by Hal Dunning
CHAPTER XXI
CONFERENCE WITH SLIVERS
He rode with Shorty a short distance farther and then announced thathis gray had gone lame and that he intended to return to the ranch.Shorty gave a few brief directions as to the trail back to the ranchand then rode on alone. Allen waited until the glow of Shorty'scigarette had faded in the faint light from the moon and then swungPrincess about and headed across the plain almost due north to where hehad left Slivers earlier that day. He put his horse into a long,space-devouring lope and headed straight toward the tall, woodedmountain that stood out against the starlit sky.
As he rode on and on, he tried to piece together the bits ofinformation he had gathered. From Shorty's talk he knew that if Spurwere guilty, it was going to be hard to trap him, for Spur had coveredhis tracks well.
The stars told him it was past midnight when he started to climb theknoll on which Slivers had his camp. He dismounted and cautiously madehis way upward on foot. Once, twice, three times he gave the wolf call.This was the agreed signal. A few seconds later, he heard Sliversanswer.
"'Lo, kid," Allen said, when he at last stood beside his friend. "Howabout some java?"
"How are things? What did yuh find out? Did yuh see her?" Sliverseagerly fired out his questions as he made a small fire and put thecoffeepot on to boil.
"I'll give yuh the best first. The girl is fine an' still thinkin' ofyuh plenty. But the rest is plumb rotten bad. John Reed is dead an----"
"John Reed dead?" Slivers cried in dismay.
"Yeh. Now, yuh hold tight while I tell yuh about it. He was downed by acouple rustlers that he caught blottin' brands. Spur Treadwell an' theMcGill twins downed the rustlers. Afore ol' man Reed cashed, he madeSpur Dot's guardian----"
"I don't believe it," Slivers interrupted positively.
"Me, neither--but just the same Spur's got a paper, an' folks figgersaid paper is genuine." Allen grinned sardonically.
Slivers considered this news. Then an idea flashed into his head.
"Them rustlers--they was blottin' the Double R brand to the Double B?"he demanded.
"Yep, yuh can go up to the head of the class. Now then, kid, keepcool!" Allen paused for a moment and then grinned cheerfully atSlivers. "Spur says one rustler got away an' that feller was yuh!"
"The dirty coyote!" Slivers' face whitened, then flushed to an angryred, as he leaped to his feet. "I'll kill him!"
"Keep cool, kid. Spur sure made a mistake when he tried to fasten thatkillin' on yuh, 'cause yuh can easy prove yuh warn't within fivehundred mile of the Little Deadman's when the killin' was done. An' letme tell yuh now, your gal don't believe it a-tall!"
"Damn it, yuh can grin, but it--I----"
"Shucks, there ain't no use gettin' her up," Allen interrupted. "Didn'tI just tell yuh Spur overplayed his hand when he tried to fasten thatsecond killin' on yuh?"
Slivers regained his composure with an effort and once more sat down bythe fire.
"Now, what's to be done?" he asked.
"Yuh can't do nothin' in a hurry--we got to sorta wait for Spur tobungle another play. What I want of yuh is this--first, the names ofthe gents yuh figger yuh can trust, then I wants yuh to tell me allover again just what happened the night Iky Small got gunned," Allenreplied, as he poured out a cup of steaming black coffee.
"There's Bill McAllister, the foreman----" Slivers commenced.
"Ex-foreman," Allen corrected.
Slivers Hart mentioned name after name, but the only ones who werestill at the ranch were Maverick Ed Stone, Flat-foot, Shorty, SnootsStevens, and Arizona, the cook. The rest had been replaced sinceSlivers left the country.
"Spur is stackin' the deck with his own men," Slivers commented.
"Sure. What do yuh suppose he'd do?" Allen said cheerfully. "Now, tellme about that killin'."
"Iky Small worked for me, an' he was so blamed lazy I kicked him offthe place. I had supper with Dot Reed an' her pa. I was goin' toMalboro the next day to try an' wrangle some money out of ol' 'Miser'Jimpson, so I decides to cut for town an' stay there for the night.It's close to thirty mile from the Double R to town an' it's nearmidnight when I gets to the crossroads, where the trail branches off tomy outfit, the Double B. I meets 'Squint' Lane, an' he tells me 'Doc'Hollis has hotfooted it out to see my ma, who is plumb sick. His cayuseis fresh an' mine is tuckered, so he offers to swap. We changessaddles, an' I hotfoot it to my place--it's about twenty-five mile fromthere.
