CHAPTER VII
THE "KICKER" BECOMES AN INSTITUTION
It was mid-July--and hot. The sun shone continually; the nights wereuncomfortable, stifling. The dust was everywhere and grew deeper andlighter as the days passed. Water grew scarce; cattle suffered, lowingthroughout the night, during the day searching the bogs and water holesfor drops of moisture. Men looked up at the clear, cloudless sky andprayed--and cursed--for rain. The rain did not come. It was one long,continuous nightmare of heat.
The _Kicker_ had appeared four times--on Saturdays--on time.Telegraphic communication with the outside world had been established.Potter had taken up his residence at the Circle Bar. War had beendeclared between the _Kicker_ and the Lazette _Eagle_. Hollishad written an argumentative essay on the virtues of Dry Bottom as atown, dwelling upon its superiority over Lazette. The editor of the_Eagle_ had replied with some bitterness, setting forth in detailwhy Dry Bottom did _not_ compare with Lazette. As the editor of the_Eagle_ mentioned population and civic spirit in his bill ofparticulars the war promised to be of long duration--questions ofsuperiority between spirited persons are never settled. And Hollis hadsucceeded in arousing the spirit of Dry Bottom's citizens. They began totake some interest in the _Kicker_. Many subscribed; all read it.
From the "local" columns of the paper one might have discovered thatmany public and private improvements were contemplated. Among these thefollowing items were of the greatest interest:
Steps are being taken by the government toward the erection of a fence around the court house grounds. Judge Graney is contemplating a lawn and flowers. When these improvements are completed there will be no comparison between our court house and the dilapidated hovel which disgraces the county seat of Colfax. The Lazette _Eagle_ please notice.
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William Dunn, the proprietor of the Alhambra eating house, announces that in the near future he will erect a new sign. Thereafter the Alhambra will be known as the Alhambra Restaurant. This is a step forward. We have been informed that there is no restaurant in Lazette. Good boy, Dunn.
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Chet Miller's general merchandise store is to be repainted throughout. Chet is public spirited.
Everybody of any importance in Dry Bottom received weekly mention ofsome sort in the _Kicker_. Chet Miller was heard to say that the_Kicker_ was a "hummer," and no one ascribed his praise of thepaper to thanks for the appearance of his name therein, for all whowould have criticized were silenced by the appearance of their ownnames.
In the fourth issue of the paper appeared several new advertisements.Judicious personal mention and lively news locals had aroused publicspirit to a point where it ignored thoughts of Dunlavey's displeasure.
Upon the Saturday which had marked the first issue of the _Kicker_under Hollis's ownership he had employed a circulation manager. Thatafternoon on the street near the _Kicker_ office he had almostcollided with a red haired youth of uncertain age who had bounded outthrough the door of a private dwelling. In order to keep from knockingthe youth over Hollis was forced to seize him by the arms and literallylift him off his feet. While in the air the youth's face was close toHollis's and both grinned over the occurrence. When Hollis set the youthdown he stood for an instant, looking up into Hollis's face and a grinof amusement overspread his own.
"Shucks!" he said slowly. "If it ain't the tenderfoot editor!"
"That's just who it is," returned Hollis with a smile.
The youth grinned as he looked critically at Hollis. "You gittin' outthat there paper to-day, mister?" he questioned.
"Right now," returned Hollis.
"Bully!" exclaimed the youth. He surveyed Hollis with a frankadmiration. "They said you wouldn't have the nerve to do it," he said;"but, say! I reckon they ain't got you sized up right!"
Hollis smiled, remembering that though the paper had been printed it wasnot yet distributed. He placed a hand on the youth's shoulder.
"Have you got nerve enough to pass the _Kicker_ around to thepeople of this town?" he questioned.
"I reckon," grinned the youth. "I was comin' down to ast you for the jobwhen you bumped into me. I used to peddle them for your dad. My name'sJiggs Lenehan--mebbe you've heard of me?"
