"I know he is innocent. Why did they find him guilty?"
"I had no evidence," explained Jim simply. "Dad Wrayburn swore I shot twice at Webb just before I disappeared in the brush. Then a shot came out of the chaparral. It"s not reasonable to suppose some one else fired it, especially when the bullet was one that fitted a forty-four."
"But you didn"t fire it. You told me so in your letter."
"My word didn"t count with the jury. I"d have to claim that, anyhow, to save my life. My notion is that the bullet didn"t come from a six-gun at all, but from a seventy-three rifle. But I can"t prove that either."
"It isn"t fair. It--it"s an outrage." Polly burst into tears and took the slim young fellow into her arms. "They ought to know you wouldn"t do that. Why didn"t your friends tell them so?"
He smiled, a little wistfully. "A gunman doesn"t have friends, Polly.
Outside of you an" Lee an" Billie I haven"t any. All the newspapers in the territory an" all the politicians an" most of the decent people have been pullin" for a death sentence. Well, they"ve got it." He stroked her hair softly. "Don"t you worry, girl. They won"t get a chance to hang me."
Pauline released him, dabbed at her eyes, and ran, choking, into the house.
"You"ve got to be in trouble to make a real hit with Miss Roubideau,"
suggested the lank deputy, a little bitterly. "I"ll take those bracelets off now, Clanton. You can wash for supper."
Polly saw to it, anyhow, that the prisoner had the best to eat there was in the house. She made a dinner of spring chicken, mashed potatoes, hot biscuits, jelly, and apple pie.
A rider for the Flying V Y dropped in after they had eaten and bridled like a turkey c.o.c.k at sight of Clanton.
"Don"t you let him git away from you, Jack," he warned the officer.
"We"re allowin" to have a holiday on the sixth up at our place so as to go to the show. It _is_ the sixth, ain"t it?" he jeered, turning to the handcuffed man on the lounge.
"The sixth is correct," answered Jim coolly, meeting him eye to eye.
"You wouldn"t talk that way if Clanton was free," said Goodheart. "You"re taggin" yoreself a bully an" a cheap skate when you do it."
"Say, is that any of yore business, Mr. Deputy Sheriff?"
"It is when you talk to my prisoner. Cut it out, Swartz."
"All right."
The cowpuncher turned to Pauline, who had come to the door and stood there. "You"ll be goin" to the big show on the sixth, Miss Roubideau.
Live-Oaks will be a sure-enough live town that day."
The young woman walked straight up to the big cowpuncher. Her eyes blazed. "Get out of this house. Don"t ever come here again. Don"t speak to me if you meet me."
The Flying V Y rider was taken aback. Like a good many young fellows within a radius of a hundred miles, he was a candidate for the favor of Pierre Roubideau"s daughter.
"Why, I--I--" he stammered. "I didn"t aim for to offend you. This fellow bushwhacked my boss. He--"
"That isn"t true," she interrupted. "He didn"t do it."
"Sure he did it. Go-Get-"Em Jim is a killer. A girl like you, Miss Roubideau, has got no business stickin" up for a bad man who--"
"Didn"t you hear me? I told you to go."
"You"ve been invited to remove yoreself from the place an" become a part of the outdoor scenery, Swartz," cut in Goodheart, a snap to his jaw.
"I"d take that invite p.r.o.nto if I was you."
The cowpuncher picked up his hat and walked out. The drawling voice of the prisoner followed him.
"Don"t you worry, Polly. They can"t hang me if I ain"t there, can they?"
The deputy guessed that Pauline wished to talk alone with Clanton.
Presently he arose and sauntered to the door. "I want to see yore father about some horses Billie needs. Back soon."
He gave them a half-hour, but he took pains to see that his a.s.sistant covered the back door while he watched the front of the house. The prisoner was handcuffed, but Jack did not intend to take any chances.
Personally he believed that Clanton was guilty, but whether he was or not it was his duty to bring the convicted man safely to Live-Oaks. This he meant to do.
Chapter x.x.x
Polly has a Plan
Pauline moved across the room and sat down beside Jim. An eager light shone in her soft, brown eyes.
"Listen!" she ordered in a low voice. "I"ve got a plan. There"s a chance that it will work, I think. But tell me first about your sleeping arrangements. Does Jack or the other guard sit up and watch you all the time?"
"No. The champion roper of New Mexico, Arizona, an" Texas throws the diamond hitch on yours truly. He does an expert job, tucks me up, an"
says good-night. He knows I"m perfectly safe till mornin", especially since both he an" Brad sleep in the same room with me."
"Well, I"m going to give you dad"s room." She leaned forward and whispered to him steadily for five minutes.
The sardonic mockery had vanished from the face of the prisoner. He listened, every nerve and fiber of him at alert attention. Occasionally he asked a question. Carefully she explained the plan, going over each detail of it again and again.
Jim Clanton was efficient. In those days it was a necessary quality for a bad man if he wished to continue to function. He offered a suggestion or two which Pauline incorporated in her proposed campaign of action. At best her scheme was hazardous. It depended upon all things dovetailing properly. But he was in no place to pick and choose. All he asked was a chance and an even break of luck.
"You dandy girl!" he cried softly, and took her two hands between the palms of his fettered ones. "I"m a scalawag, Polly. But if you pull this off for me, I"ll right-about-face. That"s a promise. Somehow I"ve never acted like I wanted to. I"ve done a heap of wild an" foolish things, an"
I"ve killed whenever it was put up to me. I don"t reckon any woman that married me would be real happy. But if you"ll take a chance 111 go away from here an" well Make a fresh start. You"re the only girl there is for me."
A faint smile lay in her eyes. "You used to think Lee was the only girl, didn"t you?"
"Well, I don"t now. I like Polly Roubideau better."
Abruptly she flung at him a statement that was a question. "You didn"t kill Mr. Webb."
"No. I never killed but one man without givin" him an even break. That was Peg-Leg Warren, an" he was a cold-blooded murderer."
A troubled little frown creased her forehead. "I"ve thought for more than a year now that you--liked me that way. And I"ve had it in my mind a great deal as to what I ought to do if you spoke to me about it. I wish you had a good wife, Jim. Maybe she could save you from yourself."
"Mebbe she could, Polly."