by B. M. Bower
CHAPTER XI
A VOICE FROM THE GALLERY
Matters were fast coming to a head as far as the sheriff and the CrossBar-8 were concerned. The loss of the five men who had won the friendshipof their fellows, the reign of terror caused by the outlaw, the lossof their cook, the devastation and the extra work had only deepened thehatred which the members of the outfit held for The Orphan; and it wentfarther than The Orphan.
Sneed was not long in learning what took place at the stage and of thedriver's loyalty to the outlaw, because Bill would talk; and the workingof his mind was the same as that of his men, for it followed the line ofleast resistance. Questions of the nature of arraignments, and whichwere answerable by the outfit in only one way, constantly presentedthemselves in the minds of the men. They asked themselves why it wasthat a man of the sheriff's proven courage, marksmanship and clevernessshould fail to get the man who so terrorized the ranch. Why was thesheriff so apparently reluctant to take up the chase in earnest and pushit to a finish? Why was he so firm against the assistance of the ranchmen?Why did he keep to his determination to allow no lynch law when theevil was so great and the danger so pressing? And he was prepared to goto great lengths to see that his orders were not disobeyed, as proven bythe scene at the corral. Why could he not have overlooked one lynchingparty when property was being destroyed and lives in danger? And why hadthe outrages suddenly ceased when Shields took charge of the defense ofthe ranch?--there had been no molestation, not a shot had been fired,not a cow killed. And how was it that a flower pot, which Shields hadadmitted as belonging to his wife, had been placed at a point hardly twohundred yards in front of the peace officer as he lay on guard? It wastrue that it was out of line of him and the lights, but that could beexplained by events. From whom did The Orphan learn of the trap set forhim, and all of its details, even to the placing of the men, enabling himto avoid the eager deputies and choose the position occupied by thesheriff when he had so recklessly flaunted his contempt from a pileof sand?
The cowboys were naturally enough warped and prejudiced because oftheir blind rage and hatred, and the questions which ran so riotouslythrough their minds found their answers waiting for them; in fact, theanswers induced the questions, and each recurrence gave them addedweight until they ceased to be questions and became, in reality,statements of facts. Bill had talked too much when he had told incareful detail of the attentions shown The Orphan by the sheriff'ssister; and to minds eager for confirmation of their suspicions this wasthe crowning proof of the double dealing of the sheriff. And to makematters worse, Tex Williard, who was as unscrupulous a man as ever worethe garb of honesty, had tried to force his attentions on Helen whenshe rode for exercise. His ideas of women had been developed amongthose who frequented frontier bar-rooms, and he was enraged at hisrebuff, which had been sharp and final. She actually preferred a murderingoutlaw to a hardworking cowboy! His profane oratory as to the collusion,or at least passive sympathy between the sheriff and the outlaw foundeager ears and receptive minds awaiting the torch of initiative, and itwas not long before low-voiced consultations began to plan a drasticcourse of action. Credit must be given to Sneed, because he knew only ofthe natural discontent and nothing of what was in the wind. Had heknown what was brewing he would have stamped it out with no uncertainforce, for he was wise enough to realize the folly of increasing theantagonism which already was held by Ford's Station for his ranch.
At first the conspirators had hopes of undermining Shields among thecitizens of the town, not knowing the feeling there as well as theirforeman knew it, but they were wise enough to go about it cautiously;and the returns justified their caution, for they found the inhabitantsof Ford's Station unassailably loyal to the peace officer. To accusehim, either directly or by suggestion, of double dealing would be to arraythe two score inhabitants of the town on his side in hot and belligerentpartisanship, and this they wished to avoid by all means, for they had nostomach for such a war as might easily follow. They then hit upon whatappeared to them to be an excellent plan, inasmuch as it was indirect andwould give the results desired; and the medium was to be the driver.
