CHAPTER XI
PICKING UP THE TRAIL
At about the time that the storm had overtaken Hollis, Potter wasunsaddling his pony at the Circle Bar corral gate. A little later he wason the wide lower gallery of the ranchhouse washing the stains of travelfrom his face and hands. At supper he was taciturn, his face deeplythoughtful. Had Ten Spot come? What had been the outcome of the meeting?These questions preyed on his mind and brought furrows into his face.
At supper he caught Norton watching him furtively and he flushedguiltily, for he felt that in spite of Hollis's order to say nothing toNorton he should have told. He had already informed Norton that Hollisintended remaining in Dry Bottom until a later hour than usual, but hehad said nothing about the intended visit of Ten Spot to the_Kicker_ office. Loyalty to Hollis kept him from communicating toNorton his fears for Hollis's safety. It was now too late to do anythingif he did tell Norton; whatever had been done had been done already andthere was nothing for him to do but to wait until nine o'clock.
After he finished his meal he drew a chair out upon the gallery andplacing it in a corner from where he could see the Dry Bottom trail heseated himself in it and tried to combat the disquieting fears thatoppressed him. When Norton came out and took a chair near him he triedto talk to the range boss upon those small subjects with which we fillour leisure, but he could not hold his thoughts to these trivialities.He fell into long silences; his thoughts kept going back to Dry Bottom.
When the rain came he felt a little easier, for he had a hope thatHollis might have noticed the approach of the storm and decided toremain in town until it had passed. But after the rain had ceased hisfears again returned. He looked many times at his watch and when Mrs.Norton came to the door and announced her intention of retiring hescarcely noticed her. Norton had repeatedly referred to Hollis'sabsence, and each time Potter had assured him that Hollis would comesoon. Shortly before nine o'clock, when the clouds lifted and the starsbegan to appear, Potter rose and paced the gallery floor. At nine, whenit had become light enough to see quite a little distance down the DryBottom trail and there were still no signs of Hollis, he blurted out thestory of the day's occurrences.
The information acted upon Norton like an electric shock. He was on hisfeet before Potter had finished speaking, grasping him by the shouldersand shaking him roughly.
"Why didn't you say something before?" he demanded. "Why did you leavehim? Wasn't there somebody in Dry Bottom that you could have sent outhere to tell me?" He cursed harshly. "Ten Spot's got him!" he declaredsharply, his eyes glittering savagely. "He'd have been here by thistime!" He was taking a hitch in his cartridge belt while talking, andbefore concluding he was down off the gallery floor and striding towardthe corral.
"Tell my wife that I've gone to Dry Bottom," he called back to Potter."Important business! I'll be back shortly after midnight!"
Leaving Potter on the porch staring after him he ran to the corral,roped his pony, threw on a saddle and bridle and mounted with the animalon a run.
The stars were shining brilliantly now and from the porch Potter couldsee Norton racing down the Dry Bottom trail with his pony in a furiousgallop. For a time Potter watched him, then he disappeared and Potterwent into the house to communicate his message to his wife.
The rain had been heavy while it lasted, but by the time Norton hadbegun his race to Dry Bottom very little evidence of it remained and thepony's flying hoofs found the sand of the trail almost as dry and hardas before the storm. Indeed, there was now little evidence that therehad been a storm at all.
Norton spared the pony only on the rises and in something over an hourafter the time he had left the Circle Bar he drew up in front of the_Kicker_ office in Dry Bottom, dismounted, and bounded to the door.It was locked. He placed a shoulder against it and crashed it in,springing inside and lighting a match. He smiled grimly when he saw nosigns of Hollis; when he saw that the interior was in an orderlycondition and that there were no signs of a conflict. If Ten Spot hadkilled Hollis he had done the deed outside the _Kicker_ office.
Norton came out again, pulling the wreck of the door after him andclosing it as well as he could. Then, leaving his pony, he strode towardthe Fashion saloon. As he came near he heard sounds of revelry issuingfrom the open door and he smiled coldly. A flashing glance through thewindow showed him that Ten Spot was there, standing at the bar. In thenext instant Norton was inside, confronting Ten Spot, his bigsix-shooter out and shoved viciously against Ten Spot's stomach.
