CHAPTER XVII
MRS. BURR RELIEVES HER MIND
Loudon, sitting comfortably in a big chair, his lame ankle supported onan upturned cracker-box, gazed at the world without through the frameof the kitchen doorway. Leaving his bed had raised his spiritsappreciably. He rolled and smoked cigarettes and practised theroad-agent's spin in pleasant anticipation of the day when he wouldride away on his occasions.
He wondered what luck Telescope and the boys were having. Since SwingTunstall's visit no news had come from the Flying M. Humanly, ifselfishly, he hoped that the trailing would meet with no success tillhe was able to take a hand. His altruism was not proof against hisexceedingly lively desire to share in the downfall of the 88 outfit.
He essayed to draw Mrs. Mace and Dorothy into conversation, but bothladies were grumpy, and he gave it up in disgust. He found himselflistening for Kate's footstep. Awkward as their meeting undoubtedlywould be, his dread of it was wearing off.
But Kate Saltoun did not appear. Loudon was too stubborn to makeinquiries, and Mrs. Mace and Dorothy vouchsafed no information. Infact, save to squabble with him, they rarely opened their mouths in hispresence.
A week later Loudon, a home-made crutch under his armpit, was able tohobble about a little. Within two weeks he discarded the crutch and,having obtained permission from Mrs. Mace, limped to the corral andoverhauled his saddle. That afternoon Mrs. Burr returned. Loudon sawher first and crab-footed to the other side of the corral. The precisenature of his sin was not clear to him, but Dorothy's words had beendisquieting. And now "mother" was home.
Like a disobedient small boy Loudon wished to put off the interview aslong as possible. But there was no escape for him. Mrs. Burr marchedout to the corral and cornered him.
"How's Scotty?" inquired Loudon, affecting an ease of manner he was farfrom feeling.
"Scotty's doin' very well," said Mrs. Burr, eying him grimly. "Hedon't need me no more. That's why I'm here. Young man, I ain'tpleased with yuh. I ain't a bit pleased with yuh."
"Why, ma'am, I dunno what yuh mean."
"Yuh will before I'm through. Gimme that saddle-blanket to set on.There! Now, Mister Man, I'm goin' to talk to yuh like I was yoremother, an' I expect yuh to take it that way."
"Shore, ma'am, fly at it. I'm a-listenin'."
"Do yuh remember a certain evenin' down at the Bar S when yuh'd justrid in from Farewell with the mail an' some ribbon for Kate Saltoun?"
Loudon nodded.
"Well, Kate asked yuh to come out on the porch, an' yuh didn't come.Yes, Sam Blakely was there. Yore not comin' at her invite riled Kate.She allowed yuh didn't give a hoot for her, an' when Blakely proposedshe took him. She was hoppin' mad with you, an' she was bound to teachyuh a lesson.
"No, don't interrupt. Wait till I'm through, an' yuh can talk allyo're a mind to. Before that evenin' it'd been nip an' tuck betweenyou an' Sam Blakely. An' you was slow. My fathers! you was slow aboutspeakin' yore little piece! Tom, a girl don't like for a man to keephis mouth shut. If he loves her, let him say so. An' you didn't sayso.
"Then again, Kate was flattered by Blakely's attention. What girlwouldn't be? Tom, yuh've got to remember a girl's mind ain't builtlike a man's. She don't reason the same way. She can't. Then, again,every girl is a coquette. Take the homeliest slabsided critter increation, an' at heart she's just as much of a coquette as a she-angelwith a pretty figger. They can't help it. It's born in 'em like theirteeth are.
"An' you men don't take that into account. You think the girl youadmire ain't got no right to look at nobody but you, an' that she's gotto be all ready to fall into yore arms when you say the word. An' ifshe don't do these things yuh rise up in the air like a mean pony an'go cavortin' off sayin', 'Drat the women!' I know yuh. Yo're allalike."
"But, ma'am, I----"
"No time for 'I's' now. Like I says before, yuh can talk later. Well,here's Kate Saltoun--pretty as all git-out, an' assayin' twelve ounceso' real woman to the pound, troy. Naturally, like I says, she's acoquette an' don't know her own mind about the boys. None of 'emdon't. I didn't. Well, times Kate knows she loves you, an' times shethinks she loves Blakely."
