CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
PROMOTHEUS IN THE TOILS
Tank weighed like a beef when he got liquor-loose, and it was all meand Spider could do to get him to bed. His legs were like rubber; buthe insisted on tellin' us what he thought about things. He begged usto start back and let him ride, sayin' that it was only the heat o'the room, not the drink, which had upset him; but he was in no shapeto ride a hay wagon, so we put him to bed.
"I think more o' the Friar than of airy other man I know," he sez tous at the head o' the stairs; "but I own up 'at I don't take kindly toreligion; and I'll tell ya why. The's hundreds an' dozens of hymns tothe doggone sheep-herders; but the' ain't one single one to thecow-punchers. Now, what I sez is this, if ya want to round me up in areligion, you got to find one 'at has hymns to cattle men."
We didn't bother to explain it to him, 'cause he wasn't in conditionto know a parable from a pair o' boots. We dragged him along the halland flung him on his bed. By chance we put him on the bed with hisboots on the piller; but he went sound asleep the moment he stretchedout; so we just hung his hat on his toe, folded the blanket over him,locked the door, put the key in my pocket, and went across the hall toour own room.
I didn't want to harbor that liquor any longer 'n I had to, so me an'Spider slipped down, got some salt an' mustard, soaked it in water,drenched ourselves--and repented of havin' been such fools. Then wewent up to bed. It had been some time since we had stretched out onsprings, and we were cordial for sleep; so we mingled with it in shortorder.
Still, I wasn't easy in my mind, and twice I woke up and went into thehall; but I couldn't hear anything, though I had a feelin' that the'dbeen some good cause for my wakin' up. I lay on the bed the last timewith my mind made up to watch. Skelty's had allus had the name o'bein' a tough joint, and this red-eyed Maxwell with his Injun hairwasn't of the kind to purify it to such an extent that the oldcustomers wouldn't feel at home.
As I lay there, I saw the window rise, slow and careful. The' wasn'tany moon; but I could see a hand in the starlight. I made up my mindto sneak out o' bed, grab the hand, pull it in to the shoulder, andthen throw all my weight on it, and yell for Spider. I got up asnoiseless as cider turnin' into vinegar--and then upset a confoundedchair, which sounded like two houses runnin' together.
The window dropped with a bang; and at the same moment the' came ashriek from across the hall, followed by some scufflin' and the soundo' broken glass. After this all we heard was Tank's voice tryin' toexplain his opinion o' that part o' the country and all itsinhabitants. I had thought that Tank had discarded most of hisprofanity; but by the time we had got our guns and crossed the hall tohim, I changed my mind. When I put the key in the lock, he suggestedto us what was likely to happen to any unfriendly individuals whoattempted to enter that particular room.
I told him gently to stuff the piller into his mouth, if he couldn'tfind any other way to stop his yappin'; and then I unlocked the door,just as Maxwell and his bartender came into the hall. The bartenderhad one gun and one candle, and Maxwell had two guns.
When we opened the door, there was Tank with the blood runnin' downhis leg, while he stood in a corner of the room holdin' his weapon upabove his shoulder. "What's the matter with you?" I sez, a littlecross.
"I'm homesick, you blame ijiot!" sez Tank. "What else would likely bethe matter with me?" Tank was about as far out o' humor as I ever sawhim get.
Maxwell came in and looked at the pool of blood. "Don't stand thereand bleed on the floor," sez he.
Tank looked at him baleful. "What do ya wish me to do--upset yourrotten dive and bleed on the ceilin'?" sez he. "I didn't come heredetermined to smear up your place with my life blood; and I want ya tounderstand that I didn't punch this hole in myself simply to cool off.I know what you're afraid of--You're scared that some o' your liquorhas got into my blood, an' that it'll leak out and set your floor onfire."
"You run get a bucket for him to bleed into," sez Maxwell to thebartender.
"Yes," sez Tank, sarcastic; "and be sure to get a big one, as I amminded to draw off all o' my blood, just to see how much I have in meat this time o' the year."
