Sudden The Range Robbers (1930) s-9

by Oliver Strange

  Before Larry could reply, the man with the ginger moustache interposed : `S'cuse me, stranger, do yu happen to be acquainted with Joe Tarman?'

  `I happen to belong to his outfit, the Crossed Dumb-bell,' the puncher replied, telling the literal truth, for he had not yet been fired nor had he officially resigned. The effect of the information on the latter pushed the bottle forward, saying genially: `They're on the house, gents. This is Mr. Scaife, who owns this joint.'

  He waved a hand at the gingery individual, and the puncher completed the ceremony of introduction by giving their names.

  `Pleased to welcome anyone from Joe here,' said Scaife oilily. `Why, another of his men rode out this evening; perhaps yu saw him?'

  `No, I didn't look--reckoned he'd be gone before we made it,' Green explained. `Guess Stiffy got into a little game, as usual.'

  `Yo're dead right--that's just what he did,' laughed Scaife. `He'll have to ride all night to make up time, or Joe'll trim him to rights.'

  The cowpuncher's ready answer and his fortunate knowledge of the rustler's little weakness had entirely dispelled all suspicion, and it did not take long to find out that the rustler chief had quite a number of friends in Big Rock, and that if he was not loved, he was certainly feared. The squint-eyed, weedy man who had watched their movements earlier now came in, to be hailed and presented as `Roddy' to `Mr. Tarman's friends.' He became a genial creature.

  `An' how's Joe makin' it in Hatchett's?' he inquired. `Reckon he finds it middlin' quiet.'

  Green's own opinion was that Mr. Tarman had hitherto found it anything but quiet, but what he said was that Tarman appeared to like the place and was even thinking of buying a ranch and settling down. The statement evolved a perfect gust of merriment from his listeners, which was only quelled by a well-simulated look of cold indignation on the part of Green.

  `Yu doubtin' my word?' he asked.

  `Nary a doubt, friend,' gasped Scaife. `Yu just gotta excuse me an' Rod an' Spike here, but it warn't fair to turn a hell of a joke like that on us without warnin', now was it?'

  `Well, I expect I'm slow, but I don't see no joke,' Green replied, and the risible faculties of the three men once more disrupted their features. It was Spike who, with tears coursing down his none too clean cheeks, managed to explain:

  `Yu said Joe was thinkin' of buyin' a ranch,' he spluttered.

  `Ha, ha! so I did,' grinned Green. `Well, the laugh is on me, an' the drinks likewise. Set 'em up, Spike, old settler.'

  A little game of draw was proposed, and the visitor lost a few dollars very pleasantly to Scaife and Rod, but mellow as those two gentlemen undoubtedly became, Green could learn nothing as to the activities and interests of Tarman in Big Rock.

  `Touchin' them beds,' Larry remarked, round about midnight.

  `Which I'm free to admit I want to be touchin' one of 'em; we been ridin' all day,' returned his friend.

  The saloon-keeper, being ahead of the game, had no objections to offer. `Beds goes,' he said. `Yu push yore broncs into the corral an' fetch yore saddles along.'

  Their bedroom was on the first floor at the back, a fact for which they had cause to be thankful later on. It was Larry who, awakened in the early hours of the morning by a pounding at the rear door of the hotel, got up to investigate. Cautiously opening their window he peered down. He heard the landlord descend the stairs and unbolt the door, and then, `Hell, Stiffy, what's brung yu back again?'

  `Blasted bronc stepped in a hole an' bruk a leg--had to shoot him an' hoof it here carryin' this cussed saddle,' was the disgusted answer. `Got a drink? I'm about all in.'

  `Shore. Tough luck about the hoss,' replied the host. `Yu better hole up till daylight, an' then yu can have company; I got two o' yore chaps here.'

  They disappeared into the building and Larry heard no more. But he had already got an `earful,' as he phrased it, and without delay he aroused his companion.

  `Yu gotta stop sawin' wood an' get a wiggle on,' he whispered, and told what he had so luckily overheard. `Now, friend

  Stiffy is probably puttin' friend Scaife wise at this very moment of time. Do yu guess he knows that yu are Sudden?'

  `He's liable to find out if he comes foolin' around,' smiled Green.

  `Don't be sixteen sorts of a damn fool,' retorted Larry. `Yu ain't aimin' to stay an' fight it out, are yu? Chances is, he does know it, an' do yu reckon this town'll let ten thousand bucks get away from it? What we gotta consider is when will they make a move?'

