J. Allan Dunn

“ Raynor laughed.
"Here's where the best man wins, Slim. An' where you lose, damn yore soul!"
He fired, deliberately, just as a blaze was beginning to come into Slim's tired eyes. Belle screamed and Raynor fired again at the figure slumping to the floor. The wounded arm was put out as uncertain prop to the failing knees, Slim's face growing gray as the blood drained away behind the tan. Lips, opening a little, shut again as the jaws clamped and from the floor, streaking upward, there came a spurt of fire—another. ”

“ On his right Slim saw Walters coolly discharging his gun with deliberate aim, waiting for the lightning flashes that came in fast succession. The Englishman would probably never acquire the cowboy seat, but he rode like a polo player, weaving through the men who opposed him and sought to shoot him down in the wild turmoil of gale-flung masses of rain, peal after peal of deafening thunder, bellowing of cattle, bawling of men, crack of pistols, plunging, galloping horses. ”

“ It was Raynor's love of making a man cringe when he had the drop on him that saved Walters. The Englishman stood his ground as the foreman's gun came out of its holster and he let the muzzle nose its slow and deadly way upward. On the cry, Slim, his face clear of lather, his dressing finished, sensing the note of distress, sprang through the door of the bunkhouse, Colt in hand, taking in the situation as the cowboys stirred, the whole action swift as the turning of a hand. ”

“ The silken neckerchief, the color of burned orange, the only high note in her dress, heightened the hue of them, complemented the golden transparency of her sunkissed skin, flushed with healthy rose, brought up the carmine of her lips.
A gypsy girl, a disturber of men's happiness, surely; rather than a caterer to their comforts. Her brother had called her a wonder, and only that word described her, Slim told himself. Somewhere out of the past came a song he had heard a Mexican singing in a jacal to the twang of a guitar. ”

“ La Rose flung herself into all the excitement of the Cactus dance-hall, became the center of it, danced a mad pas seul, drank hard liquor instead of her usual synthetic crême de menthe and, two hours after midnight, burst into a fit of sobbing as one of the girls, with the eyes of a saint and the soul of a devil—if a devil has a soul —pushed the pianist away from his seat, played some simple chords, and sang in a childish voice an old, old song. ”

“ A missile thudded into the wood of his left stirrup and splintered it, though it did not touch his foot. Now and then he caught the yells of the raiders. At first they had been meant to start the cattle; now they were calling to each other to kill.
One loud voice bellowed close to him.
Spurts of flaming powder gas shuttled through the night, hell fingers pointing the way death had gone. There came the shrill neigh of a pony, mortally hit. A buffet came to Slim, not seemingly severe, as if someone had flipped the side of his head at his left ear. ”

“ She would be older than her brother, he imagined, taffy-colored of hair with a stout and shapeless figure, a prime cook and housekeeper, but inclined to be fussy as to the condition of mess-hall and bunkhouse. She would be generally intent upon keeping the riders in their places, which meant away from the ranch-house. There only the favored foreman, by right of established, unwritten law, might claim the privilege of evening entertainment and, sometimes, take his meals. But so long as the grub was good that did not bother Slim, and he did not mean to bother the lady. ”

“ Slim looked at his man, measuring his length, and then he walked away without a backward glance, ignoring the girl until he had mounted. Then he once more swept off his sombrero, touched spurs to Pete's flanks and loped away, while Sled got staggeringly to his feet and the girl gazed after him with curious speculation in her eyes.
SLIM met the same poker players in Caroca before he had been there many hours, and once again the fatuous pride of the amateur card-player was humbled by the technique of the professional, against which the best of luck was ground as against a grindstone. ”

“ The words braked Raynor's fury. "Makes you look so't of one-sided," Slim went on, his head on one side as if he contemplated whether it would not be a righteous deed to restore balance by a second attack. "Man who hires me fires me," he drawled. "Thet's a rule of mine. I reckon Walters feels the same way erbout it."
"Walters'll have to wait till Walsh makes him out a check," said Raynor. "The two of you can go together." It was a lame way out of it, but better than none. Slim had worsted him. Walters and La Rose were walking toward the flower garden. ”

