"Oh! It"s you, is it, Lone?" she exclaimed, when she neared the vague figure of a man unsaddling a horse. "You didn"t see Frank coming anywhere, did you? Dad won"t have his supper until Frank comes with the things I sent for. He"s late."
Lone was lifting the saddle off the back of John Doe, which he had bought from the Sawtooth because he was fond of the horse. He hesitated and replaced the saddle, pulling the blanket straight under it.
"I saw him coming an hour ago," he said. "I was back up on the ridge, and I saw a team turn into the Quirt trail from the ford. It couldn"t be anybody but Frank. I"ll ride out and meet him."
He was mounted and gone before she realised that he was ready. She heard the sharp staccato of John Doe"s hoofbeats and wondered why Lone had not waited for another word from her. It was as if she had told him that Frank was in some terrible danger,--yet she had merely complained that he was late. The bunk-house door opened, and Sorry came out on the doorstep, stood there a minute and came slowly to meet her as she retraced her steps to the house.
"Where"d Lone go so sudden?" he asked, when she came close to him in the dusk. "That was him, wasn"t it?"
Lorraine stopped and stood looking at him without speaking. A vague terror had seized her. She wanted to scream, and yet she could think of nothing to scream over. It was Lone"s haste, she told herself impatiently. Her nerves were ragged from nursing her dad and from worrying over things she must not talk about,--that forbidden subject which never left her mind for long.
"Wasn"t that him?" Sorry repeated uneasily. "What took him off again in such a rush?"
"Oh, I don"t know! He said Frank should have been here long ago. He went to look for him. Sorry," she cried suddenly, "what _is_ the matter with this place? I feel as if something horrible was just ready to jump out at us all. I--I want my back against something solid, all the time, so that nothing can creep up behind. Nothing," she added desperately, "could happen to Frank between here and the turn-off at the ford, could it? Lone saw him turn into our trail over an hour ago, he said."
Sorry, his fingers thrust into his overalls pockets, his thumbs hooked over the waistband, spat into the sand beside the path. "Well, he started off with a cracked doubletree," he said slowly. "He mighta busted "er pullin" through that sand hollow. She was wired up pretty good, though, and there was more wire in the rig. I don"t know of anything else that"d be liable to happen, unless----"
"Unless what?" Lorraine prompted sharply. "There"s too much that isn"t talked about, on this ranch. What else could happen?"
Sorry edged away from her. "Well--I dunno as anything would be liable to happen," he said uncomfortably. ""Tain"t likely him "n" Brit"d both have accidents--not right hand-runnin"."
"_Accidents?_" Lorraine felt her throat squeeze together. "Sorry, you don"t mean--Sawtooth accidents?" she blurted.
She surprised a grunt out of Sorry, who looked over his shoulder as if he feared eavesdroppers. "Where"d you git that idee?" he demanded. "I dunno what you mean. Ain"t that yore dad callin" yuh?"
Lorraine ignored the hint. "You _do_ know what I mean. Why did you say they wouldn"t both be likely to have accidents hand-running? And why don"t you _do_ something? Why does everyone just keep still and let things happen, and not say a word? If there"s any chance of Frank having an--an _accident_, I should think you"d be out looking after him, and not standing there with your hands in your pockets just waiting to see if he shows up or if he doesn"t show up. You"re all just like these rabbits out in the sage. You"ll hide under a bush and wait until you"re almost stepped on before you so much as wiggle an ear! I"m getting good and tired of this meek business!"
"We-ell," Sorry drawled amiably as she went past him, "playin"
rabbit-under-a-bush mebby don"t look purty, but it"s dern good life insurance."
"A coward"s policy," Lorraine taunted him over her shoulder, and went to see what her father wanted. When he, too, wanted to know why Lone had come and gone again in such a hurry, Lorraine felt all the courage go out of her at once. Their very uneasiness seemed to prove that there was more than enough cause for it. Yet, when she forced herself to stop and think, it was all about nothing. Frank had driven to Echo and had not returned exactly on time, though a dozen things might have detained him.
She was listening at the door when Swan appeared unexpectedly before her, having walked over from the Thurman ranch after doing the ch.o.r.es.
To him she observed that Frank was an hour late, and Swan, whistling softly to Jack--Lorraine was surprised to hear how closely the call resembled the chirp of a bird--strode away without so much as a pretence at excuse. Lorraine stared after him wide-eyed, wondering and yet not daring to wonder.
Her father called to her fretfully, and she went in to him again and told him what Sorry had said about the cracked doubletree, and persuaded him to let her bring his supper at once, and to have the fruit later when Frank arrived. Brit did not say much, but she sensed his uneasiness, and her own increased in proportion. Later she saw two tiny, glowing points down by the corral and knew that Sorry and Jim were down there, waiting and listening, ready to do whatever was needed of them; although what that would be she could not even conjecture.
She made her father comfortable, chattered aimlessly to combat her understanding of his moody silence, and listened and waited and tried her pitiful best not to think that anything could be wrong. The subdued chuckling of the wagon in the sand outside the gate startled her with its unmistakable reality after so many false impressions that she heard it.
"Frank"s coming, dad," she announced relievedly, "and I"ll go and get the mail and the fruit."
She ran down the path again, almost light-hearted in her relief from that vague terror which had held her for the past hour. From the corral Sorry and Jim came walking up the path to meet the wagon which was making straight for the bunkhouse instead of going first to the stable. One man rode on the seat, driving the team which walked slowly, oddly, reminding Lorraine of a funeral procession. Beside the wagon rode Lone, his head drooped a little in the starlight. It was not until the team stopped before the bunk-house that Lorraine knew what it was that gave her that strange, creepy feeling of disaster. It was not Frank Johnson, but Swan Vjolmar who climbed limberly down from the seat without speaking and turned toward the back of the wagon.
