LEFEVER RECEIVES THE RAIDERS
Laramie knew Lefever to be quite equal to the highly particular job he
had assigned to him and that John would give his best to it. Hardly
thirty minutes later, the raiders rode out of the timber along the
creek. Van Horn stopped his pack for a word of warning:
"Look to your guns," he said harshly. "You can guess most o' you what
you'll be up against, if there's trouble at this joint." Leaving the
creek, the party rode out on a rarely used trail that, Stone told them,
led to Laramie's cabin. They followed this for some distance, keeping
two men ahead as they had done in the early morning. These two men,
reaching the bench, which at that point had been cut sharply away by a
flood, halted. The main party riding up the hill debouched on level
ground at the crest and joined their scouts. Half a mile to their
right stood Laramie's cabin. The bench land lying in front of it was
as smooth as a table and covered with mountain blue stem. Out of the
level ground, a hundred yards from the edge of the bench where
Doubleday's party had halted, rose a huge and solitary fragment of rock.
Beside this rock stood a large man facing the intruders; slung over his
left forearm he carried a rifle and his right hand he held well out
toward them with its open palm raised in the air. The raiders
understood the signal; it warned them to advance no farther.
"What's that fat buck doing up in this country?" asked Van Horn,
angrily.
"Who is it?" demanded Doubleday.
"John Lefever," returned Van Horn, greatly nettled. "What are you
doing here?" he bellowed at the unwelcome sentinel.
John pointed a stubby forefinger at Van Horn and returned a perfectly
intelligible retort: "That's not the first question, Harry; that's the
second question," he yelled. "What are you doing here?"
This was not in all respects a question easy to answer. But Van Horn
was resourceful: "We're on our way down the creek, John. Rode up from
the bottom to see Jim Laramie a minute."
"Just a friendly call," assented John. "Well, how about sidearms," he
shouted, "and how many of you are there?"
Van Horn looked around him: "Why, maybe a dozen, I reckon, John. You
know most everybody here."
"How many of you are there want to see Jim a minute, Harry?" asked
Lefever, calm but conveniently close to the rock and quite conscious of
the delicacy of his position should shooting begin.
There was some exchange of talk before the question was answered: "Look
here, Lefever," roared Doubleday huskily; "what the hell's all this
fuss about?"
"Why, it's like this, Barb," returned Lefever, nothing abashed. "When
I seen you crossing down there at the forks I thought maybe you'd lost
your Bibles in the creek. That's the way you acted. But when I seen
you and Harry Van Horn and Tom Stone loading your rifles in the timber,
I reckoned you must be comin' up to ask Jim to run for sheriff on the
cattle ticket."
Sarcasm could hardly convey more defiance and contempt. The riders
realized they had been watched and that deception was useless; Van Horn
was furiously angry. "Look here, Lefever," he called out, short and
sharp.
"I'm looking right there, Harry," yelled Lefever irreverently. "With a
bunch of mugs like that on the horizon I sure wouldn't dare look
anywhere else!"
"These boys won't stand any more fooling," roared Doubleday.
"I wouldn't either, Barb, if you'd got me into this scrape as deep as
you've got them," was the retort.
Nothing less than violent outbursts of profanity served now. And these
proceeding to a climax of strength and rapidity, gradually subsided as
such outbursts do and the two sides started to argue all over again.
After much parley and protestations of peaceful intent, provided they
were treated fair, Doubleday and Van Horn were allowed to ride up to
the rock, but not to dismount. "Now," suggested Lefever to the two,
"talk just plain business."
"Right you have it, John," returned Van Horn briskly. "The rustlers
have got to go. We're looking for Abe Hawk. Gorman and Dutch Henry
are lifting cattle now in the Happy Hunting Grounds. We're going to
clean out the rest of 'em. We've tracked Abe here. Without any hard
words, we want him."
"Then, boys, you want to ride right on; keep on riding, for he's not
here. I don't know anything, but that much I do know," asserted the
big fellow positively.
"How do you know?" demanded Doubleday grimly.
"I just walked down here from the cabin; there's no one there. I rode
in here this morning from the Reservation, Barb. A buck looking for
horses over on the North Fork yesterday saw the fight at
Gorman's--everybody knows about it."
Van Horn showed his teeth: "You're a pretty good artist, John, with
your buck looking for horses."
Lefever deprecated the compliment: "You must remember, Harry, I worked
seven year for you. Seven year--and then didn't get all was coming to
me."
"If you had," returned Van Horn candidly, "your headstone would be
covered with moss by this time, John. Where's Laramie?"
Lefever stood with his left hand eagerly extended and appeared as if
sensitive at Van Horn's incredulity:
"All the same, Harry," he exclaimed, "I can take you to that buck
inside two hours' ride and get his story. I've got five twenty-dollar
gold pieces in my pocket that says so. I'll put 'em up in Barb
Doubleday's hands right now against your five."
