The Ox-Bow Incident (14 page)

When they pulled up, just on the edge of the crowd of riders, everything was silent, even the people on the walks waiting to see what the Judge would say. They didn’t have much respect for the Judge, but he was the law, and they waited to see what line he would take. The Judge felt the hostility and was nervous about the quiet; he made a bad start, taking off his hat by habit, like he was starting an oration, and raising his voice more than he had to.

“I understand how it is, men,” he began, and went on about their long tolerance, and their losses, and the death of a dear friend, a long apology for what he was working up to.

Mapes, beside him, took off his sombrero solemnly, the way the Judge had taken his off, and began slowly and carefully to improve the crease in it.

The men grinned, and Smith called, “Cut the stumping, Judge,” and when the Judge hesitated, “It’s all been said for you, Tyler. All we want’s your blessing.”

Davies didn’t want the Judge to get into an oration any more than the rest did. He came over beside the Judge’s horse before the Judge could start again, and said something. Osgood trailed out too.

“Certainly, certainly, Mr. Davies,” the Judge said, but still in his platform voice, “just the point I was coming to.

“Men,” he addressed us, “you cannot flinch from what you believe to be your duty, of course, but certainly you would not wish to act in the very spirit which begot the deed you would punish.”

“By the time you got us ready to act, Tyler,” Smith shouted, “the rustlers could be over the Rio.” There was agreement; others called ribald advice. Ma leaned on her saddle directly in front of the Judge and grinned at him. The Judge’s neck and jowls began to swell slowly and turn red.

“One more word out of you, Smith,” he bellowed, “and I’ll have you up for impeding the course of justice and connivance in an act of violence.”

It was a bad move after his weak start. The joking rose to shouting. There were jeers, and men made signs of his insignificance at the Judge. Ma said, still grinning, “Judge, you can’t impede what don’t move anyway.”

“And you, a woman,” the Judge shouted at her, “to lend yourself to this …” He couldn’t describe us, but just waved a hand over us, choking, and then suddenly put his hat back on and yanked it down, and glared at us.

In the general roar you could still hear Farnley’s voice, so furious it was high and breaking, “For Christ’s sake, Butch, let’s get out of this.”

Horses began to mill and yank, and the riders chose to
let them. A woman, holding onto a post of the arcade with one hand, leaned out and shrieked at us. She was a tall, sallow, sooty-looking woman, with black hair streaming down and blowing across her face, and her sunbonnet fallen back off her head so she looked wild. She kept screaming something about Kinkaid. Smith called out salaciously to know what Kinkaid was to her.

“More than he was to any of you, it looks like,” she screamed back at him.

Some of the other women too called out at us then, laughing angrily and jibing. Others, who had men in the street, were quiet and scared-looking. One small boy, being yanked about by his mother, began to cry. This scared others of the children.

Moore rode over, holding his horse close, and spoke to the wild-looking woman. “We can take care of this, Frena,” he told her, then said to the others, “Get those kids out of here; this is no place for a kid.”

The woman he called Frena ran into the street beside him, as if she’d like to pull him off and throw him around. “Why ain’t it?” she shrieked up at him. “There isn’t anything going to happen, is there?” Moore didn’t say anything, or even look at her, but just waited there until the women with children began to lead them away. Two of them stopped at the corner, though, and watched again.

Davies hadn’t paid any attention to the uproar, but talked up earnestly to the Judge. He got the Judge calmed a little. He nodded and said something.

“Where’s Greene?” Ma Grier called back. Things quieted a little. “Greene,” she called to him, “come on up here. The Judge wants to talk to you.”