“ Slim knew that in all probability the girl would leave Walsh as soon as the music started for the next dance. There were at least six men for every girl and, while some of them were dance-shy, it was not considered good form for any man to attempt a monopoly of girls hired as public entertainers, at least during business hours. The girls regarded this custom as a set rule and, as the jazzy orchestra of Mexicans struck up, the blonde diplomatically disengaged herself with a smile and a sidelong look at Slim that was clearly an invitation. ”

“ He may have to sit a horse until the blood comes out of nose and ears and mouth; there is always the chance of a leg smashed against the corral fence by a maddened horse, ribs crushed by a rearing fall, a chest perforated by the steel core of the saddle tree and horn. On the range, busting holds the fascination of a bullfight, and usually the work is done by a traveling professional for high wages.
It looked as if every man on the T. P. except the boss was perched on the top rail, aside from the helpers. Raynor sat astride a chute gate. ”

“ The horse went down, and a shot came up from the ground as the leader crashed and fired upward as he struck dirt. Slim fired back to a target behind the flash, and the struggling horse pawed its way up and went charging off, dragging by one stirrup a man who would never pull trigger again.
One shot more—hit or miss he could not tell—a swerve in a wild hide-and-seek—only two cartridges in his gun—one arm useless—the roan tiring a little, perhaps from loss of blood—it was very close to the end. Slim wheeled a little in his saddle, he seemed to see the next flash of lightning through a veil. ”

“ As he saw—while lightning glared a ghastly blue—the T. P. steers leaping through the gap where the wire had been nipped, plunging through breaking strands that gave before their brutish madness or piling up against it in a living wave, Slim, firing at the ponchoed figures whose disguise made it easy to distinguish friend from foe, sought for the foreman.
Here was a man's affair. Raynor arrayed against Tres Piños would be fair game to Slim's gun. The hold Slim fancied Raynor held over Walsh could be wiped out and a good riddance. ”

“ The last flash had shown the cattle all through the wire, displayed little groups where one or two men fired at half a score, perhaps broke through the ring with empty gun, perhaps went down—and not alone—to the soaking earth. Guns still cracked outside his own particular affray, his comrades were not yet all killed, though none of them could long survive.
"Clean 'em up!"
That came from the Night Hawks' leader with a flash from the side of his pony's neck. Came with a blow as the bullet bored its way through Slim's left forearm, numbing it so that he could barely hold the reins. ”

“ It had got under the thick hide of the man who had paid him in full and dispensed with his services after Slim had told him that he would rather sift cinders in hell than work for a hombre whose nature would contaminate a coyote—or words to that effect.
So, with his best horse and saddle under him, his second string left with a friend at a neighboring ranch, a nice pay-check in his pocket; Slim had no cares. He was a good cowman—none better—and he had small fears of not landing a job—as soon as his money gave out. ”

“ The man, conscious of his lame arm, sizing up Slim's calm countenance that was only a mask for flaming eyes that shone like steel, checked his tongue, looking at the cowboy with venomous eyes that rolled in yellowish whites, slightly bloodshot. ”

“ Slim did not answer him. He was looking at the latigo. The break—if it were a break—was curious. It was diagonal and, while such a thing was barely possible from a badly cured hide, it looked more like a cut than a tear of fibers, except for the last inch of it. To Slim, someone with a thin blade had sliced slantingly into the leather with careful if diabolical skill, cutting on a long slant two thirds of the way through, and then pasting or gluing it together, working in a little dirt and grease to hide the damage. ”

“ Raynor hurried off. La Rose called to him gaily. She was chagrined at the news of Walsh's absence, but she was not going to spoil her day. Raynor was the next best bet. To pit him against the Britisher might be better fun than the cowboy whose name she did not know. She considered Slim as dumb where women were concerned, anyway. He didn't matter so much with better game in hand.
Walters knew by bunkhouse gossip of Raynor's leaning. He was shrewd enough to debit La Rose with her desire for flirting and its complications. He had not trailed the world without acquiring wisdom. ”