Sayin' which, Tank walked over an' sittin' on the bed, held out hisboot for me to pull off. He had been stabbed through the leg, throughthe thick part o' the calf, and a jet was spoutin' out of the top cut,and a steady stream oozin' from the bottom one. I put my fingerknuckle above the top jet, and the palm of my other hand over thelower one, and then sent Maxwell after a small rope and some bandages.
While he was gone, a couple o' the girls strolled down the hall to seewhat the excitement was; but Tank began to lecture about morals andmanners, and they didn't bother us long. We patched Tank up in goodorder, and made him lie down again. He said that he had been woke upwhen his leg got stabbed, and had grappled with a man; but the man hadgot out the window again.
Skelty had built his place on a side hill. The bar and dinin' hall wasin front, and a small dance hall and kitchen back of it. Upstairs werebedrooms, and the ground sloped so, that the back rooms were onlyabout five feet from the ground. This made the downstairs easier toheat in winter--and it was also convenient for any one who wanted toget in through a window.
Me and Spider ate breakfast next mornin'; but we wouldn't let Tankeat, rememberin' the Friar's rules for wounds. When we started away,Tank insisted on goin' along; so we had to ride slow. We went north,instead of in the direction we wanted to go, for fear some one mightbe spyin' on us. I was mighty sorry we had come, even though I hadfound out that Promotheus was under suspicion; and as soon as we hadcome to a pass where we could see a good distance in all directions, Isent Spider on a circle to tell the boys to bring things to a head assoon as possible.
Tank's leg ached him consid'able; and we had to ride purty slow; butby noon we had come to the Simpsons' cabin. We told 'em that Ty Joneswas suspicious about the Greasers and intended to get square with allwho had took a hand in removin' 'em; so they agreed to stand with uswhenever we were ready to make a raid on Ty.
I made Tank lie down all afternoon, and drink all the water he couldswallow, but that night when I started to ride over to the look-out,he insisted on goin' along. It was a hard ride, and I wanted him towait until the next night, but he tagged along, so I had to ride slow.We had figured out that the feller who had tried to get him had seenthe hat on his foot at the head o' the bed; and before he had had timeto locate him proper, the noise the other one had made slammin' thewindow to my room had scared him, so he had taken his stab haphazard.
This must 'a' been the way, 'cause when drinkin', Tank was usually aregular long range snorer, and only a hurried man would have mistakenhis feet for his head. Tank insisted that he had seen the feller'soutline again' the window, and that it had been Dixon. I doubted this;but Tank insisted that the feller had had a neck like a beer bottle,and then I had to give in.
We didn't reach camp until sun-up, and then we found 'at Promotheushad been there the night before, with word that he had had a long talkwith the woman, who had been in the most rational mood he had everseen her in. He had drawn her into tellin' him all she could remember.She had told him about havin' her head full o' pictures; but not bein'able to tell the real ones from those she had dreamed. She said shehad lost the key to them and could not understand 'em, that sheremembered havin' sung on many different platforms, but could not tellwhere or when, and could not sing any more, though she sometimestried. She said that whenever he said the name Carmichael, she saw thepicture of a young man in white robes, but that he had died. WhenPromotheus had tried to make her understand that he was still alive,she had become frightened, and told him never to speak the name again.
He asked her about the Winter Garden in Berlin, and she said 'at thiscalled up the picture of a man with curled-up mustaches, and then shehad covered her eyes, and told him he must not mention this again,either. Horace was tellin' me all this; and when he finished, I sez:"Well, if this is the most rational she has ever got, she'd be a niceone to handle
in her usual condition. I don't see what we're to do;but we have to move fast, as Ty Jones is suspicious."
The next night the Friar and I were down at the head of the pathleadin' into the ravine when Promotheus came. He said that Dixon hadcome in with his face cut, and had told about seein' us over atSkelty's, and how we had bragged about gettin' him rail-roaded, andDixon and the others had told him they were ready to back him up anytime he wanted to go an' get even. He also said 'at Ty had beenroastin' the whole gang of 'em for bein' afraid of Olaf, and advisedus to warn Olaf to be on guard. He said the woman had told him thatday that at all times she had a dull pain in the top part of her head.The was beginnin' to get worried, this was plain to see, and he didn'tstay very long.
