CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
OLAF RUNS THE BLOCKADE
Ty Jones had been as wise as a fox when he located his ranch house. Itsat on high ground, while back of it rose a cliff; so 'at the only wayyou could get to it without ropes from the back, was through thelittle ravine. The cliffs circled around to the crick on both sides,and the crick was so full o' rocks that the' was only two places ahoss could cross. He had strung barb wire through the cottonwoods in aregular tangle along the crick, and the only places he had to watch incase of an attack, were the ravine and these two fords. He could seefor miles in all directions by goin' to the head o' the ravine; andyou could hardly pick out a purtier place for a last-stand 'n the onehe had selected.
The new cabin for the woman was right in front o' the mouth o' theravine, the old cabin a hundred yards or so farther on, the cook-houseand the Chink's quarters to the north o' this, the mess-hall for themen to the east of this, the barn, wagon-sheds, workshop, and so on,some distance to the south, and the bunk-shack a little to the northof the stables. He had several corrals back o' the barn and a pastureof about thirty acres shut in by a wire fence.
After I had cooled off a little, I saw that the Friar was right. Thething we couldn't tell was, just how much they had forced Promotheusto confess. If they had simply got Ty jealous that he was tryin' toget the woman away, we might make it all the worse by chargin' down on'em; while on the other hand he might have told where we were, and Tymight take it into his head to try to get us all. This last would havebeen the finest thing 'at could happen to us; but the' was no way totell; so after eatin' supper, we went down to the edge o' the cliff tosee what we could see.
We were most of us surprised to see how far the cabin stood from thecliff. In lookin' down from our look-out, we had failed to take theslope into account so it had looked as though we had been able to seethe woman the minute she had come out o' the mouth of the ravine,while the fact was the cabin stood several hundred feet from themouth. If it hadn't been for the confounded dogs, we could have gonedown and found out what we wanted to know. We made some remarks aboutthose dogs which would have seared their hair off if they'd 'a' been alittle closer.
The light was kept in the mess-hall long after time to finish eatin';and we guessed they were tryin' Promotheus, right while we werelookin' on from above. All of a sudden, Olaf struck his palm with hisfist, and exclaimed: "What a fool I have been! Those dogs rememberedPromotheus, and he never patted 'em. I have patted 'em and spokesoothin' words to 'em, and they would know me. I shall go down andlisten."
Now this was a noble thought and we hadn't a word to say again' it; soOlaf went back to camp, shed his boots and put on moccasins. Slim wasa good shot with a rifle, so he staid with Horace, who had an elephantgun and a yearnin' to use it, up on the cliff above the mouth o' theravine. They had seven rifles of one kind and another, and theythought they could make a disturbance if Olaf started anything. Therest of us went down the ravine to the last curve. We tried to get theFriar to stay behind; but his blood was up, and he wouldn't heed us.We had it made up to rope and tie him hand and foot, when we werefinally ready to wind things up with Ty Jones.
Olaf left us with his big, hard face set into rigid lines. He had along score to settle with Ty Jones, and he had made a funny gruntin'hum in his throat every few steps as we had walked down the ravine. Wewaited what seemed weeks; but the' was no uproar, and finally, he cameout o' the gloom, and spoke to us in a whisper. We went back with himto the top o' the path before he told us what he had heard.
He said they were tryin' to make Promotheus confess who was back ofhim; but that Promotheus had steadily refused. He said 'at Ty had toldhim over and over that if he would tell him where he could lay handson either the Friar or Dinky Bradford, he would give him a month toget out o' the country himself; but Promotheus had stood firm, andthey had shut him up in the workshop again, tellin' him he would getnothin' but water until he did confess.
This made us some easier in our minds. Promotheus had acted so wornout and done up since his return, that he had fooled Ty; and Ty lookedupon him as a broke-down man, and nothin' but a tool in the hands ofsome stronger men. Olaf said 'at Ty acted as though he thought theFriar had sent in a report to the government, and had got Bradford tocome out here the time that Promotheus had disappeared; and in someway they had got word o' Horace comin' through Bosco this last time.Dixon had told about seein' us at Skelty's, and a strange feller toldabout bein' shot at, the night Olaf's cabin had been fired. Theybunched all this together, and decided 'at the best thing to do was totrade Promotheus for Horace or the Friar, if it could be done. I had achuckle all to myself, when I pictured Horace as he had been when Itook him in hand, and now with the reputation he hadn't quite earned,bein' a worry to the Ty Jones outfit.
