The Coming of the Law

by Charles Alden Seltzer

  CHAPTER XXX

  FORMING A FRIENDSHIP

  At three o'clock in the afternoon Hollis closed his desk and announcedto Potter that he was going to the Circle Bar. Potter watched him with afond smile as he went out the door and placed the saddle on his pony,mounted and rode into the sunshine of the afternoon. The presence of thetroopers in town had created a sensation and most of the town's citizenswere gathered about the court house, curiously watching Dunlavey andseveral of his men who had been taken into custody during the earlyhours of the morning. Neither Hollis or Norton had been allowed toparticipate in the final scene, the little captain informing them curtlythat the presence of civilians at what promised to be a free-for-allfight was strictly forbidden. And so Norton had returned to the CircleBar, while Hollis had gone to Dry Bottom to finish an article for thenext issue of the _Kicker_.

  It had been in that bald, gray time between darkness and dawn when BenAllen and Hollis, riding at the head of the detail of troopers besidethe dapper little captain, had arrived at the edge of the butte whereHollis had directed Norton to await his coming.

  Norton's only comment upon seeing the troopers had been: "Where in helldid them come from?"

  He told Allen that he had watched where Dunlavey and his men had driventhe cattle, and that he would find them concealed in a narrow defilebetween two hills about a mile on the other side of the Rabbit-Ear. Heand Hollis had announced their intention to accompany the troop to thescene, but had been refused permission by the captain.

  The capture of the thieves had been quite a simple matter. In singlefile the troopers had descended the slope of the river, crossed ashallow, and clattered up the other side. A mile dash at a gallop hadbrought them to one end of the defile mentioned by Norton, and in agrove of fir-balsam the captain had deployed his troopers and swoopedsuddenly down into the defile, surprising several men, who withDunlavey, were busily at work altering the brands on the cattle they hadstolen. There was a fire near the center of the defile, with brandingirons scattered about it.

  The stolen cattle bore various brands. There were perhaps a dozenbelonging to the Circle Bar, several from the Pig Pen; others bore thebrands of the Three Bar and the Diamond Dot.

  Proof of Dunlavey's guilt had been absolute. He had made someresistance, but had been quickly overpowered by Allen and the troopers.Then with their prisoners the troops had returned to Dry Bottom.

  Hollis rode slowly toward the Circle Bar. He was tired--dead tired. Whenhe arrived at the Hazelton cabin the shade on the porch looked soinviting that he dismounted, tied his pony to one of the slender porchcolumns, and seated himself, leaning wearily against the column to whichhe had tied his pony.

  He sat there long, staring at a clump of nondescript weed that fringedthe edge of the arroyo near the cabin, his thoughts filled with picturesof incidents that had occurred to him during his stay in the West.Nellie Hazelton appeared in every one of these pictures and therefore hesmiled often.

  He had not liked the country when he had first come here; it had seemedto offer him no field for the pursuit of his ambition. Certainly theraising of cattle had never entered into his scheme of things. Yet henow realized that there was plenty of room in this country for successin this particular industry; all a man had to do was to keep up his enduntil the law came. And now the law had come and he had been partlyresponsible for its coming. The realization of this moved his lips intoa grim smile.

  He filled and lighted his pipe, smoking placidly as he leaned againstthe slender column, his gaze shifting to a clump of dense shrubbery thatskirted the trail within twenty feet of the cabin. He sat quiet, hislong legs stretched out to enjoy the warmth of the sun that struck acorner of the porch floor. His pipe spluttered in depletion and heraised himself and looked around for his pony, observing that the animalwas contentedly browsing the tops of some weeds at the edge of theporch. Then, resigning himself to the sensation of languor thatoppressed him, he knocked the ash from the pipe, filled it again,lighted it, and resumed his former reclining position.

  During the past few days he had given much thought to Dunlavey. He wasthinking of the man now, as his gaze went again to the clump ofshrubbery that skirted the trail.

  Some men's mental processes were incomprehensible. Dunlavey was one ofthese men. What did the man hope to gain by defying the law? Would therenot be profit enough in the cattle business when conducted honestly?

  He felt a certain contempt for the man, but mingled with it was a sortof grim pity. No doubt Dunlavey felt justified in his actions, for hehad lived here a good many years, no doubt suffering the privationsencountered by all pioneers; living a hard life, dealing heavy blows tohis enemies, and receiving some himself. No doubt his philosophy of lifehad been of the peculiar sort practiced by the feudal barons of the OldWorld, before civilization had come, carrying its banner of justice,which, summed up epigrammatically, though ironically, had been "Might isRight." But might could never be right in this country. Dunlavey mustlearn this lesson; he could not hope to--!

