A FREE-FOR-ALL
Plimsoll's place was crowded. There were more onlookers than actual
players though the tables were fairly well patronized. Many of those who
had seats were only cappers for the game. The majority of the men who
had rushed to the new strike had not brought any great sums of money
with them, or, if they had, reserved its use for speculation in claims
rather than the slimmer chances of Plimsoll's enterprises. In a few
days, if the camp produced from grass roots, as was expected and hoped,
Plimsoll would gather in his harvest. A garnering in which Sandy had
sadly interfered.
Plimsoll had set up a working partnership with a man who had brought
moonshine and bootlegged whisky to the camp, occupying the next shack to
the gambling place. For convenience of service extra doors had been cut
and a rough-boarded passageway erected between the two places. The fever
of gambling provided thirsty customers for the liquor dealer, and the
whisky blunted the wits of the gamblers and gave the dealers more than
their customary percentage of odds in the favor of the house. It was a
combination that worked both ways. Waiters impressed into service from
camp followers, crudely took orders and delivered them. There were no
mixed drinks, no scale of prices. And there was no question of license.
The will of the majority ruled. The gold-seeking reduced things to
primitive methods, men to primitive manners.
Plimsoll himself presided over the stud-poker table, dealing the game.
He showed nothing of the nervousness that crawled beneath his skin. He
awaited the result of his play with Wyatt and the latter's companions.
If he could make Sandy, Mormon and Sam ridiculous, he would achieve his
end, but he hoped for bigger results. Wyatt and his fellow rider had
been detailed to ride down the tent that had been reported occupied by
the Three Star owners. That part of the plan had been suggested by Wyatt
out of the sheer deviltry of his invention. Plimsoll had enlisted others
of his following, none too fearless, to loiter in the brush and, in the
general confusion, fire to cripple and to kill.
Plimsoll had learned of the visit of the men who had come with Bill
Brandon to investigate Plimsoll's methods of running the Waterline Horse
Ranch. He had learned, through the leakage that always occurs in a
cattle community, that Brandon claimed to be an old acquaintance of
Sandy and his partners. So he had told his men who had come with him to
the camp from the Waterline Ranch that the Three Star outfit was a
danger to all of them, undoubtedly acting as spies for Brandon, and
that they should be eliminated for the general good. But there was none
of them, from Plimsoll down, who had any fancy to stand up against the
guns of Sandy, or of Mormon and Sam, when the breaks were anywhere
nearly even.
So Plimsoll dealt stud and collected the percentage of the house,
watching his planted players profit by their professionalism and by the
little signs bestowed upon them by Plimsoll that tipped them off as to
the value of the hidden cards. Plimsoll, with his ejection from
Hereford, the advent of woman suffrage, the coming of Brandon and other
irate horse owners, had begun to realize that his days were getting
short in the land. He looked to the camp for a final coup. If he held
the Casey claims and sold them, as he expected to do, to an eastern
capitalist to whom he had telegraphed some days before, he might
reestablish himself. Sandy's prompt arrival and subsequent events had
crimped that plan and he fell back upon all the crooked tactics that he
possessed in gambling. And now, if Wyatt....
He was dealing the last card around when Wyatt came in and his eyes lit
up. Then his face stiffened, the light changed to a gleam of
malevolence. Following Wyatt were the three partners, taking open order
as they came through the entrance, about which the space was clear,
Sandy in the middle, Mormon on the right flank and Sam on the left. The
two last smiled and nodded to one or two acquaintances. Sandy's face was
set in serious cast. The players at Plimsoll's table turned to see what
caused the suspension of the game, others followed their example. The
Three Star men were known personally to some of those in the room. The
story of what had happened during the day had buzzed in everybody's
ears, from Roaring Russell's discomfiture to Plimsoll's failure to hold
the claims and the eviction notice served on him by Sandy.
The phrase "you'll see me through smoke," held a grim significance that
touched the fancy of these gold gatherers, men of the cruder types for
the most part. The issue between Sandy and Plimsoll was the paramount
topic, they wanted to see the two men face to face and size them up.
There was no especial sympathy with one or the other. There were other
gamblers to provide them with excitement. Mormon's challenge of Russell
was a sporting event that appealed to them more directly and there were
many possessed of a rough chivalry that appreciated the heavyweight
cowman's taking up the cudgels on behalf of a woman. But that was sport,
this was a business matter, a duel, with Death offering services as
referee.
Chairs edged back, the standing moved for a better view-point, the room
focussed on Plimsoll, Wyatt and the three cow-chums. Then Wyatt stepped
aside. There was a malicious little grin on his face. Mormon's
suggestion as to his private grudge against Plimsoll was not without
foundation. Wyatt had been glad to find excuse for severing relations
with the gambler. He had done his best and failed, but his failure was
not bitter.
