They found the cattleman sitting at the end of the wagon. He was recovering rapidly ; the tonic air of the prairies, aided by his tough constitution, had worked wonders. Baudry and Carol were with him, and several of the outfit lingered near.
"Here's the truants, boss," the foreman grinned. "I was tellin' Jim yu oughta give 'em their time."
Eden had smothered his doubts and his rugged face softened as he surveyed the men to whom he owed so much. "I reckon they oughta have anythin' they ask for, but I'm hopin' it won't be that," he said. "Green, Sandy tells me I gotta thank yu for gettin' my girl back."
"Sandy's modesty'll be the ruin of him," Sudden smiled.
"I ain't forgettin' his part," Eden replied. "I'm curious to learn how yu persuaded that ruffian to let her go ; he had me thrown an' tied."
"yeah, he knowed that," the cowboy agreed. "I gambled on two cards--his past an' his pride. I figured that, sunk as he is, some respect for a good woman might remain, an' I was right. For the rest, his message to yu explains it--just the natural vanity o' the man. These were his weak spots, an' I hit 'em good an' hard."
"Then we'll hear more of him?"
"Shorely. He'll strike when he's ready, but I'm guessin' that won't be till we're nearer a market. He's got nigh a score o' men."
Baudry looked at the cattleman and nodded ; he had expressed the same view of the rustler's intentions. With a half-sneer he turned to Sudden.
"yu seem pretty well acquainted with this cattle-thief," he said. "Perhaps he turned you loose too?"
"Now I wonder who told yu?" Sudden debated. "He did that very thing."
Sam Eden's keen eyes widened at this and there was suspicion in them.
"D'yu mean that, Green?" the rancher asked sharply, and when the other nodded, "Why should he do that?" The cowboy related the manner of their escape.
Sudden sensed the hostility in the tone. "His men had none of his finer feelin's."
"Fine feelings--in an outlaw?" gibed the gambler savagely. "That's more than I can swallow."
"He let her go," the cowboy reminded.
"Yes, at your request," came the sneer. "Were you ever one of his gang?"
"No, were yu?" Sudden asked.
Pebbles, who was one of the listening riders, chuckled audibly, and the visitor's face flushed with anger.
"Damn your impudence," he shouted. "What do you mean by that?"
Sudden bent forward, his eyes bleak. "Just what I said," he replied. "Listen to me, Mister Man. On'y two fellas here can talk down to me with safety--my boss an' his foreman. yo're speakin' outa turn."
For a moment the gambler's narrow eyes clashed with those of the speaker and then turned in mute appeal to his host. Sam Eden was nonplussed. Torn between gratitude and friendship, he did not know how to deal with the tiny tempest which had so swiftly arisen. Carol came to his aid.
"Mister Baudry appears to be forgetting that these two men risked their lives to save me, first from Indians, and thenfrom outlaws," she said. "To my mind, that alone matters."
Like a dash of cold water the words brought Baudry to his senses ; his ill-humour vanished and he achieved some sort of a smile.
"you're right, Miss Eden," he said heartily. "Nothing else ounts. I'm sorry, Sam, but I let my ideas run away with me. If that Rogue fellow happened to be here, I'd thank him, whatever his motive may have been."
This ended the discussion, but as Sudden and the foreman went to get their horses, the cowboy asked casually: "yu known friend Baudry long?"
"Nope, an' yu needn't name him my friend neither," Jeff said bluntly. "Don't fancy the ,fella nohow, an' I'll bet if he had a tail there'd be rattles on it."
"Sandy an' me ain't popular in that quarter," Sudden reflected aloud.
"Aw, yu should worry," Jeff told him. "So yu don't think Rogue will try again yet?"
"I ain't worryin', not that yu'd notice," was the reply, and then, "No, barrin' Injuns, flooded rivers, stampedes, storms an' dry stretches, I figure we'll have an easy trip for a while."
Jeff's expression was one of mock disgust. "Yo're a cheerful cuss, I don't believe," he said.
Later, Sudden had a word with Sandy. That young man was still puzzling over the outlaw's complicity in their escape, and said so.
"Shake yore head an' start that stuff yu think with workin'," was the smiling advice he received. "Without us, the S E would be short-handed an' Rogue wants the herd to go through yet awhile."
