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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..0fff5d3 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #66651 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/66651) diff --git a/old/66651-0.txt b/old/66651-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index f3d620f..0000000 --- a/old/66651-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,7741 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of Meadowlark Basin, by B. M. Bower - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world 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. If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: Meadowlark Basin - -Author: B. M. Bower - -Release Date: November 2, 2021 [eBook #66651] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -Produced by: Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed - Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MEADOWLARK BASIN *** - - - - - MEADOWLARK BASIN - - BY B. M. BOWER - - AUTHOR OF - CHIP OF THE FLYING U, - THE EAGLE'S WING, - DESERT BREW, Etc. - - WITH FRONTISPIECE BY - GEORGE W. GAGE - - GROSSET & DUNLAP - PUBLISHERS NEW YORK - - _Copyright, 1925_, - BY LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY. - - _All rights reserved_ - - Published August, 1925 - Reprinted November, 1925 - - PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA - - - - -[Illustration: Smoky Ford had never seen anything like it.] - - - - - CONTENTS - - - I LARK RUSTLES A BOY - II SMALLPOX HAS ITS USES - III LARK DOES A LITTLE BRANDING - IV BUD - V THE SIGN OF THE GOLDEN ARROW - VI BUD DOES A LITTLE RUSTLING - VII WAYS AND MEANS - VIII BUD HOLDS COUNCIL WITH HIMSELF - IX BUTCH CASSIDY GIVES ADVICE - X THE FRYING PAN - XI BUD TAKES A TRAIL OF HIS OWN - XII THE MEADOWLARK BOYS HAVE A PLAN - XIII BUD FINDS THE STOLEN MONEY - XIV "SOMETHING'S ABOUT DUE TO POP!" - XV "JELLY" GETS IN ACTION - XVI "WHO SHOT BAT AND ED WHITE" - XVII "BUD AND JELLY; ONE OR BOTH" - XVIII BUD GOES AFTER BUTCH - XIX "NEXT TIME, REMEMBER--BUTCH PACKS TWO GUNS!" - XX "THINGS KINDA SLIPPED UP" - XXI LARK WOULD HAVE DONE THINGS DIFFERENTLY - XXII EAVESDROPPER - XXIII "DISARM THE PRISONER!" - XXIV SNOWBALL TESTIFIES - - - - - MEADOWLARK BASIN - - - - - CHAPTER ONE - - LARK RUSTLES A BOY - - -On the brow of the hill the horse Lark was riding stepped aside -from the trail, walked to the very edge of the rim and stood there, -gravely looking down into the valley. Where he stood the young grass -was cut and crushed into the loose soil with shod hoofprints closely -intermingled, proof that the slight detour was a matter of habit born -of many pausings there at gaze. Except on pitch-black nights or when he -rode in haste, Lark never failed to stop and drink his fill of the wide -valley below,--in his opinion the most beautiful spot on earth. - -Straight down, a good four hundred feet below him, lay the bottomland -known the country over as Meadowlark Basin, where old Bill Larkin had -his stronghold in the old days. Across the wide meadows the Little -Smoky River went whirling past like a millrace, the piled hills crowded -close upon the farther bank. At the head of the Basin, nearly a mile -away, other hills shouldered one another and the rumbling storm clouds -just above; beyond all, the mountains with white peaks and purple -canyons gashed the dark splotches of wooded slopes. - -"Is down there--where we're goin'?" The small boy sitting within the -circle of Lark's arms, his small legs spread across the saddle in front -of Lark's long legs, pointed a soft, brown finger toward the valley -below. - -"You betchuh." One of Lark's arms snuggled the boy closer. - -"Is all them horses--your horses?" - -"Bet they are. Ain't they purty down there? Look at all them spraddly -colts, son. Ain't they the purtiest sight you ever saw?" - -"O-oh, one colt kicked its--its mamma!" The boy slapped his hands -together and chuckled. "Can--can I have one colt--to ride?" - -"Bet you can! Ain't it purty down there? Look at that green patch over -next the river. That's lucerne. And up above there is the spuds, a -different green yet. And that's timothy and clover on beyond. Listen, -son. Hear 'em? Meddalarks and frogs singin' a contest. Frogs is ahead, -got all the best of it so far, 'cause they sing all night and the -meddalarks lays off till daybreak." - -"Can--can I have a frog--" - -"Have to ask missis frog about that, son. Better shack along and get -home ahead of the storm. See that lightnin' scootin' along up there -among the hills; ain't it purty? Be blowin' rain in our faces if we -don't hurry." Lark twitched the reins and the horse swung back to the -trail that dipped down into a green fold of the encircling hills, -shutting off their view of everything save the ink-black clouds with -greenish-brown lights here and there that were swiftly blotting out the -blue above their heads. - -"Tired?" Lark bent his head to look into the flushed face of the -youngster. - -The boy shook his head, not wanting to confess. He wriggled one arm -loose and wiped the dusty beads of perspiration from cheeks and brow, -glancing up anxiously into Lark's eyes. - -"They--can't find me here, can they?" He looked at the rock walls on -either side with a certain satisfaction in their solid gray, as if they -were put there for his especial protection. - -"No," said Lark grimly. "They'll never git yuh away from here, son." - -The boy heaved a great sigh and looked at the storm and the narrow -pass and down at the twitching ears of the horse. The hard muscles of -Lark's left arm pressed him close. He sighed again and drooped a bit -in the embrace. It had been a long, hard ride that lasted through the -night and half of the day, and, deny it as he would, he was tired to -the middle of his bones. - -At the foot of the steep, narrow pass the horse broke into a shambling -trot, and once he whinnied eagerly. They brought up in a grassless, -hard-packed space between two corrals, and Lark loosened his hold and -swung stiffly from the saddle. His face was drawn and his eyes sunken -as if he too were very tired. - -"Well, here we are, son." He grinned and pulled the boy out of the -saddle, setting him on his feet at a safe distance from the horse. - -The boy's feet were like wooden clubs. He sat down with unexpected -abruptness in the dirt. Over by the corral a man laughed. - -"Still dragging in slick-ears; where did you find this one, Lark?" - -Lark eyed the speaker across the saddle he was uncinching. - -"In the wrong corral, Bud. Havin' the heart kicked outa him--game -little cuss. Fit to wear our brand. Better take him up to the house -and feed him and put him to bed. Been in the saddle since nine o'clock -last night, Bud." - -Bud lounged over to them--a slim, handsome youth with the peculiar, -stilted walk of the cowboy--and bent smiling over the child, gathering -the little body up in his arms. - -"Shall I bed him with that broken-legged cougar, or nest him with the -young eagle, or down in the calf corral, or where?" he bantered. "The -Meddalark's about full up with orphan babies right now. How do you -grade this one?" - -"Ask maw. Bet she'll know his stall quick enough." He pulled off the -saddle and, with a glance up at the approaching storm, walked to a -near-by shed with the heavy, stamped saddle skirts flapping against his -legs. - -A sudden, blinding glare and rending crash of thunder sent the young -fellow scurrying up the path to the one-story ranch house that sprawled -against the hill as if it had backed there for shelter and still -huddled in fear. Great drops of rain like cold molten bullets spatted -into the dust. The young man laughed as he ran, the boy clinging to his -neck with two thin arms. They reached the sagging porch just as another -flash ripped through the clouds and let loose the full torrent of rain. - -Turning to look back, he saw Lark almost at his heels, his broad hat -brim flooded with the down-pour. The two halted on the porch and stood -gazing out at the slanted wall of water, the thunder of it on the porch -roof like the deep pounding of surf beating against rocks. Lark stared -up at the high plateau beyond the Basin's rim, and his whimsical mouth -widened in a satisfied smile. - -"This'll wash out every track in the country," he yelled above the -uproar. "Needn't have circled through the foothills if I'd known it was -comin'." - -Bud looked at him, glanced down at the boy now lying in the slackness -of deep sleep on his shoulder. He shook his head in vague disapproval. - -"Stole him, hunh?" - -Lark hunched his wet shoulders, glancing sidelong at the flushed face -of the boy. - -"Damn' right," he growled. "So would you, Bud--or any man with a -heart in him. Why--damn it, they had 'im out in the field, _workin'_. -Followin' a big, heavy drag around. Made me so darn sore I just swiped -him up into the saddle and rode for the hills." He took off his hat, -tilting it so that the water ran out of the curled brim to the steps. - -"You sure as hell annexed a bunch of trouble, Lark. Where was it you -kidnaped him?" - -"Got him off the Palmer ranch. Think he's a grandson of the old man. -They'll hunt him, chances are. This rain's a godsend--they'll never -track me home." - -Bud grinned to himself and turned, carrying his burden inside and -laying him on a roomy, cowhide-covered couch where the child sprawled -slackly, without a movement of limbs to show he had been disturbed in -his sleep. The two men stood looking down at him. - -His light brown hair was curly, with damp rings clinging to his -forehead. His lashes were long and curled up at the ends, his round -face had the deep sun-tan of the prairies. Palmer was called a rich -man, but the boy's overalls were faded and old, each knee a gaping, -ragged-edged hole. His thin elbows stuck out through the ragged sleeves -of a dirty, blue gingham shirt. Lark bent and twitched aside the loose -collar, open for want of a button. - -"Look at that," he gritted, exposing a long, greenish-blue mark on the -shoulder. "Old man Palmer ain't paid for that yet, but he's goin' to -some day. The kid won't forget it--I won't _let_ 'im forget. You wait -till he's full-growed." - -"They'll come after him, Lark." - -"Let 'em." Lark straightened and hitched up his belt. "Just let 'em -try, that's all." His head swung toward a closed door. "Oh, Maw-w!" - -Stodgy, flat-footed steps sounded in the next room. The door was pulled -open from the farther side and a queer, goblin creature of the female -sex looked in, smiling and showing just three lonely teeth in the full -expanse of her mouth. Her head would reach to the Bull-Durham tag that -dangled from Lark's breast pocket; a large head, much too large for -so short a woman. The swelling goiter was not pretty to behold, and -her graying hair was combed straight up and twisted into a hard little -biscuit on top of her round head. But Lark's eyes softened wonderfully -at sight of her, and Bud's lips twitched into a quick smile and his -hand reached up automatically to take off his hat. - -"What is it, boys? Lark, your coffee'll be ready in a jiffy. I've been -keepin' the kettle on ever since breakfast. My, my, what a rain! If it -don't wash the garden truck all into the river I'll be thankful. My -peas are swimmin' for their lives already." - -"Maw, come here." Lark crooked one finger, and the queer little old -woman pattered forward, her face alive with curiosity. - -"For the love of Moses!" Maw clasped her hands with a gesture of -amazement. "Bill Larkin, what have you been a doing _now_? I'll bet you -stole that little feller. I can tell by the gloat in your eyes. Who -belongs to him? You never took him away from his mother, did you, Lark? -If you did you must carry him right straight back." - -Lark laid his hand on the biscuit of hair and gave it a gentle twist. - -"Maw, you shut up and go get into your teeth. Want to scare 'im to -death when he wakes up? What d'you suppose I went and got you fitted -out with teeth for? Does he _look_ like he had a mother? By Jonah, if -he's got a mother she don't deserve him. Looks like an orphant to me, -Maw." - -"They'll be hunting him, Lark. You can't drag in boys like you would a -calf; _did_ you steal this child? You look me in the eye, young feller, -and tell the truth." - -Lark did not look her in the eye, but he told the truth without -speaking one word. He bent, pulled aside the gingham shirt and pointed. -Maw looked and turned away her head, sucking in her breath audibly as -one does in pain. - -"Shall I carry him back where I got him, Maw?" - -"No!" Maw shuddered. "The dirty brutes! You fetch him right back into -my room. Buddy, you go get that spring cot out of the lean-to, and -bring in the top mattress off the spare bed in the wing. I'll rustle -bedding myself." She bent and stared hard at the boy's face. - -"This looks to me like the boy old Palmer brought home and said he was -Dick's boy. If he is, there'll be a ruckus raised that'll make your old -father's fingers itch in the grave to be up and shooting. Palmer hangs -onto whatever he gets in his clutches, you want to remember that. And -he's got a bad bunch around him." - -"Well," Lark's lips tightened, "so've I got a bad bunch around me, Maw. -I can't look back at a time when folks didn't hesitate some before they -tackled the Meddalark outfit." - -"The Meddalark never locked horns with old man Palmer yet. Lark, if you -take my advice, you'll send a man up to the old lookout your dad fixed -on the rim. That's the weak point of the whole Basin, Lark, and you -know it. A man could stand up there with a rifle and pick off the whole -bunch down here. There'll be trouble over this boy, sure as you live. -If you got him away from Palmer there'll be shooting, and you better -oil up your six-gun and get ready for it." - -"Why, Maw, you danged old outlaw, you!" Lark laughed. "There wasn't any -shootin' when I kidnaped _you_." - -"Nobody cared about me, Lark. This is different." - -"Yeah," Lark admitted thoughtfully, "mebbe it is." - - - - - CHAPTER TWO - - SMALLPOX HAS ITS USES - - -Down through the pass came two riders, drenched with the storm that had -lasted through the day, with intermittent gusts of booming wind and -vicious lightning, then long, steady down-pours as if the whole heavens -were awash and there would be no end to the falling water. From the -window overlooking the Basin Bud saw them lope heavily into the meadow -trail, small geysers of clean rain water thrown up into the sunset glow -whenever the horses galloped into a hollow. Bud lounged across the room -and put his head into the kitchen. - -"Two riders coming, Maw. Better keep that kid out of sight." - -Maw nodded, clicking the china white teeth she wore to please Lark. Bud -closed the door, glanced toward another behind which Lark was sleeping -heavily, and opened it. - -"Oh, Lark! Riders coming. What time did you get in last night--if -anybody wants to know?" - -Lark landed in the middle of the floor, wide-awake as a startled -mountain lion. One slim hand went up to pat his hair down into place, -the other reached for his gun. - -"Left Smoky Ford about three o'clock in the afternoon. Got here along -about midnight, didn't I? Maw ought to know." Then he sat down on the -edge of the bed and yawned widely. "You go on out, Bud. If it's the boy -they're after, you holler to Maw and ask if supper's ready, soon as you -hit the porch. Maw and I will look after the kid." - -"Craziest thing a man could do," young Bud muttered, as he left the -house and walked down the path to meet the riders. His hat was tilted -a bit to one side, a cigarette was in his mouth and tilted to the -same angle, his thumbs were hooked negligently inside his belt and -his three-inch boot heels pegged little holes in the sodden path as -he went. Mildly hospitable he looked, with no more interest in their -coming than custom demanded of him. But he saw their eyes go slanting -this way and that as they approached, and he saw the ganted flanks of -their wet horses and the flare of nostrils that told of long, hard -riding. - -"Howdy, cowboys," he greeted, lounging closer. "Been out in the dew, -haven't you?" He grinned as youth will always grin at the mischance of -his fellows. - -One lean, unshaven fellow slid out of the saddle and walked stiffly up -to Bud, leaving the reins dragging in the wet, steamy muck of the yard. -He did not answer the smile. - -"We want you folks to get out and help hunt a lost kid," he stated -flatly. "Palmer's grandson, it is. Or mebbe your Lark seen him -yesterday. Some said he left town yesterday, comin' this way, and -he musta passed by the Palmer place 'long about the time the kid -disappeared. He might of saw him. He here?" - -Bud jerked a thumb over his shoulder toward the house. - -"Put up your horses, boys. Jake, over there forking hay, will feed -them after you've pulled your saddles. Supper must be about ready. Oh, -Jake!" he called, "take care of these horses, will you?" He turned back -to the two who were jerking impatiently at wet latigo straps. "Lark -didn't say anything about any lost kid, but you can talk to him about -it. How about the town folks turning out? They're closer than we are. -We'll go, of course." - -"The town is out," the short man told him, grunting a little as he -heaved his saddle to a dry spot under the shed. "Been out all night. -Old man sent us over here because he seen Lark ride past right where -the kid was workin' in the field. Looked like he stopped an' talked to -the kid, he said, but it was so fur off he couldn't tell." - -Bud turned and walked ahead of them up the path, and now he glanced -over his shoulder at the speaker, a curious light in his eyes. - -"A kid old enough to work in the field wouldn't get lost, would he?" - -The thin man shook his head. - -"That's what looked damn queer to me," he assented. "But it's about the -only thing that could of happened--unless he was made away with," he -added as an afterthought. - -"How old a kid is he?" Bud's interest grew a bit keener. - -"Eight--mebby nine. Too little to get anywhere on foot." - -Bud considered this, shook his head as if the question was beyond him, -and stepped upon the porch. "Oh, Maw! Supper ready? Two extra," he -shouted, and turned squarely about to scrape his bootsoles across the -edge of the porch. - -"I'd run away," he said soberly, "if I wasn't more than eight or nine -and had to do a man's work. Doesn't sound right to me." Having scraped -all the mud from one boot, he began meticulously to scrape the other. -The two from Palmer's followed his example and scraped and scraped, in -evident fear of offending a careful housewife. - -"Come right in, boys." Maw herself pulled open the door and stood -there, smiling and showing the three yellow teeth like stripes dividing -the glaring white ones. "Supper's about ready. What's these gentlemen's -names, Buddy?" - -"You'll have to ask them," Bud replied evenly. "They're in a hurry and -upset, and didn't introduce themselves. Bat and Ed, the boys call them. -Come on in, boys. They're out hunting a lost child, Maw. They think -maybe Lark might have seen him last evening as he was riding out from -town." - -"Johnson's my name," the thin man introduced himself perfunctorily to -maw. "This other man is named White. Is Mr. Larkin in?" - -"Come right into the kitchen. Yes, Lark's here, going over his guns -after the rain; leaky roof to the closet--Bud, you'd ought to patch -that roof right away to-morrow. It was just an accident Lark went into -the closet for something and found all the guns soaking wet. A child -lost, did you say?" - -"Don't seem to worry folks over this way very much," Johnson observed -suspiciously. "How d' do, Lark; seen you in Smoky Ford, you remember." - -"_Hel_-lo!" Lark, entrenched behind a table littered with guns, greasy -rags, cleaning rods and odorous bottles, looked up and grinned a -welcome. "Excuse me for not shakin' hands--coal-oil and bear's grease -all over me. What was that, Maw, about a lost child?" - -"They want to know if you saw anything of a boy back at Palmer's ranch. -Old Palmer saw you ride past there about the time they missed the kid." -Bud, pulling chairs to the supper table, spoke more rapidly than was -his habit. - -"I'll tell it," Johnson interrupted. "It's Palmer's grandson--Dick -Palmer's boy. He was out in the field, and the horses come in without -'im. Palmer claims he seen you ride past, and he says you stopped an' -talked to the boy. He wasn't seen after that, and the hull country's -out lookin' through the hills for 'im. It seemed like you'd oughta -know somethin' about 'im." Johnson's eyes clung tenaciously to the -ivory-handled, silver-mounted six-shooter that lay close to Lark's -hand on the table. The gun which Lark was working on at the moment was -a shotgun, double-barreled and ominous. - -"Yeah, I remember that kid." Lark spoke without haste, his eyes on -the gunstock he was polishing. "Pore little devil, I rode along and -found him hung up at the edge of the field, with the drag caught on a -rock when he tried to turn around. He couldn't lift it off, and the -team wouldn't pull it off, an' there he was, cryin' because he'd get a -lickin' if he broke any teeth outa the harrer, an' if he didn't finish -the draggin' along that end of the field, he'd get a lickin'--way he -figured it, he was due for a whalin' any way the cat jumped." Lark -inspected his work, broke open the gun and shoved in two pinkish -cartridges. - -"Too small a boy to be away out there, half a mile from the house, -tryin' to do a man's work. I got off my horse and heaved the drag off -the rock for him, and gave him a bag of gumdrops I was bringin' home -to maw." He glanced at the old lady and smiled. "That's why you never -got any candy this trip, Maw," he explained apologetically. "I gave the -whole bag to the boy. It was worth it, too--way he began to put 'em -away, two at a time. Mebbe he run off and hid from that lickin'," he -added hopefully, picking up a rifle. - -"The team come home," Johnson pointed out impatiently, "and the hull -country for ten mile around has been combed. He never got off afoot." -But he said it mildly and stared uneasily at the way Lark was handling -the rifle; not pointing it at any one, but holding it so that any man -there could look down its muzzle if he but turned his wrist a bit. - -"Set up to the table, folks," Maw invited briskly. "Larkie, can't you -leave them smelly old guns long enough to eat?" Then she sighed, almost -as an afterthought. "My, my, it's terrible to think of a child like -that." - -"Might as well finish this job, Maw. Hands all stunk up, now. You folks -go ahead. Well, a kid like that can only be crowded just so far," he -returned to the subject. "I know he was scared of somebody that would -give him a lickin', and I know what a horse will do when it gets the -notion it ain't being treated right. It'll quit the range, give it a -chance. That boy was a mile from his lickin', just about, and he wasn't -more than twenty rods from the hills. I expect a pound of gumdrops -would look to him like supplies enough to carry him a hundred miles. -Betcha a broke horse the kid beat it. And if he did I hope he makes it -outa the country." - -White and Johnson ate uncomfortably, more than half their attention -given to the nonchalant handling of the guns across the room. Just -behind Lark's chair was a closed door, and from behind that closed door -came the sound of footsteps; rather, the creaking of boards beneath the -weight of some person. - -"Old man Palmer," Lark stated emphatically, "is the kinda man that -would skin a louse for its hide and tallow. He'd likely keep every man -in the country riding the hills and neglecting his work, huntin' down -a little shaver of a boy that he can drive to a man's work and save, -mebby, two dollars a day. Betcha a beef critter he won't say thank-yuh -or go-ta-hell for the ridin'. No, sir, I don't feel called upon to put -any Meddalark horses under the saddle for that kinda slave-chasin'. If -the kid had the spunk to drift outa there, he's got my good wishes. And -you can go tell him I said so." - -"Ain't it struck yuh that might look kinda bad?" Johnson was stirring -his coffee with his left hand, his right hand under the edge of the -table. - -"Think it does?" Lark very casually laid down the rifle--with his -left hand--and picked up the six-shooter with his right. He seemed to -be studying the W L filed on the metal behind the trigger, and while -he was looking at that the muzzle pointed at the wall two feet behind -Johnson. - -"My Jonah, this gun of dad's is all specked with tarnish!" Lark -exclaimed, interrupting himself. "Four of the notches is plumb rusty, -which they wouldn't be if my old dad was alive to-day. My Lord, how he -could shoot! I've seen him wing a horsefly at forty yards and never -ruffle the hair on the horse. Fact. Makes me think of what he used to -say about how things _look_. He always told me to let my conscience -and cartridges guide me, and tahell with the _looks_. Dad would likely -ride over and beef the man that made that little kid stand and cry -because he couldn't lift a heavy drag off a rock for fear a tooth might -be broke and he'd get a beatin'. What I'd ought to of done is ride on -up to the house and call old man Palmer out and shoot him. What do you -think, Johnson?" - -Johnson's hand came up and rested ostentatiously on the table. He -shuffled his feet and nodded, his eyes on his plate. White cleared his -throat and glanced sidewise toward the door that would let him out of -the house by the shortest route. - -"Have some goozeberry pie," Maw urged, and sucked her new teeth into -place with a click of her tongue. "I hope they never catch that poor -little feller. If they do, and I ever hear of old Palmer whippin' him -again, I'll walk right over there with a black-snake and give him a -good horsewhipping. I'll teach him!" - -"I'll hold him for you, Maw." Bud Larkin reached out and patted her -approvingly on the shoulder. - -"Buddy, you go in and ask Mr. Smith if he could drink a cup of tea. You -was vaccinated whilst you were off to school--" - -"Somebody sick?" Johnson looked up, poising a knife loaded with mashed -potatoes. "You ain't got smallpox here, have you?" - -"No!" Lark spoke sharply. "Been a long time since I've saw a case, -and I don't hardly believe this is smallpox. Sores break out on the -forehead first, as I've heard it. These are on the back--back and -shoulders, mostly. You take a close look, Bud, when you go in, and see -if there's anything showin' on his face. And, my Jonah, be careful you -don't pull down that sheet!" - -Bud took the cup of tea that Maw had ready and walked to the door -behind Lark. He opened it, letting out a whiff of carbolic acid from -the soaked sheet hung straight across the doorway. - -"Feller rode in here to-day in pretty bad shape," Lark observed -soberly. "Couldn't turn him out, couldn't put him in the bunk house -with the boys, couldn't do a darn thing but fix him up comfortable -where we could watch him. But I don't hardly think it's smallpox. All -the cases I ever seen, the sores--" - -Johnson pushed back his chair with a loud scraping sound on the white -boards of the floor. White duplicated the sound and the haste. - -"I guess we better be goin'," said Mr. Johnson, stooping to retrieve -his hat from the floor. "I--you folks better not ride over with us, -seein' as you've got sickness. Might spread somethin'--with everybody -millin' around." - -"That's good sense," chirped Maw. "Lark don't think it's anything -ketchin', but that poor feller caught it, didn't he? He don't make no -bones of it. No use exposin' the whole country--and you may be mighty -sure, Mr. Johnson, that we ain't going to take any chances." - -"You let Bud Larkin set right at the table with us, and you been -passin' us dishes--that's chances enough for _me_." Mr. Johnson, -herding Mr. White before him, went out and slammed the door. - -Maw stood with her head tilted grotesquely to one side, listening. A -closed door, in her experience, did not always mean departure. - -"Lark," she cried shrewishly, "what made you go and belittle that poor -man's sickness to them fellers? They mighta stayed around here an' got -exposed, an' you know as well as I do what ails that poor feller we -took in. If they catch something, they needn't blame _me_, for I washed -my hands good before I set the table. You'd oughta told them when they -first come in--" - -A board squeaked on the porch. Maw smiled, turned back to the stove and -picked up the coffee-pot; hesitated, put up a furtive hand and pulled -out the new teeth which she slid into her apron pocket. - -"Come on and eat your supper, Lark, before it's stone cold," she said -in a relaxed tone. "I guess the gun cleanin' can wait; they're gone." - -Lark slid some more cartridges into the cylinder of the notched gun, -slipped it inside his waistband and rose. - -"You got a case of smallpox on the ranch now; what you goin' to do -with it, Maw?" he demanded querulously. "A gun fight I can handle; I -was raised on 'em. But how do you expect me to live up to smallpox? -Answer me that!" Then he observed a certain vacancy in Maw's smile and -frowned. "Where's your teeth? Swaller 'em?" - -"No, I didn't!" Maw's leathery face showed a tinge of red. "You know -as well as I do that I can't eat with them fillin' up my mouth. And as -fer smallpox, how else you expect to keep folks from snoopin' around, -lookin' fer that boy? Them men suspicioned you, Larkie, you know it as -well as I do. It's a mercy I wrung out that sheet and hung it up--they -heared the boy movin' around in there. Mebby you didn't see 'em wallin' -their eyes that way, but I did. Lucky I could give 'em something for -their pains of stretching their ears--you'd likely have two dead men on -your hands to explain." - -"Feller knows where he's at when it's straight shootin'," Lark -contended in a tone of complaining. "This thing of lyin' out of a -scrape--" - -"I didn't lie, and neither did you. But I expect we'll all of us do -some tall old falsifying before we're through. They ain't goin' to let -the matter rest where it's at, Lark. You'd ought of thought about these -things--Lark, do you s'pose them fellers will stop and quiz Jake about -our Mr. Smith?" - -"My Jonah!" Lark ejaculated under his breath, and went out bareheaded -to see for himself. - -He found Jake leaning against the shed wall with his hands in his pants -pockets and his mouth wide open, laughing with a silent quaking of his -whole body. He stopped when Lark walked up to him and pointed to where -two horsemen were making one blurred shadow on the trail down past the -meadow. - -"Smoky Ford's goin' t' have a hell of a time supplyin' the demand fer -carbolic acid and such," Jake declared maliciously. "And there goes two -men that'll bile their shirts, I betcha." He gave Lark a facetious poke -in the ribs. "Dunno what the idee is, but I rode right in your dust. -They come down past the bunk house and wanted to know what we done -with the outfit of the feller that rode in here with smallpox, and was -he broke out bad. I played 'er strong, y' betcha. Told 'em I'd burnt -saddle, bridle, blanket an' all the clothes the feller was wearin' -at the time, an' shot an' cremated the hoss--by his consent durin' a -loocid minute. An' as fer bein' broke out, I tells 'em you couldn't put -a burnt match down anywhere on his face without bustin' a sore. Told -'em it was the worst case I ever seen. I kinda had t' play 'er with m' -eyes shet, Lark, but if you'd saw fit t' have a man here that was down -with smallpox, I knowed damn' well he'd oughta have it mighty bad an' -be right down sick with it. Hunh?" - -"You shore made 'im sick, all right," Lark grunted, and went off to the -house without another word. - - - - - CHAPTER THREE - - LARK DOES A LITTLE BRANDING - - -Lark stacked his cup and saucer in his breakfast plate, added knife, -fork and spoon as range custom had taught him to do, and reached -absently for his tobacco sack and papers. Maw was going to spoil the -kid, he thought. Already she was mystifying him with a fascinating game -of "Two-little-birds-set-on-a-hill," with bits of the inner lining of -an eggshell pasted on her fore-fingers to represent the two little -birds, and sending the kid into hilarious squeals when Jack and Jill -flew away and returned again with incomprehensible facility. - -"Maw," said Lark, as he drew a match sharply along the underside of his -chair, "looks like that smallpox is about cured, right now. I'm goin' -to Smoky Ford, and I might be late gettin' back. Anybody you don't like -the looks of rides into the Basin, why, there's the shotgun loaded with -buckshot. She kicks, so hold her tight to your shoulder and pull one -trigger at a time. You'll find extra shells in my room, in the cupboard -behind the door. Don't stand fer no monkey work, Maw. The boys ain't -likely to get in with that bunch of cattle before to-morra, so it'll -be you and Jake to hold the fort; and Bud--" His eyes went to the glum -face of his handsome young nephew. - -"I'll ride with you, if you're damn' fool enough to go hunting -trouble," Bud stated calmly, pushing back his chair. - -"If Bat Johnson comes here again, I'll shoot him," said the boy -abruptly, ignoring Maw's little white birds while he stared across at -Lark. "He's a mean devil. Meaner 'n gran'pa. He--he goes an' tells -gran'pa everything. He's a mean old tattle-tale." - -"Now, Lark," Maw began worriedly, "there ain't a mite of use in you -going to town. Them men was scared off last night. You couldn't hire -'em to come here and run the risk--" - -"That's where you're fooled, Maw. They'll be back, don't you -fret--leave 'em alone. My old dad brought me up to meet trouble halfway -down the trail and shootin' as I ride. It's a good way--only way I know -anything about. The Meddalark's never learnt how to lie and dodge, Maw, -and now's a pore time to begin, looks like to me. Last night don't set -well with me; when you come to think it over, I'm the feller that's -got to live with me the closest and the longest, Maw. I'd hate to have -to live with a feller all my life that I was ashamed of." He smiled -suddenly with a boyish grin. "You see, Maw, I kinda put a spoke in -the wheel of destiny, and she's liable to bust something if she ain't -watched till she hits her stride again. - -"Son, yore fightin' days are yet to come. How about some more gumdrops? -You be a good boy to-day, and mind what Maw tells you, and mebbe -there'll be a bag of candy in my pocket when I git back. You betcha." - -Maw rose and stood goblinlike behind the boy's chair, her face turned -grayish under the tan. - -"Larkie, I know that town better than you do. There's a mean, low-lived -bunch hanging around that I wouldn't put nothing past. If you must -go, wait till the boys come with the cattle so you can have help. Six -of you won't be any too many to face Palmer's bunch, and what saloon -loafers he can drum up in town. Lark, I _know_. I was there when that -trouble with the Willis boys come up, and I know just what that mob is -capable of when they've got somebody to stir 'em up. You wait, Larkie. -Don't go and do anything foolish, like riding to Smoky Ford to-day, -right when--" Her voice broke and she turned her back on them, wiping -her eyes surreptitiously on her apron. - -"I like the way you count me," Bud cried with thin cheerfulness. "Never -mind, Maw. I can rope and throw Lark any time he gets to horning in -where he shouldn't, and I promise you that he isn't going to pull open -any hornet's nest just to see how it's made. And Lark's right about -one thing, anyway. The best thing to do, now it's pretty well known -where we stand, is to ride in and show we aren't ashamed of ourselves. -The Willis boys were afraid, Maw. They tried to run, and then when -they were caught, they begged like whipped pups. And moreover, they -were guilty as hell. Buck up, Maw." He went over and patted her on the -shoulder. "Lark isn't going to do anything you'd be ashamed of." - -"If you see gran'pa," said the boy fiercely, "you tell--tell him I'm -goin' t' stay with--with you. Tell him I--I'm goin' t' kill him when I -get big." - -Lark looked down at him thoughtfully, smiled a bit at Maw's shocked -expostulations, and turned to the door. - -"I'll sure tell him that, son," he promised gravely. "And don't you -worry a minute about me, Maw." - -Maw did worry, however. She would have worried more if she could have -seen and heard what was going on in Smoky Ford that morning. Old -Palmer--who must have been old in sin, since he was not more than -forty-five--had ridden in early with Johnson, White and two others -of similar type. He did not go to the sheriff, as a man would have -done whose cause was unassailable, but had talked in the saloons, his -listeners for the most part those men who had joined in the search for -the lost boy. - -"Smallpox, my eye!" Palmer cried thickly. "There ain't a case in the -country. It was my son's boy that they had hid away in that room--and -us all huntin' the hills for him! It's like the Meddalark--an outlaw -bunch if ever there was one. Look at old man Larkin! If ever a man -deserved stringin' up, he did. And Lark and that kid nephew ain't any -better. Stealin' calves from me right along--and now they take the boy -and hide him away in a room--" There was a great deal of the same kind -of talk, for Palmer was not the man to let anything slip away from him. - -Smoky Ford men should have stopped to wonder why Palmer the -tight-fisted was buying whisky for every man that joined the listening -group around him. It never had happened before that any one could -remember, nor was it likely to happen again. But men do not as a rule -stop to ask why, when the bartender is busy and makes no sign that -he expects pay for every filled glass. Palmer's money was good that -morning; he had a grievance and the men who had turned out to search -for a lost child discovered that Palmer was a human kinda cuss, after -all, and that it looked as if a crime had been committed boldly, in -broad daylight. Then Bat Johnson artfully crystallized the growing -sentiment born of whisky and Palmer's loud-mouthed denunciations. - -"Hell, if it was a horse that was stole, that p'ticular Meddalark bunch -would be busted up in short order. Being a kid that's made 'way with--" -he stopped there to empty his glass "--why, mebby we oughta let 'em get -away with it. Some places, though, folks count humans worth as much as -horses, anyway." - -"Damn' right," a Palmer man muttered. "I'm goin' t' ride up river, -t'night, and ask how about it. Bat an' me figures we c'n clean out that -nest by our lonely, an' git the kid back. Rest of you folks better pull -the blankets over your heads t'night er you might hear shootin'." - -"Rope beats that," suggested another, his tongue thickened by what had -been poured over it. - -Two or three grunted approval--a bit uncertainly, because in normal -times they liked the Meadowlark outfit, Lark himself in particular, and -they did _not_ like Palmer. - -"Better send the sheriff after the kid," one level-headed cowpuncher -advised. "Lark just done it fer a josh, most likely." - -"Yeah, better send the sheriff up there," some one agreed. - -"Sheriff ain't here," said Palmer shortly. The crowd was colder on -the scent than he liked. Had he known it, there had been hints among -the searchers that the boy was better off in the hills than with his -grandfather, and that he had probably run away. Which proves that they -were human enough in their mental reactions if left alone. - -He presently left that saloon and wandered into another, and there -were plenty of half-drunken men by that time who would follow him for -the free drinks that were in it. By noon the crowd was convinced that -stealing a child is as serious a crime as stealing a horse and that the -punishment should be as swift and sure. And it is a fact that when men -dealt with the crime of horse-stealing they did not stop to inquire -whether the owner had been kind to the beast. A horse was a horse, and -stealing was stealing. So the Meadowlark outfit was declared outlaw, -and at least fifty men prepared to stage a lynching that night in -Meadowlark Basin. - -They were making the last sinister plans and electing a captain of the -mob--Palmer, of course--when Lark rode into town and down the road that -was called a street, Bud's right stirrup swinging close to his left -one. A man crossing the street to a saloon gave them a startled glance -and dived inside bearing all the earmarks of one who is about to spill -a mouthful of amazing news. - -"Right there's the bee tree," Lark observed under his breath, and rode -after him. The half door was still swinging when Lark's horse pushed in -with a snort of distaste for the job, and Lark himself ducked his tall -hat crown under the casing. - -"Howdy, folks," he cried cheerful greeting. "Come on down to the -Chester House, will you? I've got something to tell you--and I want -Palmer there, particular. Fetch him along--I see he's here. Missed him -at the ranch." He began backing out again. "If you please," he added -carefully, as a polite afterthought. - -Outside, he headed for the next saloon, looked in and found no one -there but the bartender. Him he beckoned with a crooked finger, and -rode on to the next, with Bud beside him and the mob hurrying curiously -at his heels. Lark's restless eyes darted to Bud's right hand that -fumbled the butt of his six-shooter thrust within his belt, and he -grinned and shook his head. - -"Don't think you'll need it, m' son," he said softly, as they reached -the little hotel with the high platform in front, and he swung his -horse to meet the crowd. There was no smile now on his lips, and his -eyes were steady except for the light that flickered deep within. - -"All right, folks. Just put Palmer up in front here, will you? I've got -a message for him that I promised to deliver." - -"Ransom, eh?" Palmer's teeth showed under his lifted lip. "You're crazy -to come here and stick your neck in the noose--" - -"You shut up, will you?" Lark's voice was so quiet that men in the -rear crowded forward to hear what he was saying. "I'll do the talking -for a minute. No, the boy you been hunting sent you a message. He said -to tell you that he was going to stay with me, and that when he's big -enough, he's going to kill you." Lark paused. "I think he'll do it, -Palmer. There's good stuff in that kid and he won't forget." He lifted -his eyes to the crowd behind Palmer. - -"Folks, that little kid has got welts all over him, just about, where -Palmer quirted him. He's between eight and nine years old, just the age -when a boy plays the hardest and grows the fastest--and when I seen -him he was out in the field following a heavy drag around (or trying -to) and the team he had to handle was the kind you need a pitchfork to -go in the stall with 'em. The black lammed out with his heels while I -was there talkin' to the kid, and the gray was wallin' his eyes and -watchin' for a chance. Palmer loves that boy, don't you think? He -ought to have him back. Must save him a dollar a day, and don't cost -as much to feed a kid as it does a man; not that kid, anyway. You can -count his ribs as far as you can see him, when his shirt's off. Starved -him, Palmer did. And beat him till--" Lark stopped and swallowed and -blinked, and the crowd moved uneasily and sent sidelong glances at one -another. - -"So the kid will carry some of them marks till he grows up, and he -ain't likely to forget. He'll kill Palmer as sure as God made little -apples, if Palmer ain't killed already by the time the kid's growed -up t' be a man. Palmer's got that to look forward to. But that's the -kid's game, and I wouldn't for the world get in and spoil it for him. -I hope Palmer lives with that in mind--that the kid he beat raw is -growin' fast as he can and lookin' forward to the time when he can kill -the devil that used him so. - -"But, as I say, that's the kid's game. What I come after Palmer for is -to put the Meddalark brand on him with my quirt. I never did try to -draw that bird on a man's hide, but I'll never start younger, and I -feel like I'm artist enough to mark this damn' long-ear, till the kid -can get around to beef him. I been lookin' at the marks on the kid's -back, so I've got them to go by. Palmer, don't make me kill you! I'd -hate to cheat the kid like that." - -Lark, easing himself to one side in the saddle, ready to dismount -swiftly, halted Palmer's incipient flight as if he had caught him by -the collar. - -"All right, Lark. I've got him covered," snapped Bud, just behind him, -"Go to it." He spurred forward. "Give me your bridle reins," he added -matter-of-factly. - -On the ground, quirt in hand, Lark advanced upon Palmer, who tried -to shrink into the crowd and was shoved back into the open space as -unhesitatingly as if these men had not been drinking his whisky and -absorbing his viewpoint since morning. Palmer staggered under the -impetus of the shove, and Lark caught him expertly by the collar, -yanked his coat off, grabbed again and went to work, punctuating the -swish and thud of the quirt by words that bit into the soul of the man -like acid. - -"Drop that gun!" This was Bud, cutting short Bat Johnson's half-formed -determination to do murder. "This is no shooting match--unless some -fool like you makes it so." Upon the close-packed, staring crowd Bud -was calmly riding herd, Lark's horse dancing at the end of his reins -and lashing out at any man who pressed forward. Strange as it might -have seemed to those who had watched the slow forming of the mob idea, -the strongest sentiment in that crowd was irritation against Bud, who -blocked their view of the show. Men darted to the hotel platform and -scrambled up to a vantage point, eager to miss no vicious cut of that -flailing quirt. - -Palmer, on his knees, begged for mercy. It was pitiable, nauseating, to -hear how he wept and pleaded under the blows. - -"Did you quit beating the kid when he cried?" Lark's voice was -merciless, his eyes aglare with rage. - -"He'll kill you for that," a man told Lark soberly when it was all -over, and Palmer had slunk away with his shoulders bent and bloody, -mouthing curses and threats. "You'll need a bullet-proof back from now -on. Come have a drink." - -"No--thank you just the same." Lark lifted a hand, stared dully at the -way it was trembling, and wiped the beads of perspiration off his face. -"I--the kid is waiting for some candy I promised him." He reached out a -groping hand for the reins Bud was offering, and mounted like a man who -is very, very tired. "I--guess we'd better be goin'. Maw'll be worried." - -"And so," Bud remarked thoughtfully, when they had ridden a mile down -the trail toward the Meadowlark, thirty-five miles away, "you've -stopped a lynching party, marked the back of the richest and meanest -man in the country for life, staked yourself to a feud that will keep -you guessing from now on, and annexed another responsibility in the -form of a boy you'll feel you've got to educate same as you did me. -Lark, you damned fool, you're the kind of man King Arthur would have -been proud of." - -"Hunh?" Larked glanced up from tightening the scanty string on the -lumpy bag of candy that was too big to go in his pocket and so must be -carried for thirty-five miles in his hand. "Talk United States, darn -you; I ain't ridin' the range fer no king!" - - - - - CHAPTER FOUR - - BUD - - -Dust lay deep in the trail and spurted up in little clouds from -under the tired feet of Bud Larkin's sweat-streaked sorrel. Smoky -Ford squatted as always with her board shacks huddled about her one -street and the rear windows staring stupidly at the hills beyond the -swift-flowing river hidden behind the willows and the steep bank. The -afternoon was half gone and the mid-July wind was hot and dry, and -Bud had been in the saddle since early morning. He rode up to the -hitch-rail in front of the Elkhorn saloon and dismounted, wondering -a little at the crowd uproariously filling the place. Moving a bit -stiffly, he went inside, the big rowels of his spurs making a pleasant -_br-br-brr_ on the boards, the chains clinking faintly under the arch -of his high-heeled boots as he walked. - -The whole of his high gray hat, the brim turned back and skewered to -the crown with a cameo pin filched from the neck of a pretty girl whom -he had kissed on the mouth for her laughing resistance, looked as if -it were afloat on a troubled sea of felt as he pushed through the noisy -crowd and up to the bar, his thoughts all of beer cold and foaming -in the glass. The cameo pin and the pretty girl were forgotten, the -smoldering eyes under his straight brown brows held no vision of gentle -dalliance, though Bud was a good-looking young devil of twenty-two -who gave blithe greeting to Romance when he met her on the lonely -trails. His mouth, given easily to smiles that troubled the dreams of -many a range girl, was grim now and dusty in the corners as he waited -thirstily for the tall glass mug ribbed on the outside and spilling -foam over the top; took one long swallow when the busy bartender pushed -the glass toward him, and turned, elbowing his way to an empty table -against the wall where he could sit down and rest himself and take his -time over the refreshment. - -Negligent greeting he gave to one or two whose eyes he met, but for the -most of them he had no thought. It was not his kind of a crowd, being -composed largely of the town drifters and a few from the neighboring -ranches. The cause of their foregathering was not far to seek. Steve -Godfrey was present and deeply engaged in letting his world know that -he was having one of his sprees--during which he was wont to proclaim -loudly that he was prying off the lid, taking the town apart, painting -her red; whatever trite phrase came first to his loose lips. On such -occasions he lacked neither friends nor an audience. - -"_Ev_-rybody dance!" Steve was shouting drunkenly, his face turned -toward the doorway where a man was entering whose back bore certain -scars, they said, which Lark could best explain; Palmer, whose silent -enmity was felt by the Meadowlark even though he had as yet made no -open move against them, "Lock the door! 'S my saloon--bought 'er for -the next two hours! Drink 'er dry, boys, and _ev_-rybody dance!" - -Palmer laughed sourly and shut the inner door with a bang, pushing the -bolt across. There was a general stampede for the bar, behind which -Steve Godfrey was pulling down bottles with both hands and laughing -wide-mouthed as they were snatched from him. Bud's lip curled. - -A young fellow at the next table was sketching rapidly in a notebook, -glancing up after each pencil stroke to catch fresh glimpses of some -face in the crowd. Bud lifted his beer, took a sip and set down the -mug, watching sidelong the careless, swift work of his neighbor. -A stranger in the town, Bud tagged him. A tenderfoot, judging by -the newness of his riding clothes, the softness of his hands, the -town pallor of his face. He looked up and smiled faintly with that -wistfulness of the lonely soul begging silently for friendship, and -Bud's scornful young mouth relaxed into a grin. - -"Great stuff--all new to me, though," the young man confided, nodding -toward the massed backs before him. - -"Crazy bunch of booze-fighters," Bud condemned the crowd tersely. - -"Say, whyn't you up here drinkin' with the rest?" Steve Godfrey, -standing on a keg behind the bar, bawled angrily at the artist. "You, I -mean, over there by the wall. What's the matter with you? Sick at the -stummick?" - -"Why, no. Thank you just the same, but I don't drink liquor." - -"Don't, ay?" Steve scowled and spat into a corner. "Well, if you don't -drink, dammit, you'll dance!" - -Bud moved his slim body sidewise so that his gun hung handily within -reach of his fingers. The young man shrugged his shoulders, closed his -notebook and put it away with the pencil. The crowd had swung round and -was staring and waiting to see what would happen next. - -"I don't mind dancing for you," smiled the artist, "but I can't dance -without music, you know." - -"Can't, ay?" Steve was happy now, bullying some one who would not fight -back. "Say! you git up and dance to _this_!" - -The stranger looked at the gun in Steve's hand, glanced into Steve's -eyes and stifled a yawn. - -"You know very well that's impossible," he said patiently. "I've -always said that this dancing to the music of a six-shooter is a fake, -invented by some Eastern author for melodramatic effect. I still -believe you got the idea out of some book. I wouldn't mind dancing for -you, but you couldn't possibly beat time with that gun. Six shots, -and I'd have to stop and wait while you reloaded. The thing isn't -practical. If any one here could furnish some real music--" - -"I have a mouth-harp, though you may not call that real music," Bud -announced unexpectedly, and finished his beer with one long swallow. -It amused young Bud to see the stupid indecision on the face of Steve -Godfrey, who lacked the wit to handle an old range joke when it chanced -to take a new turn. - -"Good!" The young man smiled frankly. "Clear a space over there by the -door, will you?" He looked inquiringly at Bud. "What can you play?" - -"I can play anything you can dance," Bud grinned reply, well pleased -with the small diversion. "How about a good old buck-and-wing?" - -"All right, buck-and-wing it is." The stranger nodded, cast another -glance toward that non-plused bully, Steve Godfrey, who stood on the -keg with the gun sagging in his hand and his mouth half open, and took -his place in the center of the makeshift stage. - -Bud shot him a puzzled glance not unmixed with a certain tolerant -contempt. The young fellow's manner gave no hint of fear, so why should -he dance at the bidding of a drunken bully? Bud did not like to think -that the tenderfoot had seized the first excuse for showing off before -so sorry an audience. - -However, the motive was no business of Bud's. He polished the harmonica -on his sleeve, moistened his boyish lips that turned so easily to -smiles, cupped his hands around the little instrument so dear to the -heart of a cowboy and swung into a jig tune. Sitting on the edge of the -table with his head tilted to one side, eyes half closed and watching -the dancer while a well-made riding boot tapped the beat of the -measures on the rough board floor, Bud never knew the picture he made. - -The dancer's eyes studied the lines of his clean young face and throat, -the tilt of his hat with the cameo brooch pinning back the broad brim, -the slim, muscular body and straight legs; studied and recorded each -curve and line in a photographic memory. And he could dance the while! -Smoky Ford had never seen anything like it. Hornpipe and highland fling -he did, never taking his eyes off Bud, but mechanically fitting the -steps to each tune as it was played. Even the free whisky was forgotten -as the crowd pressed close to watch him. - -Then Bud awoke to the fact that his lips were getting sore from rubbing -across the reeds, that time was passing and that he had urgent business -in another part of town. Fifteen minutes or more had been spent when -he had thought to drink a glass of beer and go on. He put away his -mouth-harp and started for the door. - -"Hey! Come back here with that music!" Steve Godfrey shouted -arrogantly. "Where the hell you goin'?" - -"Where did you get the crazy notion you could give orders to _me_?" Bud -flung contemptuously over his shoulder as he slid back the bolt. - -"You stay where you're at! That door stays shut till I give the word -to open it!" Steve was off the keg and plowing toward him through the -crowd. - -"You'll stay shut a heap longer," flared Bud, and gave Steve an -uppercut that sent his teeth into his tongue and jarred him cruelly. -Behind Steve a lean face leered at Bud; the face of Palmer, who was -edging forward as if he meant to take a hand. The key had been turned -in the lock and removed--by Palmer, Bud would have sworn. The knowing -look in his eyes betrayed that much. - -Steve was coming at him again, gun in hand and mouthing threats; but -the stranger who had danced managed to hook an agile foot between his -legs and throw Steve so hard that he bounced. Then he swung a chair, -and the crowd backed. - -Bud opened the door by the simple expedient of shooting the lock off -it, and went out with belled nostrils like a bull buffalo on the -rampage. The strange youth followed close behind, the chair still held -aloft and ready for a charge. - -"Come on, Lightfoot," Bud snorted. "That bunch fights mostly with -their mouths." A little farther down the street his temper cooled to -the point where further speech came easily. "Darned chumps! I guess I -quit rather suddenly, but it wasn't because I was tired of watching you -dance. You're a dandy. But I have to get into the bank, and it's about -closing-up time. I just happened to think of it." - -"I'd danced quite long enough. I wanted to leave and meant to the first -chance," the stranger dubbed Lightfoot confessed. "I guess they're a -pretty tough lot in there; but I want to get acquainted, and I knew -they'd probably enjoy my dancing and feel more friendly toward me. I'm -anxious to shake down into the community and be considered just one of -you." - -"Are you classing me with that bunch back there?" Bud gave him a -studying look. - -"No-o--I meant the whole country, when I spoke. I'm a stranger here, -and it seems pretty hard to get acquainted." He shook his head -ruefully. "Now, I'm afraid I've only made matters worse, fighting like -that." - -"That wasn't a fight. They've gone back to lapping up free booze by -now, and don't remember anything about it. Dirty sneaks, most of them -are, and the less you shake down and be considered just one of them the -better." - -He went up the steps of the little, private bank at the end of the -street, rattled the door knob, frowned at the green-shaded windows and -looked at his watch. - -"Three minutes to three, and I'm two minutes fast," he commented. -"They've no business locking up ahead of time. I've just got to get in, -that's all there is about it." - -"There's a side door," the stranger suggested, and Bud gave a nod of -assent and led the way around the corner of the building. A man with -a packhorse was riding out from the open lot behind the bank, going -toward the river at a shacking trot. Bud gave him a casual glance, -turned to the bank door and discovered that it was locked also, an -unusual circumstance at that hour. He gave the door a kick or two by -way of protest. - -"This is one hell of a town!" he snorted. "Let's take a look at the -back windows. The cashier surely must be inside, and I'll raise him--if -I have to take the darn bank apart." - -"I'm afraid I'm partly to blame," apologized the stranger. "I didn't -know you were in a hurry." - -"I quit in time. The bank doesn't close until three, and a fellow can -always get in the side door any time within an hour after that. It's -got no business to be locked up like a jail this time of day." They -were inspecting the windows in the rear and saw that they were all -closed in spite of the July heat. "Lightfoot, don't ever tell me you're -living here because you like the place, or I'm liable to think you're -crazy." - -"Lightfoot" grinned. - -"I'm here because my sister and I liked the name on the map. It seemed -to be located right in the heart of the cattle country, where dramatic -incident and local color should be at their best. Our name isn't -Lightfoot, though. I don't understand how you got the idea it was. -My name is Brunelle. I'm Lawrence Brunelle and my sister's name is -Margaret; Marge and Lawrie we're always called. We've been here only a -week." - -"That's a week longer than I'd want to stay," Bud declared. "You picked -about the meanest place in Montana when you chose Smoky Ford. I wish -to thunder I knew where that cashier went. He doesn't drink, so it's -of no use looking in the saloons. Say, if I stand on the door knob and -get a squint over the curtain, could you hold my legs and steady me? -The darn knob might bust." He stooped to unbuckle his spurs. "I tell -you, Lightfoot, there's something wrong about this bank being closed up -tight as a drum a good hour sooner than it should be." - -With the ease of any other young broncho fighter he mounted the door -knob, balanced there on the ball of one foot and bent to peer in -through the three-inch space above the green shade that had been pulled -down over the glass panel in the door. An awkward position, but he did -not keep it long. When he dropped and faced Brunelle his eyes were wide -and black with excitement. - -"He's dead in there, Lightfoot! The whole top of his head is caved in, -and the vault door's wide open!" - -Spurs and crumpled gloves in one hand, Bud led the way across the -street and down several doors to where James Delkin, the bank's -president, ran a livery stable--he being a banker in name only, as is -the way of village banks that cater to the local trade and find few -customers, though these may carry rather large accounts. Delkin was -swearing at his hostler when the two arrived, but he gave over that -pastime long enough to hear the news. His face went tallow white. - -"I told you first, Mr. Delkin. The rest of the town is boozing in the -Elkhorn, and no one knows what has happened. I hate to push my private -business into this, but it's a long ride to the Meadowlark, and Lark -sent in a check to be cashed. Fifteen hundred dollars, it is. Will this -murder make any difference?" - -"_Difference?_" Delkin slowed his tottering run to stare at Bud. "If -the vault's cleaned out, you can't get fifteen cents! My God, man, the -bank will be broke!" - -"Oh, say!" Brunelle's voice held panic. "My sister and I brought all -our money with us and banked it here, just last week!" - -Delkin was nervously trying to fit a key into the lock of the side -door, and he did not seem to hear. They pushed in together, Bud -thoughtfully closing the door behind them with the idea of staving -off the excitement that would follow hard on the heels of the town's -enlightenment. - -Delkin lunged through the partition door, rushed to the open vault, -gave one look and turned to the grewsome figure lying asprawl on the -floor. He looked at the shelf behind the cashier's window, at the -pulled-out, empty drawer beneath and slumped into a chair, his whole -form seeming to have shrunk and aged perceptibly. - -"Charlie dead," he wailed, "and the bank cleaned out--ruined! My God, -what can I do?" - -"Do?" Bud's eyes snapped. "Get after the gang that did it! You can -get the money back if you pull yourself together. They can't eat it, -and--the way Charlie looks, I'd say this happened not more than half -an hour ago." He turned to Brunelle, the cameo brooch looking oddly -out of place above his hard eyes and grim mouth. "You raise the town, -Lightfoot, and I'll fork my horse and get after that pack outfit we saw -leaving here as we came around the corner." - -"You think he did this?" Brunelle looked startled. "One man couldn't, -could he?" - -"One man could have seen the gang leave here," Bud retorted -impatiently. "Delkin, you stay here. Lightfoot will send some one." He -whirled and was gone, running lightly down to where his horse was tied -in front of the Elkhorn saloon, from which still rolled the uproar of -boisterous celebration of nothing. - - - - - CHAPTER FIVE - - THE SIGN OF THE GOLDEN ARROW - - -Still, clear moonlight lay upon the land, with the far hills like a -painted back drop against the stars when Bud, having ridden far and -fast, jogged wearily into town and dropped reins before the bank, where -a light shone faintly through the curtained windows and figures were -to be seen moving occasionally behind the green shades. He knocked, -and after a hushed minute Delkin himself admitted him. Bud walked from -force of habit to the grilled window and leaned his fore-arms heavily -upon the shelf, his cameo-pinned hat pushed back on his head as he -pressed his forehead against the bronze rods of the barrier. - -"Well, I rode the high lines," he announced huskily because of the -dryness in his throat. "I saw the bunch from town go fogging along the -trail across the river, but I was back on the bench, following a mess -of horse tracks that took off toward the hills. - -"There's something darn funny about this deal, Mr. Delkin." Delkin -had retreated again behind the partition as if that was what his -office required of him. "Here's how she lies, but I don't pretend to -understand it. I got my horse and rode back up here and out behind the -bank, so as to pick up any trail they had left. The only horses that -had stood for any length of time near the bank was a pack outfit that -had been on the vacant lot back here all afternoon, by the sign. It -was Bat Johnson had it--he works for Palmer. He rode away just as I -came around the corner of the bank, thinking I could get in at the side -door, and I overhauled him at the ford. He'd taken that stock trail -through the willows, back here, and he told me he'd got a glimpse of -three or four horses loping down through the draw to the ford ahead of -him. He hadn't seen any one leave the bank by the side door, he said, -for he was over to the blacksmith shop for a while and came and got his -horses just as I came in sight around the corner. He hadn't seen any -one that acted suspicious, but he hadn't been paying any attention, he -said. - -"I rode back up the draw and picked up the trail of four horses, shod -all around. Your town posse crossed the river while I was in the draw, -and I followed the four horses across. The riders ahead of me didn't -pay any attention to the tracks. I suppose," he added scornfully, "they -were looking for masked men with white sacks full of money in their -arms! They just loped down the road, all in a bunch, as if they were -headed for a dance." Bud cleared his throat; this painstaking report -was dry work. - -"Well, Mr. Delkin, those four horses--shod all around--took straight -across the bench beyond the Smoky, heading for the hills. Here's the -funny part, though: They didn't hunt the draws where they could keep -out of sight, but sifted right along in a beeline, across ridges and -into hollows and out again, until the tracks were lost where they -joined a bunch of range stock that's running back there on the bench -about eight miles. From there on I couldn't get a line on anything -at all. I tried to ride up on the bunch, but my horse was tired and -they're pretty wild, and they broke for the hills. There were shod -horses among them, and I'm sure that no one had time to catch up fresh -horses out of that band and leave the four--and, Mr. Delkin, those four -horses didn't travel as if they had riders. I'd swear they were running -loose, and beat it straight from town to join their own bunch of range -horses." - -"And that's all you found out?" Delkin's voice was flat and old and -hopeless. - -"That's the extent of it. It was a blind trail, I believe, and your -holdups went some other way. Perhaps that posse will pick up some sign, -though if they do it will be an accident." - -The other men there asked a few questions, their manner as hopeless as -Delkin's. They were the directors and other officers of the bank, and -Bud sensed their feeling of helplessness before this calamity. The body -of the cashier had been removed, and these were staying on the scene -simply because they did not know what else to do. - -"How's the bank? Cleaned out?" Bud was still conscious of his own -personal responsibilities. - -"Everything." Delkin waved an apathetic hand. "We're so far from other -banks, and Charlie slept right here--so in spite of the fact that we -sometimes didn't have more than a dozen customers in here all day, we -kept more cash on hand than was safe. At least we had more on hand -right now than usual. With the bookkeeper sick, Charlie was alone here -part of the time. Near closing time especially. So few people came -in, along in the afternoon. We did most of our business during the -forenoons." He moistened his lips and looked away. "It looks as if -Charlie had just set the time lock and was getting ready to close the -vault when--it happened. Another half hour, perhaps, and they'd have -had to blow open the vault, and some one would have heard. Maybe five -minutes before you came--I can't see how they got away without being -seen." - -"Well, I can't do any more to-night, Mr. Delkin. My horse and I are -both about all in. Of course you 'phoned for the sheriff." - -"Right after it happened. He'll be here with a posse of his own before -morning." - -Outside Bud almost collided with young Brunelle, who caught him by the -arm with an impulsive gesture. - -"I recognized your horse. Come over to our cabin, won't you, Mr. -Larkin? You see I've discovered what your name is. I've been watching -for you to come back, for I knew you'd be hungry; and Marge--my sister -Margaret--has supper all ready for you. We're pretty lonely," he added -wistfully. "People here seem to be very clannish and cool toward -strangers." - -"That's because they're roughnecks and know it," said Bud, and picked -up the reins of his horse. "If you'll wait until I put my horse in the -stable I'll be right with you. Only I'm liable to clean you out of grub -if I once start eating. There's over six feet of me, Lightfoot, and I'm -all hollow." - -"That'll be all right," smiled the other. "It's yours while it -lasts--and that may not be long if the bank is really closed for good. -We haven't any money to buy more." - -Delkin's hostler took charge of the Meadowlark horse and the two men -walked on to where a light shone through a cabin window, set back -from the main street in an open space that gave a close view of the -bluff. Bud very likely did not grasp the imminent poverty of his host, -probably because he was not paying much attention to his last sentence; -and that his ready acceptance of the invitation to supper was caused -chiefly by a too intimate knowledge of the hotel cuisine. - -"My sister," Brunelle explained on the way, "is an author of short -stories. She has had one printed in the paper back home, and the -editors of several Eastern magazines have given her quite a good many -puffs on the stories she sent them. They were very sorry they couldn't -use them and said it wasn't because there was anything wrong with the -stories. I know all our friends at home are very anxious that she -should make that her life work. But back in our home town there never -seemed to be anything to write about, and Marge felt the need of going -where there would be interesting subjects. So when mother died we -decided to come right out West and write up some cowboy stories, and -I could illustrate them with pictures drawn from life. Western stories -are all the go now, and these ought to take pretty well with the -editors, I should think--though of course one needs to have a pull to -get right in. Still, these will be done right on the spot with pictures -of the real characters, and that will make a hit with the editors, I -should think. - -"So that's the real reason why we came to Smoky Ford. We aren't telling -every one, because we don't want to make people self-conscious in our -presence. We want to win the confidence of the people. That's why I -danced in the saloon when they asked me to. - -"We let it be known that my sister is out here for her health. That -isn't so far off, either, because she was all worn out with taking care -of mother, and the doctor advised her to go away somewhere for a while. -So we sold the property--and every dollar we have we put in the bank -here. We thought it would show our confidence in the town and help us -get in with the right people." - -"There aren't any right people to get in with; not to amount to -anything," Bud told him bluntly. "Not in Smoky Ford. Delkin and--well, -there are four or five pretty nice men, but I don't know what kind of -wives they've got. Gossipy old hens, most of them, I suppose. I'd drift -to some other range, I believe, if I wanted to feel confidence in my -neighbors." - -Budlike, he wondered if the sister was pretty and young. Tired as -he was, interest picked up his feet and pulled the sag out of his -shoulders when they neared the open doorway and he caught a glimpse -of the girl called Marge. He took off his hat and held it so that the -cameo brooch was hidden within the palm of his left hand, and gave his -rumpled brown hair a hasty rub with the other as he entered--silent, -positive proof that the young woman had already caught his roving young -masculine attention. - -He ought to be hurrying on to the ranch that night. He told them so, -and then permitted himself to be persuaded into staying all night and -sharing the bed of his host, whom he persisted in calling Lightfoot in -spite of one or two corrections. - -"Oh, I know why you call Lawrie that," cried Marge, who had been -studying closely this young cowboy, the very first one she had met on -friendly footing. "It's a custom of cowboys to give names to strangers, -just as the Indians do. You know, Lawrie, Indians name their young and -also strangers after the first thing that strikes their notice, the -names for adults usually being suggested by some mark or trait in the -individual that sets him apart from his fellows. Lawrie told me how -he danced in the saloon while you played for him, and of course your -custom demanded that you name him after his dancing. Don't you see, -Lawrie? He has already given you your tribal, cowboy name--Lightfoot. I -rather like it, I believe. So now you, at least, are initiated into the -tribe--made a member of the tribe of cowboys!" - -She had a pretty, eager way of speaking, and her eyes were the -sparkly kind when she talked, yet Bud looked at her with a smoldering -indignation in his eyes. Living next door to the Belknap reservation, -he did not think much of Indians--less of their customs; he having -known them long and too well. Nor did he approve of any one calling -cowboys a tribe. He had barked knuckles on a man's cheek for less -cause before now, and he set his teeth into his lower lip to hold -in a retort discourteous. But Marge was a pretty girl, as has been -plainly intimated; her gray eyes sparkled like stars on a frosty night, -her skin was soft and whiter than any range girl could ever hope to -attain, and her mouth was red and provocative, daring male lips to -kisses. - -"Well, then, what are you going to call me?" she challenged fearlessly, -as girls do who have been fed with flattery all their lives. - -"I think perhaps I'll call you--Early," drawled Bud, a faint twitching -at the corners of his mouth. - -A range girl would have taken warning and let well enough alone after -that. But Marge was not a range girl. - -"But you aren't sure, so I can't accept that as final. And now, -there's something I've been dying to ask you, Mr. Larkin. Just why -do cowboys wear their sombreros pinned back like that? You know, I'm -gathering local color of the cattle ranges, and I like to get right at -the meaning of things." And with that, she pulled a notebook from her -pocket and held pencil point to her lips. "Is it some special mark--an -insignia of something? An insignia is a mark showing some certain -rank," she explained kindly. - -"Well, I guess it's an insignia, then," Bud confessed. "But it's a -secret and I can't exactly explain. You won't see many wearing this -particular badge--insignia." He rolled the word as if it were a new one -and he liked the sound. - -"Can't you even tell the name of the society or order?" - -"Well--I can't go into details," said Bud gravely. "All I can say is -it's the range sign of the golden arrow." (He thought she must surely -see through that; she must certainly have read about that terrible -young god, Cupid, who shot arrows of gold for love and arrows tipped -with lead for hate. Surely she would remember that!) - -But she didn't. - -"The Golden Arrow? I don't--did you ever hear of that secret order, -Lawrie?" - -"No," said Lawrie indifferently, "not that I remember. But Mr. Larkin -and I were going over to see if that posse has caught those bandits, -Marge. If the bank doesn't get that money back, and has to close its -doors, we're in a fix!" - -"I know--but I want to find out about this secret society among the -cowboys, Lawrie. It's important that I study cowboys when I get -the chance, or how can I write about them realistically? And this -Golden Arrow stuff is something no author of Western stories has ever -mentioned. Can't you tell me a tiny bit more about it, Mr. Larkin?" - -"Well, I know it's about the oldest society on earth," Bud elucidated -gravely. "I believe the very first savage--" - -"Why, of course! How stupid of me not to see at once that the Golden -Arrow must be pure Indian!" - -"Well, I dunno how pure it is, but I guess--" - -"And you're a member! But what I can't understand, Mr. Larkin, is why -that cameo pin should be an emblem of the Golden Arrow." - -"Why," said Bud, looking at her with soft, dark eyes that simply -couldn't lie, "the cameo pin is recognized everywhere as the paleface -sign." - -"Of course!" cried Marge, and wrote it down in her book. - -Bud went out, holding his lips carefully rigid and unsmiling, though he -made strange gulping sounds in his throat all the way down town. - - - - - CHAPTER SIX - - BUD DOES A LITTLE BUSTLING - - -The volunteer man hunters had returned much soberer though no wiser -than they had set out, and with them came Bat Johnson, who declared -that his trip could be postponed until after the inquest, which would -be held as soon as the sheriff and coroner arrived from the county -seat. In the meantime Delkin had sent frantic word by telephone to the -nearest points, and men were riding into town on sweaty horses, curious -to see the corpse of the cashier and eager to join in the chase. - -"For half a cent I'd borrow a horse and take the trail alone, with -grub enough for a couple of days," Bud confided restlessly to his -companion. "I'd do it, only Delkin says we'll be wanted at the inquest -to-morrow; and after that the sheriff will be on the job and running -things to suit himself. Seems mighty queer, the way those bandits plumb -disappeared and never left a trace. Bat Johnson claimed to me that he -was sure four riders went down the draw and crossed the river ahead of -him, but now he admits that he only got a glimpse of the horses' rumps -and can't swear to any riders. But what in thunder would range horses -be doing right here in town almost? The whole thing's off color. I wish -Lark was here--my uncle. He's pretty good at figuring out the other -fellow's game." - -"There must be some way to catch the murderers and get the money back," -Brunelle worried. "Of course catching them won't help the cashier, but -the money makes a big difference. This really does leave Marge and me -in an awful fix, Mr. Larkin. All you people have homes and property, -but here we are--perfect strangers; and a little over five dollars to -face the world with! We didn't think it would be safe to keep any money -in the house, out in this wild country, so every dollar we had was in -the bank--where it would be safe!" He laughed a bit wildly. "Of course, -I'll go to work at once. We both will. I wonder how much the robbers -got?" - -Bud shook his head. - -"Delkin doesn't know, exactly; or if he does he isn't telling until -he has to. He says Charlie Mulholland took care of everything while -the other fellow has been sick, and all he or any of the others did -was go in and act as teller while Charlie wrote letters and worked on -the books forenoons. It's just a little whiddledig of a bank--plenty -of money, but not many depositors. All the cattlemen and some horse -raisers used it, and put in great wads when they sold off some stock, -and checked it out in driblets. I could have run the whole works -myself, almost. If the bank's busted, the robbers got a plenty. It's -going to hit a lot of us, but it sure is too bad you folks got caught. -What kind of work did you think of doing?" - -"Well, Marge could teach school, of course. And once she gets a -stand-in with the editors, she can sell all the pieces she writes, and -I can sell the pictures to go with them. I can get a job as a cowboy -for a while, I suppose, until we get on our feet again." His jaw -squared. "We'll never go back, that's one thing sure; not even if we -had the train fare. All the neighbors said we'd make a fizzle of things -if we left there. I suppose there's a school somewhere that Marge can -teach, isn't there?" - -"I don't know of--wel-l--come to think of it, the Meadowlark sure needs -a school teacher." Bud had caught another disturbing sight of Marge -sitting with bowed head by the table, lamplight shining through loose -locks of hair. - -Tired as he was, bedtime came too soon for Bud that night. - - * * * * * - -Marge would go to the inquest next morning, though Bud warned her that -it would not be exciting and that she would only get herself talked -about. These things could not daunt her. She must go, she said, because -she was going to need murders and posses and sheriffs right along in -her Western stories, and this was a wonderful opportunity to study the -types at close range. She could not understand why Bud laughed. - -So to the inquest she went, and thereby shocked the sober citizens of -Smoky Ford, who liked their womenfolk shy and retiring. She mistook -the big blacksmith for the sheriff, who was small and very quiet and -kept his badge hidden under his vest. She was much disappointed in the -coroner, who was pot-bellied and chewed tobacco frankly and untidily -and spat where he pleased. Moreover, the corpse was in a back room -out of sight, and Marge could not bring herself quite to the point of -walking deliberately in to see how a man looks who has been murdered. -She was the only woman present, and the room was crowded with men who -stared at her; not even her notebook could furnish cause sufficient for -her presence. - -Then, after a few tedious preliminaries, they all trooped off to -the bank to take a look around and left Marge all by herself in the -empty storeroom. It did not help her temper any to have Bud ask her -afterwards how she liked the wild, wild West as far as she had got. - -"That man Palmer, who deposited five thousand dollars just before he -came into the saloon, looked at you very queerly when you were giving -an account of finding the cashier," Brunelle observed irrelevantly, -thinking it best to change the subject before Marge said something -sarcastic. - -"He can't help that. He was born queer," Bud retorted. "Meanest old -skinflint in the country. Took a quirting from my uncle before the -whole town, and never has made a move to get back at Lark for it. Maybe -that's why he looks queer when he sees some one from the Meadowlark." - -"But he sneered as if he thought you were lying," Lawrie persisted. - -"Well, so did I sneer as if I thought he were lying when he told about -depositing five thousand dollars in the bank. I bet he keeps his money -buried back of the barn or some other good place." - -"I wish we'd buried ours," Marge sighed. "Or the editors would wake -up and buy a story or something. We'll have to hunt some work to do, -Lawrie--" - -"Oh, I forgot to tell you, Marge. Mr. Larkin knows of a school you can -teach. He says the Meadowlark school needs a teacher. And perhaps I -can get a job somewhere close, as a cowboy. Do you think I could, Mr. -Larkin?" - -"How do we get there?" Marge began to untie her apron as if she meant -to start within the next five minutes. Bud caught his breath and opened -his mouth to explain, to temporize. But Marge was already beginning to -pack her books, and her eyes were the brightest, dancingest gray eyes -he had ever looked into. His own kindled while he gazed. - -So that is how it happened that young Bud Larkin, leaving his own tall -sorrel in Delkin's stable as hostage of a sort, drove blithely out to -the Meadowlark with a hired team and a spring wagon and two passengers -squeezed into the front seat with him and three trunks piled high and -tied there with Bud's good grass rope. - - - - - CHAPTER SEVEN - - WAYS AND MEANS - - -When the hired rig from Smoky Ford swung through the gate and on up to -the very porch of the house, with Bud grinning impudently at his world -from the driver's seat and a strange young woman wedged in between him -and a young man who bore all the earmarks of a pilgrim, and three huge -trunks lashed to the back of the vehicle to say that the visitors had -come to stay, Lark stood in the doorway and stared dazedly, with never -a word of welcome for the strangers. - -But Maw did not hesitate or question. Instead, she hurried out--walking -erect under Lark's braced arm in the doorway with plenty of room to -spare--and waddled to the edge of the porch, smiling unabashed. Marge -almost screamed at sight of her. - -"Get right down and come on in," Maw cried. "Supper's about ready. As -luck would have it, I killed that speckled hen that wanted to set and -cooked her with dumplings. We're almost ready to sit down, and I'll bet -you're hungry!" - -Bud had swung his long legs out over the wheel and landed beside her, -and Marge was shocked to see him lift the misshapen creature clear of -the ground and kiss her on each leathery cheek before he set her down -again and turned to help Marge out. - -"Maw, this is Miss Brunelle. She's going to teach school here. And this -is her brother, Lightfoot. He's going to be a cowboy. Hello, Lark. Say, -I promised Lightfoot that you'd give him a job so he can be with his -sister while she teaches school. Where's Skookum?" - -"Oh, he went down to feed the cougar. I'm so glad we're going to have -a school," cried Maw, without batting an eye or waiting for Lark to -struggle through a sentence. "Larkie's real glad too. Of course he'll -put Mr. Lightfoot right to work. Now, come right in, folks, and take -off your things while I put on a couple more plates. Buddy, I'm afraid -we haven't a room ready for Mr. Lightfoot--" - -"He can bunk with me to-night," Bud interrupted, glancing up from -unroping the trunks. "Say, Lark, the bank was robbed yesterday and -the cashier killed. That's why I didn't get in quicker. I had to stay -for the inquest this morning. No sign of the bunch that did it." The -trunks thudded one by one to the porch. "It happened just before I went -to cash that check. Say, Maw, Lightfoot's name is Brunelle, same as his -sister, if you want to Mister him." - -He stepped on the hub of the front wheel and went up, unwrapping the -lines from around the whipstock as he did so. Lark came to life then -and climbed in and stood behind the seat while Bud drove back to the -stable. - -Sprawled before the bunk house, the Meadowlark riders were taking in -the smallest details of the amazing arrival and trying not to appear -curious, or even interested. But Jake, permanently crippled in one leg -from lying out all one night under his dead horse, got up and limped -leisurely down to the stable to help take care of the team. Lark saw -him coming and hastened his speech. - -"Bud, where in the name of Jonah did you pick up them pilgrims? And -what's this here joke about a school teacher fer the Meddalark? Where'd -you git 'em--and their _trunks_?" The last three words sounded very -much like a groan. - -"Say, I didn't _steal_ 'em," Bud flashed back meaningly. - -"No--I'll bet you didn't git the chancet. I bet they grabbed you--" - -Bud whirled on him, straight brows pulled together. If he began to see -the foolishness of his impulsive hospitality, he never would admit it. - -"Look here, Lark, these are nice folks, and they were up against it -when the bank was robbed and they couldn't get a two-bit piece of their -money out. Strangers, fresh from the East somewhere; came out here with -the wild idea they can write and illustrate stories of the West and -sell them to magazines. Maybe they can do it, but they sound too darned -amateurish to me. And they were _broke_, I tell you! - -"So she wanted to teach school or something--and you know darned well, -Lark, that Skookum ought to be learning to read before he's sent off -to school. All the kids would guy the life out of him if he landed -without having some kind of a start in schooling at his age. And as for -Lightfoot, he won't be the first tenderfoot that had to learn which -end of a horse is the front." He stopped and glanced toward the house, -where Maw was calling through the dusk that supper was all on the -table. "And my thunder, Lark," he added as a clincher, "you never leave -the Basin without bringing back something to take care of and feed; -even if you have to steal him. You'd have done this yourself." - -Lark lifted his hat, pawed absently at his hair and set the hat at a -different angle as they started back to the house, waving their hands -before their faces to keep off the mosquitoes whose droning hum was -audible throughout the Basin after sundown when the dew began falling. - -"Shore you'd 'a' done it, Bud, if the girl had been cross-eyed?" he -thrust slyly at Bud's well-known liking for pretty faces. - -"No, I don't know as I would," Bud admitted with shameless candor. "She -isn't any prettier than Bonnie Prosser, though--and she hasn't the -brains that Bonnie has, and no sense of humor whatever. I'll bet, if -you pinned her right down to it, she'd admit that she thinks cowboys -eat grass when they're on the range. You ought to hear the questions -she asked about us, coming out. - -"Lightfoot's all right, though. He'll break in and be human long before -she will. You'll like Lightfoot, even if he is green; one good thing, -he knows it. And Marge is a darn pretty girl, all right, even if she -did get all her brains out of books. She can teach Skookum and get him -ready for school--" - -"Oh, all right, all right!" Lark yielded wearily to end the argument. -"But if this habit of hauling in the helpless is going to run in the -family, son, we'll have to start in ridin' with a long rope and a -runnin' iron, to feed 'em all. And what'll Bonnie say, Bud, when she -hears about it? And a dozen other girls that have kept their dads broke -buyin' hair ribbons for you to decorate yore bridle with?" - -"Say, there aren't a dozen girls in the country; not white ones, and I -don't take to color," Bud retorted equably. "And as for Bonnie--I'm not -halter-broke yet, if you want to know, Lark." - -At the porch Marge stood looking out over the dusky Basin to where the -moon was beginning to gild the clouds on the hilltops beyond the Little -Smoky. - -"You know, I never dreamed that you had frogs away out West in -Montana!" she cried in her pretty, eager way when the two approached. -"They sound exactly like the frogs back in Iowa, too." - -"Well, they're Iowa frogs, that's why," Bud explained matter-of-factly. -"Way it happened was this: When the first white woman came with -her husband and settled in this country, she had to teach the -kids herself and she was a real conscientious mother. Whenever -she sung them that song about 'There was a frog lived in a well, -humble-jumble-jerry-jum,' they kept asking her what frogs were. So the -next time a trainload of beef went to Chicago she had the cowboys stop -off in Iowa and catch a few jars of pollywogglers and bring back with -them. There were twice as many as she needed, so she sent a jar over to -the Meddalark. They've done real well," he added, stopping to listen to -the steady singsong chorus down in the meadow. "One trouble is, they -brought in mosquitoes same time. Said the farmers back in Iowa told -them frogs wouldn't live where they couldn't get mosquitoes in season. -The boys sure brought a plenty--or else our breed of frogs are light -eaters. We've got more mosquitoes than we need right now." - -"Well," said Marge, all unsuspecting, "of course I knew the frogs must -have come from _somewhere_, and I noticed that they sounded exactly -like our frogs back home." - -That is why Lark kept eyeing the girl curiously all through supper. - -But the unexpected addition to the Meadowlark family could not crowd -from Lark's mind the startling news of the tragedy in Smoky Ford; nor -from the uneasy thoughts of Bud, who felt keenly that he had failed -Lark in a certain important matter. - -The two gravitated together without a word or look that signified -intention and strolled silently out away from the house to a bowlder -fallen from the crown of the bluff and lying solitary and conveniently -out of earshot yet within sight of everything. Even in Lark's -tempestuous youth the bowlder had been called the Council Rock because -of its frequent occupation when confidences were to be exchanged. A -faint trail led toward it through the sparse grass at the base of the -bluff, proof that it was still popular. Bud climbed up to the broad, -flat top and sat down, dangling his legs over the edge of the gray rock -while he produced tobacco and papers. - -"That check--Lark, I feel that I owe you fifteen hundred dollars," -he began abruptly. "I was so darned thirsty and hot when I came down -off the reservation that I didn't go straight to the bank as I should -have done. I stopped at the Elkhorn for a glass of beer. Lightfoot was -in there and let himself be bullied into dancing for Steve Godfrey's -bunch of souses, and I played the mouth-harp for him. I guess I wasted -nearly half an hour altogether before I started to the bank. At that," -he added, pausing to run the tip of his tongue along the edge of the -filled paper, "I was in time--or I would have been if the bank had -been left alone. But if I had gone there at first I'd have been in time -to prevent a murder and cash your check." - -"Damn' expensive beer the Elkhorn's sellin'," Lark commented dryly. -"What about the Fryin' Pan?" - -"They've sure got a lot of dandy horses, Lark," Bud told him, relieved -at the change of subject. "I had to do a lot of jewing on the price, -but I got the promise of a hundred head for fifteen hundred dollars; -forty young mares, and the rest geldings two and three years old. Just -right to break, most of them are. You might be able to stand Kid off -for the money, seeing the bank was robbed, but I don't know. I told -him it would be cash down. Kid said he never bothered with checks at -all--you had the right hunch there. He hinted strongly for gold too. -Said he'd burned a thousand dollars of paper money by accident once, -and he's nervous about having it around." - -"Yeah, I wouldn't be su'prised if he is!" Lark laughed to himself. "My -Jonah, I shore do want that bunch of horses! You say the bank's put out -of business?" - -"That's what Delkin said. They may get organized again after a -while--or they may get the money back, of course. I'd have wondered if -the Frying Pan didn't know something about that affair--" He stopped -and emptied his lungs of smoke. "But I saw the whole outfit at the -ranch. Butch Cassidy's working for them this summer. I wish we could -get those horses some way. They promised to hold the bunch close in, -because I told them you'd be right over. I expect they're watching the -trail for us right now." - -"Too bad." Lark absently reached for his own "makin's." "Forty young -mares, you say. Bud, I expect my old man would just about peel the hide -off me if he was alive, but I'll be darned if I can set still and let -that bunch of horses git out from under the old Meddalark iron. I'm -goin' to hit the trail fer Glasgow and borry a couple or three thousand -dollars. That'll run us till shippin' time if Delkin don't open up -agin. First time the Meddalark ever borried, but I plumb got to have -them horses!" - -"I'll give you a bill of sale of a thousand head of my cattle, Lark. -I'll feel better about the whole business if you'll use my stock for -security on a loan, and it will save the Meadowlark from having a -mortgage plastered on it." - -"You keep what cattle you got, son. I'll make out all right. Can't tell -how soon you might wanta set up fer yourself. The marryin' notion hits -kinda sudden when she strikes--" - -"Say, I'll sell out the whole bunch if you don't shut up. I want you to -borrow on my cattle if you must get a loan, and I suppose that's the -only way out. Those Frying Pan horses are sure dandies. There's one -favor I want to ask if you do get them, Lark. I'd like to have a couple -of the geldings to break for my own string. There are two blacks, -dead ringers for each other, that are beauts. I want them both. Half -brothers, I'd say; going on four; clean-limbed and short-coupled, with -forequarters like a lion, and their eyes are plumb human. They'd make a -peach of a matched driving team, but I want them to ride. Butch says he -got a saddle on one and started to ride him, and it bucked, high, wide -and handsome, until it was a relief to get thrown clean over the fence. -But I'll bet I can gentle the two of them so they'll be like pet dogs. -Lark, I want them!" - -"Yeah, I kinda thought mebbe you did," Lark chuckled. "All right, son. -I'll take the bill of sale and use it for security on a loan (I know -where I can get money in Glasgow without the hull darn country knowin' -the Meddalark's borryin' money), and you can have your two black -bronchs fer keeps. I'll give you the papers for 'em, and you can put -the one-legged Meddalark on 'em to show they're yourn. That'll be for -int'rust on the use of your stock for a few months. How's that strike -yuh?" - -"Fine and dandy, Lark. Maybe you'll want to back down on your bargain -when you've seen them, but I'll hold you to it. Kind of low-down, but -darn it, I fell in love with those blacks, and I'd have to fight the -boys away from them if they got a sight of them before any promise -passed. And I had a long, hot ride in the wind, going to the Frying -Pan, and talked myself black in the face getting the hundred head at -that price. Kid was asking two thousand even for the bunch, but I made -him see where the cash in his hand was worth something, and I told him -fifteen hundred was your limit. Any other outfit would probably stand -him off for part of it, and that's what turned the trick. And by the -way, Lark, you'd better go prepared to bring back the gold, because -Kid might be persuaded to throw in a few yearlings extra. They've got -some good-looking colts over there. Most of the mares have got sucking -colts, by the way." - -"I'll borry three thousand, and get it all in gold," Lark planned. -"I'll take a valise along, and carry the weight easy enough without it -being noticed. I'll likely stay over a day in Glasgow, anyway." - -"Make it as quick a trip as you can, Lark. You must bear in mind that -Kid expects us to-night, and I wouldn't want the deal to fall through -because he got tired of waiting. He's touchy as the devil--and if I -don't get those two black bronchs, I'll die!" - - - - - CHAPTER EIGHT - - BUD HOLDS COUNCIL WITH HIMSELF - - -When he sauntered down from the Council Rock in the full flood of -moonlight, left Lark to enter the house alone and continued to the bunk -house, where the boys still lingered by the doorway, Bud did not look -like a man whose life depends upon getting a pair of black bronchos -into his possession. His walk and his softly whistled tune betokened -care-free youth. - -Cigarettes pricked little, red stars in the line of shadow before the -long, low-roofed building where the riders of the Meadowlark were -housed and fed to their complete content. The murmur of voices dwindled -so that the frog chorus came sharp to the ears as Bud came up and -squatted on his boot-heels alongside a man whom he identified even in -the shadow as his particular friend, Frank Gelle--called Jelly with a -frank disregard for proper pronunciation. - -"Have a good trip, Bud?" Not for a top horse would Gelle have betrayed -his curiosity over the mysterious visitors. - -"Pretty fair. Hot as blazes riding across the reservation yesterday. -Oh, by the way, Rosy, I didn't get those socks you wanted if I rode -back through town. I meant to, but when the bank was robbed--" - -"Get out!" Gelle exclaimed, as an expression of surprise. "Some of -these days, Bud, somebody's goin' to lose his patience all of a sudden. -He'll just kill you and drag you off somewhere and leave you. I hate to -do it, but you won't be human till somebody asks the question, so who's -the girl you brought in?" - -"The girl? Oh, she's Lightfoot's sister. She's going to teach our -school, Jelly." - -"School?" chorused six shaken voices. - -"Now I _know_ you're lying, Bud," Gelle mourned. "I've got to have a -serious talk with you, I kin see that. This habit of lyin' where there -ain't no cause or provocation--if you'll walk awn over to the Rock with -me now, Bud, I'll tell you what I think about it." - -"It's him that'll do the tellin', and that right now," a voice broke in -ominously. "They's a certain Meddalark that won't have a damn' chirp -left in 'im, time we git the pinfeathers plucked out. Us fellers have -stood about all we're goin' to from Bud." - -"Just another prophet in his own country," sighed Bud, reaching out a -hand for Gelle's tobacco sack because he was too lazy to reach into his -pocket for his own. "She _is_ Lightfoot's sister. And the bank _was_ -robbed, and Charlie Mulholland was killed. I discovered him myself--" - -Half an hour went to the telling of the story to the smallest detail, -accurately as if he were talking before a jury. For when all the jokes -were done, Bud appreciated the hunger these young men felt for news of -their world after plugging hard on round-up. They were sick of their -own stale company and they craved action, even the vicarious excitement -of Bud's experiences. He gave them all he knew, and by the time he had -exhausted his store of impressions each man there could visualize the -whole affair so far as Bud knew it. - -They discussed at length the mystery of its quiet perpetration on the -edge of banking hours while forty or fifty men foregathered within -gunshot of the place. Then Tony Scarpa, more American than his name -implied, swung to the more immediate event. - -"Who's Lightfoot and who's his sister, and what's the joke about -teaching our school?" - -"Straight goods." In the narrowing shadow as the moon swam higher they -could see Bud's eyes gleam with mischief. "Lightfoot's a pilgrim; an -artist, so he says. I know he's a darn good dancer, for I saw him -dance. His sister's a pilgress. They went broke when the bank did, and -had to rustle jobs--being perfect strangers in the country and having -a bad habit of eating every day. She wanted a school to teach. That's -the first and only thing a girl from the East ever thinks of when she -comes West; that and marrying some cattle king and wearing diamonds. He -wanted to be a cowboy--and I, being an accommodating cuss, gave them -both jobs. I recalled the fact that there's a lot you fellows don't -know yet, and while you're acquiring useful knowledge she can study -your types. You see--" - -"Study our _what_?" A man leaned forward so that the moon shone fully -and clearly on his astonished face. - -"Study your types. She's an amateur author and she means to write -stories about cowboys. So she's looking for good types." - -"Sa-ay!" Tony's irrepressible drawl cut musically through the amazed -silence. "Loan me your type, will yuh, Bob? I lost mine back there -where I bulldogged that roan steer." - -"I will not! I'm goin' to need all the type I got. Is she purty, Bud?" - -"She sure is." Bud glanced up at the moon and softly rhapsodized, "Big, -devilish gray eyes--they'd drown a man's troubles so deep he'd swear he -never had one. Her mouth--if her mouth has never been kissed it should -be." - -"It's goin' to be," Tony murmured, and made a motion of rising to his -feet. Big Bob Leverett yanked him down. - -"You ain't in this, Tony. Bud's givin' _me_ the dope. You gwan to bed. -You ain't got no type, and there ain't nothin' to set up for!" - -"Law-zee, _boss_!" cried a tall young man with unbelievably small feet -thrust straight out before him into the moonlight. "Here's one scholar -that'll sure never be tardy!" - -"I'm goin' to whisper an' stick out my tongue at you pelicans, and git -to stay after school," Gelle declared. - -"You--you fellers can go to her darned old school, but I won't," a -young, rebellious voice cried from within the open door. - -"Skookum?" Bud leaned and peered into the dark. "Come on out here, -pardner. Why aren't you in bed?" - -"How'd the kid git in?" Gelle swung his lean body sidewise, reached -a long arm into the house and plucked the boy expertly by his middle. -"Here he is, Bud. Clumb through the window, I reckon." - -Skookum wriggled free and sat down in the dirt, crossing his legs and -folding his arms in exact imitation of Bud's favorite pose when at -ease among his fellows. He glanced up and down the row of cowpunchers -leaning against the wall, and the moonlight gilded his hair like a halo -and made of his eyes two deep, dark pools. - -"I don't like her," he stated flatly. "She turned up her nose at--at -Maw, and she asked her brother if he s'posed that hid-hid-e-ous -creature was any relation to--to Bud. She said she couldn't bear to--to -eat Maw's cookin' 'cause it was 'pulsive. And it was chicken dumpluns -and--and pie!" - -Dead silence for a space; then Gelle spoke diffidently, uncertain -between apology and resentment. - -"We get you, Skookum. But you see, Maw--well, she needs to be took -kinda gradual, right at first. You know Maw's a kinda hard looker till -you git used to her--" - -"Maw's the purtiest woman in--in Montana!" Skookum declared hotly. -"She's cute and--and sweet. When I get big, I'm agoin' to--to marry -Maw. I asked her, and she said she--she would. You shut up about Maw. -She's purtier than that darned old girl! Ain't she, Bud?" - -"Handsome is as handsome does makes Maw the most beautiful woman in -the world. You're right about that, pardner." Bud's voice had a queer -note in it. "You stand up for Maw, Skookum, and I'm right with you. -But I don't believe Maw would want you to pass up a chance to learn -something. She thought it would be just fine to have a school here. -It's that, or go to a boarding school where all the boys would laugh at -you, and I don't believe Maw could stand that, pardner. It seems to me -that your duty to Maw would make you want to learn just as fast as you -can from Miss Brunelle." - -"I don't care! She's a mean old--" - -"Careful, Skookum. Never call a woman names--and besides, in this case -it isn't fair. Miss Brunelle's an orphan, and she's among strangers, -and she was all tired out--and you know yourself that even Lark -can't stand it to see Maw with her teeth out and laid up on a shelf -somewhere. I couldn't get her off to one side and speak to her about -it before strangers, and neither could Lark. But Maw ought to have -thought of it herself and put in her teeth when she saw company coming." - -"Well, maybe she's purtier with--with her teeth on. But I bet if that -old girl's teeth wabbled like--like Maw's teeth do, she wouldn't wear -'em, either. They tip up on the side and--and pinch. Maw showed me!" - -"Well, then, we'll let Maw suit herself about it. Miss Brunelle -will gentle down and get used to her, teeth or no teeth. It's like -a horse getting accustomed to a yellow slicker," he went on. "He -always stampedes at first. He'll pitch and strike and raise Cain -generally--but there always comes a time when that same old yellow -slicker feels mighty good spread over his back when he's humped up in -a cold rain. We won't say a word, pardner. We'll just go along as if -we didn't notice anything, and you'll see how soon Miss Brunelle will -learn to love Maw." - -"And--and Maw needn't wear her teeth if--if she don't want to," Skookum -stipulated earnestly, "unless Lark ketches her w-without 'em." - -"That's the idea, exactly," Bud assured him as man to man. "You see, -Lark feels sensitive about Maw's teeth, because he took a beeswax -impression himself and sent it to a dentist that advertised pretty -extensively and wrote that teeth could be made by what Lark called -absent treatment. He'd hate like thunder to admit he'd made a fizzle of -the job, and Maw wouldn't for the world hurt his feelings by telling -him straight out that they don't fit. So there you are, and we'll just -have to let them manage the affair themselves, and show Miss Brunelle -what we think of Maw, teeth or no teeth." - -Skookum nodded acquiescence, heaving a great sigh of relief. - -"I was goin' to--to tell Maw what that girl said. But--but I'm glad I -never." - -"Real men don't repeat things that may cause hard feelings. You -remember that, Skookum. If you'd gone tattling that, Maw would have -felt badly and cried." - -In the moonlight they could see how the boy's big eyes brimmed suddenly. - -"Maw does--every time I change my shirt. It's where grandpa quirted me, -and--and the marks is there." - -"Grandpa--hunh! I'll grandpa that old devil if I ever run across him," -Frank Gelle rapped out viciously. - -"You leave grandpa alone! I'm waitin' till--till I get big as Bud, and -then grandpa's--my meat!" - -"There's Maw calling you to go to bed," Bud reminded him hastily--and -unnecessarily, since Maw's voice was full size and not to be ignored. -"Come on--I feel like rolling in, myself. Let's go pound our ears, as -Shakespeare says." - -But when Skookum had been safely delivered to Maw, Bud strolled back -to the Council Rock, which was usually free from the humming hordes -of mosquitoes, and where the acrid smoke of the smudges were but a -pleasantly faint aroma. Thinking was not a popular pastime with young -Bud Larkin as a rule, but nevertheless there were times when he felt -the need of a quiet hour to meditate upon late impressions and events, -especially when they came thick and fast, as the last two days had -brought them. - -For one thing, he was depressed over the murder of the bank cashier and -he felt more responsibility in the matter than he had owned to Lark. -There was no getting around the fact that he might have prevented the -whole thing had he gone straight to the bank instead of stopping at -the Elkhorn. When he thought how that one glass of beer had cost a -man's life, Bud felt as if he never wanted another drink. He rolled -and smoked a cigarette while he recalled each incident of yesterday -afternoon. - -Palmer's peculiar look when Bud had first tried to open the saloon -door, for instance. Did that mean anything more than a natural enmity -toward a Meadowlark man and a malicious satisfaction in knowing that -the door was locked? According to his own voluntary statement at the -inquest, Palmer had just come from the bank where he had made a deposit -of five thousand dollars, the price of a herd of cattle which he had -sold to the Government for the Indians; so he said, and two men present -had borne out the statement regarding the sale. The pass book which he -exhibited showed the amount, in Charlie's meticulous figures--perhaps -the last he had written. Palmer, of course, couldn't have robbed the -bank, for Bud felt sure that Charlie had not been dead so long when he -discovered him. - -The locking of the saloon door might have been a suspicious -circumstance, but there also Bud felt baffled by the plausibility of -the incident. Steve Godfrey frequently "bought" whatever place he -chanced to celebrate in after a sale of stock that made him feel rich -for a day or two. He too had sold cattle for use on the reservation. -Buying a place in which to entertain all the loose men in town was -merely a figurative purchase, meaning that all drinks were free for -an hour or two, and that Steve would pay double for everything and -waken next morning with a head the size of a barrel--according to his -belief--and would forswear strong drink for a month or two thereafter. - -No, Bud decided, the locking of the Elkhorn door had been merely a -coincidence that facilitated the murder and robbery. - -But there was the mysterious incident of the four shod horses which -had no riders, galloping out across the river to mingle unrecognizably -with the herd on the high plateau, mostly saddle horses and half-broken -bronchos turned loose after the spring round-up to fatten on the sweet -bunch grass of the higher ground until September brought shipping time -and another strenuous season of work. - -The Meadowlark horses had grazing grounds across the river, and so had -several other outfits. Bud had not won close enough to read the brands -on the herd which the four had joined, but he felt certain that they -were not Meadowlark horses. Indeed, he could recognize their own herd -as far as he could distinguish the individual animals. - -But why had four riderless horses left the outskirts of town at that -particular time and scurried out across the range to the west? To -hide for a time the route taken by the robbers, Bud was certain; and -admitted that it was a clever ruse, spoiled only by the quick action he -himself had taken. Or had the robbers ridden the horses out of town and -turned them loose to seek their own herd later on, hiding themselves -and their saddles in some rocky gulch where the tracks would not show? -Bud wished that he had thought of that sooner, though it seemed a -far-fetched possibility. - -Then there was Bat Johnson, a Palmer man and the only person Bud had -seen in the vicinity of the bank. But Bat had made no attempt to -escape, and he had volunteered the information about the horses that -crossed the river. Bat had not taken the trail through the dry wash -back of town where the four horses must have been concealed, because, -as he explained at the inquest, his pack horse was barefooted, which -Bud knew was the truth. The wash was gravel and loose rocks, and Bat -had taken the longer trail through the sand grass and the willows. -According to his statement to Bud and at the inquest, Bat had a glimpse -of the horses moving out of sight among the willows near the ford, -and had taken it for granted that riders bestrode them. But his pack -horse, a little pinto, was hard to lead at the beginning of a trip, and -Bat had been busy arguing the matter--Bat's side of the argument being -the end of the lead rope or a quirt, Bud shrewdly guessed. - -"I guess that lets him out," Bud muttered finally. "And I can't sleuth -it out to-night. But there's another day coming. Marge will have to -be blindfolded, I expect, to get her into what we'll have to call a -schoolroom. Hm-m-m. Asked me where the town is, when we started down -the pass. Wonder what time Lark wants to start in the morning? Have to -explain to Lightfoot what a horse is, in the morning, and initiate him -into the mysteries of a saddle. I like that geezer, somehow. He's the -stuff, even if he is green. Wel-l--I guess I'll go to bed." - -This, merely to show you that Bud could smile into a pretty girl's -eyes and still keep his head clear for other things, and go about his -business untroubled by dreams and fancies. - - - - - CHAPTER NINE - - BUTCH CASSIDY GIVES ADVICE - - -Lark rode moodily up to the rim of the Basin and halted there, as was -his habit, and gazed down upon meadow, field, small orchard and the -chain of corrals, with the house and two or three cabins sitting back -against the bold cliff that shut in the upper end of the river valley -like a wall. Ages ago the river, then a glacial stream, no doubt, had -gouged and dug at the hills until it had made a fair retreat just here -along its bank; had shrunk as the climate changed and dried; left -the valley a fertile place with seeds of trees and grasses and wild -flowers imbedded in the soil. Birds had come there to nest, and in the -spring the air was all vibrant with the sweet, rippling notes of the -meadowlark and robin and the little wild canaries. - -Old Bill Larkin had ridden into the valley by chance and had liked it -well enough to appropriate it and build in it his home. Meadowlark -Basin he called it--having come in the spring. Later he brought -cattle and horses, when the pioneers were just awaking to the fact -that Montana was an ideal grazing country. Some called old Bill a -rustler--said his cattle and horses were mostly stolen. But they did -not say it to his face, for old Bill was also called a killer. At -any rate he owned a certain whimsical sentiment, for he fashioned -the crude outline of a bird (though in the state brand book it was -called the Half-moon-open-A) and stamped it deep in the hides of every -hoof of stock he called his own. Moreover, he held his own against -brand-blotters and prospered. - -Now Lark stared glumly down into the Basin and wished his old dad was -alive and able to take a hand in the fight he felt was coming. But old -Bill lay deep in the grove of cottonwoods between the river and the -house, and Lark glanced that way as he swung back into the road. Bud's -horse--called the Walking Sorrel because of his gait--tilted his ears -forward and picked up his feet with the springy, eager steps of a horse -glad to be home after an absence. At the foot of the hill he broke into -a gallop that Lark did not check until they reached the yard by the -shed where the saddles were housed. - -Lark slipped out of the saddle and was untying the valise from behind -the cantle when Bud strolled down to greet him. He glanced over his -shoulder, then handed the valise to Bud, who judged the weight of it -and grinned. - -"Got it, I see. You weren't held up then," he said. "I thought -afterwards that you shouldn't have gone alone, but I see it was all -right, after all." - -Lark jerked off the saddle and led the horse to a gate and turned him -through without speaking. The two started for the house, walking side -by side up the roadway. - -"Boys all here?" Lark spoke abruptly. - -"Sure. They're eating supper. Butch Cassidy rode over from the Frying -Pan yesterday to see why we hadn't come after the horses. I think Kid -wants that fifteen hundred all right. Butch is waiting to ride back -with us." Bud changed hands on the valise, for ten pounds added to the -ordinary weight of a leather grip well filled is distinctly noticeable. -"Have a good trip, and did you hear anything about the robbery?" - -"Yeah, to both questions. Take that grip on into my room, son, and come -over to the bunk house. I wanta talk to the boys." - -"_Oh_--oh!" Bud exclaimed under his breath, and made off in a hurry. -Lark in that mood promised action in plenty, and action meant joy in -the heart of young Bud. He passed Marge without a word of teasing, -which gave that young woman an uneasy half-hour, thinking she had -somehow offended her perfect type of cowboy. - -"Now's a good time to break the news to you pelicans," Lark began -abruptly, when the preliminary greetings were over and Bud had -arrived and sat down expectantly on the end of the long bench at the -supper table. "Butch, it won't hurt nothin' for you to set in on this -yoreself. Suspicions is like measles; once they start they spread -through a hull neighborhood. - -"To cut it short, they're tryin' their hell-darnedest, down Smoky Ford -way, to pin that killin' and bank robbery on to the Meddalark. Soon -as they find out where Bud come from that day they're liable to throw -in the Fryin' Pan outfit fer luck. And my Jonah, I lost over fifteen -thousand dollars to them thieves!" - -"Pin it on us!" Bud voiced the incredulity of the group. "How do they -make that out, Lark? I was in the Elkhorn--" - -"Yeah--and Delkin told me they're sayin' that you was in there spottin' -for the bunch that done the dirty work, son. You left the saloon and -put straight fer the bank--to make sure it was all over and done -without a hitch--and then you put out across the hills, mebbe for a -blind, mebbe to help the get-away. Delkin don't believe nothin' like -that, of course; but that's the story that's being circulated around -town. He just give me the tip in a friendly way, so we'd know how to -shape our plans." - -"Pull in the corners, hunh?" Frank Gelle snorted. - -"Pull in nothin'!" Lark's kindly hazel eyes hardened. "I'll tell you -now, boys, I went on to Glasgow and borried some money to buy them -Fryin' Pan horses and run the outfit on till the bank kinda pulls -itself together again. Whilst the money lasts, I'm goin' to pay you -rannies in gold. If yo're scared to show it, fer fear some one may -think it's stole, you can go hide it under yore bunks. Delkin said he'd -try and find out who's doin' all the gabbin' about us. He thinks it -was started by somebody that's got a grudge agin the Meddalark--and, -my Jonah! I can think of plenty that has! You dang pelicans go -larry-whoopin' around the country, lickin' this one and that one, till -the hull country's down on us, chances are!" - -"Couldn't be somebody _you've_ run a sandy on, of course," Gelle hinted -mildly, and lowered an eyelid at the others. - -"Palmer, you mean? He's got as good cause as anybody." Lark made no -attempt to hedge. "Could be. Still, there's somethin' happened that -Palmer didn't have no hand in, that I don't savvy. Up in Harlem I was -waitin' to git my ticket, and my grip was settin' on a bench behind me -in the waitin' room, and two different jaspers sneaked up and _hefted_ -it. Didn't know I seen 'em, but I caught 'em out the tail of my eye. -_And that was goin' out!_ At the time I thought they was lookin' fer -easy stealin' and lost their nerve; or mebbe was curious to know if I -had a gun or a bottle cached inside. Now, I know they was jest heftin' -to see if I had the bank loot, er some of it. There was a lot of gold -in the vault, Delkin told me. Detectives on my trail, mebbe. When I -come back, I was packin' about ten pounds more weight, but I never -let that grip outa my hands, you might say. I told Delkin about it, -after he'd spilled his news, and showed him where I'd borried some -money--just in case the talk gits too dang loud. He swore the bank -never sicked no detectives on to us, nor anybody else in particular. -Them bank officers don't dare give a guess at who done it, looks like -to me. It _could_ be what they call an inside job, and they know it -don't look too good fer the bank officers." - -"The thing to do," Butch Cassidy advised, "is lay low till somebody -tips their hands. They'll do it--never knowed it to fail." He grinned -and reached for the sirup can. "Way Bud was tellin' me, I'd say that -hold-up job was a strictly home product. What do you think, Lark?" - -"My Jonah!" Lark gave an exasperated snort. "I ain't any artist in that -line, Butch. Looks to me like a daylight robbery with murder throwed in -is something that takes nerve, and them town roosters don't qualify, if -you want my opinion." - -Butch chewed and swallowed a huge bite of hot biscuit dripping with -sirup, his eyes staring vacantly before him as if he visioned things -afar. Lark was calling for a clean plate and a cup of coffee, his long -ride having given him a clamorous appetite which the supper table only -aggravated. - -"Bud was tellin' me about a few head of loose horses bein' hazed outa -town and across the river right after the job at the bank." Butch came -out of his trance and turned again to Lark. "Looks to me like that was -meant fer a blind. Otherwise, the feller that drove 'em wouldn't make -no bones of tellin' about it. - -"And here's another point you don't want to overlook, none of you: -Smoky Ford sets wrong fer a bank robbery to be pulled off durin' the -day. Bank's away down at the wrong end of the street, and them cutbanks -and washes where the bench breaks off down to the river bottom ain't -rideable, except along the road. A bunch raidin' the bank would have to -ride back through town and either cross the river or foller up the road -to the bench, and take out across the reservation or come up this way. -The trail across the river could be reached, uh course, by ridin' out -back of town, the way Bat Johnson went with his pack outfit, but three -or four riders foggin' along there would take big chances, seems to me. -A job like that would need at least three men; two inside and one on -guard outside the bank, jest in case anybody happened along. And even -then it wouldn't be no picnic, right in daytime. With the town jammed -into a pocket in the hills like that, and only two get-away trails, -and them either leadin' around town or through it, they'd have to want -money worse'n what I do." He laughed dryly. - -"Them loose horses shod all around and takin' out across the river to -the hills--that looks too much like a blind trail to me. Nobody was -seen ridin' through town, so after a play like that, what I'd guess -they done was git to the river bank and drop on down river in a boat." -Butch Cassidy, vaguely rumored to be something of an outlaw himself, -spoke as one who knew the tricks of the trade. - -"River's too dang treacherous, down below the ford," Lark objected, -with his mouth full. "It could be done, mebbe, but nobody in a hurry -would ever think of doin' it. Moreover, what with rapids and bars and -quicksands, there ain't a boat on the river anywhere; not that I know -of." - -"My--my grandpa was--was makin' a boat," the eager voice of Skookum -broke in upon them. "In a shed where--where calves was weaned." - -"Palmer, hunh?" Butch turned and stared reflectively at the boy, whom -no one had noticed in the bunk house. A silence followed; a startled -pause, as if each mind there took hold of the statement and turned it -about and eyed it with surprised attention. Only Butch's light blue -eyes, set close together, held a peculiar gleam. - -"When was this, kid?" - -"That was 'fore I come here with--with Lark. And--and--" - -"Here! Quit that stutterin', kid, and take yore time." Lark spoke -sharply, his eyes darting inquiring glances at Bud and the others. -"Tell it slow, Skookum, and be dang sure you tell it straight. It's -liable to mean a lot. You say yore grandpa was makin' a boat. Did he -say what for?" - -Skookum shook his head, his eyes big and round with the thrill of -giving information to all these gods and heroes whose deeds and -lightest words were things to dwell upon. - -"Bat Johnson was makin' it, and Ed White. When they caught me--peekin' -in, Bat s-shook me and swore. And--he took me where grandpa--was. He -said I was--sneakin' around where I didn't have no--business. And--and -grandpa--" Skookum shut his eyes tightly for a moment. "If you please, -I--can't tell it--please. It's when grandpa made them cuts--" - -"You can skip all that," Lark gritted, while the others shuffled their -feet uncomfortably, their faces going glum with anger against Palmer -for his brutal beating of the boy. "And you needn't to worry; yore -grandpa's got more marks than what you've got." - -"He oughta be strung up by the heels over a slow fire," Tony muttered, -with the exaggerated malevolence of one who indulges in strong figures -of speech. - -"Go on, kid. Did you hear what they was goin' to do with it?" - -"No--only Bat said sinkin' it was easy." - -"There's the clew to the robbery!" Bud leaned forward, the light of -revelation in his eyes. "It's the last thing any one would think of, -and about the easiest thing to do. Bat Johnson himself could have hazed -those horses across the ford and come back after his pack horse. He -could have done the murder and robbery too. If they had a boat hidden -under the bank, he could have slipped out of the side door with all -the plunder in a sack, packed it on his horse to the river, tossed it -into the boat and gone on about his business--which was turning those -horses loose and throwing them back across the river. I know where they -were tied out of sight in the wash for an hour or two at least. It's so -damned simple, Lark, it was practically safe!" - -"It could be done," Lark agreed, "but they couldn't go on down river -and stand a chance of getting anywhere." - -"They wouldn't need to. Who would see a boat if it slipped down river -from Palmer's place and went back the way it came? The farther bank -is too rough to ride and too barren for stock to range close, and the -current swings that way and cuts close to shore. This side it's boggy -wherever you can get to the bank, so all the town stock waters at the -ford, where there's a streak of gravel bottom. The willows are thick -as the hair on a dog, most places--though of course a man could crowd -through to the bank, close enough to throw a bag or two. Why, at three -o'clock or a little before, even the kids were all in school down at -the other end of town, and every footloose man was locked inside the -Elkhorn!" - -"Palmer was in town, you said." Butch Cassidy's eyes had squinted half -shut as his mind focused upon the robbery and shuttled back and forth -from scene to scene. - -"You're darned right he was in town. It was Palmer who locked the -saloon door, and it was Palmer who seemed to hate the idea of having -it opened when I started to leave. Steve did all the bellowing, but -Palmer's face gave him away; he wanted that door to stay shut. Of -course, he had just deposited five thousand dollars in the bank, and -he's been making quite a holler, I suppose--at least, he did at the -inquest. But maybe he put that money in the bank for that very reason, -to give him something to howl about. What do you think, Lark?" - -"I'd bet on it," Lark answered sententiously, and with a three-tined -fork turned over several pieces of beef fried so thoroughly that the -meat was tender simply because it was too young to be tough under any -mistreatment. He selected a particularly crisp piece, sawed off a -corner with his knife and poised the morsel on the end of his fork. - -"Oughta be some way to git the goods on that outfit. I've a dang good -notion--" - -"Better let it ride for a while," Butch counseled earnestly. "If it's -them, they're bound to tip their hands; any mismove, and they'll be -gone clean outa the country. Any of the bunch gone since it happened? -What about Bat and his pack outfit? Did he leave with it?" - -"Palmer sent him back home after the inquest. I overheard him telling -Bat that some of them might have to join the manhunt and he'd better -stay on the ranch in case he was needed," said Bud. - -"None of 'em got out with the posse," Lark added. "Delkin told me the -sheriff was handlin' it with his deppities, and said he didn't want the -hull country messed up with tracks. Said it was time enough to make a -general round-up when they picked up a trail of some kind. Good sense, -too." - -"How many men has Palmer got?" Butch wanted to know. "Not more'n three -or four--he's too stingy to hire more'n he has to. Who works for yore -gran'paw, kid?" - -"Bat Johnson and Ed White, and--and Mex, and--and Blinker. But -Blinker's no good. He--he's old and--and won't talk, and--and just -whispers--to himself. He--he's afraid somebody's--comin' to--to kill -him. And then there's the cook," Skookum added slightingly. "He's Sam, -and--and he's a nigger." - -"They're all to home," Gelle ended the discussion. "I and Bob met all -three riders jest yeste'day drivin' a bunch of horses out towards the -reservation." - -"Got the stuff hid somewhere," Butch concluded. "That is, if they done -the job. Thinkin' so ain't proof, we got to remember." - -"Dang right it ain't," Lark agreed cynically. "They's folks in the -country claims they think _we_ done it, fur as that goes. That Maw -callin' supper, Bud? You tell her I've et. By Jonah, I can't git no -comfort out of a meal with them two pilgrims settin' there watchin' -every mouthful and criticizin' my manners. I'll eat Jerry's cookin' fer -a spell." - -"I'm goin' to--to eat here," Skookum announced firmly. "I can't git no -comfort, either. That old girl's learnin' me table etiquette! She makes -me hold my fork like--like this!" To make his argument strong, Skookum -grasped a fork as no human being would naturally hold one. - -"Say," drawled Tony, "send her over here to eat with us, and you two -gwan where you belong. Me, I never did know how to hold a fork in m' -life. Why, I can't even hold a hayfork proper! You tell her, Skookum, -that there ain't a one of us that's got the hang of makin' peas ride -our knives without rollin' off. Jelly claims it's proper to mash 'em so -they lay flat, but I say they was made to ride straight up. Gwan, kid. -You tell 'er they's certain ones that needs to be learnt manners, and -learnt 'em quick. Tell her we got a pelican here that whistles his soup -'stead of blowin' it gentle and then gulpin' 'er down. Gwan, kid." - -"Yeah. Tell her I want t' know whether it's proper to say, 'Pass me -those m'lasses,' or just 'Hand me them m'lasses.'" Bob Leverett winked -at the others. "Tell 'er I'm liable to be invited out to a party, some -time, an' I'm liable to make a bad break. Gwan, kid. You tell 'er -that." - -"Say, kid, you tell 'er I got another type she oughta study. Tell her -this one is a sure-enough dinger, and that it's got the smile of a -he-angel and the heart of a demon. It's this here sow-ayve kind, you -tell 'er--" - -"Soo-_ahve_, you darned knot-head," Gelle corrected disgustedly. - -"Bud can tell her," Skookum stated calmly, and straddled the long bench -to sit beside Lark. "I'm goin' to eat here." - -"And hurt Maw's feelings?" Bud paused in the doorway and sent a glance -of surprised disapproval at the boy. "She'll think you don't like her -cooking any more." - -"Aw, shucks!" Skookum threw down his knife and straddled back across -the bench. - - - - - CHAPTER TEN - - THE FRYING PAN - - -In that rare half-hour just before sunrise, when the cool breeze -blowing across the meadows seemed saturated with sweetness and the -vivifying essence of all life, as if here for a moment one might -inhale the very breath which God breathed into his image made of clay -and awakened it to the consciousness that it was a man, seven riders -mounted at the Meadowlark corrals and went galloping down the trail, -bound for the Frying Pan ranch, a long ride of forty miles through -rough country. - -Quivering drops of dew, scattered by eager hoofs, blinked at the first -mellow sun rays and vanished from sight. Birds chirped and sang and -flew here and there seeking breakfast for their hungry fledglings that -would themselves soon be surprising the early worm. Every man's face -was eager and alert, glad for no tangible reason save that it was good -to be alive and on a horse, riding out in the cool of the morning once -more after the leisurely two weeks just gone. - -Lark was not among them, having made the excuse that he was tired -from his trip to Glasgow; a thin excuse, for Lark could stay in the -saddle as long as any man when the need arose. In reality Lark wanted -to leave this horse-buying deal for Bud to handle alone. It was time, -he thought, that the young man learned to assume some responsibility -in a business way, and he was curious to see what sort of bargain Bud -would make with the Frying Pan. So far Lark was secretly proud of his -handsome young nephew whom he had cared for since he was a boy the size -of Skookum, but for all that he was minded now to supplement Bud's -schooling with a course of practical application of the lessons he had -presumably learned from books. - -The Meadowlark needed to build up its horse herd, and it was Bud -himself who had suggested that they see what the Frying Pan had to -offer. Lark did not think much of the Frying Pan, and Kid Kern, the -owner, he did not trust at all; but he told Bud to go ahead and see -what he could do over there with fifteen hundred dollars, intimating -that he ought to be able to buy a hundred head of mixed stock for that -amount. - -Privately, Lark believed that the Frying Pan dealt mostly in "wet" -stock--which is range parlance for stolen stock. A fresh brand is a -"wet" brand. Stolen horses or cattle must be rebranded, the original -brand hidden under another. That detail, combined with the fact that -stolen stock is rushed by forced drives to distant localities, gave -rise to the term, and that term was applied in undertones to Frying Pan -horses. Lark wondered if Bud knew that. But wet stock is usually good -stock, and cheap--for cash. So Lark did not say anything to Bud. If the -kid wanted advice he'd probably ask for it. - -So Bud rode proudly at the head of the little cavalcade with fifteen -hundred dollars in gold coin wrapped in his slicker and tied behind -the cantle, and the cameo brooch pinning back his hat brim while a -blue satin bow stolen laughingly from Marge sat perkily between the -twitching ears of his horse--braided into the short hairs of the mane -for safe-keeping. And Bud, the young devil, was not thinking of girls -at all, but dreaming of those two black bronchos he meant to tame, and -trying to think of names worthy their magnificent beauty. Stirrup to -stirrup with him rode Frank Gelle, who sent a glance over his shoulder -to see how close were the others when they slowed for the climb up -through the pass. - -"What was Butch quizzing Skookum about last night, Bud, down by the -little corral?" he broke ruthlessly into Bud's meditations. - -"Butch? I don't know, Jelly. I heard him say something about teaching -the kid some birdcall or other." Bud, brought back to the present, -bethought him that now was a good time to roll a smoke. He slipped the -reins daintily between his third and little fingers and reached for -tobacco sack and papers. - -"Didn't sound like no birdcall to me, Bud. He was pumpin' the kid about -something. I couldn't ketch none of the words, but I could tell by the -tonation of his voice that he was askin' one question right on top of -another. Do you reckon, Bud, he was snoopin' around tryin' to pump the -kid about our pilgress?" - -"Marge? No reason he should pump the kid about her. That girl's an open -book--printed in clear type. She and Butch were having a great old -visit down by the corral yesterday when he was showing off his fancy -roping. You saw them, Jelly. I bet she was giving him her life history. -A girl that's lived the pure, simple life Marge has will tell all about -herself without much coaxing. I don't believe Butch would be a darn bit -backward about asking her anything he wanted to know. He must have -been quizzing the kid about something else." - -"She's a purty girl and a sweet girl, and no mother to guide her," -Gelle eulogized solemnly. "No bonehead rustler like Butch Cassidy can -run any rannigans whilst I'm on the job. If I was shore--" - -"It wasn't that. Anyway, Marge can hold her own without any help. If -you'd heard some of the roastings I've got, already--somebody told her -I lied about our frogs. I never will be able to square myself, I guess. -Say, Jelly, Butch may have been asking Skookum about that boat. He -seemed pretty keen about it in the bunk house." - -"Bud, I wouldn't put that bank job past the Fryin' Pan outfit, do you -know it? From the way Butch talked, I'll bet they've been figuring on -it, some time or other." Gelle sent another cautious glance over his -shoulder. - -"They didn't do it, Jelly. I left them all at the ranch, and rode -straight across the reservation, the shortest way there is. I was -expecting to make it home that night, you see. They couldn't have -beaten me in. They were sitting around the house, whittling and telling -it scarey, when I left, and their horses weren't caught up or anything. -Butch may feel sore because some one beat them to it, and if he -thought the boodle was cached somewhere within reach-- - -"Tell you what I'm going to do, Jelly. Soon as we get back with -the horses I'm going to do a little scouting around. I've thought -of several places I want to take a look at. That yarn about how I -was spotting for the gang that killed Charlie Mulholland--well, the -quickest way to stop that is to pin it on the guilty parties. If it's -a home job, as it looks to be, we can do as much as the sheriff toward -getting them with the goods. And, Jelly, I may need you before I'm -through." - -"Well, now, you'd have a heck of a time tryin' to keep me out of the -muss!" Gelle laughed to himself. "Here comes Butch, so I'll drop back -with the roughnecks. I wouldn't trust Butch if I was you, Bud. He's a -nice feller and all that, but he's a horse thief and a killer and I -wouldn't trust him fur as I could throw a bull by the tail." - -Bud was grinning at that when Butch rode up on his high-stepping brown -horse, but he did not pass along the joke. - -The Frying Pan ranch, so called because of the brand most used by -the owners, lay a good day's ride from the Meadowlark, over near the -Missouri and close to that stretch of chaotic country called the -Badlands. A small town might have stood on the level plateau against -the hills, but as it was the Frying Pan ranch had a fine sweep of -pasture land with a long lane running straight back to where the house, -stable and corrals stood against the butte. Had the owners planned -the place with an eye to the strategic possibilities, they could not -have improved the smallest detail. First, the house, a two-story log -building set well out in the open with a well and pump in one corner -of the woodshed built against the kitchen. Beyond the house stood the -barn, another log building with ample room for hay sufficient to winter -eight or ten horses; and behind the barn the corrals, three of them in -a string, with a branding chute between the two smaller ones and with a -pair of funnel wings that never failed to ease the wildest broomtails -into the enclosure left open to receive them. A somewhat elaborate -arrangement, though the Frying Pan was a horse outfit that seemed to be -making money faster than the cattlemen. - -Range gossip is quite as malicious as a small-town club that is on -the brink of disorganization. Range gossipers grinned at the Frying -Pan brand, a blotched circle with the handle pointing downward; very -convenient to cover any small brand and blot it forever from sight; -handier still to have the choice of left hip or shoulder. One might -guess that another brand was buried beneath that burned circle, but who -could swear to the fact? - -Whether Bud knew the gossip or not, he did know good horses when he saw -them, and it was with a glow of pride that he climbed the fence of the -largest corral and roosted on the top rail with the other Meadowlark -riders, all staring down at the circling, kicking, squealing, nipping -herd which the Frying Pan boys had just whooped down the wings and -inside. A pretty sight they were--one that brought a shine into eyes -other than Bud's. - -"I trimmed the bunch down to about three hundred while we had them up -waiting for you to come over after them," Kid Kern shouted, climbing up -to straddle the rail and sit beside Bud. "I knew pretty well what you -didn't want. Some good stuff there, hunh?" - -"I've seen worse pelters than these," Bud grinned. "Got any fillies you -want to throw in as an honorarium to me for having Lark dig up the full -price in gold?" - -"Say, Bud! If you bring any honorariums on to the ranch, by golly, -you'll have to break 'em yourself!" Tony yelled, and winked at Jack -Rosen. "They're tricky as hell, and you know it." - -"Oh, I know you're not supposed to look a gift horse in the mouth," Bud -retorted, "but I'll take a chance on five or six colts presented by -Kid, here." - -"If you put it that way, I might add half a dozen head; for you -yourself, Bud. Gold is mighty useful to me, boy." - -"You talk like good old greenbacks ain't money no more," Bob Leverett -chided. - -"There's a black gelding I'm going to build a loop for," Tony cried -enthusiastically, and pointed to where a magnificent head and neck -showed over the shoulder of a sorrel, the big brown eyes regarding -curiously the strange row of figures on the fence. - -"There's his twin, by golly! I speak fer him right now," Jack Rosen -exclaimed. - -"And they both belong to yours truly," Bud stated with outward calm. -"Lark's giving them to me for making the deal, and my one-legged -Meadowlark goes on to-morrow morning. You'll need darned fast loops, -you fellows, to beat mine." - -"My gosh, more honorariums!" wailed Tony. "Bud's bashful, I don't -think!" - -"Bud knows two good horses," Kid grinned, glancing sidelong toward -Butch. "Them two blacks came"--he glanced again toward Butch and went -on smoothly--"damn' near queering the deal. I didn't want to let them -two go, but Bud, he couldn't see no bunch of horses that didn't include -them, so I had to cave in or lose the sale. You'll have two dandy -mounts, Bud, if you break 'em right." - -"I don't intend to break them at all." Bud's eyes softened wonderfully -as they rested on the nearest black horse. "All they need is to be -taught. I'll have them both following me around like dogs, inside a -month." - -Butch lounged over and leaned against the fence near where Bud was -perched. His hatcrown reached to Bud's knees, and he stared into the -restless herd that crowded to the far side of the corral. His lip -lifted a bit at one corner. - -"Look out fer hydrophoby, then," he drawled. "One of 'em is a mankiller -at heart; mebbe both. You'll have one fine time makin' pet dogs outa -them two. I advise yuh to hogtie 'em and put a muzzle on 'em before you -go caressin' around them birds." - -Bud's cheeks darkened with the hot blood of anger, for Butch lied. -Those big, intelligent eyes staring with shy wistfulness from the head -of the nearest black betrayed the slander. - -"Thanks for the advice, Butch. When I need more, I'll send word over," -he said coldly. - -The Meadowlark boys almost stopped breathing for a moment, and sent -swift, sidelong glances at one another. But nothing came of the -incident, save a tenseness in the atmosphere, a guarded note in -conversations that had before been carelessly friendly. Not until after -supper, however, did Bud speak his mind to any one, and then it was to -Gelle. - -"I don't like the feel of this place, Jelly. We'll get out of here as -soon as we can in the morning, and I wish you'd come with me while I -turn over the money to Kid and get a bill of sale--and then I wish -you'd slip the word to the boys that I'd like to have them keep out of -the card games and turn in early. - -"The Frying Pan thinks I'm young and green. I suppose they also think -I'm a fool, and can't take the hints that have dropped around here. But -it's like this, Jelly: We need this bunch of horses. I want that bill -of sale signed to-night, and I want you to see me pay Kid the money. -Butch doesn't want to see me get those two blacks, and the whole bunch -may be slightly damp." He grinned, and Gelle laughed softly. "But if -we lose any horses on that account, Kid will have to settle with the -Meadowlark; don't think he won't! - -"And when we've got them safe home," he added, after a reflective -pause, "I'll have Lark let the boys off for a few days. They can go -spend their good money in Smoky Ford while you and I take a little -scouting trip around. How does that strike you, Jelly?" - -"Fine and dandy; betcher life!" - -"So come on, now, while all the boys are in sight and it's still -daylight, and we'll dig up the gold and get the paper signed that will -make these _our_ horses. One hundred and six head of them, at least. -Nothing like being young and innocent, is there, Jelly?" - -"No, there ain't," Gelle agreed soberly. "I never did have much use fer -the Fryin' Pan, and that's the truth. Now Butch is with 'em, they don't -stack up near so good. Come awn, let's git that gold money paid over to -Kid before they steal it. That's how _I_ trust this bunch!" - - - - - CHAPTER ELEVEN - - BUD TAKES A TRAIL OF HIS OWN - - -Have you ever watched a herd of horses come streaming down a hill at -the end of a hard day's travel? There's a thrill in it such as comes -when soldiers are marching by. First a drifting haze which is the dust -kicked up by the traveling herd; then the faint, muffled sound of hoof -beats; the heads of the point riders seen dimly through the cloud, and -after them the upflung heads of the leaders. - -As the freshly branded horses sighted the delectable green of the -Basin, smelled the river rushing out of the encircling wall of -rugged hills, they came streaming down through the pass in sudden -forgetfulness of the weary miles behind them. At the foot of the hill -riders spurred out from the veil of dust, swinging closed loops and -shouting, forcing the eager band close to the bluff and away from the -alluring green of the meadows. Tired muscles tensed again. Heads went -up, dusty nostrils belled and quivered with the mingled scents of the -valley. The leg-weary colts, dusty, lagging behind and then making -sudden, shrill uproar when they missed their mothers, were sought with -frantic whinnyings by the mares. Once found, they were torn from eager -nuzzlings by the light thwacks of rope ends and the insistent, "_Hi! -Hi-yee!_" from the hoarse throats of the tired riders; the cry that all -day long without ceasing had dogged the laggards on the trail. - -Even Maw left her endless pottering around the house and waddled down -to the corral where Lark was already propping open the big gate, -when Skookum came running with his body slanted perilously forward -while he yelled that the horses were coming. Marge went back for her -notebook and pencil, because you never know when cowboys are going to -say something odd or picturesque, or a killing may take place--as she -confided to her brother in passing. - -(As a matter of fact, Marge was beginning to complain at the paucity of -dramatic happenings on the ranch where she had confidently expected to -find adventure galore. For however much the boys might boldly proclaim -their gallant intentions, Marge saw them mostly at a distance and found -them hopelessly shy when brought face to face with her. Young Bud -talked with her gravely and misleadingly upon occasion, wherefore she -called Bud bashful and slow--when in reality Bud was anything else, and -was mostly preoccupied with other matters. So the coming of the new -horses loomed before her as an event that promised something in the way -of Western color and, possibly, drama.) - -With a last flurry of hard riding and hoarse shouts, the leaders swung -away from the tempting meadows and inside the wing fence that slanted -down from the corrals to the road, the precipitous bluff forming the -other barrier. The herd galloped in mass formation to the very gate -before they realized that here they faced another one of those hated -periods of captivity. They swerved toward the bluff, hurtled back -along it and met the implacable Meadowlark riders; milled briefly and -thundered again down the throat of the wings toward the corral. With a -flick of heels, a last surge of upflung dust, they dodged inside. The -big gate slammed shut behind them and the chain was pulled around the -great post that looked as though rats had gnawed it just there--the -hook rattled into a heavy link and that particular horse deal was -completed. The horses were safe at home and milling inside the corral -just as they had circled round and round within the Frying Pan -enclosure that morning. - -Six tired cowboys rode over to the open space beside the shed where -saddles were kept, and with a backward swing of saddle-stiffened legs -over the cantles they thankfully dismounted. A hot, windy ride--and the -wind in their backs most of the way. Their throats were parched and raw -from the dust and shouting. - -"Me, I'm goin' to put sideboards on my chin, to-morra, and plug up my -ears. That way I can hold more beer." This from Tony, who wished his -world to know how dry he was. - -"Yeah--if we git to go," Jack Rosen qualified pessimistically. "Lark -may not let us off." - -"Say, he'll let _me_ off, if he has to fire me!" Bob Leverett -threatened with a surface vehemence not meant to be taken too seriously. - -"I'll see that you boys get a couple of days off, all right." Bud had -ridden up and swung from the saddle, his face a gritty gray mask from -riding point in the thick of the dust. "I'll fix it up with Lark this -evening. Now's a good time to find out just what all this talk amounts -to, and where it started. Of course, we think we know, but by the time -you boys put a little gold into circulation, we ought to be dead sure -we know. All I ask is that you boys keep your ears open and let me -know what you pick up." - -"Nice bunch of horses, Bud." Lark walked over from the corral and stood -among them. "I s'pose you boys are framin' a trip in to the Ford, about -to-morra. Better not say anything to Lightfoot about goin'. He's just -fool enough to be game for anything that comes up, but he can't ride -with you bunch of hellions yet. I'd hate to tell him he can't go, so if -you'll leave without hollerin' it all over the ranch it'll suit me just -as well. I'll be over to the bunk house after a while; you can draw -what money you want then." - -"Now, ain't that hell?" cried Tony after an eloquent pause. "Here we -been gittin' ready to appoint a committee to approach the throne--aw, -shucks. Lark, yo're a good boss, in some ways, but you'd keep men on -the payroll longer if you was kind to 'em!" - -Since no man ever left the Meadowlark of his own free will, even the -weariest puncher laughed at that, Lark with the others; but his eyes -held a shadow as he walked toward the house with Bud. - -"What do you think of my two blacks? Aren't they peaches?" For the -first time Bud's tone betrayed the fact that the black bronchos -were not absorbing his full thought, but were being used to make -conversation. - -Lark grunted. They walked farther before he spoke. - -"Horses are all right, I guess. Say, Bud, did you meet a feller ridin' -a chunky little bay with the Acorn brand on its hip? He rode in here -yesterday and stopped all night. Snoopy kinda cuss. Claimed to be a -stock buyer, but he didn't show me no credentials, nor talk like he -wanted to buy anything in p'ticular. Ast questions of everybody but me, -seems like--mostly things that wasn't none of his business. He left -right after dinner and said he was ridin' over Landusky way and would -mebbe meet you boys somewheres on the trail. He didn't, hunh?" - -"Never saw him at all, Lark. I don't see how we could have missed -him, either, if he kept to the trail. How did you grade him, Lark? A -detective?" - -"Had the earmarks, son. Sicked onto us by some of them damn' -granny-gossips in town, I take it. You goin' in with the boys to-morra?" - -"No-o--well, I thought I'd take a ride around and see what sign I can -pick up; on the quiet, Lark. I want to take Jelly with me, and I don't -want the boys to know anything about it. They'll proceed to tarry with -the wine cup, the first thing they do, and what they don't know they -can't let slip when their tongues loosen a bit. I hope they stir things -up and keep the town interested enough so Jelly and I won't be missed." - -"Purty late to pick up anything on the range, Bud. Seven days now, it's -been. That alleged stock buyer said they ain't got the first clew yet. -He might of lied, though. Prob'ly did. You goin' to take a look around -Palmer's place?" - -"I thought we would, if we get the chance. I want to let the boys ride -in ahead of us. I want to use them for a decoy. I believe Palmer and -his men will follow them in if they see a bunch of Meadowlark boys go -riding into town. They'll want to see what's taking place, and guilty -or innocent, I believe their mental reactions will send them after the -boys." - -"Mebbe." Lark lifted his hat while he pawed at his hair. "I never -went into fizzyology much, so I can't say what reactions will do to a -feller. If you say they'll act that way, I ain't goin' to contradict. -But what's the rule fer perventin' a killin' if our boys run into -Palmer whilst they're lit up? I got a nice bunch of boys, now, and I -don't want to see 'em killed off ner sent to the pen." - -"Oh, you work that out by the rule of subtraction," Bud grinned. "Have -the boys leave their guns with the bartender when they take their first -drink." - -"Hunh? No, sir, I won't ast the boys to do what I wouldn't do m'self. -I'd ruther leave my pants with the bartender! You musta got that idee -in school. What's the use of havin' a gun, if you got to hand it over -to some slick-haired bar-wiper just when it looks like you may want it? -I'd go in myself, but"--he paused to glance over his shoulder--"I'm -goin' to fix up the Nest again. My old dad would raise up in his grave -if he knowed how things has been let run down that way. The Lookout -needs some work on it too. - -"You go on and carry out what's in yore mind, son. I'll buy in later -on, if it's necessary. But you kin make this yore fight, for the -present, and if things look like they're comin' to a head, you kin send -one of the boys back after me. I'll be workin' here, puttin' things -in shape fer a show-down. Once these things start, they's no tellin' -where they'll wind up. Callin' us a hard outfit to monkey with is one -thing--that's somethin' to be proud of. But when it comes to sayin' we -killed a man so as to rob the bank where we do our business--my Jonah, -but that's damn' hard to swaller!" - -"We aren't going to swallow it," Bud declared, promptly. "Where's Maw? -I'm about half starved!" - -Maw was coming, taking short, quick steps and waving the mosquitoes off -with her apron. Behind her, Marge was walking with many short halts -while she wrote something in her notebook, while whooping along in the -rear came Skookum, driving Lightfoot and flailing him with a tall weed -to keep him at a high gallop. Bud's eyes lingered on the bent head of -Marge, and he loitered, waiting for her. Then, his glance going to the -boy, his face hardened again with the purpose that filled his mind. - -It was after he had eaten and Marge was waiting in the living room, -hoping Bud would come in and talk to her after the deadly monotony -of the past two days, that Bud artfully drew Skookum off by himself -and turned the conversation very casually to Butch Cassidy. He wanted -to know what it was that Butch had been talking about; but Skookum, -unfortunately, had promised not to tell. - -"Well, that's all right, pardner. If you promised, don't go back on -your word; unless," he added, "it was something mean. In that case, of -course, I ought to know." - -"It wasn't mean," said Skookum, after a pause for reflection. "If you -asked questions like Butch did, I'd tell you more'n I told Butch. I--I -didn't tell him any more than--than I had to. I--wouldn't hold out on -you that way, Bud. You're my--my pal." - -Bud could have hugged the boy. There was a chance, then, that Butch had -not learned much more than they all had heard in the bunk house. He did -not see just what use Butch could make of the information gleaned in -this manner, but he knew what he himself wanted to do. So Bud began to -ask questions, and Skookum answered them as carefully and as completely -as possible. - -When he went to bed that night, Bud kept smiling in the dark until he -fell asleep, and even then his lips were curved as if his dreams were -pleasant. Skookum smiled also and dreamed of the pinto pony Bud had -given him for his very own; a pony that was too small for a full-grown -man; a pony with white eyelashes, one blue eye, a doglike devotion to -any one who would pet him, and the unusual name of Huckleberry. - -The satisfaction of Bud and Skookum must have continued through the -night, for both were up and out in the cool, dewy dawn when all the -birds were ruffling feathers and puffing throats in rhapsodical melody. - -Sooner than would seem humanly possible, Skookum went wading through -dew-drenched meadows that straightway wet his feet, a frayed rope -end dragging from the coil hung over his arm and in his two hands a -battered basin holding oats enough to founder the pinto pony--or so -Jake would have told him. - -The pinto proved a willing partner to the new alliance, and let -Skookum climb on his back and ride to the stable, obeying the guidance -of a hand-slap on the neck, just as Bud had said he would. Picture -any ranch-bred boy of eight or nine in full possession of a new and -gentle pony, and you will have Skookum fully accounted for: riding -reckless circles around and between Maw's flower beds to show her how -Huckleberry neckreined; sending terror to the heart of a certain mother -hen when he galloped full tilt and scattered her brood; roping gate -posts, calves, old Jake, Lark--anything upon which a loop could settle. -That was Skookum for the next few days. - -As for young Bud, he was up and had a rope on one of the blacks before -Skookum had so much as glimpsed the pinto pony. There was a certain -shady corral with running water and a pole rack for hay, called the -bronch corral, where he meant to leave them until his return, but -already he was bent on making friends with them. He heard the boys -making hectic preparations for the trip to town, and thought they -must certainly be faring forth to carry out plans carefully laid in -many conferences; whereas no man save Bud had any plan at all. They -meant to ride to Smoky Ford and put a stop to the slander against the -Meadowlark--how, they did not know. - -"Funny Lark wouldn't do something about it," Jake Biddle grumbled, when -the boys were saddling after breakfast. "Ain't like the old days--not -a damn' bit. Old Bill would 'a' rode into town with a gun in each hand -and a booie knife in his teeth, hollerin' his opinion of sech damn' -liars. The fellers that started it--" - -"I shore wisht he'd of lived to show us how to cuss and hold a knife in -our teeth at one and the same time," fleered Tony. "You old broken-down -riders makes me tired. Think us boys is kids?" - -"Yeah. Where'd you git the idee we're goin' to run home bawlin' fer -Lark to come show us what t' do to them bad men that's sayin' mean -things about us?" Bob Leverett turned a shade redder. "Mebbe we ain't -got the knack of carryin' a knife in our teeth whilst we cuss, but I -betcha we can holler our opinions jest about as loud as old Bill ever -done. And as fer wavin' a gun in both hands--why, me, I can look scarey -enough with one gun to put Smoky Ford on the run. Come on, boys. We're -keepin' Jake from settin' in the kitchen weepin' fer the days that is -gone." - -"Say, ain't Jelly goin' to town?" As they swung to the saddles Tony -missed the tall rider. "Hey, Jelly!" - -"You boys go awn," Gelle called from the far corral where he was -killing time with Bud until the others were gone. "Bud and me'll be -along after a while, mebbe. If we don't overtake you, you boys ride awn -in and make yoreselves to home." - -"Foolin' with them black bronchs," Rosen made indulgent comment. "Let -'em throw away good minutes if they ain't got better sense. Come on, -let's be movin'." - -They moved to such good purpose that presently a slow-settling dust -cloud alone remained to tell of their haste. - - - - - CHAPTER TWELVE - - THE MEADOWLARK BOYS HAVE A PLAN - - -Palmer's ranch, called so because the man himself came first to mind -when one thought of his outfit--which bore the brand called the Roman -Three--lay along the road from Meadowlark Basin to Smoky Ford. The -fields lay farthest up river, but his house and stables stood in that -narrower level where the river swung abruptly eastward toward the -Indian Reservation and the hills. At that point the road drew in close -to the house and not more than a long rifle-shot away from the river. -Smoky Ford lay nearly seven miles farther down river; not a long ride -for men accustomed to spend most of their waking hours in the saddle. -Indeed, the Meadowlark boys thought of Palmer's ranch as being almost -in the edge of town, and called their journey nearly done when they -came loping up to the place. - -"Let's wake the old devil up," Tony suggested recklessly, as they -neared the gate and fired two shots into the Palmer roof-tree. - -"Yeah! Let him know we ain't sneakin' past his door, scared he'll sick -his dog on to us!" Jack Rosen lifted his gun and sent splinters flying -from two shingles. - -"Bet he don't keep no dog. Too darn stingy to feed one. Aye--Palmer! -Yore roof's leaky!" Bob Leverett yelled, in a voice trained to carry -across a restless herd, and splintered another shingle. - -The front door opened abruptly and Palmer himself stood briefly -revealed to the four riders halted in the roadway just outside the big, -closed gate. Palmer waved a rifle and yelled obscene epithets until -Tony stopped that with a leaden pellet planted neatly between his feet. -Palmer jumped, banged the door shut and took a shot at them through a -window. Evidently he had no intention of killing in broad daylight, for -he shot high. - -"His loyal henchmen must be gone somewheres. T' town, mebbe," Tony -surmised shrewdly. "The old devil could hit some one if he wanted to, -but he knows damn' well we'd git him if he did, so he's jest expressin' -his sentiments in a general way, same as we are. What say, boys? Shall -we take him along with us to town?" - -"Hell, what'd we want _him_ for?" Jack Rosen's voice was heavy with -disgust. "He shore ain't good comp'ny." - -"Oh, I jest thought mebbe we might take him along because he wouldn't -want to go," Tony replied naïvely, slipping cartridges into his gun. -"There goes that foolish jasper. Rest of 'em must be in town. Well, how -about it?" - -"Takin' him along would shore hurt my feelin's worse than it would -his, fer I'd be in worse comp'ny than he would. What say we ride on in -and see what's goin' on, and if the rest of these birds is there? If -so, we can clean up on what's in town and come back out here later on. -Mebbe Palmer'll foller us in. Be jest like him to have the law on us, -don't you know it? I'm goin' to rip off another shingle and go about my -business, I'm dry as a bleached bone." - -They proceeded to rip off several shingles. But Palmer did not choose -to retaliate, so they rode on, yelling derisively until they were out -of hearing. Within a mile they had settled down and were tardily making -plans calculated to stir Smoky Ford out of its lethargy and give it -something to talk about. The idea was Tony's, and he was so proud of it -that he could afford to give some credit to Bob as a true prophet when -they topped a rise and had a glimpse of a horseman just riding out of -Palmer's gate. Palmer, following them in, no doubt meant to stir up -trouble for them before he was through. Well, let him. Trouble was what -the Meadowlark boys were looking for to-day. - -"I can see now how he come to take a quirtin' from Lark," Mark Hanley -said contemptuously. "He's yeller as mustard, without the bite. Jest -the kind that would cave in a man's head when he wasn't lookin'. -'Twouldn't a took much nerve to shoot up the bunch of us, him in the -house like that and us in the open. We got to git that old coot in a -corner, somehow. Now, Tony, that idee of yourn--" - -"It's a darn good idee," Tony defended hastily. "They could guess -everything else and lay plans to block it, but they couldn't guess we'd -pull off anything like that. First off, we better ride to Delkin's -stable and put him wise. Our horses is our excuse for going there." - -Stirrups tangled, they rode so close together. Often a man would break -into laughter and glance back at the trail to see if Palmer was still -following them. They trotted up to the very door of Delkin's stable, -ducked heads and rode inside, where they dismounted and unsaddled -without help or interference from the stableman, who knew them of -old. When their horses were turned into the corral behind the barn, -where they speedily found hay and water and a place to roll, the -quartet went trooping back down the long floor, spurs jingling pleasant -accompaniment to their low-voiced laughter. Slightly bowed in the legs, -they were--or it may have been the permanent kink in their chaps. -Twitching hats and neckerchiefs into becoming angles, lest the eye of -some young woman catch them in disarray, they made for the screened -door of the office, where Tony peered in, saw Delkin sitting gloomily -before his desk, and pushed open the door, entering with a slight -swagger. - -"Oh, hello!" Delkin's eyes went from one to the other in apathetic -greeting. "You boys in for a good time, eh?" - -"Yeah. We just stopped by to let you in on the joke. Seen anything of -Bat Johnson and the rest of the bunch from Palmer's?" - -"Why, yes. They rode in an hour or so ago, I believe. They don't put up -their horses when they come to town, you know. Post hay is cheaper." -Delkin did not know just how much resentment was in his voice, but his -mood was bitter these days. - -"Well, how's the scandal comin' along, Mr. Delkin?" Tony asked -cheerfully. "Still shootin' off their mouths about the Meddalark?" - -"Oh, about the same, I guess. But they'll never make me believe your -outfit had anything to do with it." The mind of Delkin was so obsessed -with the murder and robbery that it did not occur to him that scandal -could focus on anything else. - -"Well, we shore appreciate that, because we got a scheme for stirrin' -up the bandits some. It's my idee," Tony informed him proudly. "I'd -like to see what you think of it before we git to work on it. And mebbe -it might be jest as well if you'd call in some of yore bank officers, -so in case of a kick-back we won't git lynched without nobody to put -in a word for us. That there," he added slightingly, "is Rosy's idee. -He's scared to turn himself loose like he claims he kin, unless he's -shore his imagination ain't goin' to be fatal. Rosy claims he's sech -an eloquent cuss he's liable to git hung. Git the men that's handiest, -will you? We're darn dry, and I can't hold these pelicans away from the -flowin' bowl much longer." - -Delkin glanced out through the open window, got up hurriedly and called -to three men who were talking on a corner across the street. One threw -up his hand to show that he heard, and they came over, tapering -off their conversation on the way. Inside, they looked at the four -Meadowlark riders and nodded, turning inquiringly to Delkin afterwards. - -"I called you in to hear something or other that these boys have -framed. Don't know what it is, but it ought to work. You know the -Meadowlark has the name of putting through what it starts." - -"So I hope they're starting in the right direction," grinned Bradley, -vice president of the bank and proprietor of the town's principal -store. "I've been wondering if the Meadowlark was going to tuck -its head under its wing, with all the talk going round about it. I -overheard one of Palmer's men saying in the store that the bank has -put a detective on Bud Larkin's trail. I wonder where he got that -idea?" Bradley sat down and thrust out his long legs before him in the -attitude of one who has the habit of taking his ease whenever possible. -He knew the boys well. He could have told you exactly how much each man -there had paid for the shirt he had on--though what his own profit had -been would have been carefully guarded as a dark secret. Every mouthful -of food that went down the throat of a Meadowlark man when at home came -from Bradley's store unless it had been produced on the ranch. - -The other two men were also important business men of the town; one -owned the hardware store and the other a small, fly-specked drugstore -stocked mostly with patent nostrums. The boys could not have chosen -four men more to their liking for this particular conference. - -"Well, here's what we aim to do." Tony began rolling a cigarette as an -aid to eloquence, and stated the plan. - -The audience grunted and looked doubtful; then Delkin gave a short -laugh. - -"I admit it's original," he said dryly. "And it's lucky you told us -beforehand, or you boys might find yourselves swinging from a limb -somewhere before you could convince any one you were only joking." - -"Only danger," Bradley agreed, "is making too big a success of it. -We've been watching Palmer and his men pretty close, and I must say -we haven't a thing to go on, except that Palmer was the last man in -the bank before Charlie was killed, and Bat Johnson was the first man -seen near the bank afterwards. On the other hand, Bud and that young -stranger--" - -"Say, Bud's name don't sound purty to me, used that way; and that -stranger's wearin' the Meddalark brand, Mr. Bradley," Tony interrupted -meaningly. "Well, we're dry, and thank Gawd our duty calls us to git -pickled or nearly so. And here," he added, glancing through the window, -"comes the he-one of 'em all. Palmer's follered us in. Come awn, boys. -Let's go git near-drunk. And, oh, say!" he added, reaching into his -pocket, "here's the evidence agin us! Lark went and borried some money -in Glasgow--I guess he told yuh himself--and us boys is plumb lousy -with gold tens and twenties. So don't git nervous and think we're -spendin' the bank's good money in righteous livin'. We worked fer this. -Every dime was earnt in sweat and sorrow. Ain't that right, boys?" - -"Damn' right that's right," they agreed solemnly. - -"I'll tackle Bat," Tony announced, as they walked across the street -to the Elkhorn, thumbs hooked inside their belts, hats atilt, eyes -seeing everything. "Lordy, how this town's growed since I seen it last! -There's a new dog, layin' right on Bradley's steps. Wouldn't that jar -yuh some, hunh?" - -"Who's goin' to tackle Palmer?" Bob Leverett wanted to know. "Me, I -wouldn't come within ropin' distance of that old coyote. Rosy, you -take 'im." - -"Have to play the cards as they run," Tony warned them, pausing with -one foot on the platform. "Make it look stagey, and my idee's plumb -wrecked. Come awn in--like you hated to but had to. And we'll keep -together right at first, hunh?" - -"Shore. I wish't Jelly was here, and Bud." Bob cleared his throat, -hitched up his belt and lounged in, the other three at his heels. - -The four drank together, inviting the bartender to join them. Other -occupants of the room may have noticed that they held their beer mugs -in their left hands, and that they drank with their faces half turned -to the room. Tony it was who paid in silver. They talked afterward -among themselves in tones slightly lowered. Had they been men burdened -with too much knowledge of evil, on guard against some overt move of -an enemy, they would have worn that same air of aloofness, that faint -challenge to the world hidden under the guise of careless ease. The -dozen men lounging within knew without being told that the Meadowlark -men were aware of the talk about them and felt themselves observed with -suspicion. Indeed, every one must have seen how these four watched the -room in the mirror of the back bar, and how they studiously kept their -right hands free and hovering near their belts. - -It was the bad-man attitude, beautifully done. Had the Meadowlark boys -murdered three men and robbed a dozen banks they could scarcely have -been more careful. And they had the attention of every man there, -thinly disguised, but all the keener for that. Bat Johnson, playing -pool at the far end, lifted his lip in a sneer while he deliberately -chalked his cue and raised a leg to rest it on the corner of the table -for a difficult shot. But he did not make any audible remarks about -the Meadowlark men, and he did pocket four balls in succession to show -how steady were his nerves. In the back-bar mirror Tony saw that only -two men were playing and that the game had just started. Bat would -be occupied for the next half-hour, so there was plenty of time for -certain necessary preliminaries. - -Jack Rosen bought a bottle of whisky and paid for it with a ten-dollar -gold piece. Bob Leverett watched the transaction and decided that he -too wanted to drink out of a bottle and stop when he pleased. Bob -fumbled in his pockets, looked uneasily over his shoulder and pushed -a double eagle across the bar as if he were ashamed of having it. -Indeed, Tony gave him a frown of disapproval and a shake of the head, -and this was not lost upon the bartender nor upon others who were -covertly watching the quartet. - -"Well, gimme a bottle too. It's cheaper that way." Mark Hanley also -paid with gold, explaining behind his hand to the others that he just -had to have change, and he guessed it was all right. And thereupon Tony -borrowed the price of a bottle from Mark, and they went clanking out -and across to the stable, leaving tongues tickling to talk behind their -backs, and a thoughtful look on the face of Bat Johnson. - -In the far corner of the corral Tony was carefully spilling whisky on -his undershirt and emptying the remainder of the quart on the ground. - -"This is a hell of a way to get a jag on," he mourned, "but we got to -stay sober and act drunk. Keep 'er on the outside, boys, till we put -over this play. Actin's an art, and you can't be too clear-headed fer -the parts you got." - -"Ah, gwan!" Jack Rosen pulled the cork from his bottle and took a long, -rapturous sniff. "Only way to act drunk is to _git_ drunk. Me, I always -git a glassy look in my eyes, and my face gits redder 'n hell. I can't -git that way by pourin' three drops on my shirt front like it was -perfumery. If I'm goin' to play drunken cowboy with no brains atall, I -gotta put at least a pint under m' belt." - -"Rosy, you _can't_! When you're drunk you wanta fight and beller out -everything you know. We gotta play this thing fine." The anxious author -of the idea snatched the bottle and broke it against the manger. "Say, -you can git soused to the eyebrows when this play-actin's over. We'll -_all_ git drunker'n fools. Ain't that enough to make a man stay sober, -if he's got to, in order to block their play? Come alive here, boys. -We got a good chance t' make Palmer's gang show their hands. Do we go -after 'em, or do we belly up to the bar and make hawgs of ourselves?" - -"Oh, shut up! I'll bet yo're drunk before the rest is, Tony. No use -addin' to our misery by chewin' the rag about it, is they?" Bob -Leverett poured whisky into his palm and proceeded to wash his face -with it. "Gawd, that's coolin'!" he exclaimed afterwards, licking his -lips as far back as his tongue would reach. "Refreshin'est thing in the -world! Betcha there ain't a feller in the outfit dast try it--wallop -it all around your mouth without lettin' any go down. Betcha I'm the -damnedest strong-minded cuss in the outfit!" - -"Betcha five dollars," cried Mark Hanley, and swept off his hat to give -his hair a whisky shampoo. - -Jack Rosen washed face, neck, ears and hair, and saturated his -handkerchief as a final flourish. - -"By golly, that shore _is_ refreshin'!" he testified earnestly, with -his face lifted ecstatically to the hot wind. "Gimme some more. Tony -went an' got fresh and busted mine. You owe me two bottles, don'tcha -fergit that; one fer smashin' mine, and one fer misjudgin' yore -betters." - -They went swaggering through the barn and stopped at the office, where -Delkin's three visitors still sat talking of the one big subject. The -four leading citizens sniffed and leaned away. - -"That's stage settin's," Tony informed them equably. - -"Overdone," Bradley snorted, waving a hand before his face. "They'll -think you fell into the barrel." - -"Damned refreshin'," Bob told them soberly. "You fellers oughta try it -in hot weather. You wouldn't never wash in nothin' else." - -They backed out and went weaving across the street, arm in arm and -stepping high. Apparently they were the drunkest punchers that ever -spent money over a saloon bar, and their aloofness was all forgotten. -They entered the Elkhorn singing raucously a sentimental ditty which -must never see print, and Jack Rosen on the outside of the group -stopped and attempted to embrace Palmer in almost tearful joy at seeing -him. The others pulled him along to the bar and Tony swung round upon -the crowd. - -"Everybody drink!" he shouted thickly. "Drown yore sorrers whilst we -drown ours. Money's made to spend--come on, boys, an' let's squander -some." - -There is only one answer to that, in a saloon. Not a man in the -place but had a convincing whiff of the reason why the boys from the -Meadowlark had suddenly changed their tone. The curtain was up on -Tony's play. - - - - - CHAPTER THIRTEEN - - BUD FINDS THE STOLEN MONEY - - -"There goes old Palmer himself," Bud exclaimed with some eagerness, as -he and Gelle rode out from behind a low hill and started down the long, -straight stretch beside Palmer's field of grain, fenced and rippling a -green sea of wheat heads. "Now as the rest of the bunch is out of the -way, it will be smooth riding. You know your part, Jelly. You just ride -up to the house and do whatever you damn please, so long as you hold -the cook and Blinker and any of the other men who happen to be home, -right there at the house. I hope they've followed the boys to town, -though. It's the logical thing for them to do unless they're bigger -cowards than I take them to be." - -"Say, if you're goin' to sneak up to the stables, you'd better be -drifting right now," Gelle told him. "If there's anybody down around -the corrals, I'll have 'em up to the house before you need their -absence very bad. Don't you worry about that, Bud." - -"All right. I did intend to ride past the house and come back the -other way. It's just about as close. But this will do. Give me a few -minutes' start, will you, Jelly?" Bud grinned, waved a hand in casual -farewell and reined his sorrel out of the road and into the tangle of -chokecherry bushes that grew in a shallow gully leading back toward the -river. - -Once away from Gelle, however, the grin left his face and a smoldering -purpose glowed in his eyes. He was on enemy soil; if any of Palmer's -men were at home and he were discovered he would probably find himself -dodging leaden slugs before he got away. Midday was not the best hour -for invading an unfriendly man's premises, but he had decided that it -would be safer after all than midnight, when Palmer would be easily -alarmed. Besides, the dogs were chained during the day and turned loose -at dusk. Skookum had told him that: and for what he wanted to find he -needed the broad sunlight. - -Straight through the thicket he rode until he reached a barbed-wire -fence extending up the river for a considerable distance. This, Skookum -had told him, was the cow pasture which he would have to cross on foot, -keeping one eye peeled for the big, black bull that had once killed a -man and liked it so well he had been trying ever since to repeat the -performance. Bud tied the sorrel well out of sight, unbuckled his spurs -and hung them on the saddle horn, hitched up his belt and pulled his -gun forward, and crawled through the fence. Skookum had advised him -to pass the house, hide his horse in the bushes and come back up the -river, keeping in the willows on the bank. In that way he would run no -risk of the bull, of which Skookum seemed to be in terror almost as -great as his fear of his grandfather. This was shorter, however, and -Bud remembered how terrible a cross bull can look to a small boy; to a -man it is not so formidable. - -This end of the pasture was brushy, full of the twitterings of bird -families, the scurrying of small furred creatures. Blue-bodied flies -poised humming just before his face; great, long-legged mosquitoes sang -a whining chorus around him. He made his way quickly toward the river, -where the bank rose abruptly in a worn sandstone ledge. The pasture -gate was built close against the ledge, and it was this point that held -most of the danger. Some one at the stables might see him--Skookum had -told him that the gate was in sight of the stable, but that the ledge -was mostly hidden by the trees. Bud guessed that he would be obliged -to walk in the open for a few rods, but with Gelle bullying the -cook--or whatever it was he meant to do--even the dogs would have scant -attention for any one moving down by the pasture gate. - -Once, when Skookum had ventured into the pasture after a rabbit that -had been caught in a trap and lamed, the black bull had come grumbling -ominously from the bushes. Skookum had scrambled up the ledge out of -reach of the bull and had waited so long in the shade of a jutting rock -that he had gone to sleep. When he awoke the bull was gone, but his -grandfather was coming in at the gate, which was almost as bad, so he -had cowered down out of sight and waited for that threatening presence -to pass. His grandfather had stood for two or three minutes looking -back at the house, while he pretended to be fastening the gate behind -him, and then he had walked on past where Skookum was hiding and had -begun to climb the ledge. - -"And--and I didn't tell Butch what--what I done after he--he climbed up -on the ledge," Skookum had declared earnestly to Bud at this point. "I -mean, I never told Butch about me sneakin' along after--after grandpa -went back to--to the house, and lookin' to see what--what grandpa was -doin'. So I--I found all his money--but I never took any. I--I was -scared!" Skookum was very careful to let Bud know what he had _not_ -told Butch, since he had promised Butch that he would not tell a soul -the things he had revealed during the quizzing. Skookum believed in the -letter of the law. - -"I couldn't see grandpa after he climbed up on the ledge, because -the--the rocks was in the way," he had explained further, and because -he had told Bud so much more, Skookum was now in beatific possession of -Huckleberry, the pinto pony. - -"He's a smart kid. I suppose with the wrong training it would develop -into foxiness like his grandfather. He sure described it perfectly," -Bud made mental comment when, from a safe covert of wild currant -bushes, he surveyed the ledge. He could even recognize the place where -Skookum had scrambled up to get away from the bull, and the rock -jutting out and away from the main outcropping where he had curled up -and gone to sleep. From that point Skookum had drawn what he called -a map, and crude though it was, Bud felt sure that he could find the -place of which the boy had told him in a scared half-whisper. - -He did one foolish thing. In crossing the open strip of trampled grass -just inside the gate he nearly stepped on a huge rattlesnake lying -asleep in the hot sunshine. To pass so venomous a thing without killing -it went contrary to all Bud's instincts and training. Rangemen reason -that every rattlesnake left to crawl away may sink its poison fangs -into the next unwary passer-by, and that death may be the result of -some one's carelessness. Bud picked up a rock and sent it straight at -the ugly head, following with other rocks to make absolutely sure of -the job. When the snake was dispatched, he took long steps into the -fringe of concealing bushes and climbed to the rock which Skookum had -described so accurately. - -At the house Frank Gelle was holding in his horse, that backed and -circled restively, fighting the tight rein. Gelle himself was insisting -loudly that Palmer had better come out or he'd go drag him out. No use -hiding under the bed, he argued contemptuously. He wanted to talk to -him a minute, and he would stay until he did talk to him, if he had to -sit there 'til his horse starved to death. - -"Boss ain't heah nohow!" Black Sam protested, rolling his eyes so that -the whites showed all around. "You Meddalahk boys done plowed up ouah -roof a'ready wif youah bullets, an' Boss he gwine on in to talk to -Mist' Shu'f man. He jes plumb _kain't_ come out, 'cause he ain't heah. -No, suh, ain't pawssible fo' him to come out, nohow." - -"I think yo're lyin' to me, Snowball," Gelle declared firmly, and shook -his head. "You gotta prove it." - -"Lawsy, Boss, how Ah goin' to prove nothin' like dat air, 'cep'n' you -git off'm dat hawse an' look fo' youahse'f? B-but 'twon't do no good -nohow, Mist' Meddalahk, awnes, it won't! Dat ole house ain't got nobody -into it _atall_. Ain't nobody undah no baid, Boss, Ah swah to goodness -dey ain't. Blinkah, he's somewhah on de place, but he don' count no -moah 'n Ah counts, an' Ah don' count nothin' _atall_." Sam backed -warily toward the kitchen door as Gelle pressed closer. "Blinkah, he -ain't got no sense nohow, Mist' Meddalahk, an' A'm jes' an old black -cook what doan' 'mount to nothin'. Boss, he's in town--leastwise he's -awn de way--yessuh, yo'all kin ride awn aftuh him, Mist' Meddalahk, -suh, an' tawk all you'm a mine to. Yessuh." - -Sam was so scared, so plainly and honestly helpless, so anxious to -placate the man he believed a dangerous foe, that Gelle hadn't the -heart to bully him further. At the same time he must give Bud time in -which to make a thorough search. He looked around for Blinker, but -that peculiar fellow was nowhere to be seen. - -"Got any coffee?" Gelle demanded for want of something else to hold him -there. - -"Yessuh, Boss, Ah got whole pawt uh cawfee, yessuh, Mist' Meddalahk." - -"All right, bring me a cup. No sugar, Snowball--" - -"Lawsy, Boss, we doan' nevah have no sugah atall! Boss, he buy silk -foah dishrags soon as evah he buy sugah foah cawfee an' sech." Sam -grinned in spite of his terror, showing the strong, even teeth so -characteristic of the negro race. "We got milk, 'cause milk doan' cos' -nawthin'." - -"How about buttermilk?" Gelle was better pleased with his task now. He -thought he could keep this up for an hour if necessary. - -"Yessuh, Boss, Ah jes' chuhned dis mawnin'. Buttah doan' cos' nawthin', -neithah, an' it saves meat. An' aigs, we got aigs; hens, dey doan' -deman' no wages, Mist' Meddalahk." Sam chuckled with a wry twist to his -big mouth, as if the joke was barbed. - -"What wages do you git, Snowball?" Gelle's tone indicated that he was -prepared to be sympathetic. - -"Me? What wages do Ah git? Ah doan' _git_. No, suh, Boss, time Ah -wuhks out de cos' of pants an' shuht an' shoes an' hat, Ah doan' _git_!" - -"You don't?" Genuine surprise was in Gelle's voice. "Git out! Say, -Snowball, slavery days is over, don't yuh know it? You don't have to -work fer _no_ man that's too damn' stingy to buy sugar fer coffee, an' -runs a sandy like that on yuh fer pay. Judgin' by them garments yo're -draped in now, Snowball, I'd say you must spend as much as five, ten -dollars mebbe, a year on clothes. What wages does ole Palmer claim he -pays you, if it's a fair question?" - -"What wages? Wa' now, Mist' Meddalahk, Ah doan' rightly know, suh. -Boss, he claim lak Ah eats moah 'n what Ah kin earn nohow, cookin'. He -talk lak he pay me ten dollah, mebbe. Mist' Meddalahk, suh, Ah wuhk an' -wuhk, an' mos' Ah kin do is eat an' sleep, an' nevah much of dat. Doan' -seem pawssible to git ahaid mo'n one shuht." - -Sam wiped a ragged sleeve across his perspiring face, turned and went -into the house, his terror of the Meadowlark man erased from his simple -soul by the note of human understanding and sympathy. He returned -presently with a big tin cup full of cold buttermilk over which Gelle -promptly bent his eager lips. - -"Say, Snowball," he remarked, when he came up for air, "our cook at the -Meddalark gits sixty dollars a month. And he _gits_ it--and buys his -own pants and shirts. You're bein' robbed and you don't know it. And -say! Lark buys sugar, five sacks at a lick, and nobody gits the bad eye -for dumpin' three or four spoonsful into his coffee. 