IN TIMBER CITY
On the porch of the Cameron cottage, Endicott and Colston, absorbed in
business, talked until the ends of their cigars made glowing red spots
in the darkness. The deal by which Endicott became sole proprietor of
the Y Bar outfit was consummated, and Colston's promise to have the
papers drawn up in the morning was interrupted by a furious volley of
shots from the direction of the Red Front. Colston smiled: "NL rodeo
probably camped near here an' the boys run in to wake up the town!"
Endicott glanced swiftly about him: "But, my wife!" he exclaimed, "Where
is she? She promised to return before dark, and--why, it must have been
dark for an hour!"
Colston noting the look of genuine alarm on the man's face, sought to
reassure him: "Oh, well, she probably got interested in the scenery and
rode a little farther than she intended. She'll be along directly----"
"Something may have happened--an accident----"
"Not much chance of that. Powder Face is woman broke, an' gentle as any
cayuse can get. About that lower range I was tellin' you--where the
Wilson sheep are creepin' in--" With merely the barest pretence of
listening, Endicott rose, opened the screen door, tossed his cigar into
the yard, and began pacing up and down the porch. At each turn he paused
and peered out into the darkness.
The older man got up and stood beside him: "There's nothin' to worry
about, my boy. An' that's one of the first things you'll learn--not to
worry. A dozen things can happen to delay anyone, an' they're hardly
ever serious. If it'll ease your mind any, we'll ride down town, maybe
she stopped to take in the excitement, an' if she ain't there we'll ride
out on the trail a piece."
The scattering shots that followed the volley had ceased and as the two
proceeded down the sandy street in silence, a light appeared suddenly in
the Red Front, from whose doors issued a babble of voices as of many men
talking at once. Dismounting, Colston and Endicott entered to see Barras
standing upon the bar in the act of lighting the second of the two huge
swinging lamps. "Looks like there'd been a battle," grinned Colston,
eyeing the barricade of kegs, the splintered mirror, and the litter of
broken glass.
"I'll tell a hand it was a battle!" vouchsafed a bystander. "That there
Texian, onct he got a-goin', was some ructious! He made his brag that he
was a wolf an' it was his night to howl. An', believe me! He was a curly
wolf! An' he howled, an' by God, he prowled! An' he's prowlin' yet--him
an' his woman, too."
"Texan!" cried Colston.
"Woman!" shouted Endicott. "What woman?"
"What woman d'ye s'pose?" growled Barras, glaring wrathfully from the
bar. "I don't know what woman. His woman, I guess--anyways they got
plumb away after we had him all _see_rounded, an' all over but the
shoutin'--an' all on account of Timber City's got a marshal which his
head's solid bone plumb through, like a rock; an' left the keg shoot
wide open fer him to beat it!"
"If you're so damn smart, why didn't you think of the keg shoot?"
retorted the representative of law and order. "You know'd it was there
an' I didn't."
"You lie! Unless you've fergot a whole lot sence--" A crash of thunder
drowned the irate bartender's voice.
"Hold on, Pete, don't git to runnin' off at the head an' say somethin'
yer sorry fer----"
"You'd be the one to be sorry, if folks know'd----"
"Talkin' don't git you nothin'. You listen here. We'll git this party
yet. If the boys that took after him don't bring him in, I'll post a
reward of a hundred dollars cash money out of my own pocket fer him----"
"Post it, then," snapped Barras, somewhat mollified, "git it on paper--"
Another, louder clap of thunder followed a vivid lightning flash and
wild with apprehension, Endicott forced his way to the bar and
interrupted the quarrel: "What did this woman look like? Where is she?"
