CHAPTER XIV
THE INSURGENT
And so Purdy had joined the Grimshaw gang, and had prospered. Raids wereplanned and, under the leadership of the crafty Cass Grimshaw wholebands of horses were run across the line and disposed of, and always thegang returned to the bad lands unbroken. For nearly a year things wentwell, and then came a change. Where absolute unity of purpose, andunswerving loyalty to their leader were essential, dissension creptin--and Purdy was at the bottom of it.
The first intimation of discord came to Cass Grimshaw one night in thehang-out where the six sat smoking. Purdy casually mentioned that it wasgetting along towards shearing time and that the Wolf River bank oughtto be heavily stocked with cash. The leader blew a double plume of smokefrom his nostrils and abruptly asked:
"Well, what if it is?"
"Oh, nothin'," Purdy answered with a show of indifference, "only--I wasjust thinkin'."
"Thinkin', mebbe, to slip over an' pull a hold-up?"
"Well, they's more _dinero_ in one haul there than they is in a half adozen horse raids. Pete, here, he says he knows about handlin' soup."
"Be'n talkin' it over, eh?" there was a sneer in Grimshaw's voice."Figure because you've helped pull off a few good horse deals, you're aregular outlaw? Want to tackle banks, an' express boxes? The horsegame's got too slow, eh? Tired of follerin' my lead?"
Purdy interrupted with a gesture of impatience: "Hell--no! We thought,maybe, you'd----"
"Thought I'd turn bank robber, eh? Thought I'd quit a game where I holdall the aces, an' horn in on one where I don't hold even a deuce to drawto? Bitin' off more'n he c'n chaw has choked more'n one feller. Righthere in Choteau County they's some several of 'em choked out on the endof a tight one, because they overplayed their hand. I'm ahorse-thief--an' a damn good one. You fellers is good horse-thieves,too--long as you've got me to do yer thinkin'. My business is runnin'off horses an' sellin' 'em--an' I ain't holdin' up no banks fer a sideline. If I ain't able to pull a bank job, how in hell be youforty-dollar-a-month cow hands goin' to do it? So don't go lettin' mehear any more of that talk." He paused and looked his hearers over withnarrowed eyes: "An' if any of you feel like trying it on yer ownhook--if you don't git away with it, the sheriff'll git you--an' if youdo, I'll git you--so, take yer pick."
There was no more talk of bank robbery. Grimshaw planned a horse raidthat was successful, but the heart of the leader was troubled andalways he kept close watch on Purdy. And Purdy gave him no grounds forsuspicion, nevertheless he was busy with his own thoughts, and way backin his brain was an ever present vision--the vision of a squat,bow-legged man, dangling limp across the front of his saddle.
The next friction between them came one evening when Grimshaw announcedthat there was a new nester over on Red Sand Creek.
"Is he--right?" asked Bill.
The leader nodded: "Yeh, it's Cinnabar Joe, that used to tend bar in theHeadquarters saloon in Wolf River. Him an' that there Jennie Dodds thatused to work in the hotel's got married an' filed along the crick, 'boutfour mile above McWhorter's."
Purdy laughed harshly: "Cinnabar, eh? Well, when the time comes, I'lljust naturally tap him fer his pile. I've got somethin' on that bird.He's mine."
Cass Grimshaw eyed Purdy coldly: "I said _he's right_. D'you git that?Meanin' that him, an' his stock, an' his wife, an' everything he's gotis safe an' sound fer as this gang's concerned. He ain't in onnothin'--same as McWhorter. Only--he don't know nothin'--see? An' if anyof us wants anythin' an' he's goin' to town--all right."
"But, I've be'n aimin' to make him come acrost for over a year, an'----"
"An', now you c'n fergit it! Friends is worth more'n enimies, anywaysyou look at it--'special,' in our business. That makes jest eighty-threeranches, big an little, that the Grimshaw gang counts friends. That'swhy we git away with it. They's be'n times when most any of 'em could ofsaid the word that would of got posses on to us--an' I've made it rightwith all of 'em. We don't owe none of 'em nothin'. Why they's plenty ofsheriffs, much as they want to git me, wouldn't bushwhack me--not ferall the reward money they is, 'cause they know they's be'n times when Icould of got 'em easy, an' didn't. I don't hold it agin' 'em. My rule isnever kill a posse man or a sheriff onless it gits right down to you an'him fer it. They're doin' their duty accordin' to law--an' the laws hasgot to be uphelt--er this would be a hell of a country to live in--fermost folks." The man ceased speaking and Purdy maintained silence. Thesubject of Cinnabar Joe was never mentioned again.