  Hollis sat suddenly erect, putting aside his pipe and his ruminations atthe same instant, the languor gone from him, his eyes narrowing coldly.

  For suddenly, from behind the shrubbery that skirted the edge of thetrail, had appeared the man about whom he had been thinking! It wasevident that he had not come upon Hollis unexpectedly. He reined in hispony and sat motionless in the saddle, his face white, his eyes alightwith passion.

  For an instant neither man spoke. Hollis realized that the great momentfor which he had waited many days had arrived. And it had arrivedunexpectedly. It had arrived to find him tired after his activities ofthe night and in no condition for a fight. He drew a deep breath and gotto his feet, a grim smile on his face. He stepped off the porch andstood by one of the columns, watching Dunlavey closely. As he watchedthe grim smile on his face slowly faded, his lips curled bitterly, hiseyes chilled.

  "I suppose you've come to collect that thrashing?" he said.

  Dunlavey dismounted quickly, his right hand flew to his holster, drawinghis revolver. He came toward Hollis crouching, a cold, merciless glitterin his eyes.

  "Yes, you tenderfoot ---- ----." he snarled.

  * * * * *

  From the moment of Hollis's arrival at the court house the night beforeBen Allen had been constantly in action. It was late in the morning whenhe had returned to the court house with his prisoners. The men who hadbeen captured with Dunlavey were still with the troopers, there notbeing sufficient room at the court house for them. Watkins had beenreleased and Dunlavey had taken his place in the little room thatanswered for a jail. Shortly before noon Allen proceeded to the station,where he telegraphed to the governor the story of the capture. He hadthen deputized a dozen punchers and sent them to the Circle Cross toround up a thousand of Dunlavey's cattle and hold them until the lateafternoon when, according to Allen's published program, they were to besold to the highest bidder. Then, tired and hungry, Allen sought theAlhambra and ate a hearty meal.

  Dry Bottom was swarming with visitors that had come in for the sale. Butby the time Allen had finished eating the exodus had begun. The trailleading to the Circle Cross ranch was dotted with probable bidders,curiosity seekers, idlers, and mere residents of the town. Now that thelaw had come there were many who discovered that their sympathies hadalways been with the men who had championed it. Allen found his way tothe court house strewn with men who halted him to express their goodwill. Many people gathered in front of the _Kicker_ office, eagerfor a glimpse of Hollis. Those who gathered there before twelve-thirtysaw him seated at his desk, tall, angular, serious of face, absolutelyunaffected by this thing which had caused a sensation. Passing the_Kicker_ office on his way to the court house, Allen had paused tolook within and shout a greeting to him. Then he had continued on hisway.

  Arriving at the court house Allen looked in at Dunlavey to find himlying on the floor, apparently asleep. Allen did not disturb him. Hewent out, threw the saddle on hi
s pony, and rode over to the grove wherethe soldiers were quartered, talking long with the captain. At twoo'clock he returned to the court house to be greeted with the news thatDunlavey had escaped. Allen did not stop to inquire how the escape hadbeen accomplished. He remounted his pony and raced down to the_Kicker_ office, fearing that Dunlavey had gone there. Potterinformed him that his chief had departed for the Circle Bar fully anhour and a half before. He had taken the Coyote trail--Potter hadwatched him.

  Allen wheeled his pony and returned to the court house. He was met atthe door by Judge Graney. The latter's face was white and drawn withfear.

  "He's gone to kill Hollis!" the judge told him through white, set lips."I heard him threaten Hollis this morning and a moment ago a man told methat he had seen Dunlavey, not over half an hour ago, riding out theCoyote trail at a dead run!"

  Allen's own face whitened. He did not stop to answer but drove the spursdeep into his pony's flanks and rode furiously down the street toward apoint near the _Kicker_ office where he struck the trail.

  The distance to the Circle Bar ranch was ten miles and Dunlavey had agood half hour's start! He fairly lifted his pony over the first mile,though realizing that he could not hope to arrive at the Circle Bar intime to prevent Dunlavey from carrying out his design to kill Hollis.No, he told himself as he rode, he could not prevent him from killingHollis, should he catch the latter unprepared, but he promised himselfthat Dunlavey should not escape punishment for the deed.

