Arthur Chapman

“ For first time it came to him, fully and undeniably, that he was in love with this slim, dark-haired young woman whom chance had thrown across his trail. Only the Texan did not call it chance. He wanted to tell the girl that it was Fate that had caused their trails to cross and recross. They had seated themselves on the tiny porch that shaded the front doorway to the cabin. Giant pine trees crowded in friendly fashion about the few acres which the naturalist had cleared. Over the tips of the biggest pines could be seen the white hoods of the mountains. ”

“ Bertram knew that to refuse outright would be equivalent to a declaration of war. Yet he was far from having so detached a viewpoint regarding the expedition as he had at the start. Previous to his meeting with the girl he had been ready for most any adventure. As an alien gunman—a Hessian in cowboy traps, as he bitterly called himself—he would have cared little about any harm he might bring to those concerned in this range war, so remote from his home. Cattle interests or rustlers—it had made no difference to him until he had met Alma Caldwell. ”

“ Swingley turned, as if to make a heated answer, but Hoog’s voice came insistently: “Ace, come here. Here’s news!”
The cattleman joined Hoog, and the two walked through the swinging door together. Every one else had gone out of the room but Bertram. He rose, troubled in mind about the threat Swingley had made concerning Alma. He turned cold at the thought that some harm might come to her.
“I never thought it, not even of such scoundrels as these!” he muttered. “Women have always been safer in the West than anywhere else in the world. ”

“ Want to desert with me?”
“I don’t guess I do,” replied Arch, surprised in spite of himself. “The people in this country will scalp you alive when they learn that you came in here with this gang. You’d better stay on and chance it with us, Milt.”
“I’d have to fight Swingley when he saw that,” replied Bertram, pointing grimly to the destroyed go-devil. “Between the two camps of enemies I seem to have made, there’s nothing for me to do but take to the brush. ”

“ The arrival of one additional horseman in the principal street of Wild Horse was something to attract no attention whatever. Several hundred riders had arrived at that headquarters of industry and gossip, ahead of Milton Bertram. Most of them, it is to be said, were interested in the gossip, rather than the prosaic affairs of the cattle industry. The news of Jimmy Coyle’s shooting by the masked horseman had spread fast and far, and men had ridden far and fast to talk it over. ”

“ The gang you’ve picked up is the worst in this section. You’ve headed the bunch with Tom Hoog, a notorious killer, and the others aren’t much behind him.”
“I like men who can take care of themselves,” replied Swingley.
“Well, you’ve got ’em over there,” went on Bertram, looking into the adjoining waiting room, where, in a haze of blue smoke, many cow-punchers could be seen, lolling about on bed rolls, waiting for the calling of their train.
They were, as Bertram said, a formidable-looking outfit. Nearly every man had a record as a killer. ”

“ Bertram was, he did not comprehend until he had climbed to the top of the draw, where Jimmy had brought the horses. Even though Jimmy assisted him on one side and Alma on the other, he had difficulty in negotiating the steep trail. But he managed to get into the saddle without aid.
“It’s queer how just the grip of a saddle horn puts life in you,” he remarked, as they started out of the clearing, with backward glances at the still smoking cabin. “That’s a right smart gun you’re carrying, Jimmy. I never got a worse knock in my life.” ”

“ The leader of the invaders and his lieutenant came at breakneck speed, reining their horses up with a sharp jerk beside the waiting group. Swingley grinned in triumph, as he gazed at the Texan. Hoog, with perpetual malice written on his long, saturnine features, looked on impassively from the saddle.
“Well, we didn’t know what your trail was goin’ to bring us to,” said Swingley, addressing Alma. “We’ve followed it since you left your ranch, but it’s been worth the trip for us. We didn’t have any idea of findin’ our fellow invader, Milt Bertram, here. ”

