. At one time these had +been open almost to the level of the surrounding pasture but the winds +had swept sand and debris into the gashes until now none were much +more than ten feet deep. Narrow alleyways which led in every +direction, twisting and turning, now blocked and now open for many +feet in depth, their walls sand-beaten to a smoothness baffling the +grip of one who would scale them, were not the same in a fight as a +comparatively flat plain broken only by miscellaneous bowlders and +hummocks. There could be no concerted dash for the reason that one +group of the attacking force might be delayed until after another had +begun to fight. And it was possible, even probable, that the turns in +the alleyways might be guarded; and once separated in the heat of +battle it would be easy enough to shoot each other. Instead of a +dashing fight soon to be over, it looked as though it would be a +deadly game of hide and seek to wear out the players and which might +last for an indefinite length of time. It was disconcerting to find +that what had been regarded as the hardest part of the whole affair, +the gaining of the mesa top, was the easiest. + +"Here, fellows!" Hopalong growled. "We'll stick together till we get +right close, an' then if we have time an' these infernal gorges don't +stop us, we may be able to spread out. We've got to move easy, too. If +we go galloping reckless we'll run into some guard an' there won't be +no surprise party on Thunder Mesa. We can count on having light, +though not as much as we might have, for th' moon won't go back on us +till th' sun fades it." + +"It's light enough," growled Skinny. "Come on--we've got to go ahead +an' every minute counts. _I_ didn't think we'd lose so much time +roping them knobs an' getting up." + +They moved forward cautiously in single file, alert and straining eyes +and ears, and had covered half of the distance when a shot was heard +ahead and they listened, expecting an uproar. Waiting a minute and +hearing nothing further, they moved on again, angry and disgruntled. +Then another shot rang out and they heard Billy and Curtis reply. + +"Shooting before daylight, before they get their morning's grub," +grumbled George Cross. + +"Yes; sort of eye-opener, I reckon," softly laughed Chick Travers, +who was nervous and impatient. "Get a move on an' let's start +something," he added. + +As they separated to take advantage of a spoke-like radiation of +several intersecting fissures another shot rang out ahead and there +was an angry _spat_! close to Hopalong's head. Another shot and then a +rattling volley sent the punchers hunting cover on the run, but they +were moving forward all the time. It was a case of getting close or be +killed at a range too great for Colts, and their rifles were in the +camp. Had the light been better the invaders might have paid dearly +right there for the attack. + +Confusion was rife among the defenders and the noise of the shouts and +firing made one jumble of sound. Bullets whistled along the fissures +in the dim light and hummed and whizzed as they ricochetted from wall +to wall. As yet the attacking force had made no reply, being too +busily occupied in getting close to lose time in wasting lead at that +range, and being only five against an unknown number protected by a +stone hut and who knew every bowlder, crevice, and other points of +vantage. + +Hopalong slid over a bowlder which choked his particular and personal +fissure and saw Jim Meeker sliding down the wall in front of it. And +as Meeker picked himself up Skinny Thompson slid down the other wall. + +"Well, I'm hanged!" grunted Hopalong in astonishment. + +"Same here," retorted Skinny. "What you doing 'way over here?" + +"Thought you was going to lead th' other end of th' line!" rejoined +Hopalong. + +"This is it--yo're off yore range." + +"Well, I reckon not!" Hopalong responded, indignantly. + +"An' say, Meeker, how'd you get over here so quick?" Skinny asked, +turning to the other. "You was down below when I saw you last." + +"_Me?_ Why, I just follered my nose, that's all," Meeker replied, +surprised. + +"You've got a blamed crooked nose, then," Skinny snorted, and turned +to Hopalong. "Why don't you untangle yoreself an' go where you belong, +you carrot-headed blunderer!" + +"Hang it! I tell you I--" Hopalong began, and then ducked quickly. +"Lord, but somebody's got us mapped out good!" + +"Well, some of our fellers have started up--hear 'em over there?" +exclaimed Skinny as firing broke out on the east. "Them's Colts, all +right. Mebby it's plumb lucky for us it _ain't_ so blamed light, after +all; we'll have time to pick our places before they can see us real +good." + +"Pick our places!" snorted Hopalong. "Get tangled up, you mean!" he +added. + +"Hullo! What you doing, fellers?" asked a pained and surprised voice +above them. "Why ain't you in it?" + +"For th' love of heaven--it's Frenchy!" cried Hopalong. "Skinny, I +reckon them Colts you heard belonged to th' rustlers. _We're_ all here +but a couple." + +"Didn't I leave you over east about five minutes ago, Frenchy?" +demanded Skinny, his mouth almost refusing to shut. + +"Shore. I'm east--what's eating at you?" asked Frenchy. + +"Come on--get out of this!" ordered Hopalong, scrambling ahead. "You +foller me an' you'll be all right." + +"We'll be back to th' ropes if we foller you," growled Skinny. "Of all +th' locoed layouts I ever run up against this here mesa top takes th' +prize," he finished in disgust. + +Bullets whined and droned above them and frequently hummed down the +fissure to search them out, the high, falsetto whine changing quickly +to an angry _spang_! as they struck the wall a slanting blow. They +seemed to spring away again with renewed strength as they sang the +loud, whirring hum of the ricochette, not the almost musical, sad note +of the uninterrupted bullet, but venomous, assertive, insistent. The +shots could be distinguished now, for on one side were the sharp +cracks of rifles; on the other a different note, the roar of Colts. + +"This ain't no fit society for six-shooters," Meeker remarked in a low +voice as they slid over a ridge, and dropped ten feet before they knew +it. + +"For th' Lord's sake!" ejaculated Hopalong as he arose to his feet. +"Step over a rock an' you need wings! Foller a nice trail an' you +can't get out of th' cussed thing! Go west an' you land east, say +'so-long' to a friend an' you meet him a minute later!" + +"We ought to have rifles in this game," Meeker remarked, rubbing his +knee-cap ruefully. + +"Yes; an' ladders, ropes, an' balloons," snorted Skinny. + +"Send somebody back for th' guns," suggested Frenchy. + +"Who?" demanded Hopalong. "Will _you_ go?" + +"Me? Why, I don't want no rifle!" + +"Huh! Neither do I," remarked Skinny. "Here, Frenchy, give me a boost +up this wall,--take my foot!" + +"Well, don't wiggle so, you piece of string!" + +"That's right! Walk backwards! I ain't no folding step-ladder! How do +you think I'm going to grab that edge if you takes me ten feet away +from it?" + +_Spang! Spang! Zing-ing-ing!_ + +"Here, you! Lemme down! Want me to get plugged!" yelled Skinny, +executing ungraceful and rapid contortions. "Lower me, you fool!" + +"Let go that ridge, then!" retorted Frenchy. + +During the comedy Hopalong had been crawling up a rough part of the +wall and he fired before he lost his balance. As he landed on Meeker a +yell rang out and the sound of a rifle clattering on rock came to +them. "I got him, Skinny--go ahead now," he grunted, picking himself +up. + +It was not long until they were out of the fissure and crawling down +a bowlder-strewn slope. As they came to the bottom they saw a rustler +trying to drag himself to cover and Meeker fired instantly, stopping +the other short. + +"Why, I thought _I_ stopped him!" exclaimed Hopalong. + +"Reckon you won't rustle no more cows, you thief," growled Meeker, +rising to his knees. + +Hopalong pulled him down again as a bullet whizzed through the space +just occupied by his head. "Don't you get so curious," he warned. +"Come on--I see Red. He's got his rifle, lucky cuss." + +"Good for him! Wish I had mine," replied Meeker, grinning at Red, who +wriggled an elbow as a salutation. In his position Red could hardly be +expected to do much more, since two men were waiting for a shot at +him. + +"Well, you can get that gun down there an' have a rifle," Hopalong +suggested, pointing to the Winchester lying close to its former owner. +"You can do it, all right." + +"Good idea--shoot 'em with their own lead," and the H2 foreman +departed on his hands and knees for the weapon. + +"I hit one--he's trying to put his shoulder together," cried Red, +grinning. "What makes you so late--I was th' last one up, an' I've +been here a couple of hours." + +"Yo're a sinful liar!" retorted Hopalong. "We stopped to pick +blackberries back at that farm house," he finished with withering +sarcasm. + +"You fellers had time to get married an' raise a family," Red replied. +He ducked and looked around. "Ah, you coyote--hit him, but not very +hard, I reckon." + +It was daylight when Pete, on the other end of the line, turned and +scourged Johnny. "Ain't you got no sense in yore fool head? How can I +see to shoot when you kick around like that an' fill my eyes with +dirt! Come down from up there or I'll lick you!" + +"Ah, shut up!" retorted Johnny with a curse. "You'd kick around if +somebody nicked _yore_ ear!" + +"Well, it serves you right for being so unholy curious!" Pete replied. +"You come down before he nicks yore eye!" + +"Not before I get square--_Wow!_" and Johnny came down rapidly. + +"Where'd he get you that time?" + +"None of yore business!" growled Johnny. + +"I told you to come--" + +"Shut up!" roared Johnny, glaring at him. "Wish I had that new Sharps +of mine!" + +"Go an' get it, Kid. Yo're nimble," Pete responded. "An' bring up some +of th' others, too, while yo're about it." + +"But how long will this fight last, do you reckon?" the other asked, +with an air of weighing something. + +"All day with rifles--a week without 'em." + +"Shore yo're right?" + +"Yes; go ahead. There'll be some of th' scrap left for you when you +get back." + +"All right,--but don't you get that feller. I want him for what he did +to me," and Johnny hastened away. He returned in fifteen minutes with +two rifles and gave one of them to his companion. + +"They're .45-70's--an' full, too," he remarked. "But I ain't got no +more cartridges for 'em." + +"How'd you get 'em so quick?" + +"Found 'em by th' rope where we come up--didn't have to stop; just +picked 'em up an' came right back," Johnny laughed. "But I wonder how +they got there?" + +"Bet four dollars an' a tooth-pick they means that two thieves got +away down them ropes. Where's Doc?" + +"Don't know--but I don't think anybody pulled him up here." + +"Then he might 'a stopped them two what owned th' rifles--he would be +mad enough to stay there a month if Red forgot him." + +"Yes; waiting to lick Red when he came down," and Johnny crawled up +again to his former position. "Now, you cow-stealing coyote, watch +out!" As he settled down he caught sight of his foreman. "Hullo, Buck! +What you doing?" + +"Stringing beads for my night shirt," retorted Buck. "You get down +from up there, you fool!" + +"Can't. I got to pay for--" he ducked, and then fired twice. "Just +missed th' other ear, Pete. But I made him jump a foot--plugged him +where he sits down. He was moving away. An' blamed if he ain't a +Greaser!" + +"Yes; an' you took two shots to do it, when cartridges are so scarce," +Pete grumbled. + +At first several of the rustlers had defended the hut but the +concentrated fire of the attacking force had poured through its north +window from so many angles that evacuation became necessary. This was +accomplished through the south window, which opened behind the natural +breastwork, and at a great cost, for Con Irwin and Sam Austin were +killed in the move. + +The high, steep ridge which formed the rear wall of the hut and +overlooked the roof of the building ran at right angles to the low +breastwork and extended from the north end of the hut to the edge of +the mesa, a distance of perhaps fifty feet. On the side farthest from +the breastwork it sloped to the stream made by the spring and its +surface was covered with bowlders. The rustlers, if they attempted to +scale its steep face, would be picked off at short range, but they +realized that once the enemy gained its top their position would be +untenable except around the turn in the breastwork at the other side +of the mesa. In order to keep the punchers from gaining this position +they covered the wide cut which separated the ridge from the enemy's +line, and so long as they could command this they were safe. + +After wandering from point to point Hopalong finally came to the edge +of the cut and found Red Connors ensconced in a narrow, shallow +depression on a comparatively high hummock. While they talked his +eyes rested on the ridge across the cut and took in the possibilities +that holding it would give. + +"Say, Red, if we could get up on that hill behind th' shack we'd have +this fight over in no time--see how it overlooks everything?" + +"Yes," slowly replied Red. "But we can't cross this barranca--they +sweep it from end to end. I tried to get over there, an' I know." + +"But we can try again," Hopalong replied. "You cover me." + +"Now don't be a fool, Hoppy!" his friend retorted. "We can't afford to +lose you for no gang of rustlers. It's shore death to try it." + +"Well, you can bet I ain't going to be fool enough to run twenty yards +in th' open," Hopalong replied, starting away. "But I'm going to look +for a way across, just th' same. Keep me covered." + +"All right, I'll do my best--but don't you try no dash!" + +But the rustlers had not given up the idea of holding the ridge +themselves, and there was another and just as important reason why +they must have it; their only water was in the hut and the spring. To +enter the building was certain death, but if they could command the +ridge it would be possible to get water, for the spring and rivulet +lay on the other side at its base. Hall, well knowing the folly of +trying to scale the steep bank under fire, set about finding another +way to gain the coveted position. He found a narrow ledge on the face +of the mesa wall, at no place more than eight inches wide, and he +believed that it led to the rear of the ridge. Finding that the wall +above the narrow foothold was rough and offered precarious finger +holds, he began to edge along it, a hundred feet above the plain. When +he had almost reached the end of his trying labors he was discovered +by Billy and Curtis, who lay four hundred yards away in the chaparral, +and at once became the target for their rifles. Were it not for the +fact that they could not shoot at their best because of their wounds +Hall would never have finished his attempt, and as it was the bullets +flattened against the wall so close to him that on two occasions he +was struck by spattering lead and flecks of stone. Then he moved +around the turn and was free from that danger, but found that he must +get fifty yards north before he could gain the plateau again. To make +matters worse the ledge he was on began to grow narrower and at one +place disappeared altogether. When he got to the gap he had to cling +to the rough wall and move forward inch by inch, twice narrowly +missing a drop to the plain below. But he managed to get across it and +strike the ledge again and in a few minutes more he stepped into a +crevice and sat down to rest before he pushed on. When he looked +around he found that the crevice led northeast and did not run to the +ridge, and he swore as he realized that he must go through the enemy's +line to gain the position. He would not risk going back the way he had +come, for he was pretty well tired out. He thought of trying to get to +the other end of the mesa so as to escape by the way the attacking +force had come up, but immediately put it out of his mind as being too +contemptible for further consideration. He arose and moved forward, +seeking a way up the wall of the crevice--and turning a corner, bumped +into Jim Meeker. + +There was no time for weapons and they clinched. Meeker scorned to +call for help and Hall dared make no unnecessary noise while in the +enemy's line and so they fought silently. Both tried to draw their +Colts, Meeker to use his either as a gun or a club, Hall as a club +only, and neither succeeded. Both were getting tired when Hall slipped +and fell, the H2 foreman on top of him. At that instant Buck Peters +peered down at them from the edge of the fissure and then dropped +lightly. He struck Hall over the head with the butt of his Colt and +stepped back, grinning. + +"There'll be a lot more of these duets if this fight drags out very +long," Buck said. "This layout is shore loco with all its hidden +trails. Have you got a rope, Jim? We'll tie this gent so he won't hurt +hisself if you can find one." + +"No. Much obliged, Peters," Meeker replied. "Why, yes I have, too. +Here, use this," and he quickly untied his neck-kerchief and gave it +to his friend. Buck took the one from around Hall's neck and the two +foremen gave a deft and practical exhibition of how to tie a man so he +cannot get loose. Meeker took the Winchester from Hall's back, the +Colt and the cartridge belt, and gave them to Buck, laughing. + +"Seventy-three model; .44 caliber," he explained. "You'll find it +better than th' six-shooter, an' you'll have plenty of cartridges for +it, too." + +"But don't you want it?" asked Buck, hesitating. + +"Nope. I left one around th' corner here. I can get along with it till +I get my own from th' camp." + +"All right, Jim. I'll be glad to keep this--it'll come in handy." + +"Tough luck, finding them fellers in such a strong layout," Meeker +growled, glancing around at the prisoner. "Ah, got yore eyes open, +hey?" he ejaculated as Hall glared at him. "How many of you fellers +are up here, anyhow?" + +"Five thousand!" snapped Hall. "It took two of you to get me!" he +blazed. "Got my guns, too, ain't you? Hope they bust an' blow yore +cussed heads off!" + +"Thanks, stranger, thanks," Buck replied, turning to leave. "But +Meeker had you licked good--I only hurried it to save time. Coming, +Jim?" + +"Shore. But do you think this thief can get loose?" + +Buck paused, searching his pockets, and smiled as he brought to light +a small, tight roll of rawhide thongs. "Here, this'll keep him down," +and when they had finished their prisoner could move neither hands nor +feet. They looked at him critically and then went away towards the +firing, the rustler cursing them heartily. + +"What's th' matter, Meeker?" asked Buck suddenly, noticing a drawn +look on his companion's face. + +"Oh, I can't help worrying about my girl. She ain't scared of nothing +an' she likes to ride. She's too purty to go breezing over a range +that's covered with rustling skunks. I told her to stay in th' house, +but--" + +"Well, why in thunder don't you go back where you can take care of +her?" Buck demanded, sharply. "She's worth more than all th' cows an' +rustlers on earth. You ain't needed bad out here, for we can clean +this up, all right. You know as long as there are fellers like us to +handle a thing like this no man with a girl depending on him has +really got any right to take chances. I never thought of it before, or +I'd 'a told you so. You cut loose for home to-day, an' leave us to +finish this." + +"Well, I'll see how things go to-morrow, then. I can pull out th' next +morning if everything is all right out here." He hesitated a moment, +looking Buck steadily in the eyes, a peculiar expression on his face. +"Peters, yo're a white man, one of th' whitest I ever met, an' you've +got a white outfit. I don't reckon we'll have no more trouble about +that line of yourn, not nohow. When we settle down to peace an' +punching again I'm going to let you show me how to put down some wells +at th' southern base of yore hills, like you said one day. If I can +get water, a half as much as you got in th' Jumping Bear, I'll be +fixed all right. But I want to ask you a fair question, man to man. I +ain't no real fool an' I've seen more than I'm supposed to, but I want +to be shore about this, dead shore. What kind of a man is Hopalong +Cassidy when it comes to women?" + +Buck looked at him frankly. "If I had a daughter I wouldn't want a +better man for her." + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII + +DOC TRAILS + + +Doc had not gone far into the chaparral before he realized that his +work was going to be hard. The trail was much fainter than it would +have been if the Mexican were mounted; the moonlight failed to +penetrate the chaparral except in irregular patches which made the +surrounding shadows all the deeper by contrast; what little he saw of +the trail led through places far too small and turning too sharply to +permit being followed by a man on horseback, and lastly, he expected +every minute to be fired upon, and at close range. He paused and +thought a while--Antonio would head for Eagle, that being the only +place where he could get assistance, and there he would find friends. +Doc picked his way out of the labyrinth of tortuous alleys and finally +came to a comparatively wide lane leading southeast. He rode at a +canter now and planned how he would strike the fugitive's trail +further down, and after he had ridden a few miles he was struck by a +thought that stopped him at once. + +"Hang it all, he might 'a headed for them construction camps or for +one of th' north ranches, to steal a cayuse," he muttered. "Th' only +safe thing for me to do is to jump his trail an' stop guessing, an' +even then mebby he'll get me before I get him. That's a clean gamble, +an' so here goes," wheeling and retracing his course. When he again +found the trail at the place he had quit it, he dismounted and crawled +along on his hands and knees in order to follow the foot-prints among +the shadows. Then some animal bounded up in front of him and leaped +away, and as he turned to look after it he caught sight of his horse +standing on its hind legs, and the next instant it was crashing +through the chaparral. Drawing his Colt and cursing he ran back in +time to see the horse gain an alleyway and gallop off. Angered +thoroughly he sent a shot after it and then followed it, finally +capturing it in a blind alley. Roundly cursing the frightened beast he +led it back to where he had left the trail and, keeping one hand on +the reins, continued to follow the foot-prints. Day broke when he had +reached the edge of the chaparral and he mounted with a sigh of relief +and rode forward along the now plainly marked trail. + +As he cantered along he kept his eyes searching every possible cover +ahead of and on both sides of him, watching the trail as far ahead as +he could see it, for the Mexican might have doubled back to get a +pursuer as he rode past. After an hour of this caution he slapped his +thigh and grinned at his foolishness. + +"Now ain't I a cussed fool!" he exclaimed. "A regular, old-woman of a +cow-puncher! That Greaser won't do no doubling back or ambushing. +He'll shore reckon on being trailed by a bunch an' not by a locoed, +prize-winning idiot. Why, he's making th' best time he can, an' that's +a-plenty, too. Besides he ain't got no rifle. Lift yore feet, you +four-legged sage hen," he cried, spurring his horse into a lope. He +mechanically felt at the long rifle holster at the saddle flap and +then looked at it quickly. "An' no rifle for _me_, neither! Oh, well, +that's all right, too. I don't need any better gun than