by B. M. Bower
CHAPTER 24. THE KID IS USED FOR A PAWN IN THE GAME
Did you ever stop to think of the tremendous moral lesson in the Bibletale of David and Goliath? And how great, human issues are often decidedone way or the other by little things? Not all crises are passed in theclashing of swords and the boom of cannon. It was a pebble the size ofyour thumbend, remember, that slew the giant.
In the struggle which the Happy Family was making to preserve theshrunken range of the Flying U, and to hold back the sweeping tide ofimmigration, one might logically look for some big, overwhelming elementto turn the tide one way or the other. With the Homeseekers' Syndicatebacking the natural animosity of the settlers, who had filed uponsemiarid land because the Happy Family had taken all of the tract thatwas tillable, a big, open clash might be considered inevitable.
And yet the struggle was resolving itself into the question of whetherthe contest filings should be approved by the land-office, or thefilings of the Happy Family be allowed to stand as having been made ingood faith. Florence Hallman therefore, having taken upon herself theleadership in the contest fight, must do one of two things if she wouldhave victory to salve the hurt to her self-esteem and to vindicate thefirm's policy in the eyes of the settlers.
She must produce evidence of the collusion of the Flying U outfit withthe Happy Family, in the taking of the claims. Or she must conniveto prevent the filing of answers to the contest notices within thetime-limit fixed by law, so that the cases would go by default. That,of course, was the simplest--since she had not been able to gather anyevidence of collusion that would stand in court.
There was another element in the land struggle--that was the soil andclimate that would fight inexorably against the settlers; but with themwe have little to do, since the Happy Family had nothing to do with themsave in a purely negative way.
A four-wire fence and a systematic patrol along the line was having itseffect upon the stock question. If the settlers drove their cattle southuntil they passed the farthest corner of Flying U fence, they came plumpagainst Bert Rogers' barbed boundary line. West of that was his father'splace--and that stretched to the railroad right-of-way, fenced on eitherside with a stock-proof barrier and hugging the Missouri all the wayto the Marias--where were other settlers. If they went north until theypassed the fence of the Happy Family, there were the Meeker holdings tobar the way to the very foot of Old Centennial, and as far up its sidesas cattle would go.
The Happy Family had planned wisely when they took their claims in along chain that stretched across the benchland north of the Flying U.Florence Grace knew this perfectly well--but what could she prove?The Happy Family had bought cattle of their own, and were grazing themlawfully upon their own claims. A lawyer had assured her that there wasno evidence to be gained there. They never went near J. G. Whitmore, nordid they make use of his wagons, his teams or his tools or his money;instead they hired what they needed, openly and from Bert Rogers. Theyhad bought their cattle from the Flying U, and that was the extent oftheir business relations--on the surface. And since collusion had beenthe ground given for the contests, it will be easily seen what slighthope Florence Grace and her clients must have of winning any contestsuit. Still, there was that alternative--the Happy Family had been soeager to build that fence and gather their cattle and put them back onthe claims, and so anxious lest in their absence the settlers shouldslip cattle across the dead line and into the breaks, that they hadpostponed their trip to Great Falls as long as possible. The HonorableBlake had tacitly advised them to do so; and the Happy Family never gavea thought to their being hindered when they did get ready to attend toit.
But--a pebble killed Goliath.
H. J. Owens, whose eyes were the wrong shade of blue, sat upon a rockyhilltop which overlooked the trail from Flying U Coulee and a greaterportion of the shack-dotted benchland as well, and swept the farhorizons with his field glasses. Just down the eastern slope, wherethe jutting sandstone cast a shadow, his horse stood tied to a dejectedwild-currant bush. He laid the glasses across his knees while herefilled his pipe, and tilted his hatbrim to shield his pale blue eyesfrom the sun that was sliding past midday.
H. J. Owens looked at his watch, nevertheless, as though the positionof the sun meant nothing to him. He scowled a little, stretched aleg straight out before him to ease it of cramp, and afterwards movedfarther along in the shade. The wind swept past with a faint whistle,and laid the ripening grasses flat where it passed. A cloud shadow movedslowly along the slope beneath him, and he watched the darkening of theearth where it touched, and the sharp contrast of the sun-yellowed seaof grass all around it. H. J. Owens looked bored and sleepy; yet he didnot leave the hilltop--nor did he go to sleep.
