Joan Disobeys
: The Seventh ManWhat he next knew was a fire of agony that wrapped his whole body and
consciousness flashed back on him. Strong arms lifted him up, up; above him
he sensed the eyes of his torturer, dim in moonlight, and he beat his
clubbed left fist into that face. After that he knew he was being dragged
onto a saddle, but a wave of pain rushed up his side and numbed his brain.
Thereafter his senses returned by fits and starts, vaguely. Once he fe
steel cable that girdled his waist and breast and held him erect, though
his head flopped back and forth; once his eyes opened and above him
glittered the bright field of stars towards which he drifted through space,
a mind without a body; once a stab of torment wakened him enough to hear:
"Easy Satan; watch them stones. One more jolt like that will send him clear
to--" And the voice glided into an eternity of distance. Yet again he swung
tip from the pit of darkness and became aware of golden hair around a
woman's face, and a marvelous soft, cool hand upon his forehead. Her voice
reached him, too, and made him think of all things musical, all things
distant, like the sounds of birds falling from the sky and though he
understood not a syllable, a sweet assurance of safety flooded through him.
He slept.
When he woke again, it was from a dream of fleeing through empty air
swifter than the wind with a wolf-dog looming behind him out of space, but
presently he found that he was lying in a bed with a stream of sunlight
washing across a white coverlet. A door at his right swung open and there
in the entrance stood the wolf-dog of his vision with a five-year-old girl
upon its back.
"Don't go in there, Bart!" whispered the child. "Go on back!"
She took one of those pointed wolf-ears in her chubby fist and tugged to
swing him around, but Bart, with a speed which the eye could not follow,
twisted his head and the rows of great teeth closed over her hand. It was
so horrible that the cry froze in the throat of Gregg, yet the child, with
only a little murmur of anger, reached over with her other hand and caught
the wolf by the nose.
"Bad Bart!" she whispered, and raised the hand which he instantly released.
White marks showed on the pudgy tan. "Bad dog!" she repeated, and beat his
neck with an impotent little fist. The wolf-dog cringed, and turned from
the door.
"Come in," invited Gregg. He was surprised to find his voice thin, apt to
swing up to a high pitch beyond his control. A shower of golden curls
tossed away from her face as she looked to him. "Oh!" she cried, still with
a guarded voice. She leaned far over, one hand buried in the ruff of Bart's
neck to secure her balance, and with the other she laid hold of his right
ear and drew him around facing the door once more. This time he showed his
teeth but submitted, only twitching the ear back and forth a time or two
when she relaxed her hold.
"Come in," repeated Gregg.
She canted her head to one side and considered him with fearless blue eyes.
"I want to," she sighed.
"Why can't you, honey?"
"Munner says no."
He attempted to turn further towards her, but the pain in his right
shoulder prevented. He found that his arm was bandaged to the elbow and
held close to his side by a complex swathing.
"Who is your mother?" asked Vic.
"Munner?" she repeated, frowning in wonder. "Why, munner is--my munner."
"Oh," smiled he, "and who's your pa?"
"What?"
"Who's your father? Who's your dad?"
"Daddy Dan. You ask a lot of things," she added, disapprovingly.
"Come on in," pleaded Vic Gregg, "and I won't ask nothin' more about you."
"Munner says no," she repeated.
She employed the moment of indecision by plucking at the hair of Bart's
shoulders; he growled softly, terribly, but she paid not the slightest
heed.
"Your mother won't care," asserted Vic.
"I know," she nodded, "but Daddy will."
"Spanking?"
She looked blankly at him.
"What will he do, then, if you come in to see me?"
"He'll look at me." She grew breathless at the thought, and cast a guilty
glance over her shoulder.
"Honey," chuckled Gregg, weakly, "I'll take all the blame. Just you come
along in and he'll do his lookin' at me."
He thought of the slender fellow who had rescued him and his large, gentle
brown eyes, but to a child even those mild eyes might seem terrible with
authority.
"Will you, true?" said the child, wistfully.
"Honest and true."
"All right." She made up her mind instantly, her face shining with
excitement. "Giddap, Bart." And she thumped the wolf-dog vigorously with
her heels.