'Tain't none of my -business, Snowball, but I hate to see even a coon git the worst of it -like that. Say, here's a dollar. Don't let ole Palmer ketch you with it -though." - -Sam's eyes would not stand out farther if he were being choked. He was -too stunned by this munificence to put out his hand for the money, -so Gelle tossed the dollar in his general direction, finished the -buttermilk in one long drink, set the cup down on an upturned barrel -near by and rode back to the gate to meet Bud, who was coming at a -swift gallop. Bud pulled up, his eyes snapping with excitement. - -"Go back around the corner of the fence, Jelly, and down the gully -about fifty yards," he directed crisply. "I left that old man Blinker -tied up, and I want you to stand guard over him until I can ride into -town and back. He came up on me before I could get away in the brush, -and all I could do was glom him and bring him out with me. I won't be -gone more than a couple of hours, but it's too hot a day to leave an -old man tied up with ants and mosquitoes and flies raising merry hell -with him. Will you do it, Jelly?" - -"Sure, I'll do it. Thank Gawd fer that buttermilk! Say, you ain't -leavin' me out of anything like a scrap, are yuh, Bud? If you are, I'll -pack m' prisoner in under my arm but what I'll go to yore party." - -"No--don't think there'll be a word of trouble. I'll be right back, -Jelly, and then we'll both ride in and make merry. We'll have a right." -He was galloping down the road before Gelle could answer him. - -Even in his haste Bud took thought of the curiosity he would probably -excite if he came pounding down the hill with his horse in a lather, -and once on the subject of precautions it struck him forcibly that -perhaps Smoky Ford would be just as well off if it failed to see him -at all. At the foot of the hill, therefore, he turned sharply off the -road on a dim trail that meandered up a wash and rounded an elbow of -the bluffside, and so came out at the rear of Delkin's livery stable, -where four Meadowlark horses took their ease in the corral, the sweat -scarcely dried on their backs. The sight of them reminded Bud that -after all he had not been so far behind the boys who were probably -still feeling the thrill of their first cold drinks. Indeed, they had -not been gone on their odorous adventure more than ten minutes when Bud -led his lathered sorrel into a shadowy stall and went burring his spur -rowels down the long stable so lately echoing to the footsteps of those -other Meadowlark riders. With considerable abruptness he pulled open -the screen door and stepped into the office, his eyes flashing quick -glances at the four men who sat there talking about the one big subject. - -"Howdy. Glad to see you all here, because you're the men I came after, -and I don't know just how quiet you want to keep this business. I've -found your money--or the bank's money, rather. If you folks will ride -out with me, I'll show you where it's cached. I went on a still hunt -around Palmer's on my way in; saw he was headed for town, so I took -advantage of his absence. His grandson, the one he abused so that -Lark took him away, told me some things that gave a clew to the whole -business. Palmer's gang came down river in a boat, hid under the bank -and then took the loot back up river, and probably sunk the boat after -they were through with it. That's the way I've doped it out, at least. -At any rate, I can show you the stuff, and you can bring it in; but -you'll have to hurry. Unless you can get there, and the stuff is moved -before Palmer goes home, he may discover us. And he'll be leaving -probably--" - -"No!" The front legs of Bradley's chair came to the floor with a thump. -"My heavens, but you Meadowlark boys work fast when you get started! -There's those young devils over in the Elkhorn, pulling off a bit of -play-acting to make Palmer's gang give themselves away. And here _you_ -come, busting in here with the news--" - -"No time for argument," snapped Delkin. "You men come along and bear -witness to this. If we recover the bank's property, you have a right to -be there, anyway. I think those boys over there will keep Palmer and -his men interested for another hour or two, which will give us time. -Bud, are you alone, or did your uncle come with you?" - -"Lark's at home. I left Jelly on guard, back there; had to take that -crazy old fellow at Palmer's and tie him up. He came and caught me at -the cache, so there was nothing else to do. I wonder if I can borrow a -fresh horse, Mr. Delkin?" - -"By the lord Harry, you can have anything I've got, down to my last -shirt!" As the news took hold of his imagination, Delkin was like -another man. He led the way into the stable and on to the corral, -choosing mounts for his companions and shouting orders to the scurrying -hostler. - -Stauffer and Kline, the two other bank directors, ejaculated futile -comments but failed to contribute anything further than their presence -to the venture. There are always men of that type in any gathering. -They have little to say, they never take the initiative, but they do -add the force of numbers--a useful incident at times. - -"Better tie on some saddlebags, or take a grain sack or two. You -know that stuff is a bit bulky," Bud reminded them. "There must be -twenty-five or thirty pounds of gold, besides the other currency and -papers. I was in too much of a hurry to go over it, after I'd fully -identified it as belonging to the bank. And we'd better go out the back -way by the trail I came in on. Mr. Delkin, I suppose you know whether -your man here needs a gag, or whether he can be trusted to keep his -mouth shut." - -"Say, you don't need to worry about no gag fer _me_, young feller," the -stableman retorted indignantly. "If it's the bank money you're goin' -after, seven hundred and thirty dollars of it belongs t' _me_! I ain't -liable to spill no beans off'n my own plate, I guess." - -"You'd be a fool if you did," Bud laughed. "Well, we don't want a -single solitary soul to know we've left town, or that I've been here. -Mr. Delkin, are you ready?" - -Five saddled horses, following five men who unconsciously held the -reins in their left hands in preparation for any emergency, walked out -of the doorway and into the hot sunlight that lay on the dim trail -which joined the road at the foot of the grade. - -The stableman stood with his back bowed in and his hands on his hips, -teetering up and down on his toes, and watched them go, his jaws -working in absent-minded industry on a tasteless quid of much-chewed -tobacco. - -"I golly, looks like I'll git m' money back, after all!" he cackled -gloatingly, and followed the departing horsemen to the doorway, where -he stood staring after them until not even their bobbing heads were -longer visible as they trotted up the trail. When they were gone, he -turned back grinning to his work. - - - - - CHAPTER FOURTEEN - - "SOMETHING'S ABOUT DUE TO POP!" - - -"This seems a pretty tame proceeding," Bud observed whimsically, when -they had dismounted in the hollow where Gelle was sitting cross-legged -in the grass. "By rights there should be some shooting at the wind-up -of a robbery the size of this one. I did take a prisoner, though, -didn't I? But the old pelican doesn't seem to be very fierce--how'd you -make out, Jelly?" - -Gelle looked up sourly and pointed with his thumb. "I been keepin' the -flies off your treasure trove, Bud, just as long as I'm agoin' to. If -this is all they is to bandit-huntin', I'm goin' home and bug potatoes -fer excitement. Where you goin' now? Snipe huntin'?" - -"I'll watch this fellow," Kline the druggist offered promptly. "Give me -a gun, somebody, in case he wakes up. Lord, that sun's hot!" - -"Yeah, it's nice an' shady here--if shade's what you're after," Gelle -told him dryly. "Bring any lunch baskets? Right nice, shady dell fer a -buck picnic, and I could eat without bein' forced. And say, Bud, any -time you feel like tellin' what you found or expect to find, I'll be -willin' to listen." - -"Come along and I'll show you," Bud grinned. "Palmer's whole outfit's -in town, Delkin says--excepting the cook. We're going to investigate a -rat's nest down here by the river." - -"Yeah?" Gelle looked from one to the other, and then grinned in slowly -awakening amusement that spread to his eyes and left a twinkle there. -"Judgin' from that praise-God look on these plutocrats' faces,--oh, -well, come on!" - -They filed down through the bushes after Bud, who led the way straight -to the hedge and up over rocks that left no trace, to the place where -Skookum had seen his grandfather at work like an old badger. A broken -fragment of ledge lay piled there, and behind the rocks, hidden from -sight until one climbed the pile and looked over, a dry, deep niche, -narrow of mouth and roomy inside, lay revealed. Within it they saw a -jumbled heap of sticks, dead leaves and twigs--a rat's nest, any chance -observer would have sworn. But Bud picked up a larger branch and thrust -away the litter. Delkin crowded past him eagerly and began clawing at -the nearest of three ribbed, iron kegs with tight-fitting lids, such as -are used for storing blasting powder. - -"Gosh, is that money?" Gelle, peering over Delkin's shoulder, spoke in -a hushed tone. "Gosh! Lemme heft one of them kegs, Mr. Delkin!" - -His face red and sweaty with excitement, Delkin tilted the keg on its -side, picked up a canvas sack as if it were very heavy and put it into -Gelle's eager, outstretched hands. He laughed foolishly at the look -of astonishment on the long cowpuncher's face and reached for another -sack. He was like a boy clawing gifts out of his Christmas stocking and -truly believing in Santa Claus. Bud, who had seen how despair could -rack him, swallowed a lump that appeared mysteriously in his throat. It -was worth a lot, he told himself, to see a man so overwhelmingly elated -and happy. - -"Brad, here are those bonds of Morgan's--why do thieves take stuff -they never can use? Stauffer, here, you take charge of these--notes -and mortgages, I guess they are. I wonder if Palmer was foxy enough to -take out that note of his that the bank holds! God, if we could get -Charlie's life back with the rest, I'd be the happiest man on earth! -Well--that's all, I guess. No--but this isn't the bank's. This must -belong to Palmer." - -"Glom it!" Gelle advised grimly, but Delkin shook his head. - -"No--all we want is our own. Well, no use putting back the rubbish, is -there? If they come here at all, they're bound to find out the bank's -property has disappeared. And if we have any luck at all, they'll never -get back here. Jelly, do you want to carry the gold?" - -"I should smile!" Gelle grinned widely to prove it as he held open the -grain sack. "Any chances the gold might some of it rub off on m' shirt? -How much is they, Mr. Delkin?" - -"A little over twelve thousand dollars, according to the books. Brad's -carrying three times as much; yes, Brad's got forty thousand dollars -right there in his hands." - -"Yeah?" Gelle cast a mildly disdainful glance at the package of bank -notes which Bradley was stowing away in a bag. "Mebbe so, but it shore -don't carry the same thrill as what this gold money packs. That why -you left all that money in the keg?" He turned, shoulders slightly -bent under his load, and stared at the emptied powder kegs, and at the -one which was not empty. "It shore is a crime to leave all that good -money there," he complained. "Chances are Palmer stole it, anyway. Me, -I don't believe the old hellion ever did get an honest dollar in his -life. It'd burn his fingers." - -"But that doesn't give us any right to it," Delkin told him firmly. -"Some one is liable to come on a long lope to see how about it. You -fellows go ahead; I'll bring up the rear. And remember, that open -stretch down there is in plain sight of the stables, so you'd better -take it on the trot." - -Gelle did better than that; he sprinted for the bushes ahead of the -other three, got hung up in the wire fence because he tried to crawl -through without slipping the sack of coin to the ground, and so caught -a barb fast in the canvas and had to be helped by Bud, who overtook him -while he was still wriggling like an impaled bug. - -Delkin, Bradley and Stauffer went on and were jubilating in hushed -voices with Kline when the Meadowlark contingent arrived. They stood -apart from the old man, who still snored comfortably with his lips -puffed out through his thin whiskers. Bud's capture was likely to prove -embarrassing. - -"What'll we do?" Bradley asked impatiently. "Can't turn him loose -here--and Kline says he's been asleep all this while, so he doesn't -know yet we've come on to the scene. Jelly, can't you stay right here -and watch him for a while--till Bud comes back?" - -Gelle stood with the sack of gold between his feet, as if he meant to -protect it from all claimants, and stared glumly from one to the other. - -"I can, yes. But I shore hate to like hell," he admitted sourly. -"You'll go awn in an' have a scrap, chances are, an' I'll be settin' -here like a knot on a log, watchin' this ole pelican's whiskers wave in -and out. Excitin', ain't it? Damn fine way to spend an afternoon! When -it comes to thinkin' up things fer me to do, you shore have got bright -idees!" - -"Seems to be about the only thing we can do about it, Jelly," Bud -said soothingly. "We could tie him up, but even then it wouldn't be -absolutely safe. You can't blame these bankers for not wanting to take -a chance of losing all this money, now that they have it back. He might -get loose and warn Palmer in some way. We'll go back by a roundabout -way through the hills, just because they don't want a soul to know -they've got the money. Once that's safe, we'll go after Palmer and his -bunch, yes. But you must see, Jelly, that--" - -"Oh, hell, go awn and leave me to m' thoughts!" Gelle pulled down the -corners of his mouth, stepped over the gold, turned back and gave it a -kick as if he would show his familiarity with it, and grinned at Bud. -"I never did have no luck, nohow." He lounged over and sat down beside -the sleeper, and spat disgustedly into the lush grass near by. He waved -them toward town, made a derisive gesture and started to roll a smoke, -giving them no further attention. - -"Jelly's a fine boy, all right, and it's a damned shame he has to -stand guard--but I'm darned if I'm sorry enough for him to stay in -his place," Bud observed with futile sympathy, when they were riding -townward by devious trails which kept to the hills and concealed them -from any passer-by on the road. "Still--are you dead sure Palmer's -bunch will stay in town?" - -Bradley laughed. - -"The way Tony and the boys had it framed, Palmer's gang will give no -heed to the passing hours. You know, of course, what the boys meant to -do?" - -"I didn't know they meant to do anything," Bud confessed. "Darn 'em, -they must have held out on me." - -"Well, now, if they don't get hung before we hit town, they may stir up -something interesting. The idea was to play off drunk, and when the -crowd was pretty thoroughly worked up, seeing them spend money--gold -money which they acted sneaking about--each one of the boys planned to -get a Palmer man off in a corner, do the 'weeping-drunk' and confess -that he went down river from Meadowlark Basin in a boat, killed Charlie -and robbed the bank, and that he had the stuff cached and wanted a man -he could trust to help him get the stuff safely out of the country. -They had it planned out to the last detail: how long it ought to take -them to get so drunk they'd confide in a man they never had chummed -with, and just how they'd manage to lead up to the subject. Tony said -he'd take Bat Johnson into his confidence, and Rosen was to tackle -Palmer himself, I believe. Bob and Mark were going to buttonhole Ed -White and the Mexican. It sure sounded like it might work--if they -don't get lynched, as I said. - -"They figure that one or all of Palmer's gang will get so uneasy there -will be a general stampede to where the money's hidden to see if the -Meadowlark boys have any of them found out where it's cached. Either -that, or they'll give themselves away by wanting to fight or something. -Of course," he added, glancing down with a grin at the bundle tied at -the fork of his saddle, "they didn't know we'd have the stuff safely -put away long before they could trail any one to the spot where it was -hid." - -"And they expect to stay sober long enough to put that over?" Bud's -lips tilted upwards with amusement. - -"You bet they did! Just before you showed up, they'd poured whisky all -over themselves, by the smell. On the outside," he added meaningly. "I -don't see how they'd dare light a cigarette--they were sure saturated." - -Bud touched his borrowed horse with the spurs. - -"We'd better be riding," he called over his shoulder. "If I know -anything about that bunch, something's about due to pop!" - - - - - CHAPTER FIFTEEN - - "JELLY" GETS IN ACTION - - -Nothing is more disconcerting than to make elaborate plans which -provide for every mishap save the one which afterwards looks absolutely -inevitable. Tony had been deeply concerned over the integrity of his -actors, and concentrated all his energies upon keeping himself and -his fellow-actors sober, quite overlooking the obvious result of a -meeting between Palmer's men and the Meadowlark boys. Tony should have -remembered that a feud had existed since early spring; better still, he -should have taken it for granted that the Palmer gang had circulated -enough falsehoods just lately to render them self-conscious and a bit -too ready to defend themselves if a Meadowlark man but looked their way. - -Tony, absorbed in playing his part, was forced to take a drink or two -at the bar--along with the three other members of his amateur comedy -company--before he could plausibly detach himself from his fellows and -wabble over to the pool table where he stood grinning a silly grin -and applauding Bat Johnson's mediocre game. Tony did not know it, but -his eyes held an unfriendly, calculating gleam and they clung rather -tenaciously to Bat; which was not exactly reassuring to a man with as -much on his conscience as made Bat's slumbers uneasy and troubled with -bad dreams. A man with that silly grin stretching his lips, while above -the grin his eyes stare with a malevolent intentness, need wear no -other sign to warn a sober man. Bat Johnson was not drunk. - -"Y're a good man, Bat," Tony burbled, when Bat had reached up his cue -and slid the last set of buttons toward the center. "W' played out y'r -string, Bat--played out y'r string, ain't yuh?" - -"What's that?" Bat whirled upon him. "What do you mean by that, you -drunken four-flush?" - -"Y'r a good--what'd you say? Four-flush? Me a four-flush--me?" Tony -remembered to shake his head in drunken grief. "Bat, I--I never thought -you'd shpeak t' me like that, I--" - -"It ain't me that's played out my string," Bat told him viciously. "You -wait till a few Meadowlark necks git twisted! A string er two's been -played out there, my fine buckaroo. Folks is gittin' damn' tired of -them birds. You're one of 'em and you've about warbled yore last song. -Git outa my way b'fore I kill yuh!" - -Even the best actors may forget their parts when the proper cue is -not given. Had Bat been friendly, or even neutral, Tony would have -swallowed his feelings and gone ahead with his original lines. But you -simply can't confide your guilt to a man like that, no matter what -vital issue is at stake. - -Still, Tony was vastly surprised at himself for knocking Bat head -first over the pool table, because not even two unaccustomed drinks of -whisky could convince him that this was a diplomatic opening to the -confidential talk he had planned to have with Bat. He wondered dully -whether he had spoiled the whole thing, or whether Bat would forgive -the blow on account of Tony's irresponsible condition, and still -consent to listen to the story which Tony had so carefully prepared to -pour out at the urge of a drunken impulse. - -But then Bat picked himself up and came at him with a billiard cue, and -Tony decided quite suddenly that what he really wanted--and the only -thing he wanted--was to show Bat exactly where to head in at (quoting -Tony). He snatched up a ball and laughed when he saw how it bounced -off Bat's head, leaving Bat dazed and waving the cue vaguely until his -head stopped spinning. - -"Yeah--you better go git into yore boat and drift on down the river!" -Tony chortled recklessly. "I don't reckon yuh had a billiard cue handy -at the bank, did yuh? Had t' kill Charlie with yore gun. Think nobody's -wise to you an' yore bunch, ay? Well, you and--" - -A big, firm hand slipped over Tony's mouth and stopped him at that -point, and the arm belonging to the hand seemed in a fair way of -throttling him. - -"You damn drunken fool," Bob hissed in his ear. "Think us boys all -stayed sober jest fer the fun of seein' you drunk an' shootin' off yore -mouth thataway?" - -Jack Rosen jumped a card table and kicked over two chairs, but he -landed on Bat Johnson in time to spoil his aim, so the shot went wild. -Big Mark Hanley grabbed Tex and Ed White, a hand on each collar, and -butted their heads together while he whooped his glee at the way things -were going. Other men scattered when they saw these two clawing for -their guns. - -"Hey! I ain't got nobody t' lick!" wailed Tony, seeing how the other -boys were occupied, the whisky beginning to boil angrily in his blood. -"Where's Palmer?" - -No one seemed to know, or if they did they gave no sign. They made way -for Tony's headlong rush for the door, where he saw that Palmer was -already riding out of sight up the street. For a moment he was tempted -to follow him; but time would be lost while he saddled his horse, and -Palmer would have a start that would make it difficult to overtake -him if he wanted to hurry. Moreover, sounds in the saloon behind him -indicated that at least two fights were progressing with much vigor. -Tony turned back to the fray and let Palmer go. - -Had he ridden a bit faster Palmer would probably have seen Delkin and -his party cross the road and turn into the hills on their way back to -town with the bank's money. As it was, he rode at his usual racking -trot and so arrived home not long after Gelle had taken his prisoner to -the house and locked him in a room off the kitchen, where he promptly -went to sleep again. - -"Dass way Blinkah, he always do, Mist' Meddalahk, when Boss he go awn -to town. Gittin' old, he is. Yass, suh, Blinkah he do need a pow'ful -lot a slumbah. Wha' foh yo'all want wif dat ole cuss, skusin' de -question?" - -"Hell, I don't want him," Gelle denied pensively. "All I want is -another drink of that buttermilk, and mebby a bite of somethin' to eat, -Snowball. It's Bud that wants the old man. He come leadin' him along to -where it was shady and cool, and then he told me I had to go and set -with him fer company. I don't want him atall. I'm jest keepin' cases -till I find out what Bud's idee was of havin' me day-herd the old coot. -He ain't done a thing but sleep ever since I went on guard." - -Sam grinned, showing an amazing lot of teeth. - -"Yessuh, Mist' Meddalahk, he sho' kin sleep when chance comes along. -Boss, he make a great ole niggah-drivah down Souf--yessuh, he sho' -would do so! Ain' much sleepin' when Boss is home; nothin' but wuhk fo' -ole Blinkah 'n' me. - -"Ah sho' admire to git yo'all somethin' to eat, if Boss, he doan' come -ketch me. Lawsy, Mist' Meddalahk, ef Boss, he come ridin' along home, -Ah'd sho' 'preciate it ef yo'all lock up ole Sam jes' lak Blinkah. An' -ef Boss, he s'picions Ah never made no desistunce, Ah'd lak lil small -cut, mebby, on mah haid to show. Boss, he's pow'ful s'picious man, -Mist' Meddalahk, yessuh." - -"Say, the boys call me Jelly. Don't be so darn formal, Snowball, or -I'll likely give you a lump about the size of a goose egg to show. You -set out the grub, and I'll mebby lock you up jest fer a josh. I dunno -but what I like the idee." - -Thus it happened that Gelle was sitting with his mouth full and his -jaws working comfortably when Palmer rode up to the gate, leaned and -unlatched it, sidled his horse through and closed the gate afterwards. -Perhaps he noticed fresh horse tracks that were strange, though Gelle's -horse stood tied in the bushes at the edge of the gully. Perhaps Palmer -saw the imprint of Gelle's boots. Whatever the cause, he eyed the house -as if he knew some danger lurked within--or perhaps he was merely -estimating the amount of damage done to his shingles. - -Gelle had not expected him back. He took up his glass of buttermilk -and washed down the mouthful of bread and butter with one huge -swallow, drew his hand hastily across his mouth and did a rapid mental -calculation. - -"Yo're my prisoner, Snowball," he said over his shoulder. "I might give -you another dollar if you do a good job of playin' dead till I holler -when. Go awn and take a nap with the old man while I talk to yore Boss." - -From the yard a harsh voice called Sam, and after a minute's -hesitation Gelle motioned him forward. - -"Act natural, Snowball, or I'll spill you all over the room," he -muttered. - -"Boss, he's pow'ful mean man. He kill dis ole niggah--" Sam held up his -two shaking hands, the palms pinkish as if he had worn off the color. - -"Gwan--answer him! He ain't goin' to have a chance at yuh. I want t' -git him inside, Snowball. Gwan." - -Palmer shouted again, and Sam caught up a chipped yellow bowl and stood -forth bravely enough, though Gelle, standing just out of sight behind -the door, could see how his legs were shaking. - -"Yessuh, Boss, yessuh." Sam ducked his head propitiatingly. - -"Sam, who's been here to the house? No lies, you damn' worthless black -whelp!" - -"Heah? To dis house? Ah dunno zackly, Boss, Ah-h--" He took another -breath and plunged. "Sho'ht time aftah yo'all rode off, Boss, man he -comes lopin' along. Wants to speak wid yo'all, 'cawdin' to what he -says. Ah says yo'all ain't heah an' 'tain't pawssible he kin speak wid -yo'all. He hang eroun' awn his hawse, but he doan' shoot no gun, an' -bimeby he ride awn off." - -"Did, ay? Anybody you know?" - -"No-suh, Boss, Ah doan' reckon Ah knows dat cowboy, nohow. But Ah -notice, Boss, he's got Meddalahk brand on he's hawse--" - -Palmer swore such fluent, heartfelt oaths that Gelle grinned and -whispered to Sam that there was one thing old Palmer wasn't stingy -with, and that was cuss words. - -"Which way--here, come back here, you damn' lazy idiot, and tell me -which way he went!" - -"'Clah to goodness, Boss, Ah so plum tickled he's goin', Ah doan' -rightly know! Awn up river som'ers, Boss." Sam rolled his eyes in -terror, for Palmer was climbing down from his horse in the manner that -promised blows delivered upon the first luckless object within reach. - -"Scoot!" whispered Gelle, pointing toward the door of the small room -beyond. Then remembering that the door was locked, he strode across -on his toes, unlocked it and thrust Sam headfirst inside. He had just -turned the key and faced the outside doorway when Palmer stepped in. - -Surprise halted Palmer just an instant too long, for Gelle gave a long -leap and landed a blow with his fist that rocked Palmer and brought -both hands up and away from his gun, vaguely attempting to ward off -another blow that landed full on the nose. Tears of pain started to -Palmer's eyes, but he fought back viciously and shouted for Sam. - -"The coon's locked up," Gelle told him between clenched teeth. -"'Twouldn't help yuh none to have him here. Leggo that gun! Damn yuh, I -could have shot yuh down like a dog if I'd wanted to!" - -Before he had finished, Gelle was tempted to regret his fair dealing. -They swayed the full length of the kitchen, locked in each other's -arms. Palmer managed to get him by the throat and beat his head against -the wall until points of light whirled before Gelle's eyes. He tore -loose, filled his lungs with one great gasp and tripped Palmer, who -pulled the table over on top of them as he went down, clawing like -fighting cats. Gelle got the edge of a board in the ribs and felt a -sickening crack and after that the flaming agony of a splintered rib -prodding tender flesh, but he hung tenaciously with knees and fingers -and managed to stay on top. - -The fight ended when Gelle snatched up the heavy earthen pitcher -that had held buttermilk and had come through the upheaval without a -crack. He swung the pitcher aloft by the handle and brought it down -on Palmer's head--breaking both. At least there was no doubt about the -pitcher, and as for Palmer, he gave a convulsive shudder and went limp, -and a cut on his head began to swell as the blood oozed out. - -Gelle pulled himself up, grunting with the pain in his side, and looked -down at the havoc he had wrought. He would have set the table back on -its legs, but the effort was too painful, so he went staggering over to -the bedroom door and unlocked Sam, bringing him out with an imperative, -beckoning gesture, Palmer's gun in his hand. Sam came as if he were -being kicked out, with his back bowed in and his fingers spread ready -to ward off a blow. - -"Get a rope or something to tie him up," Gelle ordered sharply. "I -ain't goin' to hurt you, Snowball--not if you behave. That'll do. Pull -his hands around behind him--no, he ain't dead. He'll come to after a -while. Get a wiggle on." - -"Yessuh, yessuh, Mist' Meddalahk." - -"All right--fine. Now, jest drag him in there, will you, Snowball? And -lock the door; or, no, jest drag him in there. The darn cuss might take -a notion to die on my hands, and I want him alive; so you can keep an -eye on him. When he comes to himself, I wanta talk to him." - -"Yessuh, Mist' Meddalahk, yo'all sho' am a hahd man to git shet of -bein' talked to!" Now that Palmer was safely tied, Sam could afford -to take a full breath and to grin once more at his new friend. "When -yo'all say you wanta talk wif a man, 'tain't no use to avoid de -cawnvusashum--'tain't no mannah of use atall. Might as well make -de bes' of it an' _talk_. Yessuh, Mist' Meddalahk, yo'all sho' am -detumined!" - -Gelle laughed, but that did not cause him to relax his watchfulness. - -"What about the men that work here, Snowball? Purty good friends of -yourn, ain't they?" - -"Friends uh mine? Bat 'n' dat ah Mex, 'n' Ed friends uh _mine_? No, -suh, Mist' Meddalahk, dey ain't no friends ob nobody but deyselfs. Dem -fellahs, dey so plum mean an' awnery, dey jes' about hate deyselfs mos' -awl de time. No, suh, Ah ain't got no friends--not on dis heah ranch, -Ah ain'. Cusses an' kicks, dat 'bout awl Ah evah gits aroun' heah." - -"Oh, all right. I just wondered, because if they come lopin' home, I'm -liable to need more rope. Snowball--" - -"Yessuh, yessuh, Ah gits moah rope direckly, Mist' Meddalahk. Lawsy, -how dem fellahs do lie to dis heah ole niggah 'bout you gemman at de -Meddalahk! Yessuh, dey sho' do lie!" - -"Got anything to bandage a broken rib?" - -Sam gave him a startled roll of eyeballs and hurried out. Gelle heard -him clumping around overhead for a few minutes and wondered what he was -up to. But when Sam came down he had a sheet, yellowed and smelling a -bit musty; and over his arm was hung a coil of cotton clothes-line. - -"Onlies' sheet in de house was up in de lof'. Big trunk awl wrop up wid -dis heah rope. Mist' Meddalahk, suh, Ah mighty sorry yo'all done bruk a -rib, kase mo' fightin' sho' is boun' t' come along when dem three gits -heah, an' ole Sam, he ain' no good nohow." - -"You can tie 'em up if I can get 'em into the house and pull down on -'em with my gun. Purty tame way to git 'em, but I guess it'll be best -to play safe. How soon you reckon they're liable to come?" - -But Sam, of course, did not know. All they could do was wait and hope -for action before dark. There was, Gelle knew upon reflection, small -chances that the three Palmer men would be left to ride unhindered out -of Smoky Ford, once Delkin's party arrived. Palmer they had of course -missed on the way, but unless his men left soon after he did, they -would be captured and held in town until the sheriff could come and -get them. It was just a bit of good luck that had sent Palmer into his -hands. - -And then, not more than half an hour after they had finished their -preparations and time was beginning to drag, a scattered fusillade of -shots came crackling thinly from the pasture, down near the ledge. - -Gelle got up too carelessly and was obliged to sit down again, white -and sweating. Sam was goggling at him as if in Gelle's face he could -read the explanation of the sounds. - -"Our boys chased 'em out, mebbe," Gelle muttered, speaking in that -repressed tone which comes of not being able to take a deep breath. -"Still--I dunno. Gee, I'd love to be down there! All I git outa this -deal is sittin' around whilst the rest plays. Listen at 'em, Snowball! -Darn the luck, anyway!" - - - - - CHAPTER SIXTEEN - - "WHO SHOT BAT AND ED WHITE" - - -Life would sometimes be simpler if events were more evenly spaced -and periods of inaction put to a better use by letting them hold the -incidents that otherwise must pile on top of one another and crowd -one day overfull of excitement. But so long as we remain unscientific -enough to take things just as they come and let our emotions rule our -hands and feet, life will continue to go steady by jerks. - -Take this day in Smoky Ford and at the Palmer ranch, just seven miles -out yet well within the trouble zone. If there is anything in thought -vibrations, Tony and Bud must have owned powerful mental dynamos and -set them working full speed that morning. The pity is that they did not -work altogether in harmony, but instead set up different currents of -violent thought action--and most of the mental activity gyrated around -that money looted from the bank. - -The money itself was safe enough, once it reached Delkin's stable. -Delkin was a shrewd man when sudden misfortune did not upset him, and -his method of safeguarding the bank's property was truly ingenious. - -Among his horses was one with the significant name, The Butcher. His -character lived up to his name, and with the exception of the stableman -and Delkin himself, not a man in Smoky Ford would venture within reach -of his teeth or his heels--and both had an amazing reach, by the way. -Delkin studied long and deeply over the safest place--barring the -bank--for the money and papers, and his cogitations brought him finally -to The Butcher. The bank, he considered, was out of the question for -the present. Some one would be sure to see them carrying the stuff -inside, and the news would spread like scandal. Until Palmer's gang was -safe behind the bars, it must be taken for granted that the money was -still missing. - -This naturally left Delkin thinking of The Butcher, and the more he -thought of him the easier he felt in his mind. The Butcher had his own -little corral for exercise, his own box stall. Moreover, the manger was -built high and had a false bottom nearly two feet from the floor. Who -in Smoky Ford would ever dream of finding anything in The Butcher's box -stall, even if they dared look there? - -Delkin did not say a word until they reached the stable and he had -sent the stableman up into the office to watch for chance callers. The -Butcher was out in the corral, and Delkin closed the stall door to make -sure that the horse would stay outside for a while. Even then he took -only Bradley into his confidence, after the others had gone to see what -was doing in the saloons and whether the Palmer men were still in town, -and what the Meadowlark boys had gained by confession. Not even Bud -suspected Delkin of having a secret, but supposed that the money would -be kept in the office until it could be transferred to the bank vault. - -Instead, the two men carried it into the box stall, pried up a board in -the manger and dropped everything underneath, replaced the board and -the hay in the manger and heaved sighs of relief. Then Delkin waved -Bradley out of the stall, opened the outer door and called The Butcher -in. He came, nickering softly for a lump of sugar, got it and nibbled -daintily while Delkin slipped out and shut the door. It was a bit early -to shut up The Butcher, but the stableman would not bother with him -unless he had to; Delkin knew that. - -"There! We needn't worry about anybody stealing it to-night," grinned -Delkin. "Unless the stable gets afire we're dead safe, Brad. We can -leave it right here until we are ready to open up the bank again. Now, -let's get after Palmer and his gang." - -They met Bud coming with four much-ruffled Meadowlarks, a small, -rat-eyed Mexican hustled along in their midst. Bud's eyes were once -more snapping with excitement, the others inclined to glassy stares -through red and swollen lids. - -"Here's the one they call Mex. Took two knives off him, and the boys -got a gun. Haven't located Palmer and Bat yet," Bud announced, as the -two bankers hurried toward them. - -"Aw, they crawled off t' die som'ers!" Tony pompously declared. "We -licked 'em to a fare-ye-well. Didn't we lick 'em, boys?" - -"Shore enough did," Mark Hanley boasted. "Put 'em both awn the run. One -of 'em chawed m' ear off, purty near, but I got 'im." - -"Sh'd say we licked 'em!" big Bob boasted. "Now I'm goin' to git drunk." - -"Yes, y' betcha!" Jack Rosen approved gravely. - -"Betcha they know now who the thieves is an' who the murderers is," -Tony cried exultantly. "Told 'em m'self. Called the turn on that -boat--made 'em swaller twice, that did! Told 'em I could put m' hands -awn--" - -"Good Lord!" Bud gave Delkin and Bradley a quick look that had in it a -good deal of consternation. "They'll beat it out of the country now. -Gone for the loot, and they won't stop short of the Badlands. Tony, you -damn' chump, why didn't you keep your face closed?" - -"Why? Had t' open it, didn't I, t' swaller a drink er two? Me, I don't -drink only with m' eyes, I tell you those! Had t' open m' mouth, -anyway--thought I might as well use it. Wha's matter with that? They -_are_ thieves an' murderers, ain't they? Told 'em so--licked 'em to a -frazzle. Didn't we, boys?" - -"Damn' right," three voices growled in chorus. - -"Palmer, he run out on us, 'r we'd licked him too. This Mex, here, he's -licked. Howled like a pup. Didn't you, Mex?" Tony turned gravely to the -cringing captive, who nodded sullen surrender. - -"Well, get your horses," Bud snapped. "You've got some riding to do -now, you're so darn gay and festive. How long have they been gone? Do -you know?" - -They thought they knew exactly, but their answers were so conflicting -that Bud and Delkin finally took the word of a boy who volunteered -the information that Bat and Ed White had ridden out of town about ten -minutes ago, headed toward home. - -"We'll have to fan the breeze, boys, and we may wind up in the -Badlands. Mr. Bradley, we'd better take a little grub--sardines and -crackers, or something like that. Because if we don't overhaul them at -the ranch, we'll just keep on going." - -"I'll bring some stuff to the stable," said Bradley, and started on a -trot to the store. - -"Oh, hell, and we don't get drunk at all!" Big Bob Leverett complained -disgustedly. "Wish I had the whisky I washed m' face in. A hull quart -of Metropole gone t' granny!" - -Bud whirled on the group and stared angrily from one to the other. - -"You're drunk enough," he said contemptuously. "You fellows seem to -think this is just a picnic. Do you want me to round up a posse here -in Smoky Ford, and tell them that we've got the goods on the gang that -killed Charlie and robbed the bank and that we're going after them, but -our own men are too drunk to be of any use? I can take a town bunch, if -you say so, and let you boys stay here and swill whisky. It would be a -consistent finish to the damage you've done already--telling the gang -that we're wise to them, rough-housing awhile like any other drunken -chumps, and then letting them all get off except this greaser who may -not know a thing about it." His lip curled in a sneer. "A hell of an -outfit you are to round up outlaws!" - -"Gwan an' git your Smoky Ford posse if you want to, Bud," Tony said -stiffly, the whisky fumes swept clean from his brain by the hurt Bud -had given. "While you're gittin' them, we'll hit the trail. Come awn, -boys." - -They took the remaining distance in a run, and they were saddled and -ducking under the stable doorway and racing off up the road and out of -town while Bud was still waiting for Bradley to come with supplies, -and Delkin was telephoning the sheriff to come as quick as the Lord -would let him. Smoky Ford itself saw only that the Meadowlark boys were -in town raising Cain again, never dreaming that their one big tragedy -of the summer was reaching a fortuitous climax, under the guise of a -drunken fight in a saloon. - -The Mexican, dropped unceremoniously when the boys ran for their -horses, would have ducked out of sight completely if Bud had not seen -his first furtive sidling and caught him by the collar. Him they -turned over to the stableman for safe-keeping. He would be kept safe, -because the stableman hated any man not of his own race, as is the way -of certain cramped souls. - -"Now, we'll have to fan it," Bud cried impatiently, "before those -drunken punchers of ours do some other fool thing. How soon will the -sheriff get here, Mr. Delkin?" - -"Wel-l, it's about four-thirty now--little more. Oughta make it by -ten or eleven. I was lucky to catch him in the office. Just got in -off a wild goose chase down river, he said. I told him if we aren't -here or at Palmer's, he better pick up our trail there. Didn't mention -getting the money back--too darn many mule-ears on the line. Didn't say -anything definite, only I needed him right away, and he'd find me out -at Palmer's or somewhere beyond. He'll come on a long lope. And say, -Bud, the way the boys shot out the door and took off up the road, I -don't believe they were so darn drunk after all!" - -"Why?" The harsh judgment of youth still held Bud's reason in thrall. -"Think it takes brains to stay on a horse? I never saw our boys too -drunk to ride, Mr. Delkin. It's all right--if they take it out in -riding and don't attempt to _think_." - -Unconsciously Bud maligned those four. They weren't so far from being -sober, once they were out of the atmosphere of the saloon and pelting -up the road in the cooling breeze of late afternoon. In spite of Bud's -opinion of their mental condition, the four were beginning to think. - -"Know what old Palmer done?" Bob Leverett, soberest of the four, half -turned in the saddle to face the others as they raced along. "Went -after the dough they took from the bank. I'd bet money on it. He heard -them cracks you made to Bat about the boat, Tony. That's about when he -beat it. Great friend, ain't he? Quit his men cold at the first word -you let drop. Betcha he's got the money and gone with it." - -"Betcha we ain't fur behind 'im," Tony flashed back. "Bud, he makes me -sore! Tell you right now, I don't like the way he rares up an' gives us -this high-schoolin' talk when things don't go jest to suit his idees. -Hell, I punched cows before Bud was big enough t' keep his own nose -clean! Drunk! Huh!" - -"Bud, he's a good kid enough, but he's _just_ a kid," Mark Hanley -opined. "Swell-headed; knows it all; thinks a little schoolin' gives -him a license t' ride herd on us boys like we was yearlin's turned out -in the spring. C'm awn--mebbe we kin round up the bunch 'fore he gits -there. Learn 'im a little somethin', mebbe." - -"Well, I don't want to make any brash statements," said Rosen, "but I -betcha Bud, he'll wish 't he'd trailed with our party, 'stead of his -own, 'fore he's through. We got 'em runnin' for the boodle, and now -we'll fog along behind and glom em jest about the time they git it." - -Bob Leverett nodded and pricked his horse with the spurs, and the -others lunged ahead to keep pace with him. They were yet some distance -from the house when they heard the distant pop of gunshots--the -unmistakable _pow-w_ of a .45 fired several times in quick succession, -or else one or two shots from several guns. And, riding hard to the -gate, they were not too late to see the tell-tale blue haze down by the -pasture gate to show where the shooting had taken place. - -Bob, in the lead, opened the gate and let it swing wide to where the -weight sagged it down so that it dropped against a rock and remained -there. The three pounded through and took his dust to the stable and -beyond, passing the house without a glance toward it. - -"It's dem Meddalahks dat shot shingles off ouah roof, suh," Sam called -excitedly to Gelle, who was standing in the kitchen door with his -six-shooter in his hand and a longing look in his eyes. "Now moah -shootin' takes place direckly, Mist' Meddalahk. Yessuh, dey shuah can -shoot!" - -"My luck--always settin' around in the shade watchin' the rest of the -bunch have all the fun!" Gelle turned back, walked very circumspectly -to the bedroom door, turned the knob and looked in. "Yore boss is -showin' signs of life, Snowball. Guess I better camp here, seein' -he's the old he-one of the bunch. Tell you what you do, Snowball. You -go down there and tell the boys Jelly's here with a rib broke into a -thousand pieces, an' old Palmer's hog-tied; so I can't leave, nohow. -Will you do that?" - -"Ah--Ah do anything awn uth fer yo'all, Mist' Meddalahk. Ah--ef dey all -shoots ole Sam, Ah wish yo'all 'd kinely keep dis heah dollah fo' tokum -ob ma gratefulness, Mist' Meddalahk, suh." - -Gelle took the dollar, looked queerly at Sam and gave it back. He took -what was left of the sheet, thrust it into the negro's shaking hands -and grinned reassuringly. - -"You wave that, Snowball, and they won't shoot. I'm kinda afraid they -might go out the other way, up along the field to the road. You -ketch 'em, Snowball, and I'll give you another dollar when you bring -'em back. Tell 'em what I said--I got Palmer hog-tied, but my rib is -stickin' through my liver er somethin' like that, so I can't fan down -there. Gwan." - -Sam went, waving the torn sheet every step of the way; a brave thing -to do, considering how scared he was. And Gelle, watching anxiously -from the doorway, wondered why the shooting did not begin again, now -that his fellows were at hand. For that matter, since it was not the -Meadowlark boys who had started the gun-fighting in the pasture, down -by the ledge, who was it? He had Palmer safe, and so far as he knew, -Bat Johnson and the others had not returned from town. Certainly they -had not passed the house, or Sam would have seen them. Yet they must -have left town, or the Meadowlark boys would not be here. - -"If I don't find out how about it right pronto, I'll bust!" Gelle -complained to a lean cat that came walking up the path with a chipmunk -in its mouth,--earning its board, Gelle thought irrelevantly while he -waited, sight and hearing strained to catch some indication of what was -going on down there. It was too quiet. Gelle did not like it at all. - -And then from the road to town came the pluckety-pluckety tattoo of -galloping horses, and Bud, Delkin and Bradley swerved without checking -their pace and came racing through the gateway; saw Gelle standing in -the doorway and reined closer to the house. Bud's horse stopped in two -stiff-legged jumps within ten feet of Gelle. - -"It's down in the pasture, whatever's goin' on," Gelle called, without -waiting to be asked. "I got Palmer tied up in here--the boys went -foggin' past--there was some shootin', but it quit before they got -there. For the Lord sake, go bring me some news!" - -At that moment the boys came loping around the end of the stable, -riding loose and in no great hurry. - -"Show's over," Tony bellowed, with possibly a shade of mean triumph in -his voice--for Bud's benefit. "Bat and Ed, they're down there in the -pasture deader'n last year. That Mex and ole Palmer's about all there -is left to hang, and we glommed the Mex and Jelly's got Palmer. Bud, -you might as well gwan home. Us boys have wound things up for yuh." - -"Yes? Did you get the money back?" Bud was young enough and human -enough to take that fling at them. - -"Oh, no-o--but that's a mere detail. We ain't come to that yet." -Tony's manner was still charged with triumph. - -"Say, who shot Bat an' Ed White?" Gelle's mind pounced upon the one -puzzling point in the affair. "You fellers didn't. There wasn't a shot -fired after you boys passed the house." - -"Why--we figured they shot each other. Bat's gun was still smokin' when -we got there, and Ed's gun was warm. Bat had fired three shots and Ed -White two--" - -"Yeah? Who fired them other four or five shots? I counted nine er ten, -I wasn't shore which. How many 'd you hear, Snowball?" - -Sam had just arrived, puffing from haste and excitement. - -"Jes' what yo'all heah, Mist' Meddalahk, yessuh. Me, Ah doan' count -good nohow, but Ah's shuah Ah huhd shootin' lak dey nevah would run -outa bullits. Ah counts mighty slow, but Ah huhd jes' as many as what -yo'all huhd." - -"Sounded like more than five to me," Bob Leverett declared, now that -the subject was opened. "More like about four guns in action than two; -three, anyway. Reckon there's more in the gang that we don't know -about?" - -"That," said Delkin, "is what we must find out." - - - - - CHAPTER SEVENTEEN - - "BUD AND JELLY; ONE OR BOTH" - - -With two of the boys--Mark Hanley and Bob Leverett--on guard over the -bodies of Bat Johnson and Ed White, the remainder of the party returned -to the house in a thoughtful mood. Certain small details puzzled them, -and Bud appeared to be the most worried man among them, though he did -not say much. What he did do was give Gelle a meaning glance and tilt -of the head when no one was looking, and then stroll out to the well -some distance away and down hill at that--too many ranchers seeming to -believe that the cook needed exercise. In a couple of minutes Gelle -came walking circumspectly down the slope, his face twisted with pain -of moving. - -"What's eatin' on yuh, Bud? Thought I told yuh I got about four inches -of rib wound around my backbone," he complained, as he came up. - -Bud's eyes were somber as on the day of the bank tragedy, and he gave -no sign of sympathy--proof of how worried he was. - -"Jelly, there's going to be a kick-back in this thing if we aren't -mighty careful. Bradley and Delkin are wondering right now how polite -they can be about Palmer's money being gone. Are you sure he came -straight here to the house from town?" - -"Yeah, I saw him ride up to the gate and open it and ride in. I wish -now I'd throwed down on the ole coot before he got into the house. I'd -'a' saved me a busted rib. But I was scared maybe the rest was right -behind him, Bud, an' I wanted to git 'em all. Gittin' Palmer inside the -house, what I done to him wouldn't be publick. That's what comes of -bein' a hawg," he added grimly. Then he came back to the meat of Bud's -question. "Why, Bud, is Palmer's cash missin'?" - -"Yes, and Bat Johnson and Ed White were dead before they reached the -ledge. They didn't have any money to speak of; a little chicken feed in -their pants pockets was all. Our boys don't know where the stuff was -hidden, and I went with Delkin and the others to town and came back -with them. So you see, Jelly--" - -"Yeah, I see, all right." Gelle's eyes went cold as they bored into -Bud's mind. "Well, what d' you think about it yourself, Bud?" - -"I?" Bud looked at him straight. "Whatever you say, Jelly, goes with -me." - -Gelle stared longer, exhaled a long breath and relaxed to a mirthless -grin. - -"I oughta lick you, Bud, fer needin' my word. But friendship wabbles -when there's money in sight, so--I never went near the damn' place -after I packed that back-load of gold away from it. You was behind -me--behind us all, fer that matter." Gelle's sudden grin turned a -little sardonic. "Still, whatever you say goes with me! I kin be as -good a friend as you kin, Bud." - -Bud had to laugh, though he felt little enough like it. - -"You win, Jelly. I'd have had to do some quick work, but I suppose it -would have been humanly possibly for me to duck back up the ledge, grab -Palmer's money and come along with it until I saw a place to ditch it -where I could come back after it. Fast work--but I did stand in the -fringe of the trees by the ledge and watch the stables here until you -fellows were out of sight. I wanted to make darn sure you weren't seen." - -"Well, I didn't go back either. But the fact remains that the cache is -cleaned out--in a hurry, by the look of things around there. And these -two dead men dropped in the open, just inside the gate and before they -had been to the ledge. For one thing, Jelly, our boys weren't so very -far behind them, so Bat and Ed wouldn't have had time to get the stuff, -hide it somewhere else and then get into a fight over it and kill each -other off before our boys came. They'd have had to do faster work than -I would to have raided the cave while you fellows crossed the open down -there." - -"And awn the other hand, you fellers rode off and left me in easy -walkin' distance of the money, and the old man sound asleep and -snorin'." Gelle reasoned it out soberly, stating the evidence against -himself quite as impartially as Bud had done in his own case. "Yea, I'm -the pelican, too, that told Delkin to grab the works. Looks like I'm -bogged, right now, and sinkin' fast. Bud, on the face of it, you an' me -both is guilty as hell. Ain't we?" - -"On the face of it, yes." Bud studied the evidence while he finished -rolling a cigarette. "Of course, we can't tell yet just how it will -affect the case against Palmer. Not at all, maybe. That's something we -have nothing to do with. I wanted you to know the money Delkin left in -the cache was gone--how much, none of us know, of course. It's mighty -mysterious, don't you think? Say, Jelly, what about those shots? Are -you dead certain you heard more than five?" - -"Shore I am. But I couldn't prove it, Bud--not in a thousand years. -Snowball, his word ain't no good, so there y' are. I believe in my -heart that somebody else was after that boodle and Bat and Ed White, -they run into 'em, goin' after it theirselves. But that ain't proof. -Say, Bud, d' you s'pose Butch Cassidy rode over on the quiet--" - -"I've been thinking of Butch. He's that stripe, and so is the rest of -the Frying Pan outfit in my opinion. But as you say, Jelly, opinions -aren't proof. Besides, Skookum says he didn't tell Butch where his -grandfather had his money hidden. I'll take the kid's word. He wouldn't -lie--not to me, or any one he likes. Butch tried to pump him, all -right, but Skookum says he didn't tell Butch anything much that we -didn't hear in the cook house." - -"Did the kid say what ole Palmer's money was--gold or paper or -whatever?" - -"He said he saw a lot of gold money in a sack. You were looking over -Delkin's shoulder, Jelly. What did it look like to you?" - -"Gold. Jest about what the old thief would take and hide, Bud. Prob'ly -most of it was stole, and bills has got numbers on. Then again, gold -ain't spoilable. What you laughin' at, Bud?" - -"At us, Jelly. Delkin certainly must know Palmer's money was in gold. -And Lark's loaded up with gold coin--" - -"So we got our alibi right there, Bud. Fur's that goes, the Fryin' -Pan's got some honest gold money." - -"And there is _their_ alibi. And Delkin is sure to consider Lark's gold -as an out for us, just as we can believe that Butch would account for -any gold he flashed." - -"Can't we ketch 'im? Why don't you take out after 'em an' see if you -can't pick up their trail? Gosh, Bud, if the money's gone, you 'n' me -_knows_ Butch musta glommed it. I'd go, only fer this damn' rib." - -"Better have one of the boys hitch up a rig and take you into town, -Jelly. Old Doc Grimes isn't much force, but he ought to be able to -fix you up all right. I'll take Bob and see if we can't pick up their -trail. He'll keep his mouth shut." - -"Yeah. Talk is what we want damn' little of, Bud. One word is all them -pelicans would need to send them down into the breaks--and I ain't a -doubt in the world but what they got hide-outs down in there where -they kin live a year if they feel that way, and never show a head. You -beat it now, Bud. I'll gwan down an' take Bob's place. I kin walk slow. -An' I'll have some lie thunk up fer Delkin an' Bradley, time they git -t' askin' questions about you. They're so tickled to git their claws on -Palmer that they won't say much. We'll let on like you 'n' Bob had t' -go home fer somethin'. I'll fix it." - -At the house Delkin and Bradley were having quite enough to occupy -their minds without watching the coming and going of the Meadowlark -boys. Palmer was conscious, sitting up in a chair and getting somewhat -the best of an amateurish third degree which Delkin and Bradley were -attempting to give him. Palmer had a wet towel tied around his head, -and the loose folds collected extra moisture and sent it trickling -down his seamed, sallow face and his collar. Palmer's eyes were just -as human as a snake's with an opaque, impersonal glitter that masked -effectually the thoughts shuttling back and forth in his brain. Now and -then he barked a question of his own which proved how well his brain -was working in spite of the gash on his head. - -"Killed two of my men, ay? Come on to my ranch and shot down two men in -cold blood--that what you're tryin' to tell me I'm responsible fer?" - -"We didn't shoot your men," Delkin explained, when he should not have -replied to the charge. "They shot each other. They were after the loot -from the bank, and they're lying down there inside your pasture fence, -waiting for the sheriff to look them over when he gets here. Even you -thieves and murderers can't hang together, it seems. They meant to get -the plunder and leave you in the lurch." - -"Plunder? What plunder is that?" - -"The stuff you folks stole from the bank--" - -"Looky here, Mr. Delkin. You be careful what you say! It ain't safe to -make charges you ain't prepared to prove. I'm just remindin' you now -that there's a law that takes care of malicious slander. I can't answer -fer Bat an' Ed, but I want you to understand the bank owes me over -seven thousand dollars that I had on deposit--and that was stole--so -you claim. You been hand-in-glove with the Meddalark right along, and -I'm the loser by it. Ef I was you folks, I wouldn't shoot off my mouth -too much about that bank robbery." - -Delkin and Bradley withdrew to talk it over, and it was then they -discovered that Bud and Gelle were missing. With Tony and Jack Rosen -on guard at the house, they hurried down to the pasture and found Gelle -reclining in the grass with his hat over his eyes to shield them from -the slanting rays of the sun, and Mark Hanley sitting cross-legged -beside him, killing time by carefully whittling a stick to a sharp -point and cutting the point off so that he could sharpen another; an -endless occupation so long as the stick lasts. - -"Bud? Him an' Bob, they went home quite a while ago. Us boys can't all -of us be away more 'n a few hours at a stretch, an' Lark had give them -first four a coupla days off. I jest come awn in with Bud fer the day, -but now I'm kinda laid out so I can't ride, and Bob, he went home in my -place." Gelle vouchsafed a glance apiece to Delkin and Bradley before -he let the hat drop down again over his face. They could not know, -of course, that beneath the hat his lips were twitching with ironic -laughter. - -"Yeah, they been gone half an hour, mebbe more," Mark contributed idly. -"How long do we have to set here an' keep them unlovely dead from -feelin' lonesome?" - -Without answering, Delkin turned and walked back to the house, Bradley -following close. - -"What do you think about it, Jim?" Bradley asked, when two thirds of -the distance had been covered. - -"Brad, it doesn't matter what we think or don't think," Delkin told -him irritably. "We'll do well to keep it to ourselves, no matter what -it is. We won't mention Palmer's money to the sheriff, Brad. The -Meadowlark boys have done a lot for the bank--we mustn't overlook that. -I suppose they felt they had a right to collect their own damages from -Palmer for starting all that talk about them." - -"They?" - -"Bud and Jelly; one or both. I wouldn't think Bud would have had time -to do it, or the inclination. But you can't tell what's going on in -a man's mind. Jelly, of course, had the chance and he's the one that -suggested taking it. No, sir, we've got to keep our mouths shut for the -present, anyway." - -"Let it look like them two down there--Bat and Ed White--got away with -it," Bradley suggested, all in favor of protecting customers as good as -the Meadowlark outfit. "We've got Palmer dead to rights, anyway, and -we've got the bank property back. I guess we can afford to let Palmer -hunt his own money, eh?" - -"They were both in on it," Delkin went on glumly. "I saw them holding -a little private confab down by the well. Bud felt as if he'd better -get the stuff into the Basin, I guess, before we asked him about it. -But damn' it, Brad, I can't believe either of those boys would steal -money!" - -"You heard Jelly. They don't call it stealing, Jim, when they annex -something that a thief has cached away. Buried treasure, maybe, is -what they'd call it. Anyway, they'd have a name that made it sound all -right. Well, we'll have to let it go for the present. But I wish they'd -kept their hands off that money!" - - - - - CHAPTER EIGHTEEN - - BUD GOES AFTER BUTCH - - -The two had ridden for a mile or more through the foothills bordering -the western line of the Indian Reservation, boring into the wilderness -to the east of the Little Smoky, following no trail, but taking the -easiest course, Bud leading the way. Certain horse tracks had led off -in this direction from a rocky hollow across the road from Palmer's -fence corner, and Bud, having determined that point while Bob was -sneaking their horses away from the corral where the others were tied -before piles of Palmer's treasured new hay, was following a general -course without attempting to trail the horsemen who had left their -mounts in the hollow. - -"Bud, if it's a fair question, I'd like to ask if we're the hunters, -or are we the game?" Bob cocked an inquiring eye toward his grim-faced -leader. - -"Both," Bud made laconic reply. - -Bob studied that for a while, reins held high, big body poised lightly -in the saddle, while his horse negotiated a particularly complicated -descent through rocks to a gully bottom. - -"All right with me, Bud," he said pensively, when they could once more -ride together. "What's on my mind right now is when do we feed this -purty face of mine?" - -"Didn't you eat in town?" - -"Nh-nh. Tony, he went and got an idee in his head, and us boys was -rung in on workin' it out. It was a hell of an idee, Bud. It started -off with bathin' in whisky like they say the Queen of Sheeby done in -asses' milk, without drinkin' none. Would you b'lieve that could be -done? Well, it can't. But I done it, Bud. Tony, he got t' beefin' -around about us fellers gittin' too dawggone drunk t' carry out this -swell idee he had, so we done it. And then I'll be darned if Tony, he -didn't git jagged and queer the hull entire play by tyin' into Bat -Johnson! Made me so darn sore--and then after that, Bud, we was too -busy whippin' them pups of Palmer's to go eat like white men. Gosh, I'm -holler!" - -"Well, so am I, if that will help you any." - -"Don't feed a thing but my imagination, Bud. Whatfer party _is_ this? -Don't tell me a thing--but did you pick me to go off and starve to -death with yuh? I'm a pore companion, Bud. Don't say nothing--I don't -want t' hear a thing!" - -"I know you don't, so I'll make it short. I found out from Skookum -where Palmer cached his money, and I found all the stuff they'd -stolen from the bank. Delkin and his outfit took that to town, and -left Palmer's where it was. Now it's gone. They think Jelly or I got -it--we could have, if we worked fast enough. I think I know where it -went, Bob. I think Butch Cassidy got more out of Skookum than the kid -realized, and went after the dough himself. We'd beaten him to it, and -the bank money is safe. But Jelly and I are in wrong unless we can -locate the stuff we left in that cache." - -"So you and me is headed fer the Fryin' Pan by our lonelies, thinkin' -we can make Butch let loose of Palmer's stuff?" - -"That's one way to put it, Bob." - -"Well," sighed Bob, after a long interval of deep meditation, "all -right. Me, I'm a chancey cuss, anyway. I crawled into a wolf den once, -and the old she come and crawled in with me by another hole I didn't -know about, and caught me with about four pups in my arms." He heaved -another reminiscent sigh. "D' you pick awn me, Bud, b'cause you knew I -had the heart of an angry lion?" - -Bud's brown-velvet eyes smiled briefly into his. - -"I picked you primarily because I knew you'd keep your mouth shut -afterwards." - -"Primarily, it's a cinch I will," Bob agreed with melancholy assurance. -"Dead men tells no tales outa school. That's why." - -"Oh, I don't think it will be that bad. They can't be far ahead of us, -Bob. We may not have to go clear to the Frying Pan." - -"No, boy, we might not live that long. But that's all right--only I -always did hate the thoughts of dyin' on an empty stomach." - -"Why the sudden pessimism?" Having worries of his own, Bud leaned to -sarcasm. - -"Gosh, I'd _eat_ that word if I could chew it!" Bob muttered longingly. -"Say a softer one about that same length, won't you, p'fessor?" - -"Go to the devil!" growled Bud angrily. - -"I might, at that. I feel m'self slippin' that way," sighed Bob. "If -it's a fair question, just what do you aim to do when we meet up with -Butch? Ride up and say, 'H'lo, Butch, I'd thank yuh fer that money or -whatever you swiped from Palmer,' and then fall back graceful outa yore -saddle, or what? B'cause Butch is bound to shoot. Don't make no mistake -about that." - -"What I do," said Bud shortly, "will depend on circumstances. I'm not -fool enough to draw a chart. If Butch has been over here, he got that -money. If he got it, I'm going to get it away from him and turn it over -to Delkin. Only a fool would plan the details at this stage of the -game." - -"Yeah, that's right," Bob admitted meekly. - -For a time they rode in silence, Bud leaning over the saddle horn to -study the loose soil of the canyon bottom. Bob, riding close behind -him, studied each wrinkle and draw with eyes narrowed to keener vision -in the soft half-lights of early evening when the shadows were sliding -higher and higher on the western slopes and the peaks stood out all -golden, clean cut against the tinted clouds. - -"Three horses," Bud looked over his shoulder to announce. "All shod, -but I've a hunch there's only one rider. Butch is so darned foxy I'm -going to outguess him right here." He pulled up and swung round so -that Bob, halting likewise, faced him. "Bob, you've done a good deal -of riding over this way, so I'll let you take the lead from now on. -Never mind the tracks. I believe Butch thought he'd try the loose-horse -stunt, and brought a couple along with him. Farther on he'll turn them -loose and haze them up different canyons--scatter the tracks. But I -happen to know the shoe marks of that high-stepping brown he rides -all the while. He's ahead of the other two, and back there where those -rocks are lying helter-skelter Butch rode ahead and the other two -followed him like led horses. Riders would have picked different trails -among those rocks. You didn't follow my tracks, you remember. Each -rider has his own notions of such things, and no man likes to trail -right after another rider unless the path is so narrow he's got to. -Ever notice that?" - -"Ye-ah, now you speak of it. Gosh, you'll be a smart man, Bud, when -yo're growed up." - -"Well, right ahead here, I'll bet you a new hat the tracks will jumble -a bit and then separate. And, Bob, I'm betting on another psychological -twist. I bet you Butch will angle through these hills, and won't make -straight for the Frying Pan. He'll be watching out behind--that's one -reason why I'm holding back just here. We don't want to crowd him, come -to think of it. What we want to do is hit straight for the Frying Pan -by the shortest trail we know. Or the shortest you know. I lost a lot -of trail lore in the years I had to spend in school." - -"Yeah, I get you, Bud. I know a short cut through these hills, all -right. But what if he don't show at the Fryin' Pan? Looks like a long -gamble, t' me." - -"He will. He's working there, and the Frying Pan is a bad bunch to -break with. Butch is foxy. Also, he wants the big end, if I'm any -judge. I'll bet you he hasn't said a word to Kid or any of the others -about this deal. Didn't you see how Butch's eyes kind of glittered when -I counted out that fifteen hundred to Kid? It was a pretty sight--gold -twenties and tens stacked like poker chips on the table. Fifty -twenty-dollar gold pieces--ten piles, five high, and fifty ten-dollar -pieces, five piles ten high. It was enough to make any one's mouth -water for gold money, wasn't it, Bob? I saw Butch's face when Kid raked -the gold back into the bags. I saw how his tongue went licking across -his lips--" - -"Made me lick m' chops too, Bud. And I ain't no thief," Bob put in -fairly. - -"Then think how you'd scheme if you _were_ a thief!" Bud flashed back. -"Put yourself in Butch's place. If you knew about where you could annex -a fortune in gold and paper money--stolen goods that every one knew -you couldn't have taken from the bank--and all you had to do was to -ride over on the quiet and swipe it away from thieves--would _you_ tell -anybody else and have to divvy? You know damned well you wouldn't, -Bob. Neither would I. I'd want it all. - -"And by thunder! Bob, that's why he brought along extra horses! I'll -bet you he thought he might need one to pack away the bank loot. He -wouldn't know exactly how bulky it was, you see. Well, maybe it was -partly that, and partly to make enough tracks to confuse Palmer's -bunch. If he got the stuff to the Frying Pan, and needed help to hang -on to it, he could cache most of the gold and then take Kid in on the -deal and split the rest. At least, that's what I'd do." - -"And is this what you'd do too? Set here chinnin' all night an' let him -git the money all spent b'fore we take in after him?" Bob's voice had -lost its humorous patience. "Me, I'm ready to swaller m' saddle strings -like they was egg noodles! You wanta git over to the Fryin' Pan by the -shortest rowt. Nothin' like hunger to drive a man, Bud, so I'm goin' to -lead yuh back to them rocks and take awn up over the ridge. It'll be -nasty ridin' after dark, so I advise you to pry yore eyes loose from -them tracks and come awn, if yo're goin' with me." - -He reined his horse around and rode back the way they had come without -another word or glance, and Bud followed him. Plainly, Butch had -chosen to keep to the canyons where he could duck out of sight or even -lay an ambush if necessary. That way must be longer, and in spite of -the rough going Bud counted on making time. - -The stars were out in a velvet sky when the two loped unhurriedly up -the long lane which was the only feasible approach to the Frying Pan, -and pulled up at the high, barbed-wire fence that warded off intruding -animals from the dooryard. Kid himself came walking stiltedly down -the beaten path to the gate, and behind the green-curtained windows -the boisterous talk and laughter stilled. In the shadow of the house, -away from the seeping light from the windows, darker shadows indicated -the blurred outlines of Frying Pan men who were making unobtrusive -investigation of these unheralded horsemen. - -"Why, hello, Bud," Kid cried distinctly, for the comfort of his men. -A note of genuine surprise was in his voice which Bud wished had been -pitched in a lower key. "That you, Bob? Turn your bronchs in the big -corral and come on in. Had yore supper?" - -That word brought a groan from Bob so lugubrious that Kid laughed. - -"Hey, Bill! Come take the boys' horses to the corral, will yuh? Bob's -groanin' fer pie--I know that tone, Bob." Then he added carelessly, -"Butch didn't come back with you, eh?" - -"We've been scurruping around--looking for a couple of those horses," -Bud lied. "Butch will be along, maybe. Was he coming back to-night?" - -"Said he was when he started out this morning. But I dunno, Bud. That -Eastern girl's a strong drawin' card, looks like. Guess you folks 'll -just about have to carry rocks in your pocket for Butch! Any time you -ketch him ridin' into the Basin, you just rock him home, will yuh?" - -"You know it!" Bob made emphatic declaration. "Say, our little pilgress -ain't to be dazzled by no sech a hypnotizer as Butch. Say, d' yuh mind -if I clean the Fryin' Pan plumb outa grub? I got an appetite, me." - -Kid laughed and waved him toward the kitchen. He and Bud followed more -slowly and Kid's mind still tarried with Butch. - -"Butch kinda wanted to go back with you fellers, I guess," he remarked. -"He never said a word about it, though, till you'd been gone an hour or -so; then it was too late--I had to use him. B'sides that, I kinda got -the idee you and him didn't hitch very well. Butch is kinda funny, that -way. Takes streaks. You don't want to pay no attention to him, Bud." - -"Why," said Bud, "I never had a word with Butch except that sneering -remark he made about those black horses. I didn't mind that. They'll -all be jealous before I'm through." - -What Kid replied Bud could not have told five minutes after. His mind -was keyed up to meet a crisis, and this desultory talk irritated him, -distracting his thoughts at a time when he needed to be most alert. One -thing he knew: Kid either was wholly ignorant of Butch's design, or he -was playing his part so carefully that he would be dangerous later on -when Butch came riding home. - -Yet there was another point which Bud wanted to think upon. If Kid Kern -knew of that bank money and bonds hidden away in Palmer's cow pasture, -would he let Butch ride alone after it? Just one possible reason for -that occurred to Bud, and that was Kid's wily caution that would think -first of establishing an alibi that could not be broken. On the other -hand, Palmer would never dare to accuse him openly; moreover, he would -immediately suspect the Meadowlark. So far as Bud knew, the Frying Pan -outfit had never been mentioned in connection with the tragedy at the -bank, save as he and Gelle had spoken of the possibility of the Frying -Pan's implication. In the face of Kid's untroubled manner and his -evident indifference to Butch's movements, Bud decided that Butch was -indeed playing a lone hand; snap judgment, he knew, because he was not -left alone long enough to reason it out. - -"Come on in and eat," Kid was urging hospitably. "I guess Bob ain't -licked the Fryin' Pan clean, already." He laughed at his own joke, -standing poised on the doorstep, perhaps wondering why Bud lagged -behind. - -"I don't feel like eating just now, Kid. Just let me sit out here in -the dark for a while. One of those splitting headaches--I don't want -the light in my eyes." - -"Cup uh coffee'll do yuh good, Bud." Kid turned back with a solicitous -air that was extremely well done if it was assumed to lull suspicion. -"Tell you what. You go awn upstairs to bed, and I'll send up some -coffee. You know where you slept last time; you go crawl in there." - -"No." Bud's tone was sharp and decisive. "It's cooler out here, and--if -you'll send out a cup of coffee, I'll drink it. And for the Lord sake, -Kid, don't go and baby around about me! If you bawl it out to the -bunch, I'll take a fall out of you, sure as you're born, when my head -quits jumping. All I want is to be left strictly alone for a while." - -"Well, I could lick you, but have it yore own way, Bud. Sick folks has -got to be humored, they say." - -Bud, lying on the ground with his head on his arms, wished with all his -healthy young appetite that he dared go in and eat his fill. But that -was a joy he must postpone--and then it struck him that Kid might dope -the coffee! - -The door opened and shut with a bang. Bud rolled over on his face, -reached back cautiously and drew his gun from its holster and held it -concealed under his folded arms. Lying so, he was as ready for instant -action as is a cat that has drawn back its feet and tensed its muscles -for a spring. - -His nerves relaxed, his mind once more was at peace concerning the -immediate future. Lying there on the ground, he could hear the faintest -sound of far-off hoof beats when Butch came riding home. And unless -Kid or some other began shooting bullets into his prone body without -warning, he could take the initiative, could dominate any situation -that might arise. - -The cup of coffee he waved away when Kid brought it, though the -delectable aroma maddened him after his long fast. - -"Would yuh take a headache powder, Bud? I got some that shore would -knock that pain." The voice of Kid Kern was full of friendly sympathy. -He never dreamed that Bud's six-shooter was looking at him bleakly over -Bud's left forearm. - -"No--this is fine. I'm easy so long as I don't have to move." This was -true enough, as Bud recognized with a fleeting grin. "Don't bother any -more about me." - -"Oh, I'll set with the sick any time." Kid squatted on his haunches, -after the manner of outdoor men, and began rolling a cigarette. "Keep -the boys from gittin' curious. They'll think we're talkin' private out -here." - -Silence fell, save for the creaking of crickets, the whisper of a -cool breeze through the grass next the fence. Kid smoked, his big -hat tilted back on his head, his eyes turned thoughtfully up toward -the stars. Bud lay quietly with his face on his folded arms, his gun -against his cheek, ready to come up shooting at the first breath of -need. The cooling coffee sent faint whiffs of torturing fragrance to -his nostrils. His eyes, half closed under the pinned-back brim of his -hat, regarded Kid with unblinking attention. His ears, like faithful -sentinels set on guard by his intrepid spirit, listened for hoof beats -down the lane. - - - - - CHAPTER NINETEEN - - "NEXT TIME, REMEMBER--BUTCH PACKS TWO GUNS!" - - -Bob came out fairly licking his chops over the enormous supper he -had just gorged; took in the situation at a glance, hovered there -helplessly for a space and announced that he was going back in and -have a game or two of high-five with the boys. He kicked Bud's foot in -passing; a hint which Bud could interpret as he pleased, though what -Bob meant to signal was his intention to guard against treachery from -the house. - -Kid asked Bud how he felt, received a mumbled assurance that he was all -right, and rolled and lighted another cigarette. A tactful companion -was Kid Kern upon occasion; one who knew the Indian art of absolute -passivity. It shamed Bud a bit to know that if he had been really -suffering as he pretended to be, Kid would have sat right there all -night if necessary, with never a complaint. - -Then it came--the far-off _clupet-clupety-clupet_ of a shod horse -loping up the lane. Bud moved his long body a bit, drawing up one knee -for leverage when the moment came to spring erect, and shifting his -forehead so that his left hand pressed palm downward on the ground. - -"How's she comin', Bud?" Kid poised his cigarette between two stained -fingers while he peered down at Bud through the bright starlight. -"Worse? Better let me get yuh that powder." - -"No use--it's easing up--by spells." In the pauses Bud was listening, -gauging the swiftness of the approach. Kid, he could see, had not yet -caught the sound that had come clearly to Bud's ear pressed against the -sod. His heart began to thump heavily, high in his chest. He could feel -his face grow hot with the uprush of blood, and knew it was not fear -that rioted within his body, but battle fever instead; the excitement -that sends hot young blood leaping when conflict is near. - -"Somebody comin'. Butch, I guess." Kid ground his cigarette stub under -his heel as he rose. - -The action and the announcement together gave Bud the excuse to rise -also to a half-crouching position, poised on the balls of his feet like -a runner waiting for the signal to go; a posture that would pass in the -starlight as the squatting of a man whose interest is not sufficient -to bring him to his feet. A full minute they listened to the nearing -hoof beats, then the dim outline of a horseman showed in the lane. - -"Yeah, that's Butch. I'll go open the gate--er--no, that horse of his -is broke to gates, come to think of it." - -Bud said nothing. He was watching Butch Cassidy sidle up to the gate -post, lean and push back the heavy wooden bolt, nip through as the gate -swung open, catch it midway and sidle back, pushing it shut as he went. -The horse stood quiet while the bar slid into place, then Butch came -riding toward them. - -"What's takin' place here? One of them garden parties yuh read about?" -Butch laughed and swung a leg over the cantle to dismount. - -"Yes. It's my party, Butch." Bud was up and standing so close behind -him that Kid, ten feet away and in front of them, could not have shot -without hitting both. "Keep your hands up--just like that." He reached -forward, twitched Butch's gun from its holster and thrust it into his -own. - -"Why--what's wrong with Butch?" Kid's voice was surprised, but it had -not lost its friendly note. - -"Nothing much, only he shot a couple of men and stole a few thousand -dollars out of Palmer's cow pasture, and the blame rests on Jelly and -me until I take this pelican in and return the money." - -"Aw, he's full of prunes, Kid. Don't you b'lieve a word of that." Butch -stood with his hands raised--any man will who feels the muzzle of a -gun in his ribs--and stared at Kid. "I ain't been near Palmer's place. -Are you goin' t' stand fer this kind of a hold-up, Kid, right in yore -dooryard?" - -"I dunno, Butch, till I see how she lays." Kid's tone took on a silky -smoothness. "Seems funny Bud would take the trouble to ride 'way over -here just fer a josh to hold you up and accuse you of a thing like -that. Must be a little something to it." - -"He's crazy, that's all." - -"I suppose you didn't leave a couple of horses tied in a draw just -across the road from Palmer's fence corner! I suppose I didn't find -your tracks, heading this way, when Bob and I struck out to overhaul -you? I happen to know how you pumped Skookum to get all the information -you could. He doesn't know how much he told you, but it was enough to -make you feel sure you could put your hands right on the money the -bank lost! Well, I took Delkin and some others out there, so they beat -you to it, Butch. The trouble is, they left a lot that belonged to -Palmer, and that's what you packed off with you after you'd shot Bat -Johnson and Ed White. They were after it too, I suppose. Some of our -boys in town scared them till they beat it out of town, and they caught -you there at the ledge. You downed them both, and got away with the -stuff. - -"Kid, I don't think for a minute that you'd go in on a deal of this -kind--but I'll bet a horse Butch never gave you a chance! That's -playing real square with you, isn't it?" - -"No, Bud, it ain't. I never dreamed Butch would pull a thing like this, -and him workin' fer me. I hope you don't look on me as bein' capable of -rusty work like that, Bud." He took a step forward, then halted. "How -about this? Think you c'n trust me to help yuh go through Butch and see -if he's got that money? How much was it? If he's got it with him, by -Harry, he'll come clean. I hate t' turn in one of my own men, but I'll -do it--I'll turn him over to the sheriff myself if there's a scrap of -evidence t' hold him on. Can I come and look in his slicker, Bud?" - -"I wish you would, Kid." Bud caught Butch by the slack of his coat and -pulled him backwards, away from the horse. "I trust you, yes. Sure, I -do! But I'll put a bullet through you, Kid, if you try a double-cross." - -"That's all right. Can't blame you, Bud. Butch working for me, it does -look kinda leery around here. But you can't do two things at once, -very handy, and I'm damned if I'll stand for any man of mine pulling -off a stunt like this and giving the Frying Pan a black eye with my -neighbors." - -"Go ahead and _look_, why don'tcha?" Butch challenged mockingly. "Sure, -you'll try 'n' keep yore standin', Kid--you ain't got a man that don't -know you'd quit him cold in a pinch, and save yore own bacon! Go ahead -an' _look_!" - -"You bet I'll look!" Kid picked up the reins, ran his hand reassuringly -along the shoulder of the brown horse, grasped the horn and gave the -saddle a little shake, and began untying Butch's slicker from behind -the cantle, his fingers probing into the folds. "How much was it, Bud?" - -"I don't know. It was gold, and there must have been several thousand -dollars, at a rough guess. Nobody meddled with it--except the man that -took it. Three or four regular coin bags, there ought to be." - -Kid pulled off the slicker and slapped it on the ground, wide open and -empty. Butch carried no saddle pockets, and there was no place on the -saddle where a package of any size could be hidden. - -Butch laughed unpleasantly. - -"There ain't a darned thing, Bud." Kid turned and looked at the two. -There was an awkward silence. - -"Well, ain't somebody goin' to apologize?" Butch still had that mocking -tone. "Bud's had a pipe dream, that's all. Now, I'll tell yuh where I -been, and Bud c'n prove it easy enough. I been over to the Meddalark. -I admit I went over there t' see Lark about gittin' a job. I stayed to -dinner, and all the boys is gone but that pilgrim; yore black horses is -in the bronch corral, Bud, and the kid's ridin' a pinto pony