"Dunno," said Loudon. "He wasn"t afraid, yuh can gamble on that."
"I ain"t none so sh.o.r.e. He"s bad plumb through, Blakely is. An" he"s a killer, by his eyes. I guess it was just the extra shade he wanted, an" the extra shade wasn"t there.
You"d "a" got him, Tom."
"Sh.o.r.e! But don"t yuh make no mistake about Blakely bein" a coward. He ain"t. He"s seen trouble, an" seen it in the smoke."
"You mean Skinner Jack. Well, Jack wasn"t slow with a gun, but the other two was Injuns, an" they only had Winchesters, an" Blakely he had a Sharp"s. So yuh can"t tally the war-whoops. An" I did hear how Skinner Jack was drunk when he called Blakely a liar."
"I doubt it. Skinner could always hold his red-eye.
More likely his gun caught."
"Anyway, Tommy, you"d better not go cavortin" about on the skyline too plenteous. It wouldn"t bother Blakely none to bushwhack yuh."
"Oh, he wouldn"t do that. He ain"t the bushwhackin" kind."
"Oh, ain"t he? Now just because he ain"t never done nothin"
like that, it don"t prove he won"t. He"s got a killer"s eyes, I tell yuh, an" drillin" yuh would tickle him to death. Yuh run a blazer on him, an" he quit cold. Other gents seen the play. He won"t never forget that. He"ll down yuh on the square, or what looks like an even break, if he can. But if he can"t he"ll down yuh anyway."
"Rustlers ramblin" over yore way any?" inquired Loudon in a meaning tone.
Johnny Ramsay struck his saddle-horn a resounding thwack with his open palm.
"If we could only get him that way!" he exclaimed. "But he"s slicker"n axle-grease."
"The 88 will brand one calf too many some day. h.e.l.l"s delight! What do they do with "em? Yuh ride the range an" yuh ride the range an" yuh don"t find no cows with unhealed brands. I seen twelve, though, with the 88 brand that looked like some gent had been addin" to Bar S with a runnin"-iron. But the brands was all healed up. Anyway, we"ve lost forty cows, an" I dunno how many calves."
"They"ll turn up again."
"Sh.o.r.e--carryin" the 88 brand. My idea is that them rustlers brand "em an" then hold "em in some blind canon over near the Fallin" Horse till the burns heal up, an" then they throw "em loose on the range again. If the cows do drift across to the Bar S, what"s the dif? They got the 88 brand."
"That sounds good. Why don"t yuh take a little wander "round the scenery near the Fallin" Horse?"
"I have; I didn"t see nothin". But they got "em hid somewhere all right. One day I runs across Marvin, an" I had a job losin" him. He stuck to me closer"n tar all day. He was worried some, I seen that."
"Goin" back?"
"Till I find their cache, I am."
"That"s another reason for makin" Blakely so friendly.
He knows yuh won"t stop lookin". Ain"t it the devil an" all?
The measly Sheriff just squats down on his hunkers an" does nothin" while we lose cows in car-lots. An" when our cows go, we kiss "em good-bye. They never come back--not even with their brand altered. Yuh can"t change Cross-in-a-box to 88."
"With the Bar S it"s a cinch. But the boss won"t use another brand. Not him. He"ll stick to Bar S till he ain"t got a cow to run the iron on."
"Oh, it"s a great system the 88 outfit are workin"! An"
with Sheriff Block an" most all o" Marysville an" Farewell their friends it"s a hard game to buck. Talk o" law! There ain"t none in Fort Creek County."
"The only play is Vigilantes, an" it can"t come to them till there"s proof. We all know Blakely an" the 88 bunch are up to their hocks in this rustlin" deal, but we can"t prove it."
"There"s the worst o" bein" straight," complained Johnny Ramsay. "Yuh know some tinhorn is a-grabbin" all yuh own. Yo"re certain sh.o.r.e who the gent is, but yuh can"t hop out an" bust him without yuh catch him a-grabbin" or else a-wearin" yore pet pants."
"That"s whatever," agreed Loudon.
Five miles out of Farewell, where the trail forked, one branch leading southeast to the Cross-in-a-box, the other to the Bar S, Loudon checked his horse.
"Keep a-goin"," said Johnny Ramsay. "I"m travellin" with you a spell. I"m kind o" sick o" that old trail. I"ve rode it so frequent I know all the rocks an" the cotton-woods by their first names."
Which explanation Loudon did not accept at its face value.
He understood perfectly why Ramsay continued to ride with him. Ramsay believed that Blakely would endeavour to drop Loudon from ambush, and it is well known that a gentleman lying in wait for another will often stay his hand when his intended victim is accompanied. Neither Loudon nor Ramsay made any mention of the true inwardness of his thoughts. They had been friends for a long time.
Climbing the long slope of Indian Ridge, they scanned the trail warily. But nowhere did the hoofprints of Blakely"s horse leave the dust of the trail. On the reverse slope of the ridge they picked up the larger hoofprints of Block"s horse.
Fair and plain the two sets of marks led southward.
"Wonder who the other gent was," hazarded Ramsay.
"Block," said Loudon, "I met him this mornin". I was puttin" holes in his notice, an" he didn"t like it none."
"Did he chatter much?"
"He talked a few, but nothin" to hurt."
"The tinhorn!" laughed Ramsay. "Bet he"s goin" to the 88."
"It"s some likely. We"ll know when we reach Long Coulee."
They reached Long Coulee, where the trail to the 88 swung westward, as the sun was dropping behind the far-away peaks of the Three Sisters Mountains. Loudon slipped his feet from the stirrups and stretched luxuriously. But he did not feel luxurious.
As he had expected, Block had turned into the 88 trail, but as he had not expected Blakely had ridden straight on toward the Bar S. Which latter event was disquieting, not that Loudon feared an act of violence on the part of Blakely, but because Kate"s evening would be preempted by his enemy.
Loudon keenly desired to talk to Kate that evening. He had a great many things to tell her, and now the coming of Blakely spoiled it all.
"The nerve o" some folks," remarked Johnny Ramsay, eying the tracks of Blakely"s horse with disfavour. "Better tell old Salt to lock up the silver an" the cuckoo clock. No offence now, Tommy, but if I was you, I"d sleep in the corral to-night. Blakely might take a fancy to the goat."
"I sh.o.r.e hope he does," grinned Loudon. "It would ease the strain some."
"Make it complete, old beanpole, when you do call the turn. Well, I got to be skippin". Give my love to old Salt.
So long."
"So long."
Johnny Ramsay picked up his reins, wheeled his pony, and fox-trotted away. He felt that further accompanying of Loudon was unnecessary. The danger of an ambush was past.
Riding with Loudon had taken Ramsay some fifteen miles out of his way, and twenty-five long miles lay between his pony"s nose and the corral bars of the Cross-in-a-box ranch.
But Ramsay wasted not a thought on his lengthened journey.
He would have ridden cheerfully across the territory and back again in order to benefit a friend.
"Come on, fellah," said Loudon, when Ramsay had gone.
The chestnut moved off at a walk. Loudon did not hurry him. He took out his papers and tobacco and rolled a cigarette with neatness and despatch. Tilting back his head, he blew the first lungful of smoke straight up into the air.