Read Oliver Strange - Sudden Westerns 01 - The Range Robbers(1930) Online
Authors: Oliver Strange
“Well,
yu don’t need to worry—yore hand is played,’ was the ironical retort. “Now yu
come with me an’ I’ll put yu in a safe place for the night.’
Noreen
sat with bowed head and as he passed the puncher caught a whispered, “I’m
sorry,’ which braced him up like a tonic. Silently he followed his late
employer to the back of the ranch-house, where there was an empty hut which had
once been a storeroom. It was strongly built of adobe, with heavy wooden doors
fastened by a padlock and staple.
“There’s
a box to sit on, an’ I’ll fetch yu some blankets an’ grub,’ said his gaoler,
and left him to his reflections.
Half
an hour passed and then Simon returned with a lantern, blankets, and a tray of
food. He untied the captive’s hands that he might eat but stood in the doorway
the while with his pistol drawn. As soon as the meal was done, he replaced the
rope on his wrists and locked the door.
For
a long time the prisoner sat motionless, pondering on his position; it appeared
hopeless enough. The unexpected discovery of his identity was a crushing blow
for it meant short shrift at the hands of his enemies, and the probable loss of
all his friends. More than one county was offering a big reward for the capture
of Sudden the outlaw, and once it became known that he was taken, there was
likely to be a “necktie party’ in Hatchett’s Folly.
The
puncher, however, was not the type to give in; even while he thought, he had
been busy trying to loosen the bonds on his wrists. He met with no success, for
your cattleman understands knots almost as well as a sailor, and Simon had done
his work well. By the dim light of the lantern Green examined his prison, and
saw little hope of leaving it even with his hands free, nevertheless, he
persevered with his bonds; it was, at least, something to do. Looking through
the foot-square aperture which served as a window, he could see that it was
very dark outside, and he judged the time to be near midnight. Suddenly he was conscious
of movement, the sound of a stealthy footfall outside the hut, then the grate
of a key in the padlock, and the door opened to admit Noreen. She had a knife
in one hand.
“Quick,
your bonds,’ she whispered, and when she had slashed the rope apart, she added,
“Larry is waiting at the big cedar with a horse. Go at once.’
“But
yu will get in wrong with yore Dad over this,’ protested the prisoner.
“Well,
he will be furious, of course, but I can manage him,’ she replied.
“Yu
are savin’ my life,’ he said slowly. “I don’t know how to thank yu.’
“Make
better use of it,’ she flashed back, and was gone.
The
released man saw her melt into the shadow, and then, with the caution of an
Indian trailer, made his way to the spot the girl had
mentioned,
the big cedar at the point where the trail from Hatchett’s entered the ranch.
Here, deep in the gloom of the foliage, he found Larry and two horses. The boy
executed a silent wardance when he saw his friend.
“No
time for gassin’ now,’ he whispered. “Fork yore cayuse an’ we’ll punch the
breeze.’
He
himself set the example, and when Green did the like he found he was astride
his own pony, Bullet.
“He
was outside the corral this mornin’—musta headed for here when yu was downed,’
explained Larry. “
Here’s yore guns
; Rattler had ‘em,
an’ thinks he has still.’
Green
buckled the belt around him and tried to express his thanks, but the other cut
them short. “Shucks,’ he said. “
I ain’t done nothin’
;
yu gotna thank the Pretty Lady—she thought of it all.
Which
way we goin’?’
“We?’
echoed the fugitive.
“Shore,’
came
the confident reply. “I’m goin’ with yu. I talked
it over with the Pretty Lady, an’ we agreed that yu ain’t to be trusted alone.
No, it ain’t a bit o’ good yore cussin’ me out thataway.’
“But,
yu blazin’ jackass, can’t yu see what yo’re doin’?’ expostulated Green. “I’m a
rustler, an’ if yo’re caught with me, yo’re one an’
“It’ll
be neckties for two, eh? Well, we won’t be catched then. Now that’s settled,
s’pose we decide where to head for.’
“The
nearest lunatic asylum for yu, but as I reckon that’s a piece away, why, we’ll
make for the Frying Pan.’
“That
bughouse idea is a right good one for yu too. Why, yu bonehead, don’t yu guess
that yore pestiferous past will be known there? Ain’t yu aware that Old
Impatience is a friend o’ Simon, an’ that yu will be steppin’ out o’ one trap
into another?’
Green’s
reply was no set his mouth in motion. “We gotta take chances,’ he said.
Larry
ranged alongside. “Chances?’ he snorted disgustedly. “Yu remind me of a chap
called Lukins I met up with in Dodge one time, he was dead set on ‘em. Somebody
roped a mountain lion an’ fetched it into town in a cage, an’ this fool Lukins
puts up a bet he’ll scratch the back of its head with his empty hand. “Cats
like that,” he says, “an’
as this animile ain’t nothin’ but a
big cat
he’ll like it too.” Well, the brute didn’t seem
none
in love with it, for Lukins lost an arm, an’ the doc
what attended to him reckoned he was clever to save the rest of him.’
Green
laughed. “Leeming ain’t
no
wild animal,’ he said. “The
fact is, he’s got a leveller head than some o’ yu think, but before we go any
further there’s one thing yu gotta right to know.’
“S’pose
yu mean what I’m to call yu? I shore got a choice, ain’t I?
