The Long Shadow, page 9
CHAPTER IX.
_The "Double-Crank."_
The weeks that followed immediately after bulged big with the thingswhich Billy must do or have done. For to lie on one's back in the sunwith one's hat pulled low, dreaming lazily and with minute detail theperfect supervision of a model cow-outfit from its very inceptionup through the buying of stock and the building of corrals and thebreaking of horses to the final shipping of great trainloads of sleekbeef, is one thing; to start out in reality to do all that, withthe hundred little annoyances and hindrances which come not to one'sdreaming in the sun, is something quite different.
But with all the perplexities born of his changed condition and theresponsibility it brought him, Billy rejoiced in the work and airilyplanned the years to come--years in which he would lead Alexander P.Dill straight into the ranks of the Western millionaires; years whenthe sun of prosperity would stand always straight overhead, himselfa Joshua who would, by his uplifted hands, keep it there with never acloud to dim the glory of its light.
For the first time in his life he rode over Texas prairies and lostthereby some ideals and learned many things, the while he spentmore money than he had ever owned--or ever expected to own--as thepreliminary to making his pet dream come true; truth to tell, itmattered little to Billy Boyle whether his dream came true for himselfor for another, so long as he himself were the chief magician.
So it was with a light heart that he swung down from the trainat Tower, after his homing flight, and saw Dill, conspicuous as aflagstaff, waiting for him on the platform, his face puckered into asmile of welcome and his bony fingers extended ready to grip painfullythe hand of Charming Billy.
"I'm very glad to see you back, William," he greeted earnestly. "Ihope you are well, and that you met with no misfortune while you wereaway. I have been very anxious for your return, as I need your adviceupon a matter which seems to me of prime importance. I did not wishto make any decisive move until I had consulted with you, and time ispressing. Did you--er--buy as many cattle as you expected to get?" Itseemed to Billy that there was an anxious note in his voice. "Yourletters were too few and too brief to keep me perfectly informed ofyour movements."
"Why, everything was lovely at my end uh the trail, Dilly--only I felldown on them four thousand two-year-olds. Parts uh the country wasquarantined for scab, and I went way around them places. And I wastoo late to see the cattlemen in a bunch when they was at theAssociation--only you ain't likely to savvy that part uh thebusiness--and had to chase 'em all over the country. Uh course it wasmy luck to have 'em stick their prices up on the end of a pole, whereI didn't feel like climbing after 'em. So I only contracted for acouple uh thousand to be laid down in Billings somewhere between thefirst and the tenth of June, at twenty-one dollars a head. It wasthe best I could do this year--but next winter I can go down earlier,before the other buyers beat me to it, and do a lot better. Don't yuhworry, Dilly; it ain't serious."
On the contrary, Dill looked relieved, and Billy could not helpnoticing it. His own face clouded a little. Perhaps Dill had lost hismoney, or the bulk of it, and they couldn't do all the things theyhad meant to do, after all; how else, thought Billy uneasily, couldhe look like that over what should ordinarily be something of adisappointment? He remembered that Dill, after the workings ofthe cattle business from the very beginning had been painstakinglyexplained to him just before Billy started south, had been anxiousto get at least four thousand head of young stock on the range thatspring. Something must have gone wrong. Maybe a bank had gonebusted or something like that. Billy stole a glance up at the other,shambling silently along beside him, and decided that something hadcertainly happened--and on the heels of that he remembered oddly thathe had felt almost exactly like this when Miss Bridger had asked himto show her where was the coffee, and there _wasn't_ any coffee. Therewas the same heavy feeling in his chest, and the same--
"I wrote you a letter three or four days ago--on the third, to beexact," Dill was saying. "I don't suppose it reached you, however. Iwas going to have you meet me in Hardup; but then your telegram wasforwarded to me there and I came on here at once. I only arrived thismorning. I think that after we have something to eat we would betterstart out immediately, unless you have other plans. I drove over ina rig, and as the horses have rested several hours and are none theworse for the drive, I think we can easily make the return trip thisafternoon."