He carried her in with a few gliding steps, soundless, except for the light
rattle of claws on the floor, but he stopped well out of reach of the bed
and when Vic held his left hand as far as he could across his chest, Bart
winced and gave harsh warning. Vic had seen vicious dogs in his day, seen
them fighting, seen them playing, but he had never heard one of them growl
like this. The upper lips of the animal twitched dangerously back and the
sound came from the very depths of his body. It made the flesh crawl along
Vic's back; one rip of those great teeth could tear a man's throat open.
The child thudded her heels against the ribs of Bart again.
"Giddap!" she cried.
The wolf-dog shuddered but would not budge an inch.
"Naughty Bart!" She slipped off to the floor. "I'll make him come," she
said.
"If it's the same to you," said Vic, rather hastily, "I'd just as soon he
stayed where he is."
"He's got to do what I want," she answered. She shook a tiny forefinger at
him. "Bart, you just come here!"
The dog turned his blazing eyes on her and replied with a growl that shook
his sides.
"Stop!" she ordered, and struck him sharply on the nose. He blinked and
lowered his head under the blow, but though the snarling stopped his teeth
flashed. She caught him by both jowls and tugged him forward.
"Let him be!" urged Vic.
"He's got to come!"
And come he did, step by halting step, while she hauled him, and now the
snarling hoarse intakes of breath filled the room. Once she moved a little
to one side and Vic caught the glint of two eyes, red-stained, which were
fixed undeviatingly upon her face. Mixed with Vic's alarm at the great
fighting beast was a peculiar uneasiness, for there was something uncanny
in the determination, the fearlessness of this infant. When she stepped
away the wolf-dog stood trembling visibly but his eyes were still not upon
the man he hated or feared to approach but upon the child's face.
"Can you pat him now?" she asked, not for an instant turning to Gregg.
"No, but it's close enough," he assured her. "I don't want him any closer."
"He's got to come." She stamped. "Bart, you come here!"
He flinched forward, an inch. "Bart!" Her hands were clenched and her
little body quivered with resolution; the snake-like head came to the very
edge of the bed.
"Now pat him!" she commanded.
By very unpleasant degrees, Vic stretched his hand towards that growling
menace.
"He'll take my arm off," he complained. Shame kept him from utterly
refusing the risk.
"He won't bite you one bit," declared the child. "But I'll hold his nose if
you're afraid." And instantly she clasped the pointed muzzle between her
hands.
Even when Vic's hand hovered above his head Bart had no eye for him, could
not divert his gaze from the face of the child. Once, twice and again,
delicately as one might handle bubbles, Gregg touched that scarred
forehead.
"I made him come, didn't I?" she cried in triumph, and turned a tense
little face towards Vic, but the instant her eyes moved the wolf-dog leaped
away half the width of the room, and stood shivering, more devilish than
ever. She stamped again.
"Bad, bad, bad Bart," she said angrily. "Shall I make him come again?"
"Leave him be," muttered Vic, closing his eyes. "Leave him be where he is.
I don't want him."
"Oh," she said, "it's hard to make him do things, sometimes. But Daddy Dan
can make him do anything."
"Humph!" grunted Vic. He was remembering how, at the master's order, Bart
had crouched at his feet in the wood, an unchained murderer hungrily
waiting for an excuse to kill. There was something very odd about the
people of this house; and it would be a long time before he rid himself of
the impression of the cold, steady eyes which had flashed up to him a
moment before out of that baby face.
"Joan!" called a voice from beyond, and the soft fiber of it made Vic
certain that it belonged to the rider of the black stallion. The little
girl ran a step towards the door, and then stopped and shrank back against
the bed.
"If you're afraid your Dad'll find you here," said Vic, "just you run
along."
She was nervously twisting her hands in her dress.
"Daddy Dan'll know," she whispered without turning. "And--and--he won't let
me be afraid---even of him!"
A small hand slipped up, fumbled a bit, found the thumb of Vic Gregg, and
closed softly over it. With this to steady her, she waited, facing the
door.
