Bred of the Desert: A Horse and a Romance

by Charles M. Horton

  CHAPTER XVI

  PAT TURNS THIEF

  A week passed before Pat knew of his change in masters. But that was notstrange. Busily engaged in keeping himself alive on scant herbage, hetook but little interest in anything else. Besides, his young friendcontinued to make much of him, talking in soothing tones and gentlystroking his sides, and the little gray, holding herself faithfullynear, also maintained quiet evidence of friendliness. So he had noreason to suspect change. But one morning, with camp broken, andsaddle-bags flung out, and the window sealed over, and the door shut andbarred, and the other horses bridled and saddled, there came to him inthe person of the large man himself--a person he had instinctivelydisliked--the first sign of the change in his fortune.

  The man approached, bridle on arm, to remove his hobbles. He remainedmotionless under this, and prepared also to accept the bridle quietly.But in bridling him the man was rough to an extent he had never beforeknown--forcing an oddly shaped bit against his tongue, and twisting andturning his sensitive ears as if these delicate organs were so muchrefractory leather or metal. Then came the saddle, and with it furthertorture. The forward belt was made snug, which he was accustomed to andexpected; but when the rear girdle was cinched so tight that he founddifficulty in breathing, he became nervous and wanted to protest. It wasall very unusual, this rough handling, and he did not understand it. Theeffect of the tight cinch was peculiar, too. With the knot tied firmly,he felt girded as for some great undertaking, his whole nervous systemseemed to center in his stomach, and all his wonted freedom and buoyancyseemed compressed and smothered. With all this, and the man in thesaddle and spurring viciously, he realized grimly the change in masters.

  They set out at a fox-trot, continuing their southwesterly direction. Itwas an unmarked course from the beginning, leading them steadily downinto the Mogollon range, and, as before, Johnson was occupying the lead,with Jim next behind, and Glover bringing up the rear. And, as on thefirst leg of the journey, all rode in silence.

  So Pat was in the lead, and while he found his new master half as heavyagain as the other, he also found compensation for the increased weightin the position which he occupied. Not that he was proud to be in thelead; nothing from the beginning of this adventure had caused a thrillof either joy or pride. But he did find in his new place freedom fromdust cast up by the heels of his companions, and he trotted along incontentment, to all outward appearances. But it was only an appearanceof content. Within were mixed emotions. While he felt pleasure at beingactive again, while he was resigned in a way to his hunger pangs, and hewas glad that his friends, the little gray and the young man, were stillwith him, yet against all this was a sense of revolt at the unnecessarytightness of the cinch, the hard hand on the reins, and the frequenttouch of spur and heel and stirrup against his sides. Finally thefeeling which began at that initial torture in bridling swelled with theconsequent annoyances into approaching revolt. He became ugly andmorose.

  This soon revealed itself. He was crossing a wide arroyo. Withoutcounting costs, grimly blind to the result, he burst out of the fox-trotinto a canter. He held to this a thrilling moment, and then, findinghimself keyed to greater exertions, abandoned the canter and broke intoa sharp run. It was all done quickly, the changes of stride lappingalmost within his own length, and his heart leaped and pounded withdelight, for the change somehow relieved him.

  But it was a mistake. Quickly as it was done, he found himself almost asquickly jerked up, swung viciously around, and his sides raked withruthless spurs. He gasped a moment under the smarting fire of the spurs,then, as in the old days, reared in a towering rage. And this was amistake. Too late he found the man's weight overbalancing him. Hestruggled to recover himself, plunged over backward, and down, strikingthe earth heavily. Hurriedly he regained his feet, but not so the man,not till the others sprang to his assistance. Then he realized what hehad done, realized it fully as he caught the venomous gleam in the man'seyes and heard the storm of abuse volleying from his lips. Then, lookingat the man, and listening to his raging outburst, he conjured up out ofthe dim past memories of the Mexican hostler and of that singleencounter in the white corral. And now his fear for the man left him.

  "I'll kill him! I'll shoot the horse!" roared Johnson, his face yellowunderneath the tan. He reached toward his side-arms.

  But he did not shoot. With his face white and drawn Jim strode to Pat'shead, while Glover, quick to understand, played the solicitousattendant, assisting the limping Johnson into the saddle. And thatclosed the incident. Presently all were riding along again, withJohnson, wincing under internal distress, holding his reins more looselythan before.

  But it was not without its good. As on that other occasion in thecorral, Pat had learned something. He had measured a man, and he knew,and knew that the man knew, that he had come off victor. But it gave himno secret gratification. He continued to trot along, holding steadily tothe gait, subtly aware of the slackened rein and of the wrenched andloosened girdle, until, with the coming of noon, the blessed relief fromthe weight of the man, the ill-fitting saddle, and the over-tight girth,came also an agreeable surprise. He was turned out to graze withouthobble or tether, and for this consideration he felt faint glimmeringsof respect for his new master. Making free at first with the otherhorses, he set off to enjoy to the full his new-found liberty.

