water to fall back on, you won’t have enough graze left to feed your own cattle. Look the facts in the face — ”
“I’m looking them in the face,” Gert threw back at him; and Clinton’s eyes turned a deal more thoughtful when he paused to reflect on how this girl had been raised. She’d been dealing with facts almost all of her life and had seldom had chance to indulge in those pleasures which most girls knew. Thud of hoofs and the bawling of cattle punctuated occasionally by somebody’s sixgun was about all the music she ever had heard. Things ground into a child’s mind that way had a habit of sticking and were bound to cast long shadows before them, inexorably shaping the pattern of whatever events the times were rushing her into.
This girl had practically lived in a saddle ever since she’d been big enough to climb on a horse; and Joe was honest enough with himself to acknowledge that, save for her, Boxed Y would have gone up the spout a long while ago. Making ends meet, though, was one thing. Pitting her will against a man intent on taking over every square inch of ground between the San Pedro and the Pinelenos was a task no girl should be setting her hand to. Joe could see nothing ahead of Gert Kavanaugh but heartbreak.
“I know how you feel,” he told her at last. “I know what that ranch means to you, Gert, but I know Nate Lamtrill for one of the biggest damn skunks that ever stood on two legs. He’s too big now for any man in this basin to get in the way of. You know how many outfits he’s gobbled — Spur and Three Cross an’ Brad an’ Compass. And I happen to know that yesterday forenoon Ben Crispin signed papers that’ll give him the Circle C south of town. There’s a lot better things in life for a girl — ”
“You’re wastin’ breath, Joe. I’m not going to let these crooks tear up Boxed Y.”
Clinton eyed her uneasily. “What can you do? How you figurin’ to stop ’em?”
“I’m going to give Seeb Dawson one more chance. He didn’t do anything to stop that rustling but if he refuses or fails to move Lamtrill’s crew off that Bear Flats water I’ll see how he likes a dose of his own medicine.”
“You mean you’d go to throwin’ lead?”
“That’s right.”
Dismay bulked large in the look Clinton gave her. “But God’s off ox, girl, you haven’t any crew! You can’t tear down his fence without no backin’ or stand out there with a smokin’ six — ”
“What makes you think I won’t have any backing?”
“Why this country would jump through a hoop if Nate said to. These outfits round here are so damned scared of Lamtrill — ”
“Right now they are, sure. They’re like you, plumb whipped before they ever lift a hand. But maybe I can change that. If I can set them an example that will give them enough hope to get their backs up — ”
“You’re out of your head, girl! That fellow’s a wolf. He wouldn’t worry no more about a chit of a girl than he would about worms in his biscuits.”
“He’ll savvy hot lead.” Gert smiled at him grimly. “If Dawson doesn’t get him off our water I’m going to use that lease money to hire a bunch of warriors — ”
“Gunfighters!” With widening eyes Clinton staggered back. “You don’t know what you’re saying — ”
“I think I do.” She spoke quietly, as a man might — a man who had been around and knew what the score was. “A warrior crew working out of Boxed Y could make Nate Lamtrill an awful pile of misery. For every outfit he’s jumped we could crack two of his; the way he’s spread out he can’t watch everything. For every steer his crowd have rustled we could short his count by twenty. Every lousy trick he’s pulled in this country can be thrown right back in his teeth with interest.”
For a second Clinton’s eyes showed a leaping brightness but its flame swiftly faded. “Not a chance,” he said. “It sounds good but you couldn’t make it work. To get anywhere at all
“I’m looking them in the face,” Gert threw back at him; and Clinton’s eyes turned a deal more thoughtful when he paused to reflect on how this girl had been raised. She’d been dealing with facts almost all of her life and had seldom had chance to indulge in those pleasures which most girls knew. Thud of hoofs and the bawling of cattle punctuated occasionally by somebody’s sixgun was about all the music she ever had heard. Things ground into a child’s mind that way had a habit of sticking and were bound to cast long shadows before them, inexorably shaping the pattern of whatever events the times were rushing her into.
This girl had practically lived in a saddle ever since she’d been big enough to climb on a horse; and Joe was honest enough with himself to acknowledge that, save for her, Boxed Y would have gone up the spout a long while ago. Making ends meet, though, was one thing. Pitting her will against a man intent on taking over every square inch of ground between the San Pedro and the Pinelenos was a task no girl should be setting her hand to. Joe could see nothing ahead of Gert Kavanaugh but heartbreak.
“I know how you feel,” he told her at last. “I know what that ranch means to you, Gert, but I know Nate Lamtrill for one of the biggest damn skunks that ever stood on two legs. He’s too big now for any man in this basin to get in the way of. You know how many outfits he’s gobbled — Spur and Three Cross an’ Brad an’ Compass. And I happen to know that yesterday forenoon Ben Crispin signed papers that’ll give him the Circle C south of town. There’s a lot better things in life for a girl — ”
“You’re wastin’ breath, Joe. I’m not going to let these crooks tear up Boxed Y.”
Clinton eyed her uneasily. “What can you do? How you figurin’ to stop ’em?”
“I’m going to give Seeb Dawson one more chance. He didn’t do anything to stop that rustling but if he refuses or fails to move Lamtrill’s crew off that Bear Flats water I’ll see how he likes a dose of his own medicine.”
“You mean you’d go to throwin’ lead?”
“That’s right.”
Dismay bulked large in the look Clinton gave her. “But God’s off ox, girl, you haven’t any crew! You can’t tear down his fence without no backin’ or stand out there with a smokin’ six — ”
“What makes you think I won’t have any backing?”
“Why this country would jump through a hoop if Nate said to. These outfits round here are so damned scared of Lamtrill — ”
“Right now they are, sure. They’re like you, plumb whipped before they ever lift a hand. But maybe I can change that. If I can set them an example that will give them enough hope to get their backs up — ”
“You’re out of your head, girl! That fellow’s a wolf. He wouldn’t worry no more about a chit of a girl than he would about worms in his biscuits.”
“He’ll savvy hot lead.” Gert smiled at him grimly. “If Dawson doesn’t get him off our water I’m going to use that lease money to hire a bunch of warriors — ”
“Gunfighters!” With widening eyes Clinton staggered back. “You don’t know what you’re saying — ”
“I think I do.” She spoke quietly, as a man might — a man who had been around and knew what the score was. “A warrior crew working out of Boxed Y could make Nate Lamtrill an awful pile of misery. For every outfit he’s jumped we could crack two of his; the way he’s spread out he can’t watch everything. For every steer his crowd have rustled we could short his count by twenty. Every lousy trick he’s pulled in this country can be thrown right back in his teeth with interest.”
For a second Clinton’s eyes showed a leaping brightness but its flame swiftly faded. “Not a chance,” he said. “It sounds good but you couldn’t make it work. To get anywhere at all
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