Oliver Strange - Sudden Westerns 01 - The Range Robbers(1930) (23 page)

 
          
“Well,
well, what yu got to tell us, Green?’ asked Simon.

 
          
The
cowboy gave a bald account of the day’s discoveries, and watched the faces of
the visitors as he did so, but could see nothing more than a polite interest on
either of them. His employer was plainly pleased.

 
          
“Yu
didn’t recognise them two fellers?’

 
          
“No, but they looked like Greasers, an’ they could shoot.’

      
 
“Well, if yu set ‘em afoot they won’t get them
cows shifted without help. ‘Course, mebbe they got other hosses, or there’s
more than just the pair of ‘em.’

 
          
“If
there’d been more they’d ‘a’ come pilin’ at the first shot,’ Green pointed out.

 
          
“That’s
so,’ agreed the cattleman. “Reckon yo’re tired?’

      
 
“Not so as yu’d notice it,’ smiled the cowboy.

 
          
“Good
for yu,’ said the Old Man. “Blaynes is out on the range somewheres. Get another
hoss, pick up any o’ the boys yu can find an’ hump it to the Frying Pan. It’s
Job’s business this time, but
it’s
ourn too an’ we got
to help him. Yu didn’t see any o’ our cows, I s’pose?’

 
          
Green
shook his head. “Hadn’t time to look over the herd, but I fancy they were all
Frying Pan.’

 
          
As
he swung into the saddle, Seth Laban rose from his chair. ‘I reckon I must be
goin’ too,’ he said.

 
          
“Why,
Seth, what’s yore hurry?’ asked Tarman.

 
          
“Yu
know I got a date with Rayne,’ replied Laban. “I told yu comin’ up I couldn’t
stay.’

 
          
“So
yu did, Seth; I done forgot it,’ agreed his friend.

 
          
When
Laban had taken his leave the big man turned to his host and remarked casually,
“That chap Green ‘pears to be a pretty capable proposition. Handy with his
weapons too, judging by the way he got that boy o’ yores away from the
marshal.’

 
          
“Never
seen
him
fire a shot but I should say he ain’t no
novice,’ Simon replied.

 
          
“Was
it a fair fight, Mr. Tarman?’ inquired Noreen.

 
          
“Well,
it was an even break, an’ I told the marshal so, but it was forced on the dead
man; the Y Z boys meant to get him, an’ came there a-purpose. I should say
Green framed it up, an’ he certainly got away with it. Funny, as I was sayin’
to Seth, I believe I’ve seen him somewhere an’ can’t just fix him, but I’ll bet
a stack he’s more gunman than cowboy.’

 
          
“He
knows his work,’ offered the cattleman.

 
          
“Mebbe
so, but if I’m right yu gotta ask yoreself what’s a gunman doin’ around here?’
rejoined Tarman, and having planted this seed of doubt in the minds of his
hearers, he went on to talk of something else.

 
          
When
Green reached the bunkhouse he found Larry lounging on the bench outside. The
young man promptly greeted him, “
How’s
the cow-thief
business?’

 
          
“Not
so brisk as when yu were in it,’ retorted his friend, with a grin. “Yu go get
that four-legged table yu got into the habit o’ callin’ a hoss, an’ drape
yoreself across it; if yu can find any more o’ the boys, fetch ‘em along.’

 
          
“
Huh !
yu
got that job as foreman
a’ready?’ snorted the other. “If I had I’d be handin’ yu yore time,’ smiled
Green. “The Old Man’s orders; get agoin’.’

 
          
But
Larry delayed another minute. “Say, do yu know that the Pretty Lady has been
ridin’ with the Handsome Stranger this afternoon?’ he asked. Green looked at
him and saw that the boy was not joshing. “What are yu goin’ to do about it?’
he inquired.

 
          
“Me?
What’s it gotta do with me?’ asked Larry.

 
          
“Well,
I was wonderin’ that myself,’ replied Green slowly, and left the other to work
it out.

 
          
“Hell’s
bells, can yu beat it?’ muttered the young man, when he realised that he had
been very neatly admonished. “If he ain’t the cussedest…! He gave it up and
went in search of Dirty and Simple, who were somewhere about. When he returned
with them, Green had turned the roan into the corral, transferring the saddle
to his other pony. He explained the situation to them while they were getting
their mounts, and after snatching a hasty meal, they started for the Frying Pan
ranch.

 
          
“Might’ve
took
me in yore shootin’ party,’ reproached Larry,
who, paired with Green, was leading the way.

 
          
“No
place for boys,’
came
the drawling reply.

 
          
“Awright,
grand-pop; yu old moss-heads want to hog all the fun. D’yu
reckon
the marshal will start anythin’?’

 
          
“I
would, in his place,’ Green replied grimly. “I’d start a journey, an’ I’d make
it a long one.’

 
          
For
the greater part of the trip, however, Green was silent. Though he had not
shown it, the knowledge that Noreen had been for a ride with Tarman annoyed
him. He knew that this feeling was quite unwarranted, the girl had a right to
dispose of her own company, and what was more reasonable than that she should
show the visitor over the ranch? Nevertheless, the thought of it made him
profane. Another thing that occupied his mind was the departure of Seth at the
same moment as himself; it might have been just a coincidence but he felt
instinctively that it was not.

 
          
He
was still puzzling over this incident when they reached their destination. In
spite of the darkness they had made good time, though as
Dirty
ruefully remarked, “Supper must be damn near forgotten by now.’ They rode past
the bunkhouse, from which came the tinkle of a banjo and a powerful if
unmelodious chorus.

