The Night Riders Part 33

Arizona's manner was very hopeless, but presently he cheered up visibly and renewed his wad of chewing.

"T'other wus kind o' slower in comin' along," he went on, in his reflective drawl. "But when it got around it wus good an' strong, sure. Y' see, ther' wus a deal 'tween us like to make us friendly. She made hash fer the round-up, which I 'lows, when the lady's young, she's most gener'ly an objec' of 'fection fer the boys. Guess she wus most every kind of a gal, wi' her ha'r the color of a field of wheat ready fer the binder, an' her figger as del'cate as one o' them crazy egg-bilers, an' her pretty face all sparklin' wi' smiles an'

hoss-soap, an' her eye! Gee! but she had an eye. Guess she would 'a'

made a prairie-rose hate itself. But that wus 'fore we hooked up in a team. I 'lows marryin's a mighty bad finish to courtin'."

"You were married?"

"Am."

A silence fell. The horses ambled on in the fresh noonday air.

Arizona's look was forbidding. Suddenly he turned and gazed fiercely into his friend's face.

"Yes, sirree. An' it's my 'pinion, in spite of wot some folks sez, gettin' married's most like makin' b.u.t.ter. Courtin's the cream, good an' thick an' juicy, an' you ken lay it on thick, an' you kind o'

wonder how them buzzocky old cows got the savee to perduce sech a daisy liquid. But after the turnin'-point, which is marryin', it's diff'rent some. 'Tain't cream no longer. It's b.u.t.ter, an' you need to use it sort o' mean. That's how I found, I guess."

"I suppose you settled down, and things went all right, though?"

suggested Tresler.

"Wal, maybe that's so. Guess if anythin' wus wrong it wus me. Yer see, ther' ain't a heap o' fellers rightly understands females. I'm most gener'ly patient. Knowin' their weakness, I sez, 'Arizona, you're mud when wimmin gits around. You bein' married, it's your dooty to boost the gal along.' So I jest let her set around an' shovel orders as though I wus the hired man. Say, guess you never had a gal shovelin'

orders. It's real sweet to hear 'em, an' I figger they knows their bizness mostly. It makes you feel as though you'd ha'f a dozen hands an' they wus all gropin' to git to work. That's how I felt, anyways.

Every mornin' she'd per-suade me gentle out o' bed 'fore daylight, an'

I'd feel like a hog fer sleepin' late. Then she'd shovel the orders hansum, in a voice that 'ud shame mola.s.ses. It wus allus 'dear' or 'darlin'.' Fust haul water, then buck wood, light the stove, feed the hogs an' chick'ns, dung out the ol' cow, fill the lamp, rub down the mare, pick up the kitchen, set the clothes bilin', cook the vittles, an' do a bit o' washin' while she turned over fer five minits. Then she'd git around, mostly 'bout noon, wi' her shower o' ha'r trailin'

like a rain o' gold-dust, an' a natty sort o' silk fixin' which she called a 'dressin'-gown,' an' she'd sot right down an' eat the vittles, tellin' me o' things she wanted done as she'd fergot. Ther'

wus the hen-roost wanted limin', she was sure the chick'ns had the bugs, an' the ol' mare's harness wanted fixin', so she could drive into town; an' the buckboard wanted washin', an' the wheels greasin'.

An' the seat wus kind o' hard an' wanted packin' wi' a pillar. Then ther' wus the p'tater patch wanted hoein', an' the cabb'ges. An' the hay-mower wus to be got ready fer hayin'. She mostly drove that herself, an' I 'lows I wus glad."

Arizona paused and took a fresh chew. Then he went on.

"Guess you ain't never got hitched?"

Tresler denied the impeachment. "Not yet," he said.

"Hah! Guess it makes a heap o' diff'rence."

"Yes, I suppose so. Sobers a fellow. Makes him feel like settling down."

"Wal, maybe."

"And where's your wife living now?" Tresler asked, after another pause.

"Can't rightly say." There was a nasty sharpness in the manner Arizona jerked his answer out. "Y' see, it's this a-ways. I guess I didn't amount to a deal as a married man. Leastways, that's how she got figgerin' after a whiles. Guess I'd sp'iled her life some. I 'lows I wus allus a mean cuss. An' she wus real happy bakin' hash. Guess I druv her to drinkin' at the s'loon, too, which made me hate myself wuss. Wal, I jest did wot I could to smooth things an' kep goin'. I got punchin' cows agin, an' give her every cent o' my wages; but it wa'n't to be." The man's voice was husky, and he paused to recover himself. And then hurried on as though to get the story over as soon as possible. "Guess I wus out on the 'round-up' some weeks, an' then I come back to find her gone--plumb gone. Mebbe she'd got lonesome; I can't say. Yup, the shack wus empty, an' the buckboard gone, an' the blankets, an' most o' the cookin' fixin's. It wus the neighbors put me wise. Neighbors mostly puts you wise. They acted friendly. Ther'd bin a feller come 'long from Alberta, a pretty tough Breed feller. He went by the name o' 'Tough' McCulloch."

