Show 50 d MAN P L ir an ML e by george agnew chamberlain 0 george agnew service chamberlain C CHAPTER XI 12 dirk went to bed in the grip ot of a mild elation which made it difficult to distinguish between sleep and dreams he awoke to a sense of commotion A messenger was having trouble rousing leonardo from much needed sleep and presently the two of them were closeted with don jorge arnaldo joined dirk at coffee and told him what was up dorado was doing his stuff two hours earlier than usual the next moment senor Maxi millano and his companions came out and started for the northeastern bastion dirk and adan hurried to their rooms arlan adan to get a pair of binoculars and dirk to fetch his springfield they caught up with don jorge and his party while the blind man w was as still groping his way up the turret stairs emerging into the glare of the morning sun leonardos glance fell on dirks rifle and immediately turned moist with envy he caressed the blue black barrel as though he be touched a homans womans cheek then looked up pleadingly dirk laughed let him test the gun tor for balance but promptly took it back again arrived beside the bastion arnaldo leaned against it and focused his field glasses on a slowly moving pillar of dust presently the horsemen strung out along a ledge 0 of rocky soil and he could count them three more than yesterday 11 he announced and four more yesterday than the day before muttered leonardo if so said don jorge dorado must have escaped with more cash than I 1 thought As long as it holds out his troop will continue to grow do they always ride on the oth other er side of the barranca asked dirk of course answered two voices at once why for the same reason we ve would be fools not to stay on this side said don jorge the barranca is a barrier that runs tor for 20 miles a A child would have more sense than to lay himself open to getting trapped with an impassable ditch ditch at his back it was a stupid said dirk but since we have pl plenty enty of 0 time let me ask another the sense of the daily ride what does dorado get out of it the tactical idea said don jorge patiently is to intercept both reinforcements and escape incidentally pepe be averse to plunder in the way of ransom hes holding a package now murmured arnaldo what package asked don jorge quickly yesterday I 1 watched him capture a gringo by the name of blackadder blackadder cried dirk why blackadder he stopped stopp ed a and n d caught his breath blackadder is the name of miss sewells stepfather glancing around he saw a rough table and two rusted iron chairs he pushed the table so it stood end on against the parapet which was several inches higher how far are they he asked what are you doing said arnaldo looking down never mind what im doing said dirk ho how far oft off are they between one and two kilometers senor answered leonardo mourn fully eight kilometers make five miles calculated dirk aloud le anardo when youre sure under a thousand meters sing out what about it adan can you spot dorado Is he riding at the head bead ill tell you in a minute said adan only half interested theres la is bunch of three in the lead and I 1 think hes on the alabon yes pepe hes riding the big sorrel dirk gauged the wind set his sights tor for a thousand yards loaded his rifle ride and stretched out face down on the table not wishing tc scratch the barrel he made a wad ol of his felt hat and fixed it tor for a rest in the angle made by the parapet with the bastion dont forget leonardo the min ute youre sure under a kilometer ane use said leonardo leonard gloomily they wont come within range never mind about that said dirk sharply you do as I 1 say several minutes elapsed before leonardo murmured when they come to the first row of 0 the maguey plantation it will be only meters end and they will turn damn muttered dirk but promptly relaxed all his muscles drew a long slow breath and held it his check caressed the smooth oiled oak of the stock his fingers closed on the rough grips taking a full bead he fired bred the bullet sang the high song of a bullet that finds no mark A second can seem long sometimes it can be divided into sections an age after leonardo had given up hope of a possible ricochet which by a miracle might hit dorado on the bouce a puff ot of dust came back at his astonished eyes from far beyond the riders while amazement still paralyzed his vocal chords he saw every horse sink on its haunches and come to a slithering stop it was what dirk had planned in that instant of suspended movement he drenthe drew the foresight down to the vanishing point steadied and fired again there came the answering thud of a hit dora dos big sorrel squatted rushed from under his rider and fell dead 1 I missed him groaned dirk 1 I killed the corsel joyce came racing along the esplanade pl anade who did that she asked angrily who fired that shot already dorado had been swept up by two of his followers and the whole troop was riding away at a gallop behind remained the still mound of the sorrel a dark monument suddenly erected against the shimmering gold of the desert dirk rolled over and sat up 1 I did youre a but butcher cherl cried joyce her eyes blazing you come to my house an uninvited guest and amuse yourself by shooting horses I 1 dirks cheeks flushed with anger the man out there shot me up AV if 1 I 1 I 1 ap T A I 1 J f joyce and allan adan were nowhere to be seen without the slightest provocation why I 1 pay him back in his own coin but you hit him cried joyce you shot a horse you killed a poor horse what bunk intervened arnaldo lowering his field glasses for one thing im sure he did hit dorado though it may have been only through the leg add to that he just missed freeing you 0 of f all your troubles and has a bombproof bomb proof alibi besides shooting at a bandit chos holding an american for ransom bunk to you and the dead horse what american asked joyce her attention seized man named blackadder said dirk ever hear of hin hini i blackadder gasped joyce mr helm blackadder why ive thought of one more tor for the list interrupted arnaldo excitedly laying an affectionate hand on dirks shoulder hes lifted the siege you he and I 1 for for a day or two anyway we can go anywhere he turned to leonardo become of dorados donados Do rados silver plated car its in toluca where he always sent it explained leonardo to save the time it takes to d rive drive around the barranca so said adan we can go whenever we like on foot or a horse don jorge lifted his chim leonardo senor tell all the men they can take a six hours sleep and the women to prepare a big teed feed tor for them when they wake open the gates and let the children go out to round up whatever small stock was left out side As for you adan give a blind man your arm I 1 want to have a talk with you dirk was left alone with joyce fine kettle ot of fish he muttered now that ive fixed things so we could go for or a gallop on the hunters perhaps even jump them you have to be sorel sore