It was not long, however, before Purdy once more fell in the way ofGrimshaw's displeasure. He came into the hang-out late one evening. Thefive were playing poker upon a blanket spread upon the floor between theswinging lamps, but instead of joining them, Purdy seated himself withhis back to the wall, rolled a cigarette, and smoked in silence. A fewdeals went around, bets were made, and pots raked in. Grimshaw shuffledthe deck slowly with a sidewise glance toward Purdy: "They sayMcWhorter's gal's to home," he announced, casually. Purdy said nothing.Grimshaw dealt, picked up his hand, examined it minutely, and tossed thecards onto the blanket. "How about it, Purdy?"
"You seem to know," answered the other, surlily.
"Yes," answered the leader, without even glancing in his direction, "Igenerally know what's goin' on in the bad lands, an' out of 'em fer aways. Mighty good lookin', they say." No answer from Purdy, and a dealor two went by. Again Grimshaw tossed away his cards: "Ain't she goodlookin', Purdy?"
Purdy scowled: "Well, what if she is? What you drivin' at? If you gotsomethin' to say, why the hell don't you say it?"
Grimshaw cleared his throat: "They ain't never no good comes from mixin'up with women--in our business. If they're good women they ain't goin'to have no truck with such as us, nohow--an' if they ain't, they'lldouble-cross you sure as hell sometime or other. I've read where most ofthe crooks an' outlaws that's caught, is caught 'cause they was stuck onsome woman--either the woman double-crossed 'em, or the sheriffs orofficers watches the woman, an' nabs the man when he goes to see her.'Twas a woman got Billy the Kid caught--an' I could name some more righthere in Montana."
"Guess ridin' over to git McWhorter to fetch me out some tobacco fromtown ain't goin' to hurt none."
"No. Only McWhorter won't be goin' to town till after lambin', an' itlooks like he could remember tobacco with one tellin', instead of six inten days."
Purdy's anger flared up: "Keep pretty close cases, don't you? Whosebusiness is it if I was over there sixteen times? I ain't in jail, amI?"
"No--not yet, you ain't." Grimshaw's voice was low and hard. The gamehad ceased, and the four others were watching the two. "An', by the waythings is framin', I don't expect you'll ever git there." There wassomething ominous in the man's words, and Purdy shifted uncomfortably.
"I didn't s'pose it mattered what a man done--between jobs," hemuttered.
"It don't--so long as he leaves women alone, an' don't do nothin' thatputs this gang in bad."
"I never told her nothin' about the gang. I ain't goin' to marry her."
"I know damned well you ain't. She despises you because yer ahorse-thief." Grimshaw's voice suddenly dropped lower, "an', if sheknow'd what I know--an' what all Wolf River knows she'd know that yerhorse-thievin' is the best thing about you."
Purdy laughed nastily: "Cinnabar Joe spilled a mouthful, did he? I felldown on that job--maybe I'll have better luck, next time."
Grimshaw nodded: "Mebbe you will. But, McWhorter's like Cinnabar Joe,an' all the rest that's friends of mine--he's safe, an' his stock'ssafe, an' By God, his _girl's_ safe!" The leader paused and allowed hiseyes to travel slowly over the faces of his five companions, "Thatgoes--an' whatever else I say goes." And Purdy, watching narrowly fromthe corner of his eye, saw that, of the other four only Bill's eyesstood Grimshaw's gaze unflinching, and in the dim shadow his lipstwisted into a sardonic grin. What Purdy did not see was that Grimshawhad seen exactly what he saw, and not only that, he had seen Purdy'ssmile, but with a perfectly impassive face, the leader s
pread hisblanket and stretched himself upon the floor.