Stepsons of Light Part 16

He took her in his arms and kissed her; she clung to him, shaken with sobbing. "Oh, poor Adam!" She cried. "Poor Adam!"

Charlie See turned away. For one heart beat of flinching his haunted soul looked from his eyes; then with a gray courage, he set his lips to silence. If his face was bleak--why not, for Adam, his friend?

And Edith Harkey, on her sad errand, envied the happy dead. She, alone of them all, had seen that stricken face.

"Lyn, you go on," said Pete. "Get Barefoot. Then go home and find out where your Uncle Dan is, and send him along just as fast as ever G.o.d'll let him come."

He turned back to the men.

"Now, then, you fellows! Begin at the beginning. Hales, you didn't know Adam, so you won't be so bad broke up as the others. Suppose you tell us what you know. Wait a minute. Sam, you be saddling up a horse for me. Now, Mr. Hales?"

"We were looking out for that gang of saddle thieves. Went up 'Pache Canon. Along in the park we saw tracks where two shod horses turned down into Redgate, and we followed them up. One of 'em had been chasing a bunch of cattle--or so we thought, though we didn't notice that part very close, having no particular reason for it then. We'd looked through two-three bunches of cattle ourselves earlier, for Jody's stuff."

"Yes, and you had breakfast, likely--but what do I care? You get on with your story."

"Say, old man," said Hales in some exasperation, "if you don't want this man caught, I'm satisfied. It's nothing to me. I didn't know Forbes. If you want this friend of yours to get away, I'm willing to get down and stay all night. You're pretty overbearing with your little old shotgun."

He made as if to dismount.

"Oh, I wouldn't do that," said Pete mildly. "Look at your friends, first. They're just as overborne as you are, likely--but you notice they are not making any complaints. They know me, you see. They know how Adam Forbes stood in Garfield, and what kind of folks live in Garfield; and they know that whoever killed Adam is in trouble up to his neck. You mustn't mind our little ways. However, as the witness is peeved, we'll try another. Jody, speak up and tell us."

"You act like we was under suspicion," sneered Hales.

"Sure, you're under suspicion! What do you expect? Everybody's under suspicion till we find the right man. I'm going to send word up and down to hold all strangers. That part is all right. h.e.l.lo, Jerome! You missed most of the evidence! I'll tell you about it as we go up."

"Now why the little gun?" said Jerome Martin, tranquilly.

"Been holding an election. Now, Jody--your little piece."

"There's not much to tell. We found Adam's body a little ways down the canon, maybe a quarter or a little more; and just this side of it we found where a yearling had been branded, or a big calf; ashes still warm. Looks just like this fellow had been stealing one of Adam's calves, and Adam caught him at it."

"But you said Adam was shot in the back at close range," objected Charlie. "Adam Forbes wouldn't turn his back to any man, under those circ.u.mstances. That won't work."

"Yes, we thought of that," said Caney. "More likely he saw Adam coming and killed him before he got to the calf--pretending to be friendly.

Anyhow, Adam's horse went off down the canon, and the other man went down the canon, and we came after him. Oh, yes! His horse lost a shoe, as we told you before--the murderer's. Must have lost it chasing that calf. Tracks didn't show it in the soft ground in the park, anyhow--though we didn't look very close till we found Adam. But after he left Adam's body his tracks showed one shoe gone. That's all. Adam's horse bore off to the left. He had a larger foot than the other, and we could see where the bridle dragged."

"I'll send someone to find him. You didn't hear any shots?"

"Oh, no--we just thought maybe we'd meet up with some puncher ridin'

the range, and ask him had he seen any strangers. This gang of saddle thieves--"

"Yes, I know about them. Thankee, gentlemen. You can ride now. If you catch your man beyond the river you might as well take him on to Hillsboro. Be mighty sure to remember not to forget to be particular to take this young man alive. We want to hang the man that killed Adam Forbes. That's all."

"Here, I want some cartridges," said Hobby. He leaped off and jingled into the store. "Hi, Sam! Get me a box of forty-fives," he called.

Then to Harkey, in a guarded voice: "Pete, this looks fishy as h.e.l.l!

Those ashes were warm, they said. Look what time it is now--half past four. The way they were riding, this bunch made it from Redgate in half an hour. We met this stranger near two hours ago. That don't hold together. If the stranger man built that fire, the ashes would have been cold when Caney's bunch found them. And they say there are no other tracks. Wrong--all wrong!"

