CHAPTER X
THE FLIGHT
When the Texan had departed Bat Lajune eyed the side-saddle withdisgust. "Dat damn t'ing, she ain' no good. A'm git de reg'larsaddle."
Slowly he pushed open the side door of the hotel and paused in thedarkened hallway to stare at the crack of yellow light that showedbeneath the door of Number 11.
"A'm no lak' dis fool 'roun' wit' 'omen." He made a wry face andknocked gingerly.
Jennie Dodds opened the door, and for a moment eyed the half-breed withfrowning disfavour.
"Look a here, Bat Lajune, is this on the level? They say you're thesquarest Injun that ever swung a rope. But Injun or white, you're aman, an' I wouldn't trust one as far as I could throw a mule by thetail."
"Mebbe-so you lak' you com' 'long an' see, eh?"
"I got somethin' else to do besides galavantin' 'round the countrynights with cowboys an' Injuns."
The half-breed laughed and turned to Alice. "Better you bor' somepants for ride de horse. Me, A'm gon' git nudder saddle. 'Fore youride little ways you bre'k you back."
"Go over to the livery barn an' tell Ross to put my reg'lar saddle onin place of the side-saddle, an' when you come back she'll be ready."Jennie Dodds slipped from the room as the outer door closed upon thehalf-breed's departure, and returned a few minutes later with her ownriding outfit, which she tossed onto the bed.
"Jest you climb into them, dearie," she said. "Bat's right. Themside-saddles is sure the dickens an' all, if you got any ways to go."
"But," objected Alice, "I can't run off with all your things this way!"She reached for her purse. "I'll tell you, I'll buy them from you,horse and all!"
"No you won't, no such thing!" Jennie Dodds assumed an injured tone."Pity a body can't loan a friend nuthin' without they're offered to gitpayed for it. You can send the clothes back when you're through with'em. An' here's a sack. Jest stick what you need in that. It'll tieon behind your saddle, an' you can leave the rest of your stuff here inyour grip an I'll ship it on when you're ready for it. Better leavethem night-gowns an' corsets an' such like here. You ain't goin' tofind no use for 'em out there amongst the prickly pears an' sage brush.Law me! I don't envy you your trip none! I'd jest like to know whatfor devilment that Tex Benton's up to. Anyways, you don't need to beafraid of him--like Purdy. But men is men, an' you got to watch 'em."
As the girl chattered on she helped Alice to dress for the trail andwhen the "war-bag" was packed and tied with a stout cord, the girlcrossed to the window and drew back the shade.
"The Injun's back. You better be goin'." The girl slipped a smallrevolver from her pocket and pressed it into Alice's hand. "There's apocket for it in the bloomers. Cinnabar Joe give it to me a long timeago. Take care of yourself an' don't be afraid to use it if you haveto. An' mind you let me hear jest the minute you git anywheres. I'llbe a-dyin' to know what become of you."
Alice promised and as she passed through the door, leaned swiftly andkissed the girl squarely upon the lips.
"Good-bye," she whispered. "I won't forget you," and the next momentshe stepped out to join the waiting half-breed, who with a glance ofapproval at her costume, took the bag from her hand and proceeded tosecure it behind the cantle. The girl mounted without assistance, andsnubbing the lead-rope of the pack-horse about the horn of his saddle,the half-breed led off into the night.
Hour after hour they rode in silence, following a trail that wound ineasy curves about the bases of hillocks and small buttes, and dippedand slanted down the precipitous sides of deep coulees where thehorses' feet splashed loudly in the shallow waters of fords. As themoon dipped lower and lower, they rode past the darkened buildings ofranches nestled beside the creeks, and once they passed a band of sheepcamped near the trail. The moonlight showed a sea of grey, woollybacks, and on a near-by knoll stood a white-covered camp-wagon, with atiny lantern burning at the end of the tongue. A pair of hobbledhorses left off snipping grass beside the trail and gazed with mildinterest as the two passed, and beneath the wagon a dog barked. Atlength, just as the moon sank from sight behind the long spur of TigerButte, the trail slanted into a wide coulee from the bottom of whichsounded the tinkle of running water.
"Dis Snake Creek," remarked the Indian; "better you git off now an'stretch you leg. Me, A'm mak' de blanket on de groun' an' you ketch-umlittle sleep. Mebbe-so dem com' queek--mebbe-so long tam'."
Even as he talked the man spread a pair of new blankets beside thetrail and walking a short distance away seated himself upon a rock andlighted a cigarette.
