Oliver Strange - Sudden Westerns 07 - Sudden Rides Again(1938) (24 page)

 
          
“I
couldn’t get near enough to see.”

 
          
“On’y two Greasers in charge, huh?
Why, it’ll be easy as
takin’ a drink, which reminds me …” He shouted an order, and at once the
pigtailed cook appeared with bottle and glasses. “Here’s how,” he toasted,
adding, “This’ll put yu right with Ken.”

 
          
“I’ll
he obliged if yu don’t mention me,” Sudden said. “He needn’t to know how yu got
wind o’ the herd.”

 
          
“But,
damn it all, man, he thinks “

 
          
The
puncher smiled coldly. “What he thinks ain’t lost me any sleep so far, an’ I’d
ruther he warn’t told.”

 
          
“Well,
have it yore way.”

 
          
“Yu’ll
need to strike quick,” Sudden warned. “Roden’s visit may mean the herd is to be
moved.”

 
          
“We’ll
start in less’n an hour—with on’y two to handle there’ll be no need to trouble
Ken.” He pushed out a paw. “I’m obliged to yu—Jim. If yu get in a tight place,
an’ can send word, we’ll be along.”

 
          
Sudden
thanked him, and set out on his return to Hell City with a feeling of grim
satisfaction; he had prepared a blow for the bandit chief and found another
friend. From the first he had liked this tubby little man, with the twinkling,
genial eyes, and his support meant a great deal.

 
          
Soon
after sunrise on the following morning, a ragged, hatless Mexican limped
wearily through the western entrance to Hell City, staggered into the saloon,
and demanded drink. He gulped a stiff dose of the fiery spirit, poured another,
his hand shaking with fatigue, and sat down with a sigh of relief. Sudden, who
had been chatting with the proprietor, surveyed him with interest.

 
          
“Yu
‘pear to be all in, amigo,” he remarked. “Come far?” The traveller shook his
head. “A short way is a long way sometime, senor,” he replied. “My hoss, she
break de leg.”

 
          
“Tough
luck,” the puncher commiserated.

 
          
At
that moment Roden entered, and his eyes went wide when he saw the stranger.
“Hello, Benito, what you doin’ here?” he asked.

 
          
The
Mexican drew him aside and spoke in a sibilant whisper. Sudden heard the
muttered “Damnation!” and read the look of dismay and disappointment Benito’s
news evoked. He needed no second guess; the Twin Diamond had hit back, and,
anxious to see how Satan would receive the reverse, he went out.

 
          
“Mebbe
that fairy godmother o’ his has told him all about it,” was his whimsical
reflection.

 
          
Evidently
this was not the case, for he found the bandit leader in a good humour. He was
reading a newspaper—one of those crude journalistic products of the pioneer
days of which a settlement of any size boasted at least one example. The
perusal seemed to afford him satisfaction.

 
          
“Hark
to this, Sudden,” he greeted. ” `
Another
of those
infamous outrages which blot the fair page of Western history.’ That is how the
Bosville Bugle refers to the looting of the local bank. It appears to have been
very simple. Four strangers rode in and two of them entered the building. A
shot was heard, the men emerged carrying a leathern satchel, mounted, and the
whole party galloped away before the good citizens began to think. The cashier
dead, with an undischarged pistol in his hand—he was clearly a fool—a rifled
safe, and thirty thousand in cash and bills missing.
As easy
as that.”

 
          
There
was a pronounced sneer on his lips. He tapped the paper on his knee. “The
nit-wit who conducts this mangy sheet adds, `This is an addition to the many
similar daylight robberies which have disturbed the country during the past
twelve months. What is the Governor going to do about it?’ I can tell him: the
Governor will do just—nothing. The sheriff and his blundering posse will lose
the trail, as usual, and we shall turn the trick again elsewhere. My plans are
well laid; I never fail.”

 
          
The
last three words moved the puncher to inward mirth; a contradiction was coming.

 
          
“Thirty
thousand is a sizeable stake,” he remarked. “S’pose them fellas decide to glom
on to it?”

 
          
The
stony eyes gleamed. “No man ever doublecrossed me
an
got away with it,” Satan said. “One who tried reached Montana; another, Kansas
City; a third, Tucson—under the Governor’s nose, but they all died—swiftly.
These men know that I possess the power to find them, and fear will make them
honest—to me.”

 
          
“They’re
takin’ their time; Bosville ain’t so far, is it?”

 
          
“About
fifty miles, but certain enquiries would necessitate a roundabout route, and
possibly, delay.”

 
          
Sudden
would have liked more definite information, but his hope of obtaining it
vanished when Silver ushered in Benito.

 
          
“Said
he’d gotta see you right away,” the dwarf rumbled.

 
          
The
Mexican did not wait to be questioned, blurting out his news in short,
spasmodic sentences, as though anxious to get the ordeal over. The herd had
gone—a dozen Twin Diamond riders had raided the valley, and, after shooting his
companion, had rounded up and driven away the cattle. He was distant from the
camp, had seen them arrive, and escaped by hiding in the rocks. Trembling with
fright, the man ceased his mumble and waited for the storm to break.

 
          
He
was not kept long. 1
he
Chief’s face, schooled so
carefully to stoic indifference, became insensate with fury. Snatching out a
gun, he levelled it at the shivering wretch.

 
          
“You
have lost my cows and made me a figure of fun,” he hissed. “Well, for that
you—die.”

 
          
He
was on the point of pulling the trigger when Sudden spoke.

