Yet he could not permit Kester and Chavis to think they could repeat the offense with impunity. That would be an indication of impotence, of servile yielding to the feminine edict that had already gone forth, and behind which Chavis and his men were even now hiding—the decree of the Flying W owner that there should be no taking of human life. His lips twisted crookedly as on the morning of the day following his adventure with Ruth and the recreant pony he mounted his own animal and rode away from the outfit without telling any of them where he was going. Two or three hours later, in a little basin near the plateau where Ruth had overheard the men talking, Chavis and Kester were watching the crooked smile; their own faces as pale as Randerson’s, their breath swelling their lungs as the threat of impending violence assailed them; their muscles rippling and cringing in momentary expectation of the rapid movement they expected—and dreaded; their hearts laboring and pounding. For they saw in the face of this man who had brought his pony to a halt within ten feet of them a decision to adhere to the principles that had governed him all his days, and they knew that a woman’s order would not stay the retributive impulse that was gleaming in his eyes.
“We’ll get to an understandin’ before we quit here,” he said, his cold, alert eyes roving over them. “You’ve made one break, an’ you’re gettin’ out of it because my boss ain’t dead stuck on attendin’ funerals. I reckon you know I ain’t got no such nice scruples, an’ a funeral more or less won’t set so awful heavy on my conscience. There’s goin’ to be more mourners requisitioned in this country damned sudden if women ain’t goin’ to be allowed range rights. I ain’t passin’ around no more warnin’s, an’ you two is talkin’ mighty sudden or the mourners will be yowlin’. What’s the verdict?”
Chavis sighed. “We wasn’t meanin’ no harm,” he apologized, some color coming into his face again.
“An’ you?” Randerson’s level look confused Kester.
“I ain’t travelin’ that trail no more,” he promised, his eyes shifting. He knew as well as Chavis that it was the only way. A word, spoken with a hint of belligerence, a single hostile movement, would have precipitated the clash they knew Randerson had come to force—a clash which they knew would end badly for them. For Randerson had chosen his position when halting Patches—it was strategic, and they knew his fingers were itching for the feel of his guns.
They saw the crooked smile fade from his lips; they curved with cold, amused contempt.
“Not runnin’ no risks to speak of, eh?” he drawled. “Well, get goin’!” He lounged in the saddle, watching them as they rode away, not looking back. When they reached the far slope of the basin he turned Patches and sniffed disgustedly. Five minutes later he was at the crest of the back slope, riding toward the outfit, miles away.
It was an hour later that he observed a moving spot on the sky line. The distance was great, but something familiar in the lines of the figure—when he presently got near enough to see that the blot was a pony and rider—made his blood leap with eager anticipation; and he spoke sharply to Patches, sending him forward at a brisk lope.
He had seen some cattle near the rider; he had passed them earlier in the morning—lean, gaunt range steers that would bother a fast pony in a run if thoroughly aroused.
He saw that the rider had halted very close to one of the steers, and a look of concern flashed into his eyes.