CHAPTER XII. Two of a Kind
Patsy, staunch old partisan that he was, placed before them much foodwhich he had tried his best to keep hot without burning everything toa crisp, and while they ate with ravenous haste he told, with Germanepithets and a trembling lower jaw, of his troubles that day.
"Dem sheeps, dey coom by der leetle pasture," he lamented while hepoured coffee muddy from long boiling. "Looks like dey know so soon youride away, und dey cooms cheeky as you pleece, und eats der grass undcrawls under der fence and leafs der vool sthicking by der vires. I goesout mit a club, py cosh, und der sheeps chust looks und valks by somebetter place alreatty, und I throw rocks and yells till mine neck isssore.
"Und' dose herders, dey sets dem by der rock and laugh till I felt likeI could kill der whole punch, by cosh! Und von yells, 'Hey, dutchy,pring me some pie, alreatty!' Und he laughs some more pecause der sheepsdey don't go avay; dey chust run around und eat more grass and baa-aa!"He turned and went heavily back to the greasy range with the depletedcoffee pot, lifted the lid of a kettle and looked in upon the contentswith a purely mechanical glance; gave a perfunctory prod or two with along-handled fork, and came back to stand uneasily behind Weary.
"If you poys are goin' to shtand fer dot," he began querulously, "Pycosh I von't! Py myself I vill go and tell dot Dunk W'ittaker votlowdown skunk I t'ink he iss. Sheep's vool shtickin' by der fencesefferwhere on der ranch, py cosh! Dot vould sure kill der Old Man quickif he see it. Shtinkin' off sheeps py our noses all der time, till Ican't eat no more mit der shmell of dem. Neffer pefore did I see vool onder Flying U fences, py cosh, und sheeps baa-aain' in der coulee!"
Never had they seen Patsy take so to heart a matter of mere businessimportance. They did not say much to him; there was not much that theycould say. They ate their fill and went out disconsolately to discussthe thing among themselves, away from Patsy's throaty complainings. Theyhated it as badly as did he; with Weary's urgent plea for no violenceholding them in leash, they hated it more, if that were possible.
The Native Son tilted his head unobtrusively stableward when he caughtAndy's eye, and as unobtrusively wandered away from the group. Andystopped long enough to roll and light a cigarette and then strolledafter him with apparent aimlessness, secretly curious over the summons.He found Miguel in the stable waiting for him, and Miguel led the way,rope in hand across the corral and into the little pasture where fed ahorse he meant to ride. He did not say anything until he had turned toclose the gate, and to make sure that they were alone and that theirdeparture had not carried to the Happy Family any betraying air ofsignificance.
"You remember when you blew in here, a few weeks or so ago?" the NativeSon asked abruptly, a twinkle in his fathomless eyes. "You put up a goodone on the boys, that time, you remember. Bluffed them into thinking Iwas a hero in disguise, and that you'd seen me pull off a big stunt ofbull-fighting and bull-dogging down in Mexico. It was a fine josh. Theybelieve it yet."
Andy glanced at him perplexedly. "Yes--but when it turned out to betrue," he amended, "the josh was on me, I guess; I thought I was justlying, when I wasn't. I've wondered a good deal about that. Bygracious, it makes a man feel funny to frame up a yarn out of his ownthink-machine, and then find out he's been telling the truth all thewhile. It's like a fellow handing out a twenty-four karat gold bar to arube by mistake, under the impression it only looks like one. Of coursethey believe it! Only they don't know I just merely hit the truth byaccident."
The Native Son smiled his slow, amused smile, that somehow never failedto be impressive. "That's the funny part of it," he drawled. "Youdidn't. I just piled another little josh on top of yours, that's all. Inever throwed a bull in my life, except with my lariat. I'd heard agood deal about you, and--well, I thought I'd see if I could go you onebetter. And you put that Mexico yarn across so smooth and easy, I justsimply couldn't resist the temptation to make you think it was allstraight goods. Sabe?"
Andy Green did not say a word, but he looked exceedingly foolish.
"So I think we can both safely consider ourselves top-hands when itcomes to lying," the Native Son went on shamelessly. "And if you'rewilling to go in with me on it and help put Dunk on the run--" Heglanced over his shoulder, saw that Happy Jack, on horseback, was comingout to haze in the saddle bunch, and turned to stroll back as lazily ashe had come. He continued to speak smoothly and swiftly, in a voicethat would not carry ten paces. While Andy Green, with brown head bentattentively, listened eagerly and added a sentence or two on his ownaccount now and then, and smiled--which he had not been in the habit ofdoing lately.
"Say, you fellers are gittin' awful energetic, ain't yuh?--wranglin'horses afoot!" Happy Jack bantered at the top of his voice when hepassed them by. "Better save up your strength while you kin. Weary'sgoin' to set us herdin' sheep agin--and I betche there's goin' to besomething more'n herdin' on our hands before we git through."
