Shoot-out at Split Rock Read online

  they've got too far to come back an' gather another herd," the outlaw said.

  The cowboy came away from the interview with mixed feelings, certain only of one thing—he would join the S-E, but whether as friend or foe he had not decided; the deliberate part of his nature was in charge at the moment. He found Sandy loafing outside their habitation and prefaced his message from Rogue by relating his adventure of the previous afternoon.

  "Well, if you ain't the lucky one!" the young man ejaculated. "Here's me been ridin' round for weeks an' never had no chance to deliver a distressed damsel. Bet she's hatchet-faced, squint-eyed, an' bellers like a sick cow."

  "You musta seen the lady," Sudden smiled.

  "I ain't—never knowed there was any female women in this neck o' the woods. Who is she?"

  "Sam Eden's daughter."

  "She was stringin' you—he ain't got any."

  "Adopted daughter, I oughta said—orphaned kid of an old friend," Sudden explained, adding inconsequently, "Eden offered me a job."

  "Goin' to take it?"

  "We are," repUed the other, and went on to tell of the outlaw leader's designs, and the part they were to play. Sandy hstened with wooden features.

  "Soimds good," he commented. "I'd shore like to be in on that drive, but Rogue's wrong in one thing—I ain't such a stranger around here." He thought awhile and then slapped his knee. "Got it!" he exclaimed. "Where's that stuff you used on yore hoss?" he inquired.

  "On the shelf inside," Sudden repUed.

  Sunrise found a grumbling cook giving them an early breakfast, but his curiosity regarding Sandy's black hair, eyebrows, and moustache remained unsatisfied.

  "Ask Rogue about it," the boy told him with a grin, knowing perfectly well that he would do no such thing.

  For the first few miles the pair rode in sOence. It was Sandy who made the first remark:

  "Odd I ain't heard o' this gal at the S-E."

  "She's recently arrived from the East—educated there, I gathered," Sudden explained.

  Sandy's next remark changed the subject. "I wouldn't be so terrible distressed if Rogue fell down on this drive-bustin'," he mused. "I don't owe him nothin' an' I shore would like to see them northern cowtowns."

  Sudden did not reply at once; he was wondering if the words had any hidden significance. His mind reverted to his own problem. What did he owe to Rogue? True, the outlaw had saved his Ufe, but he had unwittingly done the same for him. And because of it, he was now a wanted man, afraid to show his face in any settlement. No, he decided, Rogue had not yet squared the account.

  "I've a hankerin' thataway my own self," he confessed.

  They reached the S-E ranch house to find it apparently deserted; the morning meal was over and the men had gone to their work. A hail brought Eden himself to the porch. At the sight of Sudden he called a hearty greeting.

  "HeUo, young fella, I'm main pleased to see you. Hope you aim to stay this time."

  "Shore do, Mister Eden, if you'll have me," Sudden repUed. He pointed to his companion. "This is Dick Sands —he's huntin' a job too."

  "Any friend o' yores is welcome. Green, an' I can certainly use another man," he said, but the warmth had gone out of his voice. "Well, boys, what's the word?" Eden asked.

  "We'U go you," Sandy blurted out eagerly.

  "Good," the rancher rephed. "Leave yore war bags in the bunkhouse. There's plenty bosses in the corral—• that mount o' yores. Green, is too good for hazin' long-horns out'n the brush." He pointed to a cloud of dust some miles away on the plain. "The herd is there."

  He climbed briskly into his saddle and galloped away.

  Sudden and Green chose horses and they soon reached the spot the rancher had indicated. Already about a thousand head had been assembled, and, kept bunched by a couple of riders, were grazing contentedly on the short grama grass which covered the plain. The herd was a mixed one; evidently everything in the shape of a cow was being rounded up, and the bellowing of the bulls mingled with the bleating of the calves as they staggered weakly after their mothers. At the moment Sudden and his partner approached, an addition of thirty animals arrived,

  convoyed by two riders who presented a striking contrast, one of them being tall and abnonnally thin while the other was short and fat.

  "Well, boys, you shore have been busy," Eden greeted thenL

  "Ain't an our'n," the tall man explained. "Met Pebbles an* the Infant, an' took over their father."

  "Here's a couple o' fresh helpers, Jed. You better take Green, an' Dumpy can put Sandy wise."

