Ole Devil and the caplocks

by Edson, John Thomas

  J. T. EDSON

  Although the hammer rose, nothing else happened! Surprised, for the weapon had previously never misfired. Tommy stared at it.

  "Work the lever!" Ole Devil instructed, glancing around and guessing what had gone wrong.

  Although Villena had deduced enough to fit the magazine through the aperture, he had not completed the simple loading process. Thumbing down the lever on the right side of the frame set the mechanism into operation. Not only was the chamber aligned, it was cammed forward and held so that the face of the magazine formed a gas-tight connection against the bore of the barrel. In his ignorance, the Mexican had saved his life. Carrying out his employer's advice. Tommy manipulated the lever and felt the magazine move into position. However, by the time he had done so and pulled down the hammer again, Villena was approaching the edge of the clearing. For all that, before he could enter the woodland, the Httle Oriental had the rifle's barrel pointing at the center of his back. Satisfied that he was holding true, Tommy started to squeeze the trigger.

  Having been knocked on to his rump by the force of his employer's shove, the mozo let out a wail of alarm as he realized that he was being deserted. The sound distracted Tommy at the worst possible moment, with the hammer just liberated from the sear. There was the crack of detonating black powder, but the muzzle had wavered out of alignment. He missed, but not by much.

  In passing, the bullet snipped through one of the quetzals plumes which dangled from the top of Villena's busby. Before Tommy could go through the Browning's reloading process, brief as it might be in comparison with contemporary single-shot arms, the Mexican was urging the palomino to greater speed and was partially concealed among the trees.

  "Get after him!" Ole Devil barked, appreciating how difficult trying to shoot the swiftly moving Villena would be under the circumstances.

  "Best I set you free first," Tommy repHed, lowering the rifle. "I don't think he will be turning back, but if he comes, he won't be alone."

  Accepting the wisdom of the little Oriental's comment, Ole Devil did not argue. In fact, he was considerably relieved by the prospect of being released from his bonds. He realized that it was his earlier preoccupation with his private affairs which had resulted in him being taken prisoner, at a time when he should have been devoting his entire attention to the needs of the Republic of Texas. The thought was far from pleasing. It was, he told himself grimly, the first time he had made such an error for that reason and he promised himself it would be the last.

  Setting down the Browning rifle, after a glance to make sure that the wailing and still seated mozo was not planning to take any hostile action. Tommy drew his wakizashi. Bending, he used its eighteen-inch-long, razor-sharp blade to sever the rawhide thongs holding Ole Devil's ankles. Then, stepping behind his employer, he liberated the wrists.

  "Graciasf" Ole Devil gritted, trying to conceal the pain which the renewal of his impeded circulation was causing. "How the hell did you come to be here so conveniently when I needed you?"

  "Old Nipponese saying—" Tommy began.

  "Which you've just made up," Ole Devil put in through clenched lips, making what had become an accepted response to such a statement by the little Oriental.

  "Man with great personal problem on his mind less capable of taking care of himself," Tommy went on, as if the interruption had never taken place, returning the wakizashi to its sheath. There was, although he would not have admit-

  ^^ J. T. EDSON

  ted it, complete justification for his employer's comment and he continued, "So Di and Mannen-san sent humble and unworthy self to watch over you."

  ^ "Why that was right neighborly and considerate of you, I'm sure," Ole Devil declared and thrust himself to his feet' "And thank you 'most to death. Come on, I want to find out what happened to Ilkey."

  "I already have," Tommy rephed, as the Texian went toward his weapons. "That's why I didn't get here sooner. I didn't want you to know I was following, so I wasn't too close and I lost sight of you. So I went straight to where we'd left Ilkey. When I found his body and you weren't there, I came looking for you. I heard you talking and moved in on foot." While the httle Oriental was speaking, Ole Devil picked up one of the Manton pistols. After checking that it had not been tampered with and was still capable of being fired, he thrust its barrel through the loop on his belt. Then he'retrieved the bowie knife and slid its eleven inches long, two and a quarter inches wide, three-eights of an inch thick clip pomt blade* into the sheath. Collecting the rifle's two spare magazines, he returned them to the pouch on the back of his belt. By the time he had done so. Tommy was holding the second pistol and the saber.

