by Max Brand
All the way home he had been striving to find some way of explaining his lack of success with the stallion to Mary Hood. She had grown up on the ranch with him, for her father had been the manager of the ranch for twenty years; and she had grown up with the feeling that Hal Dunbar was infallible and invincible.
“Did you see the big hulk look at Mary Hood?” Riley asked.
The name came pat with the unpleasant part of Hal’s brooding, and his scowl grew blacker. “What about it?”
“Looked at her as though she was an angel — touched her hand as though it was fire. I tell you, Hal, she knocked Hunter clean off his balance.”
“Not the first she’s done that to,” said Hal with meaning.
“Maybe not. Maybe not,” said Riley rather hastily. “But I been thinking. Suppose you go to Mary and tell her that you’re dead set on keeping this Hunter with you. Tell her that he’s a hard fellow to handle, that he likes her, and that the best way to make sure of him is for her to be nice to him. She can do that easy. She takes nacheral to flirting.”
“Flirt with that thick-head? She’d laugh in my face.”
“She’d do more than that for you, Hal.”
“H’m,” grunted Dunbar, greatly mollified. “I ask her to make Hunter happy. What comes of it? If her father sees Hunter make eyes at her he’ll blow the head off the clodhopper.”
“I know.” Riley nodded. “He’s always afraid she’ll take a fancy to one of the hands and run off with him, or something like that. He’s dead set agin’ her saying two words to anybody like me, say!”
He gritted his teeth and flushed at the thought. Then he continued. “But that’s just what you want. You want to get Hunter’s head blown off, don’t you?”
Dunbar caught the shoulder of Riley and whirled him around.
“Are you talking murder to me, Riley?”
“I’m talking sense,” said Riley.
“By the Lord,” growled Dunbar, “you’re a plain bad one, Riley. You like deviltry for the sake of the deviltry itself. You want me to get—”
“How much do you want the black hoss, chief?” Dunbar sighed.
“You can’t touch him, after him saving your life, and I can’t touch him, because everybody knows that I’m your man. But suppose you get the girl and Hunter planted? Then when Jack Hood rides in this afternoon, I’ll take him where he can see ’em together. Leave the rest to me. Will you? I’ll have Jack Hood scared she’s going to elope before morning, and Jack will do the rest. You know his way.”
“Suppose Hood gets killed?”
“Killed — by that? Jack Hood? Why, you know he’s near as good as you with his gat!”
Dunbar nodded slowly. After all, the scheme was a simple one.
“Well?” whispered Riley.
“You and the devil win,” said Hal. “After all, what’s this Hunter amount to? Nothing. And I need the horse!”
He executed the first step of the scheme instantly. He went downstairs and found the girl still on the veranda. She began to mock him at once.
“You’ll go to heaven, Hal, giving a home to the man who beats you.”
He managed to smile, although the words were poison to him. He had loved her as long as he could remember, and sooner or later she would be his wife, but the period remained indefinitely in the future as the whims of the girl changed. It was for that reason, as Hal very well knew, that her father became furious when she smiled at another man. The rich marriage was his goal; and when a second man stepped onto the stage, old Jack Hood was ready to fight. Hal saw a way of stopping her gibes and proving his good intentions toward Hunter all in a breath.
“He saved my life, Mary. I lost a stirrup, and the devil of a horse threw me.”
Briefly he sketched in the story of the rescue, and how Bull Hunter afterward had ridden the horse without spurs, without a bridle. Before he ended her eyes were shining.
“That’s what he meant when he said he hadn’t beaten Diablo. I understand now. At the time I thought he was a little simple, Hal.”
“He’s not exceptionally clever, Mary,” said Hal, “and that’s where the point comes in of what I want you to do. Hunter is apt to take a fancy that he isn’t wanted here — that he’s being kept out of charity because he saved my life. Nothing I can say will convince him. I want you to give him a better reason for staying around. Will you do it — as a great favor?”
She dropped her chin into her hand and studied him.
“Just what are you driving at, Hal?”