  The four men rode away, and Jed said to Sudden, "We've pretty weU cleaned up around here—^have to go further afield."

  Crashing into the underbrush further on, the riders unearthed a couple of steers and drove them into the open. Then, in turn, each guarded the "catch" while the other searched for additions. Both jobs demanded alertness and patience. The approach of evening found them with a collection of nearly two score.

  "Pardner, we done noble," Jed said, "Reckon when we git 'em to the main herd we can call it a day."

  "Suits me," Sudden grinned. "I certainly hope you got a good cook; my belt's damn near slippin' offn me."

  In their search for cattie they had drifted some distance from the plain and dark was creeping up by the time they reached the herd. The sight of a big fire and the nearby chuckwagon brought a doleful expression on Jed's face.

  "Gotta sleep on our saddles tonight, seemin'ly," he said.

  "You'll be some lucky if you sleep at all," a new voice put in. Another rider had caught them up—a wispy httle man, nearing fifty, from whose brown face, wrinkled like a walnut, small blue eyes peered at the pair amusedly.

  " 'Lo, Jeff," Jed greeted, and turning to his partner, added, "This is our foreman—a pretty omery feUa, as you can see. Green."

  ITie littie man chuckled and shoved out a paw. "Heard o' you from the Ol' Man," he said. "We can use you."

  "An' youTJ find that's terribly true," Jed warned. Say, Jeff, we got time to snatch a bite?"

  Jeff waved toward the grazing cattie. "The bunch is get-tin' big an' wants watchin', which is why we're campin' alongside. Also, Sam is on tiie rampage; I reckon we gotta start workin' tomorrow."

  "Sufferin' cats!" wailed the cowboy. "C'mon Green let's jom Ae other loafers an' load up before this slave dnver makes it today." ^

  Having unsaddled and turned their mounts loose—the beasts were too tired to stray far-they joined Ae^uD squattmg round the fire. ^ P

  "Tlie hohday's over, boys," Jed announced. "Jeff was telhn me we gotta start work tomorrow "

  Jee-ru-sa-lem!" breathed one fervently. "That'll be a change, won't it?" ^ A^diu oe

  The foreman came up in time to hear the remark and gnnned as he delivered another blow

  "We begin road-brandin' in the momin', boys " Sudden had a word with Sandy. "We joined this outfit too soon," he said whunsically. "We'd oughta ^^ted Si ' they was ready to drive" ^ ^

  ire. how ,0 label lonSoms." ^- ^' " '''°" *«^ '"""-TTie branding promised to be a bie job rh,.f« „„

  KTe^deaU ir*"' °^"■1 '^' ^^ -" »^3 work wia Ws Wend ^FaT^^^' ^"^^"^ '°'"«' •>« *^^ '» die Of sbr,L?o^^t ^t°anT "^"^^ '°' '^' ^ "-over^^;^.-------:,?.em bawHn- bm.es

  ineyU come so quickly you'll eet diTTv " f),o , man promised "I'li t^oU >"uii gei oizzy, the young m^ promisea 1II make you think it's rainin' cow^ » Sudden smiled at the boyish boa.«;t w^nTi, -.

  S^'oTS; ZtaY '^^etncrhetuM^*;

  .he tie-^anll-b^rS Srcl^blu'^i^ranrji

  ened calves blatted as they were hauled willy-nilly to the fire. The shouts and rough banter of the riders merged with the rattle of horn in the milling herd. Sudden, looking up in a moment of respite, found Eden watching him.

  "Good work, Green," he said, and as Sandy with a whoop rushed up another unwilling victim, roped and threw it, he added: "Yore friend seems to Imaw his job, too."

  He rode off without waiting for a reply, and Sudden was glad; the praise worrie
d him. He stole a glance at Sandy—^who was freeing his rope from the helpless steer —and was surprised to see that the boy's face was redder than ev^n the fierce sim and his exertions warranted. He too, had heard what the cattleman had said.

  "Damnation!" he growled, wheeled his horse, and vanished in a flurry of dust.

  "You boys have certainly made a hit with Sam," the foreman commented as he pressed the hot iron home. "He ain*t too fond o' givin the glad word, neither, but he's a good boss."

  Sudden grunted an agreement. He liked the outfit, and its owner, and he was ^ere to help ruin him. He tried to teU himself that the world, having made him an outiaw, was to blame for any consequences, but he could not make the argument convincing.

