The Night Riders Part 31

"How'd it suit you, Tresler?" he asked. Then without waiting for a reply he went on, "But ther', I guess it wouldn't do sendin' you. You ain't the sort to get sc.r.a.ppin' hoss thieves. It wants grit. It's tough work an' needs tough men. Pshaw!"

Tresler's blood was up in a moment. He forgot discretion and everything else under the taunt.

"I don't know that it wouldn't do, Jake," he retorted promptly. "It seems to me your remarks come badly from a man who has reason to know--to remember--that I am capable of holding my own with most men, even those big enough to eat me."

He saw his blunder even while he was speaking. But he was red-hot with indignation and didn't care a jot for the consequences. And Jake came at him. If the foreman's taunt had roused him, it was nothing to the effect of his reply. Jake crossed the room in a couple of strides and his furious face was thrust close into Tresler's, and, in a voice hoa.r.s.e with pa.s.sion, he fairly gasped at him--

"I ain't fergot. An' by G----"

But he got no further. A movement on the part of the rancher interrupted him. Before he realized what was happening the blind man was at his side with a grip on his arm that made him wince.

"Stop it!" he cried fiercely. "Stop it, you fool! Another word and, blind as I am, I'll----" Jake struggled to release himself, but Marbolt held him with almost superhuman strength and slowly backed him from his intended victim. "Back! Do you hear? I'll have no murder done in here--unless I do it myself. Get back--back, blast you!" And Jake was slowly, in spite of his continued struggles, thrust against the wall. And then, as he still resisted, Marbolt pushed the muzzle of a revolver against his face. "I'll drop you like a hog, if you don't----"

But the compelling weapon had instant effect, and the foreman's resistance died out weakly.

The whole scene had occurred so swiftly that Tresler simply stood aghast. The agility, the wonderful sureness and rapidity of movement on Marbolt's part were staggering. The whole thing seemed impossible, and yet he had seen it; and the meaning of the stories of this man he had listened to came home to him. He was, indeed, something to fear.

The great bullying Jake was a child in his hands. Now like a whipped child, he stood with his back to the wall, a picture of hate and fury.

With Jake silenced Marbolt turned on him. His words were few but sufficient.

"And as for you, Tresler," he said coldly, "keep that tongue of yours easy. I am master here."

There was a brief silence, then the rancher returned to the subject that had caused the struggle.

"Well, what about the men for Willow Bluff, Jake?"

It was Tresler who answered the question, and without a moment's hesitation.

"I should like to go out there, Mr. Marbolt. Especially if there's likely to be trouble."

It was the only position possible for him after what had gone before, and he knew it. He glanced at Jake and saw that, for the moment at least, his hatred for his employer had been set aside. He was smiling a sort of tigerish smile.

"Very well, Tresler," responded the rancher. "And you can choose your own companion. You can go and get ready. Jake," turning to the other, "I want to talk to you."

Tresler went out, feeling that he had made a mess of things. He gave Jake credit for his cleverness, quite appreciating the undying hate that prompted it. But the thing that was most prominent in his thoughts was the display the blind man had given him. He smiled when he thought of Jake's boasted threats to Diane; how impotent they seemed now. But the smile died out when he remembered he, himself, had yet to face the rancher on the delicate subject of his daughter. He remembered only too well Jake's reference to a cyclone, and he made his way to the bunkhouse with no very enlivening thoughts.

In the meantime the two men he had just left remained silent until the sound of his footsteps had quite died out. Then Marbolt spoke.

"Jake, you are a d.a.m.ned idiot!" he said abruptly.

The foreman made no answer and the other went on.

"Why can't you leave the boy alone? He's harmless; besides he's useful to me--to us."

"Harmless--useful?" Jake laughed bitterly. "Pshaw, I guess your blindness is gettin' round your brains!"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean it 'ud have been better if you'd let me--wipe him out. Better for us--for you."

"I don't see; you forget his money." The blind man's tone was very low. "You forget he intends to buy a ranch and stock. You forget that he has twenty-five thousand dollars to expend. Bah! I'll never make a business man of you."

"And what about your girl?" Jake asked, quite unmoved by the other's explanation.

"My girl?" Marbolt laughed softly. "You are always harping on that. He will leave my girl alone. She knows my wishes, and will--shall obey me. I don't care a curse about him or his affairs. But I want his money, and if you will only see to your diabolical temper, I'll--we'll have it. Your share stands good in this as in all other deals."

It was the foreman's turn to laugh. But there was no mirth in it. It stopped as suddenly as it began, cut off short.

"He will leave your girl alone, will he?" he said, with a sneer. "Say, d'you know what he was doin' around this house last night when he saw those hoss-thief guys, or shall I tell you?"

"You'd better tell me," replied the rancher, coldly.

"He was after your girl. Say, an' what's more, he saw her. An' what's still more, she's promised to be his wife. He told me."

"What's that? Say it again." There was an ominous calmness in the blind man's manner.

"I said he was after your girl, saw her, and she's--promised--to--be--his--wife."

"Ah!"

Then there was a silence for some minutes. The red eyes were frowning in the direction of the window. At last the man drew a deep breath, and Jake, watching him, wondered what was coming.

"I'll see her," he said slowly, "and I'll see him--after he comes back from Willow Bluff."

That was all, but Jake, accustomed to Julian Marbolt's every mood, read a deal more than the words expressed. He waited for what else might be coming, but only received a curt dismissal in tones so sharp that he hurried out of the room precipitately.

Once clear of the verandah he walked more slowly, and his eyes turned in the direction of the bunkhouse. All the old hatred was stirred within him as he saw Tresler turn the angle of the building and disappear within its doorway.

"Guess no one's goin' to see you--after Willow Bluff," he muttered.

"No one."

CHAPTER XV

AT WILLOW BLUFF

Tresler would have liked to see Diane before going out to Willow Bluff, but reflection showed him how impossible that would be; at least, how much unnecessary risk it would involve for her. After what he had just witnessed of her father, it behooved him to do nothing rashly as far as she was concerned, so he turned his whole attention to his preparations for departure.

He had made up his mind as to his comrade without a second thought.

Arizona was his man, and he sent the diplomatic Joe out to bring him in from Pine Creek sloughs, where he was cutting late hay for winter stores.

In about half an hour the American came in, all curiosity and eagerness; nor would he be satisfied until he had been told the whole details of the matter that had led up to the appointment. Tresler kept back nothing but his private affairs relating to Diane. At the conclusion of the recital, Arizona's rising temper culminated in an explosion.

"Say, that feller Jake's a meaner pirate an' cus as 'ud thieve the supper from a blind dawg an' then lick h.e.l.l out o' him 'cos he can't see." Which outburst of feeling having satisfied the necessity of the moment, he became practical. "An' you're goin', you an' me?" he asked incredulously.

"That's the idea, Arizona; but of course you're quite free to please yourself. I chose you; Marbolt gave me the privilege of selection."