OPEN WARFARE
"Zip!" a stone from Nort's sling cut the air with a vicious ping, and
not only that, but it caught one of the Greasers on the side of his
head. He uttered a cry, dropped his reins and clapped a hand to the
smarting place.
Another instant and he had lost control of his horse, which first swam
down stream and then turned to go back to the shore he had left. One
reason for this was that Nort had let fly a stone that took the horse
on the flank. And Nort was careful not to shoot as hard at the horse
as he had at the rider. In fact the horse was not hurt at all--merely
frightened, for the stone was like a fly-bite.
But it was enough.
Meanwhile the other defenders of Spur Creek had been using their slings
to advantage, first stinging the Greaser riders with vicious stones and
then, more lightly, tapping the horses to demoralize them rather than
to hurt them.
This sort of warfare proved most effective, for by turning the horses
and sending them back, in spite of all the efforts of their riders, the
forces of the sheep herders were thrown into confusion.
And this, really, was the object of Bud and his companions. They did
not want to kill so much as a single sheep. All they desired was to
keep inviolate the land rightfully owned by Mr. Merkel. And he felt
that he still owned it, in spite of the action of the United States
Congress, and even though his papers had been stolen.
In this initial skirmish, which soon developed into a fight, the
advantage, at first, was all on the side of the Diamond X force as the
Greasers did not fight back. Some of them carried guns, but did not
draw them.
It might be reasoned that they wanted to go into court with "clean
hands," as the legal term is. That is, they could claim they were
fired upon when attempting to make a peaceable crossing of the creek in
order to pasture their sheep on the new government open range land.
One part of their contention might be true, but the one implying that
Mr. Merkel's land could be taken by any chance comer, was not true.
At any rate, first along, the Mexicans did not fire back. Meanwhile
Bud and his comrades were fairly peppering the Greasers with stones
from the rubber slings. No one was badly hurt--indeed, bruised faces
and hands were about the only injuries, but if you have ever faced a
fusilade from a battery of putty blowers or bean shooters you know how
disconcerting it is.
Then, too, the horses proved allies of our friends. For the light
"peppering" the animals received from the slings made the animals
nervous and disinclined to face the shower of stones.
Some few sheep were driven into the stream, and it was evident that,
for the present at least, this was a good crossing--shallow enough and
with no quicksands. But once the sheep began to hear and see the
stones "zipping" in the water around them, some of the woollies feeling
the pebbles--though only slightly--a new problem was presented to the
Mexicans. Their sheep, like the horses, turned about and made for the
southern shore.
So that, in less than five minutes after the attempt to make the
crossing was started, it had failed, and the hostile forces withdrew.
"Guess we made it too hot for them," chuckled Bud.
"For a while, yes," agreed Nort. "But it isn't over yet."
"No," added his brother. "If they give up now I miss my guess.
They'll try again."
And so the Greasers did.
Withdrawing to a safe distance from the slings--which could only just
about carry across Spur Creek, a conference was held among the sheep
herders. Then they came on again, trying in the same place.
But Bud and his friends were ready, with an unlimited supply of
ammunition. Stones were plentiful along the creek, and each cowboy had
his pockets full.
One advantage of the sling shots was that they could be "loaded and
fired" much more rapidly than the guns--by which I mean the .45
revolvers. And of course on humanitarian grounds there was no
comparison--no one was killed or even severely wounded by the stones.
They were only painfully hurt.
But this was part of the game. It was open warfare and had to be
endured. Besides, from the standpoint of Bud and his comrades, they
were in the right and the sheep herders were in the wrong.
I have no doubt but that the herders of the sheep reasoned just the
other way--holding that they had a right to cross the creek and pasture
their charges on the rich grass beyond, and arguing that the Diamond X
outfit was in the wrong.
And in this conflict lies my story, such as it is.
After the third attempt to cross the creek with their sheep, being
driven back each time, the Mexicans seemed to lose patience. There
were angry voices as most of the Greasers gathered about one man who
seemed to be their leader, and who had, it was evident, counseled
pacific measures. Now these came to an end.
For on the "fourth down," as Dick laughingly referred to it, the
Greasers began shooting bullets as they rode their horses into the
stream.
"Now it's a fight in earnest!" cried Bud.
"Draw your guns!" ordered Billee sternly.
The real battle was about to open.