The partners walked between the tables toward Plimsoll who sat regarding
them balefully, his teeth just showing between his parted lips, cards in
midair, action in a paralysis that was caused by the concentration
forced by Sandy's even gaze, by the same sickening conviction that his
manhood shriveled in front of Sandy and that Sandy knew it. Oaths
against Wyatt rose automatically in his brain like bubbles in a mineral
spring, together with the consciousness that Wyatt, if not allied
against him, was no longer for him, that his chosen tools lacked edge.
The placing of bets ceased, there was no sound of clicking chips, the
roulette dealer held the wheel, expectant, dealer and case-keeper at the
faro bank halted their manipulations, the presiding genius of the craps
layout picked up the dice. Tragedy hovered, the shadow of its wing was
on the dirt floor of the rude Temple of Chance.
"The chaps you sent up to move yore tent an' truck didn't make a good
job of it, Plimsoll," drawled Sandy. "I reckon they warn't the right
so't of help. Ef you-all are aimin' to take that stuff erlong with you
I'd recommend you 'tend to it yorese'f. It's gettin' erlong to'ards
sun-up, fast as a clock can tick."
Silence held. Sandy stood non-committal, at ease. His conversation with
Plimsoll might have been of the friendliest nature gauged by his
attitude. His hands were on his hips. Back of him, slightly turning
toward the crowd, were Mormon and Sam, smilingly surveying the room. But
not one there but knew that, faster than the ticking of a clock, guns
might gleam and spurt fire and lead in case of trouble. It was all
being done ethically enough. They did not know exactly what the entrance
of Wyatt meant, but Sandy's talk gave them a hint and his poise was
correct, without swagger, without intent to start general ruction. It
was up to Plimsoll.
"I'll attend to my own business in my own way," said the gambler,
knowing the room weighed every word. It was a non-committal statement
and a light one, but it passed the situation for the moment. His eyes
shifted to Wyatt, shining with hate, the whites blood-flecked by
suppressed passion.
Sandy pulled out a gunmetal watch.
"I make it half afteh one. 'Bout three hours to sunrise, Plimsoll. I'll
be round later." He turned his back on the gambler and sauntered toward
the door. Before the general restraint broke Mormon put up his hand.
"I figger Roarin' Russell ain't in the room," he said. "Ef he happens
erlong, some of you might tell him I was lookin' fo' him. An' I'm goin'
to keep on lookin'," he added.
There was a laugh that swelled into a roar of approval in the general
reaction.
"Good for you!" A dozen phrases of commendation chimed and jangled. A
few followed the three out into the street, among them, Wyatt.
"I got a hunch it ain't extry healthy fo' me in there," he said. "A
gamblin' parlor where I ain't welcome to stay or play makes no hit with
me. I'll help you-all find Russell."
The search was not an easy one. Russell had been seen freely in the
makeshift saloons and other places on both sides of the street. It
seemed, from what they could glean and put together, that he had stopped
drinking when he had arrived at a certain point in his boasting and had
announced his intention of sobering up before he "took the bloody,
hog-bellied cow-puncher apart, providin' the latter showed." This suited
Mormon, who wanted fairly to whip a live opponent, not fight a
staggering drunkard. But they could not find him. They had several
volunteer assistants who proved useless. Sam began to yawn.
"I ain't sleepy, I'm hungry," he said. "Let's go get us a steak oveh to
Simpson's. If he's gone to bed we'll rout him out. Won't be the first
time he turned out to cook me a meal. A shot of that Rocky Mountain
grapejuice w'udn't go so bad. Mormon, a feed 'ud round you out. Roarin'
Russell has crawled in somewheres an' died of heart failure. Come on,
hombres."
Simpson was awake and dressed and on the job. His place was almost as
well filled as it had been the first time they entered it. In the first
seethe of the gold excitement no one seemed to get sleepy, while
appetites developed. Word had preceded them that Mormon Peters was
looking for Roaring Russell and their entrance caused more than a ripple
of interest. Simpson came bustling forward to serve them.
"Good thick rare steak's what you want, ain't it? Fine fightin' food.
Me, I'm takin' in a few bets on you, Mormon. 'Member the time you got a
hammerlock on that long-horned gent from Texas with the Lazy Z outfit?
I cleaned up on you that time an' this'll be a repeater. This same
Roarin' Russell has been tellin' the camp what a rip-snortin',
limb-loosenin', strong-armed galoot he is, an' some of 'em have
swallered it. They ain't seen you in action, Mormon, an' I have. You'll
jest natcherly chaw him inter hash. I'm bettin' there won't be enough of
him left to stuff a Chili pepper after you git through."
"I ain't as limber as I was, Alf," said Mormon deprecatingly. "Make my
steak thick, will you? Have you seen anything of the Roarin' gent?"
"Not personal. He don't eat here. There was a friend of yores in a while
ago who seemed to be sort of keepin' tabs on him. That young assayer
Russell started to bulldoze when Sandy took a hand. Said he'd be in
ag'in later. 'Peared to think you was bound to show before mornin'."
