vicy versy. Any lady or gent attendin" these here contests will be gave out a ticket good fer one drink at any saloon in town. These drinks is on the directors of the bank of which I have before referred to.
"An", ladies an" gents, in concloodin" I"ll say that that hain"t all!
Follerin" these here contests, after each an" every lady an" gent has had time to git their drink they"ll be a supper dished out at the _ho_otel fer which the directors of the bank of which you have already heard mention of has put up fifty cents a plate. This here supper is as free as gratis to all who care to percipitate an" which will incloode a speech by the Honorable Mayor Maloney, part of which I have already spoke, but will repeat fer the benefit of them that hain"t here.
"Followin" the supper a dance will be pulled off in Curly Hardee"s dance-hall, the music fer which will be furnished by some of our most notorious fiddlers incloodin" Mrs. Slim Maloney, wife of the Honorable Mayor Maloney, who will lead the grand march, an" who I consider one of the top pyanoists of Choteau County, if not in the hull United States.
It is a personal fact ladies an" gents, that I"ve heard her set down to a pyano an" play _Old Black Joe_ so natural you"d swear it was _Home Sweet Home_. An" when she gits het up to it, I"ll promise she"ll loosen up an" tear off some of the liveliest music any one of you"s ever shook a leg to.
"An" now, ladies an" gents, you can transfer an" go on when the train pulls in on t"other side, or yon can stay an" enjoy yourselves amongst us Wolf River folks an" go on tomorrow when the trussle gits fixed----"
"Ye-e-e-e-o-o-w! W-h-e-e-e-e."
Bang, bang, bang! Bang, bang, bang! A chorus of wild yells, a fusillade of shots, and the thud of horses" hoofs close at hand drew all eyes toward the group of riders that, spreading fan-like over the flat that lay between the town and the railway, approached at top speed.
"The cowboys is comin"! Them"s the Circle J," cried the Mayor.
"Things"ll lively up a bit when the T U an" the I X an" the Bear Paw Pool boys gits in." The cowboys were close, now, and the laughing, cheering pa.s.sengers surged back as the horses swerved at full speed with the stirrups of their riders almost brushing the outermost rank of the crowd. A long thin rope shot out, a loop settled gently about the shoulders of the Mayor of Wolf River, and a cowhorse stopped so abruptly that a cloud of alkali dust spurted up and settled in a grey powder over the clothing of the a.s.sembled pa.s.sengers.
"Come on, Slim, an" give these folks a chance to get their second wind while you let a little licker into that system of yours."
The Mayor grinned; "Tex Benton, hain"t you had no bringin" up whatever?
That was a pretty throw but it"s onrespectable, no mor"n what it"s respectable to call the Mayor of a place by his first name to a public meetin"."
"I plumb ferget myself, your Honour," laughed the cowpuncher as he coiled his rope. "Fact is, I learnt to rope mares back in Texas, an" I ain"t----"
"Yip-e-i-e!"
"Ropin" mares!" The cowboys broke into a coyote chorus that drowned the laughter of the crowd.
"The drinks is on me!" sputtered the Mayor, when he was able to make himself heard. "Jest you boys high-tail over to the Long Horn an" I"ll be along d"rectly." He turned once more to the crowd of pa.s.sengers.
"Come on, gents, an" have a drink on me. An" the ladies is welcome, too. Wolf River is broad in her idees. We hain"t got no s.e.xual restrictions, an" a lady"s got as good a right to front a bar an"
nominate her licker as what a man has."
Standing beside Endicott upon the edge of the crowd Alice Marc.u.m had enjoyed herself hugely. The little wooden town with its high fenced cattle corrals, and its row of one story buildings that faced the alkali flat had interested her from the first, and she had joined with hearty goodwill in the rounds of applause that at frequent intervals had interrupted the speech of the little town"s Mayor. A born horsewoman, she had watched with breathless admiration the onrush of the loose-rein riders--the graceful swaying of their bodies, and the flapping of soft hat brims, as their horses approached with a thunder of pounding hoofs. Her eyes had sparkled at the reckless swerving of the horses when it seemed that the next moment the back-surging crowd would be trampled into the ground. She had wondered at the precision with which the Texan"s loop fell; and had joined heartily in the laughter that greeted the ludicrous and red-faced indignation with which a fat woman had crawled from beneath a coach whither she had sought refuge from the onrush of thundering hoofs.
