“Mebbe they’re chasin’ rustlers already,” said one of the men.
“More likely out doin’ a little rustlin’,” said Buck5 Priest grimly. His face was the color of ashes, his left leg dangling7 uselessly from outside the stirrup. The old man was living on his nerve now. Park Reber scowled8 at him, but said nothing in reply to Priest’s sarcasm9.
“Shall we go to the Lightnin’?” asked a cowboy.
“No,” said Reber shortly, and headed for the Two Bar X.
The men were tired, sleepy, hungry; they were willing to go anywhere to stop for a while. They did not go back to the road, but cut across the hills. Daylight came swiftly, and the sun was painting the tops of the hills when they struck the road about a mile below the Two Bar X.
And here the road was a mass of cow tracks. Reber leaned forward in his saddle, pointing at them.
“The trail of the rustlers,” he said. “They’re headin’ for the West Fork pass.”
“Listen!” Nelson threw up his hand.
“My ⸺!” exclaimed Reber. “The boys of the Two Bar X are tryin’ to stop ’em! Come on!”
Some one lashed11 Buck Priest’s horse across the rump with a rope, and the animal almost unseated the suffering old man. He gritted12 his teeth and rode along with them. The men were riding with rifles in their hands now.
About three hundred yards short of the Two Bar X, the road topped an elevation13 around the point of a hill and, as they swung around this point, Park Reber, riding at the head of his men, drew rein14.
The whole front end of the ranchhouse was enveloped15 in flames, and beyond the burning house the hills were full of cattle. They saw a man running away from the corrals. He mounted a horse and headed for the cattle.
A rifle bullet struck the ground in front of Reber’s horse and buzzed angrily away. The riders separated like a covey of quail16. Another bullet thudded against a horse, and its rider flung himself free as the horse reared up and fell backward.
Cowboys were dismounting as swiftly as possible, letting their horses go; then they ran ahead, taking advantage of every bit of cover. Rifles began to crack as the Reber men searched the corrals and sheds with bullets.
Mounted men began riding from behind the stable, heading toward the cattle.
“Get yore horses!” yelled Reber. “They’re headin’ for the pass.”
The men continued to shoot at the retreating cowboys. One of them pitched sidewise off his horse, and his horse came back toward the stable. Reber’s men mounted swiftly and swept down on the ranch.
A man ran from the stable-door, trying to get around the corner, but a hail of bullets cut him down. He went flat on his side, rolled over and fired one shot in return. Park Reber jerked back in his saddle and slid to the ground.
At that same moment one of the men yelled warningly. The outside roothouse door was flung open and out came Jack2 Silver, carrying June Meline across one arm. He staggered, flung up his right hand to shoot at them, but tripped over an old water-bucket and fell flat.
Several cowboys threw themselves upon him before he could get up, and held him tightly. They yanked him to his feet, and others took charge of June.
“Well, yuh got me, I guess,” panted Jack.
“I guess we have!” snorted a cowboy. “Yo’re all through, you dirty half-breed.”
Jack shut his lips tightly.
“Reber’s been hit hard,” said one of the men. “That feller down at the stable got him.”
They led Jack around to where Reber was lying. But Jack paid no attention to Reber; he was staring at old Buck Priest, who was barely able to sit in his saddle.
Park Reber had the men lift him to a sitting position. He looked at Jack Silver closely.
“I swore I’d get you, Silver,” he said. “I started out last night to clean out the valley. I don’t know how badly I’m hurt, but it’s bad enough. But you’ve stolen your last cow, kidnaped your last woman. If you’ve got any prayers to say you better say ’em.”
“I’m not prayin’,” said Jack coldly. “I never stole yore cows and I never kidnaped any woman.”
“What else could yuh say?” cried Reber, and then to his men, “Run a rope over the ridge-pole of the stable.”
The men hurried to do his bidding. Old Buck Priest had heard Reber’s order, and it seemed to amuse him greatly.
“Goin’ to hang the lad, eh?” he laughed. “Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! That’s good! Goin’ to die with that on yore dirty soul, eh? It’s like yuh, Reber.”
He turned to Jack, who was being held by two men.
“Reber’s men bushwhacked me last night, Jack. They killed Ken17 Mader. Yesterday afternoon they killed O’Steen.”
“You lie!” declared Reber weakly. “You’re tryin’ to turn it around. You stole my cattle and my men caught yuh.”
“Lies!” panted Buck. “All lies! We didn’t know Herd was dead until we met yuh at the forks of the road, Nelson.”
“The rope’s ready, Park,” called one of the men.
One of the cowboys threw a noose19 around Jack’s neck, but he did not quiver. He was probably the coolest man in the crowd.
“Have you said yore prayer?” asked Reber.
Jack shut his lips tightly.
“All right,” said Reber weakly.
“I wish you’d wait until June Meline recovers,” said Jack. “She might have somethin’ to say.”
“Your time is up, Silver.”
“Yuh better not hang him,” said Buck Priest. “You’ll be sorry, Reber. Ain’t there nothin’ that can save him?”
“Not a thing, Priest.”
“All right, Reber. Go ahead and hang him. Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! Hang him, you dirty old pup! Hang yore own son, and be ⸺ to yuh! Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!”
