hangovers.
So they headed for the jewelry chest, a box fastened to the outside of the wagon and used for storing hobbles, extra boxes of cartridges and other items which might be needed in an emergency. Each man helped himself to a free supply of ammunition, collected their horses and headed out after their boss. In his eagerness to take revenge on Slaughter, Chisum omitted to perform
an action that had become part of his life when on the trail. He was to remember and curse the omission later that day.
Chisum had made another mistake, although he did not know it. While it had been a wise precaution to send out his scout before daylight to reconnoiter, he had allowed the man to join in the general drinking and festivities the previous night. So, although the scout could find his way across the range with fair accuracy, he was in no shape to spot the tracks left by Alvord's fast-running Appaloosa.
Nor were Chisum and his "warriors" any more quick-sighted. None of them thought of looldng for tracks, and indeed would have found diflBculty in seeing those left by the Appaloosa, for the Long Rail scout followed almost along their line. If Chisum had seen the tracks, he might have guessed that somebody from J.S. had followed them and maybe overheard more than he should have. But nobody saw the tracks and Chisum rode at the head of his "warriors," leading them down into the bottom of the valley which would keep them hidden from Slaughter and his crew's sight until it was too late for them to do anything about the visit.
The scout returned, bringing word that the J.S. crew was working on their work and did not appear to have any idea of their danger.
Everything seemed to be going just as Chisum planned it. The noise of the men worldng the J.S. pe-talta would drown out any chance of them hearing the approach of the visiting party. Soon Chisum would have Slaughter and his crew under the Long Rail guns, and the boot was going to be on the other foot. They aimed to show folks that nobody, not even the great Texas John Slaughter, got away with running a blazer on John Chisum's Long Rail spread. Not only did Chisum intend to recover his cattle—^he actually believed he had legal claim on the hundred head—^but he also aimed to make sure that Slaughter would be in no condition to follow him in search of revenge.
"Just wait until I see Slaughter's face," Chisum thou^t as he rode around a sharp corner in the valley^—
And found he had been granted his deske.
A startled curse left Chisum's lips as he reined in his horse. Sitting not thirty yards ahead, his big black stallion sideways-on smack in the center of the valley bottom; a thin, crooked black cigar hanging unlit between his lips, was the man Chisum wanted to see.
Behind Chisum, the gunmen brought their horses to a halt, bunching in on each other as those in front drew rein and the men behind rode in among them. Before they could come to any kind of order, the "warriors'' were in a tangle and not in any shape to think of defending themselves. Every eye went to the top of the valley, and every belly suddenly turned cold. If Slaughter s men made their appearance on the rims of the valley, Long Rail would be whipsawed again and most hkely go home licking its woimds.
Of all the raiding party, Chisum recovered first. Slowly, making sure his hands stayed in plain sight and palm out, he shoved back his hat. Then he nodded a greeting to the grim-faced shape before him.
"Howdy, Texas John," he said, sounding mildly innocent and like a good borrowing neighbor dropping in on friends, "Fine day."
"I caught up with the Taggerts,'' Slaughter replied. "Got your three hundred dollars here in my pocket."
"I bought that hundred head in good faith, John. Sort of an investment to show me a mite of profit up to Dodge City. So you can keep the money and Til take me the hundred head."
At that time a steer was bringing in between thirty and forty dollars a head at the shipping pens; so Chisum
So they headed for the jewelry chest, a box fastened to the outside of the wagon and used for storing hobbles, extra boxes of cartridges and other items which might be needed in an emergency. Each man helped himself to a free supply of ammunition, collected their horses and headed out after their boss. In his eagerness to take revenge on Slaughter, Chisum omitted to perform
an action that had become part of his life when on the trail. He was to remember and curse the omission later that day.
Chisum had made another mistake, although he did not know it. While it had been a wise precaution to send out his scout before daylight to reconnoiter, he had allowed the man to join in the general drinking and festivities the previous night. So, although the scout could find his way across the range with fair accuracy, he was in no shape to spot the tracks left by Alvord's fast-running Appaloosa.
Nor were Chisum and his "warriors" any more quick-sighted. None of them thought of looldng for tracks, and indeed would have found diflBculty in seeing those left by the Appaloosa, for the Long Rail scout followed almost along their line. If Chisum had seen the tracks, he might have guessed that somebody from J.S. had followed them and maybe overheard more than he should have. But nobody saw the tracks and Chisum rode at the head of his "warriors," leading them down into the bottom of the valley which would keep them hidden from Slaughter and his crew's sight until it was too late for them to do anything about the visit.
The scout returned, bringing word that the J.S. crew was working on their work and did not appear to have any idea of their danger.
Everything seemed to be going just as Chisum planned it. The noise of the men worldng the J.S. pe-talta would drown out any chance of them hearing the approach of the visiting party. Soon Chisum would have Slaughter and his crew under the Long Rail guns, and the boot was going to be on the other foot. They aimed to show folks that nobody, not even the great Texas John Slaughter, got away with running a blazer on John Chisum's Long Rail spread. Not only did Chisum intend to recover his cattle—^he actually believed he had legal claim on the hundred head—^but he also aimed to make sure that Slaughter would be in no condition to follow him in search of revenge.
"Just wait until I see Slaughter's face," Chisum thou^t as he rode around a sharp corner in the valley^—
And found he had been granted his deske.
A startled curse left Chisum's lips as he reined in his horse. Sitting not thirty yards ahead, his big black stallion sideways-on smack in the center of the valley bottom; a thin, crooked black cigar hanging unlit between his lips, was the man Chisum wanted to see.
Behind Chisum, the gunmen brought their horses to a halt, bunching in on each other as those in front drew rein and the men behind rode in among them. Before they could come to any kind of order, the "warriors'' were in a tangle and not in any shape to think of defending themselves. Every eye went to the top of the valley, and every belly suddenly turned cold. If Slaughter s men made their appearance on the rims of the valley, Long Rail would be whipsawed again and most hkely go home licking its woimds.
Of all the raiding party, Chisum recovered first. Slowly, making sure his hands stayed in plain sight and palm out, he shoved back his hat. Then he nodded a greeting to the grim-faced shape before him.
"Howdy, Texas John," he said, sounding mildly innocent and like a good borrowing neighbor dropping in on friends, "Fine day."
"I caught up with the Taggerts,'' Slaughter replied. "Got your three hundred dollars here in my pocket."
"I bought that hundred head in good faith, John. Sort of an investment to show me a mite of profit up to Dodge City. So you can keep the money and Til take me the hundred head."
At that time a steer was bringing in between thirty and forty dollars a head at the shipping pens; so Chisum
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