The Heritage of the Hills

  CHAPTER XIX

  CONTENTIONS

  Two horsemen met on the backbone of the ridge that separated ClinkerCreek and the green American.

  Obed Pence was a tall individual with a small mouth, a great Roman nose,close-set black eyes over which black brows met so that they formed acontinuous line, and large, tangled front teeth.

  The man who met him in the trail--a boy who had just turnedtwenty-one--was sandy-haired, freckled, snub-nosed, and blue-eyed. Hisface was too boyish to show marked wickedness, but Chuck Allegan was notthe least important member of the Poison Oaker Gang.

  "Howdy, Pencie?" he drawled, crooking his leg about his saddle horn ashis black horse stopped to rub noses with the bay that the other rode.

  "Where you headin' for?" asked Obed Pence.

  "Down toward Lime Rock. There's some cows o' mine and a bunch o' calvesdown there. That breechy old roan devil steered 'em up thataway. She'salways wanderin' off with a bunch like that. Come on down with me--Iwant to move 'em up with the rest o' the bunch. Soil's thin downthataway, an' grass's already gettin' brown."

  "Any o' mine in that bunch?"

  "I dunno. Like's not. Come on--you ain't got nothin' to do."

  "Maybe I have and maybe I ain't," retorted Pence half truculently.

  "What you doin', then?"

  "Watchin' out for that fella Drew."

  "Who told you to? Old Man?"

  Pence spat a stream of tobacco juice. "Not a-tall," he replied. "I guessyou ain't heard what's new."

  "I ain't heard nothin' new. Spring it!"

  "Foss is the one told me to keep my eye on Drew. Said for me to keep tothis ridge over here and try to get a line on what he's up to if he comeup this way. Digger's over in the hills on the other side o' the canyon,watchin'. He's got glasses."

  "What's the good o' watchin' this guy? Why don't we get in and fire 'imout o' the country, like we said we was goin' to do?"

  Obed Pence's irregular teeth twisted off another chew of tobacco.

  "That's the funny part of it," he observed. "Digger's workin' alone, itseems. Old Man tells him not to bother Drew at all. Says he'll tend to'im 'imself, when he gets 'round to it. First time I ever saw Old ManSelden hang back on puttin' a bur under anybody's tail when he wanted toget rid of 'im. An' now he passes the word for nobody to bother Drewtill he says to. Digger don't like it. He's sore on the old man."

  "What'd Digger say?"

  "I just know mostly by the way he acts. There's somethin' funny goin'on. Ever since that day we all rode down to Drew's cabin and heard theshot inside, Old Man's been actin' funny. Digger an' me was wonderin'what them two was talkin' about in the cabin, that made the old manchange the way he done. Why, say, he went down there to scare the ticksouta Drew that day. And after that, you know, we had it all made up toturn cows in on Drew's garden when he was away, an' let 'em get at hisspring. Then Jay Muenster was goin' to slip in sometime and put a liverattlesnake in Drew's bed. And if all that didn't start 'im, we wasgonta begin plunkin' at him from the chaparral, you know--just drop afew bullets at his feet when he was workin' in his garden. Wasn't thatright?"

  "Sure was, Pencie."

  "An' we rode down there to start things goin'," Pence continued. "Andwhen Old Man come outa the cabin he was bowin' and scrapin', and thisand that and the other, like him and Drew had been pals all their lives.There's somethin' funny. Digger don't like it a-tall!"

  "Does Ed know anything?" asked Chuck after a pause.

  "No, he don't," answered Obed Pence. "It was Ed told Old Man 'boutDigger takin' a crack at Drew when he was monkeyin' 'round SulphurSpring. And Old Man told Ed to tell Digger to cut it out, and that hewas runnin' the gang and would tell anybody when he wanted 'em to throwdown on Drew."

  "I know."

  "And Digger asks 'im when he sees 'im did he want Drew monkeyin' aboutthe spring and gettin' onto the pipe that took water to the still. AndOld Man says to hell with the still; he was gonta cut out makin' booze,anyway."

  "Cut it out?"

  "That's what he told Digger Foss."

  "Hell, he makes more money sellin' monkey rum to Standard than outaanything else! And it's always been safe. Pro'bition didn't cut no icewith us--just give us ten times the profit!"