Instead, he lifted the glasses, turned them toward Flying U Coulee ahalf mile to the south of him, and stared long at the trail. After a fewminutes he made a gesture to lower the glasses, and then abruptly fixedthem steadily upon one spot, where the trail wound up over the crestof the bluff. He looked for a minute, and laid the glasses down upon arock.
H. J. Owens fumbled in the pocket of his coat, which he had folded andlaid beside him on the yellow gravel of the hill. He found something hewanted, stood up, and with his back against a boulder he faced to thesouthwest. He was careful about the direction. He glanced up at the sun,squinting his eyes at the glare; he looked at what he held in his hand.
A glitter of sun on glass showed briefly. H. J. Owens laid his palm overit, waited while he could count ten, and took his palm away. Replacedit, waited, and revealed the glass again with the sun glare upon itfull. He held it so for a full minute, and slid the glass back into hispocket.
He glanced down toward Flying U Coulee again--toward where the trailstretched like a brown ribbon through the grass. He seemed to be insomething of a hurry now--if impatient movement meant anything--yet hedid not leave the place at once. He kept looking off there toward thesouthwest--off beyond Antelope Coulee and the sparsely dotted shacks ofthe settlers.
A smudge of smoke rose thinly there, behind a hill. Unless one had beenwatching the place, one would scarcely have noticed it, but H. J. Owenssaw it at once and smiled his twisted smile and went running down thehill to where his horse was tied. He mounted and rode down to the level,skirted the knoll and came out on the trail, down which he rode at aneasy lope until he met the Kid.
The Kid was going to see Rosemary Allen and take a ride with her alongthe new fence; but he pulled up with the air of condescension whichwas his usual attitude toward "nesters," and in response to the twistedsmile of H. J. Owens he grinned amiably.
"Want to go on a bear-hunt with me, Buck?" began H. J. Owens with justthe right tone of comradeship, to win the undivided attention of theKid.
"I was goin' to ride fence with Miss Allen," the Kid declinedregretfully. "There ain't any bears got very close, there ain't. I guessyou musta swallered something Andy told you." He looked at H. J. Owenstolerantly.
"No sir. I never talked to Andy about this." Had he been perfectlytruthful he would have added that he had not talked with Andy aboutanything whatever, but he let it go. "This is a bear den I found myself;There's two little baby cubs, Buck, and I was wondering if you wouldn'tlike to go along and get one for a pet. You could learn it to dance andplay soldier, and all kinds of stunts."
The Kid's eyes shone, but he was wary. This man was a nester, so itwould be just at well to be careful "Where 'bouts is it?" he thereforedemanded in a tone of doubt that would have done credit to Happy Jack.
"Oh, down over there in the hills. It's a secret, though, till we getthem out. Some fellows are after them for themselves, Buck. They wantto--skin 'em."
"The mean devils!" condemned the Kid promptly. "I'd take a fall outathem if I ketched 'em skinning any baby bear cubs while I was around."
H. J. Owens glanced behind him with an uneasiness not altogetherassumed.
"Let's go down into this next gully to talk it over, Buck," he suggestedwith an air of secretiveness that fired the Kid's imagination. "They
started out to follow me, and I don't want 'em to see me talking to you,you know."
The Kid went with him unsuspectingly. In all the six years of his life,no man had ever offered him injury. Fear had not yet become associatedwith those who spoke him fair. Nesters he did not consider friendsbecause they were not friends with his bunch. Personally he did not knowanything about enemies. This man was a nester--but he called him Buck,and he talked very nice and friendly, and he said he knew where therewere some little baby bear cubs. The Kid had never before realized howmuch he wanted a bear cub for a pet. So do our wants grow to meet ouropportunities.
H. J. Owens led the way into a shallow draw between two low hills,glancing often behind him and around him until they were shielded by thehigher ground. He was careful to keep where the grass was thickest andwould hold no hoofprints to betray them, but the Kid never noticed. Hewas thinking how nice it would be to have a bear cub for a pet. But itwas funny that the Happy Family had never found him one, if there wereany in the country.
He turned to put the question direct to H. J. Owens, I but thatgentleman forestalled him.
"You wait here a minute, Buck, while I ride back on this hill a littleways to see if those fellows are on our trail," he said, and rode offbefore the Kid could ask him the question.
The Kid waited obediently. He saw H. J. Owens get off his horse and gosneaking up to the brow of the hill, and take some field glasses outof his pocket and look all around over the prairie with them. The sighttingled the Kid's blood so that he almost forgot about the bear cub. Itwas almost exactly like fighting Injuns, like Uncle Gee-gee told aboutwhen he wasn't cross.
