'Drag' Harlan by Charles Alden Seltzer (top novels of all time .txt) đ
- Author: Charles Alden Seltzer
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He saw the face of every man in the groupâwhile seeming not to be looking at any of them. He noted the various shades of expression that came into their faces as they digested his words, he saw how some of them watched him with sober interest and how others permitted themselves a sneer of incredulity or dislike.
He noted that a tall, slender, swarthy man on the extreme left of the group watched him with a malevolent gaze, his eyes flaming hate; he saw a black-haired, hook-nosed fellow near the center of the group watching him with a grin of cold contempt.
It seemed to Harlan that a fair proportion of the men were willing to acknowledge his authorityâfor they were frankly studying him, ready to greet him as their employer. Many others, however, were as frankly hostile.
After Harlan ceased speaking there came a short silence, during which many of the men looked at one another inquiringly.
It was a moment during which, had a leader appeared to take the initiative for those who intended to dissent from Harlanâs rule, the outfit might have been divided.
Evidently the tall, swarthy man divined that the time to dissent had come, for he cleared his throat, and grinned felinely.
Before he could speak, however, a short man with keen eyes that, since the instant they had rested upon Harlan, had been glowing with something that might have been defined as mingled astonishment and delight thinly concealed by a veneer of humorâsaid distinctly:
âYou crossed over from Pardoâyou say?â
Harlan nodded, and a pin-point of recognition glowed in his eyes as he looked at the man.
The other laughed, lowly. âSeems I know you,â he said. âYouâre âDragâ Harlan!â
A tremor ran through the group. There was a concerted stiffening of bodies, a general sigh from lungs in process of deflation. And then the group stood silent, every man watching Harlan with that intent curiosity that comes with oneâs first glimpse of a noted character, introduced without expectation.
Harlan noted that a change had come over the men. Those whose faces had betrayed their inclination to accept his authority had takenâwithout exceptionâa glum, disappointed expression. On the other hand, those who had formerly betrayed hostility, were now grinning with satisfaction.
A tremor of malicious amusement, expressed visibly by a flicker of his eyelids, was Harlanâs only emotion over the change that had come in the men of the group. He could now have selected those of the men whoâas Lane Morgan had saidâcould not be trusted, and he could have pointed out those who had been loyal to Morgan, and who would be loyal to Barbara and himself.
Among the former were the tall, swarthy man on the extreme left, and the hook-nosed fellow near the center. There were perhaps ten of the latter, and it was plain to Harlan that the short man who had spoken was their leader.
ââDragâ Harlanâeh?â
This was the tall, swarthy man. The malevolence had gone from his eyes, he was grinning broadly, though there was respect of a fawning character in his manner as he stepped out from the group and halted within a few feet of Harlan.
âMe anâ my friends wasnât none tickled to find that we was goinâ to have a new manager. We was sort of expectinâ Miss Barbara to do the runninâ herself. But if you say youâre runninâ things, that makes it a whole lot different. We ainât buckinâ âDragâ Harlanâs game.â
âThank you,â grinned Harlan. âI saw you reportinâ to Miss Morgan. Youâre straw-boss, I reckon.â
âYouâve hit it. Iâm StroudâLafe Stroud.â
âYouâll keep on beinâ straw-boss,â said Harlan, shortly. âIâm appointinâ a foreman.â
âWhereâs Lawson?â
It was Stroud who spoke. There was a shadow of disappointment in his eyes.
âLawson wonât be needinâ a title any more,â said Harlan, narrowing his eyes at the other. âHe needs plantinâ. Soon as we get set some of you boys can go over anâ take care of him. Youâll find him in the harness shop. He busted down the door of Miss Barbaraâs room last night, anâ she made a colander out of him.â
Harlan ignored the effect of his news on the men, fixing his gaze on the short man who had spoken first, and who was now standing silent, in an attitude that hinted of dejection.
âYouâll be foreman, Linton,â he stated shortly.
Linton, who had been glumly listening, was so startled by the sudden descent upon his shoulders of the mantle of authority that he straightened with a snap and grabbed wildly at his hatâwhich dropped from his head despite his effort to clutch it, revealing a mop of fiery red hair. When he straightened, after recovering the hat, his freckled face was crimson with embarrassment and astonishment.
âIâm obliged to you,â he mumbled.
That had ended it. The following morning Linton came to Harlan for orders, and a little later the entire outfit, headed by Stroud, and trailed by the chuck-wagon and the horses of the remuda, started southward to a distant section of the big level, leaving Linton and Harlan at the ranchhouse.
And as the outfit faded into the southern distance, Harlan, walking near the larger of the two bunkhouses, came upon Linton.
Harlan grinned when he saw the other.
âYou didnât go with the outfit, Red?â he said. âSeems a foreman ought to be mighty eager to be with his men on their first trip after heâs appointed.â
Lintonâs face was pale, his gaze was direct.
âLook here, Harlan,â he said, steadily. âIâve knowed you a long time, anâ I know that youâre a damnâ sight straighter than a lot of men which has got reputations better than yourn. But thereâs some things want explaininâ. Iâve sort of took a shine to that little girl in there. Thereâs things brewinâ which is goinâ to make it mighty bad for her. It wasnât so bad while old Morgan was here, but now heâs gone, anâ sheâs got to play it a lone hand.
