Shevlin looked at him wryly, then du g into his pocket for a cigar. It was a fresh one , and he enjoyed lighting it. "Bab," he said , "unless I miss my guess, one or more of thos e boys are supposed to salt me down whil e we're crossing the flat out there. Unless Ben i s saving me for himself.
"I said Ben Stowe only killed when there wa s good reason, but I'll make two exceptions to tha t -comRay Hollister and me. He'd tak e pleasure in killing either of us."
"You and him were mighty thick, one time."
"Stowe and Gentry were thick; and Gentry an d me, we rode saddle partners a while. Bu t Stowe never liked me, and I never liked him."
"Mike ... look there!" It was Bill y Daniels who had come up to them. "That there ride r on this side, that's a woman!"
Also, one of the men who had carried a pick-handle that day in the mine, had also come up.
"That's Red on the paint--where would he get a woman?"
"Hell!" Billy spat. "That's tha t Tennison girl. Nobody else ride s sidesaddle with the style she's got!"
Babcock glanced at Shevlin. "So there yo u are," he said. "Now are you goin' to ride in there , hell a-whoopin'?"
"Go on in, Bab," Mike said again.
"Tell him anything he wants to know, and don't you worry none about me."
Babcock still hesitated. "Mike, I ain't up to much, but damn it, man, you're cattle!
I'll ride in there with you, or I'll cover you r back, whatever you're of a mind to."
Shevlin put a hand on Babcock's shoulders. "Go on in, Bab," he repeated.
Babcock touched a heel to hi s horse and went off across the grass.
"What's the matter with him?" Bill y Daniels asked. "What was he figurin' to do?"
Mike Shevlin stepped his horse around, and the y were all there, facing him, with the gold train just beyond.
His eyes went from one to another, curiously , somewhat mockingly. "Why, he just figured one o f you boys was about to shoot me in the back. He figured Ben Stowe had put you up to it. How abou t it, boys? Any of you want me? If you do, yo u don't need to wait."
His Winchester was in the boot, his slicker wa s hanging open and loose, and both his hands were i n sight.
There were five of them, and they were spread out befor e him like a hand of cards, all jacks or aces, no t a deuce in the lot.
These were hard men, who rode a hard trail i n a hard country, and he faced them, waiting. On e showdown at a time, he told himself. When I r ide up to Tappan Junction, I wan t to keep my eyes up front.
Billy Daniels moved his hands out in fron t of him and folded them on his saddlehorn. "Th e way I see it, you fought beside us back there. Yo u came down off that slope when you didn't nee d to, and you saved our bacon--some of us , anyway."
"Why, sure!" Also agreed. "That man dow n there is payin' our wages, but this looks a mit e different."
"You want help?" Billy said.
"No help ... you just leave me ride dow n there and talk this over with Ben. I mean, we go i n with the pack train, but the rest of it is up to Ben an d me, and whoever's down there with him."
"Why that's fair enough," Also commented. "I h ear tell Ben Stowe is something to look at with a gun. I'd sort of like to see the cut of the ma n I'm workin' for."
"Thanks, boys. Bring in the train, will you?
But look, stay clear of Ben Stowe and me, an d if you see that lady in trouble, give her a hand.
She is a lady, boys." He gestured towar d the mules. "All that belongs to her, by rights. Brin g it in, will you?"
Deliberately, he swung his horse , turning his back on them. And then he cantered ou t over the darkening prairie.
"You know something?" The Arkansawye r spat. "There goes a square man!"
As Shevlin started across the flat, he pause d only to slip out of his slicker and tie it behind hi s saddle. The clouds were breaking, and a star was showin g through. He loosened the Winchester in his boot, singin g softly, "As I walked out on the streets o f Laredo, As I walked out in Laredo one da y ..."
The room was long and low, with a counter doubling a s a bar. There were shelves of canned goods, stacke d Levis, slickers, and boots. The roo m smelled of new leather, dry goods, stron g coffee, and stronger plug tobacco. Behind the counte r sat Tag Murray and the telegrapher, mindin g their own affairs.
Red, still pale from the abuse he had taken fo r bringing Laine Tennison to Tappan, clutched a beer in his hand, staring at the circles he wa s drawing on the bar.
