Wildfire

"Bostil, my one chance was ruined--an" you know who did it," replied Slone, as he gathered Nagger"s rope and Wildfire"s bridle together.

"I"ve no hard feelin"s.... But I can"t sell you my horse. An" I can"t ride for you--because--well, because it would breed trouble."

"An" what kind?" queried Bostil.

Holley and Farlane and Van, with several other riders, had come up and were standing open-mouthed. Slone gathered from their manner and expression that anything might happen with Bostil in such a mood.

"We"d be racin" the King an" Wildfire, wouldn"t we?" replied Slone.

"An" supposin" we would?" returned Bostil, ominously. His huge frame vibrated with a slight start.

"Wildfire would run off with your favorite--an" you wouldn"t like that," answered Slone. It was his rider"s hot blood that prompted him to launch this taunt. He could not help it.

"You wild-hoss chaser," roared Bostil, "your Wildfire may be a b.l.o.o.d.y killer, but he can"t beat the King in a race!"

"Excuse ME, Bostil, but Wildfire did beat the King!"

This was only adding fuel to the fire. Slone saw Holley making signs that must have meant silence would be best. But Slone"s blood was up.

Bostil had rubbed him the wrong way.

"You"re a lair!" declared Bostil, with a tremendous stride forward.

Slone saw then how dangerous the man really was. "It was no race. Your wild hoss knocked the King off the track."

"Sage King had the lead, didn"t he? Why didn"t he keep it?"

Bostil was like a furious, intractable child whose favorite precious treasure had been broken; and he burst out into a torrent of incoherent speech, apparently reasons why this and that were so. Slone did not make out what Bostil meant and he did not care. When Bostil got out of breath Slone said:

"We"re both wastin" talk. An" I"m not wantin" you to call me a liar twice. ... Put your rider up on the King an" come on, right now. I"ll--"

"Slone, shut up an" chase yourself," interrupted Holley

"You go to h--l!" returned Slone, coolly.

There was a moment"s silence, in which Slone took Holley"s measure. The hawk-eyed old rider may have been square, but he was then thinking only of Bostil.

"What am I up, against here?" demanded Slone. "Am I goin" to be shot because I"m takin" my own part? Holley, you an" the rest of your pards are all afraid of this old devil. But I"m not--an" you stay out of this."

"Wal, son, you needn"t git riled," replied Holley, placatingly. "I was only tryin" to stave off talk you might be sorry for."

"Sorry for nothin"! I"m goin" to make this great horse-trader, this rich an" mighty rancher, this judge of grand horses, this BOSTIL! ...

I"m goin" to make him race the King or take water!" Then Slone turned to Bostil. That worthy evidently had been stunned by the rider who dared call him to his face. "Come on! Fetch the King! Let your own riders judge the race!"

Bostil struggled both to control himself and to speak. "Naw! I ain"t goin" to see thet red hoss-killer jump the King again!"

"Bah! you"re afraid. You know there"d be no girl on his back. You know he can outrun the King an" that"s why you want to buy him."

Slone caught his breath then. He realized suddenly, at Bostil"s paling face, that perhaps he had dared too much. Yet, maybe the truth flung into this hard old rider"s teeth was what he needed more than anything else. Slone divined, rather than saw, that he had done an unprecedented thing.

"I"ll go now, Bostil."

Slone nodded a good-by to the riders, and, turning away, he led the two horses down the lane toward the house. It scarcely needed sight of Lucy under the cottonwoods to still his anger and rouse his regret. Lucy saw him coming, and, as usual, started to avoid meeting him, when sight of the horses, or something else, caused her to come toward him instead.

Slone halted. Both Wildfire and Nagger whinnied at sight of the girl.

Lucy took one flashing glance at them, at Slone, and then she evidently guessed what was amiss.

"Lucy, I"ve done it now--played hob, sure," said Slone.

"What?" she cried.

"I called your dad--called him good an" hard--an" he--he--"

"Lin! Oh, don"t say Dad." Lucy"s face whitened and she put a swift hand upon his arm--a touch that thrilled him. "Lin! there"s blood--on your face. Don"t--don"t tell me Dad hit you?"

