Shoot-out at Split Rock (15 page)

"We have to find Rogue," was the unexpected reply.

Sandy stared at him. "Hell, Jim, you ain't goin' to throw down the Ol' Man, are you?" There was real concern in his voice. "I'm admittin' he's treated us pretty mean, but he's been misled, an' the boys are our friends...."

"Findin' don't mean joinin'," Sudden pointed out. "The S-E is finished with us—or fancies so—^but I ain't finished with them. I don't figure on lettin' Rogue beat me, an' I'm mighty interested in Mister Baudry."

"Me too, in fact, I was so interested that I damn near beefed him where he sat."

"I guessed that an' was all set to knock yore gun up."

"Whatever for?" Sandy enquired.

"It would 'a' turned that camp into a slaughter pen. Now, we gotta keep cases on Rogue an' the herd, an' be ready to sit in the game."

"Awright Solomon the Second," Sandy grinned. '"Meb-be you can tell me who pulled the floor from under us."

"RoUitt is my guess, but who put him up to it?" Sudden debated. "Was it Rogue, tryin' to get rid of us, or that tin-horn card cheat? An' what's he after, anyways? Hell's flames, it's one fine tangle to unravel an' we got on'y loose ends."

"Here's another," Sandy contributed. "Baudry is goin' in for cattle—startin' a range somewhere near the S-E."

Sudden whisded and relapsed into a long silence. At dusk they camped in a dense thicket of scrub and dwarf oak litde more than a mile to the right of the herd, with which they had been keeping pace. They were building a small fire when a low voice called, "Howdy, friends!" and a man slid quietly from the shadows. The flickering flame showed that it was Tyson.

"Didn't hear me a-comin', did ye?" he asked, and chuckled at his own cleverness.

"We're glad to see you," Sudden said heartily.

When the business of eating was concluded, the little man Med his pipe and looked quizzically at his hosts. "So the S-E has give you the air?" he remarked.

"They told you?" Sandy queried.

"Ain't talked with 'em," Tyson said. "Here's the how of it. When you busted away an' the Injuns took after you, I follered. Bein' on the hoof, I didn't arrive tiU the fandango was finished. I collects them scalps you left lyin' around, for which I'm thankin' you; worth ten wheels apiece, them top knots is, if you know where to take 'em. TTien I trails you, figurin' yo're still in dutch an' that mebbe I can turn the trick, but I'm too late, you've went I points for the S-E."

"So you know all about it?"

Tyson shook his head. "I ain't clost enough to hear much but my eyesight is fair an' I'm a good guesser," he said. "When I see Monte Jack in the company I knowed dirty work was afoot."

"Monte Jack?" both his hearers repeated.

"Yeah, fella sittin' next the gal."

"He calls hisself 'Baudry' now."

"Like enough, but he was knowed as Monte Jack in Kansas City less'n two years ago, an' bad medicine. Catched cheatin' at poker an' shot the feUa imder the table—gun on his knees, you know. It wam't the first time an' he had to flit plenty rapid. A close call for Monte, that was."

"An' Eden believes in him," Sandy said.

"Well, you don't have to worry," Tyson laughed. "He fired you, didn't he?"

"Yeah, he fired us, shore enough," the boy agreed. "But there's Miss Carol, that toad's got his poisonous eye on her, an' the outfit—decent fellas—are dependin' on puttin' that drive through. They're our friends—still."

"An' not likin' Mister Monte Jack nothin' to notice, we're kind o' hankerin' to pUe him up," Sudden added. He went on to tell of the decision he and Sandy had come to, and the "still-hunter" listened.

"Well, I took a fancy to you boys," he said, when their

plans had been made plain. "If yo're willin', me an' Betsy"—^he patted the rifle beside him—"will take a hand. Three pairs o' peepers is better nor two, an' I savvy Injuns."

The cowboys were glad to have him, and said so. Apart from his bloodthirsty occupation, there was a great deal that was attractive in this odd httle man. Moreover, they were already deeply in his debt, and neither of them were the type to forget that

Eleven

Early on the following morning Tyson left them. "Hang on to the herd an' I'U be with you come dark, or sooner," he said. Then he plunged into the thicket.

They spent a lazy day, their only concern being to keep under cover; in tMs the rougher nature of the country helped them, though it increased the risk of running into a prowling band of redskins. Several times, lying flat on a ridge, they got a sight of the herd. And thou^ the distance was too great for him to recognize the rider, Sandy cursed when he saw that Carol had a companion.

