Western
Read books online » Western » The Boss of the Lazy Y by Charles Alden Seltzer (latest books to read TXT) 📖

Book online «The Boss of the Lazy Y by Charles Alden Seltzer (latest books to read TXT) 📖». Author Charles Alden Seltzer



1 ... 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36
Go to page:
said Calumet, a puzzled frown wrinkling his forehead as he looked from Taggart to the freshly dug hole; "that somebody else killed Taggart. It was someone who knew where the idol was, too—he'd been diggin' for it."

"I reckon you've got me," said Toban. "Sharp an' Telza an' you an' Betty is the only one's that ever saw the diagram. I saw you pick it up from where Telza dropped it when I was maulin' him. I know you didn't do any diggin' for the idol; I know Betty wouldn't; an' Sharp's dead, an' Telza's in jail—"

There was a clatter of hoofs from the direction of the ranchhouse. Both men turned to confront a horseman who was coming rapidly toward them, and as he came closer Toban cried out in surprise:

"Ed Bernse!" he said; "what in thunder are you doin' here?"

"Trailin' a jail breaker!" said the latter. "That copper-skinned weazel we had in there slipped out some way. He stole a horse an' come in this direction. Got an hour's start of me!"

Calumet laughed shortly and turned to the new-made excavation, making a thorough examination of it.

At its bottom was a square impression, a mold such as would be left by the removal of a box. Calumet stood up and grinned at Toban.

"The idol's gone," he said. "Telza's got it. You go back to Lazette," he said to Bernse, "an' tell the man who owns the horse that Calumet Marston will be glad to pay for it—he's that damned glad he's got rid of the idol."

Followed by Bernse, Calumet and Toban returned to the ranchhouse. When they neared it they were met by Dade and Malcolm, bearing between them the body of Neal Taggart. Calumet directed them to the clearing, telling them briefly what they would find there, and then, with Toban and Bernse, continued on to the ranchhouse.

Bernse hesitated at the door. "I reckon I'll be lightin' out for town," he said to the sheriff.

"Wait," said the sheriff; "I'll be goin' that way myself, directly."

Calumet had preceded Toban. As the latter was speaking to Bernse, Calumet stood before Betty, who, with Bob, had moved to the sitting-room door and was standing, pale, her eyes moist and brilliant with the depth of her emotions.

Briefly, he told her what he had found in the clearing.

"And the idol's gone," he concluded. "Telza's got it."

"Thank God!" she exclaimed, devoutly.

"I reckon," came Toban's voice, as he stepped across the kitchen floor toward them, "that we'd better bring this here idol business to an end. Mebbe it's bothered you folks a heap, but it's had me sorta uneasy, too." He grinned at Betty. "Mebbe you'd better show him his dad's last letter," he suggested. "I reckon it'll let me out of this deal. An' I'm sure wantin' to go back home."

Betty vanished into the sitting-room in an instant, and presently returned bearing an envelope of the shape and size which had contained all of the elder Marston's previous communications to Calumet. She passed it over to the latter and she and the sheriff watched him while he read.


"MY DEAR SON: If you receive this you will understand that by this time Betty is satisfied that you have qualified for your heritage. I thank you and wish I were there to shake your hand, to look into your eyes and tell you how glad I am for your sake.

"As soon as you have your affairs in shape I want you to marry Betty—if she will have you. I think she will, for she is in love with your picture.

"By this time you will know that I didn't leave Betty alone to cope with the Taggarts. If Dave Toban has kept his word—and I know he has—he has visited the Lazy Y pretty often. I didn't want you to know that he was back of Betty, and so I have told him to visit her secretly. He will give you what money is left in the bank at Las Vegas—we thought it would be safer over there.

"I want to thank you again. God bless you.

"Your father,
"JAMES MARSTON."


Calumet slowly folded the letter and placed it into a pocket. He looked at Toban, a glint of reproach in his eyes.

"So, it was you that I kept hearin' in the office—nights," he said.

"I reckon," said Toban. He looked at Betty and grinned.

Calumet also looked at her. His face was sober.

"I reckon I've been some fool," he said. "But I was more than a fool when I thought—"

"I didn't blame you much for that," smiled Betty. "You see, both times you heard us talking it happened that Taggart was somewhere in the vicinity, and—"

"Well," interrupted Toban with a grin; "I reckon you two will be able to get along without any outside interference, now."

They both watched in silence as he went to the door and stepped outside. He halted and looked at them, whereat they both reddened. Then he grinned widely and was gone.

Betty stood at one side of the sitting-room door, Calumet at the other. Both were in the kitchen. Bob, also, was in the kitchen, though Calumet and Betty did not see him; so it appeared to Bob. Having some recollection of a certain light in Betty's eyes on the night that Calumet had brought home the puppy, Bob's wisdom impelled him to compare it with the light that was in them now, and he suspected—he knew—

And so, very gently, very quietly, with infinite care and patience, lest they become aware of his presence, he edged toward the kitchen door, his rifle in hand. Still they did not seem to notice him, and so he passed through the door, into the dining-room, backed to the stairs, and so left them.

The silence between Betty and Calumet continued, and they still stood where they had stood when Bob had stolen away, for they heard sounds outside that warned them of the approach of Dade and Malcolm.

But it seemed they did not see Dade and Malcolm stop at one of the kitchen windows, and certainly they did not hear the whispered conversation that was carried on between the two.

"Shucks," said Dade; "it begins to look like Cal an' Betty's quarrel is—"

"I reckon we won't go in," decided Malcolm; "not right now. Mebbe in an hour, or so. Let's go down to the bunkhouse and play a little pitch."

They were all alone now. And Love had not been blind to the stealthy activities that had been carried on around it.

Betty turned her head and looked at Calumet. He smiled at her—it was the smile of a man who has won a battle with something more than the material things; it was the smile of a man who has conquered self—the smile of the ruler who knows the weakness of the citadel he has taken and plans its strengthening. It was the smile of the master who realizes the potent influence of the ally who has aided in his exaltation and who meditates reward through the simple method of bestowing upon the ally without reservation that citadel which she has helped to take and which, needless to say, she prizes. But it was something more, too, that smile. It was the smile of the mere Man—the man, repentant, humble, petitioning to the woman he has selected as his mate.

"I reckon," he said; "that they all thought we wanted to be alone."

But the ally was not prepared for this precipitate bestowal of reward, and as she blushed and looked down at the toe of her shoe, sticking out from beneath the hem of her skirt, she looked little like a person who had conducted a bitter war for the master who stood near her.

"Oh," she said; "did you hear them?"

"I reckon I heard them," he said. He went closer to her. "They're wise—Dade an' Malcolm. Bob, too. Wiser than me. But I'm gettin' sense, an' I'll come pretty close to bein' a man—give me time. All I need is a boss. An' if you—"

"I reckon," said Dade, stretching himself an hour later, "that we'll turn in. That brandin' today, an' that ridin' tonight has bushed me—kinda."

Malcolm agreed and they stepped to the bunkhouse door.

The moonlight threw a mellow glare upon the porch of the ranchhouse near the kitchen door. It bathed in its effulgent flood two figures, the boss and the master, who were sitting close together—very close together—on the porch.

The two figures came into instant focus in Dade's vision. He stepped back with a amused growl and gave place to Malcolm, who also looked.

Silently they went back into the bunkhouse.

"I reckon," suggested Dade, from the darkness, "that if we're figgerin' to go to bed we'll have to bunk right here. There's no tellin' when them two will get through mushin'. An' it's been too hard a tussle for them to have us disturbin' them now."

From the porch there came a low protest from the ally.

"Don't, Cal," she said; "don't you see that Dade and Malcolm are watching us?"

"Jealous, I guess," he laughed. "Well, let them watch. I reckon, if they're around here for any time, after this, they'll see me kissin' you plenty more."




THE END










End of Project Gutenberg's The Boss of the Lazy Y, by Charles Alden Seltzer

*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BOSS OF THE LAZY Y ***

***** This file should be named 19026-h.htm or 19026-h.zip *****
This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
        http://www.gutenberg.org/1/9/0/2/19026/

Produced by Al Haines

Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions
will be renamed.

Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no
one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation
(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without
permission and without paying copyright royalties.  Special rules,
set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to
copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to
protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark.  Project
Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you
charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission.  If you
do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the
rules is very easy.  You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose
such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and
research.  They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do
practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks.  Redistribution is
subject to the trademark license, especially commercial
redistribution.



*** START: FULL LICENSE ***

THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE
PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK

To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free
distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work
(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project
Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project
Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at
http://gutenberg.org/license).


Section 1.  General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm
electronic works

1.A.  By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm
electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to
and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property
(trademark/copyright) agreement.  If you do not agree to abide by all
the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy
all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession.
If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project
Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the
terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or
entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8.

1.B.  "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark.  It may only be
used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who
agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement.  There are a few
things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
even without complying with the full terms of this agreement.  See
paragraph 1.C below.  There are a lot of things you can do with Project
Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement
and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm
1 ... 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36
Go to page:

Free ebook «The Boss of the Lazy Y by Charles Alden Seltzer (latest books to read TXT) 📖» - read online now

Comments (0)

There are no comments yet. You can be the first!
Add a comment