he's got, th' +coyote. Canteen full of water an' saddle flaps stuffed with grub. Why, +old cayuse, if you can do without drinking till we get back to th' +mesa we'll be plumb happy. Wonder when you was watered last?" + +The trail had been swinging to the north more and more and when Doc +noted this fact he grinned again. + +"Nice fool I'd 'a been hunting for these tracks down towards Eagle, +wouldn't I? But I wonder where he reckons he's going, anyhow?" + +Sometime later he had his answer, for he found himself riding towards +a water hole and then he knew the reason for the trail swinging north. +He let his mount drink its fill and while he waited he noticed a torn +sombrero, then a spur, and further away the skeleton of a horse. +Looking further he saw the skeleton of a man, all that the coyotes had +left of the body of Dick Archer, the man killed by Red on the day when +he and Hopalong had discovered that Thunder Mesa was inhabited. He +pushed around the water hole and then caught sight of something in the +sand. Edging his mount over to it he leaned down from the saddle and +picked up a Colt's revolver, fully loaded and as good as the day +Archer died. That air contained no moisture. As he slipped it in a +saddle bag he spurred forward at top speed, for on the other side of a +hummock he saw the head and then the full figure of a man plodding +away from him, and it was Antonio. + +The fugitive, hearing hoofbeats, looked back and then dropped to one +knee, his rifle going to his shoulder with the movement. + +"Where in h--l did _he_ get a rifle?" ejaculated Doc, forcing his +horse to buck-jump and pitch so as to be an erratic target. "He didn't +have none when _I_ grabbed him! Th' devil! That cussed skeleton back +there gave _me_ a six-shooter, an' _him_ a rifle!" + +There was a dull smothered report and he saw the Mexican drop the gun +and rock back and forth, apparently in agony, and he rode forward at +top speed. Jerking his horse to its haunches he leaped off it just as +Antonio wiped the blood from his eyes and jerked loose his Remington +six-shooter. But his first shot missed and before he could fire again +Doc grappled with him. + +This time it was nearly an even break and Doc found that the slim +figure of his enemy was made up of muscles of steel, that the lazy +Greaser of the H2 ranch was, when necessary, quick as a cat and filled +with the courage of desperation. It required all of Doc's attention +and skill to keep himself from being shot by the other's gun and when +he finally managed to wrest the weapon loose he was forced to drop it +quickly and grab the same hand, which by some miracle of speed and +dexterity now held a knife, a weapon far more deadly in hand-to-hand +fighting. Once when believing himself to be gone the buckle of his +belt stayed the slashing thrust and he again fought until the knife +was above his head. Then, suddenly, two fingers flashed at his eyes +and missed by so close a margin that Doc's eyebrows were torn open and +his eyes blinded with blood. Instinct stronger than the effect of the +disconcerting blindness made him hold his grip on the knife hand, else +he would have been missing when his foreman looked for him at the +mesa. He dug the fingers of his left hand, that had gripped around the +Mexican's waist, into his enemy's side and squeezed the writhing man +tighter to him, wiping the blood from his eyes on the shirt of the +other. As he did so he felt Antonio's teeth sink into his shoulder and +a sudden great burst of rage swept over him and turned a man already +desperate into a berserker, a mad man. + +The grip tightened and then the brawny, bandaged left arm quickly +slipped up and around the Mexican's neck, pressing against the back of +it with all the power of the swelling, knotted muscles. A smothered +cry sobbed into his chest and he bent the knife hand back until the +muscles were handicapped by their unnatural position and then, +suddenly releasing both neck and hand, leaped back a step and the next +instant his heavy boot thudded into the Mexican's stomach and he +watched the gasping, ghastly-faced rustler sink down in a nerveless +heap, fighting desperately for the breath that almost refused to +return. + +Doc wiped his eyes free of blood and hastily bound his neck-kerchief +around the bleeding eyebrows. As he knotted the bandage he stepped +forward and picked up both the revolver and knife and threw them far +from him. Glancing at the rifle he saw that it had burst and knew that +the greased, dirty barrel had been choked with sand. He remembered how +Curley's rifle had been leaded by the same cause and fierce joy surged +through him at this act of retributive justice. He waited patiently, +sneering at the groaning Mexican and taunting him until the desperate +man had gained his feet. + +Doc stepped back a pace, tossing the burst rifle from him, and grinned +malignantly. "Take yore own time, Greaser. Get all yore wind an' +strength. _I_ ain't no murderer--I don't ride circles around a man an' +pot-shoot him. I'm going to kill you fair, with my hands, like I said. +Th' stronger you are th' better I'll feel when I leave you. An' if you +should leave me out here on th' sand, all right--but it's got to be +fair." + +When fully recovered Antonio began the struggle by leaping forward, +thinking his enemy unprepared. Doc faced him like a flash and bent +low, barely escaping the other's kick. They clinched and swayed to and +fro, panting, straining, every ounce of strength called into play. +Then Doc got the throat hold again and took a shower of blows +unflinchingly. His eyebrows, bleeding again, blinded him, but he could +feel if he could not see. Slowly the resistance weakened and finally +Doc wrestled Antonio to his knees, bending over the Mexican and slowly +tightening his grip; and the man who had murdered Curley went through +all he had felt at the base of the mesa wall, at last paying with his +life for his career of murder, theft, fear, and hypocrisy. + +Doc arose and went to his horse. Leading the animal back to the scene +of the struggle he stood a while, quietly watching the Mexican for any +sign of life, although he knew there would be none. + +"Well, bronc, Curley's squared," he muttered, swinging into the saddle +and turning the animal's head. "Come on, get out of this!" he +exclaimed, quirting hard. As he passed the water hole he bowed to the +broken skeleton. "Much obliged, stranger, whoever you was. Yore last +play was a good one." + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIV + +DISCOVERIES + + +When the two foremen entered the firing line again they saw Red +Connors and they cautiously went towards him. As they came within +twenty feet of him Buck chanced to glance across the cut and what he +saw brought a sudden smile to his face. + +"Meeker, Red has got that spring under his gun!" he exclaimed in a low +voice. "They can't get within ten feet of it or within ten feet of th' +water at any point along its course. This is too good to bungle--wait +for me," and he ran out of sight around a bend in the crevice, Meeker +staring across at the spring, his eyes following the rivulet until it +flowed into the deep, narrow cut it had worn in the side of the mesa. + +Red looked around. "Why, hullo, Meeker! Where's Buck? Thought I heard +him a minute ago. If you have got any water to spare I can use some of +it good. Some thief drilled my canteen when I went fooling along this +barranca, an' I ain't got a drop left." + +Meeker began to move closer to him, Red warning him to be careful, and +adding, "Three of them fellers ain't doing nothing but watch this +cut. Scared we'll get across it an' flank 'em, I reckon." + +"Do you know that yo're covering their water supply?" Meeker asked, +handing his canteen to his thirsty companion. "They can't get to it as +long as you stay here. That's why they're after you so hard." + +Red wiped his lips on his sleeve and sighed contentedly. "It's blamed +hot, but it's wet. But is that right? Am I keeping 'em thirsty? +Where's th' water?" + +"Shore you are; it's right over there--see that little ditch?" Meeker +replied, pointing. + +_Bing! Spat!_ + +The H2 foreman dropped his arm and grinned. "They're watching us purty +close, ain't they? Didn't miss me far, at that," showing his companion +a torn sleeve and a lead splotch on the rock behind him. + +"Not a whole lot. Two of them fellers can shoot like blazes. Yo're +plumb lucky," Red responded. "If you'd showed more'n yore sleeve that +time they'd 'a hit you." He looked across the cut and puckered his +brow. "Well, if that's where their water is they don't get none. Mebby +we can force 'em out if we watches that spring right smart." + +"Here comes Buck now, with Skinny." + +"It's too good a card to lose, Skinny," the Bar-20 foreman was saying +as he approached. "You settle some place near here where you can pot +anybody that tries for a drink. Mebby this little trick wins th' game +for us--_quien sabe?_ Hullo, Red; where's yore side pardner?" + +"Oh, he went prospecting along this barranca to see if he could get +across," Red replied. "He wants to get up on top of that ridge behind +th' shack. Says if he can do it th' fight won't last long. See how it +overlooks their layout?" + +Buck looked and his eyes glistened. "An' he's right, too, like he is +generally. That's th' key, an' it lies between them an' th' spring. +Beats all how quick that feller can size up a hand. If he could play +poker as well as he can fight he could quit working for a living." + +"Yes; yo're shore right," Red replied. + +Several shots rang out from the breastwork and the bullets hummed past +them down the cut. A burst of derisive laughter replied fifty yards to +their right and a taunt followed it. More shots were fired and +answered by another laugh and taunt, inducing profanity from the +marksman, and then Hopalong called to Red. "Six out of seven went +plumb through my sombrero, Red, when I poked it out to find if they +was looking. They was. Purty good for 'em, eh?" + +"Too blamed good to suit me--lucky yore head wasn't in it," Red +replied. + +Hopalong, singing in stentorian voice an original version of "Mary and +Her Little Lamb" in which it seemed he aspired to be the lamb, finally +came into view with a perforated sombrero in his hand, which he eyed +ruefully. "A good roof gone up, but I didn't reckon everybody was +looking my way," he grumbled. "Somebody shore has got to pay for that +lid, too," then he glanced up, saw Meeker, and looked foolish. +"Howd'y, Meeker; what's new, Buck?" + +"Hey, Hoppy! Did you know I was covering their drinking water?" asked +Red, triumphantly. + +"I knowed you was covering some of it, but you needn't take on no airs +about it, for you didn't know it," Hopalong retorted. "What I want to +know is why you wasn't covering _me_, like you said you would!" he +cried, eying Red's sombrero, which lay at his feet. "It's all yore +fault that my Stetson's bust wide open, an' that being so, we'll just +swap, right now, too!" suiting the action to the words. + +"Hey! Gimme that war-bonnet, you bunch of gall!" yelled Red kicking at +his tormentor and missing. "Gimme that, d'y hear!" + +"Give you a punch in th' eye, you sheep!" retorted Hopalong, backing +away. "Think you can get away with a play like that after saying you +was going to cover me? _I_ ain't no papoose, you animated carrot!" + +"Gimme that Stetson!" Red commanded, starting to arise. There was a +sharp hum and he dropped back again, blood flowing from his cheek, +that being the extent of his person he had so inadvertently exposed. +"There, blank you! See what you made me do! Going to drop that hat?" + +"Why don't you give 'em a good shot at you? That ain't no way to treat +'em--but honest, Red, you shouldn't get so excited over a little thing +like that," Hopalong replied. "Now, I'll leave it to Meeker, +here--hadn't I ought to take his roof?" + +Meeker laughed. "Th' Court reserves its decision, but possession is +nine points in law." + +"Huh! Possession is everything. Since I can keep it, why, then, +according to th' Court, th' hat belongs to me. Hear that, Red?" + +"Yes, I hear it! An' if I wasn't so cussed busy I'd show you how long +you'd keep it," Red rejoined. "I'll bet you a hat you don't keep it a +day after we get this off'n our hands. Bow-legged Algernon, you!" + +"Done--then I'll have two hats; one for work an' one to wear when I'm +visiting," Hopalong laughed. "But you've got th' best of th' swap, +anyhow. That new lid of yourn, holes an' all, is worth twice as much +as this wool thing I'm getting for it. My old one is a _hat!