As Williams walked from the restaurant to the bank, he stopped at the barbershop for his weekly tonsorial appointment. The barber, Earl Cook, was sitting in his chair reading the newspaper when Williams walked in. Hopping up quickly, he made a point of brushing out the chair before holding his arm out in invitation.
“Good morning, Mr. Williams,” Cook said. “Here it is, nine o’clock on Tuesday morning, and you are here, punctual as usual.”
“I consider punctuality to be the hallmark of any businessman,” Williams said as he sat in the chair. “I only wish the bank customers were as punctual in the payment of their debts.”
“Indeed, indeed,” Cook said as he draped the cover over Williams. “You will want a shave, I suppose?”
“Yes,” Williams said, leaning back as Cook lowered the back of the chair.
Cook made lather, then began applying it to Williams’s chin. “Jason Adams was in here earlier this morning.”
“Adams was here? What for?”
“Why, for a shave and a haircut,” Cook replied. Cook chuckled. “Wearing a suit, he is, and with a fresh shave and a haircut, he is quite dapper-looking if I do say so.”
“Hmmph,” Williams said. “You’d think he would have better things to do with his money.”
“I expect he’ll be dropping in to see you later today,” Cook said. He began applying lather to the lower part of Williams’s face. “I expect he just wanted to make a good impression.”
“He could have saved his time and his money,” Williams replied. “I’m afraid I won’t be able to extend his loan any longer. I wish I could do something for him, I truly do. But he has already had two extensions, and I am running a business.”
“I understand,” Cook said as he drew the razor across Williams’s face. “It’s just that Jason and his wife, Millie, are such good people, pillars of the church, always first to volunteer to help someone when help is needed.”
“Now, Mr. Cook, if I ran the bank with my heart instead of my head, where would we be? You are a stockholder, are you not?”
Cook chuckled. “You’ve got me there, Mr. Williams. As I told you, we are very lucky to have a man with your business sense. And you are right, you can’t run a bank with your heart.”
Williams sighed. “Well, I must confess that I am being disingenuous with you. I too have been worried about Jason Adams, so I have done something that I might regret.”
“What is that?”
“I bought his note from the bank,” Williams said.
Cook raised up to look at him. “You bought Jason’s note? Why would you do that?”
“Because in all good conscience, I cannot allow the bank to extend his note any longer. However, as the personal holder of his note, I believe I can work out some way with Mr. Adams that will allow him to keep his ranch. That is, if he is willing to work with me.”
“You are a good man, Mr. Williams,” Cook said as he resumed shaving the banker. “Yes, sir, you are a good man.”
“Of course, Jason may not like what I am offering him,” Williams said. “It’s going to be harsh, but it’s the only way he will be able to save his ranch. And after all, it is better to swallow a bitter pill than to lose the entire ranch.”
“That’s true all right,” Cook said as he continued to cut the hair. “Sometimes a fella just has to bite the bullet.”
Half an hour later, Williams was in his office in the back of the bank when Ron Gilbert, his head teller, knocked on the door.
“Yes, Gilbert, what is it?”
“Mr. Williams, Mr. Jason Adams is here to see you,” Gilbert said.
“Is he here to pay his note, or to ask for an extension?”
“From the expression on his face, he is here to ask for an extension, I believe,” Gilbert said.
“That is a shame,” Williams said. Williams projected an image of concern and compassion, though in truth he could scarcely contain his joy over the fact that everything was going exactly as he had planned.
“Send him in,” Williams said.
Adams came in and stood nervously just inside the door. He was, as Cook had described, wearing a suit and was freshly shaved and trimmed. It was obvious that he was going all out to make as positive an appearance as he possibly could.
“Good morning, Jason,” Williams said, smiling at the rancher. “Please, come in, have a seat. How is Millie?”
“My wife is fine, thank you for your concern,” Adams replied nervously.
“And your two boys? They must be a head taller than they were the last time I saw them.”
