With Hoops of Steel

by Kelly, Florence Finch

  “Well,” he said, “if you want to pull out on the quiet, Nick and me will stand off the Republicans over at Plumas till you get out of their reach.”

  “Oh, I don’t mean to run away.” Mead picked up the bridle and with one hand on the pommel turned suddenly around. There was a half smile about his mouth, which his sad eyes belied. Tom’s idea of the case had just occurred to him. “Don’t you worry about it, Tom. It has nothing to do with the Whittaker case, nor with the political fights in Las Plumas.”

  They remounted and cantered silently toward home. Tom was revolving in his mind everything he knew about his friend, trying to find the key to the present situation. After a long time he recalled the conversation he and Ellhorn had had, as they sat on the top of the cattle-pen fence at Las Plumas, concerning the possibility of Mead’s being in love.

  “Golly! I can’t ask him about that!” Tuttle thought, spurring his horse to faster pace. “But I reckon I’ll have to. I’ve got to find out what’s the matter with him, and then Nick and me have got to help him out, if we can.”

  He rode close beside Mead and began: “Say, Emerson—” Then he coughed and blushed until his mustache looked a faded yellow against the deep crimson of his face. He glanced helplessly around, vaguely wishing some enemy might suddenly rise out of the hills whom it would be necessary to fight. But no living thing, save Emerson’s own cattle, was in sight. So, having begun, he rushed boldly on:

  “Say, Emerson, I don’t want to be too curious about your affairs, but—this—this trouble you’re in—has it—is it—anything about a—a girl?”

  Mead’s spurs instinctively touched his horse into a gallop as he answered, “Yes.”

  “Miss Delarue?”

  “Yes.”

  “Wouldn’t her father let her have you?”

  Mead pulled his sombrero over his eyes with a sudden jerk, as the thought drove into his brain that he had not asked for her. The idea of asking Marguerite Delarue to marry him loomed before him as a gigantic impossibility, a thing not even to be dreamed of. He set his teeth together as he put into words for the first time the thing that was making him heart-sick, and plunged his spurs into the horse’s flank with a thrust that sent it flying forward in a headlong run:

  “She’s going to marry Wellesly.”

  Tuttle lagged behind and thought about the situation. Sympathize though he did with Mead’s trouble, he could not help a little feeling of gratification that after all there was to be no wife to come between them and take Emerson away from him and Nick. Emerson would forget all about it in a little while and their lifelong friendship would go on and be just as it had always been. On the whole, he felt pleased, and at the same time ashamed that he was pleased, that Miss Delarue was going to marry Wellesly.

  “I don’t think much of her judgment, though,” he commented to himself, contemptuously. “Any girl that would take that scrub Wellesly when she might have Emerson Mead—well, she can’t amount to much! Bah! Emerson’s better off without her!”

  That evening, as the four men sat smoking under the cottonwoods, Mead said quietly:

  “Judge, I’m goin’ to pull my freight.”

  “What do you mean, Emerson?”

  “I mean that this country will be better off without me and I’ll be better off without it. I’m goin’ to light out.”

  “Soon?”

  “As soon as I can give away this ranch to the Fillmore outfit, or anybody that will have it. Nick, you and Tom better take it. I’ll give it to you for love and affection and one dollar, if you want to take the fight along with it.”

  “Nothing would please me better,” Nick replied, “than to clean up all your old scores against the Fillmore outfit, but I reckon if we take it we’ll just run it for you until you-all come back.”

  “All right. I’ll turn it over to you to-morrow. You can have all you can make out of it and if I’m not back inside of five years you can divide it between you.”

  “Everybody will say you are running away from the Whittaker case and that you are afraid to face a trial,” said Judge Harlin.

  “They may say what they damn please,” replied Mead.

  Something like a smothered sob sounded from Tuttle’s chair, and he exclaimed fiercely, “They’d better not say that to me!”

  “There’s no likelihood,” said Judge Harlin, “that the grand jury will indict you, as things stand now, or that the case would amount to much if they should. If you want to stay and face the music, Emerson, I don’t think you need to feel apprehensive about the result.”