More
-
In Dead Man's Cache
Not since the start of their journey had Melissy broken silence, save to answer, in few words as possible, the questions put to her by the outlaw. Yet her silence had not been sullenness. It had been the barrier which she had set up between them--... In Los Angeles
When she felt bewildered, Jean had the trick of appearing merely reserved; and that is what saved her from the charge of rusticity when Robert Grant Burns led her through the station gateway and into a small reception. No less a man than Dewitt, Pr... In Quarantine
We reached Miles City shortly after midnight. It was the recognized cattle centre of Montana at that time, but devoid of the high-lights which were a feature of the trail towns. The village boasted the usual number of saloons and dance-houses, and l... In Sanctuary
When James Hurlstone reached the shelter of the shrubbery he leaned exhaustedly against the adobe wall, and looked back upon the garden he had just traversed. At its lower extremity a tall hedge of cactus reinforced the crumbling wall with a cheva... In The Arroyo
Senor Johnson quietly approached Estrella. The girl had, during the struggle, gone through an aimless but frantic exhibition of terror. Now she shrank back, her eyes staring wildly, her hands behind her, ready to flop again over the brink of hyster... In The Dark
Trevison faced the darkness between him and the pueblo with a wild hope pulsing through his veins. Rosalind Benham had had an opportunity to deliver him into the hands of his enemy and she had not taken advantage of it. There was but one interpret... In The Devil's Frying-pan
Luck, riding confidently on the trail of the three horsemen who had taken to the south along the front of the square butte, believed that the turn of the trail around the southern end meant simply that the three who came this way would meet their co... In The Fog
By noon of the following day the coast of the Peninsula of California had been sighted to leeward. The lower temperature of the northwest Trades had driven Mrs. Brimmer and Miss Chubb into their state-rooms to consult their wardrobes in view of an... In The Image Of God
Houck's jeering laugh of triumph came back to the humiliated boy. He noticed for the first time that two or three men were watching him from the door of the saloon. Ashamed to the depths of his being, he hung his head dejectedly. All his life he w... In The Land Of Revolutions
The knock that sounded on the door was neither gentle nor apologetic. It sounded as if somebody had flung a baseball bat at it. O'Connor smiled, remembering that soft tap of yore. "I reckon--" he was beginning, when the door opened to admit a visi... In The Lazy D Hospital
Helen's first swift glance showed that the wounded man was Bannister. She turned in crisp command to her foreman. "Have him taken to my room and put to bed there. We have no time to prepare another. And send one of the boys on your best horse for ... In The Mountain Cave
Dave had been in perilous situations before, and had learned the important lesson that if he lost his wits all would be lost. The mountain lion was large and powerful and evidently in full fighting humor. The youth was armed, carrying a pistol ... In The Saddle
White winter covered the sage hills and gave the country a bleak and desolate look. The Slash Lazy D riders wrapped up and went out over the wind-swept mesas to look after the cattle cowering in draws or drifting with the storm. When Bob could sle... In The Secret Chamber
The escaping party groped its way along the passage in the wall, down a rough, narrow flight of stone steps to a second tunnel, and along this underground way for several hundred yards. Since he was the only one familiar with the path they were trav... In The Tules
He had never seen a steamboat in his life. Born and reared in one of the Western Territories, far from a navigable river, he had only known the "dugout" or canoe as a means of conveyance across the scant streams whose fordable waters made even tho... In Which Hatred Is Born
For some persons romance dwells in the new and the unusual, and for other persons it dwells not at all. Certain of Rosalind Benham's friends would have been able to see nothing but the crudities and squalor of Manti, viewing it as Miss Benham did,... Injuns
Bob swung down from the saddle in front of the bunkhouse. Reeves came to the door and waved a hand. "'Lo, Sure-Shot! What's new in Bear Cat?" "Fellow thinkin' of startin' a drug-store. Jim Weaver is the happy dad of twins. Mad dog shot on Mai... International Courtesies
The garden over whose wall Brace had mysteriously vanished was apparently as deserted as the lane and plaza without. But its solitude was one of graceful shadow and restful loveliness. A tropical luxuriance, that had perpetuated itself year after ... Into The Depths