"When I gets there, I find my ma sleepin' peaceful an' not sick a-tall.I gets hot under the collar at that, for I figger Squint done it as ajoke. Makin' a hombre ride fifty mile ain't no joke, an' so I gets mad.I throws Squint's hoss in the corral, forks another, an' hits for townto give Squint a drubbin'. It was close to ten in the morning when Igets near town. I meets Snoots Stevens, an' he tells me that Iky Smallwas gunned, shot through the back of the head, an' that a bunch ofstranglers is lookin' for me.
"So I hits out for the Double R, 'cause ol' John Reed is a friend ofmine, an' I figgers he'll tell me what to do. When I gets to the DoubleR, I finds Spur Treadwell an' Dot settin' on the front porch, an' theytells me ol' John ain't home. Dot sees I'm plumb worried, so she sortahints to Spur he ain't wanted. Spur gets up an' grins at me an' says:'Every dog has his day.'"
"An' because he said that yuh figger he knows what's comin'?" Alleninterrupted.
"Yep, that an' one other thing. Every puncher was away from the ranchthat day, an' Spur turned all the hosses out of the corral, so when Isee the stranglers comin', I has to light out on a tired horse, an'they damn near catch me." Slivers ended his story and rolled acigarette.
"So on the night of the killin' yuh ain't got no alibi whatsoever,'cause yuh was ridin' about the range all by your lonesome all night?"
"An' the next day, when John Reed looks for Squint, they tells himSquint left town a week afore, an' One-wing McCann says he got a letterfrom Squint postmarked up in Utah, so everybody figgers I never seenSquint an' am lyin'. An' that darn hoss Squint trades to me was the oneIky Small was ridin' that night, an' they finds it in my corral. An' myhoss is found lame on the range, so they figgers after I kills Iky Itrades hosses. If yuh can see a way out of that mess for me, I'll sayyuh ain't only a wolf, but a whole pack of 'em." Slivers spoke gloomily.
"An' they say yuh first fired him an' then killed him to close hismouth."
"Of course, Spur would spread that aroun'--he's so darn complete,"Slivers answered.
"Yeh, it's so darn complete that there's sure a hole in it somewhere,"Allen said paradoxically. "Yuh got a real good friend in town?"
"Yeh, Doc Hollis--he'd swear I was innocent if I was guilty as hell.He's courtin' my ma," Slivers ended with a faint smile.
"Well, I'm goin'. Yuh sit tight an' don't go off half cocked," Allenwarned.
He saddled Honeyboy and left Princess behind. He knew there was a riskin changing mounts, but this had to be taken, as Princess had beenridden far that day, and it would be necessary to ride fast if hewished to return to the ranch before daylight.
He had just finished rubbing the sweat marks off Honeyboy on his returnto the ranch, and had just slipped into the bunk house, when the ranchbegan to waken.
As Allen stepped out of the cookhouse after breakfast that morning, hisface was swathed in a flannel bandage. He saw that both the twins werewatching him. He slipped through the bar of the corral and headedtoward Bill McAllister, who was preparing to rope his mount for thatday.
"Say, mister, can I have another cayuse to ride to-day?" Allen asked.He did not want the twins to see him mounted on a gray horse.
"Yeh, fork that roan mare," McAllister said shortly, as he glancedshrewdly from beneath his shaggy eyebrows at the boy.
"I got me a terrible toothache," Allen volunteered to several punchers,as he was saddling the roan. They glanced at his bandaged face andoffered various sure cures.
"Shucks! I think I'll go to town an' have the darn thing yanked ou
t,"the little outlaw told them.
Bill McAllister and Allen skillfully cut some twenty horses from themilling crowd in the corral, drove them through the gate, and startedthem toward the cavvy. Among them was the gray.
As Allen swept by the twins and Spur Treadwell, Mac McGill watched himand then shook his head.
"He sure rides like him," he said thoughtfully.
"He sure does," Sandy agreed.
"Who's that?" Spur Treadwell asked.
