human
Glad he draw'd first, remarked Cass Grimshaw, as he shoved a fresh cartridge into his gun.
gpt
It give him a chanct to die like a man, even if he ain't never lived like one.
human
Seen the smoke, an' come over to see who was campin' here, he imparted,
gpt
Be'n over on the other side--Y Bar, he imparted briefly.
human
Cass, I need your help.
gpt
I mistrusted you would. Name it.
human
In the first place, is Purdy one of your gang? Long Bill said so--but I didn't believe him.
gpt
Why?
human
Well--he ain't the stripe I thought you'd pick.
gpt
Make a mistake sometimes, same as other folks--yup I picked him.
human
I'm sorry, Cass. You an' I've be'n friends for a long while. But--Cass, I'm goin' to get Purdy. If I've got to go to your hang-out an' fight your whole gang--_I'm goin' to get him!_
gpt
Help yerself, Grimshaw grinned,
human
What do you mean?
gpt
I mean if you don't get him before supper, I'll have to. The four of 'em's got tired of the horse game. Banks an' railroad trains looks better to them. I'm too slow fer 'em. They're tired of me, an' tonight they aim to kill me an' Bill Harlow--which they're welcome to if they can git away with it.
human
Keep pretty well posted--don't you, Cass?
gpt
Where'd I be now, if I didn't? But about this woman business--I told Purdy to let the women alone--but you can't tell that bird nothin'. He knows it all--an' then some. Is she your woman, an' how come Purdy to have her?
human
No, she ain't mine--she's the wife of the pilgrim--the one we didn't lynch, that night----
gpt
Bad business, Tex--mixin' up with other men's wives. Leads to trouble every time--there's enough single ones--an' even then----
human
It ain't that kind of a mixup. This is on the level. She an' I was on Long Bill's ferry, an' the drift piled up against us so bad I had to cut the cable. We drifted ashore this side of Red Sand, an' while I was gone to get some horses, Purdy come along an' made off with her. I followed an' lost Purdy's trail here in the bad lands--I was half crazy yesterday, thinkin' of her bein' in Purdy's clutches--but, today, it ain't so bad. If I find her quick there's a chance she's safe. He paused and drew from his pocket the folded hand-bill.
gpt
The pilgrim offered a reward, an' Purdy aims to get it.
human
I seen one, he said, gruffly. For a moment he puffed rapidly upon his cigarette, threw away the butt, and looked the Texan squarely in the eye:
gpt
There's a couple of things about that bill I've wanted to know. You've told me about the woman part. But the rest of it? What in hell you be'n doin' to have a reward up fer you? You spoke a mouthful when you said we'd be'n friends--we're friends yet. It's a friend that's talkin' to you now--an' one that knows what he's talkin' about. You're a damn fool! A young buck like you, which if you'd stay straight could be foreman of any outfit on the range--an' mebbe git one of his own started after while--goin' an' gittin' hisself outlawed! Fer God's sake, man--you don't know what you've gone up against--but--me--I know! How bad be you in? The Texan started to speak, but the other interrupted.
human
If it ain't bad--if a matter of a thousan' or so will square it--you go an' fix it up. I've got the money--an' it ain't doin' me no good--nor no one else, cached out in an old iron kettle. You take it an' git straight--an' then you stay straight!
gpt
There ain't nothin' against me--that is nothin' that amounts to anything. I got a few drinks in me, an' cleaned out the Red Front saloon over in Timber City an' because I wouldn't let Hod Blake arrest me an' shove me in his damned little jail, he stuck up the reward. I'll just ride over when I get time, an' claim the reward myself--an' use the money to pay my fine with--that part's a joke.
human
But, I won't forget--Cass.
gpt
Aw, hell! That's all right. You'd of made a hell-winder of an outlaw, but the best of 'em an' the worst of 'em--there's nothin' ahead of us--but that. He jerked his thumb in the direction of the body of Long Bill that lay sprawled where it had fallen and changed the subject abruptly.
human
The woman's safe, all right--she's over to Cinnabar Joe's.
gpt
Cinnabar Joe's!
human
Yes, Cinnabar an' that there Jennie that used to work in the Wolf River Hotel, they married up an' started 'em a little outfit over on Red Sand--couple hundred head of dogies. Purdy's got somethin' on Cinnabar, an'----
gpt
Somethin' on him! exclaimed Tex,
human
Cinnabar's white clean through! What could Purdy have on him?
gpt
Cinnabar's be'n in this country around six years. Him bein' more'n six year old, it stands to reason he done quite a bit of livin' 'fore he come here. Where'd he come from? Where'd you come from? Where'd I come from? Where'd anyone you know come from? You might of be'n ornery as hell in Texas, or New Mexico, or Colorado--an' I might of be'n a preacher in California, or Nevada. All we know is that 'long as we've know'd him Cinnabar's be'n on the level--an' that's all we're entitled to know--an' all we want to know. Whatever Cinnabar was somewhere's else, ain't nobody's business. Nobody's, that is, but Purdy's. He made his brag in the hang-out one night that when the time come, he'd tap Cinnabar fer his pile----
human
The damned dirty hound!
