'Drag' Harlan - Charles Alden Seltzer (best ebook for manga .TXT) š
- Author: Charles Alden Seltzer
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He spent another long interval lashing himself to the saddle with the rope that he carried at the pommel; and then headed the horse toward the Rancho Seco.
He began to ride, urging the horse to what seemed to him a rapid pace. But he had not gone very far when he sagged against the pommel, lifelessly.
The trail herd had made good progress through the valley, and Rogers, aided by the Star men, had kept them going. The men feared no interference with the work, for they had terrorized the ranchers in the valley until the latter well knew the futility of retaliatory measures. Still, a certain furtive quickness of movement had always characterized the operations of the outlawsāthe instinct to move secretly, if possible, and to strike swiftly when they struck was always strong in them.
Besides, the drive to Willowās Wells was not a long one, and the cattle could stand a fast pace. So it was not long after the herd had left the Star until it straggled up a defile in the hills and out upon the level where Devenyās men had to ride to take the south trail to the Rancho Seco.
The level extended southward for a distance of several miles to a grass range that the Star men knew wellāfor there had been times when they had grazed cattle there, making camp on their frequent trips to the Wells.
A range of low, flat hills marked the northern limits of the grazing section; and Rogers and his men trailed the cattle through the hills while the morning was still young.
The herd was through the hills, and Rogers, twisting in the saddle, was taking a last look over the plain to make certain there had been no prying eyes watching the movements of himself and the men, when he saw, far to the west, a group of horsemen just coming into view at the edge of the plaināseemingly having ridden out of the big valley.
Rogers wheeled his horse and watched the horsemen as they traveled eastward, making good time. He called to a man, named Colver, who was riding close to him.
āThemās Devenyās menāfrom the Cache. What in blazes are they up to? Somethinās in the wind, Colverātheyāre ridinā like the devil was after them anā burninā the breeze for fair!ā
Rogers sent his horse scampering to the crest of one of the hills where, concealed behind some brush, he watched the progress of Devenyās men eastward.
When they passed the point on the plain where they would have to veer northward if they intended to visit the Star, he breathed with relief. For he had almost yielded to a conviction that Deveny was headed for the Star.
But after the horsemen passed the point that led to the Star trail, a new anxiety seized Rogersāand a passion that sent the blood to his face swept over him.
His eyes were glowing with an excitement that he could not repress when he turned to Colver.
āSomethinās up!ā he snapped. āDevenyās been sullen as hell for a good many daysāever since Harlan came to the Star. One of the boys was tellinā me he heard Deveny anā Haydon havinā it out over at the Cache. If thereās goinā to be a ruckus Iām goinā to be in on it!ā
He leaped his horse off the hill, racing him down into the grass plain after the other men. When he reached them he yelled sharply, and they spurred quickly to him, anticipating from his manner that danger threatened.
āIāve got a hunch that hellās a-goinā to pop right sudden, boys,ā he told them. āAnā weāre goinā away from it. If thereās any trouble we want to be in on it. Devenyās up to somethinā. You-all know about the agreement made between Haydon anā Harlanāthat Harlan was to run the Rancho Seco without interference. Devenyās headed that way, anā Haydon aināt around. Itās up to us boys to keep our eyes open.
āHarlanās at the Star. He wonāt be knowinā that Deveny is headinā for the Rancho Seco. Harlanās white, boys; heās done more for us guys since heās been at the Star than Haydon or Deveny ever done for us. Heās promised us things that Haydon anā Deveny would never do. Heās a white man, anā Iām for him. Anā Iām for takinā orders from him from now on. Whoās with me?ā
āYouāre shoutinā!ā declared Colver.
āItās time for a new deal,ā muttered another.
āYouāre doinā the yappinā,ā grimly announced a big man who was close to Rogers; āweāre followinā your lead.ā
āIām jumpinā for the Star then!ā declared Rogers; āto put Harlan wise to where Devenyās headed for. Weāre leavinā the herd here until we find out whatās goinā on. Half of you guys beat it to the Rancho Secoātrailinā Deveny anā his boys, to find out what theyāre doinā. Youāre herd-ridinā them if they go to monkeyinā with the Rancho Seco. Slope!ā
Rogers had hardly ceased speaking when the outfit was on the move. There were eleven men, including Rogers; and they sent their horses leaping over the crest of the hill nearest themādividing, as they reached the level on the other side with seemingly no previous arrangement, into two groupsāone group going northeastward, toward the South Trail, and the other fading into the space that yawned between it and the point where the trail to the Star led downward into the big basin.
Haydon, holding hard to the pommel of the saddle, urging his horse along the trail that led up the valley, looked back whenever he reached a rise, his eyes searching the space behind him for the dread apparition that he expected momentarily.
