Again Cullin schooled his features to impassivity. Here was a third string to his bow, and he did not hesitate. `Awright, when you've settled with the nester I'll put you on the pay-roll.'
`That's a bet,' the cowboy said jauntily, and went out.
The rancher smiled contentedly. The wise man gets others to run the risks, an' then, helps hisself to the stakes.'
Chapter X
NEARLY two weeks passed and nothing occurred to disturb the serenity of Shadow Valley. But the nester indulged in no false sense of security, and he was right--his enemies were not idle. The first evidence of this was provided by the arrival, in the early morning, of the sheriff, supported by a couple of deputies. Hammering on the gate, he demanded admittance `in the name of the Law.'
Drait and his wife came out of the house just as the procession arrived; they were about to take their usual ride. The intruder surveyed them malevolently.
`Needin' me?' the nester enquired.
`You betcha,' Camort replied, and held up a paper. `This is a warrant.'
`Another?' Drait grinned. Perseverin' fella, ain't you? What have you cooked up this time?'
`Just a little matter o' liftin' other folk's cattle, that's all,' the sheriff sneered, and turned to his assistants. `Take his gun an' put the cuffs on him. If he resists, shoot.'
Wall-eye and his companion hesitated, and then began to dismount--slowly. Drait's harsh voice interrupted the operation. `Stay in yore saddles--you'll be safer. I'm comin' with you, Stinker, free an' armed. In case you got other ideas, let me point out that Quilt is holdin' a rifle on you, an' if I nod, Midway will be able to elect a real sheriff. As for yore hirelin's, I could put 'em on the ground quicker'n they'd get there any other way. Next time you try to take me by force, you'd better bring the force.'
Camort's face was poisonous. `There won't be no next time,' he snarled. `We got the deadwood on you.'
It was at this point that Sudden and Yorky rode up. Drait grinned. 'Comin' to town, Jim? Stinker has issued an invite.' He turned to Mary. `Yorky will take you along the valley.'
In a few moments they set out, the nester and Sudden in advance, with the sheriff and his deputies following. Quilt convoyed them to the gate.
`Say, Nick, let them polecats ride ahead, in case of an accident,' he advised loudly.
`You're forgettin' Stinker represents the Law, with a big L,' his boss smiled.
`Mis-represents it, you mean,' the foreman snorted. `There's another big hell a-gapin' for him if he tries any tricks.'
`Threats from yore men won't help you, or scare me from doin' my dooty,' Camort growled.
`Quilt ain't threatenin' you, he's just makin' a promise,' Drait returned lightly. `An' he's one o' those unusual people who keeps 'em.'
Comforting himself with the reflection that his turn was coming, the sheriff dropped into a sullen silence which his underlings forbore to break. A few yards in front of them Nick and his companion conversed in low tones.
The usually busy street of Midway seemed strangely empty. Outside the bank, Drait pulled up, slipped from his saddle, and went in. The sheriff uttered an exclamation and put a hand to his gun-butt, only to fetch it away with celerity when Sudden turned a chilly eye on him, the nester was back in a few moments. A little further along they were welcomed with a whoop by Pilch.
"Lo, Nick, you've won me ten bucks,' he greeted. `I bet you'd face the music, come free, an' wearin' yore gun.'
`Good for you, ol-timer,' Drait smiled. `Hope it ain't one o' my friends yo're saltin'.'
`Not any; the victim is that happy-lookin' guy behind you, with a star on his manly buzzum.'
The nester stole a glance at the sheriff, whose face resembled a miniature thunder-cloud, and shook his head. Too bad to take advantage of a half-wit,' he said. `Where's everybody?'
`Down to the court-room. Say, they got it all arranged--jury packed--Stinker would say "picked" but it's the same thing, witnesses primed up, and the Judge waitin' to walk in, sober, if possible. But you'll have a square deal, son, or the fur'll fly. I'll have that ten now, Camort; fat men like you is apt to die unexpected.'
The money was handed over; Pilch owned the principal store and had influence in the town, and the officer was well aware that his own popularity was on the wane. He was relying on this trial to re-establish it.
