THE COALITION
Perhaps there were some persons in Union County who, acquainted with the
details of the attack on Hollis, expected to read an account of it in
the _Kicker_. If there were any such they were disappointed. There
was nothing about the attack printed in the _Kicker_--nor did
Hollis talk to any stranger concerning it.
Ace's poem entitled "Woman" had gone into the paper, causing the
poet--for many days following the appearance of his composition--to look
upon his fellow punchers with a sort of condescending pity. On the
second day after his discussion with Miss Hazelton over Ace's poem
Hollis returned to the Circle Bar. He had succeeded in convincing Nellie
that he had answered thoughtlessly when he had informed her that he took
no interest in women, and though she had defiantly assured him that she
had not taken offense, there had been a light in her eyes upon his
departure which revealed gratification over his repentance. She stood
long on the porch after he had taken leave of her, watching him as he
rode slowly down the trail and disappeared around a turn. Then she
smiled regretfully, sighed, and went into the house.
Hollis's return to the Circle Bar was unostentatious and quite in
keeping with his method of doing things. Within the next few days he met
several of the Circle Bar men and there were mutterings against
Dunlavey, but Hollis discouraged action, assuring the mutterers that his
differences with Dunlavey were entirely personal and that he intended
carrying on the fight alone.
His wounds mended rapidly, and within two weeks--except for the broken
wrist--he was well as ever. Meanwhile Potter had succeeded in getting
the _Kicker_ out on time, though there had been a noticeable lack
of aggressiveness in the articles. Especially was this true of the
articles bearing upon the situation in Union County. Hollis had dictated
some of these, but even those which he had dictated had seemed to lack
something.
Nothing had been heard of Dunlavey--it seemed that after the attack upon
Hollis he had withdrawn from the scene to await the latter's next move.
But Hollis was in no hurry; he had lost some of the enthusiasm that had
marked his attitude in the beginning, but this enthusiasm had been
replaced by determination. He was beginning to realize that in Dunlavey
he had met a foe worthy of his most serious efforts. He had determined
that there would be no repetition of the attack upon him, and therefore
during his convalescence he had sent to Las Vegas for a repeating rifle,
and this he carried with him on his trips to and from Dry Bottom.
Meanwhile the drought continued. The sky was cloudless, the desultory
breezes that swept the plains blighted growing things, raising little
whirlwinds of fine, flinty alkali dust and spreading it over the face of
the world. The storm that had caught Hollis on the Dry Bottom trail had
covered only a comparatively small area; it had lasted only a brief time
and after its passage the country was dry as before.
Rabbit-Ear Creek of all the streams in the vicinity of Dry Bottom held
water. From all points of the compass cattle drifted to the Rabbit-Ear,
slaking their thirst and refusing to leave. Bronzed riders on drooping
ponies trailed them, cutting them out, trying to keep their herds
intact, but not succeeding. Confusion reigned. For miles in both
directions Rabbit-Ear Creek became one huge, long watering trough.
Temporary camps were made; chuck wagons rattled up to them, loaded with
supplies for the cowboys, and rattled back to distant ranches for more.
There had been other droughts, but this one was
unexpected--unprecedented. There had always been a little water
everywhere. Now Rabbit-Ear Creek held all there was.
Only the small cattle owners suffered because of the drought. Riders
told of the presence of plenty of water in the Canadian, the Cimarron,
and the Ute. Carrizo held some. In fact, nearly all the streams held by
the large ranchers seemed to contain plenty. The smaller owners, whose
herds were smaller and whose complement of punchers was necessarily
limited, had apparently been selected by Providence for ruin.
There were mutterings against the large owners, against Providence.
Particularly were there mutterings against Dunlavey when word came to
the owners of the herds that if the drought was not broken within the
next ten days the Circle Cross manager would drive all foreign cattle
from the Rabbit-Ear. He would not allow his own herds to suffer to save
theirs, he said.
On the night following the day upon which the small owners had received
this word from Dunlavey a number of the former waited upon Hollis. They
found him seated on the lower gallery of the ranchhouse talking to
Norton and Potter. Lemuel Train, of the Pig-pen outfit, had been
selected as their spokesman. He stood before Hollis, a big man,
diffident in manner and rough in appearance, surrounded by his fellow
ranchers, bronzed, bearded, serious of face. Though the sun had been
down three hours the heat was frightful and the visitors shuffled their
feet and uncomfortably wiped the perspiration from their brows.
"Sit down," invited Hollis. He rose and stood while the men draped
themselves on the edge of the gallery floor--all except the spokesman,
Lemuel Train. The latter faced Hollis. His face was grim in the dusk.
"We've come to see what you've got to say about water," he said.
Days before Norton had told Hollis that these men who were now herding
at the Rabbit-Ear were the small ranchers who had refused to aid the
elder Hollis in his fight against Dunlavey some years before. Therefore
Hollis did not answer at once. When he did his voice was dry and cold.
He too had heard of Dunlavey's ultimatum concerning the water.
"Before I say anything on that subject I should like to know to whom I
am talking," he said.