"I should say not," declared Slone, quickly lifting his hand to his face. "Must be from my cut, that blood. I barked my hand holdin"

Wildfire."

"Oh! I--I was sick with--with--" Lucy faltered and broke off, and then drew back quickly, as if suddenly conscious of her actions and words.

Then Slone began to relate everything that had been said, and before he concluded his story his heart gave a wild throb at the telltale face and eyes of the girl.

"You said that to Dad!" she cried, in amaze and fear and admiration.

"Oh, Dad richly deserved it! But I wish you hadn"t. Oh, I wish you hadn"t!"

"Why?" asked Slone.

But she did not answer that. "Where are you going?" she questioned.

"Come to think of that, I don"t know," replied Slone, blankly. "I started back to fetch my things out of my room. That"s as far as my muddled thoughts got."

"Your things? ... Oh!" Suddenly she grew intensely white. The little freckles that had been so indistinct stood out markedly, and it was as if she had never had any tan. One brown hand went to her breast, the other fluttered to his arm again. "You mean to--to go away--for good."

"Sure. What else can I do?"

"Lin! ... Oh, there comes Dad! He mustn"t see me. I must run.... Lin, don"t leave Bostil"s Ford--don"t go--DON"T!"

Then she flew round the corner of the house, to disappear. Slone stood there transfixed and thrilling. Even Bostil"s heavy tread did not break the trance, and a meeting would have been unavoidable had not Bostil turned down the path that led to the back of the house. Slone, with a start collecting his thoughts, hurried into the little room that had been his and gathered up his few belongings. He was careful to leave behind the gifts of guns, blankets, gloves, and other rider"s belongings which Bostil had presented to him. Thus laden, he went outside and, tingling with emotions utterly sweet and bewildering, he led the horses down into the village.

Slone went down to Brackton"s, and put the horses into a large, high-fenced pasture adjoining Brackton"s house. Slone felt reasonably sure his horses would be safe there, but he meant to keep a mighty close watch on them. And old Brackton, as if he read Slone"s mind, said this: "Keep your eye on thet daffy boy, Joel Creech. He hangs round my place, sleeps out somewheres, an" he"s crazy about hosses."

Slone did not need any warning like that, nor any information to make him curious regarding young Creech. Lucy had seen to that, and, in fact, Slone was anxious to meet this half-witted fellow who had so grievously offended and threatened Lucy. That morning, however, Creech did not put in an appearance. The village had nearly returned to its normal state now, and the sleepy tenor of its way. The Indians, had been the last to go, but now none remained. The days were hot while the sun stayed high, and only the riders braved its heat.

The morning, however, did not pa.s.s without an interesting incident.

Brackton approached Slone with an offer that he take charge of the freighting between the Ford and Durango. "What would I do with Wildfire?" was Slone"s questioning reply, and Brackton held up his hands. A later incident earned more of Slone"s attention. He had observed a man in Brackton"s store, and it chanced that this man heard Slone"s reply to Brackton"s offer, and he said: "You"ll sure need to corral thet red stallion. Grandest hoss I ever seen!"

That praise won Slone, and he engaged in conversation with the man, who said his name was Vorhees. It developed soon that Vorhees owned a little house, a corral, and a patch of ground on a likely site up under the bluff, and he was anxious to sell cheap because he had a fine opportunity at Durango, where his people lived. What interested Slone most was the man"s remark that he had a corral which could not be broken into. The price he asked was ridiculously low if the property was worth anything. An idea flashed across Slone"s mind. He went up to Vorhees"s place and was much pleased with everything, especially the corral, which had been built by a man who feared horse-thieves as much as Bostil. The view from the door of the little cabin was magnificent beyond compare. Slone remembered Lucy"s last words. They rang like bells in his ears. "Don"t go--don"t!" They were enough to chain him to Bostil"s Ford until the crack of doom. He dared not dream of what they meant. He only listened to their music as they pealed over and over in his ears.

"Vorhees, are you serious?" he asked. "The money you ask is little enough."

"It"s enough an" to spare," replied the man. "An" I"d take it as a favor of you."