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The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Rustler of Wind River, b G. W. Ogden
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Title: The Rustler of Wind River
Author: G. W. Ogden
Illustrator: Frank E. Schoonover
Release Date: November 16, 2009 [EBook #30485]
Language: English
*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE RUSTLER OF WIND RIVER ***
Produced b Roger Frank and the Online Distributed
Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
[Illustration: "Ride Low--The 're Coming!"]
THE RUSTLER OF WIND RIVER
B G. W. OGDEN
WITH FRONTISPIECE
B FRANK E. SCHOONOVER
A. L. BURT COMPANY
Publishers--New York
Published b Arrangement with A. C. McClurg & Compan
Cop right
A. C. McClurg & Co.
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1917
Published March, 1917
CONTENTS
CHAPTER
I Strange Bargainings
II Beef Day
III The Ranchhouse by the River
IV The Man in the Plaid
V If He was a Gentleman
VI A Bold Civilian
VII Throwing the Scare
VIII Afoot and Alone
IX Business, not Company
X "Hell's a-goin' to Pop"
XI The Se or Boss Comes Riding
XII "The Rustlers!"
XIII The Trail at Dawn
XIV When Friends Part
XV One Road
XVI Danger and Dignity
XVII Boots and Saddles
XVIII The Trail of the Coffee
XIX "I Beat Him to It"
XX Love and Death
XXI The Man in the Door
XXII Paid
XXIII Tears in the Night
XXIV Banjo Faces Into the West
XXV "Hasta Luego"
PAGE
1
11
28
41
55
66
81
89
102
119
131
147
160
182
196
215
227
240
252
268
280
298
303
312
322
THE RUSTLER OF WIND RIVER
CHAPTER I
STRANGE BARGAININGS
When a man came down out of the mountains looking dusty and gaunt as
the stranger did, there was no marvel in the matter of his eating five
cans of cove oysters. The one unaccountable thing about it was that
Saul Chadron, president of the Drovers' Association, should sit there
at the table and urge the lank, lean starveling to go his limit.
Usually Saul Chadron was a man who picked his companions, and was a
particular hand at the choosing. He could afford to do that, being of
the earth's exalted in the Northwest, where people came to him and put
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c ea ed. The
ong ligh of he oom fo nd peppe ing of g a in hi
hick and long black hai .
Chad on him elf a a g a man, i h a m ache and bea d like a
ca alie . Hi h e d e e e e ha p and b igh nde hea b o , hi
b o n face a o ghened b da in he addle h o gh all ea on of
ea he and ind. Hi ho lde
e e b oad and hea , and e en no ,
al ho gh no d e ed fo he addle, he e a an p-c eeping in he
leg of hi
o e , and a ga he ing a he knee of hem, fo he
e e d a n do n o e hi all boo .
Tha a Chad on' a of doing he nice hing hen he en ab oad in
hi b ckboa d. He had addle manne and b ckboa d manne , and e en
office manne
hen he me he ca le ba on in Che enne. No ma e
ha manne he chanced o be ea ing, one emembe ed Sa l Chad on
af e mee ing him, and ca ied he ecollec ion of him o he ndo n
of hi da .
"We can alk he e," aid Chad on, gi ing he o he a ciga .
The all man b oke he ciga and g o nd pa of i in hi palm,
looking i h f o ning ho gh f lne in o he emp fi eplace a he
obacco c hed in hi ha d hand. He filled he pipe ha he had
cho en, and a i h hi long leg
e ched o
o a d he
chimne -mo h.
"Well, go on and alk," aid he.
Hi oice came mo he ed and hoa e, a if i la benea h all he
o e
hich he had ammed in o hi n een hollo . I a a oice in
ange ha mon i h he man, ch a o nd a one o ld ha e e pec ed
o come o of ha
l , da k-lipped, hin mo h. The e a no hing
commi al abo i , no hing e ac l iden if ing; an impe onal oice,
a he , and cold; a oice i h no con cience behind i , ca cel a
o l.