"Then why did he stampede it?"
"I figure his idea then was to sell the cows to the jasper who was payin' him to break the drive. Now, he's aimin' to handle 'em himself an' clean up a packet."
"Then he's double-crossin' the other man."
"It don't follow. Rogue is a pretty ornery proposition, but he's got points. He told me that this fella was willin' to take the S E cows, but he didn't say he's promised to let him have 'em."
"Glad yu put brother Baudry back a bit. What yu think of him?"
"I don't," Sudden grinned. "But--I'm goin' to."
Chapter XX
THE cattle, rested by the stay in the valley, made good progress, and the tally of the miles covered grew as the peaceful days passed. The members of the outfit, living in their saddles through the long, lazy hours, became jubilant at the thought that their tremendous task might soon be accomplished. Jed, .true to his nature, was pessimistic. /
"It's too easy," he complained. "Like slidin' down a steep hill, yu gotta watch out for the bump at the bottom."
Sandy too was not of the cheerful ones, but for a different reason. Baudry's monopoly of Carol was so complete that the young man rarely had an opportunity of riding with her. Moreover, the gambler, as a guest, ate with the women and Eden, a circumstance which did not lessen Sandy's resentment.
"Cuss it, he's got all the chances," he grumbled.
"Too bad," Sudden commiserated. "Now if yu could show her that red head o' yores ..."
The boy had to laugh. "yu misbegotten son o' misfortune. Some day I'll tell her all about yu," he threatened.
Sudden's hands went up. "Keno!" he cried. "Wait till I'm outa the country."
Sandy's soreness over the situation would have been diminished had he known that Carol was beginning to find the constant company of the visitor irksome. Hitherto it had never occurred to her to regard him as a possible suitor, but his attentions and rather fulsome compliments were forcing her to face the fact. She had never liked him ; but Baudry, with all his astuteness, had not discovered this.
Like most of his type, he held a poor opinion of the other sex ; they were all alike, save that some were more desirable than others. The budding beauty and dewy freshness of this prairie flower had aroused in him a physical intoxication which he called love, but was little more than lust. He wanted, and would have her, and if marriage was the price he would pay it, but ...
In the cowboy, Sandy, he recognized an obstacle to his hopes, just as in the fellow's friend, Green, he saw a menace to his other plans. Bitterly he cursed Rogue for releasing them. Somehow, they must be got out of the way.
Camp was pitched on the tree-fringed bank of a widish ver, but the fact that it had to be negotiated on the morrow gave them no uneasiness. They had crossed several streams of varying size during the past weeks and had come to regard the operation as of no more than ordinary moment.
The herd was bedded down and the crooning voices of the watching riders came faintly to the rest of the outfit loafing and smoking round the fire.
To Sudden, as they went to take their trick of night-riding, Jeff addressed a query : "Can yu make any sort o' guess where we're at?"
"Never been north," Sudden told him. "This river might be the Wichita, but that don't mean we're clear o' the redskins ; they hunt all over."
"I ain't worryin' much about the war-whoops--it's that lousy outlaw loses me sleep--not knowin' when he's goin' to strike."
"I'm allowin' it won't be yet," the cowboy assured him. Pacing slowly around the slumbering herd, under
a star-specked sky, he found himself thinking of Rogue. An odd mixture, this miscreant who robbed and killed without compunction, yet retained a respect for women. An outcast, leader of a band recruited from the scum of the settlement, afraid to show his face in any decent community, that, for such a man as Rogue must once have been could only mean hell on earth. It was easy to understand how, whipped by his degradation, in savage disdain, he plunged more deeply into the mire. Sudden knew the feeling, had experienced and almost yielded to it. But for this drive to a new country where he might start afresh.... A wise Providence veils the future ; Sudden could not know that events were even then shaping to hurl him back into the quicksands of shame and danger. Two men, seated out of hearing of the camp, were discussing him.
"Those cowboys have to be got rid of, Davy," the gambler said. "They're liable to make things difficult. Why in hell Rogue let them go I can't guess. What's his game?"
"I'd say he's tryin' to double-cross us," was the reply.
"If he does, I'll kill him," Baudry said. "No man ever did that to me and got away with it."
