IN THE PIT
The round-up was over. A trainload of Concho steers was on its way
East, accompanied by four of the Concho boys. The season had been a
good one and prices were fair. Bailey was feeling well. There was no
obvious reason for his restlessness. He had eaten a hearty breakfast.
The sky was clear, and a thin, fragrant wind ran over the high mesa, a
wind as refreshing as a drink of cold mountain water on a hot day.
Suddenly it occurred to Bailey that the deer season was open--that "the
hunting winds were loose." Somewhere in the far hills the bucks were
running again. A little venison would be a welcome change from a
fairly steady diet of beef.
Bailey saddled up, and hung his rifle under the stirrup-leather. He
tucked a compact lunch in his saddle-pockets, filled a _morral_ with
grain and set off in the direction of the Blue Range.
Once on the way and his restlessness evaporated. He did not realize
that deer-hunting was an excuse to be alone.
Jim Bailey, however, was not altogether happy. He was worried about
Young Pete. The incident at the round-up had set him thinking. The
T-Bar-T and the Concho men were not over-friendly. There were certain
questions of grazing and water that had never been definitely settled.
The Concho had always claimed the right to run their cattle on the Blue
Mesa with the Blue Range as a tentative line of demarcation. The
T-Bar-T always claimed the Blue as part of their range. There had been
some bickering until the killing of Annersley, when Bailey promptly
issued word to his men to keep the Concho cattle north of the
homestead. He had refused to have anything to do with the raid, nor
did he now intend that his cattle should be an evidence that he had
even countenanced it.
Young Pete had unwittingly stirred up the old enmity. Any untoward act
of a cowboy under such circumstances would be taken as expressive of
the policy of the foreman. Even if Pete's quarrel was purely a
personal matter there was no telling to what it might lead. The right
or wrong of the matter, personally, was not for Bailey to decide. His
duty was to keep his cattle where they belonged and his men out of
trouble. And because he was known as level-headed and capable he held
the position of actual manager of the Concho--owned by an Eastern
syndicate--but he was too modest and sensible to assume any such title,
realizing that as foreman he was in closer touch with his men. They
told him things, as foreman, that as manager he would have heard
indirectly through a foreman--qualified or elaborated as that official
might choose.
As he jogged along across the levels Bailey thought it all over. He
would have a talk with Young Pete when he returned and try to show him
that his recent attitude toward Gary militated against the Concho's
unprinted motto: "The fewer quarrels the more beef."
Halfway across the mesa there was what was known as "The Pit "; a
circular hole in the plain; rock-walled, some forty or fifty yards in
diameter and as many yards deep. Its bottom was covered with fine,
loose sand, a strange circumstance in a country composed of tufa and
volcanic rock. Legend had it that the Pit was an old Hopi tank, or
water-hole--a huge cistern where that prehistoric tribe conserved the
rain. Bits of broken pottery and scattered beads bore out this theory,
and round the tank lay the low, crumbling mounds of what had once been
a village.
The trail on the Blue ran close to the Pit, and no rider passing it
failed to glance down. Cattle occasionally strayed into it and if weak
were unable to climb out again without help from horse and rope. As
Bailey approached, he heard the unmistakable bark of a six-shooter. He
slipped from his horse, strode cautiously to the rim, and peered over.
Young Pete had ridden his horse down the ragged trail and was at the
moment engaged in six-gun practice. Bailey drew back and sat down.
Pete had gathered together some bits of rock and had built a target
loosely representing a man. The largest rock, on which was laid a
small round, bowlder for a head, was spattered with lead. Pete, quite
unconscious of an audience, was cutting loose with speed and accuracy.