“ From the standpoint of a sporting spectator it was a pretty, but one-sided fight. Slim had all the best of it. He had no ring to hem him in and he eluded Sled's rushes as easily as a banderillero avoids the charge of the bull. His first two blows had taken away some of Sled's new-found confidence. The bitter hemlock of defeat had actually been handed to the bully in the moment when his gunplay proved inadequate. ”

“ Let us rest. It is an evil night. I heard an owl after I lay down. The worst of luck. If things go wrong it will not be with us. Here are fat cattle. We know the hidden way through the mesa. We might even take them to the reservation and get the money. We could say the storm hindered us."
"Luis, you have the brain of the archangel Michael. I will share what is left in the flask with you. Good mescal. And then we will rest."
With the tarpaulins left by their absent comrades spread over them the pair, riders in the pay of Tres Piños, members of the Night Hawks on picket duty, snored in unison. ”

“ Slim went on reading, listening. The gamblers' voices rose and fell. Raynor seemed to be winning on the turns of the cards. The four men at Slim's end of the table began to talk in comparatively low tones, but he heard them distinctly, though they apparently took it for granted that he was absorbed in his magazine. Walters, behind a cloud of smoke set out his cards at Canfield.
"Wonder if they's anything straight about this revolution?"
"Revolution, nothing. They don't call 'em revolutions across the river. They call 'em demonstrations. They have to happen every so often. ”

“ He came at the lighter man with the bellow of a bull, fists half open, clutching for a clinch that Slim avoided, sending Sled staggering with a smash to the jaw that rocked his head. Slim, ducking a wild flail, landed his left full on the mouth, splitting a lip, breaking the skin of his own knuckles against the other's teeth. ”

“ For a man to handle a woman brutally was not permissible. That was the code of the West and the other had broken it. Slim intended to administer punishment. But first he swept off his sombrero to the lady, ignoring the scowling and now silent assailant, knowing that the other's gun arm was out of commission for the time being, sure also that there was small doubt about the man's will to speed bullet—or knife—to Slim's vitals. ”

“ Not that Slim bothered overmuch about losing a job, but he had cottoned to Walsh somehow, for all the other's condition. He did not think Walsh was the man to fire a good hand on account of the dislike of a dance-hall girl; he did not believe that Walsh, sober, was infatuated with La Rose one half so much as La Rose was trying to get Walsh into her web by hook or crook. Slim's experience of such women was largely vicarious, but what he did know caused him to consider them hard as nails where business was concerned. And their business was one side of what men considered pleasure. ”

“ No girl had ever called him handsome, but he suggested the sun and the wind, virility and friendliness, with eyes that could chill and a jaw that could jut upon occasion into a welded firmness and insistency that caused his fellow riders to speak of Slim as one who did to take along. ”

“ All slept like logs, unmoving, but Slim dreamed, and in his dreams his difficulties vanished and he became an ardent wooer, a faculty that left him utterly undaring when daylight came, and Belle came loping over the rise after breakfast. But he thought that she knew how he felt, and perhaps understood why he hesitated to be more bold.
By noon of the sixth day the full shipment was assembled in Little Park, a bowl in the breakdown of the mesa with a spring in the center and good feed between the sage and mesquite clumps. They were inside wire, but Slim ordered night herd. ”

“ Walsh was, he considered, the type of man apt to be lax in his handling of ranch affairs. He had brains enough if he cared to concentrate them upon business and not depreciate them with alcohol and affairs with dance-hall girls. That, of course, was his own affair and none of Slim's, but the latter wondered what sort of foreman he would find at the ranch. Unless that individual was essentially capable he did not think the T. P. outfit likely to be paying many dividends. It does not take the loss of many steers to swallow up profits. ”

“ Whether they recognized Walsh, identified him as the owner, was hard to say. Tremendous bursts of electric discharge levined through the clouds or lit up their under surfaces and all the rain-soaked earth, with the steel rods of the water glittering in the instant before darkness once more shut down. ”