The Trail of the Lonesome Pine

by John Fox

  XXV

  Thus Fate did not wait until Election Day for the thing Hale mostdreaded--a clash that would involve the guard in the Tolliver-Falintroubles over the hills. There had been simply a preliminary politicalgathering at the Gap the day before, but it had been a crucial day forthe guard from a cloudy sunrise to a tragic sunset. Early that morning,Mockaby, the town-sergeant, had stepped into the street freshly shaven,with polished boots, and in his best clothes for the eyes of hissweetheart, who was to come up that day to the Gap from Lee. Beforesunset he died with those boots on, while the sweetheart, unknowing,was bound on her happy way homeward, and Rufe Tolliver, who had shotMockaby, was clattering through the Gap in flight for Lonesome Cove.

  As far as anybody knew, there had been but one Tolliver and one Falin intown that day, though many had noticed the tall Western-looking strangerwho, early in the afternoon, had ridden across the bridge over the NorthFork, but he was quiet and well-behaved, he merged into the crowd andthrough the rest of the afternoon was in no way conspicuous, even whenthe one Tolliver and the one Falin got into a fight in front of thespeaker's stand and the riot started which came near ending in a bloodybattle. The Falin was clearly blameless and was let go at once. Thisangered the many friends of the Tolliver, and when he was arrested therewas an attempt at rescue, and the Tolliver was dragged to the calaboosebehind a slowly retiring line of policemen, who were jabbing therescuers back with the muzzles of cocked Winchesters. It was just whenit was all over, and the Tolliver was safely jailed, that Bad Rufegalloped up to the calaboose, shaking with rage, for he had just learnedthat the prisoner was a Tolliver. He saw how useless interference was,but he swung from his horse, threw the reins over its head after theWestern fashion and strode up to Hale.

  "You the captain of this guard?"

  "Yes," said Hale; "and you?" Rufe shook his head with angry impatience,and Hale, thinking he had some communication to make, ignored hisrefusal to answer.

  "I hear that a fellow can't blow a whistle or holler, or shoot off hispistol in this town without gittin' arrested."

  "That's true--why?" Rufe's black eyes gleamed vindictively.

  "Nothin'," he said, and he turned to his horse.

  Ten minutes later, as Mockaby was passing down the dummy track, awhistle was blown on the river bank, a high yell was raised, a pistolshot quickly followed and he started for the sound of them on a run. Afew minutes later three more pistol shots rang out, and Hale rushed tothe river bank to find Mockaby stretched out on the ground, dying, and amountaineer lout pointing after a man on horseback, who was making at aswift gallop for the mouth of the gap and the hills.

  "He done it," said the lout in a frightened way; "but I don't know whohe was."

  Within half an hour ten horsemen were clattering after the murderer,headed by Hale, Logan, and the Infant of the Guard. Where the roadforked, a woman with a child in her arms said she had seen a tall,black-eyed man with a black moustache gallop up the right fork. She nomore knew who he was than any of the pursuers. Three miles up that forkthey came upon a red-headed man leading his horse from a mountaineer'syard.

  "He went up the mountain," the red-haired man said, pointing tothe trail of the Lonesome Pine. "He's gone over the line. Whut's hedone--killed somebody?"

  "Yes," said Hale shortly, starting up his horse.

  "I wish I'd a-knowed you was atter him. I'm sheriff over thar."

  Now they were without warrant or requisition, and Hale, pulling in, saidsharply:

  "We want that fellow. He killed a man at the Gap. If we catch him overthe line, we want you to hold him for us. Come along!" The red-headedsheriff sprang on his horse and grinned eagerly:

  "I'm your man."

  "Who was that fellow?" asked Hale as they galloped. The sheriff deniedknowledge with a shake of his head.

  "What's your name?" The sheriff looked sharply at him for the effect ofhis answer.

  "Jim Falin." And Hale looked sharply back at him. He was one of theFalins who long, long ago had gone to the Gap for young Dave Tolliver,and now the Falin grinned at Hale.

  "I know you--all right." No wonder the Falin chuckled at thisHeaven-born chance to get a Tolliver into trouble.

  At the Lonesome Pine the traces of the fugitive's horse swerved alongthe mountain top--the shoe of the right forefoot being broken in half.That swerve was a blind and the sheriff knew it, but he knew where RufeTolliver would go and that there would be plenty of time to get him.Moreover, he had a purpose of his own and a secret fear that it might bethwarted, so, without a word, he followed the trail till darkness hidit and they had to wait until the moon rose. Then as they started again,the sheriff said:

  "Wait a minute," and plunged down the mountain side on foot. A fewminutes later he hallooed for Hale, and down there showed him the tracksdoubling backward along a foot-path.

  "Regular rabbit, ain't he?" chuckled the sheriff, and back they went tothe trail again on which two hundred yards below the Pine they saw thetracks pointing again to Lonesome Cove.

  On down the trail they went, and at the top of the spur that overlookedLonesome Cove, the Falin sheriff pulled in suddenly and got off hishorse. There the tracks swerved again into the bushes.

