“Huh! I’m still a-chasin’ that foreman’s job,’ retorted the boy. “Lookin’ after little old me is what I’m doin’, that’s all.’ His friend laughed softly and no more was said until they drew near the Frying Pan ranch, when the older man slowed down and cautioned: “Swing round a bit so that we don’t pass the bunkhouse; I want to get Leeming by himself.’
As they noiselessly approached the ranch-house they saw that there was a light in the living-room. Dismounting and trailing the reins, they crept up to the window and saw that Leeming was alone in the room. A light tap on the glass brought him to his feet instantly, and gripping his gun, he asked, “Who’s there?’
“Larry Barton, from the Y Z. I want to speak to yu on the quiet,’ came the reply.
Leeming disappeared and in a moment the front door opened and the visitors slid in. Their host, still carrying his gun, was just to the left of the opening, where he could get his shot in first in case of trickery. At the sight of Barton, however, he slipped the weapon back into the holster and grinned.
“Lo, Larry, gotta be careful these days,’ he said, and then as Green followed his companion, his face darkened and his hand went to his six-shooter again. “I wasn’t lookin’ for yu, Green; yu ain’t cherishin’ the notion that I got any sympathy with rustlers, are yu?’
“No, seh, not any,’ drawled the other. “So yu have heard all about me? Ain’t it a licker how news gets around in some parts?’
“One o’ the Y Z boys met one o’ mine on the range an’ told him yu’d been caught rustlin’ their cattle,’ replied Leeming grimly. “That’s all I know, an’ if it’s true it’s aplenty.’
“Mebbe it is, but there’s more to tell,’ said the other. “I came here tonight to put my cards on the table if yu are willin’ to listen; if you ain’t, I can go.’
“Huh, there might be two words to that,’ growled the catnleman, with a glance towards the bunkhouse from which one shot would bring his men on the run.
The visitor read the thought and shook his head. “Don’t yu think of it, seh,’ he said gently. “I ain’t got no quarrel with yu or yore outfit, but—shucks—war-talk won’t get us nowheres. What’s the word from yu?’
Leeming dropped into the nearest chair; he realised that his guest had him hog-tied. If he called his men he would be dead before they reached him, and while they might succeed in capturing the Y Z couple, it would only be at the cost of more lives.
“Go ahead,’ he said shortly.
The cowpuncher complied. Step by step he told of his discoveries and suspicions, omitting, however, his own identity and that of Tarman and the Spider. Leeming watched him closely but did not interrupt. When the story was ended he sat for some moments turning it over.
“I allus doubted Blaynes,’ he said, “but I can’t see why yore own gang downed yu, ‘less they suspected yu were just spyin’.’
“It’ll perhaps be a bit clearer when I tell yu that Tarman is the Spider,’ Green explained.
Leeming leapt from his seat. “What?’ he exploded. “Yu shore o’ that?’
“Had it from one of his own men,’ was the reply. “But I got no proof, an’ Simon laughed at me when I told him; said the feller is goin’ to buy into the Y Z an’ marry Miss Norry, an’ asked me was it likely he’d rustle his own cows. Well, it don’t seem so, but as I pointed out, there’s others in the gang as want pickin’s, an’ Tarman ain’t put down any cash yet.’
Job stamped up and down the room. “Bah!’ he said. “Simon’s an old fool. What, give his girl an’ his ranch to a feller like that, a stranger? I’ve a notion to go an’ call Mr. Tarman’s bluff right now.’
Green shook his head. “That wouldn’t help any; he’s got most o’ the fools in Hatchett’s eatin’—or rather, drinkin’ oun of his hand. We gotta let him run on the rope a bit longer. What I want to know is, will yu an’ yore boys come a-runnin’ if I send the word?’
“What yu aimin’ to do?’ asked Job.
“Me an’ Larry’ll take to the woods an’ snoop around. If we can catch Tarman at the Crossed Dumb-bell I reckon that’ll be proof aplenty, but before I ask yu to tie to me there’s somethin’ yu oughtta know.’ Green paused for a space and the musclesaround his lips grew tense. “There’s a feller known as “Sudden” who’s bein’ pretty eagerly looked for. Yu will oe told that I’m him, an’—it’s true.’
