The days at the ranch passed in irritating idleness for those who
had obstructed the flight of hostile lead, and worse than any of the
patients was Hopalong, who fretted and fumed at his helplessness, which
retarded his recovery. But at last the day came when he was fit for
the saddle again, and he gave notice of his joy in whoops and forthwith
announced that he was entitled to a holiday; and Buck had not the heart
to refuse him.
So he started forth in his quest of peace and pleasure, but instead had
found only trouble and had been forced to leave his card at almost every
place he had visited.
There was that affair in Red Hot Gulch, Colorado, where, under pressure,
he had invested sundry pieces of lead in the persons of several
obstreperous citizens and then had paced the zealous and excitable
sheriff to the state line.
He next was noticed in Cheyenne, where his deformity was vividly
dwelt upon, to the extent of six words, by one Tarantula Charley, the
aforesaid Charley not being able to proceed to greater length on account
of heart failure. As Charley had been a ubiquitous nuisance, those
present availed themselves of the opportunity offered by Hopalong to
indulge in a free drink.
Laramie was his next stopping place, and shortly after his arrival he
was requested to sing and dance by a local terror, who informed all
present that he was the only seventeen-buttoned rattlesnake in the cow
country. Hopalong, hurt and indignant at being treated like a common
tenderfoot, promptly knocked the terror down. After he had irrigated
several square feet of parched throats belonging to the audience he
again took up his journey and spent a day at Denver, where he managed to
avoid any further trouble.
Santa Fe loomed up before him several days later and he entered it
shortly before noon. At this time the old Spanish city was a bundle of
high-strung nerves, and certain parts of it were calculated to furnish
any and all kinds of excitement except revival meetings and church
fairs. Hopalong straddled a lively nerve before he had been in the city
an hour. Two local bad men, Slim Travennes and Tex Ewalt, desiring to
establish the fact that they were roaring prairie fires, attempted to
consume the placid and innocent stranger as he limped across the plaza
in search of a game of draw poker at the Black Hills Emporium, with the
result that they needed repairs, to the chagrin and disgust of their
immediate acquaintances, who endeavored to drown their mortification
and sorrow in rapid but somewhat wild gun play, and soon remembered that
they had pressing engagements elsewhere.
Hopalong reloaded his guns and proceeded to the Emporium, where he found
a game all prepared for him in every sense of the word. On the third
deal he objected to the way in which the dealer manipulated the cards,
and when the smoke cleared away he was the only occupant of the room,
except a dog belonging to the bartender that had intercepted a stray
bullet.
Hunting up the owner of the hound, he apologized for being the indirect
cause of the animal's death, deposited a sum of Mexican dollars in
that gentleman's palm and went on his way to Alameda, which he entered
shortly after dark, and where an insult, simmering in its uncalled-for
venom, met him as he limped across the floor of the local dispensary on
his way to the bar. There was no time for verbal argument and precedent
had established the manner of his reply, and his repartee was as quick
as light and most effective. Having resented the epithets he gave his
attention to the occupants of the room.
Smoke drifted over the table in an agitated cloud and dribbled lazily
upward from the muzzle of his six-shooter, while he looked searchingly
at those around him. Strained and eager faces peered at his opponent,
who was sliding slowly forward in his chair, and for the length of a
minute no sound but the guarded breathing of the onlookers could be
heard. This was broken by a nervous cough from the rear of the room, and
the faces assumed their ordinary nonchalant expressions, their rugged
lines heavily shadowed in the light of the flickering oil lamps, while
the shuffling of cards and the clink of silver became audible. Hopalong
Cassidy had objected to insulting remarks about his affliction.
Hopalong was very sensitive about his crippled leg and was always
prompt to resent any scorn or curiosity directed at it, especially
when emanating from strangers. A young man of twenty-three years, when
surrounded by nearly perfect specimens of physical manhood, is apt to
be painfully self-conscious of any such defect, and it reacted on his
nature at times, even though he was well-known for his happy-go-lucky
disposition and playfulness. He consoled himself with the knowledge
that what he lost in symmetry was more than balanced by the celerity
and certainty of his gun hand, which was right or left, or both, as the
occasion demanded.
Several hours later, as his luck was vacillating, he felt a heavy hand
on his shoulder, and was overjoyed at seeing Buck and Red, the latter
grinning as only Red could grin, and he withdrew from the game to enjoy
his good fortune.
While Hopalong had been wandering over the country the two friends had
been hunting for him and had traced him successfully, that being due
to the trail he had blazed with his six-shooters. This they had
accomplished without harm to themselves, as those of whom they inquired
thought that they must want Hopalong “bad,” and cheerfully gave the
information required.
They had started out more for the purpose of accompanying him for
pleasure, but that had changed to an urgent necessity in the following
manner:
While on the way from Denver to Santa Fe they had met Pete Willis of the
Three Triangle, a ranch that adjoined their own, and they paused to pass
the compliments of the season.
“Purty far from th' grub wagon, Pie,” remarked Buck.
“Oh, I'm only goin' to Denver,” responded Pie.
“Purty hot,” suggested Red.
“She shore is. Seen anybody yu knows?” Pie asked.
“One or two--Billy of th' Star Crescent an' Panhandle Lukins,” answered
Buck.
“That so? Panhandle's goin' to punch for us next year. I'll hunt him up.
I heard down south of Albuquerque that Thirsty Jones an' his brothers
are lookin' for trouble,” offered Pie.
“Yah! They ain't lookin' for no trouble--they just goes around
blowin' off. Trouble? Why, they don't know what she is,” remarked Red
contemptuously.
“Well, they's been dodgin' th' sheriff purty lively lately, an' if that
ain't trouble I don't know what is,” said Pie.
“It shore is, an' hard to dodge,” acquiesced Buck.
“Well, I has to amble. Is Panhandle in Denver? Yes? I calculates as
how me an' him'll buck th' tiger for a whirl--he's shore lucky. Well, so
long,” said Pie as he moved on.
“So long,” responded the two.
“Hey, wait a minute,” yelled Pie after he had ridden a hundred yards.
“If yu sees Hopalong yu might tell him that th' Joneses are goin' to
hunt him up when they gits to Albuquerque. They's shore sore on him.
'Tain't none of my funeral, only they ain't always a-carin' how they
goes after a feller. So long,” and soon he was a cloud of dust on the
horizon.
“Trouble!” snorted Red; “well, between dodgin' Harris an' huntin'
Hopalong I reckons they'll shore find her.” Then to himself he murmured,
“Funny how everythin' comes his way.”
“That's gospel shore enough, but, as Pie said, they ain't a whole lot
particular as how they deal th' cards. We better get a move on an' find
that ornery little cuss,” replied Buck.
“O. K., only I ain't losin' no sleep about Hoppy. His gun's too lively
for me to do any worryin',” asserted Red.
“They'll get lynched some time, shore,” declared Buck.
“Not if they find Hoppy,” grimly replied Red.
They tore through Santa Fe, only stopping long enough to wet their
throats, and after several hours of hard riding entered Alameda, where
they found Hopalong in the manner narrated.
After some time the three left the room and headed for Albuquerque,
twelve miles to the south. At ten o'clock they dismounted before the
Nugget and Rope, an unpainted wooden building supposed to be a
clever combination of barroom, dance and gambling hall and hotel. The
cleverness lay in the man who could find the hotel part.