He threw several shots at the place which represented the vitals of his
theoretical enemy, punched the shells from his gun, and reloaded. Then
he stepped to his horse and led him opposite the target and some twenty
feet from it. Crouching, he fired under the horse's belly. The horse
bucked and circled the enclosure. Pete strode after him, caught him
up, and repeated the performance. Each time Pete fired, the horse
naturally jumped and ran. Patiently Pete caught him up again. Finally
the animal, although trembling and wild-eyed, stood to the gun. Pete
patted its neck. Reloading he mounted. Bailey was curious to see what
the boy would do next. Pete turned the horse and, spurring him, flung
past the target, emptying his gun as he went. Then he dismounted and
striding up to within ten yards of the man-target, holstered his gun
and stood for a moment as still as a stone itself. Suddenly his hand
flashed to his side. Bailey rubbed his eyes. The gun had not come
from the holster, yet the rock target was spattered with five more
shots. Bailey could see the lead fly as the blunt slugs flattened on
the stone.
"The young son-of-a-gun!" muttered Bailey. "Dinged if he ain't
shootin' through the open holster! Where in blazes did he learn that
bad-man trick?"
Thus far Pete had not said a word, even to the horse. But now that he
had finished his practice he strode to the rock-target and thrust his
hand against it. "You're dead!" he exclaimed. "You're plumb
salivated!" He pushed, and the man-target toppled and fell.
"Ain't you goin' to bury him?" queried Bailey.
Pete whirled. The color ran up his neck and face. "H'lo, Jim."
"How'd you know it was me?" Bailey stood up.
"Knowed your voice."
"Well, come on up. I was wonderin' who was down there settin' off the
fireworks. Didn't hear you till I got most on top of you. You sure
got some private shootin'-gallery."
Pete led his pony up the steep trail and squatted beside Bailey. "How
long you been watching me, Jim?"
"Oh, jest since you started shooting under your hoss. What's the idea?"
"Nothin', jest practicin'."
"You must 'a' been practicin' quite a' spell. You handle that
smoke-wagon like an ole-timer."
"I ain't advertisin' it."
"Well, it's all right, Pete. Glad I got a front seat. Never figured
you was a top-hand with a gun. Now I'm wise. I know enough not to
stack up against you."
Pete smiled his slow smile and pushed back his hat. "I reckon you're
right about that. I never did no shootin' in company. Ole José
Montoya always said to do your practicin' by yourself, and then nobody
knows just how you would play your hand."
Bailey frowned and nodded. "Well, seein' as I'm in on it, Pete, I'd
kind of like to know myself."
"Why, I'm jest figurin' that some day mebby somebody'll want to hang my
hide on the fence. I don't aim to let him."
"Meanin' Gary?"
"The same. I ain't _lookin'_ for Gary--even if he did shoot down Pop
Annersley--nor I ain't tryin' to keep out of his way. I'm ridin' this
country and I'm like to meet up with him 'most any time. That's all."
"Shucks, Pete! You forget Gary. He sure ain't worth gettin' hung for.
Gary ain't goin' to put you down so long as you ride for the Concho.
He knows somebody 'd get him. You jest practice shootin' all you
like--but tend to business the rest of the time and you'll live longer.
You can figure on one thing, if Gary was to get you he wouldn't live to
get out of this country."
"You're handin' me your best card," said Pete. "Gary killed Annersley.
The law didn't get Gary. And none of you fellas got him. He's ridin'
this here country yet. And you was tellin' me to forget him."
"But that's different, Pete. No one saw Gary shoot Annersley. It was
night. Annersley was killed in his cabin--by a shot through the
window. Anybody might have fired that shot. Why, you were there
yourself--and you can't prove who done it."
"I can't, eh? Well, between you and me, Jim, I _know_. One of Gary's
own men said that night when they were leavin' the cabin, 'It must 'a'
been Steve that drilled the ole man because Steve was the only puncher
who knowed where the window was and fired into it.'"
"I didn't know that. So you aim to even up, eh?"
"Nope. I jest aim to be ready to even up."
Bailey strode back to his horse. "I'm goin' up in the hills and look
for a deer. Want to take a little pasear with me?"
"Suits me, Jim."
"Come on, then."
They mounted and rode side by side across the noon mesa.
The ponies stepped briskly. The air was like a song. Far away the
blue hills invited exploration of their timbered and mysterious
silences.
"Makes a fella feel like forgettin' everything and everybody--but jest
this," said Pete, gesturing toward the ranges.
"The bucks'll be on the ridges," remarked Bailey.