"Why, where"s Frank?" she asked, going up to where Lone was dismounting in silence.
"He"s there--in the wagon. We picked him up back here about three-quarters of a mile or so."
"What"s the matter? Is he drunk?" This was Sorry who came up to Swan and stood ready to lend a hand.
"He"s so drunk he falls out of wagon down the road, but he don"t have whisky smell by his face," was Swan"s ambiguous reply.
"He"s not hurt, is he?" Lorraine pressed close, and felt a hand on her arm pulling her gently away.
"He"s hurt," Lone said, just behind her. "We"ll take him into the bunk-house and bring him to. Run along to the house and don"t worry--and don"t say anything to your dad, either. There"s no need to bother him about it. We"ll look after Frank."
Already Swan and Sorry and Jim were lifting Frank"s limp form from the rear of the wagon. It sagged in their arms like a dead thing, and Lorraine stepped back shuddering as they pa.s.sed her. A minute later she followed them inside, where Jim was lighting the lamp with shaking fingers. By the glow of the match Lorraine saw how sober Jim looked, how his chin was trembling under the drooping, sandy moustache. She stared at him, hating to read the emotion in his heavy face that she had always thought so utterly void of feeling.
"It isn"t--he isn"t----" she began, and turned upon Swan, who was beside the bunk, looking down at Frank"s upturned face. "Swan, if it"s serious enough for a doctor, can"t you send another thought message to your mother?" she asked. "He looks--oh, Lone! He isn"t _dead_, is he?"
Swan turned his head and stared down at her, and from her face his glance went sharply to Lone"s downcast face. He looked again at Lorraine.
"To-night I can"t talk with my mind," Swan told her bluntly. "Not always I can do that. I could ask Lone how can a man be drunk so he falls off the wagon when no whisky smell is on his breath."
"Breath? h.e.l.l! There ain"t no breath to smell," Sorry exclaimed as unexpectedly as his speeches usually were. "If he"s breathin" I can"t tell it on him."
"He"s got to be breathing!" Lone declared with a suppressed fierceness that made them all look at him. "I found a half bottle of whisky in his pocket--but Swan"s right. There wasn"t a smell of it on his breath--I tell you now, boys, that he was lying in the sand between two sagebrushes, on his face. And there is where he got the blow--_behind his ear_. It"s one of them accidents that you"ve got to figure out for yourself."
"Oh, do something!" Lorraine cried distractedly. "Never mind now how it happened, or whether he was drunk or not--bring him to his senses first, and let him explain. If there"s whisky, wouldn"t that help if he swallowed some now? And there"s medicine for dad"s bruises in the house. I"ll get it. And Swan! Won"t you _please_ talk to your mother and tell her we need the doctor?"
Swan drew back. "I can"t," he said shortly. "Better you send to Echo for telegraph. And if you have medicine, it should be on his head quick."
Lone was standing with his fingers pressed on Frank"s wrist. He looked up, hesitated, drew out his knife and opened the small blade. He moved so that his back was to Lorraine, and still holding the wrist he made a small, clean cut in the flesh. The three others stooped, stared with tightened lips at the bloodless incision, straightened and looked at one another dumbly.
"I"d like to lie to you," Lone told Lorraine, speaking over his shoulder. "But I won"t. You"re too game and too square. Go and stay with your dad, but don"t let him know--get him to sleep. We don"t need that medicine, nor a doctor either. Frank"s dead. I reckon he was dead when he hit the ground."
CHAPTER XV
SWAN TRAILS A COYOTE
At daybreak Swan was striding toward the place where Frank Johnson had been found. Lone, his face moody, his eyes clouded with thought, rode beside him, while Jack trotted loose-jointedly at Swan"s heels. Swan had his rifle, and Lone"s six-shooter showed now and then under his coat when the wind flipped back a corner. Neither had spoken since they left the ranch, where Jim was wandering dismally here and there, trying to do the ch.o.r.es when his heart was heavy with a sense of personal loss and grim foreboding. None save Brit had slept during the night--and Brit had slept only because Lorraine had prudently given him a full dose of the sedative left by the doctor for that very purpose.
Sorry had gone to Echo to send a telegram to the coroner, and he was likely to return now at any time. Wherefore Swan and Lone were going to look over the ground before others had trampled out what evidence there might be in the shape of footprints.
They reached the spot where the team had stopped of its own accord in crossing a little, green meadow, and had gone to feeding. Lone pulled up and half turned in the saddle, looking at Swan questioningly.
"Is that dog of yours any good at trailing?" he asked abruptly. "I"ve got a theory that somebody was in that wagon with Frank, and drove on a ways before he jumped out. I believe if you"d put that dog on the trail----"
"If I put that dog on the trail he stays on the trail all day, maybe,"
Swan averred with some pride. "By golly, he follows a coyote till he drops."
"Well, it"s a coyote we"re after now," said Lone. "A sheep-killer that has made his last killin". Right here"s where I rode up and caught the team, last night. We better take a look along here for tracks."
Swan stared at him curiously, but he did not speak, and the two went on more slowly, their glances roving here and there along the trail edge, looking for footprints. Once the dog Jack swung off the trail into the brush, and Swan followed him while Lone stopped and awaited the result.
Swan came back presently, with Jack sulking at his heels.
"Yack, he take up the trail of a coyote," Swan explained, "but it"s got the four legs, and Yack, he don"t understand me when I don"t follow.