.
Hell, they've quit! They've taken ou t durin' the night. That damn fool dow n there is fighting for a brand that's qui t him .
Conn Conagher, with occasional glance s from the window, cleaned up the gunsho t and bandaged the man as well a s he could with what was at hand.
He looked toward the house. There ha d been no sign of life over there. Maybe the y had left him. Maybe they had pulled ou t while he was asleep. Well, no matterh e wasn't quitting. Maybe he was just to o dumb to quit.
Chapter 10
THE wounded man was muttering , and suddenly he asked for water.
Conn brought it to him in the long handle d drinking gourd and held it fo r him while he drank.
Hi Jackson looked up at him . I'm i n pretty bad shape, ain't I ?
I'd say so .
You're Conagher ?
Uh-huh.. . . The kid brought you i n Scott .
He's . . . he's a good boy. He ought t o go home .
Then Jackson lay quiet, breathin g heavily. He'd lost a lot of blood, an d Conagher didn't think he had much time.
I got to leave you pretty quick. Whe n it's dark your outfit will be down here afte r me .
You ain't goin' to make it, Conagher. y ou know that, don't you ?
I know nothing of the kind. But if I don't make it, they will be buryin' four o r five of your boys with me. They didn' t pick on no pilgrim. I've been through thi s a time or two .
Shadows stretched out from the house , gathered in the lee of the bunk house.
Now . . . soon there would be no mor e time.
He filled a cup with the black coffee an d sipped it while making his rounds of th e windows. Then he stuffed his pockets wit h shells, glanced again at the wounded man , and edged over to the window.
Again he looked toward the ranc h house. Where were Tay and Leggett?
Suddenly he glimpsed a shadow, th e shadow of a running man. There was n o time for a shot, no time for anything.
He went out the window and made it t o the corral corner in a long, swift dive. A m an moved near the far corner, and as h e moved a rifle shattered the stillness an d the running man fell sprawling. Instantl y there were three more shots, all of the m from the house!
Another man was down, and Con n could hear somebody swearing.
Whoever was in the house had wisel y held their fire until the attackers expecte d no danger from that quarter. Two me n were down, and the one in plain sight wa s dead.
Crouched at the corner of the corral , Conn saw a flicker of movemen t something white. He looked again, an d saw that it was a paper tied to a tumbleweed, another message like th e one he had found before.
It was within reach, and he put out a hand and cautiously untied it. It was to o dark to read it, and he thrust it carefull y down into his pocket.
The dusk was deceiving. Straining hi s eyes, he tried to make out some furthe r movement, but there was none.
In another minute he heard a whisper.
Tile? Back out . . . we're pullin' away .
There was a shuffling movement o f someone crawling along the ground. Con n had his gun up and could have scored a sure hit, but what was the use?
If he fired now they would surely retur n his fire and he would likely get hit.
If they were pulling out, let them go.
There was no point in it if they wer e quitting. Smoke Parnell had never ha d more than nine or ten men that Con n knew of, though there could be mor e . . . and he had lost three here today.
Conn stayed right where he was , and after a while he heard the drummin g of hoofs, growing fainter in the distance.
By now it was completely dark, and h e went back to the bunk house and stirre d up the fire in the stove. Through the ligh t from the open door he saw that Hi Jackso n was dead.
He struck a match and lighted one of th e lamps, keeping away from the windows i n case one of the outlaws had lingere d behind, though he did not expect it o f them. After all, they had nothing at stake.
They could ride off?and attack again a t another time, if they had the stomach fo r it.
He stood for a moment, reluctant at las t to leave
Hell, they've quit! They've taken ou t durin' the night. That damn fool dow n there is fighting for a brand that's qui t him .
Conn Conagher, with occasional glance s from the window, cleaned up the gunsho t and bandaged the man as well a s he could with what was at hand.
He looked toward the house. There ha d been no sign of life over there. Maybe the y had left him. Maybe they had pulled ou t while he was asleep. Well, no matterh e wasn't quitting. Maybe he was just to o dumb to quit.
Chapter 10
THE wounded man was muttering , and suddenly he asked for water.
Conn brought it to him in the long handle d drinking gourd and held it fo r him while he drank.
Hi Jackson looked up at him . I'm i n pretty bad shape, ain't I ?
I'd say so .
You're Conagher ?
Uh-huh.. . . The kid brought you i n Scott .
He's . . . he's a good boy. He ought t o go home .
Then Jackson lay quiet, breathin g heavily. He'd lost a lot of blood, an d Conagher didn't think he had much time.
I got to leave you pretty quick. Whe n it's dark your outfit will be down here afte r me .
You ain't goin' to make it, Conagher. y ou know that, don't you ?
I know nothing of the kind. But if I don't make it, they will be buryin' four o r five of your boys with me. They didn' t pick on no pilgrim. I've been through thi s a time or two .
Shadows stretched out from the house , gathered in the lee of the bunk house.
Now . . . soon there would be no mor e time.
He filled a cup with the black coffee an d sipped it while making his rounds of th e windows. Then he stuffed his pockets wit h shells, glanced again at the wounded man , and edged over to the window.
Again he looked toward the ranc h house. Where were Tay and Leggett?
Suddenly he glimpsed a shadow, th e shadow of a running man. There was n o time for a shot, no time for anything.
He went out the window and made it t o the corral corner in a long, swift dive. A m an moved near the far corner, and as h e moved a rifle shattered the stillness an d the running man fell sprawling. Instantl y there were three more shots, all of the m from the house!
Another man was down, and Con n could hear somebody swearing.
Whoever was in the house had wisel y held their fire until the attackers expecte d no danger from that quarter. Two me n were down, and the one in plain sight wa s dead.
Crouched at the corner of the corral , Conn saw a flicker of movemen t something white. He looked again, an d saw that it was a paper tied to a tumbleweed, another message like th e one he had found before.
It was within reach, and he put out a hand and cautiously untied it. It was to o dark to read it, and he thrust it carefull y down into his pocket.
The dusk was deceiving. Straining hi s eyes, he tried to make out some furthe r movement, but there was none.
In another minute he heard a whisper.
Tile? Back out . . . we're pullin' away .
There was a shuffling movement o f someone crawling along the ground. Con n had his gun up and could have scored a sure hit, but what was the use?
If he fired now they would surely retur n his fire and he would likely get hit.
If they were pulling out, let them go.
There was no point in it if they wer e quitting. Smoke Parnell had never ha d more than nine or ten men that Con n knew of, though there could be mor e . . . and he had lost three here today.
Conn stayed right where he was , and after a while he heard the drummin g of hoofs, growing fainter in the distance.
By now it was completely dark, and h e went back to the bunk house and stirre d up the fire in the stove. Through the ligh t from the open door he saw that Hi Jackso n was dead.
He struck a match and lighted one of th e lamps, keeping away from the windows i n case one of the outlaws had lingere d behind, though he did not expect it o f them. After all, they had nothing at stake.
They could ride off?and attack again a t another time, if they had the stomach fo r it.
He stood for a moment, reluctant at las t to leave
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