The Coming of the Law

by Charles Alden Seltzer

  CHAPTER XXVIII

  IN DEFIANCE OF THE LAW

  Hollis had demonstrated the fact that a majority of Dry Bottom'scitizens welcomed the law. Dry Bottom had had a law, to be sure--the lawof the six-shooter, with the cleverest man "on the trigger" as its chiefadvocate. Few men cared to appear before such a court with an argumentagainst its jurisdiction. The law, as the citizens of Dry Bottom hadseen it, was an institution which frowned upon such argument. Few mencared to risk an adverse decision of the established court to advocatelaws which would come from civilized authority; they had remained silentagainst the day when it would come in spite of the element that hadscoffed at it. And now that day had arrived. The Law had come.

  Even the evil element knew it. The atmosphere was vibrant withsuppressed excitement; in the stores men and women were congregated; inthe saloons rose a buzz of continuous conversation. On the street mengreeted one another with subdued voices, or halted one another todiscuss the phenomenon. In a dozen conspicuous places were postedflaring, printed notices, informing the reader that a thousand of theCircle Cross cattle--a description of which followed--were, on thefollowing day, to be sold to the highest bidder. Below thisannouncement, in small, neat print, was quoted the Law.

  Dry Bottom gasped. The saloons swarmed. In the Fashion two bartendersand the proprietor labored heroically to supply their customers with theliquid stimulant which would nerve them to look upon Ben Allen's posterswith a certain degree of equanimity. The reckless element--the gun-menwho in a former day were wont to swagger forth with reckless disregardfor the polite conventions--skulked in the background, sneering at thisthing which had come to rob them of their power and which, they felt,presaged their ultimate downfall.

  But Dry Bottom ignored the gun-men, or smiled blandly at them, givingits attention to Ben Allen's posters and discussing a rumor which hadgained rapid credence, to the effect that the new governor hadtelegraphed Allen that he would hold a detail of United States soldiersin readiness for any contingency.

  The good citizens smiled. And throughout the day many of them passed andrepassed the _Kicker_ office, anxious to get a glimpse of the manwho had been instrumental in bringing about this innovation.

  Shortly after noon on the same day Dunlavey rode into Dry Bottom,dismounted, hitched his pony to the rail in front of the Fashion, andentered.

  In former days Dunlavey's appearance within the doors of the Fashion wasthe signal for boisterous greetings. For here might always be found thelaw's chief advocates. To-day, however, there were no greetings. Mindswere filled with vague and picturesque conjecture concerning Dunlavey'sprobable actions and the outcome of this strange affair. Thus uponDunlavey's entrance a silence--strange and awkward--fell in thebar-room. There were short nods and men fell away from Dunlavey as hecrossed the room and came to a halt before one of Ben Allen's posters.He read every line of it--every word. No man interrupted him. Then,finishing his reading, he turned and faced the crowd, his face whitewith wrath, his lips snarling.

  "Why in hell didn't some of you damned fools tear this down?" hedemanded.

  No man felt it incumbent upon him to reply to this and Dunlavey watchedthem for an instant, sneering, his eyes glittering menacingly. Then hesuddenly turned, seized the poster, savagely tore it into pieces, hurledthe pieces to the floor, and stamped upon them. Then he turned again tothe silent crowd, his face inflamed, his voice snapping with a bitter,venomous sarcasm.

  "Scared!" he said. "Scared out clean--like a bunch of coyotes runnin'from the daylight!" He made a strange sound with his lips, expressinghis unutterable contempt for men so weakly constituted.

  "Quit!" he grated. "Quit clean because a tenderfoot comes out here andtries to run things! So long as things come your way you're willing tostick it out, but when things go the other way--Ugh!"

  He turned abruptly, strode out through the door, mounted his pony, androde rapidly down the street. Several of the men, who went to the doorafter his departure, saw him riding furiously toward the Circle Cross.