In spite of his weakness, Reber jerked forward, staring at Buck Priest. Jack Silver stumbled forward, his eyes on the curiously20 twisted features of the old cattleman. Reber tore his gaze away and looked at Jack Silver.
“You lie, Priest!” he said.
“I don’t lie! He’s your son, Park. His mother died when he was born and he was nursed by a squaw. Ask him who his father was—he don’t know, I tell yuh!”
Jack shook his head.
“I kept track of him, Park,” said Priest. “I shipped him to school and paid for it. I wanted an ace6 in the hole. You’ve always wondered if there was a child. Look at him, Reber. He’s yore own flesh and blood—and you’re goin’ to hang him! Let’s get it over with, Reber. I want to see you hang yore own son.”
Reber shut his eyes, and after a few moments the tears trickled21 down his cheeks. The wound was sapping his strength. It was a long way to a doctor, and he knew he couldn’t live till one came.
“Hey,” he shouted, “that fellow down by the stable is Bell, of this ranch, and the one on the hill up there is Bob Cliff, of the Lightnin’! What does it mean?”
“It means that Reber’s own men planned to clean him out,” said Jack Silver. “They kidnaped June Meline. I found her and brought her here. Last night Bell killed McLeese. He was on the porch and he’s burned up by this time. I think you’ll find that the Circle X, Lightnin’ and Two Bar X outfits23 were makin’ a big steal, but circumstances blocked ’em.”
Reber opened his eyes and stared at Jack.
“Is that all true, Jack?” he asked.
“The girl’s awake,” burst in one of the men.
They brought her over to Reber. She saw the rope around Jack’s neck.
“He—he saved me!” she said hoarsely24 to Reber. “Jack Silver wasn’t to blame. It was your own men. Oh, you’ve been hurt again!”
Reber leaned back and his face was very white now.
“Come in close, boys,” he said weakly. “Listen to what I’m sayin’. No time to write. Jack Silver is my son. Everything I own belongs to him. I think Buck Priest taught him to hate me. I—I didn’t kill off his herd of cattle. Mebbe my men did it. But it’s all right now. He owns this valley and everything else I have.
“Get Buck Priest to a doctor. I don’t hate him any more. He gave me back my son. Jack—come closer. This—is—June. She’s—fine. I—I—”
His head fell forward on his chest.
There was little left of the old ranchhouse when Jack Silver and June Meline stood beside the body of Park Reber, who seemed to be smiling in his sleep. Nelson came up to Jack and held out his hand.
“You’ll have to hire new crews, Jack,” he said. “I imagine a lot of Diamond R men went over the West Fork pass this mornin’.”
“Let ’em go,” said Jack. “There’s been enough killin’.”
He put his good arm around June and they went down toward the stables, where the men were rigging a stretcher to carry Buck Priest back to his ranch.
点击收听单词发音
1 decided | |
adj.决定了的,坚决的;明显的,明确的 | |
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2 jack | |
n.插座,千斤顶,男人;v.抬起,提醒,扛举;n.(Jake)杰克 | |
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3 ranch | |
n.大牧场,大农场 | |
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4 deserted | |
adj.荒芜的,荒废的,无人的,被遗弃的 | |
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5 buck | |
n.雄鹿,雄兔;v.马离地跳跃 | |
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6 ace | |
n.A牌;发球得分;佼佼者;adj.杰出的 | |
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7 dangling | |
悬吊着( dangle的现在分词 ); 摆动不定; 用某事物诱惑…; 吊胃口 | |
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8 scowled | |
怒视,生气地皱眉( scowl的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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9 sarcasm | |
n.讥讽,讽刺,嘲弄,反话 (adj.sarcastic) | |
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10 rattle | |
v.飞奔,碰响;激怒;n.碰撞声;拨浪鼓 | |
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11 lashed | |
adj.具睫毛的v.鞭打( lash的过去式和过去分词 );煽动;紧系;怒斥 | |
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12 gritted | |
v.以沙砾覆盖(某物),撒沙砾于( grit的过去式和过去分词 );咬紧牙关 | |
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13 elevation | |
n.高度;海拔;高地;上升;提高 | |
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14 rein | |
n.疆绳,统治,支配;vt.以僵绳控制,统治 | |
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15 enveloped | |
v.包围,笼罩,包住( envelop的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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16 quail | |
n.鹌鹑;vi.畏惧,颤抖 | |
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17 ken | |
n.视野,知识领域 | |
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18 herd | |
n.兽群,牧群;vt.使集中,把…赶在一起 | |
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19 noose | |
n.绳套,绞索(刑);v.用套索捉;使落入圈套;处以绞刑 | |
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20 curiously | |
adv.有求知欲地;好问地;奇特地 | |
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21 trickled | |
v.滴( trickle的过去式和过去分词 );淌;使)慢慢走;缓慢移动 | |
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22 bustling | |
adj.喧闹的 | |
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23 outfits | |
n.全套装备( outfit的名词复数 );一套服装;集体;组织v.装备,配置设备,供给服装( outfit的第三人称单数 ) | |
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24 hoarsely | |
adv.嘶哑地 | |
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