Adams nodded. “Yes, sir, they’ve grown quite a bit.”
“Well, I hope everything is fine with you. What brings you to town, Jason? What can I do for you?”
“I’m here to talk about my loan.”
“You are a little early, aren’t you? Your loan isn’t due for a couple of weeks.”
Adams looked surprised. “You can remember when my loan is due?”
Williams cleared his throat. It wouldn’t be good to show that he was taking a particular interest in Jason Adams’s loan.
“Well, when I heard you were in town today, I thought it might have something to do with your loan,” Williams said. He forced a laugh. “I didn’t think you would stop by just to pass the time of day.”
“Oh, no, sir, no, sir,” Adams said. “I would never waste your time like that.”
Williams rubbed his hands together.
“So, you want to pay your loan off, do you?” Williams asked cheerfully. He knew that Jason had no intention of paying off the loan. In fact, he didn’t want him to pay off the loan.
Adams’s lips drew into a tight line. “Uh, no, sir, I’m afraid I can’t do that,” he said. “I’m going to have to ask for another extension.”
“Oh,” Williams said. “Oh, that’s too bad. Yes, sir, that is too bad.” Williams shook his head. “Is there any chance you will be able to pay it off by the time it is due?”
“No, sir,” Adams said. “I’m sorry, Mr. Williams, I truly am. But I’m not going to be able to pay the loan off.”
“Mr. Adams, for your sake, and for the sake of your family, I was really hoping that this time you would be able to pay the note off,” Williams said as he stroked his chin. “You see, I’m afraid that it isn’t going to be possible to give you another extension.”
“Not—not possible?” Adams asked, obviously crestfallen by the information. “Are you saying you won’t extend the note?”
“I’m really sorry, Mr. Adams,” Williams said. “I wish I could extend your loan again, I really do. But my hands are tied. I have an obligation, not only to the stockholders of this bank, but also the depositors.”
“I see,” Adams said. “What—what is going to happen now?”
“Well, I’m afraid that you are going to lose your ranch.”
Adams shook his head. “No, you can’t take the ranch away from me,” he said. “You can’t! That’s my home. That’s the only place me’n Millie has ever lived. Both our kids was born there. Please, there must be some other way out of this rather than forcin’ me to lose my ranch.”
“I’m sorry, I wish I could help you,” Williams said. “But I’m afraid there’s nothing I can do. Please try to understand, my hands are tied.”
“What…what am I going to tell Millie?” Adams asked, barely managing to keep control of his emotions.
Williams drummed his fingers on the table as if in deep thought. Then he ran his hands through his hair. “There is—one—way,” Williams said. “I’m not sure you will want to go along with it.”
“What do you mean I won’t want to go along with it? If there is a way, any way…” Adams’s desperate plea trailed off.
“After all, I suppose that, for you, the most important thing would be to save your ranch, am I right? I mean, it is your home.”
“Yes. I’d do anything to save it.”
“Then I do have an idea. It isn’t something that I want to do, but under th
e circumstances, I’ll do it for you,” Williams said. “I’ll buy the note from the bank. Then you would owe me, and not the bank.”
“And you would give me an extension?”
Williams chuckled and held out his hands. “No, no, don’t misunderstand. There is no way I could afford to do something like that,” Williams said. “But what I will do is mark the note paid in full in exchange for your cattle.”
“My cattle? How many of my cattle?”
“All of them.”
“What? No, I couldn’t do that. Why, I have two thousand head,” Adams said. “I couldn’t possibly let you have two thousand head of cattle for one thousand dollars.”
“Consider this, Mr. Adams,” Williams said. “The note you signed with the bank was for your ranch and all livestock and improvements. So you are faced with this choice. Let the bank foreclose and lose everything, including your cattle, or settle with me for your cattle, and keep your ranch.”
“I couldn’t possibly do that,” Adams said. Suddenly, he smiled. “But I could sell enough of my cattle to pay the note.”