Simpson went to the back of his shack and started the steaks. A waiter
brought over drinks of the Rocky Mountain grapejuice with the
information that they were "on the house."
"It ain't the hooch we're sellin'," he said. "This is private stock,
hundred proof." He eyed Mormon professionally as he hung about the
table, setting out the battered cutlery and tin plates that Simpson
provided. "They was offerin' two to one on Roarin' Russell a little
while ago," he volunteered. "I think I'll take up a piece of their
money."
"This ain't a prize-fight, it's a privut quarrel," said Mormon as he
smelled the fiery stuff in the glass, sipped it and then swallowed it in
one gulp. "That's prime stuff."
"You'll have one hell of a time keepin' it privut, mister," said the
waiter. "They tell me there's nigh to six hundred folks in the camp an'
there won't be many more'n six missin' when you two meet up. You want to
watch out for Russell's pals, though; they ain't the gentlest bunch in
the herd. But I reckon you can handle 'em," he said, turning to Sandy.
"I saw you handlin' your hardware this mornin' an' you sure can juggle a
gun."
A call from another of the makeshift tables claimed his attention.
Simpson came hurrying with the meat, biscuits and coffee. He sat down
with them, offering more drinks which they refused.
"Slack right now," he said, "but I sure have done a whale of a business
to-day. If this keeps up I don't want no claims. They're tellin' me you
give Plimsoll till sun-up to git out of camp, Sandy. I don't figger
there'll be any argyment. He's yeller as the yolk of a rotten aig. Hell
w'udn't take him in, he ain't fit to be fried. Gittin' rid of him an'
his crowd'll sure purify the air in this camp. Times ain't like they
used to be. This ain't the frontier any more and a few bad men can't run
a strike to suit themselves. If the camp's no good it'll peter out like
it did afore; if it amounts to anything, we'll have a police station on
one end of this street, a fire station at t'other an' streetcars runnin'
down the middle, inside of a month. Plimsoll's gettin' a bum name in
this county. The wimmin are ag'in' him. An' I tell you, gents, we
hombres 'll have to watch our steps or they'll be takin' our vote away
from us next thing you know. It's a lucky thing for us that men is in
the majority in this section. Here's yore friend now."
Westlake came through the door, looked round, saw them and came over.
"Russell is down at the Chinaman's eating shack by the bridge," he
announced. "He's been drinking black coffee to sober up on. He's got
some of his own sort with him. I think they're nearly ready to come
up-street. He knows you are in camp and looking for him."
"Then we'd better be shackin' erlong," said Mormon, mopping up gravy
with half a biscuit. "I w'udn't want to keep him waitin'."
Outside, it was apparent that the whole camp was waiting for the
appearance of the two principals in an event that was not to be allowed
to be dealt with purely as a personal encounter. The waiter's estimate
was a fair one. The moon had risen, sailing round and fair and mild of
beam from behind the eastern hills, making pallid by comparison the
artificial flares. The one street was packed with men, not all of whom
were sober. The crowd thickened every moment from outlets of the
gambling shacks and saloons. All other business and pleasure was
forgotten with the swift word passing to say that the cowman who had
slapped the bully in the face and challenged him that morning to a
catch-as-catch-can, free-for-all contest, was now in Alf Simpson's Chuck
House while his opponent, in the cold range of enforced, semi-sobriety,
was in Su Sing's Hashery, the pair about to emerge.
This was to be better than any gunplay, a gladiatorial combat to delight
the hearts of frontiersmen. And they warmed to it. All day there had
been rumors busy of the clash, of the matters involved. Garbled versions
of the truth ran excitement up to hot-blood heat. The town had stayed up
for developments. Bets had been made on Plimsoll's backing down at
sunrise; on the cowman, Mormon; on the bully, Russell.
The affair with Plimsoll at sun-up was likely to be short and sharp. Men
who knew the three from the Three Star Ranch spread their opinions. The
prime event was the scrap. Russell was, or had been, a professional
wrestler and held fame as a rough-and-tumble fighter. Mormon had once
beaten all comers for the Cow Belt. The spectators swarmed like bees and
buzzed as busily. They came in from the claims, warned by their friends.
They greeted Mormon with a shout and one bulk of them surged down toward
the bridge over Flivver Creek, escorting the three partners and
Westlake, Simpson and his help with them. More were milling up-street
from Su Sing's place, Russell in their midst. Where the two factions
met, the principals kept apart by the crowd, a broad-shouldered giant
with the voice of a bull and a beard that crimped low on his chest,
harangued the multitude from a wagon-box. They halted to listen, like a
crowd at a fair.
