NEVADA JOINS SHAW
Late in the forenoon of the day after Nevada had argued with Shaw,
Manuel shifted his position on the lookout rock and turned to face the
hut. "Senor! Senor Shaw! He ees here."
Shaw strode to the edge of the mesa and looked down, seeing Nevada
sitting quietly on a horse and looking up at him. Manuel, his duty
performed, turned and looked eastward, shrinking back as Shaw stepped
close to him. Lying prone along the edge half a dozen men idly
fingered rifles as they covered the man below, Antonio's face in
particular showing intense aversion to any more recruits.
"Morning, Shaw," shouted Nevada. "Going to let us come up?"
The leader was about to reply when he felt a tug at his ankle and saw
Manuel's lips moving. "What is it, Greaser?"
"Look, Senor, look!" whispered the frightened Mexican, pointing
eastward. "Eet ees de Bar-20! They be here _poco tiempo_!"
"Shut up!" retorted Shaw in a whisper, glancing east, and what he saw
changed his reply to the man below. "Well, Nevada, we are purty
crowded up here as it is, but I'll ask th' boys about it. They ain't
quite decided. Be back in a minute," and he stepped back out of sight
of those below and waved his companions to him. Briefly stating the
facts he asked that Nevada and his force be allowed up to help repulse
the Bar-20, and the men who only a short time before had sworn that
they would take in no partners nodded assent and talked over the new
conditions while their leader again went to the edge.
"We can get along without you fellers," he called down, "but we don't
reckon you'll cut any hole in our profits as long as you do yore share
of work. If yo're willin' to share an' share alike, in work, grub,
profits, an' fighting, why I reckon you can come up. But I'm leader
here an' what I says goes; are you agreeable?"
"That's fair," Nevada replied. "Th' harder th' work th' bigger th'
pay--come on, boys," he cried, turning and waving his arm. "We're in!"
While the newcomers put their horses in the corral and toiled
carefully up the steep trail Manuel stared steadily into the east and
again saw the force that had filled him with fear. Hall, who was now
watching with him, abruptly arose and returned to the hut, reporting:
"Seven men out there--it's th' Bar-20, all right, I reckon"; and
almost immediately afterward Manuel found a moving speck far to the
east which Shaw's powerful glasses soon showed to be three pack horses
driven by two men.
Nevada looked curiously about him as he gained his goal and then
sought a place in the hut for his bunk. This, however, was full, and
he cast around outside to find the best place for his blankets.
Finding it, he stepped to the spring and had just quenched his thirst
when he saw Shaw standing on a ledge of rock above him, looking down.
"What is it, Shaw?" he asked.
"Well, you fellers shore enough raised h--l, now didn't you!" demanded
the leader, a rising anger in his voice. "Yo're a fine collection of
fools, you are--"
"What do--"
"--Leading that Bar-20 gang out here by th' nice, plain trail you
left," Shaw continued, sarcastically, not heeding the other's
explosive interjection. "That's a nice thing to saddle us with! D--n
it, don't you know you've queered th' game for good?"
"Yo're drunk!" retorted Nevada, heatedly. "We came up from th' south!
How th' devil could that crowd hit _our_ trail?"
"They must 'a hit southwest on a circle," lied Shaw. "Manuel just now
saw 'em pass a clearing an' heading this way--nine of 'em!"
"Th' devil!" exclaimed Nevada. "How many are up here now?" he asked
quickly.
"Sixteen."
"All right! Let 'em come!" cried the other. "Sixteen to nine--it's
easy!" he laughed. "Look here; we can clean up them fellers an' then
raid their ranch, for there's only four left at home. We can run off a
whopping big herd, sell 'em, an' divvy even. Then we separates,
savvy? Why, it couldn't be better!"
Shaw showed his astonishment and his companion continued. "Th' H2 is
shy men, an' th' C80 and th' Double Arrow is too far away to bother
us. As soon as we lick this aggregation of trouble hunters, what's
left will ride hell-bent for that valley. Then th' biggest herd ever
rustled in these parts, a trip to a new range, an' plenty of money to
spend there."
"That sounds good--but this pleasing cleaning-up is due to be full of
knots," Shaw rejoined. "Them nine men come from th' craggiest outfit
of high-toned gun-artists in these parts, an' you can bet that they
are th' pick of th' crowd! Cassidy, Connors, Peters--an' they've got
forty friends purty nigh as bad, an' eager to join in. I ain't no ways
a quitter, but this looks to me like Custer's Last Stand, us being th'
Custers."
"Ah, yo're loco!" retorted Nevada. "Look here! Send a dozen picked men
down quick an' let 'em lose 'emselves in th' chaparral, far back. When
th' terrible man-killers of th' great Bar-20 get plugging this way,
our trouble-gang slips up from behind an' it's all over! Go on, before
it's too late! Or one of us will ride like th' devil to Eagle for
help--but it's got to be quick! You say I got you in this, which I
know well I didn't, but now I'll get you out an' put you in th' way of
a barrel of money."
The crack of a rifle sounded from the plain and the next instant
Clausen dashed up, crying, "Manuel tried to cut an' run, but somebody
down below dropped him off'n th' trail. They're all around us!"
"Good for th' somebody!" cried Shaw. "I'll kill th' next man that
tries to leave us--that goes, so pass it along." Then he turned to
Nevada, a sneer on his face. "That means anybody riding for help,
too!" and he backed away.
Hall turned the corner, looking Nevada squarely in the eyes. "Say,
Shaw, wonder what's got into Archer? He's been gone a long time for
that trip."
"Reckon he's got tired an' quit," replied Shaw.
"You know he ain't that kind!" Hall cried, angrily.
"All right, all right. If he comes back an' finds out what's up he'll
probably hustle to Eagle for some of th' boys," Shaw responded.
Neither would ever see Dick Archer again--his bones were whitening
near a small water hole miles to the north, as Hopalong and Red could
testify.
"As long as one of us is outside we've got a chance," Nevada remarked.
"How're we fixed for grub, Hall?"
"Got enough jerked beef to last us a month," and Hall departed.
A shot hummed over Nevada's head and, ducking quickly, he followed
Hall. Close behind him went Shaw, muttering. "Well, it had to come
sometime--an' we're better fixed than I ever reckoned we'd be. Now
we'll see who gets wiped out!"