  But as he pursued ever farther the elusive vegetation in the joy offreedom, he presently awoke to his great distance from camp, and,indeed, from the other horses. Conscious of a sudden gripping lonelinessand a certain apprehension, he began to retrace his way. As he did so,out of the silence came a nasty whirring sound, and suddenly he felt arope settle over his head. Surprise, then anger, displaced hisloneliness and apprehension; he jerked back to escape the rope. But itheld fast. He braced his legs and began to pull steadily. But the harderhe pulled the worse the rope choked him. Finally he ceased all effortand turned his eyes along the rope. At the far end stood the littlemare, legs braced in the sand, and astride her, stolid and grim, andwith eyes narrowed, the figure of the large man. At sight of him Patbegan to pull again, more through ugliness now than desire to escape,until he found that he was dragging the little gray out of her stiffenedhold. Then he slackened off. Also, as she wheeled back toward camp, heset out amiably after her. In camp he found his young friend scatteringand deadening the coals of the camp-fire, and the little man making upthe saddle-bags. This told him that the journey was to be resumed, andhe stood quiet and peaceful as he was being bridled and saddled, andafterward he trotted along under the guidance of his master without showof anger or rebellion. Indeed, though the sun was hot, and the unmarkedtrail tedious, and the weight on his back heavier than ever, he feltless fretful and more contented than at any time since leaving thelittle ranch beside the river--possibly because of the thrill of hisdouble encounter.

  Ahead and on either hand the desert soon began to break and lift. Asthey went on the dunes grew to be hills and heights, growing, looming,closing in upon them. Now and again a clump of trees or a shoulder ofrock or a stretch of foliage stepped out in relief against the brown ofthe landscape, revealing more than once ideal grazing-land. Also, asthey penetrated deeper into this broken country, the sky overhead showedchange. From a spotless blue it revealed tiny splotches of gray-whitecloud scudding before upper currents. With the passing hours theseclouds became heavy, sullen, and threatening, until the sun, dippinginto the west, sinking in a kind of hazy moisture, left the heavenscompletely overcast, cold and bleak and forbidding--a dense mass ofcloud-banks down to the tip of ridge and range. And now came dusk, shortand chill, and with it the slow ascent of a long grade, leading them upto a ridge, low and ragged, trailing away interminably to north andsouth in the gloom. Complete darkness found them deep among high hills.

  The men drew rein beside a little stream. They watered the horses, andthen, throwing off saddle-bags and gathering brush, they built a tinyfire. Glover appeared nervous and worried, and when the meal was endedturned to mount and be off aga
in. But Johnson called him back. Johnsonwas seated on the ground, close beside Jim, and Glover sat down withthem. Thus they waited, silent, reflective, watching, while about thempressed the close night, seeming by its touch to impart to themsomething of its solemnity. Off at one side the horses, bridled andsaddled, waited also--watching and waiting, motionless, and over themall brooded a stillness that was mighty and portentous. Thus they waitedfor two hours, wrapped in profound silence, and then Johnson, afterscanning the sky, rose and made for the horses. The others quicklyfollowed him. Their trail led into a narrow defile. Up this winding waythey rode, with Johnson in the lead, up and ever up, until they burstthrough a clump of brush at the top. There they drew rein and againwaited, silent, reflective, watching. Presently Glover, with eyes turnedeastward, uttered a grunt which meant relief.

  The clouds in the eastern sky were breaking. Through the heavy bankscame a faint glimmering of moonlight. At first but a hair-line, itwidened out, reaching up and across the sky, developing steadily intothe semblance of a frozen flash of heat lightning, until all the easternheavens showed a shimmering expanse, broken here and there by blackclouds sullenly holding their own, which flooded the underscuddingdesert in beautiful mottled gray-green coloring. Wider and wider thelight spread, up and away on either hand, moving stealthily across thesky, until the sheen of it broke over the ridge itself, and then sweptbeyond to the west, laying bare a broad expanse of mesa dotted withgray-green specks that told of the presence of hundreds of cattle. Andnow the sullen clouds took to weaving, swaying under the pressure ofupper-air currents, the specks below beginning to lift and fall with themotion of the clouds like bits of wreckage undulate on the sea. Theair-drifts descended, came closer, fanning the cheeks of the men,rustling through the leaves which crowned the ridge, and breaking theheavy silence. The air-currents flicked the desert with their freight ofswift-moving shadows, causing strange movement among the bits ofwreckage--the cattle. It was a glorious march, lighting up the westernexpanse beneath and revealing a flat country, unbroken by dune or cleftas far as the eye could penetrate. So the light moved on, crowdingbefore it sullen shadows which presently disappeared.

  Johnson broke the stillness. "We'd better move along down," he said, andshook Pat's reins.

  The horses began the long descent. As compared with the upward climbthey made slow progress. Forced to feel their way, they moved always inhalts and starts, over saplings, around bulging rocks, along narrowledges, and at length gained the mesa, where the men drew rein. Johnson,sweeping his eyes coolly over the field of his campaign, began to giveorders.

  "Jim," he snapped, "cut in over there--that arroyo--and crowd 'em aroundto the south. Don't go too deep." Then, as Jim caught up his reins,"Glover, swing off this side--close in. We'll keep close in down to theline. Hop along!"