  "Are there any more of them around?" Tommy inquired, nodding toward the dead Indians.

  "I'd say'yes' to that," Ole Devil replied and picked up his rifle. "Let's find out how many and how near they are."

  Although the mozo was no longer wailing, he had not attempted to rise. Instead, he had remained crouching on the ground, hoping to avoid drawing attention to himself. He stared in horror as the two men began to walk in his direc-

  *CUp point: where the back of the blade curves to meet the main cutting edge in a concave arc five and a quarter inches in length. It is simrpened and forms an extension of the cutting edge.

  tion. Nor could he decide which was the more frightening. The smaller had killed Many Plantings and the other Hopi braves, three of them with his sword, taking one's head off with a single blow. However, despite having seen the taller as a bound and helpless prisoner, his appearance aroused a sense of superstitious dread in the youngster. His hair and face made him look like the pictures of el Diablo, the Devil, which the mozo had been shown many times by the fathers at his local mission.

  "Have mercy, senores/' the youngster screeched in Spanish, crossing himself with great vigor. "It wasn't me who attacked you. I had to come with my patron to—"

  "Don't be frightened," Ole Devil put in gently, employing the same language. "We won't harm you if you answer our questions truthfully."

  "Wh—What do you want to know, sefiorT the mozo whimpered, gazing up as the two young men halted before him. "Where are the rest of your regiment?" Ole Devil asked. "F—Far off, senor, " the youngster replied, waving his right hand vaguely to the southwest. "D—Don Abrahan left the camp early yesterday morning and we've been traveling ever since." "How many more men did he have with him?" "N—None, senor. " ''None?" Ole Devil challenged.

  "None, seilor,'' the mozo confirmed. "I was told that the rest of the regiment were staying where they are until we returned and then it would be decided which way we will march. I hope that it is back home."

  "I think he's speaking the truth," Ole Devil stated, having reverted to English so that he could translate the conversation for his companion's benefit. "In which case, we've some time in hand to get the consignment on the move."

  "Do the Mexicans know about it?" Tommy inquired. "Not from the way that Villena spoke when he was questioning me."

  "Then he might not come back."

  "I don't intend to count on it," Ole Devil declared. "He was no fool and finding members of the Texas Light Cavalry this far east aroused his curiosity. So he could persuade his colonel that investigating things might be worthwhile."

  "How many men do they have?" Tommy wanted to know.

  "He can't say for sure," Ole Devil replied, after putting further questions to the mozo. "Over a hundred, but only a few of them have firearms."

  "Even with that few, they still have us outnumbered," Tommy pointed out. "And they can travel faster than we'll be doing with the mule train."

  "That's for sure," Ole Devil agreed. "So the more miles we can put between us and them, the better I'll like it. I'll go back to the bay and tell Di what's happened. Keep watch here until I send a couple of men to relieve you."

  "What about him?" Tommy asked, indicating the mozo.

  "We'd better keep him with us for the time being," Ole Devil decided. "Let him bury Ilkey and fetch h
im in with you when you're relieved."

  "I'll see to it," Tommy promised. "Are you all right?"

  "It's mainly my pride that's hurt," Ole Devil admitted wryly. "Shall I leave you my rifle?"

  "I'd rather rely on my bow," Tommy replied and his next words were more of a statement than a question. "We won't be going back to Crown Bayou?"

  "No," Ole Devil answered quietly, removing the magazine from his rifle and returning it to the vacant space in the pouch. "We won't be going back. Provided we can hold on to it, Texas's our home from now on."

  "I'll go and fetch my horse before you leave," Tommy sug-

  gested, guessing what reaching such a decision must have cost his employer and refraining from further discussion.

  "That'd be advisable," Ole Devil agreed, knowing that the little Oriental might have need of the animal.