"I allus said they were cowards," sez Horace, as soon as Olaf hadfinished his tale. "A man's got an imagination, and as soon as hestarts to live like a wolf, this imagination fills the world withwatchdogs. Ty Jones never has fought in the open, and we'll have notrouble with him as soon as we once get him on the run."
"Ty Jones has no fear," sez Olaf. "I know; I have seen with my owneyes. He is too clever to be trapped; but he has no fear."
"Well, wait and see," sez Horace.
Me and Tank kept watch on the cliff until mornin' and then as nothin'had happened, we went up to camp, and Slim and Dutch took watch at ourregular look-out. As we sat down to breakfast, we noticed 'at theFriar was gone. Several spoke of him havin' been restless the nightbefore and not turnin' in when the rest did. The Friar allus wasunregular in his habits, especially at night; so we didn't pay muchheed to him when he wrote by the fire, or went off by himself in thequiet starlight, to sing some o' the pressure off his heart; but atsuch a time as this, we anticipated him to be as circumspect aspossible.
We started to hunt him up, but it didn't take long. Horace found anote pinned to the Friar's tarp, and the note told us that he hadthought it all over careful durin' the night, and had decided that hisduty compelled him to go down and offer himself in exchange forPromotheus. He said that when things came to such a tangle that nohuman ingenuity could unmix 'em, it was time to put trust in a higherpower; that it was for him that Promotheus had risked his life, andthat he felt he must take his place, as Ty had promised to letPromotheus go if he would betray him. He said that he could not seeany way to help the woman, and that if he lost his life, for us not tothink of revenge, as it would all turn out for the best in somemysterious way. The Friar had gone through a lot durin' the last fewyears, and it had finally undermined his patience. I knew just how hefelt: he wanted something to happen which would end his suspense, andhe didn't care much what it was.
As soon as Horace had finished readin'; we all sat around in completesilence, gawkin' at each other. "Things has finally come to a head,"sez Spider Kelley, solemnly.
"There now, that's the Christian religion!" exclaimed Horace. "TheChristian religion is founded on self-sacrifice and martyrdom, and allthose who get it bad enough spend the bulk o' their time on thelookout to be martyrs and sacrifice theirselves for something--andthey don't care much what for. Look at the crusades--the flower o'Europe was lured into the desert and dumped there like worn-out junk,even children were offered up in this sacrifice. Nothing butsentimentality, rank sentimentality. Now, when the ancient Greeks--"
"The thing for us, is to decide on what we're to do next, not what theancient Greeks did a few thousand years before we were born," sez I."There is no use hidin' any longer. The strongest card we have up oursleeve is the fake reputation of Dinky Bradford, and what we must dois to make up the best plan to play it."
"Why do you say fake reputation?" demanded Horace.
"Well, you're not a government agent, are ya?" I asked.
"No," sez he; "but at the same time--"
"I didn't say 'at you was a fake, Horace," sez I in a soothin' voice."I merely intimated that the things Ty Jones most fears about you arethe things which were not so."
; "I see what you mean," sez Horace, "and it's all right. What's yourplan?"
"Well, as soon as we are sure 'at the Friar has reached Ty's," sez I,"we'll send Ty word to deliver him back at once, and to appoint ameetin' place to explain things to us. Not make any threats nor bluffsnor nothin'. Just a plain, simple statement of what we want done, andsign your name to it."
"I think it would be better to tell him we had his place surrounded,"said Horace.
"Nope," said I, "your old theory is best: let their imaginationssupply the details. If we put the government into their minds toostrong, they're likely to find some way to deliver Promotheus over tothe law. I have a sort of impediment that The was a little rough withan officer or two, after he deserted, and Ty knows all about him."
"How the deuce will we get word to Ty?" sez Horace. "As fast as we'dsend messengers, Ty would shut 'em up."