“You know what I mean well enough. I want you to waste a smile or two on him, Mary. Will you do that? Make him think you like him a good deal, that you’re glad to have him around. Will you? Take him out for a walk this afternoon and get him to tell you the story of his life. You can always make a man talk and generally you turn them into fools. You’ve done it with me, often enough,” he added gloomily.
“Flirt with that big, quiet fellow?” she said gravely. “Hal, you’re criminal. Besides, you know that I don’t flirt. It’s just the opposite. When I like a man I’m simply frank about it.”
“But you have a way of being frank so that a poor devil usually thinks you want to marry him, and then there’s the devil to pay. You know it perfectly well.”
“That’s not true, Hal!”
“I won’t argue. But will you do it?”
“Absolutely not!”
“It might be quite a game. He may not be altogether a fool. And suppose he were to wake up? Suppose he’s simply half-asleep?”
He saw a gleam of excitement come in her eyes and wisely left her without another word. After things had reached a certain point Mary could be generally trusted to carry the action on.
CHAPTER 20
JACK HOOD HAD ridden out on his rounds with a new horse that morning, and the new horse developed the gait of a plow horse. The result was that grim old Jack reached the house that night with a body racked by the labor of the day and a disposition poisoned for the entire evening. He was met at the stable by Riley, and the sight of him brought a spark for the moment into the eye of the foreman.
“You’re back, then, and you got Diablo?”
“Look yonder.”
Jack Hood went to the box stall and came back rubbing his hands, but his exultation was cut short by Riley’s remark. “He doesn’t belong to Hal. Hal was thrown and another gent rode him.”
The amazement of Jack Hood took the shape of a wild torrent of profanity. He was proud of the ranch which he had controlled for so long, and still prouder of his young master. His creed included two main points — the essential beauty of his daughter and the infallibility of young Hal Dunbar; consequently his great ambition was to unite the two.
“Mary took to Hunter pretty kindly,” concluded Riley, as they walked back toward the house at the conclusion of the story.
The foreman took off his hat and shook back his long, iron-gray hair.
“Trust her for that. Something new is always what she wants.”
“They’ve got the new well pretty near sunk,” said Riley. “Take a look at it?”
“All right.”
But before they had gone halfway down the path onto which Riley had cunningly diverted the older man, he caught Hood’s arm and stopped him with a whisper.
“Look at that. Already! This Hunter ain’t such a slow worker, eh,
Jack?”
They had come in view of the little terraced garden which was Mary’s particular property; it was screened from the house by a rank or two of the spruce, and on a rustic bench, seated with their backs to the witnesses, were Mary and Bull Hunter. The girl was rapt in attention, and her eyes never left the face of Hunter. As for Bull, he was talking steadily, and it seemed to Jack Hood that as the big stranger talked he leaned closer and closer to the girl. The hint which Riley had already dropped was enough to inflame the imagination of the suspicious foreman; what he now saw was totally conclusive, he thought. Now, under his very eyes, he saw the big man stretch
out his hand, and he saw the hand of Mary dropped into it.
It was more than Riley had dared to hope for. He caught Jack Hood by the shoulders, and whirled him around, and half dragged him back to the house.
“Not in front of your daughter, Jack,” he pleaded. “I don’t blame you for being mad when a skunk like that starts flirting with a girl the first day he’s seen her. But if you got anything to say to him, wait till Mary is out of the way. There goes the supper bell. Hurry on in. Keep hold on yourself.”
“Do I have to sit through supper and look at that hound?”
“Not at all,” suggested the cunning Riley. “Have a bite in the kitchen and go up to your room. I’ll say that you got some figures to run over. Afterward, you can come down and jump him!”
He watched Jack Hood disappear, grinning faintly, and then hunted for
Hal Dunbar.
“It’s started,” he said. “I dropped a word in Jack’s ear and then showed him the two of ’em sitting together. It was like a spark in the powder. The old boy exploded.”
“How close were they sitting?” asked Hal suspiciously.
“Close enough.” Riley grinned, for he was not averse to making even
Dunbar himself writhe.