"A man couldn't pry you loose from five twenty-dollar gold pieces if
you had five thousand in your pocket, John. What are you stalling
around for?" demanded Van Horn suspiciously. "Where's Laramie?"
Lefever was frankness itself; almost over-frank in his genuine
simplicity. Had it not been for his big, blunt eyes and round, smooth
face he might have been suspected of duplicity--but not by the two men
now talking to him; they knew beyond a doubt that John was "stringing"
them. Unfortunately they could not prevent it. He answered Van Horn's
sharp question as innocently as a child.
"That's more than I can say this minute, Harry, where Jim Laramie is;
but he's not far, I can tell you that, for the coffee pot was on the
stove when I got to the shack a while ago."
"Then what are you holding us up here for?" barked Doubleday with rough
words.
"I'm a peace officer, Barb, a deputy marshal." The bursting expression
of disgust on his questioners' faces did not ruffle John's candor. "I
know what you fellows are up to. I won't have any bloodshed here this
morning--that's flat. Laramie gets hot sometimes and this is one of
the times for folks to go slow. If you want to talk to Laramie come
along up to the shack. But send them longhorns over there down to the
creek," he added, as an afterthought and in the bluntly candid tone of
appeal that distinguished his persuasiveness.
"Long hell!" spluttered Doubleday.
"Longhorns," persisted Lefever.
Barb growled at the proposal to send the boys down to the creek, and
Van Horn objected, but there was no escape from Lefever's stubbornness,
except a fight and this was not wanted. Lefever passed his word that
Hawk was not in the cabin, but he was adamant on sending the men to the
bottoms and his demand was grudgingly acceded to. In point of fact,
John reckoned himself on foot with a rifle equal to two men on
horseback, even if Van Horn were one. But not being able to take care
of a dozen horsemen he was resolved to have no volleying applause from
other guns, if the unexpected should happen on the open bench land.
After Doubleday and Van Horn's following had at length filed down to
the creek bottom, Lefever walked beside the two horsemen toward the
cabin, and, since he would not walk fast and the two refused to ride
ahead of him, the pace was deliberate all the way. Nor could Lefever
be persuaded even to walk between the two horsemen; he kept them both
religiously on his left, his rifle lying carelessly across his forearm
as he entertained them with a moderately timed and unfailing flow of
Reservation small talk.
But he could not control Van Horn's quick, flashing eyes, and these
were busy every moment and every foot of the way with reconnaissance
and inference. It did not escape either him or Doubleday that a bunch
of horses had been but lately driven over the ground they were
crossing, and every trail leading to and from the cabin obliterated;
this, however, only assured both that their man was close at hand and
strengthened their determination to get him in their own way when they
were ready. So intent were they on reading the ground as well as on
keeping a sharp eye on the cabin itself, that they had almost reached
it before Van Horn, halting, fixed his eyes on the hills to the
left--that is, down the creek--and exclaimed sharply: "Who's that?"
Riding in a leisurely fashion down and out of the rough country to the
South, a mile away, a man emerging from a rift between two hills could
be seen following one of the cattle trails toward the creek.
Lefever, after a minute's study, answered the question blandly: "I'm
thinkin' that's Jim Laramie, right now."
He waved his hat at the distant horseman, who, also rode with a rifle
slung across his pommel and carried his lines high in his right hand.
The horseman continued for some moments toward the creek, then looking,
seemingly by accident, toward the house he saw the signaling, stopped
his pony, paused, and reigning him around, headed at an easy pace for
the group before the cabin. It was, as Lefever had said, Laramie.
A few minutes later he trotted his horse across the field and slowed
him up in front of Van Horn and Doubleday. His greeting to his
visitors was dry; their own was somewhat strained, but Lefever at once
took the initiative: "Jim," he said, identifying himself in his bluntly
honest way with the interests of the raiders, "we're looking for Abe
Hawk."
Laramie's response was merely to the point: "He's not here."
"Has he been here?" demanded Van Horn.
"Yes," answered Laramie. Lefever at intervals looked virtuously from
questioner to questioned.
"How long ago, Jim?" continued Van Horn.
Laramie regarded him steadily: "Several times in the last few weeks."
"Was he here yesterday?" asked Van Horn suddenly.
"I was on the Reservation yesterday."
"Has he been here this morning?"
"Yes."
If Lefever jumped inwardly at this most unexpected admission he
suppressed all outward sign of surprise; his wide open eyes did not
blink and his close-cut mustache preserved its honesty undefiled. But
he wondered what might be coming.
"How long ago?" continued Van Horn.
"Early. What's all this questioning about?" Laramie demanded in turn,
looking from Van Horn to Doubleday and to Lefever. "Who wants Hawk?"