In the mind of the girl, cowboys had always been a.s.sociated with motion picture theatres, where concourses of circus riders in impossible regalia performed impossible feats of horsemanship in the unravelling of impossible plots. She had never thought of them as real--or, if she had, it was as a vanished race, like the Aztec and the buffalo.
But here were real cowboys in the flesh: Open-throated, bronzed man, free and unrestrained as the air they breathed--men whose very appearance called to mind boundless open s.p.a.ces, purple sage, blue mountains, and herds of bellowing cattle. Here were men bound by no petty and meaningless conventions--men the very sight of whom served to stimulate and intensify the longing to see for herself the land beyond the valley rims--to slip into a saddle and ride, and ride, and ride--to feel the beat of the rain against her face, and the whip of the wind, and the burning rays of the sun, and at night to lie under the winking stars and listen to the howl of the coyotes.
"Disgusting rowdies!" wheezed the fat woman as, dishevelled and perspiring, she waddled toward the steps of her coach; while the Mayor, his Adam"s apple fairly pumping importance, led a st.u.r.dy band of thirsters recruited from among the train pa.s.sengers across the flat toward a building over the door of which was fixed a pair of horns of prodigious spread. Lest some pilgrim of erring judgment should mistake the horns for short ones, or misapprehend the nature of the business conducted within, the white false front of the building proclaimed in letters of black a foot high: LONG HORN SALOON. While beneath the legend was depicted a fat, vermilion clad cowboy mounted upon a tarantula-bodied, a.s.s-eared horse of pink, in the act of hurling a cable-like rope which by some prodigy of dexterity was made to describe three double-bows and a latigo knot before its loop managed to poise in mid-air above the head of a rabbit-sized baby-blue steer whose horns exceeded in length the pair of Texas monstrosities that graced the doorway.
"We"re goin" to back onto the sidin" now," announced the conductor, "where dinner will be served in the dinin" car as ushool."
The cowboys had moved along to view the wreck and were grouped about the broken end of the trestle where they lolled in their saddles, some with a leg thrown carelessly about the horn and others lying back over the cantle, while the horses which a few moments before had dashed across the common at top speed now stood with lowered heads and drooping ears, dreaming cayuse dreams.
The engine bell was ringing monotonously and the whistle sounded three short blasts, while the pa.s.sengers clambered up the steps of the coaches or backed away from the track.
"Let"s walk to the side track, it"s only a little way."
Alice pointed to where the flagman stood beside the open switch.
Endicott nodded acquiescence and as he turned to follow, the girl"s handkerchief dropped from her hand and, before it touched the ground, was caught by a gust of wind that swept beneath the coaches and whirled out onto the flat where it lay, a tiny square of white against the trampled buffalo gra.s.s.
Endicott started to retrieve it, but before he had taken a half-dozen steps there was a swift pounding of hoofs and two horses shot out from the group of cowboys and dashed at full speed, their riders low in the saddle and each with his gaze fixed on the tiny bit of white fabric.
Nose and nose the horses ran, their hoofs raising a cloud of white alkali dust in their wake. Suddenly, just as they reached the handkerchief, the girl who watched with breathless interest gasped.
The saddles were empty! From the madly racing horses her glance flew to the cloud of dust which concealed the spot where a moment before had lain that little patch of white. Her fingers clenched as she steeled herself to the sight of the two limp, twisted forms that the lifting dust cloud must reveal. Scarcely daring to wink she fixed her eyes upon the ground--but the dust cloud had drifted away and there were no limp, twisted forms. Even the little square of white was gone. In bewilderment she heard cries of approval and loud shouts of applause from the pa.s.sengers. Once more her ears caught the sound of pounding hoofs, and circling toward her in a wide curve were the two riders, erect and firm in their saddles, as a gauntleted hand held high a fluttering sc.r.a.p of white.