  While waiting for his companion to return with his horse, Ole Devil made preparations for his own departure. Going to the horses, he discovered—as he had suspected—that the one he had not been able to see clearly earlier belonged to the dead picket. He examined his linebacked dun gelding to ensure that it had not been injured when he was dragged from its back. Satisfied that it had not, he slid the rifle into the saddle boot. Then he replaced the second pistol and saber in the holster and scabbard which were suspended on either side of the rig's low horn. All the time he was working, he kept the mozo under observation and was watched fearfully in return.

  Telling the youngster to fetch his hat, which lay under the tree where it had fallen, Ole Devil donned it. Retrieving the pistol dropped by the chief of the Hopis, he took it to the picket's horse and tucked it into the bedroll on the cantle of the saddle. When an opportunity presented itself, he intended to send the animal and property to Ilkey's widow.

  "I'll take Ilkey's horse with me and ride relay," Ole Devil announced, when Tommy joined him leading a powerful roan gelding and carrying the long bow and quiver of arrows. "You and the mozo there can bring the Hopis' mounts when you come. And don't take any chances. If the Mexican shows up with reinforcements, get away fast."

  "I will," Tommy promised. "And you be watchful."

  "Count on it," Ole Devil replied. "I don't make the same mistake twice."

  "Old Nipponese saying, which I've just made up," Tommy said. "Wise man does not make the same mistake once."'

  "I'll keep it in mind for the future," Ole Devil promised

  and, telling the mozo what was expected of him, swung astride the dun. Taking the reins of Ilkey's mount, which the little Oriental handed to him, he went on, "I'll see you back at the bay, Tommy."

  Holding his mount at a steady trot, with the other horse following obediently as it had been trained to do, the Texian guided them into the woodland. He had decided against alerting the rest of his pickets by returning over the route he had taken on the outward journey. If the mozo had told the truth—and Ole Devil felt sure that he had been too frightened to lie—there was no immediate danger from the Arizona Hopi^cr/vo5 Regiment. So he considered that he would be more usefully employed in rejoining his companions at Santa Cristobal Bay with the minimum of delay.

  Although Ole Devil was still disturbed by the news he had received via Beauregard Rassendyll and his decision regarding the future, he remembered the result of having become engrossed in his thoughts and he pushed the matter resolutely to the back of his mind. So he was far more alert than he had been on his way out from the bay. He saw nothing to disturb him, but did not regret his vigilance.

  On his arrival, Ole Devil found that a considerable amount of work had already been completed. Not that he had expected anything else. For all Mannen Blaze's appearance of being half asleep, he was a reliable subordinate and could be counted upon to keep the men at any work to which they were assigned.

  All of the consignment was on the beach and, from what Ole Devil could see, the vessel which had delivered it was already being made ready to leave. Looking around, he noticed that the oblong boxes were missing. The rifles were split into bundles of twelve and were being wrapped in pieces of sailcloth under Diamond-Hitch Brindley's supervision. Fortunately, the paper cartridges and percussion caps were in

  containers of a suitable size to be carried on the mules and did not require repacking.

  "That looks like one of our boys' horses, Cousin Devil," Mannen remarked, indicating the animal alongside the dun as he, Di and Rassendyll came to meet the Texian.

  "It was Ilkey's," Ole Devil rephed and swung from the saddle.

  "Was Ilkey's?" Mannen prompted.

  "He's dead," Ole Devil said and explained what had happened.

  "Hopis, huh?" Di growled at the end of the narrative. "I've never had any doings with 'em, but from what I've heard tell, they're tolerable tough hombres. Anyway, even if they come, we ought to be long gone by the time they get here."

  "We'd better be," Ole Devil warned. "They'll have us outnumbered."

  "Only we'll have 'em outgunned," Di pointed out. "Say one thing, though. It's right lucky for us all that we let ole Tommy go after you, Devil."

  "Couldn't rightly figure any way to stop him once he got to figuring on doing it," Mannen supplemented indolently. "You know how he is. He's mighty set in his ways."

  "Could be he had help to decide on following me," Ole Devil drawled, eyeing the giri and his cousin sardonically. Then he jerked his left thumb in the direction of the brig and went on, "Captain Adams isn't wasting any time in getting under way."

