Sylvester Graham became red in the face and sputtered in an effort to speak—something the sheriff never had seen him do before.
“Suppose we leave the social side out of it,” suggested Drew with a twinkle in his eyes. “After all, Sil, you sent for this man and it’s up to you to try him out, now that you have him here. He could charge you a thousand and you’d have to pay it because you could not give any legitimate excuse for not trying him out, and you wouldn’t want any publicity. Maybe Davitt is smarter than you think.”
“Yes … cheap smartness,” jeered the banker. “I know the kind. He shows it by bringing my daughter’s name into it.”
“That was merely to give you a warning,” Davitt said quickly. “You accused me of intending to get a thousand dollars out of you and pocket the money without doing anything for it. That wasn’t very broad-minded. As a matter of fact, I might get this man who calls himself the Crow. I can call myself the Canary, and in some ways a canary is smarter than a crow. What you expected to see when you sent for me was an hombre in a black sateen shirt, with fierce whiskers, tobacco juice on his chin, and two six-guns strapped on. I wouldn’t be surprised but what the Crow looked too slick to you to be very bad.”
Graham controlled his anger this time. “I can’t see that you used very much headwork in coming here and giving out your right name at the start,” he said, eyeing the sheriff. “If you’ve got a reputation like you say, the Crow probably has heard of you and the word could get to him that you’re here. He has likely heard about the rewards we’ve offered, and he might link your presence up here to them.”
“He might.” Davitt nodded, smiling faintly. “I wish you’d tell me just who knew I was coming outside of your immediate family.”
The sheriff looked at the banker quickly as he heard this.
“My family never divulges any business I might speak about by chance,” said Graham, clearing his throat. “Why, the sheriff, here, knew I sent for you, and so did Frank Payne, Jim Wessel, and Roy Lamby, stockmen and directors of the bank.”
“And if those last three let something slip by chance, it might be pretty generally known by this time that I’m here, or on my way,” observed Davitt dryly.
“If you were to set out to hunt this outlaw, how would you go about it?” Graham asked, frowning to conceal his curiosity.
“Well, let’s see,” Davitt said, looking up at the ceiling. “The Crow flies in and taps the bank. You know the old saying … ‘Straight as the crow flies.’ In this case, the crow flies west. The big mountains are in the west and there are plenty of hiding places in them. You would naturally think he’d go there, wouldn’t you? Whether you think so or not, there’s your answer and your clue.”
The sheriff was listening closely. He now started to speak but thought better of it and looked at Graham who was frankly puzzled.
“There isn’t much sense to that answer,” said the banker.
“And there wouldn’t be much sense in my telling you how I would go about getting the Crow.” Davitt smiled. “It might sound downright foolish to you. And I would certainly be a fool to tell you since you are not hiring me. Oh, don’t worry. I’m not going to charge you a single cent.”
“I don’t know, Sil, but that it might be a good idea to let him take a crack at it,” said the sheriff to Graham. “Maybe …”
“That’s it!” Graham ejaculated. “There’s too much maybe to it. I won’t say anything behind a man’s back that I wouldn’t say to his face, and I’ll tell you flatly, Davitt, that I don’t think you’re capable. I’m going to have my way around this bank in this matter, and I’m not hiring you. If you want to nick me for what you call expenses, go to it.”
“You’ve got your own way, mister,” said Davitt with a strange cheerfulness in his tone. “I’m not working for you. I take it there wouldn’t be any argument about who you would pay the reward money to if it was necessary to pay it.”
“There are no strings tied to the reward,” Graham said curtly.
Mel Davitt rose abruptly and turned a questioning eye on the sheriff. “I suppose I can have a few words with you, Sheriff, when you’re not particularly busy?” he asked. “Later tonight, perhaps?”
“Sure thing,” Drew said. “I didn’t send for you, but I didn’t exactly kick about it, either. If you’re going out on your own hook to try and grab these rewards, why, that’s what I got ’em offered for. I’ll assist anybody anytime to help catch an outlaw in my territory.”