around he -calls Huckleberry. Need any more proof, or does that convince yuh that -I was _there_, all right?" Butch's tone was arrogant, though he was -careful to make no offensive movement. - -"Oh, you were there, no doubt. That doesn't let you out, Butch. Tell me -where you were between four and five this afternoon!" - -"Awn the road home," Butch drawled. - -Bud twitched off Butch's hat and held it up in his left hand so that -the edge of the brim was silhouetted against the stars. - -"Look here, Kid. I suppose he'll say he bit that nick out of his -hatbrim! Ever see a prettier bullet mark? Just about the size a .45 -would make as nearly as I can tell in this light. Just for curiosity, -Butch, how did you get that?" Bud's voice, that had been merely grim -and unyielding, rang with triumph. - -"None of yore damn' business. Is that plain enough, or shall I spell -it?" - -"No," said Bud softly, "you needn't spell it, Butch." - -Followed another silence, which Kid broke placatingly. - -"If Butch done what you think he done, Bud, I'm after him like a wolf. -But if this is all the proof you got, why--you ain't got _any_, that's -all." He stopped on the brink of saying more and looked from one to the -other. - -"Yeah. You ain't got _any_," Butch echoed, with that same faint mockery -in his voice. "Goin' to hold me here all night? Me and my horse is -hungry." - -"Didn't anybody see him at Palmer's?" Kid asked doubtfully. And when -Bud shook his head, Kid made a similar gesture. "Honest, Bud, I don't -see what you're goin' to do about it," he said. "I'm with you if you've -got any proof. But--" - -"I'll get it," Bud declared harshly, and lowered his gun. "All right, -Butch, this time you've got the best of it. But remember, I'll get that -proof, and I'll get _you_. And I don't mean that I'll kill you, either." - -"What the hell do I care what you mean?" Butch took down his arms, -rubbing his muscles unthinkingly. "Only--if kids are bound to git -underfoot, they're liable to git stepped on. Yuh goin' to give me my -gun back? Or are yuh scared to?" - -Bud gave him his gun haughtily, butt first according to the range code -of good manners. Butch slid it into his holster and reached for the -bridle reins. - -"Kid, you spread my slicker so you c'n pick it up off the ground," he -said, and pulled the reins up along his horse's neck. He mounted, sat -looking down at Bud for a minute, gave a grunt eloquent of tolerant -scorn and rode away to the stable at a careless lope. - -The two stood looking after him until his figure blurred with the -deeper shade of the barn. - -"Bud, I'm sorry it turned out the way it did," Kid said under his -breath. "I believe in my soul Butch done it--but what does that prove? -I want to warn yuh, though. You've made an enemy there that ain't -liable to forgit yuh. It's a darn good thing I happened to be out here -with yuh, boy. Butch don't dare pull nothin' underhand when I'm around, -but if you'd tackled him alone out here, it maybe wouldn't 'a' turned -out so peaceful." He gave a little inarticulate exclamation. "Say, Bud, -next time you bump into Butch, remember _he packs two guns_. He could -of got you any time he wanted to t'night. Next time you pull a gun on -Butch Cassidy I'd advise yuh as a friend to pull the trigger at the -same time. May as well play safe, then it won't be you we'll have to -bury." - -"I suppose that's a friendly tip, and as such I thank you for it, Kid." -Bitterness was all that was left to young Bud at that moment. - -"Yes, and I wouldn't give it to everybody, either. Might as well come -along in and have some supper, Bud--now yore headache's cured." - -But Bud shook his head and said he couldn't swallow a mouthful, so Kid -did not urge him. Perhaps he knew what it means when a young man must -swallow his pride. - -Bob came out to them, and all he learned was that they were going -back home that night. Once again Kid did not urge Bud to modify his -decision; instead, he approved it. - -"Butch will shore be on the peck, now, and it'll be just as well to -side-step. Here he comes--you boys can get your horses out, and I'll -keep an eye on Butch. Too bad, but there ain't a thing more I can do, -or you either." - -"No," said Bud dully, "I guess not. I made a fool of myself, that's -all." - -They were riding down the lane before Bud came out of his black mood of -depression, or Bob dared open his mouth to ask a question. - -"It's a cinch he stopped and cached the money somewhere along the way," -Bud cried hotly, when they had gone carefully over the whole thing -together. "What we have to do now is try and find it." - -"Yeah, and beat Butch to it," Bob reminded. "Now, I know all this end -of the reservation like a book. Butch, he'd hide that money purty close -in, I betcha, but not along the trail nowhere. Can't back trail him -to-night, but by daylight--" He stopped there for a time. "Tell yuh, -Bud, what we better do. Awn a piece here is that crick, and I betcha we -could pick up Butch's tracks there where he cut across into the hills. -It's about the only place where he could leave the trail without making -signs a blind man could read; what's more, it's the only place where he -could git into the hills without ridin' an hour er more extry. - -"What we better do is you go awn home and git some chuck inside yuh, -and take a sleep. I'll bed right down by that crick till daybreak, -and pick up Butch's back track. I kin jest about read that jasper's -mind, Bud. You put Kid wise, and Kid'll be watchin' Butch like a hawk. -It'll be kinda funny if Butch gits a chance to ride back here fer a -day er two. Right now is when he's got to take a big chance and leave -the money where it's at. When you git ready, you come awn back with -some grub. Foller the trail we took comin' over, and I'll meet yuh, -Bud, right where that spring comes up under them sandstone cliffs. You -know--where we watered our horses. They's feed, and we c'n make camp -there if we have to. I know where we c'n crawl under a shelf if it -storms, even. - -"So you do that, Bud. It'll save time, and we'll find the dough--never -you mind about that!" - -"If it takes until snow flies, we've got to find it," Bud declared. -"Well, I'll tell you when we reach the creek whether I'll do that or -not." - - - - - CHAPTER TWENTY - - "THINGS KINDA SLIPPED UP" - - -Two motley roosters and a black Minorca were craning necks to outcrow -one another before the dawn. Out of the chill dark came Bud, the -Walking Sorrel swinging automatically along in the long strides of -the running walk that gave him his name and made him better than most -horses on a long, hard trail. When he stopped, the sorrel's legs -trembled with exhaustion. Bud's spurred boots dragged like an old man's -on the path to the house, and his head buzzed until the roosters, the -frogs and the humming of mosquitoes blended in one muffled, discordant -chorus. - -As he stepped upon the porch Maw sat up, rubbing her eyes, and got -out of bed, dragging a faded, big-flowered kimono over her nightgown -and thrusting tiny, bare feet into a shapeless pair of slippers much -too large for her. Her muslin nightcap went up to a peak at the crown -of her head. She looked like a female goblin fleeing from a midnight -rendezvous as she came pattering into the kitchen with a lighted candle -held aloft in her hand, her round eyes blinking with sleep. - -"My, I bet you're about starved, Buddy! When a boy gets in this time of -night, I _know_ he's hungry. I set back a whole berry pie for you, and -the cream for it is all whipped and ready. I thought I wouldn't spread -it till you come, because if it stands too long the crust gets soggy. -And there's plenty of cold fried chicken--I saved you the gizzards, -Bud, and three wings. I know how you like them parts. Nev' mind washin' -your face. You set right down and I'll have you eatin' in two seconds." - -That was one of the reasons why the Meadowlark worshiped Maw. - -"Drink this, Buddy. It's last night's milk--poured right off the top of -the pan, cream and all." - -Slumped into the nearest chair by the table, Bud put out a hand slowly -and took up the glass, spilling milk on Maw's white tablecloth and -down his shirt front because his hand shook so. But the rich milk -refreshed him like a draught of wine, and when he had set down the -glass--empty--he turned hollow eyes with some interest toward the plate -heaped with chicken fried a golden brown as only Maw could do it. Maw -was spreading fresh bread for him, two great slices, and she seemed -blessedly unconscious of Bud's wolfish feeding, once he started to eat. - -But finally, when Bud had finished the third wing and was biting into -the bluish knob of a gizzard, Maw hooked her slipper heels over the top -rung of her chair and nodded her head like a witch over her cauldron. - -"Things kinda slipped up, I s'pose. They will do that no matter how -careful we plan. I heard enough of what you and Skookum was talkin' -about last night--" - -"Last night?" Bud repeated, looking up in dull amazement. "Is that as -long ago as it was, Maw?" - -"Well, a course it's most mornin' now, so I s'pose I can say night -b'fore last. When every minute is crammed and jammed with happenin's, -it does seem to take an awful lot of 'em to make a day. The day has -gone real quick for me, too. And there's Margy, sayin' Cranford would -be real excitin' alongside this place. She got real put out t'day, -because you boys went off first thing this forenoon, and then Butch -Cassidy come over and spent most all the time foolin' around with -Skookum and didn't talk to her much, and somethin' or other went wrong -in her story--she was tellin' me all about it while we washed up the -dishes. - -"Margy's getting real friendly," Maw went on, after a pause spent in -studying Bud's face and in deciding, no doubt, that he was not yet -ready to talk of his own affairs. "This afternoon she come right up and -put her arm around me and patted me on the shoulder! I didn't s'pose -she'd ever get used to me so she could look at me without scringin', -but she's got all over that, and it ain't much more'n a week since she -come. She's just as sweet as she can be, and she tells me all about -everything, real confiding." - -"Cranford! Ye gods!" Bud exploded tardily, the full enormity of the -outrageous comparison striking him in the middle of his demolishing -the plate of chicken. He dropped a clean-picked thigh bone on the heap -beside his plate and looked at Maw with a shadow of his old, impudent -grin. "If Marge were a man I'd show her some excitement, maybe." - -"She's writing a bank-robbery story, Bud, and--maybe I hadn't ought to -tell you--she's got you for the hero of it. She--" - -"Me for the hero? Good Lord!" - -"Well," said Maw, blinking at him across the table, "looks to me as if -you'd had about all the adventures she's put you through in her story, -except I don't s'pose you've been arrested for the murder and throwed -in jail and incarcerated, like Margy had 'em do to you. She says it's -awful hard to make up excitin' things, when she come out here expectin' -that things would happen right along that she could use fine. She says -she's goin' to have the Indians break out and start massacreeing the -whites, and she wanted all day to ask you about some secret order; -Golden Arrer, she says it is. She wants to make it a religious outbreak -of some kind, and either let 'em catch you and start in to torture you, -or else have you save a girl from bein' tortured. She tried to get Lark -to tell her, but Larkie's kinda queer about some things. She couldn't -get a peep outa him. He told her there wasn't no such thing, but of -course she knew he was just denyin' it for some reason of his own. She -thinks maybe he's mixed up and implicated somehow--maybe a high priest -of the order; but I told her I didn't hardly believe he was." - -Bud gave a whoop and choked so that Maw climbed down from her chair and -came around and thumped him between the shoulders until he could wave -her off with weak gestures of refusal. He came to with his face red and -blinking tears, but he had no sooner got his breath than he began to -laugh. - -"I s'pose I've said somethin' funny, but I don't see what." Maw spoke -tartly when the first outburst had subsided. "I guess you oughta be -in pretty good shape now after gorgin' the way you have. I'll go -call Lark, and then I expect maybe you'll see fit to tell us what's -happened, and what brings you home this time in the morning, lookin' -like a string of suckers and eatin' like you'd starved for a week. And -all I can say," she stopped to say pettishly, "is that small matters -amuse small minds. If I used a word wrong, that's _my_ business!" She -scuttled off before Bud could explain. - -Maw was further shocked to find Bud emptying the pantry of cooked food -when she returned to the kitchen. Four loaves of fresh baked bread -reposed neatly beside half a baked ham, and the cookie jar was in his -arms. - -"For the love of Moses!" snapped Maw. "Didn't you get enough to eat -_yet_?" - -Behind her, Lark glanced appraisingly at the devastated table and -grinned. The pile of chicken bones beside Bud's plate was enough, to -say nothing of the remnant of pie with the whipped cream scraped off in -streaks. - -"For the time being, maybe; but I may possibly want to eat again, Maw, -before Marge has me put in jail and incarcerated!" Bud was still badly -in need of sleep, and Maw's tone had not been conciliating. - -"I ain't responsible for that word, Bud Larkin. Margy used it herself, -and if it don't meet with your approval, it's none of _my_ funeral. -Here's Lark, wantin' to know what you've been up to, and why you come -draggin' your feet into the house this time of night. Are you goin' to -take all them cookies, Bud? I can't make any more till I get some sour -cream. I churned every bit that I had." - -"You did? Fine! Bob's out in the hills, and fresh butter will go dandy -with this bread. You know, Maw, there's only one real bread-maker in -the world, and she's just about four feet high and cross as a she bear -with toothache." - -"I ain't no such a thing! Do you s'pose you could carry a pie if I -wrapped it up good?" - -"Sure. I'll carry it inside, however. Then I _know_ it will be well -wrapped. Lark may want to carry one. How about it, Lark? Want to go -hunting with me, after I've had an hour or so of sleep?" - -Lark hitched up his belt, picked up Maw and set her on a corner of the -table. Then, ignoring her indignant protests, he began his preparations -significantly in the gun closet, choosing what weapons he would take. -Bud eyed him from under straight brows while he wrapped the bread in -one of Maw's choicest dish towels which she kept for "comp'ny", when -some range woman would insist upon helping her with the dishes. - -"You won't need a shotgun--and I'll just omit that hour of sleep. Maw's -pie is a real rejuvenator." - -"It ain't no such a thing! Bud, ain't you goin' to tell what you've -been up to or where you've been? My land, I never saw such carryin's -on!" - -"Nothing exciting, Maw. Nothing that Marge could use in that story of -hers. Come on, Lark." - - - - - CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE - - LARK WOULD HAVE DONE THINGS DIFFERENTLY - - -"Well, so-long, Lark." Bud held his nervous buckskin to a prancy -circling while he and Lark indulged in one of those last-minute -dialogues without which two persons seem unable to part in complete -satisfaction. "If you can get Jelly off to one side, you might tell him -that Bob and I are going to stick to the trail like a burr to a dog. -And of course you'll know what to say to Delkin. Use your own judgment -about telling him the facts." - -"You better bed down somewhere and take a snooze," Lark advised -perfunctorily. "I'll go 'long and meet Bob. I know these hills better -than anybody, I guess. You go awn into town and git into bed somewhere. -Then you can attend the inquest if they hold one. Mebbe they might not, -seein' it's a clear case, s' far as they know. You go awn, Bud, and let -me handle this deal." - -"No. This is my job, Lark. I'll take that rifle of yours, though. I -was so afraid Maw would pump something out of me and tell it to Marge -that I rushed off without anything much except the grub. I wanted it -cooked, so we won't need to make a smoke. No, you go on in and say I -came back home and you sent me out on the range. And, Lark, if I don't -bring Butch in and turn him over to the sheriff, it won't do any good -whatever to say anything to Delkin and the others. They'll believe what -they please--and that won't be very favorable to Jelly and me. Just -let it ride; and don't worry about Bob and me, will you? No telling -how long we'll be out. One of us will ride in to the ranch if it's -necessary--and I'd a good deal rather handle it without interference if -it's all the same to you." - -"Oh, all right, if you feel that way about it, Bud. You shore got me up -early enough--jest to ride a piece down the road with yuh! Go ahead and -handle it without interference then! Mebbe later on you'll be darn glad -of a little plain old help! Needn't think Butch is goin' to be easy to -take--he'll go down harder 'n cod-liver oil. But all right--have it -yore way; you will anyhow." Whereupon, Lark put spurs to his horse and -loped on down the trail towards Smoky Ford, talking to himself. He had -been coolly pushed aside, robbed of a share in what promised to be a -risky piece of business. Impudent, he called it, and forgot how he had -deliberately pushed Bud to the front and encouraged him to use his own -judgment. - -No, Lark would have done it differently; followed old Bill's methods -more closely. Old Bill would have taken his riders and gone boldly -after Butch, and made what he would have called a clean-up over at the -Frying Pan. Bud might believe that Kid was ignorant of Butch's plans, -but Lark did not. It would surprise him to discover that Kid was in on -the deal. Still, Bud might wake up to facts and realize that after all -an older head might hold a few ideas worth considering. - -Bud, however, was not awake to much of anything save the fact that -he was beginning to lose interest in anything but sleep; and that -the buckskin was a tricky brute in the hills and not to be compared -with the Walking Sorrel. The buckskin had a way of climbing hills in -leaps that gave no thought to secure footing, but left him winded -at the top. His manner of descending a steep slope was quite as -reckless and consisted of a series of slides interspersed with dancing -sidewise and taking fright at various objects. Bud had saddled him -because he happened to be in a corral where he was handy, but he was -wishing now--when he roused sufficiently to wish for anything except -sleep--that he had taken the time to catch a horse out of the pasture. -It might have proved quicker in the long run. - -So, slipping, sliding, fighting the buckskin and guarding as best he -could his burden of food, Bud arrived in the course of time at the -spring beneath the sandstone cliffs. By that time he was indifferent -to everything. It would have taken Butch Cassidy himself to rouse Bud -to the fighting point. He was glad, in a dull, apathetic way, that he -had made the trip from the ranch so that Bob could eat before he got -as hungry as Bud had been. He managed also to picket the buckskin in -the middle of good grass, and to put the supplies up on a shelf of rock -away from small prowlers. After that Bud dropped down in the shade of -the cliff, pulled his hat over his eyes, gave one huge sigh and dropped -like a plummet into the oblivion of dreamless slumber. - -At the Palmer ranch black Sam was shuffling back and forth across the -kitchen, clearing away the débris of a scanty breakfast well-cooked, -where nine men had eaten silently and gone their ways; all except -Gelle, who had volunteered to remain on guard over Palmer until the -sheriff was ready to take him away to the county seat. The coroner had -just arrived, and was down in the cow pasture looking over the scene -of the double killing and arguing with the sheriff in the intervals of -rolling a fresh chew of tobacco relishfully from cheek to cheek. - -Sam turned scared eyes toward Lark before he remembered his manners and -ducked his head in what passed for a bow. Gelle, on a bench before the -door, grinned cheerful greeting. - -"You musta heard the news and got up b'fore breakfast," Gelle bantered. -"Bud git in last night?" - -Lark swung down and sat on the bench beside his "top hand"--as Gelle -loved to consider himself. - -"Bud got in this morning before daylight. Hauled me outa bed and -started me out thinkin' I was goin' to git some excitement, mebbe. Then -he hazed me awn in whilst he took out across country to meet Bob." - -"Which means, I guess, that they didn't have no luck last night." -Gelle's voice betrayed his disappointment. - -"Depends on what you call luck," Lark retorted. "That fool kid rode -over to the Fryin' Pan, laid out in the yard with Kid Kern till Butch -come ridin' in, then up and sticks a gun in Butch's ribs and tells him -to come clean with that money he'd stole outa the pasture here. What's -more, the darn chump got away with it, and come home without a bullet -hole through him. I dunno how it strikes you, Jelly, but I'd call that -_luck_." - -"And didn't he git the money?" - -"Naw." Lark stopped while he lighted a cigarette. "He got the laugh." - -"How's that? I been awn the anxious seat all night, Lark, worryin' -about Bud and that damn' gold of Palmer's. Aw, he can't hear. I've got -him tied to the bed back in another room. And the coon's only about -half there. Go awn, Lark. I'm achin' to know what happened." - -"That's jest the trouble, Jelly. Nothin' atall happened. Kid, he sided -in with Bud and said if Butch had come over here and robbed Palmer's -cache he'd turn him over to the sheriff himself. Bud thinks he meant -it, but I dunno. Butch didn't have nothin' on his saddle but his -slicker, and he give Bud the laugh. That's about all there was to it, -fur as I could make out. Bud, he come shackin' along home about three -this morning, et everything in sight and packed off what's left to feed -Bob with. - -"Bob stayed out in the hills. They got the idee they can back-track -Butch and find out where he cached the stuff. But I dunno--like lookin' -fer a needle in a haystack, to my notion. My Jonah, what a mess! How'd -you bust yore rib, Jelly? Bud said you'd done it, but he never said -how. Gimme some facts, fer gosh sake!" - -By the time Gelle had told all he knew, had heard or surmised, Delkin, -Bradley, the sheriff and the coroner came walking up from the pasture, -still arguing. They greeted Lark, then drifted back to the subject of -the two dead men. The sheriff sensed the work of a third man there, but -the others insisted that the killing had been an impromptu duel, the -coroner holding that the position in which the men lay had no bearing -upon that point, since death was not instantaneous in either case and -both had evidently staggered a few feet before falling. - -"Kinda funny they'd both be facin' the same way--toward that ledge -where you folks got your money," the sheriff pointed out, with a -stubborn tilt to his chin. "If they went down fightin' each other, -wouldn't they be likely to fall _facin'_ each other? They hadn't -started to run, neither of 'em. Looks to me like they both went down -shootin' at somebody up on that ledge. You can think what yuh please -about it--that's what _I_ think." - -"There couldn't have been anybody on the ledge," Delkin stated -positively. "Bud Larkin was with us; Jelly, here, was at the house with -a broken rib; Palmer and the old man were tied up in the bedroom and -the coon was here in the kitchen. The four Meadowlark boys had left -town ten minutes behind the two Palmer men, and not more than five -minutes ahead of us. They heard the shooting as they rode up. The four -will swear that Jelly and the coon were here at the house--and as a -matter of fact, the rest of us arrived so soon after the shooting that -it would have been physically impossible for these two to get back up -here." - -"Well," retorted the sheriff, quickly, "are these all the men there is -in the world, Mr. Delkin?" - -"All that could possibly have known anything about what was on the -ledge. Bud Larkin found the money and came straight in after us, -leaving Jelly to guard the old man that works here. We came right back, -got the money and took it on in to town, still leaving Jelly on guard -out here. He brought his prisoner to the house--a very wise thing to -do, I may say--and so was here when Palmer came, and while capturing -him he broke a rib, as you know. You can ask the doctor here whether he -would be able, with that broken rib, to run from the pasture up here -in, say, one minute." - -"Couldn't have done it without a broken rib," stated the coroner, -expectorating a generous amount of tobacco juice. "They shot each -other. No reason why they shouldn't, is there? They were both after -the money, and each man wanted to get there first. Be funny if they -_didn't_ fight over it. Guess we better hold an inquest and thrash -this thing out before a jury. How soon can you get a jury together, -Stilson?" The coroner must have been out of humor with the sheriff, -because usually he addressed him familiarly as Jim. - -"Hour, maybe. That quick enough? You get your witnesses together, and -a few _facts_ to show, and I'll have the jury ready to listen to 'em -quick enough to ketch 'em before they melt." He probably referred to -the facts. - -Lark, sitting quietly on the bench during the discussion, wondered why -no one mentioned Palmer's money (or what was tacitly conceded to be -Palmer's money) which had been left in the cache and was now missing. -Delkin and Bradley seemed to avoid any unnecessary reference to money. -Lark was on the point of mentioning the one great inducement to murder, -the one thing that would call a man to the ledge. He was even tempted -to tell what he knew of Butch Cassidy. - -But while the others wrangled his caution came whispering and urging -him to wait. If Delkin and Bradley failed to mention the mysterious -disappearance of Palmer's gold, it was for one reason. They were -grateful to Bud and to Gelle and meant to protect them. Lark -appreciated that spirit even while he resented their suspicions. Both -emotions held him silent after the first impulse to speak had passed. -They knew all about that money being gone, he reflected. If they saw -fit to cover up the loss before the sheriff, it would ill become him -to drag the thing to the surface and tell the sheriff something that -might throw suspicion--or worse--upon the Meadowlark. He joggled Gelle -unthinkingly with his elbow, cautioning him to silence, and brought a -yelp of pain from that tightly bandaged young man, and a stealthily -vicious jab afterwards to show that Gelle had not missed Lark's meaning. - - * * * * * - -There followed the usual commonplace running to and fro on horses -sweating under the urge of their riders' haste to be somewhere else -immediately. The coroner's inquest was called, and practically all -of Smoky Ford bustled out to Palmer's ranch and squatted on run-over -boot heels and drew diagrams in the dust with little sticks, explaining -gravely to any who would listen that the robbery, the murder, and -the killing of Bat Johnson and Ed White took place in this or that -particular manner. - -All I can say is, Marge should have been there with her notebook; two -or three notebooks, rather. - -Figuratively speaking, the various Sherlocks placed the noose on -Palmer's neck a dozen times for a dozen different reasons. They openly -mourned that Bat and Ed were past hanging, and there was not a man -present who had not known all along that Palmer was at the bottom of -the whole thing. So much for the loyalty of neighbors of that type when -a man of Palmer's type is called to account for his sins. - -The inquest might well be called an anticlimax, since the citizens -of Smoky Ford had the thing all settled in their minds before the -investigation was officially begun. Palmer puzzled and disappointed -them and came near to a lynching, that day, merely because he refused -to testify and would only say, with baleful self-possession, that since -they were all set on laying the guilt on him, they could go ahead and -think what they pleased; his lawyer would have something to say about -it when the thing came to a trial. (It was at this time that Palmer -edged close to death.) - -The sheriff, being just a bit keyed up by opposition, made a clean -sweep of it and took black Sam along with Palmer, and the old man -Blinker as well. They might or might not be implicated in the crime, -but at least they should prove useful as witnesses. - -By mid-afternoon the inquest was over and the sheriff had left for -the county seat with his three prisoners, leaving his two deputies -ostensibly in charge of Palmer's ranch pending a more satisfactory -arrangement. In reality, the sheriff had some hope of solving the -mystery of the shooting of two men in broad daylight and within sound -of the house, and he had left two men where one would have been -sufficient, with secret instructions to make a careful search for some -clew to an unknown member of the gang. - -The last shovelful of moist, rocky soil had been carelessly tossed upon -Bat Johnson's heaped grave, and the two rough mounds marked by stakes -driven into the ground, each bearing a name and date burned hastily -with a hot iron. The burial party, in haste to join their fellows, -were riding through the gate on their way to town when Maw appeared. - -Maw was mad. Never before since her arrival at the Meadowlark a few -years before had she been treated as Bud and Lark had treated her that -morning. Never before had they failed to tell her all that happened or -was about to happen, and Maw did not propose to stand it much longer. -She had waited until nine o'clock and then had ordered old Cap and -Charlie hitched to the beloved "top buggy" which Lark had given her, -and she had bundled Marge and a lunch basket in beside her and started -for town. They needn't think, said Maw, that she was going to sit and -fold her arms and act like a fool just because they treated her like -one. Wherefore she challenged the nearest horseman, who was eyeing -Marge with interest. - -"How do? See anything of Bud Larkin around here?" Maw was pretty fair -at reading signs, and the trampled yard just across the fence with -jumbled tracks leading through the gate had told her a story of events. - -"No, mom, Bud ain't been here t'day atall." - -"Lark been here? Bill Larkin?" - -"Yes, mom, Lark was here and he left right after the inquest." The -horseman fiddled with his reins and kept his horse backing and -sidling, showing off before Marge. - -"Inquest! For the love of Moses, has old Palmer been killed at last?" -Maw sucked so hard upon her new teeth that she almost swallowed them. - -"No, mom, he's been took to jail. It's Bat Johnson an' Ed White the -cor'ner has been settin' on. They was shot yeste'day." - -Maw opened her mouth to speak further of her astonishment, then closed -it abruptly, took the buggy whip from its socket and struck old Charlie -smartly across the rump. Maw's face had gone the color of rancid -tallow. There, conjured vividly before her by unreasoning fear, rode -the vision of young Bud staggering into the kitchen hollow-eyed and -ravenous; wolfing food sufficient for two ordinary appetites and going -off with a sackful of supplies. - -"I do hope I'll get some decently exciting material out of this," said -Marge, all in a flutter. "Do you suppose something worth while has -actually taken place, and I'll--" - -"Put up that everlastin' notebook!" snapped Maw. "Things ain't -picturesque when they're happenin' to your own!" She pulled the -indignant horses from a lope as expertly as a man could have done, -and sent them trotting their best down the road to town. "I've got to -find Lark and see what's to be done--and it ain't a bit kind or p'lite -to use the troubles of your own folks, Margy, to put in stories. If's -Buddy's on the dodge for killin' a couple of men, you ain't goin' to -put him into no story--you mark what I tell you. Buddy don't _want_ to -be no heero. And if he don't want to be, he sha'n't be. Time I put my -foot down, I guess." - -"I'd make Palmer the murderer, of course," Marge placated absently. -"What's he been taken to jail for, do you suppose?" - -"I dunno--and I don't care. Buddy's on the dodge. I knew it when he -cleaned out the pantry without sayin' a word about where he was goin'!" - -Maw sucked in her teeth, tapped both horses across their broad backs -with the whip, and went lurching on down the road to town, leaving a -cloud of dust behind her. - - - - - CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO - - EAVESDROPPER - - -Five days may not seem long as a rule, but Bud's nerves were ragged -with the strain of searching foot by foot the likely places along the -trail Butch Cassidy had taken; with eating just enough to allay the -sharpest hunger pangs, and with sleeping where dark overtook him, with -no pillow save his saddle--which is mighty uncomfortable even though it -may sound picturesque to those who have not tried it. Bob grew daily -more lugubrious, but Bud began to talk rather wildly of riding again -to the Frying Pan, getting Butch Cassidy by the throat and choking the -truth out of him--a reckless notion which appealed to him more and more -as the fruitless quest continued. He began to imagine how it would seem -to go galloping up the lane, meet Butch and lash out at him with biting -words until they fought. A vengeful dream that grew upon him. - -On this fifth day Bob had ridden early to the Basin for more food; the -baked ham being no more than a wistful memory, the cookies likewise -and the four loaves of bread a dwindling, dried-out fragment. It was -insufferably hot down in the canyon where he was dispiritedly searching -the craggy walls for safe hiding places and thinking, among other -things, that the country between Palmer's ranch and the Frying Pan -held places of concealment for all the gold coin the world contains. -Probably he was right. There surely was an ungodly amount of rough -ledges and cliffs and heaped bowlders along the route indicated by the -occasional hoofprints they identified as Butch's horse. In five days -they had covered perhaps twice as many miles. - -Off to the southwest a ragged blue-brown ridge of storm clouds crept -slowly over the high peaks. A swashing rain would render their quest -more hopeless still, for they would lose the tracks that now guided -them sketchily from gully to bare ridge perhaps and into another -canyon. The outlook was not cheerful, and the heat radiating from the -rocks became unbearable. - -It was then that Bud, climbing to a promising splinter of rock thrust -upward like a crude needle from the broken ledge beneath it, sighted -the cool, still pool sunk between banks of rock and gravel so that from -the canyon floor it was invisible. Some sunken stream had risen there -for a look at the sky, perhaps. Bud gave a hoarse whoop, forgetting -caution in his sudden joy, and immediately began to climb down as -eagerly as if he had sighted the gold. - -The frivolous buckskin had long since lost all desire for prancing or -taking the steep hills in jackrabbit leaps. He stood half asleep in -the shade of a rock, with trickles of sweat running down thigh and -shoulder; a tamed horse that had learned to conserve his energy and put -aside his play. Bud mounted and rode to the pool though it was almost -within pistol range. - -Side by side he and the buckskin drank their fill before Bud stripped -and went into it in a long, clean dive from a rock thrust up into the -sunshine and so hot it curled his toes with pain during the few seconds -he stood there poised for the jump. The water was cold, the shock to -his fevered skin a gorgeous sensation of sheer physical thrill. Bud -went deep, tilted and shot to the surface and spouted happily, the -cobwebs washed from his brain, the gnawing rancor from his soul. For -the moment at least he was his normal, care-free self; hungry, but -enjoying to the full this glorious swimming pool set apart from the -haunts of men, passed by a dozen times or a hundred, perhaps, without -discovery. - -And then, swimming and diving, floating and treading water and -splashing in pure devilment, he heard some one laugh; a chuckling sort -of subdued cackle which Bud knew quite well. By treading water and -craning his neck he could see the spot where he had left his clothes, -and Butch was there, sitting with his knees drawn up and his ungloved -hands clasped around them, smoking and grinning between puffs, with his -hat pushed back on his head and the knot of his neckerchief askew under -his ear--where he would maybe wear a knot of another kind one day, -Bud thought balefully. Butch looked a very good sort of fellow, a pal -perhaps who had no whim for a bath that day. But he was not at all like -that when he spoke. - -"Divin' for it, Bud?" he fleered. "Better claw around there on the -bottom, why don't yuh? Gold sinks, yuh know; or don't yuh? I savvy -you've had lots of schoolin', but that don't mean you got good sense. -What time yuh expect Bob back with the grub? Oughta be showin' up, now, -most any time. I heard him say when he left he'd git here b'fore three -o'clock. It's way past that now, by the sun." He squinted upward, then -spat reflectively toward the pool. - -"Of course you'll stay and eat with us," Bud invited urbanely. "Bob -promised to bring some fresh eggs and a couple of chickens." - -"Yeah, I know he did. I heard 'im." Butch's narrow, light blue eyes -were studying Bud's black head, sleek as a wet muskrat, with some -curiosity. He had expected a blasphemous series of epithets--and, -fifteen minutes sooner, he probably would have heard them. He had not -reckoned upon the steadying effect of that cold plunge. - -"Then of course you'll stay." (Privately, Bud was certain that Butch -was not to be shaken off before he had accomplished his purpose; and, -frankly, Bud believed that murder was his purpose.) - -"Might, seein' you insist. I'm purty well hooked up with grub, but my -_kew_-seen don't include chicken. How yuh goin' to cook it, Bud?" - -"Broil mine--and rub it with butter, salt and pepper now and then. How -you want yours?" - -"Sounds good t' me. I'll take the same." - -To gain time for thought, Bud curved in his body and dived, expecting -that he would come up to meet a .45 slug somewhere in his brain; -between the eyes, he guessed--since Butch was called a good shot. As -may be surmised, Bud did considerable thinking under water, but he -could not think of anything better than he was already doing, since -his manner was puzzling Butch and what puzzled Butch Cassidy also -worried him. Still, he might shoot, and there was just one way to find -out. Bud came up, shook the water from his eyes and saw that Butch was -apparently much interested in the pinned-back hatbrim. - -"Where'd yuh make the raise, Bud? I been kinda curious about that pin." - -Bud hesitated. There is a fiction that two men must never let a good -woman's name pass between them, but there was nothing secret about the -pin--except before Marge. Every cowpuncher who went to dances in that -country should have recognized it. - -"Grandma Parker's," he lied shortly, and dived again as if he enjoyed -diving. - -When he came up, Butch had laid aside the hat and was looking -speculatively at Bud. - -"'Course, I could shoot yuh," he mused aloud. "Lots a things I could -do. S'pose it'll be a bullet. Ain't yuh about ready to come out? Bob'll -likely be startin' supper 'bout now. Come awn--git into yore clothes." -Butch spoke as he would have admonished a small boy. - -Because there was nothing else that he could do Bud came out of the -pool, nipping over the hot gravel to where his clothes lay in a heap -ten feet from where Butch sat smoking. Butch had moved while Bud was -under water, and Bud's gun and belt had moved with him; also Bud's big -clasp knife that was useful for so many things. - -Bud dressed as unconcernedly as if the man sitting there in the shade -had been Bob. Butch spun Bud's hat to him--without the cameo pin,--and -eyed Bud sharply when he picked it up and looked at the flopping brim -with the two blackened pinholes. Bud looked up at him, his eyes black -with anger. - -"Pretty small, Butch! I knew you were a thief, but I did have some -respect for you for taking a chance, anyway. A stunt like this is so -low-down you'd have to climb a ladder to scratch a snake on the belly!" -He stared a moment longer and put on his hat. To move toward Butch -would have been one way of committing suicide, and even in anger Bud -was no fool. - -"Yeah--one more reason why I'll kill yuh, Bud. Some day." Butch got up, -dusting off his trousers with downward sweeps of his palms--close to -his gun, Bud saw with a curl of the lip. - -"Yes? Well, you'll have to go some unless you play safe and do it now." - -"I'll be willin' t' go when the time comes," Butch retorted. "Move -awn--my mouth's waterin' fer chicken." - -They moved on, Bud in the lead. Lark's rifle, he saw, was gone from -the saddle. A foolish thing he had done, and a costly, to go swimming -in that pool as carelessly as if he were down in the Basin pasture. -He could find no excuse for it in his belief that he had the hills to -himself that day. After so long a time he and Bob had both come to the -conclusion that Kid Kern was watching Butch so closely that there would -be no attempt made at present to retrieve the loot, and that they were -therefore perfectly safe to search where they would. - -At Butch's command, Bud dismounted some distance from the spring where -they had made a makeshift camp. They approached the place on foot and -so came upon Bob when he was least looking for callers, the supposition -being that Bud would search until close to sundown before coming to -camp. It was Butch's casual tones that brought Bob facing them in blank -astonishment. - -"I got a gun ag'inst Bud's backbone," Butch announced in a cheerful, -conversational manner. "He'll git it, right plumb through the liver, -first crooked move you make. Toss yore gun into the spring. It won't -hurt the water none." - -"Get him if you can, Bob," Bud countermanded. "Let the damned skunk -shoot if he wants to; he will, anyway." - -Bob looked at Bud, glanced over his shoulder into Butch's narrowed -eyes, drew his gun and threw it into the spring with a muttered oath. -Butch grinned. - -"Got a knife? Throw that in too. All right, boys, let's go awn and have -that chicken dinner. I an' Bud's been talkin' about it all the way -over." - -"'Better a dinner of herbs where love is, than a stalled ox and hatred -thereby,'" Bud quoted under his breath with a grim humor not lost upon -Butch, who overheard him. - -"Nh-nh. This is goin' to be stalled chicken an' hatred thereby," he -drawled. "An' I bet a dollar I'll hate harder 'n the both of yuh put -t'gether. Wanta bet?" - -The two ignored him and set about cooking their dinner, knowing that -Butch would kill the man who made a hostile motion. - -"Lessee. This is the first time you've had a fire sence you been down -here," Butch observed pleasantly. "I'd a dropped in awn yuh b'fore, -but it looked like purty slim pickin's. Then this mornin' I heard -Bob say chicken, so I plumb knowed you was goin' to have comp'ny fer -dinner." - -"Say-ay," drawled Bob, after further small talk of the sort, "I'd -ruther be shot than talked t' death, Butch." - -"Yeah--but I'd ruther talk," Butch grinned. "Pass over the pepper 'nd -salt, will yuh, Bud?" - -"Certainly," said Bud politely, though his eyes were murderous. - -They ate and were filled, but two of the trio did not enjoy the meal. -Butch persisted in desultory talk, friendly on the surface but with -a sting beneath. Now and then Bob grunted, while Bud relapsed into -absolute silence. - -"Can't figure out no way that'll work, Bud," Butch told him impudently, -when the three were smoking afterwards--Butch performing nonchalantly -the art of rolling and lighting a cigarette almost entirely with one -hand. "Y' see, in the first place, I got yore guns. Y' won't jump me, -so that lets you out. Anyway, I got t' be goin' in a minute. Main -reason I give m'self an invite to supper was t' tell you fellers I'm -shore tickled at the way yo're combin' these canyons. Y' see, I dunno -but what yuh might run onto somethin' way yo're goin' about it, you -shore ain't leavin' no stones unturned. - -"When you've crawled all over these hills, mebbe you'll believe what I -told yuh over to the Fryin' Pan, Bud; that I never got no money over -to Palmer's place. Still, I dunno. Yo're so damn' pig-headed you won't -believe nothin' you don't want to. Well, go ahead an' look. Look yore -damn' eyes out, fer all me. You won't find nothin'. An' don't fergit -I'll be right there, close hand by, all the time. So-long--shore -enjoyed that chicken!" - -While he talked, Butch had backed toward the bushes that grew near. At -the last moment he drew something from his shirt pocket, looked at it, -gave a snort of scornful amusement and tossed the object so that it -fell between Bud's feet. Then he disappeared. - -Bud stooped, picked up the cameo pin and turned it absent-mindedly -in his fingers. His sign of the Golden Arrow. The red blood of youth -crept upward and dyed his cheeks at the thought of the ignominy he -would have suffered had he been obliged to go and confess to Bonnie -Prosser that he had lost her pin; that Butch Cassidy had taken it away -from him! In the pressure of events since that day when he had ridden -blithely across the reservation with the cameo pin worn proudly above -his forehead, he had not thought so much about it. He had fancied -himself invulnerable to the young archer's barbed darts. Now--now he -was suddenly aware of a great hunger, a longing that engulfed even his -hatred for Butch. - -"Hell!" said Bob, thinking of his gun lying at the bottom of the spring. - -"Hunh?" said Bud, thinking that he had time in plenty to ride to -Prosser's ranch before dark. - -"Hell, you damn' fool!" Bob looked at him with his mouth drawn down at -the corners like a child about to cry. - -"Oh, sure," Bud agreed, without having the faintest idea of what had -been said. - -Bob's mouth opened, closed again very slowly. He was staring from Bud's -face to the brooch in Bud's hand, and at the fingers softly caressing -the carved face of the woman. - -"Looks like her," said Bob with much sarcasm. - -"A--a little." Bud's forefinger closed tenderly upon the profile. - -"Say, come out of it!" growled Bob. "What about Butch?" - -"Butch? Why, Butch will get killed if he crosses my trail again. Why?" -Young Bud's eyes turned surprisedly toward Bob. - -"Goin' to keep up the hunt, knowin' he's p'pared to jump us the minute -we find it?" - -"Why, sure! You don't think Butch cuts any figure with me, do you?" -(Plenty of time--and he could get there before dark, if he hurried.) - -"No--'course he don't!" cried a mocking voice somewhere among the rocks. - -Bud started, closed his fingers upon the brooch and turned toward the -voice. The softness had left his eyes, which snapped with their old -fire. - -"You know it, Butch! You heard what I said." Strange how the flinging -of that cameo pin at his feet brought Bonnie so vividly before him that -even his quarrel with Butch seemed irrelevant, a matter of secondary -importance. - -Now he knew that the illuminating truth had come upon him at the pool -when he picked up his hat and saw that the brooch was gone. It was like -losing Bonnie herself--and of course he had always known, deep in his -heart, that he meant never to lose Bonnie Prosser out of his life; that -some day--but the time of easy assurance was past, and it had taken the -rough hand of Butch Cassidy to tear away the film from his eyes, just -as he had torn the pin from Bud's hat. - -"See you later, Butch!" he called defiantly, and started on a run for -his horse. - -"Yeah--yo're damn' right!" Butch's mocking laughter followed him, -echoed and was flung back again and again from the farther wall of the -canyon. - - - - - CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE - - "DISARM THE PRISONER!" - - -"Got your notebook handy, Marge?" Young Bud, looking altogether -different, though not so handsome, in a tailored suit left over from -college, and a new straw hat that gave no excuse for wearing cameo -pins in the brim, crossed the lobby of Fort Benton's best hotel to -where Marge was sitting beside Maw staring out at the shifting crowds -with puckered brows, her thoughts no doubt dwelling upon picturesque -effects. "This is Miss Bonnie Prosser, and I thought you might like to -make a note of the fact that she is the high priestess in the temple -where I worship; the goddess of the Golden Arrow, and--" - -"For the love of Moses, what kinda talk is that, Bud Larkin? Bonnie's -too sweet and pretty a girl to be made fun of right in public, like -this. I been waitin' for a chance to git you two girls acquainted," -cried Maw, from the depths of a leather rocking chair. - -"Why--why--she's _exactly_ like my heroine!" cried Marge, her eyes -dancing with excitement. "I wrote the sweetest love scene just before -we left home--" - -"Too late, too late," crowed Bud, his lips curving into the smile of a -happy boy. "I beat you to it, Marge." - -"Now, hush," drawled Bonnie, in a voice amazingly low and sweet and -vibrant--just the voice one would want to hear from that smooth young -throat and lips formed for laughter. "I'd love to be your heroine, -Miss--may I call you Marge? I've so wanted a girl like you to come into -the range country and give me a sympathetic ear now and then. Ever -since I first heard about you I've been planning to come over and steal -you. We live right next to the reservation, and there's the dearest old -squaw I want you to write up. And I know so many places where I want -to take you. When this trial is over, I want you to come home with me. -We're going to be the best of friends. I always know, the moment I look -at a person. Don't you?" - -"Them girls don't need you, Buddy," Maw shrewdly observed. "Set down -here where I can talk to you. Lean over here. Are you and Bonnie -engaged?" - -"Yes, ma'am," Bud confessed meekly. "Have been, Maw, for almost a -month." - -"Well, I ain't a mite su'prised, and I'm real glad. Set down, can't -you? Let 'em alone till they get acquainted. I want to talk to you -private. Now. What kinda luck did you have, Buddy? Are you goin' to -be able to give that money back to Palmer--or the bank, or whoever it -belongs to?" - -All the joy went out of Bud's face. He shook his head, his lips pressed -tight. - -"Who told you, Maw?" - -"Lark told me. Who else do you think? _You_ wouldn't, I notice. I was -so scared and worried when you stayed out in the hills like you did, -Buddy, that I thought Lark oughta get you out of the country some way. -I thought you was on the dodge for killin' them Palmer men, mebbe. So -Lark told me what it was all about. Butch is in town, did you know it?" - -Bud lifted his shoulders in a gesture of bitter defeat. - -"I didn't know it, but I can't do anything, anyway. I saw Kid, and he -told me he's been watching Butch and he hasn't got a thing on him. -I'm certain Butch did it, but--Maw, there isn't a gopher hole between -Palmer's and the Frying Pan that I haven't searched. Kid claims he -combed the ranch too. If he turned up anything, he's keeping it mighty -quiet--but I don't believe he has, I think Butch has simply outguessed -us." - -"Well, don't you have no trouble with Butch. You didn't bring no gun, -did you, Buddy?" - -"Butch took my gun away from me when he caught me in swimming." His -eyes evaded hers. "You heard about that, I suppose." - -"Yes, I did--and I heard too that Butch give your gun and Lark's rifle -to Kid, and had him send 'em over home. Bob took 'em back down to you, -so you needn't to think you can lie to me, Buddy. Don't you pack that -gun around this town, or you'll get yourself into trouble, sure. You -think what that would mean to Bonnie. I'm real glad she's got some say -in the matter now, Bud. She'll hold you down--I'm sure I can't!" - -"What do you expect me to do if Butch makes a crack at me? Stand and -take it?" Bud's eyes grew stubborn. - -"Butch won't make no crack at you. Kid told Lark he'd had a talk with -Butch, and Butch promised him faithful he'd keep his own side the road. -He ain't goin' to crowd you, Buddy, and you mustn't go glowerin' around -edgin' him up to a fight. Them eyes of yourn git terrible stormy when -you're all wrought up. You think about that nice girl and forget Butch." - -"You dragged me away from two nice girls, Maw, and opened the -disagreeable subject yourself." - -"I know I did, but I was kinda lonesome for you, Bud. I ain't seen -anything of you skurcely since that money was stole. Lark says Palmer's -goin' to hold the bank responsible for it if it ain't returned. Palmer -claims there was six thousand dollars, and he just as good as accused -Delkin of takin' it himself. It'll likely come out at the trial. Lark -says if the bank does have to stand good, he'll pay Delkin himself -ruther than have 'em think--" - -"And admit that Jelly and I took the money! I thought Lark had a little -sense. Maw, if Lark does that, I'll choke the truth out of Butch -Cassidy if I have to do it right under the judge's nose!" - -"Now, now, Buddy, don't you go and git on your high horse again! You -know as well as I do that Lark's soft-hearted as any old woman you ever -saw. He can't bear to have Delkin feel--" - -"Fine way to salve his feelings and sharpen his belief that Jelly and I -are thieves! Where's Lark? I want to have a talk with him." - -Maw stood up and looked around the lobby and sat down again with smug -satisfaction. - -"Lark ain't here. I dunno where he is, Bud. He was talkin' about ridin' -out to some ranch or other to look at some cattle they wanted to sell. -You wait and see how things works out at the trial. I heard some one -sayin' the jury's most all chose, and the show'll commence in the -mornin'. They say that Melrose feller that Palmer's got to keep him -from gittin' hung is a wonder, Buddy. It's kinda s'spicioned around -that he's got a pretty strong defense. I don't see how he can have. Can -you?" - -Bud brought his wandering glance from the two girls sitting in a corner -with their heads together in confidential whisperings. He looked at Maw -and cleared the impatience from his eyes. After all, who was more loyal -than Maw? - -"Palmer has an alibi, you know, and Bat Johnson and Ed White are -conveniently gone where they can't turn State's evidence, even if they -wanted to. A good lawyer can do wonders with a situation like that, -Maw. Where's Lightfoot? He came with you, didn't he?" - -Maw gave a sudden laugh, turned her new teeth sidewise in her mouth -and necessitated some expert manipulations behind her handkerchief. - -"Consarn them teeth! I've a good mind to throw 'em out the window. -Lightfoot got right out of the hack as we was comin' from the depot and -started in drawin' pitchers of that Injun camp up there on the hill. I -wouldn't be a mite su'prised if the sheriff had to go up there after -him when it comes his turn to testify in court. Buddy, you oughta take -him over onto the rese'vation some time. He never seen any Injuns in -Smoky Ford--and I never told him why the Injuns all hate that place -so. Thought I'd leave that to you. There! See that big, fine-lookin' -man comin' across the street, Buddy? That's Palmer's lawyer. They say -the county attorney would give a good deal to know what he's goin' to -spring on 'em to-morrow. Here comes the girls. Ain't they pretty and -sweet? I bet they're up to somethin', the way their eyes is dancin'!" - -Arms twined around each other, schoolgirl fashion, the two girls came -up and perched on either arm of Maw's great upholstered chair. That -buried Maw from sight of everything, so they laughed and accepted the -chairs Bud was placing for them. Bonnie leaned forward, took one of -Maw's tiny hands in her own and patted it. - -"What shall be done to punish a young man who tells lies to an innocent -young lady from the East?" she asked gravely. "I have just heard some -awful whoppers which a certain person told Marge. And Marge," she said -impressively, "is my best friend. I have heard about the Iowa frogs -and--" - -"I surrender." Bud interrupted her and threw both hands in the air. - -Maw gave him a quick look, sucked in her teeth apprehensively as if she -were afraid of losing them into her lap, and glanced at Bonnie's hand -that had one finger extended and pointing like a gun at Bud. - -"Yes, disarm the prisoner, Maw," said Bonnie. "I've got the drop." - -Maw reached out and got the gun tucked inside Bud's waistband, where it -had been hidden from sight; looked at it, blinking tears from her round -eyes, and shoved it down beside her in the big chair. - -"You may take down your arms and march ahead of us to that drug store -on the corner. Two maidens in distress want lemon soda. Will you come, -Maw?" - -"No," said Maw in a voice that shook perceptibly, "I don't believe I -will. You childern run along and--and have a good time!" - -"Listen, Maw. We'll bring you some--some--" Bonnie leaned and -whispered in Maw's ear. - -"Yes--yes--all right--yes-s--" Maw's hand closed convulsively over the -gun. - -"And thank the good Lord for that!" Maw breathed fervently, while she -watched the three cross the street. "My, my, what turrible liars men do -make of us women--keepin' 'em outa trouble." She got up, looked shyly -around to see if any there observed her deformity, and waddled away to -her room, the gun hidden in a fold of her skirt. - - - - - CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR - - SNOWBALL TESTIFIES - - -"My, my, are you getting all this down in shorthand?" Maw leaned over -and whispered to Marge--being of course obliged to look up, as a child -must do. - -"No," Marge whispered back, "it's too tiresome. I'm only making a few -notes of funny people here. The trial itself is commonplace; hopelessly -commonplace. I never saw such a tame crowd--and to think it's right in -the West!" - -"Tame, did you say?" Bonnie, on the other side, had caught the word. -"I wonder what you're used to, Marge." She glanced across to where -Butch Cassidy stood leaning against the wall with his hat dangling from -his left hand, his arms folded--with his right hand hidden, Bonnie -observed--and she smiled to herself. - -Those tame persons most concerned did not consider the trial a -commonplace affair. Palmer's lawyer was earning his money, and -Palmer had reached the point where he could lean back in his chair -and look the jurymen in the eye--though a close observer would have -noticed that he avoided the judge's cold gaze. It had been proven -beyond a doubt that Palmer had no visible connection with the murder -and robbery. The facts so far as known were in his favor, and his -testimony, given calmly under the adroit questioning of his counsel, -brought to the attention of the jury many points which, though ruled -out after sputters of argument between the lawyers, nevertheless -carried their weight, just as was intended. Melrose was a clever man. - -For instance, Palmer was not stopped before he had stated that he knew -nothing whatever of the bank money being hidden on the ledge in his -pasture. He had chosen to use a certain secluded niche in the rocks -as a natural safe, he said. He had never placed much confidence in -Delkin's bank and did not like to keep his last cent there. Something -might happen. He had stored away six thousand dollars in powder kegs, -just in case of need. He had not visited the place for a month. No, he -did not go often to see if his money was safe. Nothing could bother it -unless some one stole it, and he had felt sure that no one knew of the -hiding place. - -Yes, he understood that the bank's money and papers had been found -there. He could not account for that, except that Bat Johnson and Ed -White had discovered the place and had hidden the money there because -it was the safest spot they could find. Well, although he had trusted -them, he guessed if they knew he had six thousand dollars hidden away -in there his life wouldn't be any too safe. He had no theory, except -that if they were in a hurry they could have overlooked his money -sacks. He admitted that was unlikely, and repeated that he believed he -would have been killed if he had gone there before they removed the -money. - -Yes, he had been told that the money--his money--was gone. He thought -that those who took away the bank money should be held responsible -for his six thousand dollars. They may not have taken it, but they -certainly knew it was there, whereas he had no idea that the bank's -money had been secreted on his ranch in the very place where he had -stored money of his own. - -About the boat he was equally outspoken. The men had built a boat in -which to cross the river, where there was a little feed and where stock -occasionally drifted in to graze. Sometimes they mired in the mud while -trying to drink; when the river was low that often happened. They had -built the boat so that they could cross the river and haul out mired -stock. He had never dreamed that it might be used for a more sinister -purpose, but he could see how that would be possible without his -knowledge or approval. - -On cross-examination he named approximately the date of his last visit -to the ledge. He had decided to store away six thousand dollars as a -nest egg that could tide him over if hard times came upon him. The last -time he had gone there was in the middle of June, when he had taken -five hundred dollars in gold and put it away with the rest. That amount -just rounded out his six thousand, he said. There had been no occasion -to go there after that. - -"Ain't that old pelican the damnedest liar you ever seen, Bud?" Gelle -whispered behind his hand--they having given their testimony and been -dismissed. "Gilt-edged, though. He'll git away with it." - -Bud nodded gloomily. He had been watching Butch Cassidy and wishing -hotly that he had a gun. It began to look as though Butch was going to -get away with something--ride off scot-free and leave a smirch on the -good name of the Meadowlark that, in the minds of the Smoky Ford bank's -officers, would be harder to erase than Macbeth's haunting blood stain. - -Butch glanced at the two, his light eyes narrowing under frowning -brows. It was evident that Butch also had something on his mind. -Beside him Kid Kern leaned against the wall, careless on the surface, -but never missing a look or a movement anywhere, and paying especial -attention to Butch and Bud. - -"Gosh!" Gelle ejaculated under his breath. "Pore old Snowball's goin' -to be pumped dry now--and he don't know a darned thing about nothin'." - -"Character witness, maybe," Bud made ironical reply. - -"It'll be a pippin," Gelle predicted. "Snowball don't know nothin' good -about that old coot." - -Sam rolled his eyes in mental anguish, probably imagining that he -himself was being accused of something. He stuttered and didn't know -anything he was expected to know. He was palpably terrified, and -whenever he caught Palmer's eyes upon him he shrank pitiably in his -chair. And then, mercifully, his wild eyes strayed to Gelle's face and -clung there as to his savior. He blinked, swallowed twice, gripped the -chair arms and began to talk--to his beloved "Mist' Meddalahk", who had -given him human sympathy and a dollar. A question or two he answered -intelligibly. Then, abruptly, his tongue-tied fear dropped from him. - -"Yessuh, yessuh, Ah doan' know nuthin' 'bout no doin's mah boss he been -up to. Boss, he want his dinnah awn time--dass all ole Sam consuhmed -about. - -"But one mawnin', 'long about noon, heah come dem Meddalahk boys -ridin' and shootin'. Yessuh, Ah 'member what tooken place awn dat -day. Considubble, suh, happens right 'long 'bout dat same time. Mist' -Meddalahk, he come ridin' along, aftuh boss he go awn to town. Yessuh, -boys dey calls 'im Jelly, but Ah doan' see nothin' respeckful 'bout -names lak dat. Ah calls 'im Mist' Meddalahk, an' we talks along an' -talks along, 'bout one thing an' anuthah--yessuh. - -"Mist' Jedge, suh, Ah got somethin' awn mah min' don' consuhn yo'all. -Ah been hearin' little sum'fin now an' ag'in 'bout some money what -come up missin', and 'pears lak some gemmen, dey 'clined to think mah -frien', Mist' Meddalahk ovah theah, he done mebby _took_ dat money. Ah -doan' rightly know jes' how dat come about, Mist' Jedge, suh, but Ah'd -lak fo' to tell yo'all--" - -"I object, your honor, on the ground that the witness is taking up -valuable time to no purpose," cried Palmer's counsel, springing to his -feet. "Your honor, this witness is incompetent--" - -"This witness is trying to tell what he knows about some missing -money," the judge rebuked. "Objection overruled. Go on, Sam. Tell us -all about it. Plenty of time, so long as we get the truth." - -"Yessuh, Mist' Jedge, dat what Ah'm comin' to right now. Mist' Jedge, -it come about 'count of ole Blinkah. He go wand'in' off an' Ah hunts -him up, 'cause sometime he jes' go to sleep 'mos' anywhere. Mist' -Meddalahk, he bin gone fuh some time, an' Blinkah, he gone fuh some -time, and Ah jes' starts off lookin' fuh Blinkah. Yessuh, Mist' Jedge, -Ah'm lookin' for Blinkah. - -"Time Ah gits down pas' de stable, Mist' Jedge, I seen fo', five men -walkin' crost cow paschuh. Mist' Meddalahk, he's one, Mist' Delkin, -he's one, Mist' Bud, he's one--looks lak mebby Blinkah he down thah -an' mebby sick uh somepin'. So Ah goes awn down, Mist' Jedge, an'--an' -awnes', Mist' Jedge, Ah doan' mean no hahm! - -"Ah goes along in some bushes, lak, an' Ah watches t' see what all's -takin' place, 'cause if it's Blinkah an' he's daid, ole Sam he ain't -gwine be dah--no, suh! So, Jedge, 'clah to goodness, dem white folks -dey diggin' aroun' an' talkin' 'bout _money_. Ah crope along, an' -crope along, but Ah doan' see all dat money--no, suh. Ah waits, an' dey -pack off all dey wants, an' Mist' Delkin, he say he leave wha's left. - -"Mist' Jedge, Ah been luhned not to wast _nothin'_. Boss, he mighty -p'tic'lah 'bout wastin' _nothin'_. Dey takes all dey wants, Jedge, and -den Ah goes an' looks, and 'clah t' goodness, Ah seen _gol'_ money lef' -right dah! Mus' be fo' five dollahs. Ah--Ah tuk it, Mist' Jedge. Ah got -it in mah baid, upstairs. Cawdin' t' what Ah huhd, Mist' Jedge, dat -money consuhms mah friend, Mist' Meddalahk." - -"Whoo-_eee_!" yipped Gelle, before he could stop himself, and caught -the stern yet understanding eye of the judge and subsided, red to -collar and hair line. - -"That's the first dramatic moment I've seen since I came West," Marge -confided to Bonnie, who was biting her under lip and staring straight -before her, to where Bud's head had lifted and turned, his eyes seeking -hers. Bonnie's eyes were bright and her lashes were wet, and she did -not hear a word of what Marge was saying. - -The sheriff was mumbling that there would be a recess of ten minutes. -Bonnie stood up, helping Maw into the aisle. She was going to Bud. It -was almost as if Bud had been cleared of some criminal charge--as if he -had been the prisoner before the bar. But when she had taken a step or -two down the aisle, Bonnie stopped, a queer little sound in her throat -that may have been a laugh or a sob, or both. She turned and caught Maw -by the arms and lifted. - -"Stand on the seat, Maw, and look over there! He's going straight to -Butch--to beg his pardon. Oh, isn't that the most splendid thing you -ever saw?" - -Maw, up on the seat, looked in the wrong direction and never knew it, -because her eyes were so full of tears she could not have seen Bud -anyway. - -"Yes, it's grand," she quavered. "Larkie and Bud are good boys--" - -"Say, Maw," Lark leaned over her shoulder to shout, "that coon's goin' -to spend the rest of his days at the Meddalark and help you cook. Darn -his black hide--and Butch too. He ast me fer a job and I turned him -down cold. Lemme past, will yuh, Bonnie? I want to ketch him b'fore he -gits outside. My Jonah, about the worst thing can happen a feller is to -be accused of somethin' he ain't guilty of. Hey, Butch! Butch! Bud! You -'n' Butch come awn over here! These wimmin has got me penned up here -like a pet calf!" - -"Moses, what a jam!" quaked Maw, when a dozen persons in her immediate -vicinity began milling aimlessly in the aisle. "Larkie, I just hope -Palmer gits let out. I don't believe any man on earth would lie like -that under oath and all, and if he was tellin' the truth, he ain't no -more guilty than I be." - -"I don't think he is guilty at all," Marge complained. "I came clear up -here to see a man sentenced to be hanged by the neck--oh, where? That -handsome fellow over there? Lynched! Was he really? I wonder if some -one can introduce him to me. Lark, will you--" - -"Oh, Maw," cried Lark into the babel, "we got a new lark to set and -chirp on our bough. Butch is goin' to start in quick as we git back." - -"I'm real glad," said Maw, grinning vacantly with her teeth comfortably -reposing in her pocket. "I wisht, Larkie, you could find somethin' -for that poor old Blinker to do. Seems a shame--they say Palmer's -bargainin' already t' sell out an' leave the country quick as they let -him go--" - -"Well," young Bud's voice rose cheerfully above the clamor, "Butch, you -and I will have to go swimming first chance we get. How about it?" - -"Gosh, let's _all_ go," cried Gelle exuberantly. - -"Me, I'll take mine in good ole Metropole," Bob pushed up and confided -in Gelle's ear. "They say it's a cinch, now, that Palmer'll be cleared. -Guess the old coot's got it comin'." - -"Well, I'm real glad," Maw repeated. "It would be awful, wouldn't it, -to think little Skookum's grandpa was a murderer? I guess they's good -in all of us if it only gets a chance." - -"Come on, girls--and that means you, too, Maw. It's all over now but -the shouting, and I'm too dry to shout. Let's round up Lightfoot, and -all go hunt that drug store. What do you say?" - -"I say that means you want to get Bonnie out of here," Marge retorted. -"I'd rather go with the other boys and Maw. I want to ask Butch a lot -of questions, anyway." - -"Ask me, little pilgress, why don't you? I could answer more questions -a minute--if you asked 'em--than you could ask Butch in a year." - -"Oh, all right. I don't think Butch heard me, anyway. Come on, Maw." - -At the steps, Bud and Bonnie looked back and saw them coming; smiled -and nodded, caught a warning scowl from Gelle and decided they would -not wait. - - * * * * * - - _"The Books You Like to Read at the Price You Like to Pay"_ - - _There Are Two Sides to Everything--_ - ---including the wrapper which covers every Grosset & Dunlap book. -When you feel in the mood for a good romance, refer to the carefully -selected list of modern fiction comprising most of the successes by -prominent writers of the day which is printed on the back of every -Grosset & Dunlap book wrapper. - -You will find more than five hundred titles to choose from--books for -every mood and every taste and every pocketbook. - -_Don't forget the other side, but in case the wrapper is lost, write to -the publishers for a complete catalog._ - -_There is a Grosset & Dunlap Book for every mood and for every taste_ - - * * * * * - - B. M. BOWER'S NOVELS - -May be had wherever books are sold. Ask for Grosset and Dunlap's list. - - - _DESERT BREW_ - _BELLEHELEN MINE, THE_ - _THE EAGLE'S WING_ - _THE PAROWAN BONANZA_ - _THE VOICE AT JOHNNYWATER_ - _CASEY RYAN_ - _CHIP OF THE FLYING U_ - _FLYING U RANCH_ - _FLYING U'S LAST STAND, THE_ - _HAPPY FAMILY, THE_ - _HER PRAIRIE KNIGHT_ - _LONG SHADOW, THE_ - _LONESOME TRAIL, THE_ - _LOOKOUT MAN, THE_ - _LURE OF THE DIM TRAILS, THE_ - _PHANTOM HERD, THE_ - _RANGE DWELLERS, THE_ - _RIM O' THE WORLD_ - _STARR OF THE DESERT_ - _TRAIL OF THE WHITE MULE, THE_ - _UPHILL CLIMB, THE_ - - -GROSSET & DUNLAP, _Publishers_, NEW YORK - - * * * * * - - RAFAEL SABATINI'S NOVELS - -May be had wherever books are sold. Ask for Grosset and Dunlap's list. - - -Jesi, a diminutive city of the Italian Marches, was the birthplace -of Rafael Sabatini, and here he spent his early youth. The city is -glamorous with those centuries the author makes live again in his -novels with all their violence and beauty. - -Mr. Sabatini first went to school in Switzerland and from there to -Lycee of Oporto, Portugal, and like Joseph Conrad, he has never -attended an English school. But English is hardly an adopted language -for him, as he learned it from his mother, an English woman who married -the Maestro-Cavaliere Vincenzo Sabatini. - -Today Rafael Sabatini is regarded as "The Alexandre Dumas of Modern -Fiction." - - -_MISTRESS WILDING_ - -A romance of the days of Monmouth's rebellion. The action is rapid, its -style is spirited, and its plot is convincing. - - -_FORTUNE'S FOOL_ - -All who enjoyed the lurid lights of the French Revolution with -Scaramouche, or the brilliant buccaneering days of Peter Blood, or the -adventures of the Sea-Hawk, the corsair, will now welcome with delight -a turn in Restoration London with the always masterful Col. Randall -Holles. - - -_BARDELYS THE MAGNIFICENT_ - -An absorbing story of love and adventure in France of the early -seventeenth century. - - -_THE SNARE_ - -It is a story in which fact and fiction are delightfully blended and -one that is entertaining in high degree from first to last. - - -_CAPTAIN BLOOD_ - -The story has glamor and beauty, and it is told with an easy -confidence. As for Blood himself, he is a superman, compounded of a -sardonic humor, cold nerves, and hot temper. Both the story and the man -are masterpieces, A great figure, a great epoch, a great story. - - -_THE SEA-HAWK_ - -"The Sea-Hawk" is a book of fierce bright color and amazing adventure -through which stalks one of the truly great and masterful figures of -romance. - - -_SCARAMOUCHE_ - -Never will the reader forget the sardonic Scaramouche, who fights -equally well with tongue and rapier, who was "born with the gift of -laughter and a sense that the world was mad." - - - GROSSET & DUNLAP, _Publishers_, NEW YORK - - * * * * * - - DETECTIVE STORIES BY J. S. FLETCHER - -May be had wherever books are sold. Ask for Grosset & Dunlap's list. - - _THE WOLVES AND THE LAMB_ - _GREEN INK_ - _THE KING versus WARGRAVE_ - _THE LOST MR. LINTHWAITE_ - _THE MILL OF MANY WINDOWS_ - _THE HEAVEN-KISSED HILL_ - _THE MIDDLE TEMPLE MURDER_ - _RAVENSDENE COURT_ - _THE RAYNER-SLADE AMALGAMATION_ - _THE SAFETY PIN_ - _THE SECRET WAY_ - _THE VALLEY OF HEADSTRONG MEN_ - - -_Ask for Complete free list of G. & D. Popular Copyrighted Fiction_ - - GROSSET & DUNLAP, _Publishers_, NEW YORK - - * * * * * - - CHARLES ALDEN SELTZER'S - - WESTERN NOVELS - -May be had wherever books are sold. Ask for Grosset and Dunlap's list. - - -_THE WAY OF THE BUFFALO_ - -Jim Cameron builds a railroad adjacent to Ballantine's property, even -though Ballantine threatens to kill him the day he runs it. - - -_BRASS COMMANDMENTS_ - -Stephen Lannon writes six commandments over six loaded cartridges set -out where the evil men who threaten him and the girl he loves, may see -them. - - -_WEST!_ - -When Josephine Hamilton went West to visit Betty, she met "Satan" -Lattimer, ruthless, handsome, fascinating, who taught her some things. - - -_SQUARE DEAL SANDERSON_ - -Square Deal Sanderson rode onto the Double A just as an innocent man -was about to be hanged and Mary Bransford was in danger of losing her -property. - - -_"BEAU" RAND_ - -Bristling with quick, decisive action, and absorbing in its love theme, -"Beau" Rand, mirrors the West of the hold-up days in remarkable fashion. - - -_THE BOSS OF THE LAZY Y_ - -Calumet Marston, daredevil, returns to his father's ranch to find it -is being run by a young woman who remains in charge until he accepts -sundry conditions. - - -_"DRAG" HARLAN_ - -Harlan establishes himself as the protector of Barbara Morgan and deals -out punishment to the girl's enemies through the lightning flash of -drawn guns. - - -_THE TRAIL HORDE_ - -How Kane Lawler fought the powerful interests that were trying to crush -him and Ruth Hamlin, the woman he loved, makes intensely interesting -reading. - - -_THE RANCHMAN_ - -The story of a two-fisted product of the west, pitted against a -rascally spoilsman, who sought to get control of Marion Harlan and her -ranch. - - -_"FIREBRAND" TREVISON_ - -The encroachment of the railroad brought Rosalind Benbam--and also -results in a clash between Corrigan and "Firebrand" that ends when the -better man wins. - - -_THE RANGE BOSS_ - -Ruth Harkness comes West to the ranch her uncle left her. Rex -Randerson, her range boss, rescues her from a mired buckboard, and is -in love with her from that moment on. - - -_THE VENGEANCE OF JEFFERSON GAWNE_ - -A story of the Southwest that tells how the law came to a cow-town, -dominated by a cattle thief. There is a wonderful girl too, who wins -the love of Jefferson Gawne. - - - GROSSET & DUNLAP, PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK - - * * * * * - - THE NOVELS OF TEMPLE BAILEY - -May be had wherever books are sold. Ask for Grosset & Dunlap's list. - - -"Although my ancestry is all of New England, I was born in the old town -of Petersburg, Virginia. I went later to Richmond and finally at the -age of five to Washington, D.C., returning to Richmond for a few years -in a girl's school, which was picturesquely quartered in General Lee's -mansion. - - -_PEACOCK FEATHERS_ - -The eternal conflict between wealth and love. Jerry, the idealist who -is poor, loves Mimi, a beautiful, spoiled society girl. - - -_THE DIM LANTERN_ - -The romance of little Jane Barnes who is loved by two men. - - -_THE GAY COCKADE_ - -Unusual short stories where Miss Bailey shows her keen knowledge of -character and environment, and how romance comes to different people. - - -_THE TRUMPETER SWAN_ - -Randy Paine comes back from France to the monotony of every-day -affairs. But the girl he loves shows him the beauty in the common-place. - - -_THE TIN SOLDIER_ - -A man who wishes to serve his country, but is bound by a tie he -cannot in honor break--that's Derry. A girl who loves him, shares his -humiliation and helps him to win--that's Jean. Their love is the story. - - -_MISTRESS ANNE_ - -A girl in Maryland teaches school, and believes that work is worthy -service. Two men come to the little community; one is weak, the other -strong, and both need Anne. - - -_CONTRARY MARY_ - -An old-fashioned love story that is nevertheless modern. - - -_GLORY OF YOUTH_ - -A novel that deals with a question, old and yet ever new--how far -should an engagement of marriage bind two persons who discover they no -longer love. - - - GROSSET & DUNLAP, PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK - - * * * * * - - EMERSON HOUGH'S NOVELS - -May be had wherever books are sold. Ask for Grosset and Dunlap's list. - - - _THE COVERED WAGON_ - _NORTH OF 36_ - _THE WAY OF A MAN_ - _THE STORY OF THE OUTLAW_ - _THE SAGEBRUSHER_ - _THE GIRL AT THE HALFWAY HOUSE_ - _THE WAY OUT_ - _THE MAN NEXT DOOR_ - _THE MAGNIFICENT ADVENTURE_ - _THE BROKEN GATE_ - _THE STORY OF THE COWBOY_ - _THE WAY TO THE WEST_ - _54-40 OR FIGHT_ - _HEART'S DESIRE_ - _THE MISSISSIPPI BUBBLE_ - _THE PURCHASE PRICE_ - - - GROSSET & DUNLAP, PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK - - * * * * * - - JACKSON GREGORY'S NOVELS - -May be had wherever books are sold. Ask for Grosset & Dunlap's list. - - -_THE MAID OF THE MOUNTAIN_ - -A thrilling story, centering about a lovely and original girl who -flees to the mountains to avoid an obnoxious suitor--and finds herself -suspected of murder. - - -_DAUGHTER OF THE SUN_ - -A tale of Aztec treasure--of American adventurers who seek it--of -Zoraida, who hides it. - - -_TIMBER-WOLF_ - -This is a story of action and of the wide open, dominated always by the -heroic figure of Timber-Wolf. - - -_THE EVERLASTING WHISPER_ - -The story of a strong man's struggle against savage nature and -humanity, and of a beautiful girl's regeneration from a spoiled child -of wealth into a courageous strong-willed woman. - - -_DESERT VALLEY_ - -A college professor sets out with his daughter to find gold. They meet -a rancher who loses his heart, and becomes involved in a feud. - - -_MAN TO MAN_ - -How Steve won his game and the girl he loved, is a story filled with -breathless situations. - - -_THE BELLS OF SAN JUAN_ - -Dr. Virginia Page is forced to go with the sheriff on a night journey -into the strongholds of a lawless band. - - -_JUDITH OF BLUE LAKE RANCH_ - -Judith Sanford part owner of a cattle ranch realizes she is being -robbed by her foreman. With the help of Bud Lee, she checkmates -Trevor's scheme. - - -_THE SHORT CUT_ - -Wayne is suspected of killing his brother after a quarrel. Financial -complications, a horse-race and beautiful Wanda, make up a thrilling -romance. - - -_THE JOYOUS TROUBLE MAKER_ - -A reporter sets up housekeeping close to Beatrice's Ranch much to her -chagrin. There is "another man" who complicates matters. - - -_SIX FEET FOUR_ - -Beatrice Waverly is robbed of $5,000 and suspicion fastens upon Buck -Thornton, but she soon realizes he is not guilty. - - -_WOLF BREED_ - -No Luck Drennan, a woman hater and sharp of tongue, finds a match in -Ygerne whose clever fencing wins the admiration and love of the "Lone -Wolf." - - - GROSSET & DUNLAP, _Publishers_, NEW YORK - - * * * * * - - PETER B. KYNE'S NOVELS - -May be had wherever books are sold. Ask for Grosset and Dunlap's list. - - -_THE ENCHANTED HILL_ - -A gorgeous story with a thrilling mystery and a beautiful girl. - - -_NEVER THE TWAIN SHALL MEET_ - -A romance of California and the South Seas. - - -_CAPPY RICKS RETIRES_ - -Cappy retires, but the romance of the sea and business, keep calling -him back, and he comes back strong. - - -_THE PRIDE OF PALOMAR_ - -When two strong men clash and the under-dog has Irish blood in his -veins--there's a tale that Kyne can tell! - - -_KINDRED OF THE DUST_ - -Donald McKay, son of Hector McKay, millionaire lumber king, falls in -love with "Nan of the sawdust pile," a charming girl who has been -ostracized by her townsfolk. - - -_THE VALLEY OF THE GIANTS_ - -The fight of the Cardigans, father and son, to hold the Valley of the -Giants against treachery. - - -_CAPPY RICKS_ - -Cappy Ricks gave Matt Peasley the acid test because he knew it was good -for his soul. - - -_WEBSTER: MAN'S MAN_ - -A man and a woman hailing from the "States," met up with a revolution -while in Central America. Adventures and excitement came so thick and -fast that their love affair had to wait for a lull in the game. - - -_CAPTAIN SCRAGGS_ - -This sea yarn recounts the adventures of three rapscallion sea-faring -men. - - -_THE LONG CHANCE_ - -Harley P. Hennage is the best gambler, the best and worst man of San -Pasqual and of lovely Donna. - - - GROSSET & DUNLAP, PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK - - * * * * * - - EDGAR RICE BURROUGHS' NOVELS - -May be had wherever books are sold. 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Bower. - </title> - <link rel="coverpage" href="images/cover.jpg" /> - - <style type="text/css"> - -body { - margin-left: 10%; - margin-right: 10%; -} - - h1,h2,h3 { - text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ - clear: both; -} - -p { - margin-top: .51em; - text-align: justify; - margin-bottom: .49em; -} - -hr { - width: 33%; - margin-top: 2em; - margin-bottom: 2em; - margin-left: 33.5%; - margin-right: 33.5%; - clear: both; -} - -.smcap { font-variant:small-caps; } - -hr.chap {width: 65%; margin-left: 17.5%; margin-right: 17.5%;} -hr.tb {width: 45%; margin-left: 27.5%; margin-right: 27.5%;} - -.center {text-align: center;} - -.right {text-align: right;} - -.left {text-align: left;} - -table { - margin-left: auto; - margin-right: auto; -} - -/* Images */ -.figcenter { - margin: auto; - text-align: center; -} - -.caption p -{ - text-align: center; - text-indent: 0; - margin: 0.25em 0; -} - -div.titlepage { - text-align: center; - page-break-before: always; - page-break-after: always; -} - -div.titlepage p { - text-align: center; - text-indent: 0em; - font-weight: bold; - line-height: 1.5; - margin-top: 3em; -} - -.ph1 { text-align: center; text-indent: 0em; } -.ph1 { font-size: medium; margin: .83em auto; } - - - </style> - </head> -<body> - -<div style='text-align:center; font-size:1.2em; font-weight:bold'>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Meadowlark Basin, by B. M. Bower</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world 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 <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you -are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the -country where you are located before using this eBook. -</div> - -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: Meadowlark Basin</p> - -<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: B. M. Bower</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: November 2, 2021 [eBook #66651]</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Character set encoding: UTF-8</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Produced by: Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net</div> - -<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MEADOWLARK BASIN ***</div> - - -<div class="titlepage"> - -<h1>MEADOWLARK BASIN</h1> - -<h2>BY B. M. BOWER</h2> - -<p>AUTHOR OF CHIP OF THE FLYING U,<br /> - -THE EAGLE'S WING,<br /> - -DESERT BREW, Etc.</p> - -<p>WITH FRONTISPIECE BY<br /> - -GEORGE W. GAGE</p> - -<p>GROSSET & DUNLAP<br /> - -PUBLISHERS NEW YORK</p> - - -<p><i>Copyright, 1925</i>,</p> - -<p>BY LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY.</p> - -<p><i>All rights reserved</i></p> - -<p>Published August, 1925<br /> - -Reprinted November, 1925</p> - -<p>PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA</p> - - -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/illus.jpg" alt=""/> - <div class="caption"> - <p>Smoky Ford had never seen anything like it.</p> - </div> -</div> - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<h2>CONTENTS</h2> - -<table summary="contents"> -<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_ONE">I</a></td><td align="left">LARK RUSTLES A BOY</td></tr> -<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_TWO">II</a></td><td align="left">SMALLPOX HAS ITS USES</td></tr> -<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_THREE">III</a></td><td align="left">LARK DOES A LITTLE BRANDING</td></tr> -<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_FOUR">IV</a></td><td align="left">BUD</td></tr> -<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_FIVE">V</a></td><td align="left">THE SIGN OF THE GOLDEN ARROW</td></tr> -<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_SIX">VI</a></td><td align="left">BUD DOES A LITTLE RUSTLING</td></tr> -<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_SEVEN">VII</a></td><td align="left">WAYS AND MEANS</td></tr> -<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_EIGHT">VIII</a></td><td align="left">BUD HOLDS COUNCIL WITH HIMSELF</td></tr> -<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_NINE">IX</a></td><td align="left">BUTCH CASSIDY GIVES ADVICE</td></tr> -<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_TEN">X</a></td><td align="left">THE FRYING PAN</td></tr> -<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_ELEVEN">XI</a></td><td align="left">BUD TAKES A TRAIL OF HIS OWN</td></tr> -<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_TWELVE">XII</a></td><td align="left">THE MEADOWLARK BOYS HAVE A PLAN</td></tr> -<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_THIRTEEN">XIII</a></td><td align="left">BUD FINDS THE STOLEN MONEY</td></tr> -<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_FOURTEEN">XIV</a></td><td align="left">"SOMETHING'S ABOUT DUE TO POP!"</td></tr> -<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_FIFTEEN">XV</a></td><td align="left">"JELLY" GETS IN ACTION</td></tr> -<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_SIXTEEN">XVI</a></td><td align="left">"WHO SHOT BAT AND ED WHITE"</td></tr> -<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_SEVENTEEN">XVII</a></td><td align="left">"BUD AND JELLY; ONE OR BOTH"</td></tr> -<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_EIGHTEEN">XVIII</a></td><td align="left">BUD GOES AFTER BUTCH</td></tr> -<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_NINETEEN">XIX</a></td><td align="left">"NEXT TIME, REMEMBER—BUTCH PACKS TWO GUNS!"</td></tr> -<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_TWENTY">XX</a></td><td align="left">"THINGS KINDA SLIPPED UP"</td></tr> -<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_TWENTY-ONE">XXI</a></td><td align="left">LARK WOULD HAVE DONE THINGS DIFFERENTLY</td></tr> -<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_TWENTY-TWO">XXII</a></td><td align="left">EAVESDROPPER</td></tr> -<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_TWENTY-THREE">XXIII</a></td><td align="left">"DISARM THE PRISONER!"</td></tr> -<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_TWENTY-FOUR">XXIV</a></td><td align="left">SNOWBALL TESTIFIES</td></tr> -</table> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<h2>MEADOWLARK BASIN</h2> - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_ONE" id="CHAPTER_ONE">CHAPTER ONE</a></h2> - -<h3>LARK RUSTLES A BOY</h3> - - -<p>On the brow of the hill the horse Lark was riding stepped aside -from the trail, walked to the very edge of the rim and stood there, -gravely looking down into the valley. Where he stood the young grass -was cut and crushed into the loose soil with shod hoofprints closely -intermingled, proof that the slight detour was a matter of habit born -of many pausings there at gaze. Except on pitch-black nights or when he -rode in haste, Lark never failed to stop and drink his fill of the wide -valley below,—in his opinion the most beautiful spot on earth.</p> - -<p>Straight down, a good four hundred feet below him, lay the bottomland -known the country over as Meadowlark Basin, where old Bill Larkin had -his stronghold in the old days. Across the wide meadows the Little -Smoky River went whirling past like a millrace, the piled hills crowded -close upon the farther bank. At the head of the Basin, nearly a mile -away, other hills shouldered one another and the rumbling storm clouds -just above; beyond all, the mountains with white peaks and purple -canyons gashed the dark splotches of wooded slopes.</p> - -<p>"Is down there—where we're goin'?" The small boy sitting within the -circle of Lark's arms, his small legs spread across the saddle in front -of Lark's long legs, pointed a soft, brown finger toward the valley -below.</p> - -<p>"You betchuh." One of Lark's arms snuggled the boy closer.</p> - -<p>"Is all them horses—your horses?"</p> - -<p>"Bet they are. Ain't they purty down there? Look at all them spraddly -colts, son. Ain't they the purtiest sight you ever saw?"</p> - -<p>"O-oh, one colt kicked its—its mamma!" The boy slapped his hands -together and chuckled. "Can—can I have one colt—to ride?"</p> - -<p>"Bet you can! Ain't it purty down there? Look at that green patch over -next the river. That's lucerne. And up above there is the spuds, a -different green yet. And that's timothy and clover on beyond. Listen, -son. Hear 'em? Meddalarks and frogs singin' a contest. Frogs is ahead, -got all the best of it so far, 'cause they sing all night and the -meddalarks lays off till daybreak."</p> - -<p>"Can—can I have a frog—"</p> - -<p>"Have to ask missis frog about that, son. Better shack along and get -home ahead of the storm. See that lightnin' scootin' along up there -among the hills; ain't it purty? Be blowin' rain in our faces if we -don't hurry." Lark twitched the reins and the horse swung back to the -trail that dipped down into a green fold of the encircling hills, -shutting off their view of everything save the ink-black clouds with -greenish-brown lights here and there that were swiftly blotting out the -blue above their heads.</p> - -<p>"Tired?" Lark bent his head to look into the flushed face of the -youngster.