CHAPTER XXXIV
AN OBSTINATE MAN STANDS PAT
A moment of blank silence fell on the little group crouched among theboulders. Bob's statement that he had to go back through the firezone--to Houck--had fallen among them like a mental bombshell.
Blister was the first to find his voice. "You been down there l-lookin'after him?"
"Yes. They hit him in the leg--twice. An' once in the side. He's outa hishead. I got him water from the river."
"Was that when I heard shootin' down there?" Dud asked.
"I reckon."
"Well, I'll be d-dawg-goned!" Blister exclaimed.
Of life's little ironies he had never seen a stranger example than this.It had fallen to Bob Dillon to look after his bitter enemy, to risk hislife for him, to traverse a battle-field under heavy fire in order to gethelp for him. His mind flashed back to the boy he had met less than ayear ago, a pallid, trembling weakling who had shriveled under the acidtest of danger. He had traveled a long way since then in self-conquest.
"Houck was down in the open last I seen him," Hawks said. "Did he crawlto the willows?"
"I kinda helped him," Bob said, a little ashamed.
"Hmp! An' now you think we'd ought to let two-three men get shot goingafter him across the mesa," Harshaw said. "Nothin' doing. Not right awayanyhow. Houck's foolishness got him into the hole where he is. He'll haveto wait till we clean out this nest in the gulch. Soon as we've done thatwe'll go after him."
"But the Utes will rush the willows," Bob protested mildly.
"Sorry, but he'll have to take his chance of that. Any of the rest of uswould in his place. You've done what you could, son. That lets you out."
"No, I'm going back," Bob said quietly. "I told him I would. I got togo."
"That wouldn't be r-right sensible, would it?" asked Blister. "N-notright away anyhow. After we get those b-birds outa the blackberry bushes,time enough then for you to h-hit the back trail."
"No, I promised." There was in Bob's face a look Blister had never seenthere before, something hard and dogged and implacable. "My notion is forhalf a dozen of us to go on horses--swing round by the far edge of themesa. We can drop down into the valley an' pick Houck up if we'relucky."
"And if you're not lucky?" Harshaw demanded.
"Why, o' course we might have trouble. Got to take our chances on that."
"They might wipe the whole bunch of you out. No, sir. I need my men righthere. This whole thing's comin' to a show-down right soon. Houck willhave to wait."
"I got to go back, Mr. Harshaw," Bob insisted. "I done promised him Iwould."
"Looky here, boy. You'll do as you please, of course. But there's nosense in being bull-haided. How much do you figure you owe this JakeHouck? I never heard tell he was yore best friend. You got him into thewillows. You went to the river and brought him water. You ran a big riskcomin' here to get help for him. We'll go to him just as soon as it'ssafe. That ought to content you."
Before Bob's mental vision there flashed a picture of a man in feverburning up for lack of water. He could not understand it himself. It wasnot reasonable, of course. But somehow Jake Houck had become his charge.He had to go through with the job.
"I'm going back to him," he said stubbornly.
"Then you're a darn fool. He wouldn't go a step of the way for you."
"Maybe not. That ain't the point. He needs me. Do I get a horse?"
"Yes, if you're bound an' determined to go," Harshaw said. After amomentary hesitation he added: "And if any of the boys want to go alongthey can. I'm not hinderin' them. But my advice is for them to stickright here."
Bob's eyes swept the little group round him. "Any one want to take achance? We'll snake Houck outa the willows an' make a getaway sure."
"Or else you'll stay there with him permanent," Harshaw contributed."It's plumb foolishness, boys. Houck had his orders an' he broke awayfrom them deliberate. He'd ought to take what's comin'."
Dud pleaded with Dillon. "If it was anybody but Houck, Bob, I'd trailalong with you. I sure would. But I can't see as there's any call for usto take such a big risk for him. He's got it in for us both. Said himselfhe was layin' for us. You stood by him to a fare-you-well. Ain't thatenough?"
Bob did not attempt to reason. He simply stated facts. "No, I got to goback, Dud. He's a mighty sick man, an' he needs me. The Utes are liableto find him any time. Maybe I could stand 'em off."
"An' maybe you couldn't," Blister said. "It's plumb s-suicide."
Dillon looked at his fat friend with a faint, dreary smile. He did nothimself relish the task before him. "Thought you told me to be a wolf, tohop to it every chance I got to do some crazy thing."
Blister hedged. "Oh, well, a f-fellow wants to have some sense. I neversee a good thing that couldn't be r-run into the ground. Far as I know, Inever told you to stand on the D. & R. G. tracks an' try to stop theexpress with yore head."
"I'll have to be going now," Bob said. He turned to Harshaw. "Where'sthat bronc I get to carry me back?"
"Up there in the pinons. Dud, you see he gets a good one. I'm wishin' youluck, son. An' I'll say one thing right out in meetin'. You're a betterman than Lou Harshaw." The cattleman's hand gripped that of Dillonfirmly.
"Shucks! Tha's foolishness," Bob murmured, embarrassed. "I'm scared stiffif you want to know."
"I reckon that's why you're aimin' for to make a target of yorese'fagain," Hawks suggested ironically. "Damn 'f I'd do it for the best manalive, let alone Jake Houck. No, sir. I'll go a reasonable way, but Iquit this side of suicide. I sure do."
Over to the left rifles were still popping, but at this point of theridge the firing had temporarily died down. Bob Dillon was the center ofinterest.
A second time his eye traveled over the group about him. "Last call forvolunteers, boys. Anybody want to take a ride?"
Blister found in that eye some compelling quality of leadership."Dawg-gone you, I'll go," his high falsetto piped.
Bob shook his head. "Not you, Blister. You're too fat. We're liable tohave to travel fast."
Nobody else offered himself as a sacrifice. There were men present whowould have taken a chance for a friend, but they would not do it forHouck.
Dud went with Bob to the pinons. While Dillon saddled one horse,Hollister put the bridle on a second.
"What's that for?" Bob asked.
"Oh, I'm soft in the haid," Dud grunted. "Gonna trail along. I'll tellyou right now I ain't lost Houck any, but if you're set on this foolbusiness, why, I'll take a whirl with you."
"Good old Dud," Bob beamed. "I'll bet we get away with it fine."
"Crazy old Dud," the owner of the name grumbled. "I'll bet we get ourtopknots scalped."
They rode down from the rim-rock, bearing to the right, as far away fromthe river as possible. The Utes in the blackberry fringe caught sight ofthem and concentrated their fire on the galloping horsemen. Presently theriders dipped for a minute behind a swell of ground.
"A heap more comfortable ridin' here," Dud said, easing his horse for afew moments to a slower pace. "I never did know before why the good Lordmade so much of this country stand up on end, but if I get outa this holeI'll not kick at travelin' over hills so frequent. They sure got theiruses when Injuns are pluggin' at you."
They made as wide a circuit as the foothills would allow. At times theywere under a brisk fire as they cantered through the sage. This increasedwhen they swung across the mesa toward the river. Fortunately they werenow almost out of range.
Riding along the edge of the bluff, they found a place where theirsure-footed cowponies could slide and scramble down. In the valley, asthey dashed across to the willows where Bob had left Houck, they wereagain under fire. Even after they had plunged into the thicket ofsaplings they could hear bullets zipping through the foliage to right andleft.
The glazed eyes in Houck's flushed face did not recognize the punchers.Defiance glowered in his stare.
"Where'd you get the notion, you red devils, that Jake H
ouck is aquitter? Torment me, will you? Burn me up with thirst, eh? Go to it an'see."
Bob took a step or two toward the wounded man. "Don't you know me, Houck?We've come to look after you. This is Dud Hollister. You know him."
"What if I did gun him?" the high-pitched voice maundered on. "Tried tosteal my bronc, he did, an' I wouldn't stand for it a minute.... Allright. Light yore fires. Burn me up, you hounds of Hades. I'm not askin'no favors. Not none a-tall."
The big man's hand groped at his belt. Brown fingers closed on the buttof a forty-five. Instantly both rescuers were galvanized to life. Dud'sfoot scraped into the air a cloud of sand and dust as Bob dived forward.He plunged at Houck a fraction of a second behind his friend.
Into the blue sky a bullet went singing. Bob had been in time to knockthe barrel of the revolver up with his outflung hand.