Prairie Flowers Page 9

  CHAPTER VIII

  THE ESCAPE

  Alice had pressed forward until her horse stood at the very edge of theseething melee. Swiftly, objects took definite shape in the starlight.Men rushed past her cursing. The marshal lay upon the ground shriekingcontradictory orders, while over him stood the outraged Barras, revilinghim for permitting his man to escape. Other men were shooting, andbetween the sounds of the shots the voice of Ike Stork could be heardloudly bewailing the loss of his horse. Hoof beats sounded behind her,and glancing backward, Alice could see men mounting the half-dozenhorses that stood saddled before the store and the livery barn. As aman, already in the saddle, urged the others to hurry he raised his gunand fired in the direction the Texan had taken.

  "They'll kill him!" thought the girl. "No matter how fast his horse is,those bullets fly faster!" Another shot followed the first, and actingon the impulse of the moment, with the one thought to save the Texanfrom harm, she struck her horse down the flank and shot out into thetrail behind the fleeing cowpuncher. "They won't dare to shoot, now,"she sobbed as she urged her horse to his best, while in her ears rang aconfusion of cries that she knew were directed at her. Leaning farforward, she shouted encouragement to her straining animal. In vain hereyes sought to pierce the darkness for a glimpse of the Texan. Her horsetook a shallow ford in a fountain of spray. A patch of woods slippedbehind, and she knew she was on the trail that led to the Missouri, andthe flat-boat ferry of Long Bill Kearney. She wondered whether Tex wouldhold to the trail, or would he leave it and try to lose his pursuersamong the maze of foothills and coulees through which it wound? Maybe hehad turned into the patch of timber and was even now breathing his horsein the little wild flower glade. If so, her course was plain--to keep onat top speed and lead his pursuers as far as possible along the trail.Dimly, she could hear the thunder of hoofs in her wake. She wondered howlong it would be before they overtook her.

  On and on she sped, her thoughts racing wildly as the flying feet of herhorse. "What would Win think? What would the horsemen behind her saywhen at last they overtook her? Maybe they would arrest her!" Thethought terrified her, and she urged her horse to a still greater burstof speed. Presently she became aware that the hoof beats behind hadalmost died away. Fainter and fainter they sounded, and then--far ahead,on top of a knoll silhouetted against the star-dotted sky, she saw thefigure of a horseman. Instantly it disappeared where the trail dippedinto a coulee, and with a thrill of wild exhilaration she realized thather horse had run away from the pursuers, and not only that, he wasactually closing up on the Texan despite the boast of Ike Stork that hisanimal could run rings around any others.

  She topped the rise, and half way across a wide swale, caught anotherglimpse of the horseman. The man pulled up, sharply. There were twohorsemen! She had almost come up to them when suddenly they crashedtogether. She distinctly heard the sound of the impact. There was ashort, sharp struggle, and as the horses sprang apart, one of thesaddles was empty, and a rider thudded heavily upon the ground. Then,faintly at first, but momentarily growing louder and more distinct, sheheard the rumble of pursuing hoofs. She glanced swiftly over hershoulder and when she returned her eyes to the front one of the riderswas disappearing over the rim of the swale, and the other was strugglingto his feet. For only an instant the girl hesitated, then plungedstraight down the trail after the fleeing rider. As she passed the othera perfect torrent of vile curses poured from his lips, and with ashudder, she recognized the voice of Long Bill Kearney. The interruptionof the headlong flight had been short, but it had served to cut downtheir lead perceptibly. The sounds of pursuit were plainer even than atfirst and glancing over her shoulder as she reached the rim of theswale, she could see horsemen stringing down into the depression.Topping the ridge she was surprised to find the Texan only a shortdistance ahead. He was plying his quirt mercilessly but the animal movedslowly, and she could see that he limped. Swiftly she closed up thedistance, and as she rode, she became conscious of a low hoarserumbling, a peculiar sound, dull, all pervading, terrifying. Glancingahead, beyond the figure of the rider, a cry escaped her. The wholeworld seemed to be a sea of wildly tossing water. The Missouri! Butsurely, not the Missouri as she had remembered it--this wild roaringflood! The river they had crossed a year ago on Long Bill's flat-boathad been a very commonplace stream, flowing smoothly between its banks.But, this----

  As she caught up to the horseman, he whirled, gun in hand. "Tex!" shescreamed.

  The gun hand dropped, and the man stared at her in amazement. "What areyou doing here?"

  "I came--they had horses and were going to kill you--I rode in betweenso they wouldn't shoot----"

  "Good God, girl----"

  "Hurry!" she cried, frantically, "they're close behind."

