Brand Blotters, Page 2

  CHAPTER II

  BRAND BLOTTING

  The tenderfoot, slithering down a hillside of shale, caught at agreasewood bush and waited. The sound of a rifle shot had drifted acrossthe ridge to him. Friend or foe, it made no difference to him now. He hadreached the end of his tether, must get to water soon or give up thefight.

  No second shot broke the stillness. A swift zigzagged across the cattletrail he was following. Out of a blue sky the Arizona sun still beat downupon a land parched by aeons of drought, a land still making its brave showof greenness against a dun background.

  Arrow straight the man made for the hill crest. Weak as a starved puppy,his knees bent under him as he climbed. Down and up again a dozen times,he pushed feverishly forward. All day he had been seeing things. Coollakes had danced on the horizon line before his tortured vision. Strangefancies had passed in and out of his mind. He wondered if this, too, werea delusion. How long that stiff ascent took him he never knew, but atlast he reached the summit and crept over its cactus-covered shoulder.

  He looked into a valley dressed in its young spring garb. Of all desertsthis is the loveliest when the early rains have given rebirth to the hopethat stirs within its bosom once a year. But the tenderfoot saw nothing ofits pathetic promise, of its fragile beauty so soon to be blasted. Hissunken eyes swept the scene and found at first only a desert waste inwhich lay death.

  "I lose," he said to himself out loud.

  With the words he gave up the long struggle and sank to the ground. Forhours he had been exhausted to the limit of endurance, but the will tolive had kept him going. Now the driving force within had run down. Hewould die where he lay.

  Another instant, and he was on his feet again eager, palpitant, tremulous.For plainly there had come to him the bleating of a calf.

  Moving to the left, he saw rising above the hill brow a thin curl ofsmoke. A dozen staggering steps brought him to the edge of a draw. Therein the hollow below, almost within a stone's throw, was a young womanbending over a fire. He tried to call, but his swollen tongue and drythroat refused the service. Instead, he began to run toward her.

  Beyond the wash was a dead cow. Not far from it lay a calf on its side,all four feet tied together. From the fire the young woman took a red-hotrunning iron and moved toward the little bleater.

  The crackling of a twig brought her around as a sudden tight rein does ahigh-strung horse. The man had emerged from the prickly pears and wasclose upon her. His steps dragged. The sag of his shoulders indicatedextreme fatigue. The dark hollows beneath the eyes told of days oftorment.

  The girl stood before him slender and straight. She was pale to the lips.Her breath came fast and ragged as if she had been running.

  Abruptly she shot her challenge at him. "Who are you?"

  "Water," he gasped.

  One swift, searching look the girl gave him, then "Wait!" she ordered, andwas off into the mesquit on the run. Three minutes later the tenderfootheard her galloping through the brush. With a quick, tight rein she drewup, swung from the saddle expertly as a _vaquero_, and began to untie acanteen held by buckskin thongs to the side of the saddle.

  He drank long, draining the vessel to the last drop.

  From her saddle bags she brought two sandwiches wrapped in oiled paper.

  "You're hungry, too, I expect," she said, her eyes shining with tenderpity.

  She observed that he did not wolf his food, voracious though he was. Whilehe ate she returned to the fire with the running iron and heaped livecoals around the end of it.

  "You've had a pretty tough time of it," she called across to him gently.

  "It hasn't been exactly a picnic, but I'm all right now."

  The girl liked the way he said it. Whatever else he was--and already faintdoubts were beginning to stir in her--he was not a quitter.

  "You were about all in," she said, watching him.

  "Just about one little kick left in me," he smiled.

  "That's what I thought."

  She busied herself over the fire inspecting the iron. The man watched hercuriously. What could it mean? A cow killed wantonly, a calf bawling withpain and fear, and this girl responsible for it. The tenderfoot could notdown the suspicion stirring in his mind. He knew little of the cattlecountry. But he had read books and had spent a week in Mesa not entirelyin vain. The dead cow with the little stain of red down its nose pointedsurely to one thing. He was near enough to see a hole in the forehead justabove the eyes. Instinctively his gaze passed to the rifle lying in thesand close to his hand. Her back was still turned to him. He leaned over,drew the gun to him, and threw out an empty shell from the barrel.

  At the click of the lever the girl swung around upon him.

  "What are you doing?" she demanded.

  He put the rifle down hurriedly. "Just seeing what make it is."

  "And what make is it?" she flashed.

  He was trapped. "I hadn't found out yet," he stammered.

  "No, but you found out there was an empty shell in it," she retortedquickly.

