CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
JUSTICE UNDELAYED
Human emotions are like clocks: some of 'em will run longer 'n others;but they'll all run down unless they're wound up again every so often.Even fear will only run so long, as several late-lamented bullies havebeen forced to learn just before they passed over the Great Divide.After you've scared a feller as bad as he can get, it is well enoughto let him alone. If you keep on addin' horror onto horror, his fearis likely to run down; and the chances are 'at he'll get irritated,and slaughter ya.
I don't know whether or not patience can rightly be called an emotion;but anyway, mine runs down a little easier 'n airy other o' myfaculties, and sittin' up in the chill an' waitin' for a lot o'festive fools to go to bed, allus was just the sort o' thing todisgust me. Those Cross-branders didn't seem to have any more use forshut-eye that night than a convention o' owls. Some of 'em rode off atdusk, but more of 'em arrived, and they held some sort of high jinksin the bunk-house, till I began to talk back at myself loud enough forall to hear. It was full moon an' we could see dogs loafin' an'fightin' down at the ranch, the light in the new cabin was the firstto go out, an' for the life of me, I couldn't see where we had asingle pair to stay on; but Horace seemed to accumulate obstinacy withevery breath he drew. The sided with me, but criticizin' Horace wentagain' his religion, so he didn't make any more uproar than a gnatfight.
Finally I calmed down until I could stretch each word out a fullbreath an' sez in my doviest voice: "Horace, will you kindly tell mewhat in hell you intend to do?"
He studied the situation careful, and took all the time he needed todo it. "I'm goin' back to camp," sez he. "To-morrow night they'll besleepy, and we'll have the whole place to ourselves."
"Hurrah for hot weather! Greece has finally melted!" I yelled, an' wehustled for our ponies.
I have a buck-skin riggin' I put on the bridle of a hoss who gets intothe evil way of steppin' on his reins; and I had fixed one on Horace'shoss to bring him back to his senses should he attempt to play thesame trick he had worked on us the day before. When a hoss wearin' oneo' these contrivances steps on his reins it pinches his ears, downclose to his head where they're tender, and generally works areformation in short order.
We forgot all about this, and when Horace jumped into his saddle, hegave a jerk on the reins--and got bucked into a clump o' cactus. Thehoss didn't try any runnin', though, which proves he had learned aproper respect for trailin' reins. Still, Horace wasn't quite in themood to see the beauty o' my method, so he insisted upon my swappin'hosses with him. It was a good two-hours' ride to Olaf's, and by thetime we had changed saddles, and I had convinced the pony that hisidees of buckin' were childish an' fu-tile, and his show of temper hadonly given him a hundred an' ninety pounds to carry instead of ahundred an' twenty, it was after nine o'clock.
We were hungry enough to call for speed; but still it was eleven bythe time we reached the Spread. We thought we had seen a horseman gointo it from the other direction; but the moon had ducked under acloud and we couldn't be certain.
We didn't intend to waken Kit if we could help it; so we started toput the hosses into the corral as quiet as possible. Just as we hadthrown our saddles over the top bar, we heard a commotion from thecabin, and started for it on the run.
There wasn't any light in the cabin; but we heard Kit screamin', andbefore we arrived, we saw a man rush around the corner just as thedoor was flung open, and two other men jumped towards him from theinside. These two had knives in their hands; and the man outside tooka step back. They rushed him, but he hit one with his right fist, andthe other with his left, and curled 'em both up again' the side o' thehouse in a way to make a feller's heart dance for joy. Then we saw itwas the Friar himself, and we gave a whoop.
Kit had banged the door shut, put up the bar, got a rifle and madeready for what was to come next; but when she heard our whoop, she puton her wrapper and opened the door. The two men 'at the Friar hadcrumpled up were those same two Greasers 'at The had told us were themeanest pair he had ever herded with.
We took 'em by the heels an' straightened 'em out, while Kit indulgedin a few little hystericals. The Friar had allus been a great hand toexpound upon moral force an' spiritual force, and such items, and nowwhen the two Greasers refused to come back an' claim their own bodies,he got a little fidgetty.
