THE DEFENSE OF CRANE VALLEY
It was two days before Cotton could be sent to the police outpost in a
wagon, but, so far as we could gather, the officer temporarily in charge
took it for granted he had been injured on his homeward ride around by
the Indian reserve which would have led him through Crane Valley. Some
time, however, passed before he was fit for the saddle. Meanwhile Steel
and I discussed Lane's latest move, and the best means of counteracting
it.
"If we knew just what he wanted it would give us a better show, but we
don't, and Lane doesn't tell anybody," my comrade observed gloomily.
"It's tolerably clear that he wants Crane Valley," said I. And Steel
proceeded: "Then why doesn't he sail in and take all he's entitled to?"
"A part would not satisfy him when he wants it all," I said. "If he
seizes the working beasts and breeding stock now we shall be left
helpless for the season. He will take just enough to cripple me, and
leave me still in debt, while it would be useless to try to raise money
to pay him off until the question of the railroad is settled."
"Will it ever be built?" asked Steel.
"It must be, some day; but whether that will be before we are ruined or
buried, heaven only knows," I said. "Haldane seems to think the time
will not be long, and judging by his tactics, Lane agrees with him.
Still, the newspapers take an opposite view."
"If it isn't"--and Steel frowned at the harness he was mending--"what
will we poor fools do?"
"Stand Lane off as long as possible, and then strike for the mines in
British Columbia. That, however, concerns the future, and we have first
to decide what we will do if Lane arrives to-morrow."
Steel's face grew somber, but he waited until I added: "Then, because
they're not my beasts as yet, if he can take them by main force--and I
almost hope he'll try--he is welcome to do so."
"Now you're talking," and Steel smote a dilapidated saddle until the
dust leaped forth from it. "The law on debt liens is mighty mixed, but I
figure that the man who can keep hold has the best of it. Jacques,
Gordon, and the rest will stand by us solid, and I'd work two years for
nothing to get a fair chance at Lane."
We both determined on resistance; but it struck me that ours was a very
forlorn hope, and that the odds were heavily against two plain farmers,
equally devoid of legal knowledge and of capital, who had pitted
themselves against a clever, unscrupulous man with the command of
apparently an unlimited amount of money.
Lane did not come next day, nor the following one.
Indeed, a number passed without bringing any word of him, and because
idleness meant disaster, we perforce relaxed our vigilance and resumed
our plowing. I had just yoked a pair of oxen to a double plow one
morning, when Boone's wagon came lurching up as fast as two whitened
horses could haul it across the prairie.
"Lane came in with a hard-looking band of rascals by the Pacific Mail
last night," he said. "They had got whisky somewhere, and smashed the
hotel windows because Imrie wouldn't get them supper in the middle of
the night. He would start as soon as they were partly sober. Are you
prepared to protect your property, Ormesby?"
"I am ready to protect other people's, which will suit me a good deal
better in this instance," I said, with a certain satisfaction that the
time for open resistance had come at last, though Lane had cunningly
chosen a season when every man's presence was necessary at his own
homestead.
"Don't count too much on that," said Boone. "If you have no documentary
evidence, even the actual owners might have difficulty in substantiating
your claim. Now you see why I demanded a written agreement. It strikes
me that in this case possession is everything."
"If I can keep whole in body until sundown, possession will remain with
us," I said. "But there is no time to spare for talking. It will take
hours to bring my neighbors up."
"Of course you arranged with Haldane to send you assistance?" said
Boone; and hurled out an expletive when I answered stolidly: "That is
just what I did not do. I do not even know whether he is at home. It is
not necessary to drag all one's friends into a private quarrel."
"Goodness knows why you are so unwarrantably proud, and it is not worth
while wasting time over that question now," said Boone. "Roll up your
thick-headed stockmen. I'm going on to Bonaventure for the one man whose
presence would be worth a hundred of them."
