CHAPTER XXIX
ANTRIM STRIKES
From the doorway of the cabin on the Rabbit Ear, Antrim had watchedSlade and his men ride away. His gaze followed them until they vanishedover the edge of the big plain above the river valley. Then, smilingcrookedly, he turned back into the cabin.
Two men--one of them the tall man who had ridden away to return with thenews that Lawler and the sheriff were riding northward--were draped onchairs watching the outlaw chief. They were expectant, eager; there wascovert satisfaction in their eyes.
Like Selden, the other man wore two guns. There was about both men anatmosphere that suggested stealth and violence. It lurked over them,hinting of something sinister and deadly.
Selden wore a mustache that drooped at the corners of his mouth. It wasthe color of old straw--a faded, washed-out blonde, darkened here andthere from tobacco stains. His mouth was large, the lower lip sagging inthe center, giving it a satiric appearance, increased by the bleared,narrowed eyes that always seemed to be glowing with a questioning,leering light.
Krell, the other man, was smooth of face, with a strong, bold, thrustingjaw and thick, pouting lips. His eyes were big, but they had adisquieting habit of incessant watchfulness--a crafty alertness, asthough their owner was suspicious of the motives of those at whom helooked.
Selden and Krell had been recruited from the southern border, theyrepresented an element that the ranger service was slowly and surelyeliminating--and driving northward into states whose laws were lessstringent for the evil-doer--the professional gunmen who took life forthe malicious thrill it gave them.
Krell and Selden were "killers." They were Antrim's constant companions,except when the necessities of his trade drove the outlaw to work alone.They knew his whims and understood his methods.
Now, as Antrim paused near the table and looked at them, Krell smiledevilly.
"I reckon we'll be settin' here twirlin' our thumbs till the outfit gitsback?" he suggested.
Antrim laughed.
"We're trailin' the outfit right now," he told the other.
Antrim extinguished the light, and the three went out and mounted theirhorses. Their movements were deliberate, unhurried. They crossed theriver, gaining the plains above it, and rode at a slow lope in thedirection taken by the others who had preceded them.
They talked as they rode, lowly, earnestly--planning the night's work,speculating upon the probable outcome of the raid upon the Circle L bythe men under Slade.
When they reached the edge of the big valley and concealed themselves inthe fringing brush, they saw that Slade and his men had already struck.Streaks of flame were splitting the darkness in the basin; there werereports of pistols--which were reduced to mere faint, popping noises bythe distance they traveled before reaching the ears of Antrim and hismen; they saw the herd start; heard it go thundering up the valley in acloud of dust and strike the edge of the plain above, to swing eastwardtoward Kinney's canon.
"Slade's sure workin' hard for that promotion," observed Antrim,mockingly. "He's got 'em runnin' fast an' under control."
The three men did not emerge from their concealment for some time. Theywatched until the herd grew small in the distance eastward; they notedthe confusion that seemed to reign in the vicinity of the bunkhouse,where the Circle L men were frenziedly preparing to pursue the rustlers;they laughed at the figures that were darting here and there in thelight from the open doorway of the bunkhouse; and Antrim sneered when hesaw the ranchhouse door open and noted the form of a man framed in thesquare of light that shone out.
"That'll be Blackburn, I reckon," he said to the other two; "inquirin'for Lawler, mebbe. Well, Blackburn an' his guys will have to get alongwithout Lawler."
He watched until he saw the Circle L men sweep up the valley, followingthe direction taken by the herd. He waited until he saw a woman emergefrom the door of the ranchhouse. The woman was carrying a lantern, andits fitful, bobbing glare marked the woman's progress as she movedtoward the bunkhouse--in which a light still burned. For an instant thelight from the lantern disappeared, and then they saw it again as itbobbed toward the open where the herd had been when the rustlers hadstruck. Several times Antrim observed that the lantern becamestationary--as though it had been placed upon the ground. He grinnedcoldly as he spoke to Krell and Selden.
"That's Lawler's mother, I reckon. She's huntin' for them boys that wasfoolish enough to try an' stop Slade. Looks like she's findin' 'em,too!"
Antrim watched until the light began to bob as its bearer went towardthe ranchhouse. He saw the door of the ranchhouse open and the womanenter. Then he spoke shortly to the others and they rode down into thevalley. After they reached the floor of the valley Antrim spoke again,shortly:
"Get busy; an' keep back out of the light when you get 'em goin'. Meetme back there where we was waitin'!"
