Chapter XIV. Turning the Tables

by Andy Adams

　　"Keep away from me, you common cow-hands," said Sponsilier, as agroup of us waited for him at the foot of the court-house stairs.But Dave's gravity soon turned to a smile as he continued: "Didyou fellows notice The Rebel and me sitting inside the rail amongall the big augers? Paul, was it a dream, or did we sleep in abed last night and have a sure-enough pillow under our heads? Mymemory is kind of hazy to-day, but I remember the drinks and thecigars all right, and saying to some one that this luck was toogood to last. And here we are turned out in the cold world again,our fun all over, and now must go back to those measly cattle.But it's just what I expected."The crowd dispersed quietly, though the sheriff took theprecaution to accompany the plaintiffs and Tolleston back totheir hotel. The absence of the two deputies whom we had met theday before was explained by the testimony of the one-armedcowman. When the two drovers came downstairs, they were talkingvery confidentially together, and on my employer noticing thelarge number of his men present, he gave orders for them to meethim at once at the White Elephant saloon. Those who had horses athand mounted and dashed down the street, while the rest of ustook it leisurely around to the appointed rendezvous, some threeblocks distant. While on the way, I learned from The Rebel thatthe cattle on which the attachment was to be made that afternoonwere then being held well up the North Fork. Sheriff Phillipsjoined us shortly after we entered the saloon, and informed myemployer and Mr. Reed that the firm of Field, Radcliff & Co. haddeclared war. They had even denounced him and the sheriff'soffice as being in collusion against them, and had dispatchedTolleston with orders to refuse service."Let them get on the prod all they want to," said Don Lovell toReed and the sheriff. "I've got ninety men here, and you fellowsare welcome to half of them, even if I have to go out and stand awatch on night-herd myself. Reed, we can't afford to have ourbusiness ruined by such a set of scoundrels, and we might as wellfight it out here and now. Look at the situation I'm in. Ahundred thousand dollars wouldn't indemnify me in having mycattle refused as late as the middle of September at Fort Buford.And believing that I will be turned down, under my contract, soSutton says, I must tender my beeves on the appointed day ofdelivery, which will absolve my bondsmen and me from allliability. A man can't trifle with the government--the cattlemust be there. Now in my case, Jim, what would you do?""That's a hard question, Don. You see we're strangers up in thisNorthwest country. Now, if it was home in Texas, there would beonly one thing to do. Of course I'm no longer handy with ashotgun, but you've got two good arms.""Well, gentlemen," said the sheriff, "you must excuse me forinterrupting, but if my deputies are to take possession of thatherd this afternoon, I must saddle up and go to the front. IfHonest John and associates try to stand up any bluffs on myoffice, they'll only run on the rope once. I'm much obliged toyou, Mr. Lovell, for the assurance of any help I may need, forit's quite likely that I may have to call upon you. If a ring ofgovernment speculators can come out here and refuse service, ordictate to my office, then old Keith County is certainly on theverge of decadence. Now, I'll be all ready to start for the NorthFork in fifteen minutes, and I'd admire to have you all goalong."Lovell and Reed both expressed a willingness to accompany thesheriff. Phillips thanked them and nodded to the force behind themahogany, who dexterously slid the glasses up and down the bar,and politely inquired of the double row confronting them as totheir tastes. As this was the third round since entering theplace, I was anxious to get away, and summoning Forrest, westarted for our horses. We had left them at a barn on a backstreet, but before reaching the livery, Quince concluded that heneeded a few more cartridges. I had ordered a hundred the daybefore for my own personal use, but they had been sent out withthe supplies and were then in camp. My own belt was filled withammunition, but on Forrest buying fifty, I took an equal number,and after starting out of the store, both turned back and doubledour purchases. On arriving at the stable, whom should I meet butthe Wyoming cowman who had left us at Grinnell. During the fewminutes in which I was compelled to listen to his troubles, heinformed me that on his arrival at Ogalalla, all the surpluscow-hands had been engaged by a man named Tolleston for theYellowstone country. He had sent to his ranch, however, for anoutfit who would arrive that evening, and he expected to starthis herd the next morning. But without wasting any words, Forrestand I swung into our saddles, waved a farewell to the wayfaringacquaintance, and rode around to the White Elephant. The sheriffand quite a cavalcade of our boys bad already started, and onreaching the street which terminated in the only road leading tothe North Fork, we were halted by Flood to await the arrival ofthe others. Jim Reed and my employer were still behind, and somelittle time was lost before they came up, sufficient to give thesheriff a full half-mile start. But under the leadership of thetwo drovers, we shook out our horses, and the advance cavalcadewere soon overtaken."Well, Mr. Sheriff," said old man Don, as he reined in besidePhillips, "how do you like the looks of this for a posse? I'llvouch that they're all good cow-hands, and if you want todeputize the whole works, why, just work your rabbit's foot. Youmight leave Reed and me out, but I think there's some forty oddwithout us. Jim and I are getting a little too old, but we'llhang around and run errands and do the clerking. I'm perfectlywilling to waste a week, and remember that we've got the chuckand nearly a thousand saddle horses