He lashed his horses as he spoke, and I roused myself to action, while
long before his wagon dipped over the rim of the prairie Thorn had set
out at a gallop to bring our neighbors in. A neighbor may dwell from one
to ten leagues away in that country. This left only Steel and me to hold
Crane Valley, with the exception of Sally. The girl absolutely refused
to leave us, and it may not have been by accident that several
heavy-handled brushes lay convenient beside the stove. The stock were
driven off as far as we dare follow them across the prairie, and we
hoped they would remain unseen in a hollow; the working horses were made
fast in the stable; and when a few head of pedigree cattle had been
secured in the corral, we could only sit down and wait the siege.
I spent several hours perched most uncomfortably on the roof with a pair
of glasses; but though the day was clear, nothing appeared above the rim
of the prairie. It spread all around the horizon in low rolling rises,
empty and desolate. My eyes grew dazzled, the continued use of the
glasses produced a distressful headache; but still nothing moved on
either rise or level, and it was a relief when at last Sally hailed me:
"Come down and get your dinner; scenery won't feed anybody."
I had forgotten there was such a thing as food, and my throat and lips
were dry; but on descending I was surprised to find myself capable of
making an excellent meal.
"You'll feel considerably better after that," said Sally, who watched
our efforts with much approval. "I guess you have forgotten you had no
breakfast, either of you."
"That's so," assented her brother. "It's the first time I ever forgot it
in my life. Say, what are you going to do with that big hasp-bar,
Sally?"
Miss Steel's movements were perhaps a little nervous, but she was
evidently not troubled by timidity. "I figured if anybody wanted to come
poking in here it might keep them out--if it was nicely warmed," she
said.
"You must do nothing rash; and you must keep out of harm's way, Sally,"
I said sternly. "They would be justified in seizing my household
property."
"There's mighty little of it." And Miss Steel glanced around the room
with contempt. "Do you figure Lane would come out hundreds of miles for
your old crockery? Anything that's pretty round this place is mine, and
I'm anxious to see the man who's going to take it from me."
I looked at the excited girl and then at her brother, who shook his head
in signal that further remonstrance would be useless. My ideas
respecting women had changed of late, and I somewhat resented the fact
that they would not be content to sit still and be worshiped, but must
insist on playing an active, and often a leading, part in all that
happened.
"When Sally has made up her mind there's no use for anybody to talk,"
said Steel.
I had hardly mounted to the roof again before a line of diminutive
objects straggled up above the horizon, and I called down: "They're
coming!"
"Which way?" was the eager question; and Steel stamped when I answered
moodily: "From the south."
"Lane's outfit. Can't you see the others?" he shouted.
I swept the glasses around the circumference of the prairie, and my
voice was thick with disappointment as I answered: "No."
"Then you and I will have all we can do; and I wish to the Lord Sally
were anywhere else," said Steel.
The diminutive figures rapidly resolved themselves into mounted men,
with a wagon behind them, but still all the rest of the prairie was
empty, and each time Steel asked the question: "Can't you see them yet?"
I grew more doggedly savage as I answered: "No."
At last, when the money-lender's party were close at hand, I called out
that three horsemen were just visible in the north. "That's Gordon;
Jacques and the rest can't be here for a long while. It's time to come
down," said Steel.
I came down, guessing that Lane, being on a lower level, could not see
our allies, and waited with Steel, apparently unarmed, though we had
weapons handy, in the space between the house and the stable. Sally had
disappeared inside the dwelling, and I trusted that she would remain
there. Presently, amid a rattle of gear and a confused trampling, a band
of men rode up to the homestead and ranged themselves in rude order on
each side of a wagon, some of them yelling in imitation of the American
cowboy as they wheeled. They were unkempt, dirty, and dissolute in
appearance, and I was not altogether surprised to see that most of them
were English or Americans. One finds very little errant rascality on the
Canadian prairie, perhaps because our money is very hardly earned, and
there are few people worth exploiting there; but odd specimens exported
from the great Republic and from the Old Country by disgusted friends
gravitate towards the smaller Western cities when they find life in the
waste too hard, and Lane had evidently collected some of the worst of
them. He sat in the wagon, smoking, and actually smiled at me.
