The Range Boss - Charles Alden Seltzer (best life changing books txt) š
- Author: Charles Alden Seltzer
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Chavis had severed his connection with the Flying W. He had ridden in to the ranchhouse some weeks ago, found Ruth sitting on the porch, announced that he was āquittināā and wanted his ātime.ā She did not ask him why he wanted to quit so pleased was she with his decision, but he advanced an explanation while she counted the money due him.
āThings donāt suit me here,ā he said venomously. āRanderson is too fresh.ā He looked at her impudently. āBesides,ā he added, āhe stands in too well with the boss.ā
She flushed with indignation. āYou wouldnāt dare say that to him!ā she declared.
He reddened darkly. āMeaninā what he done to Pickett, I reckon,ā he sneered. āWell, Randerson will be gettinā hisān some day, too!ā
Ruth remembered this conversation, and on a day about a month later when she had gone riding alone, she saw Randerson at a distance and rode toward him to tell him, for she had meant to, many times.
Evidently Randerson had seen her, too, for he had already altered his ponyās course when she wheeled hers. When their ponies came to a halt near each other it was Randerson who spoke first. He looked at her unsmilingly over his ponyās head.
āI was ridinā in to the house to see you, maāam. I thought you ought to know. This morninā the boys found two cows with their hoofs burned, anā their calves run off.ā
āTheir hoofs burned!ā she exclaimed. āWhy, who would be so inhuman as to do that? But I suppose there was a fire somewhere, and it happened that way.ā
āThere was a fire, all right,ā he said grimly. āSome one built it, on purpose. It was rustlers, maāam. They burned the hoofs of the mothers so the mothers couldnāt follow when they drove their calves offālike any mother would.ā He eyed her calmly. āI reckon it was Chavis, maāam. Heās got a shack down the crick a ways. Heās been there ever since you paid him off. Anā this morninā two of the boys told me they wanted their time. I was goinā in to get it for them. Itās likely theyāre goinā to join Chavis.ā
āWell, let them,ā she said indignantly. āIf they are that kind of men, we donāt want them around!ā
He smiled now for the first time. āI reckon there aināt no way to stop them from goinā, maāam. Anā we sure donāt want them around. But when they go with Chavis, itās mighty likely that weāll miss more cattle.ā
She stiffened. āCome with me,ā she ordered; āthey shall have their money right away.ā
She urged her pony on, and he fell in beside her, keeping his animalās muzzle near her stirrup. For he was merely an employee and was filled with respect for her.
āI suppose I could have Chavis charged with stealing those two calves?ā she asked, as they rode. She looked back over her shoulder at him and slowed her pony down so that he came alongside.
āWhy, yes, maāam, I reckon you could. You could charge him with stealinā them. But that wouldnāt prove it. We aināt got any evidence, you see. We found the cows, with the calves gone. We know that Chavis is in the country, but we didnāt see him doinā the stealinā; we only think he done it.ā
āIf I should complain to the sheriff?ā
āYou could do that, maāam. But I reckon itās a waste of time.ā
āHow?ā
āWell, you see, maāam, the sheriff in this county donāt amount to a heapāconsidered as a sheriff. He mostly draws his salary anā keeps out of trouble, much as he can. There aināt no court in the county nearer than Las Vegas, anā thatās a hundred anā fifty miles from here. Anā, mostly, the court donāt want to be bothered with hearinā rustler casesāthere beinā no regular law governinā them, anā conviction beinā hard to get. So the sheriff donāt bother.ā
āBut there must be some way to stop them from stealing!ā she said sharply.
āI reckon thereās a way, maāam.ā And now she heard him laugh, quietly, and again she turned and looked at him. His face grew grave again, instantly. āBut I reckon you wouldnāt approve of it, maāam,ā he added.
āI would approve of most any method of stopping themāwithin reason!ā she declared vindictively, nettled by his tone.
āWe mostly hang them, maāam,ā he said. āThatās a sure way of stoppinā them.ā
She shuddered. āDo you mean that you hang them without a court verdictāon your own responsibility?ā
āThatās the way, maāam.ā
āBut doesnāt the sheriff punish men who hang others in that manner?ā she went on in tones of horror.
His voice was quietly humorous. āThem sort of hanginās aināt advertised a heap. Itās hard to find anybody that will admit he had a hand in it. Nobody knows anything about it. But itās done, anā canāt be undone. Anā the rustlinā stops mighty sudden.ā
āOh,ā she exclaimed, āwhat a barbarous custom!ā
āI reckon it aināt exactly barbarous, maāam,ā he contended mildly. āWould you have the rustlers go on stealinā forever, anā not try to stop them?ā
āThere are the courts,ā she insisted.
