'Drag' Harlan by Charles Alden Seltzer (top novels of all time .txt) đ
- Author: Charles Alden Seltzer
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âGet goinâ.â
Haydonâs smile grew less expansive.
âItâs a rather difficult subject to discuss. It rather seems to be none of my affair. But you will understand, being interested in Barbaraâs future, and in the welfare of the ranch, why I am presuming to question you. What do you intend to do with the ranch?â
âRun it.â
âOf course,â smiled Haydon. âI mean, of course, to refer to the financial end of it. Miss Morgan will handle the money, I suppose.â
âYou got orders from Miss Barbara to gas to me about the ranch?â
âWell, no, I canât say that I have. But I have a natural desire to know.â
âIâll be tellinâ her what Iâm goinâ to do.â
Haydon smiled faintly. Twice, during the silence that followed Harlanâs reply, Haydon shifted his gaze from Harlanâs face to the ground between himself and the other, and then back again. It was plain to Haydon that he could proceed no farther in that direction without incurring the wrath that slumbered in Harlanâs heart, revealed by his narrowing eyes.
In Harlanâs heart was a bitter, savage passion. Hatred for this man, which had been aroused by Barbaraâs reference to him, and intensified by his visit to the girl, had been made malignant by his appearance now in the rĂŽle of inquisitor.
Jealousy, Harlan would not have admitted; yet the conviction that Haydon was handsome, and that women would like himâthat no doubt Barbara already liked himâbrought a cold rage to Harlan. He stood, during the momentary silence, his lips curving with contempt, his eyes glinting with a passion that was unmistakable to Haydon.
He stepped down from the doorway and walked slowly to Haydon, coming to a halt within a yard of him. His hands were hanging at his sides, his chin had gone a little forward; and in his manner was the threat that had brought a paralysis of fear to more than one man.
Yet, except for a slow stiffening of his muscles, Haydon betrayed no fear. There was a slight smile on his lips; his eyes met Harlanâs steadily and unblinkingly. In them was a glint of that mysterious humor which other men had seen in them.
âI know youâre lightning on the draw, Harlan,â he said, his faint smile fading a trifle. âI wouldnât have a chance with you; Iâm not a gun-fighter. For that reason I donât want any disagreement with you. And Iâve heard enough about you to know that you donât shoot unless the other fellow is out to âgetâ you.
âWe wonât have any trouble. Be fair. As the man who will ultimately take charge of the Rancho Secoâsince Miss Barbara has been good enough to encourage meâI would like to know some things. Iâve heard that Lane Morgan was killed at Sentinel Rock, and that you were with him when he diedâand just before. Did he give you authority to take charge of the Rancho Seco?â
âHe told me to take hold.â
âA written order?â
âHis word.â
âHe said nothing else; there were no papers on himânothing of value?â
Neither man had permitted his eyes to waver from the otherâs since Harlan had advanced; and they now stood, with only the few feet of space between them, looking steadily at each other.
Harlan saw in Haydonâs eyes a furtive, stealthy gleam as of cupidity glossed over with a pretense of frank curiosity. He sensed greed in Haydonâs gaze, and knowledge of a mysterious quality.
Haydon knew something about Lane Morganâs errand to Pardo; he knew why the man had started for Pardo, and what had been on his person at the time of his death.
Harlan was convinced of that; and the light in his eyes as he looked into Haydonâs reflected the distrust and the contempt he had for the man.
âWhat do you think Morgan had in his clothes?â he questioned suddenly.
A slow flush of color stole into Haydonâs cheeks, then receded, leaving him a trifle pale. He laughed, with a pretense of mockery.
âYou ought to know,â he said, a snarl in his voice. âYou must have searched him.â
Harlan grinned with feline mirthlessness. And he stepped back a little, knowledge and satisfaction in his eyes.
For he had âlooked Haydon over,â following Morganâs instructions. He had purposely permitted Haydon to question him, expecting that during the exchange of talk the man would say something that would corroborate the opinion that Harlan had instantly formed, that Haydon was not to be trusted.
And Haydonâs snarl; the cupidity in his eyes, and his ill-veiled eagerness had convinced Harlan.
Harlan did not resent Haydonâs manner; he was too pleased over his discovery that Haydon possessed traits of character that unfitted him for an alliance with Barbara. And it would be his business to bring those traits out, so that Barbara could see them unmistakably.
He laughed lowly, dropping his gaze to Haydonâs belt; to his right hand, which hung limply near his pistol holster; and to the woolen shirt, with the silk handkerchief at the throat sagging picturesquely.
His gaze roved over Haydonâinsolently, contemptuously; his lips twitching with the grim humor that had seized him. And Haydon stood, not moving a muscle, undergoing the scrutiny with rigid body, with eyes that had become wide with a queer sensation of dread wonder that was stealing over him; and with a pallor that was slowly becoming ghastly.
For he had no doubt that at last he had unwittingly aroused the demon in Harlan, and that violence, which he had wished to avoid, was imminent.
But Harlanâs roving gaze, as he backed slightly away from Haydon, came to the breast-pocket of the manâs shirt. His gaze centered there definitely, his eyes narrowing, his muscles leaping a little.
For out of the pocket stretched a gold chain, broken, its upper endâwhere it entered the buttonhole of the shirtâfastened to the buttonhole with a rawhide thong, as though the gold section were not long enough to reach.