Laine, standing very straight, smiled at Ben.
"Really, Mr. Stowe, if you plan to take m y gold from here, you must expect trouble. You're goin g to have to cut telegraph wires, even do som e shooting. Your retriever here," she gestured a t Red, "did not notice that Doctor Clagg , Billy Townsend, and several others--includin g Wilson Hoyt--were saddling up when w e passed the stable."
"Ma'am," Ben Stowe said abruptly, "yo u sit down and shut up."
"Now, look here, Ben--was Tag starte d to protest.
"You shut up, too. Red, put a shotgu n on them. If they start anything give them bot h barrels, then reload and shoot them again."
"Do you really believe," Laine said, "that you wil l get out of the Territory with that gold? Will it be s o easy, Mr. Stowe?"
Ben Stowe's anger was passing. Red had bee n a damned fool to bring Laine Tennison here, bu t he needed Red for the time being, and the girl was no mor e than a nuisance.
"Sorry, Red. I spoke too fast. Al l we need is a hysterical woman on our hands."
"Sure, Boss. I wasn't thinkin'."
Ben Stowe knew that the rain had stopped, and tha t the sounds he had been hearing for the last fe w seconds were those of a walking horse. The first fe w hoof-falls had barely touched the fring e of his consciousness, but now he was sharply aware that a horse had come to a stop outside.
He half turned to face the door, hear d something hit the mud, and then blundering footsteps.
The door opened and Babcock came in.
His face was haggard, the wound had started to blee d again, and his shirt was already stiff with dried blood.
"Tag," he said, "I caught a bad one.
It's real bad."
Ignoring the shotgun, Tag Murray move d quickly to Babcock's side and eased him into a chair. Laine Tennison, without being asked, ha d gone to the stove and was pouring hot water into a ti n basin. Tag began cutting away the shirt wit h scissors.
"What happened?" Ben Stowe asked.
When Babcock did not reply, Stowe steppe d to the bar and poured a stiff drink of whiskey, an d handed it to the wounded man. "What happened?" h e asked again.
Babcock tossed off the liquor in two quic k gulps. "First drink you ever bought me, Ben.
Thanks."
He looked up at Stowe. "When your mul e train didn't show up, Winkler figured it out an d we cut over the hills. We were set to ambush th e train, then that damn' Shevlin came down on u s from behind. I never did figure how he got there.
"He was on us before we knew what happened, an d his first shot tipped the mule drivers and they cam e up the slope. Shevlin killed Ra y Hollister. Winkler and Sande and Hallora n got it, too."
"How many of my men?"
"Three down and a couple scratched."
"Shevlin?"
"He's bringin' the stuff in. He told m e to go on ahead an' get Tag here to fix m e up."
Ben Stowe looked at the arm with distaste. Use d as he was to violence, he never liked to look upon th e results of violence, and Babcock's arm was a sorry sight. The bullet must have caught the ar m when it was bent and upraised, for it had shattered th e elbow, torn the biceps, and imbedded itself in th e deltoid muscle at the end of the shoulder.
"We better get Doc Clagg over here , Bab," Murray said. "That's surely a mess. I don't think anybody can mak e anything of that elbow again."
"Fix it as best you can." Babcock stare d bleakly into the years ahead as a one-armed cowman.
However, he had seen a few, and some di
d pretty well. If somebody else could, h e could.
"Whatever happens," Ben Stowe said, "you peopl e stay clear of it. I don't want to shoo t anybody protecting a legitimate gol d shipment.
"That man"--he indicated Babcock--"i s an admitted outlaw. He attempted to steal th e shipment from the mine of which I am superintendent.
Please remember that."
"You are discharged," Laine said, "and you are no t authorized to make such a shipment."
Stowe smiled at her. "Now, ma'am," h e said pleasantly, "I know you as a guest of Do c Clagg's. Whatever else you may be, I d on't know. You've no authority that I know of , and no cause even to be here except that Red her e figured I would want to talk to you. He wa s wrong.
"I am," he went on, speaking clearly , "making a legitimate shipment from the mines of a small amount of gold. I have the authority to d o this. If anyone interferes, I shall take lega l action."