A group of idlers outside the court-house welcomed their arrival with a cheer and hurried in with the news. There was no demonstration when they entered beyond a murmur of excitement and a craning of necks to see how the accused was taking it. What they saw was an entirely unconcerned man, whose eyes twinkled when they encountered a friendly face, and froze for those which were hostile.
The room was spacious, with a raised platform at one end ors which stood a desk for the Judge, and in front, a table for his clerk. At the right and left, were railed-in stands. The sheriff pointed to one of these.
`There's the dock,' he said.
`Try an' get me into it,' Drait retorted grimly, and approached two chairs in the first row for himself and his companion.
Camort decided not to insist. The place was full, those unable to find seats lounging against the walls. Sudden recognised some of them: Vasco and his foreman, with Cullin sitting next; Gilman, whispering with the sheriff, apparently not quite at ease; Bardoe and Lanty, whose eyes gleamed evilly when they rested on the accused; Merker, and to his surprise, the lawyer, Seale. He sought the jury and found it in an enclosure which afforded a good view of nhe witness-stand and the dock, and one glance told him that the members would be more at home in the latter place.
A door at the back of the platform opened, and the Judge entered, deposited his high hat on the desk, sat down, and surveyed the gathering nhrough red-rimmed, watery eyes.
`He ain't feelin' so good,' someone remarked audibly. `I'll bet breakfast meant just nothin' to him this mornin'.'
`Where's the prisoner?' the Judge snapped. `Why isn't he in the dock?'
Draft stood up. `Because I am not a prisoner,' he said. `I came here o' my own free will.'
Towler apparently took no notice; he was listening to the sheriff's mumbled explanation.
`Most irregular,' he said irritably, and glared at the culprit. `You are charged with stealing cattle from the S P ranch. Are you guilty or not guilty?'
`That's what you gotta find out,' Drait said drily.
The Judge made a gesture of impatience. Put Gilman in the box,' he told the sheriff, and when this had been done, added, `State your case.'
`I'm accusin' Draft there o' rustlin' one hundred head, calves an' yearlin's, from the S P,' the foreman stated. `Two o' my men saw him drivin' em off 'bout daybreak.'
`Yo're shore it was just a hundred?' the nester asked, and when Gilman nodded, `Searchin' out that number o' unmarked beasts in the dark'd be a long an' pesky job.'
`You didn't have it to do; they was rounded up in the home pasture all ready for
`Me to take?' Nick finished blandly.
`No, for us to brand in the mornin'--that's how I know the tally,' Gilman grinned. He felt he had scored a point.
`Why didn't yore fellas do somethin'?'
`They was two to yore five. When I heard, I put it up to the sheriff. He suggested we lay a trap to make shore; we baited it with fifty more critters, an' you tumbled right into it.'
`Did you inform Mister Seale, yore boss, of these losses?'
`No, I ain't seen him, an' I expected to git the missin' cattle back.'
`I like yore second reason better,' Drait said, and turned to the Judge. `Mebbe it'll shorten the proceedin's if I own to takin' the herds, but--'
`That's an admission of guilt, and I will not listen to excuses,' Towler cut in.
`You ain't goin' to hear any, an' a man in yore position shouldn't jump to conclusions, even if he is thirsty,' came the acid reply. 'I'm tellin' you facts, an' by God! yo're goin' to listen.' Their eyes met and clashed, but the older man--his will weakened by excess--was no match for his young,
virile opponent. His head dropped, and he said wearily, `I'll hear you.'
The cattle were taken by arrangement with that dirty cur,' Drait resumed, pointing to the witness. `That's why they were rounded up in readiness. He wanted 'em driven away early so it shouldn't be knowed he was sellin' stock--claimed the S P was short o' cash. Was that so, Mister Seale?'
`No,' the lawyer replied curtly.
`I paid for these beasts, seven bucks a head, all round,' Drait continued, amid a dead silence.
`Can you prove that?' the Judge asked, and Gilman laughed. `I reckon,' the nester said. `Mister Williams.'
The manager of the bank stood up; nearing fifty, with a keen, clever face, he took little part in the activities of the town outside his business, and was generally respected.
`Mister Drait is a customer,' he began quietly. `Recently he drew out two sums of seven hundred and three hundred and fifty dollars exactly. At his request, I noted down the numbers of the bills.' He paused, and Sudden, watching Gilman, saw the swift dawn of apprehension in his eyes. `Those identical bills, in amounts as issued, have returned to the bank,' Williams resumed. `They were paid in by Mister Gilman to his private account.'
