Paradise Bend

  CHAPTER VI

  PESTILENT FELLOWS

  Before his departure Loudon visited Blakely.

  "Found a bullet-hole in yore saddle," said Loudon without preliminary."Kind o' looks as if Johnny come near bustin' yore mainspring. I ain'ttold Johnny--yet. Johnny bein' an impulsive sport he might ventilateyuh plenty first time he met yuh. Johnny's square. He ain't shootin'anybody unless he's pretty near certain the other party is a-layin' forhim, an' that bullet I dug out o' yore swell-fork shore makes it lookbad for yuh.

  "Yuh needn't look so sour. I got good news for yuh. Yo're goin' tomarry Kate. Well an' good. I wouldn't enjoy downin' her husbandunless I'm crowded. I could 'a' killed yuh a while back, an' I shotwide on purpose. Next time--but don't let there be any next time.Just you keep away from me an' Johnny. I'm leavin' the Lazy Rivercountry anyway, but I tell yuh, Sam Blakely, if Johnny Ramsay isbushwhacked by the 88 I'll come back an' get yuh first card out o' thebox. Kate's husband or not yuh'll go shoutin' home. Understand?"

  "So yo're leavin' this country," bristled Blakely. "Yuh'd better.I'll shoot yuh on sight!"

  "Shore yuh feel that way about it?" queried Loudon with suspiciousgentleness.

  "I say what I mean as a rule. I'll shoot yuh on sight you ----rustler."

  "All right. Because o' Kate I was willin' to keep paws off, but ifyo're a-honin' to play the hand out, I'll give yuh every chance.You've got to get well complete first. Take three months. That oughtto be time enough. Three months from to-day I'll ride in to Farewell.If yo're still feelin' fighty be in town when I hit it."

  "I'll be there," Blakely assured him.

  When Loudon had bidden Johnny Ramsay good-bye, he went out and mountedRanger and rode away with Jack Richie.

  "I'm goin' away from here, Jack," said Loudon, after Richie haddiscussed in profane detail the 88's endeavour to discredit him.

  "I thought yuh was goin' to work for me?" exclaimed Richie in surprise.

  "I was, but somethin's happened since then. I'm kind o' sick o' theLazy River country. I need a change."

  "Well, you know best. But----"

  "I know what yo're thinkin'. If I go now the 88 will think I've quitcold. Let 'em think it. I don't care. But I'll be back. I made anappointment with Blakely to meet him in Farewell three months fromto-day."

  "That's good hearin'. But I'm shore sorry you ain't goin' to ride forme."

  "So'm I."

  "Stay over to-night anyway. Yuh ain't in any howlin' rush to get away,are yuh?"

  "No, I ain't so hurried. I dunno where I'll head--north, maybe."

  "If yo're goin' north, why don't yuh try Scotty Mackenzie? He owns theFlyin' M horse ranch over beyond Paradise Bend. There's three or fourgood cow ranches near the Bend--the Seven Lazy Seven, the Wagon-wheel,the Two Bar, an' the T V U."

  "Maybe I will hit the Bend."

  "If yuh do," pursued Richie, "yuh might stop an' say howdy at Cap'nBurr's. He married my sister, Burr did, an' all yuh got to do is sayyuh know me, an' they'll give yuh the house. I guess, though, yuh knowCap'n Burr yoreself."

  "Shore I do. It was the Cap'n who put me on to buyin' Ranger here. Hekept tellin' me about this amazin' good cayuse over at the 88, an'finally I went over, liked his looks, an' bought him. The Cap'n was atthe 88 the day I took the hoss away. He'd just freighted in a bunch o'stuff Blakely'd ordered. Cap'n Burr does a powerful lot o' business."

  "Don't he now. Yuh wouldn't think tin-peddlin' would pay so well. Oh,him an' his little old team o' blues shore glom onto the coin."

  When Loudon rode into Farewell on the following day he saw half-a-dozen88 cow-ponies hitched to the rail in front of the Palace Saloon.

  "Now that's cheerful," said Loudon. "For a peaceable feller I shore dotie in with trouble a heap."

  He turned aside at the hotel and tapped the landlord awake. At sightof Loudon Bill Lainey's eyes opened to their fullest extent and his redface turned purple with excitement.

  "Say," huskily whispered Lainey, "Shorty Simms, Rudd, Dakota Riley, an'three more o' the 88 boys are in town. They're tankin' up down in thePalace. Rudd's yowlin' round how he's goin' to drill yuh. He's a heappeevish, Rudd is. I guess now yuh must 'a' riled him somehow, Tom."