With muscles aching from the unaccustomed strain of hours in thesaddle, Alice threw herself upon the blankets and pillowed her head onthe slicker that the half-breed had folded for the purpose. Almostimmediately she fell asleep only to awake a few moments later withevery bone in her body registering an aching protest at the unbearablehardness of her bed. In vain she turned from one side to the other, inan effort to attain a comfortable position. With nerves shrieking ateach new attitude, all thought of sleep vanished and the girl's brainraced madly over the events of the past few hours. Yesterday she hadsat upon the observation platform of the overland train and complainedto Endicott of the humdrum conventionality of her existence! Onlyyesterday--and it seemed weeks ago. The dizzy whirl of events that hadsnatched her from the beaten path and deposited her somewhere out uponthe rim of the world had come upon her so suddenly and with suchstupendous import that it beggared any attempt to forecast its outcome.With a shudder she recalled the moment upon the verge of the bench whenin a flash she had realized the true character of Purdy and her ownutter helplessness. With a great surge of gratitude--and--was it onlygratitude--this admiration and pride in the achievement of the man whohad rushed to her rescue? Alone there in the darkness the girl flushedto the roots of her hair as she realized that it was for this man shehad unhesitatingly and unquestioningly ridden far into the night incompany with an unknown Indian. Realized, also, that above the pain ofher tortured muscles, above the uncertainty of her own position, wasthe anxiety and worry as to the fate of Endicott. Where was he? HadTex lied when he told her there would be no lynching? Even if hedesired could he prevent the cowboys from wreaking their vengeance uponthe man who had killed one of their number? She recalled with ashudder the cold cynicism of the smile that habitually curled the lipsof the Texan. A man who could smile like that could lie--could doanything to gain an end. And yet--she realized with a puzzled frownthat in her heart was no fear of him--no terror such as struck into hervery soul at the sudden unmasking of Purdy. "It's his eyes," shemurmured; "beneath his cynical exterior lies a man of finer fibre."
Some distance away a match flared in the darkness and went out, anddimly by the little light of the stars Alice made out the form of thehalf-breed seated upon his rock beside the trail. Motionless as therock itself the man sat humped over with his arms entwining his knees.A sombre figure, and one that fitted intrinsically into the scene--thedark shapes of the three horses that snipped grass beside the trail,the soft murmur of the waters of the creek as they purled over thestones, the black wall of the coulee, with the mountains risingbeyond--all bespoke the wild that since childhood she had pictured, butnever before had seen. Under any other circumstances the setting wouldhave appealed, would have thrilled her to the soul. But now--over andover through her brain repeated the question: Where is he?
A horse nickered softly and raising his head, sniffed the night air.The Indian stepped from his rock and stood alert with his eyes on thereach of the back-trail. And then softly, almost inaudibly to the earsof the girl came the sound of horses' hoofs pounding the trail inmonotonous rhythm.
Leaping to her feet she rushed forward in time to see Bat catch up thereins of the three horses and slip noiselessly into the shelter of abunch of scrub willows. In a moment she was at his side and the Indianthrust the reins into her hand.
"Better you wait here," he whispered hurriedly. "Mebbe-so, som'wanelse com' 'long. Me, A'm gon'
for look." With the words the manblended into the shadows and, clutching the reins, the girl waited withevery nerve drawn tense.
Nearer and nearer came the sound of the thudding hoofs. The riders hadreached the dip of the trail now and the rhythmic pound of the horses'feet changed to a syncopated shuffle as the animals made the steepdescent. At the edge of the creek they paused for a moment and thenAlice, could hear the splash of their feet in the water and the deepsucking sound of horses drinking.
A low peculiar whistle cut the air and the next moment a voice whichthe girl recognized as the Texan's sounded plainly through the dark.
"You got here, did you? Where's the girl?" Alice could not catch theanswer but at the next words of the Texan she started forward tuggingat the reins of the refractory cayuses.
"Come alive, now, an' get your outfit together. There's prob'ly a bigposse out an' we got to scratch gravel some lively to keep ahead of'em, which little item the future prosperity of all concerned, as thefellow says, depends on--not only the hangee here, but us accessories,the law bein' some specific in outlinin' the disposal of aiders an'abettors of felonious transmigrations."
The half-breed relieved her of the horses and Alice rushed to the sideof Endicott who had reined his horse out of the water and dismountedstiffly.
"Oh, Winthrop!" she cried joyfully. "Then they didn't hang you,and----"
Endicott laughed: "No, they didn't hang me but they put a lot of localcolour into the preliminaries. I certainly thought my time had come,when friend Tex here gave the word to throw off the rope." The girlflashed a grateful glance into the face of the Texan who sat his horsewith the peculiar smile curling his lips.
"Oh, how can I ever thank you?" she cried impulsively. "I think youare just _splendid_! And I'll never, _never_ distrust you again. I'vebeen a perfect fool and----"
"Yes," answered the man gruffly, and Alice noticed that the smile wasgone from his lips. "But you ain't out of the woods yet. Bat's gotthat horse packed an' as soon as Winthrup, there, can crawl up the sideof that bronc we better be hittin' the trail. If we can make thetimber at the head of Cow Creek divide by daylight, we can slip downinto the bad lands tomorrow night."
Endicott painfully raised a foot to the stirrup, and the Texan turnedabruptly to the girl.
"Can you make it?" he asked. She replied with an eager affirmative andthe Texan shot her a glance of approval as he watched her mount, forwell he knew that she must have fared very little better than Endicottin the matter of aching muscles.
Mile after mile the four rode in silence, Tex in the lead with BatLajune close by his side. An occasional backward glance revealed theclumsy efforts of the pilgrim to ease himself in the saddle, and theset look of determination upon the tired face of the girl.