</p> - -<p>The boy shook his head, not wanting to confess. He wriggled one arm -loose and wiped the dusty beads of perspiration from cheeks and brow, -glancing up anxiously into Lark's eyes.</p> - -<p>"They—can't find me here, can they?" He looked at the rock walls on -either side with a certain satisfaction in their solid gray, as if they -were put there for his especial protection.</p> - -<p>"No," said Lark grimly. "They'll never git yuh away from here, son."</p> - -<p>The boy heaved a great sigh and looked at the storm and the narrow -pass and down at the twitching ears of the horse. The hard muscles of -Lark's left arm pressed him close. He sighed again and drooped a bit -in the embrace. It had been a long, hard ride that lasted through the -night and half of the day, and, deny it as he would, he was tired to -the middle of his bones.</p> - -<p>At the foot of the steep, narrow pass the horse broke into a shambling -trot, and once he whinnied eagerly. They brought up in a grassless, -hard-packed space between two corrals, and Lark loosened his hold and -swung stiffly from the saddle. His face was drawn and his eyes sunken -as if he too were very tired.</p> - -<p>"Well, here we are, son." He grinned and pulled the boy out of the -saddle, setting him on his feet at a safe distance from the horse.</p> - -<p>The boy's feet were like wooden clubs. He sat down with unexpected -abruptness in the dirt. Over by the corral a man laughed.</p> - -<p>"Still dragging in slick-ears; where did you find this one, Lark?"</p> - -<p>Lark eyed the speaker across the saddle he was uncinching.</p> - -<p>"In the wrong corral, Bud. Havin' the heart kicked outa him—game -little cuss. Fit to wear our brand. Better take him up to the house -and feed him and put him to bed. Been in the saddle since nine o'clock -last night, Bud."</p> - -<p>Bud lounged over to them—a slim, handsome youth with the peculiar, -stilted walk of the cowboy—and bent smiling over the child, gathering -the little body up in his arms.</p> - -<p>"Shall I bed him with that broken-legged cougar, or nest him with the -young eagle, or down in the calf corral, or where?" he bantered. "The -Meddalark's about full up with orphan babies right now. How do you -grade this one?"</p> - -<p>"Ask maw. Bet she'll know his stall quick enough." He pulled off the -saddle and, with a glance up at the approaching storm, walked to a -near-by shed with the heavy, stamped saddle skirts flapping against his -legs.</p> - -<p>A sudden, blinding glare and rending crash of thunder sent the young -fellow scurrying up the path to the one-story ranch house that sprawled -against the hill as if it had backed there for shelter and still -huddled in fear. Great drops of rain like cold molten bullets spatted -into the dust. The young man laughed as he ran, the boy clinging to his -neck with two thin arms. They reached the sagging porch just as another -flash ripped through the clouds and let loose the full torrent of rain.</p> - -<p>Turning to look back, he saw Lark almost at his heels, his broad hat -brim flooded with the down-pour. The two halted on the porch and stood -gazing out at the slanted wall of water, the thunder of it on the porch -roof like the deep pounding of surf beating against rocks. Lark stared -up at the high plateau beyond the Basin's rim, and his whimsical mouth -widened in a satisfied smile.</p> - -<p>"This'll wash out every track in the country," he yelled above the -uproar. "Needn't have circled through the foothills if I'd known it was -comin'."</p> - -<p>Bud looked at him, glanced down at the boy now lying in the slackness -of deep sleep on his shoulder. He shook his head in vague disapproval.</p> - -<p>"Stole him, hunh?"</p> - -<p>Lark hunched his wet shoulders, glancing sidelong at the flushed face -of the boy.</p> - -<p>"Damn' right," he growled. "So would you, Bud—or any man with a -heart in him. Why—damn it, they had 'im out in the field, <i>workin'</i>. -Followin' a big, heavy drag around. Made me so darn sore I just swiped -him up into the saddle and rode for the hills." He took off his hat, -tilting it so that the water ran out of the curled brim to the steps.</p> - -<p>"You sure as hell annexed a bunch of trouble, Lark. Where was it you -kidnaped him?"</p> - -<p>"Got him off the Palmer ranch. Think he's a grandson of the old man. -They'll hunt him, chances are. This rain's a godsend—they'll never -track me home."</p> - -<p>Bud grinned to himself and turned, carrying his burden inside and -laying him on a roomy, cowhide-covered couch where the child sprawled -slackly, without a movement of limbs to show he had been disturbed in -his sleep. The two men stood looking down at him.</p> - -<p>His light brown hair was curly, with damp rings clinging to his -forehead. His lashes were long and curled up at the ends, his round -face had the deep sun-tan of the prairies. Palmer was called a rich -man, but the boy's overalls were faded and old, each knee a gaping, -ragged-edged hole. His thin elbows stuck out through the ragged sleeves -of a dirty, blue gingham shirt. Lark bent and twitched aside the loose -collar, open for want of a button.</p> - -<p>"Look at that," he gritted, exposing a long, greenish-blue mark on the -shoulder. "Old man Palmer ain't paid for that yet, but he's goin' to -some day. The kid won't forget it—I won't <i>let</i> 'im forget. You wait -till he's full-growed."</p> - -<p>"They'll come after him, Lark."</p> - -<p>"Let 'em." Lark straightened and hitched up his belt. "Just let 'em -try, that's all." His head swung toward a closed door. "Oh, Maw-w!"</p> - -<p>Stodgy, flat-footed steps sounded in the next room. The door was pulled -open from the farther side and a queer, goblin creature of the female -sex looked in, smiling and showing just three lonely teeth in the full -expanse of her mouth. Her head would reach to the Bull-Durham tag that -dangled from Lark's breast pocket; a large head, much too large for -so short a woman. The swelling goiter was not pretty to behold, and -her graying hair was combed straight up and twisted into a hard little -biscuit on top of her round head. But Lark's eyes softened wonderfully -at sight of her, and Bud's lips twitched into a quick smile and his -hand reached up automatically to take off his hat.</p> - -<p>"What is it, boys? Lark, your coffee'll be ready in a jiffy. I've been -keepin' the kettle on ever since breakfast. My, my, what a rain! If it -don't wash the garden truck all into the river I'll be thankful. My -peas are swimmin' for their lives already."</p> - -<p>"Maw, come here." Lark crooked one finger, and the queer little old -woman pattered forward, her face alive with curiosity.</p> - -<p>"For the love of Moses!" Maw clasped her hands with a gesture of -amazement. "Bill Larkin, what have you been a doing <i>now</i>? I'll bet you -stole that little feller. I can tell by the gloat in your eyes. Who -belongs to him? You never took him away from his mother, did you, Lark? -If you did you must carry him right straight back."</p> - -<p>Lark laid his hand on the biscuit of hair and gave it a gentle twist.</p> - -<p>"Maw, you shut up and go get into your teeth. Want to scare 'im to -death when he wakes up? What d'you suppose I went and got you fitted -out with teeth for? Does he <i>look</i> like he had a mother? By Jonah, if -he's got a mother she don't deserve him. Looks like an orphant to me, -Maw."</p> - -<p>"They'll be hunting him, Lark. You can't drag in boys like you would a -calf; <i>did</i> you steal this child? You look me in the eye, young feller, -and tell the truth."</p> - -<p>Lark did not look her in the eye, but he told the truth without -speaking one word. He bent, pulled aside the gingham shirt and pointed. -Maw looked and turned away her head, sucking in her breath audibly as -one does in pain.</p> - -<p>"Shall I carry him back where I got him, Maw?"</p> - -<p>"No!" Maw shuddered. "The dirty brutes! You fetch him right back into -my room. Buddy, you go get that spring cot out of the lean-to, and -bring in the top mattress off the spare bed in the wing. I'll rustle -bedding myself." She bent and stared hard at the boy's face.</p> - -<p>"This looks to me like the boy old Palmer brought home and said he was -Dick's boy. If he is, there'll be a ruckus raised that'll make your old -father's fingers itch in the grave to be up and shooting. Palmer hangs -onto whatever he gets in his clutches, you want to remember that. And -he's got a bad bunch around him."</p> - -<p>"Well," Lark's lips tightened, "so've I got a bad bunch around me, Maw. -I can't look back at a time when folks didn't hesitate some before they -tackled the Meddalark outfit."</p> - -<p>"The Meddalark never locked horns with old man Palmer yet. Lark, if you -take my advice, you'll send a man up to the old lookout your dad fixed -on the rim. That's the weak point of the whole Basin, Lark, and you -know it. A man could stand up there with a rifle and pick off the whole -bunch down here. There'll be trouble over this boy, sure as you live. -If you got him away from Palmer there'll be shooting, and you better -oil up your six-gun and get ready for it."</p> - -<p>"Why, Maw, you danged old outlaw, you!" Lark laughed. "There wasn't any -shootin' when I kidnaped <i>you</i>."</p> - -<p>"Nobody cared about me, Lark. This is different."</p> - -<p>"Yeah," Lark admitted thoughtfully, "mebbe it is."</p> - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_TWO" id="CHAPTER_TWO">CHAPTER TWO</a></h2> - -<h3>SMALLPOX HAS ITS USES</h3> - - -<p>Down through the pass came two riders, drenched with the storm that had -lasted through the day, with intermittent gusts of booming wind and -vicious lightning, then long, steady down-pours as if the whole heavens -were awash and there would be no end to the falling water. From the -window overlooking the Basin Bud saw them lope heavily into the meadow -trail, small geysers of clean rain water thrown up into the sunset glow -whenever the horses galloped into a hollow. Bud lounged across the room -and put his head into the kitchen.</p> - -<p>"Two riders coming, Maw. Better keep that kid out of sight."</p> - -<p>Maw nodded, clicking the china white teeth she wore to please Lark. Bud -closed the door, glanced toward another behind which Lark was sleeping -heavily, and opened it.</p> - -<p>"Oh, Lark! Riders coming. What time did you get in last night—if -anybody wants to know?"</p> - -<p>Lark landed in the middle of the floor, wide-awake as a startled -mountain lion. One slim hand went up to pat his hair down into place, -the other reached for his gun.</p> - -<p>"Left Smoky Ford about three o'clock in the afternoon. Got here along -about midnight, didn't I? Maw ought to know." Then he sat down on the -edge of the bed and yawned widely. "You go on out, Bud. If it's the boy -they're after, you holler to Maw and ask if supper's ready, soon as you -hit the porch. Maw and I will look after the kid."</p> - -<p>"Craziest thing a man could do," young Bud muttered, as he left the -house and walked down the path to meet the riders. His hat was tilted -a bit to one side, a cigarette was in his mouth and tilted to the -same angle, his thumbs were hooked negligently inside his belt and -his three-inch boot heels pegged little holes in the sodden path as -he went. Mildly hospitable he looked, with no more interest in their -coming than custom demanded of him. But he saw their eyes go slanting -this way and that as they approached, and he saw the ganted flanks of -their wet horses and the flare of nostrils that told of long, hard -riding.</p> - -<p>"Howdy, cowboys," he greeted, lounging closer. "Been out in the dew, -haven't you?" He grinned as youth will always grin at the mischance of -his fellows.</p> - -<p>One lean, unshaven fellow slid out of the saddle and walked stiffly up -to Bud, leaving the reins dragging in the wet, steamy muck of the yard. -He did not answer the smile.</p> - -<p>"We want you folks to get out and help hunt a lost kid," he stated -flatly. "Palmer's grandson, it is. Or mebbe your Lark seen him -yesterday. Some said he left town yesterday, comin' this way, and -he musta passed by the Palmer place 'long about the time the kid -disappeared. He might of saw him. He here?"</p> - -<p>Bud jerked a thumb over his shoulder toward the house.</p> - -<p>"Put up your horses, boys. Jake, over there forking hay, will feed -them after you've pulled your saddles. Supper must be about ready. Oh, -Jake!" he called, "take care of these horses, will you?" He turned back -to the two who were jerking impatiently at wet latigo straps. "Lark -didn't say anything about any lost kid, but you can talk to him about -it. How about the town folks turning out? They're closer than we are. -We'll go, of course."</p> - -<p>"The town is out," the short man told him, grunting a little as he -heaved his saddle to a dry spot under the shed. "Been out all night. -Old man sent us over here because he seen Lark ride past right where -the kid was workin' in the field. Looked like he stopped an' talked to -the kid, he said, but it was so fur off he couldn't tell."</p> - -<p>Bud turned and walked ahead of them up the path, and now he glanced -over his shoulder at the speaker, a curious light in his eyes.</p> - -<p>"A kid old enough to work in the field wouldn't get lost, would he?"</p> - -<p>The thin man shook his head.</p> - -<p>"That's what looked damn queer to me," he assented. "But it's about the -only thing that could of happened—unless he was made away with," he -added as an afterthought.</p> - -<p>"How old a kid is he?" Bud's interest grew a bit keener.</p> - -<p>"Eight—mebby nine. Too little to get anywhere on foot."</p> - -<p>Bud considered this, shook his head as if the question was beyond him, -and stepped upon the porch. "Oh, Maw! Supper ready? Two extra," he -shouted, and turned squarely about to scrape his bootsoles across the -edge of the porch.</p> - -<p>"I'd run away," he said soberly, "if I wasn't more than eight or nine -and had to do a man's work. Doesn't sound right to me." Having scraped -all the mud from one boot, he began meticulously to scrape the other. -The two from Palmer's followed his example and scraped and scraped, in -evident fear of offending a careful housewife.</p> - -<p>"Come right in, boys." Maw herself pulled open the door and stood -there, smiling and showing the three yellow teeth like stripes dividing -the glaring white ones. "Supper's about ready. What's these gentlemen's -names, Buddy?"</p> - -<p>"You'll have to ask them," Bud replied evenly. "They're in a hurry and -upset, and didn't introduce themselves. Bat and Ed, the boys call them. -Come on in, boys. They're out hunting a lost child, Maw. They think -maybe Lark might have seen him last evening as he was riding out from -town."</p> - -<p>"Johnson's my name," the thin man introduced himself perfunctorily to -maw. "This other man is named White. Is Mr. Larkin in?"</p> - -<p>"Come right into the kitchen. Yes, Lark's here, going over his guns -after the rain; leaky roof to the closet—Bud, you'd ought to patch -that roof right away to-morrow. It was just an accident Lark went into -the closet for something and found all the guns soaking wet. A child -lost, did you say?"</p> - -<p>"Don't seem to worry folks over this way very much," Johnson observed -suspiciously. "How d' do, Lark; seen you in Smoky Ford, you remember."</p> - -<p>"<i>Hel</i>-lo!" Lark, entrenched behind a table littered with guns, greasy -rags, cleaning rods and odorous bottles, looked up and grinned a -welcome. "Excuse me for not shakin' hands—coal-oil and bear's grease -all over me. What was that, Maw, about a lost child?"</p> - -<p>"They want to know if you saw anything of a boy back at Palmer's ranch. -Old Palmer saw you ride past there about the time they missed the kid." -Bud, pulling chairs to the supper table, spoke more rapidly than was -his habit.</p> - -<p>"I'll tell it," Johnson interrupted. "It's Palmer's grandson—Dick -Palmer's boy. He was out in the field, and the horses come in without -'im. Palmer claims he seen you ride past, and he says you stopped an' -talked to the boy. He wasn't seen after that, and the hull country's -out lookin' through the hills for 'im. It seemed like you'd oughta -know somethin' about 'im." Johnson's eyes clung tenaciously to the -ivory-handled, silver-mounted six-shooter that lay close to Lark's -hand on the table. The gun which Lark was working on at the moment was -a shotgun, double-barreled and ominous.</p> - -<p>"Yeah, I remember that kid." Lark spoke without haste, his eyes on -the gunstock he was polishing. "Pore little devil, I rode along and -found him hung up at the edge of the field, with the drag caught on a -rock when he tried to turn around. He couldn't lift it off, and the -team wouldn't pull it off, an' there he was, cryin' because he'd get a -lickin' if he broke any teeth outa the harrer, an' if he didn't finish -the draggin' along that end of the field, he'd get a lickin'—way he -figured it, he was due for a whalin' any way the cat jumped." Lark -inspected his work, broke open the gun and shoved in two pinkish -cartridges.</p> - -<p>"Too small a boy to be away out there, half a mile from the house, -tryin' to do a man's work. I got off my horse and heaved the drag off -the rock for him, and gave him a bag of gumdrops I was bringin' home -to maw." He glanced at the old lady and smiled. "That's why you never -got any candy this trip, Maw," he explained apologetically. "I gave the -whole bag to the boy. It was worth it, too—way he began to put 'em -away, two at a time. Mebbe he run off and hid from that lickin'," he -added hopefully, picking up a rifle.</p> - -<p>"The team come home," Johnson pointed out impatiently, "and the hull -country for ten mile around has been combed. He never got off afoot." -But he said it mildly and stared uneasily at the way Lark was handling -the rifle; not pointing it at any one, but holding it so that any man -there could look down its muzzle if he but turned his wrist a bit.</p> - -<p>"Set up to the table, folks," Maw invited briskly. "Larkie, can't you -leave them smelly old guns long enough to eat?" Then she sighed, almost -as an afterthought. "My, my, it's terrible to think of a child like -that."</p> - -<p>"Might as well finish this job, Maw. Hands all stunk up, now. You folks -go ahead. Well, a kid like that can only be crowded just so far," he -returned to the subject. "I know he was scared of somebody that would -give him a lickin', and I know what a horse will do when it gets the -notion it ain't being treated right. It'll quit the range, give it a -chance. That boy was a mile from his lickin', just about, and he wasn't -more than twenty rods from the hills. I expect a pound of gumdrops -would look to him like supplies enough to carry him a hundred miles. -Betcha a broke horse the kid beat it. And if he did I hope he makes it -outa the country."</p> - -<p>White and Johnson ate uncomfortably, more than half their attention -given to the nonchalant handling of the guns across the room. Just -behind Lark's chair was a closed door, and from behind that closed door -came the sound of footsteps; rather, the creaking of boards beneath the -weight of some person.</p> - -<p>"Old man Palmer," Lark stated emphatically, "is the kinda man that -would skin a louse for its hide and tallow. He'd likely keep every man -in the country riding the hills and neglecting his work, huntin' down -a little shaver of a boy that he can drive to a man's work and save, -mebby, two dollars a day. Betcha a beef critter he won't say thank-yuh -or go-ta-hell for the ridin'. No, sir, I don't feel called upon to put -any Meddalark horses under the saddle for that kinda slave-chasin'. If -the kid had the spunk to drift outa there, he's got my good wishes. And -you can go tell him I said so."</p> - -<p>"Ain't it struck yuh that might look kinda bad?" Johnson was stirring -his coffee with his left hand, his right hand under the edge of the -table.</p> - -<p>"Think it does?" Lark very casually laid down the rifle—with his -left hand—and picked up the six-shooter with his right. He seemed to -be studying the W L filed on the metal behind the trigger, and while -he was looking at that the muzzle pointed at the wall two feet behind -Johnson.</p> - -<p>"My Jonah, this gun of dad's is all specked with tarnish!" Lark -exclaimed, interrupting himself. "Four of the notches is plumb rusty, -which they wouldn't be if my old dad was alive to-day. My Lord, how he -could shoot! I've seen him wing a horsefly at forty yards and never -ruffle the hair on the horse. Fact. Makes me think of what he used to -say about how things <i>look</i>. He always told me to let my conscience -and cartridges guide me, and tahell with the <i>looks</i>. Dad would likely -ride over and beef the man that made that little kid stand and cry -because he couldn't lift a heavy drag off a rock for fear a tooth might -be broke and he'd get a beatin'. What I'd ought to of done is ride on -up to the house and call old man Palmer out and shoot him. What do you -think, Johnson?"</p> - -<p>Johnson's hand came up and rested ostentatiously on the table. He -shuffled his feet and nodded, his eyes on his plate. White cleared his -throat and glanced sidewise toward the door that would let him out of -the house by the shortest route.</p> - -<p>"Have some goozeberry pie," Maw urged, and sucked her new teeth into -place with a click of her tongue. "I hope they never catch that poor -little feller. If they do, and I ever hear of old Palmer whippin' him -again, I'll walk right over there with a black-snake and give him a -good horsewhipping. I'll teach him!"</p> - -<p>"I'll hold him for you, Maw." Bud Larkin reached out and patted her -approvingly on the shoulder.</p> - -<p>"Buddy, you go in and ask Mr. Smith if he could drink a cup of tea. You -was vaccinated whilst you were off to school—"</p> - -<p>"Somebody sick?" Johnson looked up, poising a knife loaded with mashed -potatoes. "You ain't got smallpox here, have you?"</p> - -<p>"No!" Lark spoke sharply. "Been a long time since I've saw a case, -and I don't hardly believe this is smallpox. Sores break out on the -forehead first, as I've heard it. These are on the back—back and -shoulders, mostly. You take a close look, Bud, when you go in, and see -if there's anything showin' on his face. And, my Jonah, be careful you -don't pull down that sheet!"</p> - -<p>Bud took the cup of tea that Maw had ready and walked to the door -behind Lark. He opened it, letting out a whiff of carbolic acid from -the soaked sheet hung straight across the doorway.</p> - -<p>"Feller rode in here to-day in pretty bad shape," Lark observed -soberly. "Couldn't turn him out, couldn't put him in the bunk house -with the boys, couldn't do a darn thing but fix him up comfortable -where we could watch him. But I don't hardly think it's smallpox. All -the cases I ever seen, the sores—"</p> - -<p>Johnson pushed back his chair with a loud scraping sound on the white -boards of the floor. White duplicated the sound and the haste.</p> - -<p>"I guess we better be goin'," said Mr. Johnson, stooping to retrieve -his hat from the floor. "I—you folks better not ride over with us, -seein' as you've got sickness. Might spread somethin'—with everybody -millin' around."</p> - -<p>"That's good sense," chirped Maw. "Lark don't think it's anything -ketchin', but that poor feller caught it, didn't he? He don't make no -bones of it. No use exposin' the whole country—and you may be mighty -sure, Mr. Johnson, that we ain't going to take any chances."</p> - -<p>"You let Bud Larkin set right at the table with us, and you been -passin' us dishes—that's chances enough for <i>me</i>." Mr. Johnson, -herding Mr. White before him, went out and slammed the door.</p> - -<p>Maw stood with her head tilted grotesquely to one side, listening. A -closed door, in her experience, did not always mean departure.</p> - -<p>"Lark," she cried shrewishly, "what made you go and belittle that poor -man's sickness to them fellers? They mighta stayed around here an' got -exposed, an' you know as well as I do what ails that poor feller we -took in. If they catch something, they needn't blame <i>me</i>, for I washed -my hands good before I set the table. You'd oughta told them when they -first come in—"</p> - -<p>A board squeaked on the porch. Maw smiled, turned back to the stove and -picked up the coffee-pot; hesitated, put up a furtive hand and pulled -out the new teeth which she slid into her apron pocket.</p> - -<p>"Come on and eat your supper, Lark, before it's stone cold," she said -in a relaxed tone. "I guess the gun cleanin' can wait; they're gone."</p> - -<p>Lark slid some more cartridges into the cylinder of the notched gun, -slipped it inside his waistband and rose.</p> - -<p>"You got a case of smallpox on the ranch now; what you goin' to do -with it, Maw?" he demanded querulously. "A gun fight I can handle; I -was raised on 'em. But how do you expect me to live up to smallpox? -Answer me that!" Then he observed a certain vacancy in Maw's smile and -frowned. "Where's your teeth? Swaller 'em?"</p> - -<p>"No, I didn't!" Maw's leathery face showed a tinge of red. "You know -as well as I do that I can't eat with them fillin' up my mouth. And as -fer smallpox, how else you expect to keep folks from snoopin' around, -lookin' fer that boy? Them men suspicioned you, Larkie, you know it as -well as I do. It's a mercy I wrung out that sheet and hung it up—they -heared the boy movin' around in there. Mebby you didn't see 'em wallin' -their eyes that way, but I did. Lucky I could give 'em something for -their pains of stretching their ears—you'd likely have two dead men on -your hands to explain."</p> - -<p>"Feller knows where he's at when it's straight shootin'," Lark -contended in a tone of complaining. "This thing of lyin' out of a -scrape—"</p> - -<p>"I didn't lie, and neither did you. But I expect we'll all of us do -some tall old falsifying before we're through. They ain't goin' to let -the matter rest where it's at, Lark. You'd ought of thought about these -things—Lark, do you s'pose them fellers will stop and quiz Jake about -our Mr. Smith?"</p> - -<p>"My Jonah!" Lark ejaculated under his breath, and went out bareheaded -to see for himself.</p> - -<p>He found Jake leaning against the shed wall with his hands in his pants -pockets and his mouth wide open, laughing with a silent quaking of his -whole body. He stopped when Lark walked up to him and pointed to where -two horsemen were making one blurred shadow on the trail down past the -meadow.</p> - -<p>"Smoky Ford's goin' t' have a hell of a time supplyin' the demand fer -carbolic acid and such," Jake declared maliciously. "And there goes two -men that'll bile their shirts, I betcha." He gave Lark a facetious poke -in the ribs. "Dunno what the idee is, but I rode right in your dust. -They come down past the bunk house and wanted to know what we done -with the outfit of the feller that rode in here with smallpox, and was -he broke out bad. I played 'er strong, y' betcha. Told 'em I'd burnt -saddle, bridle, blanket an' all the clothes the feller was wearin' -at the time, an' shot an' cremated the hoss—by his consent durin' a -loocid minute. An' as fer bein' broke out, I tells 'em you couldn't put -a burnt match down anywhere on his face without bustin' a sore. Told -'em it was the worst case I ever seen. I kinda had t' play 'er with m' -eyes shet, Lark, but if you'd saw fit t' have a man here that was down -with smallpox, I knowed damn' well he'd oughta have it mighty bad an' -be right down sick with it. Hunh?"</p> - -<p>"You shore made 'im sick, all right," Lark grunted, and went off to the -house without another word.</p> - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_THREE" id="CHAPTER_THREE">CHAPTER THREE</a></h2> - -<h3>LARK DOES A LITTLE BRANDING</h3> - - -<p>Lark stacked his cup and saucer in his breakfast plate, added knife, -fork and spoon as range custom had taught him to do, and reached -absently for his tobacco sack and papers. Maw was going to spoil the -kid, he thought. Already she was mystifying him with a fascinating game -of "Two-little-birds-set-on-a-hill," with bits of the inner lining of -an eggshell pasted on her fore-fingers to represent the two little -birds, and sending the kid into hilarious squeals when Jack and Jill -flew away and returned again with incomprehensible facility.</p> - -<p>"Maw," said Lark, as he drew a match sharply along the underside of his -chair, "looks like that smallpox is about cured, right now. I'm goin' -to Smoky Ford, and I might be late gettin' back. Anybody you don't like -the looks of rides into the Basin, why, there's the shotgun loaded with -buckshot. She kicks, so hold her tight to your shoulder and pull one -trigger at a time. You'll find extra shells in my room, in the cupboard -behind the door. Don't stand fer no monkey work, Maw. The boys ain't -likely to get in with that bunch of cattle before to-morra, so it'll -be you and Jake to hold the fort; and Bud—" His eyes went to the glum -face of his handsome young nephew.</p> - -<p>"I'll ride with you, if you're damn' fool enough to go hunting -trouble," Bud stated calmly, pushing back his chair.</p> - -<p>"If Bat Johnson comes here again, I'll shoot him," said the boy -abruptly, ignoring Maw's little white birds while he stared across at -Lark. "He's a mean devil. Meaner 'n gran'pa. He—he goes an' tells -gran'pa everything. He's a mean old tattle-tale."</p> - -<p>"Now, Lark," Maw began worriedly, "there ain't a mite of use in you -going to town. Them men was scared off last night. You couldn't hire -'em to come here and run the risk—"</p> - -<p>"That's where you're fooled, Maw. They'll be back, don't you -fret—leave 'em alone. My old dad brought me up to meet trouble halfway -down the trail and shootin' as I ride. It's a good way—only way I know -anything about. The Meddalark's never learnt how to lie and dodge, Maw, -and now's a pore time to begin, looks like to me. Last night don't set -well with me; when you come to think it over, I'm the feller that's -got to live with me the closest and the longest, Maw. I'd hate to have -to live with a feller all my life that I was ashamed of." He smiled -suddenly with a boyish grin. "You see, Maw, I kinda put a spoke in -the wheel of destiny, and she's liable to bust something if she ain't -watched till she hits her stride again.</p> - -<p>"Son, yore fightin' days are yet to come. How about some more gumdrops? -You be a good boy to-day, and mind what Maw tells you, and mebbe -there'll be a bag of candy in my pocket when I git back. You betcha."</p> - -<p>Maw rose and stood goblinlike behind the boy's chair, her face turned -grayish under the tan.</p> - -<p>"Larkie, I know that town better than you do. There's a mean, low-lived -bunch hanging around that I wouldn't put nothing past. If you must -go, wait till the boys come with the cattle so you can have help. Six -of you won't be any too many to face Palmer's bunch, and what saloon -loafers he can drum up in town. Lark, I <i>know</i>. I was there when that -trouble with the Willis boys come up, and I know just what that mob is -capable of when they've got somebody to stir 'em up. You wait, Larkie. -Don't go and do anything foolish, like riding to Smoky Ford to-day, -right when—" Her voice broke and she turned her back on them, wiping -her eyes surreptitiously on her apron.</p> - -<p>"I like the way you count me," Bud cried with thin cheerfulness. "Never -mind, Maw. I can rope and throw Lark any time he gets to horning in -where he shouldn't, and I promise you that he isn't going to pull open -any hornet's nest just to see how it's made. And Lark's right about -one thing, anyway. The best thing to do, now it's pretty well known -where we stand, is to ride in and show we aren't ashamed of ourselves. -The Willis boys were afraid, Maw. They tried to run, and then when -they were caught, they begged like whipped pups. And moreover, they -were guilty as hell. Buck up, Maw." He went over and patted her on the -shoulder. "Lark isn't going to do anything you'd be ashamed of."</p> - -<p>"If you see gran'pa," said the boy fiercely, "you tell—tell him I'm -goin' t' stay with—with you. Tell him I—I'm goin' t' kill him when I -get big."</p> - -<p>Lark looked down at him thoughtfully, smiled a bit at Maw's shocked -expostulations, and turned to the door.</p> - -<p>"I'll sure tell him that, son," he promised gravely. "And don't you -worry a minute about me, Maw."</p> - -<p>Maw did worry, however. She would have worried more if she could have -seen and heard what was going on in Smoky Ford that morning. Old -Palmer—who must have been old in sin, since he was not more than -forty-five—had ridden in early with Johnson, White and two others -of similar type. He did not go to the sheriff, as a man would have -done whose cause was unassailable, but had talked in the saloons, his -listeners for the most part those men who had joined in the search for -the lost boy.</p> - -<p>"Smallpox, my eye!" Palmer cried thickly. "There ain't a case in the -country. It was my son's boy that they had hid away in that room—and -us all huntin' the hills for him! It's like the Meddalark—an outlaw -bunch if ever there was one. Look at old man Larkin! If ever a man -deserved stringin' up, he did. And Lark and that kid nephew ain't any -better. Stealin' calves from me right along—and now they take the boy -and hide him away in a room—" There was a great deal of the same kind -of talk, for Palmer was not the man to let anything slip away from him.</p> - -<p>Smoky Ford men should have stopped to wonder why Palmer the -tight-fisted was buying whisky for every man that joined the listening -group around him. It never had happened before that any one could -remember, nor was it likely to happen again. But men do not as a rule -stop to ask why, when the bartender is busy and makes no sign that -he expects pay for every filled glass. Palmer's money was good that -morning; he had a grievance and the men who had turned out to search -for a lost child discovered that Palmer was a human kinda cuss, after -all, and that it looked as if a crime had been committed boldly, in -broad daylight. Then Bat Johnson artfully crystallized the growing -sentiment born of whisky and Palmer's loud-mouthed denunciations.</p> - -<p>"Hell, if it was a horse that was stole, that p'ticular Meddalark bunch -would be busted up in short order. Being a kid that's made 'way with—" -he stopped there to empty his glass "—why, mebby we oughta let 'em get -away with it. Some places, though, folks count humans worth as much as -horses, anyway."</p> - -<p>"Damn' right," a Palmer man muttered. "I'm goin' t' ride up river, -t'night, and ask how about it. Bat an' me figures we c'n clean out that -nest by our lonely, an' git the kid back. Rest of you folks better pull -the blankets over your heads t'night er you might hear shootin'."</p> - -<p>"Rope beats that," suggested another, his tongue thickened by what had -been poured over it.</p> - -<p>Two or three grunted approval—a bit uncertainly, because in normal -times they liked the Meadowlark outfit, Lark himself in particular, and -they did <i>not</i> like Palmer.</p> - -<p>"Better send the sheriff after the kid," one level-headed cowpuncher -advised. "Lark just done it fer a josh, most likely."</p> - -<p>"Yeah, better send the sheriff up there," some one agreed.</p> - -<p>"Sheriff ain't here," said Palmer shortly. The crowd was colder on -the scent than he liked. Had he known it, there had been hints among -the searchers that the boy was better off in the hills than with his -grandfather, and that he had probably run away. Which proves that they -were human enough in their mental reactions if left alone.</p> - -<p>He presently left that saloon and wandered into another, and there -were plenty of half-drunken men by that time who would follow him for -the free drinks that were in it. By noon the crowd was convinced that -stealing a child is as serious a crime as stealing a horse and that the -punishment should be as swift and sure. And it is a fact that when men -dealt with the crime of horse-stealing they did not stop to inquire -whether the owner had been kind to the beast. A horse was a horse, and -stealing was stealing. So the Meadowlark outfit was declared outlaw, -and at least fifty men prepared to stage a lynching that night in -Meadowlark Basin.</p> - -<p>They were making the last sinister plans and electing a captain of the -mob—Palmer, of course—when Lark rode into town and down the road that -was called a street, Bud's right stirrup swinging close to his left -one. A man crossing the street to a saloon gave them a startled glance -and dived inside bearing all the earmarks of one who is about to spill -a mouthful of amazing news.</p> - -<p>"Right there's the bee tree," Lark observed under his breath, and rode -after him. The half door was still swinging when Lark's horse pushed in -with a snort of distaste for the job, and Lark himself ducked his tall -hat crown under the casing.</p> - -<p>"Howdy, folks," he cried cheerful greeting. "Come on down to the -Chester House, will you? I've got something to tell you—and I want -Palmer there, particular. Fetch him along—I see he's here. Missed him -at the ranch." He began backing out again. "If you please," he added -carefully, as a polite afterthought.</p> - -<p>Outside, he headed for the next saloon, looked in and found no one -there but the bartender. Him he beckoned with a crooked finger, and -rode on to the next, with Bud beside him and the mob hurrying curiously -at his heels. Lark's restless eyes darted to Bud's right hand that -fumbled the butt of his six-shooter thrust within his belt, and he -grinned and shook his head.</p> - -<p>"Don't think you'll need it, m' son," he said softly, as they reached -the little hotel with the high platform in front, and he swung his -horse to meet the crowd. There was no smile now on his lips, and his -eyes were steady except for the light that flickered deep within.</p> - -<p>"All right, folks. Just put Palmer up in front here, will you? I've got -a message for him that I promised to deliver."</p> - -<p>"Ransom, eh?" Palmer's teeth showed under his lifted lip. "You're crazy -to come here and stick your neck in the noose—"</p> - -<p>"You shut up, will you?" Lark's voice was so quiet that men in the -rear crowded forward to hear what he was saying. "I'll do the talking -for a minute. No, the boy you been hunting sent you a message. He said -to tell you that he was going to stay with me, and that when he's big -enough, he's going to kill you." Lark paused. "I think he'll do it, -Palmer. There's good stuff in that kid and he won't forget." He lifted -his eyes to the crowd behind Palmer.</p> - -<p>"Folks, that little kid has got welts all over him, just about, where -Palmer quirted him. He's between eight and nine years old, just the age -when a boy plays the hardest and grows the fastest—and when I seen -him he was out in the field following a heavy drag around (or trying -to) and the team he had to handle was the kind you need a pitchfork to -go in the stall with 'em. The black lammed out with his heels while I -was there talkin' to the kid, and the gray was wallin' his eyes and -watchin' for a chance. Palmer loves that boy, don't you think? He -ought to have him back. Must save him a dollar a day, and don't cost -as much to feed a kid as it does a man; not that kid, anyway. You can -count his ribs as far as you can see him, when his shirt's off. Starved -him, Palmer did. And beat him till—" Lark stopped and swallowed and -blinked, and the crowd moved uneasily and sent sidelong glances at one -another.</p> - -<p>"So the kid will carry some of them marks till he grows up, and he -ain't likely to forget. He'll kill Palmer as sure as God made little -apples, if Palmer ain't killed already by the time the kid's growed -up t' be a man. Palmer's got that to look forward to. But that's the -kid's game, and I wouldn't for the world get in and spoil it for him. -I hope Palmer lives with that in mind—that the kid he beat raw is -growin' fast as he can and lookin' forward to the time when he can kill -the devil that used him so.</p> - -<p>"But, as I say, that's the kid's game. What I come after Palmer for is -to put the Meddalark brand on him with my quirt. I never did try to -draw that bird on a man's hide, but I'll never start younger, and I -feel like I'm artist enough to mark this damn' long-ear, till the kid -can get around to beef him. I been lookin' at the marks on the kid's -back, so I've got them to go by. Palmer, don't make me kill you! I'd -hate to cheat the kid like that."</p> - -<p>Lark, easing himself to one side in the saddle, ready to dismount -swiftly, halted Palmer's incipient flight as if he had caught him by -the collar.</p> - -<p>"All right, Lark. I've got him covered," snapped Bud, just behind him, -"Go to it." He spurred forward. "Give me your bridle reins," he added -matter-of-factly.</p> - -<p>On the ground, quirt in hand, Lark advanced upon Palmer, who tried -to shrink into the crowd and was shoved back into the open space as -unhesitatingly as if these men had not been drinking his whisky and -absorbing his viewpoint since morning. Palmer staggered under the -impetus of the shove, and Lark caught him expertly by the collar, -yanked his coat off, grabbed again and went to work, punctuating the -swish and thud of the quirt by words that bit into the soul of the man -like acid.</p> - -<p>"Drop that gun!" This was Bud, cutting short Bat Johnson's half-formed -determination to do murder. "This is no shooting match—unless some -fool like you makes it so." Upon the close-packed, staring crowd Bud -was calmly riding herd, Lark's horse dancing at the end of his reins -and lashing out at any man who pressed forward. Strange as it might -have seemed to those who had watched the slow forming of the mob idea, -the strongest sentiment in that crowd was irritation against Bud, who -blocked their view of the show. Men darted to the hotel platform and -scrambled up to a vantage point, eager to miss no vicious cut of that -flailing quirt.</p> - -<p>Palmer, on his knees, begged for mercy. It was pitiable, nauseating, to -hear how he wept and pleaded under the blows.</p> - -<p>"Did you quit beating the kid when he cried?" Lark's voice was -merciless, his eyes aglare with rage.</p> - -<p>"He'll kill you for that," a man told Lark soberly when it was all -over, and Palmer had slunk away with his shoulders bent and bloody, -mouthing curses and threats. "You'll need a bullet-proof back from now -on. Come have a drink."</p> - -<p>"No—thank you just the same." Lark lifted a hand, stared dully at the -way it was trembling, and wiped the beads of perspiration off his face. -"I—the kid is waiting for some candy I promised him." He reached out a -groping hand for the reins Bud was offering, and mounted like a man who -is very, very tired. "I—guess we'd better be goin'. Maw'll be worried."</p> - -<p>"And so," Bud remarked thoughtfully, when they had ridden a mile down -the trail toward the Meadowlark, thirty-five miles away, "you've -stopped a lynching party, marked the back of the richest and meanest -man in the country for life, staked yourself to a feud that will keep -you guessing from now on, and annexed another responsibility in the -form of a boy you'll feel you've got to educate same as you did me. -Lark, you damned fool, you're the kind of man King Arthur would have -been proud of."</p> - -<p>"Hunh?" Larked glanced up from tightening the scanty string on the -lumpy bag of candy that was too big to go in his pocket and so must be -carried for thirty-five miles in his hand. "Talk United States, darn -you; I ain't ridin' the range fer no king!"</p> - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_FOUR" id="CHAPTER_FOUR">CHAPTER FOUR</a></h2> - -<h3>BUD</h3> - - -<p>Dust lay deep in the trail and spurted up in little clouds from -under the tired feet of Bud Larkin's sweat-streaked sorrel. Smoky -Ford squatted as always with her board shacks huddled about her one -street and the rear windows staring stupidly at the hills beyond the -swift-flowing river hidden behind the willows and the steep bank. The -afternoon was half gone and the mid-July wind was hot and dry, and -Bud had been in the saddle since early morning. He rode up to the -hitch-rail in front of the Elkhorn saloon and dismounted, wondering -a little at the crowd uproariously filling the place. Moving a bit -stiffly, he went inside, the big rowels of his spurs making a pleasant -<i>br-br-brr</i> on the boards, the chains clinking faintly under the arch -of his high-heeled boots as he walked.</p> - -<p>The whole of his high gray hat, the brim turned back and skewered to -the crown with a cameo pin filched from the neck of a pretty girl whom -he had kissed on the mouth for her laughing resistance, looked as if -it were afloat on a troubled sea of felt as he pushed through the noisy -crowd and up to the bar, his thoughts all of beer cold and foaming -in the glass. The cameo pin and the pretty girl were forgotten, the -smoldering eyes under his straight brown brows held no vision of gentle -dalliance, though Bud was a good-looking young devil of twenty-two -who gave blithe greeting to Romance when he met her on the lonely -trails. His mouth, given easily to smiles that troubled the dreams of -many a range girl, was grim now and dusty in the corners as he waited -thirstily for the tall glass mug ribbed on the outside and spilling -foam over the top; took one long swallow when the busy bartender pushed -the glass toward him, and turned, elbowing his way to an empty table -against the wall where he could sit down and rest himself and take his -time over the refreshment.</p> - -<p>Negligent greeting he gave to one or two whose eyes he met, but for the -most of them he had no thought. It was not his kind of a crowd, being -composed largely of the town drifters and a few from the neighboring -ranches. The cause of their foregathering was not far to seek. Steve -Godfrey was present and deeply engaged in letting his world know that -he was having one of his sprees—during which he was wont to proclaim -loudly that he was prying off the lid, taking the town apart, painting -her red; whatever trite phrase came first to his loose lips. On such -occasions he lacked neither friends nor an audience.</p> - -<p>"<i>Ev</i>-rybody dance!" Steve was shouting drunkenly, his face turned -toward the doorway where a man was entering whose back bore certain -scars, they said, which Lark could best explain; Palmer, whose silent -enmity was felt by the Meadowlark even though he had as yet made no -open move against them, "Lock the door! 'S my saloon—bought 'er for -the next two hours! Drink 'er dry, boys, and <i>ev</i>-rybody dance!"</p> - -<p>Palmer laughed sourly and shut the inner door with a bang, pushing the -bolt across. There was a general stampede for the bar, behind which -Steve Godfrey was pulling down bottles with both hands and laughing -wide-mouthed as they were snatched from him. Bud's lip curled.</p> - -<p>A young fellow at the next table was sketching rapidly in a notebook, -glancing up after each pencil stroke to catch fresh glimpses of some -face in the crowd. Bud lifted his beer, took a sip and set down the -mug, watching sidelong the careless, swift work of his neighbor. -A stranger in the town, Bud tagged him. A tenderfoot, judging by -the newness of his riding clothes, the softness of his hands, the -town pallor of his face. He looked up and smiled faintly with that -wistfulness of the lonely soul begging silently for friendship, and -Bud's scornful young mouth relaxed into a grin.</p> - -<p>"Great stuff—all new to me, though," the young man confided, nodding -toward the massed backs before him.</p> - -<p>"Crazy bunch of booze-fighters," Bud condemned the crowd tersely.</p> - -<p>"Say, whyn't you up here drinkin' with the rest?" Steve Godfrey, -standing on a keg behind the bar, bawled angrily at the artist. "You, I -mean, over there by the wall. What's the matter with you? Sick at the -stummick?"</p> - -<p>"Why, no. Thank you just the same, but I don't drink liquor."</p> - -<p>"Don't, ay?" Steve scowled and spat into a corner. "Well, if you don't -drink, dammit, you'll dance!"</p> - -<p>Bud moved his slim body sidewise so that his gun hung handily within -reach of his fingers. The young man shrugged his shoulders, closed his -notebook and put it away with the pencil. The crowd had swung round and -was staring and waiting to see what would happen next.</p> - -<p>"I don't mind dancing for you," smiled the artist, "but I can't dance -without music, you know."</p> - -<p>"Can't, ay?" Steve was happy now, bullying some one who would not fight -back. "Say! you git up and dance to <i>this</i>!"</p> - -<p>The stranger looked at the gun in Steve's hand, glanced into Steve's -eyes and stifled a yawn.</p> - -<p>"You know very well that's impossible," he said patiently. "I've -always said that this dancing to the music of a six-shooter is a fake, -invented by some Eastern author for melodramatic effect. I still -believe you got the idea out of some book. I wouldn't mind dancing for -you, but you couldn't possibly beat time with that gun. Six shots, -and I'd have to stop and wait while you reloaded. The thing isn't -practical. If any one here could furnish some real music—"</p> - -<p>"I have a mouth-harp, though you may not call that real music," Bud -announced unexpectedly, and finished his beer with one long swallow. -It amused young Bud to see the stupid indecision on the face of Steve -Godfrey, who lacked the wit to handle an old range joke when it chanced -to take a new turn.</p> - -<p>"Good!" The young man smiled frankly. "Clear a space over there by the -door, will you?" He looked inquiringly at Bud. "What can you play?"</p> - -<p>"I can play anything you can dance," Bud grinned reply, well pleased -with the small diversion. "How about a good old buck-and-wing?"</p> - -<p>"All right, buck-and-wing it is." The stranger nodded, cast another -glance toward that non-plused bully, Steve Godfrey, who stood on the -keg with the gun sagging in his hand and his mouth half open, and took -his place in the center of the makeshift stage.</p> - -<p>Bud shot him a puzzled glance not unmixed with a certain tolerant -contempt. The young fellow's manner gave no hint of fear, so why should -he dance at the bidding of a drunken bully? Bud did not like to think -that the tenderfoot had seized the first excuse for showing off before -so sorry an audience.</p> - -<p>However, the motive was no business of Bud's. He polished the harmonica -on his sleeve, moistened his boyish lips that turned so easily to -smiles, cupped his hands around the little instrument so dear to the -heart of a cowboy and swung into a jig tune. Sitting on the edge of the -table with his head tilted to one side, eyes half closed and watching -the dancer while a well-made riding boot tapped the beat of the -measures on the rough board floor, Bud never knew the picture he made.</p> - -<p>The dancer's eyes studied the lines of his clean young face and throat, -the tilt of his hat with the cameo brooch pinning back the broad brim, -the slim, muscular body and straight legs; studied and recorded each -curve and line in a photographic memory. And he could dance the while! -Smoky Ford had never seen anything like it. Hornpipe and highland fling -he did, never taking his eyes off Bud, but mechanically fitting the -steps to each tune as it was played. Even the free whisky was forgotten -as the crowd pressed close to watch him.</p> - -<p>Then Bud awoke to the fact that his lips were getting sore from rubbing -across the reeds, that time was passing and that he had urgent business -in another part of town. Fifteen minutes or more had been spent when -he had thought to drink a glass of beer and go on. He put away his -mouth-harp and started for the door.</p> - -<p>"Hey! Come back here with that music!" Steve Godfrey shouted -arrogantly. "Where the hell you goin'?"</p> - -<p>"Where did you get the crazy notion you could give orders to <i>me</i>?" Bud -flung contemptuously over his shoulder as he slid back the bolt.</p> - -<p>"You stay where you're at! That door stays shut till I give the word -to open it!" Steve was off the keg and plowing toward him through the -crowd.</p> - -<p>"You'll stay shut a heap longer," flared Bud, and gave Steve an -uppercut that sent his teeth into his tongue and jarred him cruelly. -Behind Steve a lean face leered at Bud; the face of Palmer, who was -edging forward as if he meant to take a hand. The key had been turned -in the lock and removed—by Palmer, Bud would have sworn. The knowing -look in his eyes betrayed that much.</p> - -<p>Steve was coming at him again, gun in hand and mouthing threats; but -the stranger who had danced managed to hook an agile foot between his -legs and throw Steve so hard that he bounced. Then he swung a chair, -and the crowd backed.</p> - -<p>Bud opened the door by the simple expedient of shooting the lock off -it, and went out with belled nostrils like a bull buffalo on the -rampage. The strange youth followed close behind, the chair still held -aloft and ready for a charge.</p> - -<p>"Come on, Lightfoot," Bud snorted. "That bunch fights mostly with -their mouths." A little farther down the street his temper cooled to -the point where further speech came easily. "Darned chumps! I guess I -quit rather suddenly, but it wasn't because I was tired of watching you -dance. You're a dandy. But I have to get into the bank, and it's about -closing-up time. I just happened to think of it."</p> - -<p>"I'd danced quite long enough. I wanted to leave and meant to the first -chance," the stranger dubbed Lightfoot confessed. "I guess they're a -pretty tough lot in there; but I want to get acquainted, and I knew -they'd probably enjoy my dancing and feel more friendly toward me. I'm -anxious to shake down into the community and be considered just one of -you."</p> - -<p>"Are you classing me with that bunch back there?" Bud gave him a -studying look.</p> - -<p>"No-o—I meant the whole country, when I spoke. I'm a stranger here, -and it seems pretty hard to get acquainted." He shook his head -ruefully. "Now, I'm afraid I've only made matters worse, fighting like -that."</p> - -<p>"That wasn't a fight. They've gone back to lapping up free booze by -now, and don't remember anything about it. Dirty sneaks, most of them -are, and the less you shake down and be considered just one of them the -better."</p> - -<p>He went up the steps of the little, private bank at the end of the -street, rattled the door knob, frowned at the green-shaded windows and -looked at his watch.</p> - -<p>"Three minutes to three, and I'm two minutes fast," he commented. -"They've no business locking up ahead of time. I've just got to get in, -that's all there is about it."</p> - -<p>"There's a side door," the stranger suggested, and Bud gave a nod of -assent and led the way around the corner of the building. A man with -a packhorse was riding out from the open lot behind the bank, going -toward the river at a shacking trot. Bud gave him a casual glance, -turned to the bank door and discovered that it was locked also, an -unusual circumstance at that hour. He gave the door a kick or two by -way of protest.</p> - -<p>"This is one hell of a town!" he snorted. "Let's take a look at the -back windows. The cashier surely must be inside, and I'll raise him—if -I have to take the darn bank apart."</p> - -<p>"I'm afraid I'm partly to blame," apologized the stranger. "I didn't -know you were in a hurry."</p> - -<p>"I quit in time. The bank doesn't close until three, and a fellow can -always get in the side door any time within an hour after that. It's -got no business to be locked up like a jail this time of day." They -were inspecting the windows in the rear and saw that they were all -closed in spite of the July heat. "Lightfoot, don't ever tell me you're -living here because you like the place, or I'm liable to think you're -crazy."</p> - -<p>"Lightfoot" grinned.</p> - -<p>"I'm here because my sister and I liked the name on the map. It seemed -to be located right in the heart of the cattle country, where dramatic -incident and local color should be at their best. Our name isn't -Lightfoot, though. I don't understand how you got the idea it was. -My name is Brunelle. I'm Lawrence Brunelle and my sister's name is -Margaret; Marge and Lawrie we're always called. We've been here only a -week."</p> - -<p>"That's a week longer than I'd want to stay," Bud declared. "You picked -about the meanest place in Montana when you chose Smoky Ford. I wish -to thunder I knew where that cashier went. He doesn't drink, so it's -of no use looking in the saloons. Say, if I stand on the door knob and -get a squint over the curtain, could you hold my legs and steady me? -The darn knob might bust." He stooped to unbuckle his spurs. "I tell -you, Lightfoot, there's something wrong about this bank being closed up -tight as a drum a good hour sooner than it should be."</p> - -<p>With the ease of any other young broncho fighter he mounted the door -knob, balanced there on the ball of one foot and bent to peer in -through the three-inch space above the green shade that had been pulled -down over the glass panel in the door. An awkward position, but he did -not keep it long. When he dropped and faced Brunelle his eyes were wide -and black with excitement.</p> - -<p>"He's dead in there, Lightfoot! The whole top of his head is caved in, -and the vault door's wide open!"</p> - -<p>Spurs and crumpled gloves in one hand, Bud led the way across the -street and down several doors to where James Delkin, the bank's -president, ran a livery stable—he being a banker in name only, as is -the way of village banks that cater to the local trade and find few -customers, though these may carry rather large accounts. Delkin was -swearing at his hostler when the two arrived, but he gave over that -pastime long enough to hear the news. His face went tallow white.</p> - -<p>"I told you first, Mr. Delkin. The rest of the town is boozing in the -Elkhorn, and no one knows what has happened. I hate to push my private -business into this, but it's a long ride to the Meadowlark, and Lark -sent in a check to be cashed. Fifteen hundred dollars, it is. Will this -murder make any difference?"</p> - -<p>"<i>Difference?</i>" Delkin slowed his tottering run to stare at Bud. "If -the vault's cleaned out, you can't get fifteen cents! My God, man, the -bank will be broke!"</p> - -<p>"Oh, say!" Brunelle's voice held panic. "My sister and I brought all -our money with us and banked it here, just last week!"</p> - -<p>Delkin was nervously trying to fit a key into the lock of the side -door, and he did not seem to hear. They pushed in together, Bud -thoughtfully closing the door behind them with the idea of staving -off the excitement that would follow hard on the heels of the town's -enlightenment.</p> - -<p>Delkin lunged through the partition door, rushed to the open vault, -gave one look and turned to the grewsome figure lying asprawl on the -floor. He looked at the shelf behind the cashier's window, at the -pulled-out, empty drawer beneath and slumped into a chair, his whole -form seeming to have shrunk and aged perceptibly.</p> - -<p>"Charlie dead," he wailed, "and the bank cleaned out—ruined! My God, -what can I do?"</p> - -<p>"Do?" Bud's eyes snapped. "Get after the gang that did it! You can -get the money back if you pull yourself together. They can't eat it, -and—the way Charlie looks, I'd say this happened not more than half -an hour ago." He turned to Brunelle, the cameo brooch looking oddly -out of place above his hard eyes and grim mouth. "You raise the town, -Lightfoot, and I'll fork my horse and get after that pack outfit we saw -leaving here as we came around the corner."</p> - -<p>"You think he did this?" Brunelle looked startled. "One man couldn't, -could he?"</p> - -<p>"One man could have seen the gang leave here," Bud retorted -impatiently. "Delkin, you stay here. Lightfoot will send some one." He -whirled and was gone, running lightly down to where his horse was tied -in front of the Elkhorn saloon, from which still rolled the uproar of -boisterous celebration of nothing.</p> - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_FIVE" id="CHAPTER_FIVE">CHAPTER FIVE</a></h2> - -<h3>THE SIGN OF THE GOLDEN ARROW</h3> - - -<p>Still, clear moonlight lay upon the land, with the far hills like a -painted back drop against the stars when Bud, having ridden far and -fast, jogged wearily into town and dropped reins before the bank, where -a light shone faintly through the curtained windows and figures were -to be seen moving occasionally behind the green shades. He knocked, -and after a hushed minute Delkin himself admitted him. Bud walked from -force of habit to the grilled window and leaned his fore-arms heavily -upon the shelf, his cameo-pinned hat pushed back on his head as he -pressed his forehead against the bronze rods of the barrier.</p> - -<p>"Well, I rode the high lines," he announced huskily because of the -dryness in his throat. "I saw the bunch from town go fogging along the -trail across the river, but I was back on the bench, following a mess -of horse tracks that took off toward the hills.</p> - -<p>"There's something darn funny about this deal, Mr. Delkin." Delkin -had retreated again behind the partition as if that was what his -office required of him. "Here's how she lies, but I don't pretend to -understand it. I got my horse and rode back up here and out behind the -bank, so as to pick up any trail they had left. The only horses that -had stood for any length of time near the bank was a pack outfit that -had been on the vacant lot back here all afternoon, by the sign. It -was Bat Johnson had it—he works for Palmer. He rode away just as I -came around the corner of the bank, thinking I could get in at the side -door, and I overhauled him at the ford. He'd taken that stock trail -through the willows, back here, and he told me he'd got a glimpse of -three or four horses loping down through the draw to the ford ahead of -him. He hadn't seen any one leave the bank by the side door, he said, -for he was over to the blacksmith shop for a while and came and got his -horses just as I came in sight around the corner. He hadn't seen any -one that acted suspicious, but he hadn't been paying any attention, he -said.</p> - -<p>"I rode back up the draw and picked up the trail of four horses, shod -all around. Your town posse crossed the river while I was in the draw, -and I followed the four horses across. The riders ahead of me didn't -pay any attention to the tracks. I suppose," he added scornfully, "they -were looking for masked men with white sacks full of money in their -arms! They just loped down the road, all in a bunch, as if they were -headed for a dance." Bud cleared his throat; this painstaking report -was dry work.</p> - -<p>"Well, Mr. Delkin, those four horses—shod all around—took straight -across the bench beyond the Smoky, heading for the hills. Here's the -funny part, though: They didn't hunt the draws where they could keep -out of sight, but sifted right along in a beeline, across ridges and -into hollows and out again, until the tracks were lost where they -joined a bunch of range stock that's running back there on the bench -about eight miles. From there on I couldn't get a line on anything -at all. I tried to ride up on the bunch, but my horse was tired and -they're pretty wild, and they broke for the hills. There were shod -horses among them, and I'm sure that no one had time to catch up fresh -horses out of that band and leave the four—and, Mr. Delkin, those four -horses didn't travel as if they had riders. I'd swear they were running -loose, and beat it straight from town to join their own bunch of range -horses."</p> - -<p>"And that's all you found out?" Delkin's voice was flat and old and -hopeless.</p> - -<p>"That's the extent of it. It was a blind trail, I believe, and your -holdups went some other way. Perhaps that posse will pick up some sign, -though if they do it will be an accident."</p> - -<p>The other men there asked a few questions, their manner as hopeless as -Delkin's. They were the directors and other officers of the bank, and -Bud sensed their feeling of helplessness before this calamity. The body -of the cashier had been removed, and these were staying on the scene -simply because they did not know what else to do.</p> - -<p>"How's the bank? Cleaned out?" Bud was still conscious of his own -personal responsibilities.</p> - -<p>"Everything." Delkin waved an apathetic hand. "We're so far from other -banks, and Charlie slept right here—so in spite of the fact that we -sometimes didn't have more than a dozen customers in here all day, we -kept more cash on hand than was safe. At least we had more on hand -right now than usual. With the bookkeeper sick, Charlie was alone here -part of the time. Near closing time especially. So few people came -in, along in the afternoon. We did most of our business during the -forenoons." He moistened his lips and looked away. "It looks as if -Charlie had just set the time lock and was getting ready to close the -vault when—it happened. Another half hour, perhaps, and they'd have -had to blow open the vault, and some one would have heard. Maybe five -minutes before you came—I can't see how they got away without being -seen."</p> - -<p>"Well, I can't do any more to-night, Mr. Delkin. My horse and I are -both about all in. Of course you 'phoned for the sheriff."</p> - -<p>"Right after it happened. He'll be here with a posse of his own before -morning."</p> - -<p>Outside Bud almost collided with young Brunelle, who caught him by the -arm with an impulsive gesture.</p> - -<p>"I recognized your horse. Come over to our cabin, won't you, Mr. -Larkin? You see I've discovered what your name is. I've been watching -for you to come back, for I knew you'd be hungry; and Marge—my sister -Margaret—has supper all ready for you. We're pretty lonely," he added -wistfully. "People here seem to be very clannish and cool toward -strangers."</p> - -<p>"That's because they're roughnecks and know it," said Bud, and picked -up the reins of his horse. "If you'll wait until I put my horse in the -stable I'll be right with you. Only I'm liable to clean you out of grub -if I once start eating. There's over six feet of me, Lightfoot, and I'm -all hollow."</p> - -<p>"That'll be all right," smiled the other. "It's yours while it -lasts—and that may not be long if the bank is really closed for good. -We haven't any money to buy more."</p> - -<p>Delkin's hostler took charge of the Meadowlark horse and the two men -walked on to where a light shone through a cabin window, set back -from the main street in an open space that gave a close view of the -bluff. Bud very likely did not grasp the imminent poverty of his host, -probably because he was not paying much attention to his last sentence; -and that his ready acceptance of the invitation to supper was caused -chiefly by a too intimate knowledge of the hotel cuisine.</p> - -<p>"My sister," Brunelle explained on the way, "is an author of short -stories. She has had one printed in the paper back home, and the -editors of several Eastern magazines have given her quite a good many -puffs on the stories she sent them. They were very sorry they couldn't -use them and said it wasn't because there was anything wrong with the -stories. I know all our friends at home are very anxious that she -should make that her life work. But back in our home town there never -seemed to be anything to write about, and Marge felt the need of going -where there would be interesting subjects. So when mother died we -decided to come right out West and write up some cowboy stories, and -I could illustrate them with pictures drawn from life. Western stories -are all the go now, and these ought to take pretty well with the -editors, I should think—though of course one needs to have a pull to -get right in. Still, these will be done right on the spot with pictures -of the real characters, and that will make a hit with the editors, I -should think.</p> - -<p>"So that's the real reason why we came to Smoky Ford. We aren't telling -every one, because we don't want to make people self-conscious in our -presence. We want to win the confidence of the people. That's why I -danced in the saloon when they asked me to.</p> - -<p>"We let it be known that my sister is out here for her health. That -isn't so far off, either, because she was all worn out with taking care -of mother, and the doctor advised her to go away somewhere for a while. -So we sold the property—and every dollar we have we put in the bank -here. We thought it would show our confidence in the town and help us -get in with the right people."</p> - -<p>"There aren't any right people to get in with; not to amount to -anything," Bud told him bluntly. "Not in Smoky Ford. Delkin and—well, -there are four or five pretty nice men, but I don't know what kind of -wives they've got. Gossipy old hens, most of them, I suppose. I'd drift -to some other range, I believe, if I wanted to feel confidence in my -neighbors."</p> - -<p>Budlike, he wondered if the sister was pretty and young. Tired as -he was, interest picked up his feet and pulled the sag out of his -shoulders when they neared the open doorway and he caught a glimpse -of the girl called Marge. He took off his hat and held it so that the -cameo brooch was hidden within the palm of his left hand, and gave his -rumpled brown hair a hasty rub with the other as he entered—silent, -positive proof that the young woman had already caught his roving young -masculine attention.</p> - -<p>He ought to be hurrying on to the ranch that night. He told them so, -and then permitted himself to be persuaded into staying all night and -sharing the bed of his host, whom he persisted in calling Lightfoot in -spite of one or two corrections.</p> - -<p>"Oh, I know why you call Lawrie that," cried Marge, who had been -studying closely this young cowboy, the very first one she had met on -friendly footing. "It's a custom of cowboys to give names to strangers, -just as the Indians do. You know, Lawrie, Indians name their young and -also strangers after the first thing that strikes their notice, the -names for adults usually being suggested by some mark or trait in the -individual that sets him apart from his fellows. Lawrie told me how -he danced in the saloon while you played for him, and of course your -custom demanded that you name him after his dancing. Don't you see, -Lawrie? He has already given you your tribal, cowboy name—Lightfoot. I -rather like it, I believe. So now you, at least, are initiated into the -tribe—made a member of the tribe of cowboys!"</p> - -<p>She had a pretty, eager way of speaking, and her eyes were the -sparkly kind when she talked, yet Bud looked at her with a smoldering -indignation in his eyes. Living next door to the Belknap reservation, -he did not think much of Indians—less of their customs; he having -known them long and too well. Nor did he approve of any one calling -cowboys a tribe. He had barked knuckles on a man's cheek for less -cause before now, and he set his teeth into his lower lip to hold -in a retort discourteous. But Marge was a pretty girl, as has been -plainly intimated; her gray eyes sparkled like stars on a frosty night, -her skin was soft and whiter than any range girl could ever hope to -attain, and her mouth was red and provocative, daring male lips to -kisses.</p> - -<p>"Well, then, what are you going to call me?" she challenged fearlessly, -as girls do who have been fed with flattery all their lives.</p> - -<p>"I think perhaps I'll call you—Early," drawled Bud, a faint twitching -at the corners of his mouth.</p> - -<p>A range girl would have taken warning and let well enough alone after -that. But Marge was not a range girl.</p> - -<p>"But you aren't sure, so I can't accept that as final. And now, -there's something I've been dying to ask you, Mr. Larkin. Just why -do cowboys wear their sombreros pinned back like that? You know, I'm -gathering local color of the cattle ranges, and I like to get right at -the meaning of things." And with that, she pulled a notebook from her -pocket and held pencil point to her lips. "Is it some special mark—an -insignia of something? An insignia is a mark showing some certain -rank," she explained kindly.</p> - -<p>"Well, I guess it's an insignia, then," Bud confessed. "But it's a -secret and I can't exactly explain. You won't see many wearing this -particular badge—insignia." He rolled the word as if it were a new one -and he liked the sound.</p> - -<p>"Can't you even tell the name of the society or order?"</p> - -<p>"Well—I can't go into details," said Bud gravely. "All I can say is -it's the range sign of the golden arrow." (He thought she must surely -see through that; she must certainly have read about that terrible -young god, Cupid, who shot arrows of gold for love and arrows tipped -with lead for hate. Surely she would remember that!)</p> - -<p>But she didn't.</p> - -<p>"The Golden Arrow? I don't—did you ever hear of that secret order, -Lawrie?"</p> - -<p>"No," said Lawrie indifferently, "not that I remember. But Mr. Larkin -and I were going over to see if that posse has caught those bandits, -Marge. If the bank doesn't get that money back, and has to close its -doors, we're in a fix!"</p> - -<p>"I know—but I want to find out about this secret society among the -cowboys, Lawrie. It's important that I study cowboys when I get -the chance, or how can I write about them realistically? And this -Golden Arrow stuff is something no author of Western stories has ever -mentioned. Can't you tell me a tiny bit more about it, Mr. Larkin?"</p> - -<p>"Well, I know it's about the oldest society on earth," Bud elucidated -gravely. "I believe the very first savage—"</p> - -<p>"Why, of course! How stupid of me not to see at once that the Golden -Arrow must be pure Indian!"</p> - -<p>"Well, I dunno how pure it is, but I guess—"</p> - -<p>"And you're a member! But what I can't understand, Mr. Larkin, is why -that cameo pin should be an emblem of the Golden Arrow."</p> - -<p>"Why," said Bud, looking at her with soft, dark eyes that simply -couldn't lie, "the cameo pin is recognized everywhere as the paleface -sign."</p> - -<p>"Of course!" cried Marge, and wrote it down in her book.</p> - -<p>Bud went out, holding his lips carefully rigid and unsmiling, though he -made strange gulping sounds in his throat all the way down town.</p> - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_SIX" id="CHAPTER_SIX">CHAPTER SIX</a></h2> - -<h3>BUD DOES A LITTLE BUSTLING</h3> - - -<p>The volunteer man hunters had returned much soberer though no wiser -than they had set out, and with them came Bat Johnson, who declared -that his trip could be postponed until after the inquest, which would -be held as soon as the sheriff and coroner arrived from the county -seat. In the meantime Delkin had sent frantic word by telephone to the -nearest points, and men were riding into town on sweaty horses, curious -to see the corpse of the cashier and eager to join in the chase.</p> - -<p>"For half a cent I'd borrow a horse and take the trail alone, with -grub enough for a couple of days," Bud confided restlessly to his -companion. "I'd do it, only Delkin says we'll be wanted at the inquest -to-morrow; and after that the sheriff will be on the job and running -things to suit himself. Seems mighty queer, the way those bandits plumb -disappeared and never left a trace. Bat Johnson claimed to me that he -was sure four riders went down the draw and crossed the river ahead of -him, but now he admits that he only got a glimpse of the horses' rumps -and can't swear to any riders. But what in thunder would range horses -be doing right here in town almost? The whole thing's off color. I wish -Lark was here—my uncle. He's pretty good at figuring out the other -fellow's game."</p> - -<p>"There must be some way to catch the murderers and get the money back," -Brunelle worried. "Of course catching them won't help the cashier, but -the money makes a big difference. This really does leave Marge and me -in an awful fix, Mr. Larkin. All you people have homes and property, -but here we are—perfect strangers; and a little over five dollars to -face the world with! We didn't think it would be safe to keep any money -in the house, out in this wild country, so every dollar we had was in -the bank—where it would be safe!" He laughed a bit wildly. "Of course, -I'll go to work at once. We both will. I wonder how much the robbers -got?"</p> - -<p>Bud shook his head.</p> - -<p>"Delkin doesn't know, exactly; or if he does he isn't telling until -he has to. He says Charlie Mulholland took care of everything while -the other fellow has been sick, and all he or any of the others did -was go in and act as teller while Charlie wrote letters and worked on -the books forenoons. It's just a little whiddledig of a bank—plenty -of money, but not many depositors. All the cattlemen and some horse -raisers used it, and put in great wads when they sold off some stock, -and checked it out in driblets. I could have run the whole works -myself, almost. If the bank's busted, the robbers got a plenty. It's -going to hit a lot of us, but it sure is too bad you folks got caught. -What kind of work did you think of doing?"</p> - -<p>"Well, Marge could teach school, of course. And once she gets a -stand-in with the editors, she can sell all the pieces she writes, and -I can sell the pictures to go with them. I can get a job as a cowboy -for a while, I suppose, until we get on our feet again." His jaw -squared. "We'll never go back, that's one thing sure; not even if we -had the train fare. All the neighbors said we'd make a fizzle of things -if we left there. I suppose there's a school somewhere that Marge can -teach, isn't there?"</p> - -<p>"I don't know of—wel-l—come to think of it, the Meadowlark sure needs -a school teacher." Bud had caught another disturbing sight of Marge -sitting with bowed head by the table, lamplight shining through loose -locks of hair.</p> - -<p>Tired as he was, bedtime came too soon for Bud that night.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Marge would go to the inquest next morning, though Bud warned her that -it would not be exciting and that she would only get herself talked -about. These things could not daunt her. She must go, she said, because -she was going to need murders and posses and sheriffs right along in -her Western stories, and this was a wonderful opportunity to study the -types at close range. She could not understand why Bud laughed.</p> - -<p>So to the inquest she went, and thereby shocked the sober citizens of -Smoky Ford, who liked their womenfolk shy and retiring. She mistook -the big blacksmith for the sheriff, who was small and very quiet and -kept his badge hidden under his vest. She was much disappointed in the -coroner, who was pot-bellied and chewed tobacco frankly and untidily -and spat where he pleased. Moreover, the corpse was in a back room -out of sight, and Marge could not bring herself quite to the point of -walking deliberately in to see how a man looks who has been murdered. -She was the only woman present, and the room was crowded with men who -stared at her; not even her notebook could furnish cause sufficient for -her presence.</p> - -<p>Then, after a few tedious preliminaries, they all trooped off to -the bank to take a look around and left Marge all by herself in the -empty storeroom. It did not help her temper any to have Bud ask her -afterwards how she liked the wild, wild West as far as she had got.</p> - -<p>"That man Palmer, who deposited five thousand dollars just before he -came into the saloon, looked at you very queerly when you were giving -an account of finding the cashier," Brunelle observed irrelevantly, -thinking it best to change the subject before Marge said something -sarcastic.</p> - -<p>"He can't help that. He was born queer," Bud retorted. "Meanest old -skinflint in the country. Took a quirting from my uncle before the -whole town, and never has made a move to get back at Lark for it. Maybe -that's why he looks queer when he sees some one from the Meadowlark."</p> - -<p>"But he sneered as if he thought you were lying," Lawrie persisted.</p> - -<p>"Well, so did I sneer as if I thought he were lying when he told about -depositing five thousand dollars in the bank. I bet he keeps his money -buried back of the barn or some other good place."</p> - -<p>"I wish we'd buried ours," Marge sighed. "Or the editors would wake -up and buy a story or something. We'll have to hunt some work to do, -Lawrie—"</p> - -<p>"Oh, I forgot to tell you, Marge. Mr. Larkin knows of a school you can -teach. He says the Meadowlark school needs a teacher. And perhaps I -can get a job somewhere close, as a cowboy. Do you think I could, Mr. -Larkin?"</p> - -<p>"How do we get there?" Marge began to untie her apron as if she meant -to start within the next five minutes. Bud caught his breath and opened -his mouth to explain, to temporize. But Marge was already beginning to -pack her books, and her eyes were the brightest, dancingest gray eyes -he had ever looked into. His own kindled while he gazed.</p> - -<p>So that is how it happened that young Bud Larkin, leaving his own tall -sorrel in Delkin's stable as hostage of a sort, drove blithely out to -the Meadowlark with a hired team and a spring wagon and two passengers -squeezed into the front seat with him and three trunks piled high and -tied there with Bud's good grass rope.</p> - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_SEVEN" id="CHAPTER_SEVEN">CHAPTER SEVEN</a></h2> - -<h3>WAYS AND MEANS</h3> - - -<p>When the hired rig from Smoky Ford swung through the gate and on up to -the very porch of the house, with Bud grinning impudently at his world -from the driver's seat and a strange young woman wedged in between him -and a young man who bore all the earmarks of a pilgrim, and three huge -trunks lashed to the back of the vehicle to say that the visitors had -come to stay, Lark stood in the doorway and stared dazedly, with never -a word of welcome for the strangers.</p> - -<p>But Maw did not hesitate or question. Instead, she hurried out—walking -erect under Lark's braced arm in the doorway with plenty of room to -spare—and waddled to the edge of the porch, smiling unabashed. Marge -almost screamed at sight of her.</p> - -<p>"Get right down and come on in," Maw cried. "Supper's about ready. As -luck would have it, I killed that speckled hen that wanted to set and -cooked her with dumplings. We're almost ready to sit down, and I'll bet -you're hungry!"</p> - -<p>Bud had swung his long legs out over the wheel and landed beside her, -and Marge was shocked to see him lift the misshapen creature clear of -the ground and kiss her on each leathery cheek before he set her down -again and turned to help Marge out.</p> - -<p>"Maw, this is Miss Brunelle. She's going to teach school here. And this -is her brother, Lightfoot. He's going to be a cowboy. Hello, Lark. Say, -I promised Lightfoot that you'd give him a job so he can be with his -sister while she teaches school. Where's Skookum?"</p> - -<p>"Oh, he went down to feed the cougar. I'm so glad we're going to have -a school," cried Maw, without batting an eye or waiting for Lark to -struggle through a sentence. "Larkie's real glad too. Of course he'll -put Mr. Lightfoot right to work. Now, come right in, folks, and take -off your things while I put on a couple more plates. Buddy, I'm afraid -we haven't a room ready for Mr. Lightfoot—"</p> - -<p>"He can bunk with me to-night," Bud interrupted, glancing up from -unroping the trunks. "Say, Lark, the bank was robbed yesterday and -the cashier killed. That's why I didn't get in quicker. I had to stay -for the inquest this morning. No sign of the bunch that did it." The -trunks thudded one by one to the porch. "It happened just before I went -to cash that check. Say, Maw, Lightfoot's name is Brunelle, same as his -sister, if you want to Mister him."</p> - -<p>He stepped on the hub of the front wheel and went up, unwrapping the -lines from around the whipstock as he did so. Lark came to life then -and climbed in and stood behind the seat while Bud drove back to the -stable.</p> - -<p>Sprawled before the bunk house, the Meadowlark riders were taking in -the smallest details of the amazing arrival and trying not to appear -curious, or even interested. But Jake, permanently crippled in one leg -from lying out all one night under his dead horse, got up and limped -leisurely down to the stable to help take care of the team. Lark saw -him coming and hastened his speech.</p> - -<p>"Bud, where in the name of Jonah did you pick up them pilgrims? And -what's this here joke about a school teacher fer the Meddalark? Where'd -you git 'em—and their <i>trunks</i>?" The last three words sounded very -much like a groan.</p> - -<p>"Say, I didn't <i>steal</i> 'em," Bud flashed back meaningly.</p> - -<p>"No—I'll bet you didn't git the chancet. I bet they grabbed you—"</p> - -<p>Bud whirled on him, straight brows pulled together. If he began to see -the foolishness of his impulsive hospitality, he never would admit it.</p> - -<p>"Look here, Lark, these are nice folks, and they were up against it -when the bank was robbed and they couldn't get a two-bit piece of their -money out. Strangers, fresh from the East somewhere; came out here with -the wild idea they can write and illustrate stories of the West and -sell them to magazines. Maybe they can do it, but they sound too darned -amateurish to me. And they were <i>broke</i>, I tell you!</p> - -<p>"So she wanted to teach school or something—and you know darned well, -Lark, that Skookum ought to be learning to read before he's sent off -to school. All the kids would guy the life out of him if he landed -without having some kind of a start in schooling at his age. And as for -Lightfoot, he won't be the first tenderfoot that had to learn which -end of a horse is the front." He stopped and glanced toward the house, -where Maw was calling through the dusk that supper was all on the -table. "And my thunder, Lark," he added as a clincher, "you never leave -the Basin without bringing back something to take care of and feed; -even if you have to steal him. You'd have done this yourself."</p> - -<p>Lark lifted his hat, pawed absently at his hair and set the hat at a -different angle as they started back to the house, waving their hands -before their faces to keep off the mosquitoes whose droning hum was -audible throughout the Basin after sundown when the dew began falling.</p> - -<p>"Shore you'd 'a' done it, Bud, if the girl had been cross-eyed?" he -thrust slyly at Bud's well-known liking for pretty faces.</p> - -<p>"No, I don't know as I would," Bud admitted with shameless candor. "She -isn't any prettier than Bonnie Prosser, though—and she hasn't the -brains that Bonnie has, and no sense of humor whatever. I'll bet, if -you pinned her right down to it, she'd admit that she thinks cowboys -eat grass when they're on the range. You ought to hear the questions -she asked about us, coming out.</p> - -<p>"Lightfoot's all right, though. He'll break in and be human long before -she will. You'll like Lightfoot, even if he is green; one good thing, -he knows it. And Marge is a darn pretty girl, all right, even if she -did get all her brains out of books. She can teach Skookum and get him -ready for school—"</p> - -<p>"Oh, all right, all right!" Lark yielded wearily to end the argument. -"But if this habit of hauling in the helpless is going to run in the -family, son, we'll have to start in ridin' with a long rope and a -runnin' iron, to feed 'em all. And what'll Bonnie say, Bud, when she -hears about it? And a dozen other girls that have kept their dads broke -buyin' hair ribbons for you to decorate yore bridle with?"</p> - -<p>"Say, there aren't a dozen girls in the country; not white ones, and I -don't take to color," Bud retorted equably. "And as for Bonnie—I'm not -halter-broke yet, if you want to know, Lark."</p> - -<p>At the porch Marge stood looking out over the dusky Basin to where the -moon was beginning to gild the clouds on the hilltops beyond the Little -Smoky.</p> - -<p>"You know, I never dreamed that you had frogs away out West in -Montana!" she cried in her pretty, eager way when the two approached. -"They sound exactly like the frogs back in Iowa, too."</p> - -<p>"Well, they're Iowa frogs, that's why," Bud explained matter-of-factly. -"Way it happened was this: When the first white woman came with -her husband and settled in this country, she had to teach the -kids herself and she was a real conscientious mother. Whenever -she sung them that song about 'There was a frog lived in a well, -humble-jumble-jerry-jum,' they kept asking her what frogs were. So the -next time a trainload of beef went to Chicago she had the cowboys stop -off in Iowa and catch a few jars of pollywogglers and bring back with -them. There were twice as many as she needed, so she sent a jar over to -the Meddalark. They've done real well," he added, stopping to listen to -the steady singsong chorus down in the meadow. "One trouble is, they -brought in mosquitoes same time. Said the farmers back in Iowa told -them frogs wouldn't live where they couldn't get mosquitoes in season. -The boys sure brought a plenty—or else our breed of frogs are light -eaters. We've got more mosquitoes than we need right now."</p> - -<p>"Well," said Marge, all unsuspecting, "of course I knew the frogs must -have come from <i>somewhere</i>, and I noticed that they sounded exactly -like our frogs back home."</p> - -<p>That is why Lark kept eyeing the girl curiously all through supper.</p> - -<p>But the unexpected addition to the Meadowlark family could not crowd -from Lark's mind the startling news of the tragedy in Smoky Ford; nor -from the uneasy thoughts of Bud, who felt keenly that he had failed -Lark in a certain important matter.</p> - -<p>The two gravitated together without a word or look that signified -intention and strolled silently out away from the house to a bowlder -fallen from the crown of the bluff and lying solitary and conveniently -out of earshot yet within sight of everything. Even in Lark's -tempestuous youth the bowlder had been called the Council Rock because -of its frequent occupation when confidences were to be exchanged. A -faint trail led toward it through the sparse grass at the base of the -bluff, proof that it was still popular. Bud climbed up to the broad, -flat top and sat down, dangling his legs over the edge of the gray rock -while he produced tobacco and papers.</p> - -<p>"That check—Lark, I feel that I owe you fifteen hundred dollars," -he began abruptly. "I was so darned thirsty and hot when I came down -off the reservation that I didn't go straight to the bank as I should -have done. I stopped at the Elkhorn for a glass of beer. Lightfoot was -in there and let himself be bullied into dancing for Steve Godfrey's -bunch of souses, and I played the mouth-harp for him. I guess I wasted -nearly half an hour altogether before I started to the bank. At that," -he added, pausing to run the tip of his tongue along the edge of the -filled paper, "I was in time—or I would have been if the bank had -been left alone. But if I had gone there at first I'd have been in time -to prevent a murder and cash your check."</p> - -<p>"Damn' expensive beer the Elkhorn's sellin'," Lark commented dryly. -"What about the Fryin' Pan?"</p> - -<p>"They've sure got a lot of dandy horses, Lark," Bud told him, relieved -at the change of subject. "I had to do a lot of jewing on the price, -but I got the promise of a hundred head for fifteen hundred dollars; -forty young mares, and the rest geldings two and three years old. Just -right to break, most of them are. You might be able to stand Kid off -for the money, seeing the bank was robbed, but I don't know. I told -him it would be cash down. Kid said he never bothered with checks at -all—you had the right hunch there. He hinted strongly for gold too. -Said he'd burned a thousand dollars of paper money by accident once, -and he's nervous about having it around."</p> - -<p>"Yeah, I wouldn't be su'prised if he is!" Lark laughed to himself. "My -Jonah, I shore do want that bunch of horses! You say the bank's put out -of business?"