BLACK BART TURNS NURSE
It was old Mrs. Daniels who woke first at the sound of scratching and
growling. She roused her husband and son, and all three went to the
door, Buck in the lead with his six-gun in his hand. At sight of the
wolf he started back and raised the gun, but Black Bart fawned about
his feet.
"Don't shoot--it's a dog, an' there's his master!" cried Sam. "By the
Lord, they's a dead man tied on that there hoss!"
Dan lay on Satan, half fallen from the saddle, with his head hanging
far down, only sustained by the strength of the rein. The stallion,
wholly spent, stood with his legs braced, his head low, and his breath
coming in great gasps. The family ran to the rescue. Sam cut the rein
and Buck lowered the limp body in his arms.
"Buck, is he dead?" whispered Mrs. Daniels.
"I don't feel no heart beat," said Buck. "Help me fetch him into the
house, Dad!"
"Look out for the hoss!" cried Sam.
Buck started back with his burden just in time, for Satan,
surrendering to his exhaustion, pitched to the ground, and lay with
sprawling legs like a spent dog rather than a horse.
"Let the hoss be," said Buck. "Help me with the man. He's hurt bad."
Mrs. Daniels ran ahead and lighted a lamp. They laid the body
carefully upon a bed. It made a ghastly sight, the bloodless face with
the black hair fallen wildly across the forehead, the mouth loosely
open, and the lips black with dust.
"Dad!" said Buck. "I think I've seen this feller. God knows if he's
livin' or dead."
He dropped to his knees and pressed his ear over Dan's heart.
"I can't feel no motion. Ma, get that hand mirror--"
She had it already and now held it close to the lips of the wounded
man. When she drew it away their three heads drew close together.
"They's a mist on it! He's livin'!" cried Buck.
"It ain't nothing," said Sam. "The glass ain't quite clear, that's
all."
Mrs. Daniels removed the last doubt by running her finger across the
surface of the glass. It left an unmistakable mark.
They wasted no moment then. They brought hot and cold water, washed
out his wound, cleansed away the blood; and while Mrs. Daniels and her
husband fixed the bandage, Buck pounded and rubbed the limp body to
restore the circulation. In a few minutes his efforts were rewarded by
a great sigh from Dan.
He shouted in triumph, and then: "By God, it's Whistlin' Dan Barry."
"It is!" said Sam. "Buck, they's been devils workin' tonight. It sure
took more'n one man to nail him this way."
They fell to work frantically. There was a perceptible pulse, the
breathing was faint but steady, and a touch of colour came in the
face.
"His arm will be all right in a few days," said Mrs. Daniels, "but he
may fall into a fever. He's turnin' his head from side to side and
talkin'. What's he sayin', Buck?"
"He's sayin': 'Faster, Satan.'"
"That's the hoss," interpreted Sam.
"'Hold us straight, Bart!' That's what he's sayin' now."
"That's the wolf."
"'An' it's all for Delilah!' Who's Delilah, Dad?"
"Maybe it's some feller Dan knows."
"Some feller?" repeated Mrs. Daniels with scorn. "It's some worthless
girl who got Whistlin' Dan into this trouble."
Dan's eyes opened but there was no understanding in them.
"Haines, I hate you worse'n hell!"
"It's Lee Haines who done this!" cried Sam.
"If it is, I'll cut out his heart!"
"It can't be Haines," broke in Mrs. Daniels. "Old man Perkins, didn't
he tell us that Haines was the man that Whistlin' Dan Barry had
brought down into Elkhead? How could Haines do this shootin' while he
was in jail?"
"Ma," said Sam, "you watch Whistlin' Dan. Buck an' me'll take care of
the hoss--that black stallion. He's pretty near all gone, but he's
worth savin'. What I don't see is how he found his way to us. It's
certain Dan didn't guide him all the way."
"How does the wind find its way?" said Buck. "It was the wolf that
brought Dan here, but standin' here talkin' won't tell us how. Let's
go out an' fix up Satan."
It was by no means an easy task. As they approached the horse he
heaved himself up, snorting, and stood with legs braced, and pendant
head. Even his eyes were glazed with exhaustion, but behind them
it was easy to guess the dauntless anger which raged against these
intruders. Yet he would have been helpless against them. It was Black
Bart who interfered at this point. He stood before them, his hair
bristling and his teeth bared.
Sam suggested: "Leave the door of the house open an' let him hear
Whistlin' Dan's voice."
It was done. At once the delirious voice of Dan stole out to them
faintly. The wolf turned his head to Satan with a plaintive whine, as
if asking why the stallion remained there when that voice was audible.
Then he raced for the open door and disappeared into the house.
"Hurry in, Buck!" called Sam. "Maybe the wolf'll scare Ma!"
They ran inside and found Black Bart on the bed straddling the body of
Whistling Dan, and growling at poor Mrs. Daniels, who crouched in a
corner of the room. It required patient work before he was convinced
that they actually meant no harm to his master.
"What's the reason of it?" queried Sam helplessly. "The damn wolf let
us take Dan off the hoss without makin' any fuss."
"Sure he did," assented Buck, "but he ain't sure of me yet, an' every
time he comes near me he sends the cold chills up my back."
Having decided that he might safely trust them to touch Dan's body,
the great wolf went the round and sniffed them carefully, his hair
bristling and the forbidding growl lingering in his throat. In the end
he apparently decided that they might be tolerated, though he must
keep an eye upon their actions. So he sat down beside the bed and
followed with an anxious eye every movement of Mrs. Daniels. The men
went back to the stallion. He still stood with legs braced far apart,
and head hanging low. Another mile of that long race and he would have
dropped dead beneath his rider.
Nevertheless at the coming of the strangers he reared up his head a
little and tried to run away. Buck caught the dangling reins near
the bit. Satan attempted to strike out with his forehoof. It was a
movement as clumsy and slow as the blow of a child, and Buck easily
avoided it. Realizing his helplessness Satan whinnied a heart-breaking
appeal for help to his unfailing friend, Black Bart. The wail of the
wolf answered dolefully from the house.
"Good Lord," groaned Buck. "Now we'll have that black devil on our
hands again."
"No, we won't," chuckled Sam, "the wolf won't leave Dan. Come on
along, old hoss."
Nevertheless it required hard labour to urge and drag the stallion
to the stable. At the end of that time they had the saddle off and a
manger full of fodder before him. They went back to the house with the
impression of having done a day's work.
"Which it shows the fool nature of a hoss," moralized Sam. "That
stallion would be willin' to lay right down and die for the man
that's jest rode him up to the front door of death, but he wishes
everlastingly that he had the strength to kick the daylight out of you
an' me that's been tryin' to take care of him. You jest write this
down inside your brain, Buck: a hoss is like a woman. They jest
nacherally ain't no reason in 'em!"
They found Dan in a heavy sleep, his breath coming irregularly. Mrs.
Daniels stated that it was the fever which she had feared and she
offered to sit up with the sick man through the rest of that night.
Buck lifted her from the chair and took her place beside the bed.
"No one but me is goin' to take care of Whistlin' Dan," he stated.
So the vigil began, with Buck watching Dan, and Black Bart alert,
suspicious, ready at the first wrong move to leap at the throat of
Buck.