The rest of us wanted to hear, and tried to bunch around the talkers, but the horses kept sidling out, and were blowing and hammering and making leather squeal. We couldn’t hear much, but only catch glimpses of young Greene on his horse facing the Judge on his and making answers. They didn’t appear to be getting anywhere; the
kid grinned sardonically a couple of times and the Judge, though pompous, was flustered again. Then, apparently, Davies took over again. They were both looking down and not saying anything. The kid began giving answers again, and not looking so sure. The men right around them had quieted down a lot. Once most of them, all together, and the Judge, too, looked up at the sky, and the Judge, when he looked down, nodded. The Judge, then, was apparently putting in a word here and there for Davies. Greene looked ready to cry. Only once, when he’d stood about all he could, we heard him cry out, “Olsen told me so. I’ve told you that twenty times already.” Mapes ceased pretending to look bored, and began glancing around the circle of men. Once he said something, but the Judge, a lot surer of himself now, turned on him and made a quick reply. The only thing I caught was the word “constituted” which sounded as if the Judge was in his usual line of blather. But Mapes didn’t say anything further, only stuck out his chin and looked surly and stared for a moment at his saddle horn. But though we couldn’t hear anything, we could feel that the drift was changing. Men close in began to look at each other, just quick glances, or look down. The temper was out of them. When, after four or five minutes, the woman Frena had waited as long as she could with her mouth closed, and wanted to know if they were holding a prayer meeting, one of the men angrily called to her to shut up.

It became quiet enough to hear the voices, the kid’s choky and stubborn, Davies’ easy in short even questions, or sometimes a longer remark, and then the Judge, his voice being so heavy, we could catch a word here and there from him. Then the kid was let out of the ring. His face was red, and he wouldn’t look at any of us, or answer when Winder asked him a question, only shrug his shoulders. The riders who had heard pulled their horses back so that we had to pull away to give them room. Davies and Osgood came through them toward the arcade. Osgood looked
happy, and kept chattering beside Davies in an excited way, Davies just nodding. Under the edge of the arcade Davies climbed up onto the tie rail and stood there, holding onto a post to steady himself. He didn’t call out, but just waited until it was quiet. Most of us reined around to listen to him; only Farnley and young Greene stayed clear out, as if they didn’t want to hear. Farnley started to curse us for listening to more such talk, which he called lily-livered, but Moore quieted him, saying that Davies didn’t want to stop them, and that they had to wait for Tetley anyhow.

“If you guys get careful of yourselves,” Farnley told him, as if he meant it, “I’m going myself. Don’t forget that.” Then he was quiet too, and Davies started to talk. When the woman Frena tried to interrupt him, and twice Smith also, he didn’t talk back to them, but just waited, as you would until a door was closed that was letting in too much noise, and then went on the same reasonable way, just loudly enough to be heard.

“We don’t know anything about those rustlers, boys,” he told us, “or whether they were rustlers, or who shot Kinkaid. Young Greene there wasn’t trying to make trouble; he was doing what he thought he ought to do, what he was told to do. But he got excited; he was sent for the sheriff, but on the way up he got excited thinking about it, and forgot what he should do, and did what seemed to him like the quickest thing. Really, he doesn’t know anything about it. He didn’t see any rustlers or any killer. He didn’t even see Kinkaid. He only heard what Olsen told him, and Olsen was in a hurry. All that Olsen actually told him, when we get down to the facts, was that Kinkaid had been shot, that they’d found him in the draw, and that he was to come to town for the sheriff. That’s not much to go on.

“Then there’s another thing. It’s late now. If it was a gang that Kinkaid ran into, they must have gone out by the south pass, as they did before.” He went on to show us that it was twenty miles to that pass and would be dark before we got there, that the rustlers had at least a five or six hour
start of us. He showed us that the sheriff had been down there since early morning, that there were a dozen men there if he wanted them, and pointed out that it wasn’t the sheriff who had sent for us, that nobody had sent for us, that Greene had been sent only for the sheriff, and that if the sheriff had wanted more men we’d have heard from him by now.

He argued that although he could understand our feelings, there certainly was no use in acting in a way that might get us into trouble, or lead us to do something we’d regret for a long while, when the matter was probably being taken care of legally as it was.

“It’s my advice, men, for what it’s worth,” he concluded, “that you all come in and have a drink on me …”

“Drinks,” said Canby from the door, “on the house. But only one round, by God. I’m not filling any bucket bellies.”

“Our friend Canby offers the drinks,” Davies said, “and I’ll make it two. I guess I owe it. Then, I’d say, we’d all better go home and have supper, and get a good night’s sleep. If we’re wanted, we’ll hear. I sent Joyce down to the ranch to find out what the sheriff has to say. If any of you want to stay in town, Mrs. Grier can put you up, or Canby, or the Inn, if they can still get the doors open.”

“I told you the money was all he thought about,” Smith cried.

“And I can bed two myself,” Davies went on, grinning down at Smith, “and no charge. I’d be glad of the company.”