Hollis smiled. "The question of delivering the _Kicker_ was one ofthe details that I overlooked," he said. "But fortunately it is arrangednow. Henceforth, Jiggs, you are the _Kicker's_ official circulationmanager. Likewise, if you care to add to your income, you can helpPotter around the office."
So it had been arranged, and Jiggs entered upon his duties with anenergy that left little doubt in his employer's mind that he would provea valuable addition to the force.
In Hollis's "Salutatory" to the people of Dry Bottom he had announced ina quiet, unostentatious paragraph that while he had not come to DryBottom for a free fight, he would permit no one to tread on his toes.His readers' comprehension of the metaphor was complete--as wasevidenced by the warm hand-clasps which he received from citizens whowere not in sympathy with the Dunlavey regime. It surprised him to findhow many such there were in town. He was convinced that all this elementneeded was a leader and he grimly determined to step quietly into thatposition himself.
The second issue of the _Kicker_ was marked by a more aggressivespirit--a spirit engendered by the sympathetic reception of the firstissue. In it he stated concisely his views of the situation in UnionCounty, telling his readers that the best interests of the communitydemanded that Dunlavey's evil influence be wiped out. This article washeaded: "Dry Bottom's Future," and won him many friends.
The third issue contained stronger language, and the fourth wasenergetically aggressive. As he had decided before the first appearanceof the paper, he took a certain number of copies of each issue, foldedthem neatly, stamped and addressed them, and mailed them to a number ofnewspapers throughout the country whose editors he knew. He alsodirected copies to a number of his friends in the East--to the presidentof his college, and last, to the Secretary of the Interior atWashington, who had formerly resided near him in Boston, and with whomhe had a long acquaintance. There had been a change of administrationthe fall previous and he was certain that the new administration wouldnot ignore the situation. To the Secretary, and also to a number of hisfriends, he wrote personal letters, explaining in detail the exactcondition of affairs in Union County.
He had not seen Dunlavey since the day the latter had come to the_Kicker_ office to negotiate for the purchase of the paper. Onseveral of his rides to and from the Circle Bar ranch he had seen signsof life at the Circle Cross; once or twice he thought he saw someonewatching him from a hill on the Circle Cross side of the Rabbit-Ear, butof this he was not quite certain, for the hill-top was thickly woodedand the distance great.
He had been warned by Norton not to ride too often over the same traillest Dunlavey send someone to ambush him.
Hollis had laughed at the warning, though thanking Norton for it. Hetold his range boss that he did not anticipate any immediate troublewith Dunlavey.
"It all depends on how Big Bill feels," returned Norton with a grimsmile. "If you've got him mad there's no telling. And there are plentyof places between here and Dry Bottom where a man might be shot fromambush. And nobody'd ever know who done it. I wouldn't ride the DryBottom trail every day. There's the old Coyote trail, that takes youpast the Razor-Back and through Devil's Hollow to Little Canyon an'along the hills to the other side."
He laughed. "There's only one thing you need to be afraid of if you takethe Coyote trail, an' that's Ed Hazelton. Ed gets spells when he's plumcrazy. He's Nellie Hazelton's brother--her that Dunlavey was pesterin'when you slammed him." He laughed again, significantly. "Though if Edknowed you was the man who took his sister's part you wouldn't need tobe much scared of him--I've heard that he's got a pretty good memory forhis friends--even when he's off."
Hollis had not told Norton of his exper
ience in Devil's Hollow, nor didhe tell him now. But he followed his advice about taking the Coyotetrail, and the following day when he made the trip to Dry Bottom hereturned that way. About half way between Dry Bottom and the Circle Barhe came upon a little adobe cabin snuggling an arroyo through whichtrickled a small stream of water.
It was an ideal location for a small rancher, and Hollis observed thatthe buildings were in order--evidently Nellie Hazelton and her brotherwere provident. He saw some cattle grazing on the edge of a small grassplateau which began at the slope of the arroyo through which the streamof water ran. A shout reached his ears as he sat motionless in thesaddle looking about him, and he saw Ed Hazelton on the plateau amongthe cattle, waving a hand to him. The young man began to descend theside of the plateau, but before he had fairly started Nellie Hazeltonhad come out of the front door of the cabin and stood on the edge of thesmall porch, smiling at him.