The calm announcement jarred the ranch-owner into a state of petrification; with mouth and eyes wide open he stared at the man who had made it, wondering if his ears had deceived him. Then, as the full significance of the statement seeped into his bewildered brain, he snatched at his gun, only to find that Green’s was already levelled at his heart, though he had seen no movement. The outlaw’s left hand was in the air, palm outwards, the peace sign.
“Easy, Leeming, I ain’t lookin’ for trouble, but I’m ready for it,’ Green said quietly. “As I just told yu, I am Sudden, but yu can take it from me I ain’t guilty o’ all the crimes that’s been pinned to him. Why, ‘bout three weeks ago he was reported to have robbed the bank at Lilyville, four hundred miles from here, an’ I was on the Y Z ranch. But that don’t matter; what I want yu to get into yore head is that I’m playin’ straight with yu in this rustlin’ game.’
“What brought yu into these parts?’ asked Leeming.
“I didn’t come to steal cows,’ replied the outlaw. “I ain’t a cattle-thief nor a hold-up, an’ I never pull a gun until I have to. My business here was to look for two men—I’ve been all over the country in the last few years, hopin’ to strike their trails. That’s my job, findin’ them two fellers, but I gotta live too, so I took on at the Y Z. Now that’s the straight goods. I’d like to have yore help, but whether or no, I’m agoin’ to clean up around here.’
“An’ he won’t have to go it alone, Leeming,’ interposed Larry. “Me, Snap, Dirty, Simple, an’ Ginger are back of him.’
The ranchman considered the pair in silence. He had been watching Green closely and believed that he was speaking the truth. On the other hand, the man was a self-confessed outlaw, and a notorious one at that. The support of the Y Z boys, whom he knew to be good fellows, carried a lot of weight; they were not the kind to take sides against their own ranch without good reason, and he never had liked Blaynes. As for Tarman—impulsively he stood up and held out his hand.
“I’ll go yu, boys,’ he said. “Now, what do yu want me to do?’
“Outfit us with grub an’ ammunition an’ be ready to come a-bilin’ when yu get the call,’ Green replied. “Meantime, o’ course, yu ain’t seen hide nor hair of us.’
“That’s easy,’ said their host, and led the way to his storeroom. Here they made up a parcel of bacon, beans, coffee, salt, and flour, borrowing also a coffee-pot, skillet, and two tin cups. A plentiful supply of cartridges completed their preparations,
and Leeming slid to the door to make sure that the coast was clear.
“One more point,’ Green said. “We may be so fixed that we can’t send a message. Well, we’ll be over Big Chief way; look out for a smoke signal, balled three, two, three. If yu don’t hear nothin’ of us for a week or two it’ll mean we’re both rubbed out, an’ yu might pay the Crossed Dumb-bell a visit; I’ve told yu how to find it. An’ keep an eye on Tarman—he’s the king-pin. So long.’
Leaving the ranch by the back door they faded into the darkness, found their horses, and departed without any of the men in the bunkhouse knowing of their visit. Leeming returned to his chair and loaded a pipe thoughtfully.
“Sudden, eh?’ he muttered. “Damned if he don’t look it too. Wouldn’t care to be either o’ those fellers he’s after. Durn it, I believe he’s straight, an’ I reckon I done right; them Y Z friends o’ his are the best o’ the bunch. Guess I’d better mosey over an’ see Simon to-morrow.’
Leeming reached the Y Z during the morning and found it, as he expected, in a fine state of commotion. Simon’s attitude puzzled him; the old man was in a savage temper, but behind
it all his friend sensed a kind of fear. Norry, of course, was in deep disgrace and Job shook an admonishing finger at her. Her father, he learned, had gone to visit the prisoner that morning only to find the cage open and the bird missing. He had at once assumed that some of Green’s sympathisers in the outfit were guilty, and returned to the house vowing threats of vengeance, to be confronted by his daughter who calmly confessed to being the culprit. For a moment the old man fairly goggled at her.
“Yu—let—him—out?’ he gasped. “Yu! What in hell for?’
The girl faced him bravely. “I paid a debt; twice he came to my help,’ she said, and went on to tell of the second occasion. Simon listened and scowled. He knew that she had done right, that she had acted as he would like a daughter of his to act, but in the special circumstances it was the last thing he had wanted to happen, and man-like, he elected to see only his own side of the matter.
