Shoot-out at Split Rock (13 page)

"I never dreamed of it," the old man evaded.

This was true; though Baudry had been a frequent visitor at the S-E, the possibility that the girl was the attraction had not occurred to the owner. Now, faced with the fact, he suddenly realized that he knew very little about the man, save his profession. Still on the right side of forty, suave, well-dressed and apparently wealthy, the gambler did not lack attraction for die other sex, but... Sam Eden shook his head, as though in answer to his own query, and Baudry's narrowed, watching eyes grew cold.

"Any objections, Sam?"

"Have you spoken to her?"

"No, I reckoned the square thing was to ask you first."

Eden breathed his rehef; it gave him a way out. Sandy's devotion to the girl was patent, and once or twice he had seen her looking at the boy; women were queer, but he could not conceive that she would prefer the older, sophisticated man for her mate. So he replied with more confidence:

"It's entirely her affair, Jethro. Even if I could claim her as my own child, I wouldn't attempt to influence her. Whatever she says goes, with me."

"Fair enough," he said evenly. "I'm not asking you to do my courting, Sam. When do you expect to pull out from here?"

"Can't say; must give them boys a chance to come in."

"They'U do it—with a fine tale of how they hoodwinked Rogue and got away," Baudry sneered.

Long after, when he had been lifted back into his bed in the wagon, the words recurred to the rancher. He fought against the fear that they might be the truth, but could not completely convince himself; Baudry's arguments had seemed all too plausible. Moreover, the outlaw's impudent warning that he intended to have the herd was disturbing; Eden was well aware that his outfit was numerically weak and if two members of it could not be depended upon ...

Nine

Sandy experienced little difficulty in finding the outlaws' camp again. As he rode in, a man with a leveled gun

stepped from the shadow of a tree and ordered him to halt. A glance satisfied him.

"So you come back?" he said. "Damned if I thought you'd be such a fool."

"It wam't folly, SUgh, just pure affection—^for you," was the flippant reply. "What's the next move?"

The outlaw pointed to a small fire apart from the larger one in the center of the glade. Sandy grinned.

"Go ahead," he said. "I might lose my way."

With a curse the sentinel slouched off. Two men were sitting by the fire when Sandy reached it.

Rogue looked up as the boy slid from his saddle. "'Lo, Sandy, I'm wantin' that weapon," he said quietly.

Sandy's eyes were on the odier figure at the fire. "What's the word, Jim?" he asked.

"You got Miss Eden back?" Sudden queried, and when his friend nodded, he drew his own guns, handing them, butts first, to the outlaw leader. "Ante up, Sandy," he went on. "Rogue has kept his part o' the bargain an' we gotta keep our'n." He smiled sardonically across the flames. "We're yore prisoners. Rogue, but I'm givin' you wamin' that we'll light out if we get a chance."

"Then I'U have to tie you," Rogue rapped.

"I don't blame you," Sudden smiled, and at a nod from him, Sandy relinquished his revolver.

"A bullet apiece would hold 'em better," Sligh snarled.

His chief glared at him. "Fetch these fella's blankets an' bring a rope."

The words were quietly spoken but the threat was plain. SUgh knew that in this mood Rogue would destroy him without hesitation. So, without even a sign of dissent, he did as he was bid.

Later, three shapeless, blanket-covered forms lay round the smaller fire. The only difference between them was that two of them were tied hand and foot and appeared to be fast asleep. The third was wide awake, wrestling with the problem of what to do with his prisoners. The disarming and binding had been merely a bluff, for he did not want them; they could only be a burden. The girl had been a different proposition—a weapon—^but he could not credit the rancher with great solicitude for two of his hands. Also, Sudden had saved his life, and—

with all his faults—the outlaw was not ungrateful. Their detention would mean two less to defend the herd, but he dismissed this aspect; his own force was strong enough. A gleam of steel in the flickering fireUght caught his eye; it was SUgh's knife, used in the binding and forgotten. It helped him to a decision.

He glanced at the sky, where clouds had now blotted out the moon, flinging a pall of darkness over the camp. Soundlessly he edged over until he was close to Sudden, and able to reach the knife. Carefully raising the blanket. Rogue severed the bonds which confined the sleeper's wrists, and dropping the blade, rolled back to his former position. For a time nothing happened and then he saw Sudden stretch and he still again. Rogue knew that he had discovered that his arms were free.

