"Yes."
"Rode in to shoot up the town, eh? Same old stunt of you gunfighters?
Meant to kill the man who offered a reward? Wanted to see Jeff Aiken bad, huh?"
"No," replied Duane. "Your citizen here misrepresented things. He seems a little off his head."
"Reckon he is. Somebody is, that"s sure. You claim Buck Duane, then, an"
all his doings?"
"I"m Duane; yes. But I won"t stand for the blame of things I never did.
That"s why I"m here. I saw that placard out there offering the reward.
Until now I never was within half a day"s ride of this town. I"m blamed for what I never did. I rode in here, told who I was, asked somebody to send for Jeff Aiken."
"An" then you set down an" let this old guy throw your own gun on you?"
queried the cowboy in amazement.
"I guess that"s it," replied Duane.
"Well, it"s powerful strange, if you"re really Buck Duane."
A man elbowed his way into the circle.
"It"s Duane. I recognize him. I seen him in more"n one place," he said.
"Sibert, you can rely on what I tell you. I don"t know if he"s locoed or what. But I do know he"s the genuine Buck Duane. Any one who"d ever seen him onct would never forget him."
"What do you want to see Aiken for?" asked the cowboy Sibert.
"I want to face him, and tell him I never harmed his wife."
"Why?"
"Because I"m innocent, that"s all."
"Suppose we send for Aiken an" he hears you an" doesn"t believe you; what then?"
"If he won"t believe me--why, then my case"s so bad--I"d be better off dead."
A momentary silence was broken by Sibert.
"If this isn"t a queer deal! Boys, reckon we"d better send for Jeff."
"Somebody went fer him. He"ll be comin" soon," replied a man.
Duane stood a head taller than that circle of curious faces. He gazed out above and beyond them. It was in this way that he chanced to see a number of women on the outskirts of the crowd. Some were old, with hard faces, like the men. Some were young and comely, and most of these seemed agitated by excitement or distress. They cast fearful, pitying glances upon Duane as he stood there with that noose round his neck.
Women were more human than men, Duane thought. He met eyes that dilated, seemed fascinated at his gaze, but were not averted. It was the old women who were voluble, loud in expression of their feelings.
Near the trunk of the cottonwood stood a slender woman in white. Duane"s wandering glance rested upon her. Her eyes were riveted upon him. A soft-hearted woman, probably, who did not want to see him hanged!
"Thar comes Jeff Aiken now," called a man, loudly.
The crowd shifted and trampled in eagerness.
Duane saw two men coming fast, one of whom, in the lead, was of stalwart build. He had a gun in his hand, and his manner was that of fierce energy.
The cowboy Sibert thrust open the jostling circle of men.
"Hold on, Jeff," he called, and he blocked the man with the gun. He spoke so low Duane could not hear what he said, and his form hid Aiken"s face. At that juncture the crowd spread out, closed in, and Aiken and Sibert were caught in the circle. There was a pushing forward, a pressing of many bodies, hoa.r.s.e cries and flinging hands--again the insane tumult was about to break out--the demand for an outlaw"s blood, the call for a wild justice executed a thousand times before on Texas"s b.l.o.o.d.y soil.
Sibert bellowed at the dark encroaching ma.s.s. The cowboys with him beat and cuffed in vain.
"Jeff, will you listen?" broke in Sibert, hurriedly, his hand on the other man"s arm.
Aiken nodded coolly. Duane, who had seen many men in perfect control of themselves under circ.u.mstances like these, recognized the spirit that dominated Aiken. He was white, cold, pa.s.sionless. There were lines of bitter grief deep round his lips. If Duane ever felt the meaning of death he felt it then.
"Sure this "s your game, Aiken," said Sibert. "But hear me a minute.
Reckon there"s no doubt about this man bein" Buck Duane. He seen the placard out at the cross-roads. He rides in to Shirley. He says he"s Buck Duane an" he"s lookin" for Jeff Aiken. That"s all clear enough.
You know how these gunfighters go lookin" for trouble. But here"s what stumps me. Duane sits down there on the bench and lets old Abe Strickland grab his gun ant get the drop on him. More"n that, he gives me some strange talk about how, if he couldn"t make you believe he"s innocent, he"d better be dead. You see for yourself Duane ain"t drunk or crazy or locoed. He doesn"t strike me as a man who rode in here huntin"
blood. So I reckon you"d better hold on till you hear what he has to say."
Then for the first time the drawn-faced, hungry-eyed giant turned his gaze upon Duane. He had intelligence which was not yet subservient to pa.s.sion. Moreover, he seemed the kind of man Duane would care to have judge him in a critical moment like this.
"Listen," said Duane, gravely, with his eyes steady on Aiken"s, "I"m Buck Duane. I never lied to any man in my life. I was forced into outlawry. I"ve never had a chance to leave the country. I"ve killed men to save my own life. I never intentionally harmed any woman. I rode thirty miles to-day--deliberately to see what this reward was, who made it, what for. When I read the placard I went sick to the bottom of my soul. So I rode in here to find you--to tell you this: I never saw Shirley before to-day. It was impossible for me to have--killed your wife. Last September I was two hundred miles north of here on the upper Nueces. I can prove that. Men who know me will tell you I couldn"t murder a woman. I haven"t any idea why such a deed should be laid at my hands. It"s just that wild border gossip. I have no idea what reasons you have for holding me responsible. I only know--you"re wrong. You"ve been deceived. And see here, Aiken. You understand I"m a miserable man.
I"m about broken, I guess. I don"t care any more for life, for anything.
If you can"t look me in the eyes, man to man, and believe what I say--why, by G.o.d! you can kill me!"
Aiken heaved a great breath.
"Buck Duane, whether I"m impressed or not by what you say needn"t matter. You"ve had accusers, justly or unjustly, as will soon appear.
The thing is we can prove you innocent or guilty. My girl Lucy saw my wife"s a.s.sailant."
He motioned for the crowd of men to open up.
"Somebody--you, Sibert--go for Lucy. That"ll settle this thing."
Duane heard as a man in an ugly dream. The faces around him, the hum of voices, all seemed far off. His life hung by the merest thread. Yet he did not think of that so much as of the brand of a woman-murderer which might be soon sealed upon him by a frightened, imaginative child.
The crowd trooped apart and closed again. Duane caught a blurred image of a slight girl clinging to Sibert"s hand. He could not see distinctly.
Aiken lifted the child, whispered soothingly to her not to be afraid.
Then he fetched her closer to Duane.
"Lucy, tell me. Did you ever see this man before?" asked Aiken, huskily and low. "Is he the one--who came in the house that day--struck you down--and dragged mama--?"
Aiken"s voice failed.
A lightning flash seemed to clear Duane"s blurred sight. He saw a pale, sad face and violet eyes fixed in gloom and horror upon his. No terrible moment in Duane"s life ever equaled this one of silence--of suspense.
"It"s ain"t him!" cried the child.
Then Sibert was flinging the noose off Duane"s neck and unwinding the bonds round his arms. The spellbound crowd awoke to hoa.r.s.e exclamations.