  "I guess maybe I did, Bill. I'll take a little walk down to the Palaceafter I eat. Thanks for the warnin'. Feed the little hoss, will yuh,Bill?"

  "Shore. Go on in an' holler for Lize."

  While Loudon was eating, a wiry, brisk little man with a white beardentered the dining room.

  "How are yuh, Cap'n?" grinned Loudon.

  Captain Burr, surprise and embarrassment in his steel-blue eyes,advanced and gripped Loudon's hand.

  "Loudon! By ----, suh!" he exclaimed. "This is indeed a pleasuh!"

  The tin-peddler slid into a chair and cleared his throat several times.

  "I feah, suh," he said, shamefacedly, "that I have trespassed on youahprese'ves. Had I known that you were in town I would have stayed myhand."

  "Why? What?" queried Loudon.

  "Well, suh, I'll tell you the whole story. It's sho't. Twenty minutesago I ente'ed the Palace Saloon. While drinking at the bah I could nothelp but overheah the conve'sation of half-a-dozen 88 cowboys. One ofthem, a man named Rudd, mentioned youah name and called you a rustlah.

  "You, Tom, are my friend, and, since I was unaware that you were intown, I felt that I could not stand idly by. I info'med this Ruddperson that traducing the absent was not the act of a gentleman. Ialso called him a ---- scoundrel and a liah to boot. He took exceptionto my wo'ds and, I was fo'ced to shoot him.

  "You unde'stand, Tom, that I acted in complete good faith. I believedyou to be at the Bah S. Otherwise, I should have repo'ted the mattahto you. Of co'se, I would have stood at youah back while you shot therascal. His ruffianly friends ah not to be trusted."

  "Don't apologize, Cap'n," said Loudon, and he reached across the tableand shook hands again.

  Captain Burr appeared to be greatly comforted at Loudon's readyacceptance of his explanation, and he attacked his beef and beans withappetite.

  The captain was a good deal of a mystery to the folk with whom he camein contact. His mode of speech and his table manners were not those ofordinary men. But he was a man, with all that the name implies, and assuch they had learned to accept him. I employ "learned" advisedly.Certain unthinking individuals had, when the captain was a comparativestranger in that region, commented upon his traits and received aprompt and thorough chastening.

  Captain Burr gained thereby an enviable reputation. In reality therewas no mystery attached to the old tin-peddler. He had simply beenborn a gentleman.

  "Did Rudd die?" inquired Loudon in a tone of studied casualness, whenhe had finished his meal.

  "He did not," replied the Captain. "Unless blood-poisoning sets in hewill live to be hung. My bullet broke his ahm. He rode away with hiscomrades five minutes lateh. No doubt he was in some pain, but therogue was suffering much less than he dese'ved. I realize that Ishould have killed him, of co'se, but as I grow oldeh I find myselfbecoming soft-heahted. Time was--but one must not dwell in the past.These beans ah excellent, Tom."

  "They are. Pullin' out soon?"

  "At once. I'm bound no'th. I intend to visit all the ranches betweenheah and Paradise Bend. I hope to be home in two weeks. Ah youtravelling my way?"

  "Yep. I guess I'm bound for the Bend, too."

  "Then I will ask you to deliveh a letteh to my wife. I missed the Bendstage by two houahs to-day, and theah is no otheh fo' three days."

  Loudon took the letter and placed it carefully in the inside pocket ofhis vest.

  While Captain Burr was harnessing his team, a job in which thetin-peddler always refused assistance, Loudon rode down the street withthe intention of buying tobacco at the Blue Pigeon Store. In front ofthe Happy Heart Saloon, opposite the Palace Dance Hall, stood SheriffBlock and five citizens.

  As Loudon rode past the sheriff made a low-
voiced remark and laughedloudly. Instantly the five citizens burst into cackles. For Block,besides being sheriff, owned both the Palace and the Happy Heart.Hence most of Farewell's inhabitants took their cue from him.

  The cachination in front of the Happy Heart grated on Loudon's feelingsas well as his ear-drums. He knew that the sheriff, kindly soul, washolding him up to ridicule. Kate's refusal of him had made Loudonsomewhat reckless. He had intended having it out with Rudd, butCaptain Burr had forestalled him there. Here, however, was the sheriffof the county, another enemy. Loudon turned his horse.

  Promptly the five friends oozed in various directions. Sheriff Block,a lonely figure, held his ground.

  "I hear yo're lookin' for me," announced Loudon, a laughing devil inhis gray eyes.