And the gold section of the chain was of the peculiar pattern of the section that Harlan had picked up on the desert near Sentinel Rock.
Despite his conviction that he stood in the presence of the mysterious âChiefâ of whom he had heard much, Harlanâs expression did not change. There was a new interest added to it, and a deeper glow in his eyes. But he gave no outward evidence of surprise.
âI reckon I searched him,â he said, answering Haydonâs charge. âIf I found anything on him Iâm turninâ it over to Barbara Morganâor hanginâ onto it. Thatâs my business.â
Haydon laughed, for Harlanâs voice had broken the tension that had come with the interval of threatening silence.
Since he could not induce Harlan to divulge anything of interest there was nothing to do but to withdraw as gracefully as possible. And he backed away, smiling, saying placatively:
âNo offense intended, Harlan. I was merely curious on Barbaraâs account.â He mounted his horse, urged it along the corral fence, and sent back a smiling:
âSo-long.â
Motionless, still standing where he had stood when Haydon climbed on his horse, Harlan watched while the man rode the short distance to the house. At the corner around which he had appeared some minutes before, Haydon brought his horse to a halt, waved a handâat Barbara, Harlan supposedâand then rode on, heading westward toward Sunset Trail.
Harlan watched him until he had penetrated far into the big valley; then he turned, slowly, and sought Red Lintonâfinding him in the blacksmith-shop.
Later in the dayâafter Harlan and Linton had talked long, standing in the door of the blacksmith-shopâLinton mounted his horse and rode to where Harlan stood.
Linton was prepared for a long ride. Folded in the slicker that was strapped to the cantle of his saddle was food; he carried his rifle in the saddle sheath, and a water-bag bulged above the horseâs withers.
âYou wonât find all the T Down boys yearninâ to bust into this ruckus,â Harlan said as he stood near Lintonâs horse as Linton grinned down at him; âbut thereâll be some. Put it right up to them that it ainât goinâ to be no pussy-kitten job, anâ that itâs likely some of them wonât ever see the T Down again. But to offset that, you can tell âem that if we make good, the Rancho Seco will owe them a heapâanâ theyâll get whatâs cominâ to them.â
He watched while Linton rode eastward over the big level; then he grinned and walked to the ranchhouse, going around the front and standing in the wide gateway where he saw Barbara sitting on a bench in the patio, staring straight ahead, meditatively, unaware that he was standing in the gateway, watching her.
Harlan watched the girl for a long timeâuntil she turned and saw him. Then she blushed and stood up, looking at him in slight wonderment as he came toward her and stood within a few feet of her.
On Harlanâs face was a slow, genial grin.
âSunninâ yourself, eh?â he said. âWell, itâs a mighty nice dayânot too hot. Have you knowed him long?â
The startling irrelevance of the question caused Barbara to gaze sharply at Harlan, and when their eyes met she noted that his were twinkling with a light that she could not fathom. She hated him when she could not understand him.
âMr. Haydon, do you mean?â she questioned, a sudden coldness in her voice.
Harlan nodded.
âA little more than a year, I think. It was just after I returned from school, at Denver.â
He watched her, saying lowly:
âSo it was Denver. Iâd been wonderinâ. I knowed it must have been some place. Schoolinâ is a thing that I never had time to monkey withâI reckon my folks didnât believe a heap in âem.â
âYouâve lived in the West all your lifeâyou were born in the West, I suppose?â
He looked keenly at her. âI expect you knowed that without askinâ. Iâve been wonderinâ if it would have made any difference.â
âHow?â
âIn me. Do you think an education makes a man act differentâgives him different ideas about his actionsâin his dealinâs with women, for instance?â
âI expect it does. Education should make a man more considerate of womenâit is refining.â
âThen you reckon a man that ainât had any education is coarse, anâ donât know how to treat a woman?â
âI didnât say that; I said education should make a man treat women that way.â
âBut it donât always?â
âI think not. I have known menâwell educated menâwho failed to treat women as they should be treated.â
âThen that ainât what you might call a hard-anâ-fast ruleâit donât always work. Anâ thereâs hope for any man who ainât had schoolinââif heâs wantinâ to be a man.â
âCertainly.â
âBut an educated man canât claim ignorance when he aims to mistreat a woman. Thatâs how it figures up, ainât it?â
She laughed. âIt would seem to point to that conclusion.â
âSo youâve knowed Haydon about a year? I reckon heâs educated?â
âYes.â She watched him closely, wondering at his meaningâwhy he had brought Haydonâs name into the discussion. She was marveling at the subtle light in his eyes.
âYour father liked Haydonâhe told me Haydon was the only square man in the countryâbesides himself anâ Sheriff Gage.â
âFather liked Haydon. Iâm beginning to believe you really did have a talk with father before he died!â
He smiled. âGoinâ back to Haydon. I had a talk with him a little while ago. I sort of took a shine to him.â He drew from a pocket the section of gold chain he had found on the desert, holding it out to her.
âHereâs a piece of Haydonâs watch chain,â he said slowly, watching her face. âThe next time Haydon comes to see you, give it to him, tellinâ him I found it. Itâs likely heâll ask you where I found it. But you can say I wasnât mentioninâ.â
He turned, looking back over his
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