“Yu must be mad,’ he said savagely. The feller’s a thief an’ a cold-blooded killer, an’ yu gotta turn him loose. Whatever he did for yu was done for his own purposes—to throw dust in yore eyes an’ mine, an’, by heaven, he did it. Now, yu get to yore room an’ keep out o’ this. I’m agoin’ to hunt Mister Sudden down an’ hang him.’
“Simon, yu been associatin’ too much with me—yu’ve lost yore temper,’ said a satirical voice, and they looked up to findthe owner of the Frying Pan regarding them quizzically. “What yu been doin’, Norry, to get him all riled up like this?’ It was the old man who answered, explaining the situation in a few explosive sentences. Leeming adopted a philosophic attitude which, had his friend been less perturbed, would have aroused his suspicion; it was utterly unlike the Frying Pan man to take things quietly.
“Well, Simon, what’s the use o’ makin’ a fuss?’ he said. “The beans is spilled. O’ course, Norry hadn’t oughtta loosed him, but she figured it was the proper caper, an’, damn me, 1 like her for it. Mebbe the feller ain’t as bad as his reputation after all.’
Petter turned on the other in amazement. “Well, I’ll be hanged,’ he said. “I never thought to hear Job Leeming makin’ excuses for a rustler.’
“I don’t know yet that Green is one,’ replied Job quietly. “Then yu must be devilish hard to convince, Mr. Leeming,’ chimed in another voice.
It was Tarman; he had ridden up, trailed his reins, and approached the group on the verandah unnoticed. Turning to Simon, after sweeping off his hat to Noreen, he added, “I hope yu have him safe, Petter.’
“I had him fast enough, but Norry slipped down in the night an’ turned him loose,’ replied the rancher disgustedly. “She reckoned she owed him somethin’.’
“What? Yu turned him loose?’ cried Tarman, whirling on the culprit, and before the sudden fury in his face she recoiled. “Are yu mad? Why, yu oughtta be…’
He pulled up sharply, realising that he was losing all control and on the verge of making a fool of himself. Noreen, after the first instinctive shrinking from those eyes blazing with anger, faced him coolly enough.
“Hanged in his place, were you about to say, Mr. Tarman?’ she inquired.
The big man had got himself in hand again with wonderful rapidity. “If I was, yu almost deserve it,’ he retorted, with a grim laugh. “Yo’re takin’ a hand in a game yu don’t understand, an’ others will have to pay. Now, see here. Yu figure to be in his debt for pullin’ yu off that wild hoss an’ yu let him free to square yoreself. That’s fair enough from yore point of view, an’ does yu credit, but yu didn’t stop to think that every crime that feller commits from now on will be yore fault, did yu? There’s times when private interests have got to be sacrificed to the community at large. Ain’t that so?’
The reasoning was specious enough, and the speaker was his own suave self again, but the girl had had another glimpse of the real man, and somehow the picture of Tarman sacrificing anything for the benefit of his fellow-man would not take a convincing shape. Leeming saw that she was troubled and saved her the necessity of trying to justify herself.
“Women act on impulse, Tarman, an’ it’s a darn good thing for us that they do,’ he said. “Yu just run along, Norry, an’ don’t worry yore pretty head about it no more.’
“That may be, but there’s one thing she’s got to know,’ interposed Tarman, “an’ that is that Green’s real object in comin’ to these parts was to find an’ kill a man, an’ there he stands.’
He pointed to Simon as he made this dramatic announcement, and the girl’s eyes opened incredulously.
“Daddy,’ she cried. “It can’t be true.’ And then, remembering what the cowpuncher had himself told her, she sank into a chair and covered her face with her hands. Tarman regarded her with grim satisfaction.
“Yu know it is, an’ I know it,’ he continued. “It’s too long a yarn to spin now, but the old chap who befriended Green reckoned that Simon had done him dirt, which he hadn’t, an’ on his deathbed he set the young hound on his trail.’
Noreen looked up. “Then why hasn’t he carried out his purpose? He’s had plenty of opportunities.’
‘He doesn’t know yet that yore father is the feller he’s in search of, when he does, all hell an’ high water won’t save him.’ White to the lips and sick at heart, the girl muttered, “I’m sorry, Daddy,’ and going to her room, flung herself on the bed. She could not grasp it—the whole story seemed too horrible, and it appeared impossible to her that any man, outlaw though he might be, could act in such a despicable manner as Green must have done, were the accusation true. Yet she could not forget the expression on his face when he had told her of his mission of vengeance.