  "We can't blame him for that, " Rassendyll pointed out, studying the Texian without learning anything from the Me-phistophelian features and wondering why the news he had brought had not produced the response he had anticipated. It almost seemed that Ole Devil was more distressed and perturbed than delighted in learning that his name was

  cleared and that he was free to go back to Louisiana. However, there were matters of more pressing importance to be taken care of. "I've let him take the rifle boxes for firewood." "We'd only have had to bum them ourselves if you hadn't," Ole Devil answered.

  "Riders coming, Cap'n Hardin!" called the nearest of the watchers posted on the top of the slope. "It looks like the rest of our boys headed back."

  "What the—?" Di exclaimed, for the report implied that the riders were returning alone.

  "Come on!" Ole Devil interrupted, having drawn a similar conclusion, mounting the dun.

  Darting forward, Di just beat Mannen Blaze to the dead picket's mount. Like the burly Texian, she had removed her horse's saddle. By appropriating Ilkey's animal, she was able to accompany Ole Devil. They ascended the slope swiftly and, on reaching the top, she found that her assumption had been correct. Although the approaching riders were the remainder of Company "C," there was no sign of her grandfather and the mule train.

  "Howdy, Di, Cap'n Hardin," greeted the lanky sergeant, after looking around, as the two riders converged with his party. "Seems like them two fellers was wrong." "Which two fellers?" Di inquired.

  "They met up with us on the trail," the sergeant elaborated. "Allowed they seed a fair-sized bunch of hombres led by a right fine-looking, but somewhat mussed-up woinan headed this way."

  "That sounds like that blasted de Moreau bitch and her renegades. Devil," Di spat out.

  "Which's what your grandpappy figured," the sergeant admitted. "So he told us to head back here and find out if you needed a hand. Reckoned us coming up from behind, we'd get 'em boxed in and whup 'em good."

  "It's a pity they never came," Di declared. "We could have settled—"

  "Turn your men, Sergeant!" Ole Devil barked.

  "What's up?" Di asked, startled by the vehemence with which the order had been given.

  "They haven't come here," Ole Devil replied. "So it must have been a trick to draw off the escort and let them attack the mule train. If they can stop it, they'll have us pinned down here until they can raise enough help to come and take the consignment from us."

  THEY WON'T MOVE WITHOUT HER

  Although Ol
e Devil Hardin was extremely perturbed by the thought that Ewart Brindley might have been tricked, he also realized that he could not set off immediately to satisfy himself upon the matter. First, taking into consideration the other development which had arisen to threaten the safety of the consignment, he had to organize additional protection for it. There was a chance that the mozo had been lying, or was mistaken, and the Arizona Hopi Activos Regiment could be much closer than he had claimed. So the circle of pickets had to be reinforced, thereby lessening the possibility of another lone man suffering the same fate as Ilkey; or, worse still, falling alive into the enemies' hands and being made to answer their questions. Unfortunately, the only way in which the pickets could be strengthened was by reducing the already small force who were at Santa Cristobal Bay.

  Under different circumstances, the arrival of Sergeant Maxime and his detail would have been a blessing. However, with the possible danger to the mule train, Ole Devil did not dare take the chance of adding the newcomers to his defenders. Instead, he told them to return as quickly as possible

  while he rejoined the rest of Company "C" and, after he had made his arrangements, he would follow.

  Appreciating the difficulty the young Texian was having in deciding upon the best line of action, Diamond-Hitch Brind-ley did not attempt to influence him. Despite being aware of how tough her grandfather and his men were, she shared Ole Devil's concern for the safety of the consignment. However, she also knew that mentioning the matter would do nothing to lessen the burden of his responsibility.

  "Shucks, Devil," the girl remarked, turning her borrowed mount at the Texian's side as Sergeant Maxime led the detail in the direction from which they had come. "Grandpappy Ewart's been taking good care of his-self for a heap of years. And I reckon him 'n' our Tejas packers can look out for themselves until your boys get back. Anyway, de Moreau don't have all that many men with her."