Show 7 40 elk hapa LD CHAN N I 1 N G wa RE R E 3 0 LEW BURNET has been engaged by TOM ARNOLD owner of the cross T to act as trail boss on the drive from rom southern texas to ogallala in the spring 1 I of 1875 tom with his son and daughter STEVE and JOY are moving to wyo ming tom must deliver longhorns by september 1 or lose a profitable contract lew suspects that the indian supply co is trying to delay the cross T so that their open A herd can arrive first at ogallala lew encamps on the red river they hear gunfire and the herd Is stampeded after a night of running the herd Is rounded up but tom arnold has been thrown by his bis horse and killed CLAY MANNING tells lew this will make a big difference to f CHAPTER X let him bark Quarter night said take more than that but clays meaning was clear enough with tom arnold gone joy and steve would be the cross T owners and since steve wore the pants he could take charge clay kasa bould put the idea into his head from the river bluff he saw the water had dropped a number of feet it was still high but the churning flood was gone long red sand bars were uncovered out in the middle no matter what happened the longhorns had to go on he made an immediate plan for that then near camp he said you go in john and get tools from the cooks wagon dont be seen if you can help it go on back ahead of me he pulled in and waited until Quarter night rode out of the trees with a canvas bundle under his arm only steve was there when he went in squatted at the fire pit drinking coffee his head turned at the sound of the horse his cheeks that never took much tan were smooth and rosy and he seemed all at once in this moment too young for wh what at was coming lew he said I 1 wheres the others up the creek steve joy here asleep then come on with me the thing he had to tell himmage him made him quietly gentle even steves quick say ive ridden enough cant you let a man rest change that he said again gently come on this work Some things happened he saw the high color drain away and rush back with no talk then steve got up and walked to his horse but out of the trees looking straight ahead he asked dad yes steve lew put out his hand there had been years when he and this boy were like brothers tom arnold had been a father na wa 6 them both it seemed to him that now if at any time the cie unexplainable barrier between them ought to be down his hand touched steves arm it jerked from him as if he had struck a blow he did not finish what he wanted to say it was no use inside him a desolate lonely feeling came crowding back ile he held deliberately to a slow walk up the creek letting the men get most of their work done there was no need tor for the boy to look at the trampled thing they had found the grave on a little knoll close to the bank was already covered they were mounding bounding moun ding it over with rocks afterward with that finished they made a bareheaded circle waiting for someone who could talk he he know the ds religion of a church sort c never been in his life nor in the lives of any of these men the words they used had never been in prayer and yet in their hushed silence and in their bowed heads he felt a wordless kind of praying deep from their hearts tom he thought would id want it like this Quarter night brownstone joe wheat and moon light bailey these were his friends of many years and this was texas soil it was all he would have asked someone coughed and the little group moved no one had spoken that brief moment was gone clay he said you go in now let joy know you and steve he had seen ed stay off with the horses apart from the little group around the grave and it seemed a kind of rank insult the way the big man stood there casually rolling a cigarette watching them and blowing out his gusty breaths ot of smoke As steve and clay got into their saddles and started toward camp reached up for his own horn to follow them he called the mans name walking toward him fast close he said not you you stay here the heavy arm came down from the horn and hung loose turned himself around with a ponderous deliberation you to me his dusty fouled beard hid all expression then a quick hard mockery mocker y glittered in his h is pale eyes maybe he said 1 I dont hear you any more new owners make a new boss you thought of that he knew a certain end was coming that hed held back so far on the trail quietly he said therell be no change theres something here youve missed the urge toward the end he wanted drove him on if you cant take it if like that you can ride out he saw the instant way the pale gray eyes sharpened Sp lanns voice dropped low and oddly droning so you figure its that easy ive done my figuring he said there it is this big man was no hotheaded amateur when a definite time came he could see the veiled coldness behind the drooping lids and the slack readiness that slid over the huge body then some thought loosened the bearded lips in a half grin all right turned a little from him youre smart ive thought maybe you were only a damn fool his right arm lifted again as if to reach the saddle horn he understood this mans kind too well he knew the move was false even as the arm rose and so was ready when that hand curved suddenly downward to the bolstered gun his own holster flap was buckled in that fraction of a second he wasted no time in trying to loosen it he grabbed left handed at the dull steel of Sp lanns rising weapon and threw all of his weight behind a blow of his right fist upward against the bearded jaw it rocked the big head but the man was solidly planted he felt the guns hammer rise in his palm and hooked his thumb around it it snapped with no explosion and he hardly felt the metals sharp cut in the flesh of his thumb for the hatred dammed back in him so long had released something savage and cruel he threw his fist again into a body blow the gun came free into his bis hand with his thumb still blocking the hammer he swung it lashing across Sp lanns face it half turned the man around and he brought the heavy weapons barrel once more against the side of his head that dropped him forward onto his knees standing back he was aware then of the others who had come running up he heard Quarter nights voice he done he answered without turning Sp lanns quit hes through he released the guns hammer and shook away the blood behind him jim hope blurted out as high and shrill as a girl judas priest was he figurin to kill you kid Quarter night said shut up bent over and wiped his face and got onto his legs unsteadily he held the back of one hand against his cheek his hot eyes glared over it youve started something burnet I 1 warned you once to stay clear youve got a months pay coming he said you can take the horse for that now get out the 11 