And so, with his gun again in its holster, Texas threw himself astride his Pinto pony and loped down toward the sloping banks of the Rio Grande del Norte.
A quarter of a mile from town he halted on the bare k.n.o.b of a low hill and took a lingering look at the pretentious house amid the green surroundings.
Near the house was something he had not seen when he had looked before--the flutter of a white dress against the background of green. As he looked the white figure moved rapidly through the garden and disappeared behind the house.
"She didn"t say a word," said Texas chokingly.
Ten hours out of Socorro Texas Rankin rode morosely into San Marcial.
Into San Marcial the unbeautiful, with its vista of unpainted shanties and lurid dives. For in San Marcial foregathered the men of the mines and the ranges; men of forgotten morals, but of brawn and muscle, whose hearts beat not with a yearning for high ideals, but with a l.u.s.t for wealth and gain--white, Indian, Mexican, half-breed; predatory spirits of many nations, opposed in the struggle for existence.
For ten hours Texas had ridden the river trail, and for ten hours his ears had been burdened with the dull beat of his pony"s hoofs on the matted mesquite gra.s.s, and the rattle of his wooden stirrups against the chaparral growth. And for ten hours his mind had been confused with a mult.i.tude of perplexities and resentments.
But all mental confusions reach a culminating point when the mind finally throws aside the useless chaff of thought and considers only the questions that have to do with the heart. Wherefore, Texas Rankin"s mind dwelt on Mary Jane. Subconsciously his mind harbored rebellion against her father, who had judged him; against Socorro, which had misunderstood him; against Fate, which had been unjust. All these atoms of personal interest were elements of a primitive emotion that finally evolved into one great concrete determination that he would show Jim Webster, Socorro, Mary Jane--the world, that he was not the creature they had thought him. Tearing aside all mental superfluities, there was revealed a new structure of thought:
"I am goin" to be a man again!"
And so Texas rode his tired pony in the gathering dusk; down the wide street that was beginning to flicker with the shafts of light from grimy windows; down to the hitching rail in front of the Top Notch Saloon--where he dismounted and stood stiffly beside his beast while he planned his regeneration.
Half an hour later Texas sat opposite a man at a card table in the rear of the Top Notch Saloon.
The man conversed easily, but it was noticeable that he watched Texas with cat-like vigilance, and that he poured his whiskey with his left hand.
Ordinarily Texas would have noticed this departure from the polite rules, but laboring under the excitement that his new determination brought him he was careless. For he had planned his regeneration, and his talk with the man was the beginning.
"You lifted the express box at Socorro, Buck!" said Texas, so earnestly that the table trembled.
Buck Reible, gambler, outlaw, murderer, pushed back his broad-brimmed hat with his hand--always he used his left--and gazed with level, menacing eyes at Texas. His lips parted with a half-sneer.
"If a man does a job nowadays, there"s always some one wants in on it!"
he declared, voicing his suspicion of Rankin"s motive in bringing up the subject. "Because you was lucky in bein" close when the game come off is the reason you want a share of the cash," he added satirically. "How much----"
"Go easy, Buck," said Texas. "I ain"t no angel, but I never played your style. I ain"t askin" for a share."
"Then what in----"
"It"s a new deal," declared Texas heavily. "A square deal. You took five thousand dollars out of Socorro, an" you salivated the agent doin" it.
Jim Webster thought it was me, an" I was invited to a farewell performance in which I done the starrin". Some night-prowler saw me down near the station just before you made your grand entree, an"----"
"Serves you right for spoonin" with a female so close to where gentlemen has business," said Buck. "I saw her when you come toward me shootin"."
"An" what makes it more aggravatin"," continued Texas, unmoved by the interruption; "is that the lady was Jim Webster"s daughter, an" we was thinkin" of gettin" married. But we didn"t want Jim to know just then, an" she told me to keep mum, seein" that Jim was opposed. She said we"d keep it secret until----"
"I admire the lady"s choice," said Buck, sneering ironically.
"----until I braced up an" was a man again," went on Texas, with bull-dog persistency.
"Then you wasn"t thinkin" of gettin" married soon," slurred Buck.
"I reckon we was," returned Texas coldly; "that"s why I came here. I"m goin" to take that five thousand back to Socorro with me!"
And now Buck used his right hand. But quick as he was, he was late.
Rankin"s gun gaped at him across the table the while his own weapon lagged tardily half-way in its holster.
"I"m goin" to be a man again," said Texas. There was a positiveness in his voice that awoke thoughts of death and violence.
"You d.a.m.n----" began Buck.
"I"ll count ten," said Texas frigidly. "If the money ain"t on the table then I reckon you won"t care what becomes of it!"
"One!--Two!"
With a snarl of rage and hate Buck rose from his chair and sprang clear, his gun flashing to a level with the movement, its savage roar shattering the silence.
Texas did not wince as the heavy bullet struck him, but his face went white. He had been a princ.i.p.al in more than one shooting affray, and experience had taught him the value of instantaneous action. And so, even with the stinging pain in his left shoulder, his hand swept his gun lightly upward, and before it had reached a level he had begun to pull the trigger. But to his astonishment only the metallic click, click of the hammer striking the steel of the cylinder rewarded his efforts.
Once, twice, thrice; so rapidly that the metallic clicks blended.
And now he saw why he was to meet his death at the muzzle of Buck"s gun.
Fearing him, Jim Webster had removed the cartridges from his weapon before returning it to him that morning. He had committed a fatal error in not examining it after he had received it from Webster"s hand. The Law, in judging him, had removed his chance of life.
But he smiled with bitter irony into Buck"s eyes as the latter, still snarling and relentless, deliberately shot again; once, twice.
According to the ancient custom--which has many champions--and to the conventions--which are not to be violated with impunity--Texas should have recovered from his wounds to return to Mary Jane and Socorro. No narrative is complete without the entire vindication of the brave and the triumph of the honorable. But to the chronicler belongs only the simple task of true and conscientious record.
Therefore is the end written thus:
Came to Jim Webster"s home in Socorro a week later a babbler from San Marcial, who told a tale:
"There was a man by the name of Texas Rankin came down to San Marcial last week an" went gunnin" for Buck Reible. Quickest thing you ever saw.
Buck peppered him so fast you couldn"t count; an" I"m told Texas wasn"t no slouch with a gun, either."
"Dead?" questioned Webster.
"As a door nail," returned the babbler.
"Socorro"s bad man," said Webster, sententiously. "Wasn"t a bit of good in him. Gamblin", shootin", outlaw. Best job Buck ever done."
He found Mary Jane in the kitchen, singing over the supper dishes.
"Texas Rankin is dead over at San Marcial," he said, with the importance of one communicating delectable news.
Mary Jane continued with her dishes, looking at her father over her shoulder with a mild unconcern.