  Then one of his former friends laughed harshly--sarcastically. "I reckonthat there tenderfoot is botherin' Big Bill a whole lot," he said as heturned to the bar.

  * * * * *

  It had been a busy day for Hollis. His hand had been shaken so much thatit pained him. The day had been a rather warm one for the season and sowhen late in the afternoon Norton rode into town, "To see theexcitement," he told Hollis, the latter determined to make the returntrip to the Circle Bar in the evening. Therefore, after a shortconference with Judge Graney and Allen--and a frugal, though wholesomesupper in the Judge's rooms back of the court house--which Allencooked--he and Norton rode out upon the Coyote trail and jogged quietlytoward the Circle Bar.

  There was a good moon; the air was invigorating, though slightly chill,and the trail lay clear and distinct before them, hard after the rain,ideal for riding.

  Many times during the first half hour of the ride Norton lookedfurtively at his chief. Certain things that Mrs. Norton had told himheld a prominent place in his thoughts, and mingling with these thoughtswas the recollection of a conversation that he had held with Hollis oneday when both of them had been riding this same trail and Hollis hadstopped off at the Hazelton cabin. Many times Norton smiled. He wouldhave liked to refer to that conversation, but hesitated for fear ofseeming to meddle with that which did not concern him. He remembered thedays of his own courtship--how jealously he had guarded his secret.

  But the longer his thoughts dwelt upon the incident that had beenrelated to him by Mrs. Norton the harder it became to keep silent. Buthe managed to repress his feelings for the first half hour and then,moved by an internal mirth that simply would not be held in checklonger, he cackled aloud.

  He saw Hollis shoot a quick glance at him. He cackled again, his mirthswelling as he caught the surprised and puzzled expression of Hollis'sface.

  "I have a very original opinion of people who laugh without any visiblecause," remarked the latter, grinning reluctantly in the semi-darkness.

  Norton's reply was another cackle. They rode in silence for a long time.

  Then Norton spoke. "This is a great country," he said.

  Silence from Hollis, though taking a quick glance at him Norton againobserved the puzzled grin on his face.

  "And original," he remarked, placing upon the latter word the samepeculiar emphasis that Hollis had given it a moment before.

  Hollis grinned widely; he began to detect a subtle meaning in the rangeboss's speech and actions. But he did not answer; it would not strainhis patience to await until such a time as Norton made his meaningclear.

  "But there's some things that ain't original," continued Norton in thesame tone, after another short silence.

  This remark clearly required comment. Hollis grinned mildly. "Meaningwhat?" he questioned.

  Norton met his gaze gravely. "Meanin' that the ways of makin' love arepretty much the same in every country." He laughed. "I know there'sdifferent ways of makin' it--in books," he continued; "the folks whichwrite books make their men an' women go at it all kinds of ways. But didyou ever know anyone in real life to make love to a girl any differentthan anyone else?"

  "I have had no experience in love making," returned Hollis, puzzledagain.

  Norton cackled. "No," he said, "an' that's the peculiar part of it.Mostly no one has ever had any experience when they start to makin' lovethe first time. But they all make it the same way. That's why it ain'toriginal. You take a man which has got in love with a girl--any man. Hedon't want anyone to know that he's in love with her--he feels sortasheepish about it. Goes around hangin' his head an' blushin', an' mostlynot sayin' anything about it. Once he gets it into his system he ain'tthe same man any more. Takes to actin' reserved like an' gentle. Butthem that's had experience can see the symptoms. There ain't no way tohide it."

  Had Norton looked at Hollis now he might have observed a touch of red inthe young man's face. But he did not look; he was watching the
trailahead, smiling broadly.

  They had been riding through a deep depression, going toward a ridgewhose crest was fringed with dense, tangled shrubbery. Hollis was aboutto reply to Norton's remark when he saw the latter's lips suddenlystraighten; saw his body stiffen as he drew himself erect in the saddleand pulled his pony abruptly up. Surprised, Hollis also reined in andsat silent, looking at Norton.

