The Greatest Westerns of Ernest Haycox. Ernest Haycox

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СКАЧАТЬ from it—a cry that woke every echo on the ranch. Boots struck the bunkhouse floor, the hum of speech ceased. Trono's bull voice boomed across the area. "Who's that?"

      "Shucks," grunted Lilly. "I didn't hit that hombre nowise hard enough. Comes o' bein' chicken-hearted. Now we've got to leg it. Hold tight, girl."

      The crew rushed pell-mell out of their quarters and directed by another muffled cry, bore down upon the smoke house as Lilly and the girl slipped away from the yard and circled the corrals; Pattipaws waited somewhere ahead, obscured by the heavy shadows. Fury was behind. The crew had found and released the imprisoned puncher. Lilly, chuckling softly, observed he hadn't impaired the man's voice. It rose toward the sky in outraged accents. "—An' I gits a strangle holt on 'im an' he breaks it like I was a leetle chil'. Belts me acrost the coco a terrible wallop! Boys, I'm all busted up! Somebody gimme a drink! Oh, Gawd that was a dirty blow! I'll rake him across his face with m' spurs! Yeh, I will! Say, gimme a drink!"

      "Pattipaws," breathed Lilly, coming to a halt. They were behind the corrals, groping into a small hollow. "Injun, where are you at? By the Lord Harry, I hope he got the cayuses. Listen to Trono yell!"

      Trono had done some exploring on his own account and found the girl missing. He was thundering furiously at the crew. "Jill's done gone. That red-head missin', too? Well, you damn fools, don't stand there chatterin' like a cage full o' monkeys! Git yore hosses! They ain't far away! Two-three you boys gallop aroun' the premises! On yore toes now! We're shore sunk if they ain't rounded up!"

      "I'm shore glad to hear it from his own mouth," muttered Lilly. "Pattipaws—Oh, that you?" The Indian slipped up to them and grunted briefly. He was leading three horses. Lilly helped the girl into a saddle, hearing someone running around the corrals, rapidly approaching. "Injun," murmured Lilly, "you lead off to'rd the hills, savvy? Walk along easy for a hundred yards, so they won't hear."

      The Indian was in front, the girl in the center and Lilly at the rear. They climbed the far slope of the hollow and pointed south, going at a slow and silent gait The exploring party had gone on to the back of the corrals, missing the hollow by a few yards. Elsewhere was the creaking confusion of men saddling up in the dark. Trono's bellicose voice rose and fell, cursing, threatening, lashing at the crew as so many convicts. Quite gradually these sounds grew less distinct and mingled to a kind of rumble. Lilly spoke to the Indian. "All right. Let's stretch out now. We'll have to clear this place before they begin to circle around. Hustle."

      Jill had not uttered a word all this time. And now as they swung toward the towering shadow of the pine forest she was equally silent. The leather gear creaked beneath them and the steady breathing of the horses made a kind of rhythm as they covered the miles. Behind them was the one clear beacon of the sky, the North Star. Elsewhere a dusky veil covered the countless twinkling lights; a soft breeze fanned them and presently the aromatic smell of the sage was blended with that of the trees.

      It was a sober, thoughtful caravan that fled from the JIB. Once only during the night were they in danger. Lilly halting the group got down and put his ear to the ground. Somewhere in the near distance was a pursuing party. He published it briefly. "Find us a hollow or arroyo somewhere, Injun. We'll anchor a minute." The Indian grunted and turned his course until they were traveling back toward the ranch. The ground grew rough and in five minutes dropped from them. Here they stopped and waited until the rumbling of hoofs could be distinctly heard in the clear, quiet air. Presently a cavalcade swept by with a great clatter and groaning, to vanish westward. Lilly waited some length of time and then signaled the Indian to move on. As near as he could judge, Trono was sweeping the land in widening circles from the ranch.

      Midnight passed and they stopped for a brief breathing spell. Toward morning they reached the first trees and began climbing, penetrating deeper and deeper into the recesses of the pines. Daybreak found them high above the valley floor. Lilly, seeing the weariness on the girl's face called a halt. But she was quick to dissent, saying, "If you're stopping on my account, I won't have it. I can travel as long as needed." And Pattipaws made a vague gesture forward, at which Lilly gave in. So they went for perhaps another hour until the pines suddenly made a small bayou and revealed a cabin. There they stopped.

      It was an old, mouldering trappers' cabin. On all sides of the little clearing the ground rose in rugged layers and the underbrush sprang up quickly between the trees. Not a great deal farther ahead Lilly saw the base of a half bald peak and he marked it as a place from which he might scour the valley below. Meanwhile there were other things to consider. Rest and food—and a plan for the future. For all her splendid endurance and courage, the mark of the night's ride was on the girl as she slid from the horse and looked uncertainly to Lilly.

      "Well," said she, "what are you planning now, Red?"

      Lilly grew unaccountably warm at her use of the name. The last twelve hours had revealed many things to her; she accepted him now. Drowsiness weighted her lids, but still there was a frank friendliness in her eyes, and unreserved trust.

      "First off we'll fix up a place for you to get a little sleep," he replied. "But not in that shack. If they pick up our trail—and I think they wall—they'll have a look at it. I'll spread the saddle blankets up in the brush for you. As for anything to eat, it appears as if we went on a water diet for a few meals."

      She waved that aside as unimportant. "I've been hungry before." Then she flushed a little, still holding his eyes. "I'm—I'm sorry. Most of this is my own fault. But Slim and Bill were two of Dad's trusted men. Even Trono was always kind to me. I had no idea—"

      "Yore dad," he reminded her, "was a powerful man. Nobody tried anything on him. They toed the mark and jumped at his word. But you can never tell what a fellow carries around in his mind. That crew puzzles me. A fine bunch of bandits! I'd think yore dad would have known what they were like."

      She was struggling to keep awake. "I think he did. You see Trono picked quarrels with some of our old hands and they quit. Usually there'd be a new man the next morning. Dad didn't like some of them—I could see that, though he never told me—but we had to have help and Trono always recommended them. So Dad took Trono's word. Now that I think of it. Trono seemed to do a lot of things, these last few months, that Dad used to do himself. Dad—was getting sick."

      "Uhuh. Trono packed the ranch with his own private bunch. Prob'ly bought Slim and Bill to his own side o' the fence. It's an old story. Well, it looks like a running fight for us. We'll do a lot of dodgin' before we can hit back."

      "You're the boss, Red. I'll not speak out of my turn from now on."

      That gave him courage to say what was in the back of his head. Through the long night ride he had come to a plan that he thought would work. "All right. We'll, sleep on it. Then, this afternoon we'll dodge into Powder and leave you."

      He was not quite prepared for her sudden awaking. Dissent flashed in the dark eyes. "What will I do there?"

      "Just wait until I get things in order."

      "And where will you be?"

      "Roamin' these hills and sort of scoutin' until I lay a few traps. Don't you worry, girl. Inside of three-four days I'll wash these bad, bold hombres off the map."

      "Leave me in town, doing nothing while you're up here fighting? No! I won't do it, Red."

      "But look here. I've got to leave you in a safe place. This is going to be a rough job."

      She was looking at him with a curious intensity. There was something of her father in that sharp, weighing, penetrating glance; something of the same forthright recklessness in the way she threw back her head and pursed her lips together. The rich color rose higher in her cheeks. СКАЧАТЬ