""If you heard I was lookin" for you, you sure heard what for," replied Blome.
""Blome, my experience with such men as you is that you all brag one thing behind my back an" you mean different when I show up. I"ve called you now. What do you mean?"
""I reckon you know what Jack Blome means."
""Jack Blome! That name means nothin" to me. Blome, you"ve been braggin"
around that you"d meet me--kill me! You thought you meant it, didn"t you?"
""Yes--I did mean it."
""All right. Go ahead!"
"The barroom became perfectly still, except for the slow breaths I heard. There wasn"t any movement anywhere. That queer gray came to Blome"s face again. He might again have been stone. I thought, an" I"ll gamble every one else watchin" thought, Blome would draw an" get killed in the act. But he never moved. Steele had cowed him. If Blome had been heated by drink, or mad, or anythin" but what he was just then, maybe he might have throwed a gun. But he didn"t. I"ve heard of really brave men gettin" panicked like that, an" after seein" Steele I didn"t wonder at Blome.
""You see, Blome, you don"t want to meet me, for all your talk," went on the Ranger. "You thought you did, but that was before you faced the man you intended to kill. Blome, you"re one of these dandy, c.o.c.k-of-the-walk four-flushers. I"ll tell you how I know. Because I"ve met the real gun-fighters, an" there never was one of them yet who bragged or talked.
Now don"t you go round blowin" any more."
"Then Steele deliberately stepped forward an" slapped Blome on one side of his face an" again on the other.
""Keep out of my way after this or I"m liable to spoil some of your dandy looks."
"Blome got up an" walked straight out of the place. I had my eyes on him, kept me from seein" Steele. But on hearin" somethin", I don"t know what, I turned back an" there Steele had got a long arm on Bo Snecker, who was tryin" to throw a gun.
"But he wasn"t quick enough. The gun banged in the air an" then it went spinnin" away, while Snecker dropped in a heap on the floor. The table was overturned, an" March, the other rustler, who was on that side, got up, pullin" his gun. But somebody in the crowd killed him before he could get goin". I didn"t see who fired that shot, an" neither did anybody else. But the crowd broke an" run. Steele dragged Bo Snecker down to jail an" locked him up."
Morton concluded his narrative, and then evidently somewhat dry of tongue, he produced knife and tobacco and cut himself a huge quid.
"That"s all, so far, to-day, Russ, but I reckon you"ll agree with me on the main issue--Steele"s game"s opened."
I had felt the rush of excitement, the old exultation at the prospect of danger, but this time there was something lacking in them. The wildness of the boy that had persisted in me was gone.
"Yes, Steele has opened it and I"m ready to boost the game along. Wait till I see him! But Morton, you say someone you don"t know played a hand in here and killed March."
"I sure do. It wasn"t any of our men. Zimmer was outside. The others were at different places."
"The fact is, then, Steele has more friends than we know, perhaps more than he knows himself."
"Right. An" it"s got the gang in the air. There"ll be h.e.l.l to-night."
"Steele hardly expects to keep Snecker in jail, does he?"
"I can"t say. Probably not. I wish Steele had put both Blome and Snecker out of the way. We"d have less to fight."
"Maybe. I"m for the elimination method myself. But Steele doesn"t follow out the gun method. He will use one only when he"s driven. It"s hard to make him draw. You know, after all, these desperate men aren"t afraid of guns or fights. Yet they are afraid of Steele. Perhaps it"s his nerve, the way he faces them, the things he says, the fact that he has mysterious allies."
"Russ, we"re all with him, an" I"ll gamble that the honest citizens of Linrock will flock to him in another day. I can see signs of that. There were twenty or more men on Hoden"s list, but Steele didn"t want so many."
"We don"t need any more. Morton, can you give me any idea where Steele is?"
"Not the slightest."
"All right. I"ll hunt for him. If you see him tell him to hole up, and then you come after me. Tell him I"ve got our men spotted."
"Russ, if you Ranger fellows ain"t wonders!" exclaimed Morton, with shining eyes.
Steele did not show himself in town again that day. Here his cunning was manifest. By four o"clock that afternoon Blome was drunk and he and his rustlers went roaring up and down the street. There was some shooting, but I did not see or hear that any one got hurt. The lawless element, both native to Linrock and the visitors, followed in Blome"s tracks from saloon to saloon. How often had I seen this sort of procession, though not on so large a scale, in many towns of wild Texas!
The two great and dangerous things in Linrock at the hour were whisky and guns. Under such conditions the rustlers were capable of any mad act of folly.
