Part 22 (1/2)
Plimsoll met up with Pat Casey from time to time Molly said so There's other witnesses to that Plirubstaked Casey They'll be soot the location of the claims from the old records an' these buckaroo pals of his, who are roostin' on said location, knew jest where to go an' stahted out well in front with their outfit I don't reckon we'll find Plih we ain't seen hi'in' a chunk of dogmeat that they're on his pay-roll”
”Shucks, it don't make no difference whose pay-roll they're on,” said Mormon ”They're claim-jumpers an', like you said, Sandy, a juo look 'em over”
The tent was pitched on the hillside where the grade was too steep to perh for more than the actual floor space The brown duck erection strained at the guy ropes of its upper side where the stakes had been driven deep into the soil The chiuarded by a
Outside were boxes, saddles, an ax, kettles and pans, a portable grill and other ca equipment The tent flaps were open and showed cots on which blankets and clothing were roughly spread On two of these beds men sprawled asleep Five others were seated on boxes about a boulder that looked like porphyry outcrop Its surface was flat enough to serve as a table The five were playing poker One was bearded and seemed the old-time miner All boasted stubble on their chins, tore mustaches
One was bald Their clothes varied, froh boots and flannel shi+rt, to soiled khaki and laced prospector's footwear One thing they all had in coether they were not a prepossessing lot, playing their gaun butts at the visitors Two burros cropped at the scanty herbage above the tent A demijohn stood between two of the box seats
”I've seen that tent afore,” whispered Saents?” he asked amiably
”No, we ain't These claims are preempted Trespassers ain't welcome
You're invited to move on”
”That's a new name fo' it,” said Sandy pleasantly ”New toat?” asked the other ”This is private property”
”Property of Jim Plimsoll?”
”None of yore damned business”
There was a ot up fro in the entrance, one hand on the pole The other snored on Sandy, with Morroup on the narrow bench that furnished the floor for the tent They had little doubt that the junized none of theht have been born out of respect to Sandy's two guns or a foreknowledge of his reputation in handling them, aside frohtly on his hips, his thuuns There was a smile on his lips but none in his eyes His tone and manner were easy
”Saw his stencil on the tent,” he said ”J P in a diamond Same brand he uses fo' his hawsses Orvoice held a taunt that brought angry flushes of color to the faces of thehim, yet they made no definite movement toward attack It see them
Trouble was in the air, two kinds of it: on the one side hesitant belligerency; on the other--cool nonchalance Sandy, with his shtly poised as a dancing master
Mormon and Sam were tenser, crouched a little froers apart, ready to close on gun butts, standing as boxers stand or distance-runners set on their marks
Thecompanion and roused hiradually taking in the situation There were seven against three but, when the odds are so big and the minority faces them with a readiness and an assurance that shows in their eyes, on their lips, vibrates from their compacted alliance, the measure is one of will, rather than physical and merely numerical superiority, and the balance beam quivers undecidedly The bearded miner, with the rest, looked shi+ftily toward the , the bald-headed one, whose khaki and nail-studded boots were belied by the softness and puffiness of his flesh, the sags and wrinkles beneath his eyes and under his double chins He had little gray-green orbs that glittered uneasily
”I' you unned cow-puncher can throw any bluff round here, if that's what you're trying to do”
Sandy laughed joyously The ser a er to call hiuns fo' a reason Once in a while I shoot off all the ca'tridges from one an' then I don't have to reload Now, _I'istered in the nans Here's the papers The assesshter owns 'em now We're representin' her An' I'm servin' you notice to quit We'll take the sah up now, though I didn't see you lookin' at yo' watch I'ive it sixty seconds ents, providin' I don't beat you to it” He started to roll a cigarette with hands skilful and steady Back of hi, but instinct with suppressed irl may be his heir,” said the bald-headed nee Pliirl can put in her share to the title later, if they ae”
”So J P was hirin' you to do his dirty work,” said Sandy, his voice cold with conteo back to him, the whole lousy pack of you, an' tell him from me he's a yellow-spined liar Git! Take yore stuff with you or send back fo' it Now, git off this property”
If a man can make movements with his hands so swiftly that they are covered in less than a tenth of a second, ordinary huician's slogan--_the quickness of the hand deceives the eye_ It takes natural aptitude and long practise, whether one is juggling gilded balls or blued-steel revolvers Sandy could, with a circling uns froet to which his eyes shi+fted Glance, twist of wrist, arrest of er, all coordinated One lance carelessly contemptuous, the veriest ht hand spat fire, the gun in his left swung in an arc that ling beneath the cru frantically like the stage hands who si beneath painted canvas Sandy had shattered the pegs that held up the upper corners of the tent on the slope, had cut the cords of the reuys on that side and the structure had swayed and collapsed
Sam and Mor their intention to use their guns But the exhibition had been quite sufficient With one accord the five raised their hands shoulder high and began to shuffle down the hill, regardless of their equiparded as of much less value than the necessity for departure
”Colers ”Git a move on”