Read Oliver Strange - Sudden Westerns 01 - The Range Robbers(1930) Online
Authors: Oliver Strange
“What
yu aimin’ to do?’ asked
Job.
“Me
an’ Larry’ll take to the woods an’ snoop around. If we can catch Tarman at the
Crossed Dumb-bell I reckon that’ll be proof aplenty, but before I ask yu to tie
to me there’s somethin’ yu oughtta know.’ Green paused for a space and the
musclesaround his lips grew tense. “There’s a feller known as “Sudden” who’s
bein’ pretty eagerly looked for. Yu will oe told that I’m him, an’—it’s true.’
The
calm announcement jarred the ranch-owner into a state of petrification; with
mouth and eyes wide open he stared at the man who had made it, wondering if his
ears had deceived him. Then, as the full significance of the statement seeped
into his bewildered brain, he snatched at his gun, only to find that Green’s
was already levelled at his heart, though he had seen no movement. The outlaw’s
left hand was in the air, palm outwards, the peace sign.
“Easy,
Leeming, I ain’t lookin’ for trouble, but I’m ready for it,’ Green said
quietly. “As I just told yu, I am Sudden, but yu can take it from me I ain’t
guilty o’ all the crimes
that’s
been pinned to him.
Why, ‘bout three weeks ago he was reported to have robbed the bank at
Lilyville, four hundred miles from here, an’ I was on the Y Z ranch. But that
don’t matter; what I want yu to get into yore head is that I’m playin’ straight
with yu in this rustlin’ game.’
“What
brought yu into these parts?’ asked
Leeming.
“I
didn’t come to steal cows,’ replied the outlaw. “I ain’t a cattle-thief nor a
hold-up, an’ I never pull a gun until I have to. My business here was to look
for two men—I’ve been all over the country in the last few years, hopin’ to
strike their trails. That’s my job, findin’ them two fellers, but I gotta live
too, so I took on at the Y Z. Now that’s the straight goods. I’d like to have
yore help, but whether or no, I’m agoin’ to clean up around here.’
“An’
he won’t have to go it alone, Leeming,’ interposed Larry. “Me, Snap, Dirty,
Simple, an’ Ginger are back of him.’
The
ranchman considered the pair in silence. He had been watching Green closely and
believed that he was speaking the truth. On the other hand, the man was a
self-confessed outlaw, and a notorious one at that. The support of the Y Z
boys, whom he knew to be good fellows, carried a lot of weight; they were not
the kind to take sides against their own ranch without good reason, and he
never had liked Blaynes. As for Tarman—impulsively he stood up and held out his
hand.
“I’ll
go yu, boys,’ he said. “Now, what do yu want me to do?’
“Outfit
us with grub an’ ammunition an’ be ready to come a-bilin’ when yu get the
call,’ Green replied. “Meantime, o’ course, yu ain’t seen hide
nor
hair of us.’
“That’s
easy,’ said their host, and led the way to his storeroom. Here they made up a
parcel of bacon, beans, coffee, salt, and flour, borrowing also a coffee-pot,
skillet, and two tin cups. A plentiful supply of cartridges completed their
preparations,
and
Leeming slid to the door to make sure that the coast was
clear.
“One
more point,’ Green said. “We may be so fixed that we can’t send a message.
Well, we’ll be over Big Chief way; look out for a smoke signal, balled three,
two,
three
. If yu don’t hear nothin’ of us for a week
or two it’ll mean we’re both rubbed out, an’ yu might pay the Crossed Dumb-bell
a visit; I’ve told yu how to find it. An’ keep an eye on Tarman—he’s the king-pin.
So long.’
Leaving
the ranch by the back door they faded into the darkness, found their horses,
and departed without any of the men in the bunkhouse knowing of their visit.
Leeming returned to his chair and loaded a pipe thoughtfully.
“Sudden,
eh?’ he muttered. “Damned if he
don’t
look it too.
Wouldn’t care to be either o’ those fellers he’s after. Durn it, I believe he’s
straight, an’ I reckon I done right; them Y Z friends o’ his are the best o’
the bunch. Guess I’d better mosey over an’ see Simon to-morrow.’
Leeming
reached the Y Z during the morning and found it, as he expected, in a fine
state of commotion. Simon’s attitude puzzled him; the old man was in a savage
temper, but behind it all his friend sensed a kind of fear. Norry, of course,
was in deep disgrace and Job shook an admonishing finger at her. Her father, he
learned, had gone to visit the prisoner that morning only to find the cage open
and the bird missing. He had at once assumed that some of Green’s sympathisers
in the outfit were guilty, and returned to the house vowing threats of
vengeance, to be confronted by his daughter who calmly confessed to being the
culprit. For a moment the old man fairly goggled at her.
“Yu—let—him—out?’
he gasped. “Yu! What in hell for?’
The
girl faced him bravely. “I paid a debt; twice he came to my help,’ she said,
and went on to tell of the second occasion. Simon listened and scowled. He knew
that she had done right, that she had acted as he would like a daughter of his
to act, but in the special circumstances it was the last thing he had wanted to
happen, and man-like, he elected to see only his own side of the matter.
“Yu
must be mad,’ he said savagely. The feller’s a thief an’ a cold-blooded killer,
an’ yu gotta turn him loose.
Whatever he did for yu was done
for his own purposes—to throw dust in yore eyes an’ mine, an’, by heaven, he
did it.
Now, yu get to yore room an’ keep out o’ this. I’m agoin’ to
hunt Mister Sudden down an’ hang him.’
