The Texan Read online

  CHAPTER IV

  CINNABAR JOE

  In the dining car of the side-tracked train Alice Marcum's glancestrayed from the face of her table companion to the window. Anothercavalcade of riders had swept into town and with a chorus of wild yellsthe crowd in the Long Horn surged out to greet them. A moment laterthe dismounted ones rushed to their horses, leaped into the saddlesand, joined by the newcomers, dashed at top speed for perhaps thirtyyards and dismounted to crowd into another saloon across whose frontthe word HEADQUARTERS was emblazoned in letters of flaming red.

  "They're just like a lot of boys," exclaimed the girl with a smile,"The idea of anybody mounting a horse to ride _that_ distance!"

  "They're a rough lot, I guess." Winthrop Adams Endicott studied hismenu card.

  "Rough! Of course they're rough! Why shouldn't they be rough? Thinkof the work they do--rain or shine, riding out there on the plains.When they get to town they've earned the right to play as they want toplay! I'd be rough, too, if I lived the life they live. And if I werea man I'd be right over there with them this minute."

  "Why be a man?" smiled Endicott. "You have the Mayor's own word forthe breadth of Wolf River's ideas. As for myself, I don't drink andwouldn't enjoy that sort of thing. Besides, if I were over there Iwould have to forgo----"

  "No pretty little speeches, _please_. At least you can spare me that."

  "But, Alice, I mean it, really. And----"

  "Save 'em for the Cincinnati girls. They'll believe 'em. Who do youthink will win this afternoon. Let's bet! I'll bet you a--an umbrellaagainst a pair of gloves, that my cavalier of the yellow fur trouserswill win the bucking contest, and----"

  "Our train may pull out before the thing is over, and we would neverknow who won."

  "Oh, yes we will, because we're going to stay for the finish. Why, Iwouldn't miss this afternoon's fun if forty trains pulled out!"

  "I ought to be in Chicago day after tomorrow," objected the man.

  "I ought to be, too. But I'm not going to be. For Heaven's sake,Winthrop, for once in your life, do something you oughtn't to do!"

  "All right," laughed the man with a gesture of surrender. "And for therope throwing contest I'll pick the other."

  "What other?" The girl's eyes strayed past the little wooden buildingsof the town to the clean-cut rim of the bench.

  "Why the other who rode after your handkerchief. The fellow wholassoed the honourable Mayor and was guilty of springing the pun."

  The girl nodded with her eyes still on the skyline. "Oh, yes. Heseemed--somehow--different. As if people amused him. As if everythingwere a joke and he were the only one who knew it was a joke. I could_hate_ a man like that. The other, Mr. Purdy, hates him."

  The man regarded her with an amused smile: "You keep a sort of mentalcard index. I should like to have just a peep at my card."

  "Cards sometimes have to be rewritten--and sometimes it really isn'tworth while to fill them out again. Come on, let's go. People arebeginning to gather for the fun and I want a good seat. There's alumber pile over there that'll be just the place, if we hurry."

  In the Headquarters saloon Tex Benton leaned against the end of the barand listened to a Bear Paw Pool man relate how they took in a bunch ofpilgrims with a badger game down in Glasgow. Little knots ofcowpunchers stood about drinking at the bar or discussing the comingcelebration.

  "They've got a bunch of bad ones down in the corral," someone said."That ol' roman nose, an' the wall-eyed pinto, besides a lot of snortylookin' young broncs. I tell yeh if Tex draws either one of them ol'outlaws it hain't no cinch he'll grab off this ride. The _hombre_ thatthrows his kak on one of them is a-goin' to do a little sky-ballin''fore he hits the dirt, you bet. But jest the same I'm here to bet tento eight on him before the drawin'."

  Purdy who had joined the next group turned at the words.

  "I'll jest take that," he snapped. "Because Tex has drug down the lasttwo buckin' contests hain't no sign he c'n go south with 'em all." Atthe end of the bar Tex grinned as he saw Purdy produce a roll of bills.