“I’ll let you out,” Graham said, rising briskly. “I wish to speak with the sheriff alone.”
“I’ll be at the hotel in an hour,” said Drew.
Davitt left the bank without speaking further. He walked up the street toward the dance hall and met Buck Granger who was with Chester Wessel. Davitt wondered if Wessel was aware of his identity, not that he especially cared. The two stopped talking as he reached them, and Wessel stepped forward.
“I didn’t say quite all I had in mind out there on the balcony,” he began. “I …”
“Forget the rest of it,” Davitt broke in sharply. “There’s no use in you trying to pick trouble with me, Wessel, because I’m not going to let you do it … for your own good. You’re sore because I danced with a certain young lady tonight, but when you think it over hard enough, you’ll see that it wasn’t any of your business. You can take that for your end of it.”
“Oh, I’m not going to pick trouble with a gunfighter,” Wessel said, his face darkening, “but I’m letting you know that you can’t bust into this range and run away with anything, even if you are a horned-toad from Texas.” His tone carried the inflection of a sneer.
“I’m not packing a gun, as you can see,” Davitt said coolly, “but you can start the swiftest fistfight you were ever in with just one more remark like that.”
Buck Granger saw the anger flame in Wessel’s eyes and he grasped the youth’s right arm. “Don’t be that foolish,” he warned. “I’m saying that Davitt’s all right, so lay off. Hallo! Here comes my old man.”
Davitt and Wessel both turned and saw a large man, wearing a stockman’s hat, approaching with long strides.
“It’s Frank Payne,” said Wessel. “He’ll be looking for you, Buck. I’m going back to the dance.” He gave Davitt a dark glance. “I think you’re a bluff,” he said, as he whirled on his heel.
“Thinking and proving are two different things, Chet!” Davitt called after him.
Frank Payne stopped before them, looking Davitt up and down and then centering his scowling gaze on Buck. “Got your spurs off again, eh?” he said coldly. “Well, my pretty buckaroo, you’re through dancing on my time. Don’t tell me you got leave to come to town because I’m saying when one of my men can leave the ranch. I’ll pay you off at the hotel in the morning.”
“Oh, there’s no hurry,” Buck said, flushing. “I can get it any time. I’d rather drop around for it when I go broke.”
“That’ll be soon enough,” Payne snapped. “I’ll leave it at the bank. You’ve set one last bad example.” He was looking at Davitt now. “Where you from?” he demanded.
“I’m from Texas,” replied Davitt. “Rode up here for the dance.”
Payne’s face darkened. “Another cowhand who …”
“I just met up with him today and he’s all right,” Buck broke in.
“Anybody’s all right with you so long as he isn’t working and is ready to celebrate,” said Payne sternly. “You’d pick up with anybody that came along. I can’t stand for it, Buck. You’ll have to look for a new job.”
“You could have said that in the first place and left the rest of it out,” Buck responded in a tone of resentment.
“And you could have left me out, too,” Davitt said coolly.
“We’re not feeling any too kindly toward strangers right now, in case you haven’t heard,” Payne shot back. “You’d
better watch your step.”
“Oh, I’ve heard,” drawled Davitt, “and it looks to me as if somebody slipped long before I got here.”
Payne was looking hard at him. “What I said goes,” he snapped. Davitt returned his look but didn’t offer to answer. Payne flashed another glance at Buck, plainly suspicious, and then strode away.
“Looks like he kicked your job out from under you,” Davitt observed.
“It isn’t the first time,” Buck said, biting his lip. “I had no idea he was in town. Guess he’s up here on that bank business. I’ll drift back to work in three or four days and he won’t say a word.”
“Will you take a chance on five thousand dollars or … a bullet?” Davitt asked, in a businesslike tone.
“I’ll take a chance on the five thousand, but not on a bullet,” Buck retorted, with a shrug of irritation.
“That’s fair enough.” Davitt nodded. “Always get your bullet in ahead of the other fellow’s, Buck, without taking too much of a chance. Let’s go up to my room and I’ll tell you a story.”