A dozen men, all talking at once answered him: "Good looker--" "Wore
bran' new ridin' outfit--" "Rode a blaze-face buckskin--" "Said she
knowed him--" "Went right in--" "Tried to dicker with Hod an' git him
off--" The marshal pushed through the crowd to Endicott's side: "An'
what's more, when he come bustin' out of the alley an' rode off down the
trail she follered right in behind so we didn't dast to shoot; er we'd
of got him. If you want to know what I think, they're a couple of
desperadoes that figgered on stickin' up the express box over to the
hotel, bein' as the payroll fer the Rock Creek mine come in today, only
he got drunk first an' queered the game. An' what I want to know," the
man continued, thrusting his face close to Endicott's, "is who the hell
you be, an'----"
The hotel keeper interrupted importantly: "Him an' the woman come in on
the stage an' wanted a couple rooms an' changed into them ridin'
outfits, an' slipped out an' didn't show up fer supper! I mistrusted
they was somethin' suspicious--they wanted a bath--an' the old woman
usin' the tubs----"
"An' bein' as we couldn't git you all," broke in the marshal, drawing
his gun, and at the same time pulling back his coat and displaying a
huge badge, "we'll jest take what we kin git. Yer under arrest, an' fer
fear you might be as handy with yer guns as yer pardner, you kin stick
up yer hands----"
"Hold on!" Colston's words boomed above the voices of the men who had
surged forward to hold Endicott.
"It's Y Bar Colston!" someone cried, and all eyes turned to the speaker.
The marshal eyed him sullenly as the men made way for him.
The ranchman was smiling: "Don't go makin' any mistakes, Hod," he said,
"let me make you acquainted with Mr. Endicott, of Cincinnati, Ohio,
owner of the Y Bar."
"The Y Bar!"
"Yes. I sold out to him this evenin'--lock, stock, an' barrel."
The marshal dropped his gun into its holster and eyed Endicott shrewdly:
"Sorry I got you wrong," he mumbled, extending his hand. "Blake's my
name. Glad to meet you. I run the store here. Carry the biggest stock
between Lewiston an' the Mizoo. Where do you figger on doin' yer
tradin'?"
Endicott made a gesture of impatience: "I haven't figured at all. But
this woman--my wife? How long has she been gone? Which way did she go?
And why----?"
"Be'n gone pretty clost to an' hour. Went down the trail to the Mizoo.
You kin search me fer why, onless it was to keep us from shootin' after
that hell-roarin' Texian. She said she know'd him. Who is he, an'
what's she so anxious he don't git shot fer?"
Before Endicott could reply, hoof-beats sounded on the trail, and in the
doorway a man yelled "They're comin' back!" Disregarding the rain which
fell in torrents the crowd surged into the street and surrounded the
horsemen who drew up before the door.
"They didn't git 'em!" "Where'd they go?" Eager questions were hurled in
volleys.
As the men dismounted the light from the windows glistened on wet
slickers. Ike Stork acted as spokesman, and with white face and
tight-pressed lips, Endicott hung on every word. "Got to the river," he
explained, as he shook the water from his hat, "an' piled onto Long
Bill's ferry, an' cut 'er loose. We didn't dast to shoot on account of
the woman. We couldn't see nothin' then till the storm broke, an' by the
lightnin' flashes we seen the boat in the middle of the river--an' boys,
she's some river! I've be'n a residenter in these parts fer it's goin'
on twenty year, an' I never seen the like--bank-full an' trees an' bresh
so thick you can't hardly see no water. Anyways, there they was an' all
to onct there come a big flash, an' we seen a pine with its roots an'
branches ra'red up high as a house right on top of 'em. Then, the cable
went slack--an' when the next flash come, they wasn't no boat--only
timber an' bresh a-tearin' down stream, it looked like a mile a
minute."
"And they were both on the boat?" Endicott's words came haltingly, and
in the lamplight his face looked grey and drawn.
Ike Stork nodded: "Yes, both of 'em--an' the two horses."
"Isn't there a chance? Isn't it possible that they're--that the boat is
still afloat?"
"We-ell," considered Ike, "I wouldn't say it's plumb onpossible. But it
would be like ketchin' a straight-flush in the middle in a pot that had
be'n boosted to the limit--with a full deck, an' nothin' wild."