  "An', by gosh!" the Bear Paw Pool man was saying, "when they'd all gottheir money down an' the bull dog was a-clawin' the floor to git at thebadger, an' the pilgrims was crowded around with their eyes a-bungin'out of their heads, ol' Two Dot Wilson, he shoves the barrel over an'they wasn't a doggone thing in under it but a----"

  "What yeh goin' to have, youse?" Purdy had caught sight of Tex whostood between the Bear Paw Pool man and Bat Lajune. "I'm bettin' agin'yeh winnin' the buckin' contest, but I'll buy yeh a drink."

  Tex grinned as his eyes travelled with slow insolence over the other'soutfit.

  "You're sure got up some colourful, Jack," he drawled. "If you sh'dhappen to crawl up into the middle of one of them real outlaws they gotdown in the corral, an' quit him on the top end of a high one, you'rea-goin' to look like a rainbow before you git back."

  The other scowled: "I guess if I tie onto one of them outlaws yeh'llsee me climb off 'bout the time the money's ready. Yeh Texas fellerscomes up here an' makes yer brag about showin' us Montana boys how toride our own horses. But it's real money talks! I don't notice youbackin' up yer brag with no real _dinero_."

  Tex was still smiling. "That's because I ain't found anyone damn foolenough to bet agin' me."

  "Didn't I jest tell yeh I was bettin' agin' you?"

  "Don't bet enough to hurt you none. How much you got, three dollars?An' how much odds you got to get before you'll risk 'em?"

  Purdy reached for his hip pocket. "Jest to show yeh what I think ofyer ridin' I'll bet yeh even yeh don't win."

  "Well," drawled the Texan, "seein' as they won't be only about tenfellows ride, that makes the odds somewhere around ten to one, which isabout right. How much you want to bet?"

  With his fingers clutching his roll of bills, Purdy's eyes sought theface of Cinnabar Joe. For an instant he hesitated and then slammed theroll onto the bar.

  "She goes as she lays. Count it!"

  The bartender picked up the money and ran it through. "Eighty-five,"he announced, laconically.

  "That's more'n I got on me," said Tex ruefully, as he smoothed outthree or four crumpled bills and capped the pile with a gold piece.

  Purdy sneered: "It's money talks," he repeated truculently. "'Tain'thardly worth while foolin' with no piker bets but if that's the bestyeh c'n do I'll drag down to it." He reached for his roll.

  "Hold on!" The Texan was still smiling but there was a hard note in hisvoice. "She goes as she lays." He turned to the half-breed who stoodclose at his elbow.

  "Bat. D'you recollect one night back in Las Vegas them four bits Iloant you? Well, just you shell out about forty dollars interest onthem four bits an' we'll call it square for a while." The half-breedsmiled broadly and handed over his roll.

  "Forty-five, fifty, sixty, seventy, eighty--" counted Tex, and with afive-dollar bill between his thumb and forefinger, eyed Purdycondescendingly: "I'm a-goin' to let you drag down that five if youwant to," he said, "'cause you've sure kissed good-bye to the rest ofit. They ain't any of your doggoned Montana school-ma'm-cayuses butwhat I c'n ride slick-heeled, an' with my spurs on--" he paused;"better drag down the five. You might need a little loose change ifthat girl should happen to get thirsty between dances."

  "Jest leave it lay," retorted Purdy; "an' at that, I'll bet I buy hermore drinks than what you do."

  Tex laughed: "Sure. But there ain't nothin' in buyin' 'em drinks.I've bought 'em drinks all night an' then some other _hombre_'d step inan'----"

  "I'd bet yeh on _that_, too. I didn't notice her fallin' no hell of aways fer you."

  "Mebbe not. I wasn't noticin' her much. I was kind of studyin' thepilgrim that was along with her."

  "What's he got to do with it?"

  "That's what I was tryin' to figger out. But, hey, Cinnabar, how aboutthat drink? I'm dry as a post-hole."