“Simon,
yu been associatin’ too much with me—yu’ve lost yore temper,’ said a satirical
voice, and they looked up to findthe owner of the Frying Pan regarding them
quizzically. “What yu been doin’, Norry, to get him all riled up like this?’ It
was the old man who answered, explaining the situation in a few explosive
sentences. Leeming adopted a philosophic attitude which, had his friend been
less perturbed, would have aroused his suspicion; it was utterly unlike the
Frying Pan man to take things quietly.
“Well,
Simon, what’s the use o’ makin’ a fuss?’ he said. “The
beans
is
spilled. O’ course, Norry hadn’t oughtta loosed him, but she figured
it was the proper caper, an’, damn me, 1 like her for it. Mebbe the feller
ain’t as bad as his reputation after all.’
Petter
turned on the other in amazement. “Well, I’ll be hanged,’ he said. “I never
thought to hear Job Leeming makin’ excuses for a rustler.’
“I
don’t know yet that Green is one,’ replied Job quietly. “Then yu must be
devilish hard to convince, Mr. Leeming,’ chimed in another voice.
It
was Tarman; he had ridden up, trailed his reins, and approached the group on
the verandah unnoticed. Turning to Simon, after sweeping off his hat to Noreen,
he added, “I hope yu have him safe, Petter.’
“I
had him fast enough, but Norry slipped down in the night an’ turned him loose,’
replied the rancher disgustedly. “She reckoned she owed him somethin’.’
“What?
Yu turned him loose?’ cried Tarman, whirling on the culprit, and before the
sudden fury in his face she recoiled. “Are yu mad? Why, yu oughtta be…’
He
pulled up sharply, realising that he was losing all control and on the verge of
making a fool of himself. Noreen, after the first instinctive shrinking from
those eyes blazing with anger, faced him coolly enough.
“Hanged
in his place, were you about to say, Mr. Tarman?’ she inquired.
The
big man had got himself in hand again with wonderful rapidity. “If I was, yu
almost deserve it,’ he retorted, with a grim laugh. “Yo’re takin’ a hand in a
game yu don’t
understand,
an’ others will have to pay.
Now, see here. Yu figure to be in his debt for pullin’ yu off that wild hoss
an’ yu let him free to square yoreself. That’s fair enough from yore point of
view, an’ does yu credit, but yu didn’t stop to think that every crime that
feller commits from now on will be yore
fault,
did yu?
There’s times when private interests have got to be sacrificed to the community
at large. Ain’t that so?’
The
reasoning was specious enough, and the speaker was his own suave self again,
but the girl had had another glimpse of the real man, and somehow the picture
of Tarman sacrificing anything for the benefit of his fellow-man would not take
a convincing shape. Leeming saw that she was troubled and saved her the
necessity of trying to justify herself.
“Women
act on impulse, Tarman, an’ it’s a darn good thing for us that they do,’ he
said. “Yu just run along, Norry, an’ don’t worry yore pretty head about it no
more.’
“That
may be, but there’s one thing she’s got to know,’ interposed Tarman, “an’ that
is that Green’s real object in comin’ to these parts was to find an’ kill a
man, an’ there he stands.’
He
pointed to Simon as he made this dramatic announcement, and the girl’s eyes
opened incredulously.
“Daddy,’
she cried. “It can’t be true.’ And then, remembering what the cowpuncher had
himself told her, she sank into a chair and covered her face with her hands.
Tarman regarded her with grim satisfaction.
“Yu
know it is, an’ I know it,’ he continued. “It’s too long a yarn to spin now,
but the old chap who befriended Green reckoned that Simon had done him dirt,
which he hadn’t, an’ on his deathbed he set the young hound on his trail.’
Noreen
looked up. “Then why hasn’t he carried out his purpose? He’s had plenty of
opportunities.’
‘He
doesn’t know yet that yore father is the feller he’s in search of, when he
does, all hell an’ high water won’t save him.’ White to the lips and sick at
heart, the girl muttered, “I’m sorry, Daddy,’ and going to her room, flung
herself on the bed. She could not grasp it—the whole story seemed too horrible,
and it appeared impossible to her that any man, outlaw though he might be,
could act in such a despicable manner as Green must have done, were the
accusation true. Yet she could not forget the expression on his face when he
had told her of his mission of vengeance.
When
she had left the verandah, Tarman looked at his companions with malicious
triumph. “Reckon she won’t hanker to help him again,’ he said.
Was
that the straight goods or were yu makin’ it up to throw a scare into her?’
asked Leeming.
“The
tale’s true enough, Job,’ Petter said. “The feller’s after my scalp, though I
didn’t know it till Joe told me; he thought he recognised him an’ ferreted
around a piece. Point is
,
what are we goin’ to do?
Hunt him down?’
Tarman
shook his head. “No chance in this country. We’ll bait a trap for him; yu leave
it to me.’
At
this moment Blaynes came up. “Barton is missin’ an’ as he’s took his own hoss
an’ his warbags, it don’t look like he’s acomin’ back,’ he said. “Reckon it was
him turned that damn rustler loose; they was allus pretty thick.’
“Mebbe
yo’re right,’ said his employer, who was not anxious to advertise his
daughter’s interest in the late prisoner.
“What yu goin’ to do about it, boss?
The boys are sayin’ we
oughta get on his trail while it’s hot,’ the foreman continued. “What am I to
tell ‘em
?’
The
remark was an unfortunate one, since it provided the owner of the Y Z with an
excuse for venting his pent-up anger. He whirled savagely on the speaker.