He knew that it would not be long before Morgan and Harlan would emerge from the ranchhouse to discover that he had escaped; and he knew, too, that they would suspect that he had gone to the Cache.
He expected they would delay riding after him, however, until they searched for him in some of the buildings, and that delay, he hoped, would give him time to reach the Cache.
He was handicapped by his useless armāfor it made riding awkward, and the numbness was stealing down his side, toward his leg. He paid little attention to the pain; indeed, he entirely forgot it in his frenzied eagerness to reach the Cache.
More prominent in his brain at this minute than any other emotion was a dread of Billy Morgan. He had yielded to terror when Morgan had revealed his identity; but the terror he had felt then had not been nearly so paralyzing as that which was now upon him.
His eyes were bulging as he rode; his lips were slavering, and he shuddered and cringed as he leaned over his horseās mane, urging him to greater effortāeven though there were times when his lurches almost threw him out of the saddle.
For his previous terror had been somewhat tempered with a doubt of Morganās veracity. Even when he had seen Morgan reaching for his pistol he had felt the doubtāhad felt that Morgan was not Morgan at all, but Woodward, perpetrating a grotesque joke. To be sure, when he had seen that Morgan really intended to kill him, he had been convinced that the man was in deadly earnest. It had been then that he had desperately twisted himself so that Morganās bullet had not touched a vital spot.
But now his terror had grown; it was a thing that had got into his soulāfor he had had time to meditate over what Morganās vengeance meant to him.
It meant that Morgan would kill him, if he caught him; that the life he treasured would be taken from him; that the magnificent body which he had always so greatly admired would be shattered and broken. The mental picture he drew further increased his terror, and he began to mutter incoherent blasphemies as he raced his horse at a breakneck pace toward the Cache.
But when he had ridden several miles and knew from the appearance of the valley that he was nearing the Cache and that he would reach it in safety, there came a change in him.
He grew calmer; he began to feel a rage that sent the blood racing through his veins again. He looked back over the trail as often as formerly, but it was with a new expressionāmalevolent hatred. And when he finally reached the entrance to the Cache and rode through it, heading toward the building in which, he expected, he would find Deveny, the malevolence in his expression was mingled with triumph and cunning.
Harlan and Morgan had made a thorough search of Haydonās desk in the latterās office in the ranchhouse, and they had found letters addressed to Haydonāreceived at various towns in the vicinity and proving Morganās charges against him. And upon several of the letters were names that provided damaging evidence of the connection of influential men with the scheme to gain unlawful possession of much land in the basin.
āThis cinches it!ā declared Morgan as he carefully placed the letters into a pocket when he and Harlan emerged from the ranchhouse. āI reckon weāve got proof now. Anā the governorāll be plumb tickled.ā
They stepped down from the doorway and turned the corner of the house. Instantly they noted the disappearance of Haydonās body. But they did not search among the other buildings for Haydonāas he had expected them to do. For they saw that his horse was also missing.
Morgan ran for the corral, saying no word, his lips set in grim, vengeful lines. He had been a fool for not making sure that he had killed Haydon, but he would not make that mistake again. The gleam in his eyes revealed that.
Harlan, too, divined what had happened. Purgatory was in the stableāwhich was farther from the ranchhouse than the corral. And though Harlan moved swiftly Morgan was already on his horse and racing toward the timber when Purgatory emerged from the stable, saddled and bridled.
Harlan noted that Morgan had not stopped to saddle his horse, and that omission revealed the manās intense desire for haste. Harlan, however, headed Purgatory into the timber, but he was more than half a mile behind Morgan when he reached the main trail.
He saw Morgan riding the trail that led up the valley, and he set out after him, giving the big black horse the rein. He divined that Morgan suspected Haydon had ridden in that direction; and while Harlan had never seen the Cache, he had heard the Star men speak of it, and he had noticed that when setting out for it they had always traveled the trail Morgan was traveling. Therefore, it was evident that Morgan thought Haydon had gone to the Cache. In that case he depended upon Deveny to assist himāif Morgan followed; and Harlan was determined to see the incident through.
He sent Purgatory ahead at a good pace, but he noted soon that Morgan was increasing the distance between them. He began to urge Purgatory forward, and gradually the distance between the two riders grew shorter.
Both were traveling rapidly, however, and it seemed to Harlan that they had not gone more than three or four miles whenāwatching Morgan closely, he saw him ride pell-mell into some timber thatāapparentlyāfringed the front of a cave.
It was some time before Harlan reached the timber, and when he did he could not immediately discover the spot into which Morgan had ridden. When he did discover it he rode Purgatory through, and found himself in a narrow gorge.
He raced Purgatory through the
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