The shadows were gathering when Tyson joined them in the dry arroyo where they had decided to spend the night. He had the hump ribs of a buffalo calf, wrapped in part of the skin, and a bow and arrows, for which, he grimly explained, the late owner had no further use.

"I can use her pretty good—hved with 'Paches onct. She'll fill the pot an' save powder."

Tyson had, they learned, located the outlaw band a few miles east, creeping along on the heels of the herd like a mountain cat, ready to pounce on its prey at the propitious moment. He had counted a dozen men, and gathered that others were away hunting.

"They ain't too well fixed for grub an' is grumblin'," he said. "A mighty hard lot. Eden will need aU the help he can git, an' then some."

A week passed and save that all parties were nearer their destination, the position remained unchanged. Then, with the suddenness of a summer storm, danger loomed up, dire and overwhelming.

Tyson had, as usual, after the morning meal, gone to discover possible signs of activity in the outlaws' camp, and his companions were riding leisurely in the wake of the herd. It was Sandy who saw the "still hunter" first.

"Tyson is a-comin' an' ain't losin' no time neither," he said.

"Trouble ahead, boys," he panted.

"Rogue goin' to stnke?" Sudden asked.

"Naw, Injuns," the other replied. "Two score, mebbe even more—they was hidden—waitin' to jump the herd."

"No chance o' dodgin' 'em?"

"Not a hope—the cattle has to go that way. Them war-whoops has picked the right place. For miles now the plain is narrow, with rough country both sides. There's one spot where they might hold the herd an' make a fight of it."

He described it, and Sudden listened carefully. Sandy's face was haggard with anxiety.

"My God! Jim, what can we do?" he asked.

Sudden turned to Tyson. "Climb Sandy's bronc an' fetch Rogue," he said. "Don't let on about us; you just happened on the redskins, saw the herd, an' figured of course that, as a white man, he'd help his own kind."

"Shore, but III git there quicker afoot—^it's rough goin'," Tyson replied, and was gone.

Sandy stared at his companion in amazement. "You sendin' for Rogue?" he gasped. The comprehension came to him and he chortled with delight. "You wily devil," he complimented. "That shore is great medicine. Do we warn the S-E?"

"I do; you cross the trail an* follow on the other side, keepin' outa sight. I'll join you later an' mebbe the war-whoops'U get a surprise."

Sandy went on his appointed errand while Sudden spurred after the herd. The latter passed the remuda in a cloud of dust and heard RoUitt's curse of astonishment. Sam Eden, sitting at the back end of the wagon, greeted the visitor with a glare as he reached for his gun. The young man's cold voice interrupted:

"Don't be a fool, Eden. If I'd come for that you'd be halfway to hell by now. I'm here to tell you that a big bunch o' redskins is layin' for you."

The rancher laugjied jeeringly. "You don't expect me to believe that yam, do you?" he asked.

"No, but I had to warn you," Sudden retorted. "Walk into the trap if you must; I'll do what I can to get you out I've sent for aid."

The cattleman's frowning brows went up at this. "Now I know yo're lyin'—I'd say diere ain't a settlement within a hundred miles. Where'd you send—San Antonio?" he sneered.

"I passed the word to Rogue," was the calm reply.

With the force of a blow, the statement took the rancher's breath away. For a moment he was speechless, and then, with a furious oath, he cried, "So that's yore scheme, huh? Rogue's to come an' help himself an' Vm to let him. Now, listen, I ain't swaUerin' yore Injuns, but I'd sooner they had the cows than that bastard road agent leader o' yores. Get that."

"You seem damned anxious to make yore daughter a squaw."

The biting reminder only whipped the rancher's rage to a white heat. "Curse you, I can fight my own batdes," he roared. "I don't want yore help nor his."

"AUasame, you gotta have 'em. I aiu't goin' to see men I have worked with an' liked sacrificed to yore buU-headed obstinacy. Can't you savvy that just because Rogue aims to steal yore herd later, he's gotta protect it now? Hell, I must put Jeff wise."

The black horse shot ahead of the wagon and with its disappearance the old man's fury evaporated, and the ability to reason returned.

Sudden reached the head of the herd and told his news to the astounded foreman.

"A piece along is a steep-waUed gully with a'most no oudet," he explained. "Throw the cows, wagon, an' re-muda iQ there, take cover at the entrance, an' wait. When you don't show up, the Injuns'U come a-lookin' for yoiL If you can stand 'em off for a while, there's help on the way."

"Help?'* ejaculated Jeff. "Where in blazes from?"