_" + +Red refused to lower his dignity by replying and soon fired. "Huh! +Reckon that feller won't shoot no more with his right hand." + +"Say, I near forgot to tell you Meeker captured one of them fellers +out back; got him tied up now," Buck remarked, relating the incident, +Meeker interrupting to give the Bar-20 foreman all the credit. + +"Good!" exclaimed Red. "It's a rope necktie for him. An' one less to +shoot at me." + +"An' _you_ here, Buck!" cried Hopalong in surprise. "Come on, lead th' +way! How do you know he was th' only one to get behind us! Good +Lord!" + +"Gosh, yo're right!" Buck exclaimed, running off. "Come on, Jim. We're +a pair of fools, after all!" + +At the other end of the line Chick Travers and George Cross did as +well as they could with their Colts, but found their efforts +unavailing. Their positions were marked by the rustlers and they had +several narrow escapes, both being wounded, Cross twice. Ten yards +west of them Frenchy McAllister was crawling forward a foot at a time +from cover to cover and so far he had not been hit. His position also +had been marked and he was now trying to find a new one unobserved, +where he could have a chance to shoot once without instantly being +fired upon. Pete and Johnny had separated, the latter having given up +his attempt to make the rustler pay for his wounded ear. He had +emptied the magazine of the rifle he had found and now only used his +Colt. As he worked along the firing line he saw Frenchy ten yards in +front of him, covered nicely by a steep rise in the ground. + +"How are you doing out there, Frenchy?" he asked in a low voice. + +"Not very good; wish I had my rifle," came the soft-spoken reply. + +"I had one that I found, but I used up all th' cartridges there was in +th' magazine." + +"What kind an' caliber?" + +".45-70 Winchester. I found it by th' ropes. Pete says he reckoned +some rustler must have left it behind an' got away down th'--" + +"Get it for me, Kid, will you?" interrupted Frenchy, eagerly. "I +plumb forgot to leave my belt of rifle cartridges back in th' camp. +Got it on now, an' it's chock full, too. Hurry up, an' I'll work back +to you for it." + +"What luck! In a second," Johnny exulted, disappearing. Returning with +the rifle he handed it to his friend and gazed longingly at the +beltful of rifle cartridges. "Say, Frenchy," he began. "You know we'll +all have our rifles to-night, an' you've got more cartridges for that +than you can use before then. It won't be more than three hours before +we send for ours. Suppose you gimme some of them for Pete--he's got +th' mate to that gun, an' can't use it no more because it's empty." + +"Shore, Kid," and Frenchy slipped a handful of cartridges out of his +belt and gave them to Johnny. "With my compliments to Pete. What was +that you was saying about rustlers an' th' ropes?" + +Johnny told of Pete's deductions regarding the finding of the rifles +and Frenchy agreed with them, and also that Doc had taken care of the +owners of the weapons when they had reached the plain. + +"Well, I'm going further away from them thieves now that I've got +something to shoot with," Frenchy asserted. "They won't be looking for +any of us a hundred yards or more farther back. Mebbe I can catch some +of 'em unawares." + +"I'll chase off an' give Pete these pills," Johnny replied. "He'll be +tickled plumb to death. He was cussing bad when I left him." + +George Cross, crawling along a steep, smooth rock barely under the +shelter of a bowlder, endeavored to grasp the top, but under-reached +and slipped, rolling down to the bottom and in plain sight of the +rustlers. As his companion, Chick Travers, tried to help him two shots +rang out and Cross, sitting up with his hands to his head, toppled +back to arise no more. Chick leaped up and fired twice at one of the +marksmen, and missed. His actions had been so sudden and unexpected +that he escaped the return shot which passed over him by a foot as he +dropped back to cover. Somehow the whole line seemed to feel that +there had been a death among them, as evidenced by the burst of firing +along it. And the whole line felt another thing; that the cartridges +of the rustlers were getting low, for they seemed to be saving their +shots. But it was Hopalong who found the cause of the diminishing +fire. After hunting fruitlessly with the two foremen and finding that +Hall was the only man to get back of the firing line he left his two +companions in order to learn the condition of his friends. As he made +his way along the line he chanced to look towards the hut and saw four +rifles on the floor of it, and back of them, piled against the wall, +was the rustlers' main supply of ammunition. Calling out, he was +answered by Pete, who soon joined him. + +"Pete, you lucky devil, turn that rifle through th' door of th' shack +an' keep it on them cartridges," he ordered. "They ain't been shooting +as fast as they was at first, an' there's th' reason for it. Oh, just +wait till daylight to-morrow! They won't last long after that!" + +"They won't get them cartridges, anyhow," Pete replied with +conviction. + +"Hey, fellers," cried a voice, and they looked around to see Chick +Travers coming towards them. "Yore man Cross has passed. He rolled off +his ledge an' couldn't stop. They got him when he hit th' bottom of +it." + +"D--n 'em!" growled Hopalong. "We'll square our accounts to-morrow +morning. Pete, you watch them cartridges." + +"Shore--" _Bang!_ "Did you see that?" Pete asked, frantically pumping +the lever of his rifle. + +"Yes!" cried Chick. "Some feller tried to get in that south window! +Bet he won't try again after that hint. Hear him cuss? There--Red must +'a fired then, too!" + +"Good boy, Pete!--keep 'em out. We'll have somebody in there after +dark," Hopalong responded. "They've got th' best covers now, but we'll +turn th' table on 'em when th' sun comes up to-morrow." + +"Here comes Buck an' Meeker," remarked Chick. "Them two are getting a +whole lot chummy lately, all right. They're allus together." + +"That's good, too. They're both of 'em all right," Hopalong replied, +running to meet them. Chick saw the three engage in a consultation and +look towards the hut and the ridge behind it, Buck and Meeker nodding +slowly at what Hopalong was saying. Then they moved off towards the +west where they could examine the building at closer range. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXV + +JOHNNY TAKES THE HUT + + +As the day waned the dropping shots became less and less frequent and +the increasing darkness began to work its magic. The unsightly plain +with its crevices and bowlders and scrawny vegetation would soon be +changed into one smooth blot, to be lighted with the lurid flashes of +rifles as Red and Pete fired at irregular intervals through the south +windows of the hut to keep back any rustler who tried to get the +ammunition within its walls. Two were trying and had approached the +window just as a bullet hummed through it. They stopped and looked at +each other and moved forward again. Then a bullet from Pete's rifle, +entering through the open door, hummed out the window and struck +against the rocky ridge. + +"Say! Them coyotes can see us through that windy," remarked Clausen. +"Th' sky at our backs is too light yet." + +"They can't see us standing here," objected Shaw. + +"Then what are they shooting at?" + +"Cuss me if I know. Looks like they was using th' winder for a +target. Reckon we better wait till it gets darker." + +"If we wait till it's dark we can sneak in through th' door," +suggested Clausen. "If we go in crawling we ain't likely to stop no +shot high enough to go through that windy." + +"You can if you wants, but I ain't taking no chances like that, none +whatever." + +Another shot whined through the window and stopped with an angry spat +against the ridge. Shaw scratched his head reflectively. "It shore +beats me why they keeps that up. There ain't no sense to it," he +declared in aggrieved tones. "They don't know nothing about them +cartridges in there." + +"That's it!" exclaimed Clausen, excitedly. "I bet a stack of blues +they do know. An' they're covering somebody going in to steal 'em. Oh, +h--l!" and he slammed his hat to the ground in bitter anger. "An' us +a-standing here like a couple of mired cows! I'm going to risk it." + +"Wait," advised Shaw. "Let's try a hat an' see if they plug at it." + +"Wait be d----d! My feet are growing roots right now. I'm going in," +and Clausen broke away from his friend and ran towards the hut, a +crouching run, comical to look at but effective because it kept his +head below the level of the window; without pausing in his stride his +body lengthened into a supple curve as he plunged head foremost +through the window, landing on the cabin floor with hands and feet +bunched under him, his passing seen only as a fleeting, puzzling +shadow, by the watchful eyes outside. + +Across the cut Johnny was giving Red instructions and turned to leave. +"Th' cut is full of shadows an' th' moon ain't up yet. Now, remember, +one more shot through that window--I'm going to foller it right in. +Get word to Pete as soon as you can, though I won't pass th' door. +He's only got three cartridges left an' he'll be getting some anxious +about now. So long." + +"So long, an' good luck, Kid," Red replied. + +Johnny wriggled across the cut on his stomach, picking out the shadows +and gaining the shelter of the opposite bank, stood up, and ran to the +hut. Red fired and then Johnny cautiously climbed through the window +and dropped to the floor. + +He had anticipated Clausen by the fraction of a second. As his feet +touched the floor the noise of Clausen's arrival saluted him and the +startled Johnny jerked his gun loose and sent a shot in the other's +direction, leaping aside on the instant. The flash of the discharge +was gone too quickly for him to distinguish anything and the +scrambling sound that followed mystified him further. That there had +been no return shot did not cause him to dance with joy, far +otherwise; it made him drop silently to his stomach and hunt the +darkest part of the hut, the west wall. He lay still for a minute, +eyes and ears strained for a sound to tell him where to shoot. Then +Red called to him and wanted an answer, whereupon Johnny thought of +things he ached to call Red. Then he heard a low voice outside the +south window, and it called: "Clausen, Clausen--what happened? Why +don't you answer?" + +"Oh, so my guest is Clausen, hey?" Johnny thought. "Wonder if Clausen +can see in th' dark? 