Laine looked around helplessly. Th e telegrapher merely shrugged. Tag Murray wa s busy with Babcock, and Red grinned smugly.
Of course, what Stowe said was true. Even i f the law had been here, she could not have stopped th e shipment ... not just on her word alone. And the trai n was due in less than an hour.
Just the same, Ben Stowe was worried. Lain e could see it in his restlessness, in his continual glance s at the clock. The train was coming soon and the gol d had not yet arrived.
And right in the middle of things was Mik e Shevlin. He was the key man. He was working fo r her, but Ben Stowe had offered him a better deal.
As for whatever else there was between herself, and Shevlin , was there really something there? Or had she onl y imagined it?
From the first, she had felt drawn to him, les s to his undeniable good looks than to his strength.
When all the others had wavered, he had stood fo r what he believed, and down deep within her she wa s positive that he still stood for it, that he was the ma n she believed in. Yet the question was there: wa s he the sort of man she thought, or was she onl y listening to a wish that he might be?
Red lounged against the counter, a cigarett e dangling from his lips, the shotgun in his hands.
Ben Stowe walked over to the window and looke d out, but the night was dark, and revealed nothing. Whe n she looked at him, she was shaken with fear fo r Mike Shevlin. Ben Stowe looked formidable.
He was big, powerful, and somehow seeme d indomitable. He seemed beyond, the strength of the me n around her, beyond anyone's strength.
Yet he was gambling now, gambling with his lif e and the work of years. He was gambling that anothe r man, who was perhaps an enemy, could bring that gol d across the mountains. That he had done so was obvious , for Babcock had crossed with Shevlin. Where wa s Shevlin now? There was no sound in the roo m except the heavy tick of the clock and the subdue d rustling where Tag Murray worked ove r Babcock.
Suddenly Murray turned and straightened up.
"Ben, we've got to send for Doc Clagg.
Else this man will lose an arm."
"The hell with him!" Stowe said violently, the n he glanced around at Babcock. After all, th e issue would have been decided long before Clagg coul d get here. "Oh, all right," he said with a shrug.
There was a moment of silence in the room, for the questio n in the mind of each was: Who will go?
Laine looked at Ben Stowe, an amuse d smile on her lips. "I am sure Red would lik e to go. Wouldn't you, Red?"
Stowe turned sharply from the window. "Like hell!
I need him right here." He glanced around. "You ca n go, Tag, or you can wait until my men ge t here and I'll send one of them. After all, I hav e five men out there with Shevlin."
"Don't be too sure," Babcock said.
"What's that mean?"
Babcock raised his head and stared at Be n Stowe. "It means those men rode over the mountain s with Mike Shevlin, and when they had a fight , Mike pulled them out of it. Mike was with them ... y ou weren't. Don't be too damn' sure they'r e still your men."
"I bought 'em an' paid for 'em," Stowe sai d contemptuously.
"If you think that, you've come a lot further fro m the old days than I figured. You can't buy me n like that. They work for gun wages, al l right, but they ride for the man. Right now you'r e only somebody in an office somewhere. Mik e Shevlin is out there sitting his saddle with them.
He's rained on when they are, and when they'r e cold, he is. I can tell you one thing, Ben , if I hadn't got shot up I'd be out there wit h him right now."
Ben Stowe stayed by the window for a moment longer , then came back to the middle of the room. He wen t to the counter, where the long bundle that had been behind hi s saddle lay.
Unrolling it, he took out two double-barrele d shotguns, Express guns. Coolly, h e loaded them. Beside the bundle lay his Winchester an d he took it up, checking to see if there was a cartridge in position.
Nobody spoke, they simply watched him; an d he ignored them, as if they did not exist.
Indeed, Laine decided, they did not exist fo r him, for he was wholly concentrated on what wa s to come; she could see it in his every movement. He wa s pointed even as one of his guns would be pointed , toward the moment of decision.
But the moment did not come.
The minutes ticked by, and suddenly Lain e noticed that Stowe was perspiring--the sweat stood ou t in beads on his forehead. A slight sound came fro m outside, and Stowe turned sharply. Somethin g rattled on the roof.
Suddenly, several horses passed by, movin g swiftly. Outside, somebody laughed, and it wa s a shocking sound to those in the room.