"Gents all," bellowed the big man. "There's been some tall talkin' done
to-day between two hombres who have agreed to see which is the best man,
in man fashion, usin' the strength an' skill that God gave 'em, without
recourse to gun, knife or slungshot. Roarin' Russell, champeen wrastler,
allows he can lick any man in camp. Mormon Peters, champeen holder of
the Cow Belt, 'lows he can't. That's the cause an' reason of the combat.
Any other reason that has been mentioned is private between the two
principals an' none of our damned business."
The crowd roared in approval of the speaker's style and the force of his
breezy delivery. He had touched their chivalry in thus delicately
alluding to the episode of the insult and apology to the only woman in
camp.
"Therefore," he went on, and the word slipped round that he was Lem
Pardee, wealthy rancher and ex-representative of the state, "such an
affair appealin' to every red-blooded male among us, it behooves us to
see it brought off in due form, fair an' square to both parties, in a
bare-fisted settlement--an' may the best man win."
More howls went up, dying as he held up his hand.
"There's level ground below the bridge with free seats an' standin' room
for all on both sides. The moon graces the occasion an' provides the
proper illumination. I move you that a referee be appointed to discuss
fightin' rules with Roarin' Russell an' Mormon Peters, to settle all
side bets, with power to app'int a committee to keep the side lines an'
take up a suitable purse for the winner. Referee will give the decision,
if necessary, an' settle all disputes."
Shouts that drowned all others nominated Pardee as chief official. He
accepted the choice with a wave of his hand and, glancing about him,
rapidly picked five men as his committee. Two of them he did not know by
name but selected from his judgment of men, and his choices met with
general approval.
"The principals will choose their own seconds," he said. "Not more than
three to each man, to act only in that capacity and in no way to
interfere. That's all."
In two factions the crowd moved down the slant of the street, turned
aside at the bridge and, as Pardee indicated the level space on the nigh
side of the creek that trickled down the gulch like quicksilver in the
moonlight, ranged themselves about the natural arena while the committee
established the side lines and the referee conferred with Mormon,
Russell and their seconds in the open. Sandy and Sam appointed
themselves corner men for Mormon, and Sandy asked Westlake to make the
third. A roulette dealer from Plimsoll's and a bartender ranged
themselves alongside Russell, together with Plimsoll himself. Pardee
eyed the group.
"There's bad blood between you two," he said to Plimsoll and Sandy. "I
understand you've got your own grudges. You'd better keep clear of this.
And I'm tellin' you both this," he added. "This camp is in the
rough-and-ready stage, but there's enough of us who've got together to
see it's goin' to be run decent an' regular. We're goin' to establish
fair play and order, from now on. We don't expect to run no man's
affairs so long's they don't interfere with the general welfare of the
camp, but, if there's any dirty work pulled off, the man that spills the
dirt is goin' to be interviewed pronto. Things are goin' to be run
clean. We ain't goin' to give this camp a bad name at the start."
"Suits me," said Sandy. "My blood's runnin' cool enough, Pardee."
"I'm not talkin' personal, 'cept so far as this bout is concerned. You
two had better stay out of it."
Sandy stepped back and Plimsoll, after a few whispered words to Russell,
followed suit.
"You men want another second apiece?" asked Pardee. "Or are two enough?"
"The Roarin' gent," said Mormon, "made his brags an' I took it up. Me, I
don't know nothin' about Queensbury rules an', though the camp seems to
have arranged this affair to suit itself, I didn't bargain for no boxin'
match, nor no wrastlin' match either. It's either he can lick me, man to
man, or I lick him. An' a lickin' don't mean puttin' down shoulders on a
mat. If a man goes down, t'other lets him git up, if he can. Bar
kickin', bitin', gougin' an' dirty work, an' to hell with yore seconds
an' yore rounds. This ain't no exhibition. It's a fight!"
He spoke loudly enough for most of the crowd to hear, and they cheered
him till the hills echoed.
"That suit you, Russell?" asked Pardee sharply.
Russell, stripping to the waist, belting himself, stood forward.
"Suits me," he said. "Suit me better to cut out all this talk an' get
this over with. It won't take long."
He was a formidable-looking adversary. In the moonlight certain signs of
puffiness, of dissipation, did not show, save for rolls of fat about
shoulders and paunch. He was powerfully built, his chest matted with
black hair, his forearms rough with it. Taller than Mormon, he had all
the advantage of reach. He sneered openly at his opponent.
"One thing more," said Mormon. "We ain't fightin' fo' a purse. Roarin'
knows what we're fightin' fo'. A private matter. But we'll put up a
stake, if he's agreeable. Loser leaves the camp."
"When he's able to walk. You slapped my face this morning. This evens
it."
Russell lashed out suddenly, his hand open, striking with the heel of
his palm for Mormon's jaw. Mormon sprang back, warding off, but it was
Pardee who struck aside Russell's blow and sent him reeling back with a
powerful shove.