gpt
That's sayin' it ladylike, grinned the outlaw,
human
I told him Cinnabar was a friend of mine an' he was to keep off him, but Purdy, he's plumb disregardful of advice. Anyways, the woman's safe. Purdy's figurin' on leavin' her there while he dickers fer the reward.
gpt
Where did you say I'd find Purdy? he asked. The other consulted his watch.
human
It's nine-thirty. At noon he'll be at the water hole, four mile north of the hang-out. Up till then they ain't no hurry. We'll plant _him_ first, an' then I'll go along--me an' Bill Harlow----
gpt
No Cass, this is my job. It's a long score I've got to settle with Purdy--startin' back a year. It leads off with a cut cinch. Then, there was the booze that Cinnabar Joe doped----
human
Cinnabar?
gpt
Yeh, when he was tendin' bar. I can see through it, now--since you told about Purdy havin' somethin' on him. Purdy got him to do it----
human
I don't believe Cinnabar'd of done that no matter what Purdy had on him.
gpt
But he did, though. Then he switched the glasses, an' drunk it himself----
human
Some man!
gpt
I'll tell a hand! An' that same night Purdy took the pilgrim's girl out on the bench, an' dragged her off her horse----
human
I heard about it.
gpt
An' then, yesterday, he found her unconscious there by the river. The Texan paused and when he continued his voice was low.
human
An' you know, an' I know what would have happened, if Long Bill hadn't showed up with those bills--an' then signin' my name to that letter to the pilgrim demandin' five thousan' dollars--an' last of all I owe him one for ridin' Cinnabar the way he's doin--I ain't forgot those switched drinks.
gpt
Quite a score to settle, take it first an' last,
human
What's the joke?
gpt
There ain't no joke about it--only I was thinkin', mebbe you'd left out somethin'.
human
Left out somethin'?
gpt
Yeh. What you think would of happened, an' what would of happened out here in the bad lands, if Long Bill hadn't come along is two different things. I was trailin' Purdy from the time he hit the bad lands with the girl. I wanted to find out what his game was an' when he run onto Long Bill I snuck up an' listened to their powwow. When I found out he aimed to take her to Cinnabar's, I figured, like you did, that she'd be safe, so I kind of loafed around to see if you wouldn't be along.
human
You keep awful close cases on Purdy.
gpt
Yeh--couple of pretty good reasons. I knew he was plottin' to bump me off, an' I kind of had some curiosity to find out when they figured on pullin' the job. But, mostly, it was on account of McWhorter's gal----
human
McWhorter's girl! cried Tex,
gpt
Nothin'--except that Purdy's be'n buzzin' around tryin' to get her--an' I don't mean marry her, neither--an' when he found out they wasn't nothin' doin'--that he didn't stand snake-high with her, he figured on gittin' her, anyway----
human
That's what I meant about leavin' out an' item--main item, too--I hope. You see, I seen you two ridin' together yesterday--when you sent her back home at the edge of the bad lands. An' that's what made me so damn mad when I thought you'd gone an' got outlawed, an' was mixin' it up with this here other woman. The man that gits McWhorter's gal don't want his trail tangled up with other men's wives. Marry her, Tex--an' take her out of this damn neck of the woods! Take her across to the other side.
gpt
I'm goin' to, he answered,--
human
Have you, man! Make her have you!
gpt
I aim to, smiled the Texan, and Grimshaw noted that behind the smile was a ring of determination.
human
So you've be'n kind of--of lookin' out fer her, Cass?
gpt
Who the hell was they to do it, but me? answered the man, roughly,
human
McWhorter's busy up to the lambin'-camp, miles away--an' she's there alone. The man paused, his face working strangely,
gpt
By God! If Purdy'd laid a finger on her I'd of--of _tore him to pieces_! The Texan stared--surprised at the terrible savagery of the tone. The man continued, his voice dropped low:
human
It was that that outlawed me, years ago--killin' the damn reptile that ruined my little girl. I stood by the law, them days. He was arrested an' had his trial--an' they give him a year! _One year for that!_ She died before he was out--her, an' the baby both. An' he died _the day he got out_--an' I was outlawed--an' I'm damn proud of it!
gpt
I'm goin' after Purdy now, he said quietly.
human
But first, I'll help you with him.
gpt
Better take one of these along, he cautioned,
human
Purdy packs two--one inside his shirt--an' the dirty hound carries a squeezer in his pocket--don't play him fer dead till he's damn good an' dead, or he'll git you. Better let me an' Bill go along--there's four of 'em--we'll leave Purdy fer you--he's the only one that kin shoot right good--but the others might edge in on you, at that.
gpt
No, Cass, this is my job an' I'm goin' through with it.
human
I've got a little scoutin' around to do first, he concluded,
gpt
So long, Cass.
human
So long, boy. Good luck to you--an' remember to watch Purdy's other hand.
gpt
Don't! Don't Joe! she screamed,
human
I don't care a damn what he said! If the others don't spill it, he will. It ain't no use, an' I'd ruther git it over with.
gpt
Oh, what is it, Joe? she faltered,
human
The man laid the six-gun on the table and faced her with set lips.
gpt
Wait! she cried before he could speak,