The Fugitive by Max Brand

Author:Max Brand
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781428502444
Publisher: Dorchester Publishing

Chapter 6

After that, old Hank Ballon was not the only one who waited for the downfall of Chris Martin and the dénouement of this strange little war, for the whole range heard the tale and wondered heartily what the outcome of it could be. Of course, on the face of it, there was no hope for Willie Merchant. He had bid defiance to a giant, and therefore he would be crushed. Yet there is an element of suspense even in a lost cause. And the course of that battle was waited for with the keenest expectation. There was hope against hope that justice might somehow be done to the weaker of the two combatants and justice done at the expense of old Chris.

In the meantime, Chris could not help but go ahead. What he prized more than anything else in the world was the fear with which he was looked upon by his neighbors. That which he had spent his life working over was the subjugation of the men of the village so that they dreaded him more than they dreaded death. They were in the palm of his hand, and that sense of power was most delightful to Chris. He could observe the workings of his perfect system now. For no matter what black looks were cast upon him by the villagers, they dared not speak to him of what they thought. They were his men as absolutely as though he were a feudal lord and they his serfs. To maintain himself in that proud position, he must convince them that it was ruin to oppose him. And he could only convince them by promptly crushing young Willie Merchant.

He proceeded at once with the work at hand. He sent his men to erect stout fences that shut away the southwestern lands from his great water hole; now Willie might take care of himself as best he could. The gantlet was down.

After that, the contest was followed with the keenest anxiety in the town. The whole range heard of what was happening, and the whole range wondered how it would come out. Not a man, perhaps, who did not sympathize with Willie Merchant up to a certain point—but suppose that he were actually to cut fences and run off the cattle of the tyrant—what would happen then? What would the law do?

There was no appeal to the law for the time being, however. Willie saw his cattle grow wild of eye. They no longer ate. They waited in front of the fence that barred them from the water hole where they were so accustomed to go. Every day, Willie went out and watched them with an aching heart. Nothing tames the wild so much as thirst. It is more terrible than mere hunger, because it strikes sooner, and the pangs of its torments are sharper in the vitals. The thirsty cattle grew so gentle that they huddled together, but, when Willie dismounted and came among them, not a foot stamped and not a horn swung at him.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.