Bar-20 Days by Clarence E. Mulford (best black authors TXT) đ
- Author: Clarence E. Mulford
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No one knew the cause for Hoppyâs unusual state of mind, although there were many conjectures, and they covered the field rather thoroughly; but they did not strike on the cause. Even Red Connors, now well over all ill effects of the wounds acquired in the old ranch house, was forced to guess; and when Red had to do that about anything concerning Hopalong he was well warranted in believing the matter to be very serious.
Johnny Nelson made no secret of his opinion and derived from it a great amount of satisfaction, which he admitted with a grin to his foreman.
âBuck,â he said, âHoppy told me he went broke playing poker over in Grant with Dave Wilkes and them two Lawrence boys, anâ that shore explains it all. Heâs got pack sores from carrying his unholy licking. It was due to come for him, anâ Dave Wilkes is just the boy to deliver it. Thatâs the whole trouble, anâ I know it, anâ Iâm damned glad they trimmed him. But he ainât got no right of making us miserable because he lost a few measly dollars.â
âYoâre wrong, son; dead, dead wrong,â Buck replied. âHe takes his beatings with a grin, anâ money never did bother him. No poker game that ever was played could leave a welt on him like the one we all mourn, anâ cuss. Heâs been doing something that he donât want us to knowâmade a fool of hisself some way, most likely, anâ feels so ashamed that heâs sore. Iâve knowed him too long anâ well to believe that gambling had anything to do with it. But this little trip heâs taking will fix him up all right, anâ I couldnât âaâ picked a better manâor one that Iâd rather get rid of just now.â
âWell, lemme tell you itâs blamed lucky for him that you picked him to go,â rejoined Johnny, who thought more of the woeful absentee than he did of his own skin. âI was going to lick him, shore, if it went on much longer. Me anâ Red anâ Billy was going to beat him up good till he forgot his dead injuries anâ took more interest in his friends.â
Buck laughed heartily. âWell, the three of you might âaâ done it if you worked hard anâ didnât get careless, but I have my doubts. Now look hereâyouâve been hanging around the bunk house too blamed much lately. Henceforth anâ hereafter youâve got to earn your grub. Get out on that west line anâ hustle.â
âYou know Iâve had a toothache!â snorted Johnny with a show of indignation, his face as sober as that of a judge.
âAnâ youâll have a stomach ache from lack of grub if you donât earn yore right to eat purty soon,â retorted Buck. âYou ainât had a toothache in yore whole life, anâ you donât know what one is. Gâwan, now, or Iâll give you a backache thatâll ache!â
âHuh! Devil of a way to treat a sick man!â Johnny retorted, but he departed exultantly, whistling with much noise and no music. But he was sorry for one thing: he sincerely regretted that he had not been present when Hopalong met his Waterloo. It would have been pleasing to look upon.
While the outfit blessed the proposed lease of range that took him out of their small circle for a time, Hopalong rode farther and farther into the northwest, frequently lost in abstraction which, judging by its effect upon him, must have been caused by something serious. He had not heard from Dave Wilkes about that individualâs good horse which had been loaned to Ben Ferris, of Winchester. Did Dave think he had been killed or was still pursuing the man whose neck-kerchief had aroused such animosity in Hopalongâs heart? Or had the horse actually been returned? The animal was a good one, a successful contender in all distances from one to five miles, and had earned its owner and backers much moneyâand Hopalong had parted with it as easily as he would have borrowed five dollars from Red. The story, as he had often reflected since, was as old as lyingâa broken-legged horse, a wife dying forty miles away, and a horse all saddled which needed only to be mounted and ridden.
These thoughts kept him company for a day and when he dismounted before Stevensonâs âHotelâ in Hoytâs Corners he summed up his feelings for the enlightenment of his horse.
âDamn it, bronc! Iâd give ten dollars right now to know if I was a jackass or not,â he growled. âBut he was an awful slick talker if he lied. Anâ Iâve got to go up anâ face Dave Wilkes to find out about it!â
Mr. Cassidy was not known by sight to the citizens of Hoytâs Corners, however well versed they might be in his numerous exploits of wisdom and folly. Therefore the habitues of Stevensonâs Hotel did not recognize him in the gloomy and morose individual who dropped his saddle on the floor with a crash and stamped over to the three-legged table at dusk and surlily demanded shelter for the night.
âGimme a bed anâ something to eat,â he demanded, eyeing the three men seated with their chairs tilted against the wall. âDo I get âem?â he asked, impatiently.
âYou do,â replied a one-eyed man, lazily arising and approaching him. âOne dollar, now.â
âAnâ take the rocks outen that bedâI want to sleep.â
âA dollar per for every rock you find,â grinned Stevenson, pleasantly. âThere ainât no rocks in my beds,â he added.
âSome folks likes to be rocked to sleep,â facetiously remarked one of the pair by the wall, laughing contentedly at his own pun. He bore all the ear-marks of being regarded as the wit of the localityâevery hamlet has one; I have seen some myself.