"Good Lord, Race! What's happened?" Senator Rexhill, on the next morning, surprised that Moran did not show up at the hotel, had gone in search of him, and was dumbfounded when he entered the office. Moran, in his desperate efforts to free hi... Into The Desert
If you want to know what mad adventure Bud found himself launched upon, just read a few extracts from the diary which Cash Markham, being a methodical sort of person, kept faithfully from day to day, until he cut his thumb on a can of tomatoes which he... Irish Works For The Cause
Big Medicine with Weary and Chip to bear him company, rode up to the shack nearest his own, which had been hastily built by a raw-boned Dane who might be called truly Americanized. Big Medicine did not waste time in superfluities or in making threat... Its Awful Easy To Get Lost
The Kid wriggled uncomfortably in the saddle and glanced at the narrow-browed face of H. J. Owens, who was looking this way and that at the enfolding hills and scowling abstractedly. The Kid was only six, but he was fairly good at reading moods and ... Jack Goes To The Head Of The Class
She trailed the bridle reins, went up the porch steps, and drew off her gauntlets. Her hand was outstretched to open the door when her gaze fell upon a large bill tacked to the wall. Swiftly she read it through, and, having read it, remained in su... Jane
After that night, there began a sort of persecution, skillfully conducted by Jasper and Betty, against the ferocity of Jane. It was a persecution impossible to imagine in any other setting, even the social simplicity of Lazy-Y found itself a trifl... Jealousy
Meantime, many things of great interest to Gordon Wade happened without his knowledge. A national election at which the previously dominant party was defeated, was a sad blow to Senator Rexhill, who not only suffered in prestige but in pocket. ... Jean
The still loneliness of desertion held fast the clutter of sheds and old stables roofed with dirt and rotting hay. The melancholy of emptiness hung like an invisible curtain before the sprawling house with warped, weather-blackened shingles, and sa... Jean Believes That She Takes Matters Into Her Own Hands
After all, Jean did not have to fight her way clear through "Warring Mexico" and back again, in order to reach Nogales. She let Lite take her to the snug little apartment which she was to share with Muriel and her mother, and she fancied that she h... Jean Learns What Fear Is Like
Sometime in the still part of the night which comes after midnight, Jean woke slowly from dreaming of the old days that had been so vivid in her mind when she went to sleep. Just at first she did not know what it was that awakened her, though her e... Jean Meets One Crisis And Confronts Another
"Well, say! This is like seeing you walk out of that picture that's running at the Teatro Palacia. You sure are making a hit with those moving-pictures; made me feel like I'd met somebody from home to stroll in there and see you and Lite come ridi... Jean Rides Into A Small Adventure
At the mouth of the coulee, she turned to the left instead of to the right, and so galloped directly away from the Bar Nothing ranch, down the narrow valley known locally as the Flat, and on to the hills that invited her with their untroubled lights... Jean Spoils Something
Jean found the padlock key where she had hidden it under a rock ten feet from the door, and let herself into her room. The peaceful familiarity of its four walls, and the cheerful patch of sunlight lying warm upon the faded rag carpet, gave her the... Jim Finds Sara And Pen
"Since time began Indians have climbed my back and have cried their joys and sorrows to the sky. I wonder who has heard!" MUSINGS OF THE ELEPHANT. Mr. Dennis laughed. He still was holdi... Jim Gets A Blow
"The eagle has lived long in my side. He is cruel with talons built for seizing. Is this why so many nations choose him as their emblem?" MUSINGS OF THE ELEPHANT. Jane never had looked ... Jim Makes A Speech
"I am permanent so I cannot fully understand the tragedy that haunts humans from their birth, the tragedy of their own transitoriness." MUSINGS OF THE ELEPHANT. Jim drank his tea, stari... Jim Plans A Last Fight
"The coyotes are going leaving behind them bleaching bones. The Indians are going leaving a few arrow heads and water vessels. What will the whites leave?" MUSINGS OF THE ELEPHANT. Jim ... Joan And Prosper
The situation was no doubt an extraordinary, an unimaginable one, but it had to be met. When he returned to the box, Prosper had himself in hand, and, sitting a little farther back than before, he watched the second act with a sufficiency of outwa... Joan Disobeys