Antrim urged his horse toward the ranchhouse, riding slowly. When hereached the big porch he dismounted, and an instant later was poundingheavily upon the front door.
It was opened after an instant, and Mrs. Lawler appeared, pale, anxious.
"Oh!" she said, startled, when she saw Antrim's face in the glare oflight from within; "I thought you were one of the Circle L men!" Sheshrank back a little when Antrim grinned evilly at her, catching herbreath with a gasp.
"What do you want?" she demanded.
Antrim crossed the threshold and stood inside, where the light was fullupon his face. Repelled--almost terrorized by what she saw in his eyes,Mrs. Lawler attempted to retreat from him; but in an instant he hadseized her arms, roughly and brutally crushing them against her sides,while he shoved her back against the open door; holding her in thatposition and grinning hideously at her helplessness.
"You know me?" he sneered, his face close to hers. "I'm Antrim!" Helaughed when she caught her breath; when he noted that she recognizedthe name.
"I reckoned you'd know me, when I told you," he said. "Luke Lawlerknowed me--an' your son knows me! I've never had no love for the Lawlerbreed, an' I ain't changed any. But there's a lot of things that I'msquarin' up for!
"This is my night; I've been waitin' for it!" he gloated. "I'm cleanin'up on the Lawlers! I'm wipin' Kane Lawler out--cattle, buildings--an'him too, mebbe. It ain't goin' to be a thing you ought to see. You'regettin' away from here--I don't give a damn where. An' you're goin'now!"
Awed by his manner and by the terrible threat in his voice, Mrs. Lawlerdid not resist the physical strength of the outlaw. Though Antrim'sfingers were gripping her arms until the pain made her long to cry outin agony, she made no sound. Nor--now that she realized whatportended--did her gaze waver as it met Antrim's. Her eyes glowed withcontempt as they looked into his--with a proud scorn that brought acrimson flush into Antrim's cheeks. It had been that spirit that hadalways enraged Antrim--that had always made him realize his inferiorityto her husband, and to the steady-eyed son who had shamed him publiclyat Willets. It was a thing that physical violence could not conquer; itrevealed a quiet courage that had always disconcerted him.
"Hell!" he sneered; "you can't come any of that high an' mighty stuff onme!"
He twisted her until she faced the door, and then shoved her before himacross the porch and down upon the level on the ranchhouse yard, towardthe stable and the corral.
She did not resist, knowing that physical resistance would be futile.
He shoved her into the stable, and she stood there, unresisting while hesaddled a horse. She could not see him, but she could hear him as hemoved about; and presently he spoke shortly to her from a point closeby:
"Here's a cayuse--saddled an' bridled. You want to get on him here, oroutside?"
"Outside," she said, coldly.
In front of the stable door she mounted, Antrim helping her despite herscornful protest.
"Listen," he said, as he stood for an instant at the horse's head, dimlyoutlined. "You'd better go to Hamlin's--that's nearest. An' makearrangements to stay there. I'm burnin' the Circle L buildin's. Therewon't
be a stick standin' when I get through! When I get through, I'mgoin' back to my place on the Rabbit Ear. My men have all gone with thecattle, an' I'll be there alone. You can tell that damned son of yoursthat! Understand? He's aimin' to get even for what I'm doin' tonight,he'll find me at my place--alone--waitin' for him! Now, get goin'."
Mrs. Lawler did not answer. She took up the reins and sent the horseforward, past the bunkhouses and the corral and the ranchhouse--throughthe valley and up the long rise that led to the great plains above.
It took her a long time to reach the plains, and when she looked backshe saw some leaping tongues of flame issuing from the doors of thebunkhouse. Two or three of the other buildings were on fire; and thewindows of the ranchhouse were illuminated by a dull red glare. But thewoman made no sound that would have betrayed the emotions that torturedher. She turned her back to the burning buildings and rode onward,toward the Hamlin cabin--trying, in this crisis, to live the code shehad taught her son; endeavoring to vindicate the precepts that she haddinned into his ears all the days of his life--that courage in adversityis the ultimate triumph of character--the forge in which is fashionedthe moral fiber which makes men strong and faithful.
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