  "Told you I'd make you hustie, didn't I?" Sandy said, a littie later.

  ** 'Pears to me some other feUa fetches along a steer now an' then," Sudden replied, as he mopped his dirt-streaked features. "Say, I got an idea. You swap jobs with me tomorrow an' you won't have to worry 'bout shavin'. "

  "Nothin' doin'. Wouldn't change places with you for a blue stack."

  Sandy shot off toward the herd and had almost reached it when he saw something which made him swerve suddenly; a nearly branded steer, mad with rage and pain, was rushing full at Carol Eden, who, intent on her charges, did not see it. With a yeU of warning, Sandy raced and swung his rope. The loop dropped over the brute's horns and with a flip, he sent the slack over the rump and spurred his mount to the left, jerking the hind legs from under the steer. As it crashed down, the girl

  became aware of her danger and jumped her pony away. The fall had taken the fight out of the steer; as soon as the rope was removed it scrambled to its feet and lumbered off. Carol's face was pale.

  "Thank you," she smiled. "I'm afraid you'll think I'm a tenderfoot to be caught like that."

  Sandy's customary assurance had deserted him; he was the picture of confusion. Also, he was finding breathing difficult, for it had indeed been a near thing; had he

  missed his throw He shuddered at what might have

  been.

  "You are Mister Green's friend, aren't you?" she asked. "He came to my assistance, too, so I'm now obliged to both of you. I ought to be glad you joined the outfit."

  "I'm hopin' you will be," Sandy managed to say, and, as he saw his employer approaching, "Gosh, I'm forget-tin' I got a job."

  And he dragged a complaining calf on the end of his rope to the branding fire.

  Days passed. The weather remained fine, feed was plentiful on the plain, aad the branded cattle gave no trouble.

  "For which, thank the Lawd," Jeff said fervently. "If them critters took it into their fool heads to stampede, it'd be just merry hell."

  Even when the herd was complete, much remained to be done. The big covered wagon, with its team of six mules, had to be overhauled and loaded with provisions. The remuda had to be selected—five horses for each man —weapons and ammunition prepared. Twelve men, including the rancher and the cook, were to accompany the herd, two older members of the outfit remaining behind to "hold down the ranch." These preparations entailed constant effort, for Eden was eager to start. So httle did he spare his men that, but for the fact that he worked as hard as any of them, there might have been discontent.

  Sudden had httle chance to converse with his friend during these days of stress, for the brief hours of rest were too precious to be wasted, but he got more or less acquainted with the other members of the outfit and decided that Sam Eden was a good judge of men. Rough,

  reckless, and shabby-looking in their coarse trousers, blue shirts and leather "leggin's"—they did not call them "chaps"—they were nevertheless capable. One only he did not approve of—a newcomer like himself—a big, dark, bewhlskered fellow named Lasker, who was in charge of the remuda, a position which was poorly regarded in a cow camp. He knew nothing against the man but instinctively distrusted him.

  "He's got mean eyes," he explained to Sandy.

  "Well, I dessay the horses won't mind," was the reply.

  Sudden looked at him thoughtfully. The boy had changed since they had joined the S-E; his gay impudence had gone, to be replaced by a moody irritability. "He's pretty near played out, like the rest of us," was his unspoken reflection, but he knew it was not a satisfactory solution, for bone weary as all the men were, enthusiasm prevailed, whereas Sandy appeared disgruntled, sick of the whole business.

  "Jeff tells me we're all set for an early start tomorrow,'* Sudden'offered.

  ' "Itll be a reUef to get away from this blasted plain," was aU Sandy had to say.

  When the rancher and his daughter made their appearance in the morning they were accompanied by Baudry. Together they inspected the herd.

  'They look good to me, but surely you have some oldish stuff amongst them," the gambler commented.

  "Oh, I reckon they'll pass with the rest," Eden said. **You remember what the foreman o' one o' the early drives told the buyer who made the same complaint? *Stranger,' he says, 'if you'd bin through half what them critters has, you'd look twice yore age.'"

  Baudry laughed. "Well, you know your business, Sam, and I wish you aU the luck there is," he rejoined. "I'll be coming north myself and shall expect to see you. Hear of the kiUing at Littleton?"