“ We’re not all savages here. I don’t dare take you back to the home ranch, up Powderhorn River, but Jimmy and I have a hiding place all arranged for you, where it won’t be necessary to explain things to folks.”
“Yes, I reckon most people here will be inclined to shoot first and listen to explanations afterward,” said Bertram. “But you can’t afford to put yourself in a questionable light by sheltering one of Swingley’s rustlers. I can’t hide the fact that I’m a Texan.” ”

“ I couldn’t have taken you to any ranch house without your presence being known elsewhere, on account of all this excitement. Neighbors are visiting everywhere, and any one who had sheltered a stranger at this time would have come in for general suspicion. But, unless somebody deliberately sets out to trail you, no one will be likely to know you are at this place. It is known that Uncle Billy is opposed to the taking of human life, and that he could not be enlisted in this dispute on either side.”
“Well, Swingley and Tom Hoog will soon be on my trail,” observed the Texan. ”

“ The girl had ridden over to Uncle Billy’s place from the Caldwell ranch, and she was walking about in the bright sunshine, while the Texan stood in front of the naturalist’s cabin.
“Well, I can testify that if Uncle Billy had turned surgeon he would have made a success of his calling,” said Bertram, stretching his arms above his head, in the joy that a strong man feels when convalescent. “He’s fixed me up more quickly than I would have thought possible. Your fighting cousin’s bullet, it seems, just nicked the top of a lung. ”

“ There was a long line of men at Laroque’s bar, as the Texan entered the saloon, and others were sitting in little groups at the tables to the right. The Texan instinctively realized that Jimmy Coyle’s shooting had caused something approaching a revolt in the Swingley ranks. Hardened as the invaders were and accustomed to the idea of killing, this shooting of a mere boy and leaving him for dead was something that went against the grain. ”

“ The countryside was terrorized, the feeling of helplessness being intensified because the sheriff was notoriously indifferent to anything that was not to the best interests of the big cattlemen. Men were afraid to meet on the main-traveled roads. When a traveler saw another traveler approaching there was a mutual survey at long distance. Then, to make assurance doubly sure, each horseman usually made a detour. Men did not stir outdoors unless they were armed. Curtains were put up at ranch house windows that had never previously known such obstructions to the light. ”

“ The rustlers are so strong that they’ve been runnin’ things as they wanted. But, when they see what they’re up against now, it may be that they’ll quit without a fight. If they don’t—so much the worse for them.”
Swingley turned in his saddle and looked proudly back at his little army. The sight would have inspired pride in any captain. Here was a grim company of tanned, resolute-looking horsemen, riding with that easy grace peculiar to the saddlemen of the Western plains. The loud jests that had been heard on the train were not in evidence. The men rode quietly. ”

“ When the work was completed Swingley crouched behind the contraption and pushed it about with an enthusiasm that was almost boyish.
“You’ve been slow enough about it, Milt,” he said to the young Texan, who stood with bare arms folded over the leather apron Swingley had provided, looking at the cattleman in undisguised contempt. “But it’s a good job, all right. If anybody holes up in front of us, they ain’t goin’ to stay holed up very long, now that we’ve got this go-devil.” ”

“ As Swingley spoke, the advance guard of the command could be heard coming, and soon the road by the blacksmith shop was filled with mounted men, none too good-humored at being routed out before sunup and without breakfast.
“There’ll be plenty to eat after a little work that’s mapped out first,” said Swingley, haranguing the crowd. “The first rustlers we’ve got to git are not more’n a mile ahead of us, in a cabin to the left of the road, toward the foothills. You can’t miss the place. I want it surrounded. If any man from the cabin shows his face after daybreak, he’s to be shot—and shot dead. ”

“ It does you credit to think so well of Nicholas Caldwell, and to pay him back so handsomely in loyalty and love for the material advantages he gave you. But, after all, you may as well know all sides of the man’s character. Nicholas was a leader among the cattle rustlers, as has been charged. That much I know, but I also know that his rustling operations were carried on merely as a blind to hide larger operations in the interests of the cattle interests. He and Swingley were in the inner circle which was dominating those great interests, but they had a personal falling out. ”