What he next knew was a fire of agony that wrapped his whole body and consciousness flashed back on him. Strong arms lifted him up, up; above him he sensed the eyes of his torturer, dim in moonlight, and he beat his clubbed left fist into that face.... Joan Reads By Firelight
There is no silence so fearful, so breathless, so searching as the night silence of a wild country buried five feet deep in snow. For thirty miles or so, north, south, east, and west of the small, half-smothered speck of gold in Pierre Landis's ca... Joan Runs Away
It was a January night when Joan, her rough head almost in the ashes, had read "Isabella and the Pot of Basil" by the light of flames. It was in March, a gray, still afternoon, when, looking through Prosper's bookcase, she came upon the tale again... John Craven's Method
Mr. John Craven could not be said to take his school-teaching seriously; and indeed, any one looking at his face would hardly expect him to take anything seriously, and certainly those who in his college days followed and courted and kept pace wit... John Gale's Hour
It was a heathenish time of night to arouse the girl, thought Burrell, as he left the barracks, but he must allay these fears that were besetting him, he must see Necia at once. The low, drifting clouds obscured what star-glow there was in the hea... Johnny Arrives
Meanwhile Hopalong and Red quarrelled petulantly and damned the erring Johnny with enthusiastic abandon, while Dent smiled at them and joked; but his efforts at levity made little impression on the irate pair. Red, true to his word, had turned up at... Johnny Learns Something
For several weeks after Hopalong got back to the ranch, full of interesting stories and minus the grouch, things went on in a way placid enough for the most peacefully inclined individual that ever sat a saddle. And then trouble drifted down from th... Johnson's Old Woman
It was growing dark, and the Sonora trail was becoming more indistinct before me at every step. The difficulty had increased over the grassy slope, where the overflow from some smaller watercourse above had worn a number of diverging gullies so li... Jones On Cougars
The mountain lion, or cougar, of our Rocky Mountain region, is nothing more nor less than the panther. He is a little different in shape, color and size, which vary according to his environment. The panther of the Rockies is usually light, taking th... Jose Sanchez Swears An Oath
On this same evening a scene of no little significance was taking place at Las Palmas. Ed Austin was entertaining callers, and these were none other than Tad Lewis and Adolfo Urbina. The progress of events during the last few days had shaped thi... Juan Valdez Scores
The first thing Bucky did after leaving the two young women was to go down in person with one of the guards to the cell of David Henderson. The occupant of the cell was asleep, but he woke up when the two men entered. "Who is it?" he demanded. ... Judd Morgan Passes
Gimlet Butte devoted the night of the Fourth to a high old time. The roping and the other sports were to be on the morrow, and meanwhile the night hours were filled with exuberance. The cowboy's spree comes only once in several months, but when it d... Judge Ellsworth Exacts A Promise
On his way to the Lewis ranch Dave Law had a struggle with himself. He had earned a reputation as a man of violent temper, and the time was not long past when a fraction of the insult Ed Austin had offered him would have provoked a vigorous count... Judson's Joke
Barton Rufford, ex-distiller of illicit whiskey in the Tennessee mountains, ex-welsher turned informer and betraying his neighbor law-breakers to the United States revenue officers, ex-everything which made his continued stay in the Cumberlands im... June Asks Questions
Houck, an unwelcome guest, stayed at the cabin on Piceance nearly two weeks. His wooing was surely one of the strangest known. He fleered at June, taunted her, rode over the girl's pride and sense of decorum, beat down the defenses she set up, and... June Discovers A New World
Blister had not overstated the case to Bob when he told him that June had been having the time of her life getting well. She had been a lonely little thing, of small importance in a country very busy on its own affairs. The sense of inferiority ha... June Is Glad
June turned away from the crowd surrounding the dead mad dog and walked into the hotel. The eyes of more than one man followed the slim, graceful figure admiringly. Much water had run down the Rio Blanco since the days when she had been the Cinder... June Prays
When June turned away from her husband of an hour she abandoned hope. She had been like a child lost in the forest. A gleam of light from a window had cheered her for a moment, but it had flickered out and left her in the darkness. In one sense... Just One Thing After Another
