CHAPTER VI.

RANDY SEEKS INFORMATION.

They had reached the bottom before either of them spoke again. Randy stopped and Dolly came up to him.

"Dolly, I've got to find out something. I don't know anything about the H Bar ranch. Never was there in my life. Dad has peculiar ideas. He never would let his cattle drift across onto the Indian lands, even when grass was short on this side and going to waste over there. He always said he never had taken anything that didn't belong to him, and that grass didn't belong to him."

"Well, I reckon he was right about it."

"Yes, I'm sure he was. He said it would keep him out of trouble with fellows on that side, but it hasn't done it. I don't want any of their grass, but I do want to know something about what I'm fighting. I've got to have some information."

"Huh! How are you goin' to get it?"

"Go after it."

"Go to the H Bar, you mean?"

"Yes, if necessary."

"Why, Randy, that Holderness gang would shoot us so full of holes we'd make a picket fence look like a solid wall."

"Maybe not. We've got to get our hands on one of that gang and make him talk."

"Oh, thataway. Sure, come on; let's go."

"Wait a minute. We might find one of them in the cottonwoods, across the river, watching the narrows."

"I think you will find one there," said Dolly grimly, "if somebody ain't packed him off, and you'll find two more layin' on the sandbar on the other side of the river, but you won't get much information from them."

"No, I suppose not. You know that boat the boys built last summer. Know where it is?"

"Yes. It's at the upper end of the slough, but we can't go to the H Bar in a boat. It's four or five mile from the river, up at the edge of the prairie," Dolly pointed out.

"I know, but maybe we won't have to go to the H Bar. We may find what we want closer than that," Randy said with cold menace.

"Meaning what?"

"That somebody stays in that thicket of cottonwoods all the time. They shoot at everybody that goes from the Bend toward Willow Mills, and at nobody that comes this way. We can row up the river on this side, close in to the bank, and they'll never see us. Just above the thicket, we can drift across, tie up our boat, and take a look. I've got to investigate that thicket, and they've shown us that we can't do it in the daytime."

"They shore have. That sounds all right. Let's go," said Dolly.

"Easy, then. They're likely to be anywhere. We'll leave our horses in the big grape thicket this side of the slough."

Their horses hidden, they pushed the boat through the upper end of the slough into the river. Dolly was no seaman.

"All I can do is sit still and look scared," he said in a low tone.

"Just keep quiet and keep your eyes open. I'll work the boat." With noiseless strokes of the short oar, Randy sent the boat upstream.

In the marshes, around that thicket of cottonwoods, frogs were keeping up an incessant din that would cover any noise the boat might make. Well above the thicket they crossed to the other side, got out and tied the boat to a sapling and went ashore.

"We've got to be careful now," whispered Randy. "It's two or three hundred yards down this little point to where their sharpshooters take their stand."

They stole softly on through the dense thicket and had gone a hundred yards when Randy put his hand behind him and touched Dolly.

"Listen!" he whispered.

* * * * *

There was the sound of two men walking. They were coming along a trail from opposite directions, and, crouching in the thicket close to the ground, Randy and his little puncher heard them meet.

"Hello, Steve! That you?"

"Yes," replied a growling voice.

"Well, sit down here on this log. I got a mouthful to tell you."

"Go ahead and tell it."

"Well, I come in here awhile ago to relieve Red. I went down to the stand, and Red was layin' there dead."

"Hell he was!"

"Yes. Some of that Railroad outfit potted him. Are you and Bell sure you can handle this mess the way you set out to do? Because, if you ain't, I aim to slide out while the sliding is good."

"Of course we're sure," Steve said angrily. "We've already got Asa and Pate. That just leaves Old Railroad to lead the fight, and he won't last long."

"What about Randy?"

"Nothing. He don't amount to anything if he's alive, and I don't reckon he is. The Tarleton boys are rearin' to get him, and Bell aimed to run 'em together to-day."

"Huh! Bell is a pretty smooth schemer, but I don't understand him starting this mess the way he did."

"Bell didn't start it. I started it, and he gave me hell for it. Bell's too cautious. We been ready to clean up on the Railroad outfit for a month, and Bell kept putting me off. We could 'a' got 'em one at a time, and nobody known it. Bell's idea was to go over there to the round-up and look things over. Then the next day we'd begin to work on 'em."

"Well, why didn't you work it that way?"

"We would, but trouble is, Bell was after one thing and I was after something else. All I wanted was to clean up the whole Ross outfit, because old Railroad killed my daddy. Began to look to me like Bell never would do anything, so when I got a good chance I let Asa have it. He was the only one I was afraid of."

"Why didn't you get all of 'em?"

"Get, nothing! The whole outfit came foggin' after us like a bat out of hell, and we run! Then as we went into the timber, Bell shot Ben Tarleton."

"What for?"

"I asked Bell that. He said it had to be done. Said in a pinch we could say Ben shot Asa. Besides that, Ben being shot that way, old Judge Tarleton and the other two boys would think the Railroad outfit done it."

"Bell's smooth, ain't he?"