The result was that Hal maneuvered to draw Mary Hood aside when she came in with big Hunter for supper. Something in Bull Hunter’s face disturbed the owner of the ranch, for the eyes of Bull were alight, and he was smiling for no apparent reason.
“How did things go?” he asked carelessly.
“You were all wrong about him,” said the girl earnestly. “He’s not a half-wit by any means, Hal. I had a hard time of it at first, but then I got him talking about Diablo and the trouble ended. Not a bit of sentiment in him; but just like a great big, simple, honest boy, with a man’s strength. It would have done you good to hear him!”
“And he’ll stay with us?” asked Hal dryly, for he was far from enthusiastic.
“Of course he’ll stay. Do you know what he did? He promised to try to teach me to ride Diablo, and he even shook hands on it! Hal, I like him immensely!”
All during the meal the glances of Hal Dunbar alternated between the girl and the giant. He was more disturbed than he dared to confess even to himself. It was not so much that Bull Hunter sat with a faintly dreamy smile, staring into the future and forgetting his food, but it was the fact that Mary Hood was continually smiling across the table into that big, calm face. Dunbar began to feel that the devil was indeed behind the wit of Riley.
He began to wait nervously for the coming of the girl’s father and the explosion. As soon as supper was over, following the time-honored custom which the first Dunbar established on the ranch, Mary left the room, and the men gathered in groups for cards or dice or talk, for they were not ordinary hired hands, but picked men. Many of them had grown gray in the Dunbar service. Now was the time for the coming of Jack Hood, and Hal had not long to wait.
The door at the far side of the big room was thrown open not five minutes after the disappearance of Mary Hood, and her father entered. He came with a brow as black as night, tossed a sharp word here and there in reply to the greetings, and going to the fireplace leaned against the mantel and rolled a cigarette. While he smoked, from under his shaggy brows he looked over the company.
Hal Dunbar waited, holding his breath. One brilliant picture was dawning on his mind — himself mounted on great black Diablo and swinging over the hills at a matchless gallop.
The picture vanished. Jack Hood had left the fireplace and was crossing the room with his alert, quick step. His nerves showed in that step; and it was nerve power that made him a dreaded gunfighter. His gloom seemed to have vanished now. He smiled here; he paused there for a cheery word; and so he came to where Bull Hunter sat with his long legs stretched before him and the unchanging, dreamy smile on his face.
Over those long legs Jack Hood stumbled. When he whirled on the seated man his cheer was gone and a devil was in his face.
“You damned lummox,” he said, “what d’ye mean by tripping me?”
“Me?” gasped Bull, the smile gradually fading and blank amazement taking its place.
It was at this moment that a man stepped out of the shadow of the kitchen doorway, a very small withered man. No doubt he was some late arrival asking hospitality for the night; and having come after supper was over, he had been fed in the kitchen and then sent in among the other men; for no one was turned away hungry from the Dunbar house. He was so small, so light-footed, that he would hardly have been noticed at any time, and now that the roar from Jack Hood had focused all eyes on Bull Hunter, the newcomer was entirely overlooked. He seemed to make it a point to withdraw himself farther, for now he stepped into a dense shadow near the wall where he could see and remain unseen.
Jack Hood had shaken his fist under the nose of the seated giant.
“I meant it,” he cried. “You tripped me, you skunk, and Jack Hood ain’t old enough to take that from no man!”
Bull Hunter cast out deprecatory hands. The words of this fire-eyed fellow were bad enough, but the tigerish tenseness of his muscles was still worse. It meant battle, and the long, black, leather holster at the thigh of Hood meant battle of only one kind. It had come so suddenly on him that Bull Hunter was dazed.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I sure didn’t mean to trip you — but maybe my foot might of slipped out a little and—”
“Slipped out!” sneered Hood. He stopped, panting with fury. That a comparative stranger should have dared to speak familiarly with his daughter was bad enough; that a blank-faced coward should have dared flirt with her, dared take her hand, was maddening.