The simple statement hit the audience like a landslide. Cries of amazement and oaths of disgust came from all sides, and in the hubbub, Gilman--almost stunned by this crushing blow--lost his head.
`You made a mistake, Williams,' he shouted. `I meant it for the ranch account.'
Instantly Drait cut in. `Take notice, Judge; he admits I paid for the cattle.'
Williams spoke again. `The bank does not make mistakes, Mister Gilman; I overheard your instruction to my clerk on both occasions. However, since you now say these sums belong to the S P, I will see that they are transferred.'
The foreman forgot to thank him. He realised that he had completely given himself away, and that personal peril had taken the place of the triumph for which he had plotted. He stood there, head down, shooting furtive glances in quest of a friendly face and failing to find it. But his ordeal was non yet over.
`Got rid of any other stock lately?' Drait asked, and when he got a sullen denial, `What about the hundred three-year-olds sold to Bardoe? Lyin' won't help you, fella; I have it here in yore own fist.'
Gilman recognised the slip of paper, and despite the heat of the crowded room, was conscious of a chilliness. How much more did this devil of a nester know?
`I forgot,' he mumbled. `They ain't bin settled for.'
`That coin was due to the S P?' The foreman nodded. `Then you'll be glad to know it was placed no the credit o' the ranch some weeks back.'
Gilman turned a vindictive glare on Bardoe, which Drait easily interpreted. `On'y partly right,' he said. `Bull provided the gold, but I collected an' paid it in.'
Towler became aware that the 8 B man was regarding him with a heavy frown, and that he was expected to do something about it. He fired a question at Drait :
`Anything more to say?'
`On'y this,' Nick replied. `I want you to get the layout. Gilman sold me the cattle an' put the proceeds in his pocket. Then he frames this charge, hopin' I'll hang. If it happens thataway, he gets the stock back, an' is one hundred an' fifty bucks to the good, with nobody the wiser. It's a safe bet he meant to play the same game when Bardoe paid up.'
As Drait sat down, Pilch shouted, `Well done Shadow Valley,' and there was considerable applause. The Judge rapped sharply on the desk.
`Silence! or I'll clear the court,' he cried.
The storekeeper was not no be intimidated. `Which I'd admire for you to try, Judge,' he said derisively, and raised a laugh.
The sheriff was whispering to the man on the Bench. `He's got us cinched,' he said anxiously. `Ain't there no way to ditch him?'
The Judge considered, and then his weak mouth twisted into a vicious smile, as he rapped again for attention. `The case is not yet finished,' he said. `It is clear that the cattle the accused claims to have bought were stolen by Gilman for his own profit. Now, if Drait knew this, he becomes liable to charges of conspiring and receiving.'
The foreman saw an opportunity to bite; he could hardly make his own situation worse. `An' that's how it was, Judge,' he called out. `We fixed it up atween us.'
`If the accused has any statement to make I am ready to listen,' Towler said blandly, as though conferring a favour.
Drait rose; this was an unexpected development, and he did not like it. `Gilman, as foreman in charge, had the power to dispose o' stock,' he explained quietly. `I bought, an' took steps to protect myself against a possible snare. What had I to gain by his crookedness?'
`You got yore cattle damned cheap,' Bardoe suggested.
`Not so damned cheap either--I would 'a' let him have some at the price,' Vasco chimed in. `An' if seven a head is cheap for calves, what about the three-year-olds you got for ten?'
Bardoe subsided, inwardly cursing himself. In his eagerness to strike a blow at the nester, he had forgotten his own position.
Cullin had listened unmoved, but only to appearance. From the moment Gilman's dishonesty had been revealed, he knew the day was lost. Towler's persistency was only making matters worse--he was showing bias too plainly. With Gilman and Bardoe discredited, and Vasco in the other camp, the position was perilous. His agile brain evolved a master move to snatch a personal victory out of defeat; by defending Drait he would score with the townsfolk, and avert suspicion from himself if misfortune fell upon the nester in the future. He stood up, and the room became silent.