  Their eyes fastened. She was gray as ashes, but she did not flinch. Bychance he had stumbled upon the crime of crimes in Cattleland, had caughta rustler redhanded at work. Looking into the fine face, nostrilsdelicately fashioned, eyes clear and deep, the thing was scarce credibleof her. Why, she could not be a day more than twenty, and in every line ofher was the look of pride, of good blood.

  "Yes, I happened to throw it out," he apologized.

  But she would have no evasion, would not let his doubts sleep. There wassuperb courage in the scornful ferocity with which she retorted.

  "Happened! And I suppose you _happened_ to notice that the brand on thecow is a Bar Double G, while that on the calf is different."

  "No, I haven't noticed that."

  "Plenty of time to see it yet." Then, with a swift blaze of feeling,"What's the use of pretending? I know what you think."

  "Then you know more than I do. My thoughts don't go any farther than this,that you have saved my life and I'm grateful for it."

  "I know better. You think I'm a rustler. But don't say it. Don't you daresay it."

  Brought up in an atmosphere of semi-barbaric traditions, silken-strong,with instincts unwarped by social pressure, she was what the sun and windand freedom of Arizona had made her, a poetic creation far fromcommonplace. So he judged her, and in spite of the dastardly thing she haddone he sensed an innate refinement strangely at variance with thecircumstances.

  "All right. I won't," he answered, with a faint smile.

  "Now you've got to pay for your sandwiches by making yourself useful. I'mgoing to finish this job." She said it with an edge of self-scorn. Heguessed her furious with self-contempt.

  Under her directions he knelt on the calf so as to hold it steady whileshe plied the hot iron. The odor of burnt hair and flesh was already acridin his nostrils. Upon the red flank F was written in raw, seared flesh. Hejudged that the brand she wanted was not yet complete. Probably the ironhad got too cold to finish the work, and she had been forced to reheatit.

  The little hand that held the running iron was trembling. Looking up, thetenderfoot saw that she was white enough to faint.

  "I can't do it. You'll have to let me hold him while you blur the brand,"she told him.

  They changed places. She set her teeth to it and held the calf steady,but the brander noticed that she had to look away when the red-hot ironcame near the flesh of the victim.

  "Blur the brand right out. Do it quick, please," she urged.

  A sizzle of burning skin, a piteous wail from the tortured animal, anacrid pungent odor, and the thing was done. The girl got to her feet,quivering like an aspen.

  "Have you a knife?" she asked faintly.

  "Yes."

  "Cut the rope."

  The calf staggered to all fours, shook itself together, and went bawlingto the dead mother.

  The girl drew a deep breath. "They say it does not hurt except while it isbeing done."

  His bleak e
yes met hers stonily. "And of course it will soon get used todoing without its mother. That is a mere detail."

  A shudder went through her.

  The whole thing was incomprehensible to him. Why under heaven had she doneit? How could one so sensitive have done a wanton cruel thing like this?Her reason he could not fathom. The facts that confronted him were thatshe _had_ done it, and had meant to carry the crime through. Onlydetection had changed her purpose.

  She turned upon him, plainly sick of the whole business. "Let's get awayfrom here. Where's your horse?"

  "I haven't any. I started on foot and got lost."

  "From where?"

  "From Mammoth."

  Sharply her keen eyes fixed him. How could a man have got lost nearMammoth and wandered here? He would have had to cross the range, and evena child would have known enough to turn back into the valley where thetown lay.

  "How long ago?"

  "Day before yesterday." He added after a moment: "I was looking for ajob."

  She took in the soft hands and the unweathered skin of the dark face."What sort of a job?"

  "Anything I can do."

  "But what can you do?"

  "I can ride."

  She must take him home with her, of course, and feed and rest him. Thatwent without saying. But what after that? He knew too much to be turnedadrift with the story of what he had seen. If she could get a hold onhim--whether of fear or of gratitude--so as to insure his silence, thetruth might yet be kept quiet. At least she could try.

  "Did you ever ride the range?"

  "No."

  "What sort of work have you done?"

  After a scarcely noticeable pause, "Clerical work," he answered.

  "You're from the East?" she suggested, her eyes narrowing.

  "Yes."

  "My name is Melissy Lee," she told him, watching him very steadily.

  Once more the least of pauses. "Mine is Diller--James Diller."

  "That's funny. I know another man of that name. At least, I know him bysight."

  The man who had called himself Diller grew wary. "It's a common enoughname."

  "Yes. If I find you work at my father's ranch would you be too particularabout what it is?"

  "Try me."

  "And your memory--is it inconveniently good?" Her glance swept as bychance over the scene of her recent operations.

  "I've got a right good forgettery, too," he assured her.

  "You're not in the habit of talking much about the things you see." Sheput it in the form of a statement, but the rising inflection indicated theinterrogative.

