Hopalong Cassidy Sees Red

listened to.

A bellowing voice awakened the sleepers in the big building and an impromptu conference of irate men, mostly undressed, was held in the hall. Sandy Woods returned from the stables, reporting them bare of horses; the investigator from the jail came back with the angry guards, one of whom was too shaky to walk with directness. Others came from a visit to Red Frank's corral, leading half a dozen borrowed horses, and, a hasty, cold breakfast eaten, the posse, led by a sick, vindictive sheriff, pounded northward along a plain trail.

Those who were not able to go along stood and peered through the paling darkness and two deputies left to take up positions in the front and rear of Quayle's hotel where they could see without being seen, while a third man crept into the stable to look for a Tincup horse. Had he been content with looking he would have been more fortunate, but thinking that the master would have no further use for the animal, he decided to take it for himself, trusting that possession would give him a better claim when the new ownership was finally decided by Kane. Reassured by the earliness of the hour and by the presence of the hidden deputy, he went ahead with his plans.

Pepper's flattened ears meant nothing to the exultant thief, for it had been his experience that all horses flattened their ears whenever he approached them, especially if they had reason to know him; so, with a wary eye on the trim, black hoofs, he slipped along the stable wall to gain her head. He had just untied the rope and started back with the end of it in his hand when there was a sudden, sidewise, curving swerve of the silky black body, a grunt of surprise and pain from the thief, pinned against the wall by the impact, and then, curving back again and wheeling almost as though on a pivot, Pepper's teeth crunched flesh and bone and the sickened thief, by a miracle escaping the outflung front hoofs, staggered outside the stable and fell as the whizzing hind feet took the half-open door from its flimsy hinges. Rolling around the corner, the thief crawled under a wagon and sank down unconscious, his crushed shoulder staining darkly through his torn shirt.

The watching deputy arose to go to his friend's assistance, but looked up and stopped as a growled question came from Ed Doane's window.

'Jim's hurt,' he explained to the face behind the rifle. 'Went in to see if his cayuse had wandered in there, an' th' black near killed him. Gimme a hand with him, will you?'

Quayle had nearly fallen off the chair he had spent the night on when the crash and the scream of the enraged horse awakened him. He ran to the kitchen door, rifle in hand, and looked out, hearing the deputy's words.

'I'll give ye a hand,' he said; 'but more cheerful if it's to dig a grave. Mother av Mary!' he breathed as he reached the wagon. 'I'm thinkin' it's a priest ye want, an' there's none within twinty miles.' He looked around at the forming crowd. 'Get a plank,' he ordered, 'an' get Doc Sharpe.'

Ed Doane, followed by Johnny and Idaho, ran from the kitchen and joined the group. One glance and Johnny went into the stable, calling as he entered. Patting the quivering nozzle of the black he looked at the rope and came out again.

'That man-killer has got to be shot,' said the deputy to Ed Doane.

'I'll kill th' man that tries it,' came a quiet reply, and the deputy wheeled to look into a pair of frosty blue eyes. 'Th' knot I tie in halter ropes don't come loose, for Pepper will untie any common knot an' go off huntin' for me. It was untied. If you want to back up a hoss thief, an' mebby prove yore part in it, say that again.'

'Yo're plumb mistaken, Nelson,' said the deputy. 'Jim was huntin' his own cayuse, which Long an' Thompson stampeded out of th' stable last night. He was goin' over th' town first before he went out to look for it on th' plain.'

'That's good!' sneered Johnny. 'Long an' Thompson are in jail. I'm standin' to what th' knot showed. Do you still reckon Pepper's got to be shot?'

'They broke out an' got away,' retorted the deputy; 'an' they shore as Pete had outside help.' He looked knowingly into Johnny's eyes. 'Nobody that belongs to this town would 'a' done it.'

'That's a lie,' said Quayle, his rifle swinging up carelessly. 'I belong to this town, an' I'd 'a' done it, mesilf, if I'd thought av it. Seein' that I didn't, I'm cussed glad that somewan had better wits than me own.'

'I was aimin' to do it,' said Idaho, smiling. 'I was goin' out to get th' boys, an' bust th' jail tonight. I was holdin' back a little, though, because I was scared th' boys might get a little rough an' lynch a few deputies. They're on set triggers these days.'

The cook started to roll up his sleeves. 'I'll lick th' daylight out av anny man that goes to harm that horse, or me name's not Murphy,' he declared, spitting. 'I feed her near every mornin', an' she's gintle as a baby lamb. But she's got a keen nose for blackguards!'

Dr. Sharpe arrived, gave his orders and followed the bearers of the improvised stretcher toward his house. As the crowd started to break up Johnny looked coldly at the deputy. 'You heard me,' he said. 'Pass th' word along. An' if she don't kill th' next one, I will!'

North of town the posse reached Big Creek and exulted as it saw the plain prints going on from the further bank Corwin, sitting his saddle with a false ease, stifled a moan at every rise and fall, his head seeming about to split under the pulsing hammer blows. When he caught sight of the trail leading from the creek he nodded dully and spoke to his nearest companion.

'Leavin' th' country by th' straightest way,' he growled. 'It'll mebby be a long chase, blast 'em!'

'They ain't got much of a start,' came the hopeful reply. 'We ought to catch sight of 'em from th' top of th' divide beyond Sand Creek. It's fair level plain for miles north of that. Their cayuses ain't no better than ourn, an' some of ourn will run theirs off their feet.'

Sand Creek came into sight before noon and when it was reached there were no tracks on the further side. The posse was prepared for this and split without hesitation, Corwin leading half of it west along the bank and the other half going east. Five minutes later an exclamation caused the sheriff to pull up and look where one of his men was pointing. A rifle barrel projected a scant two inches from the water and the man who rode over to it laughed as he leaned down from the saddle.

'It lit on a ridge of gravel an' didn't slide down quite fur enough,' he called. 'An' it shore is busted proper.'

'Bring it here,' ordered Corwin. He took it, examined it and handed it to the next man, whose head ached as much as his own and who would not have been along except that his wish for revenge over-rode his good sense.

'That yourn?' asked the sheriff.

The owner of the broken weapon growled. 'They've plumb ruined it. It's one more score they'll pay. Come on!' and he whirled westward. Corwin drew his Colt and fired into the air three times at counted intervals, and galloped after his companions when faint, answering shots sounded from the east.

'They're makin' for that rocky stretch,' he muttered; 'an' if they get there in time they're purty safe.'

Not long after he had rejoined his friends the second part of the posse whirled along the bank, following the trail of the first, eager to overtake it and learn what had been discovered.

Well to the east Hopalong and Red rode at the best pace possible in the water of the creek, now and then turning in the saddle to look searchingly behind them. Following the great bend of the stream they went more and more to the south and when the shadows were long they rode around a ridge and drew rein. Red dismounted and climbed it, peering over its rocky backbone for minutes. Returning to his companion he grinned cheerfully.

'No coyotes in sight,' he said. 'Some went west, I reckon, an' found that busted rifle where we planted it. No coyotes, at all; but there's a black bear down in that little strip of timber.'

'I can eat near all of it, myself,' chuckled Hopalong. 'Let's camp where we drop it. A dry wood fire won't show up strong till dark. Come on!'

CHAPTER XIV

THE STAKED PLAIN

PECOS KANE sat behind his old desk in the inner room and listened to the reports of the night's activities, his anger steadily mounting until ghostly flames seemed to be licking their thin tongues back in his eyes. The jail guards had come and departed, speaking simply and truthfully, suggesting various reasons to excuse the laxity of their