The horses brought up directly before her, a Stetson was swept from a thick shock of curly black hair, the gauntleted hand extended the recalcitrant handkerchief, and she found herself blushing furiously for no reason at all beneath the direct gaze of a pair of very black eyes that looked out from a face tanned to the colour of old mahogany.
"Oh, thank you! It was splendid--the horsemanship." She stammered.
"I"ve seen it in the movies, but I didn"t know it was actually done in real life."
"Yes, mom, it is. It"s owin" to the horse yeh"ve got, an" yer cinch.
Yeh"ll see a heap better"n that this afternoon right on this here flat.
An" would yeh be layin" over fer the dance tonight, mom?"
The abrupt question was even more disconcerting than the compelling directness of his gaze.
For an instant, the girl hesitated as her eyes swept from the cowpuncher"s face to the brilliant scarf loosely knotted about his throat, the blue flannel shirt, the bright yellow angora chaps against which the ivory b.u.t.t of a revolver showed a splotch of white, and the boots jammed into the broad wooden stirrups, to their high heels from which protruded a pair of enormously rowelled spurs inlaid with silver.
By her side Endicott moved impatiently and cleared his throat.
She answered without hesitation. "Yes, I think I shall."
"I"d admire fer a dance with yeh, then," persisted the cowpuncher.
"Why--certainly. That is, if I really decide to stay."
"We"ll try fer to show yeh a good time, mom. They"ll be some right lively fiddlin", an" she don"t bust up till daylight."
With a smile the girl glanced toward the other rider who sat with an air of tolerant amus.e.m.e.nt. She recognized him as the man called Tex--the one who had so deftly dropped his loop over the shoulders of the Mayor, and noted that, in comparison with the other, he presented rather a sorry appearance. The heels of his boots were slightly run over. His spurs were of dingy steel and his leather chaps, laced up the sides with rawhide thongs looked as though they had seen much service. The scarf at his throat, however, was as vivid as his companion"s and something in the flash of the grey eyes that looked into hers from beneath the broad brim of the Stetson caused an inexplicable feeling of discomfort. Their gaze held a suspicion of veiled mockery, and the clean cut lips twisted at their comers into the semblance of a cynical, smiling sneer.
"I want to thank you, too," she smiled, "it wasn"t your fault your friend----"
"Jack Purdy"s my name, mom," interrupted the other, importantly.
"--that Mr. Purdy beat you, I am sure. And are you always as accurate as when you la.s.soed the honourable Mayor of Wolf River?"
"I always get what I go after--sometimes," answered the man meeting her gaze with a flash of the baffling grey eyes. A subtle something, in look or words, seemed a challenge. Instinctively she realized that despite his rough exterior here was a man infinitely less crude than the other. An ordinary cowpuncher, to all appearance, and yet--something in the flash of the eyes, the downward curve of the corners of the lips aroused the girl"s interest. He was speaking again:
"I"ll dance with you, too--if you stay. But I won"t mortgage none of your time in advance." The man"s glance shifted deliberately from the girl to Endicott and back to the girl again. Then, without waiting for her to reply, he whirled his horse and swung off at top speed to join the other cowpunchers who were racing in the wake of the Mayor.
CHAPTER III
PURDY
Some moments later, Jack Purdy nosed his horse into the group of cayuses that stood with reins hanging, "tied to the ground," in front of the Long Horn Saloon. Beyond the open doors sounded a babel of voices and he could see the men lined two deep before the bar.
Swinging from the saddle he threw the stirrup over the seat and became immediately absorbed in the readjustment of his latigo strap. Close beside him Tex Benton"s horse dozed with drooping head. Swiftly a hand whose palm concealed an open jack-knife slipped beneath the Texan"s right stirrup-leather and a moment later was withdrawn as the cayuse, suspicious of the fumbling on the wrong side of the saddle, snorted nervously and sheered sharply against another horse which with an angry squeal, a laying back of the ears, and a vicious snap of the teeth, resented the intrusion. Purdy jerked sharply at the reins of his own horse which caused that animal to rear back and pull away.