A gray clarity of the air told that daylight was near. The skyline retreated, the hills came out of the duskiness like a photograph in the developer tray. Irish dipped down the steep slope into Antelope Coulee, cursing the sprinkle of new shacks tha... Justice In The Saddle
It was an hour after the usual time when we bedded down the cattle. The wagon had overtaken us about sunset, and the cook's fire piloted us into a camp fully two miles to the right of the trail. A change of horses was awaiting us, and after a hasty ... Justice Vs Law
Impatience, intolerable and vicious, gripped Trevison as he rode homeward after his haunting vigil at Manti. The law seemed to him to be like a house with many doors, around and through which one could play hide and seek indefinitely, with no poss... Kangarooed
Lovell and his attorneys joined the cavalcade which returned to the post, while we continued on south, fording the Missouri above Forrest's camp. The two recovered beeves were recognized by their ranch brands as belonging in Bee County, thus identif... Kate Uses Her Quirt
Red-headed Bob Cullison finished making the diamond hitch and proudly called his cousin Kate to inspect the packhorse. "You never saw the hitch thrown better, sis," he bragged, boy-like. "Uncle Luck says I do it well as he can." "It's fine, B... Keep A-comin' Red Haid
When the rangers and the militia stampeded after the Indian scout, Dud Hollister was examining the hoof of his mount. He swung instantly to the saddle and touched his pony with the spur. It shot across the mesa on the outskirts of the troop. Not i... Keith's Masterful Wooing
Keith faced toward home, with Redcloud following at his heels like a pet dog. For some reason, which he did not try to analyze, he was feeling light of heart--as though something very nice had happened to him. It might have been the unexpected cle... Kidnapped
As a lake ripples beneath a summer breeze, so Mesa was stirred from its usual languor by the visit of Simon West. For the little Arizona town was dreaming dreams. Its imagination had been aroused; and it saw itself no longer a sleepy cow camp in t... Kidnapped
Barbara Morgan had yielded to the fever of impatience which had afflicted her during the latter days of Harlan's absence from the Rancho Seco. She had been impatient ever since she had been forced to stay close to the house by Harlan's orders; but... King Hol
There is a very general and very erroneous impression that alcohol builds the mood of a man; as a matter of fact it merely makes his temper of the moment fast--the man who takes his first drink with a smile ends in uproarious laughter, and he who fr... Kitty
It seemed my eyelids had scarcely touched when Jones's exasperating, yet stimulating, yell aroused me. Day was breaking. The moon and stars shone with wan luster. A white, snowy frost silvered the forest. Old Moze had curled close beside me, and now... La Feria
What's this I hear about war?" Dolores inquired of her mistress, a few days after their arrival at La Feria. "They tell me that Mexico is invaded and that the American soldiers have already killed more than a thousand women and children." "Who ... Laska Opens A Door
The first ballots for a United States senator taken by the legislature in joint session failed to disclose the alignment of some of the doubtful members. The Democratic minority of twenty-eight votes were cast for Springer, the senator whose place w... Lassiter
A sharp clip-crop of iron-shod hoofs deadened and died away, and clouds of yellow dust drifted from under the cottonwoods out over the sage. Jane Withersteen gazed down the wide purple slope with dreamy and troubled eyes. A rider ha... Lassiter's Way
Footprints told the story of little Fay's abduction. In anguish Jane Withersteen turned speechlessly to Lassiter, and, confirming her fears, she saw him gray-faced, aged all in a moment, stricken as if by a mortal blow. Then all her... Laughing Bill Hyde
Mr. William Hyde was discharged from Deer Lodge Penitentiary a changed man. That was quite in line with the accepted theory of criminal jurisprudence, the warden's discipline, and the chaplain's prayers. Yes, Mr. Hyde was changed, and the change... Laura London
Kite Bonfils and Maloney took Curly back to Saguache and turned him over to Sheriff Bolt. "How about bail?" Maloney asked. The sheriff smiled. He was a long lean leather-faced man with friendly eyes from which humorous wrinkles radiated. "... Law Invoked And Defied
As soon as the deputies had gone, two of them nursing injured heads, and all exhibiting numerous bruises, Judge Lindman rose and dressed. In the ghostly light preceding the dawn he went to the safe, his fingers trembling so that he made difficult ...