"How did she know I loved her? I hadn't said a word about it."
"My fathers! don't yuh s'pose a woman knows when a man loves her? Hedoesn't have to tell her. She knows. Well, as I was sayin', she'sa-waverin' this way an' that, an' then along comes that evenin' youdon't go out on the porch, an' she kind o' guesses she loves Blakelyan' she takes that party. Mind yuh, she thought she loves him. Kate'shonest. She couldn't lie to herself."
"She did when she said I drawed first," said Loudon in a low voice. "Ican't get over that, somehow."
"Tom, at the time you an' Blakely was cuttin' down on each other Katewas excited. She couldn't 'a' seen things straight. She told me shethought yuh drawed first. I believe her--why can't you?"
"But I didn't draw first."
"I know yuh didn't, but I believe Kate when she says she thought youdid draw first. That's what I mean. Under the circumstances, yuh'dought to believe her, too. But never mind about that now. You cutstick an' come here to the Bend. An' Kate begun to find out there wassomethin' missin'. Somehow, the Bar S without you didn't seem like theBar S. Before yuh lit out she'd gotten used to havin' yuh around.
"Yuh don't miss a saddle, Tom, till yuh have to ride bareback. Sameway with Kate. She missed yuh, an' as every day went by she missed yuhmore an' more. Then it come to her. She knowed the man she loved, an'that feller was you, yuh big, thick-skulled lummox! Oh, if you wasfifteen years younger I'd lay yuh over my knee an' wear out a quirt onyuh for bein' a fool! I never could abide a fool. But yuh'll knowsomethin' before I get through."
"Don't mind me, ma'am."
"I don't--not a bit! I like you, an' I just love that Kate girl, or Iwouldn't be a-settin' here now. Well, when Kate knowed her own mind atlast, she gave Blakely back his ring, an' that settled him. She wantedyou back, an' the only way she could think of to get yuh back was to goafter yuh. So she done it. An' you had to fight with her an' driveher away! She just couldn't wait for the stage. She done hired abuckboard an' drove back to the Bar S. She made Dorothy an' Lilpromise not to tell yuh she'd gone. They told me. She wouldn't tell'em what had happened between you two. But she was cryin' when sheleft, so don't tell me yuh didn't fight with her.
"Lil an' Dorothy guessed it right away, an' they're mad at yuh, youbet. Yuh've busted Kate's heart, that's what yuh've done. Now ain'tyuh ashamed o' yoreself? Don't yuh think yuh didn't act just right?Don't yuh think yuh might 'a' been just a little bit forgivin' when youcould see the girl loved yuh with all her heart?"
"She said she'd never marry a ignorant puncher."
"I know. She told me about that time in the Bar S kitchen. Don't yuhunderstand--can't yuh get it through yore head that happened _before_she woke up to the fact that you was the only feller on earth?"
"Did she tell yuh all this?"
"She did. Poor little girl, she come to me one evenin', an' she wasall wrought up. I seen somethin' was the matter, an' I knowed it woulddo her a heap o' good to get it off her chest, an' I got it out of herlittle by little. She was sobbin' like a young one before she wasthrough, an' I was a-holdin' her in my arms, an' I was cryin' somemyself. She made me promise not to let on to you, but I ain't a-goin'to set by an' see her hurt when a word or two from me can set thingsstraight. It's the first time I ever broke my word, but I don't care.I aim to help her all I can."
"Say, did she tell yuh what Blakely done?"
"No. What did he do?"
"I dunno. She hates him worse'n poison now. He's done somethin', butshe wouldn't tell me what."
"He's been botherin' her likely, the skunk! You'd ought to crawl hishump first chance yuh get."
"Maybe I will."
"Looky here. I ain't quite through. What did you'n her fight about?"
"Nothin', ma'am. Honest. I'm there
in bed, an' all of a sudden shebusts out cryin' an' says she loves me, an' then she goes into thekitchen an' pretty soon she goes out--an' she never does come back.Then in comes Mis' Mace an' she acts mighty unpleasant, an' Dorothyacts the same, an' I believe I'd ruther been at the hotel, considerin'."
"I s'pose yuh just lay there like a bump on a log after Kate told yuhshe loved yuh."
"Well, ma'am, I--I--what could I do, ma'am? I couldn't get up."
"Yuh might 'a' spoken."