Don,
Green, or—Sudden.’
If
Larry had wished to surprise his friend he had his desire. “Who told yu—Miss
Norry?’ he queried.
“Nope,’
was the reply. “Snap—he’s knowed it some time; recognised yore gun-action when
yu trimmed Snub’s whiskers for him. He allowed I oughtta know, but he
threatened to blow my liver out if I breathed a word of it.’
“When
was this?’
“Couple
o’ hours ago, when he heard I was comin’ with yu. He’d ‘a’ been along too but
he reckoned he’d be more use at the Y Z. Told me to tell yu that he’s with yu
to his last chip.’
“Good
old
Snap
,’ breathed Green softly, and in truth he was
deeply moved. His life had been hard for the most part, and for years now he
had been a wanderer drifting from place to place, with never a friendly face to
greet him, and with no future to look to but one of satisfied vengeance. And
here he had found comrades who
were trusting
him when
ninety-nine out of a hundred would have turned their backs or their guns on
him. He smiled in the darkness, and then said, soberly, “Yes, I’m the man they
call Sudden, an’ there’s somethin’ like ten thousand waitin’ for the man who
takes me in.
Don’t that
tempt yu, Larry?’
The
boy spurred his horse and shouted savagely, “C’mon. What d’yu think I am,
anyway?’
‘Yo’re
a natural-born fool,’ replied Green, “an’ I must be another, ‘cause I like yu
for it.’
“Huh!
I’m still a-chasin’ that foreman’s job,’ retorted the boy. “Lookin’ after
little old me is what I’m doin’, that’s all.’ His friend laughed softly and no
more was said until they drew near the Frying Pan ranch, when the older man
slowed down and cautioned: “Swing round a bit so that we don’t pass the
bunkhouse; I want to get Leeming by himself.’
As
they noiselessly approached the ranch-house they saw that there was a light in
the living-room. Dismounting and trailing the reins, they crept up to the
window and saw that Leeming was alone in the room. A light tap on the glass
brought him to his feet instantly, and gripping his gun, he asked, “
Who’s
there?’
“Larry Barton, from the Y Z.
I want to speak to yu on the
quiet,’
came
the reply.
Leeming
disappeared and in a moment the front door opened and the visitors slid in.
Their host, still carrying his gun, was just to the left of the opening, where
he could get his shot in first in case of trickery. At the sight of Barton,
however, he slipped the weapon back into the holster and grinned.
“Lo,
Larry, gotta be careful these days,’ he said, and then as Green followed his
companion, his face darkened and his hand went to his six-shooter again. “I
wasn’t lookin’ for yu, Green; yu ain’t cherishin’ the notion that I got any
sympathy with rustlers, are yu?’
“No,
seh, not any,’ drawled the other. “So yu have heard all about me? Ain’t it a
licker how news gets around in some parts?’
“One
o’ the Y Z boys met one o’ mine on the range an’ told him yu’d been caught
rustlin’ their cattle,’ replied Leeming grimly. “That’s all I know, an’ if it’s
true it’s aplenty.’
“Mebbe
it is, but there’s more to tell,’ said the other. “I came here tonight to put
my cards on the table if yu are willin’ to listen; if you ain’t, I can go.’
“Huh,
there might be two words to that,’ growled the catnleman, with a glance towards
the bunkhouse from which one shot would bring his men on the run.
The
visitor read the thought and shook his head. “Don’t yu think of it, seh,’ he
said gently. “I ain’t got no quarrel with yu or yore outfit,
but—shucks—war-talk won’t get us nowheres. What’s the word from yu?’
Leeming
dropped into the nearest chair; he realised that his guest had him hog-tied. If
he called his men he would be dead before they reached him, and while they
might succeed in capturing the Y Z couple, it would only be at the cost of more
lives.
“Go
ahead,’ he said shortly.
The
cowpuncher complied. Step by step he told of his discoveries and suspicions,
omitting, however, his own identity and that of Tarman and the Spider. Leeming
watched him closely but did not interrupt. When the story was ended he sat for
some moments turning it over.
“I
allus doubted Blaynes,’ he said, “but I can’t see why yore own gang downed yu,
‘less they suspected yu were just spyin’.’
“It’ll perhaps be a bit clearer when I
tell yu that Tarman is the Spider,’ Green explained.
Leeming
leapt from his seat. “What?’ he exploded. “
Yu shore o’ that?’
“Had
it from one of
his own
men,’ was the reply. “But I got
no proof, an’ Simon laughed at me when I told him; said the feller is goin’ to
buy into the Y Z an’ marry Miss Norry, an’ asked me was it likely he’d rustle
his own cows. Well, it don’t seem so, but as I pointed out, there’s others in
the gang as want pickin’s, an’ Tarman ain’t put down any cash yet.’
Job
stamped up and down the room. “Bah!’ he said. “Simon’s an old fool.
What,
give his girl an’ his ranch to a feller like that, a
stranger? I’ve a notion to go an’ call Mr. Tarman’s bluff right now.’
Green
shook his head. “That wouldn’t help any; he’s got most o’ the fools in
Hatchett’s eatin’—or rather, drinkin’ oun of his hand. We gotta let him run on
the rope a bit longer. What I want to know is
,
will yu
an’ yore boys come a-runnin’ if I send the word?’