Endicott turned away as the crowd broke into a babble of voices. Colston
took him gently by the arm, but the younger man shook his head: "No,
I--I want to think," he whispered, and with a nod of understanding the
ranchman proceeded slowly toward the hotel. As Endicott passed from the
glare of light thrown by the windows of the Red Front, Ike Stork managed
to pass close to him. "They're a-floatin'," he whispered, "I seen 'em a
flash or two afterwards. But the others didn't, an' they ain't no use
spittin' out all you know. If anyone kin make 'er, them two
will--they're game plumb through."
"You mean--" cried Endicott--but Ike Stork had mingled with the crowd.
At the door of the Red Front, Barras was importuning the marshal: "Gwan
over to the printin' office an' git out that reward. I'm a-goin' to git
paid fer these here damages."
"I hain't a-goin' to pay out no reward fer no drownded man!"
Endicott shuddered, and paused as the bartender's next words reached his
ears: "If he's drownded the river'll take him farther than what them
hand bills will git to. An' if he hain't, I want them damages."
Endicott hurried toward the two who stood slightly apart from the crowd:
"If you are offering a reward," he said, "I will add a thousand for
information concerning my wife."
"A thousand!" exclaimed the marshal, "dead or alive?"
Endicott nodded: "Yes," he answered, "dead or alive," and turning
abruptly, walked slowly up the street entirely unheeding the shadowy
form that kept pace with him in the darkness.
The storm ceased as suddenly as it had broken, and at the outskirts of
the town the man paused and sank onto a boulder with his head in his
arms. Minutes passed as he sat thus, too dazed to think. He was
conscious of a dull pain in his heart, and his brain felt numb and
pinched as though an iron band were being drawn tighter and tighter
about his skull. Gradually his mind began to function. The words of Ike
Stork recurred to him: "They're floatin'. If anyone kin make 'er
through, them two will." Very possibly his wife was alive--but, where?
Why had she ridden after this Texan, and why was she on the river with
him? Methodically, step by step, the man retraced the events of their
year of married life. They had been wondrously happy together. They had
often spoken of the Texan--had wondered what had become of him. They had
both written to him, addressing their letters to Wolf River, but all the
letters had come back stamped "Return to writer." He remembered that she
had been disappointed, but so had he. Was it possible that _all_ the
letters had not been returned? He remembered how eager she had been to
spend their anniversary in Timber City. She had talked of it for months.
And he remembered how she had urged him to buy a ranch and live at least
part of the time in the West. And when he had got in touch with Colston
through a real estate broker, he remembered how enthusiastic she had
been over the prospect. How they had planned and planned, until she had
imparted to him a goodly share of her enthusiasm. Was her love all for
the West? Could it be that the Texan--? Surely, her previous experience
had hardly been one that should have engendered any great love for the
cattle country. He thought with a shudder of Purdy, of the flight in the
night, and the subsequent trip through the bad lands. The one pleasant
memory in the whole adventure had been the Texan--Tex, the
devil-may-care, the irresponsible, the whimsical. And yet, withal, the
capable, the masterful. He recollected vividly that there had been days
of indecision--days when her love had wavered between himself and this
man of the broad open spaces. Long before this adventure of the wilds
Endicott had known her,--had loved her--and she had never taken him
seriously.
With the suddenness of a blow, came the thought that when she did choose
him--when finally she yielded to his pleading and consented to become
his wife, it was because he had unexpectedly shown some of the
attributes that were the inborn heritage of the Texan. Could it be that
his great love for her had found no answering chord in her heart? If she
had loved the Texan, why had she married him? Could it be that she did
not even now take him seriously? Was her love so shallow a thing that it
must be fanned into a flame by the winds of high adventure? He knew that
the commonplaces of society bored her to extinction. Had the humdrum
existence of civilization palled on her until her heart in very
desperation had turned to her knight of the boundless plains. Had she
deliberately planned this journey in order to be once more with the
Texan? Had their meeting--their flight, even, been prearranged? Endicott
groaned aloud, and the next moment a hand was placed on his shoulder. He
leaped to his feet and peered into the face that stood vaguely outlined
in the darkness.