  "Horse went lame," he jerked out as he plied quirt and spurs. "Got tomake the ferry. Long Bill says the river's broke all records. He'srunnin' away. Left his flat-boat tied to a tree. It's only a littleways. You go back! I can make it. Had to knock Bill down to keep himfrom blockin' my game. Once on that boat, they can't follow."

  "But, they're almost here--" Even at the words, a horseman topped theridge, and with a yell to his followers, plunged toward them.

  The Texan scowled darkly: "Go back! They'll never say I hid behind awoman's skirts!"

  "I won't go back! Oh, hurry, there's the boat! Two more minutes, andwe'll be there! Turn around and shoot! It'll hold 'em!"

  "I won't shoot--not when they can't shoot back!"

  The foremost horseman was almost upon them when they reached theflat-boat. He was far in advance of the rest, and as the Texan swung tothe ground the report of a six-gun rang loud, and a bullet sang overtheir heads.

  The bullet was followed by the sound of a voice: "Shoot, you fool! Keepa-shootin' till you pile onto the boat, an' I'll shoot back. Them houndsback there ain't hankerin' fer no close quarters with you--I told 'emhow good you was with yer guns." And Ike Stork followed his words withtwo shots in rapid succession.

  "Good boy, old hand!" grinned the Texan, "how's that!" Six shots cut theair like the reports of an automatic, and Ike, swerving sharply,galloped back in a well-feigned panic of fear. It was the work of amoment to get the Texan's horse aboard, and Alice followed with herown.

  The man stared. "Get back!" he cried, "I'm goin' across! Go back toWin!"

  "They'll shoot if I don't stay right here! Ike can't hold 'em but a fewminutes, at best. They'd have you at their mercy. This boat movesslowly."

  The Texan took her roughly by the arm. "You go back!" he roared. "Can'tyou see it won't do? You can't come! God, girl, can't you see it? Thetouch of you drives me crazy!"

  "Don't be a fool! And I won't see you shot--so there! Oh, Tex, it's youwho can't see--I do love you--like a sister. I always think of you as mybig brother--I never had a real one."

  The Texan backed away. "I don't want no sister! What'll folks say? Thisbig brother stuff won't go--by a damn sight!" Hoof beats sounded nearer,and a stream of curses floated to their ears.

  "There comes that horrible Long Bill," cried the girl, and before theTexan could make a move to stop her, she seized an ax from the bottom ofthe boat and brought it's keen edge down upon the mooring line. Theflat-boat shuddered and moved, slowly at first, then faster as it workedinto the current. The Texan gazed dumbfounded at the rapidly wideningstrip of water that separated them from the shore. But he found scanttime to stare idly at the water. All about them it's surface was cloggedwith floating debris. The river had risen to within a foot of theslender cable that held the boat on its course, and the unwieldy craftwas trembling and jerking as uprooted trees and masses of flotsam caughton the line, strained it almost to the point of snapping and then rolledunder by the force of the current, allowed the line to spring into placeagain. Slowly, the boat, swept by the force of the flood, worked outinto the stream, adding its own weight to the strain on the line. Thecraft shuddered as a tree-trunk struck her side, and seizing a pole, theman shoved her free. The rushing water sucked and gu
rgled at the edge ofthe boat, and Alice stepped nearer to the Texan. "We're moving, anyway,"she said, "we can't see the shore, now. And the voices of the men havedied away."

  "We can't see, because it's cloudin' up, an' we can't hear 'em becausethe river's makin' such a racket. With the pull there is on the boat, weain't ever goin' to get her past the middle--if I could, I'd work herback right now where we come from."

  "They'd shoot you!"

  "If they did it would only be me they'd get--the river won't be soparticular."

  "You mean--we're in danger?"

  "Danger!" The naive question angered the cowboy. "Oh, no we ain't in anydanger, not a bit in the world. We're just as safe as if we was sittin'on a keg of powder with the fuse lit. There's nothin' in the world canhurt us except this little old Mizoo, an' it wouldn't think of such athing----"

  "Don't try to be sarcastic, Tex, you do it very clumsily."

  "Maybe I do, but I ain't clumsy at guessin' that of all the tight placesI've ever be'n in, this is the tightest. How far can you swim?"

  "Not a stroke."

  "So can I."

  "Anyway, it's better than being lost in a dust storm--we won't shrivelup and die of thirst."

  "No, we won't die of thirst, all right. But you an' me have surestumbled into a fine mess. What'll Win think, an' what'll everyone elsethink? If we go under, they'll never know any different, an' if we dohappen to get across, it'll be some several days before this river getsdown to where we can get back, an' I can see from here what a lovelytime we're goin' to have explainin' things to the satisfaction of allparties concerned."