  `Not till the mornin' an' we'll move first,' Green said. `Stiffy is feelin' right like his name just now, an' bed will listen good to him., They're a-comin' up now, snore for all yo're worth--no, for lots more than that.'

  They heard stealthy footsteps pause outside their door and then a low chuckle came from the landlord.

  `Yu'd think they'd wake each other up, wouldn't yu?' he said. `Needn't worry 'bout them--they'll be here when we want 'em in the mornin'.'

  After a wait of half an hour, by which time the house was quiet again, Green pushed up the window, slid through, and hanging from the sill by his hands, dropped noiselessly to the ground. Larry then lowered their saddles and followed. Stepping warily, to avoid the litter of tin cans and other refuse which might betray them, they made their way to the corral. The horses gave them little trouble, for they were well trained, and accustomed to come at a call. Once clear of the town they headed for Hatchett's at a steady lope, congratulating themselves upon having evaded an awkward predicament.

  `O' course they'll follow us, but we gotta good start an' if we switch off the trail presently an' take to the brush, I reckon we can fool 'em,' Green remarked.

  They did this, choosing a spot where a rocky defile offered a surface upon which hoofs would make little or no impression, and supplemented this by riding for half a mile along the bed of the first stream they came to.

  `Guess that oughtta make it safe,' Larry said, as they plunged again into the undergrowth and emerged upon an open, rolling stretch of deep grass.

  Their start, however, was not so good as they deemed it to be, for they had under-estimated the cupidity and ambition of Mr. Scaife. The knowledge that he had under his humble roof a famous outlaw--for Stiffy had blurted out the news, having learned it himself in Hatchett's, where it was now common property--had spoilt the landlord's rest, and less than an hour after his guests had departed, he had snolen down to make sure they were still there. Unable to hear any reassuring sounds, he had opened the lockless door to find the nest empty. Where upon, at the thought of the rewards which had gone a-glimmering, he lifted up his voice and--swore.

  `They can't 'a' got far; rustle up two-three other fellers an' we'll git 'em yet,' suggested Stuffy, when he heard the dire tidings. Thus it came about that when the fugitives, leisurely crossing a little plateau, looked back, they saw five moving dots descending a ridge some seven or eight miles away. Spurring their mounts, they hastened to get out of sight, but they did not doubt but that they had been seen, for the pursuers would naturally be on the watch.

  `We're a couple of bone-heads--mighta knowed that landlord feller wouldn't rest easy,' Green growled. `There's only five of 'em, anyways.'

  `Mebbe there's more back o' them.'

  `Reckon not--they wouldn't wanta split the reward too much. We'll have to stand 'em off; can't have 'em trailin' us all the time.'

  They pushed on at a fast clip until they came to the spot they were looking for, a long, narrow gorge with precipitous sides which only a cat could hope to scale, and with little in the way of vegetation to serve as cover. Boulders and rock debris littered the sandy bed of the gorge, which had at one time been a watercourse.

  `Hope she ain't a blind one,' Larry remarked, with a glance at the beetling cliffs on either side. `If she is, we'll be wantin' wings.'

  `An' we may get 'em too, if them hombres can shoot,' returned his friend grimly.

  `Mother's cheery little helper, ain't yu? Allus lookin' on the bright side,' grinned Larry.

/>   They rode far enough along the gorge to make the task of going round to cut them off a long one, and then, turning a sudden bend, simultaneously pulled down their mounts.

  `There she is--the very place,' cried Larry, pointing to a clump of boulders among which a few snunted bushes were growing, about a hundred yards away. A brief examination satisfied them, and tying the horses behind an outflung shoulder of the cliff, they squatted down to await the pursuers.

  `If they come a-battin' round than bend we can get a couple of 'em 'fore they know we're here,' Larry said complacently. `It'll be like money from home.'

  `Yo're a gory-minded sport, ain't yu?' Green retorted. `No, seh; they get their warnin'; I ain't no sneakin' bush-whacker.'

  `Yu are thirty-two sorts of a darn fool,' Larry said heatedly. `There's five of 'em, ain't there? Fine lot o' warnin' they'd 'a' give us if we'd waited in Big Rock.'

  We'll drop a couple o' hosses, though I hate doin' it, an' if they want to argue after that, we'll shore accommodate 'em.'

