'Drag' Harlan by Charles Alden Seltzer (easy to read books for adults list .txt) đ
And now, convinced that the men had cornered an animal of some kind, and that they feared it too greatly to face it openly, the rider laughed loudly and called to the men, his voice freighted with sarcasm.
"Scared?" he said. "Oh, don't be. If you'll back off a little an' give him room, he'll just naturally slope, an' give you a chance to get to your cayuses."
Both men wheeled almost at the same instant. The man at the base of the rock snarled--after the first gasp of astonishment, baring his teeth in hideous mirth and embarrassment; the other man, startled and caught off ba
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âOne manâanâ a led horse,â he said shortly. âLooks like Laskar.â
Devenyâbig, smooth-shavenâwith black, glowing, attractive eyes that held a glint quite as hard as that which shone in the eyes of the speaker, looked long out of the window at a moving dot on the desert, which seemed to be traveling toward them. Deveny had looked before; but now he saw two dots where at other times he had seen only one. His lips held a slight pout as he glanced at the speaker.
âYouâre right, Rogers,â he said; âthereâs only one. The old fool must have put up a fight.â
Deveny filled a glass from the bottle and drank slowly. His features were large. His nose was well shaped, with wide nostrils that hinted of a fiery, passionate nature; his thrusting chin and the heavy neck muscles told of strength, both mental and physicalâof mental strength that was of a tenacious character, of physical strength that would respond to any demand of the will.
He was handsome, and yet the suggestion of ruthlessness in the atmosphere of himâlurking behind the genial, easy-going exterior that he wore for appearancesâor because it was his nature to conceal his passions until he desired to unleash themâwas felt by those who knew him intimately. It had been felt by Barbara Morgan.
Deveny was king of the lawless element in the Lamo section. The magnetism of him; the arrogance, glossed over with the calm and cold politeness of his manner; his unvarying immaculateness; the air of large and complete confidence which marked his every action; the swiftness with which he struck when he was aroused, or when his authority was questioned, placed him without dissent at the head of the element that ruled the Lamo country.
Deveny ruled, but Devenyâs rule was irksome to Strom Rogersâthe man to whom Deveny had just spoken. For while Deveny drank, Rogers watched him with covert vigilance, with a jeering gleam far back in his eyes, with a secret envy and jealousy, with hatred and contempt and mockery.
Yet there was fear in Rogersâ eyes, tooâa mere glimmer of it. Yet it was there; and when Deveny set his glass down and looked straight at Rogers, it was that fear which brought the fawning, insincere smirk to Rogersâ lips.
âSee the girl?â questioned Rogers.
Deveny laughed lowly. Apparently he did not notice the glow in Rogersâ eyes; but had Rogers looked closely he might have seen Devenyâs lips straighten as he shot a glance at the other.
âHad the room next to her last night. Heard her drag the bed in front of the door of her room. She knew I was there, all right!â Deveny laughed deeply. âSheâs wised up by this time. Lolly Kaye hates herâbecause Barbaraâs a good-looking girl, I suppose. Thatâs like some women. Lolly would see Barbara roasting in hell and not give her a hand!â
âLollyâs been disappointed in loveâI reckon.â Rogersâ laugh was hollow, mirthless. And again Deveny shot a glance at him.
âBut you didnât bother herâBarbara?â questioned Rogers in a dry, light voice.
âNo,â grinned Deveny; âthat time hasnât comeâyet. Itâs coming soon. I told Lolly to keep an eye on her; Iâve got Engle and Barthman and Kelmer watching at the doors so Barbara canât light out for the Rancho Seco. She donât get away until tomorrow. Then she goes with me to the end of Sunset Trail. Iâve sent Shorty Mallo to Willowâs Wells for the parson.â
âBarbara know whatâs up?â Rogersâ voice was low and throaty.
Again Deveny glanced at himâsharply.
âHell, no!â he snapped. âItâs none of her damned businessânor anybodyâs!â He grinned maliciously when he saw Rogersâ face whiten.
