CHAPTER XXII
PROOF OF GRATITUDE
Shortly after noon on the same day Hollis, finding work irksome, closedhis desk with a bang, told Potter that he was going home, mounted hispony, and loped the animal out the Dry Bottom trail. He rememberedhearing Norton tell one of the men that morning that he suspected thatseveral of Ed Hazelton's cattle were still in the vicinity of the basinnear the Hazelton cabin, and he determined to ride around that way andtry to turn them back toward the Circle Bar. It would be recreation forhim after a hot morning in the office.
He also remembered another thing that had occurred that morning at theranch house. Mrs. Norton had assured him--with a sly, eloquent glance athim--that he might do worse than to make arrangements to keep NellieHazelton at the Circle Bar indefinitely. At the risk of being consideredobtuse Hollis had ignored the hint, broad though it had been. But Mrs.Norton's words had shown him that Nellie stood high in her estimationand he felt a queer, unaccountable elation.
After striking the Dry Bottom trail he took a circuitous route and sometime later came out upon a high ridge overlooking a basin. There weresome cattle down there and he made a mental note of the locality so thathe would be able to tell Norton where to have the men look for thecattle. Then he rode along the ridge until he could no longer see thebasin. He spent most of the afternoon exploring the surrounding country,and then when the dusk began to fall he retraced his steps to the ridgeupon which he had ridden earlier in the afternoon. Something familiar inthe shape of the hills near him struck him and he halted his pony andsmiled. These were the hills that he had seen many times from theHazelton porch. He faced around, certain that if the hills could be seenfrom the porch he would be able to discern the porch from some point onthe ridge, for he was satisfied that he must be nearly in line with it.He rode back and forth a few moments, and then, coming out on a baldspot on the ridge, he saw the cabin.
It was about a mile away, snuggled comfortably down in a little basin,with some trees and shrubbery flanking it on both sides. He smiled as helooked at it, and then suddenly his face clouded, for he saw two ponieshitched to the porch. His forehead wrinkled perplexedly over this. Hewas certain that Nellie rode the same animal each time, because shewould not trust any of the others that were now with the remuda. One ofthe horses belonged to her of course, for he could see the gay ribbonwith which she was accustomed to decorate her animal's bridle. But towhom did the other horse belong? He gazed steadily toward the cabin,searching for signs of life on the porch. But though he could seeclearly--even into the shadows from a rambling rose bush that clung tothe eaves of the roof--no human figure appeared on the porch.
Certainly Nellie must have a visitor. But who? He was not aware that theHazeltons had made friends with anyone in the neighborhood besideshimself and the Nortons. He smiled. Probably some cowboy from the CircleBar had been in the vicinity looking for Hazelton's cattle, had metNellie, and had stopped at the cabin. He remembered to have heard Nortonsay that he was sending a man in that direction some time that day.
That must be the explanation. But while he sat, debating the proprietyof riding down to the cabin to satisfy his curiosity, the sound of apistol shot floated to his ears on the slight breeze that was blowingtoward him.
He sat erect, his face paling. Then he smiled again. He had been in theWest long enough to become acquainted with the cowboy nature and hesurmised that Nellie's visitor was very likely exhibiting his skill withthe revolver. But he turned his pony and urged it down the sloping sideof the ridge, riding slowly in the direction of the cabin.
After striking the bottom of the slope he rode cut upon a broad levelthat stretched away for half a mile. He made better time here and hadalmost covered half the width of the plain when two more reports reachedhis ears. He was close enough now to hear them distinctly and it seemedto him that they sounded muffled. He halted the pony and sat stiffly inthe saddle, his gaze on the cabin. Then he saw a thin stream ofblue-white smoke issue from the doorway and curl lazily upward.
A grave doubt assailed him. No cowboy would be likely to exhibit hisskill with a weapon in the cabin! Nellie's visitor must be an unwelcomeone!
The pony felt the sudden spurs and raced like a whirlwind over theremaining stretch of plain. Hollis had become suddenly imbued with asuspicion that brought an ashen pallor to his face and an awful rageinto his heart. He slid his pony down one side of a steep arroyo, sentit scrambling up the other side, jumped it over some rocks that litteredthe rise, spurred savagely through a little basin, and reaching the edgeof the porch, dismounted and bounded to the door.
He saw two figures--Nellie Hazelton and a man. He saw the man's fingersgripping the girl's throat and the lust of murder surged over andblinded him. In the dusk that had fallen he could only dimly see theman's head and he swung his right fist at it, putting every ounce of hisstrength into the blow. He felt the fist strike, realized that it hadglanced, and tried to recover for a second blow.
