older men, hard-bitten, stamped with marks of the frontier. From one or two of these he got looks which, if not exactly hostile, were certainly not of welcome, but he did not let this worry him, for he had an abiding confidence in his ability to take care of himself in any company, a confidence born of experience, which is the best kind of that useful commodity.
Chapter III
GREEN did not see the foreman at breakfast next morning, and when the meal was over he shouldered his saddle and went to the corral, where the men were getting their mounts and orders for the day's work.
`That's Blaynes,' whispered Larry.
The man indicated was about thirty-five, tall and strongly built, with a lean, dark face upon which was set a perpetual sneer. He moved with the sinuous speed of a snake and carried his head with a forward thrust which gave a reptilian impression. Whoever first bestowed the nickname of `Rattler' upon him hit the mark to a nicety.
'Dago blood there,' thought Green, `Treacherous, tough as hickory, and as hard no whip as a mountain lion.'
The foreman looked at him squarely as he walked up, and their eyes clashed like the blades of duellists. In that instant each instinctively knew the other for an enemy; like love, hate also can be born at first sight. It was the foreman who spoke:
`Green, eh?' he inquired sneeringly.
`That's my name,' replied the other, and the slight emphasis on the last word caused some of the men listening to smile. Blaynes saw the smiles, and they did not improve his temper.
`Dunn what the Old Man's thinkin' of to go a-takin' on any stranger that drifts in,' he growled insolently.
`Mebbe he's thinkin' that he owns the ranch,' countered Green.
This time the hit was direct, and several of the onlookers laughed audibly. Rattler realized that he was getting the worst of the argument, and promptly changed his tactics.
'Yo're quite the funny man, ain't ye?' he jeered. `Well, we'll see if you can use yore hands as well as yore jaw. Yuan' Durran can double-team it to-day, an' yu will take the roan there.'
He jerked his thumb towards the corral, where the outlaw horse was standing apart from the others, and this time some of the older men grinned; this new chap might be a bit of a `smarty,' but the foreman knew how to handle him. Green's face was absolutely expressionless as he replied:
'I'll ride my own hoss.'
`You'll do as yo're told while I'm bossin' this outfit, or git,' snarled Blaynes.
'I'll ride my own hoss,' repeated the other, and strode into the corral.
With a quick, low flick of the wrist he roped the roan, and with the help of Larry, got the saddle on and cinched. One lightning spring and he was astride. The other men, fully aware of Blue Devil's capabilities, expected to see him `piled' instantly, but, to their intense amazement, after a display of mild bucking with which any self- respecting cow-pony resents being ridden, the roan trotted sedately from the corral. Blaynes, who had been waiting for the humiliation and probably injury of the man he already hated, had but one consolation.
`Changed yore mind about obeyin' orders, eh?' he sneered. `Guessed yu was bluffin'.'
`Guess again,' retorted Green. `I told yu I'd ride my own hoss, an' that's what I'm doin'.'
He touched the roan's sides with the spurs and shot after Durran, who had already started. Rattler's gaze followed him in scowling perplexity.
'What th' hell?' he muttered.
He looked up to find Larry endeavoring to conceal his delight at the foreman's discomfiture, and making a poor job of it.
`Why now, Rattler, didn't yu hear about the Old Man givin' him the hoss las' night?' the boy asked.
`No, I didn't; an' I reckon the old fool must 'a bin loco to give a stranger the best hoss on the ranch,' growled the foreman. `What was the idea?'
Larry, who was enjoying himself hugely, gave a lurid but correct account of how Blue Devil came to change owners, and the foreman's face became more and more venomous as he listened. When the tale was told he turned away without comment, but had Larry been gifted with the faculty of reading expressions he would have realized that he had raised trouble aplenty for his new friend. But as that care-free youngster swung to his saddle his spoken thought was:
`That's one right in the solar perlexus, as the scientific guys puts it.'
Blaynes, who had his own views regarding the Y Z ranch and the pretty girl who would one day own it, strode savagely to the ranch-house, fighting his rage as he would have fought a vicious pony. He met the Old Man coming out.
`Givin' yore hosses away, I hear,' he sneered.
`I gave away a savage brute that near killed my girl, yes,' replied Simon.
`Best bit o' hoss-flesh we got, anyways,' said Blaynes. `On'y wanted tamin'.'
`Then why didn't ye do it?' retorted the Old Man. `I offered to give that hoss to anybody that could ride him months ago. Yu all tried an' got 'piled,' an' then Norry gets the fool notion she could do it, an' I damn near lose her. What have yu got against the new man, eh?'
`Don't like the looks of him no how,' the foreman said, scowling at the reference to his riding defeat, which rankled none the less because every man of the outfit had shared it.
`I figure he knows his job,' Simon said shortly.
`Mebbe he does,' rejoined Blaynes, who knew just how far he could go with his employer, and had no desire to pass the limit. `My point is this--we're losin' too many steers to take chances on strangers. How do yu know he ain't in with the rustlers?'
`How do I know that half o' ye ain't in with 'em?' snapped Simon savagely, for the continual loss of his cattle was hitting him sorely. `Yu don't seem no strike their trail very lively.'
Blaynes ground out an oath. `Yu ain't no call to say that o' the boys,' he remonstrated. `We're all a-doin' our best. Them war-paints is hard to canch in this kind o' country.'
`Huh! Yu still reckon it's 'Paches, do yu?' said Simon. `Well, yo're wrong, Blaynes. Redskins might lift a stray cow or two for the meat, but they wouldn't take 'em by the score. No, sir, it's an organized gang o' rustlers, an' it's up to yu to corral 'em.'
He turned and went indoors, the foreman's eyes following him with a malignant look. This changed magically to a smile as Noreen came out.
`Mornin', Miss Norry. Yo're lookin' fine in spite o' yore shakeup last night,' was his greeting.
`I wasn't hurt--only a wee bit scared,' she admitted.
`Some folks has all the luck. Wish I'd bin there,' said the foreman regretfully, with a look which made the girl turn sharply away. `What do yu think o' this new guy?'
`Naturally my principal feeling is one of gratitude,' returned the girl. `He struck me as being capable, and'-- she added roguishly--`rather good-looking.'
Blaynes frowned. He had got more than he bargained for. `Looks ain't much to go on,' he said. `I've seed cattle-thieves that had him beat a mile thataway, an' as I told the Old Man just now, we can't afford to run risks with strangers when we're losin' steers. He'll do to keep an eye on that feller.'
`I wonder if he's married,' the girl speculated, with a mischievous smile.
`Ugh! Probably got half a dozen wives scattered around the country--that sort usually has,' snorted the foreman.
`He doesn't look like a Mormon; but still, I'll help oy keeping an eye on him, as you suggest, Blaynes,' Noreen laughed as she turned away.
Rattler waited until she was out of earshot and then swore fervently. It was distinctly not his lucky morning.
Green soon ranged alongside Durran, whose eyes opened wide when they saw the horse his companion was riding; he had not witnessed the scene at the corral.
`How come yu on that lump o' deviltry?' he asked.
`Oh, I just climbed up on him,' said Green airily.
`Lots of us has done that, but nary one could stay there,' was the reply. `Yu must be a medicine-man with hosses.'
`I savvy them,' was Green's answer.
