Oliver Strange - Sudden Westerns 01 - The Range Robbers(1930) (3 page)

 
          
“What
were yu doin’ up on Blue Devil, Norry?’ he asked. “Ain’t I told yu not to touch
him?’

 
          
“Yes,
Dad; but you know I can ride, and I didn’t think there was a horse I couldn’t
manage,’ the girl replied.

 
          
“Well,
yu know now there is, an’ yu keep away from him in future,’ retorted the old
man grimly. “By the way, who helped yu rope an’ saddle him?’

 
          
“Now,
Dad,’ she replied, with a laugh in which a sob was oddly mingled, “do you think
I’d tell?’ Then, as her father growled an oath, she slipped her arm coaxingly
through his, and added, “
You
mustn’t be angry with the
boys, Dad; they just have to do what I say, you know, and Blue was as good as
gold at first.’ The ranch-owner replied with a non-committal grunt, and stood
staring out over the open country. Presently came the drumming of hoofs, and
soon the roan appeared, still running fast, but entirely under control, and
evidently, for the time at least, a beaten horse. His rider, reining in, jumped
lightly down, and stood stroking the heaving flanks. Simon stepped forward.

 
          
“I’m
obliged to yu,’ he said simply, and with a nod in the direction of Blue Devil.
“What do yu think of him?’

 
          
“Grandest
hoss I’ve ever crossed,’ was the instant reply. “But yu
won’t
never
make a lady’s pet of him.’

 
          
“I
ain’t aimin’ to,’ retorted Old Simon. “I once said I’d give that hoss to anyone
that could ride him, an’ I reckon that’s why this girl o’ mine was disobeyin’
orders. He’s yourn, an’ it’s fifty per for newcomers sometimes.
Sabe.’

 
          
“I’ll
be proud to have the hoss, an’ yu’ll find I earn my pay,’ was the quiet reply.

 
          
“I
have to thank you too for saving, perhaps, my life,’ Norry said, stepping
forward with outstretched hand. The stranger took and held it for a moment,
looking gravely into the deep blue eyes. Then he said: “Why, it
don’t
need mentionin’,’ and turned away.

 
          
The
girl watched him as he followed Larry to the corral, leading Blue Devil, who
went docilely enough. She was rather puzzled by his abrupt departure; men, as a
rule, were in no hurry to leave her. She did not think he had meant to be rude,
and yet—her father’s voice broke in upon her reflections.

 
          
“Now
yu mind what I’m sayin’, girl, an’ when I tell yu to keep away from a
four-legged earthquake yu gotta obey. It takes a bit to throw a scare into me,
but I’ll own up I was frightened good and plenty.’

 
          
“All
right, Dad, I’ll promise,’ the girl replied. “I was scared good and plenty
myself. I wonder where the new man comes
from?
’

 
          
“Dunn,’
said Old Simon. “It ain’t reckoned good form or good sense to be too curious in
these parts, but he’s worth his pay if he never does anythin’ else for me.’

 
          
“You’re
just a dear,’ Noreen responded tenderly, hugging him by the arm as they went
into the house.

 
          
Meanwhile,
the two punchers, having unsaddled and turned Blue Devil loose in the corral,
proceeded to the bunkhouse, arriving just in time for the evening meal. Larry
presented his new friend to the outfit:

 
          
“A
new “Wise head,” boys—name of Green; but I wouldn’t recommend any of yu to
gamble on that same cog-no-men meanin’ much.’

 
          
The
presentation elicited a laugh. Some of the men nodded, others vouchsafed a
single word, “How,’ and all of them went on eating. Green and his companion
slid into a couple of empty places at the long table and tackled the food as
though their last meal was a distant memory.

 
          
At
length, when the plates had been cleared and replenished, coffee-cups emptied
and refilled, the men began to find another use for their jaws. Green saw
covert glances sent in his direction, and divined that he was being “looked
over,’ and that presently he would be “tried out.’ Larry knew what was coming,
and hugged himself mentally for not having “gassed’ about the new man’s
performances.

 
          
“They’re
good boys—some of ‘em; but it’ll shore improve their eddication if they josh
him,’ he reflected.

 
          
A
redheaded, merry-faced cowboy, who was called ‘Ginger’ because he hated it and
had
foolishly
allowed that fact to become known,
opened the attack.

 
          
“Gee,
stranger, but I’m right glad yu happened along,’ he said. “It’ll save me
somethin’.’

 
          
Green
looked up inquiringly. “Shoot,’ he said, with a smile.

 
          
“Well,’
began Ginger, ‘yu see, that Y Z has the meanest hoss this side o’ the Mexican
border, an’ it’s a custom o’ the ranch that the latest comer has to try an’
ride that hoss within a certain time, unless a new hand drifts in to take the
job. Now my time is nearly up, so the hoss bein’ a real man-killer, I’m obliged
to yu.’

 
          
The
stranger listened gravely, Ginger had not done it well; as he explained
afterwards, he had had no time to think out something classy,
in
consequence of being hungry, but that was his chronic
state, so the excuse failed also.

 
          
“It
certainly is
a fool trick to fork a hoss yu are
scared
of,’ Green grinned. Ginger fell into the trap headlong, his face as red as his
hair. “Scared nothin’,’ he shouted. “I never seen the thing on four legs or two
that I was scared of, an’ don’t yu forget it.’ A burst of laughter from the
others apprised him that he had given himself away, and the stranger completed
his discomfiture by saying:

 
          
“I
was thinkin’ yu weren’t
so
obliged as yu were tryin’
to tell me.’

