Sudden: The Range Robbers

by Oliver Strange

  “Don’t tell me yu’ve give that hoss away,’ he said. “The owner o’ this travellers’ palace said he was yourn.’

  “I’ve done that very thing,’ smiled Green. “Had yore breakfast?’

  “Breakfast don’t look good to me this mornin’,’ was the rueful reply. “I reckon I must be sufferin’ from what the educated sharps call the “aftermouth” o’ the night before. If yo’re sot on comin’ back with me, I’m ready to make a start.’

  The puncher had nothing to wait for, and having paid their bills, they saddled up and departed. For the first hour California rode in silence, apparently deep in thought, stealing a covert glance at his companion from time to time. Presently he burst out.

  “Hell, I can’t do it. See here, Green, will yu take a pal’s advice “in the dark,” an’ clear out o’ this neck o’ the woods?’

  “There, Bullet, listen to that,’ Green said whimsically to his pony. “Ain’t it astonishin’ how unpopular we are? Everybody wants to see the last of us.’

  “They’ll see the last o’ yu a damn sight sooner if yu stay around here,’ retorted West. “Well, I s’pose I gotta tell yu, but for the love o’ Mike don’t let on who put yu wise. Do yu know who that feller is that yu licked last night?’

  “Calls himself Tarman,’ Green said.

  “Which may be his name for all I know, but I’ve generally heard him called “The Spider.” Yu still aimin’ to go back to his ranch?’

  “I shore am,’ was the quiet reply, and the other man swore disgustedly.

  “Well, I had to warn yu, but it’s yore funeral.’

  “I’ll try an’ see than it ain’t no such thing. Anyway the cards fall, I’m obliged to yu, an’ yu can bet I’ll be mighty silent.’

  ”S’allright,’ grunted West. “Couldn’t watch yu ridin’ into a trap blindfold.’

  No more was said. The cowpuncher well understood that the warning was all the information he would get. It had not much surprised him; he had already formed the opinion that Tarman had some sinister motive for visiting Hatchett’s, and his speedy friendship with Poker Pete and his crowd was suggestive of a previous acquaintance. But what was Tarman’s game? The running off of a few hundred head of cattle would not satisfy a man like him. The puncher worried over the problem, searching this and that way for a solution, while he rode steadily to put himself in the power of the man he had so thoroughly thrashed and humiliated.

  To Joe Tarman, as to West, breakfast on the morning after his defeat made no appeal. He and Laban were almost the first customers at the Folly, the man who beat them to it being a little dried-up chap who had drifted into town the previous evening, driving an old burro packing a prospecting outfit. He watched the pair for a moment or two, noting the disgusted scowl on Tarman’s swollen features, and then sidled along the bar until he was at Laban’s elbow.

  “Say, boss,’ he whispered, “does yore big friend know who he was up agin las’ night? I gotta reason for askin’.’

  “Cowpunch around here, named Green,’ Seth replied.

  “He he,’ sniggered the old sinner. “Dog my cats if it ain’t just him to choose a name like that. Say, if I can tell yore friend how to a bit more than even the score, would it be worth a twenty, d’ye reckon?’

  He had designedly raised his voice, and Tarman, who had been listening, pulled out his roll, peeled off a note and laid it on the bar.

  “Spill the beans, an’ if they’re worth it, that’s yores,’ he growled.

  “He, he,’ cackled the aged one, “it’s mine shore enough. The feller yu fit, what calls hisself Green, he’s Sudden.’

  Tarman’s face darkened. “I found that out for myself,’ he snarled, “an’ if yu think yu can jape with me, yu rat

  The prospector backed away before the threatening gesture, “I ain’t japin’—I’m tellin’ yu he’s Sudden, the outlaw,’ he cried. “I’ve seen him three-four times in Texas an’ Noo Mexico; I’d know him anywheres.’

  “By God, he’s right,’ cried Tarman. “Didn’t I tell yu I’d met him, Seth? It’s years ago, an’ he was a mere pup then but it’s him shore enough.’

  He thrust the note into the informer’s hands, motioned him away, and stood frowning heavily in thought. Gradually his face cleared until at length he laughed aloud and slapped Laban jovially on the shoulder.

  “That’s it,’ he said. “I’ve gon it, Seth, an’ when I come to work it out, why, it’s like takin’ money from a blind man. No, it’s too good to tell yu; watch my smoke. But keep this news behind yore teeth; I don’t want no lynchin’-bee interferin’ with my plans—yet.’