 
          
“Huh!
Tryin’ to scare off rustlers, I guess,’ commented Simple. “Job must be away or
stone deaf.’

 
          
The
ranch-owner was neither, for he came to the door in answer to Green’s knock. He
carried a lamp in his left hand, the right being hooked in his belt in useful
proximity to his gun.

 
          
“Lo,
boys,’ he greeted, recognising them. “What’s up?’

 
          
Green
explained the reason for their visit and the effect on Leeming was ludicrous—as
Dirty
put it— “It fair set him alight.’
     

       
“Hell’s bells!’ he cried. “That’s the
way things allus happen on this blamed ranch. Here’s Dirk an’ six o’ the boys
away with the trail herd an’ me with half a staff. But we’ll get ‘em, yu bet
yu; we’ll have
them
cows back here an’ hang every damn
thief we find with ‘em. Yu boys will want to hit the way, I reckon?’

 
          
“We’re
aimin’ to come with yu—we can get there by sun-up an’ have a cat-nap on the
way,’ Green replied, adding slyly, “
That
is if yu want
for us to come.’

 
          
“What
the…’ the rancher started tempestuously, and then he caught the twinkle in the
speaker’s eyes and grinned himself. “Yu nearly had me goin’ again, blast yu,’
he said. “Course I’ll be pleased to death to have yore help. Come along to the
bunkhouse an’ stoke up while I get the boys together.’

 
          
Scrambling
into a coat and snatching up a Winchester, Job led the way. At his entrance the
concert ceased abruptly, and Charlie, who was sufficiently recovered to sit up
in his bunk and manipulate his banjo, laid the instrument aside.

 
          
“Hump
yoreselves, boys,’ Leeming cried. “Green here has located our cattle an’ we’re
agoin’ after ‘em. Lucky, yu better stay with Charlie; the other five, with the
Y Z boys, will be enough to turn the nrick.’

 
          
“Oh
hell, boss, I’m fit all right,’ protested Lucky. “An’ I shore owe them fellers
a crack for the one they gave me.’

 
          
“Yore
turn’ll come—we ain’t expectin’ to corral the whole bunch,’ said the boss.
“Somebody’s gotta stay. Where in blazes is that grub I told that blasted cook
to put up?’

 
          
He
bustled about, pouring out torrents of abuse indiscriminately directed at his
own men and the cattle-thieves, and Green was amazed at the manner in which it
was received.

 
          
“Ain’t
he the son of a gun?’ privily remarked Zeb Woods, who as acting foreman in
Dirk’s absence got more than his share. “But durn it, he don’t mean anythin’.
He’d ride from hell an’-all to give any one of us a helpin’ hand, an’ we shore
knows it. How’s Ginger makin’ it?’

 
          
“Doin’
fine, barrin’ the swellin’,’ Green replied.

 
          
“Swellin’?
Why, where he swole?’ asked the puzzled Woods. “In the head,’ said Green,
smiling. “Yu see, Miss Norry is nursin’ him.’

 
          
A
roar of laughter greeted the explanation and Woods joined in. “I’m it,’ he
admitted, “and the drinks are shore on me next time I meet yu in town. Say,
he’ll be havin’ a heart attack too, eh?’

 
          
“Shucks!
He done had that years ago, an’ got over it, same as the rest of us,’
volunteered Dirty.

 
          
A
loud inquiry from the boss as to whether he’d got to wait all night for them
put a period to the conversation, and no more time was lost in starting. Having
a fixed objective, they headed straight across the Y Z range, in a direction
which would leave the Parlour well to their left. For a time they were able to
travel at a fast lope which ate up the miles, but when they left the range-land
and plunged into the wilderness beyond, the pace had to be moderated.

 
          
Nevertheless,
midnight found them little more than an hour’s ride from their destination, and
Leeming decided to rest both men and beasts. A fire was lighted, for the night
air was very keen, the horses were picketed, and the men rolled up in their
blankets and slept the sleep of the healthily-tired. Around them was the black
silence, broken only by the sharp crackle of the burning logs, and the
occasional cry of some wild denizen of the forest abroad on a predatory quest.

 
          
They
were astir again at the first pale gleam of light behind the distant mountains.
Swiftly this deepened and became a roseate glow from the midst of which the
flaming rim of the sun climbed majestically above the peaks, tingeing them with
gold. The daily miracle which turned a world of cold and darkness into one of
warmth and light had taken place. But in the gulches, canyons, and wooded
tracts gloom still resisted the invading daylight.

 
          
A
gulp of hot coffee, a cigarette, and the party resumed its way, and by the time
the conquest of the darkness was completed the blind canyon was reached. This
was soon negotiated, and one by one they led their mounts through the tunnel,
Green going first, with the boss of the Frying Pan following him.

 
          
“Damnation!’
said the puncher disgustedly. “They’ve razzledazzled us.’

 
          
The
valley was empty. Some hundreds of yards from where they stood were two black
mounds, and as the horsemen approached, these disintegrated into winged
portions which took flight; the scavengers of the desert had discovered the
dead horses. No other living thing was to be seen, and Job Leeming, in his
disappointment, rose to heights which astonished even his own men.

 
          
“Ain’t
he a ring-tailed wonder?’ whispered one of them to Dirty. “I reckon he oughtta
be President o’ the U-nited States.’