âYou git riled anâ sling your gun on me if you want to. I know I wouldnât have a chance. But just the same, Iâm tellinâ you. You know that moreân half that outfit youâve put me at the head of is Devenyâs menâsneakinâ, thievinâ, murderinâ outlaws?â
âYou wantinâ to quit, Red?â said Harlan, smoothly.
âQuit! Hellâs fire! Iâm hanginâ on to the finish. But Iâm findinâ out where you stand. What you meaninâ to do with Barbara Morgan?â
Harlan grinned. âI answered that question when I appointed you foreman, Red. But I reckon I made a mistakeâI ought to have appointed a man who knows what his think-box is for.â
Linton flushed, and peered intently at the other.
âMeaninâ that youâre backinâ Barbara in this here deal?â he demanded.
âA real thoughtful man would have tumbled to it quicker,â was Harlanâs soft, ironical reply.
For an instant Lintonâs gaze was intense with searching, probing inquiry. And Harlanâs steady eyes were agleam with a light that was so quietly honest that it made Linton gasp:
âDamn me! You mean it! Youâre playinâ âem straight, face up. That talk of yourn about Lane Morgan makinâ you manager was straight goods. I know Dolver anâ Laskar anâ the guy they call âChiefâ plugged Morganâfor I heard Stroud anâ some more of them talkinâ about it. Anâ I heard that you got Dolver anâ Laskar, anâ kept Deveny from grabbinâ off Barbara Morgan, over in Lamo. But I thought you was playinâ for Barbara, tooâanâ I wasnât figurinâ on lettinâ you.â
Harlan laughed lowly.
âThings donât always shape up the way a man thinks they will, Red. I started for Lamo, figurinâ to salivate Dolver anâ the other guy who killed Davey Langan. I got Dolver at Sentinel Rock, anâ I figured Iâd be likely to run into the other guy somewheresâmebbe findinâ him in Devenyâs gang. But runninâ into Lane Morgan sort of changed the deal. Anâ now Iâm postponinâ a lot of things until Barbara Morgan is runninâ free, with no coyotes from the Deveny crowd tryinâ to rope her.â
Lintonâs eyes were glowing, he crowded close to Harlan, so close that his body touched Harlanâs, and he stood thus for an instant, breathing fast. Then, noting the unwavering, genial gleam in Harlanâs eyesâa visible sign of Harlanâs knowledge of his deep emotionâLinton seized one of the otherâs hands and gripped it tightly.
âDamn your hide,â he said, lowly, âyou had me goinâ. Iâm dead set on seeinâ that girl git a square deal, anâ when I saw you makinâ a play for them damned outlaws that are in the outfit, I sure figured thereâd be hell a-poppinâ around the Rancho Seco. You sure had me flabbergasted when you named me foreman, for I couldnât anticipate your trail none.
âBut I reckon Iâm wised up, now. Youâre goinâ to run a whizzer in on âemâplayinâ âem for suckers. Anâ Iâm your right-hand manâstickinâ with you until hell runs long on icebergs!â
A desire to ride once more in the peaceful sunshine of the land she loved was one of the first indications that Barbara was recovering from the shock occasioned by her fatherâs death. For two or three days she had not stirred from her room, except to go downstairs to cook her meals. She had spent much of her time sitting at a window nursing her sorrow.
But on this morning she got out of bed feeling more composed than usual, with several new emotions struggling for the mastery. One of those emotions was that of intolerance.
Harlanâs assumption of authority enraged her. He had come to the Rancho Seco with no credentials other than his mere word that her father had forced him to promise to âtake holdâ of âthings.â And she intended, this very morning, to send Harlan away, and to assume control of the ranch herself.
This determination held until after she had breakfasted, and then she stood for a long time in the kitchen door, looking out into the brilliant sunshine, afflicted with a strange indecision.
Harlan had helped to fill the void created by her fatherâs deathâthat was certain. There had been something satisfying in his presence at the ranch; it had seemed to mean an assurance for her safety; she had felt almost as fully protected as when her father had been with her. It angered her to see him moving about the place as though he had a perfect right to be there, but at the same time she felt comfortably certain that as long as he was around no harm could come to her.
Her emotions were so contradictory that she could not reach a decision regarding the action she should take and she bit her lips with vexation as she stood in the doorway.
Later, her cheeks a little flushed with the realization that she was surrendering to an emotion that she could not understandâbut which, she decided guiltily, her face crimson, had its inception in a conviction that she would regret seeing Harlan ride away, to return no moreâshe went to the corral, roped her pony, threw saddle and bridle on it, mounted the animal, and rode awayâwestward.
She had not traveled more than half a mile when she heard the rapid beating of hoofs behind her. Glancing swiftly backward, she saw Purgatory coming, Harlan in the saddle, smoking a cigarette.
Her pulses leaped, unaccountably, and the crimson flush again stained her cheeks; but she sat rigid in the saddle, and looked straight ahead, pretending she had not discovered the presence of horse and rider behind her.
She rode another half mile before the flush died out of her cheeks. And then, responding to a swift indignation, she brought Billy to a halt, wheeled him, and sat motionless in the saddle, her face pale, her eyes flashing.
With apparent unconcern Harlan rode toward her. The big black horse did not change his pace, nor did Harlan change
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