The Untamed | Page 8

silence, but greeted the turned heads with a wave of the
hand and a good-natured "Howdy, boys!" A volley of greetings replied
to him, for in the mountain-desert men cannot be strangers after the
first word.
"Line up and hit the red-eye," he went on, and leaning against the bar
as he spoke, his habitual smile broadened into one of actual invitation.
Except for a few groups who watched the gambling in the corners of
the big room, there was a general movement towards the bar.
"And make it a tall one, boys," went on the genial stranger. "This is the
first time I ever irrigated Morgan's place, and from what I have heard
today about the closing I suppose it will be the last time. So here's to
you, Morgan!"
And he waved his glass towards the bartender. His voice was well
modulated and his enunciation bespoke education. This, in connection
with his careful clothes and rather modish riding-boots, might have
given him the reputation of a dude, had it not been for several other
essential details of his appearance. His six-gun hung so low that he
would scarcely have to raise his hand to grasp the butt. He held his
whisky glass in his left hand, and the right, which rested carelessly on
his hip, was deeply sunburned, as if he rarely wore a glove. Moreover,

his eyes were marvellously direct, and they lingered a negligible space
as they touched on each man in the room. All of this the cattlemen
noted instantly. What they did not see on account of his veiling fingers
was that he poured only a few drops of the liquor into his glass.
In the meantime another man who had never before "irrigated" at
Morgan's place, rode up. His mount, like that of the tawny-haired rider,
was considerably larger and more finely built than the common range
horse. In three days of hard work a cattle pony might wear down these
blooded animals, but would find it impossible to either overtake or
escape them in a straight run. The second stranger, short-legged,
barrel-chested, and with a scrub of black beard, entered the barroom
while the crowd was still drinking the health of Morgan. He took a
corner chair, pushed back his hat until a mop of hair fell down his
forehead, and began to roll a cigarette. The man of the tawny hair took
the next seat.
"Seems to be quite a party, stranger," said the tall fellow nonchalantly.
"Sure," growled he of the black beard, and after a moment he added:
"Been out on the trail long, pardner?"
"Hardly started."
"So'm I."
"As a matter of fact, I've got a lot of hard riding before me."
"So've I."
"And some long riding, too."
Perhaps it was because he turned his head suddenly towards the light,
but a glint seemed to come in the eyes of the bearded man.
"Long rides," he said more amiably, "are sure hell on hosses."
"And on men, too," nodded the other, and tilted back in his chair.

The bearded man spoke again, but though a dozen cowpunchers were
close by no one heard his voice except the man at his side. One side of
his face remained perfectly immobile and his eyes stared straight before
him drearily while he whispered from a corner of his mouth: "How
long do you stay, Lee?"
"Noon," said Lee.
Once more the shorter man spoke in the manner which is learned in a
penitentiary: "Me too. We must be slated for the same ride, Lee. Do
you know what it is? It's nearly noon, and the chief ought to be here."
There was a loud greeting for a newcomer, and Lee took advantage of
the noise to say quite openly: "If Silent said he'll come, he'll be here.
But I say he's crazy to come to a place full of range riders, Bill."
"Take it easy," responded Bill. "This hangout is away off our regular
beat. Nobody'll know him."
"His hide is his own and he can do what he wants with it," said Lee. "I
warned him before."
"Shut up," murmured Bill, "Here's Jim now, and Hal Purvis with him!"
Through the door strode a great figure before whom the throng at the
bar gave way as water rolls back from the tall prow of a ship. In his
wake went a little man with a face dried and withered by the sun and
small bright eyes which moved continually from side to side. Lee and
Bill discovered their thirst at the same time and made towards the
newcomers.
They had no difficulty in reaching them. The large man stood with his
back to the bar, his elbows spread out on it, so that there was a little
space left on either