minutes."
"You two finish your drinks and get out," Pat said. "Powder smoke gives me a headache."
Chapter XI
They sat over their fire in the hollow on Thousand Springs Mesa, and the night was cool. The fire was small as they wanted no glow to attract attention to their hideout. Burt had elected himself camp cook, and he was making a stew. The coffee pot, blackened from many fixes, stood in the coals on some flat rocks.
There was a smell of cedar smoke in the air and of crushed juniper. The night was still, with almost no touch of wind. The nearest ranch was at least ten miles away, and Soledad was much further. The sky was spangled with a million stars, and there were no clouds. Mabry leaned back on his saddle and clasped his hands behind his head.
"It surely isn't clear, what's goin' on," he said, "but it looks like Levitt is engineerin' some kind of a big steal ... maybe cattle, maybe land, maybe all of it "From what you say, Voyle, Berdue and Dahl must all be in it with him, and I do know this. There's been a lot of hard cases comin' into the Valley lately, and not all of them are tied in with the CR or the Boxation.
"Take Streeter an' Hanson now. They ride for Pogue, but are they really his boys? I think Streeter an' Hanson will stay out of it if Levitt says to. I think he's cut the ground from under both Pogue and Reynolds."
"The brands I saw aren't calculated to fool anybody, the way I see it," Canavan said. "I think they are planned to start trouble. It's my feeling Levitt wants to get them all together at the roundup and let the fight happen. Pogue and Reynolds are sore enough to be ready to bust loose and Levitt knows it.
He and his boys can stand aside and just let them kill each other, then finish whoever is left."
"How many hands can Venable depend on?" Burt asked.
Mabry shrugged. "Three or four, but they are Just good cowhands, not gunfighters. Dahl and his partner ran a couple of the others off, just made it so damn uncomfortable to work around them that they up an' quit. Now you lay the ground for it, I can see it was a planned thing."
"What goes on down there, Mabry? You've lived there."
"You couldn't prove nothing by me. Seems to be a lot of moving around at night, though. Several times riders have come in during the night and were gone before daybreak, leaving hard-ridden horses behind.
Dahl and his partner always slept near the door, so it was them went to see what went on. I figured they were outlaw friends of theirs who needed spare horses." He looked over at Canavan. "After all, most of us know at least one gent who's on the dodge."
They talked quietly, letting tired muscles relax.
Occasionally one or the other would move away from the fire and listen into the night. Despite the seeming security of their position, they were not trusting men.
Canavan took the plate he was offered and dished up some frijoles and beef, then added some of the stew. He could see but one answer. He would have to do some night riding. That also meant he would need more horses. In fact, they would all need them.
He thought of the stock in the secret hollows in the lava beds. ... Some of them might have been saddletrained.
Yet, he might be able to get some stock from the Venables, very much on the quiet, of course.
"Roundup should start tomorrow," Burt commented.
"Before it's gone very far, we should know some of the answers,"
From the rim of the mesa they watched the CR and Box n riders gathering cattle and starting them toward the roundup grounds.
The weather was hot and dry and dust rose in clouds. The cattle left the coolness and ample water of the Springs range with reluctance. As always it gave Canavan a thrill just to see the big herd bunched and moving. Even as a boy, when first he ran with the wild bunch, he had loved watching the big herds move, loved hearing the wild yells of the cowhands and the sudden dashes of the riders after bunch quitters who wanted to head back to the rough
"You two finish your drinks and get out," Pat said. "Powder smoke gives me a headache."
Chapter XI
They sat over their fire in the hollow on Thousand Springs Mesa, and the night was cool. The fire was small as they wanted no glow to attract attention to their hideout. Burt had elected himself camp cook, and he was making a stew. The coffee pot, blackened from many fixes, stood in the coals on some flat rocks.
There was a smell of cedar smoke in the air and of crushed juniper. The night was still, with almost no touch of wind. The nearest ranch was at least ten miles away, and Soledad was much further. The sky was spangled with a million stars, and there were no clouds. Mabry leaned back on his saddle and clasped his hands behind his head.
"It surely isn't clear, what's goin' on," he said, "but it looks like Levitt is engineerin' some kind of a big steal ... maybe cattle, maybe land, maybe all of it "From what you say, Voyle, Berdue and Dahl must all be in it with him, and I do know this. There's been a lot of hard cases comin' into the Valley lately, and not all of them are tied in with the CR or the Boxation.
"Take Streeter an' Hanson now. They ride for Pogue, but are they really his boys? I think Streeter an' Hanson will stay out of it if Levitt says to. I think he's cut the ground from under both Pogue and Reynolds."
"The brands I saw aren't calculated to fool anybody, the way I see it," Canavan said. "I think they are planned to start trouble. It's my feeling Levitt wants to get them all together at the roundup and let the fight happen. Pogue and Reynolds are sore enough to be ready to bust loose and Levitt knows it.
He and his boys can stand aside and just let them kill each other, then finish whoever is left."
"How many hands can Venable depend on?" Burt asked.
Mabry shrugged. "Three or four, but they are Just good cowhands, not gunfighters. Dahl and his partner ran a couple of the others off, just made it so damn uncomfortable to work around them that they up an' quit. Now you lay the ground for it, I can see it was a planned thing."
"What goes on down there, Mabry? You've lived there."
"You couldn't prove nothing by me. Seems to be a lot of moving around at night, though. Several times riders have come in during the night and were gone before daybreak, leaving hard-ridden horses behind.
Dahl and his partner always slept near the door, so it was them went to see what went on. I figured they were outlaw friends of theirs who needed spare horses." He looked over at Canavan. "After all, most of us know at least one gent who's on the dodge."
They talked quietly, letting tired muscles relax.
Occasionally one or the other would move away from the fire and listen into the night. Despite the seeming security of their position, they were not trusting men.
Canavan took the plate he was offered and dished up some frijoles and beef, then added some of the stew. He could see but one answer. He would have to do some night riding. That also meant he would need more horses. In fact, they would all need them.
He thought of the stock in the secret hollows in the lava beds. ... Some of them might have been saddletrained.
Yet, he might be able to get some stock from the Venables, very much on the quiet, of course.
"Roundup should start tomorrow," Burt commented.
"Before it's gone very far, we should know some of the answers,"
From the rim of the mesa they watched the CR and Box n riders gathering cattle and starting them toward the roundup grounds.
The weather was hot and dry and dust rose in clouds. The cattle left the coolness and ample water of the Springs range with reluctance. As always it gave Canavan a thrill just to see the big herd bunched and moving. Even as a boy, when first he ran with the wild bunch, he had loved watching the big herds move, loved hearing the wild yells of the cowhands and the sudden dashes of the riders after bunch quitters who wanted to head back to the rough
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