"Friar," I sez, "I give in to you. Your quiet way o' lettin' the rightwork out its own salvation is the surest way I know; and in anemergency like this, it does full as well as violence."
The Friar wasn't in no mood for hilarity, though; so after gettin'their weapons an' tyin' 'em up, we soused the Greasers with water, andbrought 'em back to give an account o' themselves, Kit all the timetellin' us what had happened.
It seems 'at Kit had been hoein' in her beloved garden that day an'had been purty tired at night; so after waitin' for us until she gotexasperated, she had eaten her own supper, put ours on the table, an'turned in. Olaf had put up another cabin the same size as his first.He had put 'em side by side with a porch joinin' at their eaves. Inone cabin was the dinin' room an' kitchen, all in one, and in theother was the bedroom an' settin' room.
Kit had heard a noise in the settin' room and had opened the doorbefore she was full awake, thinkin' it was the dog or cat. The minuteshe had opened the door they had grabbed her, and she had begun toscream. They shut off her wind a little; but they wasn't rough withher--quite the contrary. They leered into her eyes, and patted her onthe shoulders, and made queer, gurglin' noises in their dirty brownthroats; but they didn't speak to her, not one word.
Kit was strong, an' she had fought 'em to a standstill for what shethinks was twenty minutes, at least; but she was beginnin' to weaken.One of 'em kept his arm about her neck, and whenever she tried toscream, shut off her wind. She had heard the Friar's hoss nicker whenhe opened the first pole gate, and this provided her with enough moralcourage to sink her teeth into the wrist of the arm about her neck.The feller had give a yell, and struck her; but at the same time, shehad opened up a scream of her own which loosened things all over theneighborhood.
The Friar had first put for the settin' room door; but they had lockedthis door on the inside, intendin' to go out the side door. He savviedthis so he dove into the porch-way between the two cabins, and made arattlin' on this door. They had paused at this; but he had to rattleseveral times before they took down the front bar. We had been fordin'the crick about this time.
The Greasers had tried to get out the window once; but Kit had calledout what they were up to; so they had turned on her an' choked andbeat her scandalous.
This was Kit's side, and by the time she had finished tellin' it, theGreasers had begun to moan an' toss. The Friar gave a sigh of relief,as soon as they came to enough to begin grittin' their teeth. I sat'em up with their backs again' the side of the cabin, and intimatedthat we were ready to receive their last words.
We had to encourage 'em a bit, one way or another; but we finally gotout of 'em that they had poisoned the dog, and then cut a crack in thedoor till they could raise the bar. They said 'at Ty Jones hadn't hadno hand in plannin' their trip; but had offered 'em a hundred apieceif they could put Olaf in the mood of wishin' he had sold outpeaceable.
"Well," sez I, as soon as they were through, "shall we finish with 'emto-night, or give 'em till to-morrow to repent?"
"We shall of course deliver them to the proper officials to be triedby due process of law," sez the Friar.
"What for?" sez I. "Ya never can tell how a trial will turn out; butwe know 'at they have forfeited the right to live; so we'll just give'em what they've earned and save all fuss."
"No good ever comes of men taking the law into their own hands," sezthe Friar firmly.
"How come, then, that you didn't run an' tell some justice o' thepeace, 'at these two snakes was actin' disrespectful--instead ofknockin' 'em up again' the logs?" sez I.
"I should have done so if I had had time," sez the Friar with dignity.
"Well,
you're better trained 'n we are," sez I; "but it still takes alittle time for you to make your hands mind your self-control, afteryou've been het up. You can do it in ten minutes, say; but it takes usabout a week, and by that time the' won't be any need for the law."
"No," sez the Friar, "I insist that we rely upon the law. We countourselves as of the better element; and the most vicious conditionsarise when the better element takes the law into its own hands. When avicious man does illegal violence, it does not establish a precedent;but when the decent man does the same thing, it tears away forms ofcivilization which have taken centuries to construct."
"That sounds like sense," sez I; "and after this is all over, I don'tmind arguin' it out with you; but right now, it would seem to me thatif we went to law about this, it would be because we wanted toshoulder onto the law the responsibility of doin' what we feel oughtto be done, but which we haven't the nerve to do ourselves."
