CHAPTER XXVIII
LEFEVER TO THE RESCUE
Lefever, chafing in the aspen grove under the restraint of waiting inthe storm, was ready long before daylight to break orders and ride into find de Spain.
With the first peep of dawn, and with his men facing him in theirsaddles, Lefever made a short explanation.
"I don't want any man to go into the Gap with me this morning underany misunderstanding or any false pretense," he began cheerfully. "BobScott and Bull will stay right here. If, by any chance, de Spain makeshis way out while the rest of us are hunting for him, you'll be hereto signal us--three shots, Bob--or to ride in with de Spain to helpcarry the rest of us out. Now, it's like this," he added, addressingthe others. "You, all of you know, or ought to know--everybody 'twixthere and the railroad knows--that de Spain and Nan Morgan havefastened up to each other for the long ride down the dusty trailtogether. That, I take it, is their business. But her uncle, oldDuke, and Gale, and the whole bunch, I hear, turned dead sore on it,and have fixed it up to beat them. You all know the Morgans. They'resome bunch--and they stick for one another like hornets, and all holdtogether in a fight. So I don't want any man to ride in there with methinking he's going to a wedding. He isn't. He may or may not be goingto a funeral, but he's _not_ going to a shivaree."
Frank Elpaso glanced sourly at his companions. "I guess everybody hereis wise, John."
"I know _you_ are, Frank," retorted Lefever testily; "that's allright. I'm only explaining. And I don't want _you_ to get sore on meif I _don't_ show you a fight." Frank Elpaso grunted. "I am underorders." John waved his hand. "And I can't do anything----"
"But talk," growled Frank Elpaso, not waving his hand.
Lefever started hotly forward in his saddle. "Now look here, Frank."He pointed his finger at the objecting ranger. "I'm here for business,not for pleasure. Any time I'm free you can talk to me----"
"Not till somebody gags you, John," interposed Elpaso moodily.
"Look here, Elpaso," demanded Lefever, spurring his horse smartlytoward the Texan, "are you looking for a fight with me right here andnow?"
"Yes, here and now," declared Elpaso fiercely.
"Or, there and then," interposed Kennedy, ironically, "some time,somewhere, or no time, nowhere. Having heard all of which, a hundredand fifty times from you two fellows, let us have peace. You've pulledit so often, over at Sleepy Cat, they've got it in double-faced,red-seal records. Let's get started."
"Right you are, Farrell," assented Lefever, "but----"
"Second verse, John. You're boss here; what are we going to do? That'sall we want to know."
"Henry's orders were to wait here till ten o'clock this morning.There's been firing inside twice since twelve o'clock last night. Hetold me to pay no attention to that. But if the whole place hadn'tbeen under water all night, I'd have gone in, anyway. This last timeit was two high-powered guns, picking at long range and, if I'm anyjudge of rifles and the men probably behind them, some one must havegot hurt. It's all a guess--but I'm going in there, peaceably if Ican, to look for Henry de Spain; if we are fired on--we've got tofight for it. And if there's any talking to be done----"
"You can do it," grunted Elpaso.
"Thank you, Frank. And I will do it. I need not say that Kennedy willride ahead with me, Elpaso and Wickwire with Tommie Meggeson."
Leaving Scott in the trees, the little party trotted smartly up theroad, picking their way through the pools and across the brawlingstreams that tore over the trail toward Duke Morgan's place. Thecondition of the trail broke their formation continually and Lefever,in the circumstances, was not sorry. His only anxiety was to keepElpaso from riding ahead far enough to embroil them in a quarrelbefore he himself should come up.
Half-way to Duke's house they found a small bridge had gone out. Itcut off the direct road, and, at Elpaso's suggestion, they crossedover to follow the ridge up the valley. Swimming their horses throughthe backwater that covered the depression to the south, they gainedthe elevation and proceeded, unmolested, on their way. As theyapproached Sassoon's place, Elpaso, riding ahead, drew up his horseand sat a moment studying the trail and casting an occasional glancein the direction of the ranch-house, which lay under the brow of ahill ahead.
When Lefever rode up to him, he saw the story that Elpaso was readingin the roadway. It told of a man shot in his tracks as he was runningtoward the house--and, in the judgment of these men, fatallyshot--for, while his companions spread like a fan in front of him,Lefever got off his horse and, bending intently over the sudden pagetorn out of a man's life, recast the scene that had taken place, wherehe stood, half an hour earlier. Some little time Lefever spentpatiently deciphering the story printed in the rutted road, and markedby a wide crimson splash in the middle of it. He rose from his studyat length and followed back the trail of the running feet that hadbeen stricken at the pool. He stopped in front of a fragment of rockjutting up beside the road, studied it a while and, looking about,picked up a number of empty cartridge-shells, examined them, andtossed them away. Then he straightened up and looked searchinglyacross the Gap. Only the great, silent face of El Capitan confrontedhim. It told no tales.