When she had left the verandah, Tarman looked at his companions with malicious triumph. “Reckon she won’t hanker to help him again,’ he said.
Was that the straight goods or were yu makin’ it up to throw a scare into her?’ asked Leeming.
“The tale’s true enough, Job,’ Petter said. “The feller’s after my scalp, though I didn’t know it till Joe told me; he thought he recognised him an’ ferreted around a piece. Point is, what are we goin’ to do? Hunt him down?’
Tarman shook his head. “No chance in this country. We’ll bait a trap for him; yu leave it to me.’
At this moment Blaynes came up. “Barton is missin’ an’ as he’s took his own hoss an’ his warbags, it don’t look like he’s acomin’ back,’ he said. “Reckon it was him turned that damn rustler loose; they was allus pretty thick.’
“Mebbe yo’re right,’ said his employer, who was not anxious to advertise his daughter’s interest in the late prisoner.
“What yu goin’ to do about it, boss? The boys are sayin’ we oughta get on his trail while it’s hot,’ the foreman continued. “What am I to tell ‘em?’
The remark was an unfortunate one, since it provided the owner of the Y Z with an excuse for venting his pent-up anger. He whirled savagely on the speaker.
“Tell ‘em to go to hell,’ he stormed. “When I want any advice on runnin’ my own affairs I’ll shore ask for it. Get agoin’ an’ sic them lazy devils onto their jobs.’
Leeming, watching the foreman closely, saw him stiffen as though about to reply in kind and then, with an evil scowl, he turned and slouched away. The eyes of Tarman and the foreman had met for an instant, and Leeming fancied that the former had slightly shaken his head, but he could not be sure; the act might have been involuntary, or in general disapproval of an unedifying exhibition.
Leaving the other two, Job strolled down to the bunkhouse, of which he found Snap the sole occupant. The gunman greeted him with his rare twisted grin.
“Rattler seems to have had a mighty poor reception from the Old Man,’ he volunneered. “He come back a-bilin’.’
“Well, Simon shore did get the notion that yu fellers wanta run the ranch,’ Leeming replied. “He’s pretty sore over losing his prisoner.’
“Too bad,’ Lunt said gravely, not a muscle on his face moving. “Wonder who could ‘a’ done it?’
The cattleman laughed. “S’ll right, Snap, I ain’t tryin’ to find out,’ he said. “Know anythin’ about Sudden, the outlaw?’ Snap shot a quick look at his questioner. “No more than anybody else—he’s a bit of a mystery,’ he replied. “I saw him years ago an’ he’s shore a ring-tailed merricle with a gun, but I’ve allus reckoned he’s been handed the credit for a lot o’ things he had nothin’ to do with. Feller’s only got to rub out one or two toughs an’ he gets half the crimes in the country ladled onto him.’
Leeming knew something of the little gunman’s own past and did not pursue what was evidently a subject which aroused bitter recollections.
“Where do yu reckon Green will make for?’ was his next query.
“I ain’t doin’ any reckonin’,’ came the blunt reply, and Job saw that Lunt was not to be drawn.
When he got back to the ranch-house he found Tarman on the point of returning to town, and he suddenly decided to accompany him. Before leaving, he slipped into the kitchen, where he found Noreen alone. Her pale face and the misery in her eyes made him mutter an oath.
‘Oh, what does it all mean, Uncle Job? I can’t believe it,’ she cried.
“There, don’t yu fuss yoreself, my girl, it’ll all come straight,’ he replied soothingly. ‘I don’t believe it myself, but, for the love o’ Mike, don’t tell yore father that.’
To Simon himself he simply said, “Send for me if you want me, an’ don’t trust anybody too much.’
“I ain’t trustin’ out-o’-work punchers no more, if that’s what yu mean,’ replied Simon, bitterly.
It was not, but Leeming could hardly explain in the presence of the other guest so he let it go. As they loped along the trail to Hatchett’s he put a plain question: “What’s yore scheme for gettin’ hold o’ this feller Green?’
“I ain’t got it straightened out yet—just millin’ round in my head,’ Tarman replied evasively. ‘I reckon it will work though, an’ once I get my rope on him no fool girl will be able to set him foot-loose again, an’ yu can stick a pin in that.’
Sudden: The Range Robbers Page 21