"Jim, we're cleaning up the rustlers," said Van Horn. "Things have got
so bad it had to be done. We want Hawk. We've got Gorman and Henry.
Now, if it's a fair question, is Abe here?"
"He's not."
"Not in your shack?"
"No."
"Are you willing we should search it?"
"Search hell! What do you mean?" asked Laramie curtly. "Isn't my word
good as to who's in my shack?"
"Jim!" Lefever held up a peacemaker's hand. "We thought maybe he
might have come in since you rode away."
"Well----" Laramie cooled somewhat, "if it'll do you any good, I'll
look inside and see."
Van Horn sarcastically demurred: "Don't take the trouble, don't take
the trouble, Jim."
"Still he might be there," urged Lefever, "in the way I say--he
might've walked in since you went into the hills--what? No objection
to my looking in there, is there, Jim?"
"No man can search my cabin," snapped Laramie. "Have you got a warrant
for Abe Hawk?" He threw the question sharply at Lefever.
With Lefever's disclaimer, Doubleday interposed a savage rejoinder: "A
rope'll fit Abe's neck better than a warrant."
Laramie eyed the old cattleman unmoved: "And you're here to get me to
help you slip the noose, are you?"
"We're here to clean out these cattle thieves," stormed Doubleday.
"There are no cattle thieves here," retorted Laramie undisturbed.
"You're wasting the time you'll need on your job. Move on!"
Even Van Horn was taken aback by the rude command; he pulled his horse
around: "Look here, Jim; let me talk to you a minute alone."
Laramie, guiding his horse with his heels, followed Van Horn twenty
feet away and listened: "Jim, I'm leading this bunch, and whatever
troubles you've had with Barb and his friends, now's the time to fix
'em up. They'll give you the best of it. If you've got any line on
where Hawk is, say so and it puts you with us; say nothing, and you're
against us."
Laramie eyed him without a quiver: "I'm against you, Harry."
Van Horn did not give up. He talked again, and talked hard. It was
useless. Doubleday rode over to where Van Horn held Laramie in deadly
earnest conference. Van Horn, ready to quit, gladly let the older man
take over the case. But Doubleday made no better success. Laramie
could not be moved. If coaxed, he was obstinate; if threatened,
impatient--contemptuous. Doubleday, when Laramie coldly refused even
to answer his questions concerning Hawk, boiled over.
He moved his horse a step and opened his vials of wrath: "Laramie,
you've turned down the last chance decent folks on the range'll ever
try to hand you--the last chance you'll ever see to pull away from
these Falling Wall thieves. Now," he exclaimed, raising his right hand
and arm with a bitter imprecation, "we'll show you who's going to run
the Sleepy Cat range. I'll drive you out of this country if it takes
every cowboy I can hire and every dollar I've got. This country won't
hold you and me after today. D'ye hear?" he shouted, almost bending
with his huge frame over Laramie and beside himself with rage. Then
spurring his horse, he wheeled it around to rejoin Van Horn.
Even then Laramie was too quick for him. Almost in the very instant,
he jumped his own pony after the angry man and gaining the head of
Doubleday's horse, caught the bridle and jerked the beast almost to its
haunches.
It was a ticklish instant. Van Horn, with his hand on his revolver,
attempted to spur to Doubleday's assistance. Lefever interposed with a
sharp move that put him plumply in front of Van Horn: "Not till them
two are through, Harry. We stay right here till them two's done."
The very impudence of Laramie's move had taken Doubleday by surprise
and Laramie was hurling angry words at him before Lefever had
intervened: "Hold on, Doubleday," Laramie said bluntly, "you can't put
your abuse all over me first and then run away with it. You'll hear
what I've got to say. I rode this range before you ever saw it; I'll
ride this range when you're gone. I was born here, Doubleday; my
father lived here before me. The air I breathe, this sky over my head,
this ground under my feet, are mine, and I stick here in spite of you
and your cattle crooks. If men run off your cattle it's your sheriff's
business--you own him. And it's your business to run 'em down--not
mine. You come here without a warrant, without a definite complaint,
and ask me to turn an old man over to a bunch of lynchers! Not on your
life. Not today or any other day."
Doubleday interrupted, but he was forced to listen: "You talk about
thieves," Laramie spoke fast and remorselessly, "and you belong to the
bunch that's tried to steal every foot of land I own in the Falling
Wall. After you and your lawyers and land office tools have stolen
thousands of acres from the government, you talk as if you were an
angel out of heaven about the men that brand your mavericks. Hell!"
The scorn of the expletive drew from the very depths of furious
contempt. "I'd rather stand by a thief that calls himself a thief,
than a thief that steals under a lawyer. Send your hired men after me;
give 'em plenty of ammunition. They'll find me right here, Barb--right
here where I live."