`In the interest of justice,' he began, `I must point out that the on'y evidence against the accused is the word of a thief who has a'ready lied to the court.'
The Judge stared; he knew he was about to receive orders, but he had to present some sort of a front.
`What do you mean, sir?' he asked.
`Gilman said the stolen herds were gathered for branding! Now he claims that was done by arrangement with Drait. Which statement you goin' to accept?'
`I have not yet directed the jury, Mister Cullin,' Towler said loftily. `Anything else?'
The rancher bit his lip. All right, if the old fool would have it. `Yeah, I very much doubt if, havin' found a man innocent of the offence he was accused of, you have the right to bring in another charge. I know little o' the Law, but mebbe Mister Seale will give us an opinion.'
The lawyer was on his feet instantly, beady eyes agleam: at that moment he almost liked the rancher. Only a month or so previously he had sat in that same place, squirming under the castigating tongue of the man he now had an opportuniny to repay. The Weasel was not one to forget.
`With due respect, I submit that the court is exceeding its powers, and there is nothing in the statunes to justify such procedure,' he said. `In any case, a conviction on the testimony so far adduced would be a judicial crime.'
He sat down, and the room gasped. Towler's pale face had become purple, and he would have joyfully murdered the man who had brought this humiliation upon him. But he was impotent, and knew it. Ignoring the lawyer, he addressed Cullin:
`If you had been a little more patient, sir, you would have heard me instruct the jury to entirely exonerate the accused on both charges,' he explained ponderously. `It was for his benefit I decided that the second--and possible--charge should be dealt with now.'
The verdict having been formally recorded, the Judge dismissed the jury, and remembered he still had a duny to perform. `Sheriff, you will take the fellow, Gilman, into custody and hold him for trial,' he ordered.
Silent, chin on chest, the foreman slouched out, a deputy on either side. Camort followed, glad of an excuse to get away from friends and foes, neither of whom would spare him. The Judge too picked up his hat and departed, bitterly conscious that he had cut a sorry figure.
When Nick and the puncher tried to slip away they found themselves surrounded by a surging section of the crowd yelling crude congratulations, and struggling to get near enough to slap the nester on the back or grab a hand. He endure
d the ordeal with a sardonic grin, conscious that some of them, anyway, would have striven as strenuously to see him hanged.
`Awright, boys,' he called. `The drinks are shore on me, but you'll have to go to Merker's for 'em.'
This started another stampede--in the direction of the saloon --and in a few moments, only a small group remained; they had remained aloof while the demonstration was on.
`I'm mighty obliged to you all,' Nick said quietly.
`Glad to see you clear of a nasty mess,' the banker said. `If you hadn't thought of keeping those numbers....'
`I didn't,' came the candid reply. `That was Jim's idea.'
`A very good one,' Seale complimented. `It wrecked the prosecution, and exposed a very shabby rogue.'
`Yeah, but what we didn't learn was the name o' the bigger rogue who put him up to it,' Pilch said meaningly.
`That may come out at the trial,' Cullin replied carelessly. `He's the sort to squeal.'
`There'll be no trial,' Nick asserted. `He'll get away.' `They dasn't let him,' Pilch cried.
`They dasn't keep him,' Drait contradicted.
The Big C man laughed. `You may be right. Anyway, he'll be no loss, an' we are to have a charmin' substitute. Any harm in sayin' that now, Seale?'
`No, everything is virtually settled,' the lawyer said. He looked at Drait. `I shall be at the S P in the morning. Perhaps Miss Darrell would like to come over and inspect her property?'
The nester agreed that it was likely, and the matter having been explained to the other men, further congratulanions were forthcoming, to be carried to the lady. Nick cut them short by suggesting an adjournment to the saloon :
`I wanta find out what I owe, an' add to it,' he said.
On the way, Cullin fell in beside him. `If yo're gettin' rid o' Shadow Valley, gimme first offer, an' make yore own price,' he murmured.
`I'm not sellin'--at any figure, an' I'm not leavin' it,' Drait replied shortly.
Which was precisely the answer hoped for.
Chapter XI
THAT same evening the nester and his wife discussed, for the first time, the impending change. He had given her a brief account of the proceedings at Midway, but without revealing the gravity of the peril to which he had been exposed. Drait did not conceal that Cullin had taken his part.
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