"Strip down," he said to Mormon. "Both of you keep back of your lines
till I give the word. Sabe?" He scored two lines in the dirt with the
toe of his shoe and waved them behind the marks.
"No rounds to this affairs," he called to the crowd. "Fair fightin',
foul holds and punches barred. Everything else goes. Man down allowed
ten seconds. That's my ruling," he added to the two men.
Mormon looked clumsy as a bear as he waited for the word. He was far
stouter than Russell. His bald pate, with its reddish fringe of hair,
looked grotesque under the moon. The bulge of his stomach seemed a
strong handicap in agility and wind. Yet his flesh was hard and, where
the tan ended on neck and forearms, it held a glisten that caused the
knowing ones to nod approvingly. There was strength in his back, big
muscles shifted on his shoulders and his arms were bigger than
Russell's, if shorter, corded with pack of sinew and muscle. As he toed
his line, swaying from side to side, arms apart, the left a little
forward, he moved with a lightness strange to his usual tread. Russell
crouched a little, his long arms hanging low, knees bent. The two lines
were about six feet apart.
They faced each other in a silence of held breath on all sides. Pardee
stood to one side, equally between them. His arm went up.
"Ready?" he asked. "Let her go!"
A great sigh went up as the two fighters leaped forward. Both seemed
about to clinch, to test their prowess as wrestlers. Murmurs went up
from back of Mormon where his fanciers had ranged themselves. "Russell's
got too many tricks for him," men told each other and then gasped.
Mormon had landed, light as a dancing master, despite his bulk, had
stooped, turned in a flash with his right hand clamped about the right
wrist of Russell, bowing his back, heaving with all his might.
Russell, shifting at the last second from a clutch, seeing Mormon
charging, swung a vicious uppercut. He made the mistake of
underestimating Mormon, thinking him slow-witted. He found his wrist in
a vise, his arm twisted, bent down across the thick ridge of the
cowman's shoulder, the powerful heave of Mormon's back. His own impetus
served against him. Mormon shifted grips, he cupped Russell's elbow with
his right palm and crowded all his energy into one dynamic effort of
pull and hoist. Russell went over his head in a Flying Mare as the crowd
stood up and yelled.
Surprised off his feet, Russell's experience served him in good stead as
they left the ground. Mormon's trick had scored, but it was an old one
and had its counter-move. As he landed, legs flexed, he twisted, grabbed
Mormon's arm with his free one and jerked him forward, hunching a
shoulder under the cowman's stomach. The pair of them rolled together on
the ground, struggling and clubbing, while the spectators shouted
themselves hoarse and smote each other great blows. Pardee, stepping
warily, watched the writhing pair.
Russell, wiser at this game, contrived leverage, twisting Mormon, and
pinned his arms in a scissors grip while he battered at his face and
Mormon writhed to get away from the reach of those long arms. The soft
dust clouded about them and their grunts came out from it as they
struggled. Once, with Mormon striving to open the leg grip, jerking away
from the flailing blows, they rolled perilously near a clump of prickly
pear on the verge of their little arena and a universal cry of warning
went up.
The two heard nothing of it in their hammer and tongs affair, the
superheated blood, stoked by passion, surging through their veins.
Mormon felt the pressure of Russell's thigh-muscles closing
relentlessly, clamping down on his chest, shutting off oxygen. His
energy waned, his limbs grew heavy, nerveless, his brain clogged and
dulled. He set his chin well down into his neck to save his jaw, but his
right cheek was pounded, one eye closing. It was only a matter of
moments before he must relax and then Russell would pin him down with
one arm and send in the final smashing blow. He felt himself
suffocating, sinking--the noise of roaring waters dinned in his ears.
He lay on his back, Russell on his side, one leg below, one leg above
Mormon's body, bending at the hips in his efforts to reach the cowman's
jaw. He bent a fraction too much, the scissors grip shifted
imperceptibly and the message of that weakening of the chain flashed to
Mormon's hazy brain. With every muscle taut in one supreme convulsion he
managed to twist sidewise, back to Russell, opening the grip that now
compressed shoulders instead of chest and back. He got a breath of air,
dust-laden but blessed. His chest expanded, strength flowed in, he
forced his arms apart, rolling over on Russell, crushing him into the
soft earth with his weight. Another wriggling twist and he faced his
man, bringing his mighty back into play to break clear. He got a forearm
across Russell's Adam's apple, regardless of the blows that smashed into
his face. He hammered home one jolt hard to the jaw and, as Russell's
body grew limp, dragged himself from the relaxing hold and crouched on
hands and knees, wheezing, spent, gulping air to his flattened lower
lungs that refused to function.
Now he could hear the shouting of the crowd, a clatter of yells. He saw
Russell's head move, his eyes opening in the moonlight. Mechanically
Mormon stood up, swaying, bruised, one eye useless. Pardee began
counting over Russell, according to the ruling he had made.