  Pence shrugged his ridgy shoulders. "I'm just tellin' you how things aregoin'. Drew made us loose the Sulphur Spring water to run the stillwith, and Old Man didn't seem to give a whoop about it. Drew finds thepipe, like as not, and that don't seem like it worried the boss. Justsays he'll cut out distillin'. Why, he's layin' right down to this fellaDrew. Drew's got Old Man buffaloed!"

  "Not a-tall," disagreed Chuck Allegan. "You know better'n that, Pencie.Man don't live that c'n buffalo Old Man Selden. He's double-crossin'us--that's what! There's somethin' behind all this. What's Diggerwatchin' Drew for? Is that any way to run a man outa the country? I'maskin' you!"

  "That runnin'-out-o'-the-country business has got to be an old gag.Le'me tell you somethin': I wasn't goin' to, but I will. Digger said notto mention it. But listen! You know Old Man took Drew home with 'imafter the fiesta."

  Chuck nodded his boyish head.

  "Well, Digger wasn't asleep at the switch. When it got dark he ridesacross the river and into the ranch to see if he c'n find out what'sstirrin'. He ain't liked the way things 'a' been goin' since he got outajail. Course it's Jess'my that's got his goat. Drew's cuttin' 'im out;and since the day we rode into Drew's Digger thinks Old Man's ag'in 'im,an's helpin' Drew get Jess'my.

  "Anyway, whatever's the reason, Digger leaves his horse in the chaparraland sneaks in and sees 'em at supper. And he sticks 'round till supper'sover and Old Man steers Drew out to the corrals for a talk. They setdown on that old felled pine in the ferns below the spring, and Diggersnakes up through the ferns and hears 'em talkin'."

  "What'd he say they said?" Chuck asked eagerly.

  "Didn't have any too much to say about it," Pence replied. "Just saidOld Man and Drew was nice as pie to each other; and Old Man told Drewthere wasn't any use him bein' scared o' the Poison Oakers, 'cause therewasn't no such outfit."

  "Said there wasn't no such outfit?"

  "That's what I said!"

  "And Digger wouldn't tell no more?"

  "No, he wouldn't. And I'll bet you there was a lot more to tell. Isavvied Digger wasn't springin' all he heard. But he don't like it."

  "Maybe they was talkin' 'bout Jess'my. Then he wouldn't have nothin' tosay, you can bet yer life!"

  "I got my doubts," Pence ruminated. "No, there was somethin' else. Iknow that shifty little bullet eye o' Digger's. He was keepin' somethin'back that he ought to told the rest of us. I don't like the way thingsare goin'. Since this Drew showed up, seems like we all got somethin' tokeep from one another. Old Man's tryin' to double-cross the gangsomeway. Foss is tryin' to get in on it, or else he's aimin' todouble-cross us an' Old Man, too, all on his lonesome. An' we can't makeany more booze 'cause o' Drew; an' Old Man says, We sh'd worry! A hellof a mess! We're due for a big bust-up, I'm thinkin'. What's Fosssneakin' about watchin' Drew for? Huh! Answer me that? An' why'd he tellme to watch up here an' trail 'im if I saw 'im, without tellin' me why?I'm gettin' about sick o' the whole dam' deal! I ain't takin' ordersfrom Digger Foss!"

  "Me, too," agreed Allegan. "And that fire dance--that's 'at gets me!Funny about this guy Drew, comin' here a stranger, an' dancin' the firedance right away. Somethin' funny, all right! Most folks thought maybehe'd hooked up with a squaw, but it ain't that. Gets _my_ goat! But how'bout the Selden boys?"

  "They ain't said a word. I reckon they're in with Old Man, whatever he'sgot on his chest. If we come to a split-up, that'll make Old Man and thefour boys on one side, and me an' you an' Ed Buchanan and Jay Muensteron the other side. Five to four."

  "But how 'bout Digger? He's always been strong with Old Man Selden.He'll stick with him."

  "Maybe--maybe. He won't be with us, though. An' I'm doubtin' if he'll bewith Selden, either. He's out fer Foss!"

  "Fer Jess'my,
ye mean!"