  His black eyes met hers steadily. "I can padlock my mouth when it isnecessary," he answered, the suggestion of a Southern drawl in hisintonation.

  She wanted an assurance more direct. "When _you_ think it necessary, Isuppose."

  "That is what I meant to say."

  "Come. One good turn deserves another. What about this?" She nodded towardthe dead cow.

  "I have not seen a thing I ought not to have seen."

  "Didn't you see me blot a brand on that calf?"

  He shook his head. "Can't recall it at all, Miss Lee."

  Swiftly her keen glance raked him again. Judged by his clothes, he was oneof the world's ineffectives, flotsam tossed into the desert by the wash offate; but there was that in the steadiness of his eye, in the set of hisshoulders, in the carriage of his lean-loined, slim body that spoke ofbreeding. He was no booze-fighting grubliner. Disguised though he was incheap slops, she judged him a man of parts. He would do to trust,especially since she could not help herself.

  "We'll be going. You take my horse," she ordered.

  "And let you walk?"

  "How long since you have eaten?" she asked brusquely.

  "About seven minutes," he smiled.

  "But before that?"

  "Two days."

  "Well, then. Anybody can see you're as weak as a kitten. Do as I say."

  "Why can't we both ride?"

  "We can as soon as we get across the pass. Until then I'll walk."

  Erect as a willow sapling, she took the hills with an elastic ease thatshowed her deep-bosomed in spite of her slenderness. The short corduroyriding skirt and high-laced boots were made for use, not grace, but theman in the saddle found even in her manner of walking the charm of herdirect, young courage. Free of limb, as yet unconscious of sex, she hadthe look of a splendid boy. The descending sun was in her sparkling hair,on the lank, undulating grace of her changing lines.

  Active as a cat though it was, the cowpony found the steep pass with itsloose rubble hard going. Melissy took the climb much easier. In the wayshe sped through the mesquit, evading the clutch of the cholla by suppledips to right and left, there was a kind of pantherine litheness.

  At the summit she waited for the horse to clamber up the shale after her.

  "Get down in your collar, you Buckskin," she urged, and when the pony wasagain beside her petted the animal with little love pats on the nose.

  Carelessly she flung at Diller a question. "From what part of the East didyou say?"

  He was on the spot promptly this time. "From Keokuk."

  "Keokuk, Indiana?"

  "Iowa," he smiled.

  "Oh, is it Iowa?" He had sidestepped her little trap, but she did not giveup. "Just arrived?"

  "I've been herding sheep for a month."

  "Oh, sheep-herding!" Her disdain implied that if he were fit for nothingbetter than sheep-herding, the West could find precious little use forhim.

  "It was all I could get to do."

  "Where did you say you wrangled Mary's little lamb?"

  "In the Catalinas."

  "Whose outfit?"

  Question and answer were tossed back and forth lightly, but both werewatching warily.

  "Outfit?" he repeated, puzzled.

  "Yes. Who were you working for?"

  "Don't remember his name. He was a Mexican."

  "Must have been one of the camps of Antonio Valdez."

  "Yes, that's it. That's the name."

  "Only he runs his sheep in the Galiuros," she demurred.

  "Is it the Galiuros? Those Spanish names! I can't keep them apart in mymind."

  She laughed with hard, young cruelty. "It is hard to remember what younever heard, isn't it?"

  The man was on the rack. Tiny beads of perspiration stood out on hisforehead. But he got a lip smile into working order.

  "Just what do you mean, Miss Lee?"

  "You had better get your story more pat. I've punched a dozen holes in italready. First you tell me you are from the East, and even while you weretelling me I knew you were a Southerner from the drawl. No man ever gotlost from Mammoth. You gave a false name. You said you had been herdingsheep, but you didn't know what an outfit is. You wobbled between theGaliuros and the Catalinas."

  "I'm not a native. I told you I couldn't remember Spanish names."

  "It wasn't necessary to tell me," she countered quickly. "A man that can'trecall even the name of his boss!"

  "I'm not in the witness box, Miss Lee," he told her stiffly.

  "Not yet, but you're liable to be soon, I reckon."

  "In a cattle rustling case, I suppose you mean."

  "No, I don't." She went on with her indictment of his story, though histhrust had brought the color to her cheek. "When I offered you AntonioValdez for an employer you jumped at him. If you want to know, he happensto be our herder. He doesn't own a sheep and never will."

  "You know all about it," he said with obvious sarcasm.

  "I know you're not who you say you are."

  "Perhaps you know who I am then."

  "I don't know or care. It's none of my business. But others may think itis theirs. You can't be so reckless with the truth without folks havingnotions. If I were you I'd get a story that will hang together."