Presently the dark block of the cowboy's blanket stirred as he slowly sat up. He saw the knife, reached for it, and freed his ankles. With a whispered warning, he did the same for his fellow prisoner. Then, on hands and knees, Sudden crept to the oudaw, whose heavy breathing suggested deep slumber. Leaving their blankets roUed in some semblance of human forms, they crawled away from the fire, and reached the edge of the glade._

"The bosses are on the far side," Sudden whispered. "We'll have to pass Shgh. While I deal with him, you sUp around an' get the broncs."

Skirting the edge of the encampment, they moved swiftly and silently over the floor of pine needles, and presently saw the sentinel leaning against a pine, his rifle beside him. Like a shadow Sudden darted from tree to tree, and then, dropping on his belly, wormed his. way forward. All that the unsuspecting watcher knew was that out of the murk a figure rose at his very feet and fingers of steel clutched his throat, imprisoning any sound he might have uttered. A few moments and the man was a limp and senseless weight. Sudden let him faU, and hurried after Sandy. That young man had not been idle; he had found the horses and saddles. Soon the outiaw camp was behind them. For a while they rode in silence and then Sandy could restrain his curiosity no longer.

"How in hell did you manage it, Jim?" he asked,

"I didn't," Sudden smiled. "Some kind gent cut my paws loose an' left the knife handy."

"Gripes, I'll bet it wasn't Sligh."

"It was Rogue hisself."

"Oh, yeah," came the reply. "Havin' tied us up he would turn us loose, wouldn't he?"

"Them bonds was just eyewash for the gang. Rogue didn't want us—^we gotta be watched allatime, an' he knows Eden ain't goin' to part with a single steer on our account, so he gets rid of us—his own way. That was Shgh's knife—I saw him drop it; he'll get the blame an' we'll get the credit. Rogue is one smart hombre"

A smudge of grey in the eastern sky had turned to a golden glow and the red rim of the sun was pushing above the horizon when they rode down the valley and sighted the S-E wagon. Peg-leg, busy preparing the morning meal, let out a yell which brought men leaping from their blankets and grabbing for guns. When they saw it was not an Indian raid they laughed and swore at the cook. The foreman, his wrinkled face one broad smile, surveyed the pair delightedly.

"Nice damn couple, ain't you?" he said. "Holdin' the driye up thisaway. The Ol-Man oughta give you yore time."

"An yore chin would hit yore toes if he did, you holy fraud," Sudden retorted. "Now, Sandy an' me ain't had no sleep for 'bout a year. Who's got spare blankets? We had to leave our'n behind."

For a couple of hours they slept like dead men and then JeflE aroused them. "Sam's aslan' for you," he said.

They found the cattleman sitting at the end of the wagon. Baudry and Carol were with him, and several of the outfit lingered near.

"Here's the truants, boss," the foreman grinned. "I was tellin' Jim you oughta give 'em their time."

Eden had smothered his doubts and his rugged face softened as he surveyed the men to whom he owed so much. "I reckon they oughta have anythin' they ask for, but I'm hopin' it won't be that," he said. "I'm curious to learn what that ruffian is up to; he had me thrown an' tied. Think well hear more of him?"

"Shorely. He'll strike when he's ready, but I'm guessin'

that won't be till we're nearer a market. He's got nigh a score o' men."

Baudry looked at the cattleman and nodded; he had expressed the same view of the rustler's intentions. With a half-sneer he turned to Sudden.

"You seem pretty well acquainted with this catde thief," he said. "Perhaps he turned you loose too?"

"Now I wonder who told you?" Sudden debated. "He did that very thing."

"D'you mean that, Green?" the rancher asked sharply, and when the other nodded, "Why should he do that?" The cowboy related the manner of their escape. "You see," he concluded, "we would on'y have been a nuisance, an' besides, I had saved his life a few hours earlier."

"Why?" interjected Baudry.

Sudden sensed the hostility in the tone. "K I hadn't Miss Eden wouldn't have been here," he explained quietly. "His men would have had none of his finer feelin's." "Fine feelings—in an outlaw?" gibed the gambler savagely. "That's more than I can swallow." "He let her go," the cowboy reminded. "Yes, at your request," came the sneer. "Were you ever one of his gang?" "No, were you?" Sudden asked.

Pebbles, who was one of the listening riders, chuckled audibly, and the visitor's face flushed with anger.

"Damn your impudence," he shouted. "What do you mean by that?"