 
          
“Betcha
dollar I can name somethin’ on two legs that yo’re scared of, Ginger,’ said
Dirty (whose nickname was in reality a compliment, since it was due to his
actual fondness for soap and water). The boys argued that anyone so keen on
washing must badly need it.

 
          
“Take
yu,’ snapped Ginger unwisely.

 
          
“Why,
yo’re dead easy,’ said Dirty, with a broad grin. “What about Miss Norry?’

 
          
“I
ain’t—’ Ginger cut short his protest, for he knew that, uttered, it must be
made good. He decided to cut his losses, and flung a dollar at his smirking
friend.

 
          
“Think
yo’re blame smart, don’t ye?’ he said. “Who got chased outa Kansas City by a
girl with a gun?’

 
          
Dirty
flushed furiously, and then laughed. “She shore was awful gone on me, that girl
was,’ he remarked. “But I didn’t go back.
No, sir.’

 
          
“Gone
on yu?’ Ginger snorted. “Gone on yu?
She
musts bin out
of her haid.’

 
          
“Ginger
don’t understand the gentle passion,’ Dirty explained commiseratingly to Green.
“He
ain’t never
had a girl run after him!’

 
          
The
newcomer added his quota to the good-natured wrangle which ensued, but his eyes
were busy studying the men with whom he must spend his days and nights. He soon
divined that there were two factions in the Y Z outfit, one composed of the
younger, light-hearted crew, several of whom he now knew by name, and the
others of older men, hard-bitten, stamped with marks of the frontier. From one
or two of these he got looks which, if not exactly hostile, were certainly not
of welcome, but he did not let this worry him, for he had an abiding confidence
in his ability to take care of himself in any company, a confidence born of experience,
which is the best kind of that useful commodity.

 
          
GREEN
did not see the foreman at breakfast next morning, and when the meal was over
he shouldered his saddle and went to the corral, where the men were getting
their mounts and orders for the day’s work.

 
          
“That’s
Blaynes,’ whispered Larry.

 
          
The
man indicated was about thirty-five, tall and strongly built, with a lean, dark
face upon which was set a perpetual sneer. He moved with the sinuous speed of a
snake and carried his head with a forward thrust which gave a reptilian
impression. Whoever first bestowed the nickname of “Rattler’ upon him hit the
mark to a
nicety.

 
          
‘Dago
blood there,’ thought Green, “Treacherous, tough as hickory, and as hard no
whip as a mountain lion.’

 
          
The
foreman looked at him squarely as he walked up, and their eyes clashed like the
blades of duellists. In that instant each instinctively knew the other for an
enemy; like love, hate also can be born at first sight. It was the foreman who
spoke:

 
          
“Green,
eh?’ he inquired sneeringly.

 
          
“That’s
my name,’ replied the other, and the slight emphasis on the last word caused
some of the men listening to smile. Blaynes saw the smiles, and they did not
improve his temper.

 
          
“Dunn
what the Old Man’s thinkin’ of to go a-takin’ on any stranger that drifts in,’
he growled insolently.

 
          
“Mebbe
he’s thinkin’ that he owns the ranch,’ countered Green.

 
          
This
time the hit was direct, and several of the onlookers laughed audibly. Rattler
realized that he was getting the worst of the argument, and promptly changed
his tactics.

 
          
‘Yo’re
quite the funny man, ain’t ye?’ he jeered. “Well, we’ll see if you can use yore
hands as well as yore jaw. Yuan’ Durran can double-team it to-day, an’ yu will
take the roan there.’

 
          
He
jerked his thumb towards the corral, where the outlaw horse was standing apart
from the others, and this time some of the older men grinned; this new chap
might be a bit of a “smarty,’ but the foreman knew how to handle him. Green’s
face was absolutely expressionless as he replied:

 
          
‘I’ll
ride my own hoss.’

 
          
“You’ll
do as yo’re told while I’m bossin’ this outfit, or git,’ snarled Blaynes.

 
          
‘I’ll
ride my own hoss,’ repeated the other, and strode into the corral.

 
          
With
a quick, low flick of the wrist he roped the roan, and with the help of Larry,
got the saddle on and cinched. One lightning spring and he was astride. The
other men, fully aware of Blue Devil’s capabilities, expected to see him
“piled’ instantly, but, to their intense amazement, after a display of mild
bucking with which any self-respecting cowpony resents being ridden, the roan
trotted sedately from the corral. Blaynes, who had been waiting for the
humiliation and probably injury of the man he already hated, had but one
consolation.

 
          
“Changed
yore mind about obeyin’ orders, eh?’ he sneered. “Guessed yu was bluffin’.’

 
          
“
Guess
again,’ retorted Green. “I told yu I’d ride my own
hoss, an’ that’s what I’m doin’.’

 
          
He
touched the roan’s sides with the spurs and shot after Durran, who had already
started. Rattler’s gaze followed him in scowling perplexity.

 
          
“What
th’ hell?” he muttered.

 
          
He
looked up to find Larry endeavoring to conceal his delight at the foreman’s
discomfiture, and making a poor job of it.

 
          
“Why
now, Rattler, didn’t yu hear about the Old Man givin’ him the hoss las’ night?’
the boy asked.