  "He's goin' to wait till daylight, fer fear somebody's follered him.He'll come in back o' Devil Judd's."

  "How do you know he's going to Devil Judd's?" asked Hale.

  "Whar else would he go?" asked the Falin with a sweep of his arm towardthe moonlit wilderness. "Thar ain't but one house that way fer tenmiles--and nobody lives thar."

  "How do you know that he's going to any house?" asked Hale impatiently."He may be getting out of the mountains."

  "D'you ever know a feller to leave these mountains jus' because he'dkilled a man? How'd you foller him at night? How'd you ever ketch himwith his start? What'd he turn that way fer, if he wasn't goin' toJudd's--why d'n't he keep on down the river? If he's gone, he's gone. Ifhe ain't, he'll be at Devil Judd's at daybreak if he ain't thar now."

  "What do you want to do?"

  "Go on down with the hosses, hide 'em in the bushes an' wait."

  "Maybe he's already heard us coming down the mountain."

  "That's the only thing I'm afeerd of," said the Falin calmly. "But whutI'm tellin' you's our only chance."

  "How do you know he won't hear us going down? Why not leave the horses?"

  "We might need the hosses, and hit's mud and sand all the way--you oughtto know that."

  Hale did know that; so on they went quietly and hid their horses asidefrom the road near the place where Hale had fished when he first went toLonesome Cove. There the Falin disappeared on foot.

  "Do you trust him?" asked Hale, turning to Budd, and Budd laughed.

  "I reckon you can trust a Falin against a friend of a Tolliver, ort'other way round--any time." Within half an hour the Falin came backwith the news that there were no signs that the fugitive had yet comein.

  "No use surrounding the house now," he said, "he might see one of usfirst when he comes in an' git away. We'll do that atter daylight."

  And at daylight they saw the fugitive ride out of the woods at the backof the house and boldly around to the front of the house, where he lefthis horse in the yard and disappeared.

  "Now send three men to ketch him if he runs out the back way--quick!"said the Falin. "Hit'll take 'em twenty minutes to git thar through thewoods. Soon's they git thar, let one of 'em shoot his pistol off an'that'll be the signal fer us."

  The three men started swiftly, but the pistol shot came before they hadgone a hundred yards, for one of the three--a new man and unaccustomedto the use of fire-arms, stumbled over a root while he was seeing thathis pistol was in order and let it go off accidentally.

  "No time to waste now," the Falin called sharply. "Git on yo' hossesand git!" Then the rush was made and when they gave up the chase at noonthat day, the sheriff looked Hale squarely in the eye when Hale sharplyasked him a question:

  "Why didn't you tell me who that man was?"
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br />   "Because I was afeerd you wouldn't go to Devil Judd's atter him. I knowbetter now," and he shook his head, for he did not understand. And soHale at the head of the disappointed Guard went back to the Gap, andwhen, next day, they laid Mockaby away in the thinly populated littlegraveyard that rested in the hollow of the river's arm, the spirit oflaw and order in the heart of every guard gave way to the spirit ofrevenge, and the grass would grow under the feet of none until RufeTolliver was caught and the death-debt of the law was paid with death.

  That purpose was no less firm in the heart of Hale, and he turnedaway from the grave, sick with the trick that Fate had lost no time inplaying him; for he was a Falin now in the eyes of both factions and anenemy--even to June.

  The weeks dragged slowly along, and June sank slowly toward the depthswith every fresh realization of the trap of circumstance into which shehad fallen. She had dim memories of just such a state of affairs whenshe was a child, for the feud was on now and the three things thatgoverned the life of the cabin in Lonesome Cove were hate, caution, andfear.

  Bub and her father worked in the fields with their Winchesters closeat hand, and June was never easy if they were outside the house. Ifsomebody shouted "hello"--that universal hail of friend or enemy in themountains--from the gate after dark, one or the other would go outthe back door and answer from the shelter of the corner of the house.Neither sat by the light of the fire where he could be seen through thewindow nor carried a candle from one room to the other. And when eitherrode down the river, June must ride behind him to prevent ambush fromthe bushes, for no Kentucky mountaineer, even to kill his worst enemy,will risk harming a woman. Sometimes Loretta would come and spendthe day, and she seemed little less distressed than June. Dave wasconstantly in and out, and several times June had seen the Red Foxhanging around. Always the talk was of the feud. The killing of thisTolliver and of that long ago was rehearsed over and over; all thewrongs the family had suffered at the hands of the Falins were retold,and in spite of herself June felt the old hatred of her childhoodreawakening against them so fiercely that she was startled: and she knewthat if she were a man she would be as ready now to take up a Winchesteragainst the Falins as though she had known no other life.

