Linked

: 'drag' Harlan

"So you came at last?"



Barbara had some difficulty in keeping resentment prominent in her voice

as she faced John Haydon, for other emotions were clamoring within

her--joy because Haydon had come, even though tardily; self-reproach

because she saw in Haydon's eyes a glowing anxiety and sympathy that

looked as though they were of recent birth.



There was repressed excitement in Haydon's manner
it was as though he

had only just heard of the girl's affliction and had ridden hard to come

to her.



She was sure of the sincerity in his voice when he grasped her hands

tightly and said:



"At last, Barbara! I heard it only this morning, and I have nearly killed

my horse getting over here! Look at him!"



The gray horse certainly did have the appearance of having been ridden

hard. He stood, his legs braced, his head drooping, his muzzle and chest

flecked with foam. Barbara murmured pityingly as she stroked the beast's

neck; and there was quick forgiveness in her eyes when she again looked

at Haydon.



Haydon was big--fully as tall as Harlan, and broader. His shoulders

bulged the blue flannel shirt he wore; and it was drawn into folds at his

slim waist, where a cartridge-studded belt encircled him, sagging at the

right hip with the weight of a heavy pistol.



He wore a plain gray silk handkerchief at his throat; it sagged at the

front, revealing a muscular development that had excited the envious

admiration of men. His hair was coal-black, wavy and abundant--though he

wore it short--with design, it seemed, for he must have known that it

gave him an alert, virile appearance.



His face, despite the tan upon it, and the little wrinkles brought by the

sun and wind, had a clear, healthy color, and his eyes black as his hair,

had a keen glint behind which lurked humor of a quality not to be

determined at a glance--it was changeable, fleeting, mysterious.



Barbara was silent. The steady courage that had sustained her until this

instant threatened to fail her in the presence of this big, sympathetic

man who seemed, to her, to embody that romance for which she had always

longed. She looked at him, her lips trembling with emotion.



Until now she had had no confidant--no one she could be sure of. And so,

with Haydon standing close to her, though not too close--for he had never

been able to achieve that intimacy for which he had yearned--she told him

what had happened, including details of her father's death, as related to

her by Harlan; finishing by describing the incident with Deveny in Lamo

(at which Haydon muttered a threat) and the subsequent coming of Harlan

to the Rancho Seco, together with the story of his assumption of

authority.



When she concluded Haydon laid a sympathetic hand on her shoulder.



"It's too bad, Barbara. And on top of it all, Lawson had to play the

beast, too, eh? Why didn't you send someone to me?"



"There was no one to send." Her voice threatened to break, despite the

brave gleam that flashed through the moisture in her eyes. "Lawson had

sent the men away; and when they came in Harlan took charge of them.

And--besides," she admitted, dropping her gaze, "I--I thought you ought

to--I thought you would----"



He shook her, reprovingly, laughing deeply as he led her through the

gateway into the patio, where they sat on a bench for a long time,

talking, while the aspect of the patio began to change, becoming again

a place of cheerfulness flooded with the soft, radiant light of returning

happiness--reflected in her eyes; while the sunlight streaming down into

the enclosure took on a brightness that made the girl's eyes glisten;

while the drab and empty days since her father's death began to slip back

into the limbo of memory--the sting and the sorrow of them removed. So

does the heart of youth respond to the nearness of romance.



They had been talking for half an hour when Barbara remembered that

Haydon had not expressed a desire to meet Harlan.



Haydon's face lost a little of its color as he replied to her suggestion

that they find the man.



But he laughed, rather mirthlessly, she thought.



"I intend to see him, Barbara--but alone. There are several things of

importance that I want to say to him--chiefly concerning his conduct

toward you."



He got up. Barbara rose also, and walked with him, outside the gate,

where he got on his horse, smiling down at her.



"Harlan was right about your riding out alone. I'd stay as close to the

ranchhouse as possible. There's no telling what Deveny might try to do.

But don't worry. If it wasn't so soon after--after what has happened--I

would--" He smiled, and Barbara knew he meant what he had said to her

many times--about there being a parson in Lazette, a hundred miles or so

northeastward--and of his eagerness to be present with her while the

parson "tied the knot." His manner had always been jocose, and yet she

knew of the earnestness behind it.