</p> - -<p>"That's what Delkin said. They may get organized again after a -while—or they may get the money back, of course. I'd have wondered if -the Frying Pan didn't know something about that affair—" He stopped -and emptied his lungs of smoke. "But I saw the whole outfit at the -ranch. Butch Cassidy's working for them this summer. I wish we could -get those horses some way. They promised to hold the bunch close in, -because I told them you'd be right over. I expect they're watching the -trail for us right now."</p> - -<p>"Too bad." Lark absently reached for his own "makin's." "Forty young -mares, you say. Bud, I expect my old man would just about peel the hide -off me if he was alive, but I'll be darned if I can set still and let -that bunch of horses git out from under the old Meddalark iron. I'm -goin' to hit the trail fer Glasgow and borry a couple or three thousand -dollars. That'll run us till shippin' time if Delkin don't open up -agin. First time the Meddalark ever borried, but I plumb got to have -them horses!"</p> - -<p>"I'll give you a bill of sale of a thousand head of my cattle, Lark. -I'll feel better about the whole business if you'll use my stock for -security on a loan, and it will save the Meadowlark from having a -mortgage plastered on it."</p> - -<p>"You keep what cattle you got, son. I'll make out all right. Can't tell -how soon you might wanta set up fer yourself. The marryin' notion hits -kinda sudden when she strikes—"</p> - -<p>"Say, I'll sell out the whole bunch if you don't shut up. I want you to -borrow on my cattle if you must get a loan, and I suppose that's the -only way out. Those Frying Pan horses are sure dandies. There's one -favor I want to ask if you do get them, Lark. I'd like to have a couple -of the geldings to break for my own string. There are two blacks, -dead ringers for each other, that are beauts. I want them both. Half -brothers, I'd say; going on four; clean-limbed and short-coupled, with -forequarters like a lion, and their eyes are plumb human. They'd make a -peach of a matched driving team, but I want them to ride. Butch says he -got a saddle on one and started to ride him, and it bucked, high, wide -and handsome, until it was a relief to get thrown clean over the fence. -But I'll bet I can gentle the two of them so they'll be like pet dogs. -Lark, I want them!"</p> - -<p>"Yeah, I kinda thought mebbe you did," Lark chuckled. "All right, son. -I'll take the bill of sale and use it for security on a loan (I know -where I can get money in Glasgow without the hull darn country knowin' -the Meddalark's borryin' money), and you can have your two black -bronchs fer keeps. I'll give you the papers for 'em, and you can put -the one-legged Meddalark on 'em to show they're yourn. That'll be for -int'rust on the use of your stock for a few months. How's that strike -yuh?"</p> - -<p>"Fine and dandy, Lark. Maybe you'll want to back down on your bargain -when you've seen them, but I'll hold you to it. Kind of low-down, but -darn it, I fell in love with those blacks, and I'd have to fight the -boys away from them if they got a sight of them before any promise -passed. And I had a long, hot ride in the wind, going to the Frying -Pan, and talked myself black in the face getting the hundred head at -that price. Kid was asking two thousand even for the bunch, but I made -him see where the cash in his hand was worth something, and I told him -fifteen hundred was your limit. Any other outfit would probably stand -him off for part of it, and that's what turned the trick. And by the -way, Lark, you'd better go prepared to bring back the gold, because -Kid might be persuaded to throw in a few yearlings extra. They've got -some good-looking colts over there. Most of the mares have got sucking -colts, by the way."</p> - -<p>"I'll borry three thousand, and get it all in gold," Lark planned. -"I'll take a valise along, and carry the weight easy enough without it -being noticed. I'll likely stay over a day in Glasgow, anyway."</p> - -<p>"Make it as quick a trip as you can, Lark. You must bear in mind that -Kid expects us to-night, and I wouldn't want the deal to fall through -because he got tired of waiting. He's touchy as the devil—and if I -don't get those two black bronchs, I'll die!"</p> - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_EIGHT" id="CHAPTER_EIGHT">CHAPTER EIGHT</a></h2> - -<h3>BUD HOLDS COUNCIL WITH HIMSELF</h3> - - -<p>When he sauntered down from the Council Rock in the full flood of -moonlight, left Lark to enter the house alone and continued to the bunk -house, where the boys still lingered by the doorway, Bud did not look -like a man whose life depends upon getting a pair of black bronchos -into his possession. His walk and his softly whistled tune betokened -care-free youth.</p> - -<p>Cigarettes pricked little, red stars in the line of shadow before the -long, low-roofed building where the riders of the Meadowlark were -housed and fed to their complete content. The murmur of voices dwindled -so that the frog chorus came sharp to the ears as Bud came up and -squatted on his boot-heels alongside a man whom he identified even in -the shadow as his particular friend, Frank Gelle—called Jelly with a -frank disregard for proper pronunciation.</p> - -<p>"Have a good trip, Bud?" Not for a top horse would Gelle have betrayed -his curiosity over the mysterious visitors.</p> - -<p>"Pretty fair. Hot as blazes riding across the reservation yesterday. -Oh, by the way, Rosy, I didn't get those socks you wanted if I rode -back through town. I meant to, but when the bank was robbed—"</p> - -<p>"Get out!" Gelle exclaimed, as an expression of surprise. "Some of -these days, Bud, somebody's goin' to lose his patience all of a sudden. -He'll just kill you and drag you off somewhere and leave you. I hate to -do it, but you won't be human till somebody asks the question, so who's -the girl you brought in?"</p> - -<p>"The girl? Oh, she's Lightfoot's sister. She's going to teach our -school, Jelly."</p> - -<p>"School?" chorused six shaken voices.</p> - -<p>"Now I <i>know</i> you're lying, Bud," Gelle mourned. "I've got to have a -serious talk with you, I kin see that. This habit of lyin' where there -ain't no cause or provocation—if you'll walk awn over to the Rock with -me now, Bud, I'll tell you what I think about it."</p> - -<p>"It's him that'll do the tellin', and that right now," a voice broke in -ominously. "They's a certain Meddalark that won't have a damn' chirp -left in 'im, time we git the pinfeathers plucked out. Us fellers have -stood about all we're goin' to from Bud."</p> - -<p>"Just another prophet in his own country," sighed Bud, reaching out a -hand for Gelle's tobacco sack because he was too lazy to reach into his -pocket for his own. "She <i>is</i> Lightfoot's sister. And the bank <i>was</i> -robbed, and Charlie Mulholland was killed. I discovered him myself—"</p> - -<p>Half an hour went to the telling of the story to the smallest detail, -accurately as if he were talking before a jury. For when all the jokes -were done, Bud appreciated the hunger these young men felt for news of -their world after plugging hard on round-up. They were sick of their -own stale company and they craved action, even the vicarious excitement -of Bud's experiences. He gave them all he knew, and by the time he had -exhausted his store of impressions each man there could visualize the -whole affair so far as Bud knew it.</p> - -<p>They discussed at length the mystery of its quiet perpetration on the -edge of banking hours while forty or fifty men foregathered within -gunshot of the place. Then Tony Scarpa, more American than his name -implied, swung to the more immediate event.</p> - -<p>"Who's Lightfoot and who's his sister, and what's the joke about -teaching our school?"</p> - -<p>"Straight goods." In the narrowing shadow as the moon swam higher they -could see Bud's eyes gleam with mischief. "Lightfoot's a pilgrim; an -artist, so he says. I know he's a darn good dancer, for I saw him -dance. His sister's a pilgress. They went broke when the bank did, and -had to rustle jobs—being perfect strangers in the country and having -a bad habit of eating every day. She wanted a school to teach. That's -the first and only thing a girl from the East ever thinks of when she -comes West; that and marrying some cattle king and wearing diamonds. He -wanted to be a cowboy—and I, being an accommodating cuss, gave them -both jobs. I recalled the fact that there's a lot you fellows don't -know yet, and while you're acquiring useful knowledge she can study -your types. You see—"</p> - -<p>"Study our <i>what</i>?" A man leaned forward so that the moon shone fully -and clearly on his astonished face.</p> - -<p>"Study your types. She's an amateur author and she means to write -stories about cowboys. So she's looking for good types."</p> - -<p>"Sa-ay!" Tony's irrepressible drawl cut musically through the amazed -silence. "Loan me your type, will yuh, Bob? I lost mine back there -where I bulldogged that roan steer."</p> - -<p>"I will not! I'm goin' to need all the type I got. Is she purty, Bud?"</p> - -<p>"She sure is." Bud glanced up at the moon and softly rhapsodized, "Big, -devilish gray eyes—they'd drown a man's troubles so deep he'd swear he -never had one. Her mouth—if her mouth has never been kissed it should -be."</p> - -<p>"It's goin' to be," Tony murmured, and made a motion of rising to his -feet. Big Bob Leverett yanked him down.</p> - -<p>"You ain't in this, Tony. Bud's givin' <i>me</i> the dope. You gwan to bed. -You ain't got no type, and there ain't nothin' to set up for!"</p> - -<p>"Law-zee, <i>boss</i>!" cried a tall young man with unbelievably small feet -thrust straight out before him into the moonlight. "Here's one scholar -that'll sure never be tardy!"</p> - -<p>"I'm goin' to whisper an' stick out my tongue at you pelicans, and git -to stay after school," Gelle declared.</p> - -<p>"You—you fellers can go to her darned old school, but I won't," a -young, rebellious voice cried from within the open door.</p> - -<p>"Skookum?" Bud leaned and peered into the dark. "Come on out here, -pardner. Why aren't you in bed?"</p> - -<p>"How'd the kid git in?" Gelle swung his lean body sidewise, reached -a long arm into the house and plucked the boy expertly by his middle. -"Here he is, Bud. Clumb through the window, I reckon."</p> - -<p>Skookum wriggled free and sat down in the dirt, crossing his legs and -folding his arms in exact imitation of Bud's favorite pose when at -ease among his fellows. He glanced up and down the row of cowpunchers -leaning against the wall, and the moonlight gilded his hair like a halo -and made of his eyes two deep, dark pools.</p> - -<p>"I don't like her," he stated flatly. "She turned up her nose at—at -Maw, and she asked her brother if he s'posed that hid-hid-e-ous -creature was any relation to—to Bud. She said she couldn't bear to—to -eat Maw's cookin' 'cause it was 'pulsive. And it was chicken dumpluns -and—and pie!"</p> - -<p>Dead silence for a space; then Gelle spoke diffidently, uncertain -between apology and resentment.</p> - -<p>"We get you, Skookum. But you see, Maw—well, she needs to be took -kinda gradual, right at first. You know Maw's a kinda hard looker till -you git used to her—"</p> - -<p>"Maw's the purtiest woman in—in Montana!" Skookum declared hotly. -"She's cute and—and sweet. When I get big, I'm agoin' to—to marry -Maw. I asked her, and she said she—she would. You shut up about Maw. -She's purtier than that darned old girl! Ain't she, Bud?"</p> - -<p>"Handsome is as handsome does makes Maw the most beautiful woman in -the world. You're right about that, pardner." Bud's voice had a queer -note in it. "You stand up for Maw, Skookum, and I'm right with you. -But I don't believe Maw would want you to pass up a chance to learn -something. She thought it would be just fine to have a school here. -It's that, or go to a boarding school where all the boys would laugh at -you, and I don't believe Maw could stand that, pardner. It seems to me -that your duty to Maw would make you want to learn just as fast as you -can from Miss Brunelle."</p> - -<p>"I don't care! She's a mean old—"</p> - -<p>"Careful, Skookum. Never call a woman names—and besides, in this case -it isn't fair. Miss Brunelle's an orphan, and she's among strangers, -and she was all tired out—and you know yourself that even Lark -can't stand it to see Maw with her teeth out and laid up on a shelf -somewhere. I couldn't get her off to one side and speak to her about -it before strangers, and neither could Lark. But Maw ought to have -thought of it herself and put in her teeth when she saw company coming."</p> - -<p>"Well, maybe she's purtier with—with her teeth on. But I bet if that -old girl's teeth wabbled like—like Maw's teeth do, she wouldn't wear -'em, either. They tip up on the side and—and pinch. Maw showed me!"</p> - -<p>"Well, then, we'll let Maw suit herself about it. Miss Brunelle -will gentle down and get used to her, teeth or no teeth. It's like -a horse getting accustomed to a yellow slicker," he went on. "He -always stampedes at first. He'll pitch and strike and raise Cain -generally—but there always comes a time when that same old yellow -slicker feels mighty good spread over his back when he's humped up in -a cold rain. We won't say a word, pardner. We'll just go along as if -we didn't notice anything, and you'll see how soon Miss Brunelle will -learn to love Maw."</p> - -<p>"And—and Maw needn't wear her teeth if—if she don't want to," Skookum -stipulated earnestly, "unless Lark ketches her w-without 'em."</p> - -<p>"That's the idea, exactly," Bud assured him as man to man. "You see, -Lark feels sensitive about Maw's teeth, because he took a beeswax -impression himself and sent it to a dentist that advertised pretty -extensively and wrote that teeth could be made by what Lark called -absent treatment. He'd hate like thunder to admit he'd made a fizzle of -the job, and Maw wouldn't for the world hurt his feelings by telling -him straight out that they don't fit. So there you are, and we'll just -have to let them manage the affair themselves, and show Miss Brunelle -what we think of Maw, teeth or no teeth."</p> - -<p>Skookum nodded acquiescence, heaving a great sigh of relief.</p> - -<p>"I was goin' to—to tell Maw what that girl said. But—but I'm glad I -never."</p> - -<p>"Real men don't repeat things that may cause hard feelings. You -remember that, Skookum. If you'd gone tattling that, Maw would have -felt badly and cried."</p> - -<p>In the moonlight they could see how the boy's big eyes brimmed suddenly.</p> - -<p>"Maw does—every time I change my shirt. It's where grandpa quirted me, -and—and the marks is there."</p> - -<p>"Grandpa—hunh! I'll grandpa that old devil if I ever run across him," -Frank Gelle rapped out viciously.</p> - -<p>"You leave grandpa alone! I'm waitin' till—till I get big as Bud, and -then grandpa's—my meat!"</p> - -<p>"There's Maw calling you to go to bed," Bud reminded him hastily—and -unnecessarily, since Maw's voice was full size and not to be ignored. -"Come on—I feel like rolling in, myself. Let's go pound our ears, as -Shakespeare says."</p> - -<p>But when Skookum had been safely delivered to Maw, Bud strolled back -to the Council Rock, which was usually free from the humming hordes -of mosquitoes, and where the acrid smoke of the smudges were but a -pleasantly faint aroma. Thinking was not a popular pastime with young -Bud Larkin as a rule, but nevertheless there were times when he felt -the need of a quiet hour to meditate upon late impressions and events, -especially when they came thick and fast, as the last two days had -brought them.</p> - -<p>For one thing, he was depressed over the murder of the bank cashier and -he felt more responsibility in the matter than he had owned to Lark. -There was no getting around the fact that he might have prevented the -whole thing had he gone straight to the bank instead of stopping at -the Elkhorn. When he thought how that one glass of beer had cost a -man's life, Bud felt as if he never wanted another drink. He rolled -and smoked a cigarette while he recalled each incident of yesterday -afternoon.</p> - -<p>Palmer's peculiar look when Bud had first tried to open the saloon -door, for instance. Did that mean anything more than a natural enmity -toward a Meadowlark man and a malicious satisfaction in knowing that -the door was locked? According to his own voluntary statement at the -inquest, Palmer had just come from the bank where he had made a deposit -of five thousand dollars, the price of a herd of cattle which he had -sold to the Government for the Indians; so he said, and two men present -had borne out the statement regarding the sale. The pass book which he -exhibited showed the amount, in Charlie's meticulous figures—perhaps -the last he had written. Palmer, of course, couldn't have robbed the -bank, for Bud felt sure that Charlie had not been dead so long when he -discovered him.</p> - -<p>The locking of the saloon door might have been a suspicious -circumstance, but there also Bud felt baffled by the plausibility of -the incident. Steve Godfrey frequently "bought" whatever place he -chanced to celebrate in after a sale of stock that made him feel rich -for a day or two. He too had sold cattle for use on the reservation. -Buying a place in which to entertain all the loose men in town was -merely a figurative purchase, meaning that all drinks were free for -an hour or two, and that Steve would pay double for everything and -waken next morning with a head the size of a barrel—according to his -belief—and would forswear strong drink for a month or two thereafter.</p> - -<p>No, Bud decided, the locking of the Elkhorn door had been merely a -coincidence that facilitated the murder and robbery.</p> - -<p>But there was the mysterious incident of the four shod horses which -had no riders, galloping out across the river to mingle unrecognizably -with the herd on the high plateau, mostly saddle horses and half-broken -bronchos turned loose after the spring round-up to fatten on the sweet -bunch grass of the higher ground until September brought shipping time -and another strenuous season of work.</p> - -<p>The Meadowlark horses had grazing grounds across the river, and so had -several other outfits. Bud had not won close enough to read the brands -on the herd which the four had joined, but he felt certain that they -were not Meadowlark horses. Indeed, he could recognize their own herd -as far as he could distinguish the individual animals.</p> - -<p>But why had four riderless horses left the outskirts of town at that -particular time and scurried out across the range to the west? To -hide for a time the route taken by the robbers, Bud was certain; and -admitted that it was a clever ruse, spoiled only by the quick action he -himself had taken. Or had the robbers ridden the horses out of town and -turned them loose to seek their own herd later on, hiding themselves -and their saddles in some rocky gulch where the tracks would not show? -Bud wished that he had thought of that sooner, though it seemed a -far-fetched possibility.</p> - -<p>Then there was Bat Johnson, a Palmer man and the only person Bud had -seen in the vicinity of the bank. But Bat had made no attempt to -escape, and he had volunteered the information about the horses that -crossed the river. Bat had not taken the trail through the dry wash -back of town where the four horses must have been concealed, because, -as he explained at the inquest, his pack horse was barefooted, which -Bud knew was the truth. The wash was gravel and loose rocks, and Bat -had taken the longer trail through the sand grass and the willows. -According to his statement to Bud and at the inquest, Bat had a glimpse -of the horses moving out of sight among the willows near the ford, -and had taken it for granted that riders bestrode them. But his pack -horse, a little pinto, was hard to lead at the beginning of a trip, and -Bat had been busy arguing the matter—Bat's side of the argument being -the end of the lead rope or a quirt, Bud shrewdly guessed.</p> - -<p>"I guess that lets him out," Bud muttered finally. "And I can't sleuth -it out to-night. But there's another day coming. Marge will have to -be blindfolded, I expect, to get her into what we'll have to call a -schoolroom. Hm-m-m. Asked me where the town is, when we started down -the pass. Wonder what time Lark wants to start in the morning? Have to -explain to Lightfoot what a horse is, in the morning, and initiate him -into the mysteries of a saddle. I like that geezer, somehow. He's the -stuff, even if he is green. Wel-l—I guess I'll go to bed."</p> - -<p>This, merely to show you that Bud could smile into a pretty girl's -eyes and still keep his head clear for other things, and go about his -business untroubled by dreams and fancies.</p> - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_NINE" id="CHAPTER_NINE">CHAPTER NINE</a></h2> - -<h3>BUTCH CASSIDY GIVES ADVICE</h3> - - -<p>Lark rode moodily up to the rim of the Basin and halted there, as was -his habit, and gazed down upon meadow, field, small orchard and the -chain of corrals, with the house and two or three cabins sitting back -against the bold cliff that shut in the upper end of the river valley -like a wall. Ages ago the river, then a glacial stream, no doubt, had -gouged and dug at the hills until it had made a fair retreat just here -along its bank; had shrunk as the climate changed and dried; left -the valley a fertile place with seeds of trees and grasses and wild -flowers imbedded in the soil. Birds had come there to nest, and in the -spring the air was all vibrant with the sweet, rippling notes of the -meadowlark and robin and the little wild canaries.</p> - -<p>Old Bill Larkin had ridden into the valley by chance and had liked it -well enough to appropriate it and build in it his home. Meadowlark -Basin he called it—having come in the spring. Later he brought -cattle and horses, when the pioneers were just awaking to the fact -that Montana was an ideal grazing country. Some called old Bill a -rustler—said his cattle and horses were mostly stolen. But they did -not say it to his face, for old Bill was also called a killer. At -any rate he owned a certain whimsical sentiment, for he fashioned -the crude outline of a bird (though in the state brand book it was -called the Half-moon-open-A) and stamped it deep in the hides of every -hoof of stock he called his own. Moreover, he held his own against -brand-blotters and prospered.</p> - -<p>Now Lark stared glumly down into the Basin and wished his old dad was -alive and able to take a hand in the fight he felt was coming. But old -Bill lay deep in the grove of cottonwoods between the river and the -house, and Lark glanced that way as he swung back into the road. Bud's -horse—called the Walking Sorrel because of his gait—tilted his ears -forward and picked up his feet with the springy, eager steps of a horse -glad to be home after an absence. At the foot of the hill he broke into -a gallop that Lark did not check until they reached the yard by the -shed where the saddles were housed.</p> - -<p>Lark slipped out of the saddle and was untying the valise from behind -the cantle when Bud strolled down to greet him. He glanced over his -shoulder, then handed the valise to Bud, who judged the weight of it -and grinned.</p> - -<p>"Got it, I see. You weren't held up then," he said. "I thought -afterwards that you shouldn't have gone alone, but I see it was all -right, after all."</p> - -<p>Lark jerked off the saddle and led the horse to a gate and turned him -through without speaking. The two started for the house, walking side -by side up the roadway.</p> - -<p>"Boys all here?" Lark spoke abruptly.</p> - -<p>"Sure. They're eating supper. Butch Cassidy rode over from the Frying -Pan yesterday to see why we hadn't come after the horses. I think Kid -wants that fifteen hundred all right. Butch is waiting to ride back -with us." Bud changed hands on the valise, for ten pounds added to the -ordinary weight of a leather grip well filled is distinctly noticeable. -"Have a good trip, and did you hear anything about the robbery?"</p> - -<p>"Yeah, to both questions. Take that grip on into my room, son, and come -over to the bunk house. I wanta talk to the boys."</p> - -<p>"<i>Oh</i>—oh!" Bud exclaimed under his breath, and made off in a hurry. -Lark in that mood promised action in plenty, and action meant joy in -the heart of young Bud. He passed Marge without a word of teasing, -which gave that young woman an uneasy half-hour, thinking she had -somehow offended her perfect type of cowboy.</p> - -<p>"Now's a good time to break the news to you pelicans," Lark began -abruptly, when the preliminary greetings were over and Bud had -arrived and sat down expectantly on the end of the long bench at the -supper table. "Butch, it won't hurt nothin' for you to set in on this -yoreself. Suspicions is like measles; once they start they spread -through a hull neighborhood.</p> - -<p>"To cut it short, they're tryin' their hell-darnedest, down Smoky Ford -way, to pin that killin' and bank robbery on to the Meddalark. Soon -as they find out where Bud come from that day they're liable to throw -in the Fryin' Pan outfit fer luck. And my Jonah, I lost over fifteen -thousand dollars to them thieves!"</p> - -<p>"Pin it on us!" Bud voiced the incredulity of the group. "How do they -make that out, Lark? I was in the Elkhorn—"</p> - -<p>"Yeah—and Delkin told me they're sayin' that you was in there spottin' -for the bunch that done the dirty work, son. You left the saloon and -put straight fer the bank—to make sure it was all over and done -without a hitch—and then you put out across the hills, mebbe for a -blind, mebbe to help the get-away. Delkin don't believe nothin' like -that, of course; but that's the story that's being circulated around -town. He just give me the tip in a friendly way, so we'd know how to -shape our plans."</p> - -<p>"Pull in the corners, hunh?" Frank Gelle snorted.</p> - -<p>"Pull in nothin'!" Lark's kindly hazel eyes hardened. "I'll tell you -now, boys, I went on to Glasgow and borried some money to buy them -Fryin' Pan horses and run the outfit on till the bank kinda pulls -itself together again. Whilst the money lasts, I'm goin' to pay you -rannies in gold. If yo're scared to show it, fer fear some one may -think it's stole, you can go hide it under yore bunks. Delkin said he'd -try and find out who's doin' all the gabbin' about us. He thinks it -was started by somebody that's got a grudge agin the Meddalark—and, -my Jonah! I can think of plenty that has! You dang pelicans go -larry-whoopin' around the country, lickin' this one and that one, till -the hull country's down on us, chances are!"</p> - -<p>"Couldn't be somebody <i>you've</i> run a sandy on, of course," Gelle hinted -mildly, and lowered an eyelid at the others.</p> - -<p>"Palmer, you mean? He's got as good cause as anybody." Lark made no -attempt to hedge. "Could be. Still, there's somethin' happened that -Palmer didn't have no hand in, that I don't savvy. Up in Harlem I was -waitin' to git my ticket, and my grip was settin' on a bench behind me -in the waitin' room, and two different jaspers sneaked up and <i>hefted</i> -it. Didn't know I seen 'em, but I caught 'em out the tail of my eye. -<i>And that was goin' out!</i> At the time I thought they was lookin' fer -easy stealin' and lost their nerve; or mebbe was curious to know if I -had a gun or a bottle cached inside. Now, I know they was jest heftin' -to see if I had the bank loot, er some of it. There was a lot of gold -in the vault, Delkin told me. Detectives on my trail, mebbe. When I -come back, I was packin' about ten pounds more weight, but I never -let that grip outa my hands, you might say. I told Delkin about it, -after he'd spilled his news, and showed him where I'd borried some -money—just in case the talk gits too dang loud. He swore the bank -never sicked no detectives on to us, nor anybody else in particular. -Them bank officers don't dare give a guess at who done it, looks like -to me. It <i>could</i> be what they call an inside job, and they know it -don't look too good fer the bank officers."</p> - -<p>"The thing to do," Butch Cassidy advised, "is lay low till somebody -tips their hands. They'll do it—never knowed it to fail." He grinned -and reached for the sirup can. "Way Bud was tellin' me, I'd say that -hold-up job was a strictly home product. What do you think, Lark?"</p> - -<p>"My Jonah!" Lark gave an exasperated snort. "I ain't any artist in that -line, Butch. Looks to me like a daylight robbery with murder throwed in -is something that takes nerve, and them town roosters don't qualify, if -you want my opinion."</p> - -<p>Butch chewed and swallowed a huge bite of hot biscuit dripping with -sirup, his eyes staring vacantly before him as if he visioned things -afar. Lark was calling for a clean plate and a cup of coffee, his long -ride having given him a clamorous appetite which the supper table only -aggravated.</p> - -<p>"Bud was tellin' me about a few head of loose horses bein' hazed outa -town and across the river right after the job at the bank." Butch came -out of his trance and turned again to Lark. "Looks to me like that was -meant fer a blind. Otherwise, the feller that drove 'em wouldn't make -no bones of tellin' about it.</p> - -<p>"And here's another point you don't want to overlook, none of you: -Smoky Ford sets wrong fer a bank robbery to be pulled off durin' the -day. Bank's away down at the wrong end of the street, and them cutbanks -and washes where the bench breaks off down to the river bottom ain't -rideable, except along the road. A bunch raidin' the bank would have to -ride back through town and either cross the river or foller up the road -to the bench, and take out across the reservation or come up this way. -The trail across the river could be reached, uh course, by ridin' out -back of town, the way Bat Johnson went with his pack outfit, but three -or four riders foggin' along there would take big chances, seems to me. -A job like that would need at least three men; two inside and one on -guard outside the bank, jest in case anybody happened along. And even -then it wouldn't be no picnic, right in daytime. With the town jammed -into a pocket in the hills like that, and only two get-away trails, -and them either leadin' around town or through it, they'd have to want -money worse'n what I do." He laughed dryly.</p> - -<p>"Them loose horses shod all around and takin' out across the river to -the hills—that looks too much like a blind trail to me. Nobody was -seen ridin' through town, so after a play like that, what I'd guess -they done was git to the river bank and drop on down river in a boat." -Butch Cassidy, vaguely rumored to be something of an outlaw himself, -spoke as one who knew the tricks of the trade.</p> - -<p>"River's too dang treacherous, down below the ford," Lark objected, -with his mouth full. "It could be done, mebbe, but nobody in a hurry -would ever think of doin' it. Moreover, what with rapids and bars and -quicksands, there ain't a boat on the river anywhere; not that I know -of."</p> - -<p>"My—my grandpa was—was makin' a boat," the eager voice of Skookum -broke in upon them. "In a shed where—where calves was weaned."</p> - -<p>"Palmer, hunh?" Butch turned and stared reflectively at the boy, whom -no one had noticed in the bunk house. A silence followed; a startled -pause, as if each mind there took hold of the statement and turned it -about and eyed it with surprised attention. Only Butch's light blue -eyes, set close together, held a peculiar gleam.</p> - -<p>"When was this, kid?"</p> - -<p>"That was 'fore I come here with—with Lark. And—and—"</p> - -<p>"Here! Quit that stutterin', kid, and take yore time." Lark spoke -sharply, his eyes darting inquiring glances at Bud and the others. -"Tell it slow, Skookum, and be dang sure you tell it straight. It's -liable to mean a lot. You say yore grandpa was makin' a boat. Did he -say what for?"</p> - -<p>Skookum shook his head, his eyes big and round with the thrill of -giving information to all these gods and heroes whose deeds and -lightest words were things to dwell upon.</p> - -<p>"Bat Johnson was makin' it, and Ed White. When they caught me—peekin' -in, Bat s-shook me and swore. And—he took me where grandpa—was. He -said I was—sneakin' around where I didn't have no—business. And—and -grandpa—" Skookum shut his eyes tightly for a moment. "If you please, -I—can't tell it—please. It's when grandpa made them cuts—"</p> - -<p>"You can skip all that," Lark gritted, while the others shuffled their -feet uncomfortably, their faces going glum with anger against Palmer -for his brutal beating of the boy. "And you needn't to worry; yore -grandpa's got more marks than what you've got."</p> - -<p>"He oughta be strung up by the heels over a slow fire," Tony muttered, -with the exaggerated malevolence of one who indulges in strong figures -of speech.</p> - -<p>"Go on, kid. Did you hear what they was goin' to do with it?"</p> - -<p>"No—only Bat said sinkin' it was easy."</p> - -<p>"There's the clew to the robbery!" Bud leaned forward, the light of -revelation in his eyes. "It's the last thing any one would think of, -and about the easiest thing to do. Bat Johnson himself could have hazed -those horses across the ford and come back after his pack horse. He -could have done the murder and robbery too. If they had a boat hidden -under the bank, he could have slipped out of the side door with all -the plunder in a sack, packed it on his horse to the river, tossed it -into the boat and gone on about his business—which was turning those -horses loose and throwing them back across the river. I know where they -were tied out of sight in the wash for an hour or two at least. It's so -damned simple, Lark, it was practically safe!"</p> - -<p>"It could be done," Lark agreed, "but they couldn't go on down river -and stand a chance of getting anywhere."</p> - -<p>"They wouldn't need to. Who would see a boat if it slipped down river -from Palmer's place and went back the way it came? The farther bank -is too rough to ride and too barren for stock to range close, and the -current swings that way and cuts close to shore. This side it's boggy -wherever you can get to the bank, so all the town stock waters at the -ford, where there's a streak of gravel bottom. The willows are thick -as the hair on a dog, most places—though of course a man could crowd -through to the bank, close enough to throw a bag or two. Why, at three -o'clock or a little before, even the kids were all in school down at -the other end of town, and every footloose man was locked inside the -Elkhorn!"</p> - -<p>"Palmer was in town, you said." Butch Cassidy's eyes had squinted half -shut as his mind focused upon the robbery and shuttled back and forth -from scene to scene.</p> - -<p>"You're darned right he was in town. It was Palmer who locked the -saloon door, and it was Palmer who seemed to hate the idea of having -it opened when I started to leave. Steve did all the bellowing, but -Palmer's face gave him away; he wanted that door to stay shut. Of -course, he had just deposited five thousand dollars in the bank, and -he's been making quite a holler, I suppose—at least, he did at the -inquest. But maybe he put that money in the bank for that very reason, -to give him something to howl about. What do you think, Lark?"</p> - -<p>"I'd bet on it," Lark answered sententiously, and with a three-tined -fork turned over several pieces of beef fried so thoroughly that the -meat was tender simply because it was too young to be tough under any -mistreatment. He selected a particularly crisp piece, sawed off a -corner with his knife and poised the morsel on the end of his fork.</p> - -<p>"Oughta be some way to git the goods on that outfit. I've a dang good -notion—"</p> - -<p>"Better let it ride for a while," Butch counseled earnestly. "If it's -them, they're bound to tip their hands; any mismove, and they'll be -gone clean outa the country. Any of the bunch gone since it happened? -What about Bat and his pack outfit? Did he leave with it?"</p> - -<p>"Palmer sent him back home after the inquest. I overheard him telling -Bat that some of them might have to join the manhunt and he'd better -stay on the ranch in case he was needed," said Bud.</p> - -<p>"None of 'em got out with the posse," Lark added. "Delkin told me the -sheriff was handlin' it with his deppities, and said he didn't want the -hull country messed up with tracks. Said it was time enough to make a -general round-up when they picked up a trail of some kind. Good sense, -too."</p> - -<p>"How many men has Palmer got?" Butch wanted to know. "Not more'n three -or four—he's too stingy to hire more'n he has to. Who works for yore -gran'paw, kid?"</p> - -<p>"Bat Johnson and Ed White, and—and Mex, and—and Blinker. But -Blinker's no good. He—he's old and—and won't talk, and—and just -whispers—to himself. He—he's afraid somebody's—comin' to—to kill -him. And then there's the cook," Skookum added slightingly. "He's Sam, -and—and he's a nigger."</p> - -<p>"They're all to home," Gelle ended the discussion. "I and Bob met all -three riders jest yeste'day drivin' a bunch of horses out towards the -reservation."</p> - -<p>"Got the stuff hid somewhere," Butch concluded. "That is, if they done -the job. Thinkin' so ain't proof, we got to remember."</p> - -<p>"Dang right it ain't," Lark agreed cynically. "They's folks in the -country claims they think <i>we</i> done it, fur as that goes. That Maw -callin' supper, Bud? You tell her I've et. By Jonah, I can't git no -comfort out of a meal with them two pilgrims settin' there watchin' -every mouthful and criticizin' my manners. I'll eat Jerry's cookin' fer -a spell."</p> - -<p>"I'm goin' to—to eat here," Skookum announced firmly. "I can't git no -comfort, either. That old girl's learnin' me table etiquette! She makes -me hold my fork like—like this!" To make his argument strong, Skookum -grasped a fork as no human being would naturally hold one.</p> - -<p>"Say," drawled Tony, "send her over here to eat with us, and you two -gwan where you belong. Me, I never did know how to hold a fork in m' -life. Why, I can't even hold a hayfork proper! You tell her, Skookum, -that there ain't a one of us that's got the hang of makin' peas ride -our knives without rollin' off. Jelly claims it's proper to mash 'em so -they lay flat, but I say they was made to ride straight up. Gwan, kid. -You tell 'er they's certain ones that needs to be learnt manners, and -learnt 'em quick. Tell her we got a pelican here that whistles his soup -'stead of blowin' it gentle and then gulpin' 'er down. Gwan, kid."</p> - -<p>"Yeah. Tell her I want t' know whether it's proper to say, 'Pass me -those m'lasses,' or just 'Hand me them m'lasses.'" Bob Leverett winked -at the others. "Tell 'er I'm liable to be invited out to a party, some -time, an' I'm liable to make a bad break. Gwan, kid. You tell 'er -that."</p> - -<p>"Say, kid, you tell 'er I got another type she oughta study. Tell her -this one is a sure-enough dinger, and that it's got the smile of a -he-angel and the heart of a demon. It's this here sow-ayve kind, you -tell 'er—"</p> - -<p>"Soo-<i>ahve</i>, you darned knot-head," Gelle corrected disgustedly.</p> - -<p>"Bud can tell her," Skookum stated calmly, and straddled the long bench -to sit beside Lark. "I'm goin' to eat here."</p> - -<p>"And hurt Maw's feelings?" Bud paused in the doorway and sent a glance -of surprised disapproval at the boy. "She'll think you don't like her -cooking any more."</p> - -<p>"Aw, shucks!" Skookum threw down his knife and straddled back across -the bench.</p> - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_TEN" id="CHAPTER_TEN">CHAPTER TEN</a></h2> - -<h3>THE FRYING PAN</h3> - - -<p>In that rare half-hour just before sunrise, when the cool breeze -blowing across the meadows seemed saturated with sweetness and the -vivifying essence of all life, as if here for a moment one might -inhale the very breath which God breathed into his image made of clay -and awakened it to the consciousness that it was a man, seven riders -mounted at the Meadowlark corrals and went galloping down the trail, -bound for the Frying Pan ranch, a long ride of forty miles through -rough country.</p> - -<p>Quivering drops of dew, scattered by eager hoofs, blinked at the first -mellow sun rays and vanished from sight. Birds chirped and sang and -flew here and there seeking breakfast for their hungry fledglings that -would themselves soon be surprising the early worm. Every man's face -was eager and alert, glad for no tangible reason save that it was good -to be alive and on a horse, riding out in the cool of the morning once -more after the leisurely two weeks just gone.</p> - -<p>Lark was not among them, having made the excuse that he was tired -from his trip to Glasgow; a thin excuse, for Lark could stay in the -saddle as long as any man when the need arose. In reality Lark wanted -to leave this horse-buying deal for Bud to handle alone. It was time, -he thought, that the young man learned to assume some responsibility -in a business way, and he was curious to see what sort of bargain Bud -would make with the Frying Pan. So far Lark was secretly proud of his -handsome young nephew whom he had cared for since he was a boy the size -of Skookum, but for all that he was minded now to supplement Bud's -schooling with a course of practical application of the lessons he had -presumably learned from books.</p> - -<p>The Meadowlark needed to build up its horse herd, and it was Bud -himself who had suggested that they see what the Frying Pan had to -offer. Lark did not think much of the Frying Pan, and Kid Kern, the -owner, he did not trust at all; but he told Bud to go ahead and see -what he could do over there with fifteen hundred dollars, intimating -that he ought to be able to buy a hundred head of mixed stock for that -amount.</p> - -<p>Privately, Lark believed that the Frying Pan dealt mostly in "wet" -stock—which is range parlance for stolen stock. A fresh brand is a -"wet" brand. Stolen horses or cattle must be rebranded, the original -brand hidden under another. That detail, combined with the fact that -stolen stock is rushed by forced drives to distant localities, gave -rise to the term, and that term was applied in undertones to Frying Pan -horses. Lark wondered if Bud knew that. But wet stock is usually good -stock, and cheap—for cash. So Lark did not say anything to Bud. If the -kid wanted advice he'd probably ask for it.</p> - -<p>So Bud rode proudly at the head of the little cavalcade with fifteen -hundred dollars in gold coin wrapped in his slicker and tied behind -the cantle, and the cameo brooch pinning back his hat brim while a -blue satin bow stolen laughingly from Marge sat perkily between the -twitching ears of his horse—braided into the short hairs of the mane -for safe-keeping. And Bud, the young devil, was not thinking of girls -at all, but dreaming of those two black bronchos he meant to tame, and -trying to think of names worthy their magnificent beauty. Stirrup to -stirrup with him rode Frank Gelle, who sent a glance over his shoulder -to see how close were the others when they slowed for the climb up -through the pass.</p> - -<p>"What was Butch quizzing Skookum about last night, Bud, down by the -little corral?" he broke ruthlessly into Bud's meditations.</p> - -<p>"Butch? I don't know, Jelly. I heard him say something about teaching -the kid some birdcall or other." Bud, brought back to the present, -bethought him that now was a good time to roll a smoke. He slipped the -reins daintily between his third and little fingers and reached for -tobacco sack and papers.</p> - -<p>"Didn't sound like no birdcall to me, Bud. He was pumpin' the kid about -something. I couldn't ketch none of the words, but I could tell by the -tonation of his voice that he was askin' one question right on top of -another. Do you reckon, Bud, he was snoopin' around tryin' to pump the -kid about our pilgress?"</p> - -<p>"Marge? No reason he should pump the kid about her. That girl's an open -book—printed in clear type. She and Butch were having a great old -visit down by the corral yesterday when he was showing off his fancy -roping. You saw them, Jelly. I bet she was giving him her life history. -A girl that's lived the pure, simple life Marge has will tell all about -herself without much coaxing. I don't believe Butch would be a darn bit -backward about asking her anything he wanted to know. He must have -been quizzing the kid about something else."</p> - -<p>"She's a purty girl and a sweet girl, and no mother to guide her," -Gelle eulogized solemnly. "No bonehead rustler like Butch Cassidy can -run any rannigans whilst I'm on the job. If I was shore—"</p> - -<p>"It wasn't that. Anyway, Marge can hold her own without any help. If -you'd heard some of the roastings I've got, already—somebody told her -I lied about our frogs. I never will be able to square myself, I guess. -Say, Jelly, Butch may have been asking Skookum about that boat. He -seemed pretty keen about it in the bunk house."</p> - -<p>"Bud, I wouldn't put that bank job past the Fryin' Pan outfit, do you -know it? From the way Butch talked, I'll bet they've been figuring on -it, some time or other." Gelle sent another cautious glance over his -shoulder.</p> - -<p>"They didn't do it, Jelly. I left them all at the ranch, and rode -straight across the reservation, the shortest way there is. I was -expecting to make it home that night, you see. They couldn't have -beaten me in. They were sitting around the house, whittling and telling -it scarey, when I left, and their horses weren't caught up or anything. -Butch may feel sore because some one beat them to it, and if he -thought the boodle was cached somewhere within reach—</p> - -<p>"Tell you what I'm going to do, Jelly. Soon as we get back with -the horses I'm going to do a little scouting around. I've thought -of several places I want to take a look at. That yarn about how I -was spotting for the gang that killed Charlie Mulholland—well, the -quickest way to stop that is to pin it on the guilty parties. If it's -a home job, as it looks to be, we can do as much as the sheriff toward -getting them with the goods. And, Jelly, I may need you before I'm -through."</p> - -<p>"Well, now, you'd have a heck of a time tryin' to keep me out of the -muss!" Gelle laughed to himself. "Here comes Butch, so I'll drop back -with the roughnecks. I wouldn't trust Butch if I was you, Bud. He's a -nice feller and all that, but he's a horse thief and a killer and I -wouldn't trust him fur as I could throw a bull by the tail."</p> - -<p>Bud was grinning at that when Butch rode up on his high-stepping brown -horse, but he did not pass along the joke.</p> - -<p>The Frying Pan ranch, so called because of the brand most used by -the owners, lay a good day's ride from the Meadowlark, over near the -Missouri and close to that stretch of chaotic country called the -Badlands. A small town might have stood on the level plateau against -the hills, but as it was the Frying Pan ranch had a fine sweep of -pasture land with a long lane running straight back to where the house, -stable and corrals stood against the butte. Had the owners planned -the place with an eye to the strategic possibilities, they could not -have improved the smallest detail. First, the house, a two-story log -building set well out in the open with a well and pump in one corner -of the woodshed built against the kitchen. Beyond the house stood the -barn, another log building with ample room for hay sufficient to winter -eight or ten horses; and behind the barn the corrals, three of them in -a string, with a branding chute between the two smaller ones and with a -pair of funnel wings that never failed to ease the wildest broomtails -into the enclosure left open to receive them. A somewhat elaborate -arrangement, though the Frying Pan was a horse outfit that seemed to be -making money faster than the cattlemen.</p> - -<p>Range gossip is quite as malicious as a small-town club that is on -the brink of disorganization. Range gossipers grinned at the Frying -Pan brand, a blotched circle with the handle pointing downward; very -convenient to cover any small brand and blot it forever from sight; -handier still to have the choice of left hip or shoulder. One might -guess that another brand was buried beneath that burned circle, but who -could swear to the fact?</p> - -<p>Whether Bud knew the gossip or not, he did know good horses when he saw -them, and it was with a glow of pride that he climbed the fence of the -largest corral and roosted on the top rail with the other Meadowlark -riders, all staring down at the circling, kicking, squealing, nipping -herd which the Frying Pan boys had just whooped down the wings and -inside. A pretty sight they were—one that brought a shine into eyes -other than Bud's.</p> - -<p>"I trimmed the bunch down to about three hundred while we had them up -waiting for you to come over after them," Kid Kern shouted, climbing up -to straddle the rail and sit beside Bud. "I knew pretty well what you -didn't want. Some good stuff there, hunh?"</p> - -<p>"I've seen worse pelters than these," Bud grinned. "Got any fillies you -want to throw in as an honorarium to me for having Lark dig up the full -price in gold?"</p> - -<p>"Say, Bud! If you bring any honorariums on to the ranch, by golly, -you'll have to break 'em yourself!" Tony yelled, and winked at Jack -Rosen. "They're tricky as hell, and you know it."</p> - -<p>"Oh, I know you're not supposed to look a gift horse in the mouth," Bud -retorted, "but I'll take a chance on five or six colts presented by -Kid, here."</p> - -<p>"If you put it that way, I might add half a dozen head; for you -yourself, Bud. Gold is mighty useful to me, boy."</p> - -<p>"You talk like good old greenbacks ain't money no more," Bob Leverett -chided.</p> - -<p>"There's a black gelding I'm going to build a loop for," Tony cried -enthusiastically, and pointed to where a magnificent head and neck -showed over the shoulder of a sorrel, the big brown eyes regarding -curiously the strange row of figures on the fence.</p> - -<p>"There's his twin, by golly! I speak fer him right now," Jack Rosen -exclaimed.</p> - -<p>"And they both belong to yours truly," Bud stated with outward calm. -"Lark's giving them to me for making the deal, and my one-legged -Meadowlark goes on to-morrow morning. You'll need darned fast loops, -you fellows, to beat mine."</p> - -<p>"My gosh, more honorariums!" wailed Tony. "Bud's bashful, I don't -think!"</p> - -<p>"Bud knows two good horses," Kid grinned, glancing sidelong toward -Butch. "Them two blacks came"—he glanced again toward Butch and went -on smoothly—"damn' near queering the deal. I didn't want to let them -two go, but Bud, he couldn't see no bunch of horses that didn't include -them, so I had to cave in or lose the sale. You'll have two dandy -mounts, Bud, if you break 'em right."</p> - -<p>"I don't intend to break them at all." Bud's eyes softened wonderfully -as they rested on the nearest black horse. "All they need is to be -taught. I'll have them both following me around like dogs, inside a -month."</p> - -<p>Butch lounged over and leaned against the fence near where Bud was -perched. His hatcrown reached to Bud's knees, and he stared into the -restless herd that crowded to the far side of the corral. His lip -lifted a bit at one corner.</p> - -<p>"Look out fer hydrophoby, then," he drawled. "One of 'em is a mankiller -at heart; mebbe both. You'll have one fine time makin' pet dogs outa -them two. I advise yuh to hogtie 'em and put a muzzle on 'em before you -go caressin' around them birds."</p> - -<p>Bud's cheeks darkened with the hot blood of anger, for Butch lied. -Those big, intelligent eyes staring with shy wistfulness from the head -of the nearest black betrayed the slander.</p> - -<p>"Thanks for the advice, Butch. When I need more, I'll send word over," -he said coldly.</p> - -<p>The Meadowlark boys almost stopped breathing for a moment, and sent -swift, sidelong glances at one another. But nothing came of the -incident, save a tenseness in the atmosphere, a guarded note in -conversations that had before been carelessly friendly. Not until after -supper, however, did Bud speak his mind to any one, and then it was to -Gelle.</p> - -<p>"I don't like the feel of this place, Jelly. We'll get out of here as -soon as we can in the morning, and I wish you'd come with me while I -turn over the money to Kid and get a bill of sale—and then I wish -you'd slip the word to the boys that I'd like to have them keep out of -the card games and turn in early.</p> - -<p>"The Frying Pan thinks I'm young and green. I suppose they also think -I'm a fool, and can't take the hints that have dropped around here. But -it's like this, Jelly: We need this bunch of horses. I want that bill -of sale signed to-night, and I want you to see me pay Kid the money. -Butch doesn't want to see me get those two blacks, and the whole bunch -may be slightly damp." He grinned, and Gelle laughed softly. "But if -we lose any horses on that account, Kid will have to settle with the -Meadowlark; don't think he won't!</p> - -<p>"And when we've got them safe home," he added, after a reflective -pause, "I'll have Lark let the boys off for a few days. They can go -spend their good money in Smoky Ford while you and I take a little -scouting trip around. How does that strike you, Jelly?"</p> - -<p>"Fine and dandy; betcher life!"</p> - -<p>"So come on, now, while all the boys are in sight and it's still -daylight, and we'll dig up the gold and get the paper signed that will -make these <i>our</i> horses. One hundred and six head of them, at least. -Nothing like being young and innocent, is there, Jelly?"</p> - -<p>"No, there ain't," Gelle agreed soberly. "I never did have much use fer -the Fryin' Pan, and that's the truth. Now Butch is with 'em, they don't -stack up near so good. Come awn, let's git that gold money paid over to -Kid before they steal it. That's how <i>I</i> trust this bunch!"</p> - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_ELEVEN" id="CHAPTER_ELEVEN">CHAPTER ELEVEN</a></h2> - -<h3>BUD TAKES A TRAIL OF HIS OWN</h3> - - -<p>Have you ever watched a herd of horses come streaming down a hill at -the end of a hard day's travel? There's a thrill in it such as comes -when soldiers are marching by. First a drifting haze which is the dust -kicked up by the traveling herd; then the faint, muffled sound of hoof -beats; the heads of the point riders seen dimly through the cloud, and -after them the upflung heads of the leaders.</p> - -<p>As the freshly branded horses sighted the delectable green of the -Basin, smelled the river rushing out of the encircling wall of -rugged hills, they came streaming down through the pass in sudden -forgetfulness of the weary miles behind them. At the foot of the hill -riders spurred out from the veil of dust, swinging closed loops and -shouting, forcing the eager band close to the bluff and away from the -alluring green of the meadows. Tired muscles tensed again. Heads went -up, dusty nostrils belled and quivered with the mingled scents of the -valley. The leg-weary colts, dusty, lagging behind and then making -sudden, shrill uproar when they missed their mothers, were sought with -frantic whinnyings by the mares. Once found, they were torn from eager -nuzzlings by the light thwacks of rope ends and the insistent, "<i>Hi! -Hi-yee!</i>" from the hoarse throats of the tired riders; the cry that all -day long without ceasing had dogged the laggards on the trail.</p> - -<p>Even Maw left her endless pottering around the house and waddled down -to the corral where Lark was already propping open the big gate, -when Skookum came running with his body slanted perilously forward -while he yelled that the horses were coming. Marge went back for her -notebook and pencil, because you never know when cowboys are going to -say something odd or picturesque, or a killing may take place—as she -confided to her brother in passing.</p> - -<p>(As a matter of fact, Marge was beginning to complain at the paucity of -dramatic happenings on the ranch where she had confidently expected to -find adventure galore. For however much the boys might boldly proclaim -their gallant intentions, Marge saw them mostly at a distance and found -them hopelessly shy when brought face to face with her. Young Bud -talked with her gravely and misleadingly upon occasion, wherefore she -called Bud bashful and slow—when in reality Bud was anything else, and -was mostly preoccupied with other matters. So the coming of the new -horses loomed before her as an event that promised something in the way -of Western color and, possibly, drama.)</p> - -<p>With a last flurry of hard riding and hoarse shouts, the leaders swung -away from the tempting meadows and inside the wing fence that slanted -down from the corrals to the road, the precipitous bluff forming the -other barrier. The herd galloped in mass formation to the very gate -before they realized that here they faced another one of those hated -periods of captivity. They swerved toward the bluff, hurtled back -along it and met the implacable Meadowlark riders; milled briefly and -thundered again down the throat of the wings toward the corral. With a -flick of heels, a last surge of upflung dust, they dodged inside. The -big gate slammed shut behind them and the chain was pulled around the -great post that looked as though rats had gnawed it just there—the -hook rattled into a heavy link and that particular horse deal was -completed. The horses were safe at home and milling inside the corral -just as they had circled round and round within the Frying Pan -enclosure that morning.</p> - -<p>Six tired cowboys rode over to the open space beside the shed where -saddles were kept, and with a backward swing of saddle-stiffened legs -over the cantles they thankfully dismounted. A hot, windy ride—and the -wind in their backs most of the way. Their throats were parched and raw -from the dust and shouting.</p> - -<p>"Me, I'm goin' to put sideboards on my chin, to-morra, and plug up my -ears. That way I can hold more beer." This from Tony, who wished his -world to know how dry he was.</p> - -<p>"Yeah—if we git to go," Jack Rosen qualified pessimistically. "Lark -may not let us off."</p> - -<p>"Say, he'll let <i>me</i> off, if he has to fire me!" Bob Leverett -threatened with a surface vehemence not meant to be taken too seriously.</p> - -<p>"I'll see that you boys get a couple of days off, all right." Bud had -ridden up and swung from the saddle, his face a gritty gray mask from -riding point in the thick of the dust. "I'll fix it up with Lark this -evening. Now's a good time to find out just what all this talk amounts -to, and where it started. Of course, we think we know, but by the time -you boys put a little gold into circulation, we ought to be dead sure -we know. All I ask is that you boys keep your ears open and let me -know what you pick up."</p> - -<p>"Nice bunch of horses, Bud." Lark walked over from the corral and stood -among them. "I s'pose you boys are framin' a trip in to the Ford, about -to-morra. Better not say anything to Lightfoot about goin'. He's just -fool enough to be game for anything that comes up, but he can't ride -with you bunch of hellions yet. I'd hate to tell him he can't go, so if -you'll leave without hollerin' it all over the ranch it'll suit me just -as well. I'll be over to the bunk house after a while; you can draw -what money you want then."</p> - -<p>"Now, ain't that hell?" cried Tony after an eloquent pause. "Here we -been gittin' ready to appoint a committee to approach the throne—aw, -shucks. Lark, yo're a good boss, in some ways, but you'd keep men on -the payroll longer if you was kind to 'em!"</p> - -<p>Since no man ever left the Meadowlark of his own free will, even the -weariest puncher laughed at that, Lark with the others; but his eyes -held a shadow as he walked toward the house with Bud.</p> - -<p>"What do you think of my two blacks? Aren't they peaches?" For the -first time Bud's tone betrayed the fact that the black bronchos -were not absorbing his full thought, but were being used to make -conversation.</p> - -<p>Lark grunted. They walked farther before he spoke.</p> - -<p>"Horses are all right, I guess. Say, Bud, did you meet a feller ridin' -a chunky little bay with the Acorn brand on its hip? He rode in here -yesterday and stopped all night. Snoopy kinda cuss. Claimed to be a -stock buyer, but he didn't show me no credentials, nor talk like he -wanted to buy anything in p'ticular. Ast questions of everybody but me, -seems like—mostly things that wasn't none of his business. He left -right after dinner and said he was ridin' over Landusky way and would -mebbe meet you boys somewheres on the trail. He didn't, hunh?"</p> - -<p>"Never saw him at all, Lark. I don't see how we could have missed -him, either, if he kept to the trail. How did you grade him, Lark? A -detective?"</p> - -<p>"Had the earmarks, son. Sicked onto us by some of them damn' -granny-gossips in town, I take it. You goin' in with the boys to-morra?"</p> - -<p>"No-o—well, I thought I'd take a ride around and see what sign I can -pick up; on the quiet, Lark. I want to take Jelly with me, and I don't -want the boys to know anything about it. They'll proceed to tarry with -the wine cup, the first thing they do, and what they don't know they -can't let slip when their tongues loosen a bit. I hope they stir things -up and keep the town interested enough so Jelly and I won't be missed."</p> - -<p>"Purty late to pick up anything on the range, Bud. Seven days now, it's -been. That alleged stock buyer said they ain't got the first clew yet. -He might of lied, though. Prob'ly did. You goin' to take a look around -Palmer's place?"</p> - -<p>"I thought we would, if we get the chance. I want to let the boys ride -in ahead of us. I want to use them for a decoy. I believe Palmer and -his men will follow them in if they see a bunch of Meadowlark boys go -riding into town. They'll want to see what's taking place, and guilty -or innocent, I believe their mental reactions will send them after the -boys."</p> - -<p>"Mebbe." Lark lifted his hat while he pawed at his hair. "I never -went into fizzyology much, so I can't say what reactions will do to a -feller. If you say they'll act that way, I ain't goin' to contradict. -But what's the rule fer perventin' a killin' if our boys run into -Palmer whilst they're lit up? I got a nice bunch of boys, now, and I -don't want to see 'em killed off ner sent to the pen."</p> - -<p>"Oh, you work that out by the rule of subtraction," Bud grinned. "Have -the boys leave their guns with the bartender when they take their first -drink."</p> - -<p>"Hunh? No, sir, I won't ast the boys to do what I wouldn't do m'self. -I'd ruther leave my pants with the bartender! You musta got that idee -in school. What's the use of havin' a gun, if you got to hand it over -to some slick-haired bar-wiper just when it looks like you may want it? -I'd go in myself, but"—he paused to glance over his shoulder—"I'm -goin' to fix up the Nest again. My old dad would raise up in his grave -if he knowed how things has been let run down that way. The Lookout -needs some work on it too.</p> - -<p>"You go on and carry out what's in yore mind, son. I'll buy in later -on, if it's necessary. But you kin make this yore fight, for the -present, and if things look like they're comin' to a head, you kin send -one of the boys back after me. I'll be workin' here, puttin' things -in shape fer a show-down. Once these things start, they's no tellin' -where they'll wind up. Callin' us a hard outfit to monkey with is one -thing—that's somethin' to be proud of. But when it comes to sayin' we -killed a man so as to rob the bank where we do our business—my Jonah, -but that's damn' hard to swaller!"</p> - -<p>"We aren't going to swallow it," Bud declared, promptly. "Where's Maw? -I'm about half starved!"</p> - -<p>Maw was coming, taking short, quick steps and waving the mosquitoes off -with her apron. Behind her, Marge was walking with many short halts -while she wrote something in her notebook, while whooping along in the -rear came Skookum, driving Lightfoot and flailing him with a tall weed -to keep him at a high gallop. Bud's eyes lingered on the bent head of -Marge, and he loitered, waiting for her. Then, his glance going to the -boy, his face hardened again with the purpose that filled his mind.</p> - -<p>It was after he had eaten and Marge was waiting in the living room, -hoping Bud would come in and talk to her after the deadly monotony -of the past two days, that Bud artfully drew Skookum off by himself -and turned the conversation very casually to Butch Cassidy. He wanted -to know what it was that Butch had been talking about; but Skookum, -unfortunately, had promised not to tell.</p> - -<p>"Well, that's all right, pardner. If you promised, don't go back on -your word; unless," he added, "it was something mean. In that case, of -course, I ought to know."</p> - -<p>"It wasn't mean," said Skookum, after a pause for reflection. "If you -asked questions like Butch did, I'd tell you more'n I told Butch. I—I -didn't tell him any more than—than I had to. I—wouldn't hold out on -you that way, Bud. You're my—my pal."</p> - -<p>Bud could have hugged the boy. There was a chance, then, that Butch had -not learned much more than they all had heard in the bunk house. He did -not see just what use Butch could make of the information gleaned in -this manner, but he knew what he himself wanted to do. So Bud began to -ask questions, and Skookum answered them as carefully and as completely -as possible.</p> - -<p>When he went to bed that night, Bud kept smiling in the dark until he -fell asleep, and even then his lips were curved as if his dreams were -pleasant. Skookum smiled also and dreamed of the pinto pony Bud had -given him for his very own; a pony that was too small for a full-grown -man; a pony with white eyelashes, one blue eye, a doglike devotion to -any one who would pet him, and the unusual name of Huckleberry.</p> - -<p>The satisfaction of Bud and Skookum must have continued through the -night, for both were up and out in the cool, dewy dawn when all the -birds were ruffling feathers and puffing throats in rhapsodical melody.</p> - -<p>Sooner than would seem humanly possible, Skookum went wading through -dew-drenched meadows that straightway wet his feet, a frayed rope -end dragging from the coil hung over his arm and in his two hands a -battered basin holding oats enough to founder the pinto pony—or so -Jake would have told him.</p> - -<p>The pinto proved a willing partner to the new alliance, and let -Skookum climb on his back and ride to the stable, obeying the guidance -of a hand-slap on the neck, just as Bud had said he would. Picture -any ranch-bred boy of eight or nine in full possession of a new and -gentle pony, and you will have Skookum fully accounted for: riding -reckless circles around and between Maw's flower beds to show her how -Huckleberry neckreined; sending terror to the heart of a certain mother -hen when he galloped full tilt and scattered her brood; roping gate -posts, calves, old Jake, Lark—anything upon which a loop could settle. -That was Skookum for the next few days.</p> - -<p>As for young Bud, he was up and had a rope on one of the blacks before -Skookum had so much as glimpsed the pinto pony. There was a certain -shady corral with running water and a pole rack for hay, called the -bronch corral, where he meant to leave them until his return, but -already he was bent on making friends with them. He heard the boys -making hectic preparations for the trip to town, and thought they -must certainly be faring forth to carry out plans carefully laid in -many conferences; whereas no man save Bud had any plan at all. They -meant to ride to Smoky Ford and put a stop to the slander against the -Meadowlark—how, they did not know.</p> - -<p>"Funny Lark wouldn't do something about it," Jake Biddle grumbled, when -the boys were saddling after breakfast. "Ain't like the old days—not -a damn' bit. Old Bill would 'a' rode into town with a gun in each hand -and a booie knife in his teeth, hollerin' his opinion of sech damn' -liars. The fellers that started it—"</p> - -<p>"I shore wisht he'd of lived to show us how to cuss and hold a knife in -our teeth at one and the same time," fleered Tony. "You old broken-down -riders makes me tired. Think us boys is kids?"</p> - -<p>"Yeah. Where'd you git the idee we're goin' to run home bawlin' fer -Lark to come show us what t' do to them bad men that's sayin' mean -things about us?" Bob Leverett turned a shade redder. "Mebbe we ain't -got the knack of carryin' a knife in our teeth whilst we cuss, but I -betcha we can holler our opinions jest about as loud as old Bill ever -done. And as fer wavin' a gun in both hands—why, me, I can look scarey -enough with one gun to put Smoky Ford on the run. Come on, boys. We're -keepin' Jake from settin' in the kitchen weepin' fer the days that is -gone."</p> - -<p>"Say, ain't Jelly goin' to town?" As they swung to the saddles Tony -missed the tall rider. "Hey, Jelly!"</p> - -<p>"You boys go awn," Gelle called from the far corral where he was -killing time with Bud until the others were gone. "Bud and me'll be -along after a while, mebbe. If we don't overtake you, you boys ride awn -in and make yoreselves to home."</p> - -<p>"Foolin' with them black bronchs," Rosen made indulgent comment. "Let -'em throw away good minutes if they ain't got better sense. Come on, -let's be movin'."</p> - -<p>They moved to such good purpose that presently a slow-settling dust -cloud alone remained to tell of their haste.</p> - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_TWELVE" id="CHAPTER_TWELVE">CHAPTER TWELVE</a></h2> - -<h3>THE MEADOWLARK BOYS HAVE A PLAN</h3> - - -<p>Palmer's ranch, called so because the man himself came first to mind -when one thought of his outfit—which bore the brand called the Roman -Three—lay along the road from Meadowlark Basin to Smoky Ford. The -fields lay farthest up river, but his house and stables stood in that -narrower level where the river swung abruptly eastward toward the -Indian Reservation and the hills. At that point the road drew in close -to the house and not more than a long rifle-shot away from the river. -Smoky Ford lay nearly seven miles farther down river; not a long ride -for men accustomed to spend most of their waking hours in the saddle. -Indeed, the Meadowlark boys thought of Palmer's ranch as being almost -in the edge of town, and called their journey nearly done when they -came loping up to the place.</p> - -<p>"Let's wake the old devil up," Tony suggested recklessly, as they -neared the gate and fired two shots into the Palmer roof-tree.</p> - -<p>"Yeah! Let him know we ain't sneakin' past his door, scared he'll sick -his dog on to us!" Jack Rosen lifted his gun and sent splinters flying -from two shingles.</p> - -<p>"Bet he don't keep no dog. Too darn stingy to feed one. Aye—Palmer! -Yore roof's leaky!" Bob Leverett yelled, in a voice trained to carry -across a restless herd, and splintered another shingle.</p> - -<p>The front door opened abruptly and Palmer himself stood briefly -revealed to the four riders halted in the roadway just outside the big, -closed gate. Palmer waved a rifle and yelled obscene epithets until -Tony stopped that with a leaden pellet planted neatly between his feet. -Palmer jumped, banged the door shut and took a shot at them through a -window. Evidently he had no intention of killing in broad daylight, for -he shot high.</p> - -<p>"His loyal henchmen must be gone somewheres. T' town, mebbe," Tony -surmised shrewdly. "The old devil could hit some one if he wanted to, -but he knows damn' well we'd git him if he did, so he's jest expressin' -his sentiments in a general way, same as we are. What say, boys? Shall -we take him along with us to town?"</p> - -<p>"Hell, what'd we want <i>him</i> for?" Jack Rosen's voice was heavy with -disgust. "He shore ain't good comp'ny."</p> - -<p>"Oh, I jest thought mebbe we might take him along because he wouldn't -want to go," Tony replied naïvely, slipping cartridges into his gun. -"There goes that foolish jasper. Rest of 'em must be in town. Well, how -about it?"</p> - -<p>"Takin' him along would shore hurt my feelin's worse than it would -his, fer I'd be in worse comp'ny than he would. What say we ride on in -and see what's goin' on, and if the rest of these birds is there? If -so, we can clean up on what's in town and come back out here later on. -Mebbe Palmer'll foller us in. Be jest like him to have the law on us, -don't you know it? I'm goin' to rip off another shingle and go about my -business, I'm dry as a bleached bone."</p> - -<p>They proceeded to rip off several shingles. But Palmer did not choose -to retaliate, so they rode on, yelling derisively until they were out -of hearing. Within a mile they had settled down and were tardily making -plans calculated to stir Smoky Ford out of its lethargy and give it -something to talk about. The idea was Tony's, and he was so proud of it -that he could afford to give some credit to Bob as a true prophet when -they topped a rise and had a glimpse of a horseman just riding out of -Palmer's gate. Palmer, following them in, no doubt meant to stir up -trouble for them before he was through. Well, let him. Trouble was what -the Meadowlark boys were looking for to-day.</p> - -<p>"I can see now how he come to take a quirtin' from Lark," Mark Hanley -said contemptuously. "He's yeller as mustard, without the bite. Jest -the kind that would cave in a man's head when he wasn't lookin'. -'Twouldn't a took much nerve to shoot up the bunch of us, him in the -house like that and us in the open. We got to git that old coot in a -corner, somehow. Now, Tony, that idee of yourn—"</p> - -<p>"It's a darn good idee," Tony defended hastily. "They could guess -everything else and lay plans to block it, but they couldn't guess we'd -pull off anything like that. First off, we better ride to Delkin's -stable and put him wise. Our horses is our excuse for going there."</p> - -<p>Stirrups tangled, they rode so close together. Often a man would break -into laughter and glance back at the trail to see if Palmer was still -following them. They trotted up to the very door of Delkin's stable, -ducked heads and rode inside, where they dismounted and unsaddled -without help or interference from the stableman, who knew them of -old. When their horses were turned into the corral behind the barn, -where they speedily found hay and water and a place to roll, the -quartet went trooping back down the long floor, spurs jingling pleasant -accompaniment to their low-voiced laughter. Slightly bowed in the legs, -they were—or it may have been the permanent kink in their chaps. -Twitching hats and neckerchiefs into becoming angles, lest the eye of -some young woman catch them in disarray, they made for the screened -door of the office, where Tony peered in, saw Delkin sitting gloomily -before his desk, and pushed open the door, entering with a slight -swagger.</p> - -<p>"Oh, hello!" Delkin's eyes went from one to the other in apathetic -greeting. "You boys in for a good time, eh?"</p> - -<p>"Yeah. We just stopped by to let you in on the joke. Seen anything of -Bat Johnson and the rest of the bunch from Palmer's?"</p> - -<p>"Why, yes. They rode in an hour or so ago, I believe. They don't put up -their horses when they come to town, you know. Post hay is cheaper." -Delkin did not know just how much resentment was in his voice, but his -mood was bitter these days.</p> - -<p>"Well, how's the scandal comin' along, Mr. Delkin?" Tony asked -cheerfully. "Still shootin' off their mouths about the Meddalark?"</p> - -<p>"Oh, about the same, I guess. But they'll never make me believe your -outfit had anything to do with it." The mind of Delkin was so obsessed -with the murder and robbery that it did not occur to him that scandal -could focus on anything else.</p> - -<p>"Well, we shore appreciate that, because we got a scheme for stirrin' -up the bandits some. It's my idee," Tony informed him proudly. "I'd -like to see what you think of it before we git to work on it. And mebbe -it might be jest as well if you'd call in some of yore bank officers, -so in case of a kick-back we won't git lynched without nobody to put -in a word for us. That there," he added slightingly, "is Rosy's idee. -He's scared to turn himself loose like he claims he kin, unless he's -shore his imagination ain't goin' to be fatal. Rosy claims he's sech -an eloquent cuss he's liable to git hung. Git the men that's handiest, -will you? We're darn dry, and I can't hold these pelicans away from the -flowin' bowl much longer."</p> - -<p>Delkin glanced out through the open window, got up hurriedly and called -to three men who were talking on a corner across the street. One threw -up his hand to show that he heard, and they came over, tapering -off their conversation on the way. Inside, they looked at the four -Meadowlark riders and nodded, turning inquiringly to Delkin afterwards.</p> - -<p>"I called you in to hear something or other that these boys have -framed. Don't know what it is, but it ought to work. You know the -Meadowlark has the name of putting through what it starts."</p> - -<p>"So I hope they're starting in the right direction," grinned Bradley, -vice president of the bank and proprietor of the town's principal -store. "I've been wondering if the Meadowlark was going to tuck -its head under its wing, with all the talk going round about it. I -overheard one of Palmer's men saying in the store that the bank has -put a detective on Bud Larkin's trail. I wonder where he got that -idea?" Bradley sat down and thrust out his long legs before him in the -attitude of one who has the habit of taking his ease whenever possible. -He knew the boys well. He could have told you exactly how much each man -there had paid for the shirt he had on—though what his own profit had -been would have been carefully guarded as a dark secret. Every mouthful -of food that went down the throat of a Meadowlark man when at home came -from Bradley's store unless it had been produced on the ranch.</p> - -<p>The other two men were also important business men of the town; one -owned the hardware store and the other a small, fly-specked drugstore -stocked mostly with patent nostrums. The boys could not have chosen -four men more to their liking for this particular conference.</p> - -<p>"Well, here's what we aim to do." Tony began rolling a cigarette as an -aid to eloquence, and stated the plan.</p> - -<p>The audience grunted and looked doubtful; then Delkin gave a short -laugh.</p> - -<p>"I admit it's original," he said dryly. "And it's lucky you told us -beforehand, or you boys might find yourselves swinging from a limb -somewhere before you could convince any one you were only joking."</p> - -<p>"Only danger," Bradley agreed, "is making too big a success of it. -We've been watching Palmer and his men pretty close, and I must say -we haven't a thing to go on, except that Palmer was the last man in -the bank before Charlie was killed, and Bat Johnson was the first man -seen near the bank afterwards. On the other hand, Bud and that young -stranger—"</p> - -<p>"Say, Bud's name don't sound purty to me, used that way; and that -stranger's wearin' the Meddalark brand, Mr. Bradley," Tony interrupted -meaningly. "Well, we're dry, and thank Gawd our duty calls us to git -pickled or nearly so. And here," he added, glancing through the window, -"comes the he-one of 'em all. Palmer's follered us in. Come awn, boys. -Let's go git near-drunk. And, oh, say!" he added, reaching into his -pocket, "here's the evidence agin us! Lark went and borried some money -in Glasgow—I guess he told yuh himself—and us boys is plumb lousy -with gold tens and twenties. So don't git nervous and think we're -spendin' the bank's good money in righteous livin'. We worked fer this. -Every dime was earnt in sweat and sorrow. Ain't that right, boys?"</p> - -<p>"Damn' right that's right," they agreed solemnly.</p> - -<p>"I'll tackle Bat," Tony announced, as they walked across the street -to the Elkhorn, thumbs hooked inside their belts, hats atilt, eyes -seeing everything. "Lordy, how this town's growed since I seen it last! -There's a new dog, layin' right on Bradley's steps. Wouldn't that jar -yuh some, hunh?"</p> - -<p>"Who's goin' to tackle Palmer?" Bob Leverett wanted to know. "Me, I -wouldn't come within ropin' distance of that old coyote. Rosy, you -take 'im."</p> - -<p>"Have to play the cards as they run," Tony warned them, pausing with -one foot on the platform. "Make it look stagey, and my idee's plumb -wrecked. Come awn in—like you hated to but had to. And we'll keep -together right at first, hunh?"</p> - -<p>"Shore. I wish't Jelly was here, and Bud." Bob cleared his throat, -hitched up his belt and lounged in, the other three at his heels.</p> - -<p>The four drank together, inviting the bartender to join them. Other -occupants of the room may have noticed that they held their beer mugs -in their left hands, and that they drank with their faces half turned -to the room. Tony it was who paid in silver. They talked afterward -among themselves in tones slightly lowered. Had they been men burdened -with too much knowledge of evil, on guard against some overt move of -an enemy, they would have worn that same air of aloofness, that faint -challenge to the world hidden under the guise of careless ease. The -dozen men lounging within knew without being told that the Meadowlark -men were aware of the talk about them and felt themselves observed with -suspicion. Indeed, every one must have seen how these four watched the -room in the mirror of the back bar, and how they studiously kept their -right hands free and hovering near their belts.</p> - -<p>It was the bad-man attitude, beautifully done. Had the Meadowlark boys -murdered three men and robbed a dozen banks they could scarcely have -been more careful. And they had the attention of every man there, -thinly disguised, but all the keener for that. Bat Johnson, playing -pool at the far end, lifted his lip in a sneer while he deliberately -chalked his cue and raised a leg to rest it on the corner of the table -for a difficult shot. But he did not make any audible remarks about -the Meadowlark men, and he did pocket four balls in succession to show -how steady were his nerves. In the back-bar mirror Tony saw that only -two men were playing and that the game had just started. Bat would -be occupied for the next half-hour, so there was plenty of time for -certain necessary preliminaries.</p> - -<p>Jack Rosen bought a bottle of whisky and paid for it with a ten-dollar -gold piece. Bob Leverett watched the transaction and decided that he -too wanted to drink out of a bottle and stop when he pleased. Bob -fumbled in his pockets, looked uneasily over his shoulder and pushed -a double eagle across the bar as if he were ashamed of having it. -Indeed, Tony gave him a frown of disapproval and a shake of the head, -and this was not lost upon the bartender nor upon others who were -covertly watching the quartet.</p> - -<p>"Well, gimme a bottle too. It's cheaper that way." Mark Hanley also -paid with gold, explaining behind his hand to the others that he just -had to have change, and he guessed it was all right. And thereupon Tony -borrowed the price of a bottle from Mark, and they went clanking out -and across to the stable, leaving tongues tickling to talk behind their -backs, and a thoughtful look on the face of Bat Johnson.</p> - -<p>In the far corner of the corral Tony was carefully spilling whisky on -his undershirt and emptying the remainder of the quart on the ground.</p> - -<p>"This is a hell of a way to get a jag on," he mourned, "but we got to -stay sober and act drunk. Keep 'er on the outside, boys, till we put -over this play. Actin's an art, and you can't be too clear-headed fer -the parts you got."</p> - -<p>"Ah, gwan!" Jack Rosen pulled the cork from his bottle and took a long, -rapturous sniff. "Only way to act drunk is to <i>git</i> drunk. Me, I always -git a glassy look in my eyes, and my face gits redder 'n hell. I can't -git that way by pourin' three drops on my shirt front like it was -perfumery. If I'm goin' to play drunken cowboy with no brains atall, I -gotta put at least a pint under m' belt."</p> - -<p>"Rosy, you <i>can't</i>! When you're drunk you wanta fight and beller out -everything you know. We gotta play this thing fine." The anxious author -of the idea snatched the bottle and broke it against the manger. "Say, -you can git soused to the eyebrows when this play-actin's over. We'll -<i>all</i> git drunker'n fools. Ain't that enough to make a man stay sober, -if he's got to, in order to block their play? Come alive here, boys. -We got a good chance t' make Palmer's gang show their hands. Do we go -after 'em, or do we belly up to the bar and make hawgs of ourselves?"</p> - -<p>"Oh, shut up! I'll bet yo're drunk before the rest is, Tony. No use -addin' to our misery by chewin' the rag about it, is they?" Bob -Leverett poured whisky into his palm and proceeded to wash his face -with it. "Gawd, that's coolin'!" he exclaimed afterwards, licking his -lips as far back as his tongue would reach. "Refreshin'est thing in the -world! Betcha there ain't a feller in the outfit dast try it—wallop -it all around your mouth without lettin' any go down. Betcha I'm the -damnedest strong-minded cuss in the outfit!"</p> - -<p>"Betcha five dollars," cried Mark Hanley, and swept off his hat to give -his hair a whisky shampoo.</p> - -<p>Jack Rosen washed face, neck, ears and hair, and saturated his -handkerchief as a final flourish.</p> - -<p>"By golly, that shore <i>is</i> refreshin'!" he testified earnestly, with -his face lifted ecstatically to the hot wind. "Gimme some more. Tony -went an' got fresh and busted mine. You owe me two bottles, don'tcha -fergit that; one fer smashin' mine, and one fer misjudgin' yore -betters."</p> - -<p>They went swaggering through the barn and stopped at the office, where -Delkin's three visitors still sat talking of the one big subject. The -four leading citizens sniffed and leaned away.</p> - -<p>"That's stage settin's," Tony informed them equably.</p> - -<p>"Overdone," Bradley snorted, waving a hand before his face. "They'll -think you fell into the barrel."</p> - -<p>"Damned refreshin'," Bob told them soberly. "You fellers oughta try it -in hot weather. You wouldn't never wash in nothin' else."</p> - -<p>They backed out and went weaving across the street, arm in arm and -stepping high. Apparently they were the drunkest punchers that ever -spent money over a saloon bar, and their aloofness was all forgotten. -They entered the Elkhorn singing raucously a sentimental ditty which -must never see print, and Jack Rosen on the outside of the group -stopped and attempted to embrace Palmer in almost tearful joy at seeing -him. The others pulled him along to the bar and Tony swung round upon -the crowd.</p> - -<p>"Everybody drink!" he shouted thickly. "Drown yore sorrers whilst we -drown ours. Money's made to spend—come on, boys, an' let's squander -some."</p> - -<p>There is only one answer to that, in a saloon. Not a man in the -place but had a convincing whiff of the reason why the boys from the -Meadowlark had suddenly changed their tone. The curtain was up on -Tony's play.</p> - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_THIRTEEN" id="CHAPTER_THIRTEEN">CHAPTER THIRTEEN</a></h2> - -<h3>BUD FINDS THE STOLEN MONEY</h3> - - -<p>"There goes old Palmer himself," Bud exclaimed with some eagerness, as -he and Gelle rode out from behind a low hill and started down the long, -straight stretch beside Palmer's field of grain, fenced and rippling a -green sea of wheat heads. "Now as the rest of the bunch is out of the -way, it will be smooth riding. You know your part, Jelly. You just ride -up to the house and do whatever you damn please, so long as you hold -the cook and Blinker and any of the other men who happen to be home, -right there at the house. I hope they've followed the boys to town, -though. It's the logical thing for them to do unless they're bigger -cowards than I take them to be."</p> - -<p>"Say, if you're goin' to sneak up to the stables, you'd better be -drifting right now," Gelle told him. "If there's anybody down around -the corrals, I'll have 'em up to the house before you need their -absence very bad. Don't you worry about that, Bud."</p> - -<p>"All right. I did intend to ride past the house and come back the -other way. It's just about as close. But this will do. Give me a few -minutes' start, will you, Jelly?" Bud grinned, waved a hand in casual -farewell and reined his sorrel out of the road and into the tangle of -chokecherry bushes that grew in a shallow gully leading back toward the -river.</p> - -<p>Once away from Gelle, however, the grin left his face and a smoldering -purpose glowed in his eyes. He was on enemy soil; if any of Palmer's -men were at home and he were discovered he would probably find himself -dodging leaden slugs before he got away. Midday was not the best hour -for invading an unfriendly man's premises, but he had decided that it -would be safer after all than midnight, when Palmer would be easily -alarmed. Besides, the dogs were chained during the day and turned loose -at dusk. Skookum had told him that: and for what he wanted to find he -needed the broad sunlight.</p> - -<p>Straight through the thicket he rode until he reached a barbed-wire -fence extending up the river for a considerable distance. This, Skookum -had told him, was the cow pasture which he would have to cross on foot, -keeping one eye peeled for the big, black bull that had once killed a -man and liked it so well he had been trying ever since to repeat the -performance. Bud tied the sorrel well out of sight, unbuckled his spurs -and hung them on the saddle horn, hitched up his belt and pulled his -gun forward, and crawled through the fence. Skookum had advised him -to pass the house, hide his horse in the bushes and come back up the -river, keeping in the willows on the bank. In that way he would run no -risk of the bull, of which Skookum seemed to be in terror almost as -great as his fear of his grandfather. This was shorter, however, and -Bud remembered how terrible a cross bull can look to a small boy; to a -man it is not so formidable.</p> - -<p>This end of the pasture was brushy, full of the twitterings of bird -families, the scurrying of small furred creatures. Blue-bodied flies -poised humming just before his face; great, long-legged mosquitoes sang -a whining chorus around him. He made his way quickly toward the river, -where the bank rose abruptly in a worn sandstone ledge. The pasture -gate was built close against the ledge, and it was this point that held -most of the danger. Some one at the stables might see him—Skookum had -told him that the gate was in sight of the stable, but that the ledge -was mostly hidden by the trees. Bud guessed that he would be obliged -to walk in the open for a few rods, but with Gelle bullying the -cook—or whatever it was he meant to do—even the dogs would have scant -attention for any one moving down by the pasture gate.</p> - -<p>Once, when Skookum had ventured into the pasture after a rabbit that -had been caught in a trap and lamed, the black bull had come grumbling -ominously from the bushes. Skookum had scrambled up the ledge out of -reach of the bull and had waited so long in the shade of a jutting rock -that he had gone to sleep. When he awoke the bull was gone, but his -grandfather was coming in at the gate, which was almost as bad, so he -had cowered down out of sight and waited for that threatening presence -to pass. His grandfather had stood for two or three minutes looking -back at the house, while he pretended to be fastening the gate behind -him, and then he had walked on past where Skookum was hiding and had -begun to climb the ledge.