speak.
`I'm stayin' with my job, Nick, an' thanks for the offer.'
`Me too,' Smoky said. Next to the foreman in point of age, he was of medium build and placid appearance. Only those who knew him well were aware that when roused he could develop all the attributes of a tiger-cat.
`I dunno what this bean-pole is aimin' to do, but I'm stickin's to you like yore skin, Nick, come hell or high water,' Shorty announced.
The bean-pole replied in kind. `Then I gotta come in; can't have the fam'ly represented by half a man.'
`It's the useful half anyways--the rest is just dead wood,' the smaller twin snapped back.
Lamond's lazy voice interrupted. `You can count on me.' Only the girl at the head of the table noted that his eyes were fixed meaningly, and not for the first time, on her.
Drait's relief was evident; save in one case--that of the last to speak--he knew these men well, and could rely on them. `I'm mighty glad,' he said. `It's a big gamble, with our lives as the stake, but with you boys backin' me, we may win out. Those killers o' children will have six men to handle 'stead o' one pore of pilgrim.'
Sudden had listened attentively to the story, and studied each speaker in turn. A whispered word to Yorky was answered by an emphatic nod.
`Mebbe I'm wrong, but I figure there's eight of us,' he said. Drait looked up quickly. `Meanin' you an' yore pal will chip in?' he asked.
`Why not?' was the cool reply. `We're adrift, an' tired of it, but we ain't joinin' just for amusement. I'm peacable by nature, but a cowardly murder gets my dander up. So if yu'll have us...'
For the first time since they had returned to the valley, the nester's eyes lost their dourness. `You'd better believe I'll have you,' he cried, and his tone said more than mere words. `There's somethin' else I gotta mention-- them five hosses I fetched in. The big one is Bull Bardoe's. I met up with the gent yestiddyafternoon; he had me covered an' meant to get me, but--I got him, though he didn't miss oy much.' They could all see the livid mark on his cheek. `The other four carry the S P iron, but Bardoe's men were usin' 'em. They ambushed, an' were about to give me a dance on nothin' when Jim an' Yorky kinda interfered. A fella named Lanty seemed to be in charge. Know him?'
`Yeah,' Quilt growled. `He's Bull's right-hand man, an' that's the on'y right nhing about him. Hope you swung the lot.'
`Shore would if I'd knowed 'bout Eddie,' Drait said heavily.
`Bardoe is no loss anyway,' Quilt shrugged. `Just a double-crosser, workin' with the cattlemen an' robbin' 'em at the same time.' He looked at the clock. `Time to hit the hay, fellas.'
As they filed out, with a `So long, Nick,' and a shy 'Goodnight, ma'am,' to the lady, Drait said to his foreman, `See that Jim an' Yorky are comfortable; but for them, you'd all be ridin' the grub-line tomorrow.'
When they had gone, Drait looked at the girl, white-faced, impassive as a statue. He had said nothing about her, and though this was a relief, it had not lessened her hostility. He was saving himself, she decided; his men, rough and primitive as they were, would have despised him.
`They all stood by me,' he reflected, deep appreciation in his voice.
`To keep their jobs.'
The sneer angered him. `Evidently loyalty means little to you. What are you goin' to do?'
The question stirred her. `Have I any choice?' she retorted. `Why did you bring me to this place of hatred, violence, and crime?'
`Eddie was a surprise to me too,' he said sombrely. `I did the best I could. You are clothed, housed, have a servant to do yore work, and--I've given you my name.'
`The name of a murderer, liable to be hanged or shot as an outlaw,' she said passionately.
His face did not change, but his tone became harsh. `You can live in Midway until my bein' shot or hanged gives you back yore freedom, or remain here,' he replied. `An' I don't care one solitary damn which you choose.'
Chapter III
Drait breakfasted alone, and gave an instruction to Lindy. `Miss Darrell's had a tryin' time lately so don't disturb her. She needs rest.' The Negress nodded understandingly. `Mighty purty gal, but she ain't lookin' noo brash.'
`Take care of her,' he said.
At the bunkhouse Quilt got his orders : `Have lead-ropes fixed to those hosses I brought in; I'm returnin' 'em this mornin'. Two men, with rifles, must guard the valley ennrance --we can't afford to be caught nappin' again; the rest can continue the closing o' the other end. I'd like for you to come with me, Jim.'
By the time they had fetched their saddles from the house and reached the corral, Smoky and Shorty had done the first job. Rope in hand, the nester stepped through the gate and stood watching the circling band of nearly two dozen excited animals. Then his lariat snaked out and the loop fell over the head of a sturdy piebald. The thrower instantly dug his high heels in and flung his weight back on the rope. The tightening of the noose told the horse that resistance was useless, and it trotted demurely behind its captor.
`Neat work,' Sudden commented. `Me, I'm a lazy devil.'
He gave a low whistle, and a great black chasing round with the others, stopped abruptly, whickered, wheeled, and came pacing to where the puncher stood. Drait studied it with the appreciative eye of an expert.
`He's a beaut,' he said. `I'll swap any two in the corral.'
`Yu got some good ones, but I wouldn't part with Nigger for the whole bunch,' Sudden replied.
`I didn't expect you would,' Nick said. `Hope you ain't over-tamed him, or he'll be stole.'
`Go to put a hand on him, but--watch out.'
Drait stepped forward and reached. The horse's ears flattened, the lips curled back, and the great teeth clashed within an inch of the outstretched arm. Then, with a squeal of rage, it reared; a moment and those terrible fore-hoofs would have descended on the nester's head with the force of pile-drivers.
`Steady, boy,' Sudden warned.
The effect was magical; the ears became erect again, the teeth covered, the wildness went from the eyes, and the threatening hoofs dropped softly back on the ground. Drait caught up a breath he had lost.
`Killer, huh?' he said.
`He could be,' the puncher admitted, and told only a half-truth, 'He knows his friends--an' mine.'
The two cowboys accompanied them to the entrance; they were taking the first spell as sentries.
`Not much for the men to do,' Drait remarked. `I ain't got any cattle yet.'
They had reached the frowning buttresses flanking the outlet, and Sudden pulled up, his interest aroused by what he saw.
`There's plenty work here worth doin',' he said. `Why not close the gap with a stone wall--hosses could drag the larger rocks into position--an' have heavy double doors, secured by bars, in the centre. It'd stop cattle from gettin' out, an' visitors from comin' in without permission.'
Drait slapped his thigh. `Jupiter! that's an inspiration, Jim,' he cried. `Shorty, fetch Quilt; we'll set about it right away.'
The foreman was soon on the scene, and Drait explained the idea. Quilt was enthusiastic.
`Bully,' he beamed. `It's up to us to make a good job of a good notion, Jim. We'll build her plenty high, with a platform inside so we can look over,' he chuckled. `Leave it to me, Nick; we're startin' now; t'other end can wait.'
Taking the lead horses, Drait and his companion went on their errand. They had gone less than a mile when the nester twitched the loop from the Bardoe animal, and smote it across the rump.
`Mebbe find its way home, an' if it don't, I ain't carin',' he said. `What you think o' the outfit?'
`A fine crowd, I'd say.'
`Hand-picked--brought 'em with me.'
`Includin' Lamond?'
`Why, no, he's come recent--joined me just after I bought the valley.'
`At his suggestion, or your'n?'
`He was out of a job, an' asked for one,' Drait explained. `Know anythin' against him?'
`Never seen or heard o' the fella,' was the careless reply. `He just don't seem to fit in.'
Too much of a dude for them rough-necks o' mine,' Nick laughed. `They've been raised on raw meat.'