"And all the rest of it. Son, I didn't miss a bet. Neither did Charlie See. He looked hard at me. Save your breath. Say nothing and see everything. You do your part and I'll do mine. I'll know more before dark if it don't rain and rub out the tracks. Our Father which is in Garfield hates a lie, and he's fixed up this here solar system so there is no safe place in it for a lie. Sh-h! Here comes Caney!" He raised his voice. "What the devil do you need of more men? Five to one--what more do you want?"

"Well, but we may lose track of him and want to spread out to look and ask, while some of us go on--"

"Where can I find drinking water?" asked Caney.

"Back there," said Pete, pointing. Then, to Hobby: "Well, pick up someone in Arrey, then, or on the way. I want the men round here to go with me and look round before it gets dark. Say, Sam--you send someone up with a wagon to bring Adam back, will you? I'm off--me and Jerome.

Tell Jones and Barefoot to come right on. Take care of my team for me."

He went out on the platform. Lull and Caney followed.

"Well, so long, you fellows," said Pete. "Send word back if you find your man. Because there's going to be a lot of irritated strangers when we start to picking them up."

"We had some plunder--grub and a blanket apiece tied behind our saddles, and we dumped it, to ride light, where we found Adam--just kept our slickers," said Caney. "Have 'em bring 'em in, will you, Harkey?"

"Sure," said Pete.

IX

"This to the crowd--speak bitter, proud and high, But simply to your friend--she loves you not!"

--_Le Bret--who scolds._

The five pursuers rode swiftly, with inquiry at several farms about the man on the blue horse. Some had seen him; some had not. He had been riding slowly and he had kept the main road to Greenhorn. They took the Greenhorn Island ford and found good swimming. The quarry had pa.s.sed through Donahue's an hour and a half before, taking the road to Arrey. They pushed on furiously. See and Lull fell behind a little.

"Say, this is a rotten deal!" said Charlie. "That man ain't running away. Not on your life. He no more killed Adam Forbes than I did. You know how long ago we met him. If he was the man that built that branding fire, how does it happen the ashes were still hot when these fellows found it? By their tell and our timing that was near three hours later. We met him about three; if he made that fire it couldn't have been later than two o'clock, by the looks of his horse. And he's keeping the same steady gait, and going straight for Hillsboro, just as he told us. We're gaining on him right along. He's not trying to get away. Either he's innocent or he's got the devil's own nerve."

"Innocent. Pete thinks so, too. This crowd tells a fishy story. Did you notice how prompt Caney was to explain why they was there, and why they went down Redgate, and why the stranger shot Adam, and how Adam gave him a chance to shoot him in the back? Always Caney! Say, Hob, that man was too willing by half!"

"And that excitement. I wasn't surprised at Jody, and I don't know this man Hales--but wouldn't you think Ed Caney had seen enough men killed not to fight his head like that? He didn't have much use for Adam, either. Adam backed him down once. It was kept quiet, but Anastacio told me, on the dead. It tickled Anastacio. No, sir--those three fellows acted like they might be wishin' to start a stampede.

I'm not satisfied a little bit."

"A grudge? But if one of these ducks is in, they're all in. This is something else. Or of course it may have been some other person altogether, and these people may have merely lost their heads. Do you reckon that placer hunt of Adam's might have had anything to do with it? Poor old Adam! We'll find time to grieve for him after we get the man that rubbed him out."

"I can't hardly realize it. It won't come home to us till we've seen him, I expect. I keep saying it over to myself--'Adam's dead'--but I don't believe it. And only last night Edith sang that nightingale song after him--poor kid! Say--look at that, will you? You'd think Caney didn't dare trust us to talk together."

Caney dropped back to them.

"Can't you two get any action out of them horses of yourn?" he snarled. "It'll soon be dark on us. Your horses are enough sight fresher than ours."

Charlie See jumped his horse up and reined him to his haunches beside Caney, eye to eye; he c.o.c.ked his hat athwart.

"Now, Mr. Ed Caney," he said sweetly, "any time you're not just satisfied with the way I behave you know what you can do. This place is here and this time is now. Fly to it!"

"Why, what's eating you, Charlie? This spitfire-wildcat-wolf-and-my-night-to-howl thing is a new lay, isn't it? I always gave you credit for some sense."

"Your mistake," said Charlie. "You ride on. I don't like deputy sheriffs much; especially deputies from Dona Ana; and most extra special and particular, tall deputies from Dona Ana with their faces pitted with smallpox, going by the name of Ed Caney, and b.u.t.ting into my private conversation. Me and old Stargazer will be in at the finish, and we don't need anybody to tell us how fast to go or nothing like that at all. So what are you going to do about it?"

"I'm going to ride on--that's what!" said Caney. "You can come along or you can go to h.e.l.l--I don't care."