  Loretta got no comfort from her in her tentative efforts to talk of BuckFalin, and once, indeed, June gave her a scathing rebuke. With every dayher feeling for her father and Bub was knit a little more closely, andtoward Dave grew a little more kindly. She had her moods even againstHale, but they always ended in a storm of helpless tears. Her fathersaid little of Hale, but that little was enough. Young Dave was openlyexultant when he heard of the favouritism shown a Falin by the Guardat the Gap, the effort Hale had made to catch Rufe Tolliver and hiswell-known purpose yet to capture him; for the Guard maintained a fundfor the arrest and prosecution of criminals, and the reward it offeredfor Rufe, dead or alive, was known by everybody on both sides of theState line. For nearly a week no word was heard of the fugitive, andthen one night, after supper, while June was sitting at the fire, theback door was opened, Rufe slid like a snake within, and when Junesprang to her feet with a sharp cry of terror, he gave his brutal laugh:

  "Don't take much to skeer you--does it?" Shuddering she felt his evileyes sweep her from head to foot, for the beast within was alwaysunleashed and ever ready to spring, and she dropped back into her seat,speechless. Young Dave, entering from the kitchen, saw Rufe's look andthe hostile lightning of his own eyes flashed at his foster-uncle, whoknew straightway that he must not for his own safety strain the boy'sjealousy too far.

  "You oughtn't to 'a' done it, Rufe," said old Judd a little later, andhe shook his head. Again Rufe laughed:

  "No--" he said with a quick pacificatory look to young Dave, "not toHIM!" The swift gritting of Dave's teeth showed that he knew what wasmeant, and without warning the instinct of a protecting tigress leapedwithin June. She had seen and had been grateful for the look Dave gavethe outlaw, but without a word she rose new and went to her own room.While she sat at her window, her step-mother came out the back door andleft it open for a moment. Through it June could hear the talk:

  "No," said her father, "she ain't goin' to marry him." Dave grunted andRufe's voice came again:

  "Ain't no danger, I reckon, of her tellin' on me?"

  "No," said her father gruffly, and the door banged.

  No, thought June, she wouldn't, even without her father's trust, thoughshe loathed the man, and he was the only thing on earth of which she wasafraid--that was the miracle of it and June wondered. She was a Tolliverand the clan loyalty of a century forbade--that was all. As she rose shesaw a figure skulking past the edge of the woods. She called Bub in andtold him about it, and Rufe stayed at the cabin all night, but June didnot see him next morning, and she kept out of his way whenever he cameagain. A few nights later the Red Fox slouched up to the cabin with someherbs for the step-mother. Old Judd eyed him askance.

  "Lookin' fer that reward, Red?" The old man had no time for the meekreply that was on his lips, for the old woman spoke up sharply:

  "You let Red alone, Judd--I tol' him to come." And the Red Fox stayedto supper, and when Rufe left the cabin that night, a bent figure with abig rifle and in moccasins sneaked after him.

  The next night there was a tap on Hale's window just at his bedside, andwhen he looked out he saw the Red Fox's big rifle, telescope, moccasinsand all in the moonlight. The Red Fox had discovered the whereabouts ofRufe Tolliver, and that very night he guided Hale and six of theguard to the edge of a little clearing where the Red Fox pointed to aone-roomed cabin, quiet in the moonlight. Hale had his requisition now.

  "Ain't no trouble ketchin' Rufe, if you bait him with a woman," hesnarled. "There mought be several Tollivers in thar. Wait till daybreakand git the drap on him, when he comes out." And then he disappeared.

  Surrounding the cabin, Hale waited, and on top of the mountain, aboveLonesome Cove, the Red Fox sat waiting and watching through his bigtelescope. Through it he saw Bad Rufe step outside the door at daybreakand stretch his arms with a yawn, and he saw three men spring withlevelled Winchesters from behind a clump of bushes. The woman shot fromthe door behind Rufe with a pistol in each hand, but Rufe kept his handsin the air and turned his head to the woman who lowered the half-raisedweapons slowly. When he saw the cavalcade start for the county seatwith Rufe manacled in the midst of them, he dropped swiftly down intoLonesome Cove to tell Judd that Rufe was a prisoner and to retake himon the way to jail. And, as the Red Fox well knew would happen, old Juddand young Dave and two other Tollivers who were at the cabin gallopedinto the county seat to find Rufe in jail, and that jail guarded byseven grim young men armed with Winchesters and shot-guns.

  Hale faced the old man quietly--eye to eye.

  "It's no use, Judd," he said, "you'd better let the law take itscourse." The old man was scornful.

  "Thar's never been a Tolliver convicted of killin' nobody, much lesshung--an' thar ain't goin' to be."

  "I'm glad you warned me," said Hale still quietly, "though it wasn'tnecessary. But if he's convicted, he'll hang."

  The giant's face worked in convulsive helplessness and he turned away.

  "You hold the cyards now, but my deal is comin'."

  "All right, Judd--you're getting a square one from me."

  Back rode the Tollivers and Devil Judd never opened his lips again untilhe was at home in Lonesome Cove. June was sitting on the porch when hewalked heavy-headed through the gate.

  "They've ketched Rufe," he said, and after a moment he added gruffly:

  "Thar's goin' to be sure enough trouble now. The Falins'll think allthem police fellers air on their side now. This ain't no place feryou--you must git away."

  June shook her head and her eyes turned to the flowers at the edge ofthe garden:

  "I'm not goin' away, Dad," she said.