Train swept a ponderous hand toward his fellow visitors, pointing them
out in turn. "There's Truxton, of the Diamond Dot; Holcomb, of the Star;
Henningson, of the Three Bar; Yeager, of the Three Diamond; an' Clark,
of the Circle Y."
"Correct," affirmed Norton, behind Hollis.
Hollis smiled grimly; he had caught a belligerent note in Norton's
voice. Plainly, if the range boss were allowed a voice in the matter,
these visitors would have now received as little encouragement as they
had received from Dunlavey. But Hollis's smile showed that he held
different views.
"I am Kent Hollis," he said to the men; "I suppose you know that."
"I reckon we know you," said Train; "you're Jim Hollis's boy."
"Then you know that Dunlavey and my father were not exactly bosom
friends," returned Hollis.
Several heads bobbed affirmatively; others sat grimly silent. Hollis
smiled.
"How many of you offered to help my father when he came to you asking
for assistance in his fight against Dunlavey?"
Train fidgeted. "I reckon they wasn't much chance----" he began, and
then hesitated, looking around at his fellows.
"Of course," returned Hollis quietly, after an embarrassed pause, "there
wasn't much chance for you to win then. And you had to take a big risk
to help my father. But he had to take a bigger risk to fight alone.
Still he fought. And he fought alone. He was almost ruined. And now you
men are facing ruin. And you have come to Jim Hollis's son to help you.
Do you think he ought?"
The men sat silent; the spokesman was without words.
"How many men can the six of you muster--in case Dunlavey should try to
carry out his decision to drive your cattle from the Rabbit-Ear--or
shoot them?"
"Eighteen, I reckon," returned Train, looking at the others, who nodded
affirmatively to his question.
Hollis turned to Norton. "How many men does Dunlavey employ?" he
questioned.
"Thirty," snapped Norton. "But in case he needed them he c'n get a
hundred."
"Big odds," smiled Hollis. "Why should I volunteer to help you fight
Dunlavey? My cattle are certain of getting enough water. Why should I
not be selfish, as you men were when my father went to you for
assistance?"
There was no answer. The faces that surrounded Hollis in the
semi-darkness showed plainly that their owners had given up thoughts of
assistance. Grim, hard lines came into them; two or three sneered. Of
course they would fight Dunlavey; there was no alternative, for they
could not stand idly by and see their cattle slain--Dunlavey could not
drive them from water, they would have to be shot. They had reckoned on
securing help from Hollis; he held one side of the Rabbit-Ear and with
his support they were in a position to make things very unpleasant for
any of Dunlavey's men who might, from the opposite side of the river,
attempt to shoot their cattle. But with Hollis against them they would
be powerless; with Hollis against them Dunlavey's men could swarm both
sides of the river and the destruction of their cattle would be certain.
All of the men knew this. Yet they did not answer Hollis's question.
They had not come to plead with him; they knew that the situation had
narrowed down to a point where they could depend only on their own
resources. They would not plead, yet as they silently started to file
off the gallery there were bitter smiles on several of their faces.
There were no threats; perhaps Hollis had succeeded in showing them the
similarity between his conduct and their own in the long ago, when his
father had gone to them for assistance. At least this was what he had
tried to show them.
Lemuel Train was the last man down the gallery. He turned as he reached
the ground and looked back over his shoulder at Hollis.
"So-long," he said shortly. "I reckon you're even now."
Hollis had not moved. "Wait, Train!" he said. The visitors halted and
faced him.
"Men," he said quietly, "you have not answered my question. I am going
to repeat it: Why should I not be selfish, as you men were when my
father went to you for assistance?"
Lemuel Train smiled ironically. "Why, I reckon it's your trick, mister
man," he said; "you've got all the cards."
"Come back here, men," said Hollis. "Since none of you care to answer my
question I will answer it myself." He stood silent while the men filed
back and resumed seats on the gallery edge. Darkness had come on while
he had been talking to the men and inside the ranchhouse Mrs. Norton had
lighted the kerosene lamp and its weak, flickering rays straggled out
into the darkness and upon Hollis's face and the faces of several of the
men who sat on the edge of the gallery.
Hollis knew that he might readily become melodramatic in the few words
that he purposed to say to the men, and so when he began talking he
adopted a low, even tone, confidential, serious. He told them that the
things he had written in his salutatory in the _Kicker_, months
before, had been an honest declaration of the principles in which he
believed. This was America, he repeated; they were all Americans; they
were all entitled to that freedom of thought, speech, and movement for
which their forefathers had fought. For one, he purposed to fight, if
necessary, to retain his rights.
He told them that he held no ill-feeling against them on account of
their refusal to assist his father. That was past history. But now they
were to look into the future; they were all facing ruin if they did not
combine in a common cause. So far as he was concerned their cattle might
remain at the Rabbit-Ear until the drought ended, or until the stream
went dry. And if Dunlavey fought them--well, he would be with them to
the finish.
When he had concluded Lemuel Train stepped forward and shook his hand.
The others followed. There was no word spoken. The men filed down from
the gallery, sought their horses, mounted, and rode slowly away into the
darkness. When they had gone Hollis turned to resume his chair, but
found Norton standing near him, looking at him with a curious smile.
"Shake!" said the latter. "I knowed you'd do it that way!"