"I couldn't think o' nothin' to say, ma'am," pleaded Loudon.
"Well, yuh poor tongue-tied galoot! Yuh don't deserve no luck, yuhdon't! Well, I've said my say. I've done all I could. Yuh got to dothe rest yore own self. But if yuh don't go an' do it like a man, thenI'm disappointed in yuh."
"Did Kate tell Mis' Mace an' yore daughter what she told you?"
"No, she didn't. She only told me."
"Then they took an awful lot for granted. They acted like Kate an' mewas in love with each other."
"Well, my land! They could see Kate cared for yuh. Anybody with halfan eye could see that. Naturally they didn't s'pose yuh was actin'like a complete idjit. What yuh goin' to do?"
"I dunno."
"Yuh dunno! Yuh dunno! An' Kate all but goes on her knees to tell yuhhow sorry she is for what she done! Not only that, but she says sheloves yuh besides! An' all yuh can say is yuh dunno. My land! Ican't say what I think o' yuh."
"But I dunno, I tell yuh, Mis' Burr. I wish I'd stayed in Fort CreekCounty. This here town o' Paradise Bend is shore a hot-house o'matchmakers. First Scotty--then you--then Mis' Mace. Fine lot o'Cupids, you are. Can't let a fellah alone. Any one would think Icouldn't manage my own affairs."
"Yuh can't. In a case like this yuh need help."
"I'm gettin' it."
"Which I hope it does yuh some good. Now I ain't a-goin' to sayanother word. I've told yuh just exactly what yuh needed to be told.Do what yuh think best. How's the ankle gettin' along?"
"Can't bear my full weight on it yet."
"No, nor yuh won't for a few days. In a week yuh can go out to theranch if yuh like. Scotty wants to see yuh but he said special yuhwasn't to think o' comin' till yuh was all right. Oh, shore, yuh'dlike to lope right off an' have the ankle go back on yuh an' be no goodat all while the rest o' the boys are out in the hills. Don't worry,I'll tend to yore interests--an' Scotty's. I'll see that yuh don't go."
"I wasn't thinkin' o' goin', ma'am," hastily disclaimed Loudon. "AreTelescope an' the outfit havin' any luck?"
"Not a smidgen. The boys got in just before I left. They trailed thehoss-band over a hundred miles an' then lost the trail near MinerMountain. A rainstorm did that trick, an' they couldn't pick up thetrail again nohow."
"Swing Tunstall was right. He said if there was a rainstorm round,them rustlers would locate it."
"They did."
"The outfit ain't quit, has it?"
"They're a-goin' out again. Scotty says he won't quit till he findshis hosses."
Loudon spent the following week in unobtrusive shadowing of PeteO'Leary. But not once did that young man leave the confines ofParadise Bend. The fellow spent all of his time loafing in thevicinity of the Burr house or playing poker at the Three Card. He mayhave known that he was being watched. For Loudon's methods were notthose of a Pinkerton shadow.
When the time came for Loudon to depart, Mrs. Burr followed him out tothe corral.
"Tom," said she, when his horse was saddled, "Tom, I like you an' Kate.I like yuh both an awful lot. I'd shore enjoy seein' yuh both happy.Forgive her, Tom, an' yuh will be happy. I'm an old woman, but I'veseen a lot o' life, an' it's taught me that love is the biggest thingin the world. If yuh got it yuh don't need nothin' else. Don't throwit away. Don't. Now don't forget to remember me to that oldreprobate, Scotty Mackenzie, an' tell him me an' Dorothy are comin' outto see him in a couple o' days."
The new Flying M cook, a citizen of the Bend, greeted Loudon withfervour.
"Thank Gawd yuh've come!" he exclaimed. "That there Scotty is shorethe ---- invalid I ever seen! Forty times a day reg'lar he r'ars an'sw'ars 'cause yuh ain't arrove yet, an' forty times a day he doeslikewise for fear yuh'll come before yore ankle's all right. Yo're thebright apple of his eye, Tom. How yuh done it, I don't see. I can'tplease his R'yal Highness in a million years."
"Oh, it's a cinch when yuh know how," grinned Loudon. "Where's theoutfit?"
"Most of 'em are out with Telescope. Doubleday an' Swing Tunstall aredrivin' a bunch o' hosses over to the north range. Mister Mackenzie isa-settin' up in the office doin' like I said."