  “Oh, I’m not afraid of the trial, if there should be one. But I don’t think there’ll be any. I’m not going to submit to arrest, trial, or anything else, until they can prove that Will Whittaker’s dead, and they can’t do that. I told Wellesly that I would let them arrest me whenever they can prove that Will Whittaker died with his boots on, and I’ll stick to my word. I’ll come back from anywhere this side of hell for my trial whenever they can prove it, and you can tell ’em so, Judge. But I’m tired of this country and done with it, and I mean to pull my freight to-morrow.”

  “If you want to start from Plumas you’d better ride over with me,” said Harlin, “and you’d better go prepared for trouble, for the Republicans won’t let you leave the country if they can help it.”

  “All right. They can have all the trouble they want.”

  “You bet they can! All they want, and a whole heap more than they’ll want when it comes!” exclaimed Nick.

  “That’s what’s the matter! We’ll see that they get it!” added Tom.

  The next morning they stowed the gold nuggets under the seat of Judge Harlin’s buggy, in which rode Mead and Harlin, with rifles and revolvers. Tuttle and Ellhorn rode on horseback, each with a revolver in his holster and a rifle slung beside him.

  Tom Tuttle was much disturbed because he alone knew the secret reason for Emerson Mead’s abrupt departure. He thought Nick ought to know it, too, but he could not persuade himself that it would be the square thing for him to tell it to Ellhorn. “Nick ought to know it,” he said to himself, “or he’ll sure go doin’ some fool thing, thinkin’ Emerson’s goin’ away on account of the Whittaker business, but I reckon Emerson don’t want me to leak anything he told me yesterday. No, I sure reckon Emerson would say he didn’t want me to go gabblin’ that to anybody. But Nick, he’s got to know it.”

  After a time he chanced to recall the gossip about Miss Delarue and Wellesly, which Judge Harlin had told him, and decided that he was relieved from secrecy on that point. Still, he felt self-conscious and as if he were rubbing very near to Emerson’s secret when he rode beside Ellhorn and exclaimed:

  “Say, Nick, did Judge Harlin tell you that Wellesly and Frenchy Delarue’s daughter are going to be married next fall?”

  “The hell they are! Say, he’s in luck, a whole heap better than he deserves!” Then a light broke over Nick’s face, as he shot a glance at the carriage behind them. He slapped his thigh and exclaimed: “Jerusalem! Tom, that’s why Emerson is pullin’ his freight!”

  At the moment, Tom felt guilty, as if he had betrayed a confidence, and he merely said, “Maybe it is.”

  “I might have known Nick would see through it in a minute,” he said to himself afterward. “Well, I reckon it’s all right. He knows now, and he’d sure have heard that they are going to be married, anyway.”

  * * *

  CHAPTER XVIII

  The four men stayed at Muletown that night and drove across the hot, dry levels of the Fernandez plain in the early morning. In the foothills of the Hermosa mountains there was a little place called Agua Fria—Cold Water. It was a short distance off the main road, but travelers across the plain frequently went thither to refresh themselves and their beasts with the cool waters which it furnished. It was only a small Mexican ranch, irrigated by a bountiful flow of water from a never failing spring. Cottonwood trees surrounded the house, and around the spring grew a little peach orchard. The ruins of a mi
ning camp, long since deserted, could be seen on the hill above.

  Emerson Mead and his companions turned aside into the road leading to the Agua Fria ranch and drew rein in the shade of the peach trees. A woman was washing clothes beside the spring and a man came from a near-by field where he was at work. They chatted with the couple while the horses were allowed to rest in the shade. Presently Tuttle and Ellhorn remounted and started slowly back, leaving Mead and Harlin in the buggy, ready to go, but exchanging some last words with the Mexican. The road curved below the house, through the trees, and as Tuttle and Ellhorn came out on the other side they saw a party of horsemen approaching from the main road. At once they recognized John Daniels and Jim Halliday, who were riding in the front. Behind them came half a dozen others, and in the rear of the company they saw Colonel Whittaker with some pack horses. Tom and Nick drew back into the cover of the trees and conferred a moment over the probable intentions of the party.