"I wouldn't be a bit surprised if there was," sang out Andy, ascheerfully as if he had been invited to dance "Ladies' choice" with theprettiest girl in the crowd. "Wonder what hole he's going to dump thisbunch into," he added to the Native Son. "By gracious, he ought to send'em just as far north as he can drive 'em without paying duty! I'd suretake 'em over into Canada, if it was me running the show."
"It was a mistake," the Native Son volunteered, "for the whole bunch togo off like we did to-day. They had those sheep up here on the hill justfor a bait. They knew we'd go straight up in the air and come down onthose two freaks herding 'em, and that gave them the chance to cross theother bunch. I thought so all along, but I didn't like to butt in."
"Well Weary's mad enough now to do things that will leave a dent,anyway," Andy commented under his breath when, from the corral gate, hegot a good look at Weary's profile, which showed the set of his mouthand chin. "See that mouth? It's hunt the top rail, and do it quick, whenold Weary straightens out his lips like that."
Behind them, Happy Jack bellowed for an open gate and no obstructions,and they drew hastily to one side to let the saddle horses galloppast with a great upflinging of dust. Pink, with a quite obtrusivefacetiousness, began lustily chanting that it looked to him like a bignight to-night--with occasional, furtive glances at Weary's face; forhe, also, had been quick to read those close-pressed lips, which did notsoften in response to the ditty. Usually he laughed at Pink's drollery.
They rode rather quietly upon the hill again, to where fed the sheep.During the hour or so that they had been absent the sheep had not movedappreciably; they still grazed close enough to the boundary to maketheir position seem a direct insult to the Flying U, a virtual slap inthe face. And these young men who worked for the Flying U, and who madeits interests right loyally their own, were growing very, very tiredof turning the other cheek. With them, the time for profanity and forhorseplay bluffing and judicious temporizing was past. There were otherlips besides Weary's that were drawn tight and thin when they approachedthat particular band of sheep. More than one pair of eyes turnedinquiringly toward him and away again when they met no answering look.
They topped a rise of ground, and in the shallow wrinkle which hadhidden him until now they came full upon Dunk Whittaker, riding a chunkyblack which stepped restlessly about while he conferred in low toneswith a couple of the herders. The Happy Family recognized them as twoof the fellows in whose safe keeping they had left their ropes the nightbefore. Dunk looked around quickly when the group appeared over thelittle ridge, scowled, hesitated and then came straight up to them.
"I want you rowdies to bring back those sheep you took the trouble todrive off this morning," he began, with the even, grating voice and thesneering lift of lip under his little, black mustache which the oldermembers of the Happy Family remembered--and hated--so vividly."I've stood just all I'm going to stand, of these typically Flying Uperformances you've been indulging in so freely during the past week.It's all very well to terrorize a neighborhood of long-haired rubes whodon't know enough to teach you your places; but interfering with anotherm
an's property is--"
"Interfering with another--what?" Big Medicine, his pale blue eyesstanding out more like a frog's than ever upon his face, gave his horsea kick and lunged close that he might lean and thrust his red face nearto Dunk's. "Another what? I don't see nothin' in your saddle that lookst'me like a man, by cripes! All I can see is a smooth-skinned, slipperyvermin I'd hate to name a snake after, that crawls around in the darkand lets cheap rough-necks do all his dirty work. I've saw dogs sneakup and grab a man behind, but most always they let out a growl or twofirst. And even a rattler is square enough to buzz at yuh and give yuha chanc't to side-step him. Honest to grandma, I don't hardly know whatkinda reptyle y'are. I hate to insult any of 'em, by cripes, by namin'yuh after 'em. But don't, for Lordy's sake, ever call yourself a managin!"
Big Medicine turned his head and spat disgustedly into the grass andlooked back slightingly with other annihilating remarks close behind hiswide-apart teeth, but instead of speaking he made an unbelievably quickmotion with his hand. The blow smacked loudly upon Dunk's cheek, and sonearly sent him out of the saddle that he grabbed for the horn to savehimself.
"Oh, I seert yuh keepin' yer hand next yer six-gun all the while," BigMedicine bawled. "That's one reason I say yuh ain't no man! Yuh wouldn'tdast talk up to a prairie dog if yuh wasn't all set to make a quickdraw. Yuh got your face slapped oncet before by a Flyin' U man, and yuhhad it comm'. Now you're--gittin'--it--done--right!"