There was no anger, no boastfulness in the low, even voice, and well aware that it might be a warning to himself, Dutt, toughened as he was, was conscious of a slight shiver which was not due to the night air. He had no illusions regarding J ethro Baudry, knowing that he would slay his best friend if it suited his purpose.
"I've got the glimmerings of a scheme," the gambler resumed. "Let you know when it's worked out. In the meantime, keep a close eye on those fellows."
At dawn they crossed the river without mishap and resumed the long trek northwards across a plain which spread out before them as far as the eye could reach ; there were no trees, no hills, and the foreman--fearing the next stream might be far away--took care that the beasts were well watered before a start was made. The air was cool yet, but the sun, thrusting up into a clear sky, promised plenty of heat presently.
Baudry, as usual, had loped his horse to Carol's side. The gambler's greedy eyes gloated over the girl's slim, supple form as it swayed easily to the paces of her pony. Schooled as he was by his profession to conceal all emotion, and cold-blooded as a fish, her beauty and desirableness turned the ice in his veins to fire. He bent low over his horse's neck lest his look should betray him.
"you get more charming every day," he murmured. "This nomad life seems to suit you."
"I love it," she smiled.
"The West is wonderful," he said, "but don't you ever have a hankering to see the real big cities of the world, New york, London, Paris, Rome, with their fine streets, famous picture-galleries, palaces, cathedrals, theatres, and to join in the whirl of pleasure they offer?"
"Why, certainly, that would be great, and I expect every girl has such dreams," Carol confessed. "But after a while I would want to come home to Texas."
"Just to go on raising cows," the gambler said, a suspicion of contempt in his tone.
It brought a faint flush to the girl's lightly tanned cheeks. "Just to go on raising--a new Empire," she said quietly Her shining eyes and low voice proclaimed her earnestness. This was a phase of her he had not suspected, but--though he might inwardly sneer at her vision--he was quick to take his cue.
"You're entirely right, Miss Carol, though I'll admit I hadn't looked at it quite that way," he responded. "And I'm proposing to do my share by starting a ranch not very far away from the S E--just to raise cows." He smiled, hesitated a moment and then, "But first, I'm taking a holiday, to see all the places I mentioned, and others." He leant across and laid a hand on one of hers. "Will you come with me--Carol?"
Completely taken by surprise, she could only stare at him. He did not wait for a reply.
"I want you for my wife, girl," he said hoarsely. "I'm mad about you--have been since we first met. I'll give you everything you ask for. We'll see all the world can show us and then come back--to Texas. I'm planning big, my dear, but I can swing it ; the West is going to hear of Jethro Baudry, believe me."
Carol's eyes opened wide and she shrank from him, dragging her hand from his hot clasp. His gaze enveloped her avidly, yet she could scarcely credit she had heard aright. To her youthful mind the idea of a husband nearly twice her own age seemed preposterous.
"But I've no intention of marrying yet, Mister Baudry, and I don't like you--in that way," she stammered at last. The gambler's face showed his chagrin. Women were usually kind to him and he had flattered himself that the dazzling prospect he had held out, combined with his own power of attraction, would be more than sufficient to win this unsophisticated girl of the wilds.
"Perhaps I've spoken too soon. Will you try to care for me, Carol?" he urged. "There isn't anyone else, is there?" He saw the warm colour steal into her cheeks again at that and his lips bunched in an ugly pout.
"No, of course not," she protested.
"You haven't got notions about any of these scarecrow riders, have you?" he asked keenly, and instantly saw that he had made a slip.
The impertinence angered her. "These men may be poor and ragged, Mister Baudry," she retorted, "but there is not one of them who would do or say anything to hurt me, or who would not risk his life for mine."
"I know it--I'm all wrong," he said contritely. "It's pure jealousy, girl ; you've got into my blood. Promise me you'll think it over."
"I would much rather forget it," she replied. "We can be friends."
"No," he cried passionately. "It's all or nothing with me. I'm not taking your answer yet. I'll make you care. Do you know what they say of me in the settlements? `Jethro Baudry always wins--sooner or later.' That's my reputation, and by the Lord, it shan't fail me now."
Wounded pride, desire, and disappointment transformed his usually immobile face into that of a savage beast, but in a moment the smiling mask was back.