right over here on the NorthFork. You can move your office out to one of my wagons if youwish, and whatever's mine is yours, just so long as Honest Johnand his friends pay the fiddler. If he and his associates aregoing to make one hundred thousand dollars on the Bufordcontract, one thing is certain--I'll lose plenty of money on thisyear's drive. If he refuses service and you take possession, youroffice will be perfectly justified in putting a good force of menwith the herd. And at ten dollars a day for a man and horse,they'll soon get sick and Reed will get his pay. If I have tohold the sack in the end, I don't want any company."The location of the beeves was about twelve miles from town andbut a short distance above the herds of The Rebel and Bob Quirk.It was nearly four o'clock when we left the hamlet, and bystriking a free gait, we covered the intervening distance in lessthan an hour and a half. The mesa between the two rivers wascovered with through cattle, and as we neared the herd inquestion, we were met by the larger one of the two chiefdeputies. The undersheriff was on his way to town, but onsighting his superior among us, he halted and a conferenceensued. Sponsilier and Priest made a great ado over the bigdeputy on meeting, and after a few inquiries were exchanged, thelatter turned to Sheriff Phillips and said:"Well, we served the papers and I left the other two boys intemporary possession of the cattle. It's a badly mixed-up affair.The Texas foreman is still in charge, and he seems like areasonable fellow. The terms of the sale were to be half cashhere and the balance at the point of delivery. But the buyersonly paid forty thousand down, and the trail boss refuses tostart until they make good their agreement. From what I couldgather from the foreman, the buyers simply buffaloed the youngfellow out of his beeves, and are now hanging back for morefavorable terms. He accepted service all right and assured methat our men would be welcome at his wagon until further notice,so I left matters just as I found them. But as I was on the pointof leaving, that segundo of the buyers arrived and tried to stirup a little trouble. We all sat down on him rather hard, and as Ileft he and the Texas foreman were holding quite a big pow-wow.""That's Tolleston all right," said old man Don, "and you candepend on him stirring up a muss if there's any show. It's amystery to me how I tolerated that fellow as long as I did. Ifsome of you boys will corner and hold him for me, I'd enjoyreading his title to him in a few plain words. It's due him, andI want to pay everything I owe. What's the programme, Mr.Sheriff?""The only safe thing to do is to get full possession of thecattle," replied Phillips. "My deputies are all right, but theydon't thoroughly understand the situation. Mr. Lovell, if you canlend me ten men, I'll take charge of the herd at once and movethem back down the river about seven miles. They're entirely toonear the west line of the county to suit me, and once they're inour custody the money will be forthcoming, or the expenses willmount up rapidly. Let's ride."The under-sheriff turned back with us. A swell of the mesa cutoff a view of the herd, but under the leadership of the deputy werode to its summit, and there before and under us were both campand cattle. Arriving at the wagon, Phillips very politelyinformed the Texas foreman that he would have to take fullpossession of his beeves for a few days, or until the presentdifficulties were adjusted. The trail boss was a young fellow ofpossibly thirty, and met the sheriff's demand with severalquestions, but, on being assured that his employer's equity inthe herd would be fully protected without expense, he offered noserious objection. It developed that Reed had some slightacquaintance with the seller of the cattle, and lost no time ininforming the trail boss of the record of the parties with whomhis employer was dealing. The one-armed drover's language wasplain, the foreman knew Reed by reputation, and when Lovellassured the young man that he would be welcome at any of hiswagons, and would he perfectly at liberty to see that his herdwas properly cared for, he yielded without a word. My sympathieswere with the foreman, for he seemed an honest fellow, anddeliberately to take his herd from him, to my impulsive reasoninglooked like an injustice. But the sheriff and those two oldcowmen were determined, and the young fellow probably acted forthe best in making a graceful surrender.Meanwhile the two deputies in charge failed to materialize, andon inquiry they were reported as out at the herd with Tolleston.The foreman accompanied us to the cattle, and while on the way heinformed the sheriff that he wished to count the beeves over tohim and take a receipt for the same. Phillips hesitated, as hewas no cowman, but Reed spoke up and insisted that it was fairand just, saying: "Of course, you'll count the cattle and givehim a receipt in numbers, ages, and brands. It's not this youngman's fault that his herd must undergo all this trouble, and whenhe turns them over to an officer of the law he ought to havesomething to show for it. Any of Lovell's foremen here will countthem to a hair for you, and Don and I will witness the receipt,which will make it good among cowmen."Without loss of time the herd was started east. Tolleston keptwell out of reach of my employer, and besought every one to knowwhat this movement meant. But when the trail boss and Jim Floodrode out to a swell of ground ahead, and the point-men beganfiling the column through between the two foremen, Archie wassagacious enough to know that the count meant something serious.In the mean time Bob Quirk had favored Tolleston with hiscompany, and when the count was nearly half over, my brotherquietly informed him that the sheriff was taking possession. Oncethe atmosphere cleared, Archie grew uneasy and restless, and asthe last few hundred beeves