  He strode over to the old prospector and held out another twenty dollar bill. “Don’t tell no one else about the damned feller,’ he said. “An’ don’t gamble with me, savvy?’

  “I’m pullin’ my freight from town right now,’ said the gold-seeker, as he grabbed the bill and shuffled out of the bar.

  The afternoon, Tarman, despite his damaged appearance, presented himself at the Y Z ranch-house. Laban had been told that he was not wanted. Old Simon received the visitor on the verandah, informing him that Noreen was out riding.

  “That feller Green gave her back the roan this mornin’ an’ he seems to have taken the devil out o’ the hoss,’ Petter said. “Odd number that; I can’t make him out nohow.’

  “He gave Miss Noreen that hoss?’ cried the visitor. “Whatever for?’

  “Said he’d got no use for it,’ replied. “What do yu think?’

  “Somethin’ back o’ that, I’ll lay,’ Tarman said. “Say, I’ve got some news for yu ‘bout that chap. He calls himself Green here, but he’s betner known in a good many parts as Sudden, the outlaw.’

  He leaned back in his chair to enjoy the surprise he knew his statement would produce and he was not disappointed. Old Simon was struck dumb, but only for a moment. Then he gasped :

  “Yu shore o’ that?’

  “Shore as shootin’—I oughtta recognised him myself, but it’s some time since I saw him.’

  The cattleman jumped up. “I’ll call some o’ the boys an’ we’ll get a rope on him right away,’ he said, but Tarman did not move.

  “Sit down,’ he said. “There’s no hurry. He don’t know he’s been spotted an’ I’m havin’ him watched. ‘Sides, he ain’t aimin’ to get away or he’d have kept that fast hoss. No, sir, he’s in these parts for a purpose, an’ I’ve got an idea that I know what it is’.

  “Stealin’ my cattle, blast him,’ exploded the rancher.

  Tarman regarded the angry man with a gleam of triumphant malice; things were going entirely right for him. “That ain’t nearly all he’s after,’ he said slowly. “He wants yore cattle—yore ranch—yore daughter—and more.’

  “My girl marry him—a murderin’ cow-thief?’ snarled Simon. “Not while I can pull a trigger.’

  “Huh! That ain’t no way to talk. Yu may be fast with a gun but yu’d last ‘bout as long as a snowflake in hell with him, an’ be playin’ into his hands at that.’

  The old man looked up. “Yu reckon he’s after me?’ he said.

  Tarman did not make a direct reply to the question. “See here,’ he began, let me tell yu the story o’ this feller Sudden, an’ yu can judge for yoreself. Somethin’ less than twenty year ago there was two fellers livin’ down in Texas, ‘bout half a day’s ride from the so-called town o’ Crawlin’ Creek. They were both cattlemen, an’ their ranges ran side by side, with p’raps twenty miles between the ranch-houses, an’ they got to be pretty close friends, havin’ a good deal in common. Both had lost their wives early, an’ each of ‘em had one kid. Peterson’s was a boy, an’ Evesham’s a girl several years younger, an’ to the fathers there warn’t no other kids in the world.’

  The narrator paused for a moment, his keen, cruel eyes dwelling on the figure slumped in the chair before him. He had not failed to notice the start the old man had been unable to conceal at the mention of the names. He hid his own satisfaction, and continued :r />
  “After a while, however, there come trouble over water rights which both claimed, an’ things got so bad a-tween ‘em that for over a year they never spoke, an’ gripped their guns when they met. Then one day Peterson’s son vanished, an’ he let it be known pretty plain that he thought Evesham had stolen the kid out o’ spite! But he couldn’t prove nothin’ an’ though he spent six months searchin’ the lad was never heard of. Then Peterson sold out an’ took the trail, tellin’ nobody where he was bound for, an’ a month later, Evesham’s little girl disappeared an’ was never traced. Odd, warn’t it?’

  The drooping figure in the chair made no reply, and Tarman continued his story with a half sneer on his lips.

  “Evesham went near mad. For months he hunted Peterson, swearing to shoot him on sight, but his former neighbour had vanished as completely as the kids. At last he gave up the search an’ resumed his life on the ranch. Some years later, Evesham’s in town when along comes an old Injun, trailin’ a string o’ ponies for sale, an’ with him there’s his squaw an’ a half-breed boy. Evesham takes a fancy to the lad, buys him an’ takes him back to his ranch. That boy is the feller yu know as Green, an’ I know as Sudden, the outlaw.’