Still, she had not yielded to his importunities, because she had not been

quite sure that she wanted him. Nor was she certain now, though she liked

him better at this moment than she had ever liked him before.



She shook her head negatively, answering his smile; and watched him as he

rode around a corner of the ranchhouse toward the corral where, no doubt,

he would find Harlan.



* * * * *



Harlan had ridden directly to the bunkhouse door and dismounted. Red

Linton said nothing until Harlan seated himself on a bench just outside

the bunkhouse door. Then Linton grinned at him.



"There's a geezer come a-wooin'," he said.



Harlan glared at the red-haired man--a truculent, savage glare that made

Linton stretch his lips until the corners threatened to retreat to his

ears. Then Linton assumed a deprecatory manner.



"They ain't no chance for him, I reckon. He's been burnin' up the

breeze between here an' the Star for more'n a year--an' she ain't as much

as kissed him, I'd swear!"



Harlan did not answer.



"You saw him?" questioned Linton.



"Shut your rank mouth."



Linton chuckled. "I didn't know you'd been hit that bad. Howsomever, if

you have been, why, there's no sense of me wastin' time gassin' to you.

They ain't nothin' will cure that complaint but petticoats an'

smiles--the which is mighty dangerous an' uncertain. I knowed a man

once----"



Harlan got up and walked to the bunkhouse. And Linton, grinning, called

loudly after him, pretending astonishment.



"Why, he's gone. Disappeared complete. An' me tryin' to jam some sense

into his head."



Grinning, Linton sauntered away, vanishing within the blacksmith-shop.



He had hardly disappeared when Haydon appeared from around a corner of

the ranchhouse, at about the instant Harlan, sensing the departure of

Linton, came to the door, frowning.



The frown still narrowed Harlan's eyes when they rested upon the

horseman; and his brows were drawn together with unmistakable truculence

when Haydon dismounted near the corral fence.



Haydon's manner had undergone a change. When in the presence of Barbara

he had been confident, nonchalant. When he dismounted from his horse and

walked toward Harlan there was about him an atmosphere that suggested

carefulness. Before Haydon had taken half a dozen steps Harlan was aware

that the man knew him--knew of his reputation--and feared him.



Respect was in Haydon's eyes, in the droop of his shoulders, in his

hesitating step. And into Harlan's eyes came a gleam of that contempt

which had always seized him when in the presence of men who feared him.



And yet, had not Harlan possessed the faculty of reading character at a

glance; had he not had that uncanny instinct of divining the thoughts of

men who meditated violence, he could not have known that Haydon feared

him.



For Haydon's fear was not abject. It was that emotion which counsels

caution, which warns of a worthy antagonist, which respects force that is

elemental and destroying.



Haydon smiled as he halted within a few paces of Harlan and turned the

palms of his hands outward.



"You're 'Drag' Harlan, of Pardo," he said.



Harlan nodded.



"My name's Haydon. I own the Star--about fifteen miles west--on Sunset

Trail. I happen to be a friend of Miss Morgan's, and I'd like to talk

with you about the Rancho Seco."



"Get goin'."



Haydon's smile grew less expansive.



"It's a rather difficult subject to discuss. It rather seems to be none

of my affair. But you will understand, being interested in Barbara's

future, and in the welfare of the ranch, why I am presuming to question

you. What do you intend to do with the ranch?"



"Run it."



"Of course," smiled Haydon. "I mean, of course, to refer to the financial

end of it. Miss Morgan will handle the money, I suppose."



"You got orders from Miss Barbara to gas to me about the ranch?"



"Well, no, I can't say that I have. But I have a natural desire to know."



"I'll be tellin' her what I'm goin' to do."



Haydon smiled faintly. Twice, during the silence that followed Harlan's

reply, Haydon shifted his gaze from Harlan's face to the ground between

himself and the other, and then back again. It was plain to Haydon that

he could proceed no farther in that direction without incurring the wrath

that slumbered in Harlan's heart, revealed by his narrowing eyes.



In Harlan's heart was a bitter, savage passion. Hatred for this man,

which had been aroused by Barbara's reference to him, and intensified by

his visit to the girl, had been made malignant by his appearance now in

the role of inquisitor.



