Prairie Flowers Page 6

  CHAPTER V

  ALICE TAKES A RIDE

  The meal proceeded in silence and at its conclusion Alice rose and stoodwith her hand on the back of her chair. "And Old Bat?" she asked, "Isn'tthere an old half-breed named Bat?"

  Colston nodded gloomily: "Yes, there's Old Bat. He's been cookin' at thehome ranch, but when he finds out Tex has blown the outfit I expecthe'll light out after him."

  "I think so too," agreed the girl, "I haven't the least doubt in theworld that when we reach the ranch it will be to find Old Bat gone."

  After helping Mrs. Cameron with the dishes, Alice returned to the porchwhere the men were deep in the discussion of business, and as shelistened her eyes rested longingly upon the three saddled horses.

  Colston noticed the look: "Like to take a little ride?" he smiled. "Thatbuckskin's woman broke--I brought him a purpose when your husband wiredthat he was bringing you along. You've got an hour yet before dark, an'the trails out of Timber City are all main travelled ones--no danger ofgettin' lost around here."

  Alice shot a questioning glance at Endicott who nodded approval. "Goahead if you want to, dear--only be sure and be back before dark."

  "Oh, I'll be back before dark!" she assured him as she stepped into theyard, "I remember--" she laughed a trifle nervously, "I'm just dying toget into a saddle. No, you don't have to help me!" she called asEndicott rose from his chair. And her husband watched with a smile asshe untied the horse, led him into the trail, and mounted.

  At the first little rise, Alice reined in the buckskin and gazed abouther, breathing deeply of the sage-laden air. In the gradually deepeningtwilight the Judith range loomed dark and mysterious and far to thenorthward, the Bear Paws were just visible against the faintly glowingsky. Before her, the white trail wound among the foothills in its longclimb to the divide, and beyond the little town it flattened away towardthe Missouri. Over that trail just one year ago she had ridden incompany with her two lovers. Her heart swelled with pride of the man whohad won her. "But I love Tex, too," she murmured, and blushed at thewords, "I do! Nobody could help loving him. He's--he's--well, he's justTex!" Her glance strayed to the distant reaches beyond the great riverand she shuddered slightly as she thought of the bad lands that laybetween her and the fast dimming mountains, and of Long Bill Kearney andhis flat-boat ferry. A mile beyond the town a dark patch of pines loomeddistinctly. It was there she had said good-bye to the Texan, and--. Herlips moved: "The cherry blossoms are in bloom over there--and the dearlittle blue and white prairie flowers--" Impulsively, she started herhorse, and skirting the town, came out onto the trail beyond and urgedhim into a run.

  She drew up at the little creek that came tumbling out of the woods, andpeered, half fearfully, half expectantly, among the tree-trunks. "Itisn't dark yet. And, it's only a little way," she thought, anddismounting, tied the buckskin to a low hanging limb, and plunged intothe woods. "Here are the cherry blossoms, the same as a year ago, andyes, there is the big rock!" She stepped around the boulder, and stoodupon the edge of the tiny glade. "A year ago," she breathed, with acatch at her throat, "and it seems like yesterday! He stood there withhis cheek resting against his horse's neck, staring out over his belovedrange--and, then he told me that Win hadn't killed Purdy. Right here onthis spot at that moment I was the happiest woman in the world--and I'vebeen the happiest woman in the world ever since, until--until--" Thewords faltered, and she stamped her foot angrily: "Oh, why does he haveto drink? And today, of all days!" Her eyes rested upon the littleprairie flowers that carpeted the glade and stooping, she picked a hugebouquet as the darkness gathered and when she stood erect with her handsfull of blossoms the big rock at the edge of the glade was hardlydistinguishable in the dusk. With a little cry, half surprise, halffright, she hastened toward it. The woods were darker than the glade andfor a moment she stood peering into the thicket through which she mustpass to reach her horse, while foolish terrors of the dark crowded hermind and caused little creepy chills to tickle the roots of her hair.She glanced at the flowers in her hand, "If I only hadn't stopped topick them," she faltered, "if I were only out on the trail--" And thenshe pulled herself together with a laugh--a forced, nervous laugh, butit fulfilled its purpose. "You're a little fool, Alice Endicott, to beafraid of the dark! And you, a prospective rancher's wife! What wouldpeople say if they knew that Mrs. Y Bar Endicott was afraid to go aquarter of a mile through a perfectly peaceful patch of woods justbecause it was after sundown?" Resolutely curbing the desire to dartfearful glances to the right, and to the left, and behind her, she kepther face to the front, and plunged into the woods following the littlecreek. A few minutes later she gained the trail, and untying thebuckskin, mounted and headed him toward the scattering lights of TimberCity.

  At the edge of the town she drew up abruptly. A volley of shots rangout, and she could see the thin streaks of flame that leaped out fromthe crowd of men that were collected in front of the saloon. Her firstthought was to skirt the town and arrive at the rectory as she had leftit. But once more she upbraided herself for her foolish fear. "Mr.Cameron said when they came in volleys they were harmless," shereassured herself, "and I may as well get used to it now as later." Sheurged her horse forward and as she reached the edge of the crowd a manraised his gun and sent a shot crashing through the window of the RedFront. Other shots followed, and Alice saw that the building was indarkness. Something in the attitude of the men caused her to draw up andregard them closely. Very few of them were cowboys, and they were notshooting into the air. Also, there was nothing in their demeanour thatsavoured of any spirit of jollification. They seemed in deadly earnest.More shots--streaks of thin red flame, and a tinkling of glass. Thistime the shots were answered from within the building, the crowd surgedto one side, and those who were unable to get out of the line of firedropped swiftly to the ground and wriggled away on their bellies. A tallman with a huge drooping moustache came toward her: "Better git along.This here ain't no place fer women folks."