āTurninā rustlers off scot-free, maāam. They canāt hold them. Anā if a rustler is hung, he donāt get any more than is cominā to him. Do you reckon thereās a lot of difference between a half dozen men hanginā a man for a crime heās done, than for one man, a judge for instance, orderinā him to be hung? If, weāll say, a hundred men elect a judge to do certain things, is it any more wrong for the hundred men to do them things than for the man theyāve elected to do them? I reckon not, maāam. Of course, if the hundred men did somethinā that the judge hadnāt been elected to do, why then, it might make some difference.ā
āBut you say there is no law that provides hanging for rustling.ā She thought she had him.
āThe men that elected the judge made the laws,ā he said. āThey have a right to make others, whenever theyāre needed.ā
āThatās mob law,ā she said with a shiver. āWhat would become of the world if that custom were followed everywhere?ā
āI wouldnāt say that it would be a good thing everywhere. Where thereās courts that can be got at easy, thereād be no sense to it. But out here thereās no other way for a man to protect his property. Heās got to take the law into his own hands.ā
āIt is a crude and cold-blooded way.ā
She heard him laugh, and turned to see him looking at her in amusement.
āThere aināt no refinement in punishment, maāam. Either itās got to shock some one or not get done at all. I reckon that back East you donāt get to see anyone punished, or hung. You hear about it, or you read about it, anā it donāt seem so near you, anā that kind of takes the edge off it. Out here it comes closer, anā it seems a lot cruel. But whether a manās punished by the law or by the men who make the law wouldnāt make a lot of difference to the manāheād be punished anyway.ā
āWe wonāt talk about it any further,ā she said. āBut understand, if there are any cattle thieves caught on the Flying W they must not be hanged. You must capture them, if possible, and take them to the proper officials, that they may have a fair trial. And we shall abide by the courtās decision. I donāt care to have any more murders committed here.ā
His face paled. āReferrinā to Pickett, I reckon, maāam?ā he said.
āYes.ā She flung the monosyllable back at him resentfully.
She felt him ride close to her, and she looked at him and saw that his face was grimly serious.
āI aināt been thinkinā of the killinā of Pickett as murder, maāam. Pickett had it cominā to him. You was standinā on the porch, anā I reckon you used your eyes. If you did, you saw Pickett try to pull his gun on me when my back was turned. It was either him or me, maāam.ā
āYou anticipated that he would try to shoot you,ā she charged. āYour actions showed that.ā
āWhy, I reckon I did. You see, Iāve knowed Pickett for a long time.ā
āI was watching you from an upstairs window,ā she went on. āI saw you when you struck Pickett with your fist. You drew your pistol while he was on the ground. You had the advantageāyou might have taken his pistol away from him, and prevented any further trouble. Instead, you allowed him to keep it. You expected he would try to shoot you, and you deliberately gave him an opportunity, relying upon your quickness in getting your own pistol out.ā
āI give him his chance, maāam.ā
āHis chance.ā There was derision in her voice. āI have talked to some of the men about you. They say you are the cleverest of any man in this vicinity with a weapon. You deliberately planned to kill him!ā
He rode on, silently, a glint of cold humor in his eyes. He might now have confounded her with the story of Mastenās connection with the affair, but he had no intention of telling her. Masten had struck the blow at himāMasten it must be, who would be struck back.
However, he was disturbed over her attitude. He did not want her to think that he had killed Pickett in pure wantonness, for he had not thought of shooting the man until Uncle Jepson had warned him.
āIāve got to tell you this, maāam,ā he said, riding close to her. āOne manās life is as good as anotherās in this country. But it aināt any better. The lawās too far away to monkey withālaw like youāre used to. The gun a man carries is the only law anyone here pays any attention to. Every man knows it. Nobody makes any mistakes about it, unless itās when they donāt get their gun out quick enough. Anā thatās the manās fault that pulls the gun. There aināt no officials to do any guardinā out here; youāve got to do it yourself or it donāt get done. A man canāt take too many chancesāanā live to tell about it. When you know a manās lookinā for you, yearninā to perforate you, itās just a question of who can shoot the quickest anā the straightest. In the case of Pickett, I happened to be the one. It might have been Pickett. If he wasnāt as fast as me in slinginā his gun, why, he oughtnāt to have taken no chance. Heād have been plumb safe if heād have forgot all about his gun. I donāt reckon that Iād have pined away with sorrow if I hadnāt shot him.ā
She was much impressed with his earnestness, and she looked quickly at him, nearly convinced. But again the memory of the tragic moment became vivid in her thoughts, and she shuddered.
āItās too horrible to think of!ā she declared.
āI reckon itās no picnic,ā he admitted. āI aināt never been stuck on shootinā men. I reckon I didnāt sleep a heap for three nights after I shot Pickett. I kept seeinā him, anā pityinā him. But I kept tellinā myself that it had to be either him or me, anā I kind of got over it. Pickett would have it, maāam. When I turned my back to him I was hopinā that he wouldnāt try to play dirt on
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