  `An' he's got the reputation of bein' a cold-blooded killer,' was Larry's unspoken thought.

  They sat there waiting, each ensconced behind a serviceable chunk of rock, with rifle ready. It was cool in the gorge now, but the sun was climbing the sky and once it became vertical, they knew they would have a grilling time. They had filled their canteens at the last stream, and had been careful to place them out of reach of questing oullets; if the fight were prolonged, thirst would become an important factor.

  `They're a long time gettin' here--must be comin' dead slow,' Larry said impatiently.

  Hardly had the words left his lips when there came the rapid beat of hoofs, somewhat dulled by the sand, and in a few moments the bunched riders dashed round the bend, Scaife and the Crossed Dumb-bell representative slightly ahead. The venomous crack-crack of two rifles reverberated and re-echoed along the gorge, the sound tossed from wall to wall, and the horses of the leaders dropped, sending their riders headlong. The rest of the party, whirling their startled mounts, scampered back round the protecting curve. The landlord and his fallen companion clawed their way crab-wise behind the dead bodies of their horses and began to industriously pump lead at the clump of rocks sheltering the ambushers. The other three, having recovered from their panic, also commenced to waste cartridges, but without eliciting any response.

  `One of 'em'll get careless an' give us somethin' to aim at presently,' Green argued. `Betche Stiffy will try an' make that rock on his left; dead hosses is poor cover.'

  Evidently the rustler was of the same opinion, for he suddenly rose into view and sprang for the boulder in question. It was less than ten yards away and he had almost reached it when Green fired; they saw him stumble and pitch forward.

  `Missed him,' gibed Larry. Wish I'd pulled too.'

  `Missed nothin',' said the marksman. `I got him where I aimed to--in the left laig.'

  `Huh, if yo're thinkin' o' startin' a hospital round here I'd like to suggest that a cemetery is less trouble an' safer.'

  `Yu been readin' too many dime novels. Wonder if friend Scaife will go to help friend Stiffy? What d'yu think?' `Betche ten level he don't,' said Larry promptly.

  `Yo're a reckless feller with yore money,' reproved Green. `But I gotta take yu. Look, there he goes!' He fired as he spoke, and the landlord, with a hearty curse, crumpled up, and then rolled behind the rock which sheltered the groaning Stuffy.

  `Tough luck havin' to down a feller when he's earnin' yu money, but I had to do. I got him in the right laig, so they've still got a sound pair between 'em.'

  `Well, of all the' began the disgusted loser.

  `Don't say it,' admonished Green. `When yu get yore growth yu will know that even things like Scaife can act pretty near human at times. What do yu reckon they'll do now?'

  The answer came from the attacking force in the shape of a perfect hurricane of lead which tore up the ground and searched every nook and crevice of their hiding-place.

  `What in 'ell are they tryin' to do--knock this blame rock out of the way?' asked Larry peevishly, as a fragment of snone grazed his cheek and the bullet which had detached it went whining into the distance. `If these jiggers ain't careful somebody's goin' to get hurt.'

  In the face of this fusillade the two men kept close, hugging the ground behind their barrier. The hail of shots was followed by a single bullet which dropped just between the outstretched legs of the younger man, causing him to promptly double them up and snuggle closer to the sheltering stone.

  `They musta got a balloon,' he gasped.

  Another shot followed, cutting a neat half-circle out of the brim of Larry's hat, which was entirely too close no be pleasant. `Dann smart,' murmured Green.

  `Huh! think so, do yu?' snorted Larry. `A little bit smarter an' yu'd be alone. This blame rock musta shrunk.'

  `They got the edge on us,' Green explained. `While they bombarded us just now one of 'em nipped across an' climbed that big tree by the bend. He's the feller who's doin' the potshootin'. Take a peep an' draw his fire; then I'll get him.'

  `Yu go to blazes; I ain't no Aunt Sally,' retorted Larry. `That jigger shoots too well an' I ain't gamblin' with him--none whatever.'

  For some time silence reigned in the gorge, each side waiting for the other to make a move. Then a jet of smoke spirted from higher up the tree and the missile snatched Green's hat from his head. Instantly he fired into the midst of the thinning smoke, there was a disturbance of the foliage as a heavy body crashed downwards, until, caught by a big lower branch, it hung, limply swinging.

  `Crashed,' said Larry laconically.

