The Last Straw Part 36

"The longer you stay the more you will lose."

She showed it to Beck and after he had read and re-read and turned the single sheet of paper over in his hands he looked up to see her eyes tear filled.

"It isn't worth it!" she cried with a stamp of her foot. "This is only the start. Do you know what they are saying in town? The word has been pa.s.sed that first you are to be driven out and that then I will have to go. People are saying that the others are too many and too ruthless for you, that they are bound to drive us away. It is being said that you are too straight to win a crooked fight!

"I could risk losing the things I own, my property, but I wouldn't risk you, Tom dear ... I wouldn't do that!"

"And there's somethin' else you wouldn't do," he said lowly, stroking her forehead. "You wouldn't let 'em drive you out. You didn't start that way. You come out here to beat the game and if you quit cold you wouldn't think much of yourself, would you? We didn't want trouble, but we've got to go and meet it!"

"But you!" she moaned, putting her arms about his big shoulders. "What of you?"

"Don't worry about me when the only danger is from men that won't come into the open! Maybe I'm a bigger crook than I'm given credit for.

Besides, you've given me lots of luck....

"I don't know what's in this thing,"--holding out the locket--"but I've got a lot of faith in it ... and in you, Jane!"

Where, before he gave his love recognition, he had taken pains to bring Jane into contact with adversities, he now was impelled to shield her from all that he could. In the natural role of her protector he did everything possible to allay her apprehension. He could not blind her to the broad situation but he could and did withhold the seriousness of some of its detail, even keeping some things that transpired, such as the attempts on his life, to himself.

But he did worry about the enemy that worked from cover, that shot at sleeping men, that broke ditches and burned property and sent unsigned threats to women. That made his fight a battle in the darkness and his strength was the strength of light, of frankness, of honesty. His mind was not adapted to scheming and skulking.

To drive his foe into the open was his first objective and that night he set out.

"You call it recognizing a state of war, I believe," he told Jane with a twinkle in his eye when she queried his going.

"Tom! You're not going--"

"Not going to take a chance," he said soberly. "It's just a diplomatic mission, you might say."

He put her off and rode out of the ranch gate. It was dark and when he had progressed a mile he halted his horse, dropped off, loosened the cinch so the leather would not creak when the animal breathed, and stood listening. Aside from the natural noises of the night, the world was without sound.

He drew his gun from its holster and twirled the cylinder. Usually he carried the trigger over an empty chamber; tonight it was filled. And inside his shirt was another gun.

CHAPTER XVI

THE WARNING

The fire in Webb's cook stove was not all that furnished warmth to the three men sitting about it that night, for they drank frequently from the bottle which, when not pa.s.sing from hand to hand, was nestled on d.i.c.k Hilton's lap, his hands caressing its smooth surface lovingly ...

save the word!

Sam McKee and three other men played solo on the table, noisily and quarrelsomely after the manner of their kind. Engrossed in the game they gave little heed to the talk of the others. It was shop talk, of plots and schemes, of danger and distrust.

Webb's little b.u.t.ton eyes were even more ugly than usual, Hilton's mouth drawn in lines that were even more cruel, but Hepburn, under influence of the liquor, only became more paternal, more deliberate as the evening and the drinking went on. He was not nettled by Webb's disfavor, and even smiled on the rancher indulgently as he listened to the querulous plaint.

"If you'd only used yer head an' stayed there," Webb went on, "then we'd hev had it all easy-like. You could've stole her blind an' she'd never knew. Then you had to git on the peck about _him!_" He sniffed in disgust.

"Now, Webb, you're too harsh in what you say," the other replied blandly. "I done all I could but Beck wouldn't be blinded! He's got second sight or somethin',"--with a degree of heat.

"We had him scotched all right, but we hadn't figured on the girl.

n.o.body'd thought she was sweet on him!"

Hilton stirred uneasily and the color in his face deepened. He looked at Hepburn with an ugly light in his eyes.

"That upset everything," Hepburn went on. "There wasn't no use tryin'

to play a quiet game after that. They both know we want to get rid of 'em worst way and now we've got to keep under cover an' use our heads harder'n ever."

"There's too many in it," Webb whined. "I tell you the's too many in it! If you'd let me alone, just me an' the boys, I'd felt safer. But now there's Cole an' his daughter an' ... half the country!"

He flashed an indecisive glance at Hilton who studied the bottle, frowning.

"Lots in it," Hepburn said heavily, "but they've got to hang together or...."

"Separately," added d.i.c.k cynically.

Hepburn nodded and Webb shifted and jerked his head petulantly.

"But there's nothin' to fret about," Dad went on. "None of us will be a leak. Cole can't because we could put him behind bars by just lettin'

on that he'd used his homestead rights under another name an' had no right on this place, let alone other things.

"We can use his brand, which is why I brought him in here. I've spread the news that he's bought cows of you an' between workin' over the HC and ventin' your marks we'll have a herd here in a couple of seasons that'll make us rich!

"An' we'll have range for 'em, too. She won't stand up under a range war!"

"But Beck will," Webb protested.

"He will if you don't get rid of him!" with slow anger behind the words and a cunning glitter in his eyes. "I don't see how in h.e.l.l you missed him. You must've been drunk!"

"He wasn't in his bed, I tell you. He couldn't 've been!"

"Well, if _I_ had against him what you got, I'd get him," Hepburn stated emphatically, well satisfied, and showing it, that this was a masterly stroke. "He made you laughed at by the whole country."

"You wait," Webb snarled. "My time's comin'!"

"Deliberately, I'd say," Hilton put in ironically.

"Oh, you're always kickin'!" Webb protested. "I don't see why you stay on if things don't satisfy you. You've got to have sheets on your bed, you've got to have grub cooked different, you've got to sleep late an'

you've got to have hot water to wash and shave always when th' kettle's cold! You've got into this deal an' you'd like to run it your way.

"What the h.e.l.l do you stay on for?"

Hepburn looked at Hilton's face as though he, too, wondered just why he stayed on, but, pursuing his usual tactics, he said:

"Why, if Mr. Hilton can pay for it, why can't he have his way? He has the money. He's willing to spend it. I'm sure his willingness to stake Cole to fence and hired help means a lot to all of us, Webb. That's goin' to drive her out of the Hole entire this summer.

"The booze has made you irritable, Webb."