the Light Of Western Stars (1992) (49 page)

"Yes, I did," replied Stewart, with a new sharpness in his voice
.

"Wal, shore you was so good an' right in your figgerin', as opposed to mine, that I'm sick with admirin' of you
.
If you hedn't sent me-wal, I'm reckonin' somethin' might hev happened
.
As it is we're shore up against a hell of a proposition!"

How significant was the effect of his words upon all the cowboys! Stewart made a fierce and violent motion, terrible where his other motions had been but passionate
.
Monty leaped straight up into the air in a singular action as suggestive of surprise as it was of wild acceptance of menace
.
Like a stalking giant Nick Steele strode over to Nels and Stewart
.
The other cowboys rose silently, without a word
.

Madeline and her guests, in a little group, watched and listened, unable to divine what all this strange talk and action meant
.

"Hold on, Nels, they don't need to hear it," said Stewart, hoarsely, as he waved a hand toward Madeline's silent group
.

"Wal, I'm sorry, but I reckon they'd as well know fust as last
.
Mebbe thet yearnin' wish of Miss Helen's fer somethin' to happen will come true
.
Shore I-"

"Cut out the joshin'," rang out Monty's strident voice
.

It had as decided an effect as any preceding words or action
.
Perhaps it was the last thing needed to transform these men, doing unaccustomed duty as escorts of beautiful women, to their natural state as men of the wild
.

"Tell us what's what," said Stewart, cool and grim
.
"Don Carlos an' his guerrillas are campin' on the trails thet lead up here
.
They've got them trails blocked
.
By to-morrer they'd hed us corralled
.
Mebbe they meant to surprise us
.
He's got a lot of Greasers an' outlaws
.
They're well armed
.
Now what do they mean? You-all can figger it out to suit yourselves
.
Mebbe the Don wants to pay a sociable call on our ladies
.
Mebbe his gang is some hungry, as usual
.
Mebbe they want to steal a few hosses, or anythin' they can lay hands on
.
Mebbe they mean wuss, too
.
Now my idee is this, an' mebbe it's wrong
.
I long since separated from love with Greasers
.
Thet black-faced Don Carlos has got a deep game
.
Thet two-bit of a revolution is hevin' hard times
.
The rebels want American intervention
.
They'd stretch any point to make trouble
.
We're only ten miles from the border
.
Suppose them guerrillas got our crowd across thet border?The U
.
S
.
cavalry would foller
.
You-all know what thet'd mean
.
Mebbe Don Carlos's mind works thet way
.
Mebbe it don't
.
I reckon we'll know soon
.
An' now, Stewart, whatever the Don's game is, shore you're the man to outfigger him
.
Mebbe it's just as well you're good an' mad about somethin'
.
An' I resign my job because I want to feel unbeholdin' to anybody
.
Shore it struck me long since thet the old days hed come back fer a little spell, an' there I was trailin' a promise not to hurt any Greaser
.
"

XIX - Don Carlos Stewart took Nels, Monty, and Nick Steele aside out of earshot, and they evidently entered upon an earnest colloquy
.
Presently the other cowboys were called
.
They all talked more or less, but the deep voice of Stewart predominated over the others
.
Then the consultation broke up, and the cowboys scattered
.

"Rustle, you Indians!" ordered Stewart
.

The ensuing scene of action was not reassuring to Madeline and her friends
.
They were quiet, awaiting some one to tell them what to do
.
At the offset the cowboys appeared to have forgotten Madeline
.
Some of them ran off into the woods, others into the open, grassy places, where they rounded up the horses and burros
.
Several cowboys spread tarpaulins upon the ground and began to select and roll small packs, evidently for hurried travel
.
Nels mounted his horse to ride down the trail
.
Monty and Nick Steele went off into the grove, leading their horses
.
Stewart climbed up a steep jumble of stone between two sections of low, cracked cliff back of the camp
.

Castleton offered to help the packers, and was curtly told he would be in the way
.
Madeline's friends all importuned her: Was there real danger?Were the guerrillas coming?Would a start be made at once for the ranch?Why had the cowboys suddenly become so different?Madeline answered as best she could; but her replies were only conjecture, and modified to allay the fears of her guests
.
Helen was in a white glow of excitement
.

Soon cowboys appeared riding barebacked horses, driving in others and the burros
.
Some of these horses were taken away and evidently hidden in deep recesses between the crags
.
The string of burros were packed and sent off down the trail in charge of a cowboy
.
Nick Steele and Monty returned
.
Then Stewart appeared, clambering down the break between the cliffs
.

His next move was to order all the baggage belonging to Madeline and her guests taken up the cliff
.
This was strenuous toil, requiring the need of lassoes to haul up the effects
.