</p> - -<p>"And—and I didn't tell Butch what—what I done after he—he climbed up -on the ledge," Skookum had declared earnestly to Bud at this point. "I -mean, I never told Butch about me sneakin' along after—after grandpa -went back to—to the house, and lookin' to see what—what grandpa was -doin'. So I—I found all his money—but I never took any. I—I was -scared!" Skookum was very careful to let Bud know what he had <i>not</i> -told Butch, since he had promised Butch that he would not tell a soul -the things he had revealed during the quizzing. Skookum believed in the -letter of the law.</p> - -<p>"I couldn't see grandpa after he climbed up on the ledge, because -the—the rocks was in the way," he had explained further, and because -he had told Bud so much more, Skookum was now in beatific possession of -Huckleberry, the pinto pony.</p> - -<p>"He's a smart kid. I suppose with the wrong training it would develop -into foxiness like his grandfather. He sure described it perfectly," -Bud made mental comment when, from a safe covert of wild currant -bushes, he surveyed the ledge. He could even recognize the place where -Skookum had scrambled up to get away from the bull, and the rock -jutting out and away from the main outcropping where he had curled up -and gone to sleep. From that point Skookum had drawn what he called -a map, and crude though it was, Bud felt sure that he could find the -place of which the boy had told him in a scared half-whisper.</p> - -<p>He did one foolish thing. In crossing the open strip of trampled grass -just inside the gate he nearly stepped on a huge rattlesnake lying -asleep in the hot sunshine. To pass so venomous a thing without killing -it went contrary to all Bud's instincts and training. Rangemen reason -that every rattlesnake left to crawl away may sink its poison fangs -into the next unwary passer-by, and that death may be the result of -some one's carelessness. Bud picked up a rock and sent it straight at -the ugly head, following with other rocks to make absolutely sure of -the job. When the snake was dispatched, he took long steps into the -fringe of concealing bushes and climbed to the rock which Skookum had -described so accurately.</p> - -<p>At the house Frank Gelle was holding in his horse, that backed and -circled restively, fighting the tight rein. Gelle himself was insisting -loudly that Palmer had better come out or he'd go drag him out. No use -hiding under the bed, he argued contemptuously. He wanted to talk to -him a minute, and he would stay until he did talk to him, if he had to -sit there 'til his horse starved to death.</p> - -<p>"Boss ain't heah nohow!" Black Sam protested, rolling his eyes so that -the whites showed all around. "You Meddalahk boys done plowed up ouah -roof a'ready wif youah bullets, an' Boss he gwine on in to talk to -Mist' Shu'f man. He jes plumb <i>kain't</i> come out, 'cause he ain't heah. -No, suh, ain't pawssible fo' him to come out, nohow."</p> - -<p>"I think yo're lyin' to me, Snowball," Gelle declared firmly, and shook -his head. "You gotta prove it."</p> - -<p>"Lawsy, Boss, how Ah goin' to prove nothin' like dat air, 'cep'n' you -git off'm dat hawse an' look fo' youahse'f? B-but 'twon't do no good -nohow, Mist' Meddalahk, awnes, it won't! Dat ole house ain't got nobody -into it <i>atall</i>. Ain't nobody undah no baid, Boss, Ah swah to goodness -dey ain't. Blinkah, he's somewhah on de place, but he don' count no -moah 'n Ah counts, an' Ah don' count nothin' <i>atall</i>." Sam backed -warily toward the kitchen door as Gelle pressed closer. "Blinkah, he -ain't got no sense nohow, Mist' Meddalahk, an' A'm jes' an old black -cook what doan' 'mount to nothin'. Boss, he's in town—leastwise he's -awn de way—yessuh, yo'all kin ride awn aftuh him, Mist' Meddalahk, -suh, an' tawk all you'm a mine to. Yessuh."</p> - -<p>Sam was so scared, so plainly and honestly helpless, so anxious to -placate the man he believed a dangerous foe, that Gelle hadn't the -heart to bully him further. At the same time he must give Bud time in -which to make a thorough search. He looked around for Blinker, but -that peculiar fellow was nowhere to be seen.</p> - -<p>"Got any coffee?" Gelle demanded for want of something else to hold him -there.</p> - -<p>"Yessuh, Boss, Ah got whole pawt uh cawfee, yessuh, Mist' Meddalahk."</p> - -<p>"All right, bring me a cup. No sugar, Snowball—"</p> - -<p>"Lawsy, Boss, we doan' nevah have no sugah atall! Boss, he buy silk -foah dishrags soon as evah he buy sugah foah cawfee an' sech." Sam -grinned in spite of his terror, showing the strong, even teeth so -characteristic of the negro race. "We got milk, 'cause milk doan' cos' -nawthin'."</p> - -<p>"How about buttermilk?" Gelle was better pleased with his task now. He -thought he could keep this up for an hour if necessary.</p> - -<p>"Yessuh, Boss, Ah jes' chuhned dis mawnin'. Buttah doan' cos' nawthin', -neithah, an' it saves meat. An' aigs, we got aigs; hens, dey doan' -deman' no wages, Mist' Meddalahk." Sam chuckled with a wry twist to his -big mouth, as if the joke was barbed.</p> - -<p>"What wages do you git, Snowball?" Gelle's tone indicated that he was -prepared to be sympathetic.</p> - -<p>"Me? What wages do Ah git? Ah doan' <i>git</i>. No, suh, Boss, time Ah -wuhks out de cos' of pants an' shuht an' shoes an' hat, Ah doan' <i>git</i>!"</p> - -<p>"You don't?" Genuine surprise was in Gelle's voice. "Git out! Say, -Snowball, slavery days is over, don't yuh know it? You don't have to -work fer <i>no</i> man that's too damn' stingy to buy sugar fer coffee, an' -runs a sandy like that on yuh fer pay. Judgin' by them garments yo're -draped in now, Snowball, I'd say you must spend as much as five, ten -dollars mebbe, a year on clothes. What wages does ole Palmer claim he -pays you, if it's a fair question?"</p> - -<p>"What wages? Wa' now, Mist' Meddalahk, Ah doan' rightly know, suh. -Boss, he claim lak Ah eats moah 'n what Ah kin earn nohow, cookin'. He -talk lak he pay me ten dollah, mebbe. Mist' Meddalahk, suh, Ah wuhk an' -wuhk, an' mos' Ah kin do is eat an' sleep, an' nevah much of dat. Doan' -seem pawssible to git ahaid mo'n one shuht."</p> - -<p>Sam wiped a ragged sleeve across his perspiring face, turned and went -into the house, his terror of the Meadowlark man erased from his simple -soul by the note of human understanding and sympathy. He returned -presently with a big tin cup full of cold buttermilk over which Gelle -promptly bent his eager lips.</p> - -<p>"Say, Snowball," he remarked, when he came up for air, "our cook at the -Meddalark gits sixty dollars a month. And he <i>gits</i> it—and buys his -own pants and shirts. You're bein' robbed and you don't know it. And -say! Lark buys sugar, five sacks at a lick, and nobody gits the bad eye -for dumpin' three or four spoonsful into his coffee. 'Tain't none of my -business, Snowball, but I hate to see even a coon git the worst of it -like that. Say, here's a dollar. Don't let ole Palmer ketch you with it -though."</p> - -<p>Sam's eyes would not stand out farther if he were being choked. He was -too stunned by this munificence to put out his hand for the money, -so Gelle tossed the dollar in his general direction, finished the -buttermilk in one long drink, set the cup down on an upturned barrel -near by and rode back to the gate to meet Bud, who was coming at a -swift gallop. Bud pulled up, his eyes snapping with excitement.</p> - -<p>"Go back around the corner of the fence, Jelly, and down the gully -about fifty yards," he directed crisply. "I left that old man Blinker -tied up, and I want you to stand guard over him until I can ride into -town and back. He came up on me before I could get away in the brush, -and all I could do was glom him and bring him out with me. I won't be -gone more than a couple of hours, but it's too hot a day to leave an -old man tied up with ants and mosquitoes and flies raising merry hell -with him. Will you do it, Jelly?"</p> - -<p>"Sure, I'll do it. Thank Gawd fer that buttermilk! Say, you ain't -leavin' me out of anything like a scrap, are yuh, Bud? If you are, I'll -pack m' prisoner in under my arm but what I'll go to yore party."</p> - -<p>"No—don't think there'll be a word of trouble. I'll be right back, -Jelly, and then we'll both ride in and make merry. We'll have a right." -He was galloping down the road before Gelle could answer him.</p> - -<p>Even in his haste Bud took thought of the curiosity he would probably -excite if he came pounding down the hill with his horse in a lather, -and once on the subject of precautions it struck him forcibly that -perhaps Smoky Ford would be just as well off if it failed to see him -at all. At the foot of the hill, therefore, he turned sharply off the -road on a dim trail that meandered up a wash and rounded an elbow of -the bluffside, and so came out at the rear of Delkin's livery stable, -where four Meadowlark horses took their ease in the corral, the sweat -scarcely dried on their backs. The sight of them reminded Bud that -after all he had not been so far behind the boys who were probably -still feeling the thrill of their first cold drinks. Indeed, they had -not been gone on their odorous adventure more than ten minutes when Bud -led his lathered sorrel into a shadowy stall and went burring his spur -rowels down the long stable so lately echoing to the footsteps of those -other Meadowlark riders. With considerable abruptness he pulled open -the screen door and stepped into the office, his eyes flashing quick -glances at the four men who sat there talking about the one big subject.</p> - -<p>"Howdy. Glad to see you all here, because you're the men I came after, -and I don't know just how quiet you want to keep this business. I've -found your money—or the bank's money, rather. If you folks will ride -out with me, I'll show you where it's cached. I went on a still hunt -around Palmer's on my way in; saw he was headed for town, so I took -advantage of his absence. His grandson, the one he abused so that -Lark took him away, told me some things that gave a clew to the whole -business. Palmer's gang came down river in a boat, hid under the bank -and then took the loot back up river, and probably sunk the boat after -they were through with it. That's the way I've doped it out, at least. -At any rate, I can show you the stuff, and you can bring it in; but -you'll have to hurry. Unless you can get there, and the stuff is moved -before Palmer goes home, he may discover us. And he'll be leaving -probably—"</p> - -<p>"No!" The front legs of Bradley's chair came to the floor with a thump. -"My heavens, but you Meadowlark boys work fast when you get started! -There's those young devils over in the Elkhorn, pulling off a bit of -play-acting to make Palmer's gang give themselves away. And here <i>you</i> -come, busting in here with the news—"</p> - -<p>"No time for argument," snapped Delkin. "You men come along and bear -witness to this. If we recover the bank's property, you have a right to -be there, anyway. I think those boys over there will keep Palmer and -his men interested for another hour or two, which will give us time. -Bud, are you alone, or did your uncle come with you?"</p> - -<p>"Lark's at home. I left Jelly on guard, back there; had to take that -crazy old fellow at Palmer's and tie him up. He came and caught me at -the cache, so there was nothing else to do. I wonder if I can borrow a -fresh horse, Mr. Delkin?"</p> - -<p>"By the lord Harry, you can have anything I've got, down to my last -shirt!" As the news took hold of his imagination, Delkin was like -another man. He led the way into the stable and on to the corral, -choosing mounts for his companions and shouting orders to the scurrying -hostler.</p> - -<p>Stauffer and Kline, the two other bank directors, ejaculated futile -comments but failed to contribute anything further than their presence -to the venture. There are always men of that type in any gathering. -They have little to say, they never take the initiative, but they do -add the force of numbers—a useful incident at times.</p> - -<p>"Better tie on some saddlebags, or take a grain sack or two. You -know that stuff is a bit bulky," Bud reminded them. "There must be -twenty-five or thirty pounds of gold, besides the other currency and -papers. I was in too much of a hurry to go over it, after I'd fully -identified it as belonging to the bank. And we'd better go out the back -way by the trail I came in on. Mr. Delkin, I suppose you know whether -your man here needs a gag, or whether he can be trusted to keep his -mouth shut."</p> - -<p>"Say, you don't need to worry about no gag fer <i>me</i>, young feller," the -stableman retorted indignantly. "If it's the bank money you're goin' -after, seven hundred and thirty dollars of it belongs t' <i>me</i>! I ain't -liable to spill no beans off'n my own plate, I guess."</p> - -<p>"You'd be a fool if you did," Bud laughed. "Well, we don't want a -single solitary soul to know we've left town, or that I've been here. -Mr. Delkin, are you ready?"</p> - -<p>Five saddled horses, following five men who unconsciously held the -reins in their left hands in preparation for any emergency, walked out -of the doorway and into the hot sunlight that lay on the dim trail -which joined the road at the foot of the grade.</p> - -<p>The stableman stood with his back bowed in and his hands on his hips, -teetering up and down on his toes, and watched them go, his jaws -working in absent-minded industry on a tasteless quid of much-chewed -tobacco.</p> - -<p>"I golly, looks like I'll git m' money back, after all!" he cackled -gloatingly, and followed the departing horsemen to the doorway, where -he stood staring after them until not even their bobbing heads were -longer visible as they trotted up the trail. When they were gone, he -turned back grinning to his work.</p> - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_FOURTEEN" id="CHAPTER_FOURTEEN">CHAPTER FOURTEEN</a></h2> - -<h3>"SOMETHING'S ABOUT DUE TO POP!"</h3> - - -<p>"This seems a pretty tame proceeding," Bud observed whimsically, when -they had dismounted in the hollow where Gelle was sitting cross-legged -in the grass. "By rights there should be some shooting at the wind-up -of a robbery the size of this one. I did take a prisoner, though, -didn't I? But the old pelican doesn't seem to be very fierce—how'd you -make out, Jelly?"</p> - -<p>Gelle looked up sourly and pointed with his thumb. "I been keepin' the -flies off your treasure trove, Bud, just as long as I'm agoin' to. If -this is all they is to bandit-huntin', I'm goin' home and bug potatoes -fer excitement. Where you goin' now? Snipe huntin'?"</p> - -<p>"I'll watch this fellow," Kline the druggist offered promptly. "Give me -a gun, somebody, in case he wakes up. Lord, that sun's hot!"</p> - -<p>"Yeah, it's nice an' shady here—if shade's what you're after," Gelle -told him dryly. "Bring any lunch baskets? Right nice, shady dell fer a -buck picnic, and I could eat without bein' forced. And say, Bud, any -time you feel like tellin' what you found or expect to find, I'll be -willin' to listen."</p> - -<p>"Come along and I'll show you," Bud grinned. "Palmer's whole outfit's -in town, Delkin says—excepting the cook. We're going to investigate a -rat's nest down here by the river."</p> - -<p>"Yeah?" Gelle looked from one to the other, and then grinned in slowly -awakening amusement that spread to his eyes and left a twinkle there. -"Judgin' from that praise-God look on these plutocrats' faces,—oh, -well, come on!"</p> - -<p>They filed down through the bushes after Bud, who led the way straight -to the hedge and up over rocks that left no trace, to the place where -Skookum had seen his grandfather at work like an old badger. A broken -fragment of ledge lay piled there, and behind the rocks, hidden from -sight until one climbed the pile and looked over, a dry, deep niche, -narrow of mouth and roomy inside, lay revealed. Within it they saw a -jumbled heap of sticks, dead leaves and twigs—a rat's nest, any chance -observer would have sworn. But Bud picked up a larger branch and thrust -away the litter. Delkin crowded past him eagerly and began clawing at -the nearest of three ribbed, iron kegs with tight-fitting lids, such as -are used for storing blasting powder.</p> - -<p>"Gosh, is that money?" Gelle, peering over Delkin's shoulder, spoke in -a hushed tone. "Gosh! Lemme heft one of them kegs, Mr. Delkin!"</p> - -<p>His face red and sweaty with excitement, Delkin tilted the keg on its -side, picked up a canvas sack as if it were very heavy and put it into -Gelle's eager, outstretched hands. He laughed foolishly at the look -of astonishment on the long cowpuncher's face and reached for another -sack. He was like a boy clawing gifts out of his Christmas stocking and -truly believing in Santa Claus. Bud, who had seen how despair could -rack him, swallowed a lump that appeared mysteriously in his throat. It -was worth a lot, he told himself, to see a man so overwhelmingly elated -and happy.</p> - -<p>"Brad, here are those bonds of Morgan's—why do thieves take stuff -they never can use? Stauffer, here, you take charge of these—notes -and mortgages, I guess they are. I wonder if Palmer was foxy enough to -take out that note of his that the bank holds! God, if we could get -Charlie's life back with the rest, I'd be the happiest man on earth! -Well—that's all, I guess. No—but this isn't the bank's. This must -belong to Palmer."</p> - -<p>"Glom it!" Gelle advised grimly, but Delkin shook his head.</p> - -<p>"No—all we want is our own. Well, no use putting back the rubbish, is -there? If they come here at all, they're bound to find out the bank's -property has disappeared. And if we have any luck at all, they'll never -get back here. Jelly, do you want to carry the gold?"</p> - -<p>"I should smile!" Gelle grinned widely to prove it as he held open the -grain sack. "Any chances the gold might some of it rub off on m' shirt? -How much is they, Mr. Delkin?"</p> - -<p>"A little over twelve thousand dollars, according to the books. Brad's -carrying three times as much; yes, Brad's got forty thousand dollars -right there in his hands."</p> - -<p>"Yeah?" Gelle cast a mildly disdainful glance at the package of bank -notes which Bradley was stowing away in a bag. "Mebbe so, but it shore -don't carry the same thrill as what this gold money packs. That why -you left all that money in the keg?" He turned, shoulders slightly -bent under his load, and stared at the emptied powder kegs, and at the -one which was not empty. "It shore is a crime to leave all that good -money there," he complained. "Chances are Palmer stole it, anyway. Me, -I don't believe the old hellion ever did get an honest dollar in his -life. It'd burn his fingers."</p> - -<p>"But that doesn't give us any right to it," Delkin told him firmly. -"Some one is liable to come on a long lope to see how about it. You -fellows go ahead; I'll bring up the rear. And remember, that open -stretch down there is in plain sight of the stables, so you'd better -take it on the trot."</p> - -<p>Gelle did better than that; he sprinted for the bushes ahead of the -other three, got hung up in the wire fence because he tried to crawl -through without slipping the sack of coin to the ground, and so caught -a barb fast in the canvas and had to be helped by Bud, who overtook him -while he was still wriggling like an impaled bug.</p> - -<p>Delkin, Bradley and Stauffer went on and were jubilating in hushed -voices with Kline when the Meadowlark contingent arrived. They stood -apart from the old man, who still snored comfortably with his lips -puffed out through his thin whiskers. Bud's capture was likely to prove -embarrassing.</p> - -<p>"What'll we do?" Bradley asked impatiently. "Can't turn him loose -here—and Kline says he's been asleep all this while, so he doesn't -know yet we've come on to the scene. Jelly, can't you stay right here -and watch him for a while—till Bud comes back?"</p> - -<p>Gelle stood with the sack of gold between his feet, as if he meant to -protect it from all claimants, and stared glumly from one to the other.</p> - -<p>"I can, yes. But I shore hate to like hell," he admitted sourly. -"You'll go awn in an' have a scrap, chances are, an' I'll be settin' -here like a knot on a log, watchin' this ole pelican's whiskers wave in -and out. Excitin', ain't it? Damn fine way to spend an afternoon! When -it comes to thinkin' up things fer me to do, you shore have got bright -idees!"</p> - -<p>"Seems to be about the only thing we can do about it, Jelly," Bud -said soothingly. "We could tie him up, but even then it wouldn't be -absolutely safe. You can't blame these bankers for not wanting to take -a chance of losing all this money, now that they have it back. He might -get loose and warn Palmer in some way. We'll go back by a roundabout -way through the hills, just because they don't want a soul to know -they've got the money. Once that's safe, we'll go after Palmer and his -bunch, yes. But you must see, Jelly, that—"</p> - -<p>"Oh, hell, go awn and leave me to m' thoughts!" Gelle pulled down the -corners of his mouth, stepped over the gold, turned back and gave it a -kick as if he would show his familiarity with it, and grinned at Bud. -"I never did have no luck, nohow." He lounged over and sat down beside -the sleeper, and spat disgustedly into the lush grass near by. He waved -them toward town, made a derisive gesture and started to roll a smoke, -giving them no further attention.</p> - -<p>"Jelly's a fine boy, all right, and it's a damned shame he has to -stand guard—but I'm darned if I'm sorry enough for him to stay in -his place," Bud observed with futile sympathy, when they were riding -townward by devious trails which kept to the hills and concealed them -from any passer-by on the road. "Still—are you dead sure Palmer's -bunch will stay in town?"</p> - -<p>Bradley laughed.</p> - -<p>"The way Tony and the boys had it framed, Palmer's gang will give no -heed to the passing hours. You know, of course, what the boys meant to -do?"</p> - -<p>"I didn't know they meant to do anything," Bud confessed. "Darn 'em, -they must have held out on me."</p> - -<p>"Well, now, if they don't get hung before we hit town, they may stir up -something interesting. The idea was to play off drunk, and when the -crowd was pretty thoroughly worked up, seeing them spend money—gold -money which they acted sneaking about—each one of the boys planned to -get a Palmer man off in a corner, do the 'weeping-drunk' and confess -that he went down river from Meadowlark Basin in a boat, killed Charlie -and robbed the bank, and that he had the stuff cached and wanted a man -he could trust to help him get the stuff safely out of the country. -They had it planned out to the last detail: how long it ought to take -them to get so drunk they'd confide in a man they never had chummed -with, and just how they'd manage to lead up to the subject. Tony said -he'd take Bat Johnson into his confidence, and Rosen was to tackle -Palmer himself, I believe. Bob and Mark were going to buttonhole Ed -White and the Mexican. It sure sounded like it might work—if they -don't get lynched, as I said.</p> - -<p>"They figure that one or all of Palmer's gang will get so uneasy there -will be a general stampede to where the money's hidden to see if the -Meadowlark boys have any of them found out where it's cached. Either -that, or they'll give themselves away by wanting to fight or something. -Of course," he added, glancing down with a grin at the bundle tied at -the fork of his saddle, "they didn't know we'd have the stuff safely -put away long before they could trail any one to the spot where it was -hid."</p> - -<p>"And they expect to stay sober long enough to put that over?" Bud's -lips tilted upwards with amusement.</p> - -<p>"You bet they did! Just before you showed up, they'd poured whisky all -over themselves, by the smell. On the outside," he added meaningly. "I -don't see how they'd dare light a cigarette—they were sure saturated."</p> - -<p>Bud touched his borrowed horse with the spurs.</p> - -<p>"We'd better be riding," he called over his shoulder. "If I know -anything about that bunch, something's about due to pop!"</p> - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_FIFTEEN" id="CHAPTER_FIFTEEN">CHAPTER FIFTEEN</a></h2> - -<h3>"JELLY" GETS IN ACTION</h3> - - -<p>Nothing is more disconcerting than to make elaborate plans which -provide for every mishap save the one which afterwards looks absolutely -inevitable. Tony had been deeply concerned over the integrity of his -actors, and concentrated all his energies upon keeping himself and -his fellow-actors sober, quite overlooking the obvious result of a -meeting between Palmer's men and the Meadowlark boys. Tony should have -remembered that a feud had existed since early spring; better still, he -should have taken it for granted that the Palmer gang had circulated -enough falsehoods just lately to render them self-conscious and a bit -too ready to defend themselves if a Meadowlark man but looked their way.</p> - -<p>Tony, absorbed in playing his part, was forced to take a drink or two -at the bar—along with the three other members of his amateur comedy -company—before he could plausibly detach himself from his fellows and -wabble over to the pool table where he stood grinning a silly grin -and applauding Bat Johnson's mediocre game. Tony did not know it, but -his eyes held an unfriendly, calculating gleam and they clung rather -tenaciously to Bat; which was not exactly reassuring to a man with as -much on his conscience as made Bat's slumbers uneasy and troubled with -bad dreams. A man with that silly grin stretching his lips, while above -the grin his eyes stare with a malevolent intentness, need wear no -other sign to warn a sober man. Bat Johnson was not drunk.</p> - -<p>"Y're a good man, Bat," Tony burbled, when Bat had reached up his cue -and slid the last set of buttons toward the center. "W' played out y'r -string, Bat—played out y'r string, ain't yuh?"</p> - -<p>"What's that?" Bat whirled upon him. "What do you mean by that, you -drunken four-flush?"</p> - -<p>"Y'r a good—what'd you say? Four-flush? Me a four-flush—me?" Tony -remembered to shake his head in drunken grief. "Bat, I—I never thought -you'd shpeak t' me like that, I—"</p> - -<p>"It ain't me that's played out my string," Bat told him viciously. "You -wait till a few Meadowlark necks git twisted! A string er two's been -played out there, my fine buckaroo. Folks is gittin' damn' tired of -them birds. You're one of 'em and you've about warbled yore last song. -Git outa my way b'fore I kill yuh!"</p> - -<p>Even the best actors may forget their parts when the proper cue is -not given. Had Bat been friendly, or even neutral, Tony would have -swallowed his feelings and gone ahead with his original lines. But you -simply can't confide your guilt to a man like that, no matter what -vital issue is at stake.</p> - -<p>Still, Tony was vastly surprised at himself for knocking Bat head -first over the pool table, because not even two unaccustomed drinks of -whisky could convince him that this was a diplomatic opening to the -confidential talk he had planned to have with Bat. He wondered dully -whether he had spoiled the whole thing, or whether Bat would forgive -the blow on account of Tony's irresponsible condition, and still -consent to listen to the story which Tony had so carefully prepared to -pour out at the urge of a drunken impulse.</p> - -<p>But then Bat picked himself up and came at him with a billiard cue, and -Tony decided quite suddenly that what he really wanted—and the only -thing he wanted—was to show Bat exactly where to head in at (quoting -Tony). He snatched up a ball and laughed when he saw how it bounced -off Bat's head, leaving Bat dazed and waving the cue vaguely until his -head stopped spinning.</p> - -<p>"Yeah—you better go git into yore boat and drift on down the river!" -Tony chortled recklessly. "I don't reckon yuh had a billiard cue handy -at the bank, did yuh? Had t' kill Charlie with yore gun. Think nobody's -wise to you an' yore bunch, ay? Well, you and—"</p> - -<p>A big, firm hand slipped over Tony's mouth and stopped him at that -point, and the arm belonging to the hand seemed in a fair way of -throttling him.</p> - -<p>"You damn drunken fool," Bob hissed in his ear. "Think us boys all -stayed sober jest fer the fun of seein' you drunk an' shootin' off yore -mouth thataway?"</p> - -<p>Jack Rosen jumped a card table and kicked over two chairs, but he -landed on Bat Johnson in time to spoil his aim, so the shot went wild. -Big Mark Hanley grabbed Tex and Ed White, a hand on each collar, and -butted their heads together while he whooped his glee at the way things -were going. Other men scattered when they saw these two clawing for -their guns.</p> - -<p>"Hey! I ain't got nobody t' lick!" wailed Tony, seeing how the other -boys were occupied, the whisky beginning to boil angrily in his blood. -"Where's Palmer?"</p> - -<p>No one seemed to know, or if they did they gave no sign. They made way -for Tony's headlong rush for the door, where he saw that Palmer was -already riding out of sight up the street. For a moment he was tempted -to follow him; but time would be lost while he saddled his horse, and -Palmer would have a start that would make it difficult to overtake -him if he wanted to hurry. Moreover, sounds in the saloon behind him -indicated that at least two fights were progressing with much vigor. -Tony turned back to the fray and let Palmer go.</p> - -<p>Had he ridden a bit faster Palmer would probably have seen Delkin and -his party cross the road and turn into the hills on their way back to -town with the bank's money. As it was, he rode at his usual racking -trot and so arrived home not long after Gelle had taken his prisoner to -the house and locked him in a room off the kitchen, where he promptly -went to sleep again.</p> - -<p>"Dass way Blinkah, he always do, Mist' Meddalahk, when Boss he go awn -to town. Gittin' old, he is. Yass, suh, Blinkah he do need a pow'ful -lot a slumbah. Wha' foh yo'all want wif dat ole cuss, skusin' de -question?"</p> - -<p>"Hell, I don't want him," Gelle denied pensively. "All I want is -another drink of that buttermilk, and mebby a bite of somethin' to eat, -Snowball. It's Bud that wants the old man. He come leadin' him along to -where it was shady and cool, and then he told me I had to go and set -with him fer company. I don't want him atall. I'm jest keepin' cases -till I find out what Bud's idee was of havin' me day-herd the old coot. -He ain't done a thing but sleep ever since I went on guard."</p> - -<p>Sam grinned, showing an amazing lot of teeth.</p> - -<p>"Yessuh, Mist' Meddalahk, he sho' kin sleep when chance comes along. -Boss, he make a great ole niggah-drivah down Souf—yessuh, he sho' -would do so! Ain' much sleepin' when Boss is home; nothin' but wuhk fo' -ole Blinkah 'n' me.</p> - -<p>"Ah sho' admire to git yo'all somethin' to eat, if Boss, he doan' come -ketch me. Lawsy, Mist' Meddalahk, ef Boss, he come ridin' along home, -Ah'd sho' 'preciate it ef yo'all lock up ole Sam jes' lak Blinkah. An' -ef Boss, he s'picions Ah never made no desistunce, Ah'd lak lil small -cut, mebby, on mah haid to show. Boss, he's pow'ful s'picious man, -Mist' Meddalahk, yessuh."</p> - -<p>"Say, the boys call me Jelly. Don't be so darn formal, Snowball, or -I'll likely give you a lump about the size of a goose egg to show. You -set out the grub, and I'll mebby lock you up jest fer a josh. I dunno -but what I like the idee."</p> - -<p>Thus it happened that Gelle was sitting with his mouth full and his -jaws working comfortably when Palmer rode up to the gate, leaned and -unlatched it, sidled his horse through and closed the gate afterwards. -Perhaps he noticed fresh horse tracks that were strange, though Gelle's -horse stood tied in the bushes at the edge of the gully. Perhaps Palmer -saw the imprint of Gelle's boots. Whatever the cause, he eyed the house -as if he knew some danger lurked within—or perhaps he was merely -estimating the amount of damage done to his shingles.</p> - -<p>Gelle had not expected him back. He took up his glass of buttermilk -and washed down the mouthful of bread and butter with one huge -swallow, drew his hand hastily across his mouth and did a rapid mental -calculation.</p> - -<p>"Yo're my prisoner, Snowball," he said over his shoulder. "I might give -you another dollar if you do a good job of playin' dead till I holler -when. Go awn and take a nap with the old man while I talk to yore Boss."</p> - -<p>From the yard a harsh voice called Sam, and after a minute's -hesitation Gelle motioned him forward.</p> - -<p>"Act natural, Snowball, or I'll spill you all over the room," he -muttered.</p> - -<p>"Boss, he's pow'ful mean man. He kill dis ole niggah—" Sam held up his -two shaking hands, the palms pinkish as if he had worn off the color.</p> - -<p>"Gwan—answer him! He ain't goin' to have a chance at yuh. I want t' -git him inside, Snowball. Gwan."</p> - -<p>Palmer shouted again, and Sam caught up a chipped yellow bowl and stood -forth bravely enough, though Gelle, standing just out of sight behind -the door, could see how his legs were shaking.</p> - -<p>"Yessuh, Boss, yessuh." Sam ducked his head propitiatingly.</p> - -<p>"Sam, who's been here to the house? No lies, you damn' worthless black -whelp!"</p> - -<p>"Heah? To dis house? Ah dunno zackly, Boss, Ah-h—" He took another -breath and plunged. "Sho'ht time aftah yo'all rode off, Boss, man he -comes lopin' along. Wants to speak wid yo'all, 'cawdin' to what he -says. Ah says yo'all ain't heah an' 'tain't pawssible he kin speak wid -yo'all. He hang eroun' awn his hawse, but he doan' shoot no gun, an' -bimeby he ride awn off."</p> - -<p>"Did, ay? Anybody you know?"</p> - -<p>"No-suh, Boss, Ah doan' reckon Ah knows dat cowboy, nohow. But Ah -notice, Boss, he's got Meddalahk brand on he's hawse—"</p> - -<p>Palmer swore such fluent, heartfelt oaths that Gelle grinned and -whispered to Sam that there was one thing old Palmer wasn't stingy -with, and that was cuss words.</p> - -<p>"Which way—here, come back here, you damn' lazy idiot, and tell me -which way he went!"</p> - -<p>"'Clah to goodness, Boss, Ah so plum tickled he's goin', Ah doan' -rightly know! Awn up river som'ers, Boss." Sam rolled his eyes in -terror, for Palmer was climbing down from his horse in the manner that -promised blows delivered upon the first luckless object within reach.</p> - -<p>"Scoot!" whispered Gelle, pointing toward the door of the small room -beyond. Then remembering that the door was locked, he strode across -on his toes, unlocked it and thrust Sam headfirst inside. He had just -turned the key and faced the outside doorway when Palmer stepped in.</p> - -<p>Surprise halted Palmer just an instant too long, for Gelle gave a long -leap and landed a blow with his fist that rocked Palmer and brought -both hands up and away from his gun, vaguely attempting to ward off -another blow that landed full on the nose. Tears of pain started to -Palmer's eyes, but he fought back viciously and shouted for Sam.</p> - -<p>"The coon's locked up," Gelle told him between clenched teeth. -"'Twouldn't help yuh none to have him here. Leggo that gun! Damn yuh, I -could have shot yuh down like a dog if I'd wanted to!"</p> - -<p>Before he had finished, Gelle was tempted to regret his fair dealing. -They swayed the full length of the kitchen, locked in each other's -arms. Palmer managed to get him by the throat and beat his head against -the wall until points of light whirled before Gelle's eyes. He tore -loose, filled his lungs with one great gasp and tripped Palmer, who -pulled the table over on top of them as he went down, clawing like -fighting cats. Gelle got the edge of a board in the ribs and felt a -sickening crack and after that the flaming agony of a splintered rib -prodding tender flesh, but he hung tenaciously with knees and fingers -and managed to stay on top.</p> - -<p>The fight ended when Gelle snatched up the heavy earthen pitcher -that had held buttermilk and had come through the upheaval without a -crack. He swung the pitcher aloft by the handle and brought it down -on Palmer's head—breaking both. At least there was no doubt about the -pitcher, and as for Palmer, he gave a convulsive shudder and went limp, -and a cut on his head began to swell as the blood oozed out.</p> - -<p>Gelle pulled himself up, grunting with the pain in his side, and looked -down at the havoc he had wrought. He would have set the table back on -its legs, but the effort was too painful, so he went staggering over to -the bedroom door and unlocked Sam, bringing him out with an imperative, -beckoning gesture, Palmer's gun in his hand. Sam came as if he were -being kicked out, with his back bowed in and his fingers spread ready -to ward off a blow.</p> - -<p>"Get a rope or something to tie him up," Gelle ordered sharply. "I -ain't goin' to hurt you, Snowball—not if you behave. That'll do. Pull -his hands around behind him—no, he ain't dead. He'll come to after a -while. Get a wiggle on."</p> - -<p>"Yessuh, yessuh, Mist' Meddalahk."</p> - -<p>"All right—fine. Now, jest drag him in there, will you, Snowball? And -lock the door; or, no, jest drag him in there. The darn cuss might take -a notion to die on my hands, and I want him alive; so you can keep an -eye on him. When he comes to himself, I wanta talk to him."</p> - -<p>"Yessuh, Mist' Meddalahk, yo'all sho' am a hahd man to git shet of -bein' talked to!" Now that Palmer was safely tied, Sam could afford -to take a full breath and to grin once more at his new friend. "When -yo'all say you wanta talk wif a man, 'tain't no use to avoid de -cawnvusashum—'tain't no mannah of use atall. Might as well make -de bes' of it an' <i>talk</i>. Yessuh, Mist' Meddalahk, yo'all sho' am -detumined!"</p> - -<p>Gelle laughed, but that did not cause him to relax his watchfulness.</p> - -<p>"What about the men that work here, Snowball? Purty good friends of -yourn, ain't they?"</p> - -<p>"Friends uh mine? Bat 'n' dat ah Mex, 'n' Ed friends uh <i>mine</i>? No, -suh, Mist' Meddalahk, dey ain't no friends ob nobody but deyselfs. Dem -fellahs, dey so plum mean an' awnery, dey jes' about hate deyselfs mos' -awl de time. No, suh, Ah ain't got no friends—not on dis heah ranch, -Ah ain'. Cusses an' kicks, dat 'bout awl Ah evah gits aroun' heah."</p> - -<p>"Oh, all right. I just wondered, because if they come lopin' home, I'm -liable to need more rope. Snowball—"</p> - -<p>"Yessuh, yessuh, Ah gits moah rope direckly, Mist' Meddalahk. Lawsy, -how dem fellahs do lie to dis heah ole niggah 'bout you gemman at de -Meddalahk! Yessuh, dey sho' do lie!"</p> - -<p>"Got anything to bandage a broken rib?"</p> - -<p>Sam gave him a startled roll of eyeballs and hurried out. Gelle heard -him clumping around overhead for a few minutes and wondered what he was -up to. But when Sam came down he had a sheet, yellowed and smelling a -bit musty; and over his arm was hung a coil of cotton clothes-line.</p> - -<p>"Onlies' sheet in de house was up in de lof'. Big trunk awl wrop up wid -dis heah rope. Mist' Meddalahk, suh, Ah mighty sorry yo'all done bruk a -rib, kase mo' fightin' sho' is boun' t' come along when dem three gits -heah, an' ole Sam, he ain' no good nohow."</p> - -<p>"You can tie 'em up if I can get 'em into the house and pull down on -'em with my gun. Purty tame way to git 'em, but I guess it'll be best -to play safe. How soon you reckon they're liable to come?"</p> - -<p>But Sam, of course, did not know. All they could do was wait and hope -for action before dark. There was, Gelle knew upon reflection, small -chances that the three Palmer men would be left to ride unhindered out -of Smoky Ford, once Delkin's party arrived. Palmer they had of course -missed on the way, but unless his men left soon after he did, they -would be captured and held in town until the sheriff could come and -get them. It was just a bit of good luck that had sent Palmer into his -hands.</p> - -<p>And then, not more than half an hour after they had finished their -preparations and time was beginning to drag, a scattered fusillade of -shots came crackling thinly from the pasture, down near the ledge.</p> - -<p>Gelle got up too carelessly and was obliged to sit down again, white -and sweating. Sam was goggling at him as if in Gelle's face he could -read the explanation of the sounds.</p> - -<p>"Our boys chased 'em out, mebbe," Gelle muttered, speaking in that -repressed tone which comes of not being able to take a deep breath. -"Still—I dunno. Gee, I'd love to be down there! All I git outa this -deal is sittin' around whilst the rest plays. Listen at 'em, Snowball! -Darn the luck, anyway!"</p> - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_SIXTEEN" id="CHAPTER_SIXTEEN">CHAPTER SIXTEEN</a></h2> - -<h3>"WHO SHOT BAT AND ED WHITE"</h3> - - -<p>Life would sometimes be simpler if events were more evenly spaced -and periods of inaction put to a better use by letting them hold the -incidents that otherwise must pile on top of one another and crowd -one day overfull of excitement. But so long as we remain unscientific -enough to take things just as they come and let our emotions rule our -hands and feet, life will continue to go steady by jerks.</p> - -<p>Take this day in Smoky Ford and at the Palmer ranch, just seven miles -out yet well within the trouble zone. If there is anything in thought -vibrations, Tony and Bud must have owned powerful mental dynamos and -set them working full speed that morning. The pity is that they did not -work altogether in harmony, but instead set up different currents of -violent thought action—and most of the mental activity gyrated around -that money looted from the bank.</p> - -<p>The money itself was safe enough, once it reached Delkin's stable. -Delkin was a shrewd man when sudden misfortune did not upset him, and -his method of safeguarding the bank's property was truly ingenious.</p> - -<p>Among his horses was one with the significant name, The Butcher. His -character lived up to his name, and with the exception of the stableman -and Delkin himself, not a man in Smoky Ford would venture within reach -of his teeth or his heels—and both had an amazing reach, by the way. -Delkin studied long and deeply over the safest place—barring the -bank—for the money and papers, and his cogitations brought him finally -to The Butcher. The bank, he considered, was out of the question for -the present. Some one would be sure to see them carrying the stuff -inside, and the news would spread like scandal. Until Palmer's gang was -safe behind the bars, it must be taken for granted that the money was -still missing.</p> - -<p>This naturally left Delkin thinking of The Butcher, and the more he -thought of him the easier he felt in his mind. The Butcher had his own -little corral for exercise, his own box stall. Moreover, the manger was -built high and had a false bottom nearly two feet from the floor. Who -in Smoky Ford would ever dream of finding anything in The Butcher's box -stall, even if they dared look there?</p> - -<p>Delkin did not say a word until they reached the stable and he had -sent the stableman up into the office to watch for chance callers. The -Butcher was out in the corral, and Delkin closed the stall door to make -sure that the horse would stay outside for a while. Even then he took -only Bradley into his confidence, after the others had gone to see what -was doing in the saloons and whether the Palmer men were still in town, -and what the Meadowlark boys had gained by confession. Not even Bud -suspected Delkin of having a secret, but supposed that the money would -be kept in the office until it could be transferred to the bank vault.</p> - -<p>Instead, the two men carried it into the box stall, pried up a board in -the manger and dropped everything underneath, replaced the board and -the hay in the manger and heaved sighs of relief. Then Delkin waved -Bradley out of the stall, opened the outer door and called The Butcher -in. He came, nickering softly for a lump of sugar, got it and nibbled -daintily while Delkin slipped out and shut the door. It was a bit early -to shut up The Butcher, but the stableman would not bother with him -unless he had to; Delkin knew that.</p> - -<p>"There! We needn't worry about anybody stealing it to-night," grinned -Delkin. "Unless the stable gets afire we're dead safe, Brad. We can -leave it right here until we are ready to open up the bank again. Now, -let's get after Palmer and his gang."</p> - -<p>They met Bud coming with four much-ruffled Meadowlarks, a small, -rat-eyed Mexican hustled along in their midst. Bud's eyes were once -more snapping with excitement, the others inclined to glassy stares -through red and swollen lids.</p> - -<p>"Here's the one they call Mex. Took two knives off him, and the boys -got a gun. Haven't located Palmer and Bat yet," Bud announced, as the -two bankers hurried toward them.</p> - -<p>"Aw, they crawled off t' die som'ers!" Tony pompously declared. "We -licked 'em to a fare-ye-well. Didn't we lick 'em, boys?"</p> - -<p>"Shore enough did," Mark Hanley boasted. "Put 'em both awn the run. One -of 'em chawed m' ear off, purty near, but I got 'im."</p> - -<p>"Sh'd say we licked 'em!" big Bob boasted. "Now I'm goin' to git drunk."</p> - -<p>"Yes, y' betcha!" Jack Rosen approved gravely.</p> - -<p>"Betcha they know now who the thieves is an' who the murderers is," -Tony cried exultantly. "Told 'em m'self. Called the turn on that -boat—made 'em swaller twice, that did! Told 'em I could put m' hands -awn—"</p> - -<p>"Good Lord!" Bud gave Delkin and Bradley a quick look that had in it a -good deal of consternation. "They'll beat it out of the country now. -Gone for the loot, and they won't stop short of the Badlands. Tony, you -damn' chump, why didn't you keep your face closed?"</p> - -<p>"Why? Had t' open it, didn't I, t' swaller a drink er two? Me, I don't -drink only with m' eyes, I tell you those! Had t' open m' mouth, -anyway—thought I might as well use it. Wha's matter with that? They -<i>are</i> thieves an' murderers, ain't they? Told 'em so—licked 'em to a -frazzle. Didn't we, boys?"</p> - -<p>"Damn' right," three voices growled in chorus.</p> - -<p>"Palmer, he run out on us, 'r we'd licked him too. This Mex, here, he's -licked. Howled like a pup. Didn't you, Mex?" Tony turned gravely to the -cringing captive, who nodded sullen surrender.</p> - -<p>"Well, get your horses," Bud snapped. "You've got some riding to do -now, you're so darn gay and festive. How long have they been gone? Do -you know?"</p> - -<p>They thought they knew exactly, but their answers were so conflicting -that Bud and Delkin finally took the word of a boy who volunteered -the information that Bat and Ed White had ridden out of town about ten -minutes ago, headed toward home.</p> - -<p>"We'll have to fan the breeze, boys, and we may wind up in the -Badlands. Mr. Bradley, we'd better take a little grub—sardines and -crackers, or something like that. Because if we don't overhaul them at -the ranch, we'll just keep on going."</p> - -<p>"I'll bring some stuff to the stable," said Bradley, and started on a -trot to the store.</p> - -<p>"Oh, hell, and we don't get drunk at all!" Big Bob Leverett complained -disgustedly. "Wish I had the whisky I washed m' face in. A hull quart -of Metropole gone t' granny!"</p> - -<p>Bud whirled on the group and stared angrily from one to the other.</p> - -<p>"You're drunk enough," he said contemptuously. "You fellows seem to -think this is just a picnic. Do you want me to round up a posse here -in Smoky Ford, and tell them that we've got the goods on the gang that -killed Charlie and robbed the bank and that we're going after them, but -our own men are too drunk to be of any use? I can take a town bunch, if -you say so, and let you boys stay here and swill whisky. It would be a -consistent finish to the damage you've done already—telling the gang -that we're wise to them, rough-housing awhile like any other drunken -chumps, and then letting them all get off except this greaser who may -not know a thing about it." His lip curled in a sneer. "A hell of an -outfit you are to round up outlaws!"</p> - -<p>"Gwan an' git your Smoky Ford posse if you want to, Bud," Tony said -stiffly, the whisky fumes swept clean from his brain by the hurt Bud -had given. "While you're gittin' them, we'll hit the trail. Come awn, -boys."</p> - -<p>They took the remaining distance in a run, and they were saddled and -ducking under the stable doorway and racing off up the road and out of -town while Bud was still waiting for Bradley to come with supplies, -and Delkin was telephoning the sheriff to come as quick as the Lord -would let him. Smoky Ford itself saw only that the Meadowlark boys were -in town raising Cain again, never dreaming that their one big tragedy -of the summer was reaching a fortuitous climax, under the guise of a -drunken fight in a saloon.</p> - -<p>The Mexican, dropped unceremoniously when the boys ran for their -horses, would have ducked out of sight completely if Bud had not seen -his first furtive sidling and caught him by the collar. Him they -turned over to the stableman for safe-keeping. He would be kept safe, -because the stableman hated any man not of his own race, as is the way -of certain cramped souls.</p> - -<p>"Now, we'll have to fan it," Bud cried impatiently, "before those -drunken punchers of ours do some other fool thing. How soon will the -sheriff get here, Mr. Delkin?"</p> - -<p>"Wel-l, it's about four-thirty now—little more. Oughta make it by -ten or eleven. I was lucky to catch him in the office. Just got in -off a wild goose chase down river, he said. I told him if we aren't -here or at Palmer's, he better pick up our trail there. Didn't mention -getting the money back—too darn many mule-ears on the line. Didn't say -anything definite, only I needed him right away, and he'd find me out -at Palmer's or somewhere beyond. He'll come on a long lope. And say, -Bud, the way the boys shot out the door and took off up the road, I -don't believe they were so darn drunk after all!"</p> - -<p>"Why?" The harsh judgment of youth still held Bud's reason in thrall. -"Think it takes brains to stay on a horse? I never saw our boys too -drunk to ride, Mr. Delkin. It's all right—if they take it out in -riding and don't attempt to <i>think</i>."</p> - -<p>Unconsciously Bud maligned those four. They weren't so far from being -sober, once they were out of the atmosphere of the saloon and pelting -up the road in the cooling breeze of late afternoon. In spite of Bud's -opinion of their mental condition, the four were beginning to think.</p> - -<p>"Know what old Palmer done?" Bob Leverett, soberest of the four, half -turned in the saddle to face the others as they raced along. "Went -after the dough they took from the bank. I'd bet money on it. He heard -them cracks you made to Bat about the boat, Tony. That's about when he -beat it. Great friend, ain't he? Quit his men cold at the first word -you let drop. Betcha he's got the money and gone with it."</p> - -<p>"Betcha we ain't fur behind 'im," Tony flashed back. "Bud, he makes me -sore! Tell you right now, I don't like the way he rares up an' gives us -this high-schoolin' talk when things don't go jest to suit his idees. -Hell, I punched cows before Bud was big enough t' keep his own nose -clean! Drunk! Huh!"</p> - -<p>"Bud, he's a good kid enough, but he's <i>just</i> a kid," Mark Hanley -opined. "Swell-headed; knows it all; thinks a little schoolin' gives -him a license t' ride herd on us boys like we was yearlin's turned out -in the spring. C'm awn—mebbe we kin round up the bunch 'fore he gits -there. Learn 'im a little somethin', mebbe."</p> - -<p>"Well, I don't want to make any brash statements," said Rosen, "but I -betcha Bud, he'll wish 't he'd trailed with our party, 'stead of his -own, 'fore he's through. We got 'em runnin' for the boodle, and now -we'll fog along behind and glom em jest about the time they git it."</p> - -<p>Bob Leverett nodded and pricked his horse with the spurs, and the -others lunged ahead to keep pace with him. They were yet some distance -from the house when they heard the distant pop of gunshots—the -unmistakable <i>pow-w</i> of a .45 fired several times in quick succession, -or else one or two shots from several guns. And, riding hard to the -gate, they were not too late to see the tell-tale blue haze down by the -pasture gate to show where the shooting had taken place.</p> - -<p>Bob, in the lead, opened the gate and let it swing wide to where the -weight sagged it down so that it dropped against a rock and remained -there. The three pounded through and took his dust to the stable and -beyond, passing the house without a glance toward it.</p> - -<p>"It's dem Meddalahks dat shot shingles off ouah roof, suh," Sam called -excitedly to Gelle, who was standing in the kitchen door with his -six-shooter in his hand and a longing look in his eyes. "Now moah -shootin' takes place direckly, Mist' Meddalahk. Yessuh, dey shuah can -shoot!"</p> - -<p>"My luck—always settin' around in the shade watchin' the rest of the -bunch have all the fun!" Gelle turned back, walked very circumspectly -to the bedroom door, turned the knob and looked in. "Yore boss is -showin' signs of life, Snowball. Guess I better camp here, seein' -he's the old he-one of the bunch. Tell you what you do, Snowball. You -go down there and tell the boys Jelly's here with a rib broke into a -thousand pieces, an' old Palmer's hog-tied; so I can't leave, nohow. -Will you do that?"</p> - -<p>"Ah—Ah do anything awn uth fer yo'all, Mist' Meddalahk. Ah—ef dey all -shoots ole Sam, Ah wish yo'all 'd kinely keep dis heah dollah fo' tokum -ob ma gratefulness, Mist' Meddalahk, suh."</p> - -<p>Gelle took the dollar, looked queerly at Sam and gave it back. He took -what was left of the sheet, thrust it into the negro's shaking hands -and grinned reassuringly.</p> - -<p>"You wave that, Snowball, and they won't shoot. I'm kinda afraid they -might go out the other way, up along the field to the road. You -ketch 'em, Snowball, and I'll give you another dollar when you bring -'em back. Tell 'em what I said—I got Palmer hog-tied, but my rib is -stickin' through my liver er somethin' like that, so I can't fan down -there. Gwan."</p> - -<p>Sam went, waving the torn sheet every step of the way; a brave thing -to do, considering how scared he was. And Gelle, watching anxiously -from the doorway, wondered why the shooting did not begin again, now -that his fellows were at hand. For that matter, since it was not the -Meadowlark boys who had started the gun-fighting in the pasture, down -by the ledge, who was it? He had Palmer safe, and so far as he knew, -Bat Johnson and the others had not returned from town. Certainly they -had not passed the house, or Sam would have seen them. Yet they must -have left town, or the Meadowlark boys would not be here.</p> - -<p>"If I don't find out how about it right pronto, I'll bust!" Gelle -complained to a lean cat that came walking up the path with a chipmunk -in its mouth,—earning its board, Gelle thought irrelevantly while he -waited, sight and hearing strained to catch some indication of what was -going on down there. It was too quiet. Gelle did not like it at all.</p> - -<p>And then from the road to town came the pluckety-pluckety tattoo of -galloping horses, and Bud, Delkin and Bradley swerved without checking -their pace and came racing through the gateway; saw Gelle standing in -the doorway and reined closer to the house. Bud's horse stopped in two -stiff-legged jumps within ten feet of Gelle.</p> - -<p>"It's down in the pasture, whatever's goin' on," Gelle called, without -waiting to be asked. "I got Palmer tied up in here—the boys went -foggin' past—there was some shootin', but it quit before they got -there. For the Lord sake, go bring me some news!"</p> - -<p>At that moment the boys came loping around the end of the stable, -riding loose and in no great hurry.</p> - -<p>"Show's over," Tony bellowed, with possibly a shade of mean triumph in -his voice—for Bud's benefit. "Bat and Ed, they're down there in the -pasture deader'n last year. That Mex and ole Palmer's about all there -is left to hang, and we glommed the Mex and Jelly's got Palmer. Bud, -you might as well gwan home. Us boys have wound things up for yuh."</p> - -<p>"Yes? Did you get the money back?" Bud was young enough and human -enough to take that fling at them.</p> - -<p>"Oh, no-o—but that's a mere detail. We ain't come to that yet." -Tony's manner was still charged with triumph.</p> - -<p>"Say, who shot Bat an' Ed White?" Gelle's mind pounced upon the one -puzzling point in the affair. "You fellers didn't. There wasn't a shot -fired after you boys passed the house."</p> - -<p>"Why—we figured they shot each other. Bat's gun was still smokin' when -we got there, and Ed's gun was warm. Bat had fired three shots and Ed -White two—"</p> - -<p>"Yeah? Who fired them other four or five shots? I counted nine er ten, -I wasn't shore which. How many 'd you hear, Snowball?"</p> - -<p>Sam had just arrived, puffing from haste and excitement.</p> - -<p>"Jes' what yo'all heah, Mist' Meddalahk, yessuh. Me, Ah doan' count -good nohow, but Ah's shuah Ah huhd shootin' lak dey nevah would run -outa bullits. Ah counts mighty slow, but Ah huhd jes' as many as what -yo'all huhd."</p> - -<p>"Sounded like more than five to me," Bob Leverett declared, now that -the subject was opened. "More like about four guns in action than two; -three, anyway. Reckon there's more in the gang that we don't know -about?"</p> - -<p>"That," said Delkin, "is what we must find out."</p> - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_SEVENTEEN" id="CHAPTER_SEVENTEEN">CHAPTER SEVENTEEN</a></h2> - -<h3>"BUD AND JELLY; ONE OR BOTH"</h3> - - -<p>With two of the boys—Mark Hanley and Bob Leverett—on guard over the -bodies of Bat Johnson and Ed White, the remainder of the party returned -to the house in a thoughtful mood. Certain small details puzzled them, -and Bud appeared to be the most worried man among them, though he did -not say much. What he did do was give Gelle a meaning glance and tilt -of the head when no one was looking, and then stroll out to the well -some distance away and down hill at that—too many ranchers seeming to -believe that the cook needed exercise. In a couple of minutes Gelle -came walking circumspectly down the slope, his face twisted with pain -of moving.</p> - -<p>"What's eatin' on yuh, Bud? Thought I told yuh I got about four inches -of rib wound around my backbone," he complained, as he came up.</p> - -<p>Bud's eyes were somber as on the day of the bank tragedy, and he gave -no sign of sympathy—proof of how worried he was.</p> - -<p>"Jelly, there's going to be a kick-back in this thing if we aren't -mighty careful. Bradley and Delkin are wondering right now how polite -they can be about Palmer's money being gone. Are you sure he came -straight here to the house from town?"</p> - -<p>"Yeah, I saw him ride up to the gate and open it and ride in. I wish -now I'd throwed down on the ole coot before he got into the house. I'd -'a' saved me a busted rib. But I was scared maybe the rest was right -behind him, Bud, an' I wanted to git 'em all. Gittin' Palmer inside the -house, what I done to him wouldn't be publick. That's what comes of -bein' a hawg," he added grimly. Then he came back to the meat of Bud's -question. "Why, Bud, is Palmer's cash missin'?"</p> - -<p>"Yes, and Bat Johnson and Ed White were dead before they reached the -ledge. They didn't have any money to speak of; a little chicken feed in -their pants pockets was all. Our boys don't know where the stuff was -hidden, and I went with Delkin and the others to town and came back -with them. So you see, Jelly—"</p> - -<p>"Yeah, I see, all right." Gelle's eyes went cold as they bored into -Bud's mind. "Well, what d' you think about it yourself, Bud?"</p> - -<p>"I?" Bud looked at him straight. "Whatever you say, Jelly, goes with -me."</p> - -<p>Gelle stared longer, exhaled a long breath and relaxed to a mirthless -grin.</p> - -<p>"I oughta lick you, Bud, fer needin' my word. But friendship wabbles -when there's money in sight, so—I never went near the damn' place -after I packed that back-load of gold away from it. You was behind -me—behind us all, fer that matter." Gelle's sudden grin turned a -little sardonic. "Still, whatever you say goes with me! I kin be as -good a friend as you kin, Bud."</p> - -<p>Bud had to laugh, though he felt little enough like it.</p> - -<p>"You win, Jelly. I'd have had to do some quick work, but I suppose it -would have been humanly possibly for me to duck back up the ledge, grab -Palmer's money and come along with it until I saw a place to ditch it -where I could come back after it. Fast work—but I did stand in the -fringe of the trees by the ledge and watch the stables here until you -fellows were out of sight. I wanted to make darn sure you weren't seen."</p> - -<p>"Well, I didn't go back either. But the fact remains that the cache is -cleaned out—in a hurry, by the look of things around there. And these -two dead men dropped in the open, just inside the gate and before they -had been to the ledge. For one thing, Jelly, our boys weren't so very -far behind them, so Bat and Ed wouldn't have had time to get the stuff, -hide it somewhere else and then get into a fight over it and kill each -other off before our boys came. They'd have had to do faster work than -I would to have raided the cave while you fellows crossed the open down -there."</p> - -<p>"And awn the other hand, you fellers rode off and left me in easy -walkin' distance of the money, and the old man sound asleep and -snorin'." Gelle reasoned it out soberly, stating the evidence against -himself quite as impartially as Bud had done in his own case. "Yea, I'm -the pelican, too, that told Delkin to grab the works. Looks like I'm -bogged, right now, and sinkin' fast. Bud, on the face of it, you an' me -both is guilty as hell. Ain't we?"</p> - -<p>"On the face of it, yes." Bud studied the evidence while he finished -rolling a cigarette. "Of course, we can't tell yet just how it will -affect the case against Palmer. Not at all, maybe. That's something we -have nothing to do with. I wanted you to know the money Delkin left in -the cache was gone—how much, none of us know, of course. It's mighty -mysterious, don't you think? Say, Jelly, what about those shots? Are -you dead certain you heard more than five?"</p> - -<p>"Shore I am. But I couldn't prove it, Bud—not in a thousand years. -Snowball, his word ain't no good, so there y' are. I believe in my -heart that somebody else was after that boodle and Bat and Ed White, -they run into 'em, goin' after it theirselves. But that ain't proof. -Say, Bud, d' you s'pose Butch Cassidy rode over on the quiet—"</p> - -<p>"I've been thinking of Butch. He's that stripe, and so is the rest of -the Frying Pan outfit in my opinion. But as you say, Jelly, opinions -aren't proof. Besides, Skookum says he didn't tell Butch where his -grandfather had his money hidden. I'll take the kid's word. He wouldn't -lie—not to me, or any one he likes. Butch tried to pump him, all -right, but Skookum says he didn't tell Butch anything much that we -didn't hear in the cook house."</p> - -<p>"Did the kid say what ole Palmer's money was—gold or paper or -whatever?"</p> - -<p>"He said he saw a lot of gold money in a sack. You were looking over -Delkin's shoulder, Jelly. What did it look like to you?"</p> - -<p>"Gold. Jest about what the old thief would take and hide, Bud. Prob'ly -most of it was stole, and bills has got numbers on. Then again, gold -ain't spoilable. What you laughin' at, Bud?"</p> - -<p>"At us, Jelly. Delkin certainly must know Palmer's money was in gold. -And Lark's loaded up with gold coin—"</p> - -<p>"So we got our alibi right there, Bud. Fur's that goes, the Fryin' -Pan's got some honest gold money."</p> - -<p>"And there is <i>their</i> alibi. And Delkin is sure to consider Lark's gold -as an out for us, just as we can believe that Butch would account for -any gold he flashed."</p> - -<p>"Can't we ketch 'im? Why don't you take out after 'em an' see if you -can't pick up their trail? Gosh, Bud, if the money's gone, you 'n' me -<i>knows</i> Butch musta glommed it. I'd go, only fer this damn' rib."</p> - -<p>"Better have one of the boys hitch up a rig and take you into town, -Jelly. Old Doc Grimes isn't much force, but he ought to be able to -fix you up all right. I'll take Bob and see if we can't pick up their -trail. He'll keep his mouth shut."</p> - -<p>"Yeah. Talk is what we want damn' little of, Bud. One word is all them -pelicans would need to send them down into the breaks—and I ain't a -doubt in the world but what they got hide-outs down in there where -they kin live a year if they feel that way, and never show a head. You -beat it now, Bud. I'll gwan down an' take Bob's place. I kin walk slow. -An' I'll have some lie thunk up fer Delkin an' Bradley, time they git -t' askin' questions about you. They're so tickled to git their claws on -Palmer that they won't say much. We'll let on like you 'n' Bob had t' -go home fer somethin'. I'll fix it."</p> - -<p>At the house Delkin and Bradley were having quite enough to occupy -their minds without watching the coming and going of the Meadowlark -boys. Palmer was conscious, sitting up in a chair and getting somewhat -the best of an amateurish third degree which Delkin and Bradley were -attempting to give him. Palmer had a wet towel tied around his head, -and the loose folds collected extra moisture and sent it trickling -down his seamed, sallow face and his collar. Palmer's eyes were just -as human as a snake's with an opaque, impersonal glitter that masked -effectually the thoughts shuttling back and forth in his brain. Now and -then he barked a question of his own which proved how well his brain -was working in spite of the gash on his head.</p> - -<p>"Killed two of my men, ay? Come on to my ranch and shot down two men in -cold blood—that what you're tryin' to tell me I'm responsible fer?"</p> - -<p>"We didn't shoot your men," Delkin explained, when he should not have -replied to the charge. "They shot each other. They were after the loot -from the bank, and they're lying down there inside your pasture fence, -waiting for the sheriff to look them over when he gets here. Even you -thieves and murderers can't hang together, it seems. They meant to get -the plunder and leave you in the lurch."</p> - -<p>"Plunder? What plunder is that?"</p> - -<p>"The stuff you folks stole from the bank—"</p> - -<p>"Looky here, Mr. Delkin. You be careful what you say! It ain't safe to -make charges you ain't prepared to prove. I'm just remindin' you now -that there's a law that takes care of malicious slander. I can't answer -fer Bat an' Ed, but I want you to understand the bank owes me over -seven thousand dollars that I had on deposit—and that was stole—so -you claim. You been hand-in-glove with the Meddalark right along, and -I'm the loser by it. Ef I was you folks, I wouldn't shoot off my mouth -too much about that bank robbery."</p> - -<p>Delkin and Bradley withdrew to talk it over, and it was then they -discovered that Bud and Gelle were missing. With Tony and Jack Rosen -on guard at the house, they hurried down to the pasture and found Gelle -reclining in the grass with his hat over his eyes to shield them from -the slanting rays of the sun, and Mark Hanley sitting cross-legged -beside him, killing time by carefully whittling a stick to a sharp -point and cutting the point off so that he could sharpen another; an -endless occupation so long as the stick lasts.</p> - -<p>"Bud? Him an' Bob, they went home quite a while ago. Us boys can't all -of us be away more 'n a few hours at a stretch, an' Lark had give them -first four a coupla days off. I jest come awn in with Bud fer the day, -but now I'm kinda laid out so I can't ride, and Bob, he went home in my -place." Gelle vouchsafed a glance apiece to Delkin and Bradley before -he let the hat drop down again over his face. They could not know, -of course, that beneath the hat his lips were twitching with ironic -laughter.</p> - -<p>"Yeah, they been gone half an hour, mebbe more," Mark contributed idly. -"How long do we have to set here an' keep them unlovely dead from -feelin' lonesome?"</p> - -<p>Without answering, Delkin turned and walked back to the house, Bradley -following close.</p> - -<p>"What do you think about it, Jim?" Bradley asked, when two thirds of -the distance had been covered.</p> - -<p>"Brad, it doesn't matter what we think or don't think," Delkin told -him irritably. "We'll do well to keep it to ourselves, no matter what -it is. We won't mention Palmer's money to the sheriff, Brad. The -Meadowlark boys have done a lot for the bank—we mustn't overlook that. -I suppose they felt they had a right to collect their own damages from -Palmer for starting all that talk about them."</p> - -<p>"They?"</p> - -<p>"Bud and Jelly; one or both. I wouldn't think Bud would have had time -to do it, or the inclination. But you can't tell what's going on in -a man's mind. Jelly, of course, had the chance and he's the one that -suggested taking it. No, sir, we've got to keep our mouths shut for the -present, anyway."</p> - -<p>"Let it look like them two down there—Bat and Ed White—got away with -it," Bradley suggested, all in favor of protecting customers as good as -the Meadowlark outfit. "We've got Palmer dead to rights, anyway, and -we've got the bank property back. I guess we can afford to let Palmer -hunt his own money, eh?"</p> - -<p>"They were both in on it," Delkin went on glumly. "I saw them holding -a little private confab down by the well. Bud felt as if he'd better -get the stuff into the Basin, I guess, before we asked him about it. -But damn' it, Brad, I can't believe either of those boys would steal -money!"</p> - -<p>"You heard Jelly. They don't call it stealing, Jim, when they annex -something that a thief has cached away. Buried treasure, maybe, is -what they'd call it. Anyway, they'd have a name that made it sound all -right. Well, we'll have to let it go for the present. But I wish they'd -kept their hands off that money!"</p> - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_EIGHTEEN" id="CHAPTER_EIGHTEEN">CHAPTER EIGHTEEN</a></h2> - -<h3>BUD GOES AFTER BUTCH</h3> - - -<p>The two had ridden for a mile or more through the foothills bordering -the western line of the Indian Reservation, boring into the wilderness -to the east of the Little Smoky, following no trail, but taking the -easiest course, Bud leading the way. Certain horse tracks had led off -in this direction from a rocky hollow across the road from Palmer's -fence corner, and Bud, having determined that point while Bob was -sneaking their horses away from the corral where the others were tied -before piles of Palmer's treasured new hay, was following a general -course without attempting to trail the horsemen who had left their -mounts in the hollow.</p> - -<p>"Bud, if it's a fair question, I'd like to ask if we're the hunters, -or are we the game?" Bob cocked an inquiring eye toward his grim-faced -leader.</p> - -<p>"Both," Bud made laconic reply.</p> - -<p>Bob studied that for a while, reins held high, big body poised lightly -in the saddle, while his horse negotiated a particularly complicated -descent through rocks to a gully bottom.</p> - -<p>"All right with me, Bud," he said pensively, when they could once more -ride together. "What's on my mind right now is when do we feed this -purty face of mine?"</p> - -<p>"Didn't you eat in town?"</p> - -<p>"Nh-nh. Tony, he went and got an idee in his head, and us boys was -rung in on workin' it out. It was a hell of an idee, Bud. It started -off with bathin' in whisky like they say the Queen of Sheeby done in -asses' milk, without drinkin' none. Would you b'lieve that could be -done? Well, it can't. But I done it, Bud. Tony, he got t' beefin' -around about us fellers gittin' too dawggone drunk t' carry out this -swell idee he had, so we done it. And then I'll be darned if Tony, he -didn't git jagged and queer the hull entire play by tyin' into Bat -Johnson! Made me so darn sore—and then after that, Bud, we was too -busy whippin' them pups of Palmer's to go eat like white men. Gosh, I'm -holler!"</p> - -<p>"Well, so am I, if that will help you any."</p> - -<p>"Don't feed a thing but my imagination, Bud. Whatfer party <i>is</i> this? -Don't tell me a thing—but did you pick me to go off and starve to -death with yuh? I'm a pore companion, Bud. Don't say nothing—I don't -want t' hear a thing!"</p> - -<p>"I know you don't, so I'll make it short. I found out from Skookum -where Palmer cached his money, and I found all the stuff they'd -stolen from the bank. Delkin and his outfit took that to town, and -left Palmer's where it was. Now it's gone. They think Jelly or I got -it—we could have, if we worked fast enough. I think I know where it -went, Bob. I think Butch Cassidy got more out of Skookum than the kid -realized, and went after the dough himself. We'd beaten him to it, and -the bank money is safe. But Jelly and I are in wrong unless we can -locate the stuff we left in that cache."</p> - -<p>"So you and me is headed fer the Fryin' Pan by our lonelies, thinkin' -we can make Butch let loose of Palmer's stuff?"</p> - -<p>"That's one way to put it, Bob."</p> - -<p>"Well," sighed Bob, after a long interval of deep meditation, "all -right. Me, I'm a chancey cuss, anyway. I crawled into a wolf den once, -and the old she come and crawled in with me by another hole I didn't -know about, and caught me with about four pups in my arms." He heaved -another reminiscent sigh. "D' you pick awn me, Bud, b'cause you knew I -had the heart of an angry lion?"</p> - -<p>Bud's brown-velvet eyes smiled briefly into his.</p> - -<p>"I picked you primarily because I knew you'd keep your mouth shut -afterwards."</p> - -<p>"Primarily, it's a cinch I will," Bob agreed with melancholy assurance. -"Dead men tells no tales outa school. That's why."</p> - -<p>"Oh, I don't think it will be that bad. They can't be far ahead of us, -Bob. We may not have to go clear to the Frying Pan."</p> - -<p>"No, boy, we might not live that long. But that's all right—only I -always did hate the thoughts of dyin' on an empty stomach."</p> - -<p>"Why the sudden pessimism?" Having worries of his own, Bud leaned to -sarcasm.</p> - -<p>"Gosh, I'd <i>eat</i> that word if I could chew it!" Bob muttered longingly. -"Say a softer one about that same length, won't you, p'fessor?"</p> - -<p>"Go to the devil!" growled Bud angrily.</p> - -<p>"I might, at that. I feel m'self slippin' that way," sighed Bob. "If -it's a fair question, just what do you aim to do when we meet up with -Butch? Ride up and say, 'H'lo, Butch, I'd thank yuh fer that money or -whatever you swiped from Palmer,' and then fall back graceful outa yore -saddle, or what? B'cause Butch is bound to shoot. Don't make no mistake -about that."</p> - -<p>"What I do," said Bud shortly, "will depend on circumstances. I'm not -fool enough to draw a chart. If Butch has been over here, he got that -money. If he got it, I'm going to get it away from him and turn it over -to Delkin. Only a fool would plan the details at this stage of the -game."</p> - -<p>"Yeah, that's right," Bob admitted meekly.</p> - -<p>For a time they rode in silence, Bud leaning over the saddle horn to -study the loose soil of the canyon bottom. Bob, riding close behind -him, studied each wrinkle and draw with eyes narrowed to keener vision -in the soft half-lights of early evening when the shadows were sliding -higher and higher on the western slopes and the peaks stood out all -golden, clean cut against the tinted clouds.</p> - -<p>"Three horses," Bud looked over his shoulder to announce. "All shod, -but I've a hunch there's only one rider. Butch is so darned foxy I'm -going to outguess him right here." He pulled up and swung round so -that Bob, halting likewise, faced him. "Bob, you've done a good deal -of riding over this way, so I'll let you take the lead from now on. -Never mind the tracks. I believe Butch thought he'd try the loose-horse -stunt, and brought a couple along with him. Farther on he'll turn them -loose and haze them up different canyons—scatter the tracks. But I -happen to know the shoe marks of that high-stepping brown he rides -all the while. He's ahead of the other two, and back there where those -rocks are lying helter-skelter Butch rode ahead and the other two -followed him like led horses. Riders would have picked different trails -among those rocks. You didn't follow my tracks, you remember. Each -rider has his own notions of such things, and no man likes to trail -right after another rider unless the path is so narrow he's got to. -Ever notice that?"</p> - -<p>"Ye-ah, now you speak of it. Gosh, you'll be a smart man, Bud, when -yo're growed up."</p> - -<p>"Well, right ahead here, I'll bet you a new hat the tracks will jumble -a bit and then separate. And, Bob, I'm betting on another psychological -twist. I bet you Butch will angle through these hills, and won't make -straight for the Frying Pan. He'll be watching out behind—that's one -reason why I'm holding back just here. We don't want to crowd him, come -to think of it. What we want to do is hit straight for the Frying Pan -by the shortest trail we know. Or the shortest you know. I lost a lot -of trail lore in the years I had to spend in school."</p> - -<p>"Yeah, I get you, Bud. I know a short cut through these hills, all -right. But what if he don't show at the Fryin' Pan? Looks like a long -gamble, t' me."</p> - -<p>"He will. He's working there, and the Frying Pan is a bad bunch to -break with. Butch is foxy. Also, he wants the big end, if I'm any -judge. I'll bet you he hasn't said a word to Kid or any of the others -about this deal. Didn't you see how Butch's eyes kind of glittered when -I counted out that fifteen hundred to Kid? It was a pretty sight—gold -twenties and tens stacked like poker chips on the table. Fifty -twenty-dollar gold pieces—ten piles, five high, and fifty ten-dollar -pieces, five piles ten high. It was enough to make any one's mouth -water for gold money, wasn't it, Bob? I saw Butch's face when Kid raked -the gold back into the bags. I saw how his tongue went licking across -his lips—"</p> - -<p>"Made me lick m' chops too, Bud. And I ain't no thief," Bob put in -fairly.</p> - -<p>"Then think how you'd scheme if you <i>were</i> a thief!" Bud flashed back. -"Put yourself in Butch's place. If you knew about where you could annex -a fortune in gold and paper money—stolen goods that every one knew -you couldn't have taken from the bank—and all you had to do was to -ride over on the quiet and swipe it away from thieves—would <i>you</i> tell -anybody else and have to divvy? You know damned well you wouldn't, -Bob. Neither would I. I'd want it all.</p> - -<p>"And by thunder! Bob, that's why he brought along extra horses! I'll -bet you he thought he might need one to pack away the bank loot. He -wouldn't know exactly how bulky it was, you see. Well, maybe it was -partly that, and partly to make enough tracks to confuse Palmer's -bunch. If he got the stuff to the Frying Pan, and needed help to hang -on to it, he could cache most of the gold and then take Kid in on the -deal and split the rest. At least, that's what I'd do."</p> - -<p>"And is this what you'd do too? Set here chinnin' all night an' let him -git the money all spent b'fore we take in after him?" Bob's voice had -lost its humorous patience. "Me, I'm ready to swaller m' saddle strings -like they was egg noodles! You wanta git over to the Fryin' Pan by the -shortest rowt. Nothin' like hunger to drive a man, Bud, so I'm goin' to -lead yuh back to them rocks and take awn up over the ridge. It'll be -nasty ridin' after dark, so I advise you to pry yore eyes loose from -them tracks and come awn, if yo're goin' with me."</p> - -<p>He reined his horse around and rode back the way they had come without -another word or glance, and Bud followed him. Plainly, Butch had -chosen to keep to the canyons where he could duck out of sight or even -lay an ambush if necessary. That way must be longer, and in spite of -the rough going Bud counted on making time.</p> - -<p>The stars were out in a velvet sky when the two loped unhurriedly up -the long lane which was the only feasible approach to the Frying Pan, -and pulled up at the high, barbed-wire fence that warded off intruding -animals from the dooryard. Kid himself came walking stiltedly down -the beaten path to the gate, and behind the green-curtained windows -the boisterous talk and laughter stilled. In the shadow of the house, -away from the seeping light from the windows, darker shadows indicated -the blurred outlines of Frying Pan men who were making unobtrusive -investigation of these unheralded horsemen.</p> - -<p>"Why, hello, Bud," Kid cried distinctly, for the comfort of his men. -A note of genuine surprise was in his voice which Bud wished had been -pitched in a lower key. "That you, Bob? Turn your bronchs in the big -corral and come on in. Had yore supper?"</p> - -<p>That word brought a groan from Bob so lugubrious that Kid laughed.</p> - -<p>"Hey, Bill! Come take the boys' horses to the corral, will yuh? Bob's -groanin' fer pie—I know that tone, Bob." Then he added carelessly, -"Butch didn't come back with you, eh?"</p> - -<p>"We've been scurruping around—looking for a couple of those horses," -Bud lied. "Butch will be along, maybe. Was he coming back to-night?"</p> - -<p>"Said he was when he started out this morning. But I dunno, Bud. That -Eastern girl's a strong drawin' card, looks like. Guess you folks 'll -just about have to carry rocks in your pocket for Butch! Any time you -ketch him ridin' into the Basin, you just rock him home, will yuh?"</p> - -<p>"You know it!" Bob made emphatic declaration. "Say, our little pilgress -ain't to be dazzled by no sech a hypnotizer as Butch. Say, d' yuh mind -if I clean the Fryin' Pan plumb outa grub? I got an appetite, me."</p> - -<p>Kid laughed and waved him toward the kitchen. He and Bud followed more -slowly and Kid's mind still tarried with Butch.</p> - -<p>"Butch kinda wanted to go back with you fellers, I guess," he remarked. -"He never said a word about it, though, till you'd been gone an hour or -so; then it was too late—I had to use him. B'sides that, I kinda got -the idee you and him didn't hitch very well. Butch is kinda funny, that -way. Takes streaks. You don't want to pay no attention to him, Bud."</p> - -<p>"Why," said Bud, "I never had a word with Butch except that sneering -remark he made about those black horses. I didn't mind that. They'll -all be jealous before I'm through."</p> - -<p>What Kid replied Bud could not have told five minutes after. His mind -was keyed up to meet a crisis, and this desultory talk irritated him, -distracting his thoughts at a time when he needed to be most alert. One -thing he knew: Kid either was wholly ignorant of Butch's design, or he -was playing his part so carefully that he would be dangerous later on -when Butch came riding home.</p> - -<p>Yet there was another point which Bud wanted to think upon. If Kid Kern -knew of that bank money and bonds hidden away in Palmer's cow pasture, -would he let Butch ride alone after it? Just one possible reason for -that occurred to Bud, and that was Kid's wily caution that would think -first of establishing an alibi that could not be broken. On the other -hand, Palmer would never dare to accuse him openly; moreover, he would -immediately suspect the Meadowlark. So far as Bud knew, the Frying Pan -outfit had never been mentioned in connection with the tragedy at the -bank, save as he and Gelle had spoken of the possibility of the Frying -Pan's implication. In the face of Kid's untroubled manner and his -evident indifference to Butch's movements, Bud decided that Butch was -indeed playing a lone hand; snap judgment, he knew, because he was not -left alone long enough to reason it out.</p> - -<p>"Come on in and eat," Kid was urging hospitably. "I guess Bob ain't -licked the Fryin' Pan clean, already." He laughed at his own joke, -standing poised on the doorstep, perhaps wondering why Bud lagged -behind.</p> - -<p>"I don't feel like eating just now, Kid. Just let me sit out here in -the dark for a while. One of those splitting headaches—I don't want -the light in my eyes."</p> - -<p>"Cup uh coffee'll do yuh good, Bud." Kid turned back with a solicitous -air that was extremely well done if it was assumed to lull suspicion. -"Tell you what. You go awn upstairs to bed, and I'll send up some -coffee. You know where you slept last time; you go crawl in there."</p> - -<p>"No." Bud's tone was sharp and decisive. "It's cooler out here, and—if -you'll send out a cup of coffee, I'll drink it. And for the Lord sake, -Kid, don't go and baby around about me! If you bawl it out to the -bunch, I'll take a fall out of you, sure as you're born, when my head -quits jumping. All I want is to be left strictly alone for a while."</p> - -<p>"Well, I could lick you, but have it yore own way, Bud. Sick folks has -got to be humored, they say."</p> - -<p>Bud, lying on the ground with his head on his arms, wished with all his -healthy young appetite that he dared go in and eat his fill. But that -was a joy he must postpone—and then it struck him that Kid might dope -the coffee!</p> - -<p>The door opened and shut with a bang. Bud rolled over on his face, -reached back cautiously and drew his gun from its holster and held it -concealed under his folded arms. Lying so, he was as ready for instant -action as is a cat that has drawn back its feet and tensed its muscles -for a spring.</p> - -<p>His nerves relaxed, his mind once more was at peace concerning the -immediate future. Lying there on the ground, he could hear the faintest -sound of far-off hoof beats when Butch came riding home. And unless -Kid or some other began shooting bullets into his prone body without -warning, he could take the initiative, could dominate any situation -that might arise.</p> - -<p>The cup of coffee he waved away when Kid brought it, though the -delectable aroma maddened him after his long fast.</p> - -<p>"Would yuh take a headache powder, Bud? I got some that shore would -knock that pain." The voice of Kid Kern was full of friendly sympathy. -He never dreamed that Bud's six-shooter was looking at him bleakly over -Bud's left forearm.</p> - -<p>"No—this is fine. I'm easy so long as I don't have to move." This was -true enough, as Bud recognized with a fleeting grin. "Don't bother any -more about me."</p> - -<p>"Oh, I'll set with the sick any time." Kid squatted on his haunches, -after the manner of outdoor men, and began rolling a cigarette. "Keep -the boys from gittin' curious. They'll think we're talkin' private out -here."</p> - -<p>Silence fell, save for the creaking of crickets, the whisper of a -cool breeze through the grass next the fence. Kid smoked, his big -hat tilted back on his head, his eyes turned thoughtfully up toward -the stars. Bud lay quietly with his face on his folded arms, his gun -against his cheek, ready to come up shooting at the first breath of -need. The cooling coffee sent faint whiffs of torturing fragrance to -his nostrils. His eyes, half closed under the pinned-back brim of his -hat, regarded Kid with unblinking attention. His ears, like faithful -sentinels set on guard by his intrepid spirit, listened for hoof beats -down the lane.</p> - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_NINETEEN" id="CHAPTER_NINETEEN">CHAPTER NINETEEN</a></h2> - -<h3>"NEXT TIME, REMEMBER—BUTCH PACKS TWO GUNS!"</h3> - - -<p>Bob came out fairly licking his chops over the enormous supper he -had just gorged; took in the situation at a glance, hovered there -helplessly for a space and announced that he was going back in and -have a game or two of high-five with the boys. He kicked Bud's foot in -passing; a hint which Bud could interpret as he pleased, though what -Bob meant to signal was his intention to guard against treachery from -the house.</p> - -<p>Kid asked Bud how he felt, received a mumbled assurance that he was all -right, and rolled and lighted another cigarette. A tactful companion -was Kid Kern upon occasion; one who knew the Indian art of absolute -passivity. It shamed Bud a bit to know that if he had been really -suffering as he pretended to be, Kid would have sat right there all -night if necessary, with never a complaint.</p> - -<p>Then it came—the far-off <i>clupet-clupety-clupet</i> of a shod horse -loping up the lane. Bud moved his long body a bit, drawing up one knee -for leverage when the moment came to spring erect, and shifting his -forehead so that his left hand pressed palm downward on the ground.</p> - -<p>"How's she comin', Bud?" Kid poised his cigarette between two stained -fingers while he peered down at Bud through the bright starlight. -"Worse? Better let me get yuh that powder."</p> - -<p>"No use—it's easing up—by spells." In the pauses Bud was listening, -gauging the swiftness of the approach. Kid, he could see, had not yet -caught the sound that had come clearly to Bud's ear pressed against the -sod. His heart began to thump heavily, high in his chest. He could feel -his face grow hot with the uprush of blood, and knew it was not fear -that rioted within his body, but battle fever instead; the excitement -that sends hot young blood leaping when conflict is near.</p> - -<p>"Somebody comin'. Butch, I guess." Kid ground his cigarette stub under -his heel as he rose.</p> - -<p>The action and the announcement together gave Bud the excuse to rise -also to a half-crouching position, poised on the balls of his feet like -a runner waiting for the signal to go; a posture that would pass in the -starlight as the squatting of a man whose interest is not sufficient -to bring him to his feet. A full minute they listened to the nearing -hoof beats, then the dim outline of a horseman showed in the lane.</p> - -<p>"Yeah, that's Butch. I'll go open the gate—er—no, that horse of his -is broke to gates, come to think of it."</p> - -<p>Bud said nothing. He was watching Butch Cassidy sidle up to the gate -post, lean and push back the heavy wooden bolt, nip through as the gate -swung open, catch it midway and sidle back, pushing it shut as he went. -The horse stood quiet while the bar slid into place, then Butch came -riding toward them.</p> - -<p>"What's takin' place here? One of them garden parties yuh read about?" -Butch laughed and swung a leg over the cantle to dismount.</p> - -<p>"Yes. It's my party, Butch." Bud was up and standing so close behind -him that Kid, ten feet away and in front of them, could not have shot -without hitting both. "Keep your hands up—just like that." He reached -forward, twitched Butch's gun from its holster and thrust it into his -own.</p> - -<p>"Why—what's wrong with Butch?" Kid's voice was surprised, but it had -not lost its friendly note.</p> - -<p>"Nothing much, only he shot a couple of men and stole a few thousand -dollars out of Palmer's cow pasture, and the blame rests on Jelly and -me until I take this pelican in and return the money."</p> - -<p>"Aw, he's full of prunes, Kid. Don't you b'lieve a word of that." Butch -stood with his hands raised—any man will who feels the muzzle of a -gun in his ribs—and stared at Kid. "I ain't been near Palmer's place. -Are you goin' t' stand fer this kind of a hold-up, Kid, right in yore -dooryard?"</p> - -<p>"I dunno, Butch, till I see how she lays." Kid's tone took on a silky -smoothness. "Seems funny Bud would take the trouble to ride 'way over -here just fer a josh to hold you up and accuse you of a thing like -that. Must be a little something to it."</p> - -<p>"He's crazy, that's all."</p> - -<p>"I suppose you didn't leave a couple of horses tied in a draw just -across the road from Palmer's fence corner! I suppose I didn't find -your tracks, heading this way, when Bob and I struck out to overhaul -you? I happen to know how you pumped Skookum to get all the information -you could. He doesn't know how much he told you, but it was enough to -make you feel sure you could put your hands right on the money the -bank lost! Well, I took Delkin and some others out there, so they beat -you to it, Butch. The trouble is, they left a lot that belonged to -Palmer, and that's what you packed off with you after you'd shot Bat -Johnson and Ed White. They were after it too, I suppose. Some of our -boys in town scared them till they beat it out of town, and they caught -you there at the ledge. You downed them both, and got away with the -stuff.