If you have ever seen an irate, proletarian mother cuffing her offspringover an empty wood-box, you may picture perhaps the present proceedingof Big Medicine. To many a man the thing would have been unfeasible,after the first blow, because of the horses. But Big Medicine was verynearly all that he claimed to be; and one of his pet vanities was hishorsemanship; he managed to keep within a fine slapping distance ofDunk. He stopped when his hand began to sting through his glove.
"Now you keep your hand away from that gun--that you ain't honest enoughto carry where folks can see it, but 'ye got it cached in your pocket!"he thundered. "And go on with what you was goin' t'say. Only don't getswell-headed enough to think you're a man, agin. You ain't."
"I've got this to say!" Mere type cannot reproduce the malevolence ofDunk's spluttering speech. "I've sent for the county sheriff and a dozendeputies to arrest you, and you, and you, damn you!" He was pointinga shaking finger at the older members of the Happy Family, whom herecognized not gladly, but too well. "I'll have you all in Deer Lodgebefore that lying, thieving, cattle-stealing Old Man of yours can lift afinger. I'll sheep Flying U coulee to the very doors of the white house.I'll skin the range between here and the river--and I'll have every oneof you hounds put where the dogs won't bite you!" He drew a hand acrosshis mouth and smiled as they say Satan himself can smile upon occasion.
"You've done enough to send you all over the road; destroying propertyand assaulting harmless men--you wait! There are other and betterways to fight than with the fists, and I haven't forgotten any of youfellows--there are a few more rounders among you--"
"Hey! You apologize fer that, by cripes, er I'll kill yuh the longestway I know. And that--" Big Medicine again laid violent hands upon Dunk,"and that way won't feel good, now I'm tellin' yuh. Apologize, er--"
"Say, all this don't do any good, Bud," Weary expostulated. "Let Dunkfroth at the mouth if he wants to; what we want is to get these sheepoff the range. And," he added recklessly, "so long as the sheriff isheaded for us anyway, we may as well get busy and make it worth hiswhile. So--" He stopped, silenced by a most amazing interruption.
On the brow of the hill, when first they had sighted Dunk in the hollow,something had gone wrong with Miguel's saddle so that he had stoppedbehind; and, to keep him company, Andy had stopped also and waited forhim. Later, when Dunk was spluttering threats, they had galloped up tothe edge of the group and pulled their horses to a stand. Now, Miguelrode abruptly close to Dunk as rides one with a purpose.
He leaned and peered intently into Dunk's distorted countenance untilevery man there, struck by his manner, was watching him curiously. Thenhe sat back in the saddle, straightened his legs in the stirrups andlaughed. And like his smile when he would have it so, or the littletwitch of shoulders by which he could so incense a man, that laughbrought a deeper flush to Dunk's face, reddened though it was by BigMedicine's vigorous slapping.
"Say, you've got nerve," drawled the Native Son, "to let a sherifftravel toward you. I can remember when you were more timid, amigo." Heturned his head until his eyes fell upon Andy. "Say, Andy!" he called."Come and take a look at this hombre. You'll have to think back a fewyears," he assisted laconically.
In response, Andy rode up eagerly. Like the Native Son, he leaned andpeered into eyes that stared back defiantly, wavered, and turned away.Andy also sat back in the saddle then, and snorted.
"So this is the Dunk Whittaker that's been raising merry hell aroundhere! And talks about sending for the sheriff, huh? I've always heardthat a lot uh gall is the best disguise a man can hide under, but, bygracious, this beats the deuce!" He turned to the astounded Happy Familywith growing excitement in his manner.
"Boys, we don't have to worry much about this gazabo! We'll justfreeze onto him till the sheriff heaves in sight. Gee! There'll sure besomething stirring when we tell him who this Dunk person really is!And you say he was in with the Old Man, once? Oh, Lord!" He lookedwith withering contempt at Dunk; and Dunk's glance flickered again anddropped, just as his hand dropped to the pocket of his coat.
"No, yuh don't, by cripes!" Big Medicine's hand gripped Dunk's arm onthe instant. With his other he plucked the gun from Dunk's pocket, andreleased him as he would let go of something foul which he had beencompelled to touch.
"He'll be good, or he'll lose his dinner quick," drawled the NativeSon, drawing his own silver-mounted six-shooter and resting it upon thesaddle horn so that it pointed straight at Dunk's diaphragm. "You takeWeary off somewhere and tell him something about this deal, Andy. I'llwatch this slippery gentleman." He smiled slowly and got an answeringgrin from Andy Green, who immediately rode a few rods away, with Wearyand Pink close behind.
"Say, by golly, what's Dunk wanted fer?" Slim blurted inquisitivelyafter a short silence.
"Not for riding or driving over a bridge faster than a walk Slim,"purred the Native Son, shifting his gun a trifle as Dunk moved uneasilyin the saddle. "You know the man. Look at his face--and use yourimagination, if you've got any."