Russell rolled over on his face. It looked as if he was not going to try
to get up. This was not how Mormon had wanted the fight to end, in a
technical knockout, with his man beginning to come back and he not
allowed to finish him.
Pardee had put in the clause, "Man down allowed ten seconds, with the
other on his feet," merely to make a better, longer fight of it from the
spectator's standpoint. It was supposed to be the sporting thing to do,
but Mormon, blood-flushed, brain-dull, had no thought of ethics at that
moment. Russell was lifting himself to knees and elbows, crouching as
Mormon had done, watching his opponent, listening to the count. He was
going to get up. He _was_ up at nine, stooping, groggy, his long arms
hanging low, and a shout went up from his backers as Pardee stepped
aside.
Russell began to back away, to describe a half-circle, right forearm
across his chest, left arm extended, both in slight motion. Mormon stood
like a baited bear, slowly revolving to face Russell, wary of a feint to
draw him out. There were smears of blood on Russell's arms, on his face,
dark in the moonlight. Mormon's whiter skin showed greater defacement.
There was a mouse swelling above his eye, the lids were clamping.
The ring of spectators was almost silent now, leaning forward, watching.
Little jerky sentences passed between them.
"Russell's goin' to box." "He can beat the cowman at that game." "Cut
him to ribbons. Blind him first."
The man in the crowd was right. Mormon knew little of boxing, but he
knew enough to throw a cushion of sturdy arm across his jaw, the left
elbow crooked, nose buried in it, eyes--one eye--indomitable above it.
And the blunted elbow like a ram, as he ducked and Russell's straight
right slid over his bald pate. He was far faster, lighter on his feet
than Russell dreamed. The bully still underestimated his man, but woke
to vivid and just appraisal as Mormon's elbow smashed against his
collar-bone, left forearm clubbing his nose, starting spurts of blood,
right fist coming up like a piston in short-armed, jolting upper-cuts.
Desperately Russell clutched, failed; held, clung, half tumbling into a
clinch. Mormon's arms were about him, underneath, binding him with hoops
of steel, compressing. He lost his footing, began to rise and he
back-heeled in an outside click. They both went down together side by
side in a dog-fall. Mormon loosed his arms as he rolled atop, got
astride of Russell, strove to gather and control the arms that thrashed
and smote.
Something jagged crushed against Mormon's temple. It seemed as if the
skull split open and a jagged, red-hot probe searched through his brain.
He threw up his head in agony, his chin exposed, but instinct still
awake to fling out both hands, catch the oncoming blow, his fingers
clamping deep about the wrist above the hand that held the rock--some
ore fragment tossed away by an old-timer--that Russell had found in the
dirt, and used in unfair, murderous intent.
The maddening pain of first impact died to a throb as the blood poured
down, seeming to leave his brain clear, cold with a rage that responded
to a deep disgust of the bully who was now at his mercy. For, with the
rage came absolute conviction that this was the end of the fight.
He screwed unmercifully, flesh and sinews and the small bones of the
wrist, until Russell shrieked through his swollen mouth at the anguish
of it and dropped the rock. Pardee, hovering near, seeing all, picked
it up and slipped it into his pocket as Mormon pinned down Russell's arm
with his left knee and swung left and right in sledge-hammer blows to
the jaw of the face that tried in vain to dodge the knockout. As if a
galvanic current that had simulated life had suddenly been shut off,
Roaring Russell's body lost all energy, it seemed to flatten, lay
without a quiver.
Mormon got on his feet and stood to one side while Pardee counted off
the seconds that were only a grim parody. Russell's brain was
short-circuited. There was not even a tremor of his eyelids. Pardee
knelt, felt pulse and heart. Then he beckoned to the loser's seconds.
"Come and get your man," he told them. "He's through for this evening."
Pandemonium broke loose as the crowd broke formation and surged down.
Four men packed off Roaring Russell, limp and sagging between them.
Pardee exhibited the chunk of ore, stained with Mormon's blood, while
Sandy, Sam and Westlake ramparted Mormon from enthusiastic admirers and
pushed down to the creek where he washed his hurts with the stinging icy
water and stiffly put on his clothes.
"Knew he was licked and figured he might get away with it," declared
Pardee. "Lucky it didn't split his head open." Murmurs gathered force
against the bully's methods.
"Cut out the lynching talk, boys," cried Pardee. "The man's been beaten
up. I wouldn't wonder if his jaw was bu'sted. His nose is. Let him go;
we'll see that he leaves the camp as soon as he can hobble." He broke
through to Mormon, being assisted into his coat by Sandy. "How are you
standing up, old bearcat?" asked the referee. "I thought he had you
nipped once but you walloped him."
"Me? I'm jest about standin' up, an' that's all," said Mormon, gingerly
feeling certain places on his face. "I sure thought it was my brains
oozin' when he swiped me with that rock. But my bone's pritty solid in
the head, I reckon. I don't mind tellin' you-all I'm feelin' a good deal
like a bass drum at the end of a long parade, but I believe it's all on
the outside. And I ain't entered for any beauty show--at present."