  The owner of the Y Z looked up at last. “An’ Bill Evesham, what’s come of him?’ he asked huskily, and Tarman smiled as he replied :

  “Did I say his name was Bill? Well, it was anyways. He cashed ‘bout three years ago, an’ when the adopted son come to clean up there was nothin’ for him, the old man had gambled an’ drunk the ranch away. The boy, he was growed up then, o’ course, went on the cross; a wizard with hosses an’ weapons, he couldn’t hold a steady job. Several fellers tried to beat him to the draw an’ paid the penalty. He got a reputation but it’s one

  that keeps him movin’, an’ my idea is there’s some purpose back o’ that; he may be lookin’ for somebody. What do yu think—Peterson?’

  The old man jumped as though he had received an electric shock, but one glance at the inexorable, triumphant face of the man before him showed the futility of denial, and he sank back wearily into his chair. Discovered after all these years of security! For a vain second, he contemplated snanching out his gun and destroying the man who had surprised his secret, and Tarman read his thought.

  “Don’t try nothin’ rash, Peterson,’ he advised. “I’m yore friend, an’ we’ll see this out together.’

  “Then drop that Peterson racket—my name’s Petter,’ said Simon irritably. “For the rest of it, I’ll own up that yu’ve got the story pretty straight. An’ don’t yu get the idea that I’m sorry any; Bill Evesham double-crossed me, I reckon, an’ I’d do the same again. He warn’t the forgivin’ sort either, an’ it would be just like him to set this murderin’ hound on my trail. Green as good as told Norry so soon after he come, though neither of ‘em knows how close he was to the man he was after, an’ I warn’t shore. Point is, what are we goin’ to do?’

  He was recovering his poise; the old pioneer spirit which had enabled him to face danger and disaster unflinchingly defied the weakening influence of age, and Tarman knew that he would fight like a wounded grizzly for the girl he had come to regard as his own, and the loss of whose affection he feared more than the threat of death.

  “Yu can leave Green to me,’ he said deliberately. “I’m figurin’ that if we let him run on the rope for a bit he’ll hang himself. He don’t know yet that yo’re the man he’s lookin’ for so there’s no danger thataway. You can tell the girl who he is, but yu ain’t aimin’ to let her know all the story, are yu?’

  “No,’ said Simon explosively. “She’s been my daughter all these years an’…’

  “I reckon yo’re right,’ Tarman agreed. “Women are queer an’ she might take it all wrong. What’s a name anyways; she’ll be changin’ it soon, I hope.’

  The old man looked up sharply and met the smiling expressive eyes of the other. “Meanin’?’ he asked.

  “That I want her, yes,’ came the plain answer. “I ain’t a poor man, Petter, an’ there’s no strings tied to me. Yu got any objections?’

  Simon was silent for a few moments, considering. He had, of course, expected some such development; he knew perfectly well that the big man had not visited the ranch so often on his account, but now the moment was come he found a difficulty in deciding. He knew nothing against the suitor, and yet—

  “Not if Norry ain’t,’ he said presently. “She’s the doctor.’

  “Then that’ll be all right,’ Tarman rejoined. “Now don’t yu worry none about Green; we’ll have him where the hair’s short before he knows it:

  “What yu aimin’ to do when yu get him? String him up?’ Tarman laughed and shook his head. “We’ll let the Governor do that,’ he said. “There’s ten thousand dollars in all offered for the capture of Mister Sudden. I could use that money—it would make a decent settlement for a bride, for instance. Well, that’s all arranged, an’ I’m agoin’ to take the trail before Noreen blows in—I ain’t very presentable.’

  Long after his visitor had gone Old Simon sat in his chair smoking and pondering on the past. So Bill Evesham had gone, but not without rearing someone to carry on his vengeance; he could figure him deliberately adopting and training the half-breed lad for that very purpose. And Norry, what would she think of it all? She must condemn him, of course, for a cruel and animal act which had robbed both her father and herself. Would affection for him survive such a blow? He did not know and would not take the risk if he could avoid it.

