Six Feet Four Page 5

  CHAPTER V

  THE MAN FROM POISON HOLE RANCH

  Dry Town never looked less dry. As Buck Thornton drew rein in front ofthe one brick building of which the ugly little village could boast, themud was above his yellow-sorrel's fetlocks. But the rain was over, thesun was out glorious and warm above the level lands and in the air was amiraculous feeling as of spring. It is the way of Dry Town in the matterof seasons to rival in abruptness its denizens' ways in other matters.The last great storm had come and gone and seeds would be bursting onevery hand and eagerly now.

  Because he loved a good horse, and this rangy sorrel above others, andbecause further he had been forced to ride the willing animal unusuallyhard all day yesterday, Thornton today had travelled slowly. So, longago, he had watched the stage out of sight and now, when finally he drewup in front of the bank, he saw Hap Smith's lumbering vehicle standingdown by the stable. From it he let his eyes travel along the double rowof ill kept, unpainted houses. Fifty yards away a stranger would havemarked only his great height, the lean, clean, powerful physique. Butfrom near by one might have forgotten this matter of physical bignessfor another, noting just the man's eyes alone. Very keen, piercing,quick eyes just now, watchful and suspicious of every corner and alley,they more than hinted at a stern vigilance that was more than halfpositive expectancy.

  Only for a moment he sat so. Then he swung down from the saddle and withspurs clanking noisily upon the board sidewalk went into the bankbuilding.

  "I want to see Mr. Templeton," he said abruptly to the clerkly lookingindividual behind the new lattice work. The words were very quietlyspoken, the voice rather soft and gentle for so big a man. And yet thecashier turned quickly, looking at him curiously.

  "Who shall I say it is?" he demanded.

  "This man's town is getting citified mighty fast," the tall man grunted."I should have brought my cards! Well, just tell him it's Thornton."

  "Thornton?"

  "You got it. Buck Thornton, from the Poison Hole ranch."

  He spoke lightly, his voice hinting at a vast store of good nature, hiseyes, however, losing meanwhile no glint of their stern light as theylooked at the man to whom he was talking and beyond him watched the doorthrough which he had entered. The cashier regarded him with newinterest.

  "You are early, Mr. Thornton," he said, rather more warmly than he hadspoken before. "But Mr. Templeton will be glad to see you. He is inhis private office. Walk right in."

  Thornton stooped, his back to the wall, and swiftly unbuckled his spurs.Carrying them in his left hand he passed along the lattice workpartition which shut off the cashier with his books and till, and threwopen the door at the end of the short hallway. Here was a sort ofwaiting room, to judge from the two or three chairs, the square toppedtable strewn with financial journals and illustrated magazinesindiscriminately mixed. He closed the door behind him, standing againfor a moment as he had stood out in the street, his eyes keen andwatchful as they took swift inventory of the room and its furnishings.

  Before him was a second door upon the frosted glass top of which werethe stencilled words: J.W. TEMPLETON, President, Private. He took a steptoward the door and then stopped suddenly as though the very vehemenceof the voice bursting out upon the other side of it had halted him.

  "I tell you, Miss Waverly," ... it was Templeton's voice, snappy andirritable, ... "this thing is madness! Pure and simple, unadulteratedmadness! It's as devoid of sense as a last year's nest of birds; it's asfull of danger as a ... a ..."

  "Never mind exhausting your similes, Mr. Templeton," came the answer,the girl's voice young and fresh and yet withal firm and a little cool."I didn't come to ask your advice, you know. And you haven't given mewhat I did come for. If you ..."

  Thornton pushed the door open, sweeping off his hat as he came in, andsaid bluntly,

  "I don't know what you folks are talking about, but I judge it'simportant. And there's no sense in loose-endish talk when you don't knowwho's listening."

  The square built, square faced man tapping with big square finger endsat the table in front of him whirled about suddenly, his gesture andeyes alike showing his keen annoyance at the interruption. Then when hesaw who it was he got to his feet, saying crisply:

  "I'm glad it's you. This young woman has got it into her head ..."

  "You will remember, Mr. Templeton, that this is in strict confidence?"

  Templeton's teeth shut with a click. Thornton turned from him and, withhis spurs in one hand, his hat caught in the other, stood looking downupon the owner of the voice that was at once so fresh and young, socoolly determined and vaguely defiant. And as he looked at her there wasmuch speculation in his grave eyes. Odd that he should stumble upon herthe first thing. Odd and--natural....

  The girl's back was to him. For a moment she did not shift her positionthe least fraction of an inch, but sat very still, leaning forward inher chair, facing the banker. Then after a little when it was evidentthat Templeton was going to say nothing more she turned slowly to thenew comer, her lashes sweeping upward swiftly as her eyes met his fulland steady. And the man from the Poison Hole ranch, his own eyes lookingdown into hers very gravely, noted many things in the quick, keen waycharacteristic of him.

  He saw that her mouth, red lips about very white teeth, was smilingsoftly, confidently; and yet that the brown-flecked grey of her eyes wasas unsmiling, as gravely speculative as his own eyes were. He saw thather skin was a golden brown from life in the open outdoors, that she hadupon the heels of her boots a pair of tiny, sharp rowelled spurs, that ariding quirt hung from her right wrist by its rawhide thong, that hercheeks were a little flushed as though from excitement but that she knewthe trick of forbidding her eyes to tell what her excitement was. He sawthat her throat, where her neck scarf fell loosely away from it, wasvery round and white. He saw that while her grey riding habit coveredher body it hid none of her body's grace and strength and slenderyouthfulness.

