"Don"t shoot!" said a woman"s contralto. "I"m a friend."
"Dorothy!" Wade e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed, at once recognizing the voice, although he could not see the girl distinctly in the darkness. "In Heaven"s name, what are you doing out here?"
"Is it you, Gordon?" In her relief, she laughed softly as she pulled her pony up side of him. "I was a little scared for a second or two. I"ve awfully bad news, I"m afraid," she added, immediately serious. "I"ve been trying to find you. I went to the hotel and they told me you"d gone somewhere."
"Miss Rexhill and I went to call on you."
"You did? If I"d only known. I"ve been clear out to the ranch."
"Is Santry there?" In his anxiety he forgot momentarily the loneliness of her long ride. "They say some of Jensen"s men have been shot up; and I"m anxious to find out what Bill knows."
"That"s just what I want to tell you. I heard of the shooting before I left town. Whoa, Gypsy!" She reined up her pony, nervously, for it would not stand still. Wade seized the animal"s bridle and quieted it. "I don"t know if he"s there or not," the girl went on. "I couldn"t see. The ranch house is full of men."
"Men? What men?" Wade demanded sharply.
"Race Moran"s crowd. They went out to arrest Santry. The Sheriff is with them. I heard part of it in town, and that"s why I tried to find you."
Wade groaned. "I peeped in at a window, and when I could see neither you nor Santry I slipped away without being seen and took the old trail back because it was shorter."
"Lord, what a mess!" Wade ground his teeth savagely. "Poor old Bill was all alone there and they must have surprised him. But I don"t see why Barker didn"t mention the posse when he told me of the shooting?"
"He didn"t know of it, probably. They left town very quietly. I happened to be out back of the house and I heard one of them talking as they rode by."
"Good Lord!" Wade"s head drooped. "I told Bill to stay at the ranch, and he promised me...."
"I don"t believe he shot Jensen at all," Dorothy declared, with spirit.
"Yes, it was Jensen himself and one of his herders. Both in the back--killed."
"Bill Santry never shot any man in the back," Wade declared, in a relieved tone. "If you"re sure of the facts, Santry will come clear all right."
"It"s just a devilish scheme of Moran"s, that"s all, to put it on you and Santry. I"m sure it is. He hates you both. Whoa, Gypsy!" She reined the little mare in again. "No, it"s all right, Gordon. I can manage her," she remonstrated, as he reached for the bridle once more.
"So that"s their game, eh? By Heaven, I more than half believe you"re right." His face grew ugly with rage. "Dorothy," he continued grimly, "thanks are useless. You"re a brick, that"s all. Do one thing more for us, will you?"
"Anything," she replied simply, her eyes shining with devotion to him, but he was too overwrought to read them in the darkness.
"When you get back to town get word to some of the men for me. You may meet them on the way out, if not they"ll be around the barn. Tell them to meet me at the big pine, on the old trail."
His horse had grown restless and now he allowed it to have its head; he was moving past her when she clutched his arm.
"Gordon!"
She loved him dearly, too dearly to let him know how well until he should speak, if he ever did speak; but above them was the starlit sky and over them hovered the wondrous spirit of the Western night. Her pulse was beating, too, to the call of danger, and despite the control which she had over her nerves, she was just a bit hysterical beneath the surface. She knew that ahead of him was a little army of hostile men, and already that day two men had been killed. So, tremulously, she held on to his sleeve, until she stopped him.
"What are you going to do? You can"t do anything alone against so many.
They may kill you."
Her sympathy was very sweet to him and he warmly squeezed the little hand which had held him back.
"Don"t you be afraid, little girl," he said tenderly. "I shall not get hurt if I can help it."
"Wait until the others come, won"t you?"
"Surely," he answered readily, touched by the anxiety in her voice. "I"m going to look around--just as you did--on the quiet. You wouldn"t hold me back, where you went in, now would you?"
"No--!" She smiled a little into his face.
"That"s the stuff! Then I"m coming back to the big pine, and you"ll send the boys there. They"ll not put Santry in jail if we can prevent them.
They"ve played their last card to-night. It"s war from now on."
"All right, Gordon, I"ll go." Her voice was full of courage again; the moment of weakness had pa.s.sed. "Remember now, take good care of yourself."
"You bet," he retorted cheerily, and as her mare moved ahead, he caught her arm as she had caught his. She went quite limp in her saddle and swayed toward him, but he merely added: "You"re a wonder, Dorothy."
He released her then, and with a wave of her hand she disappeared into the night. Not until she was beyond recall did he realize that he might have kissed her; that she had wanted him to kiss her, for the first time since they had known each other. He sat in abstraction for several moments before he shook the reins in his hand and his horse sprang forward.
"I"ve kissed one girl to-day," he muttered aloud, "and I reckon that"s enough."