  His thoughts turned to Tarman. Somehow, he did not like the man and yet he could not have given a reason. But he recognised that he was in need of him and in his power, a reflection which made him curse softly, for Old Simon was an independent soul, and preferred, as he put it, to “cut his own trail.’ He was still brooding in the chair when Noreen returned from her ride, and the sight of her flushed face, and the lilt of her laugh, made him set his teeth and swear that Fate itself should not wrest her from him.

  “Had a good ride?’ he asked, as she came swinging up from the corral.

  “Ripping,’ she replied. “Blue behaved like a perfect angel. Mr. Green must be a wizard.’

  “Mebbe he is, but yu better give over callin’ him Mr. Green,’ retorted the old man grimly. “He’s better known down South as Sudden—the outlaw.’

  The information wiped the colour from the girl’s face, and her voice shook as she asked, “Is that true, or just town talk?’

  “True enough, I reckon, but it ain’t generally known, an’ I don’t want it should be,’ replied the cattleman meaningly. “I ain’t made up my mind what to do yet.’

  “But what is he doing here, and why did he give me the roan?’ asked the girl.

  “Well, he’s rustlin’ cattle for one thing, an’ as for the hoss, he can get him back next time he raids the ranch,’ the told man said bitterly.

  “I suppose Mr. Tarman brought the news,’ Noreen guessed, and when her father nodded, she went on, “I don’t believe he’s an ounlaw, and if he is, I don’t think he would raid the Y Z, so there. One thing I’m quite sure of, if Mr. Green had been beaten last night he wouldn’t be going around spreading scandal about his opponent.’

  “But, Norry,’ protested Petter, “this ain’t scandal. Green was recognised by a feller who knew him in Texas. Tarman was on’y warnin’ me, an’ come up a-purpose to do it. Yu gotta be fair.’

  “I’m going to be—to both sides,’ the girl retorted. “I want more proof than mere hearsay, Daddy; he didn’t seem that kind of man.’

  She turned and went into the house. Old Simon, staring after her in perplexity, shook his head. “Women has me beat every way from the jack,’ he muttered. “Tell ‘em a man’s a wrong ‘un an’ they either won’t believe it, or they get more interested. Yu can’t outguess ‘em nohow.’

  Chapter XVI

  THE battered condition of the new hand on his return to the Crossed Dumb-bell aroused a curiosity which he left to West to satisfy, merely
stipulating that the identity of his opponent be concealed. California agreed that this was sound policy, and excelled himself in a vivid, denailed description of the battle, but giving no particulars which might point to the personality of the beaten man. But old Jeffs, sitting at the head of the table, smiled cunningly once or twice, and Green divined that he had guessed.

  The other men had apparently no suspicion, their attitude seemed to be simply one of brutish approval for the victor. Among the most interested of the listeners was one Green had not seen before, a dwarf in height, with a huge barrel of a body and absurd little bowed legs which seemed utterly inadequate for its support. A great shaggy head with coarse features, and arms which could reach almost to the tiny knees, completed an appearance which justified the freak’s nickname of “Gorilla.’

  This creature, who had been following the story of the fight with impatient interest, now shot a question at Green: “Say, stranger, d’ yu ever come acrost a smaller cowpunch than me?’

  The query came in the truculent tone so frequently adopted by the small man who is sensitive regarding his stature and West’s eyes flashed a warning.

  “Shore I have. Back on my old ranch in Texas there was a feller named “Tiny” who would have looked a kid beside yu, an’ he was a blame good puncher too,’ smiled Green. “It’s a fact, boys, that feller was so short that when he had a pain he couldn’t tell whether it was toothache or corns.’

  A chorus of laughter greeted the humorous exaggeration and the dwarf’s booming voice joined in.

  “Haw, haw,’ he bellowed. “Reckon he musta bin real small, that feller, but size ain’t anythin’. I’m none so big m’self, yet I bin in a fight with fists an’ the chap was damn near twice as tall as me.’ He looked round and grinned triumphantly at the surprise his statement created, and then went on, “Yessir, I ain’t joshin’ neither. We had a sorter argument an’ agreed to settle with our hands ‘stead o’ shootin’, him claimin’ there was more of him to aim at. Then some o’ the boys allowed that to make it fair he orta fight on his knees, with me standin’ up, an’ that’s how we done. We scrapped for nigh half an hour an’ in the end I knocked him cold. Anybody here wantta take me on the same terms?’