"No more than Rutherford Wadley."
The Captain shot a swift slant look at this imperturbable young man. Was there a hidden meaning in that answer?
"What"s the matter with Wadley? Does he expect you to let Ford run it over you? That ain"t like Clint."
"He"s likely listened to a pack o" lies."
"And you haven"t heard from him since?"
"Yes, I have. He sent me my check an" a hundred-dollar bill."
Ellison sat up. "What for?"
"For my fancy bulld.o.g.g.i.n"." The hard eyes of the young fellow smouldered with resentment.
"By dog, did Clint send you money for savin" "Mona?"
"He didn"t say what it was for--so I rolled up the bill an" lit a cigarette with it."
"You take expensive smokes, young man," chuckled the officer.
"It was on Wadley. I burned only half the bill. He can cash in the other half, for I sent it back to him. When he got it, he sent for me."
"And you went?"
"You know d.a.m.n well I didn"t. When he wants me, he knows where to find me."
"Most young hill-billies step when Clint tells "em to."
"Do they?" asked the range-rider indifferently.
"You bet you. They jump when he whistles. What are you figurin" to do?"
"Haven"t made up my mind yet. Mebbe I"ll drift along the trail to the Pecos country."
"What was Clint payin" you?"
"Sixty a month an" found."
"How"d you like to have yore wages lowered?"
"Meanin"--"
"That I"ll give you a job."
Young Roberts had a capacity for silence. He asked no questions now, but waited for Ellison to develop the situation.
"With the Rangers. Dollar a day an" furnish yore own bronc," explained the Captain.
"The State of Texas is liberal," said the cowboy with dry sarcasm.
"That"s as you look at it. If you"re a money-grubber, don"t join us. But if you"d like to be one of the finest fightin" force in the world with somethin" doin" every minute, then you"d better sign up. I"ll promise that you die young an" not in yore bed."
"Sounds right attractive," jeered the red-haired youngster with amiable irony.
"It is, for men with red blood in "em," retorted the gray-haired fire-eater hotly.
"All right. I"ll take your word for it, Captain. You"ve hired a hand."
CHAPTER VI
CLINT WADLEY"S MESSENGER
Outside the door of the commandant"s office Arthur Ridley stood for a moment and glanced nervously up and down the dirt road. In a hog-leather belt around his waist was six thousand dollars just turned over to him by Major Ponsford as the last payment for beef steers delivered at the fort according to contract some weeks earlier.
Arthur had decided not to start on the return journey until next morning, but he was not sure his judgment had been good. It was still early afternoon. Before nightfall he might be thirty miles on his way.
The trouble with that was that he would then have to spend two nights out, and the long hours of darkness with their flickering shadows cast by the camp-fires would be full of torture for him. On the other hand, if he should stay till morning, word might leak out from the officers"
quarters that he was carrying a large sum of money.
A drunken man came weaving down the street. He stopped opposite Ridley and balanced himself with the careful dignity of the inebriate. But the gray eyes, hard as those of a gunman, showed no trace of intoxication.
Nor did the steady voice.
"Friend, are you Clint Wadley"s messenger?"
The startled face of Ridley flew a flag of confession. "Why--what do you mean?" he stammered. n.o.body was to have known that he had come to get the money for the owner of the A T O.
"None of my business, you mean," flung back the man curtly. "Good enough! It ain"t. What"s more, I don"t give a d.a.m.n. But listen: I was at the Buffalo Hump when two fellows came in. Me, I was most asleep, and they sat in the booth next to me. I didn"t hear all they said, but I got this--that they"re aimin" to hold up some messenger of Clint Wadley after he leaves town to-morrow. You"re the man, I reckon. All right. Look out for yourself. That"s all."
"But--what shall I do?" asked Ridley.
"Do? I don"t care. I"m tellin" you--see? Do as you please."
"What would _you_ do?" The danger and the responsibility that had fallen upon him out of a sky of sunshine paralyzed the young man"s initiative.
The deep-set, flinty eyes narrowed to slits. "What I"d do ain"t necessarily what you"d better do. What are you, stranger--high-grade stuff, or the run o" the pen?"
"I"m no gun-fighter, if that"s what you mean."
"Then I"d make my get-away like a jackrabbit h.e.l.l-poppin" for its hole.
I got one slant at these fellows in the Buffalo Hump. They"re bully-puss kind o" men, if you know what I mean."
"I don"t. I"m from the East."
"They"ll run it over you, bluff you off the map, take any advantage they can."