"Get ready to climb," said Stewart, turning to Madelines party
.

"Where?" asked Helen
.

He waved his hand at the ascent to be made
.
Exclamations of dismay followed his gesture
.

"Mr
.
Stewart, is there danger?" asked Dorothy; and her voice trembled
.

This was the question Madeline had upon her lips to ask Stewart, but she could not speak it
.

"No, there's no danger," replied Stewart, "but we're taking precautions we all agreed on as best
.
"

Dorothy whispered that she believed Stewart lied
.
Castleton asked another question, and then Harvey followed suit
.
Mrs
.
Beck made a timid query
.

"Please keep quiet and do as you're told," said Stewart, bluntly
.

At this juncture, when the last of the baggage was being hauled up the cliff, Monty approached Madeline and removed his sombrero
.
His black face seemed the same, yet this was a vastly changed Monty
.

"Miss Hammond, I'm givin' notice I resign my job," he said
.

"Monty!What do you mean?What does Nels mean now, when danger threatens?"

"We jest quit
.
Thet's all," replied Monty, tersely
.
He was stern and somber; he could not stand still; his eyes roved everywhere
.

Castleton jumped up from the log where he had been sitting, and his face was very red
.

"Mr
.
Price, does all this blooming fuss mean we are to be robbed or attacked or abducted by a lot of ragamuffin guerrillas?"

"You've called the bet
.
"

Dorothy turned a very pale face toward Monty
.

"Mr
.
Price, you wouldn't-you couldn't desert us now? You and Mr
.
Nels-"

"Desert you?" asked Monty, blankly
.

"Yes, desert us
.
Leave us when we may need you so much, with something dreadful coming
.
"

Monty uttered a short, hard laugh as he bent a strange look upon the girl
.

"Me an' Nels is purty much scared, an' we're goin' to slope
.
Miss Dorothy, bein' as we've rustled round so much; it sorta hurts us to see nice young girls dragged off by the hair
.
"

Dorothy uttered a little cry and then became hysterical
.
Castleton for once was fully aroused
.

"By Gad!You and your partner are a couple of blooming cowards
.
Where now is that courage you boasted of?"

Monty's dark face expressed extreme sarcasm
.

"Dook, in my time I've seen some bright fellers, but you take the cake
.
It's most marvelous how bright you are
.
Figger'n' me an' Nels so correct
.
Say, Dook, if you don't git rustled off to Mexico an' roped to a cactus-bush you'll hev a swell story fer your English chums
.
Bah Jove!You'll tell 'em how you seen two old-time gun-men run like scared jack-rabbits from a lot of Greasers
.
Like hell you will!Unless you lie like the time you told about proddin' the lion
.
That there story allus-"

"Monty, shut up!" yelled Stewart, as he came hurriedly up
.
Then Monty slouched away, cursing to himself
.

Madeline and Helen, assisted by Castleton, worked over Dorothy, and with some difficulty quieted her
.
Stewart passed several times without noticing them, and Monty, who had been so ridiculously eager to pay every little attention to Dorothy, did not see her at all
.
Rude it seemed; in Monty's ease more than that
.
Madeline hardly knew what to make of it
.

Stewart directed cowboys to go to the head of the open place in the cliff and let down lassoes
.
Then, with little waste of words, he urged the women toward this rough ladder of stones
.

"We want to hide you," he said, when they demurred
.
"If the guerrillas come we'll tell them you've all gone down to the ranch
.
If we have to fight you'll be safe up there
.
"

Helen stepped boldly forward and let Stewart put the loop of a lasso round her and tighten it
.
He waved his hand to the cowboys above
.

"Just walk up, now," he directed Helen
.

It proved to the watchers to be an easy, safe, and rapid means of scaling the steep passage
.
The men climbed up without assistance
.
Mrs
.
Beck, as usual, had hysteria; she half walked and was half dragged up
.
Stewart supported Dorothy with one arm, while with the other he held to the lasso
.
Ambrose had to carry Christine
.
The Mexican women required no assistance
.
Edith Wayne and Madeline climbed last; and, once up, Madeline saw a narrow bench, thick with shrubs, and overshadowed by huge, leaning crags
.
There were holes in the rock, and dark fissures leading back
.
It was a rough, wild place
.
Tarpaulins and bedding were then hauled up, and food and water
.
The cowboys spread comfortable beds in several of the caves, and told Madeline and her friends to be as quiet as possible, not to make a light, and to sleep dressed, ready for travel at a moment's notice
.

After the cowboys had gone down it was not a cheerful group left there in the darkening twilight
.
Castleton prevailed upon them to eat
.

"This is simply great," whispered Helen
.

"Oh, it's awful!" moaned Dorothy
.
"It's your fault, Helen
.
You prayed for something to happen
.
"