"If this was Henry de Spain," muttered Elpaso, when Lefever rejoinedhis companions, "he won't care whether you join him now, or at teno'clock, or never."
"That is not Henry," asserted Lefever with his usual cheer. "Notwithin forty rows of apple-trees. It's not Henry's gun, not Henry'sheels, not Henry's hair, and thereby, not Henry's head that was hitthat time. But it was to a finish--and blamed if at first it didn'tscare me. I thought it _might_ be Henry. Hang it, get down and see foryourselves, boys."
Elpaso answered his invitation with an inquiry. "Who was this fellowfighting with?"
"That, also, is a question. Certainly not with Henry de Spain, becausethe other fellow, I think, was using soft-nosed bullets. No white mandoes that, much less de Spain."
"Unless he used another rifle," suggested Kennedy.
"Tell me how they could get his own rifle away from him if he couldfire a gun at all. I don't put Henry quite as high with a rifle aswith a revolver--if you want to split hairs--mind, I say, if you wantto split hairs. But no man that's ever seen him handle either wouldwant to try to take any kind of a gun from him. Whoever it was,"Lefever got up into his saddle again, "threw some ounces of lead intothat piece of rock back there, though I don't understand how any onecould see a man lying behind it.
"Anyway, whoever was hit here has been carried down the road. We'lltry Sassoon's ranch-house for news, if they don't open on us withrifles before we get there."
In the sunshine a man in shirt sleeves, and leaning against the jamb,stood in the open doorway of Sassoon's shack, watching the invadersas they rode around the hill and gingerly approached. Lefeverrecognized Satt Morgan. He flung a greeting to him from the saddle.
Satt answered in kind, but he eyed the horsemen with reserve when theydrew up, and he seemed to Lefever altogether less responsive thanusual. John sparred with him for information, and Satterlee gave backwords without any.
"Can't tell us anything about de Spain, eh?" echoed Lefever at length."All right, Satt, we'll find somebody that can. Is there a bridge overto Duke's on this trail?"
Satt's nose wrinkled into his normal smile. "There is a bridge--" Thereport of three shots fired in the distance, seemingly from the mouthof the Gap, interrupted him. He paused in his utterance. There were nofurther shots, and he resumed: "There is a bridge that way, yes, butit was washed out last night. They're blockaded. Duke and Gale areover there. They're pretty sore on your man de Spain. You'd betterkeep away from 'em this morning unless you're looking for trouble."
Lefever, having all needed information from Scott's signal, raised hishand quickly. "Not at all," he exclaimed, leaning forward to emphasizehis words and adding the full orbit of his eye to his sincerity ofmanner. "Not at all, Satt. This is all friendly, all friendly. But,"he coughed slightly, as if in apology, "if Henry shouldn't turn up allright, we'l
l--ahem--be back."
None of his companions needed to be told how to get prudently away. Ata nod from Lefever Tommie Meggeson, Elpaso, and Wickwire wheeled theirhorses, rode rapidly back to the turn near the hill and, facing about,halted, with their rifles across their arms. Lefever and Kennedyfollowed leisurely, and the party withdrew leaving Satterlee, unmoved,in the sunny doorway. Once out of sight, Lefever led the way rapidlydown the Gap to the rendezvous.
Of all the confused impressions that crowded Nan's memory after thewild night on Music Mountain, the most vivid was that of a noticeablylight-stepping and not ungraceful fat man advancing, hat in hand, togreet her as she stood with de Spain, weary and bedraggled in theaspen grove.
A smile flamed from her eyes when, turning at once, he rebuked deSpain with dignity for not introducing him to Nan, and while de Spainmade apologies Lefever introduced himself.
"And is this," murmured Nan, looking at him quizzically, "really Mr.John Lefever whom I've heard so many stories about?"
She was conscious of his pleasing eyes and even teeth as he smiledagain. "If they have come from Mr. de Spain--I warn you," said John,"take them with all reserve."
"But they haven't all come from Mr. de Spain."
"If they come from any of my friends, discredit them in advance. Youcould believe what my enemies say," he ran on; then added ingenuously,"if I had any enemies!" To de Spain he talked very little. It seemedto take but few words to exchange the news. Lefever asked gingerlyabout the fight. He made no mention whatever of the crimson pool inthe road near Sassoon's hut.