"I'll not bother you any more now, Carol," he said. "I fancy Dutt is in front ; I have a word to say to him."
He rode off, raking his mount ruthlessly with the spurs, a fact which did him no good with his lady-love ; Carol loved horses, and distrusted those who ill-treated them.
Scarcely had he gone when his place was taken by Sandy--one of the "scarecrows"--and the girl could not but mentally compare them. Certainly the boy's attire was shabby and worn, but the lithe body, poised so easily in the saddle, and the deeply-tanned, youthful face, with impudent eyes which always dropped before her own, more than swung the balance in his favour.
"Don't often get this chance nowadays," he greeted. "How come the guardian angel ain't ridin' herd on yu?"
"you ought not to speak so of my father's friend," she reproved, but there was a demure twinkle accompanying the words. "Mister Baudry wanted to find Mister Dutt. I expect he thought there was no danger of Indians stealing' me again just now."
"Sometimes I 'most wish they would," Sandy told her. Not daring to ask the obvious question, she changed the subject. "Are we nearing the end of the drive?"
"I dunno, but I'm hopin' there's quite a ways to go yet." Once more she felt she was on dangerous ground, but her eyebrows rose. Sandy's explanation was glib enough: "When the herd is sold, I figure we won't be wanted, an' I'll be out of a job."
Her face was turned away ; truth to tell, she was afraid to look at him lest he should see her fear. For his words had brought a sudden realization of what parting with him would mean, and with it all -thought of Baudry vanished like smoke before a puff of wind. Her voice shook a little when at length she spoke :
"Dad will need you all at the ranch. He won't let any of you go--unless you want to."
"Then here's one he can't lose--I'll stick closer to him than his own skin," the young man replied gaily.
"And Mister Baudry is starting a ranch near the S E." Sandy whistled softly. "Is that so?" he said, and then, "I wouldn't ride for him."
There was no rancour in the remark and she knew that she herself had nothing to do with his decision ; the gambler--as a man--had been weighed and found wanting, in the cowboy's estimation.
> Chapter XXI
THE man was sitting, his back against a tree, his eyes closed. By his side lay a rifle and a saddle, while round his middle was slung a heavy revolver. His thin, harsh face, from which jutted a beak of a nose, gave him a predatory expression, and a straggling, uncared-for beard lent an appearance of age which his wiry frame belied. It was Jed, riding point, who discovered him.
"Hey, stranger, yu have shorely picked a port place for a nap," he called.
The man opened his eyes. "Hell!" he said weakly, "I was beginnin' to think I was the last fella left in the world. Ain't got a shot o' licker, 1 s'pose? I'm about all in."
"Friend," the cowboy grinned, "I've helped hustle these yere long-horns from near San Antonio. If yu think a Texan would carry painkiller all that way yu don't know the breed. I figure yu lost yore bronc?" The stranger nodded. "The chuck-wagon an' remuda'll be along presently ; they'll fix yu up."
In camp that night the stranger told his story. His name, he said, was "Rollitt," and he was horse-wrangler to the trail outfit they had followed. One morning he had missed several horses, set out to track them, and had been surprised and chased by Indians.
"Kiowas, they were, I guessed, but I didn't wait to make shore" he said. "I've got used to my hair bein' where it is an' didn't nohow fancy it as a decoration for a brave's bridle, so I scratched gravel plenty eager. By bad luck they was between me an' the camp, so I had to run west. Well, I lost them war-whoops, but I killed my hoss doin' it--just dropped under me--an' then I discovered I'd lost myself. That musta bin near a coupla weeks ago, though I lost count o' time too--I'm a good loser, yu see. Wanderin' around, totin' a saddle ain't so funny, 'specially when yo're outa grub. I was afraid to shoot, case them red devils was about, so I lived mainly on berries an' nuts. Once I knocked a sage hen over with a rock, an' I got a rattler--after he come close to getting me an' skinned an' et him."
Aunt Judy uttered a grunt of disgust. "Lawry me, man, yu must 'a' bin hard put to it," she said.
"Shore was, ma'am," Rollitt replied. "But that rattler was good--nice white meat like a chicken ; I've had wuss eatin'."
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