"Kind of surprise party, isn't it, Ormesby?" he said. "I've come round
to collect what I can in accordance with the notice served on you.
Here's a wallet full of papers, and this gentleman represents legal
authority. He had a partner, but we lost him. Now, I've no personal
feeling against you, and won't give you any trouble if it can be
avoided."
Strange to say, I believed he spoke no more than the truth, and regarded
us dispassionately as merely a source from which a little profit might
be wrung. Neither Steel nor I, however, could look at the matter with
equal calmness. We were standing for our rights, and ready to strike for
shelter and daily bread, while the memory of former wrongs and a fierce
revolt against the rich man's oppression fired our blood. Nevertheless,
I remembered that it was necessary to gain time, and answered as coolly
as I could:
"In the first place, the stock and horses belong to my neighbors, and in
the second, you will be overstepping limits if you violently break into
any part of my homestead. Neither does the law allow any private
individual to gather a band of ruffians and forcibly seize his debtor's
property."
Lane probed his cigar with slow deliberateness. "You are growing quite
smart, Ormesby; but isn't it a pity you didn't display your acumen
earlier? I don't know that a stable can be considered a dwelling under
the homestead regulations, and there's nothing to prevent any man from
hiring assistance to drive home sequestrated cattle. It is this
gentleman's business to seize them, not mine. Neither is it clear how
far a proved agreement to feed another person's stock frees them of a
lien for debt. Have you got any in writing?"
It was evident that, in homely parlance, my adversary held the best end
of the stick. The administration of justice is necessarily somewhat
rough-and-ready in the West, and I saw that the representative of legal
authority was at least two-thirds drunk. I also had little doubt that
Lane's mercenaries would act independently of him; while if they
exceeded legal limits there would be only our testimony to prove it
against a dozen witnesses. Possession was evidently everything.
Lane had possibly guessed my thoughts, for he said: "Don't be mad enough
to start a circus, Ormesby. We have come a long way for the beasts, and
mean to get them. Can't you see that we could beat you if it came to
testimony? And I don't mind admitting that these rascals are not
particular."
His tranquillity enraged me, but I managed to answer him: "If you drive
a hoof off you will have to defend your action against richer men than
I."
"Well, I'll take my chances. It would cost them piles of money, and they
would gain nothing then," he said. "Say, officer, hadn't you better
begin?"
"Gotsh any papersh to prove objection?" demanded that individual,
turning to me. And I took no pains to hide my disgust as I answered: "If
I had I should not trouble to show them to you."
Steel, however, broke in: "We have. I'll show you a receipt for so many
beasts to be fattened for Roland Adams."
"Whersh you keep them?" demanded the other.
"Where you won't find them; 'way back on the prairie," Steel answered
triumphantly.
It was a blunder, for the other, who had a little shrewdness left,
straightened himself. "Then all the beastsh heah belong to someone
else," he said, with a tipsy leer, and waved his hand to the rest. "No
papersh worth a shent. Whasher foolin' for? We'll just walk into the
stable."
Several men sprang from their saddles, but Steel reached the door ahead
of them, and stood with his back against it, swinging a great birch
staff. "Nobody comes in here," he said.
I was at his side the next moment with a keen hay-fork, and the men
halted in a semi-circle at the sight of our grim faces.
"These points will reach anybody within six feet," I said.
"Better quit fooling while your hide's whole. There's 'most a dozen of
us," said one, while another criticised my personal appearance in
uncomplimentary terms. One or two in the background advised their
comrades as to how we might best be maimed, but stood fast themselves,
for Steel was big and brawny, and looked coolly murderous as he balanced
the heavy staff; while whoever looked at me did so over the twin points
of steel. The interlude lasted at least a minute, and I listened with
strained attention for the thud of hoofs. Gordon could not be far off,
but he remained invisible behind a low rise, even if the buildings had
not obscured our view. Then a newcomer shoved his way through the rest,
and I saw that he was the genuine article as he stood before me in
Montana cattle-rider's dress.