"Eleven minutes of straight fighting by the watch," said a man.
Mormon looked at him humorously, and one-eyed.
"Seemed mo' like 'leven hours to me." He caught sight of Simpson,
holding out a flask. "Now that's what I call a friend," he started, his
hand outstretched. Then it dropped and a blank look came over his face.
"Let's git out of this," he murmured to Sandy. "Dern me if I didn't
plumb forgit about any chance of her showin' up."
"Here's where you git called a hero," said Sam. "She knows what you've
been fightin' erbout. More'n that she's been in the crowd for the last
five minnits of the scrap. That right, Westlake?"
"Yes. I saw her come into the crowd with young Ed. She wants to thank
you, Mormon. No use dodging it."
Young Ed was maneuverin' through to their side.
"Aunt wants to see you," he announced with a grin. "We heard the row
down here, an' she sent me to see what it was. When I didn't hurry back
she trailed me. Great snakes, Mormon, but you sure whaled him!"
"Huh!" Mormon said nothing but that mystic monosyllable until they
reached the place where Miranda Bailey stood apart from the crowd who
deferentially gave her room, whispering her supposed share in the recent
event. She did not look much like the heroine of a romance, neither did
Mormon resemble a hero. Her somewhat worn but wholesome face was set in
forbidding lines, but Westlake and Sandy fancied they saw the ghost of a
twinkle in her eyes. She greeted Mormon as if he had been a disgraced
schoolboy.
"What have you been fightin' about?" she demanded.
But, like Russell, she underestimated Mormon. His one working eye was
innocent of all guile as he looked at her.
"Fightin' fo'? Jest fo' the fun of it, marm."
She surveyed him grimly and then her features softened.
"I reckon yo're too tough to get hurt much," she said. "I can fix up
that eye. I sh'ud think a man of yore age 'ud have more sense than
fightin' at all in front of a crowd of hoodlums who ought to be asleep,
'stead of disturbin' the whole camp, let alone for sech a ridicklus
reason."
"I didn't think the reason ridicklus," said Mormon, and the spinster's
lips twitched.
"What he wants is a lancin' an' a chunk of raw beef," put in Simpson,
with a sympathetic wink at Mormon that suggested more pungent remedies
in the background. "Come up to my place."
There may have been some thought of trade from the many who would want
to see the victor at close range. Mormon hesitated, all slowly moving
toward the bridge. Men were staring toward the mesa whence came a
high-powered car, rushing at high speed, magnificently driven, taking
curve and pitch and level with superb judgment. Its lights flamed out on
the night. It turned and came on, stopping on the bridge, blocked by the
crowd that made slow opening for it. The driver, in chauffeur's livery,
sat immobile, controlling the car, his worldly-wise, blase face like a
mask. Two men were in the tonneau. One of them leaned forward, looking
at the crowd, a square-jawed man, clean-shaven but for the bristle of a
silver mustache beneath an aggressive nose, above a firm hard mouth and
determined chin. The mintage of the East was stamped upon his features.
He was a man accustomed to sway, if not to lead. His companion was as
plainly as eastern product, but his manner was subordinate though his
face that, alone of the three, seemed to hold a measure of fearful
wonder at the turbulent throng of men, was shrewd enough.
"I'm looking for a man named Plimsoll," said the first of these two, his
voice an indication that he was accustomed to a quick answer. "He wired
me about some claims. Where'll I find him?" He made no question
concerning the crowd, his eyes passed casually over Mormon's damaged
countenance, over the procession that bore Russell, sack-fashion. Here
was a man who, at any hour of the twenty-four, was primed for business
and for profit.
Yet he could not fail but see that his question charged the crowd with
some emotion he could not fathom. The night was spent, it was getting
close to dawn. The issue between Sandy Bourke and Plimsoll, crowded
aside for the moment, was now paramount. Some craned for sight of the
two-gun man, others glanced toward the eastern sky. The stars seemed to
be losing their brilliance, the golden moon turning silver, the high
horizon, jagged with mountain crests, appeared to be gaining form and a
third dimension.
"You'll likely find him at his place," answered a miner. "Up-street on
the left. Name's outside."
They let the car go on in a lane that was pressed out of their ranks.
They fell in behind or alongside of it as it passed slowly up the
street. One or two of the bolder got on the running boards unchecked.
The easterner who was looking for Plimsoll took in the situation as
something beyond his present range, accepting it. Sandy turned to
Mormon.
"You better see Miss Mirandy up to her claim," he said, his voice casual
enough. Mormon started an appeal but it died unvoiced. The spinster knew
nothing of the clash impending between Sandy and the gambler, neither
did her nephew, who, the excitement of the fight over, yawned and went
off with his aunt and Mormon.
