II
JUDITH TAKES A HAND
The quiet of the morning was broken by the quick thud of a horse's shodhoofs on the hard ground of the courtyard. Bud Lee in the doorwayturned to see a strange horse drawn up so that upon its four bunchedhoofs it slid to a standstill; saw a slender figure, which in the earlylight he mistook for a boy, slip out of the saddle. And then,suddenly, a girl, the spurs of her little riding-boots making jinglingmusic on the veranda, her riding-quirt swinging from her wrist, hadstepped by him and was looking with bright, snapping eyes from him toTrevors.
"I am Judith Sanford," she announced briefly, and there was a note inher young voice which went ringing, bell-like, through the still air."Is one of you men Bayne Trevors?"
A quick, shadowy smile came and went upon the lips of Bud Lee. Itstruck him that she might have said in just that way: "I am the Queenof England and I am running my own kingdom!" He looked at her witheyes filled with open interest and curiosity, making swift appraisal ofthe flush in the sun-browned cheeks, the confusion of dark, curlinghair disturbed by her furious riding, the vivid, red-blooded beauty ofher. Mouth and eyes and the very carriage of the dark head upon hersuperb white throat announced boldly and triumphantly that here was nowax-petalled lily of a lady but rather a maid whose blood, like theblood of the father before her, was turbulent and hot and must boillike a wild mountain-stream at opposition. Her eyes, a little darkerthan Trevors's, were the eyes of fighting stock.
Trevors, irritated already, turned hard eyes up at her from undercorrugated brows. He did not move in his chair. Nor did Lee stirexcept that now he removed his hat.
"I am Trevors," said the general manager curtly. "And, whether you areJudith Sanford or the Queen of Siam, I am busy right now."
"He got the queen idea, too!" was the quick thought back of Bud Lee'sfading smile.
"You talk soft with me, Trevors!" cried the girl passionately, "if youwant to hold your job five minutes! I'll tolerate none of your highand mighty airs!"
Trevors laughed at her, a sneer in his laugh. "I talk the way I talk,"he answered roughly. "If people don't like the sound of it they don'thave to listen! Lee, you round up those seventy-three horses and crowdthem over the ridge to the lumber-camp. Or, if you want to quit, quitnow and I'll send a sane man."
The hot color mounted higher in the girl's face, a new anger leaped upin her eyes.
"Take no orders this morning that I don't give," she said, for a momentturning her eyes upon Lee. And to Trevors: "Busy or not busy, you taketime right now to answer my questions. I've got your reports and allthey tell me is that you are going in the hole as fast as you can. Youare spending thousands of dollars needlessly. What business have yougot selling off my young steers at a sacrifice? What in the name offolly did you build those three miles of fence for?"
"Go get those horses, Lee," said Trevors, ignoring her.
Again she spoke to Lee, saying crisply: "What horses is he talkingabout?"
With his deep gravity at its deepest, Bud Lee answered: "All L-S stock.The eleven Red Duke three-year-olds; the two Robert the Devil colts;Brown Babe's filly, Comet----"
"All mine, every running hoof of 'em," she said, cutting in. "Whatdoes Trevors want you to do with them? Give them away for ten dollarsa head or cut their throats?"
"Look here--" cried Trevors angrily, on his feet now.
"You shut up!" commanded the girl sharply. "Lee, you answer me."
"He's selling them fifty dollars a head," he said with a secret joy inhis heart as he glanced at Trevors's flushed face.
"Fifty dollars!" Judith gasped. "Fifty dollars for a Red Duke coltlike Comet!"
She stared at Lee as though she could not believe it. He merely staredback at her, wondering just how much she knew about horse-flesh.
Then, suddenly, she whirled again upon Trevors.
"I came out to see if you were a crook or just a fool," she told him,her words like a slap in his face. "No man could be so big a fool asthat! You--you crook!"
The muscles under Bayne Trevors's jaws corded. "You've said aboutenough," he shot back at her. "And even if you do own a third of thisoutfit, I'll have you understand that I am the manager here and that Ido what I like."
From her bosom she snatched a big envelope, tossing it to the table."Look at that," she ordered him. "You big thief! I've mortgaged myholding for fifty thousand dollars and I've bought in Timothy Gray'sshare. I swing two votes out of three now, Bayne Trevors. And thefirst thing I do is run you out, you great big grafting fathead! You_would_ chuck Luke Sanford's outfit to the dogs, would you? Get offthe ranch. You're fired!"
"You can't do a thing like this!" snapped Trevors, after one swiftglance at the papers he had whisked out of their covering.
"I can't, can't I?" she jeered at him. "Don't you fool yourself forone little minute! Pack your little trunk and hammer the trail."