"Yo ' e a b ine
man, Ma k--"
"H h!" aid Ma k, g n ing a li le clo d of moke f om he bo l of
hi pipe in hi a ca ic ehemence.
"And o am I," con in ed Chad on, nmo ed. "Wo d be een
a a e of ime."
"Yo ' e igh ; mone
o ld be
alk ," aid Ma k.
"I ' a man' job, o I o ldn' ha e called o o of o hole o
do i ," aid Chad on, a ching he man l l fo he effec .
"Pa me in mone ,"
ne e ag'in?"
gge ed Ma k, n a med b
he complimen . "I i
"Ne e ," nodded he ca leman, d a ing hi g ea b o in a f o n.
"The ' e c o din' in o hick igh a o nd me ha I can' b ea he
comfo able an mo e; he mell of 'em' in he ind. The ' e nnin'
o e h ee of he bigge
anche p he e be ide he Alami o, and he
D o e ' A ocia ion an a li le of o old- ime hol ca e
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throwed into the cussed co otes."
Mark nodded in the pause which seemed to have been made for him to
nod, and Chadron went on.
"We figger that if a do en or two of 'em's cleaned out, quick and
m sterious, the rest'll tuck tail and sneak. It's happened that wa in
other places more than once, as ou and I know. Well, ou're the man
that don't have to take lessons."
"Mone talks," repeated Mark, still looking into the chimne .
"There's about twent of them that counts, the rest's the kind ou can
drive over a cliff with a whip. These fellers has strung their cussed
bob-wire fences crisscross and checkerboard all around there up the
river, and the 're gittin' to be right troublesome. Of course the 're
onl a speck up there et, but the 'll multipl like fleas on a hot
dog if we let 'em go ahead. You know how it is."
There was a conclusiveness in Chadron's tone as he said that. It spoke
of a large understanding between men of a kind.
"Sure," grunted the man Mark, nodding his head at the chimne . "You
want a man to work from the willers, without no muss or gun-flashin',
or rough houses or loud talk."
"Twent of them, their names are here, and some scattered in between
that I haven't put down, to be picked up as the fall in hand , see?"
"And ou're aimin' to keep clear, and stand back in the shadder, like
ou alwa s have done," growled Mark. "Well, I ain't goin' to ram m
neck into no sheriff's loop for nobod 's business but m own from now
on. I'm through with resks, just to be obligin'."
"Who'll put a hand on ou in this countr unless we give the word?"
Chadron asked, severel .
"How do I know who's runnin' the law in this dang countr now? Ma be
ou fellers is, ma be ou ain't."
"There's no law in this part of the countr bigger than the Drovers'
Association," Chadron told him, frowning in rebuke of Mark's doubt of
securit . "Well, ma be there's a little sheriff here and there, and a
few judges that we didn't put in, but the 're down in the farmin'
countr , and the don't cut no figger at all. If ou _was_ fool enough
to let one of them fellers git a hold on ou we wouldn't leave ou in
jail over night. You know how it was up there in the north."
"But I don't know how it is down here." Mark scowled in surl
unbelief, or surl simulation.
"There's not a judge, federal or state, that could carr a bale of ha
an where in the cattle countr , I tell ou, Mark, that we don't draw
the chalk line for."
"Then wh don't ou do the job ourselves, 'stead of callin' a
peaceable man awa from his ranchin'?"
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"He makes a blind of bu in' up cattle and fattenin' 'em on the ha and
alfalfer he's raisin' up there on m good land, but he's the king-pin
of the rustlers in this corner of the state. He'll be in here tomorrow
with cattle for the Indian agent--it's beef da --and ou can si e him
up. But ou've got to keep our bell to the ground like a snake when
ou start an thing on that feller, and ou've got to make sure ou've
got him dead to rights. He's quick with a gun, and he's sure."
"Five hundred?" suggested Mark, with a craft
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