Loudon went at once to the office. Scotty, propped in an armchair,evinced no sign of the restlessness mentioned by the cook. He shookhands calmly and smiled cheerfully.
"Glad to see yuh," he said. "Set down an' be happy. How's the peg?All right, huh? That's good. Me? Oh, I'm pullin' through like agreased fish. I'll be poppin' round jovial an' free in another week orso. About them rustlers, now. I think----"
"Say, Scotty," interrupted Loudon, eagerly, "I got a small jag o' news.I dunno what yore plans are, but I'll gamble what I got to say'll makea difference."
"Let her flicker."
For half an hour Loudon spoke rapidly. At the end of his recital theeyes of Scotty Mackenzie were cold and hard and very bright.
"What's yore plan?" he queried.
"Go to Farewell an' Marysville. What I find out in them two placeswill show me what to do next. I'm goin' to Farewell anyhow on my ownhook."
"If I say no, would yuh quit me now?"
"I'd have to. I got business with a certain party in Farewell. AfterI'd finished up I'd come back o' course--if yuh still wanted me."
"Well, I don't say no. I think yuh've hit it. I knowed yuh wasOpportunity with a big O when I hired yuh. Yuh've proved it. Fly atit, Tom, an' prove it some more. Get the evidence, an' I'll do therest. We'll wipe out the 88 ranch, hide, hoof, an' taller. Thereain't a ranch in Sunset County that won't help. We can count in theCross-in-a-box, the Double Diamond A, an' the Hawgpen, in the LazyRiver country, too. Oh, we'll fix 'em. How many o' the boys do yuhwant? I don't begrudge 'em to yuh, but go as light as yuh can. Istill got quite a few hosses left to wrangle."
"Gimme Telescope."
"Is he enough? I can spare another--two if I got to."
"Well, yuh see, I was countin' on borrowin' Johnny Ramsay from JackRichie, an' there's Chuck Morgan o' the Bar S. I guess I can get him."
"Get him, an' I'll give him a job after it's all over. Wish I couldget Johnny Ramsay, too, but he'd never quit Richie. Well, yuh shoredone noble in findin' out that truck about Pete O'Leary."
"Yuh've got to thank Miss Saltoun for that. She done it all."
"Her! Old Salt's daughter! Say, I take it all back. She can come outhere whenever she wants. I'll be proud to shake her hand, I will.Well, I did hope it'd be Dorothy, but now I suppose it's Miss Saltoun.Dunno's I blame yuh. Dunno's I blame yuh."
"As usual, yo're a-barkin' up the wrong stump. I'm gun-shy of allwomen, an' I don't want to talk about 'em."
"Oh, all right, all right," said Scotty, hastily. "How soon can yuhstart?"
"Right now, soon's I get another hoss."
"Take Brown Jug. He'll tote yuh from hell to breakfast an' never feelit. Yuh'll find the outfit som'ers over north o' Miner Mountain, Iguess. Tell Telescope I want him to go with yuh, an' the rest of 'emare to come home on the jump. Doubleday an' Swing have got their handsfull twenty times over. First thing I know there won't be a cayuseleft on the ranch."
Two days later Loudon and Laguerre rode into Rocket and spent the nightat the hotel. The landlord, Dave Sinclair, had an interesting tale totell.
"Yest'day," said Dave, "Lanky Bob finds Jim Hallaway's body in a gullynear the Bend trail. Jim had been shot in the back, an' he'd been deadquite a while. Jim an' his brother Tom have a little ranch near theTwin Peaks, an' Tom hadn't missed him
none 'cause Jim, when he left theranch, expected to be gone a month.
"Come to find out, Jim had been ridin' a bald-face pinto. Accordin' toTom's description that pinto was the livin' image of the one thatfriend o' Block's was ridin' the day they come into my place a-lookin'for information. The sheriff's got a warrant out for that Cuttinggent."
"Hope he gets him," said Loudon; "but he won't. He's got too big astart. I'd shore admire to know what he done with my hoss."
"You hoss brak hees laig," stated Laguerre. "Sartain shore dat whathappen."
"I guess yo're right," glumly agreed Loudon. "He wouldn't changeRanger for no bald-face pinto less'n the chestnut was out o' whack forkeeps."