  "'Sall the same," shrugged Obed Pence. "Le's ride down an' get a coupleo' drinks, an' then I'll fog it down to Lime Rock with ye. T'hell withDigger Foss an' his orderin' me 'round!"

  They rode away in silence, winding their way down into Clinker CreekCanyon when a mile or more below the forty acres of Oliver Drew. Theydismounted at Sulphur Spring and pushed through the growth surroundingit.

  Only a little water now remained in the clay-lined reservoir. Theprotruding end of the three-quarter-inch pipe was now plainly visible,eight inches above the surface of the tiny pool.

  "Just think," Obed Pence observed: "That pipe's took water down thecanyon for us for years; and s'long's the pool was full o' water nobodyever found the end of it here. At least they never let on they did. An'now comes this Drew an' puts the kibosh on everything! I'll tell a manI'm gettin' sore about it, Chuck. I want my booze, and I want my shareo' what we could get out of it. I'm bettin' Standard'll be wild when helearns Old Man won't distil any more."

  "Can't," corrected Chuck.

  "Can't, eh? Who's stoppin' 'im? Drew, that's who, and nobody else! Andhe won't send Drew over the hills talkin' to 'imself, like he's done tomany a better man before 'im. I'm sore, I tell you. And I'm gonta findout what's doin', or know the reason why."

  "Le's get clay an' cover the end o' the pipe," suggested Chuck. "Somedeer hunter's likely to see it if we don't, now that the water's prettynear gone."

  They solemnly administered this rite in remembrance of dead days, androde on down the canyon single-file.

  Over three-quarters of a mile from the spring they left their horses inthe creek bottom and clambered up a steep slope, slipping on thepolished pine needles underfoot. Near the summit the trees thinned, andheavy chaparral usurped the land. On hands and knees they plunged intoit, and presently were crawling on their stomachs over an unmarkedroute.

  In the heart of the chaparral they came suddenly upon a circular openingmade by the hand of man. Here was a high ledge of schist, and under it asmall cave. Grass grew here, for the spot marked the other end of thepipe line from Sulphur Spring, and the water that had represented thespring's overflow had trickled out to cool the copper coil of the PoisonOakers' still, incidentally refreshing the barren land.

  The pipe line represented a great amount of toil and patience, but, asthe pipe had been stolen from a railroad shipment, no great outlay offunds. Clinker Creek Canyon dipped so steadily below Sulphur Spring thatit had been possible to lay the pipe to this hidden spot in the heart ofthe chaparral, far up on the hillside, and still maintain a goodly fallfor the flow of water.

  Only by crawling flat on his face could one reach this secludedrendezvous; and in all the years that they had made molasses rum herethe Poison Oakers had not been disturbed. Not even a hunter would findit necessary to penetrate this fastness. Men would have laughed if toldthat water was flowing up here on the dry, rocky eminence.

  Before the cave's mouth was an adobe furnace for the fire, and over itthe now dry end of the pipe hung uselessly. The still was removable, andwas now in the cave, together with distilled stock on hand and kegs ofmolasses that had been packed into the canyon on burros' backs, thentrundled laboriously up into the chaparral.

  Chuck and Obed entered the open cave and sat themselves down beside abarrel with a wooden spigot. They found glasses and wiped soil andcobwebs from them with their thumbs, and soon the water-coloured liquorflowed to the temporary gladdening of their hearts.

  But as it flowed again and again they began renewing their grievances,and shook their heads over "the good old days," and mouthed vaguethreats, and forgot all about Lime Rock and the breachy cow.

  In the midst of their maudlin conversation Obed Pence heard a sound,despite his rum-dulled sensibilities.

  "Cut it out!" he husked. "Somebody's beatin' it in here."

  He lay flat in the mouth of the cave and looked down the hillside underthe chaparral.

  "Old Man and Bolar," he announced.

  "Le's get out an' beat it over the hill, and back down to our_caballos_--and they won't know we been here," Chuck suggested.

  "Huh! Not me!" retorted Pence. "They already seen our horses, I'll bet.Anyway, I'm liquored up just right to tell Old Man how the war brokeout. I'm glad he's comin'. I'm gonta know what's what right pronto!"