âBarbara will need a husband now,â Deveny went on. âWith old Morgan gone and her brother sloped from the home ranch, sheâll be kind of lonesome. I aim to cure her of that.â
He laughed, and Rogers writhed inwardly. For Rogers had long nursed a secret hope that one day the fates might take a notion to give him the chance that Deveny intended to seize.
But Rogers was forced to conceal his jealousy and disappointment. He laughed mirthlessly.
âSo she canât get away, eh?âsheâs corralled!â
âBah!â declared Deveny; âshe wonât want to get awayâonce she knows what I meanâthat itâs going to be a regular wedding. Sheâll raise a fuss, most likely, to make folks believe sheâs unwilling, but in the end sheâll get over it.â
Deveny glanced out of the window at the blot that was now closer.
âItâs Laskar, all regular,â he said. âHeâs leading a sorrel horseâDolverâs horse. Old Morgan got Dolverâlooks like, the damned old gopher! Men as willing as Dolver are not found every day.â He looked at the third man, who had not spoken.
âLawson,â he said, âyou mosey down the trail a little piece and meet Laskar. Bring him here!â
Lawson, a thin-faced, medium-sized man with narrow shoulders, whose distinguishing mark was a set of projecting upper teeth that kept his mouth in a continual smirking smile, got up quickly and went out. Deveny and Rogers, their thoughts centered upon the same personâBarbara Morganâsat silent, watching Lawson as he rode down the street toward the point where the trail, crossing the broken stretch of country that intervened, merged into the desert.
Half an hour later Laskar, holding his chest, where Purgatory had kicked him, was sitting at the table in the rear room of the First Chance, cursing with a fluency that he had not yielded to in many years.
âDolverâs wiped out!â he gasped hoarsely; âplugged so quick he didnât know he was hit. A center shotâplumb in the heart; his own gun goinâ off while he was fallinâ. I looked him overâafter. He was croaked complete. Then that sober-faced hyena lifts my gunâanâ the rifleâanâ says things to me, which I donât try to cross him. Then he goes behind the rockâwhere we was havinâ it outâanâ while heâs gone I tries to git my guns from under that devil-eyed cayuse of hisân.
âAnâ I donât succeedânoways. That black devil turns on a half-dollar anâ plants his hoofs plumb in my breast-bone. If Iâd been an inch nearer, or if heâd have kicked me a foot lower, or a foot higher, Iâd be layinâ out there where Dolver is now, the coyotes anâ the buzzards gnawinâ at me.â
Unmoved by Laskarâs incoherence, Deveny calmly watched him. And now, when Laskar paused for breath, Deveny spoke slowly:
âA black horse, you said. How did a black horse get there? Old Morgan rode a bay when he left LamoâBalleau says.â
âDid I say Morgan rode a black horse?â queried Laskar, knowledge in his eyes that he had a thing to tell that would blanch their faces. He grinned, still holding his chest, his glance malicious.
âDid I say a black horse?â he repeated. âDid I say Morgan rode a black horse? Morgan didnât. Morgan rode a bayâanâ the Chief run it off after he shot Morgan. But Morgan didnât die right away, anâ the Chief he had to slope, he saidâanâ he didâleavinâ me anâ Dolver to finish old Morgan.
âWe was tryinâ our damnedest when this guy on the black horse pops up out of nowhere anâ salivates Dolver.â
âWho was it?â
This was Deveny. He was now leaning forward, a pout on his lips, watching Laskar with an intent, glowering gaze.
ââDragâ Harlan!â shouted Laskar. His face lighted with a hideous joy as he watched the effect of his news.
ââDragâ Harlan! Do you hear?â he went on. ââDragâ Harlan, the Pardo âtwo-gunâ man! Heâs headed toward Lamo. He bored Dolver, anâ he said that soon as Morgan cashed in he was hittinâ the breeze for here!â
Lawson, the man who had gone to meet Laskar, ejaculated hoarsely, and stood rigid, his mouth open, his eyes bulging. It was the involuntary expression of the astonishment and fear that had seized him. Laskar forgot the pain in his chest long enough to straighten and grin at Lawson.