In a few minutes Owens came back to the Kid, and they went on slowly,keeping always in the low, grassy places where there would be no tracksleft to tell of their passing that way. Behind them a yellow-brown clouddrifted sullenly with the wind. Now and then a black flake settled pastthem to the ground. A peculiar, tangy smell was in the air--the smell ofburning grass.
H. J. Owens related a long, full-detailed account of how he had beendown in the hills along the river, and had seen the old mother beardigging ants out of a sand-hill for her cubs.
"I know--that's jes' 'zactly the way they do!" the Kid interruptedexcitedly. "Daddy Chip seen one doing it on the Musselshell one time. Hetold me 'bout it."
H. J. Owens glanced sidelong at the Kid's flushed face, smiled histwisted smile and went on with his story. He had not bothered them,he said, because he did not have any way of carrying both cubs, and hehated to kill them. He had thought of Buck, and how he would like a petcub, so he had followed the bear to her den and had come away to get asack to carry them in, and to tell Buck about it.
The Kid never once doubted that it was so. Whenever any of the HappyFamily found anything in the hills that was nice, they always thoughtof Buck, and they always brought it to him. You would be amazed at thenumber of rattlesnake rattles, and eagle's claws, and elk teeth, andthings like that, which the Kid possessed and kept carefully stowed awayin a closet kept sacred to his uses.
"'Course you'd 'member I wanted a baby bear cub; for a pet," he assentedgravely and with a certain satisfaction. "Is it a far ways to thatmother bear's home?"
"Why?" H. J. Owens turned from staring at the rolling smoke cloud, andlooked at the Kid curiously. "Ain't you big enough to ride far?"
"'Course I'm big enough" The Kid's pride was touched. "I can ride as faras a horse can travel I bet I can ride farther and faster 'n you can,you pilgrims" He eyed the other disdainfully. "Huh! You can't ride. Whenyou trot you go this way!" The Kid kicked Silver into a trot and wentbouncing along with his elbows flapping loosely in imitation of H. J.Owens' ungraceful riding.
"I don't want to go a far ways," he explained when the other was againRiding alongside, "'cause Doctor Dell would cry if I didn't come backto supper. She cried when I was out huntin' the bunch. Doctor Dell getslonesome awful easy." He looked over his shoulder uneasily. "I guess Ibetter go back and tell her I'm goin' to git a baby bear cub for a pet,"he said, and reined Silver around to act upon the impulse.
"No--don't do that, Buck." H. J. Owens pulled his horse in front ofSilver. "It isn't far--just a little ways. And it would be fun tosurprise them at the ranch Gee! When they saw you ride up with a petbear cub in your arms--" H. J. Owens shook his head as though he couldnot find words to express the surprise of the Kid's family.
The Kid smiled his Little Doctor smile. "I'd tell a man!" he assentedenthusiastically. "I bet the Countess would holler when she seen it. Shescares awful easy. She's scared of a mice, even! Huh! My kitty ketcheda mice and she carried it right in her mouth and brought it into thekitchen and let it set down on the floor a minute, and it started to runaway--the mice did. And it runned right up to the Countess, and shejes' hollered and yelled And she got right up and stood on a chair andhollered for Daddy Chip to come and ketch that mice. He didn't do itthough. Adeline ketched it herself. And I took it away from her and putit in a box for a pet. I wasn't scared."
"She'll be scared when she sees the bear cub," H. J. Owens declaredabsent-mindedly. "I know you won't be, though. If we hurry maybe we canwatch how he digs ants for his supper. That's lots of fun, Buck."
"Yes--I 'member it's fun to watch baby bear cubs dig ants," the Kidassented earnestly, and followed willingly where H. J. Owens led theway.
That the way was far did not impress itself upon the Kid, beguiled withwonderful stories of how baby bear cubs might be taught to do tricks. Helistened and believed, and invented some very wonderful tricks that hemeant to teach his baby bear cub. Not until the shadows began to fillthe gullies through which they rode did the Kid awake to the fact thatnight was coming close and that they were still traveling away from homeand in a direction which was strange to him. Never in his life had hebeen tricked by any one with unfriendly intent. He did not guess that hewas being tricked now. He rode away into the wild places in search of ababy bear cub for a pet.