  "What's the matter?" asked Alice.

  "You better pull there in front of the livery barn. You might git hit.They's a ring-tailed desperado in the Red Front, an' he's mightypermiscuous about his shootin'."

  "Why don't they arrest him?" asked the girl. The man had walked besideher, and seating himself upon the edge of the horse trough, begandeliberately to reload his pistol.

  "Arrest him," he drawled, "that's jest what we aim to do. But first wegot to git him in shape to arrest. He's imbibed to the point which hewon't listen to no reason whatever--an' shoot! He's a two-handed gunmanfrom hell--beggin' yer pardon, mom--I didn't aim to swear--but, themTexicans--when they gits lickered up. I'd sooner try to handle aoncontented grizzly----"

  "Texan!" cried the girl. "Did you say he is a Texan? Who is he? What'shis name?"

  The man regarded her gravely: "Seems to me he did say--back there in thesaloon, when he was holdin' kangaroo court. The rookus hadn't startedyet, an' he says----"

  Alice had thrown herself from her horse, and stood before the man, thewild flowers clutched tightly in her hand. "Was it Tex?" sheinterrupted, impatiently.

  The man nodded: "Yeh, it was Tex----"

  "Tex Benton?"

  The man scratched at his head: "Seems like that's what he said. Anyways,he claimed he was here a year ago, an' he aimed to git drunk on accountof some kind of an anniversary, or somethin'--an' he will, too, if hedrinks up all them fines----"

  Alice interrupted by clutching the man's arm and shaking it vigorously."Oh, tell them to stop shooting!" she cried. "They'll kill him! Let mego in to him! I can reason with him."

  The man regarded her with sudden interest: "D'you know him?"

  "Yes, yes! Hurry and tell them to stop shooting!"

  "You wait here a minute, an' I'll git Hod Blake, he's the marshal." Theman disappeared and a moment later came toward her with another man, thetwo followed by a goodly part of the crowd.

  The tall man stepped to the girl's side: "This here's Hod," he announcedby way of introduction
and, "that's her."

  Gun in hand, Hod Blake nodded curtly: "D'you say you know this hereparty?" he asked.

  "Yes, that is, I think I do."

  "Ike, here, says how you figgered you could go in an' make himsurrender."

  Alice nodded, somehow, that word surrender had an ominous sound. "Hehasn't--killed anyone, has he?"

  "No, he ain't killed no one--yet. He nicked Pete Barras in the arm, an'has otherwise feloniously disturbed the peace of Timber City to a extentit'll cost him a hundred dollars' fine besides damages fer shootin' up,an' causin' to git shot up, the Red Front saloon."

  "And, you'd kill a man for that!" cried the girl, indignantly.

  "I'll tell a hand, we'll kill him! Anyone that starts gun-play in TimberCity's got to go on through with it."

  "You're cowards!" exclaimed the girl. "How many of you are there againstone man?"

  "That don't make no difference. We got the law on our side, an' heain't on his'n. He come in here a-huntin' trouble--an' he got it. An'he'll pay his fine, an' settle up with Pete Barras, or we'll planthim--one."

  Alice thrust the flowers into the bosom of her soft shirt and regardedthe man coldly: "If all of you brave gun-fighters are afraid to go inthere and get him, I'll go. I'm not afraid."

  Ike Stork warned her: "You better keep out of it, mom. He's lickered upan' liable to shoot sudden."

  "I'm not afraid," repeated the girl.

  Hod Blake shrugged: "Go ahead if you want to. Tell him we'll git him,sure, if he don't give himself up. An' s'pose you git shot, fer yertrouble, you got any folks to notify?"

  Alice glanced at him coldly: "My husband is up at Mr. Cameron's with Mr.Colston, you might mention it to him, if you think of it," she answeredscornfully. "Get me a light."

  Match in one hand, candle in the other, the girl advanced to the frontof the saloon, while the crowd remained at a respectful distance. Thedoor of the building stood open, but the interior was screened from thestreet by a heavy partition of rough planking around which one must passto gain access to the bar. At the doorway the girl paused and her figureleaped sharply into view in the bright flare of the match. The flamedimmed as she held it to the wick of the candle, then brightened as shestood with white face and tight-pressed lips, framed in the blackrecess of the doorway. For a long time, as tense seconds are measured,she stood wondering at the sudden silence. She knew that the eyes of thecrowd were upon her as it waited just beyond the circle of hercandlelight--and her shoulders stiffened as she realized that not a manamong them would dare stand where she stood with a lighted candle in herhand. She felt no fear, now. It seemed the most natural, the mostmatter-of-fact thing in the world that she should be standing thus inthe doorway of the Red Front saloon, with a crowd of armed men in thedarkness behind her, and in the darkness before her--what? What if theman behind that rough plank wall were not Tex--her Tex? What if--? Itseemed suddenly as if icy fingers reached up and clutched her heart. Shefelt her knees tremble, and the candle swayed in her hand until it threwmoving shadows on the plank wall. Thoughts of Win crowded her brain.What would Win think of her? What could he think, if the man behind thatscreen were not Tex, and would shoot the second she came into range?What would everyone think? She was a fool.

  "Douse yer light an' crawl back!" She recognized the rough halfcontemptuous voice of Hod Blake. And the next instant she thought of theroar of guns, the acrid smell of burned powder, and the thin red streaksof flame that had pierced the night like swift arrows of blood. Theywould kill him. "He's the best man among them all," she sobbed, andclosing her eyes, held the candle at arms length before her, and walkedslowly toward the black opening at the end of the plank screen.

  There was a crashing report. Alice opened her eyes--in darkness. "Tex!"she cried, frantically, "Tex, strike a light!"