But the terrific swing had carried him off his balance. He whirled cleararound, slipped, and came down to the floor flat on his face. He was upin an instant, however, his brain afire with rage, his muscles tinglingwith eagerness. He did not think of the gun at his hip, for the lust ofmurder was in his soul and he wanted only to hit the man--to seize himand tear him apart--to crush and smash the vile hands that he had seenat the girl's throat.
Five feet from him, facing him, on his hands and knees and scrambling torise, was the man. He recognized Yuma, and even as he bounded forwardthe latter gained his feet and tugged at his gun-holster. The weapon hadnot yet cleared the holster when Hollis was upon him. He struck againwith his right fist and missed, crashing against Yuma in his eagernessand carrying him down to the floor with a force that shook the cabin. Asthey fell Hollis felt a sharp, agonizing pain in his left wrist, fromwhich the splints had been only recently removed, and the hand hung limpat his side, entirely useless.
For an instant after the fall Yuma lay still, breathing heavily. Then hemade a sudden movement with his right arm and Hollis caught a glint ofmetal. He threw himself at the arm, catching it with his right hand justabove the wrist and jamming it tight to the floor. Yuma tried to squirmfree, failed, and with a curse drove his left fist into the side ofHollis's face. Again he tried to squirm free and during the strugglethat followed the hand holding the pistol was raised from the floor.Hollis saw it and wrenched desperately at the arm, twisting it anddragging it furiously downward to the floor. Yuma shrieked with rage andpain as the force of the impact cracked his knuckles and sent the weaponclattering ten feet away.
For an instant both men lay silent, panting from their exertions. ThenYuma succeeded in getting one leg over Hollis's body and one arm aroundhis neck. With a quick motion--successful because of Hollis's injuredwrist--he turned the latter over on his back. His eyes alight with anexultant, malevolent fire, he gripped Hollis's throat with one hand anddrove at his face with the other. A quick movement of the head served todefeat Yuma's aim and his fist thumped heavily against the floor,bringing a grimace of pain to his face. Disregarding his injured wrist,Hollis wrenched savagely and succeeded in rolling free of Yuma andreaching his feet. He had moved quickly, but the lithe, cat-likehalf-breed was before him, bounding toward the pistol on the floor. Hewas bending over it, his fingers gripping its butt, when Hollis,throwing himself forward bodily, crashed into him and hurled him heavilyto the floor.
This time Yuma lay face downward, his arms outstretched, and Hollis laysprawled out on top of him. But Yuma had succeeded in holding to thepistol; it was grasped in his outstretched right hand, just out ofHollis's reach.
For an instant again both men lay silent, breathing rapidly. Then,yielding to the rage that still possessed him, Hollis bounded to hisfeet, striking Yuma a crashing blow in the face as he did so. While Yumareeled he brought his booted foot down on the hand holding the pistol,grinding it under his heel.
Yuma screamed with pain and rage and got to his feet, holding hisinjured hand with the other. The
pistol lay on the floor where Yuma haddropped it when Hollis's boot had come in contact with his hand. For aninstant Yuma stood gripping his hand, his face hideous with passion.Then with a snarl of rage and hate he drew a knife from the folds of hisshirt and sprang toward Hollis.
Hollis tensed himself for the clash, rapidly measuring the distance, andwhen Yuma came close enough caught him squarely on the side of the jawwith a vicious right swing. But in some manner when Hollis stepped asideto avoid Yuma's knife, his feet had become entangled with the legs ofthe table that Yuma had previously overturned. As he struck he slipped,the blow at Yuma's jaw not having the force he intended it to have. Hecaught himself, slipped again and went down, turning completely over thetable top and falling face downward to the floor. He saw Yuma throwhimself forward and he tried to wriggle out of danger, but he failed. Hefelt the half-breed's weight on his body, saw the knife flash in thedull light. He tried to roll over and grasp the knife in its descent,but could not, his left arm, now useless, being pinned to the floor byYuma's knee.
A revolver roared spitefully--once--twice. Yuma's knife hissed pastHollis's ear and struck the floor, its point sunk deep, its handleswaying idly back and forth. Yuma himself--inert, limp, rolled fromHollis's back and lay flat on his own, his eyes wide open and staring,two huge bullet holes in his forehead. And in the open doorway of thecabin stood Ten Spot.
For an instant Hollis could not realize his escape. He looked at Yumaand then again at Ten Spot. Slowly and painfully he got to his feet,looking around at the wreck of the room. Staggering a little, he walkedto where Ten Spot stood, gripping the latter's hand silently, at a lossfor words with which to thank him.
But apparently Ten Spot did not notice the omission, for he grinnedbroadly.
"I reckon there's folks which would call that a right clever bit ofshootin'," he said, "seem' a? there wasn't time to pull off no fancystuff!"