Tresler started. But Arizona was still staring out at the distant prairie, and the movement escaped him.

"Guess he'd bin around the shack a heap," he went on, "an' the day 'fore I got back the two of 'em had drove out wi' the buckboard loaded, takin' the trail fer the hills. I put after 'em, but never found a trace. I 'lows the feller had guts. He left a message on the table. It wus one o' his guns--loaded. Likely you won't understan', but I kep' that message. I ain't see her sence. I did hear tell she wus bakin' hash agin. I 'lows she could bake hash. Say, Tresler, I've lost hogs, an' I've lost cows, but I'm guessin' ther' ain't nothin' in the world meaner than losin' yer wife."

Tresler made no reply. What could he say? "Tough" McCulloch! the name rang in his ears. It was the name Anton had been known by in Canada.

He tried to think what he ought to do. Should he tell Arizona? No. He dared not. Murder would promptly be done, if he knew anything of the American. No doubt the Breed deserved anything, but there was enough savagery at Mosquito Bend without adding to it. Suddenly another thought occurred to him.

"Did you know the man?" he asked.

"Never set eyes on him. But I guess I shall some day." And Tresler's decision was irrevocably confirmed.

"And the 'gun' message?"

"Wal, it's a way they have in Texas," replied Arizona. "A loaded gun is a mean sort o' challenge. It's a challenge which ain't fer the present zacly. Guess it holds good fer life. Et means 'on sight.'"

"I understand."

And the rest of the journey to Willow Bluff was made almost in silence.

The wonderful extent of the blind man's domain now became apparent.

They had traveled twenty miles almost as the crow flies, and yet they had not reached its confines. As Arizona said, in response to a remark from his companion, "The sky-line ain't no limit fer the blind hulk's land."

Willow Bluff was, as its name described, just a big bluff of woodland standing at the confluence of two rivers. To the south and west it was open prairie. The place consisted of a small shack, and a group of large pine-log corrals capable of housing a thousand head of stock.

And as the men came up they saw, scattered over the adjacent prairie, the peacefully grazing beeves which were to be their charge.

"A pretty bunch," observed Arizona.

"Yes, and a pretty place for a raid."

At that moment the doings of the raiders were uppermost in Tresler's mind.

Then they proceeded to take possession. They found Jim Henderson, a mean looking Breed boy, in the shack, and promptly set him to work to clean it out. It was not a bad place, but the boys had let it get into a filthy condition, in the customary manner of all half-breeds.

However, this they quickly remedied, and Tresler saw quite a decent prospect of comfort for their stay there.

Arizona said very little while there was work to be done. And his companion was astonished, even though he knew him so well, at his capacity and forethought. Evening was the most important time, and here the cattleman stood out a master of his craft. The beeves had to be corralled every night. There must be no chance of straying, since they were sold, and liable for transport at any moment. This work, and the task of counting, demanded all the cattleman's skill. Bands of fifty were rounded up, cut out from the rest, and quietly brought in.

When each corral was filled, and the whole herd accommodated for the night, a supply of fresh young hay was thrown to them to keep them occupied during their few remaining hours of waking. Arizona was a giant at the work; and to see his lithe, lean body swaying this way and that, as he swung his well-trained pony around the ambling herd, his arms and "rope" and voice at work, was to understand something of the wild life that claimed him, and the wild, untrained nature which was his.

The last corral was fastened up, and then, but not until then, the two friends took leisure.

"Wal," said Arizona, as they stood leaning against the bars of the biggest corral, "guess ther's goin' to be a night-guard?"

"Yes. These boys are smart enough lads, it seems. We'll let them take two hours about up to midnight You and I will do the rest."

"An' the hull lot of us'll sleep round the corrals?"

"That's it."

"An' the hosses?"

"We'll keep them saddled."

"An' the sheriff's fellers?"

"That I can't say. We're not likely to see them, anyway."

And so the plans were arranged, simple, even hopeless in construction.

Two men, for they could not depend on the half-breeds, to face possibly any odds should the raider choose this spot for attack. But however inadequate the guard, there was something morally strong in the calm, natural manner of its arranging. These two knew that in case of trouble they had only themselves to depend on. Yet neither hesitated, or balked at the undertaking. Possibilities never entered into their calculations.