“No, you can’t do that,” Williams said.
“What do you mean I can’t do that? Of course I can. I don’t know why I didn’t think of it earlier.”
“If you sell those cattle, Mr. Adams, you will go to jail.”
“What are you talking about? Why would I go to jail?”
“Remember, your loan note was for the ranch, livestock, and all accoutrements,” Williams said. “That means you have your cattle mortgaged, and there is a law against selling mortgaged property.”
“I—I didn’t know that,” Adams said in a defeated tone.
“Now you do know. So the choice is this, Mr. Adams. Either turn over all your cattle to me, in exchange for a release from debt, or I will be forced to foreclose on your ranch and your cattle.” Gone was the silken, cajoling demeanor in Williams’s voice. He was now speaking in a cold, clipped, and demanding voice.
“I—I suppose when you put it that way, I really have no choice,” Adams said.
Sensing victory, Williams eased up a bit. “Mr. Adams, the truth is, I’ve gone way out on a limb for you on this. I probably shouldn’t have done so, but I’ve already bought the note. It was the only way I could think of to save your ranch.”
“I see,” Adams said.
Williams opened the drawer of his desk and pulled out a paper.
“We can take care of this right now if you want to,” he said. “Sign this paper turning your cattle over to me, and I’ll release the lien on your ranch.”
Williams slid the paper across to Adams, then handed him a pen. Adams held the pen poised over the line for his signature for a moment, but he didn’t sign.
“What’s wrong?”
“I’ve got two more weeks,” he said.
Williams chuckled. “Mr. Adams, you’ve had two years to settle this debt and you’ve been unable to do so. What makes you think you can do it in two more weeks?”
“I can’t settle in two more weeks,” he said. “But before I do something like this, I need to discuss it with Millie.”
“I see,” Williams said. “And your wife makes all your decisions for you, does she?”
“No, sir. But we do make them together,” Adams replied.
Williams sighed. “All right, Mr. Adams, discuss this with your wife if you must. But make certain she understands all the ramifications of it. Because if you don’t accept this offer before the two weeks are up, the deal will be taken off the table. I’m afraid then that I will be forced to exercise every clause of the loan agreement. And that means, Mr. Adams, that you will not only forfeit your cattle, you will lose your ranch as well.”
“Yes, sir, I understand,” Adams said. “And I appreciate what you are doing for me, Mr. Williams, really I do. It’s just that I’m going to have to bring my wife around.”
“Very well. Give her my best,” Williams said.
“I will. And thank you again, sir.”
After Adams left, Williams walked over to his window to watch as the rancher climbed up into his buckboard, then drove away. Two thousand head at fifty cents a head, for which he would get thirty-five dollars a head. Yes, sir, this was going to work out just fine.
Chapter Five
Big Rock, Colorado
As the two cowboys dismounted in front of a saddle store, one of them rubbed his behind.
“Damn, that’s the hardest, most uncomfortable saddle I ever sat in,” he said. “I’ll be glad to get mine back.”
Don’t know why you brung it in to get repaired anyway,” the other cowboy said as they tied off their horses at the hitching rail. “As far as I could see, there wasn’t that much wrong with it.”
“The fender was tore.”
“Well, hell, it don’t hurt nothin’ to have a tore fender. All a fender does is make a saddle look good. Don’t have nothin’ to do with the way it sits.”
“Maybe it don’t mean nothin’ to somebody like you. But I’m particular about my saddle. You can ask anyone and they’ll tell you that LeRoy Butrum is particular about his saddle.”
“Yeah, if you ask me, you’re old-maid particular,” the other cowboy said.
“And you don’t never care what yours is like. I swear, Hank, if I hadn’t been around when you was born, I wouldn’t even believe you was my brother.”
The two men stepped up onto the porch, then pushed the door open to go inside. The store smelled of leather, saddle soap, and neat’s-foot oil. There was one particularly handsome saddle on display.
