The Heritage of the Desert [105]
he faced his foe; then came wonder, a glint of amusement, dark anger, and the terrible instinct of death impending.
"Naab's trick!" hissed Hare, with his hand held high. The suggestion in his words, the meaning in his look, held the three rustlers transfixed. The surprise was his strength.
In Holderness's amber eyes shone his desperate calculation of chances. Hare's fateful glance, impossible to elude, his strung Arm slightly crouched, his cold deliberate mention of Naab's trick, and more than all the poise of that quivering hand, filled the rustler with a terror that he could not hide.
He had been bidden to draw and he could not summon the force.
"Naab's trick!" repeated Hare, mockingly.
Suddenly Holderness reached for his gun.
Hare's hand leapt like a lightning stroke. Gleam of blue--spurt of red-- crash!
Holderness swayed with blond head swinging backward; the amber of his eyes suddenly darkened; the life in them glazed; like a log he fell clutching the weapon he had half drawn.
XX THE RAGE OF THE OLD LION
Take Holderness away--quick!" ordered Hare. A thin curl of blue smoke floated from the muzzle of his raised weapon.
The rustlers started out of their statue-like immobility, and lifting their dead leader dragged him down the garden path with his spurs clinking on the gravel and ploughing little furrows. "Bishop, go in now. They may return," said Hare. He hurried up the
steps to place his arm round the tottering old man.
"Was that Holderness?"
"Yes," replied Hare.
"The deeds of the wicked return unto them! God's will!"
Hare led the Bishop indoors. The sitting-room was full Or wailing women and crying children. None of the young men were present. Again Hare made note of their inexplicable absence. He spoke soothingly to the frightened family. The little boys and girls yielded readily to his persuasion, but the women took no heed of him.
"Where are your sons?" asked Hare.
"I don't know," replied the Bishop. "They should be here to stand by you. It's strange. I don't understand.
Last night my sons were visited by many men, coming and going in twos and threes till late. They didn't sleep in their beds. I know not what to think."
Hare remembered John Caldwell's enigmatic face.
"Have the rustlers really come?" asked a young woman, whose eyes were red and cheeks tear-stained
"They have. Nineteen in all. I counted them," answered Hare.
The young woman burst out weeping afresh, and the wailing of the others answered her. Hare left the cottage He picked up his rifle and went down through the orchard to the hiding-place of the horses. Silvermane pranced and snorted his gladness at sight of his master. The desert king was fit for a grueling race. Black Bolly quietly cropped the long grass. Hare saddled the stallion to have him in instant readiness, and then returned to the front of the yard.
He heard the sound of a gun down the road, then another, and several shots following in quick succession. A distant angry murmuring and trampling of many feet drew Hare to the gate. Riderless mustangs were galloping down the road; several frightened boys were fleeing across the square; not a man was in sight. Three more shots cracked, and the low murmur and trampling swelled into a hoarse uproar. Hare had heard that sound before; it was the tumult of mob-violence. A black dense throng of men appeared crowding into the main street, and crossing toward the square. The procession had some order; it was led and flanked by mounted men. But the upflinging of many arms, the craning of necks, and the leaping of men on the outskirts of the mass, the pressure inward and the hideous roar, proclaimed its real character.
"By Heaven!" exclaimed Hare. "The Mormons have risen against the rustlers. I understand now. John Caldwell spent last night in secretly rousing his neighbors. They have surprised the rustlers. Now what?"
Hare vaulted the fence and ran down the road A compact mob of men, a hundred or more, had halted in the village under the wide
"Naab's trick!" hissed Hare, with his hand held high. The suggestion in his words, the meaning in his look, held the three rustlers transfixed. The surprise was his strength.
In Holderness's amber eyes shone his desperate calculation of chances. Hare's fateful glance, impossible to elude, his strung Arm slightly crouched, his cold deliberate mention of Naab's trick, and more than all the poise of that quivering hand, filled the rustler with a terror that he could not hide.
He had been bidden to draw and he could not summon the force.
"Naab's trick!" repeated Hare, mockingly.
Suddenly Holderness reached for his gun.
Hare's hand leapt like a lightning stroke. Gleam of blue--spurt of red-- crash!
Holderness swayed with blond head swinging backward; the amber of his eyes suddenly darkened; the life in them glazed; like a log he fell clutching the weapon he had half drawn.
XX THE RAGE OF THE OLD LION
Take Holderness away--quick!" ordered Hare. A thin curl of blue smoke floated from the muzzle of his raised weapon.
The rustlers started out of their statue-like immobility, and lifting their dead leader dragged him down the garden path with his spurs clinking on the gravel and ploughing little furrows. "Bishop, go in now. They may return," said Hare. He hurried up the
steps to place his arm round the tottering old man.
"Was that Holderness?"
"Yes," replied Hare.
"The deeds of the wicked return unto them! God's will!"
Hare led the Bishop indoors. The sitting-room was full Or wailing women and crying children. None of the young men were present. Again Hare made note of their inexplicable absence. He spoke soothingly to the frightened family. The little boys and girls yielded readily to his persuasion, but the women took no heed of him.
"Where are your sons?" asked Hare.
"I don't know," replied the Bishop. "They should be here to stand by you. It's strange. I don't understand.
Last night my sons were visited by many men, coming and going in twos and threes till late. They didn't sleep in their beds. I know not what to think."
Hare remembered John Caldwell's enigmatic face.
"Have the rustlers really come?" asked a young woman, whose eyes were red and cheeks tear-stained
"They have. Nineteen in all. I counted them," answered Hare.
The young woman burst out weeping afresh, and the wailing of the others answered her. Hare left the cottage He picked up his rifle and went down through the orchard to the hiding-place of the horses. Silvermane pranced and snorted his gladness at sight of his master. The desert king was fit for a grueling race. Black Bolly quietly cropped the long grass. Hare saddled the stallion to have him in instant readiness, and then returned to the front of the yard.
He heard the sound of a gun down the road, then another, and several shots following in quick succession. A distant angry murmuring and trampling of many feet drew Hare to the gate. Riderless mustangs were galloping down the road; several frightened boys were fleeing across the square; not a man was in sight. Three more shots cracked, and the low murmur and trampling swelled into a hoarse uproar. Hare had heard that sound before; it was the tumult of mob-violence. A black dense throng of men appeared crowding into the main street, and crossing toward the square. The procession had some order; it was led and flanked by mounted men. But the upflinging of many arms, the craning of necks, and the leaping of men on the outskirts of the mass, the pressure inward and the hideous roar, proclaimed its real character.
"By Heaven!" exclaimed Hare. "The Mormons have risen against the rustlers. I understand now. John Caldwell spent last night in secretly rousing his neighbors. They have surprised the rustlers. Now what?"
Hare vaulted the fence and ran down the road A compact mob of men, a hundred or more, had halted in the village under the wide