"Yes, he's smooth, but he's too slow. We'd orto cleared up on Railroad and his boys, and gone on back home. Everybody knows Railroad killed pap, and nobody would blame us, but Bell wants too much."

"What is it he wants?"

"He wants Silver Bend. Says it's the best tract of land on either side of the river from head to mouth. Thinks when they ain't nobody left but the old woman he can get it at his own price, and he can. Another thing he wants is Zella Tarleton, and when Randy Ross is out of the way he'll get her. Oh, he'll get what he wants. He always does." Steve's tone showed his confidence in his brother's shrewdness.

"Why don't a gang just ride over to the Railroad, call Railroad and Randy out, and--"

"Two good reasons. One is, these messes have got to look like gun fights, in case there should be any hereafter about it. The other is that Bell and me wants to stay here awhile yet. Calling Railroad and Randy out and shooting them up wouldn't be no healthy job."

"I thought you said Randy don't amount to anything."

"He don't, Bill. He's yellow all the way through. But still and all, if he was cornered thataway--he's the fastest and best shot in this country."

"Well, what's the program?" asked the other. The listeners had identified him by now as Bill Hayden of the Holderness gang.

"Just to watch for Railroad and Randy and get 'em. Your job is to watch that trail, and you better get on it. Old Railroad ain't afraid of the devil. He'll be riding up to Willow Mills, and give you a chance. Bell will make the Tarleton boys get Randy, and then we'll be in the clear of everything."

"Maybe so. I don't like the idea of goin' down there and keepin' watch on that trail, with Red layin' there dead," Bill admitted.

"He can't hurt you. I'll send some of the boys to get him as soon as I get back to the ranch. Keep your eyes open. Remember that every Railroad puncher you get will make the rest quit that much quicker when Railroad's gone, and--

"What's that!"

* * * * *

In his pent-up rage, Randy had moved and broken a twig beneath him. Steve Holderness and his hired killer sprang up from the log and stood for a moment listening. There was no chance to take the two killers in the darkness, so Randy had to lie still.

"Varmint in the bushes," said Hayden at last.

"Reckon so," replied Steve. "Get on the job, and if anybody comes along do as good shooting as you did when you got Pate Ross and that old puncher."

They parted, and their steps died away in the distance. Presently, Randy heard the thudding of a horse's hoofs, as Steve mounted and rode for the H Bar.

"What are we going to do now?" whispered Dolly.

"We're going to get Hayden," replied Randy, in a tense whisper. "He killed Pate, and I'm not going to wait for any law. We'll give 'em some of their own medicine. From here on, I fight the devil with fire."

Silently they waited for half an hour, then found the trail and walked on down toward the river, letting their footsteps be plainly heard. As they approached the river, a low voice said:

"You boys come for Red? Got here mighty quick."

"Met Steve on the trail, and he sent us on," replied Randy in a low tone.

"Well, come and get him. I'll be glad when he's gone," and Hayden turned his back to lead the way to where the body lay.

The next moment Hayden lay on the ground, knocked out by a blow on the head from Randy's gun.

"We've got to get away from here!" said Randy. "Come on, those fellows may get here any time," and, picking up the unconscious Hayden, he led the way to the boat.

When Hayden came back to the world, he was lying on the ground under a big tree that overhung the river at the narrows, and near the spot where Pate and old Leck had fallen. His hands and feet were tied, and he felt something at his neck.

"Whu--what are you fellows doing?" asked Hayden, groggily.

"Just waiting for you to wake up," said Dolly. "We're in a sorty hurry. Got anything to say before you go?"

"Go where?"

"I'd hate to say," and Dolly pulled the rope slightly.

"You fellows ain't going to hang me!"

He would have ended in a yell, but the rope jerked taut, and he rose endwise from the ground, kicked a few times, and was still. They made the rope fast and left him there. Without a word, Randy turned and led the way to their horses. Just before they mounted he said:

"Dolly, I know all I want to know now. We've got the man that killed Pate. I mean to hang Steve Holderness for killing Asa. The Tarletons can settle their own scores for the killing of Ben. I don't know any better punishment for them than for Zella to marry Bell Holderness and then find out about that."

[Illustration: _Without a word Randy turned and led the way to their horses._]

"You're too hard, Randy," said Dolly. "She don't know all that. The Tarletons believe you killed Ben, and the old judge told her you shot him."

"Yes, I'm hard. Hard as hell itself. I've had plenty to make me hard. I'll make Silver Bend safe before I'm through, if you'll stay with me. Even if I have to hang a man to every tree in it."

"I'll stay with you, when it comes to cleaning up the Holderness gang, but I wish you wouldn't be so hard on Miss Zella. She--"

"Never mind. Don't mention her name to me again, and you and I will get along finely," and, mounting his horse, Randy led the way on to the ranch.

In a little more than forty-eight hours Randolph Ross had changed from a wild, irresponsible boy to a strong, purposeful man. And in the last few hours, since reading Zella's note and hearing Steve and Hayden talk, he had turned to a hard man, with but one purpose in life--bitter, bitter vengeance.

He wanted to kill the men who had robbed him of his brothers. He wanted to humble the woman whom he had loved with all his soul because she had doubted him when he was in trouble. He was far on the road to becoming a very bad and dangerous man, and, as the canker ate farther into his heart, he would become worse.