"You're the doctor," assented Billy briefly, more uneasy thanbefore and yet not quite at the point of asking questions. In hisacquaintance with Dill he had learned that it was not always wise toquestion too closely; where Dill wished to give his confidence he gaveit freely, but beyond the limit he had fixed for himself was a stonewall, masked by the flowers, so to speak, of his unfailing courtesy.Billy had once or twice inadvertently located that wall.
A great depression seized upon him and made him quite indifferentto the little pleasures of homecoming; of seeing the grass green andvelvety and hearing the familiar notes of the meadow-larks and thecurlews. The birds had not returned when he went away, and now the airwas musical with them. Driving over the prairies seemed fairly certainof being anything but pleasant to-day, with Dill doubled awkwardly inthe seat beside him, carrying on an intermittent monologue of trivialstuff to which Billy scarcely listened. He could feel that therewas something at the back of it all, and that was enough for him atpresent. He was not even anxious now to hear just what was the form ofthe disaster which had overtaken them.
"While you were away," Dill began at last in the tone that braces oneinstinctively for the worst, "I met accidentally a man of whom Ihad heard, but whom I had not seen. In the course of our casualconversation he discovered that I was about to launch myself and mycapital into the cattle-business, whereupon he himself made me anoffer which I felt should not be lightly brushed aside."
"They all did!" Billy could not help flinging out half-resentfully,when he remembered that but for his timely interference Dill wouldhave been gulled more than once.
"I admit that in my ignorance some offers advantageous only to thosewho made them appealed to me strongly. But I believe you will agreewith me that this is different. In this case I am offered a fullsection of land, with water-rights, buildings, corrals, horses, wagonsand all improvements necessary to the running of a good outfit, andten thousand head of mixed cattle, just as they are now running looseon the range, for three hundred thousand dollars. I need only payhalf this amount down, a five-year mortgage at eight per cent. onthe property covering the remainder, to be paid in five yearlyinstallments, falling due after shipping time. Now that you did notbuy as much young stock as we at first intended, I can readily makethe first payment on this place and have left between ten and twelvethousand dollars to carry us along until we begin to get somereturns from the investment I am anxious to have you look over theproposition, and tell me what you think of it. If you are in favor ofbuying, we can have immediate possession; ten days after the deal isclosed, I think the man said."
Billy tilted his hat-brim a bit to keep the sun from his eyes, andconsidered gravely the proposition. It was a great relief to discoverthat his fears were groundless and that it was only another schemeof Dilly's; another snare which he, perhaps, would be compelled, inDill's interest, to move aside. He put the reins down between hisknees and gripped them tightly while he made a cigarette. It was notuntil he was pinching the end shut that he spoke.
"If it's as you say"--and he meant no offense--"it looks like a goodthing, all right. But yuh can't most always tell. I'd have to seeit--say, yuh might tell me where this bonanza is, and what's the nameuh the brand. If it's anywheres around here I ought to know the place,all right."
Alexander P. Dill must, after all, have had some sense of humor;his eyes lost their melancholy enough almost to twinkle. "Well, theowner's name is Brown," he said slowly. "I believe they call the brandthe Double-Crank. It is located--"
"Located--hell!--do yuh think _I_ don't know?" The cigarette, readyto light as it was, slipped from Billy's fingers and dropped unheededover the wheel to the brown trail below. He took the reins carefullyfrom between his knees, straightened one that had become twisted andturned out upon the prairie to avoid a rough spot where a mud-puddlehad dried in hard ridges. Beyond, he swung back again, leaned andflicked an early horse-fly from the ribs of the off-horse, touched theother one up a bit with his whip and settled back at ease, tilting hishat at quite another angle.
"Oh, where have yuh been, Billy boy, Billy boy? Oh, where have yuh been, charming Billy?"