</p> - -<p>"Kid, I don't think for a minute that you'd go in on a deal of this -kind—but I'll bet a horse Butch never gave you a chance! That's -playing real square with you, isn't it?"</p> - -<p>"No, Bud, it ain't. I never dreamed Butch would pull a thing like this, -and him workin' fer me. I hope you don't look on me as bein' capable of -rusty work like that, Bud." He took a step forward, then halted. "How -about this? Think you c'n trust me to help yuh go through Butch and see -if he's got that money? How much was it? If he's got it with him, by -Harry, he'll come clean. I hate t' turn in one of my own men, but I'll -do it—I'll turn him over to the sheriff myself if there's a scrap of -evidence t' hold him on. Can I come and look in his slicker, Bud?"</p> - -<p>"I wish you would, Kid." Bud caught Butch by the slack of his coat and -pulled him backwards, away from the horse. "I trust you, yes. Sure, I -do! But I'll put a bullet through you, Kid, if you try a double-cross."</p> - -<p>"That's all right. Can't blame you, Bud. Butch working for me, it does -look kinda leery around here. But you can't do two things at once, -very handy, and I'm damned if I'll stand for any man of mine pulling -off a stunt like this and giving the Frying Pan a black eye with my -neighbors."</p> - -<p>"Go ahead and <i>look</i>, why don'tcha?" Butch challenged mockingly. "Sure, -you'll try 'n' keep yore standin', Kid—you ain't got a man that don't -know you'd quit him cold in a pinch, and save yore own bacon! Go ahead -an' <i>look</i>!"</p> - -<p>"You bet I'll look!" Kid picked up the reins, ran his hand reassuringly -along the shoulder of the brown horse, grasped the horn and gave the -saddle a little shake, and began untying Butch's slicker from behind -the cantle, his fingers probing into the folds. "How much was it, Bud?"</p> - -<p>"I don't know. It was gold, and there must have been several thousand -dollars, at a rough guess. Nobody meddled with it—except the man that -took it. Three or four regular coin bags, there ought to be."</p> - -<p>Kid pulled off the slicker and slapped it on the ground, wide open and -empty. Butch carried no saddle pockets, and there was no place on the -saddle where a package of any size could be hidden.</p> - -<p>Butch laughed unpleasantly.</p> - -<p>"There ain't a darned thing, Bud." Kid turned and looked at the two. -There was an awkward silence.</p> - -<p>"Well, ain't somebody goin' to apologize?" Butch still had that mocking -tone. "Bud's had a pipe dream, that's all. Now, I'll tell yuh where I -been, and Bud c'n prove it easy enough. I been over to the Meddalark. -I admit I went over there t' see Lark about gittin' a job. I stayed to -dinner, and all the boys is gone but that pilgrim; yore black horses is -in the bronch corral, Bud, and the kid's ridin' a pinto pony around he -calls Huckleberry. Need any more proof, or does that convince yuh that -I was <i>there</i>, all right?" Butch's tone was arrogant, though he was -careful to make no offensive movement.</p> - -<p>"Oh, you were there, no doubt. That doesn't let you out, Butch. Tell me -where you were between four and five this afternoon!"</p> - -<p>"Awn the road home," Butch drawled.</p> - -<p>Bud twitched off Butch's hat and held it up in his left hand so that -the edge of the brim was silhouetted against the stars.</p> - -<p>"Look here, Kid. I suppose he'll say he bit that nick out of his -hatbrim! Ever see a prettier bullet mark? Just about the size a .45 -would make as nearly as I can tell in this light. Just for curiosity, -Butch, how did you get that?" Bud's voice, that had been merely grim -and unyielding, rang with triumph.</p> - -<p>"None of yore damn' business. Is that plain enough, or shall I spell -it?"</p> - -<p>"No," said Bud softly, "you needn't spell it, Butch."</p> - -<p>Followed another silence, which Kid broke placatingly.</p> - -<p>"If Butch done what you think he done, Bud, I'm after him like a wolf. -But if this is all the proof you got, why—you ain't got <i>any</i>, that's -all." He stopped on the brink of saying more and looked from one to the -other.</p> - -<p>"Yeah. You ain't got <i>any</i>," Butch echoed, with that same faint mockery -in his voice. "Goin' to hold me here all night? Me and my horse is -hungry."</p> - -<p>"Didn't anybody see him at Palmer's?" Kid asked doubtfully. And when -Bud shook his head, Kid made a similar gesture. "Honest, Bud, I don't -see what you're goin' to do about it," he said. "I'm with you if you've -got any proof. But—"</p> - -<p>"I'll get it," Bud declared harshly, and lowered his gun. "All right, -Butch, this time you've got the best of it. But remember, I'll get that -proof, and I'll get <i>you</i>. And I don't mean that I'll kill you, either."</p> - -<p>"What the hell do I care what you mean?" Butch took down his arms, -rubbing his muscles unthinkingly. "Only—if kids are bound to git -underfoot, they're liable to git stepped on. Yuh goin' to give me my -gun back? Or are yuh scared to?"</p> - -<p>Bud gave him his gun haughtily, butt first according to the range code -of good manners. Butch slid it into his holster and reached for the -bridle reins.</p> - -<p>"Kid, you spread my slicker so you c'n pick it up off the ground," he -said, and pulled the reins up along his horse's neck. He mounted, sat -looking down at Bud for a minute, gave a grunt eloquent of tolerant -scorn and rode away to the stable at a careless lope.</p> - -<p>The two stood looking after him until his figure blurred with the -deeper shade of the barn.</p> - -<p>"Bud, I'm sorry it turned out the way it did," Kid said under his -breath. "I believe in my soul Butch done it—but what does that prove? -I want to warn yuh, though. You've made an enemy there that ain't -liable to forgit yuh. It's a darn good thing I happened to be out here -with yuh, boy. Butch don't dare pull nothin' underhand when I'm around, -but if you'd tackled him alone out here, it maybe wouldn't 'a' turned -out so peaceful." He gave a little inarticulate exclamation. "Say, Bud, -next time you bump into Butch, remember <i>he packs two guns</i>. He could -of got you any time he wanted to t'night. Next time you pull a gun on -Butch Cassidy I'd advise yuh as a friend to pull the trigger at the -same time. May as well play safe, then it won't be you we'll have to -bury."</p> - -<p>"I suppose that's a friendly tip, and as such I thank you for it, Kid." -Bitterness was all that was left to young Bud at that moment.</p> - -<p>"Yes, and I wouldn't give it to everybody, either. Might as well come -along in and have some supper, Bud—now yore headache's cured."</p> - -<p>But Bud shook his head and said he couldn't swallow a mouthful, so Kid -did not urge him. Perhaps he knew what it means when a young man must -swallow his pride.</p> - -<p>Bob came out to them, and all he learned was that they were going -back home that night. Once again Kid did not urge Bud to modify his -decision; instead, he approved it.</p> - -<p>"Butch will shore be on the peck, now, and it'll be just as well to -side-step. Here he comes—you boys can get your horses out, and I'll -keep an eye on Butch. Too bad, but there ain't a thing more I can do, -or you either."</p> - -<p>"No," said Bud dully, "I guess not. I made a fool of myself, that's -all."</p> - -<p>They were riding down the lane before Bud came out of his black mood of -depression, or Bob dared open his mouth to ask a question.</p> - -<p>"It's a cinch he stopped and cached the money somewhere along the way," -Bud cried hotly, when they had gone carefully over the whole thing -together. "What we have to do now is try and find it."</p> - -<p>"Yeah, and beat Butch to it," Bob reminded. "Now, I know all this end -of the reservation like a book. Butch, he'd hide that money purty close -in, I betcha, but not along the trail nowhere. Can't back trail him -to-night, but by daylight—" He stopped there for a time. "Tell yuh, -Bud, what we better do. Awn a piece here is that crick, and I betcha we -could pick up Butch's tracks there where he cut across into the hills. -It's about the only place where he could leave the trail without making -signs a blind man could read; what's more, it's the only place where he -could git into the hills without ridin' an hour er more extry.</p> - -<p>"What we better do is you go awn home and git some chuck inside yuh, -and take a sleep. I'll bed right down by that crick till daybreak, -and pick up Butch's back track. I kin jest about read that jasper's -mind, Bud. You put Kid wise, and Kid'll be watchin' Butch like a hawk. -It'll be kinda funny if Butch gits a chance to ride back here fer a -day er two. Right now is when he's got to take a big chance and leave -the money where it's at. When you git ready, you come awn back with -some grub. Foller the trail we took comin' over, and I'll meet yuh, -Bud, right where that spring comes up under them sandstone cliffs. You -know—where we watered our horses. They's feed, and we c'n make camp -there if we have to. I know where we c'n crawl under a shelf if it -storms, even.</p> - -<p>"So you do that, Bud. It'll save time, and we'll find the dough—never -you mind about that!"</p> - -<p>"If it takes until snow flies, we've got to find it," Bud declared. -"Well, I'll tell you when we reach the creek whether I'll do that or -not."</p> - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_TWENTY" id="CHAPTER_TWENTY">CHAPTER TWENTY</a></h2> - -<h3>"THINGS KINDA SLIPPED UP"</h3> - - -<p>Two motley roosters and a black Minorca were craning necks to outcrow -one another before the dawn. Out of the chill dark came Bud, the -Walking Sorrel swinging automatically along in the long strides of -the running walk that gave him his name and made him better than most -horses on a long, hard trail. When he stopped, the sorrel's legs -trembled with exhaustion. Bud's spurred boots dragged like an old man's -on the path to the house, and his head buzzed until the roosters, the -frogs and the humming of mosquitoes blended in one muffled, discordant -chorus.</p> - -<p>As he stepped upon the porch Maw sat up, rubbing her eyes, and got -out of bed, dragging a faded, big-flowered kimono over her nightgown -and thrusting tiny, bare feet into a shapeless pair of slippers much -too large for her. Her muslin nightcap went up to a peak at the crown -of her head. She looked like a female goblin fleeing from a midnight -rendezvous as she came pattering into the kitchen with a lighted candle -held aloft in her hand, her round eyes blinking with sleep.</p> - -<p>"My, I bet you're about starved, Buddy! When a boy gets in this time of -night, I <i>know</i> he's hungry. I set back a whole berry pie for you, and -the cream for it is all whipped and ready. I thought I wouldn't spread -it till you come, because if it stands too long the crust gets soggy. -And there's plenty of cold fried chicken—I saved you the gizzards, -Bud, and three wings. I know how you like them parts. Nev' mind washin' -your face. You set right down and I'll have you eatin' in two seconds."</p> - -<p>That was one of the reasons why the Meadowlark worshiped Maw.</p> - -<p>"Drink this, Buddy. It's last night's milk—poured right off the top of -the pan, cream and all."</p> - -<p>Slumped into the nearest chair by the table, Bud put out a hand slowly -and took up the glass, spilling milk on Maw's white tablecloth and -down his shirt front because his hand shook so. But the rich milk -refreshed him like a draught of wine, and when he had set down the -glass—empty—he turned hollow eyes with some interest toward the plate -heaped with chicken fried a golden brown as only Maw could do it. Maw -was spreading fresh bread for him, two great slices, and she seemed -blessedly unconscious of Bud's wolfish feeding, once he started to eat.</p> - -<p>But finally, when Bud had finished the third wing and was biting into -the bluish knob of a gizzard, Maw hooked her slipper heels over the top -rung of her chair and nodded her head like a witch over her cauldron.</p> - -<p>"Things kinda slipped up, I s'pose. They will do that no matter how -careful we plan. I heard enough of what you and Skookum was talkin' -about last night—"</p> - -<p>"Last night?" Bud repeated, looking up in dull amazement. "Is that as -long ago as it was, Maw?"</p> - -<p>"Well, a course it's most mornin' now, so I s'pose I can say night -b'fore last. When every minute is crammed and jammed with happenin's, -it does seem to take an awful lot of 'em to make a day. The day has -gone real quick for me, too. And there's Margy, sayin' Cranford would -be real excitin' alongside this place. She got real put out t'day, -because you boys went off first thing this forenoon, and then Butch -Cassidy come over and spent most all the time foolin' around with -Skookum and didn't talk to her much, and somethin' or other went wrong -in her story—she was tellin' me all about it while we washed up the -dishes.</p> - -<p>"Margy's getting real friendly," Maw went on, after a pause spent in -studying Bud's face and in deciding, no doubt, that he was not yet -ready to talk of his own affairs. "This afternoon she come right up and -put her arm around me and patted me on the shoulder! I didn't s'pose -she'd ever get used to me so she could look at me without scringin', -but she's got all over that, and it ain't much more'n a week since she -come. She's just as sweet as she can be, and she tells me all about -everything, real confiding."</p> - -<p>"Cranford! Ye gods!" Bud exploded tardily, the full enormity of the -outrageous comparison striking him in the middle of his demolishing -the plate of chicken. He dropped a clean-picked thigh bone on the heap -beside his plate and looked at Maw with a shadow of his old, impudent -grin. "If Marge were a man I'd show her some excitement, maybe."</p> - -<p>"She's writing a bank-robbery story, Bud, and—maybe I hadn't ought to -tell you—she's got you for the hero of it. She—"</p> - -<p>"Me for the hero? Good Lord!"</p> - -<p>"Well," said Maw, blinking at him across the table, "looks to me as if -you'd had about all the adventures she's put you through in her story, -except I don't s'pose you've been arrested for the murder and throwed -in jail and incarcerated, like Margy had 'em do to you. She says it's -awful hard to make up excitin' things, when she come out here expectin' -that things would happen right along that she could use fine. She says -she's goin' to have the Indians break out and start massacreeing the -whites, and she wanted all day to ask you about some secret order; -Golden Arrer, she says it is. She wants to make it a religious outbreak -of some kind, and either let 'em catch you and start in to torture you, -or else have you save a girl from bein' tortured. She tried to get Lark -to tell her, but Larkie's kinda queer about some things. She couldn't -get a peep outa him. He told her there wasn't no such thing, but of -course she knew he was just denyin' it for some reason of his own. She -thinks maybe he's mixed up and implicated somehow—maybe a high priest -of the order; but I told her I didn't hardly believe he was."</p> - -<p>Bud gave a whoop and choked so that Maw climbed down from her chair and -came around and thumped him between the shoulders until he could wave -her off with weak gestures of refusal. He came to with his face red and -blinking tears, but he had no sooner got his breath than he began to -laugh.</p> - -<p>"I s'pose I've said somethin' funny, but I don't see what." Maw spoke -tartly when the first outburst had subsided. "I guess you oughta be -in pretty good shape now after gorgin' the way you have. I'll go -call Lark, and then I expect maybe you'll see fit to tell us what's -happened, and what brings you home this time in the morning, lookin' -like a string of suckers and eatin' like you'd starved for a week. And -all I can say," she stopped to say pettishly, "is that small matters -amuse small minds. If I used a word wrong, that's <i>my</i> business!" She -scuttled off before Bud could explain.</p> - -<p>Maw was further shocked to find Bud emptying the pantry of cooked food -when she returned to the kitchen. Four loaves of fresh baked bread -reposed neatly beside half a baked ham, and the cookie jar was in his -arms.</p> - -<p>"For the love of Moses!" snapped Maw. "Didn't you get enough to eat -<i>yet</i>?"</p> - -<p>Behind her, Lark glanced appraisingly at the devastated table and -grinned. The pile of chicken bones beside Bud's plate was enough, to -say nothing of the remnant of pie with the whipped cream scraped off in -streaks.</p> - -<p>"For the time being, maybe; but I may possibly want to eat again, Maw, -before Marge has me put in jail and incarcerated!" Bud was still badly -in need of sleep, and Maw's tone had not been conciliating.</p> - -<p>"I ain't responsible for that word, Bud Larkin. Margy used it herself, -and if it don't meet with your approval, it's none of <i>my</i> funeral. -Here's Lark, wantin' to know what you've been up to, and why you come -draggin' your feet into the house this time of night. Are you goin' to -take all them cookies, Bud? I can't make any more till I get some sour -cream. I churned every bit that I had."</p> - -<p>"You did? Fine! Bob's out in the hills, and fresh butter will go dandy -with this bread. You know, Maw, there's only one real bread-maker in -the world, and she's just about four feet high and cross as a she bear -with toothache."</p> - -<p>"I ain't no such a thing! Do you s'pose you could carry a pie if I -wrapped it up good?"</p> - -<p>"Sure. I'll carry it inside, however. Then I <i>know</i> it will be well -wrapped. Lark may want to carry one. How about it, Lark? Want to go -hunting with me, after I've had an hour or so of sleep?"</p> - -<p>Lark hitched up his belt, picked up Maw and set her on a corner of the -table. Then, ignoring her indignant protests, he began his preparations -significantly in the gun closet, choosing what weapons he would take. -Bud eyed him from under straight brows while he wrapped the bread in -one of Maw's choicest dish towels which she kept for "comp'ny", when -some range woman would insist upon helping her with the dishes.</p> - -<p>"You won't need a shotgun—and I'll just omit that hour of sleep. Maw's -pie is a real rejuvenator."</p> - -<p>"It ain't no such a thing! Bud, ain't you goin' to tell what you've -been up to or where you've been? My land, I never saw such carryin's -on!"</p> - -<p>"Nothing exciting, Maw. Nothing that Marge could use in that story of -hers. Come on, Lark."</p> - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_TWENTY-ONE" id="CHAPTER_TWENTY-ONE">CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE</a></h2> - -<h3>LARK WOULD HAVE DONE THINGS DIFFERENTLY</h3> - - -<p>"Well, so-long, Lark." Bud held his nervous buckskin to a prancy -circling while he and Lark indulged in one of those last-minute -dialogues without which two persons seem unable to part in complete -satisfaction. "If you can get Jelly off to one side, you might tell him -that Bob and I are going to stick to the trail like a burr to a dog. -And of course you'll know what to say to Delkin. Use your own judgment -about telling him the facts."</p> - -<p>"You better bed down somewhere and take a snooze," Lark advised -perfunctorily. "I'll go 'long and meet Bob. I know these hills better -than anybody, I guess. You go awn into town and git into bed somewhere. -Then you can attend the inquest if they hold one. Mebbe they might not, -seein' it's a clear case, s' far as they know. You go awn, Bud, and let -me handle this deal."</p> - -<p>"No. This is my job, Lark. I'll take that rifle of yours, though. I -was so afraid Maw would pump something out of me and tell it to Marge -that I rushed off without anything much except the grub. I wanted it -cooked, so we won't need to make a smoke. No, you go on in and say I -came back home and you sent me out on the range. And, Lark, if I don't -bring Butch in and turn him over to the sheriff, it won't do any good -whatever to say anything to Delkin and the others. They'll believe what -they please—and that won't be very favorable to Jelly and me. Just -let it ride; and don't worry about Bob and me, will you? No telling -how long we'll be out. One of us will ride in to the ranch if it's -necessary—and I'd a good deal rather handle it without interference if -it's all the same to you."</p> - -<p>"Oh, all right, if you feel that way about it, Bud. You shore got me up -early enough—jest to ride a piece down the road with yuh! Go ahead and -handle it without interference then! Mebbe later on you'll be darn glad -of a little plain old help! Needn't think Butch is goin' to be easy to -take—he'll go down harder 'n cod-liver oil. But all right—have it -yore way; you will anyhow." Whereupon, Lark put spurs to his horse and -loped on down the trail towards Smoky Ford, talking to himself. He had -been coolly pushed aside, robbed of a share in what promised to be a -risky piece of business. Impudent, he called it, and forgot how he had -deliberately pushed Bud to the front and encouraged him to use his own -judgment.</p> - -<p>No, Lark would have done it differently; followed old Bill's methods -more closely. Old Bill would have taken his riders and gone boldly -after Butch, and made what he would have called a clean-up over at the -Frying Pan. Bud might believe that Kid was ignorant of Butch's plans, -but Lark did not. It would surprise him to discover that Kid was in on -the deal. Still, Bud might wake up to facts and realize that after all -an older head might hold a few ideas worth considering.</p> - -<p>Bud, however, was not awake to much of anything save the fact that -he was beginning to lose interest in anything but sleep; and that -the buckskin was a tricky brute in the hills and not to be compared -with the Walking Sorrel. The buckskin had a way of climbing hills in -leaps that gave no thought to secure footing, but left him winded -at the top. His manner of descending a steep slope was quite as -reckless and consisted of a series of slides interspersed with dancing -sidewise and taking fright at various objects. Bud had saddled him -because he happened to be in a corral where he was handy, but he was -wishing now—when he roused sufficiently to wish for anything except -sleep—that he had taken the time to catch a horse out of the pasture. -It might have proved quicker in the long run.</p> - -<p>So, slipping, sliding, fighting the buckskin and guarding as best he -could his burden of food, Bud arrived in the course of time at the -spring beneath the sandstone cliffs. By that time he was indifferent -to everything. It would have taken Butch Cassidy himself to rouse Bud -to the fighting point. He was glad, in a dull, apathetic way, that he -had made the trip from the ranch so that Bob could eat before he got -as hungry as Bud had been. He managed also to picket the buckskin in -the middle of good grass, and to put the supplies up on a shelf of rock -away from small prowlers. After that Bud dropped down in the shade of -the cliff, pulled his hat over his eyes, gave one huge sigh and dropped -like a plummet into the oblivion of dreamless slumber.</p> - -<p>At the Palmer ranch black Sam was shuffling back and forth across the -kitchen, clearing away the débris of a scanty breakfast well-cooked, -where nine men had eaten silently and gone their ways; all except -Gelle, who had volunteered to remain on guard over Palmer until the -sheriff was ready to take him away to the county seat. The coroner had -just arrived, and was down in the cow pasture looking over the scene -of the double killing and arguing with the sheriff in the intervals of -rolling a fresh chew of tobacco relishfully from cheek to cheek.</p> - -<p>Sam turned scared eyes toward Lark before he remembered his manners and -ducked his head in what passed for a bow. Gelle, on a bench before the -door, grinned cheerful greeting.</p> - -<p>"You musta heard the news and got up b'fore breakfast," Gelle bantered. -"Bud git in last night?"</p> - -<p>Lark swung down and sat on the bench beside his "top hand"—as Gelle -loved to consider himself.</p> - -<p>"Bud got in this morning before daylight. Hauled me outa bed and -started me out thinkin' I was goin' to git some excitement, mebbe. Then -he hazed me awn in whilst he took out across country to meet Bob."</p> - -<p>"Which means, I guess, that they didn't have no luck last night." -Gelle's voice betrayed his disappointment.</p> - -<p>"Depends on what you call luck," Lark retorted. "That fool kid rode -over to the Fryin' Pan, laid out in the yard with Kid Kern till Butch -come ridin' in, then up and sticks a gun in Butch's ribs and tells him -to come clean with that money he'd stole outa the pasture here. What's -more, the darn chump got away with it, and come home without a bullet -hole through him. I dunno how it strikes you, Jelly, but I'd call that -<i>luck</i>."</p> - -<p>"And didn't he git the money?"</p> - -<p>"Naw." Lark stopped while he lighted a cigarette. "He got the laugh."</p> - -<p>"How's that? I been awn the anxious seat all night, Lark, worryin' -about Bud and that damn' gold of Palmer's. Aw, he can't hear. I've got -him tied to the bed back in another room. And the coon's only about -half there. Go awn, Lark. I'm achin' to know what happened."</p> - -<p>"That's jest the trouble, Jelly. Nothin' atall happened. Kid, he sided -in with Bud and said if Butch had come over here and robbed Palmer's -cache he'd turn him over to the sheriff himself. Bud thinks he meant -it, but I dunno. Butch didn't have nothin' on his saddle but his -slicker, and he give Bud the laugh. That's about all there was to it, -fur as I could make out. Bud, he come shackin' along home about three -this morning, et everything in sight and packed off what's left to feed -Bob with.</p> - -<p>"Bob stayed out in the hills. They got the idee they can back-track -Butch and find out where he cached the stuff. But I dunno—like lookin' -fer a needle in a haystack, to my notion. My Jonah, what a mess! How'd -you bust yore rib, Jelly? Bud said you'd done it, but he never said -how. Gimme some facts, fer gosh sake!"</p> - -<p>By the time Gelle had told all he knew, had heard or surmised, Delkin, -Bradley, the sheriff and the coroner came walking up from the pasture, -still arguing. They greeted Lark, then drifted back to the subject of -the two dead men. The sheriff sensed the work of a third man there, but -the others insisted that the killing had been an impromptu duel, the -coroner holding that the position in which the men lay had no bearing -upon that point, since death was not instantaneous in either case and -both had evidently staggered a few feet before falling.</p> - -<p>"Kinda funny they'd both be facin' the same way—toward that ledge -where you folks got your money," the sheriff pointed out, with a -stubborn tilt to his chin. "If they went down fightin' each other, -wouldn't they be likely to fall <i>facin'</i> each other? They hadn't -started to run, neither of 'em. Looks to me like they both went down -shootin' at somebody up on that ledge. You can think what yuh please -about it—that's what <i>I</i> think."</p> - -<p>"There couldn't have been anybody on the ledge," Delkin stated -positively. "Bud Larkin was with us; Jelly, here, was at the house with -a broken rib; Palmer and the old man were tied up in the bedroom and -the coon was here in the kitchen. The four Meadowlark boys had left -town ten minutes behind the two Palmer men, and not more than five -minutes ahead of us. They heard the shooting as they rode up. The four -will swear that Jelly and the coon were here at the house—and as a -matter of fact, the rest of us arrived so soon after the shooting that -it would have been physically impossible for these two to get back up -here."</p> - -<p>"Well," retorted the sheriff, quickly, "are these all the men there is -in the world, Mr. Delkin?"</p> - -<p>"All that could possibly have known anything about what was on the -ledge. Bud Larkin found the money and came straight in after us, -leaving Jelly to guard the old man that works here. We came right back, -got the money and took it on in to town, still leaving Jelly on guard -out here. He brought his prisoner to the house—a very wise thing to -do, I may say—and so was here when Palmer came, and while capturing -him he broke a rib, as you know. You can ask the doctor here whether he -would be able, with that broken rib, to run from the pasture up here -in, say, one minute."</p> - -<p>"Couldn't have done it without a broken rib," stated the coroner, -expectorating a generous amount of tobacco juice. "They shot each -other. No reason why they shouldn't, is there? They were both after -the money, and each man wanted to get there first. Be funny if they -<i>didn't</i> fight over it. Guess we better hold an inquest and thrash -this thing out before a jury. How soon can you get a jury together, -Stilson?" The coroner must have been out of humor with the sheriff, -because usually he addressed him familiarly as Jim.</p> - -<p>"Hour, maybe. That quick enough? You get your witnesses together, and -a few <i>facts</i> to show, and I'll have the jury ready to listen to 'em -quick enough to ketch 'em before they melt." He probably referred to -the facts.</p> - -<p>Lark, sitting quietly on the bench during the discussion, wondered why -no one mentioned Palmer's money (or what was tacitly conceded to be -Palmer's money) which had been left in the cache and was now missing. -Delkin and Bradley seemed to avoid any unnecessary reference to money. -Lark was on the point of mentioning the one great inducement to murder, -the one thing that would call a man to the ledge. He was even tempted -to tell what he knew of Butch Cassidy.</p> - -<p>But while the others wrangled his caution came whispering and urging -him to wait. If Delkin and Bradley failed to mention the mysterious -disappearance of Palmer's gold, it was for one reason. They were -grateful to Bud and to Gelle and meant to protect them. Lark -appreciated that spirit even while he resented their suspicions. Both -emotions held him silent after the first impulse to speak had passed. -They knew all about that money being gone, he reflected. If they saw -fit to cover up the loss before the sheriff, it would ill become him -to drag the thing to the surface and tell the sheriff something that -might throw suspicion—or worse—upon the Meadowlark. He joggled Gelle -unthinkingly with his elbow, cautioning him to silence, and brought a -yelp of pain from that tightly bandaged young man, and a stealthily -vicious jab afterwards to show that Gelle had not missed Lark's meaning.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>There followed the usual commonplace running to and fro on horses -sweating under the urge of their riders' haste to be somewhere else -immediately. The coroner's inquest was called, and practically all -of Smoky Ford bustled out to Palmer's ranch and squatted on run-over -boot heels and drew diagrams in the dust with little sticks, explaining -gravely to any who would listen that the robbery, the murder, and -the killing of Bat Johnson and Ed White took place in this or that -particular manner.</p> - -<p>All I can say is, Marge should have been there with her notebook; two -or three notebooks, rather.</p> - -<p>Figuratively speaking, the various Sherlocks placed the noose on -Palmer's neck a dozen times for a dozen different reasons. They openly -mourned that Bat and Ed were past hanging, and there was not a man -present who had not known all along that Palmer was at the bottom of -the whole thing. So much for the loyalty of neighbors of that type when -a man of Palmer's type is called to account for his sins.</p> - -<p>The inquest might well be called an anticlimax, since the citizens -of Smoky Ford had the thing all settled in their minds before the -investigation was officially begun. Palmer puzzled and disappointed -them and came near to a lynching, that day, merely because he refused -to testify and would only say, with baleful self-possession, that since -they were all set on laying the guilt on him, they could go ahead and -think what they pleased; his lawyer would have something to say about -it when the thing came to a trial. (It was at this time that Palmer -edged close to death.)</p> - -<p>The sheriff, being just a bit keyed up by opposition, made a clean -sweep of it and took black Sam along with Palmer, and the old man -Blinker as well. They might or might not be implicated in the crime, -but at least they should prove useful as witnesses.</p> - -<p>By mid-afternoon the inquest was over and the sheriff had left for -the county seat with his three prisoners, leaving his two deputies -ostensibly in charge of Palmer's ranch pending a more satisfactory -arrangement. In reality, the sheriff had some hope of solving the -mystery of the shooting of two men in broad daylight and within sound -of the house, and he had left two men where one would have been -sufficient, with secret instructions to make a careful search for some -clew to an unknown member of the gang.</p> - -<p>The last shovelful of moist, rocky soil had been carelessly tossed upon -Bat Johnson's heaped grave, and the two rough mounds marked by stakes -driven into the ground, each bearing a name and date burned hastily -with a hot iron. The burial party, in haste to join their fellows, -were riding through the gate on their way to town when Maw appeared.</p> - -<p>Maw was mad. Never before since her arrival at the Meadowlark a few -years before had she been treated as Bud and Lark had treated her that -morning. Never before had they failed to tell her all that happened or -was about to happen, and Maw did not propose to stand it much longer. -She had waited until nine o'clock and then had ordered old Cap and -Charlie hitched to the beloved "top buggy" which Lark had given her, -and she had bundled Marge and a lunch basket in beside her and started -for town. They needn't think, said Maw, that she was going to sit and -fold her arms and act like a fool just because they treated her like -one. Wherefore she challenged the nearest horseman, who was eyeing -Marge with interest.</p> - -<p>"How do? See anything of Bud Larkin around here?" Maw was pretty fair -at reading signs, and the trampled yard just across the fence with -jumbled tracks leading through the gate had told her a story of events.</p> - -<p>"No, mom, Bud ain't been here t'day atall."</p> - -<p>"Lark been here? Bill Larkin?"</p> - -<p>"Yes, mom, Lark was here and he left right after the inquest." The -horseman fiddled with his reins and kept his horse backing and -sidling, showing off before Marge.</p> - -<p>"Inquest! For the love of Moses, has old Palmer been killed at last?" -Maw sucked so hard upon her new teeth that she almost swallowed them.</p> - -<p>"No, mom, he's been took to jail. It's Bat Johnson an' Ed White the -cor'ner has been settin' on. They was shot yeste'day."</p> - -<p>Maw opened her mouth to speak further of her astonishment, then closed -it abruptly, took the buggy whip from its socket and struck old Charlie -smartly across the rump. Maw's face had gone the color of rancid -tallow. There, conjured vividly before her by unreasoning fear, rode -the vision of young Bud staggering into the kitchen hollow-eyed and -ravenous; wolfing food sufficient for two ordinary appetites and going -off with a sackful of supplies.</p> - -<p>"I do hope I'll get some decently exciting material out of this," said -Marge, all in a flutter. "Do you suppose something worth while has -actually taken place, and I'll—"</p> - -<p>"Put up that everlastin' notebook!" snapped Maw. "Things ain't -picturesque when they're happenin' to your own!" She pulled the -indignant horses from a lope as expertly as a man could have done, -and sent them trotting their best down the road to town. "I've got to -find Lark and see what's to be done—and it ain't a bit kind or p'lite -to use the troubles of your own folks, Margy, to put in stories. If's -Buddy's on the dodge for killin' a couple of men, you ain't goin' to -put him into no story—you mark what I tell you. Buddy don't <i>want</i> to -be no heero. And if he don't want to be, he sha'n't be. Time I put my -foot down, I guess."</p> - -<p>"I'd make Palmer the murderer, of course," Marge placated absently. -"What's he been taken to jail for, do you suppose?"</p> - -<p>"I dunno—and I don't care. Buddy's on the dodge. I knew it when he -cleaned out the pantry without sayin' a word about where he was goin'!"</p> - -<p>Maw sucked in her teeth, tapped both horses across their broad backs -with the whip, and went lurching on down the road to town, leaving a -cloud of dust behind her.</p> - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_TWENTY-TWO" id="CHAPTER_TWENTY-TWO">CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO</a></h2> - -<h3>EAVESDROPPER</h3> - - -<p>Five days may not seem long as a rule, but Bud's nerves were ragged -with the strain of searching foot by foot the likely places along the -trail Butch Cassidy had taken; with eating just enough to allay the -sharpest hunger pangs, and with sleeping where dark overtook him, with -no pillow save his saddle—which is mighty uncomfortable even though it -may sound picturesque to those who have not tried it. Bob grew daily -more lugubrious, but Bud began to talk rather wildly of riding again -to the Frying Pan, getting Butch Cassidy by the throat and choking the -truth out of him—a reckless notion which appealed to him more and more -as the fruitless quest continued. He began to imagine how it would seem -to go galloping up the lane, meet Butch and lash out at him with biting -words until they fought. A vengeful dream that grew upon him.</p> - -<p>On this fifth day Bob had ridden early to the Basin for more food; the -baked ham being no more than a wistful memory, the cookies likewise -and the four loaves of bread a dwindling, dried-out fragment. It was -insufferably hot down in the canyon where he was dispiritedly searching -the craggy walls for safe hiding places and thinking, among other -things, that the country between Palmer's ranch and the Frying Pan -held places of concealment for all the gold coin the world contains. -Probably he was right. There surely was an ungodly amount of rough -ledges and cliffs and heaped bowlders along the route indicated by the -occasional hoofprints they identified as Butch's horse. In five days -they had covered perhaps twice as many miles.</p> - -<p>Off to the southwest a ragged blue-brown ridge of storm clouds crept -slowly over the high peaks. A swashing rain would render their quest -more hopeless still, for they would lose the tracks that now guided -them sketchily from gully to bare ridge perhaps and into another -canyon. The outlook was not cheerful, and the heat radiating from the -rocks became unbearable.</p> - -<p>It was then that Bud, climbing to a promising splinter of rock thrust -upward like a crude needle from the broken ledge beneath it, sighted -the cool, still pool sunk between banks of rock and gravel so that from -the canyon floor it was invisible. Some sunken stream had risen there -for a look at the sky, perhaps. Bud gave a hoarse whoop, forgetting -caution in his sudden joy, and immediately began to climb down as -eagerly as if he had sighted the gold.</p> - -<p>The frivolous buckskin had long since lost all desire for prancing or -taking the steep hills in jackrabbit leaps. He stood half asleep in -the shade of a rock, with trickles of sweat running down thigh and -shoulder; a tamed horse that had learned to conserve his energy and put -aside his play. Bud mounted and rode to the pool though it was almost -within pistol range.</p> - -<p>Side by side he and the buckskin drank their fill before Bud stripped -and went into it in a long, clean dive from a rock thrust up into the -sunshine and so hot it curled his toes with pain during the few seconds -he stood there poised for the jump. The water was cold, the shock to -his fevered skin a gorgeous sensation of sheer physical thrill. Bud -went deep, tilted and shot to the surface and spouted happily, the -cobwebs washed from his brain, the gnawing rancor from his soul. For -the moment at least he was his normal, care-free self; hungry, but -enjoying to the full this glorious swimming pool set apart from the -haunts of men, passed by a dozen times or a hundred, perhaps, without -discovery.</p> - -<p>And then, swimming and diving, floating and treading water and -splashing in pure devilment, he heard some one laugh; a chuckling sort -of subdued cackle which Bud knew quite well. By treading water and -craning his neck he could see the spot where he had left his clothes, -and Butch was there, sitting with his knees drawn up and his ungloved -hands clasped around them, smoking and grinning between puffs, with his -hat pushed back on his head and the knot of his neckerchief askew under -his ear—where he would maybe wear a knot of another kind one day, -Bud thought balefully. Butch looked a very good sort of fellow, a pal -perhaps who had no whim for a bath that day. But he was not at all like -that when he spoke.</p> - -<p>"Divin' for it, Bud?" he fleered. "Better claw around there on the -bottom, why don't yuh? Gold sinks, yuh know; or don't yuh? I savvy -you've had lots of schoolin', but that don't mean you got good sense. -What time yuh expect Bob back with the grub? Oughta be showin' up, now, -most any time. I heard him say when he left he'd git here b'fore three -o'clock. It's way past that now, by the sun." He squinted upward, then -spat reflectively toward the pool.</p> - -<p>"Of course you'll stay and eat with us," Bud invited urbanely. "Bob -promised to bring some fresh eggs and a couple of chickens."</p> - -<p>"Yeah, I know he did. I heard 'im." Butch's narrow, light blue eyes -were studying Bud's black head, sleek as a wet muskrat, with some -curiosity. He had expected a blasphemous series of epithets—and, -fifteen minutes sooner, he probably would have heard them. He had not -reckoned upon the steadying effect of that cold plunge.</p> - -<p>"Then of course you'll stay." (Privately, Bud was certain that Butch -was not to be shaken off before he had accomplished his purpose; and, -frankly, Bud believed that murder was his purpose.)</p> - -<p>"Might, seein' you insist. I'm purty well hooked up with grub, but my -<i>kew</i>-seen don't include chicken. How yuh goin' to cook it, Bud?"</p> - -<p>"Broil mine—and rub it with butter, salt and pepper now and then. How -you want yours?"</p> - -<p>"Sounds good t' me. I'll take the same."</p> - -<p>To gain time for thought, Bud curved in his body and dived, expecting -that he would come up to meet a .45 slug somewhere in his brain; -between the eyes, he guessed—since Butch was called a good shot. As -may be surmised, Bud did considerable thinking under water, but he -could not think of anything better than he was already doing, since -his manner was puzzling Butch and what puzzled Butch Cassidy also -worried him. Still, he might shoot, and there was just one way to find -out. Bud came up, shook the water from his eyes and saw that Butch was -apparently much interested in the pinned-back hatbrim.</p> - -<p>"Where'd yuh make the raise, Bud? I been kinda curious about that pin."</p> - -<p>Bud hesitated. There is a fiction that two men must never let a good -woman's name pass between them, but there was nothing secret about the -pin—except before Marge. Every cowpuncher who went to dances in that -country should have recognized it.</p> - -<p>"Grandma Parker's," he lied shortly, and dived again as if he enjoyed -diving.</p> - -<p>When he came up, Butch had laid aside the hat and was looking -speculatively at Bud.</p> - -<p>"'Course, I could shoot yuh," he mused aloud. "Lots a things I could -do. S'pose it'll be a bullet. Ain't yuh about ready to come out? Bob'll -likely be startin' supper 'bout now. Come awn—git into yore clothes." -Butch spoke as he would have admonished a small boy.</p> - -<p>Because there was nothing else that he could do Bud came out of the -pool, nipping over the hot gravel to where his clothes lay in a heap -ten feet from where Butch sat smoking. Butch had moved while Bud was -under water, and Bud's gun and belt had moved with him; also Bud's big -clasp knife that was useful for so many things.</p> - -<p>Bud dressed as unconcernedly as if the man sitting there in the shade -had been Bob. Butch spun Bud's hat to him—without the cameo pin,—and -eyed Bud sharply when he picked it up and looked at the flopping brim -with the two blackened pinholes. Bud looked up at him, his eyes black -with anger.</p> - -<p>"Pretty small, Butch! I knew you were a thief, but I did have some -respect for you for taking a chance, anyway. A stunt like this is so -low-down you'd have to climb a ladder to scratch a snake on the belly!" -He stared a moment longer and put on his hat. To move toward Butch -would have been one way of committing suicide, and even in anger Bud -was no fool.</p> - -<p>"Yeah—one more reason why I'll kill yuh, Bud. Some day." Butch got up, -dusting off his trousers with downward sweeps of his palms—close to -his gun, Bud saw with a curl of the lip.</p> - -<p>"Yes? Well, you'll have to go some unless you play safe and do it now."</p> - -<p>"I'll be willin' t' go when the time comes," Butch retorted. "Move -awn—my mouth's waterin' fer chicken."</p> - -<p>They moved on, Bud in the lead. Lark's rifle, he saw, was gone from -the saddle. A foolish thing he had done, and a costly, to go swimming -in that pool as carelessly as if he were down in the Basin pasture. -He could find no excuse for it in his belief that he had the hills to -himself that day. After so long a time he and Bob had both come to the -conclusion that Kid Kern was watching Butch so closely that there would -be no attempt made at present to retrieve the loot, and that they were -therefore perfectly safe to search where they would.</p> - -<p>At Butch's command, Bud dismounted some distance from the spring where -they had made a makeshift camp. They approached the place on foot and -so came upon Bob when he was least looking for callers, the supposition -being that Bud would search until close to sundown before coming to -camp. It was Butch's casual tones that brought Bob facing them in blank -astonishment.</p> - -<p>"I got a gun ag'inst Bud's backbone," Butch announced in a cheerful, -conversational manner. "He'll git it, right plumb through the liver, -first crooked move you make. Toss yore gun into the spring. It won't -hurt the water none."</p> - -<p>"Get him if you can, Bob," Bud countermanded. "Let the damned skunk -shoot if he wants to; he will, anyway."</p> - -<p>Bob looked at Bud, glanced over his shoulder into Butch's narrowed -eyes, drew his gun and threw it into the spring with a muttered oath. -Butch grinned.</p> - -<p>"Got a knife? Throw that in too. All right, boys, let's go awn and have -that chicken dinner. I an' Bud's been talkin' about it all the way -over."</p> - -<p>"'Better a dinner of herbs where love is, than a stalled ox and hatred -thereby,'" Bud quoted under his breath with a grim humor not lost upon -Butch, who overheard him.</p> - -<p>"Nh-nh. This is goin' to be stalled chicken an' hatred thereby," he -drawled. "An' I bet a dollar I'll hate harder 'n the both of yuh put -t'gether. Wanta bet?"</p> - -<p>The two ignored him and set about cooking their dinner, knowing that -Butch would kill the man who made a hostile motion.</p> - -<p>"Lessee. This is the first time you've had a fire sence you been down -here," Butch observed pleasantly. "I'd a dropped in awn yuh b'fore, -but it looked like purty slim pickin's. Then this mornin' I heard -Bob say chicken, so I plumb knowed you was goin' to have comp'ny fer -dinner."</p> - -<p>"Say-ay," drawled Bob, after further small talk of the sort, "I'd -ruther be shot than talked t' death, Butch."</p> - -<p>"Yeah—but I'd ruther talk," Butch grinned. "Pass over the pepper 'nd -salt, will yuh, Bud?"</p> - -<p>"Certainly," said Bud politely, though his eyes were murderous.</p> - -<p>They ate and were filled, but two of the trio did not enjoy the meal. -Butch persisted in desultory talk, friendly on the surface but with -a sting beneath. Now and then Bob grunted, while Bud relapsed into -absolute silence.</p> - -<p>"Can't figure out no way that'll work, Bud," Butch told him impudently, -when the three were smoking afterwards—Butch performing nonchalantly -the art of rolling and lighting a cigarette almost entirely with one -hand. "Y' see, in the first place, I got yore guns. Y' won't jump me, -so that lets you out. Anyway, I got t' be goin' in a minute. Main -reason I give m'self an invite to supper was t' tell you fellers I'm -shore tickled at the way yo're combin' these canyons. Y' see, I dunno -but what yuh might run onto somethin' way yo're goin' about it, you -shore ain't leavin' no stones unturned.</p> - -<p>"When you've crawled all over these hills, mebbe you'll believe what I -told yuh over to the Fryin' Pan, Bud; that I never got no money over -to Palmer's place. Still, I dunno. Yo're so damn' pig-headed you won't -believe nothin' you don't want to. Well, go ahead an' look. Look yore -damn' eyes out, fer all me. You won't find nothin'. An' don't fergit -I'll be right there, close hand by, all the time. So-long—shore -enjoyed that chicken!"</p> - -<p>While he talked, Butch had backed toward the bushes that grew near. At -the last moment he drew something from his shirt pocket, looked at it, -gave a snort of scornful amusement and tossed the object so that it -fell between Bud's feet. Then he disappeared.</p> - -<p>Bud stooped, picked up the cameo pin and turned it absent-mindedly -in his fingers. His sign of the Golden Arrow. The red blood of youth -crept upward and dyed his cheeks at the thought of the ignominy he -would have suffered had he been obliged to go and confess to Bonnie -Prosser that he had lost her pin; that Butch Cassidy had taken it away -from him! In the pressure of events since that day when he had ridden -blithely across the reservation with the cameo pin worn proudly above -his forehead, he had not thought so much about it. He had fancied -himself invulnerable to the young archer's barbed darts. Now—now he -was suddenly aware of a great hunger, a longing that engulfed even his -hatred for Butch.</p> - -<p>"Hell!" said Bob, thinking of his gun lying at the bottom of the spring.</p> - -<p>"Hunh?" said Bud, thinking that he had time in plenty to ride to -Prosser's ranch before dark.</p> - -<p>"Hell, you damn' fool!" Bob looked at him with his mouth drawn down at -the corners like a child about to cry.</p> - -<p>"Oh, sure," Bud agreed, without having the faintest idea of what had -been said.</p> - -<p>Bob's mouth opened, closed again very slowly. He was staring from Bud's -face to the brooch in Bud's hand, and at the fingers softly caressing -the carved face of the woman.</p> - -<p>"Looks like her," said Bob with much sarcasm.</p> - -<p>"A—a little." Bud's forefinger closed tenderly upon the profile.</p> - -<p>"Say, come out of it!" growled Bob. "What about Butch?"</p> - -<p>"Butch? Why, Butch will get killed if he crosses my trail again. Why?" -Young Bud's eyes turned surprisedly toward Bob.</p> - -<p>"Goin' to keep up the hunt, knowin' he's p'pared to jump us the minute -we find it?"</p> - -<p>"Why, sure! You don't think Butch cuts any figure with me, do you?" -(Plenty of time—and he could get there before dark, if he hurried.)</p> - -<p>"No—'course he don't!" cried a mocking voice somewhere among the rocks.</p> - -<p>Bud started, closed his fingers upon the brooch and turned toward the -voice. The softness had left his eyes, which snapped with their old -fire.</p> - -<p>"You know it, Butch! You heard what I said." Strange how the flinging -of that cameo pin at his feet brought Bonnie so vividly before him that -even his quarrel with Butch seemed irrelevant, a matter of secondary -importance.</p> - -<p>Now he knew that the illuminating truth had come upon him at the pool -when he picked up his hat and saw that the brooch was gone. It was like -losing Bonnie herself—and of course he had always known, deep in his -heart, that he meant never to lose Bonnie Prosser out of his life; that -some day—but the time of easy assurance was past, and it had taken the -rough hand of Butch Cassidy to tear away the film from his eyes, just -as he had torn the pin from Bud's hat.</p> - -<p>"See you later, Butch!" he called defiantly, and started on a run for -his horse.</p> - -<p>"Yeah—yo're damn' right!" Butch's mocking laughter followed him, -echoed and was flung back again and again from the farther wall of the -canyon.</p> - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_TWENTY-THREE" id="CHAPTER_TWENTY-THREE">CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE</a></h2> - -<h3>"DISARM THE PRISONER!"</h3> - - -<p>"Got your notebook handy, Marge?" Young Bud, looking altogether -different, though not so handsome, in a tailored suit left over from -college, and a new straw hat that gave no excuse for wearing cameo -pins in the brim, crossed the lobby of Fort Benton's best hotel to -where Marge was sitting beside Maw staring out at the shifting crowds -with puckered brows, her thoughts no doubt dwelling upon picturesque -effects. "This is Miss Bonnie Prosser, and I thought you might like to -make a note of the fact that she is the high priestess in the temple -where I worship; the goddess of the Golden Arrow, and—"</p> - -<p>"For the love of Moses, what kinda talk is that, Bud Larkin? Bonnie's -too sweet and pretty a girl to be made fun of right in public, like -this. I been waitin' for a chance to git you two girls acquainted," -cried Maw, from the depths of a leather rocking chair.</p> - -<p>"Why—why—she's <i>exactly</i> like my heroine!" cried Marge, her eyes -dancing with excitement. "I wrote the sweetest love scene just before -we left home—"</p> - -<p>"Too late, too late," crowed Bud, his lips curving into the smile of a -happy boy. "I beat you to it, Marge."</p> - -<p>"Now, hush," drawled Bonnie, in a voice amazingly low and sweet and -vibrant—just the voice one would want to hear from that smooth young -throat and lips formed for laughter. "I'd love to be your heroine, -Miss—may I call you Marge? I've so wanted a girl like you to come into -the range country and give me a sympathetic ear now and then. Ever -since I first heard about you I've been planning to come over and steal -you. We live right next to the reservation, and there's the dearest old -squaw I want you to write up. And I know so many places where I want -to take you. When this trial is over, I want you to come home with me. -We're going to be the best of friends. I always know, the moment I look -at a person. Don't you?"</p> - -<p>"Them girls don't need you, Buddy," Maw shrewdly observed. "Set down -here where I can talk to you. Lean over here. Are you and Bonnie -engaged?"</p> - -<p>"Yes, ma'am," Bud confessed meekly. "Have been, Maw, for almost a -month."</p> - -<p>"Well, I ain't a mite su'prised, and I'm real glad. Set down, can't -you? Let 'em alone till they get acquainted. I want to talk to you -private. Now. What kinda luck did you have, Buddy? Are you goin' to -be able to give that money back to Palmer—or the bank, or whoever it -belongs to?"</p> - -<p>All the joy went out of Bud's face. He shook his head, his lips pressed -tight.</p> - -<p>"Who told you, Maw?"</p> - -<p>"Lark told me. Who else do you think? <i>You</i> wouldn't, I notice. I was -so scared and worried when you stayed out in the hills like you did, -Buddy, that I thought Lark oughta get you out of the country some way. -I thought you was on the dodge for killin' them Palmer men, mebbe. So -Lark told me what it was all about. Butch is in town, did you know it?"</p> - -<p>Bud lifted his shoulders in a gesture of bitter defeat.</p> - -<p>"I didn't know it, but I can't do anything, anyway. I saw Kid, and he -told me he's been watching Butch and he hasn't got a thing on him. -I'm certain Butch did it, but—Maw, there isn't a gopher hole between -Palmer's and the Frying Pan that I haven't searched. Kid claims he -combed the ranch too. If he turned up anything, he's keeping it mighty -quiet—but I don't believe he has, I think Butch has simply outguessed -us."</p> - -<p>"Well, don't you have no trouble with Butch. You didn't bring no gun, -did you, Buddy?"</p> - -<p>"Butch took my gun away from me when he caught me in swimming." His -eyes evaded hers. "You heard about that, I suppose."</p> - -<p>"Yes, I did—and I heard too that Butch give your gun and Lark's rifle -to Kid, and had him send 'em over home. Bob took 'em back down to you, -so you needn't to think you can lie to me, Buddy. Don't you pack that -gun around this town, or you'll get yourself into trouble, sure. You -think what that would mean to Bonnie. I'm real glad she's got some say -in the matter now, Bud. She'll hold you down—I'm sure I can't!"</p> - -<p>"What do you expect me to do if Butch makes a crack at me? Stand and -take it?" Bud's eyes grew stubborn.</p> - -<p>"Butch won't make no crack at you. Kid told Lark he'd had a talk with -Butch, and Butch promised him faithful he'd keep his own side the road. -He ain't goin' to crowd you, Buddy, and you mustn't go glowerin' around -edgin' him up to a fight. Them eyes of yourn git terrible stormy when -you're all wrought up. You think about that nice girl and forget Butch."</p> - -<p>"You dragged me away from two nice girls, Maw, and opened the -disagreeable subject yourself."</p> - -<p>"I know I did, but I was kinda lonesome for you, Bud. I ain't seen -anything of you skurcely since that money was stole. Lark says Palmer's -goin' to hold the bank responsible for it if it ain't returned. Palmer -claims there was six thousand dollars, and he just as good as accused -Delkin of takin' it himself. It'll likely come out at the trial. Lark -says if the bank does have to stand good, he'll pay Delkin himself -ruther than have 'em think—"</p> - -<p>"And admit that Jelly and I took the money! I thought Lark had a little -sense. Maw, if Lark does that, I'll choke the truth out of Butch -Cassidy if I have to do it right under the judge's nose!"</p> - -<p>"Now, now, Buddy, don't you go and git on your high horse again! You -know as well as I do that Lark's soft-hearted as any old woman you ever -saw. He can't bear to have Delkin feel—"</p> - -<p>"Fine way to salve his feelings and sharpen his belief that Jelly and I -are thieves! Where's Lark? I want to have a talk with him."</p> - -<p>Maw stood up and looked around the lobby and sat down again with smug -satisfaction.</p> - -<p>"Lark ain't here. I dunno where he is, Bud. He was talkin' about ridin' -out to some ranch or other to look at some cattle they wanted to sell. -You wait and see how things works out at the trial. I heard some one -sayin' the jury's most all chose, and the show'll commence in the -mornin'. They say that Melrose feller that Palmer's got to keep him -from gittin' hung is a wonder, Buddy. It's kinda s'spicioned around -that he's got a pretty strong defense. I don't see how he can have. Can -you?"</p> - -<p>Bud brought his wandering glance from the two girls sitting in a corner -with their heads together in confidential whisperings. He looked at Maw -and cleared the impatience from his eyes. After all, who was more loyal -than Maw?</p> - -<p>"Palmer has an alibi, you know, and Bat Johnson and Ed White are -conveniently gone where they can't turn State's evidence, even if they -wanted to. A good lawyer can do wonders with a situation like that, -Maw. Where's Lightfoot? He came with you, didn't he?"</p> - -<p>Maw gave a sudden laugh, turned her new teeth sidewise in her mouth -and necessitated some expert manipulations behind her handkerchief.</p> - -<p>"Consarn them teeth! I've a good mind to throw 'em out the window. -Lightfoot got right out of the hack as we was comin' from the depot and -started in drawin' pitchers of that Injun camp up there on the hill. I -wouldn't be a mite su'prised if the sheriff had to go up there after -him when it comes his turn to testify in court. Buddy, you oughta take -him over onto the rese'vation some time. He never seen any Injuns in -Smoky Ford—and I never told him why the Injuns all hate that place -so. Thought I'd leave that to you. There! See that big, fine-lookin' -man comin' across the street, Buddy? That's Palmer's lawyer. They say -the county attorney would give a good deal to know what he's goin' to -spring on 'em to-morrow. Here comes the girls. Ain't they pretty and -sweet? I bet they're up to somethin', the way their eyes is dancin'!"</p> - -<p>Arms twined around each other, schoolgirl fashion, the two girls came -up and perched on either arm of Maw's great upholstered chair. That -buried Maw from sight of everything, so they laughed and accepted the -chairs Bud was placing for them. Bonnie leaned forward, took one of -Maw's tiny hands in her own and patted it.</p> - -<p>"What shall be done to punish a young man who tells lies to an innocent -young lady from the East?" she asked gravely. "I have just heard some -awful whoppers which a certain person told Marge. And Marge," she said -impressively, "is my best friend. I have heard about the Iowa frogs -and—"</p> - -<p>"I surrender." Bud interrupted her and threw both hands in the air.</p> - -<p>Maw gave him a quick look, sucked in her teeth apprehensively as if she -were afraid of losing them into her lap, and glanced at Bonnie's hand -that had one finger extended and pointing like a gun at Bud.</p> - -<p>"Yes, disarm the prisoner, Maw," said Bonnie. "I've got the drop."</p> - -<p>Maw reached out and got the gun tucked inside Bud's waistband, where it -had been hidden from sight; looked at it, blinking tears from her round -eyes, and shoved it down beside her in the big chair.</p> - -<p>"You may take down your arms and march ahead of us to that drug store -on the corner. Two maidens in distress want lemon soda. Will you come, -Maw?"</p> - -<p>"No," said Maw in a voice that shook perceptibly, "I don't believe I -will. You childern run along and—and have a good time!"</p> - -<p>"Listen, Maw. We'll bring you some—some—" Bonnie leaned and -whispered in Maw's ear.</p> - -<p>"Yes—yes—all right—yes-s—" Maw's hand closed convulsively over the -gun.</p> - -<p>"And thank the good Lord for that!" Maw breathed fervently, while she -watched the three cross the street. "My, my, what turrible liars men do -make of us women—keepin' 'em outa trouble." She got up, looked shyly -around to see if any there observed her deformity, and waddled away to -her room, the gun hidden in a fold of her skirt.</p> - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_TWENTY-FOUR" id="CHAPTER_TWENTY-FOUR">CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR</a></h2> - -<h3>SNOWBALL TESTIFIES</h3> - - -<p>"My, my, are you getting all this down in shorthand?" Maw leaned over -and whispered to Marge—being of course obliged to look up, as a child -must do.</p> - -<p>"No," Marge whispered back, "it's too tiresome. I'm only making a few -notes of funny people here. The trial itself is commonplace; hopelessly -commonplace. I never saw such a tame crowd—and to think it's right in -the West!"</p> - -<p>"Tame, did you say?" Bonnie, on the other side, had caught the word. -"I wonder what you're used to, Marge." She glanced across to where -Butch Cassidy stood leaning against the wall with his hat dangling from -his left hand, his arms folded—with his right hand hidden, Bonnie -observed—and she smiled to herself.</p> - -<p>Those tame persons most concerned did not consider the trial a -commonplace affair. Palmer's lawyer was earning his money, and -Palmer had reached the point where he could lean back in his chair -and look the jurymen in the eye—though a close observer would have -noticed that he avoided the judge's cold gaze. It had been proven -beyond a doubt that Palmer had no visible connection with the murder -and robbery. The facts so far as known were in his favor, and his -testimony, given calmly under the adroit questioning of his counsel, -brought to the attention of the jury many points which, though ruled -out after sputters of argument between the lawyers, nevertheless -carried their weight, just as was intended. Melrose was a clever man.</p> - -<p>For instance, Palmer was not stopped before he had stated that he knew -nothing whatever of the bank money being hidden on the ledge in his -pasture. He had chosen to use a certain secluded niche in the rocks -as a natural safe, he said. He had never placed much confidence in -Delkin's bank and did not like to keep his last cent there. Something -might happen. He had stored away six thousand dollars in powder kegs, -just in case of need. He had not visited the place for a month. No, he -did not go often to see if his money was safe. Nothing could bother it -unless some one stole it, and he had felt sure that no one knew of the -hiding place.</p> - -<p>Yes, he understood that the bank's money and papers had been found -there. He could not account for that, except that Bat Johnson and Ed -White had discovered the place and had hidden the money there because -it was the safest spot they could find. Well, although he had trusted -them, he guessed if they knew he had six thousand dollars hidden away -in there his life wouldn't be any too safe. He had no theory, except -that if they were in a hurry they could have overlooked his money -sacks. He admitted that was unlikely, and repeated that he believed he -would have been killed if he had gone there before they removed the -money.</p> - -<p>Yes, he had been told that the money—his money—was gone. He thought -that those who took away the bank money should be held responsible -for his six thousand dollars. They may not have taken it, but they -certainly knew it was there, whereas he had no idea that the bank's -money had been secreted on his ranch in the very place where he had -stored money of his own.</p> - -<p>About the boat he was equally outspoken. The men had built a boat in -which to cross the river, where there was a little feed and where stock -occasionally drifted in to graze. Sometimes they mired in the mud while -trying to drink; when the river was low that often happened. They had -built the boat so that they could cross the river and haul out mired -stock. He had never dreamed that it might be used for a more sinister -purpose, but he could see how that would be possible without his -knowledge or approval.</p> - -<p>On cross-examination he named approximately the date of his last visit -to the ledge. He had decided to store away six thousand dollars as a -nest egg that could tide him over if hard times came upon him. The last -time he had gone there was in the middle of June, when he had taken -five hundred dollars in gold and put it away with the rest. That amount -just rounded out his six thousand, he said. There had been no occasion -to go there after that.</p> - -<p>"Ain't that old pelican the damnedest liar you ever seen, Bud?" Gelle -whispered behind his hand—they having given their testimony and been -dismissed. "Gilt-edged, though. He'll git away with it."</p> - -<p>Bud nodded gloomily. He had been watching Butch Cassidy and wishing -hotly that he had a gun. It began to look as though Butch was going to -get away with something—ride off scot-free and leave a smirch on the -good name of the Meadowlark that, in the minds of the Smoky Ford bank's -officers, would be harder to erase than Macbeth's haunting blood stain.</p> - -<p>Butch glanced at the two, his light eyes narrowing under frowning -brows. It was evident that Butch also had something on his mind. -Beside him Kid Kern leaned against the wall, careless on the surface, -but never missing a look or a movement anywhere, and paying especial -attention to Butch and Bud.</p> - -<p>"Gosh!" Gelle ejaculated under his breath. "Pore old Snowball's goin' -to be pumped dry now—and he don't know a darned thing about nothin'."</p> - -<p>"Character witness, maybe," Bud made ironical reply.</p> - -<p>"It'll be a pippin," Gelle predicted. "Snowball don't know nothin' good -about that old coot."</p> - -<p>Sam rolled his eyes in mental anguish, probably imagining that he -himself was being accused of something. He stuttered and didn't know -anything he was expected to know. He was palpably terrified, and -whenever he caught Palmer's eyes upon him he shrank pitiably in his -chair. And then, mercifully, his wild eyes strayed to Gelle's face and -clung there as to his savior. He blinked, swallowed twice, gripped the -chair arms and began to talk—to his beloved "Mist' Meddalahk", who had -given him human sympathy and a dollar. A question or two he answered -intelligibly. Then, abruptly, his tongue-tied fear dropped from him.</p> - -<p>"Yessuh, yessuh, Ah doan' know nuthin' 'bout no doin's mah boss he been -up to. Boss, he want his dinnah awn time—dass all ole Sam consuhmed -about.</p> - -<p>"But one mawnin', 'long about noon, heah come dem Meddalahk boys -ridin' and shootin'. Yessuh, Ah 'member what tooken place awn dat -day. Considubble, suh, happens right 'long 'bout dat same time. Mist' -Meddalahk, he come ridin' along, aftuh boss he go awn to town. Yessuh, -boys dey calls 'im Jelly, but Ah doan' see nothin' respeckful 'bout -names lak dat. Ah calls 'im Mist' Meddalahk, an' we talks along an' -talks along, 'bout one thing an' anuthah—yessuh.</p> - -<p>"Mist' Jedge, suh, Ah got somethin' awn mah min' don' consuhn yo'all. -Ah been hearin' little sum'fin now an' ag'in 'bout some money what -come up missin', and 'pears lak some gemmen, dey 'clined to think mah -frien', Mist' Meddalahk ovah theah, he done mebby <i>took</i> dat money. Ah -doan' rightly know jes' how dat come about, Mist' Jedge, suh, but Ah'd -lak fo' to tell yo'all—"</p> - -<p>"I object, your honor, on the ground that the witness is taking up -valuable time to no purpose," cried Palmer's counsel, springing to his -feet. "Your honor, this witness is incompetent—"</p> - -<p>"This witness is trying to tell what he knows about some missing -money," the judge rebuked. "Objection overruled. Go on, Sam. Tell us -all about it. Plenty of time, so long as we get the truth."</p> - -<p>"Yessuh, Mist' Jedge, dat what Ah'm comin' to right now. Mist' Jedge, -it come about 'count of ole Blinkah. He go wand'in' off an' Ah hunts -him up, 'cause sometime he jes' go to sleep 'mos' anywhere. Mist' -Meddalahk, he bin gone fuh some time, an' Blinkah, he gone fuh some -time, and Ah jes' starts off lookin' fuh Blinkah. Yessuh, Mist' Jedge, -Ah'm lookin' for Blinkah.</p> - -<p>"Time Ah gits down pas' de stable, Mist' Jedge, I seen fo', five men -walkin' crost cow paschuh. Mist' Meddalahk, he's one, Mist' Delkin, -he's one, Mist' Bud, he's one—looks lak mebby Blinkah he down thah -an' mebby sick uh somepin'. So Ah goes awn down, Mist' Jedge, an'—an' -awnes', Mist' Jedge, Ah doan' mean no hahm!</p> - -<p>"Ah goes along in some bushes, lak, an' Ah watches t' see what all's -takin' place, 'cause if it's Blinkah an' he's daid, ole Sam he ain't -gwine be dah—no, suh! So, Jedge, 'clah to goodness, dem white folks -dey diggin' aroun' an' talkin' 'bout <i>money</i>. Ah crope along, an' -crope along, but Ah doan' see all dat money—no, suh. Ah waits, an' dey -pack off all dey wants, an' Mist' Delkin, he say he leave wha's left.</p> - -<p>"Mist' Jedge, Ah been luhned not to wast <i>nothin'</i>. Boss, he mighty -p'tic'lah 'bout wastin' <i>nothin'</i>. Dey takes all dey wants, Jedge, and -den Ah goes an' looks, and 'clah t' goodness, Ah seen <i>gol'</i> money lef' -right dah! Mus' be fo' five dollahs. Ah—Ah tuk it, Mist' Jedge. Ah got -it in mah baid, upstairs. Cawdin' t' what Ah huhd, Mist' Jedge, dat -money consuhms mah friend, Mist' Meddalahk."</p> - -<p>"Whoo-<i>eee</i>!" yipped Gelle, before he could stop himself, and caught -the stern yet understanding eye of the judge and subsided, red to -collar and hair line.</p> - -<p>"That's the first dramatic moment I've seen since I came West," Marge -confided to Bonnie, who was biting her under lip and staring straight -before her, to where Bud's head had lifted and turned, his eyes seeking -hers. Bonnie's eyes were bright and her lashes were wet, and she did -not hear a word of what Marge was saying.</p> - -<p>The sheriff was mumbling that there would be a recess of ten minutes. -Bonnie stood up, helping Maw into the aisle. She was going to Bud. It -was almost as if Bud had been cleared of some criminal charge—as if he -had been the prisoner before the bar. But when she had taken a step or -two down the aisle, Bonnie stopped, a queer little sound in her throat -that may have been a laugh or a sob, or both. She turned and caught Maw -by the arms and lifted.</p> - -<p>"Stand on the seat, Maw, and look over there! He's going straight to -Butch—to beg his pardon. Oh, isn't that the most splendid thing you -ever saw?"</p> - -<p>Maw, up on the seat, looked in the wrong direction and never knew it, -because her eyes were so full of tears she could not have seen Bud -anyway.</p> - -<p>"Yes, it's grand," she quavered. "Larkie and Bud are good boys—"</p> - -<p>"Say, Maw," Lark leaned over her shoulder to shout, "that coon's goin' -to spend the rest of his days at the Meddalark and help you cook. Darn -his black hide—and Butch too. He ast me fer a job and I turned him -down cold. Lemme past, will yuh, Bonnie? I want to ketch him b'fore he -gits outside. My Jonah, about the worst thing can happen a feller is to -be accused of somethin' he ain't guilty of. Hey, Butch! Butch! Bud! You -'n' Butch come awn over here! These wimmin has got me penned up here -like a pet calf!"</p> - -<p>"Moses, what a jam!" quaked Maw, when a dozen persons in her immediate -vicinity began milling aimlessly in the aisle. "Larkie, I just hope -Palmer gits let out. I don't believe any man on earth would lie like -that under oath and all, and if he was tellin' the truth, he ain't no -more guilty than I be."</p> - -<p>"I don't think he is guilty at all," Marge complained. "I came clear up -here to see a man sentenced to be hanged by the neck—oh, where? That -handsome fellow over there? Lynched! Was he really? I wonder if some -one can introduce him to me. Lark, will you—"</p> - -<p>"Oh, Maw," cried Lark into the babel, "we got a new lark to set and -chirp on our bough. Butch is goin' to start in quick as we git back."</p> - -<p>"I'm real glad," said Maw, grinning vacantly with her teeth comfortably -reposing in her pocket. "I wisht, Larkie, you could find somethin' -for that poor old Blinker to do. Seems a shame—they say Palmer's -bargainin' already t' sell out an' leave the country quick as they let -him go—"</p> - -<p>"Well," young Bud's voice rose cheerfully above the clamor, "Butch, you -and I will have to go swimming first chance we get. How about it?"</p> - -<p>"Gosh, let's <i>all</i> go," cried Gelle exuberantly.</p> - -<p>"Me, I'll take mine in good ole Metropole," Bob pushed up and confided -in Gelle's ear. "They say it's a cinch, now, that Palmer'll be cleared. -Guess the old coot's got it comin'."</p> - -<p>"Well, I'm real glad," Maw repeated. "It would be awful, wouldn't it, -to think little Skookum's grandpa was a murderer? I guess they's good -in all of us if it only gets a chance."</p> - -<p>"Come on, girls—and that means you, too, Maw. It's all over now but -the shouting, and I'm too dry to shout. Let's round up Lightfoot, and -all go hunt that drug store. What do you say?"</p> - -<p>"I say that means you want to get Bonnie out of here," Marge retorted. -"I'd rather go with the other boys and Maw. I want to ask Butch a lot -of questions, anyway."</p> - -<p>"Ask me, little pilgress, why don't you? I could answer more questions -a minute—if you asked 'em—than you could ask Butch in a year."</p> - -<p>"Oh, all right. I don't think Butch heard me, anyway. Come on, Maw."</p> - -<p>At the steps, Bud and Bonnie looked back and saw them coming; smiled -and nodded, caught a warning scowl from Gelle and decided they would -not wait.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p class="ph1"><i>"The Books You Like to Read at the Price You Like to Pay"</i></p> - -<p class="ph1"><i>There Are Two Sides to Everything—</i></p> - -<p>—including the wrapper which covers every Grosset & Dunlap book. -When you feel in the mood for a good romance, refer to the carefully -selected list of modern fiction comprising most of the successes by -prominent writers of the day which is printed on the back of every -Grosset & Dunlap book wrapper.</p> - -<p class="ph1">You will find more than five hundred titles to choose from—books for -every mood and every taste and every pocketbook.</p> - -<p class="ph1"><i>Don't forget the other side, but in case the wrapper is lost, write to -the publishers for a complete catalog.</i></p> - -<p class="ph1"><i>There is a Grosset & Dunlap Book for every mood and for every taste</i></p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p class="ph1">B. M. BOWER'S NOVELS</p> - -<p class="ph1">May be had wherever books are sold. Ask for Grosset and Dunlap's list.</p> - - -<p class="ph1"><i>DESERT BREW</i><br /> -<i>BELLEHELEN MINE, THE</i><br /> -<i>THE EAGLE'S WING</i><br /> -<i>THE PAROWAN BONANZA</i><br /> -<i>THE VOICE AT JOHNNYWATER</i><br /> -<i>CASEY RYAN</i><br /> -<i>CHIP OF THE FLYING U</i><br /> -<i>FLYING U RANCH</i><br /> -<i>FLYING U'S LAST STAND, THE</i><br /> -<i>HAPPY FAMILY, THE</i><br /> -<i>HER PRAIRIE KNIGHT</i><br /> -<i>LONG SHADOW, THE</i><br /> -<i>LONESOME TRAIL, THE</i><br /> -<i>LOOKOUT MAN, THE</i><br /> -<i>LURE OF THE DIM TRAILS, THE</i><br /> -<i>PHANTOM HERD, THE</i><br /> -<i>RANGE DWELLERS, THE</i><br /> -<i>RIM O' THE WORLD</i><br /> -<i>STARR OF THE DESERT</i><br /> -<i>TRAIL OF THE WHITE MULE, THE</i><br /> -<i>UPHILL CLIMB, THE</i></p> - - -<p class="ph1">GROSSET & DUNLAP, <i>Publishers</i>, NEW YORK</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p class="ph1">RAFAEL SABATINI'S NOVELS</p> - -<p class="ph1">May be had wherever books are sold. Ask for Grosset and Dunlap's list.</p> - - -<p>Jesi, a diminutive city of the Italian Marches, was the birthplace -of Rafael Sabatini, and here he spent his early youth. The city is -glamorous with those centuries the author makes live again in his -novels with all their violence and beauty.</p> - -<p>Mr. Sabatini first went to school in Switzerland and from there to -Lycee of Oporto, Portugal, and like Joseph Conrad, he has never -attended an English school. But English is hardly an adopted language -for him, as he learned it from his mother, an English woman who married -the Maestro-Cavaliere Vincenzo Sabatini.</p> - -<p>Today Rafael Sabatini is regarded as "The Alexandre Dumas of Modern -Fiction."</p> - - -<p class="ph1"><i>MISTRESS WILDING</i></p> - -<p>A romance of the days of Monmouth's rebellion. The action is rapid, its -style is spirited, and its plot is convincing.</p> - - -<p class="ph1"><i>FORTUNE'S FOOL</i></p> - -<p>All who enjoyed the lurid lights of the French Revolution with -Scaramouche, or the brilliant buccaneering days of Peter Blood, or the -adventures of the Sea-Hawk, the corsair, will now welcome with delight -a turn in Restoration London with the always masterful Col. Randall -Holles.</p> - - -<p class="ph1"><i>BARDELYS THE MAGNIFICENT</i></p> - -<p>An absorbing story of love and adventure in France of the early -seventeenth century.</p> - - -<p class="ph1"><i>THE SNARE</i></p> - -<p>It is a story in which fact and fiction are delightfully blended and -one that is entertaining in high degree from first to last.</p> - - -<p class="ph1"><i>CAPTAIN BLOOD</i></p> - -<p>The story has glamor and beauty, and it is told with an easy -confidence. As for Blood himself, he is a superman, compounded of a -sardonic humor, cold nerves, and hot temper. Both the story and the man -are masterpieces, A great figure, a great epoch, a great story.</p> - - -<p class="ph1"><i>THE SEA-HAWK</i></p> - -<p>"The Sea-Hawk" is a book of fierce bright color and amazing adventure -through which stalks one of the truly great and masterful figures of -romance.</p> - - -<p class="ph1"><i>SCARAMOUCHE</i></p> - -<p>Never will the reader forget the sardonic Scaramouche, who fights -equally well with tongue and rapier, who was "born with the gift of -laughter and a sense that the world was mad."</p> - - -<p class="ph1">GROSSET & DUNLAP, <i>Publishers</i>, NEW YORK</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p class="ph1">DETECTIVE STORIES BY J. S. FLETCHER</p> - -<p class="ph1">May be had wherever books are sold. Ask for Grosset & Dunlap's list.</p> - -<p class="ph1"><i>THE WOLVES AND THE LAMB</i><br /> -<i>GREEN INK</i><br /> -<i>THE KING versus WARGRAVE</i><br /> -<i>THE LOST MR. LINTHWAITE</i><br /> -<i>THE MILL OF MANY WINDOWS</i><br /> -<i>THE HEAVEN-KISSED HILL</i><br /> -<i>THE MIDDLE TEMPLE MURDER</i><br /> -<i>RAVENSDENE COURT</i><br /> -<i>THE RAYNER-SLADE AMALGAMATION</i><br /> -<i>THE SAFETY PIN</i><br /> -<i>THE SECRET WAY</i><br /> -<i>THE VALLEY OF HEADSTRONG MEN</i></p> - - -<p class="ph1"><i>Ask for Complete free list of G. & D. Popular Copyrighted Fiction</i></p> - -<p class="ph1">GROSSET & DUNLAP, <i>Publishers</i>, NEW YORK</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p class="ph1">CHARLES ALDEN SELTZER'S<br /> -WESTERN NOVELS</p> - -<p class="ph1">May be had wherever books are sold. Ask for Grosset and Dunlap's list.</p> - - -<p class="ph1"><i>THE WAY OF THE BUFFALO</i></p> - -<p>Jim Cameron builds a railroad adjacent to Ballantine's property, even -though Ballantine threatens to kill him the day he runs it.</p> - - -<p class="ph1"><i>BRASS COMMANDMENTS</i></p> - -<p>Stephen Lannon writes six commandments over six loaded cartridges set -out where the evil men who threaten him and the girl he loves, may see -them.</p> - - -<p class="ph1"><i>WEST!</i></p> - -<p>When Josephine Hamilton went West to visit Betty, she met "Satan" -Lattimer, ruthless, handsome, fascinating, who taught her some things.</p> - - -<p class="ph1"><i>SQUARE DEAL SANDERSON</i></p> - -<p>Square Deal Sanderson rode onto the Double A just as an innocent man -was about to be hanged and Mary Bransford was in danger of losing her -property.</p> - - -<p class="ph1"><i>"BEAU" RAND</i></p> - -<p>Bristling with quick, decisive action, and absorbing in its love theme, -"Beau" Rand, mirrors the West of the hold-up days in remarkable fashion.</p> - - -<p class="ph1"><i>THE BOSS OF THE LAZY Y</i></p> - -<p>Calumet Marston, daredevil, returns to his father's ranch to find it -is being run by a young woman who remains in charge until he accepts -sundry conditions.</p> - - -<p class="ph1"><i>"DRAG" HARLAN</i></p> - -<p>Harlan establishes himself as the protector of Barbara Morgan and deals -out punishment to the girl's enemies through the lightning flash of -drawn guns.</p> - - -<p class="ph1"><i>THE TRAIL HORDE</i></p> - -<p>How Kane Lawler fought the powerful interests that were trying to crush -him and Ruth Hamlin, the woman he loved, makes intensely interesting -reading.</p> - - -<p class="ph1"><i>THE RANCHMAN</i></p> - -<p>The story of a two-fisted product of the west, pitted against a -rascally spoilsman, who sought to get control of Marion Harlan and her -ranch.</p> - - -<p class="ph1"><i>"FIREBRAND" TREVISON</i></p> - -<p>The encroachment of the railroad brought Rosalind Benbam—and also -results in a clash between Corrigan and "Firebrand" that ends when the -better man wins.</p> - - -<p class="ph1"><i>THE RANGE BOSS</i></p> - -<p>Ruth Harkness comes West to the ranch her uncle left her. Rex -Randerson, her range boss, rescues her from a mired buckboard, and is -in love with her from that moment on.</p> - - -<p class="ph1"><i>THE VENGEANCE OF JEFFERSON GAWNE</i></p> - -<p>A story of the Southwest that tells how the law came to a cow-town, -dominated by a cattle thief. There is a wonderful girl too, who wins -the love of Jefferson Gawne.</p> - - -<p class="ph1">GROSSET & DUNLAP, <span class="smcap">Publishers</span>, NEW YORK</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p class="ph1">THE NOVELS OF TEMPLE BAILEY</p> - -<p class="ph1">May be had wherever books are sold. Ask for Grosset & Dunlap's list.</p> - - -<p>"Although my ancestry is all of New England, I was born in the old town -of Petersburg, Virginia. I went later to Richmond and finally at the -age of five to Washington, D.C., returning to Richmond for a few years -in a girl's school, which was picturesquely quartered in General Lee's -mansion.</p> - - -<p class="ph1"><i>PEACOCK FEATHERS</i></p> - -<p>The eternal conflict between wealth and love. Jerry, the idealist who -is poor, loves Mimi, a beautiful, spoiled society girl.</p> - - -<p class="ph1"><i>THE DIM LANTERN</i></p> - -<p>The romance of little Jane Barnes who is loved by two men.</p> - - -<p class="ph1"><i>THE GAY COCKADE</i></p> - -<p>Unusual short stories where Miss Bailey shows her keen knowledge of -character and environment, and how romance comes to different people.</p> - - -<p class="ph1"><i>THE TRUMPETER SWAN</i></p> - -<p>Randy Paine comes back from France to the monotony of every-day -affairs. But the girl he loves shows him the beauty in the common-place.</p> - - -<p class="ph1"><i>THE TIN SOLDIER</i></p> - -<p>A man who wishes to serve his country, but is bound by a tie he -cannot in honor break—that's Derry. A girl who loves him, shares his -humiliation and helps him to win—that's Jean. Their love is the story.</p> - - -<p class="ph1"><i>MISTRESS ANNE</i></p> - -<p>A girl in Maryland teaches school, and believes that work is worthy -service. Two men come to the little community; one is weak, the other -strong, and both need Anne.</p> - - -<p class="ph1"><i>CONTRARY MARY</i></p> - -<p>An old-fashioned love story that is nevertheless modern.</p> - - -<p class="ph1"><i>GLORY OF YOUTH</i></p> - -<p>A novel that deals with a question, old and yet ever new—how far -should an engagement of marriage bind two persons who discover they no -longer love.</p> - - -<p class="ph1"><span class="smcap">Grosset & Dunlap</span>, <span class="smcap">Publishers</span>, <span class="smcap">New York</span></p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p class="ph1">EMERSON HOUGH'S NOVELS</p> - -<p class="ph1">May be had wherever books are sold. Ask for Grosset and Dunlap's list.</p> - - -<p class="ph1"><i>THE COVERED WAGON</i><br /> -<i>NORTH OF 36</i><br /> -<i>THE WAY OF A MAN</i><br /> -<i>THE STORY OF THE OUTLAW</i><br /> -<i>THE SAGEBRUSHER</i><br /> -<i>THE GIRL AT THE HALFWAY HOUSE</i><br /> -<i>THE WAY OUT</i><br /> -<i>THE MAN NEXT DOOR</i><br /> -<i>THE MAGNIFICENT ADVENTURE</i><br /> -<i>THE BROKEN GATE</i><br /> -<i>THE STORY OF THE COWBOY</i><br /> -<i>THE WAY TO THE WEST</i><br /> -<i>54-40 OR FIGHT</i><br /> -<i>HEART'S DESIRE</i><br /> -<i>THE MISSISSIPPI BUBBLE</i><br /> -<i>THE PURCHASE PRICE</i></p> - - -<p class="ph1">GROSSET & DUNLAP, <span class="smcap">Publishers</span>, NEW YORK</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p class="ph1">JACKSON GREGORY'S NOVELS</p> - -<p class="ph1">May be had wherever books are sold. Ask for Grosset & Dunlap's list.</p> - - -<p class="ph1"><i>THE MAID OF THE MOUNTAIN</i></p> - -<p>A thrilling story, centering about a lovely and original girl who -flees to the mountains to avoid an obnoxious suitor—and finds herself -suspected of murder.</p> - - -<p class="ph1"><i>DAUGHTER OF THE SUN</i></p> - -<p>A tale of Aztec treasure—of American adventurers who seek it—of -Zoraida, who hides it.</p> - - -<p class="ph1"><i>TIMBER-WOLF</i></p> - -<p>This is a story of action and of the wide open, dominated always by the -heroic figure of Timber-Wolf.</p> - - -<p class="ph1"><i>THE EVERLASTING WHISPER</i></p> - -<p>The story of a strong man's struggle against savage nature and -humanity, and of a beautiful girl's regeneration from a spoiled child -of wealth into a courageous strong-willed woman.</p> - - -<p class="ph1"><i>DESERT VALLEY</i></p> - -<p>A college professor sets out with his daughter to find gold. They meet -a rancher who loses his heart, and becomes involved in a feud.</p> - - -<p class="ph1"><i>MAN TO MAN</i></p> - -<p>How Steve won his game and the girl he loved, is a story filled with -breathless situations.</p> - - -<p class="ph1"><i>THE BELLS OF SAN JUAN</i></p> - -<p>Dr. Virginia Page is forced to go with the sheriff on a night journey -into the strongholds of a lawless band.</p> - - -<p class="ph1"><i>JUDITH OF BLUE LAKE RANCH</i></p> - -<p>Judith Sanford part owner of a cattle ranch realizes she is being -robbed by her foreman. With the help of Bud Lee, she checkmates -Trevor's scheme.</p> - - -<p class="ph1"><i>THE SHORT CUT</i></p> - -<p>Wayne is suspected of killing his brother after a quarrel. Financial -complications, a horse-race and beautiful Wanda, make up a thrilling -romance.</p> - - -<p class="ph1"><i>THE JOYOUS TROUBLE MAKER</i></p> - -<p>A reporter sets up housekeeping close to Beatrice's Ranch much to her -chagrin. There is "another man" who complicates matters.</p> - - -<p class="ph1"><i>SIX FEET FOUR</i></p> - -<p>Beatrice Waverly is robbed of $5,000 and suspicion fastens upon Buck -Thornton, but she soon realizes he is not guilty.</p> - - -<p class="ph1"><i>WOLF BREED</i></p> - -<p>No Luck Drennan, a woman hater and sharp of tongue, finds a match in -Ygerne whose clever fencing wins the admiration and love of the "Lone -Wolf."</p> - - -<p class="ph1">GROSSET & DUNLAP, <i>Publishers</i>, NEW YORK</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p class="ph1">PETER B. KYNE'S NOVELS</p> - -<p class="ph1">May be had wherever books are sold. Ask for Grosset and Dunlap's list.</p> - - -<p class="ph1"><i>THE ENCHANTED HILL</i></p> - -<p>A gorgeous story with a thrilling mystery and a beautiful girl.</p> - - -<p class="ph1"><i>NEVER THE TWAIN SHALL MEET</i></p> - -<p>A romance of California and the South Seas.</p> - - -<p class="ph1"><i>CAPPY RICKS RETIRES</i></p> - -<p>Cappy retires, but the romance of the sea and business, keep calling -him back, and he comes back strong.</p> - - -<p class="ph1"><i>THE PRIDE OF PALOMAR</i></p> - -<p>When two strong men clash and the under-dog has Irish blood in his -veins—there's a tale that Kyne can tell!</p> - - -<p class="ph1"><i>KINDRED OF THE DUST</i></p> - -<p>Donald McKay, son of Hector McKay, millionaire lumber king, falls in -love with "Nan of the sawdust pile," a charming girl who has been -ostracized by her townsfolk.</p> - - -<p class="ph1"><i>THE VALLEY OF THE GIANTS</i></p> - -<p>The fight of the Cardigans, father and son, to hold the Valley of the -Giants against treachery.</p> - - -<p class="ph1"><i>CAPPY RICKS</i></p> - -<p>Cappy Ricks gave Matt Peasley the acid test because he knew it was good -for his soul.</p> - - -<p class="ph1"><i>WEBSTER: MAN'S MAN</i></p> - -<p>A man and a woman hailing from the "States," met up with a revolution -while in Central America. Adventures and excitement came so thick and -fast that their love affair had to wait for a lull in the game.</p> - - -<p class="ph1"><i>CAPTAIN SCRAGGS</i></p> - -<p>This sea yarn recounts the adventures of three rapscallion sea-faring -men.</p> - - -<p class="ph1"><i>THE LONG CHANCE</i></p> - -<p>Harley P. Hennage is the best gambler, the best and worst man of San -Pasqual and of lovely Donna.</p> - - -<p class="ph1">GROSSET & DUNLAP, <span class="smcap">Publishers</span>, NEW YORK</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p class="ph1">EDGAR RICE BURROUGHS' NOVELS</p> - -<p class="ph1">May be had wherever books are sold. Ask for Grosset and Dunlap's list.</p> - - -<p class="ph1"><i>BANDIT OF HELL'S BEND, THE</i><br /> -<i>CAVE GIRL, THE</i><br /> -<i>LAND THAT TIME FORGOT, THE</i><br /> -<i>TARZAN AND THE ANT MEN</i><br /> -<i>TARZAN AND THE GOLDEN LION</i><br /> -<i>TARZAN THE TERRIBLE</i><br /> -<i>TARZAN THE UNTAMED</i><br /> -<i>JUNGLE TALES OF TARZAN</i><br /> -<i>AT THE EARTH'S CORE</i><br /> -<i>THE MUCKER</i><br /> -<i>A PRINCESS OF MARS</i><br /> -<i>THE GODS OF MARS</i><br /> -<i>THE WARLORD OF MARS</i><br /> -<i>THUVIA, MAID OF MARS</i><br /> -<i>THE CHESSMEN OF MARS</i></p> - - -<p class="ph1">GROSSET & DUNLAP, <span class="smcap">Publishers</span>, NEW YORK</p> - - -<div style='display:block; margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MEADOWLARK BASIN ***</div> -<div style='text-align:left'> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will -be renamed. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law 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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