Several minutes of stillness passed, and then a door slammed. The telegrapher looked up.
"That was my door," he said, and added, glancin g slyly at Stowe, "I wonder if any of thos e men can use a telegraph key? That Shevli n now, he's been around."
"Don't be a fool!" Stowe said sharply.
"I've known him since he was a kid."
"You mean you knew him when he was a kid,"
Babcock said, "but that man's covered a lot o f country since then. You don't know a damn' thin g about him!"
The real question in Stowe's mind was: Where was th e gold at this moment? Had it been loaded into th e waiting car?
He swept the room with a quick glance. "Al l right, Red. I'm going out there. You keep these peopl e sitting just where they are.
"Babcock, I'll send one of my men fo r Doc Clagg. I'll see no man suffer, an d we shared a blanket a couple of times in the ol d days."
He looked from one man to another. "Every mov e I've made in arranging this shipment has bee n legal," he said. "I wouldn't want anybod y to try stopping me now. I'd have every right to suspec t them of trying to steal company gold."
He moved to the door and stepped outside.
Chapter 21
The clouds had broken and the stars were out, but wate r still dripped from the eaves of the railroad station an d Murray's Saloon at Tappan Junction.
At the hitch rail stood half a doze n horses with empty saddles, and another hors e had just come down from the mountains, riderless since th e afternoon's shooting. It stood now, bridl e trailing, close beside the tied horses.
Light from the saloon windows fell across th e wet platform outside, across the glistening stee l rails, and almost met through the darkness the light from th e telegraph station windows. Beyond those windows on e of the men was brewing a fresh pot of coffee in th e operator's pot, which they had quickly emptied.
Mike Shevlin, leaning against the corner of th e loading pens near the chute, saw Ben Stowe com e outside. His right arm was straight down by hi s side, which meant that he was carrying a weapo n close against him where it could not be easily seen.
Mike, who knew all the subterfuges, watche d thoughtfully.
Ben was looking around warily. He was like a n old grizzly that senses trouble, but has faile d to locate it. Suddenly he stepped off th e platform and strode across the tracks to the station.
When Sto
we opened the door, Mike could hear hi s voice. "Where's Shevlin?"
The reply was muffled, then Stowe spoke again.
"All right. I'm payin' you boys top wage s -comlet's go get him!"
Evidently one of the men had come to the door, for th e words were plain--it sounded like Billy Daniels.
"We'd like to see you go get him yourself. There's only one of him, and he's right around close."
"So it's like that, is it? Well, you're fire d -come last one of you! Now take yourvs out of here!"
"We like it here," Also's voic e drawled. "We're stayin' on for the show. We got us gallery seats."
Ben Stowe turned away without speaking, then h e halted. "Look," he said, "Babcock need s Doc Clagg or he'll lose an arm. One o f you boys ride after him, will you?"
There was a moment of silence, and then one of the me n detached himself from the group. "I'll go. I'l l see no man lose an arm if I can help it."
Ben Stowe walked to the middle of the tracks an d stopped there, waiting until the hoof-beats die d away in the distance.
Now, just where would Shevlin be? At the pens?
Or at the car where the gold should be? Probabl y at the car. He took a moment longer to get hi s eyes accustomed to the darkness, and then he walke d along the track.
Mike Shevlin knew every thought that was going throug h Stowe's head. He knew what he was thinking, becaus e he knew what he himself would be thinking at such a time.
Far away, he heard a distant echoing sound---t he train whistle. It was going to be as close a s that.
Mike Shevlin rolled the dead cigar in hi s teeth and looked toward the dark figure of the bi g man coming toward him. Well, Ben, it's bee n a long time coming. Did you ever figure it would be lik e this? Just you and me in the black, wet night?
There had been neither saloon or station here in th e early days--only the stock pens and the loadin g chute. They had loaded Rafter cattle from her e ... how many times?
Ben Stowe stepped aside suddenly an d disappeared. Mike held himself very still.
Now what? Had Stowe just stepped aside an d crouched down in the blackness; or was he coming o n along beside the track? He was out of range of th e lights, and probably was in the shallow ditc h alongside the roadbed.
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