'Nother d----d fool wanting an answer! I'll bet +Clausen is hugging th' dark spots, too. Wonder if I scared him as much +as he scared me?" + +The suspense was becoming too much of a strain and, poking his Colt +out in front of him, he began to move forward, his eyes staring ahead +of him at the place where Clausen ought to be. + +Inch by inch he advanced, holding his breath as well as he could, +every moment expecting to have Clausen salute him in the face with a +hot .45. Johnny was scared, and well scared, but it only proves +courage to go on when scared stiff, and Johnny went on and along the +wall he thought Clausen was using for a highway. + +"Wonder how it feels to have yore brains blowed out," he shivered. +"For God's sake, Clausen, make a noise--sneeze, cough, choke, yell, +anything!" he prayed, but Clausen remained ominously silent. Johnny +pushed his Colt out farther and poked it all around. Touching the wall +it made a slight scraping sound and Johnny's blood froze. Still no +move from Clausen, and his fright went down a notch--Clausen was +evidently even more scared than he was. That was consoling. Perhaps he +was so scared that he couldn't pull a trigger, which would be far more +consoling. + +"Johnny! Johnny! Answer, can't you!" came Red's stentorian voice, +causing Johnny to jump a few inches off the floor. + +"Clausen! Clausen!" came another voice. + +"For God's sake, answer, Clausen! Tell 'em yo're here!" prayed Johnny. +"Yo're d----d unpolite, anyhow." + +By this time he was opposite the door and he wondered if Pete had been +told not to bombard it. He stopped and looked, and stared. What was +that thing on the floor? Or was it anything at all? He blinked and +moved closer. It looked like a head, but Johnny was taking no chances. +He stared steadily into the blackest part of the hut for a moment and +then looked again at the object. He could see it a little plainer now, +for it was not quite as dark outside as it was in the building; but he +was not sure about it. + +"Can't fool me, you coyote," he thought. "Yo're hugging this wall as +tight as a tick on a cow, a blamed sight tighter than I am, an' in +about a minute I'm going to shoot along it about four inches from th' +floor. I'd just as soon get shot as be scared to death, anyhow. Mebby +we've passed each other! An' Holy Medicine! Mebby there's two of 'em!" + +He regarded the object again. "That shore looks like a head, all +right." He felt a pebble under his hand and drawing back a little he +covered the questionable object and then tossed the pebble at it. +"Huh, if it's a head, why in thunder didn't it move?" + +There were footsteps outside the south window and he listened, the +Colt ready to stop any one rash enough to look in, Clausen or no +Clausen. + +"Where's Clausen, Shaw?" said a voice, and the reply was so low Johnny +could not make it out. + +"Yes; that's just what I want to know," and Johnny stared in frowning +intentness at the supposed head. He moved closer to the object and by +dint of staring thought he saw the head and shoulders of a man face +down in a black, shallow pool. Then his hand became wet and he jerked +it back and wiped it on his sleeve; he could hardly believe his +senses. As he grasped the significance of his discovery he grinned +sheepishly and moved back to the north wall, where no rustler's bullet +could find him. "Lord! An' I got him th' first crack! Got him shooting +by ear!" + +"Johnny! Johnny!" came Red's roar, anxious and querulous. + +Johnny wheeled and shook his Colt out of the window, for the moment +forgetting the peril of losing sight of the opening in the other wall. +"I'll Johnny _you_, you blankety-blank fool!" he shouted. Then he +heard a curse at the south window and turned quickly, his Colt +covering the opening. "An' I'll Johnny you too, you cow-stealing +coyotes! Stick yore thieving heads in that windy an' holler for yore +Clausen! _I_ can show you where he is, an' send you after him if +you'll just take a look! Want them cartridges, hey? Well, come an' get +'em!" + +A bullet, fired at an angle through the window, was the reply and +several hummed through the open door and glanced off the steep sides +of the ridge. Waiting until they stopped coming he dropped and +wriggled forward along the west wall, feeling in front of him until he +touched a box. Grasping it he dragged the important cartridges to him +and then backed to the north window with them. + +He fell to stuffing his pockets with the captured ammunition and then +stopped short and grinned happily. "Might as well _hold_ this shack +an' wait for somebody to look in that windy. They can't get me." + +He dropped the box and walked to the heavy plank door, slamming it +shut. He heard the thud of bullets in it as he propped it, and +laughed. "Can't shoot through them planks, they're double thick." He +smelled his sticky fingers. "An' they're full of resin, besides." + +He stopped suddenly and frowned as a fear entered his mind; and then +smiled, reassured. "Nope; no rustling snake can climb up that +ridge--not with Red an' Pete watching it." + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVI + +THE LAST NIGHT + + +Fifty yards behind the firing line of the besiegers a small fire +burned brightly in a steep-walled basin, casting grotesque shadows on +the rock walls as men passed and re-passed. Overhead a silvery moon +looked down at the cheerful blaze and from the cracks and crevices of +the plain came the tuneful chorus of Nature's tiny musicians, sounding +startlingly out of place where men were killing and dying. A little +aside from the others three men in consultation reached a mutual +understanding and turned to face their waiting friends just as Pete +Wilson ran into the lighted circle. + +"Hey, Johnny is in th' hut with th' cartridges," he exclaimed, telling +the story in a few words. + +"Good for th' Kid!" + +"It's easy now, thanks to him." + +"Why didn't he tell us he was going to try that?" demanded Buck. +"Taking a chance like that on his own hook!" + +"Scared you wouldn't let him," Pete laughed. "Red an' me backed him up +with our rifles th' best we could. He had a fight in there, too, +judging from th' shot. He had me an' Red worried, thinking he might 'a +been hit, but he was cussing Red when I left." + +"Well, that helps us a lot," Buck replied. "Now I want three of you to +go to camp an' bring back grub, rifles, an' cartridges. Pete, Skinny, +Chick--yo're th' ones. Leave yore canteens here an' hustle! Hopalong, +you an' Meeker go off somewhere an' get some sleep. I'll call you +before it gets light. Frenchy, me an' you will take all th' canteens +at hand an' fill 'em while we've got time. They won't be able to see +us now. We'll pass Red an' get his, too. Come on." + +When they returned they dropped the dripping vessels and began +cleaning their Colts. That done they filled their pipes and sat +cross-legged, staring into the fire. A snatch of Johnny's exultant +song floated to them and Buck smiled, laying his pipe aside and +rising. "Well, Frenchy, things'll happen in chunks when th' sun comes +up. Something like old times, eh? There ain't no Deacon Rankin or +Slippery Trendley here--" he stopped, having mentioned a name he had +promised himself never to say in Frenchy's presence, and then +continued in a subdued voice, bitterly scourging himself for his +blunder. "They're stronger than I thought, an' they've shot us up +purty well, killed Willis an' Cross, an' made fools of us for weeks on +th' range; but this is th' end of it all. _We_ deal to-morrow, an' we +cut th' cards to-night." + +Frenchy was strangely silent, staring fixedly at the fire. Buck +glanced at him in strong sympathy, for he knew what his slip of the +tongue had awakened in his friend's heart. Frenchy had adored his +young wife and since the day he had found her foully murdered in his +cabin on the Double Y he had been another man. When the moment of his +vengeance had come, when he had her murderer in his power and saw his +friends ride away to leave him alone with Trendley that day over in +the Panhandle, to exact what payment he wished, then he had become his +old self for a while, but it was not long before he again sank into +his habitual carelessness, waiting patiently for death to remove his +burden and make him free. His vengeance did not bring him back his +wife. + +Buck shook his head slowly and affectionately placed a heavy hand on +his friend's shoulder. "Frenchy, won't you ever forget it? It hurts me +to see you this way so much. It's over twenty years now an' day after +day I've grieved to see you so unhappy. You paid him for it in yore +own way. Can't you forget it now?" + +"Yes; I killed him, an' slow. He never thought a man could make th' +payment so hard, not even his black heart could realize it till he +felt it," Frenchy replied, slowly and calmly. "He took th' heart out +of me; he killed my wife and made my life a living hell. All I had +worth living for went that day, an' if I could kill him over again +every day for a year it wouldn't square th' score. I reckon I ain't +built like other men. You never heard me whimper. I kept my poison to +myself an' tried to do the best that was in me. An' you ain't never +heard me say what I'm going to tell you now. I never believed in +hunches, but something tells me that I'll leave all this behind me +before another day passes. I felt it somehow when we left th' ranch +an' it's been growing stronger every hour since. If I do pass out +to-morrow, I want you to be glad of it, same as I would be if I could +know. I'm going back to th' line now an' watch them fellers. So long." + +The two men, bosom friends for thirty years, looked in each other's +eyes as they grasped hands, and it was Buck's eyes that grew moist and +dropped first. "So long, Frenchy--an' good luck, as you see it." + +The foreman watched his friend until lost in the darkness and he +thought he heard him singing, but of this he was not sure. He turned +and stared at the fire for a minute, silent, immovable, and then +breathed heavily. + +"I never saw anybody carry a grief so long, never," he soliloquized. +"I reckon it sort of turned his brain, coming so sudden an' in such a +damnable way. I know it made me see red for a week. If I had only +stayed there that day! When he got Trendley in th' Panhandle I hoped +he would change, an' he did for a while, but that was all. He lived +for that alone, an' since then I reckon he's felt he hadn't nothing to +do with his life. He has been mixed up in a bunch of gun-arguments +since then; but he didn't have no luck. Well, Frenchy, I hate to lose +a friend like you, but here's better luck to-morrow, luck as you see +it, friend!" + +He kicked the fire together and was about to add fuel when he heard +two quick shots and raised his head to listen. Then a ringing whoop +came from the front and he recognized Johnny's voice. He heard Red +call out and Johnny reply and he smiled grimly as he went towards the +sounds. "Reckon somebody tried to get in that shack, like a fool. He +must 'a been disgusted. How that Kid shore does love a fight!" + + Joyous Joe got a juniper jag, + A-jogging out of Jaytown, + +came down the wind. + +"Did you get him, Kid?" cried Buck from the firing line. + +"Nope; got his hat, though--but I shore got Clausen an' all of their +cartridges!" + +"Can you keep them shells alone?" + +"_Can_ I? _Wow_, ask th' other fellers! An' I'm eating jerked +beef--sorry I can't give you some." + +"Shut up about eating, you pig!" blazed Red, who was hungry. + +"You'll eat hot lead to-morrow, all of you!" jeered a rustler's voice. + +Red fired at the sound. "Take yourn now!" he shouted. + +"You can't hit a cow!" came the taunt, while other strange voices +joined in. + +Buck found Red and ordered him to camp to get some sleep before Pete +and the others returned, feeling that he and Frenchy were enough to +watch. Red demurred sleepily and finally compromised by lying down at +Buck's side, where he would be handy in case of trouble. Buck waited +patiently, too heavily laden with responsibility to feel the need of +rest, and when he judged that three hours had passed began to worry +about the men he had sent to camp. Drawing back into a crevice he +struck a match and looked at his watch. + +"Twelve o'clock!" he muttered. "I'll wake Red an' see how Frenchy is +getting on. Time them fellers were back too." + +Frenchy changed his position