  "You seem to be a born pessimist. We're not going under, and what's toprevent us from waiting out here until the men on the bank go away, andthen going back where we started from?"

  A flash of lightning illumined the horizon and the Texan's voice blendedwith a low rumble of thunder. "With the force of water the way it is,"he explained, "we can't move this boat an inch. It'll carry to themiddle on the slack of the line, an' in the middle we'll stay. It'll beuphill both ways from there an' we can't budge her an inch. Then, eitherthe line'll bust, or the river will keep on risin' till it justnaturally pulls us under."

  "Maybe the river will start to fall," ventured the girl.

  "Maybe it won't. We've had enough rain this spring for four summersalready--an' more comin'."

  "We'll get out someway." The Texan knew that the words were forced. Andhis heart bounded with admiration for this girl who could thus thrustdanger to the winds and calmly assert that there would be a way out. Anearer flash of lightning was followed by louder thunder. "Sure, we'llget out," he agreed, heartily. "I didn't mean we wouldn't get out. I wasjust lookin' the facts square in the face. There ain't any jackpot thatfolks can get into that they can't get out of--somehow."

  "Oh, does something awful always happen out here?" the girl asked almostplaintively. "Why can't things be just--just normal, like they ought tobe?"

  "It ain't the country, it's the folks. Get the right combination offolks together, an' somethin's bound to happen, no matter where you'reat."

  Then the storm struck and the girl's reply was lost in the rush of windand the crash of thunder, as flash after blinding flash lighted thesurface of the flood. They had reached midstream. The boat had lost itsforward motion and lay tugging at the taut line as the water rushed andgurgled about it. The rain fell in blinding torrents causing the twohorses to huddle against each other, trembling in mortal fear. Thedrift was thicker in the full sweep of the current, and the Texan hadhis hands full warding it off the boat with his pole. By the lightningflashes Alice could see his set, tense face as he worked to keep thedebris from massing against the craft. A heavy object jarred against thecable, and the next moment the two gazed wide eyed at a huge pine,branches and roots thrashing in the air, that had lodged against theline directly upstream. For a few moments it held as the water curledover it in white masses of foam. Then the trunk rolled heavily, theroots and branches thrashing wildly in the air, and the whole massslipped slowly beneath the cable. It struck the boat with a heavy jarthat canted it at a dangerous angle and caused the terrified horses tostruggle frantically to keep their feet.

  "Quick!" roared the Texan, "get to the upper side, before they smashyou!" In vain he was pushing against the trunk of the tree, exertingevery atom of power in his body to dislodge its huge bulk thatthreatened each moment to capsize the clumsy craft. But he might as wellhave tried to dislodge a mountain. The frightened animals were plungingwildly, adding the menace of their thrashing hoofs to the menace of theriver. Vainly the Texan sought to quiet them but the sound of his voicewas drowned in the roar of thunder, the swishing splash of rain, and thegurgle of water that purled among the roots and branches of the pine.Suddenly the lame horse reared high, pawed frantically for a moment andwith an almost human scream of terror, plunged over the side. Alicereached swiftly for the flying bridle reins of her own animal and as herhand closed upon them he quieted almost instantly. Relieved of theweight of the other horse, the boat shifted its position for the worse,the bottom canting to a still steeper angle. A flash of lightningrevealed the precariousness of the situation. A few inches more, and thewater would rush over the side, and both realized that she would fillinstantly.

  It is a peculiar vagary of the human mind that in moments of greateststress trivialities loom large. Thus it was that with almost certaindestruction staring him in the face, the Texan's glance took in thedetail of the brand that stood out plainly upon the wet flank of thegirl's horse. "What you doin' with a Y Bar cayuse?" he cried. "WithPowder Face?" and then, the boat tilted still higher, he felt a splashof water against his foot, and as he reached out to steady himself hishand came in contact with the handle of the ax. Seizing the tool, hesprang erect, poised for an instant upon the edge of the boat which wasalready awash, and with the next flash of lightning, brought its bladedown upon the wire cable stretched taut as a fiddle gut. The rebound ofthe ax nearly wrenched it from his grasp, the boat shifted as the cableseemed to stretch ever so slightly, and the Texan noted withsatisfaction that the edge was no longer awash. Another flash oflightning and he could see the frayed ends where the severed strandswere slowly untwisting. Another blow, and the cable parted. With a jerkthat nearly threw the occupants into the river the boat righted herself,the flat bottom striking the water with a loud splash. Before Alicerealized what had happened she saw the high flung tree-roots thrashwildly as the released tree rolled in the water. She screamed a warningbut too late. A root-stub, thick as a man's arm struck the Texansquarely on top of the head, and without a sound he sank limp andlifeless to the bottom of the boat.