"I've sent for Rogue," Sudden replied. "You see, he's figurin' to lift this herd—^presendy; so he won't stand by an' let the redskins have it"

The foreman's troubled face broke into a grin. "Gosh! that's one bright idea, boy," he exclaimed. "We can deal with that damned outlaw later, but for the time we use him. What did the Ol' Man say?"

"I ain't got time even to tell you what he didn't say,'* the cowboy smiled. "Get busy, ol'-timer, an' if anybody starts shootin' from behind the Injuns you'll know that me an' Sandy is sittin' in."

He whirled his horse and raced for the far side of the trail. The foreman's gaze followed him reflectively. "Outlaw, huh?" he muttered. "Pity the damned country ain't got a lot more like him."

Riding ahead, he soon found the spot Sudden had described and saw its suitability. The floor of the gully lay below the level of the plain, which sloped into it, and the walls on either side were nearly vertical. The outlet at the far end was too rough and steep even for longhoms to attempt unless badly scared. The entrance was guarded by scrub and rocks which would afford good cover for the defenders. He saw no sign of Indians and surmised, rightly, that knowing the herd must come that way, they were not troubling to watch its progress.

Jeff waited there impatiently, having already given orders for the cows to be husded along. Soon the leaders appeared, at a lumbering, clumsy trot, bellowing a protest against the unusual exertion. Hurriedly they were hazed into the guUy. This took time, and the foreman cast many anxious glances up the trail. When, at length, the wagon and remuda followed the last of the cattie, he breathed more freely, and telling the outfit to hunt cover, sought his employer. He found him fuming.

"Ain't I the owner o' this herd no more, or are you takin' orders from Green?" was his first question.

"Shore yo're the owner, an' I'm doin' my best to keep you that," Jeff said tartiy. "You gotta remember this, Sam; they may be yore cows, but the boys' lives are their own."

"You think that fella was talkin' straight?" Eden demanded.

"Yeah, an' so would you if you weren't as prejudiced as heU," was the blunt reply. "Anyways, we'll know soon. The Injuns wiU have heard the cattie an' be wonderin' why we ain't burrdn' up."

Ill

m

"Bah! I don't beUeve—"

The crack of a rifle cut him short and the foreman dashed to the entrance of the gully. The Infant, kneeling behind a ridge, was reloading. He had, he claimed, seen a feathered top knot above a bush some two hundred yards up the trail. JeflE returned to report.

"That scout'U spill the beans," he said, "They'll be along plenty soon.'*

"Help me outa this an' reach my gun," the old man ordered.

With Jeffs assistance he climbed out, walked weakly to the line of defence, and ensconced himself behind a boulder. As Jeff returned for a final glance round the gully, Carol called him.

"We want to help beat off the Indians," she said.

"I don't, but I'm willin' to," Aunt Judy corrected.

"Can't be did. Miss Carol," the foreman replied. "Yeah, I know you can shoot, but it would worry the Ol' Man into a fit. You can help a lot more by stayin' here an' watchin' the other end o' the guUy; these devils may steal a march on us thataway an' I can't spare a man for the job. Fire a shot if you see anythin' movin' over there an' we'll come pronto."

He did not think there was any likelihood of such an attempt, but it kept the girl out of the firing line, and that was all he wanted. As he turned away, Peg-leg came with a message. The enemy had grown tired of waiting. Down the trail from the east came a long line of mounted savages. Each warrior carried the circular shield of buffalo hide, a bow, and a sheaf of arrows. Here and there came the flash of a gun barrel—old-fashioned muzzle loaders, bartered for skins, or gained in a raid on some solitary settlement. Save for an occasional shrill cry, the advance was made in silence.

" 'Paches," the foreman decided. "Comanches would 'a* bin screamin' their throats out." With the quick eye of one accustomed to count cattle he made a calculation. "Over fifty. Gosh! I'm hopin' Rogue don't dawdle any." He surveyed his slim line of defence anxiously. "Lie close, lads," he warned, "an' don't let loose till I give the word; we can't afford to miss."

Baudry, rifle in hand, had joined the cattleman. No

one, lcx)kmg at his passive, unconcerned features, would have guessed that all his carefully planned scheme depended upon the defeat of the redskins. With narrowed eyes he watched the far end of the line swing round until, with one screeching yell, the riders flogged their ponies into a dead run and charged full at the mouth of the gully, like a wave of destruction the savages surged on and it seemed that the handful of whites must be swept away. Silent, grim-faced, with leveled weapons, they waited for the word. It did not come imtil the foe were less than a hundred paces distant, and then: