The Last Straw

  CHAPTER XVI

  THE WARNING

  The fire in Webb's cook stove was not all that furnished warmth to thethree men sitting about it that night, for they drank frequently fromthe bottle which, when not passing from hand to hand, was nestled onDick 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 andquarrelsomely after the manner of their kind. Engrossed in the gamethey gave little heed to the talk of the others. It was shop talk, ofplots and schemes, of danger and distrust.

  Webb's little button eyes were even more ugly than usual, Hilton'smouth drawn in lines that were even more cruel, but Hepburn, underinfluence of the liquor, only became more paternal, more deliberate asthe evening and the drinking went on. He was not nettled by Webb'sdisfavor, and even smiled on the rancher indulgently as he listened tothe querulous plaint.

  "If you'd only used yer head an' stayed there," Webb went on, "thenwe'd hev had it all easy-like. You could've stole her blind an' she'dnever knew. Then you had to git on the peck about _him!_" Hesniffed in disgust.

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

  "We had him scotched all right, but we hadn't figured on the girl.Nobody'd thought she was sweet on him!"

  Hilton stirred uneasily and the color in his face deepened. He lookedat 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 headsharder'n ever."

  "There's too many in it," Webb whined. "I tell you the's too many init! If you'd let me alone, just me an' the boys, I'd felt safer. Butnow 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 togetheror...."

  "Separately," added Dick 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 aleak. 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 noright on this place, let alone other things.

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

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

  "But Beck will," Webb protested.

  "He will if you don't get rid of him!" with slow anger behind the wordsand a cunning glitter in his eyes. "I don't see how in hell you missedhim. 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," Hepburnstated emphatically, well satisfied, and showing it, that this was amasterly 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 stayon 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'scold! You've got into this deal an' you'd like to run it your way.

  "What the hell do you stay on for?"

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

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

  "The booze has made you irritable, Webb."

  Webb sat forward, elbows on knees, chin in his hands and grumbled:

  "I have to stand a lot, I do. Both of you eggin' me on all the time,all the time! I do th' best I can, but nothin's ever satisfactory.Nobody ever does anything for me!"

  "Sho, Webb, that ain't so. Didn't Mr. Hilton give you a brand newautomatic? Ain't I been reasonable in turnin' a chance to make goodyour way?"

  The other fidgeted, then looked up at Hilton.

  "I don't see why _you've_ got such an interest in this for,anyhow. Course, it's none of my business, but I don't see why youshould always egg me on about Beck."

  "I am concerned to see the THO prosper," said Hilton mockingly. "Thatis why I bought fence; that is why I want your friend, the HC foreman,out of the way."

  He rose, placed the bottle on the table and stepped out of the house.They heard him walk across the dooryard and into the stable.

  "You s'pose he's goin' to meet her again tonight?" Webb growled.

  "Likely.... It's likely."

  "I wish th' hell he'd clear out. I don't see what you wanted to takehim in for!"

  Hepburn chuckled.

  "How could you keep him out? The girl, she knows everything, an' whatshe knows he knows. His money's valuable to us an' besides ... it'llkeep her quiet if we ever do get out on a limb."

  Webb looked up in query.

  "You're right when you say there's too many in it, Webb, but there'sjust _one_ too many. That's the girl! I can't figure her out; Ican't trust her. If we was to try to pass the buck to Cole, in a pinch,she'd raise the deuce.... That is, she would if it wasn't for Hilton."

  "How's that?"

  "If she turned on the rest of us, it'd catch Hilton an' she's gone onhim. Never saw a girl who was so loyal to her father but when you bringin another man that loyalty won't stand up in a pinch; not if it's achoice between a father and a lover."

  "But he ain't on the level with her!"

  "Makes no difference. She's took to him like girls of her sort do. Hecan handle her an' she's the only one that knows our side who'll everneed any handlin'. He was right when he said the rest of us'd have tohang together, or separately."

  Outside a horseman rode quietly to the gate and sat looking through theopen doorway and the one window of the room. He counted the mencarefully; counted again, then rode back the way he had come andstopped and waited.

  "But what about the other girl ... Hunter?" Webb asked after a silentinterval. "Hilton was sweet on her."

  Hepburn's eyes kindled.

  "His jealousy is another asset. Hilton wanted her an' couldn't get her,an' he knows the reason now: It's Beck. You think he's been practicin'with a rifle and pistol for the fun of it? Not on your life!" Leaningcloser: "The time may come, Webb, when Hilton'll clear Beck out of ourway.... That'd be easier. I don't want to try it in the open; I don'tguess you do. He's got a crimp in all the boys. Look at Sam, forinstance. He's itchin' to kill Beck but he ain't got the sand!"

  "If she ever found out he wasn't on the level with her,"--Webb's mindgoing back to Bobby Cole--"she'd claw him up fearful."

  "Yup. But she's in love an' love plays hell with men and women, Webb."

  The other started to reply, then sat rigid, listening.

  A horse came up the road at a slow trot and halted by the gate. Asaddle creaked, then the bars complained as they were lowered. A manwas whistling lightly as he rode toward the house and dismounted,leaving his horse standing.

  "Must be one of the boys," he said, and settled back. None who hadother than friendly business there would come uncautious.

  "I was going to say," went on Hepburn, "that they'll be fooled aboutthat Hole range. It's time for the cattle to start comin' in from thedesert. They'll get up there and the creek'll be an ash bed with acouple more days of this sun. They can't take 'em back through the Gapwi
thout a big loss and if they leave 'em in the Hole without water longenough they can't get 'em up the trail without loss so--"

  "If you'll all rise up and put up your hands we won't have any trouble... tonight!"

  Hepburn looked slowly over his shoulder, slightly bewildered. Webb, whohad been stooped forward, raised his eyes and breath slipped throughhis lips in a long hiss. Sam McKee, who had reached out to take atrick, let his ace drop from limp fingers. The other three started uplike guilty men sharply accused of their crime.

  Tom Beck, a revolver in each hand, stood framed in the doorway, bendingforward from the hips, hat back, eyes burning. His voice had been leveland natural, with something akin to a laugh in it, but when he spokeagain it was a rasp:

  "Get up on your rattles, you snakes, and put up your hands!"

  With an oath Hepburn sprang to his feet, faced about and raised hisarms. Webb followed, with jerky movements, his face pallid with fear.The four card players got from their chairs. As McKee's hands wentslowly above his head they trembled like aspen branches in a breeze.

  For a long moment there was no sound, save Hepburn's heavy breathing.Then Tom Beck let a curious smile run across his lips.

  "This is a hell of a way to come to talk business," he commented. "Idon't like it ... but little more than you seem to. It's the safest wayfor me. That's why I'm here, to consider my safety."

  He let his gaze run from face to face. Webb's eyes met his squarely, abaleful challenge in them, but as he glared at Hepburn, Hepburn's gazewavered, flicking back twice, only to drop again. McKee whimpered underhis breath. The other three stared back sullenly, alert for an opening.

  Beck moved into the room just one step.

  "I don't know who it is that's been tryin' to kill me, but it wouldn'ttake many guesses," he said. Again his eyes ran from face to face. "Itmight be you, Hepburn, and it might be you, Webb. It's like both ofyou, to shoot from cover ... like you accused me of shootin'. It mightbe McKee, but even that takes more nerve than he's got. I wouldn't putit past any of the rest of you.

  "I didn't come here to try to find out. I got more important things todo than to identify the party right now.

  "I rode over this evening to make a little call an' to drop the wordthat if I see any of this outfit anywhere near the HC ranch or on itsrange there's goin' to be shootin' a-plenty and that if you want to bethe first to shoot, you want to draw almighty quick! If any of you seeone of my men anywhere, you hit the breeze. It's the best way out oftrouble.

  "Hepburn, you an' Webb tried to frame me once. That's sufficient cause.I'd kill you like I'd kill a ... a scorpion. McKee don't count. Youother three probably are in on the threat to drive me out of thecountry. Just workin' here puts you beyond the law that protects honestmen.

  "Now there's a little matter of trouble that's happened around the HC.That's going to stop from now on. We've got lots of men over there whoare handy with their artillery. They're pretty well worked up. Therewon't be a finger lifted to prevent you workin' within your rights, butthe first crooked move one of you makes ... there'll be a new tableboarder in th' devil's kitchen.

  "That's all I come to say. That's all the conversation that'll benecessary between us from now on. The HC is goin' to keep doingbusiness, and its present owner is going to stay on the job. As for me... it's been talked around that I was to be drove out an' all I've gotto say is, come on and do your driving!"

  His mouth set with an expression of finality and his eyes bored intotheirs. He was through, but even as he straightened preparatory tobacking through the doorway into the night a flicker of cunning crossedDad Hepburn's face, set there by a faint, faint creaking of the stabledoor, unheard by Beck whose own voice had been in his ears.

  "Don't you think you're a little quick in passin' judgment, Tom?" heasked.

  Beck laughed shortly.

  "Looking for me to handle you with gloves, Dad? After you tried toframe me? After you--" He checked himself shortly as he was about toaccuse Hepburn of one specific art of treachery against the H.C. Hemight need that later. "After you've tried to get me?

  "No, somebody shot at my bed one night; somebody shot at me while I wasriding open country one day." At that a glint of astonishment showed inWebb's face. "There's just one way to handle men like that, and I'mdoin' it now, to-night. I'm--"

  The crash of a shot from behind, the splintering of the door panel athis shoulder, cut him short. Webb jumped as though the bullet had beensent at him. Hepburn's face contorted into a grimace of elation.

  With a catch of his breath Beck wheeled, senses steeled to thisemergency, driving down the quick panic that wanted to throttle hisheart.

  There in the shaft of yellow light, bareheaded, stepping toward him,arm raised to fire again, was Dick Hilton. It was a situation in whichfractions of time were infinitely precious. That first shot had gonewild because the Easterner, unfamiliar with fire arms, unnerved by therage which swept up within him, had let his eagerness have full sway.But now he was stepping forward, coming closer. At that range he couldnot miss!

  And Beck saw all that in the split second it required for him to whirl,leaving his back exposed to those other men for the instant. Hesqueezed the trigger as he flipped his left-hand gun toward hisassailant. The two reports sounded almost as one, but the stream offire from Hilton's weapon instead of stabbing toward Beck streaked intothe air and the automatic, ripped from his hand by the same ball thattore his fingers, spun clinking to earth.

  But even as it struck, before Beck could turn again to cover the roombehind, a swinging palm sent the lamp crashing to the floor. He sprangclear of the doorway. An instant before he had dominated the situation,now he was a fugitive.

  Inside, darkness; out in the dooryard, starlight. Inside, ruthlessenemies who had listened to a declaration that precluded quarter;outside, their target who could not hope to live before the fusilladethat must come.

  "Put up your hands!" Beck gasped, jabbing a gun into Hilton's stomachand springing behind the Easterner's body, screening himself.

  Crouched there, peering over the other's shoulder, one gun againstHilton's trembling body, the other thrust past it to cover the doorway,he paused. He heard quick, unsteady footsteps, an oath, a hurried wordand then the man before him cried huskily:

  "For God's sake don't shoot, boys! You'll get me!"

  After that there passed a moment in which Hilton's breath made the onlysound that came to Beck's ears.

  "I'm going to back up to my horse," he said lowly, "you follow me."

  It was unnecessary to add a threat. Enough threat in the situation!

  Slowly he began to back, feeling his way, shoving the one gun harderagainst Hilton's body, keeping the other ready for instant use shouldthose who watched choose to shoot down the Easterner to be at him. Theroan snorted softly in query and Beck spoke. But the animal, startledby the shooting, unsatisfied that this huddle creeping toward him waswholly friendly, backed off. Tom spoke again; then ceased all movement,for from inside had come a muttering and stealthy footsteps crossed thefloor. A door at the rear of the house creaked. One or several had goneout to stalk him! The others, he knew, waited within to take firstopportunity to kill that might be offered.

  "Stand still!" he said sharply to the horse and turned his head ever soquickly to see the animal, head to him, back slowly.

  He moved backward faster for a few steps, shoving the revolver harderinto Hilton's body to assure his obedience, but the horse onlyprogressed as rapidly, snuffing loudly at this performance which nohorse could be expected to understand!

  They moved in a circle, swinging in toward the house, Beck ever keepingHilton as a direct screen. He stopped and the horse stopped. Helistened. He heard soft movements within the house. He thought he hearda faint rustling behind a far corner of the building but a cow, bawlingat the moment, obscured the faint sound.

  Beck felt a cold damp standing out on his body. From the darkness, fromany direction, disaster might strike at any second!

  He bega
n to talk to the horse soothingly, moving toward him slowly, butthe roan would not understand. Once he was within an arm's length ofthe bridle, but before he could grasp it the animal had swung his headever so slightly and was moving off again, passing a corner of thehouse from where that suggestion of a rustle had come.

  And then, of a sudden, the horse leaped sideways, with a startledgrunt, as a horse will that comes upon a coiled snake. He lunged towardBeck and Hilton, swinging about on his hind feet, beginning to run forthe gate, thoroughly frightened and bent on escape from the thing thatalarmed him.

  It was Beck's last chance! As the horse leaped toward the gate hesprang back a pace from Hilton, raised both guns and fired, one at thewindow, one at the doorway. Glass burst and tinkled and he heard thepanel of the door again sliver. As he opened fire the great roanswerved; his hoofs spurned the ground in the impatience of fright andBeck, shooting again toward the house, turned and ran swiftly for thefleeing horse.

  Down in the shadows the thing which had frightened the horse rose,stumbling into shape. Flame streamed from Beck's guns toward it, but heshot as he ran and his fire was inaccurate. He cried sharply as theanimal swung even wider in his circuit toward the gate, sprang forwardin long strides, dropped the gun from his right hand, leaped, fastenedhis fingers about the horn, took two quick strides and vaulted into thesaddle.

  The animal leaped the half lowered bars and Beck fired again, twice atthe house, once at the figure outside, and then flung himself far downover the roan's shoulder as the window belched flame and stabs of itcame from about the building and bullets screeched overhead. He fannedthe roan's belly with his hat and twenty rods further swung into anerect position again, leaning low as they ate the road.

  "A close one, old timer!" he muttered to the horse. "_That_ was achance!"

  And miles further on, when the roan had cooled from his first desperatedash that had carried Tom to unquestionable safety for the night, hesaid aloud:

  "Now what was _he_ doin' there? And how much will he count?"