 
          
“That’s
a mighty poor remedy. What
d’yu expect
a couple o’ men
to do against the Twin Diamond outfit? This fella had the guts to come an’ tell
yu; he could ‘a’ travelled the other way just as easy.”

 
          
The
sarcastic tone brought the bandit to his senses; he realized that he had
betrayed himself. Replacing his weapon he said sternly, “This time I spare you,
but speak so much as one word …” He tapped the butt of his gun suggestively,
and added, “Get out.”

 
          
With
a furtive glance of gratitude to the man who had saved him, Benito departed
hurriedly. Satan turned to his companion.

 
          
“I
should not have killed the cur, but I had to frighten him,” he lied. “It is
maddening to have been outplayed by that overfed hog, Merry. Someone must have
betrayed me.”

 
          
“Then
yu oughta know—bein’ a kind o’ medicine man,” was the ironical reply.

 
          
“True,”
Satan said, and putting one hand to his brow, sat in silence. Then he looked
up. “Why did you do it, Sudden?”

 
          
The
puncher grinned. “That’s a bad miss,” he replied. “Keith havin’ tried to string
me up, I’d naturally be eager to give him back his property, wouldn’t I? An’ yu
can add to that I didn’t know where to look for it. No, sir, I’d say one o’
Merry’s men happened on the tracks by accident; cows ain’t got wings, yu
savvy.”

 
          
“You
may be right, but I shall know,” Satan said. “Well, the fat fool wins—this
time, but he’ll live to be sorry.”

 
          
Sudden came away with a mischievous gleam in his eyes.
Ile
had a plan, but to put it into operation he must have help, and promptly went
in search of it. This took him to the northern extremity of the Double K range.

 
          
Frosty,
perspiring and lurid-tongued, was engaged in an endeavour to drive a steer out
of a patch of cactus scrub which it seemed loth to leave when a derisive voice
from behind advised him to pick up the beast and carry it out. He whirled his
pony to find Sudden enjoying his efforts.

 
          
“Any
idjut can look on an’ laff,” he greeted.
“Why don’t yu do
somethin’, yu perishin’—ornament?”

 
          
“The
Double K has dispensed with my services,” Sudden reminded.
“Anybody
out here with yu?”

 
          
“Nope.
Steve
don’t
think it matters
if I’m bumped off. Did yu hear we got our cows back?”

 
          
His
friend’s eyes twinkled. “I was told the Twin Diamond made yu a present of’em.”

 
          
“Well,
it amounted to that, an’ the 01’ Man is hoppin’ mad —didn’t like Merry’s outfit
gettin’ ahead of us. I heard him give Steve his opinion, an’ he made hisself
plain.”

 
          
“He’s
hard to please.
yu
got the natural increase, too.”

 
          
“Yu
bet. Why, in that short while the herd had more’n doubled, an’ the curious
thing was, the calves had all been born branded an’ grooved to full size. Ain’t
Nature wonderful?”

 
          
“Shore
is,” Sudden agreed gravely. “How would the Double K like to give Mister Satan a
jolt?”

 
          
“Try
us,” Frosty urged, adding slyly, “Anyways, it’s our turn, ain’t it?”

 
          
“Smart
lad, huh?” the other grinned.

 
          
“Pickles!
I know that Twin Diamond bunch—blind as bats.
S’pose yu had to use ‘ein, but don’t tell me—”

 
          
“I
won’t, yore mouth opens easy as a saloon door. Now listen.” He told what he had
learned of the bank robbery.

 
          
“It
will have to be a private play, just yu an’ Lazy—they won’t know there’s on’y
two o’ yu. Say
yo’re
goin’ to Dugout. I’d take a hand
but I gotta be where I can be seen. I’m guessin’ them jaspers will arrive this
evenin’ an’ use the west gate. If I’m wrong, yu’ll be outa luck.”

 
          
“Shore
will, with the
nights
cold as they is,” his friend
said feelingly. “But if they do show up?”

 
          
“Short
o’ Hell City there’s a split in the trail, with plenty cover; yu can stand ‘em
up there. One o’ yu can heave their hardware into the brush, collect the
cash—it’ll be in a leather bag—an’ stampede the hosses, while the other keeps
‘em covered. By the time they’ve hoofed it into town, yu’ll be past pursuit.
Take the plunder to Merry an’ tell him to send it by a shore hand to the
Bosville sheriff.
Yu sabe?”

 
          
“Sounds
simple,” Frosty lied cheerfully, and then, “Thirty thousand is a wad o’ money.
Yu could swipe it yoreself, head for California, an’—”

 
          
“Be
the skunk the world tried to make me,” Sudden finished. “No, yu snow-topped
calamity, I’m workin’ for somethin’ more than easy money.”

 
          
“It’s
devilish risky,” Frosty offered. “If Satan learns he’s been sold out by a man
in his pay

 
          
“Back
up,” Sudden broke in. “Get this into the knob yu put yore hat on: I’ve never
had a nickel from him an’ ain’t goin’ to.
Now, so long, an’
good luck for tonight.”

 
          
With
puzzled eyes the Double K rider watched him disappear into a near-by ravine. “
He
shore has got me guessin’,” he ruminated. “Passes up a
chance to hive thirty thousand bucks, won’t take no pay, an’—hell, it gives me a
headache. I hope them bank-busters drift in.” He smote his pony a flat-handed
smack on the rump and sat easily rocking in the saddle while the outraged
animal expressed disapproval in a mild bout of bucking. “G’wan, yu son of a
wall-eyed mule, we got a li’l jape to put over an’ it’s goin’ to be fun.”