"One thing is certain, at least," sez I. "Ty won't string 'em up aslong as he knows he's bein' watched. And another thing is, that all ofTy's men are wanted for one thing or another, and the longer we keep'em in suspense, the sooner they'll weaken. We ought to send word tothe Simpson boys. They are at least two to one again' us as we standnow."
Just at this junction, Slim arrived with the news that the Friar wasridin' up to the ford. I was purty sure 'at he wouldn't go down by theravine. The Friar might lack judgment in certain matters; but youcould count on him lookin' out for his friends, every time.
We hustled down to the look-out, and saw the Friar ride out into theopen, and hail the house. In a minute the' was a crowd about him andthey pulled him from his hoss and dragged him toward the mess-hall,actin' mighty jubilant. The dogs raised a consid'able fuss; but theydidn't let any of 'em get to the Friar this time. I don't know whetherthey were tryin' to save the Friar or the dogs.
They took the Friar into the mess-hall, and kept him there a good longtime; but I felt sure he wouldn't tell more 'n he wanted to. Then theybrought him out and shut him up in the workshop with Promotheus.
"You don't see 'em turnin' Promotheus loose, do ya?" sez ol' Tank.
"Ty Jones would cheat himself playin' solitaire," sez Spider Kelley.
"He didn't agree to turn Promotheus loose if the Friar surrendered,"sez Olaf. "He only said he would if Promotheus enticed the Friar intoa trap."
Ty Jones certainly did have what ya call personal magnetism. His menstuck up for him, even when they was willin' to help snuff him out.
We sent Oscar over to get the Simpson boys; and then we made ourplans. The' was no way to get to our camp from above, and we couldeasy guard the two trails 'at led up from below. Nothin' would havesuited us better 'n to have Ty decide to come and get us; so we toldOscar to make all the fuss he wanted when he came back.
Nothin' happened down at the ranch that day. The woman drifted about,the same as usual, not seemin' to observe 'at the' was anythingdifferent from ordinary, and the punchers all stayed in sight. A fewof 'em rode up to high spots across the crick and took gappin's, and acouple of 'em came up the ravine and examined the ground on top; butthey didn't seem to find anything to interest 'em.
That night Horace wrote an order on Ty Jones to release the Friar--wehad decided not to mention Promotheus--and Olaf started down with themessage. We posted ourselves the same as we had done before; and afterabout an hour, Olaf returned.
He said he had examined the workshop, which was of logs, the same asthe rest o' the buildin's, and had heard the Friar and Promotheustalkin'; but hadn't ventured to say anything for fear they werewatched. He said 'at the Friar was holdin' out on the value o'fastin'; while Promotheus was speakin' in defence of ham an' eggs.Then he said he had crept up to the front door of the old cabin, andhad fastened up the order with a dagger.
Olaf looked to me as though he had been enjoyin' himself a little more'n his tale gave reason for; so I pressed him, and finally he admittedthat there had been a man on watch at the mouth o' the ravine. He saidhe had wriggled through it on his belly, thinkin' it too good a placeto be overlooked since the Friar had put 'em on their guard; and afterlyin' still a moment, he had heard the man move. He said he had snakedup to him, and had got him by the throat. He said he thought it wasDixon because the' was so much throat to get hold of. Dixon had beenperfectly resigned to havin' Olaf lynched that time and Olaf's memorywas not o' the leaky kind.
"What became of him, Olaf?" I asked.
"Oh, he fought some," said Olaf.
"Did he get away?" I asked.
"Un, yes--yes he got away," sez Olaf.
"Where did he go to?" sez I.
"I think he went down--way down," sez Olaf.
"Down where?" sez I. "Why don't you tell us what happened to him?"
Olaf looked down at his right hand. It didn't resemble a hand much;but it would 'a' been a handy tool to use in maulin' wedges into alog. "Why," sez he, "he wriggled about, and started to squeak; andwhen I squeezed in on his neck to shut off the squeak, why his neckbroke. It was too thin to be stout."
I held out my hand. "Olaf," I sez, "I want to shake the hand thatshook his neck."
"Yes," sez Tank, "and by dad, so do I!" Tank's leg was still tender.
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