  The latter's hand went to one of his ears, the fingers spreading out,fan like. "Listen!" he warned sharply.

  Hollis had been listening. A low rumble greeted his ears. He lookedsuddenly upward at the sky, fearful that another storm, such as he hadencountered months before, might be forming. But the sky was cloudless.He looked again at Norton. The latter's eyes shone brightly in themoonlight as he leaned toward Hollis. The rumbling had grown moredistinct.

  "It ain't a stampede," said Norton rapidly; "there wouldn't be anythingto stampede cattle on a night like this. An' them's cattle!"

  It was about a hundred yards to the ridge toward which they had beenriding and Hollis saw Norton suddenly plunge the spurs into his pony'sflanks; saw the animal rush forward. He gave his own animal the spursand in an instant was at Norton's side, racing toward the ridge. Therange boss dismounted at the bottom, swiftly threw the reins over hispony's head, and running stealthily toward the crest. Hollis followedhim. When he reached Norton's side the latter was flat on a rim rock atthe edge of a little cliff, behind some gnarled brush. Below them thecountry stretched away for miles, level, unbroken, basking in themoonlight. Hollis recognized the section as that through which he hadtraveled on the night he had been overtaken by the storm--the big levelthat led to Big Elk crossing, where he had met Dunlavey and his men thatnight.

  Looking out upon the plain he held his breath in amazement. During thetime he had been at the Circle Bar he had seen cattle running, but neverhad he seen them run like this. About a quarter of a mile from the ridgeon which he and Norton stood rose a dust cloud--moving swiftly. Butahead of the cloud, heads down, their horns tossing were a number ofcattle, perhaps fifty, racing furiously. They were running parallel withthe ridge and would probably pass it. Behind and flanking them racedseveral cowboys, silent, driving with their quirts.

  "Rustlers!" came Norton's voice from beside him. "They're headin' forBig Elk!"

  Hollis had brought his rifle, which he had carried since the attack onthe night of the storm. At Norton's word he raised it. But Norton's handtouched his and his voice came again, sharply, commandingly.

  "Don't shoot!" he said. "It wouldn't do any good; some of them would getaway. Mebbe they'll come close enough so's we can see who they are!"

  Hollis waited breathlessly. It seemed that but an instant had passedfrom the time he had caught a first glimpse of them until they werethundering by the ridge and he and Norton were blinded by the dust. Theyhad gone before the dust settled, but through it as they passed, Hollishad caught sight of a familiar figure. Before the thunder of hoofs haddied away Hollis felt Norton's hand on his arm and his voice in his ear.

  "Dunlavey!"

  There could be no doubt of that, for Hollis had recognized him also. Heturned, to hear Norton's dry voice in his ear.

  "The new law don't seem to be botherin' Dunlavey a heap," he said.

  Hollis stepped boldly out on the ridge, his face grim and pale. But hewas pulled back by Norton. "I take it you don't want to let them seeyou," he said. "When a thing like that comes off there's always somebodysure to be lookin' back." He was pulling at Hollis's arm, directing hissteps down the slope toward where they had left the horses. "You an' meain't enough," he was saying to Hollis; "we'll hit the breeze to theCircle Bar, get some of the boys, an' hustle back here an' take themcattle!"

  Hollis accompanied him willingly as far as the horses. Then he halted,his eyes flashing brightly. "We won't go to the Circle Bar," he said."We won't fight them like that. There is a law in this country now and Iam going to see that the law acts!" He seized Norton's arm in a firmcommanding grip. "You follow them," he directed. "From the edge of thebutte where they caught me on the night of the storm you can see thecountry for miles. Don't cross the river," he warned. "Stay there besidethe butte until I come back--I won't be long. Watch where they take thecattle!"

  Before Norton could offer a word of objection he was on his pony andracing over the back trail at terrific speed. For a moment Nortonwatched him. Then he disappeared and Norton grimly mounted his pony androde down to the level following the trail taken by the thieves.