“ Only he ain’t a fightin’ man like the rest of the Coyles and all the Caldwells. He jest believes in lettin’ everybody do what they want—and the animals, too. He’s queer, but everybody likes him, and you’ll be safe there because nobody bothers Uncle Billy. There’s his place now.”
The Texan, who was wondering how many rods farther he could ride without falling from the saddle, looked ahead, past the slim figure of Alma Caldwell, and saw a tiny cabin nestled in an opening in the pine forest. In the doorway stood a tall, white-bearded man, watching from beneath a shading hand. ”

“ But it was the Texan who did the telling. “Alma,” he said, as the girl came to meet him, and the naturalist discreetly retired to the companionship of the stuffed specimens in the cabin, “Alma, I’m going back to Texas. My uncle has written me that he wants to turn over his ranches to me, as part owner and manager. I never felt lonesome down there before, but I’m going to this time, unless you go with me. Can you leave this country, as the wife of one of the invaders?” ”

“ The girl’s voice was lowered, but took no new intensity of expression as she continued. “Everybody thought there would be open war in Wild Horse, when my stepfather and Nate Day were buried,” she said. “But the ranchmen made such a showing then that even Swingley seemed to be over-awed for the moment. Wild Horse never was so full of armed men. But the ranchmen were determined that, if there was trouble, they would not be the aggressors. They crowded the little church, where the services were held, and scores of them stood outside. Everybody was heavily armed. ”

“ The invaders were taken to Wild Horse under military escort, but it wasn’t ten hours before every one of them was out under bail.”
“There must be bigger men than Swingley mixed up in it,” observed the Texan.
“There are, of course—the biggest cattle interests in the West. But they haven’t shown their hand, and Swingley apparently does just as he pleases. He has headquarters at Wild Horse, with a big bodyguard of fighters, led by Tom Hoog, ready to do his bidding. The rest of the invaders have been scattered among the big-cattle ranches, presumably as cowboys, but really as fighters. ”

“ People are going to grow more bitter than ever, now that Swingley and Hoog are dominating things in such high-handed fashion.”
“High-handed is a mild term for what they are doing,” replied the girl, her eyes flashing. “They are trying to set up a despotism for the big-cattle interests. After they shot my stepfather and Nate Day, at our little ranch house on the Powderhorn, and had burned the cabin they found the settlers opposing them just the way the farmers opposed the redcoats at Lexington. ”

“ One man’s just as good on his trail as a hundred, provided that one man can get the drop. In fact if you go setting a whole pack of hounds on the trail of a wolf like that, all you’re going to do is run him out of the country, and that isn’t what’s wanted, because an enemy of that sort is an enemy not of any one particular clan or neighborhood, but of all humanity. ”

“ Bertram had no sooner set foot in Laroque’s place than the group at the first table called him over and inquired about Jimmy Coyle’s condition. Bertram sat down, but in such a position that he could see through the open doorway into the gambling establishment.
“Swingley and Hoog are here,”, said one of the cow-punchers, “and they’re sure as restless as a couple of mountain lions. Likewise they’ve both been taking on more liquor than common.” ”

“ Under the magic of the gray powder a mixture of thumb prints appeared on the magazine of the rifle which Jimmy had prized so highly. Some of the thumb prints were long and narrow. Those were the marks of Jimmy’s hands. Overlapping them in some cases, and in one or two instances, standing out alone, could be seen larger, coarser finger prints. Where a man would place his thumb in the process of aiming the rifle, were two exceptionally clear prints. ”

“ The return fire came steadily from the cabin—first from one side and then from another.
Bertram saw two cowboys being led away from the field of battle, evidently victims of the man who was fighting against such odds.
“Unless they’ve got something up their sleeve,” thought Bertram, “Swingley’s men might as well move on. This man seems to have plenty of ammunition, judging from the free and easy way he is firing, and he can keep up this long-range fighting all day, unless a chance bullet hits him.” ”