  While his eyes left hers to note these things her eyes had been as busy,running from the man's close cropped dark hair to his mud-spatteredboots. And there came into her look just a hint of admiration which theman did not see as she in her swift examination noted the breadth ofshoulder, the straight tallness of him, the clean, supple, sinewy formwhich his loose attire of soft shirt, unbuttoned vest grey with dust,and shaggy chaps, black and much worn, in no way concealed.

  "I have come," he was saying now to Templeton, speaking abruptlyalthough his voice was as gentle and low-toned and pleasant as when hehad spoken with the cashier, "three days ahead of time. It won't take mea minute to get through. And if you and the young lady will excuse meI'll say my little speech and drift, giving you a free swing for yourbusiness. Besides, I'm in a fair sized hurry."

  "Certainly," said Templeton immediately, while the girl, smiling nowwith eyes and lips together, unconcernedly, made no answer. "MissWaverly is planning to.... Well, I want to talk with her a little more.Well, Thornton," and only now he put out his hand to be gripped quicklyand warmly by the other's, "what is it? I'm glad to see you.Everything's all right?"

  "Yes. I just dropped in to fix up that second payment."

  "Shall I go out while you talk?" The girl had gotten to her feetswiftly. "If you are going to say anything important ..."

  "No, you'd better stay," Thornton said, and added jestingly: "I've gotnothing confidential on my mind, and since I'm just going to hand Mr.Templeton some money, an almighty big pile of money for me to becarrying around, maybe we'd better have a witness to the transaction."

  The banker looked at him in surprise.

  "You don't mean that you've got it with you now? That you've justridden in from the range and have brought it with you ... in cash!"

  For answer the cattle man slipped a bronzed hand into his shirt andbrought out a small packet done up in a piece of buckskin and tied witha string. He tossed it to the shining table top, where it fell heavily.

  "There she is," he said lightly. "Gold and a few pieces of paper. Thewhole
thing. Count it."

  Templeton sank back into his chair and stared at him. He put out hishand, lifted the packet, dropped it back upon the table, stared again,and then burst out irritably:

  "Of all the reckless young fools in the county you two are withoutequals. Buck Thornton, I thought _you_ had some sense!"

  "You never can tell," came the quiet rejoinder from unsmiling lips. "Isaw a man once I thought had sense and I found out afterwards he ransheep. Now, if you'll see my bet I'll travel."

  Templeton's desk shears were already busy. He jerked the packet openflat on the table. There were many twenty dollar pieces, some fives andtens and a little bundle of bank notes. He counted swiftly.

  "It's all right. Five thousand dollars," he said crisply. "In full forsecond payment due, as you say, in three days. I'll note it on the twoagreements. And I'll give you a receipt."

  The tall man's deep chest rose and fell to a sigh as of relief at havingdone his errand; he placed his spurs in his hat and his hat upon achair and began to roll a cigarette. The banker wrote quickly withsputtering pen in a book of receipt blanks, tore out the leaf and passedit across the table.

  "There you are, Buck Thornton of the Poison Hole," he said with anincrease of irritability in his curt tones. "And now you listen to me;you're a fool! Or else you're so far out of the world over on your ranchthat you don't know what's going on. Which is it?"

  "I hear a good deal of what's happening," returned Thornton drily.

  "Then I suppose you realize that a man who rides day and night, throughthat country, carrying five thousand dollars with him, and wheneverybody in the country knows that according to contract he is aboutdue to make a five thousand dollar payment, is acting like a fool with asuicidal mania?"

  For a moment Thornton did not answer. He seemed so engrossed in hiscigarette building that one might almost suppose that he had not heard.And then, lifting his head suddenly, his eyes keen and hard uponTempleton's, he said casually,

  "I dropped in three days ahead of time, didn't I?"

  "And the wonder is," snapped Templeton, "that you haven't dropped cleanout of the world! If you do a fool thing like this, Buck Thornton, whenyour last payment is due, you can do it. But I won't go near yourfuneral!"

  Thornton laughed easily, tucked the receipt into his vest pocket, andreached for his hat and spurs.

  "I'm obliged, Mr. Templeton," he acknowledged lightly. "But we've got toadmit that I got across all right this time. And, as you've heard, Isuppose, right under Mr. Bad Man's nose, since I was carrying thatlittle wad last night when Hap Smith got cleaned at Poke Drury's. Well,I'll be going. Just give that rattlesnake Pollard the five thousand andan invitation from me to keep off my ranch, remembering that it doesn'thappen to belong to him any more."

  He nodded and went to the door. There he turned and looked back at thegirl. She had risen swiftly, even coming a step toward him.

  "I haven't thanked you ... I ..."

  Templeton looked on curiously, an odd twitching at the corners of hislarge mouth. Thornton threw up a sudden hand.

  "No," he said hastily. "You haven't spoiled things by thanking me.And.... We'll see each other again," he concluded in his quietlymatter-of-fact way. And, his nod for both of them, he went out.