"_Oui_, A'm t'ink you don' 'member Ol' Bat."
"Bat! Bat!" cried the man, "remember you! I guess I do remember you!" He
seized a leathery hand in his own. "I'd rather see you, now, than any
man in the world. What do you make of it, Bat? Tell me--what has
happened?"
"_Oui_, A'm t'ink dat 'bout tam' A'm com' 'long. A'm t'ink you feel
pret' bad, _non_? A'm com' 'long w'en de men com' back for no kin ketch
Tex."
"You heard what they said?"
"_Oui_, A'm hear dat."
"Do you think they're alive?"
"_Oui, bien!_ A'm stan' clos' I kin git beside de hoss, an' A'm hear dat
man say de boat floatin' off, an' he ain' gon' spit 'bout dat. You com'
'long Ol' Bat--we fin' um."
Endicott thrust his face close and stared straight into the half-breed's
eyes: "Have you been with Tex all the time--this past year?"
"_Oui_, him wagon boss on Y Bar, an' me, A'm cook."
"Would you have known it if he had been writing letters? Has he ever
talked about--about--my wife?"
"_Non_, he ain' git lettaire. He don' talk 'bout dat 'oman. He lov' her
too mooch----"
"_What!_" Endicott grasped the half-breed's arm and shook him roughly.
"_Oui_, he lov' dat 'oman so bad he ain' talk 'bout dat."
"You mean, you think they've planned it all out to run away together?"
Bat regarded the other gravely: "W'at you t'ink?" he asked, abruptly.
Endicott found it strangely hard to answer the direct question: "I--I
don't know what to think."
"W'at you t'ink?" insisted the half-breed.
"What can I think?" cried the man in desperation. "She planned to be
here today--and she met him here--and they are gone! What do you think?"
The half-breed answered slowly and very directly: "Me, A'm t'ink, you
pret' mooch, w'at you call, de Godam fool. You lov' dat 'oman. You be'n
marry wan year--an' you ain' know dat 'oman. You de gran' pilgrim. Me,
A'm know dat 'oman. Ol' Bat, she tell Tex way back on Antelope Butte,
dat tam, dat ain' hees 'oman--dat de pilgrim 'oman. Dat 'oman, he lov'
you--Ol' Bat, know dat. Tex, she ain' belief dat," he paused and
shrugged, expressively. "W'at de hell! She mar' de pilgrim, lak A'm say.
An' Tex she feel ver' bad. She ain' drink no booze for wan' year--becos'
she t'ink, w'en she feel lak dat, de booze she git heem--an' she would.
A'm know 'bout dat, too. A'm know Tex. A'm know he gon' git drunk today,
sure as hell. So A'm com' long tonight an' git heem hom'. He lov' dat
oman too mooch. Dat hurt heem lak hell een here." The old half-breed
paused to tap his breast, and proceeded. "He ain' wan' see dat 'oman no
more. She com' 'long, w'at you call, de haccident. Me, A'm ain' know how
dat com' dey gon'--but no mattaire. Dat all right. Dat good 'oman an'
Tex, he good man, too. He ain' harm dat 'oman--he got de good heart. A'm
ain' say dat Tex she ain' got not'in' to do wit' 'omans. But she know de
good 'oman--an' she lov' dat good 'oman--an' dat 'oman she safe wit'
Tex lak she wit' de own modder. You come 'long now wit' Ol' Bat, an' git
de hoss, we gon' fin'. Mebbe-so tomor', mebbe-so nex' week--dat mak' no
differ'. You fin' out dat all right." Old Bat ceased abruptly and
started off and as Endicott followed him blindly through the dark, his
eyes burned hot, and scalding tears coursed down his cheeks and dropped
unheeded to the ground.