The Man From Bar-20 by Clarence E. Mulford (best books to read for young adults .txt) đ
- Author: Clarence E. Mulford
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âNo offense I I was just surprised. Which way was thâ fool headinâ?â
âMebby I am a little too touchy. We all have our faults. He was headinâ thâ same as us because weâre on his trail, right now. I sort of follered it here to keep my hand in. You never can tell when yoâre goinâ to need thâ practice. Our fire is built on thâ ashes of hisn. His fire anâ smoke was well hid, too. What a two-gun cowpuncher, with a Tin Cup cayuse like that, wants to go hoofinâ off on a foolâs errand for, is more than I can figger out. But two heads are better than one; anâ a man hears an awful lot of talkinâ up in Old Pop Hayesâ place. Queer old polecat, Pop is.â
Ackerman stared thoughtfully into the fire for a few moments. Then he looked squarely and long into Peteâs placid, unwavering eyes, and what he saw there must have pleased and piqued him.
âPete, yore habit of usinâ words reminds me of a gravel bed I once panned. It was a big bed anâ I panned a terrible lot of gravel; but youâd âaâ been surprised if you knew how much gold there was in it. I was a rich man until I hit town.â He waved his hands expressively. âYouâve said a whole lot, but it pans out strong. Anybody that wonât listen to you is a fool. Letâs have a pow-wow, without hurtinâ any feelinâs. Speak plain; keep cool. What you say?â
Pete waited until he rolled another cigarette and drew in another lungful of smoke. Then he recrossed his long legs, hitched comfortably against his saddle, and nodded.
âMeaninâ to swap ideas anâ personal opinions, ask questions regardless, anâ if things donât come out like weâd mebby like âem, keep our mouths shut afterwards anâ not hold no hard feelinâs?â
âJust that,â Ackerman acquiesced. âJust what was you aiminâ at in yore talk?â
Pete scrutinized the fire. âWell, I hit what I was aiminâ at you allus do with a scatter gun. Anâ for thâ ease of my conscience, anâ thâ rest of my calloused soul, let me confess that I had a gun on you while I was talkinâ to you. One arm was folded across behind my back anâ a little old Colt was squeezinâ against my side anâ thâ other arm, lookinâ right at you. Carelessness ainât no sin of mine; I got enough without it. But, shakinâ some of thâ gravel out, letâs see what I got.
âI wants a job. Itâs funny how many times Iâve wanted a job, anâ then threw it sprawlinâ after I got it. Beinâ desperate, I was aiminâ to stick you up anâ take your outfit. Then when you got near anâ I saw who it was, I knowed Iâd have to shoot to kill; anâ first, too. Thatâs why I didnât tackle that other feller, too. Anâ just then my perverted mind says two anâ two is four. Anâ it most generally is. Then I knowed you needed me. So I let thâ gun slip anâ got real friendly. But, as I was sayinâ, I want a job. Now you pay attention.
âWe knows whatâs rumored around about Twin Buttes; anâ we knows who lives up there; anâ we knows there ainât never been no farm products come out of that section. Thatâs thâ biggest mistake you fellers ever made; you should âaâ run a garden. Likewise, we knows that tinhorns donât gamble with things that belong to other people, if thâ other people packs guns. Anâ âspecially they donât gamble with no cows anâ hosses. âTainât popular, anâ folks donât like it. A tinhorn ainât man enough to risk a bullet or a rope. Now then, you just let me draw you thâ picture of a dream Iâve often had.
âI can see a bunch of husky cowpunchers, among which I see myself, anâ weâre punchinâ cows that we never bought. Weâre poolinâ our winninâs anâ sharinâ thâ risks. I can even see me rustlinâ cows, anâ thereâ?, men with me that I could name if my memory wasnât so bad. Thereâs a big rock wall, anâ a deep, swift river thatâs so dâ-d cold it fair hurts. Anâ somewhere back in thâ buttes, which is in a section plumb fatal to strangers, all but one, is a little ranch, with a drive trail leadinâ north or west. Thatâs thâ dream. Ainât it hâl what fool ideas go trompinâ anâ rampaginâ through a manâs mind when heâs asleep, âspecially if he ainât satisfied to work for wages? Did you ever have any?â
Ackerman grinned to hide his surprise. âYoâre a grand dreamer, Pete. Iâve had dreams somethinâ like that, myself; an I so farâs Iâm concerned yourn can come true; but I only got one vote. Anâ as I ainât goinâ back for some time, I donât know just what to say.â
âNot knowinâ what to say never bothered me,â chuckled Long Pete. âI can talk thâ spots off a poker deck; Iâll show you how, some day. But as long as you mentioned dreams, it reminds me of another Iâve had. Not long ago, neither. I saw a two-gun prospector leavinâ an unpleasant location. He was a regâlar two-gun man; a wise feller could just see it a-stickinâ out all over him. I kept right on beinâ hungry. Then, quite a little later I saw another man, a cowpuncher, ridinâ along his trail; anâ he had so much grub it fair dazzled me. Anâ beinâ friendly, in my dream, I up anâ tells thâ second man where thâ other feller was headinâ. Anâ if thâ dream hadnât âaâ stopped there I could âaâ told him which way thâ two-gun prospector anâ his black, Tin Cup cayuse went on thâ morninâ follerinâ thâ day I saw him. Funny how things like that will stick in a manâs memory. Anâ Iâve heard tell that lots of people believes in dreams, too. Seems like you only got to know how to figger âem to learn a lot of useful anâ plumb interestinâ things. A fortune-teller told me that. Why, once I dreamed that I had shot a feller that had been pesterinâ me; anâ when I got sober, dâd if I hadnât, too!â