Morton and his men sent word flying around town that a fight was imminent and all citizens should be prepared to defend their homes against possible violence. But despite his warning I saw many respectable citizens abroad whose quiet, un.o.btrusive manner and watchful eyes and hard faces told me that when trouble began they wanted to be there. Verily Ranger Steele had built his house of service upon a rock.
It did not seem too much to say that the next few days, perhaps hours, would see a great change in the character and a proportionate decrease in number of the inhabitants of this corner of Pecos County.
Morton and I were in the crowd that watched Blome, Snecker, and a dozen other rustlers march down to Steele"s jail. They had crowbars and they had cans of giant powder, which they had appropriated from a hardware store. If Steele had a jailer he was not in evidence. The door was wrenched off and Bo Snecker, evidently not wholly recovered, brought forth to his cheering comrades. Then some of the rustlers began to urge back the pressing circle, and the word given out acted as a spur to haste. The jail was to be blown up.
The crowd split and some men ran one way, some another. Morton and I were among those who hurried over the vacant ground to a little ridge that marked the edge of the open country. From this vantage point we heard several rustlers yell in warning, then they fled for their lives.
It developed that they might have spared themselves such headlong flight. The explosion appeared to be long in coming. At length we saw the lifting of the roof in a cloud of red dust, and then heard an exceedingly heavy but low detonation. When the pall of dust drifted away all that was left of Steele"s jail was a part of the stone walls. The building that stood nearest, being constructed of adobe, had been badly damaged.
However, this wreck of the jail did not seem to satisfy Blome and his followers, for amid wild yells and huzzahs they set to work with crowbars and soon laid low every stone. Then with young Snecker in the fore they set off up town; and if this was not a gang in fit mood for any evil or any ridiculous celebration I greatly missed my guess.
It was a remarkable fact, however, and one that convinced me of deviltry afoot, that the crowd broke up, dispersed, and actually disappeared off the streets of Linrock. The impression given was that they were satisfied. But this impression did not remain with me. Morton was scarcely deceived either. I told him that I would almost certainly see Steele early in the evening and that we would be out of harm"s way. He told me that we could trust him and his men to keep sharp watch on the night doings of Blome"s gang. Then we parted.
It was almost dark. By the time I had gotten something to eat and drink at the Hope So, the hour for my meeting with Sally was about due. On the way out I did not pa.s.s a lighted house until I got to the end of the street; and then strange to say, that one was Steele"s. I walked down past the place, and though I was positive he would not be there I whistled low. I halted and waited. He had two lights lit, one in the kitchen, and one in the big room. The blinds were drawn. I saw a long, dark shadow cross one window and then, a little later, cross the other.
This would have deceived me had I not remembered Steele"s device for casting the shadow. He had expected to have his house attacked at night, presumably while he was at home; but he had felt that it was not necessary for him to stay there to make sure. Lawless men of this cla.s.s were sometimes exceedingly simple and gullible.
Then I bent my steps across the open, avoiding road and path, to the foot of the hill upon which Sampson"s house stood. It was dark enough under the trees. I could hardly find my way to the secluded nook and bench where I had been directed to come. I wondered if Sally would be able to find it. Trust that girl! She might have a few qualms and come shaking a little, but she would be there on the minute.
I had hardly seated myself to wait when my keen ears detected something, then slight rustlings, then soft steps, and a dark form emerged from the blackness into the little starlit glade. Sally came swiftly towards me and right into my arms. That was sure a sweet moment. Through the excitement and dark boding thoughts of the day, I had forgotten that she would do just this thing. And now I antic.i.p.ated tears, clingings, fears.
But I was agreeably surprised.
"Russ, are you all right?" she whispered.
"Just at this moment I am," I replied.
Sally gave me another little hug, and then, disengaging herself from my arms, she sat down beside me.
"I can only stay a minute. Oh, it"s safe enough. But I told Diane I was to meet you and she"s waiting to hear if Steele is--is--"
"Steele"s safe so far," I interrupted.
"There were men coming and going all day. Uncle Roger never appeared at meals. He didn"t eat, Diane said. George tramped up and down, smoking, biting his nails, listening for these messengers. When they"d leave he"d go in for another drink. We heard him roar some one had been shot and we feared it might be Steele."
"No," I replied, steadily.
"Did Steele shoot anybody?"
"No. A rustler named March tried to draw on Steele, and someone in the crowd killed March."
"Someone? Russ, was it you?"