CHAPTER XXXI
THE FUGITIVE
After the departure of Barney Owen and Mary Bransford, the Double Aranchhouse was as silent as any house, supposed to be occupied by adead man, could be.
But after a few minutes, if one had looked over the top of thepartition from which Owen had hanged Alva Dale, one might have seenDale move a little. One might have been frightened, but if one hadstayed there, it would have been to see Dale move again.
The first time he moved he had merely placed his feet upon the floor,to rest himself. The second movement resulted in him raising hissmashed hands and lifting the noose from his neck.
He threw it viciously from him after removing it, so that it flew overthe top of the partition and swished sinuously upon the floor of thekitchen.
For Barney Owen had not done a good job in hanging Dale. For whenBarney had run across the kitchen with the rope, to tie it to thefastenings of the door, it had slacked a little, enough to permitDale's toes to touch the floor of the pantry.
Feeling the slack, Dale had taken advantage of it, throwing his headforward a little, to keep the rope taut while Owen fastened it. Allthat had been involuntary with Dale.
For, at that time Dale had had no thought of trying to fool Owen--hehad merely taken what chance had given him. And when the first shockof the thing was over he had begun his attempts to reach the top of thepartition in order to slacken the rope enough to get it over hishead--for at that time he did not know that already the rope was slackenough.
It was not until after his hands had been smashed and he had dropped tothe floor again, that he realized that he might have thrown the ropeoff at once.
Then it was too late for him to do anything, for he felt Owen abovehim, at the top of the partition, and he thought Owen had a gun. So hefeigned strangulation, and Owen had been deceived.
And when Owen had entered the pantry, Dale still continued to feignstrangulation, letting his body sag, and causing a real pressure on hisneck. He dared not open his eyes to see if Owen had a weapon, for thenthe little man, having a gun, would have quickly finished the workthat, seemingly, the rope had begun.
Dale might have drawn his own gun, taking a long chance of hittingOwen, but he was at a great disadvantage because of the condition ofhis hands, and he decided not to.
Dale heard Owen and Mary go out; he heard the clatter of hoofs as theyrode away. Then he emerged from the pantry, and through a windowwatched the two as they rode down the slope of the basin.
Then Dale yielded to the bitter disappointment that oppressed him, andcursed profanely, going from room to room and vengefully kicking thingsout of his way while bandaging his smashed hands.
In the parlor he overturned the lounge and almost kicked it to piecessearching for the money Mary had told him was concealed there.
"The damned hussy!" he raged, when he realized that the money was notin the lounge.
He went out, got on his horse, and rode across the level back of thehouse, and up the slope leading to the mesa, where he had seenSanderson riding earlier in the day.
For an hour he rode, warily, for he did not want to come upon Sandersonunawares--if his men had not intercepted his enemy; and then reachingthe edge of a section of hilly country, he halted and sat motionless inthe saddle.
For, from some distance ahead of him he heard the reports of firearms,and over him, at the sound, swept a curious reluctance to go anyfarther in that direction.
For it seemed to him there was something forbidding in the sound; itwas as though the sounds carried to him on the slight breeze wereburdened with an evil portent; that they carried a threat and a warning.
He sat long there, undecided, vacillating. Then he shuddered, wheeledhis horse, and sent him scampering over the back trail.
He rode to the Bar D. His men--the regular punchers--were working fardown in the basin, and there was no one in the house.
He sat for hours alone in his office, waiting for news of the men hehad sent after Sanderson; and as the interval of their absence grewlonger the dark forebodings that had assailed him when within hearingdistance of the firing seized him again--grew more depressing, and hesat, gripping the arms of his chair, a clammy perspiration stealingover him.
He shook off the feeling at last, and stood up, scowling.
"That's what a man gets for givin' up to a damn fool notion like that,"he said, thinking of the fear that had seized him while listening tothe shooting. "Once a man lets on he's afraid, the thing keeps aworkin' on him till he's certain sure he's a coward. Them boys didn'tneed me, anyway--they'll get Sanderson."
So he justified his lack of courage, and spent some hours reading. Butat last the strain grew too great, and as the dusk came on he began tohave thoughts of Dal Colton. Ben Nyland must have reached home by thistime. Had Colton succeeded?
He thought of riding to Nyland's ranch, but he gave up that idea whenhe reasoned that perhaps Colton had failed, and in that case Nylandwouldn't be the most gentle person in the world to face on his ownproperty.
If Colton had succeeded he would find him, in Okar. So he mounted hishorse and rode to Okar.
The town seemed to be deserted when he dismounted in front of the CityHotel. He did not go inside the building, merely looking in throughone of the windows, and seeing a few men in there, playing cards in alistless manner. He did not see Colton.
He looked into several other windows. Colton was nowhere to be seen.In several places Dale inquired about him. No one had seen Colton thatday.
No one said anything to Dale about what had happened. Perhaps theythought he knew. At any rate, Dale heard no word of what hadtranspired during his absence. Men spoke to him, or nodded--and lookedaway, to look at him when his back was turned.
All this had its effect on Dale. He noted the restraint, he felt theatmosphere of strangeness. But he blamed it all on the queerpremonition that had taken possession of his senses. It was not Okarthat looked strange, nor the men, it was himself.
He went to the bank building and entered the rear door, clumpingheavily up the stairs, for he felt a heavy depression. When he openedthe door at the top of the stairs night had come. A kerosene lamp on atable in the room blinded him for an instant, and he stood, blinking atit.
When his eyes grew accustomed to the glare he saw Peggy Nyland sittingup in bed, looking at him.
She did not say anything, but continued to look at him. There waswonder in her eyes, and Dale saw it. It was wonder over Dale'svisit--over his coming to Okar. Ben must have missed him, for Dale wasalive! Dale could not have heard what had happened.
"You're better, eh?" said Dale.
She merely nodded her reply, and watched Dale as he crossed the room.
Reaching a door that led into another room, Dale turned.
"Where's Maison?"
Peggy pointed at the door on whose threshold Dale stood.
Dale entered. What he saw in the room caused him to come out again,his face ashen.
"What's happened?" he demanded hoarsely, stepping to the side of thebed and looking down at Peggy.
Peggy told him. The man's face grew gray with the great fear thatclutched him, and he stepped back; then came forward again, lookingkeenly at the girl as though he doubted her.
"Nyland killed him--choked him to death?" he said.
Peggy nodded silently. The cringing fear showing in the man's eyesappalled her. She hated him, and he had done this thing to her, butshe did not want the stigma of another killing on her brother's name.
"Look here, Dale!" she said. "You'd better get out of here--and out ofthe country! Okar is all stirred up over what you have done. SheriffWarde was in Okar and had a talk with Judge Graney. Warde knows whokilled those men at Devil's Hole, and he is going to hang them. Youare one of them; but you won't hang if Ben catches you. And he islooking for you! You'd better go--and go fast!"
For an instant Dale stood, looking at Peggy, searching her face andprobing her eyes for signs that
she was lying to him. He saw no suchsigns. Turning swiftly, he ran down the stairs, out into the street,and mounting, with his horse already running, he fled toward the basinand the Bar D.
He had yielded entirely to the presentiment of evil that had torturedhim all day.
All his schemes and plots for the stealing of the Double A and Nyland'sranch were forgotten in the frenzy to escape that had taken possessionof him, and he spurred his horse to its best efforts as he ran--awayfrom Okar; as he fled from the vengeance of those forces which hisevilness had aroused.
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