“If it’s about the falling down of the Roman empire, I’ll need a drink first,” said Buck sarcastically.
“It may be about the rising of Buck Granger’s star,” Davitt said mysteriously. “Come along and hear it, and you’ll probably need a drink afterward.” He took Buck’s arm and turned him toward the hotel. “Let’s step right along, for I have an appointment with the sheriff in an hour.”
Chapter Six
An hour after daybreak next morning, Mel Davitt and Buck Granger were in the foothills west of Milton. Buck was leading a pack horse laden with camping equipment. To all appearances here were two cowpunchers heading into the mountains for a fishing trip. Buck had secured the pack animal and the equipment after his talk with Davitt in the latter’s room, while Davitt had talked with the sheriff in the quiet seclusion of the hotel’s front parlor and then had waited for him upstairs.
After entering the hills, they had talked loudly to each other, their remarks pertaining to fishing streams, distances, and the banter of two range hands out on a stolen holiday. But now Buck called to Davitt in a serious tone.
“There’s notices on that big cottonwood ahead. We want to give ’em the once-over for they may be rules and regulations. This is forest reserve we’re in now and sometimes they’re strict. It’s probably about being careful with fires.”
They pulled up their horses and inspected the notices on the trunk of the tree.
“Somebody’s drawn a bird and wrote … ‘hope you had a nice trip,’” said Buck as he surveyed the paper fixed to the tree by the outlaw.
“And somebody’s scribbled that he’ll answer it in a week,” said Davitt loudly. “Hello! The other notice is the answer.” He read:
$10,000 Reward
The State Bank of Milton will pay $5,000
and Bend County will pay $5,000 in addition,
for the outlaw
THE CROW
whether he be dead or alive,
for the robbery of the State Bank of Milton, Bend County.
This man is short, slim, with dark skin and black eyes that stamp him for a killer at sight.
Sheriff Hal Drew
Bend City
On the bottom margin of the notice was printed with pen and ink:
A big price for crow meat.—Drew
“Must be that bank robbery business we heard about,” Davitt told Buck in a tone that carried clearly. “The top one was left by the fellow who did it, and the bottom one is from the sheriff. Hot chance of this Crow seeing the sheriff’s answer. I’ll bet he’s spending that money in Calgary up in Canada right now.”
“And if he isn’t, he’s a blame fool!” Buck exclaimed.
After some such comment they rode on. Buck was leading the way up the narrow trail, higher and higher into the hills, with Davitt following behind the pack horse. But Buck was looking for sign in the trail ahead and Davitt was stealthily shooting glances behind and to either side. They spoke few words now, for the going was hard and their attention was claimed repeatedly by bad spots in the trail.
Two hours later they halted in a cool ravine that had widened almost to the extent of a valley. There was a clump of trees along a little stream with a large space of meadow about. Here they could not be surprised by the sudden appearance of anyone and their words would not carry to the timber on the slopes.
Buck took the packs off the loaded horse and they hobbled their mounts. While Davitt made a fire and started the coffee, Buck caught some trout for their late breakfast. It didn’t take long before they were eating.
“Now our work is all cut out for us,” Davitt told Buck, after a period during which he appeared to be preoccupied with his thoughts.
“Well, I don’t know just what your work is, but I’m here to look after the horses and the camp and do what other chores you want done at five dollars a day and keep,” Buck said, with a nod of his head.
“You looked hard enough at that notice back there to see that the bank is offering five thousand for the Crow and the county is putting up another five thousand, didn’t you?” asked Davitt quietly.
“I couldn’t help reading what was there in front of my eyes,” Buck said, frowning. “But so far as getting this Crow is concerned, it can’t be done. I told you so last night when I agreed to come along and guide you through the country and play a part like you suggested. So far as I’m concerned, this is all monkey play, except that I’m earnin’ more money with you than I could earn on a ranch and ain’t kicking.”