Sudden bent forward, his eyes bleak. "Just what I said," he replied. "Listen to me. Mister Man. On'y two fellas here can talk down to me with safety—^my boss an' his foreman. Yo're speakin' outa turn."

For a moment the gambler's narrow eyes clashed with those of the speaker and then turned in mute appeal to his host. Sam Eden was nonplussed. Tom between gratitude and friendship, he did not know how to deal with the tiny tempest which had so swiftly arisen. Carol came to his aid.

"Mister Baudry appears to be forgetting that these two men risked their lives to save me, first from Indians, and

then from outlaws," she said. "To my mind, that alone matters."

Like a dash of cold water the words brought Baudry to his senses; his ill-humor vanished and he achieved some sort of a smile.

"You're right, Miss Eden," he said heartily. "Nothing else counts. I'm sorry, Sam, but I let my ideas run away with me. If that Rogue fellow happened to be here, I'd thank him, whatever his motive may have been."

This ended the discussion, but as Sudden and the foreman went to get their horses, the cowboy asked casually:

"You know friend Baudry long?"

"Nope, an' you needn't name him my friend neither," Jeff said bluntly. "Don't fancy the fella nohow, an' I'll bet if he had a tail there'd be rattles on it."

"Sandy was right—him an' me ain't popular in that quarter," Sudden reflected aloud.

"Aw, you should worry," Jeff told him. "So you don't think Rogue will try again yet?"

"I ain't worryin', not that you'd notice," was the reply, and then, "No, barrin' Injuns, flooded rivers, stampedes, storms an' dry stretches, I figure we'll have an easy trip for a while."

Jeff's expression was one of mock disgust. "Yo're a cheerful cuss."

Later, Sudden had a word with Sandy. That young man was still puzzling over the outlaw's complicity in their escape, and said so.

"Shake yore head an' start that stuff your think with workin'," was the smihng advice he received. "Without us, the S-E would be short-handed an' Rogue wants the herd to go through yet awhile."

"Then why did he stampede it?"

"I figure his idea then was to sell the cows to the jasper who was payin' him to break the drive. Now, he's aimin' to handle 'em himself an' clean up a packet."

"Then he's doublecrossin' the other man."

"It don't follow. Rogue is a pretty ornery proposition, but he's got points. He told me this fella was willin' to take the S-E cows but he didn't say he'd promised to let him have 'em."

"Glad you put brother Baudry back a bit. What you think of him?"

"I don't," Sudden grinned. "But—I'm goin' to."

The cattle, rested by the stay in the valley, made good progress, and the tale of the miles covered grew as the peaceful days passed. The members of the outfit, hving in their saddles through the long, lazy hours, became jubilant at the thought that their tremendous task might soon be accompUshed.

Sandy was not of the cheerful ones. Baudry's monopoly of Carol was so complete that the young man rarely had an opportunity of riding with her. Moreover, the gambler, as a guest, ate with the women and Eden, a circumstance which did not lessen Sandy's resentment.

Camp was pitched on the tree-fringed bank of a widish river but the fact that it had to be negotiated on the morrow gave them no uneasiness. They had crossed several streams of varying size during the past weeks and had come to regard the operation as of no more than ordinary moment.

"Can you make any sort o' guess where we're at?'* Jeff asked of Jim.

"Never been north," Sudden told him. "This river might be the Wichita, but that don't mean we're clear o' the redskins; they hunt all over."

"I ain't worryin' much about the war-whoops—it's that lousy outlaw loses me sleep—not knowin' when he's goin' to strike."

"I'm aUowin' it won't be yet," the cowboy assured him.

Two men, seated out of hearing of the camp, were discussing him.

"Those cowboys have to be got rid of, Davy," the gambler said. "They're Uable to make things difficult. Why in heU Rogue let them go I can't guess. What's his game?"

"I'd say he's trying to doublecross us," was the reply.

"If he does, I'll kill him," Baudry said. "No man ever did that to me and got away with it."

There was no anger, no boastfulness in the low, even voice, and well aware that it might be a warning to himself, Dutt, toughened as he was, was conscious of a shght shiver which was not due to the night air. He had no

illusions regarding Jethro Baudry, knowing that he would slay his best friend if it suited his purpose.

"I've got the glimmerings of a scheme," the gambler resumed. "Let you know when it's worked out. In the meantime, keep a close eye on those feUows."