“I can take six,” Canby said, “if they don’t mind sleeping double. And no charge either; not for those beds, when I know I’m bound to see the guys again.”

“I can take care of two, and more than welcome,” Osgood said. He sounded really hearty for the first time.

Canby said, “About those drinks, though. The offer don’t go for any man that’s had more than five free ones already. Monty, I’ll stand you to a cup of coffee. It won’t
make you more than a little sick.” There was some grudging laughter.

Ma, feeling defeated, was a bit surly, but she had to offer rooms too. “Only,” she told them belligerently, “any lazy puncher that holes up with me is going to pay for his grub. I’m no charity organization.” They jeered her more cheerfully, and she seemed to feel better. Still they didn’t break up, though, or get off their horses. Neither did I; I didn’t want to look like I was anxious to quit; not any more than anybody else.

Sparks really limbered things up. In the hesitation he said, in that mournful voice of his, “I’d ce’tainly admiah to have any gen’lmun that wishes spend the naght at mah qua’tahs too.” They laughed. One of them asked, “Where you sleeping tonight, Sparks?”

“In Mistah Davies’ shed foh storin’ things, but it’ll be all raght with him.”

“It’s not like you were giving up, boys,” Davies told us. “It’s just good sense. If it’s a short chase it’s over by now. If it’s a long one the sheriff will let you know, and you’ll have time to get ready.”

“I’m settin’ ’em up, boys,” Canby called.

The riders closest in began to dismount. They felt foolish, and didn’t look at each other much, and made bad jokes about how old they were getting. But I guess they felt chiefly the way I did. I hadn’t had much stomach for the business from the beginning. I got down too. Gil tied up beside me.

“Well, the little bastard pulled it,” he said. “Jees, and just when I thought for once there’d be something doin’.” But he wasn’t sore.

We heard the Judge calling, “Going home, Jeff?” We looked. Others who had started in, stopped and looked back too. Farnley was riding off down the street. Winder was with him, and of course Gabe. He didn’t pay any attention, and the Judge called again. Davies told the Judge
to let him alone, he’d have to go to the ranch, anyway, but I guess the Judge was tired of playing second fiddle. He bellowed this time, and wasn’t asking, but ordering Jeff to come back.

Jeff came back. When the Judge saw his face he explained, “You might as well have a shot with us, Jeff. It’ll be cold riding. You don’t need to worry. This business will be taken care of.” He explained it heartily, and at a distance. The woman Frena, who was still hanging around, laughed.

Farnley rode his horse straight in until it was shouldering the Judge’s. Winder waited where he had stopped down the street, and Gabe with him. In the Judge’s face, as if spitting on him, Farnley told him, “Yeh, but I know now who’s going to take care of it. The bastard that shot Larry Kinkaid ain’t comin’ in here for you to fuddle with your damned lawyer’s tricks for six months and then let him off because Osgood or Davies, or some other whining women, claim he ain’t bad at heart. He ain’t comin’ in anywhere. Kinkaid didn’t have six months to decide if he wanted to die, did he?”

“Now look here, Jeff,” the Judge began.

Davies went out and stood by Jeff’s horse, as he had before, but didn’t, at first, touch him. “Jeff,” he said, and then again, “Jeff,” until Farnley quit staring at the Judge and slowly looked down at him. Then he said, “Jeff, you know nobody in this country is going to let a thing like this go. Risley is a good man, Jeff; he’ll get him. And there aren’t twelve men in the West that wouldn’t hang him.” Then he put his hand on Jeff’s knee again. Jeff’s face looked to me like he couldn’t understand what was being said. But he’d heard it. “You can see that, can’t you, Jeff?” Davies asked him.

“No,” Farnley said, “when I look at you, any of you,” he said, looking around at us slowly, “I can’t see anything. Not one damned thing.” He knocked Davies’ hand off his knee with the back of his own hand, and began to rein around,
nearly riding Moore down. Moore was trying to talk to him too.

The rest of us were keeping out of it, except Gil. He was unhitching again. “By God,” he told me, with pleasure, “if he goes, I’m going. That won’t be no hanging; that’ll be a fight.” Even Moore was afraid of Farnley, the way he was feeling now, he ran along beside him, still trying to talk to him.