  "You're such a good detective. Maybe I could get you to invent one forme," he suggested maliciously.

  Her indignation flashed. "I'm no such thing. B
ut I'm not quite a fool. Ababe in arms wouldn't swallow that fairy tale."

  Awkward as her knowledge might prove, he could not help admiring theresource and shrewdness of the girl. She had virtually served notice thatif she had a secret that needed keeping so had he.

  They looked down over a desert green with bajadas, prickly pears, andmesquit. To the right, close to a spur of the hills, were the dwarfedhouses of a ranch. The fans of a windmill caught the sun and flashed itback to the travelers.

  "The Bar Double G. My father owns it," Miss Lee explained.

  "Oh! Your father owns it." He reflected a moment while he studied her."Let's understand each other, Miss Lee. I'm not what I claim to be, yousay. We'll put it that you have guessed right. What do you intend to doabout it? I'm willing to be made welcome at the Bar Double G, but I don'twant to be too welcome."

  "I'm not going to do anything."

  "So long as I remember not to remember what I've seen."

  The blood burned in her cheeks beneath their Arizona tan. She did not lookat him. "If you like to put it that way."

  He counted it to her credit that she was ashamed of the bargain in everyhonest fiber of her.

  "No matter what they say I've done. You'll keep faith?"

  "I don't care what you've done," she flung back bitterly. "It's none of myaffair. I told you that before. Men come out here for all sorts ofreasons. We don't ask for a bill of particulars."

  "Then I'll be right glad to go down to the Bar Double G with you, and saythanks for the chance."

  He had dismounted when they first reached the pass. Now she swung to thesaddle and he climbed behind her. They reached presently one of thenomadic trails of the cattle country which wander leisurely around hillsand over gulches along the line of least resistance. This brought them toa main traveled road leading to the ranch.

  They rode in silence until the pasture fence was passed.

  "What am I to tell them your name is?" she asked stiffly.

  He took his time to answer. "Tom Morse is a good name, don't you think?How would T. L. Morse do?"

  She offered no comment, but sat in front of him, unresponsive as thesphinx. The rigor of her flat back told him that, though she might have tokeep his shameful secret for the sake of her own, he could not presumeupon it the least in the world.

  Melissy turned the horse over to a little Mexican boy and they were justmounting the steps of the porch when a young man cantered up to the house.Lean and muscular and sunbaked, he looked out of cool, gray eyes upon aman's world that had often put him through the acid test. The plain,cactus-torn chaps, flannel shirt open at the sinewy throat, dusty,wide-brimmed hat, revolver peeping from its leather pocket on the thigh:every detail contributed to the impression of efficiency he created. Eventhe one touch of swagger about him, the blue silk kerchief knotted looselyaround his neck, lent color to his virile competency.

  He dragged his horse to a standstill and leaped off at the same instant."Evenin', 'Lissie."

  She was busy lacing her shoe and did not look up. He guessed that he wasbeing snubbed and into his eyes came a gleam of fun. A day later than hehad promised, Jack Flatray was of opinion that he was being punished fortardiness.

  Casually he explained. "Couldn't make it any sooner. Burke had a hurry-upjob that took us into the hills. Fellow by the name of Bellamy, wanted formurder at Nemo, Arkansas, had been tracked to Mesa. A message came overthe wires to arrest him. When Burke sent me to his room he had lit out,taken a swift hike into the hills. Must a-had some warning, for he didn'teven wait for a horse."

  The dilated eyes of the girl went past the deputy to the man she hadrescued. He was leaning against one of the porch posts, tense and rigid,on his face the look of the hunted brought to bay.

  "And did you find him?" she asked mechanically of the deputy.

  "We found him. He had been trampled to death by a cattle stampede."

  Her mind groped blindly for an explanation. Her woman's instinct told herthat the man panting on the porch within six feet of the officer was thecriminal wanted. There must be a mistake somewhere.

  "Did you identify him?"

  "I guess there is no doubt about it. His papers and belongings all showedhe was our man."

  "Oh!" The excitement of his news had for a moment thawed her, but adignified aloofness showed again in her manner. "If you want to see fatheryou'll find him in the corral, Mr. Flatray."

  "Well, I don't know as I'm looking for him awful hard," the bluekerchiefed youth smiled genially. "Anyway, I can wait a few minutes if Ihave to."

  "Yes." She turned away indifferently. "I'll show you your room, Mr.Morse."

  The deputy watched them disappear into the house with astonishment printedon his face. He had ridden twenty-seven miles to see Melissy Lee and hehad not quite expected this sort of a greeting.

  "If that don't beat the Dutch. Looks like I'll do my callin' on the oldman after all, maybe," he murmured with a grin.