"If you attempt to lynch these men, I shall ride at once and give thealarm," sez the Friar.
"And when you came back, you would find 'em swingin' from a limb," sezI. "I'm with you in most things, Friar, and if the' was a shred o'doubt, I'd be with you in this; but it's too plain a case. I'm willin'to hold these two in secret until we can collect a posse o' twelve togive 'em a jury trial; but this is the most I'll do. Ty Jones has gotothers of his gang away from the law, but he don't get these two--notif I can help it."
Horace sided with me, and so did The, though he didn't have much tosay. He was thinkin' of his own trip to pester Olaf, and it came backto him purty strong. The Friar finally had to agree not to notify thelaw until I'd had time to gather up a posse. I made Horace promise notto tell the Friar about our seein' the woman back at Ty's, saw thatthe Greasers were planted safe in Olaf's log barn, and set out at oncefor the Diamond Dot on a fresh hoss. I never want to eat none beforestartin' a ride like this.
I rode all that night through the moonlight; swingin' up over thepasses, fordin' the rivers, and reachin' the Diamond Dot at noon thenext day. I didn't let on to Jabez 'at I was there at all; but I gotSpider Kelley, ol' Tank Williams, Tillte Dutch, and Mexican Slim totake a vacation and come on back with me. This gave five for the jury,as I didn't intend to have Horace or The sit on it, not knowin' howfar their prejudice might prevent 'em from executin' my idee ofjustice. We set out to return, about five o'clock, and rode into theSpread at seven the next mornin' with eight other fellers we hadbrought along for good measure.
Old Jimmy Simpson and his four grown sons were in this bunch, and Iwas purty well acquainted with 'em. I knew 'at they had been amplypestered by Ty Jones's outfit, and wouldn't be too particular aboutwhat book-law might have to say on the subject, though ol' man Simpsonwas up on book-law. The other three were fellers they knew and werewillin' to guarantee. We were all a little sleepy, so we decided tohold the trial after dinner.
The Friar had spent as much time with the Greasers as they'd standfor; but he hadn't made much impression on 'em. I knew 'at he washeart-whole in his attitude, an' I hated to cross him; but this was acase o' principle with me, so when we got ready for the trial, I triedto get him to take a long walk, but he refused.
We held the trial in front o' the barn, and it was as legal as anytrial ever was, and as solemn, too. We untied the prisoners, andcalled Kit for the first witness. She told it just as she had told itto us, but her bruised face would have been all that was necessary.Then we called the Friar and he told his part, and we let him make aspeech in favor o' law and order; and cheered him hearty, too, when hegot through.
I had just begun to give my part, when Olaf and Oscar rode up. Olafsat on his hoss and looked at us a moment, at Kit with her bruisedface, holdin' the boy in her arms, at the prisoners and us; and thenhe asked the Friar what it all meant. The Friar was sunonomous withtruth, as far as Olaf was concerned.
Olaf listened quietly, the dark red risin' in his cheeks bein' aboutthe only change in him. When the Friar finished, Olaf got off hishoss. "The' won't be need of any more trial," sez he. "Kit, you go tothe house."
Kit started for the house, and the Friar asked Olaf what he intendedto do.
"Kill 'em," sez Olaf, "with my two hands."
He unbuckled his belt and threw it on the ground, then kicked off hischaps, and stepped through the ring we had formed. "Stop," said theFriar. "Olaf, I forbid this."
"You had better go to the house, Friar," said Olaf with pleadin' inhis voice. "Go in--please go in--an' comfort Kit."
The Friar made a rush, but we fended him off. The Greasers also triedto make a get-away; and between the three of 'em we were some busy;but it didn't last long. When the Greasers saw they couldn't break ourring, they turned on Olaf like cornered rats. They struck him and theychoked him; but not once did he speak, and whenever his grip closed ontheir flesh, he ruined that part forever. It was a horrid sight; but Icouldn't have turned my eyes away if I'd wanted to. In the end hebroke their necks, one after the other, and then he stood up straightand wiped his forehead. "I take the blame," said he. "I take all theblame, here and hereafter"; which certainly was a square thing to do,though we hadn't counted on it, any.
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