He hummed, in a care-free way that would have been perfectly maddeningto any one with nerves.
"I suppose I am to infer from your silence that you do not take kindlyto the proposition," observed Mr. Dill, in a colorless tone whichbetrayed the fact that he did have nerves.
"I can take a josh, all right," Billy stopped singing long enough tosay. "For a steady-minded cuss, yuh do have surprising streaks, Dilly,and that's a fact. Yuh sprung it on me mighty smooth, for not havingmuch practice--I'll say that for yuh."
Mr. Dill looked hurt. "I hope you do not seriously think that I wouldjoke upon a matter of business," he protested.
"Well, I know old Brown pretty tolerable well--and I ain't accusinghim uh ribbing up a big josh on yuh. He ain't that brand."
"I must confess I fail to get your point of view," said Mr. Dill, withjust a hint of irascibility in his voice. "There is no joke unless youare forcing one upon me now. Mr. Brown made me a bona-fide offer,and I have made a small deposit to hold it until you came and I couldconsult you. We have three days left in which to decide for or againstit. It is all perfectly straight, I assure you."
Billy took time to consider this possibility. "Well, in that case,and all jokes aside, I'd a heap rather have the running uh theDouble-Crank than be President and have all the newspapers holleringhow 'President Billy Boyle got up at eight this morning and hadham-and-eggs for his breakfast, and then walked around the block withthe Queen uh England hanging onto his left arm,' or anything like thatBut what I can't seem to get percolated through me is why, in God'sname, the Double-Crank wants to sell."
"That," Mr. Dill remarked, his business instincts uppermost, "it seemsto me, need not concern us--seeing that they _will_ sell, and at aprice we can handle."
"I reckon you're right. Would yuh mind saying over the details uh theoffer again?"
"Mr. Brown"--Dill cleared his throat--"offered to sell me a fullsection of land, extending from the line-fence of the home ranch,east--"
"Uh-huh--now what the devil's his idea in that?" Billy cut inearnestly. "The Double-Crank owns about three or four miles uh bottomland, up the creek west uh the home ranch. Wonder why he wants to holdthat out?"
"I'm sure I do not know," answered Dill. "He did not mention that tome, but confined himself, naturally, to what he was willing to sell."
"Oh it don't matter. And all the range stuff, yuh said--ten thousandhead, and--"
"I believe he is reserving some thoroughbred stock which he has boughtin the last year or two. The stock on the range--the regular rangegrade-stock--all goes, as well as the saddle-horses."
"Must be the widow said yes and wants him to settle down and be agentle farmer," decided Billy after a moment.
"We will meet him in Hardup to-night or to-morrow," Dill observed,as if he were anxious to decide the matter finally. "Do you think wewould better buy?" It was one of his little courteous ways to say "we"in discussing a business transaction, just as though Billy were one ofthe firm.
"Buy? You bet your life we'll buy! I wisht the papers was all signedup and in your inside pocket right now, Dilly. I'm going to get heartfailure the worst kind if there's any hitch. Lord, what luck!"
"Then, we will consider the matter as definitely settled," said Dill,with a sigh of satisfaction. "Brown cannot rescind now--there is mydeposit to bind the bargain. I will say I should have been sorelydisappointed if you had not shown that you favored the idea. It seemsto me to be just what we want."
"Oh--that part. But it seems to _me_ that old Brown is sure locoedto give us a chance at the outfit. He's gone plumb silly. His friendsoughta appoint a guardian over him--only I hope they won't get actiontill this deal is cinched tight." With that, Billy relapsed intocrooning his ditty. But there were odd breaks when he stopped short inthe middle of a line and forgot to finish, and there was more than onecigarette wasted by being permitted to go cold and then being chewedabstractedly until it nearly fell to pieces.
Beside him, Alexander P. Dill, folded loosely together in the seat,caressed his knees and stared unseeingly at the trail ahead of themand said never a word for more than an hour.