“You infernal sneak!” he growled. “Are you going to try to get out of it, now that you’ve seen you can’t bluff me down — that I won’t stand for your tricks?”
Bull Hunter rose, slowly, unfolding his great bulk until he towered above the other; and yet the condensed activity of Hood was fully as formidable. There were pantherlike suggestions of speed about the arm that dangled beside his holster.
The withered little man in the shadow by the kitchen door took one noiseless step into the light — and then shrank back as though he had changed his mind.
“It looks to me,” said Bull Hunter mildly, “that you’re trying to force a fight on me. Stranger, I can’t fight a man as old as you are.”
Perhaps it was a tactless speech, but Bull was too dazed to think of grace in words. It brought a murderous snarl from the other.
“I’m old enough to be Jack Hood — maybe you’ve heard of me? And I’m young enough to polish off every unlicked cub in these parts. Now, curse you, what d’ye say to that?”
“I can only say,” said Bull miserably, feeling his way, “that I don’t want to fight.”
With an oath Hood exclaimed, “A coward! They’re all like that — every one of the big fellers. A yaller-hearted sneak!”
“Easy, Jack!” broke in one of the men.
“Let Jack alone,” called the commanding voice of Hal Dunbar. “I saw
Hunter trip him!”
“But,” pleaded Bull Hunter, “I give you my word—”
“Shut up! I’ve heard enough of your talk.”
Bull Hunter obediently stopped his talk.
A sickening quiet drew through the room. Men bowed their heads or turned them away, for such cowardice was not pleasant to see. The little man in the shadow raised one hand and brushed it across his face.
“I’ll let you off one way,” said Jack Hood. “Stand up here, and face the crowd and tell ’em you’re a liar, that you’re sorry for what you done!”
Bull faced the crowd. A shudder of expectancy went through them, and then they saw that his face was working, not with shame or fear but with a mental struggle, and then he spoke.
“Gents, it seems like I may be wrong. I may have tripped him which I didn’t mean to. But not knowing that I tripped him, I got to say that I can’t call myself a liar. I can’t apol
ogize.”
They were shocked into a new attention; they saw him turn and face the frown of Jack Hood.
“You’re forcing this fight, stranger. And, if you keep on, you’ll drop, sir. I promise you that!”
The sudden change in affairs had astonished Jack Hood; now his astonishment gave way to a sort of hungry joy.
“I never was strong on words. I got two ways of talking and here’s the one I like best!” As he uttered the last word he reached for his gun.
The little man glided out of the shadow, crouched, intense. It seemed to him that the hand of Bull Hunter hung motionless at his side while the gun flashed out from Hood’s holster. He groaned at the thought, but in the last second, there was a move of Hunter’s hand that no eye could follow, that singular convulsive twitch which Pete Reeve had taught him so long before. Only one gun spoke. Jack Hood spun sidewise and crashed to the floor, and his gun rattled far away.
By the time the first man had rushed to the fallen figure, the gun was back in Bull’s holster.
The little man in the shadow heard him saying, “Pardners, he’s not dead. He’s shot through the right shoulder, low, beneath the joint. That bullet won’t kill him, but get him bandaged quick!”
A calm, clear voice, it rang through the room. The little man slipped back into his shadow, and straightened against the wall.
“He’s right,” said Hal Dunbar, stepping back from the cluster. “Riley and Jerry, get him up to his room and bandage him, quick! The rest of you stay here. We got a job. Hood’s gun hung in the holster, and this fellow shot him down. A murdering, cowardly thing to do. You hear? A murdering, cowardly thing to do!”
Obviously he was wrong, and obviously not one of his henchmen would tell him so. For some reason the boss intended to take up the lost battle of Jack Hood. Why, was not theirs to reason, though plainly the fight had been fair, and Hood had been in the wrong from the first. They shifted swiftly, a man to each door, the others along the wall with their hands on their weapons. There was a change in Bull Hunter. One long leap backward carried him into a corner of the room. He stood erect, and they could see his eyes gleaming in the shadow.