  "Fill 'em up, Cinnabar. I'm makin' this noise," seconded Pur
dy. Andas the Texan turned to greet an acquaintance, he caught out of the tailof his eye the glance that flashed between Purdy and the bartender.Noticed, also out of the tail of his eye, that, contrary to custom,Cinnabar filled the glasses himself and that a few drops of colourlessliquid splashed from the man's palm into the liquor that was shovedtoward him. The Texan knew that Purdy had watched the operationinterestedly and that he straightened with an audible sigh of relief atits conclusion. "Come on, drink up!" Purdy raised his glass as Texfaced the bar with narrowed eyes.

  "What's them fellows up to?" cried Cinnabar Joe, and as Purdy turned,glass in hand, to follow his glance Tex saw the bartender swiftlysubstitute his own glass for the one into which he had dropped theliquid.

  The next instant Purdy was again facing him. "What fellers?" he askedsharply.

  Cinnabar Joe laughed: "Oh, that Bear Paw Pool bunch. Fellow's got tokeep his eye peeled whenever they git their heads together. Here'sluck."

  For only an instant did Tex hesitate while his brain worked rapidly."There's somethin' bein' pulled off here," he reasoned, "that I ain'tnext to. If that booze was doped why did Cinnabar drink it? Anyways,he pulled that stall on Purdy fer some reason an' it's up to me to seehim through with it. But if I do git doped it won't kill me an' when Icome alive they's a couple of fellows goin' to have to ride like hellto keep ahead of me."

  He drank the liquor and as he returned the glass to the bar he notedthe glance of satisfaction that flashed into Purdy's eyes.

  "Come on, boys, let's git things a-goin'!" Mayor Maloney stood in thedoorway and beamed good humouredly: "'Tain't every cowtown's got a bankan' us Wolf Riverites has got to do ourself proud. Every rancher an'nester in forty mile around has drove in. The flat's rimmed withwagons an' them train folks is cocked up on the lumber pilesa-chickerin' like a prairie-dog town. We'll pull off the racin' an'trick ridin' an' shootin' first an' save the ropin' an' buckin'contests to finish off on. Come on, you've all had enough to drink.Jump on your horses an' ride out on the flat like hell was tore loosefer recess. Then when I denounce what's a-comin', them that's goin' tocomplete goes at it, an' the rest pulls off to one side an' looks on'til their turn comes."

  A six-shooter roared and a bullet crashed into the ceiling.

  "Git out of the way we're a-goin' by!" howled someone, and instantlythe chorus drowned the rattle of spurs and the clatter of high-heeledboots as the men crowded to the door.

  "Cowboys out on a yip ti yi! Coyotes howl and night birds cry And we'll be cowboys 'til we die!"

  Out in the street horses snorted and whirled against each other, spursrattled, and leather creaked as the men leaped into their saddles.With a thunder of hoofs, a whirl of white dust, the slapping of quirtsand ropes against horses' flanks, the wicked bark of forty-fives, and aseries of Comanche-like yells the cowboys dashed out onto the flat.Once more Tex Benton found himself drawn up side by side with JackPurdy before the girl, for whose handkerchief they had raced. Bothwaved their hats, and Alice smiled as she waved her handkerchief inreturn.

  "Looks like I was settin' back with an ace in the hole, so far,"muttered Tex, audibly.

  Purdy scowled: "Ace in the hole's all right _sometimes_. But it's thelad that trails along with a pair of deuces back to back that comes upwith the chips, cashin' in time."

  Slim Maloney announced a quarter-mile dash and when Purdy lined up withthe starters, Tex quietly eased his horse between two wagons, and,slipping around behind the lumber-piles, rode back to the HeadquartersSaloon. The place was deserted and in a chair beside a card table,with his head buried in his arms, sat Cinnabar Joe, asleep. Thecowpuncher crossed the room and shook him roughly by the shoulder:

  "Hey, Joe--wake up!"

  The man rolled uneasily and his eyelids drew heavily apart. He mumbledincoherently.

  "Wake up, Joe!" The Texan redoubled his efforts but the other relapsedinto a stupor from which it was impossible to rouse him.