The talkative one had shown more than passing friendliness for TheOrphan, and they had his boasting words for it and he could not deny it,for Bill was very proud of the part he had played on that memorable day,and he took delight in recounting the conversation he had held with theoutfit at the coach--and he had a way of adding to the tartness of hisrepartee in its repetition. Tex Williard reasoned from experience that itwould not appear at all strange and unusual for Bill to be called toaccount for his friendliness and assistance to the outlaw and for hiscontemptuous words concerning the cowboys if it was done by some member ormembers of the ranch as a personal affair and without the appearanceof being sanctioned by the foreman. And through the driver he hoped tostrike at Shields, for the sheriff would not remain passive in such anevent; and once he was drawn into a brawl, hot tempers or accidentwould be the plea if he should be killed. The apologies and remorse ofthe sorrowful participants could be profound. And thus was cold-bloodedmurder planned by the very men who reviled The Orphan because they claimedhe was a murderer, and who cried aloud for his death on that charge.
Tex was the ringleader and in his own way he was not without cunning,and neither was he lacking in daring. He selected his assistants for thegame with cool, calculating judgment. The three he finally decided uponwere reckless and not lacking in intelligence and physical courage forsuch work. After having made his selection he sounded them carefullyand finally made his plans known, going into minute rehearsal of everyphase and detail of the game with thoughtful care and studied sequence.When he believed them to be well drilled he fixed upon the time and placeand caused word to get to Bill that he might expect trouble for hisassistance to The Orphan, and for having had a hand in sending the fivecowboys to their deaths. The news immediately reached the ears of thesheriff, who determined to see that Bill received no injury at the handsof the Cross Bar-8. He quietly made up his mind to be near the stageroute on the days when Bill drove through the defile of the Backbone,and to be within call if he should be needed. If he should think itnecessary, he would even go so far as to become a regular passengerin the coach until the trouble died down. To the masterly driving andcool-headed courage of Bill no less than to the daring and accuracy ofThe Orphan was the sheriff indebted for the lives of his sisters; andthe protection of Bill clove close to the line of duty, and not onewhit less to the line of law and order.
Bill laughed and boasted and made a joke of the thought of any dangerfrom the malcontents of the Cross Bar-8, and flatly refused to allow thesheriff to ride with him. He talked volubly until the agent profanelysent him on his journey, and he tore through the streets of the town inthe same old way. He forded the Limping Water in safety and crossed theten mile stretch of open plain without a sign of trouble. As he left thewater of the stream the sheriff started after him from town, intending tobe not far behind him when he entered the rough country.
When Bill plunged into the defile through the Backbone he began to grow alittle apprehensive, and he intently watched each stretch of the road aseach successive turn unfolded it to his sight. His foot was on the brakesand he was braced to stop the rush of his team at the first glimpse of anobstruction, or to tear past the danger if he could. One coyote yell andone snap of the whip would send the team wild, for they remembered well.
All was nice until he neared the place where The Orphan had held him upfor a smoke, and it was there the trouble occurred. As he swung aroundthe sharp turn he saw four cowboys bunched squarely in the center of thetrail and at such a distance from him that to attempt to dash past themwould be to lay himself open to several shots. They had him covered, andas he grasped the situation Tex Williard rode forward and held up his hand.
"Stop!" Tex shouted. "Get down!"
"What in thunder do you want?" Bill asked, setting the brakes and stoppinghis team, wonder showing on his face.
"Yu!" came the laconic
reply. "Get down!"
"What's eating you?" Bill asked in no uncertain inflection. Had Tex beenless imperative and kept the insulting tone out of his words Bill mighthave had time to become afraid, but the sting made him leap over fear toanger; and genuine anger takes small heed of fear.
Tex motioned to one of his men, who instantly leaped to the ground andran to the turn, where he knelt behind a rock, his rifle covering the backtrail. Then Tex returned to the driver.
"Curiosity is eating me, yu half-breed!" he cried. "GET DOWN! d----n yu,GET DOWN!! Don't wait all day, neither, do yu hear? What th' h--l do yuthink I'm a-talkin' for!"