* * * * *

Wise little Dolly knew this. He could see that what he thought he had made into a wonderful man was likely to become a hideous monster.

Randy Ross was desperate now. He would go to any length to put a rope on Steve's neck. Dolly was willing to follow him in that enterprise, but when that was done he wanted to see Randy and Zella happy. As he rode silently along with Randy, he made a resolution to save this naturally fine young man from himself.

When they reached the ranch, Dolly went on to the bunk shack. Randy would have asked him to share that big, lonesome room, for company, but there was such a storm in his soul that Ross wanted solitude, and a chance to think things out. He slipped into the house, but didn't escape the ears of old Railroad. His father was in bed, but hadn't been asleep, though it was some time after midnight. Randy made a light. He had eaten nothing since noon, but he wasn't hungry and felt that he could never sleep again.

Barely had he sat down to his task of thinking when the door opened and old Railroad entered. His hair was tousled, and he was in nightshirt and trousers, with one suspender down.

"Randy, I'm mighty glad you come in. I couldn't go to sleep. I went out and asked the boys about you. They said you and Dolly went off somewheres, but they didn't know where."

"Some of 'em knew. They were lying to you for me, like always. That's got to be stopped. I'm not going to do anything more that I'm ashamed for you to know, or that you'll be ashamed to know. I'll tell you where I went. You ought to know it."

Randy recapitulated the day's events. He told of the killing of Brazos and Keech by Bell Holderness and Lav Tarleton. He told of the running fight in the woods and of capturing Pompey. Railroad's lips twisted in a wintry smile at thought of Pompey's fright. Then Randy told of the note from Zella and what he had written to her.

"I'm mighty sorry about that, Randy. Zella is as fine a young woman as there is in the world. She just don't understand."

"Don't, dad! When you excuse her, I feel like you're accusing me. She didn't have any right to think that I'd do the things they accuse me of doing. She ought to know I couldn't do it. I hope she marries Bell, and then finds out that he shot Ben in the back."

"Stop, Randy! Don't be so bitter!"

"Why shouldn't I be bitter?"

"But you don't know that Bell shot Ben. That was just a guess of ours."

"Oh, yes, I do know it," and Randy went on to tell of the trip to the thicket and the hanging of Hayden.

"Thank God that it wasn't my bullet that killed Ben," said Railroad, fervently. "Judge Tarleton and I have been friends and neighbors always. He's hot-headed and jumps to conclusions, but he's a good man."

"Good man or not, the Tarletons have tied in with the Holdernesses, and they all look alike to me. I'm not going to hunt the Tarleton boys, but they're hunting me and they can find me."

"Randy, I'd hate--"

"Let's don't talk about that, dad. If we meet, we meet, and that's all there is to it. We found out that Hayden killed Pate, and we hanged him. We heard Steve say he shot Asa, and I'll hang him if I live."

* * * * *

"That's all right for them, Randy, but it ought to stop there."

"What about Bell? He's the prime mover in the whole mess," and Randy went over the two reasons Steve had given for Bell's part in the mess.

"Bell ought to hang, too, then. He'll never get Silver Bend."

"Not while I live," Randy vowed.

"Not while anybody lives. Mother and I will make a will that, in the event of your death, we'll leave it to your uncle for his lifetime, and then to his heirs. He won't want it, but he can't sell it."

"That's going a long way around. I know a better way than that to keep Bell from getting it. I don't want to kill him now. I want him to marry Zella.

"Then, after they are married, I want to show her proof that he shot Ben in the back and had her father shot. After that, I'm ready to shoot Bell, or hang him, whichever comes handiest."

Railroad was appalled at his son's bitterness. Deep in his heart, he wanted Randy to marry Zella, had always wanted it. That very day he had thought of it much. The farmer and his plow were encroaching on the cow country. A few more years and that would be a farming country.

A little work--and Railroad had plenty of money to have it done--and Silver Bend would be a great plantation, five or six times larger than the Tarleton plantation, and better, because the alluvial soil was new and fresh. Randy was the only heir now. It would all be his. With a wife like Zella, a woman of fine breeding and culture, and plenty of money, Randy could go a long way in life. But Randy had dashed all those hopes. Railroad sat with bowed head as Randy went on:

"We can't take the men and go into this fight, as you did in old times, and shoot it out in the open. They won't come out in the open. If we went to the H Bar we might find half a dozen men, and maybe none. They're going to bushwhack and get Railroad riders when and where they can. More than two men together will simply make a better target for them. I'm going to take Dolly in the morning, and hunt where I think the hunting is good. The other men had better work the cattle out onto the prairie and keep them there until this is over, one way or another."

"Maybe you're right," said Railroad, wearily, "but don't take too many chances, son. You're all I got left now. I wish I could ride with you, but I can't. I'm still good for a minute, but I don't last out. My heart beats too fast. I reckon I driv it too much when I was younger. Go to bed and get some sleep. When we get up in the morning, things never look to us like they did the day before," and Railroad tottered off to bed, his mind also full of plans for saving this last son from a life of misery and bitterness.