“Lookie here,” LeRoy said, rubbing his hand over the saddle. “He’s got my saddle out here for the whole world to see.”
“Did he fix the fender?” Hank asked.
LeRoy put his hand on the piece of leather that was attached to the stirrup strap.
“Yep, here it is, as good as new,” he said.
The proprietor came up front then and, seeing the two cowboys standing by the saddle, nodded at them.
“Boys,” he said.
“Mr. Pogue,” Hank replied.
“Tell me, Mr. Pogue, why you got my saddle out front like this?” LeRoy asked. Then he smiled. “Prob’ly ’cause it’s the prettiest saddle in town, huh?”
“Not exactly,” Pogue said. “I had it out here to sell it.”
“To sell it?” LeRoy responded loudly. “What the hell do you mean you had it out here to sell it? Mister, this here ain’t your saddle to sell.”
“You said you would pick it up within a week,” Pogue replied. “It’s been a month.”
“Yeah, well, I didn’t have the money then. But I’m here to pick it up now.”
“Good, that will make both of us happy,” Pogue said.
LeRoy gave Pogue a five-dollar bill. Pogue just stared at it for a moment.
“What is this for?” he asked.
“What do you mean, what is this for? This here is for the work you done on the saddle.”
“That will be twenty-five dollars,” Pogue said.
“What?” LeRoy and Hank shouted as one.
“The cost of the repair to your saddle is twenty-five dollars.”
“The hell you say!” LeRoy replied. “Mister, you can get a brand-new saddle for twenty-five dollars.”
“Not like this one.”
“Well, you didn’t make this one, and I already paid for it once. All you done was put on a new fender.”
“And I’m chargin’ you twenty-five dollars for that,” Pogue said.
“You can charge all you want, I ain’t payin’ it,” LeRoy said angrily. “Just take the damn thing off.”
“That’ll be ten dollars,” Pogue said.
“Ten dollars? What for? I told you to just take it off. I don’t want it,” LeRoy said.
“The ten dollars is for the aggravation,” Pogue said.
“I ain’t payin’ you no ten dollars for nothin’,” LeRoy said. He jerked the fancy leatherwork fender off the stirrup strap and tossed it toward P
ogue. “There, I done the work for you. Come on, Hank, let’s go.”
LeRoy put the saddle up onto his shoulder and started toward the door.
“Stop!” Pogue called at them. “You’re stealing that saddle.”
“You can’t steal what’s already yours,” LeRoy said without looking back toward Pogue.
Fortunately, Hank was looking toward Pogue, because he saw the saddle-shop proprietor hurry toward the counter and reach for a shotgun. Quickly, Hank’s pistol was in his hand, pointing toward Pogue.
“Don’t you try nothin’ dumb now, Mr. Pogue,” Hank cautioned.
“You are stealing that saddle.”
“We ain’t stealin’ it,” LeRoy said. “Soon’s I get ten dollars, I’ll come back and pay you, even though I don’t think I ought to have to.”
“Help! Someone, help!” Pogue started shouting. “I’m being robbed!”
LeRoy put the saddle down while he started removing the old saddle from the horse he had ridden.
“Help! Sheriff! Help!” Pogue continued to shout.
“Will you shut up?” Hank yelled at Pogue.
Both men were stopped then by the sound of a pistol being cocked. Turning, they saw one of the deputies standing out in the road, pointing his gun at them.
“What’s going on here?” the deputy asked.
“Thank God someone answered my call,” Pogue said. He pointed at the Butrum brothers. “These men are stealing this saddle.”
“I ain’t stealin’ it,” LeRoy said. “This here saddle belongs to me.”
“You brought it in for repair, and you did not pay for the repair,” Pogue said. “According to the law, until you pay for the repair, the saddle belongs to me.”
“I undid the repair,” LeRoy said.
“That doesn’t matter. I already did the work.”
Rampage of the Mountain Man Page 4