When we told the others what he had said, we decided it was our dutyto go and tell Olaf that very night, so that he could send over thenext day and get a couple o' the Simpson boys to come over and helpwatch his place at night, until we were ready to finish with Ty. Wewanted to put it off as long as possible, as Ty would soon be in thefall round-up and there wouldn't be so many men at the home place.
Mexican Slim and Tillte Dutch started to ride to Olaf's; but I wasrestless that night, so I rode along with 'em. Just before we reachedthe Spread, we saw a bright light at the side o' the cabin. In aminute two other lights shot up, and we knew they were firin' brush atthe side of it. We threw in the spurs and rode, keepin' close watch.Two men rode towards us, and we drew off to the side of the road. Justas they got opposite, we ordered 'em to halt; but they whirled andfired at us. We fired back, and started after 'em; but it was dark inthe cottonwoods, and they gave us the slip and got away.
When we reached the cabin, we saw it was doomed. Piles o' brush hadbeen heaped on all sides of it and fired one after the other.Everything was so dry that even the dirt on the roof would haveburned, and there was nothing to do. Kit with the boy in her arms, andOlaf and Oscar beside her were standin' close by, watchin' it burn,and they felt mighty bitter. We told 'em why we had come, and advised'em to go and leave Kit with the Simpsons, and come to our camp thenext night. Then we rode back before daylight and told the others whathad happened. We were all purty hosstile. Settin' fire to a cabin witha sleepin' woman inside wasn't no fair way o' fightin'.
That afternoon as we were watchin' the ranch through the fieldglasses, we saw the woman and Promotheus walkin' together toward alittle open space in the cottonwoods where the' was some grass closeto the edge o' the crick. Thick bushes was all about this place, andit was cool and pleasant in the heat o' the day. They hadn't been gonevery long when we saw two others sneakin' after them. I looked throughthe glasses, and one appeared to be the skinny feller, Dixon, and theother, the Chinese cook. We saw 'em sneak into the bushes anddisappear close to where the woman and Promotheus were sittin'. Parto' the time they talked together, and part of the time she read to himout of a book.
We fair ached to yell to 'em and put 'em on their guard; but all wecould do was to sit up above in our look-out, feelin' weak anduseless. I suppose we felt like a mother bird when she sees someinhuman human foolin' about her nest.
After a time the Chink crept out and scurried along to the old house.He bounced across the porch, all crouched over, and we knew he hadsome evil tale to cheer up his yellow soul with. In half a minute, Tycame out with him and follered him into the clump o' bushes. We couldsee the woman and Promotheus plain, with our naked eyes. It was a goodthing, too; for Horace hung on to his glasses as though they were lifepreservers.
In about ten minutes, the bushes parted, and Ty stepped into the openspace in front of 'em. Promotheus got to his feet slow, but the womansat still, and didn't seem much interested.
Ty glared at Promotheus durin' the few minutes he was questionin' him,and then they all went back towards the ranch house. The woman went onto her own cabin, and Ty blew on the horn which hung at the side ofthe door, and that sneak of a Dixon came on the run, as though he hadno idee what was wanted. Actin' under orders from Ty, he took The'sgun and then tied his hands behind him and shut him up in an outbuildin' near the stables. There didn't appear to be any one elseabout the ranch, and I suggested that we make a rush and takepossession right then.
While we were debatin' it, we saw the punchers comin' in from theeast, across the crick. There were about a dozen of 'em, strung outand ridin' hard the way they generally rode.
"They're likely to string him up this very night," sez I; "and we'llhave to settle this business before sun-up."
"They are not likely to be in any hurry," sez the Friar. "If we goto-night it will mean a lot o' bloodshed. To-morrow they will go outon the range again, and we stand a good chance of rescuing him withouteven a fight."
Olaf, of course, sided with the Friar, Horace sided with me, and wehad a purty heated discussion. The Friar argued that he had the mostat stake and had a right to select the plan with the least risk. Iargued that Promotheus had the most at stake, and we had no right totake risk into account. We got purty excited, I usin' the word cowardfreely, while the Friar stuck to the word folly and kept cooler 'n Idid. He finally won 'em over to a compromise. We were to go down closeand keep watch durin' the night; but not to make a rush until we sawPromotheus actually in instant danger.
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