  "Who told yuh?" queried the sheriff, puzzled. He had expectedsomething totally different.

  "Who told me? Oh, several little birds. So I want to find out aboutit. I wouldn't like to put yuh to any trouble--such as huntin' me up,for instance."

  "That's good o' yuh. But I ain't lookin' for yuh, not yet."

  "I'm right glad to hear that. Them little birds must 'a' lied.Powerful lot o' lyin' goin' on in the world, ain't there?"

  "I dunno nothin' about it," mumbled the sheriff, who was becoming moreand more puzzled at the apparently aimless words of the puncher.

  "Don't yuh?" grinned Loudon. "That's shore hard to believe."

  The sheriff warily refused to take offence, and mumbled unintelligibly.

  "Forget that afternoon in the draw west o' Little Bear Mountain?"relentlessly pursued Loudon. "We had some words--remember? Yuh saidsomethin' about me havin' the drop. I ain't got the drop now. Myhands are on the horn. Yore's are hooked in yore belt. But I'll layyuh two to one I bust yuh plumb centre before yuh can pull. Take meup?"

  Loudon's lips were smiling, but his eyes stared with a disconcertinggray chilliness into the small black eyes of Sheriff Block. Theofficer's eyelids wavered, winked, and Block shifted his gaze toLoudon's chin.

  "I ain't startin' no gun-play for nothin'," said Block with finality.

  Loudon held up a ten-dollar gold piece.

  "Two to one," he urged.

  But the sheriff perceived that the hand holding the gold piece wasLoudon's left hand, and he could not quite screw his courage to thesticking-point. Block was ordinarily brave enough, but he was bad, andas a rule there is at least one individual whom the bad man fears. AndBlock feared Loudon.

  The sheriff's mean and vicious spirit writhed within him. He hatedLoudon, hated him for his cocksureness, for his easy fearlessness. Hewould have sold his soul to the devil in return for the ability toreach for his gun. The sheriff licked his lips.

  Loudon, still smiling, continued to hold aloft the gold piece. Theonlookers--half of Farewell by this time--awaited the outcome in tensesilence.

  Suddenly the sheriff shook his shoulders, spat on the sidewalk,wheeled, and entered the Happy Heart.

  Loudon flipped the gold piece into the air, caught it, and returned itto his vest-pocket. Without a glance at the keenly disappointedpopulace, he turned Ranger and loped to the Blue Pigeon Store.

  When he emerged, followed by the bawled "Good lucks!" of theproprietor, Captain Burr was waiting. The tin-peddler's face was gravebut his steel-blue eyes were twinkling with suppressed merriment.

  "Well, suh----" chuckled the captain, when they were out of earshot ofthe Farewell citizens--"well, suh, you ce'tainly talked to thatsheriff. Lord, Tom, it made me laugh. I didn't know that Block was solacking in honah and spo'ting spirit. I fully expected to witnessquite a ruction."

  "I wasn't lookin' for a fight," disclaimed Loudon. "I knowed Blockwouldn't pull. It was safe as takin' pie from a baby."

  "I'm not so shuah," doubted Captain Burr. "Any reptile is mightyunce'tain. And this reptile had friends. I was watching them. MySpenceh seven-shooteh was ready fo' action. You Rob'et E. Lee hoss,pick up youah feet! Well, I'm glad it ended peacefully. My wife anddaughteh, as I may have mentioned, do not approve of fighting. Theycannot realize how necessa'y it becomes at times. It would be well, Ithink, when you reach the Bend, to refrain from mentioning my littledisagreement with Rudd. My family might heah of it, and--but youunde'stand, don't you, Tom?"

  "'Course, I do, Cap'n," heartily concurred Loudon. "I won't say aword."

  "Thank you."

  Captain Burr fell silent. Suddenly he began to laugh.

  "Po' Farewell," he chuckled. "Theah will be some powdeh bu'nt befo'the day is out."

  "How?"

  "Block. His pride has had a fall. Quite a few saw the tumble. Ano'dina'y man would tuck his tail between his legs and go elsewheah.But the sheriff is not an o'dina'y man. He's too mean. In order toreinstate himself in the affections of the townspeople he will feelcompelled to shoot one of them. Mahk my wo'ds, theah will be troublein the smoke fo' Farewell."

  "It can stand it. Outside o' Mike Flynn, an' Bill Lainey an' his wife,there ain't a decent two-legged party in the whole place."

  Captain Burr nodded and turned an appreciative eye on Ranger.

  "That chestnut hoss ce'tainly does please me," he said. "I wish I'dbought him myself. I do indeed."