"What have you done with Hollis, you mangy son-of-a-gun?" he demanded.
Several men who had been standing at the bar talking and laughing fellsilent and looked at the two men, the barkeeper sidled closer, crouchingwarily, for he knew Norton.
Ten Spot had spread his arms out on the bar and was leaning against it,looking at Norton in unfeigned bewilderment. He did not speak at once.Then suddenly aware of the foreboding, savage gleam in Norton's eyes, aglint of grim humor came into his own and his lips opened a little,curling sarcastically.
"Why," he said, looking at Norton, "I don't reckon to be anyone'skeeper." He smiled widely, with a suddenly ludicrous expression. "Ifyou're talkin' about that tenderfoot noospaper guy, he don't need nokeeper. What have I done to him?" he repeated, his smile growing. "Why,I reckon I didn't do a heap; I went down to call on him. He was rightsociable. I was goin' to be mean to him, but I just couldn't. When heleft he was sayin' that he'd be right glad to see me again--he'd beenright playful durin' my talk with him. I reckon by now he's over at theCircle Bar laffin' hisself to sleep over the mean way I treated him. Youjust ast him when you see him."
A flicker of doubt came into Norton's eyes--Ten Spot's words had thering of truth.
"You went down there to shoot him!" he said coldly, still unconvinced.
"Mebbe I did," returned Ten Spot. "Howsomever, I didn't. I ain't tellin'how I come to change my mind--that's my business, an' you can't shoot itout of me. But I'm tellin' you this: me an' that guy has agreed to callit quits, an' if I hear any man talkin' extravagant about him, me an'that man's goin' to have a run in mighty sudden!" He laughed. "Someone'sbeen funnin' you," he said. "When he handed me back my gun aftersluggin'----"
But he was now talking to Norton's back, for the range boss was at thedoor, striding rapidly toward his pony. He mounted again and rode out onthe trail, proceeding slowly, convinced that something had happened toHollis after he had left Dry Bottom. It was more than likely that he hadlost his way in the storm, and in that case he would probably arrive atthe Circle Bar over some round-about trail. He was now certain that hehad not been molested in town; if he had been some of the men in theFashion would have told him about it. Hollis would probably be at theranch by the time he arrived, to laugh at his fears. Nevertheless herode slowly, watching the trail carefully, searching the little gulliesand peering into every shadow for fear that Hollis had been injured insome accident and might be lying near unable to make his presence known.
The dawn was just showing above the horizon when he rode up to theranchhouse to find Potter standing on the porch--apparently not havingleft there during his absence. Beside Potter stood Ed Hazelton, and nearthe latter a drooping pony, showing signs of hard riding.
Norton passed the corral gate and rode up to the two men. A glance attheir faces told him that something had gone wrong. But before he couldspeak the question that had formed on his lips Hazelton spoke.
"They got him, Norton," he said slowly.
"Dead?" queried Norton sharply, his lips straightening.
"No," returned Hazelton gloomily; "he ain't dead. But when I found himhe wasn't far from it. Herd-rode him, the damned sneaks! Beat him upso's his own mother wouldn't know him!"
"Wait!" commanded Norton. "I'm going with you. I suppose you've got himover to your shack?" He caught Hazelton's nod and issued an order toPotter. "Go down to the bunkhouse and get Weary out. Tell him to hit thebreeze to Cimarron for the doctor. If the doc' don't want to come draghim by the ears!"
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nbsp; He spurred his pony furiously to the corral gate and in a short time hadsaddled another horse and was back where Hazelton was awaiting him.Without speaking a word to each other the two men rode rapidly down theCoyote trail, while Potter, following directions, his face haggard anddrawn from loss of sleep and worry, hurried to the bunkhouse to arouseWeary and send him on his long journey to Cimarron.
The Coming of the Law Page 11