"Winthrup ain't wearin' well," thought the cowboy as his lips twistedinto a smile, "but what could you expect with a name like that? I'mafraid Winthrup is goin' to wish I hadn't interfered none with hisdemise, but he won't squawk, an' neither will she. There's the makin'sof a couple of good folks wasted in them two pilgrims," and he frowneddarkly at the recollection of the note of genuine relief and gladnesswith which the girl had greeted Endicott; a frown that deepened at thegirl's impulsive words to himself, "I think you are just splendid.I'll never distrust you again." "She's a fool!" he muttered under hisbreath. At his side the half-breed regarded him shrewdly from underthe broad brim of his hat.
"Dat girl she dam' fine 'oman. She got, w'at you call, de nerve."
"It's a good thing it ain't daytime," growled the Texan surlily, "orthat there tongue of yourn would get sun-burnt the way you keep ita-goin'."
Upon the crest of a high foothill that is a spur of Tiger Ridge, Texswerved abruptly from the trail and headed straight for the mountainsthat loomed out of the darkness. On and on he rode, keeping whereverpossible to the higher levels to avoid the fences of the nesters whosefields and pastures followed the windings of the creek bottoms.
Higher and higher they climbed and rougher grew the way. The scrubwillows gave place to patches of bull pine and the long stretches ofbuffalo grass to ugly bare patches of black rock. In and out of thescrub timber they wended, following deep coulees to their sources andcrossing steep-pitched divides into other coulees. The fences of thenesters were left far behind and following old game trails, or notrails at all, the Texan pushed unhesitatingly forward. At last, justas the dim outlines of the mountains were beginning to assume definiteshape in the first faint hint of the morning grey, he pulled into amore extensive patch of timber than any they had passed and dismountingmotioned the others to the ground.
While the Texan prepared breakfast, Bat busied himself with theblankets and when the meal was finished Alice found a tent awaitingher, which the half-breed had constructed by throwing the pack-tarpover a number of light poles whose ends rested upon a fallentree-trunk. Never in her life, thought the girl, as she sank into thefoot-thick mattress of pine boughs that underlay the blankets, had abed felt so comfortable, so absolutely satisfying. But her consciousenjoyment of its comfort was short-lived for the sounds of men andhorses, and the low soughing of the wind in the pine-tops blended intoone, and she slept. Endicott, too, fell asleep almost as soon as hetouched the blankets which the half-breed had spread for him a shortdistance back from the fire, notwithstanding the scant padding of pineneedles that interposed between him and mother earth.
Beside the fire the half-breed helped Tex wash the dishes, the while heregarded the cowpuncher shrewdly as if to fathom what was passing inhis mind.
"Back in Wolf Rivaire, dey t'ink de pilgrim git hang. W'at for deymak' de posse?" he asked at length. The Texan finished washing the tinplates, dried his hands, and rolled a cigarette, which he lighteddeliberately with a brand from the fire.
"Bat," he said with a glance toward the sleeping Endicott, "me an' youhas be'n right good friends for quite a spell. You recollect them fourbits, back in Las Vegas--" The half-breed interrupted him with a grinand reaching into his shirt front withdrew a silver half-dollar whichdepended from his neck by a rawhide thong.
"_Oui_, A'm don' git mooch chance to ferget dat four bit."
"Well, then, you got to help me through with this here, like I helpedyou through when you stole Fatty's horse." The half-breed nodded andTex continued: "When that outfit goes up against the Wolf River hoochyou can bet someone's going to leak it out that there wasn't no reg'larbony-fido hangin' bee. That'll start a posse, an' that's why we got tostay _cached_ good an' tight till this kind of blows over an' gives usa chance to slip acrost the Misszoo. Even if it don't leak out, an'any one should happen to spot the pilgrim, that would start a posse,_pronto_, an' we'd get ours for helpin' him to elope."
"'Spose dey git de pilgrim," persisted the half-breed, "de, w'at youcall, de jury, dey say 'turn 'um loose' 'cause he keel dat Purdy fortry to----"
Tex hurled his cigarette into the blaze. "You're a damn smart Injun,ain't you? Well, you just listen to me. I'm runnin' this here littleoutfit, an' there's reasons over an' above what I've orated, why thepilgrim is goin' to be treated to a good lib'ral dose of the roughstuff. If he comes through, he'll stack up pretty close to a top hand,an' if he don't--" The Texan paused and scowled into the fire. "An'if he don't it's his own damn fault, anyhow--an' there you are."
The half-breed nodded, and in the dark eyes the Texan noted ahalf-humorous, half-ominous gleam; "Dat, w'at you call, '_reason overan' 'bove_', she damn fine 'oman. A'm t'ink she lak' de pilgrim more'nyou. But mebbe-so you show heem up for w'at you call, de yellow, yougit her 'way, but--me, A'm no lak' I see her git harm." With whichdeclaration the half-breed rose abruptly and busied himself with thehorses, while the Texan, without bothering to spread his blankets,pulled his hat over his face and stretched out beside the fire.
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