“You can have the county’s five thousand, Buck,” said Davitt cheerfully. “I’ll take the bank’s.”
“Yeah?” jeered Buck. “And how’ll you have it?”
“In hundred-dollar notes, Mister Sylvester, if you have ’em, or in anything else that’s the equivalent of the sum total,” was Davitt’s smiling answer. “I hope he asks me that question, Buck, for that’s just what I’d tell him.”
There was a glimmer of suspicion in Buck’s eyes. “Are you sure you’re all right in the head?” he said. “I wouldn’t take a chance in the hills with a crazy man alone.”
Davitt laughed. “If I were crazy, you wouldn’t be alone with me in these hills, Buck. I’d be willing to make a strong bet … if I could expect to prove it … that we’re being watched right this minute.”
“By an owl, maybe,” said Buck irritably
“By the Crow himself, probably,” Davitt said soberly.
Buck looked at him in disgust. He was not in good humor this morning, anyway. He hadn’t liked the way Frank Payne had talked to him the night before, and, while he had permission to go to the dance, he didn’t feel quite right about going. “You talk like a kid,” he said.
Davitt’s look sharpened. “When I joined up with you down on the prairie below Milton, I thought you looked a little brighter than the average cow waddy,” he said with a hard ring to his voice. “If you are just dumb, I can’t afford to have you with me at any price, and five dollars a day is so much bird feed. I told you I was going out after the Crow and that’s what I’m here for. Now, if you’ve got any doubts about it, or if you think I’m engaged in any kid play, or if you’re fidgety about smelling some gun smoke except in tin-can target practice, you better quit with the ten days’ advance pay I gave you while the quitting is good!”
Buck’s gaze had turned to one of astonishment. Now his face flushed angrily. “I don’t feel like trailing along at five dollars a day, at your expense, on any fool errand if that’s what you’re getting at,” he retorted. “The way you seem to be going at it, if the Crow was around here, you’d probably blunder into him and get us both shot up before we had a chance to do anything about it.” He finished in a tone of contempt.
“That’s the difference in viewpoint,” said Davitt coldly. “If we should blunder into this bandit, I
’d know what to do. I’ve tracked down outlaws before. Just at present, I’m making it my business. I don’t merely pick one out and start on his trail, either. People hire me to go after ’em. In this case, it was Sylvester Graham who sent for me. How do you suppose I arranged that confab with the sheriff last night … just by asking for it? Listen, fellow, Graham got me up here, and last night he decided I wasn’t good enough to catch the Crow. So I’m going to get him on my own. I’m doing you a favor by letting you in, and if you’re not the man I picked you to be, it’s a good thing I found it out before you got a chance to go cold on me.”
Buck’s stare of wonderment changed to a flash of anger. “That’s man’s talk, but if you’re what you claim to be, you could have said so in the first place and I’d have known what …”
“I don’t take any chances by talking ahead of time,” Davitt interrupted sharply. “Graham, the sheriff, your boss, Payne, and some stockmen, including young Wessel’s father, and even Virginia Graham know who I am. It won’t do any hurt now for you to know. But it might not have been wise last night, for there was a man in town I wanted to have see something, and that was your preparations for this trip.”
“Who was the man?” asked Buck.
“A partner of the man who’s traveling with the Crow,” Davitt replied. “You don’t think that outlaw just wanted a small bit from that bank, do you? They think he travels alone, but I know different. I ran across the trail of two men who met him up this way somewhere before I started.”
“And what’s the sheriff for? Why all this fuss about posses and rewards if Graham thought you could get the Crow so easy?”
“You don’t think the sheriff is going to quit because I’m here, do you? Rewards have to be offered in these cases, and if no reward had been offered, it would have put the Crow on his guard. Even if that spy he had down in town knew who I was, it wouldn’t do this Crow any good. He’s heard of me as a man hunter and he won’t think of me for a split second as being able to outthink him. Just the same, his scheme is as plain as the sky above to me.”
Three Trails to Triangle Page 5