  The dispiriting effect of this loss on the enemy was soon apparent. From behind the boulder which sheltered Scaife arose a rifle with a dirty white rag fluttering from the barrel, and a voice shouted:

  `Yu fellers can go on; we won't interfere nor foller.'

  `Right kind o' yu, I'm shore,' Green shouted back. `S'pose yu do the clearin' out. We're quite comfortable an we won't interfere nor foller,' he mimicked.

  A hearty curse was the only response to this pleasantry and then the landlord who, whatever his other failings, was not deficient in pluck, hobbled into view, using his gun to save his damaged leg. Stiffy followed, and having removed their saddles and bridles from the dead horses they vanished round the bend in the gorge. In less than ten minutes they reappeared beneath the big tree, two of the horses carrying double burdens, the other two being required for the corpse, which was soon dislodged and tied across the saddle. The victors waited a while and then crept cautiously from the concealment. They need not have worried; rounding a far curve they could see the discomfited reward-hunters heading for Big Rock.

  `An' I reckon if they ain't wiser they're a heap sadder,' commented the younger man. `They've shore got a bellyful.'

  `Which reminds me we ain't eat since the last time,' Green rejoined. `Why not rustle some grub an' can the chatter for once in a while?'

  `Chatter? Me?' yelled the indignant youth. `I'm numb as a clam compared to yu. Why, yu make more noise for yore size than a tin pail full o' stones rollin' down a mountain, yu--hurdy-gurdy.'

  Which criticism called for and received only one answer. After the dust had settled, they arose and set about the proposed meal.

  Chapter XIX

  SOME days later the Crossed Dumb-bell ranch had two visitors but only the foreman was aware of it. Well after dark, Tarman and Poker Pete had ridden up and leaving their horses tied in the brush, had slipped unseen into Jeffs' quarters, where the big man related the happenings at Big Rock.

  `Don't it beat all, the luck he has?' commented Pete, with an oath. `We had him at the Y Z an' that fool-girl butts in, an' now them Big Rock idjuts have made a mess of it. I shore thought Scaife had sense.'

  `It ain't luck, an' it's no good reckonin' on luck when yu play against him,' Tarman said. `Yu got to outguess him. Any idea where he is, Jeffs?'

  The foreman shook his head. `We ain't seen hide nor hair of him,' he said. `But I'm
bettin' he's not far off.'

  `He's gotta be located; turn California loose an' tell him to comb the country between here an' the Y Z. If he finds Green's camp, he's to show up casual like, an' make the play that yu were all expectin' him back here, an' that that crack on the head was a bit o' private spite on the part o' Gorilla. Then, an' this is the important bit, he's to let on that it's come out that Old Simon, owner o' the Y Z, has been usin' a fancy name ever since he hit these parts an' that his real name is Peterson. If that don't fetch Mr. Green to the Y Z pronto, I'm a bonehead, an' yu can bet yore lasn nickel he'll come painted for war. He's been lookin' for Peterson these three years.'

  `Why for?' asked both the listeners at once.

  `He claims that Peterson did the dirty on the feller who befriended him. Funny he should have gone to work for the very man he come here to kill.'

  `But if he's sweet on the girl, an' I reckon he is, he won't wipe out her dad,' objected Poker.

  `There's a reason why that sentiment won't work,' grinned Tarman, who did not believe in telling more than he must. `Anyways, if he comes to see the old man he'll shoot him, shore enough.' He smiled as he saw understanding dawn on them. `Then we nail him, some of us havin' business at the Y Z about that time, an' we're shut o' the pair of 'em.'

  `An' him havin' killed her dear daddy, the girl won't be anxious to turn him loose again,' Poker Pete said. `My word, I gotta hand it to yu, Joe; when it comes to schemin' yo're there with the goods, but I figure yu may have trouble with Blaynes over the skirt.'

  Tarman laughed harshly. `Yu mean he may have trouble with me, don't yu?' he said. `Blaynes will get what's comin' to him.' `What about the Frying Pan?' asked the foreman.

  `Owner seems a bin obstinate at present,' replied the big man. `We'll have to lower the value of his property some yet, but there's plenty o' time for that; we'll put this other job over first. Yu prime West an' don't tell him more than enough--he may have got friendly with Green.

  He added a few more general directions, and then he and the gambler slid silently out, regained their horses, and took the back trail to Hatchett's Folly.