  Pat remained standing. He turned his eyes after the little gray and herrider. He saw the pair swing up over a rise of ground at a gallop, dipfrom view into a hollow, and appear again on the level beyond. Acrossthis they rode, speeding to the opposite slopes, then slackening as theyascended, making quietly among the nervous cattle, horses and ridersmoving with the easy certainty that told of much experience. Then he sawthe head and shoulders of the young man above the surging herd, crowdinga part of it slowly in his direction, to the right, to the left, forwardand around, always making steadily toward him. It was interesting, andhe continued to watch the cool steadiness of the man and the easycontrol of the horse, until he caught sight of the other, riding theopposite flank, but also crowding steadily toward him. He fell towatching this man, who, not so tall as Jim among the herd, but asquietly active, was also pressing to right and left and forward andaround among the cattle, relentlessly cutting them out. Soon there was ageneral forward movement, the young man riding on the far side, thelittle man closing up the rear, and this brought the whole herd, somebellowing loudly, others in sullen silence, still others contentedlymunching, directly opposite. Then he felt the prick of spurs, and,throwing himself eagerly at the task, he galloped around behind theadvancing cattle, falling into the position now abandoned by the littleman, who cantered around and forward upon the left flank. It wasexciting, and for a moment he thrilled. Then came the only interruption.

  A big steer, breaking suddenly out of the herd, tore madly to the rear.Pat, nearest the escaping beef, was spurred in pursuit. It wasunexpected, the spurring, and it was savage, and, jolted out of soothingreflection, he flattened his ears and balked. The man spurred him againand again and again, finally raking his sides mercilessly. Whereupon Patbalked in earnest, bucking and pitching viciously. At this the man swunghis quirt, cutting Pat repeatedly over head and ears. Yet Pat continuedto plunge, holding grimly to his lesson, which was to teach this man thefutility of this treatment. He did not throw the man off, but neitherdid he go ahead. Finally the man ceased his brutality, and evidentlycoming to understand, headed Pat after the moving herd without spur orquirt. Then Pat, though still rankling under the cruelty, sprang eagerlyforward, desirous of showing his willingness to serve when rightly used.

  That was all. The night passed quietly, the men, alert to their tasks,each separated from the other, riding stolidly into golden dawn. But nottill late, with the sun half-way to its zenith, and then only because ofsafe distance from possible detection, did they draw rein. Saddle-bagswere thrown off, though bridle and saddle were left on in case ofemergency, and the horses were turned out on short tethers. The menrisked a fire, since they were in the shadow of a ridge, and when thecoffee-pot was steaming seated themselves on the ground, in a closecircle. For the first time since midnight one spoke. It was Johnson.

  "We'll hold west of Lordsburg," he declared, sweeping his eyesgloatingly over the herd. "Francisco Espor and his gang over the line'llweep when they see that bunch--for joy!"

  Jim leaned back upon one elbow. "What was that rumpus last night," heinquired, "right after we started?" Then he showed his thoughts. "Imean, the horse."

  Johnson swung his head around. For a moment he appeared not tounderstand. Then suddenly his eyes lost their good-humored twinkle andgrew hard.

  "Lost one," he answered, abruptly. "The horse stalled." He narrowed hiseyes as he stared vindictively at Pat. "I must take a day off, after weget over the line," he snapped, "and break that animal to saddle,bridle, spur, quirt, and rope. He 'ain't never been broke, that horse,and he's naturally mean!"

  Jim sat up. "Not with me," he declared, quietly, "when we gotacquainted. You ain't taking him right, that's all."

  Johnson eyed him surlily. "You're a wonderful piece!" he snapped; andthen, by glint of eye and jerk of head showed that he dismissed thesubject.

  But Jim seemed to feel otherwise. "Maybe I am," he retorted, turningabsent eyes in the direction of the horse. "But I ain't all. I happen toknow of another wonderful piece. I'm only a one-territory piece."

  Johnson grinned. "Go on," he urged, politely.

  "There's no 'go on' to it," rejoined Jim, revealing equal politeness."I'm only thinking of a piece I happen to know that runs about a manthat's wanted more or less in seven states and two territories. Runningdouble, he's hard to get."

  Johnson reached over coolly and struck him nastily across the mouth.Then as coolly he sat back, while Jim slowly rose to his feet. His eyeswere blazing.

  "Thanks," he said, tensely. "I've heard a lot about your killings," hewent on, breathless with anger. "I guess maybe that's the way--"

  "Hush!" broke in Glover, excitedly, his eyes upon the ridge to the east.

  The others turned. Moving slowly along the crest, disappearing,reappearing, disappearing again, was the figure of a man. They gazed along moment, when the figure dropped from view again. They continued togaze, silent, rigid, watchful, peering narrowly against the morningsunlight. Presently the figure reappeared, lower against the graybackground, moving slowly as before, evidently crouching. Lower it came,quarter down the slope, half-way, then again disappeared. Johnson brokethe tense silence.

  "Sheepherder!" he snapped, an
d turned savage eyes back upon Jim.

  But Glover leaped to his feet. "If that's a sheepherder," he cried,making for the horses at a run, "then I'm a sheep!"