"Well, I'll be blamed!" ejaculated Bill, wrapping the reins about theback of his seat. "Anybody would think you was the boss of the earth tohear you! You ain't no road agent, you're only a fool amature with moregall than brains! But I'll tell you right here and now that if you _are_playing road agent, I wouldn't be in your fool boots for a cool million.And if you are joking you are showing d----d bad taste, and don't youforget it. You're holding up a sack of U. S. mail, and if you don't knowwhat that means----"
"Shut yore face! Yu talk when I ask yu to!" shouted Tex as the driverdropped to the ground. "But since yore so unholy strong on th' palaver,suppose yu just explains why yu are so all-fired friendly to Th' Orphant?Suppose yu lisp why yu take such a peculiar interest in his health andhappiness. Come now, out with it--this ain't no Quaker meeting."
"Warble, birdie, warble!" jeered one of the cowboys. "Sing, yu ---- ----!"
"We're shore waitin', darlin'," jeered another. "Tune up an' get started,Windy."
"Well, since you talks like that," cried Bill, stung to reckless fury atthe cutting contempt of the words, "you can go to h--l and find out fromyour fool friends!" he shouted, beside himself with rage. "Who are you tostick me up and ask questions? It's none of your infernal business whoI like, you hog-nosed tanks! Why didn't you bring some decent men withyou, you flat-faced skunks? Why didn't you bring Sneed! White men woulda told you just what you are if you asked them to help you in your dirtywork, wouldn't they? Even a tin-horn gambler, a crooked cheat, wouldgive me more show for my money than you have, you bowlegged coyotes!Ain't you man enough to turn the trick alone, Williard? Can't you playa lone hand in ambush, you bob-tailed flush of a bad man! You're only alake-mouthed, red-headed wart of a two-by-four puncher, that's what----"
Tex had been stunned by surprise at such an outburst from a man whom hehad always regarded as woefully lacking in courage. Then his face flamedwith an insane rage at the taunting insults hurled venomously at him andhe sprang to action as though he had been struck. It would have been badenough to hear such words from an equal, but from Bill!
"Yu cur!" he yelled as he leaped forward into the tearing sting of thedriver's whip, which had been hanging from the wrist.
"You're the fourth dog I cut to-day," Bill said, jerking it back foranother try.
Tex shivered with pain as the lash cut through his ear, as it would havecut through paper, and screamed his words as he avoided the second blow."I'll show yu if I am man enough! I'll kill yu for that, d----n yu!"
As Tex threw his arms wide open to clinch, Bill leaped aside and drovehis heavy fist into the cowman's face as he passed, knocking him sidewiseagainst the wall of the defile; and then struggled like a madman in thetoils of two ropes. He was a Berserker now, a maniac without a hopeof life, and he screamed with rage as he tore frantically at the roughhair ropes, wishing only to destroy, to kill with his bare hands. The blowhad not been well placed, being too high for the vital point, but it hadsmashed the puncher's nose flat to his face and one eye was fast losingits resemblance to the other. Tex staggered to his feet and returnedto the attack, striking savagely at the face of the bound man. Billavoided the blow by jerking his head aside and snarled like a beastas he drove the heel of his heavy boot into his enemy's stomach. Theneverything grew black before his eyes and a roaring sound filled hisears. The rope slackened and the men who had thrown him head-first on arock leaped from their horses and ran to him.
When his senses returned he found himself bound hand and foot and under aspur of rock which projected from the bank of the cut. His face was cutand bruised and his scalp laid open, but through the blood which drippedfrom his eyebrows he vaguely saw Tex, bent double and rocking back andforth on the ground, intoned moans coming from him with a sound like thatmade by a rasp on the edge of a box.