"I'll do nothing of the kind. Why, I don't know even who you are! Yousay that you are Judith Sanford." He shrugged his massive shoulders."How do I know what game you are up to? Wayward maidens," and in hisrage he sneered at her evilly, "have been known before to lie likeother people!"
"You can't bluff me for two seconds, Bayne Trevors," she blazed at him."You know who I am, all right. Send for Sunny Harper," she endedsharply.
"Discharged three months ago," Trevors told her with a show of teeth.
"Johnny Hodge, then," she commanded. "Or Tod Bruce or Bing Kelley.They all know me."
"Fired long ago, all of them," laughed Trevors, "to make room forcompetent men."
"To make room for more crooks!" she cried, her own brown hands balledinto fists scarcely less hard than Trevors's had been. Then for thethird time she turned upon Lee. "You are one of his new thieves, Isuppose?"
"Thank you, ma'am," said Bud Lee gravely.
"Well, answer me. Are you?"
"No, ma'am," he told her, with no hint of a twinkle in his calm eyes."Leastwise, not his exactly. You see, I do all my killing and highwayrobbing on my own hook. It's just a way I have."
"Well," Judith sniffed, "I don't know. It will be a jolt to me ifthere's a square man left on the ranch! Go down to the bunk-house andtell the cook I'm here and I'm hungry as a wild-cat. Tell him and anyof the boys that are down there that I've come to stay and that Trevorsis fired. They take orders from me and no one else. And hurry, if youknow how. Goodness knows, you look as though it would take you half anhour to turn around!"
"Thank you, ma'am," said Bud Lee. "But you see I had just told Trevorshere he could count me out. I'm not working for the Blue Lake anymore. As I go down to the corral, shall I send up one of the boys totake your orders?"
There was a little smile under the last words, just as there was alittle smile in Bud Lee's heart at the thought of the boys takingorders from a little slip of a girl. Inside he was chuckling, vastlydelighted with the comedy of the morning.
"She's a sure-enough little wonder-bird, all right," he mused. "But,say, what does she want to butt in on a man's-size job for, I want toknow?"
"Lee," called Trevors, "you take orders from me or no one on thisranch. You can go now. And just keep your mouth shut."
Bud Lee stood there in the doorway, his hat spinning upon a brownforefinger, his thoughts his own. He was turning to go out and down tohis horse when he saw the look in Trevors's eyes, a look of consumingrage. The general manager's voice had been hoarse.
"I guess," said Lee quietly, "that I'll stick around until you two getthrough quarrelling. I might come in handy somehow."
"Damn you," shouted Trevors, "get out!"
"Cut out the swear-words, Trevors," said Lee with quiet sternness."There's a lady here."
"Lady!" scoffed Trevors. He laughed contemptuously. "Where's yourlady? That?" and he levelled a scornful finger at the girl. "Aranting tough of a female who brings a breath of the stables with herand scolds like a fishwife. . . ."
"Shut up!" said Lee, crossing the ro
om with quick strides, his facethrust forward a little.
"You shut up!" It was Judith's voice as Judith's hand fell upon BudLee's shoulder, pushing him aside. "If I couldn't take care of myselfdo you think I'd be fool enough to take over a job like running theBlue Lake? Now--" and with blazing eyes she confronted Trevors--"ifyou've got any more nice little things to say, suppose you say them tome!"
Trevors's temper had had ample provocation and now stood naked and hotin his hard eyes. In a blind instant he laid his tongue to a wordwhich would have sent Bud Lee at his throat. But Judith stood betweenthem and, like an echo to the word, came the resounding slap asJudith's open palm smote Trevors's cheek.
"You wildcat!" he cried. And his two big hands flew out, seeking hershoulders.
"Stand back!" called Judith. "Just because you are bigger than I am,don't make any mistake! Stand back, I tell you!"
Bud Lee marvelled at the swiftness with which her hand had gone intoher blouse and out again, a small-caliber revolver in the steadyfingers now. He had never known a man--himself possiblyexcepted--quicker at the draw.
But Bayne Trevors, from whose make-up cowardice had been omitted,laughed sneeringly at her and did not stand back. His two hands outbefore him, his face crimson, he came on.
"Fool!" cried the girl. "Fool!"
Still he came on. Lee gathered himself to spring.
Judith fired. Once, and Trevors's right arm fell to his side. Asecond time, and Trevors's left arm hung limp like the other. Thecrimson was gone from his face now. It was dead white. Little beadsof sweat began to form on his brow.
Lee turned astonished eyes to Judith.
"Now you know who's running this outfit, don't you?" she said coolly."Lee, have a team hitched up to carry Trevors wherever he wants to go.He's not hurt much; I just winged him. And then tell the cook about mybreakfast."
But Lee stood and looked at her. He had no remark to offer. Then heturned to go upon her bidding. As he went down to the bunk-house hesaid softly under his breath: "Well, I'm damned. I most certainly am!"