how long does it take you to snap out ot of a grouch im out now said joyce cheeks and eyes already alight with anticipation come along ten minutes later with the help ot of Tob To balilo alito he had saddled the hunters and was ready to give her a leg up he faced her and spoke gravely listen this horse Is called tro nido and that ones rayo do those names mean anything to you thunder and lightning said joyce are you trying to frighten me no only fill ail you with sens be tore fore we start youre going to ride rayo because hes a shade lighter and not so touchy in the mouth if you do what I 1 say be all right it if you dont you may break a neck the horses or yours ill be good said joyce impressed by his earnestness what are your orders walk a mannered horse lor for hall half a mile said dirk and you can do anything with him start him off with a rush and hell ride your arms cul cu of their sockets so were going to take them away slow As they passed through the great gate there was a bit ot of prancing and champing champine cham ping on the bli bit but with soothing words and a light hand dirk coaxed Tr orildo back into a walk and a moment later joyce persuaded rayo to follow suit they rode along the faint trail scarcely used save by ox carts which provided the sole access tor for cars to the hacienda the road meandered more or less parallel to the barranca which widened by almost imperceptible gradations the farther they went at last dirk permitted a trot and turned amused eyes on joyce to his amazement she took it quite easily leaned to lt it caught its rhythm and laughed a happy laugh oh dirk jaycel Joy cel on the same impulse they slowed the horses again and stared at each other that was tunny funny said joyce it agreed dirk he urged into a trot then lifted him into an easy canter and held him there how are you making it he asked fine said joyce but you tell me ease your back a bit and sit into th the e saddle the stuff are you game for a gallop while were still headed away from home go ahead said joyce and they did the horse under her seemed to flatten out no jouncing up and down clown no swerving from a line only the feel of mighty muscles rippling rhythmically they rode back more slowly and as they approached the hacienda turned on him a face so glowing he felt his heart skip a beat and then do three in one well she asked do you want to know the truth the whole truth 1 I thought it would take you a month to learn ahat you already know he jumped off handed her his reins to hold tore down a high bean pole and laid it like a bar between two maguey plants made to order he commented as he mounted watch me then do exactly the same just stick on and leave the rest to rayo she jumpe i 1 the bar once with a gasp of astonishment at her success then ten times more with steadily increasing confidence and improving style she would have been content to keep on for the rest ot of the day had not dirk taken his revenge it you dont let up he remarked dryly youre going to find out there are more ways than one of killing a horse after an ai afternoon spent in grooming the horses for or sheer love of the work he came to dinner aglow from what he called an earned bath already he regretted having brought no change beyond a single lounge suit but tonight arnaldo save for shoulders exaggerated beyond nature and a wasp like waist was dressed in like manner joyce had put on black not the semi evening frock of her first and last app appearance barance at el but it had an equal simplicity of line that gave her an almost sculptural appearance pe arance changing her clothes had changed her mood gracious and ready with her answers she yet was so distrait as to give an impression of inner stillness though she avoided looking directly at dirk and adan she was thinking of 0 them but thinking more of herself what had come over her last night which person was she the woman of no age who had been kissed and had kissed back or the girl who had sat shoulder to shoulder on the parapet with a companion to whom she had poured out her heart as though she talked to another self were there fibers within her that responded to music alone and others that reverberated ver berated solely to the sidereal harmony of moon planet and star she wondered wo dine was engrossed in a masterly discussion of agrarianism between don jorge and arnaldo fresh from the capital arlan adan was packed to the gills with theory and regarded the parceling out of all the land in the republic as an ultimate panacea tor for every UL don jorge rooted in the soil aware of its divergence and as close to the peon as he was to his tight fitting charro breeches admitted the cure only to damn it with a qualifying phrase in a thousand years 11 you cant overleap education the way you vault a mangy horse he exploded have to have a mildly educated people but first catch your educated executive it if you can it enough tor for a ruler to be honest altruistic and stuffed with beneficent theories unless hes greater than god he cant bridge the gulf of ignorance between a peon and a tractor nor grow enough gramma grass on a hundred hectares to give that peons geons babies milk nor change the sweep of wheat lands into lush bottoms crammed with garden truck Y you OU agrarians arians run around wi with ith a foot rule yelling behold the measure in of all things you can measure a back yard with a foot rule but not a prairie our dumb as they are can see that do you know what saying no said adan smilingly tor for he loved discussion for the talks sake alone tell me heard what happened in the north and giving it out do the same here that asked dirk crop the ears cars oil off any agrarians arians who set foot on la barranca do it too for though the he peon has no education he has his backlog of fundamental knowledge he have to starve to death to see starvation on the way any more than he had to learn to read and write before he could make up his mind the three model houses put up by my master and friend cutler sewell were no good joyce looked up why they ive always wondered because your fathers education led him into the belief three rooms are better than one while the peons geons backlog of knowledge has taught him one room is infinitely better than three since the sum of the warmth of his kitchen fire his goat his wife six children and a couple of pigs constitute at no expense exactly the sort of central heating system which is slowly making england a livable country they laughed rose and separated it was already late there was no need tonight to make the rounds how does a girl lacking long social training and apparently innocent of finesse leave one man in the lurch and walk off with another without either of them knowing how it happened dirk paused to ask don jorge a single unimportant question but when he stepped out on the balcony joyce and adan were nowhere to be seen he walked to the right hopefully until curnin turning g the angle opened a long empty vista TO DE BE CONTINUED |