  He had had some hope that Dunlavey would accept his defeatphilosophically. The latter was not the only man he had seen who hadbeen defeated by the law. Over in Colfax County and up in Wyoming he haddealt with many such men, and usually, after they had seen that the lawwas inevitable, they had resigned themselves to the new condition andhad become pretty fair citizens. He had imagined that Dunlavey wouldprove to be no exception, that after the first sting of defeat had beenremoved he would meet his adversaries half way in an effort to patch uptheir differences. The danger was in the time immediately following therealization of defeat. A man of the Dunlavey type was then usuallydesperate.

  So Allen communed with himself as he rode at a head-long pace down theCoyote trail, risking his neck a dozen times. Not once since he had leftDry Bottom had he considered his own danger.

  He had been riding more than half an hour, and was coming up out of alittle gully when he came upon a riderless pony, and close by it,browsing near a clump of shrubbery, another. He recognized one of theminstantly as Dunlavey's, and his teeth came together with a snap. Herode closer to the other pony, examining it. On one of its hips was abrand--the Circle Bar. Allen's face whitened again. He had arrived toolate. But he would not be too late to wreak vengeance upon Dunlavey.

  He dismounted and cautiously approached the brush at the side of thetrail. Parting it, he saw the roof of a cabin. He recognized it; he hadpassed it a number of times during his exploration of the country. Hedrew back and crept crept farther along in the brush, certain that hewould presently see Dunlavey. But he had not gone very far when he heardvoices and he cautiously parted the brush again and peered through.

  He started back in surprise, an incredulous grin slowly appearing on hisface. The incredulity changed to amusement a moment later--when he heardHollis's voice!

  The young man was seated on the edge of the porch--smoking a pipe! Nearhim, seated on a flat rock, his face horribly puffed out, with severalugly gashes disfiguring it, his eyes blackened, his clothing in tatters,one hand hanging limply by his side, the fingers crushed and bleeding,was Dunlavey! Near him, almost buried in the sand, was a revolver.Allen's smile broadened when he saw Dunlavey's empty holster. Evidentlyhe had met with a surprise!

  While taking in these details Allen had not forgotten to listen toHollis as the latter talked to Dunlavey. Apparently Hollis had aboutfinished his talk, for his voice was singularly soft and even, andDunlavey's almost comical air of dejection could not have settled overhim in an instant.

  "... and so of course I had to thrash you--you had it coming to you. Youhaven't been a man--you've acted like a sneak and a cur all through thisbusiness. You made a thrashing inevitable when you set Yuma on NellieHazelton. You'll have plenty of marks to remind you of the one you gaveme that night." He pointed to his cheek. "I've got even for that. But Ithink I wouldn't have trimmed you quite so bad if you hadn't tried toshoot me a few minutes ago."

  He puffed silently at his pipe for a short time, during which Dunlaveysat on the rock and squinted pathetically at him. Then he resumed:

  "I've heard people talk of damned fools, but never, until I met you,have I been unfortunate enough to come into personal contact with one. Ishould think that when you saw the soldiers had come you would havesurrendered decently. Perhaps you know by now that you can't fight theUnited States Army--and that you can't whip me. If you've got any senseleft at all you'll quit fighting now and try your best to be a goodcitizen."

  He smiled grimly as he rose from the porch and walked to where Dunlaveysat, standing over him and looking down at him.

  "Dunlavey," he said, extending his right hand to the beaten man, "let'scall it quits. You've been terribly worked up, but you ought to be overit now. You ought to be able to see that it doesn't go. I've thrashedyou pretty badly, but you and your men used me up pretty well that nightand so it's an even thing. Let's shake and be friends. If you show signsof wanting to be a man again I'll withdraw the charge of cattlestealing which I have placed against you, and I imagine I won't have anytrouble in inducing Allen to call off that auction sale and acceptsettlement of the claim against you."

  Until now Dunlavey had avoided looking at the outstretched hand. But nowhe looked at it, took it and held it for an instant, his bruised andswollen face taking on an expression of lugubrious self-pity.

  "I reckon I've got it in the neck all around," he said finally. "But Iain't no squealer and I've got----" His gaze met Hollis's and his eyesgleamed with a reluctant admiration. "By God, you're white! I reckon youcould have tore the rest of me apart like you did my hand." He held upthe injured member for inspection.

  Allen's grin could grow no broader, and now he showed his increasedsatisfaction with a subdued cackle. He backed stealthily out of theshrubbery, taking a final glance at the two men. He saw Hollis leadingDunlavey toward a small water hole at the rear of the cabin; saw himbathing Dunlavey's injured hand and binding it with his handkerchief.

  Then Allen proceeded to his pony, mounted, and departed for the courthouse to tell Judge Graney the news that kept his own face continuallyin a smile.