  A man hurrying past in the direction of the flats paused for a momentto peer into the open door. Tex glanced up as he hurried on.

  "Doc!" There was no response and the cowpuncher crossed to the door ata bound. The street was deserted, and without an instant's hesitationhe dashed into the livery and feed barn next door whose wide apertureyawned deserted save for the switching of tails and the stamping ofhorses' feet in the stalls. The door of the harness room stoodslightly ajar and Tex jerked it open and entered. Harness and saddleslittered the floor and depended from long wooden pegs set into the wallwhile upon racks hung sweatpads and saddle blankets of every known kindand description. Between the floor and the lower edge of the blanketsthat occupied a rack at the farther side of the room a pair of blackleather shoes showed.

  "Come on, Doc, let's go get a drink." The shoes remained motionless."Gosh! There's a rat over in under them blankets!" A forty-fivehammer was drawn back with a sharp click. The shoes left the floorsimultaneously and the head and shoulders of a man appeared above therack.

  "Eh! Was someone calling me?"

  "Yeh, I was speakin' of rats----"

  "My hearing's getting bad. I was fishing around for my saddle blanket.Those barn dogs never put anything where it belongs."

  "That's right. I said let's go get a drink. C'n you hear that?" Texnoted that the man's face was white and that he was eyeing himintently, as he approached through the litter.

  "Just had one, thanks. Was on my way down to the flats to see the fun,and thought I'd see if my blanket had dried out all right."

  "Yes? Didn't you hear me when I hollered at you in the saloon a minuteago?"

  "No. Didn't know any one was in there."

  "You're in a hell of a fix with your eyesight an' hearin' all shot topieces, ain't you? But I reckon they're goin' to be the best part ofyou if you don't come along with me. Cinnabar Joe's be'n doped."

  "_Cinnabar Joe_!" The doctor's surprise was genuine.

  "Yes. Cinnabar Joe. An' you better get on the job an' bring him to,or they'll be tossin' dry ones in on top of you about tomorrow. Soldany drugs that w'd do a man that way, lately?"

  The doctor knitted his brow. "Why let's see. I don't remember----"

  "Your mem'ry ain't no better'n what your eyesight an' hearin' is, isit? I reckon mebbe a little jolt might get it to workin'." As Textalked even on, his fist shot out and landed squarely upon the other'snose and the doctor found himself stretched at full length among thesaddles and odds and ends of harness. Blood gushed from his nose andflowed in a broad wet stream across his cheek. He struggled weakly tohis feet and interposed a shaking arm.

  "I didn't do anything to you," he whimpered.

  "No. I'm the one that's doin'. Is your parts workin' better? 'Causeif they ain't----"

  "What do you want to know? I'll tell you!" The man spoke hurriedly ashe cringed from the doubling fist.

  "I know you sold the dope, 'cause when I told you about Cinnabar youwasn't none surprised at the dope--but at who'd got it. You sold it toJack Purdy an' you knew he aimed to give it to me. What's more, youreyesight an' hearin' is as good as mine. You seen me an' heard me inthe saloon an' you was scairt an' run an' hid in the harness room.You're a coward, an' a crook, an' a damn liar! Wolf River don't needyou no more. You're a-comin' along with me an' fix Cinnabar up an'then you're a-goin' to go down to the depot an' pick you out a trainthat don't make no local stops an' climb onto it an' ride 'til you getwhere the buffalo grass don't grow. That is, onless Cinnabar shouldhappen to cash in. If he does----"

  "He won't! He won't! It's only chloral. A little strychnine will fixhim up."

  "Better get busy then. 'Cause if he ain't to in an hour or so you'rea-goin' to flutter on the down end of a tight one. These herecross-arms on the railroad's telegraph poles is good an' stout an' hasthe added advantage of affordin' good observation for all, which if youuse a cottonwood there's always some that can't see good on account oflimbs an' branches bein' in the road----"

  "Come over to t
he office 'til I get what I need and I'll bring himaround all right!" broke in the doctor and hurried away, with thecowpuncher close at his heels.