uneasily and peered at the distant +breastwork, hearing the low murmur of voices behind it. All night he +had heard their curses, but a new note made him sit up and watch more +closely. The moon was coming up now and he could see better. Suddenly +he caught the soft flash of a silver sombrero buckle and fired +instantly. Curses and a few shots replied and a new, querulous voice +was added to the murmur, a voice expressing pain. + +"I reckon you got him," remarked a quiet voice at his side as Buck lay +down beside him. The foreman had lost some time in wandering along the +whole line of defence and was later than he had expected. + +"Yes; I reckon so," Frenchy replied without interest, and they lapsed +into silence, the eloquent silence of men who understand each other. +They heard a shot from below and knew that Billy or Curtis was about +and smiled grimly at the rising murmur it caused among the rustlers. +Buck glanced at the sky and frowned. "There can't be more'n five or +six left by now, an' if it wasn't for th' moon I'd get th' boys +together an' rush that bunch." He was silent for a moment and then +added, half to himself, "but it won't be long now, an' we can wait." + +Distant voices heralded the return of Pete and his companions and the +foreman arose. "Frenchy, I'm going to place th' boys an' start things +right away. We've been quiet too long." + +"Might as well," Frenchy replied, "I'm getting sleepy--straining my +eyes too much, I reckon, trying to see a little better than I can." + +"Here's th' stuff, Buck," Skinny remarked as the foreman entered the +circle of light. "Two days' fighting rations, fifty rounds for th' +rifles an' fifty for th' Colts. Chick is coming back there with th' +rifles." + +"Good. Had yore grub yet?" Buck asked. "All right--didn't reckon you'd +wait for it. What kept you so long? You've been gone over three +hours." + +"We was talking to Billy an' Curtis," Skinny remarked. "They're +anxious to have it over. They've been spelling each other an' getting +some sleep. We saw Doc's saddle piled on top of th' grub when we got +to camp. It wasn't there when we all left th' other night. Billy says +Doc came running past last night, saddled up an' rode off. He got back +this afternoon wearing a bandage around his head. He didn't say where +he had been, but now he is at th' bottom of th' trail waiting for a +shot, so Billy says. Pete reckons he went after somebody that got +down last night, one of them fellers that left their rifles up here by +th' ropes." + +"Mebby yo're right," replied Buck, hurriedly. "Get ready to fight. I +ain't going to wait for daylight when this moonlight will answer. +Pete, Skinny, Chick--you get settled out on th' east end, where me an' +Frenchy will join you. We'll have this game over before long." + +He strode away and returned with Hopalong and Meeker, who hastily ate +and drank and, filling their belts with cartridges and taking their +own rifles from the pile Chick had brought, departed toward the cut +with orders for Red to come in. + +Pete and his companions moved away as Frenchy, shortly followed by +Red, came in and reported. + +"Eat an' drink, lively. Red, you get back to yore place an' take care +of th' cut," Buck ordered. "Frenchy, you come out east with th' rest. +There's cartridges for you both an' there's yore own rifle, Frenchy." + +"Glad yo're going to start things," chewed Red through a mouthful of +food. "It's about time we show them fellers we can live up to our +reputations. Any of 'em coming my way won't go far." + +Frenchy filled his pipe and lighted it from a stick he took out of the +fire and as it began to draw well he stepped quickly forward and held +out his hand. "Good luck, Red. They can't fight long." + +"Same to you, Frenchy," Red cried, grasping the hand. "Yo're right, +there. You look plumb wide awake, like Buck--how'd you do it?" + +Frenchy laughed and strode after his foreman, Red watching him. "He's +acting funny--reckon it's th' sleep he's missed. Well, here goes," and +he, too, went off to the firing line. + + --An' aching thoughts pour in on me, + Of Whiskey Bill, + +came Johnny's song from the hut--and the fight began again. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVII + +THEIR LAST FIGHT + + +A figure suddenly appeared on the top of the flanking ridge, outlined +against the sky, and flashes of flame spurted from its hands, while +kneeling beside it was another, rapidly working a rifle, the roar of +the guns deafening because of the silence which preceded it. Shouts, +curses, and a few random, futile shots replied from the breastworks, +its defenders, panic-stricken by the surprise and the deadly accuracy +of the two marksmen, scurrying around the bend in their +fortifications, so busy in seeking shelter that they failed to make +their shots tell. Two men, riddled by bullets, lay where they had +fallen and the remaining three, each of them wounded more than once, +crouched under cover and turned their weapons against the new factors; +but these had already slid down the face of the ridge and were +crawling along the breastwork, alert and cautious. + +In front of the rustlers heavy firing burst out along the cowmen's +line and Red Connors, from his old position above the cut, swung part +way around and turned his rifle against the remnant of the defenders +at another angle, and fired at every mark, whether it was hand, foot, +or head; while Johnny, tumbling out of the south window of the hut, +followed in the wake of Hopalong and Meeker. The east end of the line +was wrapped in smoke, where Buck and his companions labored zealously. + +Along the narrow trail up the mesa's face a man toiled heavily and it +was not long before Doc Riley opened fire from the rear. The three +rustlers, besieged from all sides, found their positions to be most +desperate and knew then that only a few minutes intervened between +them and eternity. They had three choices--to surrender, to die +fighting, or to leap from the mesa to instant death below. + +Shaw, to his credit, chose the second and like a cornered wolf goaded +to despair leaped up and forward to take a gambler's chance of gaining +the hut. Before him were Hopalong, Meeker, Johnny, and Doc. Doc was +hastily reloading his Colt, Johnny was temporarily out of sight as he +crawled around a bowlder, and Hopalong was greatly worried by +ricochettes and wild shots from the rifles of his friends which +threatened to end his career. Meeker alone was watching at that moment +but his attention was held by the rustler near the edge of the mesa +who was trying to shrink himself to fit the small rock in front of him +and to use his gun at the same time. + +Shaw sprang from his cover and straight at the H2 foreman, his foot +slipping slightly as he fired. The bullet grazed Meeker's waist, but +the second, fired as the rustler was recovering his balance, bored +through Meeker's shoulder. The H2 foreman, bending forward for a shot +at the man behind the small rock, was caught unawares and his balance, +already strained, was destroyed by the shock of the second bullet, and +he flopped down to all fours. Shaw sprang over him just as Hopalong +and Johnny caught sight of him and he swung his revolver on Hopalong +at the moment when the latter's bullet crashed through his brain. + +Buck Peters, trying for a better position, slipped on the rock which +had been the cause of the death of George Cross and before he could +gain his feet a figure leaped down in front of him and raised a Colt +in his defence, but spun half way around and fell, shot through the +head. A cry of rage went up at this and a rush was made against the +breastworks from front and side. Frenchy McAllister's forebodings had +come true. + +Sanchez, finding his revolver empty and with no time to reload, held +up his hands. Frisco, blinded by blood, wounded in half a dozen +places, desperate, snarling, and still unbeaten, wheeled viciously, +but before he could pull his trigger, Hopalong grasped him and hurled +him down, Johnny going with them. Doc, a second too late, waved his +sombrero. "Come on, it's all over!" + +In another second the rushing punchers from the front slid and rolled +and plunged over the breastwork and eyed the results of their fire. + +Meeker staggered around the corner and leaned against Buck for +support. "My G-d! This is awful! I didn't think we were doing so much +damage." + +"I did!" retorted Buck. "I know what happens when my outfit burns +powder. Where's Red?" he asked anxiously. + +"Here I am," replied a voice behind him. + +"All right; take that Greaser to th' hut, somebody," the foreman +ordered. "Johnny, you an' Pete take this feller there, too," pointing +to Frisco. "He's th' one that killed Frenchy. Hopalong, take Red, an' +bring in that feller me an' Meeker tied up in that crevice, if he +ain't got away." + +Hopalong and Red went off to bring in Hall and Buck turned to the +others. "You fellers doctor yore wounds. Meeker, yo're hard hit," he +remarked, more closely looking at the H2 foreman. + +"Yes. I know it--loss of blood, mostly," Meeker replied. "An' if it +hadn't been for Cassidy I'd been hit a d----d sight harder. Where's +Doc? He knows what to do--_Doc_!" + +"Coming," replied a voice and Doc turned the corner. He had a limited +knowledge of the work he was called upon to do, and practice, though +infrequent, had kept it more or less fresh. + +"Reckon yo're named about right, Doc," Buck remarked as he passed the +busy man. "You got me beat an' I ain't no slouch." + +"I'd 'a been a real Doc if I hadn't left college like a fool to punch +cows,--you've got to keep still, Jim," he chided. + +"Hey, Buck," remarked Hopalong, joining the crowd and grinning at the +injured, "we've got that feller in th' shack. When th' feller I +grabbed out here saw him he called him Hall. Th' other is Frisco an' +th' Greaser ain't got no name, I reckon. How you feeling, Meeker? That +was Shaw plugged you." + +"Feeling better'n him," Meeker growled. "Yo're a good man to work +with, Cassidy." + +"Well, Cassidy, got any slugs in you?" affably asked Doc, the man +Hopalong had wounded on the line a few weeks before. Doc brandished a +knife and cleaning rod and appeared to be anxious to use them on +somebody else. + +"No; but what do you do with them things?" Hopalong rejoined, feeling +of his bandage. + +"Take out bullets," Doc grinned. + +"Oh, I see; you cut a hole in th' back an' then push 'em right +through," Hopalong laughed. "Reckon I'd ruther have 'em go right +through without stopping. Who's that calling?" + +"Billy an' Curtis. Tell 'em to come up," Buck replied, walking towards +the place where Frenchy's body lay. + +Hopalong went to the edge and replied to the shouts and it was not +long before they appeared. When Doc saw them he grinned pleasantly and +drew them aside, trying to coax them to let him repair them. But +Billy, eying the implements, sidestepped and declined with alacrity; +Curtis was the victim. + +"After _him_ th' undertaker," Billy growled, going towards the hut. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVIII + +A DISAGREEABLE TASK + + +Two men, Hall and Frisco, sat with their backs against the wall of the +hut, weaponless, wounded, nervous, one sullen and enraged, the other +growling querulously to himself about his numerous wounds. The third +prisoner, the Mexican, was pacing to and fro with restless strides, +vicious and defiant, his burning eyes quick, searching, calculating. +It seemed as though he was filled with a tremendous amount of energy +which would not let him remain quiet. When his companions spoke to him +he flashed them a quick glance but did not answer; thinking, scheming, +plotting, he missed not the slightest movement of those about him. +Wounded as he was he did not appear to know it, so intent was he upon +his thoughts. + +Hall, saved from the dangers of the last night's fight, loosed his +cumulative rage frequently in caustic and profane verbal abuse of his +captors, his defeat, his companions, and the guard. Frisco, courageous +as any under fire, was dejected because of the wait; merely a +difference of temperament. + +The guard, seated carelessly on a nearby rock, kept watch over the +three and cogitated upon the whole affair, his Colt swinging from a +hand between his knees. Twenty paces to his right was a stack of +rifles and Sanchez, lengthening his panther stride with barely +perceptible effort, drew nearer to them on each northward lap. He +typified the class of men who never give up hope, and as he gained +each yard he glanced furtively at the guard and then estimated the +number of leaps necessary to reach the coveted rifles. His rippling +muscles were bunching up for the desperate attempt when the guard +interfered, the sharp clicks of his Colt bringing the Mexican to an +abrupt stop. Sanchez shrugged his shoulders and wheeling, resumed his +restless walk, being careful to keep it within safe limits. + +Hall, lighting his pipe, blew a cloud of smoke into the air and looked +at the guard, who was still cogitating. + +"How did you fools finally figger we was out here?" + +Hopalong looked up and smiled. "Oh, we just figgered you fools would +be here, and would stay up here. Yore friend Antonio worked too hard." + +Hall carefully packed his pipe and puffed quickly. "I knowed he'd +bungle it, d----d Greaser. It was th' Greasers that busted up th' +game. Sixteen men an' four of 'em Greasers. By G-d, if we was all +white men we'd 'a given you fellers a hot tune to dance to. Greasers +are all cowards, any--" + +"You lie!" snapped Sanchez, stepping forward. + +"Stop it!" shouted Hopalong, half arising, his Colt on the two. "You +keep peaceful--there's been too much fighting now. But if them other +Greasers had been like this one here I reckon you wouldn't 'a lost +nothing by having 'em." + +"What happened to Cavalry an' Antonio?" asked Hall. "Did you get 'em +when you came up?" + +"They got down th' way we came up--Doc trailed th' Greaser an' got him +at that water hole up north," Hopalong replied. "Don't know nothing +about th' other feller. Reckon he got away, but one don't make much +difference, anyhow. He'll never come back to this country." + +"Say, how much longer will it take yore friends to do th' buryin' +act?" asked Frisco, irritably. "I'm plumb tired of waiting--these +wounds hurt like blazes, too." + +"Reckon they're coming now," was the reply. "I hear--yes, here they +are." + +"I owe you ten dollars, Hall," Frisco remarked, trivial things now +entering his mind. "Reckon you won't get it, neither." + +"Oh, pay me in h--l!" Hall snapped. + +"Yes," Buck was saying, "he shore was white. He knowed he was going +an' he went like th' man he was--saving a friend. 'Tain't th' first +time Frenchy McAllister's saved my life, neither." + +Frisco glanced around and his face flashed with a look of recognition, +but he held his tongue; not so with Curtis, who stared at him in +surprise and stepped forward. + +"Good G-d! It's Davis! What ever got you into this?" + +"Easy money an' a gun fight," Davis, alias Frisco, replied. + +"Tough luck, tough luck," Curtis muttered slowly. + +"D--n tough, if you asks me," Frisco growled. + +"What happened to th' others?" Curtis asked, referring to three men +with whom he and Frisco had punched and prospected several years +before. + +"Little Dan went out in that same gun fight, Joe Baird was got by th' +posse next day, an' George Wild an' I got into th' mountains an' was +separated. I got free after a sixty-mile chase, but I don't know how +George made out. We had stuck up a gold caravan an' killed two men +what was with it. They was th' only fellers to pull their guns against +us." + +"Well, I'm d----d!" ejaculated Curtis. "An' so that crowd went bad!" + +"Say, for th' Lord's sake, get things moving," cried Hall, angrily. +"If we've got to die make it quick--or else shoot that infernal +Greaser--he's got on my nerves with his tramp, tramp, tramp! Wish I'd +'a gone with Shaw 'stead of waiting for my own funeral." + +Buck surveyed them. "Got anything to say?" + +"Not me--I've had mine," replied Frisco, toying with a bandage. Then +he started to say something but changed his mind. "Oh, well, what's +th' use! Go ahead." + +"Don't drag it out," growled Hall. "Say, you got _my_ rope there?" he +demanded suddenly, eying the coils slung over Skinny's shoulder. "No, +you ain't. I want my own, savvy?" + +"Oh, we ain't got time to hunt for no ropes," rejoined Skinny. "One's +as good as another, ain't it?" + +"Yes, I reckon so--hustle it through," Hall replied, sullenly. + +"Go ahead, you fellers," ordered Hopalong as some of his friends went +first down the trail after the two sent to the camp for the horses. +"Come on, Sanchez! Fall in there!" + +When the procession reached the bottom of the trail Buck halted it to +wait for the horses and his prisoners took one more look around. + +"Say, Peters, where's th' cayuses we had in that corral?" asked Hall, +surprised. + +"Oh, we got them out th' first night--we wasn't taking no chances," +replied the foreman. "They're somewhere near th' camp now." + +As the horse herd was driven up Sanchez made his last play. All were +intent upon tightening cinches, the more intent because of the +impending and disagreeable task, when he slipped like a shadow through +the group and throwing himself across a likely looking pinto (he knew +the horse), headed in a circular track for the not too distant +chaparral. + +"_Take_ him, Red!" shouted Buck, who was the first to recover. + +Red's rifle leaped to his shoulder and steadied; in three more jumps +the speedy pinto would have shielded Sanchez, clinging like a burr to +the further side; but the rifle spoke once and the fleeing Mexican +dropped and lay quiet on the sand. + +Hopalong rode out to him and glancing at the still form, wheeled and +returned. "Got him clean, Red." + + * * * * * + +A group of horsemen rode eastward towards the chaparral and as it was +about to enclose them one of the riders bringing up the rear turned in +his saddle and looked back at two dangling forms outlined against the +darker background of the frowning mesa, two where he had expected to +see three. + +"Well, th' rustling is over," he remarked. "Say, that Greaser wasn't +no coward. I reckoned Greasers was all yaller dogs." + +"Have you known many of 'em?" asked Skinny, quietly. + +"No," replied Chick. "Didn't ever see none till I came down here. +Reckon there ain't many up in Montanny. But I heard lots about 'em. +_He_ was all grit! I allus reckoned they was coyotes, an' mostly +scared." + +"If you stay down here for long you'll meet some more that ain't +cowards," Skinny replied. "I have--more'n once. A Greaser is a man, +same as me an' you, an' I've known some that would look th' devil +hisself in th' eye an' call him a liar." + +"Gee!" exclaimed Chick, thoughtfully. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIX + +THIRST + + +The stars grow dim and a streak of color paints the eastern sky, +sweeping through the upper reaches of the darkness and tingeing the +earth's curtain until the dim gray light outlines spectral yuccas and +twisted, grotesque cacti leaning in the hushed air like drunken +sentries of some monstrous army. The dark carpet which stretched away +on all sides begins to show its characteristics and soon develops into +greasewood brush. As if curtains were drawn aside objects which a +moment before were lost to sight in the darkness emerge out of the +light like ghosts, bulky, indistinct, grotesque, and array themselves +to complete the scene. + +The silence seems to deepen and become strained, as if in fear of what +is to come; the dark ground is now gray and tawny in places and the +vegetation is plain to the eye. Then out of the east comes a flash and +a red, coppery sun flares above the horizon, molten, quivering, +blinding; the cool of the night swiftly departs and a caldron-like +heat bursts upon the plain. The silence seems almost to shrink and +become portentous with evil, the air is hushed, the plants stand +without the movement of a leaf, and nowhere is seen any living +creature. The whole is unreal, a panorama, with vegetation of wax and +a painted, faded blue sky, the only movement being the shortening +shadows and the rising sun. + +Across the sand is an erratic trail of shoe prints, coming from the +east. For a dozen yards it runs evenly and straight, then a few close +prints straggle to and fro, zig-zagging hither and yon for a distance, +finally going on straight again. But the erratic prints grow more +frequent and become more pronounced as they go on, circling and +weaving, crossing, re-crossing and doubling back as their maker +staggered hopelessly on his way, urged only by the instinct of thirst, +to find water, if it were only a mouthful. The trail is here blurred, +for he fell, and the prints of his hands and knees and shoe-tips tell +how he went on for some distance. He gained his feet here and threw +away his Colt, and later his holster and belt. + +The sun is overhead now and the sand shimmers, the heated air +quivering and glistening, and the desolate void takes on an air of +mystery and fear, and death. No living thing moves across the +heat-cursed sand, but here is a tangled mass of sand and clay and +greasewood twigs, in the heart of which mice sleep and wait for night, +and over there is a hillock sheltering lizards. Stay! Under that +greasewood bush a foolish gray wolf is waiting for night--but he has +little to fear, for he can cover forty miles between dark and dawn, +and his instinct is infallible; no wandering trail will mark his +passing, but one as straight as the flight of a bullet. The shadows +shrink close to the stems of the plants and the thin air dances with +heat. + +Behind that clump of greasewood, back beyond those crippled cacti, a +man staggers on and on. His hair is matted, his fingers bleeding from +digging frantically in the sand for water; his lips, cracked and +bleeding and swollen, hide the shrivelled, stiff tongue which clicks +against his teeth at every painful step. His eyelids are stiff and the +staring, unblinking eyes are set and swollen. He clutches at his +throat time and time again,--a drowning sensation is there. Ha! He +drops to his knees and digs frantically again, for the sand is moist! +A few days ago a water hole lay there. He throws off his shirt and +finally staggers on again. + +His tongue begins to swell and forces itself beyond the swollen, +festering lips; the eyelids split and the protruding eyeballs weep +tears of blood. His skin cracks and curls up, the clefts going +constantly deeper into the flesh, and the exuding blood quickly dries +and leaves a tough coating over the wounds. Wherever the exudation +touches it stings and burns, and the cracks and clefts, irritated more +and more each minute, deepen and widen and lengthen, smarting and +nerve-racking with their pain. + +There! A grove of beautiful green trees is before him, and in it a +fountain splashes with musical babbling. He yells and dances and then, +casting aside the rest of his clothes, staggers towards it. Water, +water, at last! Water and shade! It grows indistinct, wavers--and is +gone! But it must be there. It was there only a moment ago--and on and +on he runs, hands tearing at his choking, drowning throat. Here is +water--close at hand--a purling, cold brook, whispering and tinkling +over its rocky bed--he jumps into it--it moved! It's over there, ten +paces to his right. On and on he staggers, the stream just ahead. He +falls more frequently and wavers now. Oh, for just a canteen of water, +just a swallow, just a drop! The gold of the world would not buy it +from him--just a drop of water! + +He is dying from within, from the inside out. The liquids of his body +exude through the clefts and evaporate. His brain burns and bands of +white-hot steel crush his throbbing head and his burning lungs. No +amount of water will save him now--only death, merciful death can end +his sufferings. + +Water at last! Real water, a noisome pool of stagnant liquid lies at +the bottom of a slight depression, the dregs of a larger pool +concentrated by evaporation. Around it are the prints of many kinds of +feet. It is water, water!