Part 48 (1/2)

We looked and saw one man crouched over and runnin' along where the south trail to our camp swung around a crag; and we sprang to our feet, and looked up at the camp. As we looked, the face of Ty Jones with a grin on it, poked up over a stone and leered down at us most exasperatin'.

CHAPTER FORTY

AN IRRITATING GRIN

Now, you can mighty easy understand that this was a fair sized, able-bodied, bite-and-kick consternation for us, if ever the' was one in the world. Our look-out was behind a ridge which sheltered it complete from below, but left it as open from above as the straw hat which Stutterin' Sam made the dude crawl through. Up above us, lookin'

down from the rocks in front of our camp was Ty Jones, grinnin' as self-composed an' satisfied as a cat which has just removed all evidence of there ever havin' been any Canary birds; and truth to tell, we felt as indiscriminate and embarra.s.sed as a naked man at a dance party.

All we saw was just Ty and his grin. We knew the' was one other man with him, but that was all we did know; while our strength was as plain to them, as Tillte Dutch was the time he fell in love and used iodaform on his hair instead o' perfume. We just stood and looked up at Ty, and then we turned our heads and looked at each other, and I never saw as many stupid expressions in one mess. We felt as though every minute was liable to be our next.

Whenever ol' Tank Williams was surprised or puzzled or wrastlin' with his own thoughts, he allus put me in mind of a picture I once saw of a walrus. The walrus was loungin' up on a rock, and he looked as solemn and philosophical as though some young snip of a school boy had tested his intellect by askin' him what two times one made. I never saw Tank look so much like the walrus as he did this time 'at Ty Jones surprised us. O' course Tank's teeth was different, but his mustaches stuck down in much the same way, and when I looked at him, I busted out laughin', though I own up I was scared enough to stampede the moment before. When I laughed, it seemed to break the charm, and before I b.u.t.toned up my lips again, Horace had pulled up his elephant gun, and taken a blast at Ty's grin. Ty pulled down his face behind the stone as soon as Horace aimed at him; but the range was long enough to strain even such a devil-tool as this half-grown cannon, so nothin' came of it.

After my chuckle, I began to think in streams. The ground to the right of us-as we looked up towards Ty-was broken, and it occurred to me that he had been holdin' us with his grin so as to give some of his men time to sneak down and cut us off, he and the balance were above us, the ravine to our left, and straight back of us the cliff. We couldn't stick where we were again' odds, and there wasn't any water in the clump of rocks which faced the path where it come out of the ravine. As I ran over these details in my mind, I had as little temptation to laugh as I ever did have; but the second I thought of the clump o' rocks facin' the path, I saw that the path itself was the answer.

There was no reason to hurry, as far as I could see; they could not come to us without exposin' themselves, and every moment we waited, the closer would come Dutch, Slim, and the four Simpson boys. To the right of us, as I said, the ground was broken, and here was where they would be most likely to sneak down on us. By goin' in a diagonal direction, we could get to where we could see straight up the washes which made up this broken ground, and so know what we had to fight.

”Come on, fellers,” sez I, climbin' up over the ridge.

”Where ya goin'?” sez Horace.

I sat down on top o' the ridge. ”Have you got any plan?” sez I calmly.

”No,” sez he, ”I haven't; but I'd like to know-”

”If you're willin' to take charge,” sez I, ”why, go ahead, and I'll obey orders; but I don't care how small the body is, it can't do quick work with more 'n one head, as you ought to know better 'n any of us-it havin' been tried frequent in those Greek tales you're all the time inflictin' us with.”

Horace put his back up a little. ”I'm willin' to agree to anything reasonable,” sez he; ”but I don't see any sense in leavin' this spot until we know where we're goin'.”

I folded my fingers together, set my thumbs to chasin' each other, and began to whistle. I wasn't jealous of Horace; but it just occurred to me that I had handled men before he'd mustered up courage enough to stay out after seven o'clock P. M. without gettin' his mother's permission, and I wanted to test the others and see if they thought he had picked up more craft in three years 'n I had in a lifetime; so I whistled the tune to his song, and looked up at the clouds.

”What's your idee, Happy?” sez ol' Tank. I had nourished Tank on thought-food for a good long session, and I knew he'd feel mighty much like a lost calf if I left him to rustle up his own idees; so I just gave my hands a little toss and kept on with my whistlin'.

”Aw, don't be so blame touchy,” sez Spider Kelley. I had pulled Spider through a number o' tight places, also, and I knew he'd soon begin to feel trapped up and smothery, if I left him to sweat out his own idees for a few minutes longer; so I gave him the same gesture I had bestowed on Tank.

”What do you think we'd better do, Olaf?” sez Horace.

Olaf looked all around but did not see anything. ”They have come up the ravine, took the path up the other side, through the clump o'

trees, made a wide circle and got to our camp,” sez Olaf. ”If we try to get away, they cut us off. If we stay here, we die for want of water. If we rush up the hill, they shoot us from behind the rocks.

All I can see is to wait until night, and then make a rush for it.”

”Well, that don't look like much of an idee to me,” sez Horace. I kept on whistlin'.

”I move we foller Happy,” sez Spider Kelley.

”I second the motion,” sez Tank.

”I'm willin' to,” sez Olaf, and Oscar nodded his head. This was about all Oscar ever used his head for except to hang his hat on; but he was a good boy and sizey.

”All right,” sez Horace. ”Now then, Happy Hawkins, the responsibility is on you.”