CHAPTER VII
THE OLD TRAIL
For another mile Wade followed the main road and then diverged sharply to the left into what was known as the old, or upper, trail. This had formerly been the valley road until made dangerous by a wash-out a year or two previous. In the following spring the wash-out had been partially repaired, but the going was still so rough that the new road was widened, and had been used by preference ever since. The old trail, however, was nearly four miles the shorter of the two, and was still traveled in cases of emergency, although to do so at speed and in the dark was hazardous.
Wade"s promise to Dorothy to take good care of himself had been made with mental reservation, for, obsessed by his anxiety over Santry, the young ranchman was in no mood to spare either himself or his horse. His going was marked by a constant shower of stones, sometimes behind him, as the wiry cayuse climbed like a mountain goat; but as often in front, as horse and rider coasted perilously down some declivity. The horse sweated and trembled with nervousness, as a frightened child might, but never refused to attempt what its master demanded of it. One might almost say that there existed a human understanding between man and beast as to the importance of their errand; a common impulse, which urged them onward.
When Wade reflected that Dorothy, too, had come over that trail by night in his interest, he thought her more than ever a wonderful girl. Even to one born and raised in the cattle country, the trip would have been difficult; but then he realized that Dorothy seemed much like a ranch-bred girl in her courage and frank womanliness, nor was she any less charming on that account. After all, he thought, women paid too highly for little accomplishments, if to gain them they had to sacrifice the vital points of character. He could not help but contrast Helen"s insistence that she should be escorted back to the hotel with Dorothy"s brave ride alone, and while he was too loyal to Helen Rexhill to blame her in this respect, the thing made a deep impression upon him.
The way was long, and he had time for many thoughts. It was natural, in the still night, with Dorothy only a little while gone, that he should think tenderly of her, for this cost Santry nothing. For Santry, Wade was reserving not thought but action. He was making up his mind that if Moran had taken the foreman into custody on a trumped up charge of murder, the agent should feel the power of a greater tribunal than any court in the locality--the law of the Strong Arm! Behind him in this, the ranchman knew, was the whole of the cattle faction, and since war had been thrust upon them he would not stop until the end came, whatever it might be. His conscience was clean, for he had exerted himself manfully in the cause of peace, even to the point where his own character had suffered, and now the hour of reprisal was at hand.
He rode, at last, over the top of the Divide and into the little draw that led up to the ranch buildings, in the windows of which lights gleamed. With an imprecation at sight of them, he tied his horse to a post, and, revolver in hand, crept toward the house as quietly as a Sioux.
Except for the light, there was no sign of life about the place, and Wade craftily advanced into the deeper shadows close to the wall of the house. Taking off his hat, so that the crown might not betray him, he peeped through a window. What he saw made him clinch his fingers and grit his teeth in rage.
Inside were half a dozen men, besides three of his own ranch hands who lay trussed up like turkeys in one corner of the room; doubtless they had been surprised by the posse before they had opportunity to run or put up a fight. Moran was there, stretched comfortably on Wade"s own cot, smoking a cigar. Once, he looked directly toward the window at which the watcher had placed himself, but the latter did not move.
Instead, he fingered his gun and waited; he was not sure that he really wanted to avoid detection; if it came, Moran would pay, and the rest, at the moment, did not seem to matter. He had forgotten Dorothy entirely.
But Santry was not there and this fact puzzled Wade. The Sheriff was not there either, and presently it occurred to the cattleman that a part of the posse, with Santry, might have returned to Crawling Water over the main trail. Probably Moran, with the rest, was waiting for him. The mere thought of Santry already on his way to jail filled Wade with a baffling sense of rage, and creeping from the house, he examined the surrounding turf by the faint rays of the moon. It was badly cut up by the feet of many horses, and several minutes pa.s.sed before Wade was really sure that a number of mounted men had taken the trail back to town. Satisfied of this at length, he untied his horse and swung into the saddle.
Before riding away he considered the advisability of driving off the horses belonging to Moran"s party, but there would still be others in the corral, and besides their absence, when discovered, would give warning of the impending attack. On second thought, however, he quietly made his way to the corral and caught a fresh horse of his own. When he had saddled it he set out over the old trail for the big pine.
When he reached the rendezvous his men were not there; but knowing that he must meet them if he followed the road from there on he did not stop.
He came upon them in a few minutes, riding toward him at full speed, with Tim Sullivan in the van, too drunk to stand erect, but able to balance himself on a horse"s back, drunk or sober.
"We come acrost Santry and the Sheriff a while back," explained Big Bob Lawson, one of Wade"s own punchers. "They must be in town by now. We was aimin" to light into "em, but Santry wouldn"t hear of it. Course, we took our orders from him same as usual. He said to tell you that you wanted him to keep quiet, an" that"s what he aimed to do."