  “They are all armed,” said Tom. “Six-shooters and Winchesters on every one.”

  “I’ll bet they’re after Emerson, Tommy,” Nick exclaimed. “They want trouble, and I reckon we’d better begin to give it to ’em right now.”

  They drew their rifles from beside their saddles, for the men were still too far away for the use of revolvers. Then Tom looked at Nick doubtfully.

  “Nick, what do you-all think would be Emerson’s judgment? You know he always wants the other side to begin the fight.”

  “My judgment is that the sooner this fight is begun the better. Them fellows are out here lookin’ for trouble, and I say, if a man wants trouble, Lord! let him have it!”

  He raised his rifle to his shoulder and sent a bullet singing down the road, saying to Tom as he fired: “This is just to let ’em know we’re here.”

  The bullet creased the neck of Halliday’s horse, which reared and plunged with sudden fright. The whole party checked their horses in surprise and looked intently toward the clump of cottonwoods from which the shot had come. Tom raised his gun to his shoulder, saying, “You’ve started the fun, Nick, so here goes,” and he sent a rifle ball whizzing past Daniels’ ear. Harlin and Mead dashed around the house in the buggy, jumped out, and tied their horses in the rear of the trees. Tuttle and Ellhorn dismounted and dropped their bridles.

  The approaching party paused for a moment in a close group and held an excited conference. Then they separated and, drawing their guns from the saddle scabbards, sent a volley into the grove. Four rifle bullets made quick answer and set their horses to rearing. It was some time before the beasts could be made quiet enough for the shots to be returned, and in the meantime bullets were pattering all about them. Colonel Whittaker stopped far in the rear with the pack horses, beyond the reach of the rifle balls, and the others made a sudden dash forward. Checking their horses, they fired a concerted volley into the trees. One of the bullets scorched the band of Tom’s hat.

  “Nick,” said Tom, “that was Daniels fired that shot. He’s gettin’ too impudent. You take care of him while I clean my gun. Don’t you let him get any closer, but don’t hurt him, for he’s my meat.”

  He went down on the ground cross-legged and swabbed his gun-barrel while the bullets pattered on the ground about him and thudded into the trees and ploughed up the dirt at his feet. Nick bent his rifle on the sheriff and sent a bullet through his hat brim and another through his horse’s ear, and bit his bridle with one and tore his trouser leg with another. One dropped and stung on the beast’s fetlock as Tom sprang to his feet exclaiming, “Now I’ll get him!”

  Daniels first checked his horse, and then lost control of it as the bridle broke, and when the bullet struck its fetlock it wheeled and went flying to the rear. The sheriff felt a tingle in his left arm, and, maddened, he seized the severed parts of his bridle and forced the horse to face about. Then he bent forward, apparently taking careful aim at one of the figures beneath the trees, but before he could fire, his horse reared and plunged and went down in a heap beneath him.

  In the meantime, Nick, Emerson, and Judge Harlin were exchanging rapid shots with the rest of the sheriff’s party. Those of the latter went rather wild, because their frightened horses made it impossible for them to take careful aim. And also by reason of the constant dancing about of the beasts, the accurate markmanship of the men under the trees was not of much avail. Nick found that his magazine was empty and called out:

  “Tom, give me some of your hulls! I used up all mine keepin’ your darned sheriff back. Gimme some hulls quick!”

  He dropped a handful of cartridges into the magazine and raised his rifle with the remark, “Now see ’em scatter!”

  The sharp, crashing din of the Winchesters kept steadily on. One of the Daniels party fell over on his horse’s neck, and two of their animals became unmanageable. Daniels had knelt behind his fallen horse and across its body he was taking careful aim. Tom felt a bullet graze his cheek, and saw whence it had come. “I’ll put a stop to that,” he exclaimed, and in another moment the sheriff tumbled over with a bullet in his shoulder. Mead felt a sharp pain in one side, and knew that hot lead had kissed his flesh. It was the first wound he had ever received. With a scream of pain a horse fell, struggling, beneath its rider. From one man’s hands the rifle dropped and his right arm hung helpless by his side. Another horseman swayed in his saddle and fell to the ground, and his horse galloped to the rear, dragging the man part of the way with his foot in the stirrup.