Ackerman slammed his sombrero on the ground and leaned quickly forward over the fire. âPete, I ainât got much money with me didnât expect to have no call to use it. I ainât got enough for wages for any length of time; but Iâve got grub, plenty of it. Anâ if you wants to make that first dream of yourn come true, you stick to me anâ with me, come what may, anâ Iâll see you a member of a little ranch back in some buttes, or weâll dâ-d well know thâ reason why. We need brains up there. Are you in?â
âEvery dâ-d chip; from my hat to my worn-out boots; from soda to hock,â grinned Long Pete. âYou got your cayuse, yore shootinâ irons, anâ thâ grub; I got my cayuse, mean as it is, my guns, anâ a steadyworkinâ appetite. Pass them pans over; allus like to wash things up as soon as theyâve been used. Itâll be yore job next meal. I believe in equal work. Better hang up that pack thereâs ants runninâ around here.â
âYoâre a better cook than me,â said Ackerman cheerfully, as he obeyed. âYou do thâ cookinâ anâ leave thâ cleaninâ up to me. Iâd rather wrastle dirty pans than eat my own cookinâ any day. That fair?â
âAs a new, unmarked deck,â replied Long Pete contentedly. âAnâ while weâre talkinâ about washinâ pans, I want to say that that two-gun hombre went due north, ridinâ plumb up thâ middle of this here crick. Anâ since yoâre trailinâ him, I reckon he kept goinâ right on north. I allus like to guess when I donât know.â
âYoâre a dâ-d good guesser,â grinned Ackerman. âLetâs roll up in thâ blankets early tonight an I get an early start in thâ morninâ.â
âKeno. That suits me, for if there is one thing that I can do well, itâs rollinâ up in a blanket. I shouldâve been a cocoon.â
JOHNNY ducked down behind a bowlder, for a horseman, sharply silhouetted against the crimson glow of the sunset, rode parallel to the edge of the cliff; and, judging from the way he was scrutinizing the ground, he was looking for tracks. While he searched, another horseman rode from the north and joined him. They made a splendid picture, rugged, lean, hard; their sharply-cut profiles, the jaunty set of the big sombreros, their alert and wiry cow-ponies, silhouetted against the crimson and gold sky; but to the hidden watcher there was no poetry, no art, in the picture, for to him it was a thing of danger, a menace. Their voices, carelessly raised, floated to him distinctly.
âFind anythinâ?â asked Ben Gates ironically.
âJust what I reckoned Iâd find, which was nothinâ,â answered Harrison. âAckermanâs loco. But I reckon itâs better than loafinâ around down below. I was gettinâ plumb fed up on that.â
âItâs all cussed nonsense. Nelsonâs cleared out for good. He ainât no fool; anâ thereâs too many of us.â
âSeen thâ others?â
âOnly when they left. They ought to be ridinâ back purty soon I reckon. This finishes this side, donât it?â
âYes; theyâll comb thâ west side tomorrow; anâ then take thâ north end. Ridinâ in daylight ainât so bad; but I got a fine chance seeinâ anythinâ at night. Anâ I hope he has cleared out; a man on a bronc looks as big as a house.â
âDonât ride at all; lay up somewhere near thâ canyon trail anâ let him do thâ movinâ. But, hâl! Heâs gone out of this country.â
âThatâs just what I was aiminâ to do. I could ride within ten feet of a man in thâ dark, with all thâ cover there is up here, anâ not see him. Donât you worry about yore Uncle Nat; heâs shore growed up. But itâs all fool nonsense, just thâ same.â
âOh, well; itâll make things pleasanter down below,â grinned Gates. âItâll stop thâ arguinâ. Quigleyâs gettinâ near as nervous as Ackerman. Heâs gettinâ scared of shadows since Jim laced it into him. Well, Iâm goinâ on; if I meets Holbrook Iâll tell him to take thâ south end. So long.â
They separated and went their respective ways, and while Johnny watched them he suddenly heard a murmur of voices below him, and he squirmed between two big bowlders as the sounds came nearer.
âWell, weâve shore combed this side,â said one of the newcomers. âAnâ that ends part of a foolâs errand.â
âWe shore have,â grunted another. âAnâ it did us good, too. We all have been gettinâ too cussed lazy for any account. I reckon a certain amount of work is thâ best friend a man has got.â
âMebby; anyhow, I know that my appetite is standinâ on its hind laigs yellinâ for help,â laughed the third. âAnâ we have thâ satisfaction of knowinâ everythinâ is all right out here. Cussed if I couldnât eat a raw skunk! â
âBut that ainât what Iâm drivinâ at,â said the first speaker, his voice growing fainter as they rode on. âI claims if he is workinâ for th j CL he only has to get one look in our valley to tell him all he wants to know. If heâs up here, or has been up here,
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