--he plunges forward into it and lies +motionless, half submerged. A grayback lizard darts out of the +greasewood near at hand, blinks rapidly and darts back again, glad to +escape the intolerable heat. + +Cavalry had escaped. + + + + +CHAPTER XL + +CHANGES + + +With the passing of the weeks the two ranches had settled down to +routine duty. On the H2 conditions were changed greatly for the better +and Meeker gloated over his gushing wells and the dam which gave him a +reservoir on his north range, the early completion of which he owed +largely to the experience and willing assistance of Buck and the +Bar-20 outfit. + +It was getting along towards Fall when a letter came to the Bar-20 +addressed to John McAllister. Buck looked at it long and curiously. +"Wonder who's writing to Frenchy?" he mused. "Well, I've got to find +out," and he opened the envelope and looked at the signature; it made +him stare still more and he read the letter carefully. George +McAllister, through the aid of the courts, had gained possession of +the old Double Y in the name of its owners and was going to put an +outfit on the ground to evict and hold off those who had jumped it. He +knew nothing about ranching and wanted Frenchy McAllister, who owned +half of it, to take charge of it and to give him the address of Buck +Peters, the other half-owner. He advised that Peters' share be bought +because the range was near a railroad and was growing more valuable +every day. + +Buck's decision was taken instantly. Much as he disliked to leave the +old outfit here was the chance he had been waiting for without knowing +it. He would never have set foot on the Double Y during Frenchy's +lifetime because of loyalty to his old friend. Had he at any time +desired possession of the property he and his friends could have taken +it and left court actions to the other side. But Frenchy was gone, and +he still owned half of a valuable piece of property and one that he +could make pay well. He was getting on in years and it would be +pleasant to have his cherished dream come true, to be the over-lord +and half-owner of a good cattle ranch and to know that when he became +too old to work with any degree of pleasure he need not worry about +his remaining years. If he left the Bar-20 one of his friends would +take his place and he was sure it would be Hopalong. The advancement +in pay and authority would please the man whom he had looked upon as +his son. And perhaps it would bring to Hopalong that which now kept +his eyes turned towards the H2. Yes, it was time to go to his own and +let another man come into _his_ own; to move along and give a younger +man a chance. + +He replied to George McAllister at length, covering everything, and +took the letter to the bunk house to have it mailed. + +"Billy," he said, "here's a letter to go to Cowan's th' first thing +to-morrow. Don't forget." + +Buck started the fall work early and pushed it harder than usual for +he wished to have everything done before the new foreman took charge. +The beef roundup and drives were over with quickly, considering the +time and labor involved, and when the chill blasts of early Winter +swept across the range and whined around the ranch buildings Buck +smiled with the satisfaction which comes with work well done. George +McAllister, failing to buy Buck's interest, now implored him to go to +the Double Y at once and take charge, which he had promised to do in +time to become familiar with conditions on the winter-bound northern +range before the new herds were driven to it. + +As yet he had told his men nothing of his plans for fear they would +persuade him to stay where he was, but he could tell Meeker, and one +crisp morning he called at the H2 and led its foreman aside. When he +had finished Meeker grasped his hand, told him how sorry he was to +lose so good a friend and neighbor, and how glad he was at that +friend's good fortune. + +"I hope Cassidy _is_ th' man to take yore place, Peters," he remarked, +thoughtfully. "He's a good man, th' best in th' country, white, +square, and nervy. I've had my eyes on him for some time an' I'll back +him to bust anything he throws his rope on. He can handle that ranch +easy an' well." + +"Yo're right," replied Buck, slowly. "He ain't never failed to make +good yet. Whoever th' boys pick out to be foreman will be foreman, +for th' owners have left that question with me. But Meeker, it's like +pulling teeth for me to go up to Montana without him. I can't take him +'less I take 'em all, an' I've got reasons why I can't do that. An' I +ain't quite shore he'd go with me now--yore ranch holds something that +ties him tight to this range. He'll be lonely up in our ranch house, +an' it's plenty big enough for two," he finished, smiling +interrogatively at his companion. + +"Well, I reckon it'll not be lonely if he wants to change it," laughed +Meeker. "Leastawise, them's th' symptoms plentiful enough down here. I +was dead set agin it at first, but now I don't want nothing else but +to see my girl fixed for life. An' when I pass out, all I have is +hers." + + + + +CHAPTER XLI + +HOPALONG'S REWARD + + +Seven men loitered about the line house on Lookout Peak, wondering why +they, the old outfit, had been told to await their foreman there. Why +were the others, all good fellows, excluded? What could it mean? +Foreboding grew upon them as they talked the matter over and when Buck +approached they waited eagerly for him to speak. + +He dismounted and looked at them with pride and affection and a trace +of sorrow showed in his voice and face when he began to talk. + +"Boys," he said, slowly, "we've got things ready for snow when it +comes. Th' cattle are strong an' fat, there's plenty of grass curing +on th' range, an' th' biggest drive ever sent north from this ranch +has been taken care of. There's seven of you here, two on th' north +range, an' four more good men coming next week; an' thirteen men can +handle this ranch with some time to spare. + +"I've been with you for a long time now. Some of you I've had for over +twelve years, an' no man ever had a better outfit. You've never turned +back on any game, an' you've never had no trouble among yoreselves. +You've seen me sending an' getting letters purty regular for some +time, an' you've been surprised at how I've pushed you to get ready +for winter. I'm going to tell you all about it now, an' when I've +finished I want you to vote on something," and they listened in dumb +surprise and sorrow while he told them of his decision. When he had +finished they crowded about him and begged him to stay with them, +telling him they would not allow him to leave. But if he must go, then +they, too, must go and help him whip a wild and lawless range into +submission. He would need them badly in Montana, and nowhere could he +get men who would work and fight so hard and cheerfully for him as his +old outfit. They would not let him talk and he could not if they +would, for there was something in his throat which choked and pained +him. Johnny Nelson and Hopalong were tugging at his shoulders and the +others stormed and pleaded and swore, tears in the eyes of all. He +wavered and would have thrown away all his resolutions, when he +thought of Hopalong and the girl. Pushing them back he told them he +could not stay and begged them, as they loved him, to consider his +future. They looked at one another strangely and then realized how +selfish they were, and said so profanely. + +"_Now_ yo're my old outfit," he cried, striking while the iron was +hot. "I've told you why I must go, an' why I can't take _all_ of you +with me, an' why I won't take a few an' leave th' rest. Don't think I +don't want you! Why, with you at my back I'd buck that range into +shape in no time, an' chase th' festive gun-fighters off th' earth. +Mebby some day you can come up to me, but not now. Now I want th' new +foreman of th' Bar-20 to be one of th' men who worked so hard an' +loyally an' long for me an' th' ranch. I want one of you to take my +place. Th' owners have left th' choice to me, an' say th' man I +appoint will be their choice; an' I ain't a-going to do it--I can't do +it. One last favor, boys; go in that house an' pick yore foreman. Go +now, an' I'll wait for you here." + +"We'll do it right here--Red Connors!" cried Hopalong. + +"Hopalong!" yelled Red and Johnny in the same voice, and only a breath +ahead of the others. "Hopalong! Hopalong!" was the cry, his own voice +lost, buried, swept under. He tried to argue, tried to show that he +was unfit, but he could make no headway, for his exploits were shouted +to convince him. As fast as he tried to speak some one remembered +something else he had done--they ranged over a period of ten years and +from Mexico to Cheyenne; from Dodge City and Leavenworth to the +Rockies. + +Buck laughed and clapped his hands on Hopalong's shoulders. "I appoint +you foreman, an' you can't get out of it, nohow! Lemme shake hands +with th' new foreman of th' Bar-20--I'm one of th' boys now, an' glad +to get rid of th' responsibility for a while. Good luck, son!" + +"No you ain't going to get rid of 'em," laughed Hopalong, but serious +withal. "Yo're th' foreman of this ranch till you leave us--ain't he, +boys?" he appealed. + +Buck put his hands to his ears and yelled for less noise. "All right, +I'll play at breaking you in--'though th' Lord knows I can't show you +nothing you don't know now. My first order under these conditions is +that you ride south, Hopalong, an' tell th' news to Meeker, an' to his +girl. An' tell 'em separate, too. An' don't forget I want to see you +hobbled before I leave next month--tell her to make it soon!" + +Hopalong reddened and grinned under the rapid-fire advice and chaffing +of his friends and tried to retort. + +Johnny sprang forward. "Come on, fellers! Put him on his cayuse an' +start him south! We've got to have _some_ hand in his courting, +anyhow!" + +"Right!" + +"Good idea!" + +"Look out! _Grab_ him, Red!" + +"Up with him!" + +"We ought to escort him on his first love trail," yelled Skinny above +the uproar. "Come on! _Saddles_, boys!" + +"Like h--l!" cried Hopalong, spurring forward his nettlesome mount. +"You've got to grow wings to catch me an' Red Eagle! _Go, bronc!_" and +he shot forward like an arrow from a bow, cheers and good wishes +thundering after him. + + * * * * * + +Buck moved about restlessly in his sleep and then awakened suddenly +and lay quiet as a hand touched his shoulder. "What is it? Who are +you?" he demanded, ominously. + +"I reckoned you'd like to know that yo're going to be best man in two +weeks, Buck," said a happy voice. "She said a month, but I told her +you was going away before then, an' you _might_, you know. I shore +feel joyous!" + +The huge hand of the elder man closed over his in a grip which made +him wince. "Good boy, an' good luck, Hoppy! It was due you an' I +knowed you'd win. Good luck, an' happiness, son!" + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Hopalong Cassidy, by Clarence E. Mulford + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HOPALONG CASSIDY *** + +***** This file should be named 38234.txt or 38234.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/8/2/3/38234/ + +Produced by Janet Kegg, Matthew Wheaton and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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