Jealousy, Harlan would not have admitted; yet the conviction that Haydon

was handsome, and that women would like him--that no doubt Barbara

already liked him--brought a cold rage to Harlan. He stood, during the

momentary silence, his lips curving with contempt, his eyes glinting with

a passion that was unmistakable to Haydon.



He stepped down from the doorway and walked slowly to Haydon, coming to a

halt within a yard of him. His hands were hanging at his sides, his chin

had gone a little forward; and in his manner was the threat that had

brought a paralysis of fear to more than one man.



Yet, except for a slow stiffening of his muscles, Haydon betrayed no

fear. There was a slight smile on his lips; his eyes met Harlan's

steadily and unblinkingly. In them was a glint of that mysterious humor

which other men had seen in them.



"I know you're lightning on the draw, Harlan," he said, his faint smile

fading a trifle. "I wouldn't have a chance with you; I'm not a

gun-fighter. For that reason I don't want any disagreement with you. And

I've heard enough about you to know that you don't shoot unless the other

fellow is out to 'get' you.



"We won't have any trouble. Be fair. As the man who will ultimately take

charge of the Rancho Seco--since Miss Barbara has been good enough to

encourage me--I would like to know some things. I've heard that Lane

Morgan was killed at Sentinel Rock, and that you were with him when he

died--and just before. Did he give you authority to take charge of the

Rancho Seco?"



"He told me to take hold."



"A written order?"



"His word."



"He said nothing else; there were no papers on him--nothing of value?"



Neither man had permitted his eyes to waver from the other's since Harlan

had advanced; and they now stood, with only the few feet of space between

them, looking steadily at each other.



Harlan saw in Haydon's eyes a furtive, stealthy gleam as of cupidity

glossed over with a pretense of frank curiosity. He sensed greed in

Haydon's gaze, and knowledge of a mysterious quality.



Haydon knew something about Lane Morgan's errand to Pardo; he knew why

the man had started for Pardo, and what had been on his person at the

time of his death.



Harlan was convinced of that; and the light in his eyes as he looked into

Haydon's reflected the distrust and the contempt he had for the man.



"What do you think Morgan had in his clothes?" he questioned suddenly.



A slow flush of color stole into Haydon's cheeks, then receded, leaving

him a trifle pale. He laughed, with a pretense of mockery.



"You ought to know," he said, a snarl in his voice. "You must have

searched him."



Harlan grinned with feline mirthlessness. And he stepped back a little,

knowledge and satisfaction in his eyes.



For he had "looked Haydon over," following Morgan's instructions. He had

purposely permitted Haydon to question him, expecting that during the

exchange of talk the man would say something that would corroborate the

opinion that Harlan had instantly formed, that Haydon was not to be

trusted.



And Haydon's snarl; the cupidity in his eyes, and his ill-veiled

eagerness had convinced Harlan.



Harlan did not resent Haydon's manner; he was too pleased over his

discovery that Haydon possessed traits of character that unfitted him for

an alliance with Barbara. And it would be his business to bring those

traits out, so that Barbara could see them unmistakably.



He laughed lowly, dropping his gaze to Haydon's belt; to his right hand,

which hung limply near his pistol holster; and to the woolen shirt, with

the silk handkerchief at the throat sagging picturesquely.



His gaze roved over Haydon--insolently, contemptuously; his lips

twitching with the grim humor that had seized him. And Haydon stood, not

moving a muscle, undergoing the scrutiny with rigid body, with eyes that

had become wide with a queer sensation of dread wonder that was stealing

over him; and with a pallor that was slowly becoming ghastly.



For he had no doubt that at last he had unwittingly aroused the demon in

Harlan, and that violence, which he had wished to avoid, was imminent.



But Harlan's roving gaze, as he backed slightly away from Haydon, came to

the breast-pocket of the man's shirt. His gaze centered there definitely,

his eyes narrowing, his muscles leaping a little.



For out of the pocket stretched a gold chain, broken, its upper

end--where it entered the buttonhole of the shirt--fastened to the

buttonhole with a rawhide thong, as though the gold section were not long

enough to reach.



And the gold section of the chain was of the peculiar pattern of the

section that Harlan had picked up on the desert near Sentinel Rock.



More

;