were passing the counters, hesuddenly concluded to return to Ogalalla. But my brother urgedhim not to think of going until he had met his former employer,assuring Tolleston that the old man had made inquiry about andwas anxious to meet him. The latter, however, could not rememberanything of urgent importance between them, and pleaded thelateness of the hour and the necessity of his immediate return totown. The more urgent Bob Quirk became, the more fidgety grewArchie. The last of the cattle were passing the count asTolleston turned away from my brother's entreaty, and giving hishorse the rowel, started off on a gallop. But there was ascattering field of horsemen to pass, and before the partingguest could clear it, a half-dozen ropes circled in the air anddeftly settled over his horse's neck and himself, one of whichpinioned his arms. The boys were expecting something of thisnature, and fully half the men in Lovell's employ galloped up andformed a circle around the captive, now livid with rage. Archiewas cursing by both note and rhyme, and had managed to unearth aknife and was trying to cut the lassos which fettered himself andhorse, when Dorg Seay rode in and rapped him over the knuckleswith a six-shooter, saying, "Don't do that, sweetheart; thoseropes cost thirty-five cents apiece."Fortunately the knife was knocked from Tolleston's hand and hissix-shooter secured, rendering him powerless to inflict injury toany one. The cattle count had ended, and escorted by a cordon ofmounted men, both horse and captive were led over to where acontingent had gathered around to hear the result of the count. Iwas merely a delighted spectator, and as the other men turnedfrom the cattle and met us, Lovell languidly threw one leg overhis horse's neck, and, suppressing a smile, greeted his oldforeman."Hello, Archie," said he; "it's been some little time since lastwe met. I've been hearing some bad reports about you, and wasanxious to meet up and talk matters over. Boys, take those ropesoff his horse and give him back his irons; I raised this man andmade him the cow-hand he is, and there's nothing so seriousbetween us that we should remain strangers. Now, Archie, I wantyou to know that you are in the employ of my enemies, who are asbig a set of scoundrels as ever missed a halter. You and Flood,here, were the only two men in my employ who knew all the factsin regard to the Buford contract. And just because I wouldn'tfavor you over a blind horse, you must hunt up the very men whoare trying to undermine me on this drive. No wonder they gave youemployment, for you're a valuable man to them; but it's at aserious loss,--the loss of your honor. You can't go home to Texasand again be respected among men. This outfit you are with willpromise you the earth, but the moment that they're through withyou, you won't cut any more figure than a last year's bird'snest. They'll throw you aside like an old boot, and you'll fallso hard that you'll hear the clock tick in China. Now, Archie, ithurts me to see a young fellow like you go wrong, and I'm willingto forgive the past and stretch out a hand to save you. If you'llquit those people, you can have Flood's cattle from here to theRosebud Agency, or I'll buy you a ticket home and you can helpwith the fall work at the ranch. You may have a day or two tothink this matter over, and whatever you decide on will be final.You have shown little gratitude for the opportunities that I'vegiven you, but we'll break the old slate and start all over witha new one. Now, that's all I wanted to say to you, except to doyour own thinking. If you're going back to town, I'll ride ashort distance with you."The two rode away together, but halted within sight for a shortconference, after which Lovell returned. The cattle were beingdrifted east by the deputies and several of our boys, the trailboss having called off his men on an agreement of the count. Theherd had tallied out thirty-six hundred and ten head, but inmaking out the receipt, the fact was developed that there weresome six hundred beeves not in the regular road brand. These hadbeen purchased extra from another source, and had been paid forin full by the buyers, the seller of the main herd agreeing todeliver them along with his own. This was fortunate, as itincreased the equity of the buyers in the cattle, and more thanestablished a sufficient interest to satisfy the judgment and allexpenses.Darkness was approaching, which hastened our actions. Two menfrom each outfit present were detailed to hold the cattle thatnight, and were sent on ahead to Priest's camp to secure theirsuppers and a change of mounts. The deposed trail boss acceptedan invitation to accompany us and spend the night at one of ourwagons, and we rode away to overtake the drifting herd. Thedifferent outfits one by one dropped out and rode for theircamps; but as mine lay east and across the river, the course ofthe herd was carrying me home. After passing The Rebel's wagonfully a half mile, we rounded in the herd, which soon lay down torest on the bedground. In the gathering twilight, the camp-firesof nearly a dozen trail wagons were gleaming up and down theriver, and while we speculated with Sponsilier's boys which onewas ours, the guard arrived and took the bedded herd. The two oldcowmen and the trail boss had dropped out opposite my brother'scamp, leaving something like ten men with the attached beeves;but on being relieved by the first watch, Flood invited SheriffPhillips and his deputies across the river to spend the nightwith him."Like to, mighty well, but can't do it," replied Phillips. "Thesheriff's office is supposed to be in town, and not over on theNorth Fork, but I'll leave two of these deputies with you. Someof you had better ride in to-morrow, for there may be overturesmade looking towards a settlement; and treat those beeves well,so that there can be no charge of damage to the cattle.Good-night, everybody."