"It's a mighty poor show you're making, boys," he said contemptuously.
"Stand out of my way. You can pick up the pieces when I've done with
them."
He danced up and down a few paces and yelled, either to bewilder or to
impress us, and I was conscious of a grim amusement, while Steel watched
him narrowly. Then, for the man had spirit enough, he leaped at Steel
like a panther, with something in his hand that twinkled. He was,
however, a second too late, for the birch staff met him in the center of
his face, and, falling like a log, he lay where he fell. Steel
deliberately snapped the knife beneath his heel, and Lane shouted
something as my comrade said: "The next man I down at that trick will
get his skull smashed in."
There was a wrathful cry from the others, which convinced me that if we
took our eyes off them for an instant the rush would come; but they
hesitated, and Steel, standing poised with one foot forward and baleful
eyes, made the staff whistle round his head. "You're a mighty long time
beginning. Who's next--or maybe you only brought one man along?" he
said.
"Where's that blamed officer? I guess this is his job," said one; but
the worthy mentioned drew further back from the edge of the group.
"Deputsh you my authority. Thish not a house. Only beastsh live in
stables," he explained.
"Better get it over. Sail in!" said one of the biggest, and there was a
shout of "Look out!" from Steel.
Four or five men made a rush upon us, and, not wishing to inflict lethal
injuries unless my life were threatened, I had barely time to reverse
the fork before they were within striking distance. Another reeled
backwards headlong beneath the staff, and, knowing that a thrust is more
effective and harder to evade than a blow, I used the long-hafted fork,
blunt-end foremost, as a pike with considerable success. The struggle
continued for perhaps a minute, and was sharp while it lasted. Several
times a panting man got within my guard, and Steel brought him down; but
I was struck heavily, and had only a blurred vision of waving arms,
scowling faces, and the whirling staff, while the air seemed filled with
discordant shouts of encouragement from those outside. Either by sheer
force of desperation, or by the power of better weapons, we wore them
out, and the group broke up. One or two limped badly as they straggled
back, some swore, and there was blood on the faces and garments of the
rest.
"One fellow got me badly on the chest," said Steel, who breathed
heavily, and I was conscious of several painful spots; and when I had
recovered breath I saw that Lane had drawn his wagon back some distance,
and was apparently upbraiding his bodyguard in no measured terms.
"Jump clear!" cried Steel presently, and I sprang aside a moment too
late, for an exultant shout went up when a heavy billet struck me on the
head. I felt the blood trickle warm and sticky into one eye, and I fell
against the door feeling faint and sick, then stiffened myself again,
with the fork held points foremost this time. Lane, it seemed, had lost
control of his followers, and would doubtless rely on hard swearing to
protect himself from unfortunate consequences, for I now suspected there
would be bloodshed unless help arrived very shortly.
"They're going for the house, and Sally's inside there," cried Steel;
and for the first time I remembered that the dwelling was unprotected,
and feared that the girl had not slipped away, as she might have done by
a rear window.
One of Lane's men reached the threshold before we did, and three or four
others followed hard upon his heels. The door was wide open, and I
sincerely trusted that Sally had made her escape. She had not, however,
for the handle of a long brush swung out, and the first ruffian who
rushed at the entrance staggered backwards against the comrade behind
him. Steel flung him headlong the next moment; the rest yielded passage
before the tines of the fork, and we sprang into the house, while our
enemy's reinforcements came up at a run. So far we had succeeded better
than might have been expected, but our adversaries were growing furious,
and the defense of our property no longer appeared the main question.
The girl had dropped the brush and grasped a red-ended iron bar.
"Give it to me, and reach down that rifle, Sally," I gasped, and while
Steel dragged up furniture for a barricade, the rest, not knowing its
magazine was empty, recoiled before the Winchester muzzle.
"I'll be through in another minute. Keep them out," Steel said.
A brief respite followed, for the iron was glowing still, and our
enemies' supply of missiles was evidently exhausted; but as we waited,
wondering what would happen next, I heard a beat of hoofs, and Sally
cried out triumphantly as three well-mounted men swept up at a gallop.