As Bill's brain cleared he became conscious of excruciating pains inhis head, as if hammers were crashing against his skull. Glancing upwardhe saw that a rope ran from his neck to the rock, over it and then tothe pommel of a saddle, and his face twitched as its meaning siftedthrough his mind. Then he thought of the time The Orphan had held himup in the defile--how unlike these men the outlaw was! If he would onlycome now--what joy there would be in the flashing of his gun; what ecstasyin the confusion, panic, rout that he would cause. He was dazed andthe throbbing, heavy, monotonous pain dulled him still more. He seemedto be apart from his surroundings, to be an onlooker and not an actorin the game. He wondered if that whip was his: yes, it must be . . .certainly it was. He ought to know his own whip . . . of course it washis. He regarded Tex curiously . . . there had been Indians, or was itsome other time? What was Tex doing there on the ground? He struggled tothink clearly, and then he knew. But the deadening pain was mercifulto him, it made him apathetic. Was he going to die? Perhaps, but whatof it? He didn't care, for then that pain wouldn't beat through him. Texlooked funny. . . . He closed his eyes wearily and seemed to be faraway. He _was_ far away, and, oh, so tired!
Tex finally managed to gain his feet and straighten up and revealed hisface, bloody and swollen and black from the blow. His words came with ahesitation which suggested pain, and they were mumbled between split andswollen lips.
"Now, d----n yu!" he cried, brokenly, staggering to the helpless manbefore him. "Now mebby yu'll talk! Why did yu help Th' Orphant? If yulie yu'll swing!"
Bill swayed and his eyes opened, and after an interval he slowly andwearily made reply, for his senses had returned again.
"He saved my life," he said, "and I'll help--anybody for that."
"Oh, he did, did he?" jeered Tex. "An' why? That ain't his way, helpin'strangers at his own risk. Why?"
"There was women--in the coach."
"Oh, there was, hey?" ironically remarked Tex. "Mebby he wanted 'em allto himself, eh?"
"He's a white man, not a cur."
"He's a cub of th' devil, that's what he is!" Tex cried. "He ain't noorphant, not by a d----d sight--th' devil's his father, an' all hell ishis mother. Now, I want an answer to this one, and I want it quick: no liegoes. Why don't th' sheriff get busy an' camp on his trail? What interesthas th' sheriff an' Th' Orphant in each other? Come on, out with it!"
"I don't know," replied Bill, wishing that the sheriff was at hand to makean appropriate answer. "Ask him, why don't you?" he asked, stretching hisneck to ease the hairy, bristling clutch of the lariat.
"Oh, yu don't, an' yore still cheeky, eh?" cried the inquisitor. "An' yuwant yore d----d neck stretched, do yu?"
He motioned to the man on the horse at the end of the rope and Billstraightened up and daylight showed under his heels. As he struggled therewas an interruption from the man who covered the back trail: "'Nds up!"he cried. "Don't move!"
Tex signalled for Bill to be let down and ran backward to the oppositeside of the defile until he could see around the turn; and he discoveredthe sheriff, who sat quietly under the gun of the cowboy.
"Stop! Don't yu even wiggle!" cried the guard. "I'll blow yore head offat the first move!" he added in warning; and for once in his eventful lifeShields knew that he was absolutely helpless, for the time, at least.His hands were clasped over his sombrero, for it would be tiresome to holdthem out, and he felt that he might have need of fresh, quick musclesbefore long.
"All right, all right, bub," he responded in perfect good nature,apparently. "Don't get nervous and let that gun go off, for it's shoreyou
r turn now," he added, smiling his war smile. "Any particular thing youwant, or are you just practicing a short cut to eternity?"
"I want yu to stay just like yu are!" snapped the man with the drop. "Andyu keep yore mouth shut, too!"
"Since it's your last wish, why, it goes," replied the sheriff, ignoringthe command for silence. "Got any message for your folks? Any keep-sakesyou'd like to have sent back East? Give me the address of your folks andI'll send them your last words, too."
"That's enough, Sheriff," said Tex, moving cautiously forward behind hisleveled Colt. "I'll do all th' talkin' that's necessary; yu just listenfor a while."
"Well, well," replied the sheriff, grinning and simulating surprise. "Ifhere ain't Tex Williard, too! What's your pet psalm, sonny? Good God,what a face!"
"What's that got to do with this?" asked Tex, intently watching for war.