  This was a settlement some thirty miles distant, and the ranch having had no visitors was without news. Eden said as much.

  "Coolest thing ever," Baudry went on. "A stranger steps into Gregg's saloon just after dusk, shoots the dealer at the monte table, collects aU the cash in sight and backs

  out. When the company comes to life agam, he's clean away."

  "Another o' Rogue's capers, I s'pose?" the rancher said.

  "They say not, unless he's got a new hand," Baudry replied. "From his looks, and a remark he made, he was Sudden, the Fourways and San Antonio killer." A rider on a big black horse, waiting to assist in starting the herd, caught his eye. "Why, that might be the fellow, by the description," he finished.

  "What, Green?" the cattleman grinned. "He's been tied to the camp pretty tight the last two weeks. No, Jethro, there ain't no murderers in this outfit; Jim's aU right."

  The young man heard the words but they brought him no satisfaction; the gambler's harsh voice had also carried to where he sat and the bitterness he had been trying to blot out of his life had overwhelmed him again. Another crime had been unjustly placed to his discredit. The world was determined that he should be an outiaw. Very well, since there was no other way . . .

  He came out of his dark musing to find that the word had been given and the herd was already on the move, the point riders leading the way, the swing and flank men stringing the cattle out into a long fine. Two men looked after the "drag," and behind came the remuda, in charge of the horse wrangler, and the wagon. The Great Adventure had begun.

  For the first week or so their trail would pass, for the most part, over the open plain, and Eden gave orders to push the herd hard so that it would arrive at the bedding-ground too tired to have any thought of breaking back to the thorny thickets from which it had been driven. In these early stages of the drive, twenty to twenty-five miles per day would be covered, to drop to half the distance later on.

  Under the blazing sun the herd tramped steadily on. No great difficulty was anticipated until they crossed the Colorado River, the country south of that being familiar to most of the men. Nightfall found them camped near a httle creek. For Sudden, riding moodily round the herd, watching first one and then another, sink down to sleep, the night brought only the opportunity to brood over his

  own troubles. Little more than half a mile away he could see the gleam of the campfire; if the men sitting round it knew who he was, they would hang him before dawn. And for this he had to thank Rogue, whom he was there to serve. Idly he wondered what the outlaw was doing, or about to do, and then swore savagely that he did not care. Which was not the truth.

  Having watched the herd depart and waved an ironical fareweU, Baudry turned his horse's
head toward San Antonio. Five miles along the trail, squatting with his back against a spreading cedar, a man was waiting. Baudry got down, glad to avail himself of the shade.

  "Well, Navajo, the S-E drive has started," he said. "What are Rogue's plans?"

  The half-breed grinned unpleasantly. "You better ask him," he retorted. "His word was that he'd do the job—his own way."

  The gambler's face reddened but he summoned a smile. "Suits me, so long as it's done," he rephed. "Sam seems pretty confident."

  "He ain't got a chanct," the other stated.

  "I think he has," Baudry said coolly. "In fact, I have so strong a belief in my friend Eden's courage and determination that I'd be willing to wager that hell take his cattle through and return safely to his ranch."

  The ruffian laughed evilly. "Shore you would," he sneered. "How much?"

  "One thousand dollars."

  "I'm takin' yore bet. Give it to me in writin'—I got a shockin' memory." The jeer in the man's voice was insulting, but Baudry chose to ignore it.

  "You needn't worry, I always pay my debts,** he said.

  Nevertheless, he wrote a few words in a notebook, tore out the page and passed it to the other. Navajo grinned as he tucked it away in a pocket.

  "Money from home," he chuckled. "This ain't nothin* to do with Rogue, you savvy? So long."

  The gambler stood watching his receding form, a heavy sneer on his thick hps.

  'There's more than one way of paying a debt, you scum," he snarled. "When you've served your purpose.. .*'

  Four

  The Colorado River had been reached without incident, and the S-E drive was camped on the south bank waiting for daylight to make the crossing. Supper was over, and the foreman, Sudden, and several others were smoking beside the fire. There was a thicket to the right of the camp— the first timber they had seen for days—and the cook was busy chopping wood and loading it into the rawhide slung beneath die wagon.

  "Well, trail-drivin* suits me. Why, it won't be no trick atall to push the bunch into Kansas." This from the gangling youth known as "Infant." The foreman surveyed him sardonically.