Rogersâ face had changed color. He, too, had become rigid. He had been in the act of reaching for the bottle on the table, and the hand that had been extended had been suddenly drawn back, so that the hand was now midway between his body and the bottleâand the fingers were clenched. The other hand, under the table, was likewise clenched, and the muscles of his jaws were corded. Into his eyes had come a furtive, restless gleam, and his face had paled.
Deveny gave no visible sign of perturbation. He coolly reached out, grasped the bottle that Rogers had been reaching for, and poured some of the amber fluid into one of the glasses. The other men watched him silentlyâall of them intent to note the tremor they expected to see.
Devenyâs hand did not tremble. He noted the glances of the menâthe admiration that came into their eyes as with steady muscles he raised the glass and drankâand he smiled with slight contempt.
âComing here, eh?â he said evenly. âSo he said that. Did he mention what he was coming for?â
âHe didnât mention,â replied Laskar.
âSo he downed Dolver. Did he say what for?â
âSaid Dolver had shot up his partner, Davey Langanâback in Pardo. Harlan was eveninâ up.â
âWhat do you know about Harlan?â
The question was addressed to all of them.
Rogers answered.
âHeâs a bad guyâall bad. Heâs an iceberg, anâ heâs got the snakiest gun-hand of any man in the country. Draws hesitatinâ-like. A man donât know when heâs goinâ to uncork his smoke-wagons. I seen him put Lefty Blandinâ out. He starts for his guns, anâ then kind of stops, trickinâ the other guy into goinâ for his. Then, before the other guy can get his gun to workinâ, Harlanâs stickinâ his away, anâ the guyâs ready for the mourners.
âHarlan got his handle that way. He goes for his guns so slow anâ hesitatinâ that he seems to drag âem out. But some way heâs always shootinâ first. Anâ they always let him off because itâs mighty plain that the other guy tried to draw first.â
âIâve heard that,â said Deveny slowly. âWhatâs his record?â
âPlays her a lone hand,â returned Rogers. He watched the other steadily.
Deveny toyed with a glass as he gazed out of the window. There was a cold, sullen gleam in his eyes when he finally looked at Laskar.
âYou said Harlan told you he was coming here as soon as Morgan cashed in. According to that, Morgan must have been hit bad.â
âThe Chief said he bored him plenty. Anâ me anâ Dolver must have got him some.â
âYou didnât get a chance to search Morgan?â
âNo chanceâhe fit like a hyena; anâ when he got behind that damned rock there was no way of gettinâ at him.â
âThen,â said Deveny, âaccording to what you say, Harlan will come here as soon as Morgan dies. And when you left there Morgan was in a bad way. Harlan is due most any time, then.â
âThatâs the way I figger,â agreed Laskar.
And now Laskar fidgeted. âI aim to be hittinâ the breeze nowâbefore Harlan hits town. This climate is gettinâ unhealthy for me. Harlan give me notice.â
âTo leave town?â
It was Deveny who spoke. There was a snarl in his voice; he leaned forward and scowled at Laskar.
Laskar nodded.
Rogers cleared his throat, and Lawson moved his feet uneasily.
Devenyâs scowl faded; he grinned coldly.
âGiving ordersâis he?â he snapped. âWell, weâll see.â He laughed. âWhen Harlan hits town it will be a sign that old Morganâs crossed the Divide. Well, there was no witnesses to Morganâs cashing in, and one manâs word is as good as anotherâs in this country.â
âMeaninâ?â questioned Rogers, noting the light in Devenyâs eyes.
âMeaning that Laskar is goingâright nowâto whisper into Sheriff Gageâs ear that he saw our friend, âDragâ Harlan, killing old Morgan.â
Rogers got to his feet, grinning. The gleam in his eyes indicated that he felt some relief over the prospect presented by Devenyâs suggestion.
âOf course we ainât sure Harlan means to make
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