"So you did come, after all?" was her greeting.
Hollis spurred his pony closer and sat smiling down at her. "I don'tthink anything could have stopped me after your invitation," he returnedquickly.
"Oh!" she said. The sudden color that came into her face told of herconfusion. It betrayed the fact that she knew he had come because ofher. Her brother's invitation in Devil's Hollow had been merely formal;there had been another sort of invitation in her eyes as she and herbrother had left him that day.
"Won't you get off your horse?" she said while he still sat motionless."It's quite a while before sundown and you have plenty of time to reachthe Circle Bar before dark."
He had determined to discover something of the mystery that surroundedher and her brother, and so he was off his pony quickly and seatinghimself in a chair that she drew out of the cabin for him. By the timeher brother had reached the porch Hollis was stretched comfortably outin the chair and was answering several timid questions concerning hisopinion of the country and his new responsibilities.
She was glad he liked the country, she said. It was wonderful. In thefive years they had been here they had enjoyed it thoroughly--that was,of course, barring the trouble they had had with Dunlavey.
Of their trouble with Dunlavey Hollis would hear much later, he toldhimself. At present he was more interested in discovering somethingabout her and her brother, though he did not wish to appear inquisitive.Therefore his voice was politely casual.
"Then you are not a Westerner?" he said.
She smiled mournfully. "No," she returned; "we--Ed and I--were raised inIllinois, near Springfield. We came out here five years ago after--aftermother died." Her voice caught. "Sometimes it seems terribly lonesomeout here," she added; "when I get to thinking of--of our other home.But"--she smiled bravely through the sudden moisture that had come intoher eyes--"since Ed got hurt I don't have much time to think of myself.Poor fellow."
Hollis was silent. He had never had a sister but he could imagine howshe must feel over the misfortune that had come to her brother. It mustbe a sacrifice for her to remain in this country, to care for a brotherwho must be a great burden to her at times, to fight the solitude, thehardships, to bear with patience the many inconveniences which areinevitable in a new, unsettled country. He felt a new admiration for herand a profound sympathy.
"I think that you must be a very brave young woman," he said earnestly.
"Oh!" she returned with a sudden, illuminating smile. "It isn't hard tobe brave. But at times I find it hard to be patient."
"Patience is one of the cardinal virtues," declared Hollis, "but ittakes bravery of a rare sort to remain in this country, surrounded withthe care----"
Her fingers were suddenly over her lips warningly, and he saw EdHazelton nearing the porch.
"I wouldn't have him know for the world," she said rapidly. "It isn't acare to look after someone you love."
Hollis smiled grimly at the reproach in her voice and rose to greet herbrother.
The latter seemed to be quite recovered from the attack he had sufferedin Devil's Hollow and talked freely and intelligently of affairs in thecountry. Hollis found that on the whole he was a well informed youngman--quiet, modest, and apparently well able to give a good account ofhimself in spite of his affliction. He was bitter against Dunlavey andthanked Hollis warmly for his defense of his sister.
At sundown Hollis departed, telling the Hazeltons that since he wastheir neighbor he would not neglect to see them occasionally. As he rodeaway into the dusk Nellie Hazelton stood on the porch smilingly wavingher hand at him. As he threaded his way through the rapidly growingdarkness he felt an unaccountable satisfaction over the fact that he hadelected to remain in Union County; that henceforth his fortunes were tobe linked with those of a brave young woman who had also accepted therobes of sacrifice and who was committed to war against their commonenemy--Dunlavey. Curiously, during the past few days he had felt adecided change in his attitude toward life. His old ambition was nolonger uppermost in his mind--it had been crowded out of his existence.In its place had been erected a new pinnacle of promise. A seat amongthe mighty was a worthy goal. Yet the lowly bench of sacrifice was notwithout its compensations.