"Last night, in the bunk house, I was certain that kid was Jim Allen,but we jumped him an' finds him naked like a baby," Sandy explained.
"Yuh thought he was the Wolf?" Spur Treadwell asked. His eyes followedAllen.
"Yeh, but I reckon we was wrong," Mac said indifferently.
"Mebbe so, but I aims to talk turkey to that kid when I next sees himan' make plumb certain," Sandy said flatly.
"One-wing knows him," Spur Treadwell announced.
His mind was occupied with other things. He frowned and then rolled acigarette.
"Why don't yuh marry the gal an' save all this bother?" Mac askedmaliciously.
The cords tightened in Spur's neck at this taunt, but his eyes showedno resentment when they met Mack's. Though he had sufficient courage,he was not foolish enough to quarrel with either of the twins. Theywere too deadly with a gun. He knew their type--knew their bloodlust--knew that if he pressed them, they would drop him as quickly asthey would some hobo puncher. No, he would never place himself in aposition where he would be forced to draw against them. Later, afterthey had outgrown their usefulness--that was different. They would paythen for any taunts they threw at him now.
"Mebbe I will marry the gal--but I don't hanker none to have no richwife--they get bossy," he said coldly.
The twins grinned at each other, then the three strolled slowly towardthe house.
About a mile from the ranch house, Bill McAllister pulled his horseover close to Allen, and the two rode on side by side in silence. Thebunch of horses trotted on ahead.
"Kid, I hears about the ruction yuh had in the bunk house last nightwith the twins. I'm askin' yuh, who are yuh?" the old horse wranglersaid keenly.
"What yuh mean?" Allen said innocently.
"Yuh was out ridin' last night--I see the saddle marks on that gray ofyourn--an' what's more, it ain't the same one yuh was ridin' yesterday.That was a mare. Figgered mebbe yuh didn't want folks to notice, so Ibrung him along," McAllister said bluntly.
Allen cast one quick glance at the honest, rugged face of the old-timerand made up his mind to trust him.
"All right--I'm Jim-twin Allen," he said soberly.
Bill McAllister's jaws worked rhythmically for a minute as he studiedAllen. He touched his pony with his spurs and dashed forward to headoff several horses that were breaking away from the bunch. When thehorses were again bunched, he dropped back to the outlaw's side. Heskillfully hit a distant stone with tobacco juice and then took up theconversation where he had left it.
"I've heard tell of yuh. What's your game?"
Allen briefly told him how he had met Slivers and of his belief thatthe boy had been framed by Spur Treadwell. Bill McAllister listened insilence.
"Always thought there was something funny about that killin'. SoSlivers figgers Spur framed him. I ain't sayin' Slivers wasn't jobbed,but yuh an' he is plumb mistook if yuh figgers Spur done it. He ain'tthat kind of a feller--he ain't enough of a fool to do anythin' raw."
"I ain't sayin' he's a fool an' I don't figger he done anythin' raw,'cause the job was planned by a gent with a head on him," Allen grinned.
Bill McAllister chewed reflectively for a moment and then nodded hishead.
"An' don't be forgettin' that Spur turned the hosses out of the corralwhen he sees the posse comin', an' Slivers says he acted like heexpected 'em," Allen argued.
"Mebbe so. But, son, yuh're runnin' agin' somethin' that's big an' hardwhen yuh tackle Spur," Bill warned.
"Sure--but a wolf can drag down a bull moose," Allen replied andsmiled. After they had turned the horses into the big pasture, headded: "This bein' Saturday, the bunch will be headin' for town. I'mgoin' to have Doc pull a tooth for me. Yuh want to meet me there?"
"So that's why yuh got a toothache so suddenlike?" the old-timer asked.
"Them twins is darn suspicious, so I figgered it would cover my facelikewise."
"Yuh watch them twins. Arizona says yuh is quick like a snake, butthere is two of 'em," the old man warned.
"Arizona--he knows me?"
"Not him, but his brother down in Cannondale knows yuh plenty. He wrotehow yuh had yourself tossed through the window and cleaned out a bunchof woman stealers across the border. If half what he wrote's the truth,I'm sayin' yuh've got nerve aplenty," Bill McAllister said admiringly.
"Shucks! Yuh're too ol' to talk such loose language," Allen answeredirritably.