heated rush of anger was gone now in the way of a storms tumult that has passed and left only a knowledge of the damage in its wake this a clean end a killers savage blood was not in him when you go he said stay away from camp ill throw your bedroll off im letting you out easy I 1 know head Z z z 4 IN akil 14 01 I 1 I 1 Z nt 7 rile threw his fist again into a body blow back to your open A friends now and work from there dropped his arm you want to save that how let me see clay manning to he shook his head see no one turned he was in the saddle when he said youre drag gin down more than you know ill see clay tell him so and therell be two others when 1 I dol do he pulled his horse around an and jumped him into a lope Quarter night growled lew you had him why you finish it not my way I 1 guess he said anyhow Sp lanns only one it have settled anything enough time had passed he felt tor for ste steve ve and clay in camp he moved back to his horse from the saddle with the others up around him he said 1 I know weve all done enough riding in the past twenty four hours but im going to ask you to ride some more were lucky in getting ourselves bunched that thunderstorm was bad and it must have given a stampede down at doans those herds were all camped too close together if they ran they mixed and take a week to get them untangled this gives us a chance to trail ahead so well go in and eat and then well cross there was another reason also he had for moving now times 1 like ik e this work was better than anything else lie he want joy or the men either with an idleness to go back over what had happened now the shock still held them in a numb way throwing themselves into the job ob of crossing would ease the bad hours that were bound to come riding toward the camps smoke he was not quite sure what he would find there but instantly entering the little open space he knew he should have understood the girl better betta r than that there had been no outburst of grief here no crying with the men going past him to get their meal from the fire pit he stepped down from his saddle and walked toward her joy stood at the end of her wagon both arms rigidly down at her sides clay had just stepped back from her he locate steve she remained like that motionless and dry eyed until he was close and then it was as it if something violently released drove her against him his arms were around her and he felt the silent wracking way in which she let go he bent his head and laid his cheek against her hair and let that moments grief spend itself he saw clay start back toward them she drew her head up and raised her eyes to his im all right he seemed to look far down in them and see all of this girls quiet courage and something else in their steady gaze gaz e unreadable to him then clay was at his side his hand took her arm honey better rest his blue eyes turned with a hot stare that goes for the whole camp I 1 figure any objections lew he saw where clay was leading the challenge was thinly veiled and that a man even with clays surly temper should force any issue now showed him how unexplainably plain ably bitter the reasons must be 41 well ell rest he said beyond the river were going across as soon as we eat not if I 1 know it clay jerked his glance to the girl joy thi this s is up to us you dont have to go P on clay she stared at him with a suddenly lost look what are you doing joy lew said never mind were au all of us on edge itu be all right he moved to clays side and put his hand on his arm his body covering the hard grip of his fingers he turned clay and walked him the grip digging in they were beyond her hearing when the arm jerked free he halted clay damn your soul he could speak without anger now his own life had been bitter and twisted enough at times so that he could know the hounding torment of an others mind he had that understanding without knowing what was behind it this is plenty hard for her he said you made it any easier what kind of a devils driving you clay ill 11 tell you one thing you lide hide so much maybe Sp lanns quit auit quit clay turned and was suddenly rigid and still you mean he ne pulled out himself well no he said 1 I fired him we had a run in he waited watching that desperate driven look set across clays big face will go to the open A I 1 know that what does it mean there was no hot violence that he had expected in the answer it means clay said youve played hell he swung his broad shoulders and walked away lying there with the sun bright upon its surface and the green grass stretching away beyond the north shore the red looked as inviting as a man could want but a trail boss never could be sure he had learned that himself in the way all men had learned it by grief yet he felt that now was the one time to cross A man wait for the high water to drop to normal level flood had scoured the river to its hardpan bottom later when the current slowed completely the silt would pile up that made your quicksand the dreaded deathtrap for cattle it looked only like a smooth red lake halt half a mile wide and broken in the middle by a little island there might be some deep channels the cattle and horses could swim those if they had to and they could make a cottonwood raft for the wagons he decided to try the horse herd first wheeling from the bank he saw clay in camp arguing with the men around him but Quarte Quarter might night was in in there clay get far with old rebel john off on the flat the pooled longhorns long homs had lain down resting moonlight bailey and jim hope were grazing the horses apart from them along the creek he sailed a yell into camp and saw the men start toward him all except clay and steve and then waiting for the riders to come 0 out ut and with that sign of clays growing rebellion so clear his mind went to a thing he had not thought of before tom arnold had said tor for him to look in an old account book that joys wagon carried if anything happened A moments speculation held him but afterward in the rush of work he did not think of it again riding on toward the horse herd he could see the dead tired heaviness of his crew yet there was no complaint and there would be none well get across and camp early he be promised the horses had no fear of the river under pressure of the riders strung out behind them they raced to the water and plunged in sending muddy geysers higher than their heads he pulled off on the bank and watched them closely seeing the flood touch their bellies but come no farther than that it was sate safe enough he thought to cross the wagons when his wave brought them out of camp he saw clay on the seat with joy driving for her his big shape stiff and set without a wait for help he be turned down the slippery bank TO BE CONTINUED 10 31 |