"Ride over them!" shouted somebody. Warning cries went up, there was a
scattering of Lane's ruffians, and the leading horseman pulled up his
beast just outside the door. He was dripping with perspiration,
bespattered all over, and his horse was white with lather.
"Couldn't get through earlier. Jacques' boys are away, but we sent a man
to look for them, and he'll bring them along," he said.
We were very glad to see Rancher Gordon and his sturdy followers,
though it was bad news he brought. Further reinforcements could hardly
arrive in time to be of service, and where we had expected more than a
dozen we must be content with three. Meanwhile, Lane's men had mounted
and were trotting off across the prairie.
"They have probably gone in search of the loose stock. Come in. We have
got to talk over our next step," I said.
The newcomers did so, and we were all glad of a breathing space. My head
was somewhat badly cut, several purple bruises adorned my comrade's
countenance, and the rest had ridden a long way in furious haste. At
first the conference was conducted in half-breathless gasps, then the
voices deepened into a sonorous ring, and I can recall the intent
bronzed faces turned towards me, the thoughtful pauses when each speaker
had aired his views, and how the slanting sunlight beat into the partly
shadowed room. Last of all Rancher Gordon spoke: "We are waiting to hear
your notions, Ormesby."
"The stable and corral must be held at any cost," I said, smearing my
hands as I tried to clear my eye, while red drops splashed from them on
to the table. "While that ought to be possible, we are hardly strong
enough to force a fight in the open unless it is necessary. Lane's
rascals may not find the stock, and may only be trying to draw us off,
so my decision is to remain here. If they are successful we can see them
from the roof, and must run the risk of taking their plunder from them.
Should we fail we could follow them when our friends turn up."
"That's about my notion. We'll see you through with it," said Gordon
quietly.
We had waited a considerable time before Steel hailed us from the roof
that he could see our enemies riding south behind a bunch of cattle, and
we mounted forthwith. There were now three rifles among us, but we had
agreed these were not to be used unless somebody fired upon us. Riders
and cattle dipped into a hollow, and we had covered several miles
before we sighted them again. Lane and the representative of authority
no longer accompanied them. The whole body wheeled around and halted
when we came up. There was sweet grass in the hollow, so the cattle
halted too, and for a space we sat silent, looking at one another. I
dare not risk a blunder in face of such odds, though I determined to
make an effort to recover the stock.
"You make us tired," said the American, whose face was partly covered by
a dirty rag. "Go to perdition, before we make you!"
He waved his arm around the horizon, as though to indicate where the
place in question lay, and I edged my horse a little nearer to him. He
was the leading spirit, and it seemed possible that we might perhaps
disperse the rest if I could dismount him. The man had evidently
recovered from Steel's blow.
"We are not going away without the cattle, and you can see there are
more of us now, while two proved too many for you before," I said, still
decreasing the distance between us; but my adversary perhaps divined my
intention, for a short barrel glinted in his hand when he raised it.
"It's going to be different this time. Keep back while you're safe," he
said.
There was apparently no help for it, and I was not quite certain he
would shoot, so balancing the long fork, lance fashion, I tightened my
grip on the bridle, when Gordon drove his horse against me and gripped
it violently. "Hold on; the boys are coming!" he said.
Friends and foes alike had been too intent to notice anything beyond
each other during the past few minutes; but now a drumming of hoofs rose
from behind the rise which shut in the hollow. Then a drawn-out line of
mounted men came flying down the slope, and Steel flung his hat up with
a triumphant yell. "It's the Bonaventure boys," he said. "There's Adams
and Miss Haldane leading them."
The American looked in my direction, and raised his hand in ironical
salute. "I'm sorry to miss a clinch with you. It would have been a good
one, but I can't stay," he said. "Get on, you skulking coyotes. Unless
you're smart in lighting out those cow drivers won't leave much of you."
His subordinates took the hint, and bolted down the hollow as hard as
they could ride, while I drew a deep breath and turned towards the
rescue party.