"Oh, nothing, nothing at all," replied the sheriff. "But, Lord, thatcayuse of yours can shore kick! Was you tickling it? They do go off likethat some times. Any of your nose coming out the back of your head yet?But to reply to your touching inquiry, I'll say that the psalm mightwork in handy after while, that's all. If you'll only tell me, I'll seethat it is sung over your grave. But, honest, how did you get that face?"
"That'll just about do for yu!" cried the cowboy, angrily. "An' sit still,yu!" he added.
"Say, bub," confidentially said Shields, "my stomach itches like blazes.Can't I scratch it, just once?"
"No! Think I'm a fool!" yelled Tex, his finger tightening on the trigger."Yu sit still, d----n yu!"
"Well, I only wanted to see just how much of a fool you really are,"grinned the sheriff exasperatingly. "Judging from your present positionI must say that I thought you didn't have any sense at all, but now Ireckon you've got a few brains after all. But suppose you scratch itfor me, hey? Just rub it easy like with your left paw."
Tex swore luridly, too tense to realize what a fool the sheriff was makingof him. He could think of only one thing at a time, and he was thinkingvery hard about the sheriff's hands.
"Tut, tut, don't take it so hard," jeered the sheriff, smiling pleasantly."Now that I know that you are some rational, suppose you tell me the joke?What's the secret? Who skinned his shin? What in thunder is all thisartillery saluting me for?"
"Since yu want to know, I'll tell yu, all right," replied Tex. "Why are yuan' Th' Orphant so d----d thick? Don't be all day about it?"
"You d----d excuse!" responded the sheriff. "You mere accident! As thepoet said, it's none of your business! Catch that?"
"Yes, I caught it," retorted Tex. "I reckon we needs a new sheriff, an'd----d soon, too," he added venomously.
"Well, people don't always get what they need," replied Shields easily."If they did, you would get yours right now, and good and hard, too," heexplained, making ready to put up the hardest fight of his life. Threemen had him covered, and he knew they would all shoot if he made a move,for they had placed themselves in a desperate situation and could not backout now. He knew that never before had he been in so tight a hole, but hetrusted to luck and his own quickness to crawl out with a whole skin. Ifhe was killed, he would have company across the Great Divide; of thathe was certain.
"I reckon I'll take yore guns for a while, just to be doin' somethin',"Tex said as he advanced a step. "Mebby that itch will go away then."
"I reckon you'll be a d----n sight wiser if you don't force matters, forthey are purty well forced now," Shields replied. "No man gets my guns'butts first without getting all mussed up inside. You'll certainly bedoing something if you try it."
"Well, then," compromised Tex, "answer my question!"
"And no man gets an answer to a question like that in words," the sheriffcontinued, as if there had been no interruption. "But I'll give you andyour white-faced bums a chance for your lives--and I don't wonder TheOrphan shot up Jimmy, neither. Put up your wobbling guns and get out ofthis country as fast as God will let you! If you ever come back I'll fillyou plumb full of lead! It's your move, Lovely Face, and the quicker youdo it the better it'll be for your health."
"'The less you count the longer you'll live!' said Shields"(See page 192.)]
"Oh, I don't know about that," replied Tex with a leer and swagger. "To aman up a tree it looks like yu are up agin a buzz saw this time."
"To a man on the ground it looks like your tin buzz saw has hit thehardest knot it ever struck, and you'll feel the jar purty soon, too,"Shields countered, his hazel eyes beginning to grow red. "You put up thatgun and scoot before I blow your d----d head off!"
"I'll give yu 'til I counts three to answer my question," Tex said,ignoring the advice. "One!"
"The less you count the longer you'll live," said Shields, gripping hishorse with his knees in readiness to jump it sideways.
"Two!"
"Afternoon, gents," said a pleasant voice up above them, and all jumpedand looked up. As they did so Shields jerked his guns loose and laughedsoftly: "That itch has plumb gone away," he said. "It's a new deal," heexulted, his face wreathed in grins.