"I'll bring you up that chunk of meat, Mormon," whispered Sam. "An' I'll
bring you somethin' stronger, same time."
"Don't bring it all on yore breath," Mormon whispered back. "If I hear
any shootin' I'll come back lopin'."
"There won't be any shootin'," said Sam. "You go soak that eye of yores
in Mirandy Bailey's sage tea. Me 'n' Sandy, we'll handle Plimsoll." Then
Sam broke clear from Mormon and hurried after Sandy and Westlake.
Sandy walked up the street without hurry and, as they had made way from
the car, men gave him space. The nearer he got to Plimsoll's place the
more room they allowed him. They melted away from the car on all sides,
leaving it clearest between the machine and the entrance to the gambling
shack. The chauffeur preserved his bored look and carved attitude. His
face was lined with lack of sleep and the strain of driving at high
speed over unknown mountain roads, powdered gray with dust. He seemed
almost an automaton. The man with the square face looked alertly about
him at the crowd, giving place to the lean tall man walking leisurely up
the street, high lights touching the metal of the two guns that hung in
holsters well to the front of his hips. Sandy's face was serene, but
there was no mistaking the fact that the star performer of the moment
had come upon the stage. Five paces back of him strolled Sam, his eyes
dancing with the excitement that did not show in Sandy's steel-gray
orbs. Westlake followed to one side, by the advice of Sam.
The stranger saw that Sandy walked lightly, on the balls of his feet,
with a springy tread. He appraised his face, frown-lines appeared
between his eyebrows and he half rose in his seat. Then the door of the
cabin opened and the man who had volunteered to find Plimsoll emerged.
"He's comin' right along," he announced.
It was Plimsoll's way--the professional gambler's way--to play his cards
until he knew himself beaten. He had been hoping for the arrival of this
man. He represented capital, the development of the camp into a mining
town, the movement of money, the boom of quick sales. With his
backing--once the camp understood what it meant to all of them--he might
turn the tables on Sandy Bourke. The protection of Capital was powerful.
He came out licking his lips nervously, with a swift survey that took in
the setting of the stage prepared for his entrance. His eyes, shifting
from the big machine, as if drawn by something beyond his will, focused
on the figure of Sandy, easy but sinister in its capacity to avoid all
melodrama. Half-way between door and car he halted.
"Plimsoll?" said the stranger. "I am Keith."
The light was perceptibly changing. Faces of men came out of the
shadows, pale but visible. The lights of the machine changed from yellow
to pale lemon, the flares outside the cabins, the illumination of the
windows altered. High up, a tiny fleck of cloud caught the fire of the
as yet unseen sun, rolling on to dawn behind the range. Things seemed
flat, lacking full definition, lacking shadow. In the east the sky
showed gray behind the dark purple crests between which mists were
trailing. Men shivered, half from cold, half from tension and lack of
sleep.
"Plimsoll," said Sandy. "That peak oveh on Sawtooth Range is goin' to
catch the light first. I'll call it sun-up when the sun looks oveh the
mesa."
Plimsoll bared his teeth in a fox-grin. Sandy stood with his hands by
his sides, covering him with his eyes. Plimsoll looked at the hands that
he knew could move swifter than he could follow, he looked at the car
with Keith gazing from him to Sandy, he sensed the waiting strain of all
the men, waiting to see Sandy shoot--if he did not go, to see him
crumple up in the dust, and--he looked at the peak on Sawtooth and his
face grayed as the granite suddenly flushed with rose. His will melted,
he turned and went inside his cabin. No one followed him, there was no
one inside to greet him. His heart was filled with helpless rage,
centered against Sandy Bourke. He knew the camp was against him,
considering him outbluffed or outmatched. His horse, ready saddled, had
been at the door since midnight. He mounted, dug spurs into the beast's
flanks and went galloping madly up the slope that rose from the street
gulch leading down to the main gulch of Flivver Creek. He was
shortcutting for the mesa road, hate in his heart, his blood, his brain;
poisoning hate that turned all his secretions to gall. His plans for
wealth had been blocked by a man he dared not face. Before Sandy Bourke
his spirit flinched as a leaf shrinks and curls from flame. The forced
acknowledgment of it was an acid aggravation. He raked his horse's
flanks with his rowels and the spirited brute, pick of all Plimsoll's
horse herd, tore up the hillside to suit the mad humor of his master,
who was permeated with the venom of a man who knows his deeds at once
evil and futile, a venom that was bound to spread until the infection
mastered him, body and mind and soul, steeped them in a devil's brew
that permitted of no other thought but what was dominated by the mad
desire to get even.
Some one caught sight of the galloping horse and rider lunging along in
a cloud of dust that showed golden as the sun rose and looked over the
mesa. He raised a shout that was joined in by the rest, that reached the
flying Plimsoll as the view-halloo reaches the fox making for its
earth.