`Don't yu worry, Miss,' he said. `That feller's as straight as a string, an' if them bums in Hatchett's get too fresh, me an' one-two more'll have to go in an' read the Riot Act to 'em. He'll show up again, fine as silk.'
This prediction was realised sooner than the maker of it anticipated for that very evening Green rode into town. For once rumour had spoken truly, for his new job had taken him, with half a dozen others, to a small, hidden valley, and the work done there was the rebranding of a herd of Frying Pan cattle.
`Reckon yu can use a straight iron?' asked Jeffs, and on Green replying in the affirmative, that part of the job was assigned to him, the others cutting out, throwing and tying the victims. Without it being noticed, Green managed to introduce a slight variation in the brand which would enable him to identify the animals he had operated upon. He was a quick and accurate worker and Jeffs meant what he said when he complimented him.
`Yu done a good job,' was his comment, when the last of the herd staggered to its feet, shook its head, and charged blindly after its companions. `Reckon yo're due for a rest. I want somebody to go into Hatchett's. How about it?'
`Glad to,' replied the puncher. `When do I start?'
`Right away, if yu like,' said Jeffs. 'Yu can stay the night there an' come back in the mornin'.'
On their return to the ranch, Jeffs handed Green a sealed packet. `Just leave it at the hotel--he may not be there,' he said. `Anyways, there's no answer.'
The messenger slipped the packet into the pocket of his chaps, merely noting that it was addressed in the name of `Marway,' and went off to saddle a fresh mount. He had not gone far on his journey when West caught him up.
`Wasn't expectin' yu,' remarked Green. `Jeffs forget somethin'?'
`Nope, said I could come along,' replied the other. `I'm just apinin' for civilisation.'
`There's about as much of it in Hatchett's as there was gold in that creek yu found me pannin',' Green told him.
`Mebbe, but there's liquor, an' a chance to buck the wheel an' lose some o' my hard-earned wealth,' was the smiling reply. `I ain't been there yet; what's it like?'
`Just the same as any other cow-town,' said Green. `Reckon if somebody mixed 'em up in a herd, it'd be hell of a job to cut out the town yu wanted--this is, if you was silly enough to want any of 'em.'
California laughed and went on to tell of the `boom' towns he had encountered during his mining travels, towns which sprang up like mushrooms in a night when a lucky strike was made, and vanished as quickly when the diggings petered out.
`Yes, sir,' he said. `I've gone to sleep in what looked like a thrivin' an' busy settlement an' woke up in the mornin' to find nearly every blame buildin' gone, an' me for the on'y inhabitant. Most of the said buildin's bein' tents transportation wasn't so darned difficult.'
He was one of those easy talkers who enjoy an audience, and an adventurous and by no means blameless career, regarding which he showed no reticence, provided him with plenty of material. Born in a mining camp, he had been prospector, gambler, bartender, mule-skinner, and cowpuncher, besides engaging between while in other less laudable means of getting a living. He had made fortunes and lost them.
`Some fellers can freeze on to the dollars,' he laughed. `Me, I never could nohow.'
Green listened, throwing in a remark now and then, but in no wise returning the other's confidences. Only once he asked a direct question: `Ever run across a chap named Webb, a big, beefy feller with red hair?' `Don't remember any such. What was he?' `A damn thief--but he called himself a cattleman.'
The rasp in the voice made West look at the speaker. `I'm guessin' he ain't a friend o' yores,' he hazarded.
'Yo're right,' responded Green. `I'm aimin' to make cold meat of him someday.'
Night was coming on when they reached their destination and the town was showing signs of emerging from the stagnation of the day. Green left his packet at the honel, and having arranged for beds, he and his companion were free to `take in the town.' Their first call was at the stores, for both were in need of tobacco, and the old proprietor greeted them with an odd look of surprise. All he said, however, was, `Found that gold-mine yet?'
The cowpuncher shook his head and grinned. `Them tools o' yores has been plumb unlucky so far,' he said. `But the fishhooks came in right handy. Any news?'
`Well, I dunno as there is. The marshal has bin shootin' off his mouth about a feller who was reckoned to be prospectin', an' if I was that feller an' had to come to town, I'd have a fast hoss where I could get to him easy, in case I wanted to leave in a hurry.'
The hint was plain enough. `Tonk ain't the holy terror he'd like to be thought,' smiled Green. `All the same, if I was that feller I'd be mighty obliged to yu.'
They walked down the street in the direction of the Folly. The only bit of excitement was provided by a pup which, bolting headlong from a couple of yelling children, collided with a pedestrian. The latter, swinging a heavy foot, lifted the astonished cur well into the middle of the road, where it was triumphantly pounced upon by the pursuers. The pedestrian turned into the saloon, after hesitating outside the Dance Hall, where the stamping of many feet on the boarded floor and the howl of a tortured fiddle proclaimed that a dance was in progress. Green and his companion followed. One swift glance as they crossed the space between the door and the bar told Green that, in some quarters anyway, his appearance was unlooked for.
'Lo, Silas,' he said, and then, seeing Snap Lunt, Durran, and Nigger a little further along the bar, he added, `Howdy, boys; yu joinin' me?'
`Shore,' replied Snap, but the other two mumbled some excuse and turned away. Green laughed.
`Ain't swore off, have they, Snap?' he inquired.
`Not so as yu'd notice it, but they dassn't drink with yu; Blaynes is settin' over there.'
Green looked in the direcnion indicated and saw that the foreman of the Y Z was playing poker with Pete, Laban, and Tarman.
`It don't seem to worry yu none,' he said.
The little gunman smiled grimly. `I ain't scared o' Blaynes,' he said.
Green spun a dollar on the bar to pay for the drinks and Silas picked it up. `Why don't yu pay in dust?' he bantered.
`What, an' have all town campin' on my trail for the next week. Yu must think I'm well named,' retorted the puncher.
`I never did think that,' grinned Silas. `But say, you want to watch out; it isn't none o' my business, but some people was expectin' yu to-night.'
The speaker's glance rested for a second or two on Tarman and his companions. Through apparently playing cards, it was plain that they were also deep in conversation. At that moment a boy from the hotel entered and handed Pete a package. Green recognised it. The gambler read the contents, said something in a low voice, and they all laughed.
Green sensed that something was about to happen. That he had been deliberately sent into Hatchett's he had already suspected, but for what purpose he had yet to find out. Snap and West were busy swapping gold- mining experiences, for the gunman had also followed the trail of the pick and shovel, and this left the puncher at liberty to study his surroundings. The room was fairly full, and though he had no reason to think he was disliked, he knew that if it came to a showdown, most of the men present would stand aloof or take sides against him. The entry of four Double X punchers led by their one-eyed chief did not add to his feeling of security. As though they had been waiting for this reinforcement, the poker party broke up and adjourned to the bar. Again the door swung to admit Larry and Dirty. The former gave a whoop when he saw Green.
`Gee, Dirty, we shore are in luck. There's the ruddy minin' magnit, with nobody but Snap to waste his substance on. Let's provide him with a better opportunity.'
Disregarding the scowls of their foreman, they ranged themselves by the side of Green and his companion, and glass in hand smiled genially on those around them. They had come to town quite by chance, looking for no more than a drink or two and a game of cards, but when they saw the company in the saloon they realised that something was on. Others, not in any way interested, seemed to know it too and there was an air of general expectancy about the whole gathering. Then the marshal came in, glared savagely at Green for an instant, and joined Tarman's group at the bar.
Green, replying absently to Larry, was to all appearances ignorant of the fact that he was in a hornets' nest.