âHee, hee, hee! Yoâre a droll feller, Charley,â chuckled Old John Ferris, rubbing his ear with unconcealed delight. âThatâs a good un.â
âOne drink, now,â growled Hopalong, mimicking the proprietor, and glaring savagely at the âdroll fellerâ and his companion. âAnâ mind that itâs a good one,â he admonished the host.
âItâs better,â smiled Stevenson, whereat Old John crossed his legs and chuckled again. Stevenson winked.
âRiding long?â he asked.
âSince I started.â
âGoing fur?â
âTill I stop.â
âWhere do you belong?â Stevensonâs pique was urging him against the ethics of the range, which forbade personal questions.
Hopalong looked at him with a light in his eye that told the host he had gone too far. âUnder my sombrero!â he snapped.
âHee, hee, hee!â chortled Old John, rubbing his ear again and nudging Charley. âHe ainât no fool, hey?â
âWhy, I donât know, John; he wonât tell,â replied Charley.
Hopalong wheeled and glared at him, and Charley, smiling uneasily, made an appeal: âAinât mad, are you?â
âNot yet,â and Hopalong turned to the bar again, took up his liquor and tossed it off. Considering a moment he shoved the glass back again, while Old John tongued his lips in anticipation of a treat. âIt is goodâfill it again.â
The third was even better and by the time the fourth and fifth had joined their predecessors Hopalong began to feel a little more cheerful. But even the liquor and an exceptionally well-cooked supper could not separate him from his persistent and set grouch. And of liquor he had already taken more than his limit. He had always boasted, with truth, that he had never been drunk, although there had been two occasions when he was not far from it. That was one doubtful luxury which he could not afford for the reason that there were men who would have been glad to see him, if only for a few seconds, when liquor had dulled his brain and slowed his speed of hand. He could never tell when and where he might meet one of these.
He dropped into a chair by a card table and, baffling all attempts to engage him in conversation, reviewed his troubles in a mumbled soliloquy, the liquor gradually making him careless. But of all the jumbled words his companionsâ diligent ears heard they recognized and retained only the bare term âWinchesterâ; and their conjectures were limited only by their imaginations.
Hopalong stirred and looked up, shaking off the hand which had aroused him. âBetter go to bed, stranger,â the proprietor was saying. âYou anâ me are the last two up. Itâs after twelve, anâ you look tired and sleepy.â
âSaid his wife was sick,â muttered the puncher. âOh, what you saying?â
âYouâll find a bed betterân this table, strangerâitâs after twelve anâ I want to close up anâ get some sleep. Iâm tired myself.â
âOh, that all? Shore Iâll go to bedâlike to see anybody stop me! Ainât no rocks in it, hey?â
âNary a rock,â laughingly reassured the host, picking up Hopalongâs saddle and leading the way to a small room off the âoffice,â his guest stumbling after him and growling about the rocks that lived in Winchester. When Stevenson had dropped the saddle by the window and departed, Hopalong sat on the edge of the bed to close his eyes for just a moment before tackling the labor of removing his clothes. A crash and a jar awakened him and he found himself on the floor with his back to the bed. He was hot and his head ached, and his back was skinned a littleâand how hot and stuffy and choking the room had become! He thought he had blown out the light, but it still burned, and three-quarters of the chimney was thickly covered with soot. He was stifling and could not endure it any longer. After three attempts he put out the light, stumbled against his saddle and, opening the window, leaned out to breathe the pure air. As his lungs filled he chuckled wisely and, picking up the saddle, managed to get it and himself through the window and on the ground without serious mishap. He would ride for an hour, give the room time to freshen and cool off, and come back feeling much better. Not a star could be seen as he groped his way unsteadily towards the rear of the building, where he vaguely remembered having seen the corral as he rode up.
âHuh! Said he lived in Winchester anâ his name was Billâno, Ben Ferris,â he muttered, stumbling towards a noise he knew was made by a horse rubbing against the corral fence. Then his feet got tangled up in the cinch of his saddle, which he had kicked before him, and after great labor he arose, muttering savagely, and continued on his wobbly way. âGooâ Lord, itâs darkerân cats inâ_oof_!â he grunted, recoiling from forcible contact with the fence he sought. Growling words unholy he felt his way along it and finally his arm slipped through an opening and he bumped his head solidly against the top bar of the gate. As he righted himself his hand struck the nose of a horse and closed mechanically over it. Cow-ponies look alike in the dark and he grinned jubilantly as he complimented himself upon finding his own so unerringly.
âAnything is easy, when you know how. Canât fool me, olâ cayuse,â he beamed, fumbling at the bars with his free hand and getting them down with a foolâs luck. âYou canât do itâI got you firsâ, lasâ, anâ always; anâ I got you good. Yessir, I got you good. Quit that rearing, you olâ fool! Stanâ still, canât you?â The pony sidled as the
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