  Still the remnant of horsemen held their own against the steady rain of bullets from the trees. Presently a flesh wound made Halliday’s horse unmanageable and it bolted straight for the grove. The four men paused with fingers on triggers, looking at him in wonder.

  “Who would have thought he had the sand to do that!” Mead exclaimed.

  Suddenly his horse turned and flew toward the rear. “Whoo-oo-oo-ee!” came a derisive shout from the grove, followed by a volley of bullets. The other horsemen took advantage of the diverted firing, and made a dash forward, dropping their rifles across their saddles and using their revolvers. It was evident that they hoped, by this sudden charge, to dislodge the enemy and force a retreat.

  “Out and at ’em, boys,” yelled Nick. “Whoo-oo-oo-ee!” And the four men rushed from under cover of the trees, rifles in hand, straight toward the approaching horsemen.

  Dropping on one knee and firing, then rising and running forward a few steps, and dropping and firing again, they dashed toward the enemy. Surprised and confused by this sudden move, the horsemen halted, irresolute, then turned and fled down the road.

  “Buffaloed!” yelled Mead.

  “After ’em, boys!” shouted Judge Harlin. And the four started on the run after the retreating enemy.

  “Chase ’em to Plumas!” yelled Nick.

  “And learn ’em to let us alone after this!” bellowed Tom, in a voice that reached the ears of the flying party, above the muffled roar of their horses’ hoofs.

  Halliday had got his horse under control again by the time he reached the place where Colonel Whittaker stood guard, beside the pack horses, and after a few hasty words with Whittaker he started back. When he saw the rout of his party he pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and waving it aloft he came galloping on.

  “Look at that, will you!” yelled Nick. “They want to surrender!”

  “I reckon they want to have a conference,” said Judge Harlin.

  The four men halted and stood with their guns in their hands, waiting Halliday’s approach.

  “Emerson,” he called, “do you stick to what you told Mr. Wellesly?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “That you’d submit to arrest when we could prove that Will Whittaker died by violence.”

  “Certainly, I do.”

  “Then hand over your guns, for we’ve got his body!”

  “Let me see it first. If I can recognize it I’ll keep my word.”

  “It’s back there where his father is.”

  “Well, bring it
here.”

  “Will you keep the truce?”

  “Yes, if you do.”

  Halliday galloped down the road again, and presently returned with Colonel Whittaker. Between them was one of the pack horses with something lashed to its back. They walked their horses to the spot where the four men stood, untied the pack, spread a blanket on the ground, and laid on it the ghastly, mangled remains of what had once been a man’s body.

  “We found it in the White Sands,” Halliday explained. “It had been buried nearly at the top of the ridge and the coyotes had dug it out and this is all they had left. But his father here, and every one of us, have identified it.”

  Mead and his friends looked the body over carefully. The face had been gnawed by coyotes and picked by buzzards until not a recognizable feature was left. The shining white teeth glared from a lipless mouth. Closely cropped black hair still covered the head. On one hand was a plain gold ring set with a large turquoise.

  “You must remember that ring,” said the father. Mead nodded. Colonel Whittaker slipped it from the finger, dried and burned by the sun, and showed the four men the initials, “W. W.,” on the inside. The clothing was badly tattered and much of it had been torn away. Part of a pongee silk shirt still hung on the body. On the inside of the collar were the young man’s initials worked in red silk. “His mother did that,” said Colonel Whittaker. Around the neck was a dark-colored scarf, and in it was an odd, noticeable pin, a gold nugget of curious shape. The four men had all seen Will Whittaker wear it many times. A ragged remnant of a coat hung on the mangled body. In the breast pocket Colonel Whittaker showed them some letters and a small memorandum book. From the book had been torn some leaves and all the remaining pages were blank. But on the inside of the leather cover the name, “Will Whittaker,” had been printed in heavy black letters. Rain and sun had almost obliterated the addresses on the two envelopes in the pocket, but enough of the letters could still be made out to show what the words had probably been.